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Thursday, February 25, 2021

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State, county data shows racial disparities

By Abigail Leavins STAFF WRITER

As Wisconsin reaches over 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccinations distributed, statistics show racial disparities in who has access to the doses.

Data shows that the percentage of the white population that has received at least one dose is just over three times the rate of the Black population.

Just over thirteen percent white people have received at least one dose as compared to 4.2 percent of Black people.

Data at the Dane County level shows similar disparities. DHS data shows that 15.5 percent of white people and 6.5 percent of Black people have received at least one dose.

Eleven percent of records reported unknown race and 4.3 percent were recorded as “other.”

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) data shows that white, non-Hispanic, females and people over 65 are the groups that have had the most of their population receive at least one dose.

On the state level, Black Wisconsinites have the lowest percentage of having received at least one dose as a percentage of population.

The DHS dashboard includes a disclaimer that demographic information like sex, race and ethnicity are not required to be reported in the Wisconsin Immunization Registry.

WIR cannot store multiple race variables for a single vaccination record, regardless of how many are reported. Demographic breakdown will be “incomplete and imprecise.”

Eight percent of records had an unknown race and 4.6 percent of records are reported as “other” races.

State officials responded to racial

disparities last week by investing $6.1 million to support community-based organizations that raise awareness and access to vaccines among communities that have “faced both historical and current barriers to health care

when they are eligible,” DHS Interim Secretary Karen Timberlake said.

“We also know that some people may not trust information about the COVID-19 vaccine due to a history of racism and mistreatment experi-

job opportunities, often referred to as systemic racism, has exacerbated the disparate impacts of COVID-19 experienced by Black, Brown, Indigenous and other communities of color in Wisconsin, including disparities in

enced by many communities.”

The DHS website says that Wisconsin is “deliberate choices to reduce barriers to access the COVID19 vaccine.

“Systemic barriers and social factors including access to quality health care, housing, transportation, and

vaccine rates,” the DHS site reads.

New community vaccination clinics announced by the state, including the one in nearby Rock County, are focusing on vaccinating people without health insurance.

The Daily Cardinal previously reported on the disproportionate

DATA COURTESY OF DHS

services and the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“COVID-19 vaccines are available in hundreds of places around the state every day, but people without easy access to the internet, or without an existing relationship with a healthcare provider may not be aware of how to get vaccinated

impact of COVID-19 on BIPOC communities. The disparities are related to structural racism, unequal access to health care and prevalence in frontline occupations.

Wendi C. Thomas and Hannah Grabenstein from ProPublica reported that there may be a less obvious bias against Black people when it comes to vaccine eligibility.

They noted that the blanket age standard ignores previous research done by the Brookings Institute which found that Black people are dying from COVID-19 on average 10 years younger than white people.

“If you’re trying to avert deaths, you would want to vaccinate Blacks who are about 10 years younger than whites,” Sara Reber, co-author of the Brookings Institute research, said.

The ProPublica article also indicated that studies have found that overall life expectancies are lower for the Black population than the white population and that the age standard is not promoting racial equity.

Life expectancy dropped by a full year in the first half of 2020, but dropped by three years for non-Hispanic Black males and just over two years for non-Hispanic Black females, PBS reported.

Current eligibility in Wisconsin includes adults age 65 and older, while some other states are vaccinating adults age 75 and older. Other eligible groups include frontline health care workers, nursing facility residents and staff, and first responders.

More groups will become eligible in early March, including teachers, some public-facing essential workers and non-frontline essential health care workers.

UW addresses false positives, students discuss concerns

By Sophia Vento STAFF WRITER

A robust COVID-19 testing plan is at the forefront of university efforts to curb the spread of COVID19 across the UW-Madison campus, but some students are reporting the university’s saliva-based testing has given them false positive test results, forcing themselves and acquaintances into isolation.

The university says that the chance of a false positive COVID19 test result is extremely low, as both the saliva-based and nasal swab testing options utilized on campus are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and considered the “gold-standard” of coronavirus tests.

Meredith McGlone, the director of news and media relations at UW-Madison, maintains this sentiment.

“It’s important to understand

that any diagnostic test performed in populations with a low disease prevalence will yield some falsepositive results,” said McGlone, highlighting that PCR tests used by the university are the most specific tests available to detect infection, thus minimizing the number of false positive tests to the greatest possible extent.

McGlone also said the university is not seeing any difference in the frequency of false positives between saliva and nasal swab tests, both of which are PCR tests.

“We are currently reviewing all of the campus test data with an eye toward ensuring public health while minimizing the impact of false-positive results,” said McGlone.

Still, some students say they have received false positive results from the saliva-based test.

Max Peckenschneider, a firstyear student-athlete who tests frequently, recently received a positive test result from an oncampus, saliva-based test. He had COVID-19 early last semester and was surprised to receive another positive result, prompting him to seek another test.

“I took two additional tests to double-check and they both came back negative,” said Peckenschneider. One of these tests was a university test — taken prior to being notified that his test from the previous day had come back positive — and the other through CVS Pharmacy.

Will — a junior who asked to not disclose his full name — tested positive last Friday.

“I was very surprised that I tested positive because everyone around me had been testing nega-

tive for weeks and both of my two in-person classes have pretty good social distancing/mask-wearing precautions,” said Will.

Because UHS does not allow students to complete campus tests after receiving a positive result, Will tested at the Alliant Energy Center the following Saturday, ultimately receiving a negative result this Monday.

He tested again on Tuesday and received another negative result Wednesday.

“The most concerning thing for me is that there could be a significant number of students who got a false-positive and now are not only exempt from testing, but confident that they can’t get the virus,” Will said, underscoring his frustration with the restrictions placed on himself as well as those he has interacted with who were

asked to quarantine by university contact tracers.

The university maintains that they will not accept negative test results from off-campus testing sites, and as a result, Will and his roommates are left with restricted access to campus spaces in accordance with the Safer Badgers app and Badger Badge system.

Will plans on contacting UHS to see if there is anything that can be done to lift the restrictions on his roommates and friends but is weary this will happen.

UW-Madison senior Hayden Rasmussen believes he recently received a false positive test result as well.

“When I first found out I tested positive, I was very shocked,” said Rasmussen. “Like many others, I have been very responsible in the

false positives page 3

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

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Thursday, February 25, 2021

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Drinking during Corona: what’s changed

By Sammie Johnson STAFF WRITER

One year ago, students were packing themselves into bars, fraternities and house parties.

They’d meet new people, travel and drink freely in confined spaces — COVID-19 was only an overlooked whisper. Now, in February 2021, the college drinking scene undoubtedly looks very different than it did last year.

Across campus, students and staff evaluate how their drinking habits and culture have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Are students drinking less or more?

There’s a lot of speculation about whether students are drinking more or less than they did last year. Some think they drink more than last year, just less frequently. Others see the opposite: more frequent drinking but less volume.

“I drink more often [now], but not to the same extent … I have more casual drinks during the week,” said Maggie, a sophomore. However, Sally, a senior, has observed different habits: “The people that I know, they’ll go out less, but when they do go out, they’ll drink more.”

On the other hand, some students think that online courses have contributed to more drinking amongst students.

“I think people are drinking more now just because they have less commitments

“So when you add those three categories together that number jumps to just over 77% [this year] — we’ve never been that high at UW-Madison, and that could have something to do with the pandemic,” said Damask.

AlcoholEDU tests incoming freshmen every year during the summer, then again six weeks into the school year.

Damask notes the longer students are here, the more they tend to drink. However, the percentage of abstainers, nondrinkers and moderate drinkers remains remarkably high.

Despite this trend, the connection between social belonging and drinking amongst students is no secret at UW-Madison.

“In our research, when we looked at scales for connection and belonging, students who drink had a higher level connection and belonging than students who did not drink,” said Damask.

Maintaining a feeling of connection and belonging has been more difficult for students during the pandemic, and many students aren’t willing to give up the social drinking scene just yet.

Let’s hit the bars Despite a trend towards less drinking this year, some students still go to bars.

Maggie says she goes to bars twice a weekend on average.

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to class so they’ll drink on days where normally, if you have class the next day, some people would avoid it. But now it’s all online,” said Brian, a sophomore.

Jenny Damask, a University Health Services substance abuse prevention specialist, reports that students have been drinking less every year at UW-Madison, according to AlcoholEDU. This year is no exception.

