'Money Talks' - Volume 50, Issue 11

STUDENT MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018 · VOL 50 Issue 11 · BADGERHERALD.COM

Money Talks Unprecedented levels of outside spending and campaign fundraising characterize the most important election of a generation.

Tuesday’s results will tell just how much power a dollar holds. pg. 12

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Kamasi Washington and his 10-piece band provided exciting night of improvisational jazz.

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Statewide, Wisconsin faces a lack of psychiatrists, with 20 counties home to none.

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POST-MIDTERM CIVIC ACTIVISM Once the polls close Nov. 6, it’s important to realize there are still invaluable opportunities to impact effective political change.

HOT TAKES FOR THE 2018 MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON SPORTS

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Can Davison, Trice and Happ improve enough to bring the Badgers back to March Madness?

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Political groups make big push for voter engagement on UW campus

UW chapter of NextGen focuses on ‘unconventional methods’ of canvassing in effort to influence young voter turnout

by James Strebe Campus Editor

Voter canvassing at the University of Wisconsin isn’t about just knocking on doors anymore.

People in dinosaur suits, therapy dogs and even a bouncy house are not an uncommon occurrence.

Joe Waldman, the regional organizing director for NextGen America’s UW chapter, said unconventional methods are all part of a larger, eye-catching campaign strategy.

“We’re trying to grab people’s attention and then from there, begin a larger conversation that ends in folks turning out to vote and knowing how to exercise the political power that they have around the issues that they’re passionate about,” Waldman said.

NextGen believes young voter turnout is “critical to progressive victories,” so the group has attempted to energize the youth voted. The organization has made an initial investment of $2.5 million into Wisconsin campaigning efforts, NextGen state media manager Sean Manning said.

Nationally, NextGen America has invested $33 million across 400 campuses in 11 states. Manning said NextGen believes this represents the largest

youth vote organizing effort in American history.

Sam Schwab, press secretary of UW College Democrats, said much of the voting urgency has come from the “Trump effect,” whereby many people who are outraged by the actions of President Donald Trump have become energized and engaged.

Young people have already show that they have the passion, energy and enthusiasm, Waldman said. NextGen’s job is to make sure that young people have the tools and information necessary to channel that energy into voting.

“We’ve been marching in the streets and protesting, but we need to make sure that translates into political power and we go out and vote,” Waldman said. “That’s what we’re working on.”

Ryan Christens, UW College Republicans outreach director, said his group had also been active in encouraging the conservative vote because of the considerable implications of the 2018 elections.

College Republicans has held numerous guest speakers, canvassing opportunities and social events to energize its members.

“The state of Wisconsin and the country are

in historic economic conditions,” Christens said.

“Wisconsin cannot afford to go backwards with Democrats.”

The university has also played a significant role in encouraging students to get out and vote.

UW has been participating in the Big 10 Voting Challenge, a competition between Big 10 schools to encourage high voter turnout. The number of early voting locations on campus was increased this election from one to three, after a court battle between Republican incumbent Attorney General Brad Schimel and Democratic challenger Josh Kaul.

Schwab said constant political exposure can be exhausting and it can be easy to start experiencing election fatigue, so keeping events fun and unique has been an important solution. College Democrats have hosted pumpkin painting events, field office sleepovers and pancake cookouts.

Waldman echoed this sentiment. He said NextGen’s goal is to make sure people are excited and comfortable engaging in the political process.

“Our goal really is to cut through the noise,” Waldman said. “We do that by finding unique and interesting ways to engage with people.”

While Schwab said College Democrats and

NextGen share a lot of common interests, he did say NextGen was less student-oriented than College Democrats or Young Progressives.

Schwab brought up the fact that NextGen was started by billionaire Tom Steyer.

“We have a lot in common with Tom Steyer’s views, but also a big thing for us is that we don’t want candidates to take PAC money [or] corporate money,” Schwab said. “Our whole thing is that we want to be grassroots and we want to be independent. I personally see NextGen as this west coast organization. I’m not dissing them or anything like that, but they are a little bit less grassroots than we would ideally prefer.”

However, Schwab said College Democrats might be interested in working alongside NextGen after the election, possibly in legislative advocacy.

For the time being, NextGen is “laser-focused” on the midterm elections, but they plan to continue to be a presence on campus afterwards, Manning said.

“Ultimately, we want to continue to train the next generation of civic leaders and continue to work towards building a state and nation that provides equal opportunity and justice for each and every one of us,” Manning said.

Engineers criticize Walker, call for better transportation infrastructure

‘Scottholes’ campaign flies banner over campus on gameday to implore Walker to improve current state road conditions

by Josh Supinski Reporter

A statewide union of engineers has been flying a plane over campus during Badger football game days with a banner imploring Gov. Scott Walker to fix Wisconsin’s roads. Underneath the message is a link to a website called Scottholes. com.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 is responsible for this ad campaign, which stems from their discontent with the current state of road infrastructure in Wisconsin.

Terry McGowan, president of IUOE Local 139 and Safe Transportation Over Politics campaign chair, said Wisconsin roads are in bad shape, with the state ranking around 26th in the country for decaying infrastructure.

The IUOE Local 139 is responsible for 95 percent of road work in Wisconsin. The organization believes Walker is not upholding his promises to improve the condition of road infrastructure in Wisconsin, McGowan said.

Scottholes.com allows citizens to lend their support to the claims made by IUOE that Wisconsin’s roads need improving. Site visitors can share photos of damaged highways across the state.

“There are hundreds of submitted photos 3 • badgerherald.com • November 6 , 2018

from common taxpayers of roads that have been neglected and blatantly let go,” McGowan said.

STOP funds both the plane that flies over Camp Randall on Badger game days, as well Scottholes.com.

STOP is commissioning flyovers that target their advertisement to Badger gameday-goers in order to get their plea out as effectively as possible, McGowan said.

For the campaign, this means spreading awareness to a large number of people at one time.

Scottholes.com usually receives a large influx of views during gameday, McGowan said.

This campaign is especially important to the IUOE Local 139 since Walker has a history of underfunding road infrastructure, McGowan said.

The Capital Times reported that funding for transportation programs in the state of Wisconsin has fallen since Gov. Walker took office in 2011.

Though Walker had made promises to create a fully funded transportation program, he did not act on his words, McGowan said.

“He has never really developed a sustainable, fully-funded transportation program,” McGowan said.

The negligence of Wisconsin road infrastructure and the lack of a sustainable program seem to get buried during the election

cycles, McGowan said.

McGowan said that implementing a tax could help fund road infrastructure throughout the state.

“All the governor has been trying to do is prevent any sort of tax from being imposed to keep our infrastructure strong,” McGowan said.

Since there is usually a lot of construction on the interstate in Wisconsin, McGowan said people are misled into believing there is no infrastructure negligence. Rather, McGowan said construction on interstate highways is not representative of the actual condition of Wisconsin’s roads.

“Our roads are abysmal...we have a bridge that shut down in Lafayette, and roads up north are being pulverized rather than completely paved,” McGowan said McGowan said Walker will simply say yes to anything necessary to get people to side with him and to get an upper hand during election years.

Austin Altenburg, Walker campaign press secretary, said the governor has future plans that call for the revamping of transportation and road infrastructure.

Altenburg said Walker’s plan includes putting forth more money into General Transportation Aids for counties across the state. This year will include the most funding that has ever been allocated to the program since its startup in 1994.

“His next budget will include the highest levels of funding for towns and counties to maintain their roads and bridges,” Altenburg said.

Altenburg also claimed Walker will also increase state support for towns from 42 percent

“ Our roads are abysmal ... we

have a bridge that shut down in Lafayette, and roads up north are being pulverized rather than completely paved.”

Terry McGowan President of IUOE

to 58 percent, which he said will be the most invested in town road aid in the history of Wisconsin.

Whether Walker will be able to implement these future plans remains to be seen, as he faces a tight reelection battle with Democratic state Education Superintendent Tony Evers Tuesday.

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Wisconsin faces ‘significant shortage’ of psychiatrists, experts say

Disproportion between psychiatrists and patient demand thought to be due to increase in diagnoses, influx of patients, decrease in stigma to residents in a variety of fields, including psychiatry. Priority for funding is given to programs in rural communities. The hope According to a press release by the is that as medical residents receive funded Wisconsin Policy Forum, 76 percent of training in-state, they choose to remain inWisconsin counties face a “significant state to practice long-term, Miller explained. shortage” of psychiatrists, with 20 having no Miller also cited the expansion of the Child psychiatrists at all.

Psychiatry Consultation Program as helping The shortage and subsequent lack with the psychiatrist shortage. of care are not surprising to Angela “[The program] helps primary Janis, University Health Services cocare providers consult with child director of mental health services psychiatrists to aid in diagnosis and director of psychiatric services. and management of cases, provides “[Psychiatric professionals have] a system to refer patients, and known it’s sort of coming — and provides training to primary that it’s also probably going to get care providers in mental health worse before it gets better,” Janis conditions,” Miller said. said.

This service is now available in Janis cited a few different 41 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. reasons why this shortage came Janis said she has ideas for how about, one being the sheer influx of to combat the shortage as well. patients. That influx, she said, has “One thing we could do is to do with the increase in mental increase salaries. There are lots health care parity. of places on the East and West More than ever, people have the Coast where [psychiatrists] feel ability to see a mental health care they aren’t compensated enough,” provider and seek the care that they Janis said. “If we compensated need, Janis said. them more, they’d be much more According to a 2016 report on inclined to work here.”

Medicaid from the Wisconsin Janis added that there are Department of Health Services, proposals making their way the average statewide utilization through the legal system that could of behavioral health services for be beneficial. It has been proposed Medicaid members was 26 percent that tax relief could be offered for children, and 29 percent for to psychiatrists who relocate to adults.

Wisconsin from out of state, she The decrease in social stigma said, but the proposal has yet to around mental health has also led to progress. the increase, Janis explained.

When discussing Madison Photo · Press release from the Wisconsin Policy Forum showed 76 percent of counties in Wisconsin face a “significant shortage, ” “A really good thing that’s been specifically, Janis said the shortage with no psychiatrists at all in 20 counties. happening recently is the stigma has not been apparent until recently. around seeking mental health “Psychiatrists tend to relocate Daniel Yun treatment has decreased,” Janis to urban areas. Up until recently, The Badger Herald said. “That’s great, but it does mean Milwaukee and Madison seemed we have another stream of new in a better state than the rest of patients.” putting a strain on the health care system, she ended up in Wisconsin, the state where Wisconsin,” Janis said. “Lately, given the The opioid epidemic, Janis said, has is not the entire issue. There simply are not she completed her residency. Eleven years increased demand, we started to see those also caused more people to seek addiction enough psychiatrists available, she said. later, and she’s still here. significant shortages here in town, too.” treatment.

