ARTS, PAGE 5
One year later: UW-Madison students hold Oct. 7 vigil
By Elijah Pines & Bryna Goeking STAFF WRITER & ARTS EDITOR
More than 500 Jewish University of Wisconsin-Madison students and community members held a vigil on Library Mall Monday night, mourning the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in Israel and finding solidarity after a year of extraordinary challenges.
The Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack killed over 1200 Israelis, with more than 150 kidnapped, and resulted in an escalation of the ongoing war in Gaza.
For Jewish students on the UW-Madison campus, the attack and perceived indifference toward the victims led to feelings of isolation and loneliness, though many found comfort in community and organizations such as Hillel and Chabad.
Many speakers talked about the importance of finding Jewish community on campus amid the ongoing war. Before and during the vigil, many students hugged and embraced.
“Seeing the Jewish community show up time and time again is the most beautiful, heartwarming thing that I can imagine,” UW-Madison sophomore Ezra Rosenthal told The Daily Cardinal.
Twenty students set up and led the
event, said UW-Madison Hillel CEO and President Greg Steinberger, with planning beginning in August.
“This happens at all sorts of things, be it spiritual, going to concerts, there’s a cathartic nature of having that shared, bonded experience,” Steinberger told the Cardinal.
Before the vigil, students working the event handed out Israeli flags, yellow ribbons and dog tags. Rosenthal said the dog tags were worn by the many Israelis killed at the Nova Festival last year, and they symbolize Israeli pride in a way “that’s not a Jewish symbol.” The tags said “Bring them home now” in English and Hebrew.
Steinberger noted many students were concerned about security at the event, which had upwards of 500 people, according to University of Wisconsin Police Department communications director Marc Lovicott.
There were roughly 10 police officers present, along with a police dog and a drone overhead. Lovicott told the Cardinal the event was “very peaceful and respectful,” with no incidents reported.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) also held a protest on Bascom hill Monday morning as part of their “week of rage.” The
group is hosting protests and events each day from Oct. 7 to Oct. 11 to voice opposition to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Lebanon, which has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the UN.
Steinberger described the past year as “a year with extraordinarily high antisemitism” and said “there’s an echo to another time where Jews are also ‘other.’”
In November, a neo-Nazi group marched up State Street, waving swastikas and chanting anti semitic slogans. Antisemitic chalking was also found at the Dane County Farmers Market last spring.
Rachel Nasatir, a UW-Madison senior and member of the Chabad Leadership, said she heard “globalize intifada” and “go back to Poland”, yelled at Jewish students on campus, which she calls “inherently antisemitic.”
Junior Maya Stagman addressed the crowd about her experience last Oct. 7, hurting for her Jewish community and family in Israel, including her cousin in the Israeli Defense Force.
“Today, I stand before you as passionate as ever to keep our community strong and united, praying to bring our hostages home,” Stagman said. “To some extent, everyone
was affected by the tragedy of Oct. 7, and the controversial fallout after that horrible day. But despite all of the pain we carry, our love, strength and sense of community is even more powerful.”
Chabad Rabbi Mendel Matusof compared Oct. 7 to Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, in his speech.
“Yom Hashoah is remembered through the silence,” he said. “Oct. 7 is remembered through the thundering cry from all of us.”
After Rabbi Mendel came Hillel Rabbi Judy Greenberg, who led the crowd in a moment of silence and recited a funeral prayer called the Mourner’s Kaddish.
While the Cardinal was talking with President Steinberger, a non-Jewish student came up and shook Steinberger’s hand. He remarked how he lost a friend who was at the Nova festival and thanked Steinberger for helping set up the event.
“I think we all want a better year. There’s a baseline of we all need a better year. And for humanity, we need a better year.” Steinberger told the Cardinal. “I’m optimistic, but it’s not easy.”
The vigil closed with the Israeli national anthem and “One Day” by Matisyahu.
Students for Justice in Palestine rally on Oct. 7, decry recent violence in Gaza
By Noe Goldhaber, Gabriella Hartlaub, Sreejita Patra & Jake Piper COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR, ARTS EDITOR EMERITUS, SENIOR STAFF WRITER & STAFF WRITER
Around 50 University of Wisconsin-Madison Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) members hosted a rally on Bascom Hill Monday to voice opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and ongoing escalations against Lebanon in the year since Hamas’ 2023 attack in Israel.
Between 30 to 60 pro-Israel demonstrators gathered by the rally, shouting expletives and misgendering SJP members while playing loud Israeli EDM music during SJP speeches.
Pro-Palestine protesters chanted “From the river to the sea,” “Intifada revolution” and “Free, free Palestine.”
One year ago on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping at least 150 people. Since Oct. 7, 2023 the Israel Defense Forces have killed at least 40,000 Palestinians directly and possibly up to 186,000 indirectly. In recent weeks, Israel invaded Lebanon, driving over 1.2 million from their homes in an increased escalation of war in the region.
The last year has marked a time of increasing polarization surrounding Israel and Palestine on college campuses around the country, including at UW-Madison. Last spring, SJP organized a 12-day encampment, and some Jewish, Muslim and Middle Eastern students have per-
ceived more hate and bias incidents, loneliness on campus and a lack of university support.
“Many people on campus on both sides were touched by the news of this conflict a year ago, but today they are just used to it and have stopped caring,” SJP protester Junyao Wang told The Daily Cardinal. “We are not going to give up because we’re tired. We need to give people stimulation.”
SJP board member Shafiq said the exhaustion many on campus could feel seeing SJP demonstrations does not compare to exhaustion of Palestinians who have been suffering from Israel’s bombardments.
“You’re getting tired of seeing pro-
tests? You’ve got to be thinking about how tiring it is to see bomb after bomb dropped on your house,” Shafiq said. “I think that if you’re tired of seeing protests on campus, you don’t really know tired.”
Shafiq also said Oct. 7 marked not only the anniversary of Hamas’ attack, but the escalation of the occupation which has left over 40,000 Palestinians dead.
“It is a day of intensified genocide against the Palestinians, and I think that’s just as much something for us to mourn and be angry about, as well as the continuation of the occupation,” he said.
Max, a pro-Israel demonstra-
tor, told the Cardinal Oct. 7 was a day of mourning and called SJP’s protest “disgusting.”
“It’s like they don’t understand our pain. We understand that lives have been lost on both sides, but our pain is today,” Max said. “If they want to protest, fine, they have every right to do so, but the fact that they feel the need to do it on a day like this, there’s no sense of humanity.”
Pro-Israel demonstrator Adain called SJP protesters’ chants blasphemous
“October 7 is the worst tragedy to happen to the Jewish people since the
Holocaust,” Adain said. “To see these people here chanting Intifada, chanting for more bloodshed is insane, especially on the one-year anniversary of what happened.”
SJP reserved the lower third of Bascom Hill for a display to honor Palestinian lives lost since Oct. 7, according to UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas. According to university policy, registered student organizations must reserve the lower third of Bascom Hill for “signage displays.”
Pro-Palestine protesters were met with boos and jeers from pro-Israel demonstrators as their program began, with those in support of Israel holding up flags and chanting loudly over SJP’s opening statements.
