Opinion

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Wisconsin's extra $137 million should be invested wisely, not cut

Last week, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau released an estimate of Wisconsin’s budget surplus that exceeded preliminary estimates by $137 million. Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has announced that it plans to use the extra funding in order to give a tax break to Wisconsin families in a terribly unsurprising move. Considering the extreme budget cutting techniques done in the name of state debt, a tax rebate is hardly the innovative way of building tax base that Wisconsin needs.

Higher education neglected at great cost

Last year was a rough year for students at public universities, as state legislatures throughout the country continued to cut funding to their universities.  Nationwide, states underwent one of the largest divestments in higher education in American history, slashing funding by 7.6 percent.  And in 2011, for the second consecutive year, state and local funding to public universities reached a quarter-century low despite the fact that enrollment and the cost of educating students reached near-record highs.

Polling policies need more structure

During the last presidential election, multiple hour-long lines prevented an estimated 200,000 people in Florida from voting. For reference, that’s more than twice President Barack Obama’s margin of victory in the state.

An imaginary conversation with a gun control advocate

“Steven, no one needs an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle in their everyday lives. No one needs a 30 round magazine. That gun was used in the Aurora theater massacre, and Adam Lanza brought that gun to the scene of the crime at Sandy Hook. Hunters and collectors don’t need that kind of firepower. That gun is overkill for self-defense purposes,” my leftist friend said.

Obama's pledge to the past, present and future

President Barack Obama made history last weekend as the first two-term president to be sworn into office a total of four times. His progressive speech called to attention the issues of gay rights, environmental awareness and immigration reform. Throughout his career, Obama has modeled his public persona after critical political personalities of the 1960s. This repetitive illusion creates implications of not only how he is forming his legacy, but the direction in which he wants to drive the country. Obama’s pledge to continue that reform gives us hope that progressive action will be taken once again, and that America will be a leader in social change.

The business of ball: working and sweating for free

College football isn’t just a sport. College football is a business. With Bret Bielema, the former head coach of the Badgers, leaving a $2.7 million salary for a $700,000 raise, we’re reminded of the amount of money that changes hands. Consider that the Big Ten generates hundreds of millions of dollars per year solely from licensing of television rights and you’ll gain insight into just how huge the industry is. The television networks make millions, the advertising agencies make millions, and the coaches make millions. There’s only one group that’s left out: the players.

Criticism of secretary of defense nominee Hagel not justified

If I am having a bad hair day, or I’m really not rockin’ that sweater that I sincerely believe looks awesome on me, I genuinely want my true friends to kindly—or harshly, depending on my intransigence—to explain to me that my appearance is not as positive as I may quixotically hope it to be. Similarly, if the United States is in the wrong in international affairs, I would hope that our friends in the world would give us a compelling, well-thought-out argument for why we should change our current trajectory. Israel is one of our best friends in the whole wide world, and so when it is in the wrong, as it sometimes is, I do not think it is a big deal to kindly and gently tap it on the shoulder and say, “Hey, pal, maybe there is a better route.”

Time for cultural change on gun control

Although our economy is still far from healthy and any real decisions regarding the U.S. fiscal policy have been pushed back a few months by the fiscal cliff deal, the political world has been violently derailed by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Dec. 14 shooting left 28 dead, including 20 children, and was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since Seung-Hui Cho terrorized the Virginia Tech campus, killing 32 in 2007.

A just end to annoying stories

Assuming the Mayans are right and the world is ending, The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board is glad we no longer have to worry about these issues because of the whole being dead thing.

Stories that went under the radar

The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board covers a lot of stories in its infinite wisdom. These are the stories that didn’t make the cut, but are still important.

Black stereotypes and racism at the heart of Jordan Davis murder

There is the echo of a snare drum rattling the speakers of someone in America that looks exactly like me. By looking like me, I mean a young Black man. There is a gas station somewhere in America that this someone will visit for fuel. Perhaps this someone has a friend or two with him. Perhaps the snare drum continues to roll as the vehicle is placed into park. Perhaps they all want some sort of snack to whet their appetites. Perhaps, here, the night hides light from us all.

