2012.09.21

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIV, Issue 15

Friday, September 21, 2012

www.badgerherald.com

Union contract approved In wake of collective bargaining reversal, County Board rushes to new agreement Elliot Hughes Deputy News Editor With a window of opportunity still open, Dane County officials took significant steps toward securing a new collective bargaining agreement with its employees Thursday.

Hours after county officials reached a tentative agreement with representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted 29-8 to approve the deal.

According to Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonell, members of AFSCME will meet over the next few days and vote

to ratify it themselves. The same deal between the county and AFSCME will also be extended to as many as four or five other unions, according to McDonell.

The action comes in response to Dane County Judge Juan Colás declaring parts of Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10, which essentially ended collective bargaining rights for nearly all public employees, unconstitutional Friday.

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen requested a stay of the decision, which would keep the law’s provisions in effect until a decision is made in the appeals process. However, no decision has yet been made.

“We have an opportunity

here where the right to collective bargain is restored — maybe permanently, maybe temporarily,” McDonell said. “Our county board is on record supporting collective bargaining with our employees, … so if we can collectively bargain then that’s what we’re doing today and tonight.”

Spectator seats at the CityCounty Building quickly filled for what turned into a debate that lasted approximately two hours Thursday. More than 20 citizens and about a dozen board members addressed the room before the final vote.

Over the course of the debate, several board members denounced the speed at which the tentative

agreement reached the board.

“I’m just concerned,” Sup. Dennis O’Loughlin, District 20, said before voting against the deal. “Fourteen years, I mean, I voted for all of these other contracts, but they were done in a timely, professional, considerate way. I think it’s been 52 hours from the minute I heard about it until now.”

One of the surviving elements of Act 10 under Colás’ ruling is the provision which limits contract negotiations to cover only one year, according to McDonell. Thus, the tentative agreement would only be in effect for 2015.

The current contract goes

UNION, page 2

Jen Small The Badger Herald

Union workers look on as a community member addresses the Dane County Board Thursday night.

Alumnus works with refugee children in Syria Tara Golshan Higher Education Editor University of Wisconsin graduate Will Harper is a child protection adviser for Save the Children, a humanitarian organization. A 2009 UW master’s degree graduate in counseling psychology, Harper has been based

in Amman, Jordan, at the Zaatari Refugee Camp for four weeks. In a Skype interview with The Badger Herald, Harper shared his experiences working with refugee children on the border between Jordan and Syria. The interview has been edited for clarity and readability.

BH: From UW to Jordan

— take me through the journey.

WH: When I first arrived at the University of Wisconsin, I had spent about three years of more development-focused work in South Africa, working with kids and youth doing kind of social work and lifeskills education. And then I went and did my master’s in

counseling psychology and I started looking for a way to get back into doing more emergency-response work, humanitarian work.

BH: You are on the ground in an area that has been a hot topic of international news for social and political unrest.

How has that affected your perception of the area?

99 Luftballoons against cancer Participants walk in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night Walk” Thursday night. Red meant the walker was a supporter, white denoted survivors and gold represented the memory of lost ones.

Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald

WH: Well, the war in Syria has been going for over a year now, so people have been coming into Jordan in big numbers.

So I guess for me it wasn’t so much of having a perception before coming, but just knowing that we have got a camp — 30,000 people have registered in that camp. I think that is

Lauren Tubbs Reporter

Officials show excitement over high expected turnout, tend to new projects Camille Albert City Hall Editor Members of a city committee said they expect larger crowds at this year’s Freakfest and highlighted details of new projects that are in the works for the city at a meeting on Thursday.

The committee made their annual decision to make the Freakfest area a glass-free zone, similar to the Mifflin Street Block Party, from the evening of Oct. 26 to the morning of Oct. 28. This has been a rule for the past decade because of riots that broke out following State Street’s earlier, unregulated Halloween celebration.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the glass-free zone does not go into effect until 9 p.m.

Oct. 27 because in the gated

area of Freakfest, several liquor establishments that sell alcohol when the gates open at 7 p.m.

He added there will be signs outside the Freakfest gates notifying people of the rules.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said he is looking forward to this year’s Freakfest and said it has drawn more attention and interest from students than it has in years.

“From Mac Miller and Big G, students are actually starting to think about going to Freakfest for the music,” Resnick said. “There’s a better quality of music and more buzz in general.”

According to Verveer, Frank Productions, which sponsors the music for Freakfest, has spent more money on talent this year than in previous years.

He said Frank Productions was receptive to criticism it

received from students about the lower quality of talent in previous years.

The city plans to have a meeting about Freakfest with members of police, the promotions manager from Frank productions, members of the City Council and others Thursday, Oct. 18.

Verveer also said Mayor Paul Soglin’s capital budget allocated funds to add more surveillance cameras downtown due to the heightened crime over the summer.

At the meeting, Resnick said the city will hold a meeting next week with downtown cab companies to discuss his proposal to fill the gap the discontinuation of SAFEcab left. He added Associated

COMMITTEE, page 2 © 2012 BADGER HERALD

GRAD, page 3

Final HR Design plan set for debut University puts forth proposal for revamped system after feedback

City optimistic for Freakfest

about half the student body at UW. So a big number of people and they are coming across every night; the situation is growing and changing by the day. Really for us we don’t get into the other issues, but we focus on the kids.

BH: What is the

After months of recommendations and revisions, the Human Resources Design Project will release a new plan designed to improve the University of Wisconsin’s personnel system to become more competitive with other world-class universities.

According to UW Director of Human Resources Robert Lavigna, the university is currently utilizing a plan designed by the state governmental personnel system for state agencies. As UW has very different purposes than state agencies do, there was a need for change, Lavigna said.

“The Wisconsin Idea is that we are to engage in the state, nation and world, and to produce knowledge to enhance that state, nation and world,” Lavigna said. “So we have a very different mission than that of state agencies.”

Lavigna said the new plan has been developed to fit the individual needs of UW, specifically with the vision of retaining UW’s status as a world-class research university.

According to Lavigna, to keep this status, UW would need a personalized plan in regard to recruitment of faulty members.

“We need to be in the best possible position to attract the most talented staff in order to provide the best education for our students,” Lavigna said.

Gary Sandefur, Dean of the College of Letters and Science and chair of the project’s advisory committee, said the new plan will restructure the personnel system to allow the university to recruit and provide compensation to faculty members who perform their tasks well.

Sandefur added the new plan gives HR a new recruiting and hiring method to promote the hiring of high-quality faculty members, helping UW retain its reputation as a world-class university in both research and

education for students.

“The primary reason [for the new plan] is that we’re competing internationally with other world-class institutions, so we need to be able to recruit, retain and reward individuals at UW that are the best,” Sandefur said.

Lavigna said the process of creating this new plan included more than 50 public campus events, translated into every necessary language, to ensure everyone at UW who had a recommendation to share regarding the plan was able to.

According to Lavigna, more than 7,000 members of the UW community were involved in developing the plan, including Associated Students of Madison members and other representatives of UW students.

“The development [of the plan] has been a tremendous opportunity, but also a tremendous challenge,” Lavigna said. “That challenge has been engaging the entire campus in this process.”

