Thursday, September 24, 2020 - The Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

Staying happy and healthy

Honorlock falls short

+L&S, page 9

+OPINION, page 7

UW-Madison set to resume in-person class

By Gina Musso COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR

Following a decrease in positive cases during the two week hiatus, UW-Madison will resume in-person classes and activities on Sept. 26.

The return to in-person activities comes with some new caveats including the expansion of testing capacity with a reduction in turnaround time, working towards reduced concentration in residence halls with the option for more students to occupy single rooms and more limited, phased in inperson instruction than when classes started on Sept. 2.

Sellery and Witte residents were also relieved of their two-week quarantine on Wednesday morning, but with restrictions including prohibiting students from visiting residence halls other than their own, weekly testing starting the week of Sept. 28 and the reopening of all dining halls with limited capacity.

“Quarantine is not a good option,” said Chancellor Rebecca Blank in a media briefing on Wednesday. “Our students don’t like it. We would prefer not to do it, but if we see dorms spiking and our testing shows that we’ve

got numbers that we think need to be dealt with, we will quarantine again, and we’ve been really clear about that with our students.”

Residents in Sellery and Witte underwent three rounds of testing since move-in, with the most recent tests taken earlier this week.

While representatives in the media release did not disclose specific positive rates in Sellery and Witte, they did mention that positive rates have greatly decreased in this week’s round of testing.

“We’ve had very, very low numbers in the last couple of days, which is just great, exactly what we wanted to see as a result of all the actions we have taken,” Blank said.

As of publication, the Smart Restart dashboard indicated for Sept.

23 that the positive rate for students tested on campus that day was 2 percent, with 13 students and no faculty members testing positive in on-campus testing and 10 students testing positive through off-campus testing.

The 7-day positive on-campus testing rate is 5.5 percent.

Blank remains confident that the decision to open campus for the Fall

2020-21 semester was the right one, and that the community consensus is that UW-Madison students and faculty want the campus to remain open.

“Why have we not gone fully virtual?” said Blank. “For the simple reason that we continue to believe that there is a real value to in-person classes when we can open safely, and as we’ve indicated we have not seen any evidence of transmission in the classroom. We have some number of classes that have to be in person in order for them to control the requirements, some of the clinical classes, certain lab classes that require specialized equipment, that type of thing.”

Blank has been in conflict with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi recently over this same decision to open campus, as Parisi credits a surge in the state’s cases — surpassing the 100,000 mark on Sunday — to UW System’s decision to opt for inperson instruction.

“It’s not helpful to be in opposition and tension with county officials and with the county exec,” said Blank.

“We need to be working in partnership together. They need to be helping us with the off campus spaces, we

need to be working hard with the on campus spaces, and I’ve tried hard to communicate that to Joe Parisi.”

In the briefing, UW-Madison Provost John Karl Scholz also showed strong support for in-person classes, noting the shortcomings of all online instruction.

“The other issue is that not all of our students have access to the technology to support remote learning, as well as, spaces suitable for study.

Some of them are in crowded, crowded living situations and the like,” said Scholz. “So, working with instructors [and] departments, we are continuing to try to offer a mixture of opportunities that our students can take advantage of.”

While the campus COVID-19 situation has improved for now, students are required to still adhere to all public health protocols, including social distancing, mask-wearing and frequent hand-washing in compliance with Wis. Gov. Tony Evers’ revamp of the state’s public health emergency.

“I just want to repeat my gratitude to faculty, staff and students for their behavior over the last two weeks,” said Blank. “It really has proven we can

bring the numbers down, and it is up to us in the next several weeks to show that we are doing things in a different enough way that we keep those numbers down. I would ask that all members of the campus community understand the importance of these health protocols and adhere to them.”

To continue to combat the spread of COVID-19, UW-Madison will continue to test students in residence halls once a week, expand contract tracing, continue surveillance testing and resume operations in the Unions, Libraries and recreation facilities with limited capacity.

COURTESY OF UW-MADISON

Some classes are to resume in-person.

Evers announces grant program to aid fall tourism industry

By Annabella Rosciglione STAFF WRITER

Gov. Tony Evers announced an $8 million grant program aimed at helping the Wisconsin tourism industry amid a decline in tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Sept. 14.

The Tourism Relief to Accelerate Vitality and Economic Lift (TRAVEL) stimulus grant program will be funded through the CARES Act. “The tourism industry is among the hardest hit by COVID-19,” said Evers in a press release. “The TRAVEL grants are designed to sustain local operations, staffing and relief stimulus activities to drive immediate spending and reinforce safe travel in support of local businesses across the state.”

Department of Tourism Secretary-designee Sara Meaney also supported the funding.

“While these grants will provide immediate opportunities to sustain the important economic development activities of tourism organizations, they will also fuel Wisconsin’s economic recovery in every sector that tourism touches,” Meaney said in Evers’ statement.

Funds to support ongoing operations impacted by COVID-19 will be available as well as marketing funds to promote an increase in safe tourism during the pandemic.

Long-term operations not related to the pandemic will not be eligible for the grant.

Wisconsin’s tourism industry brings in a fair amount of revenue as well as job stability for the state. Over 100 million visits in 2019 generated about $22.2 billion. In 2019, 202,217 Wisconsinites were employed in the tourism industry. One in 18 jobs in the state were supported

by tourism in 2019, according to the Department of Tourism.

Door County ranks eighth in Wisconsin for direct visitor spending. In 2019, visitors directly spent $374.4 million dollars in the region. 3,255 people were employed in the tourism industry in the region in 2019, according to Department of Tourism data.

The Wisconsin Department of

GRAPHIC BY JENNIFER SCHALLER

Transportation noted a decrease in traffic in Door County, a major tourist destination, this year. State Highway 57, which many travelers pass while driving to Door County, saw 36 percent fewer vehicles in April 2020 versus April 2019.

But although tourism might have been down amid the pandemic, the county saw increased interest in outdoor recreation compared to previous years.

“While we have certainly had our share of challenges this year like most travel destinations, our outdoor recreation opportunities and proximity to a large percentage of the Midwest’s population that are within a gas tank away of Door County likely prevented us from seeing some of the larger declines other destinations have reported,” Jon Jarosh, Destination Door County Director of Communications and Public Relations, said in an email.

However, some Door County business owners have struggled with finances due to the pandemic.

Jarosh added that businesses have made adjustments to deal with safety issues and health protocols.

“In some cases, indoor customer capacity constraints have reduced the number of visitors inside of businesses,” Jarosh said.

With fall foliage just around the corner, Northern Wisconsin

is expecting an increase in visitors. According to the DNR, peak fall color usually occurs in far northern Wisconsin during the last week of September and first week of October.

“With a 17-million-acre forest resource in Wisconsin that is increasing in volume each year, fall color is one show that must go on,” said Colleen Matula, a forest silviculturist/ecologist with the DNR division of forestry.

Jarosh said that Door County is preparing for fall visitors just as it did in summer.

“When travel restrictions were lifted and travel was allowed to commence just before Memorial Day weekend, our industry was pretty well prepared,” said Jarosh.

“It’s been a pretty busy summer in terms of tourism, so we are just rolling into the autumn season with the same approaches still in place.”

The Department of Tourism will accept applications for the grant program through 4 p.m. on Sept. 28 with those accepted to be announced mid-October.

Grants are based on financial need and will not exceed $500,000 or the applicant’s average tourism promotion and development budget over the past three years.

Tourism-focused government or private organizations, including registered nonprofits, are eligible.

