Opinion - The Daily Cardinal

OPINION

The notorious 'dad bod': revisited

By Kelly Kallien and Sergey Fedossov | Sep. 1, 2015

Nothing manages to draw as many chuckles as it does frowns as the infamous ‘dad bod.’ Quietly entering the lexicon of college students everywhere last year, it is used to describe a blanket body-type that bridges the gap between the guy with a beer gut who discovered the gym a few months back. The idea of the dad bod is a fun topic of debate at parties, and it seems like I hear a new reason to love it or hate it every time the term comes up. Now that the steam behind a new member of the repertoire of college slang has died down, I felt the time was ripe to finally take a critical look at this phenomenon.

OPINION

Political correctness should be championed, not attacked

By Sergey Fedossov | Jul. 16, 2015

Think back to the last time somebody said or did something that got under your skin. Whether they did it intentionally or unintentionally, it happened, and it got your blood boiling. Now, I want you to imagine that, no matter how scathing or hurtful whatever that person said or did to you, it’s no longer okay for you to be upset by it. You can have a straw to suck it up. This is the reality people who don’t goose-step to the beat of the conservative drum must face, and it needs to change.

OPINION

Sift and winnow on your UW journey

By Jim Dayton and Emily Gerber | Jul. 16, 2015

After all the AP exams taken, cover letters written and applications filled out, you’ve finally made it here to the University of Wisconsin. Welcome!

OPINION

Letter to the Editor: Bernie Sanders could give Hillary a run for her money

By Heather Heggemeier and Benjamin Rangel | Jun. 15, 2015

There is some irony in the fact that the most progressive candidate in the 2016 presidential race is a 73-year-old white Jewish male. Yet Bernie Sanders, the self-described Socialist Democrat from Vermont, can make the race for president very interesting.

OPINION

Welcome to college: Get ready to fight

By Max Lenz | Jun. 15, 2015

Congratulations. If you’re reading this you’re probably a brand new Badger. What an exciting time for you! You’re at SOAR, about to meet a bunch of new friends, register for classes for the first time and not that long from now you’ll be moving into your residence hall. Yes, it is a thrilling time indeed.

CAMPUS NEWS

Parting thoughts: Well those were just, like, my opinions, man

By Sam Morgan and Cullen Voss | May. 4, 2015

The end is near. Doomsday prophecies aside, the school year is nearly complete and for a lot of Badgers, myself included, it means our time in college is nearly over as well. Compared to the life ahead of us, college is but a small fraction of time. As short as it seemed, it has been one hell of a trip and one that will have a profound impact on me for the rest of my life. More than the friendships, classes, parties and Union Terrace, college is a remarkable opportunity to challenge yourself and in so doing, discover your potential.

OPINION

Handing over the keys to the Cardinal

By Jack Casey and Jim Dayton | May. 4, 2015

Handing the keys off

OPINION

Our Editorial Board staff looks ahead

May. 4, 2015

As the school year comes to a close, members of our Editorial Board sound off in a series of blurbs on issues in which they’d like to see progress.

OPINION

Some exchange students feel nostalgia for high-tech toilets of days gone by

By Yukako Hirakawa | Apr. 29, 2015

When I came to the states for the first time in my life last September, what I missed the most was not sushi. Not even close. I realized that there is no Washlet at UW Madison. I was almost screaming in the middle of the campus.

CAMPUS NEWS

Letter to the Editor: UW-Madison student employees deserve higher wages

By Megan Phillips | Apr. 29, 2015

May Day is Labor Day everywhere in the world but the United States. It’s International Workers’ Day. To commemorate this day, I want to talk about the workers right here - workers at UW-Madison.

OPINION

Our failure to understand Baltimore

By Sergey Fedossov | Apr. 29, 2015

I sometimes wonder at night just what America could accomplish if we diverted all of the manpower spent viciously and unflinchingly defending the actions of police, or jumping at the chance to criticize the protests of black lives that make the evening news. I have not seen a more dedicated, faithful and active group of people on social media (less so in person) than people who seek to justify the actions of law enforcement officers. At best, and at worst, they seek to denigrate the position of anyone protesting or questioning the case. I don’t see people willing to have a dialogue about the frustration between blacks and the American justice system, I see people demanding the cessation of the one thing that an oppressed minority have to get the attention of the disinterested majority.

