Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Since 1892 dailycardinal.com

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

+ARTS, page 3

Turning it around Making Wavves in Madison

+SPORTS, page 7

How an early loss can be inspiration

Research says inclusion programs ineffective By Sarah Ferguson the daily cardinal

photo courtesy of Madison police department

A bystander described the appearance of the person of interest, which Madison police detailed in a composite sketch.

MPD releases sketch of possible assailant The Madison Police Department released a sketch of a person of interest in an attempted homicide that occurred on a bike path near South Livingston Street early Saturday morning. The new developments include a composite sketch of an individual who police say attacked a 33-yearold female before fleeing the Capital City State Trail. The sketch was generated based on testimony from a bystander who saw the assailant nearby prior to the incident. While previously reported as a sexual assault, MPD is currently investigating the incident as an attempted homicide. “The person of interest is described as a Latino or lightskinned black male with brown eyes who appeared to be approxi-

mately 25 years old,” according to an MPD statement Tuesday. The person of interest is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall and of average build, with prominent cheek bones, slightly sunken eyes and five to seven day patchy beard growth, according to the release. “It is important to bear in mind that this is a person of interest at this time. It is but one of many leads that the department is investigating,” said police officer David Dexheimer. “We have dedicated considerable resources to this investigation and will continue to do so.” MPD is urging people to come forward with any information that might be helpful to the investigation by calling 608-266-4451, a number dedicated to the case. —Ravi Pathare

New policies for tenure and program changes approved A faculty committee approved language revisions to policy controlling program changes and tenure protections at UW-Madison Monday, according to a report released Tuesday. The committee’s decision comes as a result of the UW System Board of Regent’s efforts to navigate recent legislative changes to UW System policy, as

outlined in Gov. Scott Walker’s biennial budget. Following the passing of the budget, the Board of Regents asked each campus to propose new policy language to address the new changes. In July, the University Committee appointed the group

policies page 3

“It hurts,” “I’m vulnerable” and “it’s blatant” are a few of the ways disadvantaged students described their college experiences in a research project aimed at uncovering structural exclusion at the university level. Harvard sociologist Anthony Jack shared his research findings on how programs created by universities to aid disadvantaged students can actually hurt them more than help, as part of the Wisconsin HOPE Lab’s Fall Speaker Series. His two-year project looked solely at universities who historically have had a majority of white, affluent students, but that have adopted programs to increase socioeconomic diversity. Jack kept the location of his in-person research confidential, simply referring to it as “Renowned.” The sociologist focused his research on three main university programs and policies to assess their effect on the marginalization of minority students, with the goal of changing policies that minority students may not be aware of, but whose effects they feel daily. Jack said only one freshman orientation session at “Renowned” is free of cost, often leaving it as the only option for underprivileged students to attend. Upon arriving, students interviewed said they were greeted with tampons left on floors, dirty underwear scattered about, feces-covered toilets and bathtubs filled with beer cans that they were expected to clean. Instead of ending orientation excited about classes, students feel pushed into the roles typically historically associated with their racial and socioeconomic background, as evidenced by a Snapchat one student sent, captioned “tired of slaving away at the plantation,” Jack said. Even programs meant to help integrate students into the university’s social scene can help contribute to feeling left out, he noted.

“Students are at Renowned, but they are not part of Renowned,” Jack said. He offered the example of one program that allows disadvantaged students to log hours worked toward paying for university socials and trips often requires students to obtain separate tickets or enter events through separate dorms. “Such a scenario conjures up images of the segregated schools, bathrooms, water fountains and lunch fountains of the Jim Crow South,” Jack explained. Policies affecting dorm and dining hall closure over spring break can also leave students hungry and homeless until classes resume, Jack said. He recalled stories of students searching out food pantries or fainting from not being able to afford to eat until classes resumed. “These are the real hunger games, but the odds are never in

the student’s favor,” one anonymous student said. Such university policies “highlight a tension between proclamation and practice,” Jack said, as “renowned” universities claim that money will not act as a barrier for any student.

“Students are at Renowned, but they are not part of Renowned.” Anthony Jack sociologist Harvard University

He added that these policies are especially dangerous, because students may equate the inability to fit in at a highlevel university with the inability to fit in with a high-level working class.

will chizek/the daily cardinal

Harvard sociologist Anthony Jack’s Tuesday lecture exposed the negative effects of university inclusion programs.

UWPD: Instances of reported sexual assaults not unusual By Bri Maas the daily cardinal

Despite three sexual assaults being reported on campus in the first two weekends of the semester, the UW-Madison Police

Department said these numbers are not shocking. “All of these cases are troubling, but I don’t think it’s fair to say this year is exceptionally different than previous years,”

said UWPD Public Information Officer Marc Lovicott. “Unfortunately this is an issue that we have to deal

assaults page 3

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

news

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

dailycardinal.com

Common Council overrides Soglin veto By Negassi Tesfamichael the daily cardinal

Despite much opposition from Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, the Madison Common Council voted overwhelmingly to override his veto of an alcohol license for Mad City Frites, a Belgian-style fries restaurant on the 300 block of State Street. The process leading to the final vote, which ended in a 19-1 override Tuesday to grant the establishment a license, included long debates between Soglin and council members over the future of State Street, and particularly the future of retail. “I’m relieved and I’m glad that it’s over,” Mad City Frites owner Taylor Beebe said following the vote. “It was a long process. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my Tuesday nights anymore.” The process for Beebe’s license began last month when the Council referred the application to the Alcohol License Review Committee, which voted 4-2 in favor of granting the license Aug. 19.

