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Wunk Sheek powwow celebrates culture By Claire LaLiberte STAFF WRITER
“Hah-ho!” This word, a Ho-Chunk greeting, opened the invocation delivered by Ho-Chunk Vietnam War veteran Paul Cloud, the first to speak at the Wunk Sheek Indigenous Peoples’ Day Powwow. The invocation was delivered in both Ho-Chunk and English, indicative of Great Lakes tribes’ efforts to revitalize their languages after centuries of repression. Wunk Sheek is the Indigenous student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The name is an anglicized spelling of Wonkshiek, Ho-Chunk for “Native people.” This powwow is one of many efforts to share Indigenous culture with campus and create community for Native students. Paige Skenandore, president of Wunk Sheek and citizen of the Oneida nation, described Wunk Sheek as a “family” for Indigenous students at UW-Madison. She said that the contemporary importance of honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day — despite the fact that it remains “colonized into Columbus Day” — is to honor the cultures that survived years of genocide, assimiliation, and atrocity to stand strong today. Powwows traditionally feature a group of singers and drummers known as a “host drum.” This powwow’s host drum was a student group known as the Madtown Singers, whose members and musical style represent a confluence of tribes. Daniel Hayden, a citizen of the Comanche nation and the Wunk Sheek environmental chair, explained that the singing during the powwow consisted mainly of intertribals.
An intertribal is a song made up primarily of vocables, or syllables without denotative meaning. They are common practice during powwows like this one, which aren’t done in the tradition of a particular tribe but are instead a social celebration of Indigeneity and a community event. Many of these songs were accompanied by dance, done in multiple styles — among them traditional, jingle, straight and fancy, some with a unique drumming style. The dancers were led by Bad River Ojibwe David O’Connor and Red Cliff Ojibwe Grace Armstrong. Some of the songs performed were done in the Ho-Chunk language. Among these were the traditional, centuries-old flag song and veteran song to honor the Native nations and veterans present on Monday. Most tribes have their own veteran, flag and honor songs in their language, said Hayden. First of the guest speakers was Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, whose gubernatorial administration officially recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Wisconsin on Oct. 8. He praised the First Nations of Wisconsin for their resilience but stated that this resilience should not be necessary and was borne only out of necessity in response to oppression and genocide. Emcee Dylan Prescott spoke about the healing power of prayer and tradition in the modern day, as Indigenous people are faced with challenges and disproportionate levels of poverty. He stated that “spirituality, language, culture, song, dance, stories and elders” are food and healing for Native nations, and cites the powwow as a prime example of
COURTESY OF IRENA CLARKOWSKI/THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Wunk Sheek powwow was a celebration of Indigenous culture, and served as a honorance for victims of boarding schools. Indigenous people healing in community with one another. Prescott stated that powwows originated to celebrate the homecomings of warriors, in particular those known as Hay-Lush-Ka. This word is of Ho-Chunk origin and describes those commended for great bravery and celebrated for their contributions to their tribes. Many attendees of the powwow wore orange out of respect to the victims of residential schools. This form of acknowledgement originated in Canada in 2013 and was inspired by Phyllis Jack Webstad, a Secwepemc Native woman and victim of the Canadian residential school system, whose story was shared at the powwow by Oneida native Sturgeon
Woman, whose English name is Rachel Fernandes. An orange shirt given to Webstad by her grandmother for her first day of school was taken by St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School in 1973 and was never returned to her. Fernandes described how Webstad’s experience represents the theft of Indigenous identity and individuality in favor of forced assimilation. Wunk Sheek Social Justice Chair McCaylin Peters, who is Menominee, spoke further about residential schools. These schools were designed in the 19th century with the intention of destroying Indigenous cultures and assimilating them into American society. An early residential school upon
which many were modeled was the U.S. Training and Industrial School, founded in 1879 at Carlisle Barracks, New Jersey. In an 1892 speech, founder Captain Richard H. Pratt gave a speech in which he stated his chilling goal in bringing children to this school: “Kill the Indian [...], and save the man.” The recent discovery of mass graves at former residential school sites across Canada has thrown their horrors into the public eye. In the face of this historical tragedy, Peters stated it’s more important than ever for Indigenous people to unite and share joy. “Growing up,” she said, “I was always told, ‘You dance for those who cannot dance.’”
Madison CARES assists in 37 emergencies since Sept. By Francesca Pica STAFF WRITER
Madison’s Community Alternative Response for Emergency Services program, or CARES, has responded to 37 emergencies since its implementation on Sept. 1 — an average of three 911 calls per day. The CARES pilot program provides an alternative response to non-violent mental health and substance abuse emergency calls instead of involving police. CARES teams consist of a paramedic and a Journey Mental Health crisis worker trained to de-escalate situations without the use of physical restraint. The CARES team defers individuals experiencing mental health or substance abuse emergencies
COURTESY OF CITY OF MADISON
The CARES program provides the necessary help in mental health emergencies.
to medical facilities, the Journey Mental Health Center or their homes — if a caregiver is available — as opposed to jail. According to Journey clinical team manager, Sarah Hendrickson, it is still too soon to draw conclusions about the success of the program, but early results have been promising. “The calls CARES is being dispatched to align with exactly what we had envisioned, reflecting that the 911 center staff is doing an excellent job of screening appropriate calls for them,” said Hendrickson. The program currently operates from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays in Madison’s Central Police District, which is located between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. The project was allotted
$600,000 for the year 2021, according to the annual budget. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, who has proposed continuing funding CARES in the 2022 budget proposal, expressed her hopes to expand the pilot project to encompass more of Madison, in order to minimize interaction between non-violent calls and the Madison Police Department. “Madison CARES will send the right person to the right call,” Rhodes-Conway said. “In many instances, sending someone in uniform could escalate, rather than de-escalate, the situation. Madison CARES will reduce trauma for patients and reduce our reliance on emergency rooms and jails, which are sometimes the most costly and least appropriate option.”
“…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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An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 131, Issue 8
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News and Editorial editor@dailycardinal.com Editor-in-Chief Addison Lathers
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DOJ won’t charge officer who shot J. Blake By Halle Zides STAFF WRITER
The Department of Justice will not pursue charges against Officer Rusten Sheskey, the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake last summer. Blake, an African American man, was left paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries caused by Sheskey in August 2020, three months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the KPD officer willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes,” said the DOJ in a statement Friday. “The department makes this decision because the evidence obtained is insufficient to prove that the KPD officer willfully used excessive force.” According to AP News, state prosecutors chose not to file charges against Sheskey earlier this year after a video surfaced
showing that Blake, who was wanted on a felony warrant, was armed with a knife. Blake sued Shesky in federal court under his Fourth Amendment rights, claiming the actions of the police were out of malicious intent. After referring to video footage from the scene, judges were unable to prove that Shesky acted with the intent to strip Blake of his constitutional rights. “‘Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that an officer ‘willfully’ deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids,” stated the DOJ.” Sheskey originally reported to the scene after Blake’s girlfriend called the police claiming he was trying to take her SUV and her kids. Blake did try to get into the SUV with his kids, and was armed with a knife, but it took three minutes for Shesky to use
further force to stop Blake. Last week it was announced that Kyle Rittenhouse, the then 17 year old from Illinois who shot and killed two protestors in Kenosha, was protected by hunting law to carry his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Rittenhouse claimed that he was carrying the assault rifle to protect businesses and used it in selfdefense under the belief that he would have been assaulted without the COURTESY OF KENOSHA POLICE DEPARTMENT use of his Officer Rusten Sheskey will not be charged by DOJ for shooting. own force.
