Thursday, October 11, 2012 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

Fine foothill fiddling

Decker is dynamite +SPORTS, page 8

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Labor group rejects adidas’ summit plan By Taylor Harvey The Daily Cardinal

on campus

Getting crafty

Students gather at the Memorial Union to compete in the Badger Craft Clash Wednesday night. Judges evaluated three rounds of crafting and the winners’ work will be displayed in the Memorial Union. + Photo by Grey Satterfield

ASM hosts town hall forum to discuss campus safety initiatives By Sara Degrave The Daily Cardinal

The Associated Students of Madison hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday for city officials, police and any interested students to collaborate on ways to improve campus safety. The meeting gave attendees an opportunity to ask questions about the proposed increase in cameras downtown, as well as current campus resources, such as SAFEwalk and UW Police Facebook and Twitter feeds. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said a new city initiative to spend $100,000 to double the amount of cameras downtown, specifically in areas near Langdon Street and behind the Capitol, will help identify suspects involved in criminal activities. “The tragic May 19 shooting was a perfect example of the effectiveness of the cameras because it allowed the suspect to be known and charged and arrested,” Verveer said, referring to a shooting over the summer outside Johnny O’s that injured three people. Although many students are familiar with SAFEwalk, a latenight campus escort service specifically aimed to increase safety, UWPD Police Officer Michael Eckhardt said police are concerned students aren’t taking full advantage of the opportunity because they’re afraid to ask for the service. “In terms of utilizing the service, some students do feel it is burdensome,” Eckhardt said.

According to Eckhardt, UWPD has partnered with College Library and the student unions to combat the problem by creating easily accessible SAFEwalk stations within the facilities. Eckhardt said at these locations, SAFEwalk escorts provide information about the Safe Bus schedule and pamphlets about the SAFEwalk program, in addition to offering a safe walk home. Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said UWPD offer a unique connection to students through social media, including their Facebook and Twitter feeds. “The messaging between the police department and the

student body is really the quintessential thing that makes our police department different from other cities,” Resnick said. According to Resnick, these sites allow students to learn about behaviors and events that trigger police involvement and gauge their choices accordingly. Although Madison is known for being a relatively safe city, Eckhardt said police still stress the need for students to be vigilant in their surroundings and look out for one another. “When people have a vested interest in their community, they care about it and want it to succeed,” Eckhardt said.

University of WisconsinMadiosn’s Labor Licensing Policy Committee expressed concern Wednesday after adidas announced its plan to host a summit abroad to address the issue of companies’ failure to pay severance in the global garment industry. Over the past year, LLPC has urged Chancellor Ward to cut licensing and sponsorship ties with adidas, the university’s primary licensing partner, after the company failed to pay more than 2,700 Indonesian workers due severance pay after a PT Kizone factory contracted by adidas abruptly shut down in January 2011. The university is currently in a lawsuit to determine if adidas

is obligated to pay the workers. According to Lingran Kong, a Student Labor Action Committee representative on the LLPC, adidas is flying various university administrators to Switzerland from across the U.S. who expressed concern over business relations with the company to discuss how to handle severance issues in the future as well as possibly setting up an insurance fund. But Kong said she feels adidas is holding the meeting to reassure concerned administrators they are a socially responsible company, and said the company is “all talk and no action.” “This is more of a PR spin to portray themselves as responsible,” Kong said. “But it’s very

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UW geography professor emeritus dies at age 70 After 43 years at the ous grants from the National University of Wisconsin- Science Foundation. Madison, Professor Emeritus His 1993 article in the sciof Geography Jim Knox ence journal Nature died at his home Oct. 6. has been widely acceptKnox began teaching ed and used in the at UW-Madison in 1968, Geomorphology field. before retiring in 2011 The article stated that to focus on his research even small changes in cliexploring how streams mate cause large changes and soils work. in the number of floods During his teaching along area streams. career, Knox received a A memorial service KNOX Lifetime Achievement will be held Oct. 12 at Award from the 12 p.m. at Cress Funeral Association of American Home in Madison. A visitation Geographers and numer- will begin at 10 a.m.

Former Walker aide to give plea deal

Grey Satterfield/the daily cardinal

City officials and University of Wisconsin-Madison Police discuss campus safety issues in a forum with students Wednesday.

Kelly Rindfleisch, the former aide under then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker who was charged with four felony counts for illegal campaigning while at a taxpayer-funded job, will enter a plea deal in which she is admitting to one of the charges. According to a letter obtained Wednesday, Rindfleisch is asking for no fine, but the deal includes a recommendation for jail time by prosecutors. Rindfleisch is scheduled to appear in a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Thursday to present the plea deal.

Originally, Walker was on a list of potential witnesses for the prosecution, but earlier this week Rindfleisch decided she will plead guilty instead of stand trial, meaning Walker will not have to testify. The prosecution alleges Rindfleisch and Darlene Wink, another former Walker aide who has already pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, were part of a secret email system set up in Walker’s office that helped employees engage in campaign work while on taxpayer time.

deal 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.”

