One of the most chronically repeated maxims about the University of Wisconsin holds that this institution, ostensibly renowned worldwide as a model for public higher education, is simply an “economic incubator.” This is a convenient way for technocrats in Bascom Hall to explain to their counterparts down State Street what… Read more »

A set of old Herald sweatshirts bears the words, “Dangerously close to cult status.” Perhaps the saying is a bit presumptuous and just a tad politically incorrect. But it is also entirely true. I have to admit the saying has real merit when it comes to the Herald family —… Read more »

Daily is irrelevant, and print is on its way out. These are quickly becoming the maxims evoked to scare any freshman thinking about pursuing journalism back to the job security of the business school’s hallowed halls. But instead of clinging to our daily print edition and our conceptions of what… Read more »

If you have read any of my columns this semester, you have likely noticed a trend. They all advocate for self-development and informal credentials with an anti-establishment and anti-tradition tone. In other words, I’m all about making a ruckus by challenging the status quo. Am I the only one? Last… Read more »

Some of my favorite Bills include Cosby, Clinton, Gates and of course Shakespeare — however, I am not a fan of this new bill that is currently in the process of being approved by the state Assembly. If passed, this bill would make it legal for bars to sue underage… Read more »

Let’s rewind about a month and a half. As hard as it may be to believe, it actually looked like relations between the University of Wisconsin and the state government were on the mend. Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank had just been chosen as UW’s next chancellor — a… Read more »

Participation: It was once considered to be the mere act of showing up and handing in your homework on time. But lost are the days of middle school. Along with milk breaks, recess and rewards of candy for doing good deeds, passively-earned participation points became a thing of the past… Read more »

Given that I recently wrote a column on the benefits of pushing languages in general, I was delighted to see a column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this weekend about a linguistics class taught at the Milwaukee School of Languages. It’s not often one hears of linguistics being taught in… Read more »

Palermo’s workers have been in the news during the past week. Half a dozen workers came from Milwaukee to testify outside Interim Chancellor Ward’s office Monday about abuses in their factory.  Even though the university’s labor and licensing committee recommended six months ago that the chancellor cut the Palermo’s contract,… Read more »

Our teaching assistants — and other grad student employees — need a raise. With segregated fees increasing, no pay raise since 2009 and increased medical costs after Walker’s Act 10 legislation, our TAs are taking home $1,600 less in annual pay than they did in 2002 (adjusted for inflation). With… Read more »

Frustrated by the efforts of Dane County judges to delay the implementation of state legislation, a number of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, and Rep. David Craig, R-Big Bend, have introduced a bill that would limit the authority of circuit judges. Currently, an injunction placed on… Read more »

Mifflin happened this weekend; it looked a lot different than it has in the past, but we still had a pretty good time. It bugs the crap out of me that the city gets to call it a huge success and act like they beat back the menace that is… Read more »

The end of winter means the start of disc golf season. So, dutifully, my friends and I headed to Token Creek Park last weekend to play 27 holes. It was the start of the season, and the course was busy. While waiting to tee off on hole seven, I managed… Read more »

Stop the war on pizza and war against reason.  As a University of Wisconsin student, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to outgoing Interim Chancellor David Ward for the embarrassing spectacle that is “The War on Pizza.” Despite the fact that Palermo’s, a prominent Wisconsin employer, has been… Read more »

This Saturday, throw your fucking house party. The Mifflin Street Block Party — or what’s left of it — is upon us, and we all know the Madison Police Department and the city of Madison have made a concerted effort to end the event that is without precedent. This weekend,… Read more »

This summer is going to be phenomenal. After all, one could say that it’s the story-making season. I would also say that it is the season of life experience — when you build up your street smarts, when you work the right side of your brain, when you finally get… Read more »

On Monday, as a dozen protesters staged a sit-in at Interim Chancellor David Ward’s office, the dispute over labor violations by Palermo’s Pizza was thrust into the campus spotlight. While the event failed to achieve its only stated objective of forcing Ward to cut the contract with the Milwaukee-based pizza… Read more »

One of the most important roles of a government is to build and maintain infrastructure — without a sound transportation network, not much else matters. If Wisconsin is to be, in the words of Gov. Scott Walker, “open for business,” the state must make sure it is a place where… Read more »

State Street is getting a major facelift, with construction currently happening on the 100 block and plans for development on the 500, 700 and 800 blocks in the works. The question is whether or not this is a good thing for the downtown area. To answer that question, the first thing… Read more »

