University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Spring Welcome Back Issue 2018
SPRING WELCOME BACK 2018 GRAPHIC BY MAGGIE LIU
Cause of death: Unknown UHS seeks missing data connected to one-third of student deaths from the last two decades By Sammy Gibbons FEATURES EDITOR
For the past 20 years, University Health Services at UW-Madison recorded the total number of students that died each year. This amounts to 192 total students from April 1998 to 2017, 56 of whom died in the last five years. Many of these students were victims of motor vehicle accidents or took their own lives by suicide. In some cases, the cause of death was not reported but pieced together by UHS staff, who dug up scraps of information using “informal sources,” like news media outlets and obituaries. However, for one-third of all deceased students, the cause of death remains a mystery.
UHS Director of Quality and Informatics Nancy Ranum, along with the staff epidemiologist Agustina Marconi, are working to obtain formal documents in order to record the causes of death for the last 20 years of deceased UW-Madison students. They said having confirmed causes will provide UHS with adequate data to report trends and determine if actions can be taken to prevent numbers of certain causes from rising. “Mortality is not very prevalent in this age group, but we need to check on trends,” Marconi said. “We need to know why these students are dying. If we get to know the official information, we might be able to do some prevention or some actions
to minimize those deaths.”
“Sometimes ... we just knew that a student died and that was it.”
Nancy Ranum director of Quality and Informatics University Health Services
In the last 20 years, suicide was one of the most common fates among recorded student deaths that had known causes. According to UHS Suicide Prevention Coordinator Valerie Donovan, it is the second lead-
ing cause of death among college students nationwide. She said suicide prevention and mental health promotion are campus priorities — there are trainings in place, like UHS’s At-Risk program, that teaches students how to recognize and respond when others are experiencing suicidal thoughts. This is in addition to other efforts to raise awareness and offer services for students. According to Marconi, accurate data about student deaths can also help inform prevention strategies. If staff can notice trends of causes, they could enhance prevention and awareness programs to combat those issues. Donovan gave the example of alcohol connected to
student deaths: If they notice a trend where alcohol was involved somehow in students’ deaths, alcohol prevention leaders will “leverage resources” to fight that trend. “Communicating [about suicide data] carefully and strategically can reduce stigma, encourage help seeking, and prevent suicide,” Donovan said in an email. “Our goals with suicide prevention communications (e.g. raising awareness) are to: reduce stigma around mental health, normalize help-seeking, educate about resources, offer messages of hope and healing, and encourage all members of our campus community to look out for one another.”
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“…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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UW-Madison’s meal plan is the least expensive in the Big Ten By Kayla Huynh SENIOR STAFF WRITER
UW-Madison’s new meal plan for the 2018-’19 academic year sparked backlash throughout campus. The university’s plan, however, is similar to others across the Big Ten Conference — and more affordable, too. For Big Ten students living in university residence halls, the average minimum cost for a dining plan is almost three times the cost of UW-Madison’s lowest tier meal plan — around $4,117 per academic year. UW-Madison’s highest tier plan only costs $3,100 per academic year. Northwestern University has the highest minimum cost for a resident meal plan at $6,300 per academic year. Purdue University has the second lowest minimum cost at $2,998 per academic year, which
to low-income students. Novak said the $1,400 minimum deposit per academic year was determined by looking at how much money students typically spend at campus dining facilities, as well as by comparing other meal plans required in the Big Ten. Some UW-Madison students who follow halal and kosher dietary laws expressed their disapproval towards the meal plan, claiming that it is discriminatory against Muslim and Jewish students. The University of Maryland is the only Big Ten school that gives students the option to choose a “Platinum Kosher Dining Plan,” which can be used as a substitute for other meal plans. For 19 meals per week, including Shabbat and holiday meals, the plan costs $2,795 per semester.
said that the process for exemption is not meant to be difficult for students. “Very few other [Big Ten schools] allow any exemptions for dietary purposes,” Novak said. Indiana University is the only other Big Ten school — other than UW-Madison — with an à la carte only program. Other Big Ten dining programs are based on a set number of meals per week or all-you-can-eat options. Following all other Big Ten universities, UW-Madison will also incentivize students to buy a higher-level tier package by offering bonus dining dollars, free beverages at Bean & Creamery and unlimited fountain drinks. With the purchase of a more expensive dining plan, the Ohio State University similarly allows students to trade their “Visits” at dining halls for pur-
PHOTO COURTESTY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Lawmakers want to revive a program to hire students to clean up the state’s natural resources, while helping them manage education costs.
Legislators seek to resurrect conservation corps to tackle higher ed affordability crisis By Andy Goldstein STATE NEWS EDITOR
GRAPHIC BY JADE SHENG
UW-Madison’s minimum meal plan deposit is the lowest among all fourteen Big Ten universities. is still over double the cost of UW-Madison’s minimum. Meal plans are a “natural part of attendance at college,” according to Director of Housing Jeff Novak, citing other universities’ programs. In fact, all other Big Ten institutions require dining programs for incoming students in residence halls with minimum deposits ranging from $1,499 to $3,150 per semester. UW-Madison’s minimum deposit of $700 per semester will be the least expensive meal plan among all other Big Ten schools. However, it has drawn criticism from students on campus who claim the plan is unfair
Though UW-Madison does not have a meal plan specifically for those with religious dietary needs, halal and kosher items are available at all of the university dining halls, according to their website. The website also says that students with special dietary restrictions, such as vegetarians and those with food allergies, can work with a registered dietitian to ensure their needs are met. Similar to the University of Maryland, UW-Madison will allow some students to opt out of the mandatory meal plan if University Dining is unable to meet the individual’s religious or medical dietary needs. Novak
chases at university convenience stores and retail locations. The University of Minnesota’s “Upgrade” meal plan packages include more “FlexDine Dollars” to use at chain restaurants such as Subway, Panda Express and Papa John’s. Although UW-Madison’s new meal plan has created controversy, Novak said the new dining program is a “great option” and affordable for the campus community. “We are trying to provide a great program for our students for the long term,” Novak said. “This is, at its base, aimed at providing an outstanding experience in dining for our students.”
