Hardly a challenge
thanksgiving throwback:
The Badger men’s basketball team flexed its muscle over the weekend and took home the Chicago Invitational Challenge trophy. +SPORTS, page 7
A classic 1987 coumn that’s sure to get you in the holiday spirit. Or not. +PAGE 2 University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Students give loans to hopeful entrepreneurs By Alex DiTullio The Daily Cardinal
FOOTBALL
Follow the Leaders
Behind four touchdowns from Montee Ball, the Wisconsin football team punched its ticket to the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis next weekend with a 45-7 victory over Penn State. For a full recap, turn to Sports on Page 8. +Photo by Mark Kauzlarich
In July, Forbes magazine named Madison the third best city for young professionals, projecting it will experience a healthy growth rate in the upcoming years. Now, 11 UW-Madison students are working to help provide funding for entrepreneurs who have come to the city to launch their business dreams. In September 2010, students Alex Rosenthal and Andrew Tapper created a business model to provide micro-loans for entrepreneurs and small business owners in Madison, which they then launched in June. The significance of the busi-
ness is not only the amount of money it provides, because loans average about $1,500, but also to whom it provides the loans. “We aim toward providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with funding for their business activities,” Rosenthal said. “Specifically we aim toward those who are under-banked, underprivileged, under-educated and many times have poor credit history or no income [or] no steady employment; they’re facing some sort of roadblock in finding funding for their businesses.” The business, called The Madison Fund, is entirely run
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Personhood amendment would change definition of ‘human life’ “This is a declaration that our inalienable rights extend A proposed amendfrom the moment of ment to Wisconsin’s conception,” Jacque told constitution that would the Wisconsin State define personhood Journal. as beginning at the The amendment moment an egg is fertilwould remove the word ized, has pro-life groups “born” from the phrase in disagreement. in the Wisconsin conState Rep. Andre stitution, “all people are Jacque, R-Bellevue, born free and indepenJACQUE introduced the persondent”. hood amendment, which would In a significant referenmake abortion unconstitutional dum vote earlier this month, in Wisconsin, last week. He said Mississippi voters rejected a the state needs a true definition similar amendment. of “human life” in its constituThe amendment would need tion. to be passed by two successive
By Tyler Nickerson The Daily Cardinal
state Legislatures and approved by a majority of voters. While groups like Pro-Life Wisconsin support the proposal, the state’s largest pro-life group, Wisconsin Right to Life, said “a personhood amendment strategy is not necessary, risky—and just plain wrong for Wisconsin,” on its website. The group said Wisconsin already has a law that prohibits abortion, but the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion on a national level, supersedes the state’s law. They said in a statement
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Bill would toughen abortion restrictions
Stephanie Daher/the daily cardinal
ASM student council will elect a new Diversity Committee chair this Wednesday.
ASM Diversity Chair steps down By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
By Samy Moskol The Daily Cardinal
A new bill is being circulated through the Wisconsin Legislature that would require doctors performing abortions to confirm women are not being coerced into getting an abortion. It would also prohibit doctors from administering the pill that induces abortions through web conference. The “Coercive and Webcam Abortion Prevention Action Act,” introduced by state Rep. Michelle
Litjens, R-Oshkosh, in the munication program in a clinic. Assembly, and state Sen. Mary Wisconsin Right to Life said Lazich, R-New Berlin, in in a statement the bill the Senate requires the is necessary because physician performing “research reveals that…in an abortion to speak to many situations choosing the patient in person to to abort is not what the determine whether their woman really wants.” consent is voluntary. But Yo u n g The provision would Progressives Issues end “webcam aborDirector Fiona Cahill tions,” where women said the bill is “eerily LITJENS receive instructions similar” to legislation from doctors to take an abortionabortion page 3 inducing pill through a telecom-
Student government Diversity Chair Tangela Roberts announced she will be stepping down from her position this week. Roberts, who has served as chair since last February, said she is stepping down to focus on her graduate schooling. “It’s just been a lot managing my schoolwork with ASM this semester,” Roberts said. Associated Students of Madison Chair Allie Gardner said Roberts discussed leaving her position for about one month.
“It’s something that’s just not going to fit into her schedule and she knows that it has to be a priority for whoever’s doing it,” Gardner said. “Since her academics are taking on such a big role she thinks she needs to step down, so I’ve known for a while. It’s not a surprise.” Roberts said some of her biggest accomplishments as chair were implementing mandatory diversity trainings for ASM student council representatives and getting members of the committee more involved in
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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.”
page two Thankful for my crazy family tODAY: mostly sunny
Tuesday: cloudy
hi 42º / lo 30º
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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Jacqueline O’Reilly o’really?!
M
y family is full of characters. This fact is nothing new to me, but Thanksgiving break worked to make sure I never forget this reality. My time off started with an 18th birthday party for my sister. With her officially crossing the line into adulthood, my entire extended family found their way over to our house for cake and booze. Although one would think this occasion called for the focus to be on my sister, my uncle had news he felt was much more important: He got an iPhone! Determined to prove to the youth of the family just how hip he was, he brought it over to my cousin and I, waving it in our faces and demonstrating all of the nifty tricks the little computer could do. His main point: IT HAD A YOUTUBE BUTTON! Based on his enthu-
siasm, it seemed he thought this news could only be trumped by a second coming of Christ—and he would know. He’s a pastor. He passed it off to my cousin and I, encouraging us to take it for a spin. As he wandered into the kitchen to find more vodka, we gave in and pressed the oh-so-exciting YouTube button. With a touch of the icon, my uncle’s most recent search popped up on the screen: women dancing in their underwear. Trying to hide both our shock and amusement, it took the two of us a grand total of half a second to return the phone to its home screen and dump it on his vacated seat. The remainder of the night was characterized by him getting completely sloshed, sharing a few too many awkward stories and missing my cheek when he went to kiss me goodbye and instead landing on my ear. It was hilarious, and all too typical. A few days after this occurrence, nine members of the O’Reilly clan headed up to the Wisconsin Peninsula for what my mother had decided
Delving into
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wait to turkeygasm,” “This is the most intense foodgasm I’ve ever had,” and “Thank you God for the crangasm I’m about to receive.” Sometimes the word would even stand on its own. “I’m gasming all over the place” was a popular expression since it alluded to jizz, and apparently nothing is funnier than jizz. This new hobby had come from a recent viewing of “When Harry Met Sally,” after which Ethan proclaimed, “Now I know how to fake an orgasm!” If it wouldn’t make me terribly nauseous, I would love to hear how he plans to pull this off. The rest of my time with the cousins was characterized by the typical slew of “Storage Wars” marathons, pizza at midnight and a general refusal to wear pants (on their parts, not mine). Still, it’s stories like the ones above that make me love my eccentric family. Plus, if they weren’t bizarre, this kook would be super out of place. Did your family prove themselves to be equally outrageous this Thanksgiving? Share your stories with Jacqueline at jgoreilly@ wisc.edu.
