Over the past several weeks, I have noticed a change in The Badger Herald’s editorials. From week one of the semester, each of the Herald’s editorials has consistently improved on the last. How does it feel to be Madison’s premier beacon of considered opinion?
This new-found brilliance is even more astounding when we consider where the Herald started the semester. But from the demented scribblings that made up the majority of the Herald’s early efforts, to the smug auto-regurgitation of neo-conservative dogma that characterized most of late
September, to the recent sparkling gems, each editorial has brought us to a new and unheard-of level of erudition and intellect. And they just keep getting better!
Monday’s missive from the Herald’s resident sages informed us that the Tenant Resource Center was asking for a budget of $62,000 and that they gave advice to 1,000 students, for a cost of $620 each. 62,000/1,000 = 620? This is one of the most original and creative opinions I have seen from the Herald Editorial crew, and I can only hope to see more of the same in the future. It’s great to see that you will finally challenge the so-called ‘verities’ of basic mathematics with the same vigor you previously brought against the sanctimonious ‘truths’ of leftist nonsense. I await the proof eagerly. Forward, Herald!
Craig Chamberlin, Madison resident
As discussion of recent and future tuition hikes continues, it is important for students to recognize the role that energy waste is playing in the cost of their tuition. Most students that have been on campus for any length of time have noticed lights and computers left on in classrooms and labs all over campus at night or doors and windows left open in winter due to poor temperature management.
This negligence, combined with rising energy costs, led to a $7 million deficit in the UW-Madison budget last school year. In addition to high mercury levels in our lakes, acid rain, CO2 emissions and particulate pollution linked to asthma — caused by our university power plants — students and taxpayers are feeling the burn in their wallets.
The chancellor has failed to make energy conservation and use of renewable energy sources a priority despite the efforts of WisPIRG’s “Big Red, Go Green!” campaign to get a commitment to a 7 percent energy use reduction by 2008.
Students, community members, faculty, staff, alumni and taxpayers need to join together against this threat to academic quality, affordable education and a clean healthy environment. I urge them to contact the administration, Chancellor John Wiley and UW System President Katherine Lyall. With so many world experts on global warming and energy policy here at UW, why are we leading the way in waste?
Aquene Freechild, UW junior
