Tuesday, November 4, 2014 - The Daily Cardinal

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

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WIL GIBB/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Election Day: Historic races already set a voting record

By Andrew Bahl THE DAILY CARDINAL

THOMAS YONASH/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

JANE THOMPSON/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Voters will be able to cast their ballot at their designated location between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

More than 289,000 absentee ballots have already been submitted in advance of the potentially historic Nov. 4 midterm elections, according to numbers released by the Government Accountability Board Monday.

“We have easily surpassed all absentee voting for the 2012 recall,” GAB director Kevin J. Kennedy said in a press release, noting that the absentee ballots represent 11 percent of the projected 2.5 million Wisconsin voters.

The projected turnout of 2.5 million voters—56.5 percent of the state population—would represent a record for a November gubernatorial election.

The gubernatorial election could have historic implications for the

Faculty Senate hears proposal to increase textbook affordability

By Scott Bembenek THE DAILY CARDINAL

The UW-Madison Faculty Senate heard a presentation from the Associated Students of Madison University Affairs Committee Monday regarding how it can aid the committee’s campaign for textbook affordability.

University Affairs presenters focused on what Faculty Senate members and their departments could do to aid the textbook buying process, especially when it comes to providing students with information on the necessary books for their courses.

The main focus was to ask

Senate members to speak with their departments about providing students with a list of necessary class materials at least two to three weeks prior to the start of instruction. ASM presenters proposed this would allow students ample time to find the best prices on materials, wait for shipping and exchange books with other students.

In addition, the presenters noted the University Book Store pays students an average of about $34 for adopted textbooks, as opposed to about $13 for books that are not officially

textbooks page 3

THE DAILY CARDINAL

The city of Madison will come alive with music next year after Board of Estimates members voted unanimously to recommend amendments to the 2015 executive operating budget Monday that provide funding for citywide

events such as the Revelry and Make Music Madison festivals.

The budget amendments include providing $5,000 for Revelry Music and Arts Festival, offering $20,000 to Make Music Madison and $25,000 for Madison Songwriting Conference and Festival.

NIAMH RAHMAN/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The UW-Madison Faculty Senate, headed by Chancellor Rebecca Blank, heard about textbook afforability Monday.

UW-Madison students attended the meeting to speak on funding for Revelry, a festival previously funded solely by donations and entering its third year of running.

Sarah Bergman, president of the Wisconsin Union, said festival administrators relied on

It’s YOUR day to VOTE +OPINION, page 4

election page 3

UWPD reports high BAC levels, citations Saturday

City’s 2015 budget could bring more music to Madison

By Patricia Johnson

state, as incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker squares off against Democratic challenger Mary Burke.

If elected, Burke, a former Trek Bicycle executive, would become the first female governor in Wisconsin history. Walker has a seven—point lead over Burke in the most recent Marquette University Law School poll.

The state attorney general race is closer, as Republican Brad Schimel holds a four point lead over Democrat Susan Happ in the most recent Marquette poll. With 14 percent of voters undecided, the race to replace current Attorney General J.B Van Hollen is up for grabs.

Three open state senate seats make Wisconsin one of the few states in the country to have a sen-

donations from different university establishments including the Office of the Chancellor and Dean of Students Office.

“The only way we’re going to continue to have this festival is if we look toward more sustainable

music page 3

The UW-Madison Police Department reported several cases of extreme intoxication during Halloween weekend.

UWPD issued 29 citations for underage alcohol consumption or possession, and police transported 13 students to detoxification facilities.

Due to the Tellurian Detoxification Center reaching capacity early Saturday evening, police also took some students to other area hospitals.

A 19-year-old student had a preliminary blood alcohol content of .32, according to the police report.

UWPD found him stumbling inside Gordon Commons after running into a closed door Sunday shortly after midnight.

The student reportedly displayed slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and presented three different answers when asked for his birthdate. Police then took him to detox and issued a citation.

The cost of detox can vary, but is typically around $530 and often not covered by insurance. The fine for underage possession or consumption of alcohol is $263.50.

While UWPD did not officially partner with the Madison Police Department, the MPD will release their arrest and citation numbers Wednesday.

Umphrey’s McGee returns to Madison

+ARTS, page 6

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

almanac 2

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hi 54º / lo 36º

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 124, Issue 35

2142 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, Wis., 53706-1497 (608) 262-8000 • fax (608) 262-8100

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com

tODAY: rain

Editor-in-Chief Jack Casey

Wednesday: rain hi 55º / lo 39º

dailycardinal.com

How is everyone responding to the annual gravity savings?

Managing Editor Jonah Beleckis

News Team News Manager Sam Cusick Campus Editor Adelina Yankova College Editor Emily Gerber City Editors Irene Burski, Patricia Johnson State Editor Eoin Cottrell Associate News Editor Dana Kampa Features Editor Melissa Howison Opinion Editors Ryan Bullen • Cullen Voss Editorial Board Chair Haley Henschel Arts Editors Cheyenne Langkamp • Sean Reichard Sports Editors Jack Baer • Jim Dayton Almanac Editors Andy Holsteen • Kane Kaiman Photo Editors Emily Buck • Thomas Yonash Associate Photo Editor Will Chizek Graphics Editor Cameron Graff Multimedia Editors Alana Katz • Ian Zangs Science Editor Danielle Smith Life & Style Editor Claire Satterfield Special Pages Editor Haley Henschel Copy Chiefs Kara Evenson • Justine Jones Jessie Rodgers • Paige Villiard Copy Editors Andrew Edstrom Social Media Manager Rachel Wanat

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The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of WisconsinMadison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000.

