Opinion: Columns

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My AirPods are fake, but they stand for something bigger

I’ll out myself before anyone thinks they can discredit me: I have fake AirPods.

Asking what position I play is wrong

If you had mistaken me for a college athlete when I was in high school, I would have been flattered. But when I started my freshman year at UF in 2015, I quickly realized the hidden meaning behind the question: “What position do you play?”

UF Student Body President Ian Green welcomes students back for Spring semester

What’s up, Gator Nation?

Russell Westbrook: normalizing the abnormal

Russell Westbrook plays basketball like he’s mad at the world. In return, the world is mad at him.

College doesn’t have to be the best four years of your life

It was the summer of 2017. I had just arrived in Gainesville for the first time as a student two weeks earlier. As I laid in the twin bed in my dorm room, I struggled to fall asleep. There was a throbbing pain in my jaw, and I could feel it spreading. I tossed and turned. I rubbed my temples hard, and when I turned to look at the clock, it was 3 a.m.

Art and STEM can go together, despite what stereotypes say

A few weeks ago, I introduced my roommate to the Swampy UF memes for top ten public teens Facebook group. The stereotypes of different kinds of students, particularly STEM majors, cracked us up.

Women in the music industry deserve recognition

This is not our parents’ movie industry

For some time now, I have been intrigued and disgruntled by the state of American cinema — specifically, by the movie industry’s obsession with sequels and remakes. Perhaps obsession is a dramatic word; after all, a fraction of the movies available in theaters today are sequels or remakes. Let’s substitute obsession, then, with fixation.

Will “Sweet Victory” be played at the Super Bowl? It definitely should

You all know the words and phrases to this all-time classic.

The American two-party system limits voters’ freedoms

By now I’m sure you’ve heard the narrative about how third-party voters cost Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party the 2016 presidential election. Unfortunately, this claim is not based entirely on speculation, nor was it dreamed by Democrats displeased with the election results who needed someone to blame. There is actually some reasonable justification behind the animosity many people hold toward third-party voters.

2020 candidates need to address gerrymandering as a big issue in politics

We’re well over a year away from the 2020 presidential election, but candidates are already jumping into the race. Last Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris announced her campaign for president on “Good Morning America.” Three weeks prior, Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced she was forming a presidential exploratory committee. And President Donald Trump filed his 2020 re-election paperwork on the day of his first inauguration in January 2017. As these candidates get their campaigns together and form their messages, they’ll have to decide which issues will be the most important ones in 2020. I’d like to make a suggestion for an issue they should place front and center in 2020: redistricting and gerrymandering.

'The Bachelor' perpetuates an archaic stereotype of women

I am embarrassed to say that I watched “The Bachelor” last week. It was a fun time with friends and French toast, but I cringe at the thought of giving that show any of my time. It was the second episode I had ever seen. Like the first time, it was impossible to look away. Watching “The Bachelor” is similar to witnessing a horrible car crash: You know you shouldn’t look, but it’s so terrible you just cannot help but stare. Despite its popularity, “The Bachelor” is problematic and anti-feminist.

Iced coffee wins in the world of caffeine

Coffee is, for many of us college students, similar to life support. A long day is often impossible without slurping down a certain amount of the bitter drink. For some, this amount is a healthy one or two cups in the morning before class and for others, this translates to gallons of coffee. I’m not here to judge, as I fall closer to the second category than the first. Rather, I am here to settle a debate that seems to have no end. While many categories and subcategories have popped up, the largest distinction and the one I will focus on is the most polarizing: iced versus hot.

Knowledge is power and it can change the world

I’m that friend. The one who, if you say the wrong thing about current events or political figures, has to start a conversation about it. The one who went a little crazy when you admitted you weren’t sure if you were going to vote in the midterms. The one who seems to consider it their duty to make sure you know what’s going on in the world, even if you don’t really care. You know the friend I’m talking about.

DeSantis’ environmental order shows promise, but will it be effective?

Florida’s new governor has only been in office for a couple weeks and he’s been anything but idle. So far, he has (among other things): appointed three justices to the Florida Supreme Court, suspended three political officers, called for the legalization of smokable medical marijuana and announced a sweeping environmental program. It’s this last item I want to focus on.

Spotify is saving music, not ruining it

I love Spotify. It has personalized playlists for every mood based on the songs you’ve saved, it tailors radio stations based off each like and dislike more accurately than Pandora does and it lets you seamlessly share singles, albums and playlists between friends. I can’t remember life before Spotify.

Source your news responsibly in 2019

If you were to make the argument that traditional news formats are no longer as popular as they once were, it would be hard for me to disagree with you. An increasing majority of the younger generations are ditching cable TV and newspapers.

UConn has a lot to fix. Here’s some suggestions.

The University of Connecticut athletic department is in debt. A huge, heaping pile of debt.

Paying attention is more important than you think

Simone Weil, the great 20th century thinker and writer, wrote an essay entitled “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with View to the Love of God,” that upon reading made me uneasy. She argues that the ultimate purpose of being a student is developing the capacity for paying attention.

Ariana Grande's song "7 Rings" isn't stolen, it's part of a bigger picture

On Jan. 18, Ariana Grande released “7 Rings,” a song that had a lot of artists calling the pony-tailed pop princess a copycat. Part meme, part personal attack, music fans accused the artist of drawing a little too much inspiration from artists like Soulja Boy, Princess Nokia and 2 Chainz.