Opinion

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US lacks easy solution to Ukraine crisis

Thanks, Obama! Russia invaded the Ukraine over the weekend, and as is their favorite pastime when things run amok, Republicans in Congress have fired a barrage of obtuse and scornful quotes at President Barack Obama for his failure to do, you know, whatever they’re complaining about on that given day. Most recently, they’ve rebuked the president for not being assertive, for weakening the country’s military, for failing to lead the international community and so on—what Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called “a feckless foreign policy where no one believes in America’s strength anymore.”

China helps North Korea despite human rights violations

On Feb. 19th, the United Nations provided a report on inhumane atrocities taking place in North Korea. According to the report, Kim Jong-un’s regime is conducting systematic human rights abuses against its own people that are as horrible as those of Nazi Germany during World War II. The report was developed in accordance with testimonies and public hearings. Such crimes against humanity include arbitrary imprisonment, torture, deliberate starvation and execution without trials. It has been long known by South Koreans and those who care about the issue that the notorious North Korean regime is conducting such atrocities, but it is the first time the international community has officially addressed the issue.

Vote 'yes' to the Rec Sports referendum

If you haven’t already, go vote in the spring student elections! Vote “yes” to pass the Rec Sports Master Plan, which would create four brand new Rec Sports facilities across campus. Vote “yes” to make exercising and intramural sports more comfortable and enjoyable for the many future generations of University of Wisconsin-Madison students to come. And most importantly vote ‘yes’ because that’s the Badger thing to do. I already know what you’re thinking: Why should I care about something I probably won’t even get to enjoy during my time in college? Well, I argue, because it’s the right thing to do. As UW students, we pride ourselves on being the best at many things. Madison has been voted the best college football game-day town, “Jump Around” has been ranked as the best college football tradition, Wisconsin is recognized as one of the top party schools in the country, the school’s academics are documented as some of the most elite in the nation. The list goes on and on. I don’t see why we can’t add one more perk to the list of UW’s luxuries and have the best rec sports facilities in the Big Ten, too.

Current US foreign policy has failed to retain legitimacy

As you have probably heard by now, a former Soviet satellite country, Ukraine, has fallen captive to the kind of protests that ran rampant throughout the Middle East over the Arab Spring and Summer.

Being a student at UW-Madison is worth the Wisconsin winters

Spring continues to tease its arrival.

Letter to the editor: The UW Athletic Department should contribute more to Rec Sports facilities

“Students received an email today suggesting that Athletics should pay for more of this project because students supported Athletic Department finances back in the 1990s. It’s my view this is a little like asking the Physics Department to pay for improvements in Chemistry, just because they both study science. Rec Sports facilities are designed for and used primarily by students and this is an appropriate use of student segregated fees.”

Porn is the new norm

The piece written by a Duke University student/porn performer shocked the Internet for a few days and swept through our daily conversations. While many praised her writing and her confidence, I would like to urge everyone to get over the shock of pornography.

American foreign policy continues to lack strength under Obama

What is life and death?

Death’s a bitch, isn’t it? The idea that one day you’re a happy-go-lucky guy playing Ultimate Frisbee and the next a pile of ashes being scattered into Lake Monona by relatives whose next stop is IHOP for chocolate chip pancakes is crazy to me. To those of us who just can’t get on board with belief in an afterlife (Heaven doesn’t sound so bad, but can you imagine waking up in a boat on the River Styx with Hades’ minions prodding you in the ass?), death is a pretty freaky proposition.

Letter to the editor: VIDA-Volunteer is a great opportunity for many students

Hola Badgers! Are you Pre-Med, Pre-Dental or Pre-Vet? Are you interested in getting hands on clinical experience while also traveling and enjoying the culture of a different country? Then come to one of our VIDA-Volunteer Travel Information Sessions this week to learn more about how you can help provide free healthcare to some of the most underserved areas in Central America! You will learn more about VIDA and get one step closer to hands on, resume building, unforgettable experience! Our organization is about providing free healthcare to some of the most impoverish countries in Central America including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama while allowing Pre-Health students to get lots of hands on clinical experience. On each trip we have a medical team, a dental team and a veterinary team. It is an amazing opportunity for students to do what they love, get hours of hands on clinical experience, provide free healthcare to countries in Central America that need it the most and also experience different cultures while traveling.

