The Advance-Titan 2/9/17 by The Advance-Titan

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February 9, 2017

INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OSHKOSH

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VOL. 123, NO. 1

FOUNDATION FACES FINANCIAL FALLOUT

UW System sues Wells, Sonnleitner Both former employees say they arguing they illegally transferred funds acted in University’s best interest by Alex Nemec nemeca14@uwosh.edu The University of Wisconsin System is suing former University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells and former Vice Chancellor Thomas Sonnleitner, arguing their transfer of funds from UW Oshkosh to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation was illegal. “Sonnleitner and Wells converted property of the [UW System], including its money and its credit, by intentionally transferring [the UW System’s] money and credit to the Foundation,” the lawsuit stated. Court documents state that, from 2010-2014, Wells and Sonnleitner supported the Foundation by helping fund ﬁve projects: the Best Western Hotel and Conference

Center, the Witzel biodigester, the Rosendale biodigester, the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center and the Oshkosh Sports Complex. According to the lawsuit, the Wisconsin State Constitution prohibits the University from transferring funds to an entity like the Foundation for such purposes. Wells and Sonnleitner were responsible for $11.27 million in transfers from the University to the Foundation, while $4.52 million is yet to be repaid, with the hotel project being the only one paid off in full, according to the lawsuit. According to the Department of Justice-commissioned report by retired Dane County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fielder, Wells and Sonnleitner had no legal authority to sign memoranda of understanding (MOUs), which bind the Uni-

versity to cover the Foundation if they defaulted on their loans. According to a timeline from the UW System article, former UWO Foundation President Art Rathjen informed Chancellor Andrew Leavitt the Foundation may need assistance with debt payment on the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center (AWCC) in the coming year. Leavitt said he went to UW System President Raymond Cross when he found potentially inappropriate transactions between UWO and the Foundation, according to a statement from January 2017. “In late April, the UW System review identiﬁed documents signed by Wells and Sonnleitner that were unlawful,” Leavitt said. “I placed

SUIT, PAGE A3

by Alex Nemec nemeca14@uwosh.edu In response to the lawsuit filed by the UW System, representatives for both former University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells and former Vice Chancellor Thomas Sonnleitner argue the suit has no merit. Attorney Raymond Dall’Osto, of Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown LLP, also Wells’ lawyer, said the lawsuit came as a surprise and mediation could have been a better solution than immediately filing the suit. “I would’ve rather seen a sit-down between the two parties instead of a lawsuit,” Dall’Osto said. “Let’s fix perceived problems with what’s currently wrong instead of resorting to the scapegoating that’s happening now.”

According to the countersuit filed by Thomas Sonnleitner on Jan 30, 2017, Sonnleitner devoted a vast majority of his entire professional life to serving UWO. “All of the actions described in the complaint were undertaken within the scope of his employment, in good faith and for benefit of the University,” Sonnleitner’s countersuit stated. “Sonnleitner was acting with the knowledge and consent of his superiors and representatives of Plaintiff Board of Regents.” Dall’Osto said he and Wells would be filing their response in the coming weeks, and it will mirror statements made in Sonnleitner’s countersuit. “Richard Wells and Thomas Sonnleitner have done their best to improve UWO facilities and care for the

RESPONSE, PAGE A3

Names that matter

Richard Wells -UW Oshkosh Chancellor from 20002014. -Accused of participating in the illegal transfer of money from the University to the Foundation. -Suit ﬁled against him on Jan. 18, 2017.

• •

•

-Vice Chancellor of UWO from 20002016. -Accused of particithrough students, faculty, programs and facilities. pating in the illegal • Donors have the option to designate exactly what transfer of money their donations are used for, leading to the creation from the University of some scholarships for speciﬁc departments at the to the Foundation. University. -Filed a suit against the Foundation and • According to tax documents, the Foundation took ﬁled a countersuit against the UW Sysin $2.6 million in gifts and grants in 2014. tem.

HOW THE FOUNDATION FUNCTIONS Established in 1963. According to information found on the UW Oshkosh Website, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation “contributes to academic excellence” and it “consistently motivates donors to become increasingly involved in the development of the University.” Created “to promote, receive, invest and disburse gifts to meet the goals and needs of UW Oshkosh.” Constructed several projects, including two biodigesters, a Best Western Hotel in Oshkosh, the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center and the Titan Sports Complex. Four places it makes an impact on UW Oshkosh:

•

According to tax documents, The Foundation gave $30,937 to “support the activities of various UW-Oshkosh faculty and student organizations” and also gave $5,382 to “deserving UW-Oshkosh students and alumni,” according to tax documents.

By Ti Windisch

Financial crisis could harm scholarships by Jessica Johnson johnsj09@uwosh.edu While the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh says student scholarship money is safe in the event of a UWO Foundation bankruptcy, a member of the Foundation board and an associate bankruptcy attorney say it is unclear how secure that money really is. According to State Representative and Foundation board member Amanda Stuck, scholarships might be in jeopardy depending on the Foundation’s ﬁnancial condition. “If the Foundation goes under, scholarships could go away for a little while,” Stuck said. According to the Foundation website, the purpose of the Foun-

dation is to “promote, receive, invest and disburse gifts to meet the goals and needs of UW Oshkosh,” which includes student scholarships. According to tax documents, the Foundation gave $267,500 to students via scholarships in 2014. Nothing has been decided regarding the fate of Foundation, but Stuck said one possible path the Foundation might take to cover the organization’s debt is filing for bankruptcy. If the Foundation does end up filing for bankruptcy, it could impact the money stored within the Foundation, including scholarship funds. UWO’s chief communication officer Jamie Ceman said funds reserved for student scholarships are not at risk even if the Foun-

Tom Sonnleitner

dation declares bankruptcy. She referred all other questions to Foundation ofﬁcials. Stuck said the Foundation is working to raise money in order to pay off the outstanding debt, but says it is hard to concentrate with everything that is going on between the Foundation and the University. “The Foundation is kind of in limbo for what’s going to happen with the debt that it has,” Stuck said. “With the lawsuit going on, it is hard to focus on raising the funds.” Stuck said the Foundation board is working with lenders who will raise money to help the Foundation climb out of debt. “If the Foundation can’t reach deals with lenders, the Foundation may have to go into bank-

ruptcy,” Stuck said. “It has been discussed as a possibility, but I don’t know the likelihood of it.” Rachel Sandler, Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Associate Attorney at Gregory K. Stern, P.C. in Chicago, Illinois said if the Foundation does end up ﬁling for bankruptcy, all assets become property of the estate. “Depending on how the scholarship funds were directed, it is possible that the funds could lose the designation as scholarship funds and be used to pay back the Foundation’s creditors if commingled,” Sandler said. UWO Professor Jennifer Mihalick, chairwoman of the chemistry department, said the University has not contacted her department to inform them how a potential bankruptcy could im-

SCHOLARSHIPS, PAGE A3

Art Rathjen -Former UW Oshkosh Foundation president from -Fired by Chancellor Andrew Leavitt on Jan. 17, 2017.

Andrew Leavitt

-Current Chancellor, started in 2014. -Found out about ﬁnancial arrangements when Rathjen asked University for money for the Foundation. -Went to UW System to report wrong-doings.

See inside for more lawsuit coverage

NEWS

Advance-Titan

Alex Nemec - News Editor Laura Dickinson - Assistant News Editor

February 9, 2017

Travel ban impacts UW System by Laura Dickinson

COURTESY OF ALICIA JOHNSON ABOVE: MARCH PARTICIPANTS WALK DOWN STATE STREET IN MADISON DURING THE WOMEN’S MARCH HELD ON JAN. 21. MADISON WAS ONE OF 600 CITIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE MARCH. BELOW: PARTICIPANTS GATHER TO TAKE PART IN THE NATIONWIDE MARCH. THE MADISON POLICE ESTIMATE BETWEEN 75,000 AND 100,000 PEOPLE WERE IN ATTENDANCE AT

UWO students represented at Women’s March

by Kierra Carr carrk01@uwosh.edu University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students joined 4.2 million other people in more than 600 cities across the U.S. for the Women’s March on Jan. 21. Women’s Diversity Center Director Alicia Johnson said people used pink hats as a way to express their concerns about leadership. “The march was not just about women,” Johnson said. “The march was a rally point for people to embrace multiple identities, such as gender, race, sexuality, education and immigration policies.” According to Johnson, a UWO campus climate survey showed there are social injustices on campus and some groups felt left out. “The purpose of the Women’s March was to come together as people who are wanting to advance the initiative about social justice,” Johnson said. UWO student Ali Christensen said the Women’s March was a first impression statement to the new administration in DC. “I think the march got people’s

attention,” Christensen said. “It was a revolutionary statement... we will fight, we will stand together, and you will not tear us apart.” Senior Mariah Garner said she went because she felt it was her obligation to attend. She said she wanted the man in office to see that Americans are demanding change and recognition. were welcomed and encouraged “The march was very empow- to speak up with passion and fire ering for me,” Garner said. “It in your voice,” Christensen said. opened my eyes and my friend’s Christensen said women’s eyes to see that rights are being it’s not just us It opened my eyes and my oppressed. that feel this “Rape gets asfriend’s eyes to see that it’s not way about sociated with acAmerica, but just us that feel this way about cidents,” ChrisAmerica, but millions of people millions of tensen said. people across across the nation. “Birth control is the nation.” — Mariah Garner seen as a preventChristensen able luxury and said the march some insurance UWO Senior was for all will not cover it communities but will cover that felt threatViagra 100 percent.” ened, mocked, belittled and unJohnson said it is our duty as dermined by Trump and his ad- citizens to be active and involved ministration. regardless of what our political “Whether you are Christian, views are. Muslim, gay or straight, you “Also, my hope is that this

by Ti Windisch windit83@uwosh.edu Impeachment charges brought against Oshkosh Student Association president Austyn Boothe last semester ended up not proving substantial enough to justify removing Boothe from office. Boothe said that aside from one gray area about an Assembly item being removed from the agenda due to it actually being a Senate power, none of the charges leveled against her turned up any conclusive evidence. “Out of all the 14 charges, nothing was found,” Boothe said. “Because of that, Assembly and Senate did not call to vote.” Boothe said the charges, brought by Ann Mittelstadt, Legislative Affairs Ambassador were more about personal problems than anything else. “Personally, I think it became apparent for any individuals that attended the open hearing instead of our Senate meeting that Ann brought those charges because of personal reasons,” Boothe said. “She did even state that a lot of it stemmed from her not getting a paid position in OSA.” Reeve Advisory Council Vice President Aza Muzorewa, who was on the judicial board tasked with finding evidence, said the board found it difficult to find

evidence for many of the charges levied against Boothe. “A good portion [of the charges] were inconclusive,” Muzorewa said. “We weren’t able to get a definitive conclusion just based on how the grievance was worded, or there wasn’t any information we could gather.” Out of all the charges levied, United Students in Residence Halls Constitution Chair Kyla Brown said USRH found the matter of office hours were strange. “We thought it was weird they didn’t record them because we meticulously track our office hours,” Brown said. Muzorewa said conflict resolution would have been a better option than trying to impeach, but if that measure is taken, the charges need to have concrete evidence supporting them. “We want to try and pull our personal feelings out of it, if that’s how you go because that makes it a lot harder,” Muzorewa said. “If you file grievances, you want to make sure what you’re saying can be corroborated by cold hard facts.” Boothe said OSA is looking at changing the constitution concerning impeachment charges due to how long the process took, despite the lack of concrete evidence. “Somebody could bring some-

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march ignites people to use their representatives and senators and make themselves heard,” Johnson said. Johnson said the march in Madison was supposed to go from Library Mall to the Capitol, but so many people showed up that it filled up State Street. “It was predicted that 25,000 people would show up, but Madison police estimated that between 75,000 to 100,000 people showed up,” Johnson said. Garner said she is thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in the march. “I believe it will go down in history because of the number of people coming together,” Garner said.