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tODAY: partly sunny hi 59º / lo 28º

Friday: sunny

hi 53º / lo 42º

Thursday, October 11, 2012

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 122, Issue 30

Learning in the classroom of life

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News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Managing Editor Alex DiTullio Scott Girard News Team News Manager Taylor Harvey Campus Editor Sam Cusick College Editor Cheyenne Langkamp City Editor Abby Becker State Editor Tyler Nickerson Enterprise Editor Samy Moskol Associate News Editor Meghan Chua Features Editor Ben Siegel Opinion Editors Nick Fritz • David Ruiz Editorial Board Chair Matt Beaty Arts Editors Jaime Brackeen • Marina Oliver Sports Editors Vince Huth • Matt Masterson Page Two Editors Riley Beggin • Jenna Bushnell Life & Style Editor Maggie DeGroot Photo Editors Shaoib Altaf • Grey Satterfield Abigail Waldo Graphics Editors Dylan Moriarty • Angel Lee Multimedia Editors Eddy Cevilla Science Editor Matthew Kleist Diversity Editor Aarushi Agni Copy Chiefs Molly Hayman • Haley Henschel Mara Jezior • Dan Sparks Copy Editors Becca Alt • Mitch Taylor

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adam wolf howlin’ mad

ack in high school, when I was still had not decided which college I wanted to attend, I enjoyed perusing thick college guidebooks to help me in my decision. Those books included nearly every college under the sun, offering ratings of both academic and social life, campus hot spots and perspectives from students who attended the colleges. When I reached the section on UW-Madison, I was especially intrigued by one part of the description. It was the Twainian quote the book listed as the unofficial motto of the student body: “Don’t let school get in the way of your education.” That simple axiom convinced me to enroll at this university more than anything else I read or more than anything I saw during my campus tour. Thinking about that motto four years later, I believe it still holds true. My best learning experiences haven’t taken place in the middle of a professor’s lecture or while reading a textbook, but rather in various ven-

ues of campus while just talking to people or walking around. For example, I was at a football pregame last weekend and I talked to this kid for a half hour about the significance of religion in today’s society. We talked about our dissatisfaction with our own Catholic upbringings and our disdain for those who go out of their way to impose their own faiths upon us. All in all, it was an engaging discussion, and the best part about it was how organically it happened. Conversely, most of the course discussion sections I’ve enrolled in have been almost entirely absent of keen insight. Everyone is usually there out of total obligation. The TA is there to finance his or her graduate school costs, and the students are there because their tyrant of a professor made section participation worth 30 percent of their grade. I can’t count how many discussion sections I’ve had that have ended 20 minutes early simply out of apathy. Hardly anyone did the readings or cared enough to half-ass their way into a participation point, so the TA said that’s all for the week. It’s essentially an acknowledgement of the uselessness of the discussion section. During your time in college, you can stay attentive and take perfect notes in every

lecture, complete every course reading, maintain a 4.0—but it may come with the price of missing out on some of the seemingly banal aspects of life that can actually be even more intellectually enriching.

After I mentally send a steaming turd sandwich in their direction, I’ll be thankful that I don’t need a number to validate the breadth of my knowledge.

That’s why I don’t get overly dispirited when I look at my DARS report. Through three years of college, I have a cumulative GPA of 3.2, a decidedly vanilla number that is not enough of an asset to even bother putting on a resume when I pursue my first real job. Could I have made more of an effort to pay attention in lecture? Sure. Could I have spent an all-nighter at the library rather than saying “screw it,” and going to bed? Of course. Could I have actually read the entire 30-page, nine-point

font scholarly article instead of skipping to the summary and conclusion? Hell no, and if you actually read those beasts regularly, may God have mercy on your soul. Instead, I take comfort in knowing that my GPA doesn’t even come close to quantifying the education I’ve gained from my day-to-day interactions and observations. While the academic achievement of many of my peers may suggest they “did better” in college than me, I’m confident that the personal growth I experienced by just taking in life over these past few years puts me on equally solid footing. So when final grades come out at the conclusion of this semester, I’ll undoubtedly see some fart sniffer show up in my Facebook news feed with a pretentious status update like “4.0, don’t mind if I do!” or perhaps even more obnoxiously, posting a photo of their grade report from Student Center. After I mentally send a steaming turd sandwich in their direction, I’ll be thankful that I don’t need a number to validate the breadth of my knowledge. Are you an avid academic with a thirst for good grades? Did you want to do a fist pump when you read this article? Either way, shoot Adam an email at ajwolf2@wisc.edu.

The best of Belgian brews at Brasserie V Niko Ivanovic beer columnist

e actually sell five to six kegs of this a week, which is second most of any bar in the country,” mentioned Matt Van Nest, owner and founder of Brasserie V, as I sipped contently on their house beer. Now, that fact would be impressive regardless of what brew Matt was speaking of. But when you consider that Brasserie V’s house beer is St. Bernardus Abt 12, which is ranked the 43rd best beer in the world by ratebeer.com, it becomes dramatically apparent the man has a passion for Belgian ales. In addition to the St. Bernardus, Brasserie V keeps 13 other taps, rotated consistently to ensure you always have a reason to come back and try something new. Perhaps more impressive, however, is their book of bottled beers (yes I said book, not menu). Thick as a novel and organized by country, with mostly European offerings, Brasserie V’s bottle list exceeds 175 unique options. What is arguably most impressive about the selection sprawled across each page is not the quantity but the quality and—most importantly—rarity of beers. For me, if I’m going to order a bottle of beer in a bar, it better not be a brew that I can

find in a liquor store for five dollars cheaper. I want something rare, something I can’t find anywhere else in Madison. I want something like Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva (2005), Cantillon or The Bruery Fruet: All beers that can be found at Brasserie V. It didn’t take much more than a glance at this astounding selection to realize that Mr. Van Nest had an incredible passion for good beer. He handed me another tap sample, the golden Belgian ale La Chouffe Achouffe, and we continued to discuss a mutual fascination with the almighty ale. A salesman for the entirety of his career, Matt elaborated that he had never had any bar management experience when he opened Brasserie V five years ago. Inspired by the great neighborhood bars in small towns across Belgium he frequently visited with his wife, the couple decided to take a leap of faith and pursue a career rooted in something they loved. It’s a great story, yet one that seems to resurface surprisingly frequently throughout the craft beer community. If there’s one thing I’ve learned researching the entire “better beer” movement, it’s that beer is about doing what you love. That may require, as it did for Matt, sacrificing the comfort, certainty and financial stability that comes with a sturdy job and a constant paycheck. But what results from such faith-testing demands is an industry full of people

