Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - The Daily Cardinal

Chris Pine takes break from USS Enterprise to make crappy train movie ARTS

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wis. Reps aim to return rail funds, alleviate national debt

By Adam Wollner The Daily Cardinal

U.S Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, Tom Petri, R-Wisconsin, and Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow states, including Wisconsin, to return high-speed rail funds to the federal government.

“Instead of being told by bureaucrats in Washington how to allocate their resources, states need to have the flexibility and authority to prioritize how tax

dollars are being spent,” the three Republican congressmen said in a joint statement.

“We support Governor-elect Walker’s effort to put the brakes on the high-speed rail budget boondoggle, which is why we introduced legislation, today, that would give states the ability to return federal funds obligated to high-speed rail projects, and instead use this money to reduce our nation’s $1.6 trillion rail page 3

Doyle reveals new transportation funds Gov. Jim Doyle approved funding Tuesday for a “Transportation to Jobs” program, which aims to help lowincome workers get to their jobs.

The program provides grants to expand public transportation and groups that provide shuttle services, using funding from state, local and federal sources, according to a statement from the Governor’s office.

“Access to safe, reliable transportation is critical for the working families of Wisconsin,” Doyle said in the statement.

“Transportation is a proven investment that not only benefits

workers but also strengthens our economy. Thank you to all the local communities and organizations for their work to provide essential transportation services.”

Dane County received $274,000 for the Young Women’s Christian Association of Madison. The YWCA offers shuttle services, known as JobRide, for low-income workers to get to their jobs and assist their job search.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, coordinating with the Department of funds page 3

Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

Over 500 students attended the first annual Madison housing fair Tuesday at the Memorial Union. The event was hosted by ASM and aimed to educate students on their both their options and their rights in signing leases for the upcoming year.

ASM holds first annual Madison student housing fair at Memorial Union

By Kayla Johnson The Daily Cardinal

After a year of coordinating 45 different landlords, the Associated Students of Madison held the Madison First Annual Student Housing Fair Tuesday.

The event was held at Memorial Union and featured information on hundreds of different properties.

Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Sam Polstein said the event was informative about housing options and educational in terms of tenant law.

“The overall goal is to bring all these resources in one place where

students can come and find out their rights as a tenant and find out about all these different properties they can rent,” Polstein said.

Sophomore Trisha Horvath said the fair was a convenient way for busy students to find out about renting options.

“I’m pretty busy right now, and it is really nice to have everybody in one place instead of going to a million different websites to find out about properties,” Horvath said.

Members of Student Tenant Education and Mediation attended the fair to answer leasing questions.

The newly formed organization provides student tenant education, problem resolution assistance and mediation.

Some attendees said they were surprised this was the first housing fair at UW-Madison.

“Housing fairs pretty much take place on all the other campuses around the state, so it is unusual that we don’t have a housing fair,” said Nancy Jensen, director of the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin. “It is a huge benefit for students to be able to come together and see lots of properties at one time.”

Common Council passes 2011 Capital Budget

By Beth Pickhard The Daily Cardinal

Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

Madison Common Council members approved amendments to the 2011 Capital Budget to add funds for a new city park and electric water meter system, while voting against an Edgewater Hotel proposal.

The Madison Common Council passed the 2011 Capital Budget late Tuesday night, approving an amendment to increase funding for the Central Park while voting down an amendment concerning Edgewater Hotel labor agreements.

The council approved an amendment to allocate an additional $2.2 million to fund the Central Park on Madison’s neareast side, along East Wilson Street and between South Ingersoll Street and South Few Street.

The funds would move a railroad track running through the park.

Scott Thornton, of the Marquette Neighborhood Association, said developers have tried to work around the tracks, but the park is not cohesive with-

out moving them.

Ald. Jed Sanborn, District 1, said there is no shortage of parks in Madison and the funding is not “essential.”

“This is basically something that people want to see,” Sanborn said. “It is not something that is greatly needed.”

Another amendment proposed for the Central Park was to add $1.9 million to develop Brearly Square within the park. This proposal did not pass.

The council passed a $5.6 million water meter reader project to allow Madison’s Water Utility to install readers. The system will track water usage electronically instead of requiring meter readers. This also allows consumers to monitor their water usage, council page 3

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

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An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892

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News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Emma Roller Managing Editor Todd Stevens Campus Editor

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Twiddling my thumbs while everyone ignores me

Volume 120, Issue 56

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line from the “Cheers” theme song goes, “You want to go where everybody knows your name.” My dad, who is constantly on the beeper and who greatly values his infrequent quiet time, often jokes, “I want to go where nobody knows my name.” While I can agree with this once in a while, for the most part, I like to be surrounded by people with whom I can have a good, comfortable and engaging conversation. And most certainly, whenever I go to a bar (woo woo 21 holla holla 21!) I like to be with people I know. So, with respect to bars, yes, I do want to go to a place where everybody (Ok that’s a bit drastic) knows my name.

Anyway, doesn’t it always seem to happen that when you are getting ready to go out (for me this usually means changing my socks and contemplating if just wearing jeans and a sweatshirt is too tomboyish), you imagine the evening proceeding in a certain way, and then almost 92 percent of the time

the night takes you in a completely different direction? Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse?

Well, I recently had one of those nights. And unfortunately, it was for the worse.