JON YOON/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
Meal plans are a “natural part of attendence at college,” according to Director of Housing Jeff Novak.
A new bill could revitalize a dormant program from last century to create environmental conservation jobs for some of the nearly 70 percent of young people struggling with higher education costs and student debt in the state. The Wisconsin Conservation Corps would hire state residents between 16 and 25, half of whom must be high school students or graduates from families making no more than double the federal poverty level. These young people would then be put to work constructing and improving trails, restoring forests and prairies and stabilizing stream banks, among other projects, according to the text of the bill. Workers would be eligible for funds from Americorps, a federally funded network of domestic
nonprofit organizations, which could be paid out in the form of tuition assistance, student loans or vocational training. Both the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board and Americorps federal administrators would have to sign off on the program, which seems likely, as similar local community service groups have been approved in Racine and La Crosse. State Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, and state Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, have garnered several bipartisan sponsors seeking to revive the corps, which was eliminated by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and GOP legislators in 2003 in an attempt to mitigate a $3.2 billion budget deficit. Under their bill, the state would shift $400,000 from other agencies to the program,
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Keep them warm: City’s homeless population a focus in record winter By Max Bayer CITY NEWS EDITOR
On New Year’s Eve, a man was found dead in a State Street parking lot. Two days earlier, a man was found distressed outside of a business on Olin Ave. He was rushed to the hospital but died en route. In both incidents, the victims were found not dressed appropriately for the freezing temperatures. Neither had on a pair of gloves. The Dane County Medical Examiner’s preliminary autopsy results found hypothermia was a likely contributor in both deaths. According to a Jan. 3 tweet by Dane County Emergency Management, the average temperature since Dec. 25 was the coldest since 1869. These incidents are a reminder of the lethality of Madison’s freezing temperatures, especially for those who are most vulnerable to weather conditions, like the city’s homeless populations. But for city officials who work to combat the issue, there are a variety
of measures in place to maximize safety this time of the year. Karla Thennes, director of Porchlight, an emergency shelter for single men, said nights when the temperature drops below 20 degrees windchill are categorized as “exception nights.” This means anybody can utilize the shelter even if they’ve surpassed their 90-day annual limit. “On a winter like this, some of the men will stay 120 days,” she said. “Rarely is it someone truly just gets 90 days in the year because of the weather.” Porchlight is a part of the Dane County Emergency Management system and exception nights are just one piece of an orchestrated process to assist the county’s homeless population in the event of an emergency. Thennes said the director of Dane County’s Emergency Management office, Charles Tubbs, makes all resources available. “I really feel that Dane County is making a coordinated effort,” she said. “If we needed something, we got it.”
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Today’s Sudoku
Spring Welcome Back Issue 2018 • 3 © Puzzles by Pappocom
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
Illustration by: Maggie Liu
jumps homeless from page 2 Tami Fleming — who works fulltime as the volunteer coordinator for the Beacon, a day resource for those experiencing homelessness — founded Friends of the State Street Family in 2011 to fill in gaps when other organizations are overburdened. “[Friends of the State Street Family] have street outreach teams that go out Monday through Friday nights, some have doctors and nurses on them, and they all have emergency weather gear with them to give out,” Fleming said. “They really focus on trying to convince people to go indoors when it’s really bad.” Fleming said the biggest problem for FSSF is encountering those who simply refuse to take advantage of housing options. “There are always going to be some people who won’t come inside, who won’t stay in shelter, for whatever reason,” she said. Fleming said this is often due to some form of mental illness, like PTSD or paranoia. Looking forward, Fleming said it’s the role of those who work with individuals experiencing homelessness to identify where improvements can be made. “Obviously our system isn’t perfect, but every year we work together we seem to cover more of the gaps as we find what they are,” she said. “We don’t have the power to make people come in out of the cold but I think that there are a lot of people out there that are trying to help them survive.”
student deaths from page 1 According to Ranum, UHS is notified by the Dean of Students Office when an enrolled student dies. They also receive messages from informal sources, such as the student’s family, a medical examiner or law enforcement. Representatives from the office, as well as from other campus departments including UHS, form a Crisis Response Team following the notification. The group is responsible identifying individuals on campus who may be impacted by the death, including the student’s teachers and house fellows, and creating a plan to support these people.
“Communicating [about suicide data] carefully and strategically can reduce stigma, encourage help seeking, and prevent suicide.”
Valerie Donovan suicide prevention coordinator University Health Services
The information UHS receives is basic — Ranum said “sometimes … we just knew that a student died and that was it” — and does not list the cause of death, which is when UHS turns to other sources for answers.
Today’s Crossword Puzzle
EGGOS By Tim Burr
44 Ramp alternative
3 Six years, for U.S. senators
38 “If all ___ fails ...”
ACROSS
45 Wrapped garment
4 Sports venue
39 Parasitic leaping insect
1 “Tat-tat” preceder
46 On the ocean
5 Type of stew
40 Russian leader before 1917
5 ___-arms
47 “What ___ I tell you?”
6 Absorbed, as cost
42 Prayer book selection
10 “___ Island” (2008 film)
49 Small denomination
7 Almost, in poems
43 Visit by a medic
14 Mouse manipulator
51 Corn serving
8 Pool owner’s headache
48 Most urgent
15 Very practical
52 Asian language
9 Preparing to drive
50 Fork-tailed flier
16 “... and make it fast!”
55 British title
10 Drug agent
52 Long-limbed, as a model
17 Company picnic event
57 ____ out a living
11 Writer Asimov
53 Psychic glows
20 Church songbook
59 Extreme bliss
12 Introduction to economics?
54 Where to hear an aria
21 Beauty school subject
62 Secret Service concern
13 Floor it
56 Extreme severity
22 “Fat chance!”
