Weekend, January 21-23, 2011 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

Gosling, Williams ‘Blue’ themselves Harrowing performances makes marriage seem even worse

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Complete campus coverage since 1892

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The Dirty Bird returns with tips for the elusive female orgasm

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Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

Walker cuts biofuel project at Charter Plant Natural gas plans will move forward, as scheduled By Ariel Shapiro the daily cardinal

kathryn weenig/the daily cardinal

Chinese students from around the midwest gathered in Chicago to welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday. Approximately 200 Chinese Madison community members attended the event.

UW students support, protest Hu Jintao visit Protesters allege Chinese paid to show support for divisive president By Kathryn Weenig and Kayla Johnson the daily cardinal

CHICAGO—When Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Chicago Thursday, he was met by Chinese students fanatically waving their nation’s flag and Tibetans passionately protesting his visit. Their journeys merged, and as Tibetan and Chinese groups faced each other on bustling Michigan Avenue in Chicago, they chanted their opposing convictions amongst police whistles and honking buses: “We Love

China!” and “Shame, Shame, China, Shame!” Six buses packed with Chinese UW-Madison students and community members caravanned from the Memorial Union to Chicago to welcome President Hu Jintao.

“The Chinese government wants others to feel like China is united.” Tsering Yama Students For A Free Tibet

That same morning, one bus filled with Tibetans from UW and the Madison area also drove to Chicago to protest President Hu Jintao’s human rights policies and the Chinese occupation

of Tibet. A member of the UW-Madison Chinese Student and Scholars Association said the Chinese government paid for the Chinese students’ transportation to the event, but he did not specify whether the attendees were paid in addition to busing costs. David Liu, president of UWCSSA, said the Chinese government did not pay for the UW-Madison students to attend the event. Similar allegations have been made at University of Maryland and Northwestern University. However, some claim that Chinese students at those schools were paid $20-$80 in addition to food and transportation costs. Liu said since UWCSSA did not publicize who paid for the transportation, many people

Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch terminated plans for the biofuel boiler at the Charter Street Power Plant on the UW-Madison campus Thursday. Huebsch said the decision would save taxpayers $100 million. Although the biofuel boiler will not be constructed, the natural gas component of the plant will go forward. “The coal fired boilers will be retired by 2012 as planned,” Huebsch said in a statement. “We are moving forward with the two natural gas boilers and we will be studying the alternatives for meeting the campus need for steam into the future.” State Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, said he opposed the decision to cancel the biofuel boiler from not just an environmental standpoint, but an economic one as well. “Using natural gas only will

also continue to cost Wisconsin residents the $16 billion we ship out of state for natural gas and other fuels, costing the state 400,000 jobs,” Hulsey said in a statement. “A better solution is to implement the hybrid gas and biomass boiler to produce home grown energy and jobs.” Former governor Jim Doyle began breaking ground on the “We will be studying the alternatives for meeting the campus need for steam into the future.” Mike Huebsch secretary Department of Administration

plant in the end of October. Shortly after the election, Gov. Scott Walker expressed his concerns in a letter to Doyle on how effective biofuel use would be, claiming natural gas is cleaner and cheaper. Walker asked Doyle during his transition period to halt construction on the Charter Street Plant but the Doyle administration did not comply.

Third candidate emerges from mayoral race By Maggie DeGroot the daily cardinal

It was standing room only at the Grand Hall in the Capitol Lakes Retirement Community despite the freezing temperatures as the first of many mayoral forums began Thursday. Capital Times Associate Editor John Nichols hosted the forum organized by Capital Neighborhoods Inc. Incumbent

Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor Paul Soglin, City Engineering Construction Supervisor John Blotz, Madison resident Dennis Amadeus de Nure and stand-up comedian Nick Hart presented their views and answered questions. Blotz, a UW-Madison alumnus and a life-long resident of debate page 3

china page 3

Dane County Sheriff Deputies make four OWI arrests Dane County Sheriff Deputies made four Operating While Intoxicated arrests early Thursday morning, including two felonies, after making eight further OWI arrests over the past weekend. The first felony occurred when a deputy responded to a call around 12:55 a.m., Dane County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Elise Schaffer said in a statement.

Daniel Dean, of Madison, was found asleep at the wheel in a Sun Prairie driveway with his engine running. He was arrested for his fourth OWI, operating after suspension, felony bail jumping and possession of a schedule four narcotic, according to the statement. The second felony occurred at approximately 2:32 a.m., when a Dane County deputy noticed erratic

driving on North Fair Oaks Avenue. The deputy ran the car’s license plates and found the driver had a revoked license. After performing field sobriety tests, the deputy arrested Jason E. Schliewe for his fourth OWI offense, operating after revocation and driving without insurance, Schaffer said. The other arrests made were first-offense OWIs.

ben pierson/the daily cardinal

Former mayor Paul Soglin and incumbent Dave Cieslewicz answer questions at the first of many mayoral forums.

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

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friDAY: partly sunny hi 02º / lo 0º

saturday: partly sunny hi 13º / lo -1º

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Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892

Gary, aka ShadowFiend, thinks reality is bunco

Volume 120, Issue 73

2142 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, Wis., 53706-1497 (608) 262-8000 • fax (608) 262-8100

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Emma Roller Managing Editor Parker Gabriel Campus Editor Kayla Johnson City Editor Maggie DeGroot State Editor Ariel Shapiro Enterprise Editor Alison Dirr Associate News Editor Scott Girard Senior News Reporters Molly Reppen Opinion Editors Dan Tollefson Samantha Witthuhn Editorial Board Chair Hannah Furfaro Arts Editors Jeremy Gartzke Todd Stevens Sports Editors Mark Bennett Ryan Evans Page Two Editor Victoria Statz Life & Style Editor Stephanie Rywak Features Editor Stephanie Lindholm Photo Editors Ben Pierson Kathryn Weenig Graphics Editors Dylan Moriarty Natasha Soglin Multimedia Editors Erin Banco Eddy Cevilla Briana Nava Page Designers Claire Silverstein Joy Shin Copy Chiefs Jacqueline O’Reilly Margaret Raimann Nico Savidge Rachel Schulze Copy Editors Hannah Geise, Danny Marchewka