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Editorial Board Jack Casey • Jonah Beleckis Haley Henschel • Cullen Voss Ryan Bullen • Michael Penn Kayla Schmidt l

Board of Directors Herman Baumann, President Jack Casey • Jonah Beleckis Jennifer Sereno • Stephen DiTullio Brett Bachman • Janet Larson Don Miner • Phil Brinkman Jason Stein • Nancy Sandy Jordan Laeyendecker • Tim Smoot Tina Zavoral

© 2014, The Daily Cardinal Media Corporation ISSN 0011-5398

For the record Corrections or clarifications?

Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an email to edit@dailycardinal.com.

Andy Holsteen definitely someone

A

s we all know, the annual gravity savings came into effect over the weekend. All over the world, people are adjusting to the remarkably different way of life that comes with a significant change in the force that holds us all to Earth. Right here in Madison, things have been completely turned upside down by this odd natural phenomenon.

With the departure of standard gravity for the next six months, there are many aspects of Madison life that will be made more difficult.

Obviously, walking to class is a much more daunting task with the ever-present risk of floating off into oblivion always making going outside a risk. Relatively few freshman students attempted walking to classes Monday without using the city-provided safety ropes, which were installed late Saturday. Only 12 missing persons were reported; this is the lowest number since records began being taken 14 gravity cycles ago.

Some scientists say this year’s full inversion—an occurrence that only happens twice per century—could slow the economy in ways we normally don’t see with gravity savings. One report released by the National Committee of Natural Sciences said “... all holiday travel will be brought to a halt unless we can develop cars that can actually drive upside down … It’s time we recognize this phenomenon as a part of our world and react accordingly.”

Many partiers and concert-goers in attendance during the aftermath of Freak Fest this weekend were caught off guard by the sudden shift in planetary physics, which occurred at exactly 2 a.m. Sunday. Over 200 people were instantly obliterated. Their body parts and insides provided some macabre decoration for State Street storefronts. This was of course all cleaned up in time for the annual gravity savings parade. The award for “Best Float” this year went to UW-Madison sophomore Emily Redding, who managed to skitch a ride behind a Boeing 747.

While nobody really knows why gravity savings happens (I personally blame Obama), some people consider this ultimate proof that God does in fact exist. However, God says they “... have no idea why this shit happens. And furthermore, it makes about as much sense that Obama is

Emily Buck/the daily cardinal

These Freakfest photos, taken only one second apart, show the switch to gravity savings.

Emily Buck/the daily cardinal

causing this as myself.”

For any of you Madisonians looking for some unique activities to do specifically during gravity savings, here are a few ideas:

Go windsurfing above Lake Mendota

Without the full level of gravity, it becomes much easier to learn how to windsurf. It’s sort of like floating through a vacuum—that is, until you are inevitably crushed by one of the many dark matter patches that show up during this time of year.

Get drunk without the hangover

What you discover when you are of-age is that hangovers during gravity savings are nowhere near as bad as those you get with standard gravity. Experts think this might be due to a lowered sense of “I” and decisionmaking ability.

Travel to the moon

This is without doubt the best time of year to make the voyage to the lunar surface.

Sans inherent resistance, making the trek up to the moon is much easier and affordable.

Get a raise

Gravity savings is proven to

be the best time to ask your boss for more money. This is likely due to the communal sense of doom that convinces most people the end of the world is right around the coroner.

Do you have a goofy photo of yourself thanks to gravity savings?

Tweet all your silly free-floating selfies to @dailycardinal.

We’ll make it worth your time.

Trust us.

news dailycardinal.com

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 3

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Remembering a former Board of Regents President Board of Regents President Emeritus Michael Spector passed away from complications with cancer Friday at the age of 74, according to UW System spokesperson Heather LaRoi. Spector is described as an “inspirational and energetic leader” and someone who was “committed to his work as a Regent,” the UW System news release said.

He finished his undergraduate education at UW-Madison and went on to Harvard Law School, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

After graduation from Harvard, he spent most of his life as a lawyer in Milwaukee working for educational reformation in Wisconsin before retiring in 2002.

He started his life-long public service when he was 28 years old after getting elected to the Shorewood School Board.

The Journal Sentinel also said outside of his busy work schedule he was dedicated to his family, and in his free time he enjoyed pursuing his hobby of photography.

music from page 1

on Mifflin Street decreased significantly and costs for the Madison Police Department decreased

sources and we’re looking towards the city for this year,” Bergman said.

Former Revelry director and UW junior Josh Levin said the event has “grown hugely” in popularity since its onset in 2013.

Festival attendees nearly doubled from approximately 3,000 the first year to more than 6,000 last spring, according to Levin.

The city has enjoyed a safer end to the spring semester with Revelry since arrests during the celebration

“Next year we hope to continue and tell the community we’re not just bringing the music but helping the city building community.”

