'Steering Clear of the Cliff' - Volume 51, Issue 6

STUDENT MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019 · VOL 51 Issue 6 · BADGERHERALD.COM

Steering Clear Cliff of the

Why UW teaches the intersection of consent and alcohol at a higher standard than the law demands. pg. 12

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Landon DeVon’s introspective ‘Chakra 4’ album is already making waves through Madison and the rap community.

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UW looks to boost financial aid amid reports ranking UW “the least accessible public four-year college” among 74 public institutions.

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SIGRID ROCKS

MAJESTIC

Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid graced the Majestic Theatre with her synth-pop melodies Saturday night.

Photos by Ahmad Hamid

October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 3

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UW, Madison youth activists strike for environmental justice

Global climate strikes in Madison aim to draw attention to wide support base, environmental injustices, government policies

by Jackie Miller City News Editor

Last Friday, Sept.

20, Max Prestigiacomo, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, led his second Madison-based climate change strike.

According to The Cap Times, last March, Prestigiacomo led another strike for climate change. More than 1,000 students showed up and filled the streets of Madison from East High School all the way to the Capitol.

“This movement is being led by young people who are fed up with the status quo, … “ Prestigiacomo said. “Because we keep on pushing, it just shows that this movement needs to be led by young people who haven’t been conformed by society.”

Last March, the strike called on Gov. Tony Evers, who had announced his goal of Wisconsin having carbon-free electricity by 2050. Prestigiacomo, as well as other protesters, agreed that by 2050, it would be too late, and that they should shoot for 2030 instead.

Prestigiacomo said the Youth Climate Action Team of Wisconsin had several failed attempts to get into contact with Evers to discuss their ideas. Until finally, after the climate strike in March and much media attention, they set up a meeting.

“Because of those articles we do have a meeting now,” Preestigiacomo said. “Governor Evers is attempting to support climate change and support us, but we don’t think that’s enough … I’m just confident that we’ll really push his office to realize that it’s bigger than just a few teenagers pushing this. The whole community stands behind us.”

Prestigiacomo mentioned that though the focus of this strike is the same as the last one in getting Evers to declare a climate emergency, the big difference between the two is that Friday’s strike was meant to include everyone from the community, not just students.

He argued that support from the community will only make the impact more powerful.

“We’re just hoping everyone treats this as a crisis,” Prestigiacomo said. “We don’t care that you’re hopeful for the future. This is a crisis. We are super frustrated right not. You have to show it with action. This is a time when everyone needs to be angry and everyone needs to be on the streets.”

4 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

Photo · Max Prestigiacomo led the Madison-based climate change strike, which included a rally at MG&E and a livestream of Greta Thunberg’s speech.

Molly DeVore The Badger Herald According to The Cap Times, students in the Madison school district were allowed to be excused from school on Friday with a call from a parent or guardian, which aligns with policy the district has followed for similar events.

To kick off the event Friday, protesters rallied at MG&E to have what Prestigiacomo called a type of “block party” where food and activities were present. At 3 p.m., protesters began their march to the Capitol, which Prestigiacomo called the focal point of the event.

Organizers also set up a livestream of a speech made by Swedish high school climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Between college students leading

climate change protests around the country and Thunberg, a 16-year-old high school student from Sweden, traveling the world to demand environmental justice, Prestigiacomo argues that it’s in this generation’s hands to put an end to global warming.

Brooke Schooley, a biology major at UW and an environmental activist, agrees this generation is doing a great job of drawing attention to the issue. But she also thinks that it’s not only our responsibility — it’s everyone’s.“I think that it shouldn’t be in the hands of a single generation,” Schooley said. “We’ll all be impacted by climate change and because of that we should all do our share in working to address these

issues sooner rather than later.”

Prestigiacomo said there are lots of simple changes people can make to their everyday lives in order to live more sustainably. He advocated for things that will lower carbon footprints such as recycling, going vegetarian and lessening plastic usage.

On top of this, he argued one of the most important things an individual can do is exercise their right to vote.

“Voting is supposedly the one right we are all guaranteed, so we need to be voting out the people who aren’t doing anything,” Prestigiacomo said. “We need to be talking about the companies in Madison who are contributing to the climate crisis. We need

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UW aims for enhanced financial aid programs for low-income students Despite current programs, many students said they felt financial burden of paying for college, needed more support

by Savannah Kind Reporter

The education think tank Education Reform Now listed the University of Wisconsin as the least accessible public four-year college among 74 public research universities in the country in a recent report.

The report gave an analysis of 2016-17 school year data and found only 12% of freshmen received a Pell Grant, a federal subsidy students with financial need can apply for and use to pay for college. In recent years, the university has introduced programs like FASTrack and Bucky’s Tuition Promise to alleviate the financial burden many low-income students encounter attending UW. Karla Weber, communications manager at the UW Office of Financial Aid, said there have been increasing efforts in the past years devoted to providing aid for lowincome students and making attending the university more accessible.

“Bucky’s Tuition Promise was announced in February 2018 and the report would not reflect any of our recent efforts to improve access,” Weber said. “To this end, we also acknowledge that implementing large-scale and high-impact programs doesn’t happen overnight and results in data like the Pell percentage will take time to show up in numbers.”

The Office of Financial Aid also pointed to a recent study done by the Institute for Higher Education Policy which listed UW as one of the only flagship universities affordable for low-income students. But this study also listed UW as having a low percentage of Pell Grant-eligible students enrolled compared to other four-year colleges.

Both Education Reform Now and IHEP’s reports said UW needs to dedicate more time and energy into recruiting lowincome students. The Office of Financial Aid continues to expand their efforts to close this accessibility gap by increasing awareness of existing programs, Weber said.

“The Office of Student Financial Aid has heavily invested in increasing awareness of financial aid programs like Bucky’s Tuition Promise and FASTrack,” Weber said. “We have increased our footprint in high schools and community spaces across Wisconsin, capitalizing on marketing opportunities ... and partnering with other institutions like Madison College.”

Despite these changes, many students

still feel the financial burden when trying to pay for higher education at UW. Stacey Stankowski, a UW student receiving tuition aid through the PEOPLE Program, spoke about her experiences with the university’s financial aid program.

“Last year I had pretty much everything covered … and then I was looking at my financial aid for this year ... and it was significantly less than it had been the year before and I was like ‘what’s going on?’”

Stankowski said. “Generally you get the same amount year to year.”

Stankowski’s grandparents owned an investment account that was listed on her FAFSA both years. The first year, the university missed it when awarding her aid.

This year, she is no longer eligible for many of the additional scholarships and grants available to her before.

Stankowski said she knows of many other

students who face similar hurdles when trying to find money to cover their tuition, housing, books and other fees.

“I have plenty of friends that their parents make enough money, but their parents aren’t helping them pay for college; they are doing it all on their own,” Stankowski said.

“They’re getting no help and they’re forced to go to community colleges because they don’t have the money.”

Kaitlyn Younger, a sophomore in the FASTrack program, also saw her financial aid decrease dramatically from year to year because of a FAFSA error.

Younger saw her scholarship money decrease by half and had to wait months before she could have a meeting with a financial aid adviser to discuss it, she said.

“The first time I got a letter in the mail that said ‘you qualify for this, this is how much money you are going to get’ and

that was easy … it was just submitting your FAFSA,” Younger said. “The next year I submitted my FAFSA again and it’s supposed to be the exact same… but it wasn’t. I was very stressed [because] I had no idea where the money was going to come from … I cried a lot.”

Programs like FASTrack, Bucky’s Tuition Promise and PEOPLE help to get low income students in the door, but students still feel the stress regarding where to find money to pay for their higher education.

The Office of Financial Aid plans to continue to find ways to improve its aid programs and increase awareness for them, including the launch of the Student Success Center, Weber said.

The Center would provide peer financial counseling and information on external public assistance programs, such as Badger Care and food share, Weber said.

Photo · Both Education Reform Now and IHEP’s reports said UW needs to dedicate more time and energy into recruiting low-income students.

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UW implements multi-factor authentication security measures Duo multi-factor authentication aims to combat security issues, as almost 5,000 NetIDs were stolen throughout the past year

by Lauren Henning State News Editor

The University of Wisconsin rolled out multi-factor authentication from Duo Security on Sept. 9 as a measure to help make NetID accounts more secure, with a mandatory enrollment deadline of Oct. 31.

The service comes into play after 4,946 NetIDs were stolen last year, according to a UW press release.

The Duo program prompts students to scan a unique code with the device that is associated with their NetID. From that point onward, each login requires the student to choose to send a push notification or text message to their device.

Once the login request is approved through the notification, and only then, will the

student be able to access their account.

The Interim Communications Director for the Division of Information Technology, Mary Evansen, explained there are multiple risks if someone with harmful intent were able to access a student’s NetID. “The biggest risk to the account holder is having their personal information in the student center and email accessible by the criminal,” Evansen said. “The criminal can misuse the information to steal the student’s identity for financial fraud. The criminal would also have access to university services such as Canvas, MyUW Madison, Box and G Suite, to name a few.”

Risk analyst and UW staff member John Nagler pointed out there is much more risk associated with some accounts when compared to others, depending on the

Photo · Duo comes in after 4,946 NetIDs were stolen last year, according to a UW press release.

Sarah Godfrey The Badger Herald

level of access. Nagler explained that some researchers on campus not only have access to highly sensitive data but also to “millions of dollars in budget.”

Nagler also explained some students, such as student employees, have more access than others. Some student employees are able to view other students’ information, increasing the risk associated with the account if it were to be stolen.

“As an individual student, an attacker would only have access to that student’s data and potentially that student’s family’s data,” Nagler said. “As a student employee, an attacker could potentially have access to all that student’s personal data, and if they worked for financial aid, then there’s some greater potential for some real damage to other people.”

UW Office of Cybersecurity, Division of Information Technology staff Ed Jalinske explained there are also response measures in place on campus in the case someone’s NetID account was phished or a device had malware on it.

Jalinske said the Cyber Security Operations Center is continuously monitoring for suspicious activity and shuts down accounts that may have been breached. They also remove compromised devices from the network to prevent the spread of malware to other devices, Jalinske said.

Jalinske said while the work of the CSOC is a “big deal,” it is also purely reactionary, which is more difficult than preventative measures such as Duo logins or cybersecurity education.

As Jalinske described, cybersecurity is a “breakeven” business.

“If we are staying just at the same level as the attackers, we’re doing our jobs properly, because to stay ahead of worldwide threats, nation-states, rogue hackers and hacker groups on a continuous basis — I’m going to venture to say it’s an almost impossibility,” Jalinske said.

Nagler also said UW will be rolling out another security measure out to campus — a password manager known as LastPass. Nagler explained LastPass allows users to generate extremely unique, randomized passwords and store them so the user can easily retrieve and use them.

