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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Opinion: Columns

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Ways to excel in academics, social life

Last week, I began my list of seven important lessons for incoming UF freshmen. I mentioned the importance of living in the dorms, learning how to cook on a budget and studying with a purpose. If you missed last week's column, check out the Opinions page at alligator.org. This week, I continue with the fourth tip.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Important tips for incoming freshmen

Because entering college doesn’t come with an instruction manual like your iPad does, I thought I would impart a few quick-but-vital lessons to the newly arrived crop of UF students. Due to space limitations, I have broken this into a two-part series for this week and the next.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Government spending out of control

On Tuesday, I attended the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce Candidate forum for County Commission candidates. About a hundred business owners showed up to hear the vision of the six candidates for Alachua County. One common theme prevailed: the burden on local business from all levels of government has to subside for the health of the local economy. Increased taxation was shied away from by candidates from both parties. Consistently, all the candidates said we can either be dragged down by the national economic situation, or we find ways to improve upon it.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Floridians should invest in education

Public education is the cornerstone of our nation’s economic might. When we make a true commitment to educating a future generation, we are not only producing a workforce that is better equipped to tackle the problems of today, but we are planting the seeds for the innovation of tomorrow. If we are going to prepare our children for the future, I believe Florida must change its course and make a proper investment in public education.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Smoking ban encroaches on rights

There is something very unsettling in the way modern society is beginning to parallel the fictional worlds presented by writers such as Orwell, Huxley and Rand. From the disturbing similarities between contemporary texting language and Orwell’s Newspeak to the health care battles that still continue to rage in Congress, it is undeniable that, at some point in the last 50 years, the line between fact and fiction began to blur.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Obama fumbles response to gulf spill

The recent Gulf oil spill has become more than a tragedy, and the Obama administration has more than botched the response. This crisis illuminates the administration’s lack of leadership. Unfortunately for Americans, we see a president too tangled in a web of bureaucracy, ego and inexperience to appropriately handle the situation. It was well-worded in a recent column by Mark Steyn: “He has grand plans for ‘the environment’ - all of it, wherever it may be. Why should the great eco-Gulliver be ensnared by some Lilliputian oil spill lapping ‘round his boots?”


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Conservative arguments made in Griffin’s column not true

Bryan Griffin’s article “Individual action key to conservation” seems to strongly evoke his Republican role model, Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, and his limp response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. In his piece, he manages to convey such base ideas as “Liberals bad” and “Regulation bad.” OK, so you can’t blame him for paraphrasing the GOP manifesto. But beyond the standard partisan hackery, Mr. Griffin offers several gems that are simply too precious to ignore.


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