Thursday, December 1, 2022 - The Daily Cardinal

Letter to the Editor:

Regarding anti-Zionist chalking

Current District 8 Alder, legal assistant to run for District 2 Alder

By Francesca Pica STAFF WRITER

District 8 Ald. Juliana Bennett and legislative staffer Colin Barushok announced their candidacy for District 2 alder in the Apr. 4, 2023 Common Council election.

Bennett, a business stu dent at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has served as District 8 Alder since 2021. Barushok serves as a legislative assistant at the State Senate and has pre viously served as a medical licensing program associate for Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services.

Bennett said she will pri oritize addressing Madison’s housing crisis and the city’s budget deficit. In particular,

Bennett said she will continue to advocate for affordable hous ing as District 2 Alder.

“In downtown Madison, we are entering an affordability crisis,” Bennett said. “The cur rent path we are on is limiting who can live, work and do busi ness in downtown Madison. District 2 should be accessible to all people, especially those of low-income status, young people and local businesses.”

Barushok emphasized his support for improving Downtown Madison’s econo my. He said he supports pro moting investment in busi nesses and tourism on State Street, including the conver sion of the street into a pedes trian mall.

“I will work with experts and do the complicated leg

work to achieve a pedestrian mall, starting one block at a time,” Barushok said. “I would support policies to invest in promoting our downtown, which will attract new resi dents, businesses and tourists. We should also increase food and art vending on State Street and elsewhere.”

Both candidates expressed support for increasing funding for Madison CARES, an ini tiative that dispatches mental health care workers to respond to mental health emergen cies as an alternative to law enforcement action.

Bennett said her work on the Common Council and her advocacy for issues facing young people shows her com mitment to her constituents.

“Over the past two years, I

have prioritized bringing the voices of young people to the table,” Bennett said. “We’ve made significant progress in terms of passing affordable housing policies, creating solutions for the houseless population, funding alterna tive sources for violence pre vention and more. I have a proven track record of pri oritizing and fighting for my constitutent’s needs.”

Barushok said his experi ence working with healthcare professionals during the pan demic gave him the tools need ed to tackle major issues facing the city.

“I worked with doctors and other healthcare professionals to help them get licenses, pro vided individualized service, and helped them get to work,”

Barushok said. “I learned what it takes for the government and stakeholders to come together to respond to a major crisis.”

Incumbent District 2 Ald. Patrick Heck declined to run for reelection, leaving the seat open in 2023. Heck cited the redistricting map approved by the city in 2021 that placed his residence outside of the District as his reason to not run for reelection.

“While being an alder can be a big job, it is also very sat isfying,” Heck said in a state ment. “I not only have enjoyed the privilege of representing my constituents, but I have also found great satisfaction working with city staff, other alders, the mayor’s office and many stakeholders as we move Madison forward.”

Lake Street parking garage redevelopment proposal opposed, offered revisions

By Sophia Ross STAFF WRITER

Following discussions between the Campus Area Neighborhood Association (CANA) and the Lake Street Garage Committee, the neigh borhood group decided against the approval of the proposed redevelopment plan for the Lake Street city parking garage.

Throughout the discussion process, the CANA steering committee discovered sever al flaws in the proposal and broke their feedback down into five groupings: the use of Hawthorne Court, the design, resident experience, bus termi nals and sustainability.

The committee pointed out that several aspects of the pro posed redevelopment inter fered with the daily partakings occurring along Hawthorne Court. They felt that the con struction would inconvenience all of the businesses located along this street.

“There is concern about businesses being impacted by the use of Hawthorne Court. There are emergency exits that exist on Hawthorne Court,” the Lake Street Garage Steering Committee released in a state ment. “Not being able to use emergency exits would dras tically decrease a business’s

capacity and lead to great financial loss.”

Beyond just the economic inconvenience, the commit tee worried that pedestrian safety could be compromised.

According to the committee report published last week, the

amount of tra c.” Ultimately, the committee feared it to be too dangerous.

The design of the remodeled parking structure was another point of notice for the steering committee, along with resident experience. The committee was

area, and per the proposal, they felt it was not going to.

In addition, pedestrian safe ty was a key interest to the steering committee. The Lake Street Garage committee out lined that the remodel would include an additional “700 new

own parking a airs, according to the committee report.

They also mentioned how major forms of transportation would have to have their routes modified at least slightly.

“This is a major logistical flaw as this presents lots of oppor tunities for major backups on University Ave due to buses not being able to cross the lanes of tra c and a higher risk of acci dents due to the Hawthorne Ct functioning as an alleyway and not being a controlled intersec tion,” the committee stated in their report.

To combat the issues CANA found in the garage commit tee’s proposal, a list of solu tions was introduced. The steering committee suggested a range of ideas from “mov ing the entrances to the bus terminal and parking to Lake Street” to solve the poten tial increased traffic issues, along with “using this project to activate Hawthorne Court with public art, lighting and cameras,” as noted by the committee report.

idea was that Hawthorne Court would be converted into a “oneway street for a significant

concerned with the parking garage matching the aesthetic of the nearby buildings in the

beds to the site,” all of which would make it di cult for near by residents to navigate their

CANA steering commit tee’s solutions emphasized a goal of proceeding forward with a greater understanding and respect for the business es and individuals that reside in the area.

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

DRAKE WHITE-BERGEY/

COURTESY OF STEELY DANE VIA FACEBOOK

PHOTO BY TAYLOR WOLFRAM/THE DAILY CARDINAL

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Nature Preserve Plan proposes new facilities, studies, continued restoration

By Madeleine Afonso STAFF WRITER

A recently updated Lakeshore Nature Preserve Master Plan outlined recommendations to improve facilities, lands and plant communities to be implemented in the next 10 years on the Lakeshore Nature Preserve.

The preserve covers 300 acres of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and includes Picnic Point, the Biocore Prairie, Eagle Heights Community Gardens and the Lakeshore trail – totaling a third of the land that makes up the campus.

The updated master plan aims to improve or add more facilities such as fire circles, trails, overlooks and benches, said assistant director of the preserve Laura Wyatt.

The biggest proposition is to create a preserve outreach cen ter that could double as a space

to store equipment for volun teers, and as a place to support education and classes held at the preserve, Wyatt explained.

“I think it will really ele vate the preserve so that addi tional interest and investment is made in these cherished lands,” she said.

Wyatt also said an outdoor shelter near the Biocore Prairie is proposed to facilitate more outdoor learning and uphold the preserve’s role as an out door classroom.

The preserve staff talked with a Ho-Chunk native rep resentative on how their indig enous culture could be shared, as the land the preserve is situ ated on is ancestral Ho-Chunk and has been used for over 12,000 years, said Rhonda James, the project manager of the master plan.

“That’s something that we’re pretty excited about, the potential to help them be able

to share that as they see fit,” said James.

The plan also emphasized maintaining plant communi ties and controlling invasive species on the land. One of their goals was to create a clear ecological direction on how the management of the area will move forward, James said.

“That was kind of our first and foremost planning goal with this update — to really focus on these ecological com munities and where they best can be restored on our site,” she said.

Additionally, the plan pro posed a number of studies to be conducted on the preserve’s features, such as on a portion of collapsed shoreline, vegeta tional management plans and on potential interpretive sig nage, James explained.

Wyatt said the plan will also help identify potential aca demic projects by monitoring,

surveying and analyzing how climate change will impact the proposed changes.

“These are all research level topics that we would like to work [on] more with faculty, graduate students and under graduate students,” Wyatt said. “And having the preserve con tinue to be used as that outdoor laboratory so people are get ting experience with research.”

The preserve plays an impor tant role in maintaining the well being of visitors, as spending time in natural areas provides a place of respite and is vital to wellness, Wyatt emphasized.

