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CROSSFIRE While citizens and scientists alike strive to keep themselves safe, divison on vaccine efficacy comes to a head. pg. 12

A BALANCING ACT As abortion reaches national stage, people grapple with arguments on ethics, science, religion pg. 12 Design by Lily Oberstein

Illustration by Nuha Dolby

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 2019 · VOL 51 Issue 11 · BADGERHERALD.COM

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CROSSFIRE UW students create health app

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Partnered with the Black Cultural UW PharmD students create health While citizens and scientists Center, the BHM 2020 Student Planning app and kick-start company to improve Committee planned events throughout treatment for cancer patients. alike strive to keep themselves February under the theme ‘Afrofuturism.’

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Photos by Ahmad Hamid, design by Caitlin Geurts

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Ice castles and sculptures make Winterfest a site to see in Lake Geneva Saturday morning.

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Common Council passes plastic straw ordinance, reduce plastic waste

Restaurants to receive citations upon plastic straw infractions after educational grace period, but no enforcement plan

by Sophie Wimmel City News Editor

The Madison Common Council passed an ordinance prohibiting restaurants from preparing drinks with plastic straws or stir sticks to prevent the waste of single-use plastics.

Members of the Common Council passed the ordinance Feb. 4, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. They hope the ordinance will cut back the city’s use of single-use plastics. The ordinance goes into effect in three months, after a grace period for Madison businesses.

District 12 Alder Syed Abbas, one of the main representatives of the ordinance, said the purpose of the ordinance is to reduce the involuntary use of single-use plastics, but still allows people to use straws if they need or want to.

“And if you still want to use, let’s say if you are a person with a disability, or if you are a kid, or you just want plastic straw, then you can ask and get a plastic straw,” Abbas said.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, each year roughly 8 million metric tons of plastic goes into the ocean, which can lead to problems for marine life. According to the Environmental Protection

Agency, landfills in 2017 received over 26 million tons of plastic waste, which never degrades and eventually becomes micro-plastic particles.

Plastic straws are not recyclable because of their size and shape, so the straws end up contributing to the tons of plastics in landfills and bodies of water, according to Abbas. The ordinance will hopefully cut back on the amount of plastic straw waste going into Madison landfills and lakes, Abbas said.

“It’s a small step in the right direction to really make people conscious about their lifestyle and the decisions they make in their life,” Abbas said.

While most of the Common Council is enthusiastic about the positive change the ordinance could bring about, one member was not convinced.

District 19 Alder Keith Furman was the only Common Council member to vote against the ordinance. Furman wants to reduce the amount of single-use plastics in Madison, but worried this ordinance was unenforceable and infringed on the welfare of members of the Madison community.

“I do think single-use plastics is an incredibly big problem and we definitely need to change behaviors, I just don’t think this is the particular way to do it,” Furman said.

Furman said one of the big issues with the ordinance is how it will be enforced, adding there is no plan to enforce it.

Abbas said members of the Council and city officials discussed the issue of enforcement. But Abbas stressed the ordinance was not about punishing businesses, but about educating them against single-use plastics.

“There will be more focus on education and if, after that education, still they are not changing their behavior and keep doing the same thing, then we will give a citation,” Abbas said.

Furman said educating businesses about alternatives to single-use plastic and the impact on the environment may be a more effective strategy to combat use of plastics.

As a result, Furman decided to create an education or certification program to minimize city-wide use of single-use plastics. Furman believes educated businesses will make the change to more environmentally friendly practices.

“I think what we can do as a city instead, is look to put together an education and/or certification program where we encourage businesses to be better about wasteful products,” Furman said.

“The idea is to give the businesses a tool that makes that realistic.”

Furman said another reason to vote against the ordinance is because of the possible impact on the disabled community within Madison.

Despite the constant discussion between Alders and the Disability Rights Commission, the ordinance barely passed through the Commission, Furman said.

Jason Glozier, a disability rights and services program specialist with the Department of Civil Rights, said the Commission was particularly concerned by the possibility the ordinance could further stigmatize people with disabilities. The Commission worried the ordinance would force people with disabilities into uncomfortable situations, Glozier said “In reality, it may be something that they absolutely, necessarily need in order to participate in goods and services that are offered by a business,” Glozier said.

Abbas said the ordinance was originally more hardline — restrictions were stronger and fines for businesses were larger. After talks with the Disability Rights Commission and businesses around Madison, a new, less restrictive ordinance was agreed upon by all invested parties.

UW alumni donates $70 million, support faculty recruitment, retention

Goal of matching donation to distribute income annually for faculty salary, research, create professorships, chairs

by Sally Reed Reporter

Earlier this month, University of Wisconsin alumni John and Tashia Morgridge announced a new $70 million matching opportunity to support faculty recruitment and retention at the university.

The matching opportunity will run until Dec. 31, 2020, according to UW News, and the goals are to create endowed professorships, chairs and distinguished chairs based on the current campus faculty fund guidelines.

According to UW News, the Morgridges have invested millions of dollars into the faculty, research, students and future of the university.

Throughout the last several years, the couple has provided donations and facilitated matching grant opportunities to give back to the university that began their careers.

The Morgridges both graduated from UW in 1955. According to Forbes, after completing his undergraduate degree, John Morgridge progressed to earn his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School and became the CEO of Cisco, a fast-growing multinational technology company, in 1988. According to UW News, Tashia Morgridge worked for many years as a special education teacher and is now a volunteer teacher for students with learning disabilities.

4 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

According to UW News, the Morgridges maintained their close connection with the university over the years. Their persistent generosity assisted and progressed almost every facet of UW, and the couple is among some of the school’s most prominent philanthropists.

During an interview in 2017, John Morgridge said the $20 million they donated that year was to preserve the UW as a premier teaching and research organization, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Their previous donations helped to fund student scholarships, faculty research and retention. According to UW News, these same goals propelled the initiative for the current matching opportunity.

According to UW News, the Morgridge 2020 match grant opportunity is available to donors who want to establish or amplify a funded professorship or chair fund. The endowed positions from these grants distribute income annually to encourage and assist faculty salary and research. The one-to-one nature of this match provides private support which allows UW to both maintain and advance its highly distinguished faculty.

The Morgridges’ endowments throughout the years began to build the foundation of a distinguished faculty. UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the couple’s positive impact on the

university will extend for generations to come, according to UW News.

Since the launch of UW’s All Ways Forward Campaign, a movement to bring Badger donors together to help the university achieve its goals, the university’s endowed professorships and chairs more than doubled, according to UW News.

According to the All Ways Forward website, the initiative brought together hundreds of thousands of alumni and friends to make sure UW maintains its status as a leading educational institution.

Senior Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association Alisa Robertson said private support provides 14% of the UW’s budget annually, in addition to chairs and professorship funds, donors fund scholarships, facility projects, research, educational program improvements and outreach.

“Private support helps the UW attract and retain the world’s best faculty and ensures the world-class education at UW is accessible to as many people as possible,” Robertson said.

During the UW’s current campaign, more than 3,800 new scholarships were created along with 350 new faculty chairs and professorships. In addition, donors made significant gifts to support key facility projects like the chemistry building, the new Nicholas Recreation Center, the Babcock Hall renovation and more, Robertson said.

UW Department of Economics Chair Ananth Seshadri said alumni donations help maintain and enhance UW’s excellence, especially in an era of declining state support. State regulation plays a more prevalent role in dictating how departments should use their funding instead of faculty consistently being able to decide the direction and use of their funds.

“These alumni donations make the margin of excellence possible,” Seshadri said. “They help us attract and retain remarkable talent which is really what makes an institution such as UW-Madison great.”

The UW Department of Economics has previously received Morgridge Opportunity Grants and other alumni funding. Seshadri said with these resources made available by alumni, the department is able to conduct workshops, seminars and symposiums, and maintain its excellence in the competitive nationwide rankings.

The exhibited display of everlasting Badger pride seen in the donations of the Morgridges and thousands of other alumni throughout the years, Robertson said, motivated successive classes of graduates to continue to give back to UW. “Donors love to see the impact of their giving,” Robertson said. “That is one of the main reasons why people choose to make additional gifts.”

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Henry Vilas Zoo in financial transition, split with Zoological Society Dane County steps in, monetary flow is more transparent now, county supervisor said, following financial investigations

by Marissa Triggiano Reporter

Following investigations and the uprooting of former financial operations with the Zoological Society, the Henry Vilas Zoo is taking steps to transition to new management strategies with Dane County and a new contractor.

According to the Isthmus, the Henry Vilas Zoo is in the process of making changes in its financial administration after allegations about its former financial manager yielded findings of no criminal conduct. The Zoological Society was investigated for the speculated misplacement of donations throughout 2019, according to the Isthmus.

After further examination from the Dane County Sheriff ’s Office, all of the money was accounted for and the Zoological Society was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in early 2020, Dane County Sheriff ’s Office Detective Janet Boehnen said in a December report, according to The Cap Times.

“After reviewing all the information, [Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey] did not believe there was an intentional act, from the Zoological Society, of any theft or fraud that is consistent with embezzlement or misappropriation of funds,” Boehnen wrote in the report.

In the midst of the turmoil, the partnership between the Henry Vilas Zoo and the Zoological Society — which had previously managed the finances and concessions of the zoo for 105 years— was not renewed and ended. After being unable to reach an agreement to renew the Zoological Society’s contract, the Society split with the Henry Vilas Zoo in 2019, according to the Isthmus.

The clearing of criminal wrongdoing came after the county made an agreement with the Society to donate $7 million to an endowment fund for the zoo, signaling the official end of the split, according to the Isthmus. After the Society’s contract expired, the county assumed a larger role, rushed to find a new contractor and chose Centerplate, which is now in charge of the concessions in the zoo.

According to Dane County’s District 13 Supervisor Chuck Erickson, the county’s decision to hire Centerplate is based on the county’s previous relationship with the contractor as the vendor of the Alliant Energy Center.

“Not only was it a natural fit, it was something they were interested in doing, they could handle it, and so far it seems to be working out okay,” Erickson said.