66 Dr. Seuss classic
18 Ill at ___ (uncomfortable)
58 Drinks with fizz
24 Helm heading, sometimes
68 Needle-nosed fishes
19 Thoroughly soak
60Fuelbrandwithgreenandwhite
25 Atlantic catch
69 Young buck in the third year
23 Cabbie’s quests
stations‑
26“America’s GotTalent”network
70 First-class
26 It’s hot off the presses
61 City on the Yamuna River
29 “Holy Toledo!”
71 ____ and nays
27 Ill-mannered young’un
63 Defeat decisively
31 Country’s economic stat
72 A way to catch fish
28 Coke, e.g.
64 Hamlet, by nationality
33 Cupid, to the Greeks
73 Release, as lava
30 “Prima Ballerina” artist Edgar
65 Type of duck
35 Geometry calculation
DOWN
32 Reply of the accused
67 Hem, but not haw
37 Chin crease
1 Babe the slugger
34 Slick-road peril
41 Act cautiously
2 Like a fireplace floor
36 Come to terms
Ranum and Marconi will apply to acquire formal sources from the Center for Disease Control National Center for Health Statistics National Death Index. These documents are what Marconi labeled “the gold standard” — the students’ death certificates. Ranum said application process to obtain CDC data is “rigorous,” as they have to ensure they will not reveal any information about students’ identities when sharing their findings. Along with looking into causes of death trends, they will also analyze secondary causes, which are additional factors that may have influenced a student’s death — for example, maybe a student died of pneumonia, but they also poorly controlled their diabetes. The data will reveal trends among demographics of the deceased and include whether students were off campus or abroad. “All the demographics that we can get will be matched with the cause of death to see if there’s any difference,” Marconi said. “If there is any significant difference that we could afterwards work with the students and with the rest of the university to minimize those potential causes of death and potential hazards for students. We need to know [not only] how they are dying but who is dying.” Ranum and Marconi said they are hoping, if all goes well with the CDC application, to have the information by the end of this spring semester. They said collecting all data points explaining each enrolled
student’s death will not be a “one time thing” — once they have all the information for the past 20 years of missing causes of death, they will apply to receive the official death certificates of deceased UW-Madison students at the end of every year and update the data.
“Mortality is not very prevalent in this age group, but we need to check on trends ... We need to know why these students are dying.”
Agustina Marconi staff epidemiologist University Health Services
Ranum and Marconi said they hope more accurate information from death certificates, Marconi said they can set constants to compare rates of certain causes of death and notice patterns in numbers, which could draw necessary attention to where additional preventative action could be taken. “A bigger goal is to have more power with greater numbers,” Ranum said. “If there were a standardized way that all universities collected and looked at the data with a strategy that verified the cause of death in the same way so that they were comparable there’d be more power in that kind of analysis.”
conservation corps from page 2 which would offer grants to organizations seeking to complete environmental conservation projects. “The projects completed by the Wisconsin Conservation Corps would be a huge benefit not only to the state’s natural resources and wildlife, but to the residents and tourists who spend time on public lands,” Mursau and Cowles said in a statement. “Furthermore, [this bill] will help teach young adults many of the job and life skills they need build a productive path for their future.” With the average loan-dependent Wisconsin student leaving college with a debt burden of almost $30,000, the bill’s supporters think the program would be welcomed by students. “As millennials struggle to find meaningful, family-sustaining employment, reestablishing the Wisconsin Conservation Corps is more important than ever,” Mursau and former Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, wrote in a memo. The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy and the Assembly Committee on State Affairs both recommended the bill for passage to the floor for a vote. However, with the legislative session set to end relatively early, as lawmakers run for reelection, the program could find itself overlooked, unless GOP leaders make a floor vote a priority within their tight schedule.
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Hip-hop dominates Grammy nominations By Carl Zabat THE DAILY CARDINAL
On Jan. 28, the Grammy Awards will celebrate its 60th annual presentation of what they call “Music’s Biggest Night.” This year’s batch of nominees saw a surprising and welcome surge in hip-hop and R&B artists in major categories, but only time will tell which musicians will walk away with awards. Jay-Z leads the pack with eight nominations, followed by Kendrick
Lamar’s seven nods, then Bruno Mars’ six. All three are also up for the coveted Album of the Year award. Competition is tight across multiple awards and the Grammys are no stranger to polarizing wins, as both critical darlings and chart-toppers are pitted against one another. Just last year, Adele’s 25 won Album of the Year but she said, “I can’t possibly accept this award... my artist of my life is Beyoncé,” referring to her fellow nominee’s
“monumental, soul-baring, and beautiful” Lemonade . In past years, I begrudgingly watched the ceremony, and thought that the Grammys was the music industry’s biggest night rather than music as a whole, but I have never been more surprised and impressed by the nominees, which only makes picking winners that much harder. Nowhere is this struggle more evident than in the Album of the Year nominees. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic has arguably the most starpower; his accessible and driving pop tunes have made him popular and noticeably uncontroversial, as shown by the album’s 2x Platinum status on the charts. 24K Magic’s throwback R&B focus is consistent, but Mars’ pursuit of this aesthetic has made his lyrics feel less personal compared to previous efforts. On top of all of this, the album only has a 70 on Metacritic, the lowest score in the Album of the Year category. Me a nwh i l e, C h i l d i sh Gambino surprised the world with a throwback sound of his own: the funky psychedelia of Awaken, My Love! only has Gold certification in sales and a 77 on Metacritic, but the Grammys love bold statements like Donald Glover’s album. Glover himself has boosted his overall image with his success onscreen in the upcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and “Atlanta.” Lorde, the only woman nominated for Album of the Year, holds down a powerful 91 on Metacritic and was definitely loved by the public and crit-