Sandefur said the next step will

PLAN, page 2

INSIDE Win a pair of Dillon Francis tickets (no joke)

Stave’s starting reign begins against UTEP

All you need is Twitter and to look at the arts page and your Wednesday night is golden

Bielema chooses the redshirt freshman over former ACC standout Danny O’Brien.

ARTS| 5

SPORTS | 8

2

The Badger Herald | News | Friday, September 21, 2012

Events today 6 p.m.

WSUM’s Snake on the Lake Festival Memorial Union Terrace

9:30 p.m.

WUD Film Presents: “The Amazing Spiderman” The Marquee Union South

Events tomorrow 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Badger Bash 2012!

TODAY

TOMORROW

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

66 44

60 37

60 37

72 51

77 47

a.m. showers

showers

partly cloudy

sunny

sunny

State poverty rate stays static Census Bureau finds Wisconsin data changes little, national rates on the rise

Union South

Polo Rocha State Legislative Editor

Need to publicize your event?

Send an email to: editor@badgerherald.com

15,000 copies printed every weekday.

Published since September 10, 1969.

Telephone Fax

608.257.4712 608.257.6899

Herald editorial Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rainey Managing Editor Taylor Nye Editor-at-Large Pamela Selman News Katie Caron News Content Leah Linscheid Deputy News Elliot Hughes City Hall Camille Albert City Life Molly McCall State Politics Meghan Zernick State Legislative Polo Rocha Campus Life Julia Skulstad Higher Education Tara Golshan Multimedia Tim Hadick Assoc. Multimedia Kate Johnson Editorial Page Reginald Young Ed. Page Content Charles Godfrey Ed. Board Chair Adelaide Blanchard Sports Ian McCue Sports Content Nick Korger Associate Sports Sean Zak Statistics Extra Points Blog ArtsEtc. ArtsEtc. Content Comics Copy Chief Assoc. Copy Chief Copy Editors

Photo Assoc. Photo Design Director Deputy Design Page Designers

Web Director Web Consultant

Nick Daniels Caroline Sage Spencer Smith Allegra Dimperio Joe Nistler Noah Yuenkel Tom Guthrie Kristin Prewitt Jared Borislow Jared Nelson Hannah LeDuc Kelsey Sorenson Andy Fate Kelsey Fenton Jen Small Sigrid Hubertz Gus McNair Katie Gaab Ali Sinkula Maddy Raff Alexis Blakey Adam Parkzer Charlie Gorichanaz

Herald business Publisher General Mgr. Business Assoc.

Peter Hoeschele Luke Nevermann Andrea Perkins

Herald advertising Advertising Director Jillian Grupp Display Manager Julia Welytok Classified Mgr. Elise Watson Executives Mackenzie Chaffee Danny Hechter Zeyad El Omari Zack Arostegui Holly Stevenson Brooke Vanden Branden John Poelking

Board of directors Chairman

Corey Chamberlain Vice Chairman

Peter Hoeschele Vice Chairman

Ryan Rainey Vice Chairman

Jillian Grupp Pam Selman Julia Welytok Elise Watson Katie Caron Readers may pick up one complimentary issue each day.

Additional copies must be picked up at 326 W. Gorham St. for $0.25 each. Contents may not be reproduced without written consent of the editor in chief. Copyright 2012, The Badger Herald, Inc.

Wisconsin continues to maintain a poverty rate lower than the national average and stayed almost the same from 2010 to 2011, the Census Bureau report said in a report Thursday.

The report found 725,797 Wisconsinites, or approximately 13 percent of Wisconsin residents, were under the federal poverty level in 2011. The percentage saw a small drop, from 13.2 percent in 2010 to 13.1 percent in 2011.

Nationwide, the poverty rate saw an increase from 15.3 to 15.9 percent, although the report noted the last two reports showed larger percentage growths of 1 and 1.1 percent.

Although Wisconsin did better than many states on the poverty rate, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families spokesperson

Bob Jacobson said the state is not doing well in preventing childhood poverty in comparison to the rest of the nation.

“In 2011, we had nearly a quarter of a million kids living in poverty so we can’t just resign ourselves and decide this is the new normal,” Jacobson said.

“We need to find ways to lift those families out of poverty.”

He also emphasized the disparities among race throughout the state, calling the gaps between whites and minorities on various measures “really disgraceful.”

Consistent funding and ongoing efforts are needed to lift families out of poverty, Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, D-Madison, said. She said programs like health care housing support, job training programs, unemployment benefits and other income maintenance programs might help the state reach

Percentage living in poverty by year WIS. U.S.

2010 13.2 15.3

WIS. U.S.

2011 13.1 15.9 Gus McNair The Badger Herald Design

The state’s poverty level stayed mostly the same between 2010-2011, while the national rates rose by more than half a percent. that goal.

The Department of Workforce Development released its monthly report on employment Thursday, which showed the state gained 7,800 jobs in August.

The state’s unemployment rate increased from 7.3 percent in July to 7.5 percent in August.

August’s job growth includes 3,600 jobs gained in local governments and 5,900 jobs gained in leisure and hospitality, but manufacturing saw a drop of 4,500 jobs.

The job numbers are based on a survey of 3.5 percent of the

state’s employers. The unemployment rate is based on a survey of 0.06 percent of Wisconsin households. The report notes both surveys are preliminary and are subject to revisions.

According to Roys, even if job growth is positive, it is clear many families are still struggling due to a lack of jobs with good wages.

“What troubles me is that we’ve seen over decades a lot of high-paying good jobs in manufacturing sectors and other skills trade sectors leave, and the jobs that are replacing them tend not to come with

PLAN, from 1 be to inform the UW community of the plan’s workings through public discussions before bringing the new plan before the Board of Regents.

He added if the Board of Regents approves of the plan, it will need to go

through the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations if it is to be put in place on the planned implementation date, July 1, 2013.

According to Sandefur, students should inform themselves on the plan’s components

family-supporting wages,” Roys said.

Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said August’s growth in local government jobs, shows Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms in Act 10 and the last budget are working.

Mikalsen rejected suggestions from Democrats that Republicans only want to see job growth in certain sectors.

“We want to see jobs in all sectors,” he said. “The fact of the matter is your economy has to be wellrounded.”

because promoting it will promote even better education. “[The plan] will indirectly make the lives of students better by rewarding good teachers and helping our university compete with other international institutions,” Sandefur said.

Executive Director of the Central Business Students of Madison Improvement District supports this idea Mary Carbine introduced because it promotes a project she is working safe transportation for on called the Collective students.

Community Ban, Resnick which bans said his idea shoplifters is to create a from all stores “Students in the program zone around the downtown are actually if they are area between starting to caught 10 p.m. and at think about shoplifting 4 a.m. that one. going to “It’s similar would allow cabs to give Freakfest just to a shopping rides to any because for the music.” center number of if it happens in Scott Resnick a mall, you’re people for one District 8 Alder banned from flat fee, similar to airport the whole taxi services. mall,” Carbine said.

He said the amount According to Carbine, of the flat fee is still the project will launch undetermined. this fall.

COMMITTEE, from 1

UNION, from 1 through 2013, which will then be replaced by another agreement running through 2014.

Both contracts were negotiated before the passage of Act 10, according to a Dane County statement.

Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, delivered a strongly-worded statement in response to the board’s actions.

