Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Sunday, January 11, 2026

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Venezuela column doesn’t give whole truth

Last Tuesday, a column ran in the Alligator titled “Viral video is one-sided” by UF student Eric Brown, in which he discussed Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez and Venezuela. After reading it, I realized some things he said were partially true and some partially false.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

‘Religious freedom’ bill ignites controversy

The land home to the Grand Canyon brought a slew of controversy this week when reactionary legislators passed a religious freedom bill. The bill is an amendment that rides on the shoulders of an act that began after Native American Church members were fired for using psychedelic cacti more than a decade ago. It enshrines Arizona citizens’ rights to religious freedom by declaring that anything done or not done because of a “sincerely held” religious belief is well and good, so long as it doesn’t conflict with government interests.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Net neutrality is a thing of the past

Think about the nature of the Internet. It’s anything and everything at your fingertips whenever you want it. One day, we will tell our children we lived in a time when information was truly free.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Fresh approach needed to tackle SG corruption

Most UF students are by now familiar with the ongoing situation on campus. If you’ve read the disturbing ways the Swamp Party maintains its control over student leadership — as reported widely in the Alligator and the Fine Print — it’s not pleasant.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Viral video is one-sided

Venezuela is in the international spotlight because of recent violent anti-government protests, which have garnered attention through social media. This past weekend, my news feed was filled with posts sharing a video titled, “What’s going on in Venezuela in a nutshell” and hashtags like #prayforvenezuela. I was immediately reminded of the frenzy involved with KONY 2012 in which people became “experts” on Uganda overnight.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Manners matter: a common courtesy guide

I always get pegged as nice. When I hold the door for a stranger: nice. When I tell someone his backpack is unzipped: nice. When I inform the barista at Starbucks someone left $20 unattended on the counter: nice.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

BuzzFeed, sponsored content trending

Thousands of years from now, historians and archeologists will be scouring Internet archives, and they’re going to find BuzzFeed. And it’s going to be really embarrassing.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

UF has beef, but we want bamboo

Many students and faculty are outraged with UF’s harsh decision to remove the popular campus landmark Bambooville. But the university’s behavior on this matter is far from shocking.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Anti-LGBT laws show intolerance

Last week, I wrote about how the reaction of prominent Republicans to Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” commercial reflects conservative intolerance toward nonwhite and non-English speaking Americans.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Minimum-wage raise would be ineffective, increase layoffs

To say that Democrats will have a difficult election cycle this year would be an understatement. Forget the fact that the majority of senators up for reelection are Democrats who represent red states and that House seats are pretty secure. Forget the fact that the president is losing favorability each month while the economy struggles to grow.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Protect Earth and her scarce resources

Our sun is amazing. It keeps us warm and keeps things lit. It’s pretty much the best thing to happen to this solar system since sliced bread — well, before sliced bread, to be exact. I guess you could say we’re the sun’s Goldilocks child because to date, we are the only planet with observable life in our solar system.


Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2026 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.