Thursday, February 4, 2010 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

City alcohol policies are set for review. Which work best for Madison? FEATURES

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LEAVING AN INDELIBLE MARK ON THE CARDINAL A tribute to a devoted friend, staff member and classmate, in memory of Neha Suri

Complete campus coverage since 1892

A dear friend passes on

isabel Álvarez/the daily cardinal

By Sam Berg and Ryan Hebel The Daily Cardinal

More than 200 students, faculty and family members gathered Wednesday at Lathrop Hall to share memories of Neha Suri, the UW-Madison senior who passed away Tuesday. Neha, 22, had been at UW Hospital in critical condition since last week with bacterial meningitis, a rare but sometimes fatal disease. After being taken to the hospital Jan. 25, doctors placed Neha in an induced coma to aid in the healing process. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, Neha’s condition worsened. Many of Neha’s closest friends contributed to the ceremony through songs and specially written music or by recounting their favorite stories of the Singapore native. “She approached life with unparalleled enthusiasm and curiosity. Her vibrant energy and whimsical nature made her an explorer, seeking out new experiences, places and friends,” UW-Madison student Dave Abbott said. Others spoke about Neha’s commitment to her friends and family. “We’ve all had enough heart-to hearts with Neha … to appreciate her courage in confronting the tangles of philosophy, religion and spirituality. Most memorable for me, however, are those wide brown eyes that looked upon life’s mystery with such amazement. Neha floated on the kinds of

questions that suffocate greater souls,” UW-Madison student Bryan Fate said. Dean of Students Lori Berquam opened the service, calling the emotionally charged ceremony a celebration of Neha’s spirit and all the lives she touched. Berquam said she visited the hospital Monday, where Neha’s family and a large group of friends—who had visited Neha every day since the abrupt hospitalization—seemed bonded by a shared compassion. “It was something that I haven’t seen before, and it really goes to the warmth and the strength and compassion of the students to the family, and the family returning it to the students,” she said. “I want to thank Neha’s family for lending her to us for a short time so she could walk up the sidewalks of Bascom Hill, go to her classes and enrich all of our lives.” Chancellor Biddy Martin also offered condolences to Neha’s family. “What I’ve learned about Neha Suri in the past few days makes me wish I had known her. It makes me proud that she was a student at UW-Madison … She was a person who clearly valued family and who clearly valued friendship,” she said. Many faculty members also spoke warmly about Neha, who had double-majored in journalism and neha page 3

Isabel Álvarez/the daily cardinal

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OPINION

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Oversight Committee continues to review Madison Initiative proposals By Kelsey Gunderson The Daily Cardinal

The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates Oversight Committee met Wednesday to continue discussing which MIU funding proposals it will recommend to Chancellor Biddy Martin later this month. The MIU Student Oversight Board ranked each proposal earlier this semester, and the MIU Oversight Committee, which consists of faculty, staff and three nonvoting students, is now in the process of reviewing all 114 proposals while taking into consideration the student board’s rankings. According to Aaron Brower, vice provost for teaching and learning and a member of the committee, roughly half of the $10 million generated this year by the MIU tuition increase was set aside for need-based financial aid, leaving about $5 million to allocate across campus. Brower said the group ranks each proposal using the criteria

Martin outlined for the MIU. These criteria involve ensuring easier access to high-demand courses while also trying to accomplish more expansive goals within specific departments, he said. He said the majority of the proposals asked for more faculty and staff to open up certain classes to more students. Brower said, however, that the proposals that really stood out this round were those asking for funds to improve departments’ overall curricula and included things like internship opportunities or undergraduate research programs. According to Maria Cancian, a UW-Madison professor in the school of social work and also a member of the committee, members also tried to give the highest rankings to the proposals that impacted the most students and were cost effective. Both Cancian and Brower said choosing which proposals to recommend is a difficult process.

“It’s a glass half-full and a glass half-empty,” Brower said. “The half-full part is people really stepped up across campus and proposed all sorts of really great projects, the half-empty part is there are way more good projects in need out there than we’re going to be able to fund.” Cancian said to try to accommodate more of the requests, the committee is able to make amendments and choose to fund parts of certain proposals. “We routinely recommended amendments … usually not because all the aspects of a proposal weren’t worthy but because honestly there were many more proposals that we really wanted to fund,” she said. Both the MIU Student Oversight Board and the Oversight Committee will present their recommendations to Martin later this month. Martin will take both groups’ recommendations into consideration and will likely make her final decision in early March.

Study: Politics affects views on stem-cell research By Ariel Shapiro The Daily Cardinal

A recent UW-Madison study found that Wisconsin voters’ level of political activism on the issue of stem-cell research is more likely to be correlated to political ideology and media exposure than religion. Dominique Brossard, a UW-Madison professor of life sciences communication who worked on the study, said the report found there are more liberal activists than conservative activists rallying around the issue of stem-cell research. The study is based on a Badger Poll conducted in July 2006 of randomly selected Wisconsin voters. Brossard and Amy Becker, a

UW-Madison life sciences communication graduate student and co-author of the report, said previous research indicated that religion was more prevalent in forming voters’ opinions. Despite previous findings, UW-Madison professor of political science Charles Franklin said the politicization of stem cell research now divides voters along party lines. “Even if attitudes towards stem cells originated 15 years ago in some kind of religious orientations, once those became polarized between the parties and the ideological restraints, then this inevitably became something structured along partisan dimensions,” Franklin said. He also said because the poll

was conducted during an election when stem-cell research was a prominent issue, and one in which “Gov. Jim Doyle in particular pushed pretty early and hard in the campaign,” the poll results may not be as relevant today. “I’d like to see them produce more recent data on it,” he said. Although the findings may be somewhat dated, Brossard said the poll results show the effects media have on people’s perceptions of scientific issues. “I think it is encouraging to see that these issues are motivating the public to participate and that I think it is very important for scientists to understand that they need to be present in the public debate,” Brossard said.

