2011.09.21 by The Badger Herald

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER R SINC SINCE CE 1 1969 969 Wednesday, September 21, 2011

www.badgerherald.com

V Vo olu lume X LIII LI I , Issue 12 Volume XLIII,

MULTIMEDIA | CITY LIFE

OPINION | EDITORIAL

ARTS | SPOT ON

Check out the video on the new high-rise

Interim Chancellor Ward is a strong transitional figure for UW-Madison, with the key word being transitional | 5

Heroic deeds done dirt cheap

Want to know what all the fuss is about on a proposed highrise on University Ave.? Video coverage is online!

Vigilante superhero ‘Electron’ fills void in city safety by patrolling streets, feeding homeless population. | 11

Costs for recall elections total $44M Senate races break spending records, become state’s most expensive race ever Katherine Krueger Deputy News Editor A report released Tuesday revealed the nine summer recall elections were not only unprecedented in Wisconsin history, but also shattered campaign finance records with spending totals reaching $43.9 million.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a non-partisan watchdog group, compiled the survey of total campaign spending by candidates and outside interest groups, which poured four times more money into the campaigns than the candidates themselves. Mike McCabe, director for the organization, said the report aims to give citizens an idea of the magnitude of spending that came as a result of the “tremendous interest” the races garnered for members

of the public. He said the total sum spent in the Senate races in 2011 more than doubled the previous campaign funding record of just more than $20 million in the elections for 99 Assembly seats and 16 Senate seats in 2008. “The numbers are jawdropping and clearly unprecedented,” McCabe said. “The amount of money that flowed into our state was astonishing.” According to the report, the recalls became the most costly race in the state’s history, surpassing

the $37.4 million spent in determining the governor in 2010. Outside groups also played a record-setting role in funding the campaigns, with three organizations — We Are Wisconsin, Club for Growth Wisconsin and the Greater Wisconsin Committee — breaking the previously held alltime records for backing a legislative candidate, the report said. McCabe said campaign contributors fell into three categories: the candidates, registered interest groups

support candidates. “We could only put a price tag on known activity, so there was surely some campaigning that flew under the radar,” he said. University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin said although spending in political campaigns has been steadily increasing throughout the past couple of decades, the summer recalls embodied an exceptional set of circumstances to greatly

— both of whose campaign finance reports are in the public record and contain hard data — and unregistered groups, which he said are required to disclose financial information. Despite the weeks of research conducted by personnel from the organization, including tracking down advertising invoices from television stations and IRS documents, he said these figures remain only estimates for what unregistered special interest groups contributed to

RECALL, page 4

St. Francis high-rise passes City Council Luther Memorial members say new project may obstruct their own sanctuary Dan Niepow Deputy City Editor After a lengthy debate that stretched into the early morning hours today, the Madison City Council approved the construction of a highrise apartment building at University Avenue and Brooks Street. A total of 36 speakers gathered to voice their concerns on the proposal in public forum. The group was composed of rectors, preachers, church members and many others representing the interests of two different campus ministries — St. Francis Episcopal Student Center, which supports the building, and Luther Memorial Church, which opposes

it. Architect Randy Bruce said the new on-campus building, which would be a part of the redevelopment of the Episcopal Student Center, would form a “beautiful backdrop to the historical buildings in the area.” Other proponents for the high-rise talked about the additional tax revenues the new building would generate. They also believed it would decrease vehicular traffic due to its proximity to campus. Many also felt the new building would rehabilitate the ministry of St. Francis House and add a new dynamic to the church. Those who opposed the high-rise spoke about the fact that Luther Memorial has been officially designated as a landmark. Landscape architect Gary Brown said ice-damming due to lessened sunlight may

cause serious damage to the church. Other opponents to the plan argued the new apartment would cause noise problems for the neighborhood. Many also expressed their concern that the residents in the new building may increase vandalism in the area, as had allegedly happened with Grand Central Apartments — also owned by the same developer, LZ Ventures. Doug Swiggum, a chair of Luther Memorial Facilities Committee, brought in pieces of glass from bottles that had been thrown out of Grand Central windows at the church. Both groups emphasized the factthey hoped to maintain neighborly relations in either case. Some members of the Council addressed the concerns of opponents before taking a final vote. In regard to the

Courtesy of the City of Madison

The 8-story building would provide more student housing to the Univerity Avenue corridor. The high-rise, which would be partially owned by St. Francis Episcopal Church, as well as a developer, would be situated near Luther Memorial. ice dams, Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, said the shadows cast by the new building would not prevent the melting of ice on Luther Memorial. He gave his final approval for the plan, noting he found the project

“compatible with the nature of an area.” Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, addressed the issue of possible vandalism to Luther Memorial by arguing it would be very difficult to throw bottles through a

stained glass window. Resnick also mentioned many of the problems presented by the opponents had more to do with the location of the proposed building

ST FRANCIS, page 4

MPD resolves to fight gang issue Dan Niepow Deputy City Editor

Matt Hintz The Badger Herald

Nakila Robinson, a UW student and member of First Wave, Katrina Flores, also a UW student and Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor, a writer at SocialistWorker.org, speak to a crowd during Tuesday’s event.

Testimonies define diversity forum Selby Rodriguez Campus Editor University of Wisconsin students and Madison community members came together Tuesday night to scrutinize points brought up by the Center for Equal Opportunity during last week’s visit, contemplating future actions and aiming for a solidified movement. The International Socialist Organization, Student Labor Action Coalition and Teaching Assistants’ Association’s

Stewards Council coordinated the Tuesday event, titled “Power to the People: Fighting Racism on the UW Campus.” The event was composed of a forum and open discussion, with speakers Nakila Robinson, Katrina Flores and KeeangaYahmatta Taylor. It was formed as a reaction to CEO President Roger Clegg’s press conference revealing the organization’s report stating UW discriminates against white and Asian

applicants. Robinson is a UW student studying English education and a member of First Wave, a multicultural program promoting artistic expression that awards full tuition scholarships to each member. A Milwaukee native, Robinson zeroed in on the report’s use of standardized test scores. Through her experience in the Milwaukee Public School district, Robinson said she was made fully aware of the disadvantages

of coming from a school in a poor area. Citing that standardized tests do not take quality of education into account and that they are expensive both to take and prepare for, Robinson said affirmative action benefits all students from poor economic backgrounds. “Poverty reaches everybody and has nothing to do with the color of your skin,” Robinson said. “Taking away affirmative

FORUM, page 4

There are 1,198 confirmed gang members in the Madison area, plus 2,500 suspected members and associates. Madison Police Department’s Crime Prevention Gang Unit is fighting that statistic, and highlighted the reality of gangs in Dane County at a brief discussion before the Common Council last night. Sgt. Amy Schwartz and Officer Lester Moore, who head the unit, presented statistics that said there are 1,198 confirmed gang members in the Madison area, in addition to 2,500 suspected members and associates. Most often, a person is considered a confirmed gang member when he or she self-admits at the time of arrest or incarceration, though there are other methods of confirming as well, Moore said. In the beginning of her presentation, Schwartz showed a map of Dane County that highlighted both the location and density of gangs in the area. She emphasized the crimes committed by gang members are not

restricted to the county. “This is just where they live,” she said. “They don’t necessarily commit crimes in the neighborhoods where they live.” Since gang activity can occur within families, she also noted Madison police are already seeing second and third-generation gang members. “We have to prevent kids from going down this path,” Moore said. To stop gangs from growing, CPGU has developed a fourpronged strategy. It involves prevention, intervention, suppression and re-entry. The unit accomplishes most of its work through home and school visits in the area. Both officers stressed the importance of these visits, as they foster a sense of trust between youth and police. They also promote honest communication between children and their parents. The unit has conducted more than 200 visits before the start of the current school year. During home visits, officers speak frankly with youth about their social and academic

GANGS, page 2

The Badger Herald | News | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Events today 4-7 p.m. Study Abroad Fair

TODAY

TOMORROW

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

64 46

58 44

60 42

62 43

65 43

partly cloudy/windy

partly cloudy

few showers

partly cloudy

Varsity Hall, Union South

5:30-7:30 p.m. Japanese Karate Club B101 Lathrop Hall

Future dubious for charter school bill Matt Huppert State Editor

Events tomorrow Noon-6 p.m. Lakeshore Residence Blood Drive

Carson Gulley Commons

Need to publicize your event? Send an e-mail 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 Signe Brewster Managing Editor Carolyn Briggs Editor-at-Large Jake Begun News Adelaide Blanchard News Content Pam Selman Deputy News Katherine Krueger Multimedia Ryan Rainey Assoc. Multimedia Emily Campbell Campus Selby Rodriguez State Matt Huppert Editorial Page Allegra Dimperio Editorial Page Content Taylor Nye Ed. Board Chairman Alex Brousseau Sports Mike Fiammetta Sports Content Elliot Hughes Associate Sports Kelly Erickson Ian McCue Brett Sommers Sarah Witman Lin Weeks Noah Yuenkel Zach Butzler Tom Guthrie Ellen Anevicius James Zhang Kristin Prewitt Katie Foran-McHale Photo Megan McCormick Assoc. Photo Malory Goldin Matt Hintz Design Directors Eric Wiegmann Alex Laedtke Page Designers Sigrid Hubertz Kellie McGinnis Katie Gaab Gus McNair Web Director Adam Parkzer Assoc. Web Director Jake Stoeffler Web Consultant Charlie Gorichanaz

Statistics ArtsEtc. ArtsEtc. Content Comics Copy Chief Assoc. Copy Chief Copy Editors

A Republican bill introduced last spring that would work to expand charter schools in the state has been received cautiously by several members of the party concerned about its effect on local school districts. Republicans in the Senate and Assembly have been hesitant to support the bill, which was introduced by last spring by Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, because in some instances, the proposed legislation allows charter schools to be established in a school district without the local district’s permission, said Todd Allbaugh, a spokesperson for Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center.