OSA president avoids impeachment thing to them, which I believe happened in my case, that doesn’t have really any merit,” Boothe said. “They can say it has no merit, but it has to go on further.” Boothe said open communication is vital going forward and could have prevented the lengthy impeachment process from having to take place last semester. “I try my best to be available to students as much as possible,” Boothe said. “I don’t like to see myself as an intimidating person. I like to be really open with students and hear their concerns and their comments about things.” Muzorewa said conﬂict should be handled more before going straight to ﬁling a letter of grievance because of how severe the concept of impeachment is. “While you have every right to do that, I think what we also strive for is to try to meet in the middle, because you’re essentially calling for someone’s job,” Muzorewa said. “Impeachment is a very taboo word, and it’s very hard to impeach somebody in our country as a whole.” Boothe said she wanted to thank all of the Assembly representatives, senators and students who stood by her while the impeachment charges were being addressed. “A lot of them realize the type of person I am and stood by me,

and I appreciate that,” Boothe said. Muzorewa called the impeachment charges a “wake-up call” and said he believes the differences that people have can cause problems on campus, but it is also what makes UWO a great place. “Obviously when you get that many people working together and you have a student body person involved, you’re not going to agree with everything he or she does,” Muzorewa said. “You’re not going to necessarily back up everything he or she does. But you have to learn to be proactive and coexist, and you have to learn to problem solve.”

dickil83@uwosh.edu University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross released a statement to the UW System Schools in regards to President Trump’s Executive Order banning travel from seven countries which could affect international students and faculty from the travel banned countries. In a statement sent out to UW Oshkosh students, Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said the university does not believe the travel ban affects entry for any students, faculty or staff at UWO. “I feel it is important to highlight the long-standing commitment UW Oshkosh has to a rich and global community,” Leavitt said. “Our University and this entire region and state are stronger because of the students, faculty and staff who have come from places around the world to learn, work and live here.” UWO student and member of the UWO Muslim Student Association Jamal Arafeh said he believes the ban is irrational. “I think this is a crazy order in my opinion,” Arafeh said. “He basically banned families, children, men and women from entering, and they had came here to start a new life. I want to ask Trump a question: if my country banned all Christians from entering, how would that make him feel? It’s the same feeling we have as Muslims.” Arafeh said the UWO MSA is working to make students aware of the misconceptions and mistaken beliefs of Islam and bring awareness of the effects of the travel ban. “We are trying to put to rest wrong ideas about what Trump is trying to take ahold of,” Arafeh said. “We just want people to know these people from these countries just want a new life. They sold their homes and sold everything they had just to come here for a new life.” MSA’s next meeting will be today on the second floor of Polk Library in the large study group room. Cross said, in a statement during the uncertainty surrounding the travel ban, the UW System suggests limited travel for international student and faculty from the banned countries. “Students or faculty from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen should not travel outside the United States in the next 90 days, as your entry visa may be deemed ineligible and you may not be able to return to the U.S.,” Cross said. “Please make any friends and family members from these countries aware of this restriction as well, and encourage them to refrain from traveling to the U.S. during these 90 days.” Cross said, the ban does concern approximately 130 students system wide. However, at this time, we do not know what the future of the order will be. “We do not currently know what the situation will be when these 90 days expire, but the UW System will continue to carefully monitor this situation and provide you with updates as we get them,” Cross said. UWO Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence Sylvia Carey-Butler said during this time it is important to remember we benefit as a school together. “We are better because of diversity,” Carey-Butler said. “Whether it’s because of ethnicity or nationality, our communities are better when they take care of each other.” Carey-Butler said there are faculty and staff who are concerned about students who might be affected and are wanting to come together to have a town hall meeting. “There will be a town hall that isn’t necessarily about what has brought us to this, but to show that everyone does matter here,” Carey-Butler said. The date for the town hall meeting has yet to be determined. Arafeh said he hopes the Oshkosh community can come together. “I think many people in the community are involved about this issue,” Arafeh said. “I believe this is a decision that is not well-studied, and we can benefit from discussion with each other.”

NEWS

Advance-Titan

Alex Nemec - News Editor Laura Dickinson - Assistant News Editor

February 9, 2017

Projects at the heart of the lawsuit

Alumni Welcome and Conference Center

Oshkosh Sports Complex

*Opened in April 2015 to provide more space for conferences and serves as the new “front door” for UWO *Total cost: $12.5 million *$462,238 left unpaid to the University.

*Opened in Sept 2008 as a space for UWO’s athletics to play their games * Total cost: $9.8 million *$806,561 left unpaid to the University.

Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel and Conference Center

*Opened in 2013 *Total cost: $15 million *No balance owed to the University.

Rosendale Biodigester

*Built in 2013 *Total cost: $10 million *$1.4 million left unpaid to the University. SUIT FROM PAGE

Sonnleitner on paid administrative leave on May 11, 2016, while the review was taking place (Sonnleitner subsequently retired on May 30).” Leavitt said, in a statement, that Wells was Sonnleitner’s supervisor at the time, and neither one of them properly recorded the transfers in UW Oshkosh’s accounting records. “The UWO Foundation was established to provide support to the University, and funding should have flowed only from the Foundation to UW Oshkosh,” Leavitt said. “Not the other way around.” Leavitt said Wells and Sonnleitner executed illegal guarantees, known as MOUs, pledging UW Oshkosh’s financial support for the Foundation’s bank loans related to the projects. “The guarantees asserted that UW Oshkosh would make debt payments for the UWO Foundation if the Foundation could not meet its financial obligations,” Leavitt said. “The Wisconsin Constitution and UW System policies do not allow a public entity to support a private organization.” The Fielder report states that it

is essential to note the University and the Foundation Board are separate and distinct entities and Wells and Sonnleitner bear sole responsibility for the allegations. “The Foundation Board exercised due diligence in addressing the issue of legal authority with Wells and Sonnleitner,” the Fielder report states. “The Board’s reliance upon the oral and written representations by Wells and Sonnleitner was in good faith. The Board has no culpability whatsoever for the actions of Wells and Sonnleitner, and the Board cannot be faulted in anyway.” The suit ﬁled by the UW System states Wells and Sonnleitner are responsible for all damages suffered by the UW System and the University, along with all future penalties the UW System may face and the cost of the lawyers and investigation. Leavitt said he will take action to make sure these types of activities do not happen again on the UWO campus. “On behalf of your leadership team, I want to apologize for what has transpired,” Leavitt said. “It is unacceptable to violate the public trust and to act without regard for ethics and the law. We must be ethical, accountable and transparent in our service to students.”

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EDITORS /////////////// EDITOR IN CHIEF Jessica Johnson

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*Built in 2011 *Total cost: $5 million *$1.8 million left unpaid to the University.

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RESPONSE FROM PAGE

students,” Dall’Osto said. Sonnleitner’s lawyers had no comment for this article. According to the Department of Justice-commissioned report by retired Dane County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fielder, Wells said the memoranda of understanding (MOUs) did not bind the University. “[Wells] indicated he was aware he did not have the authority to bind the University in this manner, stating ‘I couldn’t bind the State of Wisconsin to debt,’” the Fielder report stated. The Fielder report states Sonnleitner also knew he did not have the authority to bind the University in this manner. “Upon further questioning, he admitted he did not give the Foundation Board any follow up documentation that stated the MOUs were not valid and were being withdrawn,” the Fielder report stated. “He agreed it would have been

better practice to do so.” Dall’Osto said Wells and Sonnleitner have nothing to hide. “[Wells and Sonnleitner] simply followed advice of lawyers and other Foundation people,” Dall’Osto said. Dall’Osto asked what the losses were in the lawsuit. “The most noteworthy thing about the lawsuit is that doesn’t involve personal gain,” Dall’Osto said. “Everything was done for the benefit for the students and the University.” The Fielder report states it is essential to note the University and the Foundation Board are separate and distinct entities and Wells and Sonnleitner bear sole responsibility for the allegations. Dall’Osto said the allegations Wells is facing has been a like a knife through the heart. “Wells devoted his life to UWO,” Dall’Osto said. “He made UWO a great school. I still wonder why this lawsuit had to be.”

SCHOLARSHIPS FROM PAGE A1 pact their scholarship accounts. “It could be that they just don’t know yet, but so far they haven’t told us if anything will change,” Mihalick said. Mihalick said chemistry alumni, faculty and staff donate money to three scholarship accounts in the Foundation in order to help students with their educational expenses. According to Mihalick, these scholarships range from $100 to $1,000. She said the amount the department awards toward scholarships differ each year depending on how much the Foundation says their department has available to give out in scholarship money. Most of the scholarships for the 2017-18 school year have already been awarded to students, Mihalick said. “I think students would like to know the status of where their scholarship money is,” Mihalick said. “Students have been informed they are getting scholarships and we hope that won’t change. I think it would be nice to know if those schol-

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Witzel Biodigester

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arships are guaranteed for the next academic year.” According to Mihalick, she is uneasy because she knows students are counting on the money, especially with how expensive college is. “We are concerned because [students] have been promised this money off of their tuition and we hope that it won’t be affected by bankruptcy, but at this point nobody has said what’s going to happen,” Mihalick said. Sandler said departments on campus should be nervous about the standing of scholarship money. “All departments should be worried because they do not know if the Foundation was managed properly and what the documentation shows,” Sandler said. According to Stuck, foundations are an essential part of universities today, and if the current Foundation did end up declaring bankruptcy, another Foundation would most likely come about soon after. “If the UWO Foundation goes under, a new foundation would almost certainly show up,” Stuck said. “Foundations are needed by colleges with all the budget cuts that they face.”

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NEWS

Advance-Titan

Alex Nemec - News Editor Laura Dickinson - Assistant News Editor

February 9, 2017

Parking agreement ends with AxleTech by Laura Dickinson dickil83@uwosh.edu

UW Oshkosh and AxleTech International mutually ended their parking partnership for lots eight, 35 and 40, affecting more than 200 on-campus and commuter students who had parking passes for those lots. The University reached out to students who used the lots via email and phone over the winter break. The ending of the agreement became effective as of Jan. 31. Parking and Transportation Services Manager Benjamin Richardson said Parking Services has been trying to accommodate students who had permits in those lots by relocating their permits. “We had 200 students in those lots that we had to move somewhere on campus primarily into residential

lots, but for many of those students they wanted to be closer to their dorms anyway, so it was a beneﬁt for some of the students anyway,” Richardson said. According to Richardson, Parking Services tried to help them as much as they could. “Other students no longer needed their parking permit going into the second semester, and some students had to move across the river, which we offered to refund the difference, even though the price difference wasn’t much,” Richardson said. UWO freshman Sydney Richter said the partnership ending forced her to look for different options. “They gave me two options,” Richter said. “I could either get a new sticker and park across the river or they could buy part of my pass back from me.”

Richter said in the end she needed her car in close proximity due to her busy schedule. “I ended up having them buy my pass back for the amount they would give me because I work quite often,” Richter said. “It would be too far to park across the river seeing that I live in Evans.” The ending of the partnership comes at the same time the University Police Department is transitioning to overseeing the parking services on campus. According to Richardson, having the campus police oversee Parking Services will have a beneﬁcial impact in the future. “It’s a really good thing for us especially from a safety standpoint, the police are already monitoring the lots and there are already a lot of similarities between us, and now

being under that umbrella there is a lot we can get out of it,” Richardson said. UPD Captain Christopher Tarmann said now that the department is involved, they are going to try and innovate parking on the UWO campus. “When we look at data, most of our issues on campus are happening in parking lots,” Tarmann said. “It is a natural ﬁt, and will allow more ears and eyes on these parking lots.” Tarmann said in order for UWO to innovate and move forward in the future, he wants students on campus to give input. “Everyone gets irritated with parking and we want to make it easy,” Tarmann said. “What we are doing is creating a survey. We want to obtain raw feedback. We will also hold forums after the

COURTESY OF UW OSHKOSH

Two graduating UW Oshkosh students smile for an off-camera photo. UWO held commencement on Jan. 21 after terrible weather conditions caused the University to cancel the original commencement on Dec. 18.