Nagler said the password can be a string of 20 letters, numbers and characters with random uppercase and lowercase that would be very difficult for humans to remember, let alone hack.

“That will increase the security posture of everyone on campus by an order of magnitude,” Nagler said.

UW Chief Information Security Officer Bob Turner explained that academic and cybersecurity experts both say identity theft is a low-risk and high-reward crime.

Turner also cited industry publications, such as the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, that found 16% of all breaches were breaches of public sector entities.

Cybersecurity measures at UW are implemented in order to support the many missions UW represents, Turner said.

“Our cybersecurity program, and specifically implementing MFA at UWMadison, is designed to support the academic, research, outreach and administrative missions of the university and to prevent that type of evil from impacting the lives of students and staff,” Turner said.

October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 7

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Evers administration reportedly slow to respond to records requests New report from Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty suggests Governor’s response time is purportedly lacking

by Ben Baker Reporter

A recent report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found that roughly onethird of open records requests to Governor Tony Evers’ office were unfilled or recorded improperly.

The report found the Evers administration lagged behind in its ability to respond efficiently to record requests, as mandated by the Wisconsin Open Records Law. The open records law, enacted 37 years ago, ensures that the public has access to governmental records at all levels. While there are a handful of exceptions, by and large the state of Wisconsin has operated under the idea that each citizen is entitled to as much information as possible.

The report comes amid Evers’ recent move to take down a Gov. Scott Walker-era website, which helped gauge the efficiency of state officials’ responses to record requests, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.

Wisconsin Freedom of Information

Council president Bill Lueders said the Evers administration announced it will not be following many executive orders enacted by Walker, many of which expedited the process of obtaining records from government officials.

Dee Hall, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism co-founder, believes this start is not necessarily indicative of Evers’ future performance.

“I’ve been taking a wait-and-see approach … obviously WILL has its own opinions, but it felt very point-and-time to me. I think we have to give the administration more time,” Hall said.

The report was released in September, roughly eight months after Evers took office.

Despite Evers’ only having been governor for less than a year, Lueders has been made anxious by what he sees as fundamental regressions from the executive orders enacted by Walker.

“I don’t think it’s a crisis … I haven’t noticed a drastic difference in compliance between the Evers and Walker administrations,” Lueders said. “What troubles me was a comment by Melissa Baldauff who essentially said Evers’ administration will follow the law and the

Department of Justice, not executive orders of the past governor. What troubles me is that the entire point of the executive orders by Walker was to help state agencies file records more efficiently.”

Baldauff, an Evers spokeswoman, made these statements soon after the report’s release, according to The Capital Times.

There are likely a number of causes for the level of Evers’ response efficiency, including simply the volume of requests made, Lueders said.

The report found that a majority of agencies are still following the expedited timelines established by Walker’s executive orders, according to the Capital Times. Additionally, Baldauff claimed Evers’ office fulfilled 195 of 209 record requests received from Jan. 7 to Sept.

6.

As stated in the Capital Times, in spite of finding an inclination towards compliance within the Evers administration, the report stated the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Transportation failed to respond to records requests.

In a report of Mandela Barnes, the Lieutenant Governor, WILL found that it took staffers an average of 22 business days to respond to requests, despite his office receiving less than 15 records requests over six months.

While such response times may cause some to view the administration more negatively, Evers has not violated any laws or committed a punishable offense, Hall said. ”There is no official deadline for producing records. The law says that agencies should respond within 10 business days, or as soon as practicable and without delay,” Hall said.

Lueders says he is not concerned by the Evers administration, but hopes for a definitive process to increase cooperation within individual agencies.

As Evers looks ahead to his second year as governor, Lueders acknowledged the “fine” work he has done in office thus far.

“They should find a way to improve state agency compliance,” Lueders said. “They need to constantly try to do a better job. That doesn’t mean they’re doing a bad job—they’re doing fine—but you can always do better.”

City, state, private stakeholders look for ways to help homeless

Deputy mayor said it is “premature” to speculate longer-term solutions because “complex social issues” aren’t simple to solve

by Courtney Erdman City News Editor

Madison stakeholders are coming together to address homelessness in the State Street and downtown entertainment areas by initiating government activity and working with shelters.

Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Executive Director Joaquin Altoro and Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Michael Basford announced Sept.

18 funds will be allocated to projects that help the homeless.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced changes in July aimed at increasing the quality of life on State Street, and local officials and organizations are routinely pitching in on the effort. Solutions include installing port-a-potties and allocating lockers for belongings.

But this is just a temporary solution, Deputy Mayor Cameron McLay said. City stakeholders are discussing a longer-term solution with the city government to create a public-private response.

McLay added that those in government 8 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

really sought to figure out what was necessary to help, but it was difficult.

“It would be premature to even speculate longer-term solutions because complex social issues don’t offer simplistic solutions,” McLay said.

Madison does have some resources available, including shelters.

The Beacon helps over 225 men, women and children per day each year, according to its website.

They are “a one-stop resource center for individuals to connect with other area social service agencies who partner with us,” according to the website. The Beacon has partnerships with more than 27 agencies, such as BadgerCare and Porchlight.

The men’s shelter case manager of Porchlight on North Brooks Street, Glenn Ruiz, said the shelter has many services available. Porchlight has services specifically for men, those who qualify for affordable housing, veterans, and the physically and mentally disabled.

Porchlight also has a street outreach team that involves members seeking out homeless people on the streets and approaching them. This team connects them to a relevant

shelter and other services they need.

The police will also directly contact the shelter if they see a homeless person, Ruiz said. The shelter may also contact the Madison Police Department if someone may be a harm to themselves or others.

It’s a collective effort between the Madison Police Department, the shelters and the service providers to help the homeless, Ruiz said.

The shelters provide basic needs such as meals, showers, a phone and a place to sleep temporarily, Ruiz said. Those who come into the shelter work with caseworkers who connect them to necessary resources, such as obtaining an identification card.

Porchlight is open all year, with an in-take process every evening from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Ruiz said. The temporary residents are provided meals, laundry services and showers, and are released at 7:30 a.m. the following morning, but people may make multiple visits.

While at the shelter, the residents meet with case workers who try to assess their needs and recommend services. The workers also help the men find jobs, apply for health insurance and establish medical care.

The goal is to get residents into permanent housing, Ruiz said.

Ruiz said there are four basic barriers that prevent or make it harder for these men to obtain housing. Those barriers include very little or lack of income, poor or lack of housing history, poor or lack of credit score, and background record. Poor literacy or being illiterate, alcohol or drug addiction and mental illness are other factors as well.

There is no wait for obtaining services, but there is a wait in terms of connecting with a case worker and services, Ruiz said.

“It’s a challenge to address everyone efficiently,” he said.

Some people who are made aware of these services choose to not use them and stay on the street, Ruiz said. There is an “optic of homelessness,” meaning that there are people who appear homeless but rather prey on the homeless, such as drug dealers and sex traffickers.

In terms of solutions, Ruiz said more affordable housing needs to be made available. Porchlight has meetings with the county government and the business community about how to help this population.

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Sound and color: A collective vision from two of UW’s own students Meet Chase Devens and David Smith, two promising individual artists hailing from UW with their new collaborative film ‘Les Cinq Mois’

by Georgia Ansley ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

Two young artists learned to become each other’s eyes and ears in the creation of their last film, showing that the secret to success may be the willingness to share a byline.

Chase Devens and David Smith are two University of Wisconsin seniors who befriended one another while studying abroad in Paris this past spring. Devens is a young filmmaker, and Smith is an aspiring electronic music artist. This friendship soon turned into a partnership, and from a partnership to a pair of finalists in the IEP 2019 Film Festival for their film “Les Cinq Mois,” translating to “The Five Months,” documenting their time abroad.

Devens’ film career started back in elementary school, where he would make music videos to Kanye West’s “Stronger.” It wasn’t until his senior year of high school that Devens bought his first “real camera,” and he has been honing his skills ever since.

Devens has filmed concerts for the popular music group Odesza, Badger football games in Camp Randall, and once, a chicken processing plant in West Virginia.

“The camera has just taken me to really

interesting and unique places and experiences,” Devens said.

The creation of “Les Cinq Mois” was a completely different experience for him from start to finish, Devens said.

“I liked my previous videos, but I didn’t appreciate them in the way this last video appeals to me because they didn’t reflect a part of who I was,” Devens said. “Communicating the way I see the world and how I interpret situations.”

Devens, whose friends have described him as having strong visual intuition, said he always had the IEP festival in the back of his mind throughout his five months in Paris.

“It was almost like an obligation to myself to make something,” Devens said.

The inspiration for this film all stemmed from a song Devens couldn’t get out of his head. Beach House’s “Space Song,” also featured in the end credits of the film, inspired Devan’s vision for the video.

“If I hear a song, I have some sort of music video for it going in my head,” Devens said. “So the whole video was started by the thought of the end credits.”

For the rest of the film, Devens had Smith’s music to inspire him.

Photo · Smith (left) and Devens (right) pose in front of a mural to reflect their “artsy” background.

Courtesy of Chase Devens and David Smith

“I would send David a 10-second video clip, and he would come back with a minute and a half of audio for it,” Devens said.

Smith started his musical path, like many kids, through forced piano lessons. Smith, in open rebellion against classic note reading and the desire to want to play songs more like the ones he heard on the radio, found a new way to learn the instrument.

“I realized I could listen to a song, and then play it by ear and actually be decent at it,” Smith said.

A few years ago, Smith started using different computer software to create his songs.

Smith and Devens’ partnership kept the two artists on track throughout the entire process, even with them living in entirely different states during its creation.

“People probably won’t realize that we were just talking on the phone and doing this online together,” Devens said.

However, the boys insisted the partnership was still crucial to effectively tell their story, since they experienced abroad together.

Smith said despite their distance, collaboration was like second nature to these two creative minds, especially after spending an entire semester together.

“Chase is a visual guy, and whenever he looks at a scene, he sees it in a visual sense,” Smith said. “It’s motivating for me to be like okay now I have to see it in this musical sense and marry those things together.”

Devens said this type of collaboration is becoming more commonplace for younger artists.

“Remix culture is something that’s really exploding now that the various entry for music production is you just have to have a computer and a program you can collaborate with basically everyone,” Smith added.

Throughout this process, the two learned a lot about what they were capable of and what it meant to sacrifice things for the bigger picture.

“I know I need to put in the hours right now and do something I really enjoy, but do it hard and well,” Devens said.

When asked to give advice to novice artists, Smith encouraged them to just start, as starting something new can often be the hardest part.

Devens added that artists should find their own niche and be themselves.

