Opinion

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Pets are great if you know how to take care of them

Dec. 1, 2019

Getting a pet in college is a great idea. Any dog, cat, fish or chicken would make a great companion. We all need some animal affection in college, especially as finals approach. Kitten snuggles or puppy kisses might be exactly what you need at this time of year. Plus, they provide great emotional support. I recommend that every responsible college student have a pet, but think carefully before you add a tail-wagging pal to your family. If you do decide to get a furry, feathered or scaly companion, be conscious of where you are getting them from, and be certain that you are prepared to commit to this creature for the rest of its life.  

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to The Editor: It’s Time For Ranked-Choice Voting

Dec. 1, 2019

Representative democracy is founded upon the idea that citizens can confidently waive their direct voice in governmental affairs to elected legislators who will serve their best interests. This assumption is strong, and it often does not hold very well in practice.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

On not living up to expectations

Dec. 1, 2019

This is something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. Standing at the end of the semester now, there are great obstacles to face over the next few weeks, but there are even more behind us. You may have overcome some of those obstacles successfully and failed to overcome others. And, while I’m confident we’ll all face our upcoming challenges to the best of our ability, it’s possible we might not live up to the expectations we’ve set for ourselves. But falling short of them is not just okay, it’s normal. 

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Imposter Syndrome

Dec. 1, 2019

Underneath your success, imposter syndrome loves to roam. It transforms your achievements into bundles of doubts. It belittles all those hours of hard work into luck that you don’t deserve. 

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Black Friday deals are outdated and come with a cost

Dec. 1, 2019

Last week saw the repetition of what is now a tradition in the U.S.’ consumer culture: Black Friday. We all know what Black Friday looks like: mobs of people in a store rushing for extraordinary deals, people camping outside to get first dibs on a cheap TV or appliance and poor employees enduring all the madness. However, while this chaotic scene may have once had some appeal, time, the evolution of the Internet and our growing awareness of environmental and consumer issues is making Black Friday an irrelevant celebration. It’s time to acknowledge that.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Trump’s infamous money moves

Nov. 24, 2019

In the first week of November, our president was ordered by a state judge to pay $2 million in damages to nonprofit groups. This came after he admitted to the misuse of funds raised by the Donald J. Trump Foundation to promote his run for the presidency, pay off business debts and purchase a self-portrait for one of his hotels. The award of damages marks the end of a legal battle that’s been taking place since 2016 when New York’s attorney general accused the Trump family of using the foundation for business and campaign purposes. The cash in question was raised at a fundraiser intended for veterans in Iowa, which Trump later acknowledged as a campaign event.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: Inaccurate Reporting by Alligator Plays Down Rising Anti-Semitism on Campus

By | Nov. 21, 2019

Editor's Note: This letter includes details of a statement made by IDF reserve member Yoni Michanie in which he said that protesters referred to him as a Nazi while he was speaking at UF. Recent reporting by The Alligator includes first-hand testimony from students, a UF professor and videos of the protest that do not corroborate Michanie's claim of paper signs referring to him as such. The author of this letter did not attend the event.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: Students for Justice in Palestine stands for Gaza

Nov. 21, 2019

On Tuesday, UF’s Students for Justice in Palestine organized a vigil and walkout during an event featuring former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sergeant Yoni Michanie. The event commemorated yet another year of SJP organizers putting together a vigil to mourn those in Gaza. Year after year, Israel attacks unprotected Gaza with state of the art bombs and missiles. Following the 2014 conflict between Israel and Palestine, the United Nations came out with a report in 2018 stating that Gaza could become uninhabitable by 2020 if the conditions remained as they were.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The best Pokémon games so far

By Myles Gibbs | Nov. 17, 2019

On Friday, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield hit the big time on Nintendo Switch after eight months of hype. In light of this notable step for the franchise – seeing a main-series game on a console for the first time – I thought it’d be prudent to look back on some of the best games in the series so far.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Talking about mental health disparities in undocumented communities

By Matthew Diaz | Nov. 17, 2019

Mental illnesses are colorblind, but the barriers to treatment aren’t. Previously, I wrote about some of the ways that immigrant communities were disproportionately affected by mental illnesses, which made me interested in our undocumented population in the United States. Roughly 10 million strong, they live in perpetual fear and anxiety, often without any sustainable way of getting professional help. Most conversations thus far have been focused on how to eliminate overt barriers to healthcare, but for this community’s sake, more needs to be said about eliminating the underlying psychosocial barriers. 