UWO graduates get ceremony after a weather cancellation

by Aaron Tomski tomska69@uwosh.edu Due to harsh weather conditions, Chancellor Andrew Leavitt canceled the Dec. 18 winter commencement ceremony at Kolf, which was later rescheduled due to a petition started by a student. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh holds its commencement ceremonies at the end of every winter and spring semester. Chief communications ofﬁcer Jamie Ceman said the staff received alerts throughout the week about how bad the weather would be during the weekend. Leavitt said the problematic weather was why UWO made the decision to cancel the ceremony. “That Sunday there was a

blizzard, and for the safety of travelers we decided to postpone the graduation ceremony,” Leavitt said. According to Ceman, the staff had to prepare a list of alternative days for the cancellation of the commencement ceremony. “We had three alternative days for people who wanted to have a commencement ceremony,” Ceman said. “What happened though immediately right after was that there was a really large outcry from the student population and the families asking for a better alternative than that.” UWO graduate Taylor Moret said she won the student leadership award for her class and started the petition on change.org. “Receiving the student leader award I felt like I was

obligated to do something,” Moret said. Moret said she was able to gather more than 1000 signatures on the petition asking for commencement to be rescheduled. Moret said she sent the petition to Leavitt and then students and parents were able to get the ceremony rescheduled to Jan 21. Ceman said the students coming together to get their commencement ceremony was an incredible story. “The challenge of any commencement is that it is an enormous event, where it brings up to ﬁve to six thousand people together,” Ceman said. “We were amazed by the help of 120 people volunteering from the campus community who really wanted to pull together and give the graduat-

ing students the commencement they deserved.” Ceman said the important thing that came out of the cancellation is that UWO learned that it needs to have backup solutions for the future. “We underestimated the response that came with it and the alternatives we offered were not acceptable,” Ceman said. “That became very clear, very fast, so anytime we hold a commencement we are going to have an alternative published date, so that people can be prepared.” Ceman said people were excited about the scheduled commencement and the campus solidarity really showed through social media. The campus came together to pull off a successful commencement ceremony for the graduating class of 2017.

Criminal justice professor Lee dies

COURTESY OF UWO PROFESSOR JASON LEE ENJOYED DISCUSSING SCIENC FICTION FILMS WITH HIS COLLEAGUE CHRISTOPHER ROSE. LEE TAUGHT A VARIETY OF CLASSES IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. HE RECIEVED A DEGREE FROM NYU IN FILM.

by Alex Nemec nemeca14@uwosh.edu UW Oshkosh assistant professor Jason Lee passed away on Jan 17, 2017 at his Oshkosh home. He was 43 years old. “I was pretty impressed with him right from the getgo,” University of Wisconsin Oshkosh criminal justice associate professor Christopher Rose said. “We did bring two people in, two candidates, and he clearly shined over the other,” Rose said. Rose said Lee was at the beginning of his career, that his legacy was just getting started and that he liked teaching a lot of different subjects in the criminal justice department. “He received a degree in

film from New York University,” Rose said. “I had a class called crime films, popular culture and criminology and he fit pretty well in that.” Rose mentioned Lee has a forthcoming publication about the perception of police officers conducted in Washington. Rose and Lee were good friends outside of work. Rose said they would go to Fratello’s to grab beers and talk about science fiction, video games and more specifically who Supreme Leader Snoke from Star Wars: The Force Awakens might be. “He was a really good colleague, I really liked working with him,” Rose said. “I think he had a bright future, it’s just awful and a shame.”

survey.” Tarmann said he is excited for some of the innovations the police department has in mind to make parking safe and effective. “We started a relationship with a company for a new safety app and we are working on developing it,” Tarmann said. “Most students have smartphones and it’s a better way to connect with them.” According to Tarmann, some of the features they hope to have on the app will be chatting with dispatchers, requesting safewalks, and GPS location. Tarmann said he also hopes to start programs like “safe rides,” similar to SafeWalks, for students on and off campus. “Currently Parking [Services] runs the shuttle,” Tarmann said. “We want to ﬁnd

out what the cost is to run that service 24/7 is.” Richardson said a way Parking Services hopes to innovate parking is to start using license plate recognition software. “We can track the population in a parking lot with the software,” Richardson said. “We would be able to let people know where there is availability more in real time, as well as [have students] be able to purchase a day pass online.” For Tarmann, while this was the end of the AxleTech partnership, this is the beginning of improvements for UWO. “We want the campus to understand we are innovating parking and want the students to understand that with their input, it will help the whole community,” Tarmann said.

College of business hires dean by Collin Goeman goemac32@uwosh.edu Professor Barbara Rau has been selected as the new dean of the UW Oshkosh College of Business and will be taking over the position on July 1. “During my 19 years working in our College of Business, I have been humbled by the accomplishments of our faculty, students and staff, and I am honored by the opportunity to serve as their dean,” Rau said in an article for Oshkosh Today. A national search was conducted by the college of business after the retirement of former business dean William Tallon, leading to four potential candidates being brought to campus. Junior business student Gabbi Wenzel said she is very excited to have Rau as the new dean. “She is extremely knowledgeable, but still personable and easy to work with,” Wenzel said. “I think her focus and background with human resources enables her to have great leadership characteristics which will obviously help her as dean.” Rau has been a faculty member at UWO for the last 19 years, holding multiple teaching and administrative positions during that time. Interim dean Scott Beyer said the candidates were evaluated and interviewed extensively by students, faculty, and administrators during the 2016 fall semester. “You want to look at all angles of what they share, and what their vision is, and what their strengths and weaknesses might be with the position,” Beyer said. “It’s a really intense process.” According to Beyer, a ﬁnal committee chose Rau to become the next dean following the search. “Because of her abilities, professor Rau was selected, and I think that was the right choice,” Beyer said. Beyer said, despite the strength of the candidate pool as a whole, Rau earned the position as dean. “She’s a really excellent leader; she’s caring, thoughtful, insightful and very strategic,” Beyer said. “In short, we as an institution and college are very lucky to have Barb as our next dean.” Rau said she has many goals for the College of Business going forward. “My desire is to try to make the college as strong

Barbara Rau was selected as the new college of business dean. She was hired after being interviewed by students, faculty and administrative staff. as it can possibly be in terms of providing service to area communities,” Rau said. “And to try to create a place where my colleagues feel proud to come and work.” Rau said serving as associate dean for the past year and a half has helped with the transition. “My whole career has been preparing me for this kind of leadership role,” Rau said. “I think all of these steps sort of build the skill set that you need.” Rau said one of her main objectives after taking over on July 1 will be working with the budget in order to provide programs that will better prepare students for the changing business world. “A big initiative for me when I take over this position will be to look at ways of generating new programs that students desire, and that the business community says that they need,” Rau said. “Finding those holes in what were offering, and then trying to generate programs that will help to support that.” Beyer said growing the business college’s already existing programs will help the relationships with area businesses. “I think that that type of connectivity will showcase to businesses what we do, where our expertise are, and where we can help them,” Beyer said. Beyer said Rau has much more to offer than her listed accomplishments convey. “It doesn’t take long to know that she’s really here just to make things right, you don’t see that type of commitment too often anymore,” Beyer said. “I think we’re lucky to have her.”

OPINION

Nicole Horner - Opinon Editor

February 9, 2017

Greek Life: Many Truths, No Lies

Cartoon by Constance Bougie

Fake news leads to distrust by the Advance-Titan Staff atitan@uwosh.edu In this day and age, it is difficult for anyone to avoid the media. Watching television, reading newspaper or magazine articles, scrolling through social media, and having conversations with others are just a few of the ways in which people are connected to the media in their everyday lives. Because news comes to audiences from all these different sides, people can often become oversaturated with all the information they absorb. Audiences can also become skeptical of the reliability of news following the rise of fake news. UW Oshkosh junior Markus Oechsner said the level of trust that people put into sources is dependant on the reliability of the media. “If we put trust in them for these stories, then they can really just keep feeding us what we want to hear,” Oechsner said. Fake news makes it difficult for audiences to be entirely sure of what is really happening in the world around them, and it prompts a question of whether or not news sources are reliable. According to CNN, the awareness of fake news grew exponentially when the Trump administration sought to discredit popular news sources. An article from The New York Times described an example of fake news that occurred on Twitter involving an anti-Trump protest in Austin, Texas on Nov. 9. The article stated that on Election Day someone took pictures of tour buses in the downtown Austin area, which insinuated that the buses were full of paid protestors. Soon after the photos went live, the post went viral. The tweet rapidly

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moved from Twitter to Reddit and dealing with news stories, it will be Facebook within days before it was easier for them to identity the truth uncovered that the buses had no af- from the lies. If an individual puts out a tweet filiation with the protest. Audiences should not allow that Barack Obama was sighted fake news to dictate their opinions skydiving with Vladimir Putin in about the media because it is often Russia, readers should not jump to just misinterpretations that have conclusions that what they are seeing is the truth. been blown out of proportion. Audiences should not believe Additionally, people should not let cold feelings toward certain everything they read, see and hear. news platforms or reporters over- Instead, they need to make sure take their judgement of all media that they check the news they are coming across by sources. comparing it with Another reason Audiences should not other sources. individuals may be Oechsner said wary of the media is allow fake news to dictate due to false report- their opinions about the people need to evaling. False reporting media because it is often uate what the media telling them in cases are not overmisinterpretations is order to discern the ly typical, but they just can have negative that have been blown out truth from the lies. “If people will inconsequences on of proportion. vestigate facts more the entire media infor themselves and stitution. what not, then I An example of false reporting occurred in 2003 think we can say, ‘Okay, media, when NBC reporter Brian Wil- you’re not telling us the truth,’” liams falsely reported his role in Oechsner said. The public should not give up the covering of the Iraq War. According to The Washington on the media. Although there are Post, Williams insinuated, while some sources that are spreading reporting in Iraq about the war, he fake news, there are plenty more was in a helicopter which was be- that are displaying hard facts. On a more local level, the Miling fired at from below. However, it was later revealed waukee Journal Sentinel covers that Williams was aboard a differ- information about the UW System ent helicopter than the one that was while the Oshkosh Northwestern and the Advance-Titan cover UW fired upon. Rare instances of misinterpreta- Oshkosh. These news outlets work tion or false reporting should not hard to keep the local community sway audiences to believe the me- informed. The media is important because dia is unreliable. People should not allow these few incidents to con- its primary purpose is to let peotrol their outlook on the media as ple know about what is going on around them. If people can see the a whole. The public can begin to trust the media as a reliable source of informedia by learning to recognize mation, it can continue to keep the when news is real or fake. If audi- public informed on what it needs ences use critical judgement when to hear.

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by Mariah Heyden heydem18@uwosh.edu Mariah Heyden is a sophomore public relations major. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the Advance-Titan. While recently scrolling down my timelines on social media, I saw video after video of sorority chapters clapping, chanting and screaming trying to get new members to join for upcoming recruitment. Quite often the caption of the video is “Sorority girls must be stopped” or something along those lines. As a member of the Greek community myself, these videos of hundreds of girls waving their spirit fingers and yelling something inaudible partially turns me off. Instead of getting offended over it, I have decided to debunk some myths about Greek Life here at UW Oshkosh for the upcoming informal recruitment process. Probably the biggest, and worst, stereotype against Greek Life is the party scene. With shows on television such as “Greek,” or movies like “Neighbors,” it is easy to get the wrong idea, and I will admit I believed that stereotype until I rushed. Don’t get me wrong, we love to throw socials and party, but we have to earn that, because it is truly a privilege, not a right. We are at college to obtain a degree, and our education comes first. You as an individual must uphold a certain GPA, and the chapter as a whole must uphold an average GPA; failure to do so will result in consequences. In order to ensure success, many of our chapters require weekly study hours in the library or with tutoring. I can honestly say I can walk into the library on any day, at any time, and there will be a sorority sister to double as a study buddy. It helps me succeed by getting my butt to the library, working hard to keep up my GPA and knowing that if I’m struggling, there will be girls there to help get me back on track. Another bad stereotype we face involves money. I hear too often,

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“You are only paying for friends,” and that is the farthest thing from the truth. You pay dues when you play sports, you pay dues when you join a club, so you pay dues when you go Greek. A large portion of dues goes towards each chapter’s philanthropy, or “charitable cause.” We work year-round to support our philanthropy, whether it is fundraising/ donating money, volunteering or raising awareness. Most of us went Greek because we love to give back, and many of us joined the chapter we did because of the philanthropy associated with it. A couple examples include building strong character, domestic abuse awareness, breast cancer awareness and autism awareness. Each chapter is different, and members would be more than happy to explain their philanthropy if you asked them. You do gain many friends by going Greek. You share the same passions, interests and goals in life, which creates an undeniable bond with your sisters or brothers. They act as your rocks, your support system, on good days when you need praise, and on bad days when you need a pep talk. You are truly never alone, and you don’t have to worry about putting on a show because you can be yourself around them. These people stay with you for life. Your friendship does not end at graduation. Similarly, you gain even more friends from the entire Greek community. We love each other. Joining one chapter does not mean you need to dislike the others. While trying to find the best sorority or fraternity that best suits you, you end up making connections with many different people from different chapters along the way. We support each other, while also having friendly competition between each chapter. We truly are a community. The biggest fear many people have when they think about joining is hazing. I really need you to understand UWO, and most other campuses in the United States, have a zero-tolerance policy towards hazing. Lastly, we are not very big. With Oshkosh being a relatively small campus, the Greek community represents only about five percent of campus. If you are apprehensive about extremely large groups, joining a chapter will not have hundreds of people crammed into one house. Some chapters are bigger than others, so whether you are a social butterfly, or more introverted, there will be a chapter to suit you. No matter where you turn, each chapter will welcome you to check out what they are all about.