“Outdoor spaces play a big part in mental wellbeing and really need to be utilized more,” Wyatt said. “So we look at developing relationships with departments on campus on how we can get more peo ple to utilize our trails and utilize the preserve for that wellbeing aspect.”

A rundown on fake emails: How to spot them, protect yourself

By Gavin Escott STAFF WRITER

“A $3500 end-of-the year bonus for students!”

“A part-time job offering hundreds of dollars an hour!”

“Last chance to enroll in SHIP!”

To cash-strapped University of Wisconsin-Madison stu dents, these emails may appear to be a welcome respite from the deluge of academic emails every day. However, these seemingly too good to be true emails are often the work of scammers masquerading as official entities to capitalize on your personal information and make a quick dollar at your expense.

Phishing, a form of fraud where a scammer attempts to reveal your personal financial or confidential information by posing as a reputable entity, is familiar to many students.

UW-Madison Information Technology keeps a database of known scams, but these scams change rapidly and have the potential to inflict a huge headache on students and their wallets.

Falling for these schemes can do a lot of damage. Simply providing your NetID and password allows scammers to access your personal infor mation in the MyUW Portal, including your payroll state ments, financial aid records, grades, home address and more. Your NetID can even be used to steal your identity — altering your course schedule or stealing your coursework –even offering access to your home computer.

If UW-Madison detects any

response by you to a known phishing address, your creden tials will be disabled, and you won’t be able to access network resources until you re-estab lish your credentials.

Though many students may pride themselves on their internet acumen or their sharp eye for spotting fraud, remaining vigilant and deter mining which emails are legit imate or not can be a tricky task. The Cardinal breaks down how scammers get stu dent emails and how you can protect yourself.

How are scammers getting student emails?

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) instructs institutions of higher learning to maintain student privacy by designating certain pieces of information as directory (public) or nondirectory (private), according to the UW Registrar office.

Currently, UW-Madison’s public directory lists student names, phone numbers, enroll ment status and email address es, among other information.

Under FERPA, schools may release directory infor mation — including email addresses — to public enti ties or anyone who requests the information. Faculty and registered student organiza tions typically request this information to offer research opportunities or to advertise club activities.

While federal statute grants schools the right to review requests and determine if they want to provide student infor mation to a third party, this isn’t the case at UW-Madison.

The Wisconsin Open Records Law outlines that “all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of gov ernment and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them.”

Since UW-Madison — a public institution — is con sidered a government agency, the university is required to release the information with out any stipulation or inquiry. This makes it easy for third parties — and particularly scammers — to freely acquire UW-Madison email addresses without any justification or closer investigation.

How can students protect themselves?

The quickest way to deter mine if an email sent from the university is fake or not is whether it asks for any per sonal identity information. Because it can be difficult for students to identify counter feit emails, the university made it a rule to not ask students to disclose personal identity (PID) information over email, according to UW-Madison’s Information Technology department. PID is any type of information that can be used to identify, contact or locate a sin gle person, which can include your Social Security number, driver’s license or usernames and passwords. Unprompted messages that ask for these items are a clear red flag the email is a scam.

Other giveaways include a message with a sense of urgen cy, an abundance of grammati cal and spelling errors and a lack of a digital signature. In

addition, if the message has a usual “From” or “Reply-To” address instead of a “@wisc. edu” address, or the website URL doesn’t match the name of the institution it represents is another indication the email is not legitimate.

To combat phishing, it’s important to identify these mark ers, and if you see any of them DO NOT CLICK THE LINK.

The university recom mends updating your internet browser and operating system to the latest software, and to err on the side of caution. If the email appears too good to be true, it most likely is, but if you’re still unsure, contact the DoIT Help Desk at 608-2644357 for advice.

Board of Directors

Editor-in-Chief Sophia Vento Managing Editor Jessica Sonkin

Q&A: Ron Stallworth shares undercover experience as a Black Klansman

By Claire LaLiberte STAFF WRITER

In 1978, Detective Ron Stallworth of the Colorado Springs Police Department noticed an advertise ment in the local newspaper seeking members to start a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. He responded with interest.

Stallworth, the department’s first Black detective, posed as a white man who “hated Blacks, Jews, Mexicans and Asians.” His undercover charac ter became enraged enough to join the KKK because his sister had been dating a Black man.

Thus began Stallworth’s investiga tion into the KKK, a story that he would later publish in his 2014 book “The Black Klansman,” which was later adapted into the 2018 Spike Lee film

“BlacKkKlansman.”

This conversation has been edited forclarityandbrevity.

How did you get involved with the police force?

I moved to Colorado Springs in 1972 and I was simply looking for jobs. They were hiring. The position was with the Police Cadet Program, which

was a program for high school gradu ates between the ages of 17 and 19 who aspired to become police o cers. The starting salary was $5.25 an hour — that was in the days when the mini mum wage was $1.60, so I applied for that job and I got it.

What was it like existing as a Black police o cer in the 1970s during a time of social upheaval?

No di erent than any other period in American history. You have to deal with racism as it comes and balance things out.

What kind of advice would you give a student who might be interested in a career in law enforcement?

Give it serious consideration. Are there bad cops? Yes. Are there bad lawyers? Yes. Are there bad nurses, doctors, Indian chiefs? Absolutely. You name it and there’s good and bad. But, not everybody is bad and not everybody is corrupt. For a career, I’d say go for it.

How did it feel for you to be exposed to that kind of rhetoric of hatred?

I was just doing my job. It didn’t really a ect me personally because it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before.

I didn’t hear anything from them that I didn’t hear in normal society in terms of language, derogatory language, racial language. In other words, [the KKK] is as American as apple pie.

Were there ever any instances where you feared you’d be caught out?

No, no. I was an undercover inves tigator, and as undercover cops, we don’t feel fear. We just go out and do the job we’re assigned to do and let the chips fall where they may.

What inspired you, years later, to write your book?

What students need to know about a high-stakes state Supreme Court race

By Halle Zides STAFF WRITER

Though Wisconsin’s midterm elections were less than a month ago, the state’s high-stakes race for the ideological balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is already underway.

Wisconsin’s spring general elec tion for the Supreme Court and other local races are scheduled for April 4, just four months from this Sunday.

The court is currently split between four conservative and three liberal justices. However, with conser vative Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack retiring, the winner of the upcoming election will decide whether the conservative or liberal wing controls the Supreme Court.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has made important decisions on highly debated topics such as voting maps, abortion laws and more over the past decade, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

With Wisconsin facing contin ued partisan gridlock between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers after the midterm elections, compromises are unlikely to be made on topics such as abortion.

Though the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a nonpartisan o ce, jus tices identify as either conservatives or liberals.

Two major conservative candi dates — former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly and Waukesha County District Judge Jennifer Dorow — announced their candidacy as of Nov. 30.

Kelly was appointed to the court by Gov. Scott Walker in 2016. He ran for a full term in 2020 but lost to liberal candidate and current Justice Jill Karofsky.

Jennifer Dorow announced she

would enter the race for the open seat on Wednesday, according to WISN.

Dorow oversaw this fall’s trial for Darnell Brooks, the man who killed six and injured dozens more when he ran his car into a Waukesha Christmas parade last year. Brooks was found guilty on 76 charges, including six counts of first-degree intentional homicide.

Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz are the two confirmed liberal candidates.

Mitchell is a University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School graduate and currently teaches cours es about racism in law and juvenile law alongside his judgeship, accord ing to his campaign website.

Protasiewicz is a Marquette Law School graduate with 25 years of expe rience as an assistant district attorney preceding her election to the bench, according to her campaign website.

Supreme stakes

This spring’s election results could determine how Wisconsin’s high court rules on a Democratic lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s 1849 abor tion ban, which took e ect this June after the U.S. Supreme Court over ruled Roe v. Wade. The near-total abortion ban makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the lawsuit challenging the ban days after it took e ect, argu ing a 1985 Wisconsin law legalizing abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb invalidates the 1849 law.

