I agree too. For example,

use UNIVERSAL::require ();

Cache::File->use()
   or print "error: $@";
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could be written as

use Module::Loader qw( load );

load Cache::File
   or print "error: $@";
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Just as readable. Just as simple. No polution of UNIVERSAL::. And with the right prototype, load's argument doesn't even need to be quoted.

Update: The module I made up above already exists as Module::Load!
Update: Module::Load dies instead of returning false.