In its current form, Allbaugh said, the proposed legislation will provide charter schools more expansion powers within the state. Wisconsin has more than 200 charter schools, or tuition-based public schools that are organized independent from local school districts. More than 37,000 students are enrolled in the schools. The proposed legislation would attempt to get rid of the “roadblocks” in the way of charter school expansion under the current state law, the statement said. By choosing to protect the powers local school districts have in approving entrance of charter schools within their jurisdiction, Allbaugh said Schultz is on par with basic

Republican ideals. He said the position should not be considered exceptionally moderate, since localizing control has been a backbone of the modern Republican Party. Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Graeme Zielinski said the actions of both Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators in the last six months have weakened the strength of public education in the state. He said Republican education initiatives have continuously prioritized private schools ahead of public schools for state financing and support. “The people this administration have served are not the working families of Wisconsin,” Zielinski said. “[Walker and Republican legislators]

are raking money out of schools that serve working families for schools that serve the children of millionaires.” In the statement, Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, who co-authored the bill, said it encourages educational innovations by investing in charter schools throughout the state. According to the statement, the proposed legislation would establish a statewide charter school board that would have authorization over charter schools, give charter operators the ability to handle more than one school with a single charter and create statewide standards for charter school teachers. Enrollment caps on virtual charter schools currently in place, which allow 5,250 virtual

charter students in the state, would be repealed with the passage of the legislation, the statement said. Vos said in the statement this allows parents to create personalized educational plans to fit the needs of their children. Allbaugh said he could not say if Schultz would vote for or against the proposed legislation, as the bill will continue to be worked on before its proposed October enactment. In the meantime, he said Schultz continues to be open for compromise when it comes to the bill. “I think [Schultz’s] concern is that we listen to both sides and find a solution that can work, and in particular [for] respecting the local control of school board,” Allbaugh said.

UW researchers honored for innovations 2 scientists receive $1.5M to use in their respective fields; 1 to use grant to develop new kind of contact lens Katie Caron News Reporter The National Institutes of Health awarded its Director’s New Innovator Award to two University of Wisconsin researchers Tuesday morning, recognizing their research and awarding each researcher a $1.5 million grant. UW researchers Douglas Weibel and Hongrui Jiang were among 77 individuals across the nation to receive the NIH’s prestigious award, according to a UW statement. According to NIH, the award goes to “creative new investigators who propose highly innovative projects that have the potential for unusually high impact,” and includes a $1.5 million grant for each respective

researcher’s work. Weibel, an assistant professor of biochemistry, said he was thrilled when he heard of his award. Focusing on bacteria, Weibel said his goal is to understand and develop new ways of assembling and disassembling their cell walls. His lab also works on projects that involve taking advantage of small molecules to regulate protein within the cell. “Our lab works on understanding how bacteria control where molecules go within the cell, and we work on many subareas of this,” he said. “It’s a very fundamental question in science.” Weibel said down the road, he hopes his lab will be able to lay the foundation for developing new antibiotics through this research.

“The cell wall is a great target for developing antibiotics,” he said. “We’re faced with this issue in which antibiotics are no longer effective against everything.”

“We’re faced with this issue in which antibiotics are no longer effective against everything.” Douglas Weibel

UW Researcher

Jian, a UW electrical and computer engineering associate professor, plans to use his $1.5 million award to research selffocusing contact lenses to correct vision in aging

adults, according to the statement. In addition to biomedical engineering, Jiang is affiliated with the Eye Research Institute on campus. There, the statement said, he studies the development of bionic lenses for correcting an aging process stiffening the eye’s lenses and reducing the ability to focus, called presbyopia. Jiang aims to create a prototype of a new form of contact lens, changing focal lengths and providing aid for both near and far vision in the same way a camera lens can through his research. “We try to focus onto something, and then you change the focal length of the lens system, resulting in a sharper image. So why can’t we put a camera lens in our eye?” Jiang said in the

statement. The statement also noted Jiang’s project is in early stages of development. He said while the research team has thought through each step of the project, the research is still somewhat high-risk. He said he was grateful NIH was willing to fund a project for someone who was early in their career and trying to pursue complicated projects. Weibel and Jiang’s awards were conferred and announced Tuesday morning at the seventh annual NIH Director ’s Pioneer Award Symposium in Maryland. NIH is the nation’s medical research agency, as well as a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Jiang could not be reached for comment.

Herald business Publisher Business Mgr.

Peter Hoeschele Corey Chamberlain

Herald advertising Bryant Miller Advertising Director Mitch Hawes Display Manager Roshni Nedungadi Classified Mgr. Anna Elsmo-Siebert Executives Melissa Faulkner Jillian Grupp Danielle Hanaford Matthew Preston Myla Rosenbloom Alissa Siegenthaler

Board of directors Chairman

Jake Begun Vice Chairman

Peter Hoeschele Vice Chairman

Signe Brewster Vice Chairman

Bryant Miller Corey Chamberlain Mitch Hawes Roshni Nedungadi Pam Selman Eric Wiegmann 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 2011, The Badger Herald, Inc.

Taylor Frechette The Badger Herald

Madison Police Officer Lester Moore briefed some Madison residents on the extent of the county’s gang problem and presented a possible set of solutions, including outreach.

GANGS, from 1 lives, Schwartz said. Following the murder of 19-year-old Antonio Perez on Fordem Avenue by rival gang members last year, the unit increased the number of such visits. There have been no significant incidents of violence since their intervention, Schwartz said. Schwartz said it is still difficult to measure the success of the unit’s efforts strictly in numbers. However, the effects of its intervention following Perez’s murder show significant progress. “Anecdotally, and through collected intelligence, we do know that the work of the CPGU has prevented many incidents of ganginvolved violence as it relates to retaliation and crime in general,” she said. The unit is also active in promoting safety at various festivals throughout Wisconsin,

as those can be sources of violence as well. They directly interact with youth at events like Rhythm and Booms and Milwaukee’s Mexican Fiesta, Moore said. These seemingly small interactions have noticeable impact as they also increase trust, Moore said. Part of CPGU’s strategy also involves training for other law enforcement units throughout Dane County. The unit aims to form partnerships with other groups and organizations as well. For example, it is currently working with the Special Investigation Unit to share important information about gangs. Moore closed the program by speaking once more about the importance of direct interaction with youth themselves. “We will not arrest our way out of the gang problem in Madison,” he said. “It’s all about developing relationships.”

The Badger Herald | News | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

St. Francis Housing Timeline 4/6

August 2009

2010

Grand Central Apartments open on former Luther Memorial land

2011

April 2011

UDC hears proposal from St. Francis for student housing

9/20

June 2011

UW Leg. Affairs Committee reviews plans for proposed St. 4/18 Francis Apartments

September 2011 Neighbor church Luther Memorial contests St. Francis proposal

ST FRANCIS, from 1

FORUM, from 1

more than any other factor. “This is still an urban location. A lot of these problems we’ve talked about really don’t have a lot to do with Grand Central Apartments,” he said. “[They happen] every day because this is at the heart of campus.” Ald. Marsha Rommel, District 6, also disapproved of the plan. She agreed there should be a balance between preservation and development, but she ultimately believed preservation was more important in this case. “We’re really going to lose something here,”

action affects these people and takes away the beauty and brilliance [these students] can have.” Studying for a masters in curriculum and instruction at UW, Flores is an Audre Lorde Cooperative member, a co-op open to all people interested in promoting a “sustainable and socially just society,” according to its website. Flores asked the audience which groups were being targeted, left alone and left out of the CEO’s discourse. The consensus was blacks and Hispanics were being targeted, white women were being

9/19

City Council votes to approve St. Francis housing

City Plan Commission approves St. Francis housing

left alone and Native Americans were being left out of the discourse. This, Flores said, was important because groups benefiting from affirmative action were also being split against each other. Flores then advocated being proactive through a unified movement. “Too often when we do act, we react,” she said. “There’s not a lot going on in terms of massive movements unless we are being attacked. What happened to people holding massive protests for injustices occurring every day?” Visiting campus, SocialistWorker.org columnist KeeangaYahmatta Taylor is a

Ford fellow in AfricanAmerican studies at Northwestern University. Taylor focused the majority of her discussion on institutional racism, stating the racial inequality the U.S. was built on through slavery is endemic to society. She said this fact and a “divide and conquer” strategy was being used effectively to turn society members against each other instead of against the elite. “We constantly are being put in a position of looking at other people in accusation instead of solidarity,” she said. Flores said she was excited by the possibility of solidarity, so long

RECALL, from 1

since the Supreme Court blocked a ban on corporate spending, a move that means a candidate’s voice may be drowned out by money from special interests. Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, released a statement Tuesday saying the cost of the recalls provide support for an amendment to the state constitution that would limit the grounds for recalling state officials to criminal or ethical violations. Graeme Zielinski, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said the increased spending in the elections was a result of widespread interest in defeating Gov. Scott Walker’s agenda.

inflate spending. “There was a tremendous amount at stake on both sides. When the race is more competitive, more money flows in,” he said. “It would be unfair to think either side had an advantage from outside money [in the recalls], but that changes from election to election.” Franklin said although the 2012 state election cycle would likely prove very competitive, spending levels would not come near the figures reported this summer. He also said the trend of outside groups dominating in campaign spending has been building nationally

Opinion

Editorial Page Editor Allegra Dimperio & Taylor Nye oped@badgerherald.com

The Badger Herald | Opinion | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Herald Editorial

Forward At first glance, it is obvious Interim Chancellor David Ward is a nice guy. He’s charming, he has a British accent and most admirably, at 73 years old, he’s still interested in running one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious universities. After meeting with Ward on Monday, we were impressed with his decisiveness, his knowledge of all things related to higher education and his ability to project confidence in an undoubtedly difficult time for the University of Wisconsin. Ward was chosen to serve in a transitionary phase to

stabilize UW and prepare us for a new chancellor. The Board of Regents and UW’s faculty reportedly like Ward just as much as we do, and have expressed interest in keeping him on as interim chancellor for another year. However, we’re not willing to go that far. Ward worked as the president of the American Council on Education, a prestigious job in Washington that helped him cultivate relationships with some of the most

important figures in higher education. The University Committee, Associated Students of Madison

attention throughout the last year will deter the best candidates from applying for the chancellorship. This would push back the search for a new leader one year. Ward has already proven himself to be an effective chancellor in laying the groundwork for a new leader. He has not introduced any initiatives a new chancellor could not handle, and he has said his priority is rebuilding a strained relationship with the regents and navigating UW through a series of budget

Ward has already proven himself to be an effective chancellor in laying the groundwork for a new leader. He has not introduced any initiatives a new chancellor could not handle. ... and the Academic Staff Executive Committee all have called for Ward to stay on, arguing that UW’s negative national media

cuts coming down from the state level. Ward’s decision to come back to UW alone shows the recovering status of the institution; he has been, and continues to be, one of the most respected national higher education leaders. To follow a chancellor like Ward would be a distinct honor for his replacement. Put simply, we need a new chancellor to help us move forward. We shouldn’t pessimistically ask ourselves, “Who would want to be chancellor now?” With Ward cleaning things up, we should instead ask ourselves, “Who wouldn’t?”