Committee debates Broom Street, Peace Park renovations By Nick Crowley The Daily Cardinal

The Madison Board of Public Works met Wednesday to debate Broom Street renovations and approved plans for the renovation of Elizabeth Link Peace Park to be reviewed by the Common Council. Construction on Broom Street would take place over the summer. The renovations would improve the condition of the street and replace the current streetlights, among other improvements. The new lights would be lower to the ground and provide more light for pedestrians on sidewalks. “As anyone who drives a car or rides a bike knows, this project is

long overdue,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. Though supporters see the project as necessary, the cost of the proposals sparked some debate from landowners on Broom Street. “How can you propose such an expensive project in this economy?” a community member asked. “You can’t put a price on public safety,” Verveer said. “Given the number of pedestrians walking at night, it is very important that we implement appropriate lighting.” Verveer said he hopes the economy will be in better condition by the time the public pays

for the project in October 2011. The board also approved improvements to Elizabeth Link Peace Park. Plans for further developing the small park off State Street include the addition of a visitors center and a fountain. These upgrades aim to make the park more visually appealing to attract more students and other citizens. After nearly a decade of deliberations, the Madison Common Council will assess the longawaited improvements on the park February 23. If approved by the council, construction should begin by March.

“…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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Thursday, February 4, 2010

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Biddy Cent puts ‘holla’ back in ‘Chancellor’

Volume 119, Issue 80

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

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Charles Brace Managing Editor Ryan Hebel Campus Editor Kelsey Gunderson Grace Urban City Editor State Editor Hannah Furfaro Enterprise Editor Hannah McClung Associate News Editor Ashley Davis Senior News Reporters Alison Dirr Ariel Shapiro Robert Taylor Anthony Cefali Opinion Editor Todd Stevens Arts Editors Katie Foran-McHale Jacqueline O’Reilly Sports Editors Scott Kellogg Nico Savidge Kevin Slane Page Two Editor Features Editor Madeline Anderson Ben Pierson Life and Style Editor Photo Editors Isabel Álvarez Danny Marchewka Graphics Editors Caitlin Kirihara Natasha Soglin Multimedia Editor Jenny Peek Copy Chiefs Anna Jeon Kyle Sparks Justin Stephani Jake VIctor Copy Editors Alison Bauter, Kathleen Brosnan, Melanie Davies, Lauren Kelly Whitney Steffen, Tyler Weiss, Winnie Wu, Maddie Yardley, Liana Zorn

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Cole Wenzel Advertising Manager Katie Brown Accounts Receivable Manager Michael Cronin Billing Manager Mindy Cummings Senior Account Executive Ana Devcic Account Executives Mara Greenwald Kristen Lindsay, D.J. Nogalski, Sarah Schupanitz Graphic Designer Mara Greenwald Web Director Eric Harris Marketing Director Mia Beeson Archivist Erin Schmidtke

JON SPIKE academic misjonduct

eclusive rap artist Biddy Cent, also known as Chancellor Biddy Martin of UW-Madison, recently announced plans for of her new album due this March. Biddy Cent’s latest album is her second release since her double-platinum debut, You Should Try to Make Money for Yourself, or Become Deceased Attempting to Do So, Because Money is What is Really Important Yo, last April, which turned the young rapper-turnedchancellor into a star overnight. Biddy Cent, formerly known as C-Biddy, talked at length about the various inﬂuences that went into the new album, titled Puttin’ the Holla Back in Chancellor, at a news press conference. “Yeah... so this new release really hits on some s*** close to my heart. I got really real on some of these new tracks. Gonna blow some minds and s***,” Biddy Cent explained at the conference. “Brace yourself to erase your-

versity on Wiley, saying, “Inherited a sinking ship on the sea / Doing damage control constantly / Still, John C. ain’t got s*** on me.” During the conference, Biddy Cent discussed the wide array of inspirations for her new songs, mentioning everything from the swine flu outbreak to her beloved toy poodle, Oscar. One such inspiration was the continuing controversy surrounding UW-Madison’s contracts with companies suspected of using unjust labor practices. The Student Labor Action Coalition has criticized Biddy Cent’s handling of the complaints, and she has fired back with the single from the new album, titled “Gimme Some SLAC.” In the single, Biddy Cent defended herself from the criticism with lyrics like, “Under attack, catchin’ flak from SLAC / You b****es know we still under contract / Why don’t you gimme some slack / From this legal noose ’round my neck.” Biddy Cent also collaborated with a number of prominent artists on Chancellor. On one track, Biddy Cent enlisted the vocal skills of Da Rez, also known as current UW-Madison Athletic Director Barry Alvarez. On the track “Fearless (Booty Shorts Remix),” Da Rez backs up Biddy

Cent’s verses with lines like “Takin’ names, breaking rules / Suckin’ money from football booster fools / Me, nervous? In distress? / Nah, me and Biddy C. are simply fearless.” What does the future hold for Biddy Cent? She wasn’t ready to give away details, but she did hint at some possibilities. “Been thinking about breakin’ some laws so I can go to jail and get some street cred. Maybe collaborate with Lil Wayne while I’m in there. Me and him got some similar tastes and s***. Don’t want life on the inside to change my musical vision, though,” Cent said at the conference. “The man gonna throw me in jail someday anyway. You know how the game works.” Biddy Cent also discussed plans to start up her own record label, with the tentative name Dollaz and B-Cents Records. Da Rez has already committed his next album, “Open Pantry Nights & Dayne Highlights,” to the label. When reporters at the news conference tried to ask Biddy Cent questions after the allotted time frame, she brandished a knife, promptly scattering the remaining journalists. If you think hip-hop is now ofﬁcially dead, email Jon at spike@wisc.edu.

Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA Madison’s own Ale Asylum, known best for Hopalicious and Ambergeddon, recently released the latest in its limited seasonal series, Ballistic IPA (India Pale Ale for you beer newbies). Packed with American Amarillo hops, the distinct citrusy aroma balances the hops’ bitterness. If packaging alone can determine what sixer you take home for the night, Ballistic has to be in the running. A silhouetted girl shooting hops from a pistol against a bright green background is certainly eye catching, reminiscent of either “DDR” or “Charlie’s Angels.” On to more important things, a light citrus aroma wafts from a freshly opened bottle, followed by the familiar hops, opposite the presence of flavors while drinking. Bold hops bitterness is first welcomed by the palate, followed

Editorial Board Charles Brace Anthony Cefali Kathy Dittrich Ryan Hebel Nico Savidge Jamie Stark Todd Stevens Justin Stephani l

self, b****es.” Cent’s career took off last August with her quintuple-platinum second release, Mo’ Undergrads, Mo’ Problems, and since then Biddy Cent has become a household name. Cent also recently made headlines with her over-the-top rap feud with fellow artist Lo-Ri-Da, also known as UW-Madison’s Dean of Students Lori Berquam. Lo-Ri-Da, who used to go by the rap name DJ Quamcastic, called out Biddy Cent in her single “Takin’ Back Bascom.” In the song, Lo-Ri-Da criticized Biddy Cent on her inability to solve budget woes with lines like, “Named Biddy Cent ’cause she can’t raise a dollar / Now I’m takin’ back Bascom so gimme a holla.” Biddy Cent retaliated with the No. 1 single “Mean of Students,” taking shots at Lo-Ri-Da’s reputation as a stickler for harsh punishments. Biddy Cent’s song drew intense scrutiny and subsequent popularity for the controversial line “Dean of students / More like mean of students / Lo-Ri-Da swingin’ like a prize ﬁghter / Treatin’ students like a one-nighter.” Biddy Cent also came under ﬁre for taking shots at former Chancellor John Wiley with the song “Wiley Coyote.” In the single, Biddy Cent blamed the current state of the uni-

New Beer Thursday

The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. 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. 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 typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than 200 words, including contact information. Letters may be sent to letters@dailycardinal.com.

