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Action Project Issue, November 2018
The cost of living
TÉALIN ROBINSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
“...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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Action Project Issue, November 2018
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The Daily Cardinal would like to recognize
The Evjue Foundation, Inc. (the charitable arm of The Capital Times)
for providing the funds to make the Action Project possible. Focusing on the community’s financial struggles, identifying long-term solutions for affordability By Sammy Gibbons and Samantha Nesovanovic MANAGEMENT TEAM
Financial issues weigh on everyone’s shoulders, from the college student scraping together a few dollars for dinner to the retiree struggling to find affordable assisted living. With Rebecca Blank, a poverty expert, as our chancellor, and entire departments on campus dedicated to researching poverty, we felt it was The Daily Cardinal’s responsibility to focus this Action Project on moneyrelated topics affecting our campus and statewide communities. Worries surrounding finances impact people on a deep mental level. Artists take to canvases and notebooks to craft works depicting housing insecurity, releasing their strife into art to bring in even the smallest incomes. Students suffer from anxieties when sneaking away to food sheds when they cannot afford groceries. Financial struggles hit close to home for most people in our office — we shuffle through scholarship and loan applications, balance budgets while looking for post-grad careers.
But there are others farther away, crammed into doorways along State Street and selling community-made newspapers to make a few bucks. We are in the midst of a mayoral race in Madison in which homelessness is a common topic debate. The Cardinal wants to highlight stances on the issue, and shed light on the ways money impacts us all. The “typical” college experience alone demands stretching wallets to their breaking points; we want to point out that income is another factor campus must consider when thinking of equal demographics. We want students to know courses and services to help them live financially well, and get assistance when they need. We are here to inform you of the issues that arise in reflection of our nation and state’s current economic status, and the roots of situations like housing insecurity and financial aid. We want to raise awareness of communities where every penny matters, the help being doled out to take some stress away. Read ahead to understand the large impact the smallest dollars have in the Madison community.
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CA R E G I V E R NEEDED Job is for 5 days a week — 5 hours per day — Salary is $20.50 per hour. For more details about the position, email me (rodneytrot46@gmail. com).
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Action Project Issue, November 2018 • 3
Hunger hits home: Food insecurity psychologically impacts students By Kalli Anderson STAFF WRITER
TÉALIN ROBINSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Excess produce from around campus is given to Food Sheds.
Food Shed provides free, fresh produce By Jenna Walters CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR
Stocked food shed refrigerators around UW-Madison regularly provide free, fresh food for the taking with produce from local grocery stores, campus laboratories and restaurants. Started by former UW-Madison student Han DePorter, Campus Food Shed provides an outlet for excess food that would otherwise go to waste on campus. It also makes affordable, healthy food options available for UW-Madison community members. People can visit sheds at the Plant Science building, Science Hall, the Student Activities Center and Allen Centennial Gardens to pick up free produce. The food comes from laboratories on campus when agriculture researchers have excess. Grocery stores or restaurants that have too big of an inventory or food nearing their sell-by date will also make donations. Campus Food Shed Director Shayna Moss said the produce they receive is always safe for community members to eat. She emphasized that the sell-by date is arbitrary, usually just a signifier for businesses to know when food was checked into the store or restaurant. UW-Madison horticulture professor Irwin Goldman, said the food sheds aim to help students with food insecurity on campus, providing a variety of free options to those who may not have the means to purchase groceries regularly. “This is a great way to supplement their diets and do it in a way that’s local and healthy,” Goldman said. Moss agreed with Goldman, sharing that the Food Shed isa way for those with food insecurity to anonymously access healthy food. She said that students have reached out to her showing appreciation for the food sheds. In fact, one shared that they were going to buy a dollar burger because they were short on money, but instead stopped by a Food Shed to get a
salad and fruit for free. The project was originally funded by a Kemper K. Knapp Bequest grant of $5,000 for the refrigerators. Now all the food is supplied through campus’ food excess or local partnerships. At the start of the fall 2018 semester, the program partnered with Fresh Madison Market. Moss said a majority of the “high quality” produce is provided by Fresh.
“We’re providing food for our community and generally people are grateful that it’s there.”
Shayna Moss director Campus Food Shed
“We get boxes of organic lettuce, apples, pears, bags of carrots, bags of snap-peas, organic strawberries, all amazing produce that is expensive in the store,” Moss said. Goldman said the demand for free food on campus exceeds the quantity of excess produce available. Moss estimates the food sheds receive 400 pounds of produce a week from Fresh alone. “When we fill [the fridges] one day, they’re empty the next,” Moss said. “We’re providing food for our community and generally people are grateful that it’s there.” The food sheds came about in collaboration with other organizations on campus including Campus Kitchen and Food Recovery Network, as part of the Campus Food Recovery Initiative. Together they act as a network to provide free, hot meals to the campus community. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the organizations volunteer to prepare meals at the Crossing, a Christian center on campus. The meals are free to the public and are made with the same excess food that is contributed to the food sheds.