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ics alike for Melodrama . Her balance of vulnerability and empowerment is a force to be reckoned with. She continues to gain steam with a world tour in progress and multiple music outlets ranking it among the best of the year. While she holds no other nominations, I wouldn’t count Lorde out of the race. Jay-Z, the oldest nominee in this category, meditates upon his entire career in 4:44. After robbing Beyoncé last year, the Grammys could give one of their top prizes to her husband as a gesture of redemption to her and black music at large, since hip-hop has only won this category twice before. At the same time, Jay-Z’s sincerity and honesty across the whole album is a stark contrast to his past, and he pulled off this transformation very well. With an 82 on Metacritic, Platinum certification and a plethora of other nominations, 4:44’s momentum is undeniable. Who is in Jay-Z’s way for Album of the Year? None other than Kendrick Lamar, whose bold and relentless collection of songs on DAMN. make it my pick to win Album of the Year. The third biggest album of 2017 (behind Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift’s releases, respectively) and boasting a whooping 95 on Metacritic, DAMN. has remarkably high levels of both popularity and public adoration. Lamar has been denied this prize for his past two studio albums, so the Grammys have arguably the same level of incentive to reward him as they do with JayZ. These factors make DAMN. an easy choice, but its aggressiveness could hold it back if voters choose the less controversial likeability of Bruno Mars or Lorde, the legendary status of Jay-Z or the throwback transformation of Childish Gambino. Record of the Year focuses on the vocal and productional qualities of a song, and the two that have the biggest chance are Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and the behemoth that is Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.” The cleanliness of each song’s production makes these two songs the shiniest options. Though they both are pop in nature, they are very different from their competition: “Redbone” is straight out of the 1970s and “Despacito” is in Spanish. Past winners follow this pattern, like Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab,” and last year’s “Hello” by Adele. Both songs obviously have resonated with listeners and have great starpower, as well; the former reached meme status last year and the latter has over 992 million plays on Spotify alone. This category has leaned toward pop music for its winners, so despite Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar’s nominations, I don’t see it going to either of them. This puts Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” on a steady middle ground in the male-dominated category. Song of the Year, in contrast, emphasizes the lyricism of its nominees. Between the dark “1-800-273-8255” by Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid, the optimistic “Issues” by Julia
Michaels, the blunt honesty of “4:44” by Jay-Z, the aforementioned shine and precision of “Despacito” and Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” I have Logic and Cara or Jay-Z taking this award home. Despite probably being the least-played nominee, “4:44” is brutally truthful and heartfelt, and “1-800-2738255” is similarly hard-hitting with its focus on suicide. Best New Artist is historically the most problematic of the four General Field awards. Past nominees include Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean… but also The Chainsmokers. Past winners are Chance the Rapper and Bon Iver… oh, and don’t forget Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. For me, this award is SZA’s after she released the critically acclaimed Ctrl. I wouldn’t be surprised if this went to Khalid, but I’d be disappointed if Alessia Cara, Julia Michaels, or Lil Uzi Vert took the Grammy home. Radio plays aren’t everything and they shouldn’t be the determining factor for this award, but if Maroon 5 can beat Kanye West, anything can happen. Best Alternative Album pits Father John Misty, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Gorillaz and The National against each other, and I’m predicting Father John Misty will be the victor; Pure Comedy has the most ambition and the largest scale, with long songs about technology, the human connection and fame. The true separating factor of Misty’s album is that it fulfills its ambition better than Grammy veteran Arcade Fire. Best Urban Contemporary Album finds Childish Gambino alongside Khalid and SZA with The Weeknd and 6lack joining the party. With an Album of the Year nomination, Gambino should have this easily. Best Rap Album has the strongest nominee list in years, with no salesdriven, low-quality album to drag the genre down (I’m looking at you, Iggy Azalea). It’s very satisfying to see first-time nominees Tyler, the Creator, Rapsody and Migos in the same category as Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, but it’s Jay and Lamar’s race. Either pick would be a quality win for the genre. Out of all the awards shows that happen in the opening months of the year, the Grammys have always been the most polarizing in picking the musicians whose art truly deserves the title of “best.” Every year since 2013, I have told myself to give the Grammys a chance, and every year I have been disappointed one way or another. DAMN. still stands as my favorite album this past year and the most qualified nominee in nearly all of its categories, but it certainly is nice that its competition is high quality. This year’s consistently strong nominees in numerous categories give me hope that the Grammys will pick what is truly the best, but we’ll see who exactly gets the gold on Jan. 28.
Tune into the 60th Grammy Awards next Sunday on CBS at 6:30 p.m. CT. Have your own predictions? Email arts@dailycardinal.com
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opinion
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Trump’s censorship is authoritative, harmful ASHLEY OBULJEN opinion columnist
F CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
In addition to the univeristy’s carbon neutral pledge, students must make an effort to be sustainable.
Carbon neutral pledge a starting point for UW view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.