That lawsuit is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court next year, giving justices the final say on Wisconsin’s abortion laws.

“That would essentially leave it up to the courts to determine whether or not Wisconsin is going to be a state that bans abortion or a state that protects bodily autonomy,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin legal advocacy director Michelle Velasquez told WUWM last week.

UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden told The Daily Cardinal the court’s decision could also impact student concerns beyond abortion.

“The court might also rule on other issues of interest to students, including environmental regulations, election rules and gerrymandering and criminal justice policy,” Burden said. “It is not an exaggeration to say that the Supreme Court race will help determine the direction of the state for at least the next few years.”

Though spring elections often see lower turnout than fall elections, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler expects high turnout in the 2023 Supreme Court election due to the election’s consequences, according to the State Journal.

“Turnout in the spring of 2023 will not look like a midterm or a presidential race, but it could very well set a spring election record in the state of Wisconsin,” Wikler told the State Journal on Saturday. “We know that the turnout tends to be the highest when people think the stakes are the highest.”

Candidates will begin circling nomination papers on Thursday, Dec. 1, and signatures for nomination papers are due on Jan. 3.

The candidates will face o in a primary election on Feb. 21, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April general election. The new justice elected in April will take the bench next August, according to WUWM.

I felt like doing it! I knew I had a unique story — I knew it was comical, unbelievable. People would challenge me on it, but I had all the evidence that would be needed to prove it. So one day I came home from the junior college where I was teaching at the time, I pulled out a legal pad, sat down and started writing. And about nine months later, I finished.

How did it feel to see your story adapted to the big screen? Did any thing surprise you about the way it was received?

It felt very surreal. I was surprised by how visceral it was to people, mov ing them to tears. Wherever we went for book signings and screens, we got the same reaction. The movie would end and credits would roll, and then it would be deathly silent in the audito rium. You could hear the clear sounds of sobbing around the auditorium wherever we went, in every part of the country. Some people would break out in applause, others would break out in serious tears. People would come up to my wife and I to ask for forgive ness and apologize for the actions in general of white people, and ask if they could hug us. It was a very moving moment for us.

You had some interactions with David Duke, one of the most highprofile members of the KKK. What was that like for you?

David Duke is nothing special. He’s just another guy who blessed himself with this title, the “Grand Wizard,” and put on a stupid white robe and started spouting o his white superi ority rhetoric. How did it feel for me? Good — I was making a fool out of the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan!

UW announces $20,000 scholarship for Civics Games

By Jasper Bernstein STAFF WRITER

The University of Wisconsin System announced a $20,000 annu al scholarship on Nov. 11 to the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation’s Civics Games as well as several initiatives aimed at promoting free speech and fostering civil dia logue around citizenship and speech at the universities.

Launched in 2018, the Civics Games serve as a statewide civics bowl for high school students — complete with local, regional and statewide competitions. The initiative intends to increase participation in the games.

“Our $20,000 annual commit ment to the Wisconsin Civics Games is designed to encourage citizenship among middle and high school stu dents,” said Mark Pitsch, UW System media relations director. “[The funds are designed] to elevate and promote the games.”

The 2023 Civics Games will take place both in person and virtually, with virtual regional competitions in mid-April and the state finals at Madison’s Capitol on May 12. Editorial contests will accompany this year’s games.

This year’s Wisconsin Civics

Games Editorial Writing and Cartoon Contest focuses on the guiding theme of the First Amendment — the schol arship allowing large prizes for the winners. First place winners will receive $500, with $250, $100 and $50 prizes awarded to second, third and honorably mentioned winners, respectively. The winning essays and cartoons will be published in newspa pers across Wisconsin.

Also included in the announced initiatives — a group of faculty researchers will soon distribute a survey intended to solicit student opinions on free speech, viewpoint diversity and self-censorship on UW campuses. The results will be used to guide decisions moving forward.

“We will assess the results of the survey when they are available and decide proper steps at that time,” Pitsch explained.

Interested middle and high school students can register for the Civics Games until Feb. 20 at wisconsincivicsgames.com.

The UW System is counting on these new initiatives to boost com munity citizenship and civil dialogue.

“We all benefit from citizens who are engaged in their communities,” Pitsch said.

COURTESY OF MZURIANA VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

COURTESY OF RICHARD HURD VIA CREATIVE COMMONS Entrance to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the State Capitol in Madison, WI.

life & style

I got pierced at Studs — here’s the review

By Cate Schiller STAFF WRITER

Studs, a 2019 New York piercing and jewelry startup, has made its way to Madison. It officially opened its State Street storefront last week, and I got pierced to tell you what it’s like.

Founded by Anna Harmans and Lisa Bubbers, Studs is a trendy and affordable piercing lounge priding itself on its use of sterilized needles instead of piercing guns — boasting a more upscale experience than chain competitors like Claire’s.

The Madison store is located in a high foot-traffic area on the 600 block of State Street right at the edge of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, making it easily accessible to the college audience.

Nestled between the Fashion Salon and Mochi Gift Store, Studs has a quaint yet inviting environment. Walking inside, I was greeted by their yellow walls and intriguing jewelry display on the front counter. I arrived a couple minutes early for my 3:40 p.m. appointment, and the employees were able to start my piercing process right away.

After signing a safety waiver, my piercer Lauren came out and spoke to me about my plans for the piercing. She showed me the piercing jewelry selection, a cute vari ety of both gold and silver ranging in price from $30 to $130. I picked my stud, and then went to a private room to get pierced.

The process was quick. Lauren told me what to expect, we picked an exact spot for the piercing and then she had the new jewelry in my ear a short five minutes later. After that, I paid at the front desk and was out the door by 3:55 p.m.

Studs has built its brand off of being affordable and convenient, and I can attest to the fact that their pricing matches that claim. The shop provides professional pierc

Christmas Shopping: Buying on a budget as a broke college student

By Hannah Angsten STAFF WRITER

Although the post-Thanksgiving holiday frenzy has kicked into full gear, there’s one daunting task that always seems to bring this cheer to a screeching halt: Christmas shopping.

While giving and receiving gifts embodies the “spirit of Christmas,” it’s hard not to wince when examining the price tags of even the simplest items. Unfortunately, this struggle is only magnified when seen through the eyes of a broke college student fight ing their way through finals season. When surviving o the bare minimum, plus co ee and a Redbull, Christmas shopping can be an extremely painful experience. Thankfully, there are a few ways to escape this frightening tradition that will leave you and your bank account feeling a lot better.

Shopping for family

If you’re looking to complete your list in one quick trip, Target has you covered. Head on over to the holiday section to grab some candles for your mom and grandma, then pay a visit to the kitchen section to find your dad some kind of tool that will confuse but intrigue him. Once you’re done there, browse the gaming and toy aisles for any younger siblings or cousins. If all else fails, direct your attention to the shocking number of gift cards lining each checkout counter. If you’re really in a pinch this year, you probably don’t even need to look past my personal favorite part of Target: the dollar section.

Finding something more personal to gift your family can also be a challenge when it comes to buying gifts on a budget. However, a personalized gift doesn’t have to mean a $50 custom sweatshirt from Shutterfly or an unreasonably priced engraved ring from Pandora. Head back to Target, or even the dollar store and get a few frames for each of your fam ily members. Framing a photo of a special moment you associate with each person will undoubtedly make a meaningful gift they’ll cherish for the years to come.

ing services starting at $35 for one piercing and $50 for two, plus the price of your chosen jewelry. As a broke college kid myself — and having been pierced at other local Madison parlors in the past — these rates were a pleasant surprise. For my one conch piercing and the earring, I paid a total of $89.50.

