My fellow Badgers, as we reconvene upon this great university after a month free of arduous essays and malevolent midterms, the time has come for me, your appointed Tuesday purveyor of wisdom, witticisms and candid observations, to deliver my semesterly State of the University Address.
Though the state of our university is confident and strong, there unfortunately exist several glaring issues that irk me almost as much as BCS rankings or watching a group of buffoons crash and burn while attempting to tap a keg at a house party.
Many of you take the time to analyze, question, defend or protest the actions of our elected officials at the city, state and national level, which I highly respect and encourage.
Yet I wonder: how many of you are as equally active in examining the administration that most directly affects your life-those making the decisions for our school? While many have their watchful eyes turned toward Capitol Hill, few pay attention to Bascom Hill, where school officials are increasing tuition and cutting classes discreetly and without strong opposition.
I thank the administration for their tireless efforts in making UW-Madison one of the best universities in the world, but I have to admit that some of the most recent decisions concerning the direction of our school are rather ill-advised and quite disquieting.
A prime example of this, positioned shockingly high on the administration's laundry list of urgent \improvements,"" is the issue of fan behavior at school athletic events, chiefly football games. [Note to reader: this is the point in the column when you grab a baseball bat and beat yourself over the head, because that would make more sense than the complete idiocy that surrounds the administration's treatment of this ""concern.""]
While I certainly agree everyone should be able to enjoy sporting events here at UW-Madison, the extent to which school officials have taken the fan behavior issue is incredibly frivolous and wholly unnecessary. Police officers and security guards keep watch for spectators that cross the line of acceptability in their behavior, which totally makes sense.
But rather than leave well enough alone, school officials have decided to waste their time and your money by creating the ""Camp Randall Crusaders,"" a group of students and school faculty who meet to analyze and seek solutions for negative fan behavior, all while probably stuffing their faces with eight-foot party subs and Topper's Sticks on your dime.
It bothers me a great deal that those in charge of overseeing and directing the course of our university use valuable resources to create and maintain an ongoing roundtable discussion concerning fan behavior when a wealth of ""real,"" serious problems continue to plague our school.
Rape, violent assault, theft, property damage, plagiarism, course reduction, degree-program termination, textbook cost, maleficent instruction-the list of significant issues that need immediate and lasting correction remains while fluff topics like fan behavior are pored over with sickening detail.
For a university that can honestly claim the most talented and qualified professors, teaching assistants and students in the nation, our collective priorities are frighteningly out of whack.
Forget the middle fingers and derogatory chants; at the next home football game, I'll be right in front of the TV cameras holding up a bag of textbooks and a receipt.
Peter is a sophomore planning to major in journalism. He can be reached at writePNL@yahoo.com His column runs every Tuesday in The Daily Cardinal.