Alex Brousseau

Signe Brewster

Carolyn Briggs

Editorial Board Chairman

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Jake Begun Editor-at-Large

Allegra Dimperio

Taylor Nye

Ryan Rainey

Editorial Page Editor

Editorial Page Content Editor

Editorial Board Member

Editorial Board opinions are crafted independently of news coverage.

Judicial appointments needed for true transparency Alex Brousseau Editorial Board Chairman A series of judicial embarrassments, including a physical confrontation this summer, resulted in a public outcry for reform and change in our highest court’s practices. When Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson announced her proposals to the state Supreme Court, there was hope it would do just that. Instead, her suggestions would have led to further embarrassment of the court and destruction

of longstanding judicial practices. Abrahamson’s proposals tried to address these embarrassments by opening all conferences to the public, including discussions about which cases the court would accept and allowing the release of recordings or transcripts of opinion conferences at least one year following the release of the opinion. The goal was to create more transparency so the public would better understand who and what it votes for every 10 years. Something about the proposals indeed rings true. Elected officials do need to be held accountable to the electorate and their constituents. But despite what the people might

think, the Supreme Court justices are not public servants. Abrahamson’s proposals try to hold the justices accountable to the public, when they are only accountable to the law. The state Supreme Court emulates the United States Supreme Court in its practices and proceedings. The justices debate and vote on which cases they hear for the next term. They then read the attorneys’ briefs, preside over the trials and ask the hard, controversial questions. At the end of the trial, they have an open conversation about the issue, debate among themselves and come to a conclusion. This becomes the law. There is a very good reason these conferences

are kept closed. When deciding which cases to hear in the next term, the justices will normally choose cases wthat present a question of first impression or debate an unsettled area of the law. Their decisions are strategic, not political. However, opening these conferences to the public would invite public outcries and outside influences, turning a purely legal decision into a political one. For example, imagine if the court had been open when the justices were deciding if they should take up the budget repair bill. A nuanced debate which would normally be centered on open meeting laws and judicial supremacy would devolve into caterwauling over the Koch brothers

and fleeing Democrats. This would shut down the judicial process, causing their proceedings to come to a screeching halt. Giving the public access to opinion conferences would be even more detrimental. Judges belong to a very specific profession that is not understood by the public-at-large. The nuances behind their decisions go over the heads of the majority of the public. Closed conferences allow the justices to speak openly and frankly with one another. Without this protection, not only would discussions among the justices chill, but judicial proceedings would be significantly altered for the worse since their language

would have to be dumbed down in order to accommodate the public’s lack of legal knowledge. As Justice Patrick Crooks said, “It’s a little bit like the old saw about making sausage. I don’t think you want to see that in the Supreme Court.” It is clear that public transparency cannot be achieved without severely hampering the judicial process. Therefore, instead of enacting reform, the Legislature should focus on eliminating the election of state Supreme Court justices in order to ensure the future respect and posterity of Wisconsin’s highest judicial body. Alex Brousseau (abrousseau@ badgerherald.com) is a second year law student.

Wisconsin’s Ryan no longer represents constituents for rotten economics,” Ryan said on Sunday, after Obama revealed the proposal. “We don’t need a system that seeks to prey on people’s fear, envy and anxiety.” If I had lived five Ryan Rainey miles north of my Editorial Board Member former home in Illinois, Ryan would have been my representative in Sometimes, I have to swallow my pride, get rid Congress. He speaks for a city, Janesville, almost of my mostly fabricated equally as depressed as Philadelphia accent and Rockford. Headlines in tell the truth: I grew up Rockford and Madison near Rockford, Ill. throughout the last After splitting my two decade have been dotted years in college between with mostly bad news Madison and suburban about the auto industry; Philly, far away from the General Motors’ plant city that has grown to in Janesville stopped embody recession-era making Chevy Suburbans America, I’ve finally years ago, and a report come to terms with my in Monday’s Milwaukee roots. It happened this weekend, when Rep. Paul Journal-Sentinel says the plant remains on standby. Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called Of course, Ryan can’t President Barack Obama’s single-handedly fix these plan to introduce a problems; that would be “millionaire tax” class expecting too much out warfare. of someone who is just “Class warfare may a legislator. But he can make for really good actually represent the politics, but it makes

views of his constituents, a group of hardworking, dare I say middle class, Wisconsinites. Because of the similarities between Rockford and Janesville, I’d assume many of Ryan’s constituents are folks like a close friend of mine from Rockford who I’ll refer to as Larry. Larry and his peers are conservative former members of the middle class who have been shut out of the national economic conversation and unemployed for years because businesses, both big and small, including the government, have failed them. Since he’s a Fox News Republican, I’ve seen Larry, a significant person in my life, endorse some conservative policies that make me shudder. But he’s never pledged allegiance to the Tea Party, a title which Ryan proudly flaunts. That’s because after years of

unemployment after a successful business career, Larry knows he needs a little help. Ryan has called for the ending of the kind of welfare programs that keep my dad afloat in tough times. If Ryan had his way at a national level, Larry’s kids probably wouldn’t be lucky enough to have state insurance, since neither he nor his wife can support their children’s health insurance costs. And what happens if Larry, a smoker who will turn 58 next year, doesn’t get a job with retirement benefits? Luckily, Obama has finally proposed a tax on millionaires that could help keep those welfare programs afloat. It would benefit the working class as well as white collar, middle management workers like Larry. But Tea Party figures, including Ryan, opposed the measure even

before Obama formally announced the plan. Aside from helping me feel in touch with my Rockford roots again, Ryan has helped me realized something important about the Tea Party movement that I initially refused to believe: They don’t represent the views of even the most conservative Republicans who are unemployed. Although Republicans in 2009 began a conservative grassroots resurgence because of Wall Street bailouts, the Tea Party’s control of the party has dissolved into the same pandering to the rich and safely-employed that many conservatives hated in the first place. We only need to look as far as Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker to see that phrases like “unemployed” and “job creation” have become rhetorical devices, not basis for policy-making. Even worse, our

generation is also used as a rhetorical device. “Why would we leave our children with mounting debt!” is often cause for rejecting even the most friendly spending proposals. I’m not a spokesperson for my generation, nor do I want to be. But at this point in American history, I’m a little more worried about seeing my family and families like mine get back on their feet again. The taxes to pay off the rising debt are an inevitability. I’m glad if introducing a new tax on wealthier Americans is class warfare. Larry, and even my own family, could use someone fighting for them these days. The Tea Party and its leaders like Ryan aren’t doing it. Ryan Rainey (rrainey@ badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in journalism and Latin American studies.

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.

The Badger Herald | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Comics

Huh Huh Humpday, Uh-Huh Noah J. Yuenkel comics@badgerherald.com

The Badger Herald | Comics | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WHAT IS THIS

SUDOKU

HERALD COMICS

PRESENTS

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: Making it this far through the week

HERALD COMICS

PRESENTS

baby@badgerherald.com

STEPHEN TYLER CONRAD

YOURMOMETER

LAURA “HOBBES” LEGAULT

C’EST LA MORT

PARAGON

yourmom@badgerherald.com

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.

paragon@badgerherald.com

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

DIFFICULTY RATING: Getting out with your grade point intact

REHABILITATING MR. WIGGLES

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 }

www.neilswaab.com

NEIL SWAAB

MADCAPS

HERALD COMICS 1

25 31 35

44 46

58 61

random@badgerherald.com

ERICA LOPPNOW

30 34

RANDOM DOODLES

pascle@badgerherald.com

RYAN PAGELOW

PRESENTS

BUNI

madcaps@badgerherald.com

MOLLY MALONEY

57 60

Puzzle by Michael Black

PRIMAL URGES

primal@badgerherald.com

ANDREW MEGOW

MODERN CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT

THE SKY PIRATES

COLLIN LA FLEUR

DENIS HART

mcm@badgerherald.com

skypirate@badgerherald.com

Across 1 “Big Brother” host Julie 5 Milky Way maker 9 “Oh, get oﬀ it!” 14 “The Godfather” score composer Nino 15 Riding on 16 Toothpaste brand once advertised with Bucky Beaver 17 “___ framed!” 18 Org. with Spartans and Trojans 19 Drug that treats panic attacks 20 M/C Hammer? 23 Verdi’s “___ tu” 24 ___ in queen 25 Raking in 29 Closing bid?

31 Suspense novelist Hoag 33 ___ de guerre 34 Literally, “reign” in Hindi 36 Like Mendeleev’s table 39 W/C Fields? 43 Former Ford minivan 44 Risk damnation 45 ___ tough spot 46 Mlle., across the Pyrenees 48 Summer camp shelter 52 Have the blahs 55 Emergency contact, often: Abbr. 57 Whichever 58 L/L Bean? 61 “Oops!” 64 Sac ﬂies produce them 65 “___ be in England”:

67 68 69 70 71

Browning Big Apple mayor before Koch “Outta my way!” Jockey’s handful “You’re killin’ me!” Goes with Brouhahas

Down 1 Yalta’s locale 2 Stooge surname 3 List ender 4 Pelé’s org. 5 Powerful ray 6 For neither proﬁt nor loss 7 Have a hearty laugh 8 Sci-ﬁ travelers 9 Studio behind “Up” and “Wall-E” 10 Engender 11 Chinese dynasty

Get today’s puzzle solutions at badgerherald.com

12 13

21 22 26 27 28 30 32

name Santa ___ winds You might put your stamp on it Comes to Scottish landowners Intro to Chinese? Film ___ Yukons, e.g. Hence Not connected

CROSSWORD 35 Tea in Boston Harbor, once 37 Yule decoration 38 A Chaplin 39 Ragamuﬃn 40 Russo of ﬁlm 41 “Of wrath,” in a hymn title 42 Sail supports 47 Hit it big 49 Took a dip 50 Ab ___ (from the start) 51 L’eggs wares 53 Andean wool source 54 First Catholic vice president of the U.S. 56 Someone ___ (another’s) 59 “An ill wind …” instrument 60 Director Ephron 61 Deg. held by George W. Bush 62 Tree with cones 63 Kapow!

