The modern risks of caring in a dangerous world
It’s dangerous to care.
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It’s dangerous to care.
It’s way too early for this much noise.
We all mourned the death of Vine. At its peak, the social network reached 40 million registered users in 2013. When it died in early 2017, the world was in shock. How could such a popular site end so quickly? The answer is actually quite simple and ruins most of the good things in our lives: corporate greed.
Although President Richard Nixon was so fearful of impeachment he chose to resign before it could happen, the process concerning President Donald Trump might not be as serious as people think. Watergate might have been a big deal, but this impeachment may not be.
The weather is still unbearable. You feel a gentle breeze here and there, but Mother Nature lied about the fall season — or at least we did something to mess it up. Either way, it’s hot, you’re sweaty and the walk from the Reitz Union to Library West isn’t making things easier.
Editor’s Note: The Alligator Editorial Board, which includes the editor-in-chief, managing editors and opinions editor, met with both parties and candidates running in the UF Student Government Fall Senate elections.
If a stranger told you what to do, you wouldn’t stand for it. Most people would never let a complete stranger control their future and their livelihood, but the unfortunate reality is that thousands of students let this happen when they don’t vote in UF Student Government elections.
Those all-nighters are really starting to catch up to you. Your caffeine intake maxed out like a credit card on your fifth cup of Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew.
Tuesday afternoon, approximately 200 protesters marched along UF’s Fraternity Row, the only place on campus without blue light emergency poles. These lights represent security and are designed to call law enforcement at the press of a button. The protest was organized by student leaders and the Gainesville chapter of the National Women’s Liberation Association. Since the protest was announced, the debate surrounding blue lights has been a point of controversy, finger pointing and a focal point of The Alligator’s news coverage for the past week.
This week, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was once again accused of sexual assault during his time at Yale University. The accusation comes from Deborah Ramirez, a former classmate of Kavanaugh’s, who claims the current justice exposed himself to her. While it stands as an accusation as of now, we need to take these cases seriously no matter our politics.
It’s been a long week. Actually, a long month. You decided to treat yourself (again), and hit the town with friends. After a long night of… never mind, it doesn’t matter, you flop face-first into bed and curl up in your plush comforter for some long deserved sleep. But, you don’t get to sleep in as planned.
By now, you’ve heard the big news. Gov. Ron DeSantis even made a trip to UF to make the announcement.
We are trying to take our medication and be OK, but we are now in a world without the Harajuku Barbie herself, Nicki Minaj. The self-proclaimed Female Weezy retired from the music industry Thursday when she tweeted that she wants to focus on raising a family.
You arrive to class 15 minutes early Thursday morning. You feel strong, confident and beautiful. When the professor calls for the assignments to be passed forward, you pull out your paper and take a moment to relish your excellent work. Even the staple in the corner is gleaming. You took advantage of the hurricane closings to read ahead in the material. During the lecture, you raise your hand multiple times to contribute, earning several good points from the professor. Today is just the start. The entire semester is going to be like this. It is finally your time to shi— BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! You peel open your eyes. Ugh. Make it stop. You flop your hand around until it connects with your phone. Darn it. It was a dream. DARN IT. WHAT TIME IS IT?! You roll off the couch and scramble around trying to pull together clothes. There’s drool all over your cheek and chin. You trip over trash on the floor. You flip open your Mac and pull up the paper that you fully intended to write days ago but only started around dawn. You send it to the printer. Something smells and you’re pretty sure it’s you. You grab the pages and rush out the door. You finally get to class. Everyone has already handed in their assignments and you do your best to inconspicuously add yours to the pile. It’s a little crumpled and held together by a folded corner. You aren’t optimistic about your grade. Is it too late to drop the class? You sink into your seat and notice something written on the board. In big, dry erase block letters it reads
“Yes, Mom. I am prepared for the hurricane. Yes. Uh-huh.” You roll your eyes and shift your cell to the other ear.
There is a presidential feud taking place over the news and on social media. Surprisingly, President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to be in the middle of it. It started when Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro took offense at France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion to the G7 summit leaders that their countries band together to aid Brazil extinguish the Amazon fires. It escalated when one of Bolsonaro’s supporters posted a meme on Bolsonaro’s Facebook page with an unflattering comparison between the two leaders’ wives. Bolsonaro’s reply to the meme seemed to support the insult. Macron responded by expressing sympathy for the Brazilian people stuck with such a shameful president, and said his hope is that Bolsonaro will soon be replaced with a more dignified leader. Bolsonaro is now refusing the G7 countries’ offer of $20 million to aid fighting the Amazon fires until Macron apologizes.
Grief does funny things to you. Not the “ha ha” type of funny, but a “food doesn’t taste the same, and colors look different” type of funny. There are as many responses to grief as there are loved ones who have died. Some people throw themselves into their work, some throw themselves into their bed and some become obsessed with collecting Disney memorabilia. When Richard Kraft’s big brother David died, he responded in the latter way. Over two and a half decades, Kraft amassed a collection of more than 750 pieces of Disney history. He used to go to Disneyland with his brother and parents, and collecting the pieces reminded him of those happy moments. We all hold onto things that remind us of the loved ones we’ve lost, though such an extreme collection is rare. A less rare, but still unusual expression of remembrance is to have the ashes of a loved one turned into a synthetic diamond. Couples have even used such stones as their engagement rings or wedding bands.
It’s 3:07 a.m.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) longs for a return to simpler, more ignorant times: when men were manly, women were womanly and you could tell what was between a person’s legs by whether they were wearing a skirt or trousers. Because in the olden days, that was incredibly important knowledge. You had to know what reproductive organ a person had so you knew how to treat them, how much to pay them, whether you were attracted to them, which bathroom they should use and whether or not to fire them.
Last semester, we sat in the back of the class with our heads down and our mouths sealed shut. When we spoke, we prefaced our remarks or questions with “I just…” or “Sorry, this might be dumb,” conveying to our listeners that what would follow was of little importance. We would not blame them for disregarding our words, ideas and opinions; but we knew the right answer, we had something to add to the discussion and we had questions that warranted responses. We minimized our presence, our impact and our power. We made our voices small and let our classmates fill up the space. Our classmates who sat in the front. Our classmates who always had their hands raised. Our classmates who punctuated their statements with periods, not question marks. We chose to keep our depths hidden rather than make ourselves vulnerable.