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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
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Senate acts on voter ID, campaign bills By Andrew Hahn THE DAILY CARDINAL
The state Senate debated a number of bills Tuesday that would change Wisconsin’s voting and campaign fundraising rules. The two Republican-backed measures would limit the terms under which voters may submit absentee ballots, remove some reporting requirements for political organizations and allow lobbyists to contribute to political candidates more frequently. One of the bills would restrict the hours of the day during which citizens may submit absentee ballots at polling locations.
“The bill digs a grave for democracy.”
Robert Jauch state senator Poplar
ACLU strikes deal, calls off injunction Two couples drop out from same-sex marriage lawsuit
D-Poplar, along with other Democrats, expressed his fear that efforts to restructure absentee voting processes would make voting more difficult for many citizens.
“You are a coward if you don’t put your name on something you are financially responsible for.” Jon Erpenbach state senator Middleton
“[The bill] digs a grave for democracy,” Jauch said. State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, the author of the bill, said Jauch “impugned both [his] motives and [those of ] anybody voting for this bill.” He added the bill would streamline the voting process in urban areas where polling places are often harder to reach. Democrats also objected to a
State Sen. Robert Jauch,
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JAMES LANSER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Dean of Students Office Assistant Dean Kipp Cox shares the university’s new procedures for addressing sexual assault.
Committee hears new sexual assault plans By Paige Villiard THE DAILY CARDINAL
The University of WisconsinMadison may consider establishing new procedures for investigating sexual assault cases on campus. The Division of Student Life proposed the draft in a University Affairs meeting Tuesday. The new procedures would give sexual assault victims more privileges in a trial than acting solely as a witness, as currently outlined in chapter 17 of the UW System. The victim would be able to appeal the case under the new procedures. The draft outlines procedures for investigations into sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating or domestic violence and stalking, hopefully encouraging more victims to come forward, according to Kipp Cox, Dean of Students Office assistant dean and director. UW campuses are entitled to their own procedures, as
long as they are consistent with the system’s guidelines and are approved by the Board of Regents. The draft would add to UW System procedures and “equal the playing field” between the accused and accuser, Cox said. UW System procedures are not currently in compliance with the 2013 federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act or with the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” Letter. The letter, administered to campuses around the country in 2011, outlines necessary university action in Title IX cases. Title IX is a federal law giving women athletes equal opportunities in sports and requires universities to address sexual harassment allegations. The “Dear Colleague” Letter is not law, but Cox said university investigations will most likely
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The American Civil Liberties Union withdrew its request to temporarily freeze Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban Tuesday. The injunction was filed on Feb. 27 and requested the state not enforce its same-sex marriage ban until the U.S. District court rules on the state’s ban. The ACLU agreed to withdraw its injunction request under the condition that two same-sex couples added to the original lawsuit filed in February will not be prosecuted by district attorneys in Milwaukee and Eau Claire, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Wisconsin is the only state with a marriage evasion statute that allows same-sex couples married in other states to be prosecuted and fined up to $10,000 or nine months in prison. The presiding U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb recommended the move, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Crabb cited the “flurry of lawsuits” across the country that have seen judges grant injunction, only to have the rulings reversed. Crabb said the plaintiffs should consider withdrawing their request in order to pursue a “swift final determination” rather than avoid getting bogged down in litigation, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Wisconsin passed the Domestic Partnership Act in 2009 to give same-sex couples benefits that opposite-sex couples receive through marriage. Under current law, same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples do not hold the same protections and rights. Seventeen states, in addition to the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriage. —Eoin Cottrell and Siddharth Pandey
State’s ‘International Women’s Day’ passed with questions
ON THE SQUARE
Almost Famous
Madison residents wait for the doors to open for The Naked And Famous concert at the Majestic Theater Tuesday night. + Photo by Amy Gruntner
The state Senate approved an Assembly resolution Wednesday commemorating March 8, 2014 as International Women’s Day. The resolution called for a symbolic gesture to show Wisconsin’s commitment to women’s issues and gender equality. Several Senate Democrats expressed frustration that the Republican-led legislature
The flips flops that could change the world +SCIENCE, page 4
would honor a commitment to women’s equality in light of recent legislation supported by the majority caucus, specifically on women’s health and education issues. State Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, accused Senate Republicans of contradicting the goals expressed in the resolution. “Let us not be confused that
Climate’s A-Changin’ +OPINION, page 7
what we have done is not move women forward in this state … we’ve had an assault on women since you’ve been in the majority,” Taylor said, addressing her Republican colleagues. State Sen. Paul Farrow, R-Pewaukee, reminded the Senate of two Democratic legislators in the state Assembly who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
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An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 123, Issue 90
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Editorial Board Haleigh Amant • Abigail Becker Ryan Bullen •Anna Duffin Mara Jezior • Cheyenne Langkamp Tyler Nickerson • Michael Penn Nikki Stout l
Board of Directors Herman Baumann, President Abigail Becker • Mara Jezior Jennifer Sereno • Stephen DiTullio Jacob Sattler • Janet Larson Don Miner • Phil Brinkman Jason Stein • Nancy Sandy Tina Zavoral
Dr. Harold Francovis guest columnist
I
f everyone would please take their seats, I’d like to discuss the problem with our Enlightened Society’s method of procreation. Glancing down at your lecture outline, you’ll see that I intend to begin by delving briefly into earth’s history in order to paint a more complete portrait of this frequently overlooked issue. Sixty-five million years ago, gigantic, bloodthirsty lizards stomped around the planet tearing each other to shreds with razor-sharp teeth and claws. Everything was painted red; there was no remorse. Then a meteor struck the planet. It was hell on earth, and the fire and brimstone choked the life out of the mighty dinosaurs. But they had the last laugh, leaving behind a horrible legacy: birds. After the meteor struck, our mammalian ancestors burrowed underground to escape the horrors of the surface world. But, reptiles living near the sea also survived, saved by the cooling effects of water. The friendly turtle and the majestic crocodile were among these animals. Unfortunately, so were birds, dinosaurs in sheeps’ feathers! They are smaller now. Beaks have replaced incisors; scales have become feathers. But their minds remain the same. Their first instinct is to kill; their second is to kill again.
From the time mammals crawled out of their burrows to reclaim the earth, humans and birds were destined to share the planet. And here we are today, relying on them to deliver our babies. For God’s sake, these animals DELIVER OUR BABIES. The bird has somehow become so deeply entrenched in our refined culture that we trust them with the future of the human race!
“For God’s sake, these animals DELIVER OUR BABIES.”