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

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

MPD crowd control budget costs thousands

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892

By Kate Van Dyke SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Volume 130, Issue 5

The Madison Police Department spent nearly $20,000 on tear gas, pepper spray, foam bullets and other riot control materials in response to protests after the death of George Floyd from May 30 to June 1, according to an open records request.

According to the request, the MPD’s purchase order revealed two charges of $7,680 and $10,939 spent on crowd control weapons.

MPD took the money out of its budget — which comes from taxpayers — to replenish the non-reusable supplies in its inventory following the three days of protests.

MPD received the materials from Streichers and Midwest

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Defense Solutions which supplies various police gear, ammunition and chemical “irritants.”

At the same time, the UW-Madison Police Department assisted MPD in handling the protests.

However, two teams of UWPD riot officers who were trained in crowd control techniques and using crowd control ammunition reportedly helped the MPD on May 30 and May 31 at protests in downtown Madison, according to documents obtained from a News Lockdown records request.

In an early June phone call with News Lockdown, UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott would neither “confirm or deny” whether UWPD also used tear gas and other crowd control measures.

The MPD did not respond to a request for comment.

In response to the recent developments, Matthew Mitnick, UW-Madison student, Chair of the Associated Students of Madison and Committee Chair of the Police Budget Subcommittee, said he along with other ASM leaders would meet Thursday with UWPD Chief Kristen Roman to investigate more about the claim that UWPD supplied MPD with tear gas.

The ASM leaders will also present a list of demands to Roman. If she does not comply, Mitnick said he would move forward with a vote of no-confidence, of which removal from her position may be called for.

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The Madison Police Department budget allocated thousands of dollars for crowd control purposes.

Odyssey Project persists through COVID-19 trials

By Morgan Lock FEATURES EDITOR

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like to see a tear gas ban as well as a ban on all chemical ammunitions implemented at UWPD. “The fact that UWPD has the ability to discharge chemical ammunition to the very students whose tuition goes to pay for it is extremely problematic and an abuse of rights,” Mitnick said.

Caroline Haberland-Ervin, one of the many UW students at the protests in late May, experienced first-hand violence by the police during the first few days of demonstrations.

“As a [person of color], I immediately began to feel threatened and scared for my life within a few hours on the first day of the demonstrations,” Haberland-Ervin said.

“The police initiated the violence by spraying tear gas in front of innocent and peaceful protesters with no hesitation.”

With vivid memory, Haberland-Ervin recounted the experiences she witnessed with the MPD when she attended the protests, but one moment stood out the most.

As she and her father observed the protests from a close distance — eventually running away from a cloud of tear gas — a police officer approached the two with a baton in one hand and a can of pepper spray in the other, ready to release it on them.

“My father had to scream for them to let us go, even when we had done nothing wrong,” HaberlandErvin said. “I felt scared for my life, my father’s life and others part of the Black community. The budget of the MPD is outrageous and needs to change.”

“My kids will be so blessed because of the path Odyssey put me on,” said 2019 Odyssey Project graduate, Candace Howard.

Founded in 2003, the UW Odyssey Project offers UW-Madison humanities classes for adult students facing economic barriers to attending college, such as single parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, depression and domestic abuse, according to their website.

The Odyssey Course is a sixcredit English literature class where UW-Madison professors introduce adults to great works of literature, philosophy, history and art while helping them improve writing and critical thinking skills.

Jean Feraca and Emily Auerbach, the project’s co-founders, based their framework on that of the late Earl Shorris, a New York City writer who introduced impoverished adults to philosophical theories.

Auerbach was inspired to start the Odyssey Project by her parents’ personal experience.

“My connection with the Odyssey Project is a very personal one,” Auerbach said. “I saw with both my parents that a free school, free access to a liberal arts education, could change the trajectory of an entire family and community.”

The Odyssey program built on Shorris’ work, adding crucial components to the adult educa-

tion program. Odyssey Junior, one such component, is not just a daycare program — it’s an intentional space where children can begin their educational journey right alongside their parents.

“If we reach one student, then that affects the children and grandchildren and cousins and neighbors,” Auerbach said. “It has a ripple effect. So even if it seems like it’s only a few students who come into Odyssey each year, the reach of the program goes beyond that.”

Auerbach and the entire Odyssey team were blindsided by the COVID-19 pandemic back in March. According to Auerbach, the pandemic disproportionately affected Odyssey students because their students who lived at the poverty level did not necessarily have computers or Wi-Fi access. In the middle of a semester and finals, they were suddenly unable to connect with students.

“Our students don’t have a financial safety net,” Auerbach said. “Many of them were laid off from jobs and don’t have supportive family around them or the financial resources to get the groceries and help they need, or the Wi-Fi access. So, we have shifted a lot of our fundraising to raise money for basic needs.”

Auerbach and her team worried that the feeling of community and support would wane due to the pandemic, given the additional obstacles her students were facing. However,

when the courses shifted online in mid-March, they did not lose a single student; all thirty students still graduated virtually.

“Of course there’s a real feeling of loss because we couldn’t share food and balloons and gather hundreds of people in Memorial Union,” Auerbach said. “But what we gained was families [being] able to connect from other states and other countries. There was an intimacy that happened when we saw students in their home with their children around them. There was this feeling that we were all together in our living rooms. We really tried to make the most of it.”

Social justice is key to why the Odyssey Project exists, according to Auerbach. In this country, poverty, incarceration and lack of edu-

cation all tie into our country’s history of discrimination. Wisconsin is one of the worst states when it comes to racial injustice, according to recent studies.

“The pandemic and the George Floyd murder have highlighted why the Odyssey Project needs to exist,” Auerbach said. “Both of those situations have underscored centuries of racial and economic injustice in this country.”

The Odyssey Project aims to lift people of all ages, races and cultural backgrounds out of poverty.

“Believe it or don’t believe it, the Odyssey Program will change your whole life,” said 2016 Odyssey Project graduate, Tory Latham.

“Odyssey will help you discover your talent. Odyssey will show you that nothing is impossible.”

COURTESY OF THE ODYSSEY PROJECT

People around the world gathered to celebrate graduates of the Odyssey Project.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

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Greek life frustrated with university miscommunication

By Joe Rickles and Jessica Sonkin SPORTS AND CAMPUS NEWS EDITORS

On Aug. 26, in a statement to University of Wisconsin-Madison students and staff on preparations for the fast-approaching semester, Chancellor Rebecca Blank wrote that the university was “working with fraternities and sororities to help those living in chapter houses arrange for their own quarantine and isolation spaces.”

UW-Madison Director of News and Media Relations Meredith McGlone backed Blank’s statement via email correspondence: “This summer, the university and Public Health Madison & Dane County began providing information to chapters, advisors and housing corporations about operating chapter houses during the pandemic, including planning for residents needing to quarantine and isolate.”

Many fraternity leaders say those claims are misleading.

Instead, Fraternity leaders say UW-Madison “hung [them] out to dry” without guidance on establishing quarantine spaces and forced them to implement their own plans for handling positive COVID-19 cases within

“I can confidently say as VP of TDX that no one from the university had reached out to our exec board” Caden McMann Vice President Thi Delta Chi Wisconsin Chapter

chapters, further increasing frustrations. Greek life leaders also say officers of the University of Wisconsin Police Department have visited and trespassed on chapter property, despite the department’s claim that it plays no role in enforcing public health guidelines.

Since the Chancellor’s message at the end of summer, 26 Greek chapter houses have been issued quarantine orders from Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC). Of approximately 5,000 students in the Greek community, under 1,100 live in these chapter houses. According to 2010 census data, live-in members account for less than half a percent of people living in student neighborhoods in Madison, identified as areas with a median age of less than 22 years old.