Subpoenas for WI election review reversed By Sarah Eichstadt STAFF WRITER
The leader of a Republicanled investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 presiden-
“Most people, myself included, do not have a comprehensive understanding, or even any understanding, of how elections work,” Gableman said in an
claim there is insufficient evidence to pursue an investigation. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul held a press conference Monday, calling for the election
to conduct a closed-door interview and called the reversal of the subpoenas “good news” in a phone call with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
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Editorial Board Ian-Michael Griffin • Grace Hodgman • Em-J Krigsman • Addison Lathers • Anupras Mohapatra • Riley Sumner
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COURTESY OF WISCONSIN OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL/YOUTUBE
"Most people, myself included, do not have ... any understanding, of how elections work," Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman said.
tial election reversed his decision to subpoena Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl. Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman had requested subpoenas from Witzel-Behl as part of a $680,000 taxpayer-funded investigation into the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. Gableman also requested subpoenas from officials in Milwaukee, Racine, Green Bay and Kenosha. Mayors in Wisconsin play no role in conducting elections, so the motives of Gableman issuing the subpoenas in the first place is unknown. The subpoena to Witzel-Behl focused on communication she and her office had with groups that gave grants for the administration of the election during the pandemic, according to the CapTimes.
interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Officials involved in the investigation notified Madison City Attorney Michael Haas on Thursday that the subpoenas were canceled, Haas told the CapTimes. In a public statement, Haas stated that the initial subpoenas were both unnecessary and unreasonable due to the short time-frame provided to comply with Gableman’s request. “Of course, all of this could have been provided without a subpoena in the first place,” Haas said. “We do appreciate that they have recognized that the initial request would have been impossible to fulfill by Oct. 15.” The investigation, which began in March of 2021, has received considerable criticism from Wisconsin Democrats who
probe to be stopped. “Here’s the bottom line: this fake investigation is an abuse of the legislature’s authority,” Kaul said in the press conference. “This is corrosive to our democracy.” Kaul has additionally levied criticisms of Gableman’s leadership role in the investigation, claiming that Gableman possesses considerable political biases that make him unfit for his position. “Justice Gableman has also made statements indicating that he had pre-judged the outcome,” Kaul said. “His false claim shortly after the 2020 election alone — that the election was stolen — should have led him to decline to participate in this investigation.” Rhodes-Conway previously criticized Gablemans request
“I hope this means he understands our Wisconsin clerks and poll workers did a great job running not only the November 2020 election but all elections in Wisconsin,” Rhodes-Conway said. Gov. Tony Evers echoed Rhodes-Conway criticism, calling the investigation a “$700,000 boondoggle.” “I would like to ask Tony Evers how is it a boondoggle for the people of Wisconsin to find out if their elections were run fairly?” Gableman responded in a video. Gablemam will continue his investigation and says violations of law and protocol may have occurred during Wisconsin’s presidential election as well as lack of ballot security, according to AP News.
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Local manifestations of global warming effects By Thomas Jilk STAFF WRITER
A dramatic display of weather disasters across North America this summer underscored the volatility of a changing climate. Heads turned northwest as lethal heat and wildfires enveloped the upper Pacific coast. Heads turned south, then slowly northeast as Hurricane Ida wrought havoc from the oil wells of coastal Louisiana to the subway tunnels of New York City. Soon, heads will turn to Glasgow as international climate negotiators assess possible pathways to meet the target set in Paris six years ago: Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. From Madison, these events may seem distant. The ravages of tropical cyclones and runaway wildfires pose little direct risk here. But the quieter, more insidious risks of climate change – including the basic fact that warmer air can hold more moisture – could have real implications for local residents and businesses. Madison city officials and researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are at work assessing future risk while proposing strategies to prevent further warming and adapt to a changed, and changing, climate. Global crisis, local effects “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading scientific body studying the effects of a warming planet, flatly stated in a report released in August. But the effects of this warming manifest differently in different places, filtered through the complexities of regional geography and demography. In Wisconsin, the combination of increased rainfall and warmer average temperatures shape the contours of climate change’s local fingerprint. For instance, higher average winter temperatures and wetterthan-average spring conditions have “created economic and management hardships for Wisconsin farmers in recent years,” according to a 2020 report from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI). The organization expects the number of days per year that reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit to triple in the state by the mid-century. Air can generally hold around 7% more moisture for each degree Celsius it warms. This means that climate-fueled storms will each have a higher potential to hold – and dump – increasingly large amounts of water on the localities they impact. Accordingly, the increasing severity of summer storms is taking a growing economic toll on Wisconsin. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tracks all “billion-dollar” severe storms (storms that caused at least $1 billion in overall damages) that have occurred in the United States since 1980 – and Wisconsin’s statewide trend is clear. According to NOAA, the 1980s and 1990s contained a single billion-dollar severe storm per decade. Then, between 2000 and 2009, six billion-dollar severe storms hit Wisconsin. Between 2010 and 2019, that total was 11.
It may elude traditional sea-level rise, but Madison – a community of lakes, rivers, and creeks – faces a mounting risk of potential climatedriven flooding. A new interactive flood risk assessment tool from the nonprofit First Street Foundation
in order to promote low-or-noemissions modes of transportation. Reece noted that in 2017, Madison was the first municipality in Wisconsin to set a goal to make all of its energy consumption come from carbon-free renewable sourc-
A struggle for Wisconsin municipalities has been aligning city and state policies, allowing them to work together to mitigate climate change. Reece described the city of Madison as “pushing against some of the state-level policies that pre-
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF MAX HOMSTAD
Global warming is reflected locally in Madison in recent weather disasters, engineers and city planners try to plan accordingly. shows that around 10% of all properties in Madison – or nearly 6,000 properties – could be flood-prone if a cloudburst forces water over riverbanks and onto nearby streets. City officials are aware of the flood risks in Madison posed by increasingly severe downpours. “We’re a bathtub,” Stacie Reece, sustainability program coordinator for the city of Madison, said. Reece explained that as cities like Madison grow, the development of land creates “mini-watersheds,” such as large parking lots that change where rain gathers and in which direction it flows. She said city engineers are actively researching these mini-watersheds to develop tailored solutions based on these assessments. This work became more urgent after a historic flooding event in August 2018. Following that event, Daniel Wright, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at UW-Madison, published a report on how extreme rainfall, combined with high water levels in Lake Mendota, set the stage for the flooding that occurred that day. In the report, Wright explained that “similar or larger storms can be expected in the coming years. This problem is likely to be exacerbated by continued climate change impacts on extreme rainfall.” Mitigation in Madison Discussions of climate change regularly invoke “mitigation” – a term that encompasses any effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. At the city government level, Madison released a comprehensive sustainability plan in 2011 that laid out a panoply of mitigation objectives, from increasing the city’s use of renewable energy sources to enhancing its system of bike lanes
es. The city plans to meet this goal within its own facilities and operations by 2030, while the target for 100% community-wide clean energy consumption is 2050. The goal sounds simple, but its implications are massive: The complete integration of solar, wind and other forms of renewable power into every part of the city’s energy sector, including electricity and transportation. The vision is, within fewer than 30 years, to have renewable sources powering the lights residents turn on every morning, the stoves on which they cook and the modes of transport that take them where they need to go. Toward this end, in April, Madison Mayor Satya RhodesConway announced her administration’s climate-related goals for the next two years, including the implementation of a rapid transit system featuring electric buses. The system could have real mitigation effects; more than 40% of the city’s emissions come from transportation, according to the city. City governments, though, have inherent limits on the scope and impact of climate mitigation measures that they can take. As Reece notes, federal or statewide policies that require or incentivize transitioning to renewable (“clean”) energy could have greater implications for mitigating climate change. “What we have right now is a patchwork of states and utilities that follow different paths to get to a carbon-free grid,” Reece said. “Wisconsin has fallen behind,” she says, because “incumbent fossil interests have a reason for us to stay behind.” However, Reece emphasizes that neighboring states such as Minnesota and Illinois have taken more sweeping recent statewide actions to promote the clean energy transition.
