Late Saturday night, by a narrow vote of 220-215, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the most significant health insurance legislation since the creation of Medicare. The bill still requires Senate approval—less likely to occur—and President Obama's signature to become law.
Sex Out Loud's mission is to promote healthy sexuality through sex-positive education and activism. To effectively do this across a broad range of communities, we must be cognizant of the profound ways in which various identity markers can impact sexuality, including, but certainly not limited to, sex, gender, gender identity, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, relationship status and religion. Working to make our events and programming more inclusive is an ever-present goal of ours, and we value the opportunity to reach out to often-marginalized groups.
Last week two facilitators and a supervisor from Sex Out Loud came to my residence hall to lead a program called ""Safer Sex."" At first, my Christian values made me a little apprehensive. However, despite my concerns I was pleased to find that the program concentrated on asking for consent, sexually transmitted diseases and preventing the dangers of sex. While I disagree with the idea that the university should be promoting promiscuous sexual behavior, I understand the importance of giving students the information they need to make their own decisions. People have the right to know how to use a condom or how likely they are to contract HIV before they make their own sexual choices.
Last Thursday, the Dane County Board voted in favor of creating a regional transit authority to preside over the planning of the public transportation system around Madison. With big projects like the new Central Library and Edgewater redevelopment looming, the RTA makes sense. It is a wonder that there was no governing body to guide the growth of the transportation system before, which probably accounts for the lack of progress in high-speed rail and bus route updates.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson observed the first Armistice Day, which would later become Veterans Day, by reflecting ""with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory."" Ninety years later, Americans everywhere continue to honor the service and sacrifice of our nation's veterans on Nov. 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I.
In 1999, Wisconsin finally made the fifth offense for driving while intoxicated a felony. Even with this stipulation, our state still had some of the most lax drinking laws in the country at the time. Even though the state Legislature recently tightened drunken driving laws, the latest legislation passed will do little to reduce Wisconsin's reputation as an overly alcohol-friendly state.
1st Lt. Dan Choi was notified in April of this year that the Army would begin discharge proceedings against him. Choi, an Arabic-speaking linguist, Iraq war veteran, West Point graduate and infantry officer, served in the nation's armed forces for 10 years. Now he faces an other than honorable discharge from the military because he is gay and doesn't want to lie about it.
Last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided not to hear the case of Appling v. Doyle, involving the constitutionality of domestic partner benefits.
My name is Bryon Eagon—and no, my first name isn't misspelled. In addition to being a student at UW-Madison, I have the privilege of representing the 8th District as an alder on the City Council here in Madison. Technically, we call it the Common Council, but that's just semantics. Students are the economic, social and cultural engine of Madison, so our opinions and ideas are vital to shaping the future of this great city. But my voice is just one among tens of thousands of young people here in Madison; that's where you come in. I want to know your thoughts, complaints, suggestions and ideas to help inform my priorities and decisions. Why should students care about the micro of micro levels of government when there are more attractive and flashy issues at the state or national level? Let me try to explain.
The discussions of advising services here on campus have not yet cooled off. But for years, most suggestions have been limited to increasing the number of advisors, and not changing how the program is run itself. While the student-to-advisor ratio is certainly a factor in quality advising, mere statistical improvements would not guarantee better services for students. Last week, a novel advising plan got funding from the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. After wandering aimlessly for so long, we may be approaching a solution to this advising problem.
In recent months the nation has become deeply involved in the subject of health-care reform. According to a recent CNN poll, 83 percent of Americans favor health-care reform. The way to do it, however, has been a hot topic for months now and the top domestic policy item on President Obama's agenda. The battle to reform health care is now coming to an apex in Washington. After passing in the House, all eyes turn to the Senate to see if this $1.2 trillion bill will pass. If you turn on CNN, Fox or MSNBC these days you can hardly avoid it. Yet even with so much news coverage, many people still know little about it. The Senate is getting ready to vote on a bill that will affect one fifth of our nation's economy, and, in typical Washington fashion, they have managed to convince Americans that if this is not done right away, the world will end at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Last week, the Wisconsin legislature's Joint Finance Committee passed legislation setting up a new public financing structure for Supreme Court candidates. This public financing would provide campaign funding for viable Supreme Court candidates who agree to forgo private financing, totaling $100,000 for primary elections and $300,000 for general elections. Clearly lawmakers were reacting to last year's campaign between Justice Michael Gableman and former Justice Louis Butler Jr., which was widely considered to be one of the nastiest statewide campaigns in recent memory.
I am writing in response to the article ""Student involvement and interest in politics on the decline,"" published November 1, 2009.
On Tuesday the Madison city council heard the plea of WYOU community television members to retain Public, Education and Government (PEG) fees needed to run the station. Like most media outlets, WYOU is having a hard time securing funding for the foreseeable future, but unlike most media outlets, there is a date when WYOU's funding will run out.
A roomful of reporters simultaneously gasped in shock. Thørbjorn Jagland, leader of the Nobel Committee, had just announced Barack Obama, a man who had been inaugurated president of the United States only twelve days before the February 1 nomination deadline for the prize, as the committee's selection from a field of 205 candidates for 2009. In the United States, the reaction was similar. Republicans, and even many Democrats, wondered what Obama could have done in 12 days to warrant being nominated for the prize and how what he had done in less than nine months as president could have warranted winning it. Obama himself seemed surprised. ""To be honest,"" he said, ""I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize.""
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton's sudden withdrawal from the 2010 governor's race was shocking, but it may leave the Democrats better off than the well-organized Republicans.
When the White House announced President Barack Obama would be visiting Madison, the public's eyes immediately turned to the Kohl Center and Monona Terrace. Both are standard venues for big occasions, and both played host to Obama during his campaign. To everyone's surprise, the president chose Wright Middle School for this visit to talk about our primary education system.
Students on this campus have a lot to be proud of in the action taken at Tuesday's Common Council meeting.
It is often said that the world becomes smaller every day. Technology continues to connect us more intimately from vast distances in both a physical and figurative way. Information sharing has never been easier, with the internet constantly at our fingertips. Getting from place to place has never been so efficient, either. Asia has been the leader in innovation, with Japan and China pioneering high-speed rail systems that presently reach speeds of almost 200 miles per hour. Efficient transportation is becoming a major issue in the world. Places with efficient transit systems in place are more appealing for development, while those that are lacking become victims of their archaic systems.
After Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton's surprise Oct. 26 announcement that she was withdrawing from the 2010 governor's race, the obvious reaction was, ""Why?"" Lawton was the first and only Democratic candidate announced against several Republican candidates. She has nearly eight years of experience as Wisconsin's first female lieutenant governor. It had seemed like Lawton had been gearing up for this moment for years now.
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