Skip to main content

Category: Opinion

Stephen M. Born: It’s time to chart the course for Wisconsin’s environment

Posted on
Capital Times

Another election season has come and gone. In Wisconsin, there was little intelligent discussion about our environment and how we should protect, manage and use our incredible natural resources to maintain the quality of life and recreational opportunities most Wisconsinites cherish.

….Gov. Jim Doyle and his agencies, along with a new Legislature and new local leadership, now have a responsibility to lay out their vision for Wisconsin’s environment, including what actions they plan and what resources they propose to commit.

(Born is a UW-Madison emeritus professor of planning and environmental studies)

Milfred: Choking on last week’s headlines

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

So much to skewer, so little space:
Animal rights activists last week won a court battle moving them closer to opening a “cruelty museum” next to UW-Madison’s primate lab.
It’s a free country. If the activists want to spend a rich California man’s money on a museum virtually no one will go to, so be it. As long as taxpayers aren’t footing a penny of the bill, let the museum fail on its own.

Conklin: Madison pies deployed to Iraq

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Chancellor John Wiley got two Christmas stockings filled by local Sierra Club Santas this week. One contained more than 700 postcards from students and community members seeking to close the Charter Street coal plant that was the subject of a mid-November permit hearing. And the other was filled with coal.

Low access grade unjustified

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

Engines of Inequality, a report by the non-profit Education Trust, recently gave UW-Madison a poor score for serving African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians.

The report, which focused on the country�s 50 state flagship universities, based its ratings on enrollment and retention rates for minority and low income groups.

Animial activists targeted by new law

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

President Bush is expected to sign legislation updating the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, now renamed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The name change alone is evidence the act is unnecessary and victimizes the rights of protestors by deeming their actions ââ?¬Å?terrorism.ââ?¬Â

Lampert-Smith: If you can’t beat ’em, protest ’em

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Now that animal-rights activists have won the right to buy land for a museum next to UW-Madison’s primate labs, you have to wonder who’s going to visit.
It’s hard to imagine dad offering to pack up the kiddies for a fun day at a display of cruelty to animals.

Local media expedite petty politics

Posted on
Badger Herald

For those who don�t think dirty political campaigning is a problem in the Midwest, look no further than a recent study conducted by the University of Wisconsin that found especially high rates of political advertising to low rates of election news coverage on television newscasts.

Still: National Bio and Agro Defense fits Wisconsin

Posted on
Wisconsin Technology Network

It’s not every day that Wisconsin has a chance to attract a major federal laboratory. It has been more than 30 years since the National Wildlife Health Center was established in Madison, and nearly 100 years since the University of Wisconsin was selected over the University of Michigan as the site for the National Forest Products Laboratory. Both labs have contributed immensely to the world’s knowledge of wildlife diseases and forests – as well as the state’s economy.

Evaluations improve UW

Posted on
Badger Herald

Ah, my favorite time of year is finally here. The semester has been long and difficult, but I can finally sit back, relax and vent � it�s time to fill out class evaluation forms.

Baggot: UW’s 2007 future in BCS looks bright

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

If you are one of those people hacked off because the University of Wisconsin football team isn’t getting its due this postseason, here’s a glass-half-full thought:
The Badgers may be on the outside looking in at the Bowl Championship Series party – despite winning 11 of 12 games – but just wait until a year from now.

Trying to improve access to health care for the city’s poor

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Since I became dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health on July 1, no issue has received more of my attention than the relationship between the school and the Milwaukee community and our role in addressing the health care needs of its underserved populations. A column by Robert Golden.

Out-of-class activity idea unfit for college

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

In his recent state of the university address, Chancellor John Wiley said that he was considering making it mandatory for all students to participate ââ?¬Å?in at least one documentable ââ?¬Ë?out-of-classroom activity.ââ?¬â?¢Ã¢â?¬Â

Dave Zweifel: Trademark tiff is absurdity in motion

Posted on
Capital Times

I don’t know about you, but it rankles me that the juggernaut known as the University of Wisconsin athletic department is picking on little high schools whose names just happen to begin with a W.The W, we are told, particularly the red W that for some absurd reason is called the “motion W,” belongs to the UW Badgers and no one else can use it.