whose passion exceeds reasonable doubt, finding their greatest reward in the occupation itself, not its spoils. Now, before I run out of space letting my incoherent beer ramblings tire themselves to exhaustion, I want to leave you with some descriptions of the actual beer you can try at Brasserie V. I’ll start, of course, with their house special: St. Bernardus Abt 12 (tap): Considered to be one of the best Belgian Quadruppels in the world, this beer is even better on tap. Immediately you’ll notice lots of tart and sweet green apple, accompanied by caramel, fig and raisin and a nice rum alcohol heat to warm the throat on a snowy, winter Wisconsin night. Schneider Aventinus (tap): Simply put, this is the best doppelbock you can find anywhere. With a vicious onslaught of toffee, molasses, dark candied sugars, plumb and caramelized bread, this dessert beer is perfect for the more adventurous beer drinkers who want more from their favorite German brewers. Mikkeller/To Ol Ov-Ral (tap): If you ever see a beer from Mikkeller on tap at a bar, buy it. One of the most creative and simply ingenious brewers out there, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø from Denmark doesn’t seem capable of making a bad beer. Or-Val is a sour IPA, which is a style that I’d never heard of before, yet tastes amazing. Struise Pannepot Grand

Reserva 2005 (bottle): Take one of the best Belgian beers and age it in oak barrels for two years and you get Struise Grand Reserva. With a perfectly balanced and full-bodied profile of dry dark chocolate, honey, raisin, butter and cranberry, this is one of my favorite beers of all time. In summary, Brasserie V is an astounding place. It’s everything that a beer bar should be. Though prices are not cheap, they are fair, and the selection may be the best in Madison. Do you also have a more refined pallette than a Natty Lite lover? Have any questions, comments, or suggestions for Niko? Send them his way at ivanovic@wisc.edu and maybe your favorite beer, bar or brewery will be featured on the Thursday Beer column.

Brasserie V 1923 Monroe St.

Beer Quantity: A Beer Quality: A+ Beer Pricing: ABeer Rarity: A+ Overall: A+

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Thursday, October 11, 2012 3

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LGBT speaker addresses issues behind ‘freak shows’ By Sam Cusick The Daily Cardinal

Amidst the excitement surrounding “National Coming Out Week,” the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center hosted an event Wednesday dedicated to disabilities and circus freaks in conjunction with other LGBT and campus organizations. Eli Clare, an activist and writer specializing in disability and LGBT issues, spoke about the history of freak shows, defined as spectacles that feature humans with unusual characteristics. Clare, who has a disability himself, said he is no longer fazed by people gawking at him because he has grown used to it. “I’ve spent so many years shutting staring out,” Clare said. “Just once, I want someone to tell me what they are staring at.” Clare highlighted connections between the roadside freak shows of the past and the staring that takes place today. He said modern gawking happens through current reality television, especially in shows including “Hoarders,”

“The Biggest Loser” and “Little People, Big World.” But Clare said this form of modern staring may not be all bad, since the subjects of entertainment might not have many other opportunities for employment. According to Clare, 74 percent of disabled people who want a job do not have employment opportunities, regardless of if the economy is in a boom or a depression. Clare also used the historical shows to advocate for the general population to accept people who are different than themselves. “I am looking for places where we encourage each other to swish and swagger, limp and roll,” Clare said. “And I am looking for places where we learn the language of pride.” UW-Madison senior Caroline Mansueti said she agrees with Clare that people, especially students at UW-Madison, need to be more accepting of those who are different from themselves. “We shouldn’t put pressure on people to change,” Mansueti said. “We need to change our ideas [about people], we shouldn’t force people to change who they are.”

Jessica Chatham/the daily cardinal

Activist and author Eli Clare describes the history of past freak shows and ways they have exploited the disabled.

deal from page 1 While Walker repeatedly maintains he is not a target of the John Doe investigations, Democrats have alleged his knowledge of or involvement in the scandal. “You cannot understate the seriousness of a top aide plead-

adidas from page 1 contradictory that they say they are doing this and at the same time denying PT Kizone workers their $1.8 million.” According to LLPC Chair Lydia Zepeda, it seems as though adidas is “simply trying to create a distraction.” However, Zepeda also said although the convention does not address the current situation, it could be useful for the future, because severance is one of the “biggest problems around the world.” “In most countries, the law requires severance because there is no unemployment

ing guilty to felony charges for actions she took while sitting mere feet from Scott Walker’s office,” said Scott Ross, Executive Director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, in a statement. Ross added the plea deal does not mean Walker is cleared in the ongoing investigation. —Tyler Nickerson [check],” Zepeda said. “It’s the only way that when people lose their jobs they can get some compensation.” According to Zepeda, cutting ties with adidas is a successful strategy to force the company to comply with a contract it signed with the university, noting how Russell and Nike “took care of the problem” when UW-Madison terminated contracts with the athletic companies for also violating workers’ rights in 2009 and 2010. SLAC will be participating in a national week of action against adidas along with United Students Against Sweat Shops the week of Oct. 15.

Grey Satterfield/the daily cardinal

The proposed plan to build an apartment complex in an empty lot at 306 W. Main St. includes the expansion of an existing parking ramp in an adjacent property if approved by city officials.

