LEARNING COMMUNITIES

ARTSETC. How UW learning communities are managing this semester

Dorm life is weird enough right now; learn what’s happening with learning communities, major residence life opportunity on campus

by Veronica Kuffel ArtsEtc Editor

The world of learning communities goes unnoticed by most people on campus. Nonetheless, they are an essential part of the freshman experience.

Learning communities have offered residents the ability to connect with people of similar interests.

The Open House, for example, is a space reserved for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Bradley, on the other hand, helps freshmen make lasting connections and prepare for their college experience.

“All of the learning communities are a partnership between the residence halls and an academic school/college/division and this is part of what makes the program unique and successful,” Residence Life Associate Director Cindy Holzmann said. “It is an intentional knitting together of academic life and student life, encouraging students to view their college experience as connected and integrated.”

UW’s 11 learning communities are spread over campus in residence halls of Southeast and Lakeshore. They come in all sizes, depending on the opportunities and facilities they have to offer.

Most of the 11 learning communities are located on a floor of their specific residence hall.

The Open House is one of the communities that focuses on creating a safe and educational space for students. Their space is located at Phillips Residence Hall on the Lakeshore side, and offers ways to study gender and sexuality on a more immersive level.

While they don’t have many facilities outside of their floor, they help students form lasting connections and navigate college. They host exclusive events where residents can participate in movie nights, study sessions, karaoke and much more.

Like many, the Open House also has a required seminar class where students learn more about the learning community’s core interest. By living on the same floor and taking the same class or classes, students can strengthen their identity through group solidarity.

Other learning communities, like the Greenhouse, have more facilities for students to apply their interests. This community focuses on sustainable living practices, which, according to their webpage, includes “gardening, cooking locally, conservation, repairing bicycles, restoring prairies and more.”

Atop its location at Leopold Residence Hall, there is an onsite rooftop greenhouse where residents can learn to grow and cook their own food.

The building is also LEED-gold certified, meaning it is recognized as a best in class, greenfriendly structure. Along with the greenhouse, Leopold also uses wind and solar energy to power the building.

Some other learning communities that are known for their facilities include StartUp and The Studio in Southeast. StartUp is for students who are interested in entrepreneurship, while The Studio leads those interested in the creative arts.

The Studio has two major spaces — a recording studio and the Black Box for their showcase performances. Both communities share a space called the Hive, a room filled with crafts ranging from crayons to sewing machines.

Photo · Residents of the 2018 StartUp Learning Community with entrepreneur and alumna Michelle Ching during a regular conference in the dorms (See p. 10)

John Surdyk

StartUp Learning Community

Unfortunately, due to COVID and construction, these spaces are not available this semester.

Both communities have had lean on their other biggest draw — visits and talks from experts.

The Studio hosts artists to teach students about both their art and the art world.

The StartUp attracts people who work in the business realm who offer a fresh perspective on building a product, or even an entire company.

“StartUp is usually quite geared around inperson activities,” Program Coordinator of StartUp and Bradley, Sari Judge, remarked. “We’d have guest speakers like Michelle Ching, an alumna and founder of the educational tech company Literator or alumnus Scott Resnick, founder of Hardin Design and Development.”

These are only a few of the many learning communities UW students can participate in. Though with COVID, a lot of their opportunities have been altered to promote safe learning.

The public facilities of Southeast have been disbanded in favor of construction during this time of distancing. While the learning community residents can’t use rooms and tools, there may be some advantages to virtual programming.

“We can potentially bring in more — and more recognized — speakers via Zoom sessions than we might be able to do normally where travel complicates efforts and increases costs,” Director of StartUp John Surdyk said. “These events can help our students develop their professional networks more meaningfully and more quickly than in a ‘usual’ year.”

With classes on and offline, the hybrid structure of the semester will also allow more time for exercises and demonstrations among the communities. Any activities that can be accomplished at a safe distance will resume, and many are still set for the next year.

One example is StartUp’s Dream Big Grant program which awards its students money to develop “new venture ideas,” the application and award are now all online.

Like many parts of the UW college experience, learning communities have had to adjust many of their programs.

Holzmann said UW faculty working with learning communities have impressive connections around the world, and COVID is making it easier to share them with students.

“They have been working all summer to come up with creative, engaging and safe ways to connect with students and make their semester special,” Holzmann said.