“Don’t try to be like someone else because you’re just wasting your time,” Devens said.

The winners for the IEP Film Festival will be announced on Nov. 7 in Chicago.

Photo · Devens (left, behind the tree) and Smith (crouched and on the right) demonstrate the lax, comedic side of their creative personalities.

Courtesy of Chase Devens and David Smith October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 9

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Madison’s Landon DeVon drops ‘Chakra 4,’ displays distinct solo work Landon DeVon is making waves out of Madison, pushing the envelope with unparalleled solo performances on his self-alignment-themed rap album

by Lena Stojiljkovic ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

If you’ve had a lot of fear-of-missing-out syndrome lately, then it’s quite possible your fourth chakra is out of alignment.

A remedy to help balance it could be to meditate in the presence of jade crystal, but if your resources are limited, you may be in luck with a newly arrived aural outlet for healing.

Arguably the most monumental rhythm and blues and hip-hop project to reign out of Madison this decade, emerging artist Landon DeVon dropped his highly anticipated “Chakra 4” album, making its debut appearance to platforms like Apple Music and Spotify last month. ”I am powerful and a whole vibe,” DeVon said.

With robust energies emanating from confident self-talk to conquering weakness, “Chakra 4” is composed only of solo performances by DeVon. He pushes the envelope with a setlist of blockbusterworthy hits by pushing boundaries that exist before realism.

Released on Friday the 13th, “Chakra 4” gives an ode to the fourth chakra. It is also noted as the heart chakra and this chakra revolves around energies belonging to grief, love, pain and healing, DeVon said.

These are all qualities we are skeptical in feeling, negatively and positively, so it is on us to assist our body’s needs and tend to our spirit by tuning into our heart chakra.

Your fourth chakra is speaking to you when you experience FOMO, so align it by streaming this stimulating musical work.

Originally Darrel Butcher Jr., the Madison-born and raised personality found a calling within finding a new name. ”I changed my name because I’m a whole different entity versus [the past] version of me people are used to,” DeVon said. “I didn’t have an easy past.”

He described certain individuals from his childhood who do not see past his name change, and to them, he spells it out very clearly. ”They are used to, and are stuck on, and can’t move past [my previous name],” DeVon said.

But thanks to his perseverance, his networking abilities, and his perennial support team, DeVon is reaching all types of high success now more than ever.

The opening track “The Lair” describes DeVon’s assertiveness when it comes to personal judgment, and he stated very prominently he is confident with his selfimage and dispels negative energies from his life.

Followed by the ballad “Bout Me,” DeVon displays the polarity in his emotions while still proclaiming his credence for his eternal self-reliance. For a project revolving around energies relating to the fourth chakra, both tracks introduce the album’s concept 10 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

exceptionally well. it’s no surprise DeVon’s inspirations have of ourselves [will help us] love ourselves DeVon’s spiritual side is quite prevalent helped make him the rising star he is today. wholly,” DeVon said. on this project. DeVon revealed he is His album release show took place at the You may catch DeVon perform at the LÜM studying to become a quantum healer Art In venue in East Madison, and DeVon Freak Fest stage Oct. 26 at 8:20 p.m. DeVon and a Reiki healer under Masters Axel was extremely blessed for the turnout, he will dedicate his show to the LGBTQ+ Carrasquillo and Shay Layton at the Antojai said. family for helping him define his identity.

Ascension Academy in Detroit. ”[The network and support] came for me ”If I can do it, you can do it, too,” DeVon With all of this in mind, it does not — and [they] stayed for me,” DeVon said. said. come as a shock DeVon would dedicate Probably the biggest up-and-coming DeVon dedicated the album to his late this LP to a spiritual concept. Though a Madison artist performance crowd-showing best friend, Carter Jordan Swopes, his powerful figure within spiritual energies, within the past six months, DeVon had more siblings Shavanna Nacole and Keishaun, the it’s relatively easy to understand Devon’s than eight sponsors at the event.

Landon Ladies, and his younger self. artistic side is just as substantial — DeVon Anyone can begin to pursue their spiritual Get ready, University of Wisconsin. intends on making a music video for each and musical self with the right mindset at Landon DeVon is the most electrifying, track on the album. any point, but it’s obvious DeVon’s spirit heart-pounding and soul-magnifying R&B Exclusively dropping “Chakra 4” on the has been strong for a long time, and his and hip-hop artist to ever reign out of Live Undiscovered Music application July musical energy iws contagious. Spending Madison. If you want to avoid anymore 1, his statistics skyrocketed on the app. His only one hour in his presence left me feeling FOMO, I’d suggest joining the Landon track record proves how demanding he is as more aligned with my own mind and body.

DeVon Family now. an artist nationwide as well as how popular ”Making sure, you know, we are facing ”Chakra 4” is available for streaming on his album shows to be. our shadow-selves and seeing the ugly side Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, LÜM and more. ”Dropping the album [on LÜM] early was a great marketing decision,” DeVon said.

With thousands of active users on the app, DeVon sat at number one trending artist in the “Popular” general charts immediately postdrop for a week and currently sits at number five in “Hip-Hop” and number two in “R&B and Soul” for overall plays.

DeVon is presently in competition with the number one “Popular” song slot on the app at almost 5,000 plays for his album closer, “I’m Not Coming Down.”

His list of music idols is long — he finds inspiration from some East Coast rappers such as Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, Juelz Santana and Nicki Minaj.

Outside of the East Coast, he looks up to Lil Wayne, Kevin Gates, Timbaland, JoJo Dawn Richard, Kehlani, ScHoolboy Photo ·Madison’s own Landon DeVon performs live on stage in what will likely be just one show in a long, established rap career.

Q and Beyoncé.

This is definitely an Courtesy of Landon DeVon/Landon DeVon LLC extensive list — yet

ARTSETC.

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Hilariosity: ‘Joker’ looks great, but let’s go back to ‘Batman & Robin’

With highly-anticipated ‘Joker’ coming out, here’s to the movie that nearly killed the Batman franchise, but made us laugh while doing so

by Matt Fraga ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

“Batman & Robin,” or as Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy so eloquently puts it, “Batface and Birdbrain,” is one of the greatest films of all time.

That’s right, I said it.

In anticipation of the newest Batman-related film, “Joker,” coming out Oct. 4, I recently sat down to watch the “funniest” installment in Gotham City’s history.

Leading man George Clooney has apologized numerous times for the film’s existence. This is unfair, though. He was a part of one of the greatest comedies of the 20th century. Clooney was not the only one to apologize, either.

Director Joel Schumacher is still asking for forgiveness over 20 years later. Let me remind you that Schumacher is not a bad director. He’s made classics in three decades including “The Lost Boys” (1987), “Falling Down” (1993), and “Phone Booth” (2002). Yet, for some reason, he miraculously managed to make the worst decisions possible at every turn with “Batman & Robin.”

Let me be clear, as an action and superhero movie, it is abysmal. It was nominated for 11 Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies for short) — one of the most nominated movies of all time.

In case you were wondering, Razzies are not

something to be proud of. They are given to the year’s most underwhelming films. It’s the only award worse than a participation trophy.

Alicia Silverstone won Worst Supporting Actress for her role as Batgirl, though I believe she gave the least laughable performance in the “film.”

Other nominations included Worst Screen Couple, Worst Director, and — I kid you not — Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property.

If that’s not enough to get you to watch the movie, let me tell you why it’s worth it.

Within the first 90 seconds of the film, we are given close ups of Batman and Robin’s buttocks.

Wow. Take that, “Dark Knight.” Want to know what else Batman and Robin have that the Dark Knight doesn’t? Bat nips. I don’t know who thought it was a good idea for the suit to be that detailed, but damn, I’m sure glad they were included.

There is something precious to all Batman movies: the first time Batman introduces himself.

From Michael Keaton to Christian Bale, they all have uttered the words, “I’m Batman.” It is supposed to instill fear in the enemy and bring joy to the audience. But Clooney introduced himself as though he were giving his icebreaker on the first day of class. Really, it’s just atrocious, and from that point on, it’s clear that Clooney will be

playing Clooney, not Bruce Wayne or Batman.

Next, we are introduced to Mr. Freeze, played by the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. What a fantastic choice for the ice man. He really grasps the essence of the character and makes it his own.

Schwarzenegger is able to deliver pun after pun with such grace. He introduces himself with this pure poetry.

“Allow me to break the ice: My name is Freeze.

Learn it well, for it’s the chilling sound of your doom!”

If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, don’t worry, because every line out of his mouth is more cringeworthy than the last. I’m serious. I urge you to find a scene where he speaks without using a pun. You won’t.

I will give Mr. Freeze credit, however, for bringing winter to Gotham — something that the White Walkers failed to do for nine years.

Thought one comical villain was enough?

Too bad, because there are two more I haven’t mentioned. Over-the-top is an understatement with Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy. We are introduced to her as Pamela Isley, a jittery, disheveled scientist who is reborn from the soil as Poison Ivy after being thrown into a table with beakers labelled “Poison” by Doctor Woodrue.

She proclaims, “They replaced my blood with

aloe, my skin with chlorophyll, and filled my lips ... with venom,” as she fatally kisses Dr. Woodrue.

Everything about her is absurd, from her wardrobe to her caricature-like Katharine Hepburn impression. Nothing is better, however, than her hilariously awkward attempts at seducing Batman and Robin during the auction scene. She tells the pair that she has “wild oats to sow” and that her “garden needs tending,” whatever that means...

Batman then whips out his Batman-approved Visa card to buy Poison Ivy at the auction for $7 million. Just let that sink in.

On a serious note, this movie is bad. Joel Schumacher admitted its purpose was to sell toys.

They weren’t too subtle about hiding this either.

While Bane is choking Batman, Poison Ivy says, “I’m a lover not a fighter, that’s why every Poison Ivy action figure comes with [Bane].

It’s disappointing that just about everyone involved treated this as an advertisement rather than a movie with a story and compelling characters. This isn’t just a “Batman & Robin” problem either. Just look at Michael Bay’s “Transformer” movies.

Unlike “Transformers,” which is flat out bad, “Batman & Robin” is so bad that you must watch it. Get together with some friends, grab some popcorn, prepare to laugh, and chill out. See what I did there?

badgerherald.com • October 2, 2018 • 11

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Steering clear of the cliff Why UW teaches the intersection of consent and alcohol at a higher standard than the law demands

by Molly Liebergall Managing Editor

A quick stroll through the Student Activity Center will reveal they’ve done some redecorating. Whereas the construction of the new Nicholas Recreation Center across the street will create a space for students to improve their physical fitness, the new posters hanging in the SAC focus on augmenting emotional and relationship health.

“Let’s start the convo,” the posters read. Accompanying the slogan are colorful hearts reminiscent of Valentine’s Day candies inscribed with phrases like “May I…?” “Is this ok?” and “Rspct my no.”

