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Monday, June 23, 2025

Opinion

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Does ‘stand your ground’ apply in Tampa shooting?

Sadly, this week’s headlines were dominated by two tragic shootings. On Tuesday morning, a 12-year-old boy opened fire at a middle school in New Mexico, wounding two students. According to Reuters, it was the second shooting to take place in a U.S. middle school in three months.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Homeless people aren’t ducks

My mom had an interesting habit. Every morning, she’d take the previous night’s leftover rice and dump it in a corner of our lawn for the neighborhood ducks.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

R.I.P. Sam Berns: The importance of public optimists

As consumers of media, we often encounter public intellectuals: well-known, intelligent, learned persons whose written works and other social and cultural contributions are recognized not only by academic audiences and readers, but also by many members of society in general. Vaclav Havel, Noam Chomsky and Gloria Steinem are all prominent public intellectuals who contribute to discourse across a wide span of topics that affect our lives, from politics to economics to feminism.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Because I got Gainesville: Don’t write off Afroman

Gather some Colt 45s and maybe a few Zig-Zags: Afroman is coming to the High Dive on Wednesday. Afroman, or Joseph Foreman, Grammy-nominated slacker rapper star behind the hits “Because I Got High” and dirty rap anthem “Crazy Rap” — known to many as “Colt 45 and Two Zig-Zags” — is leaving his beloved Palmdale to bring Gainesville the music that has enchanted generations since he rose to fame and fortune in the early 2000s.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

F*** civil liberties, how do they work? Rap group sues FBI

“Workaholics” fans remember the episode in which Adam, Ders and Blake become entangled with the Juggalos, or devotees of the rap and hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse. Members of the Juggalos are, stereotypically, drug-addled low-income followers of the band famous for their yearly gathering — or as the New York Daily News called it, “weeklong bacchanal” — called the Gathering of the Juggalos. The Gathering is notorious for Juggalos engaging in “blatant drug use and general bad behavior.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

America’s problem is lack of social mobility

Another semester brought me another opportunity to contribute to the Alligator Opinions section. As I sat down and faced my laptop, preparing to write my first piece of the new year, I thought I should tackle the benefits of reading or my collegiate career so far. I wanted to stay away from politics at least for one week — we all want to start the semester on a good note.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Drop it like it’s hot — or not: Drop/add week woes

Like taxes, gynecological exams and salad, drop/add week is a necessary evil — a time of the semester where classes are treated like sample stations at Costco, only instead of hairnet-wearing old ladies, professors and TAs are doling out the tastes of what the semester will bring.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

No Rose for You: ABC, it’s time to revamp ‘The Bachelor’

Last night, the new year saw a new crop of screaming, swooning female hopefuls on “The Bachelor,” which began its 18th season on ABC. The premise of “The Bachelor” and its sister show, “The Bachelorette,” represents something both modern and weirdly primal: Cameras, boom mics and Chris Harrison follow a group of 20-somethings as they compete fiercely for the affection of a mate — presumably so the winner and said mate may become engaged and begin a life together.



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