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o be greener, we must want to do more than sign a pledge. At face value, the commitment to be carbon-neutral seems like a no-brainer. Reduce your emissions here, balance them out there, live a more eco-friendly life and, in just a bit of time, you’ve achieved it. But for a sprawling campus like UW-Madison, where half a million emails — each with their own little carbon footprint — can be sent on any given day, that commitment can get complicated quickly. Who’s responsible for the effort? Does it rely mostly on structural changes, like replacing light bulbs in professors’ offices? And who pays for it? Our Faculty Senate offered their share of answers in a Nov. 6 resolution calling for the university to commit to going fully carbon-neutral by 2050 or sooner, meaning that any carbon emissions would be balanced out by efforts to reduce or offset them. The resolution also asks administrators to “fund, create, and implement a campus-wide climate action plan” to prepare for such a goal, as well as joining hundreds of schools across the nation in signing a climate commitment that underscores the neutrality pledge and encourages work on climate resiliency. The resolution appears to be a strong step toward carbon neutrality. But should it be our first step? Kate Nelson, chief sustainability officer at UW-Milwaukee, said
her campus put in work for years before officially pledging to go neutral. UWM is the latest of eight UW System schools, including Stevens Point, Whitewater and Eau Claire, to sign onto the commitment. “We were doing a lot of things without being a signatory,” Nelson explained. “The signatory was not what we needed to catalyze a program.” She said adding UWM’s name to the list was an acknowledgement of how much their sustainability program had grown. UW-Madison, too, has come a long way in its sustainability efforts. The university created an office for it on campus, it is researching alternative ways to generate renewable fuels, it has put green roofs on campus buildings and is reducing our energy footprint by about 25 percent per square foot. But making the decision to go carbon-neutral without holistically assessing how it would be accomplished would be a hasty move. “It’s not just a question of can you do it, but can you afford to do it,” said Cathy Middlecamp, UW-Madison’s interim director of sustainability research and education and a professor in environmental chemistry. Reduced funding from the state for campus building and maintenance projects would slow progress on the conservatively estimated tens of millions of dollars it would take to go carbon-neutral. It’s easy to look at challenges of that nature and grow frustrated with or disappointed in institutional forces. But there is another part to the equation of being more sustainable which doesn’t rest on state approvals, campus funding or pledge-signing — it rests on us. Where can the campus com-
munity, personally, reduce our own carbon emissions on this campus? Maybe it’s picking more meals from the dining halls that don’t involve red meat. Maybe it’s committing to not using throwaway plastic water bottles. Maybe it’s cutting down on the amount of t-shirts made for a student organization. These kinds of efforts coupled with a charge to the university will be the strongest argument we can make for a more sustainable campus. “People can start doing things that they are empowered to do now, and not just wait for us to sign something,” Middlecamp said. “Signing something has its place, it’s important, but it’s a different type of action than the personal ones. The personal ones … add up.” Calling for a structural fix is important. We stand with the faculty and students who want to see a public plan from UW-Madison on specific actions the university needs to move toward carbon neutrality. But such a demand must incorporate our individual responsibilities — not just those of students on the sustainability committee or faculty from the Nelson Institute, but every citizen on campus — into the equation. And when the university signs a pledge to be carbon-neutral, it must represent the readiness of the entire UW-Madison community to accomplish such an effort. We all must be just as committed to making better everyday choices as we are to calling for sweeping campus changes. When those responsibilities merge, we’ll be truly ready to take a bigger step toward a smaller carbon footprint. Are you striving to be more green? What do you think of the university’s decision? Send any and all of your comments editorialboard@dailycardinal.com.
et u s . D ive r s it y. Transgender. Vulnerable. Entitlement. Sciencebased. Evidence-based. These are all words that the Trump administration has chosen to ban from the budget proposals of the Center for Disease Control. While the Department of Health and Human Services claims that no list of banned words exists, it is easy to understand the implication directed towards CDC employees: there may not be an official list, but using those particular words in your proposals will get you in trouble. CDC employees who like their jobs will undoubtedly refrain from putting these newly proclaimed buzz-words in their reports. Censorship of science and facts is a step toward dictatorship and the banning of these particular words will result in extreme harm to our nation’s health, as well as the repression of knowledge regarding such health. The Trump administration’s attempt to distort scientific fact in order to push their agendas is a steps towards exerting complete control over the people . By eliminating the word “fetus”, the Trump administration further pushes a pro-life agenda and according to the pro-life movement, the term “fetus” dehumanizes the unborn. Thus, the elimination of the word “fetus,” to be replaced with a term such as “child” is meant to dictate through CDC reports that abortion is wrong. Basically, the Trump administration is warning the CDC not to use a scientifically correct term in order to sneak misogynistic, body-controlling thoughts into the public’s mind. Eliminating use of the word “diversity” shows that Trump and his administration have no regard for diversity. He called neo-Nazis “very fine people.” He assumed that all Haitians have AIDS and thought that all Nigerians lived in huts. He referred to African countries as “shitholes.” These are just some examples of his disturbing racial profiling - he has made far too many offensive comments for all of them to be listed here. The next banned word, trans-
gender, demonstrates how the Trump administration has attempted to push an anti-LGBTQ agenda, trying to ban members of the transgender community from serving in the military. It seems that Trump thinks that banning the word “transgender” from CDC budget proposals will somehow help his case. Banning the word “vulnerable” also raises additional questions about Trump’s administration. The Trump administration has just passed a piece of legislation that raises taxes on the lower and middle classes in order to provide a big tax break to the wealthy, including Trump himself. Those who will be negatively affected by the tax bill are already vulnerable, but Trump simply cannot have the CDC revealing just how vulnerable poor people are. Next, the banned word “entitlement.” An “entitlement” can be defined as a benefit that the government is required to provide to people who qualify for it. Entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare are of little concern to the Trump administration. It is no secret that there are plans to cut these programs significantly. Each of these words is vital to scientific accuracy and understanding, which the Trump administration hopes to undermine. Banning the phrases “Science-based” and “Evidence-based” clearly demonstrates this.. If the facts, by way of science and evidence, are in the way of his agenda, Trump will pretend they don’t exist. Even worse, he will do his best to prevent such science and evidence from being presented to the public. Trump wants the public to be as uninformed as possible so he can easily fill voters’ minds to the brim with inaccuracies and lies. For the health of our population, the well-being of our democracy and the functionality of our society, it is of the utmost importance that our government does not censor information pertinent to the general public’s understanding of our nation’s health. Ashley is a freshman intending on majoring in journalism. Please send any and all of your comments and questions to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
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Spring Welcome Back Issue 2018
An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 127, Issue 27
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Climate change threatens bird populations in the Great Lakes
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Editorial Board
Madeline Heim • Andrew Bahl Jack Kelly Ben Pickman • Madison Schultz Amileah Sutliff • Samantha Wilcox
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For the record Corrections or clarifications? Email edit@dailycardinal.com.