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Cole Wenzel Advertising Manager Mara Greenwald Accounts Receivable Manager Amanda Frankwick Billing Manager Katie Breckenfelder Senior Account Executive Taylor Grubbs Account Executive Nick Bruno Alyssa Flemmer Matt Jablon Anna Jeon Dan Kaplan Mitchell Keuer Becca Krumholz Daniel Rothberg Shnong Wang Graphic Designer Jaime Flynn Web Director Eric Harris Public Relations Manager Becky Tucci Events Manager Bill Clifford Art Director Jaime Flynn Copywriters Dustin Bui Bob Sixsmith The Daily Cardinal is a nonprofit organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board Hannah Furfaro • Miles Kellerman Emma Roller • Samuel Todd Stevens Parker Gabriel • Dan Tollefson Samantha Witthuhn • Nico Savidge

Board of Directors Melissa Anderson, President Emma Roller • Cole Wenzel Parker Gabriel • Vince Filak Janet Larson • Mara Greewald Jenny Sereno • Chris Drosner Ron Luskin • Joan Herzing

For the record Corrections or clarifications? Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an e-mail to edit@dailycardinal.com.

sunDAY: mostly cloudy hi 16º / lo 7º

Andrew lahr spare me the lahrcasm

used to have a pretty good friend named Gary. He was a good enough fellow, and we used to shoot fireworks off at each other down by the creek every once in a while. Once we even made a pretty ambitious bike jump over a really deep ravine and Gary, who used to be pretty daring, ended up shattering his pelvis in several places. After the “Pelvis Incident” Gary was confined to an “ass-cast,” as we called it, and went into self-instated retirement for what ended up being several years. The last few words I ever heard Gary speak still run through my mind from time to time: “Yeah, my ass is ok. Plus I just got this awesome new game called World of Warcraft to take my mind off of it and it’s really fun!” That was the moment Gary realized reality is a painful place indeed and that online video games are pretty fucking sweet. Turns out, in the four years I never saw Gary he ended up getting decent grades and going to UW-Madison.

I saw him a few weeks ago for the first time in years shuffling down the sidewalk with a couple of 12 packs of coke and a big tub of Cheesy Poofs under his arm. He had a glazedover look about him. Clearly he was intentionally tuning out the commotion around him. He seemed to be on auto-pilot, like he was just completing a necessary chore, and almost dropped his whole supply of convenience-store goodies when I yelled from across the street. (I swear I saw him reach for some imaginary weapon at his side, but caught himself before it was too obvious.) I offered to buy Gary a Subway sandwich, partly to catch up, and partly as an apology for the whole bike jump fiasco (it was my idea for him to try it with no hands for the first time). Grudgingly, he accepted. Gary seemed a lot more fidgety and uncomfortable than I remembered, as if he had completely forgotten how to interact with other humans. When I asked Gary about his alarming transition from typical kid to suburban hermit, he had some interesting things to say. “Man, after shattering my pelvis and having to sit in my room for half a year, I realized something—

The Dirty Bird

reality sucks, man, he said. I could be flying over the mountains of Azeroth right now on my Griffon, slaying three-headed, fire-breathing demons with one swing of my enchanted long sword.” “Now, thanks to you, I’m eating a sub-par ham sandwich with a kid I really don’t care for at all, and my ass still hurts because I forgot my butt-donut.” He had a look of disgust on his face as his eyes shifted around the Subway, pausing momentarily on the morbidly obese woman ordering a Philly cheese steak smothered in ranch. Gary continued: “I don’t usually travel during the day anymore, so you’re lucky you caught me. I had a long night of questing and forgot to pick up my regular 12 pack at 3 a.m. I can’t stay here long either, my clan-mates and I are supposed to be slaying Glorfingle, Lord of the Underworld, in 30 minutes.” I couldn’t help but think about what I would be doing in 30 minutes. I had a big research paper on fertility decline in modern day Russia that needed attending to. Maybe Gary was on to something with his anti-reality life realization. He looked healthy

enough—strikingly similar to the day he crashed his bike, before the accident of course. Maybe all those Friday nights Gary was holed up in his dorm clearing out dungeons while I was out destroying my liver played a part in that. I was toying with the idea of heading over to GameStop for a look at “WoW” when Gary uttered what sounded like some sort of spell. Without even saying goodbye he got up, slowly and quietly inched his way to the open door and sprinted out. Reality just didn’t do it for ShadowFiend, the night-elf from Doldramar (“Gary”, as he’s known in Wisconsin). These gamers live among us completely unnoticed. Their shades are drawn during the day, an obvious insult to the outside world. You may have one living next door, or across the street; it’s impossible to tell. They consider you, me, and the rest of reality inferior to the world which awaits their eager, fat fingertips on their laptop. This is the way the world will be until reality is eventful enough to be made into a video game, but until then, the gaming will continue. Are you a WoW addict? Andrew might be able to help. E-mail him at aplahr@wisc.edu.

sex and the student body

Orgasm Tips from real women

Erica andrist sex columnist O hai. Welcome back and stuff. As you may remember from last semester, we are on part two of a threepart series on female orgasms. This installment offers tips from women for women about how to achieve the big O. Ready, go.

Make sure to masturbate how you want to.

M, age 19: “By masturbating in ways I thought I “should” masturbate, I wasn’t taking control of my sexuality at all … I don’t need a vibrator—I like my bare hands. I don’t have to do it every day— sometimes once a week is enough. Sometimes, I don’t have an orgasm. I just connect with how my body feels … and then that helps me be more in tune with myself when I do want to have an orgasm.” M, age 23: “The [variables] I’ve found to be of greatest consequence are placement and movement. By movement, I mean don’t let the vibrator do all the work. Try moving it in and out, up and down, etc. as it vibrates. Maybe get your other hand in on the action.” L, age 24: “Find out what kind of porn gets you off. Lots of different kinds might get the job done, but somewhere out there is a genre of porn that really, really revs your engines. Find it.”

