Opinion | Columns - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Food waste damages the planet, and we’re to blame

Apr. 20, 2014

Tomorrow will be too late. We need to reduce our waste now. Almost every environmental issue we face goes back to overconsumption. In the U.S. alone, 40 percent of food today goes uneaten, according to the National Resources Defense Council. That’s not only the equivalent of $165 billion of food Americans are wasting each year, but there is also the problem of environmental damage caused by its production and disposal.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Summer is coming: Don’t be dumb

Apr. 17, 2014

A lot of people did a lot of dumb things this week.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Gun regulation is impotent

Apr. 17, 2014

Cody Wilson is not your typical second-amendment activist. The former University of Texas law student has gained international notoriety by being the first to manufacture a gun with a 3-D printer and to make public the information necessary to allow anyone with access to a 3-D printer to do the same — actions that earned him the No. 14 spot on Wired.com’s list of “The 15 Most Dangerous People in the World.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Harsh truth: Global warming is imminent

Apr. 16, 2014

Despite years of warnings, overwhelming evidence and changing climate patterns, most of humanity sits idly as our planet continues to warm.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Our society needs modern, intelligent Renaissance thinkers

Apr. 15, 2014

History is full of influential thinkers, philosophers and stoics. These men pondered life’s existence, wondered what feats mankind could endure and grasped the abstract. They were experts in their fields and interested in the world around them: They were “Renaissance men.” Thomas Jefferson, our third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, took that term to its rightful extreme. He was an inventor, philosopher, writer and politician. He was truly a man of thought with an impressive intellect.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Lawmakers decide who to ruin next

Apr. 15, 2014

WASHINGTON — Congress has reached a stalemate, the effects of which haven’t been felt since the government shutdown in 2013. Apparently, this stalemate was reached after Sen. Simpson, D-Ohio, filibustered a bill concerning whom to completely screw over next.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Energy companies bring ‘crony capitalism’

Apr. 15, 2014

In the Florida Legislature, the state’s largest energy companies wield extraordinary influence.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Focus on giving — not receiving — love

Apr. 14, 2014

Midway through April, we are enjoying the height of spring and the season of love.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Modern dating, playing it cool and the Mr. Darcy mentality

Apr. 14, 2014

Listicles on this topic are circulating on my social media pages lately from sources we’ve all come to know and have love-hate relationships with: Thought Catalog, the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed. They’re not about graduating seniors or cats but rather another popular college-student topic — modern dating.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The road less traveled: Avoid our culture of conformity

Apr. 14, 2014

If all I ever did with my life was watch television and read magazines, this is how I would envision my life should be: I should marry a white heterosexual man, have a few rambunctious children, stay at home and use my new Swiffer WetJet and Dyson vacuum, go to the gym for yoga, buy the newest beauty products, sell my clothes when they go out of style and eat Special K cereal until I have the right measurements.

OPINION | COLUMNS

College football players should bargain collectively

Apr. 14, 2014

The headlines are Northwestern University and unionized college sports, but the storyline is universal and highlights an opportunity for us all.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Home run king speaks truth about Obama

Apr. 13, 2014

Home run king Henry “Hank” Aaron shed his quiet demeanor last week, chastising Republicans for derailing President Barack Obama’s agenda. Aaron — like many — believes the vitriol many spew at Obama has less to do with political disagreements and more to do with race.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Mating call: A guide to finding your next no-strings-attached hookup

Apr. 13, 2014

The weather is starting to heat up, and students are shedding their polar vortex sweaters for muscle tanks, crop tops, swimsuits and anything that shows off their midriffs or deltoids.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A nonconformist guide to not being basic

Apr. 10, 2014

I started today like most Americans: thinking I knew exactly what it means to be a basic bitch. But, boy, was I schooled on the matter.

OPINION | COLUMNS

HBO GO: Streaming is an afterthought

Apr. 10, 2014

On Sunday night, season four of “Game of Thrones” premiered, and it broke the Internet.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Criminal justice system favors the rich

Apr. 9, 2014

There are two criminal justice systems in the U.S.: one for the rich, one for the poor.

OPINION | COLUMNS

McCutcheon ruling hurts US democracy

Apr. 8, 2014

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hammered a new nail into the coffin of American democracy with its ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court eliminated restrictions on the total amount of money individual donors can give to political parties and candidates in a given election cycle.

OPINION | COLUMNS

News shows we are united by human experience

Apr. 8, 2014

The recent, tragic developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict are always front-page news. The struggles of the European Union offer promising articles. And for some reason, the media seems to be getting a kick out of the fact that all undergraduates in North Korea must cut their hair like that of their supreme leader, Kim Jong Un. I guess that’s what it takes to sell papers these days.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Accent should invite more alleged criminals

Apr. 7, 2014

Accent Speakers Bureau announced its sponsoring of Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, before he abruptly canceled the visit on April 1. I find myself defending Accent’s decision to bring the ex-Israeli prime minister. This might strike you as odd, considering Olmert’s dark side, but let me explain.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don’t feed the trolls: a new class of cyber bullies

Apr. 7, 2014

The Internet has given us so many beautiful and fantastic things. We can communicate with others in far-off lands, we can research almost anything within the span of a minute, and we can create and share information instantly. But it’s also bred a new class of web users that almost everyone with an Internet connection has experienced: the troll.