MAIL HOME ISSUE 2021
A look into UW-Madison’s COVID-19 response
By Sophia Vento COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR
With the fall semester fast approaching and in-person classes set to begin on Wednesday, Sept. 8, UW-Madison’s COVID-19 protocol has become central to the campuswide discourse.
In a statement, Associated Students of Madison (ASM) Chair Adrian Lampron and Vice-Chair Lennox Owino expressed their sincere hope for a safe school year.
“Being back in person is exciting, but we cannot take this opportunity for granted and must do our part by getting vaccinated and wearing a mask when necessary,” said Lampron and Owino.
UW-Madison previously announced that masking inside campus buildings would no longer be required for vaccinated campus community members. However, they informed students, faculty and staff that as of Aug. 5, the university would be requiring masks for everyone — regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status — inside UW-Madison spaces and classrooms due to rising concern regarding the Delta variant across the state and country.
“We feel thankful for the mask mandate in place now due to rising COVID cases and a large number of people coming to campus in the fall,” Lampron and Owino said.
Testing — another integral part of the university’s COVID-19
response — is only required for unvaccinated residence hall students, but the university is currently considering expanding this requisite, according to university spokesperson Meredith McGlone.
“As we’ve done throughout the pandemic, the university continues to update its public health protocols in response to the latest developments with COVID-19 locally, in Wisconsin and nationally,” said McGlone, underscoring that the university continues to provide no-cost, on-campus access to both COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for all students and university employees.
UW-Madison strongly encourages student COVID-19 vaccinations while several Big Ten Schools, including the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois, have required them. Other private and public colleges and universities across the state and country have done the same.
“For vaccination, a UW-Systemwide approach is most effective and we are prepared to take additional action as appropriate, in coordination with UW-System President Tommy Thompson and other campuses,” said McGlone. She emphasized that the university will adhere to UW-System guidance when asked about University of Minnesota’s recent decision to require vaccination for students upon full FDA approval.
In accordance with the UW-System’s lack of COVID19 vaccination requirement, Thompson announced a student vaccination incentive for all system schools apart from UW-Madison.
UW campuses that achieve a 70 percent or higher vaccination rate will be eligible for one of 70, $7,000 scholarships in this “70 for 70” campaign. It is unclear whether the UW-Madison administration will be crafting its own COVID-19 vaccination incentive program.
Nonetheless, ASM is currently formulating a student-led vaccine education and promotion campaign intended to provide students with factual information regarding the COVID-19 vaccinations with the goal of promoting safety on campus, Lampron and Owino said.
The #VaccinateUW outreach campaign that ASM, in collaboration with University Health Services (UHS), is developing will encourage students to share their reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine, ultimately encouraging their friends and peers to do the same. Debunking common misconceptions and misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine with the backing of UHS’s expertise is also central to the campaign’s efforts in encouraging vaccinations across campus.
Lampron and Owino urge their peers who have not been vaccinated to do so soon in order to protect
“our entire campus community.”
Disagreements about the university’s COVID-19 policy are plentiful, according to McGlone.
“We are hearing a wide range of thoughts from students, their parents and families, faculty and staff about the upcoming year,” McGlone said, noting that most upto-date information and resources regarding university COVID-19 guidelines remain on the COVID19 response website. “Some disagree with any public health measures; others would like to see more measures put in place.”
ASM leadership hopes the university utilizes input from the campus community more effectively when designing campus-wide COVID-19 guidelines and policies.
“Over the course of the pandemic, administrators have often made important decisions — like when to require testing, hold classes in-person, or allow remote work — without input from staff, faculty and students,” said Lampron and Owino. “This practice disrespected shared governance and must not continue this year.”
“Those who are impacted must have a say in the decision-making processes,” continued Lampron and Owino, highlighting their hope that the university’s willingness to support the #VaccinateUW campaign extends to other instances of shared governance throughout this ASM session, beyond legislation and efforts relating to COVID-19.
Dane County population, diversity increased at record levels since 2010
By Jackson Mozena CITY NEWS EDITOR
According to recently released data from the census bureau, the population of Dane County increased by approximately 15% during the past decade, making Dane county the fastest growing area in all of Wisconsin.
There have been 73,431 new arrivals to Dane County over the past decade, representing roughly one third of Wisconsin’s net 206,732 person population growth.
The population of Madison, which is located within Dane County, grew by approximately 16% from 233,209 in 2010 to 269,840 in 2020, a reality which is likely to have political ramifications according to o cials.
John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, commented that the increased size of the Dane County area will have an impact on federal redistricting, causing Dane County voters to impact additional districts.
“They’re going to add close to another entire Assembly district,” Johnson told WPR. “So there will be additional representation for the citizens of Dane County.”
Due to the increased size of the county, nearly 53,000 rural
Dane county voters who have traditionally been lumped into the heavily democratic 2nd Congressional District will instead be voting for candidates in the 3rd Congressional District which has been more heavily contested in the past.
The consequences of this redistricting are especially relevant following the recent announcement of Ron Kind (D), who currently represents the 3rd Congressional District, stating that he will not be running for reelection in 2022. This means that the election in the third congressional district has the potential to be determined by Dane County residents.
Census data indicates an increase in racial diversity within Dane County over the past decade with racial minorities now making up 22.4% of the population, up from 15.3% in 2010.
According to census data, Latino residents continue to represent the largest minority group in Dane County, making up 7.5% of the population, while the Asian community has surpassed the size of the African American community with both groups making up 6.3% and 5.4 % of the population respectively.
Experts have emphasized that the overall decrease in the population of non-Latino
whites is misleading and can largely be accounted for by an increase in interracial relationships which have resulted in an increase in residents of mixed race within Dane County from 4.7% in 2010 to 6.4% of the population in 2020.
Steven Ruggles, a population scientist with the University of Minnesota, discussed the seemingly declining number of white Wisconsinites on “The Morning Show” and explained that the demographic shift is misleading.
“The white population is declining only if one defines white by the ‘one-drop rule,’ the racist interpretation of race that predominated the 19th century,” Ruggles said. Rather, “more and more people are responding [to the Census] with mixed-race responses.”
Experts note that available housing in Dane County has failed to keep pace with the expanding population despite the housing market expanding by 15.2% over the past decade, making Dane County the most rapidly expanding area in Wisconsin according to Madison.com.
Out of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, Dane County currently has the State’s 69 lowest vacancy rate of 4.2%, considerably lower than the statewide average of 11%.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
COURTESY OF BRYCE RICHTER
UW-Madison's new COVID-19 protocol is central to campus-wide discourse.
Student resilience shines through the pandemic
By Gina Musso FEATURES EDITOR
Your morning alarm rings as you roll over, ready for another day as a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of hopping between video calls and virtual class all day is daunting, and the only thing you look forward to is the Zoom happy hour scheduled for this evening. Weekends are dull, there is no spring break and you cannot even study at the local coffee shop or diner because there is no indoor seating.
College in a “normal” year is hard for most students, but attending college during a global pandemic can amplify these challenges. Despite pandemic-enhanced challenges, UW-Madison students have shown their resilience and strength as a campus community.
