Opinion

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Walker’s unethical staff under scrutiny

Two weeks ago, Gov. Scott Walker quietly announced the creation of a legal defense fund in response to a John Doe investigation that has resulted in the arrest of several formal Walker staff members.  The probe started with allegations of misconduct among his staff while he was the Milwaukee County Executive and has since expanded to investigating his gubernatorial campaign. Because of the probe’s secrecy—hence,“John Doe”—the full extent of its inquiries aren’t known. But the charges already levied against Walker’s former staffers expose the morally vacuous environment that has followed Walker from Milwaukee to the state house.  

Defining democracy a challenge for fixing our system

Zach has previously written about the “Promise of our Democracy” dinners in last Thursday’s issue. Look for it on dailycardinal.com.

Grothman’s bill promotes warped morality

State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, received quite a bit of flack for the legislation he introduced last week condemning single parenthood. The discussion surrounding Grothman’s bill, SB 507, has focused on his idea that single parents are unqualified to raise children and are more likely to abuse them. However, much of the criticism overlooks what the bill is actually promoting rather than bringing down. SB 507 is not just an attack on single parents. This ideologically based attack extends far and wide in its scope.

Mining bill could have been good for Wisconsin jobs

Last week, the Wisconsin state Senate failed to pass an important piece of legislation for workers. This legislation proposed a $1.5 billion iron ore mine to be built in the northern part of the state that died because Republicans failed to gather a final vote despite holding a 17-16 majority.

Support proposed ASM constitution

Tonight, the Associated Students of Madison will raise their hands for or against a special election centered on the approval of a new ASM constitution—a document designed to restructure the function and make-up of UW-Madison’s student government. But before this Board jumps into the nitty gritty, let us just say, while it is highly unlikely, we are crossing our fingers that student council approves.

Letter: Affirmative action puts applicants on an unequal level

Grothman blames child abuse on mothers

Wisconsin state Senator Glenn Grothman,R-West Bend, has declared that unplanned and nonmarital pregnancies are chosen by women, who must be taught that such untimely childbearing is a mistake. This view is similar to the recently introduced Senate Bill 507, which labels single mothers as a cause of child abuse. The bill asks the government to brainwash the nation into believing the only correct parenting method consists of a married couple, excluding same-sex partners. Grothman continues to support the obvious attack on nonmarital childrearing, even though he is fully aware that 31 percent of Wisconsin children live in single-parent homes. He even admitted that his message is “politically incorrect” at a public hearing about the bill.

The deteriorating dialogue on campus diversity

The issue of diversity has been prevalent in the last year and a half of my life. When I interned at McDonald’s Corporation, I had multiple trainings on different types of diversity, including cultural, generational and racial. Hearing from the company’s diversity officers, the idea of diversity and inclusion were shown as a way to promote a better corporate culture that benefits everybody from being able to better deal with challenges and an ever increasing global community.

Kony 2012 misleads viewers, detracts from current Ugandan issues

Invisible Children launched their Kony 2012 campaign last week, and since then it has been just about everywhere. The social media campaign almost immediately started getting coverage from media outlets. The 30-minute advertisement has done well garnering attention to its cause. But it has also inspired a surprising torrent of skepticism. Kony 2012 is drawing criticism because of several factual and social inconsistencies in the campaign, but the massive backlash to Invisible Children’s philanthropy has emotional roots.

Current events result from Cold War era

Before you begin reading the rest of this article, you should either conjure up your memory of a world map or go and look at one right now. Aim your focus at “The Middle East.” Understanding the Middle East’s geography is important to understanding the historical implications of the Arab Spring and other current uprisings.

Political discourse deteriorates with labeling individuals

Last Wednesday was the first part of the “Promise of Our Democracy” dialogue hosted by the Interactivity Foundation. It is a series of dinners where people split up into small groups with about six to eight people in each to talk about how we can make our democracy better. Being able to see people really flesh out how they think about things is special. The one thing that I noticed there that just blew me away was how nuanced people were. And it is not just about having mixed views, because that does not capture how different people can be.

UW-Madison professor’s low pay negatively affects academic merit

Judge David Flanagan's ruling good for Wisconsin voters

Aftermath to Koran burning shows deteriorating condition in Afghanistan

Six American soldiers were killed by Afghan National Army soldiers last week. They were among the 40 people killed in anti-American attacks after American soldiers accidental burned copies of the Koran at the Bagram Air Base. This comes at a time when the United States is increasing training efforts to prepare for transferring security duties to Afghan forces by 2014.

Letter: Ward must heed shared governance

Birth control equality

School district right to fire teacher

Two years ago, Andrew Harris was terminated from his position as a seventh-grade science teacher for viewing and sharing inappropriate content on his computer. According to Wisconsin State Journal, some of Harris’ colleagues commented on how he would show inappropriate images during team meetings, at least once displaying pornographic pictures as students passed near an open door. However, just recently, an arbitrator ruled in favor of Harris, granting him his job back with back pay and benefits of about $200,000.

Affirmative action offsets inequalities

Backing off Block Party a wise decision

Since I’ve come to Madison it’s seemed to me that there was a concerted effort, whether conscious or subconscious, to reign in the school’s traditional character. I’m sure many of us who are Wisconsin residents have heard about Madison, or some sort of UW history, like I have. My mom and some relatives have either graduated from UW-Madison or at least attended it at some point in their lives. The infamous Mifflin Street Block Party, whether some people want it gone or not, is indistinguishable from the university’s public image, something that the majority of the community would agree on.

Schools must teach 21st-Century skills