“We really don’t have enough professionals In terms of solutions, Wisconsin has taken Over the past five years, Janis said UHS has According to a March 2018 report from to meet the demand we’re seeing, and there’s steps to remedy the situation, Jennifer Miller, seen a 35 percent increase in students served the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the kind of a limit as to how many psychiatrists a spokesperson at the Wisconsin Department for mental health issues, and is doing what it Midwest saw opioid overdoses increase 70 we can train,” Janis said. “After medical of Health Services, said. can to aid the increase in demand. percent from July 2016 to Sept. 2017. school, there’s residency, and the number “We would point to the Graduate Medical An additional provider was hired last year, The epidemic, Janis said, has rendered of residency slots in Wisconsin is pretty Education Program as a way that the state Janis said, and while the rest of Madison “more [patients] than we’ve been used to and stagnant. It’s hard to get new slots, so it’s of Wisconsin is increasing the number of faces an average wait time of nine months to more than we have beds for.” hard to get psychiatrists up and practicing in- psychiatrists, as well as general practice see a psychiatrist, the current wait at UHS is The last source of patients, Janis said, state.” physicians, across the state — especially in three to four weeks, with seats reserved for comes from an increase in diagnoses. Overall, When residents are trained in-state, they rural and underserved areas of the state,” emergency appointments. there has been an increase in mental health tend to stay in that state for work, Janis said.

Miller said.

“The situation at UHS is still better than issues across the board, she said, and the With residency falling during a key time in The Graduate Medical Education Program the rest of the state,” Janis said. demand for care is high. life, many residents want to “lay down roots,” provides residency grants of up to $75,000

by Nuha Dolby Reporter

4 • badgerherald.com • November 6 , 2018

According to a report from the National Institute for Mental Health, 18.3 percent of all adults in the United States were categorized as living with any type of mental illness in 2016. The same report said young adults (18-25 years) had the highest rate of mental illness, at 22.1 percent.

Janis added the influx of patients, while

settle down and have a family, Janis said. “[Residents] have a network. They’ve learned that state’s system, and its hard to replace or replicate all of that if you move out of state,” Janis said.

Janis cited herself as an example. Having received her B.A. from Washington University and her M.D. from the University of Illinois,

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After increase in crime, MPD looks to add law enforcement positions

2019 budget fails to accomodate for more staffing, granting one officer instead of the three requested by MPD Chief Koval

by Grady Gibson City Editor

The Madison Police Department is seeking a number of changes to public safety, including the addition of new law enforcement positions.

The department is looking to add three new police officers, two new positions in their Special Victims Unit and a civilian human resources manager to free up a detective to work on MPD’s human trafficking initiative.

These changes are in response to an uptick in crimes in the city, including shots fired, minors stealing cars and other crimes, and the growing problem of human trafficking, according to Wisconsin State Journal.

Marc Lovicott, University of Wisconsin Police Department director of communications, said there has not been much change in crime on campus, so most — if not all — of the increase in the crime rate is happening in other parts of the city.

Lovicott also said UWPD is not facing the same staffing concerns as MPD. “I think we are adequately staffed. Of course, any police agency will tell you, ‘We would like to hire more police officers,’ — and certainly that is

the case with us,” Lovicott said. “We would love to hire more police officers, but I do not think it is fair to say we are stretched thin by any means.”

Mike Koval, MPD chief of police, said he believes the community is lacking in awareness of the issue.

Koval said human trafficking has probably been

“ We would love to hire more

police officers, but I do not think it is fair to say we are stretched thin by any means.”

Mike Koval MPD Chief of Police allowed to exist in the area for some time, but the city is now gaining a better understanding of how it presents itself in a variety of contexts.

Koval said people often question why he is inclined to update his blog with posts about

runaway juveniles. Having studied the Dallas model on high-risk victims, Koval said the reality behind the matter is that a lot of runaways are fleeing away from something or someone. If someone has been reported missing four or five times a year, that can indicate a vulnerable victim for human trafficking if they are not already being impacted by it.

“I think it has been with us for a while, but we are only just now coming to this epiphany moment where we recognize the width and breadth of the problem,” Koval said.

Koval also said human trafficking can be effective as a criminal business, citing how in instances of drug sales, drug dealers constantly have to get product from a variety of sources, distribute it and then get more after the fact. This is a tedious process and hinders the flow of business, but Koval said it is not the case with human trafficking. A human asset is essentially recyclable and can be used over and over again, making human capital more valuable from a business standpoint.

Koval said MPD is now gaining access to more software that allows them to understand the depth of this issue. Internet Crimes Against Children, a monitor for Wisconsin run by the Department of

Justice, said 22 percent of tips received traced back to IP addresses from Madison.

MPD recently approved a civilian HR manager to free up a detective to work on the human trafficking initiative. This was one of Koval’s only budgetary requests to be approved.

Alder Mike Verveer, District 4, referenced a tenyear-old study from Etico Solutions, which assessed the needs of MPD. Some of the suggestions the study made have been translated into tangible parts of Madison student life, such as the Downtown Safety Initiative, wahich puts more officers in the downtown area on weekends and is responsible for increased police presence around the bar scene.

According to the Etico study, MPD was actually 16 officers short, a point which Koval cited at the 2019 budget hearing meeting. Koval only requested three in spite of this suggestion, yet was only granted one.

Koval said the “leanness” of the 2019 budget makes it difficult to accommodate the need for more officers.

“I am convinced that the police do need additional resources in patrol to keep up with the growing population in Madison and the fairly indisputable increase in police calls for service,” Verveer said.

Photo · After rises in crimes like shots fired, stolen cars and human trafficking, MPD requested two positions in the Special Victims Unit and a human resources manager.

Logan Riegstad The Badger Herald November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 5

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Opponents call for change in wake of Soglin’s surprise re-election bid Despite previous support for Soglin, Rep. Terese Berceau believes others should ‘be given the chance to take the helm’

by Hibah Ansari State Editor

Political opponents of Madison Mayor Paul Soglin have urged for change in light of his recent announcement he will run for another term as mayor, despite previously saying he would not seek reelection.

Soglin thought he would not be up for another campaign after losing the candidacy for governor, but since July, business leaders, progressives, conservatives, people of color and Madison residents urged Soglin to reconsider, according to a statement from Soglin’s office emailed to The Badger Herald.

Soglin has been elected mayor nine times and will have served a total of 22 years as mayor by the end of his current term.

“Madison has been just a wonderful city, but we’ve got a lot of challenges,” Soglin said.

“The first eight years of this position has been rather tough because I didn’t get the kind of cooperation from city council that most mayors have had in the past.”

Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, said while she has supported him over the years, he shouldn’t have changed his mind about running for another term.

Berceau has endorsed Satya Rhodes-Conway, a former alder and the current managing director for the Mayors Innovation Project at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

“I have been a big supporter of [Soglin] over the years and he’s been a great mayor,” Berceau said. “I think he’s left us with a good foundation to remain a vibrant city, but that I do think that there are others who should be given the chance to take the helm.”

Soglin said he felt encouraged to run again after he began to see greater consensus in city council on how to deal with challenges in the city — most importantly, poverty and inequality.

Soglin said it took a while for city council to understand where progress was needed in low-income neighborhoods, instead of focusing on funding every public works project. Now, proposals Soglin previously made to city council are beginning to pass.

“We’re finally getting this movement, and I would like to make sure that we get this institutionalized,” Soglin said. “I’d like to make sure that it becomes a permanent fixture in our community.”

Soglin said this movement may mean the city’s turned a corner — away from politicians who talk “a big game” about equity and social justice, but fail to act on it.

Rhodes-Conway announced her campaign for mayor in May. Almost a year before the 2019 mayoral election, she was the first candidate to announce her candidacy.

6 • badgerherald.com • November 6 , 2018

As mayor, Rhodes-Conway said she will address the deep racial inequality, expand affordable housing, provide better public transit and address climate change. She said new leadership is necessary to tackle these issues.

“I’m running for mayor because I want Madison to be the kind of place where everyone has an opportunity to thrive,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We’re a really great city for most people, but not for everyone, and that’s not right.”

Rhodes-Conway, who said she wasn’t surprised Soglin changed his mind about running, criticized the current administration for the lack of equity in Madison — especially in affordable housing.

When Soglin re-entered office eight years ago, he said Madison had mostly embarked on a very unsuccessful housing policy that discouraged the construction of new apartments in the city. He addressed this by changing policy and creating a commitment to building a thousand units of affordable housing in the next five years.

Now that there is a higher housing supply and rent costs are stabilized, Soglin said he wants to guide the city through a new period of expansion in housing. By doing so, Soglin said Madison’s high quality of living for middle and upper-income households would include lowerincome households and communities of color.

To make student housing more affordable, Soglin said the city is attempting to add to the affordable housing stock. So, even though students aren’t eligible for affordable housing, they can still benefit from the decreasing competition in the rental market.

Soglin said Madison had some of the best landlord-tenant ordinances in the country that protected renters — especially students — in terms of security deposit returns, privacy and housing conditions. He said he wants to restore these ordinances, which the state Legislature “threw out” five years ago.

Soglin also raised concerns about safety for students. While he would like to address all kinds of violence in the city — especially gun violence — he said excessive drinking in the student population can lead to excessive violence.

According to a CBS news report, Madison and a half-dozen other Wisconsin cities are among the worst in the U.S. for excessive alcohol consumption.

“While I think some ordinance changes are needed to contain the volume of consumption, it’s only the students themselves who are going to bring a cultural change in regards to safer consumption of alcohol,” Soglin said.

Beyond his expectations of University of Wisconsin students, Soglin said he is working with the university to address binge drinking on

Photo · Despite previously saying he would not run for another term, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin recently announced he will be seeking re-election after being encouraged by various business leaders and Madison residents.

Dana Kampa The Badger Herald campus.

Because she works on campus, RhodesConway said she is familiar with the dynamics of UW and recognizes the importance of addressing issues students are concerned about, because they reflect the concerns of the larger city.

She said while there might be a divide between UW students and the rest of Madison, students are still a large, critical part of the community.

As managing director of the Mayors Innovation Project — a COWS initiative at UW — Rhodes-Conway collaborates with a network of mayors across the country.

“I think I have a very different, more collaborative leadership style,” Rhodes-Conway said. “I’m exposed to good ideas and innovation

from cities all over the country on a regular basis, and I would be able to bring that learning and that perspective to the office of mayor.”

Soglin criticized six of his opponents who have already announced they want change. He said his opponents need to be specific about the kind of change they will deliver if they replace him in office.

Soglin said he has brought change to the city by putting Madison on the map as one of the best tech cities, reducing violence and arrests, and improving the housing situation. Overall, he said he’s used public money to create a more fair economy.

“Change can be a hollow word — change in what way?” Soglin said. “When I said I would bring change to the city of Madison eight years ago, I kept that promise.”

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PHOTO

Joe Biden comes to campus

Photo ¡ Joe Biden came to stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., as part of an effort to get out the student vote.

Jon Yoon The Badger Herald

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Initiative to bridge Madison’s digital divide deemed too expensive Despite ongoing effort to provide citywide broadband connectivity, Madison will not pursue Fiber-to-the-Premises plan

by Ellie Colbert Reporter

With an implementation price tag of more than $170 million, Madison’s latest initiative to bridge the city’s digital divide is seen as financially unfeasible.

The city-wide Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) plan was part of an ongoing effort by the city to bridge its digital divide, referring to significant gaps in broadband access, affordability and digital skill, according to the Fiber-to-the-Premises Implementation Plan.

Madison Chief Information Officer Sara Edgerton, who leads all IT development for Madison, said this effort would be theoretically beneficial.

“Things we

take for granted, like being able to pay your bill online, that’s a pretty big deal.”

Ald. Keith Furman City Council, District 19

“If we don’t have equitable coverage through the city, we are creating digital divide,” Edgerton said.

The FTTP was intended to provide broadband connectivity to every resident and business in Madison, with priority on providing access to historically underserved populations. Low broadband adoption and subscription rates in Madison correlate with low-income areas in the city, according to the plan.

