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Friday, May 22, 2026

Opinion

Florida Alligator
Opinion

How to fall off the face of the Earth and like it

I can recall my social media ‘firsts’ as easily as I could my major life events: first cryptically spelled Facebook status, first grotesquely filtered Instagram, first angsty song lyric quoted on Twitter. It becomes almost nostalgic, recalling a time when social media was new and each post brought me one step closer to perfecting my skillfully crafted online persona. Yet my most profound ‘first’ was when I gave it all up.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Despite controversy, Bernie Sanders is the best candidate for racial justice

In recent weeks, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., relationship with black voters has been subject to tremendous scrutiny. Thus far, two of Sanders’ appearances on the campaign trail have been hijacked by activists who self-identify as part of Black Lives Matter, a movement dedicated to raising awareness and effecting substantial change to institutional racism and the subpar treatment of black citizens in the U.S.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Mediocre Advice: Finding love in college

Happy Tuesday to all my Random Randys and Anonymous Amys, and welcome to Mediocre Advice. This article is a reboot of Ariel Barnes’ own Mediocre Advice column, which was last published during my freshman year back in the salad days of 2012. Like the triumphant phoenix rising from its own ashes, your weekly inquiries will once again be answered with extremely average and somewhat distorted advice; you might even say the advice offered here could be considered prosaic, middling or any other acceptable synonym for mediocre.


Vernon Hargreaves III runs to catch a ball during practice at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Sports

Column: What defensive back unit is the best in the country?

There was a lot of debate over who the real DBU (Defensive Back University) was during the offseason, most notably some Twitter trash talk between the Florida and LSU secondaries. The debate probably won’t be settled until the two teams play each other in October, but here’s an early stab at the top five:


Florida Alligator
Opinion

The media’s coverage of Trump is detrimental

Thus far, the 2016 presidential election has been the most opulent and luxurious race for the White House in recent memory. The primary reason for this has been the candidacy of Donald J. Trump. The billionaire’s no-holds-barred sound bites and — oddly enough — every-man attitude have rallied many in both the middle and the right to his cause.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

A Farewell to Summer and Some Last Pieces of Advice

So we’ve hit a lot of topics here. This was a new endeavor for me and I am glad to have had some of you along for the ride. Since this is my last column I thought I would do a little recap of some of the highlights from this summer. It was my intention with this column to provide automotive advice for college students. I may have missed the mark at some points, but I would like to leave you with a few nuggets that may at least get you through the rest of your college career.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Darts and Laurels: Summer Finale Extravaganza

Greetings and salutations, Gainesville! We welcome you to this most August occasion by which we end our Summer circulation of the Alligator and prepare our ink­stained (not really because everything’s digital nowadays) hands for the coming of our Fall semester. But before we go, we must leave our valued audience for our even more valued swimsuits and margaritas and leave you with this final summer edition of…Darts and Laurels.


UF's Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida's 5-0 win against Florida State on April 22, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Sports

Who was the Best Female Athlete at UF in 2015?

The Alligator Awards continue this week, with the sixth award being for "Best Female Athlete." Editor-in-chief Jordan McPherson and staff writer Ian Cohen join alligatorSports editors Graham Hall, Luis Torres and Graham Hack in a roundtable discussion to debate the five nominees. Debates will go in alphabetical order by the writer’s last name.



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