Harold Francovis Doctor The Daily Cardinal
And you can’t imagine how frequently couples shuffle into my office, heads in their hands, sobbing, “Doctor Francovis! Oh, Doctor! The baby! It hasn’t come. The stork should’ve been here weeks ago!” And, of course, I tell them as gently as I can that the baby will never come, that, most of the time, the stork simply eats the infants. They never take it well, but they start to calm down after I explain to them that the stork is a carnivorous animal that must hunt for its food everyday to survive and that, like most animals, it has no evolutionary need for emotion. I tell them that when a screaming, six-pound bag of meat appears in a stork’s nest, it’s typically going to get eaten without a second thought. There’s simply no incentive
On this day in history... 1054— Pope Leo IX escapes captivity and returns to Rome. But, he was in captivity so long that he forgot how to survive on his own. With no one there to feed him, he quickly dies of starvation. 1496— The Jews are expelled from Syria for academic dishonesty. 1894— In Vicksburg, Miss., Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time. Before that, Old Man Johnson just used to pour it into your hands. 1945— The USSR returns Transylvania to Romania. Dracula decides to maintain Soviet citizenship.
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for the stork to wrap the baby in a sling and carry it hundreds of miles to its parents. In fact, it’s astonishing how many babies actually make the trip. According to the United States Census Bureau, 360,000 are delivered each day. That’s a huge number. But it begs the question, “How many are eaten each day?” After conducting a 10 year study, in which my staff and I presented thousands of starving storks in captivity with fresh babies, I’d estimate the number to be around two million. Two million! If you take one thing away from this lecture it should be that horrific statistic. And what happens when the storks realize they can eat all the infants?
“There’s simply no incentive for the stork to wrap the baby in a sling and carry it hundreds of miles to its parents.” Harold Francovis doctor The Daily Cardinal
Enlightened Citizens, there’s a better way. But women probably won’t like it. It’s something called pregnancy, and the best way for a woman to become pregnant is through sexual intercourse. I can already see some of you shifting nervously in your seats. “Doctor Francovis, this is not the human way. Mother and father taught me long ago that the stork brings the baby. The stork has always brought the baby.” Well, just bear with me here for a moment.
It all begins when a man and a woman are so attracted to one another that they remove their clothing and... Don’t leave! Oh, come on. Sit back down. You’ll learn something! Thank you. You paid $20 for this lecture, so you might as well hear me out. Alright, I’ve decided not to go into all the details because I can see this subject is making you all uncomfortable. I implore you to at least take a look at the brochure my assistants are handing out. It’s filled with pictures and diagrams I think you’ll find very informative. Be sure to show your friends and family, too. What’s that? Yes, you in the back. Did you have a question, young man? Have I myself ever had sexual intercourse? The answer is no. Not yet. But, I have observed animal copululation extensiveley, and I can assure you that it frequently results in pregnancy. I plan on performing sexual intercourse myself very soon to prove my findings. In fact, I’m ready at this very moment to have sexual intercourse. All I need is a suitable partner candidate. Perhaps a woman from the audience would like to volunteer... Oh, come on! Sit back down. This lecture is not over! Fine, then! Go! But take the brochures! My contact information is on the back should any of you want to help me with my research. And you can’t keep your heads in the sand forever! When the stork doesn’t show up at your door, don’t come crying to Doctor Francovis! Remember, he presented you with the facts and figures, but you wouldn’t listen.
Almanac Classifieds
For sale
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UW Hockey Team Teeth— Hey, I’m a janitor at the Kohl Center and I find a lot of teeth all over the place after hockey games and practice. I’m selling each tooth for 10 bucks. But I’d be willing to sell a whole set for only 300. That includes wisdom teeth, which I typically sell for 20.
Medieval Taste Tester— Greetings, m’lord. Does thou not trusteth thine cooks in thine kitchen? Does thou believeth the cooks plot to poison the mead or the boar? Fear not, m’lord. I, Goren Walraven, will tasteth thine mead and thine boar. Allow your humble servant, Goren Walraven, son of Maynard Walraven, to taketh the risk out of feasting. Methinks m’lord deserves to feast without worry. M’lord can summon me with three loud blasts from the royal bugle.
Big Jug of Growth HormonesI’ve got a huge jug full of bovine growth hormones that I’m not going to use. I used to give them to my milk cows, but Dean’s made me sign a pledge not use this stuff on them anymore. Sucks, too, because these guys were literally sweating milk when I had them all juiced up. Anyway, I’ll give you the whole jug for $500. Don’t drink it yourself. Trust me, I tried, thinking it would make me stronger, but what actually happened was my nipples swelled up real bad. Basically gave me bitch tits.
Ass-wiper— Pretty self-explanatory. You call me just before you’re going to take a dump, and I show up as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter where you are (at home, at class), I’ll walk right in, even if it’s a public bathroom, and get the job done. And I’m available 24/7, so if you get the shits in the middle of the night feel free to hmu. $20 a session, unless things get really messy. Then I charge $25.
news dailycardinal.com
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 3 l
D2P project announces new director Discovery to Product (D2P), a University of WisconsinMadison project that aims to bring scientific and technological university innovations into the market, named Wisconsin entrepreneur John Biondi its director, according to a Tuesday university press release. Biondi has experience with supporting nine up-and-coming high-technology companies,
which corresponds with D2P’s focus on science and technology. His areas of expertise include early stage strategy, business and revenue models and entering the market with minimal cost. Biondi, who will start working as director March 17, said in the release his past experience with ventures related to D2P’s key technology areas qualify him for the position.
“What you need is an ability to connect the technology to the market,” Biondi said in the release. “That’s what commercialization is all about.” The project, which began in November, hopes to increase the commercialization of existing entrepreneurship at the university by supporting the foundation of new companies, according to the release.
Monona Terrace receives Wisconsin tourism award
EMILY GERBER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
A group of SLAC members unveils a poster encouraging the chancellor to support Bangladeshi workers’ rights Tuesday.
SLAC urges Blank to sign labor accord Members of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Student Labor Action Coalition delivered a cardboard replica of a clock tower to Chancellor Rebecca Blank Tuesday, urging her to sign an agreement on behalf of UW-Madison that would protect Bangladeshi garment workers’ rights. SLAC imposed a deadline of March 24 to remind Blank of the time-sensitive nature of the matter, emphasizing the Accord on Fire and Building Safety will expire after five years, SLAC member Lingran Kong said.
about 700 events per year, including approximately 400 city workshops and 100 free events for the community, according to Monona Terrace Media Advisor Fran Puleo. These free programs offered by the Monona Terrace serve over 50,000 people in the Madison area, according to the press release. Puleo said the Monona Terrace brings in around $52.5 million in revenue from tourists and visitors attending conferences at the center, who then invest in local businesses. Community outreach and guest surveys reveal that 100 percent of Monona Terrace visi-
tors are willing to recommend the facility, according to the press release, with 99 percent of visitors willing to return themselves. The Monona Terrace also recently celebrated its reopening following a series of renovations, including two new museum galleries and improvements to technology in the building, such as “plug and play” work stations. City officials hope these amenities will reinforce the positive reputation of the facility. Runners up for the award included the Eagle River Chamber of Commerce. —Irene Burski
“Every month that goes by that we’re not signing on to it, that’s a problem,” Kong said, citing a fire that broke out after-hours in a Bangladeshi factory Thursday. Blank will review a report presented by the Labor Codes and Licensing Compliance Committee Monday and make her decision on the accord in the coming days, the chancellor’s representative for LCLCC Everett Mitchell said. The report addresses matters of worker participation, cost analysis, inspection and legality as they relate to the accord.
