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Allied Drive community evolves, sees drop in crime and poverty rates Program sees decrease in violent and drugrelated crime

17.4% Weapons Calls for Service (CFS) dropped from a peak of 17.4 percent of the city’s total weapons calls in 2005 to 4.6 percent in 2008.

12.6% The Allied neighborhood’s drug CFS dropped from a peak of 12.6 percent of the city’s total drug calls in 2006 to 2.7 percent in 2008.

$492,000 The federal grant allotted $492,000 to the MPD to spend over a six-year period. Source: CIty of Madison Weed and Seed Program 2003

By Nick Crowley & Ryan Hebel The Daily Cardinal

For many UW students the city of Madison really is just “77 square miles surrounded by reality.” But students who venture outside the campus’ bubble of higher education, vibrant political activism and its college-town atmosphere may discover outliers like Allied Drive, which has notoriously been one square mile of chronic destitution surrounded by the Madison Police Department. Home to one of Madison’s highest crime rates, Allied Drive’s is one of Madison’s most troubled neighborhoods. However, city officials say a recent social intervention programs and a strategic police plan has rejuvenated the community. “The crime rate has definitely gone down,” Madison Police Cpt. Jay Langfeld said. “We used to have a lot of violent crime in that area, a lot of crime in general, but there has just been a huge drop in that.” According to a 2009 report by the UW La Follette School of Public Affairs, the transformation may have begun in 2003, when the city acquired a “Weed and Seed” federal grant. The grant, which expired in 2008, allowed the MPD to spend about $492,000 over the six-year period, with 78

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percent spent on increasing police presence with increased overtime pay. According to the report, Allied Drive, which houses about 1 percent of Madison’s population, accounted for 16 percent of the MPD’s weaponrelated “calls for service” and 10 percent of the drug-related “calls for service” in 2003. “The Allied neighborhood was really a magnet for people all over the region that suffered from addiction,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. “[The] main goal is to bring common unity back to community. We stand in our principle of ‘move forward, not out” Florenzo Cribbs Allied Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association president

By 2008, those percentages had shrunk to 5 and 3 percent of the city’s police calls respectively. “Crime rates are down at least 50 percent,” Langfeld said, though he added the poverty rate for the city overall “probably hasn’t dropped.” The “Weed and Seed” grant focused on a two-pronged approach, according to the report: “weed” out the neighallied page 3

Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

3s Company

Nelson CHo/the daily cardinal

Jason Bohannon, Big Ten Networks Mike Hall and former All-American and NBA All-Star Jimmy Jackson hosted the Big Ten Hoops event at the Shell.

Justice Dept. reviews Wis. Innocence cases By Cathy Martin The Daily Cardinal

The State Justice Department requested information about cases regarding the Wisconsin Innocence Project last week. In an e-mail sent to district attorneys across the state, Assistant Attorney General Roy Korte asked to be notified on pending post-conviction cases involving the UW-Madison Law School project. As part of the Law School’s Remington Center, the Innocence Project is a group of faculty and student lawyers who work to overturn wrongful convictions in Wisconsin. According to its website, the project has freed a dozen people from unjust incarceration. The State Justice Department regularly interacts with defendants

in the cases and advises outside attorneys in others. Remington Center Faculty Director Walter Dickey said the Justice Department’s interest in the project’s cases and its indirect investigation methods puzzle him. But Special Assistant Attorney General Kevin St. John said talking to colleagues about common legal issues and gathering information on opposing lawyers is “absolutely standard practice.” Dickey said if the Justice Department has questions about the project’s activities, he would gladly answer them. “But we would rather the inquiry came directly to us,” Dickey said, adding he has expressed this justice page 3

Wisconsin Dance Marathon to raise money for the American Family Children’s Hospital By Devin Mulertt The Daily Cardinal

Lorenzo zemella/File Photo

Participants at the 2009 Wisconsin Dance Marathon raised over $56,000 for the American Family Children’s Hospital.

Students attending the second annual Wisconsin Dance Marathon may have sore feet after dancing for 14 hours, but their commitment will benefit those in need at the American Family Children’s Hospital. The event, which will take place from 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Shell, is expected to have over 300 participants, more than last year’s event. In order to attend, the participants raise a donation of $100 via contributions from corporations, friends and family members. According to Emily Kesner, public relations chair of the

Wisconsin Dance Marathon, last year’s marathon raised over $56,000. “Our goal right now is just to exceed that this year,” she said. Kesner said participants will be taught part of a line dance every hour during the event to keep them awake and motivated. She said at the end of the event participants will perform the routine and eat breakfast with the children benefitting from the event. Adam Wallenfang, director of WDM, said various bands and student dance groups will be in attendance, including the UW-Madison Marching Band. “I would definitely say that we have a lot of fun at the event,” he

said. “It’s 14 hours and that seems sort of daunting to some people, but it’s 14 hours that’s jam packed with a lot of entertainment.” The money raised goes directly to American Family Children’s Hospital, where, in the past, it funded new operational equipment, dinner programs and comfort kits for the kids and their families. Kesner said, aside from organizing and participating in this event, WDM members also volunteer at the hospital year round. “Being able to see [the children] when they come to the marathon and interact with them and volunteer in the hospital throughout the year really gives you a concrete connection to the cause we’re supporting,” she said.

“…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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TODAY: snowy hi 27º / lo 12º

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Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

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

Evolution schmevolution: Teach the Bible!

Volume 119, Issue 86

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 Charles Brace Managing Editor Ryan Hebel Campus Editor Kelsey Gunderson Grace Urban City Editor State Editor Hannah Furfaro Enterprise Editor Hannah McClung Associate News Editor Ashley Davis Senior News Reporters Alison Dirr Ariel Shapiro Robert Taylor Anthony Cefali Opinion Editor Todd Stevens Editorial Board Chief Jamie Stark Arts Editors Katie Foran-McHale Jacqueline O’Reilly Sports Editors Scott Kellogg Nico Savidge Page Two Editor Kevin Slane Features Editor Madeline Anderson Ben Pierson Life and Style Editor Photo Editors Isabel Álvarez Danny Marchewka Graphics Editors Caitlin Kirihara Natasha Soglin Multimedia Editor Jenny Peek Copy Chiefs Anna Jeon Kyle Sparks Justin Stephani Jake VIctor Copy Editors Alison Dirr Taylor Harvey, Min Sun Lee, Emma Roller Patrick Shipe, Victoria Statz

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Cole Wenzel Advertising Manager Katie Brown Accounts Receivable Manager Michael Cronin Billing Manager Mindy Cummings Senior Account Executive Ana Devcic Account Executives Mara Greenwald Kristen Lindsay, D.J. Nogalski, Sarah Schupanitz Graphic Designer Mara Greenwald Web Director Eric Harris Marketing Director Mia Beeson 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 Charles Brace Anthony Cefali Kathy Dittrich Ryan Hebel Nico Savidge Jamie Stark Todd Stevens Justin Stephani l

Board of Directors Vince Filak Cole Wenzel Joan Herzing Jason Stein Jeff Smoller Janet Larson Chris Long Charles Brace Katie Brown Benjamin Sayre Jenny Sereno Terry Shelton Melissa Anderson l

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

SATURDAY: cloudy hi 25º / lo 10º

ANDREW LAHR spare me the lahrcasm

was on my way back to the dorms after a vigorous day of protesting those crazy liberal protestors down at the Capitol with my buddy Carl from the local gun club, when I stumbled across my floormate working on some big biology project. He was really having a hard time with it because he said it involved a lot of research and source-checking and stuff of that matter. He asked me to read it over and tell him what I thought about it, which surprised me because people usually don’t ask for my input on just about anything, but I obliged. I read it over, and I won’t lie, there was a lot of scienc-y stuff in there. About three-quarters the way through I realized he was writing about the stuff my ma and pa told me to steer clear of. I am speaking, of course, about evolution. When I realized the sin

I had just committed, I immediately dropped what I was reading (which actually wasn’t a fantastic idea because it was his brand new MacBook). He got real mad after I did that and got up lookin’ for a fight, I suppose. Usually I’m prepared for such confrontations, but I quickly realized I left my concealable spray can of bear mace in my bear-hunting jacket (what was I thinking?). Bummer. I’m really not all that big of a guy but I’m quick as a hot-to-trot buck during the rut, so I just kind of ran away at that point. Flustered by such blatant liberal propaganda, I threw in a large chew and cranked some Kenny Chesney to find my chi. Needless to say, I had some serious soulsearching to do. I couldn’t get those fancy words out of my head. Those blasphemous words floated around in there, popping up at the worst times. “Natural selection,” “analogous structures,” “Darwinism” and “The Beagle’s Voyage,” just to name a few. It felt like the devil himself was trapped in my skull. The very idea that these fools and

