Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - The Daily Cardinal

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How to gracefully make it through Wisconsin winter weather +PAGE TWO University of Wisconsin-Madison

What happens when Mr. Fluffy gets a boo-boo +SCIENCE, page 4

Complete campus coverage since 1892

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

GAB finds Nov. 6 elections cost state $10 million By Jack Casey the daily cardinal

graphic by Dylan moriarty

Police say robbers in a dark vehicle on campus’s south side are targeting college-age students walking alone, approaching victims to steal electronics.

Robbers targeting college-age victims

Two suspects forcefully robbed three Madison residents and stole various electronic devices on the south side of campus Monday, according to a police report. The robberies occurred between approximately 9:40 p.m. and 11:23 p.m. Madison Police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the suspects targeted the victims because they were walking alone.

The first victim, a 20-year-old female, told police the two men exited a black vehicle and demanded her cell phone while she was walking on the 400 block of West Dayton Street, according to DeSpain. The suspects later robbed a 20-year-old UW student and another 20-year-old male,

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The Government Accountability Board revealed the most recent general and presidential elections cost the state $10 million, the most of any statewide election in 2012 and also outlined major voting statistics from Wisconsin’s 2012 elections in a report Tuesday. The Board used election information from all 1,851 state municipalities to compile data on election administration costs, number of voters and ballots cast as well as the number of voters who registered on Election Day. The majority of the elections’ costs came from paying election staff wages and printing ballots, according to the report. Staff wages, about $93.80 per person, accounted for approximately $6.2 million of the expenditures, while ballot printing cost the state $1.4 million. As a comparison, the controversial 2012 Recall election, which set Gov. Scott Walker against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a rematch of Walker’s first gubernatorial victory, cost the state about $7.2 million. The report also found a significant decrease in same-day voter registration, from 15 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in the most recent 2012 elections. Kevin Kennedy, Wisconsin’s chief election official, said in the report the drop in Election Day registration is not entirely surprising, as there were more statewide elections in 2012 than in past years.

“The two statewide special elections in the spring of 2012 gave voters more opportunities to register, which may have decreased the number of Election Day registrations in November,” Kennedy said in the report. The Board has limited information on the cost of past state elections because it has only required election spending reports since April 2012 but has kept records of voter turnout in the state since 1948. According to the GAB, the 2012 voter turnout barely surpassed the 2008 turnout, 70 percent to 69 percent.

“We appreciate the work of local election officials in reporting the data, which is useful for evaluating election administration...” Kevin Kennedy chief election official Wisconsin

The overall cost for all statewide elections in 2012 was about $37 million, according to Michael Haas, the GAB’s Elections Division Administrator. He said the overall cost assessment will be useful as the Board plans for future elections. “We appreciate the work of local election officials in reporting the data, which is useful for evaluating election administration and for policymakers and the public,” Haas said.

Roggensack, Fallone advance in race Justice Pat Roggensack and Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone will face off in the Wisconsin Supreme Court general election after advancing through Tuesday’s primary. The incumbent Roggensack won 64 percent of the vote while Fallone earned 30 percent. Milwaukee lemon law

attorney Vince Megna, who endorsed Fallone after the primary ended, finished third with 6 percent of the vote. The Associated Press called the race around 9:20 p.m. The winner of the April 2 general election will serve a 10-year term on the state’s highest court. Throughout the campaign,

Roggensack has emphasized her experience as a judge, which she said sets her apart from her challengers. Roggensack served on an appeals court for seven years before she was first elected to the Supreme Court in 2003. Fallone has pledged to end

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Campus area alder race candidates set Constituents decided in a primary election Tuesday which candidates will advance to the April 2 general election for city Council seats in two different districts. According to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, about 1 percent of registered voters in the campus area participated in the primary election, narrowing the pool for District 2 and District 13 aldermanic seats from three candidates to two. Bryan Post and Ledell

Zellers, both city government newcomers, will battle to replace retiring alder Bridget Maniaci in District 2. Zellers received 52.8 percent of the 1,000 votes while Post took 42.4 percent, according to city clerk results. District 2 stretches from North Broom Street to Sherman Terrace on Lake Mendota’s southeast shore and encompasses the Langdon and Mansion Hill neighborhoods. Voters also decided the candidates that will run for District 13.

Edgewood College student Zach Madden, 19, will face off against incumbent alder Sue Ellingson for the District 13 Common Council seat. Madden received 23.8 percent of the 1,538 votes while Ellingson won 60.6 percent, according to city clerk results. District 13 spans from South Park Street to Wingra Drive and includes the Greenbush and Vilas neighborhoods as well as Edgewood College. —Melissa Howison

Grey satterfield/the daily cardinal

Memorial Library was one of the various campus-area polling locations for Wisconsin’s Spring 2013 primary elections Tuesday.

“…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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tODAY: sunny

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 122, Issue 88

thursday: chance of snow hi 27º / lo 23º

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Wednesday Morning Hangover

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Graphic by Dylan Moriarty

Worshipping the porcelain god

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adam wolf howlin’ mad

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e’re already on Week five of the semester, and now I’m forced to do real work, which is bullshit. Those movies about college told me college was this beer-soaked oasis where you “can really find yourself!” Well, somebody needs to tell Old Man Ward that we’re not finding ourselves by reading this 30-page scholarly journal article that’s written in four-point font. I’m not here to learn, dammit, I’m here to rock and roll!

Movie from your childhood that still kicks ass “Heavyweights” (1995)—I’ve seen this movie multiple times, and all it does it make me hungry, which is probably the exact opposite feeling I should have in a movie about obese children going to a weight-loss camp. Still, that didn’t prevent me from thinking about food, which happens at least 25 times every hour. Take last week, for instance. I was hungry so I ordered food, and I couldn’t even wait 45 minutes for it; I had to eat these two slices of pizza to tide me over before the delivery guy arrived. It wasn’t good pizza either, it was like a week-old, rub-

bery as shit and probably had 60 different strains of salmonella in it. You realize how disgusting that is, right? The things I would do for food. Dogs may be man’s best friend and all, but I’d trade good ol’ Buster to Michael Vick for a box of Cheez-Its right now.