Looking back at the 2021-2022 school year at UW-Madison, students faced a hybrid — if not fully online — class schedule and virtually no in person gatherings. Many students telecommuted from home for class or from sometimes-locked-down dorms. Not to mention, there was the looming danger of contracting COVID-19 from any gathering or densely populated student housing situation.
For first-year students living on campus, their transition occurred in the midst of a twoweek lockdown in two of the on-campus dorms and a pause to in-person instruction during Sept. 2020 after a surge in positive COVID-19 cases emerged just days after the first day of class.
“Initially, meeting people the first week of college over the pandemic was difficult!” said rising second-year Eleyna Escobedo. “There’s always that fear of strangers testing positive that you maybe just met in passing.”
Despite the switch to a mostly remote campus community, UW-Madison saw their second
largest incoming class of freshman to date, with 7,306 freshmen that enrolled at the University in September 2020.
“I think one of the most difficult things about starting college online was going into the entire experience not knowing what to
“There’s always that fear of strangers testing positive that you maybe just met in passing.”
assistants and professors to foster a community among students despite the circumstances.
“Seeing students’ passion and commitment to the different organizations they are a part of has been super inspiring.”
Vidakovich said. “I thought it was really cool to see students come together and support one another in fundraising for different causes through creating unique, engaging virtual events for everyone to interact with.”
Beyond first year students, student activists came together to advocate for more support for their peers on campus. The Associated Students of Madison, UW-Madison’s student governance body, pushed for their COVID-19 Student Relief Fund, a $2 million relief aid effort aimed to help students who did not qualify for federal COVID-19 relief funds.
expect. I had never had a professor before or been in a class with more than 20 students,” said rising second-year student Tati Vidakovich. “Although I had taken AP courses during high school, I was really nervous starting everything online because I didn’t know what the workload would be like or how to navigate through all of the different online platforms each professor had.”
To combat “Zoom fatigue” and to get a feel for the campus community, Vidakovich found ways to stay connected during her freshman year.
“I found it really helpful to go outside or explore campus and find new study spaces to help change the scenery from staring at the computer all day,” Vidakovich said. “While it was also difficult meeting new people (and) making friends, I also think making group chats with other classmates and talking to them outside of class helped remind me we were all going through similar struggles.”
Vidakovich appreciated efforts made by her classmates, teaching
While ASM pushed for their relief fund for months throughout the Spring 2021 semester and pursued multiple outlets to try to distribute these funds to their peers, pushback from UW-Madison blocked these efforts.
According to ASM Chair and co-sponsor of the COVID19 Student Relief Fund, Adrian Lampron, the momentum behind the COVID-19 Student Relief Fund efforts led UW-Madison to provide aid to students through a different medium to the UW-Odyssey Project, which is a program through UW-Madison which offers humanities classes to adult students who face obstacles that make it difficult to attend college.
“Unfortunately, the COVID-19 Student Relief Fund was repeatedly blocked by UW administrators and was never implemented,” said Lampron. “But as a result of our advocacy around the fund, we were able to pressure decision makers into providing relief dollars to special students, like those in the Odyssey program, for the first time.”
Moving into Fall 2021
One and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, UW-Madison students are continuing to return to Madison again for the new semester. With the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine and 63,856 students and employees who have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of August 16, students are optimistic about what Fall 2021 will look like on campus.
“I’m looking forward to meeting more people!” Escobedo said. “Especially in my extracurriculars that I’ve only seen on a Zoom screen, football games and other events on campus! Hopefully, we as a UW community can all come together to create a safe space so we can have a ‘normal’ school year!”
While a face covering mandate has been enacted in indoor campus settings as of Aug. 5, the campus community is still planning for an inperson fall semester.
“I am so excited to be in person for classes, meeting new
“I
people, and hopefully being able to engage in other in person activities/clubs!” Vidakovich said. “Since some students stayed home last year, I think it will be so nice to have everyone back and see the campus come back to life.”
Eleyna Escobedo
Second-year student
Tati Vidakovich Second-year student
TAA expresses concern ahead of in-person classes
By Ellie Nowakowski CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR
Remote work options, masks on all UW campuses and a vaccine mandate are a few of the United Faculty & Academic Sta demands for the fall semester. At a virtual open meeting addressing COVID-19 safety concerns Monday, graduate workers, sta and faculty discussed the demands and organized ways to see them through.
The 60 meeting attendees entered breakout rooms to brainstorm ideas for media attention, political pressure, campus administration pressure, grassroots health and safety initiatives and new ideas in each room respectively.
Of the demands, a vaccine mandate has the most legal hurdles, but UFAS cites other large public universities mandating COVID-19 vaccinations. University of Michigan, University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign, Indiana University, University of Colorado Boulder and Michigan State University are all requiring vaccinations for all students, faculty and sta
“It’s so obvious that this university is not ready for what’s coming down the line,” TAA president John Walker said. “It’s just so frustrating to not see a very proactive approach.”
Walker wishes the university had taken time to find a hybrid or virtual option that improved on last year, rather than jumping back into the classroom. Administration has had time since summer of 2020 to find a system that works for everyone, Walker said, “why was there not a team in place to say ‘what does the next year look like?’”
“(Administration) should have been asking those hard questions back then,” Walker said. “We should be way beyond this as far
as infrastructure building and any kind of planning. That’s what these administrators get paid to do.”
Safety risks have had financial implications for graduate workers, sta and faculty who felt they had to choose between risking their health and quitting their salaried job. Many graduate workers have to put their safety on the line despite being immunocompromised or having children under the age of 12 who are ineligible for the vaccine, Walker said.
While the university prepares to return to in-person instruction, sta believe that they are left with a di cult decision and a lot of risk either way.
“At the end of the day, what we’re talking about is safety,” Walker said. “Specifically with the reopening, it all comes down to the safety of workers, because it takes all of us to keep such a
giant institution running.”
To wrap up the virtual meeting, attendees came back together to share ideas and discuss next steps. The meeting was cosponsored by
Student football ticket scammers increase as tickets turn virtual
By Samantha Henschel ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The start of football season marks an exciting time for students with tailgates, in-person gatherings and a full student section at Camp Randall on the horizon.
However, as the excitement builds, so does the possibility of getting scammed when purchasing football tickets online.
For the 2021-2022 football season, the first season allowing guests since the COVID-19 pandemic, football tickets sales were digitized. The new system requires students to transfer tickets digitally rather than providing them with paper tickets to sell in person.
The new digitized ticketing system has been a major issue for
students that have been scammed out of receiving football tickets.
Danielle Stecyna, an incoming senior at UW-Madison studying marketing, missed the deadline to purchase tickets for the Sept. 25 game at Soldier Field in Chicago against Notre Dame. So, she did what most students would do and took to the UW Badger Student Ticket Exchange Facebook group to find a ticket.
“I found a decent amount of people that were selling, but every ticket was super expensive, so I waited to see if I could find cheaper tickets,” Stecyna said.
A few days later, Stecyna found a cheaper ticket for $75.
Shocked, she immediately messaged the seller to purchase their ticket. Stecyna was unfamiliar
with the digital transferring system, so she simply purchased the ticket and sent over the payment through PayPal.
