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Opinions for May 18, 2009

Swine flu raises futile fears

Just the mention of swine flu can send the most reserved person running. Because of this, ignorance is not really a blissful characteristic to have.
 

1 comment

Tuition hike is necessary evil

Since its creation just over a month ago, the Facebook group “Save UCF” has already acquired more than 8,000 members.

Kari

Patriotism wavers at Notre Dame protest

The 19 people arrested Saturday for trespassing during a protest against President Barack Obama speaking at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony Sunday really show how far this country has come.

16 comments

Opinions for May 21, 2009

Raavin

Poor programming infects TV viewers

Look to the person on your left.  Now, look to your right, the front and behind you. 
Remember their faces, because chances are four out of every four of them have watched television that very same day.

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New policy best for registration

The new “drop, swap and add” policy, which was officially put into effect this week, is a change for the better.

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Options abound after graduation

In these times of economic uncertainty, college students need to establish a backup plan long before graduation

Opinions for May 28, 2009

People now live on technology

Technology stands as a key part of college life, but it’s important to rediscover real human interactions every once in a while.

Education is not alone in cutbacks

Hell hath no fury like Florida residents protesting cuts in education, but are their desperate pleas actually helping the cause or have the cries signified in their speeches, signs and letters been falling on deaf ears?

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jen

Eating healthy, not losing weight, is key

There are people who eat healthy. Then there are people who go to college.
Most of us find it pretty difficult to do both consistently.

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Opinions for June 1, 2009

Be careful with credit cards

Credit cards are important to building our future lives after graduation, but it’s key to remember that they can add more pressure to an already-expensive college lifestyle.

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Reading really is fundamental

The thought of cracking open another book when summer finally comes is a little less than appealing, but it’s important to remember how beneficial, maybe even enjoyable, good literature can be.

Raavin

Teamwork thwarts Kobe-LeBron dream

ESPN and the NBA have got a lot under their belts, but what they had up their sleeves at the beginning of the NBA Conference Finals turned out to be nothing more than a huge crease.

6 comments

Opinions for June 4, 2009

tamra

We’re the future, so let’s clean up our act

We’ve all heard the saying many times and ways before: college is the time to explore our life options and find out who exactly we’re supposed to be in the real world. It’s also a time to grow into adulthood.

Extremism only hinders causes

The murder of George Tiller, a late-term abortion doctor from Kansas, is a reminder of how passion for a cause can be twisted into extreme acts of violence.

Poor timing for arts construction

Since UCF has trouble getting funding for construction projects, the last thing that should be going up are new buildings.

2 comments

Sotomayor clear about opinions

Imagine this: a student applying to become a Student Government Association justice says because she is an intelligent Latina woman who worked hard to rise out of poverty and go to college, she will make better judicial decisions than a rich white male.

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Opinions for June 8, 2009

New audit system interactive, simple

The new Degree Audit Report System, DARS, developed by the Office of Undergraduate Academic Services will make it easier for students to keep track of their major and minor requirements.

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Health plan hands bill to employees

A bill drafted Friday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's health committee will require all employers to offer health care to their employees or pay a penalty, but college students especially should be very skeptical of what this would entail.

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‘Social’ professors benefit students

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter may help friends stay in touch, and having professors jump in on the social networking bandwagon can only make college life and communication easier.

Opinions for June 11, 2009

h

Cutting programs is budgetary last resort

Last week, President John Hitt and I announced that, in response to state-mandated budget cuts, UCF will recommend limited academic program eliminations to the university’s Board of Trustees.

Travel with class; you represent U.S.

It’s important that, as students and citizens, we realize the rights and responsibilities we have when traveling outside of the U.S.

SGA has a seat saved for you

There are hundreds of organizations that provide virtually limitless ways to get involved in activities at UCF, but no student organization give students as much power and responsibility as the legislative branch of the Student Government Association.

Get out the vote, sign up for class

The Student Voter Opportunity to Encourage Registration Act provides a great example of student minds working together and would be a strong addition to the class registration process.

Opinions for June 15, 2009

jen

Is it ‘scene’ because it’s all just an act?

No matter how much we mature and claim to be independent adults, our insecurities still wage a constant inner war that makes us gravitate toward groups or causes we find eclectic or interesting.

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Since they tow, walk an extra row

It’s not uncommon for UCF students to either know someone or have personally experienced having their car towed while visiting an apartment complex. Sure, visitor parking is farther away and the parking lots get crowded, but is it really that hard to park where you know you won’t get towed?

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Disclosure eases Facebook fears

As more parents of college students begin to discover and join Facebook, students should make their views clear in order to create an environment that doesn’t allow that parental invasion to become a major factor.

