opinion - The Independent Florida Alligator

Opinion

Brave New World - Some unsolicited advice for incoming freshmen

By Alligator Editorial Board | Aug. 17, 2008

Congratulations, you made it. You have matriculated to one of the most prestigious public universities in the entire United States. You are now an official member of The Gator Nation. Allow us to offer you a hearty Orange and Blue welcome. We would also like to give you some unsolicited and hopefully useful advice about what to expect and how to take full advantage of the fantastic voyage upon which you are about to embark.

Opinion

Campus groups activate inner–activist

By BRANDON SACK | Aug. 17, 2008

Oh, to be young again, when I thought homework was for pansies, a fake ID was golden, withdrawing from a class would never come back to haunt me and hangovers only lasted an hour, if at all. Just as I did, all you incoming freshmen will have ample opportunities to make mistakes (and hopefully learn from them). And as someone who has been at UF for six years, at the very least I can pass on a little wisdom to all you whippersnappers to help you get the most out of your undergraduate experience.

Sports

And the top five UF rivals are…

Aug. 17, 2008

If you didn't know UF was a big football school the day you submitted your application, you probably figured it out sometime in between jumping up and down in your parent's living room after tearing open your admission letter and watching your mom tear up as she sets your brand new Macbook Pro on your spiffy dorm room desk.

Opinion

Learning a foreign language integral to future success

Aug. 17, 2008

There's a lot of advice I could give you about the next four years of your life. There's a ton of stuff I could tell you that you should or shouldn't do and a mass of truisms I could throw at you about how important education is or whatever. I'm sure you've heard it all before.

Opinion

Darts & Laurels

By Alligator Editorial Staff | Aug. 6, 2008

You could best describe the current mood at the Department of Darts and Laurels as ambivalent. Summer classes have finally come to an end, and we're stuck somewhere in between nostalgia and euphoria.

Opinion

Bush, Cheney deserve impeachment

By BRANDON SACK | Aug. 6, 2008

Given their Nixon-esque polling numbers, it's safe to say that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are not exactly the most popular pair to grace 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. In fact, only about 25 percent of people think our feckless leader is doing a good job. Incidentally, the same percentage of people predicted that the second coming of Jesus would occur in 2007. I've got a hunch that there's a lot of overlap in those two groups.

Opinion

For God’s Sake: UF shouldn’t recognize discriminatory fraternity

Aug. 4, 2008

Last week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction compelling UF administrators to officially recognize an organization that openly discriminates against people based on their religion or irreligion, as the case may be, as well as on the basis of gender.

Opinion

Guns on campus would prevent tragedies

Aug. 4, 2008

About a month ago, Florida's new "guns-at-work" law went into effect. The law allows employees with valid concealed weapons licenses to keep their guns in their cars while at work.

Opinion

Cover Florida won’t cover Floridians

By BRANDON SACK | July 30, 2008

There are 3.7 million Floridians without health insurance. That means if you are under the age of 65, there's about a 1 in 4 chance that a serious illness would drive you into bankruptcy. But fear not - Gov. Charlie Crist has a plan. He calls it Cover Florida, and with it, he hopes to reduce the number of uninsured by offering them affordable premiums.

Opinion

Deregulation threatens democracy

July 30, 2008

A recent letter to the editor by Kyle Morgan made outrageous claims about economic regulation. Mr. Morgan obviously has a very tenuous hold on reality if he thinks that more deregulation is the answer to our economic woes when in fact, the opposite is true.

Opinion

Darts & Laurels

By Alligator Editorial Staff | July 30, 2008

The final countdown has begun. One week until summer break. The beginning of the end of summer classes means that tailgating and tackle football are on the horizon. And while we at the Department of Darts and Laurels can't wait to see Tebow and Co. run all over the "competition," we're determined to conclude the summer with the patented satirical smack-downs that you've come to expect from these pages. As summer classes wind down to a close, we hope you've enjoyed the summer edition of what has become something of an institution (no, we're not presumptuous at all) in The Gator Nation. We thank you for humoring us as we've offered scathing indignation and effusive gratitude, not usually in equal portions, in reaction to the news of the week. So without further ado, we offer the second-to-last summer installment of …

Opinion

Fla. House Speaker responds to editorial

July 30, 2008

Your recent editorial regarding my new assignment misstated and omitted a number of important facts.

Opinion

Media not biased in favor of Obama

July 30, 2008

If one goes by the adage "all press is good press," then Mr. Simmons' column is correct: Sen. Barack Obama has been receiving more media coverage than Sen. John McCain since the end of the primary season.

Opinion

Savage comments taken out of context

July 30, 2008

This is in regard to the Dart handed out to conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage in the July 24 edition of the Alligator for comments he made about autistic children.

Opinion

Misplaced Priorities: Fla. universities should shun political hires

July 28, 2008

As a result of the worst budget crisis in state history, Florida's colleges and universities have been forced to leave vacant positions unfilled, eliminate or incapacitate various degree programs and hand out pink slips to faculty members in order to cope with the state Legislature's refusal to fully fund higher education.

Opinion

Mainstream media fuels Obamamania

July 28, 2008

If your experience has been anything like mine, you've been surrounded by Obamamania for the better part of the past several months. It's not related, as much as you might expect, to spending most of the day on a college campus, where support for the master orator is pervasive and contagious. Rather, like most Americans, I've been bombarded with thinly veiled propaganda from the mainstream media in support of the hope-monger for longer than I care to remember.

Sports

Ranking the SEC coaches

July 28, 2008

There won't be any more opportunities to giggle at former Mississippi coach Ed Orgeron and his gruff Southern accent. If you want to see what I'm talking about, just search for his Hummer ad on YouTube.

Opinion

Economic regulation not the answer

By KYLE MORGAN | July 28, 2008

China, the European Union, the United States and South Korea.

Opinion

Party on, Gators

July 28, 2008

We're not exactly sure what it is about Gainesville that predisposes The Gator Nation to excellence. Maybe it's something in the water (or in this case, the amber-colored beverages routinely found in plastic cups). At any rate, UF is once again the reigning national champion - this time we're No. 1 in partying.

Opinion

Give CHOICES program chance to succeed

July 23, 2008

In his July 22 column, Joshua Simmons illogically reasoned that low enrollment numbers in the CHOICES program could only mean that the program is "exactly the wrong model of health care" for Alachua County's working poor. What Mr. Simmons has failed to consider is that low enrollment numbers may be a symptom of other problems, such as citizens simply being unaware of the program. Many social programs take a few years to get off the ground. This seems to be the case with CHOICES.