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Saturday, July 12, 2025

Opinion | Columns

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Columnist ties basketball to politics

Today roughly marks the one-year anniversary of the unquestioned pinnacle of Barack Obama’s presidency – the bracket he filled out for last year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  Mired in the muck of a massively unsatisfying and restive term as the leader of the free world, President Obama now must re-calibrate his approach and perhaps use the basketball acumen of his inner circle to a decided political advantage.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Alligator weighs group’s demands

Following the controversial shooting of Ghanian graduate assistant Kofi Adu-Brempong by University Police, Students for a Democratic Society presented a list of demands to Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin. Listed below are these demands followed by the Editorial Board’s recommendations.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Student shooting raises concerns

We, as a community, are saddened by the recent events in which a geography Ph.D. student, Kofi Adu-Brempong was shot by a University Police Department officer. It appears this situation did not warrant the use of deadly force and that UPD allowed the situation to escalate out of control. Our questions seem to be falling on deaf ears.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Alligator Columnist plans to build dinosaur park

Abandoning the typical weeklong alcohol/Gatorade cycle set against a backdrop of sandy shorelines (or, less frequently, powder-laden slopes), I sipped not on ‘tron, but water, and did so in the confines of my own backyard. Had I adopted a new sense of responsibility for my health? Was it a case of middle school-reminiscent yardwork mandated by my parents, or was it perhaps HGTV-triggered gardening mania? Don’t be ridiculous — I’ve got two words for you: dinosaur cage.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

US should fight discrimination

I know I will probably catch some criticism for writing about this, but I feel it needs to be said. Wednesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced the first “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill. Although the bill lacked any Republican support, it was still a step in the right direction.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Alligator readers quick to attack writers

You’ve got to love Monday morning. Most spend it with a bitter sense of injustice at having to wake up after a relaxing weekend. I partake in that activity with the added sense of injustice at having to go to Orgo 2. This particluar Monday, however, I was greeted with a new sense of wrong.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Undead McCain pushes vitamin bill

With most of the national political spotlight soaked up by a lurching, half-hearted détente concerning health care, Sen. John McCain sneaked a bill onto the Senate floor last month that could drastically reshape the entire supplement and vitamin industries. Washington insiders, speaking anonymously and way off the record, believe that this never would have happened if McCain were still alive.  


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

‘Wasteful’ spending not always bad

As I grow older and have more things to pay for, I find that money has taken on an increased significance in my life. When I was younger, having money was never really that big of a deal. This was because it was my parent’s money and I was a greedy little candy addict. When I did have some coins and bills, it barely stayed in my pocket before I blew it on some chocolate or Twizzlers. Nowadays, I still live off my parents but have come to appreciate the almighty dollar a little bit more. However, when I hear about people blowing millions of dollars on comic books, as two anonymous buyers did for the original Superman and Batman comics last week, I am not stunned at how people can spend so much money on so little. Rather, I applaud someone for spending the money on a hobby or personal dream, as long as it does not hurt someone else.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Web documentation desensitizes us

Are we fostering a “culture of personal documentation” — that is, a culture in which we must record, document and publicize the events in our lives instead of merely experiencing them?


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The case for urban agriculture

In his State of the Union address, President Obama enumerated ongoing problems requiring his attention: health care, the economy, job creation, environmental issues and lack of renewable fuels. In doing so, he suggested that increasing agricultural exports would help solve some of these problems.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Our generation too quick to diagnose

Last Thursday, just when I was about to align myself with the Editorial Board’s defense against elder generations’ grumblings about the lay of the 21st century land, I stumbled upon a preview of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Now, I’m standing with our Golden Folks on their side of the issue, although their stance in this matter has less to do with our generation’s intelligence and more to do with society’s ever-flaccidifying grit.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Politicians shouldn’t favor extremism

As many of you may know, the Conservative Political Action Conference occurred in Washington, D.C., this past weekend. A variety of conservative-leaning Americans attended the conference, such as anti-homosexual rights advocates and anti-liberal media activists, setting up booths to promote a plethora of causes.


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