Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Donate Now
Logo of The Independent Florida Alligator
Newsletter
Apartments in Gainesville, FL
We inform. You decide.
Saturday, August 29, 2026

Opinion

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Take a moment this week to find something to be thankful for

Nov. 19, 2017

As I’m sure you're aware, Thursday is Thanksgiving. As I’ve wished friends and classmates a happy holiday, I’ve gotten mixed reactions. Some wish me the same. Some gush about family traditions and Thanksgiving foods. Some talk about seeing their families for the first time in four months. Some talk about partying with high school friends. Some, however, scoff at the well wishes. They say they hate Thanksgiving because it celebrates colonialism and the abuse of Native Americans. They hate it because they can’t stand their families (or their families’ political beliefs). They hate it because they don’t like the food or are the only vegan or vegetarian at the table. Or, they hate it because they find it hard to give thanks in that environment.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Darts & Laurels

Nov. 16, 2017

You are woken up by the sound of your parents and grandparents chatting loudly and energetically over coffee at the kitchen table and the smell of pies being prepped for baking. You’re still tired, but you get out of bed anyway so you don’t miss any of the family fun.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Literature stands the test of time — in ourselves and in the world

Nov. 16, 2017

When I first read Tom Stoppard’s play, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” I was in what I like to dub the first great existential crisis of my life. It was my senior year of high school and the only thing that gave me any sense of purpose in my life was focusing on college applications. Getting into college — my top choice, specifically — was the only goal I had. After that, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study or what I wanted to do. I was beginning to realize the be-all and end-all of my high school life was not the be-all and end-all of life.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

True art and artists are not limited to just one medium

Nov. 16, 2017

The saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” might apply to most areas of life, but I don’t believe art is one of them. Out of all the types of skills to have, artistic competency has to be one of the most malleable because of its inclusion of more than simply technical ability. Making broad generalizations about anything creatively done is something worth straying away from, but I think there is something to be said about what makes truly great art.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

We have constructed a culture of “L’s”

Nov. 14, 2017

I’m prone to losing. Just this week, I walked right into a table in Midtown, which left me with a fist-sized bruise on my hip and a drink spilled all over me. I also accidentally texted a screenshot of a conversation to the person I was having that conversation with. I started uncontrollably crying at a Bon Iver concert and, like all of you, watched the Gators lose.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

Reframing the race conversation

Nov. 14, 2017

I don’t think the only problem with Richard Spencer is that he is a white supremacist. The problem with Spencer is that he provides a bogus answer to a legitimate and enigmatic question academia has left unexplored: What does it mean to be white in 21st century America?

Florida Alligator
Opinion

College students deserve a hands-on education to prepare them for careers

Nov. 14, 2017

Up until recently, I thought most classes in college weren’t composed of multiple choice tests. I figured college was a place you got your hands dirty and learned how to deal with real-life material, as you would in your professional field. While my major (journalism) and some others actually do this, I feel most of the majors offered at UF are lacking when it comes to providing students with real world experiences. It’s time we start talking about this.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

You can only stretch yourself so thin

Nov. 14, 2017

It’s about that time during Fall semester when we all start to lose our minds. The reality of final exams and the end of the semester is looming over us, and the fate of our final grades hangs in the balance of how the next few weeks goes. Needless to say, every student within the general vicinity of UF right now is stressed beyond belief.

Florida Alligator
Opinion

In search of an understanding of prejudice

Nov. 12, 2017

Last Wednesday, I was at my usual weekly Undergraduate Philosophy Society meeting (shameless plug, check us out on Facebook). That evening, the discussion centered around how we should attempt to understand bullying and how to prevent kids from doing it. Quickly, the group of us recognized the ways in which bullying mirrors — and frequently reflects — different phobias and other bad “-isms” like homophobia, racism, sexism and transphobia.

Popular
Calendar
No events at this time.
Submit an event
Classifieds
Submit classified
Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2026 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.