Community concerns spark changes to apartment plan By Melissa Howison The Daily Cardinal

Developers presented an updated plan for a downtown apartment complex at a Bassett Neighborhood meeting Wednesday, including modifications that address previous community concerns about the project. The proposed apartment building would be constructed on a currently vacant lot at 306 W. Main St., a few blocks away from the Capitol. The Alexander Company presented an updated proposal in response to concerns about traffic volume, green space and lighting neighborhood residents and city officials raised about the project over the summer. The building would stand 11 stories tall and include 176 apartments, each ranging in size from 650 to 2000 square feet. Portions of the roof would include green space after neighborhood resi-

dents suggested the developer create an environmentally conscious infrastructure. Additionally, the proposal includes a courtyard that would be open to the public. Original plans included condominiums in the structure, but developers modified the design of the rental units to be highend luxury apartments aimed at young professionals. At the meeting, neighborhood residents expressed concern about the street congestion that would result from increased housing in the area. “The main concern that people have is parking and traffic,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. The project plans include expanding an existing parking garage adjacent to where the new structure would be built. According to Alexander Company President Joe

Alexander, the maximum occupancy of the building would not exceed available parking spots. Verveer also said there has been community concern about construction destroying trees by the street as well as a possible lack of sidewalk lighting near the building. However, Alexander said he hopes to gain approval to add more trees and pedestrian lighting to the area. Verveer said the neighborhood has “warmly received” the project. “Overall, I think the neighborhood is quite comfortable with the proposed development, but there are still specifics that need to be worked out,” Verveer said. The City Plan Commission will review the proposal for approval Oct. 15. Final review by the City Council will be in November, with construction expected to begin in Spring 2013.

ASM considers creating new sustainability committee Student Council discussed the creation of a new grassroots committee devoted to student-driven work on environmental sustainability issues in a meeting Wednesday. The Associated Students of Madison student government currently houses four different grassroots committees, each seeking to advocate for students on a variety of levels, from diversity to state and city policies. ASM Rep. Collin Higgins proposed legislation Wednesday to create the Sustainability Committee, which he said would interest many students concerned with environmental sustainability. “The reason it should be cre-

ated with [segregated] fee money funding it is because I do see it as an issue that encompasses a lot of student life,” Higgins said. “There are a lot of ways that students can get involved.” According to Higgins, the committee would function similarly to its current counterparts by choosing three campaigns to work on throughout the year, on topics such as food sourcing and renewable energy. ASM Chair Andrew Bulovsky said some representatives felt the new committee would be addressing issues already being looked at through other campus initiatives. “There’s some concern over

whether it would be overlapping and stepping on the toes of some other offices on campus that already work on sustainability initiatives,” Bulovsky said. Higgins said while there is the Office of Sustainability, which the new ASM committee would work with, there is not currently an outlet to give students institutionalized decision making power on the issue. According to Bulovsky, the legislation must receive at least twothirds votes in two consecutive Student Council meetings for the new committee to be created, with the first vote taking place next week. —Cheyenne Langkamp

Drunk man breaks into Capitol after scaling outer wall A Minnesota man is facing property damage and building entry charges after allegedly attempting to break into Madison’s state Capitol building Sunday. According to the Dane County Circuit Court, 21-yearold Andrew Bishop of Roseville, Minn., faces a felony charge for criminal damage to property and a misdemeanor charge for

attempting to break into the Capitol building. The Wisconsin State Journal reported Bishop climbed the outside wall of the Capitol building to the fifth floor Sunday, where he smashed a window in order to enter. Bishop then threw a nearby fire extinguisher through a separate window. Police found Bishop passed

out near one of the windows, according to the State Journal, but the man woke up. An officer at the scene said Bishop was very drunk. The State Journal also said Bishop could not tell police officers how he ended up on that part of the building, and he said “he felt like an angel and wanted to fly.”

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

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Blue Ridge Mountains brass and bluegrass

photos by Jaime Brackeen/the daily cardinal

By Jaime Brackeen The Daily Cardinal

ast weekend, I jettisoned out of the Midwest to join the non-ironic-flannel-wearing masses of southern Virginia for a festival of some of the finest fiddling, banjo plucking and dobro strumming in the States. This was not just any festival, but rather, The Festy Experience. Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains (cue Fleet Foxes) in Nelson County, Va., this three-day event featured bands hand-picked by The Infamous Stringdusters—a bluegrass band, denizens of the land (well, most of them) and lovers of all music. The whole reason for my cross-country excursion stems from an impromptu interview with two of five members of the Stringdusters at Electric Forest this past summer. Guitarist Andy Falco and violinist Jeremy

Garrett brought it up while we spoke and painted a picture of craft brews and bluegrass I could not help but look into. “It started because we go to lots of different festivals and we thought it would just be fun to throw a party,” Falco said. “A festival is sort of like a huge party of the year. We pick the bands that have a certain vibe and it’s all about outdoor lifestyle and music.” The outdoors is certainly a prevalent theme at The Festy in its third year: Chaco shoes and fleece vests abound amongst crunchy concertgoers, and a giant bonfire is lit each night. They even host a bike race and 10k run, though perhaps more enticing is the drink selection from Devil’s Backbone Brewery, which neighbors the two stages. The shows don’t overlap, so no one ever has to worry

about missing a performance. In many ways The Festy is like the slight southern drawl of many of its attendees— easy-going, charming and with just a tinge of twang. It is a reflection of fondness for the brass and bluegrass bands that have influenced, befriended or garnered admiration from the Stringdusters on their travels across the country. “We wanted to incorporate a lot of the things that we love about what we do on the road touring,” Garrett said. “People come to our shows for similar things and so we try to create an experience that’s all encompassing.” I certainly enjoyed myself, and some good music to boot, so now it’s time for you loyal readers to reap the rewards of my excursion. Have a look at a few bands below who caught my attention and ought to make your list of bands to hear.

Keller & The Keels Though not a new face to Madison’s

music scene, at The Festy Keller Williams put some extra folksy flair in his plucky demeanor with the addition of flat-picking guitarist Larry Keel and his wife Jenny. The initial music of their set stayed true to traditional bluegrass vibes, but closed on a bang with a mandolin-based cover of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks.”