Growling stomachs in the middle of exams. Spacing out during lectures. Struggling to fall asleep at night. Symptoms like these plague students on campuses across the nation who struggle with food insecurity. At UW-Madison, 12 percent of students reported not always having the means or funds to ample food and housing, according to the 2016 Campus Climate Survey. Students struggling to pay their tuition may not prioritize eating healthily because it may be too expensive, they may not have enough time or they think they can get by on Easy Mac and ramen. Hunger can have other negative effects, including on one’s schoolwork. “There was a student that we interviewed at a school familiar to [Wisconsin] that was in class and said she was not paying attention to the teacher because there was a student two rows in front of her who was unwrapping a granola bar, and the student had not eaten in a day,” said Anthony Hernandez, a PhD dissertator and researcher at the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, a center for research on college financial insecurity. “And she was just fixated on that person opening that food.” On college campuses, 36 percent of university students were food insecure in 2017, according to a study by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab. “Food insecurity is a complicated product of several social determinants of health and is increasing in prevalence,” said Cassie Vanderwall, who is the
director of the UW Health dietetic internship program and an ambulatory dietitian at UW Health. “I believe about five percent of patients at UW Health have been found to be food insecure based on the two hunger vital signs, [which are] validated screening questions.”
“Food insecurity is a complicated product of several social determinants of health and is increasing in prevalence.”
Cassie Vanderwall director of the UW Health dietetic internship program
Students need to focus on consuming macronutrients, like carbs and protein, and micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, Vanderwall said; otherwise, both their physical and mental health might suffer the consequences. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11.8 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during 2017, and 4.5 percent reported having very low food security. And although food insecurity is widespread across the country, few people affected by food insecurity reach out for help. “In the United States, there is a deep and pervasive association between poverty and moral failure, the idea that people who are
poor are poor because they have somehow failed to support themselves,” said Andrew Ruis, author of Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States. According to Bob McGrath, a distinguished psychologist emeritus at UW-Madison, students in need may not even open up to those closest to them for fear they might disrupt friendships, and may also suffer from self-image issues. Vanderwall said judgment from others greatly affects a student’s motivation to ask for help. Students are less likely to reach out when they feel they will be targeted for exposing a personal problem and will then suffer on their own. “I know [food insecurity is] not something you should be embarrassed about, but I guess I am embarrassed about it,” said an anonymous student at The Open Seat, a campus food pantry. “It puts you in a vulnerable position, to be food-insecure.” The student told her roommate she was food-insecure but has not told the rest of the girls who live with her. However, University Health Services is working to open up a conversation for students like her about food insecurity and to normalize assistance, according to Vanderwall. “I would tell [other food-insecure students] there is nothing wrong with asking for help or needing help,” the student said. “I started off this school year not wanting to go anywhere because I wanted to feel like I could do it all by myself. But by having that community where other people can help you, you’re also helping yourself.”
GRAPHIC BY LAURA MAHONEY
UW-Madison students are struggling to get enough food on their plates, and it’s resluting in decreasing physical and mental health, strain on close friendships and feelings of isolation.
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Street Pulse newspaper: The voice of Madison’s homeless community By Grace Wallner FEATURES EDITOR
GRAPHIC BY LAURA MAHONEY
Homelessness advocates hope city can do more to help those in need By Mitch Osterhaus STAFF WRITER
While taking a walk around the UW-Madison campus and surrounding areas, it is difficult not to stumble upon stark reminders of the city’s homelessness issue. Library Mall, sections of State Street and other portions of the city have gained reputations as gathering areas for Madison’s homeless population. Over the years, homelessness has manifested itself as a widespread political topic within the city of Madison, with Mayor Paul Soglin often a prominent voice in the thick of it. Soglin’s perspectives on the issue have led to some clashes among city council members throughout his tenure, however. In two separate occasions in 2015 and 2017, Soglin proposed ordinances that would fine individuals for sleeping on public sidewalks at night. In a 2015 interview with Isthmus, District 2 Ald. Ledell Zellers expressed her disapproval. “I absolutely agree that there’s a problem,” she said. “I’d like to see more collaboration on a strategy,” Zellers said. “I’m not sure the mayor’s approach is going to get us there.” Several alders also accused Soglin of dwelling too much on the potentially bad optics that public homelessness may entail for those visiting parts of downtown, arguing he sent them reports and pictures of people passed out from drinking, public fights or assaults in an effort to illustrate his perceived magnitude of the situation.