When SJP retorted, telling off the pro-Israel demonstrators for “cheering during a land acknowledgement,” a louder roar of cheers were heard.
University officials including Dean of Students Christina Olstad and Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Excellence LaVar Charleston were present during the protest along with at least six UWPD officers who separated the two groups by standing between them.
The demonstration was one of the first major protests since UW-Madison released updated protest and “expressive activity” guidelines ahead of the fall semester.
Continue reading at dailycardinal.com
Soulja boy cranks his pretty boy swag during Madison concert.
Cow nutrion and health take center stage at the World Dairy Expo
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Xiong hopes to be Wisconsin’s first Hmong lawmaker
By Anna Kleiber STAFF WRITER
Democratic candidate Yee Leng
Xiong is determined to make history as the first Hmong American lawmaker in the Wisconsin Legislature as the race for the 85th Wisconsin Assembly District seat heats up.
“The Hmong… are strong, resilient people. They are a group of folks that have gone through hardships, but have been able to demonstrate that they can overcome,” Xiong told The Daily Cardinal. “I’m a person who’s very impatient, who wants to see progress, who wants to see action.”
Located in north-central Wisconsin, the 85th Assembly District is entirely contained within Marathon County and covers the cities of Wausau and Schofield as well as the village of Weston. Earlier this year, the district lost several townships in the eastern part of the county following Wisconsin’s redistricting process.
Wisconsin has the third-largest Hmong population in the U.S., with more than 58,000 Hmong residents. The greater Wausau area, home to more than 8,000 Hmong residents, has the highest per-capita Hmong population of any city in the U.S.
The AAPI and the Hmong community is “the marginal victory” in
Wisconsin, Xiong said, noting that
President Joe Biden won the state by a little over 20,000 votes in 2020.
In his challenge against incumbent Patrick Snyder, R-Schofield, Xiong is running on abortion rights, affordability issues including housing, health care and increased funding for first responders.
“When I am out there knocking on doors and talking to folk about issues that matter the most, these are the most common items that are brought up,” Xiong said. “That’s my platform.”
Both Xiong and campaign volunteers have been on the ground talking directly to voters through canvassing, Xiong’s campaign manager McKinley Falkowski told the Cardinal. He said the campaign is built “around listening to folks,” something Xiong has done throughout his career.
This isn’t Xiong’s first election, though it is his most high-profile one. Citizens elected Xiong to the D.C. Everest School Board in 2014 at age 19 and later elected him to the Marathon Board of Supervisors in 2016 and the Village of Weston Board of Trustees in 2018, on which he served two terms.
Xiong currently serves as the executive director of the Hmong American
Center in Wausau, a role he has held since 2016, and plans to step down from the role at the end of the year.
‘A historic milestone’ for Wisconsin’s Hmong community comes with sacrifice
If elected, Xiong would be the first Hmong American lawmaker to serve in the Wisconsin Legislature. This is not something lost on Xiong as a first-generation Hmong American.
“My parents came to the United States here to escape persecution and communism because of the Hmong role during the Vietnam War…They knew that there were going to be a lot of sacrifices, big sacrifices, but they still wanted to make sure that they gave a better life to their kids,” Xiong said.
One of those sacrifices included the loss of Xiong’s oldest brother while his parents crossed the Mekong River.
“He was sick. He was hungry and he kept crying. The group leaders gave an ultimatum to my parents. One, give him opium to sedate him or two, to be left behind. And my parents didn’t know what to do, so they surrendered him over, and the group leaders gave him opium,” Xiong said. “Towards the end, my mom realized my oldest brother was no longer breathing. They ended up having to mourn his loss and buried him at the shores of the Mekong.”
Xiong told the Cardinal his family’s story not only better represents issues affecting north-central Wisconsin but can give the Hmong community a seat at the table.
The Hmong community is often aware politicians show up only to “court the vote,” Xiong noted.
During a campaign fundraiser in June, Falkowski said he was shocked to see the number of checks coming in from the Hmong community, with individual contributions ranging anywhere from a few dollars to $1,000, the maximum amount an individual can donate to a campaign. Among the professions Falkowski has seen: teachers and
machine operators.
“This is the first time that the Hmong community in the state of Wisconsin is truly donating to campaigns,” Falkowski said. “We have the real chance to elect a Legislature that looks like the state of Wisconsin and is diverse.”
Given the stakes of the race, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the party an organization that works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, listed Xiong as a top candidate to watch whose candidacy “represents a historical milestone.”
“State legislatures create the pipeline of future leaders, which is why it’s so impactful that trailblazing candidates like Xiong are running in must-win races this year,” Sam Paisley, DLCC interim communications director, told the Cardinal.
Assembly District 85 is a competitive seat, a researcher says
Assembly District 85 has been a red seat in the Wisconsin Legislature since Snyder was elected to his first term in 2017. But with Wisconsin’s new legislative districts, Assembly District 85 is now one of the most competitive battleground districts in the state, according to Marquette Law School Research Fellow John Johnson. Johnson told WMTV15 in late August that of the eight “truly competitive assembly seats,” four are located in districts won by both Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2022.
Those districts include District 85, District 88 in Green Bay and De Pere, District 92 that makes up the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls area and District 94 in La Crosse.
“We have a Republican opponent in this race who has been in office for a couple of years now, and he is now finally facing voters in a truly competitive sense,” Falkowski said. Xiong and Snyder will face off for the 85th District Assembly seat on Nov. 5. Voters can find their polling place by visiting the My Vote Wisconsin website.
Madison school district approves referendums
By Jake Wesson STAFF WRITER
Democratic “The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) unanimously approved two new referendum questions in June that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot on June 24 aimed to soften the blow amid budget challenges.
The district is asking voters to approve an operations referendum for $100 million, and a facilities referendum for $507 million. If the facilities referendum passes, the estimated property tax impact would be $27 per month over 23 years beginning in 2025, according to MMSD’s website. If the the operations referendum passes, the estimated property tax impact would build over four years beginning at $26 per month for the first year.
MMSD described the operations referendum as a method to fund staff compensation, combat escalating healthcare costs and provide continued investment for district initiatives such as mental health services
and full-day 4K offerings. The facilities referendum will focus on aging infrastructure in both elementary and middle schools, similar to the 2020 referendum which focused on physical improvements to MMSD high schools.
“These referenda are vitally important to the continued health of our district on a number of levels. At this moment, we are at a point where important decisions regarding operating costs need to be made,” the district said in a statement to The Daily Cardinal.
The state of Wisconsin imposes a limit on how much a school district can receive in state and local levies for operation. This cap, in recent years, has failed to keep up with rapid inflation. Furthermore, special education mandates are only covered up to 31% by the state, meaning the district must cover the remaining costs.
With aid that has failed to meet inflation and state caps on district revenue, the district has been forced into difficult budget territory. A report by
the Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) found MMSD can no longer rely on federal COVID-19 relief dollars and revenue raised from a 2020 referendum to bring enough money in.
