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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Opinion: Columns

UF's Carli Snyder (left) and Rhamat Alhassan celebrate during Florida's 3-0 win against New Hampshire Dec. 3, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
Sports

Alligator Awards: Who was Florida's best female athlete of 2015-16?

In this edition of the Alligator Awards, we debate which female athlete was the best of the 2015-16 season. Sports writers Ray Boone, Matt Brannon and Alejandro López join alligatorSports Editors Ian Cohen and Ethan Bauer in a roundtable discussion to debate the five nominees. Debates will go in alphabetical order by the writer’s last name.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinion: Commercial fireworks should be banned

China may have invented fireworks more than 2,000 years ago, but fireworks have been linked to America since the birth of this country. In a letter to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote that the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be celebrated with “... Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” While fireworks were once championed by a future president and first lady, they are now advocated by Joe Dirts with butane lighters.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinion: On kindness, Cleveland sports and the LSAT

For the last six months, I have been studying intensively for the LSAT, or the Law School Admission Test. Between logic classes, practice exams and nightly research on what fields other than law in which a philosophy major can find a career, I found refuge where I had always found it: Cleveland sports. My family is from Cleveland. Whenever I would go there, my uncle and I would go to various sporting events. Some of my most cherished memories include watching the Cleveland Indians lose, watching the Cavaliers lose and watching the Browns lose.


Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and head coach Billy Donovan watch from the sideline against the Golden State Warriors second half in Game 3 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City, Sunday, May 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Sports

Column: Three observations ahead of the NBA offseason

The Summer-sports lull is here, but most importantly, the NBA season is over, leaving avid basketball fans grasping and clinging at whatever small sliver of sports gossip falls through the July news wires. With NBA teams officially allowed to begin wooing free agents at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, here’s a few observations ahead of the impending NBA offseason.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinion: Navigating the wolf’s den of undergrad life

Nestled in the evergreen woods of Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire, past the visitor’s center and the uphill boardwalk through The Flume, is an attraction known as “Wolf’s Den.” The narrow climbing space drops about 10 degrees cooler compared to the outside air, as it is enclosed by damp boulders and infrequently exposed to the sun. As my family and I, vacationing near these woods, walked toward the den, at least three other families turned back. Whatever we were approaching would surely be arduous or frightening enough to make them turn around, we thought. But we persevered.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinion: The Jungle, We got the fun... and some games

Hello my dearest readers. To everybody returning to Gainesville, let me be the first to welcome you back to our humble home. To all of the freshmen who just graduated from high school, don’t worry; the worst (the move-in process with crying mothers, silent fathers and impatient siblings) is behind you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zach, but you can call me Zachary. I write a weekly op-ed column here in your soon-to-be most favorite newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator. Congratulations on beginning your collegiate journey by joining us in the wonderful, religiously drunken pilgrimage that is Summer B.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinoin: Fathers are underrated

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my father. Countless studies over the past decade point to the fact that the possibilities for my future improved tremendously because my dad was simply there for me during my childhood. Parents determine the destiny of their children in the years when kids try to make a sense of this world. Fathers traditionally play half the role in parenting, but their role is often underrated.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Guest Column: Be wary of instant approval credit

Let’s be honest, getting offers for free or discounted things online or in the mail can be pretty exciting. As you move forward in your financial life, you will start to get more and more offers for things like new cars, insurance options and instant approval credit card offers. Most of these offers are easy to disregard, as they include major financial decisions you have to make when the time is right for you.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Opinion: Gun reform still largely out of reach

Sunday morning Orlando became the center of another massive shooting, something that seems to have become an occupational hazard of American life. While the details are still coming in about the deaths and injuries, and the whole story is not yet clear, a couple things are.


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