Welcome to the opinion page of The Badger Herald. Opinion tries to be the forum for the campus intellectual dialogue. Liberals, conservatives, socialists — and maybe even the odd prohibitionist — find a home for their arguments on the editorial page five days a week. Our writers enter the political discourse from almost every end of the spectrum, making for a philosophical and cultural diversity that reflects Madison’s unique ability to create intellectual conflict.
Although the Herald began as a right-wing response to the radical campus climate of the Vietnam era, it has since become a nationally renowned college publication, boasting a circulation of 15,000. In the years following its provocative debut, the Herald continued to exist as a beacon of conservative editorial.
In the four decades since its founding, perhaps no section of the Herald has developed as interestingly as Opinion. No longer strictly an agent of conservative ideology, the opinion page seeks to represent the student voice as accurately as possible, as displayed by the wide variation in ideology of our staff, as well as by the biweekly editorials by the College Democrats, the College Republicans, the UW chapter of the International Socialist Organization and — our most recent addition — the UW chapter of the Progressive Dane Party.
We strongly encourage you to become involved in campus affairs. And because it is all too easy to simply encourage some vague idea of engagement, we will be more specific. ASM, the university’s student government, is struggling to maintain a sense of legitimacy. The university has seen its support from public sources, most significantly the state Legislature, decline dramatically. Compared to 12 similar institutions, UW-Madison ranks last in professor salaries. Problems abound in similar proportion to the number of students with the ability to remedy them.
But whether or not you decide the whirl of campus politics is worthy of involvement, we hope — perhaps pray is a better word — you will visit the pages of opinion. Some things you read will be absurd, some of them may shatter your preconceived notions of politics and some will be downright weird. Whatever the nature of the political commentary on a given day, you can be sure at least one particularly provocative column will be flush with online comments venting rage in the time-honored tradition of anonymous posting. You can also be sure the debate will continue on the opinion blog: badgerherald.com/blogs/opinion/. And of course, if you would really like to become a part of the opinion community, you are welcome to attend our new writers meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Herald office at 326 Gorham St.
Take a look at the other sections of this paper if you have the energy. However, with a section that both delivers the facts and then interprets them for you, what more could a concerned reader ask for?
Sincerely,
Sam Clegg and Jack Craver
Editorial Page Editors