Try new things. B, age 22: “This may seem counterintuitive, but take intercourse off the table for a little while. Most women don’t have orgasms from penetration [alone] … you have to focus on hands, tongues, toys, etc. These things are much more

likely to make you cum, and you won’t have that expectation of intercourse—which probably isn’t as orgasm-inducing—on your mind.” A, age 30: “One day, I made a list of everything I could think of that I thought would be sexy to try with my boyfriend: things I saw in movies or porn, things that I’d fantasized about … one by one, we tried everything. Being able to have that kind of control was a huge mental turn-on for me as well as a physical turn-on.” E, age 24: “A real game-changer for me was a clitoral hood piercing, which is not as big and scary as it sounds. I had pretty much fingered out the art of clitoral stimulation, so that didn’t change much, but during penetration, the VCH multiplied my previous enjoyment by a factor of 10.”

Lube it up. A, age 22: “LUBE! The wetter the sex, the better the sex. If there is too much friction that can cause pain, and pain [might] not equal orgasms.” C, age 23: “I can’t have good sex without lube … being wet has nothing to do with how turned on you are, or how good your lover is. [It] is the most easily fixable sex problem there is.”

Don’t think too hard. K, age 25: “I learned that when I was thinking about it and my partner was thinking about it nothing really happened … and both of us were crazy frustrated. So, just chill.” J, age 29: “More often than not, the psychological barrier feels insurmountable. Those first bouts in bed seem to be a complex combination of learning each others’ bodies and unlearning the little tricks of previous partners ... these first times, [I need] slower and longer strokes over the clitoris and labia ... while fast strokes, vibrators, or penetration

(vaginal or anal) can all arouse me and may even heighten my orgasm when I am comfortable, they are risky when I am still unused to my partner or surroundings.” N1, age 22: “I kept getting frustrated at how long it took, and my frustration made it impossible to climax. I started listening to music to stop my critical thoughts … and started imagining steamy situations, letting my thoughts wander until a thought-up scenario caused a physical response.” S: “Let your mind wander, and let it think about whatever it wants to, whenever you want to. Let yourself lose control. Being embarrassed about your own response is not

helpful. The noises, the smells, the facial expression—that’s all pretty hot, so stop thinking.” N2, age 22: “Don’t equate orgasms with good sex. Yes, orgasms are an important part of having great sex, and everyone should climax as much as they need to in order to feel satisfied. But you can have satisfying sex without having an orgasm—and you can have an orgasm without having satisfying sex.” Though the female orgasm deserves much more space, we unfortunately have a word limit. Want more? Have other sex questions? E-mail Erica at sex@ dailycardinal.com. You can also check out more of N1’s brilliant sexy thoughts at sexistentialist.wordpress.com.

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Candid conversation at the capitol

Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

the daily cardinal

ben pierson/the daily cardinal

Rec Sports honors Neha Suri with challenge By Alison Dirr the daily cardinal

In honor of UW-Madison student Neha Suri, who passed away last February, UW Rec Sports will take part in an exercise challenge to donate food to needy families. Participants in the Million Pound Challenge commit to exercising between one and three times each week. For each hour they log into the challenge website, the Madison-based Princeton Club will donate 10 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. Suri, a student from Singapore, majored in journalism and political science and worked at UW Rec Sports and The Daily Cardinal. “We have about 100 student employees and Neha was a huge part of our team, and [participat-

ing in the Challenge] was one thing we could do that we could honor her,” said Mike Warren, UW Rec facilities and informal recreation coordinator. He added that exercising and donating to people in need also helped bring the staff together to “bounce back” from her loss.

“This year I decided that I wanted to be the number one group for Neha.” Mike Warren UW Rec Sports

According to Warren, last year the student and professional Rec staff met their goal of 20,000 pounds of food, coming in second

in the competition. This year, they set their sights on first place and plan to donate 30,000 pounds. “This year I decided that I wanted to be the number one group for Neha, so we are opening it up to basically anybody in our facilities or that works out or wants to honor her,” he said. Ranked seventh in the competition so far, the team has 65 members and has donated more than 2,225 pounds of food. The competition continues through April 1. Participants can register on the challenge website http:// w w w. p r i n c e t o n c l u b. n e t / m p c / teams.html under the team name UW Rec Sports—In Memory of Neha Suri. Overall, Warren said, the effort is meant to honor an “awesome person” whose impact has stayed with her coworkers.

High-speed rail dead, development project continues By Scott Girard the daily cardinal

Although the high-speed rail project is dead, the downtown Madison area around the proposed rail station is set to be developed. The Common Council has recently begun reviewing recommendations of what steps need to be taken next, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The development is set to include a Madison Public Market and a new underground parking structure, as well as possible

debate from page 1 Madison, said he was running as a reform candidate. “I want to keep Madison the way I’ve come to love it,” Blotz said. Blotz criticized Cieslewicz for his “questionable hirings” within the city. According to Blotz, Cieslewicz only hired those who held the same viewpoints as him. Cieslewicz said he does hire people with similar goals, but said they do not necessarily agree with everything he proposes. Blotz said the mayor’s job should be to manage the business

new office space. There is also the possibility of the renovation of the Madison Municipal Building, which would turn it into a hotel. The underground parking structure would replace parking spots from the Government East Parking Ramp, which is scheduled for demolition. The structure would be located below the Madison Municipal Building site, Pinckney Street and the proposed public market. One issue still up in the air is the number of parking spaces to

put in the new underground lot, as more will be needed if the rail project ever does regain traction. Under Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s 2011 Executive Capital Budget, the proposed lot would hold around 800 spaces. The site where the Government East Ramp currently stands would be used for the market and office space, which would have a bike parking facility. It is estimated the project will take a minimum of four to five years to complete.

of the city, not side projects. Blotz criticized Cieslewicz for past projects involving bike transportation and eco-friendly initiatives. “I’m trying to bring the city back around to providing basic services without pet projects, without politicking, without all the underhanded dealings,” Blotz said. Soglin, who lost to Cieslewicz by a narrow margin in 2003, said people of all demographics have asked him to run for office. Soglin said Madison’s “greatest successes,” such as the State

Street Mall and the Monona Terrace thrived because of citizen involvement. De Nure, who later said he was not a “serious candidate,” said he would find ways to attract new businesses and create jobs. He suggested building museums such as a Native American historical museum as ways to accomplish those goals. Hart said he wants to help Madison live up to its progressive reputation and improve the city’s drinking water. The five candidates will face off in the primary election Feb. 15.