In the wake of announcing his bid for re-election on Oct. 19, it is hard not to envision a mayoral race in which Soglin’s stances on homelessness do not play a pivotal role in the outcome. Because of this, the election will likely be watched closely by many around the city, including scores of homelessness advocates. One such advocate is Kristin Rucinski, who is the executive director of The Road Home.. The Madison-based service focuses on helping homeless individuals find long-term housing, providing them support and spurring community-wide change. It serves approximately 170 families and 400 children per year. Rucinski explained that finding housing services for those who are homeless is often a difficult endeavor. “Some of the biggest challenges in this work are finding apartments and landlords with vacancies who have affordable housing for families to rent,” Rucinski explained. She noted that despite subsidies being present, they are oftentimes unable to find landlords willing to work alongside them in giving families a second chance at housing. She also said the dynamics common with homeless individuals and families may complicate situations further, citing issues of domestic violence as well as flaws in judicial and foster care systems. In providing these services, Rucinski is aware of the ramifications the city government’s actions have on The Road Home’s ability to help the community as a whole. Rucinski said that, while it is unfeasible past a certain point, she would
appreciate more financial aid in supporting Madison’s homeless population. “It would be great if there were more funds to help with support services like housing navigators, case management, outreach, diversion, eviction prevention and eviction defense,” Rucinski said. “But this can’t all rely on government entities.”
“Soglin’s perspectives on the issue have led to some clashes among city council members throughout his tenure.”
Additionally, she wishes the city had a stronger role in uniting different parts of the community in addressing homelessness. She cited the issue of racial disparity within the city limits as well. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2013, 10.5 percent of white people in Dane County lived in poverty, compared to 42.4 percent of black people. Rucinski sees this “huge” disparity as a problem in Madison’s homelessness situation, something that will likely be front-and-center in Soglin’s latest mayoral bid. However, Rucinski seems adamant that, for the most part, she is satisfied with the intervention being passed down from City Hall.
“The city has done a good job creating the Madison Affordable Housing Fund, which helps create more units of affordable housing,” Rucinski explained. “The fund provides loans and grants to forprofit and non-profit housing developers for the... creation of new affordable rental and owner-occupied housing.” She noted that the city plays an active role in encouraging housing developers to work with non-profits around Madison. This allows for a greater support system tailored to those transitioning to more stable housing. Catholic Charities Madison Communications Director Jane McGowan said she is also impressed with the city’s aid in sustaining The Beacon, a homeless day resource center open year-round. “The alders and city leaders have been very helpful in creating this much-needed service and we are grateful for that help,” McGowan said. In spite of her criticism, Rucinski remains firm in her belief that unity between the city, homelessness advocacy services and other entities is what provides the best chance for success in the long run. “We work to be part of communitywide action that addresses underlying problems, provides lasting solutions and not only pulls families out of the crisis of homelessness but also prevents other families from experiencing the crisis in the first place,” Rucinski said. “We believe that the biggest impacts occur when we all work together.”
The streets of Madison are lined with sleeping bags pushed against cement walls and bodies huddled against the biting Wisconsin cold — people without a place to call home. Among these thousands of suffering Madisonians are the writers and vendors of Street Pulse Newspaper. The paper provides a platform for people to express to the community the hardships they endure while experiencing homelessness — hardships which are many. It also allows writers and vendors some liberation from the everyday struggles of homelessness. “Sure I may not be on the tonight show or Ellen, but we have freedom to share our opinions and views and Street Pulse in one way I get to share what I think and how I feel,” said Art Paul, who worked for the newspaper since its creation and is now a well-known Madison musician. Street Pulse hit the presses in 2005 when Coordinator Mel Motel contacted the Madison-Area Urban Ministry with a proposal to start a street newspaper that could act as a source of income for people facing homelessness. The paper has endured since then, providing not only jobs but also a voice for the homeless community. Street Pulse Editor-in-Chief and Vendor Coordinator Karen Andro said the mission of the paper is to build community, empower, enlighten and educate. “We’re bringing folks together around our core values,” Andro said. “And the way we do that is by treating folks who’ve suffered the trauma of homelessness with dignity and respect.”
said, but he does especially well during Christmas when people are feeling in the spirit of giving. Hubbard is not the only person suffering from homelessness in Madison. In 2017, there were nearly 3,000 people without a home, according to the bi-yearly count required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That number does not include people living in motels or “couch-surfing” temporarily at other people’s homes. According to Andro, homelessness is sometimes misunderstood by people who have never experienced it. “I want people to have more empathy that there is no one thing that causes homelessness, it’s usually the culmination of many things,” Andro said. “But it tends to stem from hardship and trauma.” One common misconception of homelessness is that people aren’t working, which is simply incorrect, according to Madison-Area Urban Ministry Executive Director Linda Ketcham. “We have a lot of people in Madison and Dane County who work — often multiple jobs — and who cannot afford housing,” she explained. “Wages haven’t kept up with the increases in rent and we don’t have enough truly affordable housing in Madison.” Additionally, people experiencing homelessness may suffer physical and mental health problems and are more likely to be victims of a crime than perpetrators. “You’re not a bad person just ‘cause you’re homeless,” Hubbard said. Ricki Smart — who began writing for Street Pulse in 2006 — hopes to
write for the Isthmus, but she said she’ll never leave the street paper behind. Even though she’s now off the street, she described the intense sense of inferiority she felt while suffering homelessness. “A lot of guys would try to get me to go home with them, and even though I was homeless I wouldn’t do it,” Smart said. “They were treating me like I was a lower part of society. I just felt dirty.”