14,000 homes in Dane County don’t have access to the internet as of 2017, according to DANEnet, a local technology education nonprofit. This divide becomes significant as many basic services are migrating online, including government information and social services, as well as school homework assignments Ald. Keith Furman, District 19, said.

“You’re at a huge disadvantage from everything,” Furman said. “Things we take for granted, like being able to pay your bill online, that’s a pretty big deal. And if you have to drive somewhere to drop off the 8 • badgerherald.com • November 6, 2018

check to pay your bill, that’s hard.” in January 2018, when the program had 19 check out and iPads through the library.

Despite the importance of internet active customers, according to the report. These resources are heavily used by groups accessibility, the city of Madison will not ResTech faced difficulty connecting to that are “disenfranchised, disconnected from move forward with the FTTP plan. The individual units within apartment buildings internet access at home,” Kimberly Williams, Digital Technology Committee found the because some landlords were not responsive a library assistant at the Central Library, implementation plan, which was prepared to communications, and other landlords had said. in consultation with CTC Technology & granted exclusive access to other internet Still, these computers are not being Energy in September, to be too expensive at service providers, Furman said. updated as often as they should. Williams $170 million, Furman said.

“There are a lot of barriers to the city said the library needs new laptops, but does The feasibility report for the FTTP was doing this, not just financial,” Furman said. not have the budget. first commissioned in 2015 under former According to Furman, Factors beyond The city council is also proposing a President Barack Obama’s administration, availability and affordability are affecting study in 2019 to examine the possibility which focused more on providing the digital divide. With this in mind, the of providing broadband services to the broadband grants to urban areas, Edgerton council is pursuing other efforts, like city’s public housing sites. While the city said. Now, under President Donald Trump’s continuing to provide funding to DANEnet. is currently unable to provide full cityadministration, the Federal Communications DANEnet provides digital literacy wide broadband access, Furman hopes to Commission has shifted its focus to rural workshops, distributes computers to lowuse public housing as a test case for finding areas and affected the city’s previous income households and holds clinics to fix companies to partner with in moving expectations of potential federal support. computers throughout the city, Furman said. towards city-wide access.

In October, Furman and City Council Community centers and libraries are “It’s very difficult these days to operate President Samba Baldeh sponsored other avenues the city has taken to increase without the internet,” Furman said. “I a resolution for the city to follow the internet access, Edgerton said. The Central personally believe internet should be a committee’s recommendation to explore Library in downtown Madison provides to utility — like running water, like electricity.” smaller, more targeted approaches rather than the full FTTP plan.

“It ultimately comes down to cost — simple as that,” Furman said.

This was not the city’s first effort to provide low-income residents with broadband access.

In 2015, the city partnered with ResTech, a local internet service provider, in a two-year pilot program to provide broadband internet services to residents in the Allied Drive, Brentwood, DarboWorthington Photo · As of 2017, 14,000 homes in Dane County did not have internet access. Sara Edgerton, Madison Chief Information Officer, took issue with a and Kennedy lack of “equitable coverage” throughout Madison and surrounding towns.

Heights neighborhoods.

Marissa Haegele The contract The Badger Herald was terminated

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Immigrè ends 2018 InDIGenous Jazz Series with funky, Afrobeats

Feelings of free, unapologetic movement displayed throughout UW Memorial Union Play Circle during final performace of this year’s jazz series

by Emilie Burditt ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

Immigrè played Afrobeat that combined West African funk with jazz and AfroCaribbean style at the last showing of the InDIGenous Jazz Series on Friday at Madison’s Memorial Union Play Circle theater.

The band includes Tony Barba on the tenor saxophone, Bryan Elliott on the baritone saxophone, Dave Cooper on the trumpet, Jamie Kember on the trombone, Matt Manske on the guitar, Mike Kelly on the guitar, Peter Baggenstoss on the keyboard, Ryan Lammey on bass, Tim Patterson on the drumset, Paddy Cassidy on percussion and Djam Vivie on percussion Immigrè started playing right away without introducing themselves. Cassidy and Vivie started first, and then the others joined in.

Manske’s microphone became louder as he grabbed the attention of the audience, who clapped for his performance.

The other musicians, however, continued to play. This became a theme throughout the concert, when one musician would play a little louder than the others for a bit of a solo.

The audience started clapping to parts of Immigrè’s music. They played their music with a heavy focus on its beat, which stayed consistent throughout most of their songs.

Their sound was rhythmic.

As the musicians continued to play, they wore casual clothing. Baggenstoss wore a beanie, Vivie wore sneakers and Lammey wore a flannel.

During the second song, Patterson, Cassidy and Vivie went into a musical exchange with the horn players. After jumping back and forth between each other, Cassidy set off into a drum roll.

“We’re so happy to be playing here,” Cassidy said after the song, smiling during the entire performance.

As the third song started, the lights dimmed red. Kember kept the group on beat, which sometimes meant directing people to either stop or start playing their instrument.

At this point, some of the audience had left their seats to dance and sway in the aisles.

Vivie put his instrument, which was similar to a drum covered in maraca beads, around his neck to hang while he continued to shake it.

A question-and-answer series followed intermission. The band was asked about their inspiration for the name “Immigrè” and why they chose to play Afrobeat.

Cassidy said the band enjoys playing Afrobeat because it incorporates different types of rhythms. He said there is no specific purpose, and encouraged people to dance however they’d like. He said there are no rules to Immigrè’s type of dancing.

Kember said the band had just started composing the music they played at the concert six weeks ago.

When asked about the name “Immigrè,” Cassidy said it means “immigrant,” which to the band resembles the immigrant willing to leave so much behind to explore. It’s the spirit Immigrè is trying to capture.

“For us to be playing our music, we have to

Photo · Band members of Immigrè stand together triumphantly on stage after Play Circle performace.

Emilie Burditt The Badger Herald travel,” Cassidy said. “We’re like musical instruments. And the music itself allows you to travel.”

At the end of the question and answer series, Kember said the band would begin playing their song “Rise Up.” This song had vocals.

Emilie Burditt/The Badger Herald Kember asked the audience to respond to Cassidy singing “When you’re beat down,” with “You must rise up,” and when Cassidy sang “Cannot keep us down,” for the audience to sing, “We will rise up.”

“Rise Up” had a slower beat, but as it began to rise, people left their seats to start dancing again. There were more people dancing than in the first act.

After finishing the show, the audience called for an encore. Immigrè played one more song.

At this point, the audience had spread across the entire front of the stage to dance.

When Immigrè’s last song finished, so did the 2018 InDIGenous Jazz Series. It will start again in the spring of 2019 at the Madison Public Library.

Photo · Keyboardist Peter Baggenstoss exchanges looks with fellow band member.

Photo · The front of the stage fills up with audience members dancing to the funky beats of Immigrè.

Emilie Burditt The Badger Herald

Emilie Burditt The Badger Herald October 30, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 9

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Show tunes meet politics for timely Randy Rainbow performance Rainbow talks political satire in the age of Trump, reflects on Pittsburgh massacre, produces musical parodies for comedic night at Overture Center

by Ben Sefarbi ArtsEtc. Editor

Long Island born, Florida raised. Jewish and gay. Mix that with an accepting family, and you’ll get musical comedian Randy Rainbow.

Musical theatre meshed with political commentary when he arrived at the Overture Center Thursday, Nov. 1.

“I’m just trying to make people laugh at a time when we need it,” Rainbow said.

His YouTube channel, which includes musical parodies combined with clips of political interviews from major networks, is best described as commentary on hot topics and trending political issues.

Rainbow — a real last name shared by other members of his family — was enrolled by his mother in theatre camp, and stuck with performing arts ever since. Throughout high school, he took vocal training and acting lessons.

He eventually took his studies to college, but soon discovered it did not appeal to him. Rainbow said he has never been one for structure, and at the time he genuinely wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his career. Pursuing a college education just wasn’t fulfilling.

“I went to college for about 10 minutes, dropped out, and then started working on

a cruise ship, where I sang,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow said his childhood was not difficult, contrary to some beliefs. Rainbow said he was accepted by his family from a young age.

“It always was a coping mecha-

nism, growing up in a liberal, Jewish household from Long Island, New York, with a sense of humor and deflection through comedy.”

Randy Rainbow

Though many in the LGBTQ+ community may share traumatic coming out stories, the political comic said he had a more positive experience.

“I sometimes feel guilty I had it so easy,” Rainbow admitted.

Rainbow still dealt with tension in his house, however. His parents didn’t always get along, contributing to the comedy he performs and publishes today.

Photo · Rainbow said he hasn’t ruled out running for office himself, saying the political situation couldn’t be worse than it is right now.

Courtesy of Randy Rainbow

10 • badgerherald.com • November 6, 2018

“It always was a coping mechanism, growing up in a liberal, Jewish household from Long Island, New York with a sense of humor and deflection through comedy,” Rainbow listed.

Rainbow’s performance Thursday evening included a live band and interactive videos, providing seamless transitions between his songs and banter. Aside from a few technical difficulties out of Rainbow’s control, the performance was a workout for him as he constantly walked across and around backstage, made costume changes for inside jokes and paired videos on-screen.

It wasn’t beyond Rainbow to wear a banana costume in reference to Steve Bannon, or a Super Mario mushroom hat for something far more disturbing.

Some videos and accompanied songs performed were published by Rainbow during the build-up to the 2016 election.

Before the show, Rainbow said the political climate has become more of a comedy goldmine than ever before.

Rainbow said his videos have since been more politically based. He could talk more about headlines outside of the political sphere, but prefers to push content found more frequently on people’s minds.

Before I called Rainbow, he was watching an interview with President Donald Trump on Fox News.

“I might have a field day with that after I hang up with you,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow admitted it is difficult for him to watch Fox News for an extended amount of time, but he does anyway. For comedic purposes, watching the network serves as research, even for just a couple of minutes each day.

It’s impossible for Rainbow to explain how much of a comedy goldmine this administration is. He said “too much” is the short answer, and it’s a gift and a curse all at once.

“It’s a gift from the comedy gods and I’m ready to give a little bit of it back because it’s hard to keep up with it,” Rainbow said. “This administration is lighting the comedy itself within.”

Entertainers who touch on politics may be intimidated after Robert De Niro was threatened by a domestic terrorist mailing him a pipe bomb.

But Rainbow said even after traumatic threats, it’s important for entertainers — and anyone else discussing their political beliefs — not to live in fear.

“I would say I’m not afraid, but I’m a Jew, I’m afraid of everything,” Rainbow said.

The climate, particularly over the last couple of weeks, gives Rainbow concern.

Being Jewish himself, Rainbow said he

finds the tragedy in Pittsburgh horrific. He was having trouble finding the right words so soon after 11 people were gunned down inside The Tree of Life Synagogue on Oct. 27.

He said he is still naïve about how much anti-Semitism is prevalent in our society, and disgusting events like Pittsburgh are a reminder of the hate which still remains.

“I’m just devastated by it,” Rainbow said.

“That’s all I got right now.”

Rainbow learns every day how much of an impact political comedy has on the larger world. Hearing from people about the approaching midterm elections, Rainbow said many have told him they are scared by the current political circumstances and devastation.

But he’s also been told his comedy is giving those in despair a feeling of hope and positivity.

