Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

To try for a country in trouble

May 10, 2017

The phrase my mother consistently used to persuade me to clean my plate at dinner gradually became more personal as I got older and as our country started entering hysteria. That phrase was, “There are starving children out there.” These children are not those we are appropriated to believe come from charity commercials. These children take the form of my family and other oppressed people in Venezuela.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

We need to make room for tolerance in politics

May 10, 2017

Here are several topics we are constantly warned to steer clear of when meeting new people. As a general rule of thumb, it is never a smart idea to bring up the subjects of religion, money and — of course — politics. History has shown us time and time again that these are some of the most controversial matters in the world. This past year especially, politics became the crux of major issues on a national scale as well as a personal one.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Graduation should be a time of celebration, not self-deprecation

May 8, 2017

It’s that time of the year again: graduation season. Our social-media timelines are flooded with photos of painted square caps and statuses from friends raving about what an incredible journey the last four years have been.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Understand the impact your words can have

May 8, 2017

If you’ve scrolled through social media recently, you’ve probably seen references to a new television show. It’s called “13 Reasons Why.” Now, before you aggressively leap to a positive or negative reaction to those three words, hear me out. I’m not going to spoil anything other than the general premise, so if you haven’t watched the series, don’t worry about me ruining it for you.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don’t be afraid to waste time

May 8, 2017

I have heard many times that “time” is one of those things you cannot get back. I also find myself occasionally repeating this same message when giving advice. It makes sense that time won’t be given back to you, and you should cherish it, but I feel people abuse the saying — even for the smallest of things.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Good Writers and Good People

Apr. 19, 2017

The hallways of The Carolina Inn on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are filled with photographs and paintings of people who made a difference in the university’s 228-year history. After staying in the inn for three nights last month, I felt like I had a sense of how UNC was influenced by the two centuries of faculty, staff and alumni whose likenesses lined the halls.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Before I go: a message from your editor-in-chief

Apr. 18, 2017

My faded black Jimi Hendrix T-shirt was drenched in sweat as I walked across UF’s campus on a blistering August day.

OPINION | COLUMNS

We’re all just looking for the damn light switch

Apr. 18, 2017

With graduation nearing, you might be feeling a bit stressed.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

We have the right to speak and the duty to listen

Apr. 18, 2017

As the limbo of Summer semester comes round, I’m going to follow my predecessor in removing the opinions editor mask and speaking directly as myself. The opinions and experiences expressed here will be my own, and not those of the Alligator editorial board. I want to take the chance, as the end of the semester approaches and friends graduate, travel abroad, tackle internships and sit on their couches all summer, to reflect on the past semester.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Signposts on the path to utopia

Apr. 18, 2017

I love science fiction. My favorite works come from the ‘60s and ‘70s, when novels like “Childhood’s End” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” crystallized the genre, pioneered by writers like Isaac Asimov, of utopian speculative fiction. Don’t get me wrong, “Alien” and “Blade Runner” hold a special place in my heart, but there was an optimism in “Star Trek” that seems to have been fading since writers like William Gibson and Philip K. Dick popularized stories of a grim, dystopian future.

OPINION | COLUMNS

My contradictory life: Balancing nutrition, health with death-defying stunts

Apr. 17, 2017

Due to the increasing pervasiveness and equal awareness of obesity as a health problem, especially in the U.S., it has become a truism today to inform the public about caring for themselves and their bodies. I’m quite aware of this beneficial trend in fitness, and I’m a firm believer in the idea that “your body’s a temple, and you should worship it.” However, in a quasi-paradoxical fashion, I also believe you should go out into the great unknown and destroy yourself if you must.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Condemning hate isn’t enough

Apr. 17, 2017

We’re not going to wait until the end of this editorial to cut to the chase, so here it is: UF needs to do more than just condemn hate after the fact.

OPINION | COLUMNS

A thank you letter from one nostalgic graduate

Apr. 17, 2017

Nearly two years ago, I received a text from the newly appointed Alligator opinions editor while on a Greyhound bus full of potential sorority girls barreling down Museum Road toward Pi Beta Phi. It read, “Hey. Do you want to have a column in the Alligator?” Immediately, I thought to myself, “Hell no.” Yet for some unbeknownst reason, I texted back, “Sure, when do I start?”

