University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Weekend, September 24-27, 2015
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Time to turnip the beet. +FARMERS’ MARKET GUIDE, pages 6 and 7
Experts wonder: Where did Walker go wrong? By Lucas Sczygelski THE DAILY CARDINAL
TONY BURKE/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Gov. Scott Walker bowed out of the presidential race Monday after two lackluster debate performances left his poll numbers bleak.
Gov. Scott Walker started the 2016 cycle as the perfect Republican candidate. Fresh off his third victory in four years in a blue state, Walker was hailed as a presumptive frontrunner, appealing to monied interests like the Koch brothers and tea party populists, such as media personality Rush Limbaugh, alike. The abrupt end to the Walker campaign has experts and party officials scratching their heads. According to UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden, the seeds of Walker’s demise were planted as his poll numbers were reaching their peak in the spring.
“He had the problem of expectations that were too high in the spring,” Burden said. “He had not yet hired adequate staff, and he had not yet boned up on foreign policy and some other issues where he did not know as much.” Forced into the spotlight with an early lead in Iowa, Walker’s message was fuzzy and undefined. He compared protesting public union employees to ISIS, refused to speak to the merit of the theory of evolution while in England and waffled on the validity of birthright citizenship. “There were some statements that he had to correct or amend or walk back in some cases,” Burden explained. “There was a fair amount of uncertainty
amongst voters who were not sure if he was with them on the issues they care about.” Regardless of Walker’s early misfires, his poll numbers held firm until Donald Trump entered the race in June, at which point Walker’s self-styled image as a regular Kohl’s customer and a hardnosed steward of tax dollars began to fall flat. “The everyman approach worked well early on,” Burden said. “People in Iowa especially were really enamored by his personal background and his modesty, his humble roots. But later, maybe amid flashier candidates who had business backgrounds
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County announces new resource center for the homeless After an extensive search, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced the purchase of a property on Madison’s Near East Side for a permanent homeless day center. The property, located on the 1300 block of East Washington Avenue, is expected to open in October 2016, and will serve as “a one-stop shop containing critical services to help those in need,” Parisi said in a Wednesday statement.
The Homeless Day Resource Center is intended to provide basic need services, including access to private showers, laundry facilities and meals, as well as storage space. The center will also have rooms in which providers can meet privately with individuals and families in order to provide them with community services or connect them to outside support, such as mental health services, addiction
treatment, permanent housing and economic assistance. Although the offer by the county has been accepted by the building owners, the county board must still approve the purchase. The county also needs to make multiple renovations before the center opens to the public. Z! Haukeness, a local community organizer who works with the homeless population in Madison, said the size and location of the
property will greatly benefit those that seek its services. “Homeless people and advocates have shown up time and time again to push for this,” Haukeness said. Haukeness described the purchase of the property as a “step forward in making the day center a reality.” Although the center will be located on a bus line and a bike path, it is located two miles from
downtown, a long walk from the multiple night shelters operating in the area. Haukeness stressed the need for transportation, including free van services and bus rides for individuals and families to access the day center. The details of construction have not yet been released, but Haukeness hopes part of the center can open up temporarily to provide services this winter. —Johanna Lepro-Green
Nerf blasters and orange bandanas take over UW-Madison’s campus to defeat zombies By Laura Grulke THE DAILY CARDINAL
Aliens invaded Madison and overwhelmed human forces Sunday, forcing a group of Marines to secure ammunition and a satellite feed to drive off the enemy. After a series of efforts to deal with the subsequent zombie invasion, the Marines discovered a possible cure and hope to distribute it Thursday. No, Wisconsin’s capitol isn’t really under attack. The UW-Madison campus has, however, become a small slice of the universe described in a video game called Halo. From Sept. 20-25, players with the Humans Vs. Zombies campus group live the game in a tense role-playing scenario trademarked by their bright orange bandanas.
The organization chapter, started in 2009, is a way for students and community members to break out their Nerf blasters, chase unsuspecting humans or participate in “missions.” “The environment that we create enables players to [make] … stories,” HVZ President David Richards said. “They’re out here to have fun.” At the start of the game, all players begin as humans who must protect themselves from the six original zombies, or “OZs.” Using Nerf guns or rolled-up socks as grenades, humans—identified by orange armbands—are tasked with keeping the zombie population— identified by orange headbands— as low as possible once the OZs reveal themselves. While Richards described the human effort as fairly effec-
tive, by Wednesday night he and HVZ Vice President Chris Rogers counted the human and zombie populations as almost even, at 84 and 81 respectively. Friday’s final mission will determine the winner of the round, ending the week’s story with a historic “final showdown.” Richards said zombies have almost always won, with only three out of all 12 rounds going to the humans. Rogers said the moderators for the current round have ensured the final mission is feasible for humans to win, however. “We are not sending [the humans] to their doom,” Rogers said. “It’s always a challenge to each one of them, how many objectives can [they] actually accomplish before [they] get taken out.
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MORGAN WINSTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Humans Vs. Zombies human players prepare for Wednesday’s night mission in front of Agriculture Hall, a permanent “safe zone.”
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”