Thursday, December 2, 2010 - The Daily Cardinal

UW Madhatters ramp up for fall concert, CD release ARTS

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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COMPETING IN THE CLOSET

Do fewer athletes identify as LGBT, or are athletes less likely to be out?

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By Scott Girard The Daily Cardinal

Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

Madison’s Hillel hosted a Hanukkah celebration Wednesday night with latkes, jelly donuts and a performance by Madison’s Mad Hatters a capella group.

Student groups recognize World AIDS Day with speeches, artwork The Daily Cardinal

In commemoration of World AIDS Day, Bob Bowers, founder of the HIVictorious program, spoke to promote education and raise awareness of HIV/AIDS throughout the state of Wisconsin Wednesday.

Sex Out Loud and the Campus Women’s Center sponsored the speech.

Bowers, who has lived with HIV for the past 26 years, spoke to students about his life struggles with HIV/ AIDS and how the disease has changed his outlook on life.

“I started to understand and appreciate the real problems that drive this disease,” Bowers said.

“It’s not necessarily about people making bad choices, it’s about the stigma, the hate, the unwillingness or inability to address these core issues.”

Over 56,000 new infections of HIV/AIDS happen every year in the U.S., with over 400 new infections occurring annually in Wisconsin, Bowers said.

Bowers said that while it is good to have a day to promote HIV/AIDS

Kathryn Weenig/the daily cardinal

Twenty-six-year HIV/AIDS survivor Bob Bowers spoke to students about HIV/AIDS awareness as part of World AIDS Day Wednesday.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Doyle says labor contracts will go forward

Eight crazy lights

By Molly Reppen

FEATURES

awareness, he said that people must advocate more to those who need medical care to help treat their HIV/ AIDS conditions.

“It’s not a one-day thing—every day should be World AIDS Day. This is a treatable and preventable disease,” Bowers said. “We have the tools. We have the medications. Please, find your way to make a difference that we can ensure future generations do not have this disease.”

Other student organizations on campus took part in World AIDS Day Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Union Directorate Art Committee participated in the Day Without Art project in the Wisconsin Memorial Union art galleries. The project covers artwork with black cloths to mourn those killed by the AIDS epidemic.

Pre-med students from the American Medical Student Association also handed out AIDS awareness ribbons and hot chocolate on Library Mall to increase awareness and fight prejudice against HIV/AIDS. Students enrolled in the HIV/ AIDS Prevention course in the Genetics Department gathered for a live video conference with teachers and students in South Africa to discuss major problems that are affecting South Africa’s treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Junior Steven Olikara said the video conference was a good way to connect with people active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

“It was a fantastic way to gain a more global perspective on a critically global health issue,” Olikara said.

In his appearance on Mike Gousha’s program “On The Issues,” Gov. Jim Doyle discussed how he plans to move forward with the labor contracts and why he cannot halt proceedings as Governor-elect Scott Walker has requested.

“It’s illegal for a state to say we’re simply going to cut off negotiations with you,” Doyle said.

Doyle pointed out that state workers have not had a contract for 18 months, mainly because the state has not given them an offer for one.

He said the new deal involves no pay raises as well as furlough days, and it had all been provided for in the previous budget.

Doyle noted that even though Walker faces a “very legitimate challenge” in balancing the next biennial budget, the negotiations taking place are over a contract that will end June 30 of next year.

However, incoming Joint Finance Committee Chairs

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, and Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, sent a letter to Doyle and Administrative Secretary Dan Schooff to state they are “adamantly opposed to consideration of these contracts,” asking for them to be delayed until the newly elected legislature convenes.

Vos and Darling also said, “If a lame duck session is to occur, we should provide maximum transparency to the taxpayers.”

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees revealed in a statement that the contract they are currently working with includes no pay raises, a 6.9 percent increase in health care premiums and a .2-.8 percent increase in employee pension contribution.

Vos and Darling also cited the need for more time to review the documents, pointing out that the current contract is over 300 pages long, and comparing it to the new contract will take time for the public.

State Supreme Court agrees to hear new campaign finance challenege The State Supreme Court accepted a case Monday that will challenge Wisconsin’s new campaign finance laws.

Wisconsin Prosperity Network, a special interest group advocating for deregulation, is bringing the suit against the Government Accountability Board for regulations established in March.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed for unlimited corporate spending in elections, the GAB put its own rules in place that would provide for greater trans-

parency in the corporate funds given to campaigns.

“We look forward to a full airing of the issues in this case,” GAB director Kevin Kennedy said in a statement. “We also look forward to a resolution of all the litigation in this area so candidates, organizations, and the public may benefit from greater certainty in Wisconsin’s campaign finance rules.”

The case is scheduled for oral arguments this March, and the GAB will be represented by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Doyle travels to Washington D.C. to meet with President Obama Gov. Jim Doyle met with President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

“President Obama and his Administration have been important partners in helping move Wisconsin forward and our close relationship has been a great benefit to this state,” Doyle said in a statement.

