I am a student running for the First District of the Dane County Board.??I decided to run because I want to improve your quality of life by working for a county government that operates efficiently and effectively and addresses the needs of the people.
Most important to improving the quality of life is controlling living costs and assuring adequate funding for county programs. My opponent fails to realize this notion with his support of rail transit.
Rail transit hurts economically and jeopardizes adequate funding for county programs. Given the fiscal constraints facing Dane County, a more attractive alternative rests in increased and improved busing as well as encouraging rideshare programs.'?
In fact, rail transit poses a negative impact on the environment. A recent study by the Center for the American Dream demonstrates that rail transit is ineffective. The study supports the negative environmental impact with a recently scrapped diesel-powered commuter rail line in Burlington, Vt.
In Vermont more than 53,000 gallons of gasoline was saved by taking cars off the road. Conversely, the diesel engine consumed 124,000 gallons annually, yielding a net loss of 71,000 gallons. In this case, a rail transit solution used more fuel, polluting the environment more. So will commuter rail actually help curb pollution'
Another example of rail transit is light rail, which is still in the planning stages in Dane County with millions spent on research for it.?? The Transport 2020 Committee estimated light rail would incur a startup cost of $188 million with an annual operating cost of $50 million. The amount of riders on this transit system is questionable, and in terms of opportunity cost, this is ineffective, undesirable and shortsighted.?? Resources are better spent on enhancing and improving the bus system.''
Rail transit would deny funding for vital programs and precariously jeopardize the quality of life in Dane County. Some important programs that would be threatened include sexual assault prevention and consoling, domestic abuse prevention, care for the mentally ill, and aid for developmentally disabled.??
On April 6, it is time to take back the First District seat and choose a voice that is dedicated to improving your quality of life. I cannot support rail transit, for it is ineffective environmentally and is costly economically.??In closing, to finance rail transit, taxes will increase. That means living expenses will escalate, contributing to raises in your rent costs, food costs and, yes, even drink prices.
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Frank Harris
UW-Madison senior
On Monday the Israel Defense Force assassinated Ahmed Yassin, the founder and leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.??
Hamas openly supports the destruction of Israel and explicitly rejects the idea of a two-state solution.??As leader of Hamas, Yassin recruited many Palestinians, including women and children, to engage in \holy Jihad,"" killing themselves in order to murder as many Israeli civilians as possible.??Recently, Yassin not only played a role in but inspired a Mar. 14, 2004, suicide bombing that killed 10 people and injured 16 and an Aug. 19, 2003, suicide bombing that killed 23 people and injured 130, and he was directly responsible for dozens of other acts of terrorism. Since late 2000, Yassin's Hamas has carried out 425 attacks, murdering 377 Israelis.
Yassin repeatedly declared that ""the so-called peace path is not peace and is not a substitute for jihad and resistance,"" and insisted upon an intensification of the terrorist campaign against Israeli citizens. He stated that the day in which he would die as a martyr would be the happiest day of his life. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Yassin ""a mass murderer who's among Israel's greatest enemies.""??
However, newspapers have recently categorized Yassin as merely an impotent old man and a spiritual leader for thousands of Palestinians.??Despite his blatant terrorist ideals, he is being characterized as an inspiration for young Palestinians hoping for peace. Israel's killing of Ahmed Yassin is an exact parallel to the United States killing Osama bin Laden, as both men represent leading Islamic extremist leaders whose primary goal is inspiring terrorism.
In regards to the strike on Yassin, Sharon added, ""It is the natural right of the Jewish nation, as it is the right of any peoples, to hunt down those who wish to exterminate them.""??While Israel is sometimes accused of instituting ""collective punishment"" on Palestinians, in reality its policy of targeted assassinations of high-ranking terrorists is the exact opposite of collective punishment, because it seeks to prevent future terrorism, saving the lives of innocent civilians.??Rather than punishing an entire people, it eliminates only the most dangerous threats to peace.??
Additionally, there are claims that Yassin's assassination will inspire even more acts of Islamic terror. While there may be an immediate militant response, his death will cripple Hamas' long-term ability to organize terrorism. Israeli authorities have stated that Yassin's death will undoubtedly weaken Hamas, therefore reducing terrorism in the long run. The loss of Yassin will be a major setback to Hamas' terrorist infrastructure. Moreover, Hamas' explicit goal is and always has been killing Israeli civilians, and it constantly is doing all it can to attack Israel, so overall, there will not be an increase in terrorism as a response to Yassin's assassination.??
Michael Diamond
UW-Madison sophomore
This is a response to Breezy Willis' piece titled ""Save the planet..."" published on March 23. Let me be clear, I am all for the planet. I don't want global climate change to occur, and I don't want massive wars and poverty and all that. But I disagree with the fundamental premise of Breezy's argument, which I take to be that government intervention is more effective than individual commitment when solving a problem such as environmental change.
It is precisely this sort of shifting of responsibility away from oneself and onto the shoulders of some institution that has led to problems like global warming. People say, ""I am free to do what I want, let the government clean it up.""
Folks, there have been plenty of governments around the world that have been happy to make decisions for their citizens like this. But we have a different system here. Freedom is not only a right; it is a responsibility. It is our duty to ensure that our actions, the only thing we can truly control, do not contribute to the suffering of the whole. Breezy claims that no one (no individual) will make such changes in their own life when it costs them more and inconveniences them more. But according to that same logic, it would be foolish of the United States to enact legislation to reduce its own pollution when other countries around the world would not be bound by those laws. For that would cost us more and inconvenience us more.
But this is precisely what Breezy proposes we do. According to Breezy, environmentalists should not worry about their own actions (how much energy they use, etc.), but instead force those opinions onto others through a government. It is just laziness that sees it as easier to hold the government responsible than to take action for ourselves.
I admit, it is harder to go against the grain of society, to bike when everyone else is driving, to spend more on efficient furnaces or whatever. It's so easier to say, ""Government, fix this!"" This laziness is here cloaked in a shroud of expediency; we need quick intervention by the government, we don't have time to wait for individuals to change, and that hasn't worked anyway. Well folks, the government didn't get us into this mess, we did. We must fix it ourselves. And it's not a question of if we will change our ways. It's only a question of when and how. We can give up the excesses now, at our own pace and of our own free will. Or we can wait until there is no gasoline left. We will certainly stop driving then, but not because we want to or see the value in walking. So make your legislation, I'll support it. But know that if any of you activists change the laws without first changing yourselves, you are guilty of the most despicable hypocrisy.
Mike Kruse
UW-Madison senior