Only one of the seven fraternity leaders interviewed for this story described any sort of communication with the university prior to the beginning of the school year.

“I can confidently say as VP of TDX that no one from the university had reached out to our exec board regarding quarantine space in our chapter house at any point,” said Caden McMann, the Vice President at Theta Delta Chi’s Wisconsin chapter.

One fraternity president who asked to remain anonymous said that UW’s leadership left their chapter “in the dark.”

Ellis Becker, President of Phi Delta Theta — Wisconsin Alpha Chapter, echoed McMann’s words.

“No one from the university got in touch with us about establishing a quarantine space inside the chapter house at all,” said Becker.

“We set aside a space ourselves but we did so with no direction from administration whatsoever.”

McGlone later tried to amend and say that FSL officials were “in contact with chapter presidents throughout the summer,” but focused on com-

municating with chapter housing corporations made up of alumni rather than the students who actually live in the chapter houses. McGlone claims that the FSL Office “shifted to send all communications to house corporations, advisors, chapter presidents, and national organizations simultaneously,” but, yet again, this point is contested by multiple chapter presidents who say they had not received any communications regarding quarantine spaces over the summer.

In the absence of university support, fraternities have established their own quarantine and isolation policies. One fraternity set aside a shared risk fund for live-in members, which would allow for any COVID-negative live-in members to spend 10 days in a hotel room in the event that their roommate tests positive. Others have taken the initiative of establishing quarantine spaces within their chapter houses without university guidance.

Each fraternity represented in this story implemented a mandatory mask-wearing policy for all common areas within their chapter facilities.

These disparities in communication between UW-Madison and fraternity executive boards have made many members of Greek life feel that the university is using the FSL community — even those who are strictly following protocols — as a scapegoat for the effects of COVID-19 in Madison.

“There are definitely problems with Greek life, and there are definitely fraternities that have not been following the legal guidelines and it’s important to enforce that,” said one fraternity president. “But at the same time I think the school singles out Greek life. I’ve seen pictures on Mifflin of huge house parties. I mean, the line out the door at bars… It’s just the fact that it’s a registered organization and it’s an easy target to go after.”

Nick Watts, Vice President of External Affairs for Psi Upsilon, said that these issues go beyond the contempt that many students show toward Greek life.

“You don’t have to like Greek life, you don’t have to like fraternities or sororities,” said Watts. “But just in general blaming a group of 18-22 year olds for a pandemic is very unfair.”

AJ Valus, President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon — Wisconsin Alpha Chapter, was the only interviewed fraternity leader who said his organization had contact with the university over the summer.

“I was already in talks with [UW-Madison] regarding how we were gonna go into this semester so I did talk with the school and they did approve this plan,” said Valus.

Valus noted that his chapter had been in conversation with the Committee on Student Organizations (CSO) regarding what Valus called an “incident over the summer.” Among these discussions, Valus worked with the university to establish separate precautionary plans for live-in members amid the pandemic.

Communication between the university and Sigma Alpha Epsilon plays into an overarching theme of some UW-Madison students alleging that if they get COVID-19 now, they will not have to deal with later ramifications and quarantines that will follow (a.k.a. “Tactical COVID”).

This chapter facility may have been better equipped for a prospective quarantine than other fraternity houses due to a CSO intervention regarding that “incident that happened over the summer.”

Now, select students living in offcampus neighborhoods are allegedly toying with the university’s claim that anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 90 days does not need to abide by PHMDC quarantine mandates.

“If a person has contracted COVID-19 within 90 days, has recovered and is no longer contagious, they do not need to quarantine because research indicates they have antibodies and will not become reinfected if exposed again.

However after 90 days they are again at risk,” explains Meredith McGlone via email correspondence.

The concept of developing antibodies has motivated an unsafe thought among select students living in chapter facilities — an active attempt to contract COVID-19 in an effort to escape the potentially perpetual quarantine cycle.

“I also want to address a concerning belief we’ve been hearing – intentionally contracting COVID to ‘get it over with’ is unsafe and irresponsible,” wrote Dean of Students Christina Olstad in a Sept. 18 email.

“While students who test positive can be asymptomatic or experience minimal symptoms, we’ve seen otherwise healthy young people across the country, including here in Dane County be hospitalized,” Olstad continued. “The long-term effects of COVID-19 are still largely unknown.

Willfully spreading the virus places everyone you meet, particularly our more vulnerable family and community members, at higher risk.”

As of Wednesday, the university has opened investigations into nearly 550 students and 11 student organizations, according to McGlone. Twenty students have been referred for emergency suspension.

FSL members living in outside facilities who aim to stay safe and responsible are placed at a higher risk due to others’ engagement in dangerous behaviors. These students may not be living in spaces prepared for a proper quarantine.

“I was already in talks with [UW-Madison] regarding how we were gonna go into this semester” AJ Valus President Sigma Alpha Epsilon Wisconsin

“The university has done very little in response to the positive cases we’ve had so far. I think the FSL isolation spaces [for members who tested positive] at Zoe Bayliss house were a great idea in theory, but in practicality I think it’s being really poorly executed,” Becker said. “First of all, for a 10 day isolation period in this space, it costs our members about one month’s rent, which is just so absurd to me that administration has the audacity to charge students to isolate because of the poor decisions made by university officials. The university has also done absolutely nothing to provide food for these students, meaning they have to spend even more money to feed themselves on top of paying to stay there.”

The university had not reached out to Valus about the establishment of quarantine spaces in any other capacity, but he complements the transparency from Assistant Director of Fraternity & Sorority Life Maggie

COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

Many Greek life chapters are frustrated by the lack of transparency.

Hayes and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor.

Multiple fraternity leaders directly challenged university leaders’ statements, saying that nobody from the university reached out to establish quarantine or isolation spaces within chapter houses.

The communicative disparities do not end with mixed messages between university leaders and fraternity members. UW-Madison and the UW-Madison Police Department (UWPD) have also neglected to supply the campus community with congruent information.

Policing the “Problem” In a Sept. 14 media release, Chancellor Blank addressed suspicion regarding students’ behaviors in off campus neighborhoods.

“Specifically, we were aware that off campus conduct would be an issue and deployed staff into student neighborhoods to look for parties and encourage compliance,” Blank said.

“By our count, this includes multiple staff from student affairs and UWPD logging many hours in recent weeks.”

Blank also touched upon the significance of the university’s “strong partnership with our city and county” amid rapid infection transmission.

In a more recent statement to County Executive Joe Parisi, Blank notes that the university itself lacks authority in terms of shutting down social gatherings “We know these gatherings can lead to the spread of COVID-19 but UW-Madison does not have jurisdiction to shut down gatherings in off campus areas,” Blank said. “Until those agencies with enforcement authority take additional action, we shouldn’t expect to see a rapid decline in cases in Dane County.”

When asked a series of questions pertaining to public health and safety in off campus neighborhoods, UWPD Director of Communications and Public Information Officer Marc Lovicott denied UWPD involvement.

“UWPD typically does not patrol off-campus (like Langdon Street), as it’s within the City of Madison Police Department’s jurisdiction,” Lovicott said. “Further, UWPD is not directly involved in the enforcement of public health orders or quarantine directives — on-campus or off-campus.”

University searches for social gatherings to “encourage compliance” have added to the already high tension between Greek life and administration. Some fraternities have detailed unprompted entrances from UWPD officials as well as UW administrators.