Michael Rothschild director Make Music Madison

Annual campus Diversity Forum to take place next week

CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Former Board of Regents President and Milwaukee lawyer Michael Spector passed away Friday at the age of 74. from approximately $200,000 to $94,000, according to Levin.

“I think that as more and more students support [Revelry], this is a standalone event that has some real merit to it,” MPD Chief Michael Koval said. “I’ve seen their numbers increasing over the years so I think that’s beneficial.”

Koval credited a smaller attendance to this year’s Mifflin Street celebration and better management of resources for city events for the decrease in overtime MPD officers spend on the field.

Board of Estimates members also expressed support for Make Music Madison taking place next summer for the third year in a row.

“Next year we hope to continue and tell the community we’re not just bringing the music but helping the city building community,” Michael Rothschild, the festival director, said.

The amendments are part of a $283 million budget that the City Council will vote to approve during their next meeting, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.

SSFC cuts intern funding for F.H. King 2015-’16 budget Following extensive debate concerning funding for creditproducing programs, the Student Services Finance Committee approved F.H. King’s 2015-’16 budget Monday but cut funding for an internship program that members said violated policy.

F.H. King is a group of students who promote sustainable agriculture and the establishment of a relationship between land, food and community, according to the group’s website.

SSFC members, including Rep. Todd Garon, argued for F.H. King, saying the students are not joining just for the credits and must seek out credit options themselves. Rep. Jessica FrancoMorales said cutting the funding would only hurt students who are not getting credits.

However, SSFC members, including Vice Chair Thuy Pham and Secretary Brett DuCharme, said using student funding to pay for internships for which students can earn credits defeats the purpose of having segregated fees.

Assistant Director of Financial Services Rich Sterkowitz clarified that academic departments could abuse credit-generating programs by directing students toward the program rather than a class.

“All of a sudden, F.H. King is becoming a semi-department,” Sterkowitz said. “It’s a very thin

line you are walking.”

Franco-Morales said one her biggest concerns with F.H. King’s budget was the possible violation of F50, a UW System policy determining principles for administering student funds.

“I know we’ve been really strict with other groups on F50, and all groups should be held accountable,” Franco-Morales said. “It’s clearly credit-producing.”

SSFC ultimately decided the funding violated its policy of providing student funding to academic credit-producing activities. Removing the $400, SSFC unanimously granted a budget of $70,484.31.

Campus Women’s Center representative and SSFC member Erin Harper presented CWC’s proposed budget of $82,265.70 for fiscal year 2016. Most funding went toward safe-sex supplies, a resource library, informational materials, child care, peer support, workshops and public speakers.

CWC’s mission is to confront gendered oppression by providing a variety of support services for all students, according to its website.

SSFC will determine CWC’s budget allocation Thursday.

Members also voted on whether to remove Reps. Sam Domach and Dylan Fiedler for lack of attendance. Both representatives cited academic reasons for missing meetings. SSFC voted to keep them on staff.

Green, and Democrat Pat Bomhack and former state Rep. Roger Roth, R-Appleton, and state Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton, facing off in the 19th Senate District.

Polls are open Nov. 4 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.; those who are in

line at 8 p.m. will be able to vote.

Those who are not registered to vote can do so at the polls by providing proof of residence and either a valid Wisconsin driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

By Dana Kampa THE DAILY CARDINAL

DREW GILMORE/THE DAILY CARDINAL

SSFC Rep. Jessica Franco-Morales said funding activities done for academic credit goes against UW System policy.

election from page 1 ate that could change party hands.

While Republicans currently hold the senate, competitive races in three districts give Democrats a small chance to control the upper house.

The three districts that could change party hands are the 9th Senate District where Republican Devin LeMahieu faces Democrat Martha Laning, the 17th Senate District between state Rep. Howard Marklein, R-Spring

UW-Madison’s annual diversity forum will be held next Monday and Tuesday, according to a university press release.

“Pulse 2014: Diversity’s Evolving Paradigm and Practical Approaches” will “take an unflinching look at the rapidly changing dynamics involving culture, race, society, and economics,” Patrick Sims, chief diversity officer and interim vice provost, said in the release.

In addition to lectures by speakers Rebecca Ryan and Pete Aranda, first-day events will include a faculty panel discussing the current state of civil rights, as well as a town hall meeting with local law enforcement officials. Monday’s events will take place in the Memorial Union’s Shannon Hall, according to the release.

The second day of the forum, taking place in the Wisconsin Historical Society auditorium, will feature Marcia Anderson, the first-ever black woman to become a major general in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Events will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

textbooks from page 1 adopted, but may be used the next semester.

Citing the 27,804 books bought back last semester, University Affairs members proposed the measure could save students large amounts of money.

In addition to hearing from ASM committee members, the Faculty Senate also passed a measure discussed in a previous meeting regarding hostile and intimidating behavior between faculty members.

University Committee Chair Jo Ellen Fair presented a final version of the measure, which provides faculty with a way to document instances of intimidating behavior from other faculty members that could affect their reputation or work within the university.

Fair said the proposal “carefully safeguards free speech and the high value we put on academic freedom.”

Faculty Senate members also voted to remove specific language from the university’s Diversity Framework that was passed in May and used words such as “controversial” to discuss the “concept of diversity and its implementation.”