The signage is part of Consent Hearts, a recent campaign from the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center aimed at promoting affirmative consent on campus. The campaign webpage leads to more resources on consent, one of which is a handout from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center on how to ensure consent in an intimate situation.

“Always ask for consent before you begin any sexual activity, including kissing, cuddling, and any kind of sex — even if your partner consented in the past,” the handout reads.

The 2017 University of Wisconsin Parent Handbook for Talking with College Students About Alcohol sings to a similar tune. It encourages parents to start the conversation about alcohol and consent before their children get to campus and to emphasize to them that consent “must be asked for and received” before any sexual activity occurs.

UW law professor Cecelia Klingele said she has noticed a nationwide trend of campuses pushing for affirmative consent, usually alongside an element of verbalization — using words to ask for consent. Some states have already passed or proposed affirmative consent laws, which, according to the Affirmative Consent Project, take existing legislation a step further by requiring anyone who initiates intimacy to receive a verbal “yes” from the other person before making sexual contact, followed by ongoing consent throughout the encounter.

In Wisconsin and many other states, the law does not require such a degree of affirmation.

Nonetheless, Klingele said it is not uncommon for universities to provide students with definitions of consent that may far surpass legal standards.

“There’s a reason that, usually, those education efforts are defining consent in a way that is much more structured and rigorous than the law itself would demand,” Klingele said. “The idea is that … we’re trying to encourage people not to walk at the edge of the cliff, but rather only to engage in sexual conduct with each other when it’s clear and obvious that there is consent — not when there might or might not be.”

Between mandatory first-year prevention programs, University Health Services resources and other universityaffiliated efforts, UW repeatedly provides lessons on consent, alcohol and sexual assault. The way the language of these message differs from that of the actual law, though, can impact students in a variety of ways.

Through the Lens of the Law State sexual assault legislation is found under Wisconsin 12 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

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Statutes 940.225, where the legal definition of consent also resides.

Unlike the Consent Hearts campaign and the Parent Handbook, the legislature declares consent to be verbal or nonverbal actions, but they must still indicate a freelygiven agreement to engage in sexual activity. People who are unconscious or otherwise unable to physically communicate unwillingness are presumed incapable of consenting — it must be given by someone “competent to give informed consent.”

“That [policy language] can be more technical and a bit more complex than maybe how we speak about it in our everyday language, and for that reason ... we’ll discuss [the policy language] with them to explain what that means.”

Lauren Hasselbacher UW-Madison Title IX Coordinator According to the statute, a person can be incapable of consenting if they are intoxicated by drugs or alcohol to a certain degree. Anyone who has sexual contact or intercourse with someone who reaches this level of intoxication which “renders that person incapable of giving consent” is purportedly guilty of second-degree sexual assault — a Class C felony.

But wait, there’s a caveat.

State law stipulates an individual is culpable of this crime when the aforementioned applies and if two addendums hold true as well: 1. “The defendant has actual knowledge that the person is incapable of giving consent” and 2. “The defendant has the purpose to have sexual contact or sexual intercourse with the person while the person is incapable of giving consent” Under Chapter UWS 17 of the Wisconsin legislature, UW uses this exact statute in determining if a student has violated university policy prohibiting sexual assault. Aside from the substitution of ‘respondent’ for ‘defendant,’ the wording is identical.

Lauren Hasselbacher, campus Title IX Coordinator, said before formal sexual misconduct investigations begin, her office provides and explains this and other relevant policy language to the involved parties.

“That can be more technical and a bit more complex than maybe how we speak about it in our everyday language, and for that reason … we’ll discuss [the policy language] with them to explain what that means,” Hasselbacher said.

Outside of UW investigations, students may not learn the legal meanings of terms related to sexual misconduct, since — as Hasselbacher noted — day-to-day discussion of this topic tends to use more casual wording.

But Molly Zemke, UHS Violence Prevention Manager, stressed the importance of providing Badgers with an understanding of the legal definition of consent, something Zemke said UHS does in all of its programming.

According to evaluation data in an email sent to The Badger Herald by Hasselbacher, after completing the U Got This! violence prevention and policy disclosure program, more than 95% of incoming UW students were able to correctly identify sexual assault as any sexual contact occurring without consent. In contrast, the 2016 UW-Madison Sexual Assault Climate Survey Task Force Report revealed only 32% of female undergraduates felt “very or extremely” knowledgeable about how the university defines sexual assault and misconduct.

This disparity begs the question: what do UW students actually take away from consent lessons and prevention programs?

Learning the Ropes The ‘Sexual Violence’ section of the UHS website displays a definition of sexual assault similar to what appears in the law books, except for two key differences.

First, the section of Wisconsin sexual assault laws stating the offender must have had both knowledge of the person’s incapacity to consent and intent to still engage in sexual contact does not appear within the UHS definition.

Second, instead of circuitously referring to the level of drunkenness at which someone can no longer consent as “a degree which renders that person incapable of giving consent,” UHS introduces the term “incapacitation.” In the university’s official policy language, incapacitation is defined as, “the state of being unable to physically and/or mentally make informed rational judgments and effectively communicate,” which is why consent given by someone in this condition is considered invalid.

Though providing a name for the point at which drunk people can no longer consent may be preferable to how it is described by the legislature, attempting to label an objective threshold of drunkenness presents problems of its own, according to a national advocacy organization toolkit on campus sexual assault and alcohol.

In response to the reportedly frequently-asked question of how much alcohol someone needs to drink to be considered incapacitated, prevention specialists could not provide a clear-cut answer.

“Incapacitation can be a tricky term, as it is used in both law and policy but is rarely defined in ways that students can apply to their sexual encounters,” the toolkit reads.

“Everyone’s body reacts to alcohol differently depending on body size, food eaten that day, other drugs ingested and other factors.”

According to the report, even prevention specialists were unsure of how to distinguish when an intoxicated person becomes incapacitated, especially because everyone reacts to alcohol differently.

Katherine Loving, UW Healthy Campus Manager, said

this type of uncertainty among students is one thing alcohol education programs like AlcoholEdu and Badger Step Up! aim to mitigate.

“There are many factors that go into determining how alcohol impacts an individual, but that’s partly what we’re trying to educate students about, is what that might look like,” Loving said.

Zemke said some indicators of incapacitation included in prevention programs are unconsciousness, trouble walking straight or slurred speech.Peter Grimyser, a UWPD detective of almost 20 years, added vomiting, odor of alcohol, combativeness and emotional instability to the list. But, some people may get extremely drunk without manifesting the typical signs, in which case Grimyser said caution is the best option.

“If you aren’t sure if someone is sober enough to consent, play it safe and don’t engage in any sexual activity,” Grimyser said in an email to The Badger Herald.

Harry Quick, a UW freshman, expressed a similar outlook on how to handle uncertain situations involving the intersection of alcohol and sex. Though in explaining why he would not romantically pursue someone who may be too drunk to consent, he identified many of the same warning signs present in university prevention programs, Quick said he did not learn much from U Got This!, AlcoholEdu or Our Wisconsin.

Quick said people can mute or fast forward through some of the programs, which contain relatively “basic” concepts stretched over the span of a couple hours.

Instead of taking the program’s lessons and applying them to his life, Quick tends to follow his moral compass in determining whether or not a sexual encounter involving alcohol would be consensual.

“If you aren’t sure if someone is sober enough to consent, play it safe and don’t engage in any sexual activity.”

Peter Grimyser UWPD detective “If I can think clearly, if I can still do calculus in my head and they can’t walk in a straight line, then it’s not good at all,” Quick said. “It’s morally wrong.”

When Quick and other students analyze the risk factors in situations where consent and alcohol may meet, they are also each doing so in a unique way. Based on upbringing, culture, religion, ethnicity and countless other contributing factors, Klingele said, people develop their own understanding of appropriate sexual behavior.

Hasselbacher said UHS recognizes that students each have alternate grasps on consent based on their experiences before and during college as well.

“We know people are coming in with different backgrounds, different understandings, and that can

come in part from our campus trainings … and so that’s why within the particular context of an investigation, we want to be clear about what we’re doing and what we’re investigating,” Hasselbacher said. “Our prevention services are coming from a different perspective because they’re talking about how to improve campus climate, improve relationships, improve communications across the board, regardless of if something may or may not be a specific policy violation.”

Defining Clear Communication Without a common understanding of consent and permissible sexual behavior, Klingele said it is very likely that people will misinterpret one another ’s cues.

This, Klingele believes, is one reason why, similar to the Consent Hearts campaign, universities encourage explicit verbalized communication between sexual partners — to prevent instances where non-consent is mistaken for consent and to avoid the harm that can result.

When alcohol is added to the mix, Klingele said, this only further complicates the situation by impairing a person’s ability to perceive their sexual partner ’s feelings.

Realistically, Klingele said, drunken sexual encounters still occur frequently at UW. “How many people on this campus in a weekend get so wasted that they can’t really communicate very effectively much of anything … ?” Klingele said. “And how many of those people engage in sex? Probably not an insubstantial number, unfortunately.”

Klingele surmised that the next day, students probably don’t refer to state statutes in determining what happened the night before. Instead, they likely interpret the events through the same internal belief system surrounding sex that Hasselbacher said differs from person to person.

Some students may technically reach the standard for sexual assault by incapacitation but feel okay about the previous night’s encounter, Klingele said. Other students, she added, may also be considered victims under the statute, and may also feel victimized.

Klingele emphasized the importance of acknowledging how sexual assault laws interplay with the variety of individual perceptions of consent in the U.S. Lessons from family members, school and the university all contribute to what individuals consider acceptable sex practices to look like, Klingele said.

“When there is a mismatch between their expectations [of consent] and what they experience, that’s when people are hurt, and in some of those cases, they are hurt in ways that the criminal law can do something about,” Klingele said. “Unfortunately, in a large percentage of cases, they may be hurt and there may not be much the criminal law can do to address it.”

Klingele said it is important to remember that even though students may colloquially consider certain behaviors to be immoral or problematic, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are illegal. On the flipside, Klingele also said the fact that a case may not end in a conviction does not mean a crime was not committed.

Judging by recent statistics, this holds true.

According to the UW-Madison Sexual Assault Reports

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Snapshot, UW received 318 total reports of sexual assault in 2017. Of those, only 23 cases involved a respondent identified as a UW student. Twelve of the 23 complainants ultimately chose not to go forward with the disciplinary process.

Of the 11 remaining cases that resulted in an investigation, UW determined the respondent to be responsible in five of them.

This not to say no harm was done in the other six cases, or in the ones that never made it to the investigation process — the complainant was perhaps just unable to meet the burden of proof for UW policy standards.