UW-Madison to host event featuring past campus improvements April 2 The University of WisconsinMadison will host Showcase, an event focused on underscoring successful campus advances, according to a Tuesday university press release. The event will be held April 2 in Union South’s Varsity Hall and will feature break-out sessions as well as 65 poster presentations highlighting significant improvements made on the UW-Madison campus, according to the release. Many of the innovators who implemented the changes will also be present to discuss their work. This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Dave Franchino,
president and principal of Madison’s design and innovation company designconcepts. Franchino will focus his talk on topics of design thinking and how to extend these concepts to the university setting. Other topics of discussion will include data consolidation, supervision of student workers and enhancement of student advising and career services. Historically, Showcase has been a cause for subsequent meetings between attendees which can foster further conversation and collaboration among different campus departments, according to the release.
committee from page 1
case,” Cox said. UW-Madison has received seven sexual assault reports this semester, compared to two cases last spring. The draft would put UW-Madison in compliance with federal law by creating fair and equitable process for both the accuser and accused. The Division of Student Life will be taking the draft to other groups on campus for input before presenting to the Board of Regents.
be judged by the procedures outlined by the letter. Both Michigan State and Northwestern are currently under investigation for how they handle sexual assault investigations. “We don’t want to have Wisconsin’s name out there as a school that’s been accused of botching a sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence kind of
Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin Secretary of Tourism Stephanie Klett recognized Madison’s Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center for exceptional charitable services with the Governor’s Tourism Service Excellence Award at a reception in Lake Geneva Monday. Monona Terrace Executive Director Gregg McManners said in a City of Madison press release, the award is an “honor” that will serve to reinforce Monona Terrace’s vision for “community and service excellence.” The Monona Terrace hosts
NICK MONFELI/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Secretary of Tourism Stephanie Klett honored the Monona Terrace with the Governor’s Tourism Service Excellence Award at a reception Monday.
voting from page 1 bill state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, introduced last week, which would remove the existing requirement that organizations involved in political campaigning publicly report all administrative costs. It would also allow lobbyists to donate more frequently to political candidates. State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, echoed others’ concerns that the bill would remove transparency in the electoral process by allowing anony-
mous groups to give certain legislators’ campaigns a financial leg-up. “You are a coward if you don’t put your name on something you are financially responsible for. You’re hiding behind the freedom of speech argument,” Erpenbach said. “People want to know who’s running these ads.” Lazich stressed her bill makes state law compliant with existing policy and said she had hoped to make her legislation bipartisan.
The state Senate rejected amendments to the bill recommended by Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the Government Accountability Board, at a committee hearing Wednesday, March 5. The state Senate also approved nine other bills relating to elections and polling regulations. Senate Democrats objected to the final reading of both bills, temporarily blocking their passage. The state Senate is scheduled to reconvene Wednesday to vote on the bills.
Walker to take action if voter ID law fails Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday he would call a special legislative session if the Wisconsin Supreme Court does not uphold the state’s voter ID law. The law was passed by Republicans to help eliminate fraud in 2011, and was subsequently blocked by two Dane County judges in 2012. The case now rests with the Wisconsin Supreme Court,
which is expected to release its decision in June 2014. The voter ID law requires a photo identification at a polling place to vote but allows residents to get free IDs from the state if they show birth certificates or other documents. A Wisconsin birth certificate costs $20 but applicants can file for financial aid through the state.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman is also considering two separate cases claiming the voter ID laws are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the federal ‘Voting Rights Act.’ “I think in the end people overwhelmingly have told us in this state they want to have voter ID,” Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
science Holoflops could prevent parasites 4
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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
By Suma Samudrala The Daily Cardinal
A prevalent health problem in the developing countries of the tropics and subtropics is helminth or parasitic worm transmission. Among the most common parasites is a hookworm or a nematode roundworm with hooked mouthparts known to cause tissue obstruction, anemia and infestation in the stomach. University of WisconsinMadison Professor Tony Goldberg, an epidemiologist, veterinarian, ecologist and associate director of research for the Global Health Institute and Sarah Paige, postdoctoral scholar and medical geographer, are part of the Kibale EcoHealth Project in the Kibale National Park region of Uganda. They have been studying infectious zoonotic diseases or diseases transmitted between animals and people. “By focusing on primates like monkeys and apes and in the course of that research, we have discovered a lot of parasites and other infectious agents that are crossing species’ barriers,” Goldberg said. Realizing this problem, Goldberg and Paige brainstormed ideas along with their team about ways to reduce parasitic transmission. They realized
the solution may be as simple as convincing people to wear shoes. In the Kabarole district of South Uganda, residents typically wear shoes but not always in places where they are necessary. “Worms get into your feet by burrowing through your feet, and it is well known that if people wear shoes then it can reduce their transmission. But people oftentimes don’t entirely understand the benefits of wearing shoes for preventing worm infection,” Goldberg said. “In fact, people often wear shoes from what we observe in places that aren’t going to help them, the places where the worms are [like] the compounds outside of your house in the fields where you are working, and yet they tend to wear their shoes to walk into town or when they go church on Sunday. So there was a little bit of disconnect between the health benefit of shoes and how people were using them.” Knowing that illiteracy was high in that region, the team realized that a simple educational campaign with fliers or
Ask Ms. Scientist: Shots of Absinthe and Different Tastes Dear Ms. Scientist, What is absinthe (the “Green Fairy”)? Why is it legal at the Nitty even though it was once illegal? —Caitlin J. Absinthe is a highly alcoholic, distilled spirit derived from the herbs wormwood, green anise and sweet fennel. It was banned during the Temperest Movement for its addictive and hallucinogenic effects. The chemical compound, Thujone, from the wormwood was once thought to be the cause of the alleged hallucinations because it is a GABA (muscular neurotransmitter) blocker. In high doses, thujone is toxic. However, according to present-day studies, it is not hallucinogenic and one would die from consumption of alcohol long before the minute amounts of thujone in absinthe kicked in. The green elixir can only be sold in the US if it is thujone-free and does not have “absinthe” on the package.
