The sun and the heat are finally back where they belong in the Sunshine State, and it’s time to get back to business as usual — days beside the pool. You grab your towel and slide your sunglasses onto your face, making your way down to the pool. You slip into one of the reclining chairs that line the outside of the pool and begin to relax. Thoughts of midterms pushed firmly out of your head, the only thing on your mind is the shoreline that awaits you during Spring Break.
You let the sunlight sink into your skin, relaxing your muscles that grew tense over the past week. A loud splash ruins your moment of Zen as a mountain of water falls onto you. You quickly get to your feet, incredulous. You most certainly didn’t go to the pool to actually get wet. You huff and look at the culprits, two people who decided now would be a good time play with a beach ball.
Just as you’re about to say something, the beach ball comes flying at your face. With a smack, your head is knocked backward. ‘That’ll leave a mark’, you think. While still rubbing your cheek you pick up the heinous ball. You see large letters plastered across the front of it. You see now it makes sense; you were smacked in the face with…
Darts and Laurels
We’re starting out with a laurel this week for Richard Cole, the managing partner of Cole, Scott & Kissane in Miami, who gifted $20 million to UF’s Levin College of Law this week. The donation is in honor of his late father, Robert B. Cole. Both Richard and Robert are UF alumni. Cole said he hopes the donation will put an emphasis on health law, which will help the state with health issues it’s facing with a growing number of elderly residents. This is the college’s largest donation to date.
It’s the first full week of Black History Month. However, companies and politicians have had to offer apologies for racist acts. A dart goes to Gucci and Adidas, who both pulled products from recent releases after the products’ questionable implications. Gucci pulled an $890 sweater from its website after it was called out for its blackface imagery. The black-knit women’s balaclava was a part of Gucci’s fall-winter 2018 collection. It could be pulled over the lower half of the wearer’s face, featuring bright red lips around an open mouth, imagery often associated with blackface. Also, Adidas released an almost entirely white pair of sneakers that were meant to celebrate Black History Month. The sneakers received backlash for their questionable meaning toward Black History Month.
However, Gucci is not the only entity being accused of blackface. A growing wave of politicians are also being accused of it. A dart goes out to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, Attorney General Mark Herring and Republican Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., for all being involved in cases of blackface. Blackface has been an issue for the past 200 years, but it’s about time people became educated on its harmful implications and give it a zero tolerance policy.
Finally, we would like to hand a laurel out to UF’s class of 2023, which is being announced Friday. About 14,800 students will be admitted out of the 42,000 students who applied. Admittance to UF continues to grow more competitive each year, with about 40,800 students applying in 2018 and about 34,000 applying in 2017. However, we’re excited to meet this new class and see the great things they’re going to accomplish at UF.
