Group 1 (Beau Dobson on Rainwater Collection)

Saturday Sept. 15
Roll Out The Barrels

Katie Dean from The Capital Times sheds light on a new technique that could be useful and appreciated by many. People are using unique 55 gallon barrels to collect rain water before it hits the ground. Although the idea is not new, advances in the barrels are contributing to a heightened popularity. These specially designed barrels were improved by MATC and UW-Madison students. The MATC students contributed a logo and to inventory management while an engineering class at UW-Madison developed an environmental friendly spigot, that is attached to the barrels.

These barrels have several uses that are discussed in the article. It is stated that the growth of algae is enhanced by the phosphorus found in fertilizers, sediments, and animal waste. By collecting the water from roofs of homes, water runoffs cannot collect these things and in return reduce the unwanted algae amounts in bodies of water. Others are using the barrels for more practical uses such as watering plants because the rain water is free of fluoride, washing pets, or simply to save money by not using as much power. The water barrels are also ways for people to do their part to combat global warming.

The water systems themselves are suppose to be easy to clean, sealed to eliminate mosquito problems, capable of handling overflows, and have spigots that can be attached to a garden hose.
Single or double barrels kits are available over the internet for $75 and $115 respectively.

Group 3 (Whitney Spahn on Hillary Clinton)

Clinton Bills Herself as Agent of Change, Voice of Experience (Washington Post, September 2, 2007)


Hillary Clinton, democratic presidential candidate, is expected to have a much accelerated campaign this fall. Clinton has been promising change to the American people and says she is the perfect person for the job: “I have spent my whole life fighting change,” she claims. Clinton continues to slam both President Bush, about his current policies, and also the other democratic candidates. She believes a bluep rint alone is not enough to solve problems such as world health-care and a new energy plan. Clinton states in order to make changes like these, one needs to form a large following. This following she claims to have; sighting her experience in Congress. Both Clinton and her husband have been traveling together to support her run for office. Some believe this is a good approach because former president Clinton's experience will add to his wife’s potential. Some points Clinton has taken a stand on include ending the war in Iraq, expanding diplomatic outreach, and providing benefits for the middle class including job growth. At the end of the article Clinton states that she realizes compromises must be made or nothing will get done.

I feel Hillary Clinton, although well experienced in politics, is coming out too strong to the American people. I think her negative comments about the current president and her fellow democrats will hurt her campaign in 2008. I feel she should concentrate more on her individual points and strengths than her opponents’ faults. She has made stands on several issues including the war and health care. I think her campaign will run smoother and be more successful if she concentrates harder on these points of interest! I also personally believe that Bill Clinton does not add appeal to Hillary’s campaign. I think his past may actually hurt her chances of taking the white house.

Group 2 (Erin Banco on Al-Qaeda and the US)

Sunday, September 9, 2007

The New Al-Qaeda Central, September 9, 2007, washingtonpost.com

The author, Craig Whitlock, starts by describing Al-Qaeda and their incline of strength since September 11, 2001. No one has heard or seen Bin Laden on tape since October 2004, however the terrorist released a 26 minute video tape this past Friday stating what no American wants to hear: "We have survided." Over the past six years, America has spent trillions of dollars trying to diminish terrorism in the Middle East and capture key players in terrorist organizations like The Taliban. However, America's effort has backlashed and Al-Qaeda has once again reconstructed its arms and leadership (shura). Half the reason Al-Qaeda has become so strong in the past few years, is its ability to recruit new leaders and members. Because Al-Qaeda has reconstructed, it has continued to carry out acts of terrorism, such as the London transit bombings in 2005. The U.S. has since tried to get rid of main Al Qaeda leaders, but many have failed because of poor communication or skewed information. Al-Qaeda does not use (high-)technology as a form of communication which makes it even more difficult to intercept conversations between prominent leaders.

This article once again makes me question the motives of this war. I know this is a debate we all have heard over and over. When will the debate end? I realize this question may be daunting in certain ways, but its a question that needs to be answered by someone who is an authority figure. The artcle gives the public another reason to disagree with the Bush administration and its supporters. With the election in sight, news headlines will have everything to do with the politicians. They will be questioned mostly about their motives and ideas concerning the war. I guess only time will tell who our next "successor" will be.