Doyle and Obama worked together to bring a high-speed rail to Wisconsin with federal funding, but Governor-elect Scott Walker has said repeatedly he will try to block the project.

However, Doyle praised the work Obama and his adminis-

tration have done so far.

“There is still work to be done but today, in Wisconsin and across the country, businesses are starting to expand and make new investments, more working people have access to affordable health care, and we have protected education from major cuts that would have set our economic growth back for generations,” Doyle said.

Doyle also met with cabinet members Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“…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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Committee reviews proposed plans for West Mifflin Street

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 120, Issue 64

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Friday: partly cloudy hi 31º / lo 26º

Kathryn Weenig/the daily cardinal

The Associated Students of Madison passed the Campus Services Fund proposal to the Rules Committee Wednesday night.

ASM passes proposed CSF to Rules Committee

By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal

The Associated Students of Madison passed the proposed Campus Services Fund to the Rules Committee Wednesday night.

Members of the student government said the move will allow students and ASM members to hold more open, informal discussions about the CSF without putting a specific date on when it needs to be finished.

The CSF is a proposed alternate funding stream that would guarantee funding to “necessary” students services decided

by Student Council.

Shared Governance Chair Kyle VandenLangenberg disagrees with passing the proposal to the Rules Committee, saying the Rules Committee probably will not accomplish anything since its discussions are informal.

ASM Chair Brandon Williams disagreed with VandenLangenberg, saying it would be easy to set boundaries for Rules Committee meetings.

Williams said Rules Committee will get more accomplished faster than Student Council could.

“Whereas changes come slowly in Student Council,

when you have a smaller group of people who are looking hard at specifics you can get change a lot more quickly and ultimately a better proposal,” he said.

VandenLangenberg said the CSF proposal needs to be revised if implemented at all because it gives ASM too much power.

University Affairs Chair Carl Fergus said the CSF does not give ASM any more power; it just gives that power more structure.

Also at the meeting, Williams talked about a meeting he had with Chancellor Biddy Martin about the Badger Partnership, her proposal to gain more autonomy for the university from other UW schools and the state.

Included in this would be the ability for UW-Madison to set its own tuition, which would be higher than the other fouryear schools.

Chancellor Martin said she would want to set tuition at the medium for Big Ten schools, which Williams said was somewhere around $10,000 per semester.

The extra money would go toward more financial aid for students with a greater need.

Madison woman makes false 911 call Madison Police arrested a Madison woman after making a false 911 call to allegedly divert police officers away from her location Tuesday.

The 27-year-old suspect Tierra Miles, was arrested for false emergency through a telephone, according to the police report.

Miles called a dispatcher at the Dane County Communications Center and allegedly said she had witnessed a shooting on the 2000 block of Lake Point Drive, police said.

“She said she was driving when she saw the gunfire around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday night,” Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain said

in a statement.

After members of the MPD responded to the scene, the dispatcher attempted to get the original caller back on the line.

The cell phone used to place the call was traced back to Miles. A Monona police officer said 15 minutes prior to the call Miles was cited for retail theft following an incident at South Towne Mall, police said.

“Upon hearing that her phone was connected to the gun call, Monona Police theorized Miles may have been using a red herring, diverting police attention elsewhere, while she went back to get her van,” DeSpain said in a statement.

The Urban Design Commission discussed its draft recommendations for the Downtown Plan, a broad vision for the architectural development of Madison over the next 25 years, Wednesday. The committee members focused on suggestions for the development of the Mifflin Street area.

The concept for Mifflin Street combines rehabilitating houses, moving houses and demolishing some existing structures in order to build new developments.

Another new feature in the plan is an “urban lane,” a wide pedestrian-friendly corridor that would run between new apartment buildings on West Washington Avenue and West Mifflin Street.

Many of the committee members said the plans should uphold the character and historic quality of the Mifflin Street area. They recommended to Bill Fruhling, the principal planner for the Downtown Plan, the integrity of the houses along West Washington Avenue should be maintained, even if they are rehabilitated.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, whose district covers Mifflin Street, said he strongly recommended the plan to try to preserve the student-oriented culture and older homes of Mifflin. Though luxury apartments are rapidly becoming a more popular housing option for students, not all students want or can afford this type of living, according to Verveer.

“By creating all of this high-

rise housing, we have provided fewer and fewer options for students to live in traditional homes … There are very few houses adjacent to campus that are left,” Verveer said.

“We now have a physical slum, in my opinion, and it’s going to become a cultural slum.”

Gary Peterson wisconsin chapter president American Planning Association

Some city planners working on the Downtown Plan had a different vision for Mifflin, however.

“We now have a physical slum, in my opinion, and it’s going to become a cultural slum,” Gary Peterson, president of the American Planning Association’s Wisconsin Chapter, said about the Mifflin area. “To say we ought to preserve this slum of low-density housing for the sake of nostalgia … I think is just a real mistake.”

Peterson said the construction of high-rise apartments geared toward young professionals rather than students would revitalize the area and economically benefit the city.

Fruhling said he has a vision of the area as a space for rehabbed homes and offices and intends to incorporate the Urban Design Commission’s suggestions when he revises the plans for future review.