The Dirty Bird

their left-winged biases actually believed the Earth is over 4.5 billion years old, and that all living things descended from a pool of some sludge just sickens me! I’ll tell you one thing, I know for a fact that some monkey didn’t just crap out my great grandma. In fact, I’m pretty sure my greatgreat-grandma did. I don’t read all that much (it makes my brain hurt), but let me tell you one thing: I’ve read the Good Book front to back, and if the Good Book says the earth snapped into existence 6,000 years ago, well that’s just how it went. Those crazies down University Avenue at the genetics building will say stuff like “you can’t possibly start an entire population from two people” and all that other liberal nonsense, but one time back home, two of my cousins got married and had a kid, and he was just fine (except for that miniscule nub of a third arm). I’ll be damned if some fancy-schmancy professor is gonna tell me that that ain’t the truth. It’s time people started getting educated, I say. Just because

some old English phony sailed around the world and did a lot of thinking about our origins and took a lot of samples and fossils and stuff doesn’t mean I’m some descendant of some type of Homo habilis and a whole bunch of other homos. It’s time America woke up I say, and though I got kinda lazy and haven’t done all that much research or stuff, let me tell you, I’m correct about this evolution nonsense. How, you ask? Everyone back home says so, that’s how. I propose a full recall of all materials regarding such heresy; Anyone with a brain knows it’s all just a fad anyway. Hell, where I’m from we don’t even teach science, much less earth history unless you’re learnin’ about something you’re hunting so you can find a way to kill it faster. Which reminds me, I got a “deer-shinin” date with this babe I met at Fleet Farm. Keep fightin’ the good fight! Think the rest of this liberal rag you call a newspaper needs some Bible study lessons? E-mail Andrew at aplahr@wisc.edu to organize a protest outside Vilas.

sex and the student body

condoms won’t rubber the wrong way ERICA ANDRIST sex columnist Aww, come on, y’all. Apart from one person who e-mailed some lovely compliments (thanks, Emily!), the sex@dailycardinal.com inbox has been empty this week. I generally draw on my years with Sex Out Loud on question-less occasions like this—by the way, given that we generally receive very similar questions in our programs, I can pretty much guarantee that someone else has the same question you do. So not only will you do yourself a favor by sending it in, but you will do somebody else a favor, too. So email me. I promise your question isn’t too tame, or too weird, or too stupid, or too whatever-it-is-you’re-worried-about. Anyway, Sex Out Loud is celebrating National Condom Week next week, and as such, I’m going to spend the next several paragraphs putting the “fun” back in the fundamentals of rubbers. I know much of this information will be review for many of my brilliant readers, but after testifying in support of the Healthy Youth Act recently, I know there are a number of people (mostly elected representatives) who really, really need this information. Fundamental condom fact number one: they work! When used correctly, insertive latex condoms are 98 percent effective at preventing pregnancy and ﬂuid-borne STIs, according to scarleteen. com. The Center for Disease Control states, “Laboratory studies have demonstrated that latex condoms provide an essentially impermeable barrier to particles the size of STD pathogens.” Sweet! “Correct” use includes using a condom before its expiration date, wearing it during the entirety of genital contact, washing your hands and making sure not to mix oils with the latex, as well as ﬁt-

ting the condom correctly—rolling it all the way down to the base of the toy/penis and leaving some wiggle room for semen and/or for thrusting at the tip. All this stuff can be tricky sometimes. However even with “typical” use (when we don’t quite use the condom perfectly), effectiveness ranges from 85-92 percent. Sure, 85 percent is less than 98 percent, but clearly, the worry that we might not remember one of those steps shouldn’t deter us from bothering to wear one. Fundamental condom fact number two: They don’t “promote promiscuity!” This is wholly untrue nonsense thrown by the anti-education crowd. Now, to be upfront, I am unaware of any studies examining the direct effect of condoms on sexual activity. I am, however, aware of a pile of studies examining the effects of comprehensive sex education—which generally provides access to condoms and explicit instruction in their use—on sexual activity. Study after study after study has shown correlations between comprehensive sex education and a) delayed age at ﬁrst intercourse, b) lower number of sexual partners by a certain (usually arbitrarily chosen) age and/or c) reduced engagement in unprotected behaviors. See the National Survey of Family Growth, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and the Advocates for Youth for just three sources of hard numbers. There’s been a lot of hullabaloo lately over one singular study showing an abstinence-based approach helps delay intercourse in middle school students. The New York Times says it’s “already beginning to shake up the longstanding debate” over the best form of sex education for youth. It shouldn’t be. Longtime readers already know my ﬁrst issue with this. One singular study? Come on. The study followed 662 African-American middleschoolers for two years after they received abstinence-based health interventions, safer-sex education, comprehensive sex

education or a control “general health” course. About a third of the students who learned about abstinence began engaging in sexual activity within the two years, contrasted with 42 percent from the comprehensive groups and about half in the control group. On its face, that looks great, though it’s terribly interesting that an approximately 10 percent reduction in sexual activity (between the abstinence vs. comprehensive groups) makes the same people who decry condoms as “imperfect” or “ineffective” jizz in their pants. However, given that the average age at first intercourse for AfricanAmerican youth is 15.8 according to the Kinsey Institute, this study is extremely limited in its scope. Certainly, the authors have designed a study which allows them to say abstinencebased education delays first intercourse for middle-school students, but it does very little to tell them how long that delay actually is. Middle school students generally range in age from 11-14 years old, so even by the end of the follow-up period, most would not have reached the age by which they are statistically more likely to have had intercourse. These numbers are far less impressive when you account for the fact the focus group is less likely to be having sex in the first place. Anyway, I’ve digressed a bit, but ultimately, I think it’s important to get back to basics for National Condom Week. It’s easy to get lost in the relentless, interconnected controversies surrounding sex, birth control, reproductive justice, gender, sex work, etc. But one thing should never be controversial: You deserve to be able to make informed decisions that are right for you at any given time. If those decisions include condoms, stop by the Sex Out Loud office in the SAC, or check out any of this week’s events. Worried your best-laid Valentine’s Day romance plans will go awry? Have other general questions about sex? Don’t make Erica sad! Write to her at sex@dailycardinal.com.

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Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

news

Students exhibit inventions at annual innovation days By Melanie Teachout The Daily Cardinal

Student inventors displayed their creations Thursday at the 16th annual UW-Madison innovation competition. According to Jim Beal from the College of Engineering external relations department, Innovation Days is an annual invention contest held in Engineering Hall and consists of two days of judging. Beal said this is the second year where organizers have placed limitations on students to not submit inventions that are used for class. Despite this regulation, he said, there was a great turn out of approximately 30 students.

UW-Madison student receives Churchill Scholarship UW-Madison student Daniel Lecoanet will spend the 2010-‘11 school year in the United Kingdom participating in a mathematical program with scholars from around the world. Lecoanet is the winner of the Winston Churchill Scholarship awarded to exceptional science, mathematics or engineering students. He is one of only three winners in UW-Madison’s history, and the first in more than 30 years. According to the Churchill Scholarship website, winners also typically have a grade point average of at least 3.7, extensive laboratory experience and possess outstanding personal qualities. Lecoanet, who is one of only 14 Churchill Scholars from the United States, is currently double-majoring in physics and mathematics with honors. He is also an active participant in chemistry research at UW-Madison and has won research funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. The $50,000 scholarship will pay for Lecoanet’s tuition at the University of Cambridge, his living expenses and travel.

justice from page 1 to the department. St. John said it was not an inquiry into the nature of a group, but into individual cases. St. John said it is the state’s duty to have knowledge of claims being raised in court and to understand the often unique legal theories involved in the Innocence Project’s cases. Still, Dickey expressed doubt that the e-mail was a normal course of action. According to Dickey, the project has worked cooperatively with the Justice Department often in the past.

Each student received 10 minutes to present their inventions to judges. The judges then viewed prototypes separately. According to Beal, students may receive prizes from $700-10,000 for winning in various categories. Beal said alumni who have succeeded in the industry judged the event, which allowed competing students to gain experience similar to pitching an actual invention. “We’re trying to infuse the idea of entrepreneurs in campus culture,” he said. “These are skills that any employer would like to have in an employee.” The judges asked questions about the market, practicality and

how students would deal with competition. According to Kevin Hart, a UW-Madison senior who participated in the event, the competition is beneficial because it allows participants to obtain credit for their own ideas. “I think all engineers should take advantage of this opportunity,” he said. “The benefit of applying the technical knowledge gained in class to real-life design and applications is unparalleled. I can’t stress how huge of an opportunity this is. More people should take advantage of it.” Innovation Days will continue with seven more students Friday in Engineering Hall.

Thompson undecided if running for office By Ashley Davis The Daily Cardinal

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said today he is still not decided on whether he will run for office this year. Over the past year, Thompson repeatedly made mention of running for governor or U.S. Senator but said there are many factors he must still consider before giving a definite decision. He said a Senate bid is more likely and has begun thinking of a potential campaign. However, he said he must resolve his multiple business avenues first. The filing deadline is July 13 and Thompson said he believes he has ample time to make necessary arrangements to run, according to a release.

allied from page 1 borhood’s “violent gang members from targeted areas,” and then “seed” the remaining residents with “a broad array of public human services.” According to the report, one key to the MPD’s success was focusing on “community policing.” They also began enforcing

National Republicans are eager to see Thompson run because they believe him to be a more viable candidate against Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton than Republican c a n d i date from Middleton, Terrence Wall and Dave Westlake, a Republican c a n d i date from Thompson Watertown. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Thompson said he is looking at his possibilities and still going through the process of deciding what option is best for him. the city’s chronic nuisance abatement ordinance, allowing them to puts more pressure on property owners to evict problem tenants frequently cited for “noise complaints, drug dealing, prostitution or other code violations,” according to the report. In conjunction with the Madison Police, the Allied Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association

ALison Bauter/the daily cardinal

UW-Madison student inventors gained real-life experience competing for up to $10,000 in prizes at the 16th annual Innovation Days.