Studs also makes the piercing process easy for its customers. The company uses online booking to secure appointments, with options every 20 minutes throughout their regular business hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. With this flexibility, I was able to impulsively book a random appointment on a Sunday afternoon and walk out 15 minutes later with a new conch piercing. This is a much different — and preferable — process than most tattoo and piercing parlors that are usually booked out for a week or two when you call to make an appointment.

Overall, my experience at Studs was a quick and easy one. The company special izes in ear piercings and they’ve definitely mastered a system that makes piercings a fun and convenient activity for customers.

If you haven’t checked out Studs yet, even just for their adorable jewelry, I recom mend you stop in the next time you pass it on State Street. I’m already planning the next piercing I can get done there.

Grade: A-

Another creative way to utilize photos is creating a personalized album for someone. This reminder of all the amazing memories you’ve shared will undoubtedly mean more to them than any overpriced item you choose to buy.

Shopping for friends

In my experience, shopping for friends can oftentimes be the hard est and most expensive. While you know they deserve something unique and meaningful, you can’t exactly give them the homemade ornament or potholder you planned on giving your family members. Luckily, vin tage is back, and that means finding cheap clothes you can pass o as one-of-a-kind and stylish. So, head on over to your nearest thrift store and get your friends something you know they’ll love. It might take some time to find that perfect item for each of them, but at least you won’t be in debt when you leave the store.

And if none of these options work for you and you find yourself giftless on Dec. 22 after your last final exam, you can always count on the University of Wisconsin-Madison Bookstore to be there for you and all your Badger needs.

“Overall, my experience at Studs was a quick and easy one.”

NICK DUDA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Christmas time is tough for colleges students, especially if you don’t want your wallet to look like this!

Studs offers a cool and efficient peircing process for students, and even a discount!

LAUREN AGUILA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

‘It’s really timeless music’: A Q&A with Steely Dane’s Dave Adler

By Hope Karnopp NEWS MANAGER

Steely Dane is not your average tribute band. Their fourteen musi cians fill the stage with multiple key boards, a horn section and backup vocalists committed to reproducing Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s signature sound.

That sound is perhaps more rele vant than ever. Millennials and Gen Z’ers are exploring their parents’ music — including Steely Dan — and some music writers are herald ing a “resurgence” of the band.

Dave Adler, the band’s co-lead er, discussed the enduring appeal of Steely Dan with the Cardinal ahead of their “Holidane” Show at the Majestic Theater on Dec.10. The show is at 8:00 p.m. with doors open at 7:00 p.m. General admission floor tickets are still available.

This conversation has been edit ed for clarity and brevity.

How many members are in the band currently, and how have their musical careers led to Steely Dane?

Well, there are 14 members in the band currently. Steely Dan has always been sort of a bellwether group. If you’re a jazzer or if you’re a rocker, both of those groups look at Steely Dan as sort of a thing to aspire to — a very high level of musi cianship. Their music is di cult to play, and it’s very sophisticated and exacting. So anybody who is a musi cian for a long time generally holds up Steely Dan as some sort of bar as far as excellence is concerned.

When you’re performing live, how much communication and improv happens between the members?

There’s constant communication between the members when we’re playing live. We’re always very care ful to set up so that we can all see each other. We’re constantly ri ing o of what each other is play

ing. Generally, when we’re ending a song, we’ll vamp for a while and play the end over and over until I cue an ending for the band, and so we’re always looking to see where that’s going to be. We mix up solos. With this kind of music, you always have to be very vigilant and to be always looking and listening to the rest of the ensemble. You really want to play it right.

How often do you practice together, and where do you find the space for it?

We practice intermittently. [It’s] hard for us to find common times to practice because there’s so many darn people. We have to rent a stu dio to accommodate a large band and all these people. Just getting the band together for rehearsals is a real production. There’s just a lot of peo ple, a lot of stu that you got to figure out. We don’t have a regular practice schedule. When we got a show com ing up, we try to get together and make sure everything’s cool.

Can you describe the process of arranging your music?

Our goal is to come as close to the original recordings as we can. So we’re cueing our arrangements completely o of the records. We do studio versions of songs, also Steely Dan does a lot of di erent live ver sions of things where they change things up or extend it and some of those arrangements we’re also into. My co-leader Dave Stoler and the horn section leader Al Falaschi get together and write out the arrange ments generally for the horns. But everybody’s got a di erent thing. I work a lot with the backup sing ers, making sure that the harmonies are okay. We get together and learn these tunes. The goal is if you close your eyes, you think it’s Steely Dan playing. We’ve luckily enough been told that we’ve gotten pretty close.

What goes into creating a setlist

for your shows?

Well, my co-leader Dave Stoler and I don’t eat for a week and we go into a cave and we fast. No, I’m just kidding. But Dave and I generally put the setlist together. Sometimes we’re doing album shows where we’re actually literally playing an album and that’s the setlist. Other times we’re doing a greatest hits show, other times we’re doing more of a deep cut show. So that’s a whole process that Dave Stoler and I do over a period of a day or two where we just kind of email each other back and forth and we settle on something.

What albums or tracks would you recommend to a college student exploring the Steely Dan discography?

It all started with “Aja” for me. You can’t really go wrong as a stu dent, as a young kid, getting into Steely Dan. Everything is fantastic. But for me, “Aja” was the gateway drug. Every song on that is just bril liant and accessible and easy to lis ten to and incredible. I would say check out “Aja,” that’s what got me hooked.

Are there any deep cuts that you’d recommend?

There’s so many. “Jack of Speed” is an amazing song, that’s o of “Two Against Nature.” “Your Gold Teeth,” “Green Earrings,” “Any Major Dude”…”Green Flower Street,” that’s a solo o of Donald Fagen’s solo record called “The Nightfly,” that’s amazing. Gosh, “Sign in Stranger,” “Gaucho” from the record “Gaucho.” “Caves of Altamira.” There’s so many deep cuts that peo ple would like. I’m learning more songs by them as I go, and I haven’t even heard all of them. Their catalog is insane, it’s just crazy how much material they did.

What do you think it is about Steely Dan that appeals to

Colleen Hoover’s series ‘It Ends With Us’ portrays abuse with scary accuracy

By Vee Sridhar STAFF WRITER

We’re all just people who do bad things.

This is a recurring theme of sen sation Colleen Hoover’s series “It Ends With Us” — novels that focus on the life and loves of Lily Bloom. Lily is a survivor of domestic abuse and a representative of all those who’ve chosen the wrong people to spend their lives with.

Lily grew up in an abusive house hold and has firsthand experience with love gone wrong. Her parents’ relationship haunted her all her life, and until she met her ex-husband, she thought she would never forgive a man who mistreated her.

But fate had other plans, as she met Ryle Kincaid. A relationship that she thought was rainbows and roses deteriorates step-by-step throughout the novel. It begins with a laugh that gets Lily slapped in the face, followed by a push down the stairs and ends with attempted rape for a long-for

getten magnet on the fridge.

Ryle, a man with a painful past of his own, is the main antagonist of the story. A brilliant neurosurgeon on his way to a golden career, Ryle meets Lily on a rooftop in Boston — both strangers who just had hard days.

They grow closer over time, and as they finally start dating, Lily is the happiest she’s ever been. But one day, Ryle touches a hot pan with the hand he performs surgeries with, and a drunk Lily laughs at him. The next moment, she’s on the floor, her eye is stinging from falling on a door han dle and Ryle says, “Goddamn it, Lily… This hand is my fucking career.”

That’s all it takes for Lily’s life to slide downhill. Lily knows that what he did is unforgivable, that his tory is repeating, but her love for Ryle and his gaslighting convinces her to believe that it was her fault.

And when Ryle apologizes profuse ly, showing his regret and love, this belief strengthens.

Lily thinks to herself, ‘Why did

I laugh? Why wasn’t I concerned about his hand?’ Then comes resolve: ‘He wouldn’t do it ever again. Those 15 seconds were a nightmare, and it’s past us.’ This cycle repeats throughout the book, even after Ryle pushes her down the stairs after discovering a note in her phone case with her ex-boy friend Atlas Corrigan’s number for an emergency like this.