“Dane County is about as close to a Banana Republic as you can find anywhere,” Nass said in the statement.

“Eventually, the house of cards will collapse in Dane County with significant costs. In the next budget, I will fight any effort to send more state money to this county.”

In response, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said Nass should examine the deal because it saves taxpayers nearly $5 million.

“It’s hard to argue with five million dollars,” he said.

Madison Teachers Inc., the plaintiff in the case that overturned Act 10, is also pursuing a new collective bargaining agreement with the Madison Metropolitan School District in light of the court ruling.

The Badger Herald | News | Friday, September 21, 2012

GRAD, from 1 perspective of the people you are surrounded by?

WH: In Zaatari Camp, a refugee camp where a lot of our work is based, the people, kids coming to our programs, parents that we are working with, they really are telling us they want the war to end. They want the violence to end; they would like to go home, home to Syria.

BH: Did you have any reservations about going into the region?

WH: No, no reservations. Working in refugee camps and in conflict and postconflict places — that is the focus of the humanitarian work of Save the Children. So this was a pretty natural progression career-wise.

This is what we do.

BH: Can you tell me about your work specifically?

WH: I am the child protection adviser. We have got social workers that are working with some of the most vulnerable kids; those include people under the age of 18, who have come across the border without any adult to look after them. In addition to that we run childfriendly spaces. We do psychosocial support activities to help kids get into a routine and really provide them with a place to express themselves and interact with other kids.

BH: What have you been hearing from the kids in your programs?

WH: The things that these kids are telling us are pretty horrible scenarios. Kids tell us they have been abused or tortured or beaten and the journey across the border is a pretty harrowing journey for people. They come across at night and then come to this chaotic camp where it can be a struggle to get good food or enough water. It is a really tough place for a kid to live.

3

Opinion

Editorial Page Editor Reginald Young oped@badgerherald.com

4

The Badger Herald | Opinion | Friday, September 21, 2012

Herald Editorial Penny for your public policy a darker side to jangling a cup and asking for money.

Many panhandlers downtown, particularly those who gather on a specific plot on the 500 block of State Street, are

In Madison, panhandling is just as common downtown as it is in most other cities this size. The act has become part of quotidian State Street, but there is

known criminals with a list of eyebrow-raising criminal histories that include sexual assault and weapons violations. At a City Council meeting earlier this week, Madison Police Neighborhood Officer Jeff Pharo said the 500 Block panhandlers operate under a violent leader who batters insubordinates and has been jailed 19 times.

The city wisely decided not to let this behavior pass. Although its decision has received praise mostly from business leaders and downtown residences annoyed with the public nuisance, the vote shows the council is just as interested in the welfare of

panhandlers who likely live in fear of their boss.

But Mayor Paul Soglin’s proposal to use decommissioned parking meters as donation receptacles to replace the panhandlers’ presence concerns this board.

In an ideal situation, the new program would work to take a citizen’s generosity out of the hands of manipulative criminals like the leader of the panhandling ring and into the hands of the homeless Madisonians who truly need the money.

But according to Soglin’s special assistant Katie Crawley, the real motive of the meters is to discourage

alcohol abuse, a common stereotype for those in the homeless, panhandling community.

“The premise of the program is: Let’s allow people to donate money where it can go to better uses than liquor purchases,” Crawley told The Badger Herald last week.

Could Crawley have addressed the program in a less-attractive and morepatronizing manner? We doubt it. While alcoholism might be an issue for some in the Madison homeless community, we are skeptical of Crawley’s implication that all panhandlers use their winnings for dubious

purposes.

Soglin’s approach to “cleaning up” State Street appears to follow the logic that Madison should care about its poor but not see them.

We hope the new ordinance will dissolve the criminal elements of Madison’s panhandling community. But we also hope the ordinance is not strictly enforced for onetime or minor offenders of the law. It is time for the city to go back to the drawing board and find a more acceptable solution for panhandling rather than dismissing the entire community as drunken leeches.

Adelaide Blanchard

Ryan Rainey

Taylor Nye

Meher Ahmed

Editorial Board Chair

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Editorial Board Member

Pam Selman

Reginald Young

Charles Godfrey

Sarah Witman

Editor-at-Large

Editorial Page Editor

Editorial Page Content Editor

Editorial Board Member

Jen Small The Badger Herald

Editorial Board opinions are crafted independently of news coverage.

The consequences of ordinances banning panhandling will manifest themselves soon.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

PETA, UW talk Unions reward underachievement past each other Unionization has been a flashpoint issue in Wisconsin for several years because the idea of unions operating under compensation agreements similar to pre-recession contracts doesn’t sit well with many workers whose positions are too profitoriented or economically valued to benefit from a union. Although I understand that school districts, municipalities and other governmental bodies do not exist to turn a profit, there should be some legally acceptable way of reversing the inertia unions have gathered over the years.

The biggest problem with unions is their prevalent “increase compensation and/ or benefits or we strike” mentality which creates overcompensation and requires wasteful, highly regulated bargaining and mediation procedures.

It’s worst in the public sector because, unlike in the private sector, unionized workers have no incentive to exceed performance standards. Taxpayers are over the barrel to pay them irrespective of the variation in quality among unionized worker performance. There is no imminent danger of losing jobs due to fiscal insolvency

of the organization as there would be at a private firm.

Unions simply negotiate another term of union contracts and then threaten a lawsuit against the school district, municipality or state if the employing governmental entity runs out of funds; the taxpayers are forced to finance the unionized windfall.

Unionized workers have brought the standard of compensation unsustainably far above those of their nonunionized counterparts, which the Economic Policy Institute reports is generally 17.5 percent above non-union pay nationwide and the Center for American Progress Action Fund reports is about 12 percent above non-union pay in Wisconsin. For starting wages, this translates to $8.52 hourly without benefits and $10.90 therewith nationally, and to $8.12 hourly without benefits and $10.39 therewith in Wisconsin. So compared to the starting compensation of otherwise minimumwage jobs with no health care coverage or retirement package, unions bestow an additional $3.63 per hour, $104.80 per week or $5,240 every 50 work weeks per employee in combined wage and benefits. Throughout the typical working lifetime of

a unionized employee, ages 18 through 55, the employer pays at least $199, $120 beyond what such employee would be legally entitled to, for this number does not take into account the inevitable cost-of-living adjustments to both wage and benefits.

Multiply that amount by the number of unionized employees, and that is quite a lot of wealth diverted to unskilled and semi-skilled workers. High-skilled workers earn what they do because there is economic demand for their output, whereas the less-skilled workers rely upon unions to counter the low economic demand for their respective labor outputs. This is a gross distortion of the markets, which disincentivizes laborers to take out student loans for occupational training, which would lead to more economically valued, high-skilled jobs. Why “better yourself through higher education,” as the cliché goes, when you can get by comfortably on the inflated wages of unskilled and semiskilled occupations?

Union members should live by my example: I’ve profited every employer I’ve ever worked for, after accounting for compensation paid to me. And although

the most I’ve ever been compensated in a year was $15,000 among non-work study student jobs and other temporary positions (without any benefits to speak of ), I’ve lived just fine and am confident I can continue this net profitability streak even when promoted to a position which pays more than $30,000 annually with modest benefits.