UW study: Obesity, late pregnancy increases breast cancer risk A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health study found that obese women who never had children or had children after the age of 30 are three times more likely to develop lobular breast cancer.

Beginning in the lobules where breast milk is produced, lobular cancer is difficult to detect on a mammogram and accounts for 20 percent of all breast cancer cases.

The study also found a 2.5 percent increase in lobular breast cancer among women who are not obese and who wait until the age of 30 or later to have children, or never have children.

The research team, led by Carbone Cancer Center scientists Polly Newcomb and Amy TrenthamDietz, studied 50,000 women, making it the the largest study in the U.S. to find the correlation.

arts

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

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What’s there to love about mashup artists?

Kyle Sparks total awesome

W Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

The Madhatters hyped their fall concert with an appearance at the Hillel Hanukkah Kickoff Dec. 1

Anticipation builds for Madhatters fall concert

By Elizabeth Gaggioli The Daily Cardinal

The unmistakable red Wisconsin jackets. A beat that you can’t help but stomp to. A group of guys that bring the meaning of entertainment to a whole new level. Who are they? You’ve got it, the University of Wisconsin Madhatters.

The first of their kind on the UW-Madison campus, this a cappella group began its successful journey in 1997. Since then, they have established a distinguished sound, and have impressed audiences with the humor and soul that comes along with it. This Friday, the distinguished Madhatters will perform their annual fall concert at the Orpheum Theatre.

Though tradition is what maintains their unique identity, the Madhatters weren’t afraid to make some changes in hopes to improve.

The Madhatters’ audition process is competitive, and they traditionally only replace the voices that graduate.

But this year’s crop of talent was so impressive, the group added more vocalists than usual. Now composed of 17 singers, the Madhatters are taking on even bigger challenges.

Never before has the group produced more than one album every two years, but that tradition will be broken Friday with the release of their second album this year.

Furthermore, this Friday marks the release of their first Christmas album, Cheer on Tap.

Past albums have consistently been met with national awards and recognition. A track from their debut album, State Street, received a spot on Best of College A Cappella 2002, an album compiled by the Varsity Vocals and Contemporary A Cappella Society every year. Their second album, Fridays After Class, became a “best seller” on a cappella websites worldwide. Needless to say, Cheer On Tap brings high expectations and excitement to its release Friday.

Designing the Christmas album was a big commitment. According to junior Rogelio Becerra-Ramirez, “none of this could’ve happened” without the work of production manager David Redick and music director Miles Comiskey. The two methodically planned and composed the album which includes “a wide range of songs from modern upbeat to slower, more traditional songs,” Becerra-Ramirez said. The Madhatters intend to capture “the holiday cheer,” senior beatboxer Andrew Fitzpatrick added.

But the album does not solely consist of well-known holiday music.

Unique to Cheer on Tap is a Madhatter original, “Wisconsin Christmas.”

With the Madhatters singing about cities they have lived in, performed in and been in, “Wisconsin Christmas” presents the state its finest. The group has promised to perform at least five songs from Cheer on Tap at the show.

Watching the Madhatters rehearse for the show is almost as exciting as watching them perform in concert, and their energy is impossible to miss. Whether they were sitting or standing, they were constantly moving. They were tapping their feet, snapping their fingers and pacing throughout the rehearsal, making it look effortless all the while. Their desire for perfection, and the pride they have in each song they perform, was evident throughout their rehearsal, and is sure to be visible at the fall concert as well.

Though they have over 15 songs prepared for the show, “Only three of the songs in the concert have been heard before,” Comiskey said.

This is a different approach than they have taken in the past, where audiences can usually recognize at least half of the Madhatters’ signature songs in every concert. Though most excited about their debut of the Bill Withers song,“Ain’t No Sunshine,” the group warned the audience to be prepared for anything from oldies to modern jams like Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.”

Needless to say, Cheer On Tap brings high expectations and excitement to its release Friday.

Tickets for the show are $15, but in honor of the holiday season, the Madhatters have decided to donate a third of all sales to the Madison Public School Music Program.

Comiskey expressed their desire to support music beyond campus recognizing that these programs are what “infuse the group with new singers.”

Do not underestimate the amount of work that went into both the fall concert and Cheer on Tap. With a passion for their music, a dedication to the group and a concern that each individual will perfect his part, the Madhatters’ talent will undoubtedly shine through in their seemingly effortless performance. With Redick’s promise to “re-define the musical spectrum of holiday songs,” Friday’s performance will undoubtedly bring in new fans while continuing to leave their dedicated ones in awe.

The University of Wisconsin Madhatters will perform their fall concert and CD release this Friday, Dec. 3 at the Orpheum Theatre. Limited tickets remain at the Orpheum Box Office for $15.

hen I was a senior in high school, Girl Talk and Man Man played a show together at Club 770 in Union South. The pairing seemed natural at the time. Girl Talk was understood as a manic computer whiz who let Neutral Milk Hotel count off the time signature for Juelz Santana to flow over a Steely Dan riff in an avalanche of three decades that lasted all of 20 seconds before he thought of something different.