Tort reform, health services bills passed By Ariel Shapiro

Pro-choice activists organized a protest and speeches at the state capitol Thursday afternoon.

news

The state Legislature met Thursday as part of the special jobs session ordered by Gov. Scott Walker, resulting in the passage of the tort reform bill through the Assembly and the Health Services Accounts bill through both chambers. As in the state Senate on Tuesday, the voting on tort reform in the state Assembly was highly partisan, passing by a 57-36 margin. Neither a single Democrat voted for the bill nor a single Republican against it. Democrats proposed an amendment to the tort reform legislation, which seeks to limit business liability, that would allow for stateapproved incident reports of abuse in nursing homes to be used in a civil suit, something the bill as it was passed prevents. State Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, said the reports are essential for patients in nursing homes if they are ever in a situation of abuse, saying the bill “put many of our most vulnerable at risk and shield criminals and abusers from liability.” Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said decreasing business liability has been successful elsewhere. “It hasn’t clogged the courts up in 33 other states, we’ve seen the evidence of that,” Fitzgerald said. “Is it going to provide a little more work for your judges? Yeah.” Some Democrats, like state

china from page 1 assumed the Chinese government paid for it. He said the trip was funded from UWCSSA funds and another local Chinese organization, Madison Area Chinese Community Organization. “We are very excited about [President Hu Jintao] visiting the United States,” said Liu. “If we Chinese students demonstrated passion when Obama comes to visit, we share the same passion when the president of our own country comes to visit.” UW-Madison student and Students For A Free Tibet member Tsering Yama alleged the Chinese government paid students nationwide to attend the event in order to present an image of nationalism to the rest of the world. “The Chinese government

Rep. David Cullen, D-Milwaukee, appealed to Republicans to “do the right thing,” while others, like state Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, were more volatile in their reactions. “When I heard that Assembly Bill 1 on the special session on jobs was a bill that was going to protect the worst of the worst, and create loopholes for people who abuse and kill senior citizens and abuse and kill children, I had the same reaction as when I heard Hugh Hefner was engaged to a 24 yearold,” Richards said. “You gotta be kidding me!” The amendment was tabled by a vote of 55-38. The Assembly, along with the Senate, also passed a bill granting tax credits for contributions to health savings accounts. In both houses the bill passed with greater bipartisan support, with a 66-28 vote in the Assembly and a 21-12 vote in the Senate. State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said she hopes to see it help reduce the rising cost of health care and help job growth statewide. However, state Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, warned against relying on HSAs for economic development. “It’s a tool, but it’s a bad tool,” Erpenbach said. “It’s not going to create a job. It will put more money in the pocket of the employer, what they choose to do with that is up to them.” wants others to feel like China is united,” Yama said. Other Chinese students from schools such as Michigan State and Illinois Institute of Technology also said they were not paid and that the Chinese student group at their school funded their trips. Some protestors said the Chinese would not admit they were paid to attend the event out of fear of repercussions from the Chinese Communist Party. “Even if their reasoning says it’s not the right thing to do, yet another reasoning tells them this is exactly what you must do or you’ll lose your job in the future,” said Dechen Choedon-Tashi, a Tibetan from Sun Prairie who fled her home country in response to the Chinese occupation. “You are not in the good books of the Communist Chinese Party.”

kathryn weenig/the daily cardinal

Tibetan protestors from Madison picket President Hu Jintao arrival demanding human rights in Tibet. Strong security was enforced.

comics

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Resisting the charm of Kermit the Frog.

Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

Dance Fever!. In 1518, a few people died in Strastbourg France out of exhaustion, hunger, and heart attacks after dancing uncontrollably without rest for almost a month. Weekend, January 21-23, 2011 5 l

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

Hot Sauce

By Oliver Buchino buchino@wisc.edu

Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Eatin’ Cake

By Dylan Moriarty eatincake@gmail.com

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Crustaches

By Patrick Remington premington@wisc.edu

By Angel Lee alee23@wisc.edu

First In Twenty Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com Moving on

ACROSS 1 Show with Frank Burns and “Hot Lips” 5 Type of mall or mine 10 Address with a letter missing? 14 Contribution to the pot 15 Field of endeavor 16 Shamu, for one 17 Slide precariously 18 Color faintly 19 Alaska, once (Abbr.) 20 One way to stop a fight 23 Good “Dancing With the Stars” scores 24 Reply to “Am not!” 25 Putting together 28 Pizzeria orders 30 Finishes a cake 31 Unfledged pigeon 33 North Pole employee 36 Command from an angry coach, perhaps 40 Minnow-catching tool 41 Nest above the timberline 42 “Stormy Weather” singer Horne 43 Novelist Rice 44 Run-down 46 Put in rows 49 Compote ingredient

51 Prepare to leave the casino 57 Sills specialty 58 Tidal bore 59 False thing to worship 60 Some mil. officers 61 Workout wetness 62 “If all ___ fails ...” 63 Udder part 64 With a wink, perhaps 65 Clarinet accessory DOWN 1 It may be rigged 2 Sacred Egyptian cross 3 Show signs of life 4 Pleasure seeker 5 Filling up 6 Father, Son and Holy Spirit, e.g. 7 Uses by the day, say 8 Ruler marking 9 Top of the head 10 Outboard and electric 11 “___ there yet?” 12 Units in real estate ads 13 Thomas of “That Girl” 21 Lose or draw alternative 22 Exercise program that’s a kick? 25 Way of conducting oneself 26 Peak

7 Retained for oneself 2 28 Containing no additives 29 Ending with “confident” 31 In need of a rubdown 32 On the ___ vive (alert) 33 Made a living, barely 34 Expect back 35 Unravel 37 Greek-born New Age musician 38 Capital of Japan 39 One whose work may suit you 43 Horror-stricken 44 Guarantor 45 Sot’s involuntary sound 46 “With ___ of thousands!” 47 Jacket size 48 “___ deal?” 49 Old ___ (stodgy one) 50 Pastoral 52 Capone fighter Eliot 53 Jolly-boat 54 Doing nothing 55 Put forward, as a question 56 Toy with runners

