Three years ago, I walked into the basement of Vilas Hall a lost freshman looking for a place to belong. Since then, The Daily Cardinal has become a constant presence in my life. I can proudly say I not only found my place but also will now have the opportunity to lead the organization I have come to love.
Anyone who knows me knows that I obsessively write down everything in calendars and lists. I tend to know what’s going on, when things are due and am obsessively on time. But three years ago, I wrote down the date of The Daily Cardinal’s fall recruitment meeting wrong in my calendar and showed up at the office desperately wanting to write anything and to find a place to belong. Writing down the meeting date wrong was probably one of the best things that happened to me because I showed up to 2142 Vilas and met some people who convinced me I could belong at The Daily Cardinal.
The approach of graduation and the completion of my academic career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have come suddenly. Really, it only seems like reality now that I’ve got all my final preparations set and everything is ready to go to finish up as a student here. Time to say my goodbyes. The decision to write for The Daily Cardinal was perhaps one of my better decisions in the last four years. I want to thank my friends and family for their engagement and encouragement as well as the awesome staff who helped me along the way.
The time has come for me to bid farewell to this wonderful university, to The Daily Cardinal, and perhaps to writing opinion pieces. Before I embark upon my final call to action, I just want to thank all the people who have made it possible for me to do this for the past six years: all of my editors, past and present, my parents, my readers and my high school journalism teacher Mr. Matt Johnson. It has been a strange and remarkable journey that I have thoroughly enjoyed and it will always be special to me. I have chosen my final topic with great care.
My one piece of advice for University of Wisconsin-Madison students: go abroad. And don’t just go abroad for three weeks in the summer and pretend you’re doing charity work in Costa Rica. Don’t just go abroad for a semester and take an introductory language course where you’ll forget everything, because you’re drunk the entire time. Go. Abroad. Find a place you think seems interesting and go there for an entire academic year. Go abroad and really commit to being abroad.
The Mifflin Street Block Party is a piece of the University of Wisconsin-Madison that is as entrenched in the fabric of the school as anything else, whether the school likes it or not. While dozens of items, columns and what-have-yous will be written about Mifflin over the course of the week, more will be written about Revelry, the on-campus music festival created in its stead.
Abraham Lincoln said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.” In 1989 Americans celebrated the 20-year anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Then President George H. W. Bush stated, “Before the 50th anniversary of our first flight landing on the Moon, the American flag should be planted on Mars!” We are now five years from the former president’s dream, and it appears all too certain that we will not be planting the American flag on Mars anytime soon. So what happened? When did we decide as a society our thirst for space exploration was quenched on the moon?
Friday, April 25 President Barack Obama landed on Osan Airbase, Republic of Korea. This event was carried out in accordance with the president’s current “Asia Trip Spring 2014” schedule. During the reception ceremony at the Blue House, President Obama presented a sapling of a magnolia tree and the Stars and Stripes to the president Park Geun-hye. Both the sapling and the flag came directly from the White House and were a gift of condolence for the Sae-wol Ferry accident which took place just one week ago in South Korea.
This Thursday, April 24 marks the one year anniversary of the infamous Rana Plaza factory collapse that claimed 1,132 innocent workers’ lives. This incident was the largest industrial workplace disaster that has ever happened. In the last two years alone, over 1,500 workers have died due to preventable factory fires and building collapses.
UW-Madison once had a colorful reputation as a university on the forefront of social justice through activism. In February of 1960, over 500 students gathered on Library Mall in support of the Civil Rights movement. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, thousands of UW-Madison students were deeply involved in educating the nation daily about the perils of the Vietnam War. In July 1981, more than 1,500 students rallied on Bascom Hill in support of abortion rights.
Oligarchy is a word you better get used to; because that’s the system of government we have in America today. It’s been a long time coming, and we’ve been far too apathetic to its toxic approach. A government of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation is what we have now. Oligarchy isn’t a pretty picture, unless you enjoy the idea of corporate slavery. Say goodbye to worker’s rights, women’s rights, student’s rights and certainly prisoners’ rights. Keep your mouth shut about the broken system, and don’t question authority! Disregard the principles of physics, because with oligarchy, it’s not gravity that makes the world go round; it’s unfortunately money.
There was an article circulating on the Inter-webs this past week regarding sexism in our society, which I think warrants some response.
This Thursday, April 24 marks the one year anniversary of the infamous Rana Plaza factory collapse that claimed 1,132 innocent workers’ lives. This incident was the largest industrial workplace disaster that has ever happened. In the last two years alone, over 1,500 workers have died due to preventable factory fires and building collapses.
What can we do to ensure a blueprint for tomorrow? Create a GREENprint. And by that we mean environmentally sustainable plans that will propel us into a prosperous future.
If you take a walk up East Gilman Street or North Pinckney Street, you have surely taken note that most of the houses you pass have greater historic character and continuity than some of Madison’s other downtown neighborhoods. The city’s decision to make the Mansion Hill neighborhood a locally designated historic district in the 1970s is the key reason why the neighborhood today has the highest concentration of historically significant residences in the city.
A recent article on BBC explored the role cities play in efforts to combat global climate change. Cities are immediately described as “carbon criminals” since they account for “three quarters of global energy consumption and for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.” True that may be, however cities are far from “carbon criminals.” Instead they’re keys to saving us from our own self-destructive tendencies.
Many people may not know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and one group on campus is here to change that. PAVE (Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment) is a student organization that aims to educate the public about sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking on campus. Considering that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men will experience sexual assault in their lifetime, these are topics that need to be addressed in the campus community. That’s what PAVE is here for, especially this month.
Many Americans view the presidency of George W. Bush as a disastrous failure. While the war in Iraq and the handling of United States citizens’ privacy rights are issues that have received some of the harshest criticisms of the Bush administration, the war in Afghanistan is starting to show that the effort and lives lost in order to help the Afghani people rid themselves from the tyranny of the Taliban through democratic elections were not in vain.
Read on Issuu
Solutions by The State News