“The dean of students came with

several UWPD officers and trespassed onto our property for no reason at all besides their suspicion,” said Becker.

“I honestly thought it was disgusting, unnecessary and a violation of our rights as individuals and as an organization.”

Another fraternity president whose chapter house is also on Langdon Street detailed a similar situation. According to this president, UWPD officers entered their backyard where live-in members were having a bonfire and Dane County regulations were being followed. While he said that the officers “didn’t really give them a hard time,” he notes that he doesn’t think “cops would just stroll into a backyard on Mifflin, necessarily.”

Fraternity leaders, like many students and staff, have questioned the intentions of the UW’s “Smart Restart” plan.

UW Officials have come under fire for refusing to acknowledge the inherent danger of bringing students back to campus and instead pushing the burden of responsibility to students.

The UW-Madison BIPOC Coalition, along with the Associated Students of Madison and the Teaching Assistant Association, have all condemned the Smart Restart plan as a cash grab by the university.

“There’s inherent risk when you interact with another person, and ultimately you brought back 30,000 18-20 year-olds who are pretty lowrisk,” said one fraternity president.

“I think it was a recipe for disaster from the start.”

Many students have called out what they called the university’s naivety towards student behavior in the midst of the plan’s failure.

“If they don’t know what college students behave like, they must be delusional,” one fraternity president said. “They really sound like they’re living in a different universe sometimes.”

According to PHMDC, 1,808 students have tested positive for COVID19 as of Sept. 18. UW students and staff have accounted for 76 percent of all cases in Dane County since Sept. 1. “[The administration] knew full well what they were getting into,” said Watts. “They just didn’t want to say it out loud because they want to keep abusing the students and collecting the tuition money.”

Disclaimer: Both authors of this story are FSL members. Sources who are friends or chaptermates of a respective author were interviewed by the other writer.

arts New Kauffman thriller ends with insanity 4

Thursday, September 24, 2020

By John Bildings STAFF WRITER

Following my experience during “Tenet” a few days ago, I figured I wouldn’t run into another movie this year that confused me more than whatever beautiful disaster Nolan designed.

Enter writer/director Charlie Kauffman, the man who wrote brain teasers like “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” delivering his own twists and turns to Ian Reid’s 2016 bestselling horror/ thriller novel — and once again, I was proven totally wrong.

“Things” is a story that revolves around the experiences of an unnamed woman — played by newcomer Jessie Buckley (“Chernobyl”) — as she contemplates ending the relationship with her boyfriend Jake on the way to his family dinner for the first time. Jake, played by “Friday Night Lights” and “Breaking Bad” alum Jesse Plemons, seems to have an unusually close level of knowledge involving her interests — ranging from topics like poetry and landscape artwork, to even biological research, in the few short minutes of driving across the snow-covered terrain.

Bizarrely interspersed with footage of an elderly janitor cleaning high school hallways in the middle of the night, both the woman — whose name changes multiple times in the first few minutes alone — and Jake’s personalities seem to variate just as quickly as we understand them. Viewers are subject to a number of narrative inconsistencies that make increasingly little sense as the trip unfolds, and this high level of confusion is, unfortunately, is only the beginning.

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When the couple finally arrives, they’re slowly, and very unnervingly, greeted by his parents — perfectly cast in all of their disturbing and eccentric glory by Toni Collete (“Hereditary,” “The Sixth Sense”) and David Thewlis (“Harry Potter,” “Wonder Woman”), both of whom only expand upon the baffling nature of the film.

Mother and father are just as awkward as their son, sharing and knowing bizarre details that make both he and the woman increasingly uncomfortable throughout dinner conversation until things truly take a turn for the stranger.

Soon enough, the surrealism we’ve come to expect from Kauffman is fully unleashed — as the concept of aging quite literally comes to the forefront once Jake’s parents both experience physical changes that cause anyone who was trying to understand what was happening on the surface to give up completely. The rest of the film continues in this crazy manner, leading up to a wild twist that can only be described through close analysis and (some) YouTube breakdowns.

Man — I’ve really been getting my money’s worth in free therapy treatments this week.

While I won’t pretend to know like I can fully understand what’s happening in “Things” from a metafictional perspective, I do recognize that the performances put on by the lead cast members are some of the most impressive I’ve seen in 2020.

Buckley, who rose to prominence in 2019’s “Chernobyl” and is set to make another giant television appearance later this month with “Fargo”, simultaneously operates as several different characters and

excels at each one of them throughout the film — at times reciting verses of melancholic 18th century poetry with such great vigor one could only assume her character was truly a burgeoning writer, at other moments adopting various inflections and changes of tenor so shockingly well viewers will hardly believe this is the same woman who enters the film immediately in the opening frame.

She creates subtle distinctions in each new transformation that I believe very few other actresses could pull off, coupling well with Plemons’ refined performance as a man who only hints at the full extent of his troubling mental issues.

Neither lead is a household name quite yet, but I would put money on the fact these roles could be the tipping point they need to become such very soon.

The unsettling communication they share consistently builds like a panic attack just waiting to happen, and when the big final reveal arrives — it makes you recognize the level to which Kauffman has made you question what is real and what is not.

Execution aside, intricate camera choices thrust this harrowing story ahead and still keep audiences in the dark – this time in a rewarding and not (ahem) vague manner like those running rampant over “Tenet”.

The deliberate, slowly-shifting cinematography of Lukasz al (“Cold War”) works to make the observer believe they are watching a disturbed landscape painting come to life - sometimes persisting on inconspicuous objects lying around the house before jumping to one of the characters’ newer and more bizarre transformations,

MARY CYBULSKI/NETFLIX

Jesse Buckley stars as the unnamed woman in Netflix's new release. other times breaking the fourth wall as both leads begin speaking directly to the camera and seemingly recognize they’re trapped inside whatever kind of hellscape Kauffman has composed for us.

The usage of baffling tracking shots and omniscient perspective dreamily compliment the complicated narrative structure of the film, reminding me of some of David Lynch’s most bewildering work and making me feel like someone was filming me from behind the couch. With Kauffman we can never be fully certain though, so I won’t put it out of the possibility.

Should viewers treat themselves to a self-imposed anxiety with “Things?” That’s a complex question, especially as I wrack my own brain trying to figure out what the hell I just watched.

Some of the more horror-

driven elements that drove the pulse-pounding nature of Reid’s novel are lost in this adaptation, many of which I believe should have been included to make the film have more than a niche appeal beyond thriller fans or lovers of Kauffman’s previous work.

This movie is a subtextual nightmare and difficult to access in far more ways than just one, and had we been treated to a bit more resolution in the finale would be one of my favorites of this year.

Regardless of whether or not jump scares are missing, I’ll remain haunted and strangely entranced by the psychological journey we take alongside the marvelous performances from Buckley & Plemons – a winding road that didn’t go where I expected, and viewers won’t either.

Stellar cast, riveting story, ‘The Devil All the Time’ is a thrilling hit

By Dominic Lerose STAFF WRITER

GLEN WILSON/NETFLIX

Robert Pattison stars as Reverend Preston Teagardin in new Netlix thriller.

Many people have asked me if I have any movie recommendations to lift their souls during the perilous, dark times we’re living in with the COVID-19 pandemic still controlling the world. While there are numerous feel-good films perfect for our time, Netflix’s latest drama won’t serve as a mood-elevator.

Based on the best-selling novel

by Donald Ray Pollock, “The Devil All the Time” emerges from a dire state and enters a nightmarish world full of evil and sin.

