Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

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OPINION

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

UW ofﬁcials say band investigation is ongoing By Erin Banco THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW-Madison’s dean of students’ office is in the process of conducting individual interviews with UW Marching Band members in the hazing investigation that led to the suspension of the entire band Friday for the game against Ohio State. University officials said the interviewing process began Friday night and is ongoing. University spokesperson John Lucas said Monday the band’s suspension still stands and there is a chance they will not return for this week’s night game against Penn State, depending on the status of the investigation. UW Band Director Mike Leckrone told WKOW Monday he thought a decision about the band’s performance at this week’s game could be made Tuesday. Three hundred and fifty seniors who did not win student season football tickets in this year’s lottery had the chance to attend the Ohio State game for free as a result of the UW

Athletic Department giving away seats in the section usually occupied by the band. The athletic department e-mailed UW-Madison seniors informing them of the chance to gain entrance into the game. Officials distributed tickets on a first-come, first-served basis to seniors who could show a university student ID and an e-mail printout. Vince Sweeney, senior associate athletic director for external relations, said Monday no decisions have been made for allowing more seniors to attend this week’s night game. Because of the ongoing investigation, university officials said they do not know what kind of halftime show will be seen at the Oct. 11 game. Officials said it might look like the halftime show last weekend with video replays and commentary. Associate Dean Kevin Helmkamp, whom Dean of Students Lori Berquam put in charge of the investigation, and individual band members did not return calls as of press time.

Faculty Senate addresses band, Athletic Board issues By Amanda Hoffstrom THE DAILY CARDINAL

The tone of the ﬁrst 2008-’09 Faculty Senate meeting Monday turned from a welcome for new Chancellor Biddy Martin to concerns over the suspension of the UW Marching Band from last weekend’s football game and the recent resignation of a faculty member from the Athletic Board. Although Don Wiebe, an associate professor, said he thought hazing

was inappropriate, he questioned the decision to suspend the entire band. “If the same thing would have occurred [in the football team], that would have been handled internally,” Wiebe said, adding he was under the assumption that only a small number of band members were involved. Martin said she did not know how many individuals were involved, but said she agrees with Band Director faculty senate page 3

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, Downtown Madison Inc. President Susan Schmitz, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz cut the ribbon at the grand reopening of State Street.

Ofﬁcials introduce newly renovated State Street By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL

Nearly a decade after the city enacted a plan to revamp State Street, residents and ofﬁcials gathered Monday to celebrate the grand reopening of Madison’s signature downtown drag. Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, DWis., joined downtown alders and business representatives for a ribboncutting ceremony outside State Street Brats at the intersection of State Street and Frances Street. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the State Street Strategic Plan began in 1999 as a project to reconstruct the 100 through 600 blocks of the street.

Remembering Matthew Shepard

Cieslewicz acknowledged local ofﬁcials, designers, renovators, residents, students and business owners for their work and cooperation during the construction of “the most attractive pedestrian transit mall in the country.” The mayor applauded city engineers and designers, who sought new “cutting-edge” technology and functionality when planning the project. Cieslewicz said the renovations not only resulted in an aesthetically pleasing “classic look” but also made State Street more durable and easier to take care of. “This look will really serve us very well for decades and decades to come,” he said.

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state street page 3

Absentee voting underway in Wisconsin By Sara Lieburn THE DAILY CARDINAL

Quinn Goetsch, age 11, participates in a candlelight vigil Monday night in memory of Matthew Shepard. Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was kidnapped and murdered in 1998 in a hate crime motivated by Shepard’s sexual orientation.

Cieslewicz also thanked Baldwin for obtaining nearly one third of the project’s $15 million cost through Congressional earmarks. Baldwin said she was happy to get money to renovate what she considers a vital part of the relationship between the state, city and UW-Madison. “The Capitol connection with the campus is at the very heart of Madison, and State Street obviously is the main artery in this connection,” Baldwin said. Mary Carbine, executive director of Madison’s Central Business Improvement District, said State

Absentee voting in Wisconsin began Monday, and although ballots arrived a few hours late in Dane County, they are now available to be mailed and distributed. According to Wendy Barton of the Dane County Clerk’s Ofﬁce, the ballots did not arrive in Dane County until 2 p.m., but only a few people requesting ballots earlier in the day had to be turned away. UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said convenience plays a large role in a student’s decision to vote absentee or at the polls. Candidates, on the other hand, have an incentive to encourage absentee voting because such votes equate to “votes in the bag” that can make up for supporters who fail to show up on Election Day, according to Franklin. He said this is the case for the campaign of Democratic presidential can-

didate Barack Obama at the moment, since he is currently experiencing a surge of support. UW-Madison political science professor Kenneth Mayer said despite Madison’s large student population, the absentee voting rate is generally low because of the ease of registration at the polls in Wisconsin. Mayer said it is easier for students on this campus to register at the polls than to fill out an absentee ballot, and absentee voting is usually not very significant in terms of influence on the outcome of an election. “The effects of absentee ballots are most likely to be seen where the amount of decisive votes are only a few thousand,” Mayer said. Franklin said because early voting and absentee ballots now account for roughly a third of the votes in presidential elections, absentee voting is coming to play a more significant role voting page 3

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

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

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

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Holiday birthday less feast, more famine

Volume 118, Issue 26

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

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Alex Morrell Managing Editor Jamie McMahon News Editor Amanda Hoffstrom Campus Editor Erin Banco City Editor Abby Sears State Editor Megan Orear Opinion Editors Jon Spike Mark Thompson Arts Editors Emma Condon Ryan Hebel Sports Editors Ben Breiner Crystal Crowns Features Editor Sarah Nance Food Editor Marly Schuman Science Editor Bill Andrews Photo Editors Kyle Bursaw Lorenzo Zemella Graphics Editors Meg Anderson Matt Riley Copy Chiefs Jillian Levy Gabe Ubatuba Jake Victor Copy Editors Sean Madden Hannah McClung, Brandi Stone