The removed wording also mentioned discussing “the pros and cons of the concept and its implementation.” Faculty Senate members voiced concern over this wording, saying it could come across as insensitive toward diversity on campus.

The Faculty Senate will hold its next meeting Dec. 1.

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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

dailycardinal.com

Get off your ass and vote already Cullen Voss Opinion Editor

T

oday is the last day to vote in the 2014 midterm elections.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the state. This election is the culmination of all the political ads you’ve been inundated with over the past months and those awkward Facebook debates with your freshman year roommate’s weird Uncle Jeffrey that went on far too long without a semblance of a hope of changing anyone’s mind.

I won’t accept the tired trope that “my vote doesn’t even matter anyway” because the arithmetic proves you wrong.

If recent trends hold, we will see around a 38 percent voter turnout for this election nationwide. This is truly pathetic. I’m not sure if we just get lazy or we need four years to recover from the hangover of voting, but for a country which is seen as the number one purveyor of democracy worldwide, we sure do a poor job of getting that point across.

Vote for your interests and ensure that your tax dollars are going where you think they ought to go.

The 2008 presidential election saw a 57 percent voter turnout, the highest in four decades. Yet just two years later, that number plummeted by over 20 percent. What is it about voting that is so difficult?

I won’t accept the tired trope that “my vote doesn’t even matter anyway” because the arithmetic proves you wrong. If the 63 percent of eligible voters who did not cast a ballot in 2010 had voted together, they could have elected anyone to be governor or senator of their state, including here in Wisconsin. Think about it: With enough support, we could have had Bucky Badger as our as our governor or U.S. senator. While I know these are not viable choices, at least we could hold him accountable in the fall for his pushups, if nothing else.

The point is, your vote carries weight.

You pay for the outcome of this election whether you vote or not.

Why not at least have a say where you want your money spent? Want a stronger public education system?

There’s a candidate for you. Want to explore the possibility of extracting oil from Wisconsin’s tar sands? There’s a candidate for you. Want legislation

Follow us on Twitter @dailycardinal to get the most up to date election coverage.

providing equal pay for equal work?

There is a candidate for you. Vote for your interests and ensure that your tax dollars are going where you think they ought to go.

Cullen is a senior majoring in history and political science. What has your experi-

If the 63 percent of eligible voters who did not cast a ballot in 2010 had voted together, they could have elected anyone to be governor or senator of their state, including here in Wisconsin.

ence with voting been? Do you agree with Cullen’s viewpoint on voting? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Space tourism proves one giant leap too far Henry SolotaroffWebber Opinion Columnist

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ast Friday, Michael Alsbury, a pilot flying a test run for a Virgin Galactic spaceship, lost his life when the spaceship crashed on its California test site. In addition to the tragedy of Alsbury’s death, this crash could also be an early deathblow to the fledgling space tourism industry. Virigin Galactic has been one of the top contributors to advancing the front of space tourism. While the company and founder, Richard Branson will have some difficult lessons to learn concerning the failed crash, some of which may involve listening to advisers who told them the ship was not ready for testing, perhaps we can all learn a lesson from the unfullfiled hype that the crash has imposed upon those who were excited for the potential of space tourism.

In addition to the tragedy of Alsbury’s death, this crash could also be an early deathblow to the fledgling space tourism industry.

The lesson is that perhaps when there are so many problems in the world­— domestically, nationally, and internationally—the type of money being used for things like space tourism should be spent on spurring innovation to solve problems, rather than distract people from them. A grander example of this that also happens to be space-centered occured in the summer of 1969, when the United States made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first men to land on the moon. I am recalling this event because at the time of that space launch America was still suffering from racial

inequality issues,—despite this, we still spent $23 billion in our pursuit to have a man walk on the moon.

Since I am a freshman in college, I hesitate to tell CEOs such as Richard Branson how to spend the enormous sums of money they have earned or inherited over the years.

I am all for human achievement and think it is incredible that a man landed on the moon. However, there is also a line that should not be crossed which results in an achievement that goes too far and ends up distracting people from realworld problems. Problems like racial inequality, pay inequality or gender inequality are examples America deals with all of these to this day.

Moreover, I believe it is ridiculous that such large sums of money are more or less squandered on developing enterprises like space travel, when initiatives trying to solve problems in areas such as education, housing development or climate change seem to continuously be cash strapped.

Since I am a freshman in college, I hesitate to tell CEOs such as Richard Branson how to spend the enormous sums of money they have earned or inherited over the years.

Instead, I would like to implore those who do not already to at least consider funding initiatives which actually seek to counter the world’s problems, so that everyone is affected positively,—not just themselves, their stockholders and those who will actually be able to afford things like space travel.

Henry is a fresman opinion columnist for The Daily Cardinal. Do you agree with his assessment of funding space tourism? Are there any points he may have overlooked?

Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

dailycardinal.com

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

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arts

5

Bo Burnham talks comedy and zombies

By Maham Hasan The Daily Cardinal

The era in which Bo Burnham was reigning over YouTube and Vine with comedic brilliance and scathing (yet joyfully crude) social commentary with “Words, Words, Words” was an era that unfortunately completely bypassed me.

