Support “Big Red, Go Green”

As I walk to class each day, I catch sight of the Charter Street coal-burning power plant on campus and am reminded of the negative health effects of energy production. Sulfur dioxide and particulate matter are two of the major pollutants of coal-burning power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants have been shown to increase the amount of respiratory illness such as bronchial asthma. Hospitals see increased emergency room visits on high ozone days. A report by Environmental Decade in 1999 cited 28 premature deaths due to particulate matter in Madison alone. We all need to invest in cleaner energy sources like wind and solar and decrease our reliance on dirty power like coal. Here on campus, students are working with the university to commit to a 7 percent reduction in energy consumption from 2000-2008 and investment in renewable energy. The campaign is entitled “Big Red, Go Green.” Major institutions such as UW-Madison can lead the way to cleaner energy and smarter, more efficient energy consumption that is better for human health, the pocketbook and the environment.

Jennifer Jankowski, UW senior

Thompson has what it takes

I am writing in response to the quite ridiculous comments by Professor Donald Downs at the end of a November Badger Herald article about third-party candidate Ed Thompson’s announcement bid for governor. I know Downs is a very informed and interesting lecturer, but it is now quite clear that Downs will speak extremely bluntly without any knowledge about the topic.

Downs claims, “I don’t believe name recognition is enough on its own.” I don’t disagree. This is precisely why Thompson is not depending on name recognition. Ed Thompson has claimed he is not expecting Tommy’s support, nor will try even to follow Tommy Thompson’s ideology.

What will Ed go on then?

He is not a career politician — this will bring out the disenfranchised voter. In his mayoral election, voter turnout was at an all-time high.

His record. Ed erased a $4 million Tomah debt without any tax increase.

The issues. Ed’s knowledge of the issues is unparalleled and he can easily out-debate any of the Republicrat candidates. In addition to this, Ed has already broken the record for money raised by a third-party candidate. He has raised over $80,000, with no donation over $1,000. That means whereas McCallum and Doyle may receive $10,000 from this PAC and that rich man, Ed receives $50 from 200 different working class men and women.

This will go a long way. Those of us who support Ed are passionate, and he will win.

Joshua Thompson, UW senior

Don’t blame bad luck for Badger loss

Cries of “coulda,” shoulda,” woulda,” come this week following the Badgers’ loss to Michigan. Ask a Bucky fan, and Wisconsin dominated the Wolverines the entire game, only to lose on a “fluke” play. Madison’s PBS station and a few Badger players have claimed Michigan is the luckiest team in college football, and that “they get all the bounces.”

But football doesn’t work that way. Think UM has all the luck? Remember a non-call in 1990 when Desmond Howard was tripped in the end zone during a would-be winning two-point conversion against Michigan State? Recall that a “fluke” (and actually illegal) play by Nebraska against Missouri (the “kicked-ball reception” in overtime) cost Michigan an undisputed national championship in 1997? There are countless other examples.

Wisconsin was the recipient of some heartbreaking misfortune on Saturday night. But bad luck happens to every team, and it seems that every UW loss to UM is followed by complaints of uncharacteristic poor play or bad luck on the side of the Badgers. Rather than accusing Michigan of pure luck or blaming Brett Bell or Mark Neuser for Saturday’s loss, how about considering that Michigan, as bad as they looked, kept themselves in a position to win?

Dan Kashian, UW graduate student

Seiberlich got it all wrong

In her article “Student-of-color groups segregate campus,” Jaime Seiberlich claims a viewpoint-neutral assessment of a Caucasian Culture Club would find it just as relevant and useful as the Multicultural Student Coalition. The Student Services Finance Committee, however, might ask several questions of the CCC that would distinguish this club from one that supports students of color: Do white students make up a disproportionately small number of the total student body? Do white students fail to graduate as often as non-white students? Are white students less likely than non-white students to have parents who completed college and who can serve as role models for them? Do white students face a legacy of deeply entrenched racism?

I am sick of reading arguments that suggest associations that support a historically disadvantaged group are analogous to associations that support an already powerful majority. Non-white students face additional obstacles to those faced by white students, and it is reasonable to assume that resources targeted directly toward them could help them to overcome these obstacles.

The level of hostility towards the MCSC contained in the pages of The Badger Herald continues to amaze me. That, more than anything else, convinces me the MCSC’s proposal is needed.