Dear Ms. Scientist, What makes different people taste cer“They want to make sustain foods differently? For example, why tainability part of every is it someone likes the taste of tomatoes day life, whether it’s recywhile someone else does not? cling, food options or build ing changes.” graphic by Mikaela Albright —Abbie E. Laura Shere
“Taste” is a chemical interaction between a foodprogram and themanager tasteUW-Madison Sustainability receptors on the papillae of the tongue, whereas “flavor” occurs in the brain when it fuses smell and all the reactions at the receptors in the tongue together to perceive a unique flavor. Some people are more sensitive to taste because they have an abundance of papillae in the bitter section of the tongue, making many tastes overwhelming. Additionally, bitter taste receptors are encoded by 20 to 40 genes, which allow the bitter taste-receptors to chemically interact with foods differently for each person. When the brain fuses all the signals from the papillae of all five areas, each person experiences a unique flavor and likeness of food. Ask Ms. Scientist is written by Corinne Thornton. If you have a burning science question you want her to answer, tweet @DC_Science or email it to science@dailycardinal.com.
educational materials would be ineffective. Instead, they decided to spread the message with a picture. The idea was to use a compelling picture to convey to residents of the Kabarole district that they should wear shoes.
graphic by Mikaela Albright
While playing around with the idea of placing a holographic image on the flip flop, the team came up with the nickname, “holoflop.” The flip flops would be slide-on shoes common in that region on which an image to relate the benefits of wearing shoes will be depicted. “Team Flop” will use a lenticular image to convey their mes-
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sage. A lenticular image is a type of image that is usually motiondirected with a 3-dimensional. Most of us have seen this kind of image in goodie bags or trading cards. One of the simpler methods of this type of printing is the flip image where, depending on the angle of perception, the screen flips between one of two images. The largest advantage of these images is that a lot of information can be packed into a small space and conveyed. The size of flip-flops, this is a key determiner of what image will be used and how the image will be placed. “Our hope is that we can create an image that is self-explanatory and that the image does a lot of the education. We are hoping it will be so attractive and interesting that people will pay special attention to it and learn,” Goldberg said. “The team is working on getting two images that would make up a flip hologram. One would associate barefeet with a sad emoticon and hookworm transmission while the other image would associate flip flops with happy face and good health." The target population of this
concept study is located in the Kabarole district in South Uganda and includes about a couple hundred individuals of all ages and both sexes. These individuals will be followed over a period of time where they will be interviewed on their likes and dislikes of the shoes. The team will also conduct a biological study of the effectiveness and a social study of how well people adapt to the holoflops. With promising results, there is a large range of population that could potentially benefit from these holoflops. This project proposed by the team is being funded by the Gates foundation through the Grand Challenges Explorations Grants Program. And it was one among 81 projects out of over 2000 projects submitted by researchers that received grants to launch their new ideas. The project is linked to both the UW-Madison School of Veterinarian Medicine and the Global Health Institute. At this moment, the project is in the early development stage. “We have some prototypes we’re going to test out and see what people think of them, and then we are going to work with a graphic design company to turn that into reality.” Goldberg said.
UW-Madison members part of South African dig strike fossil gold By Danielle Smith The Daily Cardinal
Participating in any archeological expedition requires a lot of skill and expertise in order for it to be successful. However, a dig that recently took place in northeastern South Africa had an especially unique qualification for any potential archeologists or excavators—the ability to squeeze through a tiny space called the International Postbox and repel down into a cavern named The Cradle of Humankind for its remarkable contents approximately 30 meters below. The expedition took place last fall and was led by Lee Berger, a National Geographic explorer and human evolution professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Berger carefully selected his team after reaching out to individuals through a variety of social networking sites like Facebook and Linked-In. His goal was to send people down into the deep network of caves and retrieve over a thousand fossils of hominin remains. Two University of Wisconsin-Madison community members recieved the opportunity to be a part of this ambitious project. UW-Madison anthropologist, John Hawks, assisted as an evolutionary expert in the tent where the fossils were examined. Also playing a part in the fossil recovery was UW-Madison graduate student, Alia Gurtov, one of six
individuals chosen from a pool of 60 applicants, whose job it was to retrieve remains from the excavation site. “[Berger] was looking for highly experienced archaeologists capable of dropping everything to come to South Africa,” Gurtov said about being extended an invitation to join the dig. Gurtov was selected based on her spelunking and climbing experience, ability to work well with others and most importantly, because she is able to fit through the International Postbox, which is just 18 centimeters wide. “The climb into the cave eventually became so comfortable, we began referring to it as our daily commute. Initially, however, I can safely say we all had butterflies. There are many places along the descent and ascent where helmets only fit when turned sideways,” Gurtov said about her adventurous trek. After the dangerous descent to the caves was accomplished, the scientists were able to tackle the most important part of the expedition: retrieval of the fossils. Luckily, the fossils were not trapped in concreted sediment like they are more typically found. Instead they were buried either in dirt or laid on the surface of the caves. “Because the space is cramped and the excavation well-funded, we used a 3D white-light scanner to map the surface with the bones
in place, and then again as each bone was exposed and removed. At this point, we would suggest an initial identification and write ID numbers on tags for each separate specimen,” said Gurtov. Those fossils were then handed over to experts such as John Hawks for more detailed examination and classification. The remains that were retrieved from the cave are hominins, which is the term for members of the human clade since its split with the ancestors of chimpanzees and bonobos. The examination of these fossils will result in a better understanding of human kind’s evolutionary history which is why there was such enthusiasm from the project’s team members. “I have the great fortune to be among those who breathe rarefied air as an excavator of hominims. Plural,” Gurtov said. On top of being largely successful with their retrieval of the hominin fossils, Berger’s team also made a noteworthy effort to be extremely open with their findings and processes. The team utilized sites like Twitter to update people on their work. They also had blogs and video posts on National Geographic’s website. “I loved being able to talk about this discovery with students in classrooms all over the world. I loved the actual physical work of exposing bones that have been buried for millennia,” Gurtov said on her experience in South Africa.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Telltale Games expanding out of genre niche adam paris sega WHAT?!
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hen Telltale Games released “The Walking Dead” back in 2012, it was mostly known as the studio that was keeping alive the oft-forgotten adventure game genre with some mildly successful licensed titles. They had just come off the maligned “Jurassic Park.” The limited number of people who knew about Telltale were those paying close attention to the industry. Flash forward two years and they’re producing four different licensed series with one of the most popular game franchises in the industry.
First person shooters, platformers; these genres have become entrenched in the gaming vernacular.
