Spring 2021 Welcome Back - Thursday, January 28, 2021 - The Daily Cardinal

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Spring Welcome Back 2021

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The end of an era

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Students react to updated COVID response

By Sofia Vento STAFF WRITER

With the spring semester underway, students are acclimating to the updated university measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 on campus and across the Madison area.

This semester, a significant change in the university coronavirus response is the increase in the scope and frequency of testing on and offcampus. Undergraduate students living in residence halls and off-campus Madison residences are now required to test twice a week — once every eight days for graduate students — in order to utilize campus spaces.

However, difficulties with scheduled appointments and rejected saliva tests have forced the university to delay enforcement of their testing requirements until the third week of the semester and also switch to dropin only testing.

University officials continue to stress that the fall semester served as a crucial example for the new testing plan. UW higher-ups have emphasized how extensive use of PCR nasal and new saliva testing on and off campus will better ensure that

COVID-19 cases are identified early and dealt with in accordance with public health guidelines.

According to a Wednesday email from the Office of the Chancellor, in the past week, over 20,000 coronavirus tests have been completed, far below the university’s capacity ofabout 12,000 nasal-swab tests and 70,000 saliva-based tests per week.

As of Wednesday, there have been 35 positive cases, among students and employees, since classes resumed on Jan. 25.

UW-Madison has also increased the use of saliva-based tests rather than the nasal-swab testing used exclusively last semester. The two testing locations utilized by University Housing students will continue to rely on nasal-swab tests while all other testing locations have shifted to the use of saliva-based tests, sparking concern among students.

On Jan. 21, a petition was created asking university officials to reconsider their reliance on saliva-based testing this semester, describing the updated plan as a “waste of students time,” given that the saliva-based test takes longer to self-collect than the

nasal-swab test. As of Jan. 27, around 850 individuals have signed the petition calling for an “easier and more efficient” testing strategy.

Petitioners are also concerned that the testing process at facilities is unsafe, but Baggott confirmed that there has been no evidence of COVID-19 spread at testing sites at UW-Madison or the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the institution in which the revised COVID-19 plan this spring is modeled from.

A sizable concern regarding saliva-based testing is the rejection of collected samples and the inability of some to perform the tests. Many students at testing sites have completed tests and received word that their samples were rejected or inconclusive while others have been at test sites — unable to produce saliva or been told that their sample is unusable — and sent home without completing the COVID-19 test.

“We’ve had some people that have gotten upset when their vial was rejected on site,” said Maggie King, a UW-Madison sophomore and student employee at a campus testing site.

Chancellor Blank and university

officials have attempted to address these issues by sending out tips to the campus community meant to support students in providing samples that will be received by the labs but many continue to experience issues with the testing process.

Sydney Mueller, a UW-Madison sophomore, has been unable to complete her mandatory saliva-based test since returning to campus.

“I was unable to produce enough saliva to even fill a small part of the tube and I had to leave the testing center untested,” explained Mueller — citing a medical condition and subsequent operation that left her with one functioning salivary gland that influences her ability to produce saliva.

The organization of the testing — the staff and the system — was efficient but the saliva-test itself was not pleasant, said Mueller. King also highlighted how site managers have been skillful in dealing with issues while remaining committed to keeping testers safe.

Mueller is worried that a potential exemption from saliva testing due to her medical condition will be denied — ultimately affecting her ability to

complete the mandatory testing and the safety of the Madison community.

As the university adjusts its plan while community comments and issues arise, students, like Mueller, are left with questions and concerns.

“Although they advertise wait times, I feel that the hours in the morning and around lunch will be incredibly busy as that is when everyone is free,” said Mueller about the university testing’s shift to dropin only. “I am also concerned about the university’s handling of medical exemptions and why the steps for filing for one were never made explicitly clear.”

The university’s coronavirus response FAQ page states that students should request medical accommodations relating to testing through the McBurney Disability Resource Center.

The university has also been working with the laboratory that processes the saliva-based tests to better ensure that results come back within 24 hours, according to the Jan. 27

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State leaders disagree over fixing outdated employment system

By Hope Karnopp STATE NEWS EDITOR

Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled legislature cannot agree on a way to begin modernizing the unemployment system that left many Wisconsinites stuck in the process as the pandemic worsened.

During the pandemic, some Wisconsinites have waited months to receive benefits. One applicant currently waiting for payment is UW-Madison senior and former Daily Cardinal writer Ben Farrell, who lost his job at Porter - Bandit after the cafe experienced financial hardships related to the pandemic.

Last week, Farrell applied for backpay for each of the twelve weeks he was not working. Based on “anecdotal evidence” he’s heard, he thinks it’s “highly unlikely” that he would receive payment within two weeks.

“If loads of people are going to start looking to [the system] as a way to keep their lives moving forward, then it definitely needs to be faster,” Farrell said.

The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced in late December that they “reached a workload comparable to seasonal pre-pandemic levels,” effectively clearing a large backlog, according to Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek.

Farrell said he is not worried about paying for groceries or being

evicted from his apartment, but is trying to maintain a good financial position as a student.

“For me, I can sit here and twiddle my thumbs,” he said. “But if I had been given the level of information I was and were in more significantly dire financial straits, I would be freaking out.”

A December Legislative Audit Bureau report showed that as of October, the DWD paid over half of initial claims for regular program benefits within two weeks.

It took the department more than five weeks to pay nearly a quarter of them. The average time the DWD took to pay claims declined between

March and August.

The DWD was responsible for 11 of the 13 weeks on average that it took to resolve the claims of 250 of 268 individuals who filed initial claims from March 15 through April 11 and had not received payment as of June 20. According to the bureau, that means the DWD was not resolving issues even when it had the information to do so, or was not requesting necessary information from individuals and employers.

The DWD responded that those measures of inactivity do not “correlate directly” with the agency’s processes, noting that some timelines might be outside of the department’s

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control. Still, Pechacek noted that the delays were “undisputed.”

According to the DWD, the department has processed more claims since the onset of the pandemic than they handled from 2016 to 2019 combined. Over half a million claimants have been paid over $4.9 billion in benefits.

In the most recent three weeks reported by the DWD, at least 3,980 people in Dane County alone filed initial unemployment claims. Over 23,000 weekly claims were filed in the county during that time period.

Gov. Tony Evers fired Secretary Caleb Frostman in mid-September after facing pressure from Republicans over a huge backlog of claims that accumulated during the pandemic. Days later, the Legislative Audit Bureau reported that less than one percent of calls to the agency were answered between March 15 and June 30.

Farrell said he called the department to sort out some confusing parts of the application, including adding information about previous freelance work and determining what full-time work means as a student. He said the department quickly answered the phone and was able to go into the system to help him edit his application.

“Maybe I was on hold for two minutes,” Farrell said, adding that he’s heard of other cases where people were put on hold for much

longer. “Putting myself in the shoes of somebody whose living situation or food security is on the line, and you’re f*cking waiting on hold, I can’t even imagine.”

Technical difficulties On Wednesday morning, the Senate Committee on Economic and Workforce Development heard from Wisconsinites who spent multiple months stuck in the process and called the DWD hundreds of times for assistance. Multiple speakers said DWD employees gave them conflicting information. They also said they received more help from their state representatives than they did from DWD. Victor Forberger, an attorney specializing in labor and unemployment, said modernization would be a long process that could take up to four years. He estimates the hearing backlog for appeals is about 25,000, saying one of his clients may not receive a hearing until October 2021. Pechacek later testified that as of Saturday, 3,400 adjudication issues were awaiting scheduling.

“If you want to fix this problem right now, put legislation on the floor tomorrow removing some issues,” Forberger said. “If the department won’t do it through its emergency rules process, you need to do it through the law.”

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“…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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Spring Welcome Back 2021

Federal funding affects expression of identity

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As UW-Madison begins its spring semester with new COVID-19 protocols, some students have confronted not only long wait times and rejected tests, but also a federal requirement that restricts their ability to express their full racial identity.

Early this week, one student took to the “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) at Wisco” Instagram account to note the limited race identification options provided by the university’s newly-implemented Safer Badgers app.

“The Badgers Safe app asks you to select for race identification when you download and it doesn’t give anyone the option to check more than 2 races.

Meaning that anyone who is biracial (including myself) was forced to only select one race,” the post reads.

While students of multiracial backgrounds describe how they grapple with the lack of recognition for their various identities, UW-Madison administrators have made a conscious effort to explain why the categories for racial identification were not under the university’s control.

