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(04/26/13 4:40am)
A lot of people are upset following last Friday’s news that the University of Wisconsin System ended last school year with $1 billion to spare. Normally a money surplus is a good thing, but this raises a puzzling question. Why is tuition going up if the university is rolling in Benjamins? The UW system explained that it needs extra money in case of unforeseen expenses or research funding shortages. This is understandable, but it sure as hell doesn’t explain why our tuition rises every year. In response to the surplus, students, UW leaders, state legislators and Gov. Scott Walker have called for a tuition freeze and I completely agree. Tuition is way too high and certainly should not be going up.
(04/19/13 5:23am)
As I was browsing through recent news stories in search of a topic to enlighten my readership with my opinionated blathering, I came across a headline that rather excited me. It stated Wisconsin’s Senate is considering re-enacting the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, giving citizens more opportunity to receive damages upon realizing they are discriminated against by their employers. It would allow them to sue in state court to receive the pay they deserve. This law would mostly benefit women, as they are the most common victims of pay discrimination. It just warms my heart to know our state Legislature is considering taking equality seriously and even considering the heretofore inconceivable idea that women are equal to men. Our laws are obviously on the cutting edge of social progress. Good job, Wisconsin.
(04/17/13 4:51am)
With Wisconsin’s richest citizens barely making ends meet under the tyrannical fist of socialism, the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance had the gall to give Dane County an $80,000 grant to counsel and treat opiate addicts. Why, one may ask, should we take precious money that could be going to more important things like rich people and instead put it toward helping heroin addicts? Well it’s actually a good idea and, in fact, more efforts should be made to reach out and treat those suffering from drug addiction.
(04/05/13 4:43am)
Imagine you are an employer and you have an employee you can’t fire. As long as they don’t do anything illegal, you simply don’t have the power to terminate them and must continue to pay them regardless of their job performance. Now imagine this employee has the responsibility of managing the entire business. Would you be entirely comfortable with that?
(03/15/13 6:05am)
After a semester and a half of writing on local issues, I’ve noticed some recurring themes. One is protesters and the other, occurring almost as often, is protesters getting arrested. Friday of last week, six protesters were cuffed at City Hall for refusing to leave after hours. They were there with many other community members to voice their objections to a policy that limits the homeless to sixty days total per year in a shelter. I agree with these protesters that sixty days is far too few.
(03/10/13 5:42pm)
Nov. 9, Madison man Paul Heenan was shot dead by Officer Stephen Heimsness of the Madison Police Department. Heenan, following a night of drinking, mistakenly entered the wrong house and Heimsness arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call by the homeowners. The fatal shooting occurred after Heenan allegedly struggled with Heimsness and reached for his gun. The incident has caused much controversy and once again brought the issue of lethal police force into politicaldiscussion. It recently came to light that Heimsness had faced 15 complaints prior to the recent incident, including eight allegations of excessive force, one which he was found guilty. Ibelieve Heimsness’ report and I trust that he would not have used deadly force unless he feared for his safety. However, I also believe that Heenan did not have to die that night. Police departments should work harder to prevent instances of unnecessary deadly force.
(03/01/13 5:32am)
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Wisconsin mining legislation currently making its way through our state legislature. In the article, I mentioned conflicting information regarding the mine’s environmental impact. Well, the confusion gods are at it again. In the past week, two contradicting polls were released, one showing that 62 percent of Wisconsinites support the mining bill and the other showing that 62 percent oppose it. This is something happening all the time in the world of politics, and I mean all the time. As someone trying to stay informed on current issues, this is a bit disorienting. As someone trying to accurately and objectively report on these issues, it’s rather frustrating. As someone with a low tolerance for idiocy, it’s downright infuriating. Americans always talk about how tired we are with the dishonesty of those in politics, but we fail to realize the role we play in it. The truth is the people are just as responsible for the sea of nonsense standing between us and actually getting it together and moving forward as a country.
(02/18/13 1:45am)
Most people reading this are familiar with the American education system. Having the privilege of being woken up early every morning, brainwashed by radical liberal educators and arbitrarily judged on our intelligence is an experience shared by almost every child in this country. Education, I believe, is one of our most important political issues, as it paves the way for progress in the future. Because of this, I have much interest in Gov. Scott Walker and his education efforts. Recently, Walker announced his plans for a new set of reforms. In the spirit of transparency, I feel it necessary to note my mother is a teacher and I participated in the anti-Walker protests here in Madison two years ago, so admittedly I am biased against Gov. Walker. Despite this, I sat down and tried to take an objective look at his proposals. Upon shallow examination, I rather liked some of it. It encourages reading and seems that it would improve teacher training. Quickly, however, I found something to object to. Walker’s reforms propose a system that rewards schools based on test scores. This isn’t a new idea. It’s already quite present in education funding. While I agree that it is important to reward achievement, I believe it is much more important to give aid to schools that need it rather than those that “earn” it.
(02/01/13 5:18am)
Happy Friday, everyone. First off, thanks a bunch for not being too hungover to read the paper this morning. After all of the “hard work” and “thought” I put into these, it’s nice to have people read them. This one is about some new politics in the controversial world here in Wisconsin. Months ago, a piece of legislation that would have brought changes to our mining laws was defeated in Wisconsin’s state legislature. The bill would have paved the way for a new iron mine in northern Wisconsin. Now, with a legislative majority, proponents of the bill are trying again. They say the mine would provide thousands of jobs in Wisconsin and serve as a great boost for the economy. Opponents say the bill guts governmental regulations and the mine would be devastating to the environment. I think these environmental concerns should be taken much more seriously by proponents of the bill.