This contributes to an estimated $39 million deficit in 2024-25, according to the report. WPF estimated that, by 2028, property tax bills would increase by $1,376 on the average value of a Madison home if these two questions pass.
But MMSD is not alone in this challenge. Across Wisconsin, districts are finding themselves consid-
ering similar proposals. In the April 2024 election, 92 referenda were proposed across the state to combat similar issues.
“It’s imperative that the public understand that these referenda are investments not only in our schools, students, and educators, but in our communities themselves. Our schools are the heartbeat of the neighborhoods they serve; they’re resources that serve to benefit all who call Madison home, regardless of age, income, or background. Healthy schools equal a healthy Madison,” MMSD said.
Editor-in-Chief Francesca Pica
Trump no longer represents Wisconsin GOP, Republican group says McBurney offers help for students struggling with ADHD
By John Ernst STAFF WRITER
For anyone who has ever played a team sport, drills at practice and coaches gathering players to explain and lay out the workout for the day are a familiar scene.
A teacher explaining a worksheet before handing it out seems like a task many students wouldn’t think twice about. But for many, like Elise Harron, tasks like these and the process of actively listening, understanding and then proceeding proves difficult.
Harron is no stranger to soccer, having played for over a decade in her youth, but she recalled frequent instances when paying attention during practice was challenging.
“A coach would explain a drill, and I would be sitting there thinking I was paying attention, and then he would [say] ‘go in groups and do it.’ I would always [ask] ‘what are we actually supposed to do?’ People [were] always like, ‘do you not listen?’” she said. “I was sitting there listening, but it’s just I don’t know.”
This past summer, Harron, a sophomore at University of Wisconsin-Madison, was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The diagnosis helped her understand past struggles with attentiveness on the soccer field, she said.
Harron is part of a larger community of students with ADHD on college campuses. A national NIH study in 2022 found that 5.6% of students had ADHD.
At UW-Madison, 1,600 students report having ADHD, according to the McBurney Disability Resource Center, a number McBurney access consultant Noah Gill said has nearly tripled in the past six years.
ADHD is “a developmental disorder marked by persistent symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development,” according to The National Institute of Mental Health. Symptoms can begin in childhood and are well documented with adolescents. Mental health professionals assist with the diagnosis of the disorder. After her freshman year, Harron took the Vanderbilt Assessment — a tool designed to evaluate ADHD
symptoms — and was diagnosed with ADHD. She worked with Gill to determine her academic needs and accommodations for the school year.
“Some people might say that they daydream in class,” she said. “That’s kind of how my whole day is.”
The process involves reporting the diagnosis to McBurney and then deciding on the appropriate accommodations, Gill said.
“With ADHD, we have to think: what’s the barrier that the university is creating? Oftentimes it’s something like, no matter how hard I try on exams, I continuously zone out. I lose my focus, or I have to reread the exam questions three times, and I run out of time by the end of the exam,” he said. “Then the amount of time we provide on the exam is probably a barrier, and so we’ll adjust that to ensure that students have a reasonable chance of finishing it on time.”
For Harron, new testing accommodations have been helpful this fall semester. Last year, people simply moving or getting up during a test would cause her to lose focus and stress. In a smaller testing setting and with breaks, she’s found more success, she said.
Harron also gets breaks every 30 minutes and believes the change of scenery helps reset her mind, move her body and focus. She took one during her first test this semester and was able to utilize her breaks to focus her mind.
“I was trying to think [about] a problem, and my brain just couldn’t focus,” Harron said of her testing experience. “But then I took a break and changed the scenery. I went outside and my mind focused, and I just thought about the problem.”
Harron has found success working with others through a process called mirroring, or body-doubling to study. Having someone across the table who is focused and motivated to get their work done inspires the same in you and is a common study method for students with ADHD, she said.
“Say I’m studying with you when you’re locked in, I mirror you, and then I’m able to focus,” Harron said.
Accommodations and study strategies are among the more popular tactics used by students with ADHD. In addition to their betterknown testing accommodations,
McBurney can also work with students to find solutions for studying and help build strong habits.
The organization recommends students use note-taking software that is easy to use to help process big blocks of information which can pose as barriers to students with ADHD, Gill said. McBurney also offers the Study and Learning Skills Program, supervised by Gill, which allows students with disabilities to work one-on-one with a tutor to develop skills such as time management and exam preparation.
UW-Madison also offers a variety of subject-specific Learning Centers, organized places where students can receive specialized support for different subjects. Harron joined the Chemistry Learning Center this semester as she tackles organic chemistry.
University Health Services also offers workshops and small group discussions for students with ADHD to learn more about the disorder and meet other students with ADHD, Gill said.
“Everybody has a right to learn whether they have a disability or not,” Gill said. “We are honored to protect that and to allow students to access education. We need to ensure that students have equal access.”
Understanding the barriers students with ADHD face can help others recognize why providing equal access is so important, according to Gill. He also recognized the rising levels of students with ADHD enrolled through McBurney reflects a community built to support fellow classmates.
“I think as we provide services to more students, they tell their friends, ‘Hey, what you’re going through sounds like something that I was struggling with and the McBurney Center helped me, maybe you should check into it,’” Gill said. “Just by nature of networking and students trying to support their friends, the number continues to grow.”
And with increased awareness, stigma surrounding ADHD will decrease, Gill said.
“As a community, I think that this stigma around mental health has been decreasing over time,” explained Gill. “I think that people are starting to recognize these ‘invisible disabilities’ that you can’t always see, like ADHD.”
By Iain Chang & Ted Hyngstrom SENIOR STAFF WRITER & STAFF WRITER
Former Brown County Republican Party Chair Mark Becker hosted a “Republicans for Harris” press call on Sunday where he urged Wisconsinites to vote against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election as he no longer represents conservative values in the state.
Becker condemned Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and feels he is responsible for “encouraging” supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The former GOP chair called Trump a “danger to our country” and urged Wisconsin voters to “reject his extremism” in the 2024 election.
“Personally, Donald Trump has pushed me and so many others away from the party that I once believed in,” Becker said during the press call.
On Thursday, 20 Wisconsin Republicans, including Becker, signed a letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President. While the letter disagreed with some of Harris’ policies, they felt Trump’s first term betrayed conservative values through “broken promises” and election denialism.
Since the launch of her campaign, Harris has received support from hundreds of Republicans throughout the country. Former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed the vice president last month and appeared alongside her at a rally in Ripon, Wisconsin on Oct. 3.
Becker praised Cheney’s appearance in Wisconsin and said he agrees with her remarks that Harris “repre -
sents the values” of “honesty and respect for all Americans.”
“There is so much more that unites us than what divides us, [and] Kamala Harris understands that, and that is why she is welcoming everyone, no matter what your political party,” Becker said.
Republican voters still favor Trump in Wisconsin
Despite Harris’ wave of support from GOP members, Republican voters in Wisconsin still largely favor Trump. According to an October Marquette Law School poll, 94% of self-identified Republicans said they would vote for Trump in the 2024 election.