empt us from doing things, such as regulating energy in buildings through the building code.” Relatedly, Reece noted that the clean energy initiative included in the federal budget currently under deliberation in Congress could potentially provide longawaited additional dollars from the federal government for preventative measures. Adaptation and moving forward post-disaster While one broad set of climate solutions involves mitigation, the other focuses on adaptation. To adapt is to prepare for increasing impacts, to account for future risk in decision-making processes and to change course as circumstances evolve. Evidence is mounting that even the current level of warming can supercharge weather events and force any household to consider lifealtering adaptations, such as relocation. This summer alone, nearly one in three Americans experienced a weather-related disaster, according to a Washington Post analysis detailing “the expanding reach of climate-fueled disasters.” Governments can facilitate adaptation efforts such as “managed retreat” from flood-prone locations. The city of Madison has a new flood risk map online. But each individual resident or household will react and adapt differently after exposure to a weather disaster like a flood, and they will do so based on the ineffable intricacies of human decision-making. Research sheds some light on how particular population groups may consider relocating after weather disasters such as severe storms that cause flooding. Climate change poses risks for all people, but especially threatens the health and well-being of mar-
ginalized groups. That is partially because these individuals disproportionately live and work in areas more susceptible to climate-related disasters but also because they often lack the resources to prepare for or fully recover from these setbacks. Specifically, urban flooding, made more likely by climate change, disproportionately impacts disadvantaged people, who are more likely to live in flood-prone areas and lack the necessary resources to recover from flood-related damage and disruption. At the same time, middle-class residents are also increasingly feeling the impacts of a warming world become more widespread. Max Besbris, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology at the UW-Madison, conducted a longitudinal study of dozens of middle-class households in Texas who were forced to make residential mobility decisions in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. In the study, Besbris and a coauthor point out that middle-class households often decide where to live with long-term residence in mind. When middle-class residents without prior plans to move are suddenly faced with the prospect of relocation, the study found that they often chose to stay. According to the study, “A year after the storm, only nine of the households in our sample permanently moved out of the house that flooded during Hurricane Harvey; the remaining 50 households chose to return to their flooded homes.” The researchers posit that there is a “phenomenon of activating shortterm plans to move” when a weather disaster strikes. In other words, if these citizens do not have shortterm plans pre-disaster, they often opt to remain in place afterward. These insights have implications for Madisonians. What will middle- or upper-class professors, doctors, and lawyers do if their homes take on water? Besbris’s research suggests it depends in part on whether they have a plan in place to move already. ‘Get involved’ Reece said that many residents are generally knowledgeable about the global and local risks climate change exacerbates. They know the risks go well beyond potential flooding and include the health risks posed by extreme heat and threats to agricultural crops and livestock posed by the erratic weather that is emblematic of climate change. “There’s a lot of worry out there, a lot of concern,” Reece said. “We have a really well-informed population that understands the urgency.” She said that even though Madison city officials have “one hand behind our back” in addressing climate change, it is crucial for citizens to have their voices heard and to push mitigation and adaptation measures forward. “Get involved. Find out who your elected official is. Learn about how the city works, how legislation works,” she advised. A major open question, Reece said, is how much collaboration on climate change mitigation and adaptation will take place across different interest groups within the city of Madison and the state of Wisconsin at large. She asked, “How do we pull together coalitions across all sectors to forge a movement across the state to get us where we need to be?”
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Thursday, October 14, 2021
Badgers open conference play with sweep By Christian Voskuil SPORTS EDITOR
The No. 1 ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team improved to 6-0 following a series sweep of conference foe St. Cloud State (2-2) this past weekend at LaBahn Arena. After raising their 2021 NCAA Championship banner to start the day, Saturday’s tilt provided a great exclamation point on the day as the Badgers shut out the Huskies 6-0 in their first conference game. Maybe Wisconsin used a little too much energy on their pregame celebration, or maybe they forgot that St. Cloud State is better than the Badgers’ first two opponents, but either way, Mark Johnson’s crew looked sluggish in the first period. Recording no goals, getting just two shots off on a power play and losing the puck on multiple occasions in the neutral zone, Wisconsin should’ve counted themselves lucky not to be down after the first 20 minutes of play. The Badgers came out looking much better to start the second period — getting an early chance to break the tie with three shots on goal in the first two minutes — but a Maddi Wheeler slashing penalty forced Wisconsin to go back on the defensive. Luckily, the Badgers only had to kill off half the penalty as McKenna Wesloh was sent to the
penalty box a minute later, turning the power play into a 4-on-4. Like the Huskies, Wisconsin failed to capitalize on their minute-long man advantage. The Badgers would get a chance at a full two-minute power play a minute later — this one with a two-man advantage — and would get off seven goals during that time but still couldn’t find the back of the net. After killing off another power play, Wisconsin finally broke the scoreless tie with Wheeler scoring late in the second period. The sophomore brought the puck up on a two-on-one break, looked right as if she was going to pass it to the trailing Sophie Shirley and slotted it just above the Husky netminder’s right shoulder to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead heading into the final period of play. After the final intermission, the Badgers put their stamp on the game, closing play with a fivegoal third period for a commanding 6-0 win in game one. Daryl Watts and Sophie Shirley traded two goals each before freshman Sarah Wozniewicz put the exclamation point on the period by skating through the entire St. Cloud State defense before sending a shot into the net with just 13.6 seconds left in the game. Game two was a much better start for the Badgers. Watts got the ball rolling earlier for Wisconsin, scoring on the
Badgers’ first shot of the game while spinning on her knees. Then, the impossible happened: A Badger opponent scored against Wisconsin’s starting goaltender, Kennedy Blair. Okay, maybe not the impossible, but the St. Cloud State goal past Blair was the first the fifth-year goalie has given up all season, ending her shutout streak of just over 240 minutes. Sophomore Makenna Webster made sure that 1-1 tie wouldn’t last the rest of the period, as the forward would end a scramble in front of the Husky net by sneaking one past St. Cloud State goaltender Sanni Ahola for a 2-1 Wisconsin lead heading into the first intermission. The second period was all Watts and Webster. The linemates would double their goal totals, assisting one another to bring the Wisconsin lead to 4-1 going into the last 20 minutes of the weekend. Wisconsin goal leader Casey O’Brien decided she wanted to get in on the goal-scoring fun in the second period, netting her 10th of the season for a 5-1 Badger lead. Wozniewicz would once again score the Badgers’ sixth and final goal, tapping in a pass in front of the goal with 84 seconds left to extend her goal streak to four games. Wisconsin is now up to 39 goals through their first six
CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER/TDAILY CARDINAL
After winning the national championship last season, the Badgers have their sights set high again this year. games this season — leading the nation in that aspect — while only having allowed two against. The 37-point goal difference is the highest in school history through six games. With Webster (19), Watts (16)
and O’Brien (15) as first, second and third, respectively, in the nation in points, the Badgers have looked even better than last year’s campaign thus far, and we all know how that ended.