The Common Council approved the license Sept. 1 by a 19-1 vote before Soglin quickly vetoed the measure, citing his desire to not approve any new licenses until a study is completed on how to improve State Street planning. “I will not be silenced, whether the vote is 19-1 or 20-0,” Soglin said. “I feel that strongly because of the responsibility we have to 240,000 people who have, as recently as three years ago, wrote out a multi-million dollar check to remodel two blocks of State Street.” Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, who voted against the license, emphasized his vote was not meant to voice opposition to Mad City Frites as a business. “I think this is a good business, and I think [an alcohol license] could be warranted,” Skidmore said. “I just think we need to look at the overall policy before we grant new licenses. Beebe said she recognized Soglin’s efforts to defend the city, but noted she takes attacks on her business personally.

memorial union

Watch and learn

The Union’s own Wheelhouse Studios put on a free wheel thrown pottery demonstration Tuesday. The Wheelhouse offers classes to students and community members alike, including pottery, dancing and everything between. + Photo by Gage Meyer

Democrats propose plan to restructure troubled economic development agency By Andrew Bahl the daily cardinal

Democratic lawmakers unveiled a plan Tuesday that they say would bring the embattled Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation back under state control. The proposal would split WEDC into the Wisconsin Department of Economic Opportunity, a state agency run by a cabinet official, and the Badger Innovation Corporation, a private firm owned by the state, and require both to more strictly manage any money given to businesses. It would also return some job creation programs to the agency that have been transferred in the past. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, and State Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who serve on the WEDC

policies from page 1 Cong gao/the daily cardinal

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin defends his opposition to Mad City Frites’ alcohol license during a Common Council session.

Group reveals new Master Plan analysis The team in charge of developing the UW-Madison Campus Master Plan presented the analysis and conceptual framework for an updated version of the plan at an open house discussion Tuesday. The 2015 Master Plan Update builds off the last Master Plan that was introduced almost 10 years ago. While the last version focused on building projects, the new version focuses more on infrastructure, landscape architecture and making outdoor spaces more usable. Ideas contributing to this draft were constructed using numerous studies and data analyses of exist-

ing conditions on campus. Areas of interest include parking, water drainage, use of open spaces and predicted concentration of students and faculty. Public comment at the presentation expanded on these issues, with some concerned citizens targeting lakeshore lighting, dangerous intersections near the UW Hospital and availability of handicapped parking as areas that need to be considered by the group. Presentation of the initial draft of the 2015 Master Plan Update is scheduled for Oct. 27. —Laura Grulke

to develop UW-Madison’s modified policy changes, in response to the Board of Regent’s request. The report details authority revisions in dealing with program changes and discontinuances, as well as faculty layoffs and displacement. New protocol would vest authority

assaults from page 1 with every single year and we tend to see an increase in these types of crime every year at this time of year.” He added that, although Madison is a relatively safe community, UWPD has to deal with a lot of the same crime trends that other communities see and that various factors contribute to an increase in sexual assaults at the beginning

board, touted the proposal as a way to fix what they say is a faulty agency. “WEDC is irretrievably broken, and it’s time to start talking about what comes next,” Lassa said in a statement. The council, which provides incentives to Wisconsin businesses, has been a key part of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to draw more businesses to Wisconsin, replacing a Department of Commerce he says was ineffective. However, the agency has come under fire in recent months for not properly auditing the companies they support, giving out over $100 million without adequate oversight and not following state statutes and internal procedures. The controversy sparked a Legislative Audit Bureau report and a legislative hearing last

week where lawmakers questioned WEDC executives about the agency’s practices. The co-chair of that committee, state Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, said at the hearing he would join with other committee members in authoring their own bill to alter WEDC. A spokesperson for Cowles said there was no timeline for that bill, but that it would not likely bear any resemblance to the proposal announced by Lassa and Barca. Barca said he doesn’t expect the bill to gain traction with the Republican majority but that it was still necessary as a starting point. “We don’t have any illusions that Republicans will pass this as is,” Barca said at the press conference, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. “But we need to start the conversation.”

in these areas to UW-Madison faculty. The revised language aims to make sure academics at UW-Madison remain unchanged. “The overarching goal of this [report] … is to adhere to state statute while maintaining the strongest protections of academic freedom and shared governance consistent with

UW-Madison and UW System policies,” according to the report. Listening sessions surrounding the proposed changes are scheduled to take place beginning Sept. 29, with the Faculty Senate expected to hear the tenure proposal on Oct. 5 and to vote as early as Nov. 2. —Laura Grulke

of a school year. “There’s lots of different reasons why we see increases, but I think it’s mainly because students are back and we have a lot of new students on campus and for a lot of them it’s the first time they’ve ever been away from home,” Lovicott said. “So they’re experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and it unfortunately goes hand-inhand with some of the sexual assaults we’ve seen.”