“This is a federal government requirement that applies to UW– Madison because the university receives federal funding under the CARES Act,” the university’s official Instagram account wrote in response to the recent BIPOC at Wisco post.

“The categories are provided by the federal government. We don’t have the capability to allow the selection of more than one category.”

Director of News and Media Relations Meredith McGlone reiter-

ated points made by the university: “We hear the concerns of those who are speaking out. However, these categories are established by the federal government, not UW.” The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act — a stimulus bill which was passed and signed under the Trump administration in 2020 — includes a Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). The aggregated COVID-19 stimulus bill aid for 13 UW System institutions amounts to about $150 million according to the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities.

UW-Madison students recognize that the categorization on the Safer Badgers app was not the university’s doing. However, they criticized administrators for their perceived lack of empathy toward students who must weigh their racial backgrounds while completing simple tasks.

“Clearly, the multiracial community of students felt further marginalized as a community who’s need of recognition was not met by UW,” said Djamal Lylecyrus, founder of the @bipocatwisco page. “And as we address this problem it’s not to be malicious with the University, but it’s with the hope that they will rectify the issue and acknowledge the importance of the inclusion of such details in the future.”

Multiple multiracial UW-Madison students feel as if the lack of concern for acknowledging intersectional identities has become unfortunately monotonous.

“In this moment, at this point in life I’ll be honest it’s something that myself as a biracial person am

so used to and desensitized almost to how messed up it is to have to choose between what identities to put

sion [between Black and white], I pretty much just go with Black each time because that’s how society sees me

on paper, on this app,” UW-Madison junior Juliana Bennett said.

The new app is just another way that UW students have felt forced into making tough decisions and distinctions about their identities.

“I can’t break down the complexity of my identity with one word,” said UW-Madison senior Lourdes Puig.”

But I can’t choose one of my multiple races and cultures because… I’m not more of one or the other. I’m not going to favor one family because they’re all a part of me.”

UW-Madison junior, Jordan Kennedy, elaborated on the decisionmaking process when faced with selecting only one category on the Safer Badgers app, explaining how societal perceptions can affect internal perceptions as well.

“When I am faced with that deci-

anyways. And, you know, they don’t see intersectionality. They don’t see the complexity of my identity,” Kennedy said. “They see brown skin and throw me into the bucket. So, you end up feeling like you’re kind of just doing that to yourself.”

Collectively, these students — and many more — convey that a federal arrangement may not be easy to change. Rather, they challenge the university to step up to the issue and acknowledge marginalized communities.

“I would have had a lot more respect for acknowledging what it feels like to have your identity erased and then explaining like, ‘This is a problem, but thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We are actively looking to find a solution,’” Bennett said.

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Dane County, Madison get $16.2 million for rental aid

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Board of Directors

By Charlie Hildebrand STAFF WRITER

On Jan. 12, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced their plans to dedicate approximately $16.2 million of federal emergency funds towards rental assistance programs.

According to estimates, approximately $8.5 million of the package will be distributed to the greater Dane County area while the City of Madison is due to receive $7.7 million.

The additional funds that officials plan to dedicate toward housing insecure residents of Dane County and Madison comes as part of a $25 billion emergency spending package passed

by Congress this past December to lessen the financial impact of COVID-19.

Rhodes-Conway and Parisi announced that they plan to both distribute federal funding directly to tenants in need of assistance as well as to public programs that will provide

services such as housing counseling and mortgage protection education for landlords.

“We must take steps to ensure that all within Madison who are eligible for this assistance have access to it,” said Rhodes-Conway in a public statement. “I anticipate using at least 90% of available funds for direct rental assistance with the balance going to support the work of community partners and other services that promote housing stability.”

A federal moratorium, set to expire at the end of March, currently bans landlords from existing tenants. However, tenants have not been excused from paying rent, which has resulted in some community members falling behind on rent payments due to COVID-19 related economic hardships.

To combat this, the Dane County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract to Tenant Resource Center

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Dane County and the City of Madison received $16.2 million for rental assistance.

(TRC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating landlords and tenants on rental rights, to assist in the administration of funding.

According to estimates made by the TRC, as many as 23,000 local residents have experienced housing insecurity within the last year as a result of the economic fallout caused by COVID-19. Robin Sereno, the executive director of the non-profit believes that the incoming federal funding will be instrumental in providing relief to these renters.

“I know it’s been a long 10 months, it feels like years in all honesty to most of us,” Sereno stated in an interview with Channel 3000. “This housing crisis, this pandemic, the general state of our nation, it’s pushed all of us to our limits, but I also know it’s brought out some incredible change and attention for the need to partner in ways that truly serve all of our community.”

Dane County Board Chair Analiese Eicher also voiced her excitement for the upcoming spending package that she similarly believes will greatly benefit local tenants.

“The pandemic has caused a surge in unemployment and housing insecurity” Eicher stated during an interview with The Cap Times. “These federal funds will help to keep a roof over the heads of many Dane County residents, some of whom have never faced such economic stress and the potential of eviction before.”

Several local officials, including Rhodes-Conway, have also pointed out that they feel that the recent federal funding, although helpful, is not enough to address housing insecurity in the Madison and Dane County Area.

In an interview with Channel 3000, Rhodes-Conway stated her belief that the current amount of federal funding is insufficient to meet the needs of the Madison and Dane County communities.

“This in no way will meet the full scope of the need in our community,” Mayor Rhodes-Conway explained “This, again, just barely Cap Times. “These federal funds will help to keep a roof over the heads of many Dane County residents, some of whom have never faced such economic stress and the potential of eviction before.”

Several local officials, including Rhodes-Conway, have also pointed out that they feel that the recent federal funding,

+REACTIONS email sent to the campus community.

King, herself, has had issues with receiving test results within 24 hours but said she was not concerned because testing facilities are inundated right now — stressing that “there’s no harm in testing again!”

The university is “taking this global pandemic as seriously as possible and keeping our community as safe as possible,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor said, maintaining the importance of a high degree of testing, isolation and quarantine periods.

The fundamental goal of UW’s response to COVID-19, as described by the Vice Chair of ASM and member of the Coronavirus Student Task Force, Aerin Leigh Lammers, at the university’s live panel, is to make the community safer, although emphasizing “growing pains” will endure as the community adjusts to the new protocols.

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Experts oppose efforts to rush a wolf hunting season

By Helena Wehrs STAFF WRITER

Following the federal delisting of wolves by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Jan. 4 under the Trump Administration, Republican legislators, their rural constituents and hunting groups alike have called for the state’s first wolf hunt since 2014.

But after four hours of rigorous and emotional public testimony, proponents of the hunt ended up biting the bullet.

At Friday’s emergency meeting of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, members resisted Republican lawmakers who urged for an immediate wolf hunt to begin this month, ending with a vote of 4-3 against a motion for a hunt to start in January.

Members of the board received generous testimony and feedback from wildlife enthusiasts and Native Americans alike, with tribal representatives expressing significant concern that they were not adequately consulted before the motion was proposed per treaty rights.

“The Menominee tribe is expecting to be included in the dialogue and in the decision making related to Wisconsin’s response to wolf management,” Douglas Cox, vice chairperson of the Menominee tribe, said. “We offer our collective hand to the Wisconsin NRB, the DNR and the Wisconsin legislature.”

Tribal representatives present at the meeting condemned the hunt due to the lack of communication between tribes and the state government. Marvin Defoe, representative of the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, stated that his band was told on Dec. 4 that a wolf hunt would take place in November of 2021, with the next communication received from the state being forty hours prior to the meeting of the board.

Defoe also made it clear that the Chippewa were opposed to a hunt at any time due to cultural hunting practices, stating that the wolf, or ma’iingan, is viewed as their close brother. They care

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Immediately before the hearing, the DWD held an informational briefing on unemployment modernization, explaining how technological constraints continue to impact their operations.

In response to the volume of claims early in the pandemic, the department nearly quadrupled their staff and hired additional adjudication specialists.

In October, the agency partnered with Google Cloud to shorten adjudication time and release payments faster.

Secretary-designee Pechacek said the department is “constantly facing the possibility of falling behind again” and said initial investments in the system are needed now.

“The only path to preventing and preparing for future crises like the one we’re working through now is a comprehensive modernization of our IT system,” Pechacek said.

The department pointed out the system’s inefficiencies, including its outdated programming lan-

for their wolf packs and do not manage them through hunting.