Bill favors agriculture classes By Justin Eells The Daily Cardinal

Education was the primary focus of several bills signed by Gov. Jim Doyle Thursday. The bills passed include one loosening hunting regulations and another requiring landlords to change the locks on their properties if requested by a tenant. Assembly Bill 236 will require high schools to offer science credit for some agriculture classes. The bill encourages agricultural education in school, said a spokesperson for Rep. Mark Radcliffe, D-Black River Falls, author of the bill. “Agricultural jobs are becoming more diverse and many of also worked to provide many of the necessary social services, uniting members of the community to work together to make progress against its criminal reputation. “I think one of the main factors contributing to the decline in crime is that people in the neighborhood have banded together to change the behavior of the

them require specialized and technical knowledge,” said a spokesperson for Sen.Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma. “We want to make sure that if a student is pursuing their studies on agricultural courses, they get science credit for the science work they do.” The standards used to determine a course’s eligibility are the equivalency standards already in place by the state Department of Public Instruction. Other bills passed tighten the OWI revision law, broaden the definition of motor bicycles to include certain electric vehicles and designate U.S. Highway 63 as Gaylord Nelson Highway. neighborhood as a whole,” Allied Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association president Florenzo Cribbs said. “[The] main goal is to bring common unity back to community. We stand in our principle of ‘move forward, not out,’” Cribbs said. Grace Urban contributed to this article.

featuresstudent life 4 Valentine’s Day Issue, Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

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Decoding L-O-V-E

Online dating sites are using people’s DNA to ﬁnd their clients potential partners. But are these services actually able to predict who we’re genetically compatible with? Story by Madeline Anderson Graphics by Caitlin Kirihara and Natasha Soglin

reate online profile? Check. Upload photo? Check. Fill out personality questionnaire? Check. Mail in cheek swab sample? Huh? Now finding Mr. or Mrs. Right is just a click of the mouse and a swipe of the mouth away. At least that’s what new dating web sites are saying. Online dating services, such as GenePartner.com and ScientificMatch.com, are using people’s DNA to find their clients a perfect biological match. The sites say that this perfect match will guarantee the best chemistry, quite literally. According to ScientificMatch.com, the more genetically compatible two people are, the less likely they will be to cheat on each other, the better their sex lives will be and the easier it will be for the woman to orgasm. Sex educator and relationship expert Dr. Yvonne Fulbright said these sites are addressing a topic that has long been avoided in discussions on relationships. “People want a hot and heavy sex life with someone ... which there is more emphasis on now. It is definitely an important component [of a relationship].” Moreover, she said these sites “make sense as far as evolutionary biology and reproductive purposes,” because they are pairing people together who are more likely to remain monogamous and have a higher fertility rate. When the Stars and Alleles Align The process is fairly simple. Participants are asked to use a cotton swab from a DNA collection kit and dab the inside of their cheek, send it back to the company and wait for the results. The sites then analyze the genetic information of their client, and determine the level of genetic compatibility with a potential partner. GenePartner.com and ScientificMatch.com currently state two people are perfectly compatible when specific immune system cells, known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules, are different from each other. Peter Leeds, a senior lecturer in the genetics department at UWMadison explained that all humans have two copies of a gene—one paternal allele and one maternal allele. Each pair of alleles makes up a gene. There are three different HLA genes, totaling six alleles. In a 2009 Women’s Health article titled “Find Your Perfect Match,” the author writes that these three genes vary more between people than any other in the human genome.

Leeds suggested this is because they’re involved in the immune system. “We can’t be sure, but we assume it has something to do, in an evolutionary sense, with ... parasites and diseases people are exposed to,” he said. “So certain versions of these genes may produce a better response against harmful substances.” GenePartner.com explains that a greater variety in HLA alleles between two people offers a greater variety in the possible immune reactions. Thus, the offspring of couples with more variation will have better protection from diseases because their body has more weapons to use in its defense, according to the site. However, Dr. Leeds is skeptical. He says although this is a probable conclusion, it has never been scientifically proven. “What this seems to me,” he said, “is [the companies] take some science that is reasonably good science and goes up to a certain point, and then [they] make this enormous point that’s totally unjustified.” Sex Sells Yet dating sites like these are becoming increasingly popular. Within the last two years, this trend has generated much publicity and intrigue. UW-Madison sophomore Stephanie Phillips is familiar with dating services. She recently created an account on eHarmony.com, a match-making site that has over 20 million users. Although it doesn’t use DNA in it’s selection process, eHarmony.com has a detailed system that is based on “29 dimensions of compatibility.” Yet Phillips said the men she was recommended seemed to be completely random in interests and personality. “They combine you on a number of levels,” she said. “And they give you so many options. There’s a lot of hit or miss in there.” But Phillips says she would be open to testing her DNA someday. “If matching someone on a dating site could completely eliminate [biological turn-offs],” she said, “it just seems like then there’s little room for error [in finding the right person],” she said. “Biological stuff—that’s not something you can just theorize.” Leeds points out that Phillips is falling into the trap that scientific data often creates. “[The concept] is based on science. And the science is correct,” he said. “And it’s too confusing, really, for people to understand. So [the companies] can present this and

say there’s science behind it in all honesty and charge $2000, when in fact, there’s absolutely no evidence out there that you will be in a better relationship because of [DNA results].” He believes this trend is more of a reflection on the way business works, than it is of helping people find love. “It’s just brilliant,” he said, before clarifying only because it’s a clever way to make money. One Sweaty T-Shirt Please So how exactly did this “brilliant” plan come about? According “Find Your Perfect Match,” the answer lies in the famous sweaty Tshirt experiment designed by Claus Wedekind in 1994. The article explained that a group of men were asked to wear the same shirt for two days while they worked out, ate and slept. After the two-day period, a group of women were told to smell the shirts and rate each one based on a number of criteria. The study found that women were more aroused by the scent of T-shirts belonging to men with a different major histocompatibility complex (MHC)—the genes that encode products that are a part of our immune system to help recognize foreign proteins, Leeds said. This result created the basis for the idea that if zero of the six HLA alleles match, two people will be genetically compatible. Dr. Fulbright agrees that pheromones, the body’s natural chemical secretions, can be incredibly influential in who people are attracted to. “Smell [can be] the biggest aphrodisiac,” she said. “It’s one of those things we aren’t told about. I think a lot of people are not aware of how powerful it is.” Love Conquers All But some people are convinced the social aspects in life, such as values, hobbies and sense of humor are what ultimately fuel the fire for a fulfilling relationship. UW-Madison senior Robin Schroll, who is majoring in genetics, said the concept of coding for love is “laughable.” “People are going to make impressions based on the person and not the DNA,” she said. Schroll argues that a person’s genetic profile cannot determine the happiness and success of a relationship. And she dismisses the idea that a woman will feel more pleasure if she is 100 percent biologically compatible with

her partner. “It’s about whether you feel comfortable [enough] around that person to be aroused by them and if they are touching you in the right places,” she said. “You’re genetically identical to yourself, and most people don’t have any problem arousing themselves.” Phillips agreed that emotional compatibility often translates into physical compatibility. “I just feel like if you’re compatible in interests, the sex life just comes with it,” she said. Dr. Fulbright said this is a common misconception that does not reflect reality. “People are thrown for a loop,” she said. “If you’ve found the one, then [you hear] that’s all you’ll ever need.” But she said this isn’t the case because compatibility comes down to so many conflicting factors. “Two people’s sexual education or experiences could differ,”she said. “They may have different values about what eroticism is hot.” Dr. Fulbright applauded the site for making sexual enjoyment a priority in a good relationship. “It can be a major issue that drives us apart,” she said. “We’re so much more forgiving for couples that separate for other issues ... but if the sex isn’t all that, that could be important to someone and needs to respected.” For Better or For Worse So what—if any—is

the

final verdict on online dating sites using people’s DNA to find them a soul mate? It seems the opinions are just as varied as the different combinations of alleles. “These services fill a gap,” Dr. Fulbright said. “But ideally they need to look at everything collectively.” ScientificMatch.com has already included a character questionnaire among its features and GenePartner. com has paired with social networking sites like Facebook to balance the biological and emotional factors of a relationship. Yet Leeds said, “If you wanted to approach [match making] scientifically, you would have to ask what are we looking for in a good relationship. Theoretically then you could do something like this that would have meaning ... which would mean finding people who do report having good relationships and look to their genomes and establish some sort of correlation.” But he emphasized even then many people may have difficulty defining what a good relationship is. Dr. Fulbright said, “If it’s going to make them happy, and encourage people ... to find out what are deal breakers and what are good [qualities]” then these sites should be seen as just another option for people. Among all the different options for finding love, one thing is for certain: While love may be blind, it sure has a keen sense of smell.

featureslife and style Madison chocolatiers boast gourmet cocoa By Victoria Statz The Daily Cardinal