“He asked if I could use PayPal because he didn’t have Venmo, and I thought, ‘that’s so weird. What college student doesn’t have Venmo?’” said Stecyna. “He also said I needed to use the friends and family option. It was my first time using PayPal in a while, so I just sent the money.”
Hours later, Stecyna had yet to receive her ticket. After asking the seller to transfer it to her account, he blocked her.
Stecyna had been using the Facebook page to sell and purchase tickets since her first year at UW-Madison. However, due to the new digital transferring sys-
tem, she was unaware of the rising prevalence of online scams.
“I actually noticed that people are photoshopping pictures of tickets, too,” Stecyna said.
“When you had a physical ticket, you could go and pick it up from someone in person. With electronic transferring, you can send your money before they send the ticket and vice-versa, which makes it easier for people to scam you. I knew I should be aware of it, but I think I was taken aback that it actually happened to me.”
Another student looking for tickets, Jack Diederich, was approached by a Facebook scammer under the name “Frank Linda” claiming to have three season ticket passes for sale.
When Diederich asked the user to confirm their identity as a student, he was faced with a surprise – a poorly photoshopped image of someone’s face onto a University of Alabama student.
A June Reddit thread highlighted advice for those looking to not get scammed, including purchasing and transferring tickets in person, using PayPal goods and services and purchasing tickets with cash.
About a month after her illfated transaction, Stecyna finally received a refund for the original ticket amount from PayPal.
“Looking back on it, I know this wasn’t my fault,” she said. “But, I should have seen some of the red flags. I was so upset. I wanted it to be true so bad.”
Wisconsin faces persistent storms as August continues
By Emma Grenzebach STATE NEWS EDITOR
Places around the world are experiencing abnormal and unprecedented weather events due to the rising climate crisis. In the last month, Wisconsin has seen some of these impacts in the form of major storms and tornadoes.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Wisconsin saw 24 tornadoes in the 15 day period from July 28 through Aug. 11 this year. On July 29, a string of storms occurred that included 10 tornadoes which developed in the Dane, Je erson and Waukesha Counties. Straightline, damaging winds that exceed 50-60 miles per hour were another element of these storms.
The tornadoes are in line with the belief that Tornado Alley is shifting across the country. According to a study by Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University, and Harold Brooks, a member of NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory, the expected area for this type of weather is moving from the central and southern Great Plains to the Midwest and Southeast.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
article reports updates from last week’s storms, explaining that 225,000 utility customers lost power on Aug. 10. According to the article We Energies, a power company serving Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,
believes the damage caused by the storms requires a “major rebuild” of the area’s electrical network.
Almost 100,000 utility customers spent Aug. 11 without power as temperatures stayed in the 80’s and 90’s in a ected areas. Many
cooling centers were opened in these areas to keep those who were left without air conditioning safe in the heat.
The evening of Aug. 11 also included troublesome weather, making it the sixth straight day of severe thunderstorms in the southern part of the state. A twister touched down in Dodgeville early in the evening and was followed by a tornado warning for Iowa and Dane County. The storm ended before it reached Dane County, but included two weak tornadoes, both with maximum winds of 60 miles per hour and classified as EF-0 in Iowa County.
These stormy conditions are more striking considering the other changes Wisconsin’s climate is going through. According to a Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) article, “Wisconsin is already warmer and wetter than it was more than half a century ago.”
Temperatures have risen about 2 degrees in the last seventy years and are expected to warm between 2.5 and 7.5 degrees by 2050. On top of this, the state has experienced a 15% increase in the amount of rain and snowfall we have seen each year.
“The projections do suggest or
show that we expect more of these heavy rainfall events, as well as longer dry spells in between,” said Dan Vimont, director of the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research and co-director of the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts. “Another thing that projections suggest is that warmer conditions will be associated with drier soil moisture and more ecological and agricultural drought.”
Rising temperatures are expected to accompany these precipitation conditions. The WPR article states, “In the summer, the number of days hotter than 90 degrees is likely to triple in Wisconsin. Under higher emissions scenarios, southern Wisconsin could experience three months of extremely hot days by the end of the century.”
In the nearer future, southern Wisconsin should expect more stormy weather at the end of this week. While there are no expectations for major storms this weekend, Wisconsin continued to experience tornadoes into September of 2019 and 2020 and October of 2019.
These weather conditions are not over for the year, even if the power is back on.
United Faculty & Academic Sta , TAA, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 171 and 2412 and the University Labor Council.
COURTESY OF CLAIRE GRUMMON
Staff from the TAA raised concerns over the consequences of in-person classes.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
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Madison Affirmations is staying anonymous... for now
By Addison Lathers
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Fried images. Terrible fonts.
Oversaturated colors.
It only takes the individual behind the Madison A rmations account, whom I will call MA in this article for short, a few short minutes to make and post each meme to their Instagram account.
As we sat across from each other in the crowded Michelangelo’s Co ee House, MA detailed the account’s early days. The idea for a Madison-themed “a rmations” meme account came to her five days before she launched A rmations of Madison on July 22. MA had been following other a rmations accounts and thought that the city would be the perfect subject for her own spin-o of the format — something fun that she could post for her friends to see.
What she didn’t know was how well her foreboding images and vaguely threatening messages would resonate with Madison’s downtown residents.
“I literally thought I would be posting for my 20 friends. Like, I thought it would reach 100 followers at most,” she said. “I went out that night, and I had people coming up to me about it. I heard people I didn’t know talking about Madison A rmations in front of me.”
When I first reached out to MA, she had just acquired 800 Instagram followers in a little over a day. At the time I began writing this story, the Madison A rmations account hit 4,000. The gain was huge, and MA knew it.
“That’s more than my main,” she noted.
Her posts were quickly liked, commented on, shared and reposted to other social media platforms. The account’s mostliked post garnered 1,317 likes.
MA’s meme about local band Disq, which reads “I will see Disq Play live again,” was even shared by the Sylvee.
““ I literally thought I would be posting for my 20 friends. Like, I thought it would reach 100 followers at most .”
Madison A rmations
MA left clues to her identity on the account’s story, outing herself as a bisexual woman. This, she believes, may have narrowed it down to “a fourth of Madison’s population.” With only her friends and a few acquaintances being in on her secret, MA estimated that 30 people actually know that she is the one behind the account.
She isn’t quite ready to reveal herself to the world, but MA was willing to divulge some small details. Her go-to bars are Genna’s Lounge and Plaza, and she is on Twitter. MA is also a double Virgo, Taurus moon with seven earth signs in her astrological chart.
“I’m naturally a cynical person, but I’ve been cynical in private until now,” she explained.
Many people, including myself, assumed that she must
be a University of WisconsinMadison student or even a recent alum. However, MA revealed that she’s never attended the university. MA originally grew up in a suburb of Madison and started hanging out around the city when she was a senior in high school. The meme titled “Dropping out of MATC was a good idea,” was about her own experience with the college.
The account’s UW-themed
memes, on the other hand, are often inspired by MA’s friends.