Procrastinators rush to get boxes

The Digital Transition and Public Safety Act, which marked the switch from analog to digital television, was announced in 2005.

Opinions for June 18, 2009

Hate crime laws should be tougher

A stronger implemented hate crimes law couldn’t come at a more perfect time.

5 comments

Experiences help students stand out

When you don’t have a lot of time or money, it’s easy to think that going on trips overseas, having an impact on social justice issues or even studying abroad are impossible goals, but that could not be further from the truth.

Destruction is not art, it’s vandalism

Destruction of property shouldn’t be encouraged solely for the sake of art.

6 comments

tamra

Positive events bring Americans together

Every once in a while it helps to find positive events in life to help us come together as students, countrymen and people.

Opinions for June 22, 2009

PINK line puts UCF in spotlight

The fact that UCF has been added to the Victoria’s Secret PINK Collegiate Collection may seem trivial, but it will more than likely have a significant impact on school spirit and the recognition the university receives on a national level.

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Graduate is not on a showboat

As Justin Denney walked across the stage, he blew a kiss, pointed at his family and pulled out a necklace he received after winning a state track final, and in doing so he forfeited his right to receive his high school diploma — a consequence that was nowhere near justifiable.

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Networking is key for college grads

Although graduate school stands as an alternative in a time of economic uncertainty, graduate education shouldn’t be pursued just to avoid searching for a hard-to-find job.

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kr

Spam not palatable, regardless of medium

Unless you haven’t been alive for the past 10 years or so, you’ve probably realized that spam e-mails have evolved over the last decade into something less delectable than what you find on your grocer’s shelves.

1 comment

Opinions for June 25, 2009

Obama’s smoking life relates to law

Obama signing the tougher anti-smoking law Monday should encourage him to be open about his own struggles with nicotine.

2 comments

Cash-for-clunkers program a lemon

The $1 billion “cash-for-clunkers” program that was passed by the Senate last week is supposed to encourage us to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles and, at the same time, help get the auto industry back on its feet.

4 comments

Darwin’s theory deserves respect

Whether a person supports or denies Charles Darwin and his theories, the subject should still be respected as a possible scientific explanation just as other ideas and theories deserve respect.

3 comments

kari

This Minnesota girl cannot beat the heat

Being from Minnesota where it stays hot for about two months and then dips into below-zero temperatures for the winter, I’ve always preferred opening windows to using air conditioning to cool things off.

5 comments

Opinions for June 29, 2009

Smaller classes enhance literacy

UCF’s attempt to improve student writing through English composition classes can only help enhance student literacy within and outside the university.

Lower emissions waste of money

Transparency and politics don’t exactly go hand-in-hand. 

11 comments

Bright Futures cuts appropriate

Students will be alarmed when they receive a notification from UCF’s financial aid office letting them know about a decrease in their Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program award amount.

tamra

‘Celebrity’ standards embarrassingly low

“People always die in threes.” That’s what my mother usually says whenever someone dies, whether it’s someone we know or a famous person. Yesterday that number went up.

8 comments

Opinions for July 2, 2009

jen

Social awareness is no substitute for activism

In so many ways technology has enhanced our ability to communicate, network and get a glimpse of cultures and lifestyles very different from our own. However, if we don’t learn to act on what we see and hear, all these advances have done is make us impersonal beings who are slightly more aware of what’s going on around us.

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Speech class cuts hinder students

One of the most dreaded general education requirements, Fundamentals of Oral Communication, may no longer be accessible to a vast majority of the student body, even those who actually want to take it.

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Major promotes marketable skills

With job skills and experience becoming even more important in deciding who gets a job and who doesn’t, choosing an interdisciplinary major could help give graduates the extra push they need to show that they have a strong knowledge in diverse areas of study.

Strip-search a rights violation

The educational authorities in the case Safford Unified School District v. April Redding should be held financially responsible for their actions.

1 comment

Opinions for July 6, 2009

Governor Sanford should step down

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has gone from being a trusted husband and politician, not to mention a possible 2012 presidential candidate, to a gossip-infused tabloid subject who would do everyone a favor by resigning from office.

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New technology too impersonal

Although many students appreciate the use of Facebook, those who go without the popular social network help keep other common ways communicating, such as talking on telephones and mailing letters, alive and active.

1 comment

Post should have higher standards

At a time when newspapers are tanking left and right, layoffs are imminent and salaries are being cut, it is not surprising that The Washington Post crossed ethical lines to try to get its revenues out of the red. That does not, however, mean that it is justified.

jr

Celebrate freedom, but do it respectfully

It may seem ironic, but this year especially I felt a great deal of pride when I reflected on the historic day that has allowed us to experience life with every kind of freedom and opportunity at our feet.