Still, Wisconsin Democrats have been campaigning fiercely to rally voters in all areas of the state by knocking on more than 200,000 doors in counties Trump won in 2020, according to a Harris campaign press release ahead of the press call Sunday.
Despite a lack of support from Republican voters, Harris does have an 11 percentage-point edge with independent voters in the state, a crucial voting block for winning Wisconsin and the election in November.
Small victories are necessary for both Republicans and Democrats to win Wisconsin in the 2024 election. In 2016, Trump won the state by around 0.8% of the vote, while President Joe Biden defeated Trump by around 0.6% in 2020. Harris led Trump by four points in Marquette’s poll, suggesting another close race for Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes in November.
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Abandoned pig killed by Door County deputy sheriff, sparks outrage
By Ellie Huber STAFF WRITER
A deputy sheriff shot and killed a runaway pig who had been roaming southern Door County on Sept. 20, and members of the community are calling for justice.
Jewel, the reported “rogue pig,” had been wandering on and off the highway at 42-57 junction south of Sturgeon Bay for at least two days. The Door County Sheriff’s Office deputy said Jewel’s 300pound weight posed a potential danger to drivers, who had been warned to ride carefully because of the pig. After several failed attempts by the community to find Jewel, she was found wagging her tail in a ditch.
The Sheriff’s Office and rescuers from Saving Snouts, a farm animal sanctuary nonprofit in Kaukauna specializing in rescuing and sheltering pigs, were alerted of Jewel’s location from a motorist’s 911 call. Deputy Nathan Daoust told rescuers both on scene and over the phone that he would try tranquilizing the loose pig before waiting for the rescue trailer’s arrival, according to body camera and onlooker foot-
age posted on Instagram.
However, Daoust appeared to make zero attempt to tranquilize Jewel before firing his rifle twice as onlookers cried out, alarmed by the turn of events.
Rescuers and onlookers were mere feet away when Daoust opened fire, leaving Jewel writhing in pain. Daoust claimed it was a post-death nervous reaction rather than a painful death, but he did not check to see if she was still breathing, according to video footage.
The officer said when he’d arrived, Jewel had been in the road but later moved to the ditch. He was filmed saying that Jewel had been on the highway, but no one else had seen her there.
“If we can’t wrangle this thing within the proper amount of time and it stays within the highways, we may just have to put it down,” Daoust said. “I’m not looking forward or looking to go out of my way to euthanize this animal. I’m just looking to be realistic.”
A popular animal rights lawyer Wayne Hsuing said in an Instagram video Daoust shot Jewel after a total of 33 seconds of seeing the pig.
Saving Snouts said in a
FaceBook post Daoust was afraid of Jewel and didn’t understand how to handle her, and that the two members already on scene both had 26 years of experience and were ready to rescue Jewel.
The Door County community has coined #JusticeforJewel to promote awareness and ensure the Door County Sheriff’s Office and others become informed. A petition was created to encourage disciplinary action against Daoust and accountability on behalf of the department.
The Door County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that Daoust’s actions were “were within policy and justified based on the totality of the situation.” The office also said before Jewel’s death that their priority was capturing the pig and putting public safety first.
Lisa Castagnozzi, an animal rights activist, told The Daily Cardinal that it’s regular practice for animal rescuers to coordinate with local sheriff’s departments to help out.
“There’s no justification for what he did unless you can justify shooting any animal that is near any road in the entire state,” said Castagnozzi. She
called Jewel’s death “an assault on a pig walking peacefully.”
In the state of Wisconsin, the unjustifiable killing of an animal is a crime. However, Castagnozzi said Wisconsin isn’t “farm-animal friendly,” meaning that it’s unlikely Daoust will be charged with animal cruelty.
When asked if Jewel’s death was justified, Door County Sheriff’s Office captain Carl Waterstreet told the Cardinal, “the Sheriff[’s Office] released
in the statement that there was no violation of policy that was found, and the Deputy just abided by the state law.”
“To see her gunned down right in front of us was beyond devastating. It was cruel,” TJ Derecks, founder of Saving Snouts, wrote on Facebook.
“We demand a full investigation into this senseless act of violence and for the deputy involved to be held accountable. This is not justice; this is not humanity.”
Camp Randall sells $1.2 million in alcohol since beginning of football season
By Sonia Bendre STAFF WRITER
The University of WisconsinMadison has sold $1.2 million worth of alcohol from football games, according to The Cap Times.
Camp Randall began selling alcohol in the general seating area at the opening game of the football season against Western Michigan on Aug. 30, becoming the 16th university out of 18 Big Ten schools to sell alcohol in the general seating area. Approximately 52% of the alcohol concessions money, along with 25% of suite commissions, goes to the UW Athletics department based on its contract with food distributor Learfield Levy Foodservice.
Alcohol sold includes beer, wine and pre-packaged alcohol such as hard seltzers. Most beers sell for $11.99 and vodka drinks for $12.49. Drinks are limited to two per person, and anyone appearing under the age of 40 is required to show their ID before purchase. Fans also have access to a text line to report any problems.
A portion of the sales — the greater amount between $400,000 and 25% of total sales — will fund campus initiatives like alcohol-free late night events and student support groups.
Since they started selling alcohol, UW Athletics have made adjustments to concession locations to meet a greater-than-anticipated demand.
Alcohol is also sold at the UW Field House, where the women’s volleyball and men’s wrestling teams compete, among others. Starting last year, sales also began at the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena, home to basketball and hockey games. Over $1.3 million of alcohol products were sold at home games last year.
UWPD had an increased police presence to monitor conditions on Aug. 30. In the first game, 47 people were ejected, 18 students were arrested and 38 first aid calls were made, according to UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott.
Three people were sent to detoxification centers and five were found with a blood alcohol content above 0.20. These numbers are lower than the first games of previous years, Lovicott said. Subsequent games have seen compa-
rable data to previous years.
Lovicott said UWPD supported the decision to sell alcohol at Camp Randall.
“We had a seat at the table with all of the planning, and we appreciated being a part of the conversation,” Lovicott said.
From police departments across other schools in the Big Ten that had introduced alcohol in the general seating area, UWPD learned the number of alcohol-related incidents had decreased, on average, after schools
permitted alcohol sales.
“We don’t know for sure, but one of the ideas [is that] because alcohol was not available for purchase at the stadium, more people would consume larger quantities of alcohol to ‘load up’ before going into the game,” Lovicott said. But the move to sell alcohol has not been without controversy. Timothy Cordes, former director of psychiatry at UW-Madison, started a change.org petition to stop the sales at Camp Randall. The petition currently has 196 signatures.
“I worked at UHS as a psychiatrist for a while, and I think the [drinking] culture is concerning,” Cordes said.
Cordes cited multiple studies on the detrimental effects of alcohol, including a study that found there is no healthy level of alcohol consumption and a study of UW-Madison students of color about the harms of the drinking culture on campus.
“The drinking culture on campus is particularly harmful for marginalized students or students of color,” Cordes said. “And it turns out that in about 50% of sexual assaults, the victim and the perpetrator or both have alcohol in their system. And on college campuses, it might be closer to 79%. So who’s this going to affect? It’s going to affect vulnerable people.”