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SPORTS Advance-Titan

Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Mike Johrendt - Assistant Sports Editor

February 9, 2017

Oshkosh fans travel for championship by Morgan Van Lanen vanlam57@uwosh.edu

Going out to Salem, Virginia was not the first time Santana Herbst traveled a long distance during the 2016 football season to watch her boyfriend play. Rather, the UW Oshkosh sophomore dedicated many weekends this past fall to cheer on her favorite team. “I went to all of the Titans’ games this year except maybe two,” Herbst said. “How could I miss the national championship game? I traveled to Marion, Ill., a 16 hour round-trip, and sat in 90-degree weather. I traveled to Hancock, Mich., a 10 hour round-trip and sat in pouring rain. I went to every other conference game, and sat through sunny weather and also the freezing cold, especially the semi-final game at home.” On Friday, Dec. 16, 3,476 fans from UWO and the University of Mary HardinBaylor of Texas could be found at Salem Stadium cheering as the two teams battled it out in the NCAA D-III Championship. UWO student Elyssa Hochevar described the

game as one of the most memorable ones she has ever been to and said she thinks it will stick with the players and fans for a lifetime. “I thought this football game was no less than incredible,” Hochevar said. “The atmosphere was nothing like I’ve experienced because everyone was so thrilled and excited to have come so far to cheer on the Titans.” Shortly after the Titans beat John Carroll University on Dec. 10, students were given the opportunity to ride a fan bus to the championship game provided by the University. The cost of the trip was $280 per person, while hotel and ticket costs were not included. The bus departed from UWO on Thursday at 5 a.m. and returned back to Oshkosh on Saturday. Both Herbst and Hochevar said they traveled to Virginia in a car with either family or friends. “It was about a 13 hour car drive straight through, but of course we stopped multiple times for gas, toll, and food and that added on more time,” Herbst said. “I chose to do this mode of transportation because flying cost anywhere from $500-

$800 round trip. The fan bus offered by the University was too expensive as well.” When the game kicked off on Friday at 7:00 p.m., the temperature was 27 degrees in Salem. Hochevar said she made sure to bundle up, but the adrenaline from the game kept her from getting cold. “Although the weather was a bit chilly, nothing new to us, it didn’t take away from the game because so many times during it we were jumping up and down or standing up because of a big play,” Hochevar said. “We actually warmed up. But, foot and hand warmers did help.” Fans were clad in black and yellow for the game and brought along signs and flags to show their support for the Titans. UWO director of athletics Daryl Sims said he is extremely impressed by number of people who traveled to Virginia. “Our fans were phenomenal,” Sims said. “They did an outstanding job during the tailgate. They formed a tunnel for the team when it got off the bus, so the players had a chance to walk through the tunnel of all the fans. During the course of the game, they certainly made their presence

known. They made it feel like a home game for us because of how loud they were cheering and how many of them were there. And even though we came up short, they never let us feel like we did.” The Titans ended their season with a record of 13-2 and a trip to their first-ever national championship, making it their most successful year to date. Herbst MORGAN VAN LANEN/ADVANCE-TITAN s a i d , UWO fans show their support for the Titans at the 2016 NCAA D-III Championship. although fans and proud of. could see that at any game players were “The boys showed that you went to. They were fun disappointed in the championship game loss, the team football is more than a sport; to watch, not just because of displayed unique character football helps build relation- their talents, but because of throughout the season that ships,” Herbst said. “The the brotherhood you could they should be the most team was a family and you see on the field.”

A-T crew heads to Virginia by Morgan Van Lanen vanlam57@uwosh.edu

MORGAN VAN LANEN/ADVANCE-TITAN

No. 12 junior quarterback Brett Kasper lines up in the shotgun against the Crusaders. Kasper went 20-33 in passing and had two interceptions during the Stagg Bowl.

UWO concludes season at NCAA Stagg Bowl

by Nathan Proell proeln91@uwosh.edu The UW Oshkosh football team’s season ended Saturday, Dec. 19 after a 7-10 loss to the University of Mary HardinBaylor Crusaders of Texas in the NCAA Division III National Championship Amos Alanzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, VA. This was the first appearance at the Stagg Bowl for the Titans and the first Stagg Bowl title for the Crusaders in their second appearance. A quick three-and-out for the Crusaders to start the game forced them to punt from their own 26-yard line to the Titans’ 36-yard line, after UWO won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Titans took an early lead after going 64 yards in nine plays for a touchdown from a 2-yard rush from running back Dylan Hecker. After the extra point was good from kicker Eli Wettstein, the Titans were up 7-0 with 9:38 left in the first quarter. The early touchdown was the only time the Titans were ahead and the only score the Titans earned that game. Titans head coach Pat Cerroni said the Crusaders were still warming up when the Titans scored early. “I think they were cold,” Cerroni said. “That’s about it.” After starting from their own 29-yard line, UMHB was able to take the ball to the UWO 5-yard line where the Titans defense was able to make the stop and force a field goal. Kicker John Mowery’s field goal from 22-yards out was good and the Crusaders were on the board with 1:11 in the first quarter With 7:31 remaining in the

first half, the Crusaders took over on downs and were able to take the ball 75 yards for a touchdown via a 1-yard rush from Stagg Bowl MVP Blake Jackson. The final score would be 10-7 as neither team scored in the second half The Titans were able to hold the Crusaders to the lowest score of their season, something Cerroni said should not go unnoticed. “What’s unfortunate here is that their defense played extremely well, but so did ours,” Cerroni said. Kasper had a career-high eight interceptions this season. With the eighth one ending the Titans’ hopes of a national championship, Kasper said he knows that play will hurt for a while, but he will grow from it. “The last play of the game, that’s gonna be motivation in the offseason and for next season,” Kasper said. Despite the 2016-2017 season being the most successful season in UWO football history, Cerroni said the loss still hurts. “We wanted to win.” Cerroni said. “There’s no solace in losing. We weren’t satisfied to be here, we were here to win the thing. Obviously tonight they were the better team.” Hecker, after being just one year out of ACL surgery, had a career-high of 1142 yards this season. He was held to a season-low 29 total yards against the Crusaders. Hecker said the UMHB defense did what they had to do to stop the Titans from taking the lead. “The [Titans] defense played great and they gave us plenty of opportunities, so I think at that

MORGAN VAN LANEN/ADVANCE-TITAN

No. 52 Justin Watson hugs a fan after the Titans fall to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 7-10. time we knew it was our turn to step up and put together a scoring drive and we obviously couldn’t,” Hecker said. Jake Thein, who had a careerhigh 32 total tackles his senior

season, said, despite the loss, he is proud of his team and excited for the future of UWO football. “We really wanted to win this thing, but I guess there’s really no other way I would want to

end my senior season than playing in the national championship,” Thein said. “I’m thankful for getting that opportunity and I’m hoping that they can continue this thing and get back here.”

As a female pursuing a degree in sports journalism, I constantly think about how skewed the ratio of women to men is in this field. It is obvious in the world of sports today that the number of men journalists dominates the number of women journalists. Prior to attending the NCAA Division III Football Championship Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, VA this past weekend as a sports editor for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, I was pretty well-aware of this. I have only one female writer in the sports section for the Advance-Titan, and I have noticed a larger number of men than women at my job with the Green Bay Packers the last two years. However, I got a good taste of it first-hand after spending 28 hours in a car with three college-aged male journalists within a span of four days. As much as I hate to admit it, the knowledge I gained by attending the game and the amount of fun I had on the trip makes up for every annoying moment I had to endure over the weekend. I think it was on Wednesday, Dec. 3 as I was rereading my football beat writer’s recap about UW Oshkosh defeating St. Thomas in the third round of the tournament when the idea of going to the championship first came to mind. Three members, not including myself, from the A-T traveled to Minnesota for that quarterfinal game and had a great time. It was something I also wanted to be able to experience. The Titans still had another game to win before heading to the final game and I knew it would be expensive to send the A-T to another game, so I jokingly asked our adviser if we could go to Salem if the opportunity arose. I was shocked and excited when he said absolutely. For the following three days before the next game, I annoyed the heck out of my friends and parents, bragging about the opportunity to attend the championship.

EDITOR, PAGE A9

Mike Johrendt -Assistant Sports Editor Questions? Email: atitan@uwosh.edu

Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Questions? Email: atitan@uwosh.edu

A season to remember February 9, 2017 — www.advancetitan.com

After going 9-1 during the 2016 regular season and finishing runner-up in the WIAC, the UW Oshkosh football team made a memorable run in the playoffs. It culminated in its first-ever trip to the NCAA D-III Championship game in Salem, Virginia against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders on Dec.16. by Mike Johrendt

Head coach Pat Cerroni:

“I am really proud of these guys for how they worked and what we have created is a warrior-class of athlete at Oshkosh. These kids work hard, they have done a great job and I could not be more proud of them. They sacriﬁce their bodies for this university.”

johrem64@uwosh.edu Since the start of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s football program in 1893, there have been 23 different head coaches. Eight have led UWO for at least five years, with four of those remaining at Oshkosh for at least 10 years. Current head coach Pat Cerroni is one of the few coaches who has stayed at UWO for at least 10 years. Through 183 games, he holds a .671 winning percentage, making him the highest-winning coach in Titan history. Cerroni is the fourth-longest tenured coach in UWO’s history, with only Russ Young, Ron Cardo and the namesake of UWO’s gym, Robert Kolf, having longer coaching careers as a Titan. Cerroni has recorded the only three double-digit season win totals in the history of the University, with two of those in consecutive years, 2015 and 2016. Cerroni arrived at Oshkosh in 2000 as the defensive coordinator after being the head coach at Menomonee Falls High School. Working at the high school level provided valuable experiences he was able to rely on when moving up into the college ranks. Cerroni’s coaching career dates back to the early 1990s, when he held positions as an assistant at Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Hartland Arrowhead high schools before moving on to Menomonee Falls. “Coming from being a high school coach, to have six years of understanding how to recruit, how to bring in a group of guys, to logistically get through a football camp, a season and spring ball was crucial,” Cerroni said. Cerroni was at UWO seven seasons as the defensive coordinator under then-head coach Phil Meyer before being promoted. Meyer left for another position in 2007, and Cerroni was named the interim head coach in January while a coaching search continued. It was eventually determined that the best option to take over the team was already on staff. Cerroni was given the keys to the team, had the interim coaching tag removed and became the program’s 21st head coach later that year. The two main coordinators at UWO are Stenbroten and Venne, with Stenbroten leading the defense and Venne overseeing the offense. Stenbroten just finished his tenth season at Oshkosh, including his second year as the defensive coordinator. Venne completed his 16th season coaching for UWO, which he began as a student coach while attending UWO. Both Stenbroten and Venne were on the team at some point when Cerroni held the defensive coordinator position. Venne said being a player helps teach what the game is all about. “When you are a player first, sometimes it does help you understand what it takes to be

