The most frustrating question I was asked this past summer was, “Why did you choose to go to school in Wisconsin?”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 People are pissed at the fact their grandiose spectacle has been revoked from them.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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
As a college student, I often get asked which class or which professor I enjoy most. While I’ve definitely had a number of great people influence my education and my world view, I’ve always held a special appreciation for a different group of individuals and this piece is dedicated to them. I extend my gratitude and appreciation to the janitorial, custodial and general maintenance staff that work in the student dormitories and campus buildings. You guys have always shown the most consistent kindness whenever I have interacted with you. Your responsiveness has been uncanny whenever I send in general maintenance requests. Your politeness has been thoroughly refreshing through numerous experiences I’ve had with you on campus.
“Give me your wealthy, your well-educated and your well-connected,” reads the inscription at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty. Okay—I made that up. But one could be forgiven thinking that, given the country’s current political discourse on immigration reform. The real inscription on Lady Liberty reads, in part, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.” That creed—part of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus”—greeted more than 12 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island on their way to a new life in America.
Across Wisconsin, many of us felt the spirit of radicalism in the air during 2011. Gov. Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill spurned an outburst of political protests from educators, students and legislators, throwing Madison into the national spotlight. Although we are two years from the protests, the topic is as relevant as ever.
Last year around this time, The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board penned “UW needs to pay commencement speakers.” The column was primarily in response to the announcement University of Wisconsin -Madison Alumnus Carol Bartz was to be the spring 2012 commencement speaker. The editorial board was not optimistic that the former Yahoo and Autodesk’s CEO would deliver a rousing address. Somewhat paradoxically, this year’s announced commencement speaker, Anders Holm, did not have his credentials so stringently examined by this board.
It’s not over. Although the second suspect of the Boston bombing has been captured and the first suspect is dead, we have a long way to go to recover from this most recent tragedy properly. The 19-year-old second suspect was found bloodied, hiding in a boat after an exhausting and intense manhunt. It is great he was captured, but now the hard work begins, such as determining the brothers’ primary motivations for the bombing.
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.
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