In a 2019 campus survey, 26% of female UW-Madison students reported being sexually assaulted since coming to campus.
“Students want to have alcohol. I get that. But sometimes the university should do the right thing even if it’s not popular,” Cordes said. “I’m not saying students can’t make good choices. But I’m saying a university should make good choices.”
CAMERON SCHNEIDER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Reviews are in for UW studentmade game Garage Sale arts
By Kaylie Wiedmeyer STAFF WRITER
A few months after its release, the reviews are in for Garage Sale, an indie game created by a small group of UW-Madison students.
Garage Sale is a refreshing experience where players can interact with other characters and help them with small tasks within a close-knit community, being afforded opportunities to display compassion and kindness.
Leading members Amelia Zollner and Rishit Khare previously shared their experience with the ongoing creation of Garage Sale with The Daily Cardinal in March. After the game’s release, they reflected on the process of putting the project together.
The concept of Garage Sale is a series of quests that allows the main character to explore the cozy Lettuce Village and develop connections with other characters on the town’s garage sale day. Zollner initially planned for the game to be more sad, reflecting the emotions she felt moving from her home town to college her freshman year.
“It had a totally different vibe. It was going to be a melancholy game about saying goodbye to the town you’re living in. I was getting ready to leave for college and was honestly worried about college,” Zollner said.
Khare felt similarly while being far from home. When Zollner shared her idea for Garage Sale with the game club at UW-Madison, he was all in, drawn to the sense of community the game presented.
After Zollner began meeting new people at college, joining clubs and working on Garage Sale with her newly formed team, the game evolved into something more joyous and
rewarding, a place where people could find welcoming connection. It’s one of the elements of Garage Sale that touched the creators and continues to draw the interest of players.
“That sense of community was a constant throughout the developing process,” Khare said.
Zollner and Khare faced many challenges in creating Garage Sale, from balancing school and other commitments, managing technical details and testing the game with prospective players.
Zollner, who’d had no prior coding experience, had to overcome quite a few learning curves.
“I had never made a game before, so I had to learn everything. Even at the end, I was learning completely new stuff,” she said.
When I had met with Zollner and Khare in March before the game’s release, they had only completed two rounds of testing and were preparing for their third. They shared details of the final testing stage before releasing Garage Sale, which involved a group of 35 people who they thought would be a good fit for the game.
“We tried to find people who would bring unique perspectives, people who have worked on larger games and knew more about the gaming industry,” Zollner said.
After working through various bugs, reworking art on some of the rooms and a lot of hard work, Garage Sale was finally ready for release.
“We had to pull a crazy all-
nighter, technically two allnighters, in a row,” Zollner said.
A few months out from the release, Zollner and Khare seemed both relieved and satisfied with the final product and its reception. Khare called the experience “liberating.”
The Two had worked on since their freshman year. Now seniors, they’d finally reached their goal.
“I was pretty freaked out that people would find a lot of bugs,” Zollner said. “But then the days and weeks following the release, I realized people weren’t really having a lot of issues about it. People were leaving a lot of really positive reviews.”
Although Zollner didn’t want to share numbers to avoid comparing the game’s success
to that of games with larger funding, she said she’s content with the results.
“I’ve been super happy with the response to it. We’ve seen a lot more people playing the game than we’ve expected to,” she said.
The two are not worried about sales. For Zollner and Khare, the game’s success lies in its ability to offer a sense of fulfillment to its players and give them the sense of community that the duo found in creating Garage Sale.
“There’s something really special about making something that affects someone so deeply and personally that they genuinely shed tears at the ending,” Khare said.
The ending was another aspect of the game that changed since its original conception. Once players have finished all the quests, the game unlocks one last challenge for the player, a culminating quest that wraps up the story and ties everything together.
“At the end, it acknowledges all the effort you’ve put in,” Khare said.
Khare recruited Zollner to his team for an upcoming game jam, but for now they’re taking a break from starting another extensive project. They expressed excitement and interest in continuing working together in the future. For now, they’re letting themselves enjoy the rewarding experience it has been after seeing Garage Sale through to completion.
“It’s very cool to see people playing the game and enjoying it and sharing it with their friends, streaming it, posting it,” Zollner said. “It’s just really cool to see that response with what we’ve made without the intention of it being this big.”
Soulja Boy brings ‘Pretty Boy Swag’ to Madison
By Alexa Coleman STAFF WRITER
Soulja Boy, real name DeAndre Cortez Way, shot to fame in 2007 with his hit song “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” Since then, he has released 10 studio albums, toured with artists like Lil Wayne and Drake and won two Black Entertainment Television awards — one for his signature “Crank Dat Soulja Boy” dance. By the end of his show at Madison’s Majestic Theatre, it was clear that for many fans, this dance was the main event.
Fans lined up along the Majestic before the doors to the venue opened and poured inside as opener Kresal the Kidd took the stage. Kresal delivered an energetic set complete with crowd surfing and blow-up dice, getting the crowd ready for Soulja Boy’s entrance. As Kresal’s set ended, DJ Jean le Duke took his place, encouraging the crowd in their chants for Soulja Boy. Though he went on close to an hour late, Soulja Boy’s opening number “Turn My Swag On” had the entire crowd jumping and singing along.
With musicians Suvi and DJ Jean de Luke behind him on stage, Soulja Boy never stopped moving as he performed
hit after hit. Every space in the venue, from the balcony to the pit to the bar, filled with fans immersed in the classic hyper-minimal Soulja Boy sound. It was hard to tell which song the crowd enjoyed most — their energy never wavered.
Soulja Boy’s spirit and enthusiasm created a vibrant atmosphere where every crowd member felt a sense of belonging and comradery. Every fan, whether they were wearing the signature white Soulja Boy glasses or were just there to hear his top hits, was immersed in the set and had no issue singing or dancing with their fellow crowd members. Soulja Boy’s use of a mix of many different styles, such as hip hop, trap, pop and rap, provides the audience with a unique experience that can appeal to almost anyone.
Soulja Boy repeatedly interacted with fans, moving back and forth across the stage and stepping out closer to the crowd as often as he could. It seemed his top priority was to create a show that appealed to the audience, and that is exactly what he did.
The show came to a close with a statement from Soulja Boy of his gratitude, followed by his early hits “Kiss Me Thru
the Phone” and “Crank That.” Though the energy in the crowd was consistent throughout his set, Soulja Boy’s closing numbers seemed to be the fan favorites. Crowd members could be seen leaning over the balcony singing along and even jumping around in the very back of the venue, making it difficult to move through the crowd.
As Soulja Boy performed his signature “Crank Dat Soulja Boy” dance, the entire
venue moved in sync as fans jumped left and right singing the word “you.” The short set did nothing to deter the smiling faces of fans at the end of the show and exclamations of “I can’t hear a thing!” It is clear that Soulja Boy’s sound has never left the hearts of many of his fans, particularly those who grew up with his late-2000s hits. His energetic performance at the Majestic Theatre is proof of that.
