As the nights grow longer and the temperature slowly cools, we are faced with a series of festive days. It’s a whirlwind for all Americans, especially students, who use the time to visit family, cram for finals and crank out that 15-page essay the night before it’s due.
Against a tide of evil, it can seem overwhelming to be even a single drop of good.
Last week, language lovers lamented the Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year pick for 2013 — “selfie.”
As the end of my final semester at UF approaches and one of my many ambitions comes to fruition, I find myself constantly reflecting on an eventful college experience.
The last full week of the semester is coming to a close, and you should pat yourself on the back: You made it! Without further ado, here it is, folks: Your last-one-of-the-semester edition of Darts & Laurels.
It starts in subtle ways: a little shaking, some quickened breathing. No one else will notice, but you know the train has left the station. There’s no way to stop it.
Remember in the beginning of “Space Jam” when Michael Jordan left basketball to follow his father’s steps and play baseball?
About 160,000 students, afraid of being attacked or harassed, skip school every day. Bullying begins in elementary school, peaks in middle school and lessens in high school, but it does not stop there. It has recently moved from inside school hallways onto the football field. Though evidence is still coming to light, it’s clear that a Miami Dolphin lineman, Richie Incognito, acted inappropriately toward a vulnerable teammate, Jonathan Martin. The fact that the resulting investigation has made hundreds of headlines is no surprise: Bullying is a significant problem. The fact that many children admire NFL players makes it critical for locker room behavior to be honorable.
Fifty years ago this Friday, two bullets tore through the body and head of the president of the United States, making Nov. 22, 1963, the most infamous day in American history since Pearl Harbor.
There are only two options for all of us: to have or to be.
This week, the University of Texas at Austin chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas made headlines when news outlets picked up on a game the organization had created called Catch an Illegal Immigrant.
Apparently there is a bit of irony in the November air in Washington. More Americans have lost their health insurance because of Obamacare than Americans who have signed up for it. The president botched the health insurance exchange website, and the strong unity of Congressional Democrats who pushed the Affordable Care Act through Congress and onto the American people is starting to chip away.
In case anyone missed the memo, we’re about to enter 2014. If you did miss the memo, then you’re not alone, because Justin Lookadoo, an unfortunately prominent speaker in public schools across the South, seems to believe this is still the 19th century. High schools invite Lookadoo to advise their students about dating as teenagers, but what they receive is a handbook on gender stereotyping.
Bitcoin, the purported digital currency of the future, made headlines yesterday. In addition to having leapt in value — one bitcoin is now worth more than $550 and growing — U.S. agencies met with a Senate committee in order to sell the idea that bitcoins are “legitimate financial instruments,” according to Bloomberg.
Early last week, baseball fans and Atlanta residents were shocked to learn that after just two decades of calling Turner Field home, the Atlanta Braves are moving to suburban Cobb County in 2017.
For the first time since 2007, non-economic issues are dominating the top two spots in the Gallup poll’s rankings of America’s most important problems. Dissatisfaction with the government in general remains at No. 1 this month, while Americans’ concerns over high health care costs and poor health care jumped from No. 4 last month to No. 2 this month. It comes as no surprise since the Affordable Care Act has been plagued from the start by convolution, lack of transparency, poor planning and lack of accountability on the president’s part — until this past week.
On Tuesday I attended an event hosted by the Jewish National Fund titled Making the World a Better Place, which was supposed to highlight the positive impact Israel is supposedly making on the global community.
“If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.”
Chances are if you’re reading this, you have student loan debt. You may have a federal subsidized or unsubsidized loan, a loan through your school, or your parents may have even taken out a Direct PLUS Loan to help cover the costs of your education. I have a twin sister attending Florida State University, so I happen to have all of the above. I have federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans, and my parents have taken out loans in order to pay for housing and books.
Gainesville was straight-up COLD this week. We’re talking hats, gloves, coats and boots. On days like those, it’s hard to get out of bed and face the world — a pile of blankets, a mug of cocoa and a Netflix binge sound way more appealing than class. But you’re all champs: You went to class, you studied hard and now it’s Friday. Treat yo’self to a peppermint mocha latte, and enjoy this week’s edition of Darts & Laurels.
Solutions by The State News
