Opinion: Columns

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Opinion

Column: Spring Break trips can offer so much more

Mar. 7, 2016

When I first mentioned my trip to El Salvador to friends, family and acquaintances, the overwhelming majority of responses followed a certain pattern. First came the raised eyebrows, then the inevitable question: “Is it a mission trip?” After my subsequent response that, no, I wasn’t about to build a church or spread the “good word,” came the warnings. I’ll catch the Zika virus. I’ll be kidnapped and held for ransom. I’ll get food poisoning. They ranged in degree of severity and types of consequences, but they all stemmed from a pervasive fear of “less-developed” countries despite supposed good intentions.

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Opinion

Column: Faux-personalism breeds a new populism

Mar. 6, 2016

"This perfect recycling tended to present itself, in the narcosis of the event, as a model for the rest: like American political life itself, and like the printed and transmitted images on which that life depended, this was a world with no half-life.” —Joan Didion, “Political Fictions”

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Opinion

Column: Internet piracy has consequences

Feb. 25, 2016

Pirates have been around for more than 2,000 years. From the olive coasts of ancient Greece to the years of Viking dominance from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1050 and far beyond the classic bearded fellows of the Caribbean in the 18th century, the act of piracy is not new. Items of significant value will always have a market; it’s just that not everyone in the market will want to pay.

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Opinion

Column: The opportunity to catch up over Spring Break

Feb. 25, 2016

I remember a conversation I had with a friend at the beginning of this semester. “I feel like before we know it, it’ll be time for midterms, and I’ll be behind,” she told me. I’ve always been suspicious and terrified of secretly being an optimist, but now, I’m almost certain I am. After she said that, I immediately thought to myself, “Nah, no way.”

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Sports

Column: It’s time to stop comparing golf’s young stars to Tiger Woods

By GRAHAM HACK | Feb. 24, 2016

In an interview with Golf.com, five-time major champion Phil Mickelson made headlines by saying the present group of golf’s young stars is not close to the level Tiger Woods reached during his prime, adding that we are "decades away" from someone matching Woods’ feats.

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Opinion

Column: The 2016 presidential election is bad reality TV

Feb. 24, 2016

Tonight, the next Republican debate will be held in Texas, marking the first time semi-rational candidates will be outnumbered by their knuckle-dragging counterparts. Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, and an ever more ideologically unrecognizable Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will be on the stage with a real estate mogul, an unhinged brain surgeon and a Canadian constitutional lawyer. While this may sound like the setup to a bad joke, it is actually the alarming state of American politics.  

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Opinion

Column: Dunk a basketball - every boy's dream

Feb. 23, 2016

Grown men can say it has always been their dream to end up with the jobs they have today, but they would be lying. For anyone who has ever picked up a basketball growing up, they can attest to the fact that they eagerly waited for the day they’d be able to slam a rubber ball into a metal hoop situated 10 feet off the ground professionally. Unfortunately, for many of us, that day never comes.

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Opinion

Column: Remembering author Harper Lee

Feb. 23, 2016

On Feb. 19, beloved American author Nelle Harper Lee passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 89.

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Opinion

Column: Spelling black liberation with a capital 'B'

Feb. 23, 2016

I am not black, and I will never grasp the depth of the suffering, past and present, of the members of the African diaspora. 

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Opinion

Column: Faith out, separate church and state

Feb. 22, 2016

While barbarity and violence are hard for the human race to shake (after all, why stop what you’re good at?), there are some outdated habits we can nip in the bud in the spirit of progress. True, the long and arduous fight to abandon nose-picking is one that requires society’s undivided attention, but I’m referring to the reaffirmation of the U.S. Constitution’s most important tenant: the separation of church and state. It’s time we ignore faith when taking part in the selection of the leader of the free world.

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Opinion

Column: Not so 'free' speech after all, BDS movement

Feb. 22, 2016

There is a growing trend in Israel and the West at large to criminalize and enact opposition against protest activity, such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeted at the practices of the Israeli government. Prejudices regarding BDS aside, we must focus on the issue at hand: the chipping away of free speech for the purposes of “security” or allegiance to the Israeli government.

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Opinion

Column: Scattered thoughts about Scalia, Cruz, checks and balances

Feb. 21, 2016

When I first saw the Politico breaking news alert informing me of the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week, I felt like someone punched me in the gut. For conservatives in the U.S., Scalia was more than an intellectual, consequential jurist and opera buff — Scalia was someone who championed the Constitution and our founding principles to their rightful extremes. The news of his death was tough for me. 

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Sports

Column: NASCAR entering transitional season

By GRAHAM HACK | Feb. 18, 2016

Change is in the ocean breeze at Daytona.

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Opinion

Guest Column: To the Alligator's 1105 W. University Ave. building, with love and memories

Feb. 18, 2016

While on a rooftop in Iowa at the wedding of one of my editors, I decided to get an Alligator tattoo.

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Opinion

Column: Suz Webz is indeed president

Feb. 18, 2016

Today we have a new president.

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Opinion

Column: Graffiti, orgo and weed-out class theory

Feb. 18, 2016

What frustrates a student enough to deface university property? Organic chemistry, apparently.

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Opinion

Column: Bernie Sanders needs to be criticized

Feb. 17, 2016

After his large win in New Hampshire, America seems to be “feeling the Bern” like never before. Many, including Hillary Clinton, had never thought that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., could or would make it this far; and yet, here we are. Sanders is running a campaign espousing progressive policies that would ostensibly better this country, which has garnered largely positive reactions to his candidacy. However, good vibrations aside, it is important he receives valid criticism just as much as any other candidate in the race.

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Opinion

Column: Africa is not a country; African is not a language

Feb. 16, 2016

When I tell people I spent the summer in Tanzania learning Swahili, it usually elicits a degree of confusion. “Is that a click language?” “How does one learn Swahili?” “Why would you waste your time learning a language no one speaks?” “Who speaks Swahili?” “Is Swahili even a language?”

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Opinion

Column: I invite you to celebrate Library Lovers' Month

Feb. 16, 2016

February is Library Lovers’ Month! Who decided this? I have no idea, but I’m in full support of such a thing. As college students, we should all be familiar with the library. Whether you go to Marston Science Library for the 24/5 mass-produced study space or you hole yourself up in Library East because the ceiling of the reading room reminds you of Hogwarts, we each have a unique relationship with the many libraries on campus. UF has the biggest library database in Florida, with six libraries and a constantly growing digital collection.

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Opinion

Column: Gap between the world and the scientific community

Feb. 16, 2016

On Thursday, a team of scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detected gravitational waves. In measuring the sound of two black holes colliding, one of the last points of Einstein’s theory of relativity was proven correct. However, this triumph is not just a triumph for the sake of discovery; it was a triumph for the scientists who dedicated decades of their lives to proving this research. The time spent toward the study was worth it.