It was like riding a roller coaster with a blindfold on. It was a cacophonous orchestra that didn’t sound all that disparate from the full-throated, Tom Waits-on-amphetamines garishness of Man Man. I was a total sucker for Girl Talk’s album Night Ripper, which was released that year. It was hyperactive, beat-heavy and completely novel for young Kyle. Plus, the man behind the name, Gregg Gillis, had to be rad because he spells his first name with three G’s like my older brother.

But more than anything I was fascinated by how culturally discordant it could be while actually amplifying the individual significance of each. On “Smash Your Head,” Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” swells while Notorious B.I.G. tells the story of his ascension from humble upbringings. And when Biggie “blows up like the World Trade,” Elton’s “hold me closer” reaffirms the intimacy of Biggie’s story and makes you feel like you’ve learned more about B.I.G. from Girl Talk than you did from the man himself.

And when Clipse raps about being “On the block / Posted up like a mailbox,” Phantom Planet’s “California” adds a relatable, suburban element to the drug dealing— though most of that is probably the result of Phantom Planet being the blow horn for “The O.C.” Girl Talk’s newest album, All Day, which was released for free download on the Illegal Art website a few weeks ago, is the same collage of pop radio, but it’s more tempered and meditative. Instead of chucking mixes at the wall and waiting for the good ones to stick, he lets each develop into itself—which more often than not turns out to be a monotonous flow of uninspiring mixes. All Day is the kind of record you’d hear during a scan of a pool party at Summer Roberts’ house.

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s the second allusion to “The O.C.” I’ve made in as many paragraphs—because that’s what Girl Talk means to me. When I was in high school and Night Ripper was nestled onto my hard drive, I spent a lot of nights watching “The O.C.” For me, Night Ripper is inextricably linked to memories of high school,

because those are the pieces of pop radio that went into making it.

Which raises the question: How much of mashups are wound up in cultural baggage? Or, really, why the heck do we like this stuff?

The majority of these mashups require prior exposure to the sampled material, and the ones that don’t at least benefit from them.

For the most part, all Girl Talk does is juxtapose different elements of popular radio and lets us marvel at how they interact. When successful, it lets us observe how music works on a grander scale. More often than not, though, it lets us marvel at the vast discrepancies in tonality and texture by showing us a trainwreck of genres. And when pop radio moves on, these kinds of mashups will, too.

Contrast that with Endtroducing..., DJ Shadow’s 1996 album. Shadow is featured rummaging through a basement full of forgotten records in a Nashville record store on Doug Prey’s documentary “Scratch,” and his obsession with digging for rare vinyl makes his source material not just unpredictable but unidentifiable—which in turn makes it immune to the zigs and zags of popular radio. His groundbreaking debut sounds as fresh today as it did in ’96.

Anyone can be a DJ, you just need to know more about music than everyone else.

Endtroducing… owns the Guinness World Record for literally being the first of its kind (recorded solely from sampled sources), and thus far it seems like it might be one of the last. RJD2 came close to replicating the crate-digging genius on Deadringer, but even he seemed like he’d given up when he shifted gears for the entirely self-produced The Third Hand.

And if the predictability of All Day tells us anything, it’s that Gillis has reached the limit of his musical knowledge. He’s run out of music history to sample and he doesn’t dig crates as well as Shadow. Anyone can be a DJ, you just need to know more about music than everyone else.

But you know, mashup artists like Girl Talk are just like college students. They take other people’s songs and try to make their own music. We take other people’s research and try to write our own papers. Next May, I’m graduating and hopefully finding a job where I get to do all my own stuff and make real money. So when do mashup artists graduate?

Do you think mashups are more like trashups as well? Shoot Kyle your thoughts at ktsparks@wisc.edu.

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featuresstudent life Competing in the closet dailycardinal.com/features

Thursday, December 2, 2010

According to statistics, one in 10 people are LGBT. So why are the numbers lower among athletes?

Story by Michael Podgers According to Barber, however, there is still a strong culture of homophobia in sports. The small number of LGBT athletes is evidence of this fact, as is the little discussion of such issues.

Unfortunately, no current UW-Madison student athletes were interviewed. Every UW-Madison athletic team contacted denied or failed to respond to requests to interview student athletes and coaches. The opinions of current UW-Madison athletes and coaches remain unknown.

Most professional LGBT athletes wait until their career ends to come out. Many who have come out while competing, male athletes especially, have only done so in the last few years. This is in spite of the policy changes meant to allow LGBT athletes to come out and compete without feeling like their career would be compromised because of their sexuality.

“Even if you were to have all these rules in place—‘Yes, it’s OK to be openly gay on team’— the reality is you are going to feel uncomfortable if you have teammates who are homophobic; whether you’re outwardly homophobic or whether it’s a more subtle thing,” Barber said. “The fact of the matter is we still live in a homophobic culture and sports is still a more homophobic place.”

In 2007, University of Missouri didn’t renew men’s lacrosse coach Kyle Hawkins’ contract after he came out as gay. Also that year, former NBA player Tim Hardaway said he would distance himself from a gay player and try to get them fired.

