Per tradition, this year’s Badger Herald Editorial Board aims to be a voice of the student community, weighing in on issues of importance to students regarding campus, local and state affairs.
While our board attempts to act as a voice of authority, we do recognize that we are only college students, and consider things like the consumption of alcohol and how one will spend his or her Thursday night of particular significance.
If there is a topic that we should cover, or if you’d like to respond to anything we write, drop us an email at [email protected]. We’d be happy to meet with you.
Here is this year’s Editorial Board:
Editorial Board Chair Joe Timmerman
Hi everyone, my name’s Joe, and I’m starting my senior year as a math and economics double major with a computer science certificate. This fall will mark my seventh semester at the Herald and my fourth semester as a member of the Editorial Board. I originally got involved with the Herald through a lucky set of circumstances — I wrote a letter to the editor on behalf of a political group I was working with, and the editors liked it enough to ask me to start writing regularly. Within a semester I was out of politics and had thrown myself headfirst into the newspaper. In between starting as a columnist freshman year and now, I spent a year as an editorial page editor.
After this year, I’m hoping to go to graduate school for math (although sometimes getting paid a reasonable salary to do an actual job sounds appealing too.) If I wrote something you don’t like, or you just want to chat, I can usually be found wandering around in the vicinity of Van Vleck. If you’d rather avoid Van Vleck, I can also be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @joetimmerman.
Editor-in-Chief Tara Golshan
The first time I walked into The Badger Herald office and saw the mélange of garbage, scary street furniture, scattered newspapers and bad Chinese food, I knew I was home.
In the past three years, I have gone through the ranks as a Herald politics reporter, higher education editor and news editor. This year I am the editor-in-chief in hopes of bringing my childhood “Gilmore Girls” dreams to fruition.
I’m a senior majoring in journalism and international studies, typically found reeling at the sheer genius of Ira Glass on “This American Life” and Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad on “RadioLab” (**EMPLOY ME PLEASE**).
As for politics, until now news reporting has always been my in — whether on campus, in the city or in the state. Ultimately, I have a passion for stories. Few things feel better than walking out of a powerful interview and being able to share an important story with the community.
Stories of interest: reproductive rights, health care, building developments and more generally, the relationship between Bascom Hill and the Capitol.
With the end of my days of news reporting for The Badger Herald, here is to a year on the dark side of having opinions.
Managing Editor Katie Caron
This semester marks my seventh at The Badger Herald and my third as Managing Editor and member of the Editorial Board. I started as a wide-eyed news reporter my first week at the University of Wisconsin and covered the campus beat before leading the news section and moving up to my current position where I’m allowed to have opinions.
As I begin my last year as a journalism student, I’ll continue to bring my news chops to the Editorial Board and am excited to hear new perspectives and engage with the campus community.
My interests include environmental issues, universal health care and mental health awareness. Highest on my list are women’s issues, including reproductive rights and basic gender and workplace equality. Yes, I am a proud feminist — and you can be one too!
On a less political level, I love pop culture (who else is still reeling after Bey’s VMAs performance?), music, movies and TV. When I’m not in Vilas Hall or at the Herald office you can find me reading the Internet, having fun hanging with friends and just doing stuff normal #millennials do.
If you want to talk about something I wrote, or your feelings about Lil Bub or the patriarchy, hit me up at [email protected]/Tweet me @kfcaron.
Board of Directors Chair Will Haynes
This Board printed its first “ASM watch,” March 15, 1994 warning readers that this newly minted seat of student power “more than ever … needs watching.”
And while ASM has arguably proven itself as a capable student government over the past 20 years, the role of these august pages has not changed. As a returning member of this Board I intend to continue the Herald’s tradition of inquiry: unburying the important issues relevant to students happening across campus and the city for greater student scrutiny.
It’s a desire to leave the University of Wisconsin in better shape than I found it for the thousands of Badgers ahead of me that inspired me to join the Herald in the first place. From our cozy State Street offices, I’ve watched issues such as campus safety, diversity and student service funding come to head.
With senior year upon me, it’s time to cut through the talk and expose what’s at the core of these issues. After all, that’s the role of college media. As for you, the reader: We’d love for you to join the discussion. Leave comments on our website, send me a tweet at @willhaynes or email me at [email protected].
Editorial Page Editor Briana Reilly
As a sophomore double-majoring in journalism and international studies, and a second-time member of the Herald Editorial Board, I’m your typical cut-and-dry collegiate journalism student. I love writing, synergy, procrastination, free food, opinions, the Herald and grammar. And according to Buzzfeed’s “Which Random Disney Background Character Are You?” I am “this kid from Aladdin” (and according to the subsequent description, that makes me a great person).
As for my ideologies, I tend to lean left. I’m a really big supporter of people just being people; I hold personal freedom very high, as long as one individual isn’t infringing upon another. Despite this, I am pretty religious; in fact, the most accurate label for me would be the contradictory one of “liberal Catholic.” Additionally, I have become much more critical of the world around me after spending the summer in China, specifically regarding social and governmental policies, not only in the United States but abroad. And lastly, I’m more realistic than idealistic.
I love reaching out to people and being reached out to. Feel free to contact me via email at [email protected].
Editorial Page Editor Maddie Sweitzer
Once upon a time in 1986, The Badger Herald sports editor and advertising manager fell in love, got married and produced me. Yes, I ended up on the opinion pages of the newspaper that brought my parents together. I am a third generation Badger that hails from the sprawling urban metropolis of … Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. I am new to the editorial staff of the Herald so this is my first semester on the Editorial Board, but my third at the Herald. My free time is spent eating Italian food, going through tumblr and weeping bitterly over my expected future salary as a columnist for a professional newspaper.
I have been called a libertarian, but I stay away from a definitive political label because partisanship and dogma are no-no’s. I tend to be more liberal on social issues, but am strongly in favor of small government. I also self-identify as the dreaded F-word (feminist). Yes, I shave and no, I’m not a men-hating lesbian. I have no shortage of opinions, but the issues that are sure to get me going include the gender pay gap, LGBT rights and freedom of speech. When it comes to things I’m passionate about, I take stubborn as a compliment.
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Twitter @mcsweitzer.