Shit that salvages an otherwise shitty day Going to the bathroom isn’t a particularly pleasant activity, but I can’t help but be pumped when I find an open handicapped stall in the bathroom. For some reason, while I know it’s wrong to park my car in a handicapped spot, I’ve deluded myself into thinking it’s perfectly fine to use the handicapped stall. In fact, I’d argue it’s necessary for longerlegged folks like myself to avoid regular stalls so as not to inadvertently start Senator Craiging up in someone’s business. I believe I found the holy grail of handicapped stalls at the Teacher Education building last week: a stall that is so big, it contains an armchair within the same space. I don’t really think that’s very useful given the toilet is a seat within itself, but I’m oddly comforted by it as a reminder of my spacious surroundings. I could spend all day in that stall.

First-World Hate of the week This week’s hate is reserved for people who hit “reply all” to

emails you’re cc’d on. It’s one thing if you’re replying all to clarify something that pertains to everybody, but nearly all the reply alls I get are messages that truly only pertain to the original sender. In that case, why not just hit “reply” so everybody else doesn’t have to sift through that pointless email, as if our lives aren’t already saturated with enough pointless emails about whatever stupid election ASM is running. The worst kind of reply alls are the ones meant to congratulate somebody for his or her award/ newborn kid/marriage. They usually consist of one-word responses saying “congrats,” and because one person got the reply all going, everybody else follows suit so they don’t look like a dick. The result is 30 emails in your inbox, all saying the same damn thing. Reply all is the spawn of Satan, I tell you.

Song that will make you wet your pants with excitement “Fool in the Rain” (Led Zeppelin, 1979)—Guitarist Jimmy Page hooks you in with the opening samba-like groove, but it’s drummer John Bonham going absolutely berserk around the 2:30 mark that makes you keep listening. Bonham’s frenetic drum breakdown during the song’s intermission serves as a microcosm for how he lived his life: with total disregard for

moderation. Thus, it came as little surprise that Bonham’s life was cut tragically short at age 32 when he died from alcohol asphyxiation after coroners estimated he consumed 40 shots of vodka during the day. He reportedly started off the morning at a bar and quickly downed FOUR QUADRUPLE VODKA shots. What bartender thinks it’s a good idea to serve that at ten in the morning? Christ, even Monday’s draws the line at some point, and practically everyone in there is staggering around like “Walking Dead” extras by bar close. Anyway, it was a shame to see Bonham die so young, as it effectively spelled the end of one of the great rock bands of all time. But his legacy lives on in the iconic opening scene in “Freaks and Geeks,” with Jason Segel’s character offering perhaps the most appropriate eulogy: “Hey, I believe in God, man. I’ve seen him, I’ve felt his power. He plays drums for Led Zeppelin and his name is John Bonham, baby!”

Unedited moronoic facebook status from a kid from my high school “maybe a 30 case will solve the problem” Actually, that’s probably the more appropriate quote for John Bonham. Remember to email awolf3@ wisc.edu to share in Adam’s anger.

The thin ice: eating shit the graceful way By Rachel Wanat guest columnist

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arlier this week it happened to me. I was running late for Spanish and a great misfortune befell me. We’ve all done it. We’ve all been walking just a little too fast over the wrong patch of ice and lost our footing. You’re hastily booking it

down University—or even worse, Bascom Hill—and before you know it, you’re flat on your ass. And, of course, it’s in front of everyone. Great. So now you’re on your back. Do you cry? Assume turtle mode? (That’s when you’re stuck on your rump, but your backpack is too big, so you’re stuck flailing about and can’t right yourself up.

It’s glorious.) If only you decided to walk a little slower. If only you had been watching your step, then you wouldn’t be faced with such public humiliation. Don’t freak out; review your options. My favorite plan of action: The Naomi Campbell circa ’95. After totally wiping out on a Parisian

runway, our friend Naomi throws up her arms and laughs it out. She keeps it together. When it happens, be prepared. Stay poised and asset your inner Naomi (minus the whole crazysupermodel thing). Stay poised, Badgers, even on your ass. Email Rachel your own slippin’ stories at wanat@wisc.edu!


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news Workforce development bills heard in committee State legislators held a hearing Tuesday to discuss legislation that would increase workforce development in Wisconsin by tying development initiatives to state businesses looking for skilled employees. The Assembly Committee on Workforce Development and the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining and Revenue conducted the hearing, which included testimonies by the authors of the legislation. The legislation would give about $15 million in potential grant money over two years to jobs training programs around the state. The jobs training programs would run through technical schools, such as Madison Area Technical College, and would train workers to fill specific employment openings in state companies. Additionally, a company applying for a grant to fund employee training under the legislation can only be approved if it also agrees to match the grant

funds using company money, according to Tim Lakin, the chief of staff for state Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, who is one of the authors of the legislation. Cowles and state Sen. Richard Gudex, R-Fond du Lac, designed the legislation, which is currently pending in both houses of the State Legislature, to bridge a skills gap, where employees do not have the skills to become effective employees, in Wisconsin, according to Lakin. The proposal is being introduced as legislation instead of an initiative in Walker’s budget because Cowles and Gudex see the issue as an immediate state needs, according to Lakin. “We should have been doing this six months ago,” Lakin said. “There’s such a demand out there for skilled workers that we need to get going now.” Lakin said the legislation has bipartisan support and will likely pass both houses of the Legislature. —Jack Casey

Walker announces $25 million initiative to help small businesses Gov. Scott Walker announced Tuesday his official Feb. 20 budget will include a $25 million venture capital initiative, which would provide funding for small start-up companies. Walker originally planned to give $400 million to venture capital in his budget two years ago, but that proposal failed in the state Legislature. The governor said, in a statement Tuesday, venture capital is an important area for the state to invest in because it generally receives limited national funding. Walker also said the budget

investment would help to create more jobs statewide. State Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, said in a statement Walker’s proposal may be a beneficial step toward an venture capital program, but the funding would fall short of what business leaders requested. “It is … interesting to note that the $25 million in investment capital called for by the governor is far below the amount that business groups … have said is necessary to grow our state’s economy,” Lassa said in the statement.

voting from page 1

comfortable financial advantage. She raised more than $235,000 through early February compared to Fallone’s $80,000. Although the race is officially nonpartisan, Republicanleaning groups have supported Roggensack while Democratic allies have backed Fallone.

the dysfunction and personal animosity that has plagued the court in recent years. He has also said he would stand up for working families if elected. Roggensack enters the general election campaign with a

grey satterfield/the daily cardinal

Associated Students of Madison Sustainability Committee Chair Colin Higgins speaks about upcoming campaigns to inform the UW-Madison community about sustainability.

