Opinion | Editorials - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | EDITORIALS

We need to make room for tolerance in politics

May 10, 2017

Here are several topics we are constantly warned to steer clear of when meeting new people. As a general rule of thumb, it is never a smart idea to bring up the subjects of religion, money and — of course — politics. History has shown us time and time again that these are some of the most controversial matters in the world. This past year especially, politics became the crux of major issues on a national scale as well as a personal one.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Graduation should be a time of celebration, not self-deprecation

May 8, 2017

It’s that time of the year again: graduation season. Our social-media timelines are flooded with photos of painted square caps and statuses from friends raving about what an incredible journey the last four years have been.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

We have the right to speak and the duty to listen

Apr. 18, 2017

As the limbo of Summer semester comes round, I’m going to follow my predecessor in removing the opinions editor mask and speaking directly as myself. The opinions and experiences expressed here will be my own, and not those of the Alligator editorial board. I want to take the chance, as the end of the semester approaches and friends graduate, travel abroad, tackle internships and sit on their couches all summer, to reflect on the past semester.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Condemning hate isn’t enough

Apr. 17, 2017

We’re not going to wait until the end of this editorial to cut to the chase, so here it is: UF needs to do more than just condemn hate after the fact.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Foreign relations aren’t black and white

Apr. 16, 2017

On Saturday, North Korea launched a missile. The attempt failed, exploding moments after launch, but nevertheless the missile firing shows that North Korea’s military technology is advancing, whether we like it or not. Even if they do not yet have the technical prowess, they are pouring an incredible amount of resources and funding into this program.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Why are we afraid of being kind?

Apr. 12, 2017

Though we may not openly acknowledge it, society has engrained in us that it’s “cool” to be mean. We all want to believe we are good people; we rationalize our actions to ourselves, saying that we are kind to our friends, our families and those close with us. We share sympathetic videos on social media. We spend time attending Dance Marathon and Relay for Life. We don’t go out of our way to ruin people’s lives. That — the bare minimum, it seems — is enough to justify the fact that we are good people.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Sean Spicer needs a history lesson

Apr. 11, 2017

On the second day of Passover, the most practiced Jewish holiday in the U.S., White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer compared the Syrian government’s use of a chemical weapon to attack its own people to the Holocaust, arguing that Adolf Hitler “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons” on his people.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Don’t regret the things you didn’t do in college

Apr. 10, 2017

As the school year rounds off, it can become easy to fall into the slump of “could have beens” and “didn’t do’s.” This, perhaps, hits graduating students the hardest, but no one is immune from the curse. It is the end of things that causes us to look back, after all,

OPINION | EDITORIALS

It’s pointless to boycott Pepsi

Apr. 9, 2017

Quick recap: Last week, Pepsi came out with a really out-of-touch commercial starring Kendall Jenner, who leaves a photoshoot and brings peace to a vague protest by handing an officer a can of Pepsi. People were, understandably, upset. The commercial was in

OPINION | EDITORIALS

What PBS Kids’ ‘Arthur’ can still teach us

Apr. 5, 2017

If you don’t remember the PBS Kids show “Arthur” from your late ’90s-early ’00s childhood, you might be more familiar with its surge into internet culture around fall 2016, in which the most ubiquitous image was Arthur’s curled fist. To the average person in their 20s, the mention of “Arthur” nowadays offers a chuckle and a flash of nostalgia. But if we take a look back and really think about the adventures of our favorite aardvark and his friends, we find that “Arthur” has a lot more to offer.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Memes and Dada: Making sense out of nonsense

Apr. 4, 2017

The Dada art movement, which began during World War I, was characterized by a rejection of all previous notions of art. Dada artists did not want to create something pretty or pay tribute to rich patrons, religious icons and classic myths. Dada’s goal was to portray nonsense and irrationality, as a commentary on capitalist society, the brewing war and rampant nationalism. One of the most famous works of Dada art is Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain,” which is a urinal with the name “R.Mutt” signed on the side. Dada was about rejecting past artistic conventions and challenging society, and one of the ways they did that was by purposefully elevating everyday objects into nonsensical art forms.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

OK, now when’s the Lil Wayne protest?

