Dean: Dems will seat Fla. delegates if Obama says it’s ok

“Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said Wednesday the party was committed to seating Florida’s delegates at this summer’s convention as long as any agreement is supported by the party’s two presidential contenders.” AP

Florida knew the rules established by the Democratic National Committee: Have the primary on the date you want (too early) and we will not seat your delegates.

Pretty simple to understand, isn’t it? You’d think Even politicians in Floridaland should be able to grasp that.

Now the DNC caves in and tells Florida that even though they went against all the rules laid out, they will be seated and get to vote as long as Obama says it’s ok. (We all know Hillary will not have a problem with it because she “won” Florida.)

If Obama now says “no” to the FL delegates he will likely lose quite a number of FL superdelegates who previously said they’d support him. How could they vote for him if he disses their entire state?

If he says “yes” he may get some superdelegates, but will also mostly lose his lead because Hillary will be getting more than he does.

In essence the Democratic Committee not only said their own rules aren’t important, they also made a race that’s too close even closer.

Wow, that’s stupid.

Not only that, it’s precisely what the DNC vowed to prevent.

New FL education standards use word ‘evolution’

For the record, Florida is now teaching evolution:

Florida’s public school science standards for the first time will use the word “evolution,” although the biological concept already was being taught under code words such as “change over time.”

The new standards, part of a set of overall science changes adopted by the State Board of Education Tuesday on a 4-3 vote, require schools to spend more class time on evolution and teach it in more detail. AP

Can you believe a decision like this scrapes by with a 4-3-split vote?

Jesus loves you, but you still get an F* (*as in Florida)

Florida’s schools suck. But since we weren’t sure just how badly the Florida public school system was, the FCAT was devised to tell us just how much our children isn’t learning, to paraphrase president Bush.

Year after year the inevitable happened: the FCAT came and went and told us that Florida’s schools suck.

So the test was made easier. Year after year. But Florida still sucked. No matter how loudly we cheered “No Child Left Behind” test scores still were, well, sucking.

It even didn’t help that most schools now extensively prep the students, specifically coaching them for the exact conditions of the test, dropping such unnecessary curriculum dead-weight like “evolution,” which we all know is a myth anyway, to coach students how to pass the test.

Yet Florida still sucked.

But NOW we have the answer!
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US Gov. keeping even more private records on travelers than previously thought

Bye bye, USA. It was fun while it lasted.

The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.

The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department’s Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country.

But new details about the information being retained suggest that the government is monitoring the personal habits of travelers more closely than it has previously acknowledged. The details were learned when a group of activists requested copies of official records on their own travel. Those records included a description of a book on marijuana that one of them carried and small flashlights bearing the symbol of a marijuana leaf.

The Automated Targeting System has been used to screen passengers since the mid-1990s, but the collection of data for it has been greatly expanded and automated since 2002, according to former DHS officials.

Officials yesterday defended the retention of highly personal data on travelers not involved in or linked to any violations of the law. But civil liberties advocates have alleged that the type of information preserved by the department raises alarms about the government’s ability to intrude into the lives of ordinary people. The millions of travelers whose records are kept by the government are generally unaware of what their records say, and the government has not created an effective mechanism for reviewing the data and correcting any errors, activists said.

The activists alleged that the data collection effort, as carried out now, violates the Privacy Act, which bars the gathering of data related to Americans’ exercise of their First Amendment rights, such as their choice of reading material or persons with whom to associate. They also expressed concern that such personal data could one day be used to impede their right to travel.

“The federal government is trying to build a surveillance society,” said John Gilmore, a civil liberties activist in San Francisco whose records were requested by the Identity Project, an ad-hoc group of privacy advocates in California and Alaska. The government, he said, “may be doing it with the best or worst of intentions. . . . But the job of building a surveillance database and populating it with information about us is happening largely without our awareness and without our consent.”
Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented - washingtonpost.com

SP Times: Some overseas visitors are over Florida

The St. Petersburg Times is the latest with accounts on how international tourism to the US, and particularly to Florida, is falling because international travelers are treated like criminals. Courtesy of that story comes this absolutely priceless quote from a British national waxing on about how not going to America is really not all that bad:

“We found we were missing a hell of a lot not going to Europe,” says Strachan. “The history, the architecture blows you away, especially compared to downtown Tampa.”

Full story here.

Florida wildlife should be treasured

Sometime this weekend, I stood in front of an exhibit at Busch Gardens and watched a throng of people point at a number of white birds that sat in the oak trees above. The birds — white ibises, to be precise — were native to Florida and were as much a part of the display as the individuals pointing at them.

The encounter gave me a pang of survivor’s guilt that stayed with me for the rest of the weekend. Floridians — myself included — are quickly destroying the world around them, and most don’t even seem to notice, let alone care.
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Tampa needs to spend less time being creative

I am 27 years old, and I hate living in Tampa. Any other city might brush such a statement off, but in Tampa’s case, it doesn’t bode well, as it also casts a damning shadow over the city’s most recent strategy to market itself to would-be citizens.