“It is based on our traditional science, from our elders, that whatever you shoot, you eat,” said Defoe. “I’ve never eaten a ma’iingan.”

Wisconsin state law mandates that after a species is delisted, there must be one annual hunting season from October 15th to the last day of February. The DNR announced in Dec. 2020 that the hunt would resume in Nov. 2021, after they update the wolf management plan, reconvene their wolf committee, set a kill quota and offer drawings for tags.

However, officials cited concerns regarding accurate scientific data and time needed to set quotas for an immediate hunt.

Supporters of immediate wolf hunt have called the rising population of wolves an emergency for the depredation of livestock. They cited the wolf management plan that was written in 1999 that set a goal of 350 individual wolves throughout the state. However, the population of wolves in 1999 was only 250. Ongoing surveys by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate Wisconsin’s current wolf population to be around 1,000.

This serves as a stark contrast to the estimated 5,000 wolves that roamed Wisconsin in the 1800s.

The Chair of the NRB, Frederick Prehn, was disappointed that the DNR did not move faster since they were given notice of the wolf’s delisting. However, he was the deciding vote to reject board member Gregory Kazmierski’s motion to direct the DNR to harvest 22% of the minimum estimates of the Wisconsin wolf populations after the DNR attorney stated that this motion may not be legal without consulting tribes before setting quotas for the wolf hunt.

There was an additional concern from those that spoke in support of the hunt that the Biden administration may take action to once again list the wolf species as endangered, therefore protecting them before a regular-

ly scheduled hunt can take place this November.

Republican legislators including State Senator Dan Feyen and Rob Stafsholt and U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany and registered their support of having the immediate hunt while there is still time left this winter.

“Some people will say that we don’t have time to implement a season for January to February of 2021,” Stafsholt added. “That is their own fault for sitting on their hands and doing absolutely nothing in preparation for the Wisconsin wolf season.”

On the other side of the argument, wildlife activists commented that the hunt is unnecessary and could disrupt the breeding season which begins in January and ends in March. Others registered against the hunt altogether, citing the majestic nature of the wolf and its right to hunt and live in the Great Lake region.

Environmental groups including the Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Oregon Wild, National Parks Conservation Association and The Humane Society of the United States have already notified the DNR of their intent to sue.

In 2014, environmental and animal rights activists went so far as to target Wisconsin’s annual wolf hunting season, interfering with the hunt by following hunters and investigating potentially illegal kills.

Farmers and residents from northern Wisconsin spoke on past struggles with the growing wolf population. Others cited concerns of the depredation of livestock needing to be reimbursed by the DNR, which the department estimated as over 2.5 million dollars spent to compensate farmers for the loss of livestock as a result of wolf attacks over the last three decades.

Dairy farmer Ryan Klussendorf from Medford spoke about his conflicts with wolves on his property in the past decade.

He told the board that he has had multiple animals killed by

wolves throughout the years and has received no help in resolving the problem, even as residents in the area were afraid to have their children wait for buses because wolves would stalk them.

“I’m not an expert on wolves,” Klussendorf stated. “But I am an expert on how one pack of wolves can torment you, threaten your livelihood and haunt you until you want to give up.”

By the end of the emergency meeting, over forty witnesses spoke and over 1,000 citizens submitted written statements concerning the proposed hunt.

Timothy Van Deelen, a UW-Madison Professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology

population that will never blow up,” he said.

Van Deelen stated that more thought should be given to the impact the population is having on surrounding areas before a quota is determined.

The updated wolf management plan should be well-researched, based on scientific analysis and thoroughly vetted.

Still, tribal representatives demonstrated a resistance to holding a wolf hunting season entirely, even with a properly prepared hunt, conversations between the tribes and DNR and updated quotas this fall.

“The Menominee tribe is opposed to the hunting and trap-

and expert in conservation and management of large mammals, holds that while the board was right to hold off on a hunt now, much work will need to be done in updating the wolf management plan before the next hunt.

Quotas should be set based on need, not numbers, as the wolf population is not likely to keep expanding significantly.

“It looks like their growth rate is starting to slow down; the pack can only get so large. This is a

ping of wolves in Wisconsin, more specifically, within the exterior boundaries of the Menominee reservation,” Cox said. “We do so because the wolf is of significant value to our Menominee culture, our tradition and to the biological life within the forest.”

While the possibility of a hunt this upcoming winter remains uncertain, wolf permit applications will be sold from March through Aug. 1, with a drawing to be held in mid-August.

guage and reliance on paper documentation and communication.

The addition of new federal programs, such as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, also added “layers of complexity” which overwhelm the system’s capabilities.

The department took incremental steps toward modernization between 2008 and 2018 but tried to quicken the pace in 2019. The DWD is currently in the process of adding a portal interface with the help of Google that will allow for document uploads and secure online messaging.

Political impasse over fixing system Both Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and legislative Republicans pointed out issues with the unemployment system in early January.

In his State of the State address, Evers said both parties are to blame for the antiquated system, while Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, criticized the governor’s handling of the influx of unemployment claims.

“Previous administrations and

more than a decades’ worth of legislators have known this system was outdated and couldn’t handle an economic crisis like the one this pandemic presented, and they never took the time to fix it,” Evers said.

The DWD planned a major overhaul of the system under former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration, but the initiative was ultimately abandoned.

During Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration, a 2014 audit found up to 80 percent of calls were blocked, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

After the address, Evers called for a special session of the legislature to take up his initial $5.3 million plan to modernize the system, which would also require employers to file employment and wage reports electronically.

However, the Republicancontrolled legislature opened and immediately adjourned the special session and called on Evers to “take ownership of the problems” and use available funding to upgrade the system.

Democrats in the legislature expressed disappointment with Republicans who rejected the special session. Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Somers, noted that his office had heard from “hundreds of people whose claims were held up simply because of the antiquated system.”

The Republican lawmakers released a memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau detailing accounts Evers could use, but only one of the accounts had enough money and it was unclear whether it could be used for computer upgrades, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee repeated the Republicans’ argument in a letter to Evers on Tuesday, asking him to make a request to the committee to consider supplemental funding “as a last resort.”

“We also must point out the confusion that has been caused by your call for a Special Session. You claim to need legislative approval for the project even though just weeks ago your administration found more than $1 million dollars

to sign a contract with Google to help with unemployment claims.

No legislative approval was needed for that decision. Why now?,” Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, wrote.

Evers’ office did not respond to a request for comment asking whether he would try to use existing funds to begin his plan to modernize the system.

Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, expressed concern that an IT upgrade was not included in the department’s biennial budget request. Sen. Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, said the $5.3 million would be a starting point and is looking forward to seeing upcoming budget projections.

The potential computer upgrade is likely to remain a political issue during the upcoming state budget process, especially as Evers’ proposed investment into the system totals about $90 million over 10 years.

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Experts are against rushing an early hunting season in Wisconsin.

Life & Style Pros and cons of asynchronous class

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Spring Welcome Back 2021

By Sophie Friedberg STAFF WRITER

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to become closely acquainted with a plethora of new concepts: social distancing, antibodies, self-quarantining, virtual learning and many more. Among students, however, one word seems to have dominated the college campus: Asynchronous.

Asynchronous lectures grew in popularity among both students and professors in the wake of this global pandemic. The flexibility it provided seemed to have a calming effect on students, overwhelmed with having to adjust to virtual learning. Asynchronous classes seem to be even more sought-after than synchronous classes, but will this hurt students in the long run?

Asynchronous classes have many pros, the most commonly experienced being that it allows for students to make a class schedule that proves more convenient for them. Being able to work your asynchronous classes around your synchronous ones has given students the opportunity to create a routine that truly works best for them, often meaning they can allocate more time to things that bring them some degree of relief. They can go on a walk, schedule a COVID test, go out for lunch or watch a movie at a time that works

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best for them, without having to worry about rushing back to hop onto an online lecture.

Academic workloads can be much better managed when you’re able to make more time in your day. Maybe you break up your pre-recorded lecture into 15 minute increments over three days. Maybe you get it all done on Tuesday so that your synchronous Wednesday/Friday lecture receives your undivided attention. Maybe new content is posted every Friday morning, and you dedicate all of Friday to that class to give yourself a stress-free weekend.

Whatever your strategy may be, it’s no doubt that asynchronous classes can greatly reduce workload strain.