Set during the 1950s and 60s in the coal country of Ohio, the film follows several violent, disturbed people in the deeply religious and corrupt town of Knockemstiff, whose devotion to their bad habits causes chaos and intermingling amongst each other.

Tom Holland stands out as the closest thing to a lead character as Arvin Russell, a deeply disturbed young man whose father Willard (an excellent Bill Skarsgard) unleashed traumatizing horror upon him after serving in World War II. As Arvin matures he’s unintentionally wrapped up by the backwards monsters of his town, including the manipulative Reverend Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson), the psycho-

pathic Carl Henderson (Jason Clarke) and his wife Sandy (Riley Keough), and the corrupt sheriff Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan).

As Arvin defends himself and his step-sister Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) from the demons around him, he slowly falls back into his trauma and unleashes his inner rage.

Many will see the stellar cast and immediately be drawn to the film but what keeps you thinking about the film long after the credits roll is the brutal, disturbing premise and the array of evil characters who fill the screen.

Director Antonio Campos excels at bringing to life this sinister tale through exploring the number of broken, lost characters who seem to be fueled by inflicting pain on one another.

Campos captures the harshness of rural America after the Second World War and the dangers weighing down Arvin and his emotions. Campos does an excellent job of both gripping up to our core and proving heartstopping tension while also being grounded in investing his time to exploring the variety of demented characters he adapts to the screen.

Campos has a strong dedication to the characters and wants us to remember each and every one of them for their unsettling attributes

and atrocious actions, not giving us anyone in particular to root for besides Arvin.

The struggle in the film is that we have so many intriguing characters and only a limited time to get to know them. With so many characters the film struggles to let us deeply understand them and appreciate their unsettling characteristics. As the film goes from one story to another and often rushes through their time on screen, I couldn’t help but feel that a six-part mini-series would have served the story better and would have given us more to feel and think about.

Even though it can be frustrating to see the story rushed, the rich performances and gripping storyline consistently wrap you up in all the nightmarish conflict. Holland excels at portraying a broken soul hungry for peace, while Pattinson — whose southern accent is a bit forced — grabs us in every scene.

“The Devil All the Time” portrays a world of endless sin and suffering, one where violence and obsession control the lives of the men and women plaguing it.

You may not appreciate every aspect of it and wish things were done a bit differently at times while the story was being adapted, yet from start to finish you won’t be able to turn away.

comics dailycardinal.com

Thursday, September 24, 2020 • 5

GENDER REVEAL PARTIES

BY LYRA EVANS

GRAPHICS BY [JULIA WEILER]

GRAPHIC BY ZOE BENDOFF

POPART

BY JULIA WEILER

almanac 6

Thursday, September 24, 2020

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ASM votes to open investigation into Becky Blank’s alleged collusion with the coronavirus

By Jordan Simon Associated Students of Madison has opened up an investigation into Becky Blank’s alleged collusion with the coronavirus, according to a statement from the ASM Press Office this morning. A special counsel will be appointed in the coming weeks and begin investigating the Chancellor.

The investigation comes on the heels of UW-Madison’s Shart Restart – I mean – Shart Restart. Fuck, it keeps autocorrecting. Shart Restart.

Well I guess even auto-correct knows the restart wasn’t smart. Either way, the investigation has been launched in the wake of UW-Madison’s shart of a restart plan, which included packing the dorms – multiple of which have a capacity of over 1,000 students – with the largest class yet of socially starved eigh-

teen-year-olds who, after a mere whiff of the succulent nectar that is Natty Light, are ready to break quarantine rules faster than that photo of champagne on Kim Kardashian’s oiled-up ass cheeks broke the internet.

Given the unsurprising spike in cases that followed, it seems almost too perfect of a win-win for the Chancellor and the coronavirus. The virus gets hosts and Becky gets her sweet, sweet cash, with which I assume she fashioned into an origami throne upon which she sits and cackles over the misfortune of her subjects.

While unable to confirm my theories about the origami throne of cash, ASM did write in their statement that, “given how the Chancellor has handled the current fall semester, we have strong reason to believe there could have been collusion with the coronavi-

rus, and we see it morally fit to launch an apolitical investigation to gain further information on the matter.”

Additionally, the Big Ten’s recent decision to hold a fall 2020 football season, which Becky Blank voted in favor of, is further damning optics for the Chancellor in terms of the accusations of collusion against her.

Any results from the investigation are still a ways out, however, which means those put at risk by the Chancellor’s irresponsible decisions still have some time before there is justice. On the bright side, they can all rest easy knowing they can put their faith in the special counsel, whose investigation will probably consist of two years of methodical research to gain enough evidence to convict the Chancellor, but then not do it for some reason.

Trump’s supreme court contenders: a review

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF WANNAPIK STUDIO

By Nathan Rawling After the tragic passing of feminist icon and 27-year Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg on Friday, President Trump and his GOP, a party of deeply-faithful Christians that cherish the sanctity of human life, have decided to honor Ginsburg’s dying wish and the precedent they set in 2016 that she not be replaced until after this Nov. 3 election.

Just kidding, of course they didn’t, you colossal sucker. They need to get this done before Mitch McConnell’s face melts off of his skull completely, so naturally the White House put out a list of potential Supreme Court nominees before the body even turned cold.

As the Daily Cardinal Almanac’s Chief Political Analyst, I will break down the odds for some of the most prominent names of possible replacements for Ginsburg’s seat: 1.“Lyin’” Ted Cruz: 5 percent Not likely, but I could definitely see this one. Trump owes Cruz a favor for handing him the Republican nomination in 2016 by

being one of the most repugnant doofuses on the planet. This choice would also be a historic step forward for Twitter-stepdaughterporn-watchers.

2. Tom Cotton: 5 percent Also a longshot. With that being said, Cotton is quickly becoming a rising star among Republicans after the New York Times published his June 3 op-ed proposing that the U.S. military be sent in to deal with — and presumably shoot — protesters in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

3. Josh Hawley: <1 percent Hawley has already pledged to try to help overturn Roe v. Wade, but he wouldn’t be able to be the next president after Trump’s second term if he was on the Supreme Court.

Now for the real contenders, Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa. I believe Trump will choose a woman for two reasons: it will take ammo — in the form of charges of sexism — away from Sleepy Joe and Phony Kamala, and it will significantly

decrease the chances that the nomination process is slowed or marred by pesky allegations of sexual misconduct.

4. Amy Coney Barrett: 50 percent Uber-popular with the Christian right, Barrett’s record and ideals are so conventionally insane for the Christian right that there is basically nothing original to make fun of her for. She would almost be an even more uninteresting character than fellow Indianan Mike Pence if it weren’t for the fact that she has seven (7!) kids.

5. Barbara Lagoa: 40 percent Certain to be a favorite among galaxy-brain political consultants who believe Floridians’ votes will be won or lost based on whether or not the next nominee for the Supreme Court is from Florida — when the truth is that Trump will win Florida because he is friends with Tom Brady.

So to wrap things up, expect the next nominee for the Supreme Court to be one of these two birds, and expect her to be installed before RBG’s funeral procession is over.

PHOTO BY DANA BRANDT

ASM votes for investigation into Chancellor's alleged collusion.

Man struck with raining kangaroo; sues sky

By Joey Koala

This past Sunday, a Madison man filed suit against the sky after being hit with a raining kangaroo. Frederick Harold SchumerHarold, the subject of the case, experienced severe injuries to his sense of what is possible in the physical world and is seeking damages of 18 clouds.