Why Badgers Will Miss The Bcs Party

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Even in Madison, the University of Wisconsin’s non-conference football game against Buffalo ranks third on most people’s agendas today, right behind watching Ohio State and Michigan in this year’s Battle of the Century and heading to the woods to help thin the state’s deer herd.

Coal power plant undermines UW

Posted on

On Wednesday evening, more than 60 people took their own time to find the DNR offices, show up for a public hearing, stand up, and be heard. Every last one of those people voiced their concerns about the UW�s antiquated, dirty coal-fired power plant and asked the UW to take a lead on combating global warming, and to start by cleaning up the Charter Street plant

Death penalty shouldn’t have lived

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Mentions that Steven Avery was freed in 2003 after University of Wisconsin-Madison students involved in the Innocence Project proved he wasn’t guilty of the rape and assault for which he served 18 years in prison.

In the Pink No More

Posted on
New York Times

ON Nov. 1, just two months shy of its 50th birthday, the plastic pink flamingo went extinct. Or more accurately, it stopped reproducing, when its manufacturer, Union Products, shut down the factory in Leominster, Mass.

Mourning a loss

Posted on
Badger Herald

While the rest of the University of Wisconsin campus was going about yesterday like any other day � attending class, studying at the library and going to work � a fellow Badger�s life came to an abrupt end.

Bias-free? Someone Should Tell The Dean

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

My university is extremely disappointed — in me. And that is not fair.
After months of deliberation over my position on the state’s ballot initiative concerning the definition and recognition of marriage in Wisconsin, I voted “yes” on Nov. 7.

In Wiley we trust

Posted on
Badger Herald

Yesterday, the Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary decided to uphold the election results from the Student Union Initiative referendum that students voted on in October.

Undocumented kids deserve a chance to learn

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Not far from where I live, two girls live with their undocumented immigrant parents from Mexico in a rented cottage behind a city duplex.

Maria, 7, is in the second grade at a Milwaukee public school. She speaks Spanish at home while rapidly attaining English fluency at school. She is bright, social and intelligent.

Imagine who Maria could be in 10 years – confident, close to her family and recently accepted to the state’s best university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is one of many diverse faces of the next generation of Americans – Hispanic, bilingual and educated, despite coming from what many Americans would consider a very poor background.

Bielema keeps Iowa roots under wraps

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

To prove once more that the media wouldn’t know a good story if it smacked it upside the head like a Britney Spears text message to Kevin Federline’s chops, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says he has been asked about his Hawkeyes tattoo all of three times during Iowa week.

Judiciary must dismiss Elliott case

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

Step aside Florida 2000�The case seeking to overturn the Student Union Initiative, Elliott v. Student Elections Commission, is challenging legitimate election results for baseless reasons.

Six students stepped forward last week to challenge SUI�s election campaign, citing five petitions that they argue should nullify the student vote.

Mayer: Return to the norm (The Courier-Mail, Australia)

Posted on

BARRING the discovery of a secret cache of uncounted ballots in Northern Virginia, the Democrats will have control of the US� Congress for the first time since 1994.

Professor Kenneth R. Mayer, of the Political Science Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the visiting Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Political Science at the Australian National University, Canberra.

Greeks� plan ill-advised

Posted on
Badger Herald

Halloween is over and, surprisingly, ended without pepper spray or riots � an achievement that students and city officials should be proud of. With that said, it is now time for Madison officials to put away their riot gear and return to the more pertinent issues facing the downtown area.

Baggot: UW sports near top of game

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

You may not have noticed UW- Madison has eight teams ranked nationally in the top 25 of their sports. Say what you want about the meaning of polls and ratings, but that’s pretty impressive.

Halloween: The aftermath

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

At 2:00 a.m., pre-daylight savings time Sunday morning, the 500 Block of State Street looked like a bad case of dÃ?©jÃ?  vu. A frenzied crowd of partiers alternatively chanted ââ?¬Å?Fuck the policeââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?We want tear gasââ?¬Â while throwing chunks of pumpkin and debris from the street.

A sigh of relief

Posted on
Badger Herald

Whew, it worked.

The city of Madison successfully executed Mayor Dave Cieslewicz�s plan for Halloween 2006, and despite some reservations about the new system, the night went off without a hitch.

Do We Really Need 2 Barrys?

