Opinion | Columns

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don’t forget the best parts

By Nora O'Neill | Dec. 5

GOODBYE COLUMN: I've spent five semesters at The Alligator, three of those as a desk editor. And recently, I've noticed a shift. Managing editors who used to seem terrifying are now my friends. Freshman reporters I used to see hurry home after meetings are now sticking around to chat. The best part of The Alligator — besides its phenomenal coverage — is the community it creates.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A journalist is born — from her bedroom

By Lucille Lannigan | Dec. 5

GOODBYE COLUMN: I learned how to be a journalist in my sophomore year bedroom. I typed up breaking news briefs, missing gecko mysteries and protest recaps under my collaged poster wall. It was almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and The Alligator staff was forced to work from behind computer screens and double masks.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Opinion sections matter

By Stuart Floyd | Nov. 28

OPINION: Many community news outlets are eliminating their opinion sections. Think this is happening in some far-off, sparsely populated town? Surprise! It’s occurring near you in Gainesville.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Rethinking student involvement at UF

By Halima Attah | Nov. 24

OPINION: The only way we can repair the culture of student involvement at UF is to change the way we look at it.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Time to retire the GPD K-9 Unit

By Bobby Mermer and Sheila Payne | Nov. 15

OPINION: Other cities and states have indefinitely suspended the use of K-9 programs after similar incidents of police dogs biting suspects who are on the ground. We demand that the City Commission eliminate the canine unit at GPD.

OPINION | COLUMNS

In Defense of Ben Sasse

By Michael Lynch | Nov. 15

OPINION: Dr. Sasse will be a wonderful and thoughtful president not just for me, but for every person on campus, regardless of ethnicity, sexuality, religion or party affiliation.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Embracing my first-generation identity

By Miguel Pascual | Nov. 10

OPINION: I will continue to luchar por mis estudios because I’m a bright individual who earned his place here at UF. I will not allow anyone or anything to tell me otherwise.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Where’s the outrage?

By Stuart Floyd | Nov. 5

OPINION: The rights and benefits most important to your generation are just a vote away. If you don’t vote, don’t complain about the outcome.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A concerned alumna's open letter to the UF Board of Trustees

By Tiffany Hinton | Oct. 27

OPINION: The apparently imminent appointment of Ben Sasse will leave me no choice but to renounce my alma mater and forsake Gator Nation.

OPINION | COLUMNS

An alternative perspective to the Ben Sasse situation

By Robert Thomas Lattus | Oct. 18

OPINION: My foremost impression of this ordeal has nothing to do with Sasse himself. It concerns freedom of belief and academic liberty here at UF.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A Day of Gratitude

By Kent Fuchs | Oct. 10

We are declaring Wednesday, October 12, to be a Day of Gratitude. On that day, we are acknowledging and thanking every UF student, faculty and staff member for their work in overcoming the challenges of the pandemic.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Why you should combat UF Student Government voter apathy

By Halima Attah | Oct. 3

The less students vote, the less accurate image SG members have of student opinion on campus, and the less students will be satisfied with election results. It’s a lose-lose situation.

OPINION | COLUMNS

UF Top 5 Ranking – What's Next?

By Kent Fuchs | Oct. 3

No university has ever broken into that top-five ranking and stayed there for two consecutive years, until last month, when UF was ranked among the top five for the second year in a row. Berkeley and UCLA are tied for first, Michigan and Virginia tied for third, and UF and UNC are tied for fifth.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Vote like your life depends on it — because it does

By Susan Bottcher, Precinct Committeewoman, Alachua County Democratic Executive Committee | Sep. 29

Florida’s current abortion ban only prohibits abortions after 15 weeks, but make no mistake, the Florida Republican Party will work for a complete ban. They’re hoping you won’t pay attention. They’re counting on you doubting that the worst can happen. But pay attention, because it very well might. If Florida Republicans win big in November, they will double down on denying your right of bodily autonomy the first chance they get.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Behind UF’s guise of a Top 5 ranking lays systemic inequity

By Erika Davis, PhD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at UF | Sep. 29

Recently, UF has been celebrating the renewal of its top-five public university ranking. But last month, U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, called college rankings “a joke.” He pointed out they encourage colleges to compete for prestige when they should be working toward equity.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Change Party: Moving UF forward, together

Sep. 26

Our Student Government and our elections are supposed to reflect the interests of the entire UF student body, no matter who you are. Unfortunately, there has been persistent misallocation of student funding, prioritizing a slim number of interests. The inequitable distribution of our student budget was most recently manifested in the recruitment of Accent speaker Josh Richards for $60,000.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Gator Party aims to continue enhancing student experience

Sep. 26

Gator Party is proud to have led Student Government for the last two years. It has been an honor to generate long-lasting impacts for the Gator community through the executive and legislative branches.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The need for liberation in UF SG

Sep. 26

Our university and our democracy is under attack. On a broad scale, assaults on our academic freedom by Tallahassee have gone unchecked by the UF Board of Trustees, creating an atmosphere of fear and censorship.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Grappling with imposter syndrome at a top five university

By Halima Attah | Sep. 12, 2022

Earning the title of a top-five public university last year, UF has become a space for some of the nation’s most gifted individuals — something that often prompts students to go the extra mile when doubting their own skills. Questions of academic ability often become questions of belonging, with a single less-than-superior grade housing the potential to make students worry about whether they deserve to have a spot here.

OPINION | COLUMNS

UF’s graduate stipend raise is still far from sufficient

By S. Elisha LePine | Sep. 12, 2022

The first year of my Ph.D. program in psychology had taken a toll on my finances. I had moved from a job that paid me just enough to get by, determined to make UF’s much lower stipend work. Unfortunately, determination wasn’t enough to make that stipend stretch to cover the cost of living.