“I didn’t go to school, so I have a lot of time to people watch. I feel like that’s where this account is coming from,” she said. “People have very shared experiences in Madison, and it’s an incredibly unique city. So I’m just shitposting what I’ve been seeing for the past five years.”
MA didn’t pick up the art of meme-making overnight;
she’s made memes with generic image-editing apps on her phone for her friends for years. I asked for a sample of her early work, to which she showed me an oversaturated image of voting machines on that said “Fine call the voting machines. I’ll have sex with them.”
Looking to the future, MA hopes to launch more merchandise for the account. She may even reveal her identity.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AFFIRMATIONS OF MADISON
The viral meme-maker and mysterious Madison micro-celebrity didn't expect her Instagram account to be seen by more than a few friends. Now, she has 4,322 followers.
Shows to get excited about this fall
By Seamus Rohrer
The Madison concert scene will return in full force this fall. With a sprawling slate of shows lined up, there’s something for everyone as we welcome back the joy of live performance. There’s a fantastic mix of newer and classic artists, with some up-andcoming newbies along with some big time names. Here are some of the highlights from a loaded lineup:
Trombone Shorty will be performing at the Sylvee, just a few blocks east of Capitol.
Trombone Shorty - August 31 at The Sylvee
About a week before classes start, Trombone Shorty will bring his southern Louisiana suave to The Sylvee. Hailing from New Orleans, Trombone Shorty (or Troy Andrews) mixes classic elements of New Orleans swing and big band music with a more modern, funk approach that keeps his sound contemporarily viable.
His music and style in general have a somewhat seductive quality, making this show a vastly underrated place to take that special someone. It also makes The Sylvee, with its intimate, personal setting, the perfect place for him to perform. Likely accompanied by a large supporting band, Trombone Shorty is undeniably a showman and his concert should be a spectacle as much as it is a performance.
Japanese Breakfast - September 18 at Majestic Theater
Michelle Zauner, a.k.a Japanese Breakfast, will hit Majestic Theater just five days after Dinosaur Jr. Still fresh off her critically acclaimed breakthrough album, Jubilee, Zauner appears to be entering the prime of her career. She’s also the type of musician that figures to have a captivating presence on stage, which comes from a combination of music and demeanor.
Despite delivering two very solid records before Jubilee, her third album seems to be the one that kicked her career into another gear. It was only a matter of time, as Zauner is a supremely talented songwriter with an ear for catchy, bittersweet melodies. In other words, this is prime time to see Japanese Breakfast live. Her dreamy, shoegaze-inspired layers of sound promise to wash over the audience in an intoxicating way.
The
will host a wide array of musical performances this fall.
Soccer Mommy and Emily Reo - November 8 at Majestic Theater
Dinosaur Jr. - September 13 at Majestic Theater
90s kids rejoice! The legendary alternative rock band will bring their heavy sound to the Majestic Theater, a strong start to a stellar fall concert season. Headed by one of the truly great guitarists of his generation, J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr.’s hard-rock sound is made for live performance. You’ll definitely need earplugs for this one, as even on their recordings the volume swells and shifts are immense.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of energy level the 55 year-old Mascis brings, but at the very least his masterful guitar playing will speak for itself. In fact, there’s almost no one guitarist that fits the word “shredding” more than Mascis. Expect nothing less than several jaw-dropping guitar solos. The group is also just a few months removed from releasing their first album in five years, so there should be a healthy mix of new tracks and classics from the 90s.
Two songwriters with southern roots will come together for yet another must-see at the Majestic Theater. While Sophie Allison, a.k.a Soccer Mommy, has developed her lo-fi sound into Billboard-charting material, Emily Reo remains very much under the radar despite sharing many musical similarities with Soccer Mommy. Both started out with very low-tech recording situations and both of their musical journeys have led them to a more professional sound quality. However, both artists haven’t forgotten their lo-fi roots and still incorporate them heavily into their music. Both musicians have an ear for pop, although Emily Reo leans more towards the noise-pop side of the spectrum while Soccer Mommy tends to have a more jangly, bedroom-pop sound — the cover of her compilation Collection is the epitome of the latter style of music.
Soccer Mommy and Emily Reo will compliment each other very well, and the show captures both artists in interesting phases of their career. Soccer Mommy has garnered some significant attention with her latest release, 2020’s color theory. Emily Reo, who has been in the game much longer, continues to toil away in obscurity as her sound evolves. Nov. 8 at Majestic should be
beautiful
of
minds and sounds.
IRENA CLARKOWSKI /THE DAILY CARDINAL
Japanese Breakfast is an indie band lead by Korean-American musician Michelle Zauner.
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band that was formed in 1984.
Majestic
a
collision
musical
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
IMAGE COURTESY OF ERIC TRA
IRENA CLARKOWSKI /THE DAILY CARDINAL
Do we really need to wear masks again?
By JOYCE RIPHAGEN STAFF WRITER
When vaccinated individuals were invited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to unmask in May, the world breathed a sigh of relief.
Things were finally getting back to normal, or so it seemed. Now, with UW-Madison reinstituting a mask mandate on campus as of Aug. 5 and Dane County Public Health recommending that everyone mask up regardless of vaccination status, it feels in many ways like we’re right back where we started in March of 2020.
The Delta variant of COVID19 has raised health concerns for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals — but why? Shouldn’t a vaccine protect you from infection?
The presence of the Delta variant is “directly correlated to the presence of unvaccinated individuals,” said Dr. Richard Zane of UCHealth. People who are unvaccinated either due to personal preference of a medical condition such as autoimmune diseases can act as a hotbed for
virus evolution, allowing more infectious variants to evolve. These variants can then go on to infect vaccinated individuals because of their evolved traits.
Just as with the Alpha variant of COVID-19 that swept the globe last year, the Delta variant is transmitted through respiratory droplets that are spread when infected individuals speak, cough, or sneeze. Masks prevent the spread of these droplets, thereby drastically reducing infection rates. The CDC recommends multilayer masks and advises against the use of singlelayer masks like neck gaiters.
Since introduction, none of the available vaccines have been shown to be 100% e ective against infection, though twodose vaccines have been proven to decrease the infection and hospitalization rates dramatically.
So, do we need a new vaccine?
Not yet. The currently available vaccines are still e ective against preventing infection and illness caused by any worrisome variants. However, countering diseases is always something of a medical arms race. Just as bacte-
ria evolve to be resistant against antibiotics, viruses evolve and mutate to gain resistance. Luckily, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not a particularly fast-mutating specimen, with new variants popping up more slowly than flu variants. This, along with continued vaccination worldwide, should slow
Mystery east coast bird illness sweeps Midwest
By HELENA WEHRS STAFF WRITER
A mysterious avian illness appears to have spread from the eastern coast of the United States to the Midwest and southern US. While there have been no cases identified in Wisconsin, the illness has continued to spread west as far as Ohio and Indiana.
While the origin and other aspects of the illness are still being investigated by multiple wildlife laboratories, the symptoms consistent with the illness include: eye swelling, crusty discharge, and neurological signs. The illness has generally been found in fledgling and juvenile blue jays, common grackles, European starlings and American robins and has been fatal in many cases.