ASM committee details plans to educate UW on energy use The Associated Students of Madison Sustainability Committee met Tuesday to develop its plans for campaigns aiming to educate the campus community about energy use and waste. After meeting with the University of WisconsinMadison Office of Sustainability, Sustainability Committee Chair Colin Higgins said collecting data for energy used in campus buildings will no longer be a priority for the student group, because the university’s sustainability office has a grant for the same purpose. The committee expanded plans on other campaigns,

which include creating short, one-minute informational sessions on sustainability for Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration sessions, as well as increasing energy-conscious efforts in university residence halls. Committee member and UW-Madison sophomore Kellen Frable said students, particularly freshmen, could use what they learn in residence halls about recycling and energy management when they move into housing off campus. The group focused on the use of educational posters and well as social norms, such as public pledges of commitment to recy-

cling, as a way to promote recycling and smart energy use. “Changing social behavior is the overarching picture here,” Higgins said. The committee also began planning a sustainabilityfocused forum for environmental groups across campus. Higgins said he was excited about the forum and the ideas that could come from it. “It will be really good to get all the groups who are working on sustainability issues together in one place, as well as letting them know that the ASM Sustainability Committee is here as a resource,” he said. —Meghan Chua

Inspiration behind ‘127 Hours’ to share story with students Aron Ralston, who made news in 2003 for amputating his own arm to survive a rock climbing accident, will speak at UW-Madison Wednesday as part of Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Ralston is an American canyoneer, author and public figure who motivates audiences with his story of survival. Canyoneering is an outdoor

sport consisting of rock climbing, hiking and swimming through canyons. While canyoneering in Utah in 2003, an accident caused Ralston to become wedged between a boulder and the canyon wall. Five days and eight hours after becoming stuck, Ralston amputated his own right arm with a dull pocket knife in a last resort attempt to survive. After the accident, he wrote a

book titled “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” documenting his experience, which inspired the recent box-office film “127 Hours.” Since the accident, Ralston continues to rock climb and motivates audiences with lectures about perseverance and the will to live. He will speak at the event, which is free and open to the public, at 7:30 p.m. in Union South’s Varsity Hall.

Crisis management expert to speak at UW-Madison

On campus

Blending together

Indian fusion band Saaz takes the stage at Der Rathskeller for an open mic night Tuesday. + Photo by Courtney Kessler

Crisis management specialist Judy Smith, who has represented notable clients including Monica Lewinsky, Michael Vick and the family of Chandra Levy, will speak at the University of WisconsinMadison Thursday. The UW-Madison Black Student Law Association will host Smith as part of its Black History Month events. Smith

has worked as an attorney, legal adviser and crisis communicator for numerous clients over the past 25 years, according to her website. Smith has also served as Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary to former President George H. W. Bush in 1991. She advised Bush and his cabinet on effective communication, as well as advised them

on foreign and domestic issues, according to her website. In addition to representing distinguished clients, Smith is also the inspiration for the new ABC television show “Scandal.” The main character is based on Smith and the show mimics her career. The free event will take place at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at 6 p.m.

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ies took place, it’s a strong likelihood that the same people are responsible for all three cases,” DeSpain said. Unlike the female victim, the male victims reported being approached from behind and put into a “choke hold,” according to DeSpain. He said the other victims could be students as well because they

were walking near “what’s traditionally off-campus housing.” No weapon was reported and none of the victims were injured. “In all three cases, these victims did the right thing by giving up their property and not putting themselves in a situation where they might be injured,” DeSpain said. —Erin Berge

one on the 1300 block of Milton Street and the other on the 400 block of South Randall Street. The victims provided similar descriptions of the suspects and the attacks, which DeSpain said could connect the incidents. “If we look at the time and proximity of when these robber-


science Animal blood bank plays critical role 4

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UW’s Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital offers unique and live-saving program for animals By Alex Moe the daily cardinal

Sitting in the waiting room of the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, it is easy to see the care and attention that is paid to the patients at this facility. Even with the excited barking of dogs, insistent shushing of the owners and general chaos of the clinic, all the employees seem genuinely happy to help owners as they come in to pick up medication or bring a pet in for an appointment. It is this love for animals and sense of value for a pet’s life that make veterinary clinics like this necessary, and animal blood banks all the more crucial. In a clinical environment like the VMTH, animal blood is in high demand for a number of different reasons. A dog or cat can develop a need for a transfusion as a result of anemia, which is a lack of healthy red blood cells. Blood or plasma can also be necessary when animals have abnormal bleeding or low protein levels. At the University of WisconsinMadison, this blood is brought in from a number of donor animals, which are privately owned by members of the hospital staff and community. Unfortunately, the blood cannot be kept for too long on the shelf. For cats, blood only stays usable for four weeks, and for dogs, five weeks.

Because of the perishable nature of the donations, as well as the extreme variability of when transfusions are necessary, the hospital is always in need of more blood for the patients, according to Jonathan Bach, director of emergency critical care services at VMTH. To meet demand, blood can occasionally be purchased from large, commercial blood banks with greater resources and capability to distribute. The donors for the blood bank are not limited to just cats and

graphic by dyaln moriarty

Neuroticism may be rooted in the response time of the amygdala, study suggests By Kristen Andersen the daily cardinal

In a moment of fear, the flight or fight response is instinctual. A small cluster of cells buried deep in the brain called the amygdala is known to be responsible for this basic response. Beyond this, the amygdala is involved more broadly in the processing of memory and emotional reactions. A group of scientists at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center are studying the amygdala response using functional MRI (fMRI). The findings suggest that the duration of response, rather than the intensity may provide key insight into personality traits like neuroticism. “What we found is that overall the time course matters,” said Tammi Kral, research specialist and member of the research team involved in the study. “What we found is that the amount of activity people have during the post-stimulus period or recovery period is related to their level of self-reported neuroticism.” These findings come from the baseline portion of a much larger study looking at mindfulness-based stress reduction. Study participants underwent a 24-hour visit, which included a sleep study and the fMRI. In the fMRI portion of the study, participants were shown batches of images and asked to rank these images as positive, negative or neutral while in the MRI scan. Researchers then analyzed the activity in the amygdala, and the duration of the activity in a recovery period. Neuroticism is defined to include a tendency to worry excessively and trouble letting go of negative emotions. In this study, neuroticism was self-reported by participants through a questionnaire. The finding that a longer duration of activity in the amygdala is related to neuroticism could have important implications in the study of behavior.