I made last-minute plans to go to a bar with three friends. Not super close friends, but friends nonetheless. On the walk over to the bar, I was looking forward to just sitting at a table, throwing a few back (who am I?) and having enlightening conversations.

You know, conversations about our favorite song off the “Space Jam” soundtrack, or whether or not we’d save a choking duck if the cause of his choking was from a piece of bread we’d thrown. For the record, I would attempt to save the duck (but only if he were on land, I ain’t jumpin’ into a lake).

In my mind we, and the “few” people we were meeting up with, would share stupid jokes and mindlessly laugh the night away.

Well, basically none of that happened. No comparing the pros and cons of “I Believe I Can Fly” with the “Space Jam” rap. No discussion about how exactly we’d go about performing the Heimlich maneuver on the duck either.

None of that. Zilch. Nada. Zip. Instead, upon arriving to the uncomfortably crowded bar where

there was barely any standing room (and definitely no place to sit), I was separated from the three people I came with. So I fended my way to the bar and ordered a Bud Light where a stranger rolled their eyes at me. Uh, that’s rude.

Then I spotted the people I came with; they were each talking to people I did not know. I walked over toward them, patted them on the shoulder in a “glad I found ya” fashion, and smiled at the strangers. The people I knew slightly acknowledged that I found them and then continued to talk to their buddies. No introduction or anything. “Well this is a bit awkward,” I said to myself. Here I am, a 21-year-old standing quietly beside these people like I’m some sort of sheepdog. I’m fairly outgoing and friendly, but when two people are engaged in conversation and don’t even look at you, it’s sort of difficult to make your entry.

So, what do I do? Well for a while I pretended to be listening to what they were talking about.

Then I tried to appear as though I was keeping busy. You know, I text a few friends. Then I called one of these friends (naturally, it is loud so I had to walk away and pretend to find a quiet spot even though there isn’t a quiet spot in a bar

ASK THE DEER CARDINAL

Life is hard.

The Deer Cardinal is here to help.

Deer Cardinal,

I’m going home for Thanksgiving since my family is holding a huge dinner for all of my relatives. It will be the first time I’ve seen my family since the semester started and I’m excited to see them, but I’m also really worried. I know many people, especially girls, gain the “freshman 15” when they head to college. Somehow, I seem to have gained about two times that, and I don’t know what my family is going to say about it. How do I make this visit home enjoyable, aka with as few comments about my recent weight gain as possible?

—Farrah Anne Thompson Monamaloola FAT, Don’t worry! Simply tell your relatives you were chosen for a birth control trial, and it’s only the resulting water weight.

Then tell them the people running the study told you the weight is supposed to disperse, in the form of urine, in a few months. This will give you time to either a) hit up the SERF every day next semester for four hours at a time, b) get your stomach stapled and re-learn how to eat, c) go on Jenny Craig—hardcore.

Instead of that elaborate scheme, which may be too much time and work for you, here are some other suggestions: Buy ponchos. Lots of them. This bird doesn’t give as shit if they are high-fashion or “high” fashion ponchos. Your parents will understand that a young person’s style can change drastically once they enter college—SOAR probably mentioned it. They will also be happy that they no longer have to spend any hardearned cash on perfectly distressed Abercrombie attire this holiday season.

And if that suggestion isn’t your style you could always tell them you’re pregnant.

Moving on, the last option I have for you is blame it on your friends. I don’t mean, “My friend Josie made me eat all those Ho-Ho’s and Housing Food chicken nugs.” Rather, you and your friends are engaged in a friendly contest called “who can stand wearing a fat suit the longest.”

It’s perfect! You don’t actually need to be wearing that extremely uncomfortable fat suit since you provide the guise yourself! Additionally, if your parents ask you why you can’t take it off while you’re home, as your friends are not present, you can feign indignation! Don’t they know you are an honest, trustworthy person? How could you live with yourself if you won the prize, (dinner at Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry and $25 at Lane Bryant), by CHEATING?!?

WE LOVE NEWS

other than the bathroom). Then I walked back from said “quiet” spot, fighting my way through the crowd to get to the group that has obviously been missing my presence. Did I mention I had three drinks spilled on me? But don’t worry, they were all accompanied by, “Oh my gawd, I’m sooooo sorry,” and a half sincere smile.

Oh what a night. Where was *Norm when I needed him?

Here is the text I sent my older brother that night: “**Hey brother!

What do you do when you are at a bar and, more or less, don’t know anyone? Dance? Cha cha? Macerena?

Or maybe the cupid Shuffle? *Yes, that is a Cheers reference. ** Yes, that is a Buster Bluth reference.

Upon rereading this column, I realize that I sound like a major pathetic loser. And a cynic. I swear I’m not. Also, I painted my friends in a way that makes them seem like major jerks. This too is untrue. Rather, they were just busy talking to other people (I’m sure they didn’t mean to leave me out ... or maybe they did ... those bastards!)

Do you sometimes feel like you are back in third grade and are being left out of playing four square at recess? Me too, friend. Me too.

Let’s talk about our ideal night out at kqbrosnan@wisc.edu.

dailycardinal.com/news

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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news

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UW-Madison ranks in top ten for number of students studying abroad

Lorenzo Zemella/cardinal File Photo

Outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle recently halted construction on the proposed high-speed rail line, leaving Gov.-elect Scott Walker and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to decide the project’s fate.

rail from page 1 deficit and $13.8 trillion debt.”