No causes of the illness or mortality have been identified at this time. Natural resource management agencies in the states with reported cases and the National Park Service are working with multiple laboratories to investigate the cause of the illness.
Some have noted that the symptoms of this illness are similar to House Finch eye disease, a bacterial illness that also originated on the east coast in the 1990s. Afflicted finches exhibited swollen, runny eyelids that could lead to total blindness. However, House Finch eye disease does not cause the neurological symptoms present with the new illness.
Wildlife agencies have been testing for months to identify the illness and have been able to rule out several common bird pathogens, as well as
West Nile virus and avian flu. The disease currently does not pose a risk to transmit to humans.
The first reports of this illness began in May when wildlife professionals received reports of sick birds in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
don't seem affected by this condition.
and Kentucky. To date, the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) and other wildlife agencies have received thousands of reports of sick and dead birds.
Beginning in late June, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) received scattered reports of birds with swollen, crusty eyes. The DNR is continuing to investigate reports of birds with these symptoms, but has stated that there could be other causes for these symptoms unrelated to the illness in the eastern states.
Kaitlin Svabek of the Madison Audubon Society suggested in a WPR interview that bird feeders should be taken down, stating “We are recommending out of an abundance of caution the preventative measures recommended by the National Wildlife Health Center and that would be to take down feeders and bird baths.”
This may be a disappointment to many bird watchers, but illnesses can easily be spread between the birds congregating at these sites. The removal of bird feeders also has little effect on the overall health of bird populations since there is abundant vegetation during the summer.
With overall bird populations already declining due predominantly to habitat loss, it is vital that we take precautions to prevent an outbreak of an unknown disease. By simply taking down bird feeders and baths, we can significantly reduce the risk of transmission. If any citizen spots a sick or dead bird with these symptoms, they should report the sighting to a local DNR office.
the need for a new vaccine.
A full course of COVID-19 vaccinations still provides significant protection against infection and serious illness. However, the vaccine also decreases the percent of those infected who become symptomatically ill, meaning it may be harder to catch cases before they spread.
As such, the best defense against the Delta variant is to get fully vaccinated if possible, while continuing to wear a face-covering in public spaces regardless of vaccination status. And, of course, wash your hands!
Start o strong: Advice for freshman in STEM
By Emily Rohlo SCIENCE EDITOR
Are you entering the new school year wondering how to become more involved within your science, technology, engineering or math major? Or looking to build on your resume and make more peer connections?
Don’t worry, UW-Madison has hundreds of clubs and organizations that provide opportunities to volunteer, connect with professionals in your field of interest and learn more about specific major pathways.
The majority of clubs/ organizations will have booths at the Student Org Fair which takes place in September. Though there is an abundance of awesome clubs to join (including the Daily Cardinal science desk!), it’s typically best to stick to 1-2, in order to be able to get more involved with leadership later on — this is a great resume booster!
Check out these student orgs:
1. Aspiring Physician’s Assistant Association
2. Conservation Biology Society
3. Doctors without Borders
4. Wisconsin PreMedical Society (WPS)
5. National Alliance on Mental Illness
Another important aspect of any STEM major’s academic career is succeeding in general education requirements. Taking Chem 103? Or Math
221? Or any other seemingly grueling Gen Ed? Here’s some strategies to get that A (or maybe B).
1. Go to o ce hours! While it might be a little awkward at first, this is a great way to set yourself apart from the mass of students taking these bigger classes. Going to o ce hours is also a helpful opportunity to ask questions, or consider questions you didn’t even know you had. You won’t regret it!
2. Keep up on course materials. College classes move fast, and falling just a little behind can easily snowball into a bombed exam. Dedicate time to studying and reviewing material each week to stay on top of things.
3. Ask questions, even if they seem stupid! Many times, other students will be wondering the same thing.
4. Keep track of your health, both mental and physical. It’s impossible to do your best when you’re unwell. Take steps to keep yourself healthy — it’ll benefit your academics too!
BRYCE RICHTER / UW MADISON
A masked Bucky walks in the halls of the Discovery Building as part of the Fall 2020 Smart Restart efforts.
CLAYTON JANNUSCH/ UW MADISON
Sick as a dog? More like sick as a bird. Luckily, hummingbirds
An evaluation of freshmen housing
Doubles turned into triples and dens turned into quads: these are a few of the plans proposed as the solution to cram a surplus of five hundred students within UW-Madison residence halls.
Although UW-Madison Housing has o ered make-do dorm rooms to its incoming freshmen class, it does not mean students are willing to take them. UW-Madison residence halls can feel like a shoe-box when shared with just one roommate. Further overcrowding living conditions are clearly far from ideal.
In non-COVID times, around 90% of the incoming freshmen class opts to live within UW-Madison housing. An increase in newly admitted students paired with heightened demand for on-campus living has left UW-Madison in a clamber to piece together last-minute living quarters.
Undoubtedly, part of the heightened interest in residence hall living is rooted in the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine and subsequent return to normalcy. Nevertheless, the new COVID-19
variants and increase in outbreaks forced UW-Madison to update its housing regulations. As of Aug. 5, mask wearing and social distancing is again the protocol for UW-Madison housing residence regardless of vaccination status, throwing incoming freshman’s hopes for ordinary dorm life out the window.
Worsening the situation, the elevated interest in on-campus living has upset the likelihood of attaining one of the more popular dormitories. A quick glance at the 2025 new student Facebook page reveals the
Residence Hall Living
By Em-J Krigsman OPINION EDITOR
In choosing to attend UW-Madison, I opted for dorm life, ranking and attaining Witte Residence hall. As to be expected, I was filled with jubilation regarding how the year would progress in a communal residence hall of 1,330 occupants amidst the ongoing pandemic. I was greeted with strict rules limiting social gatherings and an abrupt two-week lockdown within my first month of arrival. Through thick and thin, I remained within the residence halls. While my experience was unique from all prior years, I could not be more grateful for my choice.
Living under the same roof as countless di erent people facilitates social interactions with those from all walks of life. With hundreds of students shoved in the same vicinity, finding people with whom you mesh with is inevitable. Being that everyone within my dorm was but a few staircases away, showing up to each other’s rooms at a minute’s notice, making late night microwaved quesadillas and having makeshift shower-time karaoke nights became common occurrences. Every day I was encountering new faces and connecting with new people.
In coming to an unknown city in a time of great uncertainty, it was comforting to know every person I lived with was in the same position and sought to help each other. I remember the time I relentlessly searched the laundry room lost-and-found with the hopes of finding my floormate’s lucky sock as clear as the time a boy left his chemistry lecture to help me activate the basement printer. Everyone looked out for each other. My dorm became my second family.
My greatest concern of living in a dorm was not socializing however, it was being able to concentrate on my schoolwork. To my surprise, living in the dorms helped me academically.
odds are someone else is in the communal lounge in the same position. Although hard to explain, it felt encouraging to know I was not alone but rather working in unison with fellow students. Similar to me, everyone in the residence halls had exams, labs, papers and midterms to complete. Everyone wanted to have fun, but everyone supported school first.