The launch of “The Walking Dead” came at perhaps the most opportune time for Telltale. The television show had become the most popular series on cable with a follow-up talk show that routinely outrated most of NBC’s entire lineup. Abandoning the traditional characters of the comic, “The Walking Dead” demonstrated how a narrativefocused game could find a robust audience despite its significant deviations from standard gameplay conventions. After expanding this year with “The Wolf Among Us” and eventual products based on “Borderlands” and “Game of Thrones,” Telltale is quickly becoming the go-to developer for compelling, licensed video game stories. I’m of the opinion that overextending themselves with more teams may lead to a dip in quality, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that I’m deeply encouraged Telltale continues to make these games in a mainstream market. The general thought process is that narrative games are focused in the independent game space. While the majority and probably best narrative games are indies, the extension of this practice into a more visible portion of the industry is a logical step forward for the medium. In recent years, it has become fairly apparent that players’ interactions with video games has been far too limited. First-person shooters, platformers; these genres have become entrenched in the gaming vernacular, to the point of the industry’s detriment. As these basic inputs started to garner popularity, they produced a glut of similar products that stifled the limitless creativity that is finally emerging with the
growth of independent games. This repetition is what makes Telltale’s ongoing products so important. They’ve afforded these narrative games devoid of extensive gameplay a visible platform they can hopefully build from on future releases. I abhor blunt, game-to-game comparisons, but it’s impossible to deny the marketing capabilities word of mouth can provide. Because of Telltale’s success, developers can put out products and easily describe them as, “It’s like ‘The Walking Dead.’” That’s an asset few franchises garner, but it means there can hopefully be more games made in the manner of Telltale’s hallmark series. Expanding into the next generation of consoles, discovering new ways for people to experience the medium is one of the most important advancements. “The Walking Dead” created an experience akin to any long-form narrative that was equally as accessible to experienced players as it was for anyone new to the medium. The days of having your parents constantly stare at the screen, mouth agape, not understanding basic movements should gradually disappear. Assuredly there will and should still be those products geared towards fans craving those inputsensitive experiences. However, the advent of narrative focused experiences that don’t require a level of control incomprehensible to the unfamiliar masses opens up the medium to different, necessary audiences. More importantly, it moves beyond the AAA-familiar titles and demonstrates a facet of the industry to people who would generally miss the mass narrative uprising occurring in the indie scene.
The launch of “The Walking Dead” came at perhaps the most opportune time for Telltale.
If you’re interested in seeing this sort of approach taken to a far greater degree, I would recommend “Kentucky Route Zero,” “Gone Home” or “Cart Life.” All are generally less gameplay heavy, instead focusing on the interesting interactions and parallels within people’s lives. I don’t think Telltale’s new projects will be very spectacular or influential. For now though, I’m content with them leveraging a newfound fame to push a stagnant mainstream industry forward in innovative ways. Do you see any telltale signs of failure in Telltale’s business model? Email your concerns to Adam at arparis@wisc.edu.
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Bend Sinister offers rock history lesson on third full-length album CD REVIEW
Animals Bend Sinister By Conor Murphy The Daily Cardinal
Vancouver-based band Bend Sinister is a four-man quartet, and over the last 13 years, the group has honed in a refreshingly progressive rock sound unheard in current rock music. Blending equal parts prog, blues and hard rock, the group has made a name for themselves in Canada, and their third fulllength album, Animals, will hopefully bring them the recognition they deserve. Animals has one of the riskiest album openings in recent music memory. “Best of You,” an eight-and-a-half minute opus of prog rock and power balladry, sets the band off on the right
foot. While the length may seem daunting, the change in musical pacing throughout the song is on point, ushering the listener through the doors to the menagerie of sounds in the album. “Fancy Pants” and “I Got Love,” the following two tracks, are reminiscent of different eras of late sixties and early seventies rock. The light, airy lyrics and the staccato piano and horns of “Fancy Pants” are reminiscent of Elton John. It transitions surprisingly well into the southern blues rock-focused “I Got Love.” Animals’ mid-album tracks are the highlight of this tour through rock’s greatest experimental genres. “Thunder and Lightning” throws back to late ’70s hard rock, with blistering riffs and guitar solos, while “Teacher” starts off slow with synthesized bliss, and quickly shifts to a high-octane ride through a hair metal-cumprog rock track. “Seventeen” is classic blues, with a simplistic blues chord structure and soulaching lyrics. While Bend Sinister hits
many high notes throughout the album—both literally and figuratively—some of the tracks fail to deliver the same way. “Better Things To Do” feels out of place between the blues and hard rock tracks. The power ballad attempts to jump through too many hoops at a time in honoring different sides of rock. While the beginning starts out hot and fast, swapping out different rock filters to suit the band’s needs, the last two tracks of the album slow down the tempo, allowing for more of the raw musical talent to shine through the melodies. Animals’ final track, “It Will Never End” is deceptively soft and easy at the start, ending with a highpowered guitar solo finish, which perfectly captures the album’s contrasting of various styles of rock. Bend Sinister’s execution on Animals is near perfect on the whole, and is a fantastic history lesson of the last 50 years of rock music.