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Babu Gounder Assistant Business Manager Alex Kusters Advertising Manager Sheila Phillips Eric Harris, Dan Hawk Web Directors Account Executives Katie Brown Natalie Kemp, Tom Shield Marketing Director Andrew Gilbertson Assistant Marketing Director Perris Aufmuth Archivist Erin Schmidtke The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. The Daily Cardinal is a nonproﬁt organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than 200 words, including contact information. Letters may be sent to letters@dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board Nate Carey Dave Heller Jillian Levy Jamie McMahon Alex Morrell Jon Spike Mark Thompson Hannah Young

KIERA WIATRAK taking kiera business

n the Jewish religion, the days or weeks between the two holiest days of the year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, serve as time to reﬂect back on the past year’s wrongdoings and ask for God’s forgiveness. Year after year, I always know what my parents repent for—conceiving me approximately nine months before Yom Kippur. The Jewish year is based on a lunar calendar, so while the holidays fall on the same date on the Jewish calendar each year, the dates are different on the Gregorian calendar. The point of all of this is that every few years my birthday lands on Yom Kippur. Now, while it might seem ﬂattering to have your birthday considered a holy day, having to share your birthday with an already celebrated day takes the spotlight away from

me—completely defeating the purpose of having a birthday in the ﬁrst place. But that’s not the worst part. Yom Kippur isn’t like other holidays because on Yom Kippur, you’re not allowed to eat. This particularly sucks because I have an extra special relationship with food. I eat it all the time, regardless of the occasion. When I’m hungry, I satiate with Kraft Mac ’n Cheese, and when I’m full, I strive for a victory lap of an ice cream sandwich (or sandwiches). When I aced my journalism midterm, I celebrated with some festive chips and salsa, and when I’m stressed about getting a job that pays a living wage, I ﬁll up on free samples from William Sonoma to cut down on living expenses. So, when my birthday falls on the one day of the year for me when food has no calories, on a day where food is prohibited, chaos is bound to ensue. The last time my birthday fell on Yom Kippur was exactly eight years ago, when I turned 14. I gave fasting my best shot to prove a positive role model for my younger brother and

The Wisconsin State Journal’s top editor Ellen Foley told her staff Monday she will step down from her position effective Friday to seek another job in the area and to spend more time with her family, according to the State Journal. In her four-year term, Foley, the first female leader in the newspaper’s history, didn’t shy away from risk in her editorial philosophy and often navigated through controversy. “What Ellen did, she shook up

the paper a little bit here, quite a bit in a lot of ways, and it needed to be shaken up. And I think she did a great job of building on the strengths here and then moving us forward,” State Journal publisher Bill Johnston said. “She’s a terriﬁc lady, she’s a great journalist ... She’s just a consummate professional.” Foley is credited with implementing the “Reader’s Choice,” which allowed readers to vote online for a front-page story for most editions, as well as improving their Internet reporting pres-

Board of Directors Vince Filak Babu Gounder Nik Hawkins Dave Heller Janet Larson Chris Long Alex Morrell Sheila Phillips Benjamin Sayre Jenny Sereno Terry Shelton Jeff Smoller Jason Stein l

sister, but when I caught my mom munching on a bagel in the front hall closet, I felt reprieved of my holy duty and emptied most of the pantry into my stomach. After sunset, when we were finally permitted to break the fast, the rest of my family was suspicious when I didn’t go back for seconds. I tried to play it off like I just wasn’t that hungry, but of course no one fell for that. It wasn’t until my sister went looking for the box of chocolate chip cookies we had bought yesterday that everyone figured out what I had done. My nickname, “the vulture,” was given when I was a kid and still sticks with me today. When I turned five and my parents gave me the honors of cutting my cake for the first time, I cut it in half, keeping one half for myself and dividing the other into equal parts for all my guests. While I lived at home, my brother and sister would tape notes onto their birthday party goody bags: Dear Kiera, Please don’t eat this, it’s mine. Mom bought some dried prunes. Maybe you

could eat those instead? Now in college, every few days I can expect to ﬁnd half-eaten bags of M&Ms or leftover Tutto Pasta on my bed when my roommates don’t want them anymore. Even though I object to being treated like a human vacuum, the food is always gone within an hour. It’s like my bed is a black hole, leave your leftovers there and they’ll disappear. No questions asked. The point of fasting on Yom Kippur is to eliminate distraction from repenting. Maybe that works for some people, but personally, when I’m hungry, I’m not repenting my sins, I’m daydreaming of unlimited Ian’s Pizza. My birthday is in two days and for the ﬁrst time in eight years, I share it with Yom Kippur. I don’t think I’m going to fast this year, but that won’t stop me from gorging during my break-the-fast dinner with my friends. And there sure as hell better be cake and ice cream to follow. If you want to take Kiera to lunch on her birthday, e-mail her at wiatrak@wisc.edu.

Wisconsin State Journal’s top editor will step down

WEDNESDAY: rain hi 67º / lo 47º

Seeking Business Manager Want to lead a 116-year-old campus business into a new era? The Daily Cardinal is seeking a student business manager to oversee all aspects of the newspaper’s operations. Candidates for this paid position should have a background in business and advertising and be prepared to devote ﬁve days and 15-20 hours a week to the job for at least one year. The candidate would be trained in late fall and would begin over the winter break. Send a statement of interest and a résumé by Oct. 10 to Cardinal board president Jason Stein at jstein@madison.com.

ence and leading the newspaper to its first ever Pulitzer Prize nomination earlier this year, according to the State Journal. Foley continFOLEY ued to lead the State Journal despite her husband’s more than year-long battle with lymphoma in the brain, and she waited to announce her decision until a newsroom reorga-

nization was completed and she learned her husband’s cancer was in remission. “Most people back off in the middle of a fight, and we journalists don’t do that,” Foley said to the State Journal. “[But] I have watched my husband almost die twice in the last year, and that experience has led me to the conclusion that I need to start a new chapter in my life.” The State Journal will conduct a national search for her replacement. —Alex Morrell

wants to give you

$ $1000 for 1000 words.