Every year, UHS adds up the percentage of students who classify as abstainers — people who haven’t drank in the last year — non-drinkers, people who haven’t drank in the last two weeks but have in the last year, and moderate drinkers — when they do drink, they have four or fewer drinks.

risk of getting COVID when you go out, but I still wanna have the social experience that college is and it’s fun.”

On the other hand, some students choose not to go to bars because of the chance of contracting COVID. Brian decided not to go to bars this year for fear of contracting the illness: “I think going to bars makes COVID worse, because I’ve had friends who got it from going to bars.”

Bars have long been seen as a source of the COVID-19 spread. Last year, photos of students outside downtown bars spread over social media.

A video of masked and maskless students lined up outside of the Double U was shared on Twitter at the beginning

of this spring semester — the second time the establishment has been the center of criticism since summer.

A study by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jeffry Harris determined that trips to the bars played a critical role in the COVID-19 outbreak among UW-Madison students last semester. While the results of the research were controversial, as smartphone tracking data was used to monitor student behavior, Harris did find a strong correlation between bar visits and new infections among students.

According to Damask, COVID often spreads on campus as a result of student drinking scenes. “We saw, with the spread of COVID, especially in the beginning of the school year, a lot of it was related to students and their alcohol use,” she said.

Some students, by contrast, choose not to go to bars because it “isn’t the same.”

“The bar scene is different because you’re sitting at a table with five of your friends.

You can’t have more than six people so you can’t really meet anyone,” said Maggie.

The COVID restrictions in bars, while necessary, have caused frustration amongst students who desire a “going out” experience similar to that of last year. This is especially true for seniors experiencing their last semesters on campus.

“It’s not really worth it … It’s hard to completely blame the bars because they’re doing the best they can, but [the COVID restrictions] just take a lot of the fun out of it,” said Sally.

We’re gonna have a house party Apartment and house parties have risen to take the place of once-packed bars.

In September, more than half of Greek houses near campus were placed in quarantine following an outbreak. Rumors of parties among the fraternities and sororities spread as chapters denied hosting events. Still, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway pointed to social gatherings as being a direct cause of an increase in positive cases as the semester began.

“Let’s be frank — it’s parties,” she said. “It’s people getting together to socialize and not taking the necessary precautions.”

While most bars require guests to stay where they were seated, less than strict enforcement of mask mandates and social distancing at some establishments has led many students to believe that hosting at home may be a safer solution.

“We do want to be somewhat careful, but bars aren’t really careful,” said Sally. “I also don’t want to be with people I don’t really know, and so many people that I know and regularly hang out with have already had Covid, so I feel more comfortable in those settings.”

Sally did state that she’d rather attend a small party as opposed to bigger apartment parties that can become a “free for all.”

Over the last Halloween week-

end, at least 13 residences near UW-Madison’s campus violated public health orders, including one such party in which 91 people gathered in an apartment.

Options on campus UHS recommendations for drinking during the pandemic remain consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines — masks, social distancing, etc.

According to CDC guidelines, gathering virtually or drinking at home with your “bubble” are preferable to attending a party or sitting at a bar.

Additionally, Public Health Madison & Dane County advises against drinking games and gatherings of people who do not live together.

“The bar scene is different because you’re sitting at a table with five of your friends. You can’t have more than six people so you can’t really meet anyone.”

Maggie UW-Madison sophomore

UHS’s main concern regarding the aftermath of the pandemic has less to do with drinking; rather, what the stress and lack of social interaction will do to our mental health, Damask notes.

“I think my biggest concern is mental health and wellbeing. Making sure that if an individual is having a really hard time, they’re not using alcohol to cope with the fact that they may not be connecting with people that they normally would,” said Damask.

For students struggling with alcohol use during the pandemic, there are options here on campus. Badger Recovery is a program with bi-weekly zoom meetings, aimed at helping students struggling with alcohol abuse and to create a fun social setting without alcohol reliance.

“We want people to feel like they can connect and belong at UW without having to drink, but we also recognize the drinking culture at UW and in the state of Wisconsin,” said Damask.

Undeniably, drinking is and has been a rather large part of the college experience here in Madison, the fourth drunkest city in the U.S. The change in UW-Madison’s drinking scene can feel like the missing piece in our now altered college experience — especially for those in their last semester here.

For students wanting the entire college experience, this year’s altered drinking culture can feel defeating, despite being for the greater good.

“I hear my parents, my sisters, who went to Madison, reference their senior year as the year where everything kind of came together as a college experience,” said Sally.

“It’s been a fine senior year, but it is definitely hard.”

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As new COVID strain arrives, experts preach persistence

By Benjamin Farrell STAFF WRITER

Local officials have identified a new and more infectious strain of COVID19 has arrived in Dane County.

UHS Executive Director Jake Baggott emailed the UW-Madison student body Friday revealing the strain’s appearance in the county comes at the same time that approximately 200 students tested positive for COVID-19 in a two day span.

The new strain, known as the B.1.1.7. variant of COVID-19, gained prevalence and media notoriety when it triggered a large and rapid outbreak in London in December of 2020.

“This B.1.1.7. variant was observed in a matter of just months,” Ajay Sethi, Associate Professor of Population Health Science at UW, said. “As they were sequencing the viruses, they discovered that this particular strain seemed to kind of just take over, outcompeting the existing strains that had been circulating.”

According to the CDC, a mutation in the virus’ spike protein causes the B.1.1.7.strain to have higher rates of transmission and

+FALSE POSITIVES age of corona.”

Just three days before his positive test result, Rasmussen tested negative. After receiving the positive test result days later, he followed guidelines — isolating himself and cooperating with contact tracers.

Seven days into Rasmussen’s isolation and after his girlfriend and sister tested negative several times, he went to get another test which came back negative.

Rasmussen contacted the university’s COVID-19 hotline and was told to complete the remainder of his isolation period. He said an individual at the COVID19 hotline told him he would be added to a “list” of other students who believed they had false positives but that he should not “expect to hear back from anyone.” UHS also instructed him to continue isolating himself.

“The whole quarantine was a waste of time, and the people I had name-dropped to the contact tracer were all affected by me, losing access to buildings and such,” said Rasmussen, highlighting his sister’s experience quarantining in the Lowell Center, its effect on her mental health and the university’s refusal to reconsider her quarantine as a result of Rasmussen’s two negative test results.

“This proved to me that the university doesn’t actually care about whether the tests are right or wrong, they are just trying to save themselves from lawsuits,” stressed Rasmussen.

also may make the virus more lethal. Currently employed vaccines are still effective at combating this strain, local officials have said.

The extent to which this particular strain of COVID-19 has spread in Dane County is currently unknown and efforts to track B.1.1.7. are too resourceintensive for medical staff to ascertain a full picture, according to local experts.

“No one has the capacity right now to sequence every virus from every person that’s infected or even from a large number,” said Dr. David Andes, a professor and researcher at UW- Madison. “We don’t know how prevalent it is here in Dane County.

We know it’s here, we know there’s likely more of it than we’ve detected. Everyone’s concerned that it will become the predominant virus because of the characteristics that had been attributed to the virus.”

Sethi stated that Dane County residents can expect to see a rise in cases involving B.1.1.7. in the coming weeks.

“Modeling says it is that, in the As a result of his positive saliva-based test result, Rasmussen is exempt from testing until May, in accordance with university policy.

“So now I don’t have to get tested to enter buildings, and I could easily have the virus, never get tested and the University couldn’t stop me from entering my classes and spreading it to countless others around me,” continued Rasmussen. “The university needs to take these allegations [of false-positive test results] seriously, because myself and many others in similar situations are now running free, with no need to get tested.”

According to Rasmussen, the university has been lackluster in dealing with experiences like his own — citing frustrating phone calls during which staff provided little information or clarity concerning his situation throughout his isolation period.

“I feel like those who have been affected deserve some sort of acknowledgment,” said Rasmussen.

“The tests are not perfect.”

Concerns about the mental health and safety of students on campus led Rasmussen to show frustration with the management of false positive tests.

Yet, he fully supports frequent testing protocols.

“I still believe testing is essential to keeping in-person courses and that everyone should still get tested,” continued Rasmussen. “But please make a better system.”

COURTESY OF SYLVIA YAN

UW-Madison works to combat COVID-19, but false positives raises concerns.

JEFF MILLER/UW-MADISON

Local officials have identified a new COVID-19 strain in Dane County.

United States, we’ll get more of this UK variant spreading in about a month or so,” Sethi stated.

In a statement to the Cardinal, DHS official Dr. Ryan Westergaard commented on the virus’ predicted spread in Dane county and to the

greater Wisconsin area.

