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Monday, October 28, 2013
Students take Freakfest center stage
AMY GRUNTNER/the daily cardinal
Police estimate more than 35,000 people flooded State Street for the seventh annual Freakfest, where Matt and Kim and Chiddy Bang were among the top headliners. By Emmett Mottl and Siddharth Pandey the daily cardinal
The cold winter temperatures did not deter Freakfest audiences this year, with over 35,000 reported to have attended the event, according to a Madison Police Department estimate. The MPD led crowd control efforts, and multiple local police departments assisted in patrolling the event.
Crime remained relatively low at this year’s Halloween celebration, with a reported 28 arrests, according to an MPD report, which is slightly lower than the 36 arrests reported last year. Most citations issued were for disorderly conduct or underage drinking. Both Mayor Paul Soglin and Common Council President, Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, were away during the festivities, leaving Council Vice President, Ald.
Van Hollen seeks temporary stay of Act 10 court orders The state Department of Justice requested Friday that the state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals temporarily stop proceedings in two different Dane County Circuit Court orders to ensure school districts collective bargaining agent certification elections, according to a press release from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. Both of the orders arose from a challenge to Act 10, which is Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial legislation that limited many state workers’ collective bargaining rights. Agent certification elections allow employees within a collective bargaining unit to
choose annually whether they want a collective bargaining agent to represent them and if so, who it should be. If either of the motions is granted by Oct. 29, agent certification elections would occur as scheduled Nov. 1, according to the release. The elections could still occur this year if either of the motions is granted by Nov. 4, according to the release. “Act 10 is, in all respects, constitutional,” Van Hollen said in the release, but the Circuit Court issued an order that “dramatically alters the status quo” because it ruled before the state Supreme Court heard final arguments in the Act 10 challenge.
Diversity committee asks for input As the University of Wisconsin-Madison works to develop a new framework for diversity and inclusion, the Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee is asking members of the campus community share input in a series of upcoming discussion sessions throughout November. Since February, a team of campus and community members have been working to create a new framework for “guiding, shaping and strengthening UW-Madison’s commitment to inclusive excellence
and innovation,” according to a news release. The sessions will take place Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Memorial Union, Nov. 5 from 1 p.m. through 4 p.m. in the Gordon Common Dining and Event Center, Nov. 6 from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the Health Sciences Learning Center. They will continue into the following week on Nov. 11 from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the Memorial Union’s Tripp Commons and Nov. 12 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Mendota Room of Dejope Residence Hall.
Scott Resnick, District 8, as acting mayor for the evening. Resnick said Freakfest was a “well organized and safe event,” this year. He added “the rioting is a thing of the past.” University of WisconsinMadison student involvement in this year’s Freakfest celebration increased with the addition of a stage sponsored by the student-run radio station WSUM and run entirely by students.
WSUM Program Director Kelsey Brannan said Frank Productions, the organizers behind Freakfest, approached WSUM about sponsoring the stage. Booking local acts was a major factor in planning the lineup, according to Brannan. “The goal was to keep it pretty local, so all of the bands were either from Madison or Milwuakee,” Brannan said. Milwaukee rock band The Living
Statues headlined the WSUM stage. Drummer Chris Morales said he was excited to play the event. “We got invited to headline the WSUM stage, and we gladly took it,” Morales said. “It’s the biggest Halloween festival, that we know of at least, so we had to just take advantage. Enjoy not only the kind of decor and spectacle of it all but then get to play for a huge audi-
freakfest page 3
STUDENT PROFILE
Senior Eric Dahl eats his way to a computer engineering degree By Melissa Howison THE DAILY CARDINAL
Rather than make pizzas to pay for his college education, Eric Dahl inhales them. Dahl, a University of Wisconsin-Madison senior, has traveled to more than 13 states over the past two and a half years to partake in approximately 50 eating competitions as a way to earn money for school.
“Most people wouldn’t eat a bite of it, but I ate nine and a half pounds in six minutes.” Eric Dahl champion eater UW-Madison senior
One time he even elicited cooperation from his professor of Asian-American history to take the class final early one morning so he could try his hand in a turkey-sandwicheating contest later that afternoon. However, Dahl said not everyone is receptive to his lucrative hobby. “A lot of people, as soon as I
say I’m a competitive eater or they find out I’m a competitive eater ... they shut me down,” Dahl said. “They’re like ‘oh, you’re a glutton, you’re disgusting,’ and all these things. They don’t see the work that I put into it.” According to Dahl, that work includes rigorous training to improve his technique and speed as well as to develop his stomach capacity so he can eat large amounts of sometimes odd foods at record paces. One of the strangest, Dahl said, was lutefisk; a white fish soaked in lye until it reaches the consistency of “jelly.” “Most people wouldn’t eat a bite of it, but I ate nine and a half pounds in six minutes,” Dahl said. According to Dahl, wrestling in high school prepared him for the mentality competitive eating requires. “In wrestling everything is on you, and same with competitive eating,” Dahl said. “Your performance is entirely related on you and how hard you trained and how hard you push yourself during the competition.” Although he has established
strong followings on Facebook and Youtube by marketing his competitive eating alter ego “the
COURTNEY KESSLER/file photo
UW senior Eric Dahl devoured 8.9 pieces of Ian’s pizza in 10 minutes at the National Pizza Eating contest Sept. 21. profile 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.”