H -°, L 22° | Tomorrow: 
H 23°, L 4°There are a lot of cynics at this university who like to offer up their useless criticisms. Their concentration increases like a distilled alcohol at The Badger Herald’s online forum. The topics I’ve written about in the past have ranged from primate experimentation to public sex, and the only thing the people that read my articles seem to agree on, judging by the online forum, is that I’m a gigantic douche.
And yet, I still feel a need to entertain you assholes.
So, to try and please you ungrateful heaps, I found a topic that connects us all, from the undiagnosed insomniacs inhabiting College Library all hours of the day, to the shiftless kids often seen writing obscenities on the backs of chairs during class, waiting out their hangovers. The topic today is jobs — or should I say the lack thereof — and what UW is doing to right the ship.
Shortly after New Years, some friends and I drove up to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan to go camping. On the way, we stopped at a McDonald’s in Stevens Point for some breakfast.
While waiting at the drive-thru window, my buddy Kevin leaned forward and said, “You see that guy at the register?” I, and all the others in the car, leaned forward and peered through the window, past the girl loading our to-go bags, to see a young guy making change for a customer. “He went to college.”
“Great,” I said.
Watching a college graduate work alongside high school dropouts enraged me to such an extent that I became determined to blindly criticize someone at UW for dropping the ball. First, I blamed the UW administrators, which was rejected by my editor. Then, I blamed the advising staff, which was also rejected by my editor. Desperate for an answer, I continued my hunt for the guilty party, one that wouldn’t be jettisoned. That’s when I found the Office of Corporate Relations.
Of course, I thought, these are the people that should have been forming partnerships with companies long before the recession to serve as gateways for UW students into the workforce. They could have sheltered us from the effects of the recession by providing jobs directly to students through their corporate connections. If they had done their job well enough before the recession, a portion of us would be employed in meaningful careers after graduation.
Confident I had found the perpetrator, I sent an e-mail to the OCR and impatiently awaited its responses to my questions.
Days later, I opened the e-mail sent to me by Doug Bradley, assistant manager of the OCR. As I read it, the cynical smirk slowly left my face. Replacing it was the dumb look one gets when one becomes so entranced that one forgets how one’s face must look, like a 2-year-old watching Teletubbies.
Mr. Bradley’s response to my question of “In your eyes, what needs to be done by the OCR, by UW students and/or businesses to prepare for and better the economy?” was regrettably insightful and honest, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
He responded, “In short, some/all of the following: (1) Embrace and invest in new technology (2) Adopt a consumer mindset more than a producer mindset. Customers are a company’s most valuable asset. Dedicate effort to learning more about their needs (3) Nurture human capital (in non-cash ways if necessary) (4) Strive to create an environment that promotes learning and conservation [as] these will both be keys to success going forward.”
I was deflated. My mission to unveil the guilty party at UW, responsible for my pending unemployment, ended with the knowledgeable responses to my undeniably loaded questions. Here I was, cynical and itching to blame someone, only to find that, not only was there no one to blame at UW, but also I had become just like every babbling, uninformed idiot on The Badger Herald’s online forum who I despised.
Mr. Bradley entertained the questions of an asshole, and for that I thank him.
Mr. Bradley made me realize if businesses are contracting, there’s little anyone at UW can do about it, regardless of how much we pay in tuition or the GPAs we earn. Instead of wasting time blindly condemning UW, students who, like myself, are concerned about their fate after graduation should focus on the state and federal governments’ efforts to dig us out of this mess.
Currently, Wisconsin state legislators are working on attracting venture capital into the state of Wisconsin by providing tax incentives through Act 255 and the proposed C.O.R.E. Jobs Act. Meanwhile, Obama has created a budget for FY 2011 that is heavily focused on research and development and clean technology.
According to Mike Ivey of The Capital Times, Wisconsin has discarded 176,700 jobs since December of 2007; a total that surpasses the amount of jobs created in the last decade. The slow recovery is not the fault of Obama, Doyle or Doug Bradley. It’s a wound, like the one the break-up of Twisted Sister created, that will simply take time to heal.
But, in the meantime, it would be wise, as future employees, for all students to remain optimistic and sufficiently informed by keeping a close eye on the direction the economy may be heading. A new economy will rise from the ashes of the old, and, with it, job opportunities that never existed before. Engaging yourself in the rebuilding process may be the key to securing a financial future of your own.
Use UW as a resource to prepare yourself. If you fail to, you will have no one to blame but yourself.
David Carter ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in forestry.
IP hash: 0e7c04f8
“…and the only thing the people that read my articles seem to agree on, judging by the online forum, is that I�m a gigantic douche.”
