Category: Opinion

Column by Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison.

Column by John Gross, a clinical associate professor of law at the UW-Madison Law School and director of the Public Defender Project.

If we run public higher education even more like a business that prioritizes efficiency over all other values, the outcome will be a disaster for a significant majority of students and the state.

We must not only hold landlords accountable but also examine the choices we are making. As students, we have the power to advocate for more sustainable, affordable living situations that meet our needs without sacrificing our financial stability.

Letter to the editor: Why on Earth would this not be supported? It benefits the schools and students. My siblings and my son went through this system. The difference between them was my siblings graduated without debt, while my son has debt. I’m especially disturbed reading that over 30 tenured faculty are slated to be laid off. Majors have been cut.

–Dessie Clark is the director of curriculum development and implementation for the University of Wisconsin at Madison Inclusion in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute. (Co-author)

The undersigned members of the Board of Visitors of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies are writing concerning a Letter to the Editor of The Daily Cardinal from Jewish UW Faculty and Students published by the Cardinal on May 2, 2024 (“May 2nd Letter”).

Letter to the editor: The authors equated political contributions to ideology. They used a lot of modifiers, such as “stunningly,” “remarkable” and “breathtaking” for their findings — in the absence of basic information to justify them.

Faculty members seem to have an aversion to absolutes. In case conservatives have forgotten, that is precisely the purpose of an education. Open and vigorous debate, not affirmation of old ideas, is the point of a college education.

Column by Castronovo, the Tom Paine professor of English and director of the Center for the Humanities at UW-Madison.

Column by Owens, the George C. and Carmella P. Edwards professor of American politics at UW–Madison, and Tahk, associate professor of political science and the director of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership at UW–Madison.

Letter to the editor: Looking back, this decision could have used more thought. The citizens of Richland County and the surrounding area deserve accountability that goes beneath the surface. So far, no one has borne responsibility for the demise of UW-Richland.

Column authored by Steven Wright, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he directs the Constitutional Litigation, Appeals, and Sentencing Project.

UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott told me his department is “working through challenges” with the new law and hoping to receive guidance from the state’s Office of Open Government, part of the Department of Justice. “It’s a broadly worded law that’s really untested. We’re all trying to figure it out.”

Op-ed by John Gross, a clinical associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School and director of the Public Defender Project.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a primate problem. No, there aren’t primates running amok on the campus, but there are significant concerns about the ethics of animal research and the treatment of the campus’ over 1,500 primates.

Understanding the origin of Covid-19 is crucial for improving future pandemic responses. I strongly disagree with Dr. Alina Chan’s opinion piece. The overwhelming majority of scientific evidence points to a natural origin, like all pandemics in history.

Marta M. Gaglia
Madison, Wis.
The writer is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Badger alum John Stecher’s journey from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the C-Suite of the largest Alternative Investment firm in the world is a lesson for all students: stay determined and embrace collaboration.

Guest column by Donald Downs, emeritus political science professor at UW-Madison.

Guest column by Anusha Talwalkar, a recent graduate of the master of public health program at UW Madison.

Letter to the editor: In this global economy, more companies do business with Israel than don’t. Additionally, many of these companies develop medical and other technologies that save lives and advance human knowledge. Then there is the hypocrisy: If UW-Madison must divest in Apple and other phone makers because of its Israeli market (and use of its products by the military), are UW students going to give up their iPhones?

Letter to the editor: We of Madison for a World BEYOND War found what happened there extremely inspiring. Of the many things we witnessed, the conduct of the students was a true ray of hope in our murky future. We saw young people capably imagining & creating a better world.

The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which was erected in late April by University of Wisconsin-Madison students who want to see an end to the killing in Gaza and Israel, was taken down last week after UW administrators and members of the group Students for Justice in Palestine reached an agreement to keep talking about student demands.

Students believe it is actually patriotic and ethical to be concerned about our taxes being used to support governments that oppress people and ethnically cleanse an indigenous population.

The demands of the anti-Israel protests on campus include “cutting all ties with Israeli institutions, including the… Mosse Graduate Exchange Fellowship.” As a member of the Faculty Committee for the George L. Mosse Program in History, which administers the exchange fellowship, I strongly oppose this demand as a threat to academic freedom. The free exchange of ideas, scholars, and students is essential for the advancement of knowledge and the fearless sifting and winnowing long championed by the University of Wisconsin.

It’s been one week since UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin called in police to forcibly clear a student protest encampment on campus. The May 1 early-morning raid on the peaceful assembly on Library Mall resulted in 34 arrests, including students and several faculty members. All but four of those arrested were processed and immediately released, while the remaining four are currently awaiting trial on charges ranging from resisting arrest to assaulting an officer.

Recently, the Universities of Wisconsin paid the consulting firm Deloitte $2.8 million for “financial assessments” of several UW universities. While news coverage has focused on the financial problems outlined in these reports, the real story is that this project is being used to implement the Wisconsin Republican Party’s higher education priorities. And this is occurring even as the state enjoys a record budget surplus and a new legislative map that will, by definition, result in a more representative state government.