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Monday, September 18, 2017
Best places to sweat on campus
What we can learn from a lunatic +OPINION page 5
+LIFE &STYLE page 3
Go Big Read book ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ proves controversial +SPORTS, page 8
By Noah Habenstreit ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
For many people seeking answers, “Hillbilly Elegy” came along at just the right time. J.D. Vance’s epic memoir, chosen as UW-Madison’s Go Big Read for this year, details his struggles growing up in poverty in Appalachian Ohio. Although published before the election, the book seemed to answer the question that many city-dwellers asked after Donald Trump’s shocking rise to the presidency: “How did
Freshman class will be the last elected to serve as first-year ASM reps
this happen?” The book catapulted to the top of The New York Times Bestseller list, its popularity fed by reviews such as that in the Times, which called it “a compassionate, discerning sociological analysis of the white underclass that has helped drive the politics of rebellion.” But then came the backlash, both from left-leaning policy wonks and, perhaps more surprisingly, from folks whose stories, on the surface, sound a great deal like Vance’s. Op-eds
and articles, with headlines such as “J.D. Vance, the False Prophet of Blue America” and “I was born in poverty in Appalachia. ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ doesn’t speak for me,” began appearing in publications large and small. Reviewers praised Vance, a young, conservative Marine Corps veteran and venture capitalist, for telling a gripping tale of overcoming adversity. But the criticism stemmed from the conception that Vance writes exceedingly harshly
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COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR
This year’s UW-Madison freshmen will be the last ones eligible to sit on the Associated Students of Madison as First Year representatives after a recent decision from Student Judiciary. Currently, students who are registered as freshmen on the University Registrar can run for the four open seats, but after Oct. 18, the annual fall elections will come to a permanent close. Every four years, Student Judiciary reapportions the Student Council seats based off of the number of students in each school or college. Chief Justice Will Olson cited the business school as an example; in the last four years the population has increased and therefore needs another seat to be properly represented, he said. Student Judiciary’s ruling reapportions the four First Year seats as Business, Special, Graduate and Engineering.
book page 2
CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
J.D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” has earned praise from reviewers, but some are concerned it sends readers the wrong message.
Progressive Randy Bryce looks to ride viral ad to an upset win over Paul Ryan By Andy Goldstein SENIOR STAFF WRITER
BRANDON MOE/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Will Olsen, chief justice for the Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary, finalized the reapportionment process recently.
Student Judiciary redistributed council seats for next election By Maggie Chandler
about poverty — the problem, detractors say, is that he routinely blames the people of Appalachia for their own misfortunes without recognizing structural barriers at play. And furthermore, many experts view Vance’s attempts to apply policy solutions to the dire situation as misguided or even dangerous. Back in May, UW-Madison selected “Hillbilly Elegy” as its Go Big Read book for the 2017-18 school year. Unlike some other
Shared Governance Chair Deena Whitwam, who won a First Year seat in fall 2015, said she thought it was a fair decision. “The freshman reps are usually Letters and Science students, which gives that academic college disproportional voting power,” Whitwam said. “Although freshmen interested in student government will not be able to get involved in this way right in the fall, they are still always encouraged to apply for the ASM internship.” The change will impact the spring elections when the four reapportioned seats go into effect. Because of the decision, the lowest vote-getters in Business, Special, Graduate and Engineering will have the start of their term delayed until Nov. 1, 2018 — six months — so the final group of First Year representatives can finish their terms. However, Student Council can instead cut short the terms of First Year representatives with a threefourths vote. Instead of holding
office for an academic year, First Year representatives would only be in office for half their usual terms. In this case, the four lowest-vote getters in each of the reapportioned seats would take office with the rest of the 2018 representatives elected in the spring. Although the decision shortens the term of some representatives, the freshman class had double representation — from both their college or school as well as the First Year seats, which did not offer the student body equal representation, Olson said. “[Freshmen representatives] were a special status not given to incoming graduate students, transfer students, or any other student population that was new to the university,” Olson said. “We reached the consensus that with reapportionment we should aim to provide equal voice to all students and not create special classes among the student body.”
In 2018 Democrats hope to win their biggest electoral achievement since former President Barack Obama’s reelection: a congressional majority. Randy Bryce hopes to lead that charge, launching a difficult and insurgent campaign against House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville. Bryce is pitching himself as the Wisconsin solution to the Washington problem: a progressive union worker, cancersurvivor, Army veteran, and labor organizer who wants to take on powerful special interests. In an age of widespread distrust in government, it’s his authenticity that he hopes to win on. “I’m not trying to be anything I’m not,” Bryce told The Daily Cardinal. “I think we need more people like us, that aren’t millionaires, that aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth, to make decisions for us.” Despite a clear and accessible message, few campaigns are as daunting as challenging Ryan. The Speaker has served Wisconsin’s First District in Congress for nearly two decades, and hasn’t faced a serious challenge since his election in 1999. He maintained his seat easily in 2016 with 65 percent of the vote, and boasts $11.1 million in cash on hand. To Bryce’s credit, however, no previous challenger of Ryan’s has gained as much early traction.
His campaign launch ad went viral almost immediately, and he was able to raise over $100,000 in the first 24 hours, quadruple the funds that Ryan’s 2016 opponent raised altogether. His viral ad and social mediadriven fundraising efforts have been the product of a sleeker, more professional campaign than Bryce’s previous unsuccessful runs for state Senate in 2014 and state Assembly in 2012. But Republicans have criticized Bryce for favoring social media popularity and expensive advertising over concrete policy solutions. “Apparently Bryce’s grueling campaign schedule has prevented him from learning about basic issues,” Chris Martin of the Republican National Congressional Committee said in a statement, “but not from tweeting more than 150 times in the last week alone.” Though an easy target for derision, Bryce’s heavy social media presence boasts 150,000 Twitter followers under the name @IronStache, and has been an essential platform in creating viral national fundraising efforts, giving him a war chest of nearly half a million according to the Federal Elections Commission. “Normally Paul Ryan just ignores anybody running against him,” Bryce said. “They attacked us in the first twelve days. He knows he’s in for a run for his life.” Ryan’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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