In recent years, Tampa has been attempting to re-brand itself as a “creative city,” a trend to be seen in many cities that face an identity crisis after an economic downturn. This tactic often follows the theories of Richard Florida — a man who is half urban planner, half rock star.

Florida coined the phrase “creative class” in the late ’90s in an attempt to describe a mystical group of people who do not hesitate to move across the country in pursuit of not only cool jobs, but also cool locations.
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Tutu’s message would be well served at home

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s visit to the USF campus last week was celebrated by the University’s administration as a public relations coup. It was, no doubt, and the University milked the $150,000 event for all it was worth, cleverly tying it to the yearlong celebration of USF’s 50th anniversary.

But for many of the attendees, the event was more than a high-profile photo opportunity. It was encouragement to believe in peaceful activism, civil liberties and, most of all, forgiveness and reconciliation — charmingly delivered by a man who was not merely preaching it, but living it.

Tutu’s speech did not dwell much on the negative experiences he had when confronting apartheid in South Africa. Even in the press conference before his speech when reporters attempted to lure Tutu into making a political statement, Tutu laughed in the charming fashion that has become his trademark and began enumerating “good things” that had happened in recent months.

Speaking about Hurricane Katrina, he said many terrible things had occurred, but “also a lot of good things happened there.” He spoke of “incredible generosity” and of “people opening their homes” or giving money to help those in need. He also spoke of the “millions of people” who protested the war in Iraq.

While many people — myself included — often feel overwhelmed by the uphill battles they face, Tutu found a way to remain true to his positive outlook on the world and his drive to improve the world we live in. He even dismissed the allegation that “young people” did not care enough about their society as “baloney.” According to him, “some of the most idealistic are young people.” In our own little corner of the world at USF, such reflection and eventual reconciliation is desperately needed as well.

Nahla Al-Arian, wife of former USF professor Sami Al-Arian, seemed to also adhere to — or at least hope for — such reconciliation when I spoke to her in one of the cavernous hallways of the Sun Dome on Tuesday night. Mrs. Al-Arian, while quiet, seemed surprisingly upbeat even though members of her family had been put through the justice system without regard for the principle “innocent until proven guilty.”
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Pool overhauled while buildings crumble further

In Friday’s Oracle, University of South Florida students read this quote: “Everything ages, and with other schools, their facilities and the things they can offer their students (are up to date). We need to have the most up-to-date offerings as well.” Students may have hoped the quote concerned the crumbling Fine Arts building or crowded conditions in the School of Architecture. But instead, the quote referred to one of USF’s outdoor pools.
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Chinese reign in mighty Disney empire

Disney’s newest theme park is facing investigations concerning poor working conditions and bad pay. The government is also very unhappy with the Disney corporation throwing around its corporate might to receive preferential treatment. Such allegations have been raised before, so astute readers may ask themselves: Why is the government stepping in all of a sudden? The answer: The new park is in China.

Disneyland Hong Kong officially opened Tuesday, but the park has been accessible to several thousand visitors on “rehearsal days.” In the few days the park has been up and running, clashes with the local Chinese government have already occurred. The response from the Chinese government may be one Disney is not used to: The government is not having it.

The local Chinese government is concerned Disney is trying to establish the new resort and the island it resides on as out of their jurisdiction.

One such case arose when visitors who had eaten at restaurants in the new park came down with food poisoning. Local authorities came to the park to investigate the conditions, but Disney officials pressured the arriving inspectors into leaving their badges and uniform hats behind before entering the park to avoid the park’s visitors from becoming suspicious.
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Campus needs to become second home

With the opening of the Library’s new Information Commons earlier this semester also came a room where students can meet, study or simply hang out. Such amenities are vital to a campus’s social life, yet they are largely missing from the University of South Florida’s campus.
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USF shuttle takes turn for the worse

One of the University of South Florida’s main strategies for its development is to establish a stronger sense of community and identity. An effective way to achieve this started in summer 2000 when the USF shuttle service route was established, connecting the overwhelmingly student-populated blocks north of campus with the campus itself. This semester, though, students are appropriately complaining that what was almost an ideal service has taken a turn for the worse.
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Researchers get perks,others little

A two-class society is being created at USF: One part of USF receives money, buildings and other perks because they are associated with prestigious research. The other, more “traditional” part of USF, is told that money is short, leading to a steady decline in USF’s general education quality.

USF already fell several ranks on U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings. It is now ranked 189, nine spots below last year’s result.
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Campus hit by avoidable growing pains

As the University of South Florida continues to grow, it is undergoing tremendous change. Students both new and old recognize these gradual changes every day, but the University’s administration will also have to take the growth into account when planning for the future. As it stands, it is apparent that past planning has not created the most desirable campus to study, work or even live on.
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Use of A&S funds for SG banquet, retreat unacceptable

Student Government officials don’t earn much money; that much is clear. But SG’s logic that because its members are underpaid it has the right to party on student funds is an affront to the trust students put into their supposed representatives.