“I was taking my usual stroll to purchase my 9 p.m. pancakes when, suddenly, it started raining fricken’ kangaroos! This bouncy little guy landed on me, nuts straight to my face! It was very unpleasant,” said SchumerHarold of the incident. “While the initial trauma of a crass, kangaroo crotching was cripplingly heartstopping, I feel I suffered more from the shock to my sense of reality. I had to be admitted into the mental ward! That’s what I call my parents’ house.”

Schumer-Harold’s lawyer has

been slow to comment publicly; however, he has stated that his client has a “strong case,” and, while it will be a tough fight, he is certain that the sky will be “held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The sky has denied any wrongdoing in the incident. While unsure how Schumer-Harold was struck with the kangaroo in question, the sky maintains it is undeniable transparent in its operations, and that this incident falls out of the realm of physics, by which the sky is bound.

Meteorologists have been looking into the incident but are struggling to come up with an explanation since, apparently, they only study meteors. A judge has not yet been selected to oversee the case, but it is unclear what information a judge could base a decision since there is such a shortage of expert information into how the event occurred.

GRAPHIC BY JORDAN SIMON

Schumer-Harold moments before being struck with kangaroo.

opinion Honorlock presents privacy concerns dailycardinal.com

By Haley Bills SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As schooling has been largely moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students across the nation are voicing their concerns about the use of digital surveillance programs to foster academic integrity. At the University of WisconsinMadison, students are specifically calling for the ban of Honorlock, an online proctoring service “that supports integrity, makes test-taking less stressful and saves everyone time and hassle,” according to their website.

The actual functioning of Honorlock, however, seems to do quite the opposite: the software is unnecessarily invasive and requires superfluous circumstances and effort from students. Its very nature perpetuates a harmful status quo in framing students as cheaters, and its use seems punitive during a time when the university claims to acknowledge “the frustration, anxiety and stress the pandemic continues to create on a daily basis on so many different levels of our lives.”

In short, UW-Madison must ban Honorlock.

The primary privacy issues caused by Honorlock stem from

Thursday, September 24, 2020

its video and audio surveillance, browser extension and data storage. According to UW-Madison’s KnowledgeBase, Honorlock uses the webcam and microphone connected to student’s computers and requires “a 360-degree room scan.” It also requires students to show a photo ID, either government-issued — like a driver’s license or passport — or schoolissued to confirm their identity.

Not only does the requirement of a 360-degree room scan of students’ private spaces seem incredibly intrusive, but the company also saves students’ desktop activity and webcam and video recordings taken during exams — including their ID information — for 12 months.

According to their website, Honorlock encrypts and saves data within a private cloud in an Amazon data center and will not share or sell the data to third parties. However, there is little transparency as to why they hold onto data for an entire year. For instance, they do not specify what happens to data in the event of company bankruptcy, which in the past has often resulted in data sale or sharing.

In addition to the great potential of privacy breach, these features

discriminate against students who do not have access to non-disruptive workspaces. For instance, the tests of students who live in shared housing could easily be flagged when the webcam and audio surveillance detect additional faces and voices. This directly contradicts the University’s claim “to understand [that] remote learning may present challenges for some students based on circumstances such as living situation” and its guide for instructional continuity that states “developing a flexible course plan is key.”

Not to mention, the software requires students to have a computer with a working webcam and microphone, which tend to be costly. This particular aspect of Honorlock misaligns with the University’s efforts to ensure “accessible course instruction.” Further, it places an added burden on students who are already dealing with ever changing updates and amendments to their education experience.

Privacy concerns and accessibility issues aside, the principle of digital surveillance programs like Honorlock uphold an unhealthy attitude towards students and a plausibly counterproductive treat-

ment of their learning. Academic integrity is important, but implementing such software sends a certain message to students: that they are untrustworthy and that cheating is expected.

The “Pygmalion Effect”, which was first described by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson in their 1966 study “Teachers’ Expectancies: Determinants of Pupils’ IQ Gains,” refers to the phenomenon of positive expectations influencing student performance positively and negative expectations influencing student performance negatively.

“When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur,” Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded in their study.

The more general self-fulfilling prophecy, defined by “Simply Psychology” as “the process by which a person’s expectations about someone can lead to that someone behaving in ways which confirm the expectations,” describes similar logic.

Neither concept directly addresses the issue of cheating or cheating prevention measures, but their pervasiveness in psychology begs the questions: what happens

7

to students when their University goes to such great lengths in trying to catch them cheat? Conversely, what would happen if the University simply held students to a higher standard?

Part of the university’s mission is to help students “realize their highest potential of intellectual, physical and human development.” But the presence of deeply intrusive digital surveillance illustrates profound mistrust in the student populace and opposes the University’s mission by assigning the lowest standards to its students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to get creative in how they shift their instruction online, but many of the actions and decisions made by UW-Madison thus far have not been visionary.

Honorlock is no exception.

Haley is a Senior studying Journalism, with a certificate in French. Do you think Honorlock infringes on personal privacy? Do you think using Honorlock contradicts statements of flexibility and faith in the student body? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

California is currently on fire — what can we do to fix it?

By Samantha Telson STAFF WRITER

Deadly wildfires are spreading across California this season, causing mass destruction and forcing families to abandon their homes during this unknown time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018, the wildfires destroyed over a million acres of land in California. Wildfires in 2020 have already torn apart over 2.2 million acres in California and this is just the beginning. Last week, over half a million people were evacuated all over the west coast, and this number is rapidly growing as more fires are developing.

President Trump recently visited California after three weeks of silence on the wildfires, which have continued to spread uncontrollably due to climate change. Trump has falsely blamed this disaster on “poor forest management, not climate change”. He also incorrectly stated, “I don’t think science knows” what is happening. In reality, scientists say that the wildfires result from continuous fuel emissions which have caused more extreme climate events.

Trump has previously threatened to withhold federal aid and emergency money from California amid previous fires, due to their lack of political support for him.

Trump has also continuously removed environmental regulations from the country, endangering the people of California and the west coast who live in high-risk fire areas. Some of the eliminated regulations include replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which set strict limits on carbon emissions and canceling the requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions. Scientists have proven climate change is a major factor in these wildfires discrediting

Trump’s comments.

Knowing the history and evident damage from the fire season in California, further action must be taken by our government to provide more aid and inform people about our changing environment.

California Governor Gavin Newsom attributed the mass outbreak of wildfires to climate change and stated that, “California is America in fast forward” and that other communities should be prepared for what is to come in our country.

As a California native, I was evacuated from my home in 2018 and I know the fear that these people are going through. Climate change is rapidly impacting our world and more immediate action needs to happen. This climate-change-driven drought in California is causing temperatures to reach record highs and burning the place I call home.

Over the last few years, fires in California have been growing in intensity and have devastated the state. Scientists explained that these rapid wildfires are a perfect example of climate change in our country.

California’s population is constantly growing and people are finding homes in high-risk fire areas.

The state is also experiencing hotter temperatures, resulting in less precipitation and leading to drier soil and less moisture in the air. For example, San Diego has been experiencing heat waves of 100 degrees and in the L.A. area, temperatures have reached up to 113 degrees over the last few weeks.

Firefighters have already battled over two dozen blazes and it is just the beginning of fire season. These wildfires are pushing people out of their homes as firefighters are scrambling to save the structures.

California is in desperate need of assistance from these emergency

JEFF HEAD/FLICKR

California is experiencing the worst fire seasons on record, and it is only the beginning of fire season evacuations during the pandemic.

The reason this year is so intense is because climate change is driving the severity of the wildfires. They are bigger and spreading faster than history has ever seen. The main cause of the inevitable wildfires are plants and trees that are dying out due to climate change, scientists stated.

