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Monday, August 11, 2025

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The increasing danger of anti-liberal liberalism

Say what you will of the political right, but at least they are politically consistent. From the decrepit-moderate branch to the slow-people bible study group that controls the most powerful country in the world, Republicans just want to hurt people. Jeb Bush is fine with "stuff" happening to the poor and disadvantaged, and Ted Cruz needs women to suffer for their chromosomal sins. Our left doesn’t know what it wants, especially in our generation, and it only wants to point out the ideological sins of its compatriots.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Don't fear concealed carry bills

In keeping with Florida’s tradition as a gun-friendly state, the Legislature is now preparing a bill that would allow concealed weapons on college campuses. Legislation like House Bill 4001 has been batted around every so often in the Florida House and Senate. For some reason or another, it always fails to become law. Now, signs indicate it might pass the chambers and actually make it to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The pressing need for safe spaces

Last week, a White Student Union page was created on Facebook under UF's name. Most of the posts allege UF doesn’t have enough safe spaces for European American students whose culture is not celebrated enough. While it’s not patently clear if the page is a hoax or if it was actually created by UF students who believe such fiction, it is very apparent the page has become a hub for racist messaging and posts that stoke fear about whites as the minority.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

'Albasheer Show': 'Daily Show' of Iraq

In light of the Charlie Hebdo shootings this past January, and the recent attacks in Paris, many have reacted by painting Islam and the Middle East as being fundamentally at odds with Western values such as free speech.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Is it enough to support the Safe Campus Act?

The sexual violence on college campuses is not an issue that can be swept under the rug. Universities have served as the focal point for media coverage, awareness campaigns and congressional legislation in the discussion about sexual assault, regardless of whether they help or hinder the issue at hand. We’ve all experienced some offshoot of this, whether it was through last year’s Walk Safe program, the Interfraternity Council’s "It’s On Us" campaign or UF’s Sexual Assault Awareness month.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

A refresher on the 2016 presidential candidates

Politics is a rough-and-tumble business. More than that, it’s also confusing. But rest assured, dear reader, this columnist is the one-stop shop for all of your political questions and quandaries. So without delay, let’s clarify some political points your Politico friend keeps on talking about:


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Let’s all try a little harder in school

I remember the first time I went to UF in the winter of my senior year in high school. The red brick looked almost authentically collegiate Gothic. I remember the feeling of life beginning, one I tried to recapture during Preview weekend while driving in the snow-white blur of rain on I-75. I laughed at the billboards erected by the autochthons of my new home, who apparently still feared they might be aborted, performatively reading Schopenhauer in the stadium.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

In light of an awful week, bad beer makes it even worse

I thought I might write something about Friday’s horrific scenes from Paris. I thought I’d write about how we could use this to take events in the Middle East seriously from a humanitarian perspective without falling into the obvious trap the Islamic State group has set for us, whereby we abandon the very multiculturalism and tolerance that has made the West a place of relative peace and security. It’s these very attitudes the huddled masses who flee ISIS’ apocalyptic cruelty yearn for. And, while writing, I could hope in vain that far-right, Eurosceptic freaks won’t ride a wave of nationalist reaction and ethnic resentment into office, dismantling the diplomatic structures that have maintained relative peace in Europe for 70 short years (not counting a genocide against Muslims in Bosnia). I would also really like it if, when vicious goons like Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage lead their gangs into parliament halls, they wouldn’t plunge the world into a second Dark Age, complete with our very own crusades.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Nonlethal weapons are a more effective option

About two weeks ago, America was hit with the horrifying story of Jeremy Mardis. Mardis was a 6-year-old boy who was shot to death by two police officers while riding in the car with his father in Marksville, Louisiana. Mardis’ father, Chris Few, had no outstanding warrants for his arrest, nor was there a gun found in Few’s vehicle. This information begs the question: Why were shots fired by police in the first place?


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Million Student March, rethinking taxation reform and student debt

Last week, students under the banner of the Million Student March demonstrated on college campuses across the country. There was even a demonstration at UF, although only about a dozen marchers actually showed up. Regardless, the collective demands of the protestors were clear: tuition-free public college, $15 minimum wage and the cancellation of all student debt.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Don't forget your childhood dreams

When I was deciding my career as a little girl, full of blind naiveté and enthusiasm for a world that seemed so clearly ready to catapult me to stardom, there were a lot of options on the list. My aspirations ranged from ballerina to doctor to orange-truck driver over the years, but there was one job that kept coming up in the mix, no matter how many years passed: I wanted to be a writer.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Perils of registration, death of English program

Registering for Spring classes is a perpetually stressful experience. Just in case the mid-semester deluge of papers, exams and self-doubt wasn’t enough, you also have to effectively plan four months’ worth of classes (assuming you’ll make it through December alive). While this process used to make me feel as though I had some aspect of my life under control, it has recently become an unavoidable and highly involved burden.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Abortion restrictions are an issue of class

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on Texas’ House Bill 2 — a bill that resulted in half of the state’s abortion clinics being closed. The law is a threat to the rights of low-income women in Texas. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear one of its first abortion cases in a while, it must consider the motivations behind such restrictions. Given abortion is a low-complication procedure, many of the restrictions are unnecessary and serve only to make it difficult for women to get an abortion.


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