I can choose my profession and my politics, but I will never be able to choose my ethnicity.
I hope my journalism career outlives The Alligator couch.
Dear the Avenue, I would be lying if I said you were my dream desk from the very beginning. In fact, I actually didn’t know you existed before applying to The Alligator.
The ability to move around Gainesville safely and efficiently is key to four of the City of Gainesville’s Strategic Plan goals: A Great Place to Live & Experience, Resilient Local Economy, Equitable Community and More Sustainable Community.
The current problem
In the past week, there’s been a lot of conversation around RTS buses and what funding they will have in the future. As someone who was first made aware there was an issue between the City of Gainesville and UF when this was made public April 9, I’ve been learning as much as I can before I officially take office April 24 to have better and more nuanced conversations. Let’s talk about what’s been happening, and what the future will look like relating to RTS:
One of the most prominent addictions among my generation these days isn’t one of the things my parents warned me about becoming addicted to before coming to college: drugs, alcohol or sex. It is something normalized by friends and peers at all hours of the day, in public, during class and on holidays.
“I do not deserve this.”
If you’ve never been in a car accident before, I’m sorry to report, you’re in the minority. A vanishing minority as Florida has earned a top spot among the most dangerous states for pedestrians. I recently had the misfortune of colliding with a city bus on my morning commute to class. The experience taught me far more than to look both ways before crossing the street, though it was a grim reminder.
Recently, fellow columnist Sabrina Castro wrote about the value of involvement culture. With nearly 1,000 registered student organizations and many informal organizations, involvement forms a key aspect of the college experience. While what you learn is important, what you experience will be essential to the rest of your life. This is especially the case for STEM.
The fight for Florida’s United States Senate seat is not just a political race; its outcome is deeply personal to me. This past summer, my mom faced a health scare marked with uncertainty, all while navigating a healthcare system rife with economic barriers. Like millions of Floridians, the Affordable Care Act saved us from crippling medical bills.
As the political landscape heats up for November’s rematch, the specter of former President Donald Trump’s legal battles looms large.
Since my freshman year, there has been at least one large and obstructive campus construction project. I remember a time when most of Museum Road was closed off. Now, with only a few weeks before my graduation, I find myself boxed in with few good sources of information to learn more.
The UF Supreme Court is a little-known part of Student Government. The adage goes: justice delayed is justice denied. The Supreme Court is insistent on delaying justice.
Walking through Turlington Plaza, in between the chaos of students scrambling to arrive to class on time, you will undoubtedly be asked to sign a petition, join a political movement, or maybe even register to vote. To the average student, the nuisance of being approached despite wearing headphones outweighs the merit of exercising one’s civil duties, as there is a growing sense of voter apathy amongst younger generations.
As I prepare to finish my junior year, the involvement culture surrounding the student body isn’t just a freshman year fad. Before I could even realize it, these questions have quickly become, “What organizations have you been accepted to?” or even worse, “Have you received any internship offers?”
As a high school graduate from New England, I knew little about UF and had never been to Gainesville before I applied. After arriving as a freshman in 1984, I quickly became immersed in the culture of the school, served in Student Government and was one of the many founders of SCAAR, the Student Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism. Florida was still under the radar, but to me it was a hidden gem in large part because of its myriad of cultures.
On March 19, voters in the Republican Party of Florida will head to the polls to vote in the state’s presidential preference primary election, although the contest is purely a formality. Former President Donald Trump (fitting that the first president associated with Florida is actually just a snowbird, right?) has already secured enough delegates to win the GOP nomination.
I am confident the overwhelming majority of our faculty and staff hold this position, and absolutely positive that our students do. While the provost’s promises of maintaining trust and respect may seem disingenuous in this context, I believe most Gators remain steadfast in our commitment to a more equitable university, community, and world.
Over the course of the past few weeks, it became obvious to anyone paying attention that the national crisis in chronic homelessness was manifesting itself in a couple of new tent camps, including one downtown on SE Fourth Place — literally on the street itself. As mayor, I knew my colleagues on the Gainesville City Commission and I had to act, but I also knew we were fiscally restrained, in the middle of an unusually challenging budget year.
Solutions by The State News