Walker campaigned to stop the high-speed rail project and since his election has not changed his stance. He has already asked Gov. Jim Doyle to halt the project, which he agreed to do.

“Governor-elect Walker is pleased that these three leaders understand that the train between Milwaukee and Madison is dead,” Walker’s press secretary Cullen Werwie said.

council from page 1 which the city hopes will conserve water.

The Common Council also agreed to keep $5 million for a land banking fund. Land banking will give the city the ability to purchase funds for development in the future.

Labor stipulations for the Edgewater Hotel renovations were also on the table. The council voted against an amendment to allow the city to put restrictions on labor agreements between Edgewater developer Hammes Co. and their employees.

Hammes Co. and the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin pre-

Democratic Dane County Executive candidate Scott McDonell has been a strong proponent of the high-speed rail and said he thinks it would improve Wisconsin’s transportation system and economy.

“I wish Governor Walker were more concerned with our economy and infrastructure than just saying ‘no’ to anything proposed by a Democrat,” McDonell said.

“If he were, he’d understand the rail corridor is actually good for our roads and bridges, as well as

our larger economy.”

Walker also proposed last week that the funds be used toward repairing state roads instead.

However, the funds must be used for a high-speed rail or returned to the federal government under the current law.

New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has requested the funds for this project.

However, the proposed bill would prevent any other state from receiving Wisconsin’s highspeed rail funds.

viously negotiated a Community Development Agreement, but council members said they want to make sure the labor agreement is fair.

Edgewater Development Director Amy Supple said Hammes Co. has not released the Community Development Agreement between Hammes Co. and the construction company because the project has yet to begin.

Steve Breitlow, of the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, said he is happy with the agreement and said it was “built out of respect and honesty.”

Council members said they may discuss Edgewater labor issues further at a meeting devoted to policy instead of the budget.

The Common Council will reconvene Wednesday night to discuss the 2011 Operating Budget.

“This is basically something that people want to see ...

It is not something that is greatly needed.”

Jed Sanborn alder District 1

“It’s all about ensuring that we have good paying, quality jobs from this $16 million project,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.

Catch all the brain-eating action of

Humans vs.

Zombies in The Daily Cardinal’s new video segment available at dailycardinal.com/media

UW-Madison ranks in the top ten among all U.S. research institutions for the number of students who earn academic credit abroad, according to an Institute of International Education report based on the 2008-’09 academic year.

UW-Madison ranks fourth in number of students completing semester programs and sixth for year-long programs.

In 2008-’09, 2,230 UW-Madison students earned academic credit abroad, which ranks the university eighth for overall study abroad participation.

The number of UW-Madison

students who went abroad in 2008-’09 increased 0.6 percent from 2007-’08.

More UW-Madison female students participated in study abroad programs than male students, with a reported ratio of 65.1 percent female to 34.9 percent male, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison CampusWide Study Abroad Report.

UW-Madison students studied in 70 countries on seven continents. Spain was the most common destination, with Italy in second place and China in third place, according to the university’s report.

Board of Supervisors pass half-billiondollar budget with lower tax levy The Dane County Board of Supervisors passed a nearly $500 million county budget Monday night.

The tax levy in the 2011 proposed in the budget will be about 2.9 percent, a significant decrease from this year’s budget, which put the levy over 7 percent.

“We balanced the needs throughout county government while keeping the taxpayer firmly in mind,” County Board Chair Scott McDonell said in a statement.

The budget will amount in an average of $655 for the average Dane County homeowner.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk originally pro-

funds from page 1 Workforce Development, determines which services and groups receive grants. The department integrates funds from federal, state and local levels into a

posed the budget in October and will need to sign the amended budget in order for it to go into effect.

“We balanced the needs throughout county government while keeping the taxpayer firmly in mind.”

Scott McDonell chair Dane County Board

The most significant change the Board of Supervisors made to the budget was increasing the Dane County Conservation fund by $1.4 million. single awards program.

Grants included funding for programs such as taxi vouchers, vehicle repair grants, vehicle purchase loans and transportation education and assistance.

—Patrick Tricker

life&style

4 • Wednesday, November 17, 2010

dailycardinal.com/life-style

College Fashionista:

Color Study

By Stephanie Bodendorfer COllege Fashionista

Ok, Fashionistas: I know it’s midterm season, but don’t panic at the sight of the word “study” in this week’s headline. I give you all permission to put all of your upcoming homework and exams out of your mind for a few minutes and focus on something that’s both fun and worth studying: color mixing.

This Fashionista immediately caught my eye when I saw her walking through Library Mall. Her bright-blue scarf and neon-pink tights were the first things to grab my atten-

tion. That’s beacause these colorful accessories did their job. I love how the blue and pink work together to create a bold and playful fall color scheme. This is a great example of how you can have fun with a vibrant palate, no matter the season. Are you looking for a way to make your favorite fall ensemble more colorful but not ready to dive into tights? Try a pair of ankle socks and wear them with open-toed, T-strap heels to transition into this trend.

The way this Fashionista paired her vibrant accessories with an otherwise neutral outfit is fabulous. Because of this smart fashion

choice, her sweater dress, hobo bag and flats do not compete for the attention intended for her great scarf and tights. Not only is her ensemble perfect for the unpredictable fall weather we have been experiencing, but is also guaranteed to grab anyone’s attention, as it did mine!

