Content of Internet should be left alone
By Rob Myers | Apr. 13, 2008Rebecca Ganzak's column Thursday reminded me of the "Freedom, but…" concept too many people subscribe to today.
Rebecca Ganzak's column Thursday reminded me of the "Freedom, but…" concept too many people subscribe to today.
I try to avoid whining in my column, but sometimes I can't help it. Actually, I whine most of the time. OK, all I do is whine.
In her column on Thursday, Ms. Ganzak asked all the wrong questions. "Why is the Internet so open?" she wondered. The question should be "Why is everything else so closed?"
The referendum on the spring ballot supporting UF's adherence to socially responsible investment, which passed by student voters, shows that among students a strong sentiment exists for the university to do the right thing: to place people before the unrestrained quest for profit.
This week it seems that along with the pollen and spring, protesting is also in the air. Whether it's the anti-war protestors on the corner of 13th Street and University Avenue, the hunger strikers staking it out in front of Bernie's office or the maniacs trying to extinguish the Olympic torch, it's hard to keep up with who's mad at who for what these days. So, here at Darts & Laurels headquarters, we'll keep it simple for you this week and let you know what should really be pissing you off. Get your signs ready and practice your angry chants for this week's edition of Darts & Laurels.
I may never again live in an all-college town
I have seen the promotions, watched videos and listened to several computer-savvy friends explain to me why the Internet should be a free and uncensored flow of entertainment and information. I used to agree.
Week after week, Joshua Frederickson writes impassioned columns bashing any thought that is on this side of far-left. I enjoy political discourse, but only when it is informed. I do not have room here to detail his numerous errors and misguided assertions, so I will focus on his attack against McCain over waterboarding. He claims that McCain's anti-torture "convictions" disappeared when he voted against the Senate's ban.
On Tuesday night, Gainesville City Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee and UF's assistant vice president of student affairs, held a forum on campus to discuss proposed changes before the commission that may change the face of Gainesville's nightlife.
In Wednesday's Alligator, Greg Perry asked if there was any true value gained from installing GPS on RTS buses. Mr. Perry appears to assume that the only benefit from GPS is providing knowledge about wait times to students and the community. Knowledge of wait times for students is merely an ancillary public benefit that comes with the system.
Tuesday evening, in a packed room, several Iraq War veterans spoke of their experiences while on the ground in Iraq. Their aim was to simply inform the American people of the realities of the war. The content was not something that you will see on the evening news because it was reality.
I must have missed the desperately needed outcry to scold Student Government's blatant waste of spending, so here goes my version. The University of Florida is spending $204,000 to start up, then $110,000 per year to tell you how long you have to wait for a bus. If that's not enough, throw in a few high-definition LCD screens. Can we not wait for a bus like the rest of the world? Is there any true value gained in this system?
As an adoptee, active in adoption-law reform efforts since shortly after I graduated from UF, I am disappointed that UF would extend an invitation to Diablo Cody to speak at my alma mater.
Members of the mainstream media in this country have been engaged in a nauseating love affair with Sen. John McCain ever since his failed presidential campaign in 2000. During that campaign, the Arizona senator swept the press off of their collective feet with his brash "straight talk," his disarming charm and his self-deprecating sense of humor. Many so-called "journalists" labeled him a "maverick" because he occasionally refused to toe the line of his intellectually and morally bankrupt party. However, this, in and of itself, does not a maverick make. Simply repeating something over and over again does not mean that it's true.
We welcome you to your new home, Paul D'Anieri. When others dropped out of the dean search after an administration shake-up and pressing budget problems, you decided to remain in the running to be at the helm of the biggest college on the UF campus. Congratulations on your selection. We're glad that you're here.
A little detail bugged me in Mondays Grad Tab 2008 article. It says …the Gators football team, led by quarterback Tim Tebow, snagged a championship of its own on Jan. 8, 2007. Im not trying to take anything away from Tim Tebow he is a tremendous athlete, a great person and he was a major contributor to our championship. He is now our leader and I look forward to the 2008 season.
Imagine that a resident assistant walking through a dorm at night hears a noise that sounds suspicious, so he or she knocks on the door. He eventually gains access to the room and realizes that he has interrupted a sex act between two male students. He reports the incident to the administration. The president oversees an investigation into the sexual identity of the two students. The investigation infuriates other homosexual students, so several of them walk into the president's office and claim to be homosexuals. After learning that all the students are in fact homosexuals, the university expels all of them.
I am writing in response to Friday's editorial giving the Florida House of Representatives a "dart" for passing a bill requiring that an ultrasound be taken and the option of viewing that ultrasound be given to a woman before an abortion.
I truly don't understand what the uproar from the student body is all about in regard to the lawsuit against Einstein's Notes.
"You know how proud you were when your wife had that baby girl?" Frank asked.