“The fact that we’ve found this variant in multiple counties here in Wisconsin among people who have not had international travel gives us a reasonable amount of certainty that this is spreading in the community

from person to person, and we should use that as an indicator that we should step up our effort,” said Westergaard.

Westergaard also encouraged the continued adherence to pre-existing COVID-19 guidelines, stressing strategies such as social distancing and the usage of masks while in public areas.

“That doesn’t mean we should change our strategy. All the strategies about preventing person to person transmission and the importance of vaccinations still apply,” Westergaard said. “This calls for more intensive application of the tools that we have, but this is the same virus and the same vaccines will work.”

Despite the arrival of the B.1.1.7., both Sethi and Andes remain optimistic about the battle against COVID-19, especially in Dane County.

“Things are improving,” Andes said. “The number of patients that we have in the hospital, which COVID is very much smaller than it was a couple months ago. I actually was on CNN talking about this at that time and it was when we were bursting at the seams we didn’t have places to put patients, anywhere. Now, we do.”

ASM denounces xenophobic and transphobic groups

By Anthony Trombi STAFF WRITER

The Associated Students of Madison on Tuesday voted to endorse two statements from student organizations denouncing xenophobia and transphobia on campus.

One statement, authored by the Filipinx American Student Organization (FASO), regarded violence that Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) students endure on college campuses. The second statement, made by LGBTQ law student group QLaw, denounced the appearance of anti-transgender group Women’s Liberation Front (WLF) in the law school’s Wisconsin Public Interest Interview Program (WPIIP).

“APIDA being recognized by the campus is really important, especially right now” Lourdes Puig UW-Madison Student

In their statement, FASO listed multiple demands that call upon UW-Madison to acknowledge and denounce xenophobia towards Asian Americans nationwide, enforce and uphold penalties at the University level increase resources and encourage students to report acts of discrimination and discriminatory behavior. The document also called upon local government officials to recognize this targeted hate.

“As someone who is both Asian and Pacific Islander, it means a lot to me to see FASO introduce this statement,” UW-Madison student Lourdes Puig said. “APIDA being recognized by the campus is really important especially right now.”

Later, a brief discussion and debate occurred between representatives over a memorandum

that explains potential lobbying from UW-Madison towards ASM members.

ASM also passed in a vote of 21-0-2 to endorse the statement from QLaw. The document shows QLaw’s opinion of the Women’s Liberation Front very clearly.

“WLF is a radical, transphobic organization. WLF’s sole purpose is to lobby against equal protection for and acceptance of trans people, specifically trans women,” according to QLaw. “WLF should be removed from WPIIP because their organization does not simply hold transphobic beliefs, they advocate for transphobic policies and engage in harmful acts of transphobia.”

ASM’s passing of their endorsement exemplifies their support for QLaw and their decision to denounce WLF’s inclusion within the Law School. QLaw requested WLF be removed from WIPIIP in meetings with the Law School but the Law School has refused to remove WLF due to First Amendment protections.

“I first want to start by emphasizing my comfortability with specifying my pronouns as it is something I, an assigned female at birth and fem presenting human have the privilege of being able to do and say without the fear of someone discrediting my gender due to my sex,” said Tarah Stangler, co-founder of the BIPOC coalition. “I want to bring this to the attention of the council because I would like you all to endorse the statement put forth by QLaw and work on finding ways to ensure that trans students, staff and faculty feel welcomed and represented on campus.”

A budget alteration for APIDA heritage month event was passed unanimously. The legislation states that $6,500 will be moved from the General Travel budget line to the General Programming line in the ASM internal budget,

allowing for APIDA to provide programming for APIDA heritage month this April.

“I want to voice my support for the legislature put forward regarding the allocation of budget for APIDA heritage month” Daniel Sanji UW-Madison Student

“I want to voice my support for the legislation put forward regarding the allocation of budget for APIDA heritage month,” said Daniel Sanji, a Junior studying psychology and Asian American Studies. “I work for the APIDA student center and want to celebrate the students on campus that identify as Asian Pacific Islander Desi America.”

Next, ASM discussed legislation that commends UW-Madison’s implementation of COVID-19 vaccines. This legislation instructs the university to “continue providing educational matters on the COVID-19 vaccines and to allow students to make the best health decisions for themselves by including notices of availability and the risks and limitations of the vaccines,” and will be voted on at a future meeting.

The last piece of legislation discussed UW-Madison’s financial budget and the university’s spending. In the legislation, ASM rejects the fiscal year 2022 budget, calls for the Wisconsin Union and Recreation and Wellbeing to find other sources for funding other than through an increase in segregated fees and to increase hourly wages for workers to $11.

This legislation did not pass and will be voted on in the next ASM student council meeting on Tuesday, March 9.

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Thursday, February 25, 2021

By Lara Klein STAFF WRITER

Eighty-six percent of all division one public schools require journalists to reach out to their athletic departments in order to interview an athlete. Yes, even Sports Illustrated has to go through Wisconsin Athletics in order to talk to Graham Mertz.

Furthermore, many sports writers– admittedly even myself – unintentionally exploit student athletes for their gameday stats, and ignore their daily struggles, triumphs, and everyday experiences as students.

This all began to change last year when students at the University of North Carolina launched UNCUT, a student-run media platform that allows student athletes the opportunity to tell their stories via peer-to-peer communication. Now, UNCUT is coming to Madison.

Content that appears on UNCUT’s website and social media accounts is posted by student athletes and is intended for a target audience consisting of their classmates, fans, and teammates.

This peer-to-peer style of communication effectively cuts out the middleman (the athletic department), with the intention that this will make content more authentic.

Since UNCUT’s successful launch in Chapel Hill, Duke, Virginia Tech, and Appalachian State have started their own UNCUT platforms. On March 3rd, Wisconsin’s UNCUT site will be the first in the Big Ten – but how did UNCUT Madison come to be?

The answer dates back to November 3rd, 2020: Election Day. Coincidentally, Olivia Hancock, a junior studying marketing at UW, and Dana Rettke, senior middle blocker for Wisconsin’s No. 1 ranked volleyball team, were scheduled to volunteer at the same polling site that day.

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Hancock, the head of operations for UNCUT Madison, had read about UNC’s platform and was inspired to launch an extension at UW to empower student athletes. The only problem was, she didn’t know any athletes – an essential piece to the collaborative puzzle.

“As a life-long Badger fan, I have always wanted to know more about student-athletes at UW-Madison, but every article I read or TV interview I watched only focused on how many points they scored or how many games they won,” Hancock told us. “Now more than ever, it’s so important that we amplify the voices of athletes everywhere. As a fan and aspiring sports-business professional, I felt like this was a way to make a real impact on campus.”

Election Day provided Hancock with the opportunity she was looking for to bond with a student athlete, and she got to work strategically positioning herself to work in the same area as Rettke at the polling site. As their conversation flowed throughout the day, Hancock eventually shared her dream of launching UNCUT Madison, and Rettke responded enthusiastically to the idea.

Following Hancock and Rettke’s fortuitous encounter they were able to spark interest among other student athletes to join their leadership team, including Rettke’s teammate Liz Gregorski. Rettke now heads up the site’s brand management while Gregorski, a redshirt freshman outside hitter, works as a content strategist and producer for the platform. “[UNCUT] combines two things that I am super passionate about, digital media and human connection,” Gregorski said.

“Being a part of the UNCUT team was a blessing that fell in my lap, thanks to Dana and Olivia, and I am so excited to create entertain-

DIANE NORDSTROM /UW ATHLETICS

Liz Gregorski (left) and Dana Rettke (right) both work with UNCUT Madison to grow and produce stories. ing content where fellow student athletes share the stories they want to tell.”

In preparation for their launch, Hancock told us she had several meetings with UNCUT leadership teams at other Universities.

Madison’s platform will closely resemble UNC’s prototype, with a few tweaks that make it unique.

One thing that makes Madison’s UNCUT platform distinct from others is the addition of an advisory board made up of Badger alumni in the professional sports business world.

Advisors who will help grow the platform include Mitchell Pinta, Director of business development for the NFL, and Casey Schwab, the CEO and co-founder of Altius Sports Partners.

With the goals of letting athletes share what’s important to them, tell their stories, and be themselves, UNCUT gives student athletes the opportu-

nity to build their own brand.

This could become increasingly beneficial in light of changes to the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy.

Changes to NIL legislation have the potential to allow college athletes to financially profit from the use of their names, images, and likenesses as early as sometime this year. Schools that have an UNCUT website could have been advantageous for student athletes who leverage the platform to start shaping their brand early.