OPINION

Chipotle vs. Qdoba: One spicy debate

By Kayla Schmidt | Apr. 28, 2015

It is a conflict greater than the Romans versus the Greeks, more hate-filled than the Montagues and the Capulets, more biologically defined than cats feuding with dogs. Scholars and scientists to this day cannot confidently answer the simple yet vital contest: Qdoba or Chipotle?

OPINION

Journalism is not dead or dying, it requires a new definition

By Marisa Bernstein | Apr. 28, 2015

I really am not fond of calculus. I didn’t really understand when math turned from numbers, to letters, to arbitrary symbols. And why use a secret language when words are far more effective? Can’t I just use English to prove my points?

OPINION

Comcast’s failure better for consumers

By Elijah Gray | Apr. 28, 2015

It’s official. In the wake of probing by the Department of Justice and a deluge of citizen backlash, Comcast, the country’s largest Internet and cable provider, will not move forward with its plan to acquire Time Warner, the country’s second largest Internet and cable provider. Unless you’re Satan, this is great news. Taken with the recent decision on the part of the Federal Communications Commission to uphold net neutrality, there appears to be a glimmer of hope that the rules of our media landscape aren’t yet written completely by the telecommunications behemoths.

OPINION

Armed groups protest federal government in Oregon

By Sergey Fedossov | Apr. 28, 2015

A fire’s burning in Oregon, but this runaway blaze was far from somebody failing to dump water on a campsite’s smoldering coals. There’s an armed standoff between the Bureau of Land Management and the owners of the Sugar Pine Mine over who owns the rights to the land it is on. However, instead of being content with the legal system or taking to news outlets to share their story, the owners of Sugar Pine have called in organizations such as The Three Percenters Club, Oath Keepers and the Arizona State Militia to have a standoff with law enforcement officials.

OPINION

Yik Yak shows the downside of opinion

By Marisa Bernstein | Apr. 26, 2015

I spent all afternoon Friday, April 17 lying on the dock by Memorial Union. Yeah, I would absolutely hate me too. But I finished class at 9:40 a.m., and winter is apparently back, so for all we know that quite literally might have been the nicest day Wisconsin will have until June. So, I took advantage of it. Allowing my alarmingly Irish skin to fry like a cheese curd in the minimally intense sunshine.

CAMPUS NEWS

Letter to the Editor: Israeli Independence Day event benefits all of campus

By Andy Van Sistine and Sadie Dorf | Apr. 26, 2015

When I committed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison I was ready to challenge myself academically, socially and culturally as an involved Jewish freshman. I knew that my college choice would be a journey of growth and I was ready to take on the college world by keeping an open mind. I had always been an active Jewish child through my family’s Friday Shabbat routine, my elementary education at a Jewish private day school, nine summers spent at a Jewish summer camp and eventually studying abroad during my sophomore year of high school in Israel. I made the choice to explore myself, my faith and my abilities by exploring Israel, a country that values culture, passion, history and celebration.

OPINION

Letter to the Editor: Porn contributes to gender stereotypes

By Natalie Maczuga | Apr. 21, 2015

Tits, ass, pussy. These are the words that choke the media of today. All we see is naked ladies and their genitals spread open cross the magazine covers. With this said, what is the difference between commercialized pornography and the sexualized material we view at bus stops, on television, in magazines, or in movies?

OPINION

History prepares us for future violence

By Hae Rin Lee | Apr. 19, 2015

I think one of the greatest and worst psychological defense mechanisms in the human mind is denial. It is an outright refusal to admit that something has occurred or is currently occurring. The irony is that what is used to protect us actually hinders progress and true peace. As a mechanism, it is so tempting to use, even when confronted with its faults.

OPINION

Lessons are best learned the hard way

By Marisa Bernstein | Apr. 15, 2015

Living away from parents is a fun adventure. In the beginning I felt so invincible. Like, “I’ll stay awake forever on a Monday night because I feel no pain and nothing matters except what I feel in this moment, and right now I want pizza and I don’t care what it does to my body because it’s the middle of the night and I’m in college, man.” This was a far leap from my years of living at home, when my mom was there to emotionally lift me out of bed every morning, my dad was there to spread the peanut butter on my toast, and then the two of them would literally watch me walk from the house to my car yelling after me the inspiring yet slightly condescending phrase, “Make good choices!”