Rocky the Herald Comics Raccoon™

She got a Justin Bieber tattoo older than Justin Bieber.

To place an ad in Classifieds: Roshni Nedungadi rnedungadi@badgerherald.com 257.4712 ext. 311

The Badger Herald | Classifieds | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Classifieds ASO to the best girl in Madison being in Ireland. HSO to her still reading the SOs while she’s away. That’s true Bucky love. DSO to her reading this in the paper when I send it to her :) HMFSO to the hot pieces of man meat on the mens’ cross country team. Still trying to wipe oﬀ the drool that dribbled down my face as you guys ran by. Keep up the sexy work. SO to being a velociraptor and cohabiting peacefully with a t-rex. SO to the long-haired guy in a suit sitting in Social Sciences and singing along to his headphones. DSO to the fact he was rockin’ out to the Sisters of Mercy and clearly did not care who knew it. Rock on, random guy.

SO to finally figuring out who my History professor reminds me of. DSO to it being Gru from Despicable Me. TSO to hoping he has minions SO to me writing Septembeer instead of September on a paper. Friday can’t come soon enough apparently. ASO to the number of colleges who have red as their school colors. Red ought to be reserved for the fiercest, most deserving of teams: aka us Badgers.

SO to the girl in Union South who just said “there’s gotta be an elevator around here somewhere” as you stood right next to the elevator and then proceeded to go up the stairs. SO to the frat-tastic malfoy look alike who I see at the SERF regularly. ASO to the fact that I think your hair is dyed that lovely shade of blonde. H(opeful) SO to you dressing up as Malfoy for Halloween.

SO to reading the SO to the guy in Steep Badger Herald every & Brew who opened his day and feeling like computer only to ﬁll I’m reading the Daily the entire place with Prophet. ASO to Hogsounds of moaning. I warts letters getting don’t know what was go- lost in muggle mail ing on the last time you were on your comSO a cold shower after puter but it deﬁnitely a hot 10-mile run being lightened the mood of orgasmic. the place, thanks for .................MORE > the laugh.

The Badger Herald | Classifieds | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ASO to the assholes that hit my girfriend with an egg sunday night while she was biking. who the hell does that? and to a girl none the less. grow the hell up and get out of the fourth grade. SO to my roommates challenging the apartment above us to a Harry Potter themed beer olympics. The Di-Wizard Beer Tournament is going to kick some ass!!! Get ready!

SO to the kid in my english lecture who, when singled out by the prof and asked why he was sleeping in her class responded with “I wasnt just sleeping, I was helping Leonardo Dicaprio.” lmao SO to a summer of wanting to untag yourself in every picture but not ever untagging yourself because you love the memories too much.

SO to people who raise their hand in lecture, get totally ignored by the professor and then try to play it oﬀ by playing with their hair. Don’t bother. We all saw you.

SO to Mint Chocolate Chip Extra Dessert Delights gum. It actually tastes like I’m eating ice cream. RSO to Willa Wonka. DSO for not turning violet after chewing this gum.

ASO to being a junior and still having freshmen in my discussions. It’s getting way too damn hard to not laugh at your profound intellectual insights.

SO to getting an invitation to an event raising money for breast cancer patients and their families. ASO to whoever thought it was a good idea to hold this event at a tanning salon.

SO to studying for this quiz with pot weeds and whiskey because in all honesty, I wasn’t going to understand it anyway. SO to the guy in classics 320 who, when asked what a “bro” is by our professor responded with “a guy who wears a backwards golf cap and plays Frisbee on a Segway” ASO to high me trying to ﬁnd where drunk me hid the weed.

SO to The Hunger Games trilogy. How the hell have I not read these books before? I haven’t been this excited to turn the pages of a book since Harry Potter. (Hello, paper cuts.) DSO to the highly anticipated ﬁlm adaptation in March! SO to watching my gerbils ﬁght over a preserves jar. Endless hours of fun. .................MORE >

The Badger Herald | Classifieds | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ATTENTION

EMPLOYMENT

Make Fun Of Ohio State! Nov- Earn $100-$3200/ month to elty T-Shirt Funny. www.Ohio- drive our cars with ads. www. Swap.com FreeCarJobs.com Straight Teeth for Spring Break & Interview Season! Yes, you can have a new smile in 6 months. MadSmiles.com $500 off full mouth invisible braces with this ad. Act before October 31, 2011.

STUDENTPAYOUTS.COM. Paid Survey. Takers Needed in Madison. 100% Free to Join. Click on Surveys.

EMPLOYMENT

Parking available in The Kohl Center and Camp Randall areas. Prices starting at $49.00. Beat the end of summer rush. Garages available too!! Call Tallard Apartments at 608-250-0202. See parking maps on our website. www.tallardapartments.com

!Bartending! $300/day potential. No experience neccesary. Training available. 800-965-6520 ext. 120 Contemporary Services Corporation “CSC” is the new event staff and security contractor for the University of Wisconsin’s athletic and entertainment events. We are looking for friendly, energetic, guest service savvy applicants and are currently accepting applications for PT positions. Stop by our office at 2979 Triverton Pike Drive between 9AM and 6PM to pick up an application today! Or call us at (608)807-5494 option 1 www. csc-usa.com/madison

PARKING

SO to the pharmacist at UHS with AMAZING blue eyes ASO to drunk facebooking...SO to the time when we’ll laugh and say “remember facebook...” RIP Myspace

tHe

badGer herald dig it.

HSO to America. Related SO to Peru. Insert Kanye comment about letting Peru finish, but America being the greatest place of all time. Ultimate SO to the Terrace. I love you. SO to my bra. It’s so amazing it must have been invented by wizards. ASO to people who don’t appreciate their skinniness. I run, swim, and bike, but I can still do a decent truffle shuffle.

ASO to people who try to check stuﬀ out at the library without the student ID. Why aren’t you carrying it and why do you expect me to let you? Come on, we’re all adults.

ASO to never being able to go out with my new roommates because one is crazy and the other will inevitably spend the entire night making out with her “not boyfriend”.

ASO to alcohol for bringing out the slut in me, but HSO to guy friends who don’t take advantage even when it would’ve been super easy to do so. Badger men, keepin it classy.

HMFASO to drivers who are assholes to bikers. If I’m going too slow for you on a two lane road, pass me instead of honking at me.

ASO to my violin-playing neighbor. I don’t know if you have that thing hooked up to an amp or what, but it’s time to tone it down.

ASO to still feeling at age 21 like Hey Arnold trying to get the kiss from the 6th grade girl. SO to getting that kiss.

ASO to weddings. SO to open bars. HMFASO to weddings that don’t have open bars. I mean, I’ve never actually been to one or known anyone directly who has been to one, but the myth alone is enough to give me the night terrors.

SO to all the songs we used to listen to as children. DSO to realizing as we grew up how dirty those songs were. haha

ASO to guys who are bad kissers. If you come at me with your tongue literally out, it’s going to be bad. I am not a lollipop.

ASO to people who shorten words like obviously, awkward, super and jealous into obvi, awks, sups and jelly. Seriously? You go to UW-Madison. At least TRY to sound intellectual.

ASO to people who ride their bikes on library mall. DASO to the illiteracy that presumably prevents them from reading the signs that say it’s prohibited.

SO to all the new lanyards in Madison. You kids are hilarious

The Badger Herald Classifieds Turning one man’s

car Boat mother moped v-card

into another man’s treasure

since 1969

lin weeks ArtsEtc. content Editor

hat does one call a boy raised in tough neighborhoods by an unstable family who now preaches obedience to the law and service to the community above all else? What does one call a high school dropout who now, at age 22, has aspirations of attending school for electric and mechanical engineering? What does one call a man that wears an intimidating mask and a suit of body armor who now wants desperately to be seen as the good guy? “I’ve been called everything from Jason to Freddy to Scorpion to vigilante to freaking psycho. The list goes on. It doesn’t matter, though,” that man said. “The funniest thing about wearing the mask is they can’t see your face. And they can’t see you smiling at them, either.” So what, then, does he prefer to be called? Madison, meet Electron. According to Electron, the concept for his costume came to him in his sleep. “I had a dream about a white guy with a yellow bar right on the left eye. It didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything; it just kind of stood there,” he said. The dream occurred shortly after he’d heard a news item about a man in Milwaukee who dressed in costume and patrolled neighborhoods, calling himself The Watchman. In February of this year, those circuits were crossed and Electron was born. His costume is at once impressively frightening yet clearly homemade. The fiberglass mask, which covers his entire face save for two black mesh eyes and a vertical slit of a mouth, has been spraypainted white and emblazoned with his yellow insignia. The body armor on his upper torso was bought online and originally intended for mountain bikers. A Maglite, zip ties and a road flare are carefully fitted into a utility belt around his waist. On his feet are black skate shoes with yellow accents. Electron, who arrived at the interview in costume and did not reveal his identity, has two main duties, both self-assigned. The first, which makes up the bulk of his work in Madison, is hand-delivering food to the homeless “pretty much whenever I can get money” from donations or from his own paychecks. Electron described his employment situation as “between jobs.” “I buy water and food,” he said. “Usually from Taco Bell, because that’s $20 for 20 burritos. Maybe some chips or granola bars. I try to stay as healthy as I possibly can as well as [buy] as much as I possibly can.” The other role Electron takes on is what he called “neighborhood patrol.” “Usually we walk around; we just check out things,” he said, speaking in the plural to reference others he works with, all of whom are based out of Milwaukee. Although they don’t seek out trouble, Electron claims they can often find it just by remaining vigilant. Once, he said, while on patrol near Library Mall with a man using the name Charade, “We found a heroin syringe by the Union down there. Called it in, and a couple police came down and disposed of it.” Electron often patrols the downtown area near State Street. “I’ll specifically patrol [that area] because of the bars,” he said, “looking for college kids getting into their cars or starting fights with each other, who knows. Drunk driving is a pretty big one for me.” Charade and The Watchman are both members of the Milwaukee group Electron works with called The Challengers. Electron is a “reserve member,” he said, because of his remote location. But the mission, apparel and anonymity of the members of The Challengers is more than enough to place them squarely within a growing phenomenon best known as reallife superheroes.

