Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Popular political television shows fuel conservative ideals

May 19, 2014

Gone are the days of NBC’s hit political drama “The West Wing,” and President Josiah Bartlet’s fictional administration is but a distant memory. Although Bartlet was a democratic commander in chief, viewers of all political persuasions gravitated toward the fair-minded and principled president. America finally had its utopian chief executive, albeit one from a scripted primetime drama.

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels 5/15/2014

May 14, 2014

Summer A is upon us once again, and it’s a welcome relief. Campus is quiet — at least, until hordes of freshly minted UF first-years arrive for Preview — and we’re free to enjoy the last weeks of less-hellish weather before the brutal north Florida summer humidity sets in.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Stop with Benghazi: Impeach Obama

May 14, 2014

After spending years attacking President Barack Obama and the Democrats for the Affordable Care Act, Republicans watched in horror as 8 million Americans signed up for health insurance coverage through the exchanges set up by the law. The Republicans’ chief line of attack for the election came undone at the news that the number of uninsured Americans plummeted.

OPINION | COLUMNS

For students, action must follow idealism for future vocation

May 12, 2014

Most of us will never have a great career.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Like, just stop: good speech does matter

May 12, 2014

The “L” word. It’s that four-letter word that some people hardly use, some people always use, and some people cringe when they hear it spoken out loud.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Citizens Co-op not working as co-op should

May 12, 2014

In a perfect world, more businesses would be operated in a worker-owner co-op fashion.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Sweat, tears and tacos: The editor’s story

Apr. 22, 2014

It’s freshman year, and I’m walking along University Avenue, worrying that I’m too sweaty to go into the Alligator’s open house. My resume is in a purple folder stuffed with clips from my high school newspaper. I don’t know what AP Style is.

OPINION | COLUMNS

I’m confused, and it’s the newspaper’s fault

Apr. 22, 2014

There have been plenty of times in the past four years I’ve woken up confused.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Online editor asks: How did I get here, and how is everything over already?

Apr. 22, 2014

Freshman-year me thought it was so cool that UF had a student-run newspaper.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Embrace conflict, stories: Managing editor says fond farewell to the Alligator, college

Apr. 22, 2014

I’ll probably never forget the Fourth of July last year: I was stuck on a pontoon boat under a bridge in a lightning storm.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Journalist spreads xenophobic message

Apr. 22, 2014

You know those relatives who have too much to drink at family gatherings and end up making jokes that aren’t actually funny and end up offending people? Well, think of CNN journalist Jeanne Moos as your drunken aunt giving a toast at your wedding — except she is completely sober, unrelated to you and addressing a national audience rather than a couple hundred friends and family. And instead of hurting the feelings of you, your spouse and a few others, she mocks an entire culture that is 800 years old.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Wanted: Summer 2014 columnists and cartoonists

Apr. 21, 2014

Summer is coming, and you could spend it any old boring way — loafing around your hometown, toiling away in Summer classes, working your butt off at an internship or backpacking through Europe on a cliched mission for self discovery.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Zulkar Khan's final remarks: A call for honesty

Apr. 21, 2014

On Wednesday, The New York Times ran a front-page story detailing how Florida State University and Tallahassee Police had left multiple rape allegations, including the one against star quarterback Jameis Winston, uninvestigated.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Comma nightmares, caffeine and love: Copy desk chief says goodbye

Apr. 21, 2014

I could write the cliche, “These last four years were perfect,” but they were far from it.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Senior reality check: College is like walking upstairs in the dark

Apr. 21, 2014

When I was getting ready to go to college four years ago, I thought I had it all figured out. With AP credits, I could have my degree in less than four years. I’d have internships every summer, tons of experience and a job offer before I crossed the stage.

OPINION | COLUMNS

American democracy threatened by wealthy influence

Apr. 21, 2014

I have written frequently in the past about how corporations and wealthy interests exert a disproportionate influence over the policies of the American federal government. Now that influence has been confirmed by an extensive, major academic study.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

SB 1400 blocked, Florida Legislature is a mess

Apr. 20, 2014

The in-state tuition bill that has received support from both Florida Republicans and Democrats hit a major roadblock Thursday night. Sen. Joe Negron, the senate budget chairman, said he would not add it to the agenda of the final meeting of the Senate appropriations committee. Negron’s move was backed by Senate President Don Gaetz.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Summertime wantonness: Six hookup types

Apr. 20, 2014

“I just wanna get laid,” lamented one of the characters in “Wet Hot American Summer.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Anti-Semitism in Kansas, Ukraine proves hatred alive and well

Apr. 20, 2014

As shocking as it may seem, the devastation and horror of World War II ended nearly 70 years ago. The world has changed considerably in the decades that followed, but recent events remind us just how fresh some of the wounds of that era remain. A deranged man went into a Jewish Community Center near Kansas City with the intent of killing Jews just prior to the start of Passover. He opened fire, killing three people — none happened to be Jewish — before shouting “Heil Hitler” after police had him in custody.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Food waste damages the planet, and we’re to blame

Apr. 20, 2014

Tomorrow will be too late. We need to reduce our waste now. Almost every environmental issue we face goes back to overconsumption. In the U.S. alone, 40 percent of food today goes uneaten, according to the National Resources Defense Council. That’s not only the equivalent of $165 billion of food Americans are wasting each year, but there is also the problem of environmental damage caused by its production and disposal.