California is not the only state facing mass destruction due to fires this year; Oregon and Washington have also experienced the effects of these blazes.

In Oregon, they are facing raging wildfires, which have caused the greatest loss of human lives and property due to fires in the state’s history. These wildfires are spreading fast and are proving to be more destructive than ever thought possible.

Due to the magnitude of the fires, smoke and haze have spread across the United States this past week, demonstrating how powerful these blazes are. Trump blaming California for this mass burning and destruction is insanity. He has

been neglecting the severity of these blazes, and thus hurting millions of Americans.

The federal government needs to provide support to the communities and firefighters that are suffering and struggling to contain these fires. The United States Forest Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have failed to properly address the devastation from these fires. It is time to implement strategies to prepare for these wildfires and take them seriously.

There is no be-all-end-all solution when it comes to these wildfires, and it is difficult to prevent these fires from starting due to the sky-rocketing temperatures and dry forestation. But there are measures that need to be taken.

California needs a new state agency whose sole purpose is to reduce the risk of these wildfires and prepare for fire season.

We know these wildfires are coming. Year after year we see mass destruction and losses due to these blazes. It’s time California takes action and starts preparing

for fire season.

A new state agency specifically focused on reducing the risk of wildfires would help keep communities safe who are in high-risk areas.

They could specifically set out to protect lives and homes that are in jeopardy. The U.S. and state governments need to provide funds to make an agency like this possible to stop these life-threatening wildfires every year.

Such an agency could not only protect California but other states along the west coast who are facing unimaginable losses due to these wildfires. No one hesitates when creating more public schools or special police departments, and at this point, California wildfire preparedness agencies should be no exception.

Samantha is a Junior studying Strategic Communications, with a certificate in Digital Studies. How alarmed are you by these recent wildfires? Do you think more should be done to fight and prevent them? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com

sports Big Ten’s late start has potential to endanger conference’s playoff hopes

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

By Reagan Eckley STAFF WRITER

The announcement of the return of Big Ten football last Wednesday has players and fans all across the country excited to see their teams back in action. But with the other conferences starting play weeks before the Big Ten, the College Football Playoff outlook is now changing for the other Power Five conferences.

The Big Ten has scheduled an eight-game conference-only season that will conclude with the conference championship on Dec. 19, the day before the College Football Playoff’s selection committee releases their final rankings. Due to the late start date of Oct. 24, no team will have a bye week.

This late start, however, doesn’t allow the Big Ten to play as many games as the other Power Five conferences — or at least the ones that are still scheduled to play this fall.

The others have at least two more regular season games scheduled than the Big Ten — the SEC and Big 12 are both playing a 10-game regular season and the ACC is playing an 11-game season.

The differing schedules presents an interesting question: will the College Football Playoff selection committee punish the Big Ten for its late start and fewer games?

When creating their rankings, the selection committee consid-

dailycardinal.com

ers five factors: each team’s performance on the field (including key injuries), strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparable results among common opponents and the conference championship.

But, at the end of the day, all they are really looking for is the answer to the question, “who are the four best teams in the country?”

In previous seasons, the committee has let teams with comparatively weaker schedules into the playoffs. But those weaker schedules consisted of 12 games, which was the same number of games that the stronger scheduled teams had. Will fewer games be viewed in the same light as weaker schedules have been?

This is the first time the committee has truly had to compare apples to oranges. How do you fairly compare a one-loss Notre Dame, for example, to an undefeated Wisconsin, when Notre Dame gets to play 33 percent more games than Wisconsin?

Basically, every game is going to be 33 percent more important for the Big Ten than the other conferences — one loss and you’re potentially out of the running.

The final score of games is also going to be comparatively more important for the Big Ten. Even if a team goes undefeated, if the “cupcake games” are won by a small margin, fewer games will make a tighter score more difficult to excuse. The more points a Big Ten team can win by, the better chances they have of making the playoffs.

BRYCE RICHTER /UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Senior quarterback Jack Coan (above) could lead Wisconsin to the playoffs... if the committee allows it.

The “key injuries” component of the ranking process is what can save the Big Ten from potential omission. Just as a star player could be sitting out due to COVID exposure, the Big Ten had all of their teams sit out the first six weeks of the season due to COVID exposure — that should be considered just as an injury would.

There is also the possibility that entire teams will have to sit out games due to COVID exposure across the team. Just two days ago, Notre Dame’s weekthree contest against Wake

Forest was postponed due to the Fighting Irish managing a COVID-19 outbreak. This would then even the playing field as more teams would then be playing fewer games.

As the season progresses, we will receive more clues on how a shortened schedule impacts each team. The selection committee’s first vote will take place on Tuesday, November 17, only four weeks into the Big Ten’s season, versus eight and 10 weeks into the SEC/Big 12 and ACC seasons, respectively.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said (via ESPN) that

he has “ultimate trust” in the College Football Playoff committee. “I’m confident they’ll do the right thing. I just think as you look over 2020, this is really an aberration,” he admitted. “This has been a complex, complicated year. The answers — everyone is trying to figure them out as we go.”

As we embark into uncharted territory, it’s safe to assume that if any Big Ten team has a chance of making the College Football Playoff, they must win the Big Ten Championship and go undefeated.

Bucks, ACLU of Wisconsin to sell t-shirts encouraging voting

By Joe Rickles SPORTS EDITOR

KATIE SCHEIDT/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Antetokounmpo (above) has been an important figure at protests.

The Milwaukee Bucks released a statement on Tuesday announcing the sale of new “Bucks Vote” shirts in partnership with the ACLU of Wisconsin. Proceeds from the shirts will benefit both the ACLU of Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the Bucks for their continued support and partnering with us as they ramp up their efforts to help get out the vote in 2020,” said Maxine Webb, development director of the ACLU of Wisconsin. “As the November elections near, it means so much to have an organization that is such an integral part of Milwaukee and Wisconsin fighting to make sure that all of us can exercise our constitutional right to vote.”

This move comes almost one month after the Bucks decided to stage a strike on an NBA Playoff game against the Orlando Magic in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was shot eight times by an officer of the Kenosha Police Department.

This strike quickly swept across the NBA, and ultimately games were postponed for two days while players decided whether or not to keep playing.

Part of the deal to continue play involved an increased focus on social justice within the Orlando, Fla., bubble.

NBA teams were now forced to go beyond statements on the back of jerseys, which turned into meaningful action with the establishment of many NBA arenas as polling places, including Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

Other notable basketball arenas that have been established as polling locations include New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Staples Center, homes of the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers respectively.

The “Bucks Vote” campaign was established on Aug. 11 in conjunction with Wisconsin’s partisan primaries and aims to spread awareness about the voting process and how to correctly fill out mail-in and absentee ballots. The organization is also encouraging team employees to fill the need for poll workers in their respective precincts on Election Day. Bucks leadership also committed to making Election Day a holiday for all Bucks and Fiserv Forum employees.

“Voting has a significant

impact locally in our day-to-day lives and the Bucks organization is committed to helping advocate for a fair and equal voting process for everyone and to help all of us become better educated on this process,” said Milwaukee Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry.

“This is a core part of what we believe in as an organization and Bucks Vote is another way we’ll use our platform and our company’s ideals to help influence positive change in our community.”

The Bucks have not been strangers to social justice. When protests broke out across the country over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and many other Bucks took to the streets to join protests.

Antetokounmpo, who is originally from Greece, spoke at one protest calling for change and justice.