Oh sweet lord, the smell. The smell. Olfactory senses have been completely overtaken in the best way possible, a chocolate kind of way. Vision is next. Sleekly decorated shops, perfectly lit, impeccable displays and that’s not including the gorgeous treats themselves. All of this, every single bit, is ambiance. More appropriately for this time of year, it’s love’s ambiance. This is the phrase of the season, and it’s a damn good thing that Madisonians have Gail Ambrosius and David Bacco to help them set the mood this Valentine’s Day. The Daily Cardinal spoke to the owners of Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier and David Bacco Chocolats about spreading the love not only this February 14, but the rest of the year as well. Both Bacco and Ambrosius entered the chocolate business relatively recently, the former nine years ago and the latter five. Ambrosius began to take classes on crafting chocolate after she got laid off from her state job as a cartographer. Bacco taught himself most of what he knows. Judging from their excellent product, both approaches seem to have worked well. When asked how they come up with unique ideas for new chocolates, Ambrosius and Bacco cited nature as well as experiences and travels abroad. Ambrosius said she always keeps her eyes open when she travels, “…not only for what other chocolatiers are doing … [but] how different foods are combined.” Bacco’s response was similar: “Most of them are just food experiences that I’ve had, either from certain restaurants or certain countries and ethnicities, that truly lend wonderful flavors that the people in this world have.” He also spoke about his philosophy for creating chocolate, based on “the five elements of nature: Earth Air, Fire, Water and Spirit,” and said that he’s “always been a very spiritual person, earth-friendly, so I’ve always [tried] to incorporate that

sort of living and philosophy in with my chocolates as well, in order to breath more life into them.” Bacco said the amount of time spent from the inception of an idea until it is ready to be sold varies with each new concept, anywhere from “a couple weeks to a couple years … depending on the ingredients and which chocolates are going to blend well with them the best”. Example: “I’ve got a couple that I’m working on right now that just aren’t exactly there yet, or where I want them to be. And then there’s others that flow pretty smoothly. I have a flavor or chocolate pictured in my mind, and I’m able to bring it out fairly quickly,” Bacco said. In explaining how she thinks up ideas for new products, Ambrosius said, “I let the chocolate talk to me, and I take my cues from the chocolate.” She illustrates this point with the creation story of her Shiitake Mushroom truffle: “I got this chocolate from Peru, and Peruvian chocolate is just so different than any other thing I had before, so I kept getting this idea of like walking through a forest after a rainfall. Mossy, just really very earthy and down low like that. Leaves, composting leaves, so just very earthy, and mushrooms just kept coming in my mind, and I thought, you know, it’s weird but I’m just going to try it.” The verdict? “It was perfection.” “Share the love”, said Ambrosius in regard to her work helping farmers who grow her chocolate. She and Bacco try to not only show their good nature on Valentine’s, but every day of the year. Ambrosius—who grew up on a dairy farm—said, “For me it was really important to see how what I’m taking and selling here, where does it start from?” This desire to find the roots of her operation has led her to visit farmers in Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. Ambrosius talks with the farmers about growing their produce organically, and although many of the farms are not officially certified organic, she said when visiting the farms she sees that no chemicals

Valentine’s Day Issue 2010

dailycardinal.com/life-and-style

Isabel àlverez/the daily cardinal

Madisonians have no excuse not to buy delicious chocolates for their loved ones this Valentine’s Day. are being used. “I’m not only learning from the farmers, but working with the women of the farms: the sisters, mothers, wives, teaching them how to make chocolate. So I donated a tempering machine, a bar mould, some wrappers and give them little workshops every time I go

Online at dailycardinal.com/ life-and-style The Daily Cardinal Reviews 12 of Ambrosius and Bacco’s chocolates.

chocolates page 6

Mad Rollin’ Dolls break hearts, crush competition By Ben Pierson The Daily Cardinal

The jammer needs to pass. She needs to pass everyone, multiple times. But the blockers will not let her. She will have to pull, shove and skate her way through, and she’ll need the help of her teammates, who will push and shove the other blockers and their jammer. The pivot watches everyone

and calls out directions, while blocking and elbowing all the same. No one is thirsty for blood, just the quenching delight that comes with victory. This is roller derby. “My main goal is to ‘nacho cheese’ someone … I’ve sent people into the stands before, and probably split a few drinks, but I have never made another player get nacho cheese on themselves.” This is from

Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal

The Mad Rollin’ Dolls will crush more than hearts on Valentine’s Day at the Alliant Energy Center Colliseum this Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mouse (#4 pivot/blocker/jammer) the smiling blonde who turns into a compact ball of fire when she’s on the track. She’s won multiple awards as Res Doll (one of the Mad Rollin’ Doll’s multiple teams), including fastest doll two years running. Speed is as important to the game as power, points are only awarded as the jammer passes opposing players, so the whole team must work together as a network that make paths and closes holes. The teamwork is best embodied in the infamous “Whip.” This is the move Drew Barrymore’s roller derby movie is named for. One player will grab the arm of their jammer and whip her ahead as fast as possible. It is impressive to see and when it works the jammer flies past opposing teammates like they are scarecrows. Not to say that there is a lot of standing around. The game is fast paced with constant collisions and maneuvers. As a spectator sport, roller derby is among the best. It is catching on internationally as well. There are over 350 leagues in North America and teams across the globe. Alone, Women’s Flat Track Derby Association—the league Mad Rollin’ Dolls compete in—boasts are now 78 teams across four divisions in the United States and Canada. Nearly every major city has a team, or has one forming. The modern incarnation of roller derby, the switch to a flat instead of a banked track, was born in Austin in 2003. A few months later the Mad Rollin’ Dolls formed a team, the sixth in nation. Today the Dolls have a traveling team, the Dairyland Dolls, that plays in bouts around the country. Last year they placed third in their division.

At home the Dolls enjoy an enthusiastic audience; over two thousand onlookers came to their last bout in January. There is a special relationship between the fans and the players. After bouts the teams have after-parties where fans can come talk and drink with their favorite players. It is a community event for both the fans and the players. After a rowdy match the bad blood from the last bout boils away as the players unwind with their teammates and rivals. Injuries may happen on the track, but when the skates come off , the scene becomes more of a family bonding time than a death match. After their bout on Valentine’s Day at 1 p.m., the Dolls will host their after-party at Badger Bowl at 3 p.m. The tension is building now for the “Love Hurts” bout. The Reservoir Dolls will face off against fellow Mad Rollers the Unholy Rollers, while the MRD’s Quad Squad prepares to take on Appleton’s Paper Valley Roller Girls. The Dolls hope to pack the Coliseum even tighter than their last match. Tickets are available at various locations in Madison check www.madrollindolls. com for details.

Online at dailycardinal.com/ life-and-style Interviews with the team and exicitng footage from the Dolls’ last practice.

life and style

Valentine’s Day Issue, 2010

chocolates from page 5 down,” Ambrosius said. Besides expanding her goodwill globally, Ambrosius said she gets her cream and butter locally as one part of her overall goal of reducing he businesses’ environmental impact as much as she can. Bacco also strives to be environmentally friendly, participating in Madison Gas & Electric’s Green Power Tomorrow program, “with 100% of the energy powering the retail shop and production facility from renewable energy sources, including solar and wind.” A program in which the companies involved, according to mge.com, “offset more than 76,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.” He is friendly to his patrons as well, and when asked what his typical customer is, he responded, “We get everyone actually, our regular customers … chocofiles that come in as well that like gourmet or artisanal chocolates, and then the consumer that is not so well-educated about what fine chocolate is and what goes into it.”

“We try to teach everyone as much as we can about the chocolates themselves.” David Bacco chocolatier David Bacco Chocolats

Bacco said they try to teach everyone, “as much as we can about the chocolates themselves and the flavors, just to kind of bring about a much more comfortable experience with everyone.” Moreover, Bacco is trying to create an exceptional experience for couples this Valentine’s Day. When asked what his formula is for putting together the perfect box of Valentine’s chocolates, and if it is supposed to have aphrodisiac properties, he responded affirmatively. “The flavors and the chocolates are much more geared to the passionate aspect of Valentine’s Day, where both can share the chocolates in intimacy of romantic moments together, so it’s sort of a tool for the holidays but also for romance as well. It’s not as if each person is just there, tasting the chocolates individually and they talk about them, and that’s about it. … this is something that can actually be enjoyed together as a couple.” “I think it’s neat that there are so many of us ... we’re really lucky here, having so many different styles and all of great quality.” Gail Ambrosius owner Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier

Bacco said that they have received “great, great feedback” from the selection of flavors, but as far as the passion aspect is concerned, he can’t be certain. It is obvious that Gail Ambrosius and David Bacco are infusing love into their chocolate, but how about their business relations, especially during this chocolate-centered holiday? Surprisingly, no worries there, as Ambrosius summed up the chocolatier scene in Madison: “I think it’s neat that there are so many of us, because we all have a different style and like anything, everybody has a different taste … we’re really lucky here, having that many different styles and all of great quality”.

dailycardinal.com/life-and-style

arts The Five Stages of Valentine’s Singlehood dailycardinal.com/arts

Valentine’s Day Issue 2010

Everyone knows the ﬁve stages of grief, but who knew they apply so well to a single person on Valentine’s Day? The Daily Cardinal Arts staff presents the Five Stages of Singlehood with a song and movie to get you through each lonely stage. ‘I’m Not Crying’ — Flight of the Conchords

Valentine’s Day is the ultimate celebration of love and emotion, but for those of us who’ve been on the single side of a few too many Valentine’s Days, we’ve simply come to the point of denying that we have any emotions left. Perhaps that’s what Bret and Jemaine of Flight of the Conchords had in mind when they wrote “I’m Not Crying.” This song, as well as the beautiful video that accompanies it, goes out to anyone who has ever blamed “sweaty eyes” on their apparent state of sadness. So this Sunday, go ahead and let the tears ﬂow, just tell people that they’re a result of the pungent onions you’re sautéing for your lasagna... “for one.” —Jon Mitchell

