A white man in a black V-neck stood outside the Phillips Center on Thursday. On his right shoulder, he had pinned a pro-Nazi button. He proceeded to speak about how he disliked transgender people.
Here’s a quick hypothetical for you. You’ve been tasked with appointing the new leader of the National Fire Prevention Association (this is not real, so just go with it). Your options range from veteran firefighters to expert industrial engineers to dedicated safety officials and everyone in between. With all of these choices in mind, would you pick an arsonist?
Mental health is not merely a personal struggle. It is not something a person should be left to deal with alone. It is not something that can be swept aside. Mental health issues come from within. They stem from the mind — what makes a person who they are. In the past few decades, there have been major strides in mental health advocacy, and the negative stigma associated with mental health struggles have certainly decreased. However, we are far from finished.
In light of recent events on our campus and the current state of our country as a whole, it seems like everyone is aggressively preaching tolerance and dubbing it as the one true solution that will bring our nation back together. Tolerance is a great concept, don’t get us wrong, but it’s not what America needs now in terms of an all-inclusive solution. What America needs is an increase in kindness and a boost in action.
On Thursday, in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Richard Spencer tried to speak.
As I write this at nearly 11 p.m. Thursday, it’s been only a few hours since racist Richard Spencer spoke on UF’s campus and failed miserably to divide our community.
The University of Florida sat still on Thursday. Classes continued on like normal, but campus felt dead. Or at least, everywhere except its southwest corner. That’s where white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech attracted attention and sparked confrontations between his small number of supporters and hundreds of protesters. The event was one of the biggest spectacles in recent university memory, with more than half a million dollars spent on security. But if you took a peek at most Twitter accounts associated with UF athletics, you’d have no idea it happened.
The halfway point in the season is upon us, and Florida is already limping to the finish with a 3-3 record. Luckily for the Gators, they have a bye week, giving their fans a chance to have at least one fall Saturday without inevitable disappointment. With a looming matchup against No. 3 Georgia, things are looking bleak for the Gators’ season. But is it time to officially declare Florida’s 2017 campaign is over? That’s for our writers to decide. Before we make our picks for this weekend’s college football games, alligatorSports editor Matt Brannon and assistant editor Dylan Dixon are going to debate whether Florida’s season is already over.
I had a column published last week about Florida’s football players and their questionable social media profiles.
It’s tough to go into a bye week on a loss. That’s what coach Jim McElwain said after UF dropped its second straight home game to the Aggies, 19-17, on Saturday.
I have watched, with intense interest, the preparations and conversations that have surrounded the visit by Richard Spencer to UF’s campus in Gainesville. I have been a part of the conversations regarding UF President Kent Fuchs’ decisions and a supporter of how UF has placed the safety of the campus and Gainesville community at the forefront. Fuchs and his team have carefully balanced the absolute requirement for student safety with UF’s strong commitment to the freedom of speech.
It seems established in our common knowledge that comedy is tragedy plus time. This applies to what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as what is to come of Richard Spencer’s visit to UF on Thursday. The initial cancellation of Spencer’s event is not an attack on freedom of speech,but actually championing the matter.
By now, everyone has read about the accusations surrounding Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein. His list of accusers has grown significantly over the last week, as dozens of women have now come out and accused him of sexual assault or rape.
Nobody wants to see their city at the end of a “pray for” hashtag. Nobody wants to see their home in a hurricane’s projected path. (Almost) nobody wants to see their university become a meeting point for a white supremacist and his supporters — but Thursday, UF will see exactly that.
As we are sure you are all painfully aware, Richard Spencer, a notorious white supremacist, will be coming to our campus to speak Thursday. While writing this editorial, we at the Alligator are feeling a bit conflicted. Should we be giving Spencer attention? Should people speak out in protest or ignore the hate? Does Spencer have a right to speak at all? We’ve watched as many newspaper editorial boards defended the First Amendment and Spencer’s right to speak. We’ve also heard from countless UF students and faculty members who don’t feel safe on their own campus this Thursday. To those who feel unsafe: We hear you. We struggle to find a world where free speech means it’s OK to encourage others to partake in racism with a violent past, present and future.
The United States men’s soccer team lost to Trinidad and Tobago a week ago, knocking out any chance of the U.S. making the World Cup in Russia next year.
We’re smack dab in the middle of SEC football conference play, and some coaches are already suffering from severe butt sweats from how hot their seats are. Some might also be a little more soothingly warm on the buttocks than you might expect.
We live in a society where sexual assault and abuse are not only too common but pretty much expected. We live in a society where those with power feel entitled to take what they assume they deserve. We live in a society where women are exploited. Worst of all, we live in a society that is allowing all of this to happen. Again. And again. And again.
This week, I’m taking a brief breather from the flurry of politics to discuss a different topic near and dear to my heart: my all-time favorite books and movies that I have fondly deemed my “desert island necessities.” In other words, if you stuck me on a deserted island and said, “Hey, Mia, here’s enough food and water to last you a week on your own, but you can only take three books and three movies along,” this is what I would bring. Yeah, I know it’s not realistic, but this is my column, OK?
We don’t want to be sad. I mean, you can’t really blame us. Why would we want to be sad? Being sad, anxious or upset means being uncomfortable. We fight to avoid discomfort and to find that place where we feel comfortable. We want everything to be just so: nothing out of place, nothing left unaccounted for. We make lists and check them off. We fulfill obligations and settle into a routine that is safe. We pursue happiness. After all, is that not the ultimate goal?
Solutions by The State News
