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Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Opinion: Columns

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Traditions, family will always count

This past weekend, still recovering from our Thanksgiving feast, I participated with my family in our tradition of having Saturday morning breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels. We’ve been doing this every week since before my younger sister was born — almost 17 years. We’ve cycled through all the menu and manager changes as time has passed and are familiarized as regulars by the staff.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Reality check: All lives matter

Two years ago in Mobile, Alabama, an 18-year-old white male, Gilbert Collar, was shot and killed by a black campus police officer. He was running around campus, high and naked, when he approached the officer at the campus police station. Collar was unarmed, but the officer still deemed him a threat and decided to use deadly force against him.


FSU quarterback Jameis Winston celebrates during Florida's 24-19 loss to Florida State on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.
Sports

Johnson’s Journal: In rivalry tilt both teams did what they do best

TALLAHASSEE — As Treon Harris lined the Florida offense up with fourth and the ballgame to go, I scanned the crowd of 82,485 at Doak Campbell Stadium. My eyes met briefly with a female Florida State fan, and she smiled at me. It wasn’t one of those happy smiles, it was a nervous one, an "oh crap there’s still a chance we might lose this game," kind of smile. I just assumed she was new around these parts. Perhaps she had woken from a coma last Sunday and this was her first FSU game this season.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Debunking all the pit bull-y myths

One summer night two years ago, a dog named Lilly lost a leg and saved her owner’s life by dragging the unconscious woman off a set of train tracks to avoid an oncoming freight train. 


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Black Friday: The madness needs to stop

The glorious day of Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Nothing tops dedicating a whole day to eating platefuls of food, drinking wine and watching football. Thanksgiving is a timeless holiday where we take a moment to slow down, be with the people we love and be thankful for everything we have. Unfortunately, some people are not thankful for what they have. They just want more, which in turn, has cast a dark shadow over Thanksgiving, rendering it less meaningful. This shadow is caused by none other than the dreadful day after Turkey Day: Black Friday.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Liberalism is about more than just spending

Clay Olsen’s column, “Democrats mistake government spending for kind-heartedness,” was a conservative attempt to define liberalism as willy-nilly government handouts to the poor. He cites Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and declares it a failure without mentioning its success before former President Ronald Reagan gutted the program. He mentioned Medicare liabilities without mentioning that President Barack Obama and  U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan proposed to cut the same amount from the program. The big difference in the cuts is that Obama targets fraud on the supply side of Medicare, whereas Ryan proposed exclusively consumer-side cuts, which would increase the copay of every American. 


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Veteran, UF grad: continuing to serve nation’s highest-need classrooms

This month marked my second Veterans Day as a veteran of conflict, and I found myself reflecting on this national holiday. I see my uncles and grandfather, who have fought for freedom and opportunity for all Americans in every war since World War II. And I see my students, the unknowing beneficiaries of such sacrifices, growing into the leaders who will carry America into the future — if only they can first master their eighth-grade science concepts.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

US-China climate agreement a good start

In the past week, we have seen a spacecraft land on a comet, and we’ve seen Kim Kardashian’s glazed donuts. But what most people haven’t talked about — or seem to be interested in — is the recent historic climate agreement between the U.S. and China.


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