What can Madison learn from Austin, Texas? A lot, perhaps, when it comes to producing clean energy.
The results are in. In the elections for the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) Student Council that closed Wednesday, MPOWER lost, and so did Rec Sports' plan for the Nat. The best part of the election? The record turnout of 34.5 percent of the student body. Such high turnout is unprecedented. True, 65.5 percent of the student body didn't have an excuse not to vote—the election was online, took two minutes, offered information on the candidates and about the ballot and was open for three days. Cheers to those of us who managed to find two minutes over three days to vote for fellow students who allocate $38 million in our own student segregated fees.
Wisconsin's 2010 U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be nearly as interesting as a Minnesotan election. Last Friday, Dick Leinenkugel––yes, one of those Leinenkugels––suddenly resigned his post as Wisconsin's Commerce Secretary to announce he will run for Senate. The Menomonee Falls native is part of the fifth generation of the Leinenkugel Brewing company, and since 2008, oversaw Wisconsin's economic development policy.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, bringing needed attention to the issue. However, I don't think sexual assault is something we should be thinking about and fighting against just one month out of the year. As a nation, we need to be fighting against societal notions of gender and the violence pervasive in American culture that leads to sexual assault. Gone are the days when women were taught that sexual assault was confined to serial rapists in dark alleys. Today we know that the majority of sexual assault occurs between acquaintances in perceived ""safe"" locals. Sexual assault occurs in marriages and committed relationships. Women (and men) are battered and forced to have sex with someone who is supposed to love them.
Last week, UW System introduced a proposal calling for a dramatic increase in the amount of college graduates among the state's public institutions. The plan, known as the Growth Agenda for Wisconsin, looks to establish a more economically viable state where half of all Wisconsin adults have a college degree.
First it was New Era. Then it was Russell. And this past Friday, Chancellor Biddy Martin decided to drop yet another contract with an athletic apparel company — Nike. The reason: Nike neglected to reimburse Honduran factory workers for $2 million in unpaid wages. The hope: By dropping the contract, UW-Madison will force Nike to reconsider its abhorrent labor practices. However, no matter how much financial weight UW-Madison may carry, it is nowhere near close enough to effect real change in Nike's labor policies.
A movement to end all forms of sexual violence through education and activism…sounds empowering, right? And it is! But at the same time, it's a terrifying prospect, a concept that is intimidating to most men. Consequently, many men choose to remain uninvolved and distance themselves from the process of ending sexual violence. Why is that? Several factors play a role in creating an atmosphere of fear and resistance.
We like, we like to party. Scratch that, Vengaboys, we here in Madison love to party. To be exact, we love a nonstop party, the kind whose fun is not hampered and cut short by the men in blue. Noise complaints from angry neighbors often alert the police of said nonstop joy that occurs at our parties, creating a mess of tickets and fines that make the fiesta almost not worthwhile. Almost.
Although Chancellor Biddy Martin declared this the Year of the Humanities, today we vote on the remodeling and expansion of the Natatorium. The Nat is an object of aesthetic scorn among students and faculty for its uninviting exterior and apparent lack of up-to-date workout equipment. But during a time of already rising segregated fees and a rough economy, we cannot possibly condone the construction of a replacement athletic facility that will rely on the lopsided blitz of a financial plan proposed by NatUp 2010.
It's been three weeks since America's health care system was fundamentally transformed. The bill, which was debated for the better part of a year, finally passed 219-212 despite bipartisan opposition and an overwhelming majority of Americans in disagreement. Now that the dust is settling and we are finally getting a chance to read the 2,000 page bill in its entirety one thing is clear, Americans want the bill repealed. According to the most recent CBS poll only 32 percent of Americans approve of the bill which was passed by playing Washington politics with one sixth of our economy. Now the legal challenges are coming up in states across the country as attorneys general, including Wisconsin's own J.B. Van Hollen, begin to challenge the constitutionality of the bill.
In the interests of full disclosure, I would like to state that I am a Rec Sports employee. I have taught Group-X fitness classes at both the SERF and the Nat for 2 years.
A constant countdown clock ticks away the time separating UW-Madison students from Election Day on the NatUP 2010 website. Within a week the decision to give birth to a new and fresh member of the University of Wisconsin family of buildings rests in the hands of those attending it. Will you vote in favor of the NatUP proposal, or will you suck the life out of the futuristic drawings designed to give voters a sneak peek into the potential athletic facility to come?
Although it may not be obvious on the ballot, one monster is rearing its ugly head yet again this ASM election cycle — slates. Slates are ASM's version of political parties, but they often last a year at most. FACES, a slate that fared well in Student Council elections last year, has all but imploded and been wiped from the campus consciousness. Some years, ASM goes without any slates. Students represent students without the filter of politicized alliances.
In the Daily Cardinal article, ""Textbook Committee Superfluous,"" the editorial board argued that the creation of a shared governance committee that would focus on textbook cost would ultimately not greatly benefit students.
An ad hoc committee of the Faculty Senate stated in a recently released report that the university's Athletic Board is largely in compliance with Faculty Policies and Procedures regarding its role in oversight of the Athletic Department.
Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's Dane County Board of Supervisors' election, District 5 representation will be greatly improved. However, we must raise a voice in opposition to the Editorial Board's endorsement of Democratic candidate Analiese Eicher. Eicher, who we are sure would make the Dane County seat more visible on campus and greatly improve student outreach, is regrettably ill-prepared for the job of District 5 representative. Her opponent Michael Johnson has shown that he will be the best at representing students with integrity and determination.
As a first-year graduate student and teaching assistant at UW, I am incredibly concerned about the proposed increase in segregated fees that will be voted on during the April 12-14 ASM election. I am concerned not only because I will be a graduate student at UW for who-knows-how-long and therefore paying seg fees for who-knows-how-long, but mostly because UW has been steadily increasing students' segregated fees each year, making me fearful that by the time I get out of here, I will be spending over a quarter of my TA salary to pay for segregated fees (currently an average TA spends 9 percent of his or her annual salary on segregated fees).
Gut instinct would tell us to go with the experienced candidate. But all apologies to Stephen Colbert, sometimes it's best to let your gut stick to digestive duties and let your brain make the decisions. We have taken a look at Michael Johnson's experience, and we were not entirely fond of what we saw. Instead, we feel the best choice is Analiese Eicher, who seems more open to communicate with constituents and better represent students.
I declared my candidacy for the Dane County Board of Supervisors with one thing in mind: to make the great city of Madison a better place to live, work and learn for all members of the community. With that in mind my campaign is working continuously on a grassroots level in order to better assist my future constituents with their wants, needs and expectations for the city of Madison.
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