If I can do it, then why can’t union members do the same? Is it because they had a family before they had accrued an adequate nest egg and now they need to poach the public till to finance their lifestyles? What other excuses exist? As even the union-advocating labor economists Mishel & Walters admit, union wage premiums are greatest for low- and middle-wage workers but virtually nonexistent for high-wage workers. This reflects an exaggeration of the useful value of unionized work activities, as the removal of union influence would produce significantly lower wages and benefits.

Joseph Ohler Jr. ( joeohlerjr@yahoo.com) is a graduate of the Public Administration Program at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee.

School rankings deserve scrutiny Spencer Lindsay Staff Writer In U.S. News and World Report’s most recent ranking of national universities, The University of Wisconsin was placed 41st among all national universities and 10th among public universities.

This is up four places from last year, when UW was 45th. This is a good sign for the university’s national reputation, but I strongly feel the annual college rankings should be close to irrelevant.

When rankings attempt to do a service by ranking colleges, they oversimplify a very complicated process.

The idea choosing a college could be simplified to any one-size-fits-all measurement is absurd and disruptive to the college selection process. People are diverse as are their academic

needs and preferences. A school that may be a recipe for success and happiness for one student may be a recipe for failure and misery for another. According to The New York Times, the vast majority of high school counselors and college administrators feel the rankings create confusion for students and their families.

The overall rankings also are not specific to any one major, which means they do not reflect with any specificity how good an education individuals will get when they attend a school. A ranking of biology departments will likely look very different than the rankings of political science departments, and a oneranking-fits-all approach negates that fact.

On top of this, the rankings aren’t even that reliable. The presence of 23 private universities out of of the top 25 schools shows the rankings may be biased against public institutions.

U.S. News also uses admission rates and SAT scores in their methodology,

which means they are at least in part measuring the quality of the students rather than the quality of the institution.

University politics may also influence the outcome of the rankings. In 1997, Rolling Stone published an article suggesting Reed College’s ranking artificially dropped after the school refused to return a survey the magazine sends to colleges before ranking them.

The rankings also have potential to perpetuate the status quo. The rankings create a perception that is often believed and reinforced by employers. If, for example, an employer sees one school ranked highly, he or she may make an effort to hire more employees from that school, which will in turn make the school be ranked highly again because its graduates are being placed.

While that may be good for this particular institution, it is not fair.

It hardly seems necessary to rank schools annually.

The rankings are rarely surprising. Most schools barely move from year to

year. We don’t need to be told every year the Ivy League is “better” than us.

While I am aware these rankings are a huge revenue generator for U.S. News and World Report, I would like it very much if they stopped making them, or at least stopped making them every year. While the rankings may mean something, they are not measuring what they intend to measure. It’s possible to make the case these are not the rankings of the best schools, but rather of the best students.

Students should not read too much into these rankings and certainly should not choose their school solely on the basis of these rankings.

Universities should stop trying to appeal to these rankings so that, in the words of Reed President Colin Diver, they can “pursue their own educational philosophy, not that of some newsmagazine.”

Spencer Lindsay (sclindsay@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science.

to meet high standards of procedure and care during the experiments.

I do not doubt the UW adheres to these, and the Association for Assessment Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care Taylor Nye International Council Managing Editor agrees. The group even “awarded UW’s animal research programs full Before you read any further in this column, you accreditation with no additional suggestions for must know that I have an improvement.” absolute and unshakable The problem here is bias: I am a crazy cat lady. obvious. PETA fails to see But the reason the that the tests, although University of Wisconsin’s cruel, are carried out recent run-in with People to a high standard of for the Ethical Treatment anti-cruelty measures of Animals has me all and scientific rigor. And aflutter is not just because the UW fails to see that the cat in the picture looks although the tests are like my widdle Theokins under strict procedure, baby. The main problem they are still inherently facing the advancement of cruel. If the two wanted to this dialogue is PETA and enter into mediation talks, UW alike are talking past PETA might be able to each other. demand further standards On one hand, PETA be applied, especially since takes issue with this this is not the UW’s first invasive nature of the snag with animal cruelty sound localization issues. UW, in turn, could experiments. There’s something about the use of advertise itself as even more compliant domesticated than AAALAC animals for Understanding standards and research points on each perhaps grab that strikes some more a nerve. If other’s levels the photo would cause both funding.

But as it published had been one to make progress stands, PETA of a golden toward an end, but calls for the end animal testing retriever, UW and PETA need of all together. And people might to stop talking UW’s Animal have been Research more up in past each other.

Oversight arms, but whatever the domesticated Director Eric Sandgren pompously told the animal used, it’s an animal Herald, “Had any claim that has been bred to trust been proven to be true, humans. Taking advantage the university would of hundreds of years of have made changes breeding, UW scientists accordingly.” have used purposefully Yes, PETA is taking docile creatures to carry the procedures out of out invasive research, the larger scientific which PETA states context. Yes, UW doesn’t includes “[having] holes realize that while they drilled into her head, a reach a high standard steel post screwed to her skull, electrodes implanted for experimentation, it’s still terrible to purposely in her brain, and coils deafen an animal. implanted in her eyes.”

Understanding points After the experiment, on each others’ levels PETA said, the cat was would cause both to make killed and decapitated. progress toward an end, On the other hand, but UW and PETA need researchers see nothing to stop talking past each wrong with the invasive other. experiments. When And for God’s sake, quit sophomore and animal using the cats already. researcher Kelsey They’re just too damn cute.

Corrigan said, “We are not vicious toward them Taylor Nye (tnye@ or treat them poorly,” she badgerherald.com) is a was right that the cats senior majoring in biology, felt no pain during the archaeology and Latin procedure. Those who do American studies. She is a animal testing undergo known cat enthusiast. rigorous training and have

Your Opinion · Send your letters to the editor and guest columns to oped@badgerherald.com. Publication is based on space and takes into account relevance and quality. Letters should be sent exclusively to the Herald. Unsigned letters will not be published. All submissions may be edited by the Herald for length and style. Reader feedback on all articles and columns can be posted at badgerherald.com, where all print content is archived.

ArtsEtc. Editor Allegra Dimperio arts@badgerherald.com

5

The Badger Herald | Arts | Friday, September 21, 2012

ArtsEtc.

WEEKEND CONCERT PREVIEW Would-be blockbuster unlikely to grab Oscar gold Pearl & The Beard

Red Wanting Blue

Friday 9 p.m.

$ $15

Majestic Theatre M

Saturday 9 p.m. $ $10 Redamte

Sloppy storytelling and cliché Richard Gere keep ‘Arbitrage’ behind competition Tim Hadick ArtsEtc. Contributor As Oscar movie season begins pumping out hopeful contenders, there’s always the time around the end of summer that we get the try-hards: movies that try to be Oscar-worthy but fail. With big names galore and production values up the wazoo, firsttime director Nicholas Jarecki did a decent job with try-hard “Arbitrage” but couldn’t grasp enough depth to carry it anywhere.

Approaching the end of his career, hedge fund manager and billionaire Robert Miller (Richard Gere, “The Double”) is looking to sell his company for hundreds of millions of dollars as

Natasha Leggero

Saturday 8 p.m. $ $20 Majestic Theatre M

his final business deal.

