Opinion | Columns - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Why it's OK to have opinions and perspectives in your news coverage

Oct. 23, 2016

Journalism is a pretty conservative field. The Associated Press Stylebook has yet to accept that “they” can be a singular pronoun and The New York Times still uses Mr. and Ms., which reinforce the gender binary. Student journalists are taught to be objective, to get both sides of every story — present the facts and tie them together.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Let’s talk about taboo topics: being open about feelings and mental health

Oct. 23, 2016

Who decides what is OK to talk about? How do we all just seem to know what a taboo topic is? If there is a yearly workshop, I wasn’t invited. But somehow, I’m still aware of what we are supposed to avoid talking about. At a party, we’re told to steer clear of discussions about sex, politics, religion and the like. I don’t know what parties these people were talking about, because every party I attend somehow turns into a spirited political debate. Regardless, I maintain that this is a commonly used list of topics to avoid. Another common addition to this list is health. We’re told that no one wants to hear about our recent ailments or your visit to the doctor, and this may be true. People often get weird when others share personal information. Further, there is one topic that makes many people extremely uncomfortable. If you want to quiet a room full of people, bring up your mental-health struggles.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The Great Barrier Reef is dead. Well, almost.

Oct. 20, 2016

I read an obituary for the Great Barrier Reef a few days ago that stated the reef had died after a long battle with bleaching. This bleaching was caused by stress from climate change and indirect human interaction such as toxins from oil spills and sediment from runoff. It didn’t seem right to me that I had never heard of the website that posted the obituary, so I did some quick research and learned it was just something meant to grab people’s attention in a dramatic way. The good news that is the reef is still alive. The bad news is it’s dying at a rapid rate and will most likely be completely destroyed soon if something isn’t done to slow the rate of climate change.

OPINION | COLUMNS

You're in charge, not your phone: don't be controlled by apps, notifications

Oct. 20, 2016

Ready for a challenge? Make your smartphone a “dumb phone.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Excellent educations should be filled with both humanities and sciences

Oct. 19, 2016

As a student and faculty member, I have had offers to study and work at several highly ranked institutes of technology.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Appreciating music for the tunes and the emotion

Oct. 18, 2016

The late movie critic Roger Ebert once said he didn’t have a favorite movie but that he had many favorites. In terms of music, I feel the same way. Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Sam Cooke, Prince, Michael Jackson, Ice Cube — depending on the day and how long the car ride is, I will listen to any, or all, of these artists with glee. Please do not ask which is my favorite. Did Voldemort have a favorite Horcrux? No, he needed all of them. So, too, do I need the variety of sounds, styles and emotions that each of these artists offer in their music (Sorry, that was an awful “Harry Potter” analogy).

OPINION | COLUMNS

This is why I don't like cover bands: A review of a tribute performance

Oct. 18, 2016

The other night I went to High Dive to catch a tribute set of my favorite band of all time, The Smiths. The cover set was played by the Ordinary Boys, a band whose only function is to replicate the sound of The Smiths, as well as Morrissey’s solo work (yuck).

OPINION | COLUMNS

We don't have to adhere to traditional standards of perfection or happiness

Oct. 18, 2016

Life is a rough experience filled with ups and downs. Since the moment we are born, expectations of greatness are placed on us. Our parents look at us and say, “I hope he becomes a doctor,” or “She will be a movie star.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

It’s time to get rid of the division between high culture and low culture

Oct. 17, 2016

Quite a few things happened this past week that have forced me to reflect on the dichotomy of high and low culture. Perhaps you’ve already heard of the first event: Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, and thus becoming the first musician to do so. As an unapologetically devoted fan of both music and the written word, it goes without saying that I was thrilled to see Dylan join the ranks of Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez and Samuel Beckett. Unfortunately, countless academics, authors and journalists vehemently disagreed with my opinion, citing a variety of reasons but often reaching the same conclusion: Songwriting simply cannot reach the level of artistic achievement pure literature can.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Krishna lunch: Hinduism is more than spaghetti Wednesdays and halava

Oct. 17, 2016

One of the most common freshman mistakes is being in classes from noon straight until 3 p.m.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A critique of critical comedy: self-deprecation

Oct. 17, 2016

Self-deprecating humor is pretty commonplace. It’s easy to pull off, and no one can be offended, because you’re only disparaging yourself. It’s a great way to look humble and witty at the same time, and a self-deprecating joke makes everyone around you feel that much better about themselves. This style of humor is a useful tool, certainly. But, like I said, it’s pretty commonplace. People have a knack for selling themselves short, because doing the opposite makes them look arrogant. And there are a fair number of societal norms that ask us to think poorly of ourselves, including social media and beauty standards. We’re all pretty much in agreement, though, that being humble is more noble than being boastful, right? I like to think so. It’s just the polite thing to do, really. When it comes to comedy, though, self-deprecation gets tricky.