COURTESY OF GARAGE SALE
opinion
You can’t predict a changing job market, so study what you love
By Lauren Stoneman OPINION EDITOR
Students heading into college in 2024 seem to have a greater sense of the post-graduate landscape than any generation before us.
We can scour LinkedIn profiles to discern why that random acquaintance was accepted to Yale Law School. We can go to career fairs and hear what Goldman Sachs and McKinsey are looking to see on a résumé. We can meet with professors and alumni and hear them tell us exactly what we ought to be doing with our fleeting undergraduate years.
With this increased sense of perspective comes a feeling of obligation. Students rush to declare “practical” majors in business and computer sciences, swarm to pre-professional organizations that will bolster our future applications, and play fast-and-loose with the term “connection” for the sake of enhancing our LinkedIn pages.
UW-Madison saw a 55% increase in computer science students from 2018 to 2022. I’ll
hazard a guess that not all of those undergraduates have a genuine passion for large language models.
My own academic extracurricular received over 120 applications this fall. I’m confident they don’t all feel an overwhelming urge to roleplay as attorneys and witnesses in their free time (although really, what’s not to love?). They just think competing in undergraduate mock trial is the only viable path to law school.
Best case scenario, you are able to find a balance between your obligations and the collegiate activities you actually want to spend time on. Worst case scenario, your obligations start to eat away at you.
The latter scenario is much more common. Approximately 43% of undergraduate students nationwide screened positive for symptoms of anxiety, depression or both, according to the 2022 Healthy Minds Survey. While several factors contribute to our nation’s mental health crisis, academic and pre-professional pressures con-
sistently take top billing.
It’d be one thing if the preprofessional culture at universities truly proved to be a formulaic, surefire path to career stability after graduation. But as someone now in their fourth year at UW-Madison, I can confirm that the standards and advice we are given by our universities can change with the wind.
Take, for example, our own university’s reaction to the introduction of generative AI. I have attended two panels on AI in academia during my time at UW-Madison — one in my sophomore year, and one this fall. In the former, I was told fairly unequivocally to pursue a STEM or business degree to ensure I would have job prospects through the technological revolution.
Less than three years later, computer science students are far from guaranteed a prestigious tech job upon their graduation. Jobs in the financial sector are also becoming less viable. Despite students’ efforts, 58% of managers, directors and executives still call the current
cohort of graduates unprepared for the workforce.
Cut to last week, at the second AI panel. Suddenly, I’m being told to pursue a degree in philosophy so that I can contribute to the budding field of tech ethics. Even in my short time as an undergraduate, I’ve witnessed a complete career advice 180.
Of course, it’s valuable to hear expert takes on how to navigate through a tricky professional landscape. But you just can’t game a system that’s constantly changing, and that’s what pre-
professional culture purports itself to be capable of doing.
While we all spend our time chasing the one degree, one internship and one recommendation that we’re convinced will lead us to the next, we miss out on what the college experience is really designed to offer: a transient window of time to find out what we enjoy and excel at.
Pre-professional campus culture or not, no career is a sure thing. You might as well try to pursue something you actually like.
You’re not doing enough about the climate crisis
Feeling helpless isn’t an excuse when the climate is in crisis.
By Blake Martin OPINION EDITOR
This week, residents of Madison are experiencing the continuation of an unseasonably warm fall. The leaves have changed, and some students have ventured out in sweaters while others are still comfortable making their way around campus in shorts and Boston clogs. As October begins, it’s hard to think about bundling up any time soon — it’s even hard to accept summer has ended.
On the other side of the country, Florida residents are bracing for the second devastating hurricane in under two weeks. There, it’s hard to accept this might be the new normal.
What does this have to do with us in Madison? As individuals here and across the country, we’re not doing nearly enough to stop the climate crisis that’s causing more intense natural disasters.
In the last two weeks, the death toll for Hurricane Helene has risen to 227. Small towns in North Carolina, unprepared for
flood waters, have been swept away. Critical infrastructure like Tennessee and North Carolina’s I-40 have failed.
This week, students at the University of Tampa are preoccupied with preparing for mandatory evacuations while hospitals in South Florida reinforce flood barriers to protect patients unable to evacuate. Students at UW-Madison are preoccupied with studying for their first round of midterm exams. Students at UW-Madison watch safely from a distance, if they choose to watch at all.
For those with the privilege to opt out of dealing with Helene and Milton, it’s tempting to think that while tragic, these severe weather events are nothing out of the ordinary. While the feeling of safety in this thought might be tempting, don’t lie to yourself.
While current climate change research doesn’t necessarily suggest an increase in annually recorded hurricanes, those that have made landfall have become more powerful.
In the last year, ocean temperatures have risen to record-breaking levels globally, likely caused by a combination of man-made greenhouse gas emissions and naturally occurring weather patterns like El Niño. In the Gulf of Mexico, warmer ocean water serves as fuel for tropical storms like Helene and Milton, allowing them to develop faster and sustain themselves for longer. Subsequently, these storms are likely to deal even more damage with little advance warning, giving those in their path less time to prepare.
But, even if we agree tropical storms are getting worse and climate change is to blame, what can “we” do about it? The answer is rather complicated, but the solution is simple: you better do something, and when you’re done, do more.
When you start to think about it, the climate crisis can be horribly overwhelming. Around 4/5 of global carbon emissions from 2016 to 2022 are the result of actions by a handful of fossil fuel and cement companies. In turn, popular narratives about climate
change lose their individual focus, suggesting small-scale actions like reducing meat consumption, avoiding single-use plastics and taking public transportation when possible are futile.
If you’ve taken a political science or philosophy course, this dilemma should sound familiar. If not, you should probably start going to lecture — the climate crisis is a textbook example of a collective action problem. Collective action problems arise in situations where where multiple people have a common goal or responsibility, ranging from things as simple as roommates keeping an apartment clean to the climate crisis.
To illustrate this point, let’s think of the earth as an apartment with five roommates, all with the common goal of keeping the place tidy, or at least liveable. Some of the roommates never clean up after themselves, and with so many chores to do, the others are starting to feel pretty powerless.
Washing one set of dishes won’t clean “the apartment.” Doing one load of laundry won’t get their security deposit back. One person switching from plastic to paper straws won’t stop hurricanes from forming. One person cutting out meat and dairy products won’t make flood waters recede.
No single chore can clean “the apartment” in the same way no one person can solve the climate crisis. But making the choice to ignore the dishes piling up outside of your bedroom door, or turning a blind eye to worsening weather conditions outside of your zip code actively contributes to the problem.
When you think of the climate crisis in the context of individual action alone, you’re helpless to make change. But, that feeling of helplessness is a bad reason to give up.
Change can only be made through the sum of our individual environmentally conscious choices. You need to do more, so we do more. When we do more, together, change is possible. So, start small, do more, and don’t stop — we’re counting on you.
COURTESEY OF BILL MCMANNIS/FLICKR
Wisconsin pummels Purdue in 52-6 victory sports
By Sophia Ross SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Back in Camp Randall for the first time since midSeptember, the Wisconsin Badgers crushed Purdue 52-6 on Saturday. The matchup was the best the Badgers have looked all season, scoring their most points in a home game since a 2014 matchup against Nebraska.
