Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Darts & Laurels

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 4, 2009

Change is afoot in Gainesville right now. All it takes is one look at the Alligator parking lot full of cars crammed with clothes, kitchen utensils and random boxes to know that summer is coming to an end, and everyone is ready to begin anew in his or her freshly leased pads. But, before you get too excited (and crumple up this paper to use as packing material), we would like to present you with an are-there-really-only-two-weeks-until-fall edition of…

OPINION | COLUMNS

Nudity should be embraced, not taboo

By DARREN D'ALTORIO | Aug. 4, 2009

Sunday nights, trash nights, before I roll the garbage out to the curb, I strip off all my clothes and leave them in a little pile on the bench by the front door. Naked, I approach the street with the garbage can, which smashes the grass under its weight. It's one of the busiest streets in Akron, Ohio, during the day. But come 2 a.m., traffic is sparse. After the can is in position on the curb, I don't hurry back to my pile of clothes. Instead, I pace the dew-soaked grass, and I let the night air touch all the parts of my body it normally can't.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Cronyism still permeates SG

By Frank Walch | Aug. 4, 2009

My name is Frank, and I used to be a senator. For the past 12 weeks, I served as a replacement senator in the Student Senate, and my term ended last Tuesday at the end of the last Senate summer session meeting.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Progressive taxation not something to fear

By Jordan Miller | Aug. 3, 2009

Johnathan Lott/s July 30th column is either deliberately misleading or laughably misinformed, possibly both. He implies that if marginal tax rates go up, the government will take "56 percent of every dollar" that a wealthy person earns. Is UF/s economics department really so bad that an economics junior doesn/t understand marginal tax rates? Honestly?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Contractor tied to deaths

Aug. 3, 2009

KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary that/s now the Army/s largest contractor, is a threat to the safety of our servicemen and servicewomen.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Incomplete sentence for groper

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 3, 2009

The man charged with 25 counts of battery last April has gotten his comeuppance.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Campus ban removes smokers/ rights

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 3, 2009

As if university students who smoke didn/t have enough to worry about already, UF will ban cigarette smoking on campus beginning in July 2010. Healthy Gators is quick to point out that only 9 percent of UF students smoke. But just because someone is in the minority doesn/t mean their rights should be taken away. Last we checked, this was America.

OPINION | COLUMNS

U.S. culture defies environmentalism

Aug. 3, 2009

Glee for green has been a long time coming in this country. What started out as an almost underground burlap sack movement has sprung into a multibillion-dollar enterprise and an entire culture, even generation, of planet-conscientious actions.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Former GPD lieutenant's sentencing doesn/t fit the crime

By The Alligator Editoral Board | July 29, 2009

Former Gainesville Police Department Lt. Bill Billings has finally faced the music.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SG should not determine content

By Neil Gundavda | July 29, 2009

During last Tuesday/s Student Government Senate meeting, I was rather disturbed by certain comments that were made asking the Alligator to not report the events that transpired. Indeed, the reporter was specifically singled out and told to withhold publishing that the majority party voted down a string of proposed ethics legislation when they had done just that.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Plan will diminish health care

By BEN CAMENKER | July 29, 2009

Universal health care.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Column allows Obama crush to overshadow common sense

By ROB MEYERS | July 29, 2009

Matthew Christ/s column Tuesday was tired and a failed attempt at entertaining readers.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Better to tax services than the rich

By JOHNATHAN LOTT | July 29, 2009

Brian Miller/s column in Thursday/s Alligator showed his complete ignorance of basic economics and federal revenue code.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Story reads like product plug

By Matthew McCabe | July 27, 2009

I was struck by Roberta Roberts/ article on Magic Hat Beers arriving in Florida because it came across as an advertisement for a bar in the guise of a legitimate story.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Author’s words distasteful

By KAREN BROWN | July 27, 2009

I was enjoying Jon Silman's article about country music recently (Country music offers support, advice for all stages of life - July 16).

OPINION | COLUMNS

Columnist reflects on political gaffes

July 27, 2009

I miss President George W. Bush, "Dubya" as I affectionately called him. I don't miss his policies or politics, but the material he and his administration gave me as a commentator.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Florida's policy against text and driving lacks spine

By The Alligator Editoral Board | July 27, 2009

Texting while driving is a scenario that is familiar to most students at UF, and the concept of cell-phone-addicted-screaming-girl is a trope that is ubiquitous in our current pop culture. (We recently saw it in an episode of the Jonas Brothers/ TV show, so like, even babies know about it. Don/t ask.)

OPINION | COLUMNS

Pill will not ensure immortality

By BEN JONES | July 27, 2009

Want to live longer? As it turns out, we may have the answer. A report in the July 10 issue of Science showed a dramatic difference between the lifespan of two different sets of Rhesus monkeys in a 20-year study. The results were so shocking that scientists already began seeking additional funding for another 20 years of research.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Amazon should allow buyers to own books

By THEREALJERRY | July 22, 2009

In response to Tuesday's editorial

OPINION | COLUMNS

Sales tax unfairly burdens Americans

By BRIAN MILLER | July 22, 2009

One hundred years ago on July 17, 1909, Sen. William E. Borah (R-Idaho) wrote, " The income tax is the fairest and most equitable of the taxes. It is the one tax which approaches us in the hour of prosperity and departs in the hour of adversity. Certainly, it will be conceded by all that the great expense of government is in the protection of property and wealth. There is no possible argument founded in law or in morals why these protected interests should not bear their proportionate burden of government."