Photo · The Greenhouse has its own green house on top of Leopold, but their other opportunities are limited by COVID

Bryce Richter

Greenhouse Learning Community

Photo ·While once taking pride in their popular showcases, The Studio will take a break due to COVID and construction

Maryam Ladoni

UW Division of Arts

Photo · Learning communities will have to say goodby to collaborative activities like “Project Thrift,” a thrift store fashion show

Maryam Ladoni

UW Division of Arts

The Madtown Crier: top five list of events to check out this week

If you are looking for something to do around town, check out these fun, safe from COVID events

by Rachael Lee ArtsEtc Associate Editor

1. Peter Mulvey with SistaStrings: 20th anniversary tour at the Bur Oak. Sept. 10, 7-10 p.m.

2. Second Language Acquisition and Language Institute Lecture: Undoing White Supremacy in Language Disciplines: an online talk discussing the colonial aspects and white supremacy in the field of linguistics. Sept. 11, 3-4 p.m.

3. Madison World Music Festival: Virtual event feature workshops and a variety of international music styles. Sept. 11-12, see our digital for more details.

4. Virtual Trivia Night with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum: The museum hosts a virtual trivia night for the public. Sept 15. 7 p.m., see our digital for more details.

5. INTERSECTIONS: Indigenous Textiles of the Americas: “Indigenous scholars Kendra Greendeer (Ho-Chunk) and Dakota Mace (Diné) co-curate an exhibition exploring material interrelationships among cultures with long histories of exchange throughout the Americas.” Now available online.

Visit our digital copy for more information and sign up details at badgerherald.com

ARTSETC. Review of opened movie theaters with Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”

Student review of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet,’ debut screening in United States as movie theaters reopen for first time since March

by Zach Lutz much detail into each frame that the viewer should here and didn’t miss a beat, providing a score that share of problems, however. The most glaring issue Sports Editor be able to pick up more with each viewing. “Tenet” matches both the urgency and energy of the film. being Nolan’s continuation of placing dialogue at With “Tenet,” viewers should expect the ultimate movie theater experience. Whether the viewer feels favorably or unfavorably towards the movie, one cannot deny the constant fun, entertainment and thrills that “Tenet” provides. It’s best that you go into this movie knowing very little about the plot. All you need to know is it revolves around international espionage and Nolan’s continued obsession with the manipulation of time. Essentially, it’s Nolan’s take on James Bond, but with his signature addition of complex concepts. In classic Nolan fashion, “Tenet” will hurt your brain a little bit and it requires immense focus to completely comprehend. In fact, it makes Nolan’s smashing 2010 success “Inception” look considerably simple in comparison. This is a puzzle of a movie and Nolan packs so may never be fully understood without a couple of YouTube explained videos, some extra reading into the concepts at play and multiple rewatches with subtitles. “Tenet” is truly a grand visual spectacle, as Nolan continues to deliver yet another masterful technical achievement. As far as action sequences go, this is Nolan’s best work. These sequences are only enhanced by the movie’s striking sound effects and Nolan’s practical effects through the lens of Hoyte Van Hoytema’s gorgeous cinematography. Nolan’s long-time music collaborator, the legendary Hans Zimmer, did not conduct the score for “Tenet,” and instead opted for Denis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated adaptation of the sci-fi classic “Dune.” Ludwig Goransson, who won an Oscar for “Black Panther,” stepped into Zimmer’s shoes John David Washington is the first Black lead in any of Nolan’s movies, and as he showed in Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” Washington knocks this performance out of the park, showing off his versatility and range. With the visibility of this role and the quality of Washington’s performance, the hope is that more actors that look like Washington are cast in these blockbuster lead roles. Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki also play terrific in supporting roles, each providing nuance and subtlety throughout, hinting there is always much more to their characters than meets the eye. Kenneth Branagh returns to what seems like his first major dramatic role on the big screen in a long time. The British screen legend plays the primary antagonist with a lot of zest, topped off by a thick Russian accent. For all the movie’s great qualities, it still has its the bottom of the sound hierarchy. The music, sound effects and background ambiance are a constant at great volume throughout, often drowning out portions of dialogue. This can be a problem when you are already trying to wrap your brain around concepts that are out of this world. Another potential issue here is the movie may suffer from too much plotting. Every detail is so carefully laid out within a frame that there is so little room for the characters to breathe. We know very little about most of the characters, making it hard for many viewers to root for them. The characters are simply a vehicle driving the plot forward, and in this case at over 100 mph. In all, “Tenet” is the perfect movie to reopen theaters. Whether you end up liking it or not, “Tenet” deserves to be seen on the big screen. I have already bought tickets to see it again. Here’s a roundup of latest hip-hop tracks from summer 2020

From Drake to Flatbush Zombies, hip-hop from 2020 summer recapped, including posthumous albums from Juice Wrld, Pop Smoke