Deputy Zoo Director of the Henry will see minimal changes in the zoo’s continue the zoo’s operations as one of the Vilas Zoo Joseph D’Arcangelo said the operation and treatment of the animals. only zoos in the nation that is admission Zoological Society was in charge of the “Everything continues the way it did,” free. fundraising and concessions. D’Arcangelo Erickson said. “There’s no interruption in D’Arcangelo said it’s exciting the county said this included the gift shops, the train, servicing or anything.” is helping with specialized events, and the carousel and the restaurants within Erickson said management is mostly thinks the county is looking forward to the zoo. Additionally, the Society also put concerned about the well-being of being involved in stronger conversation on many events at the zoo such as the the animals and taking care of the initiatives. zoo lights, Boo! at the Zoo and corporate community’s admission-free zoo, a level of “I think they are excited to be able to events. care which will persist — regardless of the give back into the community in a way that D’Arcangelo said the removal of the new administrative processes. is very unique to this area because of the fundraising entity placed the responsibility D’Arcangelo said the county’s fact that we are free,” D’Arcangelo said. of these event operations onto the county. greater involvement opens up different D’Arcangelo said the zoo hired more opportunities for both sides to successfully staff in order to accommodate this additional responsibility in the zoo’s operations.

The zoo has a new operations manager, a new event coordinator and an education team, D’Arcangelo said.

“That allows us to be able to move forward with doing certain things such as these events and any other special occasions, such as birthday parties or other educational programs,” D’Arcangelo said.

Erickson said since the transition of financial management to Centerplate, the county is able to view all the financial transactions with more ease. This gives the county a better opportunity to oversee the funds and donations being made to the zoo, according to Erickson.

Erickson said this is a positive development because it helps make the whole monetary flow the zoo relies on to be more transparent to county officials, as well as to the public in general.

“We can see what they are spending, we can see what they are doing, we can see their structure,” Erickson said. “We have insight into all of that, whereas before the Society was a private organization so didn’t have insight into any of that.”

Erickson said the county’s main avenue of supporting the zoo’s transition is through continuing the financial support. According to Erickson, 80% of the zoo’s funding comes from the county and 20% comes from the city.

D’Arcangelo and Erickson both agreed the changes regarding the new Photo - Zoo is in the process of making changes in its financial administration after allegations that yielded findings of no system of operation is positive, and criminal conduct. both sides are excited about the new opportunities that will come because Claire Larkins of it. According to Erickson, even with The Badger Herald the changes in management, the public February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 5

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UW Graduate School honors 15 teaching assistants with awards

‘I hope they appreciate how much we appreciate the good work they do,’ assistant dean said, awards to honor contributions to UW

by Phoenix Pham Reporter

Fifteen graduate students received the University of Wisconsin’s 2019 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Awards Feb. 13. According to the UW Graduate School website, the TAs distinguished themselves with excellence in the lab, field and classroom.

Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration Shirin Malekpour said the awards were intended to honor the TA’s contributions to UW. “I hope they appreciate how much we appreciate the good work they do,” Malekpour said. “They are the face [of UW-Madison] that many undergrads see.”

After UW departments nominated TAs from their ranks, the College of Letters and Sciences evaluated the nominees, Malekpour said. The winners fell into four categories of excellence — the Capstone PhD Teaching Award, the Exceptional Service Award, the Innovation in Teaching Award and the Early Excellence in Teaching Award.

The award winners were linked not only by a

passion for helping their students, but also a passion for their subject.

Exceptional Service Award winner Melody Sain, a PhD candidate studying the evolution of plant sexual systems, always found time for service.

Whether it is serving on department committees or outreach at local elementary and high schools, Sain said she always considered service to be part of who she is.

“It was very rewarding to be selected [considering] there’s so many great TAs on this campus,” Sain said.

Sain said her passion for volunteering came from attending a high school with few resources when she was growing up.

Sain said she is constantly amazed to find herself where she is now.

“For me, service is going out and showing people the opportunity that they thought they might not have had,” Sain said. “It also makes me happy.”

Innovation in Teaching Award winner Sara Gamalinda said co-teaching a “blended” class taught her to challenge the traditional assumptions about what learning and teaching look like.

Photo - “It was very rewarding to be selected [considering] there’s so many great TAs on this campus,” recipient said.

Courtesy of Jeff Miller, UW Communications 6 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

In the class she co-taught with Folklore and Ethnic Studies Professor Jennifer Gipson, Gamalinda said 60% to 70% of the class was taught online. Gamalinda said online communication for discussions encouraged students to be vulnerable.

“Because these discussions and interactions happen with time and space, a lot of the discussions are really intense,” Gamalinda said.

Though Gamalinda acknowledged discussing sensitive issues on the internet can be risky, she said with enough effort and critical thinking, an online space that allows for subjectivity and personal narratives can be designed to also encourage analysis.

Additionally, Gamalinda said co-teaching an online class helped her recognize the assumptions teachers traditionally make about students.

Gamalinda said students are expected to be ablebodied, young, single, childless, english-speaking and secular. She said online classes, however, allow students to choose where, when and how they take the class, which can better serve the student.

Gamalinda said receiving the award inspired her and gave her affirmation to keep going.

Capstone PhD Teaching Award winner Aaron Yarmel said he was studying violin at the Eastman School of Music when taking his first philosophy class. Because Eastman was strictly a conservatory, Yarmel took philosophy classes at the neighboring University of Rochester, NY. Despite this, he was hooked after a few classes, Yarmel said.

“When I’m reading philosophy, when I’m writing about philosophy, when I’m thinking about philosophy — it just seems like what I’m supposed to be doing,” Yarmel said.

Early Excellence in Teaching Award winner, Erik Katovich, said he knew at the beginning of his college career he wanted to major in economics.

Katovich, who is researching how oil booms in Brazil have affected local Brazilian municipalities, said even in his high school history classes, he felt a country’s economic structure was the most important factor in shaping its history.

Katovich said he recalls writing essays for history class in which he had to discuss social factors, politics and economics.

“I always felt that the economic part explained the other parts,” Katovich said. “That the economic reality shapes the world.”

Both Yarmel and Katovich believe their respective disciplines could help the world. Katovich said in the complicated world of policies and people, economics offers a systematic way of analyzing problems.

Likewise, Yarmel said philosophy allows people to tackle important problems and make real progress.

“Philosophy helps us sit down and think more carefully about the problems that we’re facing, so that when they keep coming up in subtle different variations, we’re better able to deal with them,” Yarmel said.

Yarmel, who teaches Contemporary Moral Issues, Ethics in Business and The Ethics of Resistance and Revolution, deals with disagreement in class a lot. But rather than encouraging combativeness, Yarmel emphasizes collaboration.

Yarmel said he wants to create a classroom where there is a collaborative search for the truth rather than a classroom where ideas compete.

To create a community where philosophy can flourish, Yarmel said he encourages three qualities in students — caring, creativeness and critical thinking. He said a rewarding moment for him is when a student tells him they will miss the classroom community.

“Then I actually know that we’ve built the right kind of space for philosophy to happen,” Yarmel said.

Katovich, who teaches The Growth and Development of Nations in a Global Economy, said he wants students to know how they can apply economics to real-world problems, something he believes was missing in the abstractness of Economics 101 classes.

Katovich said he wants to promote discussion and collaboration among students. To do so, his students analyze real-world examples of economics — for example, the Foxconn plant that is expected to be built in Southeastern Wisconsin —before debating it in class.

Katovich said graduate students can easily relate to undergraduate students, that graduate students understand what undergraduate students are going through academically and can help them.

“You can make a difference, make something interesting rather than boring, make something useful instead of pointless,” Katovich said.

Yarmel and Katovich both said teaching benefited them.

On a personal level, Katovich said teaching helped him with public speaking.

“Projecting yourself into someone who’s new to it, and thinking how do I explain this so they understand, that’s something you have to do as a teacher, and that also makes you a really good presenter and public speaker,” Katovich said.

Yarmel said teaching helped him have more caring conversations. He said now when he converses with a friend, he considers what their needs are, what they want to discuss and what he can do to make the conversation as meaningful as possible.

“Teaching has given me [new] ways to show care for people,” Yarmel said.

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UW PharmD students create health app, improve cancer patient care

Creators questioned effectiveness of similar existing apps, helps cancer patients track care while kick-starting company

by Caroline Li Campus News Editor

University of Wisconsin Doctor of Pharmacy degree students created an application to assist cancer patients in tracking care and are kick-starting their own company, according to an article on the UW School of Pharmacy website.

Fourth-year UW PharmD students Griffin Budde, Dean Bowen and Graham Edwardson presented their application, Pegasus, at the UW School of Pharmacy’s second annual SHARx Tank competition, according to the article.

The students launched Pegasus Health Applications, LLC, and are working to develop a prototype to test and optimize the app, according to the article.

As reported by the article, SHARx Tank was launched in 2018 by the School of Pharmacy to help provide a platform for entrepreneurially-minded pharmacy students to pitch ideas to a panel of judges and compete for funding. The winner receives $4,000 and the second team receives $1,000, all donated by UW alumnus and ZEDPharma CEO George Zorich.

According to the article, Budde, Bowen and Edwardson, the winning team for the SHARx Tank last year, presented to the panel their idea of a mobile health app — Pegasus.

Budde said the idea first developed during a long study session for an oncology final examination, where the Budde, Bowen and Edwardson started talking about how cancer patients were being cured and managed.

“The way patients are being managed and cared for [now] is a lot different,” Budde said. “Instead of the patients going into their doctor ’s office to receive their medication, they are now being sent their oral oncology through the mail, and [the process] was very … regulated.”

Budde said before developing the idea, the team was also aware of the numerous health apps catered to different types of health problems already available on the market.

But they questioned how many of these apps were actually used by patients, if they were effective and how many of them were backed by science or created by healthcare professionals, Budde said.

“There’s a gap in the standard of care when it comes to monitoring and giving the patient all of the tools necessary to manage their fight against cancer,” Budde said in the

article. “That’s the gap that Pegasus Health Applications is going to fill.”

After developing the idea, the team decided to participate in the SHARx Tank competition to put it to the test.

In the months leading to the competition, the team regularly met with Zorich and Pharmacy Practice Division Chair and Assistant Dean for Assessment, Teaching and Learning professor Beth Martin.

According to the article, Zorich and Martin co-lead an entrepreneurship club for pharmacy students. Martin said throughout the spring semester last year, the club met up for five sessions in total to prepare students for the SHARx competition.

“You can’t just teach [entrepreneurship].

[Students] got to have a sense about themselves ... they have the spirit to be an entrepreneur. They just have to find that,” Martin said.

As part of the preparation process, according to the article, the team gradually fine-tuned their idea through constant discussions with Zorich and

Martin, as well as other peers in the entrepreneurship club and cancer patients.

Budde said having the chance to interact with real patients and learn about their struggles gave the team a reason to pursue the project.

“It wasn’t this huge thing in the very beginning, but as we started working on it, we entered the competition,” Budde said.

“We … really saw we can have a positive impact if the patients are cared for.”