It’s pretty simple. Write an essay of no more than 1000 words. We’ll judge all

the entrants and determine the winner. You win, we’ll give you $1000 and publish your essay in the paper. (Note: 1,000 words is a maximum, you may certainly write less.)

Topic: Getting our generation to vote. Analyze the problems and offer a solution to engage our generation and get them to the polls.

Who: Any UW undergraduate or graduate student can submit one (1) essay.

Deadline: Wednesday, Oct. 15

For the record Corrections or clariﬁcations? Call The Daily Cardinal ofﬁce at 608-262-8000 or send an e-mail to edit@dailycardinal.com.

Send submissions or inquiries to edit@dailycardinal.com Sponsored by UW alum and retired national AP columnist Steve Wilstein

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

news

Van Hollen shared desire to ﬁght voter fraud in RNC clip By Brittney Tripp THE DAILY CARDINAL

EMMA VASSEUR/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Chancellor Biddy Martin addresses the Faculty Senate for the ﬁrst time in her tenure. Martin spoke about diversity and academic affordability and answered questions about the UW Marching Band’s suspension.

faculty senate from page 1 Mike Leckrone’s decision. “I think it was sad and it is embarrassing,” Martin said, adding she hopes the band will be able to play soon. Professor Mary Anderson asked for an update about professor Jeremi Suri’s resignation from the Athletic Board last month, citing a Wisconsin State Journal article about Suri’s reasons for leaving. In the article, Suri said he thought the Athletic Board lacked oversight and used operational procedures in violation of the open meetings law. Several senators asked what Martin

state street from page 1 Street’s 350 shops, restaurants and service businesses are thriving despite the country’s current economic situation. She attributed part of the success to the recent renovations. “I know it was a long summer of construction, but look at the beautiful street that we have now,” she said. While the major street construction is complete, renovations in the State Street area are not over. Verveer said a water feature

and the University Committee—the executive Faculty Senate committee—were doing to address the allegations, considering the Faculty Senate discussed possible oversight issues in May at its last meeting. University Committee Chair Ann Hoyt said the Athletic Board is conducting a self-study as part of a UW Athletic Department reaccreditation process. She said once the committee receives the report, any issues that arise will be brought to the Faculty Senate for discussion. “We’re all awaiting a copy of that report,” Martin said, adding she had not intended to act independently of created in collaboration with the Madison Arts Commission will be installed in spring. Additionally, the city plans to fix up Peace Park along State Street and adjoining side streets, beginning with Gilman Street next year. The city will also continue working on the reconstruction of Library Mall on the 800 block of State Street. “This obviously is the state’s most famous street, and it’s about time that we gave it the tender loving care and face lift that it needed,” Verveer said.

the University Committee. “At this point, I have formed no opinion.” In her ﬁrst Faculty Senate meeting as chancellor, Martin also laid out initiatives she cares about, which include diversity and affordability for students. Martin said she considers academic freedom “to be a research university’s greatest contribution to society,” and said maintaining academic excellence would require retaining and recruiting the best faculty. Martin said she would work as hard as she possibly could to work with and for faculty to make the university “a great place to be.”

voting from page 1 nationally, even if it is less so in Wisconsin because of high levels of voter turnout on Election Day. UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said absentee and early voting essentially make Election Day a month long, and this leads campaigns to begin advertising earlier to win these early votes. To vote absentee, a request for an application for an absentee ballot must be made through the County Clerk’s ofﬁce.

An audio clip released Saturday revealed Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s announced to delegates at the Republican National Convention a promise to prevent state voter fraud. The clip was recorded just days before Van Hollen ﬁled a lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board for its failure to examine voter registration accuracy. Several groups have opposed the lawsuit, claiming it would disenfranchise voters, and the GAB motioned Monday to dismiss the case. According to Alec Loftus, communications director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Van Hollen previously stated he had not discussed the voter registration lawsuit with any Republican Party leaders prior to ﬁling it. “This new audio proves that he was not telling the truth when he made this statement,” Loftus said in a statement. Loftus said he believes the clip reveals Van Hollen’s commitment to the Republican Party and his motive to help Republican presidential candidate John McCain through his position as attorney general.

Kevin St. John, special assistant to Van Hollen, said the statement did not reveal Van Hollen’s lawsuit was politically motivated, but rather was an expression of his long-term goal of preventing voter fraud. “There is nothing in the speech which is a conversation with anyone about strategizing a lawsuit against the GAB,” St. John said in a statement. According to St. John, Van Hollen sent a letter last August to the GAB asking it to re-evaluate voter registrations and suggested the possibility of a lawsuit if no action was taken. Van Hollen also worked with Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm before ﬁlling the lawsuit to create the Milwaukee Election Fraud Task Force to investigate and prosecute electoral fraud when appropriate, St. John said. Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said every illegal vote cast is unfair to legal voters, adding that Van Hollen has pledged to prevent voter fraud since before he was elected in 2006. According to Loftus, voter fraud is not prevalent in Wisconsin.