‘I Hate Everyone’ — Get Set Go

Don’t worry, it’s not your fault you’re single. People are stupid, especially the ones you’ve dated. Perhaps if your ex had returned your calls, stopped hanging out with the bitchy redhead and wasn’t an all-around douchebag, you’d be at Tutto this Valentine’s Day. But no. He sucks. Get Set Go understands this. In their song “I Hate Everyone,” lead singer Mike TV complains, “I hate most everybody / But most of all I hate / Oh, I hate you.” So this Valentine’s Day, when you’re sitting at home alone on your futon halfway through a box of Franzia, feel free to be angry about your current circumstances, because it’s deﬁnitely not your fault you’re a miserable loner. —Jacqueline O’Reilly

Denial

1 2 3 4 5 Anger

‘The Sixth Sense’

Sometimes love, or the lack of it, can be so painful the only recourse is denial. Perhaps, to paraphrase Bon Jovi, you’ve been metaphorically shot through the heart and someone’s to blame. Or maybe, like Bruce Willis in “The Sixth Sense,” you’ve more literally been shot through the kidney and become a ghost. But the denial in “The Sixth Sense” is rooted in the viewer. The big twist, that Willis’ character was dead for the entire movie, should have been easy to spot. He gets shot in the ﬁrst scene and from then on only interacts with a child whose famous deﬁning trait is that he can see dead people. But we didn’t want to believe it. It’s a desire for a relationship, and that’s something any miserable single person can relate to.� —Todd Stevens

‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

According to the totally realistic portrayals of women both seeking and involved in committed relationships in “He’s Just Not That Into You,” who would want anything to do with women? They are batshit crazy, anyway. Jennifer Aniston’s character has a loving boyfriend who cares deeply for her, but HE WON’T GET MARRIED! Ginnifer Goodwin obsessively waits by her phone for Mr. Right to call. This movie clearly represents the female gender as incapable of a thought beyond boys, marriage or massive retaliation upon anyone who stands in the way of marrying that perfect boy. Women. Sheesh, who needs them. —Mark Riechers

‘Emily Kane’ — Art Brut

Bargaining

‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’ — Beck

Depression

‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ — Amy Winehouse

‘The Big Lebowski’ Acceptance Ina bathrobe. a world where you can judge a man by the cut of his suit, Jeffrey Lebowski wears He lives alone and gets by on unemployment checks and what little

By now, we’ve all experienced some form of post-breakup depression. It’s a gutwrenching feeling of emptiness that can’t be ﬁlled or erased. In Michel Gondry’s surreal romance “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Joel Barrish attempts to erase this emptiness. But before he can, he has to learn how to handle breakup depression the hard way: by letting it all out with a sad song. No song openly spars with the concept of depression quite like Beck’s rendition of “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime”. Through the lazy guitar and gloomy orchestration, Beck croons to us that breaking up is part of the game. Once something breaks, it’s incredibly hard to put it back together. —Anthony Cefali

Singledom requires an anthem that’s dynamic, one with genuine emotion at its core. It needs to capture the dichotomy of the feeling ever-present in the single mind: We always want what we can’t have, yet realize obtaining it would inevitably be shitty and painful. In “Tears Dry On Their Own,” Amy Winehouse sings, “He walks away / The sun goes down / He takes the day but I’m grown.” Delivered by a deeply rich, soulful and ultimately real voice, this exemplifies the constant flux of emotion and reason perfectly. Acceptance is neither a destination nor an arrival at an unshakable resolution. As Winehouse explains, it means you understand the ramifications of either situation and are living somewhere in the malleable center. —Victoria Statz

‘Youth In Revolt’

In “Youth In Revolt,” Nick Twisp, a lovelorn young boy, sets out to become the man of Sheeni Saunder’s dreams. She’s witty, sultry and, most importantly, has breasts. He, on the other hand, is the wispy, 95-pound Michael Cera. For some reason we are always willing to become different people for love. We cut our hair, dress more stylishly, listen to better music, all to gain favor in the eyes of the one we long for. Cera make deals, bargains and compromises to become the suave, polyester-pantswearing Francois Dillinger, a man who, unlike Cera, is capable of landing the girl. So when you reach the point where you’re willing to change who you are for love, take comfort in knowing Michael Cera knows how you feel. —Jacob Brand

‘Reality Bites’

If you’re single on Valentine’s Day, it’s natural to be depressed. Your diet consists of Coca-Cola and Cheetos. You’ve run up a $400 phone bill, mainly from calls to a 1900 number where you consulted your psychic partner on your love life. Well, you’re not the only one who’s been there. In “Reality Bites,” Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder), too, lacks a life of romance. The love of her life walked out on her. Her daily routine has become waiﬁsh, and she’s virtually incapable of being hired, despite being the valedictorian of her university. So if you’re looking to wallow in a movie that reminds you that there are others whose lives are a little more pathetic than yours, “Reality Bites” is the right choice. —Stephanie Lindholm

income he can wrangle goes toward booze, blunts and bowling. But The Dude isn’t without his masculine charms, as his occasional success with women shows. But even during the few times The Dude gets laid, he perpetuates the stereotypes of singledom, freaking out when Julianne Moore mentions a child, then acting relieved when she says she would never want him involved in raising of it. So if you’re stuck home alone on Valentine’s Day, mix yourself a White Russian, pick up a dime bag, make peace with your single status and embrace your inner slacker. —Kevin Slane

Graphic by Caitlin Kirihara

Eddie Argos can’t hold back any longer. He’s been waiting 10 years (and nine months, three weeks, four days, six hours, thirteen minutes, ﬁve seconds), and he’s had enough. His friends think he’s nuts, but he’s in fullon desperation mode. He knows the only way back into a girl’s heart is by writing a pop song infectious enough to be echoed by choruses of school kids on buses across the globe. That way, even if she doesn’t catch wind of the tune (she did, actually) or her heart of stone doesn’t crumble for the summery hooks or endearing pleas for affection, at least the song’s cheery chorus can replace his emotional void. —Kyle Sparks

arts Loony love lessons we learned when little 8

dailycardinal.com/arts

Valentine’s Day Issue 2010

By Katie Foran-McHale and Jacqueline O’Reilly THE DAILY CARDINAL

As children, we were handed all of our romantic relationship expectations from various, seemingly innocent movies. With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s time to compare what we know now to what we learned then. This in-depth analysis will take you on a roller coaster of truth. Be warned: It turns out that the couples we learned from were completely and utterly dysfunctional. Here we present six influentially bizarre movie relationships from our childhoods. 1. “The Sound of Music” How did this never occur to us? Maria (Julie Andrews) is a nun. Generally nuns abstain from all things romantic, especially widowed men whom the German government is trying to persuade to join the Nazi party. And when this man happens to be your employer, this would seem like it would be an even bigger no-no. Not even the man’s seven children protest this relationship, let alone function as deterrents from the conception of this match made in heaven.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s time to compare what we know now to what we learned then.

Here we were, sitting on our grandparents’ basement floor, our chins in our palms, thinking all they were doing was singing “Eidelweiss” and eating Wiener schnitzel. Little did we know, God was probably heartbroken over the fact that Maria had broken her vow of chastity, thinking, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” Seven Hail Marys and an Our Father? Or perhaps just saving a family from the Nazi regime. All honorable attempts, but we think we know what Maria’s ‘favorite things’ really are. And it’s probably not brown paper packages tied up with strings.

2. “Big” To the untrained eye—say, a nine year old’s—it would seem nothing about the relationship between Josh (Tom Hanks) and Susan (Elizabeth Perkins) is all that wrong. They are two adults in love, right? Nope. Let us not forget that he’s actually a child in a man’s body. While we were distracted by the thought of having trampolines in our bedrooms, a 13-year-old and a 30-year-old were getting it on. It’s a good thing Child Protective Services didn’t know about this. As kids, we may have had crushes on older celebrities like Freddy Prinze Jr. and Britney Spears, but this was just puppy love. Josh and Susan, however, were a few bases—if not ballparks—ahead of that. It’s a matter of Little League versus the Major Leagues. What were our parents trying to teach us when they popped this VHS into the VCR? Was it a pre-emptive education for MySpace? A 101-type introduction in MayDecember romances? Or were they just as ignorant as we were? Either way, it’s best we acknowledge this weirdness now. That way once we reach fullﬂedged adulthood, we’ll know something’s up when the guy we’re dating is n’t referring to bunk beds when he says “I get to be on top.” 3. “Beauty and the Beast” “Look there she goes, that girl is so peculiar.” Not because of her introverted personality, eccentric family or love of great literature (for this we greatly admire her), but because she is, in fact, attracted to an animal. We may have looked past this as children, following the age-old, “never judge a book by its cover” lesson, but when bestiality is this book’s cover, perhaps it should be judged. People go to prison for things like this. Our lack of concern for logistics at that age was probably a good thing too. What was she so attracted to? She referred to there being “something there that wasn’t there before”; did new fangs or a layer of fur magically appear? We didn’t care. The moment when Belle, in her beautiful yellow dress, approaches the Beast in his dapper blue suit, our breath was taken away. Love knows no boundaries. But should it? 4. “Flubber” Professor Philip Brainard (Robin Williams) is a madly zany scientist surrounded by advanced

PHOTO COURTESY BUENA VISTA PICTURES

As genuine as the love between Belle and the Beast is, it’s hard to ignore that the tale of romance is also a tale of beastiality. It’s said that love has no boundaries, but perhaps in this case it should. technology, most of which he invented himself. This turns out to be a little problematic when his computer/supposed personal planner, Weebo, falls in love with him. Our young minds looked past the unconventional relationship and Brainard’s narcissism for programming a computer to feel this way. No matter what, this gives a whole new connotation to the era of technology. He even has a real-life, hot girlfriend (Marcia Gay Harden), but chooses to ditch his wedding. Instead he creates friends out of little green balls of slime (who sometimes dance with him) and encourages his computer’s ardor for him. Yet in the end, he still gets the actual human girl and the computer dies for him by way of getting hit with a baseball bat. Apparently, we learned that unreasonable sacrifices and inappropriate relationships with brainless objects are perfectly acceptable. Perhaps that explains best

why we’re all so attached to our cell phones. We’re all under the influence of flubber!

in love with her, which temporarily trumped the line between life and death.

