Opinion

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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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Life is a (metaphorical) highway: an analysis of driving habits and life

Sep. 21, 2016

I love my mother, and I hate stereotypes about Asian women, but I’m going to come clean and say this: She is not a good driver. I, unfortunately, have inherited this trait from her.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

The impact of consumerism on charity

Sep. 20, 2016

Recently our opinions editor was walking by Tijuana Flats on University Avenue and saw pink ribbons scrawled in paint across the windows. These ribbons, obviously symbolizing the global fight against breast cancer, really resonated with him. His mother is a breast cancer survivor. Also, his love of burritos is unparalleled.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Stop grammar shaming: We all drop letters every once in a while

Sep. 20, 2016

Throughout elementary school, I — like many others — was taught to say “John and I went to the store,” and not “me and John.” You shouldn't say “I ated the sandwich” or forget that you’re you (and that’s your bag). And never, ever start a sentence with a conjunction.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Support each other and help change society

Sep. 20, 2016

As a 22-year-old female college student, certain things are expected of me.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Thoughts on Rate My Professors' ‘Hotness’ rating

Sep. 20, 2016

Oh, ratemyprofessors.com, my darling, my muse. How I long for your infinite wisdom during add/drop week. You show me the level of effort I will have to put into each of my courses before I even enroll. You save me money on textbooks by assuring me that my Western Civilization professor won’t use it.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

One more SpongeBob column

Sep. 19, 2016

This week, I wanted to talk about “SpongeBob SquarePants” again. I also wanted to talk about slapstick, but I feel like I didn’t waste enough of your time explaining exactly why I wanted to delve so deeply into a show geared toward kids. So, I’m going to explain that: why exactly I want to delve so deeply into a show geared toward kids. Let’s go.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Lessons from ‘Star Wars’ on loneliness and escapism

Sep. 19, 2016

As I said last week, I will be exploring in the next few columns the effects of modern technology with our postmodern society, for good and for ill. Last week I discussed how smartphones and social media are often used as means to escape our deeper insecurities. This week I will still be discussing this theme of escaping, but in a different way. And I will be addressing not just social media, but technology as a whole: video games, the internet, binge watching on Netflix or Hulu, etc.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Let's talk about Tim Tebow.

Sep. 19, 2016

Dear readers, we need to have a serious talk about Tim Tebow.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Dealing with the uncertainty of post grad life and senior year anxieties

Sep. 19, 2016

Anyone 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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Cheney-s of love: Finding the wrong election role model

Sep. 18, 2016

We 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).

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Crushing gender oppression with a pair of heels

Sep. 18, 2016

I’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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Sing me a happy (or sad or angry) song, but nothing else

Sep. 18, 2016

Our 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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Trump campaign coming apart at the seams after no pivot

Sep. 18, 2016

“President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period.”

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letter to the Editor: On-campus housing should be better maintained

Sep. 15, 2016

My 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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Column: Leisurely reading in college is rare, but it's certainly worth the time

Sep. 15, 2016

Change 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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Column: The Republican Party can learn adaptability from David Cameron

Sep. 15, 2016

On 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.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Column: The confusion of finding a cultural identity

Sep. 15, 2016

It’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.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Stand up against environmental degradation

Sep. 14, 2016

With 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.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The danger of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and wrongly stereotyping women

Sep. 14, 2016

If 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.