University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Monday, February 9, 2015
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Fraternity hosts Miss Black and Gold pageant By Jessica Dorsky the daily cardinal
Loud hip-hop music began to play as contestants entered the room accompanied by thunderous applause and whoops from the audience at The Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant Thursday. Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity flanked the T-shaped stage, clad in suits with golden ties. The fraternity sponsored and organized the pageant, but it seemed the men’s main purpose was to help the ladies move on and off of the stage in their extremely high heels. Tripp Commons in Memorial Union was regal, the windows covered with thick golden curtains, and the stage and judge’s table draped with black cloth. “The purpose of the pageant is to recognize outstanding young women who serve as role models in our community,” Jonathan Harris, UW-Madison student and event coordinator, said. “It illuminates women’s self-confidence, poise, intelli-
gence and beauty.” These qualities became quickly apparent in the seven contestants, all UW-Madison students, as they delivered brief bios, letting the audience know who they are and why they deserve the title Miss Black and Gold. “My story mirrors that of so many of my fellow black Americans,” contestant Miona Short said, “grandparents born to a sharecropping family in Mississippi, moved to the west side during the second great migration.” Short said she attributes much of her success to the support of her family. “Because of my family’s tireless and dedicated work, I stand here before you today as a first-generation sophomore, a Spanish major, a First Wave scholar and the first black woman to major in astrophysics here at UW-Madison,” Short said Short was not the only contestant with more than one language under her belt. Ada Ezumba delivered part of her introduction
in Chinese and part in French. Hard work and strength were common threads running through the speeches of each of the accomplished contestants. Many were first-generation college students and recipients of prestigious scholarships. “A phrase I like to live by is ‘don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for,’” Risharda Bond said. She said her family dealt with extreme poverty and had for a period of time been homeless, but she did not let that bring her down. “I am not defined by my adversities, but how I have continued to overcome them,” she added. Audience members were instructed not to catcall as the women presented their swimwear, and to treat the contestants like their sisters or daughters. Some of the outfits had more flair than others, and some contestants carried props such as umbrellas and beach balls.
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bascom hill
Cool running Students came together on Bascom Hill Sunday for the annual snowball fight between Lakeshore and Southeast areas of campus. + Photo by Wil Gibb
MFD chief implements critical response ‘PulsePoint’ phone app By Irene Burski the daily cardinal
Courtesy of Jacob schieber
UW-Madison juniors and Zuntik co-founders Andrew McLean (left) and Jacob Schieber (right) accept a third place innovation prize.
STUDENT PROFILE
UW students create website to battle ‘fear of missing out’ By Nicole Hurley the daily cardinal
As a busy college campus in an urban area, something is always taking place at and around UW-Madison. In response, two students have banded together to create a website to help fellow UW-Madison community members
never miss another important event. UW-Madison computer science and engineering junior Jacob Schieber created Zuntik.com during the spring 2014 semester, originally called MySyllabiMadison. Schieber, alongside accounting
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Madison Fire Department Chief Steve Davis announced Friday on his blog a plan to introduce a new emergency response phone application in the Madison area, aimed at engaging bystanders in CPR response. PulsePoint is designed to “improve cardiac arrest survival rates through improved bystander performance and active citizenship,” according to the application’s website. “If we are able to engage the CPR-trained [not certified] citizens … we will effectively have the potential to increase the rates of survival from sudden cardiac arrest within our city,” Davis wrote in his post.
Alex Caffentzis, an MATC student and EMT, echoed Coats’ concerns, citing that PulsePoint does not require citizens registering to use the app to submit their CPR certification. However, he acknowledged non-professionals were preferential to no one in a life or death scenario. “In a cardiac arrest situation, even bad CPR is better than no CPR,” Caffentzis said. He cited a similar program being used successfully in Finland, although emphasized the country’s higher-than-average rate of medical training for average citizens. “I think it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll work here in Madison,” Caffentzis said. “But I don’t know how much more helpful it will be than just regular dispatch.”
Police arrest UW student for October sexual assault Campus police arrested a suspect Friday for a sexual assault that occurred in October, according to a UW-Madison Police Department incident report. The alleged assailant, Kenneth M. Plaisted, is a 20-yearold UW-Madison student from Cedarburg. Police arrested him for the assault of a female UW student, who was driven to
The 2015 Grammy Awards + ARTS, page 5
According to Davis, PulsePoint works as an anonymous user system, and when an alert is sent out to professional paramedics, all citizen users within a quarter mile of the incident’s location will be notified of the cardiac arrest situation simultaneously. The program is only designed for cardiac arrest situations and will not notify the public of potentially dangerous police situations. If the user chooses to respond, the application will provide the user with a GPS map to the emergency’s location, Davis wrote, and anyone can sign up to use the app. “There will be a lot of people trying to help,” Bryan Coats, a city of Madison EMT, said. “[But] they may get in the way of [emergency response vehicles].”
UWPD by a local food delivery driver after she was sexually assaulted early in the morning of Oct. 25. The suspect and the victim did not know each other prior to the incident, according to the report. UWPD worked with the victim, the delivery driver, other community members, DNA
Koenig & Co. + SPORTS, page 8
samples and other evidence to identify Plaisted. All efforts were vital to solving the crime, according to the report. UWPD Sgt. Josh Nash said the suspect was taken into custody on initial charges and could face jail time, which could jeopardize his enrollment at UW. Further charges have not yet been filed against the suspect.
UW powers past Northwestern
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”