University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Wednesday, March 25, 2015
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Danielle Allen brings new ideas of political equality to campus By Kelsey O’Hara THE DAILY CARDINAL
GAGE MEYER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Monona Mayor Bob Miller joins Madison Mayor Paul Soglin in sharing experiences on how to effectively lead a city and give back as a public servant.
Local mayors advise on city leadership By Julie Spitzer THE DAILY CARDINAL
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin and Monona Mayor Bob Miller used their experiences as city officials to give leadership advice at the Young Professionals Talks on Leadership Tuesday. The YP Talks, framed like TED Talks, are meant to be “thought-provoking” for YP members and community attendees as well, according to event organizers. The Urban League of Greater Madison Young Professionals sponsored the Tuesday event at The Brink Lounge. Soglin highlighted certain factors that led to his success, including the support he received from his parents. “A great deal of my drive in terms of wanting to be involved, and realizing that we can all be involved, in making a better community [and] a better world, comes from my parents,” Soglin said.
He further addressed the importance of having hobbies, mentioning having his own in biking and fantasy baseball, to balance the stresses of life as a city leader. Having someone to confide in is also important, according to Soglin. “Trust is critical. [It is important] to have someone … where you’re able to share the weight of work, what’s going right and what’s going wrong,” Soglin said. “Otherwise, when you return to work the next day, its going to be explosive.” Soglin emphasized awareness of one’s own intelligence, and using brainpower to better the community ahead of personal interests. He referred to the community as “aligned,” meaning every member had the same goal of making Madison a better city. “Even though you’re [told that you’re] not the brightest bulb, never doubt that you aren’t the brightest bulb,” Soglin said.
Miller also shared his thoughts about how he got to his position, stressing networking and communication. “I’m not a big reader of selfhelp books. We are who we are,” Miller said in his speech. “But the one take away that I live and die by ... [is that] you will never see eye-to-eye if you never meet face-to-face.” Communication in leadership, however, has two parts, Miller said, citing the importance of hearing others’ responses. “We only have one mouth but we have two ears … communication is also listening,” Miller said. Referencing his childhood, the Monona mayor emphasized the value of giving back to the community, which he believes he accomplishes through his mayorship, a position of city leadership. “You can [make a change] as a mayor … in a way unlike a regular citizen can,” Miller said.
Political theorist Danielle Allen shed a modern light on the Declaration of Independance Tuesday by analyzing the U.S. colonists’ foundation for political equality, in a lecture given at Memorial Union’s Shannon Hall. Allen, who won $500,000 as part of the prestigious MacArthur fellowship award in 2001, centered her Distinguished Lecture Series talk on her latest book, “Our Declaration,” connecting the founding fathers’ original arguments for the declaration to her perspectives on equality. “I myself [was] on somewhat of a journey to revitalize our commitments in this country to civic agency on the one hand and equality on the other,” Allen said, referring to the ability for citizens to work collaboratively in the political sphere. Allen recounted her experience with the Odyssey Project
through the University of Chicago, which aims to offer adults at or below the poverty level access to education in humanities. Most of her students had never read the declaration or thought deeply about the text. When her students took on that task, Allen said they recognized how the ideals could apply to them today. “The story of the declaration is that basic, fundamental story of civic agency that [the students] could claim it as their own,” Allen said. The political equality of civic agency, as described by Allen, is represented through the collective nature of the declaration. She broke down four different examples of the founders’ arguments about equality to further emphasize how the idea became a foundation for liberty and freedom. One of Allen’s examples
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Danielle Allen discusses political equality and how the Declaration of Independence laid the foundation for it.
Bill would allow law enforcement to carry concealed weapons at schools By Andrew Bahl THE DAILY CARDINAL
State senators heard public testimony Tuesday on a bill that would allow off-duty and retired law enforcement to carry concealed firearms on school grounds.
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The 2011 concealed carry law prevents citizens from bringing a firearm near elementary, middle and high schools. The proposed bill would exempt off-duty and retired law enforcement personnel from this ban.
Bill co-author and Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chair state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said the proposal would increase school safety in the event of an active threat and noted that he himself was armed during the hearing.
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“When you have a firearm for your career, you learn that carrying it is a positive,” said Wanggaard, a former Racine police officer. “This is a common sense change to state law with bipartisan support … We want to multiply the good guys
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with guns.” David Graves, a retired Walworth County Sheriff, said even off-duty or retired police officers still must uphold a responsibility to protect the public.
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The business reactivating a love of music
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
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