“It’s a testament to how comedy, in general, is so important in times like these,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow is a musical theater nerd at heart, and up until two years ago identified as a show queen rather than a political junkie. He’s been moved and flattered to hear from some of his favorite composers, from Steven Sondheim to Steven Schwartz, who have expressed excitement and support for Rainbow’s work.

“It’s a gift from the comedy gods and I’m ready to give a little bit of it back because it’s hard to keep up with it. This administration is lighting the comedy itself within.”

Randy Rainbow

And while Rainbow hasn’t gone further than making jokes when it comes to politics, he hasn’t ruled out any options.

“We’re selling shirts at my merch counter that say ‘Randy Rainbow for President’ so we’ll see how those sell and if that’s a hit I might consider a run for president,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow said he’s best suited for musical comedy — though if he did run for office, he believes the situation couldn’t possibly be worse than it is now.

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Kamasi Washington’s 10-piece band delivered raw, powerful emotion

Unique stage presence from Butcher Brown followed by extraordinary improvisational jazz, talk of celebrating diversity during performances at The Sylvee

by William Lundquist ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

On Friday, I saw Kamasi Washington and Butcher Brown at The Sylvee for my first ever jazz concert. This was a new experience for me, as I’d only ever been to rap shows before.

While the atmosphere of the crowd was older and less diverse than what I was used to, the music performed on stage was nothing short of extraordinary.

The Sylvee, still a new venue, felt more modern than other venues which the average Madison concert goer might go to. The bars’ menus were displayed on plasma screen TVs, there were water fountains with water bottle fillers, and the walls looked freshly painted with barely a scratch.

While this is not a detriment to the show, it felt weird being in such a brand new venue with almost no history to it. Kamasi Washington and Butcher Brown helped give The Sylvee some history though, in a night to be remembered by all in attendance.

Butcher Brown opened the show with their improvisational funk style, and set the tone for the kind of music that would be played all night. Their keyboardist, Devonne Harris, had some of the most memorable moments, using a variety of futuristic sounds on his keys and drawing praise from the crowd for his unorthodox but beautifully funky performance.

The group reminded me of an old school 1970s jazz funk band with the technological tools of the 21st century, and they did some serious musical exploration while still holding down the chord progressions and themes of the songs they had clearly worked hard on.

They were a solid opener, and each member of the group had a unique stage presence, feeding off of one another as any good band should.

When Butcher Brown finished their set, a 20 minute intermission ensued. The house lights came up all the way, which was a striking difference from the previous lighting setting. If the lights had dimmed slightly more, a concert feel would have continued throughout the intermission, but these are small kinks that will likely be worked out as The Sylvee continues to host concerts.

There was also nowhere to sit, as neither bars had stools, and the upstairs bar had a large section in front of it but no seats. The only available seats were along the balcony, and even though several of them were empty, only those who paid for VIP tickets were allowed to sit there.

Standing for hours wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it would’ve been nice to have somewhere to sit during the break

between artists.

When Kamasi Washington and his band came on stage, the mood totally shifted.

There was a brief moment where he stood in the darkness of the stage as the crowd held their breath, until the lights came on and he addressed the crowd in a friendly, almost nonchalant manner.

It was clear for the whole show that Washington was in control, even at the most dissonant parts of the music. He had a demeanor about him that showed he was both enjoying the music and calculating when he would blast his saxophone through the speaker next.

The show was both calculated and improvised, and it was clear the band was all on the same page when it came to transitioning from song to song.

Interestingly, the melody from the song “Street Fighter Mas” was done several times throughout the show, both sung by voice and played by a variety of instruments. The epic and triumphant sounding chorus popped up in a variety of songs throughout the show, and helped anchor the band to a familiar groove as a point to transition from.

The lighting was very well done, using several rotating lights on stage with a bunch of different color combinations. As the music hit a climax point, the lights would swirl and change color, which is not an easy thing to calculate during an improvisational jazz show.

It is also no easy feat mixing the sound of 2 drum sets, a trombone, saxophone, upright bass, keys and voice through the system’s speakers, but the tech people at The Sylvee did a great job here as well.

When someone was performing a solo, they were not drowned out by the other powerful instruments, and no instrument ever felt individually overpowering. Even the two drum sets, which seemed like an excessive amount of percussion at first, were totally in sync throughout the show and complemented the massive sound of the band.

A powerful moment during the show came when everyone left the stage besides the two drummers who had back and forth drum solos.

The two drummers, Ronald Bruner Jr. and Tony Austin, each showed off their ability on their kits while staying in rhythm with one another even through drastic tempo and thematic changes. They clearly had been playing together a long time, as with the rest of the band, whose chemistry was a feature throughout the show.

While the music displayed the impressive ability of all the band members, Kamasi Washington was also able to tell the story of his album on stage, both with music and by

Photo · Kamasi Washington plays along with his band on stage.

William Lundquist

The Badger Herald talking to the audience.

He would always take the time to say the name of the band member who had just done a solo. When he introduced the drummers, he gave long backstories of how they’d grown up together and sprinkled in jokes about the dumb stuff they did when they were little.

He also took the time to explain a theme in his music, saying “people are more similar than we are different, but that little bit of difference should be celebrated. Diversity should not be tolerated, it should be celebrated.”

This idea really resonated with the audience and provided an important context for the music, which contained moments that were so off the wall they were almost unbearable to listen to, only to transition back to the sweet, beautiful melody of the song.

The whole band seemed to understand when the solos would end and the theme of the song would begin. The way that everyone was in synch with each other contributed to the power in the music.

Washington’s music represented both anger and triumph, ugliness and beauty — at the same time.

While jazz may not be every music listener ’s first

choice, seeing the incredible talent of Kamasi Washington and his band will make one think otherwise.

Washington’s music prompts thoughtful reflection about the world and the intricate music making process that goes into each and every song, but mostly makes listeners feel things powerfully.

Washington said he will be back in Madison on his next tour — definitely not a performance to miss. Audience members will have endless opportunities to marvel at the instrumentation and let their emotions loose through the music.

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Outspent: Backed by big money, candidates at every level fight for a seat at the table

In 2018, politicians and voters throughout Wisconsin grapple with the influence of outside spending while grassroots organizations aim to give a voice to smaller donors

by Parker Schorr Digital News Editor

The attack ads started early.

A Milwaukee radio station carried one that accused Sen. Tammy Baldwin of supporting the abortions of the next “Frederick Douglass or Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King.”

Mailers arrived at people’s homes claiming Wisconsin state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, was drunk on the floor during a state budget debate.

One put Walker’s phone number on the screen and encouraged viewers to give him a call and thank him for being a good governor.

Costing millions of dollars, they blinked onto TV screens, rang through the airwaves, spilled out of mailboxes, appeared on social media feeds and were wedged into the margins of websites.

But none of them were paid for by the candidates’ campaigns.

Instead, the ads were funded by an unprecedented flood of spending on a midterm election by outside groups, many of whom are entirely bankrolled by ultra-rich donors.

In a hotly contested midterm election, independent conservative and liberal groups have spent nearly $1.3 billion on electioneering activities, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks spending in U.S. elections. By comparison, the 2014 midterms saw less than $600 million in outside spending, and the midterms before that barely broke $300 million.

In Wisconsin, outside money didn’t so much trickle down as it did flood in. In the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races alone, supporters from both sides spent more than $50 million in total.

But digging deeper, the state becomes a dichotomy. In more prominent races, independent conservative groups dominated liberal ones in spending. In more local races, where Republicans have had an advantage in the past decade, a multifaceted and micro-targeted effort by liberal groups consistently outspent their conservative counterparts.

In an election that will determine not only who controls Congress but also who will draw Congressional districts come the once-in-adecade census in 2020, the fight over Wisconsin’s state Legislature will have far-ranging ramifications. With the governor’s race in a deadlock and the U.S. Senate race all but decided, the state Senate may well be one of the most pivotal elections for Wisconsin voters.

Freshman fundraiser Democrats have to flip two state senate seats to break the Republican hold on Wisconsin’s state government. Kriss Marion, running for state Senate District 17, is one of three candidates who could do just that.

Before Marion decided to run for Senate District 17, a sprawling district running from the state’s southwest corner up into Juneau county, and before she was a Lafayette County Board member, she was an organic farmer, a cookie advocate and a folk drummer. In 2000, suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, she left the hustle and bustle of Chicago and returned to her rural roots, landing in Blanchardville, Wisconsin, a village of 825 people.

Anna Landmark, a longtime political operative who had run and worked on numerous campaigns in Wisconsin and across the nation, was at the same time easing her way out of politics. She started a hobby farm and started making artisanal cheeses, selling them out of a store in Paoli, Wisconsin.

Marion and Landmark first met a decade ago through a network of female farmers and have been friends ever since. In 2016, Marion ran unopposed for the Lafayette County board. But when Marion eyed a bigger stage — their state Senate district’s seat, held since 2014

by Republican Howard Marklein — Landmark said she’d “love” to manage her campaign.

Marion’s county board elections were “really low dollar affairs” 12 • badgerherald.com • November 6, 2018

— less than $2,000 each, according to Landmark. For the state Senate, she would start with $0 against a candidate who, having been able to fundraise for three years, already had $280,000 in the bank.

“There’s no doubt that [money is] really important, and really, you need the money to get your message out effectively, right now particularly in the political climate,” Landmark said.

Despite being outspent by Marklein 7-to-1 in the early going, Marion has closed the gap. From Sep. 1 to Oct. 22 — the latest financial disclosure period — Marion raised approximately $345,000 to Marklein’s $337,000 and spent $379,000 to Marklein’s $773,000.

A shell game Mirroring the spending patterns of other competitive elections in the state, however, outside groups outspent both candidates combined, lifting the burden of certain campaign costs off the candidates’ shoulders and further shrinking the money gap in Marion’s favor. Groups favoring Marion outspent groups favoring Marklein by $137,000, according to data from Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonprofit tracking money in Wisconsin politics.

But no one knows where significant portions of the money are coming from. The source of the this dark money is masked in what the WDC calls a “shell game.”

The majority of “dark money,” or money spent on electioneering activities where the source of the funds does not have to be disclosed, comes from 501(c) organizations. These are non-profit, tax-exempt groups that cannot expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate, as designated by Internal Revenue Services.

It’s difficult to determine how much these groups spend. As long as they allocate less than 49 percent of their funds toward direct political advocacy, they keep their IRS designation and don’t have to disclose their donors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Americans for Prosperity, the libertarian group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, has shown how narrow this definition of political advocacy is.

A 2014 ad, for instance, claimed former North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan was “taking care of Washington insiders, not North Carolina Families.” But because it did not explicitly call for her defeat, it could be classified as “educational” and not count against their “direct” spending. AFP aired more than 33,000 ads like this in 2014 alone.

The Center for Responsive Politics estimated $134 million in dark money has been spent in the 2018 midterm election cycle — a substantial but relatively paltry sum compared to overall outside spending.

But there’s more dark money than meets the eye. 501(c)s can also give organizations like Super PACs unlimited amounts of dark money. The Super PAC can then use that money to make the types of independent expenditures the dark money group couldn’t while leaving the cash trail clean on both sides.

A 2018 ad from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund exemplifies this loophole.

The ad called on viewers to vote against Walker for spending taxpayer money on numerous plane flights, an act of express advocacy. As a 527 organization, they can engage in these types of direct campaign politics unlike their quasi-parent company but must register with the IRS and disclose their donors. However, except for a blurb at the end of the ad saying who paid for the ad and that it was not authorized by the candidate’s campaign, it is indistinguishable from a 30-second ad paid for by a candidate.

