This summer the state Legislature will be deciding on a budget for the state of Wisconsin — a process that should be full of controversy. Gov. Scott Walker has proposed his biennial budget, which includes tax cuts, increased spending on vouchers and charter schools and cuts to the Government Accountability… Read more »

The Affordable Care Act, in an attempt to help establish a health care system that would cover nearly all Americans, allocated money to the 50 states to strengthen their Medicaid programs. However, Gov. Scott Walker has decided not to take the money, and to weaken Badgercare by reducing the income… Read more »

During our spring break, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Perry v. Hollinger and Windsor v. United States, two cases on the constitutionality of gay marriage bans. The court will release its decisions on both cases before the session ends in June. Both cases focus on the equal protection clause in… Read more »

Michelle Alexander, the author of “The New Jim Crow,” is visiting Union South this Thursday to discuss race in America. Her book points out the undeniable institutional racism that exists in the American prison system. Race has a dark history in this nation. When black Americans were promised freedom they were… Read more »

Gov. Scott Walker announced plans to expand private school voucher and charter school programs Monday. While charter schools may be a reasonable investment, vouchers have many draw backs that outweigh their benefits. School vouchers have a noble goal, but ultimately are counterproductive to the greater good. While students who are… Read more »

The U.S. Senate is taking action on the issue of illegal immigration, and attempting to give undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. While this bipartisan action is a breath of fresh air compared to the toxic, paralyzed environment on Capitol Hill we have grown accustom to, it is also something more.… Read more »

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” These 26 words have sparked a great deal of debate throughout our nation’s history as to their meaning and how they relate to our… Read more »

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release their monthly report on the employment situation Friday. On a national level, the jobs recovery seems to be picking up steam so far this year. On the other hand, in the State of Wisconsin, the recovery is not going well. As the Bureau of… Read more »

President Barack Obama has been the first great American president of the 21st century. He has moved American social, economic and international policy in the right direction and has brilliantly and tactfully addressed the problems facing this nation. Not only has Obama earned a second term based on his performance… Read more »

Last week, Republican lawyers were ordered by a federal judge to release 34 emails regarding the redistricting process. The court has already ruled two state assembly districts in Milwaukee were drawn inappropriately. The law firm Republican lawmakers contracted to redraw the districts has already been fined $17,500. This only goes to… Read more »

The Associated Students of Madison recently approved legislation that will allow an exception to the rules that prohibit door-to-door soliciting for voter registration in residence halls. This is absolutely the right move by the university to encourage voter participation and civic involvement from a young age. The university should continue… Read more »

In U.S. News and World Report’s most recent ranking of national universities, The University of Wisconsin was placed 41st among all national universities and 10th among public universities. This is up four places from last year, when UW was 45th. This is a good sign for the university’s national reputation,… Read more »

Over the past two weeks, the two main parties in our political process have showcased the best they have to offer and presented two starkly different visions for this country’s future. As some of us prepare to cast our first vote in a presidential election, we should be reminded voting… Read more »

Moments after this year’s gubernatorial recall election was called for incumbent Gov. Scott Walker, left-wing propagandist Lawrence O’Donnell was on MSNBC calling foul play because of the tremendous financial advantage Walker had from big money donations to his campaign that officially kicked off the “Citizens United” era of politics. While… Read more »

In a Monday conference with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, a panel of experts discussed the achievement gap, an issue that has caused a great deal of debate and turmoil in America for decades. According to the New York Times, in the past it has been thought to be… Read more »

Gov. Scott Walker released a $100 million initiative to revitalize Milwaukee’s troubled economy. As of February, Milwaukee has a 10.5 percent rate of unemployment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and is in need of efforts to get its economy back on track. This is a noble effort to… Read more »

The Supreme Court of the United States is about to hear a case that may change the status quo on affirmative action. Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin is going to be heard this term and may cause constitutional interpretations to be changed such that any form of… Read more »