Lovicott said two of the assaults were reported directly to UWPD, so the department is still working to collect as much evidence as possible. He also echoed the advice sent out with every UWPD crime notice, which is to know what consent means, be active in a positive atmosphere and speak up about being in or witnessing uncomfortable or troubling situations.

arts Wednesday, September 16, 2015

dailycardinal.com

Wavves crashes into Madison music scene By Jonathan Shapiro The Daily Cardinal

If you take a look at Wavves’s song titles and lyrics, you’d think they were a moping emo band 10 years late to the party. But while their lyrics are dark and desperate, their music is anything but. In fact, they make the party. The So-Cal surf-rock band, formed originally as a solo project by frontman Nathan Williams, finds ways to make people happily sing along to lyrics like “Misery, will you comfort me?” and “We’ll all die alone, just the way we live.” With whining verses and catchy, headbanging hooks, Wavves turn their sad songs into party anthems, and they’re taking their music on tour for the first time in years to support their upcoming album, V. “We haven’t really done a real tour in almost two years,” Alex Gates, Wavves’s guitarist, said. “We’ve been doing one-offs and college shows for the past year or so. We’ve had a lot of down time to record and get a lot done in that arena. Really just time to focus.” Gates joined the band during the recording of their last album, Afraid of Heights, but only had a minor role in the studio. Since their first two albums, which were both credited entirely to Williams, Wavves has been including more and more songs written by other members of the band. Their third album, King of the Beach, included a few written by the rest of the band, and Afraid of Heights saw

photo courtesy of Alexandra Gavillet

Since 2008, California-based Wavves has been combining punk and surf-pop with morose lyrics. even more collaboration. “The last record I played a little guitar. This one was more of a unit. Me, Stephen [Pope], and Nathan all, like, threw in what we had and we picked the best ones. I think compared to the last album, it’s a lot more upbeat. There were defi-

nitely more songwriters involved.” As for their grim lyrics, Gates assured me not to read too far into them. “I don’t really think about them too much. They’re kind of just, like, whatever comes out first. Not necessarily anything literal or from

our lives or anything. Whatever sounds good.” For punk fans, Wavves seemed to come around right when we needed them most. When their eponymous first album came out in 2008, leading punk bands like Blink-182, Green Day and Fall Out

Boy had either disbanded or fallen into the spiral of searching for the elusive pop radio hit. With Wavves came a punk revival that brought with it a surf-rock twist. “It’s definitely good, good for us (laughs). I think we’re selling out with a pretty young crew. We all liked pop punk growing up, but it’s not something we all sit around and listen to at this point. But it does come out subconsciously in our music. It’s something you listen to as a kid that you can’t quite shake from the way you write songs no matter how hard you try.” Of course, it wouldn’t be a major label punk release without some issues. In July, Williams faced off with Warner Brothers after the release of a track from the new album. Gates, albeit vaguely, elaborates: “It was basically just an issue about art copywriting. We put the album art out and at the last minute the label said we couldn’t use the artwork, so they took the song down. It was just sort of a bummer. I guess it looked too much like another image and they didn’t tell us that beforehand so it was done last minute.” Judging by the four released singles from V thus far, though, the rift doesn’t appear to have taken any toll. The new tracks pop with surf-rock riffs to mask classic, self-deprecating Wavves lyrics. Wavves comes back to Madison on Monday, Sept. 21 to play at The Majestic with Twin Peaks. Their new album, V, drops Oct. 2.

Striving for equality in films will make them more enjoyable Austin Wellens Alls wellens well

want to talk, quite seriously, about “Magic Mike XXL.” And also “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Not just because they were the two best movies of the summer, but because they represent two sides of a conversation about gender and audience identification in Hollywood movies. See, “Fury Road” isn’t just the best action movie ever. It’s also gotten a lot of praise for being hyper-feminist in its anti-patriarchy, female empowerment messages and themes, and for paying more attention to Charlize Theron’s badass, “handicapable” hero, Imperator Furiosa, than to Tom Hardy’s Max Rockatansky— by the way, this is how you name characters Hollywood. But the thing is, I’m not sure “feminist” is the exact right word for “Mad Max.” Does it empower its female characters, give them all rich interior lives that expresses in natural, thought-out ways? Yes. Do they have agency and behave like actual people? Absolutely, to the point that one of the escaping women tries to return to her former captor. It’s not a progressive impulse necessarily, but it fits who she is and allows her to be a flawed and wholly human character. It’s a more complicated moment than most films will afford even their female leads, and it’s given to a character who has maybe five or six lines in the movie. So yes, “Mad Max: Fury

Road” represents women as actual human beings better than any recent major release I can think of right now. That said, I’d argue that these elements aren’t necessarily “feminist” as much as they’re just good filmmaking and storytelling. Put another way, it isn’t feminist in the way that “Suffragette” will be, actively engaging with the history of the feminist movement and illustrating that struggle that women have had to fight, or at least come closer, to being treated equally in our society. It’s “feminist” in that it handles these issues well, actually treats its female characters with the same depth of thought that it does its male characters and doesn’t view them just as elements in the man’s story, but as the protagonist of their own story.

By pushing ourselves to see films that aren’t necessarily “for” us, we’ll get more used to seeing the world from others’ perspective...

