opinion - The Independent Florida Alligator

Opinion

Technology addiction isn't unique to millennials

Jan. 28, 2016

A cardinal sin of our generation, or so I’m told, is our incessant need for instant gratification — in other words, our addiction to digital technology. We spend our lives scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Yik Yak, Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, Uber, Lyft, Woofer, berniesanders.com and ISIS, just to name a few places. But it seems we rarely spend enough time with those we truly care about.

Opinion

Darts & Laurels: 01/29/2016

Jan. 28, 2016

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming: After two weeks of nothing but Darts OR Laurels, we’re happy to say that the past week not only dished out the good and the bad in equal measure, but did so with gusto. For a change, we’ve actually found ourselves with too much to cover. So without further ado, here’s this week’s edition of …

Opinion

Column: The Zika virus is an urgent concern

Jan. 27, 2016

In 2014, West Africa experienced one of the worst catastrophes in modern history. It was not a civil war or natural disaster of a physical sort, but rather, a virus known as Ebola. What started out as a few unconfirmed reports eventually developed into one of the worst epidemics in medical history.

Opinion

Column: The problem is Hollywood, not the academy

Jan. 27, 2016

Not even a week after this year’s Oscar nominations were released, Jada Pinkett Smith, the wife of Hollywood icon Will Smith, did what all noble public figures do and took to Facebook to express her dissatisfaction. Smith and her supporters, one of them being director Spike Lee, are calling for a boycott of the Oscars. Why? Because of the lack of people of color in the nominations.

Opinion

Guest column: BDS movement is about delegitimizing Israel

Jan. 26, 2016

Last Friday, the Alligator published a column titled, “Don’t be rude about BDS movement,” in which the author defended the movement that seeks to boycott and sanction the State of Israel. The column contained multiple misconceptions and inaccuracies.

Opinion

Editorial: Vindicated Planned Parenthood remains under attack

Jan. 26, 2016

On Monday afternoon, it was announced that a Houston, Texas, grand jury — which had been convened to investigate whether Planned Parenthood had engaged in any wrongdoing — chose not to indict the organization. Instead, they wound up indicting the very people who brought the supposed crimes to light.

Opinion

Column: The 'idea' of /t/ in the English language

Jan. 26, 2016

Pronounce this phrase as quickly as possible: “The hat rack tapped the bottle.” Now, take the words: “hat rack,” “tap” and “bottle,” read them aloud and sound out each individual sound, paying careful attention to how you pronounce the sounds that are written with the letter <t>. Did anything change?

Opinion

Column: Aramark is bad food, and evil to boot

Jan. 26, 2016

Campus dining is a classic example of a public institution being tarnished by the practices of a private company. It would be highly inefficient for UF to manage food services, which is why the university makes contracts with private food companies to handle dining. This is where Aramark comes in. Since 1995, Aramark has been contracted to bring students “Gator Dining.” The problem: Aramark has been under investigation multiple times over the past decade for labor law violations and food safety issues.

Opinion

It's greed versus the planet

Jan. 25, 2016

It’s been three weeks since the governor of California, Jerry Brown, issued a state of emergency regarding the ongoing Aliso Canyon gas leak that has spewed up to 58,000 kilograms of methane per hour since Oct. 23. Without doing too much math, that equates to about two and a half months since the natural gas well released a trove of delightful job-creating and completely harmless vapors into the atmosphere before any declaration of emergency took place.

Opinion

Not enough responsibility with drones

Jan. 25, 2016

Drones are not the silver bullets we’ve made them out to be. On one hand, they facilitate our objectives by killing high-value targets without risking American lives. But on the other hand, we have to deeply consider the consequences, ranging from civilian deaths to the deception and secrecy with which our government conducts these drone strikes.

Opinion

"Making a Murderer": vigilante or voyeuristic?

Jan. 25, 2016

Like so many college students with a Netflix subscription and a tendency to procrastinate, I devoured all 10 episodes of “Making a Murderer” within the course of four days. The hype surrounding the series was unavoidable, and after a fervent recommendation from a close friend, I happily shirked all responsibilities and dove in. As a courtesy spoiler alert, anyone who has exhibited the self-control to avoid the show and doesn’t want to know how it ends, avert your eyes.

Opinion

Editorial: Responsibilities, drinking and the codification of decision-making

Jan. 25, 2016

On “The Perfect Kiss,” Bernard Sumner of New Order sings, “I have always thought about/Staying here and going out/Tonight I should have stayed at home… I said ‘let’s go out and have some fun.’” Besides belonging to the finest song ever released by the Manchester, England-based rock band, these seemingly nonsensical and contradictory lyrics speak to a dilemma faced by nearly all college students possessing both a taste for the nightlife and a desire to bring home a degree: staying in or going out?

Opinion

Column: Food lobby pervades American diet

Jan. 24, 2016

More vegetables, less red meat and more low-fat dairy products: Seems like good, clear-cut dietary advice, right? These aren’t the dietary guidelines the U.S. government released recently. Rather, these are the guidelines released by the Swedish National Food Agency, which address nutrition in a more substantive fashion.

Opinion

Column: GOP leaders have a plan for success

Jan. 24, 2016

We Floridians don’t realize how lucky we are. Not only do we live in a large and continuously growing state in our fair union, but we are also one of the swingiest of swing states. Pretty much every election is contested, and with legislative redistricting being fought out in the courts, elections are only going to prove more interesting going forward.

Opinion

Column: Mass migration is not a left vs. right issue

Jan. 24, 2016

With the sexual assault and terrorism associated with migrant flows, European values are in a clash with no solution in sight. How does one weigh hundreds of thousands of illiberal, disaffected young men against starvation in Syria, Taliban firing squads, Eritrean indefinite conscription that amounts to slavery and a Mediterranean of floating corpses?

Opinion

Editorial: The unoriginality of American film

Jan. 24, 2016

It was announced Friday that “Labyrinth,” the Jim Henson-directed and David Bowie-starring ’80s fantasy cult classic, would be receiving a remake/sequel/reboot/whatever in the near future. Ignoring the questionable taste in announcing the regurgitation of a film so closely tied to its lead actor only 12 days after his passing, the plans to resurrect “Labyrinth” are an unfortunate reminder that ingenuity remains an ever-dissipating quality in American film.

Opinion

Column: Dismal journalism: A Sean Penn story

Jan. 21, 2016

Veteran newscaster Charlie Rose let out one of his rare nervous smiles on last Sunday’s “60 Minutes” during an interview with actor Sean Penn. Rose, usually a distinctly eager, curious and captivated interviewer, recognized his interviewee had made a remark that would appear to viewers as perhaps insensitive at worst and tone-deaf at best: “My article failed.”

Opinion

Column: Don't be rude about BDS movement

Jan. 21, 2016

I’ve wanted to write about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for a while, but I haven’t had a real reason that’d be worth the inevitable barely-coherent shouting in my direction.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: A Letter to Congressman Yoho Regarding the MOU

Jan. 21, 2016

Congressman Yoho,

Opinion

Column: Chronic relationship posting is exhibitionist

Jan. 21, 2016

My Facebook is a cesspool of unwanted information. Whether it’s a paragraph-long status or a link to a BuzzFeed list called “20 things every 20-something should know,” my news feed always has something new for me not to care about. If Facebook didn’t occasionally facilitate conversations with people I’ve lost touch with, I would probably delete my account.