Washington and the Bear

By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com

arts

Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

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The Script returns with ‘faith’ in their sound By Lauren Braun

hard.” The song is dominated by O’Donoghue’s vocals. Soft guitar The Script’s second album complements his powerful voice Science and Faith sticks close to and meaningful lyrics in a clastheir tried and true script, keep- sic, almost acoustic sound. ing fans close with yet another The rest of the album proround of smooth pop songs. You ceeds in a similar manner, with can’t fix what isn’t broken, or rhythmic, easy beats and fastwhat has granted you a No. moving lyrics that—minus the 1 album and over two million piano bass line—rival an Irish sales worldwide. rap song. The CD REVIEW The phenomenal tracks are catchy success of their and perfect for chart-topping belting in the first album is shower or blasttough to follow, ing on your iPod but the release during a power of Science and lecture. As a Faith has already whole, the band Science and Faith matched that sounds stronThe Script success overseas ger on their new and is likely to album than they make waves in the U.S. as well. did on their first release. Each The album opens with a gal- song opens with a unique guilant proclamation in “You Won’t tar riff and smoothly transitions Feel a Thing.” The lead vocal into the lyrics with ear-pleasing falsetto resonates passionately fluidity. Sounds soften, then across the chorus that assures shockingly explode into each “Everything the world could passionate chorus. throw / I’ll stand in front. I’ll The final song on the album, take the blow for you.” Lead “Exit Wounds,” at first listen singer Danny O’Donoghue’s seems to slow down the fasthoney coated voice is sure paced bop with a soft cry. But to have won the affection of the soul-shaking background women all over the world, and percussion keeps the track from forced them to seriously evaluate ever being played as a high their relationships. Apart from school slow dance, tragically the dreamy Irishman’s lyrics, asking “Who would ever want the instrumentals lend anoth- to be with me?” er dimension to the emotional The Script’s signature sound draw that The Script is so good has once again managed to at. Pulling together rhythm and break hearts and piece them rhyme in perfect harmony. back together all in one soulUp next is the album’s hit fully tragic song. But the real single, “For the First Time.” reason for The Script’s current This distressing ballad continues and previous success has to the emotional ambiance with lie in their gorgeous Dublin equal fervor and in a way that accents. Let’s be real, there is no is highly relatable, with a sad way “The Man Who Can’t Be sigh that says “Trying to make Moved” was standing on that it work but man these times are corner for long.

the daily cardinal

photo Courtesy The Weinstein Company

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star as a young couple in this tale of young love turned to disillusionment.

One depressing ‘Valentine’ By Todd Stevens the daily cardinal

As if the title isn’t already an indication, “Blue Valentine” is quite depressing. The story will depress you, the performances will depress you and the lighting will depress you. This review will probably depress you by association. Needless to say, “Blue Valentine” isn’t for the weak of heart, or anybody without a sufficient tissue budget. But for those who can take it, “Blue Valentine” is an absorbing and haunting love story of a relationship’s beginning and end that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. That love story is told in two snapshots, both intertwined amongst each other. One shows college student Cindy (Michelle Williams) and aspiring musician Dean (Ryan Gosling) entering into a puppy-love romance culminating in an adorable little marriage. The other shows the couple six years later, with husband and wife struggling to even tolerate each other yet desperate to hold things together for the sake of their young daughter. These portraits of Cindy and

Dean’s courtship and collapse paint a bleak picture of not only the couple, but marriage in general. Director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance frames the film’s central story with numerous other failed relationships. Cindy’s parents are shown fighting constantly, Cindy’s grandmother discusses how she fell out of love with her grandfather and Dean reveals his mother left him and his father when he was just a young boy. In Cianfrance’s world, marriage seems like a concept that is doomed to failure. Or at least it is in these families where emotional abuse is passed down from generation to generation until it becomes permanently cyclical. The story is made all the more tragic by its youth storyline, which shows just how happy Cindy and Dean were before they collapsed into a world of passive aggression and withholding. With both of them coming from decaying communities and fractured families, each person looks like a refuge as the movie starts. Thankfully, Cianfrance and his actors are able to walk a shaky tightrope, making it understandable why these characters are attracted to each other, but also layering these

scenes with clear indications that they are incredibly incompatible. Williams in particular is outstanding in her ability to bring an authentic level of vulnerability to her scenes of suffering, an especially tricky task with a character who tries to hide her anger as much as she can. Gosling also performs well, despite the fact that the script doesn’t give his struggles nearly as much depth. Particularly when interacting with Faith Wladyka, the actress playing the couple’s daughter, Gosling is able to build a great rapport. But for many of the scenes between him and Williams as a married couple, he is pushed into a narrow white trash depiction that feels like overkill. It doesn’t feel like a natural progression of his character, more like a quick out that Cianfrance, along with his co-writers Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis, use to make the conflict all the more obvious. However, the central tragedy of “Blue Valentine” is no less harrowing for this misstep. The film will still rip out your soul and at least temporarily vanquish your romanticized notions of love. But it does so in such a beautiful way, it’s hard to mind.

‘Is this it’ for our childhood? ‘First impressions’ of getting old Kyle Sparks total awesome

isten: I’m the last person who wants to read some crotchety bro complain about how he’s having a midlife crisis because the bartenders at the rock ’n’ roll shows never ask to see his ID. But I’m getting old. And if you grew up in the same house as me (figuratively, of course), so are you. Our childhoods were situated in an awkward time, culturally speaking. Most of us were too young to consciously select pop culture in the ’90s, so it went through the filter of parents, friends, or older siblings—and even that was filtered through the pre-Internet media options. And by the time the naughts came around and we were old enough to have attuned ourselves to discover so-called “underground” groups like the Strokes, our childhood was already well into phase two—adolescence. I’m a fourth-year psych major and I still have no idea whether this rift in development is organic or not, but my best guess is that our youth was divided because it

just happened to straddle both the boom of the Internet and the budding threat of global terrorism. Developmental phase two is the one where I finally got a girlfriend and was good at sports, but developmental phase one, for all of us, was an isolated incident of both a pure media and a worldwide blissful ignorance. And now those days are folding in on themselves. Skip ahead to this past summer, when I spent way too much money to see Pavement at the swankierthan-thou Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Saint Paul, Minn. Pavement were the epitome of ’90s swag; too indifferent to let corporate America seize them, while at the same time too talented and stylish for them ever to be tossed aside. But Pavement in 2010 were a completely different band. Sure, the songs still sounded the same—they played “Debris Slide” and I got all excited—but they were playing in an arena that sold domestic tap beers for $8. It’s something in my genes that doesn’t let me pay much for beers. As far as I’m concerned, venues should be lowering prices just to thank me for not exclusively drinking the beers I brought in my crotch. For me, developmental phase one turned into developmental phase two after I heard The