Group 4 (Dylan Van Lith on the UW and beer)

Lee Lowenthal, a journalist for the The State Journal wrote an article on the increased success of UW Graduates Welch and Bronstein. This article titled, For Love or Beer (The State Journal, September 9th, 2007) describes how two University of Wisconsin undergraduate’s started a brewing company on the grounds of the campus. This company expanded into New York City after graduation, but it started right here while the two men were attending school. This 'bond' that they developed over beer began while they were students living in Vilas Avenue. Now, these two men sell nearly 3,100 barrels of beer a year. "I never thought I would be doing what I am doing now, " said Welch (UW Graduate). This article discusses how both of the men involved in the beer experiments have been wanting to become breweres since they met in college. They comment how they solely talked about how to make the best beer all throughout their four years at Madison. Once of my questions is, do you think that these men were taking up the space that could be used for a student who fully wants to focus on accademics? We could have admitted a future nobel prize winner or a scientiest who studies how to prevent diseases instead of having two graduated brewers. We already have enough alcohol in the world, but we still have many pertinent issues that still need to be solved. My question would be if UW Madison is now becoming known for its reputation of being a drinking school instead of for its academics? Do you think that parents are going to start pulling their children out of this prestigious university because of all the talk going around about Madison being such a party school? After reading this article, it makes me wonder if Madison is more party oriented or school oriented. I guess that I’m going to have to wait to find out!

Group 1 (Tyler Tiede on race and public schools)

It seems to me that the scope of racial discrimination has switched from its focus on non-Caucasians to Caucasians in the Madison area school district. Andy Hall writes about this situation in the article Open Enrollment Closed to White Madison Students. The article goes on to report that a 12-year-old boy named Zachary Walton was denied enrollment into a public online school because he is white. If Zachary was any other race he would have been allowed enrollment without a problem, but since the Madison school district receives $500,000.00 a year to participate in the states voluntary school-integration program known as Chapter 220. Madison is the only school district in the state of Wisconsin that participates in this program, which prohibits any student from changing the racial balance of the school by joining the school district through open enrollment. Even though this program affects every race, last year 140 transfer requests from white students were denied, which represents 71 percent of the race-based rejections at that time. The question that arises in my mind is: should school enrollment in the Madison school district be based on race or the student’s need and ability?

Group 5 (Casey Christian on judicial standards)

Dee J. Hall’s article Treat Ziegler like other judges, lawyer urges (Wisconsin State Journal, September 8, 2007) discusses how Attorney Jon Axelrod is urging that Judge Annette Ziegler’s charge for breaking Wisconsin’s conflict-of-interest law be handled consistently with how similar matters have been handled in the past. The defendant is seeking a public reprimand for her actions. In general, a public reprimand seems too weak of a punishment, but it is consistent with how other matters of similar nature have been resolved, specifically the case involving Judge Daryl Laatsch. The issue surrounding this matter stems from the fact that Ziegler is a junior justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and because of this higher position, should be held to higher standards. Would these higher standards warrant more severe punishments?

One Example Post (do not comment on this post)

In the editor's report (no author's name is given) Nations Continue to 'fight for the line', (Indian Country Today, September 6, 2007), the author outlines some of the issues complicating the border crossing (between the US and Canada) for First Nations, or Native American, people whose citizenship is primarily with a tribal nation. As the author suggests, theoretically this kind of border crossing is protected by both international (Treaty of Ghent) and national (Immigration and Citizenship Acts) legislation, however it seems both the history of that protection, as well as its status after 9/11, remain problematically obscure. The article brings up one of the most interesting--and oddly promising--issues in Native studies: what happens when tribal national jurisdictions overlap with other, international borders? This is an issue that many people struggle with daily (as explored in Thomas King's Truth and Bright Water), and one whose resolution seems contingent on the increased recognition by so-called 'western' nations of tribal national sovereignty. Ultimately, this article makes me wonder: if tribal nations are not explicitly reauthorized by countries like the US and Canada, will these local-level disturbances lead to some kind of generalized apathy toward the issue in non-Native countries?