December 1, 1987
Matt Beaty • Nick Fritz Kayla Johnson • Miles Kellerman Steven Rosenbaum • Nico Savidge Ariel Shapiro • Samantha Witthuhn
Melissa Anderson, President Kayla Johnson • Nico Savidge Parker Gabriel • John Surdyk Janet Larson • Nick Bruno Jenny Sereno • Chris Drosner Jason Stein • Nancy Sandy
was to be a new family tradition: stuff the entire family in a cabin near the bay with little more than food and alcohol. My family—especially myself, sister and cousins—have always been close, but five days in Door County was going to be especially dense bonding time. It was these cousins that reminded me I underestimate the maturity levels of the men in my life. Now, please do not think I am by any means suggesting my guy friends are mature; they know how to be, but that doesn’t mean they are. Still, when I spent Thanksgiving up north with two male, hormoneriddled teenagers, let’s just say I grew to appreciate whatever maturity level my guy friends feel it necessary to meet. Said cousins, Colin and Ethan, are both at an age where sex is just foreign and just familiar enough to be absolutely hilarious. Ergo, whenever they felt it necessary—which was more often than not—the two would add “gasm” to the ends of different words. There were the obvious holiday cornerstones—“I can’t
sCOTT DINKERS/the daily cardinal
CAROLYN HELMKE of the Cardinal Staff Holidays are the days most everyone enjoys. If you work or go to school, you probably get a day off. If you are the festive type, the chance to put a cardboard turkey in your window or hand out candy hearts with dumb sayings on them is your cup of tea. Some holidays, like New Year’s Eve are sort of meaningless but great fun. Other holidays champion our nation’s independence (July 4) while our government squashes other nations’ attempts at selfdetermination and freedom from foreign rule, while Halloween is for greedy children who
love candy, enterprising dentists and those who like to dress up in silly costumes. And what is Thanksgiving all about? We are taught as children in our schools about the dinner party that the pilgrims and the Indians had. We are taught that the native inhabitants (the Indians) welcomes the European “pilgrims”— whom we are taught are everyone’s ancestors— with open arms, and that the natives delighted in sharing their land with their new friends from overseas. We are led to believe that the European invasion was not only welcomed but that the subsequent dominance of English settlers was God’s will and wish. Thus, as good Americans today, we are expected to have a Thanksgiving dinner which honors the tradition established by the pilgrims and Indians. This means a nuclear family, a big Butterball turkey, lots of good food and drink and a prayer (said by the father from the head of the table) thanking God for giving this wonderful country. Unfortunately, this tradition is a gross distortion of history and an insult to the people who inhabited North America before the European conquest. These people, known as Indians, comprising many different tribes, were knocked off their land by the “White people” and were murdered in order to clear space for more European settlers. The history of the Native American struggle to retain their land and community is a heart-wrenching battle against imperialism and conquest. This story does not get better with time. The Native American people left today are victims of an age-old racist government which has continually broken treaty rights and removed the existing reservations from the control of the rightful owners. And all of this history is buried under the tales of friendship between the pilgrims and Indians, peaceful dinner parties and the lie that White European settlers deserved the land. Thus, as you ate your turkey and drank your Chablis, I hope you remembered to clink glasses together in a toast to imperialism and genocide, the true Thanksgiving creed.
Rare referendum rejects reform
WARSAW, Poland — Voters rejected economic and political reforms, including painful price increases, that Poland’s communist leaders said were needed to revitalize an ailing, debt-ridden economy, the government said Monday. The results of Sunday’s bold and unique referendum dealt a stunning blow to the government of Gen. Wojwxiech Jaruzeliski, which strongly campaigned for passage of the two questions put to voters. It was Polands first referendum in 41 years and the first time in the nation’s communist history that the authorities suffered a loss in nationwide elections. Government spokesperson Jerzy Urban put a positive face on the outcome, noting that many more people, who voted approved the questions than against them. By law, a majority of eligible voters had to approve for them to pass. He said the voters’ failure to approve the questions was “an answer to all who maintained our democratic institutions are a façade and that the democratic transformations are not true.” Leaders of the outlawed Solidaritry free trade union movement had called the plebiscite a charade and urged Poles to ignore it. -Compiled from Associated Press reports
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Volunteers petition on Black Friday
Bill would make petition circulators prove identity By Tyler Nickerson The Daily Cardinal
Earlier this week, state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, introduced legislation that would require recall petition circulators to have an affidavit to affirm the legitimacy of the signatures they gathered. Under current law, circulators have to sign the bottom of each petition sheet, state their residence, affirm the authenticity of the signatures and verify that they personally obtained them. The bill would require the signature be “acknowledged by an officer who is authorized to administer oaths affirming the circulator’s identity and stating that the circulator appeared before the officer and executed the statement in the officer’s presence.” But opponents say the bill is just an attempt to make getting signatures for the recall more difficult. In an e-mail sent to legislators, Grothman said the bill “will simply add an objective element to the current system
of self-certification in which a circulator approves the honesty of his or her own efforts.” Grothman said it “will ensure the integrity of signature collection efforts via third party accountability.” Erik Kirkstein, the State Communications Coordinator for United Wisconsin Political Action Committee, the group leading the recall effort, was not surprised by the proposal from Grothman. “The Republicans are doing everything they can to defend the failed policies of Scott Walker.” Kirkstein said in an e-mail. “In no way will the attempts of Walker and his allies to obstruct this democratic process deter the people of Wisconsin from bringing about a recall of Walker and Kleefisch.” This is the second go-around for the measure, which was originally introduced by Grothman, state Sen. Lazich, R-New Berlin, and state Sen. Leibham, R-Sheboygan. It did not get past committee after Leibham withdrew as a co-author.
