Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | COLUMNS

Venting through journal writing and coming to terms with the 'new normal’

Feb. 6, 2017

It’s obvious the past few months have initiated our transition into a sort of new normal. Several of my fellow columnists have addressed it, and I have spent plenty of time trying to come to terms with it. More often than not, this “coming to terms” has taken the form of scrolling through Facebook and growing increasingly anxious with every news article, political post and comment war I encounter. Unsurprisingly, this unhealthy routine has left me not only emotionally drained but also stressed as hell. So as a result, I’ve found myself at a crossroad where I’m forced to choose either my sanity or the responsibility of being an informed citizen — but not both.

OPINION | COLUMNS

After receiving an act of kindness, pass it on

Feb. 6, 2017

About two weeks ago, I was just driving around and taking care of a few errands with a friend of mine. We were coming from Publix, and I forgot to get something, so we stopped by the little CVS on 13th street. As we got out of the car, we both heard a hissing noise and soon discerned it was my tire. I ran over a nail. My tire was flat, and it was the largest blemish in the face of a great day. I finally had time last week to take care of my flat tire Wednesday. I mean, I had the spare on, but I had to take care of getting a new, used tire. I was getting a used tire because I was in the process of selling that heap of junk. Anyway, I called a few used tire places to find the cheapest price on a tire and the replacement fee. I eventually ended up at some place near downtown, walked in, and then what was once a nuisance turned into a great experience.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Bernie Sanders wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl

Feb. 6, 2017

Sunday night was one of the most watched events on American television. No, not “Harry Potter” weekend. It was the 51st Super Bowl. Now, this heralded American tradition comes around once a year, and people gather for parties with seven-layer dip and a six-pack of beer. Some people follow their teams with a fanatic devotion. Others look at the two playing and pick the one that they like the most (or hate the least). A few non-sports people who still want in on the excitement double up on their friends’ opinions. Whatever the method of picking teams, more than a hundred million Americans gathered around their televisions for a night of high-stakes rivalry and entertaining commentary.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Don't give up on the truth: We must continue to defend it to the end

Feb. 5, 2017

I am attending school to become a journalist. This was not always my goal. I went through phases, as most children and adolescents do. My doctor phase was by far the longest and most involved phase. I was pre-med for one semester before I jumped ship and realized my heart wasn’t in the right place to succeed and be happy in that career. I took a journey from the Chemistry Lab Building to Weimer Hall, and I never looked back.

OPINION | COLUMNS

We must support our public schools: Here’s how

Feb. 5, 2017

Today, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, advances to her final confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. Public outcry against DeVos has exploded in a big way (or, to borrow an expression from our president, “big league” or “bigly” or whatever). A spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate received about 1.5 million calls every day last week; a staff member of Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said his office received 80,000 letters pertaining solely to DeVos’ nomination. With a likely 50-50 split for and against her confirmation, Vice President Mike Pence might just make an unprecedented journey to the Senate floor to break the tie for a cabinet nominee.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

How Donald Trump seduced America

Feb. 5, 2017

Enough with the Adolf Hitler, Voldemort and Emperor Palpatine comparisons. We’re going to go a little old school now, like pre-20th century. We’re going to do an old-fashioned literary analysis by comparing our president to a Byronic hero.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Government-sponsored art is worth encouraging

Feb. 2, 2017

For the most part, my political views can be summarized by simply saying, “The less government, the better.” This applies to almost everything from education to health care, but a recent trip to Washington, D.C. may have caused a slight shift in that view.

OPINION | DARTS LAURELS

Darts & Laurels - February 3, 2017

Feb. 2, 2017

It’s hour eight in Library West. (Or is it hour nine? You cannot recall.) Your vision is hazy. You’re on your third cold-brew of the night, although by now it’s earlier morning. Your blue Study Edge notes are littered around, and the student from across the table from you groans and plops his head down on his textbook. He is lost. There is no recovery. You know you are next. Frantically, you turn away from your notes, trying to find anything that’s not Physics 2, and your eyes come across this week’s…

OPINION | COLUMNS

In the middle of a stressful term, work hard to smoke those weed-out classes

Feb. 2, 2017

Your failures are never final — unless, of course, you failed your final.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Think twice before painting all media as fake; journalism is all we've got left

Feb. 2, 2017

I’ll be blunt: Our country is out of whack right now, and I’m petrified.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

A disclaimer: Don’t romanticize darker aspects of fiction

Feb. 1, 2017

What I say today might sound a little hypocritical. I am going to discuss why people should stop comparing the current political climate to fiction. This seems a bit counterintuitive, since I spent the past few Thursdays comparing aspects of American politics and culture to two staple dystopian novels.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Take time to disconnect: a week in the woods