Last week The Oracle detailed how SG had chartered the StarShip, a luxury cruise ship in Tampa, and dug into Activity & Services fees to pay most of the costs of the dinner and “appreciation gifts.” Each SG member attending the event paid $10, but students paid the remaining $2,763.
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ISSS example of professionalism

When something goes amiss in USF’s mazelike bureaucracy, it usually doesn’t bode well for students. But if this happens to an international student, the experience can be outright frightening. Thankfully though, International Student and Scholar Services exhibits a sense of professionalism that often goes well beyond what USF is required to do for students. And even though one of the key staff members in those offices is leaving this week, many other sectors of USF could learn from ISSS.
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Safety standards at theme parks worth a closer look

The four year old who collapsed and died after experiencing a ride at Disney World?s Epcot Center certainly received some media attention. The death has raised concerns over the safety of not only the ride on which the incident occurred, but also about America?s theme parks in general. While it is important not to over-react, closer inspection of safety rules may be in order.

Ever since Walt Disney opened Disney World, California, in the mid-50s, theme parks have become icons of America?s way of life. Since then audiences have craved faster and more elaborate thrill-inducing rides.
Rides now often carry up to several thousand visitors a day. Some accidents, such as bumps and bruises, are therefore bound to happen sooner or later and in most cases, the riders themselves are to blame. But it is important that such accidents, as well as security regulations in general, are not simply brushed aside to attract a few more customers.

Tampa?s Busch Gardens is no exception to this. By opening SheiKra, one of America?s most extreme roller coasters, the park was hoping to attract up to 15 percent more customers in the first year of its operation. But the ride is also one of those cases where thrill was prioritized over safety, at least in the first days the ride was in operation.
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USF continues to cause confusion when storms hit

Tropical depression Arlene visited Florida over the weekend, serving as a reminder of the four hurricanes that pelted Florida last year. University of South Florida students may also remember the absurd way in which the University handled information concerning hurricanes. Whether Arlene was a sign of things to come remains to be seen, but judging by last year’s efforts, USF still has much to learn about communicating with its students and staff.
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Al-Arian trial tests nation’s justice system

he trial of former USF professor Sami Al-Arian is slowly moving forward, but the jury selection process, as well as the location of the trial, cast doubt on how well justice will be served.

Al-Arian stands accused of helping an organization called the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. His arrest was one of the few instances that allowed former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to hold a press conference that gave the American public the illusion that their “war on terror” was effectively being waged.

If Al-Arian, a man who has spent the past few years in jail — a large portion of which he spent in solitary confinement — turns out to be innocent, it would be embarrassing for the Bush administration, to say the least. But this should not be an impetus to sentence him no matter the circumstances.
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Florida’s beaches deserve protection

Two beaches close to the University of South Florida have been named among the nation’s best, one even taking the top spot. For Floridians as well as the tourism industry, this is good news. It also stresses the need to protect our shores, as there was a time when most of Florida’s beaches would have competed with the beauty of the beaches that are now heralded as exceptional.

The beach close to Fort Desoto on the northern shore of Mullet Key, an island just off the entrance to Tampa Bay, has been named the nation’s best, a distinction that is based both on water quality and surrounding factors. Caladesi Island took the fourth spot.
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Additional outlets needed for laptops

Laptops are becoming more common in USF’s classrooms and are bringing a problem with them. Most classrooms were never designed for students to bring their own computers and have only few electrical outlets available. This often causes a mad dash for the seats closest to electrical outlets.
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Florida drops case against 13 year allowing her to have an abortion

Florida dropped its fight on Tuesday to prevent a 13-year-old girl in state care from having an abortion in a case that marked the state’s second recent foray into controversial personal rights issues.

Weeks after it unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the bitter dispute over the fate of a brain-damaged woman, Terri Schiavo, the state’s Department of Children & Families said it would not appeal a ruling from a Palm Beach state court allowing the teenager to have an abortion.

“There will be no further appeals and we will respectfully comply with the court’s decision,” DCF District Manager Marilyn Munoz said in a written statement.

It was not immediately known if the girl, who is 14 weeks pregnant, had had the abortion. Reuters

Al-Arian seeks change of venue

Attorneys for Sami Al-Arian, the former University of South Florida professor accused of raising money for a Palestinian terrorist group, have asked a federal judge to move the upcoming trial out of Florida.

Citing the constant barrage of news coverage, the recent U.S. Senate campaign in which Al-Arian became a central topic of debate, and evidence of “serious bias and prejudice” among potential jurors, attorneys said their client could not receive a fair trial in Tampa.

“The pressure to convict him in this community would be tremendous,” the attorneys wrote in the filing to U.S. District Judge James Moody. St. Pete Times

He’s right. There is no chance for Al-Arian to get fair trial in Florida. But I doubt fairness would be better anywhere else in the U.S.

Florida girl has abortion blocked

A pregnant 13-year-old girl in Florida has been told she cannot have an abortion because she lacks the maturity to make such a decision.

A state court granted an injunction which prevents the girl from terminating her pregnancy.

She is three months pregnant and had planned to have an abortion on Tuesday of this week.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it will launch an urgent appeal against the ruling.

(…)The American Civil Liberties Union ’s executive director in Florida, Howard Simon, said forcing a 13-year-old to carry on an unwanted pregnancy to term, against her wishes, is not only illegal and unconstitutional, it is cruel. BBC