Oh, the bickering. Just a few breaths into the semester and the screaming has begun. At the beginning of a semester, some ordinary questions ensue. Many strive to learn the background of the new friend sitting next to them in their early class and in turn ask where they are from, what year they are in school and where they live on campus.

Take this scenario, for example. Picture a political-science lecture filled with a couple hundred (rather political) students. "What are you?" the new guy sitting next to me asks. Bewildered I might respond "a woman," "a senior" or "a Cubs fan." This individual's question has still not been answered and I'm well aware. Now they may say with just a touch of irritation in their voice, "Are you conservative or liberal?" And my response could be any number of things.

There is no in-between these days, and a few folks made sure they'd label themselves right off the bat in The Badger Herald this past week. Why the labeling process is necessary, I'm not sure. Now don't get me wrong, there's no harm in declaring your political sway in writing but my question is this: what were you hoping to accomplish?

For those that did the labeling, if you can answer this question and your goal was accomplished, then excellent. But did any one else who read your columns get it?

One particular piece, "Confessions of a conservative grad student," sparked quite a bit of online feedback in that this individual chose to not only tattoo "I love George W. Bush" on her forehead, but also throw some punches at her colleagues. If this is really all about who gets to sit at the cool kids' table in the grad lounge, then perhaps a better venue for discussion would have been the hallways over at Madison West High School. If this column was about academic diversity, the point should have been made clearer. And if the author was aiming for something altogether different, I missed it, unless of course she was just trying to say all conservatives are victims on campus.

I'm sure being conservative on campus is hard. (Oops, did I give something away?) I don't doubt it for a second. Being any kind of minority has its difficulties. But does attacking your colleagues make it easier? Not in my book. I'm sorry they took you off the dinner list, but take it up with them off the Herald's pages, please.

Writing for the opinion page of a newspaper takes either a rather courageous or pompous individual. And I will applaud Darryn Beckstrom's courage in addressing a growing tiff she has with the University of Wisconsin in her column. But I can only hope that next time around, she chooses her words more wisely. And I'm sure many of her colleagues would appreciate that, as well.

Hurricane Katrina: The balance between covering local, national and international news at a college newspaper is not easy. National news has been covered with pictures, commentary and human interest pieces surrounding the aftermath of the hurricane. Local news is showing what efforts are being made within Dane County and UW, which the Herald's editorial board did discuss Wednesday.

But readers are requesting more coverage and I am reiterating their sentiment. How exactly is UW helping? Are students getting involved? Are fundraising efforts in the works on campus? Lastly, and most importantly, please let the students at UW know how they too can help. This is just a plea from another ordinary UW senior.

And as a disclaimer to the Herald staff: It's the first full week of publishing and everyone is getting used to the grind. So good job, folks! The papers are indeed looking great, but a little critique never hurt anyone. As the flow continues, this column will also feature a few compliments here and there. Trust me.

Cristina Daglas, former editor in chief of The Badger Herald, is now the paper's ombudsman. Readers are encouraged to e-mail thoughts, criticisms and observations of the paper to [email protected] or call her at (608) 257-4712 ext. 168. Her column will appear every Thursday on this page.