Rating: A-
comics
6 • Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Word of the day: MUMPSIMUS—One who obstinately sticks to their old ways or ideas in spite of evidence that they are wrong. dailycardinal.com
Flying first class
Today’s Sudoku
Classic
© Puzzles by Pappocom
By Melanie Shibley graphics@dailycardinal.com
Caved In Classic
By Nick Kryshak
Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
Eatin’ Cake Classic
By Dylan Moriarty
Today’s Crossword Puzzle
Evil Bird Classic
Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com
JET LAG ACROSS 1 Body art, for short 5 Some German autos 10 Drought-stricken 14 Grim Grimm guy 15 “Same here” 16 Passable, barely 17 Recommend 18 ___ corn (picnic side) 19 “Dollar days” event 20 “... was I ___ I saw Elba” 21 Superlative sequel to a Clint Eastwood Western? 23 Big-time golf tournament (with “The”) 25 Greek H’s 26 “I must be off, old chap” 27 Coastal areas 31 Mrs. Fitzgerald 33 Banana cluster 34 ___-de-France 35 “Tendon” suffix 36 Purposeful type of attitude 37 Prefix with “vision” 38 About 22.5 degrees 39 Drivers may hit them on purpose 40 HBO’s “Real Time” host 41 Kind of insurance 43 One-third of a 1970 film title
44 Oval Office occupant, briefly 45 Mathematical proposition 48 Superlative sequel to a Gary Cooper classic? 52 Some forensic evidence 53 Not working 54 Long-time “Today” host 55 Smokey, for one 56 Aretha Franklin’s genre 57 Alan or Adam of film 58 ___ spumante wine 59 Flexible Flyer item 60 Small songbirds 61 To ___ (with precision) DOWN 1 Carved family emblem 2 Ancient gathering place 3 Superlative sequel to a Schwarze-negger movie? 4 Collector’s achievement 5 Golf champ Mark 6 Bursts of laughter 7 Raison d’___ 8 Unfinished business 9 Tex-Mex snack 10 St. Francis’ birthplace 11 “The Long and Winding ___” 12 Place to be marooned
1 3 21 22 24 27 28
Busy bee Gp. against furs Unduly hasty Small amounts Good forecast Superlative sequel to a Bruce Willis film? 29 French fashion magazine 30 Person with a vision? 31 Vitamin additive 32 Europe’s highest active volcano 33 MVP of the first two Super Bowls 36 Common side dish 37 Source of poi 39 “The Tortoise and the ___” 40 Big name in faucets 42 Supported, as an appealed decision 43 Material of an infamous crown 45 Dip one’s ___ the water (test) 46 Related on a mother’s side 47 Antoinette or Osmond 48 Sound of escaping air 49 “American ___” (talent show) 50 Rubber cement, e.g. 51 Zap in the microwave 55 Barnyard sound
First in Twenty Classic
Wild Life Vintage
By Caitlin Kirihara
By Angel Lee
By John Kovalic
opinion
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 7
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Letter to the Editor
Let’s address climate change Madison Common SEAN HOEY opinion columnist
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hether you like him or not, it’s hard to argue with the fact President Barack Obama’s first term as president was actually fairly successful. He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, nominated two Supreme Court Justices to the bench, repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, passed a massive economic stimulus package and, of course, was the first president in decades to accomplish real health care reform—just to name a few. However, as he himself admits, there’s one significant item on his agenda for which he’s failed to gain traction: global warming. Yes, I know, it’s hard to believe, but with such obstinate refusal from Republicans in the House, who are more focused on shutting down the government and repealing Obamacare, you can see why it’s been difficult to move the debate in a meaningful direction. Nonetheless, several Senate Democrats Monday decided to go rogue and tried to jump-start this debate. As is the Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tradition to get a lot of attention, these senators stayed #Up4Climate all night, opining on the floor of the Senate as to why the United States needs to take action on the issue and hoping the rest of the nation would hear them. And we, the American public, should indeed listen to what these political leaders have to say about global warming, for it’s perhaps the most staggering, relentless and far-reaching problem of our generation. While there are many—far too many— global warming deniers (ahem, Republicans) calling this scientific fact merely a conspiracy or some sort of hoax, the truth is climate change as a result of human activity is 100 percent
undeniable. Major nonpartisan scientific agencies, like NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, agree it’s a fact and it poses a threat to our existence. But we don’t see it happening only here in the United States. While the United States continues to deny the fact of climate change and stalls on taking action, 97 percent of scientists around the world studying the topic have come to the same conclusion as NASA and NOAA. Of course, these experts didn’t arbitrarily decide on this to throw the world into mass hysteria. Being scientists, they, you know, used science, experimentation and observation to learn carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, trapping the sun’s heat on the earth, and that humans, in our energy consumption, are pumping tons of it into the air everyday.
The truth is climate change as a result of human activity is 100 percent undeniable.
Right now, we’re around 400 carbon dioxide parts-per-million in our atmosphere, and these scientists have reasoned the earth reaches its safety limit 350-ppm. At that point, natural cycles, they fear, will begin to spin out of control. As a result, we’ll witness changes like rising sea levels, more frequent, hostile weather, melting glaciers, acidic oceans in which life can’t live and the one we can all agree is the most unbearable—more mosquitoes. Now, you might say we’ve passed the safety threshold and we’re totally screwed, but that’s not true. If we take bold action now, we can still mute the effects of climate change, and we might even be able to reverse the levels in our atmo-
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°F
Council actions must be better scrutinized
By Jason Morgan UW-MADISON PHD STUDENT
GRAPHIC BY MIKAELA ALBRIGHT
sphere. However, doing so certainly won’t be easy. To make a difference, we’re going to have to significantly change the way we use energy. We need to move away from fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas. We need to invest and transition to renewable sources like solar, wind and geothermal. Of course, we rely on these energies to heat our homes and run our cars, not to mention these industries make up a sizeable chunk of our economy. Ultimately, it’s going to take an act of government to overcome these obstacles, and indeed, some of our leaders know we can’t ignore climate change forever. President Obama understands, and he’s taking all the action he can without Congress’ approval. Now, somewhat silly Cruzian tactics aside, Senate Democrats have decided we need to bring attention back to the issue. And while we can’t accomplish everything we need without Republican support, we can call on our Wisconsin GOP representatives, like Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ron Johnson, to get on board. And we can stand with our Democratic leaders to say enough is enough: It’s time for change. Do you agree with Sean about climate change and that we must take it more seriously? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
While I appreciate Patricia Johnson’s coverage of the buffer zone ordinance aimed at prolife free speakers in Madison (see March 10th, 2014 issue), it appears that Ms. Johnson was not aware of an important recent development in the case when she wrote the piece. After the Madison Common Council, under the tutelage of Ald. Lisa Subeck, unanimously passed the anti-free-speech ordinance on Feb. 25th, the very same Council, led by the very same Ms. Subeck, filed a “motion for reconsideration” of the very same ordinance on March 4th, just one week after rushing headlong into a clearly unconstitutional power grab. On March 18th, the Council will vote on reconsideration, but since March 4th, when the motion to reconsider was filed, the original ordinance has been in suspension, and thus not in effect either in whole or in part. Further, while Ms. Johnson is to be applauded for her objectivity in her article, she seems unaware of two other facts that might have complicated her analysis of the situation somewhat. First, City Attorney Michael May’s prediction that the ordinance would be upheld due to US District Judge William Conley’s having denied a request for a temporary injunction, along with Mr. May’s confidence in the Madison ordinance’s security due to its affinities with an ordinance passed in Colorado and cited in Colorado v. Hill, overlooks the much more important case of McCullen v. Coakley. In McCullen, Massachusetts pro-lifers (including Eleanor McCullen, a seventyseven-year-old grandmother and sidewalk counselor) challenged a commonwealth law that, just like the Madison one, sought to limit pro-life free speech outside of abortion mills. The Supreme Court, in
opening arguments in January of this year, indicated strongly that such a law is unconstitutional. Mr. May’s confidence, therefore, may perhaps be better tempered by a greater familiarity with the goings-on of the United States Supreme Court. Second, for consistency’s sake, while pointing out that Ralph Lang rightly sits in prison for planning to harm an abortionist, Ms. Johnson’s article might also have mentioned that abortionists not only plan to harm children, they actually do so on a regular basis. Harming children is their (very lucrative) job. Babies in the womb have heartbeats, they dream, they get the hiccups, they wiggle, and they suck their thumbs, and when abortionists begin cutting them into pieces with a scalpel, babies squirm, try to get away, and, yes, feel horrific pain. Not only that, but mothers are equally victimized by abortionists. Just this week, for example, on two separate occasions women were taken from the Planned Parenthood location on Orin Rd. in ambulances. We are right to condemn Ralph Lang’s plotted violence, but let us be honest with ourselves and also admit that “reproductive care” is a misleading euphemism for the dismemberment, cranial puncturing, brain suctioning, chemical scalding, hemorrhaging, uterine ripping, and general macabre horror that takes place every week at the Planned Parenthood right here in Madison. Seen in this fuller light, the purported heroics of Ald. Lisa Subeck seem somewhat more complex, and the self-assured actions of the Madison Common Council appear perhaps more hubristic than bold. Jason is a PhD student of History here at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Please send all feedback or additional letters-to-the-editor to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.