It was therefore the summer of this very year when, after a night of over-imbibing Ben & Jerry’s and indulging in—how shall I put this delicately, the ingredients to make minds fly, which may or may not have happened—a friend of mine introduced me to Bo Burnham’s “What.” I thought he was crude, inappropriate, hilarious and outrageous; in short, I was in awe of his creative powers and absolutely in love.

Bo Burnham’s show in Madison, organized and put together by the Wisconsin Union Theater Oct. 30 was one of the highlights of my year. But what truly inspired within me a high like no other was actually conversing with the man with all the words.

“But maybe if I didn’t have this outlet, I’d be crazy in my real life.”

Bo Burnham comedian The world

Burnham kicked off the night by diving straight into a satirical musical ode to “Straight White Men” and belting out the burdens they must bear by always being superior to women, the gay community and everyone else imaginable. This was appropriately followed by “Men & Women,” which had some pretty epic one-liners but was anything but appropriate.

One of my favorites of the night was a parody of country music, in which Burnham crooned a litany of country music cliches in a velvety voice you wouldn’t think he was capable of producing. The UW crowd screamed along with some of his old pieces, including, “Repeat Stuff,” “Art Is Dead,” “From God’s Perspective” and others.

Although the show ended with everyone on their feet and a pretty spectacular encore, for me the big moment was still ahead. I was able to catch up with Burnham for only a few minutes in his dressing room, where he was finishing up a giant cheese pizza before he hit the road, but it was enough time for us to become best friends—true story.

When inquired about where he found the desire to make people laugh, Burnham said: “I like performing and I think I like to entertain people. Or I like to put on a show, more than it being necessarily funny. I naturally gravitate towards comedy but my first instinct and the thing I get most excited about is the show moment, where usually the climax isn’t a big laugh.

“I did theater all my life,” he added, “and then I started doing comedy on the side in high school before it took off. But since my real passion was the theater, I wasn’t too sure about the comedy thing. I didn’t know if stand-up was going to be fulfilling for me but then I saw a lot of other European and Australian comedians that were doing really theatrical stuff and I was like, oh wow so I can do all this in comedy. The only rule is that I have to get up on stage and be funny so there’s no reason I can’t get up on it then.”

I probed Burnham on if he’d ever dabble in Broadway then, since theater was so important for him. But he believes that won’t ever happen, since he doesn’t have the voice or the ear for it. To him, he’s only talented enough to be a comedian.

I did disagree with Burnham there, but I also let him know that I’ve been told that I’m tone deaf. He was appropriately sympathetic to my plight and we obviously shared a moment then but no big deal.

I asked Burnham how much of a hermit he truly is, since a lot of his work alludes to him being very reserved and introverted.

“I feel like I’m a pretty shy person in general or its more the fact that I’m so not the guy on stage. I definitely identify as an introvert because I never have a need to get on stage, my passion is with the writing. The point is that if I’m at a party, I don’t wanna be the center

there more?

“Its hard to say ‘inspire’ because they’re such musical geniuses and I really don’t know how much I can be inspired by them. The Beatles had a bunch of screaming 16-year-old fans and they turned out some of the most progressive art of their time. How Radiohead and they believed that you can really challenge yourself to make an album something different is what I try to do; to make every show different and not just to refine the same thing.

“We have pizza here, we could just lock the door and eat pizza.”

Bo Burnham comedian The world

Tommy Yonash/the daily cardinal

Bo Burnham, Internet comedy sensation, brought a bevy of side-splitting comedy to Madison, both on and off the stage. of attention. But maybe if I didn’t have this outlet, I’d be crazy in my real life.”

I still hadn’t asked Burnham a very important question, one that could possibly make or break him.

Therefore, I gave him the crazy eyes and pounced on him with the following: “A zombie apocalypse hits right now outside and you hear your manager being torn to shreds. What do you do?”

Although I was less than impressed with Bo’s wide-eyed suggestion of, “We have pizza here, we could just lock the door and eat pizza. And I could wear my Wisconsin Badgers T-shirt while Googling which religion I should convert to immediately. I’m not gonna try to run. I’m slow and flat footed,” I decided to forgive him when he just suggested clinging to me instead for his survival, since we’re cool like that.

I’ve had time to browse through Burnham’s debut into writing and publishing a poetry book and wanted to know where the name, “Egghead: Or, You Can’t Survive On Ideas Alone” came from.

“Chance, my friend and the artist for the book, sent me a portrait of what he wanted to be the cover. As long as it wasn’t a glossy picture of me—like all comedians and actors do with their books—I was fine with that since that’d be the death of everything! He sent me a sketch of my head with an egg on it that was titled ‘You Can’t Survive on Ideas Alone,’ because you need drawings and visuals.

He was only insulting me but I saw it and loved it. It’s a title where people can fill it in with whatever they think it means.”

I already knew The Beatles and Radiohead were particular inspirations of Burnham, but were

“I’m listening to John Grant these days, not well known, but he was the lead singer for The Czars. But I’m obsessed with him these days since he’s quite the poet.

Also, the last concert I saw was Tenacious D’s and they were fucking awesome.”

I threw Burnham for a loop when I asked him, “If you try to fail and succeed, what have you done?” Boy, did he have an answer that was completely bonkers.

“Well you failed but you succeeded at failing. But I think you failed. You succeeded at failing but thats not succeeding. That’s a very small subset of succeeding but you have failed completely. It’s a good conundrum like succeeding or the succession is almost smaller? I don’t know. If you turn the lights off, they stay off, so does your mother hate you?”