Working asynchronously can also be great for those who prefer working alone. Not everyone favors group work over solo work and many people feel they can be much more productive working by themselves. For these individuals, getting to rely solely on oneself to complete work on a deadline conducive for one instead of many is the much-preferred method of learning.

But, when all is said and done, could asynchronous classes have done more harm than good? This pandemic will be over eventually — knock on wood — and at some point there will come a time when we are back in the classroom, swapping the masks and pajamas for jeans and a backpack. When this day comes, will we have become

socially stunted, unable to properly communicate with our peers and professors? A professor could go the entire semester without seeing one of his or her students’ faces, and a student could go the entire semester watching a professor’s YouTube lecture on 1.5x speed while running on the treadmill.

The sense of personability that typically came from a pre-COVID college-level class is significantly reduced when learning asynchronously.

Asynchronous classes can also prove difficult for people who lack time-management and self-motivation skills. Sticking to a set schedule of your own creation doesn’t always happen when the only person holding you accountable is yourself. These skills are imperative in college, but “learning the hard way” isn’t always the best option.

Asynchronous learning has assets and liabilities, as do most alterations to traditional learning in the wake of this pandemic.

The main thing to keep in mind is that everything is temporary, so for those who love asynchronous classes, pinpoint what you favor about them and try to bring whatever that is into the classroom with you. And for those who are dying to get back in person, just hold out a little while longer.

How to exercise in the winter

By Haley Harris STAFF WRITER

ANN SELIGER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Styles are constantly changing throughout the winter and Haley explains how to keep up!

Some tips for the winter fashion

By Colby Bellman STAFF WRITER

Winters in Madison are freezing, but, along with snow, the cold weather also brings new fashion trends. A trend that will definitely be seen on campus this winter is matching sweatsuits.

Ever since people were forced to work from home due to the COVID19 pandemic, leisure wear has become more popular than ever, especially matching sweatsuits.

This trend first started with tye-dye sets over the summer and has not lost steam. In fact, this trend has become more popular in the winter because it’s warm and comfortable. This trend has also evolved with the seasons and now instead of tye dye,

many people are wearing monochromatic sets.

Colors such as brown and beige have become increasingly popular as the weather has gotten colder.

This trend is extremely versatile and will not be going anywhere for awhile.

These sets have gained so much popularity not only because they are comfortable, but because they are very versatile.

Celebrities and influencers have begun accessorising their sweat suits and turning them into high fashion looks.

They do this by adding chunky jewelry and a blazer for a more professional look or sneakers and a puffer jacket for a more sporty look. This has inspired many people to do the same, mak-

ing matching sweatsuits a wardrobe staple.

This trend has really taken off in Madison because sweat suits are warm, comfortable and stylish. Sweatsuits have also become such a big trend among college students because of their wide price range. While there is high end lounge wear, there are also cheaper options at stores such as Zara, Aerie and Target.

This allows college students to be a part of a huge fashion trend, while still on a budget.

Matching sweatsuits are the perfect look for going to class, whether online, in-person or grabbing coffee with a friend. They are the perfect winter staple for everyone’s closet.

A Imagine white, fluffy flakes cascading down from the sky as you walk through the streets of Madison. You can see the puff of your breath as you exhale, and your nose has just turned the shade of Rudolf the rednosed reindeer’s.

Your winter coat is zipped up to your chin, your hair is hidden underneath a cap and your hands are stuffed into a pair of mittens.

Oh wait, you don’t have to imagine this scenario because it is our presentday reality.

It’s the middle of January in Wisconsin, so we all know what that means… “baby it’s COLD outside!”

I don’t know about you, but I really only like the cold, winter weather up until New Years. Then, following the holiday, all I want is for the snow to melt, the trees to start blooming and the sun to start shin-

ing. Unfortunately for me, and everyone who agrees with me, spring will not be here for a couple more months.

This means we will have to suck-it-up and find a way to embrace the cold. I did some digging, and I came up with a topten list of fun activities to participate in this winter that will hopefully make us forget about the numbness of our hands and feet, the goosebumps peppering our flesh and the shivers racking up and down our spines.

Top-ten winter activities and where to participate in them around Madison: 1. Skiing/snowboarding Where: Cascade Mountain, Tyrol Basin and Blackhawk Ski Area West Chalet 2. Sledding/tubing Where: Sheehan Park, Arbor Hills Park and Sledding Hill 3. Snowshoeing Where: Elver Park, Fontana Sports Specialties

and Knollwood Conservation Park 4. Ice skating/hockey Where: Elver Park Rink, The Ice Rink and Tenney Park Rink 5. Polar bear plunge Where: Lake Mendota or Monona 6. Build a snowman, a snow fort or make a snow angel Where: Bascom Hill or any Park 7. Snowball fight Where: Bascom Hill 8. Walk/run Where: Any sidewalk or trail 9. Ice fish Where: Lake Mendota or Monona 10. Snowmobile Where: Jefferson County Snowmobile Trail As you can see, there are plenty of fun activities we can all participate in this winter before the snow melts.

Baby I know it’s COLD outside, but don’t completely miss-out on the beautiful Wisconsin weather this year and get outside!

LYRA EVANS/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Winter may be cold, but there are plenty of things you can do to stay active this season!

arts ‘Tiger’ falls short of a hole-in-one dailycardinal.com

By John Bildings STAFF WRITER

Fresh off the success of ESPN’s 10-episode Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” this past spring, I was pumped when I heard that HBO would be releasing a similar indepth look at another of sports’

Spring Welcome Home 2021

sible for molding the man into the calculated machine of an athlete — and person — he would prove to become during formative years.

Probing this single relationship is where “Tiger” vibrates at its best frequency.

It’s cut well with archival

racial tensions that underscored his arrival and initial public perception makes for a pretty captivating look into golf ’s most recognizable name.

Where “Tiger” begins to falter comes in the second part of the documentary that was released this past Sunday.

GETTY IMAGES

Tiger Woods ability on the course continue to shine as Woods won his fifth Masters Tournament in 2019. most fascinating figures in 2021.

The new release was set to follow a once young phenom named Eldrick “Tiger” Woods who revolutionized golf and changed the way we viewed celebrity athletes through his meteoric rise and ultimately disappointing fall.

There may not have been any involvement on his part unlike Jordan with “Dance”, but a sizzling trailer still had me hooked. and excited to hear what it had to say.

Yet much like the legendary career “Tiger” attempts to cover in its all-too-short 3-hours, it mostly works its magic in early stages and hits a snag once its stardom suppresses the sport.

Directed by Matthew Heineman and Matt Hamachek, “Tiger” begins with an exploration of Woods as a star poised to take the world by storm.

It showcases his skills on late night TV at the age of two and going on to completely dominate the sport following his first Masters victory in 1997 at the age of 21.

The documentary also uses commentary from writers and media personalities who still struggle to process how someone so young could be so ridiculously consistent at such a relentless mental competition.

This segment mainly analyzes the complex dynamic between Tiger and his father Earl.

Woods father Earl is a former Green Beret who was respon-

footage that illustrate the mental games and psychological tactics Earl would use to make Woods impervious to external pressure and estranged him from having a normal childhood as a result of his impact.

This is one of the strongest points of the film and allows viewers to better understand how Woods became who he is and why.

The documentary attempts to share more than just one point of view on Woods’ upbringing.

Beyond just sharing his outsider perspective into how many hours of training and Zenlike focus it took for Woods to become the savior figure his father genuinely believed him to be, an interview with family friend Joe Grohman likewise reasons that Tiger witnessing Earl’s own extramarital encounters may have been the impetus for his later infidelities.

This is a fact I hadn’t known and does look rather condemnatory once it gets revealed.

Irrespective of whether you’ve ever swung a club or not, anyone gripped with learning how successful people become such could be easily raptured in these first 90 minutes.

Several near pornographic montages, featuring Woods’ prowess on the course, growing sponsorship list and eventual deification by the public in the early 2000s, are incredible to watch unfold.

Even when it attempts to grapple with the unfortunate

Starting with an interview from Rachel Uchitel — one of many women revealed to have had an affair with Woods — and diving much deeper into the soap opera-driven elements of Tiger’s story than a self-supposed sports story should go.

Yes, this may have been her first time speaking on camera openly and was sure to draw more eyes with than without her side of the story included.

But, this singular perspective offers very little into who Tiger might have actually been

during this part of his life.

This idea is only backed futher throughout, given that others interviewed claim that he became so good at suppressing whatever emotions he did possess that in the end no one truly understood who he really was off the course.

