By: Mitch Taylor - The Daily Cardinal

OPINION

UW surplus should stop rise in tuition

By By: Mitch Taylor | Apr. 25, 2013

A lot of people are upset following last Friday’s news that the University of Wisconsin System ended last school year with $1 billion to spare. Normally a money surplus is a good thing, but this raises a puzzling question. Why is tuition going up if the university is rolling in Benjamins? The UW system explained that it needs extra money in case of unforeseen expenses or research funding shortages. This is understandable, but it sure as hell doesn’t explain why our tuition rises every year. In response to the surplus, students, UW leaders, state legislators and Gov. Scott Walker have called for a tuition freeze and I completely agree. Tuition is way too high and certainly should not be going up.

OPINION

Equal pay act opponents can't stop living in the past

By By: Mitch Taylor | Apr. 19, 2013

As I was browsing through recent news stories in search of a topic to enlighten my readership with my opinionated blathering, I came across a headline that rather excited me. It stated Wisconsin’s Senate is considering re-enacting the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, giving citizens more opportunity to receive damages upon realizing they are discriminated against by their employers. It would allow them to sue in state court to receive the pay they deserve. This law would mostly benefit women, as they are the most common victims of pay discrimination. It just warms my heart to know our state Legislature is considering taking equality seriously and even considering the heretofore inconceivable idea that women are equal to men. Our laws are obviously on the cutting edge of social progress. Good job, Wisconsin.

OPINION

Support for opiate abusers is much-needed

By By: Mitch Taylor | Apr. 16, 2013

With Wisconsin’s richest citizens barely making ends meet under the tyrannical fist of socialism, the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance had the gall to give Dane County an $80,000 grant to counsel and treat opiate addicts. Why, one may ask, should we take precious money that could be going to more important things like rich people and instead put it toward helping heroin addicts? Well it’s actually a good idea and, in fact, more efforts should be made to reach out and treat those suffering from drug addiction.

OPINION

Recall reform rudely restricts rights

By By: Mitch Taylor | Apr. 4, 2013

Imagine you are an employer and you have an employee you can’t fire. As long as they don’t do anything illegal, you simply don’t have the power to terminate them and must continue to pay them regardless of their job performance. Now imagine this employee has the responsibility of managing the entire business. Would you be entirely comfortable with that?

OPINION

Homeless population needs more advocates

By By: Mitch Taylor | Mar. 15, 2013

After a semester and a half of writing on local issues, I’ve noticed some recurring themes. One is protesters and the other, occurring almost as often, is protesters getting arrested. Friday of last week, six protesters were cuffed at City Hall for refusing to leave after hours. They were there with many other community members to voice their objections to a policy that limits the homeless to sixty days total per year in a shelter. I agree with these protesters that sixty days is far too few.

OPINION

More accountability needed after police use deadly force

By By: Mitch Taylor | Mar. 10, 2013

Nov. 9, Madison man Paul Heenan was shot dead by Officer Stephen Heimsness of the Madison Police Department. Heenan, following a night of drinking, mistakenly entered the wrong house and Heimsness arrived on the scene in response to a 911 call by the homeowners. The fatal shooting occurred after Heenan allegedly struggled with Heimsness and reached for his gun. The incident has caused much controversy and once again brought the issue of lethal police force into politicaldiscussion. It recently came to light that Heimsness had faced 15 complaints prior to the recent incident, including eight allegations of excessive force, one which he was found guilty. Ibelieve Heimsness’ report and I trust that he would not have used deadly force unless he feared for his safety. However, I also believe that Heenan did not have to die that night. Police departments should work harder to prevent instances of unnecessary deadly force.

OPINION

Constant campaigning crushes credibility

By By: Mitch Taylor | Feb. 28, 2013

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Wisconsin mining legislation currently making its way through our state legislature. In the article, I mentioned conflicting information regarding the mine’s environmental impact. Well, the confusion gods are at it again. In the past week, two contradicting polls were released, one showing that 62 percent of Wisconsinites support the mining bill and the other showing that 62 percent oppose it. This is something happening all the time in the world of politics, and I mean all the time. As someone trying to stay informed on current issues, this is a bit disorienting. As someone trying to accurately and objectively report on these issues, it’s rather frustrating. As someone with a low tolerance for idiocy, it’s downright infuriating. Americans always talk about how tired we are with the dishonesty of those in politics, but we fail to realize the role we play in it. The truth is the people are just as responsible for the sea of nonsense standing between us and actually getting it together and moving forward as a country.

OPINION

Incentive-based funding for schools leaves some behind

By By: Mitch Taylor | Feb. 17, 2013

Most people reading this are familiar with the American education system. Having the privilege of being woken up early every morning, brainwashed by radical liberal educators and arbitrarily judged on our intelligence is an experience shared by almost every child in this country. Education, I believe, is one of our most important political issues, as it paves the way for progress in the future. Because of this, I have much interest in Gov. Scott Walker and his education efforts. Recently, Walker announced his plans for a new set of reforms. In the spirit of transparency, I feel it necessary to note my mother is a teacher and I participated in the anti-Walker protests here in Madison two years ago, so admittedly I am biased against Gov. Walker. Despite this, I sat down and tried to take an objective look at his proposals. Upon shallow examination, I rather liked some of it. It encourages reading and seems that it would improve teacher training. Quickly, however, I found something to object to. Walker’s reforms propose a system that rewards schools based on test scores. This isn’t a new idea. It’s already quite present in education funding. While I agree that it is important to reward achievement, I believe it is much more important to give aid to schools that need it rather than those that “earn” it.

OPINION

Wisconsin’s proposed mining bill not a good deal for the state

By By: Mitch Taylor | Jan. 31, 2013

Happy Friday, everyone. First off, thanks a bunch for not being too hungover to read the paper this morning. After all of the “hard work” and “thought” I put into these, it’s nice to have people read them. This one is about some new politics in the controversial world here in Wisconsin. Months ago, a piece of legislation that would have brought changes to our mining laws was defeated in Wisconsin’s state legislature. The bill would have paved the way for a new iron mine in northern Wisconsin. Now, with a legislative majority, proponents of the bill are trying again. They say the mine would provide thousands of jobs in Wisconsin and serve as a great boost for the economy. Opponents say the bill guts governmental regulations and the mine would be devastating to the environment. I think these environmental concerns should be taken much more seriously by proponents of the bill.

OPINION

ASM correct in funding atheist group

By By: Mitch Taylor | Dec. 3, 2012

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.