Opinion on meaning of films differ from person to person

So, I wanna talk about Spike Jonze, “Her” and the old, old debate about an author’s ability to decide how exactly their work is interpreted. And about the BBC, I guess.

Vote 'yes' on Rec Sports referendum

Any one of the 83 percent of students who stepped foot into any of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s recreational sports facilities last year can tell you they leave much to be desired. Students have to trek up five flights of stairs to get from the weight room to the cardio room at the Serf. Pipes are constantly leaking, and students can frequently be seen huddled at the back of the room waiting for a machine to become available. Forty percent of outdoor recreational sports activities, which students pay a fee to participate in, are lost annually due to the condition of the fields.

Letter to the editor: Madison’s Diversity Plan since Plan 2008 ended

Your news report (Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee releases UW-Madison Diversity Draft plan, Feb. 20, 2014) is wrong in repeating the assertion that UW-Madison has gone without a diversity plan since Plan 2008 ended more than five years ago. That incorrect assertion was first made by the co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee during their Diversity Forum presentations last fall.

Letter to the Editor: UW Madison's College Republicans support the referendum to improve Recreational Sports facilities

?Working as a Fitness Consultant and supervising the exercise spaces for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Recreational Sports, I get a firsthand look at the deteriorating facilities that are available for students and faculty here at the university. But it does not take an employee to see that these facilities are not meeting the demands of a university as prestigious as the University of Wisconsin.

Drone strikes on foreign soil are difficult to justify

On Feb. 10, mass media were embroiled with an intense debate. The debate was about the United States government’s possible drone strike on a U.S. citizen who lives abroad. The target is not just an ordinary U.S. citizen, but a terrorist affiliated with al-Qaeda who happens to hold a U.S. citizenship due to his original place of birth.

Letter to the editor: Catholic social teaching opinion

Last Monday the Cardinal opinion staff’s own Michael Podgers wrote an article criticizing a program put on by Badger Catholic during Valentine’s Day. The program, run outside of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, featured men giving away roses to women that had notes in them. In his piece, Mr. Podgers criticized Badger Catholic for reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes, and demeaning women by self-determining for them their inherent dignity.

Madison should rename Pinckney Street

This week I have chosen to address an issue of 'softball' politics in order to get at something much larger. I take issue with the name of a street in Madison. On the surface this may seem like useless complaining, but I assure you I have a point. We have many streets named after the founders. The city itself is named after James Madison. However, there is one particular founder who we should not be naming streets after: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. 

Letter to the editor: Modern-day religious climate on campus is detrimental

As I was reading Theresa Cooley’s opinion piece “Come one, come all—It’s just casual sex” in The Badger Herald last week, a particular comment caught my eye.  “A student from the 19th century came back,” it said, a reference, I suppose, to Ms. Cooley’s Biblical references and religious perspective on sex.  

Letter to the editor: The truth shall set you free

Mr. Podgers, the Rose Campaign last Thursday (Feb. 13) was trying to accomplish a good, to challenge a mindset that limits sex to pleasure or an action that is not completely giving of one’s self.  You incorrectly identified the goals of the campaign by Badger Catholic and claimed the idea that the men involved were imposing views on women through the passing out of roses with short notes attached.

Action Project: White privilege continues to plague American progress

We should be pissed that black men in America today stand a one-in-three chance of going to jail. We should be pissed that the unemployment rate for blacks in Dane County is at 25.2 percent, compared to 4.8 percent for whites. We should be pissed that the achievement gap between white students and black students in Wisconsin is the widest in the nation. In fact, we should be pissed that the widespread ignorance of these facts is the key explanation as to why we’ve never reached full racial equality in this country. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one, and sadly, too many white people reject the idea that they have a privilege based on the color of their skin and that it is fueling the fires of racial injustice.