Wisconsin disappoints in return to Kohl Center
TOM LYNN/UW ATHLETICS
Badgers celebrate last season against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. By Riley O’Donnell SPORTS REPORTER
It was a bittersweet return to the Kohl Center for Wisconsin men’s hockey fans this weekend in Madison, as the No. 13 Badgers (0-2-0) fell in both frames of their opening series against the visiting Michigan Tech Huskies (2-0-0). Game one started out well enough for Wisconsin, as Caden Brown scored the first goal of his Badgers career just 1:13 into the contest, assisted by veterans Ryder Donovan and Dominick Mersch. Unfortunately for UW, this would be the team’s only lead of the weekend, and it did not take long to dissipate. At the 10:08 mark, the Huskies successfully converted a power play off of a Tyler
Inamoto boarding penalty, with Brett Thorne slapping one in to tie the game 1-1. The Badgers held firm for the rest of the first period, successfully killing a Roman Ahcan boarding penalty as the game looked like it was shaping up to be a primarily defensive battle. Michigan Tech quickly took control of the tone of the series, rattling off two unanswered goals in the first three minutes of the second period from senior Brian Halonen at 1:14 and junior Logan Pietila at 2:50. Facing a 3-1 deficit early in the second period, Wisconsin showed some fight, playing arguably their best five-minute sequence of the series. Wisconsin bore down on defense, limiting
Tech’s chances in front of the net. The defensive focus culminated in a breakaway unassisted Mathieu De St. Phalle goal to pull the Badgers within one with 13 minutes left in the period. The Kohl Center swelled with energy in the hope of a Badger comeback, but the Huskies promptly deflated the home crowd with yet another Logan Pietila goal two minutes later, extending the Tech lead to 4-2. After a frustrating couple of offensive sequences for the Badgers, in which each of the forward lines struggled to put together well-developed possessions, Michigan Tech took the wind completely out of UW’s sails with an Alec Broetzman goal off a Matthew Quercia dime at the 14:55 mark. This gave the Huskies a commanding 5-2 lead, a score that would hold for the remaining 25 minutes of the contest. Wisconsin starting goalie sophomore Cameron Rowe was pulled for junior Jared Moe after the Huskies’ fifth goal. While it was a disappointing season debut for the sophomore (12 saves, 5 goals allowed), there shouldn’t be an excessive amount of concern about his performance at this stage. It’s just one game; the young goalie is still coming off of a very promising freshman campaign and many of the five goals allowed on his watch were truly a team failure. A lack of passing lane dis-
ruption on defense and minimal offensive pressure on Michigan Tech ultimately led to a high number of quality chances for the Huskies, and UW paid the price. Credit is due to Moe for his performance in the third period of this game, not allowing a single goal and recording nine saves. However, the Badgers couldn’t manage to get another one through, and MTU took the first game with a final score of 5-2. Unfortunately for UW, Saturday night was mostly the same story for the Badgers. If anything, the issues on both sides of the ice in the first game seemed to exacerbate even further in the second. Jared Moe got the nod over Cameron Rowe for starting goalie, likely due to his solid work during Friday’s final period. However, it became clear soon into this game that UW’s problems cannot be fixed with a simple goalie fix, as Michigan Tech scored four straight unanswered goals against Moe across the first two periods. Broetzman, Trenton Bliss, Tyrone Bronte and Parker Saretsky all got the puck past Moe for Michigan Tech before UW head coach Tony Granato pulled the goalie at the 1:21 mark of the second period, placing Cameron Rowe back in the crease facing a daunting 4-0 deficit. Despite giving up a quick
goal at 2:50 in the second to put Michigan Tech up 5-0, Rowe stood solid for the last 34 minutes of the game, recording 11 saves and no more allowed goals. The offense wasn’t able to do much at any point in this game, going on several five-plus minute stretches without a shot on goal. Even when the Badgers did manage to get a shot off, the placement and speed weren’t sharp enough to get any by the Tech goalie, Blake Pietila. Wisconsin never seemed to find their rhythm, failing to establish their offensive sets and securing quality attempts. Much credit is deserved to the stout Husky defense for forcing the Badgers into awkward angles and desperate shot attempts. Still, UW certainly had several self-inflicted errors throughout the game. Michigan Tech would ultimately win the game comfortably with a score of 5-1, with the only Wisconsin goal coming early in the third period from Mersch. While it was a disappointing opening series overall for UW, the raw talent on this team was still evident in several sequences, and there is some room for optimism as long as the edges are smoothed out by the coaching staff over the next few weeks. The Badgers will look to bounce back against Army West Point at the Kohl Center this Thursday and Friday.
arts ‘Squid Game’ deserves the praise, it will be your new Netflix obsession Alisyn Amant STAFF WRITER
For the last week, Hwang Dong-hyuk’s “Squid Game” has dominated my life. My mother, sister and I attempted to dissect the tiniest details of the Korean survival drama for the entirety of an hour-long road trip. A friend and I discussed Halloween costume ideas, and then subsequently scoured Amazon for the now infamous green tracksuits that figure as key imagery of the show. At the beginning of a work call, my supervisor opened with, “Have you watched ‘Squid Game’ yet?” Being in the midst and an active participant of a distinct cultural phenomenon feels strangely exhilarating. Netflix analysts predict the show will become the company’s most viewed production. Even just three weeks since its initial release on Sept. 17, major entertainment and business publications continue to write feature stories on the creative forces behind it. “Squid Game” content is constantly trending on social media platforms and cast members have seen substantial growth in follower counts. And, yes, “Squid Game” does deserve all the praise it’s receiving. The central conflicts of the show aren’t presented as “never before seen” or revolutionary. Notably, it’s been compared to the themes of Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” (2019) and the plot points of the “Saw” film series. An anonymous unit of men stalk the streets of South Korea, searching for vulnerable people. After identification, these individuals are invited to participate in the “Games.” Anyone who’s accepted the offer finds themselves unexpectedly thrown into a perilous fight for their lives. They must compete in a variety of classic Korean children’s games or be “eliminated.” Or, killed, as they soon discover. But the reward is a tempting sum of money.
OFFICIAL NETFLIX “SQUID GAME” POSTER/NETFLIX
Netflix's "Squid Game" offers commentary on wealth disparities and other societal failings through flawless filmmaking. Characters range from gang members to a husband and wife pairing to ordinary people struggling to pay their debts. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the central protagonist, has a severe gambling addiction, unable to support his mother and be a father to his 10-yearold daughter. Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) finds himself pursued by federal authorities after stealing money from clients of his investment team. Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) supports her younger brother after their escape from North Korea. Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) wishes to participate rather than simply let his brain tumor slowly kill him. It’s a convergence of life, tied together by the underlying current of anxiety around wealth disparities. Everyone needs money, and getting it means survival. The “Games” serve as a controlled simulation of that fierce impulse. It’s not difficult
to understand what the show attempts to say about illusions of morality and the predatory behavior the rich exhibit toward the poor; but “Squid Game” differs from its predecessors in that it executes this commentary flawlessly. The entire cast — even the extras with directions to simply scream in terror — excels at making the somewhat unbelievable plot a believable one. There is palpable fear on the face of every person. Anxiety permeates every moment. A viewing experience of “Squid Game” means sweaty hands and sitting on the edge of one’s seat. Added to heartwrenching dialogue and gutting scenes illustrating the worst of human immorality, it certainly cannot be considered a comfortable one. Lee Jung-jae especially shines as Seong Gi-hun, the central protagonist. He’s immediately introduced as unwittingly foolish and the butt of the joke, but his charac-
ter is far from static. The psychological transformations Gi-hun undergoes throughout the series are stunningly realistic with Lee in charge of depicting them. Any actor might have trouble pulling accurate emotional responses for a situation in which one finds themselves drugged, brought to a remote island and made to watch others be brutally murdered. Not Lee. His eyes make the tiniest twitches in anguish. He walks with a gait, shoulders slightly down, that makes tangible the character’s insecurities and humble submission to the grit of the money-hungry world. With Lee, Gi-hun makes sense. Artistically, too, “Squid Game” calls attention to the absurdity of current hierarchical structures. Every set piece feels childish and morbidly humorous. The walls of the compound are reminiscent of Dr. Suess books, even when dead bodies hang from the rafters and the harsh red of blood mixes with the pale greens of
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paint. When players die, they are encased in black boxes with pink ribbons, a concisely wrapped present placed in the furnaces of a crematorium. The aesthetic choices intentionally mock the struggling masses. It’s easy to marvel happily at a giant, colorful playground, but it loses its glimmer of childhood nostalgia when a man is shot in the head and leaves behind a streak of blood as his limp body glides down the slide. To an outsider, the ridiculousness of the set successfully fuels that visceral, unsettling tension that “Squid Game” thrives on. No matter how playful the landscape, the brutal physicality of suffering within that space signifies harsh realities. Episode Six, “Gganbu,” exemplifies all of this. By this time, audiences are thoroughly invested in the livelihoods of a core group of players: Seong Gi-hun, Cho Sang-woo, Kang Sae-byeok, Oh Il-nam and Abdul Ali, a Pakistani immigrant with a wife and one-yearold son. While they’ve been successful as an unofficial unit, “Gganbu” forces the main cast to turn on one another and viewers to ask horrifying questions: who deserves to live and who deserves to die? How does one even begin to decide? It makes for one of the best episodes of television in history. Ultimately, international audiences are embracing “Squid Game” for good reason. It feels timely, addicting to watch and to think about long after the final episode. Many analysts assumed pandemic-era audiences were looking for escapism through lighthearted entertainment. Apparently, that’s not quite true: the goriness of “Squid Game” captivates millions. Even when the hype surrounding the series dies down, the unnerving reality it seeks to translate to the screen will live on. And maybe people are tired of looking away.