Mark Kauzlarich/the daily cardinal
The Young Progressives advertise that students can sign recall petitions at their office in the Student Activity Center.
Police investigate, citizens condemn racist graffiti By Taylor Harvey The Daily Cardinal
Police are currently investigating a series of racist graffiti acts across southwest Madison in recent weeks. The graffiti, which included swastikas and the words “White Power,” was spray-painted on a utility trailer, at least one home and also appeared on fences and property near an elementary school on the southwest side around Firsch Road in recent weeks. According to police, an investigating officer said it does not appear specific people were targeted, but more likely “the general area.”
personhood from page 1 “once Roe v. Wade is overturned, this law would immediately go into effect and protect unborn children.” A personhood amendment would invalidate the existing law. Also, the group estimates it would cost “at least $4 million or more to win a ballot measure” and believe it “would be
abortion from page 1 proposed in Michigan, “indicating a wider agenda of denying women access to reproductive care.” “Were Wisconsin Republicans truly interested in protecting pregnant women, they should have joined the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health in October in refunding women’s health services to their pre-Governor Walker levels,” Cahill said in a statement to The Daily Cardinal. Under state law, physicians are required to discuss options with women seeking to terminate
Ald. Lisa Subek, District 1, said the Madison Police Department is doing everything they can to find who is responsible and take appropriate disciplinary action. According to Ald. Matt Phair, District 20, police do not suspect the racist graffiti to be gang-affiliated but remain unsure of who committed the crime or why it was committed. City alders, police and Madison residents collectively responded to the graffiti last week and organized a vigil to enforce the neighborhood’s feelings of empowerment and togetherness. Hundreds of Madison resi-
dents gathered to condemn the acts at the Nov. 22 vigil, which Subek said had “an atmosphere of togetherness.” “Neighborhoods from the Southwest neighborhood came together to take a stand,” Subek said. “There was a feeling of togetherness and empowerment which is important because people wanted to take control of the neighborhood.” Rather than city officials or police, neighborhood residents organized the community vigil, which Phair said was good example of a neighborhood coming together to respond to a “divisive action.”
challenged in court and struck down.” But Pro-Life Wisconsin supports the personhood amendment, and said on their website the personhood amendment addresses the abortion issue at its most fundamental level, “that all preborn babies are ‘persons’.” “A ‘person’ is a human being who is fully protected under the law; and we use the legal term
‘personhood’ to describe this condition,” Pro-Life Wisconsin said. “Once a human being is declared a person, that individual is guaranteed certain legal rights.” In response to the defeat of the personhood amendment in Mississippi, Planned Parenthood said such an amendment “is government gone too far, and would have allowed government to have control over personal decisions.”
a pregnancy at least 24 hours in advance of performing an abortion. The bill would further require physicians to tell patients they have the right to “consent or refuse” abortion, that her consent is not voluntary if “anyone is coercing her against her will,” and that it is “unlawful” to perform the abortion without voluntary consent. “If the physician has reason to suspect that the woman is in danger of being physically harmed by anyone who is coercing the woman to consent to an abortion against her will,” the physician must inform her of services available to help domestic abuse vic-
tims, according to the amendment. In addition, the bill also says that in order for doctors to administer abortion-inducing drugs to women, they must be in the same room and take place after a physical exam. Currently, state law allows women who are no more than nine weeks pregnant to have a medication abortion by taking the “abortion pill” or Mifepristone. Women can opt to have their medical abortions administered via webcam if they cannot meet the doctor in person, in which case doctors direct patients to take the pill and confirm it was taken correctly.
As shoppers flocked to malls across the state to find deals on Black Friday, so did volunteers gathering signatures to recall Gov. Scott Walker. There were around 30 petition-circulating events outside of shopping centers and malls planned for the Friday after Thanksgiving, according to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin website. While it is legal for recall volunteers to be on public sidewalks, many store managers found fault with volunteers who had set up on parking lots saying it amounted to solicitation. The Republican Party of Wisconsin likened the volunteers gathering signatures on private parking lots to harassment. “I doubt these businesses wish their stores to be associated with what is purely a partisan ploy, and these selfish acts on the part of the liberal activists will no doubt adversely affect these businesses,” RPW spokesperson Ben Sparks said in a statement. But Erik Kirkstein, communications coordinator for United Wisconsin, said the Republican Party is trying to “make a story out of nothing.” “Numerous volunteers collected signatures without any issues as they have done every day since this recall movement started,” Kirkstein said.
