Several key issues being rallied against included rising tuition at public universities, cuts to the Bright Futures Scholarship program and the passing of bill HB1355 which is said to hinder students’ ability to vote.

Check out the video of the “Occupy UCF” protesters trying to make their point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZOIBEEvbO0

“I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religions as everyone else in this county, and that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” Obama said to a crowd of Muslims he invited to the White House State Dining Room for an iftar dinner, a meal where Muslims break their day-long fast during the holy Ramadan month.

Now, one day after Obama made what the associated press is calling an “endorsement” of the controversial plan to build a mosque near ground zero, the president is trying to clarify his support.

“I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” he said during a trip to Panama City Saturday. “I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.”

But critics of Obama aren’t cutting him any slack. They say it was wrong for him to insert the office of the President into the controversy playing out for months in Manhattan. Even some Obama supporters have turned on him with his support of this issue.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, blasted Obama for his support and told the New York Times the proposed mosque and community center would be a symbol of Muslim “triumphalism” and that building it near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks “would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust museum.”

“It’s profoundly and terribly wrong,” he told the Times. “There is nothing surprising in the president’s continued pandering to radical Islam. What he said last night is untrue and inaccurate. The fact is this is not about religious liberty.”

Other Republican leaders have come out admitting that Muslims have the legal right to build the mosque two blocks from ground zero, but still think it’s the wrong choice for Mulsim leaders to offend so many by doing so.

“President Obama is wrong,” Republican Rep. Peter King told the Times. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero.”

“The right and moral thing for President Obama to have done,” he continued, “was to urge Muslim leaders to respect the families of those who died and move their mosque away from ground zero.

“Unfortunately,” King said, “the president caved in to political correctness.”

According to Fox News, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told the network that another reason the mosque is drawing controversy is because it is being run by a man who accused the U.S. of being an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Still, other Republicans, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have come out supporting building the Mosque there in an effort to promote religious freedom and tolerance, and to show people what true Islam is all about and bring the city closer, according to an Al Jazeera report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8WzKa8SbeY

In the Al Jazeera video, Muslims say they’re hopeful the Mosque will be built and persuade people who have the wrong idea about Islam to learn more about the religion and people who practice it peacefully.

KnightNews.com will continue following this controversy as we move closer to election season.

Feel free to share your opinions on this hot topic in our comments section below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqReTDJSdhE

Although the back-story isn’t discussed in the commercial, the gist is she contracted amoebis dysentery and the medicines used to treat her for recovery threatened her unborn fetus. Doctors advised her to abort the fetus. She decided against it and had Tim. Although the commercial never said anything about being pro-choice, the commercial was paid for by Focus on the Family, a Christian conservative group.

Before the Super Bowl, the ad received resistance from a coalition of woman’s groups asking CBS not to air the ad.

“This campaign is about holding CBS and the NFL and the other Super Bowl advertisers accountable, said Jehmu Greene, president of the Women’s Media Center, “for inserting an exceedingly controversial issue into a place where we all hope Americans will be united, not divided, in terms of watching America’s most-watched sporting event.”

Notice that Ms. Greene spoke about CBS’s advertising policy, instead of her views about abortion.

A few days before the big game, I was listening to real radio 104.1 and a heated woman called in opining against airing the commercial because it gave women a false hope when considering an abortion. Not all children will grow up to be Tim Tebow. She also said some women aren’t smart enough to make their own decisions concerning abortion and should let others make it for them.

In response to Tim Tebow’s commercial, Planned Parenthood played a commercial before the Super Bowl promoting and respecting a women’s choice. Football player Sean James and gold medal winner Al Joyner were featured in the ad. It can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcxpuHF7jg

After the Super Bowl, the controversy continued. Terry O’Neil, the CEO of NOW, the National Organization for Women, said the commercial promoted violence on women. If you didn’t watch the ad, the violence O’Neil refers to is in the middle when Tim tackled his mother.

“I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s was comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don’t find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself.”

Women’s domestic abuse is a serious issue and what’s disappointing about this quote by Ms. O’Neil is it delegitimizes domestic abuse. Comparing domestic violence to Tim Tebow fake tackling his mother, then laughing and hugging her, makes the issue seem silly. Ms. O’Neil’s statement makes NOW, as an organization, lose credibility.

Is this commercial a real threat to making women’s abuse more accepting? And why didn’t NOW say anything about the Doritos commercial when the old lady was tackled?

Sifting through all the fuss, perhaps Tim Tebow said it best, “I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe. I’ve always been very convicted of [his views on abortion] because that’s the reason I’m here, because my mom was a very courageous woman.”

What do you think about Tim Tebow’s commercial? Add your thoughts below.

Unfortunately, breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer among women in the United States. It affects both men and women, and symptoms can develop as early as in one’s twenties. As students who fall into that category, it can be a scary thought, but it is quite simple to take precautionary measures.