As I look back on my experience it is truly laughable that I ever considered o -campus living. Yes, living o -campus provides more freedom and security in the face of strict regulations, but living in the dorms is a once in a lifetime opportunity crucial to the true college experience.
These are strange times and so much of our true college experience has already been taken away. In my opinion, it would be a crime to likewise deprive yourself from living in the dorms.
On the nights you’re working on your assignments until the sun begins to rise,
dozens of students who are unhappy with their placements. These students are scrambling to find anyone willing to switch residence halls, most looking to swap from lakeshore to southeast dorms.
In consideration of the series of unfortunate events, it seems likely that many incoming students are now considering o -campus housing.
To help evaluate the options for incoming freshmen, Em-J Krigsman and Ian-Michael Gri n — the opinion editors on behalf of the Daily Cardinal — have o ered their per-
spectives on their polar opposite freshmen living experiences. Em-J resided in the largest on-campus dorm and Ian-Michael selected a onebedroom, o -campus apartment. Ultimately, every freshman, and what they wish to prioritize in their freshmen living experiences, is different. There is no right answer, only di erent preferences. If you are an incoming freshman reconsidering your living situation, take in our opinions and ask yourself which sounds better for you. Whatever choice you land on, welcome to Madison.
O Campus Apartments
By Ian-Michael Gri n OPINION EDITOR
It is no surprise that, traditionally, many incoming freshmen have opted to choose oncampus housing for many of the same reasons as above. There is no denying that dorm life has certain qualities that are simply conducive to cultivating a vibrant social life. Being roommates with multiple people and essentially close quarters neighbors with hundreds more tends to force one to meet new people, at perhaps the greatest time of needing to.
Personally, I chose to come to Madison so late in the year that on-campus housing was just about unavailable for me. Combined with the threat of COVID-19, my family and I decided it was best that I began searching for my first apartment. In the end, I wholeheartedly believe that this was the best move for me and, perhaps, for some students like myself. It is no shock that for some students, social life is an important
aspect of the college experience. For myself, however, I was concerned about my grades and cost.
For my one bedroom apartment in the Regent neighborhood which I sublet for the academic year, I spent roughly $6000 on total rent. Assuming you are aware of the cost of dorm life, that is around half of what you might expect to spend to stay in some dorm buildings. Of course, the downside with apartment living is that no matter what, your landlord expects your rent on the first of the month. No “if’s,” “and’s” or “but’s.” This is obviously a bit di erent than dorm life, considering it is most likely an out-ofpocket cost every month unless you factor it into your student loans, or you are lucky enough for someone else to foot the bill for you.
Living alone in an apartment building also has some serious advantages, such as, to put it bluntly: getting left alone. The constant comings and goings of dorm life means that no matter what time of day, it’s a lively atmosphere. For someone of my temperament, this can be a tad bit jarring as I prefer a quiet atmosphere, especially when I have to be focused on school work. I cannot tell you how many times during Zoom classes my classmates had to tell their roommate to quiet down, as they were speaking. My place was my own and noise and disturbances were few and far between.
While I undoubtedly traded away some opportunities to build relationships, I gained peace of mind that I had my own space to live in with no worry of overcrowding.
Now, I cannot deny that living in an apartment during your first year of college can feel like a daunting task. It requires a level of personal responsibility and maturity that maybe not everyone has just yet. It is your place, and keeping up with housework is your responsibility. There is no one else to push you to do these things, so you have to be your own master in this regard. If you think you are responsible enough to care for yourself in your own place at this time, I think living in your own apartment is the best choice, especially given these trying times.
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sports Welcome (back) to Camp Randall.
Here’s
By Christian Voskuil SPORTS EDITOR
Camp Randall Stadium, like many of the other great venues in college football, desperately missed a key element during the 2020 season: a real crowd.
For the first time in most of the Badger players’ lives, they were running out of a tunnel and looking up to see empty bleachers surrounding them, only hearing the voices of their fellow teammates and the pumped-in crowd noise as they took the field.
The sixth-ranked college football atmosphere in the NCAA, according to 247Sports, lacked the luster it typically brought week in and week out in previous years.
“It really messed us up,” senior cornerback Faion Hicks said at Big Ten Football Media Days about playing in an empty stadium last season, “[having the fans back] is going to mean a lot. I can’t wait.”
Whether you’re an incoming freshman, a returning sophomore or an upperclassman who just forgot what it’s like to be in Area Red as the Badgers beat up on the Big Ten West, here’s a guide to what it will (hopefully) be like again on fall Saturdays in sections I-P:
Pregame
The chances of most of the readers of this article getting to the game before kicko , or even the second quarter, are minimal at best. However, if you do decide to get to CRS bright and early before the 11 a.m. kicko , you’ll see some of my favorite parts of a Badger gameday.
First off, you’ll get to watch the best marching band in the country (subjectively) perform their signature run-on performance. Led by Corey Pompey — starting his third season as the UW Marching Band band director — the Badger Band runs out of the tunnel, filling up the first 30 yards of the south side of the field. The band members then march around in their trademark “stop at the top” high step playing “On Wisconsin,” a sneak peek of their halftime show, and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
After the band has finished their routine and moved to create a long tunnel for the football team, the pregame hype video plays — a video that admittedly made me tear up just now as I saw it for the first time in two years. Playing U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” in the background, the video displays great triumphs of past Badger teams before turning the music down to hear iconic quotes and play calls. From former head coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez’s “You better get season tickets right now because before long, you probably won’t be able to,” to Matt Lepay’s “And this game is underway with a bang!” call, the video shows newer and newer clips before showcasing
what to expect!
highlights from the current team as they take the field.
First Quarter
Once the stretches, coin flip and all the other pregame formalities have finished, get your keys out or your shoes off because it’s time for the opening kickoff. If Wisconsin has the ball, get ready for a long, methodical drive with plenty of runs and, hopefully, an eventual score. The important thing to remember during the Badgers’ possessions are to recite the iconic “First and teeeeeeeeeeen, Wisconsin” after every first down, the “bullshit” chants during bad calls and to go ballistic when the team finally gets into the endzone.
Second Quarter
Whether you like it or not, this is the time most of you students will be showing up to the game. When you do finally show up, you’ll find yourself being “seated” by security in the order you enter the stadium, and you’ll take your place atop the bleachers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your friends and fellow classmates. After entering, you’ll likely look over your shoulder to see the score on the jumbotron and smile in joy as Wisconsin has taken a monstrous 7-0 lead (hopefully) after 25 minutes of play. Now that you’re here, make up for the missed time by cheering twice as loud for the defense, headed by legendary defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and led on the field by lineman Keeanu Benton, linebacker Jack Sanborn, the aforementioned Faoin Hicks, and safeties Collin Wilder and Scott Nelson.
Halftime
Halftime will be the only time during the game where it’s common ground to be sitting. As soon as the whistle blows to end the first 30 minutes of play, the entire student section hops off the bleachers and takes a seat for the first time all game. If you think this break in football action is a good time to get food or use the bathroom, congrats, you’ve had the exact same idea as about 80,000 other individuals within the stadium. Leave your seat, and you’ll be watching the start of the third quarter from the bathroom line. If you needed another reason to stay in your seat during the 15-minute intermission, the Wisconsin Marching Band provides that reason, reentering the field of play for their full halftime performance. Now that you’ve given your legs a rest from standing, get the hell back up for the third quarter.