Lil Baby’s relentless flow shines throughout the Throughout the album, Future stays true to his the drug-infused up-tempo style the group tends to by Will Lundquist project as he hardly ever stops rapping to take a patented style of sporadic vocal inflections as he gravitate towards. ArtsEtc Associate Editor breath. raps about his extravagant life of drugs and sex on Pop Smoke kicked off July with his posthumous As fall kicks into gear, I’ve decided to take a look back at some of this summer’s biggest hip hop releases. Because artists cannot perform live events in front of massive crowds like they used to prior to COVID-19, many in the music industry are releasing music at a rapid pace, perhaps to make up for the fact that their primary source of revenue — income from concerts and festivals — is all but obsolete. May started off with a bang as both Drake and Lil Baby released projects on the first day of the month. After the underwhelming hodgepodge of throwaway singles that was Drake’s previous project “Care Package,” “Dark Lane Demo Tapes” was a refreshing release from the Canadian singersongwriter. The project sees Drake exploring new sonic ideas, with the occasional UK drill beat popping up on songs like “War” and “Demons.” The album also includes hit single “Toosie Slide,” as Drake reminds us of his uncanny ability to make a mainstream pop hit. While few will argue that this project is among Drake’s finest work, it is difficult to fault him for a lack of variety or creativity on the tape. Lil Baby’s album “My Turn” is among the strongest releases so far this summer and remained atop the Billboard 200 for four weeks. The project contains a whopping 20 songs, ranging from high energy bangers like “Woah” and “Heatin Up,” to more introspective songs like “Emotionally Scarred.” While the album is certainly repetitive and formulaic at times, Lil Baby’s fans will not be disappointed when it comes to Lil Baby’s delivery, production and energy in this album. May’s next big release saw Chris Brown and Young Thug team up on their collaborative project “Slime & B.” Despite having two of the biggest names in R&B and hip-hop, this album falls well short of anything worth listening to. Young Thug’s verses sound aimless and disengaged, while Brown’s singing does not mesh well with Thug’s sporadic rapping style. Avoid this project at all costs for your ears’ sake. Some of May’s less forgettable releases include Lil Tjay’s “State of Emergency,” and Polo G’s “THE GOAT.” Bronx native Lil Tjay is one of the up and coming artists in the NY drill scene, and the production on “State of Emergency” is some of Tjay’s best to date. But, his nasally voice is unmistakably pumped with enough autotune to make a bullfrog sound like Beyonce, and this makes listening to more than two of his songs in a row a less-than-enjoyable feat. Polo G’s project, “THE GOAT,” on the other hand, has been receiving quite the critical acclaim — and for good reason. Polo G also employs some drill beats on the project, but his voice requires significantly fewer vocal effects because Polo G is a naturally gifted singer. Polo G’s lyricism is carefully crafted and woven with intricate stories of the pain and suffering he experienced growing up in Chicago. Future’s “High Off Life” was one of the more cohesive projects that dropped in May. songs like “100 Shooters” and “Trapped in the Sun,” but to the surprise of many, Future also reveals emotional depth and introspection in his lyrics on “Up the River” and “Accepting My Flaws.” The biggest flaw of the album is the lack of tuning on songs like “Harlem Shake” and “Outer Space Bih,” where Future’s singing is in an entirely different key than the instrumental. June has been a much slower month for hip-hop releases, with many artists focusing on making singles addressing the political climate of the nation rather than releasing entire projects. Rap duo Run the Jewels — Killer Mike and El-P — kicked off June with their highly anticipated project “RTJ4.” The album is chock-full of powerful boom-bap instrumentals and braggadocios lyrics, but the duo doesn’t shy away from topics like police brutality and the current political climate in the United States. RTJ’s anger and boisterous energy remains as strong as ever as the group continues to hold it down for the dying breed of old school conscious hip-hop. Flatbush Zombies also released their first project since 2018 with the EP “now, more than ever.” Unfortunately, the project only contains six songs, but the Flatbush Zombies still manage to solidify their place among the best underground conscious MC’s. The album features the dark, gritty production Erick Arc Elliott has become known for, but the album sounds drastically different than their previous work, with an emphasis on slower, more contemplative, dare I say romantic, R&B rather than album “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon.” Executive produced by 50 Cent, the album showed a different side of Pop Smoke’s musical ability. About half the tracks on the project differed from Pop Smoke’s usual menacing, drill style of music. Instead, it focuses on more romantic topics and gives Pop Smoke room to maneuver his voice over a larger plethora of instruments. The album is loaded with features from Roddy Ricch, Swae Lee, Future and many more. A week after Pop Smoke’s posthumous release, Juice Wrld’s highly anticipated posthumous album, “Legends Never Die” also released. This album was a tough listen for me, as the pain and suffering in Juice Wrld’s lyrics shine through and beg the question — why didn’t anyone in his circle see his death coming and step in to help him with his drug abuse? Juice Wrld’s ability to convey emotion, construct a story from the top of his head and ride the beat with flawless delivery will be remembered for a long time. After a long two year hiatus, Seattle rapper Aminé released “Limbo,” his most comprehensive project to date. The album is full of hits and amazing features, most notably from Young Thug and JID. Aminé delivers a different vibe on each song, with just enough lyrical depth to keep me coming back form more. Aminé also continues the theme of artists stepping out of their comfort zones and exploring genre-bending in their music this summer, with songs like “Riri” and “Easy (feat. Summer Walker)” being almost entirely R&B.