I would like to congratulate reporter Polo Rocha on his coverage of this week’s Democratic budget hearing (“Walker criticized for education, health care proposals in Democrats’ budget hearing”). His classic, straightforward reporting far outshone the Capital Times’ efforts. My 11-year-old daughter Lydia, whose testimony against school voucher expansion got the… Read more »

It has been succinctly said that the U.S. Senate is where ideas and legislation go to die. Although the Senate has been criticized for filibustering and slowing down the legislative process (a sentiment I have concurred with in the past and still do to a certain extent in the present),… Read more »

After four years at the University of Wisconsin and 18 years before that as a child of two American parents, I’ve heard the word “privilege” with a steady degree of regularity. Its use starts as a warning like, “Having your toy is a privilege, not a right,” and in an… Read more »

As the outrage about the cancellation of the Mifflin Street Block Party escalates, there may be some value in considering where Mifflin began and where it is now. Everyone knows that the event began as a late 1960s protest of the Vietnam War. Students at the time were so passionate… Read more »

News never breaks twice, but one news story can lead to another. With journalistic insight, I have to say we are two weeks away from seeing this happen. The reason? The Mifflin Street Block Party. Quickly, for those who missed the news, Mifflin has been “cancelled” for this 2013 year. (I… Read more »

To paraphrase Bob Dylan, it looks like the times are changing. Even though the Mifflin Street Block Party has been around for more than 40 years, the Madison Police Department wrote in a recent letter to Madison residents, “There will be no Mifflin Street Block Party” this year and it… 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 »

The most vital part of a successful democracy is its electoral system. Almost every other problem in a democratic government is fixable in the long term through voting. Since elections are the most powerful means of change, if elections are broken, there is little the people can do to try… Read more »

For the last several days, Republican lawmakers have lambasted University of Wisconsin System administrators after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau published a report showing the system is in possession of $648 million in cash reserves. Legislators have called for a freeze on tuition and a revision of UW System funding in… Read more »

Tweets, statuses and likes — these commonly used words allude to the culture of social media. However, these often-inane actions can sometimes have hefty consequences if not carefully monitored. In response, state legislators are pursuing reform that would ban landlords, universities and employers from forcing prospective tenants, students and employees… Read more »

The massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University rocked the world of higher education. It seemed like reform was imminent — after all, how could we not take action at a national level to prevent future tragedies? Unfortunately, we know how those reform efforts turned out. It has been… Read more »

When at a financial impasse, one is often forced to make tough decisions and, in the process, reaffirm or reallocate one’s values. The Cap Times recently reported that when faced with budget cuts, Sherman Middle School decided the best path is one sans French 1, concluding that it is relatively too blasé to… Read more »

Entering freshmen students are likely to appreciate any advice they can get about how to raise their first-year GPA. The key is knowing whether, where and when they should enroll in their required general education composition course, Comm A. The tips offered here are based on course grade distribution data… Read more »

The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education is finalizing revisions to its charter school policy, which would end district sponsorship of noninstrumentality charter schools. This is a bad policy for students in Madison, particularly in light of the proposal in the governor’s budget, which allows local nonprofits to authorize… Read more »

Winner of the week: the gun lobby. If the past few months have taught us anything, it must be that the gun lobby, particularly the National Rifle Association, wields a disproportional influence in Washington, D.C. Even though most polls show Americans overwhelmingly support more stringent background checks and increased regulation… Read more »

It’s been a rough week for CNN. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, news outlets were all vying to be the first ones to report about potential suspects or, better yet, arrests. However, CNN may have been a bit overeager. On Wednesday, CNN’s John King first reported that… Read more »

The best way to view the world is to stand on the shoulders of giants. As you can imagine, giants do not like you climbing on them. In order to stand on their shoulders, you have to persuade them to allow it. You have to show them it would benefit… Read more »

Runners often say that running is its own reward. After a long day of thinking, reading or arguing with peers, it’s refreshing to lace up your shoes and march to your own drummer. Your body, your music, your pace. Running releases daily stress, gives you a sense of control and… Read more »

The only way to describe the upcoming spring commencement at the University of Wisconsin is “tight butthole.”  That’s because Anders Holm, a UW alum with a history degree and one of the creators, writers and actors of the hit show “Workaholics,” will be speaking. Considering that last year’s speaker was… Read more »