While trying to negotiate with the mysterious Mr. Mayfield, Miller begins a delicate dance between his family, business and personal life, all with time forcing his hand at every turn. With the slowdown of his dynasty, Miller tries focusing on his increasingly frustrated mistress, Julie (Laetitia Casta, “War of the Buttons”) and keeping her happy.

While driving to a short vacation in upstate New York, Miller’s busy schedule catches up with him as he falls asleep at the wheel and crashes, killing Julie. Miller knows any scandal could throw off his plans for the buyout, so he quickly flees the scene of the crime while covering his tracks. No matter how much distance Miller tries to put between himself and the accident, Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth, TV’s “Lie to Me”) is determined to pin him to

Conor Oberst

Kongos

Lil B

Sunday 7:30 p.m. $ $35-$45

Monday 6 p.m. $ $5

$ $18 in advance,

Monday 8:30 p.m.

TThe High Noon

The Overture

the case through as many connections as possible.

Unfortunately, “Arbitrage” lacks strength in its storytelling and delivery. The many plots intertwined in the story are bland despite being full of twists and turns. Instead, it feels like many elements were ripped from other business thriller films (cough, “Michael Clayton,” cough) and stitched together without taking the time to hide the seams.

Rough transitions from arc to arc don’t help the audience any more than the already convoluted story does, and a serious lack of clear motives between characters makes it obvious how little effort was put into polishing the film for the average moviegoer. That said, if you can keep up with all the business jargon, “Arbitrage” keeps the energy of recent economic thrillers based on the 2008 market crash and channels it well.

“Arbitrage’s” cast is stacked for success, but Jarecki doesn’t utilize its key players as he should.

Susan Sarandon plays Miller’s emotionally supportive wife but barely appears throughout the film. While the pillar of the Miller household, she feels completely unimportant until the end, yet when she yields power she doesn’t feel serious enough. Her character is neither flushed out nor utilized to build a sense that her family has the status of “royal by money” that is the essential motivation for Detective Bryer’s actions.

Richard Gere is also far too Richard Gere in “Arbitrage.” While seasoned and renowned for many successful films, he seems to have niched himself into one acting style that is very much his own.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well for this film. This is not to say Gere doesn’t do a good job, but he distracts from an otherwise

$20 at the door

Majestic Theatre

SSaloon

strong performance. There are several scenes in which Miller’s businessman brain is clearly at work, and those scenes showcase Gere’s handle and understanding of his character. But the rest of the film seemed to highlight Gere as Gere. The same can be said for Roth, who reuses mannerisms distinct to his acting style but has become tiring to watch.

Jarecki tries to convey several parallel messages that only somewhat come together at the end of the film. So much time and focus in “Arbitrage” is dedicated to either uninteresting aspects of the story or slowing down and emphasizing only Miller’s character, fatally ignoring most everyone else. Although the film has a very slick and calculated ending, the journey there was too divided to fully appreciate the ironic turn of events.

Despite its lack of engagement on the acting

end, “Arbitrage” puts the audience into the cutthroat world of big business deals through its profound atmosphere.

New York feels cold and lifeless like pennies on a chilly sidewalk as greedy men do what they can to keep themselves rich. The typical hurried music of business-centered films does a good job of keeping pace without being too overbearing, but it can’t keep the movie afloat on its own.

While not terrible, “Arbitrage” requires the audience to keep track of too much at once to the point where the viewer leaves the theater exhausted. “Arbitrage” has its moments and wraps up like an Oscar movie, but there isn’t enough meaningful substance to recommend seeing the film in theaters.

½

‘ARBITRAGE’ NICHOLAS JARECKI

Exhibit puts circus in front of fun house mirror The ‘Marvel House’ installation at the Project Lodge shows darker carnival side Joe Nistler ArtsEtc. Content Editor One of Madison’s great havens for local artists is soon to be relocated, but not without a final exhibit that celebrates one aspect the space has always emphasized: spectacle.

Beginning tomorrow, the Project Lodge will display a menagerie of works composed by four local artists centered on the highly theatrical theme of the circus.

They call it “Marvel House.”

The artists navigate the charm and enchantment of the circus through various media, including prints, paintings and installations, while exploring, and to some extent evaluating, its morals.

As it turned out, their feelings associated with historical circus ethics of using animals and people didn’t quite match their anticipation.

A visit to Baraboo, the “circus capital of the world,” provided revelations of disenchantment that conflicted with popular views of the circus as glorious spectacle.

According to Jessica Doing, one of the Marvel House artists, it became apparent at a circus museum in Baraboo the circus spectacle is actually layered with depressing undertones.

“We were nostalgic for the feelings we had about the circus when we were

younger, and we all wanted to be dazzled and inspired,” Doing explained. “But even when it did dazzle us, there were feelings of guilt. … It was a much sadder experience than we had anticipated.”

Doing laid out some circus history that further disassociated childhood awe from circus reality.

The concept originated in Roman civilization, where performers, often slaves, and animals were taken advantage of in barbaric fashion. And while society has long abandoned the brutal gladiatorial aspects and more recently let go of freak show exploitations, Doing noted animals largely still suffer, to the uninformed pleasure of audiences everywhere.

Disillusion certainly plays a role in the works by Doing, Olivia Baldwin, Katie Garth and Sigrid Hubertz, who all study art at UW. In a way, it has allowed them to re-examine the circus and represent it in a nontraditional light through diverse means.

“We’re approaching it in different ways,” Doing said.

“My particular interest lies in how the modern circus hasn’t changed much from when it was created, and what that means for people today.”

Olivia Baldwin, whose art is more abstract than the others, said she isn’t especially concerned with audiences searching for the inspiration of the art, but rather what the final product means to those viewing it.

“I’m encouraging people to analyze what’s happening in the art,” she said.

There also exists a sort

Photos courtesy of the Project Lodge

Circus-inspired artwork from UW students Jessica Doing (left) and Olivia Baldwin (right) will be featured along with pieces from Sigrid Hubertz and Katie Garth in the Project Lodge’s ‘Marvel House’ exhibit. After an opening reception, the multimedia works will be shown Sept. 22 to Sept. 29. of meta-experience in the exhibit itself. As Garth explained, they plan to orient the place as a circus-like scene in itself: “In addition to thinking about circus as spectacle, we’re thinking about gallery as spectacle, and in some ways we’re conforming to these traditional approaches to showing work, but I think

we’re also trying to defy that.”

How the layout plays out is anyone’s guess. It probably won’t evoke any desolate emotions — that’s for the art to present. Instead, the venture into the gallery space will pull on the threads of lighter traditional circus fare.

Thus, for one week, the circus is visiting Madison,

but it’s not Barnum & Bailey. This spectacle is not entirely sadness, but it’s real — no smoke and mirrors.

Four unique styles across a span of media elaborately portray the complexities of a fabulous tradition with dark implications. Audiences everywhere are invited to join in the curiosities and draw their own conclusions.

The “Marvel House” exhibit will be shown at the Project Lodge at 817 E. Johnson St. Sept. 22-29. There will be an opening reception Sept. 22 from 6-9 p.m. Admission is free.

Editor’s note: UW art student Sigrid Hubertz also works as The Badger Herald’s design director.