The Tuition Dilemma

@badgerherald

While universities attempt to mitigate money loss, students struggle with the idea of paying for Zoom University

When COVID-19 hit, the world came to a standstill along with the funding for hundreds of universities across the United States. With students moving out of dorms in March, the Big Ten sports season being cancelled, and large cuts in future state funding, the University of Wisconsin is grappling with the enormous, looming loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

It therefore might be understandable why UW would continue to charge students the same tuition as it normally does for the fall semester.

UW student Annabelle Stimmel, however, raises an important question — is it just for universities to continue to charge students the same tuition in the middle of a global pandemic?

On the other hand, UW junior John Spengler thinks

keeping tuition costs the same is a “practical necessity.”

“The university is already hemorrhaging so much cash from the loss of sports to people choosing to defer a year or semester from their enrollment, from people who choose not to come to housing,” Spengler said. “If the University is gonna attain any semblance of monetary solvency, I don’t think they have much choice.”

THE DEFERRING DILEMMA

Many students are thinking of taking a gap year or deferring their enrollment to the spring semester. Interestingly, according to preliminary data, enrollment on the first day of classes at UW-Madison stands at 44,010 students, which suggests a modest 1% decline from 2019.

In a blog post, UW Provost Karl Scholz said, “The costs for UW-Madison to deliver world-class instruction have increased during this pandemic, and the prices of any good or service depends critically on costs.”

Earlier this year, the University of Wisconsin

System Board of Regents approved a tuition increase for international and out-of-state students for the 2020-21 school year.

“Far too many students who drop out or delay never complete their degree. I do know that the opportunity cost of delaying college attendance is considerable,” Scholz wrote. “The value of a college degree likely increases in difficult times. Moreover, one delays entry into the post-college workforce (which is typically characterized by higher earnings than those who do not attend), if one delays their studies.”

According to Forbes, those with a high school degree or some college will be more hard-hit by the pandemic than those with a Bachelor’s degree.

Depending on race, people can see a 49% to 105% increase in earnings for a Bachelor’s than someone with a high school degree.

Eric Grodsky, professor of sociology and educational policy studies at UW, said even though it’s “not the end of the world” to defer, evidence suggests students who defer for more than a couple of years are less likely to finish their degree. In particular, low-income students are more affected by an incomplete degree than moderate or highincome students.

“It’s not the kids who finish college that you should be worried about with debt — it’s the kids who don’t,” Grosky said.

SEGREGATED FEES

Stimmel, who is a junior, created a petition to demand decreased tuition for the fall semester. As of Sept. 7, the petition has amassed almost 2,000 signatures.

“I started the petition because I was planning for the fall semester and looking at the costs that would be incurred and I realized that for me, paying tuition might be a struggle, and for others it most likely will be the same as well,” Stimmel said.

Stimmel feels apart from classes, students pay for a college experience that includes living in dorms, access to dining halls and a sense of community through clubs and networking with professors.

In addition to a typical college experience, many students who are choosing to live at home this year — particularly those who are international and outof-state students — will not have the opportunity to access numerous on-campus services they pay for.

“You are not paying for what you normally would pay for, which is the in-person experience,” Stimmel said. “With that being said, I don’t think that students should have to pay the cost of facilities and student life when they are not benefiting from those.”

In an email statement to The Badger Herald, UW spokesperson Greg Bump said though UW acknowledges the financial impact the pandemic has had on students and their families, segregated fee services are not set up on a user-fee basis. Instead, they are set up to provide services for all students.

“Since the campus went virtual in March, we’ve made sure all students continue to have access to many of the services provided by segregated fees in a virtual way. And that will continue to be the case this fall,” Bump said.

According to Bump, UHS will continue to provide virtual appointments and services, including mental health appointments, and University Recreation & Wellbeing will continue to offer online exercise and wellbeing courses.

“We are committed to continuing to provide highquality virtual services to all students, whether they are in Madison or elsewhere for the fall semester,” Bump said.

FINANCIAL DISCONNECT

Some students, like Stimmel, think UW has not done enough to aid their low-income students.

“I kind of feel like the university has not done enough to acknowledge the financial disparities that occur between different societal groups,” Stimmel said.

Stimmel thinks online classes and current tuition fees do not consider low-income students who may not have access to technology and computer requirements for online classes.

“It keeps in mind a very middle-class, American family [that] has the resources to work online and to do their classes from home, to pay regular tuition, to remain on a stable income, and I don’t think that they are taking into account different groups who aren’t as privileged,” Stimmel said.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, college tuition for four-year public institutions in the U.S. has increased from $3,859 ($8,798, adjusted to inflation for 2018) in 1985-86 to $20,050 in 2018, more than double the value in tuition fees.