UW athletes hold 48-hour practice to raise money for clean water in Africa By Rory Linnane THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW-Madison athletes from all sports teams will be in Library Mall for the fourth annual 48 Hour Practice through Wednesday. The purpose of the practice is to raise money for the Blood:Water Mission, an organization that builds water wells and supports medical facilities in Africa. To raise money, athletes ask passersby to donate. According to the event website, every dollar donated will provide one person with clean water for a year. The 48-straight-hour practice began at noon Monday, with athletic teams taking one-hour shifts from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. All athletes are welcome after those shifts. According to Scott Mottice, campus director for Athletes in Action, a group of Christian athletes that organized the event, it costs between $2,500 and $4,000 to construct each well. Over the past three years, Mottice said the 48 Hour Practice alone has raised $15,000. Mottice said he and former UW-Madison football player Luke Swan began planning the event after hearing the $1 statistic at a Jars of Clay concert.

Mottice said over 250 athletes participate every year and they have been successful in attracting attention. “A lot of times, when the football team is out here, guys come by and think it’s fun to catch a pass that a football player threw to them,” he said. “Or when the golfers are out here, people will want to make a putt and see if they can get closer to the imaginary hole than the golfers can.” Around 6 p.m. Monday, three sophomore women’s soccer players, Roxanne Carlson, Taryn Francel and Michele Dalton, passed around a ball. “The cool thing about the athletes doing this is that everyone gets to see a little bit of what they do,” Carlson said. “And then it’s all going toward a cause, so I think it’s really neat.” They said they were sometimes frustrated, though, by the difﬁculty of catching people’s attention. “Most people are kind of in their zone. I bumped into this one guy with headphones on, and I was like, ‘Excuse me!’ I had to take his headphones off,” Francel said. Dalton said sometimes they have to stretch out of their comfort zone to get people to pay attention. “We are the trolls of the sidewalk,” she joked.

Tenants urged to demand proper heating With fall fully underway and temperatures already dropping, Madison’s Tenant Resource Center is reminding tenants of their rights and how to stay warm this season. TRC program director Megin McDonell said it is a myth that there is a specific date landlords are required to turn on the heat in houses or apartments. “It doesn’t matter if it’s September or November when it starts getting cold. Madison building codes require that heating

facilities be able to maintain a temperature of 67 degrees at all times,” McDonell said in a statement. Tenants in cold apartments are urged to check their lease to see who is responsible for controlling the heat and call their landlord to turn on the heat if needed. They should also check for storm windows, which must be in place no later than Nov. 15. If landlords are unresponsive, the tenant can call the local building inspector of the TRC at (608) 257-0006 for more information.

opinion 4

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.

keep late-night taxis running L

ast April, a late-night taxi stand began as a pilot project to serve Madison’s nightlife on Fridays and Saturdays. On Friday, city ofﬁcials announced that funding for the project has run dry, and the three cab companies involved in the stand would not fund the project. Without alternative funding, the program will discontinue at the end of the month. With recent increases in violent crimes targeting the student population, this service providing safe transportation for students should not be discontinued. Considering the annual cost of operation is only $3000, there is absolutely no reason funding for the project cannot be found within the city of Madison. The annual cost provides a salary for a sober monitor who regulates lines, calls in taxis and assists customers into cabs. The current stand operates on the 600 block of University Avenue, and according to Madison Alcohol Policy Coordinator Katherine Plominski, 200-250 customers are served on a weekly basis. Plominski also stated that alternative funding is being sought in the form of sponsorships from Beer companies such as Anheuser-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Register your vote in the coming election November is just around the corner and the presidential election is approaching with intense speed. It is time to spring into action and register to vote. It is now more important than ever for America’s youth to gain notice from politicians, have their concerns

Busch, but such pursuits likely won’t pan out before funds dissipate. Additional pursuits have targeted bar owners in the Madison area. With an abundance of bars in the downtown area alone, this seems the best means to support the program’s uncertain future. According to Plominski, consensus among Madison bar owners is that they serve a predominantly pedestrian clientele, and existing programs, such as the Tavern League’s “Safe Ride” voucher program are aimed primarily toward preventing drunken driving. Such notions account for the 23 percent participation rate from Dane county and Madison. As a feasible program that promotes the safety of Madison’s student and resident population in a time where safety is a major concern, bar owners would be wise to support the taxi stand. If ten bars in the downtown area were to participate, the monthly cost would be $30—approximately ﬁve or six drinks. Doing so would not only ensure the safety of residents, but the potential return of customers who make it home safely after a night on the town. addressed and ideas pushed forward. It is crucial that we, the young citizens of this nation, get out the vote and realize that the plans outlined by the presidential candidates will be affecting us for years to come. Our generation is old enough to help decide who our next president will be and young enough to inﬂuence the future of the America that we dream of. My eyes have been opened to the importance of voting thanks to my involvement with WISPIRG’s New Voters Project, a part of the Vote Coalition. We are working to register 10,000 students to vote before the Nov.

Varied expectations for candidates unacceptable By Tom Hart THE DAILY CARDINAL

Hollow, scripted and uninformed. These were the three words that first came to mind as I watched that horrendous spectacle known as the vice presidential debate. Questions were avoided and meaningless statements were thrown out. The culprit? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Her responses had less foundation than a blanket on a McDonald’s ball pit. Joe Six-Packs, hockey moms and early ’90s Tom Cruise Flicks (see “Maverick” in “Top Gun”)—one could have found more insightful responses from a Magic Eight-Ball. It doesn’t matter what the question was, the responses popped up with complete irrelevance. The scary part of debate analyses is that 41 percent of Americans believe Sarah Palin won the debate. She may have covered the figurative “spread,” but this spread was wider than if the Dallas Cowboys played the Minnesota Golden Gophers. We shouldn’t lower our expectations for individual candidates. Every politician should be held to the same golden standard regardless of his or her IQ or educational background. The American public is charged with the responsibility of hiring the best possible candidates to run the country. We simply cannot afford to judge the applicants to the position on uneven grounds. The task handed to us is too 4 presidential election. Wisconsin, after all, is a swing state and which party will be granted the state’s electoral votes is not yet certain. Wisconsin is where our votes are especially crucial. Our generation can impact the future of America. Register to vote and cast a ballot on Nov. 4 to play a role in defining our country’s potential! If you haven’t already registered to vote, you can register online at www.studentvote.org, it’s just a click away! And remember, you must re-register if you have changed residences since you last registered. —Magdalena Bodja UW-Madison sophomore