Tea Krulos, a freelance writer living in Milwaukee, is currently finishing a book about the worldwide movement. He explained the real-life superhero subculture is relatively new, but that it’s spread from its New York roots to places as far away as Europe and as inauspicious as Rochester, Minn. Krulos noted that, though it’s difficult to generalize such a large group, there are some common motivations among those who have taken up the cause. “They want to improve their communities, and they’re sick of just sitting around hearing about how bad the world is,” he said. For Electron, it’s slightly more personal. Like any superhero, he has an origin story. There’s his childhood, which was spent in cities and towns across the Midwest. “[I lived] all around Wisconsin,” he said. But not in the good parts. “There’ve been a lot of crimes in pretty much all the areas I’ve lived in.” There are the “countless” times he’s been robbed, including the time when he “went to a friend’s house for a party, came back, door’s kicked in. Splinters everywhere. Nothing’s really taken that I notice right away, except for my DVD player and, like, all my movies. Then I realize: Bastards took my guitar. My electric guitar, the only thing I cherished at that time. Gone. Just gone.” There’s the history of friends with drug problems, the guy that overdosed on the floor of his apartment and the close-friend-turned-junkie that he eventually had to turn in to the police. There’s the buddy that was shot, recently. That friend has since recovered, Electron said, but he was robbed through his car window in the process. There are all of those things, and then there’s this: “My brother died from somebody getting drunk and crashing into a tree.” Bruce Wayne had Gotham City; Electron has Madison. He spoke several times of his “obligation” to do good. “It’s a social obligation,” he said. “Everybody has a social obligation to just do something. I mean, if you’re walking down the street you’ll see it. It’s terrible. There are people living everywhere, just anywhere they can. And it’s not necessarily that they don’t have what it takes; they’re part of a system that just kind of cast them aside. And it’s just not right. We have an obligation to get up and do something outside of the system.” Pragmatically, Electron’s moral sensibility is completely tied up with the actual law. To act, he said, he needs to see a crime actually being committed. His first step is always to call 911, then to step in before the police arrive if someone is in real danger. He relies on knowing the rules for making a citizen’s arrest to keep himself out of legal trouble. “False citizen’s arrest can land you in jail, I hear. There’s a pretty hefty fine. They take it seriously, as well they should. You can’t just have random people arresting people,” he said. Still, there remains the question of why. Why does he need the mask and costume to do what he does? Why can’t he be a good Samaritan in streetwear? “The whole reason behind the costume is: I could do the exact same thing in regular clothes, but nobody’s going to see it. Nobody notices it whatsoever,” he said. Later, as Electron patrolled South Carroll Street, conscientiously stopping at every corner until the light gave him permission to cross, he reflected on that thought, which minutes earlier had seemed like a statement of purpose. “People need a gimmick before they can get behind something,” he said. “The only problem is, gimmicks scare them too.”

s an a h o dy gati do o i d l yb er l ob p an side v t “E cia t u ou .” e o g g s em o hin ... t met syst ON R so th e CT E f L o -E

Matt Hintz The Badger Herald

ERIC WIEGMANN

The Badger Herald DESIGN

The Badger Herald | Arts | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Festival to unleash city’s curiosity in arts, sciences Activity-filled event celebrates transition from Year of the Arts to Wisconsin Idea Bennet Goldstein ArtsEtc. Reporter Thursday evening marks the opening ceremony of the Wisconsin Science Festival and the kick-off of Madison’s Arts Night Out. The theme of this year ’s festival is explosive, titled “Curiosity Unleashed.” A wide array of exhibits and hands-on learning activities will be offered throughout the campus and city this Thursday through Sunday. The festival will entice the public with performances, experiments and lectures designed to titillate its curiosity. Marking the start of the Festival is Thursday night’s opening ceremony. The opening marks the transition from the University of Wisconsin’s Year of the Arts to the Year of the Wisconsin Idea. Representing the state’s support of public education, the Wisconsin Idea has long been a symbol of Wisconsin’s commitment to scientific innovation and discovery. Although the Wisconsin Idea emphasizes the

importance of science, this year ’s festival, packed with art of all forms, emphasizes the importance of supporting Wisconsin’s arts in addition to its science. Bassam Shakhashiri, chair of the Wisconsin Idea and professor in UW’s department of chemistry, called for the creation of the Wisconsin Science Festival two years ago. Now, two years later, Shakhashiri said Wisconsin’s scientists and artists continue to recognize the importance of educating the public about their crafts. “We care about discoveries that we make here,” he said. “We care about sharing them with other people. We try to influence [people’s] decisions and their attitudes, not only about science but about arts and about technology.” Fitting with this theme, Thursday’s opening ceremony combines live performances of dance and music with scientific experiments and demonstrations. For instance, UW professor Li Chao-Ping’s modern dance explores the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. She combines images and sounds from scientific instruments alongside recorded interviews with survivors. By combining these

media, Li explores the relationship between technology and human experience. She consulted with UW faculty from the department of geoscience in the development of this work. Likewise, the set of the opening ceremony, sculpted by Carolyn Kallenborn, blurs the lines normally associated between science and art through her use of both metals and fabrics. The opening ceremony will also include science demonstrations, and Shakhashiri described some of the parts of his own act. “I’m going to be doing a couple of … chemistry experiments that have proven in the past to be show pleasers,” he said. “I don’t want to tell you the details … but they are going to be colorful; they’re gonna be striking. You’re going to be able to hear them and see them.” UW dance professor Chris Walker choreographed the opening ceremony. He described the performance as “a place where the artists and scientists can meet and walk hand-in-hand.” The show blurs the distinctions between art and science through its inclusion of technology, bodies and lights. “All of this will be in the space, simultaneously

exploring movement and science and technology,” Walker said. “When we look at the ways technology is used to improve the human condition … and our everyday lives, we see a lot more similarities than differences. Both scientists and artists create in ways that feed each other. … There’s [an] art to the science and [a] science to art.” Shakhashiri also sees the boundaries between science and art as a blurry one. While he acknowledges that science and art often use different methods to study the world and human experience, he also believes that science and art may be represented as one culture. “Creativity and passion are what drive scientists, engineers, as well as artists — whether they’re dancers, musicians or painters. … What makes us human is creativity and the passion that we have to excel and to express ourselves. So I see a lot of potential connectivity and a lot of overlap in what we do as human beings.” Shakhashiri hopes that attendees will leave the performance excited to see the rest of the weekend’s happenings. But, more importantly, he wants to remind the public that the Wisconsin

Photo courtesy of Bassam Shakhashiri

After 2010-11’s successful Year of the Arts, professor Bassam Shakhashiri and other Wisconsin notables will present at the Wisconsin Science Festival to induct the Year of the Wisconsin Idea. Science Festival is just the beginning of an entire year’s worth of activities. The festival is important, Shakhashiri says, because it “appeals to [the public’s] motivation to learn, [and] inspires them to … excel in what they do, whether it’s in science, the arts or humanities.

The opening ceremony takes place on Thursday from 7:30-9 p.m. in the Memorial Union Theater. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but seating is offered firstcome, first-serve. For more information about this event and other Festival activities, visit wisconsinsciencefest. org or call (608) 316-4382.

THE BADGER HERALD PRESENTS “HUMP DAY”

Pint-sized satisfaction for readers’ sexual curiosities Amie Kjellstrom clean? Hump Day Columnist Happy Hump Day, my sexy little Badger babies. This week’s theme is simple: I’m answering 50 of your random sex questions in 10 words or less. Here we go. Photo courtesy of Wichita Records

Indie-rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah leans on sound of lead singer Alec Ounsworth to no avail on latest release ‘Hysterical.’

Clap your hands say no to anticlimactic album ‘Hysterical’ fails to provide reason for fans’ hysteria, mimics past albums Clint Jensen ArtsEtc. Writer Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s best music evokes its band name. It’s exuberant and hyper and attentioncommanding and doesn’t pause for commas. After becoming darlings of the indie rock world with its self-released, self-titled debut, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah released the muddled, experimental Some Loud Thunder and seemed to disappear. Almost five years later, its members have returned with their third album, Hysterical, and brought back their synths and yelps. The ultimate litmus test for a potential Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fan is Alec Ounsworth’s voice. It’s the band’s most identifiable quality and, consequently, mixed above the rest of the music. Nasal and piercing like Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Ounsworth’s voice lacks any range beyond squawking. However, sound is where the similarities end, as Ounsworth’s lyrics are more uptempo ramblings than poetic short stories. “Same Mistake” gets the album going with its lock-step rhythm section and skittering guitarstrumming over big,

stretching synth strings that are reminiscent of the Killers. Ounsworth sings, “We’ll make the same mistakes,” over big, stretching synth strings that are reminiscent of The Killers. It’s the one time the band demands that the listener joyously follow along on an album that otherwise lacks a fresh sound. Most of the songs on Hysterical are weak echoes of the band’s 2005 debut, taking the carnival keyboards from Sunset Rubdown and guitar from Modest Mouse that were so popular then and mixing them with newwave synths and drums. It’s frustrating to listen to a band whose sound hasn’t grown beyond its debut — like the girl who peaked as a junior in high school but still wears the same clothes. She looks (and sounds) good, but she’s not as jaw-dropping as she used to be. At least Hysterical’s songs have appropriate titles. They run the gamut from the skittering “Maniac” with its acid-trip wahwah effects to the bad comedown of “In a Motel.” A listener should know what to expect from a song like “Ketamine and Ecstasy,” but that’s part of the problem. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has made an album of predictable songs that are similar to, but not quite as good as, its debut. Each song is marked with Ounsworth’s signature warble and stream-of-

consciousness rambling, but he never lets his voice be as free and loose and grating as he did on “Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away,” the build-and-release killer that begins Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Nowhere on Hysterical does the group play anything as hyper and catchy as “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth,” which is the group’s potential distilled in fewer than six minutes. Instead, the listener gets “Adam’s Plane,” which takes seven minutes to get louder and fuzzier while a piano scale repeats over and over again. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah rose to indiestardom because of their do-it-yourself success story and the unrestrained excitement in itheir music, but both of those qualities have been diluted. Hysterical has refined the jagged edges of an unknown band into clean, pleasant indie rock. On “Misspent Youth,” Ounsworth is right when he laments, “The glory of a misspent youth/ chasing tire stains in muted thunder.” If only he could get back to that weird, old glory.

