Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Towers should be more tolerant

By Lisa Laniewski | Aug. 24, 2009

Moving back to campus after summer break is a hectic experience, and something that happened today made it more stressful. My daughter and I, in between moving into her new apartment near the campus and shopping at several local stores for essentials, decided to go to a local restaurant for a quick takeout lunch. Traffic was, as it always is on the last weekend before classes, very heavy with new and old students buying from every type of area

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Release of mass murderer is not justice

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 24, 2009

Justice and compassion may be abstract concepts, but that doesn't mean they elude all definition. Actually, we know for a fact that the concepts of 'justice' and 'freeing a mass murderer" are mutually exclusive.

OPINION | COLUMNS

At 22, transition to UF just as difficult as freshman year

By Ashley Cruel | Aug. 23, 2009

This past summer, while everyone was in a chilled-out, lazy summer mood, I was the girl armed with her class schedule, 50 fliers, a campus map and the bus schedule. I was the one spinning around wildly with a deer-in-headlights look on my face, trying to figure out where my next class was.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Student Body president outlines goals for coming semester

By Jordan Johnson | Aug. 23, 2009

To all you students who are new to UF, welcome to the next four years of your life. Returning Gators, try to cut the freshmen some slack and welcome back as well.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

All students welcome to open house

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 23, 2009

Want to hang out at our house? Well, Friday is your chance. 'Cause it's Friday. You ain't got no job, and you ain't got shit to do.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Tuition increases not the end of the world

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 23, 2009

Bright Futures recipients are still getting a hell of a break, but this year it won't be quite as big.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

UF students shouldn't live with RAs

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 23, 2009

One of the worst welcomes a UF student can receive is "permanent triple." Probably the second worst welcome they could receive would be telling them they have to room with a cross between a peer, a Mother Hen and an authority figure.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Senior status doesn't mean you'll know it all

By Hillary Lehman | Aug. 15, 2009

December of my junior year, I was sitting in my friend Jen's apartment drinking Sangria. I was also about to fail my organic chemistry class, which I was taking for the third time after dropping it twice.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Welcome to UF

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 15, 2009

In introducing incoming freshmen to the Opinions pages of the Alligator, we have to temporarily revert (at least mentally) to what it was like to move to Gainesville. The only guideline we have to go on for the inaugural editorial is something freshmen would like.

OPINION | COLUMNS

For new students, some tips to help you from feeling dumb

By KRISTIN BJORNSEN | Aug. 15, 2009

Alas, you've made it. Your 'rents are gone, you're already sick of Broward Dining and you may or may not have thrown up in your pillow case last night. (R.I.P. Fall 2006; I haven't eaten pad thai since.)

OPINION | COLUMNS

SG offers opportunities for involvement on campus

By Jordan Johnson | Aug. 15, 2009

Although I doubt that I am the first person at UF that you have heard this from, I would like to welcome you to the University of Florida!

OPINION | COLUMNS

Freshmen: Remember the importance of academics

Aug. 15, 2009

Greetings, oh young and naïve freshman!

OPINION | COLUMNS

Got an opinion? The Alligator wants it

By ALLIE CONTI | Aug. 15, 2009

Writing columns for the Alligator was never my first choice-I wanted to be a reporter. I've since realized I have zero aptitude for that profession, but that's what I wanted to do. After trying and failing and trying and failing, I decided to submit something to letters@alligator.org. To my surprise, it was published as a guest column. When I got the e-mail asking for my classification and major, I turned to my roommate and said, "I am going to be opinions editor of the Alligator by the end of the summer." And it happened.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Freshman, don't forget to have fun

By ERIC CHIANESE | Aug. 15, 2009

This following is an open letter to all new freshmen at UF.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Grads should look forward

By BEN CAMENKER | Aug. 4, 2009

It has been my secret dream for three years now to hijack my commencement speech. I had the perfect plan. There was just one problem; there will be no big-name speaker. When I learned this, it hurt. Because, Gators, there are issues we must discuss.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Smokers need to collect their butts

By Doug Barlow | Aug. 4, 2009

Thank you for your editorial piece "Campus ban removes smokers' rights." However, it neglects to mention one of the main problems with smokers: the fact that they just throw their butts on the ground no matter where they are at.

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?