Other peers in the entrepreneurship club played an important role in helping the team constantly improve on their idea, Budde said.

Budde said during the first few sessions, other students in the club were still hesitant to “poke holes” in their project, but later, other peers felt more comfortable pointing out potential problems. “[The judges] have been in the industry ten, twenty, thirty years. They are very well respected. Presenting these things, they are going to ask tough questions, so it sorts of gets you ready [for the competition],”

Budde said.

Going forward, Budde said there are plans to set up an advisory board consisting of established professionals, such as specialties, pharmacies, directors and technical engineers to help bring the app to life.

Given the existence of different health apps already present in the market, the ultimate goal is to create one app combining all features of other apps within one interface, Budde said.

“It will be much easier for patients that are maybe lower in health literacy, or education, or come of a difficult background, or older patients who may not as well-versed in technology,” Budde said.

“And if you can teach them how to use just one interface, we’ll be able to help so many more patients.”

Budde said the team also plans to participate in the Transcend Madison Competition this April to present their idea and compete for more funding.

Photo - UW PharmD students create health app, Pegasus, with help from professionals before presenting the project to a panel of judges during the SHARx Tank competition.

Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald

February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 7

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Officials balance stakes of 2020 census, new technology for counting

Certain populations previously undercounted, several changes need to be made countrywide, media specialist said

by Arushi Gupta Reporter

the partnerships created at all levels of government through the Complete Count Committees. Giblin said these groups are established at the state level by the governor or at the county, city, town, specialty group or village level.

These groups are trusted voices in the community, with networks, relationships and reach within the communities, Giblin said.

“They really are the ambassadors for the 2020 census,” Giblin said. “They are

Pamela Andros, the census process can be challenging in Dane County because certain populations are difficult to count, such as students living in dormitories and apartments. Andros said it can be confusing for out-of-state and international students.

Andros said members of the Complete Count Committees share census information with the public. Andros said the CCC is currently working with the Homelessness Services Consortium, Kids Forward, Urban League, school districts and the City of

With the high stakes of the 2020 census approaching, federal and local officials are working to ensure the new technological reporting options run smoothly to combat undercounting across the country and in Dane County.

The U.S. Census Bureau aims to ensure all individuals residing in the U.S. are counted.

U.S. Census Bureau media specialist Robert Giblin said the processes behind the 2020 census are already underway.

Giblin said the process is in the stages of informing the public and generating awareness for the census, which will open April 1.

According to Politico, the Census Bureau spent $500 million on an advertising campaign to ensure people are aware participants’ information will not be shared with law enforcement agencies. The informative stage is necessary to ensure everyone is counted.

“Article I of Section 2 of the Constitution calls for a complete headcount every ten years of everyone residing in the United States,” Giblin said. “The first census was conducted in 1790, and the census counts everyone regardless of citizenship, race, ethnic group, creed, religion, origin or age.”

According to Giblin, certain populations were previously undercounted.

For instance, children under the age of five were undercounted in the last census.

Giblin said undercounted populations usually include those living in college dorms, residence halls, group homes, nursing homes, treatment centers and prisons. The Census Bureau is currently working on making sure that does not happen, with special precautions in place to count the homeless, Giblin said.

In order to combat undercounting, Giblin said there are several changes to the census countrywide. For the Photo - Dane County Complete Count Committtee will use census data to draw a fair and independent map for the county. first time ever, all respondents will be invited to respond via the internet Aaron Hathaway using their phones or computers.

The Badger Herald Giblin said this process means responding to the 2020 census will be easier and more convenient than ever the ones out there educating, engaging, Madison to ensure all populations are before. encouraging people about the census.” counted.

Giblin said another key aspect According to the senior planner for “Dane County is in really good shape,” of combating undercounting is Dane County Planning and Development Andros said. “The state, as a whole, has a

8 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

reputation of having a high return, and so does Dane County.”

During the 2010 census, Wisconsin led the nation in response rates. According to Andros, Minnesota wants to beat Wisconsin and be the state with the highest response.

District 3 Supervisor Analiese Eicher said the CCCs are built to reach out to traditionally undercounted communities, those who might be unaware of the census and its meaning, and to ensure everybody is counted.

“We want to make sure that we are keeping communities together, not ‘packing’ or ‘cracking’ districts, and that we are not mitigating the votes of certain populations,” Eicher said.

According to Eicher, more people participating in the census will help in determining the necessary resources needed in communities.

Eicher said Dane County has its own redistricting process managed by an independent, completely non-partisan redistricting committee appointed by the County Clerk Scott McDonell.

Eicher said this group is responsible for drawing a fair and independent map for Dane County using census data, which is important at the local level for redistricting as well.

Andros said though the census is important for determining what resources the community will receive, redistricting will not significantly change the political scenario in Dane County. But it might have a stronger impact at the state level, Andros said.

With so much riding on the census for years to come, Giblin said an accurate count is essential to local communities.

“The stakes are very high,” Giblin said. “The census has a lot of impacts, but two are highly visible in terms of impacts on the community — legislative apportionment and federal spending.”

Giblin said the Census determines how the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned throughout the country.

Additionally, Giblin said about $675 billion is distributed to various programs based on census information, affecting the operations in communities for the entire decade.

“The thing that is important is that everyone should be counted … it actually shapes the future of your community for the next ten years,” Giblin said.

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Republicans, Gov. Evers disagree on spending of surplus budget With $620 million surplus, Evers wants to spend money on public schools, Republicans want to reduce property taxes

by Janani Sundar State News Editor

Wisconsin’s state budget is expected to have a $620 million budget surplus, according to Center Square News.

Gov. Tony Evers proposed to spend $252 million of the surplus on public schools statewide whereas Republicans feel the surplus should be returned to taxpayers by reducing property taxes, according to Center Square News.

University of Wisconsin professor John Witte said before Evers’ term, under Republican administration, schools were underfunded over the last decade. Witte added Evers and the Democrats are very strongly supported by teachers associations and unions.

“When you spend money on education, you’re spending money on people,” Witte said.

Witte said the money goes to teachers, administrators and aids. Eighty percent of the cost of education at every level, from high schools to universities, goes toward personnel, salary or benefits.

Witte said Republicans are focused on cutting taxes. The first tax cut the Republicans enacted is for those in the upper income bracket, and now they are discussing a tax cut targeted towards the middle class.

“I don’t think Evers is going to get what he wants because Republicans simply have too big of a majority in the house and senate,” Witte said.

According to Center Square News, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) tweeted Republicans are focused on using the surplus for a tax cut for hard-working families, and does not see the Republicans changing positions.

Fitzgerald spoke on behalf of the Republicans saying the party looks for ways to return the surplus money to taxpayers while Democrats keep looking for ways to spend money.

According to Center Square News, Evers said Wisconsin can have both – more money for schools and more money for taxpayers.

Witte said the compromise between the two parties may be through property taxes. Witte said Evers wants to fund K-12 education with state funds, and two-thirds of the cost for school funding would come from the state, reducing the major portion that comes from local property taxes.

“That’s something they could agree on is trying to get more money for education and thus reduce property taxes,” Witte said. “Both sides think they get benefits out of reducing property taxes and they’re right.”

Witte said Democrats would prefer reducing property taxes and using the surplus for school funding because they believe it’s more solid that

the current funding for schools comes from states, whereas Republicans do not like property taxes and want less state involvement.

According to Center Square News, Evers argued spending more money at the state level will allow local schools to not have to raise local property taxes nearly as often. In 2018, voters approved more than $2 billion in debt and revenue increases for local schools. Evers said more money from the state may bring an end to those types of local tax increases, according to Center Square News.

Witte said if the property taxes are decreased, the money must be supplemented elsewhere.

According to Center Square News, Evers wants to spend more money on school mental health and wellness programs and hiring more school counselors, psychologists and nurses. The governor is proposing $80 million for special education reimbursement and promising to cover 100% of special education costs beyond $80 million.

UW student Trisha Saxena spoke on the impact of these services in her life.

“I have seen firsthand the impact of having access to a good counselor in a public school,”

Saxena said. “It sets these kids up for a more successful life, and gives them the guidance they need to move forward.”

Witte spoke about the importance of these needs in schools, noting the biggest category is learning disabilities. Witte said misbehaving and other similar issues can be mislabeled as learning disabilities.

Witte said such behavior frustrates the teachers and causes them to remove the children from the classroom by labeling them as disabled which angers parents.

UW student Jordan Gao said this puts pressure on kids.

“With the increase in societal pressure for kids to do better and to participate in activities and get into good colleges, there is a lot more pressure and stress the kids are feeling,” Gao said. “It’s more vital that the government provides these resources to public schools.”

According to Center Square News, Evers is also proposing $130 million in equalization aid.

Witte said equalization refers to the process in which the government decides the allocation

of money to each district based on a formula. Witte said the basic structure is the wealthier districts get less money while poorer districts will get more money per student. The process is to equalize funding across schools per child.

Madison is a rich district, Witte said. When applying the straightforward formula to Madison, the district would receive no funds. Witte said this is unfair.

According to Witte the timing of this issue is important because there is a surplus and Wisconsin has a biennium budget. The biennium budget will go through this summer while the next biennium will start in 2021 after the election.

“This is going to be an election issue,” Witte said. “Both sides are really positioning themselves for the election. Both sides critically think this election is important.”

The Democrats are desperate to try win at least the Assembly or the Senate, but they have a better chance of winning the Senate, Witte said.

Photo - Evers proposed to spend $252 million of the surplus on public schools statewide.

Hayley Cleghorn The Badger Herald badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020 • 9

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UW Black History Month 2020 honored by student planning committee

Partnering with Black Cultural Center, 2020 BHM Student Planning Committee hosted many events in theme of ‘Afrofuturism: B(l)ack to the Future’

by Veronica Kuffel ArtsEtc Editor

For most of February, the Black Cultural Center was hard at work with creating the University of Wisconsin’s Black History Month, and with the help of their student-run planning committee, this year was one for the books.

The Black History Month Student Planning Committee has filled Februarys with African American heritage and recognition events since 2014. They work with students to ensure that Black History Month is well-represented and recognized by the campus community.

Planning starts in the fall, and the Center sends out posters, emails and other advertisements to recruit their committee members. According to the Multicultural Student Center website, the committee began meeting in October on Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m., breaking into roles like Graphic Designer, Publicity Manager and Record Keeper.

“We started off bouncing ideas for the general theme. We wanted to move away from this campaign of oppression upon the Black Community and look towards the future,” Co-Chair Adrianna Griffin-Phipps said.

Griffin-Phipps has been on the committee since 2017, coming into the role with experience and determination.

