Columnist thanks nobody
By CALLOVI< | Apr. 20, 2010When Mike McCall told then-Sports Editor Bryan Jones that he should give me a job at the Alligator despite having no experience, he thought he was doing me a favor.
When Mike McCall told then-Sports Editor Bryan Jones that he should give me a job at the Alligator despite having no experience, he thought he was doing me a favor.
I’m sure all of you are over those sappy, sentimental goodbye columns. However, you’ll have to suffer through one more because I’m the editor and have control over the paper. Therefore, I can do what I want.
I don’t want to scare anyone, but there are crazies walking among us. Even worse, over the past year and a half, they have become more and more visible, showing up at rallies across the nation to protest the government, and just about anything in between that procreates.
Win big. Lose big.
Since I graduate in about a week and a half, I think now is a good time to say goodbye. Some things you say goodbye to are things we’ll all need to say goodbye to. Farewell, increasing tuition. Some things you say goodbye to are special to my class. Farewell, Tim Tebow. And some things are more personal goodbyes. Farewell, Professor Shoaf. This is a mix of all of those.
My thesis partner, Roman Safiullin, and I recently reached a compromise with UF to include video footage shot for our thesis film in post-earthquake Haiti after the recent UF travel ban had been imposed.
Ah, my last column of the semester — and my last semester at that. I suppose this is where I get all sentimental in my undergraduate reflection, perhaps mustering enough good will to radiate advice out to some of the younger Gators among us. How quaint that would be, but any knowledge I’d be kicking wouldn’t exactly be worthy of an AAA rating. Plus, I’m not that generous. I guess the matter comes down to just how cliché I’m willing to allow myself to be. Answer: very.
Guess what, folks? The scientists are at it again. No, they’re not doing sciencey things. They’re busy promoting Al Gore’s global warming Ponzi scheme.
This weekend Gainesville will be visited by protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. This group is known for their protests of military funerals, contempt for homosexuals and other groups.
Recently, a video was released by WikiLeaks from an unknown source showing the killing of Iraqi civilians by American troops from an Apache helicopter July 12, 2007.
It’s a scary world outside. Past the comforts of my tiny, messy dorm room, danger lurks at every turn. People from foreign lands plot to wipe me and my country off the map. Even getting into a Toyota is akin to dancing with death. Or that’s at least what the media would have you believe. To me, news today has increasingly become a stream of cautionary tales and exaggerated warnings.
Modern students are not interested in learning. They are interested in passing their tests and getting good grades. It doesn’t matter how much you know, it only matters how well you regurgitate information. Why has American education devolved to this point? One reason is the loss of American industry to foreign countries with cheap labor. This has constricted the job market, making a college degree much more important. Employers give preeminence to the institution. Thus to get into excellent schools, you have to have top grades. Yet is there also a cultural backlash against questioning authority? The 1970s saw massive student protests that played a pivotal role in our withdrawal from Vietnam.
I try my best to remember that everybody has a story.
College basketball is in need of a change, and a 96-team tournament isn’t it.
Thanks to injuries and absences throughout the spring, we still don’t know what Florida’s offense will look like in the fall.
Though I’ve never fully understood the expression, congressional Democrats are keeping true to the English idiom and dropping like flies. Most recently on the no-go list for November is Rep. Bart Stupak (of “Stupak Amendment” fame). Let’s have a walk down memory lane, shall we? By last December 10 House Democrats had artfully announced their early retirement. With the new year, announcements from the esteemed Senate had come in: former presidential hopeful Chris Dodd, North Dakota’s Byron Dorgan and Evan Bayh (former governor of Indiana and rumored 2008 presidential contender).
If you’ve been hearing a low rumble or seeing a faint column of smoke off in the distance, perhaps traveling in the direction of Afghanistan, be alarmed.
Walking around campus last week, you may have been confused. Is it Turlington Plaza or a war zone? Is it the Reitz Union North Lawn or no man’s land? Humans vs. Zombies has invited students to see things in a different way. The Student Body has, for the most part, declined the invitation.