This is sort of the goal for “Mad Max.” The movie is “feminist” in that feminism should be our default, go-to setting on everything, and “Mad Max” just confirms that attitude and puts it on glorious, car-flipping display. Underscoring this point, George Miller had initially written Furiosa as a man, before realizing that he had just made a story about one man stealing another man’s wives, and seeing how horrible that idea

was, he rewrote the character as a woman. Again, not necessarily a feminist manifesto, just working in a way that actual considers the implications of its gender politics, and aspires to make them as equitable and thought-out as possible. I think the best way to divide it is into passive and active feminism. “Suffragette,” and films that directly engage with the challenges that come with being a woman in a deeply sexist world are actively feminist. Films that manage to transcend constrictions on women and actually present things as they should be, where everyone is allowed to carry their own story and be a real human character are passively feminist—aka what everything should aspire to. This makes certain strands of the response to the film especially disturbing. At a press conference after the film’s premiere, Tom Hardy was asked something along the lines of whether or not he’d wondered, while filming, what all these women were doing in a “man’s movie,” or some similarly pig-headed thought. After looking bewildered for a second, Hardy, of course, responds “no, never.” And the question addresses sort of the crux of my point. Because the question-asking idiot, idiot though he is, brings a relevant point forward. If “Fury Road,” a film placed as firmly in the tradition of cars and action and Metal and all things cinematically masculine as any, can’t even treat its women with a base level of decency and humanity without being accused of not being a “man’s movie,” then what hope is there? The hope, my friends, is “Magic

Mike XXL.” In the same way that “Mad Max” is nominally a “masculine” film (silly idea but bear with me) that delivers a perfect model of feminism in film, “Magic Mike” is maybe the most important film for dudes of any stripe to see, and it has this perception of being “for women,” because men take their shirts off. Thanks for that, Hollywood marketing.

“Fury Road” isn’t just the best action movie ever. It’s also... hyper-feminist in its... female empowerment messages and themes...

But, honestly, the film radiates unconditional, nonjudgmental sex positivity from every angle. Every character is celebrated, embraced, empowered and put on display. It’s the healthiest model for male sexuality a movie has presented probably ever. It’s the healthiest models of male-male friendship a movie has put out, a beautiful and thoughtful model of how, regardless of sexuality and gender, we should all be treated, and treat each other, equally. And if this sounds fuzzy and less than concrete, it’s because “MMXXL” pulls this off by denying any real conflict or even strict plot in the name of what a friend described as a mosaic structure. It moves from one set piece to the next (similar to “Mad Max”), and strings them together with pure momentum—both films are perfect road trip movies in this sense.

The result is that, rather than coming across as didactic and long and sounding like a lecture (sorta like this article), “MMXXL” trades in unfiltered joy throughout. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a movie in years, because everybody onscreen is having fun, and through that communal celebration of people that is stripping, it effortlessly shuffles you from perspective to perspective and allows you to identify with everyone in turn. Which, in the male-centered universe that is Hollywood, is incredibly necessary for improving the conversation about which films are “for” which audiences. Am I saying that you should show “Mad Max” and “Magic Mike” to children? Maybe not. I’m saying that by pushing ourselves to see films that aren’t necessarily “for” us, we’ll get more used to seeing the world from others’ perspectives, which is the beauty of movies. We’ll get better at empathizing, and start to break down these archaic boundaries and actually see some progress in how characters, of any and all genders/ sexuality/race/etc., are treated. And, as these two films demonstrate, this doesn’t have to mean seeking out super underground indie flicks. We can do this in films about male strippers and massive car chases. We can be progressive and feminist and awesome and treat everyone equally, cinematically speaking, and still have a shit-ton of fun. In fact, it makes it way easier. Did you fall in love with Imperator Furiosa this summer? Are you a feminist? Email Austin at wellens@wisc.edu.

science 4

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 125, Issue 9

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

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com

Editor-in-Chief James Dayton

Managing Editor Emily Gerber

News Team News Manager Adelina Yankova Campus Editor Bri Maas College Editor Ellie Herman City Editor Negassi Tesfamichael State Editor Andrew Hahn Associate News Editor Laura Grulke Features Editor Gilly McBride Opinion Editors Sergey Fedossov • Max Lenz Editorial Board Chair Conor Murphy Arts Editors Allison Garcia • Conor Murphy Sports Editors Jake Powers • Zach Rastall Almanac Editors Dylan Anderson • Liam Hutchison Photo Editors Will Chizek • Kaitlyn Veto Graphics Editor Bethany Dahl Multimedia Editors Steven Rybeck • Jen Wagman Science Editor Sai-Suma Samudrala Life & Style Editor McKenna Gramoll Special Pages Editors Kerry Huth • Justine Jones Copy Chiefs Theda Berry • Ellie Borstad John Joutras • Sam Wagner Social Media Manager Madison Schiller

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Andrew Hahm Advertising Manager Corissa Pennow Marketing Director Victoria Fok

The Daily Cardinal is a nonprofit organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of WisconsinMadison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board James Dayton • Emily Gerber Conor Murphy • Sergey Fedossov Max Lenz

Board of Directors Herman Baumann, President Phil Brinkman • James Dayton Victoria Fok • Emily Gerber Andrew Hahm • Janet Larson Don Miner • Corissa Pennow Nancy Sandy • Jennifer Sereno Jason Stein • Tina Zavoral

For the record In our Sept. 15 issue, a reef on the front page incorrectly stated that two former athletes were elected to the UW Athletics Hall of Fame. There were actually seven.

dailycardinal.com

IceCube detection of high energy neutrinos confirmed By Michael Frett The Daily Cardinal

