By now, the U.S. Senate may already have dispensed with tradition and confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch by simple majority. They would have done this by invoking what is dramatically termed the “nuclear option” — a process by which Senate rules are changed to allow a confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominees with 51 (instead of 60) votes.
One of the preeminent intellectuals of the last century, Noam Chomsky’s quote is aimed directly at our generation: “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” Nicole Dan’s recent publication posits that paying for Ben Shapiro’s appearance at UF by Accent represents not only their ignorance, but (at worst) sanctioned approval of his message. This is not only incorrect, but close-minded. Higher education is tasked with challenging assumptions, facilitating experiences and, god forbid, making us uncomfortable. To stick our head in the sand and ignore the perspectives of opposition parties not only insulates us from diverse perspectives and facilitates groupthink, but “other-izes” the very individuals we need to engage with the most. She argues that “there’s no room for dialogue when someone believes that a group doesn’t have the right to exist.” These moments necessitate discussion the most. As exemplified by the riots at University of California, Berkeley at the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos, our fear of hearing things that disturb us not only closes paths to dialogue, but alienates others. With Shapiro’s appearance having passed, consider these words: Apathy is the greatest insult. Protest, post on social media, but above all, don’t close your eyes. To do so is nothing less than intellectual dystrophy and further entrenches that which you purport to hate in our mainstream culture.
Dear Mr. Weldon,
Young Americans for Freedom president Daniel Weldon’s recent letter to the editor missed the mark. Although the author raised a number of valid concerns regarding students’ ability to engage in conservative dialogue on a college campus, his conclusion in calling for administration to intrude in student affairs ultimately departs from fundamental principles of conservatism. To his point, attending the Ben Shapiro Accent show this past Monday was the first time I witnessed faculty protesting a student-organized and funded event in my five years at UF. While this was certainly concerning, demanding “change” or “action” from UF President Kent Fuchs and administration would prove to be both fruitless and counterintuitive for an organization championing the cause of individual liberty. First, Fuchs is no more able to prevent students from tearing down conservative fliers on campus than he is able to prevent white supremacists putting fliers up on campus. At a certain point, it becomes necessary for students to reassess our beliefs on what is reasonable to expect from administration in ridding our campus of bias. Second, the author’s sentiments have begun to mirror those of the students Shapiro so adamantly opposes. Self-victimization likens the author to the “snowflakes” much of Monday evening was spent criticizing. Rather than calling on administration at a publicly funded institution to step in, conservatives on campus should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Bringing conservative speakers like Shapiro to campus is an excellent start, and I commend Weldon and YAF. Although I will concede there are campuses around the country like the University of California, Berkeley where students’ First Amendment rights are being trampled and administration intervention is necessary, this is simply not the case at UF. In between the sparse ranks of protestors, I also witnessed Dean of Students Office protest team staff working to deescalate the situation so the event could continue uninterrupted. Campus climate and culture should be shaped by students and students alone. When we call on others to fight our battles for us, we lose the autonomy and freedom we work so hard to maintain. Individualism and freedom from institutional intrusion is a hallmark of the conservative movement. Let’s keep it that way.
After sending a ball over the center field wall in the first inning, Amanda Lorenz stood in the batter's box aiming for the same result in the second.
Attacker Lindsey Ronbeck walked the ball back into play after a Florida shot went wide.
It’s April, which means Major League Baseball is in full swing.
Two years ago, Owen Field was waiting for the call.
The Gators men’s basketball team is losing seniors Kasey Hill, Canyon Barry, Justin Leon and Schuyler Rimmer to graduation, and it could possibly lose junior starters Devin Robinson and John Egbunu to the NBA Draft.
Their stories were all different.
A Gainesville movie theater is in the process of renovating to offer new luxury seating right before the summer movie season.
At 12 years old, Hen Mazzig was almost blown up by a suicide bomber while on his way to an ice-cream shop.
Even though Chicken Salad Chick closed its doors in late March, unknowing customers are still met with disappointment at an empty restaurant and a mint green “closed” sign.
A nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the Santa Fe River is fighting back against pollution in the river through music.
A national conference about healthy academic communities is coming to UF.
The UF business incubator Sid Martin Biotechnology Institute was named the 2017 Top Global Incubator of the Year.
If you don’t remember the PBS Kids show “Arthur” from your late ’90s-early ’00s childhood, you might be more familiar with its surge into internet culture around fall 2016, in which the most ubiquitous image was Arthur’s curled fist. To the average person in their 20s, the mention of “Arthur” nowadays offers a chuckle and a flash of nostalgia. But if we take a look back and really think about the adventures of our favorite aardvark and his friends, we find that “Arthur” has a lot more to offer.
On April 3, famed conservative Ben Shapiro spoke to a packed crowd of more than 750 students in the University Auditorium. Throughout the week, liberal students tried to bring down conservatives in their opinion posts by destroying promotional material and even trying to prevent students from attending the event by destroying their tickets. While there were little to no reports of this, there was zero outrage or any reports of the student in charge of the protest posting, “Hope this dude gets seriously taken out while he’s here. And not in the date way” on Facebook. Yet conservatives were labeled as the “dangerous” ones. We were the ones labeled in an opinion piece as not representative of “the morals and values UF promotes.” So, is threatening the life of another person the values UF promotes because they fit the narrative? It is sad, because in a meeting for the event, a school official asked me to make sure no conservatives brought signs that say “kill all trans people.” The only ones doing this were the protesters. Regardless of how disappointing this is to have a university official label nearly half of Gator students as murderous, it shows just how bad ignorance on conservatism has become. This is the U.S., not a country dictated by Sharia where LGBTQ people are murdered for being born the way they are. To deny conservatives their humanity — their wanting to be viewed as people with problems like anyone else — is the reason our political culture is so militant.
Herobust had a formidable start to 2017 with the February release of his “Vertebreaker” extended play. The Atlanta-based producer’s collection of six tracks is gritty, powerful and heavily influenced by hip-hop, with a title that makes perfect sense after listening to it.
Speaking on the phone with New York Times best-selling author Kami Garcia, there was a moment interrupted by the excited yipping of her two dogs.
Solutions by The State News