Rubblebucket

This band is brassy in both attitude and backing band. Singer and saxophone player Kalmia Trevor leads with vocals and an enthralling stage presence pleasantly accentuated by the quirky, fun nature of her fellow musicians (streamers on stage, crows surfing for a trumpet solo, tambourine dancing, etc.). Their ’80s-inspired, ambientpop jams make for easy listening and can double as danceable beats in a pinch.

Jon Stickley Trio

They have all the makings of a bluegrass band—guitar, fiddle, the occasionally jangling sounds of tambourine—but Jon Stickley and his bandmates exude an air more closely compared with alternative rock groups like Explosions In The Sky. As I stood slightly swaying to one of their lengthier numbers, I could easily picture a study session featuring the flat-pick finesse of Stickley’s guitar melodies.

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view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.

diversity requirements need changing

ast week, the Associated Students of Madison Diversity committee met to discuss possible changes to the ethnic studies requirement in the UW-Madison undergraduate curriculum. The ASM Diversity Committee hopes to pressure administrators to expand the requirement and make classes more relevant to students, and this editorial board agrees that changes are desperately needed. Ideally, the ethnic studies requirement would challenge students to think critically about issues of ethnic diversity and social justice that they may not encounter in their other

classes, and would spur them to engage in productive dialogue. However, as it now stands, the classes offered that fit the bill are not living up to expectations. If the administration plans to make serious changes, it should work toward creating smaller, more student-centered and focused courses that provide students the opportunity to be truly challenged and engaged. Dialogue-oriented classes of around 25 students allow much more room for participation and individual attention than larger lectures, which currently make up most classes that fill the ethnic studies requirement. Furthermore, many of the

most popular ethnic studies courses don’t really seem to fulfill the original goals of the requirement, one of which, according to the university’s website, is to “equip students to respond constructively to issues connected with our pluralistic society and global community.” Although Anthropology 104 (Cultural Anthropology and Human Diversity) and Afro-American Studies 156 (Black Music and American Cultural History), for example, provide valuable information and perspectives to students, their pertinence to the realities of our increasingly diverse nation are questionable at best, and may better equip students to pass exams than respond constructively to issues of American ethnicity. This is why the administration’s first step should be to audit courses that currently carry an ethnic studies status, and critically evaluate their benefit to students. Because many students are only taking one ethnic studies course during their time at the university, the “basic” ethnic studies courses should be more sociologically oriented and catered to the lives of students than many of the niche and histori-

Thursday, October 11, 2012 cally-focused courses that are currently offered.

Changes to the ethnic studies requirement could have lasting, constructive effects on our educations and our communities.

The possibility of changes on the horizon and the initiative of the ASM Diversity Committee leave us hopeful for progress and continued critical thought. However, when it comes down to it, UW-Madison students will not benefit from the ethnic studies requirement if they do not put genuine contemplation and honest dialogue into their work in the class. The administration can, and should, continue to change with the times, but if students won’t keep up with them, these changes will have been made in vain. Finally, there is a disconnect between what one can learn from a textbook and what one can learn from experience. Current and future ethnic studies classes could be much more useful for all students if we had a more diverse student body,

integrating more perspectives and possibly equalizing the campus climate. With a staggering majority of 87 percent white students, classroom conversation can easily be rendered stagnant or can quickly marginalize the voices of people of color, regardless of curriculum. With arguments being presented in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this month in regards to affirmative action, the way that our school selects its students could change in the future. Limitations to affirmative action policies in the U.S. would put us several steps back in having constructive conversations around social injustice and ethnic diversity. But in the meantime, UW-Madison administrators and students have their work cut out for them in revamping the ethnic studies program. With support from student government and other faculty members, changes to the ethnic studies requirement could have lasting, constructive effects on our educations and our communities. What do you think about the university’s diversity requiremets? Let us know by sending all feedback and letters to the editor to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Cutting funding for public television and radio is pointless Evan Favill opinion columnist

never thought I’d see the day when “Sesame Street” became the center point of American political discourse, but thanks to the controversy spurred by Mitt Romney over federal funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Station, I now get to experience Big Bird being the star of a major Obama campaign advertisement. First, let me say that while this ad somewhat misses the point and strikes me as fairly immature—not to mention is unfair to the copyright holders of “Sesame Street”—it raises an interesting point when you consider the role public broadcasting has in America. It is a medium that should not be maligned and ignored if America wishes to gain standing in the world of education and self-motivated learning. In my mind, the major func-

tion of public broadcasting has been to encourage Americans to take an interest in learning. If I ever bring up the topic of early childhood television in conversation, I am immediately assaulted with gushing reviews of “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” “Zaboomafoo” and “the Magic School Bus,” to name a few personal favorites. Without these programs, I would likely have found myself with a severely underdeveloped appreciation for science and discovery in general. There is no doubt that many of my peers feel the same way. Let’s consider the alternative if this seems a little extreme. A child who watches TV wants to be entertained, first and foremost. The television industry, through little fault of their own, caters to that desire. They’re just obeying the demands of the market. But what we see emerging from independent TV studios is not designed to be educational, but

to encourage as many kids to watch it as possible. Slowly but steadily, programs that focus purely on learning about the world around us are fading from national consciousness. Even supposedly educational networks (I’m looking at you, “Discovery” and “History” channels) are devolving from their ideal of showing interesting yet informative material into seeing how many “real life” alien invasions and ghost stories they can fit into a day’s worth of programming. NPR, meanwhile, stands as a bastion of reliable news reports and interesting programs in a sea of mindless politically charged talk radio and Top 40 stations. No, it wouldn’t likely hold up in a purely competitive market, but that’s the reason why the government needs to subsidize public broadcasting— so it can produce material independent of the market’s whims. Comparatively speaking,

the budget for PBS and NPR is ridiculously low. At less than 0.001 percent of the total federal budget, funding should be a non-issue, especially when compared to the amount of money this country spends devising new ways to kill people more efficiently.

