Opinion

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Blagojevich prison sentence appropriate

Horse trading sounds fun, but political horse trading is exactly what former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich committed to receive 14 years in jail. He was charged with 17 counts of corruption pertaining to his willingness to trade political favors and donations for facilitating public funds to certain projects, including children’s hospitals, race tracks and President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.

Letter from ASM Chair Allie Gardner

“Students are here primarily for an education, and to serve the public good. Their involvement is different than that of other governance groups because it’s not just about their personal experience while they’re here, but the generations of students that follow them.”  This was the explanation I was given on the role students play in shared governance in the UW System by a former president of the Wisconsin Student Association (the student government predecessor of ASM), and one of the many academic staff that I have had the pleasure of discussing shared governance with.

Personhood wrong focus for state GOP

Transportation to jobs grants have no wheels

Moderate needs to run for Dems in recall

Letter: Don’t blame the teachers unions

Republican chicanery holds no merit

Mercury pollution wreaking havoc on public health

A little while back, I wrote an article about how a few Wisconsin cities are known as some of the worst polluters in the nation. Just recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came out with startling data, which concludes that Wisconsin's power plants emit more mercury pollution than power plants in over 30 other states.  

Wisconsin ‘personhood’ amendment another assault on women’s rights

I don't particularly like to dabble in politics. The Dirty Bird, my regular column, is the sex column on Page 2. Sure, individual politics likely play a role in individual sexual choices, but I believe there should be little global overlap between the two realms; and let me assure you, I much prefer sex to politics.

Letter: Unions impede school reforms

European Union suffers identity crisis

Wisconsin is closer to Brussels than one might think. Despite the geographical difference, the fate of the European Union and the Land of Cheese are closely connected, and Wisconsinites have ample reason to closely monitor the worsening debt situation in Greece and Italy. In 2010, 19 percent of Wisconsin goods exports went to the 27 member nations of the EU, more than the total exports to Canada, Japan, Brazil and China combined. In 2009, around 36,800 jobs in Wisconsin were supported by direct foreign investment from France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. And the EU as a whole accounted for $5.1 billion (37 percent) of direct foreign investment in Wisconsin in 2007.

New Internet bills punish everyone

However much it pains me to say it, I am too dependent on the Internet. I use Google and JSTOR to research papers and articles. When I miss my TV shows, I quickly rush online to see if Hulu has them. I use Facebook to keep in contact with my friend in the Army and my brother in Colorado. So when two current bills in Congress would allow the government to censor the Internet, I can't help but feel like parts of my life, however small or large, are in jeopardy.

Walker's economic claims misleading

With the recall effort more successful than anticipated, Gov. Scott Walker has been increasingly on the defensive. In particular, Walker has had to justify the 2011 Budget Repair Bill that took away collective bargaining rights for most public workers and reduced the amount of benefits they received. Thus it is natural that Walker has been spending a lot of time promoting studies claiming that the legislation has been successful in saving jobs. At least, that’s what Scott Walker wants the numbers to say. But are the findings accurate? Unfortunately for the governor, the answer is a lot less clear than he claims.

Wisconsin leads the way in exporting

In the wake of a great economic downturn, Wisconsin has stepped up to the plate. From January through September, Wisconsin's agriculture exports increased 24 percent. Last year at this time, Wisconsin exported $1.7 billion in goods, which is child's play compared to the more than $2 billion in goods exported this year.

Letter: Global community has failed Syrian people

I have been following very intensely the Arab Spring since it began in January, in Tunisia, when Mohammed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in protest of elitist rule and oppression towards him. Since that flame started, the fire has spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Of all the revolutions in the region Tunisia made it out relatively unscathed in terms of mass violent oppression of the opposition, thankfully. It took merely weeks to destroy a tyranny of over two decades. Good riddance.

Walker policies helping Verona schools

In the November 15, 2011 issue of the Daily Cardinal you ran an article titled, “Letter: Walker’s policies harmed state, now time for recall”.  While I hesitate to engage in the overtly divisive talks concerning our current governor, I will, however, comment on this article’s claim that, “students of all ages have been hard-hit under the Walker administration”.

Letter: Recall debate can be constructive

Lately, one of the bigger political issues in Wisconsin has been the attempt to recall Scott Walker. Regardless of success or failure, the recall’s potential impact on the state’s people is of the utmost importance to me.

Christmas Tree Politics

When religion meets government, there is often a much-deserved hullabaloo. This occurs especially around the holiday season. People rightly worry about the government promoting one religion and discouraging others. The recent decisions by Gov. Scot Walker and President Obama have put a renewed political focus on one aspect of the holiday season: the Christmas tree.

Letter: Penn State should remind of tragedies on our campus

Roemer the only Republican candidate stressing campaign finance reform

In 2012, presidential candidates are expected raise and spend approximately eight billion dollars in campaign contributions, an increase of 20 percent from the 2008 election.President Barack Obama alone is expected to raise about one billion dollars for his campaign, and don’t expect that money to come from teaching unions or the ACLU; despite Obama’s promise of liberal change, his 2008 campaign accepted more money from the financial sector than anyone in history.