Almost all campus messages to students about consent refer to sexual assault as being any sexual interaction lacking consent, or where one party is inebriated beyond the point of being able to consent. Except in official UW policy, the university tends to leave out the part about needing to prove the offender intentionally pursued sexual contact with someone they knew to be incapacitated.

When asked what should be done when university consent lessons do not translate exactly to real life, Klingele suggested teaching students more about how

“When there is a mismatch between their expectations [of consent] and what they experience, that’s when people are hurt, and in some of those cases, they are hurt in ways that the criminal law can do something about ...

Unfortunately, in a large percentage of cases, they may be hurt and there may not be much the criminal law can do to address it. ” Cecelia Klingele UW-Madison law professor America handles crime. That way, they can at least be aware of the legal realities that lay below the precipice.

“I think people have to be better educated about what the criminal justice system does and doesn’t do, and fundamentally, it doesn’t redress all wrongs that happen,” Klingele said. “Many ways in which people harm each other aren’t going to be punished by the criminal law, and when universities give students definitions of consent that go well beyond what would be required under a law, the idea is that we keep you far away from the edge of the cliff.”

badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019 • 13

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Addressing systemic problems requires personal accountability

Why the racial slur scrawled on a student’s door exemplifies the importance of introspection, individual responsibility

by Justin Lariviere Columnist

When Kayde Langer, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, left her dorm room Sunday morning, she was surprised by a note filled with a racially charged, and notably specific message.

The note read, “Go back to the rez red [N-word].”

Initial reactions and support for Langer — who identifies herself as Red Lake Ojibwe and is the vice president of UW-Eau Claires’s Inter-Tribal Student Council — appeared quickly after she posted a picture of the message, written in poor handwriting, on her Twitter page.

UW-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt reacted in a timely manner and urgently condemned the act as unacceptable. He then

ordered a formal investigation of the situation to be conducted by the Dean of Students, LaRue Pierce.

Schmidt did as a head administrator should when faced with a situation where somebody acted out of the establishment’s code of conduct — remove the institution from the perpetrator and indicate that their character is not representative of the school. As of now, the investigation has not concluded and no suspects have been identified.

That is, other than Langer herself.

While the investigation remains active, multiple speculative reports have surfaced claiming that the entire situation was a hoax, most notably from conservative talk show host Dan O’Donnell.

O’Donnell delivered his take with purported evidence, including handwriting comparisons, the seemingly coincidental posting of a PayPal link for money the day prior, and the subsequent deletion of her Twitter account. Without any definitive

proof or confession by either Langer or another student, however, it is impossible to say who was responsible for this heinous act.

What we can be certain of in light of this situation, however, is that the first amendment simply cannot catch a break. Once again, the freedoms afforded to us by the Constitution — the literal fabric of our democratic republic — have been used for harm.

Misuse of free speech is especially salient to those who wish to take it away from us — the very people we fight against benefit from ignorance as blatant as this. The popular rationale for these types of events is the American educational style. At a certain point, though, blaming our faltering education system for fostering this type of behavior just will not cut it. As a society we have fallen in love with deflecting blame upon structure, deferring our internal, definitively personal issues to the systemic nature of

Photo · As racism rears its head at UW-Eau Claire, we are reminded that we all must playing a role in dismantling oppressive systems of power.

Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald 14 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

whatever it is that inconveniences us.

Instead of continuing to point our fingers at the school system, the time has come for an accountability reformation. A nation built upon the precedent that every individual is to be held responsible for their decisions means that the freedoms they enjoy are innately protected, for there will be nobody to challenge them.

What prevents this from happening? A distinct lack of interpersonal respect.

America has found itself embroiled in a morality crisis. As the country becomes more secular by the day, a number of citizens who decades ago would have acted according to their holy texts now believe they can behave however they please, free of consequences. This is not to say secularism is a bad thing — many countries are almost entirely without faith and manage to be a collectively happy, responsible people.

Again, the beliefs we have are not the issue.

It is how we, on a personal level, perceive these ideals that makes all the difference. An American citizen who abuses his or her freedoms, such as the culprit of the racial message on the dorm room door, prevents us from reaching our true potential as a republic and contributes to the degradation of respect in our communities.

I believe every phenomenon at play here is connected through psychological tendencies that the American people frequently exhibit.

The effects of mob mentality, or, more relevantly, collective apathy, explain how the better part of 330 million people have let our culture erode like rocks in a river bed.

We live in a nation where we ask for the bare minimum, adhere to it at our convenience, and are content with suffering the consequences of our lackluster effort. Society has informed us that taking pride in everything we do, from academics to simply respecting those around us in a collegiate setting, is not required anymore.

That presents a difficult psychological barrier to overcome, so most of us just choose to abstain from change.

Regardless of who decided to write a racial slur on Kayde Langer’s avocado decoration, the necessary takeaways remain consistent. Instead of deflecting our problems towards the education system, everyone should look in their proverbial mirror and take responsibility for why it struggles to succeed. Instead of promoting censorship and blaming the first amendment for the terrible things that the uneducated spout, we should isolate those without credibility and make them aware of it.

To prevent racially hateful sentiment, we as a people need to hold those who produce it accountable for their decision, and make it explicitly clear that its unacceptable.

Justin Lariviere (jlariviere@wisc.edu) is a freshman studying communications and economics.

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What contemporary whitewashing says about us and our future

De-centering whiteness, accurately writing historical activist narratives requires work, accountability from those at the center

by Matt O’Connor Columnist

In every student or former student’s mind, there exists that universally vilified person who claimed or was given credit for a group project in which they did next to nothing. And if you’re not aware of such a person — well, I have news for you.

But to our collective chagrin, it would appear that this phenomenon does not die with those group projects. It exists well beyond their bounds, and it is flourishing in political and activist spaces.

Recent weeks have proven to be cornerstone moments for some of the most high-profile movements of our time — namely, that of the fight against climate change and the impeachment proceedings of President Donald Trump.

From the outset, both movements have been led by people of color. But now, as both have become more intense and widely watched, this history is actively being whitewashed — its leaders being replaced or overshadowed by figures perhaps more palatable to American media and more aligned with its dominant narratives.

Climate activism both at home and abroad has been led by the same people who are most likely to be affected by its implications — people of color, oftentimes from low-income communities. To name a few of those leaders: Maria Eva Conoé, a Brazilian indigenous woman who has led the fight to protect the Amazon from that country’s far-right president; Autumn Peltier, an Anishinaabe-kwe youth activist who addressed the United Nations at age 13 and was recently nominated for an International Children’s Peace Prize; and Mari Copeny, a young black activist who has drawn national attention to the Flint water crisis.

But it was Greta Thunberg, a young Swedish activist, who was given the starring role in the recent climate marches around the world.

Now, to be clear, Thunberg is owed a great deal of credit for the movement that she helped build. This is not an indictment of Thunberg or a suggestion that she has somehow maliciously stolen the moment from other activists for herself or her benefit. She is a brave and inspiring young leader who should be celebrated for the work she’s doing.

But the reality is that we all know Thunberg’s name, or have seen her face come across our social media feeds or onto our television screens. Can we honestly say the same for those aforementioned activists of color, who have been doing the same work and who helped build this movement from the ground up?

In our nation’s capital and its halls of power, the story is not much different. In the movement to impeach Donald Trump, it was primarily people of color who spoke early and often about the necessity of such proceedings.

Reps. Al Green, D-Texas, and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., along with “the squad” — Reps.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. — have been some of the most ardent and vocal advocates of impeachment from the beginning. And they’re all people of color.

But with the recent announcement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that the House would be opening an official impeachment inquiry, the news media is starting to paint a very different picture of the movement for impeachment and the leaders who got us here.

As a glaring example of whitewashing at work, CNN recently labeled five freshman members of Congress as “unlikely leaders on impeachment.”

They’re all white women, and, by any metric, they are not leaders on impeachment.

All five them announced their support for such proceedings as recently as last week, joining dozens of other House Democrats who had already announced their support after months of actively resisting mounting pressure.

And it doesn’t stop there. In a segment on his show, CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. — one of those “unlikely leaders on impeachment” profiled in the aforementioned piece — if people like Tlaib and Green, people of color who have advocated for impeachment from the beginning, “diminish the seriousness” of such proceedings.

Again, just as with Thunberg, this is not necessarily an indictment of those five Congresswomen profiled by CNN (although agreeing to partake in a story that falsely labels you as a leader of a movement you took no part in leading can be fairly criticized). Rather, this is an indictment of the way that attention and credit flow in this country — which is almost always in ways that are validating to and conformant with white America.

To be clear, there is no single person responsible for any of history’s great activist movements or political moments — they are and always have been the result of a multitude of voices coming together to support a common cause. And that’s how these moments must be read, if they are to have lasting historical significance.

But it matters that the leaders of these movements are being whitewashed and overlooked. History is full of disgraceful examples of such forces at work, and it should give us all pause to recognize that it is still happening here and now, despite all the increased importance and effort that media organizations have claimed to place on diversity and the uplifting of marginalized voices.

Ultimately, stories like these are important because they expand beyond simply how the leaders of these movements have been defined and identified. Rather, they hit at a broader problem in our political and activist spaces — a problem which places the crux of a movement’s success or of an election’s outcome on the shoulders of white people, after people of color have laid the

Photo · Narratives around climate change, impeachment proceedings have largely erased the work of activists of color.

Molly DeVore The Badger Herald groundwork and supplied necessary, consistent support.

Such a setup perpetuates a cultural framework that centers whiteness and marginalizes everything else. Thus there are the stories about how we should feel bad for and attempt to justify the overwhelmingly pro-Trump vote of white families in post-industrial and rural America, about how white suburban voters are the only demographic that matters in winning key battleground states, about how white women in pink hats are leading the Women’s March and “The Resistance.”

A commitment to fostering diversity in our communities has been established, at least officially and in most places. But the work to ensure such diversity requires now what it has always required — an active, intentioned, and continual effort to make space for it.

For white people, especially in activist and political spaces, that means taking a step back and recognizing that our faces and our voices should not always — indeed, should often not — be the ones leading the charge. De-centering whiteness simply must fall on the shoulders of those at the center, not those attempting to move the frame and widen the view.

For those of us who work in media, we must take that same active, intentioned, continual approach to our reporting — something which requires that we ask some tough questions of ourselves and our colleagues, and that we become critical of ourselves and our industry.

Ultimately, all of this involves a critical and necessarily uncomfortable self-reflection for white people. But the end result holds the promise for a new historical narrative — one that not only accurately recognizes the leaders of these activist and political movements, but that also encourages a more reflective swath of this country to helm the ones that will lead us forward.

To give credit where credit is due is a foundational lesson, one that we have all likely learned the hard way from school group projects.

