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Wednesday, May 07, 2025

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Hurricane Matthew: discerning between fearmongering and facts

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the slew of parties and bad decisions that came about in response to Hurricane Hermine. Sure, some people stocked up on bottled water and bread in anticipation of the Category-1 storm, but the majority of us celebrated our day off with some choice beverages and friends. After all, it had been a while since the last hurricane made landfall in Florida and eons since one had caused any long-lasting damage. With Hurricane Matthew, all of that changed.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Think before you help: how intention can hinder effect

With the impact of Hurricane Matthew becoming clearer each day, it’s evident Florida was spared the worst of it. It devastated Haiti. While students at UF hoped for the hurricane to cancel class and delay their exams, Haiti was washed out by the hurricane.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Prioritize, capitalize and enjoy: It's your time, so make it what you want.

Time. What a word. Loved and hated, used as an excuse and seen as a vice. Time is difficult to fully understand. How often do we say we wish we could alter time? We make mistakes, and we wish we could go back and stop ourselves from doing so. We have something exciting coming up, and we wish we could skip everything from now until then. Why do we do this? Why can’t we just enjoy the present? Well, dear readers, probably because the present is not all that pleasant most of the time.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Why people should trust the use of antidepressants

I recently saw an argument unfold on one of my friend’s Facebook statuses. The post was a combination of two images: one of a forest with writing that said, “This is an antidepressant.” The second image was of several pill packages that implied prescribed antidepressants, with writing stating the vulgar equivalent of, “This is garbage.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Pressure on Saudi Arabia long overdue

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged complicity in the terrorist attacks. President Barack Obama vetoed the bill, arguing it would not only undermine strong diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, but it would also weaken the long-standing tradition of sovereign immunity: the legal doctrine that no foreign nation can be held responsible from civil suit of prosecution. However, the veto was overridden by an overwhelming margin — 97-1 in the Senate and 348-77 in the House.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Seeking a friend in the digital world

I’m going to come out and admit something I usually only share with close friends: I role-play online. Now before you start thinking I spend time on Neopets forums, let me briefly explain the type of role-playing I do. I role-play through Tumblr. Each character I play has a different blog, and I’m part of a larger group in which each person has a handful of characters with their own blogs. When it comes to actually role-playing, it goes like this: I write a scene through my character’s perspective, then whoever I am role-playing with writes the same scene through their character’s point of view and advances it. This keeps on going until the thread finishes.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Comedy in a vacuum: What makes for timeless comedic entertainment?

Popular culture shapes a lot of the comedy around us, obviously. Plenty of TV shows make references to current events, and plenty more harken to other decades to appeal to an older crowd. Weekly shows like “Saturday Night Live” thrive off of popular culture; it’s a show that’s stayed relevant for more than 40 years by doing so. Period pieces take the culture of a past era and convey that era to a modern audience.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Overdoing it your freshman year: reflections on casual substance abuse

I was a freshman and walking to my first-ever college party. It was 9 p.m., and I approached the apartment complex slowly. I stuck my hand into the pocket of my dark-green army jacket and fiddled with the half-filled pack of Marlboro Lights with two joints pushed to the corners. I figured I should bring something to be polite, but I had no way of obtaining a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Building academic and professional careers through conferences

As students, learning is not only done in the classroom through courses by professors, but also in extracurricular activities. A conference, for instance, might give students new insights, too. In a typical class, achieving the best academic performance is the largest goal for every student, accomplished by completing assignments, class participation, discussion and exams.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Political smugness on both ends of the spectrum

The political climate we find ourselves in today is radically binary; for this, we must give thanks to the luminary influence of this presidential election. There seems to be much class, racial and ideological resentment, all of which are rising to the surface of the American conscience. Sadly, all it took for such contempt to become public and commonplace was an election. The vitriol with which both sides of the aisle — both sides — hate the other candidate, party and platform simply boggles my mind.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The best credit cards to help you save money when you travel this Fall

If you are like most students heading back to school this Fall, you have a lot going on. For many people, that includes studying for classes, extracurricular activities, hanging out with friends and Fall football games. But as Fall starts to wind down, you will start looking forward to visiting friends and family back home for the holidays. The problem with traveling is that it can be quite expensive. But, there are ways to save on your travel expenses, and your credit card (or future credit card) is a great place to start.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

To my nephew: There will be choices to make

Nephew, I don’t want you to know a world made up in shades of one color. Blue like sadness, like masculinity, like rigid gender norms and small minds. Really, I do not want you to grow up to be an a------.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Positivity: People receive what they project

How many times have we been told, “You get out what you put in”? This applies to so many aspects of life, from friendships and romantic relationships to academics and physical fitness. The validity of this statement is widely accepted; it is honestly difficult to dispute. It’s logical, and it continues to prove itself right, time after time.


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