Opinion

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Keep an open mind when someone tells you about different countries

Sep. 28, 2016

As someone who was raised by immigrant parents and has traveled abroad multiple times in her life, I am acutely aware of the average American’s geographic and cultural ignorance. This shouldn’t be a surprise to most people; after all, it is a subject of self-deprecating humor on late-night talk shows. We seem to be aware that the Average Joe can’t differentiate Iraq from Iran and thinks all Asian food comes from the same place. We laugh at him and take comfort in the fact that we know our Pad Thai isn’t Chinese, thank you very much. But are we really much better?

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Stem cell research: It’s worth it

Sep. 27, 2016

There is a massive philosophical question surrounding the use of stem cells in medical research. Part of this question exists because the communication of scientific information in this country is crap. The myths oftentimes are inseparable from the facts. This is why, embarrassingly enough for us, only 70 percent of Americans believe in climate change, while an overwhelming 97 percent of scientists accept it as valid.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Where would our society be without discrimination?

Sep. 27, 2016

Often, I like to ask people: How would the history of humanity have been different if discrimination never exited?

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

After finally turning 21, I realized I wanted to become an adult too quickly

Sep. 27, 2016

I was a baby for the first 20 years of my life — or at least it felt that way. There was always something I wasn’t old enough to do: drive, buy cigarettes, join the Army, gamble, drink or enter a bar. You see, I had always wanted to be treated like an adult, ever since I consciously understood there were legal differences based on age.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Stamp your passport, but check your American privilege when you do

Sep. 27, 2016

The best thing about studying abroad in China was the food. I ate everything my stomach could fit — and then some. I ate a different kind of ice cream almost every day, and each one cost less than a dollar. Trying street food became a hobby. While I often went to different cafes to study at night, one thing they all had in common was their low prices. I could knock back three cappuccinos topped with cute foam art for the price of a single grande pumpkin spice latte.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Comedy and world-building: ‘Homestar Runner’

Sep. 26, 2016

The internet has done weird things for comedy. Good things, but certainly weird things. Video-sharing websites like YouTube, Newgrounds and Vine have paved the way for all sorts of art: mediums like sketches, animations and music. The internet digitized the formerly newspaper-dominated comic strip with works like “Penny Arcade” and “xkcd.” And beyond this, the eldritch phenomenon that is memes has introduced audiences to meta-humor and explored the darker side of the human psyche. Memes are spooky stuff.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Another semester, another endorsement

Sep. 26, 2016

It’s that time of year again — Student Government elections. The last few years, dear reader, have been as tumultuous as ever. The drama surrounding various party name changes, accusations of nepotism, mudslinging and the seemingly valid conspiracy theories seems to never end, and even as we put the finishing touches on this endorsement editorial, the Not My System movement is preparing a livestream for a Q&A.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Student, sometimes customer: When is education a business transaction?

Sep. 26, 2016

Whether it was due to a class discussion on the “student as customer” debate or a fellow columnist’s musings on Rate My Professors or simply my own preoccupation with funding graduate school, my mind keeps coming back to the ways in which higher education and the market economy intersect. Over the past few years, higher education has been increasingly characterized as a business transaction in which the student is the customer “purchasing” a degree and entrance into the job market. It seems innocuous enough, treating college students as valued customers, but despite the increased bargaining power this conceptual shift gives us, it undeniably warps the way we approach our education.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The only world that exists: Some thoughts on technology, the need to unplug

Sep. 26, 2016

Last week, in the middle of my creative writing class, my teacher stepped out to use the bathroom during our 10-minute break. This is usually a good time to crack light jokes with your neighbor or try and make small talk. Instead, every person except me and another guy was on his or her phone. The only reason I wasn’t looking down at mine was because it was plugged into the wall, charging. There was total silence in the room; nobody even glanced up or attempted to connect with another human being. And then our teacher walked back in and we resumed class. Is this just a minute instance of a current phenomenon I plan on stretching out of proportion? Possibly.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

It’s not about who matters more; it’s about who matters now

Sep. 25, 2016

#BlackLivesMatter. #BlueLivesMatter. #AllLivesMatter.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Parrott right to show support by urging students to attend demonstration

Sep. 25, 2016

On Thursday, David Parrott, the vice president for Student Affairs, sent out an email urging students to go to the Enough is Enough Peaceful Demonstration on Friday. Parrott wrote, “It is incomprehensible that violence against Black people across the nation continues.”

