Opinion

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Textbook committee superfluous

Last week ASM's Academic Affairs Committee proposed the creation of a standing committee to address textbook issues as a more permanent way of addressing the financial burden of textbooks on campus. The proposed committee would be comprised of three students, three faculty members and three academic staff and, according to ASM Academic Affairs Chairman Jonah Zinn, would focus on ""things like electronic textbooks, open-source textbooks, getting departments to focus on certain textbooks, library reserve programs and the possibility of creating a textbook rental program.""

Clean up emergency response protocol

In a rare instance of the City of Madison and Dane County not seeing eye to eye, a lawsuit resulted over their disagreements on how to handle 911 calls.

Right to drink raw milk an individual choice

Pasteurization is not just a nightmare for cheese gourmets. It is a nuisance for anyone who sees selling and consuming raw milk as their natural right.

Time to get on board with high-speed rail, take the train to Yahara Station

As someone who spent his childhood never more than 20 minutes away from the City of Milwaukee, who has made the trip between Milwaukee and Madison hundreds of times in his life and who now holds residence in the city of Madison for the majority of the year, the idea of a possible high-speed rail line between the two cities initially caused stunned excitement.

BPA ban a safe choice for health, environment

BPA-free water bottles have popped up everywhere. They come in a rainbow of colors. You can acquire them basically everywhere, from the corner Walgreens to the merchandise stand at your favorite band's concert. They keep you hydrated. They last. They are good for the environment, and evidently, for you as well.

Walker trying to put state under his small gov't spell

Eloquence in print isn't too hard. It's a medium that, through the magic and archaic technology of Gutenberg, allows me to spend hours debating between using ""brutish"" or ""bestial"" before anyone ever reads my words. After being quoted in our university's other newspaper, I was reminded that I'm not quite as eloquent live. I must admit I sounded like Sarah Palin.

Abortion debate wrongly focused

The ever-raging abortion debate has made numerous headlines recently because of the near-constant protests by pro-life groups outside the Madison Surgery Center. As an avid proponent of a woman's right to choose, I always react to these demonstrations with anger and disgust. Nothing is more insulting and disrespectful to the women who have made this difficult and emotional choice than crowds spitting misnomers like ""murder"" and holding poster boards displaying pictures of aborted fetuses. Just thinking about it infuriates me.

No way to win this race to the top

Last week, the state of Wisconsin received the ""Billy Madison"" treatment in the Department of Education's Race to the Top. At no point in Wisconsin's rambling, incoherent proposal were they even close to anything resembling a rational thought. Everyone in the federal government is now dumber for having read it. They awarded us no points, and may God have mercy on our souls. Or at least the souls of Wisconsin students.

Editorial Cartoon: March 11, 2010

No need to ban guns, regulate them instead

The Supreme Court has had slurry of important cases during Obama's presidency, most notably overturning portions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. However, the recent case of McDonald v. Chicago, which challenges the Chicago handgun ban, is going to be its most important yet.

Best response to natural disasters comes with a healthy dose of rebel spirit

Rebels have always been a favorite of mine. They cannot be ignored, whether it's the teenager deliberately staying out past curfew or the revolutionary hero. We've got Martin Luther King Jr., Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, James Dean, Gandhi, Emiliano Zapata, oldies like George Washington and Lewis and Clark, and contemporaries like Lady Gaga. The rebel mindset incorporates defiance, stubbornness and a dose of crazy, but most importantly, a vision. And to reference the popular Apple ad that raises a glass to the ""round pegs in square holes,"" the rebels are the ones who push the envelope and end up changing the world, just because they think they can.

Open classrooms to discussion

Our private lives and personal beliefs follow us everywhere we go. This includes the classroom. Students and teachers do not check their biases, preferences or opinions at the door; but too often such aspects of character are absent from our classrooms and our education.

Allow faculty freedom to speak out

On March 1, the Faculty Senate heard a proposed revision to Chapter 8 of the Faculty Policy and Procedures. The potential addition of three sentences to the faculty speech code is a direct response to the 2006 Supreme Court case Garcetti v. Ceballos, in which an assistant district attorney claimed he was passed up for a promotion after being critical of his office. In a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided that Americans do not have free speech rights to speak out publicly in their official capacity against their place of employment.

Remember the efforts of all of our ROTC students

 There are a group of individuals on campus who are a part of a long standing tradition at this university. They often wake the rooster up in the morning and burn the midnight oil at night. They are college students like us while at the same time wearing the uniform proudly. Some do it to pay for college, others because they are carrying on a family tradition, but they all have one thing in common: an unmatched sense of purpose, duty and direction that many of us only dream of one day achieving.

Fear the filth of factory farms

Making sausage is really disgusting. Regulating Wisconsin's livestock and dairy industry is markedly more disgusting.

Refusal of pay raises aid Feingold's repute

 Year after year, senators and congressmen alike receive a small memo from their secretaries with an innocent smiley face or shooting star surrounding the words ""pay raise""! A little victory dance around their cluttered desk and a few jersey shore fist pumps are thrown in celebration, but who do these representatives have to thank? You!

Dialogue needed to reconcile Proposition 8 vote speculation, love will prevail

In 2008, we fostered in a new era of hope with the election of our first black president, Barack Obama. But we also fostered in a new era of bigotry for all gay and lesbian Californians with the upholding of Proposition 8, which was a proposition placed on the Californian 2008 presidential election ballot stating that marriage between a man and a woman is the only marriage that will exist in the state. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, and it had been in practice since June 16, 2008. The day after the election, it was overturned by a roughly 52 percent voting ‘Yes' for Proposition 8.

Improvements needed to ensure clean water

Last week, the Wisconsin State Journal published a set of articles on Wisconsin's industrial animal farms. The reason? It appears some of these farms, also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, have been getting a free pass at the public's expense.

Gov't should divorce itself from marriage

A conservative friend recently came out to me as a lover of human rights, claiming gay marriage was a ""human rights issue."" To me, this was a sign that our generation will make equality inevitable.

Delaying candidacy will hurt Thompson's chances

Will he or won't he? This question usually indicates one of two things around these parts: Either it is the NFL offseason or we are approaching an election of some sort. Brett Favre and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson could easily be cousins. Both have been transplanted only to become Wisconsin golden boys. Both have retired, but both have had to consider whether they are happy with that status several times. Both can ""still play."" Perhaps most significantly at this point, both are holding their respective organizations in suspense while they ponder their futures.