dogs: The VMTH also collects and stores donations from cows and horses. The school has two resident cows which serve as donors, while its resident horse donor retired this past fall, according to a recent press release. The process of drawing blood from animals is fairly similar to the human process, with a few minor differences. Both dogs and cats give blood

“It will be really important going forward to look at not only how people react overall to a stimulus, which is currently kind of the standard in brain imaging, but also to look at how that response changes over time,” Kral said. The larger study will use a combination of fMRI, sleep data and epigenetics to examine how mindfulness-based stress reduction can improve response to negative stimuli. The epigenetics portion of the study will look at how gene expression and silencing changes with lifestyle change. “The goal of the larger study is to look at this mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention and see if it leads to any changes in a number of measures including emotion regulation, sleep patterns, dealing with pain, stress response,” Kral said. This study will include several groups of participants. One group will participate in an eight-week course in compassion meditation, while another will serve as an active control that receives identical training as the first without the mindfulness aspect. Another group will not undergo any training, and a final group is comprised of long-term meditators. By comparing any changes that these cohorts may undergo over the course of the study, the researchers hope to parse out the potential benefits of mindfulness. “We are hoping to measure effects of short term training in mindfulnessbased stress reduction as well as longterm training in mindfulness-based meditation,” Kral said. It has long been known that exercise can improve health and aide in managing stress. If this study finds benefits associated with mindfulness-based stress response, meditation could also come highly recommended to help relieve stress and let go of negative experiences.

from the jugular vein in the neck, as opposed to the median cubital vein in the arm for humans. Sticking a pet with the fairly large needle needed for the procedure can be a traumatic process, but only cats need to be sedated. The blood, once drawn, can be used in transfusions for other animals that have dire need of it, whether as a result of chemotherapy as a cancer treatment or trauma in the case of an accident. Breed tendencies do exist for different blood types, but for the most part, a Doberman can receive blood from a Schnauzer and a Poodle could conceivably receive blood from a Great Dane. In one case, a large amount of blood was needed to keep a patient alive when a biopsy on a tumor of a Bassett Hound resulted in a continual loss of blood for the animal. The patient lost more than its total blood volume throughout the process, and was only kept alive as a result of several transfusions of red blood cells as well as plasma. In another, a Great Dane needed many transfusions after a splenic laceration. Just like their human counterparts, animals face the constant need for blood transfusions in often life-threatening situations. It is cases such as these that demonstrate both the immense demand for blood and the variability of that demand.

Ask Mr. Scientist: Of fabric fresheners ad nonalcoholic beer Dear Mr. Scientist, How do fabric fresheners like Febreze work? From what I can tell they actually get rid of the bad smell and aren’t just covering it up. —Chris G. The active ingredient in these sprays is a ring-shaped molecule made of seven sugars called betacyclodextrin. This acts as sort of a circular cage and can trap other molecules. In the bottle, the cyclodextrins have pleasant smelling perfume molecules inside their rings. Once you spray something, any “bad

smelling” molecules that the cyclodextrin rings encounter will swap places with the caged perfume molecules. Now that the unpleasant smelling odor molecules are trapped inside the rings, you are no longer able to smell them, and instead smell the pleasant perfume molecules that have been released.

Dear Mr. Scientist, Being a Wisconsinite, this may be blasphemy, but how are they able to make nonalcoholic beer? —Brian J. The phrase “nonalcoholic” is kind of a misnomer, as it contains up to 0.5 percent alcohol. A really easy way to brew a beer with such a low alcohol content is to simply stop the fermentation process earlier than normal, so not as much alcohol is produced. Unfortunately this also prevents many of the flavor compounds people like

from developing as well. Alternatively you can brew the beer like normal and remove the alcohol afterwards through distillation, reverse osmosis, or evaporation. In theory, these processes should leave the flavor molecules untouched and the end product should taste just like normal beer, but many popular opinion seems to disagree.

graphic by dyaln moriarty

Ask Mr. Scientist is written by Michael Leitch. If you have a burning science question you want him to answer, tweet @DC_Science or email it to science@dailycardinal.com.


opinion Religion and science’s intersect explained dailycardinal.com

Tom Jensen opinion columnist

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ne day, while at work, I made a joke referencing evolution. My coworker laughed at it, but then turned solemn and said, “But seriously, you don’t actually believe in evolution, right?” The question took me aback and sparked a halfhour-long discussion about science and its place, or lack thereof, in religion. The problem my coworker had was he belonged to a Christian denomination that practices biblical literalism. This is the idea that the Holy Bible used by Christians was word-forword inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is therefore infallibly correct (note that there are other versions of this idea and not all Christians who consider themselves biblical literalists will agree with the definition my coworker was using). Because of this, he was obligated to believe Earth was indeed created in six days by God and on the seventh day God rested and all was as it ever would be. Genesis

says so and Genesis is infallible. Many of us have probably had a similar discussion and I think it is important to take a moment to look at the issue. There isn’t sufficient space in one opinion column to cover every detail and aspect of this issue, so you can expect me to cover different parts of it in the coming weeks. Today we will look at a basic overview of the problem. The first thing to understand is the purpose of religion and science. Religion is a way of looking at the world, understanding why it is the way it is and the basis of practitioners’ philosophies. Religion answers the “why?” questions. Why are we here? We are here because some Creator made us. Why is there death? There is death in order to pass on into one of the myriad of hereafters religion offers. Science, on the other hand, is mainly interested in the “how?” questions. Yes, many scientists are also concerned with the philosophical reasons for nature and existence, but when we reached that point in my freshman biology class, it was more of an open-

ended question. Our exam did not feature a section asking why cells divide. Science is only concerned with how division happens. How are we here? We are here as a clump of matter bound by gravity to a grand, floating biosphere in space. How is it that we die? We die by means of one of our many organ systems failing in some way, causing a chain reaction which ends with oxygen no longer being able to circulate around inside our bodies. This then causes a major systems failure and ultimately termination. So, then, it is not hard to see why many religions have no trouble implementing science and religion. Religion explains the reasons why some creative force did the things it did. Science then explains the ways by which that creative force achieved them. This is probably the way many readers incorporate the two and there is no problem with that. But there is still a problem. Sometimes, as in the case with my coworker, the religious explanation and the scientific explanation do not mesh. In his case, religion told him to