As far as specific content, UNCUT Madison will feature vivid first-person storytelling, video features highlighting athletes lesser-known skills, roundtable conversations over a shared topic or experience, and accounts from Badger alumni recounting what being a Badger has meant to them over their career.

Anticipated content set to be published soon after the initial

launch includes “sit-down” conversations over video chat with top Badger playmakers; a football player’s piece on injuries, COVID-19, and adversity; and an account of an athlete struggling with mental health.

While some content is sure to be heart-wrenching and cover serious or controversial topics, Hancock told Sports Business Journal that other posts will be more light hearted. “We’ll have some fun stuff in there too,” said Hancock. “We’ll ask the athletes about their favorite late-night food and their relationship status.”

Content will primarily be posted on their Instagram @ uncut_madison and website UNCUTMadison.com, so be sure to check those out starting March 3rd if you’re dying to know which fast food restaurant you’re favorite Badger Hockey player is most likely to be ordering late night delivery from.

Ex-Badger receiver Quintez Cephus sues UW-Madison

By Simon Farber SPORTS EDITOR

Former Wisconsin wide receiver Quintez Cephus is suing the university for violating due process rights, Title IX provisions and breach of contract, the current Detroit Lion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday afternoon.

Cephus, who is seeking unspecified dam-

ages for the accused violations, was arrested on second- and third-degree sexual assault charges in Aug. 2018 following a sexual encounter with two 18-year-old UW students in his apartment earlier that April. The university administered a Title IX investigation of the incident, suspending Cephus from the Wisconsin football team and expelling him from UW for violating the

CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Cephus was the Badgers' No. 1 receiver on the team that made it to the 2020 Rose Bowl.

school’s nonacademic misconduct code.

Cephus was acquitted by jury of all charges on Aug. 2, 2019 after a deliberation of just 45 minutes, and was reinstated to Wisconsin football shortly after. Cephus’ lawyer, Andrew Wittenberg, told the Associated Press that the Title IX investigation’s conclusions were “an egregious miscarriage of justice.” “[Cephus] wants to set a precedent so that schools are more careful and more diligent in how they proceed on these cases and not just sort of rushing ahead to judgment when they know for a fact they don’t have all the evidence,” Miltenberg said.

Within the complaint, Miltenberg claims that UW-Madison used Cephus as a “scapegoat” to make up the school’s prior negligence surrounding sexual assault. “[UW-Madison was] seeking to push for harsh male prosecutions in order to remedy its long-standing failure to address sexual assault complaints,” the complaint reads. “[Cephus was] the perfect candidate for the university to prove its investigative efforts and punish accused males in a high-profile way.”

For Cephus, his return to football for the 2019 season was a sweeping success. He led the Badgers that fall with 59 receptions for

901 yards and seven touchdowns, including crucial scores against No. 11 Michigan and No. 8 Minnesota to lead Wisconsin to victory.

“I think that was the moment where I realized what God has in store for me,” Cephus said back in Sept. 2019 after a huge performance against Central Michigan in which he hauled in 130 yards and two touchdowns. “He has brought me to this point. To have a little success was a big thing for me.”

I’ve worked hard to get back here. Just very thankful for the plans that God has had for me. I’m just living as his son and trusting everything that he has coming forward.”

Cephus’ strong return earned him a fifth-round selection (166 overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft. The wide receiver played in 13 games this past fall due to injuries within Detroit’s wide-receiver room, totaling 20 receptions and two touchdowns.

Miltenberg told the Associated Press that NFL agents and analysts believe Cephus’ expulsion cost him multiple spots in the draft.

“While we are reviewing the complaint filed by Mr. Cephus, we’re confident UW-Madison followed appropriate processes in this matter,” university spokesman John Lucas responded in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

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dailycardinal.com

Thursday, February 25, 2021

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‘Nomadland’ is perfect for right now

By Dominic Lerose STAFF WRITER

Rarely does a film get released at a time that perfectly captures the current mood and struggles that so many people are actively experiencing.

When a movie can reflect such universal experiences and remain grounded in an authentic, surreal cinematic style, you can’t help but be moved.

Such is the case for “Nomadland,” one of the biggest frontrunners for best picture at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Director Chloe Zhao has created a profound examination of the human experience that bleeds with beauty and pain.

Similar to her debut feature “The Rider” from 2017, Zhao features real people instead of actors to follow her protagonist’s journey in rural America.

With her newest feature, the director subtly explores the aches of loneliness, poverty and perseverance in a way that few directors attempt to tackle.

“Nomadland” follows a woman named Fern (Frances McDormand, in another moving performance from the veteran actress) who, after losing her husband, hits the road out west to live as a modern-day nomad.

Losing her home after her zip code in rural Nevada was discontinued, Fern meets several people in the Dakotas, all of whom are played by real nomads, giving the film a unique authenticity that enriches the story.

Zhao does a good job of avoiding romanticizing the

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Frances McDormand plays Fern, a grieving widow who decides to hit the road and become a nomad. nomadic lifestyle.

Instead of glamorizing the idea of being a free-spirited nomad who goes wherever they please, the director explores the harsh realities of finding work, staying warm, and developing connections and discovering real, true meaning.

This provides another layer to the story and allows viewers to consider a reality that might not be so mainstream.

Utilizing actual nomads in the film makes every scene feel raw and takes us away from the fact that we’re witnessing a movie.

Zhao’s style feels more like a documentary at times, and with

Mcdormand’s nuanced performance we forget we’re witnessing a narrative.

Much of “Nomadland’s” strength is that there isn’t a central conflict or plot.

Rather than tell a story in which we learn a great deal about our protagonist as they work their way through a specific mission, Zhao takes us into a real lifestyle that people in the urban and suburban world are so distant from.

The movie presents both the liberation and the struggle that the nomadic lifestyle brings.

Zhao is determined from start to finish to find truth in her direction and she is very successful in

doing so. The filmmaker proves she’s an auteur who is subtle about what she wants to say in her films.

Many who watch the film will question what the point of the film is, yet most of the meaning in the film is derived from its visual depth. In every shot we feel the work of a cinematographer at play.

There’s so much visual weight throughout the film, whether that be in the form of a drastic landscape, a hauntingly beautiful setting that is depicted artfully or a dramatic silhouette.

The painful and beautiful world we’re invited into looks all the better with the rhythmic piano score that captures the

mood throughout the entirery of the film.

Zhao is focused on highlighting the lives of those who have mostly been forgotten. This gives us a unique, fresh perspective on something many people might not know or think about.

Most nomads in present day America have been led into the lifestyle due to economic burdens or personal losses.

McDormand captures the heart of isolation and hope in every scene, her performance utterly convincing us of the essence of a wounded spirit and someone searching for meaning.

In today’s age of the coronavirus that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and resulted in millions of others’ losing their jobs and descending into poverty, “Nomadland” is a beacon of light that reminds us of the resilience of humanity and can encourage us all to try to keep moving forward.

There’s something so pure and unscathed about how moving the final few segments of the film are, almost as if it was meant to be made for those grieving from the negativity and stresses of 2020 and 2021.

“Nomadland” connects us to our own fragility with its eloquent mission to explore the vulnerabilities of humanity.

This is a fresh approach to filmmaking that may be tough to sit through due to its slow nature but effortlessly captures us with its beauty.

“Nomadland” is currently available to stream on Hulu.

New Netflix crime doc falls short of anticipated suspense

By Maddie Urlaub STAFF WRITER

On February 11, Netflix released a four-episode documentary about the mystery case of Elisa Lam. In early 2013, Lam was reported missing after staying at the infamous Cecil Hotel located in Los Angeles.

The documentary follows this crime through the perspectives of the hotel manager at the time, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), hotel guests and the “internet sleuths”. Through multiple views, viewers are walked through one of the most bewildering and puzzling crime scenes of the decade.

Initial Thoughts Watching the documentary you are left trying to figure out the case yourself, much like people on the internet were doing in real-time during the investigation. The show brings up interesting points of people thinking the police could have been trying to cover up their mistakes and just how intrigued people online were trying finding out what really happened to her.

In the beginning of the documentary, you learn about the Cecil Hotel’s dark history regarding hotel guest deaths, which suggests that Elisa’s case is no surprise. As the documentary goes on, you are not gifted with information to help solve the case, but instead are only more

confused. This Netflix show ends with the case still on your mind days later, asking yourself, could that have really happened?