The game got off to a slower start with neither team scoring on their opening two drives. But the tide turned in the Badgers’ favor when the Boilermakers had a muff following Wisconsin’s punt return and forced a turnover at the 12-yard line. Ultimately, the Badgers got the ball rolling when sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke passed the ball off to running back Tawee Walker, who ran it in. The short and sweet five-second drive was exactly what Wisconsin needed to get on the board.
Walker ran in two touchdowns against USC last week and continues to be a dynamic part of this Wisconsin offense. Wisconsin’s defense shut down the Boilermakers once again before the Badger’s offense responded with a second touchdown. On a scoring drive that lasted only
two minutes and 42 seconds, Locke found wide receiver Vinnie Anthony for a 52-yard touchdown. The entire drive spanned over 91 yards, demonstrating a quickness to Wisconsin’s game that hadn’t been present in this season’s previous matchups.
“I talked about last week, there was a glimpse of what we could do, the explosiveness that we could present and I think today we put together four quarters of it,” Locke said in a post-game interview.
“That’s not to say we didn’t make mistakes. I know I had the two turnovers that I got to get better from and eliminate, but I was really just proud of our team for putting together four quarters of football and never letting off the gas.”
Despite throwing two interceptions, Locke had himself a day. The second-year quarterback threw for a career high 359 yards, placing him seventh among Wisconsin’s quarterbacks for most passing yards recorded in a game.
Wisconsin’s defense did find themselves tested at points but responded well. Purdue forced two turnovers that led to two successful field goals from the Boilermakers. But safety Hunter Woholer
and the rest of Wisconsin’s defense did a solid job at stopping Purdue inside the five on both drives.
The final touchdown of the first half came with just nine seconds remaining in the second quarter. With yet another efficient drive, Locke connected with wide receiver CJ Williams on a 19-yard pass. Walker ultimately ran in the final yard for the Badgers. They went into the locker room with a 21-6 lead over the Boilermakers.
Going into the second half, several players were questionable due to injuries in the first half, among them Bryson Greene and Will Pauling, both with lower-body injuries.
Unlike last week’s game against USC, where the Trojans outscored the Badgers 28-0 in the second half, it was Wisconsin who dominated the third and fourth quarters this week.
“There were some really good situations for young guys today that will bode really well for us in the stretch,” Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said in a press conference after the game.
One of those young guys was redshirt freshman wide receiver Trech Kekahuna, who scored a 69-yard touchdown,
the first career touchdown of his career, just minutes into the second half.
Kekahuna scored his second touchdown of the day when he caught Locke’s 25-yard missile in the endzone. Walker received his third set of points, running the ball in 17 yards to make the score 42-6.
Walker is the first Badger since Wisconsin’s former star Braelon Allen to rush three touchdowns in a single game.
The final touchdown for the Badger came when running back Cade Yacamelli turned a fourth down play into a 30-yard rushing touchdown.
But that wasn’t the end of scoring for the Badgers.
Kicker Nathaniel Vakos wrapped up the dominance
with a successful 26-yard field goal after safety Kamo’i Latu forced a fumble from Purdue.
But for Fickell, it wasn’t necessarily just the highscoring nature of Saturday’s matchup he found impressive.
“It wasn’t just winning and it wasn’t just winning by a score, it was winning in a way that there was still some adversity. There were still some things we had to do in order to have success,” Fickell said during the post-game press conference.
Following the Badger’s dynamic 52-6 win against the Boilermakers, they’ll head to New Jersey to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 11 a.m. on Oct. 12. The Scarlet Knights are coming off of a 7-14 loss against Big Ten foe Nebraska.
Who’s gone, who’s returning and who’s new to Wisconsin men’s basketball
By Otto von Sothen STAFF WRITER
Many in Madison screamed the sky was falling when news broke Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball guards AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn entered the transfer portal.
Both players had served as the backbone of a team that made a Big Ten tournament finals appearance and made the NCAA tournament, and their absence seemed irreplaceable.
Hepburn, who transferred to Louisville, had been a three-year starter and fan favorite, while Storr, who signed with Kansas, led Wisconsin in scoring.
The Badgers also said goodbye to nowgraduate Tyler Wahl and junior Connor Essegian, who transferred to Nebraska.
Luckily, head coach Greg Gard and his staff regrouped and quickly tapped into the transfer portal like a keg at a tailgate.
That, mixed with an incoming class of freshman commits and a foundational core returning, the 2024-25 haul looks better than anticipated, especially when you peel back the numbers. Holes were filled, and looking at the positional fits and matching playstyles, we’re looking at a competitive eight-man rotation. Gard has all the pieces to complete the puzzle and compete for the Big Ten title.
The transfers
Gard appears to be emulating back-to-back national champions, the University of Connecticut Huskies, by signing players who began their careers at mid-major schools. In UConn’s case, both Tristen Newton,
a transfer from East Carolina, and Cam Spencer, a transfer who started at Loyola University Maryland before joining the Rutgers squad, started their college careers outside of the Power conferences before joining the Huskies to help them win a championship.
The trend may not be as flashy as poaching D1 stars or five-star high school one-and-dones, but it has proved efficient, judging also by the success of other schools who followed the same scheme like NC State and Alabama. Both schools have implemented the same approach and found themselves in the Final Four.
It’s also economical, considering the Badgers may not be on par with NCAA blue bloods like the University of Kentucky, Duke and Kansas.
Gard’s first big splash was sign-
ing guard Camren Hunter from the University of Central Arkansas, who chose the Badgers over Arkansas and Auburn. The incoming junior averaged 14.1 points per game his freshman year and 16.9 points, 5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals a game for the Bears last season.
With Hepburn’s departure, Hunter will play the point, resulting in a prospective lower shot volume, where shooting percentages should hopefully improve compared to last season (averaged 42.3% from the field on 14 attempts per game).
Second to climb aboard the Badger ship was University of Missouri transfer John Tonje. Despite the six-foot-six combo guard playing only eight games for the Tigers last year due to injuries, the new Badger averaged 14.6 points (47.3
FG%) and 4.7 rebounds per game for the Colorado State Rams the season prior. If Tonje can stay healthy and regain the form he flashed at Colorado State, he can prove to be a valuable addition.
The Badgers also brought in sixfoot-eight Chicago native Xavier Amos, who averaged 13.8 points (49.6 FG%) and 5.8 rebounds per game last season for the Northern Illinois Huskies. Amos will add versatility and size and has a two-way upside if his scoring keeps improving, expecting to have the most impact out of the box.
All three players have big shoes to fill and will play an important role in Wisconsin’s upcoming season. How well they perform will determine Wisconsin’s ceiling.
On the high school recruitment front, the Badgers made news by landing the No. 3 recruit in Minnesota, Daniel Freitag. Freitag joins the Badgers at the guard position, and his Minnesota counterpart and No. 4 recruit in the state, Jack Robison, will add depth at the forward position.
Players who stayed Seniors Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl have returned for another season.
