Opinion

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‘Blurred Lines’ creates dangerously blurred lines for sexual assault

The song “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams, which has been at the top of the American charts for weeks, is a perfect example of how American popular culture promotes rape and sexual violence against women. The song has grown famous for its extremely offensive lyrics and a music video so sexually explicit YouTube has blocked it. Aside from this, the song features lines that objectify and degrade women, and suggest that women’s voices simply don’t matter.

Syrian compliance would be victory

For the last couple weeks a scene from the West Wing has been etched into my head. The scene is in the first season and comes after the Bartlet administration has been struggling to pass any legislation. After a conversation in the Oval Office, President Bartlet and his chief of staff Leo McGarry decide to “let Bartlet be Bartlet.” Leo goes to his office and tells the high level staff, “We’re gonna put the ball in the air. If we’re gonna walk into walls, I want us running into ’em full speed.” For the last couple weeks, it appears President Barack Obama, with Secretary of State John Kerry on his side, has been running at full speed.

Column: Switch to X Games tour removes unifying event from action sports

Modern action sports, as a whole, are a money-centric operation.

Chancellor Blank remains positive choice

For the most part, last year’s editorial board was pleased with the decision to appoint Rebecca Blank as our university’s next chancellor. While impressed by her financial and academic experiences in previous positions, the board urged Blank to embrace the opportunities being a Badger would present to her, such as getting to know a diverse student body and engaging with the unique governance structure on which our university prides itself. A few months and a few new members later, we find ourselves taking the same position.

After 121 years of excellence, we are not backing down

The Daily Cardinal is raising the bar.

Potential war in Syria not in public interest

As of this writing, the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved, in a contentious 10-7 vote, presidential authorization for missile strikes on key Syrian military locations with the intent of degrading President Bashar Al-Assad’s ability to use chemical weapons against rebel factions. While the authorization must now move through the general Senate body and through the House of Representatives before the vote has been totally approved, many Americans are scratching their heads and wondering why these attacks are being considered at all.

'The Road Not Taken' offers sound advice for incoming freshmen

The most frustrating question I was asked this past summer was, “Why did you choose to go to school in Wisconsin?”

Media produce what we want to read

Directly following Miley Cyrus’ asinine performance at the Video Music Awards, it seemed as if every corner of the Internet swelled with commentary on the pop singer’s desperate publicity stunt. And as expected, the satire empire that is The Onion took it upon themselves to not only comment on the shenanigan, but also shift the focus to where it was deserved—mass media and the news outlets that turned what should have been a public embarrassment into an issue of national concern.

Wisconsin proposed abortion and contraception legislation detrimental to women's rights

On Wednesday, May 22, pro-choice and pro-life groups gathered in Wisconsin's State Capitol to debate a bill that made it into the legislature in just one short week. The bill, sponsored by Representative Andre Jacque (R-2), would make it much more difficult and expensive for a woman to get an abortion and would ban the use of public tax-payer dollars to fund abortions that fall under public employee's health insurance plans. It would also keep employers such as hospitals, schools and organizations with a religious affiliation from having to provide contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans.

Incoming Editor-in-Chief Abby Becker looks forward to the 2013-'14 year

Hello everyone! I’m Abby Becker, and I will be taking over as editor-in-chief of the nation’s sixth-oldest, independent five-day-a-week student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal.

Outgoing Editor-in-Chief Scott Girard bids us adieu

Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest people at this university. I am lucky I stumbled into this place, and any of you who get the chance to join the staff at this paper during your time here should jump at the chance.

Cramming for the end of the year

This editorial board went over some of the biggest issues this year and looked back to see if there were any lessons to be learned.

Tradition of Mifflin twisted and convoluted

The city’s Mifflin full-court press has dealt dismay to the hearts of thousands who pine for gluttonous amounts of racist neon tanktops and a spectrum of liquor in spring jubilation. Granted, in a world where social media reigns supreme, the people weren’t pleased and didn’t hesitate to respond. People are pissed at the fact their grandiose spectacle has been revoked from them. It’s not Badger-like, it’s not fair and it’s unnecessary.

Jason Collins' coming out sets the right example for LGBTQ individuals

Guantanamo Bay remains a stain on the reputation of the U.S.

Tuesday morning, a reporter asked President Barack Obama for his views on the latest developments at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, where at least half of the 166 prisoners have been leading a hunger strike to protest their decade-long, due-process-free incarceration. The president responded unequivocally, “The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are. It is contrary to our interests and it needs to stop.” Unfortunately, President Obama’s eloquent words have not been matched by the corresponding course of action. Indeed, the policies pursued during his presidency have served to bolster, rather than eliminate, the principle of due-process-free detention.

UW's surplus issue is one of transparency

The state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau released an audit report April 19, which revealed the University of Wisconsin System had a budget reserve fund of over $1 billion. This surplus has sparked some very heated discussions over the past few weeks, mainly due to the fact that tuition rates  have been increasing by 5.5 percent each year for the past six years, all while the UW System has been amassing a seemingly large reserve.

Dove beauty ads bring strength to women

“The idea of beauty is our own to conceptualize,” is what we hear at the end of one of Dove’s “Real Beauty” ads. For those of you who have not yet seen these ads, let me enlighten you on a particularly important one. This most recent ad is an extremely moving “Real Beauty Sketches” video in which well respected forensic artist, Gil Zamora, sketches a series of women who are hidden behind a curtain. The first sketch drawn is based on each woman’s description of her physical appearance. The second sketch, however, is based on a stranger’s descriptions of these women. The point of this social experiment is to show women they are too hard on themselves. Later in the video, you see the stranger’s descriptions create much more realistic and “beautiful” sketches of each of the women. As the sketches are revealed to each of the women, they realize the impact their negative self image has on the sketches. Warning: This may induce tears, especially if you are one of many women who suffers from having a poor self-image.

Media coverage of critical events overshadowed by trivialities

Some celebrities are great people. They’re brave, they stand up for what they believe in and they use their status to help those who can’t help themselves. Unfortunately, we are rarely given a glimpse into this side of Hollywood because media publications are so incredibly focused on eye-catching headliners and trash news. I will admit that I do love some good celebrity gossip, but it’s really sad that we can’t look past the gossip sometimes and just tell a great story.

UW surplus should stop rise in tuition

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.

Solidarity must overshadow judgment

If you have not yet watched the video of the crowd singing the National Anthem before the Boston Bruins game this past week, be sure to do so. There are few videos of recent memory that have evoked such powerful emotions of pride, sadness, unity and hope. As I heard the 18,000 voices belt out our national anthem in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy, I could not help but feel my eyes start to water. This rendition of the national anthem showed the world what the United States is at its best—a people united together, supportive in the face of adversity and determined enough to be defined by our shining moments and not our darkest ones. In stark contrast, the public and news media assumptions in the aftermath about who the unidentified perpetrators of this horrible crime were left me feeling ashamed.