“Athletes are afraid of the repercussions of what out of the norm might be,” Nicols said. “To be completely honest, it would scare the hell out of me to be a gay man on a football team in college.”

Losing opportunities to play at higher levels or losing sponsorship opportunities often deter LGBT athletes from coming out.

Stereotypes that gay or lesbian athletes are weaker or worth less than straight athletes or that a gay athlete may not be masculine enough to play affect how open sports are to the LGBT community. These stereotypes and perceptions keep LGBT athletes from competing.

Founder of the Madison Gay Hockey Association (MGHA) Patrick Farabaugh said, “In any competitive culture, sports especially, the worst thing you can do is be perceived as weak. Gay people are regularly stereotyped as inferior athletes and not wanted—often not even welcome.”

Barber explained that gender roles are still important in American society and not conforming to commonly held gender roles is a problem for many people. She said it is difficult for LGBT athletes to come out because there is often an emphasis on gender roles, and that as a society, Americans can’t conceive of an LGBT athlete, because it doesn’t fit with the “norm.”

“When it comes to male athletes it becomes very difficult for us to

comprehend a successful gay male athlete,” Barber said. “He would be compromising the perception of his masculinity and for a female athlete to come out she would have to deal the repercussions of being too masculine.”

Societal conventions play a significant role in the acceptance of LGBT athletes. Even with allied fans and athletes, widespread acceptance often remains elusive.

Transgender athletes also face challenges. Common problems transgender athletes face include, which locker rooms to use, whether to compete as males or females and medical issues concerning hormonal treatments and anatomy. These issues change depending on a person’s status under the umbrella term transgender.

UW-Madison’s policy on transgender athletes follows the NCAA’s policy. The NCAA policy does not prohibit transgender student-athletes from competing, and the NCAA is committed to creating a supportive and inclusive athletic community.

“I’m not aware of the issue [of a transgender athlete] having come up here,” Doherty said. “But that only means I’m not aware of it coming up here.”

According to Nicols, discrepancies between the lives of straight and LGBT athletes are quite visible.

“There are always athletes that will lead two or three different lives which breaks my heart,” Nicols said. “[They] will be [with] their fellow gay athletes, and they’re out in those groups, and as soon as those individuals cross that cohort they’re someone else.”

However, grassroot changes are giving LGBT athletes hope.

Community organizations for LGBT athletes are sprouting up across the country. The MGHA was founded in 2006 and is one of many organizations created to open athletics to LGBT people.

“The MGHA creates a space where new and sometimes returning players can take those first few steps through their vulnerability to begin becoming an athlete,” Farabaugh said. “You can see in those vulnerable places that stereotypes don’t always, or often, exist. People just need support.”

Building support is a vital step in opening up athletics to the LGBT community. There are support networks for LGBT athletes ranging from the topuniversity athletic directors to teammates and Badgers fans. But, according to Barber, the best way to open sports to LGBT athletes is to show that there are LGBT athletes everywhere.

“I think that in order for up and coming sports stars, or just kids playing sports, seeing college and professional level athletes come out is absolutely invaluable,” Barber said.

Coming out can be scary, especially for athletes, but it is not impossible.

“One of the big things you need to remember is you’re not alone,” Nicols said. “Around you, you realize a percentage is feeling the exact same thing.”

nATASHA SOGLIN/the daily cardinal

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ormer UW-Madison basketball player Shawna Nicols epitomized the Badger athlete: dedicated and always striving for success. Nicols was what is expected of a college athlete, with one difference: Nicols is a lesbian.

A lesbian student at UW-Madison isn’t unusual, but an openly gay or lesbian athlete competing at a school like UW-Madison, especially in a popular sport like basketball, is. Few lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) athletes are open about their sexuality, and athletics remains an area in society that is often closed to the LGBT community.

Openly gay athletes at elite levels remain rare, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing show this. According to National Survey of Family Growth statistics about one in 10 people are LGBT. With about 11,000 athletes at recent Olympic Games there should have been between at least 500 and 1,100 LGBT athletes competing. Yet, only 10 athletes competing in Beijing were openly LGBT, one was gay diver, Matthew Mitchem, and the other nine were lesbian.

In October 2008, Mitcham told the Sydney Morning Herald, “It’s a little bit sad because, statistically, there should be a lot more [LGBT athletes] … but I’m proud to be there and proud to be that one that lots of other people can look up to.”

Now, more athletic organizations are establishing policies protecting and opening competition to LGBT athletes. These steps are small though considering the size of the sports world.

Administrative bodies at many American universities have taken steps to make collegiate sports more receptive to LGBT athletes. Acknowledgement of this issue at the administrative level is especially important because it creates a safeguard for LGBT studentathletes who face increased possibilities of discrimination.

Justin Doherty, Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations at UW-Madison said, “Regardless of race or sexuality … we consider them all to be Badgers.”

A number of professional athletes have come out in the past few years while still competing. Often these athletes are lesbian and compete in less popular or individual sports at lower levels of competition.