Many other NBA teams and players have joined the Bucks in spreading voter awareness.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James launched his “More Than A Vote” initiative with Skylar Diggins-Smith of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.

The campaign aims to educate citizens about voting rights and to fight voter suppression.

Life & Style Getting involved in the BLM movement dailycardinal.com

By Kelsey Barrett STAFF WRITER

1. Buy from Black-Owned Local Businesses One of the easiest ways to get involved with the Black Lives Matter movement in Madison is to buy from Blackowned businesses.

The restaurants and shops mentioned below are a few hidden gems in Madison run by Black owners and families.

It is important, especially in today’s political climate, to keep these businesses alive and thriving.

Food Recommendations: Just Veggiez Just Veggiez puts a delicious, healthy twist on all of your favorite foods! All meals are plantbased and you can pre-order meals through their website.

Curtis and Cake Curtis and Cake specializes in handcrafted cakes and desserts. Their food will satisfy a sweet tooth and leave you in the best mood possible.

Buraka Buraka has some of the best Ethiopian food in the state of Wisconsin and they are known for their mix of exotic spices.

Their patio is now open for outdoor dining.

Falbo Brother’s Pizzeria Falbo Brothers’s Pizzeria prides itself on its unique twist on pizza.

They combine New York thin crust and Chicago deep dish to create some of the most delicious pizza in Madison.

Retail Recommendations: True Hue Creations

Thursday, September 24, 2020

True Hue improve Black Creations sells women’s health all different types by exploring the of cute products cultural, social, from candles, to and economic t-shirts, to candy. factors that A lot of their mercause health chandise advorisks specifically cates for feminism to Black women. and the Black Madison Lives Matter Black Chamber movement. of Commerce Savanna This organiBeauty Supply zation’s goal is to S a v a n n a help Black owned Beauty Supply businesses in holds all of your Madison grow, beauty needs and and prosper. wants! From hair They educate care, to skin care, and advocate for FIBONACCI BLUE/THE DAILY CARDINAL to nail care, you these businesses name it Savanna Do what you can to support your local BLM movement organizations. in order to better Beauty Supply the Madison comhas it.

Browse the links attached munity as a whole.

Perfect Imperfections above and find one you might be Urban League of Perfect Imperfections specializ- interested in donating to!

Greater Madison es in hand-crafted products for the 100 Black Men of Urban League of Greater body and home. Their mission is Madison Inc. Madison’s mission is to help to empower women by supplying This organization seeks to people of color get educated and natural, harm-free body products, aid Black youth by stressing the employed, and to be able to feel and also to encourage women to importance of spirituality, justice, confident in their futures ahead. appreciate life everyday. integrity, and respecting one’s family. 3. Plan an Action 2.

Donate to Organizations Boys and Girls Club of As simple as it may sound, Doing Black Lives Matter Work.

Dane County planning an action is how the Each of these organizations The Boys and Girls Club of movement started and gained have different missions; howev- Dane County works together support. It is in our hands to er, they all aid the Black commu- with local foundations and busi- continue these plans of action in nity of Madison greatly. nesses to enhance youth pro- order to keep the movement not They are specialized to assist grams in Madison. only alive, but powerful. different age categories from Bettering these programs Participating in a protest is a children to the elderly, and some enables kids to succeed academi- great way to take action in Madison. focus on primarily Black men or cally, and improves both mental Not only are you showing primarily Black women. and physical health. support for the movement, but By donating to these organiThe Foundation for you are also influencing othzations, you are doing your part Black Women’s Wellness ers who look like you to do to keep the Black community of The Foundation for Black the same. Writing letters and Madison thriving.

Women’s Wellness looks to emails to Dane County officials

9

is also an easy yet effective way to take action.

We should be voicing our concerns, beliefs and ideas to our county officials because they have the power to make legislative change.

Lastly, we should be having conversations about the movement.

Educate one another by having open conversations on the different aspects of Black Lives Matter and how it is creating political and societal change for the better.

4.

Vote!

Last but certainly not least, vote! If you are not already registered to vote in Wisconsin, you may register with proof of residence at any absentee voting location on campus through Friday, Oct. 30.

If you are an out-of-state student, you must obtain a voter-compliant ID card.

To get one, you should bring your Wiscard to the Wiscard Office at Union South and request one.

The Wiscard Office is still operating despite COVID-19 restrictions. Wiscard Office hours are Mondays and Thursdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

After this, you should register to vote online. To check if you are already registered, visit https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/ .

Some places on campus you can vote at include the UW-Madison tent on Library Mall, UW-Madison tent outside the Kohl Center and Union South.

For more information on voting at UW- Madison, visit https://vote.wisc.edu/ .

Keeping yourself healthy and happy Vanessa Buckmelter STAFF WRITER

Health is a defining characteristic of our lives; getting healthy, being healthy, eating healthy are things we talk about constantly in society and are being marketed to us all of the time. I mean who doesn’t want to be healthy, right? But the question is what does it really mean to be healthy? Is it absolute? Can it change?

Is there a single scale to measure your health? Does it vary between people?

These are all valid questions about the aloof concept that we center our lives around. The answer is — health is complex and can mean different things in different contexts. However, health is definitely fluid; it changes and develops constantly. Healthy and unhealthy behaviors are not mutually exclusive; they are in constant limbo.

The extensive questions about health and how to promote health are what I have chosen to center my college career around. Recently in my coursework for the Health Promotion and Health Equity, specifically in Kinesiology 150, and more so in the face of a global pandemic, I have had a lot of time to think about our personal control over our health.

It might be unsurprising, but there are many things that affect our health that are out of our control.

Nonetheless, there are strong forces that are within your control. I am not talking about washing your hands and wearing a mask, even though you should absolutely take these and

other steps to protect yourself. I am talking about the psychological components that change your behaviors and outcomes.

Health determinants are broken into three categories: biological factors, psychological factors and social factors. Unfortunately, there is little you can change about the social factors, and even less you can change about the biological factors. However, you can influence the psychological factors that affect actions and behaviors that lead to your health state. Not to say that it is easy or completely possible to adjust your psyche, but if you are looking to feel in control of your health, especially in today’s world, this might be where you start.

There are many psychological components at play and they each affect one another, but a few places to start are your knowledge, your attitudes and your intentions.

Knowledge — it doesn’t really matter if you want to be healthy if you don’t have the information to know what can make you healthy. For example, if you don’t know that processed sugar is bad for you, you probably won’t stop drinking soda everyday.

So the first thing you can do is seek out information, whether it be from academic articles, your favorite Youtube fitness trainer or health professionals, and try to educate yourself on what behaviors of yours need work.

Attitudes — this is a big one when

it comes to health. The way you feel about and look at situations is going to determine how you handle them.

So if you think that mental health can’t be helped and treated, it is much less likely you will seek help for yourself or others in the midst of a mental health crisis. It is really important to be self aware and cogniscent of how others are feeling around you.

Intentions — this is arguably the biggest factor in your health. As an adult with autonomy, you are allowed to do what you want and you usually will do only what you intend to do.

So if you know something is bad for you and you think it is a treatable and fixable issue, perhaps smoking cigarettes, you have to have the intention to quit.

To be healthy at some point you have to want to make the choices and practice the behaviors that make you healthy.

The good news about being healthy is that it is fluid. Maybe today you read an article and learned why it is important to have a balanced diet. Then, maybe next week, you try adding exercise in your routine to see if it makes you feel good.

The little steps and changes you make to achieve living your most healthy and happy life are what counts, especially in a time when your health can feel very out of your control.

LYRA EVANS/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Being physcially and mentally healthy is key to a happy mind.