Central Florida Future - Spring 2010 Archive

Opinions for April 29, 2010

New semester and new editor-in-chief

The summer of 2010 is a big one.

The Study Union has you covered

We constantly hear students complaining about how they wish the library were open 24 hours a day during finals week.

Graduate degrees worth extra cost

If you are in line at the grocery store this week and find yourself flipping through magazines, then be sure to pick up the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report.

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Opinions for April 26, 2010

Make Earth Day last all year long

Ideas on how to treat the planet better are probably fresh in your head since Earth Day was last week.

Helpful Knights deserve thanks

The UCF volunteer organization Knights Helping Knights should be proud of all their hard work. The team of dedicated students helps about 100 students a semester by providing free food

Let me tell you why I love this job

Well, this is it. My final column as editor-in-chief.

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Opinions for April 22, 2010

No longer betrothed after each semester

At the beginning of every semester I am newly engaged, like a bride to be, optimistic and excited.

Canceled class is a good game plan

We are happy to see that UCF was able to execute the plan they put in motion years ago regarding football games scheduled at the same time as classes.

Take time to help victims

If you did not know, April is sexual assault awareness month. UCF Victim Services is partnering with Victim Service Center of Orange County Inc. and the Sexual Assault Treatment Center of Orange County — part of the VSC — and holding an underwear drive in an attempt to raise awareness about sexual assaults.

Opinions for April 19. 2010

Life doesn't have to be a balancing act

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the importance of balancing your life. Actually that’s not true, I just read one article in Marie Claire about it, but I do know people are always talking about how important it is to keep our lives balanced.

Make effort to see potential provosts

On June 30, Terry Hickey will retire from his position as provost at UCF.
The final four candidates to replace Hickey will start their open meetings today. James Coleman’s meeting is today at 3:15 p.m. in Teaching Academy Room 117.

Equal benefits long overdue

UCF stands for opportunity” is the slogan your school promotes everywhere.
Commercials, posters and websites all attempt to convince people that your school is a diverse place where teachers and students can thrive. People from all walks of life have the chance to embrace the opportunities that only UCF can provide.

New leaders have promises to keep

As we say goodbye to a cabinet of the Student Government Association that was loved by many students, it is important to focus on the new student leaders of UCF.

Opinion for April 15, 2010

It’s democracy 101, taxes aren’t tyranny

The idea that everyone hates paying taxes, especially the super wealthy, does not apply to everyone.

Getting off the dreaded wait list

Earlier this week The New York Times published two articles covering college wait lists.

Perhaps you are thinking neither article would interest you because you are already in school, eliminating the fear of being put on a dreaded wait list.

All students need protection

Discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated, which is why the National Day of Silence rally this Friday is important.

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Opinions for April 12, 2010

Take advantage of your student status

Many times I find myself asking, “Just how much can I get away with in this situation?”

FCC is no threat to the Internet

The federal appeals court ruling regarding net neutrality last week worries us. We could be living in what will later be known as the good old days of the Internet.

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Airline safety has its price

Last week, passengers on United Airlines Flight 663 from Washington to Denver were detained after a diplomat from Qatar smoked a cigarette in the bathroom of the jetliner.

Opinions for April 8, 2010

Punishment should fit crime

Last week, UCF’s Golden Rule Review Committee voted on a new policy that would equalize the consequences of marijuana and alcohol use among students. The Future has supported this cause with endorsements in our paper since 2008.

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Interns are not free employees

The history of journalism has almost always included internships — paid and unpaid. It’s an excellent way for a novice journalist to learn more about reporting and writing while proving to the editor that they could handle the pace of a newsroom.

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You can pull through, don’t quit, don’t settle

The weather is beautiful, PowerPoints are inducing more in-classroom sleep than usual, and we are all counting down the days till this semester is over.

Opinions for April 5, 2010

Bullying like this can’t be ignored

The story of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley, Mass., who killed herself earlier this year, is terrible.

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Pope should speak about scandals

How the Catholic Church is handling the latest round of sexual abuse scandals, which includes blaming the media, is embarrassing.

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Finals induce fear in study groups

The ticking is audible.

Yes, I think my eardrum has, once again, been replaced with a wind-up cymbal playing tin monkey. The clock is ticking — like the white rabbit’s — his pocket watch tucked just inside his waistcoat pocket, my white BlackBerry tucked just inside my brassiere. It’s not ticking down the days to my death, yet. I won’t be that morbid for a few more weeks. It’s currently the countdown to finals.

Opinions for April 1, 2010

Rumor based polls don’t change reality

The battle over health care is over, and the war is just beginning. But is this war really about health care? Or is it really over Obama?

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Loan reform helps everyone

Health care reform has received so much attention this week that hardly anyone noticed the major remodeling to the student loan program.

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Let the sun shine on climate data

It does not shock us that the first of several British investigations into the leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit exonerated the scientists this week.