HYSTERICAL Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Sometimes when I orgasm, I get tingly in my arms and legs, not just in my genitals. Is this normal? Normal and wonderful, so sit back and enjoy. Does every guy prefer you to be shaved or waxed? No. Everyone has his or her own individual preference. Can I get pregnant when I have my period? Yes. Are two condoms better than one? No! This increases the chances of the condom tearing. Is there a position to have sex that makes it impossible to get pregnant? Nope. Are all bumps near the genitals something I should worry about? Not all are dangerous, but definitely talk to your partner. Can I get arrested or go to jail for masturbating in public? Yes. Is it possible for men to have multiple orgasms? Yes, through controlled breathing techniques. Is there any chance of getting poop on my dick if I have anal sex? Yes. I get really, really wet during sex. Is this something I should be ashamed of? No! It’s perfectly normal and turns tons of guys on. Can women ejaculate? Yes. Is it okay if I don’t want to swallow? Yes! You should never do something you’re uncomfortable with. Is it normal to queef during orgasm? Yes, because you’re temporarily relaxing your anal sphincter. Is it possible for a girl to rape a guy? Yes. My dick is curved and kind of funny shaped. Is this normal? Yes, penises come in a variety of shapes. Should I get tested after a one-night stand even if my partner said that they were

Absolutely. People lie. I have orgasms when my boyfriend performs oral sex on me but not during intercourse. Is something wrong with me? Nope. You’re probably just receiving less clitoral stimulation during intercourse. Is it possible for one of my boobs to be bigger than the other? Yes. Are there girls out there who would be turned on by my dick piercing? Yes. If I can’t get pregnant from anal sex, does that mean we don’t have to use a condom? No, you still need to protect yourself from STIs. Is semen fattening? Nope. Only seven calories per teaspoon, my darling. Sometimes when I ride my bike, the seat rubs on my clit and makes me orgasm. What should I do? Go for more bike rides. Are there people at the University of Wisconsin who are still virgins and want to wait until marriage to have sex? Yes. Do lesbians always use a strap-on when they have sex? No. Will taking a break from sex for a couple months make it hurt when I start having sex again? You might be a little sore when you start up again. Is it wrong to have a really intense foot fetish? Not at all. Is it illegal to want to have sex with my cousin? No. Should I tell my partner about my STD even if we already had sex? Yes! You should respect and protect your partner. Do women ever get hair on their nipples? Yes. Are there prostitutes in Madison? Yes. The lips of my labia are two different sizes. Does this mean I have an ugly vagina? No. Beautiful vulvas come in all shapes and sizes. Will taking antidepressants make the pill less effective? No. Is it true that shoe size equals penis size? What about small hands? There is no correlation between shoe, hand or

penis size. Do I need to clean my penis after anal if I want to go back to vaginal sex? YES! Do all Christians wait until marriage? No, many have premarital sex. Does circumcision make your penis smaller? No. Is it cheating if I have cybersex with someone I met in a chat room? That’s for your partner to decide. If a guy comes near my vulva but not inside me can I still get pregnant? Yes. Sometimes it takes like 20 minutes to make my girlfriend come from oral sex. Is this normal or is something wrong? Totally normal. And props to you for being so patient. Can I still get pregnant if my boyfriend pulls out in time? Yes, from your boyfriend’s pre-ejaculate. Is it normal to dirty talk? Yes, and fun! Give it a try. Sometimes I fantasize about Harry Potter. Is it okay to have such a weird fantasy? It’s your fantasy! Fantasize about whatever gets you off. Is it possible to be allergic to sperm? What about condoms? Yes, but it’s rare. And yes, to latex condoms. Is it possible to get addicted to online porn? Yes. Is it true that if you don’t use it … you lose it? No. Can you be happy without sex? Are there people out there who live their whole lives without having sex? Yes and yes. Is it normal for girls to feel self-conscious when guys go down on them? Yes. Why is performing oral sex on a girl called cunnilingus? What does the word mean? In Latin, “Cunnus” means “vulva” and “lingere” means “to lick.” Does watching gay porn make me gay? No. What does the G in G-spot stand for? Grafenberg, after the man who discovered it. Submit your questions to hump day columnists Amie Kjellstrom and Sam Johnson at humpday@badgerherald. com.

Gridiron Nation Editor: Brett Sommers | sports@badgerherald.com

The Badger Herald | Sports | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

THIS WEEK'S TOP GAMES No. 7 Oklahoma State at No. 8 Texas A&M

No. 14 Arkansas at No. 3 Alabama

Sat., Sept. 24 • 2:30 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 24 • 2:30 p.m. A trip to Tuscaloosa will be Arkansas’ toughest test of the year before its season finale at Tiger Stadium against LSU. This is a must-win game for the Razorbacks if they want to compete for an SEC title.

The Big XII conference opener for both schools. Oklahoma State will take its No. 1 ranked passing attack on the road against the Aggies, who will need its raucous crowd to help deter OK State’s offense.

No. 2 LSU at No. 16 WVU Sat., Sept. 24 • 7:00 p.m. A second straight week of playing a ranked opponent on the road for LSU. West Virginia barely squeezed by Maryland on Saturday and will have to play a much better game if they expect to unseat an SEC power.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

The number of completions thrown by Texas Tech junior quarterback Seth Doege against New Mexico Saturday. Doege threw a total of 44 passes giving him an NCAA record 90.9 percent completion rate.

NATIONAL RANKINGS Associated Press Top 25 1. Oklahoma (37) 2. LSU (14) 3. Alabama (7) 4. Boise State (2) 5. Stanford 6. Wisconsin 7. Oklahoma St. 8. Texas A&M 9. Nebraska 10. Oregon 11. Florida State 12. S. Carolina 13. Va. Tech

14. Arkansas 15. Florida 16. W. Virgina 17. Baylor 18. S. Florida 19. Texas 20. TCU 21. Clemson 22. Michigan 23. USC 24. Illinois 25. Georgia Tech

PLAYER TO WATCH

USA Today Top 25 1. Oklahoma (50) 2. Alabama (4) 3. LSU (5) 4. Boise State 5. Stanford 6. Oklahoma St. 7. Wisconsin 8. Texas A&M 9. Nebraska 10. S. Carolina 11. Va. Tech 12. Arkansas 13. Oregon

STANDINGS ACC

Atlantic

Justin Blackmon Wide Receiver, OK State After averaging 10 catches, 136 yards and a score in each of his first two games, Blackmon only had seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown against Tulsa. Look for him to be more involved in the Cowboys’ clash against No. 8 Texas A&M.

Team WF Maryland Clemson FSU NC State BC

Conf. 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1

Team UNC Duke Ga. Tech Va. Tech Virginia Miami

Conf. 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1

Team S. Florida WVU Cinci. Louisville Pitt Syracuse Rutgers UCONN

Lattimore finally claimed the top spot of the rushing yards leaderboard after Saturday’s close 24-21 victory over Navy. The sophomore carried the ball 37 times for 246 yards and three scores.

With the departure of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, Big East Commissioner John Marinatto must find a way to keep his conference relevant.

Realignment rumors leave everyone’s head spinning

COACH OF THE WEEK Steve Spurrier South Carolina

The Old Ball Coach is known for his run-and-gun style of offense, but give Spurrier credit for sticking to what worked on Saturday. Giving Marcus Lattimore the ball 37 times is what won it for the Gamecocks.

HEISMAN HOPEFULS 1. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford ‘11: 786 yards, 9 Total TDs 2. Marcus Lattimore, RB, SCAR ‘11: 534 yards, 7 TDs, 6.1 ypc 3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State ‘11: 716 yards, 8 TDs, 4. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor ‘11 624 yards, 8 TDs, 0 Int. 5. Denard Robinson, QB, Mich. ‘11: 883 all-purpose yards, 8 TDs

CONFERENCE POWER RANKINGS

SEC — Arguing over who is No. 2 and No. 3 is all the SEC can do after Oklahoma beat FSU, but not even the Sooners want to play the SEC until the BCS National Championship game.

Big XII — No. 1 holds true and OK State and A&M look strong. The Big XII has a combined record of 23-2 (.920), but conference games are about to begin, allowing us to really determine the league’s talent.

Big Ten — Three weeks in and already the Big Ten has 10 losses. Michigan St. was embarrassed by a desperate Notre Dame, but a .722 winning percentage by the league this early isn’t good enough.

ACC — The ACC went 2-2 against ranked teams this weekend. Clemson’s win over then No. 21 Auburn of the SEC and Miami’s beatdown of Ohio State made a strong statement to the other conferences.

Pac-12 — It was a rough weekend despite rumors of Texas and Oklahoma “moving” to the East Coast. 0-2 against ranked teams, and No. 22 AZ State lost to unranked Illinois.

