Opinion
Opinion
Hip-Hop: the Grammy’s black sheep
Feb. 2, 2015As the Staples Center sets up to host the 57th Grammy Awards, the public continues to tear down the show for its nominations in the rap categories. The criticism primarily stems from the decision to include Iggy Azalea’s “The New Classic” as a nominee for Best Rap Album. Iggy Azalea has been accused of profiting off the gentrification of hip-hop culture by a number of hip-hop-based media outlets. She has replied to most accusations hurled her way with social media.
Opinion
Bears shouldn’t be punished for problems with Fla. development
Feb. 2, 2015In the midst of public safety concerns and complaints, Florida’s ban on black bear hunting might be lifted for the first time in two decades. Several reported bear attacks and an increase in bear sightings have prompted the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to introduce the possibility of a bear-hunting season. The commission will begin discussing the issue Wednesday.
Opinion
Collaboration between arts and sciences essential for new persectives, expressions
Feb. 2, 2015This Saturday, I attended the 2015 Creativity in the Arts and Sciences Event. Created by the UF Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science for Life program and the UF College of the Arts, CASE was a daylong exploration of projects created out of collaboration between UF’s best science geeks and artsy types. It was wonderful.
Opinion
Headscarf or not, media focus misplaced
Feb. 1, 2015Last week President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made a stop in Saudi Arabia to pay their respects to the late king and meet the country’s new ruler.
Opinion
Famous athletes should respect media, not shun it
Feb. 1, 2015“I’m just here so I won’t get fined.”
Sports
Johnson’s Journal: Luck was on Gators’ side in win over Arkansas
By RICHARD JOHNSON | Jan. 31, 2015It’s very 2015 of me to write, but a Snapchat, of all things defines pretty accurately what happened Saturday in the O’Connell Center during Florida’s 57-56 win over Arkansas.
Opinion
Making the first time more comfortable
Jan. 29, 2015It’s Friday night and you’re at Midtown. A few drinks already in your system, you lock eyes with someone across the bar. Talking leads to dancing, which leads to making out, which leads to inviting them back to your place.
Opinion
Google Fiber is the Internet provider of the future
Jan. 29, 2015Generally, the announcement that a new Internet service and cable provider is moving into your hometown isn’t big news, but when that provider is Google, people get excited. Why would anyone do a happy dance over the tech giant creating a new Internet service in your city?
Opinion
Republican Presidential Hopefuls are Worrying
Jan. 28, 2015Last weekend, Republican Party presidential hopefuls flocked to Rep. Steve King’s Iowa Freedom Summit — if there’s “freedom” in the name, it has to be right, good and conservative — to court the first-in-the-nation caucus state. I found many aspects of this forum, as well as some positions of the GOP hopefuls in general, worrying.
Opinion
Abstraction: Explaining science layer by layer
Jan. 27, 2015I was eating lunch last week and heard, “It weighs 8 grams.” My eardrum sent a text to the memory library, forcing an intern to check Catalog Random. The intern hunted the shelves, returning to the master librarian red-faced and wheezing. “Weight is 8 grams times 9.8 m/s2,” the intern gasped, “but how do we explain?” To illuminate complex ideas, I look to a computer science concept called abstraction.
Opinion
Undocumented immigrants deserve licenses
Jan. 27, 2015Any time I hear news regarding immigration policy in Arizona, I hold my breath. First, they passed a bill allowing police officers to demand documentation from people who prompt “reasonable suspicion” of being in the country illegally. Then, they banned Latino literature and ethnic studies from the classroom because it supposedly fosters racial resentment — as if banning an entire culture from the classroom doesn’t kindle any resentment. Thursday, however, I exhaled a sigh of relief while reading about Arizona in The New York Times. U.S. District Judge David Campbell issued a permanent injunction requiring the state to issue driver’s licenses to immigrants who have been deferred from deportation under President Obama’s DREAM Act.
Opinion
New medical marijuana bill revives hope for sick Floridians
Jan. 27, 2015Disappointed by the failure of last year’s medical marijuana amendment?
Opinion
For-profit colleges need to be held accountable
Jan. 26, 2015If you’ve ever watched daytime television, you would probably recognize this annoying commercial: A young man standing in a parking lot yells at you for sitting on the couch and wasting your life. After a few minutes of making you feel ashamed of your situation, he gives you hope by telling you it isn’t too late to finish your degree and land your dream career. All you have to do is make a simple phone call.
Opinion
Key West mosquito test backlash really bites
Jan. 26, 2015Key West may become host to an experiment that involves male mosquitoes, the herpes virus and cabbage DNA.
Opinion
President Barack Obama needs to lead against Iran
Jan. 25, 2015Last week Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, announced that he will be addressing a joint meeting of Congress in early March to discuss actions to be taken against Iran’s nuclear program should the diplomatic approach prove fruitless. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited the prime minister to make these proposals to Congress with little excitement from the White House. Josh Earnest, the Obama administration’s press secretary, said that Obama will not be meeting with Netanyahu when he visits in March because they want to steer clear of him during Netanyahu’s election campaign. Earnest went on to explain that they want to avoid “the appearance of any kind of interference with a democratic election.”
Opinion
Millennials are not pleased with the outdated media
Jan. 25, 2015Every year after the State of the Union speech, the president of the United States goes on a cross-country tour to make a case for his agenda.
Opinion
Modeling the NFL Pro Bowl after NBA
Jan. 25, 2015Imagine this: You’re a professional football player who just had the season of your life. You outperformed every other player in your position in the National Football League, and the fans have rewarded you by voting to send you off to the NFL Pro Bowl, where the league’s top talent form two teams and play each other.
Sports
Air Jordan: Gators men’s basketball not playing to Billy D’s standards
By JORDAN MCPHERSON | Jan. 22, 2015The Florida basketball team is, for lack of a better term, terrible.