Joyce Coleman, UW graduate student

As a white UW-Madison student, I was upset by Jaime Seiberlich’s article “Student-of-Color groups segregate campus” that appeared in The Badger Herald Nov. 19.

In her article, she presents her idea that white students are under-represented in multi-cultural issues by creating a hypothetical “white culture club” that would celebrate such things as the “contributions of European men to science and Roman architecture.”

The problem with her logic is that students at this university, regardless of their background, are already surrounded by the philosophy and accomplishments of white culture. We are, in fact, so inundated with white culture that I think sometimes white students forget that only 40 years ago African-Americans were not allowed in the fronts of buses and restricted from certain stores.

Also, I have to wonder how much Seiberlich knows about the scientists, philosophies and architecture of Asia, Africa, Latin America or the Middle East. In-depth understanding of other cultures is something that I believe is missing from my education as well.

So often I hear white students complain that multi-cultural groups “self-segregate” themselves, as Seiberlich puts it. However, I believe that the solution to this problem does not lie in cutting off funding to groups like the Multicultural Student Coalition, but to give multi-cultural groups more funding so that they have the resources to reach out and educate white students like Seiberlich and myself.

Seiberlich concludes that “Only by recognizing the diversity in all students will we overcome the racist view that only students of color are entitled to special privileges.”

I also believe that we need to recognize diversity in all students. However this can only be achieved by giving multicultural groups the funding necessary to educate students about diversity, as well as providing emotional, financial and academic support for students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds so they do not feel adrift and alone in a sea of white culture.

Shawn Marchand, UW junior

I am appalled by the insensitivity in Jamie Seiberlich’s column on what she calls “segregated” students’ organizations! Her opinion is neither insightful nor well thought out. I did not find her metaphors amusing, especially the abbreviation CCC to refer to an all-caucasian organization.

First of all, whites in America do not all have the same ancestry, and not all whites in this country have the same religious background. I don’t believe that the Black Student Union formed because they all had similar skin tones, but rather to explore their common cultural experiences. It seems maybe Seiberlich is unaware racism still exists in this country and that the situation of African-Americans due to racism over the last two hundred years has not been fully repaired. There is no special “white club,” because white is not a single culture.

As for the issue of whites not sitting around and praising their European heritages, I wonder if Seiberlich ever had Columbus Day off in elementary school. The broad generalizations that were made in this column need to be examined more closely. Perhaps it’s not exactly wise to create a fictional club called the CCC (it gave me shivers) when dismissing the agendas of African-American students. Perhaps people like Seiberlich should stop whining and start to investigate why some African-American students desire to have this sort of organization, because it’s silly to react without knowing the cause. Perhaps in examining what lies at the root of the issue and getting rid the ignorance of statements such as Seiberlich’s, the concept of diversity can be better understood and celebrated.

Shayne Wulbert, UW senior

Upon reading Monday’s Badger Herald, I was surprised to see such an uninformed and invalid viewpoint in Jamie Seiberlich’s column.

What Seiberlich fails to appreciate in her argument against student-of-color groups is that the problem of diversity on campus is not as simple as “either give everyone the same amount of money or don’t give it to anyone at all.” Her argument for giving equal funds to the “Caucasian Culture Club” is moot; there is obviously no need for promotion of Caucasian culture when Caucasian culture is already predominant.

The formation of minority groups is necessary for the expression of their viewpoints, as well as the promotion of their standing as a minority. In a campus environment, this requires money. And if there is any group on this campus that deserves money to help promote this cause, the Multicultural Student Coalition is one of them.

Maybe $550,000 is excessive, but maybe not. The MCSC may not be the best vehicle for increasing diversity on campus, but I see no other group that is more effective. Saying the MCSC is ineffective is one thing, but saying that multicultural groups should not exist is another.

Seiberlich seems to be promoting a campus that recognizes the diversity in students’ viewpoints, not their ethnicity. What kind of diversity is this? Political diversity? Religious diversity? Socioeconomic diversity? We already have that — so why not ethnic diversity, too?

While the issue of diversity on campus is undoubtedly complex, one thing is for certain. Minority groups need to exist, and they need funding in order to continue to exist. And, like it or not, ethnic background is indeed a form of diversity.

David Little UW junior