Summer Salt soars high By Hope Karnopp PODCAST EDITOR
The days leading up to Summer Salt’s arrival in Madison were rainy and dreary. But their concert at the Majestic Friday night made it clear that summer isn’t over yet. Summer Salt had two openers that matched their indie-rock vibe perfectly but also broached heavier subjects. The Breakup Shoes rocked the crowd into life. Their energy was incredible, with guitarist Jake Peña traveling up into the balcony at one point. The Majestic was so perfect for moments like this. I saw multiple people pulling out their phones during their set to look them up on Spotify. Their merch table was pretty crowded after the show. Covey took the stage next, which had a level of angst and heaviness that doesn’t typically show up in Summer Salt’s music. Their frontman, Tom Freeman, took a few minutes to tell
the story behind “Sam Jam.” Both openers were great companions to Summer Salt. However they played for about two hours, which was slightly too long, and I could feel my anticipation for the main act fading away a little bit. The openers’ harder rock elements were evened out perfectly when Summer Salt took the stage. They settled into some slower tempos but still charmed the crowd. Everything was pure happiness, from Eugene Chung’s smiles to Matthew Terry’s dance moves to all the guitar riffs. Summer Salt’s discography has evolved over the years, but they still hold on to their breezy, calming, beach rock roots even on Octoberthemed songs like “Hocus Pocus.” There were some classic songs like “Revvin’ my Cj7” and “Driving to Hawaii” that the whole crowd sang and swayed along to. When the crowd sang “Driving to
Hawaii” and Terry subbed in “driving to Wisconsin,” everyone screamed. I forgot how much I love it when bands love Wisconsin, even though they tell all the cities that. They asked the crowd what Wisconsin is famous for and we shouted cheese, which made me proud. There was a great balance between the contemplative songs and the ones that are just pure fun. There was also a good mix between tracks from their latest album and their old discography. The contrast between these times for the band was really meaningful. They ended their set with “Time Away from Home”, a track I listened to in the summer before going back to college. That song is about exploration and restlessness, a sentiment they portrayed in their earlier work. Watching live music again felt like being back home. The concert felt like a cloud lifted up, and Summer Salt showered in so much sunshine.
HOPE KARNOPP/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Summer Salt brought smiles to the Majestic with beachy songs and guitar solos.
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It is time to normalize therapy By Emma Friesberg STAFF WRITER
One of the world’s biggest podcasts has, very recently, officially endorsed the practice of therapy. Alexandria Cooper, host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy,” has created a loud buzz around the term, and for good reason. While Cooper usually keeps an eccentric tone throughout her work, her intense seriousness is an indication to listeners that she truly feels passionate about her point: Everyone that has the ability to go to therapy definitely should — and this should be a service we make more accessible. At the end of the day, as humans, we all have stuff going on. It’s okay to admit that. My first experiences in therapy, in honest language, were shitty. Neither I nor my therapist had any clue what we were doing, causing those Tuesday afternoons to be the lowest point of my week. My time there did not last long. After that, I thought that I was tough enough to figure my own issues out. In my mind, my life was not bad enough to warrant going to therapy again. I saw myself above asking for or needing help solving problems. My methodology worked out for most of high school. I was constantly stressed and anxious and made some extremely questionable choices — but that’s just part of
high school, isn’t it? Everyone else could deal with it. But then, towards the middle of my senior year, after a horrific day in online school, the independent-girl attitude fell through badly. The switch flipped, and I knew I had to suck it up and go. My first day back to therapy was anxiety inducing. Who the hell wants to sit around and talk about their feelings? What do I even talk about? Can I tell this stranger I just met about all of my boy issues? (The answer is yes. Sorry, Jennifer for never taking your advice). I knew I had problems I wanted to talk through, but had no idea where to start. Our culture places so much pressure on pretending everything is good and often shames the idea of being open about how we feel. These social implications made it a lot more difficult to start, but it turned out with a bit of work. Some days were serious, if I was feeling it. Other days were like casual chats, if that’s what I was feeling. The most important part of every session was not putting pressure on it to be anything. Therapy does not have to be big, scary talks, which was a big misconception I bought into a lot. Even the smallest changes to my thinking and actions that we worked on in our casual conversations made the biggest difference. Every day had its own benefit that eventually accumu-
lated over time, even when it did not seem like it. What finally came with my journey through therapy was a sense of peace of mind I didn’t know I was missing, but will always be grateful to know now. The most important lesson I took away was that it’s okay to not be the tough guy all the time. Asking someone for help or needing someone to tell you how to get it together is not a sign of weakness. I encourage most people now, even if they don’t think they need it, to take advantage of mental health services available. It sucks to admit that you can’t figure everything in this life out alone. It sucks even more when you know you need help, but aren’t sure where to start, or how. However, prioritizing mental health, especially as students, is one of the most important actions you can take for yourself and your success.
UW Madison Mental Health Services provides free access to mental health services to all UW-Madison students. UHS offers: Telehealth Services, Group Counseling, and Virtual Self-Care drop-ins If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, the 24/7 crisis line is (608)-265-5600.
The price of menstrating: socially and financially By Audrey Perry STAFF WRITER
ALTHEA DOTZOUR/UW-MADISON
First-year students participate in a watercolor paiting event on Sept. 6, 2021.
My experience as a ‘do-over’ freshman By Sophie Reeves
STAFF WRITER
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit my hometown of Boulder, Colo., I was a senior in high school. Prior to March 12, 2020, my mind was occupied with the upcoming end-of-year events that celebrated the culmination of my primary education. Then, the whole world changed. Like so many others, I viscerally felt the loss of normality. My world once again shifted when I began my first year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Sept. of 2020. Beginning college in an online environment — coupled with the fact that I lived in an apartment rather than the dorms — was a unique situation. In an effort to establish a separation between home and school, I eventually settled into a routine of going to the gym, participating in classes from my apartment and doing homework at Memorial Union.
All things considered, I did have a great experience my first year here, but I had no idea what I was missing out on. Now, I am a month into my sophomore year and already, things are vastly different. Given that we have a 93% vaccination rate on campus, the prevalence of COVID-19 has seemingly decreased and things have started to feel “normal” again. But what does normal even look like? We are living in a different world than we were before the pandemic started, and now it feels as if we are all desperately trying to make up for the year that we “lost.” Events are returning in full force, classes are in person and I am once again finding myself with a full schedule. I know that I am not alone in struggling with how to balance it all. Simultaneously, I feel as if I am going through a grief process with the recognition that there was so much
that I missed last year as a freshman, such as making “floor friends” in the dorms, meeting people in classes, Welcome Week events and more. Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly happy that the current freshmen have the opportunity to experience it all, but I can’t help but feel a stab of jealousy about how my transition to college was vastly different from theirs. While I am a sophomore, I am no wiser than any of the new freshmen, as I too am experiencing my first taste of “real college.” It is a hard situation to navigate, and many of my peers are in the same boat. However, in the long run, my classmates and I will be stronger for the adversity we have faced — from losing our senior prom and graduation to now being “do-over” freshmen in a newly-vaccinated world. More than anything though, I am simply grateful for the opportunity to be here.