Third Quarter
The student section should be finally full by this point, so
get ready for the complete Area Red experience. The first thing to get ready for now is the chants the students love, and everybody else hates. If you are dumb enough to come into the student section wearing the opposing team colors, you can expect about 14,000 students making you wish you didn’t. It starts with a handful of students, but eventually, the entire section will be pointing at you and chanting “asshole” on repeat, spotlighting you as an idiot with no regard for your safety.
The swear words don’t end there, though. I know, who would’ve thought that a bunch of 18 to 22-year-olds who have likely been drinking would have such potty mouths?!
Next up is the infamous “Eat Shit, Fuck You” chant between the two halves of the student section. It is exactly what you think. Instead of teaming up to yell profanities at the opposing team, half of the student section yells “Eat shit” at the other half who, of course, retorts with a nice and solid “Fuck you” back at them. Despite the university’s best e orts to fade out this chant, it is too beloved by the students to ever go away and has become one of the staples of the stadium.
Hopefully, you haven’t wasted all your energy yet because we’re just getting started.
Jumping ahead to the end of the quarter, we have what everybody’s been waiting for… THE GREAT STUDENT SECTION RACE. Oh… were you expecting something else? Not yet; we’re getting to that.
The Great Student Section Race is possibly the funniest piece of the Wisconsin gameday. Not because the video is overtly hilarious — though I do always love cheering on my animated
letter and booing if another section wins — but rather because EVERYBODY is getting ready for Jump Around just to have to wait for eight di erently-colored letters with faces, arms, and legs racing each other on the jumbotron. Looking around the stadium, you’ll see kids’ faces light up, parents reluctantly start standing up, and even opposing players look up at the board for Jump Around and then let out a disappointed sigh when they realize it’s not that time yet. Okay, now that the race is over, it’s finally time for the best tradition in college football, Jump Around. House of Pain’s one hit (sorry, guys, it’s the truth) plays over the loudspeaker, and the whole stadium starts rocking. No, seriously, the stadium shakes from the jumping. You know a tradition really is something special when even a team that’s getting beaten joins in.
Fourth Quarter
Hopefully, by this time, the game is already wrapped up, and you can sit back and enjoy a pleasant and stress-free final 15 minutes. But, of course, with a team that is not known for scoring in high amounts, there’s a chance the Badgers haven’t put the game beyond all doubt just yet. If that’s the case, turn the volume up to 11 because the team will need as much support from their students as possible. Especially because, admittedly, there will be a portion that will have left after Jump Around. Usually, my personal favorite Badger football tradition occurs during this quarter: the singing of The Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup.” The stadium plays the opening chorus and the first verse before cutting the
audio and letting the crowd take over. Then, led by the students, the fans sing in unison the second chorus of the hit song in a wonderfully wholesome bonding experience between the people attending the school and those paying their tuition.
Fifth Quarter
That’s right, math, you can suck it; we’ve got five quarters at Camp Randall. Win or lose, the Badger Band takes the field for the final time of the day and just has fun out there. The quarter starts with a formal run-on and rendition of “Varsity,” the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s alma mater song. Those still left in attendance stand up, wrap their arms around each other, and sway back and forth as they belt the lyrics. From there, the songs become much less formal as the band plays everything from “The Chicken Dance” to “Time Warp” to “Swingtown,” as they run freely around the field, singing, dancing and just having a blast celebrating another successful gameday.
So, that’s what you need to know before the Week 1 meeting when Wisconsin plays host to Penn State on Sept. 4. Remember, many people are attending a sporting event for the first time in two years, so it may take a while for everybody to get back in the right groove for a game day. No matter what happens though, remember to have fun, make good choices and cheer loudly for the Badgers as the team attempts to get back to the dominance we’ve come to expect. Welcome back fans, let’s show the world why Madison, Wisconsin is one of the best college towns in the nation.
COURTESY OF JEFF MILLER
After a season without fans due to the pandemic, the Badgers’ home field welcomes students back!
Pro-vaxx UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank strikes again
By Gillian Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR
During the 2021 spring semester, Chancellor Rebecca Blank promised physical consequences for students who refused to get tested within the strict guidelines of safer badgers. Now she’s back and more pissed o than ever about students refusing the vaccine, and she’s promising gruesome repercussions.
With classes starting in under three weeks and the dangerous Delta variant wreaking havoc over Madison, the chancellor is stressing that it is more important than ever to go and get the vaccine, which is available through University Health Services, to protect fellow students and the surrounding city.
Certain assholes — some in red hats, some STEM students who think they know more than the leading scientists in the world and some skeptics — have made the task of making the (tested and
e ective) vaccine rollout nearly impossible. Blank is promising to take matters into her own hands yet again with her new plan.
While students have o ered less extreme options, such as Cardinal Sports writer Joe Rickles, who proposed placing football ticket holds on unvaccinated students, Rebecca has ocially “had it up to here.”
Her reign of terror will be similar to that of testing, such as coming to your house to beat the shit out of you after looking at your vaccination record and seeing N/A next to COVID-19. But she also promises new tactics, such as coming to classes dressed as a TA secretly donning a needle with a dose of Pfizer loaded inside … waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“I am so sick of these stupid little shits. If you don’t want to be unwillingly impaled by a needle, maybe use your brain,” said the chancellor on record.
After Week of Chaos, Joe Biden Orders Re-Invasion of Afghanistan
By Nick Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR
Coastal students at UW-Madison, coAs mask mandates return, ICU beds fill to capacity with dying children and another soft lockdown looms, one issue is on the minds of Americans’ this week: important gains have been lost in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.
Accordingly, just a few months after ordering a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, the Biden administration has announced that it’s planning a re-invasion of the country American troops have occupied for the last 20 years.
“Nobody batted an eye when I voted to invade Afghanistan, and everyone is yelling at me now that we’re leaving, so going back
in is really a no-brainer,” Biden told reporters after making the announcement on Wednesday.
The White House has stressed that when the US invades Afghanistan a second time, it will be with an actual goal — something we crucially lacked the first time around.
“Unlike our last invasion, which was just about heroin and rare-earth elements, the purpose of this invasion will be something far more righteous: feminism,” a statement from the administration said.
After all, a society like that under the Taliban, is almost totally antithetical to American values. It almost makes one think we should stop selling missiles to Saudi Arabia.
On top of that, the Taliban is violent, barbaric, and terroristic
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— also antithetical to American values. Just don’t ask about the 12-year-old Afghani schoolchildren who were murdered by CIA-backed death squads a couple years ago, or about the fact that U.S. and Afghan forces regularly killed more civilians than the Taliban did.
Finally, Biden has emphasized that the fact that we’re invading Afghanistan again doesn’t mean our first invasion was a failure.
“We did not lose the first war in Afghanistan,” Biden said.
“We trained and armed so many forces, and we’ve built up so much goodwill and popular support over the last 20 years, that it almost took the Taliban an entire week to completely topple the government we propped up there.”