FRIDAY: snowy hi 33º / lo 23º

Board of Directors Vince Filak Cole Wenzel Joan Herzing Jason Stein Jeff Smoller Janet Larson Chris Long Charles Brace Katie Brown Benjamin Sayre Jenny Sereno Terry Shelton Melissa Anderson l

Riley’s now offers wine tote bags for customers purchasing 6 bottles, or more, of any wine we have in stock! They are durable, reusable, and

by hints of orange and lime. Like many hoppy beers, the initial quarter of the bottle is a punch in the face, but it mellows out as you work through the bottle. The comparison to Hopalicious could be made; however, the lingering citrus of the Amarillo cuts the bitterness to a more tolerable level. Ballistic goes down smoothly, balancing sharp carbonation and a medium body. Despite starting slowly, it finishes nicely, assuming it stays cold. Once warm, the bottle is incredibly hard to finish; though a common problem, this may not even be worth finishing. Most weeks, the ABV makes a showing in the column, but Ale Asylum has accomplished a government cover-up on this one. Neither the carton, bottle nor various websites even hint at a number, but sticking with Ale Asylum’s reputation and

the warming characteristic necessary for a winter seasonal, it can be guessed in the 8 to 9 percent range. Given its nature, Ballistic certainly isn’t a session beer, and with its price tag at a whopping $10.99, you had better have some friends interested in sharing a drink. Given Ale Asylum’s reputation for excellent brews and being a Madison brewery, Ballistic is worth a try but isn’t coming close to making it on a top five or even 10 list.

Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA $10.99 at Riley’s Wines of the World

Dave, I’ll be the Bella to your Edward. Bite me. Hard.

FREE!

Best of all, you’ll save 10% on your purchase!

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

With thousands of different wines in stock, selecting the right wine can be difficult. Let our in-house wine expert help you choose the right wine for any occasion!

Want to profess your undying love for your sweetheart? Or just pick up a hot piece of ass for a V-Day booty call? In 40 words or less, send your Valentines Confessions to ads@dailycardinal.com, and get your love in writing! Ads are only $5 and are due by Wednesday, Feb. 10.

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By Jacob Brand The Daily Cardinal

The Urban Design Commission met with representatives of the Edgewater Hotel redevelopment project again Wednesday to discuss design changes and hear public opinion. Edgewater’s architect David Manfredi displayed their new building plan and addressed concerns the commission had voiced in their prior meeting. The most prominent changes the new plans featured were on the western side of the proposed tower and the courtyard beneath it. The courtyard is now more landscaped, no longer contains a lawn and will host an ice rink in the winter.

The new western tower retains nearly the exact same outline as previous plans, however it would now sport a smooth, asymmetrical face with a single, offset line running from ground to roof. In addition to the simplified sides, the new plans offer an increased window space to the top two floors and the side of the building facing the lake, in an attempt to give it a lighter feel. These changes were in response to previous complaints by the commission and the public that the general “weight” of the building would be out of place where it was proposed. Public responses varied from one end of the scale to the other. Some complained “the new design gave a

Thursday, February 4, 2010

news Edgewater developers alter plans to suit city

I speak for the Humani‘trees’!

good balance that further reduced the building’s mass and creates a more iconic architectural statement towards the lake,” while another simply referred to it as “bulbous.” The Urban Design Commission asked the representatives of the project to further consider the issues of rainwater runoff, sidewalk views of the lake, public use of the courtyard and maintenance of the stairway down to waterfront. Most pressing to the commission, however, is still the size and placement of the new tower. The solution most widely embraced by members of the commission at the end of the meeting was to set the tower away from the street by up to 30 feet.

‘Day of Action’ raises over $7,700 for Haiti earthquake victims The Associated Students of Madison announced Wednesday that last week’s Haiti Relief Day of Action raised over $7,700, all of which was donated to the American Red Cross to help the earthquake victims. UW-Madison students were able to donate all day at vari-

neha from page 1 political science. “She was a truly bright and talented student, but what stands out most to me was seeing her and her bright shining face and her enthusiasm that was such a delight to teach,” journalism professor Doug McLeod said. Gary Sandefur, dean of the

ous locations across campus last Thursday as part of the campuswide event organized by ASM and the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group. WSUM Student Radio also raised about $2,000 during its dance party at the Majestic College of Letters and Science, also presented Neha’s mother with Neha’s posthumous degree. According to Berquam, many friends were still lingering an hour after the ceremony had ended. “She was so incredible I couldn’t wait to see where she would end up,” UW-Madison student Laura DeWitt said during the service. “I

Theatre last Thursday night. Many other UW-Madison students and organizations have also contributed to Haiti relief efforts on campus. Students interested in contributing to the relief can visit www. redcross.org for more information. try to find peace in my belief that she’s in the very best place that she could possibly be now. I already feel her spirit everywhere, and I think it would be impossible for Neha to enter someone’s life and not leave a mark … I love you, Neha; you will not be forgotten, and as they say in German, ‘bis dahin,’ which isn’t ‘goodbye,’ it just means ‘till then.’”

lorenzo zemella/the daily cardinal

Chancellor Biddy Martin speaks before a panel of leaders in the humanities at Chazen Art Museum Wednesday night.