The major function of public broadcasting has been to encourage Americans to take an interest in learning.

I don’t know exactly what the purpose of Romney’s antibroadcasting rhetoric is in this case, but I’ll wager it has something to do with seeming like he’s willing to take action to reduce the budget deficit while actually not doing much of anything. If he wants to talk tough,

I’d grant that cutting back in health care and social security benefits are valid points. However, to bring public broadcasting into the debate is ridiculous in the highest sense of the word. No, the impact can’t be directly quantified, but the positive effect that it has in increasing the quality of public discourse and knowledge far outweighs any costs we as taxpayers may incur. The desire to cut funding for one of the purest forms of public well-being out there seems to be pointless grandstanding by a man who is grasping at straws for salient talking points. This trend of anti-intellectualism perpetrated by the conservative leadership needs to stop if it want to maintain its credibility. America cannot afford its slide toward mindlessness, no matter how strongly it might desire to do so. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

opinion 6

Thursday, October 11, 2012

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Obama’s racial comments should not be condoned Steven Nemcek opinion columnist

hile 30,000 individuals saw fit to flood Bascom Hill last Thursday to see Presidnet Barack Obama, there were a number of staff and students that weren’t so enamored. The Daily Cardinal ran an article earlier this week discussing Professor Mayer’s and Professor Downs’ opposition to the visit; namely, political events taking place on school grounds were prohibited by the university’s own policies (an argument which Vice Chancellor for University Relations Vince Sweeney thought fit to completely sweep under the rug), classes were cancelled for which students had already paid and professors were forced to take a vacation day during the event. In addition, the requirement that students provide their phone numbers to the campaign to receive a ticket was controversial. While all of these are valid points that former Chancellor Biddy Martin tactfully avoided when Obama last visited by having him speak off campus, I think that there is another more important reason why we shouldn’t have allowed the president to speak on our campus. The recently released video of then-candidate Barack

Obama speaking about the hurricane Katrina victims was racially charged, offensive and goes against our strong tradition of accepting diversity and promoting equality. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you haven’t seen the video to which I’m referring. In 2007, Barack Obama gave a campaign speech to an audience in Hampton, Va. that was widely attended by members of the media. Somehow, these media representatives saw fit to only release certain portions of footage from the event, footage that was carefully edited and cut out remarks that many would consider to be abhorrently racist. Liberal blogger Andrew Sullivan linked to a “transcript” of the speech which was actually, the prepared remarks provided by the campaign. CNN, the Associated Press and a number of newspapers released parts of the speech, but all of them somehow forgot to discuss the most divisive and racially charged remarks made by Obama. In the speech, Obama starts with a callout to his Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright, who preached at Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama’s congregation. At the time, Wright had already publically announced he would no longer be speaking for the Obama campaign because of his own controversial remarks spoken during his sermons. Namely, Wright claimed that the U.S. government was “inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color.” However, in his speech, Obama defended Wright, saying about

critics, “they had stories about Trinity United Church of Christ because we talked about black people in church.” Obama, the public wasn’t critical about your church because it spoke about black people. The public was critical about your church because it was accusing the federal government of committing genocide against African Americans, intentionally hindering the growth of racial tolerance in our country.

Obama’s words and his character are not becoming of our school or our nation.

In his speech, Obama also discussed the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, arguing that in New York after Sept. 11 and in Florida after Katrina, more money was given from the federal government because residents in those areas were “part of the American family.” Obama angrily states, “What’s happening down in New Orleans? Where’s your dollar? Where’s your Stafford Act money? Makes no sense! Tells me that somehow the people down in New Orleans, they don’t care about as much!” The implication, of course, is that because New Orleans is composed of a large black population, the government doesn’t think aid should be given.

Not only is this statement racially charged, but it’s patently false. The federal government had sent $110 billion to New Orleans by this time, while Bush had only pledged $20 billion to New York after Sept. 11. In addition, the Bush administration had sent nearly $7 billion to New Orleans, free of Stafford Act requirement. As a Senator at this time, Obama should have been well aware of this information. Before quoting Obama’s conclusion to his speech, I want to take a second here to also talk about another issue that I feel is tangential but related to Obama’s comments. In his speech, Obama is wailing that the government wasn’t helping New Orleans, as if the implication is that if the government wasn’t doing it, no one was. This is the archetypical liberal fallacy: Just because the government isn’t doing something doesn’t mean that it isn’t being done. Obama’s comments are offensive to the thousands and thousands of workers and religious missions that took the time to travel to New Orleans on their own dimes to help repair the city. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has been working with residents of New Orleans since Katrina, and they still are. Some 30,000 youth travelled to the city when I was in high school, and the amount of work accomplished was remarkable. That sort of response did not take place in Florida or in New York to the scale that it did in New Orleans. Not only was the government sending aid to that city, but people all around

America came together, completely color blind, to help out residents of New Orleans. To those that were there, and those that labored to rebuild after the devastation without care or concern for the skin color of people in New Orleans, Obama’s comments incite anger and disgust. We, the people of the United States, made a strong statement after that event: We will help those who cannot help themselves, independent of the color of their skin, because it is our moral imperative and our moral right, and we will do it without the government mandate. Obama ends his speech with these words, “America will survive. Just like black folks will survive. We won’t forget where we came from. We won’t forget what happened 19 months ago, or 15 years ago, or 300 years ago.” Obama, “black folks” are a part of America. “Black folks” are not independent of her; they comprise a vital and important part of the society in which all of us live. The kind of rhetoric that you are spewing is hateful and divisive. As students on a campus that prides itself on being racially tolerant, friendly to diversity and accepting individuals as equals, inseparable from society on the basis of skin color, we should not condone the actions of the president. Obama’s words and his character are not becoming of our school or our nation. Steven is a junior majoring in biochemistry and political science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Letter: Student input at forum could help university’s diversity struggles Justin Bloesch Member of the ASM Diversity Committee

his Friday, Oct. 12, the University of Wi s c o n s i n - M a d i s o n will be hosting its biannual Diversity Forum. The Diversity Forum is a place for students, staff, faculty and administration to discuss the challenges that UW-Madison faces regarding race, religion, sexuality, gender identity and social class. All students are welcome to attend, and student input is crucial for helping determine UW policy for diversity in the coming years. In the past 25 years UW-Madison has made substantial efforts to increase diversity, improve campus climate and encourage non-traditional students to succeed academically. These efforts have led to the creation of the