Gender and women’s studies professor Amy Barber said, “In women’s athletics there is … historically a lot more participation and sense of there being space for lesbian identities … it’s a different environment than men’s sports.”

Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas came out in 2009 and is the only openly gay professional male athlete in a team sport today.

In an interview with the BBC in Dec. 2009 Thomas said, “I don’t think there is a need to be afraid, you know, we kind of paint this world that’s non-acceptant of gays in sport, but that’s just a picture that’s been painted by somebody not living the real world.”

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Presidential Titles... Theodore oosevelt had four pet guinea pigs: Dr. Johnson, Bishop Doane, Fighting Bob Evans and Father O’Grady.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Finding Waldo on the last page

Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

© Puzzles by Pappocom

Classic Graph Giraffe

By Yosef Lerner graphic@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

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Crustaches

By Patrick Remington premington@wisc.edu

By Dan Tollefson dtollefson@wisc.edu

Hoop Dreams Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

chill out ACROSS 1 Having bristles 6 Sheepish response 9 One of the Obama girls 14 Go from rock to dust 15 Draw away from shore, as a tide 16 Apples, pears and such 17 “Are too!” comeback 18 Priestly attire 19 Bouts of enthusiasm 20 Significant other 23 On, as a kerosene lamp 24 Debtor’s promise 25 Sang on a peak 27 Divers’ protectors 32 Unwelcome word at a china shop 33 Go down the wrong path 34 Dare alternative, in a party game 36 One may do this idly 39 One-sidedness 41 Boy Scouts’ unit 43 Ailment answer 44 Obscure 46 Pacific island nation 48 Air-travel watchdog grp.

49 Cannes canful 51 Forward, as a call 53 The Kansas City Star and Baltimore Sun, for two

6 5 57 58 64 66 67 68 9 6 70 71 72 73

Socrates’ T Duke’s conference Product-holding plastic Unexciting, low-paying position, in slang “___ the season to be jolly” Major responsibility for a parent? “___ Ben Jonson!” (misspelled epitaph) “Turn to Stone” rockers Boredom Title giver Letters of distress Oceans, poetically

DOWN 1 Clothing junction 2 Humor columnist Bombeck 3 Singer Braxton or Tennille 4 Handsome Greek of myth 5 Spills the beans 6 “___ Geste” 7 Sufficiently skilled 8 “___ Road” (Beatles album) 9 Skimpy swim-meet garb 10 Co. in a 2001 merger with Time Warner 11 What not to sweat 12 Legendary skater Sonja 13 Like gift-box chocolates

1 2 22 26 27 28 29 30 1 3 35 37 38 0 4 42 45 47 50 2 5 53 54 5 5 59 60 1 6 62 63 65

(Abbr.)

Riding whip San Diego attraction Grand in scale “Dragnet” actor Jack Great Lake bordering New York Commuter’s congestion problem Change color, like leaves Ermine in summer 3,600 seconds Hillside in Scotland It’s marked by a ring in a trunk Earth in the garden Blather on More smooth-tongued Without weapons Brooks of “Blazing Saddles” Lying face-up He played Private Ryan Capital and largest city of Ghana Online locales Where fodder is stored General ___ chicken (Chinese entree) Actress Bancroft ___ de grace Kristofferson of “Blade” Metal from a mine

Washington and the Bear

By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com

opinion Please don’t shoot! ...The geese that is dailycardinal.com/opinion Thursday, December 2, 2010

jaime brackeen opinion columnist

T

his year, getting the Christmas goose for holiday dinners might be easier than usual for Madisonians living near Vilas Park. Residents near the public recreation area are getting fed up with the overwhelming population of geese that come to rest on the shores of Lake Wingra each year before migrating south. In order to get rid of these menaces, a report drawn up by city officials to euthanize many of the geese is underway.

Yes, you heard right: In order to solve the problem of these angry, hissing and insistently defecating creatures, Madison residents want to induce a mass killing of Vilas Park’s waterfowl.

The Isthmus reported that Vilas was the leader of beach closings in Dane County parks this past season with 43 bacterialbased shutdowns. The origin of these hazardous bacteria is found largely in the form of goose poop, and some city officials propose a solution that gets rid of the direct

source of the fecal matter. But is killing dozens of innocent creatures a necessary form of action just to have turd-free beaches? I don’t think so.

In April, a similar proposal was made for exterminating geese at Madison’s Warner Park near the Dane County Regional Airport.

Officials feared that geese getting caught in plane engines would pose a potential threat to air travelers. While the proposal failed, it sparked much debate over the plan’s ethical issues and created a forum for many alternative solutions.

Among these are training dogs to drive out the geese, installing effigies and using repellents.

When The Cap Times reported the Warner Park issue in April, UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Ph.D. student Trish O’Kane pointed out that the city is practically asking for geese with the ideal habitat created for them. Geese favor nesting grounds near bodies of water with short-cut grass that goes all the way to the shore. An example of such a location: Vilas Park. O’Kane interviewed neighbors at Warner Park who

said there was not a goose problem 30 years ago when the grass was long. Therefore, with this clipped grass being maintained, exterminating the geese provides only a short-term solution. There is

nothing stopping more from returning next year, which would result in the needless slaughter of hundreds of geese.