Supreme Court upholds law prohibiting breathalyzer results as evidence in court By Alison Dirr The Daily Cardinal

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a law prohibiting the use of preliminary breath test results in most drunken driving cases Wednesday. After a court convicted Richard Fischer, a man who was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence, he challenged the constitutionality of the law. “Under Wisconsin law the results of a preliminary breath screening test are not admissible in any prosecution for drunk driving except for the purposes of showing that there was probable cause for an arrest and that a chemical test was properly required,” Bill Cosh, spokesperson for the state Justice Department, said. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a statement he approved of the court’s decision. “The Supreme Court has appro-

priately taken a practical approach to the problem of drunk driving by upholding the Legislature’s efforts to enact laws designed to get drunk drivers off the road,” he said. Because there is no penalty for refusing the breath test when pulled over, the court said that keeping those results out of trials encourages drunken drivers to submit voluntarily. Fischer argued that his constitutional right to present evidence in his defense overrode the law. According to a statement from Van Hollen, Fischer hoped his preliminary breath test results would prove that his blood alcohol content was below the legal limit at the time of his arrest. The statement said police typically use preliminary breath tests to determine if there is probable cause for arrest. Chemical tests following arrests are admissible as evidence in trials.

featuresstudent life 4

Thursday, February 4, 2010

City officials have recently hit the downtown bars with a series of alcohol-related violations and suspensions they hope will encourage safer drinking. Story by Kayla Torgerson and Caitlin Gath

typical student walking the Friday night bar scene may think the biggest decision in opening a new tavern is décor, location and staffing. However, many students may be surprised to find that the city has specific, detailed regulations about when and where new bars can open up. One ordinance the city’s alcohol policy coordinator Katherine Plominski reviews annually is the Alcohol License Density Ordinance. The policy is a city statute enacted in 2007 that caps the number of alcohol licenses in the downtown Madison area. By changing these policies, city officials and authorities aimed to create a safer drinking environment for Madison residents and university students, as well as increase communication between the city and the university, according to Plominski. No new alcohol license-holding establishment is allowed in a predetermined area of the campus and downtown State Street area, unless it is replacing a bar. “If Urban Outfitters closed that would not be able to turn into a bar. But if Mondays closed or Wando’s closed ... somewhere with a license, you could take that place and turn it into something that has that as its existing use,” Ald. Bryon Eagon, District 8, said. “So if a new place wants to go in, they do have to have different standards for their food-to-alcohol ratio.” “[This review helps] monitor and make sure that one policy is not inadvertently affecting another,” Plominski said. “So by perhaps putting a cap on bars, would that lead to house parties, which then would lead to more violence?” For the critics who believe the density plan is too restrictive, Plominski notes that it does not prevent a restaurant—which is defined as an establishment with 50 percent or more of sales in food—from becoming a bar or nightclub after hours. “That’s essentially our problem. Our definition says, ‘We’ll let you come in as a restaurant as long as more than 50 percent of your sales are in food,’” she said. “So that’s the perfect example of Frida’s. Frida’s has 65 percent of their revenue coming from food, but if you walk in there at 11 p.m., it’s a full-out nightclub. A lot of our restaurants, take the Nitty Gritty, they are bona-fide restaurants based on percentage sales, but they are bars and nightclubs at night.” The density plan will open the doors for possible changes or just non-renewal. Dawn Crim, a non-voting member of the Alcohol License Review Committee who represents UWMadison, said from the university’s perspective, they would like to see the plan continue with some adjustments. “You know, when you start out with a new plan and all the goals, you’re excited about all the possibilities a new ordinance can do,” she said. “And crime has been reduced, capacity has been reduced. But where

Graphics by Natasha Soglin

we’ve fallen short is trying to change the mix of retail downtown from fewer establishments with alcohol, and it’s just challenging.” Part of the reason Crim said she felt the plan has fallen short is that it has not assisted in attracting other businesses, such as a movie theater, or others that can provide entertainment or retail without contributing to only a narrow slice of the population. “I’d love for an establishment to be in place where it caters to an older-age demographic,” she said. Based on informal conversations, Plominski said she feels there is a strong will among Common Council members to continue the policy, and she agrees with Crim that the plan could be tweaked to improve its viability. Eagon, in contrast, has not been a proponent of the plan in any form. “I think that the proposal should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis rather than a blanket geographical area, “ he said. “I do think that some reforms to the current plan are necessary for more multi-use spaces.” Eagon used the sports bar, The Badger Hall of Fame Grill, that almost took up occupancy in University Square last summer, as an example of a great proposal because it provided balance of food and drinks, but also interactive games in a fun atmosphere. “There were quite a few concerns that maybe it would violate the density plan,” Eagon said. “So that deterred support for it, which I don’t think is the right approach to prevent new places from coming in, and that sort of brings it back to the case-bycase basis.” Segredo, the new boutique bowling lounge that opened up in the former space of Madison Avenue, is a good model for that mixed-use, all-ages interactive kind of place “that students and people downtown should want,” Eagon added. Another change in alcohol policy occurred last spring, during Madison’s annual liquor license renewal time. According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who represents most of the downtown area, the Madison Police Department used a new tactic to penalize establishments for violations. Verveer said over the past several years the police focused much of their effort on alcohol enforcement because it could prevent other crimes. “[The police have] placed a huge amount of importance on alcohol enforcement,” he said. “They believe in large part ... that almost all major crime downtown stems from alcohol.” Operations Lieutenant Kristen Roman of the MPD said there are several ways to bring a complaint to the ALRC about an establishment with a liquor license. Last spring, the MPD began requesting that the ALRC not renew certain bars’ liquor licenses to create a more efficient discipline process. Police first tested the new process on four bars: Madison Avenue, Johnny O’s, Ram Head and the Kollege Klub, all of which have had numerous police

complaints and punishments in the past, Roman said. “In each of these cases there were slightly different reasons for each of the establishments that kind of stood out, but they were data driven,” she said. “They were based on having attempted earlier interventions that were less severe, to no avail, and the problems continued ... so it isn’t just that there was one incident or two incidents, it was over time.” Plominski said these bars did not change their behavior after the enforced punishments and, as a result, violence occurred. “[There were] pregnant women fighting, people pulling knives. I mean just like the stuff you don’t normally read about,” she said. “When a bar gets on my radar, it’s almost never for just a basic bar fight.” Madison Avenue and the Kollege Klub reached an agreement with police, which stated that their liquor licenses would be renewed under the conditions of a 30-day suspension and other security restrictions. Johnny O’s license was not suspended because the owner, Jon Okonek, also owns Madison Avenue and the punishments for

the two bars were grouped together. The bars’ suspension was served over the summer. Ram Head was also punished with the same 30-day suspension and was told it could renew its liquor license after the month-long period. While Ram Head’s license was suspended over the summer, the Kollege Klub was closed just this winter from December 13 until January 11. Critics have said that since the Kollege Klub served its suspension during winter break, it wouldn’t be a severe enough punishment. However, Jordan Meier, the general manager of the Kollege Klub, said “[The suspension] affects our employees who rely on their pay. Whether we’re making money ... it’s irrelevant.” Now back in business, the Kollege Klub has made several changes to its alcohol policy. “[We are] using a black light at the front door [and] confiscating IDs,” Meier said.

