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Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Opinion

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Sour Semantics

After an American soldier was killed in Iraq on Sunday following the U.S. miltary's removal of combat units from the country, we, and certainly the rest of the country, are left with a sour taste in our mouths and a yearning for what "removal of combat troops" really means - if anything.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Stop abusing Facebook statuses

Picture in your mind the most wonderful, pristine girl in the world. She cooks, rips your friends when they’re being complete tools, and is down for making any place her personal bedroom. For about 75 percent of you, the image of Vince’s porn-star girlfriend from Entourage pops up. Go with it. For girls, just picture Don Draper covered in flowers and Nicholas Sparks novels.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Take advantage of time in Gainesville

Welcome to UF. You are now a student at the flagship academic institution of the state of Florida. With a University of Florida degree, you have endless career opportunities and a promising shot at some of the nation’s top graduate programs.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Limiting freedoms is justifiable at times

Freedom is an addictive thing, isn’t it? Each time we get a little bit more freedom to do anything, regardless of the positive or negative impacts, we cling to it like a mother clinging to her newly born baby. It is our baby. It is our everything. But why is this so? Why do we find it so difficult to let go of any kind of freedom? I would put my hard-earned Monopoly money on the reason being a human tendency, to grasp onto anything that enables us to express ourselves. Since expression can be quasi-defined as life, the opportunity to live to one’s fullest potential, which I believe is infinite, can be equated as freedom.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Paint the roses whatever color you like

We have about 80 years to live, and about one-third of that we spend unconscious. And I don’t mean because of an accumulation of hard nights at Midtown. Throw in work, education, eating, daily household and personal hygiene chores, and the roughly five years everyone spends in a line of some sort just waiting for something like a red light to turn green.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Burn Quran Day is unchristian

As a Christian, I follow a basic commandment: Love one another as you love yourself. This does not mean love your Christian neighbors, and bully all others. It definitely does not mean that it is acceptable, in the name of Christ, to persecute those of another faith. On Sept. 11, The Dove World Outreach Center is planning an “International Burn a Quran Day.” They describe Islam as “a religion of the devil” and have been mobilizing using Facebook and YouTube to persuade others to their cause.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Adu-Brempong shooting investigation isn’t transparent

When the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report cleared the five officers involved in the Kofi Adu-Brempong shooting we were upset but believed an internal investigation might bring about some disciplinary action. Now it seems UPD has reinstated all but one of the officers involved in the shooting with no actions taken against them. Maybe there was a slap on the wrist for mishandling the situation, but we don’t know.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Arizona’s law is reasonable

Simply being an American citizen comes with a grab bag of freedoms and benefits. Social Security, education, welfare and President Obama’s soon-to-be-implemented comprehensive health care system are only some of the fruits of our nation’s wealth - a wealth built on the social and ethnic diversity that defines America. While this diversity is our nation’s greatest strength, we cannot allow unrestrained access to America’s limited bounty. I am writing in regards to SB1070, the Arizona law causing so much uproar – the one that allows police officers to detain suspected illegal immigrants unless they are carrying immigration documents. I’ve heard the words “un-American,” “fascist,” “xenophobic” and “racist” all used to describe this legislation and its supporters, and I have never been more worried for the future of America.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Moving Pains

Couches line the sidewalks, particle boards disintegrate on the curb and Dumpsters full of rain-soaked mattresses wait to be emptied. It’s that time of year again — moving from one place to the next. The worst part about it: the unrelenting fees Gainesville Regional Utilities imposes on customers.



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