“In 2017, there were nearly 3,000 people without a home [in Madison]...”
Hubbard also recounted in stark terms the struggles he faces daily. He spoke about his aversion to shelters, where many people are sick. He recalled cramped rooms, “chainsaw snoring” and the stench of socks that hadn’t been changed for six months. He said he prefers to be out in the fresh air, though the street has its own dangers. “Eight and a half years homeless and I still got all my toes,” Hubbard said. “And, I want to keep all my toes … ‘cause, well, I don’t know anybody who would not want to have their toes.” If in the future, he gets a place of his own, Hubbard said he’ll frame his winter coat, which he’s worn all eight winters that he has spent on the streets
of Madison. Smart, who has written passionately since the age of 14, said putting pen to paper is akin to therapy for her. Having dealt with addiction before she eventually got off the street, she hopes her pieces about recovery reach other people with similar struggles. “Knowing that I’m helping others through my words gives me an overall sense of peace, even if I reach just one person,” she said. “Knowing what’s going on in our community and letting others read it even if they’re not going through it — that benefits the community as a whole.” Smart advises other writers to be true to their own voice and, most of all, to never give up. The mission of Street Pulse extends to not only the homeless community but also members of the Madison community who are able to do their laundry, wake up in the morning to a pot of coffee and sleep in their own beds at night. What’s necessary for change is understanding, according to Andro. “It doesn’t cost a darn thing to treat people with respect,” she said. As long as Street Pulse exists, members of the homeless community will find solace in it, whether that means selling it despite the cold to pay for their own food or writing to advocate for themselves and others suffering the trauma of homelessness. “At least I got a job and I keep some kind of happiness,” Hubbard said, “For now that’s all I got — some kind of happiness.”
“The paper provides a platform for people to express to the community the hardships they endure while experiencing homelessness.”
Vendors purchase papers for around 25 cents and sell them around the city for a dollar. Papers are distributed to several locations — The Beacon Homeless Shelter, First United Methodist Church and Bethel Lutheran Church — where sellers can pick them up on weekdays. Each month, vendors collectively sell about 2,500 papers. Street Pulse vendors sell at locations spanning from the Willy Street Co-op on the East side to Trader Joe’s on the West side, as well as several places around Capitol Square and on State Street. Vendors have a range of selling styles, doing what they can to shrink their stack of papers. “I’m not an aggressive seller, I don’t tap on windows, honk horns… If people want a paper they’ll come up and get one,” said Chris Hubbard, who has been homeless for over eight years and has worked for Street Pulse for five years. Having worked for the paper for so long, Hubbard has in-depth knowledge of both the patterns and unpredictability of selling. One day, someone might give 10 or 20 dollars; on another, he might sell only one paper. And he said rain or cold easily undermines an entire day of selling. Times are also rough during February when people get their bills, Hubbard
TÉALIN ROBINSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Chris Hubbard has been selling Street Pulse Newspaper for five of his eight and a half years living on the street.
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Action Project Issue, November 2018
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An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 128, Issue 10
2142 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, Wis., 53706-1497 (608) 262-8000 • fax (608) 262-8100
News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor-in-Chief Sammy Gibbons
Managing Editor Sam Nesovanovic
News Team News Manager Andy Goldstein Campus Editor Jenna Walters College Editor Robyn Cawley City Editor Jon Brockman State Editor Andy Goldstein Associate News Editor Sydney Widell Features Editor Grace Wallner Opinion Editors Izzy Boudnik • Jake Price Editorial Board Chair Jake Price Arts Editors Allison Garfield • Brandon Arbuckle Sports Editors Cameron Lane-Flehinger • Bremen Keasey Almanac Editors Samantha Jones • Savannah McHugh Photo Editor Cameron Lane-Flehinger Graphics Editors Max Homstad • Laura Mahoney Multimedia Editor Asia Christoffel • Hannah Schwarz Science Editor Tyler Fox Life & Style Editor Ashley Luehmann Copy Chiefs Dana Brandt • Kayla Huynh • Erin Jordan Copy Editors Dillon Erickson • Haley Mades Social Media Managers Ella Johnson • Abby Friday Special Pages Haley Sirota • Justine Spore
Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Mike Barth Advertising Managers Wesley Rock• Daniel Tryba • Karly Nelson The Daily Cardinal is a nonprofit organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of WisconsinMadison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.