loans from page 1 and operated by students. “These are students who are very passionate about what we’re doing and they’re excited and they really want to see us grow and succeed,” he said. While providing loans is one of the business’s objectives, Rosenthal said it also gives guidance to clients with underdeveloped business plans or those who do not know how to execute their business model. “Whatever it is that they come to us with, we are prepared to help them with financial assistance, technical assistance and their funding problems,” he said. Rosenthal said Madison is a good location for the business given its large population of underfunded and unemployed citizens seeking employment after falling victim to a difficult economy. He said the expansion of small businesses not only benefits the business owners, but also the entire economy of Madison. “[Business expansion] is a
asm from page 1 its efforts. ASM student council will appoint a new chair at this Wednesday’s meeting. Both Gardner and Roberts said they hope the new chair has experience working on the committee. “We have some really strong members, a lot of people who have stayed throughout my time as chair,” Roberts said. “It would be great to have someone to keep following that and understanding what we started and our goals and keep that going.” Roberts said she plans to stay involved on the committee
good thing because that will help the economy in turn. Small businesses employ and we’re hoping that through the provision of credit, these people will help them create jobs in Madison.” Rosenthal said he expects The Madison Fund will provide between 10 and 20 loans next year. “I think we’re going to meet a lot of successes in the next 6 to 12 months. I think we’re going to see a demand that’s exploding.” While Rosenthal said the company is considering expanding its current funding from private donations to corporate donations and taking investments, Rosenthal said its main focus is still reaching out to students and community members for money. “A little bit of money can go a really long way,” he said. “If 100 people give a $10 contribution to the Madison Fund, that’s $1,000 and we have found demand for $1000 loans so that can make a huge difference.” after a new chair takes over. Previously this year, five other ASM student representatives stepped down. Their spots were filled in the ASM fall elections. Currently, the ASM Nominations Board Chair and student council Vice Chair positions are vacant after ASM representatives voted against reappointing Niko Magallon and Beth Huang to their respective positions. Magallon and Huang were removed from their positions in September after the Student Judiciary ruled they failed to complete required service hours as punishment for violating election rules.
arts Cinematic plea for book-based freedom 4
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david cottrell co-ttrell it on the mountain
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can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to see a film adaptation of a book I’ve read only to be disappointed by the result. It’s lead to my policy of almost always seeing a movie before I read its source material, simply because I know I’ll probably be more impressed with the latter. But this seemingly inevitable degradation in the transition from paperback to film stock is because writing a novel and writing a movie are two very different processes. There are the obvious differences in method between presenting a story in prose and presenting it visually on film. Authors make use of grand descriptive metaphors and similes to convey feelings and ideas like filmmakers use lingering shots and meticulously crafted visual atmospheres. But beyond the differences in how authors and filmmakers tell their stories, the stories themselves must be different. Writing a novel is an exercise in complete freedom. A novel can go anywhere, do anything and easily span any distances in time or space. It is usually more a collection of short connected stories arranged in chapters, miniature climaxes happening continuously over the course of the larger story to keep the reader interested, rather than the singular narrative arc that structures most movies. In this way, movies have far more in common with short stories than they do with novels. A bildungsroman, or coming of age, novel like “Jane Eyre” or “David Copperfield” often encapsulates a character’s entire life, from childhood through adulthood, depicting a life-long transition from adolescence to maturity. Coming of age movies, photo courtesy poisoned pen press
On the Skinny
Many films based off of novels crash and burn. The key to success, which Nicolas Winding Refn got spot on in his adaptation of the above novel, is room for creativity. Quality control
For other high-quality films based off of books, check out “Up in the Air” or “High Fidelity.” Both adapted from novels of significant length, they are perfect examples of cinematic freedom being exercised.
Film shorty
“Minority Report” and “Brokeback Mountain” were both successfuly adapted from short stories.
perhaps best associated with the 80’s films of John Hughes, on the other hand, tend to focus on one fleeting moment in a character’s life, as he or she stands on the precipice of transformation. Indeed, many prominent movies have been adapted from little-known short stories. The Tom Cruise sci-fi blockbuster “Minority Report” was adapted from a Philip K. Dick short story of the same name. “Memento” originated as a short story written by director Chris Nolan’s brother Jonathan. Even iconic films like “Brokeback Mountain” and Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” have origins as short fiction. Perhaps the chief benefit of adapting from short stories is the lack of burden placed on the screenwriter. There is no mountain of content nagging to be included. Instead the writer has much more freedom to reinvent for the screen. This is why adapting fulllength novels for the screen can be so difficult—and why the film versions so often go awry. Especially with written stories that are already popular before being adapted, there is an innate pressure from the property’s existing fan base to maintain fidelity to the original. With the long, complex stories that novels typically contain, this burden to include every detail, and with complete accuracy can often end up degrading the film incarnation. Sometimes these films can end up feeling like snapshots of a larger story—such as the film adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the longest entry of the book series, which was adapted into the shortest installment of the film series. While entertaining for fans already familiar with the deeper story of the literary original, it can leave newcomers in the dust by sacrificing “completeness” of the story for brief spurts of fidelity to the source material. Essentially, these filmmakers are forfeiting the independence of their films, the ability to stand alone as a selfcontained work of art, in favor of serving simply as one part of a larger canon. Over the course of my Thanksgiving break, I became engrossed in James Sallis’s 2005 novel “Drive”—the source material for the phenomenal 2011 film of the same name that won Nicolas Winding Refn the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Perhaps the most intriguing facet of the novel was just how different it was from the film. The novel is an enthralling work of sunshine neo-noir in its own right, but a different beast entirely. In the end, it felt like screenwriter Hossein Amini read Sallis’s novel, absorbed it and understood it, but then set it aside in favor of writing his own story for the screen to convey the spirit of Sallis’s novel and his nameless antihero, rather than trying to transcribe Sallis’s literal story plot-point-by-plot-point. And the film version of “Drive” is incalculably better because of it. In fact, I would argue that Refn and Amini’s “Drive” is one of
dailycardinal.com
photo courtesy odd lot entertainment
“Drive,” the 2011 film by Nicolas Winding Refn was a page-to-scren adaptation of the novel of the same name by James Sallis. The creative liberty taken with the film is the reason for its success. the rare cases of a film standing as a better final product than its source material—in league with the likes of “High Fidelity” and “Up in the Air”. What these three film adaptations hold in common are scripts unabashedly willing to reinvent the original. “Up in the Air” is almost unrecognizable from the novel on which it was based. Writer/Director Jason Reitman (Juno) extracted the deftly crafted main character (played by George Clooney in the film) from the book and created new sets of circumstances for him as well as new companions entirely. One of these was the character Anna Kendrick played in the film version, garnering her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, which was entirely an invention by Reitman. Likewise, when John Cusack and his collaborators went about writing their script for a cinematic incarnation of Nick Hornby’s novel “High Fidelity,” they made the risky decision to move the story from its iconic North London setting to Chicago, heavily Americanizing it in the process. Cusack also fundamentally altered the structure and chronology of the story, making it work in a two-hour runtime— no small feat given the novel’s quirky faux-autobiographical nature. But Cusack was able to keep the spirit of Hornby’s unique story alive by continuously breaking the fourth wall, producing the same confessional nature of Hornby’s literary original through cinematic avenues. While it may pain fans of the original, the reality is that any film adaptation will be better served if it is given freedom to depart from the original. The art forms of the novel and the movie are so different—deceptively so—that most stories cannot function at the highest level in both forms without drastic reformation. It may feel sacrilegious to some, but if we want more extraordinary movies like “Drive” we need to give filmmakers room to truly adapt. Are you Harry Potter and Twilight-novel fans outraged? Wholeheartedly agree? Let David know at dcottrell@wisc.edu.