A sweater dress like the one this Fashionista is wearing can be an invaluable part of your fall wardrobe: comfortable, form fitting, and trendy.

Check out University of Wisconsin-Madison’s CollegeFashionsta page at: collegefashionista. com/school/university_of_wisconsin/.

photo courtesy stephanie Bondendorfer

A UW student adds colorful flare to her Fall wardrobe.

Fair Trade: Brewing boldness beyond borders

By Riley Beggin THE DAILY CARDINAL

A cup of coffee can be a college student’s best friend. One thing many coffeedrinkers often don’t consider, however, is the story behind their product: Who is producing it and how is it affecting their lives? Through the increased availability of Fair Trade products around campus, answering these questions is becoming easier for UW-Madison students.

For many farmers and farm workers in developing countries, their livelihood depends on the production of items that Americans consume every day. Low wages and market instability often keep these farmers in intense poverty and dismal living conditions. This in turn damages the families, communities, and environments dedicated to producing the goods.

The Fair Trade program looks to solve these problems. The organization TransFair USA audits transactions between companies and their suppliers to ensure they are providing fair product pricing, good labor conditions, direct trade, community development and environmentally sustainable farming practices. Goods produced under these guidelines are labeled with a recognizable logo.

Suppliers are required to be transparent with their business practices, from where products are being sold to where they were grown.

“With Fair Trade, you can be familiar with the characteristics of the coffee as well as the co-op it’s grown in,” said Lori Henn, owner of Fair Trade Coffee House and Michaelangelo’s Coffee House on State Street. Henn switched to selling Fair Trade coffee in 2009 through the company Equal Exchange.

It is becoming increasingly easy for students to further the Fair Trade cause (and get some damn good food and drinks in the process). There are nearly 30 vendors of Fair Trade certified products in Madison, with seven on State Street alone. A wider variety of certified foods are available at some grocery stores, including Whole Foods Market on University Avenue and Sam’s Club on Watts Road. You can even show your Badger pride with Fair Trade cotton apparel sold in the University Bookstore.

Individual involvement in Fair Trade can extend far beyond buying their products. For those who want to promote Fair Trade on another level, look for events and volunteer opportunities from the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG), which, among other social justice projects, is dedicated to mak-

ing UW-Madison an official Fair Trade University. Students can also look out for upcoming events promoting Fair Trade, like the Community Action on Latin America (CALA) Fair Trade Holiday Festival These individual commitments have had a substantial effect on the success of Fair Trade. All the Fair Trade products available in the University Bookstore and the designation of Madison as an official Fair Trade city were made possible because people made their voices heard. “Students should ask for Fair Trade; when companies hear the demand they will see the importance of providing more products,”said Erica Symonds, the WISPIRG Fair Trade Campaign Coordinator.

When asked what students can do, Henn replied simply “Be bold. It’s a time for boldness.”

arts

dailycardinal.com/arts

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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Conan not enough of a comedy barbarian on his cable debut Todd Stevens the todday show

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photo Courtesy 20th century fox

Denzel Washington (left) and Chris Pine (right) star in Tony Scott’s train wreck of a film.

‘Unstoppable’ is just plain unwatchable

By Mike Kujak the daily cardinal

Why did we need this movie? After last year’s “The Taking Pelham 123,” did director Tony Scott need to prove to us again that he can’t make an entertaining train movie? Did Denzel Washington need to cement his recent career in mediocrity with his second film for Scott? Did Chris Pine need to kill the positive buzz surrounding his latest performance as Captain Kirk in “Star Trek”? Scott’s latest film “Unstoppable” is uninteresting, unpleasant and unfortunate.

The plot is about as straight forward as narratives can be. An unmanned, half-

Unfortunately, neither Pine nor Washington can overcome writer Mark Bomback’s dismal screenplay.

mile-long freight train is heading towards a city, and two good looking, likeable actors portray American working class heroes who have to take matters into their own hands to prevent a big explosion.

First, if you think you know how this story starts, progresses and ends, you do. There’s no way to spoil this movie because if you’ve ever seen a “race against time” film, then you’ve already seen this film. Second, if you noticed that the train might be a metaphor for our economy and the protagonist’s actions might represent the American people preventing an economic crisis, then good for you. Scott loves to shove this message down our throats as an excuse for this film’s existence, but his efforts are so obvious that it’s embarrassing to watch.

If Scott really cared about the economy, maybe he wouldn’t have spent $100 million making another choo-choo thriller.

Washington and Pine play the film’s main protagonists. If one were to walk out of a showing of “Malcolm X” or “Star Trek,” they might say neither actor is capable of delivering a bland or uncharismatic performance. Unfortunately, nei-

ther Pine nor Washington can overcome writer Mark Bomback’s dismal screenplay.

Pine’s performance as Will, a husband whose marriage is on the fringe, is completely forgettable. Scott will stop the action during the film to give the audience a little dose of “this-is-whyyou-should-care-about-this-character” and then move on like he’s earned the audience’s emotions. Sorry, it’s not that simple. If you want the audience to care about the characters, you either have to give them something new or deliver something familiar in a different way.

“Unstoppable” does neither.