Well, you can’t argue with a consensus!
IP hash: 0e7c04f8
“And yet, I still feel a need to entertain you assholes.”
Oh, good comeback! Yeah, they really love you now, don’t they?
“My mission to unveil the guilty party at UW, responsible for my pending unemployment…”
Hey kiddo, no school in the world can guarantee you a job after graduation. The best they can do is entice you to enroll by telling you that “90% of our graduates get jobs within one year after graduation.” It worked, didn’t it? Yeah, because you were just a young, naive, snot-nosed high school senior who thought he knew it all! And your parents weren’t much smarter either, were they? They contributed to your education in whole or in part and where are ya now, huh?! Oh, don’t you feel special, Davey? Don’t you feel like you should be the friggin’ president?! Just like ol’ Mickey said to Rocky…”You’re gonna be able to eat lightning and crap thunder!”
“The slow recovery is not the fault of Obama, Doyle or Doug Bradley.”
Yeah, Democrats are totally blameless, aren’t they? Both Democrats AND Republicans are equally to blame for everything, pal, and your choosing up sides isn’t helping them or you.
“A new economy will rise from the ashes of the old, and, with it, job opportunities that never existed before.”
Jobs like gathering firewood and standing guard outside the fort to fend off predators.
IP hash: 0ec03e83
He admits that the UW cannot guarantee that. Did you not read the article?
IP hash: 0e7c04f8
Then why is he bashing them? And why didn’t YOU point it out to him? Did you fall victim to false hope too? Hey, let me give you a hint: If you can’t cut it in the real world, come back and apply for a job at the university. If you’re smart enough to earn a degree here, you ought to be smart enough to work here.
IP hash: 0ec03e83
Read the rest of the article bro. He stops bashing them and admits it’s not the UW’s fault and it is a problem of the economy as a whole.
IP hash: c54de1fa
Increase taxes on companies and anybody making a lot of money - that’s the Democrat theory for bringing jobs to Wisconsin but it doesn’t seem to be working.
IP hash: 0e7c04f8
Agreed. We need Tommy Thompson again. He may have put us through hell when he started, but unemployment was much, much lower than it was under Doyle. We had more jobs in Madison than employers could fill.
IP hash: d3a931a3
we weren’t in a recession you dumbshit
IP hash: 48751ebb
We’ve been in a recession since 2007, buttmunch! Go ask your stupid messiah in the White House for a stimulus check when your parents stop sending you beer money, why doncha!
IP hash: d3a931a3
actually they’re offering tax credits
IP hash: bc836b05
good lord these comments are terrible.
IP hash: 0e7c04f8
So is the column. Take your pick.
IP hash: 67588e1c
It’s hard to understate the delusional nature of a column that could easily be retitled, “How McDonalds taught me to embrace Hopey-Change.”
This economic turndown has been much more severe than it should have been because of a serious breakdown in �the rules of the game.� Why invest in, start up, or expand any kind of business if there�s a realistic possibility that the government will aid your direct or indirect competitors, or otherwise radically and whimsically alter the playing field? This uncertainty has also taken its toll on consumers. Despite having billions of extra dollars available thanks to energy price drops and lower interest rates, their spending appears not to be ramping up proportionally.
The solution from Washington? More bailouts, leading to more uncertainty across the board. Another bigger �stimulus� and a less effective one at that. While tax �rebate� checks such as those sent out last year are not as effective as across-the-board rate cuts, at least they put money into consumers� pockets quickly. But the new �stimulus� package evolving in Washington is dominated by public �investments� that, even if justified, would take much longer to make their way into the economy.
Roosevelt tried massive public works programs during the Depression. All he did is prolong it for seven years. Japan tried government stimulus for 10 years running in the 1990s. It only resulted in �the lost decade.�
What Pelosi, Obama, and Reid should do is expand the tax cut element of the stimulus plan to include all incomes, ditch almost all of the alleged �investments� in so-called “green” technology, and open up oil and gas exploration, and, eventually, watch the royalty money pour in. I know; that�s way too much to �hope� for.
IP hash: d3a931a3
if only you could counsel obama instead of all those worthless noble laureate economists, we would have been out of this thing already. how could they have missed your solution? you must be some kind of super genius!
IP hash: 67588e1c
Q; How many nobel laureate economists does it take for Obama to screw in a lightbulb?
A: None. Obama simply hold the lightbulb while we get screwed waiting for Earth to rotate him around the socket.