a coach,” Venne said. Under Stenbroten, the Titans have produced many award winners, including one first and one second-team All-American from D3football.com this year. In 2015, Stenbroten coached linebacker Taylor Goodman to the first All-American award for the Titans. Linebacker Reese Dziedzic earned a firstteam D3football.com All-American nod this year, with safety Johnny Eagan taking home second team honors for the Titans. Stenbroten also helped four Titans earn a first-team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bid and three earned second team honors. Both Stenbroten and Venne had playing careers in black and gold, with all three main coaches on the staff earning a degree from UWO. Stenbroten was a linebacker who appeared in 34 games during his playing career, and Venne made 35 appearances as an offensive lineman during his tenure as a player for the Titans. Stenbroten said the familiarity of both the University and the program helped him understand his coaching roles, especially as he made his way through the ranks to the defensive coordinator position. “All the same dorms, food and professors were there to help freshman adjust to campus life,” Stenbroten said. “I played for coach Cerroni as well, and it gets intense at moments, but his passion is what I have experienced.” Venne has had a hand in the offensive unit for 16 years so far, with positions that include managing the offensive line and overall offensive cordinator, as well as assisting with the strength and conditioning program. He was at the helm of the offense in 2015 when the team set a WIAC record for most 60-point scoring games in one season with three and set a UWO record by putting up 86 points in an early-season contest. By putting up record-setting seasons, Venne said the results stemmed from lessons learned and challenges faced during both his playing career, his rise through the coaching ranks at UWO and he especially credits coaching the offensive line. “Being an alumnus and having this type of success means a lot,” Venne said. “The detail that you have to have when coaching a specific position helps in the transition to coordinator. I love being the offensive coordinator and everything with it, but coaching the offensive line is something that I definitely miss.” Graduate assistants and student coaches are also a dominant part of the coaching staff. They help the program succeed and Cerroni said without the help of these men, the team would not be where it is today. “There are a lot of programs out there that struggle and do not look outside the box,” Cerroni said. “To even give a kid a chance to coach, I am not afraid to do that. I am not afraid to let a 19-year-old have a posi-

MORGAN VAN LANEN/ADVANCE-TITAN

Above: The UW Oshkosh football team walks hand-in-hand out to midfield before the beginning of the Stagg Bowl. This was the first appearance for UWO in the Stagg Bowl. Left: Senior wide receiver Evan Thammahong and junior wide receiver Chad Redmer exchange a handshake before the start of the NCAA D-III football Championship in Virginia. tion and be coaching because they are good could not be more proud of them. They sacrifice their bodies for this university.” enough to do it.” Cerroni gives credit to the conference as Coinciding with student leadership is the freedom players have for controlling the a whole and said in order to perform well in the playoffs, you must play game. Stenbroten said for well during the regular seathe team to succeed, players We will be back. If you son. must take advantage of the fact they have the majority win the WIAC, you are a “We will be back,” Cerof say as to what plays and pretty good football team roni said. “If you win the and you are going to con- WIAC, you are a pretty good formations are run. football team and you are go“You learn how to teach tend for this every year. ing to contend for this every either the defense or the of— Pat Cerroni year. Our conference is realfense to the players we curHead football coach ly good and we beat a lot of rently have,” Stenbroten really good teams this year. said. “Specifically, the way We have nothing to hang our we call the defense is so interesting, with the linebackers calling fronts heads about.” By making their first appearance in the and the safeties calling the coverages, so the coaches do not call a whole lot. It just all championship, the Titans were able to make it to the game that both UW-Whitewater and comes down to teaching.” With the culmination of the season an Mount Union had essentially lived at for the appearance in their first-ever Stagg Bowl, past ten years. This was the first time since 2004 that neiCerroni said through and through, this team earned everything it received. The team’s ther the Warhawks nor the Purple Raiders dedication and improvements it showed made the Stagg Bowl, making for a unique throughout the course of the season described part in the history of D-III football. Previthe drive of wanting to follow through on a ously, the farthest the Titans went in the goal players set at the beginning of the year Division three playoffs was to the semifinal round in 2012, when they finished 13-1, which was to win the Stagg Bowl. “We were not satisfied to be here, we only losing in the playoffs. Coaching is an aspect of the game of footwanted to win the [game],” Cerroni said. “I am really proud of these guys for how they ball that survives through experience. To be worked and what we have created is a war- a successful coach on any level, on-the-job rior-class of athletes at Oshkosh. These kids training is necessary to improve. Their appreciation for the game, their work hard, they have done a great job and I

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dedication to improving game plans and schemes while instilling a sense of dedication and grit into their players is why coaches are put in leadership positions. Their want to reach the promised land and bring home the hardware while helping their players understand the importance of leaving it all on the field is what differentiates coaches and legends. Cerroni said he has the utmost faith in his coaching staff and the promise they have for upcoming seasons. He said he is already looking forward to next season. “The core of coaches have predominantly stayed the same for a very long time,” Cerroni said. “I think that has a lot to do with our success. I think we are very unique that way in how we have a lot of guys that help us out and we would not be in the position that we are without them.” What Cerroni, Stenbroten and Venne have instilled at Oshkosh has led to remarkable results. Six of Cerroni’s ten teams have finished third or higher in the WIAC standings, with two of his three WIAC championships occurring in consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. UWO has finally made an appearance on the national stage, bringing 122 years of football lore with it. Even with the secondplace finish in the national championship contest, the results of this season and the solid nature of the coaching staff are reasons to believe that Oshkosh’s future is very bright.

2016 playoff results: 11/19: 49-13 win against Washington University 11/26: 31-14 win against St. John’s 12/3: 34-31 win at University of St. Thomas 12/10: 10-3 win against John Carroll 12/16: 7-10 loss against

SPORTS

Advance-Titan

Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Mike Johrendt - Assistant Sports Editor

February 9, 2017

Stagg Bowl has unique history by Austin Walther waltha98@uwosh.edu

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MORGAN VAN LANEN

From left to right: Austin Walther, Morgan Van Lanen, Mike Johrendt and Nate Proell. The A-T staff traveled to Salem.

A-T sports editor gets lit at football game EDITOR

FROM PAGE

I’m pretty sure my girlfriends think I’m crazy sometimes. So, the Titans went on to beat John Carroll University on Dec. 10 at home and they were headed to the championship in Salem against the University of Mary HardinBaylor. I live-streamed the game with my mom and dad and we had a great time watching it. After the Titans won, I screamed “I’m going to Virginia!” about 478 times and a smile stayed on my face the entire day. Four of us from the A-T were given the opportunity to go on the trip: Austin Walther, the social media manager, Mike Johrendt, the assistant sports editor, Nate Proell, the football beat writer, and myself, the sports editor. We planned and replanned. We bickered about the hotel we would stay in. We calculated the travel costs. And then we fought some more. Still, we were all so thrilled about the opportunity to attend the game and it was all we talked about the entire week. On Thursday morning, we went over to Enterprise in Oshkosh to rent a vehicle to use to get to Virginia. I drove the mini-van first, while wearing my “De Pere High School Soccer” parka. The boys decided to refer to me as “soccer mom” for the rest of the time, which they thought was absolutely hilarious. For the next 14 hours, I witnessed conversations about so many things my parents would be appalled to know about. I was forced to listen to Mike’s terrible rap music and Austin’s stories about creating a college bowl pick’em account for his cat. I tried to engage in conversations with the three of them by asking handfuls of questions about what they are doing for Christmas, what they asked for from Santa, how their semester went, etc. That didn’t go too

well. I think they often got annoyed of me, and would once again resort to calling me soccer mom. Despire screaming at the boys for driving way too fast through the mountains in West Virginia, we eventually made it to our hotel in Salem in one piece. The three guys thought the multitude of “falling rock” signs along the highway were especially funny and envisioned different scenarios of what we would do if a giant boulder came tumbling toward us. When we got to the Quality Inn Hotel around 1 a.m. on Friday morning, we checked in at the lobby and ran into an alumnus from Mary HardinBaylor by the front desk. We started chatting with him and he explained how he and his party recently arrived as well and found a roll of toilet paper shoved into the toilet in their bathroom. Becoming increasingly tired, the “warm” and “pleasant” conversation added to my extreme crabbiness. After waking up on Friday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel lobby and decided to explore the town of Salem. We then swung by Salem Stadium where the Titans would be playing later that night to pick up our media credentials and check out the field. We ran into a bit of trouble when trying to get our media credentials because Austin “accidentally” forgot to include himself when filling out the paperwork the previous week. He registered Nate, Mike, and myself but forgot about himself which frustrated the lady at the media desk because she had to process him another badge. After figuring out the credential situation, a city worker of Salem snuck us into the stadium, but we later got yelled at by an NCAA official and had to leave. For lunch, we ate at this really creepy Italian restaurant. We were the only ones in the entire place, but the food ended up being really good. Our server forgot we were there, though, and we

had to go into the kitchen to ask for our bill. Next, we headed to the stadium for the game at around 5 p.m. Another exciting aspect to the game was how nice the weather was compared to Oshkosh. We put on our winter boots, dressed in layers, and thought we were ready to face the 20 degree temperature. We were so wrong about it. My toes were numb by the time kick-off rolled around. I still wonder how some of the football players warmed up without a shirt on before the game. Mike and I were the two on-field photographers for the game, while Nate and Austin got to sit up in the press box and focus on live-tweeting the game. After the game, they complained to Mike and I about how hot it was in the box and how they had to crack a window because it was just so unbearable. We made a deal that if the Titans are back in the championship next year, Mike and I are sitting in the press box and the other two are taking pictures on the field. Because it was so cold, Mike and I each got to take turns standing by one of the two space heaters by the Titans’ bench. While he was covering half the field, I warmed up and once the team got to my half of the field, Mike got to stand by the space heater. About 10 minutes into the first quarter, I was standing by the heater and a gust of wind must have moved my parka into the heater because it felt like my leg was burning. I looked down and there was a small flame covering the end of my jacket and eating at my sweatpants. I was able to get the fire out with my hand but it destroyed a chunk of my parka and left a huge hole in my pants and into my leggings underneath. Scared by what just occurred, I bolted over to Mike and texted the boys up in the box, but there wasn’t much anyone could do. I looked like an idiot for the

rest of the game and my left leg was sore from the burn. About a dozen people came up to me asking if I was alright and a medic pretty much begged me to drop my pants so he could examine the injury. I refused. Other than almost burning to death, I had an absolute blast at the game. It was a battle of the two defenses and it came down right to the last minute. I loved taking pictures of the crazy fans and the excited players, making it the most fun thing I have ever shot. Although the Titans lost 7-10, all of the players remained positive during the press conference and in the locker room following the game. After the game, the four of us, the two guys from the UWO radio station and the guy from Titan TV went out for a very late, 11:30 p.m., dinner. On Saturday morning, we left Virginia at 8 a.m. and headed back to Wisconsin. Because of the weather being so bad on our trek home, we reserved a last-minute hotel about an hour west of Indianapolis and spent the night swimming and watching college bowl games. We made it back to Enterprise in Oshkosh at about 2 p.m. on Sunday and then all made our way back to our home towns for winter break. Traveling to Salem for the National Championship was one of the best journalism-related experiences I have ever been apart of. I deeply enjoyed following the Oshkosh football team this fall, from attending games to talking with players to reading articles and recaps. I want to thank all of the amazing people who donated to the “#WeNeedTheAT” fundraiser last year. Without you guys, this trip wouldn’t have happened. And lastly, although I would have loved some more girl power on the trip, I wouldn’t trade the experience and the knowledge I gained for the world.