(12/04/12 2:18am)
I have been to hell. I have faced down the forces of evil. I have descended into the darkest reaches of existence and I have seen the blackness which resides in the hidden corners of men’s souls. What I mean to say is that I’ve gone to the comments section on an online article related to religion. I will never find a more wretched hive of belligerence and stupidity. Or at least I hope I won’t. Honestly, I don’t really want to talk about it, but I will. I set out on this Orphean journey in order to learn about the controversy surrounding the funding that Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics received from the Associated Students of Madison for next year. According to their website, AHA is a student organization dedicated to “promot[ing] the discussion of faith and religion on the UW-Madison campus” and “educat[ing] students on issues important to the secular community, and encourag[ing] the personal development of one’s religious identity.” Basically, it’s a student organization for, well, atheists, humanists and agnostics. The group has gotten a lot of publicity lately following ASM’s provision of almost $70,000 for their budget next year.
(11/28/12 2:41am)
No one likes The Man. All he does is sit up in his tower and tell us what we can’t do. “No, Mitch, you can’t play tag with trucks on the interstate,” or “No, Mitch, you can’t light furniture on fire,” or “No, Mitch, you can’t perform open-heart surgery.” The Man is the reason there isn’t a system of ziplines across campus to get us to our classes and the reason The Bear Olympics isn’t a thing. The Man is smart though, and one thing he does let us do is publicly oppose him.
(11/26/12 3:26am)
The point of college, as far as society is concerned, is to learn. The idea is that we get an education somewhere between watching football and getting smashed. This education is more than just what we learn in our classes, however. The most important things we learn in college are the life lessons we receive along the way.
(11/13/12 5:53am)
We are born into a frightening and unfamiliar existence. We emerge into a world full of things we do not understand, and we are scared. As infants, we cling to our mothers for comfort and we cry when left alone. As young children, we fear the shadowy unknown of a closet or the underside of our beds, and we run back to our mothers at the striking and powerful sound of thunder or the eerie whistling of the wind. As we grow older, we learn about the world and its mysteries. We learn that we have nothing to fear from the dark blanket of night or the terrible crack of thunder. Our fear is driven away by our knowledge and growth.
(11/07/12 3:56am)
Donald Trump’s hair and the big orange person it sits on top of were on television again. As many of us know, Trump’s hair has been conducting investigations on President Barack Obama’s past in an effort to prove he was not born in America. The wispy blond strands made news two weeks ago when the person underneath them announced he would write a check for $5 million to a charity of Obama’s choice if the president released his college records and passport paperwork. I imagine the president will choose not to dignify this message with a response. Sometimes the best way to get a child to stop crying is to ignore him.
(10/30/12 3:27am)
Okay, I understand that in news years this is rather old, but I think it’s important to look back on Felix Baumgartner’s stratospheric freefall. For any readers that don’t know, the energy drink company Red Bull sent a stuntman up into space who then jumped down to Earth, breaking the sound barrier as well as a bunch of world records in the process. Following this record-breaking publicity stunt, nicknamed Project Stratos, some of the more cynical among us are wondering, besides how Baumgartner fit his massive balls into that suit, why anyone should really care? I’m going to tell you why anyone should really care.
(10/16/12 3:29am)
If Anderson Cooper’s eyes were a city, they would be Madison. This city is about as full of liberals as it is drunk people. I think it’s important however that we maintain perspective by exposing ourselves to conservative viewpoints. To do this, I make sure to always read the work of my fellow Daily Cardinal opinion writer Steven Nemcek. Last week he wrote on why he believes Gary Johnson is the best choice for president. After reading this piece and doing some more research, I was rather impressed with Gov. Johnson. As a liberal, I do not agree with him on everything, but he does seem admirably devoted to social progress and quite capable of dealing with our economic situation. The man appears to be a very reasonable choice to lead our country. That is why I am asking everyone to not vote for Gary Johnson.
(10/09/12 3:34am)
Once or twice during our perfectly normal Thursday last week, the students of the University of Wisconsin-Madison were told about the importance of voting. This is a message that becomes rather old each election season, and I swear if one more person asks me if I’m registered to vote, I’m moving to the Himalayas and becoming a hermit. Despite the prevalence of this message, voter turnout for citizens under the age of 25 rarely exceeds 50 percent and even dipped to a dismal 20 percent in the 2010 elections.
(10/02/12 4:05am)
One Person One Vote is a critical tenet of democracy, and one we didn’t really get around to until about fifty years ago. There are two important factors in ensuring this ideal is upheld. The first is making sure that voting is available to as many people as possible, so the vote actually represents the maximum amount of the population. The second is preventing voter fraud, so every person only gets one vote. Mostly within the past year, 33 states—including Wisconsin—have passed laws that aim to reduce voter fraud by requiring photo IDs at voting locations on election day. So, no more voter fraud. Democracy is saved. Moving on.
(09/25/12 3:07am)
This past weekend I returned to my hometown, Milwaukee, Wis., to cross an item off my bucket list that’s been there since 2008: Watching President Barack Obama, the first African-American president and one of the best campaigners in recent history, speak in person.