So when the stakes are as high as the rewriting of history, it would appear to be incumbent upon us to apply that lesson — to correct the narrative and ensure that the future is a place where sympathy and credit flow to people and places that have been historically shut out.

Matt O’Connor (moconnor@badgerherald.com) is a senior studying political science and journalism.

October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 15

OPINION

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Staying informed is important — but not always financially feasible

News organizations need stability from subscriptions, but we must recognize inequalities in awareness created by financial barriers

by Aly Niehans Columnist

A democracy, by definition, is a government for the people and by the people.

People are responsible for making decisions about how they want the government and their country to act and look like and what laws are needed to further the common good.

In the American iteration of a democracy, the electorate is also responsible for choosing which officials will speak, vote and enact laws that serve their constituents’ best interests.

In electing these officials, however, constituents are bombarded with a barrage of news on any and all media platforms, including both traditional news sites and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

This news, in many of its forms, is in finite supply unless consumers are subscribers and pay monthly fees to the media organization of their choosing.

Taken together, charging consumers to read more than the standard 10 free articles per month while simultaneously haranguing the public to be as informed as possible come November is a confusing conflict. This creates both an intimidating environment for news consumers as they sift through the vast array of stories but also an environment in which certain more economically privileged individuals enjoy easier access to news than others.

The New York Times, when not running a subscription sale, charges $15 a month for an online subscription and $20 a month if you opt for a hard copy paper delivered to your doorstep every Sunday. The Washington Post charges $10 a month for their online subscription or $15 for their premium online subscription.

When not running promotions, a Bloomberg subscription is $35 a month. A year ’s subscription of online access to the New Yorker is $90, while adding a weekly delivery of a hard copy of the magazine ups the price to $150 a year.

Taken at face value, $10 or $15 a month doesn’t sound that bad. But you have to consider that to be a well-informed citizen, it is suggested that you have a diverse set of sources from which you’re getting news.

So, let’s say you subscribe to two different news sources. This puts your monthly bill at around $25 a month.

Again, $25 a month doesn’t sound that bad at face value. But when considering that the national minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, paying for news each month is worth almost four hours of work.

For individuals earning minimum wage 16 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

— making an annual amount of $15,080 if working full-time — items such as rent, food, gas or transportation, and other basic necessities will obviously outrank a New York Times subscription when budgeting.

Setting aside the issue of a necessary and long overdue increase of the minimum wage, it is unreasonable to expect individuals with tighter financial restrictions to spend their money on access to online news media.

But if you don’t pay for a subscription, then you only get the set amount of free articles, which means consuming the barrage of news released each day becomes a lot more difficult. Not only does it become more difficult to access the news, but it becomes more difficult to contextualize more complex news, such as the Mueller Report or the ongoing calls for Trump’s impeachment.

The financial barriers to accessing media lead to certain sectors of the population that

are inherently more capable of affording and consuming the media because of their socioeconomic status, leaving others with their 10 free articles a month and news found on other platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.

The news found on Facebook and Twitter, however, is oftentimes unreliable. According to a study done by professors at Dartmouth and Princeton universities, an estimated one in four Americans visited a fake news website in the two months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. And 22% of these website visits stemmed from Facebook, which did not have a coherent policy restricting the dissemination of fake news on its platform at this time.

If individuals cannot access legitimate news sources due to financial constraints, and are therefore left to rely on the news they see while scrolling through Facebook or Twitter,

they are much more likely to encounter false and intentionally misleading or partisan stories. This leads to a stratification of who is getting what information from which sources, with individuals who subscribe to reputable sources getting consistently higher quality, more reputable news than individuals who cannot afford to do so.

It is important for voters to be educated.

It is important for news organizations to remain financially stable, which is done largely through the revenue generated by selling subscriptions. But it is also important to acknowledge that for many people, the cost of subscribing is out of reach, and it’s crucial to understand the implications that has for their ability to access the information necessary to be an informed voter.

Aly Niehans (niehans@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science.

Photo · Cost of newspaper subscriptions may not seem like too much money, but for individuals earning minimum wage or otherwise in unstable financial situations, staying informed will not necessarily be a priority.

Cait Gibbons The Badger Herald

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OPINION

Wisconsin’s Jews are not a shield for partisan political squabbling

Robin Vos’ use of Jewish festivals to excuse rescheduling elections is asinine, unhelpful, diverts attention from important issues

by Abigail Steinberg Columnist

By the time this column is published, the world’s Jewry will be finishing their celebration of one of the holiest festivals of the year. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, Hashem opens the Books of Life and Death, and within the Ten Days of Repentance, will seal our fates for the following year. In Jewish tradition, the significance of these days of worship are tantamount to those of Christmas or Easter in Christianity — to expect anyone do anything besides worshipping or celebrating with family is a lot to ask.

Yom Kippur is the holiday that closes the Ten Days of Repentance, where Jews repent for our individual and collective sins before Hashem closes the Books of Life and Death. Yom Kippur is arguably more important than Rosh Hashanah, though only slightly. Regardless, the holiest time of the year for the Jewish People is right now.

But if one were to ask Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to share his knowledge on Jewish holy day observances, he would be likely to disagree with the above facts. Why? Let’s take a look at recent Wisconsin’s recent political developments.

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Weston, of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional district resigned Sept. 23, citing complications surrounding the birth of his ninth child.

On the same day Duffy resigned, Gov. Tony Evers called for a special election to fill Duffy’s seat in Congress.

“Our rural communities have been directly affected by unproductive trade wars, political attacks on health care and public education, and economic uncertainty because of the volatility we’re seeing in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said in a statement. “The people of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District deserve to have a voice in Congress, which is why I am calling for a special election to occur quickly to ensure the people of the 7th Congressional District have representation as soon as possible.”

The special election is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2020, with a primary scheduled for Dec. 30, 2019. Cue the misplaced outrage.

In a letter to Gov. Evers, Vos cited the Jewish festival of Chanukah as reason for moving the special election, leaving the 7th Congressional District without representation until the Spring 2020 elections.

“It is unnecessary to require

Wisconsinites to exercise their civic duty to vote on a day they have set aside for a religious purpose,” Vos said in the letter.

“I respectfully demand that you find a new date for the upcoming special election.”

Vos’ argument may appear to be a sincere attempt at advocating for Wiscconsin’s Jews.

But do not be fooled — Vos’ statement is partisan squabbling under the guise of defending religious liberties.

Chanukah is a post-biblical festival, celebrated for eight nights. The primary special election would fall on the eighth night. Though indeed a celebration, Chanukah is not subject to the same emphatic observance as the more significant holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Chanukah, Jews continue their Photo · Republicans’ use of Wisconsin Jews as pawns in political maneuvering is dishonest and unhelpful. lives as normal, going to work, making Montana Leggett purchases, driving cars The Badger Herald — all actions which are restricted on the more across the state.”

Robin Vos, the Senate would have done the sacred holidays.

And yet Vos has the audacity to imply same.

Just because Chanukah often falls near that if Evers does not move the election Instead, State Rep. Lisa Subeck, the most sacred Christian holiday does D-Madison, will be forced to choose not give it the same significance. So given and increase the amount of time the 7th that Chanukah is not subject to the same Congressional District goes unrepresented, between representing her constituents on the Assembly floor or observing the most restrictions as the Jewish High Holidays, Evers will be going back on his word. Such an accusation is simply asinine. sacred holiday on the Jewish calendar. for the Jewish population of Wisconsin’s This letter was not meant to advocate for On that unconstitutional reality, Vos has 7th Congressional District, voting is not a Wisconsin’s Jews.

This letter was written remained silent. problem.

Mischaracterizing an election schedule What is a problem is a trending behavior out of fear that Duffy’s seat would turn as anti-Semitic reduces the urgency and in the Republican party, one Vos is now blue — an unfounded fear, as the seat has stayed Republican for almost 10 years and severity surrounding actually anti-Semitic allowing to infiltrate Wisconsin — using President Trump won the district by 57%. incidents, which will hurt Wisconsin’s Jews Jews and the threat of appearing antiIf Vos cared about Wisconsin’s Jewish in the long run. Being used as a shield is a Semitic to shame an opponent for political community, he would ensure the Wisconsin slippery slope to being used as a scapegoat. gain. In his letter, Vos cited a tweet State Legislature would not be in session In the words of Robin Vos, we “respectfully

by Evers condemning a terrible act of on the most sacred Jewish holy day of the demand” better. vandalism on a Racine synagogue.

“Hate and antisemitism have no place year, Yom Kippur — but they are. Yes, the Abigail Steinberg (asteinberg@badgerherald. in Wisconsin,” Evers said in his tweet. Assembly did vote to change the schedule, but perhaps with a little more prodding com) is a junior majoring in political science “I stand in support of the Racine Jewish from supposed champion-of-the-Jews and journalism. community and with Jewish Wisconsinites

October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 17

SPORTS

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Basketball: A day in the life of a Badger basketball hopeful

Providing detailed, first-hand look into attempt to get (maybe) three minutes of fame as walk-on collegiate athlete

by Danny Ziolkowski Sports Writer

Three minutes. That’s essentially what about 50 guys went through hell and back for last Wednesday night when they flooded the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion to try out for a walk-on spot on the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball Team. I was one of them.

The three minutes I’m referring to is how much playing time Jackson Bax, who made the team back in 2015, got in total between games against Sienna, Rutgers and Michigan.

But I couldn’t resist. I needed to see if I have what it takes to be an NCAA Division I athlete.

And now at least I can confirm what my friends told me all week: I do not.

As the day drew closer, my expectations grew larger. You know that feeling when you know something’s not going to happen to you, but you fantasize as if it will anyways?

That was me thinking about getting one of those grey Under Armour backpacks, getting access to the training facilities and maybe — just maybe — clocking in a few minutes against a Big Ten rival.

When Sept. 25 finally arrived, it was hard to think about anything other than the tryout.

I even skipped my Astronomy 104 lecture, literally for no reason at all, because I couldn’t get my mind off it.

“ I played basketball all four

years in high school, and play pretty often here at the Shell, so I figured I’d at least show up and try,” - Lefty Pendarakis Basketball walk-on hopeful

drills started, which included a 3-man weave, dribble pull-ups, coming off screens and some other basic workouts.

It was clear that not many people had done a full-speed basketball workout in years, not to mention at the speed these coaches were used to

seeing.

We were all struggling to catch our breath, and that’s right when Assistant Coach Alando Tucker, who also has the record for most points ever scored by a Badger, got five-on-fives going.

After we got broken up into teams, we started “king of the court.” If you don’t know what that means, it’s a system where if you win on Court 3, you move up to Court 2.

