Thursday, March 24, 2022 - The Daily Cardinal

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Thursday, March 24, 2022

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Final letdown - Men’s Basketball +Sports, page 4

Fishy situation +Almanac, page 5

Candidate yet to announce platform By Jackson Mozena ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Jeff Hynes, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, is running unopposed to replace Elena Haasl as the Dane County District 5 supervisor. Despite his imminent assumption of the position after the April 5 election, the Hynes campaign has provided no information regarding the candidate’s policy platform or qualifications. Dane County’s fifth district encompasses a majority of the UW-Madison campus and is predominantly populated by students. District 5 is currently represented by Elena Haasl, a UW-Madison senior, who declined to run for a second term in office after being elected to the position in 2020. The Hynes campaign has not yet released a website or made any public social media posts to promote his candidacy, which leaves Hynes’ ambitions as a public official ambiguous. Hynes has declined to respond to several inquiries made

by The Daily Cardinal. The District 5 position was not initially uncontested; Shawn Scott, a 2011 Madison Area Technical College graduate, was disqualified after failing to file the appropriate paperwork. Hynes currently attends UW-Madison as a senior where he studies pre-law; he has also served as a vice president for the university’s Pre-Law Society. No organization associated with the university or otherwise have publicly announced an endorsement of Hynes at this point in time. The College Democrats of UW-Madison, which endorsed Haasl’s campaign in 2020, did not respond to requests for comment. Haasl has been in contact with the Hynes Campaign. They provided some assistance regarding Hynes’ election efforts, but explained that these actions have been largely informal. “I actually reached out to him. He didn’t reach out to me,” Haasl told the Cardinal. “I’m not really helping out with his campaign,

I’m more so just advising and giving him pointers on how to run a campaign and what he needs, especially his policy platform.” Haasl added that they are vaguely aware of the policies which Hynes wishes to pursue as a county board supervisor, but was unable to describe any details regarding specific goals he hopes to achieve while in office. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any information on his policy platform,” Haasl said. “I think he stands for a lot of social justice causes, but I also know he sought out after the police union’s endorsement and wants to put more money towards the jail. I don’t have his policy platform on that, that’s just what I heard from other supervisors… I hope he has a good structure in place and will be committed.” Haasl has previously opposed providing additional funding towards the construction of a new Dane County jail facility and has been a critic of law enforcement agencies located in the county.

Another representative of the student-majority campus area, District 8 Alder Juliana Bennett, has also voiced opposition to continued efforts to construct a new jail. Haasl elaborated that they have encouraged Hynes to make efforts to make his policy platform more available to the public in order to ensure the interests of District 5 residents. “I’ve been reaching out to see how things are going or making sure he’s on track,” Haasl stated. “He says he’s really busy, but I’ve told him he has to respond to newspapers and have [his] policy platforms flushed out because that’s the most important part of running a campaign.” When asked about their impressions of Hynes, Haasl explained that they hope that he will serve as an effective public official, but expressed uncertainty regarding Hynes’ ability to assume the role as District 5 supervisor. “I hope that he will [serve effectively],” Haasl said. “It seems like he already has connections on

the county board, so hopefully he will be able to catch on and be an effective representative for his

COURTESY OF JEFF HYNES

Hynes runs for District 5 unopposed. district. But, [I] can’t say for sure.” Elections for Dane County Board supervisors are scheduled to take place on April 5. Hynes is one of 29 supervisor candidates to run unopposed in their respective districts.

Third annual Black Arts Matter Festival hosted at Union By Beth Shoop STAFF WRITER

Former University of Wisconsin-Madison student and slam poet Shasparay, had a goal — she knew she needed to create a platform to be able to showcase, celebrate and engage with contemporary black artists. To achieve this dream, she formed and hosted the first Black Arts Matter Festival (BAM) in 2019. This year’s festival, the third-ever BAM, will be held at Memorial Union and will include a plethora of different events such as discussion panels, performances and a high caliber poetry slam competition. The festival began March 23 and will continue until March 26. During her time as an undergraduate in The First Wave Scholarship Program at UW-Madison, Shasparay was given a platform to develop and explore her art. “I was privileged enough to be in that program,” Shasparay said. “There were other artists in the community that weren’t getting that platform because they weren’t [in the program].” This lack of access for Madison artists and other artists across the country is why she decided to establish the Black Arts Matter Festival. “I wanted to engage with

community artists here that weren’t a part of First Wave and also engage all of the world arts community,” Shasparay emphasized, noting that she wants to help artists “leave an imprint” in the community. Shasparay is a jack of all trades when it comes to art, but she specializes in slam poetry. Her passion for slam started as a teenager when she stumbled upon a suggested YouTube video that showed someone performing spoken word. “I immediately wanted to see more,” Shasparay said. “So, I did a deep dive and kept watching and watching and watching. I just saw all these amazing poets, and I decided

that’s what I wanted to do.” The poetry competition at BAM will include a series of rounds where artists present poems of activism to a panel of judges. As the rounds continue, artists will be eliminated. Eliminations will be extremely difficult as all of the artists are of a high degree of talent and were handpicked by Shasparay herself, she said. “Everyone in this slam is dope and respected in the art form,” Shasparay noted. “If you were invited to this slam, it means that you’ve done things for your community or the slam community — you’ve shown up and you’ve been recognized as

COURTESY OF MAWHYAH VIA WISCONSIN UNION THEATER

The third ever Black Arts Matter Festival is continuing to be held on campus

someone who is constantly working and honing your craft.” Memorial Union has been selected as the location for the festival as the goals of the Union perfectly align with Shasparay’s inspiration for the festival: celebrating Black art and culture. “The union is all about supporting students and building community,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “The goals the Union Theater has set forth in the last couple of years around making space for our Black community and Black artists is perfectly aligned with this festival and Shasparay’s reasons for founding it in the first place.” Both Snodgrass and Shasparay explained why they believe holding this event and advocating for Black arts and artists is of the utmost importance. “Unfortunately, this country is rooted in and built on a history of oppression of Black people,” Snodgrass said. “Historically, the richness and beauty of blackness, Black culture and Black art is too often overlooked.” Snodgrass highlighted her belief that the Union Theater should “represent and present arts of many disciplines and cultures, but Black art is a priority,” given the institutionalized racism Black community members face. “This is a time where I think more people, maybe not enough

people, but more people are listening, paying attention, and wanting to make a difference and make change,” said Snodgrass. Shasparay reiterated this view, emphasizing that to her, it is crucial to provide opportunities and spaces for Black artists, especially given the pain and suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Questions of, ‘what is necessary?’ have led to theater spaces closing down and arts communities taking lots of hits,” Shasparay stated. “Prioritizing Black artists and Black art is my way of responding to the climate and the conditions that we are in now.” “We artists have suffered, there have been losses, so it’s important to continue to have these platforms for artists,” Shasparay continued. Aside from the slam poetry competition, Shasparay will be performing a portion of her oneperson show for body politics followed by a discussion regarding fatphobia, body image, identity and self-love. There will also be features of interdisciplinary artists including comics, music, dance and more. The music headliner for the festival is the Grammy-nominated female rapper CHIKA. “I want to reiterate, this festival is for everyone,” Shasparay said. “We are celebrating Black Arts and artists, but everyone is welcome.”

“…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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