Rather than divest from ASM, students should divest from fossil fuels TONY PASTAGNOLI opinion columnist
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pring is on its way, and with it comes a newly elected body of student government! Yay? Come on, you know you didn’t care that much. But when you think about it, they control the money, so it matters where that money is going. What does it say about us if fossil fuel companies profit from our investments? Well, let’s see what these new Associated Students of Madison people had to say. I was fortunate enough to attend last week’s ASM election results and after all the winners were announced, the press was given an opportunity to ask their questions. Now, it was my turn. I’m not a journalism major. I’m just a modestly concerned student filling in for someone. I also happen to believe in climate change and, being bitter over this polar vortex crap, decided to first ask them their stances on campus fossil fuel divestment. Anyone? Their silence felt like when some of Ellen’s jokes fell
flat at the Oscars, but she still got laughs out of pity. She knows she wasn’t on her game that night. She knows. Point being, nobody had anything to say to my divestment question. Then one representative decided to say something, and I applaud Andy Stoiber for jumping into the press shark tank by admitting he didn’t know much about campus divestment yet, but that “it makes the most sense for the University of Wisconsin … to not invest in fossil fuels.” Right on, Andy. It does make “the most sense” that we should not be investing in fossil fuels, but in clean energy. Maybe he can’t speak for everyone on ASM, and that’s fair. They all have their own opinion. But he has gotten the attention of someone who’s covering the issue now, and that makes him more important than the ones who remained silent (like ASM Sustainability Committee Chair Will Mulhern). Andy, that moment of standing up for the right cause might make you not just president of ASM someday, but president
of the United States. Or, at least, the governor of Wisconsin. Heck, your willingness to admit to climate change shows you’d do better than the Koch brothers’ puppet, Gov. Scott Walker. I’m not kidding on that one, actually. You know what other divestment issue the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus took noticeable charge of during the late 1970s? Divesting from South Africa because of apartheid, a cause Barack Obama took on passionately while he was in college—and now look where he is. UW campus divestment worked then, and it can work now. Actually, it has to work now. We have no other planet to sustain seven billion people on if the earth’s climate gets permanently out of wack. As the press conference went on, I began to feel a lot more confident with this group of elected officials. They were charming, passionate for change, willing to set a new precedent and seemed like overall solid representatives. But wait, they’re politicians! I can’t help but stay on my toes with them.
After all, they may be sell-outs and not support the grassroots divestment campaign that’s prominent around college campuses all over the country at this point. Climate change is a serious matter, and we need to address it step by step. Luckily, the Associated Students of Madison have expressed more vocal support than opposition to the first step. True, barely anyone remarked on divestment, but I highly doubt it was because they were afraid of me. After all, they control the money. What’s one voice on a student newspaper going to do to them? Ruin them. No, just kidding. I can actually see a lot of progress ahead from those we elected. ASM Senior Class President Maria Giannopoulos has the right attitude with all of this, especially when she takes such a strong interest in improving commencement. Do I sense a graduation speaker more inspirational than the guy from Workaholics? Highly unlikely, but I guess we’ll see. I wish the new student government all the best. When we work together as a campus com-
munity, we accomplish so much more than we expected. Students here understand climate change, and if there’s divestment opposition there, those voices will be heard, too. However, I highly doubt any journalism major here would ever sacrifice their career prospects and write about divestment being a bad idea. Who else outside of the Fox News’ bubble would hire them after college? The campus has every reason to expect the most out of ASM. Either they are a group of privileged kids who selfishly want a title to their names, or they serve as a member on one of the few democratically elected institutions that still listens to us. I like to believe in the latter. They expressed a desire to hear how we feel on campus, and I think I can sum it up: I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this (polar vortex) anymore! Also, please don’t take away my bus pass. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
Sports
WEDNESDAY MARCH 12, 2014 DAILYCARDINAL.COM
Big Ten Basketball
Previewing the Big Ten tournament Compiled by Jack Baer After a beautifully anarchic regular season, it’s time to dive into the always-entertaining Big Ten tournament. While a single elimination tournament means really anyone could win it, here are the six teams that stand out as the true contenders.
Iowa (9-9 Big Ten, 20-11 overall)
The Hawkeyes: They’re big, they’re fast, they’re deep and they’ve lost five of their last six. Any confidence in this team translates to a belief that momentum doesn’t matter going into a sudden-death tournament. Last year’s Wisconsin team made the finals despite losing two of their last three and escaping late against Penn State. The Hawkeyes have a tremendous go-to guard in senior Roy Devyn Marble and a deep frontcourt that can run the floor, which is key in head coach Fran McCaffery’s system. With Iowa, it almost doesn’t matter how well the offense is clicking. In their last five losses, they’ve broken 70 points four times on offense. Instead, the problem lies in their inability to generate stops on defense. Iowa is 10th in the Big Ten in scoring defense and allowed 80.2 points per game in their losing stretch. But when you consider their first round opponent is Northwestern, who ranks dead last in the Big Ten in offense, one could easily see Iowa taking the win and going on a run, especially if the next contender on our list isn’t back to 100 percent.
Michigan State (12-6, 23-8)
It’s become a total cliche to say the following, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Michigan State is a top-five team when they are healthy. They
are never healthy. They finally have all of their contributors back on the floor, but everyone looks out of sync (as if they haven’t all played together since December). That said, the Spartans could very well put things back together at precisely the right time. Talent is talent, and the Spartans have as much as anyone in the conference. If senior guard Keith Appling can properly lead the offense, senior center Adreian Payne can be his bullying self down low, and sophomore guard Gary Harris can play like a lottery pick, the Spartans can be unstoppable. But that’s a lot of ifs. That’s really it. We could see the Spartans carve a path of destruction through the bracket and look like an NCAA No. 1 seed, or they could lose themselves on offense and continue to hobble, desperately trying to save a season that held so much promise.