opinion Walker’s economic claims misleading dailycardinal.com
Zach thomae opinion columnist With the recall effort more successful than anticipated, Gov. Scott Walker has been increasingly on the defensive. In particular, Walker has had to justify the 2011 Budget Repair Bill that took away collective bargaining rights for most public workers and reduced the amount of benefits they received. Thus it is natural that Walker has been spending a lot of time promoting studies claiming that the legislation has been successful in saving jobs. At least, that’s what Scott Walker wants the numbers to say. But are the findings accurate? Unfortunately for the governor, the answer is a lot less clear than he claims. The numbers that Walker highlights are fairly straightforward: this year, the school districts that did not implement his reforms laid off the most teachers (and by a long shot, too—the majority of the teachers laid off in Wisconsin were in these districts, despite having only one tenth of the students). On the same token, districts that did implement the reforms are in a much better position than they would have been, and thus don’t have to lay off as many teachers. These findings have supported Walker’s claim that the law saves jobs. Granted, I’m a little
Monday, November 28, 2011
surprised by how much coverage these studies are getting, seeing as the results are really unremarkable. Further, they openly undermine Walker’s biased interpretation. While the law technically eliminated collective-bargaining rights, it’s a lot simpler to say that it does something else—namely, reduce wages. Employees receive benefits in exchange for lower wages. This means that it’s “close enough” to say that a loss of benefits is functionally the same as a loss of wages. Secondly, unemployment increases in recessions because wages don’t adjust to economic downturns. Say that a company pays its workers as much as it does because it expects to make a certain amount of money this year. If it suddenly makes less money than this—say, because the economy is in free-fall— it’s stuck with more workers than it can afford. If all of these workers would accept pay cuts, then they could keep their jobs. Unfortunately, due to a combination of confidence and stubbornness, these pay cuts don’t happen, forcing the employer to fire some of these workers. This is what an unemployment problem looks like, and it won’t go away until either worker pay is generally lower (unlikely) or total spending in the economy recovers (also unlikely, except with government intervention). What Scott Walker has managed to do is force the publicemployee market to do what businesses usually won’t—
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Saving jobs or saving face?
In response to the recall effort and increasing criticism of the current administration’s economic policies, Walker has stressed the job saving benefits of the 2011 Budget Repair Bill. +Cardinal file photo
lower wages to keep employees. In this regard, the results are predictable. But what happens after the recession ends? Normally, increased revenues lead to business expansion, meaning that more workers must be hired or wages must be increased to keep workers from jumping ship to other compa-
nies. In other words, everything goes back to normal, as if the recession never happened. But Scott Walker didn’t “just” cut wages—collective bargaining rights are going to be gone even when the downturn is over. It’s more accurate to say that Walker cut wages indefinitely. In other words, things won’t be going back to normal again—public workers will be worse off. This would make sense if public workers were generally overpaid, but public workers in general make less than private-sector workers with similar backgrounds. I won’t deny that Scott Walker’s budget bill prevented teachers from losing their jobs. Given the fact that Wisconsin can’t engage in deficit spending to keep the economy afloat, this kind of wage adjustment is probably the best option we
have. But this kind of adjustment doesn’t require that the wage cuts be permanent—it would have been even better to reduce public-employee compensation contractually, rather than removing collectivebargaining rights indefinitely. Seeing as the teachers’ unions in particular were willing to do this after the budget bill was introduced, Walker could have gotten this deal if he had wanted it. But Walker didn’t want teachers to get their benefits back. When Walker says that his reforms are “working,” he means a very particular thing: they pulled down teachers to keep the state afloat, and won’t be letting them back up again. Zach Thomae is a freshman majoring in computer science. Do you disagree with Zach’s diagnosis? Then send a letter to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
Protest demonstrations not welcome at UC-Davis
Anurag Mandalika/the daily cardinal
comics
Blame the ‘Friends’ Thanksgiving marathon: Matthew Perry is missing part of his middle finger on his right hand; a result of an unfortunate door-related accident when he was a child.
