Whenever I joke about becoming an undercover reporter in the seedy world of crime, my mom doesn’t think it’s so funny. We’ve all heard the quintessential story of a journalist who gets too close to his or her story, but what if that story ends in a court case? On… Read more »

Madison’s WTDY made headlines after it laid off all its staff last Wednesday, and the University of Wisconsin’s young-journalists-of-the-future shared a collective moment of panic. Additionally, because there seems to be no programming plan in place, J-schoolers and professional journalists alike are unsure about the future of radio. But it’s… Read more »

First, let me start off by revealing an inherent bias: I am originally from Austin, Texas. In regard to a recent story by The Washington Post, it appears Texas is attempting to secede from the union. Cards on the table: We’ve always wanted to. Texas is not alone, as other… Read more »

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration had another “oops” moment when it realized President Barack Obama was re-elected. Walker, who was hoping Obama would be ousted, stalled on implementing Obamacare all these months and now has to get a statewide health care exchange together — by Nov. 16. Whether or not you… Read more »

When it comes to political issues, there are so few that are as black and white as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. You’re unlikely to find a person who does not feel strongly on the issue, either for gay rights or against gay rights. For this reason, it’s important… Read more »

In the editorial I am dissenting against, my fellow board members call out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s editorial board for refusing to endorse political candidates any longer. My fellow board members say this is because the Sentinel feels the consensus they would reach would hurt readership. I agree. Personally, I… Read more »

A deep-seated point of personal disappointment for me is that I love bottled water. I know I need to be more environmentally friendly, but tap water grosses me out. And, after having seen the 2010 documentary “Gasland,” a breakthrough documentary on natural gas extraction, or “fracking,” I’m even sending the… Read more »

Trek Bicycle Corporation, headquartered in nearby Waterloo, recently distanced itself from multiple Tour de France-winning cyclist Lance Armstrong. In regard to performance-enhancing drugs, I will pose you a question someone once asked me while drunk: “What if doing drugs to get ahead in sports was required?” Of course, this notion… Read more »

I don’t drink coffee and never have, so you’ll have to excuse my ignorance. However, a recent article in MadTable titled “Madison’s local food news” said local coffee producers are angry at the organic certifying organization Fair Trade. So angry, in fact, one member said they are “angry like a… Read more »

I know I wrote on Mayor Paul Soglin last week, but this guy has had a busy couple of days. I like it when politicians do things I like. I begrudgingly accept when they do things I don’t like. But right now, I can’t even figure out Soglin’s strategy. Last… Read more »

Everyone knows Madison has a grave and growing problem with homelessness. Shout-out to whichever group is feeding them in Lisa Link Peace Park next to my house, because the city currently has no concrete plans to provide them with the basic human right of shelter. Last Wednesday, Dane County Executive… Read more »

Today, the Department of Administration received a strongly worded letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development telling it to quit writing checks it couldn’t cash. As Gov. Scott Walker’s administration plays the finger-pointing game, it’s unclear what the funds in limbo will mean for the Wisconsin public.… Read more »

Before you read any further in this column, you must know that I have an absolute and unshakable bias: I am a crazy cat lady. But the reason the University of Wisconsin’s recent run-in with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has me all aflutter is not just because… Read more »

This morning, I received an email, as Iʼm sure the rest of you did, from Transportation Services notifying me there were changes to the bus routes I use the most. Starting last month. Not only are they modifying where the 80 picks up (and, by the way, no map to help… Read more »

As the school year approaches, most University of Wisconsin students are moving into new dorms and apartments. But even as we’re just settling in, some of us are even beginning to think about housing for next year. While figuring out who you’re going to move in with may be exciting,… Read more »

As Ryan said in his column, I’m becoming managing editor next semester. So this farewell isn’t a farewell like others on the page today. I’m not graduating, and I’m not done writing columns. Well, not really. I intend to pressure Reggie to let me off writing as much as possible… Read more »

If there’s anything liberals have done over the past few months, it’s complain they don’t have good enough candidates. Boo- hoo, Russ won’t run. Falk panders to unions. A race with Barrett is just a re-do. Vinehout who? And the state Senate recalls are a veritable who’s who of obscure… Read more »

Now that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has entered the ring, things are looking less promising for, well, just about everyone else. Dane County Executive and Democratic candidate Kathleen Falk is pissed, and Gov. Scott Walker has a little more reason to start looking through the classifieds. But especially, this means… Read more »

Something none of our opinion columnists wanted to write on this week was the recent re-accreditation of animal research programs for the University of Wisconsin Graduate School, School of Medicine, and Public Health and School of Veterinary Medicine. It’s a complicated issue, and animal research has important, deep-seated consequences for… Read more »

Race relations have played a huge role in Madison this year. First, there was the Center for Equal Opportunity report about admissions at the University of Wisconsin and the subsequent rally, as reported by WKOW. Then there was the loss of the Madison charter school and the related upcoming school… Read more »