At my local grocery store, I avoid eye contact with the cashier as I place the box of tampons on the counter. It seems to be a collective and mutual experience for people who menstruate to be embarrassed by their periods. I am told the price, pay and move on, dreading the next time I have to deal with the cycle of menstruation that comes along with a cycle of shame. Periods have a lot of stigma around them of being unsanitary, unnatural and gross. The lack of conversations around periods due to societal norms makes it difficult to address the issue of how much periods actually cost. Why do we need to pay for something that is biologically prone to happen, and why are we not talking about how many people can’t afford it? Period poverty is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products and menstrual education. Many may have not considered this phenom-
enon, but that can be credited to the lack of education of periods in schools, social or news. Let’s do some math. The average period lasts about five days. Depending on whether or not people who menstruate buy both pads and tampons, prices may vary. The New York Times states that the average person spends $9 per month on period products, adding up to about $108 per year, but a mother with two daughters states they spend about $50 per month. According to Duquesne University’s School of Nursing, the average person who menstruates spends around $2,000 on tampons in their lifetime, and 3.5 million do not have the finances to buy menstrual products. We also need to take into account contraception, which is not just for preventing pregnancy, but also for regulating periods and making them less painful. Without insurance — which a lot of people
can’t obtain — the average birth control pill costs $50 per month. That is $600 a year. These are all general statistics, but there are more details that come along with periods and factor into what to buy. Whether it be considering flow type, organic products, how long one’s cycle lasts or how many people are in one household who get their period, it is all relative to the person. However, one thing is clear: periods cost a lot of money. Embarrassment and expenses are not something people who menstruate should have to deal with every month. Rather than making those who menstruate conceal part of their natural biology, there should be a required education on the menstrual cycle for all genders. This could possibly destigmatize periods and lead to legislation similar to what Scotland put in place on Nov. 24, 2020: free period products for all.
ANN SELIGER/DAILY CARDINAL
Despite the stigma around menstration, one thing is clear: periods cost a lot of money.
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Bucky catches Chancellor Becky Blank with Willie the Wildcat, asks for amicable separation By Mackenzie Moore ALMANAC CONTRIBUTOR
This week, University of Wisconsin-Madison students were shocked to learn via Twitter that Chancellor Becky Blank has decided to leave the university at the end of the academic year to become the president of Northwestern University. While her tenure has seen an increase in graduation rates and a historic high of underrepresented students in this year’s freshman class, she is best known among students as the most prime meme material on campus. The original tweet and accompanying statement from the university solely reflected on Blank’s time and achievements since she became chancellor in 2013, but it seems that the events surrounding the announcement were not so cut-and-dry. There were numerous reports of Northwestern mascot Willie the Wildcat on campus early last week. Originally thought to be a visit to speak with Bucky about the upcoming football game between the two universities on Nov. 13, it appears that Willie organized this
meeting as a front to spend time one-on-one with Blank. A source close to the situation says that Willie and Becky Blank had been in frequent contact since she left her job as a professor at the university in 1999. The pair recently decided that they couldn’t take the distance anymore, leading Willie to scamper 145 miles from Evanston to the UW campus. A witness says that events came to a head late last Tuesday night. “I was walking down the street for some pre-bedtime Kwik Trip, as you do,” said the witness. “I was passing by Camp Randall and couldn’t help but notice this strange sound coming from near the bushes across the street — it was a sort of feral meow. I decided to take a closer look and saw Becky scratching behind Willie’s ear; I felt like it was inappropriate to keep watching, so I left pretty quickly. I was just thinking, ‘get a room you two.’” On the way back to their apartment, another witness said that they saw Bucky speaking to Becky under the Camp Randall
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF ZOE BENDOFF
Memorial Arch, with Willie lurking close behind. At this point, the source pulled out their phone to record the conversation. “I catch you scratching behind
this cat’s ear, meanwhile, you haven’t so much as gently patted the top of my head for months,” Bucky lamented. “And to make matters worse, you’re doing this in
my own home — my happy place. What’s next, feeding him Meow Mix by hand on the 50-yard line? It’s unacceptable, Rebecca.” Bucky was then heard telling the chancellor that he wants an amicable separation for the sake of the students, saying that unlike Becky, he loves the students “like they’re his own cubs.” Becky agreed without hesitation. “You couldn’t have paid me enough to stay. It’s not about money. I need a new challenge; I need something to fix. Willie and I are going to Evanston together as soon as the spring semester is over, and I’m not coming back.” As seen on Camp Randall security footage, Bucky then returned to the stadium to call the owners of the cows that Becky had bullied over the years, a reoccurring event first covered by The Daily Cardinal in last week’s Almanac section, to give them the good news. At the time of publication, it was determined that Northwestern is, in fact, paying Becky Blank enough to stay, indicating that it may be a little bit about the money.
Paul Chryst Invites Taliban Fighters to Camp Randall to Help By Nick Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR
In anticipation for his team’s showdown with Army on Saturday night, Head Coach Paul Chryst invited Taliban guerillas to his team’s practice Wednesday to help them prepare. “We gotta beat the Army this weekend, so I figured why not bring in somebody who’s done it before,” Chryst told reporters between long swigs of Coors Light. A week after shutting out Illinois and Brett Bielema, who looks like he’s had a Coors Banquet for every one of Chryst’s Coors Lights, Wisconsin has
still yet to beat a real division-one NCAA team — sorry again directional Michigan. Unfortunately they won’t get an opportunity to do so Saturday, but Chryst appears to be excited for the opportunity to continue stomping out clearly inferior opponents. “Thirty-nine total points? More like 39th parallel north,” Chryst said, referring to the game’s over/under. “Bet the under, because the Army can’t touch either.” A confident Chryst and his Badgers have apparently learned a lot from the Taliban this week. Starting RB Chez
Mellusi noted that the wisdom they brought was “far more educational than any class [he’s] taken in the B-School.” “The first thing Abu told me was that we have to take advantage of playing on our home field,” Chryst said. “We know the terrain, and they don’t. Apparently that’s a pretty big deal.” The Taliban also emphasized that Wisconsin needs to win the time of possession battle, already one of the team’s strengths. The fighters told the Badgers that if they can keep Army’s defense on the field long enough, they’ll eventually give up and go home.
“When you’re out there in the cold trying to tackle a 240-pound Braelon Allen, 20 minutes can feel like 20 years, which is pretty much exactly long enough,” said one Taliban soldier. However, Wisconsin did not incorporate all of the Taliban’s suggestions for the game-plan, which included removing the “Hail Mary” from the Badgers’ playbook, advocating for a different last-resort strategy. “Take it from us,” said the Taliban soldiers. “If you tell them your victory is vital to defeat communism, the Army will actually help you.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Camp Randall student section to be named after student who swallowed vomit By Mackenzie Moore ALMANAC CONTRIBUTOR
Camp Randall has been the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s full-time football stadium since 1917. Considering its long and storied history, the Oct. 1 announcement that the stadium’s field would soon become known as Barry Alvarez Field was not received passively; the reaction was particularly strong among those with poor reading comprehension who believed that the stadium itself was being renamed. However, honoring the university’s longtime football coach and athletic director overshadowed another significant change — beginning in the 2022 football
season, the student section will be named after Brett Rawley, a courageous student who managed to hold in his own vomit during the home win against Eastern Michigan. Those who have been in the student section understand how disastrous it can be when someone nearby is too drunk. These individuals often mean trouble: from fights, domino effect falls and worst of all, projectile vomiting. While people can keep a safe distance from these drunks during tailgates, once packed into the bleachers, there will inevitably be people stuck in the splash zone. When too intoxicated, most find it difficult to walk down stairs, let alone choke back the body’s natural inclination to rid itself of poison — in Rawley’s
case: that last Natty. Still, the junior persevered, saving those around him from a catastrophe. According to eyewitnesses, Rawley began drinking at approximately 1 p.m. — six hours before kickoff. He began by taking several shots of Jim Beam Apple Whiskey and a few swigs of Skrewball, allowing him to tell himself that he had fruit
and a third of a PB&J for lunch. He then proceeded to shotgun a beer with each of his close friends as they showed up to the tailgate, IMAGE BY COLE HOOPER resulting in 12 additional drinks. He then seems to have gone missing for roughly two and a half hours before returning with a mostly empty jar of jungle juice from a still unknown source. Lastly, for good measure, he absolutely destroyed the aforementioned can of Natty. Rawley is said to have been in good spirits through most of
the first three quarters. However, when it was time for Jump Around, he reportedly grabbed the shoulders of the people to his sides for dear life and went pale before ultimately appearing to take a big gulp and wince. Reporters attempted to contact Rawley after last Saturday’s Michigan game in order to get his thoughts on the honor, but those close to him stated that he had already blacked out and was carried to his room by his roommates. As a show of gratitude, however, students were seen placing Chipotle burritos, Chinese food and Powerade outside of Rawley’s door for when he inevitably woke up to face the disaster he brought upon himself — just as his forefathers had done and he would inevitably do again.