Editorial Board Sammy Gibbons • Sam Nesovanovic Izzy Boudnik • Samantha Jones Savannah McHugh • Justine Spore Haley Sirota • Jake Price
Board of Directors Herman Baumann, President Sammy Gibbons • Sam Nesovanovic Mike Barth • Barry Adams Phil Hands • Don Miner Nancy Sandy • Jennifer Sereno Scott Girard • Alex Kusters
© 2015, The Daily Cardinal Media Corporation ISSN 0011-5398
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COURTESY OF CHELSEA WUNNIKE
Since UW-Extension came under the UW-Madison umbrella, financial aid outreach partnerships have become more coordinated state-wide.
Extension, Financial Aid spread message of college affordability By Sydney Widell ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
On an afternoon in early September, Chelsea Wunnike drove across Richland Center, Wisconsin from her UW-Extension office to the Richland County Fairgrounds. For the next few hours, she’d be in between the horse barns and the midway talking college savings, as part of a financial literacy program she pioneered several years ago. Thanks to new partnerships between UW-Madison and the UW Extension that have emerged since the system restructured last summer, Wunnike’s outreach efforts now include information about financial aid programs at the university and other state schools. The UW System opted to undergo restructuring last fall in an effort to stem falling enrollment and adapt to tight budgets at its institutions statewide. The changes have included merging two-year technical schools with four-year universities and relocating the UW-Extension and all of its services within UW-Madison. For UW-Madison financial aid officers and extension agents alike, the restructuring is already creating natural financial aid outreach channels and connecting students around the state to the resources they need to pursue higher education. “As we’ve been navigating the restructuring and Extension has been coming under the UW-Madison umbrella, these partnerships have become more logical,” said Greg Offerman, associate director for advising and outreach for the Office of Student Financial Aid. “From leadership on up the chain it seems more logical to get those collaborations going under more full force.” From the fairgrounds in Richland to classrooms in Brown County, financial aid information is already becoming more and more integrated in the extension’s larger financial literacy programming. In Richland County schools, only 45 percent of students who graduated in 2017 enrolled in four-year postsecondary education. Statewide, that number was nearly 60 percent. Richland schools serve a mixed urban and agricultural base, and the fact that many students go on to pursue agricultural training is one reason Wunnike thinks that number is not on track with the state average.
Still, Wunnike wondered if perceived financial barriers could be another factor preventing students from accessing higher education. The families Wunnike works with are primarily on the moderateto low-income spectrum, she said. For them, the cost of college can seem like too high a price to pay. “It’s a doom and gloom message,” Wunnike said. “People say college is so expensive, you’re going to get buried in debt and for low to moderate income families who don’t have a lot of extra to put to savings, that is not very encouraging.” In the 2015-’16 school year, only 56 percent of high school seniors filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid report in Wisconsin, according to a study published by Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education researchers last year. But by using free and reduced lunch qualification as a proxy for socioeconomic status, the same study determined that schools with the highest filing rates for that service had the lowest number of FAFSA applicants.
“We both want to make sure that all students throughout the state of Wisconsin have a connection to that financial aid resource to help navigate the higher education process.”
Greg Offerman associate director for advising and outreach Office of Student Financial Aid
When students fail to file the FAFSA, they forego an average of nearly $10,000 in total aid they otherwise would be eligible to receive. Students may fail to file for a number of reasons, including being discouraged by the complex application process, believing they do not need or qualify for aid, or are poorly informed about how to apply, the report said. Both Wunnike and UW-Madison financial aid officers know that there are resources for those families, but navigating the financial aid process
alone can be daunting to the point of being detering. Since the merger, they and other extension agents have been working together to demystify the financial aid process. “We both want to make sure that all students throughout the state of Wisconsin have a connection to that financial aid resource to help navigate the higher education process,” Offerman said. “For the extension, the boundaries of their organization are the boundaries of the state, and we’re looking to do the exact same.” Shortly after the Board of Regents approved the restructuring in July, Offerman met with area extension directors and talked through some of the nuances of UW-Madison’s aid programs, which provide free tuition to some in-state students — including new initiatives like Bucky’s Tuition Promise and Badger Promise — in the hopes that those county offices would be better equipped to incorporate that information into their existing programing. One of the programs Wunnike is working on currently is a video series about student life at UW-Madison tailored for Richland middle schoolers. The videos aim to show students that college can be a realistic option for them, and that there are resources available for families who would otherwise consider it a financial burden. “Our mission is community education and transformative education,” Wunnike said. “We’re looking for research to back that and the research comes from the land grant institution, from UW-Madison. We’re looking for ways to translate that research into things people can use in their everyday lives to make better decisions.” To produce those videos from a student’s perspective, Wunnike partnered with a consumer science class in the School of Human Ecology where undergraduates are creating a product for her, as if she was their client. The students are getting real-world experience in their field and Wunnike is receiving content that will help her open the doors to higher education for more students, according to Madelaine L’Espirance, the pro-
fessor leading the course. “This class in particular is a really great fit with the merger with the extension,” L’Espirance said. “It’s so natural because we’re both interested in the same group of people and in promoting the same kind of financial education and literacy for meeting more of those long term financial goals.”