Buried almost a mile below the Antarctic ice, strands of optical sensors spread through a cubic kilometer of ice, hanging perpendicular to the horizon and stretching as deep as a mile and a half toward bedrock. Above those strands, surrounded by barren ice, is a twostory building flanked by a pair of spires and home to some 300 computers. This is IceCube, a kilometer-wide neutrino detector embedded in the South Pole. Built and operated by the UW-Madison in collaboration with universities and laboratories across the globe, IceCube has been gradually collecting data on neutrinos since 2010, six years after construction began in the Antarctic ice shelf. Five years after detecting its first neutrino, IceCube confirmed one of its most notable discoveries: the 28 higher energy neutrinos IceCube researchers believed they found in 2013 did, in fact, originated from beyond the atmosphere. Called cosmic neutrinos, these neutral-charged particles are formed in some of nature’s largest nuclear reactors, ranging from individual stars to the centers of galaxies. These particles then travel

millions of light years at the speed of light, rarely interacting with their surroundings due to their neutral charge and extremely high energy. “That’s the advantage of neutrinos,” said Francis Halzen, a professor of physics at UW-Madison and IceCube’s principal investigator. “They don’t interact with anything. They can reach you from the edge of the universe—from the beginning of time—unimpeded.” Their ability to travel across light years without interaction has made neutrinos difficult to detect. IceCube makes up for this by detecting muons, charged particles emitted when neutrinos crash into atoms’ nuclei. Muons leave a trail of radiation traveling the same path as the neutrino, emitting a blue glow as they passes through ice. It is this trail that IceCube detects. Since originally exploring high-energy neutrinos in the Southern Hemisphere, researchers at IceCube turned their attention to the other side of the globe. Due to their neutral charge, neutrinos can freely pass through Earth, something other charged particles cannot do. Using this fact, IceCube basically treats Earth like a

filter, meaning it can detect neutrinos from the Northern Hemisphere’s skies even though it’s buried deep in the South Pole. This method, according to Halzen, allows IceCube to detect neutrinos without having to sift through the hundreds of thousands of muons created in the atmosphere when cosmic rays collide with the nitrogen and oxygen above, otherwise known as atmospheric neutrinos. Before this method, researchers would dig through thousands of observed neutrinos, looking for those with a higher energy to distinguish possible cosmic neutrinos from those produced in the atmosphere. “Above some energy, you don’t produce neutrinos in the atmosphere,” Halzen said. Between 2010 and 2012, IceCube detected more than 35,000 neutrinos, but only two dozen or so of those were recorded with a high enough energy level to have been created outside of the atmosphere. By observing neutrinos passing through the Earth without the static of atmospheric neutrinos, who lose their neutral charge when they interact with the atmosphere,

IceCube’s researchers were able to find high energy neutrinos similar to those recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. This match confirmed that those particles found a few years earlier were the cosmic neutrinos IceCube was built to track. “That method really used totally independent techniques [from ours],” Halzen said. “Except for the hardware in the ice, it was basically a totally independent analysis. Which is as close as it gets to two experiments checking each other.” Using neutrinos could usher in a new type of astronomy, one that complements the space telescopes hung in low orbit and the observatories spread across the globe, according to Halzen. “People do astronomy with X-rays, radiowaves, visible light [and] microwaves,” Halzen said. “This is just another way to look at the universe.” Observations from this method were published in Physical Review Letters on Aug. 20. Supported by an international congregation of universities, laboratories and funding organizations, IceCube is managed by the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center.

Inactive Fragile X proteins hinder neuron development By Jacob Blitstein The Daily Cardinal

Recent technological advancements such as highthroughput genome sequencing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have allowed researchers to discover more about the human body and its inner biological secrets than ever before. Scientists are now able to uncover the sequences of entire genomes for almost any organism on the planet. These advancements have allowed the scientific community to understand how neurons are responsible for our brain’s actions. While scientists are just at the frontier of discovering the mechanisms that allow us to perceive the world as we do, the discoveries we have made are setting us up to treat or cure diseases that affect millions. Xinyu Zhao, a professor of neuroscience and Waisman Center Investigator, and her team of scientists at UW-Madison are using such technologies in an attempt to solve Fragile X syndrome (FXS), one of the most common hereditary cognitive impairment disorders. This disorder is caused by a genetic mutation on the X chromosome and approximately

one-third of the victims develop autism. People with this mutation exhibit cognitive disorder that ranges from mild learning disabilities to severe mental impairment. It is estimated that over 20 million people worldwide are affected by FXS. Zhao and her team recently showed that the proteins lost in

Both FMRP and FXR2P are important for proper neuronal maturation. The neurons lacking both proteins exhibited more severe developmental defects than neurons lacking one of them or neurons present with both of them. fragile X, named FMRP and its related FXR2P, play an important role in the proper generation and development of neurons from stem cells in the brain. Zhao’s research published in the journal Cell Reports showed the involvement of these proteins as not only regulators for proper neural development that are responsible for memory formation and learning, but also having an additive effect through the same molecular pathway. Importantly, both of these proteins are at the center

of the autism protein network. Zhao first looked at this relationship in mouse models. “When we took a look at mice that don’t have either and those that have both, we found that the Fragile X and autismrelated proteins both regulate the same target gene. The mice that were missing both had very severe cognitive impairment,” said Zhao. Both FMRP and FXR2P are important for proper neuronal maturation. The neurons lacking both proteins exhibited more severe developmental defects than neurons lacking one of them or neurons present with both of them. “We had an initial hypothesis that these proteins were connected in the regulation of neuronal development. Autism [and FXS] occurs due to the improper neuronal maturation at the final stages when [new neurons] form connections with other neurons,” said Zhao. After looking at these proteins and performing extensive molecular analyses, they discovered a common downstream target of these two proteins, a neurotransmitter receptor. The lack of both of these two proteins leads to more profound functional loss of this receptor,

which is responsible for defective neuronal development. Zhao is currently working with human stem cells with defects in the Fragile X gene to see if they exhibit a similar differentiation and maturation deficit as mouse cells. In most FXS patients, the loss of FMRP protein is due to gene inactivation, which we cannot model in mouse cells. These human stem cells provide an indispensable model to understand FXS and to develop potential therapies. “We are currently in the early stages of these experiments because human cells are trickier to work with and take longer to differentiate in neurons than those of mouse cells. Our goal is to test what happens if the FMR2P gene is taken away in these human cells. If we are able to find a way to reactivate this gene, we could potentially find a cure to Fragile X syndrome,” said Zhao. If scientists can restore inactive gene function in FXS patients, new neurogenesis can occur, restoring normal learning and memory. While a cure for Fragile X is decades away, future technology may allow for breakthroughs in the neuroscience field.