According to Grodsky, though the sticker price of college has increased significantly, the real cost of attendance has not increased as much. In addition, Grodsky said despite rising tuition, college access has not changed considerably.

“The percentage of kids from disadvantaged backgrounds who go on to a baccalaureate college has been increasing,” Grodsky said.

Students who find it difficult to pay tuition can fill

facebook.com/badgerherald

out the FAFSA, also called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and apply for financial aid.

Greg Offerman, Associate Director for Advising & Outreach for the Office of Student Financial Aid, said he is a lot “busier” this year talking to students and their families to see how he can help.

This year’s FAFSA is based on 2018 tax information, but a lot can change, even under normal, non-pandemic circumstances. The Office of Student Financial Aid at UW is working with students and families to update FAFSA results and make it more accurate with their current financial situation, Offerman said.

“There has been at least an increase for sure in the number of financial aid requests, so we do everything we can to help students qualify for some of our programs, such as the Bucky Tuition Promise and FastTrack,” Offerman said. “I think right now is a good time as any to invest in yourself and invest in higher education, especially when jobs become less available.”

The Office of Student Financial Aid also provides greater college access to low-income students dealing with the consequences of the pandemic.

“Something we talk about every single day is access for students who need it the most and that’s why we design our financial aid promise programs to help students who need that financial access to UWMadison,” Offerman said.

THE BADGER BUDGET

Bump said the legislature and governor vote on spending for state agencies, including the UW System, every two years. This includes capital projects, such as building construction.

In a statement to The Badger Herald, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance David Murphy said the development of the annual university budget begins by estimating the size of the revenue base for the coming year. The major drivers are student enrollment, state support, federal grant activity and philanthropy.

Senior leadership — such as Chancellor Blank and Provost Scholz — individually meet with each Dean and the unit heads for the major administrative areas to review their multi-year fiscal plans and assess their priorities and concerns for the fiscal year.

Murphy said UW compares the revenue base to committed costs for the upcoming year (e.g. financial aid, faculty salaries, utilities, etc.) and remaining revenue is used to increase the budgets of some units.

“Of course, if we believe that the revenue base is inadequate to fund our current commitments, then units may be forced to reduce their budgets to ensure we maintain balanced operations,” Murphy wrote. “Given the size of our university and the uncertainty of some revenue streams and cost factors, we do work to maintain a level of reserves to address any budget shortfalls.”

For administrative costs, Murphy said 16.8% of fiscal year 2019 expenditures fund university support units, and the largest support unit is Facilities Planning & Management. Major costs in this unit include custodial services, operations and maintenance of buildings and grounds and utilities.

Higher-education institutions in the US are observing a sharp increase in administrators and their earnings, with tenured faculty appointments declining significantly. According to the New York Times, this trend, however, is not linked to increased institutional funding by the state or federal government.

According to recent data by the Chronicle, a dozen public university presidents and 64 private-institution presidents earned over $1 million per year through their salary, bonuses and deferred compensation. In

Illustrations by Nuha Dolby

2008, that number was 28 for private institutions. Interestingly, according to the American Association of University Professors, tenured faculty positions in universities have declined by 26%, while part-time instructional faculty appointments — which have similar responsibilities to tenured faculty but are paid less and have higher job insecurity — have shot up by 70%.

“The tuition prices on our campus are set by the Board of Regents,” Offerman said. “That’s something that we don’t necessarily have control over, so the Board of Regents sets those tuition rates, usually in the summertime, usually in July or August, and then that’s what we have to go off of for the upcoming school year.”

One of the reasons why UW is continuing to charge full tuition, according to Scholz, is UW has heavily invested in improving course design and remote learning experiences. In addition, it has also developed resources for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, UHS and student support.

Stimmel said she strongly believes UW should publish reports or audits on how testing will increase their costs. She said she wants UW to involve students more in the discussion, admit some vulnerability in it and be straightforward.

UW System Director of Media Relations Mark Pitsch met inquiries about the process of determining tuition rates with the following lone comment, “Whether we provide online, hybrid, or in-person classes, we will continue to deliver a high-quality learning experience for our students in accordance with the tuition set by the Legislature.”

FUN(E)DING

According to the 2019-20 budget report, federal aid comprises 28.5% of UW’s revenue while state aid comprises 14.3% of the total budget. The secondhighest source of funding for UW is tuition and fees, which makes up 20.2% of the budget at $642 million.

Over the past four decades, federal aid provided to UW has remained steady, but state aid has reduced by three times from 43% in 1974 to 14.3% in 2019- 20. Interestingly, tuition, which was 11% of the total budget in 1974 is now at 20%.