The 44th annual Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl was completed between UW Oshkosh and Mary Hardin-Baylor on December 16 in Salem, Va. The game was first originated in 1969 as the West Regional Championship for small college teams as the East Regional Championship was named after Knute Rockne. According to the 2016 NCAA Stagg Video, he was chosen to have his name associated with this championship because of his contribution to the game of football. “He was perhaps the most important individual in the early history of college athletics,” the video said. “He had more of an impact on the game of football as we know it today than any other coach.” Amos Alonzo Stagg has been considered one of the great innovators of college football and his contributions go back as far as 1889. Stagg was selected to the first-ever All-American team in 1889 for his senior season at Yale as an end. A year later, Stagg organized the Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA football team which is now known as Springfield College. One of Stagg’s players was James Naismith who was the inventor of basketball. When William Rainey Harper, Stagg’s divinity professor at Yale, was named the first president of the University of Chicago in 1892, Harper named Stagg head football coach and director of the development of physical culture, where he would there stay for the next 41 years. Current sports information director Nathan Lindquist said Stagg put Chicago on equal footing with Michigan and Notre Dame back in the day as the school was still a young University. “He [Stagg] led the University of Chicago into prominence athletically,” Lindquist said. “It really raised the profile of the institution in terms of athletics.” Stagg not only coached football for the Maroons, but he also coached track for 32 years, baseball for 19 and basketball for one season. While at Chicago, Stagg helped organize the Big Ten Conference, which was known as the Western Conference and he was one of the founders of the American Football Coaches Association. Under the guidance of Stagg, UChicago emerged as one of the football powerhouse programs during the first quarter of the 20th Century. From 1892 to 1932, Stagg compiled a record of 242-112-27 and appeared in seven Big Ten Championships. Even though Chicago doesn’t have many ways of honoring Stagg anymore, Lindquist said Stagg is

remembered at the University by having his name all over the place. “He is inextricably tied to our facilities,” Lindquist said. “Our football field and the grass field complex is all Stagg Field. His name is on the archway above the football gates.” So many different inventions to the game have been credited to Stagg, including the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse, man in motion plays, the lateral pass, uniform numbers and awarding varsity letters. After retiring from Chicago, Stagg served as head coach at Pacific from 1932 to 1946 and then as an assistant to his son until 1952 at Susquehanna. Stagg would live to be 102 when he passed away in 1965. Amos Alonzo Stagg was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 as both a player and a coach. In 1973, the NCAA developed the National Division III Championship game and adopted the Stagg Bowl name over Knute Rockne. According to the University of Chicago athletic page, Rockne was quoted by saying, “All football comes from Stagg.” After the West Regional Championship game was played in two different Ohio cities and concluded in Phenix City, Alabama. The National Championship then began its first ten years in Alabama. The Stagg Bowl went back to Ohio for two years before returning to Alabama and then spent three years in Florida before it finally ended up in Salem in 1993. It has been there ever since. Tournament Manager Carey Harveycutter has been a part of the Stagg Bowl committee since it has arrived to Salem and he said Stagg’s legacy has carried on quite nicely for 24 years. “Amos Alonzo Stagg epitomized the way to do sports in Division III with emphasis on the student-athlete,” Harveycutter said. “Playing fair, winning the right way and it’s the only NCAA Championship that is named after somebody.” A few family members of Amos Alonzo were in attendance for the 2016 Stagg Bowl and Harveycutter said the family was excited to see how it has grown. “They were just excited that they can come to something named after their relative,” Harveycutter said. “They have a special fondness to the championship.” The NCAA recognizes Stagg as one of the key additions to college athletics early on in history during the Stagg preview video. “Amos Alonzo Stagg was a shining example of honesty, integrity and pure amateurism in athletics,” the video said. “A spirit that is exhibiting throughout NCAA Division III athletics and a legacy that the Stagg family continues today.”

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CAMPUS CONNECTIONS Advance-Titan

Alyssa Grove - Campus Connections Editor

February 9, 2017

“26 Pebbles” highlights world issues

love U.S. citizens sent to Newtown in the form of thousands of teddy bears emphasizes how, in spite of strong di“Every day there are shadows, but vision in the country, people can come together to support one another. every day there is light, too.” “[The play shows] how compasThese are the words of a six-yearold survivor of the tragic Sandy sionate people can be in times of tragHook shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 that edy,” Davis said. Along with the message of hope and claimed the lives of 20 children and love, Kalinoski said “26 Pebbles” adsix teachers. These words, along with other dresses several issues that face Amerverbatim interviews done with the ica such as gun control, mental illness townspeople of Newtown, Connecti- and post-traumatic stress disorder. “This play in particular is very much cut, were brought to life in the UW Oshkosh theatre department’s staged like a Greek chorus, and so the issues reading of Eric Ulloa’s new play “26 that arise in the community get an airing and get to have conversation,” KaPebbles” last weekend. “26 Pebbles” had its first profes- linoski said. A moment in the play is devoted to sional premiere last weekend as well after having its first staged production discussing who was to blame for the shooter’s actions, and Battaglia said at UW-La Crosse last October. Director Richard Kalinoski said the diverse opinions presented in the Ulloa’s focus on the townspeople sur- play demonstrate America’s urgent rounding the event rather than the fam- need for more open discussions about ilies directly impacted by the shooting mental illnesses and how they should be handled. was intentional. “I think it sheds a re“I think ‘26 Pebbles’ Ultimately, the play is useful, not so much points out that the only thing ally good light on, not from a philosophical you can cling to is the impulse only the victims, but the aggressor,” Battpoint of view, but may- to love. aglia said. “It shows be as an effort to bring — Richard Kalinoski the process of healing a little restoration of Director and it creates a sense dignity to a community of community.” and civility after a horAnother issue prerific attack,” Kalinoski sented was the escasaid. “I think the playlating role of the mewright’s intended purdia during tragedy. pose was a restoration of compassion, Carole, the Human Resource Diof caring and a restoration identity.” UWO student Olivia Battaglia said rector of Newtown, summarized in a the simple staging of the play, the ac- harsh outburst: “Horrible. Invasive. tors sitting in an arc with their scripts There was no escape and there was no in hand, no more than 15 feet from the time for us to grieve.” With all of the hot-topic issues preaudience, created an intimate space that made it easier to connect to the sented in “26 Pebbles,” Kalinoski identities of people she’ll never know. added the play does not offer ways to “This happened when I was in high resolve these issues, but raises awareschool and I didn’t really hear a whole ness of the diverse reactions people lot about it; I just heard there was a have to tragedy and how those reacshooting,” Battaglia said. “So I got to tions have the power to bring people learn more about it and what the town together. “I don’t know that [the play], or had to go through. It really helped me connect with those people on a per- any theatrical presentation, can point in the direction of solutions for somesonal level.” Kalinoski said “26 Pebbles” finds a one’s erratic and strange behavior,” way to have an uplifting message de- Kalinoski said. “But to some degree spite the heartbreaking circumstances I think [‘26 Pebbles’] celebrates the better part of a community and of husurrounding it. “Ultimately, the play points out that manity.” The theatre department’s next prothe only thing you can cling to is the duction is Neil Simon’s comedy impulse to love,” Kalinoski said. UWO student Allison Davis said “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” which that by showcasing the outpouring of will run March 2-5. by Kellie Wambold wambok23@uwosh.edu

KATHERINE BAIRD/ADVANCE-TITAN

The Women’s Center provides pamphlets with information about health and sports, and women from a local Muslim faith community brought hijabs to give UWO women the experience of wearing one.

World Hijab Day brings UWO women together

by Alyssa Grove grovea09@uwosh.edu In honor of World Hijab Day on Feb. 1, the UW Oshkosh Women’s Center set up booths on campus to provide information to students about the hijab and its role in Muslim culture. There were tables in both Reeve Union and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center that aimed to inform students about the hijab, the headpiece worn by some Muslim women, and its role in Muslim culture. World Hijab Day began in 2013 in recognition of Muslim women who make the choice to wear the hijab. The day’s founder, Nazma Khan, came up with the idea as a way to spreading information about the hijab as well as to promote more religious tolerance, according to the World Hijab Day website. Through this event women are invited to wear the hijab for a day to get a feel for what it is like for Muslim women who choose to wear it. Women were invited to stop by the booths to experience wearing the hijab and were helped with putting it on by members of the Muslim community. These women helped students and faculty put on the hijab and took photos with those wearing it. The hijabs were donated from a local Muslim faith community and women were able to take the hijab home with them, as they were encouraged to continue their experience by wearing it for the rest of the day. South Gruenhagen health advocate Jasmine Pickett did not know it was World Hijab Day when she walked into the SRWC to take part in the National Women & Girls in Sports Day events, but was open to the experience. “I think it’s really important that UWO celebrates this day,” Pickett said. “I think that it’s a good thing for us to expose students and faculty to a different culture.” Pickett said she thinks it is important that campus members try to understand Muslim culture and what hijabs mean to those who choose to wear them. “It’s kind of a cool experience because this is my first time [wearing the hijab]” Pickett said. “You can kind of [get an idea of] what other people think or how they receive people who do wear hijabs.” Pickett said she noticed a few people were staring, but continued wearing the hijab and didn’t

KATHERINE BAIRD/ADVANCE-TITAN

From left to right: Alicia Johnson, Brooke Aldersebaes, Amera and Juliana Kahrs stand pose together after being taught to wear the hijab. feel pressured by this to take it off. Women’s Center program assistant Eliza Farrow said she hoped this day helped people feel comfortable asking questions and learning about other cultures and communities they may not know very much about. “World Hijab day is about exploring Muslim culture and wearing a hijab to be in solidarity with Muslim women,” Farrow said. Farrow said with all that is going on in the current environment throughout the United States, as well as the rest of the world, this day is a great opportunity and a great resource to become more educated on aspects of Muslim culture people may not know much about. “A lot of the media narrative is often that [the hijab] is a symbol of oppression,” Johnson said. “But we’re here to challenge those misconceptions and to hear from Muslim women about why they choose to wear the hijab, because it is their choice and right to do so.”

Johnson said the experience of wearing the hijab is different for everyone, as they wear it for different reasons, but emphasized the importance it holds to those who choose to wear it. “Any time that we can, even for a day, put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, I think it’s important to take that opportunity and reflect on what that experience was like,” Johnson said. “So that we can work from a place of empathy to make our environment more safe and inclusive for everyone.” Johnson said she hoped those who participated in the day’s event do not walk away with the idea of wearing the hijab as a singular experience. “It’s an important show of solidarity that people are not only willing to put it on or wear it for an hour, for the day, but that they’re just there and willing to learn,” Johnson said. “I think a lot of the women that were there earlier walked away and just felt heartwarmed, and I think for me that makes it all worth it.”

