Opinion | Columns - The Independent Florida Alligator

Shakespeare once wrote, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Truly it is the substance of the rose - not the name given - that makes it the beautiful flower it is. But what if we took the opposite approach? Would calling a dandelion a rose make it smell sweet? Of course not. There is much in a name.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Reject marriage amendment to stop paranoia

Feb. 5, 2008

On Friday, Florida4Marriage.org submitted the last few thousand signatures required to get a proposed state amendment banning gay marriage on the November ballot.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Torture overshadows War on Terror

Feb. 5, 2008

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey still isn't sure if the interrogation practice known as waterboarding - where an individual is strapped down with a rag placed over the nose and mouth while water is poured over the rag to simulate drowning - constitutes torture. That is, unless he were to be subjected to it.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Manners, etiquette must be reclaimed

By GERALD LILES | Feb. 4, 2008

Imagine that one day you are strolling toward University Avenue, about to grab a bite to eat before your 1:55 class, when it hits you: that first paper is due in an hour.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Wall project offers powerful meaning

By VINCENT MASSARO | Feb. 3, 2008

Journalism isn't a real major. You're too quiet. I worry that you'll never get married. Women can't be engineers. Is that a weave you have on? Iron my shirt. Pot-smoking hippy. Fags have AIDS.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Advertisers discriminate against men

By CARLY HALLAM | Jan. 31, 2008

It is only days away.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Scholarship bill would waste talents

Jan. 30, 2008

I grew up wandering around the neighborhood with a notebook and a pencil in my hand. You couldn't tell the color of my grandma's refrigerator without lifting up a copy of something I wrote. I was writing complete stories before I knew what a division sign looked like.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Congress must fight for civil liberties

Jan. 29, 2008

We are now almost a month into 2008, but I can't shake the feeling that we're stuck in 1984. Big Brother is watching us, listening to us and invading our personal privacy at an unprecedented and alarming rate-all in the name of national security.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Florida Democratic primaries still important

By Mark McShera | Jan. 29, 2008

Since Florida won't receive any delegates at the National Democratic Convention in August, some people have tried to claim Tuesday's election won't matter.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Fla. primary strategic for Republicans

By BENJAMIN GROVE | Jan. 29, 2008

Tuesday's Republican primary captured Florida's importance in deciding the next U.S. president. The Republican candidates all offered different ideas to lead the party and the nation into the 21st century.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Little agreement with endorsements

By Leigh Shapiro | Jan. 28, 2008

God bless the Alligator's Editorial Board.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Last week's ridiculous 'news' makers may be new to you

By VINCENT MASSARO | Jan. 27, 2008

Last week, the Alligator didn't publish on Monday, but I wrote a column anyway.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Respect for all women still not reality

By CARLY HALLAM | Jan. 24, 2008

I spent this past weekend in Las Vegas with my mom and a friend celebrating my 21st birthday. My social status as a young female has never proved so beneficial. I skipped hour-long lines, scooted my way into VIP areas and received free lap dances from Australian male strippers (no, seriously).

OPINION | COLUMNS

Celebrity news culture clouds issues

Jan. 23, 2008

I might vomit if I see another popup window advertising links to images of Britney Spears' crotch. Unless that thing is housing a population about to vote in a presidential primary, I don't think it is important.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Think before voting on Amendment 1

Jan. 22, 2008

"Taxes are the price we pay for civilization." That's what my macroeconomics professor would always say. As profound as it is obvious, this maxim relates a timeless, commonsense principle. But I must admit, it's a principle that I hadn't really thought about in great detail until hearing it in class.