Along with its leadership and bigger roles, the group had a number of subcommittees for social justice, health and wellness, culture and history, social interaction and kick-off event planning.

Together, the Center and the group of students decided on UW’s Black History Month theme — Afrofuturism, defined on their webpage as “the (re) imagining of the future for Black people through various mediums such as the arts, media, and literature.”

The whole title, “Afrofuturism: B(l)ack to the Future,” stems from the science fiction genre of literature and art, but in the case of Black History Month, its reach extends much farther.

“It’s so broad, it can literally mean anything and that’s why we chose it,” Griffin-Phipps said.

“It was a great experience to expose the campus to something different about Black life and the creativity within Black minds.”

The student planning committee accomplished this in many different events planned through late January and into February. After Mae Jemison’s appearance as the MLK Jr. Memorial Speaker, they kicked off festivities with an “Afrofuturistic Affair,” a dinner dance that encouraged participants to respond to the theme in clothing, conversation and music.

From there, the committee and other groups had events planned every week. There were art workshops, speakers, food tastings and networking opportunities. For upcoming events, there’s “Moonshine,” a gathering of dance, spoken word and experimental contemporary performance. The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center is hosting

“Queer Black Love: A Photo Series,” a gallery of photography by Cammie Nicole.

There’s even a weekly screening of Netflix’s “Pose,” a show about LGBTQ+ Blacks in the 80s, at Witte Residence Hall.

The committee also scheduled professor, politician, director, musician and Emmy awardwinning producer Pierce Freelon as a keynote speaker. On Feb. 27 at 6 p.m., Freelon will dive into the ideas behind Afrofuturism followed by a freestyle beat-making session at Union South.

An additional, month-long opportunity to celebrate Black History Month is through the BCC’s featured artist, Shiloah Symone. A graduating senior at UW, Symone’s portraiture explores the Black body and can be viewed at the BCC’s office gallery.

For events they planned, the committee wanted to include some of the research they did, highlighting two main historical movements — the African diaspora and the UW’s Black Student Strike of 1969.

The diaspora has seen rising numbers of Africans immigrating to the United States and has affected the meaning of Black heritage for the past few decades. While its effects reach all corners of the country, the student strike has a certain historical impact on campus.

A link on the UW Black History Month 2020 webpage takes you to a multimedia depiction of the 13 demands. Facing segregation and severe inequality, students and faculty of all races joined together and created a list of demands for the chancellor’s office.

What started as a class boycott turned into a month of strikes and clashes with police, university management, the government and even the military.

Most of this research was completed for last February’s program, but it helped the committiee contextualize the meaning of this year’s theme.

“We went to UW Archives to look up exactly what happened and how we could program around that and celebrate the fact that so many of those people are still here and the things they enacted are still alive,” Griffin-Phipps said.

The timelines give you perspective — the photos give you goosebumps — the interviews jerk your heart. The entire page allows viewers to recognize the impact of the UW’s Black Community, and how hard they pushed to get where they are today.

But even as the month reaches a close, it’s important to remember that cultures should be honored year-round. The strength, courage and sacrifice of the Black community deserves that and more.

“Black History Month is more than a month — it’s a movement,” Griffin-Phipps said. “And it’s not just during the month of February — we need support throughout the rest of our lives. Delve deep into Afrofuturism — it’s a movement, and it’s coming.”

Photo · “Afrofuturism: B(l)ack to the Future,” stems from science fiction genre of literature and art.

Adrianna Griffin Phipps Co-Chair of 2020 Black History Month Student Planning Committee

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Looking at history, function of State Street vinyl shop B-Side Records

Since 1982, B-Side Records has survived ownership change, CD, digital music revolutions to become State Street’s last surviving music shop

by Georgia Ansley ArtsEtc Staff Writer

Walking down Madison’s most trafficked street, there is a store that might be missed by the average passerby. Its exterior is simple with a blue neon sign reading “B-Side Records,” but most people know little about the decades of music history seen by State Street’s last surviving music shop.

B-Side Records was opened on State Street in the fall of 1982 by two graduates from the University of Michigan. The partners, Ralph Cross and Dan Jenkins, worked together at the Ann Arbor record store Schoolkids Records and dreamed about opening their own store upon graduation.

In 1983, Madison Area Technical College student Steve Manley was one of B-Side’s most loyal customers, later becoming one of the first people to be placed on B-Side’s payroll. Within a year, he worked his way up to manager. Just under 15 years ago, Cross and Jenkins fulfilled their long term promise and sold their share of the store to Manley.

Today, the store looks similar to the way it was back then, with vintage posters at eye-level and the 700-square-foot space filled with custom wood bins. One difference, however, is stocks back then

consisted exclusively of vinyl LPs and cassette tapes up until the CD revolution in the 90s. CD’s seemed to take over B-Side’s inventory, becoming the dominant format at the expense of vinyl.

“There was almost no interest in vinyl records in the ‘90s when CDs were king,” Manley said.

According to Manley, many record store owners thought the vinyl format was dead. That was, until around 12 years ago when Record Store Day was formed by a few enterprising record shop owners. The movement coordinated with record labels to produce limited-edition vinyl records offered on RSD day in April.

Manley was skeptical at first, but with increasing success each consecutive year, he had to accept the significant momentum it was creating.

“I believe RSD was instrumental in increasing awareness for record stores as a culture hub in their communities, as well as renewing interest in the vinyl format with young people, which is our primary clientele once again,” Manley said.

Recently though, a new competitor to record stores has emerged — streaming services. The rise of Spotify, Soundcloud and other services have once again created

a threat to the future of music shops. This threat does not reach die-hard music fans and vinyl collectors, of which B-Side’s most loyal customers consist of.

Though much of B-Side’s client base consists of vinyl revivalists and collectors, CDs are still going strong in the market.

“For us in 2020, CDs represent about 35 percent of our [dollar] sales while vinyl is about 65 percent,” Manley said. “B-Side has always been a place for collectors to pick up new releases every week, plus we try to cater to the tastes of music nerds who collect more obscure but critically-acclaimed albums.”

According to Manley, this is at the very heart of B-Side and the meaning behind their slogan “music of lasting value.” This involves going beyond exclusively top-40 artists or “flavor of the month” hits in their collections to cater toward their serious music fan base.

B-Side Records does not just serve as a function for music collectors, but also serves a unique purpose in the greater Madison community. Over the years, B-Side has been a hub and loyal promoter for local artists.

“We carry a large selection of locallyproduced albums by local artists, who are always welcome to use us as an outlet,”

Manley said.

For bigger store events, such as Record Store Day, B-Side makes use of Peace Park, which sits nearby the store, to have local artists play.

The community has shown their appreciation for B-Side and Manley’s work over the years, most notably a few years ago when Manley got into a bicycling accident that rendered him unable to work for several months. Manley, at the time of the accident, clocked more than 75 hours a week at his business sometimes. The industry then was not in the position to sustain any full-time employees.

Manley said his family launched a GoFundMe so he could recover at home while keeping the shop open and paying employees.

A final count by the Wisconsin State Journal put the total of donations received at $25,000 from over 600 individual contributors.

“The B-Side community of supporters overwhelmingly came out of the woodwork and essentially saved the business from collapse,” Manley said.

Three more blockbuster movies coming in 2020 you need to check out ‘No Time To Die,’ ‘Tenet,’ ‘Trial of the Chicago 7’ headline list of highly-anticipated films, movies already receiving buzz for success

by Matt Fraga ArtsEtc Staff Writer

Here’s the scoop — 2019 was my favorite year in film of the decade. Now, however, we must look to a new decade in film.

Based on what I have seen, there are some exciting releases this year. It was difficult to pick just three, but aside from “Dune,” “The French Dispatch” and “The Green Knight,” here are a some of the most anticipated movies of 2020 worth keeping on your radar.

“No Time To Die” — April 8 The fifth and final time Daniel Craig plays James Bond. Craig began playing the character in “Casino Royale” 14 years ago. Many, including myself, regard this to be Craig’s best performance as Bond and one of the best movies in a franchise which spans seven decades.

“No Time to Die” will introduce us to a few new characters — most notably, Rami Malek as a mysterious new villain who we see in a “Phantom of the Opera”-like mask with a disfigured face. It sounds like his plan may have something to do with immortality, as he says his skills will remain long after he is dead. Bond later says, “history isn’t kind to men who play god.”

Another new face will be Lashana Lynch. She is a 007 agent in MI6 whom the trailer portrays as being in a hostile relationship with Bond. As if Bond didn’t have enough on his hands during his farewell tour, Christoph Waltz returns and will no doubt be a threat.

Cary Joji Fukunaga is the director for the film, and I must admit, I have not seen any of his work.

His filmography includes “Beasts of No Nation” (2015), “True Detective” (2014) and “Maniac” (2018). All in all, I am curious to see where “No Time to Die” ends up in the Craig-Bond series hierarchy, and hopeful it doesn’t follow in the footsteps of “Quantum Solace.”

“Tenet” — July 17 “Tenet” is Christopher Nolan’s newest action thriller, starring John David Washington (“Ballers,” “BlacKkKlansman”), Robert Pattinson (“Good Time,” “The Lighthouse”) and Elizabeth Debicki (“The Night Manager,” “Widows”).

The plot largely remains under wraps, but we know it will involve the world of international espionage. At first, the trailer indicates that the protagonist, Washington’s character, must prevent a worldwide disaster — original. By the end of the trailer, however, your head hurts because you remember it’s a Nolan film and nothing will make sense without deeper examination.

I saw an interesting Instagram post showing how Nolan has begun the past two decades with “Memento” (2000) and “Inception” (2010). In the former, the English director presents a character with severe memory loss trying to find his wife’s killer. The latter deals with dreams and dreams inside dreams and so on. You get the point.

There is no combination quite like Nolan and themes of time and perception, as well as nonlinear timelines. Like all his films, we can expect “Tenet” to be a spectacle. No director utilizes absurd large-scale practical effects and half million-dollar IMAX cameras as much as Nolan.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t break his third one.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” — Sep. 25 This is the last film on this list releases in the fall, so there is not a lot of information about the film yet. But, the little I do know about “The Trial of the Chicago 7” earns the film a spot on my most anticipated list. The biggest reason this movie warrants excitement is Aaron Sorkin.

Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and it will be his second time in the director’s chair. His first attempt was one of my favorite movies of 2017 — “Molly’s Game,” the story of Molly Bloom, portrayed by Jessica Chastain, an Olympic skier turned high-stakes poker table runner.