opinion dailycardinal.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Cancer treatments can be overly costly Joel Zinberg Letter to the Editor

n a recent, much noted article, more than 100 prominent oncologists complained that the high cost of new cancer drugs — in excess of $100,000 per treatment — makes them unaffordable for patients. They suggest the imposition of “fair” prices. But are high prices truly a problem for patients? Physicians’ overuse of treatments that have small marginal benefit and high financial, physical and psychological costs is far more troublesome.

Approved drugs with marginal benefits and limited market success are just as risky and expensive to develop as breakthrough drugs.

The oncologists claim that with insurance out-of-pocket expenses running 20 percent to 30 percent of cost, a cancer patient could be responsible for $25,000 to $30,000. But most insurances have far lower maximum out-of-pocket expense limits: Affordable Care Act exchange insurance policies set maximum out-of-pocket limits at $6,600 for individuals and $13,200 for families; Medicare’s

Part D Catastrophic Coverage Threshold is $4,700 after which patients pay a maximum of 5 percent of drug costs; many large group employer plans have similar limits. In addition, most drug companies have assistance programs for patients who cannot afford their drugs. Finally, most insurers and hospitals negotiate substantial discounts from list prices. Drugs are not the greatest financial risk to cancer patients — drugs are only a small percentage of the high costs of cancer care. The oncologists concede that drug companies are entitled to a “reasonable expectation of return on investment” and “reasonable profits.” But drug development is expensive and unpredictable. It’s hard to forecast which drugs will be successfully developed and FDA approved and harder still to know which approved drugs will be clinically and financially successful. The average cost to market for a new drug is $2.6 billion, comprising out-of-pocket costs including expenditures on failed projects (only one in 10 drugs reaches the market) and opportunity costs (the value of foregone earnings from alternative investments). Oncology drug development often costs more. Approved drugs with marginal benefits and

limited market success are just as risky and expensive to develop as breakthrough drugs. To continue new product development companies must cover the R&D and opportunity costs of many failures and few successes. Oncologists are no better arbiters of what is “reasonable” profit or return on investment than anyone else. Their expertise is in prescribing treatments that will be of value to their patients. Yet it is precisely in this area that they have been deficient.

No one wants to pay high drug prices.

A 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) panel identified widespread chemotherapy use among patients for whom there was no evidence of clinical value. Despite the lack of evidence supporting the practice and ASCO recommendations against it, chemotherapy is widely used in advanced cancer patients with poor performance status. While ASCO does recommend treating terminal patients who have good performance status, a new JAMA Oncology

study casts doubt on this chemotherapy since it did not improve survival and worsened patients’ quality of life. Not all new, expensive cancer treatments are worthless. Imatinib (Gleevec) — costing $30,000-$100,000 per year for life — improved Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia five-year survival from 31 percent to 90 percent. But most therapies for solid cancers are far less effective. New cancer drugs are routinely approved that offer statistically significant, but clinically unimportant, improvements. Cetuximab (Erbitux) was touted at ASCO’s 2008 meeting for improving lung cancer treatment. The survival advantage was only 1.2 months and was accompanied by high rates of side effects. Likewise, the FDA approved Erlotinib (Tarceva) to treat pancreatic cancer on the basis of a 0.4 month (12 days) improvement in survival with increased rates of severe rash and diarrhea. There is no reason, outside of a research study, that oncologists should offer successive rounds of minimally effective treatments, but they routinely do. Physicians understandably feel an emotional imperative to “do something” when dealing with desperate cancer patients. But that “something” should

OUR FUNDS HAVE A RECORD LIKE A BROKEN RECORD. TIAA-CREF: Lipper’s Best Overall Large Fund Company 1 three years in a row. For the first time ever. How? Our disciplined investment strategy aims to produce competitive risk-adjusted returns that create long-term value for you. Just what you’d expect from a company that’s created to serve and built to perform.

Learn more about our unprecedented, award-winning performance at TIAA.org/Perform BUILT TO PERFORM. CREATED TO SERVE.

provide a favorable risk/benefit relationship and not mislead anxious patients. Nothing forces an oncologist to prescribe expensive, ineffective medications with multiple side effects when a cheaper, equally (in)effective medicine, or no treatment at all, will do. If oncologists limited their prescription of high-cost, lowvalue, drugs, prices would decline to stimulate sales and would more accurately reflect the drugs’ value to patients. When Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center announced it would not use Aflibercept (Zaltrap) because it was twice as expensive as, and no more effective than alternative (minimally effective) medicines, the manufacturer, Sanofi, citing “market resistance,” cut the price in half. No one wants to pay high drug prices. Measures to ameliorate escalating development costs are needed. Meanwhile, oncologists can best serve their patients by limiting the use of expensive treatments that offer little more than side effects and false hopes. What do you think about Joel’s perspective? Do physicians have a duty to be mindful of patient-incurred cost when prescribing drugs and other 75004 treatments? Please send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

The Lipper Awards are based on a review of 36 companies’ 2012 and 48 companies’ 2013 and 2014 risk-adjusted performance.