“A lot of times we don’t know who’s buying the mud that’s splattering our screens all these days during the election time,” executive director of WDC Matt Rothschild said. “And that is bad for transparency and democracy and bad for potential corruption.”

Leaving the door open For 32 years as a writer and editor at The Progressive magazine in Madison, Rothschild watched as “dark,” corporate money consumed

Wisconsin and pulled it from its progressive roots, at one point home to one of the earliest and best public financing election systems in the nation.

“We used to guard against that in Wisconsin, and now the sky’s the limit and the door is wide open for individual corruption,” Rothschild said.

Numerous court decisions and laws have led Wisconsin to where it is now, but three stand above the rest: FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.; Citizens United v. FEC; and Wisconsin Act 117.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the 2007 Wisconsin Right to Life case enabled the proliferation of various “issue” ads funded by dark money. In 2010, Citizens United opened the door for unions and corporations to spend unlimited amounts on elections as long as it is spent without coordination with a candidate.

Then, in 2015, the Wisconsin state Legislature drafted and signed a substantial rewrite of the state’s campaign finance laws in Act 117.

According to WDC, it doubled the limit of what political parties can receive from a single PAC in a year — from $6,000 to $12,000 — and eliminated limits on how much money individuals could give to political parties and Legislative Campaign Committee candidates.

Additionally, having overturned a 1905 law that restricted how much money a party or LCC could give a candidate, the act gave those groups the ability to transfer unlimited funds to a candidate.

But the act is unpopular with many, as Rothschild referred to it as a “scam.”

On the one hand, a rich individual can mask their donations by sending it through a dark money group and into an independent expenditure fund or Super PAC. On the other hand, they can donate unlimited amounts of money to their political party of choice, which in turn can shovel that money to a candidate’s committee.

In the past couple of weeks alone, Diane Hendricks, the billionaire owner of Hendricks Holding, Inc. a Beloit-based conglomerate, and Cecelia Ricketts, the wife of the billionaire Chicago Cubs owner, have

donated millions to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Rothschild said.

Outside origins Two of the biggest spenders in the race between Marion and Marklein – one on the right, one on the left – used nearly $600,000 in untraceable dark money to exchange attacks and praises.

On the right, the American Federation for Children Action Fund Independent Expenditure Committee Inc. spent $565,000 on TV ads, radio spots and mailers attacking Marion.

According to the group’s two campaign finance reports of the year, almost $1 million was spent across 16 state senate and assembly races.

More than half of the spending came in the form of a flurry of TV ads two weeks before the midterms.

While a $375,000 check from the billionaire heir to the Walmart fortunes Jim Walton was disclosed, $350,000 came in the form of dark money from American Federation for Children, a Washington D.C.based dark money group that supports school privatization. AFC was organized and is at least partially funded by the billionaire Devos family.

AFC-IE makes independent expenditures in Wisconsin elections on AFC’s behalf. But because the report only has to show AFC “transferring” money to AFC-IE, and AFC doesn’t have to disclose their donors, the money goes completely dark.

On the left, the same process applies.

In the past eight years, Greater Wisconsin has spent the most in the state of any outside group — liberal or conservative. A 501(c) group capable of drawing in and shuffling around dark money, the group formed the Greater Wisconsin Political Independent Expenditure Fund to promote Democrats and attack Republicans on its behalf. In the fall elections alone, it has spent $2 million.

Like AFC-IE, GWP-IE took in vast amounts of money in 2018 — $2,673,000, according to the organization’s three substantial campaign

finance reports of the year.

Unlike AFC-IE, however, where at least the source of some of the money was disclosed, none of GWP-IE’s sources were disclosed. The only source cited was GWP, whose donors are largely untraceable.

“Our democracy is drowning in a sea of dark money and big money and corporate money,” Rothschild said. “And until we get a grip on that problem, we are not going to have a functioning democracy either in Wisconsin or in the country.”

Money matters With independent groups pouring staggering amounts of money into races and candidates breaking fundraising efforts across the country, is funding as crucial to electoral victory as it appears from the outside?

“Without a doubt,” Heather Colburn, a long-time fundraiser and political operative, said. “How much money you have defines your path to victory. Sometimes you can find a path to victory without outspending your opponent, but it’s rare.”

She discovered first-hand that money was the foundation of any campaign when she interned for Tammy Baldwin while still in college. Baldwin, a state Assemblywoman at the time, had decided to run for Congress and recruited Colburn to help her fundraise.

After being trained by EMILY’s List, which works to elect prochoice Democratic women to office, she saw the difference money makes in an election — especially for women.

A recent survey of Democratic primary winners for House seats found women raised on average $185,000 less than men.

“It takes a little bit longer for them to get that viability than men wzo are often granted that viability out of the gate,” Colburn said.

Even Hillary Clinton, the most prominent female politician in the country, Colburn added, was treated and evaluated differently based on trivial aspects like her hair and clothes.

Colburn was the Wisconsin state director for Hillary Clinton in 2008 and the national women vote director for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. She now runs two political consulting companies — one that handles digital fundraising and one that handles mail fundraising.

There’s a split in how useful money is at the federal and state level, however. Colburn said money is essential for federal races because candidates have to spend more money on advertising to get their message out. House candidates who raise more money than their opponent, for instance, win nine times out of ten.

At the local level, more can be done with less, she said. Campaigns can spend less on costly TV ad buys and divert those savings to a less expensive door-to-door ground game.

Planting local roots The rich have a wide range of choices if they want to influence an election. Those with less money have very few.

Smaller, multifaceted groups are trying to change that. Faced with a torrent of money flowing from the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, corporations and organizations, these groups are leveraging new technology and reworking old tactics to stem the tide.

Progressive Takeover is one such organization. Operating out of field offices in Wisconsin, its staff has campaigned the old-fashioned way — by knocking on tens of thousands of doors, talking with voters and trying to get them to vote for their candidates.

In 2018, they focused their efforts on Wisconsin and North Carolina, two states where gerrymandering, voter ID laws and other forms of voter suppression are active, Will Hoverman, program assistant and communication lead at Takeover, said.

In Wisconsin, they have spent nearly $300,000 across six candidates: Kriss Marion; Caleb Frostman, SD-1, who surprisingly defeated Republican incumbent Andre Jacque in a June special election; Julie Henszey in SD-5; Chris Kapsner in SD-23; Lee Snodgrass in SD-19; and Kyle Whelton in SD-9.

“It can really be the difference between a voter getting reached during an election and having that door knocked and having that conversation and not,” Hoverman said. “For too long, Democrats at the state level, not only in Wisconsin but around the country, have failed to really invest in these down-ballot races.”

The organization is entirely funded by small dollar donations — those under $200. In 2018, they garnered 74,876 contributions with an average donation of $12.29. This has allowed them not only to go door-to-door in the communities where candidates are running, but also spend $200,000 on digital advertising in Wisconsin, attracting 9 million digital ad impressions.

“Our model and our programs are a great response to right wing money coming into the state, but at the same time a lot of what were trying to do is elect people who will enact campaign finance reform that is much stricter than what Gov. Walker has allowed to happen during his time in office,” Hoverman said.

Data for Progress is also leveraging small donor donations, but instead directly infuses campaigns with the money. The program is called “Give Smart.”

“One reason people don’t vote is because they don’t feel like they’re informed, and it’s the same thing with donating down ballot,” Sean McElwee, co-founder of Data for Progress, said. “I don’t think most people know their own state senator, much less which state senate district in their state is most likely to be pivotal.”

With a slick website and an effective social media presence – one part of their online strategy is memes – the organization highlighted eight progressive candidates in eight of the most flippable state legislative bodies for people to donate to.

The first list included Julie Henszey, a state Senate District 5 candidate running against Kooyenga for state Sen. Leah Vukmir’s seat, who vacated it to run for the U.S. Senate. It also highlighted state senators in Colorado, Wisconsin, Florida, New York and Arizona and House candidates in Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa.

This first list raised $439,000 through ActBlue, a digital fundraising portal. The money, divvied up evenly, amounted to roughly $55,000 in the pockets of these candidates, many who were cash-strapped.

Kristin Bahner, a Minnesota House candidate featured on the first list, woke up to a flood of donations — a “Minnesota miracle.” The entire campaign had hoped to raise $42,000.

“If progressives started filling in those fundraising gaps for candidates, candidates would know who they need to keep good relationships with,” McElwee said.

Riding a wave Republicans may be out-fundraising Democrats, but Democrats have the electoral mood at their backs.

As President Donald Trump’s popularity dips in every state, with 53 percent in Wisconsin disapproving of him, the Democrats are driving greater voter turnout and enthusiasm.

Landmark, Marion’s campaign manager, said while money is important for getting the message out, the message itself and the person saying it is often more important. She said her friend has the rare quality of a politician with genuine warmth and passion.

“When she first told other members of the [non-partisan Lafayette County Board] that she was a Democrat, they were shocked because they just sort of sit down and they work things out,” Landmark said.

The campaign has somewhat been flying in the dark because the campaign can’t afford polling.

On Nov. 6, after the rush of countless fundraising calls and community events have quieted and the last drops of outside money have dried up, the local candidates who will decide the next decade of politics in Wisconsin will rest and watch, like the rest of the country, as the results trickle in.

“We just have to kind of do our work and hope that at the end of the day it’s going to be enough,” Landmark said.

November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 13

OPINION

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Psychiatrist shortage, poor mental health services fail students

With shortage of psychiatric professionals, complicated process of navigating UHS, many of UW’s most vulnerable are left without care

by Tatianna Dennis Columnist

Mental illness, often ignored and stigmatized, leaves those who suffer from it alone. Although many feel discouraged to seek treatment, it’s vital to the support and survival of our peers. But in states like Wisconsin, the shortage of psychiatrists has a huge impact on whether or not those who are seeking help will actually find it.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum reported more than three-quarters of Wisconsin’s counties are suffering from psychiatry shortages. This leaves concerned parents and struggling students nearly hopeless, forcing them into emergency rooms, out of campus or, for some, into jail.

Justin Schoen, president of the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association, cringed when looking at the demand for mental health services on the map of Wisconsin. Schoen estimated that overall the United States would need 40,000 more psychiatrists to meet mental health patient needs.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness found over one-third of students suffering from mental health conditions end up dropping out of school.

Though we cannot extend this trend to be true in Wisconsin, it should be a cause for concern.

Wisconsin students are not immune to the pressures of college life, nor to chemical imbalances that cause mental illness.

Although there are few private psychiatric practices operating in the area, students on campus have little access to efficient and free transportation, adding to their out-of-pocket costs. Students struggle with mental health leaves University Health Service’s psychiatric services in high demand. But the intense complexities of campus life and the lengthy and tedious process to obtain care discourages students from seeking help.

Seeking psychiatric support at UHS can often lead to outside additional costs if extra help is needed.

The cost of seeking services in and outside of UHS disproportionately affects minority populations at UW, who have been found to suffer from mental health problems the most.

In the University of Wisconsin’s “The Healthy Minds Study,” marginalized students described feeling cast out by their peers and reported bias and discrimination, which negatively affects their mental health and overall well-being. Furthermore, these students — students of color, students who

identify as LGBTQ+ and low-income students — are more likely to have depression and anxiety, and are increasingly more prone to suicidal ideation.

A mental health crisis is engulfing our students and our state. Although greatly increasing access to psychiatric care throughout the entire state may not be attainable, holding our campus accountable for providing proper access is.