Not to beat a dead horse, but Sorkin truly is in a

class of his own when it comes to screenwriting, and he is easily my favorite. His clever dialogue and witty characters are what make his films so entertaining and re-watchable.

We know “The Trial of the Chicago 7” will take place in 1968 and will focus on the trial of seven individuals who incited a riot protesting President Johnson’s Vietnam War policies.

Sorkin has been outspoken about his fondness for courtroom dramas, and the title of the film starts with “Trial,” so I assume his focus will be on the legal proceedings.

Charges in the trial include conspiracy to incite a riot and excessive force by the police against demonstrators. I cannot wait to see this film. I am confident Sorkin will win best adapted screenplay next year, and hopefully more.

There is no chance I would leave you with just three films. I do believe 2020 will be a good year for cinema, and maybe even better than last year.

Honorable Mentions include “Promising Young Woman” (April 17), “Antebellum” (April 24), “The Woman in the Window” (May 15), “Wonder Woman 1984” (June 5), “The King’s Man” (Sep. 18), “Last Night in Soho” (Sep. 25), “Good Morning, Midnight” and “Mank” (TBD).

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A Balancing Act

As abortion reaches national stage, people grapple with arguments on ethics, science, religion

by Nuha Dolby Print Features Editor

“[At] age 18, I wasn’t ready to become a mother,” a now equity partner at a prominent firm wrote. “I wasn’t ready to follow in the footsteps of my mother, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother — all of whom became pregnant before the age of 18, and none of whom graduated from high school.”

She had penned her abortion story as part of an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was included in court preparations to hear June Medical Services v. Gee, a landmark case reviewing a Louisiana law that requires doctors performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a state-approved hospital within 30 miles of their clinic.

But some women report feeling differently. A woman from Wisconsin wrote in to Abort 73, a pro-life website, about her regrets.

“It’s been one month since I had my abortion,” she wrote. “And here I am at 2 a.m., looking for some way to relieve my feelings of grief and regret. I’ve never been so disappointed and ashamed of myself. I robbed myself of what would have been the greatest gift of my life, and I continue to pay the price every day.”

As the issue makes its way through state legislative branches and reaches the nation’s highest court, the debate surrounding it has received new vigor. Citizens have made their stances clear, whether by engaging in political activism or simply making how they feel known on social media, and the topic sizzles across the country.

PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION

In Wisconsin, abortion laws involve some restriction.

According to Affiliated Medical Services, a Wisconsin women’s clinic, state law dictates a woman must visit with a counselor and physician before she can proceed with an abortion and prohibits abortion after 21 weeks.

During the visit, physicians conduct health exams, verify the pregnancy and measure how far along it is.

But according to the Department of Health Services’ “A Woman’s Right to Know” document, law requires a woman receive “printed materials.”

These include descriptions and imagery of fetal development every two weeks during pregnancy, a statement on fetal pain, potential harmful emotional effects following abortion and services that might provide assistance throughout pregnancy, delivery and raising a child.

The materials also include information on the medical risks of pregnancy and childbirth.

A woman seeking abortion must also sign an Abortion Information Provision Certification Form issued by the state. According to DHS, signing it means you agree your doctor has discussed medical risks associated with the chosen abortion procedure, probable age of the embryo or fetus at the time the abortion is scheduled and eligibility for medical coverage of prenatal and newborn care.

The document also noted a doctor must discuss medical risks if a woman decides to carry pregnancy to term.

12 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

Following that, if a woman decides to have an abortion, she must return to the clinic no sooner than 24 hours after the initial meeting for the procedure. This means to receive an abortion, a woman must make two trips to the clinic.

Data published by DHS stated there were 5,640 induced abortions in 2017, the most recent year for which data has been released. This was a 3% increase from 2016. But there was a notable downwards trend: in 1987, the number of abortions in the state was 17,318.

This is despite an increase in state population by almost one million people from 1987 to 2017, according to MacroTrends.

In 2017, women aged 20 to 24 also accounted for 30% of reported induced abortions, the largest proportion of any age group.

A BATTLEGROUND STATE

As Wisconsin’s reported abortion rates have decreased over time, activism has flourished. This has been notable in the cropping up of organizations furthering their goals in Wisconsin.

Mel Barnes, Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said PPWI has provided care to nearly 60,000 people at their 24 health centers in Wisconsin. Barnes said PPWI “believes that people should be able to make their own health care decisions without interference by politicians.”

Barnes noted her opinion on Wisconsin law.

“Wisconsin has medically unnecessary laws that restrict the ability for people to access the care they need,” Barnes said.

Barnes also said PPWI is challenging some of those restrictions in an ongoing lawsuit.

Kristen Nupson, Legislative Director at Wisconsin Right to Life, was more positive, however.

“I’m really proud of the work that we have done in Wisconsin,” Nupson said.

“We’ve passed things like ultrasound laws, and right-to-know bills, things that really make sure … women are not in emotionally vulnerable positions when they’re making these decisions.”

WRTL, Nupson said, is a pro-life organization that “believes that life is valued from conception until natural death.”

Nupson discussed her Christian faith, citing her religious upbringing as her introduction to the pro-life stance. She said she believes God has “made pretty clear in the Bible that life is valued from conception,” and has become a staunch advocate of “protecting and valuing life” from said conception point.

When discussing opposition, Nupson said she’s seen protesters and heard a lot of narratives about the pro-life movement — ones she finds inaccurate.

“A lot of people say that the pro-life movement is just white men trying to control women’s bodies, but as a woman, I would disagree with that,” Nupson said. “My goal is not to tell people what they can and cannot do, it’s to change hearts and minds.”

Barnes said “the majority of people in Wisconsin and across the country are supportive” of Planned Parenthood, noting one in five women in the U.S. has been a patient there.

While she acknowledged a “small but vocal minority” of people who oppose Planned Parenthood, she said their focus “is always on our patients and making sure that people have access to the health care that they need.”

Planned Parenthood provides a plethora of healthcare services, including abortion services, birth control, cancer screenings and men’s health services. It also provides recommendations and referrals to prenatal care and tips on feeding newborns.

Regarding WRTL, Nupson noted many who oppose the pro-life movement often say it “abandons women” after their pregnancies, and WRTL helps make sure that’s not

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the case.

“We want to come alongside women and show that they are capable of raising a child … we can help provide tools to make them successful,” Nupson said. “If they still feel like they can’t handle that, there are other options, like adoption.”

WRTL has awarded emergency grants to women in immediate financial crisis to allow them to continue their pregnancies, promoted toll-free helplines and has worked with teenagers and college students in statewide conferences.

Both Barnes and Nupson said the subject is complex, and there will always be people who aren’t sure or disagree with them.

“We know that some people have complicated feelings about abortion, and that’s okay,” Barnes said. “Our job at Planned Parenthood is to make sure that people have the information that they need to make decisions about their own health care. We’re here to support our patients no matter what.”

Nupson added she doesn’t take it to heart.

“I think the biggest thing is to not feel attacked or hurt when other people don’t agree with me — that’s fine,” Nupson said. “But obviously I’m passionate about what I do, and I want people to be educated on this issue.”

Despite differences, they both agreed unequivocally on one thing. Their primary goal is to provide support and assistance to those who need it.

BIOLOGICAL BASES, ETHICAL STANCES

Nupson cited science as a tool she uses to support her stance.

“Thankfully, here in the pro-life movement, I believe we have science on our side,” Nupson said. “I think the most basic principle on this issue is that in biology, something is considered a life when an egg and a sperm come together.”

Alta Charo, Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin, on leave as a Berggruen Fellow at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, noted the ethical debate on abortion can stem from certain biological assumptions, like ones Nupson discussed.

But Charo noted certain discrepancies that allowed for debate on even what some would think was solid ground.

“For some, moral status is ascribed from the moment of fertilization, though in fact there is no such single moment, as it is a process: sperm preparation, sperm-egg recognition and binding, sperm-egg fusion and fusion of sperm and egg pronuclei and activation of the zygote,” Charo said.

Charo noted for some, the fact an egg is fertilized is enough to inform their views.

“For [some] people, any loss of a fertilized egg … is equivalent to the death of a live born child, and the issue is whether the loss was incurred naturally, accidentally or intentionally,” Charo said.

For those people, she said, a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest will not excuse abortion, as it is still intentional killing.

Charo said for other people, the main issue is whether the pregnancy is intentional or not. Despite their general view that abortion is not acceptable, she noted some would permit abortions in the case of rape, where the woman played no consenting role in becoming pregnant.

She said an intentional abortion could sometimes be

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excused by those who typically oppose it if needed to save the life of a pregnant woman, “but there is wide variation on how liberally or strictly one defines” what a threat to her life is.

Charo said for those who are tolerant of abortion, the issue becomes two-fold. The first issue lies in the belief a pregnant woman is entitled to rights over her own body, therefore entitled to make decisions about her pregnancy. “[The second issue is] the moral status of the embryo/fetus depends … largely on whether development has progressed to the point that the growing fetus can have any sense of its environment, of pain, or of itself – [the] kind of sentience that would trigger full ‘personhood’ in the philosophical sense,” Charo said.

Nupson noted in her effort to educate people on the subject of abortion, she actively discussed things like when a fetus can feel pain and have a heartbeat — factors she said can help people see fetuses as “having humanity” or personhood.

Charo said it is important to remember “no particular religious view can be adopted into law solely because it is a preferred or dominant religion.” She added there should be a line of reasoning in policy that allows for even those of different religious backgrounds to agree with.

Charo noted her own opinion on the subject as well.

“My view is that rights attach when they can be appreciated,” she said. “Until a growing human fetus has the capacity to appreciate its environment in even a minimal fashion, there is no right to continued development that can outweigh the undisputed right of a pregnant woman to control her own body.”

CAMPUS DIVIDES

Kathleen McLoone, a sophomore at UW, agrees with Charo.

“I’m definitely pro-choice,” McLoone said. “I believe that a woman’s body is her choice and what she wants out of her life is more important than a fetus. The fact that people are trying to control that is wrong.”

McLoone, who hails from Stanley, Wisconsin, described her town as very conservative. She says that in part stems from the Christian backgrounds that are

common there, and added it’s uncommon to talk about subjects like abortion.

“People are a lot more uncomfortable there, talking about things like that,” McLoone said.

McLoone said in Stanley, her stance is relatively uncommon, but youth were more likely to share it. She added coming to UW “was a breath of fresh air. I felt suffocated sometimes in my own town and have been able to expand here.”

Tom, a sophomore at UW who asked to go by first name only, discussed “leaning pro-choice.” But he also discussed the difficulties of grappling with that — he had been pro-life previously and still tries to balance all the facets of the issue today.