IP hash: d3a931a3
that didn’t make any sense but i did love the cute little Q&A and clever “Obamateur” name. get a life dipshit
IP hash: 67588e1c
You don’t get it because the real joke is your hero, Professor Teleprompter. Grow a sense of humor, you stiff.
Or at least try expressing an opinion of your own. Don’t be a smug little toady your whole life.
/boring
IP hash: d3a931a3
i think calling you a dipshit summarized my opinion nicely.
IP hash: 83b6c53e
Which only serves to demonstrate the preceding rejoinder.
/quod idiocy demonstrandum
IP hash: e9780788
jesus, you suck
IP hash: 83b6c53e
Now, now… for the love of Ganesha’s trunk, don’t invoke your Lord and Savior just to try looking cool with the popular kids.
IP hash: d3a931a3
have you ever been laid?
IP hash: 67588e1c
Citizens Against Government Waste has sniffed out over $19 billion in pure pork � money seized from some citizens to buy the votes of others. Medicare oozes $60 billion in fraud and waste. The Cato Institute recently created a web site dedicated to downsizing the government, which lists many more examples of redundant government programs and expensive incompetence.
We should insist, in a unified voice that shakes every seat in the House and Senate, that not one more dime of American taxpayer money will be sacrificed to the �climate change� fraud, and demand its domestic accomplices be prosecuted. The money recovered from cracking down on government waste should be immediately returned to the taxpayers, since it was seized under false pretenses.
IP hash: d3a931a3
good luck with that
IP hash: 67588e1c
We have to do more than just whip Big Government into shape. We must begin devolving the functions of the federal government to the states. We don�t need rivers of tax money pouring into Washington, then trickling back to the states, polluted with frozen chunks of mandate. Let the states handle the financing for these functions; and let state politicians directly face those whose taxes pay for them. The national Congress places too much money in the hands of representatives most taxpayers will never have a chance to vote against.
IP hash: 44a2f43d
And the best way to get the ball rolling is with a federal income tax revolt. On April 15th, everybody who owes federal income taxes pay it to your state, county or municipal government. Or donate it to your favorite charity. Just keep the money out of Washington. We states can keep the country up and running a lot more easily and efficiently without the jackasses in Washington.
We vote, we pay our taxes and we get…what? We revolt, we keep our taxes and we get economic recovery. It’s our money, not theirs. If Obama wants to put up a fuss about it, let him. And the whole world will be watching this very closely. This will be a defining moment in American history, where the people got up and took back the country from corrupt politicians and the rich bankers who kept us all in despair. That’s why the low tides last longer than the high tides, why we’re in debt longer than we aren’t.
Right now, I’m willing to risk anything to get the country back on the straight and narrow. We should’ve done it in 2004, when blue state secession was an idea. Where are we now?
IP hash: d3a931a3
yeah! and then each state could fight wars by themselves! perfect
IP hash: 48751ebb
11:26AM, are liberals like you so naive that your ideas are the only way to heaven? You emotionally insecure babies have been relying way too much on name-calling to state your case. Look, Obama has made plenty of dumb moves in his first year in office to make most liberals who voted for him turn away. Even the Democratic Party wants nothing to do with him. It’s kind of hard to sit and read the vitriolic comments from liberals without enjoying the counter-comments by everyone else. I’m a sucker for balance, forgive me.
The fact that most Americans are no longer party loyalists should tell you everything you need to know. You log on to AlterNet, read a few biased articles and you think you’ve heard the gospel truth. Hey, I could read just one article on World Net Daily and walk away with the same warped mindset! Do you live for the rallies or do you live for the day when the people are the ones who matter? Your next door neighbor may disagree with you on one or two issues, but the one issue you and he have in common is that you’re both flesh and bone and whose only importance to a politician is your vote and your taxes. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter that you’re liberal and your neighbor is conservative. You’re both chumps who are taken advantage of every election year and every April 15th.
Here’s another thought: Add up all the money you’ve paid in federal income taxes from 2001 to the present. Keep in mind that about fifty cents of every dollar you paid in federal income taxes went to pay for two bogus wars all that time. Now let’s say you are suddenly laid off from your job, your family and friends can’t/won’t help you and you’re about to lose your one-bedroom apartment. You’ve put out job applications and resumes to every employer in town and anywhere else that has unemployment below 10%. If I were you and in that situation, the first question that would cross my mind, all things considered, is “What if I had all the money I paid in federal income taxes over the last ten years in my hands right now?” If it’ll make it any easier for you to understand what I’m getting at, there are millions of unemployed Americans asking themselves that same question.
