Sports
alligatorSports Picks Column: Week 3
Sep. 15, 2016So North Texas is coming into town this weekend to close out Florida’s three-game home stand to open up the season.
Opinion
Sports
Column: Florida needs to dominate North Texas from the start
By IAN COHEN | Sep. 15, 2016As he sat comfortably in a collared Gators shirt, smiling at the wreath of reporters surrounding him minutes after his team demolished Kentucky 45-7 on Saturday, defensive lineman Caleb Brantley said something interesting.
Opinion
Letter to the Editor: On-campus housing should be better maintained
Sep. 15, 2016My daughter moved into on-campus housing in August 2016. She was so excited to begin her college experience that she moved in early by volunteering as a Gator Aide to help others before the semester started. That excitement was short-lived.
Opinion
Column: Leisurely reading in college is rare, but it's certainly worth the time
Sep. 15, 2016Change is natural. Change is good. There are not many emotions greater than the anticipation of change. It gives us everything we can want in life: something to look forward to, to desire. Plans held into the not-too-distant future help us trudge through the monotonous present, giving us an attainable shift out of our current boredom and into something new.
Opinion
Column: The Republican Party can learn adaptability from David Cameron
Sep. 15, 2016On Monday, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron announced his resignation as a member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, three months after the Brexit referendum. While he may be remembered for years to come as “the man who accidentally caused Britain to leave the European Union,” Cameron also leaves a powerful legacy behind — perhaps one that American Republicans can learn from.
Opinion
Column: The confusion of finding a cultural identity
Sep. 15, 2016It’s really weird to be confused about your cultural identity. I will always say I am Puerto Rican before I am Mexican and before I am American. My family is huge and loud and very Hispanic. We’re great fun at parties. At the same time, however, I’ve often felt like I’m “too white” to be Hispanic and “too Hispanic” to be American, and it’s frustrating to explain to my friends and family when I feel like I can’t fully fit in with them.
Opinion
Stand up against environmental degradation
Sep. 14, 2016With Gainesville residents protesting oil pipelines Tuesday, we here at the Alligator thought we’d offer some insight into what’s going on in our beautiful state.
Opinion
The danger of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and wrongly stereotyping women
Sep. 14, 2016If you’re not familiar with the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl, let me give you a refresher. The term, coined by film critic Nathan Rabin, is used to describe spirited, quirky female characters (usually written by men) that inspire the brooding male hero to find joy in life. It is an overdone trope that devalues female characters, reducing them to plot tools for the more complexly written male characters.
Opinion
No days off for Santa Clara Police Department
Sep. 13, 2016Where does responsibility come from? At what point can someone abandon his or her sworn obligations? While the discussion surrounding San Francisco 49ers football player Colin Kaepernick’s decision to lead a national protest is growing stale and tiresome, the reaction by the Santa Clara Police Department is so irresponsible, so reckless and so downright childish that a continuation of this discussion is sadly necessary.
Opinion
Falling in love with your roommate
Sep. 13, 2016(This is part two of a two-part column. Last Wednesday, we ran part one. To read the full story, visit alligator.org.)
Opinion
Technology is the wrong form of escape
Sep. 13, 2016The famous French and Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Pascal seems to be flirting with deep philosophical truths in this insight, but I want to tamper with Pascal’s statement: A good number of our problems today stem from our unwillingness to sit quietly without a phone in a room alone. Why do I — and Pascal — believe this behavior is a problem?
Opinion
The chemistry of betrayal
Sep. 13, 2016As individuals in a complex society, we feel comfort by putting labels or stereotypes on people. It gives us a sense of safety. As members of the mammalian species, we don't like to relate to situations or things we are not able to recognize. Therefore, we will always fear the unknown and avoid the feeling of uncertainty. Sadly, this comes at a price. When we learn and gain knowledge about something, we will do anything in our reach so we don’t lose control over it. Therefore, when eventualities get presented in our life, we are unable to manage them in the best way possible. Who hasn’t met someone, enjoyed his or her company and then unexpectedly gotten disappointed after a while? For example, I meet an incredible guy who I had a crush on for years. After many years of friendship, we began a relationship filled with shenanigans, jokes and a lot fun. A few months later, my heart got broken when I realized his priorities didn’t include me. He was making decisions that jeopardized the trust I invested in him. I never thought he would be capable of executing such betrayal, but he was.
Opinion
Coping with the changes on University Avenue
Sep. 12, 2016University Avenue, what happened?
Opinion
SpongeBob Squarepants examiner: part three
Sep. 12, 2016In my past two columns, I discussed both the visual and audio design of "SpongeBob Squarepants" and how they influence its comedy. The show's gone south since season four, and the changes to its animation and sound are pretty clear and indicate a pretty solid drop in quality. So, for this final column, let's talk about two things: the characters and the jokes.
Opinion
Tracing the Origins of Political Correctness
Sep. 12, 2016What is it about the term “politically correct” that manages to put everyone on high alert? Some blame the term for infringement on their First-Amendment rights, others use it as a justification to inflame Facebook comment threads, but mostly we avoid uttering it altogether to avoid the accompanying controversy. These two simple words have expanded to become intrinsically linked to an abundance of other concepts such as safe spaces and trigger warnings, but even beyond that it has taken on a connotation of triviality and ridicule.
Opinion
On the use of the word ‘retard’
Sep. 12, 2016Words are heavy. Every letter of every phrase carries a weight that we as speakers tend to overlook. Diction is an influential tool, made powerful not by the mouths that voice it but rather by the ears that receive it. No matter what, somebody is always listening.
Opinion
Alligator Archives: In Memory of 9/11
Sep. 11, 2016The following editorial was originally published September 12, 2001.
Opinion
Clinton’s nail in the coughin’: candidate health transparency
Sep. 11, 2016Last week in Darts and Laurels, we here at the Alligator gave a dart to the human respiratory system for causing Hillary Clinton to cough. This is problematic because it set off a series of nothing more than bulls--- arguments that — ignoring actual problems in this country — focused on personally attacking Clinton for her health. Typically, those who simply have nothing to bring to the table perpetuate these types of arguments. Ad-hominem attacks are nothing more than a distraction from a total ignorance of political know-how.
Opinion
Gender is more than just a pronoun
Sep. 11, 2016What outfit do you want to be buried in when you die? Go on; really think about it. You’ll probably want something nice and flattering. Above all, though, you’ll want something representative of the person you were when you were alive. This might seem easy for some of you. But for someone whose gender identity is nonconforming, this is a heavy question.
