Opinion

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Worst ASM decisions of the year

Failure, thy name is ASM

Letter: It's Christmas people! Get over it.

I just read an article titled “Keep the baby Jesus out of politics,” and while it brings up a few good points, I disagree with the majority of it.  To begin with, stating that a pine tree has no claim to Christmas is like stating the Green Bay Packers have no claim to the G logo that is now property of, and synonymous with, the team. It is true that conifers played no part in the first Christmas. In fact, they first mention of them being part of the Christmas celebration was in the 16th century in Germany and Livonia. However, tradition makes up a large part of every event, and I mean every event, after its inaugural year. After five centuries of being the only light up decorated tree widely known to the Western World, I think its safe to say that yes, a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree. Calling something by its name whether its good or bad from your point of view is the proper thing to do. As stated in Harry Potter, “Fear of the name only increase fear of the thing itself.”

Congress must act to save U.S. Postal Service

It is a seemingly "self-supporting enterprise" that collects no tax dollars to support its expenses. It relies completely on products and services to subsidize its operations. It generates approximately $67 billion a year in revenues and has been named the "Most Trusted Government Agency" for six consecutive years and the sixth "most trusted business in the nation" by the Ponemon Institute. What agency did I just describe? The answer is the United States Postal Service. This important agency is currently in a financial predicament and this problem is something that all of America should begin paying attention to.

Too big to fail

The United States Postal Service is burdened with high health-care, pension and labor costs, not to mention falling sales. It faces fierce competition in e-mail and private delivery systems, yet bailout talks are in the works.  Are big banks and auto manufacturers the only organizations that are too big to fail?

Keep the baby Jesus out of politics

As the holiday season rolls around, religious tensions are sure to follow. Just a month ago, Gov. Scott Walker ignited a slight controversy by calling Madison's holiday tree a Christmas tree in a press release (because pine trees were an irreplaceably sacred part of Jesus' birth in the middle of a desert and have been key throughout 2000 years of subsequent Christian tradition). As you can tell, this particular issue seems quite petty. However, it signals a more important problem: America's inability to properly recognize the separation between church and State and the consequences the joining of the two bring.

Moderate Republicans wrong choice

The Republican primary season is certainly going to be interesting, if the preceding months are any indication. However, most people are going to draw the wrong lessons from it. It is true that the polls have fluctuated because there is no clear frontrunner. But the conclusion most draw from this—that there is no frontrunner because the field is weak—is almost certainly wrong. On the contrary, the Republican base’s problem is that its candidates are too strong.

Permits for protesting unconstitutional

What are the ultimate principles behind issuing a permit? To grant privileges to individuals that would otherwise be turned away if certain qualifications weren’t met. What is the purpose of a rally or demonstration? To further advocate a cause that otherwise isn’t being addressed. What is the overarching reason behind Gov. Scott Walker’s updated facilities policy? Take one guess.

Student can help UW recycle electronics

Recycling old electronics has been an important step in keeping our environment safe.  And yet, based on personal experience, not many people take advantage of cell-phone and computer recycling centers. 

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.