Opinion | Columns - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Vaping is not only unhealthy, but also remarkably uncool

Jan. 11, 2016

Being like-minded with those who sought a fitness renaissance in the New Year, I went to a sporting goods store last week and purchased a dorky pair of running shoes. The half-off marking, coupled with the promise of a more efficient and healthy respiratory system, had my head and hopes high. Leaving the store, box of Asics in hand, I passed by a panderer who was making his last pleas before the night set in. It was less empathetic and more in the spirit of karmic rectification that I gave the man a few dollars in spare change. During the rummage I happened upon a pack of Marlboro 27’s in my pocket and, once again being altruistic, opted to donate the rest of my rather full pack to the strip-mall nomad who wanted for so much.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: The U.S. and ISIS: How do we salvage victory?

Jan. 11, 2016

Any successful strategy against ISIS will ultimately require both a military and political campaign. On the one hand, our military campaign has proven relatively successful. On the other, our political opposition to ISIS needs considerable improvement. Before going any further, let’s establish some context.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Paris conference was a bunch of hot air

Jan. 10, 2016

As Jan. 1 neared, many media outlets published articles that reviewed and ranked the most noteworthy events of the past 365 days. For many left-wing publications, the event that gained the most praise was the 2015 United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference. This event, apparently the most important and consequential event of the past year, was magnificently monumental in nature. Because of the hot air emissions created at the talks and coupled with the negotiators’ unduly self-praise, the media declared that all of the polar bears clinging onto nearly liquid glaciers can rest easy.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: No one is forced to like Shakespeare

Jan. 7, 2016

"Nothing is true; everything is permitted.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Instagram celebrates superficial lifestyles instead of actual lives

Jan. 7, 2016

I don’t have an Instagram. I’d like to pretend it’s because I’m too subversive for social media, but the truth is I’m too lazy for it. After witnessing my friends pour hours into photo capturing and filter selection, I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Putting on makeup for a first-day-of-school selfie? Please.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Guest Column: Planning on flying your own drone? Read this before you're cleared for takeoff

Jan. 6, 2016

If you’re one of the lucky people who got a drone as a holiday gift, don’t strap on your flying goggles just yet.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: The cultural significance of "Auld Lang Syne"

Jan. 5, 2016

"We two have run about the hills

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: New year, new column, new books

Jan. 5, 2016

Happy January! It’s the beginning of a new year and a new semester. Here’s to saying goodbye to Winter Break, a glorious time of rest, relaxation and stuffing myself with home-cooked food. It was good while it lasted. Does anyone else feel decidedly underprepared for this semester? Coming to school in the fall often feels exciting and full of promise, but the (semi) cold, dreary air of spring has a habit of sucking the enthusiasm for school right out of me. Luckily, there are ways to stay positive about rolling out of bed and trundling to class this week.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Flaky friends and a serious fear of commitment

Jan. 4, 2016

As we return from Winter Break, many of us can easily attest to the difficulty of making plans with old and new friends alike. Perhaps the struggle stems from overscheduled lives or your inability to change out of the pajamas you wore for three weeks straight, but you can’t deny that making plans often morphs into a viciously futile cycle of back-and-forth texts that ultimately lead nowhere. Responses like, “Maybe!” and, “I’ll try!” become increasingly prevalent as they incorporate the perfect amount of ambiguity without becoming a full-out “no.” But it wasn’t always this way. So what’s changed?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Thank you for the endless supply of anecdotes

Dec. 8, 2015

A few weeks ago, I ran into an old classmate from high school.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Goodbye and thanks to the squad I finally found

Dec. 8, 2015

If there’s one thing college taught me besides how to be a journalist, it’s that you can’t force friendship.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Country and football, viewed necessarily in that order

Dec. 8, 2015

Let’s go back to Sept. 8, 2011. The U.S. unemployment rate is around 9 percent and President Barack Obama has called a joint session of Congress to address the nation on what the U.S. government is going to do to improve the economy. Millions of Americans at the time were struggling to make ends meet while unemployed, scraping together what they had just to make it by. That night, Obama had the answer to the fear and struggle of many Americans. But this wasn’t the priority for most: That night it was Thursday Night Football.