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The sculpture of Barry Alvarez that stands outside the main entrance to Camp Randall Stadium is remarkable not only in its detail, but its message.
From the pair of regulation Adidas shoes on his feet, to the watch on his left wrist that says it’s 7:24, to the stressed expression on his face, Alvarez looks much like he did on the sidelines during his final seasons as University of Wisconsin football coach.

Brawn Trumps Brains, At Least In Statues

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Early on during the 20 or so years I worked in Washington, D.C., I concluded that the main function of the many statues in that monument-obsessed city is to give pigeons a place to poop.
Here in Madison, we know the two statues recently erected at the University of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall — one a tower of spheroid objects, the other a likeness of former coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez — serve a higher purpose. That would be the glorification of big-time college football.

National spotlight skews image of UW

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

Can you feel it yet? That ââ?¬Å?itââ?¬Â is a spotlight honed in on Madison from the national media as a result of recent events that have taken place at the university.

John Nichols: Wellstone wise on stem cell debate

Posted on
Capital Times

The last day that I spent with Paul Wellstone began on a sunny morning in the living room of his St. Paul home. I’d arrived to join him as he campaigned for re-election in what was widely seen as the most hotly contested Senate race in the nation.

….This week, as we mark the fourth anniversary of his death in a Minnesota plane crash, stem cell research is finally emerging as the sort of political issue that Wellstone thought it should be.

And Michael J. Fox, whose book the senator was reading on that sunny morning that now seems so very long ago, is at the center of the debate. This week, Fox began appearing in televised campaign commercials for Democratic supporters of embryonic stem cell research including Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle who are locked in tight races with Republicans who want to limit support for scientific inquiry.

Hold the pepper

Posted on
Badger Herald

After months of planning and speculation, Halloween 2006 is finally upon us. Considering the blitz of national and local news coverage highlighting the negative aspects of the party, it�s easy to forget it hasn�t always ended with pepper spray.

ââ?¬Ë?Freakfestââ?¬â?¢ outcome lies in student hands

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

As Halloween weekend fast approaches, many students are threatening to boycott the planned Saturday night State Street event, ââ?¬Å?Freakfest,ââ?¬Â by doing their partying on State Street Friday night.

Partying Friday will show the mayor what happens when he denies us our right to party, right? Wrong. This is the spoiled and stubborn attitude that got restrictions placed on Halloween in the first place.

O’Reilly bedevils UW yet again

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A last-minute call on Oct. 13 landed WTDY-AM 1670 talk host Casey Hoff on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox TV show that night, talking about instructor Kevin Barrett, the UW Band and profs with criminal records in a segment called “UW Out of Control.”

Who Says Money Corrupts Campaigns?

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

With the primary election over and the general election campaigns in full gear, the gnashing of teeth and mashing of keyboards is in full force.

Critics are quick to point out the flaws of the system. Too much money is spent, too much is contributed, too much is devoted to television ads.

Are these charges accurate? UW-Madison political scientist John Coleman examines the issue.

Plain talk: Political attack ads misleading, petty

Posted on
Capital Times

Here are yet more examples of what’s wrong with our politics today: Several days ago an official state audit reported that faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin seldom take any sick leave, a practice that allows them to accumulate days that they can convert into paid health insurance when they retire.

Anita Weier of our staff covered the audit report, which was released late on a Friday morning. But before the newspaper actually hit the streets a couple of hours later with her story, there was a press release in my e-mail inbox from GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, blaming it all on incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle.

Anyone who is at all familiar with state government knows that such a charge is patently silly. University and state workers for better or for worse have been taking advantage of that state benefit for decades.

Sick leave reporting needs transparency

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

Arecent report released by the Legislative Audit Bureau that looks at the personal practices and policies of the University of Wisconsin System found that faculty use a great deal less sick time compared to other staff.

In a response, UW System President Kevin Reilly addressed the concerns in the audit and ensured they would be reported on and further investigated over the upcoming months.

UW marks down Comparative Lit.

Posted on
Badger Herald

The humanities are an extremely important and integral part of our university. And the University of Wisconsin administration is beginning to disregard the humanities in a way that will negatively impact our campus in the future.

Cheers

Posted on
Badger Herald

In a semester in which the University of Wisconsin has seemingly garnered attention for all the wrong reasons, it is easy to overlook professors whose contributions to the school are far more important yet attract considerably less notice.