WARNING: The rest of the article does contain SPOILERS! Internet Sleuths “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” gives internet sleuths a bad name, portraying them as people causing more harm than good as they look into and find interest in Lam’s case. Mentioned in the documentary, the LAPD first asked for help from the public regarding any information they had about Elisa Lam before they found her.

It’s odd that they would then shame internet sleuths for looking more into the investigation with information and video footage that was released from the LAPD themselves.

It is a natural curiosity for people to want to know what happened.

Lawsuit Towards the end of the documentary, Lam’s family presses charges against the Cecil Hotel with a negligence lawsuit. The judge ruled Lam’s death unforeseeable because the water tank in which her body was found was in an employees only site. This lawsuit was only briefly mentioned with the hotel manager quickly dismissing it. It would have been more engrossing to have had more time and different people’s point of views on the lawsuit instead

of a quick introduction.

Hotel Manager The hotel manager offers one of the main viewpoints told throughout the documentary and she participated because she doesn’t want to remain quiet on the subject and she has hope of the Cecil Hotel having a brighter future. With the hotel’s dark past, it is hard to see any promising future for it and it is a surprise that it has remained open for so long.

Mental Health At the end of the documentary we are left with the assumption Elisa Lam’s death was due to her bipolar disorder. The show hired an expert to speak about her disorder briefly, but not enough was spoken about it. The show did not stretch the fact that her death was because of her mental disorder of being bipolar, and it’s worth it to take it seriously, which makes the audience see this documentary as unfinished.

Final Thoughts This show was hyped up and the story is a roller coaster in itself; however, the retelling of this case was underwhelming. The documentary had the right people to interview and the right case to cover, yet the storytelling part was the issue. With a 6/10 on IMDb, a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 2/5 on Common Sense Media, Crime Scene: “The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” was plain mediocre.

ROBYN BECK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

"Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel" has recieved shady reviews.

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dailycardinal.com

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Yet Another Mediocre White Man Decides to Launch a Podcast

By Nick Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR

GRPAHIC COURTESY OF COURTESY OF JP DANKO VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

Forced to come of age in an era characterized by near-ubiquitous economic insecurity, ecological catastrophe and the slow collapse of a once-hegemonic empire, UW junior Brett Brungle has decided to confront his bleak reality the only way he knows how to: start a podcast.

His idea was mostly inspired by Joe Rogan, who Brungle believes to be the smartest man on the planet.

“You gotta listen to the episode where he has on Elon Musk. It’s so epic,” he said.

Brungle enlisted one of his brothers from his fra-

ternity, Phi Omega Omega, to co-host the podcast with him.

“Between you and me, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed,” Brungle told us. “But then of course, I’m pretty sure I have an IQ of 200, just lower than Joe Rogan, so we’ll probably be ok.”

To minimize expenses, Brungle has decided he won’t invest in any professional recording equipment and will instead just use his four-yearold laptop’s microphone.

“Who cares if it sounds like I’m talking underwater into a tin can?” Brungle said.

“It’s all about being smart, like Joe Rogan.”

Brungle also assured us that content-wise, the podcast will bring absolutely

nothing new or original to the table.

“I will probably just rip segments and bits off of the podcasts that I listen to and then execute them very poorly,” Brungle said. ...

In entirely unrelated news, The Daily Cardinal Almac is launching a weekly podcast!

It will be hosted by Almanac Co-Editors Nick/ Gillian Rawling, junior electrical engineering major Ben Everson and junior economics major Jake Anderson.

Our pilot episode will be posted to the Almanac section of dailycardinal.com on Thursday, March 4.

Donald Trump Bought Some Really Weird Shit

By Gillian Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR

The day of reckoning for Donald J. Trump has finally arrived: This week the New York tyrant’s tax returns were released to the public and the Department of Justice is at last able to expose the scamming, cheating scum he really is.

Some interesting things have been revealed from this paper trail that no one, not even his closest associates, had predicted.

“I knew he was spending a shit ton of money, but I kind of just figured that it was going towards coke and extramarital affairs while he was on one of his many golfing trips in Mar A Lago,” remarked Trump’s ex-attorney Rudi Gulliani.

So what exactly were these surprise purchases by the Trump family? We had our chief tax analyst at The Daily Cardinal take a look and this is what we found out:

1. Donald Trump actually donated.

In 2016, during the peak of his presidential bid, Trump donated obscene — and I do mean obscene — amounts of money to help hair loss victims in Rwanda. You can’t say he isn’t charitable!

2. Bleach April 2020, Trump’s Amazon Prime account suggests he purchased industrial amounts of bleach and syringes to the White House.

3. Giant pool toys For Donald’s “hot girl summer” he ordered several car sized floaty toys. Our tax analyst reluctantly concluded that these had to have been for Barron.

4. Adult-sized changing table and bouncing seat with table We have no words for this one.

5. Sun-tan booths Donald Trump independently contracted out Sun-Tan City to install a range of tanning beds and booths throughout the

GRAPHIC BY LYRA EVANS

White House and Capitol buildings. To no one’s surprise, he paid none of the installers. You’re welcome Joe Biden!!!

6. Books We had never expected the mind of Trump to analyze literature, but low and behold he spent thousands on self-help

books with titles like: “How to Get My Wife to Touch Me”, “The Rules of Incest: Can I Date my Daughter?”, “How to Gain Support” and finally — and most horrifically — “Mein Kampf”.

Surprisingly, the list goes on through thousands of dollars worth of pyramid scheme deals purchased

through Twitter and Instagram DMs and skin care products we presume he gifted to carry the support of Mitch McConnel.

When reached for comment, Trump said he had “no regrets,” and suggested that his spending habits would continue long after he leaves office.

Nine ways to get UW-Madison vaccinated — with and without force

By Hannah Ritvo ALMANAC CONTRIBUTER

Every day, vaccination access is becoming more widespread.

However, we all know some people who swear they will never get the COVID-19 vaccine. Chad from

your business class, the girl on your floor who was a little too into the moon landing being fake or maybe the entirety of PIKE. Thus, the UW-Madison administration must decide if they will make the vaccination a require-

ment for returning to school in the fall. Here are nine ways Becky and the administration can incentive the student body to get vaccinated.

1. Feature vaccine recipients on Badger Barstool There is no honor higher than being posted on Badger Barstool, and many students would do anything for this privilege.

2. Arm starship robots with vaccines You’re minding your business, walking to Memorial Union to start studying for your biology test on Thursday. You notice a starship robot out of the corner of your eye, but think nothing of it. Until it grabs you by the throat, whispers in your ear, and slams the vaccine into your arm.

3. Randomly pick a vaccinated student to replace Abe We all know the Abraham Lincoln

statue on Bascom Hill is insensitive.

Let’s replace it with the statue of one lucky vaccinated student.

4. Vaccinate an actual badger on live stream This would not only be extremely cute, it would also allow students to learn through imitation.

5. Wager number one party school ranking Democrat, Republican, there’s one thing UW-Madison students can agree on: Their pride of being America’s number one party school. Remind students that without vaccinations, life on campus cannot return to normal and UW-Madison could lose this honorary title to Indiana, or even worse, University of Illinois. Who wants that?

6. Sneak into frats and spike drinks Simply inserting a liquid ver-

sion of the covid vaccine into a random Theta Chi punch bowl would get all freshmen in greek life vaccinated in one weekend.

7. Unlimited stir fry With Gordon’s not opening any real food stations this year, freshmen are eating one thing for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert: the stir fry. This offer would be too good to turn up.

8. Venmo everyone who gets vaccinated 10 bucks College kids will do a lot for money.

9.Enter everyone vaccinated in a raffle to have lunch with Becky Throwing it back to elementary school with this one, when kids would enter a raffle for a coveted teacher-student lunch.

Who wouldn’t enjoy a 30 minute Nitty Gritty conversation with Becky.

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

Life & Style A concise conversation about Converse dailycardinal.com

Thursday, February 25, 2021

By Katherine Lyons STAFF WRITER

The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star, nearly everyone owns a pair or has at some point in their life — maybe they’re still sitting in the back of your closet from middle school — regardless, they are a staple shoe for anyone’s closet.No matter the gender identity, nor the age range, these shoes are perfect for everyday wear, and they’ve somehow managed to stay relevant for even the highest of high fashion connoisseurs.

Others have come close when it comes to replicating the quintessential silhouette, but the tried and true will always be Converse! When it comes to versatility, Converse is as close as it gets, proving that sometimes less really is more.