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COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Water birds native to the Great Lakes, like the loon, are at increased risk from avian botulism because of climate and ecosystem changes. By Sydney Widell THE DAILY CARDINAL
During the summer and fall of 2013, Gretchen Schmelzer, a retired Door County school teacher, could often be found walking the beach at Baileys Harbor near her home in Sturgeon Bay, WI. She is part of Avian Monitoring for Botulism Lakeshore Events, or AMBLE, a network of hundreds of citizen scientists assembled by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in 2010 to record data on bird die-offs caused by avian botulism in the Great Lakes. Schmelzer was keeping track of the cormorants, loons, gulls, grebes and other shore birds that populated the beach during those months, and she recorded how their populations changed over the course of the season. She also observed changes in the weather, lake and beach conditions and plant growth from week to week. “It was really about being aware of your surroundings and appreciating the beach in a way that I hadn’t seen it before,” she said. The data Schmelzer collected is helping to answer a question that has haunted wildlife ecolo-
gists like Ben Zuckerberg, associate professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW-Madison, since the 1960s. Every fall, thousands of migratory and shore birds are fatally exposed to avian botulism along the coasts of the Great Lakes, and in recent years, the number and scope of those die-off incidents has been increasing. Zuckerberg’s research, published Jan. 9, may finally explain why. Avian botulism, a sibling of the food-borne illness that can be deadly in humans, is caused by a bacteria that thrives in low-oxygen, nutrient rich conditions. The Lake Michigan shoreline is becoming an increasingly hospitable place for the bacteria to breed. Zuckerberg attributes that phenomenon to larger algae blooms, and predicts that warming trends in the Great Lakes will only make those blooms bigger — putting more birds at risk of exposure. “What we’re seeing is a combination of factors, that when combined with the warming effects of climate change, put these [bird] species at an elevated vulnerability,” Zuckerberg said. Those factors, according to
Zuckerberg, are increased agricultural runoff and the proliferation of invasive filter feeders. Both create ideal conditions for algae blooms, and both are anthropogenic. Exotic filter feeders, like zebra and quagga mussels, remove particles from the water that would otherwise block sunlight from reaching deep underwater and fueling algae growth. Nutrientrich agricultural runoff sustains those blooms once they happen. Zuckerberg is worried that a warming lake will only accelerate that growth process. When the algae dies, it decomposes in extensive mats. The decomposition process depletes available oxygen in the water, creating an environment that is hostile for most fish, but friendly for botulism-causing bacteria. Small cretaceous species become infected first, and the bacteria travels up the trophic levels; first to fish and then to the birds that prey on them or forage in contaminated water. The bacteria produces a neurotoxin that induces paralysis in both birds and fish, and usually leads to death by drowning. While most birds will not prey on dead fish, the paralyzed fish make easy catches, which widens the risk of avian exposure. The most vulnerable birds are migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, including loons, cormorants, grebes and gulls. According to the Michigan Sea Grant, several species of fish are vulnerable as well. “What we are concerned about are temperatures rising in the Great Lakes, because combined with these other things, they’ll result in even more unfavorable conditions for these birds,” Zuckerberg said. While Zuckerberg and his team may have found the answers to the botulism mystery, implementing any kind of long term solution will be more complicated. “Now we need to be asking ourselves what we can do on the
ground—what tactics and strategies will reduce vulnerability for these species,” Zuckerberg said. According to Zuckerberg, this groundwork begins with education and outreach. It starts, he said, by connecting local landowners and stakeholders to the resources they need to make informed and responsible decisions. Citizen scientists will continue to play a valuable role in that process, he said, emphasizing the importance of the fieldwork the network has already contributed. “Most of what we know about these trends is because of the bird watching done by the citizen scientists. They have been critical for documenting the impacts of climate change,” he said. Schmelzer appreciates that value as well. In addition to collecting important data, she said that citizen scientists often become advocates as well. “When you’re down on the beach with your gear making observations, people notice, and you form really interesting relationships with the property owners. Generally people are curious to know what’s going on,” she said. “The value of having people involved is that what will ultimately spread is a love of the land that will inspire people to take stewardship of it.” Zuckerberg also believes it is time to begin a wider discussion on climate change, and to imagine ways to either mitigate or adapt to its impacts at a local level. “There are a lot of different things we have got to start thinking and having conversations about in terms of basic conservation….We need to have a conversation about climate change,” Zuckerberg said. “The big thing is thinking as a society about how to mitigate these effects, and being conscious of what places we are transforming and how, and what species are going to be more vulnerable as a result.”
Stem cell model aids heart disease research By Hae Rin Lee THE DAILY CARDINAL
Cardiovascular disease is one of the health conditions that many people suffer and die from around the world — it is common to have someone very close to you fall victim to it. As ubiquitous as cardiovascular disease is, so are the efforts to treat it. Dave Vereide, the Morgridge Fellow of the Thomson lab, pioneers the expansion of vascular disease knowledge with a hallmark stem cell model for a better cure. He specializes in arterial stem cell research. Vereide studies a new method to create human arterial endothelial cells from cord blood and adult bone marrow sources, which are extremely difficult to procure in large quantities but essential in engineering efforts to combat heart disease. One of the major risk factors for the congenital heart disease
is the transition of endothelial cells to mesenchymal cells. In essence, it is a shift from a cell that retains healthy arterial properties to a compromised cell that hardens the arteries. The transition from endothelial to mesenchymal cells is linked to major cardiovascular conditions such as arteriosclerosis. Vereide comments that such a transition is “a naturally occurring transition that’s probably healthy, like in a response to injury.” However, he adds that cardiovascular diseases shift this balance by allowing too many transitions to take place, resulting in massive deleterious effects. What Vereide aims to achieve from his model is to gain a better understanding of this occurrence and to use that knowledge to procure more viable treatment options for heart conditions. Vereide described his method
as a comparative model between endothelial cells and mesenchymal cells. He assembles the cells in two forms in a dish; one form is resistant to the mesenchymal transition and the other form is susceptible to such a shift. He said that this environment mimics the mischievous mesenchymal transition of endothelial cells. This model offers researchers a better understanding of the cells’ biology, which will allow them to develop more specific drugs or refined therapy options from the direct insertion of transcription cells from bone marrows that could cause proliferation that target the damaged parts. He suggested that this method may not only be used to study the causes and cures of artery hardening, but could also be expanded to other health failures found in kidneys, lungs or even the opposite cell transition: the weakening of the arteries
that could result in strokes. With this research, Vereide expressed that researchers could potentially use this strategy to develop artificial arteries or organs to surgically implant in patients, as well as other ways to use cells without disrupting the body of the patient. However, such advances will not occur for a stretch of years. In the short term, he hopes that this technique will be valuable in cellular therapies and drug development. Since many possible research paths have opened up, Vereide impressed that it is hard to predict where the research will exactly go in terms of directions and outcomes. In the future, researchers could make discoveries that may not be imaginable today, but would contribute to the constantly changing purpose of the scientific study.