We’re all just people who do bad things.

Ryle lives by this belief, citing childhood trauma for whenever rage makes him black out and hurt oth ers. To an extent, he’s right too. But what Lily saw in Ryle to fall in love with him does not excuse the things he’s done. Even if he’s not all bad, it does not give him permission to take his anger out on anyone, least of all Lily. Hoover is excellent at depict ing Lily’s realization that she didn’t deserve any of it.

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younger audiences?

There’s just some stu about it that’s universal that I think every body of all ages would like. I think that their music is so well-written and so well-produced and so wellarranged that anybody, of any age, who is into really well-done music that combines elements of rock and jazz, is going to be turned on by Steely Dan. Young folks, I don’t think that they care when the music was made or how old the people were. They just are responding to the fact that it’s just some of the best rock and jazz ever produced and it appeals to them, which I total ly understand. It’s really timeless music, you know?

What has it been like to take the group across Wisconsin?

It’s been amazing. It’s incred ible how many people are into that band. I mean, we play everywhere from Minneapolis to Chicago and all points in between. It doesn’t mat ter if we’re playing in Oshkosh or Green Bay or Eau Claire. Any of those places, people come out for this band. They just love Steely Dan. I think that they appreciate it because it’s the kind of music that’s hard to put it together. It takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of e ort, a lot of dedication. It’s not simple material. So I think people, when they see a live band that does it, it’s unusu al, because there just aren’t a lot of Steely Dan tribute bands because it’s really di cult music to play.

I think that people all over Wisconsin, who love the band, real ly appreciate that there’s a group in their backyard that really fires on all cylinders. We’ve had o ers to play all over the place, and we’re definite ly a Wisconsin band, folks live here and work here and we’re not going anywhere. But we’re definitely high enough quality to be playing any where. And I think people respond

to that and appreciate having that in their hometown.

You have a holiday show com ing up at the Majestic. Do you plan to merge elements of holiday music with the Steely Dan sound?

Basically, if you take any song and put sleigh bells on it, it becomes a holiday song. So maybe we’ll do that. I guess it’s more of an attitude that it’s a holiday show. Music itself is pretty sacred, you don’t want to mess with it or change it or do any thing like that. But you can pick songs thematically that have stu to do with holiday or giving or love and stu like that. We’re probably going to pick songs that make sense to play around the holidays.

Is there anything else you want to say about Steely Dane?

I’m personally just so honored to be in Steely Dane. These folks are incredible musicians, incredible players, and I am amazed myself when I’m on stage playing music with them. I’m looking around and I’m hearing this and it’s just sound ing so good and people are groov ing. Just for me personally to be a part of the outfit is really special. I appreciate all of them very, very much. You know, nobody’s doing this for the bread. You take any kind of money and you divide it up by 14 plus a sound guy and a light guy and a bunch of pizza for the band, at the end of the night we’re walking away with bus money, essentially. But we just love the music so much, and we love playing it together so much, that it’s a joy. I’m really glad that young folks are interested in this music because there’s definitely a lot to be gained by listening to this music and enjoying it. It’s beauti ful and it’s sophisticated. It’s made by real instruments and real people who really know how to play it. So I hope people come out, and I hope they enjoy it.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise (finally!) returns to Madison

By Joyce Riphagen STAFF WRITER

Alternative indie-rock band

Rainbow Kitten Surprise will return to Madison for the first time since 2019, performing a sold out show at the Sylvee on Sunday.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise is often described as genre-defying, and it fits. Though they certainly have indie rock at their core, tracks vary from upbeat and invigorating to mel low and soothing. Lead singer Ela Melo is a certified crooner, with hyp notic vocals that scale easily from a whisper to a belt. Songs by Rainbow Kitten Surprise are invariably strong lyrically and musically, revealing new layers with each listen.

Seeing Rainbow Kitten Surprise live is always wonderful — Melo and the rest of the band are absolutely captivating, drawing their audience into the music with enthusiastic performances and killer dancing. A friend of mine once described Melo as having “magic hips,” and they were definitely correct.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise con certs manage to be intimate and per sonal in any venue, from a small bar

to a packed concert hall. Every mem ber of the band is clearly excited to be on stage and forms their own special connection with the crowd.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise is cur rently on their first tour since Melo came out as transgender in March 2022.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise will be preceded by DIY band Twen, born from the Boston punk scene in 2017. Twen’s music was previ ously described by i-D as “some where between dream pop and psych rock,” a sound that will pair wonderfully with RKS’ ethereal presence.

The band has released three albums to date, with their most recent album debuting in 2018. In June 2022, they released the single “Work Out,” their first new music in several years.

Fans can expect to dance, as the most recent setlist includes fan favorites such as “Lady Lie,” “Its Called: Freefall” and eternal banger “That’s My Shit.”

Doors will open at the Sylvee at 6:30 p.m., with the show starting at 8 p.m.

Wisconsin finishes regular season with 18-match win streak

By Ellie Scheirey STAFF WRITER

The Wisconsin Badgers won their 10th consecutive match against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, in four sets on Friday night. Earlier in the season, the Badgers took the Cornhuskers down in three sets at the UW Field House.

Wisconsin dominated the first set with a total of 16 kills and only two errors giving them a matchhigh .400 hitting percentage.

The Badgers led the first set with back-to-back kills, two from Deyvn Robinson and two from Danielle Hart, to take an early 4-0 lead. Wisconsin held the lead the entire set, eventually making the score 22-13.

Nebraska went on a five point run to bring them within four points, but the Badgers went on to win the first set 25-21. A Cornhuskers service error gave the Badgers set-point and then a final kill by Sarah Franklin helped them take the first set.

In the second set, Wisconsin’s hitting percentage dropped to .132 while Nebraska stayed con sistent at around .250.

The second set had nine lead changes and 15 ties. The second went back-and-forth until the Cornhuskers took a 21-18 lead when they went on a four point streak. Three of those points were attack errors by Wisconsin and then a service ace by Lexi Rodriguez.

Nebraska went on to win the second set 25-21 — the match now knotted at one.

The third set was a nail biter. The biggest lead between either team was two points, until a kill from Anna Smrek put Wisconsin up 22-19. The Cornhuskers ral lied back with two points of their own, before the Badgers won the final three points.

A Nebraska service error, a Wisconsin kill by Julia Orzol and then a Badger block gave Wisconsin the third set 25-21.

Nebraska’s hitting percent age dropped to .063 in the fourth set, as they managed only 13 kills with 10 errors.

The fourth set stayed close and was tied at eight, until Wisconsin’s six point run gave them the 14-8 lead. Wisconsin continued to control the set, and extended their lead 19-11.

The Cornhuskers fought, but the Badgers ultimately took the

set 25-19.

Robinson had the match-high 16 kills, followed by Franklin with 12 kills. The Badgers also dominated behind the line, fin ishing 3-1 in service aces.

Wisconsin improved to 10-3 against top 25 opponents. With this win, the Badgers took the Big Ten title outright, and brought their total conference champion ship titles to nine — the secondmost among all Big Ten teams.

The third-ranked Wisconsin team (24-3, 18-1 Big Ten) continued their away series by traveling to Columbus on Saturday to face No. 8 Ohio State (19-8, 15-4 Big Ten).

In the first set, Ohio State recorded an impressive 17 kills, while Wisconsin only managed 11 put-aways, but the significant di erence in hitting percentage came from errors. Ohio State had 11 errors and Wisconsin only fin ished with two.

Wisconsin won a tight first set, 25-22. The game included 12 ties and six lead changes. The Badgers powered ahead late in the set to take a 19-16 lead, the biggest lead of the set.