5. “Casper” As children, we didn’t have the capacity to wrap our minds around death. Our knowledge of it didn’t extend beyond crying when Mufasa was trampled by hyenas or shivering in fear because of the Goosebumps series. We were able to grasp, however, the basic idea that when you die, that’s it, unless you come back as a zombie: the scary, flesh-eating type, not a “friendly ghost.” These ethereal beings were meant to haunt us. And yet, we didn’t hesitate for a second when Kat Harvey (Christina Ricci) locked lips with Casper, who by the end of the kiss had turned back into his floating, translucent self. Casper’s lack of a beating heart didn’t stop ours from beating with innocent glee. He was madly

6. “The Little Mermaid” Maybe if Flounder hadn’t been so damn adorable or of Ursula hadn’t been so damn ugly, we would have noticed that there were a couple things were ﬂagrantly wrong in Ariel and Eric’s relationship. First off, Ariel is pretty much a ﬁsh. She has scales covering the bottom half of her body and her best friend is a crustacean. Clearly, she is not a “part of our world.” Nonetheless, when she fell in love with a mammal of a man, we didn’t question it. We just knew the boy was dreamy. We also didn’t notice that Ariel’s willingness to give up her voice in exchange for smooth, skinny, animated legs was absolutely ridiculous. This told girls everywhere that you don’t need a personality so long as you have sexy legs. But still, we longed for Eric to “kiss the girl.”

Valentine’s Day Confessions Here are a few of the Valentine’s greetings we received from across campus.

Dear Scott G, While your mom and your dad never technically had sex, your mom and I technically did. Love, Steve

I love you even when you create giant Mountain Dew can pyramids around our room. Happy six month anniversary, Tayla! Love, Zack

You’re far, far away Drinking Spanish wine all day I hope you have the time of your life, And your Senora doesn’t attack you with a knife Please eventually come home I’d visit, but I’d have to get a loan - Casey

Luscious ValenBrein: Your voluptuous body keeps me awake quivering. I oft recall the night we oiled you up. Taking erotic pictures and watching you glisten made me tingle inside. You stole my <3 like you stole that hat. - Poops McGee

Happy Valentine’s Day Becca, my love. Musically yours, Mark

Happy Valentine’s Day Molly! Don’t get too thuuuu this weekend! Eric

opinion dailycardinal.com/opinion

Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

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

get the initiative out in the open

he Madison Initiative for Undergraduates’ Oversight Committee held its final meeting last week, deliberating which 114 proposals to suggest Chancellor Biddy Martin fund. On its face, the meeting’s intelligent discussion and probing analyses would have satisfied the standards expected of a group proposing to spend $6.2 million in our tuition. Unfortunately, it happened to be preceded by at least four other closed-door sessions that have shrouded the entire process in secrecy and suspicion. UW officials eventually announced they were opening the Committee’s final meeting after intense pressures, but instead of admitting wrongdoing, they agreed to open the meetings “in the spirit of transparency and openness.” How thoughtful. Whether the Committee members were just being stubbornly reticent, blunderingly naïve or quietly conniving, they should have held themselves to the same level of scrutiny as the Student Advisory Committee, whose open meetings earlier this semester produced a similar list of recommendations that Martin will also consider on Feb. 16. Any argument that the Oversight Committee’s open deliberations would have made its members more vulnerable to departmental criticism than members on the Student Advisory Committee is clearly dispelled since all ranking was done via secret vote anyway. Although the Oversight Committee members likely had the best of intentions, their legitimacy and the legitimacy of their recom-

mendations could use a boost. For starters, they should go out of their way to explain to the student body why the proposals they are about to submit to Martin are needed and how they jive with the MIU’s core missions. One of those missions is supporting bottle-necked, general education courses, many of which are in the College of Letters and Sciences and required for most students. Of the 114 proposals, 80 have included some benefit for L&S. Many of its majors, from economics to chemistry, are on the A-list for funding, both on the MIU Oversight and Student Committees. Perhaps the Oversight Committee’s biggest task—which Chancellor Martin no doubt shares—will be shaving down each of the many worthy proposals’ budgets down to spread the MIU love as efficiently as possible. The Oversight Committee must also make clear why it is funding some student services over others. A student advising proposal, for instance, would fund late-night office hours in assorted campus buildings, including College Library. We agree that students often need advisers to make sense of their garbled DARS reports, but is a $400,000 investment in cross-major advising really the optimal starting point for solving excessive demand for advising? The Committee needs to tell students what these proposals will do for them and why they were chosen. Now is not the time to whisper your reasoning to the Chancellor. Take the initiative. Tell the students.

Focus on energy education By Danny Spitzberg and Stephen Collins THE GREEN ROOM

Earlier this week, fellow Daily Cardinal opinion writer Anthony Cefali posed a question: “How do we inspire our science program to shoot for the moon, or at least our own modern equivalent?” Well, we think we have an answer. Look no further than clean energy. Some are calling it the biggest market opportunity in history. Experts of all stripes have repeatedly stated that the nation that wins the clean-energy race will be the nation that leads the 21st century economy. Discovering and implementing cheap, clean and reliable energy technologies is our generation’s ﬁnal frontier. But, as Cefali asked, how do we get there? President Obama has proposed doing so by increasing funding for energy education and training through a program called RE-ENERGYSE (short for REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge). More than 100 organizations, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, signed a letter last summer urging Congress to support the program, which would augment energy education in universities, training schools, community colleges and even K-12 teacher education. It’s easy to see why: UW-Madison professor and energy policy expert Greg Nemet said that he thinks “maybe the biggest opportunity is to take advantage of the fact that we have tens of thousands of students here who could potentially be working on [creating a clean energy economy].” However, Congress ignored last summer’s call to action by rejecting Obama’s $115 million budget request for RE-ENERGYSE. Despite Congress’ lack of support

for energy education and training, hope is not lost for Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Legislature is currently considering a bill dubbed the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). CEJA rolls out a policy to ramp up renewables to provide 25 percent of Wisconsin’s electricity by 2025. This policy, known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), makes sense. The RPS ensures a stable, long-term market for renewable energy, thus creating market opportunities and driving investment in wind and other low-carbon technologies. Investment in turn makes clean energy cheaper and lowers utility bills. Perhaps more important, the state’s Economic and Policy Staff has estimated CEJA would create more than 15,000 jobs. In addition to more jobs, the bill provides an opportunity to develop smarter students and a stronger workforce. Why add a provision to the bill to increase funding for energy education and training? Because the RPS alone will not create the lowcarbon energy system Wisconsin needs. The Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming recommended that Wisconsin implement “substantial increases in federal and state research and development (R&D) for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction technologies.” R&D is particularly crucial to ﬁguring out ways to modernize the electricity grid, store wind and solar power and invent breakthrough technologies. CEJA could support R&D by giving UW-Madison—recently ranked among the top 10 universities for cleantech—and other Wisconsin institutions the funds to advance our energy system. To sustain the R&D of clean energy, CEJA must also invest in Wisconsin’s students. At a recent town hall, President Obama said: “We’re not going to be able to ramp up solar and

wind to suddenly replace every other energy source ... [W]e’ve got to look at how to make existing technologies and options better.” To meet our clean energy goals over the next century, Wisconsin will need a new, well-educated generation of researchers. To meet the short-term objectives laid out by the CEJA, Wisconsin must also invest in its current workforce. Along the lines of the proposals laid out by the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, we propose that CEJA directly fund the training of Wisconsinites to create knowledge workers who can build Wisconsin’s clean energy economy over the coming years. We realize that with Wisconsin currently short on cash, it may be fiscally difficult to add an additional program to the CEJA. If adding our proposal to the CEJA proves politically impossible, we recommend incorporating it in the next state budget. Now or in the near future, Wisconsin and the U.S. need to increase energy education. Gaining a strong, competitive edge in clean energy requires more than opening markets with policies like a RPS, but taking advantage of those markets by creating talented researchers and a skilled workforce. As the saying goes, if you teach a man to fish, he will build a clean energy economy. If we fail to invest in today’s students, we will miss a critical opportunity and give other countries a head start in the global clean energy race. This is our chance to lead the generation of a low-carbon economy. Stephen Collins and Danny Spitzberg are pursuing master’s degrees in public affairs and environmental studies, respectively. Please send all responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Testing the methods of science education TODD STEVENS opinion columnist