The Kollege Klub has also taken measures to ensure a safer environment. According to Meier, the bar now saves its video surveillance for 21 days and has increased the number of bouncers on busy nights. As a result, Meier has already noticed an improvement: “I think this new police policy and general attitude toward enforcement in the bars in Madison is helping the entire bar scene ... the amount of disturbances, the amount of physical altercations, the amount of overly intoxicated people has just been down in general.” He attributes part of this progress to the new relationship between the police and the bars. With a recent city subcommittee debating the density plan, it’s possible other bars like the Kollege Klub may see changes in the near future. Like alcohol, it’s clear that when it comes to the city’s bar policies, one decison can have a big impact.

arts

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Deﬁning cinematic experiences: the line between art and trash DAN SULLIVAN sullivan’s travels

PHOTO COURTESY THRILL JOCKEY RECORDS

Chicago-based Pit Er Pat present interesting ideas on The Flexible Entertainer, but the disjointedness and borderline chaos of certain tracks tend to prevent any parts from adding up to a great whole.

Pit Er Pat ‘ﬂexible’ in deﬁning entertainment By Anthony Cefali THE DAILY CARDINAL

As the cliché goes, the whole is often more than the sum of its parts. We as humans are not our biochemistry, a maze of neurons or our limbs. In art, the gestalt is the ultimate goal, the pinnacle of artistic vision. Pit Er Pat’s latest release sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. At times truly endearing and mature, and at others hypnotically tiresome, The Flexible Entertainer fails to appropriately coagulate into any sort of discernable whole.

But the recurring weakness of the album emerges rather conspicuously after a promising beginning.

In their defense, Pit Er Pat have always been a band of inconvenient circumstances, but in the past, this was their strength. They formed spontaneously after prior engagements with other musicians fell through, and anything they produced had an organic quality to it, as if it were forged through natural processes of seismic proportions. Now, this atmosphere has worn off, the mountains are no longer moving and we catch Pit Er Pat in an act of contentedness. This isn’t to say that the entire experience that is The Flexible Entertainer is worthless, but the recurring weakness of the album emerges rather conspicuously after a promising beginning. “Intro” comes to a rolling boil before finally reaching its apex, pouring over into the quizzically placed “Water.” “Water” is an exercise in triphop drivel, complete with inane idiosyncrasies and GarageBandquality effects. “Drip drip drip,” sings Fay Davis-Jeffers with an off-putting arrogance, a tone that is neither expected nor appreci-

ated. The lyrics “Tic tic toc” are lyrics here are more poignant meant to mimic the inevitability with Davis-Jeffers finding a new of time marching away. Though urgency with which to sing, it presents us with a moderately “Sleep in your cave and dream interesting philosophical dilem- of me / as I was.” ma—that of wasting away—the “Godspot” keeps up this newsong does not provide us with found momentum, relying heavthe framework with which to ily on a piecemeal guitar that push it forward or to evolve seems to grow but never changbeyond a blanes. Davis-Jeffers’ CD REVIEW ket statement. voice has an othAs listeners we erworldly qualare stranded, ity that sounds haunted by the more like speaking band’s need in tongues than to mystify us angelic, and the through the atmosphere really stretching of begins to take The Flexible familiar sounds hold here. But Entertainer until they just as the record Pit Er Pat become disoribegins to make enting, horrible nightmares. And a cogent statement, “Summer that’s when we realize that the Rose” derails it yet again. Where album is just a bunch of parts, the guitars once sounded so cerisolated from everything else tain, they now sound lost amidst that Pit Er Pat have to offer. the teen angst and faux-blues This pattern continues for feel. This feeling is incessant and a little over 40 minutes. We pervasive. Each moment of granare constantly presented with deur gets canceled out before interesting ideas and even more any sort of realization can occur, interesting sonic landscapes (a oftentimes with rhythms that skill for which Pit Er Pat show turn out to be more cataclysmic a special adeptness), but they than they are intriguing. The never seem to fit themselves mess compounds, as the album into anything that is substantial. stretches itself out over the same They almost actively resist any exhausted motif, and we’re left sort of conjunction. wondering where we started in the first place. In the end, is this a problem? If an album cannot stand as a single entity, does that automatiThere is nothing hidden under cally mean that the individual the tape hiss but mismatched parts can’t have lives of their parts and vapidity. own? Well, of course they can stand on their own, and they do here to a fault. The Flexible Entertainer is an album with an especially dynam“Nightroom” and “Godspot” ic quality. Its peaks are few, reach out through the amor- but they exert a force over the phous paradigm, providing us listener. So we listen again, just with a center to gravitate around. to make sure we didn’t miss a “Nightroom” is exactly what Pit peak tucked behind an errantly Er Pat do best; the esoteric har- placed crash cymbal or in the monies send mixed signals as midst of an irksome synthesizer the guitars weave through the drone. Unfortunately, this is not synthesizers, the drums filling the case. There is nothing hidthe holes with powerful triplets den under the tape hiss but misand subtle cymbals. Even the matched parts and vapidity.

hat does it mean to see a film? To me, these types of questions are much more interesting and fruitful than the more widely posed “Does all cinema count as art?” As I see it, the point of talking and thinking about art is not to make art an an elite club to which the contents of the Louvre, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, “Madame Bovary” and “Citizen Kane” belong but “Hot Tub Time Machine,” R. Kelly, Lady Gaga and Jackson Pollock do not. The desire to distinguish between works of art and entertainmentminded objects is born of an impulse that I have simply never understood, though I have long assumed it has something to do with a latent aversion to democracy, strange as that may sound. Honestly, what’s more democratic than the aesthetic strategy of the widely reviled Andy Warhol, producing works that anybody with $15 of disposable income can exhibit in their living room? And yet Warhol is commonly discussed as either an entertainer or entrepreneur first and as an artist second. In short, I hold that every movie is a work of art and generally deserves to be intellectually engaged as such. Other film critics tend to write about some pretty dreadful flicks, and the reviews that result are, at best, cleverly articulated pans. On one hand, this gives reviewers ample opportunity to flex their writerly prowess, and I certainly can’t fault them for that—hell, I read ’em and chuckle just as others do. But this phenomenon effectively implies that there’s a definite line between art and trash, between films worth contemplating and films that are mere sources of mindless entertainment. This distinction was reactionary and problematic when it was first asserted by critics like The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael in the 1960s, and it’s just as reactionary and problematic when upheld today. Don’t get me wrong, I think a lot of films suck; I just try to avoid seeing and writing about them. If I’ve made a habit of only reviewing films that strike me as being more or less good, it’s