A kill by Caroline Crawford began the Badgers’ run, which was followed by an Ohio State attack error, then a kill by Anna Smrek and a service ace from Crawford to finish off their four point run.

Ohio State brought the score to 19-18 and then the teams pro ceeded to switch off every point, until the Badgers managed to get two points to make the score 24-21. Two points later, Anna Smrek put away the kill to give Wisconsin the first set.

Ohio State struggled in the fol lowing set with more errors than kills, 12 to 11, respectively. This made their hitting percentage negative .03. On the other hand, Wisconsin had the match-high .385 hitting percentage with 11 kills and only one error from 26 attempts.

A kill from Robinson and then four Buckeye attack errors gave the Badgers an early 5-0 lead, forc ing Ohio State to take a timeout.

Wisconsin setter MJ Hammill put up two consecutive service aces to make the score 10-3. She also led her team with a match total of three aces.

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Get to know Wisconsin football’s newest head coach

By Dylan Goldman STAFF WRITER

The Wisconsin Badgers and its fans are in somewhat uncharted waters. For the first time since 2014 — a lifetime ago in today’s whirl wind college football coaching cycle — the football program is led by a new full-time head coach: for mer Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell.

The hiring was a bit of a shock to Wisconsin fans, many of whom may have expected the job to remain in the hands of inter im coach and Badger legend Jim Leonhard. However, Wisconsin fans should be pleasantly sur prised and intrigued by this hire.

Simply put, the football pro gram seemed to be in need of a pretty drastic shakeup. After all, the team is coming o its worst full season since 2001. Wisconsin was unable to compete for a Big Ten West Division title despite the winner being 8-4 Purdue, a team the Badgers dominated in October.

Back-to-back seasons full of disappointing losses to rivals like Minnesota, Michigan and Penn State forced Wisconsin and Athletic Director Chris McIntosh to look in the mirror. A 6-6 record is not acceptable for a program with as proud a heritage as Wisconsin, and barely extending their now 21-year bowl streak was not enough to look past the many issues surrounding the team.

This tumultuous moment in Wisconsin football’s history required a bold, outside-the-box hiring, and McIntosh and co. hit a home run with the hiring of Fickell. The AD issued a congratulatory statement shortly after the hiring.

“Luke is one of the top football coaches in the country,” the state ment read. “He is a proven winner, recruiter and developer of players. Equally as important, he shares our values. Coach Fickell is focused on giving our student-athletes the best opportunities possible and is attuned to the changing landscape of college athletics.”

Fickell has a long history of suc cess and strong ties to the Big Ten dating back to his many years with Ohio State. The 49-year-old began as a nose guard for the Buckeyes, and even set a school record by making 50 consecutive starts.

Fickell got his coaching experi ence as a defensive line coach with Akron, but also by spending a stag gering 15 years coaching for his alma mater. Fickell served in a variety of roles at OSU, mostly as the co-defen sive coordinator. He was also tapped to be Ohio State’s interim coach in 2011, a year they only finished 6-7. While a losing record at Ohio State is rare, it’s more justifiable when con sidering the present disasters. There were a flurry of suspensions and transfers as a result of a scandal that saw head coach Jim Tressel resign in May of 2011.

Overall, Fickell was constant ly surrounded by a winning cul ture during his many years in Columbus. As a player and coach, he won nine Big Ten champion ships, two national championships

and participated in 15 postseason games. When Fickell was last a defensive coordinator, he led the Buckeyes to the ninth best total defense in the nation in 2016, which was the best in the Big Ten other than the team he now coaches.

From 2012-16, Fickell was a part of Ohio State teams that finished with an absurd 61-5 record, includ ing a national championship victo ry in 2014. From his tenure at OSU alone, it’s clear that Fickell was ingrained in a winning culture.

The most encouraging reality, however, is that he constructed his own winning culture when he took the reins at Cincinnati in 2016. The Bearcats were reeling, coming o of a 4-8 record in a year ending with the resignation of head coach Tommy Tuberville.

In just a couple of seasons, Fickell took Cincy from the dol drums to one of the top programs in the country. His Cincinnati squads consistently posted strong records, starting with back-to-back 11 win seasons in 2018 and 2019.

He then led the Bearcats to a 9-0 regular season mark in 2020, punctuated by an American Athletic Conference title and an appearance in the Peach Bowl. Though they nar rowly lost to the Georgia Bulldogs, the mere inclusion in a New Year’s Six bowl game represented a bright trajectory for Cincinnati.

They followed 2020 with a mag ical, storybook 2021 season, which saw UC go 13-0, repeat as confer ence champions and earn a berth in the College Football Playo This marked the first time a school from outside college football’s Power Five conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12) made an appearance in college football’s premier tournament.

Of all of Fickell’s numerous accomplishments, this is by far his most impressive. Fickell guided the Bearcats to an undefeated season, including a road win against #9 Notre Dame in South Bend. While their season ended with a 27-6 loss

to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, Fickell had led Cincinnati to a his toric and improbable milestone.

Cincinnati wasn’t as impressive this season, finishing 9-3, but part of that can be explained by another success of Fickell’s — NFL Draft picks. Nine Cincinnati players were drafted in 2022, which was a school record, and overall 16 players were drafted during Fickell’s time at Cincinnati. Those numbers, partic ularly the 2022 total, are especially impressive considering Cincinnati was not a member of college foot ball’s biggest conferences and wasn’t often raking in high-level recruiting classes.

All in all, Fickell’s time in charge of the Bearcats was a smashing success. Discounting his first sea son in charge when Cincinnati went 4-8, UC would go 53-10 in his last five years at the helm. That record is even more monu mental considering five of those losses came against college foot ball powerhouses like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, as well as American Athletic Conference stalwarts UCF and Memphis.

Fickell racked up all the acco lades at Cincy, including the AAC Coach of the Year award three times and numerous national coach of the year awards after his stellar season in 2021.

It is clear that the new head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers comes from years of successful cul tures, taking part in championship games almost annually.

Fickell not only experienced a strong culture at Ohio State, but more importantly built his own at Cincinnati. He will certainly have his work cut out for him in an expanding Big Ten that is set to add USC and UCLA soon.

However, in order to keep up in their conference, Wisconsin needed to go outside of its program and hire a coach with a new and bold vision. If Fickell’s body of work tells us any thing, Wisconsin fans should have high expectations for the future.

TAYLOR WOLFRAM/THE DAILY CARDINAL PHOTO

Letter to the Editor: UW, Zionist chalkings

By Stepha Velednitsky, Ri J. Turner, Joshua Garoon, Tsela Barr, Annie Sommer Kaufman STAFF WRITERS

November 8, 2022

pus actions on Israel and Palestine.

Dear

Chancellor Mnookin, Vice Chancellor Reesor, and Chief Diversity O cer Charleston,

We are writing as Jewish members of the UW-Madison community in response to the recent anti-Zionist chalkings on our campus, and espe cially to the reactions from your o ces, UW-Madison Hillel and other campus organizations, and media on and o campus.

As Jews, we care deeply, both about our own experience of “inclusion and belonging” (as Chancellor Mnookin has put it) in the UW-Madison com munity, and about the well-being of Palestinians on and o campus. The responses in question — includ ing, but not limited, to the blame Chancellor Mnookin and ViceChancellor Reesor inappropriately placed on the UW-Madison chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — were harmful to both. In keeping with the Jewish practice of tokhehah, which could be translated as “calling-in,” we are asking you to recognize and redress the damage that these responses have caused.

We understand that past experi ences may have inclined you to seek those responsible for this incident among UW student groups. In the recent past, Jews on campus have been upset, justifiably, when mem bers of UW-Madison student groups — including leaders of the under graduate student government — have not acted with respect for Jewish reli gious practice when it comes to cam

We agree that “education and accountability” are critical in such situations. The statements from your o ces, however, provided neither. Instead, they impatiently and inaptly condemned the small and only recent ly reconstituted UW-Madison chapter of SJP for actions its members deny conducting — contributing to their scapegoating in the media. Those stu dents deserved more from you.