The University of Wisconsin is increasing its spending on the Athletics Performance Center project by more than $9 million. The money, which comes from gift funds, will be used to renovate Camp Randall, build new lockers and other athletic facility changes. While I recognize the need for keeping up-to-date athletic… Read more »

Rick Santorum folded his campaign Tuesday after losing in a knockout blow in Wisconsin. This leaves former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney all but certain to win the nomination. With a heavy year ahead for Wisconsin politics, it will most definitely be a state prized by both campaigns. As a swing… Read more »

I received my absentee ballot in the mail this week. This was my first ballot. As I looked it over, I discovered that there were many races I knew little to nothing about. Instead of trying to do hasty research on every single race, most of which I lack expertise… Read more »

In recent years, a clear age gap has developed in politics between our generation and older voters. Younger voters are now significantly more likely to be liberal than older voters. If this trend continues, there will be deep, long running and significant changes in American politics. Changes that I, for one,… Read more »

In recent days, the University of Wisconsin campus has exploded with talk of Joseph Kony, Invisible Children and the civil war that has been going on in Uganda for the past quarter of a century. Some have rallied in support of the work Invisible Children is doing to end child… Read more »

The University of Wisconsin made headlines a couple weeks ago when it was named the fifth-best value of public colleges in America by Princeton Review. The university gave itself a pat on the back for this, as it should have. However, we also came out as the 14th best party school… Read more »

This past Tuesday, the state Senate Democrats stalled a bill that would put new restrictions on abortion providers. Abortion is one of the most complicated moral issues in this nation, and an effort to change one’s mind about the moral aspect of it is often fruitless and will end only… Read more »

As we all know, last month groups supporting the recall effort announced that they had collected enough signatures to force Gov. Scott Walker to face a recall election. Critics have said this effort is a cheap political ploy to unseat a democratically-elected leader that did what he said he was… Read more »

On Tuesday night, the University of Wisconsin released a report detailing allegations of sexual assault against former Senior Associate Athletic Director John Chadima. An unidentified male student claims that Chadima sexually assaulted him at a party in the run up to the Rose Bowl. It is important to say that… Read more »

As of Nov. 1, 2011, the concealed weapons law in the state of Wisconsin has changed, allowing residents to carry concealed weapons in Wisconsin as long as they have a permit to do so. I will not deny this law in theory could have some positive effects. However, the major… Read more »

The state legislature is considering a law proposed by Gov. Scott Walker this week that would require protesters to give three days prior notice and make them pay for security when protesting on the Capitol. This law is a cheap tactic to keep the governor out of the way of… Read more »

November is upon us, and for many freshmen this means having their mailbox stuffed with information, advertisements and junk mail relating to the grand question, “Where are you going to live next year?” Despite the fact that freshmen barely know anyone other than the people on their floor and that… Read more »

While I was eating breakfast at my dining commons last week, I heard something that offended me — I noticed people at the table in front of me were trying to sound funny by impersonating a “black” manner of speaking. No one at the table was anywhere close to black.… Read more »

As friends of mine apply to college and I vicariously relive the whole experience, I am thinking a lot about education. It is very easy to hit the education system in America with criticism. There have been many articles written on the topic, criticizing universities for obscure and undefined problems… Read more »

On Sept. 21, America witnessed its justice system at its worst. Troy Davis was executed in Georgia after a legal battle that lasted over two decades. Davis was convicted of murdering a police officer outside of a Burger King where he was security guard in 1989. He had intervened to… Read more »

As we all know, this weekend marked a grim, sobering milestone in this country’s history. The attacks of Sept. 11 were horrifying, and though at the time many students here could not fully comprehend the tragedy as it happened because they were too young, we have been immersed in the… Read more »

When I first told my high school English teacher in Newport Beach, Calif., that I was seriously considering attending UW, she said, “Go. It’s like Berkeley.” It didn’t take me long to understand what she meant. Madison seems to be, at least from my experience here, a very gay-friendly city.… Read more »