Multicultural Student Center, the ethnic studies requirement for all undergraduates and various scholarship and pipeline programs to help disadvantaged students attend and succeed at the university. The majority of these programs came from student-led initiatives to make the UW-Madison a more open and accepting university for all students. Yet despite all of the effort over the last 25 years, UW-Madison is still struggling with respect to issues of diversity and equity. Many groups, particularly black, Latino/a, southeast Asian and Native American populations are highly underrepresented on our campus when compared to the demographics of Wisconsin. Retention rates for these students are also substantially below those for white and East Asian students. Also, many stu-

dents of color and students in the LGBT community find campus unsafe and unwelcoming, and campus is dominated by middle and upper class students, with very few students from poor or working class backgrounds.

Student input is crucial for helping determine UW policy for diversity in the coming years.

For these reasons and many more, it is essential that students are actively involved in the discussion about diversity. UW-Madison must do more to ensure that all students have access to the university and that it is a safe and welcoming place for people of all

What is at stake for our generation in this upcoming election? Tell The Daily Cardinal in a 1,000 word article and you could win $1,000! email your response to edit@dailycardinal.com by Oct. 20

backgrounds and cultures. Only students have the ability to shape this discussion and inspire new and more assertive action. To register for the forum, you can visit the website of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement or visit this website: http://diversity.wisc.edu/spotlights/diversityforum-embracing-our-past-tochart-our-future/. The forum will be held in Varsity Hall in

Union South, and it will take place from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Whether you care deeply about diversity or are simply interested and want to find out more, the Diversity Forum is a great way to get involved and help shape the future of our university. Justin Bloesch is a member of the Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee. Please send all letters and feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

comics

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Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

Already lived life to the fullest! The world’s youngest grandmother was 23 years old. Thursday, October 11, 2012 • 7

Papa Bear’s bowl of soup

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

Eatin’ Cake

By Dylan Moriarty www.EatinCake.com

Caved In

By Nick Kryshak nkryshak@wisc.edu

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.

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

By Steven Wishau wishau@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

ROW YOUR BAT ACROSS 1 Usually deleted email 5 Stationery store buy 9 Depicted wordlessly 14 “What ___ got here is a failure to communicate” 15 Jazz legend Fitzgerald 16 Cockamamie 17 Nutmeg coat 18 Don ___ (womanizer) 19 Hard-to-combine gas 20 Put one’s tax forms in the church offering? 23 U.S.-Canada border lake 24 Stop waffling 25 “The Godfather” group (with “the”) 28 Parts of feet 31 London clock setting (Abbr.) 34 It’s all the rage 36 Yale grad Whitney 37 Geometry class calculation 38 What a calico is? 42 Palindromic Holy Roman Emperor 43 It may be concealed cosmetically 44 Remove feathers 45 Proposal response, sometimes 46 Strike, essentially

49 Beginning of “the season to be jolly” 50 Hilo garland 51 Explorer Ericson 53 Exoneration for people on the playbill? 60 Pencil need 61 Tragic opera princess 62 Sitting on one’s hands 63 “___ Frutti” (Little Richard tune) 64 Fruit holder 65 Bird beaks 66 Bad case of burning desire? 67 One of two in a game 68 Airborne pest DOWN 1 Pirate’s plunder 2 “Frasier” actress Gilpin 3 Tel ___ 4 Free-for-all 5 Become a member again 6 Escapes one’s understanding 7 Wing-shaped 8 Lion’s pride, say 9 Miscommunications 10 Sluggish by nature 11 “The Magic Mountain” author 12 Bible’s first reported grandkid 13 Cub Scout division

21 Part of a Charlie Brown catchphrase 22 It’s debatable 25 The real ___ (the genuine article) 26 Speak pompously 27 Cotton sheets 29 Church principle 30 TV Tarzan Ron 31 Filling material for a tiling job 32 Left Bank “Thanks” 33 Items on to-do lists 35 San Diego tourist magnet 37 Porky’s penultimate parting word 39 “West Side Story” song 40 Give it ___ 41 Some kind of nerve 46 Jelly thickener 47 Slurred over 48 Kids’ TV Street 50 Slow, in music 52 Hurl forcefully, as a Frisbee 53 Concert itinerary 54 Theater successes 55 Give lip to 56 Small, reddish monkey 57 Two-person starter home of note? 58 “Fantastic Four” actress Jessica 59 Take a breather 60 School’s booster org.

lassic

Vintage 1989

By Melanie Shibley shibley@wisc.edu

Sports

Thursday October 11, 2012 DailyCardinal.com

One last go-around: part II A favorite to repeat as the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner, Brianna Decker has her sights set on Wisconsin’s team success during her final season playing in a Badger jersey Story by Vince Huth Wil Gibb/the daily cardinal

This is the second installment of a two-part story that first appeared in Wednesday’s issue of The Daily Cardinal. t’s a common theme across all sports: When teammates practice against one another, it incites competition. And perhaps no team benefits more from practicing against a specific player than the Badgers do with Brianna Decker. In particular, junior goaltender and assistant captain Alex Rigsby especially gains an advantage. After just two seasons guarding the net, the Delafield, Wis., native has already established herself as one of the nation’s top goaltenders. Rigsby posted more saves than any other goaltender in the nation last season, and her .949 save percentage was second only to Northeastern’s Florence Schelling, who posted a .950 mark in her senior season. The All-American-caliber matchups between Rigsby and Decker don’t take place in too many rinks across the nation.

