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Friday, July 25, 2025

Opinion

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Manufactured fear creates false reality

It’s a scary world outside. Past the comforts of my tiny, messy dorm room, danger lurks at every turn. People from foreign lands plot to wipe me and my country off the map. Even getting into a Toyota is akin to dancing with death. Or that’s at least what the media would have you believe. To me, news today has increasingly become a stream of cautionary tales and exaggerated warnings.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Student thanks RTS driver for keeping lost wallet safe

Thank you Mr. Bus 22 Driver. I lost my wallet on bus 22 on Tuesday and tracked down the bus later. I just want to thank you for keeping my wallet safe for me. My mind was preoccupied with other things as I exited the bus, and my wallet had many valuables in it that would have been very difficult to replace. Also, whoever turned in my wallet to the driver, thank you. It’s so relieving to know that there are still good people in this world. I believe that karma will reward you both. You are honest and good people. Once again, thank you!


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Students should question authority

Modern students are not interested in learning. They are interested in passing their tests and getting good grades. It doesn’t matter how much you know, it only matters how well you regurgitate information. Why has American education devolved to this point? One reason is the loss of American industry to foreign countries with cheap labor. This has constricted the job market, making a college degree much more important. Employers give preeminence to the institution. Thus to get into excellent schools, you have to have top grades. Yet is there also a cultural backlash against questioning authority? The 1970s saw massive student protests that played a pivotal role in our withdrawal from Vietnam.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reader angry over obnoxious letter concerning shooting

I’d like to congratulate Chase Adler, author of the incredibly juvenile and insensitive letter to the editor this past Friday, for submitting the most idiotic note I have seen at my time at UF. We apologize that this whole hoopla over Kofi is “tiring” you. It must be hard to sit around all day and read about the obnoxious details of an innocent man’s inhumane treatment at the hands of an officer with a track record of racist acts. It’s apathy like yours and an unwillingness to gain insight on the facts (for one, a mental health crisis does not call for five armed police officers, but rather a trained professional who can properly assist in the situation) that perpetuates and enables crimes such as police brutality. Rather than make a sweeping claim that “There is no such thing as police brutality,” take off your stupid college kid blinders and attempt to really educate yourself on the case and the realities that others who are not so privileged as yourself face.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Democrats drop like flies in upcoming congressional election

Though I’ve never fully understood the expression, congressional Democrats are keeping true to the English idiom and dropping like flies. Most recently on the no-go list for November is Rep. Bart Stupak (of “Stupak Amendment” fame). Let’s have a walk down memory lane, shall we? By last December 10 House Democrats had artfully announced their early retirement. With the new year, announcements from the esteemed Senate had come in: former presidential hopeful Chris Dodd, North Dakota’s Byron Dorgan and Evan Bayh (former governor of Indiana and rumored 2008 presidential contender).


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Embracing Confederacy means celebrating self-government

Paul Murty, to say all people who embrace the Confederacy are racists is a racist statement in itself. I have two Confederate flag bumper  stickers on my truck, and I am far from a racist. To me that flag means that the states were not going to let the federal government tell them how to govern. Was slavery a big part of that? Yes, but that does not mean I fly that flag or put it on my truck to say that I want that part of history to change. It just means I don’t want the federal goverment to tell me or my state what I can and can’t do, like making me buy health care if I do not want helath care. It’s my choice to make.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reader: naive columnist uses weak examples

It is unfortunate that Paul Murty would choose to proliferate the “conservatives are racists” narrative, and to do it with such a weak example. Poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans (especially independents) are opposed to the power grab that is the tragic “health reform” bill. The left has found it imperative to label opposition racist as opposed to arguing against the substantive points that dissenters put forth. After all, who cares what one has to say once that person has been branded a bigot, homophobe, racist, etc.?


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