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Opinions for March 29, 2010

Remember fellow Knights

It can seem sometimes that on this campus of more than 50,000 students, it would be impossible for everyone to know everyone else.

Research your future this week

Since you attend the third largest public university in the country you have numerous chances to learn outside of the classroom.

Awareness key to ending cycle of violence

President of the National Organization for Women at UCF

“Yes means yes, and no means no, whatever we wear, wherever we go!”

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UCF students already part of a ‘socialist’ system

Letter to the editor

So I have been observing intently at the widespread uproar that has many students at UCF and around the state in uproar over this health care bill. Those against feel they are being forced by the government to pay for health care.

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Day at the Capitol crucial but tiring

The Student Government Association kids are a tough bunch. I did not fully understand their vigorous nature until last Wednesday, when I attended UCF’s Day at the Capitol. I came home appreciative and exhausted by their hard work.

Opinions for March 25, 2010

Take mold talk very seriously

We are disappointed that a student had to live in a UCF affiliated apartment that was making him sick for almost two years.

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Split the tab for underage drinking

We completely understand that it is not the responsibility of local business owners to act as babysitters for UCF students.

Insurance reform bill will not kill you

Everybody, from both sides of the proverbial political aisle need to calm down, take a big, deep breath, and stop over-reacting to the passing of the health insurance reform bill.

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Opinions for March 22, 2010

Thanks for reading and making us great

It is my pleasure to announce to you, the lovely reading audience, that this newspaper you are holding is a first-place winner.

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Division slows down diversity

The decision to eliminate funding for the Multicultural Student Center Funding Board was not a bad one.

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Go green to get the green stuff

You do not have to worry anymore, UCF students, because there are jobs after college.

Opinions for March 18, 2010

Corrupted texts hurt education

Contrary to popular belief, the history of the United States has not always been a fight between the two political groups, conservatives and liberals.

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Magazine ban lacks respect

The University of Miami is upsetting many students and alumni with its ban of the popular college magazine back\slash.

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Edwards’ baby mama photos make me sick

Our nosy culture has produced the newest type of overnight celebrity: the adulteress. In America today, you can become famous fast if you help destroy the right marriage, then air the dirty details to every media outlet willing to talk to you.

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Opinions for March 15, 2010

Day at Capitol could kill cuts

We are attending UCF’s annual Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, March 24, and so should you.

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Leave videos for YouTube stars

Tufts University is now allowing its applicants to submit videos with their SAT scores and GPA.

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This little piggy got schooled on manners

What’s your worst nightmare, boys? Wait don’t tell me, I already know. It’s being at dinner with the most beautiful, most intelligent woman in the state, while simultaneously having an old woman point out — in front of her — everything you are doing wrong throughout the entire dinner, right?

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Opinions for March 4, 2010

We need parking lot rules of engagement

The university needs to publish rules about how to obtain and claim a parking spot before someone dies.

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Campus no place for firearms

This week the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for a case on gun control.

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NIDs inefficient for elections

While reviewing the article on Network Identification Numbers being required with signatures a certain old saying came up, “If it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it.”

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Opinions for March 1, 2010

The difference will still be you

After a long week of campaigning, countless long nights of preparation, and the tireless effort of many passionate supporters, the University of Central Florida students elected both Taylor and I into the highest office a student at UCF can hold. Words cannot express how honored we are for being entrusted with this great responsibility.

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Shocking images are the point of demonstration

Letter to the editor

Your “Our Stance” column on Thursday declares that the photos put up by the Genocide Awareness Project miss the point — but the photos are the point. We are a generation raised on visual media.

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GAP not intended to shock but educate

As an officer of Students for Life, I have a few comments in response to all of the debate about the recent Genocide Awareness Project.

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Opinions for February 25, 2010

Offensive photos miss the point

For two days last week the Genocide Awareness Project set up shop in the free speech areas near the library and in front of the Student Union. Consider yourself lucky if you missed the nauseating display.

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Fresh idea in the equality fight

Earlier this month, dozens of married couples gathered in Central Park to protest the votes against same sex marriage in the New York and New Jersey legislatures.

The couples were showing their support for the gay community with their pledge of “UnMarriage” until same sex couples were offered the option of marriage.

Word problems are textbook ridiculous

Have you ever asked yourself why on earth a textbook is $200?

I was always asking myself that question, too.

Opinions for February 22, 2010

SGA president picks Kilbride, Lochrane

The yearly determination of our future leaders is one of the most important three days at UCF. These individuals, who serve as the stewards of our Student Government Association, are the president and vice president of SGA.

Let’s raise the bar for SGA

It would be easy for Taylor and I to take the road of less resistance and, like campaigns past, throw the Student Government Association under the bus and say that this current administration is nothing but more of the same.

An end to elitism, wasted money

My name is Daniel Seeff, and I am running for student body president.

I was once sitting on the floors of South African lecture halls, because this is where I was raised. I came to America, which was a hard transition for me, in order to pursue a better life.