Burnham believed that in a perfect world, people would communicate just like we did.

A place where everyone would interview each other all the time and use index cards because sometimes he doesn’t make any sense. But in my opinion, that’s precisely what sets him apart.

And that’s truly why he has one of the most creative minds I’ve ever had the giddy excitement of interacting with.

RECORD ROUTINE

San Francisco rockers skew toward tropical on latest album ALBUM REVIEW

La Isla Bonita Deerhoof

By Michael Frett The Daily Cardinal

As someone regularly headphones-deep in the critical music world, it’s easy to lose sight of how honestly fun music can be. You obsess over the ins and outs of an album: how visceral its songwriting might be, how raw its tones are, how perfectly refined

its production is, how relatable an album’s struggles are and so on. In all of this, pure joy seems bogged down by process.

Deerhoof seemed to take issue with this. In fact, La Isla Bonita, their latest record, is a glorious mess determined to make a party of a chaotic world.

A playful little gem in the music critic’s worn pan, La Isla Bonita sees the San Francisco punks joyously dance around sporadic instrumentals and festive phrase turnings (if you love “freedom of speech,” just wait until you try “speech of freedom!”).

Nothing derails their fun, either. Not even the burning struggle of the Ramones-inspired “Exit Only.” Even with “too

many choice to order breakfast,” Deerhoof still sounds excited to be at that breakfast table.

Throughout La Isla Bonita, they venerate the “girls who play the bass guitar” with broken melody and dissonant guitar creaks (“Paradise Girls”), and pop “Tiny Bubbles” at an islander’s highnoon showdown while turning the concept of “Doom” into a beachside shuffle.

On their trip to La Isla Bonita, Deerhoof spikes their album for an extra kick; new sounds mold into their eccentric brand of rock to spice up the already schizoid punk rock. Whether it’s the pulsating waltz of “Big House Waltz” that drones through the back half in what

might be the album’s most ironically melodic moments, or the grinding woodblocks of “Tiny Bubbles,” La Isla Bonita erupts with a party of unconventional sounds for already less-thanconventional songs.

Nothing derails their fun, either.

Interestingly enough, Deerhoof sends off their latest record with a more conventional noise rock

outro; the droning feedback of “Oh Bummer,” merged with singer Satomi Matsuzaki’s exuberant cries, sends off La Isla Bonita’s bubbling moments with a relatively humble finale.

Yet, that tide of noise rock fading into the surrounding musical seas still feels as uplifting as La Isla Bonita’s more animated moments. Its Edge-gone-awry guitars and forceful grooves still strike the listener as just as excited as the album’s upbeat introduction, and declare that Deerhoof is a band that, even in its most serious moments, still knows how to sneak in some pure, lighthearted fun.

Rating: B+

arts l

6

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

dailycardinal.com

Joel Cummins discusses Umphrey’s McGee’s history

By Brian Weidy The Daily Cardinal

From their humble beginnings as students at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, Umphrey’s McGee has built up an ardent fan base thanks to their remarkable musicianship, ability to change genres on a dime and unparalleled work ethic, playing more than 100 tour shows a year since 2001.

I got a chance to speak to Joel Cummins, keyboardist for the band, about how Umphrey’s McGee got to where they are today, as the group are scheduled to play their 2,000th career performance as the second of a pair of sold-out shows at the Orpheum Theater here in Madison.

Though the band sold out two nights at the 2,000-capacity Orpheum, the band hasn’t always played to massive crowds in Madison.

“The first show we did in Madison was at a place called the Mango Grill,” Cummins said. “It probably closed within a year or two of when we actually played there. But I’ll never forget, the front of house console there was installed into like an old Pac-Man video game. So Kevin [Browning, the band’s former front of house and sound engineer] looked like he was just screwing around, throwing quarters into a machine all night.”

Early in the band’s career, they learned that for success to come, they would need to hit the road hard. Beyond that, not only did they need to go to places not typically at the top of one’s mind, but they had to keep going.

“I think one of the things that we learned early on was that there are no shortcuts,” Cummins said.

“The first time that you make the effort to go all the way out to Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, you made the effort once but that means you need to go back again.”

By the time the band got to the 21st century, things began looking up, but then a curveball was thrown in the mix.

“There was certainly a point in probably 2001 or 2002 that I thought, ‘OK, yeah, this is

going great,’” Cummins said.

“Everybody is getting along, our numbers are going in the right direction in a lot of the newer markets that we’re playing and then you know Mike [Mirro, the original drummer of the band] decided to leave the band and that kind of all took us by surprise.”

The band would quickly bounce back (replacing Mirro with Kris Myers), but that didn’t prevent them from seeing an off night or two.

“The first show we did in Madison was at a place called the Mango Grill.”

Joel Cummins keyboardist Umphrey’s McGee

“And you know, that was a little bit of a confidence breaker and all throughout, and even until about 2007 or 2008 where we would have a show here or there where we would end up playing to about 200 or 250 people,” Cummins said. “It would always feel like we would have these two steps forward, one step back sort of thing going on.”

