Well, I made it into the Student Government banquet this year, and it was a rather interesting event. For starters, they dropped around $20,000 on a banquet and ended up drinking out of disposable plastic cups. They are humble people, aren’t they?
If you’re a student at UF, you received an email from UF President Kent Fuchs encouraging students to fill out a campus climate survey on sexual assault and misconduct. It’s a survey that attempts to better understand sexual assault and sexual misconduct on college campuses. There are 33 universities conducting the survey, which is being conducted by the Association of American Universities, including UF.
National Girlfriend Day. National Boyfriend Day. National Ex-Spouse Day. The list goes on and on. It seems to me that in recent times these “holidays” have grown in popularity thanks to the online societies unasked for and organic decision to use them as a reason to post. These are days when your feed is full of people posting about their significant others, whom they love and appreciate, but it has become an excuse to post a picture that you have had saved in your camera roll.
![[FILE PHOTO] A seder sits on a table just before Passover begins. Each ingredient on the plate represents a different part of the story of how the Israelites were liberated from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago, said Gabriel Ruiz, a UF Health Shands Hospital information technology analyst.](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/ufa/6b1bda06-230a-4d30-bdb7-dcfa4289d8cb.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=1500&ar=4%3A3&fit=crop&crop=faces&facepad=3&auto=format)
This upcoming weekend is often a time for religious celebrations or even just a time to spend with our families. People all over the world will come together with their loved ones to observe Easter and Passover.
am not a history buff, but I imagine that in the past it was easy, or at least easier than today, to discern when a child became an adult. There were rituals, or rites of passage, that set clear limits. Plus, a child had to pass through those rituals much sooner in life than we do. My fiancee’s grandmother, for instance, was married at 18 years old and was a mother at 20. Marriage has often been considered a marker of adulthood. She and many others from her generation had, from our perspective, clipped childhoods and prolonged adulthoods.
Earlier this year, I wrote a column about how I owned a pair of fake AirPods. Well, I would like to write I have gotten a second pair that is much closer to the actual product. A trip online to an Asian wholesale website, a few extra dollars for express shipping and six days of waiting brought another pair of fake AirPods to my dorm. They came in a box with the same minimalist Apple style, a lightning cable that works for my phone and even some stamps. My first pair of imposters cost me $2 and were honestly a hassle. These fakes, however, have changed the game for me.
If you looked away from your TV screen for more than five seconds during Florida’s annual Orange and Blue game on Saturday, then guess what?
A few weeks ago, the editorial board was invited to take a tour of UF Health Shands Hospital, specifically the pediatric units after we wrote the editorial, “What does it mean to do it ‘For The Kids’?” In the editorial, we posed questions we felt were not readily available to the general public concerning Dance Marathon at UF, such as how exactly money raised by DM is utilized. As a result, Shands representatives reached out to give us these answers and provide more transparency on how the money is spent in the children’s hospital.
![[FILE PHOTO]](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/ufa/d22a1281-875b-435f-9b06-f4ef63e4ce12.sized-1000x1000.png?w=1500&ar=4%3A3&fit=crop&crop=faces&facepad=3&auto=format)
It is time we talk about memes and meme culture. I love a good meme, and I assume you do as well, or else you wouldn’t be wasting your time reading a column about memes. Internet memes have become a prevalent part of a Millennial and Generation Z’s daily life. You could even say they have become a sort of coping mechanism. Memes represent the pent-up frustrations and passions of this time in history. Millennials are generally known to be in a worse off economic situation than the generation before, having been handed the failures of our ancestors without sufficient education to craft a solution. Those of us pursuing a college degree have to deal with incredibly high tuition costs and possibly immense student loans. Millennials are characterized as the “anxious generation,” and Generation Z has been reported as naming depression and anxiety as the biggest problems facing their peers, according to The Economist. The only way out of the unearned strife that has defined the short run-time of the third millennia is a good meme. But when should we create or share a meme? When should we not? It must be noted one cannot always meme, but then again there are times when a meme is the most essential service one can provide. For guidance, we look to Shakespeare’s most famed work, “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” or Hamlet, for short.
The dreaded day is upon us: April 15. Tax Day. Whether you did your taxes early or waited until the last minute, and whether you did them yourself or had help, you’ve probably thought at some point, “There has to be an easier way to do this.” I’m pleased to say there is. If you weren’t aware there is an easier system, you can blame TurboTax and H&R Block.
Since 2014, co-hosts Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman have used their podcast, “Call Your Girlfriend,” as a platform to discuss pressing social, cultural and political issues. In particular, Sow and Friedman highlight women who are agents, creators and those who initiate change. In doing so, they ensure “Call Your Girlfriend” gives a voice to women.
UF’s Black Student Union has taken it upon itself to ensure local high school students have the funds necessary to pursue a college degree. UF’s Leadership Development Institute, a program within BSU, recently created a scholarship called the Rich in Color Scholarship to promote higher education for local high school students who otherwise may be unable to afford it.
You’re in your car scouring a UF parking garage in hopes of finding a gloriously empty parking spot. You have looked for a spot on three floors already and things aren’t looking good. But you have a meeting in 10 minutes that you have to get to, so the search must continue. Then you see it, an empty spot perfectly nestled between two shining cars. You quickly whip into it, claiming the spot as yours.
Do you ever have too much money laying around that you don’t want to spend on initiatives benefiting the student body? Student Government does and it just so happens to be time for our annual banquet.
Recently Gainesville has become attractive to real estate developers, as reported by The Alligator in “Living in Gainesville: Students choose between luxury and affordability.” I’m from Orlando, so when I arrived in Gainesville, one thing I noticed was that Gainesville was a bit underdeveloped. This causes a less diverse real estate market, with fewer options to choose from. As housing developers continue to invest in building luxury-style apartments, what’s going to happen to all the students who can’t afford the now-average $860 a month for an apartment? How are older apartments going to keep up and remain marketable?
There is an enormous number of Gainesville citizens struggling with food insecurity, The Alligator reported. Food insecurity is one of those issues many people hear about in passing or read about occasionally, but it never seems to receive the attention it deserves. Food insecurity is a devastating issue in our community and it deserves more attention. The people who help combat food insecurity deserve more praise and support.
When the latest Marvel movie, “Captain Marvel,” was released, there was a good amount of articles that said something like this: “What a great, strong female lead for girls to see on the big screen.” This struck me as odd since Captain Marvel is a superhuman who can fly, dwell in outer space and shoot energy blasts out of her hands. I find this to be a strange role model for anyone, let alone girls searching for a female heroine in their lives. The character seems more super than human, after all.
An empty bucket and a crumpled-up lineup card.
April is the beginning of the end for major pop culture phenomenons, namely “The Avengers” franchise (at least for now) and “Game of Thrones.” Both franchises have captured the attention of audiences across the globe and have facilitated conversations involving speculation and commentary. They have spawned parody skits, elevated people to A-list stars and created entire worlds people have spent hours recapping and analyzing. The franchises may have multiple spin-offs planned for both franchises, but we wonder if they will spawn the same fan response as their original predecessors.
If you have opened up Snapchat lately, you might have seen a few videos of people setting up their phone cameras, moving away from the screen and doing a quick dance move with their hands. This is called the Woah Challenge, and it has been spreading like wildfire.
Solutions by The State News