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

believe the Bible because it was wholly the true word of God. What it said—even beyond the philosophical and theological—was also held to be true. Many “how?” questions are answered within and, in the case of Genesis’ creation story, the answers do not fit with science’s answer. Some religions make compromises to explain the disagreement. For example, Catholics are allowed to believe the Bible, while still the inspired word of God, is only infallible in terms of faith and morals. Anything beyond those categories may fall to human error. The Ten Commandments, being a list of prescribed morals, are infallible. The creation story, being a historical account, is subject to human use of allegory and ancient explanations for natural occurrences. If a religion offers no such compromise, we must understand there will be practitioners of said religion who choose to side with the religious explanation over the scientific one. And that is okay, provided one thing: Those who do so must

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understand why they stand at odds with other people, especially many rigorous scientists, and discuss and debate with them accordingly. Even in science there is room for people who disagree with mainstream theories. Adding more room for people who disagree because of their religious beliefs should not be too hard, as long as we keep things mature and intellectual. Of course problems arise with these interpretations of religion and science coexisting in our society, one of the biggest is whether or not public schools should teach evolution and creative design. This is one of the subjects I will cover next week; there is not sufficient room to cover it here. I only wanted to start the discussion today. Thank you for reading, and look forward to next week’s column when we will get into the nitty gritty of the issue. Tom is a senior majoring in religious studies. This week’s article was prompted by a reader’s email. If you have any suggestions for topics or any feedback, please email opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Malala Yousafzai, at 15 years old, is a modern-day hero Zac pestine opinion columnist

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often think that I am a 1-percenter, perhaps not in the fiscal sense, but in the notion that I am probably more blessed than 99 percent of people in the world. Without going into great detail, I have just about everything I could possibly want in this world: a loving family, a wonderful and supportive group of friends, an incredible academic institution, sound financial backing and so on and so forth. Even still, I decorate my room from wall to wall with inspirational posters as constant reminders that each day brings with it new challenges that will

need surmounting, and to stagnate is to succumb to the apathy that all too often accompanies comfort. Some of these posters include galvanizing quotes from Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, James Dean and the Declaration of Independence. Yet all of these figures—and documents—vastly differ from the latest role model who will smile at me from my wall, Malala Yousafzai. You see, while the aforementioned figures are sweet reminders of both morality and success, they are only symbols that I could come across in history books and movies. Their philosophies can only reach me through stories. Malala is different. Malala is my contemporary. Malala is my hero. If you are not familiar with Malala Yousafzai, it is about time you two became acquainted. She is a symbol of equality, progress,

freedom and bravery. When she was 11 years old, Malala became an international women’s rights activist and freedom fighter when she began writing blogs for the BBC about the harsh conditions for children, especially girls, seeking an education in a Taliban-controlled Pakistan. The Taliban bombed school after school, threatened girls who attended open schools with death and terrorized children everywhere. But Malala kept writing and she kept fighting. A Taliban gunman stopped Malala’s school bus Oct. 9, 2012, interrogated the students until he discovered Malala, swiftly proceeded to shoot her in the head and then exited the bus, leaving her to die amid a sea of petrified adolescents. Malala didn’t die, neither physically nor spiritually. She was rushed to the hospital in Pakistan

where the bullet, as well as part of her skull, was removed. She was then airlifted to a British hospital for further treatment. In these past few months, Malala Yousafzai has not only recovered swimmingly from her assassination attempt, but she has also picked up exactly where she left off, inspiring millions of people throughout the world to stand up for what they believe in. The only thing on her mind is to continue her goal of education for all. She was runner up to President Barack Obama in Time’s Person of the Year (although, in my opinion, she should have won) and she is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (I hope she wins). Malala’s picture on my wall is accompanied by a quote of hers, “I don’t mind if I have to sit on the floor at school. All I want is education. And I’m afraid of no one.” I am not Malala and I never will

be. Malala is a fifteen-year-old girl who stood fearless in front of a terrorist aiming a Kalashnikov at her head. I am a 170-pound man who jumps at the sight of a house spider. Malala would die so that anyone who desires to sit inside a classroom can do so. I complain about having to do long division. But I will exploit Malala’s smile and her prophetic quotations as a daily reminder that as long as I am here on Earth, there is something that will need fixing. I will do my best each day to muster up all of the energy I can so that I can help fix those problems. I am by no means Malala, but I will try to at least live up to her picture on my wall. Zac is a senior majoring in philosophy and communications. Find his thoughts on the goings-on in the Middle East in print every week. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Abandon the drug war and the anti-gun rhetoric to keep America safe Mike cruz opinion columnist

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o avoid using statistics like a drunken man uses lamp posts—support rather than illumination—we should take a different look at the philosophy of gun ownership in America. It doesn’t take a statistics professor to see that the prohibition of drugs in this country has played a major, if not the largest, role in the prevalence of gun violence here in the United States. From a strictly economic point of view, the respected economist Milton Friedman has keenly observed the role of the government has inadvertently protected the drug cartels. By keeping drugs illegal, the government has kept the little guy from entering the market. This lack of competition has kept the prices of these illegal commodities high. What better

motivation is there than money to get a gun and use it to take this illegal profit? To make matters worse, how would you feel about gun control if your own government was responsible for supplying firearms to drug traffickers? The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has developed a violent method to fight the never-ending war on drugs called “gunwalking.” These sting operations have allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell to unsuspecting criminals in hopes that these weapons will be tracked to drug cartel leaders. The largest of these sting operations, Operation Fast and Furious, has managed to collect only one-third of the total weapons dispersed as of February 2012. Some of these guns have been found on crime scenes on both sides of the border. We have a government supplying weapons to criminals, assassinating “suspected” criminals with-

