Opinion

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Time for UW to say goodbye to pesticides

The sun is shining and it appears that winter is finally over. Students are flocking to grassy areas around campus to study in the sweet sunshine. But what are they sitting, lying and playing on? The first thought that may come to mind is probably not pesticides, but it's true. Every student who is sitting, walking or lying on Bascom Hill is being exposed to pesticides and harmful endocrine disrupters.

Letter to the Editor: District 5 candidate responds to criticism of comments

To the Madison and campus community: Recently, insensitive comments that I made two years ago concerning Jewish students have been discussed by both The Daily Cardinal and Badger Herald in relation to my current campaign.

Editorial Cartoon: March 23, 2010

Mystery of the missing contracts

Wisconsin's Sunshine Act might as well be a legislative call for spring to come early. Enacted in 2005 in the spirit of a more transparent government, the bill mandated that all state contracts greater than $10,000 be posted to a centralized website. Four years later, that admirable piece of legislation has turned out to be a toothless joke.

Library snag may mean opportunity

Plans for a new Central Library were altered last week when Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Fiore Companies called it quits over negotiations concerning construction of the new building downtown. But even the disappointed must be breathing a sigh of relief now that all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Central Library is finally over. There is no more worrying to be done regarding the location or architecture of a building, the costs of a construction company or developer, or role of public works and the taxpayer's dollar. In fact, one could say that new life has been breathed into a project bogged down for two years with red tape and planning.

UW students dropped ball on student aid protests, forgot university's activist history

Being a proud Badger, I hate to admit any jealousy to other schools, but damn. Instead of Madison making revolutionary marks, other schools like Syracuse, Washington and California are creatively, and in the case of other Wisconsinites at Milwaukee, radically standing up to education policies and advocating SAFRA in an attention-grabbing way. Like my friend Danny pointed out, we have a reputation at Madison for being active and cutting-edge while representing the rest of our state. We have a responsibility not only to ourselves, but also to the rest of the state and nation to advocate necessary change.

Keep departments in the MIU loop

The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, the program raising tuition by $250 for in-state students and $750 for non-resident students, has the potential to decrease class sizes in bottle-neck courses and add much-needed faculty in high-demand areas. However the reality is that of the 114 proposals submitted to receive a portion of the MIU funding, only 31 were recommended to Chancellor Biddy Martin by the MIU Shared Governance Oversight Committee and the Student Oversight Committee.

Johnson's past comments raise doubts

The past few weeks, accusations of anti-Semitism have been lobbed back and forth across campus. Whether it is the Alpha Epsilon Pi scandal or the Bradley Smith Holocaust-denier ad, recent events have shown that the UW Jewish community is far from immune to the ugliness of discrimination and hatred, even in supposedly progressive Madison. In the wake of these controversies, it makes some past comments of District 5 county board candidate Michael Johnson even more disconcerting.

Air alerts indicate sustainability issues

Last week, the state of Wisconsin was one of a kind, nationally recognized, the leader of the pack.

Denial of climate change reveals ignorance

Editor's Note: The original story was posted Wednesday night, this version has since been changed.

Don't lump student loans with health care

Like Stephen Colbert's coverage of obscure stories, I enjoy bringing under-discussed issues to light. In that respect, as students we should be particularly intrigued by the potential addition of student loan amendments to the fast-tracked health care bill.

Power up professors' paltry paychecks

UW System employee salaries were released last week with few surprises and the same aggravating discrepancies. Ten system employees earned over $300,000. Chancellor Biddy Martin made more than UW System President Kevin Reilly by almost $23,000, and nobody outshone Athletic Director Barry Alvarez at half a million.

Democrats playing same old political games with health-care bill

Was this the change we were hoping for? Backroom deals, Cornhusker kickbacks, bribes, rides in Air Force One, and a plethora of other questionable Washington procedures have left many Americans asking this question. A recent NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll put support for this health-care bill at just 36 percent. Yet Speaker Pelosi and President Obama continue to try to force this legislation on a populace that clearly does not want it to pass. What's more astounding is that not only is Washington trying to pass this health-care bill against the will of the people, but they are doing it in a manner which is unconstitutional at best and completely unethical at worst.

Rules of the road still apply to bicyclists

As we enter into warmer weather, melting snow and relentless rain, it is becoming clear that spring is on the way. With clear streets and temperatures above the freezing mark, it is just about time to bring out the bicycles again. In fact, many students are already enjoying the opportunity and pedaling their ways across campus; and as a fellow cyclist, I am eager to join just as soon as I can get my bike back to Madison.

Reasons for statewide salvia ban hazy at best

Two weeks ago, the powerful hand of the law laid a smack down on one of the few remaining legal drugs being used throughout Wisconsin. Salvia divinorum, commonly confused with saliva, was effectively banned from being manufactured and distributed among the many citizens of Wisconsin.

Better, faster, stronger: In search of a more natural way to run

The road ahead of you is aglow with thousands of tiny sparkling snowflakes, like diamonds in the distance. The air on your face is brisk and refreshing, but it harmonizes with the warm sun. There is bliss in these moments of winter, experienced in the solitude of a long run, where your only purpose is to continue to put one foot in front of the other.

Video didn't kill the radio star, but Uncle Sam might

The most recent chapter in the saga of radio royalties played out earlier his month when more than 400 broadcasters visited Washington D.C. and lobbied Capitol Hill in opposition to the Performance Rights Act. The PRA has passed both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees but has not yet been scheduled for a vote in either body.

Textbook committee superfluous

Last week ASM's Academic Affairs Committee proposed the creation of a standing committee to address textbook issues as a more permanent way of addressing the financial burden of textbooks on campus. The proposed committee would be comprised of three students, three faculty members and three academic staff and, according to ASM Academic Affairs Chairman Jonah Zinn, would focus on ""things like electronic textbooks, open-source textbooks, getting departments to focus on certain textbooks, library reserve programs and the possibility of creating a textbook rental program.""

Clean up emergency response protocol

In a rare instance of the City of Madison and Dane County not seeing eye to eye, a lawsuit resulted over their disagreements on how to handle 911 calls.

Right to drink raw milk an individual choice

Pasteurization is not just a nightmare for cheese gourmets. It is a nuisance for anyone who sees selling and consuming raw milk as their natural right.