“I was pro-life for a long time growing up,” Tom said, citing his conservative surroundings and private Christian education as influences.

Tom said he’d always had doubts about how exactly to gauge his standing, however.

“I’d always had the thought where I could never truly understand what it’s like to be in a situation where I’d have to make that decision,” Tom said. “I started thinking a lot more about it in high school.”

At his Christian high school, he said he had teachers repeatedly compare the legalization of abortion to the Holocaust. He described rallies where his peers would have signs saying “Protect God’s Children” and go onto the streets.

Tom described how coming to UW helped further his curiosities on the topic.

“As I got exposed to more things, I’d already been questioning this very firm pro-life stance my peers had,” Tom said. “By the time I got to UW, I wasn’t a fish out of water, but it reinforced the questions I had.”

He stressed, however, that it’s a complex topic — one he and many others who hail from similar backgrounds at the UW will likely internally debate for a long time.

Jacob, a junior at the UW who asked to go by first name only, spoke bitterly of reactions to being pro-life on campus.

“There’s people who are pro-life here, but what’s problematic to me is that I feel like we need to be quiet about it,” Jacob said. “I get that this is a really polarizing time, and I’m always down to have conversations. But it always devolves into something where I feel like they’re yelling at me about everything. I’ll yell back, so I’m not innocent here and I’m sure [pro-choice] people feel that way too, but it makes me want to not say anything about it.”

Jacob cited a “want to protect unborn life that can’t defend itself yet” as why he’s pro-choice. While he said he didn’t want to infringe on a woman’s right to her own body, he didn’t want to also infringe on what he believes is the “inherent right to life a fetus deserves.”

Jacob added, however, he didn’t think those who are pro-choice are bad people.

“I think we’re all trying to protect somebody or something we care about, and that’s where we should all respect each other,” Jacob said.

Tom agreed, noting that approaching the conversation with respect in mind was key. And, he added, he certainly hadn’t made changes to his stance because people shouted at him.

“I look at the similarities of intentions on every side.

They’re motivated by really similar things, and I believe they’re all trying to do the right thing,” Tom said.

“You should go into a conversation not thinking about how wrong someone is, but about their underlying motivations. That’s where the common ground is probably going to be.”

February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 13

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US must reassess its position on foreign trade following Brexit crisis

As EU market changes, Wisconsin needs to encourage free trade, discourage protectionism in US to improve local economy

by Harry Quick Opinion Editor

EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis gave a fireside chat on Feb. 17 pertaining to the relationship between the two largest economies in the world.

He stressed the importance of trade to this friendship and how Wisconsin benefits greatly from that trade — the EU being the second-largest importer of Wisconsin goods.

During the talk Lambrinidis directed attention to the success of the European experiment — war between European nations is now unthinkable. Member states are bound together through trade and a shared set of rules and regulations.

He did elaborate, however, on EU’s most

recent disaster: Brexit. Brexit refers to the British exit from the EU which officially occurred on Jan. 31, 2019. Now Britain is undergoing a year-long transition where it is subject to EU law and is a member of the customs union and single market. After that period it will have to write new laws replacing the EU rules and regulations it has followed for decades, and have the freedom to create its own trade agreements.

Brexit matters because it opens the UK up to new trade agreements with the U.S. while separating the UK from the EU. The market for agricultural products will change dramatically as the UK is kicked out of the single market, and the price of EU goods rise. Wisconsin trade expert Mark Rhoda-Reis sees this as a window of

opportunity.

“Wisconsin has a lot of room to grow in that, considering that we’re only $55 million of that several billion-dollar imports,” Rhoda-Reis said.

Approximately 73% of the UK’s current food and agricultural imports are from the EU. As that trade relationship sputters out, a new one between the U.S. and the UK should replace it. With a free trade agreement between the UK and U.S., the price of exporting and importing goods will be much lower. By doing this, the U.S. would hand American producers an opportunity to make more money, employ more people and import cheaper British goods.

A trade agreement stands to help both U.S. and UK producers and consumers,

Photo - Free trade in Wisconsin would make local market more fiscally successful and give businesses a more comprehensive social safety net.

Harry Quick The Badger Herald 14 • badgerherald.com •February 25, 2020

and strengthen the relationship between the two countries. What’s not to like?

While the trend right now is for tariffs and trade wars, Wisconsin has realized by now that protectionism ultimately hurts the businesses and people the government tries to protect. Farms across Wisconsin and the country need bailing out to stay afloat, and many are still going out of business.

The U.S. should reconsider its stance on trade in general, not just with the UK. Free trade would not throw Wisconsin farmers and other producers under the bus.

Protectionism is much worse as it drives up costs for everyone — as firms that shouldn’t stay in business do — making it harder for everyone to do business.

Free trade would simultaneously allow fiscal responsibility and a more comprehensive social safety net. It would drive down the cost of doing business as tariffs and other barriers to trade are retired, which would then drive up revenues as other people’s costs go down too and they have more money to spend.

That’s not to say all forms of regulation should be thrown out of the window. The EU is a shining example of what can be accomplished with free trade in the form of a single market along with regulation.

Lambrinidis was particularly enthusiastic about this. He explained EU goods are made by protected workers, in an environmentally friendly way and are not sold to fund repression or corruption.

“When we [the EU] export goods we export values,” Lambrinidis said in the chat.

If the EU can pull it off, why not the U.S.? The political reservations preventing the end of tariffs and the beginning of trade agreements are all underpinned by a fear of loss.

Specifically, people are afraid they will lose their jobs and a part of their identity.

And they couldn’t be more correct. Due to the protectionist policies the U.S. has long pursued, a free trade agreement would radically alter the economy. In the short term it would appear bad, but in the long term it would benefit all.

Retraining and innovation puts these reservations to rest. This could be funded by the increased economic activity that would be quickly engendered by the newfound ease and low cost of trade.

Harry Quick (hfquick@badgerherald.com) is a freshman studying economics.

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Learn from Marsy: Wisconsin must add new bill of rights for crime victims

Marsy’s Law, which gives additional state rights to victims of violent crime, must be implemented to make UW, Wisconsin safer

by Jonah McGarvey Columnist

In 1983, Marsalee “Marsy” Ann Nicholas, a senior at the University of Santa Barbara, was stalked and murdered by her ex-boyfriend. One week later, on the way home from Marsy’s funeral service, the Nicholas family stopped to pick up a loaf of bread from the grocery store. While waiting in the checkout, Marsy’s mother casually looked behind her and saw her daughter ’s murderer patiently waiting in line. The family received no notification that he was released on bail.

This inspired her brother, Henry T. Nicholas, to begin the campaign for a collection of victims’ rights laws now known as Marsy’s Law. Nicholas sponsored the first Marsy’s Law in 2008, which was placed on a California ballot as Proposition 9.

Marsy’s Law encapsulates a bill of rights for crime victims. These include — among others — a victim’s right to dignity and respect, right to privacy, the ability to be present during appropriate court proceedings and the right to be notified of their assailants’ whereabouts to a reasonable degree.

Marsy’s Law currently exists in six states: California, South Dakota, North Dakota, Illinois, Montana and Ohio.

Surprisingly, in today’s divided political sphere, support for Marsy’s Law is generally bipartisan, as it is a state-bystate decision that sacrifices little with the ratification of this amendment. As such, the lobbyist group, Marsy’s Law for All, has been able to put the proposed Wisconsin constitution amendment on the ballot to be voted on by state residents.

A recent lawsuit failed to block a statewide ballot which intended to question whether or not Wisconsin should amend Marsy’s Law, a series of clauses intended to protect and constitutionalize crime victim’s rights, after receiving bipartisan approval by both the state Senate and Congress. The initiative seeks to amend the victim’s right to be informed of when their offender has been released from jail and to refuse questioning from opposing attorneys, among other rights.

The positives for Wisconsin to amend Marsy’s Law far outweigh the single negative, which is more bureaucratic and philosophical than practical. Technically, Wisconsin citizens are already protected by the same laws outlined in Marsy’s law.

However, Marsy’s Law aims to amend these laws to be a part of state rights,

therefore equalizing victim and accused rights.

Some constitutional purists argue that there is a distinct difference between a victim’s rights and the accused rights.

Accused rights are designed to protect people’s government tyranny while the victim’s rights are in place to protect individuals from individuals. However, this argument fails to recognize the government is also responsible for

protecting and maintaining the safety and security of its citizens.

Other than this well-intentioned, but poorly developed constitutional argument, there is little opposition to Marsy’s law.

According to Wisconsin Judge Paul Cassel, the cost of implementation would be almost negligible, with the only real increase in court spending coming from notifying victims of court dates and times.

Our country’s and our state’s core

principles are based on equality, civil rights and progress. No matter how far we stray from these morals, we can always turn back. The amendment of Marsy’s Law will help keep UW students and the rest of Wisconsin citizens safe.

Jonah McGarvey (jonahm621@gmail.com) is a freshman studying political science.

Photo - As our country’s and state’s core principle is based on equality, civil rights and progress, we have a responsibility to protect crime victims.

Ahmad Hamid The Badger Herald

February 25 2020 • badgerherald.com • 15

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As tuition rates rise across US, future generations are left in further debt As Trump’s proposed budget slashes Department of Education’s budget, millions of American youth are left worse off financially

by Kaitlin Kons Columnist

Despite a proposed federal budget of a record $4.8 trillion, cuts to education have proven to be inevitable.

In the proposed budget for the year 2021, the U.S. Department of Education is facing a 7.8% decrease in federal funding.

Several federal education programs are susceptible to elimination, and others to be combined into block grants, leaving their funding allocation up to the states.

A block grant is essentially a blank check given to state or local government, and is designated for specific programs.

That grant is then dispersed among the programs, giving states the power to determine how much each program gets.

In the proposed budget, 29 programs will be consolidated, which includes Title I aid for disadvantaged students and funding for charter school expansion.

Programs that are up for elimination include subsidized student loans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Subsidized student loans are given out based on parental income, financial need and the amount of tuition you must pay.

These programs allow students in both undergraduate and graduate programs to borrow money to pay for school without accumulating interest at first. This allows students to earn their degrees before interest starts building up on their debt.

Unsubsidized student loans won’t be cut, which mandate interest on the loans while degrees are being completed. This means that if you are to obtain a student loan, interest will start accumulating while you are in school, forcing students into more debt than they would have already been in.

The other major program that the budget is intending on cutting is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. This program allows people who have worked for 10 years in public service — paying off the loans the entire time — to have their student loans eliminated after that 10 year period.