If you win there, you move to the “King’s Court,” where you play the team that just won, and therefore got to stay. If you lose on the King’s Court, you go all the way back to Court 3.ww The King’s Court is where all the coaches are, watching the best of the best battle it out for a roster spot. Humblebrag here — our team did win a game on the King’s Court, only to be bounced in the next one.

King of the court went on for a good 45 minutes, until Coach Tucker — who was essentially in charge of the tryout along with assistant Dean Oliver — listed off ten guys they wanted to get a better look at in one final game.

To my shock and delight, Tucker said my name.

Just kidding.

While the actual final ten battled it out for the walk-on spot, I asked Tucker about what they’re looking for, and what that person can expect as a member of the team.

“We’re looking for somebody that actually has a little experience playing, and can step in day one and challenge the guys on this team,” Tucker said.

“They need to embody the Wisconsin idea by being a great student and a leader in the community. It’s a commitment. You have to balance it with school.

Whoever’s chosen is going to have to sacrifice nights out with friends. It’s about dedication.”

Tucker didn’t tell me who the newest member of the Wisconsin Badgers was going to be, so maybe there’s still a chance for me. If I am picked, it’ll be a sad day for Aleem Ford, because I want No. 2.

Sorry, Professor Marche.

Walking into the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion — the Badgers practice arena — the first thing I saw was massive posters of every active player on the back wall.

I’m sure the thought I had was the same as everyone else: “Make room for me.”

The same thoughts raced through my mind as the assistant coaches, players and then the man everyone was there to impress, Head Coach Greg Gard, came onto the court.

Some were throwing down tomahawk dunks, some were trying to discreetly only dribble with their right hand.

But it was clear from the start, everyone was there to work hard and — even if they didn’t make the team — experience something not a lot of people get to at a big school like University of Wisconsin.

Lefty Pendarakis, a freshman here at UW, was one of many there to show off his talents.

“I played basketball all four years in high school, and play pretty often here at the Shell, so I figured I’d at least show up and try,” Pendarakis said.

When I asked him about his favorite Badgers, he named off Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, citing his attendance at one of the Final Four games back in 2015 as a reason why.

Moments like those, even as the last man off the bench, is what everyone was fighting to be a part of.

And any of the 50-something guys there would have ran through a brick wall if it meant they got picked.

That intensity came to a head the moment 18 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

Photo · Open tryouts for walk-on spots are not common place for Badger basketball or even collegiate sports as a whole Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

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SPORTS

Rugby: The most successful UW sport you’ve never followed UW club rugby team captured Big Ten championship last fall, just one example of storied history for oft-ignored sport

by John Spengler Sports Editor

Imagine for a moment that a casual fan of Badger sports is asked to name which program is the most successful on campus. What do you think they would answer?

It’s quite easy to picture them listing off some combination of sports that tend to get the most attention, namely football, basketball and hockey.

Yet, the success of Badger sports doesn’t end there.

In fact, it doesn’t even end with official NCAA sports programs here in Madison.

Enter the University of Wisconsin club rugby team. With senior captain Malcolm Clark and senior president Mark Hermann leading the team, the Badgers have been able to accrue success at the conference and national level in recent years.

Much of this success is ultimately due to the interest in the sport on campus, Hermann said.

“We get a lot of people to show up through the org fair,” Hermann said. “I think we had 70 students show up this year and had around 25 of them show up to the practices.”

For a club sport with no varsity standing and no scholarships to give out, that’s a shockingly high turnout. This is due to the simple fact that

the participants that come out for every year’s practices and rough games aren’t there for the more material benefits of collegiate sports.

Instead, they decide to join the team for largely the same reason — they want to continue to compete in a highly physical arena of sport. Clark explained his pitch to potential recruits.

“I talk to them as if I’m in their shoes,” Clark said. “I had no rugby experience but had played multiple sports before. I was looking to keep up the competition and contact sports that I missed.”

Like most club sports on campus, a love for competition and physicality drives participation.

For many domestic students, rugby serves as an outlet for those who played similar sports in high school, mostly wrestling and football.

Yet, there exists another subset of the student population that is often more familiar with rugby than their fellow team members — international students.

“Last semester we had two guys from New Zealand come over,” Hermann said. “They might not expect us to do as well as we do, and they were a little surprised by how well we did.”

With such a wide breadth of backgrounds contributing to the team, as well as a common passion for raw competition, it is difficult to

imagine that the Badgers’ club rugby team would be anything but successful.

In fact, last year was one of their best seasons in recent memory as they managed to take home the Big Ten title after a grueling fall season. The title came after repeated seasons in which the Badgers fell just short of making the championship game.

“It was awesome to accomplish that goal, as we had come so close over the past three years,” Hermann said.

The Badgers are a staple in Big Ten post season play. Last year was their year, as they finally took home the championship trophy.

Their success did not end there, though, as the Badgers made an appearance at the D1A national championship tournament after qualifying through their Big Ten victory.

While they ultimately fell to Lindenwood in that national tournament, their presence on arguably the biggest stage in college rugby demonstrates just how important this team is to the UW sports community.

To achieve this level of success, a certain level of dedication is needed from their top individual competitors. Multiple practices a week, traveling to games nearly every weekend of the season and occasional film sessions are all required of the best

players on the team.

Even as this is the case for the team’s A side, those who wish to derive benefits from the team outside of success on the national level certainly have the opportunity to do so.

“You get to determine what level of commitment you want to put in since we have three teams,” Clark said. “If you want to make it a social thing and just come out and learn to play rugby, you can do that too. We always say that school comes first — there just needs to be that communication there.”

There’s a little bit of everything for anyone with the desire to become involved with the team. No matter what skill level you’re at or if you’ve ever even stepped on a rugby pitch before, there’s a spot for you on the team.

More importantly, the life-long benefits gained from competition with the club rugby team are accessible to anyone.

Clark detailed his own experience with this aspect of the team.

“I’ve really learned life skills that come with any sport but also from fulfilling a leadership role.”

You can find the full version of this article at badgerherald.com

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Football: Inconsistencies continue to show through AP ranking system

Despite being ranked No. 8 following victory over Michigan, Wisconsin has reason to be upset with preseason polls

by Ben Kenney Associate Sports Editor

After the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team beat Michigan, they found themselves ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll the following day.

Wisconsin fans know all too well the inconsistencies of the poll and its tendency to undervalue the Big Ten as a whole — specifically the Badgers — seemingly every year.

This inconsistency is based around the preseason poll, as writers from around the country construct a top 25 without seeing the teams play, and then require massive victories or surprising losses before they move a team far from their preseason rankings.

The preseason poll is also often based around performances from the previous year, and not the current talent level of the teams.

The most prominent example of this has been

seen this year with Head Coach Paul Chryst’s Badgers.

Chryst’s team came into 2018 after a stellar 2017 season in which they finished 13-1 and fell one drive away from a birth in the College Football Playoff.

They began the year ranked No. 4 in the nation despite losing much of their defensive talent from the previous year.

Wisconsin then won in week one and dropped to No. 5, won in week two and dropped to No. 6 and narrowly lost in week three and dropped to No. 18.

This movement makes sense in the context of last year: The team won their first two weeks against poor teams but didn’t look dominant doing so, and then went on to lose to an unranked BYU in week three.

The Badgers dropped out of the rankings after week nine and ended the season ranked outside of the top 25.

After a disappointing 2018 season, Chryst

returned his defensive core and injured players and entered the season undoubtedly with a far more talented offense and a better quarterback under center.

Fairly, the AP Poll had the Badgers ranked No. 19 entering the year.

What has happened during the first four weeks of the year has shown the AP Poll’s inability to forget its preseason rankings and actually evaluate the teams based on their performances during the present season.

The Badgers opened the season with a 49–0 victory on the road against South Florida.

The win was an impressive one and saw the Badgers look dominant on both sides of the ball. Nearly all of their preseason questions were answered this game, including whether Jack Coan could effectively lead the team, if the new offensive line would hold up and how the defense would perform without T.J. Edwards, Ryan Connelly and D’Cota Dixon.

Despite the dominant performance, the

Photo · Pre-season AP Polls have tendency to throw a wrench in Badgers’ progression through national college football rankings.

Hazel Tang The Badger Herald 20 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

Badgers moved up only two spots. Two spots.

And they were still ranked below Oregon, a team who lost week one.

Had the “original” rankings come out after the first week of the season, which is what should happen, the Badgers would have been ranked at least in the top 12 and close to the top 10.

Joel Klatt—a college football analyst for Fox Sports—agrees. In back-to-back tweets last week, Klatt mentioned two major grievances with the AP Poll.

First, Klatt said that preseason polls suck because teams that don’t deserve to be in the top five, like Clemson, still find themselves there after four weeks because of preconceived bias.

He followed this tweet up just a day later stating that without the preseason polls, Wisconsin might be a top 3-5 team in the rankings right now based simply on the “eye test.”

Nevertheless, Chryst’s team followed up their shutout victory week one with another shutout, this one 61–0 against Central Michigan.

Over two weeks, the Badgers had outscored their opponents 110-0, their best point differential through two games since 1915.

How far did they move up after another dominant performance? Three spots, to No. 14.

They still sat behind Texas, who lost that week, and Michigan, who needed overtime to beat Army.

Week four came around and the No. 13 Badgers throttled No. 11 Michigan 35–14, and only moved up to No. 8.

Through three games the Badgers have outscored their opponents 145–14 and now, in the words of the national media, have finally played somebody good.

After ranking the Badgers No. 19 to start the season, the AP writers have been hesitant to move them above other teams in the rankings, despite the Badgers looking like one of the most dominant teams in the country.

This year can’t be the only time the AP undervalued the Badgers in the preseason, right?

After searching the AP Poll records dating back to 2004, history shows that since that year, the Badgers have ended the season with a ranking higher than their preseason ranking in ten of 15 years, including going from unranked at the beginning of the season to ranked at the end of the season on four different occasions.

In order for the AP poll to improve its authority, they must do two things.

First, release the first poll after the first week of games, not in the preseason.

Second, evaluate teams based on their performance, not whether they’re in the Southeastern Conference with the likes of Alabama.

If the AP can change their system in these ways, the Big Ten and the Wisconsin Badgers will start getting the national respect they

SPORTS

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Volleyball: Rettke remains hungry following summer with Team USA Dana Rettke dominated college volleyball for past two years, finishing All-American both seasons, earning spot on U.S. national team

by Colton Mosley Sports Writer

Junior Dana Rettke has been one of the most intimidating forces in college volleyball for over two years now. A two-time AllAmerican, Rettke has been a dominant force for Wisconsin since making her debut as a freshman in 2017.

Prior to Dana Rettke’s first game in a Badger uniform, she received some special advice from departing Badger volleyball legend Lauren Carlini.