Ohio State (10-8, 23-8)
The middle of the Big Ten can feel like the Island of Misfit Toys, featuring Iowa (no defense), Michigan State (no health) and now, Ohio State (no offense). Ohio State is basically what Wisconsin was last year. Both teams are/were top-three in the Ken Pomeroy rankings on defense and outside the top-100 on offense. When you consider those Badgers went to the finals, that means Ohio State is easily a contender, provided they can lock down a sneaky good Purdue offense and win a defensive battle against Nebraska. Even accounting against the relentless praises of a certain former-Indiana-coach-turnedannouncer, senior guard Aaron Craft remains one of the best onball defenders in the country and an efficient player on offense. The rest of the team is athletic, but lacks the ability to create, which can be a big problem in a situation where a single loss ends your run. There are a lot of comparisons between Ohio State and the current Wisconsin squad, as teams
that went undefeated in nonconference play and then were humbled by the chaotic Big Ten. But that isn’t fair to the Badgers, as the nonconference teams they beat are vastly more impressive than those the Buckeyes played.
Nebraska (11-7, 19-11)
As the Badgers painfully learned last Sunday, Nebraska is for real. The Huskers are for real, and it feels like head coach Tim Miles is doing what was previously considered impossible: Getting Nebraskans to care about a sport other than football. Sophomore forward Terran Petteway led the Big Ten in points per game and should be a great player for years to come. The Huskers’ strength lies in defense, where they are top-30 in KenPom. Nebraska has won eight of their last 10, highlighted by wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin. They lost one home game in conference play—a onepoint loss to Michigan. However, that accomplishment is a double-edged sword. Can Nebraska win away from the electric crowd we all saw in Lincoln last Sunday? That should be the major worry as the Huskers prepare to play their likely opponent Ohio State in Indianapolis, less than three hours away from Columbus.
and the media’s Big Ten Coach of the Year John Beilein have pulled out a vastly successful season, a proposition that looked hopeless when sophomore center Mitch McGary was sidelined for the season by back surgery.
Sophomore guard Caris LeVert is one of the conference’s most improved players and provides another deadly wing for what could be the conference’s best offense. Their semifinal matchup could be interesting, as Nebraska and Ohio State both provide strong defenses and have played Michigan close before.
Wisconsin (12-6, 25-6)
The Badgers and the Wolverines seem like the clear top two teams in the conference, and a head-to-head matchup in the championship game at a neutral
site seems to favor the Badgers. Wisconsin seems more balanced and matches up very well with the Wolverines, thanks to the Frank Kaminsky-Jordan Morgan matchup in the post. In case you’ve forgotten how well that matchup can work, go watch the carnage that was the final minutes of the Ann Arbor game. Feeding Wisconsin’s junior center on the block worked perfectly, and would take major adjustments to stop in Indianapolis. That’s really it, both Wisconsin and Michigan face threats, but should be the clear favorites to reach the finals, where the Badgers could have the edge. The Badgers will have redshirt junior guard Josh Gasser’s defense to counter possible matchups with Marble, Harris and Stauskas. Kaminsky, sophomore forward Sam Dekker and freshman forward Nigel Hayes form quite possibly the conference’s best frontcourt. The backcourt isn’t too shabby either, with every guard capable of shooting, rebounding and defending like a pest. Maybe depth is an issue, but the Badgers will be playing on five days rest. They simply feel like the most complete team and that’s why they are picked to win it all.
Michigan (15-3, 23-7)
Here, we have the Big Ten’s regular season champion and the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Sophomore guard and Big Ten Player of the Year Nik Stauskas
DREW GILMORE/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
UW lost its first game since Feb. 1 against Nebraska Sunday, but will take the week to rest before the Big Ten tournament.
What to remember most from the old Big East tournament GREY SATTERFIELD 50 shades of grey
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ednesday marks a very tragic day in college basketball. It will be the first day of this year’s Big East tournament, but to everyone who watches, it will not be the Big East tournament. Last off-season, the Big East as we knew it imploded as teams fled to difference conferences. What remained was the basketball-only Big East, sometimes referred to as the Catholic 10. These teams include: Seton Hall, Butler, Georgetown, DePaul, Villanova, Providence, St. Johns, Creighton, Xavier and Marquette. Does this seem strange? Where’s Louisville? Or Syracuse? Or UConn? Or any of
the other teams that made the Big East Basketball Tournament one of the best events in sports? The Big East’s demise began when West Virginia bolted to the Big 12 a few years ago, but it crumbled when Syracuse and Pittsburgh joined the ACC. Seeing the writing on the wall, Rutgers joined the Big 10. After that, the conference dissolved, the remaining Catholic schools retained nothing but a hollow shell—the Big East name. The first thing I’ll miss about the Big East tournament is the 16-team megabracket where the top four seeds got two byes. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday would be wall-to-wall, four-game slates with the semifinals on Friday and the final Saturday night. Even though the venue is the same for the new Big East, it doesn’t feel the same. Madison Square Garden is the best venue in the world to watch
a basketball game. Cresting out of the subway station on the blue line at 34th and 7th is an experience and was the perfect compliment to the most exciting conference tournament. MSG brought the energy that made the Big East tournament the spectacle it was. The great games were only amplified by the ruckus New York crowd.
It’s very sad that a great event like this had to die because college athletic directors have to try and squeeze every last dime out of everything. There were so many astounding moments over the course of the Big East tournament. How about in 2010 when Da’Sean Butler hit back to back game winners in the semifinals and then in the finals to win West
Virginia’s first title? How about 2011 when Kemba Walker led UConn on a four-day tear all over the hardwood at MSG? The success there carried the Huskies all the way to the national title. Walker also gave us the greatest step-back crossover of all time. How about 2006 when Gerry McNamara led the No. 9 seed Syracuse to a Big East title. The guy couldn’t miss all week. His buzzer beater highlight reel is still a joy to watch. How about 1996? A bit of a throwback sure, but can I interest you in a college hoops showdown between Ray Allen and Allen Iverson? The Big East Tournament has been home to many great NBA players including Carmelo Anthony, Roy Hibbert and Richard “Rip” Hamilton. Finally, who can forget the six-overtime thriller between UConn and Syracuse in 2009? That game had everything and
it wasn’t even a final. It wasn’t even a semifinal. The best part about the Big East tournament was that any game had the chance to be something special. It’s very sad that a great event like this had to die because college athletic directors have to try and squeeze every last dime out of everything. The only reason Syracuse and Pitt joined the ACC was to better their football program. Yes, when football makes money, the whole athletic department makes money, but Syracuse Hoops was not having any problems bringing money to the school. Greed in college athletics needs to be toned down. Too many good things have been left in the dust thanks to conference realignment. What was your favorite memory from the Big East tournament? Email gsatterfield@wisc.edu and let him know what you think.