Had more women been involved in this denunciation, the argument it made would have been a bit more convincing, in my opinion.

Once the documentary launches into the National Enquirer story that led to Woods’ very public divorce and dozens of women are revealed to be mere items on his increasingly long “to-do” list, any genuine investment in the game is divulged from the narrative.

Instead, the documentary resorts to to uncomfortablylong portions of police-cam footage from his 2017 arrest and other sensationalistic elements that would feel more at home on late-night TMZ screenings.

I by no means excuse Tiger’s behavior and recognize that his failures as a husband and human being are a massive part of the golfers story.

However, I believe that this part dragged and felt unnecessary long, especially when treated to at least 10 minutes of an inebriated man being booked by law enforcement.

Anyone could look up these segments in their own spare time and still understand the point the documentary was trying to make throughout.

Perhaps my biggest issue with the documentary came from the fact that I constantly found myself wanting more on those individual moments that cemented his greatness on the course in the first place, prior to his downfall in the media.

Hearing from from others who played alongside him for years and seemingly recognize just how unbelievable he truly was would have helped strengthen the narrative.

Compared to the “Last Dance” and its careful weaving of conversations with numerous former players that crossed

5

paths with Jordan in his iconic moments, we don’t really gain much ground-level detail into classic Tiger stories beyond a few interviews.

Those included Nick Faldo, Rocco Mediate and former caddie Steve Williams — the last of whom clearly has lingering issues with Woods following his firing and obviously has more recency bias towards criticizing the golfer’s time away from the sport of golf.

Are Tiger’s relationships with fellow players truly that much better since his renaissance that no one would volunteer to speak out about how fierce of a competitor — and seemingly gigantic asshole — he was before his fall from the top?

Or does the moral code of a “gentlemen’s game” still apply when it comes to deciding whether or not to put a realistic lens on one of sports’ most scrutinized figures?

Either way, the film doesn’t always seem interested in examining his game but rather with the relationships that have marred his legacy.

Though the closing moments of the film show Woods’ triumphant return to respect upon his victory at the 2019 Masters, I couldn’t help but feel a bit robbed in terms of what we could have had with a longer and more comprehensive “Tiger..’

A perfect world — and genuine sports piece — would ride the wave of Woods’ career with the same power its subject possessed on the course for many , many years.

Ideally, the documentary would stop at each specific moment and touch upon why this one guy was that much better than every other guy who’s ever played the game of golf His career may not be over quite yet, but for now it seems we’ll need to wait until he hopefully releases his own side one day in the future Until then, much like the career it examines, we’ll be left wondering what could have been for one of golf ’s best.

“Tiger,” the two-part documentary is now available to stream on HBOMax.

GOLFFILE / FRAN CAFFREY

Tiger Woods ability on the course continues to shine as Woods won his fifth Masters Tournament in 2019.

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6 • Spring Welcome Back 2021

BIDEN’S FIRST 17 EXECUTIVE ORDERS

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sports No. 1 Badgers debut with dominance dailycardinal.com

By Ellie Nowakowski STAFF WRITER

Over a year after facing another team, No. 1 Wisconsin (2-0) returned to the court this weekend and are living up to their preseason ranking. The badgers swept No. 13 Purdue (0-2) in three sets in both their Friday and Saturday evening matches.

The season looks a bit different for the badgers this year.

After the entire Big 10 volleyball season was postponed until the spring as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, their return to the court does not mean a return to normalcy. Each Big Ten team, including the badgers, will be competing against the same team twice in one weekend in seriestype match play.

Because the Badgers will be playing teams back to back, they will have the opportunity to review game footage and make adjustments during the following match, which the team used to their advantage on Saturday.

After struggling with blocking in their first match against the Boilermakers, the Badgers had 10 team blocks in their second match, while the Boilermakers had just 1.

“You’re gonna learn a lot about the teams in that second match,” Head Coach Kelly Sheffield said.

“We’ll go back and watch some film and there’ll be some things to learn from, and that’s part of

Spring Welcome Back 2021

the fun is learning about what the areas that we’ve got to get better and what our opponents are going to be seeing out of us.”

Middle back Dana Rettke put up 11 blocks in their series against Purdue, 7 of which were in just their second match. Rettke averaged 4.17 kills and 1.82 blocks per set against Purdue, and had a .523 hitting percentage. Their second match also marked Rettke’s 500 career block.

Stats like these earned Rettke the AVCA Women’s D1 Player of the Week honor as well as her 9th career Big Ten Player of the Week honor.

Setter Syndey Hilley was a big contributor to the Badger’s success this weekend as well, averaging 11.5 assists per set, and earning her 12th collegiate career Big Ten Setter of the Week honor.

In the Badger’s first match against Purdue, middle blocker/right side Devyn Robinson made her collegiate debut. In the first ball she was set in Friday’s match, Robinson put down a kill.

“I had a lot of nervous energy going in and I put it all into that first kill,” Robinson said.

Robinson kept up the good work all weekend, proving that she can be an asset to the Badgers moving forward.

“I think she’s a player who’s going to do a lot for us” Sheffield said.

7

DIANE NORDSTROM /UW ATHLETICS

Senior Dana Rettke goes for a spike in practice. She earned D1 Player of the Week for her effort vs. Purdue.

In addition to the modified schedule, the Badgers found themselves in a nearly empty Fieldhouse this weekend. With each player only allowed to bring two guests to each game, the Fieldhouse was much quieter than in previous years. But what the Badgers lacked in fans they made up in energy from the

bench. This included big celebrations for Robinson and other players who got their first chance on the floor this weekend.

“It was super cool to see Devin go out there, and in her first match as a freshman just absolutely dominate,” Hilley said.

“I think you can see the entire team was so excited for her just

because of how much work she’s been putting in during this pandemic and finally seeing it pay off in our first match.”

UW plays the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2-0) next weekend on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Huff Hall in Urbana-Champaign, IL.

No. 1 Badger women’s hockey team sweeps St. Cloud State, outscores Huskies 14-2 over two-game series

By Christian Voskuil STAFF WRITER

It wasn’t the overwhelming victory of the first game of the series where they won with a football score, but the Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team (8-2-0) still managed to secure the road sweep with a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State (3-9-1) on Saturday.

After shutting out the Huskies 10-0 in the opening game, the Badgers saw themselves behind the eight ball early in the first period when St. Cloud State’s Jenniina Nylund intercepted an errant pass from Sophie Shirley, rebounded her shot, and lifted the puck over Wisconsin’s Kennedy Blair’s stick on the Huskies’ second shot of the game. The SCSU lead was the first they’ve had over the Badgers in nearly two years.

Wisconsin had an opportunity to tie the game during a power play following a tripping penalty on St. Cloud State’s Hannah Bates, but the Husky penalty kill stood stoutly to keep the narrow lead.

Just as it looked for sure that the Badgers would go into the first intermission facing a deficit, junior forward Sophie Shirley weaved her way through the Husky defense and lifted a backhanded shot passed senior goaltender Emma Polusny with only 35 seconds left in the opening period to tie up the game 1-1.

A Delaney Drake body-checking penalty with one second left in the first period meant the Badgers would have to open the middle period on the penalty kill.

After successfully killing off that penalty, the Badgers seemed to be seizing momentum, leading the shot battle 23-12 through the first eight minutes of the second period. That was until MEL GIAMMARCO/UW ATHLETICS Wisconsin’s Nicole LaMantia was Lacey Eden and Delaney Drake celebrate a goal as the No. 1 Badgers sweep St. Cloud State. called for a major penalty, putting the

Badgers back on the PK for the next five minutes.

Wisconsin held on for four minutes during the extended four-on-five penalty kill, but a wrist shot from St. Cloud State’s McKenna Wesloh beat Blair’s glove, giving the Huskies a lead once again, this time by a score of 2-1.

Once again, the Badgers saw themselves down one score, and once again, the veteran Shirley answered the call. The junior forward turned a neutral-ice interception by captain Brette Pettet into a two-on-two break, beat her defender, and put the puck in the net to knot the score up at 2-2.

Wisconsin saw a golden chance to take their first lead of the game after Olivia Cvar was sent to the sin bin for a body checking penalty. Unfortunately for the Badgers, they failed to record a shot over the two minutes and went into the final nine minutes of play still tied 2-2.