out due process and, at the very same time, attempting to disarm a collectively innocent population only hoping to protect themselves from the enemy. The majority of the population is becoming increasingly unsatisfied with the behavior of congress, yet there are voters among us who are vehemently opposed to gun ownership. The only role of government should be protection from violence, but what if they were the ones with the gun pointed at us? What if our government has become nothing more than a cartel themselves, engaged in price fixing, allocation of customers, allocation of territories and the division of profits? Imagine a new rule in place requiring you to pay for something that you cannot afford, and morally have an obligation to avoid. Imagine your decision to protect yourself from this financial burden by ignoring the violent threats that have come through the mail. Imagine

after ignoring those threats, the senders of those threatening letters finally arrive at your door, gun in hand, with an intent to kidnap you using intimidation and torture to get the money they say you owe them. Imagine if you tried to protect yourself from this physical force. You could be shot dead. This new rule is a law. This payment is a tax. These thugs are wearing uniforms that read “IRS” in big, bold, intimidating letters on the front and back. That’s violence; that’s tyranny of the majority; that’s a gun pointed at you. With this new perspective, who is the real enemy here? If the guns leave, then “We the People” leaves with it. The authority of the government stems from “the consent of the governed.” The government does not rule us; the government serves us. We must not trust that through successive generations we will become safer as a nation by slowly sacrificing our rights in exchange

for pseudo-safety from the state. The war on drugs has given us nothing. The war on drugs has given criminals a motivation for profit and, as a consequence, murder. We currently have a hypocritical government shouting antigun rhetoric behind a blockade of firepower. We have a government agency giving guns to murderous thugs and a presidential administration aiming to take yours away. The solution is simple: destroy the illegal drug trade and the tools of that trade will die with it. Ending the war on drugs will keep us much safer than any anti-gun legislation. There are not any guns used in the production and distribution of alcohol except where it is illegal. Simple common sense will reveal how ineffective the war on drugs has been. Mike is a senior majoring in economics. Do you agree with his views on the drug war and current anti-gun sentiment? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.


arts

6 Wednesday, February 20, 2013

dailycardinal.com

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Satire: more kicks and more pricks Sean Reichard Quip pro quo What a strange and wonderful beast comedy is. Unfortunately, it’s not always well adapted to the yoke of literature. The presence of mind required by reading is different than that of film or television or theatre, and the wordy rigid structure of a book can do serious damage to the sort of spontaneity and vivaciousness comedy demands. I’m being very vague here. I will say though that while comedy is not outside the purview of literature, it hasn’t got comedy completely under its thumb. But satire is clenched pretty tightly. For those of you with only a passing familiarity with satire, it’s essentially making fun of things like vices and pratfalls—be they on an individual or societal level, aesthetic or political and

etc.—through things like parody and hyperbole. Of course, you’re probably familiar with satire already. You watch “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” You’ve got the one friend who keeps his/ her friends in check by sporadically posting stories from “The Onion” with the caveat, “but seriously.” You’ve been through “Monty Python” at least once, haven’t you? Those, of course, are just a few of the hallmarks—and the few reliable manifestations of my impoverished knowledge—but you’ve got an idea. Literary satire covers a wide array of realms. Societal satire, military satire, political satire, religious satire, moral satire and even satirical satire. Now, what makes satire satirical? I’ll say first that satire needs a focus, a target. The aforementioned Stewart and Colbert make American politics the main focus of their satire. Dickens wrote satirically about Victorian England in most of his novels.

Hell, society as a whole is the general hub of satire. Anything big, really. And with that target comes the methods of hitting it. Satire thrives on structures, types and formulas, making it very susceptible, even inviting, to clichés. Satire that isn’t sure what it’s satirizing trips itself up. Like, ever tried spitting off a cruise ship and having the wind blow it back into your face? It’s not fun.

We may stoically distance ourselves from a tragedy, but comedy can’t help but draw us into a scene, even if it takes a conscientious knife prick from behind.

Of course, satire doesn’t need to be funny, but it helps. It helps immensely, in fact; the satirist who eviscerates with a smile is often better received

than the scowling miserly one. That’s another thing. Satire that is meant to be funny can be a sort of benign funny, or it can be cuttingly funny. And cuttingly funny satire, if it’s not going for the kill, will try and leave a few scars at least. Bloodsports and all. But if a satire can get by without a few jokes or some other balderdash, it can’t get by without morality. To anyone ready to chime in with, “Morality? What’s morality got to do something as dumb and harmless as comedy?” please humbly check yourself, and cock your cochleae for this transmission: all satire is driven by some iteration of morality—a personal morality, a religious morality, a political morality, an economic morality, an ecological morality and etc.—it’s the file to the spear point, the whetstone to the knife. If you’ve ever read “Catch-22” you’d know how moral satire could be. Between the laughs and the absurdity, you start to think deeply about what’s going on.

Did Milo Minderbinder actually say that? What a horrifying bind Doc Daneeka found himself in. Jesus Christ, Aarfy. Have I ever been in a catch-22? Snowden, you poor bastard. Or consider “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol. The “hero” of the book is a crass man who wants to rise in rank by buying off all the dead serfs of his neighbors. It’s deuced funny even when you start to contemplate real, living people being traded around like stocks. Hee hee ha ha. We don’t usually think of comedy as being conscionable (although satire has always been a self-serious form of comedic literature) but it’s something to remember whenever you think that comedy is just some benign fancy or distraction from serious work. We may stoically distance ourselves from a tragedy, but comedy can’t help but draw us into a scene, even if it takes a conscientious knife prick from behind. Ever been pricked by satire? Let Sean know at sreichard@wisc.edu.

