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Tuesday, December 02, 2025

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Rush’s vampiring ways are not the issue

A lot of hoopla was made last week over the revelation that congressional candidate — and UF graduate  — Jake Rush participated in various role-playing games, typically starring as a vampire. The story quickly went national, as various political blogs and news outlets wanted to discover more on the vampire who wants to role play as a congressman.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Marijuana rips lives, families apart

DENVER — In what will go down in history as the biggest national overdose since America died of alcohol poisoning once Prohibition was lifted, the entire state of Colorado has overdosed on marijuana.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Embrace the dad jeans: Normcore is in

Spring is abloom, but ignore the flower prints and bright colors: What you should really be digging out of your closet is the pair of dad jeans you bought months ago at the thrift with the intention of turning into distressed cutoffs.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Government seeks to destroy privacy

The rapid growth of technology’s capabilities is cause to reflect on what privacy means in the 21st century. But the U.S. government is not concerned with such reflection. In the post-9/11 world, the government has made it a top priority not to redefine but destroy the idea of privacy.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Accent blunders suggest tokenism

On Monday, I was surprised to learn that Accent Speaker’s Bureau had to cancel its event featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after he backed out of the interview. I assumed it was an early April Fools’ Day joke. The news of the cancellation came the same day that Olmert was convicted of bribery in a Tel Aviv court for taking $160,000 in bribes to speed along government permits to build the Holyland housing estate while he was the mayor of Jerusalem.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Chew on this: Paleo diet isn’t perfect

There’s a new fad in dieting commonly referred to as the “paleo diet.” The name is short for the “paleolithic diet” and is inspired by caveman — more accurately referred to as Neanderthal — diets.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Friendship means listening, even when you’d rather not

Even for a morning person like me, 7:30 a.m. isn’t the best time to hear a pal from high school rant about his family troubles. But I decided to continue the phone conversation and be a “good friend.” This was no light sacrifice. Instead of enjoying the previous night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” I was listening to depressing personal problems. But sometimes you feel as though a friendship is worth sacrificing a morning ritual, and this was one such rare occasion.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Sex on campus is doable, pun intended

The semester is starting to wind down, and finals week is looming. The library is getting more crowded, and students are spending more time on campus to compensate for how little they’ve paid attention all semester.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

College athletes shouldn’t get paid

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of a group of Northwestern University football players who are attempting to unionize. It was a major victory for student athletes in their fight against the money juggernaut that is the NCAA. The ruling sets up a potential big fight between student athletes and the NCAA regarding the debate on whether college athletes deserve payment for their services that could wind up in the Supreme Court.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Goodbye, EndZone; hello, tidy tighty whiteys

Around the corner from my apartment, there’s an orange-and-blue building with mirrored windows I often use for taking selfies. By now you’re probably thinking, “Wow, an orange-and-blue building in Gainesville? You’ve really narrowed it down.” Or maybe you’re saying to yourself, “This girl must be so bold, just taking selfies in windows when there could easily be people with eyes on the other side. I wish I had her gall.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Make the most out of the UF experience

Like it or not, as many of us are realizing, the school year is coming to an end. Though some students are still recovering from Spring Break, most are preparing for the home stretch — the last month of cramming for exams and quizzes and catching up on unwatched lectures. Some of our fellow students will be doing this for the last time.



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