“I think things are gonna get a lot worse economically before they get better and I think the same is true for the university,” Grodsky said. “The question will be, to what extent does the State try to balance its books by cutting the university — which historically it’s done and that’s led to us increasing tuition and fees.”

By cutting state funding, Wisconsin legislators have shown their desire to be less financially obligated to the UW System while maintaining tighter control over its operations.

According to Grodsky, the main wave of COVID-19’s economic impact is not going to hit until late 2020 or early 2021 and that is when families are going to be crunched for money.

Spengler said he doesn’t fault UW for charging the same tuition this fall semester.

“With such inaction at the state and federal level to try and provide better funds for public institutions, I think [UW’s] hands are kind of tied, so obviously I would prefer if I or my family was paying less money for an education that I think I’m probably not going to get as much value out of as I would have otherwise,” Spengler said.

Meanwhile, Stimmel said families shouldn’t be burdened because the university’s losing money and it’s the university’s responsibility to figure out a different way to find the resources they need.

“Personally, I don’t believe that the cost should be put on students or their families if they’re contributing, but sometimes the university doesn’t know what else to do if it doesn’t have the state or the federal funding that it needs or it was used to previously,” Stimmel said. “It’s part of a much larger discussion around education funding in our country.”

Accessible absentee voting key to ensuring fair November election Wisconsin voters must fight back against White House efforts to undermine upcoming presidential election by supporting USPS

by Ken Wang Columnist

Aug. 13, President Trump blocked funding for the U.S. Postal Service. Trump, as early as May and in the middle of the pandemic, claims that mail-in voting will be fraudulent or will sabotage the election because he believes ballots will be printed by “foreign countries, and others.”

It is obvious Trump cares more about the election results than proposing comprehensive plans to reduce the impacts brought by the pandemic, or anything related to actually running the country. Mail-in voting is a basic voting right for American citizens, and voting is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Trump’s block of funding also remains unconstitutional. From now until November, local and state governments must fight to vote and vote to fight Trump by exercising this basic right.

Why did Trump block the funding in the

first place? One reason is that he worries he will lose the election because he believes mail-in ballots will be fake, forged or stolen.

There is no evidence to back up that statement. Mail ballots are printed by each state with dozens to hundreds of different styles, with a barcode on the ballot envelope to allow both voters and the postal service to track it. Moreover, each ballot is signed by the voter and a forgery needs to be repeated for each ballot in each style perfectly, which is impossible.

Then, each ballot is to be collected at the boxes using secure measures such as surveillance, locks, and other methods, which make ballot theft extremely unlikely. Also, most Americans support using absentee ballots to avoid the pandemic, but Trump never believed the danger of coronavirus and claims that it is a scheme of Democrats.

“I believe the [block of funding] is a setup … and [Trump and his administration] are going to lose the election and they’re

Photo - Fight to Vote, Vote to Fight come November

Ahmad Hamid

The Badger Herald

going to claim fraud,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Trump’s block of funding remains constitutionally and socially unjust. Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution states “all Bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills,” and Section 8 states that Congress has the power “to establish post offices and post roads.”

The block of funding should be an act of Congress, not the President. This is an act of executive overreach, and more importantly, an attack on the Constitution.

When Trump defunded the USPS, it was against the American people’s will, as 90% of Americans support using parts of the COVID-19 stimulus package on USPS. The President is supposed to serve the people and when they fail to do so, the President should be impeached, according to JeanJacques Rousseau’s version of the social contract. The lack of funding also impacts the lives and jobs of USPS employees, who have had hours and overtime cut in recent months.

Despite Trump’s action being unconstitutional and unjust, unfortunately, it is still happening. Given that USPS is a government agency, the lack of funding soon will impact each state, if it has not yet.

That means Wisconsin needs to step up in order to have a fair presidential election in November. Wisconsin, for now, faces three primary challenges — an insufficient amount of ballot boxes, late ballot delivery and the process of absentee voting.

In order to address the first concern, the City of Milwaukee has been increasing the number of ballot boxes in an effort to bypass the USPS. But, at the polling places in Milwaukee and in 35 other municipalities, absentee ballots must be processed in an alternate site from the polling place. The inflexibility causes confusion and inconveniences for citizens to vote.

To solve the problem, Wisconsin should either allow citizens to drop their ballots at all polling places or add more counting locations, especially in remote, rural areas of Wisconsin.

UW Political Science Professor Barry

Burden said, “the state needs to continue offering local neighborhood polling places as it has in the past, as well as to rely heavily on the postal service to deliver ballots and to provide drop boxes and drive-up opportunities for voters to hand off their ballots.”

Despite the challenges the USPS is dealing with, the public should still place trust in the service. But, delayed delivery of ballots still present a problem — late ballots will not be counted. As mentioned earlier, each ballot has a barcode that allows the voter and the postal service to track the location of the ballot at all times.