Hospitals are never an easy place to be, and the quality of care you receive as a patient can be depend strongly on the quality of advocates you have by your side. The frustration visitors experience can certainly be magnified when trips to the hospital fall over the weekend or… Read more »

The people who are touched by tragedy but separated by distance are a special breed. These people experience a certain type of torture, knowing that something has happened to someone they love and being unable to help the situation or find out information first-hand. They have no one’s hand to… Read more »

I have no views on the musical abilities of Canadian-born pop star Justin Bieber. But I do have strong views about the new prepaid debit card he has recently endorsed, called the SpendSmart Prepaid Mastercard. Although Justin Bieber says this prepaid card will help teenagers learn how to manage their… Read more »

Marijuana — the very mention of the word conjures up the images of cultural icons like Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kumar and, of course, anyone and anything having to do with the 1960s. With the recent legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, it is easy to see marijuana… Read more »

So the city and the university have finally drawn the line in the sand — according to a letter from the Madison Police Department, “There will be no Mifflin Street Block Party.” They are also cancelling having an unsanctioned good time anywhere that weekend. Good. I’m sick of the half-assed attacks… Read more »

No, the weather is not “bipolar.” Today in lecture, my professor flippantly used the term “schizophrenic” to describe the nature of a life as a scientist. I was deeply disturbed and personally offended by this casual metaphorical use of this term. Especially troubling is the fact that this term was… Read more »

Last Thursday, the Madison Police Department began a public information campaign that was doomed from the start. The campaign began with a letter to Mifflin Street residents, which, in its first paragraph, stated in bold letters, “There will be no Mifflin Street Block Party on or around Saturday, May 4th… Read more »

In 1905, the University of Wisconsin’s tuition was $10 and $25 per semester for Wisconsin residents and nonresidents, respectively.Knowing this little trivia puts today’s tuition in perspective. It is no secret the cost of going to college in this country has ballooned in recent years. Not only that, but the… Read more »

As Revelry’s student organizers, we’ll say it until we are blue in the face: This is not an anti-Mifflin party or an administrator-driven event. There needn’t be tension between Revelry’s existence and Mifflin’s, unless you want there to be. Go to one, both, neither; it’s a free country. Some of… Read more »

“Drop out of college.” Some people need to be told this. Others already realize this on their own – but, of course, they never follow through. They would rather complain. In light of recent articles on educational expectations and some brutal comments from educators on those pieces, the following needs… Read more »

Ever wanted to play with lasers? Join the Navy and you might get the chance. Earlier this week, the U.S. Navy released a video of its new toy, a high-energy laser designed to destroy patrol boats, surveillance drones or anything else vulnerable to large concentrated bursts of energy. According to… Read more »

Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, recently put out a press release calling on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to “reject Rebecca Blank and her radical policies.” Before we get into the details of Grothman’s attack on Blank, we want to be absolutely clear: Grothman is a troll. His highlight… 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 »

In 2010, Gov. Scott Walker campaigned for his office on a platform of creating private sector jobs. In fact, he promised Wisconsin voters that under his administration the state would create 250,000 new private sector jobs by the end of his first term. So far, under Walker’s administration, Wisconsin has… Read more »

In 2010, I wrote a letter to the editor in response to The Badger Herald’s decision to post a Holocaust-denial ad. Unfortunately, I’m writing again because an article published today (and also promoted on social media) showed the newspaper’s lack of responsibility and sensitivity in regard to the Holocaust yet… Read more »

There very well may be University of Wisconsin students with perfect attendance records. After all, in a population of more than 40,000 students there ought to be some statistical outliers who show up five minutes early to every class, week in week out, for four straight years – an attendance… Read more »

Our student government recently passed a proposal to help protect students’ living situations. The Tenant Bill of Rights, in essence, allows for the Associated Students of Madison to endorse landlords who adhere to their stipulations.  Fortunately, ASM was wise about this proposal and consulted the university’s law department to ensure… Read more »

I am writing as a long-time resident of alder District 2, in response to your recent article about outgoing Ald. Bridget Maniaci. I appreciated the balance of your article in taking Fred Mohs’ critical viewpoint of Ms. Maniaci into account; of course, journalistic balance on your part and habitual decorum… Read more »

Last week, the organizers of Revelry, the May 4 music and arts festival, announced the event’s musical lineup. The event, which will take place on the same day as the Mifflin Street Block Party, has drawn skepticism from the student body. After all, regardless of what Revelry’s organizers might claim,… Read more »