Brett Sommers Statistics Editor Maybe the Virginia earthquake re-aggravated it on August 23 or perhaps the rulebook on chivalry between conference members has been misplaced below the stack of improper benefit paperwork. No matter the real epicenter of chaos, the college football landscape is shifting quickly. Reports of schools either changing, thinking about changing or waiting for other schools to change before they change conferences, are flying about in a whirlwind of rumor. First let’s break down what we know to be fact. In 2012 the TCU Horned Frogs will join the Big East with Hawaii, Fresno State and Nevada replacing them in the Mountain West Conference, Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be joining the ACC and Texas A&M wants to jump the sinking ship that is the Big 12. Besides that limited amount of information, everything else seems to be speculation at this point, mounds and mounds of speculation. Oh, this just in, MWC commish Craig Thompson has said he is trying to convince TCU to forgo the Big East and remain in the MWC. So much for what we know to be fact. It seems interesting to me that people are just beginning to recognize two very obvious trends; football rules the collegiate scene and people love money. Have those just beginning to recognize this or surprised by all the realignment been living under a rock? College basketball may be big, and March Madness rules television in the spring, but none of these schools is changing conferences because of benefits on the hardwood. Syracuse and Pittsburgh are two of the top basketball programs in what has arguably been the toughest

basketball conference in the country, but that didn’t prevent them from switching to the ACC, one of the weaker football conferences. In an interview on “Outside the Lines” with Bob Ley, ex-Big East commissioner and early Big East pioneer Mike Tranghese was clearly distressed over losing two of the conference’s top programs. “I am not surprised that this occurred,” Tranghese said. “It’s been a feeling that I have felt for a long time that once somebody started to move it seems to be a copycat environment in college athletics that everybody would start to move. We have seen what happened with the Pac-12, what the Big 12 is going through. I knew the Big East would eventually become a target.” However, he is not buying all the talk that realignment is all about forming conferences with like-minded schools. “I think college football has just taken control of everything that is going on in the country. All these moves are about football and money and greed, and I am embarrassed about the whole thing. Not just because it has affected the Big East. It just seems that things such as integrity and loyalty and congeniality are gone.” “You can talk about being good fits and academic agendas and none of that has anything to do with anything. The presidents can say that, but I have sat in the room and I know what it is. It’s about football and it’s about money and in certain instances it’s about greed.” Really? Who knew that universities across the country have been trying to make as much money off of sports as possible? Was it the multi-million dollar conference television networks that gave it away? So what lies ahead? With Texas (ACC, PAC-12?) and Oklahoma (Pac-12?) looking to pull a scene from Julius Caesar and stab a dagger between the ribs of the Big 12, things are not going to settle down for quite some time. If the Sooners, Longhorns and Aggies successfully leave the conference (there may be some legal actions taking place to prevent it) it will leave only seven teams behind on the brink of destruction.

The only hopes the Big 12 has of surviving would be to absorb the remaining Big East schools or MWC schools and that would obviously mean the death of either of those conferences. According to an ESPN.com report, the MWC is also talking to Big 12 and Big East schools and even exploring options of combining the MWC and Conference USA for football only, playing a championship game between the winners of each league. The SEC looks to be an exclusive club, but if it accepts Texas A&M, it would seem likely that at least one more team would have to be invited to join the SEC to create and even 14 schools. Florida State anyone? It is clear that the early winners in this arms race are the Pac-12 and SEC leaving everybody else scrambling for the scraps. Interestingly through all the noise, not much has been heard from the Big Ten during the past couple weeks of craziness. They seem content to sit with 12 members at this point, but is that a smart strategy? In August, after Texas A&M announced its desire to play in the SEC and before the rest of the college football world came crashing down, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune that SEC expansion would not affect the Big Ten for now and that “we have closed down active expansion.” That statement seems counterintuitive for the Big Ten after it fought so hard to finally obtain a conference championship game by adding Nebraska, in order to better compete with other top conferences across the country. Why then would the Big Ten grow content to fall behind once more? If the Big Ten wants to stay competitive it should grow its television markets and recruiting beds while quality schools remain to be had. Super-conferences are growing visible on the horizon with possibilities of 16 team Pacific and Southeastern conferences a distinct possibility in the next two or three years. And every school on the move is saying “Show me the money.”

QUICK HITS

1 2

Defensive Leader Goes Down for Stanford Everbody knows that Andrew Luck is the key to Stanford’s offense and on the fast track to winning the Heisman this year, but it will be interesting to see how Stanford’s defense holds up after losing leading tackler, linebacker Shayne Skov for the season to a knee injury. Skov was the key to a defense looking to help push Luck and Stanford to a Pac-12 and national title.

Jumping on the Bandwagon The ACC announced Saturday that it would be gaining new members, Pittsburgh and Syracuse next season. Texas A&M expressed its desire to play in the SEC ranther than the Big XII, and there have been reports citing a possible Oklahoma and Texas move to the PAC-12. Other conferences like the Big Ten, Big East and apparently sinking Big XII better start competing for the best remaining schools that might consider re-alignment before all the good ones are gone.

Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Overall 3-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-1 1-2

BIG TEN

The Associated Press

All things considered Trickett played pretty well aftre having to replace injured EJ Manuel against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners Saturday night. With doubt surrounding Manuel’s return date, Trickett may be asked to lead the Seminoles.

Overall 3-0 1-2 3-0 3-0 2-1 1-1

BIG EAST

Marcus Lattimore Running Back, SCAR

Clint Trickett Quarterback, FSU

Overall 2-1 1-1 3-0 2-1 2-1 0-3

Coastal

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

FRESHMAN FOCUS

14. Florida State 15. Florida 16. W. Virginia 17. S. Florida 18. Texas 19. Baylor 20. TCU 21. Michigan 22. Clemson 23. Michigan St. 24. Georgia Tech 25. UNC

Leaders Team Illinois Wisconsin Ohio St. Penn St. Purdue Indiana

Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Overall 3-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-2

Legends Team Michigan Nebraska Iowa Mich. St. NU Minn.

Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Overall 3-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-2

PAC-12 North Team Stanford California Oregon Wash. Wash. St. Oregon St

Conf. 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Team USC AZ St. Colorado UCLA Utah Arizona

Conf. 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1

Overall 3-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 2-1 0-2

South Overall 3-0 2-1 1-2 1-2 2-1 1-2

BIG XII Team Iowa St. Ok St. Texas Baylor Kansas St. Oklahoma A&M TTU Kansas Missouri

Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Overall 3-0 3-0 3-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-1 2-1

SEC East Team Florida S Carolina Vandy Kentucky Tennessee Georgia

Conf. 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-1

Team LSU Auburn Alabama Arkansas Ole Miss Miss St.

Conf. 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-2

Overall 3-0 3-0 3-0 2-1 2-1 1-2

West Overall 3-0 2-1 3-0 3-0 1-2 1-2

2011 STAT LEADERS Quarterback Rating 1. Robert Griffin III, Baylor 2. Russell Wilson, Wisc. 3. Seth Doege, Texas Tech 4. Kellen Moore, Boise State 5. Jordan Webb, Kansas

244.5 213.4 195.4 187.6 181.5

Rushing Yards 1. Marcus Lattimore, SCAR 2. Ronnie Hillman, SDSU 3. Ray Graham, Pittsburgh 4. Henry Josey, Missouri 5. David Wilson, Va. Tech

534 497 419 400 387

Receiving Yards 1. Marques Wilson, WSU 2. Michael Floyd, ND 3. Quinton Patton, LT 4. Chris Givens, WF 5. Jordan White, WMU

429 397 388 366 363

Sacks 1. Nordly Capi, Colo. St. 2. Vontaze Burfict, Ariz. St. 3. Kenny Anunike, Duke 4. Sio Moore, Connecticut 5. Chase Thomas, Stanford

5.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.5

The Badger Herald | Sports | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ERRORS, from 16 great things.” The Badgers gained confidence from the experience of rallying from behind, but it’s a spot that the team hopes to avoid with a clear head and steadfast demeanor.

“I think you do feel a sense of urgency because you know with rally scoring you can’t dig yourself in too deep of a hole,” junior Alexis Mitchell said. “We really can’t panic because that’s when errors happen and things go wrong. You

just have to take it upon yourself to do your job, and if everyone focuses on that we should be able to get out of holes.” And according to freshman Crystal Graff, while comebacks prove to the team that they can hang with their opponents,

she would still much rather see an overall consistent game from Wisconsin. “I think as far as a team, we need to work on finishing our matches, and that comes with the focus of playing consistently,” freshman Crystal Graff

said. “We had two games where we were down five or more and came back, so obviously we’re able to play with those types of teams, but we need to eliminate that inconsistency.” The Badgers hope to learn from their mistakes this past weekend by focusing on consistent aggression within their style of play during sets. Mitchell voiced concerns that at times the squad became weak from its approach in tight spots. “I think our errors come a lot from when players get tentative and try to keep the ball in and play it safe,” Mitchell said. “It’s really just learning how to be aggressive even when you’re down. It might be game point for the other team, but you have to just go after it. It takes a while to get used to that, but you want to continue an aggressive

approach on the floor.” It’s a diagnosis Waite agrees with. “In ways they have to get that out of themselves,” Waite said. “They have to hate the feeling of playing that way enough to fight it to be great and aggressive. You need to work to achieve that constant feeling of constant excellence. Each individual player always has to have their top game throughout the match because you aren’t just giving easy points away when you get tentative; you’re giving momentum and confidence to your opponent. “The bottom line is it will come down to competitiveness; they will have to be hungry for every single point and every single play. Once you get that down, the sets and matches will take care of themselves.”