The Lipper Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years’ Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12, 11/30/13, and 11/30/14 respectively. TIAA-CREF CREF was ranked among 36 fund companies in 2012 and 48 fund companies in 2013 and 2014 with at least five equity, five bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For current performance and rankings, please visit the Research and Performance section on tiaa-cref.org. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., and Nuveen Securities, LLC, members FINRA and SIPC, distribute securities products. ©2015 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America–College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. C24849B 1

Consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Go to tiaa-cref.org for product and fund prospectuses that contain this and other information. Read carefully before investing. TIAA-CREF funds are subject to market and other risk factors.

comics

6 • Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Eat the year’s worth of pizza in these two weeks. Today’s Sudoku

Beatniks

By Rodney Lambright II graphics@dailycardinal.com

Future Freaks

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

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS 1 With more wisdom 6 Put an edge on 10 Big flop 14 Companionless 15 Coin introduced on 1/1/99 16 Pinocchio, often 17 Like factory workers 19 Pond annoyance 2 0 Something for the fire 21 Gambling asset 22 The sound of an alarm 24 Safety device in factories 26 Shipboard bed 27 Fleur-de-___ 28 Bygone women’s attire 32 Muhammad’s religion 35 Bonn woman 36 Additive to some tissues 37 In fashion 38 Macy’s alternative 39 Small land-mass, for short 40 Take to the cleaners 41 Give a push to 42 Run in the wash 43 Coordinated 45 Hurry along 46 Horse feed 47 Former international rivalry

dailycardinal.com

51 5 4 55 56 57 60 61 62 63

Woman with a degree Lentil-based dish (Var.) Airport info, initially Characteristic carrier First-place award, often Surprise attack Big pond “… with ___ in sight” Like some experimental films 6 4 As ___ (letter closing) 65 What Carroll’s slithy tove does

DOWN 1 Mink cousin 2 Metal mixture 3 Overcharge excessively 4 Compass dir. near 2 o’clock 5 Get back 6 Legendary Raquel 7 “Incredible” changeling 8 History book topic 9 Convoluted 10 Exerted pressure through threats 11 De-squeaks 1 2 Gift-bearing kings 13 Breakfast fiber source 18 Baseball statistic 23 The avant-garde’s Yoko

25 Certain film genre 26 Use a trumpet 28 North Carolina fort 29 “What ___ can I say?” 30 Actor’s goal 31 Planter’s need 32 Warhead, briefly 33 Actor LaBeouf 3 4 Merry-go-round music, e.g. 35 Flowerless plants 38 Appropriate 42 Company department 44 Solo in a space flick 45 Frost 47 Root audibly 48 Big name in outdoor grills 49 Make retribution 5 0 South African currency units 51 Indian tourist locale 52 “All in the Family” creator Norman 53 Apartment, to a Realtor 5 4 Blue Devils college 58 Bathroom, briefly 59 Young male

By Joel Cryer graphics@dailycardinal.com

sports dailycardinal.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Volleyball

emily buck/cardinal file photo

The 11th-ranked Badgers have used a stunning season-opening loss to Western Kentucky as a source of inspiration to help fuel their current six-match winning streak.

Badgers use early loss as inspiration By Matt Davis The Daily Cardinal

Over the last two years, the Wisconsin women’s volleyball team has enjoyed great success, winning the Big Ten championship last year and making it all the way to the national championship game in 2013. So, it came as a shock to many that the Badgers (ranked fifth coming into season) would lose their first game of this season to Western Kentucky in four sets. “Our first game against Western Kentucky was really a wake up call for us,” said sophomore outside hitter Kelli Bates. “We almost needed that loss because it was an alert in the back of our head that winning is not going to be easy for us. We all have to hold each other accountable in order for us to win.” Since its season-opening loss, No. 11 Wisconsin (6-1) has been on fire, winning its last six matches.

There was no inspirational speech from head coach Kelly Sheffield that ignited this hot streak. Instead, the key to the Badgers’ success has been based off of one simple phrase: “get better.” It’s a phrase that every athlete lives by, and Sheffield makes sure to remind his players about this mantra every time they hit the court for practice and before every match, no matter who they are facing. “We’re just trying to get better,” Sheffield said. “ I said the same thing to the team after our loss to Western Kentucky as I did after the rest of our wins. If we can focus on improving both as players and as a team, the wins are going to take there of themselves.” However, Sheffield doesn’t need to be the motivator. Each player comes into practice and into matches with the same mindset so they can strive for improvement and play their best volleyball. “Coming out of every weekend

we have key things that we need to improve on for the next weekend,” said junior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson. “It’s really just a step-bystep process. We just want to get one percent better every day.” Each week of practice has the same structure as UW prepares the same way for each team it faces and takes no one for granted. “We prep the exact same way for every team, whether we’re playing Colgate or Penn State,” Bates said. “We scout each team at the beginning of the week and work on the scouting report in practice. The focus may change depending on the team but the goal for that weekend stays the same.” Practicing the same way week in and week out also allows the Badgers to keep everything in perspective, especially their mindsets. “Our goal is always to win a Big Ten championship and then a national championship but that’s not what is always on our minds,”

