Politics are stricken with challenges. There will always be two sides to every issue and citizens will pick sides. It is one thing to voice an opinion, but another to publicize it.

When I was first asked to write a point-counterpoint article, I was a little skeptical, but mostly excited to write against someone with opposite beliefs from my own. Liz and I met to discuss everything that we disagreed about and discovered that, not only did we disagree politically but also socially. These disagreements on virtually everything turned into articles that we produced throughout the year on more aspects of life than politics. There were times when our agreements surpassed our disagreements and the only subject that we could agree to disagree about was the weather. In this very controversial year of politics, not only did we occasionally flip sides because of personal beliefs, but we challenged each other in them.

The year started off with the very controversial City of Madison smoke-free ordinance. Since there are no safe levels of secondhand smoke, it is important that policies are as committed as possible to eliminating tobacco smoke of any type in public places. Liz and I were together at the at the City Council meeting until 3:30 a.m. waiting to hear if the council would repeal the ban. I was the speaker for the Dane County Smoke Free Coalition and Liz attended because of her involvement with SmokeFree Wisconsin.

We agree that going into bars in Madison is a much more enjoyable experience now, due to the lack of cigarette smoke. People are also less likely to smoke in general, making it easier to quit when they are not surrounded by it and are forced to retreat outdoors to have a light.

Wednesday, the Senate voted on AB 414/SB 202, which would preempt all local smoke-free ordinances in Wisconsin, which we both clearly oppose. Public health should be public concern. It is time for the state of Wisconsin to realize this fact and protect legislation that works. In fact, the state should follow the lead of cities like Madison, Appleton and Shorewood Hills and enact a comprehensive smoke-free law to protect all Wisconsin citizens from secondhand smoke.

In January, Liz and I published columns on school vouchers in Milwaukee, which is an issue that we both oppose, but for different reasons. We agree that accountability should be required of the private schools that participate in the voucher program but differ as to which parts of the current voucher program we think are worth protecting.

There are many aspects of school vouchers that are promising and helpful to those students of lower socioeconomic status, which accounts for many success stories. Unfortunately, Milwaukee has few voucher schools that are capable. The fault lies in the administration and state Legislature that have continued to spend money without reports from voucher schools regarding students' status.

It is disappointing that another $83,034,407 of taxpayer money has been wasted. When many of the voucher schools first opened, qualified teachers found that their scheduled plan for the class was not sufficient. Besides students' education being well below par for students of their same age, many did not even attend class at all. My counterpart calls for the elimination of religious schools from the program, while I believe they should be included. Instead of wasting time and money on voucher schools, Milwaukee needs to revamp its public schools and allow vouchers for certain private and religious schools only.

Our point-counterpoint article this year has been as controversial as the issues it introduced. Through our disagreements, Liz and I managed to publish almost 20 columns together that, for the most part, pleased our readers. I can't thank Liz enough for challenging my politics more than anyone else ever has while respecting my beliefs at the same time. Good luck with everything that you tackle in the future.

Joelle Parks ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.