The Badger Herald | Sports | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Taylor deserves spot in Naismith conversation Ian McCue Associate Sports Editor As students arose way too early Thursday to purchase their men’s basketball season ticket packages, they likely had visions of Jordan Taylor surprising critics and carrying the team through another great year. While a glance at the Badgers’ roster may leave skeptics questioning their NCAA Tournament chances again, they’re forgetting about the oneman wrecking crew of Taylor. After emerging onto the national scene after a stellar 2010-11 campaign, the senior point guard should be considered a legitimate Naismith Player of the Year candidate. Though a player from Wisconsin has never won the award, Taylor seems like the perfect man to break the streak. A second-team All-

PASS, from 16 supreme, but the pass game is silently having success. Last week against Northern Illinois University, Wisconsin ran the ball as many times as it passed by the end of the third quarter. Up 42-7 and having run a total of 62 plays throughout the game, the run game and the pass game were perfectly balanced. In the fourth quarter, the Badgers kept the ball on the ground, but it was no longer surprising to see quarterback Russell Wilson fake the hand off and drop back in the pocket to find an open receiver. “You got to have success in at least one aspect of the game to be successful, and we were able to have success through the air and also on the ground the past few games, but [we] aired it out a little bit more than we have in the past,” wide receiver Nick Toon said. “Love that as a receiver, but just have to go with what’s having success.” Wisconsin will continually remain notorious for its run game, but the balanced attack helps switch things up and force opposing defenses to question what’s coming. “Probably confuses them a little bit,” Konz said. “We’re throwing a lot of play-action. When we’re running, our offensive line shows that really hard. We try to do the same exact thing on play-action that we do on the run game. “As weird as that sounds, it’s not what you think. If it’s play-action there’d be more pass block, but we try to make it look like a run. It’s probably really confusing. They’re probably trying to look at our stances to see if they can find different things, but it’s hard when you have to really defend

American as a junior, it seems like the national media has finally stopped overlooking Taylor, giving him a realistic shot at the Naismith Award. In addition to his All-American accolades, the Bloomington, Minn., native was one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the top point guard in the country. While such awards may seem irrelevant to this season, the fact that Taylor is already on the radar for voters across the country should provide a major boost to his chances at the Player of the Year award. Often single-handedly carrying Wisconsin on the hardwood last year, there’s no doubt that his role will on the team will only step up with the absence of forward Jon Leuer. After averaging 18 points per game while shooting over 43 percent from the field, there’s no doubt that the star point guard is ready to step in for a team that will rely on him even more than last year. On top of all the scoring, he fi nished with 161 assists, the thirdhighest number of assists

against everything.” Last year, with an efficient Scott Tolzien under center, the Badgers ran the ball 584 times and attempted the pass 276 times, completing 202 catches — which also results in a 73 pass completion percentage. With two — almost three — 1,000-yard rushers, Wisconsin gained a total of 3,194 yards rushing, compared to 2,593 yards passing. But this year a new variable, Wilson, entered the equation. “I wouldn’t say that we haven’t had capable quarterbacks in the past, but Russell has a very

“... Like in Zen: You always want to be balanced. It’s yin and yang.”

Peter Konz

Offensive Lineman

strong arm and is able to stretch the field more than we’ve been able to do in the past and also make some things happen with his legs. Obviously a great, great player and very happy to have him as part of the Wisconsin family,” Toon said One player who certainly doesn’t have any gripes about the balanced system is a healthy Toon. The Madison native leads the team with 14 receptions for 198 yards and three touchdowns. “I love having the ball come my way,” Toon said. Wilson may receive some credit for this evolution, but offensive coordinator Paul Chryst calls the plays based on what defenses are allowing the Badgers. “We’ve been pretty balanced, I think it’s just how it is as the game dictates, but not trying to go one way or the other,” Chryst said. “Anytime

in a season in Wisconsin history. Simply put, he is the Badgers’ offense this year. Sure, Taylor will place plenty of competition from the likes of Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger,

Look for Taylor to have big performances against North Carolina and continue to dominate as the Big Ten season heats up, games that could get him in Player of the Year conversations. If the senior can put up big numbers when the spotlight is on against big opponents, he could be well on his way to becoming the first Badger to earn the Naismith trophy. Texas’ Tristan Thompson and Connecticut’s Jeremy Lamb, among others, but he should put up comparable numbers to those players. He will likely carry the Badgers to a 14th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and that could be enough success to remain a

you’re throwing the ball the quarterback’s going to be a big part of it. I think it’s a combination of being able to run the ball, and therefore the play action does have some validity through it.” With a more balanced attack, sometimes the game plan becomes a reflection of the defense’s. “If they’re going to give us the run or if they’re just going to give us the pass, obviously we’re going to take advantage of it,” Konz added. Sticking with Wisconsin’s running reputation, coaches and players alike know the run game will prevail as a main fixture of their offense. “I think we’re always a run-first offense, but if it’s working it’s going to work,” left tackle Ricky Wagner said. But balance provides UW with two successful ways to find the end zone. The Badgers may be hesitant to let the pass game run rampant, but finding equilibrium on offense has made the team a dual threat and that much more intimidating to opponents. “I think just having [Wilson] as a threat and everybody doing a great job like Montee [Ball], James [White] and the two tight ends catching the way they are — I think that just opens everything up for us. It’s great having a balanced attack because the defense will never know what it’s going to bring out,” Konz said. “Wisconsin’s always a run heavy school, but I can only hope we’ll be as balanced as we are, like in Zen: You always want to be balanced. It’s yin and yang.”

contender for the award. With Leuer still on the team last year, Taylor wasn’t even expected to be the best player to suit up for the Badgers, but he quickly proved that he was more than capable of carrying the team. Many may point out that Bo Ryan’s signature swing offense doesn’t allow players to put up big enough numbers to win a Player of the Year award, but Taylor proved last year that he has no trouble scoring in Ryan’s system. Though the swing offense is admittedly not the best system to put up gaudy numbers, Taylor showed that he can put up huge numbers by scoring 21 points in the second half over a No. 1 Ohio State team and lighting up Indiana with a career-high 39 points. As the main ballhandler for UW this season, Taylor will have no shortage of scoring opportunities. Shooting over 42 percent from behind the arc in 2010-11, he has the ability to score from anywhere on the court, and his talents go well beyond scoring. Arguably the most efficient guard in the

nation last year, he led the NCAA with a 3.83 assist-to-turnover ratio. Despite touching the ball more than anyone on the team, Taylor rarely turned the ball over, the true sign of a complete player. The gifted point guard is also a great defender, leading the Badgers last year with 25 steals and being named to the Big Ten AllDefensive team. The bottom line is that Taylor does it all and could be as critical to UW’s success this year as any player in the country. While this could be a breakout year for junior forward Mike Bruesewitz and sophomore Josh Gasser will play a much bigger role, the Badgers’ fate lies in the hands of Taylor. Look for Taylor to have big performances against North Carolina and continue to dominate as the Big Ten season heats up, games that could get him in Player of the Year conversations. If the senior can put up big numbers when the spotlight is on against big opponents, he could be well on his way to becoming the first Badger to earn the Naismith

trophy. Wisconsin fans might feel like Taylor has little room for improvement, but he should come back an even stronger player when he returns to the floor this November after taking part in Chris Paul’s CP3 Elite Guard camp and Deron Williams’ Nike Skills Academy. Spending a summer competing against players including North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes and Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine, the senior should come back with an even more developed game. On a team often denied respect for its uncanny consistency, Taylor is the rare player that can put in a jaw-dropping season and bring more attention to the program. Sullinger will undoubtedly be the favorite, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that the Wisconsin basketball program has exceeded expectations. Ian is a junior majoring in journalism. Think Taylor should be considered for the Player of the Year Award? Let him know at imccue@ badgerherald.com or follow him on Twitter @ imccue.

S PORTS Wisconsin pass game taking flight

Sports Editor

Mike Fiammetta sports@badgerherald.com

The Badger Herald | Sports | Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Unlike years past, UW producing more through air than by ground Kelly Erickson Associate Sports Editor Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema has often gone on the record describing his offense as “not sexy.” The run game has always been a prominent feature moving the ball down the field. It’s a dink-and-dunk affair the University of Wisconsin has been famous

for. Wisconsin may always be a run-first school at heart, but so far this season the foundations of an athletic pass game have been laid, balancing out an offense known for its ground work. Through three games this season, the passing game has thrived with a fair amount of attempts and has, on occasion, opened up a stunted run game. “Obviously we were very run happy last year and in the past,” center Peter Konz said. “Now a lot of people are noticing we have that guy who can run with his feet and pass and do all these great things

in Russell Wilson, which is great. We’re definitely more balanced. You don’t see Wisconsin putting up much more rushing yards than passing yards, so it’s definitely balancing out.” So far this season, the Badgers have attempted 128 rushes compared to merely 71 pass plays. Of those passes, 52 have been caught, resulting in a 73 percent completion rate. Despite the lopsided number of attempts, UW has gained 802 total yards passing, compared to 715 rushing yards. The run game still reigns

PASS, page 15

Megan McCormick The Badger Herald

Redshirt junior Peter Konz and the rest of the Wisconsin offensive line have played an essential role in executing the play-action.

Mistakes continue to cost UW volleyball wins Errors hurt Badgers against Irish, hold key to strong finish in remaining games Nick Korger Extra Points Editor Maybe it was the luck of the Irish, or maybe it was the long grind of a twoday tournament and the conclusion of a 12-game non-conference schedule. Whatever the reason, the Badger volleyball team’s win streak fell short Saturday night in the championship game of the InnTowner Invitational, as Wisconsin fell to Notre Dame in Zhao Lim The Badger Herald consecutive sets 22-25, 22Outside hitter Crystal Graff (right) and the rest of the Badgers committed several 25 and 23-25. Wisconsin felt the sting costly errors in a loss to Notre Dame Saturday, breaking a four-game winning streak.

of poor starts throughout the match, as Notre Dame benefited from Wisconsin’s errors, taking a 6-0 and 7-0 lead in the final two sets. Even though the squad finished 8-4 in its nonconference schedule, head coach Pete Waite knows that from this point on

“It’s vital to limit any errors,” Waite said. “There are matches you need to play nearly flawless volleyball to play at the same level of these top teams, but at the same time I’ve seen us do that. The past four weeks I’ve watched our team progress to higher and

“It’s vital to limit any errors. There are matches you need to play nearly flawless volleyball to play at the same level of these top teams, but at the same time I’ve seen us do that.”

Pete Waite Head Coach

team errors must be limited if the Badgers hope to climb the Big Ten tables.

higher levels, which is really exciting for our staff and me as a coach. “We just have to get rid

of those short term lapses that can cost us games.” Even though the slow starts against Notre Dame hurt Wisconsin’s chances of winning the tournament, the Badgers responded resiliently to work their way back into sets, including a 9-0 run in the second set to retake the lead from the Irish, 9-6. “We had some slow starts to a couple of those sets and didn’t finish them off when we retook the lead,” Waite said. “We were just too streaky. It was amazing to see us get down six points and put nine points on the board in a row; it is a very rare occurrence in this sport. If you eliminate those flat starts, we’re doing some

ERRORS, page 14