almanac dailycardinal.com
Spring Welcome Back Issue 2018 7
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“Just turn it off and back on again,” U.S. government manual advises in ungovernable details By Patrick Hoeppner THE DAILY CARDINAL
The government shutdown this weekend had several factions tinkering with ways to potentially remedy the government’s plights. This week’s shutdown marked the first government shutdown in the modern era where both houses of the legislature and the White House are controlled by the same party. Opponents of the shutdown pointed toward a coffee-stained governmental manual lying neglected on the dirty floor as the guide by which the government was ground to a halt. The resulting outcome was a recovered government, but imagination runs wild as to the potential outcomes which could have resulted if the government were left untended, like a leaky faucet. The manual states the proper procedure is to shut down the government for a week, then turn it
back on when law and order in rural areas reaches the brink of collapse. Automobile burnings, storefront smashings, and neighborhood-razing riots are cues to turn the government back on again. The last government shutdown was met with only discontent, and none of the aforementioned chaos was allowed to emerge. The manual has been questioned in its credibility - hence its placement on the dirty floor, trodden by shoes of congresspeople . “I can see why the turn-it-offand-back-on-again methodology works for computers, cars, and heavy machinery,” Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, shouted, as he waved the filthy pamphlet over his head to a silent Congressional chamber. “Those devices don’t have to worry about their reputations. “The fact that we’ve shut down the government over a very rea-
sonable negotiation is characteristic of the stuff we need to work on,” McConnell said. “In what other industry can employees shut down the plant, and still have their jobs when it reopens? Watching this shutdown unfold makes a case for anarchy in this country. This apathy towards government is staggering.” “Firing everyone in the federal government at once means they’re happier with their jobs when they return. It’s like hearing that residents don’t like their living conditions in a boarding-house, kicking everyone out in the winter for a few days, then inviting the residents back in when they realize how cold it is outside.” Mitch McConnell was observed trying to extricate a chewed piece of gum from the bootprinted pages of the pamphlet with his teeth.
IMAGE COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Apparently, it takes an information manual to run a democracy.
Real crabs do not sing, “Under The Sea” By Jared Holloway THE DAILY CARDINAL
As Disney comes under criticism for the messages it creates in its older films, such as patriarchal gender roles and racist undertones, yet another fallacy has been uncovered. In Walt Disney’s The Little Mermaid there is a little-known scene in which a crab named Sebastian leads other sea creatures in a song titled “Under the Sea.” It makes for a cute movie moment but, as leading researcher Eugena Tatwell suggests, it is a wholly unrealistic premise. Following years of involved marine research, Tatwell has hypothesized that crabs, in fact, cannot sing. Her work has shown that crabs rarely, if ever, have lips capable of replicating the English language, and furthermore do not have vocal cords. “We all like to think that these movies portray real life.” she said in an interview
with the Cardinal. “Prince Charming will sweep us away and we’ll all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. I’ve spent years working with, living with and becoming one with the crabs, and they have not once sung the simplest of melodies, much less carried the leading role in Caribbean styled Disney score. If you think that crabs are going to sing to you, you might as well believe that pigs can fly, and that President Eisenhower was real.” Tatwell’s research has been replicated among marine biologists across the globe. The buzz about the “singing abomination” as it has been dubbed in official research, has even prompted creators of the Disney production to speak up. “Yeah… I know crabs don’t talk.” said Ron Clements, cowriter of the screenplay. “It’s a cartoon. You know there was also, like, mermaids and magic and stuff in there too, right?”
As of yet, no charges have been pressed against Disney for its deliberate act of misinformation, though after reading Tatwell’s research, government officials say everything is “still on the table.” “I just can’t believe,” said Tatwell, “that the public has been so terribly misinformed about the musical capabilities of the crab for so long without justice.” Tatwell’s research is available for full viewing online. She is also available by email for those interested in supporting a class action lawsuit.
4 P.M. FEB. 9 2195 VILAS HALL Independent coverage. Since 1892.
The little birdie is causing global turmoil and is loving every second.
How to use Twitter and not set off geopolitical havoc By Patrick Hoeppner THE DAILY CARDINAL
The tiny lungs make singing a chore for this little guy on the ocean floor.
Write for the Almanac, or the Kraken will get you! almanac@dailycardinal.com
SPRING 2018 RECRUITMENT MEETING
IMAGE COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
In light of the recent developments surrounding Twitter and the global events shifted and shaped around the dialogue through its medium, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has taken to his own medium to justify his application’s relevance in today’s global ecosystem. “The Twitter team has assembled some guidelines to using Twitter,” Dorsey tweeted Saturday, followed by a comprehensive guide to the use of the service. The guide, Dorsey said, is designed to reach even the dumbest members of Twitter’s base, using a language that has been AI-tested to be comprehensible to users reading below a third-grade level. 1. Using Twitter to insult people is cool if you aren’t a politician. 2. Using Twitter to insult people is acceptable if you are a rapper or an athlete. 3. Twitter is meant to spread thoughts like raspberry jam across the endless expanse of the internet,
therefore the dumbest, most primitive, impulsive swill that sloshes around in your half-empty cranium generally shouldn’t be shared. 4. Tweeting after two in the morning is inadvisable, but not impermissible. 5. Twitter was designed to connect people, not divide them. 6. Ideas spread through Twitter are a lot less impactful than you think. Trust us. 7. Some slanderous tweets are so vile they deserve deletion. We keep them in a special repository. We grant employees access to it on bonus day, just for fun. Don’t let your tweets go there. 8. Your impulse control deteriorates as a function of the number of hours spent on this service. 9. Your reading level deteriorates as a function of the number of hours spent on this service. 10. Go read a book, you fucking moron. The White House declined to comment.