We agree that it is antisemitic to hold all Jews accountable for the acts of the Israeli government, regardless of their connection or lack thereof to Israel. That treats Jews as a mono lith and conflates Jewish identity with blanket support for Israel. But here we must ask: who in this situation truly conflated Jewishness with the political ideology of Zionism?

Two of the organizations called out in the chalkings, the UW-Madison chapters of Hillel and Chabad, are indeed Jewish organizations. The primary function of both is to sup port the religious life of Jewish stu dents on campus. Simply attending the religious services at those two organizations — the only ones that o er them on campus — does not jus tify attacking Jewish students, and we urge those carrying out pro-Palestin ian actions to respect such religious events and spaces.

At the same time, both the Hillel and Chabad chapters have identi fied themselves as explicitly proIsrael. This combination of Zionist politics with Jewish religious prac tice has become the norm for Jews on campus and across the country. Yet many Jews do not consider sup port for Israel to be essential to their

Jewish identity. On the contrary, for some Jewish students, the percep tion of being “required” to espouse pro-Israel positions as a precondi tion for participating in Jewish life on campus dissuades them from participating at all. In fact, Hillel has so constrained Jewish student speech and organizing on Israel and Palestine that Jewish students who felt alienated from Jewish life on campus as a result formed an “Open

What’s more, three of the orga nizations the chalkings criticized (J Street U at Wisconsin, TAMID, and Badgers for Israel) do not selfdescribe as Jewish organizations. (In fact, the last of the trio explic itly describes itself as “nonreligious.”) Their primary function is to support Israel. And while criticizing such organizations for being Zionist might be controversial, it is not antisemitic.

Nor is it antisemitic to claim that

versity administration’s statements, not the original chalkings, which conflated Jewish identity and prac tice with support for Zionism with in and beyond Jewish communities.

We call on you to apologize to the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine for scapegoating them for this incident without evidence that they were responsible for it. We call on you to refrain from conflating Zionist viewpoints with Jewish identity — a move that exacerbates the exclusion of non-Zionist Jews from Jewish life on campus, and normalizes the sup pression of free speech about Israel and Palestine within campus or cam pus-adjacent organizations, includ ing Hillel. We also ask you to edu cate yourselves about the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zion ism more generally. The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which was signed by about 200 scholars of antisemitism and related studies from around the world, including Israel, is a good place to start.

Hillel” movement, and in particular Open Hillel’s Judaism on Our Own Terms initiative, to try to create more space on campus for diverse Jewish viewpoints.

When organizations explicitly prohibit participation of organiza tions, groups, or speakers — includ ing Jewish ones — on the basis of their political stance, they can no longer claim that they are apolitical, “big tent” Jewish organizations that define themselves primarily around Jewish identity. To insist that their critics strictly separate the religious and the political, then, is disingenu ous and hypocritical.

Zionist organizations should be held accountable for Zionism’s ills, or that racist and genocidal acts have been committed in the name of Zionism.

So we must reject UW Hillel’s charges that the chalkings were antisemitic because they were “targeting student organizations because of their connection to Israel” and thus constituted “an attack on the identity of Jewish stu dents.” Similarly, we must reject your o ces’ claims that the chalk ings were antisemitic because they “attribute broad actions or beliefs to Jewish student groups.” In both cases, it was Hillel’s and the uni

Finally, we call on Jewish indi viduals and organizations on and o campus who share our perspective to express support by signing on to this letter.

Sincerely,

Ri J. Turner, graduate stu dent, History Joshua Garoon, Assistant Professor, Community and Environmental Sociology

Tsela Barr, staff, International Division

Readmore@dailycardinal.com Annie Sommer Kaufman, alumna, ‘01

Stepha Velednitsky, graduate student, Geography

Power, contemporary Christian activism on abortion

By LiLi Bicoy STAFF WRITER

Summary: American Christians’ fight against abor tion stems not from a religious doctrine, but from specially doctored reactions and teach ings that maintain specific powers of the influential.

There’s a common miscon ception in the United States that Christians of various denominations have actively rioted against abortion for cen turies — that during the times of taverns and double-edged swords there were also abor tion-fighting Christians. In reality, even Roman Catholics were quiet in their disapprov al until the 19th century.

That isn’t to say Christians were raising a glass and cheer ing for the idea. But as long as the abortion was early and private, there was little to no anger — let alone activism — on the subject.

However, then the need to maintain power got involved, and several divisions of the religion changed accordingly.

To understand how this expands outside one denom ination, a brief understand ing of American Christianity is necessary. There are two main Christian divi sions in the nation: protes tants, which group sev eral denominations under one umbrella, and Roman

Catholics. The Pew Research Center splits Protestants into Evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and historical Black Protestants. Evangelicals and Catholics are the most common, mak ing up a little under half of the nation’s Christian population.

Using Catholicism as an example, in the 19th century, Christian conflict began to impend on abortion. The cen tury was a time of social and political change in the U.S., and that sparked a fear-driven need in believers to maintain social order in both the church and society. Many Catholics fell under this context.

The potential loss of control triggered more repressive ideas to circulate among the progres sive ones. People felt trapped under this repression and began to develop more progressive ideas, and the circle continued.

The Catholic Church was in need of consistent ideas, so Pope Pius IX formed a doc trine called papal infallibil ity. In contemporary terms, it means that whatever the Pope states can never be wrong. This doctrine would lead down a road of state ments from the Pope which developed rigid ideas on abor tion and ignited anti-abortion activists from Christianity.

In this instance, power came from the leaders of the

Catholic Church. Followers of the religion were in constant disagreement, so the Pope took it upon himself to pro vide a singular answer. Many feared a revolt that would change the way society was, and papal infallibility aided those fears. Without the doc trine, abortion wouldn’t have become so black and white in the religion.

Evangelical history active ly fighting abortion is more recent than Catholicism. The Southern Baptist Convention was passing resolutions that agreed with accessible abor tion up until 1976 — three years after the ruling of Roe v. Wade. The religious group was known to have more con servative views that naturally swayed towards limiting fed eral regulations. They were far more concerned with desegre gation at the time.

But then a conservative activist named Paul Weyrich rose to power. His goal was to mobilize Evangelicals and gain votes for Republican can didates. He believed utilizing a hot-button issue — like abor tion — would unite Evangelical Protestants for his cause.

With multiple failures from the Republican party to push their agenda on maintaining segregation, as well as several white private schools being shut down on the grounds of con

stitutionality, Weyrich realized that desegregation was inevi table and would not be enough to mobilize the religious group.

So when Roman Catholics were openly protesting abor tion — with a consequential win of Republican officials — Weyrich knew he found a new angle. It was a strong issue that could bring plausible changes. Thus, Weyrich began open dialogue demonizing abortion. He became an avid promoter for abortion regula tion in hopes of it reaching Evangelicals — and it did.

Tolerance is easier to change than acceptance, and abor tion was just that for many Christians. Weyrich used cam paigning tactics at the right time to persuade a large group of Christians to vote for con

servative candidates. He used abortion as a power mecha nism. It was because of this political history — not biblical teachings — that Evangelicals were pushed to become activ ists on the issue.

Putting aside religious cita tions and general morality, his tory shows that mass Christian anti-abortion activists are rela tively new and have been per suaded by collective anger and influential figures. Ultimately, the motive behind these tactics has always been power.