So if you’re willing to shed all loyalty to politicians and parties and look at the situation for what it really is, you’ll find that 1) we the people are the solution and 2) you are not alone. If the majority of Americans would just ignore the imaginary fence that separates them and tries to make them see their neighbors as the enemy, we could get this country back on the straight and narrow a lot sooner and easier than just waiting for the bottom to fall out. You can be part of the solution or you can be part of the problem. Your call. Don’t wait for change, BE the change. We don’t need a guru or a PhD to tell us what’s already obvious.
IP hash: d3a931a3
you’re right. why would i want someone who has proved their intelligence with a PhD when I could trust some douchebag writing on an online forum?
IP hash: 67588e1c
Government-controlled industries should be privatized, beginning with education, which wastes a staggering amount of money on tragically poor performance; empowering a massive, politically-active union with interests hostile to most of the Americans who involuntarily supply its funding.
Industries the government has painfully failed at running, such as Amtrak, should be handed off to private-sector businessmen who can make them work— or put them out of their misery.
Ridiculous extravagances like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose services were already privatized years ago, should be eliminated at once. Sorry, Leftists, but if we need to rack up a $14 trillion national debt, we certainly can�t afford to fund NPR and PBS any more.
A government characterized by uncontrolled deficit spending has lost all moral and reasoned claims to run any business that could be tackled by the private sector. It shouldn�t be allowed to pour tax dollars into statist live-action role playing games like Americorps, either. Privatization is the only way to prevent the collapse of the unsustainable Social Security and Medicare entitlements.
IP hash: db6cdaa4
While I generally agree with the gist of your comments, Social Security doesn’t have to be privatized in order to make it solvent. Paul Ryan’s American Roadmap (www.americanroadmap.org) is the best plan that I’ve ever seen to make America fiscally solvent again without upsetting too many senior citizens.
IP hash: 67588e1c
Expensive corporate welfare programs should be eliminated, especially after the odious concept of tax-nourished companies becoming �too big to fail� has deformed our economy. An example of such a program is the $90 billion Advanced Technology Program, a sad attempt to emulate the Japanese model of government-sponsored corporate development, which already crashed and burned a decade ago. There�s no point in talking about privatizing industries when so many companies are stumbling around on the end of umbilical cords that lead back to the federal treasury.
IP hash: 67588e1c
In the longer term, we should scrap the bloated tax code shackling our productivity with thousands of incentives and penalties, and move to a flat tax— collected openly with regular tax statements, instead of allowing the IRS to pick workers� pockets with payroll deductions. Taxing people at different rates based on their income level is immoral, as Constitutional rights should not dissipate with wealth. It also puts far too much money in the hands of politicians, and allows them to collect it with a club.
Are these radical ideas? They�re far more consistent with Hope and Change than anything proposed by the man who has no ideas beyond giving us more of the same, at triple the price. It�s long past time to try something truly different from the wheezy old machine we�ve been fueling with tax money for the past hundred years.
Liberty is a radical concept; but it�s also a very old and traditional one for Americans. It has also defeated collectivism every single time they have been matched against each other. The answer to socialism is that government cannot solve any of the problems our society faces. Only free people have the strength and creativity to find those solutions.
IP hash: 6ac7847b
Although the UW can’t guarantee a job, I remember the career services offered by L&S a little too keenly. A stack of PDFs offering a couple jobs in rural Wisconsin, a job bank offering part time house sitting/childcare positions, and advisement to hit up monster.com and pray.
I know that the recession makes it a lot harder for the UW to advertise jobs, but the lack of help is really disheartening.
IP hash: d90cd3a0
The sub-prime college education debt system will also crash someday.
MANY people go to college who really belong in a trade school or apprentice program or just getting a job instead of running up debt to get a semi-useless B.A. They’d be better off and the country would be better off.
The Case Against College Entitlements : Why We Don’t Need More Public Funding For Higher Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCecGGdELOQ
IP hash: cbb475a1
“Obama has created a budget for FY 2011 that is heavily focused on research and development and clean technology.”
We�ve seen all of this before.
Huge amounts of tax payer dollars in the form of government subsidies were wasted on ethanol production, to �create sustainable Green jobs�. It drove up corn prices artificially, made it hard for poor countries to buy food, and when the price of energy dropped and the subsidies started phasing out, a host of alcohol plants went out of business across the state and country. The �sustainable green jobs� went with them! Do we learn from our Progressive �economics� lessons in socialist failures? Noooooooooo��
Pond scum is Green. Cow manure is Green. Vomit is Green! What we have is political scum pumping �Green� economic crap at the taxpayers until they want to puke!
IP hash: a45354f8
Maybe that guy you saw working at McDonalds really likes his job.