Opinion | Columns

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Is it possible to separate art from the artist?

Feb. 26, 2019

Lately, I have been thinking about whether or not it is possible to separate the art from the artist. Of course, this has been on my mind due to the recent arrest of the R&B singer R. Kelly, but I have wondered about this for years now. The obsession over Kodak Black within the Gainesville community is disturbing to me. Sure, he’s a Gator fan, but he also went to prison for sexual assault.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Using plastic isn’t cool anymore

Feb. 26, 2019

If you live in Florida, and you are not constantly acting in the best interest of the environment: Wake up. We are the first ones going under when it all goes bad. The least we can do is be semi-conscious of the small things we can change to better the environment.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Feel the Bern? Try lightly toasted.

Feb. 26, 2019

Like every other young — borderline socialist — liberal college student in the United States, I was thrilled when I saw that Bernie Sanders had entered the 2020 presidential race. The optimist in me is rooting for Sanders to take control of the Oval Office. Unfortunately, the political science student in me understands that this probably won’t happen.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Listen up, freshmen. Here's Kyle’s declassified school survival guide.

Feb. 24, 2019

We’ve all been there. The good life is not so good, a math class for your major isn’t adding up or the Man’s Food class you’re taking to fill the biological sciences requirement is making you sick to your stomach. In the pursuit of an illustrious degree you’ll (hopefully) obtain after your undergraduate years, there will be many classes you’ll have to take that you’d just rather not. These classes can sometimes be essential, sometimes they’re more or less useless, but all of them are tedious because you don’t want to be there. The problem is common, yet solutions are not as easy to come by.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The overblown UCF funding scandal is a sign of deeper issues

Feb. 24, 2019

As a proud Florida Gator, I’d like to say a few words in defense of our University of Central Florida rivals.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Make no mistake. Libraries are for reading.

Feb. 24, 2019

You can ask this question to any student and suddenly you get an idea of what kind of person he or she is. It’s an aspect of the campus culture that divides us all: What’s your study spot? Is it Library West, with its multiple floors of increasing silence and its proximity to Krishna lunch, is it Marston Science Library, with its open floor plans and cool technology such as virtual reality headsets, or is it Newell Hall with the cool eggshell chairs and whiteboard cubicles? Each one has pros and cons, but I feel these libraries are underutilized. Their vast book collections often go unread.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

I’m emotional, but that doesn’t make me any less powerful

By Chasity Maynard | Feb. 21, 2019

I’m an emotional woman. I’ll answer the question now: No, I’m not PMS-ing or hormonal. My emotions usually stem from my experiences, my normal and healthily shifting moods and my daily life. Not all women are as emotional as I am, and I think it would be fair to say I am more emotional than most of my female friends. Even so, every woman and every person on this planet has feelings. My slight surplus of feelings doesn’t influence or negate my potential, my intelligence, my professionalism or any aspect of my worth.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Are apps like Venmo putting a price tag on our friendships?

Feb. 21, 2019

Clubs and going out every weekend aren’t my thing. But I do love hanging out with my friends or going house parties because they’re situations where I can enjoy the company of the people around me. Requesting music at a house party is also easier because you know who has the aux. And as a plus, the music won’t blow out your eardrums like the huge stereos in a club will. Overall, the conversations are genuinely interesting, too. But when the night is over, all of the drinks have been drunk and the conversations have been had, it’s time for the college ritual: Everyone takes out their phone and suddenly a flurry of notifications light up the host’s phone. This is the tamest and probably the most appropriate way to make the night easy for everyone. The host gets reimbursed and everyone enjoys their time at the party.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Documenting our everyday lives is the norm, and here’s why

Feb. 19, 2019

People are expressing themselves in forms of media that used to be reserved for professional companies and social media influencers: vlogs and podcasts.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Eavesdropping is natural, just make sure you’re good at it

Feb. 19, 2019

Everyone has eavesdropped. If you say you haven’t, you’re lying. Some people describe eavesdropping as something only nosy or invasive people do. I don’t agree. I often find myself in places surrounded by people: a bus, a classroom, a restaurant, a library. You name it. In these places, people talk a lot, and there are times when I can’t help but listen.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Drunk driving is one of the dumbest things you can do

Feb. 19, 2019

According to the Foundation for Alcohol Responsibility, deaths caused by drunk driving crashes have decreased by 48 percent since 1982. This is a hopeful statistic, but the nation has a way to go before the problem of drunk driving is completely eliminated. The Global Status Report on Road Safety from 2015 shows that the U.S. is the nation with the third-highest number of road accident deaths involving alcohol, behind only South Africa and Canada.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Hear me out. The Reitz Union is the most legit study space on campus.