“We want to help students in the state of Wisconsin navigate the higher education process no matter where they want to go to school.” Greg Offerman associate director for advising and outreach Office of Student Financial Aid
Wunnike is one of several extension agents L’Espirance is partnering with this semester. In addition to the collaboration with Richland County, her students are working with extension offices in Elkhorn and Fond du Lac. L’Espirance said she doesn’t know if she would have made connections with those extension offices if the system hadn’t restructured. While there hasn’t been a coordinated financial aid outreach effort statewide yet, partnerships like this one could be indicators of the types of programming to come. The Office of Financial Aid is also taking advantage of its new proximity to the extension to work directly with agencies and meet their specific, regional needs. When the Brown County office requested a financial aid workshop for high schoolers, he helped them develop their programming. “Like any partner we work with, we of course want to be meeting their need and to provide something useful to them in terms of a service, and really, that’s what it will come down to for us — having that service and sharing that knowledge,” Offerman said. “We want to help students in the state of Wisconsin navigate the higher education process no matter where they want to go to school.”
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Action Project Issue, November 2018
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MORGAN WINSTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
It is important to remember that there is no “standard” financial standing amongst UW-Madison students. This truth means all of our experiences vary by individual.
‘Traditional’ college experience not financially accessible to all students view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.
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tudents decked in red and white gear across UW-Madison’s campus can tell you what it means to have the “college experience:” It includes going to games in the Kohl Center and at Camp Randall, experiencing Madison’s nightlife on State Street or partying in the high rises around campus, grabbing food from one of the unions and absorbing the views the Terrace has to offer. But harder to pinpoint for many is its cost — and the even heftier price tag of lower-income students’ inability to afford this seemingly universal experience. Financial aid, scholarships and grants provide an incredible sense of accomplishment and relief to students from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds; it provides an abundance of new opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Once they arrive oncampus and attempt to get acclimated, however, the cost of living in Madison, on and off-campus, can chip away at that welldeserved sense of pride. Many first-year students begin their time in college with moving into the residence halls, and it is here when their financial strifes outside of tuition first emerge. Starting this academic year, University Housing has rolled out a new meal plan, requiring all who
live in the dorms to put a minimum of $1,400 on their Wiscard solely for spending in the dining halls. In the months following the announcement of the plan, multiple protests broke out in the two biggest dining halls on campus. Many students spoke out about how the plan would especially impact low-income students, as well as those with dietary restrictions. Even for students living outside the dorms and instead now living in rented houses or apartments, it remains difficult to avoid the rising costs of eating or drinking out with friends.
The cost of living in Madison, on- and offcampus, can chip away at that well-deserved sense of pride.
“Higher end” coffee shops and restaurants have booted out less expensive places over the years, and they leave students with fewer options for grabbing a cup of coffee or a substantial meal at a decent cost. It can also be difficult for low-income students to become friends with people who love going to the bars every weekend when they can’t afford to have the same $7 drinks. The cost of tickets to many of the major sporting events on campus are yet another a barrier to low-income students to building relationships with their friends and peers. A $30 ticket may be insignificant to many of the students that buy and sell on the Ticket Exchange Facebook page, but for some that is their week of groceries
or the money for their electric bill. While the tangible costs of securing the college experience are significant, even more consequential are the costs and drains on relationships with friends, peers and university faculty.
A $30 ticket may be insignificant to many of the students ... but for some that is their week of groceries or their electric bill.
Many students, and to a lesser extent staff members, assume those attending UW-Madison have similar college experiences and similar socioeconomic backgrounds, but these assumptions are inaccurate and can be harmful to low-income students. Opinions from peers can leave others feeling targeted in classroom discussions with comments promoting the idea that “those who work hard won’t be poor.” Innocent comments from higher-income students, often in classes covering the very issues students in the class grapple with, like “I can’t imagine that kind of life” or “I wonder what it must be like to go without food or shelter” could cause the students sitting next to them discomfort or feelings of isolation. Academic staff on campus aren’t exempt from unintentionally excluding students either. When professors make comments like, “You all can afford the reader for this course; it’s only $40,” or “You need this lab book for the class, but it’s not that expensive,” they disconnect and exclude select students
from the rest of the class Even well-meaning friends can perpetuate feelings of marginalization without even realizing it. They do it when they decide their friend group should make photo albums together, leaving their lowincome friend calculating how they’re going to scrape together the money to print off photos. They do it when they plan on going to a concert together while one friend dreads admitting the admission costs are too high. They do it when they have a “Friendsgiving” dinner together and one of the friends worries about how they’re going to pay for the food they are supposed to bring. Though these issues exist on every campus to some extent, it is particularly pervasive at UW-Madison. For a university that strives to be as diverse in as many ways possible, it still has a way to go in making campus and its culture welcoming to those of poor economic backgrounds.
