University of Wisconsin-Madison
SHOULD WE PLAY NICE WITH BIG BROTHER?
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Thursday, October 3, 2019
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CAMPUS LAB AND THE WOLF POPULATION +opinion, page 7
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Local news guarantees community
STEM lacks female voices in classroom By Morgan Lock
By Allison Garfield
STAFF WRITER
ways of simulating that in an electronic search but I just think that that space needs to be there and it needs to be rich with texts.” In response, England gives his undergraduate classes at least one assignment that requires them to delve into the stacks at Memorial Library, learn how the library system works and take advantage of the resources librarians can provide. He sees it as his personal responsibility to give his students the confidence to research and discover for themselves.
More women than ever are participating in science, technology, engineering and math research at UW-Madison. However, there remains a disconnect in women feeling like they have a place in the classroom. A 2016 Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute of the University of WisconsinMadison survey showed that more women than ever before are participating in STEM-related research on campus. “Every year more and more female engineers graduate. The idea of a male dominated field is getting less and less prevalent,” Sydney Heimer, a sophomore studying Biomedical Engineering said. “It’s hard to know for sure because I didn’t see what things were like in my mom’s engineering classes, for example, but from what she’s told me, it’s getting a lot better.” Aurelie Rakotondrafara, an assistant professor working in a plant pathology lab, has yet to have a lab with less females than men since 2011. “Whoever applies — regardless of gender — if you are good [at your job], I think yes please come. I would say that we do make an effort not to prioritize candidates that are female, but we do encourage them,” Rakotondrafara said. Although some fields such as Environmental and Biomedical Engineering have started to take strides towards female inclusion, some fields remain behind. Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical
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CITY NEWS EDITOR
“Public discussion is a political duty,” the Supreme Court said in 1964. What is nott documented in the court case is how public discussion cannot exist without local journalism. It’s a common conception that local news coverage is dull and monotonous — lots of budget meetings, traffic reports and crime coverage. As the City News Editor at the Daily Cardinal, I encounter this perception frequently. Yet, local papers across the country are providing the information necessary for public discourse, from obituaries so that people know who they’ve lost, to local coverage on small businesses so people know where to go. These things matter to an informed community. Madison has “hyper-engaged local citizenry,” according to CapTimes reporter Abigail Becker — and that makes it even more vital. “Local government reporting is critically important to residents in any town, village, city or county,” Becker said. “It can be under-reported and somewhat undervalued.” Becker attributes some of this to the appeal of larger government news coverage. “Covering state and national government is really sexy [and] a lot of people are drawn to it because it’s big, it’s important,” Becker added. “But local government is just as important — the decisions that are made in [the] city will have a very direct, real and almost immediate impact on people.” Becker has been reporting at CapTimes for almost three years and primarily covers city and county
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GRAPHIC BY LYRA EVANS
While UW-Madison’s plan to modernize libraries through mass digitalization is designed to make resources more accessible, could removing physical copies from the campus’ stacks have unexpected consequences?
Screening the stacks By Sarah Kafka STAFF WRITER
In the Memorial Library stacks, students find old books, quiet study spaces and campus rumors of an axe murderer. At night it can feel like the start of a B- horror movie, but students have discovered their research and study skills here for 91 years. As more students favor internet connections, there is a push towards the digitization of more than three million volumes of books in Memorial Library; manifested in many forms. UW-Madison and libraries across the country have begun digitizing their physical
books, and Memorial Library’s crypt of knowledge is in danger of being axed itself. “Every once in a while, we’ll do a show of hands. You’ll have juniors and seniors say they’re never actually been inside Memorial Library,” UW-Madison Professor Samuel England said. “This always concerns me.” Having everything online can curtail discovery and drive learning into predetermined channels, he added. “[A library] needs to be a place that you can explore and be surprised by what you find on the shelf,” England said. “There are
Wisconsin lawmakers seek to legalize sports gambling, affecting negotiations with tribal nations By Bremen Keasey STAFF WRITER
States can now decide to legalize sports gambling after a 2018 Supreme Court decision — and some Wisconsin lawmakers want to get in on the action. Rep. Tyler Vorpagel, R-Plymouth, believes legalization would yield financial benefits — it would keep money in the state instead of losing potential revenues to other border states that legalized sports gambling. Illinois, Iowa and Indiana legalized sports gambling, while Minnesota and Michigan legislators are considering similar moves. The accessibility that Wisconsinites have to easily cross state lines to make bets is one big
reason why Vorpagel hopes to change legislation. “It doesn’t make sense [for Wisconsin] if other states allow gambling and can capture Wisconsin dollars from people interested in gambling,” Vorpagel said. Despite this, Vorpagel realized it may not be a reality in the near future because the state constitution has a blanket prohibition on gambling. There are two major hoops to jump through to get any legislation passed: First, getting a bill passed through the Legislature requires two consecutive sessions, followed by a statewide referendum in order to change the state’s constitution. The second — and potentially more challenging step — would be negotiat-
ing with tribal casinos.
“It doesn’t make sense [for Wisconsin] if other states allow gambling and can capture Wisconsin dollars from people interested in gambling.” Tyler Vorpagel State Representative R-Plymouth
Wisconsin’s 11 tribal nations operate 26 casinos — but they also are not allowed to offer sports betting. If a sports gambling bill is passed, the tribal nations would have to “renegotiate” their agree-
ments with the state to include it, according to a report issued in June by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. Renegotiation would likely end payments for the exclusive right of gambling to the state from tribal nations amounting to $53 million during fiscal year 2017-’18, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Some reports suggest the addition of sports gambling might not add as much to tax revenue as expected. Mississippi and Pennsylvania — two states that recently legalized sports gambling — brought in half of what they expected. Yet, Nevada brought in around $20 million from tax revenue despite nearly $5 billion worth of bets.
Vorpagel said since the Supreme Court decision was only a year ago, there is not much data about revenue to compare to Wisconsin. However, he thinks legalizing gambling would bring financial benefits by allowing for more competition in the marketplace. Despite the long road ahead for any possible legalization, Vorpagel believes it’s something people are interested in. Across a lot of sports media, podcasts or TV networks, gambling shows are more mainstream and also increase the amount of people who watch sports. “I think that if we would amend the constitution and it went to the voters, I personally think it would pass,” Vorpagel said.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”