“Every day in practice I challenge myself against her,” Rigsby said. “That good, healthy competition between us is what’s going to take us both further in our game.” Although her teammates are well aware of Decker’s abilities, winning the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award was perhaps an unexpected achievement for Decker, who knows that remaining humble is paramount to achieving success. “I’ve never looked at myself as a good player,” Decker said. “I just go out there and play.” That’s easy for her to say, but Ben Decker—Brianna’s older brother, who may be her toughest critic other than herself— recognized Brianna’s elite talent years ago. “She was gonna be good since she was a squirt,” Ben, now 23, said. Decker was, unsurprisingly, named the WCHA conference’s preseason player of the year. However, the senior doesn’t allow her accolades to affect her personal expectations, most of

which are team-oriented. As far as Decker is concerned, both her individual and Wisconsin’s team success last season ultimately came up one game short. “I don’t view myself as an individual, I view myself as a team,” Decker said. “If my team’s not successful, I’m not, either.” It makes perfect sense, then, that the last thing on Decker’s mind is bringing home another Patty Kazmaier trophy. However, it’s completely feasible she could win the award this season, and doing so would arguably cement her as the best women’s hockey player in Wisconsin history. After all, she was the fourth Badger to win the award in its 15-year history, and each of the three previous winners won the trophy just once. Further, the prospect of a women’s hockey player winning back-to-back Patty Kazmaier awards would do wonders for the sport, which has simply not reached the same level of popularity as others across campus. Wisconsin running back Montee

Wil Gibb/the daily cardinal

One of six seniors on the Badgers’ roster, senior forward Brianna Decker was voted captain by her teammates and coaches. Decker also served as an assistant captain during her junior season.

Bruesewitz out four to six weeks Wisconsin men’s basketball senior forward Mike Bruesewitz successfully underwent surgery Tuesday evening after suffering a laceration on his right leg in a fall during practice earlier that morning, according to sources within the Badger athleic department. The St. Paul, Minn., native has played in 98 games during his Wisconsin career

and averaged career-highs in points per game (5.6), minutes per game (25.5) and rebounds per game (5.1) during his junior season last year. Wisconsin remains deep at the forward position, with returning players such as redshirt seniors Jared Berggren and Ryan Evans, in addition to freshman Sam Dekker.

Ball was, like Decker, up for his Decker admittedly feels nersport’s highest individual honor vous before the bigger, national last season. Although Ball wasn’t championship-type games, but awarded the Heisman Trophy, his even then it’s in a “good, excited” image was spread across the side way. The Oct. 19 matchup against of a Madison Metro city bus as a Bemidji State may stir those nerves campaign tool this fall. for Decker, who said it will probaDecker said she didn’t bly take a week or so after opening expect to be advertised on a night for the Badgers to shoo away bus, acknowledging women’s the butterflies and settle into hockey is still gaining publictheir new facilities. While ity and she’s “recognized in the head coach Mark hockey world,” but back-toJohnson also back Patty Kazmaier awards acknowledged would nonetheless speed up opening LaBahn that growing process. brings some “I don’t think you can get distractions durenough people like Brianna to ing the early stages help promote the strength of of this season, the the sport,” John Decker, vast majority of conBrianna’s father, said. sequences are positive. Despite the Regardless of any preslaundry sure that might come list of with it, the arena Wil Gibb/the daily cardinal perwill certainly make sonal Decker’s senior year awards Decker has garnered dur- at Wisconsin more memorable. ing her hockey career, the senior’s “I want to make sure she deep-seated humble approach enjoys the season,” Johnson said. has helped her realize any indi- “She doesn’t have many games vidual successes will always left in Badger jersey.” come from the team’s success. That senior season playing “She’s been pretty much the for the Badgers is an experience same person since I first met her,” Decker has envisioned since said senior forward Lauren Unser, at least fourth grade, when she who grew up playing with Decker wrote a school paper explaining for the Madison Capitols youth how badly she wanted to play hockey organization. hockey for Wisconsin someday. In addition to serving as team The pressures Decker may captain and entering the season as or may not shoulder during the sport’s best player—two pres- that experience are, as strange sures not many collegiate athletes as it sounds, welcome hurdles. will ever deal with—Decker and After all, she wouldn’t face the Badgers will open the LaBahn them at all if it weren’t for her arena this season. hockey achievements. The new venue’s 2,400-person “Everything she does, she’s capacity is significantly small- earned,” senior defenseman er than that of the Kohl Center Stefanie McKeough said. “From (where the women’s hockey team where she was freshman year to previously played its home games), where she is today, it’s crazy how but the amplified energy from a being this self-disciplined and packed house will make for a more working really hard to want to be significant home advantage. better can get you very far.”

The Daily Cardinal’s Sports Tweets of the Week: 10/4-10/10 We spend an inordinate amount of time on Twitter, so we’ve decided to justify that wasted time by compiling the top three tweets from each week. They might be funny, they might be motivational and they might be none of the above, but as long as the tweets come from a past or current Badger player or coach, they pass the only prerequisite to make our list.

Matt Masterson / The daily cardinal

Head over to dailycardinal.com/sports to view our coverage of the Badger football team, including previews for both the offensive and defensive units as they face off against Purdue this weekend.

What do you think of this week’s top tweets? Is there another 140-character dispatch of goodness that should replace one of the tweets on this list? Tweet at us @Cardinal_Sports with your favorite tweets!