because, for me, the measure of a film’s quality is its ability to inspire thoughtful responses that are stimulating in their own right. Thus, the critic is little more than a viewer who translates her response to a film into something worth sharing with others. Humorous as a snarky pan might be, one seldom gets the sense that the writer is dissecting the film and actively trying to find its hidden ideas, interesting techniques or broader function in an image-obsessed culture like the U.S. Returning to the questions I raised at the beginning of this column, I think we’re much better off asking “What is cinema today?” than “What is good cinema?” Though DVD technology already seems to be well on its way to obsolescence (what up Blu-Ray), I’m not convinced that we ever really got to the bottom of how it revolutionized the cinematic experience. Recently I was chatting with a friend who actually worries about this sort of stuff like I do, and we agreed that the ability to pause a movie and walk away from it for however long made watching a film a much more readerly activity. Just as one can set down a novel to go fix a sandwich, I can pause a movie and return to it whenever. I can insert as many intermissions into a viewing as I want, which is particularly handy when tackling behemoths like Chantal Akerman’s three-and-a-half hour masterpiece “Jeanne Dielman.” These are practical innovations with serious aesthetic consequences. But at what point does this kind of film-watching become something else? At what point do such impromptu intermissions invalidate a viewing? At what point does it become half-honest to say that you’ve truly seen a film? One thing’s for certain: Watching movies on DVD in your living room is a wildly different activity than watching them on 35mm in a dark room full of strangers, though perhaps that’s stating the obvious. The effects of these differences are fine material for thinking and discoursing, yet I’m not convinced that we ever began to have this conversation in earnest. Here’s hoping we don’t do the same disservice to Blu-Ray when and if it becomes the only show in town. Do you think movies like “Anchorman” and “Final Destination 3” deserve more cinematic merit? Complain to Dan at dasullivan@wisc.edu.

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I wonder how many calories you’d burn... The longest continuous sidewalk in the world is along Bay Shore Blvd. in Tampa, Fla. dailycardinal.com/comics

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Choose Your Numbers Wisely

Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

Ludicrous Linguistics

By Celia Donnelly donnelly.celia@gmail.com

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. The Graph Giraffe Classic

By Yosef Lerner

Crustaches

By Patrick Remington premington@wisc.edu

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Ambulance Moonpants

Charlie and Boomer

By Taylor Nye taylor_e_a@yahoo.co.uk

By Natasha Soglin soglin@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com Melancholy Shade

ACROSS 1 Cause wrinkles 7 “Como ___ usted?” 11 Black-eyed edible 14 Alternative to digital 15 Designating K-12 16 Befitting 17 Attire for manual workers? 19 What Eve was created from 20 “The Hobbit” character 21 Dot on an ocean map 22 Turn toward 23 Barely manage (with “out”) 24 ___ Diego, Calif. 26 King of classical tragedy 28 Academic period 30 500 sheets of paper 32 Unable to react, as helium 33 Acquire, as expenses 35 Shooting marble 36 Editing implements 38 Scottish property owner 39 Rich pastry 40 Karate acquisitions 41 Surrender formally 42 Trader’s word

46 Type of sculpture (Var.) 48 Banned insecticide (Abbr.) 50 “Blame It on ___” (Caine film) 51 “I ___ debt of gratitude to ...” 52 Semicircular part of a church 54 Buenos ___, Argentina 56 Blob of used gum 57 Some county fair awards 59 Big Apple inst. 60 Get one’s dander up 61 An evening party 62 Clairvoyance initials 63 Jewish month before Nisan 64 Tree-trunk growths DOWN 1 Carpentry groove 2 Different from 3 Jack Dempsey, aka the Manassa ___ 4 Common person 5 Madmen, in Mexico 6 Swellhead’s problem 7 Electrified swimmers 8 Downhill ski race 9 “... and baby makes ___”

0 “___ for apple” 1 11 Low walls 12 Food connoisseur 13 If all goes right 18 Batting order at Fenway Park, e.g. 22 Closing scenes 25 Traveled like a tennis lob 27 Finger or toe 29 Citizen’s army 31 Ragged mountain ridge 34 Nightingale or Barton 35 Having lots of land 36 Shaped into orbs 37 One placing auction bids 38 Tolerances 40 “Doctor, My Eyes” singer Jackson 41 Linking verb 43 Fielding boo-boos 44 One whose property is claimed, legally 45 Team stat 47 Well-founded 49 Off-limits 53 Crystal-ball consulter 55 Sacred wading bird of the pharaohs 57 Lingerie purchase 58 “Skeptic” or “cynic” follower

Washington and the Bear

By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com

opinion dailycardinal.com/opinion

Thursday, February 4, 2010

We’ll always remember Neha By Charles Brace EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Tuesday the UW-Madison community, The Daily Cardinal and countless friends and family lost an incredible individual. Neha Suri, a senior majoring in journalism and political science, passed away on that day after bravely ﬁghting a case of bacterial meningitis. She was surrounded by her friends and family and passed peacefully without pain. Neha worked for The Daily Cardinal throughout her college career, and words cannot express how incredibly heartbroken so many of us on staff were to learn of her struggle. She wrote for numerous departments, including Arts and Campus News, and worked as a copy editor. But it would be a disservice to simply say that those were the only parts of the paper she touched in her remarkable way, as someone so ﬁlled with warmth, kindness and curiosity is felt across departments and desks, building long-lasting friendships that continue today. She was a person who drew people to her with her easy, bright smile and someone who con-

tinually brought a positive, endearing perspective to the ofﬁce. I remember very distinctly coming to the copy desk as state editor and seeing that Neha had marked up one of my articles. But instead of trying to browbeat or berate me with those edits, I was always amazed to see how deftly and easily Neha was able to communicate with people. She had a rare gift of being able to disagree with someone but still give them respect and treat them with genuine human dignity. It has been inspiring to watch the outpouring of support showed for Neha all over campus. At her memorial service Wednesday it was clear just how many people she has touched, all of whom will carry her memory with them for the rest of their lives. Particular mention must be made of a community of friends that were there for Neha the most this past week, all of whom are connected in some way to her house on Bassett Street. This group of generous and caring young men and women has shown the sort of strength of character that makes people proud to be Badgers, and I consider myself incredibly lucky and humbled

to count them among my friends. The sort of bonds that they have shown, bonds that are identical to family ties in all but blood, are a testament to the way Neha surrounded herself with people who lift a person up when real challenges strike. Throughout these past few days I have been reminded of a portion of the poem “Faint Music” by Robert Hass, one about a man beset with grief and loss that is reprinted below. I cannot hope to describe what so many people have been feeling these past few days, but after hearing the songs played at Neha’s memorial, watching as the lyrics washed over people and gave them some measure of peace, I hope that it helps. Neha, we miss you, and I know we will see you again one day. I had the idea that the world’s so full of pain It must sometimes make a kind of singing. And that the sequence helps, as much as order helps— First an ego, and then pain, and then the singing.