How often do you save work that you did in class? When you finish an assignment, a project or an art piece, do you stick it in your portfolio? Do you hang it up? Do you Snapchat it or post it on Facebook? It’s a yes or no answer, and… Read more »

Welcome back to Madison, ladies and gentleman, the city where politics never sleeps. Hopefully you spent your spring break preparing for another round of politics, because the city held a slew of local elections on Tuesday to celebrate your return. Which elections you ask? Well, a lot of them actually.… Read more »

Last Thursday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman heavily downplayed President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to Israel, suggesting that he “could be the first sitting American president to visit Israel as a tourist.” Friedman’s frustration stems from a critique that Obama — who has preempted his trip with the assertion… Read more »

This column is going to ask you to take a risk and make yourself uncomfortable. This might not work. You may dislike what I have to say about our society. You may even hate how personal this will be. This column starts with a serious statement: Everyone is lonely. Since when… Read more »

Summer vacation can be great. It offers time to catch up with old friends, take a break from classes and make some extra money. However, there comes a time to examine whether we really need summer break or if that time could be put to better use. The University… Read more »

More than 60 years ago the United States sat on the sidelines, watching as the world engulfed itself in the flames of war. Then, the attacks on Pearl Harbor occurred. America was shaken out of its isolationist habits. No longer were the days of solitude. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto remarked, “I… Read more »

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, has written legislation that would ban citizens from carrying concealed weapons in the Capitol. The legislation is aimed at changing part of the concealed carry legislation signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker in July 2011. It is simple — guns should not be allowed in… Read more »

Last week’s elections for the Associated Students of Madison once again boasted impressively poor turnout — roughly 15 percent, all told. With such woefully low turnout, ASM is dangerously close to being an illegitimate government. Luckily for them, however, no one actually cares enough to make a fuss about the… Read more »

As current representatives and representative-elects of the Associated Students of Madison, we are writing to express our concern that Interim Chancellor David Ward has not honored ASM’s decision to approve a contract for Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group and we urge Ward to respect our decision for the next fiscal… Read more »

Gov. Scott Walker spent the weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference dancing around the idea of running for president in 2016. Walker told Politico in an interview Friday he was not ruling out a run for president. Walker also declined to commit to serving a full second term if… Read more »

The negative effects of the 2008 financial collapse are still lingering in the U.S. economy, making it harder for people to find long-term employment and also impeding the efforts of college graduates to keep up with their student loan payments. Yet the biggest Wall Street financial institutions seem to be… Read more »

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the University of Wisconsin’s next chancellor will not enter Bascom Hall this July with a blank slate. Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, the economist on her way to becoming UW’s next chancellor, will inherit a complex political situation that this board dubbed… Read more »

If you were to tell me you have never once let your attention wander to Facebook, Reddit or text messages while in class, I think we can all agree that would be an outright lie. But while I agree with parts of Garth Beyer’s column last week on student web… Read more »

I find interim Chancellor David Ward’s letter to the campus from last week about the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group to be full of excuses for why students should not be able to fund WISPIRG. Frankly, it is full of a whole lot of nothing.  First off, the arguments presented… Read more »

A few weeks ago, the University of Wisconsin unveiled plans to offer four Massive Open Online Courses in the coming academic year. Including classes on video games and learning, global higher education, human evolution and market frictions, the courses will be delivered through a platform managed by the online learning… Read more »

I’m going to be bold here and ask a question: “Does anyone pay attention in lectures?” Of course some students do, but the majority are busy with other things: Facebook, emails, applying to internships (I hope you see the irony of this), reading, texting and now - what is most trendy… Read more »

If there was one person who understood the value of Coca-Cola, it was Andy Warhol. “What’s great about this country,” Warhol said, “is that … the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest… the president drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola… you can drink Coca-Cola, too… no amount… Read more »

If there’s one thing I love about America other than the song “Free Bird” and water skiing squirrels, it’s American tradition. American traditions range from hot dog eating contests to chopping down a tree with your family during the Christmas season – something that almost led to disaster one year… Read more »

Throughout the past several days, I have watched my Facebook newsfeed explode with whiney posts asking members of the University of Wisconsin community to sign an ever-changing petition to “preserve” Langdon Street. Langdon residents of all sorts have signed this petition, which requests that the city approve the Langdon area… Read more »

