OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Let's talk about Tim Tebow.
Sep. 19, 2016Dear readers, we need to have a serious talk about Tim Tebow.
Opinion
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Dealing with the uncertainty of post grad life and senior year anxieties
Sep. 19, 2016Anyone who has interacted with me on a personal level or read my columns with some sort of frequency (Hi, Mom) knows that the gaping void known as ‘post graduate life’ has terrified me for some time now. From that fateful Preview session during which I was delicately reminded to keep the job market in mind when picking a major, to those recent sleepless nights spent torturing myself with questions like “Do I really want to go to law school?” any thoughts about the not-so-distant future have resulted in more anxiety than excitement.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Cheney-s of love: Finding the wrong election role model
Sep. 18, 2016We all have role models. Well, all of us except for J. Cole. In his song “No Role Modelz,” Cole points out that in this day and age, no role models exist for us to look up to anymore. The desire to live a humble lifestyle has since been replaced with the obnoxious, tacky and entirely superficial placeholders. Young people used to look up to athletes who didn’t use performance-enhancing drugs, politicians who made compromises to reach success for the betterment of this country and celebrities who engaged in philanthropic causes — not celebrities who get “Made in China” breast implants (read: a Kardashian) or “Made in Thailand” lip injections (read: a Kardashian).
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Crushing gender oppression with a pair of heels
Sep. 18, 2016I’m one of those people who wears heels on campus. You can catch me doing high-knees as I power my way up North Lawn or swinging from tree to tree as I teeter-totter across the Plaza of the Americas.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Sing me a happy (or sad or angry) song, but nothing else
Sep. 18, 2016Our musical tastes are unbelievably polarized. There are very few popular songs that take a middle ground when it comes to emotion. Why does our generation seem to enjoy incredibly depressing, intensely angry or extraordinarily happy music? There is likely no single answer to this, but there is one I feel is the most probable.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Trump campaign coming apart at the seams after no pivot
Sep. 18, 2016“President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period.”
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letter to the Editor: On-campus housing should be better maintained
Sep. 15, 2016My daughter moved into on-campus housing in August 2016. She was so excited to begin her college experience that she moved in early by volunteering as a Gator Aide to help others before the semester started. That excitement was short-lived.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Column: Leisurely reading in college is rare, but it's certainly worth the time
Sep. 15, 2016Change is natural. Change is good. There are not many emotions greater than the anticipation of change. It gives us everything we can want in life: something to look forward to, to desire. Plans held into the not-too-distant future help us trudge through the monotonous present, giving us an attainable shift out of our current boredom and into something new.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Column: The Republican Party can learn adaptability from David Cameron
Sep. 15, 2016On Monday, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron announced his resignation as a member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, three months after the Brexit referendum. While he may be remembered for years to come as “the man who accidentally caused Britain to leave the European Union,” Cameron also leaves a powerful legacy behind — perhaps one that American Republicans can learn from.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Column: The confusion of finding a cultural identity
Sep. 15, 2016It’s really weird to be confused about your cultural identity. I will always say I am Puerto Rican before I am Mexican and before I am American. My family is huge and loud and very Hispanic. We’re great fun at parties. At the same time, however, I’ve often felt like I’m “too white” to be Hispanic and “too Hispanic” to be American, and it’s frustrating to explain to my friends and family when I feel like I can’t fully fit in with them.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Stand up against environmental degradation
Sep. 14, 2016With Gainesville residents protesting oil pipelines Tuesday, we here at the Alligator thought we’d offer some insight into what’s going on in our beautiful state.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
The danger of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and wrongly stereotyping women
Sep. 14, 2016If you’re not familiar with the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl, let me give you a refresher. The term, coined by film critic Nathan Rabin, is used to describe spirited, quirky female characters (usually written by men) that inspire the brooding male hero to find joy in life. It is an overdone trope that devalues female characters, reducing them to plot tools for the more complexly written male characters.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
No days off for Santa Clara Police Department
Sep. 13, 2016Where does responsibility come from? At what point can someone abandon his or her sworn obligations? While the discussion surrounding San Francisco 49ers football player Colin Kaepernick’s decision to lead a national protest is growing stale and tiresome, the reaction by the Santa Clara Police Department is so irresponsible, so reckless and so downright childish that a continuation of this discussion is sadly necessary.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Falling in love with your roommate
Sep. 13, 2016(This is part two of a two-part column. Last Wednesday, we ran part one. To read the full story, visit alligator.org.)
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Technology is the wrong form of escape
Sep. 13, 2016The famous French and Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Pascal seems to be flirting with deep philosophical truths in this insight, but I want to tamper with Pascal’s statement: A good number of our problems today stem from our unwillingness to sit quietly without a phone in a room alone. Why do I — and Pascal — believe this behavior is a problem?
OPINION
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COLUMNS
The chemistry of betrayal
Sep. 13, 2016As individuals in a complex society, we feel comfort by putting labels or stereotypes on people. It gives us a sense of safety. As members of the mammalian species, we don't like to relate to situations or things we are not able to recognize. Therefore, we will always fear the unknown and avoid the feeling of uncertainty. Sadly, this comes at a price. When we learn and gain knowledge about something, we will do anything in our reach so we don’t lose control over it. Therefore, when eventualities get presented in our life, we are unable to manage them in the best way possible. Who hasn’t met someone, enjoyed his or her company and then unexpectedly gotten disappointed after a while? For example, I meet an incredible guy who I had a crush on for years. After many years of friendship, we began a relationship filled with shenanigans, jokes and a lot fun. A few months later, my heart got broken when I realized his priorities didn’t include me. He was making decisions that jeopardized the trust I invested in him. I never thought he would be capable of executing such betrayal, but he was.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Coping with the changes on University Avenue
Sep. 12, 2016University Avenue, what happened?
OPINION
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COLUMNS
SpongeBob Squarepants examiner: part three
Sep. 12, 2016In my past two columns, I discussed both the visual and audio design of "SpongeBob Squarepants" and how they influence its comedy. The show's gone south since season four, and the changes to its animation and sound are pretty clear and indicate a pretty solid drop in quality. So, for this final column, let's talk about two things: the characters and the jokes.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Tracing the Origins of Political Correctness
Sep. 12, 2016What is it about the term “politically correct” that manages to put everyone on high alert? Some blame the term for infringement on their First-Amendment rights, others use it as a justification to inflame Facebook comment threads, but mostly we avoid uttering it altogether to avoid the accompanying controversy. These two simple words have expanded to become intrinsically linked to an abundance of other concepts such as safe spaces and trigger warnings, but even beyond that it has taken on a connotation of triviality and ridicule.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
On the use of the word ‘retard’
Sep. 12, 2016Words are heavy. Every letter of every phrase carries a weight that we as speakers tend to overlook. Diction is an influential tool, made powerful not by the mouths that voice it but rather by the ears that receive it. No matter what, somebody is always listening.