The Western Percussion Ensemble performs new and old By Louis Menchaca the daily cardinal

The Western Percussion Ensemble—a chamber music ensemble composed of UW School of Music students—will be performing a concert tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall. Entitled “Percussion Plus,” the program will consist entirely of music composed for various groups of instruments, all of which include percussion. A host of musicians from both the UW School of Music and the community at large will join the ensemble to fill out the various instrument groupings. Because the percussion ensemble as a classical chamber group has only existed since the early twentieth century, the vast majority of percussion ensemble literature has been written by contemporary composers. This is clearly reflected in the selection of performances, as five of the pieces were written by living composers and the program’s other two pieces were written after 1940. Still, even though the all of the performances are taken from the roughly the same stylistic period, the music on the program is a varied mix of pieces. For example, the newest piece to be performed tonight is Roger Braun’s “Independent Streams,” written for violin, viola, cello, marimba, vibraphone, darabukka and boombakini. In addition to its contemporary rhythmic and harmonic material and inclusion of two slightly exotic percussion instruments, the work contains many dialogues between percussion and string instruments. This lies in stark contrast to the oldest piece on the program, “Credo in US” by John Cage. Scored for piano, prerecorded tape and two percussionists playing an odd assortment of instruments such as tin cans, muted gongs and

tenor drums, the piece’s four performers constantly weave in and out of each other’s musical lines. This creates a dense polyphonic texture that sounds quite different than the call and response aesthetic present in Braun’s work. Other pieces on the program will serve as contrasts to one another due to the pure difference in their instrumentation. A pair of pieces illustrating such variety will be “Cheating, Lying, and Stealing,” composed by David Lang and “Xibala” by Libby Larsen. The former was written for ensemble containing bass clarinet, cello, piano and two percussionists while the latter is scored for a smaller group of performers containing a bassoon and two percussionists—one of which plays tuned water glasses, among other instruments. The extreme difference in instrument groupings and tessituras creates two works that dwell in different timbral worlds, although both pieces are composed in contemporary styles. Some of the music even draws heavily from non-western music cultures, although they are written in the idiom of western music. An example of such a piece is Alan Hovhaness’s “Koke no Niwa,” one of the composer’s earliest works to show an influence of Japanese music, a trait which would become more apparent in his later works. At the same time, other works on the program depict of minute western culture using unconventional methods. “Moving Air” by Nigel Westlake and “Pedestrians” by Evan Hause both paint portraits of ordinary events—Westlake incorporates samples of slamming car doors and breaking glass in his piece while Hause uses percussion instruments to simulate the happenings of a busy city street in unique

fashion. These techniques vary, such as including pre-recorded sounds that are played forwards as well as backwards or

simultaneously mixing two timbres of different instruments to create sounds akin to those one would hear in a downtown

metropolitan area. With a mix of music this eclectic and interesting, Percussion Plus will not be a concert to miss.


comics dailycardinal.com

Today’s Sudoku

Someone has to have footage of this... Skipping is a competitive sport in 20 different countries. Wednesday, February 20, 2013 • 7

Freezing your patootie

Eatin’ Cake

By Dylan Moriarty www.EatinCake.com

© Puzzles by Pappocom

By Melanie Shibley shibley@wisc.edu

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

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

First In Twenty Classic By Angel Lee alee23@wisc.edu

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Caved In

By Nick Kryshak nkryshak@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

SUFFRAGETTE CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Bygone big birds 5 John of “Coming to America” 9 Rear of a plane 13 Assign as one’s share 15 Chantilly product 16 Balm base 17 “___ Andronicus” (Shakespeare play) 18 Final unpleasant moment 20 Cheered, in a way 22 Sticks that go boom 23 Overly proper person 24 “It Happened One Night” director Frank 28 File, Edit, or Help 31 Tediously repetitious 34 Pie part 36 Tool repository 37 “That turns my stomach!” 38 Old tummy tuckers 41 Conductor’s nickname 43 TiVo users may skip them 44 Yuletide song 46 Use choice words 47 Tournedos, e.g. 51 Art Deco illustrator

2 Murphy of Hollywood 5 53 Attack from all directions 55 Eb’s wife? 57 Cleverly 61 Experienced sailors, slangily 65 Bout of indulgence 66 Salt Lake City’s home 67 Doomed (with “for”) 68 Bonnie and Clyde caper 69 Reporter’s quest 70 Some babies 71 Planning to vote no DOWN 1 Addition or subtraction 2 Melange 3 Singing voice 4 Grouchy sort 5 Reflective power, as of a planet 6 Damsels 7 Six mos. from Apr. 8 Paving stone 9 Bagpiper’s wear 10 Pub offering 11 Charged atom 12 Conducted 14 Pre-Soviet royalty 19 Makes cryptic 21 Substitute for forgotten words

5 One who’s moping 2 26 Little rascal 27 Bad way for a ship to be driven 28 “___ & Mrs. Miller” (Robert Altman film) 29 Became weatherworn 30 Consumed slowly, as a drink 32 Measure of resistance 33 Chinese restaurant freebie 35 In an unrelaxed manner 39 Two-year-old 40 “What did I tell you?” 42 Climbing legume 45 Cheesy pasta dish 48 Some bottles of liquor 49 Meetings of lips 50 Decide on, as a date 54 Babble enthusiastically 56 Bookie’s numbers 58 “___ go bragh!” 59 “___ we forget ...” 60 Abominable snowman 61 Day light? 62 Partook of 63 Type of suit 64 “Look at that!”

Dookingham Palace Classic

By Natasha Soglin graphics@dailycardinal.com


Sports

wednesday february 20, 2013 DailyCardinal.com

Men’s Basketball

Northwestern on deck for Badgers Wisconsin looks to maintain spot in competitive Big Ten title hunt By Vince Huth the daily cardinal

While any Big Ten conference schedule would be a grueling test this season, Wisconsin (9-4 Big Ten, 18-8 overall) might have had the toughest slate of any team in the conference the last 10 games. The Badgers have played six ranked teams during that stretch, more than any other Big Ten team. Further, none of those 10 games came against a team in the bottom one-third of the conference standings. Northwestern (4-9, 13-13) might appear to be an easier matchup given UW’s recent stretch of opponents, especially because the Wildcats have lost two starters this season: Senior guard Drew Crawford was shelved with a shoulder injury before Northwestern even began its Big Ten schedule, while senior forward Jared Swopshire was recently ruled out for the year because of a knee injury. Nonetheless, the Wildcats have—as they seemingly do every season—competed with some of the top teams in the conference, grabbing wins over then-ranked Illinois and Minnesota and giving Big Tenleading Indiana a run for its money down the stretch. Senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said Northwestern would clearly be a better team with Crawford and Swopshire in the mix, and the Wildcats’ level of competition goes to show how tough the conference is this season. “They kind of had what happened to us but on a much bigger scale with the season-ending injuries,” Bruesewitz said,