In order for Gov. Scott Walker to balance the state budget, the University of Wisconsin has been handed $46.1 million in cuts. As of yet, no UW group is sure how to shoulder the setback, and right now, all anyone can do is plug leaks in the levy while the… Read more »

As a student majoring in anthropology and Latin American studies, it’s a real possibility I might one day be living in a van down by the river. All jokes aside, homelessness is a major issue our city faces every day. According to the non-profit Porchlight, more than 3,500 people experience… Read more »

Yesterday, I was going to make the Opinion page’s quote of the day, “It’s all BS.” Reported on Feb. 7 by the Wisconsin State Journal, this quote comes from Charles Prindiville, owner of Rising Sun Massage Parlor located on West Main Street, who was denying allegations, and now a police… Read more »

I’ll have to admit, I felt both relieved when our news editor told us last night that Assembly Minority Leader Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, and Kristen Dexter and John Lehman were about to announce their candidacies against three Republican state senators in recall elections later this year. For weeks, all anyone has… Read more »

Last week, I accompanied my father as he joined the Austin Federation of Musicians, Chapter 433. He now joins more than 2,000 workers back in my colder home of Wisconsin, which ranks 2.3 percent higher than the national average for percentage of unionized workers. However, Wisconsin has recently experienced a… Read more »

Today, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day. Created in 1988, it is intended as a day for observance of those who have died and for focus on issues currently facing the HIV/AIDS community. HIV/AIDS is an important issue in Madison, which is home to the AIDS Network and AIDS Resource… Read more »

Most actions Gov. Scott Walker takes, I attribute to two things: Either he is trying to cut the budget or is generally misinformed about his actions. Or, most likely, it’s some combination of the two. However, there’s one recent move I think Walker actually planned on. Appleton’s Post-Crescent reported that… Read more »

A lot of people I’ve spoken to about the new concealed carry laws have told me that they are uncomfortable with guns and don’t feel safe when they’re around. I’ve argued that I feel the same way about Coasties on mopeds, but we can’t ban them just as we can’t… Read more »

Sexual assault and abuse awareness is a cause we can never give enough attention to, and that is why I was especially horrified that no charges were brought against Ald. Brian Solomon, District 10. District Attorney Shelly Rusch had valid reasoning for not bringing charges, but she should take her… Read more »

From November 2010 to March 2011, the news was filled with Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to scrap the proposed high speed rail system. What upset me most was not a deep love for trains, a desire to be more European or the excitement of being able to cheaply and easily… Read more »

BadgerCare Plus was one of the best pieces of legislation former Gov. Jim Doyle ever came up with. Although health care on a national scale may be floundering, it’s always good to know the people of Wisconsin have the option of affordable health care — well, until last Friday, that… Read more »

“Sorry, but I don’t ever read your stories,” one of my friends once told me. “You start off with a little story about your childhood, and then you talk about poor people.” “I know,” I laughed, “They can be kind of dry. But I also talk about jobs. And taxes.”… Read more »

I attended high school in a small southeastern Wisconsin town where people got excused absences for opening day of deer and turkey hunting season. Wisconsin is downright cozy to outdoorsmen, and the sports of hunting and fishing exist in an equilibrium with property owners. However, as reported by the Wisconsin… Read more »

On my way to the library to work on this column, I passed two men and a woman sitting outside by the dumpsters in the rain. Their clothes were ragged and dirty and they were sitting on a concrete parking divider to avoid the puddles. “What did we get this… Read more »

I’m not going to speculate about why Gov. Scott Walker didn’t realize what a mess he was getting Wisconsin into when he tried to pass his budget repair bill. To call him unintelligent would be a low blow, but he sure is shortsighted and self-promoting. While trying to tackle the… Read more »

When I was just a young girl and the Florida recount ended up costing Al Gore the presidency, my father thought it was time to take me on his knee and teach me about important types of government dishonesty.A main lesson I remember was about piggybacking legislation, or the process… Read more »

The big news back in my small, rural southeast Wisconsin hometown is that the high school and middle school have a few new teachers. Every time I run into someone from back home, they have to tell me, “Did you hear about the new science/math/Spanish teacher?” Unfortunately, teachers in my… Read more »

Whenever I go into a grocery store in Europe, I experience culture shock: I get everything on my list for easily half of what it would cost me in the United States. This is not just a personal observation; as a recent basket-of-goods analysis by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau (WFB)… Read more »

One of my high school history teacher’s favorite stories was about the corrupt favoritism of President Zachary Taylor and other early presidents. According to him, presidents gave out cushy government jobs to their supporters and members of their political parties, something fine with the populace until there were so many… Read more »

Although Madison is supposedly the liberal mecca of the Midwest, if I was part of a criminal case, I’d want it tried in first my highly conservative, rural home town with a population of 1,000. With my values that may seem counterintuitive, but with the way the Wisconsin Supreme Court… Read more »

