Category: Opinion

What’s the spot on the UW-Madison campus nearest to your heart?

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Provided you are reading this in the comfort of your own home, or in a lecture hall, and not still behind bars or nursing sore wrists, congratulations on successfully surviving Halloween 2004. That weekend was full of crazy costumes, overcrowded parties and, of course, the usual herds of police officers equipped with tear gas and riot gear. The benefit of hindsight lets us calmly look back and ask the serious question: was Halloween weekend successful, tear gas and all, or is it time for UW students to say goodbye to Halloween and hello to an October sans looting and arrests?

The Halloween hooligans come to town to see a riot. If we want them to stay away, Madison must deliver only disappointment.

Once upon a time, it was easy for students to get season tickets for Badger basketball. But, over the past few years, the popularity of Wisconsin basketball has skyrocketed dramatically as the team has won a share of three Big Ten titles. Times have quite obviously changed. The demand for season tickets by students has grossly outweighed the supply. It is for this reason that the recent calamity involving the ticket lottery is so problematic, merely serving to further frustrate the patience of students.

In many ways, this Halloween looks to be the last straw. Comments from city officials ranged from perturbed to infuriated and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz in particular had the harshest words, saying, “I have had enough. This must come to an end.” Although we are disturbed by the vagueness of his sentiment, we agree with it in principle. Because people cannot seem to act in a sane manner, the Madison police department is entirely justified in using draconian measures to deter future Halloween incidents. However, city officials should hesitate to make rash policy decisions when emotions are running high. The backlash might rival the behavior they are trying to stamp out.

In Baghdad on Saturday night, thousands of young American men and women wished for nothing more fervently than to spend the evening safely.

Halloween on State Street was a big part of campus life even before I was a student here in the early 1980s. For the most part, it has been a peaceful celebration that reflects the energy and creativity of students. Madison wouldn’t be the city it is if not for the 40,000 students on the UW campus. Students bring excitement, ideas and optimism to the city. Some of us like Madison so much that we find excuses to stick around after we graduate. That’s what I did, and now I’ve got a great excuse to keep living in Madison. In fact, my job requires it.

Halloween is quickly approaching, and as you are putting the finishing touches on your costumes, the Associated Students of Madison is finalizing plans for an inclusive, fun and safe weekend celebration. ASM, in collaboration with Madison business associations, the City of Madison, the University of Wisconsin and the UW Greek System, is trying to make safe space for the entire community by holding costume contests for children, trick-or-treating at State Street businesses and having complimentary hay rides throughout the downtown area during the day.

Thirty-seven years ago today � Oct. 17, 1967 � I was an 18-year-old freshman on the University of Wisconsin campus in the city where I was born.

When I first heard one of the latest weapons the Madison Police Department has added to its arsenal to combat drunken disarray at this year’s State Street Halloween extravaganza was the family hayride, I sincerely thought someone was kidding.

As many students have read, been told and repeatedly reminded, the use of empty alcohol containers as room decoration by underage residents of UW-Madison Housing is no longer permitted. Although the campus staff may have had the best intentions in mind while devising this new policy, the only noticeable changes will be superficial at best.

Of course Sports Illustrated On Campus picked Madison as its only Midwestern stop on its annual Road Trip.

They loved Wisconsin’s traditional tailgate parties, Bucky Badger and our beautiful campus, right?

Wrong.

They’re visiting Wisconsin because we have really great riots.

Flipping through the pages of The Pitt News last year, University of Pittsburgh students could read a feature called ââ?¬Å?Drink Specialsââ?¬Â where prices of drinks at local bars were published by the newspaper, free of charge

In recent years it has become commonplace for some students to complain that school officials, professors or TAs are somehow ideologically biased. There have been grievances from across the country of grades lowered based upon a professor�s disagreement with a student�s conclusion.

Last week, this newspaper reported that Christopher Loving, former president of the Black Student Union (BSU) chapter here on campus, was charged with stealing, having withdrawn approximately $1,400 for personal use from the student group�s segregated fee funds account.

Here we are again: Another year at UW-Madison filled with football games, parties and-overpriced textbooks? The first week of school has brought about one very unfortunate reminder: The students aren’t always first. Without a university-affiliated bookstore on the UW-Madison campus, targeting the specific needs of students has become a thing of the past.

UW-Madison tries to prepare its new students for life at college. But I’m guessing there are a few things they don’t tell the newbies. So I offer up my experience from attending the university, teaching there, and generally refusing to grow up and leave.

One out of every six female students is a victim of rape or attempted rape on campus. This makes it essential to increase sexual assault awareness on campus. It is crucial for rape victims to feel comfortable about reporting the assault so that they can receive proper medical treatment and support.

Like many others, my experience with alcohol started when I left for school to attend the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I never drank in high school and have never felt that it belongs there. I did drink freshman year; alcohol, for me, was just part of the college experience.