UW claims they are doing what they can to create an easy pathway for students to reach out and get the help they need. This must include hiring a diverse staff with a variety of backgrounds so that a wider array of students feel comfortable seeking care. Though there is now an LGBTQ+ focused counselor and a Mandarin-speaking counselor, there are still student demographics not represented by UHS’s mental health services.

No-cost services for low-income students must be expanded as well.

And when further services are needed, the university needs to work with the students to ensure they can afford the coverage they need — whether that includes developing a system

of financial support from UHS, pre-paying for students in need, expanding financial aid mental health coverage or partnering with nearby private practices to help lower costs. The fact of the matter is that students’ mental health and well-being should be one of the university’s top priorities.

As students, we must also take it upon ourselves to look out for our classmates who may be selfmedicating with alcohol or other substances. Do not be afraid to reach out to friends and roommates when seeking comfort during difficult times. Give your family a call, even when far away, so they can show they care. And reach out to professors when the classroom no longer feels like a safe space for you.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, call the 24-hour University Health Service for immediate over the phone assistance.

Please, do not be silent about your suffering. No one is alone.

Tatiana Davis (tldennis@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in communications.

UW students must fight invalidation of trans, non-binary identities Though President Donald Trump wants to erase transgender, non-binary people, campus should be welcoming to everyone

by Courtney Degen Columnist

As anyone who has taken a gender and women’s studies class can affirm, sex is a biological distinction assigned at birth. The World Health Organization describes gender as “refer[ring] to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men — such as norms, roles and relationships.”

“It

is clear bigotry still has a place here in the U.S...”

President Donald Trump’s administration, however, recently announced it is considering changing the definition of gender to refer to a biological distinction assigned at birth, essentially redefining gender as the same as sex. This would make gender static and determined by the genitalia one is born with.

This is a direct threat to the transgender and non-binary communities, as it would 14 • November 6 2018 • badgerherald.com

essentially invalidate anyone who identifies with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth. To say this would affect the way society views gender is an understatement. There are currently 1.4 million Americans who identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth and changing this definition would effectively invalidate their identities.

Though there was much opposition to Trump’s decision to rescind Obama’s protections for transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing, this is a whole different kind of discrimination.

What Trump is trying to do is discredit an entire group of people.

This is wrong and discriminatory, and shows the lack of respect Trump has for those who choose to identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth.

This new definition of gender would affect so much more than just bathroom use or conceptual ideas — the redefining of gender could lead to a drop in discrimination cases against transgender and non-binary people and possibly even require new documentation for schools to collect regarding the gender of their students. Not only could this enable discrimination, but it could also force schools to become more

invasive, potentially requiring proof of one’s gender by showing the sex they were assigned at birth.

This could even affect students at the University of Wisconsin, a campus known to be inclusive. Though the school’s recent renaming of the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center shows it is accepting of all gender identities, changing the definition of gender could impact how the school legally views the transgender and nonbinary communities and cultivate greater intolerance on campus of different gender identities.

Considering this was proposed two weeks before the approaching midterm elections, one has to wonder whether this was a tactical move by the Trump administration to gain the support of Republicans who do not support the transgender and non-binary communities. Whether or not it was used strategically, this is a low blow.

All of the progress achieved by President Barack Obama’s administration to loosen the definition of gender and recognize the transgender and non-binary communities as legitimate may have been for nothing.

Now that the definition of gender could be considered unchangeable and decided at birth, transgender and non-binary communities could essentially lose their

place in society.

Furthermore, this brings into question how those born as intersex would be defined, since those born as intersex do not fit the typical biological definitions of male and female. Does this mean intersex would be considered a third gender? The question has not been addressed by the Trump administration, which only defined the possible genders as “male” and “female.”

Considering recent events, it is clear bigotry still has a place here in the U.S. To say this makes everyone helpless, however, is incorrect.

We must fight against this kind of discrimination, and show those of all races, religions and identities that they are welcome here — in the U.S., in Wisconsin and in Madison. This can be as simple as using more inclusive phrases (everyone vs. ladies and gentlemen) or asking someone for their preferred pronouns. Even little acts like these show respect to the transgender and non-binary communities. In times like these, we must show respect to each other, regardless of individual identity.

Courtney Degen (cdegen@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science and intending to major in journalism.

OPINION

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Paul Soglin is running for mayor again. Here’s why he shouldn’t.

Despite his many successes in city government, Soglin’s progressive reputation just isn’t what it used to be after 22 years in office

by Sammy Fogel Columnist

On Jan. 10, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin announced he would be running for the Democratic Party nomination for the chance to take on Scott Walker in the governor’s race this November.

On July 17, he announced he would not be running for re-election to his post as mayor.

On Aug. 14, the Democratic primary for governor (among other things) was held.

Soglin came in seventh place out of ten candidates, racking up 5 percent of the vote.

On Oct. 19, he made what former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz called “the least surprising surprise announcement imaginable.”

Despite his earlier announcement to the contrary, Soglin said he would run again.

That made him the eighth declared candidate for mayor of Madison. Quite frankly, he should’ve done us a favor and kept it at seven.

This is not to say Soglin is without his merits. Rather, his record of fighting for progressive causes is genuinely impressive, especially considering how long he’s been fighting.

But the Paul Soglin of 2018 is not the same Paul Soglin who was elected to 22 (though he’s got the same mustache). His rise to political prominence came as a result of his prominent role in anti-war protests in the late 1960s. As a city councilman, he represented the district encompassing Mifflin Street, which at that time was home to the leftleaning protest movement at the University of Wisconsin. Police resentment of the liberal students turned the first annual Mifflin Street Block Party into a riot lasting three days, during which Soglin was proudly arrested. That moment in time serves as a stark contrast to his calls to end the annual celebration, which came during his third term. In fairness, Soglin had just turned 24 during the first Mifflin — by the next one, he’ll be 74.

Seventy-four years is a long time to live.

Some would say age signifies the aggregation of years of learned experiences, and all this experience would make Soglin worthy of keeping his moniker as Madison’s “Mayor for Life.” His most recent term has shown that perhaps that nickname is not an entirely positive thing. Repeatedly, the mayor moved to ban sleeping on the street, leading some activists to accuse him of trying to criminalize homelessness.

By repeatedly complaining about nuisance offenses committed by the homeless and painting them as criminals, Soglin hasn’t shaken this accusation. As Ald. David Ahrens, District 15, put it, “... this very moral, values-laden judgment [really] does nothing to address what the problem is.” Other alders have said the mayor spends lots of time watching security footage in areas with high homeless populations, sometimes playing it during meetings.

But that’s not to say Soglin has dedicated his “third empire,” as WPR called it, to being a despicable and out-of-touch boomer.

Despite a mixed record on homelessness,

he has had his moments. In 2014, the city set a goal, in-line with the “housing first” approach to build 1,000 affordable housing units over five years — a goal the city looks to be on its way to achieving.

In his mayoral campaign, Soglin has made sure to ensure voters know he’s experienced, with the implication being that he alone can continue to push Madison forward. On that point, he’s wrong.

Also in the race are some extremely qualified candidates, including Ald. Maurice Cheeks, District 10; former executive director of the Tenant Resource Center Brenda Konkel and Satya Rhodes-Conway, senior associate at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Both of the latter are former alders as well.

In fact, one could go so far as to say the current political climate makes Soglin less qualified for mayor than the aforementioned.

He’s just not the radical progressive he once was.

Sammy Fogel (shfogel@wisc.edu) is a freshman majoring in political science and Spanish.

Juveniles must be held responsible, accountable for their crimes Turn on any local news channel or read any local paper, and it appears crime in Madison is on the rise, specifically juvenile crime

by Andrew Stein Columnist

Turn on any local news channel or read any local paper and it appears crime in Madison is on the rise, specifically juvenile crime.

Within two days, Oct. 25 and Oct. 27, six juveniles were arrested in connection to two different incidents — car theft and robbery respectively.

A 58-year-old woman was attacked by multiple assailants Oct. 10. The suspects proceeded to steal her purse and her car, later crashing the car on Seminole Highway. Three teenage girls were arrested at the crash. Two days later, a male suspect was arrested in connection to the strong-armed robbery and battery. Those involved were aged 13, 13, 13 and 15.

These cases aren’t outliers. Plenty of violent behavior perpetrated by minors has plagued the Madison area for the past few months. Madison Police Chief Mike Koval responded to the crime increase on his blog, describing why the juvenile “justice” system has failed. The Juvenile Reception Center and Dane County Shelter are full.

Home detention and GPS monitoring are unreliable in restricting individuals. And the disturbances and inappropriate behaviors at Madison’s public schools are becoming far too common.

Take the Oct. 10 incident — the young male had been arrested in August for driving

a stolen vehicle. The officer who arrested him knew the teen from other stolen vehicle cases, including one from Nov. 2017, when the teen was 12. In the present case, the teen was supposed to be on electronic monitory — but he cut off his GPS ankle bracelet. Even worse, according to an officer ’s report, the teen said the incident was “only the beginning” and that he’s “just getting started.”

These incidents — and similar incidents — will not stop without some sort of intervention. Obviously, we want to keep juveniles out of the jail and prison systems as much as reasonably possible, so we must come up with other solutions. Chief Koval mentions “relationship building” with these youths to understand why they are making such bad and reckless choices. This is a good start. This is the role of parents, teachers, social workers, community leaders, etc. They must convince these youths the best choice is to stay out of involvement with these street gangs.

But we also need the justice system to show these youths there are consequences resulting from their actions. West Police District Capt. Cory Nelson said MPD officers “have arrested many kids who are on bracelets from their last arrest … our officers are arresting [these] kids every chance we get, yet they are many times almost immediately released.” Koval reaffirmed this view, as he said the group of juveniles has “effectively demonstrated that they are impervious to juvenile ‘justice’ system(s) that lack sufficient

resources to alter outcomes which can only lead to “adult” sanctions in the near future.”

When these youths are allowed to return to the streets, the only thing we get is more victims. We aren’t fixing the problem — we’re only making it worse and creating a revolving door of crime. These young criminals are not held seriously accountable for their actions, and just as often become repeat offenders.

It’s no wonder kids aren’t afraid to commit crimes, either. The community blames others, nearly absolving the juveniles of their actions. They blame the systemic injustices these students live in. This is evident when the Oct. 29 Madison School Board meeting was shut down by protesters who advocated for the removal of police officers from Madison’s high schools. Protesters chanted, “No cops in schools! If we don’t get it, shut it down!”

They believe that the presence of these educational resource officers makes students fearful and that if the officers remain, the board is supporting racism and white supremacy. These claims are absurd. Students aren’t being arrested in schools because of their race — they are being arrested because of their actions. Uniformed officers are currently present at Madison East, La Follette, Memorial High and Madison West high schools. The role of the EROs in these high schools is entirely necessary given the apparent rise of violent student incidents and the uptick in suspensions. A Madison schools

committee reiterated this claim in September, unanimously recommending police officers remain in the four main high schools.

Imagine if these EROs were able to create relationships with students, in a role similar to school counselors. Instead, these officers are stuck breaking up fights between young teens, even so far as suffering a broken hand. Schools are meant to be a place of learning, but it seems that for learning to occur, students need to be monitored. The thing is, the police shouldn’t be blamed for the problems at our schools. It’s the students. Cops didn’t fire gunshots in a bus or spray bullets through the neighborhood near La Follette High School. This was the community and students. Police are needed to keep the peace in these schools and to keep students safe, especially those who don’t commit crimes.