Academic staff on campus aren’t exempt from unintentionally excluding students either.
According to a study published by The New York Times, about 40 percent of students in the UW System in 2013 came from families in the top income quintile, with their households making at least $110,000 a year.
Meanwhile, only 4.4 percent of students came from families with an annual income at or below $20,000. To make campus more inclusive of students from every socioeconomic background and status, the university needs to provide more support to the students they already list among its ranks through things like scholarships and work study. Additionally, it needs to better inform high school students in poorly funded schools across the state of what resources are available. Many people fondly remember college as the “best four years” of their lives. While this is not to say that low-income students do not enjoy college, they are at a disadvantage that does not allow them to embrace the full extent of this traditional experience. No administrative decision will completely absolve students from these financial burdens, but surely more can be done. The university could start by improving the meal plan policy, offering cheaper textbooks to those with demonstrated need and potentially mandating an economic sensitivity class. The last idea would expose affluent students to the struggles faced by their less fortunate peers — providing people with a more holistic understanding of economic variations across the campus and allowing them to constructively analyze personal privileges, making campus more welcoming for everyone. How has your financial standing impacted your college experience? How do you feel this issue is best addressed at UW? Send any of your comments or questions to us opinion@dailycardinal.com.
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Action Project Issue, November 2018
dailycardinal.com
Chazen opens dialogue on homelessness By Michael Makowski THE DAILY CARDINAL
Millions of people around the world lack access to shelter and refuge. Each year in Madison, over 3,500 people experience homelessness, according to Porchlight, a local organization that strives to reduce homelessness in Dane County by providing shelter, affordable housing and supportive services. At the end of November, a new art exhibit displaying difficult truths of the subject will make its way to the Chazen Museum of Art.“Shelter: Crafting a Safe Home,” is organized by Contemporary Craft, a gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ann Sinfield, exhibition manager for the Chazen Museum of Art, decided to reach out to Contemporary Craft about hosting this particular exhibition. “[The Chazen] hasn’t really done anything like this,” Sinfield said. “We haven’t really engaged contemporary artists that work with a very specific topic.” “Shelter” is a socially engaged art experience. It uses different methods to create awareness and open dialogue around the press-
ing topic of housing insecurity through descriptive visuals. The exhibition incorporates different mediums to explain the issue. Sinfield explained the artists created tangible things, such as wearable jewelry and quilts, out of enigmatic and challenging concepts. Demitra Thomloudis is one featured artist in the exhibit. Her art looks at how gentrification affects local communities and neighborhoods. She uses construction debris from demolished homes to create wearable jewelry like brooches, earrings and necklaces. All the pieces are made out of materials like housing insulation, pieces of wood and metal. These remnants of demolished homes represent the struggles of housing insecurity. Charity White, another artist featured in the exhibit, is a figurative ceramicist and community activist. She crafts figures laying on benches split at the waist — the art is then actually put in parks, designed to prevent homeless people from sleeping on the benches. Her work seeks to expose the politics of urban design and invites the community to reconsider its use of participation in public space, according to
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART
The exhibit, featuring actual construction debris, creates awareness of housing insecurity. her website. The imagery uncannily parallels the homeless individuals and population who often sleep outside the Chazen. “These artists are thinking about how to make artwork that ties bigger ideas into a personal experience,” Sinfield said. “It brings that data into a very direct relation-
ship with an individual. It makes it physical; it makes it tangible.” The exhibit also hopes to host a sock and glove drive to collect donations for the local populations experiencing homelessness. On Nov. 29, there will be an opening event with representatives from local organizations helping
those without shelter. “It presents these objects that are really interesting and really beautiful, but [that’s] not all they are,” Sinfield said. “There’s a lot of information that comes with them.” The exhibit is coming to Madison on Nov. 24 and will be displayed until Jan. 6, 2019.
