Category: Opinion

Let?s get the obvious out of the way first: That video was bad. The message Dean of Students Lori Berquam released to students via YouTube Monday afternoon was an awkward, failed attempt to dissuade students from attending the Mifflin Street Block Party that inspired far more sarcastic comments than genuine discussions.

Earlier in the semester, a musician named Stewart Francke visited our class to discuss his music and his connection with Bruce Springsteen, who sings on Francke?s song “Summer Soldier (Holler If You Hear Me).”

Last Thursday, The Daily Cardinal, Badger Herald, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison.com, UW-Madison and other news outlets broke headlines on a report detailing an unfortunate alleged racial incident against two black female students walking through frat row.

People are often surprised when I tell them I am in a fraternity. I joined Delta Upsilon my freshman year and lived in the house last year, but I am no frat star. In the past two years, I?ve been to maybe three DU events, however I am close to active and inactive members. Considering I am a non-white member of an allegedly racist fraternity, I can speak to last week?s racial incident with some clarity. There are three things that I am sure of: excessively punishing DU is a mistake, disciplining the individuals involved needs to be firm and fair and DU?s proximity to the end of Frances Street is a factor that has been ignored.

Unlike some of my peers, I never really listened to Springsteen before taking Craig Werner?s class at UW Madison — “Bruce Springsteen?s America.” My parents were fans of the Boss, but he and the E-Street crew took a back seat to David Bowie, U2, The Clash, and R.E.M.

The UW-Madison faculty is disturbed by columnist Chris Rickert cherry-picking two items from a list of 11 possible solutions to the problem of declining faculty salaries, not one of which has been endorsed by the Faculty Senate, in his March 8 column, “Professors, it shouldn?t be all about the money.”

As a freshman, one of the first things I was told was ?Don?t walk Rapeshore alone at night.? As unflattering as that nickname is, ?Rapeshore? doesn?t only describe Lakeshore Path anymore.

This week, a Faculty Senate committee outlined its Commission on Faculty Compensation and Economic Benefits report, a report describing the growing problem that UW-Madison has and will be facing in regards to the salaries and compensation of its faculty. The report states that the salaries of instructors, specifically professors and assistant professors, are significantly lower compared to other Big Ten and public institutions.

The University of Wisconsin made headlines a couple weeks ago when it was named the fifth-best value of public colleges in America by Princeton Review. The university gave itself a pat on the back for this, as it should have. However, we also came out as the 14th best party school in America. Now, I am not opposed to a little partying and drinking, but I realize that the extent to which Badgers do it is ridiculous. I think we as a campus should slow down.

It seems amazing that it doesn?t happen more often. We all see them, especially around campus: young people crossing the street wearing headphones, sometimes oblivious to what?s going on around them. I?ve hit the brakes more than once for bicyclists and pedestrians who have floated in front of my moving car on University Avenue, never glancing in my direction. They can?t hear you honk. All you can do is shake your head and hope that person doesn?t end up dead.

State Journal reporter Deb Ziff?s Sunday article, “Paying for college: Tough lesson,” did a great job of capturing the tribulations of a student trying to finance a UW education. But people should know there is something students can do to avoid high costs and heavy debt. The UW Colleges ? the UW System?s network of 13 freshman-sophomore campuses ? offers the first two years of a UW liberal arts education at a much lower cost, $4,503 per year in tuition.

A planning team consisting of University of Wisconsin staff and consultants are in the middle of a two-year Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded grant to develop a Disaster-Resistant University plan for the Madison campus and outlying properties. The goal of this plan is to help mitigate and minimize potential damage from natural, technological or political hazards or disasters.

The additional $25.5 million UW-Madison will have to cut over the next two years is already having a major impact on campus, and one of the most tangible ways in which students will feel the cuts is the elimination of 29 for-credit physical education classes after 2012.