The game looked destined for overtime, but Lacey Eden had different ideas. The freshman scored her third goal in her fourth appearance with 1:17 left in the game to put the Badgers up for the first time all game.

An empty-net goal from Daryl Watts — her 100th career goal — fully shut the door on the Huskies ending the game with a score of 4-2.

Blair saved 21 shots en route to her WCHA-leading eighth win.

Wisconsin has next weekend off before a rematch bout against Minnesota in Minneapolis on Feb. 5 and 6. Last time around, the Badgers swept the then-top team in the country to retake their position as the No. 1 team in the nation.

The University of Wisconsin is the only school in the country with two No. 1 women’s sports teams between women’s hockey and volleyball.

opinion The last four years of Trump: Should we really be surprised how it ended?

8 • dailycardinal.com

Spring Welcome Back 2021 • 9

A historical analysis of how the Trump presidency began and eventually built up to its violent, autocratic finale

By Riley Sumner and Ian-Michael Griffin OPINION DESK EDITORS

The last four years have inflicted carnage on American democracy. The Trump administration’s shattering of presidential norms, attacks on the free press and insistence on unwavering loyalty has ultimately led us to what has been dubbed the most divisive era in American history.

In the days leading up to the 2016 Election Day a Washington Post columnist published a piece titled: “Calm down. We’ll be fine no matter who wins.”

Oh boy.

As Trump began to shift from what many perceived to be a publicity stunt to one of the most autocratic leaders America has seen, we’ve become desensitized to the numerous scandals plaguing the government and our reputation abroad. News story after news story depicting the outrageousness of Trump’s actions, each one more ridiculous than the last, lead to more and more people becoming disenfranchised with politics.

Many were shocked by the attempted siege on the capitol amidst the certifying of the electoral college votes on Jan. 6 — including capitol police and other officials who failed to prevent rioters from breaching the capitol building. But can we really be shocked? Nearly every rally, every speech and every policy put forward by the Trump administration has been carefully curated to the climax of the internet-dubbed “guy in a chewbacca bikini” leading an invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

So let’s take a look into the origin of the Trump presidency, and what led to its violent conclusion. What things did we miss — or simply ignore — that caused the near-fall of American democracy as we know it?

The Era Before Trumpism Despite what many perceived as Trump randomly joining the group of presidential hopefuls, Trump had tossed around and even ran for the nomination multiple times before his 2016 bid.

He first floated the idea around in 1988 to run as a Republican, however his first campaign was in 2000 when he eventually dropped out from seeking the Reform Party nomination.

While Trump had been involved in the political landscape during the 2000s, President Obama’s campaign for a second term seemed to be when Trump gained attention.

In 2012, Trump didn’t invent — but instead amplified false and racist claims that questioned the validity of Obama’s birth certificate, falsely claiming Obama was born in Kenya when in reality he was born in Hawaii.

This claim was perhaps the first to gain media attention and sparked the McCarthy-esque playbook that would eventually become one of the leading strategies of Trump’s relationship

with the media.

In a phone appearance on CNBC in 2012, Trump suggested, “A lot of people are questioning his birth certificate …

They’re questioning the authenticity of his birth certificate.”

Linguistically, Trump offers a vague idea to his audience that “a lot of people” or “many people” hold a belief. He never quantifies how many “a lot” is, and it took media outlets a long time to figure out how to cover these fictitious Trump claims.

His falsehoods instill doubt in our institutions, ultimately causing further than distrust.

As evidenced by his false claim against Obama, Trump positions the media in an impossible situation because of the media’s insistence on objectivity. If the media says Trump is lying, they remove themselves as a passive voice that shares what happened, and instead play an active role in deciding our reality. If the media just says there is a “controversy” surrounding the claim then they make it seem like both stances are equally valid, even though that is not the case.

Trump systematically manipulated the media by throwing out ridiculous assertions and forced the media to make a decision.

When the media decided to start calling out Trump’s false claims, he then claimed the media was out to attack him. At this point, Trump had convinced a significant chunk of the population to believe in his false claims.

Then, when the media identified his tactics, Trump mobilized his followers to defend him against what they now believe is a war against the media.

We as writers want to be careful with how we portray Trump compared to other historical leaders, however it is important to analyze some key similarities between him and populist figures.

In the years leading up to WWII, American media covered Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler as “objective journalists.”

John Brioch, a professor at Case Western Reserve University argues that Mussolini was a “darling of the American press,” as many articles skewed neutral or positive in tone.

Eventually, the press referred to Hitler as “the German Mussolini,” which in itself suggested the same positive connotations of Hitler that Mussolini had already garnered. Brioch argues that the press had portrayed Hitler as a “nonsensical screecher of wild words.”

American press believed that eventually Hitler would start to behave like normal German politicians, and his campaign was simply a way to mobilize voters.

This is eerily familiar to the early days of Trump’s campaign. The media did not take him seriously as a candidate, and continually had expectations that Trump would be “more presidential” even though seemingly every day he committed another outrageous

act of unprofessional behavior.

Ripe for the Picking Unlike his failed bid prior to 2016, however, Donald Trump developed a new style when confronting the public. The previous bid in 2000 was largely forgotten in the public eye in favor of his TV persona in the Apprentice and for his displays of vast wealth.

Much like many of the great orators of the past, Trump had a legitimate talent — whether it may be malevolent or not is beside the point — to tap into a reservoir of deep-seated resentment and malcontent with the general population. He recognized a common grievance among the working class of America and used that to his endless advantage.

In recent decades, the stereotype of the corrupt politician benefiting off of the public’s struggle has pierced the mind of millions of Americans. After disasters such as the Great Recession and ensuing political debacles, a significant portion of the American public became fed up with the traditional ways of politics and began to search for alternatives.

This was the beginning of the sort of environment in which a personality such as Donald Trump could thrive. An atmosphere filled with partisanship and a longing for an “everyman” to be at the helm helped propel Trump to become an unlikely candidate in 2016.

However, as he thrived in such an atmosphere, he had to foster it in a similar manner as to prolong his time in power. In playing up the political division to benefit his brazen style of politics, he further widened the gap between ordinary Americans when it came to politics. He fed off of partisan hatred, and sought to make an enemy out of anyone who did not support his bid.

During both the Primary and Presidential debates of 2015 and 2016, Trump embraced a style of debating that was unlike any of his peers. It was essentially devoid of legitimate debate tactics and favored name calling and interruptions instead. To the disillusioned of the public, this was a breath of fresh air and reminded them more of an ‘Average Joe’ than a career politician.

After the success of such a strategy during the Primary Debates, Trump adopted it fulltime and it became his signature style of brutish mockery over intelligent reproof. He revelled in this modern myth which painted him as a selfmade man and as a product of a can-do attitude and of the wonders of capitalism. No matter how far it was from the truth, it certainly played to this new base which seemingly went beyond the lines of red or blue.

Like it or not, it was a movement sweeping lower and middle class America on a platform which touted malformed ideas one might find in a locker room,

to borrow his infamous cop out.

He captivated the disillusioned of the American people with appeals that seemed to speak to the very heart of their objections. Many at the time predicted, based on history, the likely outcome of fervent nationalism and burgeoning xenophobia, but at the time it was decried as outrageous.

Looking back on it, however, they were vindicated in their assumptions and the division that spawned from the Trump Administration will last far longer than his mere one term presidency.

Needless to say, on his platform which asserted ‘America first,’ Trump skated into a Presidential victory in 2016 “Donald Trump is my President” The newly elected President Trump wasted no time in beginning to implement his vision of an America put before all others, and one of which only his supporters would benefit from.

In January of his first year as president, Trump sent out an executive order which would in fact ban migrants from Muslim countries for 90 days. The outrage was extensive and many saw it as a xenophobic attempt to halt non-Europeans from entering America.

As expected, the outrage m o r p h e d into formal litigation as the ACLU ran to the aid of Muslims being denied e nt r y upon

their arrival, as well as multiple federal judges blocking the order temporarily.

It was one of the more hypocritical moves made by the Trump Administration, which seemed to be a bit paradoxical. On the campaign trail, he would tout the “America first!” standpoint loudly from his pulpit, while also trying to appeal to minority voters and immigrants. Just in 2019, he called for the “largest numbers ever” in legally entering the US. However, at every turn, he made it inaccessible for many to enter under the Muslim Ban. It is evident that Trump wanted their support and placated them on a superficial level while actively working against immigrants looking to enter America.

