Category: Opinion

Members of the University of Wisconsin community received a familiar crime warning email Monday describing an ongoing string of on-campus burglaries involving electronics and credit cards … Those who opened the email, however, may have been surprised that in addition to the usual description and location of the crime and a vague description of any suspects involved in the case, this particular email also included photos of the suspects — two young black men.

Letter to the editor: I attended UW-Madison’s art department half-time for four years (1975-79), to earn a BS in art. During that time, without exception, every professor made time for me during office hours to answer questions. Two professors did extended independent studies with me. There was no way they could have been paid for those many one-on-one contact hours other than feeling the satisfaction of helping this student to a greater depth of learning. I am grateful to them to this day!

As soon as prospective students are admitted to UW-Madison, they begin the housing application process. Along with this process, students are highly encouraged to apply for a student job on campus. These jobs are presented as being conveniently located, with flexible hours and a great way to make friends and connections. While all of this may be true, there is one major detriment to working for the university: the pay.

What’s so weird about it is it feels like our athletic programs are all on the rise and our academic programs are either stuck in the same place or in decline.

Mr. Schickel graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and moved to New York, where he freelanced for magazines and reviewed his first film, “Sammy Going South,” starring Edward G. Robinson, in 1963.

Gov. Scott Walker’s latest attempt to micro-manage UW-Madison has hit a new low. Now Gov. Walker wants to meddle with student fees.

In a small piece of the proposed state budget, Gov. Scott Walker has earmarked $10,000 for the University of Wisconsin System for “codifying the state’s commitment to academic freedom” and wants the System to protect offensive speech.

Letter to the editor: I think that Gov. Scott Walker has an excellent idea to allow UW-Madison students to opt out of allocable student fees, but only if Wisconsin taxpayers are also allowed to opt out of paying taxes for those programs that they disagree with.

Letter to the editor: As a political independent and current student, I am grateful for those that have made these efforts possible, which includes countless Democrats and Republicans who have worked together over the years. One may not always agree with his politics, but former Gov. Tommy Thompson invested in UW as governor — and his recent video offering his support of our grand university is proof that he cares deeply about helping bridge the divide between the state and the university. For that, the ol’ Badger deserves bipartisan praise.

Last week, President Trump pleased conservatives when he nominated Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court.  He looks to have made good on his promise to appoint a conservative justice to the Court. Court watchers are now left to wonder: how conservative will Gorsuch be? Our analysis suggests that if confirmed, Gorsuch might be the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court.

Noted: Separate research published in 2015 by Johnson, C. Kirabo Jackson, an economist at Northwestern, and Claudia Persico, an economist at the University of Wisconsin, found that

Noted: And whom else might this ban keep out? Remember Steve Jobs? His biological father was Abdulfattah “John” Jandali. He came to America as a student in the 1950s and studied at the University of Wisconsin. He was from … Homs, Syria.

On the night of Thursday, Jan. 26, I was in Flagstaff, Ariz., with my training group, sifting through my Twitter feed.

As the meltdown on the Berkeley campus reminds us, free speech seems to have a fragile beachhead on university campuses. While “safe spaces” have multiplied across academia, the idea that campuses should be zones that respect free speech seems to have withered.

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the controversy surrounding Daniel Dropik. In subsequent moves to prevent further such incidents, admission’s staff should note that there are on campuses throughout the country many students who have criminal records. For many former offenders, higher education offers a clear path from a dark past toward a brighter future. An educated ex-con can do a lot of good in the world.

Column by eight members of White Anti-racist Graduate Students (WAGS): Kathryn Boonstra, James Gleckner, Tyler Hook, Julie Kallio, Lauren Lauter, Amato Nocera, Erica Ramberg, Rob Timberlake and Glen Water.

Earlier today, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced plans for UW-Madison to make several changes to existing policies regarding incoming students.

You can look at the mishandling of funds at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh (UWO) as a blot on the accounting controls of the University of Wisconsin System (UWS), or you can applaud the efforts of former UWO Chancellor Rick Wells to integrate his campus and its related foundation with the economic development of its region.

Did you know there’s a list of the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students? Algemeiner.com, a Jewish news site, has published it. I bring this up to question the contents. Algemeiner, if you’re going to publish such a list, could you please actually put the worst colleges for Jewish students on it, not the best? Ridiculously, University of Madison – Wisconsin, one of the best schools for Jewish students in the nation, is number 39 on the list.

As you might imagine, there’s a lot to unpack when a UW-Madison student who’s been convicted of setting fire to black churches starts passing out invitations around campus to join a “pro-white student club.”

I was disturbed reading the news yesterday. Well, that seems a bit general. For the last week and a half, I’ve been disturbed by the news every time I go on Facebook or Twitter.

Column by College Republicans: Freedom, liberty, opportunity, justice. These are just a few words used to describe our country. If any of these terms deeply resonate with your image of this country, you are probably a Republican.

Republicans like to claim “freedom” as a banner ideology of their party, but the GOP in Wisconsin has shown an aversion to freedom lately. In particular, state Sen. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding of freedom, namely academic freedom.

Recently revealed allegations of the misuse of public funds by the former chancellor and vice chancellor at UW-Oshkosh should have taxpayers and legislators outraged – and demanding a long-overdue independent audit of the entire UW System.

Among the issues Michelle Obama targeted during her tenure as first lady, improving access to higher education was at the top of the docket. Her Reach Higher initiative was meant to inspire every American to pursue some sort education beyond a high school diploma.

“The Problem with Whiteness” is not that every single white person is racist. “The Problem with Whiteness” is that in 2017, there are still people who are afraid their white privilege will be taken away by a professor teaching a class on what it means to be white.

I applaud my colleague Donald P. Moynihan’s critiques of the legislative interventions with university courses that have emerged in recent times. A critical aspect of academic freedom is the freedom of faculty and departments to choose what and how to teach. But he is wrong to play down the suffocating effects of identity politics activists and the forces of so-called political correctness.

Letter to the editor: I have been a practicing psychiatrist in this community for over 30 years, and this proposal by our legislators to allow guns in UW campus buildings has caused me great concern.

In Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, political scientist Robert Putnam cites research that points to the billions of dollars lost to American society, over a generation, when a large portion of our young adults are under-educated and under- or unemployed. These costs include literal costs to social welfare structures, as well as lost tax revenue.

I feel safer now that Rep. David Murphy will personally decide if UW-Madison courses are “legit.”

Editorial cartoon: Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, have threatened to cut funding to the University of Wisconsin as punishment for allowing controversial classes such as “The Problem of Whiteness.”

Column by Ph.D. student in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Eric Luckey.

It’s bad for Republican lawmakers to push for more ideologically diverse educators and courses at UW-Madison as a way to inject more conservatism into the left-leaning campus.