We’re always looking for more funny and insightful writers with fresh takes on topics ranging from the UW campus to international news. We accept and encourage creative submissions as well! Any and all submissions are more than welcome. You can send your submissions and any comments or questions to almanac@dailycardinal.com. All articles featured in Almanac are creative, satirical and/or entirely fictional pieces. They are fully intended as such and should not be taken seriously as news.
opinion An evaluation of a modern college degree 8
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By EM-J KRIGSMAN OPINION DESK EDITOR
With the onset of midterms upon the University of WisconsinMadison campus, stress levels are undeniably soaring. For those similar to myself, previous midterm weeks have consisted of excessive caffeine intake, countless office hours visits and many sleepless nights. For far too long I have taken to the habit of prioritizing my grades above my mental health and at the sacrifice of my social life. Grades for me have always been the end all be all. In speaking on behalf of my experiences, this year has been a whirlwind of commitments and assignments. At the risk of foreseeable burnout with the mental pressure ahead, I have set out to evaluate the worth of a college education. Our society feeds youth the unbreakable message that we need to do well in high school to get into a good college, and do well in college to get a good job. Under this line of reasoning, midterms and finals week become pressure cooking events that seem crucial to our life’s success. In practice, this mentality is often far from the complete picture. Students with perfect marks do well financially, but more often students with a few blemishes on their record reach the highest echelons of our economy. That be it, mastery of college courses does not equate to mastery in the professional realm. Still, the greatest reason stu-
dents of the twenty-first century are pursuing a college degree is “to be able to get a better job.” Simultaneously, the number of students going to college to “make more money” has increased by 28.3% from 1971 to 2014. A college degree is perceived as an occupational investment. Nonetheless, nearly half of all college graduates are employed within occupations that do not require a degree. While those with a college degree are still employed at higher rates than those without one, higher education does not guarantee a superior job. The problem is that going to college is no longer unique. In 1965, only 5.92 million Americans were pursuing higher education, positively differentiating educated job applicants. Today, there are nearly 20 million enrolled students, more than triple an increase. Modern grade inflation has raised the average GPA by .63 over the past sixty years. Anything above a 3.5 is good in the eyes of an employer. Progressively inflating grades has allowed the majority of college students to attain this benchmark. As things stand, the idea that going to college and performing well will ensure a life of prosperity is an outdated folktale. Earning a college degree and attaining a high GPA is not special. Earning a college degree and attaining a high GPA is the standard. Ironically, most adults years out of college struggle to recall
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anything they learned in their courses but remember the people and experiences easily. It is irrational to claim that a college degree is for its educational value or headway in the job applicant pool when the education is forgotten, but the experiences remain clear. The real value in 21st-century college education is the connections and personal growth that follow you for a lifetime. As much as 80% of job positions are acquired through these connections. Attending university provides students with a unique social opportunity to meet hundreds of new people from all across the world, enabling affiliations with people who have countless different mindsets, upbringings and talents. Over two-thirds of people meet their closest friends in college, growing one’s set of loyal companions and enhancing one’s network for employment opportunities. A college degree or a high GPA alone will never triumph over the applicant who is buddies with the CEO. Universities also provide their students with extensive connections from their growing alumni associations. These organizations are full of employers looking to give back by utilizing current students and recent graduates. Doubtlessly, many factors are taken into consideration in hiring decisions, but being from the same college as a potential
PHOTO BY ZILING GUO
employer creates an unmatched connection that is more than enough to get through the door. At the academic level, forcing college students to declare a major, a passion they desire to pursue, allows students to narrow their career paths. In this process, 80% of students change their major at least once and more than half change their major three times. This development is paramount, ensuring students are pursuing a career path that interests them. Most life lessons, however, are absorbed outside of the classroom. College represents the first time students are living on their own. In having complete control over their schedules, students can absorb themselves in extracurriculars or lock themselves in the library. Everything in college is up to the individual, forcing students to learn independence, communication, time management, among other skills. If college was just for gain-
ing a degree, there would not be anything problematic with online learning. The uproar to return students to campus during the onset of COVID-19 verifies the importance of college for personal growth and development. A college degree, and the accolades that come with it, are a mere checkmark for your resume. The connections and exposure along the way are the invaluable takeaways from college that make us different and prepare us for life. College is four short years that we need to make the most of while it lasts. Not getting your dream job of the future will not be because you got a C in organic chemistry. However, it may very well be because you missed out on social experiences and extracurricular involvement to earn that C. So as midterms progress, I for one am going to try my best to remove my ingrained obsession for perfection. The mentality that perfect grades are essential for life success is toxic, degrading and inaccurate. Study hard and prepare well, but realize so long as we graduate in good standing, we are in the same position as millions of other graduates.
Em-J Krigsman is an Opinion Editor for The Daily Cardinal. She is a rising sophomore studying Political Science and Journalism. Do you agree that a college degree is no longer for its educational value? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
Election fraud in Wisconsin is real, the facts are not By LUKE PIERCE STAFF WRITER
Out of the roughly three million Wisconsinites who cast ballots this past November, only four voters were charged with election fraud. However, we still seem to find the results to be highly contested amongst our peers and our elected officials. After a year of relentless disinformation surrounding the 2020 presidential election, we need to be done with this conversation. The process of election in our state will in no sense ever be immune to human error. Nevertheless, the notion that the 2020 election was stolen was fueled by disingenuous intentions and exasperated claims. By now, it’s well-established that most of the arguments put forward by President Trump’s reelection campaign — in its challenge of the results of the 2020 election — are baseless and highly speculative. Even so, we still find election results being investigated in Wisconsin on the order of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Justice Michael Gableman. There is no harm in “going through the motions,” as one would say, but we are far past this idea. As scenes in courtrooms nationwide have shown, it seems there is indeed a downside for those tasked with pursuing these claims. Repeatedly now, they have been rebuked by judges for how thin their argu-
ments have been. Back in November, a claim made by former president Trump himself suggested that turnout in Wisconsin jumped from 67.34% in 2016 to 89.25% in 2020. “I’m calling bull****,” he said in a statement following this socalled “statistic.” This tweet — straight from our chief executive — amassed over 13,000 shares. Despite being only one claim of many, simple election math will point to the fact there is no bull**** to be seen. As we know, Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration, meaning the number of registered voters will go up throughout the day. More prominently speaking, using fixed registered voters to calculate turnout was and would be inaccurate. Voter turnout in a same-day registration state is based on the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot. Accurately estimating turnout rates requires dividing the number of votes actually cast by the voting-age population. Using this method, we find that turnout rates in Wisconsin landed around 72%, well in range of past presidential elections. Beyond registration statistics — Trump, Wisconsin state officials and constituents alike also look to voting violations to cast doubt on what should be undisputed results. Bear in mind, this fabricated idea and seemingly reoccurring rhetoric came shortly before the recently dismissed state audits, partial recount and
numerous failed lawsuits looking to uncover even a scrap of evidence suggesting widespread election fraud. The case for “wrongdoing” suggests that there are only 27 possible cases out of the roughly 3.3 million votes cast in Wisconsin, 18 of which have already been dropped. Reiterating the fact that there have only been four confirmed, it is absolutely baffling to use this as a figure for argument in a race that was decided by a margin of more than 20,000 votes. Luckily, all hope does not seem to be lost for our divided, and exceptionally partisan state. In early September, two well-known Wisconsin Republicans refuted the idea of mass voter fraud in our state. For one, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) quoted, “the only reason Trump lost Wisconsin is 51,000 Republican voters didn’t vote for him; if all the Republicans voted for Trump the way they voted for [state] assembly candidates, he would have won.” Despite the numerous failed investigative attempts and ongoing probe led by Vos and Gableman, we see other Republican legislators adhere to logic over speculative assumptions. In late September, Sen. Kathy Bernier (R-WI) looked to fill the void of uncertainty with information that her fellow legislators and divergent constituents seem to overlook. Bernier, who chairs the Senate’s elections committee, organized an infor-
mational session to explain how Wisconsin’s elections work. The informational session provided an opportunity not seen often in the hyper-partisan political climate of Wisconsin. This represented a proactive non-partisan effort to deliver answers to divided legislators and voters. Bernier held the hearing in the midst of the ongoing investigation ordered by Vos, sending a real message to her colleagues across the aisle. “I want to make sure that the misinformation that is perpetuated out there has been addressed because it is driving me nuts to listen to people,” Bernier stated in an interview. Frustrated by the outcome of this last November — and consequently upset with the continuous challenges against those results — we remain in contention with one another. The University of WisconsinMadison has been well regarded for providing objective political information in their courses. Nonetheless, in our healing post-pandemic world, we still see relentless political disputation across our campus and state. While we must leave room for internal dissension, we can not rely on the credence and comfort we find in our own constituency. Science, logic and neutral dialect must lead the way in our fight for political tranquility. In embodying the beauty of the democratic process there will still be conflicting discourse. However, the collective and com-
IRENA CLARKOWSKI/THE DAILY CARDINAL
prehensive takeaway of this conversation is to understand when to set aside emotionally driven, predisposed presumptions. The concern for election fraud is very existent, even 10 months after the presidential election. Yet, these beliefs are far from material, regardless of your pronounced political association. As put by Dean Knudson, a member of the Wisconsin Election Committee, “I challenge you to set aside your political beliefs … take off your red hat, or your blue hat and be a neutral juror in this committee.” That is what I encourage and challenge you to do. As a collective our goal remains the same: making sure the environment we share reaches its full potential. If you are passionate enough to push for the betterment of our state and political agenda, set aside ideological pullings so we can deal with real issues.
