Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Israel not being held accountable for actions

By Alex Salam | Nov. 3, 2009

Israel has repeatedly defied United Nations resolutions. What other developed country in the world would be allowed this lawless refusal to abide by UN resolutions? Moreover, since its occupation of the Palestinian Territories in 1967, Israel has not implemented one single resolution stipulating its withdrawal from the occupied territories and refraining from all activities in these territories.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Machen responded well to rusting bicycle problem

By James N. Beeler Jr. | Nov. 3, 2009

This letter is to commend President Bernie Machen for an extremely prompt response to an e-mail I wrote to him regarding the rusting hulks of bicycles that have dotted campus since I arrived in fall 2008 as a graduate student. I wrote this e-mail Monday afternoon expressing my dismay at having to constantly dodge the rusty carcases of abandoned bikes, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal response that evening. Further, a phone call came from the appropriate person at UPD the next morning, with a pledge that the issue would be handled immediately. When I arrived at ARCH today, the worst of the problem was gone. Kudos to President Machen for making the time to care about the small problems.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Murty’s statements about Republicans biased

By James G. | Nov. 3, 2009

This is in response to Paul Murty's article on Monday that could only be described as a "slaughter of logic." Paul, your article was nothing short of a biased attempt to prove that the Republicans are all evil, racist Halliburton employees who rape women. I am not kidding. At one point in your article, you somehow deduce that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson was a racist for saying "you lie" to Obama.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Library patron should be commended for reporting lewd behavior

By Kenny Picciano | Nov. 3, 2009

I am writing to give my full support behind Tuesday's Alligator editorial, "Public Porn." Reading that a brave patron of Library West had the courage to turn in this "jerking-class hero," Christopher Wallace, did nothing short of erect a smile on my face.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Good riddance to judge who refused to marry interracial couple

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 3, 2009

Last month, an interracial couple seeking a marriage license was turned away by a Louisiana justice of the peace on the grounds that their marriage was "mixed." The refusal was met with an eruption of criticism from civil rights groups and public officials, including Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal.

OPINION | COLUMNS

IM language doesn’t make literature

Nov. 3, 2009

I don't know when we, as a culture, got this idea that reading in any form is better for kids than watching TV or playing video games.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

RTS must act to make crossing streets safer

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 3, 2009

The death of Erin Pelton Monday night is a tragedy to say the least. A 2008 UF graduate with an animal biology degree, she aspired to become a veterinarian, and friends say she had a promising future.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Social media emphasize individuality

Nov. 2, 2009

Do you remember LiveJournal?

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Public Porn: Students should report lewd behavior

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 2, 2009

In September, UF spent about $3,500 to install hand sanitizers on campus. Hopefully Library West is well stocked, because they're about to experience a sharp increase in demand.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Death Beds: Tanning beds not worth the health risk

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 2, 2009

With winter approaching, sunny skies give way to pale thighs for some UF students. But many trying to hold on to that elusive summer tan take excessive risks to retain it.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Congress Republicans must listen through the shouting

By PAUL MURTY | Nov. 2, 2009

Attention Republicans in Congress:

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Senate should not vote on resolution

By JUSTIN WOOTEN | Nov. 2, 2009

The Resolution Affirming Support for the State of Israel that Senate will be voting on tonight is a travesty. Every word of it represents the extremist pro-Israel position, from the first Whereas clauses that subtly try to deny any right of Palestinians to the land and which gloss over the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that took place during the founding of Israel, to quotes from president Ahmadinejad of dubious authenticity and support for sanctions against Iran (not unlike the ones that killed 500,000 Iraqi children in the 1990s), to trying to cover up the slaughter of over 1,300 innocent civilians by Israel in Gaza this December and January.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SG should adopt resolution denouncing Goldstone report

By Jordan Greenberg | Nov. 2, 2009

Of many issues to be presented at the Student Senate meeting tonight, one is a resolution calling for the Student Senate to denounce the Goldstone report. The Goldstone report is a UN document ratified by 25 of the 47 nations involved in the UN. It was written after a fact-finding mission by Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Coverage should have included police reactions at similar parties

By SKEET SURRENCY | Nov. 2, 2009

In regards to your article covering Sunday morning's violent incident involving Fest goers and local police, I find it extremely interesting that the only perspective on the incident was from the police.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

UF should think before expanding student union

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 1, 2009

As planning begins for the renovation and possible expansion of the Reitz Union, UF administrators and the Student Government must take care not to alienate students and faculty who are facing tough times.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Margaret Sanger unfairly represented

By Desiree Orofino | Nov. 1, 2009

I was alarmed by the one-sided discussion of Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger in Thursday's Alligator article. Margaret Sanger was not a eugenist, a racist or an anti-Semite and was in no way affiliated with Nazi ideology. In fact, Sanger's books were of the first to be burned by the Nazis, as they contradicted their anti-family-planning agenda. Additionally, Sanger consistently stated that family planning decisions should be made on an individual basis, not on a social or cultural basis, which of course directly contradicts core eugenics ideology.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Web has become double-edged sword

Nov. 1, 2009

Forty years ago, Leonard Kleinrock sent the first message over what is now known as the Internet. The message - the word "log" - was to be sent from a computer terminal at University of California, Los Angeles to another terminal at the Stanford University Research Institute, but it wasn't a complete success.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Music deserves some air time

By Peter Turner | Nov. 1, 2009

I would like to respond to letters from Gene Cowell and Meagan Gregory approving of the recent changes to WUFT-FM's radio schedule. Although I'm happy that some new NPR programming has been introduced, such as "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life," in other respects the changes have been for the worse for anyone with an appreciation of music. Classical music has been shunted off to HD radio, and jazz has gone away altogether.

OPINION | COLUMNS

College defends WUFT-FM programming change

By Paul Gordon | Nov. 1, 2009

We are grateful to the many north central Florida residents who have supported our expanded news talk and public affairs programming on WUFT-FM.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Mayor explains stance on serving meals

By Pegeen Hanrahan | Oct. 29, 2009

Q: Is it true that the City Commission took action to prohibit St. Francis House from serving more than 130 meals at holidays?