Washington plays Frank, a single dad trying to raise his two daughters alone because his wife died of cancer. The film is loosely based on true events, so perhaps Frank’s wife really did have cancer, but within the context of the film the disease is there simply to manipulate the audience into caring about what’s happening on screen.

Rosario Dawson plays Connie, the person responsible for telling the audience that the train is still on the tracks and still moving forward at a ridiculous speed. She is just another painful example of wasted talent. Dawson’s entire performance encapsulates the reason that train films rarely make exciting action flicks: when your train is on the tracks, your narrative is on the tracks. There aren’t a lot of places you can go. You can’t make any kind of twist or diversion without ending the movie or changing its purpose.

Why be so hard on a film that clearly doesn’t have any goals besides providing popcorn entertainment? Well, this film has received high approval from the critical community, especially for an action movie. Apparently critics these days can’t tell the difference between loud obnoxious movies and legitimately stimulating crowd pleasers. If you’ve seen the trailer and though “Unstoppable” looked mediocre, but you also heard the critics are raving about the film, trust your initial instincts on this one. There is nothing here worth seeing.

ell, Conan’s back.

Last week marked the first shows of Conan O’Brien’s new late night gig on TBS, the simply titled “Conan.” And it was, for the most part, everything we’ve come from expect from Conan over the past two decades. He loaded up on the self-deprecating humor, threw in some great visual non-sequiturs and filled an hour of television with comedy that always managed to walk the fine line between intelligent and ridiculous. The problem is, I’m not sure if that’s enough anymore.

Probably the best stretch Conan O’Brien ever had was this past January. I’m sure he doesn’t think that—he did get canned from “The Tonight Show” in favor of the emotionally hollow comic hack that is Jay Leno—but creatively, it’s hard to argue.

More so than any other time in his career dating back to the kickoff of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in 1993, Conan was letting everything out and monologuing like there was no tomorrow. Any material he had previously held back as too mean, too harsh or too daring was in play, and it was brilliant. For the first time ever, Conan had become must-see TV not only for his adoring “I’m with Coco” fans, but for America at large. Sure, some of them were drawn in out of morbid curiosity about the train wreck that was the NBC late night lineup, but many of them stayed because Conan was simply firing on all cylinders.

In many ways, heading to basic cable was the best thing that could happen to Conan.

Freeing him from network television would loosen the ropes of censorship and allow him to roam free like a wild, red-headed stallion. Conan even made light of his new freedom in one of his new show’s early segments, where he went to a TBS executive and tried to figure out just what the channel would and would not allow. Going to another broadcast network like Fox may have given him a bigger audience, but basic cable gives him a better one that is more willing to accept the eccentric and wild Conan.

Except the new TBS “Conan” isn’t quite as eccentric and wild as the Conan we got in January. It’s more the Conan we used to see every night at 12:30/11:30 central, who’s more than happy being America’s class clown, but has no desire to attempting anything daring. He’s perfectly at ease (as opposed to his first few months on “The Tonight Show”), sharp on improvisation and whimsical as ever. And, yes, he still has the Masturbating Bear. But he’s not transcendently funny—and that’s a shame, because from what he showed America this January, I know he can be.

Making the matter worse is that Conan’s new 11/10 p.m. time slot already does feature a transcendent comic just a few channels over in Jon Stewart. Stewart is not only hilarious every night, but he serves as one of the few media watchdogs around. Conan could be hilarious every night while going places nobody else will tread, but he won’t.

Thankfully for fans of both programs, you can stream both “Conan” and Stewart’s “Daily Show” online each day. But doing this is a reminder that Conan’s new “Conan” should be able to reach greater heights, especially during the show’s highly anticipated debut week which drew better ratings than not just Stewart but the network behemoths of Leno and Letterman as well.

It would be easy to say that Conan might have been better off heading to an edgier cable network. When he originally left NBC, my hope was that Conan would jump to Comedy Central and serve as a lead-in for “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” creating a nightly murderer’s row of talent. He could have even gone to HBO, the dream of all TV personalities who want nothing more than creative freedom.

But the only thing that would change on HBO is Conan could say “fuck” without getting bleeped. The problem is that Conan is satisfied now, the anger from last winter is behind him. And while a show from a content Conan is still much funnier than the most inspired show from Leno, it’s still disappointing to know that we may never see the brilliant, angry Conan from the Late Night Wars ever again.

Do you miss your angry Coco too? Or do you think his new show is pure comic genius? You should let Todd know at ststevens@wisc.edu.

photo courtesy turner broadcasting system

Conan “Coco” O’Brien recently made his TBS debut, but is he as good he can be?

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‘Egotistical Dick’. Dickens often referred to himself as “the Sparkler of Albion.” dailycardinal.com/comics

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Finding a penny heads-up

Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

© Puzzles by Pappocom

Branching Out

By Brendan Sullivan bsullivan3@wisc.edu

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.

Eatin’ Cake

By Dylan Moriarty eatincake@gmail.com

Crustaches

By Patrick Remington premington@wisc.edu

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

First in Twenty

By Angel Lee alee23@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

UNDER WARRENTY

ACROSS 1 Chip’s cartoon friend 5 Questionable perfume?