s we wrap up our week of op-eds dedicated to science education in America, it feels like we should have some grandiose assessment to make about the state of science. Some sort of condemnation or proclamation should be issued, something that tells us exactly where we are and where we should go in the future. I won’t be doing that—nor could I do that if I tried. The truth is, a week’s worth of columns couldn’t possibly come up with one ultimate answer. But it does illuminate some of the problems we have, and in that respect I think we were at least moderately successful. We’ve looked at the rhetorical tae-kwan-do match between scientists and religious followers, the lack of nuance in environmental education and how Ms. Frizzle was probably a better teacher than that douchebag who taught your high school biology class. But there is one aspect that I have always personally worried about that deserves a look

before the week is up: Why is it so hard for people to think like a scientist these days? Examples of anti-scientiﬁc thought have been abundant in recent weeks. Climate change deniers recently pounced on the unusually large snowstorm that bombarded Washington, D.C., causing many who weren’t used to seeing snow in the nation’s capitol to believe either climate change had been debunked or someone just made the largest cocaine dump ever. A recent op-ed in The Cap Times made the ridiculous alarmist claim that no exposure to radiation is safe, relying on one of the most common anti-intellectual fallacies that we can’t know something unless we are 100 percent sure of it. Granted, these examples were anecdotal, which itself is not a scientiﬁc argument. But the important thing is that we realize that. Most of the American public, however, does not. To look into this phenomenon further, I talked with Dr. John Rudolph, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at UWMadison who specializes in the history of science education. He mentioned how there times have changed since the space race was at its height.

“There was an unprecedented effort among elite scientists to infuse a general understanding of science in the general public,” Rudolph said. It seems that in the age of standardized tests, a plague upon all our schoolhouses, we have lost sight of this general understanding. It no longer matters if students understand the ideas behind science, just how much information they can cram and memorize for the test. Even Advanced Placement classes in high school, such as those for biology and chemistry, encourage this sort of thinking with their end-of-the-year tests while claiming to offer a collegelevel learning experiences. “The problem with AP classes is those courses are focused on content mastery instead of interaction,” Rudolph said. But in order to appease parents’ demand, more testing is put in place and more class time is spent teaching to the test. I was lucky enough to have a high school AP chemistry teacher who practically gave us free reign over the chem labs (you rock, Ms. Koch-Laveen). We learned considerably more conducting all means of experiments, sanctioned or otherwise, than we did from the textbook. But even Ms. Koch-Laveen had to set aside some time to prepare us for the test, including one class day where we

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Schools need to teach science in a hands-on, practical fashion, as seen here in the L.R. Ingersoll Physics Museum. tested scantron sheets to see what pencil marks were acceptable (granted, at least did use the scientiﬁc method). This is a trend that the United States needs to get away from. According to Rudolph, other countries such as South Korea and China, which traditionally have relied more on standardized tests than the United States, have been hearing vocal calls to move away from the system and have actually been envious of how much synthesis learning U.S. students experience. Ironically, the countries on the verge of passing us technologically and economically are moving away from standardized testing just as the U.S. is delving deeper into it, and according to

Rudolph it may only get worse. “I think this notion of a testing society has a pretty strong hold and its not going away very soon,” Rudolph said. I sincerely hope this doesn’t come true. For science to continue to prosper in our country, we need people who can process and truly comprehend its concepts, not just regurgitate information. If not, we might as well be run by robots. And unfortunately, that won’t be an option because in the future, we won’t be smart enough to create them. Todd Stevens is a junior majoring in history and psychology. Please send all responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

comics 10

Another reason for a good thing: Having sex can cure headaches. dailycardinal.com/comics

Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

Being Alone on Valentine’s Day

Today’s Sudoku

Evil Bird

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

Ludicrous Linguistics

By Celia Donnelly donnelly.celia@gmail.com

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.

Sid and Phil Classic

By Alex Lewein alex@sidandphil.com

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Crustaches

By Patrick Remington premington@wisc.edu

First in Twenty

By Angel Lee alee23@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com An amazing puzzle 1 5 10 14 15 16 7 1 20 21 22 23 4 2 27 29 32 3 3 36 8 3 41 42 43 4 4 46 50

ACROSS Jane Austen novel Kenneth or Bart “Scram!” Mean partner Distinctive atmospheres (Var.) “Comus” composer Thomas 1966 sci-fi classic With a passion Brothers and sisters, e.g. Nothing at all It may make you lightheaded Soda buys Give the impression Ancient Athenian statesman “To Wong ___, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” Climactic whodunit cry Designated, perhaps incorrectly Types of rapid transit Interpret Walton of Wal-Mart Word with “Spice” in a brand name Tidal flood “Ali ___ and the Forty Thieves” Metered lines

52 Cry from a litter 5 Baby food 5 56 Chi ___ (religious symbol) 57 Popular serving in France 60 “Man of La Mancha” tune (with “The”) 63 Schedule guesses, briefly 64 Beauty of Troy 65 Bad spots on the way to adulthood? 66 Comedic actress Martha 67 Plant malady 68 Hymn of praise (Var.) DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 1 18

Pixies Blue Beatles baddie Yankee great Mickey Poker payment Prone to sarcastic replies Private teacher’s students Bittersweet coating A bit blue Abbr. for Jesse Jackson “___ with flowers” Mosquitolike nonbiter “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” director Lee Ball peg Indication of things to

9 1 24 25 26 28 30 31 34 35 37 38 39 0 4 41 45 47 48 49 1 5 53 4 5 57 58 59 0 6 61 62

come? Historic Japanese island Scottish bays Small, agile deer Plot of grass Cartographer’s output American dogwood Place for a bump They’re straight Set out for display White-fleeced animal of rhyme Time to shine for a musician Give less than is deserved Show of affection Person with a collar? Insignia Pricing word Fruit for a split Hypothetical missing links The ones yonder Catherine Zeta-Jones’s “The Mask of Zorro” role Take the plunge Evened, as a score In a position to help Do a pre-Christmas chore “Cash” add-on Org. that keeps New Yorkers on track The woman in question

Washington and the Bear

By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com

sports

dailycardinal.com/sports

Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

Men’s Hockey

Cluttered WCHA means must-wins against Mavericks By Parker Gabriel THE DAILY CARDINAL

Every year, the four weeks of February seem to produce a knockdown, drag-out fight for bragging rights atop the WCHA, and this year is no different. With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the top five teams are separated by only four points. The Badgers (11-6-3 WCHA, 16-74 overall) enter the stretch run looking to gain ground against a Minnesota State team that has long since exited the race and is attempting to play spoiler. The puck drops at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers enter the weekend tied with Colorado College for fourth place in the conference with 25 points. They trail Denver (28 points), St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth (29 each). While the Badgers do have an extra weekend of conference play remaining over St. Cloud and UMD, they still need a little help if they hope to hoist the MacNaughton Cup in

early March. Senior forward Aaron Bendickson noted that while scoreboard watching is natural late in the year, moderation is important. “You don’t want to dwell on it, but obviously we all look at it,” he said. “Every night you really have to focus the game more than anything.” This weekend, that focus centers around a Mavericks squad that has struggled to string wins together this year. Minnesota State (5-13-2, 12-14-2,) ranks eighth in the conference in both scoring offense (2.45 goals per game) and defense (3.2 goals against per game). However, it plays a physical brand of hockey and will try to slow the pace of the game down. “Mankato always plays you tough,” Bendickson said. “You know it’s always going to be a grind out there against them.” If the Mavericks keep the Badgers from getting out and creating opportunities in transition, special teams will become even more important than usual. For Wisconsin, that means keeping junior Brendan Smith and the power play rolling after two

conversions in Saturday’s win over Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium. “It just helped our whole squad on the power play,” Smith said. “I’ve been kind of taken away a lot so ﬁnally I got my chance. If they try to take me away we’ve still got the backdoor to Blake [Geoffrion].” While the power-play unit attempts to sustain production, Bendickson and the penalty kill have been solid all year. In conference play, the Badgers currently have the second-ranked PK unit in the WCHA at 86 percent. Bendickson has driven the success of the unit by forechecking aggressively and frustrating teams as they attempt to advance the puck up the ice. “As a team we really focus on pressure during the penalty kill,” he said. “We just need to keep it up and keep our feet moving.” As the men’s basketball team found out this week, getting help from other teams in the conference will not do the Badgers any good if they fail to take care of the Mavericks this weekend. That fact

DANNY MARCHEWKA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Senior forward Aaron Bendickson has four goals and eight assists this season for Wisconsin. was not lost on the UW coaching staff or Smith. “On the locker room board

they’ve got the quote ‘Take care of your home,’” he said. “We’re going to take care of it.”

