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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ah, syllabus week. For some, this five-day period is used for organization and recalibration after a long month free of classes and responsibilities. For others, the infamous syllabus week is a nonstop bar crawl through Midtown and a chance to sow their wild oats before the stress and pressure of their 18-credit schedule crushes their very soul.

This semester, you chose to fall somewhere in the middle. After attending all of your early morning classes and completing all of your monotonous syllabus quizzes, you decide to reward yourself with a night on the town.

After what felt like nearly an hour of standing in line outside the Rowdy Reptile, you have finally reached the promised land: the front door. You flash the bouncer your ID, waltz in, grab a drink and head outside to your favorite spot on the picnic table.

It’s been a while since you had the time to make it out to the bars, so you take a second to see what new phrases have been etched into the wooden table. You scan the surface and notice some writing you’ve never seen. You lean in closer so you can read it better. The words say…

Darts & Laurels

As usual, the first dart of this week is dedicated to our one and only commander in chief, President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security announced the Trump administration plans to end protection for natives of El Salvador.

Previously, those from El Salvador, as well as several other nations, have been able to live in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a program the U.S. started after their countries suffered humanitarian crises. The termination of TPS will force nearly 250,000 Salvadorans to either find another way to remain in the U.S. legally or find a different country to move to within the next 18 months.

This news comes after nearly 300,000 Central Americans and Haitians living in the U.S. were told they no longer had protection from deportation in early November 2017.

Luckily, however, according to the Associated Press, six senators say they’ve reached a bipartisan deal protecting young immigrants and bolstering border security. If this deal comes to fruition and is all it appears to be, it could be the laurel we have all been waiting for. Although we are still waiting for this story to develop, we can only hope the results are positive.

On a more local level, UF students this week were struck with a devastating reality when Student Senate Pro Tempore Janae Moodie resigned, claiming her party — Impact — and Student Government as a whole tokenize minority students. This dart is awarded to organizations like SG and the people who make it hard for minority voices to be heard. Even in 2018, we are struggling to achieve inclusivity and avoid bias based on race and gender. We can only hope Moodie’s speech makes those few in power positions reconsider their tactics.

On a lighter note, an obvious laurel we may all be taking for granted right now is that we are back in the Swamp. Sure, this might mean we’re back to stressful afternoons in Marston Science Library and an influx of forgotten responsibilities, but nonetheless, we are lucky to be here and lucky to have an opportunity to further our education at a top 10 public university.

At least for us, the past few weeks of vacation allowed us to retreat into a coma of relaxation but also into a stupor of seclusion. As we ease back into our social lives, we have once again been reminded of how great it is to live and learn with our best friends by our sides and to have so many wonderful opportunities at our disposal.

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