The iconic rubber-soled, canvas high top sneaker first emerged over a century ago in 1917 as a basketball shoe, tied to none other than Chuck Taylor himself.Marquis Mills Converse began his new company, Converse Rubber Shoe Company, with the production of rubber soled winter shoes.

Looking to expand, Marquis and the Converse brand turned to an appealing new market: sport footwear.

Basketball was a relatively new sport having emerged in the later half of the 19th century and was steadily growing in popularity post-war. After Taylor’s death in the

60s, Converse hit a decline as sports footwear brands like Adidas, Puma, Reebok and Nike began gaining momentum with their technological innovations, to which Converse fell short of. By switching its target audience to everyday street wear, All Stars reemerged as an essential to youth culture — no amount of advertising campaigns could rival the sales that followed after Kurt Cobain sported a roughed up pair of black Chuck Taylors. Converse became synonymous with the subcultures of the world.Over the last hundred years it has massively evolved with countless variations, colorways, and collaborations being turned out year after year. It is arguably one of the most universal sneakers out there, satisfying the needs of many and extending its reach into every niche social group that may exist.

Sitting at $55 brand new from the Converse official website, they are a fairly inexpensive, yet durable shoe that will never go out of style. Dirty from darties? They’re canvas, toss them in the washing machine and there you have it, clean as the day you bought them!

The ability to remain popular over time is obviously a very difficult thing to accomplish as a brand, sure Nike and Adidas are able to do so, but keep in mind they offer a multitude of products outside of the footwear realm, and engage in rather aggressive marketing techniques. While

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Converse does offer other products, the few t-shirts that are available aren’t anything noteworthy. But hey, why ruin the good thing they’ve got going on, after all, there is a Chuck Taylor out there for every occasion. No other model for a sneaker has remained classically the same for nearly as long as Converse’s All Stars have — every 43 seconds, someone in the world purchases a pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars.

A shoe so old yet seemingly everlasting that even if you are looking for something a bit more unique than the average pair, they’ve got you covered as well. With collaborations from the past couple years ranging from the likes of Comme des Garçons — you have definitely seen someone strut by you with a slew of red smiling hearts on the side of their high tops, but maybe now you know it comes from this Japanese fashion house collab — to Maison Margiela, Virgil Abloh (Off-White), Tyler, The Creator (GOLF), etc.

The list goes on and on, and ranges vastly from that of Carhartt, in their most recent drop to appeal to the rise in workwear and craze for the color brown, to that of Dior’s Designer, Yoo Ahn and his reimagined spin on the winter boots that Converse actually used to produce for the United States military way back when. In conclusion, the high-top converse is truly a timeless shoe.

Adopt a new furry friend

By Haley Harris STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF THEKARLIS DAMBRANS

Owning a smartwatch can be both good and bad for your physical/mental health.

The pros and cons of a smartwatch

By Kelsey Barrett STAFF WRITER

Trying to get fit? You should buy a fitness watch! They track how many calories you burn each day, they set daily goals for you to accomplish, and some of them even monitor the rhythm of your sleep. Sounds great, right? Maybe not.

I bought a fitness watch this July, and my relationship with it is a bumpy road. At first, I was loving the experience. Immediate bursts of serotonin flooded my body when I would complete a jog and see that my “calories burned” goal was almost achieved. It motivated me to go on walks throughout the day, and it constantly reminded me that I should exercise more.

While this was great at the start of my fitness journey, I realized that

it may not have been affecting me well from a mental stand-point.

Exercising became a chore and completing all of the fitness goals the watch set for me became overwhelming. It made me think that taking a single off-day was a bad thing, rather than something my body needed.

There came a point when I realized the fitness watch was dictating parts of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I still use my watch and I think there is great value to it, but it was important for me to reflect on the relationship I had with it, and learn to establish boundaries.

To anyone who wears a fitness watch or is thinking about buying one, my advice is this; don’t get too caught up in how many calories you burn each day.

While calories matter to some degree, they are not the make-all breakall of health.

If your watch is telling you to get up and move but you don’t feel like it, don’t! You should only workout when you truly want to and when your body feels ready.

You don’t have to wear it every single day. If you work-out and don’t record it on your watch, guess what? Your body still got through the workout and the endorphins were still flowing.

The premise of this piece is to remind you that mental and physical health should be in sync. Try not to sacrifice your mental health while working on your physical health and vise- versa. Buy a fitness watch if you feel like you can maintain a balance between the two.

Let’s talk about comfort food. Close your eyes and picture your favorite food to indulge on. It could be a piece of chocolate cake, some chicken fried rice, a roll of sushi, or a bean burrito, some pad Thai, a greasy pizza or even something as simple as mashed potatoes. Is your mouth watering yet? Regardless of what your comfort food looks and tastes like, I bet we can all agree it contains way too much sugar, flour and/or sodium, but I would argue these ingredients are what makes it so tasty in the first place!

Personally, when looking to fill my belly with comfort, I often choose plain old noodles with butter. You may think this is lame, but considering how I am a broke college student, I really do appreciate the low cost of both noodles and butter, and honestly, it tastes amazing!

If you are someone who primarily fills their body

with healthy nutrients, first I would like to say “kudos to you” because my self-control could really use some work in the food department, and second, I would like to present an alternative option for comfort: Noodle the cat, not the food.

Noodle is a male domestic shorthair cat. He is six years old and currently resides at the Dane County Humane Society.

He weighs about nine pounds which means he is the perfect size to hold in your arms and snuggle with all day long without your arms crippling with exhaustion! He is a very handsome cat with orange fur on his back and white fur covering his belly.

He loves affection from humans, and in return, I promise he will give you maximum comfort!

Noodle currently has an Upper Respiratory Infection (URI). Fortunately, he is on some medication which should help clear it up soon.

Other than his URI, Noodle appears to be very healthy;

however, once he finds a new home, a check-up visit with a veterinarian would be a good idea.

Noodle will not be available to adopt until Feb. 24 due to him being on a stray period. But if nobody claims him by Wednesday, he would love it if you adopted him and presented him with a new home! His adoption fee is an affordable 60 dollars plus tax.

If you would like to move forward with this process, please visit the following link: Dane County Humane Society - Noodle.

Ultimately, no food, not even noodles with butter, will provide you with more comfort than Noodle is willing to offer you. Instead of indulging in your favorite comfort food, consider adopting an adorable cat like Noodle.

Or even better, eat a bowl of buttery noodles while relaxing in your bed with a furry cat curled-up on your lap and I promise you, both the carbs and the cat’s soothing purr, will lull you to sleep.

COURTESY OF THE DANE COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY

Interested in adopting Noodle? Contact the Dane County Humane Society.

opinion The liberal mask off: The issue of political mudslinging 8 • dailycardinal.com

By Anupras Mohapatra SENIOR STAFF WRITER

If the last four years of American political theatrics have taught us anything, it is that politicians and their kin are often made out to be celebrities, and their supporters are willing to defend their every move by mudslinging at opponents. The cult-like devotion of Trump supporters is likely to persist long into the future of the Republican party. Anyone remotely critical of their leader is immediately labeled communist or socialist, to the point that these words no longer seem to hold meaning.

Ad hominem responses are rife in political discourse on social media, and the most die-hard Trump supporters deal almost exclusively in them. However, this is all well documented. Those on the receiving end of the abuse, however, do not receive nearly as much attention, when they probably should.

There are two main groups on the receiving end: progressives and liberals. To Trump supporters — quite likely today’s most dominant conservative wing — they’re both one and the same, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Progressive discourse is not perfect by any means and

can certainly invoke ad hominems when on the defensive, but it is often centred around real-world issues. Talk is often focused on policy decisions like redistributing police budgets, raising the minimum wage, establishing universal healthcare or canceling student debt. Some might dismiss this as idealistic, but such conversations are perhaps more rooted in reality than others.

Liberals, on the other hand, find themselves countering offense with more offense. They too rely strongly on ad hominem rhetoric. While an offensive approach is understandable — people around the world have felt great disgust at the recent state of affairs in America — liberals can often appear out of touch in their positions of comfort. Despite this, they can always tout the fact that they’re opposing evil in order to establish the moral high ground.

In fact, this helped a handful of Twitter accounts skyrocket to popularity, as onlookers cheered them on for tweeting out direct insults at Trump and driving discourse that way. A similar formula took hold of late night television as well, to the point that monologues from every major show sounded

exactly the same, hitting the same talking points and attempting to be snarky.

The reality is that liberals can say a lot of objectionable things while on the offensive, the difference being that their perceived moral high ground protects them from the criticism levied at many Trump supporters. Perhaps their views aren’t necessarily as abrasive as white supremacists and their enablers, but when on the offensive, their mask of self-righteousness falls to the ground.