This isn’t just the job of the police and the justice system. The responsibility lies on the juveniles committing crimes, and the people who surround them. Parents need to step in and step up. Community leaders need to be role models for these kids to know what’s right and what’s wrong. And the juveniles need to listen, or else they will end up where many believe they already belong — behind bars.

Andrew Stein (andrew.stein@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science and economics.

badgerherald.com • November 6, 2018 • 15

OPINION

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After elections, civic activism is more important than ever before Citizens must show the same enthusiasm for advocacy, organization and protest as they do for getting out the vote

by Sam Palmer Associate Opinion Editor

Madison, my sweet blue bedrock, let’s talk about voting.

Let us speak with the severity this historic moment deserves. Voting for the least-bad option and then hanging up our shoes for the next two years has done absolutely nothing to stop the crises that threaten our society — and in some cases, it has actively made things worse.

For example, in 2008, Barack Obama was elected with a supermajority and a massive progressive mandate. The achievements from that period include paper-thin financial regulations that have since been further weakened, a conservative healthcare plan that has since been almost entirely defanged and not much else. “Oh but the Republican filibusters,” weep the liberal pundits, “and the conservative Democrats!” Guess what — that’s showbiz, baby. The Republicans have achieved a number of their policy goals with absolutely no mandate and almost no public support. Apologies for liberal incompetence are just that — excuses for powerful people who failed.

More broadly, the Democrats are on life support as effective political entities, and they have been for some time. They exist almost exclusively to be applauded by the gormless people who will not be hurt by their failures and are driven by the vague warmth they feel when they see someone on CNN who is trying their best.

The last time they got anything done that lasted was during former President Bill Clinton’s administration, when they hopped aboard the neoliberalism train and just followed the prescriptions of America’s business elites to the letter — deregulate Wall Street and consequently help drive us into a financial meltdown, as it turned out. For decades, they have sold the most marginalized people in American society, and sometimes everyone else too, down the river. And every election cycle, they stick their hands out and say, “Please, can I just have one measly vote? The Republicans are oh-so terrible — I promise I’ll only cut public education spending a tiny bit.”

The only reason that strategy works is because we, the “voters,” have no conception of political change outside of voting. It is drilled into us from a very young age that if one has a problem, they should vote to fix it. If one really cares about it, they should become a politician.

The importance of non-electoral action is always minimized. When we do talk 16 • November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com

Photo · Though voting is an influential way to make political change, it is absolutely imperative we remain politically active, even when it is not election season.

Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald about it, it’s usually regarding protests.

Now, protests are good, but they are limited and only represent a tiny fraction of the possibilities for non-electoral political action.

In many ways, what we do between elections can have exponentially more impact than what we do at the polling station. It’s a fairly simple process, generally speaking. It starts with an honest understanding of the problems in one’s community, state, or country. Are people going without food? Are people working two or three jobs just to make ends meet?

Are people being hassled by the cops? Who is being exploited or oppressed?

Next — and this is crucial — identify who is responsible for these problems and who can fix them. Sometimes this is elected officials; more often it’s unelected CEOs, bosses, landlords and their ilk. Finally,

we need to organize. That doesn’t mean drafting a polite, if-you-have-time petition.

If your demands are actually significant, that lovely petition will get a professional reply from a secretary and then get thrown straight in the shredder.

We need to organize in a way that demonstrates power and forces the opponent to concede. That can look like a million things: strikes, walkouts, slowdowns, sit-downs, sick-outs, solidarity strikes, rent strikes, blockades, picket lines, building occupations, etc., etc. The only limits are creativity and our ability to unite the oppressed. It is in these expressions of power we can break through the malaise of electoral politics and move for ourselves and for our communities. And the best part is, the gains we may win aren’t given like charity from some distant politician. They were won with a fight, and they won’t be

able to be taken away without a fight.

The bitter truth is the Democrats show absolutely no sign of waking up. They have no idea how they got here and less of an idea where they might go. Yet they’re the only game in town, and that’s proof enough we aren’t going to vote our way out of this. Feeding the Democratic machine unconditional electoral support is like treating a weekday hangover with Nyquil.

Like the beleaguered drunk in this analogy, the Democrats don’t need Nyquil — they need a couple shots of espresso — and maybe a slap in the face. They need to be challenged by power outside of themselves.

So Nov. 6, go vote. Wear that free sticker with pride. Nov. 7 is when the real work starts again.

Sam Palmer (spalmer4@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in biology.

OPINION

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To decrease overcrowding, Bus Rapid Transit system is lacking As more U.S. cities adopt this high-capacity, limited-stop transit system, Madison has reasons to consider other options

by Lianna Schwalenberg Columnist

Route 80-frequenters know all too well that one of Madison Metro’s most common complaints, according to their 2016 annual report, is overcrowding. Given Madison’s population is projected to rapidly increase in the future, public transportation and the

issue of crowding has taken top priority.

Consequently, Madison Metro began working with the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board to develop a type of Bus Rapid Transit system.

Though the city published a 104-page study proposing this solution in 2013, we haven’t heard much since then.

It may seem like transportation has been put on the back burner by the Madison

Photo · The Bus Rapid Transit system does seem like a revolutionary way to limit bus overcrowding on Madison Metro, but its high cost makes biking and carpooling a cheaper and more effective alternative.

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city government. Nevertheless, there are definitely some pros and cons to consider with this seemingly revolutionary solution to the city’s transportation woes.

Many large cities across the globe successfully utilize this highly-innovative transportation system, such as Jakarta, Indonesia, home of Transjakarta, the longest BRT in the world, and Curitiba, Brazil, with its Rede Integrada de Transporte, the birthplace of BRT. The Madison Area Transportation Planning Board pitched BRT as “a frequent, high-capacity, limitedstop transit service which offers faster service and improved urban mobility.” Though it looks different from city to city, it helps to think of this system as a hybrid between the streamlined system of a lightrail transit and the convenience of a bus that does not require rails or underground tunnels.

Typical BRT vehicles are 60feet long, low-floored, bend at the center, and can either operate in their own separate, dedicated lanes or on the existing street network.

BRTs can make buses faster by coordinating the traffic lights to prioritize the bus routes, improving pedestrian access to these stations, and implementing off-board fare collection.

The study concluded if the city were to implement this new system, travel times could be significantly reduced. For example, the 37-minute commute from Capitol Square to East Towne Mall could drop to 24 minutes. More people may choose to ride the bus instead of driving cars, potentially clearing up short-distance driver traffic. The system would improve the connection between lowincome neighborhoods and centers of employment and activity, and of course, the increased carrying capacity of the new buses would reduce overcrowding. Another unique benefit of this state-of-theart transit system is that since there is no need to wait for the entire infrastructure to be completed, its service can be gradually phased in.

Still, there are two weighty downsides to this proposed system that may explain why the city has seemingly halted any progress on the matter. For one, while the costs are better than constructing a railway, it is an expense the city and state are unwilling and

potentially unable to cough up. The study estimates the initial costs would amount to $138-192 million, with $9.8 million in operating costs. There is little chance any of that funding will come from the federal government. Earlier this year, Madison Metro was denied a $20 million federal grant for building a much-needed storage facility to alleviate the current facility on East Washington Avenue, which is housing more buses than what it was built for.

Another option for funding that has been unsuccessfully proposed in the state legislature is the formation of a regional transit authority, a new layer of governance over a region’s transportation systems that could cover multiple counties and would be able to impose taxes to fund its operations.

The second foreseeable problem is the potential to cut corners and slip back into being the same — but now more expensive — bus system. This happens so often with other BRT’s that there is a name for it: “bus rapid transit creep.” Boston’s Silver Line is one such example, whose afflictions, among others BRTs’, are outlined in a survey of BRT in the US from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. In Boston, the bus times were often delayed because of the city’s inability to keep restricted lanes clear of parked cars, as the system relied on using existing curb-aligned bus lanes.

An important factor in deciding whether to move forward with this new transit system, and one that distinguishes Madison from other cities using BRT, is Madison’s size. Jakarta’s population is 36 times that of Madison.

It needs a public transportation system that can adequately service such a densely populated region.

While Madisonians continue to wait for more developments on this new transit system, they can look to more accessible solutions to the problem of overcrowding — namely, they could ride bikes or carpool. Madison has designated bike lanes in the middle of most of the city’s major roads, including a portion of the Beltline Highway. Just a few people every day choosing to bike to work or class could, in theory, alleviate the issue of overcrowding.

Lianna Schwalenberg (lschwalenber@ wisc.edu) is a fifth-year senior majoring in communication arts and philosophy. badgerherald.com • November 6, 2018 • 17

SPORTS

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Amid team inconsistencies, AJ Taylor having career year for Badgers Despite recent slump, Badger wide out could surpass previous career highs for receptions, yards, touchdowns in 2018

by Danny Farber Sports Editor

So far this season, University of Wisconsin receiver AJ Taylor has accumulated 406 yards and three touchdowns on 24 receptions in the team’s nine games — just 69 yards, two touchdowns and seven receptions short of Taylor’s total from last year’s 14 game season, which included the Big Ten Championship and Orange Bowl.

After last year, most saw AJ Taylor as the third best option on the Badger depth chart in 2018.

But these expectations quickly changed over the summer with the sexual assault allegations and subsequent dismissal of former teammate Quintez Cephus, as well as the two-game suspension of Danny Davis for his involvement in the incident.

Now, AJ Taylor was the No. 1 receiver for Wisconsin going into week one. A challenge Taylor accepted eagerly with a combined 219 yards, ten receptions and a touchdown in his first two contests.

With this increased role comes greater pressure on Taylor than in past seasons. Teams

are planning for him more, making his current success on the field that much more difficult. “[Being the primary receiver] is a role where you have to always be ready,” Taylor said. “And as a receiver, yeah you always have to be ready.

But it’s a little bit more noticeable. You have to be on your Ps and Qs really. It’s a lot more detailed and a lot more focused.”

That being said, in recent weeks Taylor has been phased out of the offense somewhat. In his past four games, the receiver totaled just 52 yards and one score.

This decrease in volume is in part a result of new players stepping up in the Badger receiving game. Freshman tight end Jake Ferguson has continued his surprising season, leading the team in receptions with 25 for 361 yards and three touchdowns.

Returning from his suspension, Danny Davis has also produced recently, gaining season highs in receptions and yards this week against Rutgers with six and 60 respectively, including an 11-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Jack Coan.

But there have been opportunities for the breakout player, as Taylor has admittedly

A TMOSPHERE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

struggled to catch contested passes in recent weeks. After the game against Rutgers, Taylor lamented missed opportunities on some contested plays.

[Being the primary receiver] is a “role where you always have to be ready.”

AJ Taylor Badger wide receiver

“I’d really say that’s one of my specialties, contested balls — I missed three of them,” Taylor said, “That’s just one of those things I’ve just got to focus up a little bit more and make the plays.”

Over the past two contests, the Badger quarterback situation has been in flux, potentially impacting Taylor’s involvement. Coan replaced Alex Hornibrook against Northwestern two

weeks ago while the junior was sidelined with a concussion. Though Hornibrook returned this week versus Rutgers, another head injury forced him to the sideline at halftime and will likely mean another week of concussion protocol for the ailing quarterback.