To place an ad in Classifieds: Elise Watson ewatson@badgerherald.com 257.4712 ext. 311

6

The Badger Herald | Classifieds | Friday, September 21, 2012

FOR SALE

EMPLOYMENT

2012 Rowing Shell Single (1x) racer/trainer, 27 ft L, 12 in W. Still in package with carbon hatchet oars, “The Olympus”

by Little River Marine Gainsville, STUDENTPAYOUTS.COM. Paid FL. $4250. Free delivery. 319Survey Takers Needed in Madi351-6627 dianasboatman@ son. 100% Free to Join. Click yahoo.com on Surveys.

Dry sawdust available for dairy cattle. For more info please call Kurt at (507) 312-0549 WWW.BADGERHERALD.COM !Bartending! $300/day potential.

No experience necessary. Training available. 800-965-6520 ext. 120

Classifieds

PARKING

Outdoor parking and garages available all around campus.

Prices vary based upon location. tallardapartments.com for maps and availability. Call 250-0202!

Sports ZAK, from 8 Everything Ryan Braun does, his team needs every ounce of it.

When you visit the Brewers’ statistics page on ESPN.com, five pictures displaying Braun’s smile blanket the page, showing he is the team leader in nearly every statistic. How’s that for valuable?

Posey has been magnificent, but the demand for his greatness hasn’t been as large. His now-suspended teammate Melky Cabrera is going to win the NL batting title.

Braun’s best helper on the Brewers is batting just .294.

With likely the worst bullpen in the league (NLleading 27 blown saves), the Brewers have desperately needed every one of his league-leading 40 home runs. He also leads the league with 105 RBIs as well as total bases and extra-base hits.

After losing Prince Fielder to free agency, Braun was the only sure thing returning to the Brewers lineup in 2012.

The cleanup spot was left rather bare, forcing Braun to repeat his 2011 magic.

He has done exactly that, matching most of his statistics from a year ago.

Only now he will finish with more home runs and even more RBIs. Did I mention he also steals bases?

STAVE, from 8 through UTEP and into the conference season.

In order to accomplish such a task, the players just need to focus on themselves, according to junior linebacker Chris Borland.

“We really are focused in on what we have to do; we can’t afford to let our focus wander,” Borland said. “We have plenty on our plate every week just to do our job. That’s all we can do anyway.”

UTEP boasts a strong quarterback-wide receiver duo in senior quarterback Nick Lamaison and sophomore wide receiver Jordan Leslie.

Lamaison has thrown for 552 yards, going 48-for88 with five touchdowns.

Through the air Lamaison is helping the Miners average 184 passing yards per game. Leslie has had 14 catches for 223 of those yards and two touchdowns.

The Badgers’ secondary, despite making noticeable,

OPENER, from 8 midfielder Nick Janus said.

“We are going to go out there and we are going to try and score, put one or two away and then try to hold them off.”

But Wisconsin’s defense has been no slouch over its last few games either.

In a failed early-season experiment that saw UW play with only three defenders at the back, the Badgers have since returned to a four-defender backline.

Now that the defense is back on track, Trask believes it will make the whole team more dangerous going forward, both in this game and beyond.

As the Badgers head into a competitive Big Ten season — a league that is characterized by its physical play and close games — the current run of good form couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Now that we have found our right strategy, … I think we have figured out how we want to play for the rest of the season,” freshman goalkeeper

With just a pair of steals in his final 15 games, Braun will reach the 30 home runs-30 steals mark for the second-consecutive season.

Only Alfonso Soriano has completed that feat in the past decade.

So what if Braun doesn’t have as many hits as McCutchen or as many doubles as Posey? Put those hits into context and a different story arises, one in which Braun appears more and more valuable to Milwaukee.

With two outs and runners in scoring position, possibly the moment a player can prove most valuable, Braun is hitting .286 — 51 points higher than Posey (.235) and 13 higher than McCutchen (.273).

He has delivered 16 hits in situations where he was needed most. That’s value.

The final 15 games of the season will have a large impact on his MVP chances, but his defective sample of 11 months ago should not.

In the end, the MVP race should be left in the hands of the thoroughbreds that have been running this whole time. Someone is sure to go home unhappy, it just shouldn’t be Ryan Braun.

Sean is a junior majoring in journalism. Should Braun’s test keep him out of the MVP race? Let him know @sean_ zak.

impactful plays against Utah State (adding to its season total of 23 pass break-ups), has allowed an average of 240.7 passing yards per game.

“Their receivers are very good — they’re playmakers,” Borland said.

“Their line plays hard; they’re well coached allaround. … I think their receivers are the No. 1 thing we have to take away and then stick to our fundamentals against their offensive line.”

UTEP offers the final chance for UW to prove itself before the conference season.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity for us to take one more step forward,” Frederick said. “I think that a good team is able to get better throughout each game and I think that’s something that we’ve done, even though the steps have been a little bit smaller than we had hoped. I hope to take a much bigger step this time.”

Chase Rau said. “At this point, we all have a pretty mutual understanding of what needs to be done in the first 15 minutes, and then throughout the rest of the game, for us to be successful.”

At home this season, Wisconsin has yet to win a game. In their homeopening games Sept. 7 and 9, the Badgers lost 3-1 to Florida International before earning a 1-1 draw against then-No. 13 Georgetown, respectively.

This Friday’s game marks the annual “Pac the Mac” event, which also features the women’s soccer team against Michigan State, as well as the men’s game against PSU. Trask hopes a larger crowd will provide the extra motivation needed to get UW its first win at home this fall.

“Any player in any sport wants to play in front of a big crowd,” Trask said. “We are realistic about what is a big crowd for us; over 1,000 people at McClimon is a great event. … It just sets us up for a great night of Big Ten soccer.”

UW eyes 1st conference victory Caroline Sage Statistics Editor Freshman midfielder McKenna Meuer of the Wisconsin women’s soccer team said it best: “The Big Ten [has] really good competition. So when you win, you really know that it means something.”

The pair of games this weekend are both tough and crucial wins for the No. 14 Badgers (6-2-0), who are looking for their first victory of the season against a conference opponent. Friday night, UW will host Michigan State (7-1-1). Wisconsin will also play Michigan (7-2-0) at home Sunday.

The Badgers need to win both games if they want to stand atop the conference race come November.

But questions arose after a tough 2-1 road loss to Penn State Sunday as to if UW is really as good as it appeared at the start of the season. The Badgers were 6-1 heading into that first Big Ten matchup, the lone loss coming against No. 2 UCLA. Head coach Paula Wilkins saw key areas that needed improvement against the Nittany Lions, specifically the need to be more consistent in the offensive third of the

field.

“We had some opportunities, but I don’t think we were dynamic enough to capitalize on them,” Wilkins said. “And defending, I thought our individual defending needed to be better.”

With Michigan State on the docket first, UW’s offense is going to have to take advantage of any scoring opportunity that comes its way. The Spartan defense has not conceded more than one goal in each of the eight games they have played this season, and Michigan State goalkeeper Courtney Clem has recorded three shutouts this season.

But the Badgers are using their loss as motivation to crush the Spartans Friday night.

“Penn State is a really good team; to lose to them gives us more motivation to win the rest of the conference games,” said senior captain and midfielder Joana Bielefeld. “[Michigan State] is very organized, so we need to come in also organized, and I think that as long as we find feet we will be successful.”