Women’s Basketball

Badgers continue NCAA tournament push against Hoosiers By Mark Bennett THE DAILY CARDINAL

It has been a roller-coaster few weeks for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team. The Badgers (7-6 Big Ten, 17-7 overall) have gone just 2-3 over their last five games. That stretch has included a few heart-wrenching, second-half meltdowns, a doubleovertime win against Minnesota, and a last-second loss last Sunday night against Purdue. Now, following a much-needed week off, the Badgers look to begin a strong streak as they enter their final five games of the conference season. That stretch begins Sunday night as Wisconsin meets Indiana at

the Kohl Center. “We’re in that last 10 games of the season type of stretch where people are looking and there are committees looking at us and we control our destiny,” head coach Lisa Stone said. “It’s on us. It’s on us and our preparation for our next game, and you protect your home court and get back at Indiana as they come in.” The Badgers already defeated Indiana (6-7, 13-11) once this season, taking down the Hoosiers 55-47 in Bloomington two weeks ago. That game featured double-double efforts from both junior forward Lin Zastrow and junior forward Tara Steinbauer. However, this time around the

situation is much different for both teams. In January, the Badgers had just come off a tough defeat at home to Penn State, and took a rare road win in Indiana. Now, Wisconsin is desperately clinging to an above-.500 conference record and third place in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Indiana, who had suffered a dominating loss to Michigan prior to facing the Badgers in January, has won its last two contests since the Wisconsin defeat. One of those victories included a shocking upset of the Big Ten leading Ohio State Buckeyes. The Hoosiers then went on the road to defeat Illinois in

all stars from page 12 into the scheme of things, especially when they have such freakishly talented athletes.

KYLE BURSAW/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Freshman forward Mike Bruesewitz said he believes his team has been practicing well and is prepared for the Hoosiers.

indiana from page 12 ference, meaning Wisconsin must defend the glass on defense to prevent extra shots. “They’re the second-best offensive rebounding team in the Big Ten,” Bruesewitz said. “Second opportunities just kind of kill teams.” Leading the way on the boards for Indiana is freshman forward Christian Watford, grabbing 5.9

boards per game. In scoring, freshman guard Maurice Creek leads the team with 16.4 points per game, but has been inactive with an injury for the last month and will not play against Wisconsin. Sophomore guard Verdell Jones is next on the team, scoring 14.9 points per game. The game tips off at 1 p.m. Saturday and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.

NBA All-Star Game Highs: It’s not just a game—it’s a weekend event. The NBA combines the game—basically a highlight reel—with the (usually) fantastic Slam Dunk contest, a 3-point shooting competition and other various skills challenges. Fan voting is another plus because it truly is about the fans. NBA favorites such as Allen Iverson or Tracy McGrady can still be voted in even if they are playing poorly or hobbled by injuries because of this. The only reason this isn’t a low is because: 1) it’s what fans want; and 2) I love watching A.I.’s cross-over. Lows: The Slam Dunk Contest. The creativity is gone, which has led to “innovative” dunks being ones where players jump over people or wear a superhero cape. What’s next, Batman and Robin showing up this year? Also, the game’s most gifted dunkers, like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, no longer want to compete for fear of injury. This puts a damper on the excitement when a player like Chris “Birdman” Andersen takes their place. I do see his appeal, though, since his NBA legacy is a two-year ban for drug use and missing an obscene number of attempts in

convincing fashion. Now, with a rematch against the Badgers, the Hoosiers have a chance to jump one game above .500 in conference play for the ﬁrst time this season, since they started the year 1-0. Wisconsin, however, is ready to make sure that doesn’t happen. Hampering that effort, though, is the question of leading scorer Alyssa Karel’s availability this Sunday. The junior guard, who is averaging over 14 points per game for the Badgers this season, injured her lower leg late in Wisconsin’s loss to Purdue. While she remained in that game, it is yet to be seen the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest. MLB’s Midsummer Classic Highs: Although I absolutely abhor watching baseball, they do have the Classic right in many ways. First, it’s located right in the thick of the season. MLB’s seemingly never-ending 162-game epic season needs some spice right around midseason to keep fans interested, and the All-Star Game does just that. Also, the fan voting is incredibly popular as well, with a record 223.5 million votes cast for last year’s game. And you can’t bring up the Midsummer Classic without talking about the Home Run Derby. Watching the best, albeit sometimes juiced, players crank balls out of the park is awesome, even if you aren’t a baseball fan. Lows: The fact that this game is supposed to “matter” by giving the winning team home-ﬁeld advantage throughout the playoffs. Is it really fair to put playoff implications in the gloves of a handful of players while the rest of their teammates can only sit and watch? What a joke. NHL All-Star Game Highs: For recent years at least, fans have seen Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby team up to take on fellow NHL superstars. Granted, they are the few hundred people who actually watch Versus, but I’ll give credit where credit is

whether or not she will be at full strength this week against Indiana, or if she will even play. With or without Karel, Wisconsin is looking to ﬁnd separation in the crowded Big Ten, where just oneand-a-half games separate the second place conference team and the seventh place squad. “Last week everybody at the bottom won, everybody at the top lost,” Stone said. “[The focus will be on] the hot teams at the end of the season and there’s going to be a lot of momentum with some teams going into that Big Ten tournament.” Tip-off for Sunday’s game against Indiana at the Kohl Center is 6 p.m. due. The SuperSkills competition is also something to behold with its various events. Talents such as who can skate fastest or shoot hardest are things every hockey player enjoys watching. Lows: It’s shown on Versus. Shouldn’t a sport that is considered one of the “Big Four” actually have its de facto exhibition game nationally broadcast? Also, the game isn’t played in Olympic years so fans will have to settle for Team USA in 2010. MLS All-Star Game Highs: They compile enough stars for one team and then take on a world-class club like Chelsea FC, Celtic FC, etc. This is a great idea since the MLS doesn’t have enough talent on its own to comprise two exciting teams and it’s also a way to stir up interest for the sport by bringing in a high-proﬁle squad. Heck, most people probably watch it to catch a glimpse of overseas stars rather than the MLS’ talent. Lows: The MLS still doesn’t have enough talent to create two teams worth watching. While I like the format they have it’s still embarrassing that the U.S., which has the top leagues in every other major sport, can’t attract enough quality players to have only MLS star in the game. What do you think of the all-star games? E-mail jack at jpdoyle2@wisc.edu.

sports 12

More on dailycardinal.com: women’s hockey prepares for Minnesota State dailycardinal.com/sports

Weekend, February 12-14, 2010

Men’s Basketball

Weighing the All-Star Games

Badgers look to stay in race against Indiana By Scott Kellogg THE DAILY CARDINAL

Last Tuesday, the unthinkable happened when Bo Ryan’s Badgers dropped a home contest to an unranked squad, something which has never happened before. But after another loss by Michigan State, Wisconsin has an opportunity to stay in the Big Ten race with a home game against a squad in the lowerhalf of the Big Ten—Indiana. Wisconsin had a chance to elevate themselves to the top of the conference last Tuesday, but a shocking home loss to Illinois handed the Badgers their fourth conference loss of the season. They now sit behind four three-loss squads in the Big Ten. One reason the No. 13 Badgers (8-4 Big Ten, 18-6 overall) still have a chance to take the regular season conference championship is their favorable upcoming schedule, which begins Saturday against the Hoosiers (3-8, 9-14). Indiana is still under a new regime with second-year head coach Tom Crean. During Crean’s ﬁrst season, Indiana won only one Big Ten con-

test all season. This year’s campaign appeared more promising after a 3-3 start in conference play, but a ﬁvegame losing streak for the Hoosiers put the team near the basement of the Big Ten, thus Saturday represents a golden opportunity for the Badgers to grab a conference victory. Another reason Wisconsin can be optimistic entering Saturday’s game is the fact that the Badgers have never posted a two-game losing streak this season, winning each game they have played following a loss. Freshman forward Mike Bruesewitz attributes that to the character of this season’s team. “[It’s because of] the toughness of the guys around the locker room,” Bruesewitz said. “In our locker rooms it’s guys [that say] what we need to do to win.” Bruesewitz admitted the team was down after Tuesday’s defeat, but likes the way the team has prepared for Indiana this week. “When you lose, usually the next day practice is pretty good, pretty competitive, people got after it,” he said. Including this weekend’s game,

JACK DOYLE doyle rules

ith so much talk about how the Pro Bowl is irrelevant, and with the NBA All-Star Game this weekend, I felt it would be a good time to discuss the highs and lows of each of the Big Five’s—yes, I counted soccer—superstar showcases.

think we’re going to clinch the title.” The Hoosiers may still be suffering from the fallout of former coach Kelvin Sampson, but have worked hard under Crean, which is reﬂected in the team’s rebounding production this season. Indiana’s 36.1 rebounds per game rank third in the con-

The Pro Bowl Highs: It takes place in warm weather. Lows: The Pro Bowl is irrelevant in too many ways to name them all so I’ll cite the glaring problems. First, it’s not exactly an “all-star” game. Over 40 players declined invitations to this year’s all-star display. 40. Unlike other pro sports showcases, nobody wants to play in the Pro Bowl. This is understandable because of the risk of injury, but it makes the game a joke when the league’s stars refuse to play. Second, the Pro Bowl action itself is nothing like a true NFL game. The intensity is pitiful and no defense is played because players don’t want to hurt each other. And third, there is nothing to this event other than the boring-ass game. You would think the NFL could ﬁnd some way to incorporate a skills challenge

indiana page 11

all stars page 11

ISABEL ÁLVAREZ/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Freshman forward Ryan Evans has often been head coach Bo Ryan’s ﬁrst option off the bench this season. Wisconsin faces only one team with a winning record (Illinois) during its final six games, providing hope that the Badgers can run the table to finish out the year strong. “I think whoever wins the Big Ten will have 4 to 5 losses so we’re right there,” freshman forward Ryan Evans said. “If we can just win out, I