Feb. 1, 2017

When was the last time you were truly alone? I’m not talking about the last time you were by yourself. I assume every person spends some time each day unaccompanied, whether it be sleeping, studying late at night or using the bathroom (I hope). Yet most of the time, although we might be physically by ourselves, we aren’t actually alone. We’re constantly plugged into our phones and computers, communicating with others via text message, email or Snapchat. It’s a relentless barrage of electronic sensation and information.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Make art, not war: the aesthetics of a Asocial movement

Jan. 31, 2017

As celebrities make bold statements about social movements and activism, sometimes we wonder: What good does it all do? There have been calls to use art to spread a message, as a call to action, but what good is a story or a picture in the long run? Though actors,

OPINION | COLUMNS

Part three: Observations in modern-day Cuba

Jan. 31, 2017

Proponents of the regime claim that Fidel Castro’s revolution won Cuba freedom, a word choice that is bewildering to hear considering the individual liberties repressed by the totalitarian government. Predictably, a Havana bookstore we visited lacked works containing ideas incompatible with communism. Next to Trotsky and Marx, there was a title that argued there was in fact democracy in Cuba because the island has a “democratic economy,” contrasting it to the economy of the U.S.

OPINION | COLUMNS

February relationship series: communication, the instruction manual

Jan. 31, 2017

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I am devoting the month of February to relationships. This month, we’ll talk about friendship, love and what makes for healthy relationships of all kinds. I can think of no better way to begin than with the foundation of every relationship and the most valuable tool you will ever learn to use: communication.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Go ahead and make others’ happiness your happiness — you won’t lose

Jan. 30, 2017

Professor Bishop was rather proud of my last column, and I must say it was cathartic to put myself out there and admit to my clockwork, mechanical nature. Having people know me as an automaton doesn’t feel so different from being known as a human; friends accepted it fairly quickly, although I’m getting tired of people asking to use me as their personal calculator. I’ll say this now: No, I cannot tutor you in Elementary Ordinary Differential Equations. Yes, I can calculate the answers to any questions you may have in mathematics, anthropology and philosophy in the blink of an eye. No, it would not be ethical to do the latter. However, my operating system is open-source, if you’d like to take a look at it.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Rage, rage against the dying of the light — A message to activists

Jan. 30, 2017

It has been a hard week, that much is evident. On an international, national and local scale, there’s been so much fear, hate and uncertainty. Some of you, dear readers, want to fight back, but it feels like you are yelling into a vast, empty canyon, your voices resonating loud and clear but eventually disappearing into the air, drowned out by the wind. Some of you are tired. Perhaps you fought once, perhaps you kicked and roared and screamed, perhaps your voices, too, were lost to the wind. And some of you carry on, unaware, unconcerned, because this fight isn’t yours, this battle is one you kind of wanted to win in the first place — though you won’t admit that now as the discontent grows.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Part two: Observations in modern-day Cuba

Jan. 30, 2017

Three major changes happened just prior to my visit to Cuba. First, direct commercial flights began flying between the U.S. and Cuba. I paid a little more than $200 for a round trip with JetBlue, purchasing my tickets only a couple weeks in advance. Of course, you must still fit into one of the 12 exceptions for travel if you are an American, but travel agencies and cruise lines (which have only recently begun docking in Cuban ports) have found ways around this, constructing educational and “people-to-people” itineraries. Regardless, the airline has you sign an affidavit indicating your official purpose of travel, a requirement which became clear to me that many Americans fabricate or exaggerate. No one ever checked my press credentials.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Part one: Observations in modern-day Cuba

Jan. 29, 2017

Cuba is an island trapped in time. Old American and Russian cars zip through crumbling avenues and around 1920s-era buildings. Some are painted bright colors, others are faded or outright falling into ruin. The Caribbean sun beats down intensely, made more gentle by a forgiving ocean breeze. Perpetual sounds of crowded streets, howling merchants, roaring automobiles and music fill the air. You will catch whiffs of diesel exhaust, hot food or perhaps just the sea.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Unite against hateful speech

Jan. 29, 2017

Many UF students, faculty and staff may wonder why the university has not banned the individual wearing the swastika from our campus. The answer is rooted in the First Amendment and the role of state officials. As interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, the First Amendment protects hateful, disturbing and offensive speech from government censorship — at least as long as the speaker is peacefully expressing his views in a public space without threatening anyone’s physical security.