The Spartans are not in for an easy game when they enter the McClimon Complex. UW’s offense is not

dominated by a single player but has found success from a combination of scoring from forwards, the midfield and defensive players. This has forced past opponents to spread out their defensive players, giving Wisconsin advantageous additional space. Ten Badgers have already posted at least one goal this season.

Adding to Wisconsin’s performance on the field will be a sizable crowd cheering behind the team. Friday night is the annual Pac the Mac event, which will feature a doubleheader with the Wisconsin men’s soccer team.

Last year the event drew 1,194 fans to both games, with 624 people showing up for the women’s game.

“It’s definitely exciting the crowd is there cheering for you, so for our team that gives us motivation,” Meuer said. “It is nice to be surrounded by your friends and family and people that are rooting for Badgers.”

Friday’s game should be a close matchup, where consistency will again be the key to a Badger victory.

With an equally competitive match Sunday, Michigan poses a different set of challenges for Wisconsin.

The biggest will be shutting down junior Wolverines forward Nkem Ezurike, who was named Big Ten Player of the Week Monday. Ezurike scored two of the team’s three goals in a 3-0 shutout win against Indiana Saturday.

On the defensive side, goalkeeper Lauren Gunderson has been an instrumental part of the team’s success, keeping the young defensive line, which starts two freshmen, organized. “[Both teams] pose different problems because of their systems, so it is really going to be a challenge for us to face two different opponents with what they bring,” Wilkins said.

“Michigan obviously has a big player up top with Nkem, but I think we need to focus on Friday where consistency is going to be the biggest thing.”

Last season, UW came out 1-0-1 in a similar week on the road against these two Michigan teams. The Badgers pulled off a 2-1 win over Michigan State, but Michigan held them scoreless in a 0-0 tie.

Friday’s game starts at 5 p.m. with the men’s game following it, and Sunday’s game will begin at 1 p.m.

Comics

Prescribed in Cases of Mild to Moderate Boredom Noah J. Yuenkel comics@badgerherald.com

7

The Badger Herald | Comics | Friday, September 21, 2012

WHAT IS THIS

SUDOKU

HERALD COMICS

PRESENTS

S

U

D

O

K

U WHITE BREAD & TOAST

toast@badgerherald.com

MIKE BERG

NONSENSE? Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

What? You still don’t get it? Come, on, really? It’s not calculus or anything. Honestly, if you don’t know how to do a sudoku by now, you’ve probably got more issues than this newspaper.

TWENTY POUND BABY

DIFFICULTY RATING: The six-year FDA clinical trials (results inconclusive)

HERALD COMICS

MADCAPS PRESENTS

K

A

K

U

R

O

baby@badgerherald.com

STEPHEN TYLER CONRAD

madcaps@badgerherald.com

MOLLY MALONEY

HOW DO I

KAKURO?

I know, I know. Kakuro.

Looks crazy, right?

This ain’t no time to panic, friend, so keep it cool and I’ll walk you through. Here’s the low down: each clue tells you what the sum of the numbers to the right or down must add up to.

Repeating numbers?

Not in this part of town.

And that’s that, slick.

C’EST LA MORT

paragon@badgerherald.com

PARAGON

The Kakuro Unique Sum Chart Cells Clue 2 3 2 4 2 16 2 17

DIFFICULTY: If you experience nausea, eye-bleed, or death, call a doctor.

MOUSELY & FLOYD

NOAH J. YUENKEL

Possibilities { 1, 2 } { 1, 3 } { 7, 9 } { 8, 9 }

3 3 3 3

6 7 23 24

{ 1, 2, 3 } { 1, 2, 4 } { 6, 8, 9 } { 7, 8, 9 }

4 4 4 4

10 11 29 30

{ 1, 2, 3, 4 } { 1, 2, 3, 5 } { 5, 7, 8, 9 } { 6, 7, 8, 9 }

5 5 5 5

15 16 34 35

{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 } { 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

6 6 6 6

21 22 38 39

{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 } { 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

7 7 7 7

28 29 41 42

{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 } { 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 } { 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 } { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

nyuenkel@badgerherald.com

BUNI

HERALD COMICS 1

pascle@badgerherald.com

RYAN PAGELOW

2

3

4

5

PRESENTS 6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

CROSSWORD pressure

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

26 “Lookie what I did!”

27 “Can you

21

believe that 22

23

24

25

RANDOM DOODLES

ERICA LOPPNOW

random@badgerherald.com

27

28

guy?!”

28 Grateful

26

29

30

Dead

31

album whose 32

33

35 38

34

36

title reads the same forward

37

39

and backward

40

29 Intermediate 41

42

46

THE SKY PIRATES

COLLIN LA FLEUR

skypirate@badgerherald.com

43

47

49

50

53

54

55

56

44

45

48

51

level in karate 30 Navigator Islands, now

52

33 Clicked 34 One criterion for sorting 36 Fair

Puzzle by Peter Wentz

BEADY EYES

YOUR COMIC

BRONTË MANSFIELD

YOUR NAME

comics@badgerherald.com

comics@badgerherald.com

Across 1 Modern mail?

11 British ___ 14 It ends at 12 15 Main part, often 16 The Bay of Fundy has the largest one in the world 17 Judicial administration?

18 Estadio call 19 Tall and thin 20 Complete, as a crossword 22 Like A through D 24 Having a bad trip, maybe 25 Examine carefully 26 QB who threw a record-tying seven touchdown passes in a single game (1962) 27 W-2 figure 30 Pitcher’s stat 31 “___ out!”

32 Somalia’s

33

34 35 36

37 38 40 41

42 46 47 48 49 50

53

locale in Africa Compromise of 1877 figure To-do Split, in a way Southern writer William Gilmore ___ Split (up) Fighting directly Nickname in classic jazz “The Bourne Identity” plot device Makes sense of Commercial miscellany Cartoonist Kelly Bug Director-type View from the Sydney Harbour Bridge Hershey brand

54 What a drawer may hold 55 Animal in a comic strip title 56 Running too quickly?

37 “Dude, I got

13

15 21

the admission of new states “A stronger America” sloganeer “The Planets” composer It controls the amount of light admitted ___ Kramer, 2010 Dutch speed-skating gold medalist Gives in under

something to tell you …”

39 Verizon, e.g.

40 Widen 42 Short-range missiles 43 Buddhist

shrine Down 44 Big stinger 1 It controls the 45 Dog-tired amount 23 47 “Now that of light you mention admitted it …”

2 “The Pearl 51 Sugar ___ Fishers” 24 52 Vote (for) soprano 3 Altiplano Rocky the Herald Comics Raccoon™ locale 4 Soul producer I was in 5 Kicks Quizno’s and this 6 Downright hippie came up 7 Cho ___, to the counter to complain, saying romantic his sandwich was interest for only half-baked.

Harry Potter Talk about the 8 Twist pothead calling 9 ___-shaped the kettle black.

10 Moirai, in Greek myth 11 “Big Brother,” for example 12 It includes provision for

Get today’s puzzle solutions at badgerherald.com

Sports Editor Ian McCue sports@badgerherald.com

8 | Sports | Friday, September 21, 2012

SPORTS

Better opponents await Wisconsin Online: With just one loss this year, volleyball opens up Big Ten play.