26 comments

Opinions for July 9, 2009

Loan plan an asset to students

The Department of Education’s Income-Based Repayment plan looks to be more helpful than harmful to college graduates with government loans like Stafford.

FAFSA changes insignificant

The proposed changes to the way students and their families fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid might make the process easier, but will most likely not bring about a significant rise in college enrollment.

1 comment

Resale of Jackson tickets is shameful

Those who helped to get the tickets for Michael Jackson’s memorial off eBay and Craigslist should be commended.

kari

Saving money here and there adds up

The one thing I wanted to avoid this summer was moving into a new apartment for the third time in three years. Packing everything up, booking a moving truck and making midnight trips to Wal-Mart in search of free boxes just isn’t my idea of fun.

3 comments

Opinions for July 13, 2009

tam

Booty-call themes take TV ads too far

I’m a night owl. I always have been, and I don’t see that changing in the near future. It doesn’t really matter how early I need to get up the next day, I still have a tendency to just stay awake into the early morning hours.

2 comments

U.S. should avoid second stimulus

It’s hard to believe lawmakers are actually talking about a second stimulus package already, but the extremely premature and wasteful idea is already on the table.

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Fight to keep programs alive

There has never been a more important time for UCF students to engage in discussions about significant changes taking place at their university.

Racism prevalent despite progress

Obama’s Saturday visit to Ghana shows just how far humanity as a whole has come, but situations like the Valley Swim Club incident in Pennsylvania display how far it still has to go.

6 comments

Opinions for July 16, 2009

jenross

Finger-pointing won’t fix crisis

When you watch faculty, students, alumni and members of the Orlando community protest cuts that are affecting them in very personal ways, it’s natural to want to place blame.

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tamra

Every program is a valuable one

At the public meeting held by the Board of Trustees’ Educational Programs Committee Monday, it was evident how much program cuts are going to impact individuals, the university and the community.

2 comments

Opinions for July 20, 2009

hickey

Severe budget crisis forced program cuts

Since my previous column in the Future, the university’s financial outlook has not improved. On July 1, we began the new 2009-10 fiscal year with a $38.3 million cut to our recurring state budget.

3 comments

smith

Hitt not forthcoming with UCF budget info

The United Faculty of Florida UCF Chapter has tried to have an honest conversation with the administration and Board of Trustees about the financial situation of UCF so we can understand the alleged need to cut academic programs and faculty.

6 comments

Opinions for July 23, 2009

Obama’s partisan ideals show in bill

President Barack Obama has always spoken of his desire to “extend a hand across the aisle” to Republicans when passing legislation and has been labeled as having a vision for a “post-partisan future,” but his actions as of late indicate otherwise.

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VA health care needs overhaul

Obama’s health care plan is an intensely debated issue among U.S. citizens and government officials, but the country should be dedicating just as much attention to caring about the health care of war veterans as it does for the people who have remained at home.

2 comments

konstatin

Board of Trustees losing students’ trust

Imagine dangling off a rope in gym class.

And as you slowly reach to the top and stretch out your hand to feel victorious, a large pair of scissors cuts the rope and sends you tumbling to the hardwood floor.

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Opinions for July 27, 2009

Crisis requires honest discourse

Despite continuous protests from the UCF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida as well as students, alumni and other professionals in the Orlando community, we all assumed the UCF Board of Trustees would vote to eliminate four academic programs Thursday.

4 comments

China’s birth laws faulty, irrational

China may think it’s looking out for the best interests of the country by limiting the number of children a couple can have, but it appears even more irrational for them to change the numbers whenever it suits them.

1 comment

Film could keep Crist out of Senate

Gov. Charlie Crist’s run for a senate seat will be hampered because of an anti-Semitic film he received, even though he said he didn’t approve of it.

6 comments

Opinions for July 30, 2009

Water tower stores savings

Although the water tower next to the Nicholson School of Communication has seemed more like an eyesore than a money saver during its construction process, the concrete exterior that seems out of place will soon blend in with the surrounding architecture.

Students make the university

Each year rankings are presented by Princeton Review and U.S. News to show where universities and colleges stand nationally. Although these rankings can be positive or negative, it’s important to remember that students are the ones who make up a college and not the other way around.

4 comments

Crocs on the endangered list

We’ve seen corporations crumble and stocks plummet beneath the weight of this economic recession, and now, the company responsible for the once-trendy Crocs is drowning in debt as well.

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tamra

Change provoked by student opinions

The summer of 2009 will likely be one to remember. People who influenced our culture in music and media died along with things closer to home such as programs at UCF.

4 comments