Opinion

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New committee’s future rests on student’s shoulders

How to stay engaged on campus without losing too much sleep

Get involved and have fun. This is common advice for both new and returning students, and the tried and true method works: people who are involved in extracurricular activities and have healthy social lives are proven to have higher test scores and healthier minds.

How to thrive in Madison's political environment

As the 2012 presidential election draws nearer and nearer, political commercials and propaganda are pounded into the minds of voters across the United States. So what does this mean for students here at the University of Wisconsin - Madison? As a new batch of freshman roll in, be prepared for student organizations, local lobbyists and the occasional nut job to spread their own opinions on who the new president should be.

Topics to track this semester

Madisonians have grown accustomed to political excitement over the past couple of years. Fall 2012 promises to be just as exciting in terms of political conflict. The items listed below are hot topics to follow as the school year starts.

Romney-Ryan: Radicals? Ridiculous

The rhetoric spewed from the bowels of propaganda machines during presidential election seasons can sometimes seem daunting. How can one separate fact from fiction? This cycle, it seems that democrats have gone to new lows by trying to incite racial tensions in their attempt to divide America. Vice President Joe Biden described the GOP’s goals in a speech he gave in Virginia when he stated, “they gonna put y’all back in chains.” Democratic Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas proclaimed that “Mitt Romney, he’s speaking to a… segment of the population who does not like to see people other than a white man in the White House or any other elected position… I absolutely believe it is all about race and for the first time in my life I’ve been able to convince my children finally that racism is alive and well… All across this nation, and especially in Virginia.” Because the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, is a born and raised native of Wisconsin, it’s important that we go beyond the petty racism of the left and actually examine policy. The large bulk of attacks levied at Paul Ryan are aimed at his controversial budget proposal that Mitt Romney has now incorporated into his platform. While serving on the House Budget Committee in 2011, Ryan proposed budget reforms that included reforming Medicare, Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program. Democrats charge that his proposal is a radical exercise in fiscal austerity that would let poor orphans starve and deny grandma and grandpa the medical services that they need. I find this completely laughable because I don’t think that Ryan’s budget goes nearly far enough.

How to survive as a non-liberal on a liberal campus

Get involved by joining student orgs

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a place of opportunity, first and foremost. There are sports, clubs, classes, people and tons of night life to explore as the semester begins and students and teachers alike flock to the buzzing city of Madison. Whether a freshman, transfer or returning student, everyone can be overwhelmed by the choices they must make when a new school year starts. The best advice for this situation: just dive in.

Walker wins with out-of-state funding

I’m sure many of you know by now that Scott Walker survived the recall election. However, even though Tom Barrett lost the election, I don’t think Walker won anything to be proud of.

UW-Madison students study just as hard as they party

Fairly recently The Washington Post, in response to a previous story that noted the general decline in collegiate student study efforts, published another story that featured the universities in which college students study the most. Perhaps to the surprise of outsiders, but certainly to no surprise to its attendees, UW-Madison made it to the top of the list.

United States must intervene in Syria

It’s been over half a year since I wrote my first letter condemning the international community’s abandonment of the freedom-seeking Syrian opposition. This article comes over a week after I first saw the pictures of nearly 50 executed children, all at the age of 10 or younger. It’s been over 15 months now and over 13,000 people are dead; all the UN can do is send an embarrassing amount of peacekeepers, to pretend as if they are doing something, as if the Arab League had not already done nothing.

Incoming editor in chief embraces past, outlines plans for future

Editor in chief leaves tiger suit for the real world

Things to keep talking about

Things to stop talking about

No silver bullet to education reform

The Wisconsin State Journal’s Editorial Board pointed out some “good news” in Dane County public schools. This news was not an increase in the graduation rate or any other academic achievement.

Finals are stressful, seek out dogs to make it through

With finals week fast approaching, many UW-Madison students will experience stress associated with the pressure to perform well on exams, an unfortunate reality considering the fact that everyone is extremely burnt out from school around this time.

Tom Barrett right man for the job

Unions put an unnecessary strain on the state budget

Clean energy should receive public funding to continue benefitting society

A new report from the Brookings Institute shows public funding for clean energy has—and will continue to—plummet from a high point in 2009. Clean energy has made strides in the past few years by adding jobs in a recession and making clean technology more efficient and affordable. But a national emphasis on budget austerity will contribute to a falling rate of subsidies for clean-energy companies. The federal government needs to learn from Solyndra’s bankruptcy, which left the government on the hook for $535 million, instead of walking away from clean energy as a whole.

UW needs to pay commencement speakers