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SPRING WELCOME BACK ISSUE 2018
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Men’s Basketball
Despite recent struggles, future looks bright for UW behind young, driven core By Thomas Valtin-Erwin THE DAILY CARDINAL
For decades, the Wisconsin men’s basketball program was forgettable. Over the course of 40 seasons from 1954 to 1995, the Badgers notched just eight winning seasons and won 42.8 percent of their games. That half-century of poor performance featured a single appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1994, when UW won one game and promptly surrendered 109 points in a Second Round loss to Missouri. But then Dick Bennett was hired away from UW-Green Bay and quickly found some success at the state’s flagship university. He coached the Badgers to winning records in four of his five full seasons, leading them to three NCAA Tournaments culminating in a bizarre sprint to the Final Four in 2000. Bennett’s immediate success brought an air of confidence back to a program that had desperately lacked it since World War II. That confidence was smacked squarely in the mouth when Bennett retired three games into his sixth season, leaving assistant Brad Soderberg to guide UW to a First Round tournament upset at the hands of Georgia State. So the search was on for someone to maintain the hope that Bennett had brought so abruptly to Madison. That search led straight
to the doorstep of UW-Platteville legend Bo Ryan. Ryan came to the bench at the Kohl Center and led the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten title in his first year. His second season saw the best performance in program history up to that point (per the Daily Cardinal rating system), a record Ryan would break five more times before his retirement in 2015. After 40 years of mediocrity, UW has been among the nations top programs for going on two decades. The Badgers have made the tournament in every season since 1999, the sixthlongest streak in the history of college basketball. So it seemed that the hiring of Bo Ryan marked an era of invincibility, one that would make Big Ten title contention the norm and Sweet 16 appearances second nature. But basketball, like all sports, is cyclical. And now the cycle has come around. After the graduation of UW’s winningest senior class ever, the mantle was handed to All American forward Ethan Happ and a handful of underclassmen. Expectations were tempered, but the promising development of rising sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice, junior forward Khalil Iverson and the program’s best recruiting class in at least five years provided optimism. But on the morning of Dec. 9, with the Badgers already tumbling through non-conference play with a
4-6 record, that optimism was cut down at the waist. The team announced that Trice — playing a team-high 31.5 minutes per game — and freshman guard Kobe King — who had been pegged before the season as UW’s best shot at an immediate contributing freshman — would each sit out indefinitely with a foot injury and a knee injury, respectively. King’s season was done, and Trice has missed 10 games, though his return is imminent. Winter break saw the Badgers crawl through the easiest part of their conference slate. They sit now at 3-4, tying the team’s worst seven-game start to Big Ten play in 25 years. At this point, barring a miracle Big Ten Tournament title — which would almost certainly necessitate wins over at least two teams currently ranked in the KenPom top 15 — an NCAA Tournament berth is out of the question. The Badgers are one of just three Big Ten teams at or below .500 overall, and it has become overwhelming clear that this season is for what the Badgers have considered a four-letter word for 20 years: rebuilding. That being said, let’s make something clear: Wisconsin is not headed into a chasm of mediocrity that will see nine American presidents and five Constitutional amendments. Head coach Greg Gard is among the most capable in the country and the Badgers’ core remains promising.
Despite the absence of Trice and King, a 25-point beatdown of Illinois Friday night highlighted much of what the UW coaching staff is so optimistic about. Breakout freshman guard Brad Davison led the team in scoring with 18 points on a freakishly efficient .865 true shooting percentage. Among Power 5 freshman guards with similar usage rates, Davison ranks No. 4 in effective field goal percentage and steals per game. He leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring at 12.1 points per game and has drawn a team-high 19 charges through 20 games. Freshman forward Nate Reuvers, who was redshirting until the underwhelming play of Andy Van Vliet forced him into action, led the team with five blocks against Illinois, bringing his team-leading total to 21 for the season and puts him at No. 13 among Power 5 freshmen with 1.4 blocks per game. The speed of Reuvers’ development has astounded Gard and Co. After nearly fouling out in just 14 minutes in his first appearance and missing his first 10 shots over the course of two games, the raw freshman has shot 46.7 percent from the floor in his last eight games, including 38.5 percent from 3-point range and has blocked nearly two shots a game. Reuver’s game still has a long way to go, but his performance in the preseason made him feel like
an afterthought in the recruiting class behind the inspiring play of Davison and King. Though redshirt sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl has been on campus for three years, he was inserted into the starting lineup this season and saw his playing time nearly quadruple with Bronson Koenig and Zak Showalter graduated. He was touted out of high school as a spectacular sharpshooter, but shot just 27.3 percent from deep in his first 35 games with the Badgers. Since then, though, he’s shown signs of becoming the shooter that was promised, connecting on 37.8 percent of his triples and recorded double-digit points in seven of those nine games. Come fall of 2018, D’Mitrik Trice and Kobe King will be healthy. Ethan Happ will still be among the best allaround players in the country. Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers’ games will be another year matured, and perhaps Brevin Pritzl will approach 40 percent from beyond the arc. There is reason for optimism in Madison, where a Badger team that has shown flashes of ability has been riddled with injuries and inexperience but also features its youngest core in recent memory. The future of Wisconsin basketball is on its way. It looks hopeful. And while it may be taking its time getting here, one thing is certain: It’s coming.
MCKENZIE HALLING/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Nate Reuvers is improving fast for UW in his freshman season.
CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Freshman Brad Davison has outperformed expectations in his opening season, highlighted by his astounding .865 true shooting percentage.