Strokes’ Is This It. I had tickets to see The Strokes in Milwaukee with my friend Eric when I was in middle school, but then I got all tummy-sick and had to skip it. But this time, for their set at Lollapalooza, I held up just fine. The Strokes’ closing slot gave me a lot of time for drinking—I mean, thinking about how awful a group of burnouts who followed First Impressions of Earth with The Time of the Assassins (Nickel Eye) and Phrazes for the Young (Julian Casablancas) would sound after spending another few months in the studio. For me and a full set of 20- and 30-somethings, that was a risk worth running when the alternative was Lady Gaga trampin’ around the stage. Lady Gaga might be an appropriate figurehead for how pop music has aged, but The Strokes gave everyone around me exactly what we wanted: No new bullshit, just the old jams. Just the stuff we could embrace. The Strokes got the big Lollapalooza slot, but more and more bands have started doing the same thing in smaller venues. Neutral Milk Hotel’s recluse Jeff Mangum played a surprise solo set in Brooklyn a month ago, Blur just confirmed they’ll get together and do “something” this year,

Archers of Loaf played all classic nugs at a surprise set in North Carolina just last weekend, Pulp is re-uniting for a few shows this year, Desaparecidos played a few benefits and even Death From Above 1979 is making nice and playing Coachella (unless they break up again before then, who knows). It’s a murderer’s row of ’90s college rock demigods (DFA1979 was later, but the hell if I’m not going to include them here) all getting back together. So what the heck does it mean? This much activity has to stem from something bigger than Kings of Leon pissing on everyone’s graves.

As far as I’m concerned, venues should be lowering prices just to thank me for not exclusively drinking the beers I brought in my crotch.

About two hours ago my friend alerted me to news that apparently happened two months ago: Add New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys to the list of ’90s groups packing the Alka Seltzer and hitting the road this year (hopefully they’ve aged bet-

ter than the absurdly dull Lisa Loeb. For anyone who missed her set at Taste of Madison: Yikes). You see, this is the twilight of ’90s culture. Everyone who was listening in the ’90s is old enough to afford concert tickets but not too old to skip out because they couldn’t find a babysitter; while everyone who was playing in the ’90s is just barely young enough to strap on the old Gibson one more time. The ’90s cultural touchstones are clustering together the way particles of matter group up before a star explodes. Our childhood is crashing in on itself, and pretty soon we’ll be forced to abandon it entirely. Compare this to the timing of the “Toy Story” franchise as you see fit—but me, I’m graduating from college in May and pretty soon I’m not always going to be able to do stuff like go to the bars on a Tuesday night. So welcome back for the spring semester. Enjoy it, because who knows what’s going to happen when nobody understands Jock Jams jokes anymore. Is growing up making you into a crotchety bro? Are your favorite bands fucking everything up? Commiserate with Kyle at ktsparks@wisc.edu.

opinion

dailycardinal.com/opinion Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

Need student voice in Badger Partnership Melissa grau opinion columnist

here’s been a lot of talk about Chancellor Biddy Martin’s new financial plans for UW-Madison. The Badger Partnership details ways to increase the UW’s flexibility and autonomy by decreasing state support, and therefore, state control. Despite the visionary picture created by Martin’s column, “Bucky in the New Millennium,” and other selected news updates on the Partnership’s website, there are gaping holes in the proposal that should concern students.

With less red tape and more freedom, the university could set market-based tuition and salaries for students and staff.

The positive aspects of the Badger Partnership can be found in the plan’s big picture. In essence, the Partnership seeks a more efficient, business-like structure. With less red tape and more freedom, the university could set market-based tuition and salaries for students and staff. Unfortunately, this means the Badger Partnership would result in increased tuition rates for students. Insert cringe and uncomfortable shift in your chair. Martin offers a consolatory pat on the back by telling us that giving the university more control over the flow of money would result in increased financial aid and staff. The plan aims to strengthen the UW’s competitive edge by attracting and keeping prestigious professors through salary increases. Under the Badger Partnership, the university would be able to control campus construction projects, the number of employees, their salaries and buying university goods, like lab supplies.

It is obvious something needs to change with the way UW-Madison does business, and I commend Chancellor Martin for proposing this plan.

Because of Wisconsin’s $3 billion budget deficit and Gov. Scott Walker’s promises for tax cuts and a smaller government, the UW will undoubtedly continue to face decreases in state funding. In a September letter to the editor, former UW-Madison Business School dean and active president of the UW Foundation, Michael Knetter, analyzed how to maintain “high quality at good value” in these tough economic times, and concluded that restructuring the university’s business model was necessary.

It is obvious something needs to change with the way UW-Madison does business, and I commend Chancellor Martin for proposing this plan. The university is one of Wisconsin’s biggest employers, as well as a luminary of our state, so it would make sense for the system to run more like a business. Yet, this basic sense of the plan, despite the increased tuition, is a blurry picture. The downfalls of the plan lie in the undisclosed and obscure details involving tuition increases for students, privatization, financial aid packages and the state’s new role in UW-Madison funding. After speaking with ASM Chair Brandon Williams—who has been working closely with the chancellor, dean of students, and legislative liaison—Williams seemed optimistic about the big picture ideals of maintaining a world-class university through this new business model. But, when asked whether ASM supported the proposal, he said there is not enough information provided in the current plan to take a clear stance. Indeed, there are not enough details about the plan’s effects, which is why I urge students to learn more about the proposal and participate in its creation by attending ASM’s forum with Chancellor Martin—a panel of UW administrators and students on Monday, Jan. 24. It is up to inquiring student minds to unveil the specifics of Martin’s plan.