Apr. 3, 2017

On Monday night, a small group of UF students carried signs and yelled into megaphones in protest of Ben Shapiro’s appearance on campus. Remarkably outnumbered by students waiting in a snaking line to see the controversial conservative talking head, the protesters stood in the name of morality, for the sake of letting UF know that they wouldn’t stand for Shapiro’s anti-LGBTQ+ stances.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Privacy versus convenience in the information age

Apr. 2, 2017

In case you haven’t heard, Congress recently voted to allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to sell your browsing history to corporations. Not that they weren’t doing that already to a degree — anyone who has seen a targeted ad on Facebook will know this — but with the repeal of the 2016 Federal Communications Commission broadband privacy regulations, ISPs won’t need our permission to gather and sell sensitive private information. This includes things we kind of figured they were selling, like browsing history and app downloads, but also things we didn’t really want to think about them selling, like location, financial and medical data.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Why we keep falling back on remakes

Mar. 29, 2017

The top three movies in the box office last weekend were “Beauty and the Beast,” “Power Rangers” and “Kong: Skull Island.” What do they all have in common? They’re all reboots, remakes or sequels, capitalizing on the previous fame and success of their predecessors. Perhaps that’s a very cynical way to view it, but the fact is, Hollywood realized people love familiar things and are nostalgic, and that both these things mean very easy money.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

What freedom of speech really means

Mar. 28, 2017

It’s a popular pastime nowadays to rant about how the U.S. is infringing upon freedom of speech. Conservatives specifically will talk about how oppressed their freedom of speech is because they feel like they cannot express their views without people criticizing them. What a lot of people fail to realize is that freedom of speech does not mean freedom to speak without repercussion: It means that the government cannot censor or restrain you. It does not mean people can’t criticize you, that your workplace cannot find your speech or actions inappropriate or that what you say won’t be subject to negative social repercussions. You have the freedom to say what you want, without the government regulating you; other people, press, companies, celebrities and social media, however, have the freedom to react.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

The terrorism Trump doesn’t see

Mar. 27, 2017

Two days before a knife-wielding assailant killed three people and injured 40 in an attack outside the houses of Parliament, a second act of terrorism went largely under the radar — and it happened in the heart of the US.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Let them play golf

Mar. 26, 2017

We’re all familiar with the infamous Marie Antoinette line, “Let them eat cake,” but for those not familiar with the story, it goes something like this: While lounging on cushions in a lavishly decorated French Rococo parlor room, the then-queen of France was approached by an adviser who exclaimed that the common people of France had no bread to eat. To that, Marie Antoinette replied with, “Let them eat cake!”

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Stop trying to turn international attacks into personal ones

Mar. 22, 2017

A gruesome attack happened in London on Wednesday, leaving five dead and dozens more injured. It is a horrible, tragic event that occurred, despite increased security measures throughout Europe in the recent years. There’s a lot to take in. In the past two or three years, Europe has been struck by frequent terror attacks. The strategy behind this one — using a vehicle and then a knife to attack law enforcement officers — is described by the British security service as a “marauding attack,” something they have been preparing for. The British officers were able to stop the attacker, and Scotland Yard is now working on protecting the city as well as investigating the attack as a whole.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

To the perfectionists: it’s okay to take a break

Mar. 21, 2017

It’s that time of the semester that makes or breaks us. Final projects are piling up, midterm grades are in — final exams around the corner. It’s that lull before the storm; just a few weeks from finals, just a few weeks from the ultimate deadlines, just a few weeks before we can’t drop a class, just a few weeks before we register for classes. We were pulled into a sense of false security over Spring Break, but now it’s time to kick ourselves into action.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Spend less on walls, more on education

Mar. 20, 2017

The proposed Trump budget is not new news anymore, it’s been out for about a week now. There’s been plenty of debate — backlash, support, a satire column that was accidentally retweeted by White House Officials. Now, it comes as no surprise that we’re not exactly fans of this budget, but we’re going to address a common criticism that those who do support the budget cuts often bring up: How is the government going to get all this money to support all these programs that were cut?