April  9,  2014
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Election  feud  comes  to  close Lynn  Binnie  wins  Common  Council  seat By Alexandria Zamecnik Assistant  News  Editor
Alexandria Zamecnik photo/=DPHFQLN$( #XZZ HGX
The cheetah, the fastest land mammal on earth, was among eight other animals from across the world in Wild Safari with Jack Hanna on April 7. Both shows drew more than 400 community members and students to see the animals.
After  weeks  of  feuding  between  Whitewater  Common  Council  in- cumbent  Lynn  Binnie  and  candi- date  Paul  Yvarra,  the  battle  is  over. Binnie  won  the  Aldermanic  District  4  with  283  votes  compared  to  Yvarra’s  111. In  an  article  titled  “Whitewater  common  coun- cil  candidate  mistakes  about  opponent,â€?  by  the  Janesville  Gazette,  Yvarra  claimed  Bin- nie’s  employer,  Binnie Fairhaven  Retire- ment  Community,  had  not  kept  its  agreements  relating  to  a  tax  incre- PHQW Âż QDQFH GLVWULFW 7D[ LQFUHPHQW Âż QDQFH 7,) districts  are  tools  for  the  govern- ment  to  attract  private  business.  The  TIF  is  used  as  a  subsidy  for  redevel- opment.  Yvarra  later  admitted  in  the  ar- ticle  that  he  had  made  a  mistake. Both  candidates  attended  the  Whitewater  Common  Council Â
forum  held  by  Whitewater  Student  Government  and  did  not  withhold  their  opinion  on  the  Janesville  Ga- zette  article. “Facts  are  very  important  to  me,  and  that  is  why  I  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  before  each  meeting  understanding  the  issues,â€?  Binnie  said.  “For  that  reason,  it  has  been  especially  disappointing  to  me,  the  number  of  inaccuracies  in  my  oppo- nent’s  campaign  literature.â€? Binnie  said  besides  the  inaccu- racies,  Yvarra  has  made  a  number  of  misleading  statements,  and  that  could  impact  how  Yvarra  leads. “I’m  sure  my  opponent  is  sin- cere  in  his  desire  to  serve  the  city,  but  frankly  I  do  not  believe  he  has  Yvarra a  good  grasp  on  the  issues  facing  the  district  and  the  city,â€?  Binnie  said.  Yvarra,  a  former  professor  at  UW-ÂWhitewater,  said  he  was  shocked  at  what  Binnie  said  and  be- lieves  Binnie  went  to  the  extreme. “Mr.  Binnie  got  real  personal,â€?  Yvarra  said.  “He  said  I  wasn’t  ac- curate.  What  the  paper  said  is  cor- rect.â€?
See  Council  Page  3
His life after pro football Former  Green  Bay  Packer  talks  of  coming  out  post-ÂNFL By Allyson Karnowski Staff  Writer
With  the  2014  Pride  Week  well  underway,  keynote  speaker  and  former  NFL  player  Esera  Tuaolo  will  appear  at  7  p.m.  April  9  in   the  University  Center  Hamilton  Room  to  share  his  story  of  being  one  of  only  three  professional  football  players  to  come  out  as  gay.  Sponsored  by  the  PB  Poorman  PRIDE  Resource  Center  and  student  organization  IM- PACT,  this  year’s  Pride  Week  is  highlighted  by  a  role  model  who  has  not  only  been  in  the  NFL  but  has  also  appeared  on  “Oprah,â€?  “The  Tyra  Banks  Showâ€?  and  has  published  an  autobiog- raphy. Â
Tuaolo,  45,  played  defensive  tackle  in  the  NFL  for  nine  seasons  before  coming  out  in  2002  on  an  interview  for  HBO’s  “Real  Sportsâ€?  show.  In  1991,  he  began  his  NFL  career  with  Wisconsin’s  own  Green  Bay  Packers.  Tuaolo  also  played  for  the  Vikings,  Jag- uars,  Panthers  and  Falcons.  Although  he  said  he  doesn’t  have  a  favorite  team,  his  favorite  year  playing  was  1999,  when  he  made  it  to  Su- per  Bowl  XXXIII  with  the  Falcons.  “It  was  like  putting  cake  in  front  of  a  little  kid,â€?  Tuaolo  said.  “It’s  a  highlight  of  any  foot- ball  player’s  career.â€?  Although  the  team-Âplayer  enjoyed  living  out  his  dreams  in  the  spotlight,  there  was  a  hid- den  part  of  his  life  not  shown  on  TV.  During  an  interview  with  “Peopleâ€?  maga- zine  in  2006,  Tuaolo  said,  “Every  day  I  walked Â
Students’  art  displayed  in  annual  exhibit Page  10
into  the  fear  that  if  I  slipped  up,  said  the  wrong  thing,  looked  at  a  naked  player  too  long,  I’d  get  outed.â€?  It  was  barely  two  decades  ago,  but  Tuaolo  said  the  NFL  used  to  be  a  “hostile,  masculine  environment.â€?   Constantly  holding  onto  a  se- cret  drained  the  pleasure  from  even  his  best  ac- complishments.  Looking  back  on  those  challenging  years,  Tuaolo  wished  there  had  been  greater  accep- tance  of  the  gay  society  that  today’s  profes- sional  athletes  receive.  He  recognized  this  widespread  support,  crediting  it  to  cultural  education  and  many  more  people  being  true  to  themselves.  After  publicly  coming  out,  he  initially  re- ceived  a  lot  of  hate.  Tuaolo  said  there  was  a  lot  of  support  that  also  came  in,  but  much  of  what  he  saw  were  people  condemning  him  and Â
his  family.  As  a  father  of  twins,  now  13  years  old,  he  said  he  tried  to  shelter  them  from  the  negativ- ity,  staying  focused  on  keeping  the  family  safe  and  happy.  +H VDLG LW ZDV GLIÂż FXOW WR UDLVH KLV NLGV ÂłLQ WKH FORVHW ´ $QG QRZ ÂłZH IHHO FRQÂż GHQW DQG complete.â€?  “I  had  been  acting  all  my  life,  pretending  to  EH VWUDLJKW 6R LW ZDV D QDWXUDO Âż W ´ 7XDROR VDLG Tuaolo,  now  living  in  Minnesota,  has  been  in  several  commercials  and  was  recently  cast  for  a  TV  show  pilot  set  to  air  in  May.  Besides  theatre,  he  said  he’s  dedicated  his  energy  and  focus  to  traveling  the  country,  speaking  on  acceptance,  homophobia  and  anti- bulling. Â
Jersey  Mike’s  focuses  on  fresh  food,  community Page  5
Student-ÂRun  Weekly  Newspaper  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin-ÂWhitewater
See  UW-W Pride  Page  9