LiLiBicoyisafreshmansta writer majoring in Journalism and German. Do you think Christian anti-abortion activists in the United States emerged from the need to maintain power? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

COURTESY OF CATHOLIC CHURCH ENGLAND AND WALES VIA FLICKR

TAYLOR WOLFRAM/THE DAILY CARDINAL

the beet

Coach Fickell immediately gains 50 pounds after accepting Wisconsin job

By Mackenzie Moore THE BEET EDITOR

Badger football fans were shocked on Nov. 27 by the announcement that former Cincinnati Bearcats coach Luke Fickell will be the suc cessor to Paul Chryst. Though most assumed the job would go to interim head coach Jim Leonhard, Fickell has been welcomed with open arms in exchange for taking advantage of his appetite.

In most places, being welcoming means friendly smiles and a wave. In Wisconsin, newcomers are stu ed with cheese curds, ButterBurgers and beer such that they are weighed down too heavily to leave. With the 2021 National Coach of the Year in the dairy state, the goal is to ensure that Fickell will have no choice but to stay long term or be airlifted to a healthier location.

The instant that Wisconsin and Fickell agreed to terms, he was met with gifts from the state’s top artery cloggers and liver destroyers. The initial wave included o erings from

Carr Valley Cheese, New Glarus Brewing Co., Wollersheim Winery and Culver’s. As anyone with func tioning tastebuds knows, all of these companies’ products fall into the category of “eat on sight.”

Fickell clearly no longer identi fies as a Bearcat — he ate more like an emaciated grizzly bear who total ly forgot they were supposed to pack on the pounds before winter.

“I’m just really happy to be here,” said Fickell. “At the last place, their big thing was chili on spa ghetti noodles — it was both basic enough to be boring and strange enough for me to be wary. But a five pound block of cheese in one hand and a beer in the other? I can work with that,” said the 2005-2016 Ohio State defensive coordinator.

Within an hour of getting the job, Fickell had already gained 50 pounds — the equivalent of roughly 350 ButterBurgers, 96 pounds of cheese or 1,167 bottles of Spotted Cow.

Wisconsinites will certainly be

happy to hear (and see) his approval of the state’s gut-busting delicacies. However, for Fickell, it goes deep er — he believes that the unend ing Thanksgiving feast has already made him a better coach.

“A few hours ago, I didn’t know that I could handle so much booze and heavy food. At first, I just had to power through. My brain always wanted to

Trump says ‘Make America Green Again’

By Ace Filter CONTRIBUTOR

In an unforeseen turn of events, former president Donald Trump announces that he will be changing his political a liation to the Green Party, and will be running as such in 2024.

Amid a less-than-impres sive amount of support since his proclamation of running for a second term, Trump appears to be changing tactics by throw ing an absolute curveball at voters. He publicly announced the switch a few days after his initial “huge announcement” on Nov. 15.

“It is with great pleasure that I have come to announce that I will be running for president as a member of the Green Party for the 2024 election,” said Trump. Let’s make America great and green again! We will be a great nation again.”

Many are befuddled by his sudden change of heart, espe cially since he has never been an especially big supporter of climate action. This confusion is well-called-for consider ing Trump’s conflicting state ments about his stance on cli mate change in the past. While some cite this shift as not sur prising, as Trump “never fails to disappoint our curiosities,” others are still struggling to believe that this announce ment is legit.

“The media is totally cap ping,” says a potentially-stoned University of WisconsinMadison student. “There’s no

way this man would do any thing that isn’t sitting on his ass and complaining. Surprised he hasn’t complained about media coverage yet.”

An already-exasperated, selfproclaimed moderate student has a di erent perspective:

“Do I think it’s fake news? Maybe. Would I be sur prised? No.”

As for the former president himself, he backed up his deci sion to switch teams by giv ing various examples of how nature has transformed his world views since being out of o ce. A golf course connois seur, Trump revealed how he branched o of this great sport and into the wilderness where he fell in love with the earth itself.

“One day I was out on my huge golf course, and I was get ting bored, y’know? Life with out presidential duties tends to be a bit too slow paced for me, at times,” Trump added. “So anyways, I just kinda dropped

my golf club and wandered out into the woods nearby. I was in there for three days. That expe rience was life changing, life changing. I should have been listening to Greta Thunberg this whole time.”

Trump’s new presiden tial oaths include the goal to plant “a gazillion” new trees across the United States and a promise of 100% carbon emission reductions by the end of 2028.

His fellow Republican and Democratic politicians have released many statements condemning Trump’s sud den change of heart, calling it “unjust, impractical, and stu pid.” The Green Party itself has yet to comment.

Could Donald Trump be the candidate to finally break the two-party system in the United States? Looks like he’s already uniting all those across the political spectrum in at least one sense — every one is confused.

keep eating, but my stomach was being pushed to grow more and more like the Grinch’s heart on Christmas day,” said Fickell. “But I pushed through it, and now I can stand before you today as a strong-willed, confident, future 600 pound man.”

The Badgers’ new head coach faces lofty expectations. After lead ing Cincinnati to a college playo

berth in 2021, he will be asked to do the same in Wisconsin.

The task won’t be a walk in the park. As is typical when a new coach is ushered in, some high school players who committed are likely to change course — even a few cur rent players may enter the transfer portal. Luckily, Fickell already has a plan.

“They may not be appreciated enough, but linemen are the core of a reliable football team. If the good people of Wisconsin keep the meat and cheese train chugging to my front door, I’ll put on the pads myself,” said Fickell, who then clarified that he does intend to eventually be as wide as a regulation football field.

After a turbulent 2022 season full of dwindling hope and uncer tainty, Badger fans will be able to rest easy knowing that the highlytouted hire is here to win. That being said, if a Rose Bowl berth isn’t in order, Fickell may be just as happy to make an appearance at the Cheez-It Bowl.

Elon Musk: ‘My number one rule is to be explosive’

By Je rey Brown ARTS EDITOR

Billionaire Elon Musk has found himself in the middle of the media’s attention for his contro versial strategy as the new owner and CEO of social media platform Twitter. The platform is used by many journalists to stay in-the-know. So, when he decided to fire roughly half the sta of Twitter in his first couple weeks at the helm, the media was quick to criticize. He says this is all part of the plan.

“You don’t get to where I am as an entre preneur by thinking small,” Musk told The Beet. “My number one rule for the companies I run is to be explosive.”

Musk, also the CEO of car company Tesla and rocket corporation SpaceX, stressed the importance of having companies that catch fire, even unexpectedly.

“I have nothing against those who want to play it safe in life or in business,” Musk continued. “But I set my sights on creat ing products that bring unexpected excitement… a sense of unpredictable possibility, or if you will, a spontaneous combustion that you can’t get any where else.”

So it seems his deci sion to “blow up” Twitter is not straying from his

central business mind set, but he said it did take some adaptability.

“Twitter doesn’t make cars or space rockets,” Musk noted. “There was some engineering, some innovation that went into making Twitter as explo sive as my other compa nies. I went back to the drawing board, nearly from scratch, to define what it means for a web site to combust — and I must say, I am loving the result so far. As they say, you don’t break through walls or bust through ceilings without setting a few fires.”

Musk added that he sees his acquisition of Twitter as another step toward bringing fire into the tech world.

“No other car com pany, for instance, is as

committed as Tesla at making products that catch on fire,” Musk said. “The problem with the Metaverse, as much as I believe in the virtual future, is that it’s not a product that ignites. Those headsets — I just don’t see it as a product that will melt users’ brains.”

However, this was not all Musk had to say regarding his fellow tech titans.

“Twitter is not yet Facebook, but I’d like to think I’m inspiring my new competitor [Mark Zuckerberg] to bring some explosiveness to his leadership style. I’d even enjoy seeing Bezos make Amazon go up in flames — the company that is… well actually both,” Musk concluded.

We're always looking for more funny and insightful writers with fresh takes on topics ranging from the UW campus to international news. We accept and encourage creative submissions as well! Any and all submissions are more than welcome. You can send your submissions and any comments or questions to thebeet@dailycardinal.com. All articles featured in The Beet are creative, satirical and/or entirely fictional pieces. They are fully intended as such and should not be taken seriously as news.

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