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to The Editor: The unspoken injustice of the modern age

Nov. 17, 2019

This piece is dedicated to Netflix’s original film “Tall Girl”  and those involved in its production. Before I watched this movie, I didn’t realize I have been a part of an oppressed minority my entire life. Being a relatively tall female, I finally feel as though I am being properly represented.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Why removing likes from Instagram isn’t such a bad thing

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 17, 2019

We can’t argue against social media’s influence — in fact, we already made an argument stating how important it really is. 

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

The U.S. needs help, and not with just guns

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 14, 2019

Usually, the editorial board likes to take it easy on Fridays and publish a series of “Darts and Laurels” in order to lighten the mood for the weekend and provide our opinions on different things happening in the news.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Your ideal body shape should be your own

By Hannah Whitaker | Nov. 14, 2019

As a society, we must stop making certain body shapes and sizes trendy. This isn’t a revolutionary or unpopular opinion, but it is something I constantly see and am affected by daily. I am imploring us, as human beings, to stop accepting unhealthy body ideals. Young women are constantly bombarded with images of thin bodies with perky breasts on social media and ad campaigns. These body types are by no means average — or even healthy — yet, women grow up desiring to look like supermodels. We must put an end to the fetishization of certain body types. We shouldn’t only praise one breast size, as this is something no one has control over. Thigh gaps aren’t an indicator of health, and plenty of healthy people don’t have thigh gaps. We should begin to promote healthy bodies, not idealistic bodies. Regardless of body shape, you should celebrate your body. 

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The truth behind feminism today

By Carly Sloane Gettleman | Nov. 14, 2019

The fight for gender equality is ingrained in the United States’ history. Beginning in the mid-1800s with the battle for women’s suffrage, feminism has been in the spotlight of politics. Unfortunately, in today’s society, feminists’ efforts have become extreme. 

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Northwestern's apology wasn't great, but Twitter's reaction was even worse

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Nov. 12, 2019

As upcoming journalists, many of us are aware of the difficulties involved in the craft. Our work is expected to inform the public in an objective way, but when respecting the feelings of the public comes into play, things can get confusing. 

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The stigma of going braless

By Lauren Rousseau | Nov. 12, 2019

What comes in pairs, is beloved by babies, but hated by the media? Nipples! In the age of the #MeToo movement and feminism, women are taking ownership over their bodies, including their nipples.  

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Student Government budget crisis update: The good and the manure news.

By Zachariah Chou | Nov. 12, 2019

Since budget hearings have started and the money has begun flowing, let’s examine how things have been looking so far.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: The stories our father told

Nov. 12, 2019

When you grow up in a house of journalists, you are born into a world of stories. Many of them are filled with villains, heroes and impossible twists of fate. In his 40-year career in journalism that started at The Alligator, our father Barry Klein accumulated too many stories to count. He is retiring this week, and to demonstrate his commitment to critical journalistic values, we figured it’s time to tell a couple of his.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Talking about mental health disparities in minority communities

By Matthew Diaz | Nov. 7, 2019

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), ethnic and racial minorities often bear a disproportionately high burden of disability resulting from mental disorders. Yet, by 2044, models show  more than half of all Americans will belong to a minority group. Taken altogether, this seems to indicate troubled waters on our horizons, and it should speak to the importance of cultural sensitivity in mental health training.