Welcome back to campus, and welcome to an exciting semester at The Daily Cardinal. Whether you’re a longtime reader or just picking up our newspaper for the first time, you are joining us at a significant point in our 123-year history. This semester marks the beginning of our two-days-per-week print schedule.
As a country, we forget what Franklin Delano Roosevelt taught us: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” People are falling prey to the nasty fearmongering tactics of politicians and are forgetting that fear is the enemy.
Urban dictionary, the esteemed online dictionary, generally defines a New Year’s resolution as “a goal that you propose then forget the next day.” One definition goes into further detail, saying “[an] assessment of, and often delusional attempt to correct, one’s shortcomings; given the arbitrary nature of the date and the sudden change of lifestyle demanded by most resolutions, it should not be surprising that most resolutions are abandoned by the start of the next year [. . .]” Early on, I began the New Year with the typical resolutions (the generic ones you are given in elementary school as an example that you keep using to fit your non-generic life): eat healthy, work out more and stay positive.
The state of Wisconsin, with its unmistakable shape, is ubiquitous on campus. It can be found on bumpers, on water bottles and on t-shirts.
As humans in the 21st century, we live in a state of fear. Whether it’s emotional, psychological or physical, we have adapted to live with a certain amount of suspicion. In places where we should feel safe like restaurants, schools or the workplace, we can no longer feel safe enough to fully let down our guard. Recent attacks like those in San Bernardino, Paris or Colorado all attribute to this feeling of vulnerability.
The end of the fall semester is upon us, and between exams and final papers these next couple weeks are chaotic for everyone. Even if you’re an avid reader of The Daily Cardinal, academic stress and increasingly cold weather may have caused you to forget about our newspaper’s big transition.
A common refrain I hear from Hillary Clinton supporters is that even if the country could somehow muster the will to put Bernie Sanders into the Oval Office, nothing would ever get done because Republicans would block Sanders’ ultra-liberal policy proposals at every turn. Admittedly, I understand where these people are coming from. For people who think the government can and should play a more active role in bettering people’s lives by ensuring health care as a right for all citizens, making college universally affordable and reigning in the power of the wealthiest Americans to control the political process, Sanders is exactly the person upon whom we should bestow the presidency. On the other hand, for those in Congress possessing wildly different notions of what government should do on behalf of the people, i.e., Republicans, a Sanders win on 2016’s election night would undoubtedly presage a precipitous drop in legislative productivity.
The official motto of the State of Wisconsin is “Forward.” As a word, it suggests an entity with a positive vision for the future. However, it is impossible for Wisconsin to be “Forward” if it persists with excluding forward-looking policy.
As an environmental educator, I struggle with explaining the urgency of global climate change. One way of communicating this to students, I have found, is to liken climate change to a cancer. And as the Paris climate meeting approaches we need to address this cancer.
With Thanksgiving break now over, it is crunch time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As students, we are bombarded with opinions and ideas of how to best study for finals, write papers and succeed in general. We are told to “Plan ahead!” “Start early!” “Get plenty of sleep!” “Eat healthy!” and “Exercise!” This advice can be very useful, but only the most talented of individuals are capable of consistently doing all of these things. Additionally, even if you precisely follow all of this advice you are still not guaranteed success, and frankly, I am sick of hearing these same things all the time. I think it is quite clear that certain people are more easily stressed out than others, and that at certain times even the calmest of people can be overwhelmed by anxiety. I think of the standard advice as very effective stress prevention, but not efficient stress reduction. At this time of year, I think it is safe to say that most people are feeling at least a small amount of anxiety, and, therefore, the standard advice won’t be of much value.
Comfortable. Cozy. Soft. Trendy. Casual. Stylish. Cute. These are all words that my peers replied with when I asked them about the popular female clothing brand, Brandy Melville. This brand has gained an insane amount of popularity in the last year. The products are, in my opinion, just as described—a socially acceptable way to wear pajamas outside.
In light of the terrorist attacks in Paris, conservative America chomped at the bit to try and use the tragedy to rationalize why we shouldn’t invite Syrian refugees into our nation. Without waiting for all of the details of the horrific event to come out (including the fact that the attacks were primarily executed by European nationals), conservatives had already made up their minds that opening our country to refugees is to invite the Islamic State to our doorstep.
Solutions by The State News