When the man standing on State Street with a clipboard asks me if I have a moment to help save Wisconsin’s lakes and rivers, I usually say no. Luckily for our freshwater bodies, there are lots of people unlike me who have been working very hard over the past few… Read more »

With the tangled web that is the recent budget and budget repair bills, it’s hard to be able fully grasp everything that will be affected in the upcoming months. However, one of the strands in the sticky web Walker spun that is not to be overlooked is teacher layoffs in… Read more »

Although I’m not usually up to date on my city council elections, I live in district 8 and as of the February 15 primary, Kyle Szarzynski andd Scott Resnick, two very qualified candidates, are vying for the position of alder. To make an informed decision about District 8’s candidates, it’s… Read more »

The times, they are a changin,’ as Bob Dylan said. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature are giving themselves a tabula rasa with budget, transportation and everything else they can get their hands on, and they now look to car insurance laws passed under Doyle as something more to wipe… Read more »

If there’s one thing Americans hold in high esteem, it’s Supreme Court justices. Sure, there are crooked cops, cheating politicians and greedy lawyers, but if there were ever any corrupt judges, it was only in small towns in the South between 1863 and 1964. We see our justice system as… Read more »

There aren’t many topics I’m unsure of my opinion on, but one that has me torn is unionized labor. The socialist streak in me supports fair wages and organized strikes, but the other part of me realizes labor unions are the reason my high school Spanish teacher spoke barely more… Read more »

The economy continues to spiral and labor is facing both a tough financial and legislative climate. By the time we university students return from break, our state government will have changed from a liberal powerhouse into a few scattered Democrats incapable of doing anything more than tying down conservatives with… Read more »

If there’s one thing that the outgoing Democrats are supposedly leaving us with, it’s the big bad budget deficit, the one thing everyone assumed the city would be bickering over when they passed the 2011 budget deficit on Tuesday night. Strangely, it was not the focus of the hearing. Instead,… Read more »

Scott Walker, our new governor-elect, is one of the few Wisconsin politicians who hasn’t caught the high-speed rail fever. While others joined in the chant of “Monorail! Monorail!” Walker promised to stop the expenditure dead in its tracks. Democrats ignored this as an empty threat, but surprisingly enough, this politician… Read more »

What’s the largest institute of secondary education in Madison? If you answered the University of Wisconsin, then you fell for the trick question. It’s actually Madison Area Technical College, which enrolls about 44,000 students annually, or roughly about 2,000 more than UW. The school, one of 16 state-funded technical colleges,… Read more »

One of the most important aspects of our country’s legal system is the fact that someone is “presumed innocent until proven guilty.” The burden of proof is on the one doing the accusing, and we often use this phrase to refer to an ongoing investigation or a case being tried… Read more »

Any business student, econ major or fledgling entrepreneur that has ever opened up a lemonade stand knows you have to spend money to make money. This is the same rhetoric Mayor Dave Cieslewicz used in his recent plea to lawmakers to approve a $44 million-plus loan for city public works.… Read more »

When my father read that Michigan, his home state, had legalized the growing of medical marijuana, he started planning a whole new future. “I think growing would be a good pastime for me,” he said. “That could be my retirement.” My father just turned 70-years-old, and though his past life… Read more »

Looking at Ron Johnson’s 2010 media campaign, one could see one of two things: that despite having no political experience he’s put together a clever strategy, or that he doesn’t exactly know what a U.S. Senator does. Johnson’s media campaign has respectable goals, including exposing Feingold’s supposed “misdirected stimulus spending,”… Read more »

After the brutal murder of Madison student Brittany Zimmermann almost two years ago, the Madison 911 Call Center has come under a lot of criticism. Attacked by an intruder in her apartment, a call was placed to 911. The operator, claiming to have heard nothing, hung up and did not… Read more »

Pretend for a second that you’ve committed a petty crime — shoplifting, for instance. You’re caught, arrested, put in jail, brought in for arraignment, enter a plea, put back in jail and, after all that, finally indicted. But the most important and difficult part has yet to come. If you… Read more »

My friend’s family is in a bind. Her mother works the third shift at Walmart and her father was recently laid off from his foundry job. With one child in college and two in grade school, they may have to move to Kentucky where her father can find a position… Read more »

At the beginning of the year I received an e-mail from Madison’s LGBTI Equality Now inviting me to join in a political protest they dubbed the “Civil Rights Movement of Our Generation.” The LGBTI movement, which has been gaining momentum since the early ’80s, could very well seem to… Read more »

This summer, I took a trip to Quito, Ecuador. I came back with a second-degree burn, a severe bladder infection, and 10 cents in my pocket because I was robbed. Twice. In fact, the only way my trip could have been worse was if I didn’t speak Spanish. In… Read more »

When asked what some of their favorite things about Madison are, typical answers from students might include our beautiful campus, football, affordable health care and — of course — beer pong. The Rathskeller, State Street Brats and the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival are all big elements of what makes… Read more »