To enforce and to counter the problem, according to UW Political Science professor and former lawyer Howard Schweber, the Wisconsin Elections Commission “should count the absentee ballots based on the date of their postmark rather than the date of the delivery.” This would stop problems linked to an overloaded mail-in system in November — but unfortunately, legislative leaders refuse to step up and ensure a fair, smooth election.

Another concern would be the process of absentee voting. Absentee voting requires many specific details if the ballot is to be counted, mistakes like not signing the ballot envelope, lacking the signature of a witness, not sealing the envelope or making a simple error on the ballot can make the vote uncountable. The intricate details could be easy to neglect. Hence, Wisconsin should have election volunteers to check the ballots and return them in time to correct the mistake.

Another solution is to send out tutorials along with the ballot when voters request it, so they are not clueless of what to do when filling out the ballot and will be able to check the ballot before they send it out.

At the moment, it is really difficult to predict how the lack of USPS funding will affect the upcoming election in Wisconsin.

UW Political Science professor and expert on elections Katherine Cramer said “there is some evidence by scholars at Stanford that absentee voting will advantage Democratic candidates, but there is not yet evidence specific to Wisconsin that confirms that would be the case here.”

We do know that State officials are making efforts to run a smooth election with absentee voting. Should there be attempts to prevent that from happening, the public will express more anger, frustration, accusations of deliberate voting suppression and a further belief of illegitimate election results.

At this moment, before Nov. 3 arrives, we must do what we can to defend our constitutional rights, and when the time comes, we must vote to fight a sitting President who disrespects the people and the Constitution of the United States.

Ken Wang (hwang832@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science.

Closer look at Green Party’s attempt to enter Wisconsin ballot Third party candidates Hawkins and Walker’s failure to enter ballots shed light into US electoral duopoly, candidate selection process

by Anne Isman Opinion Associate Editor

Since March, UW and many other colleges anIt’s almost Election Day, which means the race between Democratic candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump is only getting tighter. Though Biden and Trump continue to dominate headlines, third-party candidates are still trying to make their way onto the ballot — namely Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins and his running mate Angela Walker.

Green Party candidates usually receive little attention compared to Democratic and Republican nominees, and Hawkins and Walker’s failed attempt to make it onto the ballot in Wisconsin ahead of the 2020 election is no help.

Most notably, the Hawkins-Walker campaign focuses on providing “real solutions to the climate crisis, the new nuclear arms race and ever-growing economic and racial inequality.” Their platform leans more to the left than that of Biden and Harris’, with promises for a $20 minimum wage, a transition to 100% clean energy use by 2030 and community-controlled policing.

To make it onto the ballot as independent candidates in Wisconsin, nominees need between 2,000 and 4,000 nominating signatures. Hawkins and Walker jointly submitted 3,880 signatures to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, but according to a complaint filed with the WEC in early August, the majority of these signatures are invalid on the basis that Walker’s listed address on the petition was incorrect.

The complaint specifies that of the nearly 4,000 signatures submitted by Hawkins and Walker, 2,046 of those signatures “appear on nomination papers that were printed with an incorrect address for Ms. Walker.”

In effect, the Green Party would be disqualified from appearing on the upcoming ballot in accordance with Nomination Paper Review Guidelines which state that “If any of the required information is missing or incorrect, no signatures on that page may be counted.”

But given how minor an address discrepancy is in the context of Walker’s capability, and by extension Hawkins’, is this attempt to knock the Green Party off the ballot a ploy to garner more votes in Biden’s favor?

Hawkins himself rejects the idea that his candidacy could “pull votes away from Biden and help Trump win Wisconsin for a second time,” arguing that if Democrats can’t win in the face of Trump’s failure to lead during COVID-19 and the nation’s recession, “it’s not the Green Party’s fault.”

In 2016, many Democrats blamed thenGreen Party presidential candidate Jill Stein for Trump’s win, especially since she received 31,000 votes in Wisconsin, ultimately cementing his win by drawing progressive voters away from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

It’s clear that Democrats may fear a Green Party presence on the ballot in as crucial a swing state as Wisconsin, especially when considering how the bipartisan WEC found itself deadlocked 3–3 after failing to pass the motion to block the Green Party from the ballot Aug. 20.

While the Democrats came out against Hawkins and Walker, Republicans voted in their favor. According to Jeff Mandell, a Democratic attorney from Madison who filed the complaint, it’s not “unreasonable or unfair to expect that candidates who want to be President of the United States can follow the clear rules each state sets out.” Conversely, Hawkins argues that it would be a “travesty of justice” if the Green Party is excluded from the ballot on Election Day.

