Opinion

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Young women must stop seeking male validation

Part of young adulthood is marked by a craving for intimacy and acceptance. You can see people forming connections, romantic or otherwise, anywhere on a college campus. Couples sit together in the library and new people strike up conversation in Midtown. It’s common to want to make new connections. But too often, there is a lot of emphasis on gaining validation from people whose validations are not particularly remarkable. This is especially common among young women who are seeking validation from men.

An open letter on the trials of fitness

The gym can be best described as difficult to enter and easy to leave. However, the benefits of the resulting strength and self-confidence you work for within the walls of Southwest Recreation Center or Student Recreation & Fitness Center follow you long after you leave.

Conversion therapy must be banned in Alachua County

Gay rights have made tremendous strides in the past decade with gay marriage legalized as of 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision and states banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, one issue still haunts the LGBTQ+ community: conversion therapy.

Letter to the Editor: Stand Up for Students

Every student is entitled their own political opinions, but it is the role of our elected officials to act on them and use their voices to represent their constituents. The key word in that statement is “act.”

Show bingers beware: Spoiling is on the rise and it needs to stop

I am a victim of a spoiler. In an interview before the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Angela Bassett and husband Courtney B. Vance revealed details about the second “Black Panther” movie. The actors got too excited and decided to drop spoilers. Herein lies the issue: My unexpecting ears weren’t prepared to hear this information.

Darts & Laurels: Feb. 8, 2019

The sun and the heat are finally back where they belong in the Sunshine State, and it’s time to get back to business as usual — days beside the pool. You grab your towel and slide your sunglasses onto your face, making your way down to the pool. You slip into one of the reclining chairs that line the outside of the pool and begin to relax. Thoughts of midterms pushed firmly out of your head, the only thing on your mind is the shoreline that awaits you during Spring Break.

Letter to the Editor: Impact's dirty little secret

So there I was on Saturday afternoon, existing.

Krishna Lunch is the perfect cure for a bad day

The first article I ever published for The Independent Florida Alligator was a comedic piece about where to study around campus. One of the places I suggested going to was Plaza of the Americas, and I stand by this statement. It’s still where I eat and study most weekdays. I spend most of my waking hours on Plaza because Krishna Lunch has become a staple in my diet. No, seriously. I eat it all. the. time. And that’s saying something because I am an extraordinarily finicky eater.

21 Savage’s detainment is a window into US immigration

Anyone who has ever dealt with the U.S. immigration system is likely to label the process long, challenging and sometimes discouraging.

Our oceans are going to change color in the future, and here’s why

By the end of the 21st century, our grandkids and great-grandkids will be looking at a different colored ocean than what we are used to seeing.

Local LGBTQ advocate discusses problems with the recent transgender military ban

College isn’t only for education. It’s where we build a community.

Nonlinear shows are creating a new age of TV, and I can't stop watching them

Television shows are Mad Libs to me. I turn on a cable TV show, sit there and try to finish the character’s sentences, fully aware that I am the worst type of person to watch TV with. Correctly guessing the ending to a show can be so satisfying. Nothing is as fulfilling as saying out loud exactly what a television character says with the same timing and beat. But on the other hand, when I am wrong, the results are devastating — yet so humbling.

The truth lies in shades of gray

Groundhog Day is the only non-problematic holiday of the year

One of the weirdest days of the year passed Saturday when America stopped and waited upon the actions of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil to play the role of meteorologist. And somehow nobody has questioned this tradition in the nearly 150 years that Groundhog Day has existed. In fact, in Pennsylvania, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club celebrated Groundhog Day from Sunday, Jan. 27 to yesterday, nearly the same number of nights dedicated to Hanukkah — an entire religious holiday.

Letter to the Editor: UF’s racial equality problem should be acknowledged and fixed

City plastic ban is admirable, but there are better ways to reduce plastics

Talking trash about your professor won’t get you that A

In the wake of the statistics exam came a slew of angry messages. It was another test that hundreds of students spent hours studying for, starting early in the day and ending late in the night. The material wasn’t meant to be easy, but many felt that it wasn’t meant to be so hard.

Darts and Laurels: Feb. 1, 2019

You wake up and immediately check the weather, suppressing a groan when you see it’s 38 degrees outside for the third day in a row. On the bright side, it gives you a reason to break out your Gator beanie that’s been collecting dust in the back of your closet.

Scholarships aren't as rare as you think

The topic of scholarships is often tied to large-scale economic problems and all of that complicated, serious mess. But this discussion of scholarships will not be attempting to slip Marx and Engels into your ideology like a sugar cube into a cup of tea.