said junior setter Lauren Carlini. “We’re always just focusing on the next match at hand.” The Badgers are also trying to work on team chemistry, which can be an ongoing process and is something that has greatly improved since their first match of the season. “It takes time for a team to gel,” Carlini said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. But it’s coming along well. We’re just trying to work on and off the court to get to know the new players.” As older players on the team, Nelson and Carlini have stepped up and became leaders by mentoring the younger players. Nelson has become a teacher on the court and leads by being energetic and supportive. “I really try to lead by example by bringing a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the gym,” Nelson said. “I’ll help them by giving them positive feedback,

teaching things I know really well, especially blocking schemes so they can get familiar with the techniques faster.” Carlini also helps mentor the younger players on the court, but she stresses that getting to know them off the court is just as important. “A lot of that has to do with making connections with them both on and off the court,” said Carlini. “We [the experiences players] need to make them them feel confident, and feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.” As they move forward with their season, the Badgers feel confident and continue to stress the need to trust their coaches and themselves. “We just have to keep trusting ourselves and trust the coaches that what they will be doing will be good for us in the long run,” said Bates. “Every player on this team is here for a reason and each one is going to help get us to where we want to go.”

Ranking the NFL Draft’s recent 1-2 quarterback combos take a look each pair of quarterback draftees and rank each duo.

Rushad machhi breaking shad

f you took a bunch of aliens and showed them a NFL game and asked who the most important player on the field is, odds are that the aliens would point to the quarterback. Heck, even Roger Goodell might be able to figure that one out. This importance has typically led to many of them being drafted with the first pick, and sometimes even both of the first two picks. With Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota going one and two respectively, the 2015 NFL draft marked the fifth time since 1990 that quarterbacks were the first two overall picks. Naturally, this has led to many comparisons between each pair, and like their predecessors, Winston and Mariota will be forever linked by this distinction. Let’s

4. 1993 No. 1 Drew Bledsoe (14 years in the league, 4 Pro Bowls) and No. 2 Rick Mirer (12, 0)

The career of Drew Bledsoe is certainly nothing to laugh at, as the oft forgotten predecessor of Tom Brady does not get the attention he deserves. The gunslinger out of Washington turned around a morbid Patriots team and helped them to a Super Bowl berth in during the 1996 season. While Bledsoe technically has a ring to his name, that title is largely credited with Brady, who forced Bledsoe away from the Patriots where he remained solid in the twilight of his career. However, Mirer brings this duo down. After a promising rookie campaign, the prospect out of Notre Dame tabbed as the next Joe Montana was far from that, starting sparingly throughout the rest of his career while never appearing

It was hard to pick between 1999 and the 1993, as the best and worst QB were very similar. However, each quarterback in 1999 just barely beats his counterpart. In a McNabb vs. Bledsoe duel, while both led teams to Super Bowls, McNabb gets the nod here with more Pro Bowls and an overall more effective career. Meanwhile, in the battle of the busts, Mirer was a little bit bustier than Couch. While both had heavily mocked careers, at least Couch started for a team that made the playoffs, which gives him the slighest of edges over Mirer.

be the greatest one-two combination by a mile. Sadly, since that hope-filled year, the outcomes have diverged for both. Andrew Luck appears to be the next great quarterback; a can’t miss talent who should be well on his way to perennial Pro Bowl appearances and perhaps a Super Bowl title or two. Griffin appeared to be on the same path, but the script changed quickly after he tore his ACL. He has never reached that level since his injury, and unfortunately it’s becoming hard to imagine that we will see rookie RG3 re-emerge ever again. However, as Natasha Bedingfield once said, the rest is still unwritten, and these two in a few years could definitely take the top spot away from…

2. 2012 No. 1 Andrew Luck (3, 3) and No. 2 Robert Griffin III (3, 1)

1. 1998 No. 1 Peyton Manning (17, 14) and No. 2 Ryan Leaf (3, 0)

in a down in the playoffs.

3. 1999 No. 1 Tim Couch (6, 0) and No. 2 Donovan McNabb (13, 6)

After their rookie seasons, it really appeared that this could

Even though one of these guys has served jail time, the other one,

Manning, has done so much so well in his career that he carries this duo to the top, at least for now. Manning, by himself, exceeds what most whole quarterback classes have done combined. No matter how badly Leaf wants to drag this duo down, Manning has more than made up for his forever linked partner to salvage this pairing. One interesting trend to note between each quarterback pair has been that one has gone on to a successful career, while the other, not so much. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this pattern has been followed for the previous four duos, but here’s to hoping that both from the 2015 version can escape this fate and entertain us on the field and not in the headlines for the distant future. Which of these one-sided duos combined to have the best NFL career? Will Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota be a better quarterback? Share your thoughts with Rushad at machhi@wisc.edu.

JESSIE VETTER

J.J. WATT

OLYMPIAN, SILVER MEDALIST

NFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

WISCONSIN BADGERS WORK HARD AND ACHIEVE DREAMS Find out how we can help support you along the way. American Family Insurance is committed to supporting the unique dreams of every Wisconsin Badger. While you’re working hard towards your degree, American Family Renters Insurance will work hard to protect the things that make college living and learning possible—and it’s surprisingly affordable. Most landlords’ insurance only covers the building itself—not what’s inside of it. That means your laptop, shoe collection, printer, TV, bike, or any of your other valuable possessions may not be covered if they’re lost, stolen or damaged. Let us guard your important belongings so you can focus on pursuing your dreams. Visit AmFam.com/UWRenters to get a quote.

PROUD PARTNER OF