Feb. 17, 2019

I understand this will come as a shock to many, but the evidence is overwhelmingly clear. Of all of the study spaces on campus where Gators can plant themselves to work on homework the Reitz Union is the most legitimate.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The lies from my freshman year from the perspective of my senior self

Feb. 17, 2019

Istill remember every detail from the day I moved into my freshman dorm.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Toys don’t have a specific gender, so stop assuming differently

Feb. 17, 2019

I clearly remember being little and sitting in my booster seat, staring out the car window contemplating which Happy Meal toy I wanted. It was the hardest decision a little kid my age would have had to face, and I was in agony. On one hand, I could have gotten a Polly Pocket (don’t get me wrong, Polly Pockets are fun), but my other choice was a Hot Wheels racer. My gut led me toward the Hot Wheels. “We’ll go with the Hot Wheels,” my dad told the person working the drive-through. “Okay, so a boy toy,” she replied. “Sure, my daughter would like the Hot Wheels,” my dad said.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, but recovery efforts are still ongoing

Feb. 17, 2019

Here’s a topic you probably haven’t seen in the news in a little while: Puerto Rico. As many of you know, this U.S. territory was hit by the devastating category 5 Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Despite over a year passing since Maria made landfall, the island of Puerto Rico is still dealing with the effects of the storm and the muddled response to the crisis.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The mid-semester crisis is an epidemic

Feb. 14, 2019

We all know about midlife crises. For those of you who understand the struggle people face when confronting the issue of time constantly moving, the idea of the midlife crisis may haunt you. You ask questions of yourself: Am I doing enough? What have I done with the time I’ve used? How much time did I waste?

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Love at first sight may not be just a myth

By Chasity Maynard | Feb. 14, 2019

I cry every single time I watch “Up.” Carl and Ellie’s heartwarming love at first sight story just gets me, and their tragic end really opens the floodgates. This idea of love is cheesy and a little overused. I don’t even care that Hallmark movies use the same love at first sight storyline, though, because it never gets old. I love watching those corny films because I just want an instant, all-encompassing love to exist. I want it so bad that I have genuine faith in love at first sight. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think it’s the only way to find love. Quite the contrary, I think it’s rarely the way people meet their spouses. I do believe, however, that this kind of love is out there, and some lucky people find their partners that way.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

I wasn't attracted to my partner anymore. This is how I dealt with it.

Feb. 14, 2019

A few years ago, I found myself in a messy situation. I had been dating a guy for two months, and he clearly wanted to take the relationship to the next level. Although our personalities meshed well and I enjoyed being around him, something wasn’t right. I didn’t know what it was until one day he leaned in to kiss me, and I leaned away. At that point I realized I was attracted to his personality, not him. I broke up with him and like any person with a conscience, I felt horrible.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Dating in college isn't as common as you think

Feb. 12, 2019

As Valentine’s Day looms, a lot of us find ourselves fending off feelings of distress, frustration and loneliness. It’s not hard to be single the other 11 months of the year, but February offers a unique blow to the self-esteem of lonely hearts everywhere.

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Valentine’s Day should be about love, not gifts

Feb. 12, 2019

As a kid, filling out the “to” and “from” section of small cardboard Valentine’s Day cards from CVS gave me a rush. The best part was folding the piece of paper in half and diligently attaching the heart sticker to keep the card from revealing the sender. Those little Valentine’s Day cards told my classmates I cared and made my third-grade heart happy. But now I am much older and barely any wiser, and I realize that 1) the “rush” was probably from sugar and 2) we spend way too much money on Valentine’s Day.