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CAMPUS CONNECTIONS Advance-Titan

A11

Alyssa Grove - Campus Connections Editor

February 9, 2017

Across 1 Dangerous wind for small boats 5 “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” movie 9 Barbecue rod 13 Actor Sharif 14 Verbal exams 16 Actress Lollobrigida 17 Ship-fouling organisms, on Talk Like a Pirate Day? 19 Lights-out tune 20 Horse hue 21 Spyglass component 23 With 48-Down, mediocre 24 “Alas ... “ 26 Cry of fright 27 Burning 29 Key lime __ 30 Pigpen 31 Story surprises 32 What kids ask on a long trip, on TLAP Day? 36 What George Washington could not tell, according to folklore 37 Oregon Trail wagon pullers 38 Ship’s right-front section, on TLAP Day? 43 Sends to the Hill 45 Agrees to 46 Wonderment 47 Wood-shaping tool 48 Urgent distress signal 49 When right turns are sometimes permitted 51 Tax agcy. 52 Dire fate 54 Two of a kind 55 The color of tropical seas 57 Cold northern region, on TLAP Day? 61 “The Sopranos” actress Falco 62 Human trunk 63 Ring of light 64 Flatﬁsh sometimes served stuffed 65 Recipe amts. 66 Online auction site Down 1 Dollop 2 Doctors’ org. 3 Food storage area, on TLAP Day? 4 Swashbuckler Flynn 5 __ of 6-Down: French heroine 6 5-Down of __: French heroine 7 Minnesota’s state ﬁsh 8 Like a smooth-sailing clipper ship 9 Rank above cpl. 10 One tickling the ivories

Answers to last week’s puzzles

11 Sitting at the dock of the bay 12 Tries a bite of 15 Taxpayer ID 18 Dissenting vote 22 Fictional Tom or real-life Diane 24 Massage facility 25 Balloon ﬁller 26 Old anesthetic 28 Wicked one 30 Mixes 31 __ Hold ‘em 33 Enjoy, as television 34 Overjoyed 35 Chess castles 38 Shove off 39 Post-WWII babies 40 Bill for drinks, on TLAP Day? 41 Be indebted to 42 Married 43 Upper crust groups 44 Rio Grande city 48 See 23-Across 49 Rowboat propeller 50 Specialized market segment 53 Giants slugger Mel 54 All in favor 56 Director Ang __ 58 Deadly snake 59 Dockworkers’ org. 60 Playfully shy

8 things to do when you’re single on Valentine’s Day by Kellie Wambold wambok23@uwosh.edu

SPORTS UWO men struggle at home A12

Advance-Titan

Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Mike Johrendt - Assistant Sports Editor

February 9, 2017

by Nathan Proell proeln91@uwosh.edu The UW Oshkosh basketball team went one for three through the past three games of the 2017 regular season bringing their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record to one game above .500 at 6-5 and their overall record to 13-9. The Titans sit in a tie for third place with UW-Eau Claire at 6-5 in conference play. Oshkosh sits two games behind second place UW-Whitewater (8-3) and four games behind first place UW-River Falls (10-1). Coming into the home game against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers on Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Titans were riding a two game winning streak, beating the UW-La Crosse Eagles 61-55 and then beating the UW-Eau Claire Bluegolds 79-66. Despite being in third place in the conference, Titans head coach Pat Juckem said the team has not played to their full potential yet this season. “We feel like we haven’t played our best basketball,” Juckem said. “We think there’s a whole other level that we can go to yet.” In the close 68-69 home loss to the Pointers, starting guard Charlie Noone had a career high 24 points making 7-8 3-point shots. Starting guard Ben Boots had the second most points with 10. Despite the team putting up their second-highest total score of the season, they were not able to come out on top. The Titans had a fast start and led 11-4 at the 15:52 mark in the first half. Noone put nine points on the board going three for three in 3-point shots with guard Brett Wittchow tacking on two points. Although the Titans got off to a good start, the Pointers were quick to get back into the game and were only down three points with 7:14 remaining in the first half. Noone was at 4-5 in 3-point shots with Wittchow adding four points. Forward Max Schebel was at two points, and Kyle Beyak had five. By the end of the first half, the Pointers were ahead 36-31, scoring only nine of their points from beyond the 3-point line and shooting 57.1% going 16-28 overall. At the half, the Pointers leading scorer was forward Zack Goedeke with 11 points. The Pointers’ bench was bringing in 14 points while the Titans’ bench was still at five points. The Pointers were in control for the rest of the game and never let their lead fall to the Titans. At the 12:44 mark in the second half, the score was 50-43 Pointers lead with Noone going scoreless so far and Boots put-

ting up two of his 10 total points that proved to make a difference later on. With 00:53 left in the game the Titans were down 69-68. Noone was at 24 points, and Boots was at 10. The Titans’ bench was at 11 points: seven from Beyak and four from Jack Flynn. The Titans had two opportunities to take the lead, having two 3-point attempts from Boots, who was 2-5 on the night from beyond the arc, but the shots did not go down. “We were disappointed in the outcome on Wednesday,” Juckem said. “We didn’t defend at all to the level we needed to.” Despite the close loss to the Pointers, the Titans were able to bring down the WIAC first place UW-River Falls team at the Karges Center 65-60 the following Saturday, Feb. 4. “We played well that game,” Noone said. “We defended well, and that’s really the key for us. I think we’re jelling at the right time, and it’s always good this time of year to be coming together at the right time.” The Titans’ leading scorer was Wittchow, who had 18 points. The second-leading scorer was forward Taylor Jansen with 12 points. In a game where neither team had a lead of more than six and where there were nine lead changes, the Titans were in the game the whole time. Halfway through the first half, UWO was ahead 26-21. By the end of the first half, the Titans’ lead was extended to 33-28. At the half, the Titans had six players who had scored thus far, with Wittchow being the leader with nine points and Jansen with seven. Halfway through the second half, the Titans’ lead was a mere three points at 51-48. With 4:18 remaining in the game, the score was tied 56-56. After a made layup from AJ Mueller, the Titans retook the lead and never looked back, ending the game 65-60. On Wednesday, Feb. 8 against the UW-La Crosse Eagles, the Titans got off to a slow start. The only lead the Titans had the whole game was at the 17:23 mark in the first half, being up on the Eagles 4-6 after a layup from Flynn. However, a jump shot from Eagles starting forward Ben Meinholz tied the game at six a piece. At the 15:54 mark in the first half, Eagles starting forward Zach Schradle sank a 3-pointer that put the Eagles up 9-6, and they never looked back. Having made zero 3-point shots with 7:53 to go in the first half, the Titans were down 19-12. Despite shooting a mere 14.3 percent from beyond the arc and

ALICIA KAHL/ADVANCE-TITAN

Above: Guard Charlie Noone looks to move the ball around against UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 1. Noone averages 13.1 PPG. Below: Noone totaled 24 points in the game against the Pointers. All but three of his points came from beyond the three-point arc. 30 percent overall at the end of the first half, the Titans were still able to stay within six points of the Eagles, being down 32-26 at the half. The leading scorer of the first half was Boots with seven points while Noone, who went for a career high 24 points against the Pointers, was scoreless through one half going 0-3. The team was able to draw 10 fouls that lead to 12 points in the first half. The Titans were unable to get things going to start the second half, shooting 34 percent with 5:00 remaining in the game. By the end of regulation, the Titans shot a mere 32.8 percent overall going 21-64. The leading scorer for the Titans was Boots with 13 points. Noone shot his lowest total of the season with two points going 1-5. Despite the loss and with just four games left before the WIAC tournament, Wittchow says that the team is in a good position and that they are peaking at the right time. “We’re just starting to reach our full potential,” Wittchow said. “It feels good that it’s coming into February that this is happening instead of December. Even if we have a few kinks, we have time to figure those out.” The Titans’ next game is at home on Saturday, Feb. 11 as they play UW-Platteville.

What you missed over winter break: men’s basketball December 20: vs St. Norbert W 58-45

December 29: at Coe College W 89-66

December 31: vs Carthage L 67-68

January 4: at UW-Stevens Point W 73-68

January 7: vs UW-Stout L 67-74

January 11: at UW-Platteville W 71-60

January 14: at UW-Eau Claire W 70-62

January 18: vs UW-Whitewater L 67-73

January 21: vs UW-River Falls L 57-79

January 25: at UW-La Crosse W 61-55

January 28: vs UW-Eau Claire W 79-66

Overall record this season 13-8

SPORTS Titans extend win streak to six Advance-Titan

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Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Mike Johrendt - Assistant Sports Editor

February 9, 2017

by Mike Johrendt johrem64@uwosh.edu The UW Oshkosh women’s basketball team extended their home winning streak this season to eight games with a 73-53 win over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday and won again on Wednesday over UW-La Crosse, 71-64. In the first game, three of five Titan starters were in double figures, and around 40 percent of their points came from bench production. Junior guard Emma Melotik led all scorers with 14 points, also chipping in two defensive rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes. Junior forward Eliza Campbell scored the first points of the game for Oshkosh on two free throws and finished with 12 points and four rebounds, as well as one steal, assist and block. After being down in a quick four-point deficit to begin the game, the Titans reeled off a 15-7 run to end the first quarter ahead by the same margin of their earlier deficit, 15-11. This was also Oshkosh’s lowest scoring quarter of the game, a testament to their in-game adjustments. Two players for the Titans, Campbell and fellow starter and senior guard Morgan Kokta, led Oshkosh in scoring in the first quarter. Campbell scored half of her points for the entire game in this quarter, while Kokta knocked down a 3-pointer and had five points. Head coach Brad Fischer said the team’s scoring distribution was very important for the success of the team, especially after facing an early deficit. “I thought we had really good balance today,” Fischer said. “That balance makes us really hard to guard and I think just looking at our stat sheet this season that shows. It helps that we do not have to rely on two or three players to be good every night.” The second quarter was even stronger for the Titans, as they scored 21 points in the quarter and held UW-River Falls to only 10 points. Defensively, Oshkosh held the Falcons to only three made baskets in the quarter on 14 attempts, resulting in a meager shooting percentage of 21 percent. Senior forward Alex Richard got herself on the scoring sheet by making two baskets and knocking down two free throws on her way to six of her points. Senior guard and leading scorer Taylor Schmidt contributed her only points of the game via the charity stripe around the

two-minute mark in the second quarter. Even with Schmidt not having her best performance scoring-wise, she contributed in every category on Saturday. Besides her point total, she helped the team effort with three rebounds, assists and steals, filling up the stat sheet. Schmidt only scored two points in the game, but Melotik said that provides the team an opportunity to become more well-rounded and not reliant on just one scoring source. “I think [distribution] is something that is really important that we have when one player is not necessarily having her best game, but just not contributing as much on offense,” Melotik said. “We always have somebody there to help pick her up. It is something that says a lot about our depth, as well. When one person is not doing as well, we have somebody to come step in.” Going into halftime, the Titans had a 36-21 advantage, and the third quarter was more of the same against the Falcons. Melotik poured in another six points on two-of-four shooting, with both made baskets coming from beyond the arc. Bench production was important in this quarter, as that unit scored as many points in the quarter as the starters did with nine each. From the bench, freshman Kylie Moe made a three, sophomore Melanie Schneider knocked down two shots and sophomore Isabella Samuels gathered an offensive rebound and got the putback to go for her two points in the quarter. With this strong showing, the third quarter came to a close with Oshkosh ahead by 22 points, 54-32. The fourth quarter was the closest quarter of the game, as River Falls put up more points than UWO did, 21-19. 14 of the 15 active players for UWO saw time in the fourth quarter, giving Fischer the ability to rest the starters and let the bench take advantage of valuable playing time. Junior guard Jaimee Pitt, sophomore forward Erin Vande Zande and junior forward Taylor Dagon combined for nine of the 19 fourth-quarter points for Oshkosh, pushing the Titans to the 20-point victory. The Titans led most statistical categories for the game, as they attempted more shots and had a higher shooting percentage, they made exactly one-third of their attempted 3-pointers. Oshkosh made 25 of 30 free throws, compared to just 18 of 28 made and attempted by River Falls.

UWO football honored for Stagg Bowl berth by Nate Proell proeln91@uwosh.edu During halftime of the men’s basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 1 the UW Oshkosh football team was recognized for their accomplishments this past season in making it to the National Championship Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The seniors from the team were able to go onto the court and be applauded as team captain C.J. Blackburn addressed the home crowd of 531 people. “We would like to thank the University and the Oshkosh community for all the support throughout our incredible journey,” Blackburn said. The 2016 football season was the most successful one in the program’s history. “I’m just happy for the senior class, they got to come out here for the last time actually in front of the home town,” head coach Pat Cerroni said. “Obviously we wanted to win the game, but it didn’t workout. But we all still love each other and we have really good feelings about what we did.” Cerroni said although he is

pleased with what the team accomplished, it is time to move on and work for next season. The 131-member 2017 team already had a meeting and is focused on the first game of the 2017 season against number-three ranked John Carroll University. Titans quarterback Brett Kasper said he is ready to take on his senior season. “It’s exciting but there’s a weird feeling in the air just being a senior now,” Kasper said. “There’s a lot more responsibility and you really learn about leadership. You have to start thinking about how you’re going to want to lead your team and what legacy you want to leave for your team.” According to Kasper, there is a lot of excitement around the program and it is clear the players feel the same way. “You talk to the seniors every year and they always tell the younger guys to enjoy it while [they] can but you just don’t know it until you’re actually a senior and it’s starting to hit,” Kasper said. “It’s nerve-wracking, it’s almost a do or die season. You want to go out on top.”