As students, we must be involved in decisions that affect our school, our state and our pocketbooks.

How much will our tuition increase compared to the current rate of inflation? Exactly where will the university’s expenses be cut if we break ties with the state? What will UW-Madison’s relationship be with the state in the future and will the university maintain the Wisconsin ideal? With our current economic position, UW-Madison is ranked the 20th best university in the world, so is this plan simply a competition-obsessed plan that would questionably target middle- and upper-class students’ tuition? These are impertinent questions resulting from the plan’s lack of clarity. And it is up to students to demand concrete answers. According to the Badger Partnership website, students should view the plan as a positive investment in their future. This may be a possibility. Still, if we are to practice good business sense, we must evaluate our potential investments carefully. As students, we must be involved in the decisions that will affect our school, our state, and our pocketbooks. Melissa Grau is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.

luring illinois jobs requires strategy Last week, Gov. Scott Walker unabashedly said he plans to capitalize on the Land of Lincoln’s most recent extreme corporate tax hike. Within hours after Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn signed legislation approving a 46 percent spike in the corporate tax rate, Walker said he intended to launch a full-scale marketing campaign—billboards and all— to encourage Illinois businesses to relocate to Wisconsin. The tax increase, which raises Illinois’ corporate taxes from 4.8 to 7 percent, keeps Illinois below Wisconsin’s rate of 7.9 percent but is a steep increase due only to Illinois’ chronic budget shortfalls. According to Walker, Wisconsin is suddenly looking more and more competitive despite its higher overall rate. However, if Walker continues to trash talk Illinois while failing to point to any significant selling points besides similar tax rates, his marketing stunts will likely fall flat. Obviously, Walker isn’t afraid of neighborly disputes. His preelection decision to put the breaks on a major high-speed rail project connecting Wisconsin

to other Midwest states shows he’s willing to follow through on controversial ideas. Walker practically laughed in the face of the rail plan that would have created a number of permanent jobs in Wisconsin and would have strengthened, rather than flattened, our relations with neighboring states.

Looking outside the state for jobs is somewhat unavoidable considering the number of recent corporations that have left Wisconsin.

But the failed rail project is now spilled milk and Illinois is a solidly blue state that Walker would likely disagree with no matter what. Looking outside the state for jobs is somewhat unavoidable considering the number of recent corporations that have left Wisconsin. Walker said he plans to revive an old slogan—“Escape to Wisconsin”— from a tourism bumper sticker

to entice businesses, and he is currently pushing a bill that would eliminate two years of corporate taxes for any new businesses that come to Wisconsin. Nonetheless, if Walker plans to steal jobs away from Illinois, he should take a more tactful approach that emphasizes a number of Wisconsin’s sustainable, comparative benefits. Wisconsin has a skilled and spirited workforce that would be willing to compete for any new jobs that come to the state. The closing of the General Motors plant in Janesville and other businesses have left many people out of work who are now eager to fill labor positions in the manufacturing or construction industry. Walker has also said that improving roads and transportation is one of his top priorities. Fulfilling this campaign promise would serve as a compelling incentive to manufacturing businesses that are looking to relocate. Making attempts to lure businesses to Wisconsin is worth the time and effort. However, it’s difficult to see how Walker’s marketing strategy fits into any type of long-term economic agenda. Although Illinois’ tax hike comes at a time when Walker needed a plan to kick-start his promise to create 250,000 jobs, his free-riding off of Illinois’ grim economy seems less than admirable. We encourage Walker to promote Wisconsin as a state with sound infrastructure and a strong workforce, and we hope he takes time to seriously think about an innovative economic plan to create jobs and increase Wisconsin’s competitiveness on the national level.

sports 8

dailycardinal.com/sports

Weekend, January 21-23, 2011

Men’s Basketball

Men’s Hockey

UW hopes to continue rolling against Mavericks Ryan Evans The Daily Cardinal

Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

Matt MarheiniE/the daily cardinal

Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer led the way for the Badgers in their 69-60 win over the Hoosiers. Taylor led the way with 28 points. Wisconsin will now head to Evanston for a weekend matchup with Northwestern.

A ‘Taylor’-made win for Badgers against Indiana Max Sternberg The Daily Cardinal

Looking to string together wins for the first time in conference play, Wisconsin hopped on the back of junior guard Jordan Taylor and squeaked out a 69-60 home win over Indiana. In a game that saw the Badgers trail for much of the game, Taylor was the lifeblood of UW’s offensive production, continuing to keep a hot hand after a 17-point first half and finishing the game with 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. “He wasn’t afraid to attack and make things happen,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “As people are starting to find out, Jordan is a pretty good player.” “I think Jordan Taylor is not only one of the premier guards in the league,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean noted. “I think he’s one of the premier guards in the country.” Though the Hoosiers came into Madison just 1-4 in conference play, they put up the best fight of any visitor to the Kohl Center thus far this season. Holding the lead for

the majority of the contest, IU rode sophomore guard Jordan Hulls’ 10 first half points en route to as much as an eight point lead in the first half before Taylor cut the lead to four with a key three just before the buzzer. “They got it going early and we didn’t match their intensity,” Taylor said. “Especially on the defensive side of the ball.” After trading buckets early in the second half, Wisconsin finally went on the run the Kohl Center crowd was anticipating, capping off an 8-0 spurt on three-point play by sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz. The lead then swung back and forth for the next two minutes before a Taylor lay-up put UW on top for good, and the Badgers then gradually iced the game from the free throw line. While they failed to make a free throw attempt in the first half, Wisconsin’s aggression coming out of the break led to 17 free throw attempts and 16 pivotal points from the line. Though a tight victory over a struggling Hoosier team wasn’t exacted the way Badger fans would have

scripted things, a win is ultimately just that: A win. “The Big Ten is just going to be like this,” Ryan said. “We said it in October and we’re saying it now” Now 4-2 in the conference, UW now heads on the road for a crucial Big Ten contest against Northwestern. While Sunday’s match-up will probably be overshadowed by a certain event 16.9 miles to the south at Soldier Field, the Badgers’ quest for a conference road is certainly worth at least forgoing the pre-game. Despite struggling in the conference at just 3-4, Northwestern possesses a high-powered offense led by junior forward John Shurna. Shurna is first in the nation in three-point shooting at 54.5 percent, accounting for a large portion of his 19.5 PPG, third in the Big Ten. Add in the high school gym-like atmosphere at Welsh-Ryan Area and you have a recipe for disaster that many Big Ten teams have uncovered the hard way in recent years and one the Badgers desperately hope to avoid.

