OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Islam on Campus gives thanks
By Ismail ibn Ali | Nov. 29, 2009In the name of God, the most beneficent, the most merciful.
Opinion
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
UF should name gate after Tebow
By Victoria Shelly | Nov. 29, 2009It is my opinion that Gate 15 of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium should be renamed Gate Tebow. If you’re with me, Gator Nation, let’s let the university know.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Moms use kids to indoctrinate
By Cori Kate | Nov. 29, 2009I give a nod of agreement to the Wednesday column, “Kids Should Not be Billboards.” I am a student and full-time employee who works at a business on University Avenue. While working, I watch mothers pushing strollers (complete with babies) along our sidewalks, donning these “Islam is of the devil” T-shirts. It disappoints me that people feel more comfortable hiding behind their months-old children to spread a discriminatory message. These mothers are persistent, walking with their babies in cold, rainy weather. They approach passers-by with pamphlets and smiles. But why use the infants? Should we be more inclined to trust their message because they are responsible for a tiny human?
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Bad Blood: FDA should not restrict gay men from donating
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 29, 2009If you’ve just been in a horrible car accident and you’re bleeding to death on a surgeon’s table, would you refuse a blood transfusion from a gay man?
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Christian, liberal values OK
By Ioulia Boyd | Nov. 29, 2009Unlike Ashley Stringfield, I believe that being Christian means believing in all progressive values, including being pro-choice and embracing equal values for all. I think it’s a travesty to say that there is something “inherently wrong” with being Christian and supporting these values.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Old Florida needs to let go of old ways
Nov. 29, 2009The Gulf of Mexico may look calm from the porch I’ve perched myself on for the Thanksgiving holiday, but a contentious political storm is slowly brewing over efforts afoot in the Florida Legislature to repeal a ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
UF needs textbook rental program
By Kristin Klein | Nov. 29, 2009The typical undergraduate student at UF spends nearly $1,000 every two semesters on textbooks. This is not earth-shattering news if you are a student. It is no surprise that textbooks are expensive, and these prices continue to soar. In fact, the Government Accountability Office estimates that over the past two decades, college textbook prices have grown at twice the rate of inflation. With recent legislation to raise tuition and narrow the scope of Bright Futures in Florida, university students and families have an even greater burden to bear. It’s evident that the last thing students need is exorbitantly priced textbooks. To help lower the cost of textbook prices, I suggest we implement a textbook rental program.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Kids should not be billboards
By Kevin Olivier | Nov. 24, 2009I find it hard to believe that anyone can fight for the continuation of this fearmongering by the religious extremists going on in this city. They claim it’s “freedom of speech,” but I call it mental terrorism.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Give sincere thanks for Thanksgiving
Nov. 24, 2009Look, I know that it’s traditionally that time of year when I should spout off about the things I’m grateful for in my life. I get annoyed when people act like you have to be thankful for every mundane thing just because it’s the fourth Thursday in November.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Darts & Laurels
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 24, 2009The mass turkey exodus seems to begin earlier each year. Judging by the surprisingly low volume of angry letters in our inbox Tuesday, it looks like most of our faithfully vengeful readers have already flown the coop. We feel abandoned. Because campus is quiet enough to hear our hearts break at this shortage of students to enrage, we’re happy to present you with a we’ll-have-to-be-twice-as-offensive-to-make-up-for-the-difference edition of...
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Preachy Keen: ACLU is right to defend church’s freedom of speech
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 23, 2009When the Dove World Outreach Center, a local church, chose its name, the story of Noah must have come to mind.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Many Christians share liberal values
By Ashley Stringfield | Nov. 23, 2009This is in response to Monday’s article, “UF study shows religious left more active.” I am glad that someone has finally said something. I have been waiting to hear this for a long time. It is true that not all Christians are Republican. Many of the Christian students I know are conservative when it pertains to issues such as abortion and gay marriage but are as interested or more in historically liberal-leaning causes, such as better health care and education for this nation’s poor. One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shall not kill.” I believe there are other ways to kill that are just as important as the abortion issue, ways that are completely ignored in the Republican arena.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
US must engage Cuba to spark change
By Kevin Weng | Nov. 23, 2009This letter is in response to Dayme Sanchez’s recent opinion piece, “Cuban embargo should remain in place.”
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Regulation should be left to states
By Caitlin O'Conner | Nov. 23, 2009This is in response to Monday’s editorial about the Environmental Protection Agency and nutrient limits for Florida’s rivers and lakes. In case you didn’t know, FDEP (the Florida Department of Environmental Protection) has passed down this year nutrient limits for nitrogen and phosphorus present in Florida waterways like the St. Johns River.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
People in spotlight face more scrutiny
By Michel Schoemaker UF physics freshman | Nov. 23, 2009In response to Nicole Martingano’s letter yesterday, I can only say that I wholeheartedly agree that anyone can be a drunken driver. After all, the first thing you learn in driver’s ed is how the immediate effect of alcohol is not the slight dizziness so many students seem to enjoy, but the lack of judgment. (Drunken texting, anyone?)
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
UF should spend on education, not pride
By Brittany Fox | Nov. 23, 2009With the current stimulus plan showing few signs of creating real economic stability, maybe the leaders of the free world should take a look back a few centuries.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dems should be cautious with reform
By Jenna Kilic | Nov. 23, 2009Thank you, Editorial Board, for writing the “Party Poopers” editorial in Monday’s paper. You were dead on. Those stupid, cautionary senators, Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman, need to keep their mouths shut so we liberals can ram through health care legislation we think is appropriate. If any Democrat questions whether it’s financially sound, screw ‘em! They can join those loser Republicans, who for eight years got to be fiscally irresponsible. Well, now it’s our time, damn it. Who cares if we’re in a recession?
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Holidays create ‘Garden State moments’
Nov. 23, 2009For many first years, the Thanksgiving holiday is the first real opportunity in the semester to go back home. And thus, it’s often the first real opportunity to have what I call a “Garden State moment.”
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Party Poopers: On health care, Democrat defectors better left alone
Nov. 22, 2009On Saturday night, the Senate voted to move health care legislation to the floor for debate in a close party-line vote of 60 to 39.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Poison the Well: Lobbyists do more harm than good by opposing regulations
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 22, 2009Last week, a federal judge in Tallahassee approved a settlement in an environmental suit that requires the EPA to set nutrient limits for lakes, streams and creeks in Florida.
