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Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Opinion

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bush presidency tragic mistake

Wednesday's letter from Wayne Jespersen is disheartening in its apologies for a failed administration. The way Jespersen characterizes the presidency was the way it was intended when the Constitution was written. Reality could not be further from the truth, however.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Machen statement hypocritical

As a private citizen, President Machen has every right to express his opinion about political candidates and should be able to endorse whomever he wishes. But Machen should not be able to utilize his title as UF president to support a presidential candidate.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Think before voting on Amendment 1

"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.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Machen's endorsement irresponsible, bad for UF

While it may not have been as glamorous or as influential as Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama - and certainly didn't receive as much media attention - UF President Bernie Machen's unusual public announcement that he would endorse Sen. John McCain for president this week did raise more than a few questions across campus.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Congress is to blame for state of country

Tuesday's editorial cited President Bush as the cause of many ills, when in fact, it is Congress that passed those bills. The president, after all, has little authority. Mostly, he can start and stop wars. In the end, it's the legislature that introduces and passes bills, and they can override the president's veto.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Leave education to Florida's teachers

In response to Friday's letter by Marshall Printy, the author seems to feel that the intent of the educational system is to "teach students to find the correct answer" on a standardized test. Reality and the world around us do not consist of a single set of questions that every person must answer. Some sixth and eighth graders who performed poorly in their last standardized test are now, by state law, only taught reading, math and science each day.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Fertility science blurs idea of family

Having a rough day? Well, look on the bright side: At least you didn't find out that your new wife or husband is your twin, thus making your romance about as incestuous as is incestuously possible. Say that three times fast. I know that's ridiculous, but it also happens to be horrifyingly based on fact.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Coming of age brings new priorities

Do you ever reach a point in life you when you just know things have changed? Like one day, all of a sudden, you realize you're an adult? It's not like you start misplacing your keys or using phrases like "cool beans." It's this creepy onset of maturity that just smacks you in the soul. Age has overcome me. But I should be ready by now. I've been given almost 21 years to prepare.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bush education policies good for state

The editorial in Thursday's paper that criticized Jeb Bush's policies to improve public education relied on some severely unconventional wisdom. It asserted, "anyone can teach a fourth-grader how to mechanically bubble in the right answers." Well, that might be true if all the right answers were listed in front of the student, but to imply that anyone can achieve what many teachers are failing to do - teach students to find the correct answer in the first place - underestimates the obstacles our teachers face in the classroom.



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