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Opinions for February 18, 2010

The Future will not endorse a candidate

The intent of this column, summed up, is to announce that under my direction, the Central Florida Future will not be endorsing a candidate for the 2010 Student Government Association Presidential elections.

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UCF bears unfair brunt of violations

You don’t usually see stances concerning sports at UCF in the opinions section of the paper.
However, the NCAA’s decision last week to place UCF on probation for two years was startling enough to warrant extra attention.

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Change tailgating to tempt fans

UCF’s decision to change the tailgating hours is alienating some fans and community members, which can reduce its potential profits.

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President’s Day isn’t about convenience

Letter to the editor

During a casual conversation with a UCF student, I was appalled to hear that the university held classes today, President’s Day.

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Opinions for February 15, 2010

We salute Knights who give back

Often our stances are filled with rants on local, state and national issues that include or affect UCF’s student body. We are not against positive stories or stances, though.

Pika could be climate canary

Whether you drive a Hummer or ride your bike to school every day, you are probably aware of the international conversation about the effects of climate change.

How free is speech in free speech areas?

Administration to students: Sit down, shut up.

You may be attending a public university, but you probably wouldn’t realize it if you attempted to reach out to students on this campus. Even the most innocuous of activities, such as quietly offering a fellow student a flier, can be an illegal act from the perspective of SGA and the actual powers that be at UCF.

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Opinions for February 8, 2010

Ever wish that your iPod couldn’t fit in your pocket?

Every year, oceans of gadget junk are pumped out to the tech market. Thousands of boring desktops, gimmicky cell phones and generally dull devices are produced, marketed and sold to easily impressionable, perpetually unsatisfied consumers across the globe.

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Do not expect UCF’s help post-graduation

At 23 years old, graduating from the University of Central Florida with my bachelor’s in philosophy and a double minor in women’s studies and political science was not only the highlight of my academic career, but of my life.

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CBS shouldn’t stiff-arm ads

The Super Bowl is a time to indulge in your favorite fried foods while screaming at your television. On this special American holiday, you are able to embarrass yourself and your waistline without feeling guilty.

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Letter to the editor

NorthView is no good for the neighborhood

Tch, tch. CFF - getting your reporters and editorialists to get the facts, not just grab for a new “facility” that will sate commercial thirsts is a tough job. Try to live up.

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Opinions for February 4, 2010

Expansion brings a good neighbor

It seems silly that the Carillon Home Owners Association is spending time and money to fight the student housing that might be built near their community.
Unless the residents of this area have been living in their homes since before 1963, then they should know what the future entailed: expansion. Assuming that UCF, a leading research university, would not grow as the years went by is naive.

In case of classroom monotony, raise hand

Every semester I feel slightly sorry for all of my professors.
Here they are, standing in front of sometimes hundreds of students, trying their best to get information into our heads.

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Antidepressants can’t fix economy

In the latest issue of Wired magazine, author Ethan Watters explains the early stages of America’s newest disorder: post-traumatic embitterment disorder.
The contemporary malady is an attempt to explain the symptoms of the financial worries that are running rampant in our society today.

Opinions for January 18, 2010

Helping Haiti requires more than a status update

You are upset about the earthquake in Haiti and feel bad for the people and family affected by this devastating natural disaster. We, too, are upset to see so many lives taken and also feel sad for the people of Haiti.

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Shift in values not reflected in jewelry ads

While flipping through an issue of The Economist in an attempt to find a stimulating topic for my first column I stumbled upon a full-page, full-color advertisement from Everlon, which is a diamond knot collection under license from the De Beers Group of Companies.

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Opinions for January 14, 2010

Break free from the big banks

As a college student you might shy away from the dreaded news reports on the bank bailouts.

Let’s start off with a few rules

The start of a new semester can be a refreshing time on campus, a time when students are — dare we say — excited to learn.

Opinions for January 11, 2010

Universal’s coaster can’t get off the tracks

Back in 2005, when I was an airheaded high-school student searching for a college or university I could call my own, it didn’t take me long to set my focus on applying and being admitted to the University of Central Florida.

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Fix insurance before forcing it

Universities exist to provide an education for students. It is comforting to see UCF working diligently to aid in the lives of students outside of the classroom, but it is coming close to crossing the line. UCF is supporting a proposal that will make health insurance mandatory for all new, full-time students at Florida universities.

Stop and smell the roses on this lawn

The old adage “the grass is always greener on the other side” is so popular because it resonates with anyone, regardless of age, gender or nationality. As a college student you can find yourself daydreaming about the greener side, wondering about brighter schools, better football teams, and adequately staffed financial aid offices that don’t require hour-long waits.

Opinions for January 4, 2010

Don’t drive under influence of texts

In a recent article, the New York Times explained how lawmakers have proposed 200 bills to curb distracted driving. With most proposed legislation banning texting while driving, we thought the topic was worth discussing since the expert text message creator is usually in the same age group as most UCF students.