Seemingly drawn to controversy, just months later in June, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. Under such an agreement, the main objectives were to lower the emission of greenhouse gases that were cre-

ating drastic climate change and lower the global temperature to stall such change. The US was meant to be a main member of the agreement, as the US is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China who releases double that amount.

On top of all this, the rallying cry for his supporters during this period was “facts don’t care about your feelings.” Yet, when faced with legitimate scientific research, Trump fell back on his own beliefs and perhaps prejudices to inform his actions as President.

Packing the Courts Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy retired from the Supreme Court after serving for 30 years, leaving his seat vacant to eventually be filled by Brett Kavanaugh. After hearing of the news regarding Kavanaugh’s nomination, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford — a California professor of psychology who met Kavanaugh at a high school party — wrote a letter and l a t e r

testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing under penalty of perjury that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a gathering in the early 1980s.

The nomination of Kavanaugh speaks to the continued dissolve of character exuded by Trump’s Republican Party. Rather than avoid toxic political figures, Republicans over the last decade have continually cozied up to them.

At the time of Kavanaugh’s nomination, the population of the United States was about 326 million. Denying Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, according to Sen. Lindsay Graham, would have “destroyed [his] life.” If not serving on the Supreme Court destroys a person’s life, then there are 326,000,993 American lives ruined.

This gaslighting and practice of anti-cancel-culture, by claiming that the mere act of holding people accountable for their actions is a threat to Americans everywhere serves as a weak

way to excuse Trump’s actions.

Following in his Supreme Court judge’s footsteps, 26 women, as of 2017, had accused Trump of varying levels of sexual misconduct. While Trump faced backlash for this, his core base of supporters ignored and frankly didn’t care about offensive and degrading comments Trump made, such as “grab them by the pussy.”

Surely if Trump and his allies are painted negatively by the media every single day, the media must be “out to get Trump,” right?

Another notable prelude to l a t e r

years of the Trump era revolving around the Supreme Court were claims made by G.O.P Senators in 2018.

Sen. Graham, at a forum with The Atlantic said, “I’ll tell you this — this may make you feel better, but I really don’t care — if an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait until the next election.” Yet another promise made that was not kept at the end of it all.

Still Campaigning As the Trump presidency continued, so too did his endless campaign. The Trump administration held their final press briefing of 2019 on March 15 of that year. Instead of facing the media, Trump chose to share details of his presidency through the 22 campaign rallies he held and of course, his (now banned) Twitter account.

The year opened with Trump setting another record, when the longest government shutdown in history concluded at

35 days on Jan. 25. Then, after forcing the confirmation of Attorney General William Barr, Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report identifying Russian interference in the 2016 election along with the possible obstruction of justice

by Trump.

Mueller’s investigation charged 34 people, many with relations to the Trump campaign, with charges related to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

At a Judiciary Committee hearing following Mueller’s report being submitted, he testified about his findings.

“And what about total exoneration? Did you actually totally exonerate the president?” said Chairman J e r r o l d Nadler, D-NY. “No,” said Mueller.

The newly confirmed Attorney General Barr then released a heavily redacted version of the report to the public, which makes it largely unclear as to what the actual conclusions made by the Mueller report had been.

In the time after fallout from the Mueller r e p o r t , Trump continued his practice of allying himself with some of GRAPHIC BY LYRA EVANS the absolute worst people. In April, Stephen Miller, a white nationalist, was installed as a White House adviser who was put in charge of Trump’s immigration policy.

Miller’s “policy” — although it doesn’t deserve the dignity of being called a policy, moreso a horrid recreation of Japanese internment camps during World War II — was to separate families at the U.S.-Mexico border where children were locked in cages and continue to be incarcerated today.

As the year closed, Trump was impeached for the first time after a transcript of a phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was released which exposed that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden and find campaign dirt on them.

Trump had called on his supporters to “read the transcript,” which he drew on his earlier rhetoric during the Mueller report to argue his “total exoneration.” This was far from the truth, as Trump directly asked

Zelensky to investigate the Biden family as payment for an increase in military aid the U.S. would offer to Ukraine.

By this point it was true, nothing Trump did mattered. He knew that he could get away with anything, as he predicted while campaigning for his 2016 election.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” said Trump.

By demonizing “cancel culture,” Trump spent the year following the Kavanaugh hearings in an accountability-free environment. He could benefit from Russian interference in an election, coerce a foreign government and eventually incite a deadly insurrection all without facing punishment. Trump managed to convince enough people that the biggest fear was not the myriad of crimes he had committed before and during his presidency, but instead the notion that somehow people would be no longer entitled to second chances.

Trump had his second chance, and it will likely end the same as his first one — impeached for committing crimes against the United States, yet will face no consequences since apologists like Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) will argue that he’s “learned his lesson.”

The Final Year of Trump — “Four too many” As we entered into the final year of Trump’s presidency, “World War III” seemed to be the biggest fear for the upcoming year. On Jan. 2, Trump ordered the airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran’s top security and intelligence commander, leading to fears of another armed conflict in the middle east.

Through February, fires ravaged California and Australia.

Trump was acquitted in the senate for his high crimes and misdemeanors in relation to the Ukrainian phone call. He fired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, adding yet another respected member of the military to the growing list of Trump adversaries after the earlier resignation of Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis. The Coronavirus erupted throughout China, and in March the United States was forced to shut down due to the virus all but ensuring the year would quite frankly never get any better.

Trump’s government failed to provide for its everyday, average Joe citizens facing economic challenges due to its own in-action. Instead, some American’s would receive an one-time $1,200, and wouldn’t receive further aid until a $600 check passed in late December.

While American’s received approximately one month of rent over the roughly nine month span of the pandemic and over 574 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, Republican legislators were sure to provide a $500 billion

program to award loans to businesses at the direction of the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin with no oversight.

In June, the New York Times reported that Russia had been offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to the Taliban, and Trump eventually told Jonathan Swan in the infamous Axios interview from July that, “I have never discussed it with [Putin] ... frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news.”

No credible source had called the report “fake news.”

The most decisive actions the Trump campaign took over the summer didn’t relate to the Taliban bounties. It didn’t have to do with the pandemic that had caused almost 180,000 deaths by the end of August.

It wasn’t about the murder of George Floyd and the protests surrounding police brutality that took place throughout the following months.

Instead, he tried to ban TikTok, a social media app that some suggest played a role in the embarrassingly low attendance at Trump’s Tulsa rally in June, where campaign advisors touted potentially one million people would show up. That number, in actuality, was estimated to be 6,500.

On Nov. 3, over 81 million Americans decided that they’d had enough of Donald Trump.

Ironically, Biden beat Trump by the same margin in the electoral college that Trump defeated Clinton with in 2016, of which the ex-President referred to as a “landslide.”

Following the election, Trump and his legal team fabricated lies about the integrity of this election while providing no evidence to support their bogus claims. Around 86 judges — some of which were Trump appointees — rejected one or more lawsuit filed by Trump and his allies.

On Dec. 14, the states certified their electoral college votes, confirming the 306-232 win Biden held over Trump, although Trump’s challenges to the election absurdly continued despite having no legal basis for those claims.

Instead, members of the congress again fabricated falsehoods alleging voter fraud with no evidence in an effort to overturn the will of the people who had just elected them to office.

On Jan. 6, despite the efforts of rogue congressional members, the electoral college results were certified: Biden was officially declared the winner of the 2020 election and was set to be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.

But perhaps the most egregious violation of the will of American people took place on Jan. 6 as Trump held a rally that ultimately encouraged people to storm the capitol building and organize a violent coup in an attempt to seize control of the government.

This was a blatant intelligence failure by the capitol police and government officials who

were unable to protect themselves from a violent militia.

While intelligence is still being gathered, Democratic members of congress have alleged that Republican lawmakers had given tours of the Capitol to supporters of Trump in the days leading up to the attack.

The way Trump’s presidency ended shouldn’t have come as a shock. Hillary Clinton knew what would happen when she said he would accuse the election of being rigged if he lost.

Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling knew what would happen when he asserted that “Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed,” because of Trump.

We need to start to do better and recognize these red flags that arise when politicians are speaking. If someone had said in 2016 that Trump losing would lead to him encouraging a coup, they would have been called an alarmist, just playing into the media’s hysteria.

Trump Era Passes into History It’s been a long four years.