At first, Wisconsin kept the ball in the air with Coan attempting 31 passes on the day of the loss versus Northwestern but only two of these were caught by Taylor. Last week though the Badgers opted to run the ball with star back Jonathan Taylor against Rutgers, resulting in zero touches for AJ Taylor with Coan in.

But if Coan needs to play more games with Hornibrook sidelined, AJ Taylor is confident the production will work itself out.

“It’s just one of those things where we need to just keep practicing and keep building chemistry,” AJ Taylor said.

In the Badgers final three regular season games and bowl game, maintaining focus on AJ Taylor’s part as well as quarterback stability will determine if the wideout can finish off his career year as hot as it started.

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Men’s basketball: Bold predictions for Badger’s 2018-19 season Davison, Trice, Happ look to get Badger basketball back on map this year after missing NCAA Tournament for first time in two decades

by Matt Ernst Associate Sports Editor

In anticipation of the upcoming Wisconsin men’s basketball season, I have been doing some thinking and now have some predictions ready. Here are four hot takes, fresh out of the oven, for your reading pleasure.

Brad Davison makes an All-Big Ten team It has been very uncommon in recent University of Wisconsin basketball history to receive any sort of significant playing time as a freshman, but guard Brad Davison was a major exception to this last season. Davison led the team with 31.2 minutes per game and thrived during that on-court experience. He averaged 12.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, in addition to 1.5 steals and shooting 35 percent on threes. This is one of the most successful freshman seasons in the history of the program, and Davison will be looking to build off of it.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Davison’s freshman season is that he managed to do all of these things despite a dislocating his shoulder in November. He supposedly re-injured it several times through the year, yet never missed a single game.

Once again, Davison played more minutes than anybody on the Badgers. His shoulder could have popped out at any given moment, but Davison persevered and gave it his all every night. He finally got surgery after the season and will be healthy for the first time in his college career.

It’s crazy to think about what Davison could be capable of now that he is finally healthy. He will have some tough competition from guards Carsen Edwards, Cassius Winston and Charles Matthews, but Davison has proven himself to be one of the toughest competitors in the conference and I expect him to rise to the top of the Big Ten this season.

Badgers finish in the top half of the conference After an impressive run of sixteen straight top-four finishes in the Big Ten, Wisconsin’s remarkable consistency came to an end last season when they finished ninth out of twelve teams in the conference. An unfortunate combination of graduation and injuries proved to be too much for even one of the country’s most consistent programs to overcome though.

Kobe King and D’Mitrik Trice will be returning to the Badgers and will be providing some much-needed scoring and depth not present last season. The Badgers only had

two players average more than ten points per game last season, and their third-leading scorer, Trice, went down for the season after 10 games. King was expected to offer some much-needed scoring off the bench, but did not have much of a chance to prove himself because he also went down after 10 games.

With the help of King, Trice, a healthy Davison and more, expect the Badgers to put last season’s disappointment behind them and finish in the top half of the conference, where they belong. In Ethan Happy, who again finished as a unanimous selection for the preseason All-Big Ten team, they have one of the top players in the conference. With a strong inside presence in Happ surrounded by outside shooters such as Trice and King, the offense should be fine with Davison — now a proven point guard — holding the reins.

If the Wisconsin defense can return to its old form, this team should be able to compete with anyone on any given night. After a rough start to Big Ten play last season, Wisconsin was able to give No. 2 Michigan State a run for their money twice at the end of last season.

I expect to see that kind of high level play at a much earlier point in the season this year.

D’Mitrik Trice leads the Big Ten in threepoint shooting percentage Trice shot a remarkable 41.8 percent from downtown in his freshman season on 2.5 attempts per game, and made it clear he is not only the best shooter on the Badgers, but one of the best in the whole conference.

This season he will be able to play alongside Davison, who should be able to create many open looks from three for Trice. Trice is only 6-foot and can struggle to create his own shot or shoot over other players, but when given the space, Trice has proven he is as deadly a shooter as they come from outside.

Ethan Happ makes more than one threepointer After not attempting a single three in his first two seasons, Happ worked up the courage to shoot up eleven of them last year and even made one of them, shooting nine percent on the season. Though it seems extremely unlikely he will ever prove himself to even be a competent shooter, I am going to boldly predict that he makes not one, but two threes this season. One thing I am sure of is that if/when he makes a three at Kohl Center, it will bring the house down.

Happ, Trice, Davison and the rest of the Badgers will look to validate these predictions Tuesday in their first game versus Coppin State.

Photo - Davison took over at point guard following D’Mitrik Trice’s season ending injury, averaging 12.1 points and 2.5 assists.

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

Photo - Though Ethan Happ leads the badgers in most other categories, the senior will look to improve on his free throws and three pointers — of which he’s hit just one in his career.

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 19

SPORTS

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Football: Takeaways from Saturday’s confidence booster vs. Rutgers

Wisconsin becomes bowl eligible for 17th consecutive season with sixth win, giving silver lining on otherwise difficult year

by Will Stern Sports Editor

When Rutgers (1-7, 0-6 Big Ten) comes to town, you better have your A-team. Or, at least your B-team. OK, honestly — as long as you have a football team you should be fine.

And for all the faults of the Badgers (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten), they sure do have a football team.

Saturday was a much-needed reprieve from what seems to be a neverending onslaught of losses, injuries, underperforming and more injuries.

Despite falling to Northwestern last week and effectively turning a fluke twoloss season into a decidedly bad season, Rutgers will always be there for those who need a helping hand.

Things were back to the ways we all remembered.

JT23 Running back Jonathan Taylor, someone you may have heard of if elite talent is your kind of thing, had a vintage performance.

On 27 tries, the sophomore notched 208 yards and three touchdowns. For those keeping score at home, that’s an average of 7.7 yards per carry.

Though the Heisman hopeful may have fallen out of contention for the elusive award thanks to a spate of games unbecoming of a Heisman finalist (though wonderful by another metric), he showed enough Saturday that he hasn’t lost a step.

The important number is the three touchdowns, though he’s far-and-away the No. 1 man in the running back corp, scoring opportunities have been diluted thanks to the goal line prowess of Taiwan Deal and Alec Ingold, as well as the spark plug that is Garrett Groshek.

Trouble in QB-land Quarterback Alex Hornibrook was solidly set in place as the starter all season long, but he sat out last week in the loss against Northwestern because of a head injury and left Saturday’s game for the same reason at halftime.

Sophomore Jack Coan filled in on both occasions and performed moderately well:

Photo - Jonathan Taylor had a quiet 208 yard game on the ground, his third of the season.

Bea Frank The Badger Herald

25–38, 222 yards, 2 TD – 0 INT. While he wasn’t a world-beater by any means (he wasn’t even a Northwesternbeater), his performance has been enough for many to wonder if Hornibrook’s spot is as secure as was originally thought.

The program was planning to redshirt Coan, and still can if they keep him under the three-game threshold. It seems like a final decision has yet to be made — though Coan said Saturday he was open to whatever the coaches decided.

Special Teams redemption The Special Teams unit was disorganized and disorderly during the defeat in Evanston, providing key penalties that gave way to Northwestern scores.

The turnaround was evident early Saturday, as linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel was able to lay a finger on a second-quarter Rutgers field goal attempt and provide teammate D’Cota Dixon with a 34-yard scoop-and-run.

Defense regaining form There has undoubtedly

been

a

lack of pass defense this season, with young players like safety Scott Nelson, cornerbacks Rachad Wildgoose, Faion Hicks and Caesar Williams filling key roles.

Though they’ve struggled mightily at times this season, Saturday the Badgers were able to break-up a season-high eight passes.

University of Wisconsin has also had an uncharacteristically difficult time getting to the quarterback this season, another trend they were able to buck Saturday.

Though the Badgers were unable to sack Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski, they were marked for four quarterback hurries and what seemed like a few more hard hits on him, which clearly contributed to the secondary’s ability to make smart plays on the ball.

With this win, Wisconsin is bowleligible, which is usually a given but feels like a small victory in the midst of this rough season. Next week, against Penn State, the Badgers will hope to carry much of their success at Camp Randall Saturday into Beaver Stadium.

Photo - Rachad Wildgoose was one of the seven different Badgers with a pass deflection as the defensive backfield held strong.

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 21

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Other things we wish we could vote for today Ice cream flavors, Bucky’s fashion require student voices and votes to thrive

by Angela Peterson Banter Editor

Four score and seven pizzas ago, students at the University of Wisconsin brought forth traditions of academic excellence, honorable achievements and quirky student life traditions which govern campus to this day.

We are now engaged in a time of unrest within the student body, chiefly divided on whether two stops is a justifiable amount of time to ride the bus.

Given that today is the day to exercise our civic duty and vote for preferred political candidates, here are a few special elections we’d like to hold. Perhaps these votes will show more cohesion than division and create a more united campus.

The Day of the Week When attempts to create “the perfect schedule” are squashed, a preferred weekday for students invariably follows.

For example, usually, a student prefers the day of the week when they have one hour-long lecture over the day with a seminar, lab and discussion section. If students could vote on what day of the week it is, every day, students would not have to face congested schedules and can relish in a free “Thirsty Thursday” five days a week.

Unfortunately, it seems the Gregorian calendar has other plans and would interfere with this election taking place.

Location of Classes Sometimes, a student just needs their 8 a.m. lecture on the science of science to not be located at the top of Bascom. With course registration coming up, it would be beneficial to include a short ballot next to every class registration where students can vote for where they would like the course to be held. So long as a music course doesn’t end up in a lab in the chemistry building, this will greatly aid many, including Dejope dwellers who just don’t want to go down to Humanities.

Babcock Ice Cream Flavors I scream, you scream, we all scream about the fact

Babcock ice cream flavors can seem quite conservative at times, with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry always lining the menu. Featured flavors often take a radical stance on what constitutes ice cream though, and may take on unsettling names — such as “Financial Lemon-aid.”

It’s up to the student body to ensure all ice cream is in line with our vision, and a more collective, campus-wide vote is needed on all matters involving the highly political subject of ice cream.

Exam Scores Every student has experienced the day when they check Canvas after their professor explicitly said no exam scores would be curved and saw a box plot displaying abysmal exam averages. When the entire class is clearly taken aback by tragic exam score deficits, a special election is needed to incorporate the voice of the students into their exam scores. If the entire class votes to raise the minimum

score, this will lead to increased periods of study as many students believe they then have a chance of passing the class. Of course, a dispute with the professor over the results may lead to a recount of votes and exam scores.

Bucky’s OOTD Tragically, our pal Buckingham U. Badger has been stuck in the same red and white striped sweater for ages. While Spongebob may purport that “the best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time,” this topic is highly debatable.

Student intervention is needed to lift Bucky out of his wardrobe woes and find him a stylish Outfit Of The Day every day. Statistics show 87 percent of one’s confidence comes from the clothes they

wear, so Bucky’s new threads will boost his standing among mascots worldwide, as well as reflect the general fashion sentiments among Badgers.

Who Moves to the Back of the 80 All somewhat lazy Badgers have experienced a crowded 80 bus where someone has to move to the back.

No one wants to move, of course, so a democratic approach must be taken.

Much like “Survivor,” voting who moves to the back helps create alliances between strangers and create and destroy friendships. This is definitely needed for every mundane bus ride between classes.

Photo · There are a couple more topics that need a vote today here at UW Emily Hamer The Badger Herald November 6, 2018 • badgerherald.com • 23

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