When a band has logged as many miles on the road as Umphrey’s McGee has, they are bound to experience some unbelievable meals, such as their now-annual trip to Matsuhisa, a sushi restaurant owned by the owner of the Belly Up in Aspen, Colorado. But along the way, there have been some interesting dining experiences.

One place that sticks out to Cummins is a Mexican restaurant about 20 minutes from the border in Van Horn, Texas, called Chuy’s. While the food was nothing to write home about, the ambience made it one of the most memorable places they’ve been to on the road. With Van Horn being one of the only places to stop between Austin and the West Coast, the band

photo courtesy of umphrey’s mcgee

Joel Cummins, keyboardist for Umphrey’s McGee since their inception in 1997, is very excited that the band has chosen to play their 2000th landmark live show at the Orpheum Theater. found good company in previous restaurant patrons.

“The funniest thing about this is that they had this huge mural of Jesus looking over the restaurant and then there’s John Madden in his cruiser there,” Cummins said. “We’re like, ‘God, this is so random, we’re in this crappy little town in Texas and they’ve got this John Madden mural over here.’”

With the advent of websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, the band no longer needs to rely on their former method of finding a place to eat.

“We used to show up at a venue,” Cummins said. “Someone would ask ‘where are we going to eat?’ and Ryan [Stasik, the bassist] used to say, ‘I’m just going to go up to the fattest dude around.

He knows where to eat.’”

When Umphrey’s played Madison for the first time in 1999, they opened the show with “Bob,” a song off the band’s debut Greatest Hits Volume III, a cleverly titled album. While some of the more devoted fans frequently yell out or request the song, don’t expect to hear it in Madison.

“Yeah, we’ve retired that one,” Cummins said. “We’ve had a little fun teasing it here and there, but yeah, it’s not a good song and when you’ve got 180 different choices in the catalog that you could do, we tend to try and go with those. For the 40 or 50 people for whom ‘Bob’ might be enjoyable, there are 1,900 other people who are going to be looking at us like, ‘What the fuck is this?’”

For those who are disappointed they won’t be hearing “Bob” this weekend, or any time in the

near future, Cummins provided some better insight into why they it will be staying on the shelf.

“Let’s just be honest, if it were a better song, we would still be playing it,” Cummins said. “There are plenty of songs that we’re still occasionally playing that we wrote in 1998. So I think we’ve got that time period covered.”

“Ryan ... used to say ‘I’m just going to go up to the fattest dude around. He knows where to eat.’”

Joel Cummins keyboardist Umphrey’s McGee

For a band on the road as much as Umphrey’s McGee is, one might think they may not really need to practice. However, the band actually has a set of practice gear backstage where they can work through things after they soundcheck.

“We have practice gear that we set up backstage so that way our rehearsal is not just restricted to soundcheck time, which has been really valuable,” Cummins said. “That’s something we actually saw String Cheese [Incident] do when we did the Big Summer Classic tour in 2005 and it kind of blew our minds.”

While the two bands toured together in 2005, Umphrey’s found out just who The String Cheese Incident were when both bands were booked on the same night during their second ever trip to Madison when they played the Angelic Brewing Company in 2000.

“We probably had 50 or 60 people paying and we’re thinking, ‘Where is everybody?’” Cummins said. “And they were like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s actually a big show at this place called River’s Edge tonight. We were really surprised that you wanted to play here this night, there’s this band called String Cheese Incident [that] is playing for like thousands of people up there.’”

When it comes to gearing up for a tour and a show with such an extensive catalog of both originals and covers (which range from AC/DC to ZZ Top with some Daft Punk, Tool and even Snoop Dogg thrown in for good measure), the band has a set routine.

“When we get back together, we’ll just try to play for a few hours,” Cummins said. “Get back in tune with each other’s musical tendencies and address each show day by day and our process is just trying to pick songs the day of the show and looking back and making sure we’re not repeating too many things.”

With these shows being numbers 35 and 36 in Madison (and their first since February 2013), the sold-out crowds at the Orpheum are eagerly anticipating the return of Umphrey’s McGee, whose history here is so extensive that they were given a key to the city.

“We’re stoked to be doing our 2,000th show back in Madison,” Cummins said.

“Obviously a place with so much history for us.”

Umphrey’s McGee will be playing the Orpheum Theater Nov. 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. with Dopapod opening Nov. 7 and The Revivalists opening Nov. 8.

comics

dailycardinal.com

Your classic three-for-one. Mexico once had three presidents within the same day.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 • 7

Vocal rest

Today’s Sudoku

Non-Seasonal Hats

By Cameron Graff cgraff2@wisc.edu

© Puzzles by Pappocom

Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

LOUD NOISES ACROSS 1 Cousin of “ahem” 5 Fodder holder 9 “Crocodile Dundee” star 14 “Beetle Bailey” pooch 15 Minute bit 16 Speak from a soapbox 17 Big hit for Janis Joplin 20 Fine wool 21 Nabisco cookies 22 Genesis name 23 Takeoff and landing overseers (Abbr.)

25 Baby carrier?

26 ___ polloi 29 Amount to make do with 31 “That feels good!”

