What do a monk, a fugitive and a Green party presidential candidate all have in common? The answer is a commitment to economic democracy. Some of you may wonder what an economic democracy is. An economic democracy is an ethos, a challenge and the subject of a conference that took place this past weekend at Madison Area Technical College.
Alright, well with the elections so near you can smell the eggs it ate this morning on its breath, it’s a good time to take a step back and scrutinize something much simpler and down to earth: Halloween restrictions. There is nothing better than being able to blow some steam off after the first half of the semester by putting on a skin-tight jumpsuit, cape and bat mask, calling up some friends from off-campus and going out to prowl the streets of the capital on the lookout for crime and pirate booty. Sadly, the administration on campus has, to our distress, continually cut our fun short year after year with restrictions in the dorms and apartment buildings.
A few days ago, a man with a balloon set the world record for the highest altitude skydive ever attempted. Fast forward a few days and this man, Felix Baumgartner, is now a household name. Watching it myself, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching something akin to the moon landing of 1969; it’s a frontier that no one’s explored before.
In the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday, Congressman Paul Ryan discussed the role of Catholicism in his life, saying, “My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, of how to make sure that people have a chance in life.” Indeed, many Republicans attribute Christianity as a defining part of their political beliefs and policies as evidenced by their party platform which referenced God more than 10 times.
Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, cancer survivor and hero to many, is now inching closer and closer to being perceived as a performance-enhancing drug user in the court of public opinion. The worst part is that this transgression did not take me by surprise.
In 2003, the United States Supreme Court ruled in its Grutter vs. Bollinger decision that universities can consider an applicant’s race as a part of a holistic review for admission. Racial quotas established by universities were previously ruled unconstitutional in a 1978 Supreme Court decision. Although affirmative action is undergoing a supreme court challenge, universities around the U.S. are still falling short of achieving representative diversity.
If Anderson Cooper’s eyes were a city, they would be Madison. This city is about as full of liberals as it is drunk people. I think it’s important however that we maintain perspective by exposing ourselves to conservative viewpoints. To do this, I make sure to always read the work of my fellow Daily Cardinal opinion writer Steven Nemcek. Last week he wrote on why he believes Gary Johnson is the best choice for president. After reading this piece and doing some more research, I was rather impressed with Gov. Johnson. As a liberal, I do not agree with him on everything, but he does seem admirably devoted to social progress and quite capable of dealing with our economic situation. The man appears to be a very reasonable choice to lead our country. That is why I am asking everyone to not vote for Gary Johnson.
If we can learn anything from the Associated Students of Madison, it is that history repeats itself. With each session comes new representatives, ideas and debates, but through it all ASM has seemingly been forever plagued with the unofficial “parties” that impede its progress.
In these trying times the thought of an “American Dream” seems so far-fetched it is only possible in blissful sleep. Why? What has happened to the United States? Is it the dirty politics of Washington? Is it our disgraceful foreign policy? Is it the state of the economy? No matter what it is, it only has one fix: Getting out and voting is the only way to restart our nation.
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals has vowed to continue to badger the National Institutes of Health until it discontinues funding for research PETA deems cruel to animals.
The back and forth dialogue regarding the Iranian nuclear threat between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama has been dragging on for quite some time. On one side, Israel faces an existential threat if Iran successfully develops nuclear arms. This fear has led Prime Minister Netanyahu to call for red lines that Iran cannot cross without facing military rebuttal by the United States, Europe and Israel. But President Obama and the international community have been loath to set these lines before nonviolent sanctions on the Iranian economy have been completely exhausted. Though Iran is determined to press on with its nuclear program, it is evident that these sanctions are proving effective in crippling the Iranian economy.
How can we compare apples to oranges? Yes, they may both be fruit, but other than that they do not share anything in common. One is red, and the other is orange. Also, they taste completely different. In the same manner, we can compare President Obama and Governor Romney. They are both presidential candidates, but other than that they are polar opposites. Their stark differences are especially illustrated through their policies on the economy.
Following an extremely controversial year of politics revolving around unions’ collective bargaining rights, a much more public battle of union rights has erupted in America’s beloved professional sports leagues. As many already know, a few weeks ago the NFL finally came to an agreement on union negotiations for the referees. What was originally a lockout based on the refs’ pension plans quickly snowballed into a widespread pro-union call to action as fans across the country, ironically including our union-busting governor, showed their support for the locked-out officials. To everyone’s relief, the “real” refs were brought back following one of the most controversial calls of the season that led many Wisconsinites to officially disown former Badger Russell Wilson.
Last week I wrote an article bashing President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney, and I characterized them as center-right fascists with so much policy overlap as to be almost farcical. Almost. I promised I would write about an alternative candidate, one who is also on the ballot in 47 states, with the exception of Oklahoma, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In those last three states, challenges are currently in place to put him on the ballot. This man’s name is Gary Johnson. In my mind, he is the only qualified candidate running for the office of the presidency, and he is certainly the most rational.
This Friday, Oct. 12, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be hosting its biannual Diversity Forum. The Diversity Forum is a place for students, staff, faculty and administration to discuss the challenges that UW-Madison faces regarding race, religion, sexuality, gender identity and social class. All students are welcome to attend, and student input is crucial for helping determine UW policy for diversity in the coming years.
While 30,000 individuals saw fit to flood Bascom Hill last Thursday to see Presidnet Barack Obama, there were a number of staff and students that weren’t so enamored. The Daily Cardinal ran an article earlier this week discussing Professor Mayer’s and Professor Downs’ opposition to the visit; namely, political events taking place on school grounds were prohibited by the university’s own policies (an argument which Vice Chancellor for University Relations Vince Sweeney thought fit to completely sweep under the rug), classes were cancelled for which students had already paid and professors were forced to take a vacation day during the event. In addition, the requirement that students provide their phone numbers to the campaign to receive a ticket was controversial.
I never thought I’d see the day when “Sesame Street” became the center point of American political discourse, but thanks to the controversy spurred by Mitt Romney over federal funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Station, I now get to experience Big Bird being the star of a major Obama campaign advertisement. First, let me say that while this ad somewhat misses the point and strikes me as fairly immature—not to mention is unfair to the copyright holders of “Sesame Street”—it raises an interesting point when you consider the role public broadcasting has in America. It is a medium that should not be maligned and ignored if America wishes to gain standing in the world of education and self-motivated learning.
Last week, the Associated Students of Madison Diversity committee met to discuss possible changes to the ethnic studies requirement in the UW-Madison undergraduate curriculum. The ASM Diversity Committee hopes to pressure administrators to expand the requirement and make classes more relevant to students, and this editorial board agrees that changes are desperately needed.
Last week, in the days leading up to President Obama’s visit, Library Mall played host to a group of traveling protesters known as The Genocide Awareness Project. With their colossal, sickening images of aborted fetuses, their stay was marked not so much by controversy (at least in my circles) as by umbrage, disgust and deep loathing. In this article I don’t want to address the message behind this display (that abortion is unethical). Instead I want to pick apart their shock tactic and elaborate my gut feelings of contempt for these people.
Once or twice during our perfectly normal Thursday last week, the students of the University of Wisconsin-Madison were told about the importance of voting. This is a message that becomes rather old each election season, and I swear if one more person asks me if I’m registered to vote, I’m moving to the Himalayas and becoming a hermit. Despite the prevalence of this message, voter turnout for citizens under the age of 25 rarely exceeds 50 percent and even dipped to a dismal 20 percent in the 2010 elections.
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