Opinion | Columns - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Lawyers in 9/11 case embody America

By Ryan Spencer | Mar. 21, 2010

The class-action lawsuit against the city of New York concerning the ground zero response and cleanup effort suffered another setback last week. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein handed down a decision stating the lawsuit’s roughly $600 million settlement, filed on behalf of about more than 10,000 ailing first responders and workers who searched for survivors and cleared the wreckage after the Sept. 11 attacks, would be inadequate. He went further to delineate the settlement’s convoluted compensation allotment system and grossly excessive attorney fees as reasons for his recommendation to restructure the settlement. Hellerstein maintained the compensation paled in comparison to the effort displayed, hazardous conditions endured and compensation truly deserved by the plaintiffs, whom he made a point to refer to as heroes.

OPINION | COLUMNS

People’s voice must be heard on immigration crisis

By JAIME GONZALEZ | Mar. 18, 2010

My parents are Americans. They are citizens of this great country, which they are proud to call home. They are also immigrants.

OPINION | COLUMNS

God given too much credit in sports

Mar. 18, 2010

He’s all-knowing. He’s all-loving, and He’s all powerful.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Columnist ties basketball to politics

Mar. 17, 2010

Today roughly marks the one-year anniversary of the unquestioned pinnacle of Barack Obama’s presidency – the bracket he filled out for last year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Mired in the muck of a massively unsatisfying and restive term as the leader of the free world, President Obama now must re-calibrate his approach and perhaps use the basketball acumen of his inner circle to a decided political advantage.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Alligator weighs group’s demands

By Jared Misner | Mar. 16, 2010

Following the controversial shooting of Ghanian graduate assistant Kofi Adu-Brempong by University Police, Students for a Democratic Society presented a list of demands to Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin. Listed below are these demands followed by the Editorial Board’s recommendations.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Jaywalkers should be smart about it

By Will Penman | Mar. 16, 2010

I wish we were all really good jaywalkers. There may be some hardasses who think jaywalking is wrong because it’s against the law.

OPINION | COLUMNS

TheLadders commercial is regressive

Mar. 15, 2010

I fully admit to being a cynic about advertising, but there’s one TV commercial that throws me beyond mere cynicism and into just sputtering, angry confusion.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Candidate Craig Lowe urges vote

By Craig Lowe | Mar. 15, 2010

My name is Craig Lowe and I am running to use my proven leadership and experience as mayor.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Student shooting raises concerns

By Jeremiah Tattersall | Mar. 15, 2010

We, as a community, are saddened by the recent events in which a geography Ph.D. student, Kofi Adu-Brempong was shot by a University Police Department officer. It appears this situation did not warrant the use of deadly force and that UPD allowed the situation to escalate out of control. Our questions seem to be falling on deaf ears.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Alligator Columnist plans to build dinosaur park

By Ryan Spencer | Mar. 14, 2010

Abandoning the typical weeklong alcohol/Gatorade cycle set against a backdrop of sandy shorelines (or, less frequently, powder-laden slopes), I sipped not on ‘tron, but water, and did so in the confines of my own backyard. Had I adopted a new sense of responsibility for my health? Was it a case of middle school-reminiscent yardwork mandated by my parents, or was it perhaps HGTV-triggered gardening mania? Don’t be ridiculous — I’ve got two words for you: dinosaur cage.

OPINION | COLUMNS

US should fight discrimination

By NICHOLAS SMITH | Mar. 4, 2010

I know I will probably catch some criticism for writing about this, but I feel it needs to be said. Wednesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced the first “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill. Although the bill lacked any Republican support, it was still a step in the right direction.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Alligator readers quick to attack writers

By PAUL MURTY | Mar. 4, 2010

You’ve got to love Monday morning. Most spend it with a bitter sense of injustice at having to wake up after a relaxing weekend. I partake in that activity with the added sense of injustice at having to go to Orgo 2. This particluar Monday, however, I was greeted with a new sense of wrong.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Student Government should stop dodging Reitz questions, get down to facts

By Will Penman | Mar. 3, 2010

If I were in Student Government, I’d shake my head this week wondering why the Reitz referendum didn’t pass. But it wasn’t clear who the referendum represented.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Undead McCain pushes vitamin bill

Mar. 3, 2010

With most of the national political spotlight soaked up by a lurching, half-hearted détente concerning health care, Sen. John McCain sneaked a bill onto the Senate floor last month that could drastically reshape the entire supplement and vitamin industries. Washington insiders, speaking anonymously and way off the record, believe that this never would have happened if McCain were still alive.

OPINION | COLUMNS

‘Wasteful’ spending not always bad

By Joshua Lee | Mar. 2, 2010

As I grow older and have more things to pay for, I find that money has taken on an increased significance in my life. When I was younger, having money was never really that big of a deal. This was because it was my parent’s money and I was a greedy little candy addict. When I did have some coins and bills, it barely stayed in my pocket before I blew it on some chocolate or Twizzlers. Nowadays, I still live off my parents but have come to appreciate the almighty dollar a little bit more. However, when I hear about people blowing millions of dollars on comic books, as two anonymous buyers did for the original Superman and Batman comics last week, I am not stunned at how people can spend so much money on so little. Rather, I applaud someone for spending the money on a hobby or personal dream, as long as it does not hurt someone else.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Americans should give gay couples a chance at marriage

By Jared Misner | Mar. 2, 2010

Two capital cities will make history this week as they join the exclusive club of five states and seven countries that allow same-sex marriages.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Web documentation desensitizes us

Mar. 1, 2010

Are we fostering a “culture of personal documentation” — that is, a culture in which we must record, document and publicize the events in our lives instead of merely experiencing them?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Partisanship plagues US political system, personal lives

By Brittany Fox | Mar. 1, 2010

It’s more widespread than Olympic fever. It’s more of a heath risk than H1N1.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The case for urban agriculture

By K. RASHID NURI | Feb. 28, 2010

In his State of the Union address, President Obama enumerated ongoing problems requiring his attention: health care, the economy, job creation, environmental issues and lack of renewable fuels. In doing so, he suggested that increasing agricultural exports would help solve some of these problems.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Our generation too quick to diagnose

By Ryan Spencer | Feb. 28, 2010

Last Thursday, just when I was about to align myself with the Editorial Board’s defense against elder generations’ grumblings about the lay of the 21st century land, I stumbled upon a preview of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Now, I’m standing with our Golden Folks on their side of the issue, although their stance in this matter has less to do with our generation’s intelligence and more to do with society’s ever-flaccidifying grit.