important. The low-point of the night came when Palin attributed climate change to the “cyclical changes” of our planet’s weather. Cyclical changes? “If you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution,” retorted U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. I agree with Biden’s response and believe the continuous use of “Drill baby drill!” is a verbal slap in the face of the solution to our environmental crisis. When asked about John McCain’s foreign policy credentials, Palin responded that McCain would be able to win a war because “he knows what evil is.” This vague response is not what we need to hear from a vice president. Every elected ofﬁcial should be able to recognize the difference between “good” and “evil,” albeit subjectively. The question in this election is who will weigh all the options and make the best choice possible. Palin either fails to realize this or was too busy reading the script on her podium. Additionally, I was uneasy with comments such as, “Doggone-it. Heck. There you go, Joe!” I realize that the governor was trying to appeal to “Main Street” Americans, but dumbing down rhetoric only weakened her stance. Where was the real response? A vice-presidential candidate is one step away from the actual presidency, and I don’t think I’m asking too much in expecting an answer with some

substance. If the American public casts their vote based on the use of popular expressions and dumbed-down rhetoric, a bleak future awaits. Yes, Sarah Palin might be a nice, down-to-earth person we could see ourselves throwing down a few beers with at a local bar, but that is not the personality we need in a national leadership position. Our country is now at a crucial turning point and demands leadership with solid understanding and clear vision of the key issues facing our nation. We can either choose to continue our downhill slide or we can make a stand and have our votes count for something this year. The White House has been void of a clear mind for almost eight years. We will not survive four more years of clouded decisions. Sarah Palin’s nomination to the Republican ticket brings about the emergence of a dark path on the horizon of our country’s future. Her closeminded viewpoint is only one breath away from the presidency. That prospect scares the hell out of me. Palin evoked a very truthful Ronald Reagan line, stating, “Freedom is always just one generation away from extinction.” I fear that electing such a misguided candidate puts us one step closer to Reagan’s predicted result. Tom Hart is a senior majoring in history and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Bailout is necessary

since last year. Next, Pichotta states “in reality, this is not a crisis” and scenarios are based “on an assumption of what could happen” if the government doesn’t act. This could not be further from the truth, as the problems are spreading. Home prices fall at a rate which has declined for 18 consecutive months. Consumers who owe horrendous amounts are unable to refinance their mortgages, leaving one option: foreclosure. During the first half of this year, 2.5 percent of mortgage loans were in foreclosure compared to the 1979-2007 average of less than 1 percent. Furthermore, consumer spending, which grew at a paltry .1 percent compared to last year, is the lowest in 17 years. The issue with Pichotta’s opinion and many opposed to the bailout is they fail to realize the problems in credit markets and housing lead a broader economic downturn. The most widely viewed statistic of economic malaise, the unemployment rate, has always been a lagging indicator of our economy. Unemployment did not peak until a year after the 1990-91 recession and even longer after the 2001-02 recession. Also, government programs have a significant lag between when they are signed and brought into action. Should we choose to wait, the problems will continue to become worse and require a higher tab from our government. Something needs to be done to help banks extend credit to consumers again. Although the bailout package is not the best plan, it is much better than Pichotta’s and other bailout opponent’s plan of sitting on our hands while the Dow falls 370 points. —Marko Lazarevic UW-Madison Junior

The Oct. 6 piece, “Economy demands time to regulate, not hastily approved bailout” by Andrew Pichotta misses many contrary economic statistics. In his article, Pichotta says “if you ask your [bank manager] if you can obtain credit, you will get the same answer [as before]: yes.” According to the Senior Loan Ofﬁcer Survey of 60 bank managers, over 80 percent tightened credit for home mortgages and over 65 percent tightened credit card and consumer loans standards

arts

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Digital music, Duffy to blame for demise of CD DALE MUNDT croco-dale rock

A PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES

Jamie Lee Curtis gives her primmed pooch a juicy smooch in ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua.” Directed by Raja Gosnell (already infamous for his work on “Big Momma’s House”) the ﬁlm is one of Disney’s worst efforts ever.

Doggone Disaster Shortcomings plague ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ despite prominent voice cast By Danny Gottleib THE DAILY CARDINAL

It’s unfortunate when a movie made for children treats its audience like a bunch of morons, but that’s exactly what “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” does. The movie follows Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), a pampered—you guessed it— Chihuahua from Beverly Hills who gets lost in Mexico and has to find her way home. Along the way, she teams up with Delgado (voiced by Andy Garcia), a renegade cop dog with a troubled past (seriously). The two of them attempt to escape Mexican mafioso Vasquez and his evil dog, Diablo (voiced by Edward James Olmos), who, for some barely explained reason, wants to kidnap Chloe. Meanwhile, Rachel (Piper Perabo) is searching for Chloe with the help of her gardener Sam (Manolo Cardona), and his Chihuahua, Papi (voiced by George Lopez). Oh, and Jamie Lee Curtis shows up every once in a while to remind us that she is still insane. The worst offense “Chihuahua” commits is the writing, which is completely lazy, even for a movie about talking dogs. Roughly 50 percent of the dialogue consists of terrible puns and lame dogrelated jokes such as, “Talk to the paw,” “He’s a hot dog!” and the worst two-line conversation ever recorded on film: “I smell like a wet dog.” “You ARE a wet dog!” Even elementary-school kids have to roll

their eyes at that. Like the dialogue, the plot alternates between horrible clichés and ridiculous, tangential storylines. Rachel and Sam almost have their own love story, but it ﬁzzles out before it even has a chance to get started. Granted, the focus of the movie is on the talking dogs rather than the humans, but that’s no excuse for only developing relationships halfway. Several other plot lines are sure to leave parents dumbfounded, like the sandstorm made out of Chihuahuas that ﬁghts off four mountain lions, the fact that Chloe can bark loud enough to cause earthquakes or the scene where Chloe’s cold, bitch heart melts to “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias and she throws her stupid shoes away and embraces her inner dog.

