By: Evan Favill - The Daily Cardinal

OPINION

Politicians shouldn’t have to resign because of sexual affairs

By By: Evan Favill | Nov. 13, 2012

Just a few days ago, the subject of the most recent high-profile adultery scandal, this time involving David Petraeus, came up in discussion amongst some friends of mine. I had been largely apathetic to this news, since this sort of thing has been known to happen on about a yearly basis to various important people. Interestingly enough, the conversation skewed in the direction of not particularly caring about adultery in politics at all. This made me think a bit and has resulted in a bit of confusion. Why is it that America demands that its politicians resign or be impeached over an act that is perfectly legal?

OPINION

The election is finally fading away, and with it goes challenging our beliefs

By Stephanie Lindholm and By: Evan Favill | Nov. 6, 2012

Whether my guy won or lost will be decided by the time anyone but the editors read this. But as I am writing this, the decision of who will become president is still very much in limbo. It’s exciting, invigorating and just a tad bit terrifying to contemplate that this year’s election is a bit more up-in-the-air than any in my recent memory.

OPINION

Extremists embarrass Republicans

By Maureen Backman and By: Evan Favill | Oct. 31, 2012

I figure that, with the election coming up in the next week or so, I’d best input my final two cents about the political system. I’m becoming increasingly disturbed by what I see going on in the conservative spectrum of our national discourse. There’s been quite a bit of outrage over some comments made recently by one Richard Mourdock involving rape, which is only another grain of salt in a wound opened up by Todd Akin’s now-infamous “legitimate rape” statement made while defending pro-life positions. So I say to all self-respecting Americans: hasn’t this gone on long enough? Aren’t we sick of our elected representatives spewing pseudoscience as if they were some kind of political medium? The time to end this anti-intellectualism has come, and unless it does end, Americans are going to suffer because of it.

OPINION

Gun laws not the solution to shootings

By By: Evan Favill and JoEllen Amato | Oct. 23, 2012

Over the previous weekend, I headed back to my hometown of Brookfield to pick up some hours at my job and spend some time with the family. I just so happened to take a shift on Sunday, and was understandably shocked when I heard from management that the mall across the street had been locked down, and even more so when I heard that there had been a shooting at the Azana spa not two blocks from my place of employment.

OPINION

Cutting NASA funding is insulting to Americans

By By: Evan Favill | Oct. 17, 2012

A few days ago, a man with a balloon set the world record for the highest altitude skydive ever attempted. Fast forward a few days and this man, Felix Baumgartner, is now a household name. Watching it myself, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching something akin to the moon landing of 1969; it’s a frontier that no one’s explored before.

OPINION

Cutting funding for public television and radio is pointless

By By: Evan Favill | Oct. 10, 2012

I never thought I’d see the day when “Sesame Street” became the center point of American political discourse, but thanks to the controversy spurred by Mitt Romney over federal funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Station, I now get to experience Big Bird being the star of a major Obama campaign advertisement. First, let me say that while this ad somewhat misses the point and strikes me as fairly immature—not to mention is unfair to the copyright holders of “Sesame Street”—it raises an interesting point when you consider the role public broadcasting has in America. It is a medium that should not be maligned and ignored if America wishes to gain standing in the world of education and self-motivated learning.

OPINION

U.S. should follow Canada’s lead and get rid of the pointless penny

By By: Evan Favill | Oct. 2, 2012

Who among us remembers heading down to the grocery store and picking up a postcard for a penny? No? A stick of gum? There’s just not too much out there that can be bought with those little scraps of copper-plated zinc lying around taking up space in your spare change jar. Personally, I keep them handy for when I want to buy a cup of coffee and my total’s just a wee bit north of a nice round number. But let’s face it, there’s very little that screams “Convenience!” in your ear when you load up your coin purse and/or pockets with a bunch of pennies. That goes for any kind of coin really, but I find carrying around five nickels is much more preferable then 25 pennies. So really, there’s nothing particularly useful that can be done with pennies on their own without hurting your back lugging them around in a duffel bag, besides spitefully paying a parking ticket. The way I see it, the time has come to do away with this outmoded chunk of metal and upgrade to a better business model.

OPINION

Politics losing sight on foreign policy

By By: Evan Favill | Sep. 25, 2012

American politics seems to have undergone a sort of implosion in recent years. No, I’m not referring to the increased partisanship and extremism that has dominated the news for the past few election cycles. What I’m worried about is a reduction in the scope of our concerns.