9 Emulate a rat 13 Happily ___ after 14 Dash of panache 15 Farm machinery mogul John 16 Fell to pieces 18 Cut down to size 19 Wine glass part 20 Lair of a wild animal 21 Absorb gradually 23 Slip by, as time 25 Impudent 27 Roman “being” 28 Subordinate staffer 29 Frequent reaction from Scrooge 30 River in central Missouri 33 Reeking 36 Needing fixing 38 Emphasize the importance of 40 Completely ridiculous 41 Do a sartorial job 42 Genesis garden 44 Grabs some shuteye 48 Like Cary Grant

51 High-flying elite 53 Potatoes and yams, e.g.

54 Trim the lawn 55 Where goats gambol 56 Certain JapaneseAmerican 57 Went kaput 60 Having no drawbacks 61 Cream-of-the-crop 62 Impersonated 63 Fit together harmoniously 64 Caboose’s position 65 Bad grades DOWN 1 Judicial ruling 2 Is of use to 3 Subsidiary propositions 4 Before, to the Bard 5 Siouan shelter 6 Thicke of “Growing Pains” 7 Place to get a screwdriver 8 Secret 9 Gillespie’s genre 10 Ready to be rented 11 Military storehouse 12 Quilting event 15 Like a wrung-out dishrag

17 Attack ___ (campaign tactic) 22 Tijuana timeout 24 Indiana state flower 25 More hot-tempered 26 Talese’s “Honor ___ Father” 28 Grow long in the tooth 31 1/20 of an old franc 32 Emerge 34 Sixty secs.

35 Big-time happening 36 Metrical feet (Var.) 37 ___ Arbor, Mich.

38 Degree of success?

39 Current that goes with the wind 43 Expel from law practice 45 Not on the level 46 Reese or Herman 47 Tiers for cheers 49 West Indies witchcraft 50 He moonwalked before Michael 51 Batman foe (with “The”) 52 Yeanling producer 54 Da Vinci’s “___ Lisa” 56 Takeaway game 58 Mass of fish eggs 59 Palindromic relative

Washington and the Bear

By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com

opinion Chancellor recognizes power in global economy dailycardinal.com/opinion

Matt payne opinion columnist

O

n Wisconsin! Those words greeted me during my ascent of the Great Wall last summer while studying abroad in Tianjin, China. After I was mobbed by Chinese tourists eager to take a picture with me and get an autograph from a “real” American, those two words were as welcome as an Ian’s pizza on Friday night. What made me more ecstatic was this person, one of the few foreigners I saw outside of Beijing, was an alumnus of UW-Madison.

One in five people on the planet are citizens of the People’s Republic of China. For the 2010 fall semester, 50 percent of the incoming international freshman at UW-Madison were from China. As their economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, one thing is clear: China will play a key role in both our professional lives and in the university’s development.

UW-Madison has made great headway when it comes to reaching out to China. Chancellor Biddy Martin has been to China more than any other foreign country during her tenure as chancellor. She recently returned from a trip that focused on building positive relations within China on both an educational and a state level. The university has made it a priority to build relations with China in educational terms.

“We are building a range of different kinds of relationships,” Martin said upon her return to cam-

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

pus. “Obviously, we are developing closer institution-to-institution ties with major universities as a way of supporting existing collaboration and creating new opportunities for our faculty and students.”

Furthermore, UW-Madison is building relationships on a state level in order to increase Wisconsin’s global influence and notoriety.

“On this trip we met with two provincial governors and members of their staffs to discuss possible stateto-state collaborations,” Martin said.

How does this kind of outreach affect UW students and alumni?

As Martin pointed out, “We are enhancing the long-term value of a UW-Madison degree by making the university more visible in important parts of the world.” Creating these kinds of ties is an excellent approach for the university to take in order to continue to develop UW-Madison’s status as a world-class university.

Building relationships in China directly impacts students who wish to study abroad, or even work abroad one day. During her trip, Martin met with six Wisconsin based companies, all of whom expressed interest in having UW-Madison students as interns.

Establishing connections within China is also vital to keeping our university competitive both in the U.S. and abroad. China is investing in higher education across the board to attract well-qualified professors and build their own research institutions.

“The investments in higher education [in China] are staggering. And the efforts of Chinese universities to attract native Chinese and American scholars away from U.S. universities is working,” Martin said.

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isabel Àlvarez/the daily cardinal

The university must be able to attract top professors from all over the world, and retain the best ones we already have here on campus if we want to increase the value of a degree. “It was almost as if we had come upon a Big Ten meeting” Chancellor Martin said when she met with the administration and key faculty from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Several previous administrators of other Big Ten schools such as the provost from the University of Michigan and two deans from Iowa and Purdue had left their position at their respective schools to take positions at HKUST. We can’t afford to lose our best

and brightest here at UW-Madison because we lack funding. Increasing federal and state support is one way to remain competitive, but with our government deeply in debt this will be an increasingly difficult task.

Tuition hikes are also an option, but the university should try to make attending college at UW-Madison more affordable, not less. Increasing private support from alumni is then perhaps the best method for making the university more competitive in all parts of the world.

After speaking with the alumnus about State Street, Badger football and life on campus, I had never been more proud to be Badger. What made me even happier was the fact

that he was doing extremely well working in China with the degree he earned from UW-Madison. As students, our competition is no longer just sitting in the classroom beside us. It’s sitting in classrooms thousands of miles away in places like Beijing and Hong Kong.

