‘What do we give up if we don’t act?’ Inside “The Cuddle Puddle”: A group of activists formed during the Capitol occupation
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‘Real World’ star, poet speak on sexual assault By Corinne Burgermeister The Daily Cardinal
Former cast member of MTV’s “The Real World: Brooklyn” Sarah Rice and spoken word poet Steve Connell stressed the importance of identifying those involved with sexual assault as survivors rather than victims at an event Monday in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Connell recited “Angel Rising,” a poem inspired by Angela Rose, founder of PAVE, who was in the audience. The poem described images of sexual assault victims without tongues finding their voices and moving through stages of shame and rage to awakening and empowerment. Connell emphasized the
importance individuals have in creating the world they share. “I feel blessed as a poet simply to create a work that reminds us that we are all connected, and reminds us about the responsibility we have to each other as a community, as a family, to take care of each other, to listen to each other, to respect each other,” Connell said. According to Connell and Rice, the move from depicting a person as a victim to a survivor begins by talking, opening up and getting rid of any taboo associated with sexual assault. Rice, who was sexually assaulted by her daycare provider and her father, said it is important to believe every survivor
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011
‘Collin’ all poets
and to treat them with respect. She said by speaking at events she now hopes to help people and create fulfillment in their lives and her own. Rice said she is proud to speak about her past rather than keep quiet. According to Rice, if she is able to help one person in the audience realize they are in an abusive relationship and empower that person to do something about it, then everything is worth it. “You are only a victim if you look at yourself as a victim,” Rice said. “You are not a result of the things that happened to you in your life; you speakers page 3
Kathryn Weenig/the daily cardinal
Former Poet Laureate Billy Collins read to a crowd of 1,200 Monday at Union South as part of Madison’s Lit Fest. The New York Times has called him “the most popular poet in America.”
New Badger Partnership student group forms By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
Kathryn Weenig/the daily cardinal
Liberal activists protested U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at the Madison Club and a handful of banks on the Capitol Square to voice their opposition to corporate influence in politics.
Liberals protest Ryan, banks on tax day By Patrick Tricker The Daily Cardinal
Commemorating the day Americans file their tax returns, roughly 100 liberal activists protested outside the Madison Club Monday, where U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was giving a speech, to show their discontent with his deficit plan. The group proceeded to the Capitol Square to protest outside of Chase Bank to deliver a “tax bill” of nearly $2 billion in allegedly dodged taxes. They protested outside M&I Bank because of the banks’ donations to Republicans. Some activists entered Chase, which prompted police to ask them to leave, and attempted to enter M&I before a security guard locked the door. “Far too little attention has been paid to the fact that many of the largest and most profit-
able corporations in this country are quietly shifting their tax burden onto the tax-paying public,” said Kyle Bailey, a policy advocate for Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group. “By stopping corporations from stashing their profits in off-shore tax havens, which allow them to pay little to nothing in taxes, we can ease this nation’s financial woes,” Bailey said Demonstrators focused their anger on Ryan’s deficit plan and recent budget cuts in Congress, arguing that they were only necessary because of tax cuts for the rich and corporations and the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. “Don’t let anybody tell you the money is not there,” said Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, a member of the Teaching Assistants’ Association. “The money is
there. There’s a word for cutting schools and hospitals and jobs and giving the money to bankers and militaries. The word is class war. That’s what this is. That’s what they’re doing to us.” Outside the Madison Club where Ryan was supposedly speaking, protesters chanted “make them pay” and “tax the rich,” in attempts to drown out his speech. One protester brought a speaker playing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” inside the restaurant, but was quickly rebuffed by an employee. “Right now is the tipping point,” Steve Hughes, president of the Young Progressives said. “We can either stand by as we watch our great state fall out from under us or we can rise up collectively and take back Wisconsin. It is in this moment that our history will be written.”
While differing opinions bombard the state concerning the New Badger Partnership, some UW-Madison students have formed a group to show their support for the proposed change to the UW system. The Students for the New Badger Partnership formed to inform students about the New Badger Partnership and bring together students who support it, according to the group’s co-head coordinator Jon Alfuth. “Our main focus is to reach out to students on campus and hopefully talk to them about the New Badger Partnership and communicate with them how we feel its important to the UW campus and
create a little more balance to the conversation,” Alfuth said. According to Alfuth, the group will demonstrate its support for the New Badger Partnership in a multitude of ways, including going to the Capitol to express its patronage and holding informational forums for students. An anonymous post on siftingandwinnowing.org, a website that publishes opinion articles by professors, alleged that the group may be involved with non-students without student interest as a priority. Alfuth denied these allegations and said the group will not release the names of students involved because the New Badger partnership page 3
Olsen, Hardorf recall petition successful By Adam Wollner The Daily Cardinal
Two more Republican state senators will face recalls after campaign organizers against them announced Monday they have collected the requisite signatures. Petitioners against state Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, submitted their petition with the Government Accountability Board Monday, while the group organizing the recall for state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, announced on their Facebook page Monday evening they also col-
lected the required signatures and will submit their petition Tuesday. Organizers from both campaigns were able to collect around 23,000 signatures for each two weeks before the petition due date. Recall petitions were also filed in early April for Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, and Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac. Oshkosh Deputy Mayor Jessica King announced last week she will run against Hopper in the recall recall petition page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”