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Monday, October 20, 2025

Opinion

Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

In defense of nostalgia

Today, we can listen to any song in a never-ending music library, and we have the power to stream nearly any movie ever made. But we always seem to revert to familiar classics in both categories. And there’s a reason why.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Yes, diversity is still something to celebrate

Something we have been hearing way too often lately is diversity is not worth praising. That “it’s 2018,” so diversity and acceptance aren’t things we have to worry about anymore. That racism and prejudice aren’t things we have to worry about anymore. That cruelty, judgement and downright bigotry are a thing of the past. Well, dear reader, these assumptions are, unfortunately, incorrect.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

The insanity defense: We should try to help rather than simply punish

You may recall a story hitting the news in June 2014 about three girls in the woods in Wisconsin. Two 12-year-old girls lured a third into the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin, attacked her and left her for dead. This past week, the girl who carried out the attack, Morgan Geyser, was sentenced to 40 years in a mental institution. Her accomplice, Anissa Weier, was sentenced in December to 25 years in a mental institution. To provide a little context, Geyser didn't merely attack the third girl, Payton Leutner. She stabbed her 19 times, all over her body. Why in the world would they do this? Apparently, they were trying to appease a character from a popular online horror game called “Slender Man.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Don’t mix religion with education in the name of free speech

Between all of the chaos to come from this White House administration, it’s been frighteningly easy for us to miss important news or dismiss seemingly innocuous political moves as insignificant. This is something we need to take note of. At this point, we need to learn to ignore nothing.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Darts & Laurels: Feb. 2, 2018

Ah, flu season. The undesirable yet familiar scents of hand sanitizer and DayQuil fill the air. Sniffling noses and phlegm-filled coughs can be heard all throughout campus.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Let’s talk about protecting endangered species

Manatees are as much a part of Florida’s identity as oranges and Mickey Mouse. Picture, for a moment, a manatee floating effortlessly beneath the water’s surface, looking for a patch of vegetation to munch on before it innocently moves through a precious Floridian body of water. Pretty majestic, right?


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

There is a drought of new and original stories in Hollywood movies

With award season closing in on us, it’s that time of the year when we look back on all of the entertainment that graced our screens in 2017. Nothing very obvious changed this year in cinema; the box office was still dominated by "Star Wars" and whatever new superhero releases there were, and the Oscar nominations for Best Picture still consisted of films which the majority of people didn’t see.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Ignoring black artists will make the Grammy Awards irrelevant

In a year where protest and defiance were highlighted in Hollywood, the Grammys, as always, have played it safe. Although the Time’s Up movement has focused more on actresses and directors, sexual harassment and assault has touched the music industry, too. This year, artists have released numerous songs about politics and activism, but this risk-taking was not recognized.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

I am skeptical of Facebook’s algorithm changes

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will change their focus and algorithms. According to a Facebook post, Zuckerberg has tasked his employees to care less about “helping you find relevant content,” and more about “helping you have more meaningful social interactions.” Consequently, your news feed will soon show you less global content and more local content, less CNN and Nike and more from your friends and family. Zuckerberg understands this change as an overdue revival of sorts; a return to what Facebook originally purported to do. He wrote in his post, “We built Facebook to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. That's why we've always put friends and family at the core of the experience.”


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Access to menstrual products needs to be campus-wide

Imagine this: It’s about noon, and you’ve been feeling awful all day. No need to worry though — this happens to you every few weeks. You’re in pain, you’re tired and you’re experiencing inexplicable mood swings paired with irritability. You want so badly to curl up in a ball in your bed and lie there for the rest of the day. But you can’t.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels: Jan. 26, 2018

It’s the third week of Spring semester. The poor decisions you made during syllabus week have finally caught up to you and you’re now coming to terms with the fact that your classes are going to require a lot more effort than you initially anticipated.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Government must facilitate research on marijuana before crafting policies

Marijuana wasn’t always prohibited. Due to the 1910 Mexican Revolution, many Mexican refugees migrated to the U.S. With an influx of immigrants of a different culture came the rise of xenophobia along the Mexico-U.S. border. According to Eric Schlosser, author of the article “Reefer Madness,” Texas police officers reported marijuana incited “a lust for blood” in Mexicans who used the drug that gave them “superhuman strength.” To further stir fear, rumors began to spread that Mexicans were giving this “killer weed” to American children.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

Ways to Overcome Loneliness

There is a health crisis in Britain. In response, British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced the creation of a new position in the British government: Minister of Loneliness.


Florida Alligator
OPINION  |  COLUMNS

We have the power to redefine age on our own terms

On Sunday, actress Nicole Kidman gave a poignant acceptance speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards about the crumbling age barriers of Hollywood. “How wonderful it is that our careers can go beyond 40 years old. . . twenty years ago, we were pretty washed up by this stage in our lives,” the 50-year-old said.


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