Also, interfering with animal populations throws off a necessary symbiosis in nature.

If predatorprey populations become lopsided, it can create even more problems than the one that originally needed to be solved. For instance, the diet of a goose consists of grass, land plants, aquatic plants, insects and small fish. By getting rid of the geese, there is no way to tell how many other populations may erupt and cause new issues of overgrowth, or the extermination of other species.

It isn’t always a good idea to use drastic interference with the environment unless absolutely neces-s a r y .

Impeding on a species habitat presents a fear throwing off nature’s delicate balance even further than man already has.

I know geese can Natasha Soglin/the daily cardinal

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be somewhat vicious and annoying.

Stepping in their poop on a leisurely walk through the park is undoubtedly shitty. Trust me, after the traumatizing childhood experience of being bitten by both a goose and a flamingo at the Milwaukee Zoo on the same day, I have not become a fan of them either. But geese do not deserve to die for living the way they are biologically suited to live, and for doing so in a habitat that has been tailored to fit their needs.

The alternative methods of driving out these pesky avian creatures haven’t even been attempted to see if they are effective. The extermination of a large chunk of a local population of animals should only be a last resort under dire circumstances.

The idea to murder the Vilas Park geese seems like a lazy attempt at solving a problem that could turn into an annual ordeal and more of a hassle than it’s worth.

The bottom line: Madison should let these animals continue to live and find a more peaceful solution for this poopy situation. If we have learned anything from our elementary years it’s that violence is never the answer.

Jaime Brackeen is a sophomore intending to major in journalism. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

WikiLeaks’ investigative efforts deserve applause not criticism emma roller from the desk of the editor

“T

he government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

These words were not spoken by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a New York Times reporter or an American Civil Liberties Union representative.

They were spoken by President Obama, who is now condemning WikiLeaks for embarrassing public officials, in a memo shortly after he took office.

This is hypocrisy at its most dangerous. By denigrating the efforts of an organization working to out government failures, the Obama administration is sending the message that government should only be transparent when it is convenient.

On Sunday, the organization WikiLeaks released 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables to select media outlets around the world. Since Sunday, however, many American pundits have expressed outrage at the publication of the cables— defending the right for diplomats to say one thing in public and another in private. We find this claim selfdefacing: If this isn’t where journalism fits in, where does it?

The content of the leaks are far from revolutionary. The conversations relayed in the cables are not wicked or conspiratorial. Some will wonder, “Well, then why bother publishing them?” The answer may seem juvenile, but

it is important: Because public officials need to be embarrassed from time to time. Without such checks, it is easy to slip into contentment and laziness.

Others argue that Julian Assange and other WikiLeaks employees serve no higher purpose by indiscriminately publishing these diplomatic cables; that the leaks will put international peacemaking in peril by discouraging diplomats from trusting the security of their communications with the U.S. What many of these critics forget, however, is that the U.S. remains the powerhouse of international diplomacy. Despite how “imperiled” they may feel, foreign leaders will have no choice but to continue bargaining with American diplomats.

That is not to say all of the leaked information is appropriate. Among the quarter million documents published were technical details of an Army device designed to prevent roadside bombs from detonating, and the Social Security numbers of U.S. soldiers. Indeed, there are parallels between the misconduct of diplomats and Assange himself.

Yes, some of the cables were classified, but many were not, and even those that were available to around three million government agents with clearance to view them. When 1 percent of the American population has access to information, it is difficult to argue that said information will remain secure.

The ease with which the “secret” documents were obtained and relayed also shows the U.S. government its system of classification is flawed beyond doubt.

Around three million diplomatic, military and other government workers had access to these cables, yet it is WikiLeaks’ fault for tak-

ing advantage of the government’s lax security. A similar situation would be leaving a jewelry store unlocked overnight, then being outraged to find it robbed the next morning. The media and U.S. government should not try to find blame in WikiLeaks, but turn their scrutiny inward.

Even more pundits have taken it upon themselves to advocate for the continued ignorance of the American people. These critics are not afraid of WikiLeaks because of its supposed effects on international diplomacy. Nor are they afraid that WikiLeaks is devaluing the

moral obligation of the media.

These critics hate WikiLeaks because they are terrified of losing control over the messages their audience receive.

Emma Roller is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com

sports 8

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dailycardinal.com/sports

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Men’s Basketball

Today at dailycardinal.com/sports: Women’s basketball welcomes No. 6 Duke to the Kohl Center

Storming the field Saturday cost UW fans a chance at special celebration nico savidge savidge nation

danny marchewka/the daily cardinal

Jordan Taylor put together an efficient night, pouring in 21 points on eight of 12 shooting. He played just 29 minutes on the night.

Badgers stifle NC State in 87-48 blowout

By Max Sternberg the daily cardinal

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team returned home and earned a statement victory over NC State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, helping the Big Ten to its second consecutive win in the annual competition.