BONUS COVERAGE: For Mark Bennett’s full recap of the UW women’s basketball team’s thrilling comeback victory in Minneapolis against the Gophers, be sure to check out dailycardinal.com/sports

Head coach Mike Eaves said before the No. 9 Wisconsin men’s hockey team’s (7-7-2 WCHA, 15-8-3 overall) two-week winter break that the team would come back a reinvigorated group. As the Badgers head into their fourth series since break this weekend against conference foe Minnesota State-Mankato (4-9-3, 10-9-5) they find themselves in the midst of their best stretch of the season, and Eaves has to be pleased with what he has seen thus far out of his young squad. After Wisconsin swept Bemidji State before the break, Eaves had stated his belief that his team would come back, “older, wiser and better hockey players” after having a full semester to mature and grow as a group. According to the players, their coach’s hope has materialized. “For the younger guys, its not a jaw-dropping experience anymore,” sophomore forward Craig Smith said. “The first thing coach said when we got back was that we have no freshman on our team anymore,” junior forward Jordy Murray added. “All of them have made huge strides this season and have done a great job of contributing every night.” That maturation has helped the Badgers come out in the second half of the season as hot as any team in the country, riding a streak in which they have won eight of their past nine games. “We’ve strung a few games together and I think we are playing our best

hockey right now,” Murray said. Smith credits the Badgers’ dominating stretch to going back to what sports are really about. “One of the biggest things is having fun, teams can forget about that when they’re down,” he said. “We’re having a good time playing and we’re working hard for each other.” As the Badgers welcome Mankato to the Kohl Center this weekend, they will be facing a team on a hot streak of their own. In the past 12 games the Mavericks have a 8-3-1 record and should provide a good test for Wisconsin. And with the Badgers currently in a three-way tie for fifth in the WCHA, conference wins are extremely important. “They run around and are a fast team,” Smith said. “They play a very physical game and are a hard working team.” “We just need to play our game,” sophomore defenseman John Ramage added. “We have to take the game to them, wear them down and be hard on them all weekend.” Minnesota State does have a bit of a reputation for being a pesky team, the type that likes to try and rattle their opponents and bait them into bad penalties. Murray said the team is fully aware of the style the Mavericks play, and are well equipped to handle it. “They do get under your skin as a team, but we play well against those types of teams, partly because I think we are one of those teams,” he said. “We have a more skilled team than them but we need to go out there and outwork them.”

danny marchewka/Cardinal File Photo

Jordy Murray ranks second on the Badgers with 13 goals. He will look to continue his strong season this weekend against Mankato.

Nadal’s feat deserves more attention from the American sports public Max Sternberg stern words

ext week, sports fans around the world may get a chance to witness history in front of their eyes. This historical run is not being made on the frozen tundra of Soldier Field, nor on the wind-swept ground at the head of the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. Instead, it is being made in the middle of the night in Melbourne, Australia, by a true superstar who, no joke, still flies coach around Europe. In a world of athletic superstars flying around the world in their own jets, and associating themselves much more with the world of celebrity than the

world of sport, Rafael Nadal has built himself a resumé that rivals the dominant likes of Tiger, Brady, Kobe, Jeter, and perhaps even more surprisingly, Roger Federer, his preeminent rival in the professional tennis ranks. At just 23 years of age, the lefthanded Spaniard has already captured 43 professional singles titles, 9 grand slams and an Olympic gold medal, all while spending nearly all of 2009 battling knee injuries that forced him to skip his Wimbledon title defense and led many to wonder if his short career was already past its peak. A little more than a year later, Nadal is looking to become the first man to win four consecutive grand slam titles since Rod Laver accomplished the feat in 1969. Though many are quick to note that the “Rafa slam,” much like the

oft-discussed “Tiger slam” of 2000-01, isn’t a “true” grand slam because it comes over the span of two calendar years, the fact remains that Nadal has the chance to accomplish a feat that no doubt would rank among the most difficult in all of sport. Yet in the United States, Nadal will be forever confined to ESPN2. With the NFL playoffs reaching a peak and college basketball sweeping the nation, tennis’ first major is just a blip on the radar. The international nature of tennis probably doesn’t help. As Americans, we have an unwillingness to accept the sports that we don’t dominate as somehow not worthy of our attention. Tennis was popular when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were racking up grand slams, but isn’t nearly

as popular now that Federer and Nadal are battling for supremacy. There is no reason why a run at sports history should play second fiddle to re-runs of NFL Live. I understand the U.S. will forever favor the NFL over tennis but the degree to which Nadal’s accomplishments are being ignored is truly appalling. As much as I hate to admit it, I have to believe that the Australian Open would be getting far more coverage in the States if it was Andy Roddick looking to make history rather than some Spaniard with a heavy accent. Remember that when Tiger Woods dominated the golf ranks in the early part of the past decade, there was no story in sports that could compete. While it is acceptable for our nation to pay particular attention to

the exploits of our own, we should take interest in history regardless of who is making it. Let’s not forget that sports fans around the world watch the Super Bowl, many of which won’t watch another game of American football the entire year. They watch because they are fans of sport and as a consequence take interest in prominent sporting events around the world. So while I know all of you will have your eyes on downtown Chicago this weekend, I plead with you to avoid the temptation to tune into a 3rd re-run of highlights after the game on Sunday night and instead flip your television just a single notch to see what the rest of the sporting world can’t get enough of: Greatness. Can’t wait for the Packers game? Could care less about tennis? E-mail Max at max.sternberg@yahoo.com.