Wisconsin is not just known for making world class dairy products or for being the home of the historic Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately, we are known for something else: our pervasive drinking culture. Drinking in and of itself is not a bad thing. Yet, when our state laws permit people’s… Read more »

Today, choice is a popular buzzword in the debate over women’s health. Women argue they should be able to choose independently about health: “Do I want to have children? Where do I want to give birth? Do I want to use oral contraceptives?” Gender equality will only be a reality… Read more »

I have a confession: I have a huge sweet tooth and can’t resist a bubbly beverage (I’m referring to soda, of course). But neither can America, and what’s the cost? With more than 65 percent of adult Americans overweight and 5,000 dying every day as a result of obesity, it’s… Read more »

Two stories have so far defined this semester at the University of Wisconsin: an important search for the institution’s new leader and a much less important debate over someone who believes he holds control over the entire UW community. But the university’s search for a new chancellor, possibly the most… Read more »

Last week, Matt Manes had a column published in this newspaper that explained how to make college less affordable for everyone at the University of Wisconsin by raising segregated fees. Mr. Manes has experience in the practice, having secured over $95,000 for his newly established student organization, the Medieval Warriorcraft… Read more »

Mental health is an increasingly discussed topic in today’s society and for the better. In a 2009 study by the American College Health Association, 30 percent of college students reported experiencing depression so bad that it was difficult to function and there is little to show that has changed. Ignoring… Read more »

On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took the Senate floor at 11:47 a.m. He didn’t yield it until 12.39 a.m. Thursday. Paul’s filibuster, one of the longest traditional filibusters in recent memory, gained immediate traction on social media. Paul was filibustering the confirmation of John Brennan as director of the… Read more »

I seem to remember an old saying that goes something like: “If you’re going to lose your job, you might as well make a complete ass of yourself in the process.” Maybe I’m mistaken — maybe that’s not an old saying. Regardless, it seems to be the philosophy of Democratic Party spokesperson… Read more »

Let’s talk about sex. About two weeks ago, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it would be closing four of its health centers in the state. This amounts to a little more than 10 percent of Planned Parenthood infrastructure here in Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood cited state budget cuts as the primary reason… Read more »

If you’ve tuned in to campus news any time over the past 10 years, you’ve probably heard of the General Student Services Fund, our student government’s poorly structured funding opportunity for student organizations. Every year, some service organizations are awarded upwards of $100,000 apiece, while others central to our community… Read more »

Recently, the University of Wisconsin announced it will be offering four online courses next fall that will be available to the public free of charge. These courses will be taught by UW professors, but students enrolled in the courses will not earn college credit. Upon hearing this news, I was… Read more »

Downtown Madison’s restaurant scene is uncommonly vibrant — State Street is home to Thai, Afghani, East African, Italian, Japanese, Nepali and Mexican cuisines, to name a few.  The high quality and notable diversity of downtown dining can be attributed to the fierce competition that results from the sheer number of… 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 »

This past week, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate passed a controversial bill which would drastically change Wisconsin’s iron mining regulations. An identical bill will be picked up in the state’s Republican-controlled Assembly this week and will mostly likely pass there as well. Republican lawmakers authored the bill to hasten the process… Read more »

The Associated Students of Madison is using student segregated fees to reimburse several students for the cost of attending the Conservative Political Action Conference this month, the latest bad idea in a long tradition of bad ideas for using segregated fees. The students attending the event will be from different… Read more »

It seems to follow you nearly everywhere you go. Whether it’s banking, student loans, credit card, cell phone or online entertainment agreements, each has essentially the same controversial contract provision: mandatory binding arbitration. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently studying the effects of this type of contract provision and… Read more »

I was somewhat puzzled by the fracas at the Associated Students of Madison over the group of students who wish to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Here’s why: It is a rare week when our course readings do not disparage Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, capitalism,… Read more »

While we may all still be stuck in the marshes of midterms right now, in a few weeks we will be preparing for the end of another semester. And a good portion of us will be preparing to take advantage of our last opportunities to have fun and relax before… Read more »

Bob Woodward was having a fairly good month up until now. After having been relatively quiet for several years, Woodward was thrust back into the spotlight for his reporting on the sequester. When President Barack Obama tried to shift the blame onto congressional Republicans, Woodward reported the idea of the… Read more »