Take the discourse surrounding Melania Trump for instance.

The former first lady faced the ire of liberals, as did pretty much all of Trump’s family. A lot of it could be justified too. Her history shows instances of tone deafness, like her choice to wear the “I don’t really care, do u?” jacket while visiting detained children at the U.S. border, or when she was accused of plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech.

Such actions should rightly be criticized. However, the liberal offensive in the last four years — and even today — leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Her modeling history and

Slovenian background are often brought up to disparage her in a manner that is, quite frankly, misogynistic and unnecessary.

By trying to propose what a first lady should and should not be like, self-proclaimed “feminists” are inadvertently furthering the repression they claim to stand against. Even Mark Hamill — a very active celebrity on liberal Twitter — made a rather distasteful tweet about elegance, now deleted, in response to a Breitbart tweet reshared by Donald Trump that called Melania the “most elegant first lady in American history,” which I found disappointing.

Criticism of her actions is valid.

Ad hominems of this nature, on the other hand, not so much.

Trump’s physique and mental aptitude have also been targets of abuse. Yes, Trump himself engaged in such attacks, questioning President Biden’s mental aptitude and mocking a disabled reporter, but again, the objective is to be better and not stoop to the same level. Besides, getting under Trump’s skin did not yield any change and only ignited further mudslinging. What ultimately made the difference in the 2020 election was grassroots campaign-

ing and issue-based rhetoric that mobilized voters, not necessarily the bile churned out in the form of ad hominems.

If anything, liberals who relished hurling insults at Trump without any thought for the future presented an opportunity for Republicans who no longer backed Trump. In late 2019, the Lincoln Project was born. A super PAC run by former and current Republicans, its sole purpose was to ensure Trump — and other contesting Republicans — lost their races in the 2020 Election. The main move in the Lincoln Project’s playbook was to air targeted ads that would draw the ire of Trump and get under his skin in a way that liberals could only wish for. Such a prospect was clearly mouthwatering to liberal donors, as the PAC raised about $90 million since its inception.

However, the founders — all of them seasoned Republican veterans — might very well have taken advantage of the liberal donors.

For starters, the super PAC has come under fire for funneling received donations to its advisory board, spending comparatively little — only about $27 million — on

advertising. The group allegedly also engages in practices that make it difficult to trace the movement of their money.

Internet content creators have also fallen prey to the group, with the Lincoln Project stealing content without crediting the creators in any way.

In recent days, there have also been allegations of inappropriate behavior against cofounder John Weaver, with 21 men accusing him of sending them sexually explicit messages. The raft of questions surrounding finances and John Weaver saw fellow co-founder Steve Schmidt step down from his position within the group.

While there’s no doubt that the Lincoln Project helped in some way to take down Trump, and it would be wrong to write them off entirely, it is important to note that the Lincoln Project simply is not the ally that liberals think they are. A simple glance at the history of its founding members and the aforementioned accusations tells us that much.

But when considering the brand of ad hominems adapted by liberals in their cru-

sade against Trump, does this really matter to them? Is there really that much of a difference between the liberals and those on the right? I have seen remarks made by proud liberals aimed at people on food stamps, or at anyone and everyone living in red states, or simply when talented female musicians decide to express themselves by smashing a guitar like several male musicians in the past have. Misogyny and contempt for the poor are often blatant for those on the right, but far more subtle for the Lincoln Project types. It can be hard to notice, and with the moral high ground often called in favor of liberals, it is often ignored.

However, when the mask falls off, there really isn’t much difference at all.

Anupras is a senior Staff Writer and a sophomore studying Computer Science and journalism.

Are ad hominems useful? Do you think the Lincoln Project can be trusted? Are liberals and conservatives more alike than typically thought of? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com

Vote Ayomi Obuseh for new District 8 Alder The importance of city politics

view

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

The whirlwind of national politics continues to take us by storm. In the midst of ongoing national crises — public health to racial reckoning to environmental degradation to the very livelihood of our democracy — local politics breathes in some fresh air of hope and trust in those who seek to represent us.

The race for District 8 alder on the Madison Common Council, a position that largely represents the University of Wisconsin campus and nearby neighborhoods, has long been held by a UW student. A representative who speaks up on campus safety and environmental justice in our communities and neighborhoods, while bringing in a unique and often overlooked perspective to policy making.

Ayomi Obuseh and Juliana Bennett — the candidates who aim to replace the seat currently held

by Max Prestigiacomo — are clear indications of young civic leaders who are fighting for equity, sustainability and progressive policies. In their conversations with the Editorial Board, both candidates spoke extensively and passionately about their vision for Madison, a vision of affordable housing and public safety in the form of community control.

However, there is only one candidate that can both represent students and the heart of Madison as a community — only one candidate to implement change on day one.

Because of her experience advocating and working alongside fellow Madison residents and orga-

nizations, her diplomatic approach to city government and her knowledge on issues that most affect students and Madison-at-large, The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board is proudly endorsing Ayomi Obuseh for District 8 Alder.

For years, Ayomi has been an advocate of much needed change.

She led the fight for teacher diversity at Madison West High School, co-founded Impact Demand — a youth-led activist group — and marched on Washington D.C. Clearly, Ayomi has been an active member of the Madison community pursuing justice and equity for all who call this city home.

However, it is not just her activism that sets Ayomi apart.

On her first day in office, Ayomi is prepared to come in with legislation. Through the skills she developed as an intern for the City Council and State Senate, Ayomi is ready and familiar with the people and processes it takes to implement a wide variety of realistic policy changes.

For example, her affordable housing plans are centered around BIPOC communities building wealth. She plans to expand micro-lending programs for BIPOC nonprofits, work with ASM to connect students to housing resources, and produce creative projects like tiny homes. Essentially as an “economic justice project,” Ayomi sees housing as a necessary step in pursuing equity.

Beyond housing, she even has legislation that includes turning

algae blooms into sustainable energy and introducing live streams to increase student accessibility to local government.

Ayomi also supports divesting from police and investing in communities. “It’s about public safety … it’s [about] resources and where to allocate resources,” she said to us. From continuing the civilian oversight board to redirecting resources towards a teen center, tenant protections and mental health programs, Ayomi is prepared to reimagine public and campus safety.

Perhaps most importantly, Ayomi also recognizes that to accomplish all these necessary goals, she must build coalitions and connect with people both

inside and outside of politics. She understands how the divisiveness of today’s political arena is not one that is sustainable, and strives to communicate with clarity and openness to drive her agenda forward.

In her final statement, Ayomi emphasized how she was “tired

of waiting,” and is ready to “get things moving.” She stressed that Madison “is her home” and that she is “excited to use [her] voice to amplify communities.”

Ultimately, Ayomi’s intersecting policy platforms that focus on equity and justice, along with her understanding of legislation and diplomatic approach to achieving these goals, are what drive the Cardinal Editorial Board to believe she is the best candidate to be District 8 alder.

Ayomi is tired of waiting for change to happen in city government, and tired of the historical injustices toward BIPOC communities. Are you? The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board strongly urges all campus community members to

view

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

Within the city of Madison, there are a plethora of issues which affect local residents. Oftentimes, though, it’s easy to get caught up in national level issues, leading city politics to take a back seat.

As students and residents alike, we bear witness to the impacts of housing policies, policing and drug enforcement, to name just a few issues.

These effects, though, are not restricted to Madison natives alone.

It is important to note that just because students are not from Madison, doesn’t mean they won’t experience the consequences of local political issues.

International, out-of-state students and even students from other Wisconsin cities are also impacted by GRAPHIC BY ZOE BENDOFF/THE DAILY CARDINAL local policies vote Ayomi Obuseh for Alder on — often in ways they don’t imagApril 6 — in her words, it’s “time to ine. It is, therefore, necessary that elect someone who is moving with all students get more invested in passion and a plan.” local politics.

To learn more about Ayomi’s One of the key issues affectplatforms and campaign, visit ayo- ing Madison residents today is mi4alder.vote. And for voter infor- affordable housing. In recent mation on the Spring 2021 Election, years, Madison has proven to be visit myvote.wi.gov. an attractive destination for work-

ers and students alike. The population growth has prompted the development of new housing projects in the city, such as the newly proposed Downtown Heights project by Core Spaces, the same developer that developed projects like The Hub and The James. Such developments are built in place of beloved local businesses, and only push rental prices up for students, which adversely affects students that need affordable housing.

