University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, November 1, 2018
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Review
+OPINION page 5
John Legend’s ‘A Legendary Christmas’
After shooting, empathy needed now more than ever
+ARTS page 4
Early voting on track for record turnout By Andy Goldstein and Aylin Merve Arikan THE DAILY CARDINAL
As the midterm election approaches, Madison early voter turnout is on track to match turnout from the 2016 presidential election, according to data collected by the city clerk’s office. As Republican Gov. Scott Walker runs for a third term against Democratic challenger Tony Evers, polls show a coin-flip race that could largely hinge on turnout. Usually, midterm elections come with a substantial decrease in voter turnout, but that has not been the case this year. “Turnout is looking really strong on campus, especially for a midterm election,” NextGen Wisconsin Media Director Sean Manning said. “Early voting is a really good way to measure enthusiasm of voters, and we can see that students on campus are insanely excited to vote this year.” Early voter turnout for this midterm election tracked in at 21,222 as of Oct. 29, which is greater than early voter turnout during Obama’s 2012 presidential election, which totalled
TÉALIN ROBINSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Far surpassing levels in previous midterm elections, early voting levels for next Tuesday’s elections are set to almost rival those of the 2016 presidential election, despite the usual turnout fall off for midterm years. 18,752 people, even without the last several days of early voting, which generally have a much larger level of turnout.
Though 2014 had only 10 days of early voting, the early votes per day in this cycle are significantly higher, at just over 1,414
thus far compared to 860 in 2014. Almost half of all early voting in 2016 came in the final week of its availability. Factoring in the
same rate of increased early voting turnout, the final numbers could come just short of those from the last presidential election. As the age group with the consistently lowest voter turnout, much of the effect of improved turnout levels has been placed on how much young people show up to vote. “Over the past year we’ve seen unprecedented activism from our generation, whether it’s the March for Our Lives or movements in the state like at [UW] Stevens Point with their protests to the reduction of humanities,” Manning said. “We’re just seeing young people rising up all across Wisconsin.” This year, the Madison community has cast their ballots at 16 voting locations on campus and around the city. Students and Madisonians can cast their ballots at Memorial Union, Union South or the SAC, as well as the city clerk’s office and libraries around the city. “We’ve seen students march through the streets, and now we finally have the chance to march to the polls and hold our leaders accountable,” Manning said.
Campus divided in wake of Kavanaugh court confirmation By Elea Levin STAFF WRITER
Though they’re far from the Supreme Court in Washington, UW-Madison students have a lot to say about recently confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and it’s dividing campus based on political ideologies. Students voiced both support and criticism for the Justice after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s public testimony that he sexually assaulted her in high school, the subsequent hearing and his confirmation. Judge Kavanaugh was confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court on Oct. 6 with a 50-48 vote by the Senate, following a highly controversial hearing process that resulted in an FBI investigation. UW-Madison College Republicans Chairman Charlie Mueth said the confirmation is likely to increase polarization among students. Because Kavanaugh’s nomination process has been highly public and controversial, it has drawn attention from students of all
political parties. “It’s disappointing, but not surprising that he was confirmed,” UW-Madison freshman Aerin Lammers said. 4,477 UW-Madison students identified as liberal, 1,568 identified as conservative and 1,654 identified as moderate, a 2017 study found. Although Supreme Court Justice is a nonpartisan position, students in the majority rallied against Kavanaugh’s conservative views and in support of sexual assault survivors. “There are a lot of voices on campus that say we hear you, we listen to you, we believe you. This is going to fire people up more and say that we need to stand up and listen to survivors,” UW-Madison College Democrats Press Secretary Sam Schwab said. Many conservative students on campus had a different understanding of the trial and confirmation. “While the opposers may
Kavanaugh page 3
GRACIE WALLNER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
ASM highlighted their concerns as the TAA fought against current mandated segregated fees Wednesday.
The Teaching Assistants’ Association battles ‘fees first, grads second’ policy after proving fiscally unreasonable By Robyn Cawley COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR
“It’s sort of strange to be paying for the ability to work,” said Representative Ruben Moreno as the Teaching Assistants’ Association returned to work with the 25th session to halt the mandatory segregated fees policy. While some voiced sentiments of support, other representa-
tives of the Associated Students of Madison grew apprehensive about the financial aspects of eliminating the segregated fee, as well as the fairness of expectation for all students on campus to pay it. Student Services Finance Committee Chair Jeremy Swanson stated that the graduate student segregated fees make
up about $10 million in revenue for the campus. He noted his concerns of where those funds would come from if the students did not pay the fees. “Even though $10 million seems like a lot, in research dollars and other sources of revenue it isn’t really that much,”
fees 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.”