Recognizing this fact is critical as students progress on their career paths. The university is doing a great job at building those key relationships in places like China that will help students succeed in the 21st century.

Matt Payne is a junior majoring Chinese and economics. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Professors responsible to keep students from cheating on exams Mike muggee opinion columnist

A

few weeks ago at the University of Central Florida, about 200 out of the 600 students in a senior level management class were thought to have had a copy of a midterm test prior to the exam. The university

caitlin kirihara/the daily cardinal

is allowing the cheaters to retake the exam (with different questions), along with taking an ethics seminar if they come forward and admit to the cheating. If they do not confess, cheaters face consequences as severe as expulsion.

Cheating is a big problem on college campuses, even here. Surveys have found that between two-thirds and three-quarters of students have said they have participated in some cheating within the previous year.

College kids are smart, and generally would like to do the least amount of

work to get the best grade possible.

And since grades are so important, this inevitably leads to cheating.

While I don’t think what the cheaters did at UCF is alright, I think a large part of the blame has to be put on the professor, Richard Quinn. It seems that someone obtained the question bank, which Quinn used to pick from around 700 questions and answers. From there, the student distributed them to others in the class. I’m assuming the bank was probably located somewhere online unprotected.

This reminds me of the scene from “The Social Network,” in which Mark Zuckerberg is at a disciplinary hearing for hacking into Harvard’s website to get pictures of girls for the creation of an attractiveness rating website, “FaceMash” (the predecessor to Facebook). At the hearing, Zuckerberg said he should be thanked for pointing out glaring holes in the system’s security. I would hope Harvard’s website is a bit more protected today thanks to Zuckerberg.

Hopefully, the same will happen at UCF and other colleges across the nation. Professors need to realize that students will go to great lengths to get their hands on anything to make their lives easier, like exam questions. As students become craftier, professors will need to up their games as well. Because ultimately, it’s up to professors to prevent cheating.

If a midterm is so important, then faculty members need to take the necessary precautions to make sure it is not available in any form.

Quite simply, Quinn was lazy. Most professors use question banks. This is a sensible approach to what I assume would otherwise be a difficult task. But if professors are going to do this, they better make sure that these aren’t going to be available to anyone else.

It might sound kind of like I am blaming the victim, but I’m not.

Undeniably, what those kids did was unethical and against the rules, but Quinn should have done a better job

securing the test.

Here’s a hypothetical for comparison’s sake: If I leave my apartment door unlocked and something inside gets stolen, people will blame me, at least partially. If I leave my laptop unattended at the library and it gets stolen, people would ask me why I left it unattended. Cheating is the same principle, except in an academic setting.

After this debacle, I’m sure Quinn will make a new question and answer bank from which to pull questions, something that needs to be done more frequently by every professor.

Obviously, when the questions change on a consistent basis, it’s harder to cheat with exams from previous years.

The situation is a bad one, but it could have been avoided and should be avoided in the future. Quinn, and professors everywhere, should strive to make it nearly impossible to cheat on exams.

At the end of the day, students shouldn’t have cheated on the exam.

That being said, it shouldn’t have even been possible to do so. Both parties are to blame, but it should be expected, both now and in the future, that students will try to cheat. Quinn could have prevented this incident by taking steps to ensure his exam was not available to anyone under any circumstance.

While the university is right to punish the cheaters, maybe they should think about punishing Quinn, too.

Mike Muggee is a senior majoring in actuarial science and finance. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

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dailycardinal.com/sports

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Three talented freshmen making names for themselves in Madison

Men’s Basketball

parker gabriel

parks and rec

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Matt marheine/cardinal file photo

Junior point guard Jordan Taylor (10 points) was one of five Badgers to score in double figures Wednesday night. Taylor played just 21 minutes but shot 4 for 7 from the field and had four assists.

Balanced attack fuels 85-53 romp over Sioux

By Sam Sussman the daily cardinal

Wisconsin exacted its revenge Tuesday night as the Badger men’s basketball team did what the men’s hockey team could not: Defeat the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Thanks to a few usual suspects, the Badgers chalked up a resounding 85-53 win. After recently being named to the preseason watch list for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, senior forward Jon Leuer showed why, amassing 22 points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

“We are an unselfish team,” Leuer said. “There were some areas tonight where the defense collapsed on me, so I was able to find some guys.”

Senior forward Keaton Nankivil did his part as well, posting 17 points on seven of eight shooting.

Although familiar faces led the way for the Badgers, a group of promising underclassmen spurred the blowout.

Freshman guard Josh Gasser followed his impressive initial appearance in cardinal and white by recording seven points and six rebounds against North Dakota.

He also became just the third freshman to start during head coach Bo Ryan’s tenure, placing him in the elite company of Devin Harris and Alando Tucker.

Sophomore forward Ryan Evans provided a spark off the Wisconsin bench, snatching six rebounds and matching his careerhigh of 11 points.

“They really dominated in the paint,” North Dakota head coach Brian Jone said.

The Badgers starting frontcourt averages a height of 6'9", while the Sioux counterparts average just 6'7".

That differential was evident as the Badgers controlled North Dakota near the basket, outscoring the Sioux 40-22 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle 31-20.