nithin charlly/the daily cardinal

The Badgers have lost three of their last four road games in conference play. However, UW will travel to Northwestern Wednesday, where it has won four of its last five games against the Wildcats. referencing the season-ending ACL injury to junior guard Josh Gasser. “But they’re still giving teams games and playing at a high level.” Perhaps one reason Northwestern gives teams fits is its unique Princeton offense, a motion-style attack that is predicated on spacing out the defense and capitalizing on over aggressive defenders with backdoor cuts. “That’s the whole basis of [the] Princeton [offense],” Bruesewitz said. “Take the pressure and make the other team pay for doing that.” One could certainly argue it takes more defensive discipline to shut down a motion offense than a unit that primarily runs set plays, as motion offenses

often strike when a defense least expects it. “The thing they do so well is they change speeds,” associate head coach Greg Gard said. “They’ll lull you to sleep with some of the action high and away, and then they’ll come with some really accelerated cuts.” Gard noted the importance of UW’s scout players this week in preparing for the Princeton offense. In particular, senior guards Dan Fahey and J.D. Wise have helped prepare the Badgers’ regular rotation players to play the Wildcats for four years. In addition to Fahey and Wise’s familiarity running Northwestern’s offense, redshirt junior guard Zach Bohannon played in a

Princeton-style offense for two seasons at Air Force before transferring to Wisconsin. “He’s probably taught me more about it in terms of the areas and the actions within it and what they look for more so than what I can pick up on film,” Gard said of Bohannon. Although UW’s execution will ultimately determine whether it has defensive success Wednesday, Bruesewitz thinks Wisconsin’s defense matches up well against the Wildcats’ motion offense. “Our defense is set in a way that we try to run guys off the 3-point line and not let them get layups,” Bruesewitz said. “It’ll kind of be a game of attrition to see which one wins.”

Offensively, the Badgers are coming off their most efficient shooting performance of the season. Wisconsin shot 52.7 percent from the field and assisted on 16 of its 29 field goals. Bruesewitz said UW had success offensively because it spaced the floor well and found a good balance between shots around the bucket and beyond the arc. Furthermore, the Badgers created 3-point attempts after penetrating and kicking the ball out to shooters whose defenders sank into the lane, as opposed to simply swinging the ball around the perimeter. “[Kick outs] are the highest-percentage shots from 3— inside-out 3s,” Bruesewitz said. “We did a good job of finding guys out on the perimeter who were stepping into shots, and that’s pretty good for this team because we’ve got a lot of guys who are rhythm shooters.” Gard credited the Badgers’ activity in the paint and their vision to find open shooters on the perimeter, but he said their open 3-point looks also came in part from their off-the-ball activity. “We’ve done a better job of moving away from the ball,” Gard said. “Our guys out on the perimeter are more active, not just standing watching, hoping the guy with the ball makes something happen.”

Big Ten standings

Through games played 2/19 Indiana Michigan State Michigan Wisconsin Ohio State Illinois Minnesota Iowa Purdue Northwestern Nebraska Penn State

12-2 11-3 9-4 9-4 8-5 6-7 6-7 6-7 5-8 4-9 3-10 0-13

Jordan-James debate not as significant as we might think vince huth huth the truth

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f you’re reading the sports page, you’re probably well aware by now that Sunday was Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday. SportsCenter jammed MJ highlights, statistics and anecdotes down our throats for seven days straight—it was one of the few instances in which the show was entirely justified to flood its programming with a single topic. Although it’s easy to overdose on Tim Tebow or the Los Angeles Lakers’ latest struggles, you can never get enough MJ (by the way, do yourself a favor and read Wright Thompson’s excellent MJ profile on ESPN.com if you haven’t done so already). Part of SportsCenter’s MJ week circled around a debate

that I’m sure most basketball fans have at least overheard sometime in the last few years: Who would win in a game of one-on-one with both guys in their prime, MJ or LeBron James? It was logical to pit MJ against LeBron: MJ is almost unanimously accepted as the greatest basketball player of all time, while LeBron has won three NBA MVP awards in the last four seasons, capturing his first career championship last season in the process.

“There’s no way to objectively compare players from different eras.”

It was a timely discussion, too, as LeBron had just capped off an unprecedented six-game stretch in which he scored at least 30 points and shot at least

60 percent from the floor. Along with the MJ-LeBron debate came the implication whomever won the matchup would be deemed the better basketball player. Although it’s fun to hypothetically think about MJ and LeBron going one-on-one in their prime, it isn’t a logical measuring stick to determine who’s the better basketball player. There is so much more to the game than simply beating a defender to the rim, knocking down a contested jump-shot, or preventing someone from doing either of those things. Off-theball movement, help defense and court vision—I refuse to use “basketball I.Q.” here—are just a few elements you’ll find in the best basketball players. Those, along with leadership skills, a winner’s mentality, and a whole slew of intangibles I’m probably unaware of. Regardless, my point is that

most of them won’t be on display in a one-on-one game. I’m not saying individual offensive and defensive skills aren’t imperative in hoops. I’m not saying the MJ-LeBron question it isn’t a great discussion. After all, aren’t the truly great debates ones that can seemingly be argued back and forth until the end of time? Better pizza: thin crust or deep dish? Which is a more versatile add-on, bacon or avocado? Is an animal cracker a cookie or a cracker? I’m sure there are others that don’t deal with food, too. Anyway, I think sports media’s obsession with determining the all-time greats, no matter the sport, can sometimes go overboard. There’s no way to objectively compare players from different eras, as the game will inevitably have changed immensely over the years. Here’s a thought: Maybe

we aren’t even supposed to know who was better! As far as the MJ-LeBron debate goes, analysts will tout LeBron’s superior physique, even though that could also mean MJ was “tougher.” MJ’s six NBA titles tower over LeBron’s one, but LeBron didn’t play with Scottie Pippen in his prime. My stance in the MJ-LeBron debate is that the two played in entirely different eras. However, I think both probably would have equal or similar success playing in the other’s era. Isn’t that a pretty good indicator that they’re two of the all-time greats? I don’t see anything wrong with leaving it at that. Who do you think would win in a game of one-on-one, MJ or LeBron? Is an animal cracker a cookie or a cracker? Let Vince know your thoughts by sending him an email at sports@dailycardinal.com.


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