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Monday, June 02, 2025

El Caimán

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

UF alumni scuffle over medical marijuana, political influence

Today marks the end of Student Government elections for this semester, and while it’s easily been the one of the most entertaining ones on record, we feel like it’s time to step back and talk about something else for a change. Considering this is Florida, we’d have to be incredibly unlucky to go a day without a scandalous story going by, especially if it has to do with in-state political maneuvers.


Florida Alligator
NEWS

Rock your own vote; don’t let anyone else decide SG’s fate

When the founding fathers created the American Electoral College, they created a buffer between the majority vote and the actual selection of the president. They were aware of the scary possibility of the electorate being persuaded, bribed or forced to vote for someone who would mishandle power. So, they created a process in which voters express their preferred candidates, and then previously designated state electors vote, in most states, for the candidate who won the state’s popular vote. We, however, don’t have that sort of buffer in our Student Government elections. So, the nightmare that probably kept our founding fathers tossing and turning is a very real possibility at UF. In fact, it may have already happened.  


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

'Radical Brownies' troop gives hope for the next generation

Some believe that much of the prejudices that plague our society stem from older generations, whose “traditional” values are more often the thinly veiled discriminatory attitudes of a less tolerant time. Younger generations are so much more liberal-minded that the “activist college student” stigma is now a tired cliche. Baby Boomers sometimes paint this trend as a passing fad, a collegiate trend that fades with age and, supposedly, wisdom. This dismissive mindset is patronizing, and I find the most likely explanation in the positive correlation between a college education and social liberalism. Younger generations aren’t trendy activists; they’re educated, inclusive and tolerant. The leaders of social justice are continually getting younger, but they are no less aware or invested in the causes they champion.



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