Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: The right to die is a testament to effective legislation

Oct. 7, 2015

This past Monday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation that marked California as the fifth state to permit physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Under the new law — which has been coined the "End of Life Option Act" — patients who have been diagnosed as having six months or less to live by two doctors can purchase lethal medication to end their lives if and when they please.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Pre-Meds: How are you going to stand out?

Oct. 7, 2015

It’s a question as harrowing as the MCAT itself: How are you going to distinguish yourself?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Press coverage of mass shootings leave neuro-divergent on margins

Oct. 7, 2015

Mass shooting after mass shooting, the news media boils the trend down to an issue of mental illness. How do they continually get it so wrong?

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: SG, we do our jobs — now you do yours

Oct. 6, 2015

Late last night, outgoing Student Government Senate President Davis Bean gave his goodbye speech. Bean had the opportunity to speak at length about UF: what the university has taught him, what he’s gained from his time working for it and the wonderful Student Body he’s ostensibly worked to provide for would have all been suitable, substantive and daresay inspirational subjects. Instead, Bean delivered a speech that would have made Donald Trump blush. Flushed with self-congratulatory musings and utter contempt for anyone who dared disagree with him, Bean took his farewell speech, something normally seen as an opportunity for grace and class, and instead chose to run through his personal hit list, with the Alligator among his targets.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Our gun culture is terroristic and growing

Oct. 6, 2015

Last week, in response to the latest in a long series of mass shootings, various media outlets posted infographics that juxtaposed the number of Americans killed by guns with the number killed by terrorist acts.

OPINION | COLUMNS

John Boehner’s resignation presents trouble

Oct. 6, 2015

About two weeks ago, John Boehner held a press conference after Pope Francis addressed Congress. A practically cheerful Boehner replaced the weeping one from the previous day as he announced his plan to leave Congress at the end of October. While many expected the speaker to be ousted by the Tea Party bloc of his party, no one could have foreseen Boehner leaving on such an abrupt note.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Social media is pretty awesome, helps curate human existence

Oct. 6, 2015

On Monday, I participated in a research study. This was not your average, answer-these-three-questions-please-to-save-my-grade type of survey you see plastered all over Facebook.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: Clinging to the past is dangerous, self-defeating

Oct. 5, 2015

When our generation signed up for Facebook many moons ago, it was hard to conceive of a social life past our K-12 upbringings. Surely every kid who came to our bar and bat mitzvahs would still be our dawgs, right? Those dudes you took selfies with in the Apple Store for your MySpace profile picture? Best friends for life. That girl you met at the food court that one time after you and your boys stocked up on Panda Express? If only you had gone to the same school and seen more of each other, there really could have been something special there!

OPINION | COLUMNS

Mid-terms bring about stressful times

Oct. 5, 2015

"Stressed" is a key word in the college student vocabulary. You hear it in class, from your friends, walking through campus and essentially anywhere you’re within earshot of 18- to 25-year-olds. It’s typically around this point in the semester that every area of our lives is moving at maximum speed, and with the first round of midterms rapidly approaching, it seems as though stress is all anyone talks about — myself included.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Christianity and gay marriage: Embrace the change

Oct. 5, 2015

Ever since the June 26 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, the radical Christian community has exploded in outrage. Christian public figures like Franklin Graham and Joel Osteen contend the foundations of Christianity itself are under attack.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Latest shooting the latest in a long American tradition

Oct. 5, 2015

It is a dance we Americans have familiarized ourselves with and have become pretty good at since the Columbine High School massacre: One or more distraught gunmen and several or more victims. A school or theater in sanguinary peril. A storm of grief that floods the community and ends up briefly affecting the whole nation. Trivial debates on whether to mention the killer’s name or pretend he is (because, yes, it is always a he) Lord Voldemort. The urge to have the memory of the victims take precedence over the memory of the perpetrators. The manning of the battle stations as pro-gun proletarians exchange fire with those burghers who demand more regulation. A speech from the governor, and if the stars are aligned properly, a head-nodding indie-pop hit about the massacre. In the end, no change in policy occurs, and the timer is reset to mark the seconds from the last blasting till the next one.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: Deaths in Kunduz speak for modern war re-adjustment

Oct. 4, 2015

In light of the U.S.-led airstrike that bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on Saturday, it is time to reconsider the role the U.S. plays abroad. The airstrike, which killed 22 people — 10 patients and 12 staff members — and left 37 wounded, resulted in the departure of Doctors Without Borders in the area. "No medical activities are possible now in the M.S.F. (Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders’ international name) hospital in Kunduz, at a time when the medical needs are immense," said Tim Shenk, a spokesman for the organization, to The New York Times.

OPINION | COLUMNS

UF would benefit from a Public Service Academy

Oct. 4, 2015

Dear President Fuchs,

OPINION | COLUMNS

UF reacts to Catalan independence vote

Oct. 4, 2015

On Sept. 27, Catalonia held elections to its devolved parliament. A coalition of nationalist parties won 72 out of 135 seats, though only 48 percent of the vote. The coalition, which ranges from the center-right Convergència to radical CUP, bills this vote as a de facto affirmative referendum on independence from Spain, and right-wing president of Catalonia, Artur Mas, agrees.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Pope Francis is not as liberal as he seems

Oct. 4, 2015

When Pope Francis visited the U.S., he caused quite the stir with all major news channels covering his every move. The vast amount of coverage was strange, considering only 20.8 percent of Americans considered themselves Catholic in 2014, according to Pew.

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts and Laurels 10/02/2015

Oct. 1, 2015

Darts & Laurels: wonderful tradition for Friday editions of the Alligator or insidious plot to influence the hearts and minds of Gainesville residents and UF students? You tell us, because even we aren’t sure anymore. With that inquiry out of the way, it’s time for this week’s edition of…

OPINION | COLUMNS

Impact wins: We get the government we deserve

Oct. 1, 2015

As I watched the election results roll in live on Twitter Wednesday night, I found myself more and more frustrated, wondering if giving up and embracing cynicism wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. It certainly would do a great deal of good for my mental health.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Planned Parenthood: Worth the stand

Oct. 1, 2015

The new battlefield in the war for women is Planned Parenthood.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Denying the existence of climate change is unfair to poor countries

Oct. 1, 2015

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Josaia Bainimarama of Fiji addressed the United Nations General Assembly on the threat of climate change. As a Pacific Island state, Fiji is already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change; Bainimarama spoke of plans underway to relocate some Fijian villages due to rising sea levels. He urged the general assembly to take action at the upcoming climate change conference in Paris.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: Pope Francis, gay marriage and actualizing change

Sep. 30, 2015

It was reported Wednesday that Kim Davis, current conservative darling and avowed hatemonger, had a private meeting with Pope Francis during his visit to the U.S. last week. Per the Washington Post and NPR, the meeting occurred last Thursday at the Vatican Embassy in D.C. Apparently the meeting had been arranged at the behest of the Vatican weeks in advance. Through her legal team, Davis expressed that the meeting, although brief, was profound for both her and Pope Francis, with both clasping each other’s hands and vowing to pray for one another. Francis also sent Davis off with a nice pair of rosaries.