A troop of four Cub Scouts came to the Alligator office Monday looking to get a glimpse at what goes into the day-to-day production of our newspaper.
As a public relations major, I receive a lot of questions when I talk about my time as president of the UF chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), an engineering society that designs and builds a small, Formula-style race car and competes in an international competition.
One of my favorite professors once told me that college isn’t just about learning the material of your respective occupation or future career; it’s about learning how to navigate through the everyday things life throws at you, like time management, self-discipline and managing your ambitions such that they actually become realized. His words, compounded by me recently taking “What is the Good Life” — which, let’s be real, isn’t that terrible and could actually be great with a few major refinements — have had me thinking a lot about how I’ve spent my time in college, and how I ought to be spending it moving forward.
Most of us know North Korea from “The Interview,” its periodic nuclear weapons tests, its threats to destroy the whole world and its completely genuine reverence for a family of paunchy men in unitards.
November 2016 is more than a year away, but the Republican Party is already making the same fatal mistake it did in 2012.
There is inherent power in the written word, and I’ve come to realize the impact. I need not look any further than the handmade card that sits on the desk in my room, written to me nearly two years ago. The cover reads: "congrats on quitting the Alligator," in bold letters. That’s how excited I was to leave this newspaper after Summer 2013. It was an occasion warranting celebration. It was before I understood the value of written words.
As I write my byline one final time, I can’t help but get misty-eyed. I cannot believe my time at The Alligator is coming to a close.
Well, this is it. Here we are, at the end of April, the end of classes — and our last day in print.
Let me tell you about journalism.
There’s a lot that makes up a “college experience.”
I always take a deep breath when people ask why I do what I do. It’s a long story.
It took me three and a half years to build up the courage to step foot in the Alligator’s old, sometimes smelly, but overall homey newsroom.
Well, we’ve come full circle.
Saying goodbye isn’t necessarily always hard.
In 2013, 47 percent of high school students reported having sexual intercourse. Furthermore, nearly one in two 12th grade students reported having had intercourse in the last three months. You and I both know that high school students have sex. Why, then, did the superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, Dr. Owen Roberts, take a major step back for the sexual health of local youth and ban the distribution of condoms on campuses of public high schools?
The last days of school are here. Classes end Wednesday, which is the Alligator’s last day in print for the semester. It’s the cusp of Spring and Summer; only finals stand in our way.
Last year, I came home from class to find my roommate and a few of my friends glued to a laptop. “This fight comp is crazy; come see this,” my roommate said. I sat down and watched a series of brutal videos of people fighting. Some were alcohol-fueled altercations outside bars, others were neighborhood events with dozens of local spectators.
Rhonda Faehn is building a dynasty.
Solutions by The State News