Like the dialogue, the plot alternates, between horrible cliches and ridiculous, tangential storylines.

Of course, it would not be a crappy Disney movie without the lamest villains ever. Vasquez and Diablo are an embarrassment to evildoers that make previous Disney villains Prince John from “Robin Hood” and Edgar from “The Aristocats” comparable to Hitler and Stalin. Vasquez comes across as an enormous joke, especially when

friend of mine recently got a virus while trying to illegally download a song by Duffy. I immediately explained to her the two things that she had done wrong. First, she tried to download a song by Duffy. Strike one. But, perhaps more importantly, she tried to download just one song. For me, that is a cardinal sin. One of the negative side effects of that majestic, life-changing gift from heaven called the iPod is that it is just as easy to listen to a single song as to an entire album. In fact, this weakness is prevalent in the entire digital music format. Why would you buy an album on iTunes when you can just pay for the couple songs that you like? Why download an entire album when you just want that one song you heard on the radio? Why listen to an album when you can use a smart playlist or the shufﬂe feature on most music playing software to skip to your favorite songs?

Why download an entire album when you just want that one song you heard on the radio?

PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES

Although cute and cuddly, these bejeweled Chihuahuas offer their ﬁlm nothing but pathetic whelps. someone claims he has informants in every pound in Mexico. In his defense, it’s hard to appear menacing when staring into a dog’s eyes and threatening it with, “You are in a lot of trouble.” Not to ruin the ending (as if you cared), but the villains are defeated by being pushed onto their backs. Let’s face it, no kid is going to be this picky. There is enough slapstick humor and adorable, talking dogs to please even the most cynical child. Most adults won’t be able to deny that the dogs are all cute, which is the only thing saving the movie from being a total failure. But the question parents have to ask is if they really want to feed their kids this phoned-in, lazy crap or if they would prefer to entertain them with thought-provoking entertainment, like anything made by Pixar. Or, satisfy their urge for talking dogs by throwing “Lady and the Tramp” in the VCR. Just because they’re kids doesn’t mean everything needs to be dumbed down. Grade: D

To me, listening to only one song out of an album is like only reading Chapter 8, “A Gift for the Darkness,” from “Lord of the Flies.” Don’t get me wrong, Chapter 8 is a phenomenal chapter. Jack forms his own tribe, the hunters kill a pig, Roger sharpens a stick at both ends and Simon has a trippy conversation with the head of a dead pig. And I’m sure that the most recent single from Gym Class Heroes is a great song, but pretending one song represents the entire work is absurd.

Allow me to illustrate. I’m sure that, by now, everyone has heard “Handlebars” by the Flobots. This ubiquitous alt rap-rock song only reached No. 3 on the U.S. modern rock charts, but No. 1 on my chart of most annoying, overplayed radio songs. Its bizarre lyrics listing the singer’s capabilities are only out-weirded by the violin and trumpet background. Heard by itself, it is an obnoxious, unnecessary reminder that nu-metal sucks, even when the metal is replaced by violins and trumpets. However, heard in the context of the album, “Handlebars” takes on new meaning. Fight with Tools, the Flobots’s major label debut album, is an intensely political call to ﬁght corporate and government corruption. Every song other than “Handlebars” has an explicit political message in its lyrics. At face value, “Handlebars” seems to be a dumbed-down single made for radio play, similar to Green Day’s “Time of Your Life.” But when you listen to “Handlebars” in the context of such an impassioned political message, certain phrases start to stick out. When you hear lead singer Jonny 5 say “I’m proud to be an American,” “I can lead a nation with a microphone,” “My reach is global,” “I can guide a missile by satellite” and “I can end a planet in a holocaust” you start to understand that this song is not about his mastery of adolescent stunts, but the potential, both positive and negative, of our nation today. This song is a hopeful but nervous balance to the earlier songs condemning the current power structures. Do yourself a favor. Listen to an entire album. If 11 of the 13 songs suck, maybe you should start listening to different music, because there are musicians out there making great albums. And whatever you do, don’t try to pirate any Duffy songs, because the Internet gods will punish you. Prefer music taken out of context? E-mail Dale fragments of your arguments to dpmudt@wisc.edu.

‘Evening with David Sedaris’ in Madison promises big laughs What? Critically acclaimed writer and humorist David Sedaris will put down his pen and pick up a microphone this Tuesday in Madison as part of his current comedy tour. Sedaris has written several collections of short stories and memoirs, including best sellers “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and his most recent, “When You Are Engulfed in Flames.” Where? The Overture Center PHOTO COURTESY DAVID SEDARIS

David Sedaris’ witty, often autobiographical yarns have been featured in The New Yorker and on NPR radio.

When? Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. How much? Tickets are still available, starting at $29. Students can buy tickets online www.overturecenter.com.

PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

Like many popular bands, the Flobots are more often judged by singles, like “Handlebars,” taken out of context than by full albums.

comics 6

Hey, isn’t that where you’re from? There is a town called Big Ugly in West Virginia. dailycardinal.com/comics

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Letting tears ﬂow at Saturday’s game

Today’s Sudoku

Anthro-Apology

By Eric Wigdahl wigdahl@wisc.edu

By Todd Stevens ststevens@wisc.edu

Angel Hair Pasta

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.

Help plan the future of The Daily Cardinal! Join the newspaper’s board of directors and its work of charting a course for this 116-year-old campus institution. Candidates must commit 5 hours a month for at least one academic year to the paper. Those with a background in media and business, especially sophomores and juniors and candidates of diverse backgrounds, are encouraged to send a résumé and short statement of interest to board of directors President Jason Stein at jstein@madison.com.

Sid and Phil

By Alex Lewein lewein@wisc.edu

The Graph Giraffe

By Yosef Lerner ilerner@wisc.edu

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

SECOND AFTER SECOND ACROSS 1 Home for alligators 6 Brake component, often 10 Apollo, to Artemis 14 They’re used in Turkey 15 Regarding 16 Supreme Diana 17 Absinthe flavor 18 Jerusalem Temple locale 19 Square footage 20 Seconds 23 Actress/director Lupino 24 Hammer end 25 Canadian flag feature 28 Rather good at reading the news 31 Buckwheat, for one 35 Walk-___ (clients sans appointments) 36 Gondola’s place 38 Timeless Christmas wish 39 Seconds 42 Hospital holding area, briefly 43 Yankovic parody 44 Disencumber (with “of”) 45 Like some partners 47 Cariou who played Sweeney Todd 48 Electrolysis particles

49 Bird feeder substance 51 Has the wherewithal to 53 Seconds 60 Fiber source 61 Textbook chapter 62 One of the Osmonds 63 Talk like a madman 64 Botanical intersection 65 Papal proclamation 66 All tucked in 67 Shot up 68 Classroom furniture DOWN 1 Wrestling maneuver 2 Sommelier’s offering 3 Piece for Battle 4 Backbone of a mountain range 5 Pretentious poseur 6 Befuddled state 7 Egyptian fertility goddess 8 Tenement hangout 9 Hold a powwow 10 Lionel product 11 Robin’s quest 12 Sympathetic listener’s phrase 13 Intelligence org. 21 Clerk of the 4077th 22 It may be left holding the bag 25 Talkth like thith 26 Habituate

27 Colorado music festival site 29 Feed the kitty 30 Type of spray 32 Where the Mississippi meets the Ohio 33 Flip ___ (decide randomly) 34 Gives over for a while 36 Lame excuse 37 Subject to a library ﬁne 40 Like some arrows or pens 41 Chop ﬁnely 46 Mounted again, as a picture 48 Enter with hostile intent 50 Enrico Caruso, for one 52 Gun-toting 53 Ali Baba, for one 54 Approach to the altar 55 Coney Island attraction 56 Worry obsessively 57 Pupil’s place 58 Nolte of “Tropic Thunder” 59 Word with “along” or “around” 60 Woman’s support system?

Awkward Turtle

By Meg Anderson anderson4@wisc.edu

The Daily Code

Crack me

5 6

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

“Ns htrnh xywnux, ymj ujwxts ts ymj qjky fqbfdx xujfpx knwxy.” George Carlin Quote Start with one-letter words and words with apostrophes, ﬁnd out how many places the alphabet has shifted, then use that knowledge to decipher the code. Yesterday’s Code:

“I’m the man who loves you”

sports

dailycardinal.com/sports

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

UW falls to Spartans on road By Rebecca Autrey THE DAILY CARDINAL

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Head coach Bret Bielema was critical of senior quarterback Allan Evridge’s play in his Monday press conference. Evridge threw an interception on the Badger’s ﬁnal offensive play in their loss to OSU Sunday.

Bielema reﬂects on loss Nico Savidge DAILY CARDINAL

Head football coach Bret Bielema said Monday he expects a tough game between No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 6 Penn State when the two face off at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday. The Nittany Lions will enter the contest at the top of Big Ten conference standings, while the Badgers have lost their past two games and will play for their ﬁrst conference win of the season. “We got a tremendous challenge on our hands and an opportunity to right the ship,” Bielema said. He pointed out improvements the team made against Ohio State but said crucial mistakes late in the game cost Wisconsin a victory. “We’re ﬁve points away from being a 5-0 football team,” Bielema said, referring to Wisconsin’s losses to Michigan and Ohio State, by two and three points, respectively. “Because they [Ohio State] score at the end of the game, because we can’t convert in the two-minute situation, we drop another game and we’re 3-2.” Bielema was critical of quarter-

back Allan Evridge, whose interception on the Badgers’ ﬁnal offensive drive drew boos from some of the home crowd. “As coaches we have to evaluate everything: offense, defense, special teams, schemes, calls, but also personnel,” he said. “Allan’s not immune to that.” However, Bielema was quick to point out that he had no plans to replace Evridge, saying, “You don’t need to read into it, Allan’s going to start on Saturday and be our quarterback. But there comes a point in time when you have to make an assessment of where we are as a football team.” Bielema also said he was happy with the progression of running back John Clay, named co-offensive player of the week along with lineman Eric Vanden Heuvel. Clay led the Badger ground game against Ohio State, though Bielema was wary of putting too much pressure on the freshman. “What you don’t want to do with a young player is put them into a situation that they’ll be overwhelmed in,” Bielema said, adding that at a position like running back any mis-

takes Clay could make would affect the whole team. Clay and fellow running backs P.J. Hill and Zach Brown will face a Penn State defense that is the best in the conference. Against Purdue last weekend, the Nittany Lions allowed just 83 yards on the ground on their way to a 20-6 victory over the Boilermakers. Bielema praised the Penn State offense, also ranked highest in the conference. Sophomore running back Evan Royster gained 194 allpurpose yards and two touchdowns for Penn State last week, and the team averages 500 yards of offense per game. “There hasn’t been a game where they’ve been stiﬂed,” Bielema said. When Penn State and Wisconsin met last season in Beaver Stadium, the Badger offense was stiﬂed in a 38-7 Wisconsin loss. Saturday’s defeat ended a 16-game winning streak at Camp Randall Stadium for the Badgers. Wisconsin will face off against Penn State in Camp Randall Saturday night at 7 p.m. for the second night game of the season.