Doyle views Wisconsin with overly rosy glasses BEN TURPIN opinion columnist

o hear Gov. Doyle describing the “state” of our state, one has to wonder why he decided not to seek re-election in 2010. An outsider would never have known that his popularity as governor has been slipping for some time, even within his own party. Aside from a few comments about the difﬁcult economic times we’re immersed in, Doyle made things sound simply whimsical. But in reality, Doyle’s speech bent the truth on some issues and simply sidestepped others altogether.

Doyle has been at the helm for seven years now while things spiraled downward.

During his speech, Doyle extolled the virtues of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which will apparently be one of the pet projects of his lame duck time in ofﬁce. According to him, the plan would create more than 15,000 jobs in the state, particularly in construction, manufacturing and agriculture. However, this ﬁgure has been disputed, and the business community in Wisconsin is sharply divided on the issue. No one is against making policy changes to lessen the impact of businesses on the environment, but they need to be at least somewhat practical. This plan would create jobs in the growing clean energy sector. The question is what these new jobs would cost. Opponents of this plan, some of whom work in the very manufacturing and construction industries Doyle claims would add new jobs as a result of it, are concerned. They say it would

send energy costs through the roof for businesses and consumers alike. If this ended up being the case, it could cost more jobs than it would create. They also wonder if adding more regulations for businesses to wrestle with is a good idea at a time when unemployment has approached double digits in the state. Surely some issues were left out of Doyle’s address because he simply did not have enough time for them. But he certainly had plenty of time to admire the legacy he perceives he will be leaving behind. He celebrated his tax record, citing the fact that Wisconsin has moved out of the top 10 highest taxed states in the country. First of all, our football neighbors, the Lions, improved in the standings in the recently concluded NFL season too, but I doubt anyone is celebrating over their two-win effort in Detroit. Wisconsin’s tax situation has indeed improved, but the state had virtually nowhere to go but up. Second, in bringing this up, Doyle conveniently neglected the fact that just last year, he signed a budget that increased taxes and fees by $2.1 billion. Something tells me Wisconsin will be regressing toward its initial position in those standings. But even this projected revenue increase was not enough to come close to balancing the new budget. In addition to that, Doyle’s budget required a combined $2.2 billion of federal stimulus money and spending cuts to be feasible. None of this money, whether from Washington or from cuts in Wisconsin, will be available in 2011. The state’s situation has been described as an absolute disaster in an analysis that compared it with that of California and concluded that the two predicaments are not as different as the prevalence of California’s story in the media might indicate to some. Fiscal problems as extensive as these are what result when a government, an entity that can produce nothing beyond the reallocation of resources, grows larger than it can

afford to. For example, in November of 2009, for the first time since the ‘60s, Wisconsin, a manufacturing state, had fewer manufacturing jobs than government jobs. This kind of policy absolutely cannot be sustained. Doyle has been at the helm for seven years now while things spiraled downward. The disastrous results of this kind of policy are what forced him to break his vehement promise to “hold the line” on taxes. They are also the sort of results that, when combined with the recent general realization among Democrats that the 2010 midterm elections could be very painful, can lead a governor who has spent his time in office seemingly going out of his way to kill jobs to suddenly reverse course and talk almost exclusively about them in his final State of the State Address.

Wisconsin’s tax situation has indeed improved but the state had virtually nowhere to go but up.

Doyle can say what he wants about jobs and taxes and all the wonderful things he has done to improve Wisconsin’s lot in the world, but that will not make any of it true. The truth is that if he really believed he were half the governor he claimed he has been last Tuesday night, he would be running for re-election. As a result of his time as governor, his successor, be he Barrett or Walker, will have some serious rebuilding to do in conjunction with the Legislature. Every Wisconsin resident had better hope against all hope that their new leaders will be up to such a stiff challenge. Ben Turpin is a junior majoring in psychology. We welcome all feedback. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

ISABEL ÁLVAREZ/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Today in The Soapbox, check out our preview of next week’s ﬁve-part examination of science education in America on the Opinion page. Join us as we take a look at our education system and how it evolves with the shifting technological and scientiﬁc environment. Check out more posts online at www.dailycardinal.com and click on “The Soapbox”

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More on dailycardinal.com: women’s basketball prepares for Golden Gophers dailycardinal.com/sports

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Football

Wisconsin ﬁnalizes 2010 recruiting class By Scott Kellogg THE DAILY CARDINAL

Head coach Bret Bielema announced his fifth recruiting class yesterday on signing day, a group that includes 24 scholarship players from eight states, in addition to seven walk-ons. Typically Wisconsin does not earn high grades from scouting websites such as ESPN.com or Rivals. com, and this year’s group is no exception. No player on ESPN. com is included in the website’s top 150 recruits. Rivals.com ranks the Badgers’ 2010 recruiting class No. 86 nationally as of Wednesday evening and No. 10 in the Big Ten, ahead of Indiana and one spot behind Northwestern. Bielema said he does not read too much into the recruiting rankings, knowing that assessing every player in the nation is a difficult task and predicting the players’ futures in the NCAA is basically impossible. “Somebody brought it up in the office, and it was printed out for me, and I was shown two different rankings, and one was 30 and one was 83,” Bielema said. “And I think that was the greatest way to explain how much validity there is to the ranking system. If you think about it, if you take a USA Today poll or the BCS rankings and one team is ranked 30 and one is 83 you’d realize there is something wrong.” Bielema also compared recruiting rankings to preseason college football polls: It does not really matter where a team begins a season, only how it finishes. The 2010 class includes 10 offensive players and 13 defensive players