ELIZABETH PLETZER/ADVANCE-TITAN

Above: Forward Eliza Campbell shoots one of her free throws against UW-River Falls. Campbell has 12 points and 4 rebounds. Below: Guard Taylor Schmidt takes the ball across half court during the game on Saturday. Schmidt played 22 minutes. Oshkosh also outrebounded the Falcons on both fronts, earning seven offensive boards to River Fall’s five and 34 total rebounds to their 27. Freshman guard Olivia Campbell said the team was able to limit any extra chances and turn the tide in their favor by winning the rebounding battle. “We always focus on limiting our opponent’s offensive rebounds and I think we did that really well today,” Campbell said. “We only gave them one opportunity to score, and when they do not hit that and limit them from scoring, we get a chance for ourselves to score, so that was huge for us.” Winning the foul battle was also important for the Titans, as they earned 25 points from the charity stripe. Fischer said being aggressive throughout the entire game made the difference for the team, especially at the line. “We were just trying to be aggressive,” Fischer said. “We have not been a very good free throw shooting team, and for us to be able to cash in at the rate that we did, we were able to put a lot of pressure on them. It just speaks to our aggressiveness about how we played in attack mode today.” The team’s 20-point win is their largest margin of victory for conference games so far this year. In their most recent game, they faced off against UW-La Crosse on Wednesday and won

71-64. The win pushed them to the 20-win mark for the fifth consecutive year under Fischer. Kokta and Schmidt tied for the lead in scoring with 14 points apiece, and Richard gathered in five rebounds for the Titans. Off the bench, Pitt chipped in 11, Moe had five and both Samuels and senior forward Madeline Staples had two points. The team continued their strong showing on the boards with Eliza Campbell bringing down four rebounds, Kokta with three and both Moe and Samuels had three boards in the winning effort. Three of Richard’s team-leading five rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor. Melotik said that winning the rebounding battle on the defensive end has been stressed more recently, and by following through on that, it helped ensure that there were no second chance opportunities for La Crosse. “We have been concentrating a lot on not letting teams get offensive boards and making sure we get offensive boards as well,” Melotik said. Oshkosh had a lower team shooting percentage and made less free throws than UW-La Crosse, yet earned more steals and dished out more assists in the contest. UWO clung to a slim onepoint lead after the first quarter, with Richard scoring six of her 11 points in the first. Pitt helped

close out the quarter for the Titans by converting an andone layup opportunity with five seconds left. In the second quarter, Oshkosh increased their lead to eight points and took a 37-29 lead into the locker room. Pitt, Kokta and Campbell helped lead the way for Oshkosh into half, combining for 16 points in the quarter. Coming out of halftime and into the third quarter, Oshkosh lost a bit of their lead and were only up 50-46 when the third quarter buzzer sounded. Five players scored in this quarter for the Titans, as Schmidt, Pitt, Samuels, Richard and Schneider combined for 13 points. Both teams were very consistent in the fourth quarter, with each squad producing

their highest scoring quarter in the game. Oshkosh, putting up 21 points over La Crosse’s 18, had their lead dwindle down to less than five points before they were able to hold off the Eagles. One-third of Oshkosh’s 21 points in the quarter came via the free throw line, with six coming in the last 17 seconds alone. Kokta had six fourth-quarter points, four from the line. Schmidt had eight points in the fourth quarter alone, helping close out the game for the Titans. UWO ended the game on a 10-4 run during the last 2:53 of the contest. Continuing on the road, the team travels to UW-Platteville for another WIAC affair on Saturday for their last road game, which is their third-to-last contest of the regular season.

What you missed over winterim:

January 4th: vs UW-Stevens Point W 62-53 January 7th: at UW-Stout W 64-58 January 11th: vs UW-Platteville W 72-51

January 18th: at UW-Whitewater L 55-50 January 21st: at UW-River Falls W 65-55 January 25th: vs UW-La Crosse W 51-49 OT

January 14th: vs UW-Eau Claire W 77-65

January 28th: at UW-Eau Claire W 57-45

Leaders of the week:

Morgan Kokta Points: 34

Eliza Campbell Rebounds: 19

Taylor Schmidt Assists: 7

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SPORTS Advance-Titan

Morgan Van Lanen - Sports Editor Mike Johrendt - Assistant Sports Editor

Gymnastics falls to Eagles on road by Calvin Skalet skalec11@uwosh.edu

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh women’s gymnastics team fell to the University of WisconsinLa Crosse with a score of 187.650-181.775 on Friday in La Crosse. The Eagles, defending WIAC champions, had six of the top seven participants in the floor exercise and also had four of the top six participants in two other events. Senior Danielle Turner led the Titans in the vault with a score of 9.275 and placed third in the event. Sophomore Dana LoCascio and freshman Jessica Bernardo came in sixth and seventh with scores of 9.225 and 9.175. Freshman Karen King was next in the vault with a score of 9.1. Freshman Baylee Tkaczuk scored a 9.0 in the vault, giving UWO a final score of 46.325. The Eagles claimed the top two spots in the uneven bars. Tkaczuk placed third in the event for the Titans with a score of 9.45. Junior Kasandra Stamopoulos came in fifth with a score of 9.350. Bernardo placed seventh with a score of 9.05. Stamopoulos said confidence has been a big reason for her success in the uneven bars and balance beam. “I’ve really focused on having confidence while doing my skills during practice, both mentally having it and physically portraying it,” Stamopoulos said. “That has really helped me to hit both of my events at every meet.” Tkaczuk led the way for UWO as she was the lone all-around participant for the Titans and received a total score of 36.25. Head Coach Lauren Karnitz acknowledged Tkaczuk and her impressive performance thus far this season. “I think she is a very talented young lady,” Karnitz said. “She really stands out

on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She really leads the pack.” UW-La Crosse’s Samantha Wiekemp was the all-around champion with a score of 37.45 points. Wiekemp scored a 9.45 in the floor routine, a 9.35 in the beam, a 9.375 in the bars and finished the day with a 9.275 in the vault. Karnitz said she thinks the team did a good job in vault, bars, and beam but struggled on the floor routine. “We definitely had consistency on vault, bars and beam,” Karnitz said. “But we really let it go on floor.” The Eagles only had two participants with a score lower than nine points on Friday evening. UW-La Crosse outscored the Titans by four points in the floor routine with a score of 44.1047.825 as Abby Ostrovsky won the event with a score of 9.65. Tkaczuk admitted the floor routine caused the Titans problems and said injuries were a big reason for why they could not get scores they wanted. “The main issue gymnastics wise was our floor performance,” Tkaczuk said. “We didn’t have enough people in the lineup on floor to start the season, so a few people coming off an injury had to step up last minute, making it hard to have the solid routine we could count on.” The best score for the Titans individually was Tkaczuk with a 9.55 in her beam routine. The Titan gymnasts have a long break before their next meet against UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Feb. 18th. Tkaczuk said the break will allow her team to get healthy before taking on the Warhawks. “I honestly think this break couldn’t have been at a better time for us,” Tkaczuk said. “We can use this time to improve our floor and work on fixing up the little things on other events.”

Upcoming gymnastics meets Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4:30 p.m. at UW-Whitewater Friday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. vs UW-Eau Claire Saturday, March 4 at 12:00 p.m. at Hamline University

February 9, 2017

Men’s volleyball Midwest Ten Play Date at Marquette Titans’ overall season record: 7-0 UWO vs UW-Milwaukee

Won 25-12, 25-18

UWO vs Iowa State

Won 25-22, 25-17

UWO vs DePaul

Won 25-15, 25-17

UWO vs Notre Dame

Won 25-16, 25-22

UWO vs Illinois State

Won 25-8, 25-19

UWO vs Marquette

Won 26-24, 25-20

Men’s volleyball stays unbeaten by Jordan Fremstad fremsj17@uwosh.edu

UW Oshkosh Division I men’s volleyball team dominated the Midwest Ten Conference Play Date on Feb. 4, winning all six matches. The Titans swept every single match against UW-Milwaukee (25-12, 25-18), Iowa State (2522, 25-17), DePaul (25-15, 25-17), Notre Dame (25-16, 25-22), Illinois State (25-8, 25-19) and Marquette (26-24, 25-20). In the first match against UW-Milwaukee, senior Wesley Morioka recorded three blocks and seniors Tony Mack and Peter Nordel stole the show with ten combined kills. UWO totaled 25 kills to cruise past the Panthers. Sophomore Jake Martin added seven digs to the impressive performance by the Titans. Senior Travis Hudson compiled 18 assists against Iowa State including six digs and four blocks. Senior Sammy Pedersen provided six kills and five digs, and Senior Sam Moua had four digs. Sophomore Devin Hudson led UWO to six kills in a win over DePaul University. The Titans had six players with three or more kills. Sophomore Tony D’Acquisto added three blocks. Head coach Brian Schaefer was a member himself when UWO won the National Intramural Recreation Sports Association D-II Championship in 1996. In his time as the head coach of a dynasty, he has guided the Titans to a magnificent 776161-5 record. He has coached UWO to 11 Wisconsin Volleyball Conference State Championships D-I regular

season titles, including the last eight (2009-2016) and seven WVCs. The Titans also won 13 straight Midwest Ten Conference championships from 2003-2015. Schaefer said he was happy to get several different players into the action to spread experience all over the roster. “The day was meant as a measuring stick on how we were doing as a team,” Schaefer said. “We were able to insert many different line-ups and the guys played focus, hard-nosed volleyball no matter what the lineup, They played very well today.” Pedersen led UWO with 28 total kills and five service aces along with 16 digs for the day. UWO had sensational performances from Nordel, who applied 14 blocks and hit .529 on 22 kills. Hudson supplied 25 kills and nine blocks. Schaefer said he was impressed with Pedersen’s extraordinary performance. “Pedersen really shined today,” Schaefer said. “After being in a reserve role last year he has really improved his overall game. He works very hard and has tremendous athletic ability. We have a very talented team from top to bottom and it was nice to see each team member supporting each other throughout the day.” The Titans are no strangers to club volleyball success. Year after year they compete and win matches against some of the largest colleges and universities in the country. UWO has taken nine conference titles since 2005. They finished second in three of those seasons. The team has won the last three National Collegiate Volleyball Federation

Division I national championships. The NCFV is a nonprofit corporation with collegiate club volleyball commissioners and representatives throughout the United States. The goal of the organization is to promote club volleyball opportunities for men and women. Last season over 700 clubs registered with NCVF with over 425 teams participating in the NCVF National Championship Tournament. Assistant coach Tim Weis has been a part of UWO club volleyball since 2001, where he played for four seasons. Weis said it has amazed him where the program has gone since started coaching a perennial powerhouse. “To witness the success over the years, to have met the people that I have, and to be a part of this run (3 national championships in a row) is difficult to describe to anyone that isn’t familiar with what Lumpy [Schaefer] and the program has accomplished,” Weis said. “It’s simply amazing.” Martin said he enjoys the opportunity to be a part of something much bigger than most people may think when it comes to this organization. “This last weekend was my first tournament playing at the Division I level,” Martin said. “As a sophomore, it was a great experience for me to be a part of. I believe my team has done an exceptional job throughout the season so far and we have high hopes for taking home another national championship for the fourth year in a row.” Martin said playing schools with larger enrollments makes participating in UWO club volleyball an exciting challenge.

“Sometimes we play huge Division I schools, such as Penn State, University of Arizona, etc., and it can prove to be a huge challenge for us,” Martin said. “These schools have 50,000+ students to choose from to create their teams, so they can be very competitive.” Weis said competition the Titans have faced has given UWO a national interest. “The feeling of competing against high-profiles universities never gets old,” Weis said. “We are the only Division III school that is ranked at the Division I level for collegiate club volleyball. For all of these schools that we compete against, our program pretty much has put Oshkosh, WI on the map.” Despite a long history of success spanning the last couple decades, Weis said the team is never satisfied and is always setting new goals. “In order to be consistent every year, we’ve had guys committed to our goals and to be playing at their best when the time is right,” Weis said. “That can’t be done without the players understanding the season-long process of teamwork and improving every day in practice. It’s not easy, but the guys understand the hard work is worth it in the end.” Martin said the team uses past success as motivation. “The second we get comfortable with where we are at is the second that another team will come out and beat us,” Martin said. “Just because we are a club sport does not make the competition any less competitive than a NCAA sport.” UWO will head to the Midwest Ten Championship at the University of Illinois on Feb. 19.