The Wisconsin men’s soccer team lost to Michigan State Sunday after the Spartans scored on a penalty kick in the ﬁnal minutes of the game. Michigan State forward Doug DeMartin scored his 10th goal of the season when he knocked in a penalty kick with six minutes left in the game, putting the Spartans up 1-0. The scene was reminiscent of last Saturday when Wisconsin settled for a tie with Michigan after giving up a penalty kick in the last 24 seconds of regulation play. Wisconsin head coach Jeff Rohrman said in a press conference the Monday before the game that Big Ten teams like Michigan and Michigan State make the conference a strong conference to play in. “Any team on any given day can beat another team. You know, we don’t have any weak teams in this conference,” Rohrman said. “I think that’s what makes it special and makes it one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive, conference in the country for men’s soccer.” The Badgers (4-4-2) stayed with the Spartans throughout most of the game and led 18-14

in shots by the end of the game. Badger forward Scott Lorenz had four shots on goal during the game and six total. Also stepping up on offense, senior midfielder Kenny Dix had four shots total, and reserve Austin Spohn had three total shots. DeMartin, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, led Michigan State (5-4-0) with four shots on goal. Jeff Ricondo and Ben Pirmann both tallied one shot on goal against Wisconsin. UW goalkeeper Alex Horwath had five saves in the game and currently leads the Big Ten in saves. Although the conference losses have been hard for the team, Rohrman is quick to point out the elevated level of play and the maturity of the Wisconsin players. “We’ve had some great play out of a number of our players,” he said. Michigan State is undefeated in conference play while the loss in East Lancing leaves the Badgers hungry for their first Big Ten win. They will take on UWMilwaukee Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the McClimon Soccer Complex. The Badgers will host No. 3 Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday. —uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.

EMMA VASSEUR/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Junior midﬁelder Scott Lorenz could not connect on any of his four shots as the Badger’s were shutout 1-0 in East Lansing.

Atlantic Coast impotence shows key disparity in BCS system ANDREW VAN SISTINE sistine’s chapel The college football Bowl Championship Series is a funny thing. Or, I guess if you cheer for a team that is not in a BCS conference, it is an annoying thing. Let me put this in perspective. Every year, one team from each of the six BCS conferences—the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big East, the Big 12, the PAC-10 and the SEC—gets an automatic bid to one of ﬁve BCS bowl games. That is to say, if every team in the Big Ten were to end the season with a 6-6 record, one would still get to play in the Rose Bowl. This means that even if a team from a mid-major conference like BYU, Utah, Hawaii or Boise State

has a perfect record, it is not guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl game like schools from the ACC and Big Ten. They are certainly able to make it in as an “at-large” bid but that will only happen if the BCS conferences do not have enough automatic qualifiers to fill up the ten bowl slots. So what’s the big deal? Why does anyone care? Well, how does national television exposure, a NCAA championship, and $187 million in payouts sound? That’s right, BCS bowl games mean big recognition and big money to the participants. Six conferences annually get a stake in the $187 million that is handed out every year. The annoying thing is that for everyone else, especially for those mid-major schools, they need to fight toothand-nail for a chance to play in one of these big bowl games. One loss, and schools from the Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic

Conference and the Mid-American Conference are likely out of contention for a BCS bowl game. One loss, and those schools can kiss the shot at a nationally televised game and millions of dollars of funding for their schools goodbye.

Even if a team from a mid-major conference ... has a perfect record, it is not guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl.

If you watched Wisconsin play Fresno State three and a half weeks ago, the announcers kept talking incessantly about how it was a make-or-break game for the WAC school. The way the BCS is set up, schools like Fresno State who have “weaker” schedules must win

basically all of their games to be considered “as good” as a BCS conference team. Lose one, and forget it, they are deemed unworthy to run with the big dogs. What doesn’t quite make sense, though, is that these smaller schools with weaker schedules in mid-major conferences are really, really good, but will never get automatic bids like the six big conferences do. If you take a look at the BCS bowl results since 2000, the injustice is clear. The ACC has won fewer BCS bowl games in the past seven years—none, to be more speciﬁc— than either the Mountain West or the WAC. Boise State and Utah each have a BCS victory. The ACC gets an automatic bid every year, and for the past seven years, their place in the BCS bowl game has been squandered, while the midmajors stand back and shake their heads. All the glory and proﬁt lost to a conference that, despite getting

an automatic chance year after year, cannot produce a BCS winner. There is a clear-cut solution: playoffs. Every other NCAA sport has them. It gives those smaller mid-major schools a legitimate shot at a national title—something that, as Boise State and Utah have proven in the past, is a shot they deserve. The problem is, of course, money. The sponsorship dollars, all the money that goes to the schools, the national hype and exposure… it is too well-established to be toppled by the demands of some midmajor standouts. But the fact of the matter is schools in the Mountain West and the WAC and even the Mid-American are getting a raw deal, especially when automatic entries from the ACC aren’t even winning. That BCS is a funny thing. Think that any playoff talk is now useless since the Badgers have two losses? Tell Andy at avansistine@wisc.edu.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

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