Obviously, it’s in the Green Party’s interest to be on the ballot, but since the Green Party and the Democratic Party are towards the left on the political spectrum, progressive voters would be divided between Hawkins-Walker and BidenHarris, with Republicans reaping the entirety of the conservative vote. This would likely lead to a repeat of the narrow margin seen in 2016, where Trump won by fewer than 24,000 votes.

If the WEC complaint is received and the Green Party is in fact excluded from the ballot, the majority of the state’s votes will be split Democrat-Republican, which would likely give Biden more of a leg up against Trump.

Still, as futile as Walker’s address error was on the nomination papers, the nomination paper guidelines are clear, and though such a guideline has no demonstrable impact on her leadership abilities, it is concerning that such a simple rule was overlooked. That said, both the

partisan split on the WEC, as well as the address requirement in the first place, prove how overly bureaucratic elections and voting are, and how valuable Wisconsin is as a voting bloc when it comes to procuring votes for the leading political parties.

The process of getting candidates on the ballot should be just as concerning to voters as actually casting their ballot come Election Day if we want fair elections and a functioning, representative democracy. Instead, what we have here is a duopoly in which the two most prominent parties continually battle back and forth, with little effort to change such a system that repeatedly benefits the same two parties.

Anne Isman (isman@wisc.edu) is a sophomore studying economics.

Photo - To address election misgivings, voters must look at how candidates qualify to make it onto ballots, as well as who they vote in

Molly Devore

The Badger Herald

OPINION

@badgerherald

Debate surrounding Lincoln statue will have generational effect As Black Lives Matter movement gains traction in media, so does complicated history involving campus Lincoln statue

by Samiha Bhushan Opinion Editor

As protests involving the Black Lives Matter movement continue throughout the nation, many University of Wisconsin students have begun to call for the removal of the Abraham Lincoln statue that sits proudly atop Bascom Hill despite its ties to the racist history that enshrouds the U.S.

The statue itself has been a largely beloved figure in the past, guiding generations of Badgers to their futures beyond UW in the form of a good luck charm. Several UW traditions surround him, where students rub his nose and even sit on his lap to steer prosperity their way.

In his role as the 16th President of the United States, Lincoln’s arguably most important achievement came from the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

The Lincoln statue itself, however, has less-than-pristine origins. A UW Facebook group petitioning for the removal of the Lincoln statue shed light on the donors to the statue, which includes one Richard

Lloyd Jones, “a known racist and journalist who frequently published articles instigating violence against Black people.”

According to the campaign, “The other primary donor was a man named Thomas Brittingham Jr., a known member of the KKK.”

With this in mind, it is no wonder the Wisconsin Black Student Union has called for the complete removal of the Lincoln statue, believing it to be anti-Black as well as anti-Native — Bascom Hill, where the statue is situated, is stolen HoChunk ground. In fact, the entirety of UW originates from the Ho-Chunk people.

Photo - Removing Lincoln statue may pave way for positive future between UW, BIPOC students

Mary Magnuson

The Badger Herald

There has been pushback against the petition, including a counter-petition calling for the Lincoln statue to stay up. Chancellor Rebecca Blank herself has supported the efforts to preserve the statue, stating the past should “not be erased but examined.” Blank continued by stating Lincoln’s legacy deserves to be “both celebrated and critiqued.”

But, something both the supporters of the counter-petition and Blank do not seem to realize is by removing the Lincoln statue, history will not be erased or forgotten. Many have accurately pointed out that those who look at the Lincoln statue do not see his racist donors. In the same light, we do not see the accurate history of land on which UW stands. We do not see the suffering of the Ho-Chunk people or the state of slavery as it was during Lincoln’s time.

Still, it is difficult to completely dismiss the Lincoln statue as even with its origins, Lincoln himself did bring about major change toward abolishing the intuition of slavery.

By preserving the statue, UW is indeed preserving Lincoln’s legacy — good and bad.

“He signed acts that ordered a lot of Native Americans killed … [and] wiped out a lot of their villages and their tribes,” Wisconsin Black Student Union President Nalah McWhorter said. “And so for Black and Native students on campus having to walk up that hill every day, having to see that statue overlook downtown Madison [and] State Street, is kind of just an everyday reminder that these students really don’t belong here.”

Removing the statue and perhaps adding another figure — one that sheds a more positive light on the struggles of BIPOC students — might lead to minority students feeling more at home at UW. After all, having a statue of large cultural value on campus commemorating the legacy of minorities in the country would be a clear move on UW’s part to welcome its BIPOC students.

The conversation regarding the significance of statues in Wisconsin is an important one. Those whose legacies we choose to protect are a direct reflection of current times, and the debate on preserving Lincoln’s statue will inevitably affect future generations of Badgers and how they perceive UW.

Samiha Bhushan (bhushan3@badgerherald. com) is a sophomore majoring in English