OPINION | COLUMNS

STEM and liberal arts should not be that separate

Oct. 16, 2016

Hearing about the current demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors is nonstop. From high school onward, the STEM vs. liberal arts dichotomy starts to heat up and continues beyond college. Although it may be true that people with these skills are desperately needed, being a STEM major does not mean you are inherently more hardworking than others, and a liberal arts major is not lazy just because the answers to liberal-arts questions might be more open-ended.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don’t cheat others, don’t cheat yourself

Oct. 16, 2016

When asked what the most infuriating thing in the world is, many potential answers come to mind. For me (and at least some others, I assume), it’s ignorance. Shocker, right? That’s why I am majoring in journalism, and that’s why I spend time each week writing things like this article to hopefully invoke some kind of thoughtful reaction to a variety of topics. Other infuriating things include people who use the 10 items or less line with more than 10 items, cut in line, eat pizza crust-first and chew with their mouths open (just writing that list made me start to twitch). However, there is one habit above all that really shouldn’t be an issue but has come to permeate our already delicate collegiate society: cheating.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Why we should resist the authoritarian temptation

Oct. 13, 2016

On Tuesday morning, Gov. Paul LePage (R-Maine), said in an interview, “we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country.” Not only is it unsettling for the governor of an American state to be endorsing an authoritarian form of government, but it also reveals an underlying shift in the American public — a tilt toward authoritarianism.

OPINION | COLUMNS

You do you: There’s no ‘right’ way to experience your college years

Oct. 12, 2016

There are a lot of times I think I did college wrong. This becomes especially evident as my college career slowly creeps toward a close, while my sister’s is just taking off. Because of the glorious war of sister rivalry, sometimes I can’t help but compare our freshman years. She’s been making new friends every day, working out regularly, going out every weekend and bonding with the people on her floor.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don't ignore environmental issues

Oct. 12, 2016

Fifteen years ago, a little girl was in Washington, D.C. She was sitting in the corner of a conference room playing with Polly Pockets while her dad was in an important round table meeting with the Heritage Foundation discussing water treatment systems. She was promised that if she was as quiet as a mouse during the meeting, her dad would take her sightseeing. Oh, how she was dying to see the Lincoln Memorial.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Reflecting on death and life after graduation

Oct. 12, 2016

The halfway point of the semester is fast approaching. Midterms are near.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Stay true to yourself and your beliefs

Oct. 11, 2016

These past few weeks, I have been attending a class in which we discuss climate change. During this class, we have been exposed to data, information and public opinions on the topic. Most of the time, our professor makes us reflect on the correlation between human activities and the increase in temperature. During this time, she calls for us to think about our daily activities. I must admit, it is eye-opening and emotional to reflect on this. For a couple of hours, I sit with these ideas, and in a melancholic way I ask myself, “Are we dooming

OPINION | COLUMNS

Cheese-side down: thoughts on working a crummy job at an Italian restaurant

Oct. 11, 2016

It was the summer after my freshman year of college. I was 19 years old and staying with my parents for a couple of months before the new Fall semester rolled around. After a couple of weeks of putzing around the house, I started to receive subtle signals from my dad. He would come home from a long day of work and say something like,

OPINION | COLUMNS

Politics and religion: The truth is more complex than conservatism and liberalism

Oct. 11, 2016

The downfall of writing for the opinions section is that I only have so many accurate, or semi-accurate, opinions. There is a limit to the amount of truth I possess inside myself; the rest is pure inaccuracy. In light of this, I will nevertheless delve into politics head-first without a second thought about facts. After all, this is politics we’re talking about, the blank canvas we all feel entitled to throw our colorful opinions on. Who cares if the paint I throw looks like a 3-year-old’s attempt at drawing a pony?