This Week’s Winner: Winter. Given that March was fast approaching and a couple warm weeks had thawed things out in Madison, we all thought winter was over — that’s what winter wanted us to think. That’s how winter is — it strikes when we least expect it. Tuesday night was characterized by a… Read more »

I grew up hating naps.This may have been due to the traumatic experience of waking up from a nap when I was six years old to the sound of chainsaws cutting down my favorite climbing tree. Or it may have been I felt I was wasting nearly an hour – sometimes… Read more »

Another day, another debt crisis. Last Saturday, The New York Times published an article about the dangers of student loan debt from graduate school. Which graduate programs you ask? Surely law school, where reports of six-figure debts, unemployment or underemployment are commonplace. Perhaps a special on for-profit schools, institutions where approximately 86… Read more »

Earlier this month, Gov. Scott Walker declined federal funds to expand Wisconsin’s Medicaid coverage to more of the state’s citizens. The exact details of the expansion and Walker’s alternative proposal are not important — suffice to say that, as compared to Walker’s plan, expanding coverage as part of the Affordable… Read more »

It is no secret students at the University of Wisconsin occasionally indulge in weekend, shall we say, revelries. Football gamedays, Halloween weekend and Thursday nights out are all part of the cultural landscape of Madison. While these activities can be both fun and harmless, they can also have serious repercussions:… Read more »

I want to talk about the “UW-Madison Confessions” Facebook page and the manufactured controversy that has recently surrounded it. If you’re the rare student not aware of what’s going on, here is the gist: two weeks ago, someone started a Facebook page allowing University of Wisconsin students to post anonymous… Read more »

When I enrolled in Gender and Women Studies 103 — Women’s Bodies in Health and Disease — I was looking to score some quick, non-sciencey science credit. I was more than a bit skeptical about taking a GWS class because I was convinced it would label me a feminist and… Read more »

Gov. Scott Walker unveiled his budget proposals last week in a speech before the Legislature. Many of his proposals have received criticism throughout the state, including those on tax cuts, Medicaid coverage and school vouchers. Although his budget proposal to collect DNA from people arrested on felony and certain misdemeanor… Read more »

Allow us, for a moment, to indulge our journalistic predisposition for cliché: The University of Wisconsin finds itself at a crossroads. This has been the stuff incessantly-repeated for the two-and-one-half years since former Chancellor Biddy Martin began to roll out the New Badger Partnership, a crucial, controversial and ultimately doomed… Read more »

In a recent piece titled “Sequester: Congress screws Up,” Joe Timmerman does an admirable (although quite easy) job of explaining why the sequester is a bad idea. However, his claim it is a “congressionally-manufactured crisis” is not accurate. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post has argued the sequester was an idea… Read more »

I am extremely concerned the open-pit mining bill will lead to irreparable harm to Wisconsin’s natural resources, particularly the water quality and quantity of many streams, rivers, lakes and ground water sources in the Penokee Hills and the Bad River Watershed. The Bill, SB1/AB1, grants mining companies broad exemptions from… Read more »

After the passage of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, which stripped public sector employees of their collective bargaining rights, Walker became an instant Tea Party favorite. Since then, Walker has begun a march back toward the center, most recently evident in his 2013-2015 budget and likely continuing through his… Read more »

Considering the devastating impact of the Great Recession in 2008 and the subsequent years of slow but steady recovery, one would think Congressional lawmakers would do anything and everything in their power to protect the fragile U.S. economy. In light of recent elections dominated by economic considerations, one would expect… Read more »

On Thursday, the Associated Press added the following entry to their style guide: “Regardless of sexual orientation, husband or wife is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally recognized marriage. Spouse or partner may be used if requested.” Before this, the AP had never published specific guidelines… Read more »

Hark! Good news! According to a recent Gallup survey, congressional approval is on the rise — from 14 percent in January to 15 percent in February. Unfortunately for Congress, this staggering increase of one whole percentage point is unlikely to stick around in the face of billions of dollars in… Read more »

I’ve always been a hockey fan. Maybe I was genetically predisposed to love the game, considering my father taught me to skate as soon as I could walk, and that his father coached his neighborhood peewee teams. It could also be a byproduct of growing up in St. Paul, Minn.… Read more »

As volatile conditions in the Middle East continue to unravel, we feel responsible to start this semester addressing an issue extremely important to both of our parties: the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. The Iranian threat goes far beyond the use of a warhead on American soil. If Iran were… Read more »