The first thing you can do is monitor your breasts for any unusual changes. Keep an eye out for any abnormalities like hard lumps, changes in shape, dimpling or pain. Having a doctor perform an annual breast examination is the easiest way to make sure you are in good shape.

The UCF Health Center is the perfect place to make an appointment for a breast exam if you are unsure about anything.

Also, don’t panic if you feel an unusual lump, because it does not necessarily mean that you have breast cancer. Cysts and fibrodenomas are common causes of lumps in breast tissue that are none cancerous.

The only sure way to know is to have it checked out by a doctor.

So, for my fellow ladies here at UCF, this is the time to remind ourselves that we should be keeping an eye on our “girls.”

While there is no way to prevent breast cancer, early detection through breast exams could save your life. So, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this is your friendly reminder to help Save the Ta-Ta’s

RELATED CONTENT:
Rethink Breast Cancer targets men:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh_i4CDNTeA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI4zkx8As34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYzwEFv8ADs

Jimmy Carter, the 39^th President of the United States, claimed that the reason people criticized the current president is because they are racist, citing examples of Obama being compared to Hitler and Joe Wilson’s outburst. 

Bill Clinton, on the other hand, argued that the criticism, particularly about health care, was not about race, but about fundamental differences between the president and his political opponents.

Though opposing arguments, both have elements of truth. 

While Bill Clinton admittedly has a stronger point, Jimmy Carter was not entirely incorrect.  Civil Rights as we know them have only been in effect for a few decades; many voters were born before African Americans were truly equal in society.  Many of those people are more than likely legitimately uncomfortable with, or even afraid of, having an African American president.

That does not mean, however, that all opposition stems from racial tension.  Most of the opposition comes from people who do not agree with the president’s policies.

For example, the recent “Tea Party Express” protesters marched on Washington D.C. bearing signs claiming that Obama is trying to implement a Socialist health care system, a notion that 2008 Socialist Party candidate Bill Moore, ironically, does not agree with.  Regardless of that inaccuracy in their argument, many people in this country simply do not believe that the government should provide health care, even if it’s only an option.

Why, then, is racism allegedly the underlying motive for opposition? 

The best explanation is that it’s an easy scapegoat.  Our society is so afraid of being politically incorrect that most people simply drop whatever objection they had after being called a racist.

Joe Wilson, the congressman who yelled “you lie” during Obama’s speech to Congress, was called a racist, and has essentially disappeared from the media after the initial hype died down.  The alleged racism behind Wilson’s comments proves that most of the “racism” in this country is actually severe political correctness.

Take, for example, the state of Florida, which has three African American and three Hispanic representatives in Congress out of a possible 27, the remainder of which being white.  Politically correct logic would dictate that having a vast white majority makes Florida a racist state, but that isn’t necessarily true.  It is impossible to deny that there are more white representatives than there are of any other ethnicity, but that doesn’t mean that the minorities are being ignored. 

The reality is that race doesn’t affect policy nearly as much as it used to, but some people still think that the American political system is the same as it was over 100 years ago, and they will continue to think so until people realize that fundamental differences between people of different ethnicities aren’t necessarily racially driven. 

Our country faces enough issues besides racism, and our society as a whole should learn to look past skin color and deal with the problems such as health care reform and wars.

Do you think racism will always be a prominent issue in politics? 

Leave your comment on this page.

So, when we read about the latest reason Tim Tebow is grabbing headlines, this time for posing shirtless, we thought we should fill you in.

So, why is Tebow posing shirtless?

Is he hoping to make a quick buck since he decided not to go pro?

Nope. It’s because GQ asked him to — so the topless Tebow photos can be featured alongside an article entitled: “Does God have a Tim Tebow complex?”

So, are you sick of Tebow stealing all the spotlight? Or do you support all the hype he gets?

Vote above in our fun, non scientific poll.

And then let loose below:

It’s happening across the country, and right here in Central Florida — in Lake County just west of UCF.

Watch the CNN report above, and then sound off below.

Let us know what you think by commenting below.

Does it go too far, or is it the first amendment in action?

During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Africa, she lashed out at a student in the audience for asking her what her husband’s thoughts were on a trade deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and China.

The only problem — the student’s question was really about what her boss, President Obama, thought of the deal.

Somehow, that got lost in translation.

Check out the video report Sky News posted on youtube and tell us what you think.

Did Hillary throw a hissy fit and overreact?

Or, was her reaction justified because it was the translator’s fault?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIVYRYVB5b8

And what better to launch it with than the breaking news that Tim Tebow is a virgin?

Last week he told a reporter he was saving himself for marriage and claimed he was a virgin. Check it out:

So, what do you think? Do you believe Tebow? Or is he just protecting his role model image?

Click “connect with facebook” below and share your comments both automatically on KnightNews.com and on your Facebook news feeds.

Let us know if you think the reporter should have asked the question — or whether you think Tebow could really turn down all those opportunities to get with UF girls!