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Monday, September 13, 2010
Religion on Campus: Being Muslim at UW By Anna Discher the daily cardinal
ben pierson/the daily cardinal
Competitors from around the world tested themselves in the Ironman Wisconsin triathlon Sunday.
Swim, bike, run, done: Ironman takes over city By Maggie DeGroot the daily cardinal
Hundreds of spectators filled downtown Madison showing support for competitors in the Ironman triathlon Sunday. More than 2,000 athletes began the grueling race at 7 a.m. with a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Monona, followed by a 112-mile bike ride through Verona and finishing with a 26.2-mile race through downtown Madison. Australian Joe Gambles won the men’s race with an approximate time of 8 hours and 38 minutes, a course record for the Wisconsin Ironman. This was Gambles’ first time running Ironman, and the 27-year old described the experience as “unbelievable” after the race. Madison native Eric Bean, 34,
took third place for the men’s division after finishing in 8 hours and 51 minutes. New Zealander Gina Crawford took home first place in the women’s race with an approximate time of 9 hours and 27 minutes. The 29-year old beat the previous course record by nine minutes. Crawford’s first Ironman win came at the 2007 Ironman Wisconsin event. Spectators gathered at the Monona Terrace to watch competitors swim. They could also take buses to Verona to watch the participants bike, according to the Ironman Wisconsin website. Erin Malinoski and Shelly Schneider of Poplar, Wis., sat near the Capitol as they cheered on competitors, including Malinowski’s brother, Marc, who was running the Ironman for the
second time. Other spectators supported their loved ones wearing T-shirts with the name of their athlete, holding up inspirational signs and even running alongside competitors. The Ironman Wisconsin is the first qualifier for the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship, according to the ironmanusa.com. The competitors fought for 72 slots in the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship. Professional competitors were split into their own category, while non-professionals were broken up into age groups ranging from 18- to 75-years old and older. Volunteers helped out at checkpoints and aid stations providing water, snacks and even wet sponges to help competitors stay hydrated and beat the heat.
Balancing five traditional daily prayers at specific times during the day in between classes is all part of a typical day for a Muslim student on the UW-Madison campus. According to Yahya Altaf, public relations officer at the UW-Madison Muslim Student Association, being a Muslim on the UW-Madison campus is not any different from being Christian, Jewish or any other faith. “I feel a sense of belonging here, and truly feel the inviting atmosphere,” Altaf said. “The students, faculty and community of Madison are understanding and generally have a sense of awareness that Muslims on campus and around the nation are also normal citizens.” MSA’s primary goal is to help students on campus develop a relation-
ship with God. The organization has approximately 100 members. MSA President Rashid Dar said making time at least five times a day for traditional Islamic prayer is very important. “I like to think of it as a way to kind of step back from worldly life for a little bit and stand face to face with God,” he said. According to Dar, students practicing Islam will wake up before sunrise every day to pray, go to class and pray again around noon. “We’ll find an empty stairwell or we’ll run into Memorial [library] into an empty stack where we don’t think anyone will see us,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t like to be seen, but just because it will look kind of odd to the uninformed observer.” religion page 3
Candidates visit campus ahead of Tuesday primaries By Ariel Shapiro the daily cardinal
In the weekend running up to the primaries, candidates flooded the UW-Madison campus in a mad dash to greet their youngest voters before they head to the polls Tuesday. Among the candidates on campus this weekend were Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Republican gubernatorial candidate and former congressman Mark Neumann, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Democratic Lt. Governor candidate and business executive Henry Sanders. Sanders, who will face state
Senate Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, state Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee, and business trainer James Schneider in the primaries, appeared in Library Mall Friday to reach out to voters and discuss his platform. He said he intends to create green jobs, establish marriage equality and keep higher education costs down. Amber Grant, co-chair of Students for Sanders, said he is a more progressive candidate that sees beyond traditional party lines. “I’m just looking forward to someone with a different view compolitics page 3
Tibet Festival showcases culture for UW-Madison community By Kathryn Weenig The Daily Cardinal
The second annual Tibet Festival took place this past weekend on the UW-Madison campus to celebrate and share Tibetan culture with the Madison community. The celebration began Friday with a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony with Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and ended Sunday. Events took place at the Memorial Union, Library Mall and the Pyle Center, and included dances, lectures and documentaries. A display of traditional dressings, exhibition of cultural artifacts and the creation of a sand mandala, a ritualistic art piece that symbolizes the Buddhist belief in the transitory state of material culture and made by a Tibetan monk, were also on display.
Tsering Kharitsang, Vice President of the Wisconsin Tibetan Association, encouraged people to explore Tibetan culture and said the goal of the festival is to share it with the Madison community. “The festival shows we are different from China,” she said. “We have a traditional language, our own flag and our own culture.” China has occupied Tibet since 1949, forcing the country’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile and threatening Tibetan culture. The Dalai Lama recently donated a $50,000 research grant to UW’s Center for Investigating Healthy Minds. The CIHM studies development of positively-associated emotions, like happiness or compassion, and how to cultivate these emotions. Dechen Wangmo, a Wisconsin Tibetan Association volunteer who
grew up as a Tibetan displaced in India, said her experience empowered her to be vocal about the situation in Tibet. “We are letting the world know about us through protest and events throughout the world,” she said, “but the Chinese have taken this as a way to punish the Tibetans that remain in Tibet.” Much of Madison’s Tibetan community participated in the festival, however, the turnout of other Madison citizens was not as large as hoped. “I think we could do way better if the UW students and the Madison community knew more about the festival,” Wangmo said. The festival was made possible through the collaboration of the Wisconsin Tibet Association and UW-Madison’s East Asian Studies Program.
ben pierson/the daily cardinal
Arjia Rinpoche, one of the most important religious leaders to flee Tibet since the Dalai Lama, spoke Sunday about his experiences.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”