They are joined by John Blackwell, a now-sophomore who played as a backup guard. The dismay Badgers fans may have felt when Storr and Hepburn left the program should now be replaced by quiet confidence. No, the signees and commits aren’t headline makers, but based on past success from other programs, Gard’s offseason work could pay big dividends come March.
CAMERON SCHNEIDER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
MEGHAN SPIRITO/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Green energy could be a solution for economic growth on reservations science
By Joseph Panzer SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Native Americans living on reservations continually face a poverty rate nearly double the national average of all races and ongoing business obstacles that hinder economic growth.
The U.S. government pushed Native Americans onto reservation land in 1820-50. Indigenous groups were deprived of natural resources like oil and gold that could be used to build capital. A recent study by University of Wisconsin-Madison professors Dominic Parker and Sarah Johnston found that extracting energy from renewable sources like the sun or the wind with little environmental impact could be the force that changes this long standing problem.
European settlers pushed Indigenous people onto poor farmland when creating reservations, which tends to be windier, more arid and more suited for modern wind and solar energy, the Nature Energy study said.
Green energy accounted for 6% of U.S. GDP growth in 2023 and has employed more people than the fossil fuel industry since 2021, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency. Still, the road to developing these resources for Native American tribes is fraught with difficulty.
To drill oil on Native American land
requires 49 permitting steps, and the approval process can take over three years due to intense federal regulations governing tribes. By contrast, developing oil on state land only requires four permitting steps and typically takes three months.
And developing a plan for solar or wind power generation on tribal lands requires both a coordination of internal power with the federal government. This poses a particular challenge for tribal companies who, due
to federal policies that have divided tribal land into hundreds of parcels, must get approval from each of the parcels’ owners before starting an energy project.
“This regulatory jumble makes energy projects almost as uncommon as where they are forbidden, such as in public parks, forests and wildlife refuges,” Parker told UW-Madison.
The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $14 billion in subsidies and incentives for developing wind and solar
power on tribal lands before 2026, but those incentives are often locked behind the condition that tribes connect to a regional electrical grid. For many tribes, this process is time-consuming and requires legal resources that they do not possess.
The U.S. Department of Energy has issued resource guides for Native American communities, emphasizing that they wish to respect tribal sovereignty when issuing resources for energy development on tribal lands.
For the World Dairy Expo, cow health is key
By Nicole Steele STAFF WRITER
Brooklyn Schwoerer, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying dairy science, lives on a 62-cow farm in Edgar, Wisconsin and is involved in all aspects of the dairy industry.
Schwoerer has been showing cows since she was three years old. This year, she got to show her black and white Holstein Barracuda at the annual World Dairy Expo in Madison.
To celebrate dairy’s impact in Wisconsin, the World Dairy Expo brought all things dairy related to the Alliant Energy Center in a large four-day event from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. With machinery, educational lectures and many exhibitioners showing their prized cows, the World Dairy Expo continues to showcase the large impact dairy brings to not just Wisconsin, but the world.
Dairy farms are an integral part of Wisconsin’s economy, making a $46.5 billion economic impact each year and supporting over 100,000 jobs. With around 5,425 dairy herds, our state greatly depends on the cows as well as the farmers taking care of them.
“Being able to interact and connect with all different kinds of people that share the same passion for dairy cattle as me is extremely rewarding,” Schwoerer said.
Schwoerer’s family’s calves are fed milk until two months of age and then are given calf grain and hay to allow growth and stimulation of the rumen. When calves are eight months old, they will receive haylage or a total mixed ration.
Once a heifer is pregnant, her diet is built to focus on the growth and development of her calf, Schwoerer said. Finally, when the cow freshens, it receives a highprotein diet to allow for the greatest amount of milk production.
And show cows have unique nutritional needs, Schwoerer said.
“Show cattle are judged on their presence and appearance in the show ring. A
judge looks for a dairy animal to be cleancut, deep and, most importantly, dairy.
[A] low-energy hay and a high-protein diet will ensure that the animal will keep off weight but will still continue to grow,” Schwoerer said.
The process of showing a cow involves many months of preparation. In March, Schwoerer selected her show animals based on mobility, soundness of feet and legs and the style and blending of parts, such as the head into the shoulder and the back into the body. Once the animals are picked, a highprotein diet and pasture access is given to allow for exercise.
Cow hair is also an important part of showing. Schwoerer rinses her animals with cold water at night and washes them every other day. Once a month, she shaves all the hair leaving the topline and belly, creating strong and healthy hair by showtime.
“Before showing, cows need to be clear of any diseases. This includes no ringworm or warts,” Schwoerer said. “This year, lactating cows had to undergo an avian influenza test.”
Fair attendees and exhibitors are at higher risk of infection from animal influenza viruses, but preventative measures such as avian flu testing for each animal and following preventative actions such as hand-washing and avoiding sick animals can prevent the spread.
Cow health and nutrition are critical to showing prized cows, improving human diets
The aspect of showing doesn’t just involve a beautiful cow getting judged in a ring. Cow health and nutrition play a large role in keeping these cows healthy and creating larger milk yields, according to Matt Akins, a dairy scientist and research leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Dairy Forage Research Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
“Nutrition can have great impacts on cow health, including ensuring adequate fiber, energy, protein, minerals and vitamins are provided in the diet to meet the cow’s needs for milk production and maintaining their bodies,” Akins told the Cardinal.
Fiber maintains the health of a cow’s rumen by allowing for stimulation of cow chewing and saliva production, which
helps avoid acidic rumen conditions, Akins said. Protein and essential amino acids that are important for a cow’s diet and immune function to help prevent pathogens. Vitamins and minerals, such as zinc for hoof health, selenium and vitamin E for immune function and choline for liver function play key roles in improving cow health.
As with the important nutrients needed for a cow’s overall health, their diet also plays a large role in maintaining health and high milk yield, Akins said.
“50 to 70% of the cow’s diet is forage depending on the quality and nutritive value. Forages fed include alfalfa silage or hay, corn silage, grass silage or hay and other fibrous forages needed to ensure good rumen health,” Akins said.
A cow’s diet not only affects the amount of milk they produce, but also the quality of their milk that humans consume. There is a direct relationship between nutrition quality and milk quality in cows, Akins said.
“Cows that are grazed on pasture and consuming fresh forage have been found to have increased levels of carotenoids in the milk and changes in milk fat profiles,” Akins said.
Carotenoids are naturally occurring plant pigments mammals only obtain through their diet. Some carotenoids have been found to increase vitamin A intake, have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and improve ocular and cognitive health.
Milk can drastically improve the vitamin A intake in human diets. Cows that receive a high quality forage diet have increased carotenoid levels in their milk, which therefore affects human consumption.
In order for a cow to receive adequate nutrition, nutritionists play a large role on dairy farms. Akins told the Cardinal nutritionists help balance forages with supplemental feeds to meet nutrient requirements. They also keep up to date with new nutritional research and knowledge to help better a cow’s diet.
COURTESY OF HALEY RAINS
COURTESY OF MADDY HENSEL / DAIRY AGENDA TODAY