Luke Pierce is a Junior studying Political Science and Economics. Do you agree with his opinion on election misinformation? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com
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Thursday, October 14, 2021
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No bones about it: gnathosome skeletons!
ZOE BENDOFF / STAFF ARTIST
By Joyce Riphagen SCIENCE EDITOR
Unless you are a sentient worm reading the papers (in which case, please contact us for an interview), you have some bones. A whole skeleton’s worth, hopefully. At first glance, there’s a substantial difference between human skeletons and other skeletons — birds and bats have wings; stingrays have a terrifying bone fan. However, despite gross morphological differences, the basis of all vertebrate skeletons is actually the same. A vertebrate is an animal with a vertebral column, or backbone. The vertebral column evolved to replace the notochord found in chordates. Vertebrates arose during the Cambrian explosion, a period about 541 million years ago during which animals underwent a massive radiation of evolution. They are a clade, meaning they all evolved from one common ancestor. In this case, that
They may look extremely different, but these dinosaur and animal skeletons have more in common than meets the eye. common ancestor was likely in the genus Myllokunmingia, a weird, lumpy slug-lookin’ thingy whose fossils have been found in China. 99% of living vertebrates, including humans and other recognizable groups such as birds and reptiles, are contained within a subclass of the clade called the gnathostomes — from Greek gnath, meaning jaw, and stoma, meaning mouth. The gnathostomes all have jaws, as well as certain other distinguishing traits. This relationship means there’s even more similarity between your skeleton and the skeleton of other gnathostomes. Yay! Gnathostome skeletons, with all their variations, share a basis that stems back to the same common ancestor. As a result, bones that are homologous (having the same value or function) to each other are fairly recognizable across species. Take a look at your hand. Wiggle your fingers, flex and
extend your wrist. Now, move upward — bend your elbow, and extend it. Move your arms up and down. The bones that allow you to make all these fun movements are essentially the same bones that make up the wings of birds! Just like you, birds have a humerus that articulates with the shoulder blade. They have a radius and an ulna, and tarsal bones leading down to digits. They even have little digits, fingerbones that are directly connected to their primary feathers towards the end of the wing. In birds, some digits have been lost, but the base structure of the arm relies on the same bones. Remember that the next time you’re out for wings. Birds have another unique skeletal structure that corresponds to the human sternum. Flying requires some pretty big pecs, and big pecs means … you guessed it, a bigger skeletal anchor for the pectoral musculature! Birds therefore have a keel
that runs axially along their breastbone for the muscles to attach to. If you’re ever holding a bird for some reason, you can feel the keel right underneath the skin. As further proof of the relationship between form and function, flightless birds like penguins lack a keeled skeleton. Sucks for them. Let’s move to the hips. How many directions can you (safely) move your leg? How far can you abduct it? Compare this to the movement of your arms from the shoulder. Now imagine a cow. It can be any color you want. Could a cow move it’s front limbs like you can move your arms? Probably not, unless it was a weird super cow. But you and the cow should have a pretty similar range of motion from the hips. Given that a cow’s leg and arm bones are pretty similar to yours — why is this? Think about the cow again — or a different cow, if you like. Cows, unlike primates
(including humans), do not need to do a lot of swinging or movement from the shoulder in general — they just need to hold themselves up while walking or running around doing cow things. Even if the cows wanted to, they couldn’t start swinging around on trees, as their skeletons aren’t designed for that. Both the shoulder and hip girdles of bovine skeletons provide stability to the joints-just like your hip girdle provides stability to your legs. However, this stability comes at the expense of range of motion. Getting to know your skeleton, as well as the skeletons of other creatures, can be lots of fun, and a great way to learn about evolution, comparative anatomy and physiology. If you’re ever feeling bored, start looking up skeletons, and comparing them to your own (or any other human skeleton). You may be surprised by the similarities you find.
STEM Major Spotlight: Global Health By Emily Rohloff SCIENCE EDITOR
Not sure if you want to go to medical school? Are you interested in both bioscience and social science and not sure which to pursue? Becoming a Global Health major could be the right move for you! Laura Stockhausen, a current junior majoring in Global Health at the University of WisconsinMadison, says the major provides students, pre-med or not, with a deeper understanding of the healthcare field. “Global health allows me to look at the healthcare system as a whole, not just one aspect or field of it. I am able to learn preventative care, individual level care, systemic functions of the healthcare system, etc,” Stockhausen said.
The Global Health major focuses on improving health equitably for all people worldwide. However, while a lot of people may think “global” in Global Health refers to an international aspect, it actually addresses the issues spanning geographic and socioeconomic boundaries. It focuses on disease and illness prevention, as well as addressing root causes of health challenges around the world. The major can be found within the bioscience and public health program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Students will study human health and well-being through population-level and planetary health perspectives. You will learn how to quantify health challenges, compare and contrast health and
environmental conditions, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary initiatives and use socioeconomic frameworks to characterize health challenges. Stockhausen says learning and understanding global health, and all its facets, is more crucial now than ever as it provides insight on where systemic health issues stem from. The coursework students are required to take contains core classes, such as Chem 103/104, Bio 151/152 and Stats 371, while also allowing students the freedom to fill additional credit requirements with courses they find relevant, interesting or compatible with their career path. Stockhausen, who is pre-med, has been able to major in Global Health while still fulfilling the
requirements necessary to get into medical school. “You have that flexibility to choose classes that interest you, fit your career path and go outside of the normal biology or chemistry pathway,” Stockhausen explained. The careers global health students are able to go into postundergraduate are flexible, as not all require graduate school. Students can choose careers from a doctor to a community development worker to a data analyst/researcher. Stockhausen is currently deciding between getting her doctorate or becoming a public health analyst, a person who creates efficient solutions to health problems and conducts research to expand and improve current health programs. If you are looking to gain
a better understanding of the healthcare system, become more involved in disease biology, food systems, epidemiology or public health and policy, then check out the Global Health major!
BRYCE RICHTER / UW-MADISON
Think about Global Health.