OPINION | COLUMNS

The end of the semester is a time for reflection

Dec. 7, 2015

For the next week, any room with a Wi-Fi connection and four walls will be overrun by over-caffeinated undergrads frantically typing, highlighting or scribbling. Most conversations will be haunted by looming deadlines, libraries will be filled to capacity and everyone in your life will claim to be "burnt out." With the end of the semester comes not only a heightened state of anxiety, but also the opportunity to reflect on any lessons learned in the last four months (and the chance to successfully procrastinate at the same time).

OPINION | COLUMNS

Guest Column: Undergrads face grad bargaining issues

Dec. 7, 2015

In the Alligator’s coverage of UF graduate assistants’ struggle for fair pay, UF Provost Joseph Glover is quoted as saying, "(Graduate Assistants United’s) position is they want a lot of weight for people on the lower end," referring to GAU’s proposal to redistribute student fees. In this model, GAs with the lowest income would pay proportionally less in fees, and GAs with more income would pay proportionally more in fees. According to Glover, this "would be unfair to the people who are working hard, who are at the higher end of the pay scale." Presumably, this means Glover is working extremely hard, since he’s paid over $300,000 a year and doesn’t have to pay fees to work at UF. Plus, there’s his $50,000 raise in 2010. Compare this to the 2-percent raise for GAs currently offered by negotiator Bill Connellan. (In case Connellan doesn’t know, a 2-percent increase in poverty is still poverty.)

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Goodbye, Gainesville, and all of its lessons

Dec. 6, 2015

Proust once wrote memory isn’t contained within us, but all around us, in the seasons that come and go and remind us the world goes on. And so every winter, I remember the winters previous, going back to the first one when I came to Gainesville, on the edge of beginning my so-called real life.

OPINION | COLUMNS

GOP Primary race is like Midtown

Dec. 6, 2015

As a supporter of the presidential candidate Gov. Jeb Bush, I am frequently asked about the polls that show outsiders out-pacing establishment candidates by ever-increasing numbers. As well as the anti-Washington rhetoric of the election and about the throngs of people who show up to Trump-mania rallies. How can all of this be?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Legal guns are used in crimes, too

Dec. 6, 2015

Mass shootings have become so frequent it is difficult to keep track of them. With the San Bernardino shooting, the U.S. has seen 355 shootings this year according to The Washington Post. What distinguishes this shooting from the rest of them is the shooters’ association with the terror group Daesh.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A retort to concealed-carry advocates

Dec. 3, 2015

On Monday morning, I read a piece in this very section by Michael Beato, a genuinely great guy with a stronger grip on style and common sense than I could ever hope for. I have a lot of respect for him, a sentiment made stronger by the fact we hardly ever agree on anything political. I haven’t had too many conversations with the guy, but, based on previous experience, I’d much rather spend an hour — or even an afternoon — shooting the political shit with Michael than any college Democrat in the area.

OPINION | COLUMNS

STEM subjects are not the only important paths to pursue in college

Dec. 3, 2015

Toward the end of my freshman year, I decided to switch my major to economics. I found its unique blend of social science and math fascinating, and I was excited to pursue a degree in it. When I told one of my friends in the College of Engineering about my decision, he laughed at me. "Economics?" he said. "What a joke. You should pick something that matters if you want to get a job someday." I nodded and smiled while making a mental note to demote him from "friend" to "mild acquaintance."

OPINION | COLUMNS

Going out with a bang: It’s been a pleasure

Dec. 3, 2015

In January 2014, I walked into the Alligator office for its open house. I was a sophomore at the time, and I went straight to the then-opinions editor with, "I’d like to write a sex column."