Today is the Wisconsin Supreme Court primary election. Sadly, few, if any, will take the time to participate in this all-too-often nuanced election, which will narrow the field from three candidates to the two who will face off in the April 2 general election. However, I feel it is my… Read more »

Wisconsin residents have the opportunity to vote in the state primary election today. Voters will decide which candidates move forward to the spring general election, including candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. I encourage you all to make your voice heard today by voting. Even so, I think the state… Read more »

The debate over how to optimize the college system has been approached from countless angles. Is it best to aim for smaller class sizes, increase scholarship funding or explore new methods of learning? For my part, I believe the best way to improve a college education is to start at… Read more »

A few weeks ago, the first of several community meetings was held to address the unfortunate November shooting that took place last semester. Paul Heenan was fatally shot during a confrontation with a Madison Police Department officer who was responding to a burglary call that stemmed from Heenan mistakenly entering the… Read more »

The most prescient lesson Republicans took away from the 2012 presidential election was the need to pay attention to demographics. As Americans are becoming more racially, economically and socially divided than at any point in our country’s history, the Republican Party’s narrow appeals to the descendants of WASP’s and Rockefeller’s need… Read more »

Question: What is the connection between the movie “Babe” and experimental cats at the University of Wisconsin? Answer: James Cromwell. After Cromwell’s role as Farmer Hoggett in the childhood classic, “Babe,” we all thought he was a pig person. We were wrong. Cromwell was arrested last Thursday after storming into… Read more »

In the State of the Union address, President Barack Obama approached higher education from the same economic perspective he usually does. He stressed how education builds a well-trained workforce and fuels a high-tech economy, opening up the subject of higher education with the truism, “The more education you have, the… Read more »

While President Barack Obama handily defeated former Gov. Mitt Romney last fall, election season gave Americans an opportunity to reflect on his first four years in office. The election raised questions as to whether or not Obama followed through on the campaign promises he ran on in 2008, and his performance… Read more »

One of my strongest hopes for what President Barack Obama will introduce in tonight’s State of the Union address — a renewed commitment to the green jobs agenda — is highly unlikely to even receive lip service when he steps onto the House floor. Green jobs became the Achilles’ heel… Read more »

As the Northeast digs itself out of the recent snowstorm, the National Weather Service warns of a blizzard heading for the north central U.S. Wisconsin is likely to be included in the periphery of the weather event. Southeastern Wisconsin is expected to get mostly freezing rain, which would make travelling… Read more »

I was dismayed to learn the University of Wisconsin is still tormenting cats in cruel and useless “sound localization” experiments. Cats used in these experiments have steel coils implanted in their eyes, holes drilled into their skulls and electrodes implanted in their brains. Sometimes, they even have their ears cut… Read more »

Newspapers cover anniversaries too often. This is a painfully common sentiment among media critics and the paper-reading public; at some point a momentous event becomes impossible to eulogize or commemorate without seeming repetitive. This week marks two years since the beginning of “the protests that changed Wisconsin forever.” The occasion… Read more »

I have an awkward history with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. When he was trounced by former President George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican Primary, he seemed interesting to me, like a gentile Ariel Sharon. When he blasted the Bush administration for torture, he seemed like a humanist. When he nominated… Read more »

Purchasing expensive textbooks is, for the most part, a necessary evil. After all, it’s not easy to make a textbook. Writing a college-level text requires a significant time commitment from a number of very well-educated and intelligent people – people whose time is valuable, and who must be compensated well… Read more »

Under pressure from opponents of his gun control agenda, President Barack Obama recently released a photo of himself skeet shooting at Camp David to prove his assertion in an interview with The New Republic that he goes “skeet shooting all the time.”  The sincere controversy over this skeet shooting photo… Read more »

A fight resulting in a shot being fired outside a concert at The Frequency Jan. 28 has led the venue to eliminate hip-hop shows in the future. The small music club on West Main Street announced on their Facebook page they would no longer host local, regional or national hip-hop shows.… Read more »

Society is in a constant state of flux. As society and technology change, the law must change along with them. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act does not reflect the evolution of technology that has occurred since its passage in 1986 and is now outdated. It is time for Congress to… Read more »

All fields of study are created equal. Some are just more equal than others. For example, business, nursing and computer sciences are perceived as more worthwhile for a university to have than, say, the Scandinavian languages (who would ever … ) or comparative literature. The latter group of “less valuable”… Read more »

