Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: American foreign policy begets further terrorism

Apr. 11, 2016

The young couple from Mississippi detained by federal authorities in August has, among other charges, pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support for the Kim Kardashian of radical Islamic militancy: the Islamic State. The aspiring American jihadists shocked and captured the attention of Americans throughout the country.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Technology, sex and communication - the modern burden of lightness

Apr. 11, 2016

"Everything that is good is light, what is divine runs on delicate feet: first principle of my aesthetic,” declares Nietzsche in “The Case of Wagner.” Paul Valery claims in his notebooks that “(t)he preparation of a work consists of laboriously granting oneself the liberty of executing it lightly.” In his “Six Memos for the New Millennium,” Italo Calvino calls for lightness to combat “the slow petrification” of the world caused by “the inexorable stare of Medusa.”

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: In lieu of losing the loo

Apr. 10, 2016

Bathrooms: For some, they’re a sanctuary of privacy from incessantly annoying roommates. For others, they inspire a frantic cleaning spree before an unexpected visit from mom and dad. But for those in the transgender community, bathrooms represent civil struggle.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Rick Scott's Gainesville Starbucks altercation is an embarrassment

Apr. 10, 2016

If civility isn’t dead in 2016, it’s pretty close to being put in the ground.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: A few fun facts about insomnia

Apr. 7, 2016

Personal health: the news topic that makes readers go, “Oh, I should start paying attention to that soon,” before moving on to read whatever Ann Coulter recently said about Hispanic people. But unlike Ms. Coulter, disregarding uncomfortable health conditions does not make them go away.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Diary - forgotten form of expression?

Apr. 7, 2016

I went home recently for the weekend and had a grand time visiting hometown haunts and stuffing my face with home-cooked food. As a college student ready to throw herself into the throes of finals week, there is nothing like a visit home to provide a perfect relaxation boost — as well as a motivation boost. When family members start tentatively asking about grades, and you remember how hard they might have worked to afford to give you this stellar college education and the ability to go for your dreams, I personally rediscover a great motivating force to settling down in the library for a long haul of studying.

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels: 04/08/2016

Apr. 7, 2016

What a week it’s been, readers. We’ve got presidential candidates throwing shade at one another, Gainesville residents yelling at Florida governors in Starbucks, Star Wars Easter eggs and secrets circling our social media — and oh, yes, finals week rapidly approaching to wreak havoc on our precious grades. But in the meantime, thank you, readers, for tuning into our vain attempt at making sense of the world, our long-winded banter, our latest segment of…

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: The new-new left winged types of people

Apr. 7, 2016

Two weeks ago, noted hacker and white nationalist Andrew Auernheimer decided to access printers across the U.S. and churn out fliers with the following message:

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: Myths Un-Mythed - immigration crime, rape

Apr. 6, 2016

We live in a world full of myths. Never mind the tales of Japanese-animated Italian-American plumbers loading up on mushrooms and picking fights with fire-breathing dinosaurs, nor the tales of an undocumented bunny who can’t keep track of his eggs. (And why do we insist on sending our children to pick up after his mess?) No, what we wish to discuss is the collection of falsehoods so many of us commonly accept as “probably true.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Guest Column: Urge Student Senate to confirm qualified nominees

Apr. 6, 2016

When I became Student Body president, I wanted to make sure that diversity was more than just a checkmark. Because I want to chip away at the racism, classism and discrimination that exists in Student Government — issues that will continue to plague SG going forward.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: In defense of the super delegate system

Apr. 6, 2016

The 2016 primaries have brought an almost endless stream of surprises. Former “outsider” candidates have outlasted most of their well-funded, well-known opponents. As this primary season continually looks like it will be razor-thin, it is clear the most important thing is delegates.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Cuban MLB team could change things

Apr. 6, 2016

Before he was 15 years old, Jose Fernandez was arrested three times for attempting to flee Cuba. Today, he is an MLB All-Star pitcher for the Miami Marlins.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Good Life students shouldn't visit Harn

Apr. 5, 2016

In many ways, art could be considered the most important subject. Art expresses ideas and thoughts where words cannot, which is why it transcends any language and stands as its own form of communication. Children learn to draw and use Play-Doh before they can write because art stands at the center of creativity. So it is important UF have an art museum where students can find a source of inspiration when words simply don’t suffice. It’s called the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: A problem with the NBA and media

Apr. 5, 2016

It is rare to find topics regarding morality and societal values in the news.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: Teddy bears, gift baskets - state of the Palin

Apr. 5, 2016

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, life takes it all up a notch. Everyone knows this election season has not been unlike mint-flavored Oreos: an endless cycle of frustration and disappointment. Yet, last week we may have finally witnessed the craziest accusation of 2016.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Boys gone wild - white male privilege and Greek life

Apr. 5, 2016

Many want to write off Donald Trump as an aberration, a joke — what America isn’t. But I think The Donald’s success thus far within our "free market" and absurd election process,is a testimony to America’s values: deep-seated racism and misogyny. His popular support and misplaced recognition by erstwhile serious media outlets also evidences there are, indeed, many Americans who are little Donalds themselves.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Editorial: An overthinking epidemic in show business

Apr. 4, 2016

So, the season six finale of “The Walking Dead” happened Sunday night. Wasn’t it crazy? Wasn’t it intense? There’s so much to discuss about this series, in fact, that AMC Networks created a talk show centered around it called “Talking Dead.” You all probably know this, because the talk show has come on just after the most recent episode of “The Walking Dead” since the premiere of season two in 2011. AMC has copy-pasted this formula a few times: “Talking Saul” parallels “Better Call Saul” and “Talking Bad” paralleled “Breaking Bad.” The network’s got a knack for creating whole subcultures around these shows, which is really a double-edged sword.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: Reread an old book, learn something about yourself

Apr. 4, 2016

In the season-one finale of “Master of None,” Aziz Ansari’s character, Dev, stands in the middle of a bookstore clutching a copy of “The Bell Jar.” Faced with a seemingly unending variety of life choices, each taking him on a drastically different path, Dev has exhausted every source of advice and looks to the Sylvia Plath novel as a last-ditch effort. Ansari’s voice can be heard reading some of Plath’s most painfully poignant lines: “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America.”

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the Editor: Israel isn't an "apartheid state"

Apr. 4, 2016

I am deeply disturbed by Jordan MacKenzie’s column from Wednesday, “The meaning of the word ‘apartheid.’” First, I am always amazed when a Floridian criticizes Israel, given how Floridians live and work on land stolen by force from Native Americans who were “ethnically cleansed.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Column: How cheap are inexpensive jokes?

Apr. 4, 2016

Readers, I’d like you to know I was followed just yesterday by members of the #StopMichael movement. I could feel them lurking behind me for 10 minutes before I turned back to see the entirety of The Really Independent Florida Crocodile editorial staff. They satirized the daylights out of me. No dead horse went unbeaten that day.