(and one player unsure of which side of the ball he’ll play on). According to ESPN.com’s player ratings, safety Frank Tamakloe enters the upcoming season as the highest-rated incoming freshman. Tamakloe is rated as the No. 25 safety in the country by ESPN.com. “[He’s] extremely gifted academically and athletically,” Bielema said of Tamakloe. “He brings a little bit of anger when he plays the game.” “I really felt that the way that we recruited these young men, we found some kids who really ﬁt the proﬁle of what we need to have here at Wisconsin.” Bret Bielema head coach UW football

Tamakloe is part of a recruiting group from an area normally untapped by Wisconsin, the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic. In addition to Tamakloe, who is from Washington, D.C., the Badgers scooped up offensive lineman Rob Havenstein from Mount Airy, Md., tight end Sherard Cadogan from Washington Township, N.J., and quarterback Joe Brennan from Audubon, N.J. Bielema credits offensive coordinator Paul Chryst for reeling in Wisconsin’s only quarterback of this year’s class and is excited about Brennan’s potential. “[He has a] very strong arm,” Bielema said. “He’s got good size, throws the ball very, very well and is

a good competitor.” As usual, Wisconsin signed the most prospects from its home state, with eight of the 24 scholarship athletes coming from the Badger state. Bielema credits previous head coach Barry Alvarez and the prior success of the program for developing UW into an attractive option for in-state recruits. “Fortunately for my players, they grew up hearing about Wisconsin being good,” Bielema said. “Now these kids want to be a part of it.” One of these in-state players is Marquis Mason, a 6'3" wide receiver from Madison who has shown great athletic ability during the recruiting process. “We see a tremendous amount of ability,” Bielema said. “To have a guy that close with that much ability, that’s why I made an early statement [to him].” Another relatively highly rated prospect from Wisconsin is running back Jeffrey Lewis from Brookﬁeld. Lewis is the No. 1 rated running back in the state, according to ESPN/Scouts Inc. Another recruiting trend developed by Wisconsin recently is its propensity to sign players from Florida. The Badgers stayed in that direction this year, grabbing ﬁve players from the sunshine state. Headlining the pool from Florida are running back James White and safety Jameson Wright. White is rated the No. 42 running back in the country by ESPN/Scouts Inc., and Wright is rated No. 66 at his position by ESPN/Scouts Inc. UW pulled only one player from Minnesota this year, but he may be

DANNY MARCHEWKA/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Head coach Bret Bielema further stamped his mark on the UW football program after completing his ﬁfth recruiting class. the most valuable signee of the class. Beau Allen, a Minnetonka native, enters next season rated as the No. 20 defensive tackle in the country by MaxPreps and the top-ranked defensive tackle in the state. “He’s a big body who can hopefully play for us early on,” Bielema said. Another surprise in this year’s recruiting class is the absence of a player from Texas, a state Wisconsin has invested into in the past.

“That area of the country will definitely be addressed [in the future],” Bielema said. Defensive end Warren Herring is the only early enrollee of this year’s class. All other recruits will begin preparing for the 2010 season this summer. “I really felt that the way that we recruited these young men, we found some kids who really fit the profile of what we need to have here at Wisconsin,” Bielema said.

Signing day madness completely unwarranted, inappropriate BEN BREINER boom goes the breinamite

t might be college football’s most important and overhyped day: the day recruiting classes are all but ﬁnalized and a fresh crop of players signs their letters of intent. But past all the obnoxious hatpicking ceremonies and signing day madness, does the buildup really matter? Probably not. Maybe it is a reflection of the fans’ overexuberance, but college football’s obsession with rankings, stars and all the other trappings of recruiting has become, at the very least, troubling and, at worst, appalling. There are few areas in sports that draw more adults to petulantly disparage young athletes anonymously. Online, one can quickly ﬁnd instances where an “upstanding young man” suddenly turns into a “thug,” or a “player who will never pass academically,” all because he chose to attend another institution. Fans pay real money to get inside information on the feelings of 16and 17-year-olds toward different colleges. There really shouldn’t be much joy in knowing that a defensive end from Tennessee enjoyed his campus visit or that a kid likes your school just a little more than all the

others. For some there is, and that seems just a little bit wrong. There is so much more to care about in this world, and yet people pour their time and energy into this. There is some appeal of the unknown potential of new players, the same appeal of seeing Christmas presents and wondering exactly what is under the wrapping paper. Of course to complete the metaphor, people would be thinking about those gifts year-round and shelling out cash to lift and shake the boxes.

There are few areas in sports that draw more adults to petulantly disparage young athletes anonymously.

And it’s all for a system that is not particularly accurate or predictive of future success. This year’s 24-scholarship class is ranked somewhere between 33rd and 86th in the country, and Wisconsin has not reeled in a top-25-ranked class in the last nine years. Of course those players filled squads that finished five of the last six years as top-25 teams, but that shouldn’t be a big deal, right? Look at Chris Borland, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, whom coaches are very excited about.

Scout.com gave him two stars out of ﬁve, and Rivals.com left him off their positional rankings. Judging by his impact, it is hard to see how he was the 13th-best player in the freshman class. The history for the rankings inspires even less confidence. UW’s lone four-star recruit in 2008, Tyler Westphal, has had nary an impact on the field. 2007’s best, offensive tackle Josh Oglesby, was considered the top player at one of the most important offensive positions. He took two years to become a starter and has not blown anyone away. Of the top two players from 2006, one just left the program (offensive lineman Jake Bscherer), while the other, Lance Kendricks, changed positions and only last season began having a consistent impact. The 2005 coup of toprated defensive end Travis Beckum and linebacker Elijah Hodge was a mixed bag, as Beckum ended up moving to offense (and playing exceptionally) after struggling on defense while Hodge played poorly and got buried on the depth chart before finally leaving for Northern Iowa. Even the starting quarterback, Scott Tolzien, was considered a throwaway recruit by many fans, but he somehow beat more soughtafter competitors Dustin Sherer and Curt Phillips. Just the last eight years of recruiting (when the attention on it has intensiﬁed) feature too many

stories of strong classes and “blue chip” players who were busts or never came close to doing what the recruitniks claimed they would. Bielema probably had the best sentiments, according to an Athletic Department liveblog. “‘I’d rather be ranked at the end

of the season than the beginning of the season,” [Bielema] said: It’s the same thing when looking at recruiting rankings.” For the Wisconsin football team, that’s all that should really matter. Do you get excited for signing day? Let Ben know at breiner@wisc.edu.