Susan Rice has the right qualifications for secretary of state

Current U.N. Ambassador, and possible secretary of state nominee Susan Rice, has come under fire recently from Senate Republicans who vow to block her nomination if she were to receive Presidents Barack Obama’s nomination as secretary of state. This is largely because of Rice’s role in relaying incorrect information of the Benghazi attacks. But while the Obama administration’s faulty handling of information in the Benghazi attacks does deserve some scrutiny, it is not fair for Republicans to deny Rice’s nomination solely because of this reason. In doing so, Republicans would be denying a qualified and experienced diplomat who is clearly the best candidate for secretary of state.

Saying farewell to farewell articles

I am not a very sensitive person, nor do I ever plan to be. I’m not the kind of person that cries during emotional movies and some may say I have a black hole where my heart should be. I simply respond by quoting the great Ron Swanson, “Crying is only okay in two places: funerals and the Grand Canyon;” both of which I have never experienced.

Don’t abandon Mifflin until considering all the other options

Madison is a town steeped in history. This history is part of the reason I chose to attend school here. My father and his brother, my uncle, both attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for at least a semester, as well as a few of my cousins and friends.

Diversity is more than just skin deep

With the Supreme Court to rule on affirmative action this session—Fisher v. University of Texas—and our university to design a new Diversity Plan—our previous plan expired in ’08—I thought it appropriate to take a look at the idea of diversity as tied to ethnicity and address its misguided and racist nature. It’s a touchy subject and I really hope that I can have an open conversation with individuals about the topic. Feel free to comment on the article online or send me an email at snemcek@wisc.edu.

Facebook "likes" are trivial

Small, symbolic win for Palestine

When I was in 8th grade, I very much enjoyed playing Connect Four with my younger sister, Sydney.  I had a strong penchant for the game, and she did not. Whereas Sydney did not have much experience with Connect Four, I grew up playing it, sometimes for hours on end. I never let her win, not even once. In retrospect, my insistence on domination stemmed from some lack of self-esteem or compensation for a perceived flaw. I would like to connect my petulant Connect Four playing to the way that Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu handles relations with his counterpart, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Structure needed in diversity plan

Within the past year, issues surrounding diversity have been hugely controversial throughout the university. From the Center for Equal Opportunity’s allegations that UW-Madison unfairly takes race into account in admissions, to individuals at a fraternity throwing beer bottles and yelling racial slurs at African American students walking past, it is clear that the university needs to strive for improvements in diversity on campus.

The foreign language requirement should be altered

Last week, I wrote about one of the greatest contributors to rising tuition at public universities across the country: decreased funding from state legislatures.  And while draconian cuts to Wisconsin’s public universities are undoubtedly bad for the state’s future, decreased funding seems to be the new normal.  Like other state legislatures, Wisconsin has cut funding to education to remedy budget deficits.  But the cuts aren’t just the result of a severe and protracted recession—decreased state funding is decades in the making.

ASM correct in funding atheist group

I have been to hell. I have faced down the forces of evil. I have descended into the darkest reaches of existence and I have seen the blackness which resides in the hidden corners of men’s souls. What I mean to say is that I’ve gone to the comments section on an online article related to religion. I will never find a more wretched hive of belligerence and stupidity. Or at least I hope I won’t. Honestly, I don’t really want to talk about it, but I will. I set out on this Orphean journey in order to learn about the controversy surrounding the funding that Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics received from the Associated Students of Madison for next year. According to their website, AHA is a student organization dedicated to “promot[ing] the discussion of faith and religion on the UW-Madison campus” and “educat[ing] students on issues important to the secular community, and encourag[ing] the personal development of one’s religious identity.” Basically, it’s a student organization for, well, atheists, humanists and agnostics. The group has gotten a lot of publicity lately following ASM’s provision of almost $70,000 for their budget next year.