The convincing 87-48 win over the Wolfpack helped erase the negativity of last weekend’s offensive struggles in Orlando.

Though they weren’t alone, the Badgers struggled mightily from the field in Orlando, shooting under 40 percent from the field and under 30 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

Returning home for the first time in more than two weeks, Wisconsin was a different team on Wednesday, shooting at a 50 percent clip (28 for 56) including 55 percent (11 for 20) from downtown.

“I think a lot of guys got into the gym, got some jump shots up,” sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “Plus it’s always nice to be back home.” “[We] just ran good offense, got good looks, and knocked them down,” head coach Bo Ryan said.

“You have to believe that when you shoot, the next one is going to go in.”

Although much of the improvement was simply the result of Wisconsin having one a when seemingly every shot falls, there was a definite increase in the aggression with which the Badgers played on the offensive end, especially from the guards.

“I think everybody is being more aggressive as a whole,” junior point

guard Jordan Taylor said. “I was trying to get in the lane more, open up for other people.”

That renewed aggression, not only offensively but on the defensive end as well, allowed UW to turn what was a tight contest early on into a halftime blow-out. The Badgers held NC State scoreless in the last 6:36 of the first half and extended a ten-point lead into a 44-21 laugher at the intermission.

The NC State scoring drought would extend into the second half, eventually coming to a close on a Scott Wood steal and lay-up that ended a 23-0 UW run over 10:12 of playing time.

After failing to hold onto a late lead against the Fighting Irish, this Badger run to put away a young NC State team showed that Wisconsin remains adept at holding onto and building leads.

“We always want to get off to a good start because we feel if we can play with a lead it is to our benefit,” senior forward Jon Leuer said. “It’s hard for teams to come back against us.”

After building and adding onto that lead, Wisconsin stayed true to its principles and grinded down an NC State team that started just one upperclassman.

The Wisconsin victory—their third straight in the annual challenge—helped the Big Ten claim just its second overall victory since it started in 1999. The first came last year.

“It means a lot, we take pride in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge,” Leuer said. “[And] it builds up our conference RPI which is a positive.”

N

eedless to say, anyone who rushed the field after the Badgers beat Ohio State this season will remember the experience for quite a long time.

I know I’ll remember slowly moving down from the top rows of Section O, awkwardly hopping the railings, rejoicing on the field and finally returning to the bleachers to watch the rest of the crowd on the field, still not entirely believing what I had just seen. It is honestly one of the best sports moments I have ever had the joy of taking part in, and I expect it will be a long time before anything overtakes it. And I’m guessing anyone who flooded that field Oct. 16 feels approximately the same way.

So if you stormed the field last Saturday after Wisconsin’s 70-23 victory over Northwestern, I have one question for you: Will you think of it the same way?

Will you return to this university one day and regale your children or grandchildren as you walk past Camp Randall Stadium with tales of Aaron Henry’s pick-six or Evan Watkins’ countless turnovers?

Will you say, “Oh, I remember going into that game, none of us thought a lowly 10-1 Wisconsin team could possibly topple the mighty Wildcats, but we did, and we took to the field to celebrate”?

Of course not.

I know no one rushed the field because of the sheer jubilation of watching the Badgers’ offense destroy another hopelessly overmatched Big Ten opponent.

The implications of the game were more important than that, obviously, with the team in a position to win a Big Ten title and clinch a Rose Bowl berth, and that was why the student section took the field.

Because students rushed the field, the presentation of the Big Ten championship and video planned to celebrate the season was moved into the Wisconsin lockerroom, out of view of fans who endured the weather to see the end of the game. Check out the video of the ceremony on uwbadgers.com, and ask if it was really worth it.

Sure, it was probably great to rush the field after the win Saturday night—I can’t imagine a better way for a senior to close out their last Badger game than by taking to the Camp Randall turf. But think about what Wisconsin’s fans missed out on by storming the field.

Imagine players parading the Big Ten trophy around the sta-

dium, sharing it will fans like they did Paul Bunyan’s Axe back in October. Imagine watching those players pass that trophy around, kissing the football on top of it, and realizing they just accomplished their goal for the season.

Imagine watching the Rose Bowl’s representative at the game handing out roses to the players and hearing him tell Bret Bielema, “I think we’ll be seeing you in Pasadena.”

Those images and memories could have rivaled the ones we’ll all remember from the Ohio State game, but instead of them we got students taking to the field to celebrate a win that was almost never in doubt.

I don’t want to come off like I’m scolding Badger fans for enjoying their victory, but I guess that’s just how it is. Fans shouldn’t have taken to the field last Saturday, simple as that.

This was an amazing season at Camp Randall. But by storming the field, Wisconsin fans selfishly robbed their team of the chance to celebrate it in front of their home crowd, and probably took some great memories away from themselves as well.

There is a time to celebrate and flood the field, but Saturday wasn’t it. Next time, enjoy a win like that from the stands.

Should students have stormed the field Saturday? E-mail Nico at savidgewilki@dailycardinal.com.