While the Biden presidency will not save us, it should bring some much needed sanity to the White House. It’s important to analyze the history of what just happened to our country, so as to recognize the signs of a populist seeking the presidency. Donald Trump shattered the integrity and reputation of the United States, and got as far as inciting a terrorist mob to occupy its Capitol building for hours.

As Trump leaves office and historians analyze the effects of his presidency, we can only be hopeful that nobody like him comes near the Oval Office again.

Trump certainly was not the start to all of the problems America is facing today, but he played a critical role in exacerbating them.

Joe Biden is inheriting a deadly pandemic, an economic deficit and one of the most divisive eras in American history — largely due to the actions Trump took during his presidency.

We don’t have the knowledge and expertise to claim Trump was the worst president this country has seen. That is for the historians to decide. That being said, Trump has made some stains that will tarnish this country for decades, and may be irreversible if we don’t radically change the direction of the actions taken during his presidency.

Riley Sumner is an Opinion Editor at The Daily Cardinal and a Junior studying Computer Science and Journalism with an emphasis in Reporting. IanMichael Griffin is an Opinion Editor at The Daily Cardinal and a freshman studying Political Science and Journalism. Do you think another autocrat could pose a threat to American democracy? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

almanac 10

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Spring Welcome Back 2021

Things at UW-Madison that are harder to do than getting into the U.S. Capitol

By Em-J Krigsman Anyone who doesn’t live under a rock should be well aware of the recent United States Capitol breech, and if you aren’t, wake up hunny. In an effort to look towards the silver linings, the break in made it hilariously apparent that quite a few things are harder to get into than the United States Capitol. So to give us the laugh we so desperately need, here is the UW-Madison edition: Login to a Student Canvas Account The past online semester taught UW-Madison students how to have a good social life, with a little side of Canvas. It’s one in the afternoon and you’re finally waking up? Well, better hop on Canvas and see what busy work you can grind out today. Hopefully you didn’t forget your phone in last night’s uber ride, because DUO loves to keep you from doing the course work you didn’t want to be doing in the first place.

Loyal DUO really ups the ante to the annoyance of online school, without fail forcing you to type in your Net ID, scavenge for your phone, click into the DUO app, send a push and then head back to Canvas. This relentless requirement has made logging into canvas a recipe for a headache before you even begin your coursework. The app created to prevent outsiders from accessing UW courses in reality serves as the nuisance that restricts ourselves. Considering Jan. 6’s effortless capitol break in did not require invaders to sign in with their Net ID, it is clearly harder to hack into a University of Wisconsin student’s Canvas account than the United States Capitol. Maybe the Capitol, home of life ending nuclear missile technology, should invest in our friend DUO. Bypass Brad and Chad

What brothers do you know here? Oh so you didn’t receive a text? No hard feelings but in this COVID era things are small and selective. Even for girls, if you’re not on the list it doesn’t matter how big your new Victoria Secret push up bra makes you look, or how you got hypothermia walking half naked down Langdon in the winter, because you’re not coming inside. Interestingly, many capitol insurrectionists share a lot in common with fraternity presidents Brad and Chad, thinking they are tougher, superior, and overall more important than everyone else.

Despite their synonymous ego, Brad and Chad would never upset their girl to guy ratio … sorry Proud Boys but you can’t come in. If only UW Madison’s top of the line scrawny new pledges were guarding the capital, for if Betta has the ability to reject Dixi D’amelio, UW-Madison fraternities are far harder to get into than the United States Capitol.

Acquire a Steamy Bowl of Gordon’s Stir Fry “Have you tried the stir fry yet” is a conversation starter for a reason. With everything being pre-packed and pre-made this year, the stir fry is the only edible thing in Gordon’s dining hall. If you’re a freshman in the south east, stop aimlessly walking around the dining hall trying to convince yourself that something else could be palatable … just get in the darn stir fry line already. It may be best to head over right after you finish breakfast because that line is always wrapped around the block. As learned after Nancy Pelosi’s podium was being auctioned throughout Ebay, Jan.

GRAPHIC BY ZOE BENDOFF

6 insurgents’ hobbies include breaking and entering to take things that are not theirs to have.

If this mentality was maintained by storming to the front of the stir fry line and stealing fistfulls of noodles like lawless savages, capital rioters would find they do not fit in with UW Madison’s midwest hospitality. It appears that yet again it is easier to get into the United States Capital than through the Gordon’s stir fry line. To those up for the challenge, don’t forget to ask for extra sauce. Thank me later.

Failing “Clap for Credit” Music 113 Lost all motivation but desperately need a GPA booster?

Well I am sure you are familiar with Music 113. Yes, this is the “clap for credit” class where 90% of your grade is accumulated by showing up. That is correct, you could get an A by joining the Zoom call and going

right back to sleep. The rest of the grading comes from listening to classical music or occasionally submitting a couple of sentences on a short video.

Gibberish counts as a sentence!

Even capital raiders would feel right at home in Music 113, getting the opportunity to listen to their favorite genre, classical music written by fellow old white men. If you think about it, capital raiders had to do a lot, wake up early, transport to the capital, and most importantly, have the motivation to get out of bed. This requirement is much more than anything you would have to do in Music 113, the course made for lethargic couch potatoes. Failing this course would genuinely be harder than raiding the United States Capitol, requiring you to purposefully and consciously avoid the course emails and canvas completely to not pass.

after legalizing drunk driving After being inaugurated as president just over a week ago, Joe Biden has already shattered the office’s approval rating record, which peaked at an unprecedented 97% after he decriminalized driving under the influence of alcohol.

Despite the fact Biden was quoted just one year ago as saying he “[didn’t] count drunk driving as a felony,” the executive order that he signed on the first day of his presidency shocked his clos-

est advisors, who reportedly warned him that such an action would be extremely dangerous. The commander in chief was not deterred, and, according to sources, told one disgruntled advisor to “relax, quit bein’ a square.”

Shortly after singing the order, Biden took questions from reporters. He became visibly upset when asked to give an explanation for the move.

“Come on Mack, when I was in the Senate we didn’t have these newfangled Ubers. It didn’t matter whether you’d had one too

By Anupras Mohapatra In great Ancient Greece there lived a rabble rouser Panasidis the Great, he wore a tunic and no trouser His wisdom was revered nationwide A source of great Greek pride In his prime, a mind that toppled Aristotle, Plato and Socrates Yet one that was forgotten with great ease But fear not, to you in this poem I convey His legend and his way

President Biden’s approval rating skyrockets

By Nicholas Rawling

Panasidis the Great

many whiskey-sours, and well, you know what I mean.”

There is mounting speculation that Biden was pushed to sign the order

by Vice President Kamala Harris, who somehow always sounds like she’s just washed down a dose of Klonopin with exactly two and a half glasses of a California red blend.

While the nationwide data is still inconclusive, Wisconsin has not yet seen any significant effect- negative or positive of the new policy.

“Most of y’all might as

well have been drunk before,” said Madison’s police chief. “It snows 2 inches and all of the sudden you assholes start driving like you’re having a stroke behind the wheel.”

Police unions around the country are praising the move as well, noting that it frees them up to do more important work, such as arresting people for low-level Marijuana possession and taking selfies with Q-anon people in the U.S. Capitol building.

He spoke and the Acropolis of Athens would freeze Making way for just his speech and the Mediterranean breeze Thousands stood before the Parthenon Listening to great Panasidis go on and on While his rivals stood on the pulpit with apple carts speaking of great virtue and health and the heart Panasidis presented a cart full of sugar Telling the masses exactly what they wanted to hear Besides his speeches at the time, not much was known How do you deceive if everything is shown?

But one fateful night, he retired to bed early, feeling tired Didn’t see day as in his sleep, he died His house was swept up by an eager pupil Who ravaged through each book and even checked the (window)sills He wanted to learn more of the Great’s ways but what he found left him amazed Panasidis the Great lay there naked in bed Side by side, with a portrait of his head Indeed his room was adorned with his head busts It was clear that he was the subject of all his own lust There also sat in a corner a tunic-adorned lyre A fitting best friend for a shallowly loved liar Alarmed, the pupil rushed to the center of the town Speaking of all that he found The lyre in a dress, the busts and the portrait in bed But no one took him seriously; they thought he’d lost his head A vote was taken and the late Socrates sighed Another skeptic was silenced, another young mind was to die Once a dissident of Socrates, the pupil could not believe his wretched luck The mob sentenced him to death like they did Socrates — by poison hemlock Those he loved now celebrated as he ailed Panasidis the Great demagogue and his genius prevailed.