Teachers, police officers, nurses, public defenders and others who dedicate their lives to public service are all affected by this. In fact, over 550,000 people have planned their lives around the program to pay for their educations.

The first year that people became eligible for loan forgiveness — 10 years after the start of the program — was 2017. The 16 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

Department of Education received around 28,000 applications and of the 289 people who were accepted into the program, only 96 people had their loans forgiven. Those 96 people had about $5.52 million in debt that was forgiven.

You can see how easily this program could bankrupt the government.

Luckily, since the program has started, numbers of accepted people have grown to 1,216 people with forgiven loans.

Consequently, the number of people rejected skyrocketed to 100,835.

About three-quarters of students are receiving federal aid to help make their way through college.

Our public servants that dedicate their lives to the betterment of their communities are being robbed of opportunities that they have been promised through the PSLF Program.

And now Trump is proposing to cut the program altogether.

As if that wasn’t enough, public universities are increasing tuition at alarming rates. States are being forced to increase tuition to combat growing expenditures within their budgets at a rate of about $300 for every $1,000 in higher education funds cut by the state.

Within the last decade, in-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions increased at an average rate of 3.1% per year, a decade before that saw an increase of 4.2% per year and the decade before that saw a 4.1% increase per year.

The worst part is the majority of the people making decisions regarding the growing burden being placed on students over the years probably paid — and paid off — a mere sliver of what this generation is seeing.

The University of Wisconsin resident tuition freeze is a saving grace in the crisis to combat the rising cost of higher education and student debt — for residents, of course.

Nonresident students receive tuition increases almost annually, with Chancellor Rebecca Blank proposing and the Board of Regents approving the 2020-2021 tuition raise for nonresidents.

Still, the raise in nonresident tuition is about $10,000 less than that of the University of Michigan and $16,000

Photo - The real issue is the lack of future planning within the federal government, leaving UW to pick up its pieces.

Kirby Wright The Badger Herald less than that of Northwestern, which is on par with most private schools.

UW is doing what it can to make school here affordable while trying to maintain its status as a top university. The real issue is the lack of future planning by the federal government and their neglect for an entire generation of Americans.

This is the economic issue we should be tackling. How can we claim that we have a good economy when a whole class of people cannot buy houses, get married, have kids, buy a new car or even choose

the job they want to be working instead of the one they have to work to pay off their debt?

If President Trump can solve this economic issue, perhaps he deserves a second look. Until then, the struggling middle class will be paying off their student loans while we watch our president claim the economy is at its best.

Kaitlin Kons (kkons@wisc.edu) is a sophomore studying political science and public policy.

OPINION

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Wisconsin must legalize marijuana in 10 years to achieve finanical benefits

Wisconsin must follow Illinois, Michigan in decriminalizing use of recreational marijuana to achieve economic boost

by William Keenan Columnist

Across the United States, 11 states have fully decriminalized and legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Here in the Midwest, Wisconsin’s neighbors, Illinois and Michigan have as well, leading Wisconsin’s residents to flock to Illinois and Michigan to buy marijuana.

Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana in 2015, earned almost $267 million in tax revenue in 2018 solely through the sales of marijuana — which was then reinvested into the state through investments in K-12 education, infrastructure and the state’s general funds.

Colorado is not the only state to see vast tax revenues from the legalization of marijuana, as Washington and California had tax revenue exceeding $300 million, Oregon with nearly $100 million and Nevada with nearly $70 million.

The raw economic incentive is clear. There is a large demand for marijuana, and states who choose to legalize marijuana and supply

it through dispensaries are able to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue alone. Colorado has invested millions in education, Oregon has given $12.75 million to its states police officers and California has pledged to give $198 million to programs that prevent youth drug abuse, protect the environment and help law enforcement.

Not only are the states able to supply a demand, employ hundreds of thousands and reduce the amount of marijuana-related arrests, they are also able to fund their schools, fix their roads and invest in projects benefiting the greater public good.

Here in Wisconsin, various marijuana legalization proposals have appeared in the Republican-controlled legislature only to be rejected.

“We need to take into consideration the states that have already legalized marijuana and look at the impact it has had … this is a very complicated issue,” State Rep. Jesse James (R-Altoona) told WEAU13 News.

James is not the only elected official to voice concerns.

“I also want to be the spokesperson that

educates people to at least take a moment and try to understand the impact, but let’s look at the future and the devastation that is going to come — because it will,” State Sen. Kathy Bernier (R-Wisconsin) told WEAU13 News.

According to James, the impact in other states must be examined, while Bernier believes full-fledged legalization will cause devastation.

So here is an examination.

One study has shown Colorado and Washington, two of the first states to legalize marijuana, have seen that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes. And, according to the same study, results from Colorado and Washington suggest that legalization has not had major detrimental effects on public safety.

In fact, crime rates have actually decreased.

The study states that, “combining countylevel difference-in-differences and spatial regression discontinuity designs, we find that the policy caused a significant reduction in rapes and property crimes on the Washington side of the border in 2013 to 2014 relative to the Oregon side and relative to the pre-legalization

Photo - Legalizing marijuana may be Wisconsin’s solution for improving the state’s infrastructure as 55% of Wisconsin roads and pavements are in poor condition.

years of 2010 to 2012.”

Not only did the states studied have decreases in violent crimes, arrests and binge drinking, but recreational legalization of marijuana actually led to fewer adolescents using marijuana.

According to another study researching the effects of use of marijuana in adolescents, “[medical marijuana legalization] enactment was associated with small significant reductions of 1.1 percentage points in current marijuana use, with larger significant declines for male, Black, and Hispanic (2.7–3.9 percentage points) adolescents.”

For James and Bernier, marijuana represents doom, devastation and disaster. Yet according to research, marijuana represents opportunity, reduction in violent crimes and increased revenue.

It is imperative that Wisconsin legalizes the recreational use of marijuana within the next five to 10 years. Wisconsin’s public schools sit in a state of disarray as Republican funding cuts have led to increased class sizes and poorer results.

Moreover, according to a national transportation research nonprofit, 55% of Wisconsin’s major locally and statemaintained roads have pavement that is in poor condition and 19% in mediocre condition. The report blames inadequate state and local funding for worsening conditions, and estimates that drivers in some Wisconsin cities spend nearly $1,000 a year on repairs due to driving their vehicles on deteriorating roads.

The state’s infrastructure is crumbling, public school students are struggling and sick Wisconsinites are unable to reap the benefits of legalized marijuana. Colorado, Nevada, Michigan, Illinois and the other states that have legalized marijuana have been able to improve their roads, public schools and health of their citizens — why can’t Wisconsin?

There is empirical evidence that legalizing marijuana has the potential to lower arrest rates, decrease youth smoking rates and allow the state to reap many benefits.

For the party of family values, Wisconsin Republicans seem content to allow public schooling to go under-funded, violent arrest rates to soar and families to suffer as they refuse to allow arguments for recreational marijuana legislation to be heard.

William Keenan (wkeenan3@wisc.edu) is a senior studying political science.

Marissa Haegele The Badger Herald 17 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

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Men’s Basketball: Multiple contributors fill void left by Kobe King

Trice, Ford among players who have kept Badgers’ NCAA Tournament hopes alive following King’s early February departure

by Will Whitmore Associate Sports Editor

Following a frustrating Jan. 27 loss to Iowa on the road, the Badgers were slammed with more bad news just two days later when redshirt sophomore guard Kobe King announced he was leaving the team.

At the time, the move seemed detrimental to the Badgers. Wisconsin was reeling after losing back-toback games, falling to 12-9 and only 5-5 in the Big Ten. With King gone — the team’s second-highest leading scorer at that time — some questioned whether the Badgers had enough weapons to make the NCAA tournament or even finish the regular season in a strong fashion.

The Badgers have answered the critics by winning four of their last five games, including victories against Michigan State and The Ohio State University, both of which are top-ranked teams both in the conference and nationally.

Although the team misses King’s presence, the Badgers are getting contributions from a multitude of players to fill the void.

One of the players that has stepped up in the wake of King’s departure is redshirt junior forward Aleem Ford. Despite battling midseason struggles in which he failed to record double-digit scoring in eight consecutive games from Jan. 3 to Jan. 27, Ford stepped up following King’s decision to transfer.

As a 6-foot-8-inch stretch forward, Ford has always shown flashes of being a marquee player for Wisconsin. As a freshman, Wisconsin fans were able to see Ford’s potential as the junior from Lawrenceville, Georgia appeared in 33 games and made 20 starts. While Ford has shown glimpses of solid play, he is finally starting to put it all together.

In the five games prior to the win over Rutgers Sunday, Ford finished with double-digit points four times. He gives Wisconsin a tremendous inside-out presence, hitting 12 threes in those five games. Ford has been much more aggressive, averaging 11.2 points per game during the stretch.

In Wisconsin’s win Tuesday against Purdue, Ford played his best game of the year. He exploded out of the gates — scoring 14 first-half points on four 3-pointers. Ford finished with a season-high 19 points, giving the Badgers a much needed offensive spark.

Along with Ford, the Badgers have gotten contributions from a wide variety of players in their rotation. What has made Wisconsin so successful over the past couple of weeks has been that different players have stepped up in different games — effectively making it quite difficult for opposing defenses to concoct a comprehensive scheme.

In their impressive Feb. 9 win against Ohio State, it was the lone senior on the team, Brevin Pritzl, that stepped up for the Badgers. Pritzl came off the bench firing, scoring 19 points with five three-pointers in 33 minutes of action. As a key member off the bench, Pritzl is one of the reasons why Greg Gard has so much faith in their reserves.

In an article released Jan. 14, Gard recognized the contributions of his second unit.

“In order to have a good team, you’ve got to hopefully have contributions coming from many 18 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

areas,” Gard told the Wisconsin State Journal. “This group is starting to understand what everybody’s role is and embrace that.”

Another key contribution from the Badgers’ bench in the absence of King is the junior transfer from Ohio State, Micah Potter. Coming off the bench, Potter has been one of the NCAA’s most efficient players. Potter ranks No. 14 nationally, with a player efficiency per minute rating of 0.14.

This mark remains higher than Wooden Award candidate Daniel Oturu and multiple other top players in the nation.

In the backcourt since King left, juniors Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice have stepped up as well. Trice now acts as a stoic presence — offering consistent production stability, good decision

making and, ultimately, stability to the Badgers. In the five games prior to the matchup with Rutgers, Trice averaged a team-best 5.8 assists per game.

Trice also avoided mistakes on the offensive end during that same stretch, as he only averaged 1.8 turnovers per game.

Trice’s ball control has made it easier for counterpart Davison to get going offensively.