33 Reacts to pain or a pun 35 Dressed like a Roman senator 38 Adage 39 Certain marine vessel 41 Passed out cards 43 Like a wetland 44 Writer Christie 46 Maple fluid 47 Congers

1 Perignon’s title 5 52 .0000001 joule 54 The upper part 56 Thou squared 57 Prefix meaning “false” 59 Bearish 61 “Your secret’s safe with me” 65 Game related to bingo 66 Film director Ephron 67 Be a stool pigeon 68 Anxiety 69 Stone of many Libras 70 Watering need DOWN 1 Sword-hilt knob 2 Stuff into a ship’s hold 3 Gawks 4 Author Morrison 5 Deliberate subversion 6 “Am ___ believe ... ?”

7 Gray wolf 8 Game played with a 40-card deck 9 Word spelled the same as another but with a different meaning 10 Tolkien creatures 11 Joke

1 2 Consumed 13 “Born,” in wedding notices 18 Chromosome component 19 Safecracker, in slang 24 Gaping hole 26 “Aquarius” musical 27 Lennon’s widow 28 Suffix with “patriot” 30 Artificial leg?

32 “___ a friend of mine” 34 Daisy variety 36 Under pressure 37 Rid of vermin, Pied Piper-style 39 Palindromic title 40 Wedding ceremony 41 “Dear old” guy 42 Psychoanalysis topic 45 War god 48 Designer Pucci 49 Department store section 50 Arctic transport 53 Bat droppings 55 Historic opening?

57 Cushion stickers 58 Discontinue 60 Obi, e.g.

61 Wharton grad, for one 62 Wistful wishing 63 Time delay 64 It’s full of periods

Evil Bird Classic

By Caitlin Kirihara

Eatin’ Cake Classic

By Dylan Moriarty

Sports

tuesday, november 4, 2014 DailyCardinal.com

Press Conference

Fall sports near end of regular season

By Jacob Hams the daily cardinal

Football

Coming off a shutout win against Rutgers, No. 25 Wisconsin (3-1 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) will take on Purdue (1-4, 3-6) in another road game Nov. 8. Head coach Gary Andersen is looking forward to the challenge.

“Offensively they will be aggressive, stack the box, and plan on playing a physical brand of football,” Andersen said.

“We’ll go on the road again and [be] excited about it.”

Andersen views the Boilermakers’ offense as a unit that could cause some problems for the defense.

“There is a lot of defenses in this league that I’ve learned to truly respect,” Andersen said. “One of those would be Minnesota and the other would definitely be Michigan State …

Purdue played well offensively against both those teams.”

With the defense ranked No. 1 in the nation in total yards allowed, there are many questions about how the defense is able to do so well.

“Anytime a coach is successful he’s got some good players with him that buy into his system, and the beliefs of what the defense is trying it get done as a whole,”

Andersen said.

He was also asked about the injury concerns of Alex Erickson and Melvin Gordon coming out of last week’s game.

“I don’t know the time frame on Alex, honestly. I just expect him to play,” Andersen said. “If we were going to play a game tonight at 6 p.m., Melvin would be full steam ahead ready to go with no problems.”

Volleyball

After another good week with wins over Purdue and Indiana, Wisconsin (11-1 Big Ten, 20-2 overall) was able to extend its consecutive sets-won streak to 25 and its overall match win streak to 11. Head coach Kelly Sheffield had mixed feelings about the two games during the week.

“One of our better efforts of the season at their place.

The entire team played really well,” Sheffield said about the Purdue game. “Few nights later at Indiana, I’m not sure we had quite the same effort.”

The Badgers will be playing Michigan next, who has a star player in Abby Cole. Sheffield was asked about having to see her twice in the next 10 days.

“She is legit, and she’s grown a lot. She is a big time competitor,” Sheffield said. “When you get a

player that everybody knows where it’s going, and they’re still performing at a high level that’s pretty cool.”

Sheffield was asked if it is hard to make improvements when the team has won 25 straight sets.

“You know, the Indiana match, we had a lot of things. We just didn’t play really well,” Sheffield said. “They’re spending a lot of time and finding our weaknesses and you can tell that. You try to stay one step ahead. That’s kind of what we’re doing.”

Men’s hockey

After four straight losses, the Badgers (0-4-0 overall) look to get their first win of the season this weekend against the No. 2 team in the nation, North Dakota. Head coach Mike Eaves has had two weeks to get his team ready for this weekend.

“The weeks have been good,” Eaves said. “It’s been a grind.

There’s been a lot of battles. I know they’re anxious to play against somebody else at this point.”

Eaves was asked about the lack of scoring from the team and how the young guys have handled that.

“Who was going to pick it up, and up to this point we haven’t found that answer,” Eaves said.

“One thing that probably not a lot of people know is that Adam Rockwood had a goal and two

wil gibb/cardinal file photo

Melvin Gordon is fully healthy after an injury scare Saturday. assists, multiple‑point person and was a freshman.”

The rivalry between North Dakota and Wisconsin was brought up in a question to Eaves.

“Well, I think it’s important to keep them on the schedule,” he said. “We want to stay in contact because I think they’re always going to be an elite program and you want to test yourselves against that.”

Eaves also had to answer a question about the situation at goaltender. Senior Joel Rumpel has started three games and allowed eight goals, while senior Landon Peterson also started a game and allowed one goal.

“I think if you talk to Joel Rumpel, I think he would be disappointed,” Eaves said. “I think that if you talked to Petey, it’s been standard Petey.”