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Foreign relations aren’t black and white

Apr. 16, 2017

On Saturday, North Korea launched a missile. The attempt failed, exploding moments after launch, but nevertheless the missile firing shows that North Korea’s military technology is advancing, whether we like it or not. Even if they do not yet have the technical prowess, they are pouring an incredible amount of resources and funding into this program.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Here are ways to actually help Syrian refugees

Apr. 16, 2017

I have seen many of the photographs. I have read the news. I have cringed as I read through tweets about the crisis in Syria, where more than 80 people, including children, died in a chemical gas attack on April 4, and then hated myself for cringing when I should be translating that sorrow and disgust into action. So today, I provide you — by way of researching this myself — ways we can support Syrian refugees.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Jared Kushner: the president’s puppet master

Apr. 13, 2017

His name is Jared Kushner, and you probably have never heard of him. If you have, then it is only for being the husband of one of the most influential women in the world at the moment: Ivanka Trump. But what many do not know about Jared Kushner is just how significant a role he currently has in the White House, and as he is a man of very few words, this has been a cause of concern. Since long before Election Day, Kushner could be found lurking in the shadows of President Donald Trump as he made his cantankerous, political-landscape-altering, scorched-earth trek through America. The Trump campaign might have had a revolving door of campaign managers and aides, but it was the reserved Mr. Kushner who, as we are now learning, led Trump to the presidency.

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels - April 14, 2017

Apr. 13, 2017

The world swarms around us, and yet we tightly clutch our Study Edge packets and scrounge for seats in Library West, focused on the finish line that we see so clearly. For some of us, this is the final countdown — just a few more days until we must face the real world and all it holds, good and bad. For others, this is just another push to the finish line before we start the next lap. Either way, this is the hardest part of the race. It’s bittersweet, though, as we present to you this semester’s final…

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: Advice from a former Alligator reader

Apr. 13, 2017

Who reads the editorials in The Alligator? I do. Or, at least, I did. A free campus newspaper has a unique opportunity not available to major outlets. The writers of the Alligator are (or should be) beholden to no one, except their audience. The Alligator is funded in part, I assume, by subsidies from UF or associated student organizations. Yes, there are ads in every paper, but few are from major corporations. So there should be little worry over losing advertisers. Yet, the editorials are often bland, middle-of-the-road noise. If you want life advice, then read Dear Abby. More importantly, if you want to give life advice, then provide reasons why your advice is valid. Editorial pieces should not be so agreeable. In fact, I suggest that op-eds be divisive. The Alligator had an editorial writer about a year ago named Michael Beato who wrote largely on matters of interest to conservative students. I abhorred 99 percent of Beato’s writings, but my roommates and I read his editorial each week to a discuss the reasons for our beliefs. I am not suggesting that the Alligator needs more diverse viewpoints; I am saying that the writers need to take a firm stand on issues more often. Writing should evoke a response other than “Mhm.” Not a shock response, but one that contributes to the moral, philosophical, educational, and, yes, even political discourse that should be taking place on this campus. Write something worth discussing in a classroom.

OPINION | COLUMNS

I'm disappointed with (some) of the passive forms of new-age feminism

Apr. 13, 2017

The U.S. has seen a boom in feminism lately, something that I, a long-time nasty woman, should be elated about. However, and much to my own dismay, I’ve come to realize this new wave of feminism is nothing to be exciting about.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Why are we afraid of being kind?

Apr. 12, 2017

Though we may not openly acknowledge it, society has engrained in us that it’s “cool” to be mean. We all want to believe we are good people; we rationalize our actions to ourselves, saying that we are kind to our friends, our families and those close with us. We share sympathetic videos on social media. We spend time attending Dance Marathon and Relay for Life. We don’t go out of our way to ruin people’s lives. That — the bare minimum, it seems — is enough to justify the fact that we are good people.