“I had a conversation with [Carlini] about how you need to set high goals if you want to be on the national team,” Rettke said.

Rettke, now a junior, set those lofty goals, and they led her right where Carlini pointed.

This summer, Rettke, a towering, 6-foot-8 middle blocker, joined Carlini on the U.S. Women’s National Team. The team featured only three players with collegiate eligibility, and Rettke was the only non-senior.

The U.S. women went on to win the FIVB Volleyball Nations League title over Brazil in Nanjing, China.

Carlini held national team aspirations

since childhood, but Rettke didn’t recognize her own potential until her first season at Wisconsin.

“Not until my freshman year of college, I didn’t really realize what I was capable of,” Rettke said. “My freshman year coming in here I was just kind of like, ‘Oh, let’s see what I can do, we’ll just see where I level up against everybody.’”

The nation has seen what she can do for the past two years, and adversaries are fearing what she might accomplish in her final two seasons.

Rettke has been an AVCA All-America FirstTeam selection her first two years at Wisconsin.

This puts her in position to land first-team selections in each of her four years — a feat that only five Division 1 players have done in AVCA All-America history.

Carlini was the Badger closest to accomplishing this with three first-team selections.

Rettke’s experience with Team USA and legendary former player and Head Coach Karch Kiraly has primed her for another year of All-American volleyball in the treacherous Big Ten. Wisconsin Head Coach Kelly Sheffield

spoke with The Badger Herald about Rettke’s improvements from the summer abroad.

“I think it was a great opportunity and experience for her. Playing with and against some of the best players in the world is priceless,” Sheffield said.

Sheffield also added the noticeable improvements in her consistency on serves and block attempts.

A summer with Team USA has also enlarged the bright red target that already followed the Riverside, Illinois native. Opposing teams stalk Rettke across the net hoping to block the AllAmerican, and a block on Rettke tends to elicit louder-than-usual celebratory screams.

“I use it as motivation. I wish I just never got blocked, but when I see teams get super excited like that’s their energy and their momentum, I just kind of got to cut if off right away,” Rettke said. “Usually I just tell Syd[ney Hilley] to set me right away, and it’s all good.”

Rettke’s fierceness has terrified opponents for the past two years. With that fierceness, opponents have thrown everything at Rettke and the Badgers this year as they currently sit at 4–4 after a brutal non-conference schedule.

Now, Wisconsin faces an even tougher

stretch in the cutthroat Big Ten schedule, a challenge that Rettke welcomes each year.

“It’s the best conference in the country … just playing against the best in the country every single night,” Rettke said. “It really kind of trains your mind to come prepared to every single game because you never know what’s going to happen. You’re playing for that Final Four match or that National Championship match every single night.”

Three of the Badgers’ next four games come against ranked opponents, and two of those matches feature Big Ten rivals No. 5 Penn State and No. 3 Nebraska. Rettke is looking to clean up her defense at the net, which she noted has been her focus since the preseason.

Sheffield also pointed to that as her greatest area of needed progression.

“I think the biggest area that she’s got to continue to grow in is to be a stronger presence at the net defensively,” Sheffield said. “Get her hands on more balls. Stuff more balls. Make cleaner reads.”

An improved defensive effort could spell another All-American season for Rettke and some Badger success after a bumpy start to the 2019 campaign.

Football: This week holds huge implications for Big Ten Title fight

Badgers have been to two straight Big Ten Championships, have fallen in both contests against Penn State, The Ohio State University

by Harrison Freuck Sports Editor

While the University of Wisconsin’s overall athletic performance has stayed roughly the same, if not better than it was in 2011, the economic impact their athletic program has had on the state in that time has fallen by more than one-third.

While construction spending by the athletic department has decreased since 2011, according to a UW official, this decrease only accounts for some of the drop.

The economic impact study — produced

by Philadelphia consulting firm Econsult Solutions, Inc. — also showed that Badgers sports support 4,480 jobs in Wisconsin, another decrease compared to 2011.

Even with the decrease, there shouldn’t be any reason to worry, UW Senior Associate Athletic Director Justin Doherty told the Wisconsin State Journal.

The economic impact report showed a current average annual income of $610 million, compared to $970 million in 2011.

Adjusted for today’s inflation, the 2011 report showed an impact of $1.1 billion

along with 8,853 jobs.

Both of these numbers represent drastic changes overall, but Doherty said much of the change here can be attributed to the planned costs for the construction of LaBahn Arena, which opened in 2012, and the Stephen M. Bennett Student-Athlete Performance Center, which opened in 2014.

The 2019 report did not factor in upcoming major projects at the Kohl Center and Camp Randall Stadium.

But even with those projects taken out of the picture, there still seems to be a major discrepancy. For example, why have the jobs been cut nearly in half?

Doherty said that can be attributed to Econsult Solutions taking a conservative approach in their report this year.

This year ’s data also showed a $395 million annual impact for Madison and nearly 2 million visitors to the city per year.

Overall, the report estimated that tourism from UW sporting events results in $203 million in spending across the state. Athletic Director Barry Alvarez contributed to a news release after the report became public.

“The fact that Badgers Athletics has such

an impact on our city, region and state is a great source of pride for us,” Alvarez said.

“Our athletic program is woven into the fabric of not only the Madison area, but all over our great state.”

Wisconsin football is a major driving force of revenue for the city of Madison and the state of Wisconsin, drawing over 70,000 fans per game.

Each Badger home football game contributes $16 million to the Wisconsin economy, but they still averaged 15,000 noshows per game last season, their lowest attendance rate since at least 2006, when UW began keeping track of total ticket scans per game.

This drop in attendance may be one of many factors to blame for the decreased revenue in 2019, but Doherty stated the report won’t have large direct impact on how UW manages its athletics operations.

“We can say a football weekend at Wisconsin is a big economic driver or really has a big impact on the area or the city or the region or the state, but doing this project puts numbers to it that you can point to and hang your hat on,” Doherty said.

The budget for UW Athletics has increased consistently over the last several years, sitting at $159.4 million for the 201920 school year, up 11% from last year and 61% from five years ago. In all, the UW Athletic Department has more than 900 athletes in 23 sports, with nearly 400 fulltime staff members.

Wisconsin’s athletic department will continue to move forward with numerous projects at their sports facilities, including renovations of Camp Randall, the Kohl Center and the UW Field House.

The master plan also includes updates at the McClimon Track/Soccer Complex and Nielsen Tennis Stadium, along with the new Nicholas Recreation Center which is being partially funded by the revenue generated by the UW Athletic Department.

Even with UW Athletics having a decreased economic impact compared to the 2011 report, it is safe to say that UW Athletics is thriving under Barry Alvarez, who has brought Wisconsin sports back to prominence since taking over as head coach of the football team in 1990.

October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 21

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Spooky Story Corner: The claws of the spooky bike strike our hero A hit (?) from last year, Spooky Story Corner returns with all new spooks, plots, twists, turns, bikes, skeletons, AirPods

by Angela Peterson Public Relations Director

Last October, Spooky Story Corner graced the pages of The Badger Herald with a spooky sneer. The tale of the ghostly TA and lovable pencil sidekick won the hearts of the exactly seven people who read it.

This year, we bring you a new spooky story serial that will haunt all of your exam stressinduced nightmares. Stay tuned to this page throughout the month of October to get your fill of the spooky-ooky story.

“PARK. Walk sign is ON to cross PARK.” The stirring strains of the crosswalk bleeted once again as Tommy Turnwell, a University of Wisconsin senior, crossed Park Street. He was used to these strains by now, after all he had spent three whole years in Madison. Everything seemed to be normal — the throngs of freshmen on their Androids, the creaky sidewalks littered with Qdobas past, the beautiful look of a recovered Vilas Hall after last year ’s catastrophe. Tommy just needed to get to Fresh Madison Market to pick up some sushi from the deli. It was all that was on

his mind.

Distracting Tommy further, though, were his AirPods. Those majestic beings seemed capable of locking out all of the world around Tommy, making him completely unaware of his surroundings. This was particularly true as Tommy’s jam — a remix of “Spooky Scary Skeletons” — came raring on the speakers. He found it almost impossible not to bop a bit down the street.

In fact, he started muttering the words to himself.

“Spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your …”

Tommy’s tune was cut off by a sudden slam. Whilst Tommy was distracted by the rad beat, another spooky skeleton had descended into Tommy’s world. Riding on the sidewalk full-speed in his spiky cycle of doom, the skeleton hit Tommy with such a force that they were both transported to another world.

In a word, he fell into the claws of the bike.

“Hey, why’d you think you could ride a bike on the sidewalk like that?” Tommy said. “The bike lane was right there! I could have gotten a concussion!”

“SiLEnCe YOu mOrtAl!” the skeleton shrieked. “It is I, the spookiest skeleton, bearer of spooky punishments. Art thou Tommy Turnwell?”

Tommy did not know whether he should respond in ancient-speak or in a modern tongue. He went with modern, hoping to appease a new sensibility in the skeleton.

“Yeah bro, I’m Tommy. Why’d you ask?” he queried.

A villainous chortle leapt out of the skeleton.

“Ho ho ho,” the skeleton said. “Wait that is Santa. Wrong holiday. Hehehe. Little do you know, Tommy, you have committed one of the greatest injustices against the skeletal world that you possibly could.

What are those things you had in your ears again?”

“Uh, AirPods?” Tommy replied.

He was a little chilly and in that moment regretted wearing a bro tank and shorts that day.

“Right,” the skeleton said. “Well it’s like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ every time an AirPod plays ‘Spooky Scary Skeletons,’ a skeleton loses its upright posture and turns to dust.”

Tommy looked a little concerned.

“Ope,” he gasped.

The skeleton revealed its heart, or at least where it would be.

“My name is Tommy too,” Tommy the skeleton said. “I used to be accompanied in this wretched underworld by my lover, Tommette. But YOU! You killed her with your silly spooky skeleton remix track.

Well, re-killed her. For that, you must pay.”

Quivering, Tommy thought back on his life. Ah, the joys of youth. He cursed the day he ever paid $150 for these AirPods.

How could a device be so cruel?

There was an audible gulp. Bigger than a Double Gulp from 7-Eleven. Bigger than the biggest gulp that ever was gulped.

The problem? Tommy the human wasn’t sure if it was coming from him or something else.

In fact, it probably was coming from something else.

What is making that gulp noise? Will Tommy the human be able to escape from the clutches of Tommy the skeleton? Why are they letting me write a new story for Spooky Story Corner? Flip the page back to this column next week to have your questions answered.

HEY YOU! Yes you.

Did you submit your Canvas assignment?

You should.

Just saying.

22 • badgerherald.com • October 1, 2019

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October 1, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 23