Local theater companies provide wages for local artists By Allison Garfield ARTS EDITOR
The theater industry is notorious for being difficult to find steady work, no matter what aspect of the field one is pursuing. Even if you can land the rare theater gig, there’s no guarantee it pays well — or even at all. Yet, there’s no shortage of aspiring actors, writers, directors, stage managers and so on. The median pay in 2017 for an actor was $17.49 an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Though this seems like a livable wage, for many, especially struggling artists who can go months without work, it is not enough. In 2016, The New York Times
reported that Off-Broadway theaters in New York City settled to pay hundreds of actors and stage managers higher salaries after being put under extensive pressure from an aggressive social media campaign by performers. This reform came late to the game in New York compared to Madison. The theater scene in Wisconsin’s state capital has provided high wages for actors for several years; it is a unique bubble that allows its resident artists to thrive, with various theater companies who prioritize hiring and paying locals. Erica Berman, a local playwright and director of education
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS If you’re a nontraditional UW–Madison student looking for financial assistance to complete your education, Adult Career and Special Student Services can help. Start by applying for one or more of our scholarships! The application period for the 2019-20 academic year opens Dec. 1, 2018. For details and application, visit acsss.wisc.edu/scholarships.
Adult Career and Special Student Services 608-263-6960 advising@dcs.wisc.edu
and community engagement as well as artistic associate of the Children’s Theater of Madison, said Madison’s arts scene is distinctive because of its small size. “Sometimes in cities like New York or Boston, it’s like if a tree falls in the forest ... And only your friends come to see it,” Berman said. “In Madison, I feel like it’s not a blip. ” Berman also works full time at CTM hiring teaching artists to work with young people in the organization. She employs both locally and across the state, and sometimes across the Midwest. This hasn’t deterred her writing, though. In fact, it has allowed given her a unique perspective on how she, and therefore CTM, can support other artists juggling multiple jobs. “I have to do my full-time job and then when I go home I have to write and have faith that someone somewhere will hear it,” she said. “It’s never too late to explore a part of yourself, and don’t just define yourself. Because I’m a playwright, doesn’t mean I can’t be a businesswoman or can’t be an arts administrator or a teacher. Look at yourself as an expansive artist.” For Berman, Madison presented many different opportunities and a lot of companies who took a leap by saying “yes.” Her confidence was launched by Forward Theater Company when they accepted her into Wisconsin Wrights, a local program dedicated to developing new theatrical work and awarding Wisconsin playwrights with the rare opportunity to develop their plays in a professional public reading series. Jennifer Uphoff Gray, Artistic Director of Forward Theater Company, emphasized this localized focus of the organization as its central objective. “Written right into our mis-
sion statement is that we provide, among other things, a home base for Wisconsin theater professionals,” Uphoff Gray said. “The biggest way in which we interpret that is by hiring Wisconsin based artists and working aggressively to pay them as well as we possibly can.” Every year, Uphoff Gray and the rest of the Forward staff hire upwards of 100 contracts, with over 95 percent of them going to Wisconsin residents. She said the company even adopted a new artists investment initiative, driven by their board, that pays artists both on stage and behind the scenes at the top of the wage range. “I think we’ve, over the last couple of seasons, raised wages something like 30 percent,” Uphoff Gray said. “It’s not an initiative we’re done with.” Part of the reason FTC is able to provide substantial pay is that the company, when founded in 2009, stepped into a very specific void in the Madison art scene. The Madison Rep — which had been the only equity theater company in the city — just closed. Uphoff Gray is hopeful that the success of the organization will trickle down to support the entire theater ecosystem. “The artists that we employ are able to stay around the area,” she said. “They can work with all the other theater companies. The wages that we pay make it feasible for them to continue to work here, which is wonderful and important.” Regardless of FTC taking the lead on paying artists a living wage, its pay on a week by week basis. Uphoff Gray explained that the company doesn’t even hire actors for an entire season, let alone for 52 weeks a year. “A professional life in the theater here in the Midwest means cobbling things together,” she said. “We try to do as much as we can, [but] we know it’s all part of a
big patchwork quilt.” FTC is not the only company working to provide for local artists. Broom Street Theater Artistic Director Doug Reed spoke to the financial independence of BST, which is free of advertisers, grants and sponsors. As a result, expenses to put on shows and run the building are low, giving more possibilities to artists. “We’re in this crazy, enviable position that I don’t think any other theater in Madison is in and most theaters around the country aren’t in,” Reed said. “[This] lets us give just about anybody an opportunity. You don’t have to be a proven commodity to work at Broom Street.” “We can do things which [make] us much more accessible than a lot of live theater, which, unfortunately, can be kind of an elitist art form because it’s expensive to put on.” Despite differences in theater companies — size, budget, unionaffiliation or not — each administrator echoed the same sentiment when asked about advice for local artists: find your community. “It’s such a schmoozy, who you know, kind of business and I don’t mean that in a disparaging way,” Reed said. “Where there’s good theater, there’s good community and so get yourself into that community and be open to the opportunities that will start coming your way.” Madison, though it may be smaller than the typical theatrical hub, does bring many opportunities to its citizens. “In an industry that can really pull people down, find people who are going to lift you up,” Berman said. “It’s essential because finding people who say ‘no’ is pretty easy. But who are the people in your life that say ‘yes’ and believe in you? Then find that drive within yourself.”