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” These memorable words are inscribed on the gates of Hell in the work Inferno, the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. And there is no better description in the written world that should represent the moniker of the dark, sunlight-deprived crap stain that… Read more »

The following is my reaction to the Jan. 31 column titled “Walker willfully misrepresents bow and arrow incident.” The opinion piece attacked Gov. Scott Walker’s Jan. 10 comments regarding how the tragedy at [Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.,] affected his stance on gun control; Walker said too much… Read more »

Committee hearings are political drama par excellence. Witnesses speak under oath, cameras are on full display and questions have been meticulously prepared by those conducting the investigation to be both barbed and combative. Senators stare down at those testifying from behind their nametags, waiting for the opportunity to ask a… Read more »

For those of us who leave the state for winter break, it can be difficult to keep up with current events in Wisconsin. So while I wasn’t surprised to find I was behind on the news when I came back after break, I was pretty shocked I had somehow missed… Read more »

Over the years, Madison has gained a reputation for being a “party school,” with beer guzzling, keg-standing college students running amuck every which way on weekend nights. So, it only makes sense a beer company would eventually begin to advertise more aggressively in Madison. And not just any beer company… Read more »

Academically speaking, one of the relatively few universal undergraduate experiences at the University of Wisconsin is an ethnic studies course. It’s a graduation requirement that serves as a sort of common ground for the student body — a common ground that is constantly evolving. As the UW prepares its new… Read more »

Don’t ever let anyone trick you into thinking universities aren’t businesses. They produce quality products for which there is a huge demand: skilled workers. They put money down on infrastructure and football teams in an effort to attract the best investments they can: the brightest and most driven learners. Then… Read more »

Mining regulation reform has returned to the foreground of Wisconsin legislation. Last year, controversy erupted over a bill that would streamline the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources permitting process and reduce environmental standards for mines across the state. The plot was thickened by the fact the mining firm Gogebic Taconite made clear… Read more »

Welcome, everyone, to a new semester at The Badger Herald Editorial Page. As the editorial page editors, we’d like to take a few moments to introduce ourselves and lay out our vision for the page over the coming months. First, a little bit about the two of us: Charles, the… Read more »

In the northern United States, we like to say that there are two seasons of the year: winter and construction. As anyone who has been woken up by the sound of a jackhammer on pavement at 9:00 a.m. can tell you, construction projects around these parts are never ending. Whether… Read more »

In his quest to bring medieval fighting to the fore in student life, former Student Services Finance Committee chair Matt Manes succeeded in pulling Excalibur from the proverbial stone. In the case of this sword-related metaphor, we’re referring to his successful application to fund his live action role-playing club, also… Read more »

Even though our 2012 election endorsements were powerful, laurel-worthy and heroic, The Badger Herald Editorial Board cannot take that much credit for the national and statewide Democratic victories. Ever the tastemakers, our endorsement track record further cements the staggering and mind-numbing influence student editorial boards play in national politics. These… Read more »

We endorsed President Barack Obama as a candidate because we feel he has earned a second term. He exhibited the leadership qualities necessary to address the pressing policy issues facing the United States today. However, this victory represents more than a vote of confidence in his executive leadership — it… Read more »

With the presidential election coming up this Tuesday, I find myself asking, why the heck do we vote on a Tuesday? The answer, as CNN showed, is we passed a law in 1845 to vote on the first Tuesday in November to accommodate people traveling by horse and buggy. That’s… Read more »

Tuesday, the search for a new University of Wisconsin chancellor developed as the makeup of the committee that will screen applicants was announced. The Search and Screen Committee will be comprised of 13 faculty members, two classified staff members, two administrators, four community members … and just two students. The… Read more »

Going away to college for the first time raises a plethora of emotions in both students and their parents. Students are anxious to get away from home and see what life is like living on their own. Parents can’t help but give lectures on what their child should or shouldn’t… Read more »

After hearing Tuesday night’s State of the State address, a Wisconsinite should be able to flush at least one clear and definite thing: The Green Bay Packers will right our economic ship. Governor Scott Walker issued his first State of the State address on Feb. 1 in Madison. While focusing… Read more »

This past Tuesday, Governor Scott Walker delivered the State of the State address. The 30 minute speech was a candid assessment of the budgetary challenges Wisconsin faces and a vague outline of ‘what must be done’ to solve those budgetary woes. Walker was quick to point out the legislation that… Read more »