In Wisconsin, thousands have converged on the Madison statehouse in protest of a proposed bill that would revoke the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. The state’s governor, Scott Walker, has come under fire for this supposed blow to unions. Protesters have compared him to notorious union buster Ronald Reagan and to a Star Wars AT-AT.

In order to get a better sense of the situation in Wisconsin, I sought out AU students from America’s Dairyland to find out what they think about the current happenings in the Badger state.

Some of the cheese heads I interviewed expressed a strong sense of solidarity with the students and workers of Wisconsin. “I think Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill is a direct attack on middle class families,” said junior Benjamin Mandel. “This budget repair bill will not do anything in terms of helping Wisconsin with its current fiscal crisis.”

Junior Meredith Lukow, currently studying abroad in Jordon, echoed Mandel’s sentiment. “It’s pretty clear that Governor Walker and the Republicans are using the so-called ‘budget crisis’ for their own political ends at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of public employees,” she said.

Not all Wiconsonites were so supportive. Sydney Teglia, a junior, recalled that when it came to cutting school programs such as music and art over the past few years, the teacher’s union was nowhere to be seen or heard.

“If we had done that [gone on strike] every time we lost something, we would never have gone to school,” Teglia said. While she acknowledges that many students are now standing in solidarity with their teachers, she also thinks “a lot of students are walking out of class because they see an excuse to get out of class.”

Sophomore Jackie Yeary expressed ambivalence toward the issue; being able to see both sides, she’s simply looking for “some sort of compromise.”

Politics aside, the Badgers of AU seemed miffed that they were missing all the action. While some wanted to be there as a sign of solidarity, others just wanted in on the excitement.

“Why didn’t it happen when I was living there?” Yeary asked. “A lot of my friends are not politically active, but have taken the time to ask me, ‘is this what you experience all the time in DC?’”

Lukow’s personal message to the students in the streets of Madison was to “keep on keeping on!” Yeary did not offer outright encouragement, but said she wants them to “have fun with it” and to “take it as a learning opportunity no matter the outcome.”