6 • Monday, November 28, 2011
Today’s Sudoku Surviving solely on leftovers ’til X-Mas
dailycardinal.com
Evil Bird
By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu
© Puzzles by Pappocom
Eatin’ Cake
By Dylan Moriarty EatinCake@gmail.com
Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
Tanked Life
By Steven Wishau wishau@wisc.edu
Today’s Crossword Puzzle
Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com
A WAY WITH WORDS ACROSS 1 Feeling of foreboding 6 Small group of believers 10 “What ___ God wrought!” 14 Aborigine’s call 15 Farm implement 16 Suit to ___ 17 Draw a conclusion 18 Ticklish doll 19 General decoration 20 Tierra ___ Fuego 21 General principle 24 Brewer’s need 26 Nautical affirmative 27 Soviet premier Joseph 29 Scenery hung at the rear 34 Video arcade need 35 Blender setting 36 Ram’s mate 37 Albany-to-Buffalo canal 38 Defeated at chess 39 Ferber who wrote “So Big” 40 Quantity (Abbr.) 41 Ana or Barbara start 42 Lucy’s TV accomplice 43 Items on an executive’s agenda 45 Crosses the threshold
46 “Thrilla in Manila” boxer 47 Idaho product, slangily 48 Ultimately ruinous thing 53 What you’ll see plenty of on Valentine’s Day 56 A wedding requires two of them 57 Fisherman’s slippery catches 58 Serving some purpose 60 Sly trick 61 “Get lost, kitty!” 62 Have a suspicion 63 Pagan god 64 Theater award 65 Itching to go DOWN 1 Etching liquid 2 ___ the worse for wear 3 “Leave me alone” 4 Set eyes on 5 Military map’s focus 6 European wheat 7 Fashion magazine 8 Barber-turnedsinger Perry 9 Double-dealing 10 Discussed (with “over”) 11 Westernmost Aleutian
1 2 Coach’s charge 13 Rosemary, e.g. 22 Military branch (Abbr.) 23 Small child 25 Confederate General Robert ___ 27 Type of engine or bath 28 “The Velvet Fog” Mel 29 Smokers’ trash 30 Length times width 31 Misleading clue 32 Proprietor 33 Rings loudly 35 Sudden spasm 38 List of passengers 39 Diminutive suffix 41 Farm structure 42 Gush (over) 44 Cap adornment 45 “Put some meat on those bones!” 47 Flavorsome 48 Fuzzy fruit 49 “___ it!” (cry of accomplishment) 50 Go it alone 51 Art ___ (1920s movement) 52 Vigorous spirit 54 “Can I get you anything ___?” 55 Fast bucks? 59 Chinese export
Caved In
By Nick Kryshak nkryshak@wisc.edu
First in Twenty
By Angel Lee alee@wisc.edu
Washington and the Bear
By Derek Sandberg kalarooka@gmail.com
sports
dailycardinal.com/sports
Men’s Basketball
Monday, November 28, 2011
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Men’s Hockey
Badgers dominate Mercyhurst in sweep By Matt Masterson The Daily Cardinal
Mark Kauzlarich/cardinal file photo
Jordan Taylor poured in 18 points against BYU, earning him the Chicago Invitational Challenge tournament MVP award.
Wisconsin passes season’s first test By Max Sternberg The Daily Cardinal
CHICAGO— Having won their first five games by an average of nearly 40 points, Saturday night’s Chicago Invitational Challenge final against BYU was the first real challenge the Wisconsin men’s basketball team (6-0 overall) has faced thus far in the young season. Although the Badgers struggled at times against the Cougar zone defense, they eventually found their stroke from beyond the three-point arc, shooting their way to an 73-56 victory. “We had to learn a bit on the fly,” head coach Bo Ryan said after the game. “I thought our guys adjusted well. BYU is a heck of a team and I am sure they are going to do well in their league. I like the way our guys responded.” Sophomore guard Ben Brust took advantage of the shooting space made available by BYU’s matchup zone. The sharpshooting Hawthorne Woods, Ill. native overcame a slow start by nailing seven three-point shots to give him a team-high 21 points on the night. Brust led a 11-0 Badger run with three triples early on in the second half that took what had been a back-and-forth game and quickly put the Badgers in firm control. “His moxie when it comes to finding open angles is pretty good,” Ryan said. “And his teammates know it and they find him.” Still, junior forward Jared Berggren may have played an even bigger role in the UW victory. Berggren finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds, but more importantly held BYU forward Brandon Davies in check. Though the highlight reels will be filled with
awards from page 8 could be co-Big Ten offensive players of the year, an idea many in the UW locker room—including Bielema—endorsed. “I think it should be cooffensive players of the year,” Henry said. “What [Ball] and Russell have been doing back there, it’s ridiculous, man.”
UW’s three-point shooting, it was Wisconsin’s dominance inside that really proved to be the difference. Proving he can still do it all, senior guard Jordan Taylor had his best performance of the season, finishing with 18 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Between Taylor and Brust, the Badgers outscored BYU guards 39-6, playing a pivotal role in the outcome. Brust, Taylor and Berggren rode their respective performances to spots on the all-tournament team, with Taylor picking up the trophy as the tournament MVP. “They were a bit more extended then I thought they would be,” Taylor said. “But we got the win and that’s what is important.” Although the final score was lopsided, Saturday’s win was anything but easy. After the Badgers stormed out of the gates to a 22-10 lead, BYU (4-2) came right back with an 18-4 run of their own. Brust’s first three eventually got Wisconsin into the locker room with a two-point lead, but after a few more minutes of back and forth play, that Brust-led run put the Badgers in control and sent the game quickly on its way to a lopsided conclusion. “Its fun to play with a guy like [Brust],” Taylor said. “But he’s not the only guy we’ve got who is like that.” Now having passed their first test with flying colors, the Badgers now must quickly prepare for arguably their most difficult matchup of the year. Wednesday night’s matchup against topranked North Carolina already had plenty of hype and with Wisconsin now destined for a top 10 position in the polls, that hype will only grow as tip off nears. Both, predictably, downplayed the importance of individual recognition. “Whoever they pick, obviously they’re picking a playmaker,” Ball said. When pressed for a choice, the St. Louis native smiled and gave a playful endorsement. “I’d pick myself, of course I’d pick myself.”
