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Typhoon Haiyan hits home Student  feels  loss,  pain,  pride,  but  plans  for  fundraiser By Michael Riley News  Editor
Junior  Matthew  Buskirk  was  working  on  a  self-Âportrait  for  one  of  his  art  classes  on  Nov.  8  while  watching  NBC  Nightly  News  with  Brian  Williams  when  he  began  watching  a  personally  disturbing  broadcast. He  watched  Typhoon  Haiyan’s  195  mph  winds  snapping  trees  and  UDLQV Ă€ RRGLQJ WKH HQWLUH QDWLRQ RI the  Philippines   —  a  place  much  of  his  family  calls  home.  The  natural  disaster  tore  through  the  Philippines  de- stroying  about  500,000  homes,  displacing  3  mil- Buskirk lion  people  and  affecting  nearly  9.8  million  people,  according  to  the  United  Nations. The  broadcast  left  Buskirk  with  a  combination  of  hopelessness  and  broken  pride.   Buskirk’s  father  was  a  Marine  and  met  his  mother  while  stationed  in  the  Philippines  before  they  married,  moved  and  settled  in  Fort  Atkinson. “I  had  an  identity  crisis,â€?  Bus- kirk  said.  “I  didn’t  understand  what Â
Courtesy photo
Doming and Christina Perdido, the grandparents of junior art major Matthew Buskirk stand in Ramon, Isabela located in the Philippine Islands in 1985. Much of Buskirk’s family living in the Philippines has felt the impact of Typhoon Haiyan.
was  going  on,  but  I  didn’t  know  how  to  react  either.â€? Buskirk’s  Aunt  Carmen  and  family  live  in  Ramon,  Isabela,  a  small  province  in  the  island  of  Lu- zon.  To  earn  a  living,  they  harvest  ULFH IURP WKHLU Âż HOGV 7KH SKRQH LV their  only  form  of  communication  and  has  remained  available  for  the  relatives,  who  have  a  Vonage  phone Â
plan. Despite  the  large  scale  of  de- struction,  Buskirk  said  thankfully  they  were  not  as  affected  as  se- verely  as  the  majority  of  the  more  FHQWUDO LVODQGV EXW WKHLU Âż HOGV KDYH EHHQ Ă€ RRGHG GUDVWLFDOO\ LPSDFWLQJ their  source  of  income.  Buskirk  said  the  way  of  life  in  the  Philippines  compared  to  Amer-Â
Andrea Behling graphic/%HKOLQJ$0 #XZZ HGX
ica  is  night  and  day.   His  family  al- ready  did  not  have  much,  and  now  ZLWK Ă€ RRGV WKHLU VLWXDWLRQ LV RQO\ becoming  worse.  Buskirk  said  his  four  younger  cousins  have  very  little  and  anything  can  help. “My  mom  and  I  have  been  sending  money,  but  if  we  can  send  anything,  we  send  pens  and  pen- cils,â€?  he  said.   “The  littlest  one,  Rosemary,  always  takes  pencils  from  the  oldest,  Raymond.  They  ZLOO Âż JKW RYHU WKH VLPSOHVW WKLQJV ´
Buskirk’s  mother  has  been  talk- ing  to  their  family  overseas  nonstop  since  the  disaster,  and  has  not  been  back  to  the  Philippines  in  29  years.   He  said  she  always  encourages  him  to  still  have  pride  in  their  nation. Qian  Qian,  a  graduate  student  from  China,  said  she  heard  about  the  seriousness  of  the  disaster  from  her  mother.   “Wisconsin  is  a  safe  place  to Â
See  Typhoon  Page  3
New bench adorns University Center said  Oertle  emailed  him  with  the  proposal,  causing  Plinske  to  become  interested  in  The  most  recent  art  installation  on  bringing  something  to  campus  that  could  FDPSXV LV RQH WKDW H[HPSOLÂż HV VFKRRO VSLULW bring  a  sense  of  community. former  athletic  director  Paul  Plinske  said. “I  wanted  the  mascot  bench  to  be  a  great  And  what  better  to  symbolize  UW- source  of  pride,  not  only  for  athletics,  but  the  Whitewater  pride  than  the  bird  himself: entire  university,â€?  Plinske  said.  “I  knew  we  Willie  the  Warhawk. needed  a  way  to  celebrate  our  mascot  and  A  life-Âsize  bronze  statue  of  Willie  the  create  a  permanent  feature  that  people  could  Warhawk  leaning  on  a  bench  was  installed  in  see,  touch  and  embrace.â€?  the  University  Center  on  Oct.  28.  The  mascot  bench  also  The  sculpture  cost  around  $40,000,  can  be  used  to  showcase  and  the  funding  for  the  project  came  from  Whitewater’s  mascot  and  several  sources.  About  half  the  funding  came  give  visitors  a  symbol  to  from  program  fees  and  departmental  car- remember  Whitewater  by.  ryover,  while  the  rest  of  the  funds  stemmed  “The  mascot  bench  from  gift  funding  and  Res  Life. concept  enables  people  to  Sculptor  Virgil  Oertle  from  Salt  Lake  capture  their  own  photos  Plinske City,  Utah,  designed  the  mascot  bench  that  with  Willie.  It’s  a  great  now  resides  next  to  the  Beans  coffee  shop,  way  to  market  the  univer- across  from  Graham  Street  CafĂŠ.    sity  and  bring  excitement  to  our  campus,â€?  The  mascot  bench  was  Plinske’s  idea.  He  See  Bench Page  2 By Jacqueline Schaefer Staff  Writer
Lucas Wimmer photo/:LPPHU/$ #XZZ HGX
The life-size sculpture of Willie the Warhawk leans on the back of an attached bench outside of Beans coffee shop. The bench cost about $40,000. Funding came from mulitple sources, including gift funding.
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