By Anupras Mohapatra
STAFF WRITER
In a box under the bed
Laid a copy in print, sprinkled with cardinal red
Bylines and mastheads from a di erent era
Changes made for worse or better
The pages, yellowed with age
Mark the start of when the virus put us all in a cage
Today you hold in your hands a copy fresh and new
The names in print have changed, bar a few
But the spirit remains the same
Kept alive by those who have survived And fresh faces excited to thrive
Perhaps you could be next In any case, I wish you the very best
SENIOR
IMAGE COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
GO.WISC.EDU/RUSSIANFLAGSHIP
ORDER FROM EATSTREET OR UBER EATS
Life & Style
Things to do before the seasons change
By Allie Sprink SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As we all make our way back to campus, we have a few months to soak up the nice weather before it turns to the brutal Wisconsin winter.
Returning Badgers know all the spots to hit before it becomes cold out, but brand new Badgers may not. I am going to give you a list of a few things to do while the weather is still nice.
I know you are going to be overwhelmed just coming onto campus, but trust me, these things will make Madison feel like home!
Walk to picnic point.
Looking for a way to enjoy nature and get out of the hustle and bustle of downtown? Get on Lakeshore Path and just keep walking/running/biking until you hit the end of it. It’ll take a while to get there, but I promise the view is worth it.
You will be able to see all of downtown Madison and UW’s campus from the other side of the lake. You will also be able to walk and enjoy the outdoors, which can sometimes be a challenge as a student.
It is the perfect way to enjoy the fall weather and get some fresh air.
Try the food trucks.
As you arrive on campus, I am sure you will notice about 10 food trucks sitting in East Campus Mall. I never got around to trying these food trucks until I was a sophomore and I regret it so much. These food trucks have awesome, fresh, a ordable food that is perfect to pick up during a busy day of class and homework.
Most of these trucks take cash or venmo and can have your food ready within minutes. Trust me, some of the food trucks will even provide you with the “home cooked meal” experience.
There is anything from hibachi to
smoothies to pressed paninis. Whatever you are craving, the food trucks will have something for you. Make sure to get over there and try them out before winter hits!
Visit Camp Tripalindee
This is somewhat of a hidden gem, but it is an awesome spot. On the top of The Graduate, a hotel located on Langdon Street, there is a rooftop bar/restaurant/patio. It has a beautiful view of downtown and it has awesome food!
In addition, they have games on the roof, like jumbo connect four. In the fall, you can roast marshmallows and make s’mores with your friends!
There is so much to do up there if you are looking for a chill, relaxed night in. It’s a mustsee spot that will give Madison a homey feel.
Go to the Terrace.
The Terrace is a popular spot for most people when they get on campus, but make sure you hit it!
The Terrace has a beautiful spot on the lake.
Sometimes there is even live music! Not to mention you can grab some tater tots or cheese curds from Der Rathskeller inside the Union and eat them outside in the bright union chairs with your friends. You can also order ice cream from the Daily Scoop and watch a beautiful late-summer sunset to close out the day.
This is another spot that is relaxing and provides a good space to get out of the fast pace of downtown.
These are all very simple ideas of how to expand your horizons in Madison as you arrive on campus as a freshman. All of these things are also close to campus!
It can be hard to know all of the spots as a freshman, but by following this list, you are on the right path to enjoying the beautiful Madison summer/fall weather before it gets cold.
What you can expect on the first day of fall classes
By Samantha Benish
The reality of university education throughout the past year and a half has been far from what many college students have pictured. The “normalcy” of college disappeared along with the increasing cases of COVID-19 in March 2020, and it hasn’t been back since. Rising juniors and seniors this semester have barely caught a glimpse of what the University of Wisconsin fully holds; most rising sophomores haven’t even seen a lecture hall, and incoming freshmen are just holding their breath in anticipation of
what this semester will bring.
COVID-19 silenced many of the luxuries that college students took for granted: seeing individuals face-to-face, sporting events, in-person classes and more. For thousands of individuals, “college” means socially distanced interactions and online Zoom classes. Students have barely begun to understand and experience what life on campus is like - the life that has made countless memories for generations.
This semester will be di erent.
The campus that we knew once before is slowly starting to come back, one piece at a time. According to UW-Madison’s O ce of Registrar in a statement posted on March 24, 2021, the vast majority of classes will be taught in person in fall 2021. There will be a small number of hybrid and online classes available, but most classes will be taught in person.
This is a drastic di erence to fall 2020. Campus and academic buildings were operating with restricted access, and most of the student population was learning through online synchronous and asynchronous lectures and discussions. The new changes are due to a variety of factors, including the rise of vaccinations on and around the university. The excitement of returning to campus has been on the rise since the start of the summer, and students are anxiously waiting to learn in person once again.
So, what exactly will that look like?
One of the biggest changes with the return to in-person instruction is the return of lecture halls. For decades, the lecture halls of UW-Madison have held thousands of students, professors and guests, each with their own unique and notable charac-
teristics. Room 125 of Agricultural Hall is UW-Madison’s biggest lecture hall, according to Emily Hamer of the Wisconsin State Journal. In a 2018 article, Hamer notes that Room 125 has exactly 588 seats and has three main sections, including the ground floor and balcony.
Although you may be lucky enough to have a lecture or two in Agricultural Hall, most lecture halls operate on a slightly smaller scale. No matter which building you end up in, you’ll never truly forget your first time walking into a lecture hall: opening the doors to the noisy chatter of a hundred or so students, awkwardly trying to find a seat, hurriedly jotting down notes as professors fly through the PowerPoint. It’s a skill that you’ll master along with time.
Along with lecture halls, students will be able to experience the joy of discussion sections once again. Discussion sections take place in small, classroom-sized rooms across campus. Unlike a lecture hall, discussions try to elicit conversation and questions about your specific course. There are usually only about twenty students and a Teacher’s Assistant in a discussion, and you’ll probably meet a few times a week. A little nerve-wracking? Definitely. However, it’s a stronger way to connect with your peers and learn material deeper.
The way students will engage with their coursework will also look a little di erent this semester. Rather than sticking strictly to online work, students will be able to experience hands-on material and engagement. Fortunately or unfortunately, this also means the return of in-person quizzes and exams. Students will be able to experience extensive studying and preparation for exams like the generations before them did. See you later, Honorlock!
Heading back to school is an exhilarating time, no matter how old you are. Universities across the nation are preparing to bring back thousands of students into the classroom; students alike are eagerly waiting to get back into the swing of things after being stagnant for such a long time. It’s ramping up to be an eventful, exciting semester — something we’ve been yearning for so long.
So, get after it Badgers. Give this year everything you’ve got. Have a great first day of school and a successful year!
For more information about UW-Madison’s Fall 2021 response, please visit https://covidresponse.wisc.edu/ what-to-expect-this-fall/
School is starting and students are preparing for what this new semester will look like.
JESSICA LEVY/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Hiking to Picnic Point with your friends is the perfect way to get outside and enjoy the weather!
JESSICA LEVY /THE DAILY CARDINAL