This Thanksgiving weekend, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (4-7-1 WCHA, 7-8-1 overall) avoided the traditional tryptophan hangover and provided some impressive offensive fireworks on back-to-back nights. The Badgers put together two complete games in their weekend sweep of Mercyhurst College (5-1-1 Atlantic Hockey, 6-7-1 overall), but head coach Mike Eaves isn’t about to rest on his laurels. “I’m pleased with the outcome,” Eaves said after Saturday’s win. “It’s just growing pains right now. It’s hard. We’re doing some good things though, and we’re going in the right direction, but we’re crawling right now.” With a 7-2 win on Friday and a 5-2 victory Saturday, Wisconsin put together its best showing both offensively and defensively so far this season. Short-handed goals killed the Badgers last week against Colorado College, but Wisconsin jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on Friday night with two short-handed goals of its own from sophomore forwards Jefferson Dahl and Michael Mersch. Special teams continued to play a big role in Friday’s blowout victory, with Wisconsin converting on three of four power play opportunities, including goals from sophomore forward Mark Zengerle and junior defenseman Justin Schultz, who both enjoyed outstanding weekends. Saturday night opened with a different tone, as Lakers’ senior defenseman Kevin Noble gave Mercyhurst its first lead of the weekend with a goal early in the first, but it failed to last, as Schultz and sophomore forward Brendan Woods each scored to give Wisconsin the lead heading into the break.
After a scoreless second period, senior defenseman Eric Springer scored his first goal of the season, and his first since his freshman year, early in the third, and the Badgers didn’t look back. Tallies from forwards freshman Joseph LaBate and sophomore Tyler Barnes paced Wisconsin late as they closed out the 5-2 victory. With a seven-point weekend from Schultz (three goals, four assists) and an eight-point weekend from Zengerle (one goal, seven assists), both players are tied for the NCAA points lead. Each player has seven goals and 18 assists on the season, and their 25 points puts them both one point ahead of Minnesota’s Nick Bjugstad who stands in second place. When asked about Schultz’s abilty to lead the team, Eaves didn’t mince words. “There’s no question [he is leading] with his ability, just at the right time, to make a play offensively or defensively to settle us down,” Eaves said. “On the other side with a forward you’d have to look to Mark Zengerle and his ability this weekend to
make plays with poise and confidence. Those two young guys are young men that are shouldering more responsibility for us.” While both players have been equally impressive on the score sheet, Zengerle has one advantage over Schultz thus far. With points in both games this weekend, Zengerle increased his point streak to 15 games—the longest such streak for a Badger since 1990. “When we’re on the power play I get a lot of touches, so that’s going to influence whether I get a goal or not,” Zengerle said. “We stress on getting some IZO, which stands for in-zone offense. Before we get more of that there’s just more opportunity and when there’s more opportunity you’re going to get one sooner or later.” The Badgers have their first bye week of the season this weekend, but the will return to action at the Kohl Center on Dec. 9 with a series against defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth. UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
Mark Kauzlarich/the daily cardinal
Mark Zengerle’s eight points on the weekend extended his point streak to 15 games and tied him for the NCAA points lead.
Women’s Hockey
UW continues rolling in sweep of St. Cloud State By Nico Savidge The Daily Cardinal
When a group as talented as the No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team (9-1 WCHA, 15-1 overall) outscores its opponent 11-1 over two games, it would be easy to think it was cruising without incident. But while the games were almost never in doubt, the Badgers’ sweep over the weekend against St. Cloud State (0-10, 1-13-2) was not entirely smooth sailing as Wisconsin ran into pair of good games from the Huskies’ goaltender. Meanwhile, an injury Friday could have a big impact later in the schedule. Wisconsin’s top forward line of junior Brianna Decker and seniors Brooke Ammerman and Carolyne Prevost accounted for two goals in the first period Friday, with one apiece from Prevost and Decker. But the Wisconsin guns fell silent for the next 40 minutes as senior St. Cloud goalie Tayler VanDenakker withstood their assault with a number of big stops to keep her team in the game. “She made some unbelievable saves and actually took us off guard a little bit on a couple of them,” Decker said. “We knew if we just kept
pounding at them and pepper- was wearing a brace on her leg ing the goalie we’d get a couple Sunday. When asked how long in,” she added. that while would be, Johnson The Badgers broke through said he had “no idea.” with three more goals in the The loss could be a big third period, finding a way past blow to Wisconsin—with 26 VanDenakker courtesy of a points, Prevost is third in scorDecker goal and two more from ing for the Badgers—although senior forward Hilary Knight. the team held up fine without Having found the back of the net, her in Sunday’s game. Despite and with another shutout from some highligh-reel plays from sophomore Alex Rigsby, VanDenakker, includWisconsin earned its ing an unbelievable stick tenth win in a row, 5-0. save that knocked a shot Those goals from from Ammerman out Knight were the 125th of midair, Wisconsin and 126th of her career, earned the series sweep pushing her past her with a 6-1 win. head coach, Mark With Prevost gone the Johnson’s record from Badgers will look deeper KNIGHT his playing days and into their line chart to making Knight the make up for that scoring, all-time leading goal scorer in but if Sunday’s game is any indiWisconsin hockey history. cation that production is there in The victory came at a price, the form of a talented third line however, as Prevost went down of freshmen. Forwards Karley hard after another player fell at Sylvester, Blayre Turnbull and an awkward angle into her left Katy Josephs have come together knee. Although she skated off the well in their freshman year, and ice under her own power, and Josephs said they knew the team even returned to the bench for needed to find a replacement for a few moments, Prevost did not Prevost’s scoring touch. return after the injury and was “She brings a lot of energy out of the lineup Sunday. to the team,” Josephs said. “I “She’ll be out for a while,” think everybody felt a need to Johnson said of Prevost, who give a little more.