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Regarding John Jones’ letter to the editor

Sep. 25, 2016

UF business student John Jones misrepresents both the email sent by David Parrott and the overall situation in this country to which the email pertains. Nowhere in Parrott’s email does he imply violence is only committed against African-Americans. He mentions several recent tragedies in which black people were killed by the police in order to promote an event on the subject. Just because a specific type of violence is mentioned in a short email does not mean the sender is implying no other types of violence exist.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Mourning the loss of a Marlins player on and off the diamond

Sep. 25, 2016

In a cramped room outside the Marlins Park locker room, a grinning José Fernández sat in front of cameras and reporters.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Controversial or not, UF administration should let Milo Yiannopoulos speak

Sep. 22, 2016

 A few weeks ago, the conservative UF organization Turning Point announced plans to invite Milo Yiannopoulos to speak later this semester on campus. Yiannopoulos is a Breitbart News contributor, notorious Twitter troll and vocal critic of feminism, Islam and political correctness. Some even consider him to be an emerging spokesman for the “alt-right,” a nationalist, nativist and anti-multicultural alternative to mainstream Republican conservatism.

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OPINION  |  DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels: September 22, 2016

Sep. 22, 2016

You’re sitting on the edge of a river bank, staring intently into your reflection. Minnows swim in circles around the reflection of yourself. You feel the soft breeze blow across your face, rustling the leaves of the trees behind you. It sounds like the wind is whispering something. You turn around and try to listen. Unable to make it out, you turn back to look at your reflection. To your horrid surprise, it’s gone. You feel a slimy tap on your shoulder. It’s your reflection, wet and covered in minnows. “Darts & Laurels,” it says to you. Leaning closer and closer, it says one last time before disappearing…

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

US media is making the same mistake UK did

Sep. 22, 2016

Browsing the various news websites online has become an arduous task in 2016. Watching news stations on TV is even more unpalatable. Trying to stay informed is important, but a very fine line has developed between awareness of current issues and receiving the massive media spin on everything. Has 2016 really been that bad a year for the world? No, but I believe we’re not only becoming far more aware of the terrible things, but also fascinated by them. For the majority of Americans, their news comes through their preferred syndicated source’s filter, as they are simply being spoon-fed whatever that news station decides is important that day.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Regarding David Parrott’s email to students

Sep. 22, 2016

UF’s Vice President of Student Affairs’ David Parrott’s “incomprehension” statement is factually false because it incorrectly implies that violence has only occurred against blacks across the nation. The Washington Post reported July 8 that of the 509 people who had been killed by police in 2016, 123 were African-American. That means about 75 percent of the people killed were not African-American. To say there was only violence against blacks across the nation is, and continues to be, a blatant and intolerable misstatement of fact.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Giving up freedom for the sake of security: analyzing Snowden's decision

Sep. 21, 2016

Oliver Stone’s movie “Snowden” came to theaters Friday. The true-story drama follows the lead-up and fallout surrounding the infamous NSA contractor’s decision to release thousands of top-secret documents and flee the country to avoid prosecution by the U.S. government.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

The internet of North Korea

Sep. 21, 2016

The internet is a wonderful thing. On Monday, it blessed us with a strange yet immensely fascinating look into a previously mysterious corner of itself: North Korea’s internet. By some accounts, it’s hard to believe North Korea even has internet. But this past weekend, the doors were accidentally opened to North Korea’s websites — all 28 of them. For the citizens of the closed-off, dictator-led poverty-stricken nation, that basically is their internet.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Surprise: The 2016 election actually has precedent

Sep. 21, 2016

We are amid the most unusual presidential election of our lifetime. It features a career politician against a Washington outsider; a liar versus a loose cannon. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s preferred choice, and her candidacy are unsurprising. And this time last year, few expected Donald Trump to be the Republican Party’s nominee. His rise has rocked the political landscape.