Stave under center against Miners Kelly Erickson Senior Sports Writer Wisconsin’s offense cannot seem to avoid drama from week to week.

With a new offensive line coach last week, this week a perceived quarterback competition obscured who would start under center Saturday against Texas at El Paso (1-2).

Last Saturday, as the Badgers (2-1) trailed Utah State 14-3 at halftime, head coach Bret Bielema made, in his own words, a “fivesecond” decision to pull starter Danny O’Brien in favor of an untested redshirt freshman — Joel Stave. On the depth chart released only a few days later, both Stave and O’Brien were listed as the starter.

Keeping the suspense all week, Bielema finally said Stave will be getting the nod Saturday morning.

“If you have any type of

inkling of who we are and what we are, we’ll continue with Joel to start,” Bielema said. “… He didn’t show me any reason why not to stay with him. The thing I loved, at halftime [against Utah State], when I said that we were going to make a move, no one batted an eye.

“I make every move with the idea that it’s going to be long-term.”

In Stave’s second half outing against Utah State, he went 2-for-6 for 15 yards — and one of his two completions was for 14 yards.

While Stave has yet to actually prove himself in a game, the first step for the Badgers’ offense is establishing the run.

Wisconsin has only managed 359 rushing yards through three games — an average of 119.7 per game, ranking 91st in the FBS. But UTEP’s rush defense has been struggling. The Miners have allowed

opponents a total of 649 rushing yards, or an average of 216.3 per game. For senior running back Montee Ball — who has 320 yards and two touchdowns on the ground this season — UTEP stands as the perfect measurement of where the run game stands.

“I take that mentality into every game,” Ball said. “From looking at the film and stuff I see a lot opportunity to make big plays. But it’s any given Saturday, so they’re going to make sure they come in ready. I’m just going to make sure I’m prepared for what they’re going to throw at me. But I feel like this is going to be a really good game for us.”

Aiding UW’s run game is a still-improving offensive line. With several mistakes last week, including five penalties, center Travis Frederick said their play and abilities are coming more naturally now as muscle memory has started taking

Andy Fate The Badger Herald

Center Travis Frederick is confident the offensive line will continue to improve in its second game under new position coach Bart Miller. over.

“A lot of the stuff that [offensive line coach Bart Miller] is teaching goes back to the things that we’ve done in the past and so it’s a

matter of … really focusing on being physical, breeding confidence,” Frederick said.

With all the drama on offense, the defense feels it needs to continue to

improve. As marked progress was made during the Utah State victory, the defense hopes to continue that trend

STAVE, page 6

Brewers’ Braun deserves National League MVP Sean Zak Zak It To Ya Megan McCormick The Badger Herald

Midfielder Nick Janus is part of a balanced Wisconsin attack that has seen 11 different players score 12 goals for the team this season.

Badgers searching for redemption in opener Nick Daniels Associate Sports Editor Only one word can describe the UW men’s soccer team as it heads into its first game of the Big Ten season at the McClimon Complex Friday against Penn State: prepared.

After what has already been a roller coaster of a season, the Badgers currently sit at 2-23 after nonconference play, and while they have already suffered some disappointing defeats, they have also triumphed in some impressive victories.

Despite starting the season by allowing 10 goals in four games, UW has since righted the ship — it has only allowed one goal in three games since, including shutouts in their last two games — as they enter the grueling Big Ten season

against a talented Nittany Lions team.

“The whole team has bought into working hard, and keeping their shape and being a defensive unit,” head coach John Trask said.

“That’s one thing about soccer, is that it doesn’t just fall on those four guys. … And all of it leads to just a better quality performance by our defense.”

PSU, which is off to a fast 5-1-1 start, holds a special place in the minds of many of the Wisconsin players after a cruel 1-0 defeat to the Nittany Lions in the semifinal of the Big Ten Championship in 2011 ended their season.

“We beat them at their place last year and then they knocked us out of the Big Ten Tournament in the semifinal,” Trask said. “There is history between the two clubs, there

is history between the players and I think that sets up nicely for the fans. … It’s going to be a great way to start the season.”

Penn State has been the epitome of defensive efficiency through the nonconference portion of the season. In seven games so far, PSU has only conceded goals in two games, which means the Nittany Lions have already earned five shutouts this season — enough to make any offense shudder at the prospect of having to try to break them down.

Even with Penn State’s lockdown defensive record, UW’s players and coaches say their approach to Friday’s game doesn’t change one bit. “[Our approach] isn’t going to change at all,” junior

OPENER, page 6

Would you hire Michael Vick as a dog sitter? No, because he went to jail for hosting dog fights. Would you let MC Hammer handle your finances? No, because he quickly found fame and found bankruptcy even quicker. These are easy decisions.

The common thread is society has a hard time forgiving people for their colossal mistakes, struggling to respect them after it’s all over. The same thing is happening to Ryan Braun, and it’s a travesty.

Braun’s urine PEDpositive sample from last December was eventually proved invalid, and he therefore avoided a 50game suspension to begin the 2012 season. Brewers fans and the front office were finally able to breathe.

While his stats have him in the running for NL Most Valuable Player, the faulty sample has him running into trouble.

The 2011 NL MVP is as deserving as any other candidate, yet the odds are against him, based not on what Braun has done in the MVP hunt, but rather on who gets to decide the

award.

A privileged few from the Baseball Writers Association of America are given MVP votes each year, and while they will speak loudest when the choice is made, there is a common perception Braun cannot win this year’s award.

His MVP chances are extremely limited simply because a test linked to his name included the phrase “performanceenhancing drugs.” It is easy to understand, but it isn’t right. Ryan Braun should trump the competition of Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen to win his second-straight MVP award.

I would like to start by dissecting the acronym MVP. What makes any particular player the most valuable of all the players in the league? For me, traits of consistency, demand and magnitude — when combined with statistics — constitute the overall value of a player.

The fact the Brewers have a pulse is one reason for Braun’s candidacy, because they probably shouldn’t have one. Let’s flash back to July 29, when Milwaukee traded away its ace pitcher, Zack Greinke.

Sitting at 11 games under .500 and 12 games out of the wild card race, the Brewers had finally seemed to give up on the 2012 season, siphoning what they could in prospects by dealing Greinke, Braun’s biggest aid

in carrying Milwaukee.

How did Braun answer to the call? By hitting .315 throughout August and September, tallying 12 home runs and 34 RBIs in just 45 games. The Brewers are now five games over .500 and just two and a half games out of the final playoff spot.

Posey passes this test as well, as the Giants have 15 more wins than losses over that stretch. McCutchen is the exact opposite, however, as his Pirates have faded, going 16-31 since.

But Braun hasn’t just been great since Greinke’s departure — he has been great all season. An easy way of measuring Braun’s consistency is looking at his best and worst months.

Braun’s best was probably August, batting .312 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs. His worst came in April, when his .294 average, seven home runs and 17 RBIs seemed, at the time, rather paltry.

Braun’s biggest competitors have flopped at different points this season, Posey in May (.253) and McCutchen in August (.252). For a season that stretches 162 games, the Most Valuable Player should be inherently valuable through the entire season.

Braun has done just that, and with minimal help from teammates, proving his enormous demand.

ZAK, page 6