Sports
Monday November 28, 2011 DailyCardinal.com/Sports
Football
INDY BOUND
Photos courtesy of Lorenzo Zemella (Top left, bottom left) and Mark Kauzlarich (Middle, top right, bottom right)/the daily cardinal
Wisconsin’s 45-7 victory over Penn State clinched the Leaders Division title and a trip to Indianapolis for a rematch with Michigan State in the first ever Big Ten Conference title game. RECAP By Parker Gabriel The Daily Cardinal
In a regular season speckled with dominating wins and heartbreaking losses, the No. 15 Wisconsin football team’s (6-2 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) postseason fate still boiled down to Saturday’s matchup with Penn State at Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers continued one trend and avoided the other, hammering the Nittany Lions (6-2, 9-3) 45-7 to clinch the Leaders Division title and solidify a rematch with Michigan State Dec. 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. “To get this opportunity, three weeks in a row, three opportunities in a row […] winning the Leaders this week gives us an opportunity to win another trophy next week and
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Montee Ball continued his dominant season Saturday against Penn State. Heisman worthy? The UW Athletic Department launched Ball’s official Heisman campaign last week (Twitter: @MoneyBall28) in hopes of getting him to New York City. Ball has more rushing yards (1,622 to 1.583) and total touchdowns (34 to 23) than perceived Heisman frontrunner, Alabama running back Trent Richardson.
then if you win that game a chance for another trophy after that,” UW head coach Bret Bielema said. Junior running back Montee Ball led the way for the Badgers, racking up 156 yards on 25 carries and four touchdowns. The scores moved him into second place on the NCAA’s all-time single-season touchdown list. Only Barry Sanders and his 39 touchdowns in 1988 for Oklahoma State has scored more in a single season. Penn State scored on its first possession when redshirt junior quarterback Matt McGloin found redshirt sophomore receiver Curtis Drake on a 44-yard completion. Wisconsin senior free safety Aaron Henry appeared to bite on a play-fake, leaving Drake all alone. After that, though, the Badgers rattled off 45 consecutive points on the strength of Ball and senior quarterback Russell Wilson. “These two are two of the most complete players at their respective positions that I’ve ever seen play the game,” said Bielema, who also noted his views may be biased. “They both feed off one another. I don’t know if there has ever been co-offensive MVPs off the same team, but I don’t know how you can get one without the other.” The Badgers used lethal balance early to keep Penn State’s offense off the field. UW ran 29 more plays than the Nittany Lions in the first half and finished the game with huge advantages in total yards (450 to 233) and time of possession (38:17 to 21:43). The Badgers turned two Penn State turnovers into sec-
ond-quarter touchdowns. “It’s one thing to get a turnover, but you need to capitalize on it and that’s what our offense has been able to do,” Bielema said. Wisconsin did that throughout the game, turning four Nittany Lions’ giveaways into 24 points. The Badgers’ offense has been explosive on its own, and when the defense puts it in good field position, the results are clear. “The way our offense is playing, it’s tough to lose when those guys are on your team,” said sophomore linebacker Chris Borland, who finished with six tackles. Two of those turnovers came on muffed kick returns, but the defensive unit did yeoman’s work after the initial score. It held the Penn State offense to just 233 total yards of offense and allowed just one trip to the red zone for Penn State’s offense. “This week, our defense really had a chip on its shoulder,” Bielema said. “Everybody’s talking about Penn State’s defense and they’re very, very good, but I think our defense rises to the challenge.” After the game, Wisconsin players insisted revenge would not be a rallying cry this week in preparation for their title game rematch with Michigan State. However, the Badgers and Michigan State appear to be the class of the Big Ten, and Bielema said the opportunity to see the Spartans again is fitting. “This is the first time in Big Ten history that you get rematches,” Bielema said. ”It’s going to be a very exciting time for two teams that have a lot of mutual respect for each other.“
ANALYSIS By Parker Gabriel The Daily Cardinal
After clinching the Leaders Division championship Saturday, Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema noted that his Badgers could conceivably play for a trophy three games in a row. Opinions in the locker room are not likely to differ on what the goal is on that front, but what about individual post-season accolades? After two dominating performances Saturday in a 45-7 drubbing of Penn State, there is a battle brewing for hardware, albeit a friendly one. Senior quarterback Russell Wilson finished the day 19-for29 for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He also tacked on 36 yards on seven carries while eluding pass rushers in the backfield and extending plays and drives with his feet throughout. Wilson has already shattered the school record for touchdown passes in a season with 28, breaking the old record of 21 set by John Stocco in 2005. He is currently in third place on the single-season yards list with 2,692 and sits just 228 yards behind Stocco’s 2005 record. “I had a feeling he would bring his double A-plus game this week,” Bielema said. “He’s good every week, but he’s just a guy that thrives in this environment. He wanted to play on the big stage in Indianapolis and there was going to be nothing that denied him from getting to where he wanted to be.” Not to be outdone, junior running back Montee Ball continued his tear through the 2011 campaign, posting 156 yards and four scores on 25 carries.
Ball now has 34 touchdowns this season, putting him alone in second place among the NCAA’s all time single-season touchdown leaders. He has scored at least two times in every game this season and comfortably leads the Big Ten in rushing yards (1,622) and all-purpose yards (1,870). His rushing total is second-best in the country behind Western Kentucky’s Bobby Rainey (1,695). “There’s no question that what Montee Ball is doing is utterly amazing,” senior free safety Aaron Henry said. “It’s sad to know that people rarely take notice of that. Whoever’s out there voting should probably have their voting cards taken away from them.” Even if exposure proves to be less of a problem over the final weeks, figuring out whom to vote for may not get any easier. UW officials launched a Heisman campaign for Wilson early in the season and have since done the same for Ball. Ball’s 34 touchdowns are twice as many as any other Big Ten player—Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead is second at 17—and more than two conference teams. He needs six touchdowns to surpass Barry Sanders’ 1988 NCAA record of 39. It should be noted that, at the time Sanders set the record, bowl games did not count and he tallied five scores in the Holiday Bowl. “Just being mentioned with him is an honor and I feel blessed for it,” Ball said of Sanders. “It’s a great feeling.” It seems unlikely that two teammates would be selected to be among the five Heisman finalists. It is conceivable they
[Montee Ball and Russell Wilson] are two of the most complete players at their respective positions that I’ve ever seen play the game. Bret bielema, head coach, Wisconsin football
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