Predatory rental practices also pose a threat to students in Madison, with management companies forcing students into illinformed housing decisions. Such practices are especially likely to affect affluent international and out-of-state students who may not be aware of local norms and easily be blindsided by greedy companies, while proving to be an obvious impediment for those, from both in and out of state, who cannot afford expensive housing.

Responsible leadership at the city level is paramount to protect the interests of those that need support, while thwarting exploitative practices.

While policing may not sound like an issue to international students who are naturally lawabiding or come from countries with great reverence for the police, flawed policing practices in the U.S. have devastating consequences, especially when taking into account racial disparities. Run-ins with the police, especially when police intervention might not be necessary, can become part of a

student’s record, no matter where they are from. This can also result in the cancellation of visas granted to international students and affect future applications for entry or stay in the U.S. And drug related infractions can have even more serious consequences. City leadership therefore becomes important, as elected representatives can hold the police accountable while also working towards implementing responsible policing practices.

For example, the Madison City Council passed an ordinance which allows Madison residents to possess up to 28 grams of cannabis. While it seems like efforts at the state level to legalize the drug will encounter significant roadblocks, local policies allow much more direct interaction with city council members which enables more legislation to be passed to better our community.

There is a wide range of key issues that affect Madison residents from all backgrounds, and paying attention to city politics is more important than ever in order to make Madison a community accepting of everyone.

International students may not be able to vote and out-of-state students may not feel inclined to, but it is still in their best interests to stay aware of local politics, sparking conversations with Madison residents — who should absolutely be more invested in grassroots politics. Everyone capable of voting in local elections should, and every single member of the city and campus community should stay aware of local politics.

After all, change starts from the ground up.

Register to vote in the Spring 2021 election at https://myvote. wi.gov/en-us/RegisterToVote

Thursday, Februrary 25, 2021 • 9

It’s high time to legalize marijuana

By WILLIAM KEENAN STAFF WRITER

Governor Tony Evers has once again proposed to legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana as part of his 2021-23 Wisconsin state budget. Evers has previously advocated for legalization in his 2019-2021 budget, only to see his plan go up in smoke due to Republicans in the State Legislature.

In response to Evers’ latest proposal, which did not get directly mentioned in the state budget address, Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, released a statement stating, in part, “the legalization of recreational marijuana is not in the best interest of Wisconsinites … legalizing the use of marijuana is not good for Wisconsin. If the use of marijuana really was harmless, an affirming dope-using vote by the legislature wouldn’t be necessary.” Well, the use of marijuana does need an affirming “dope-using” vote, given Wisconsin’s current outdated laws regarding marijuana.

Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, a member of the Finance Committee falsely declared in an interview with PBS Wisconsin, “That’s really a nonstarter, to indicate that [legalizing marinuana]’s going to have something to do with the incarceration rate of certain segments of our community. It just really doesn’t have anything to do with the possession of marijuana as the facts bear out.” This is a flat-out lie — once again — from state Republicans.

A Wisconsin Watch review found that as of 2018, Black Wisconsinites were four times as likely to get arrested for marijuana possession than whites.

Additionally, the Wisconsin ACLU released a report titled “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform” that found that Wisconsin ranked “14th in the nation for the largest racial disparities in arrests for marijuana possession and was among 17 states where arrests for marijuana possession increased from 2010 to 2018.”

Perhaps if Sen. Stroebel and other state Republicans focused on the facts, they would know Wisconsin’s laws regarding marijuana are outdated and unpopular, target a specific subset of the population and are hurting the state both socially and economically. While Republicans continue to play on falsehoods, let’s take a look at some facts.

Current Wisconsin Law is not following the Will of the People: In a 2018 referendum, 16 counties and two cities voted in favor of legalizing recreational and medicinal marijuana.

There is widespread, bipartisan support for the legalization of marijuana in Wisconsin.

Over 640,000 voters supported recreational marijuana legalization and nearly 380,000 more Wisconsinites backed medicinal legalization. In 2019, those numbers increased — a 2019 Marquette Law Poll found that “59% of voters say marijuana use should be legal” and a substantial majority, “83%, say use of mari-

juana for medical purposes with a doctor’s prescription should be legal.” The overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites support legalizing marijuana; for Republicans to label legalization as a “non-starter” ignores and negates the will of the people whom Republicans represent.

The Vera Institute found in Wisconsin, Black people “constituted 7% of state residents, but 29% of people in jail and 41% of people in prison” and “since 1978, the Black incarceration rate has increased 193 percent. In 2017, Black people were incarcerated at 10.9 times the rate of white people.” What’s more, Marquette Law Professor Michael O’Hear discovered that marijuana arrests and jailings disproportionately affect communities of color, as he states “the adult marijuana possession arrest rate for blacks is nearly six times higher than the rate for whites (1,255 per 100,000 residents versus 217 [per 100,000 residents] ).”

Here again is clear, empirical evidence that Republican lawmakers continue to ignore: Marijuana-related arrests are increasing, the Black incarceration rate is exponentially rising and an unequal percentage of communities of color end up in the prison system — for simply possessing marijuana (10% of those in Wisconsin prisons are non-violent, drug offenders). The prison system has large effects on the livelihoods of those imprisoned.

A first offense for possession of marijuana, according to state law, is a “misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months,” and a second offense is a “Class I felony and is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 3.5 years.” In addition to the fine, those arrested for marijuana possession may have to hire a lawyer, pay legal fees and most likely will lose their jobs — long-term, financial and life-changing consequences for possessing marijuana — i.e. nonviolent drug offense. Possessing marijuana should not lead to life-changing outcomes, but this is often the case. Legal fees, an official record and likely job loss ensure that equality and equity are unattainable.

Marijuana legalization will not alleviate all racial disparities in the state, not even close.

Yet, it is a well-needed, overdue, common-sense policy measure that will ensure we are not taking someone’s life away for possessing a harmless drug, reduce the number of non-violent drug offenders currently imprisoned and help even the playing field in Wisconsin.

As of 2020, 15 states and Washington DC have legalized marijuana. Illinois and Michigan, two states right next door to Wisconsin, have legalized marijuana — leading to a new term, “weed tourism,” in which Wisconsinites travel to states with legalized marijuana to buy it and drive back.

It is so easy, in fact, as there is literally the largest marijuana dispensary in Illinois, a whopping 7,000 sq. ft. build-

ing in South Beloit, Illinois — quite literally, 1,000 feet away from the Wisconsin border.

Newsflash Republicans, people smoke marijuana in Wisconsin and they will find ways to get marijuana, regardless of state law. Why not reap the economic benefits rather than watch Illinois and Michigan add jobs and revenue to their economies, and gladly take Wisconsinites money? Wisconsin has been left (not) high and dry by Republican inaction.

Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana in 2015, earned $245 million in tax revenue from over $1.2 billion in 2018 off the sales of marijuana — which was then re-invested into the state through investments in K-12 education, infrastructure and into the states “General Fund.” Colorado is not the only state to see vast tax revenues from the legalization of marijuana as Washington and California had tax revenue exceeding $300 million, Oregon brought in nearly $100 million and Nevada nearly $70 million.

And with that extra money coming in, Colorado has invested millions in education, Oregon has given $12.5 million to its state police officers and California has pledged to give $198 million to programs that prevent youth drug abuse, protect the environment and help law enforcement.

Wisconsin’s public schools sit in a state of disarray, as Republican funding cuts have led to increased class sizes, decreased funding and poorer results. Moreover, according to TRIP, “55% of Wisconsin’s major locally and state-maintained roads have pavement that is in poor condition and 19% in mediocre condition.”

The report blames “inadequate state and local funding” for worsening conditions and estimates that drivers in some Wisconsin cities spend nearly $1,000 a year on repairs due to driving their vehicles on deteriorating roads. Tax revenue from marijuana legalization — which could be as much as $166 million — would go a long way to repairing our infrastructure, funding our public schools and modernizing our state.

Continued inaction regarding the legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana ignores the will of the people, continues the cycle of excessive punishment and extreme sentencing which disproportionately affects minority populations and ensures that Wisconsin’s roads and schools remain in a state of disarray. For the party of “family values” and “sound fiscal policy,” Wisconsin Republicans seem content to allow public schooling to go under-funded, for nonviolent arrest rates to soar and let families suffer as they refuse to allow recreational or medicinal marijuana to be legalized.

William is a Masters of Public Affairs student. Do you think marijuana should be legalized in Wisconsin? Would it have a positive effect on the economy?

Send all comments to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.

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