Wisconsin was the Sioux’s first ranked adversary in their transition to the Division I level and it is clear North Dakota is still getting accustomed to the speed of top-tier opponents. Wisconsin’s backcourt exploited that inexperience, forcing 16 turnovers and holding North Dakota to a meager 31 percent from beyond the arc.

While there are many things North Dakota can look back and improve upon, it was not an entirely negative performance.

Troy Huff, a Milwaukee native and son of Wisconsin women’s basketball’s all-time leading rebounder, Theresa Huff, returned to his home state with a chip on his shoulder.

“Active, he’s just active. That’s the way all players should be,” Ryan said of Huff.

After leading the Sioux with 18 points in their season opener, he continued to show promise.

Not only was Huff a force offensively—he posted team-high 21 points—he also exhibited scrappiness and gusto on the defensive end, sparking his team with a game-high three steals.

Following Tuesday’s win over North Dakota, Bo Ryan improved Wisconsin’s record against the Sioux to a perfect 5-0 all-time and boosted his own record of home games in November to a spotless 25-0. The Badgers will need another strong performance from both the starters and the bench, as the next foe on tap is the UNLV Running Rebels.

Last year the Rebels made a stirring run to a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin is sure to receive its first test of the young season when the two teams meet in Las Vegas.

“I think we are all ready to go on the road,” junior point guard Jordan Taylor said.

oaches come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and degrees of polarization. Last week, I took up this space talking about how boring Packer head coach Mike McCarthy is. In the same couple of days, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan donned blonde locks and added some padding to his belly (which is already sufficiently padded) to make fun of his brother, Rob, who is the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns—the Jets’ opponent last Sunday.

McCarthy wouldn’t be caught dead with a smile in a press conference, let alone in an attentiongrabbing get-up like that. Still, both coaches are leading football teams with serious post-season aspirations.

Here in Madison, we have pretty good diversity of our own when it comes to head coaches in revenue sports. We have the hand-selected heir attempting to make his own mark in Bret Bielema (football), the statesman heading up a powerhouse program in Mike Eaves (men’s hockey) and the vociferous system coach whose philosophies would likely survive nuclear fallout in Bo Ryan (men’s basketball).

These guys have all had—and should continue to have—success at Wisconsin, and they’ve each done it very differently from the other two.

A similarity between Bielema and Eaves struck me earlier in the fall, however, and as basketball season ramped up over the last couple weeks, Ryan has followed step.

All three men seem to handle freshman with potential to make an immediate impact in a similar way.

Bielema got the first crack at it during the football team’s fall camp, when anybody who saw practice couldn’t help but notice the performance of freshman running back James White.

Bielema never heaped praise on the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native.

When asked, he would use words like special and potential, but always qualified it with a reminder of White’s lack of game experience or failure to pick up a blitz in practice.

However, even when the words did not come off as gushing, anybody in the same room as Bielema could tell he thought he had a special talent on his hands. Turns out, he was right. All White has done in his first ten games in college is lead the Big Ten in yards per rush, cause elite college defenders to miss seemingly routine tackles and make a case for Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American honors.

Eaves’ situation is a little different, since everybody knew his 10-man freshman class would have to hit the ground running after losing so many players to graduation and the professional ranks.

Eaves fielded plenty of questions about his young guns, but the way he talked about freshman forward Mark Zengerle is eerily similar to Bielema and White.

He would speak of intangibles, un-teachable skills and natural ability, but never give into parentalgrade praise or unreasonable expectations. Still, the look in Eaves’ eye gave away his excitement and his actions—Zengerle has skated on UW’s top line all season—confirm his thinking. Like White, Zengerle is turning in a sparkling rookie campaign, leading the team with 16 points—a scoring rate few Badger rookies have produced.

White is well-established at this point and Zengerle is not far behind, so adding freshman guard Josh Gasser to this list is definitely premature. However, Ryan has addressed the play of the Port Washington, Wis., native similarly to the way Bielema and Eaves talked about their young guns. After Gasser scored 21 points against Prairie View A&M Sunday, Ryan commended his play but also singled out his defensive struggles.

Recently, Ryan told reporters that Gasser is a player people will enjoy watching for four years. That may seem like an innocent statement, but if Ryan is downplaying his excitement—which seems likely considering Gasser finished third on the team in minutes played with 26, behind only Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor—we might just have a trio of fantastic freshmen on campus.

Which freshman are you most excited about? Let Parker know at pjgabriel@dailycardinal.com

Record Breaking Badgers The UW football team is closing in on multiple team records.

Here’s a look at marks that might fall.

Scoring offense UW is averaging 40.2 points per game through 10 games. The all-time school record is 34.3, a mark set in 2005.

Rushing touchdowns Wisconsin has compiled 35 rushing touchdowns in 2010, with two regular season games remaining. The school record, set in 1974, is 38.

Yards per carry At 5.4 yards per rush, UW is currently tied with the 1994 school record.

Matt marheine/cardinal file photo

Forward Jon Leuer topped 20 points for the second straight game with 22 points and added a career-high seven assists. Leuer has been named to the preseason Naismith Player of the Year watch list.

Completion Percentage Senior quarterback Scott Tolzien has completed 72.5 percent of his passes in 2010. Darrell Bevell (67.8) set the school (and Big Ten) record in 1993. Northwestern junior signalcaller Dan Persa currently sits at 73.5.