Though Davison had struggled as of late, shooting a dismal 3-for-15 in a three-game stretch against Purdue, Minnesota and Ohio State, he caught fire Saturday against Nebraska. Davison went off for 30 total points and nailed eight threes in the contest.

Davison was also a key factor in the Feb. 18 win against Purdue, scoring 13 points with four crucial free throws to seal the game. Getting Trice

and Davison going is another element that makes Wisconsin so dangerous — even without Kobe King.

A reason for the Badgers’ success is resilience.

Gard has noticed the obstacles that his team has faced and has appreciated their relentlessness.

“The one thing is they’re resilient, they learn and they’re always ready for the next challenge,” Gard said in a Feb. 9 Associated Press article.

Though losing a star like Kobe King is always difficult, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team has stepped up to the plate — not individually but as a team. By having each player contribute, the Badgers have shown their resilience and toughness, proving that they are going to be a strong candidate for a March Madness bid.

Photo · Several players have stepped up in the wake of King’s untimely departure as the Badgers have played well in late-season Big Ten match-ups.

Bea Frank The Badger Herald

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Women’s Hockey: Assessing Badgers’ chances at another national title Badgers currently hold significant statistical advantages over rest of conference, yet postseason games rarely go how they ought to on paper

by John Spengler Sports Editor

advantage of power play opportunities can reign supreme. Thankfully for the Badgers, they’ve also dominated in these categories throughout the year.

Perhaps it’s the coaching ability of Head Coach Mark Johnson or maybe it’s even the team’s extensive experience and maturity, but the Badgers simply don’t draw penalties. They currently average just 5.1 penalty minutes per game. The next closest team is Bemidji State with an average of 5.9.

That 0.8 minute gap is the largest between any other team in the conference by a full 0.4 minutes.

While that may not seem like a long period of time, the fact that the Badgers have distinguished

themselves so far from the rest of the conference is indicative of their ability to remain composed and disciplined when the rubber meets the road.

On top of avoiding penalties, the Badgers are particularly adept at capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes. They rank at the top of the conference in power play conversion rate with a scoring rate of 35.1 per cent.

By avoiding penalties and converting on power plays, the Badgers have amassed a stunningly dominant level of net special teams scoring. So far on the season, they accumulated 26 net goals on power plays. The next closest conference competitor? Minnesota with just 9 net power play goals on the season.

The WCHA is always a cut-throat conference.

When teams are faced with their first postseason challenge of the year, this competition can only ramp up even further. There is little doubt that multiple teams from the WCHA will find themselves competing in the NCAA tournament later in March.

The winner of the WCHA tournament earns an automatic bid to the Frozen Four tournament.

While it’s hard to believe the WCHA title is necessary to get the Badgers to the NCAA tournament, capturing said title would go a long way in proving the Badgers have the chops to capture their second straight national title.

The Wisconsin women’s hockey team (274-1, 17-4-1-1 WCHA) have had an undeniably impressive regular season. They took down multiple top-ranked opponents while also putting up some of the nation’s best offensive production numbers. Yet, with a stratified talent landscape in collegiate hockey, the Badgers will have an undeniably difficult path to a second straight national title.

Even against the toughest opponents in the nation, the Badgers have performed comparatively well. Their current national ranking is higher than that of every single opponent they have faced, including top ranked teams they have split series against such as No. 3 Minnesota and No. 5 The Ohio State University.

With an impressive record under their belt, the Badgers are certainly poised for a deep season run. Yet, with their latest split series against OSU, they have ceded their No. 1 ranking to Cornell University. This is indicative of the fact that, despite their regular season success, the Badgers still face a tough road ahead of them.

This road begins with the WCHA tournament following the Badgers’ final regular season series against Minnesota-Duluth this past weekend.

With 54 total conference points and a final win over Minnesota-Duluth, the Badgers officially secured themselves as the No. 1 seed in the WCHA playoffs.

With this spot, they secure a first round bye in the seven team tournament and advance directly to the semi-finals where they are likely to play either Ohio State or Minnesota Duluth. Ironically enough, these are the teams they last competed against in the regular season.

With a tough schedule ahead of them, it’s worth it to take a look at how the Badgers stack up against the rest of the conference statistically throughout the season.

Offensively, the Badgers were dominant throughout the extent of the regular season.

They lead the conference in goals per game by a solid margin with an average of 4.58 — their next closest competitor is Minnesota with 3.84.

While Wisconsin does not hold the top spot in total scoring defense, the margin between them and Minnesota in the top spot is much closer than that of scoring offense. The Badgers allow an average of 1.67 goals per game while the Gophers just barely have them beat with an average of 1.62 per game.

The Badgers are equally dominant on an individual level. They currently have the top three individual scorers within the conference in Daryl Watts, Sophie Shirley and Abby Roque.

The trio has accumulated individual point totals of 69, 56 and 53, respectively.

Yet, it remains that, even with this broad statistical domination, the Badgers have not always closed out against tough conference opponents when it matters most. So what might Photo · Led by junior transfer Daryl Watts, emerging star Abby Roque, Badgers have remained one of top teams in WCHA, nation as they vie for a repeat. be the deal breaker come March?

In post season games that so often come down to razor-thin margins of performance, Bea Frank both the ability to remain disciplined and take The Badger Herald

February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 19

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Football: Look at Tyler Biadasz’s draft stock before NFL Draft

Biadasz emerged as one of best offensive lineman in 2019, winning Rimington Trophy as best center in nation while allowing just one sack

by Harrison Freuck Sports Editor

With the NFL Draft quickly approaching, several Badgers are preparing for their name to be called on draft night, with offensive lineman Tyler Biadasz among them.

Biadasz, a 6-foot-3-inch, 321-pound lineman, hails from Amherst, Wisconsin, where he played as a defensive lineman in football, along with playing for his high school’s basketball and baseball teams. Biadasz emerged from high school as a 3-star recruit but has become a dominant force on the Badgers’ offensive line since his redshirt freshman season in 2017.

Over the course of his career, Biadasz has started 41 games, all of which have been at center. As one of the best offensive linemen in the Big Ten, Biadasz paved the way for star

running back and fellow draftee Jonathan Taylor, who broke the record for most rushing yards through a junior season.

Biadasz has earned numerous accolades during his collegiate career, including a unanimous first-team All-American selection (2019), a Rimington Trophy winner as the nation’s best center (2019), a third-team All-Big Ten selection (2017), a first-team All-Big Ten selection (2018 and 2019) and an Academic AllBig Ten selection (2017, 2018 and 2019). Biadasz also allowed just one sack across 390 pass plays in the 2019 season.

Biadasz’s dominance as an elite college offensive lineman cannot be questioned, but how his abilities will translate to the NFL is a question NFL scouts will attempt to answer in the next few months.

Let’s take a look at Biadasz’s draft stock

with the NFL Combine and NFL Draft quickly approaching.

As a former basketball and baseball player, Biadasz’s speed and agility truly stand out among other offensive linemen. Commended for his mobility as a blocking center, Biadasz has the advantage over other draft hopefuls due to his quickness, especially when it comes to run blocking.

Biadasz is also known for his durability as he started all 41 games across the three seasons he played for the Badgers. Unfortunately, Biadasz did require hip surgery last offseason, but the surgery did not seem to have a major impact on his play in 2019.

Biadasz’s run-blocking ability might be the best of any offensive lineman in the draft as he helped the Badgers average well over 200 yards per game across his three seasons at center.

Photo · With multiple Badgers expected to go in April’s NFL Draft, it would be no surprise to see Biadasz go in the early rounds to a team in need of better run blocking

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald 20 • badgerherald.com • February 25, 2020

His pass-blocking skills are also above average for a lineman of his size as the Wisconsin unit allowed only 65 sacks across 41 games from 2017-19, including the aforementioned one sack allowed by Biadasz in all of 2019. NFL Draft analysts have noted he may struggle at the NFL level as his lateral quickness is subpar compared to many defensive linemen in the league.

Concerns about Biadasz’s balance have also been raised by draft analysts, as Biadasz frequently drops to his knees when overpowered, which would obviously happen more often in the NFL. He also has a tendency to lunge at defenders in the open field, something which may raise concern among NFL scouts before the NFL Combine and NFL Draft.

Biadasz hip surgery is also a concern for NFL teams when considering his potential as hip injuries are often a result of wear-and-tear in athletes. Biadasz’s hip injury resulted in more upper-body blocking — or getting leverage via his arms, not his legs — in 2019, causing him to be pushed back on passing plays when faced with stronger defenders during Big Ten play.

Wisconsin football has been known as a pipeline for future NFL offensive linemen for years, and compared to other linemen at the program, Biadasz ranks among the best in program history despite only playing for three seasons.

In a press release from after Biadasz was announced as the winner of the Rimington Trophy, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph explained what separates Biadasz from the rest.

“He’s intelligent, he has a tremendous work ethic, and he has proven himself to be an amazing leader for our team,” Rudolph said. “We couldn’t be more proud of the player and person he’s become, and I consider myself fortunate to have the chance to coach him.”

While Wisconsin has produced one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history in Joe Thomas, Biadasz isn’t likely to reach his level. Instead, expect Biadasz to serve as a regular, above-average lineman in the NFL, similar to former Badgers like Ryan Ramczyk, Rob Havenstein and Kevin Zeitler.

Looking at Biadasz’s draft profile as a whole, it is clear he will be selected on either the first or second day (first-third rounds), barring an extremely poor performance in the NFL Combine or a major injury between now and the draft.

Most projections and mock drafts have Biadasz going in the late first round, including CBS Sports (No. 32 to the Chiefs and No. 26 to the Dolphins, according to two experts) and Bleacher Report (No. 30 to the Packers). My prediction, like those of many, is Biadasz hearing his name called either late on day one or early on day two.

NFL Draft Projection: Late 1st-Early 2nd Round

SPORTS

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Men’s Basketball: Badgers among best teams in Big Ten at home

Wisconsin has been nearly unstoppable at home thanks to home-court advantage at Kohl Center in grueling Big Ten conference schedule

by Harrison Freuck Sports Editor

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (17-10, 10-6 Big Ten) has been mediocre at best on the road this season, but at the Kohl Center, the Badgers play among the best teams in the Big Ten. Across 14 home games thus far, the Badgers have an impressive win percentage of 0.929 (13-1), a record that would place them in a tie for third place in the Big Ten, behind only Maryland (15-0) and Rutgers (17-1). The Badgers’ home resume features wins over Marquette, Maryland, Michigan State and The Ohio State University, all of whom are likely to make the NCAA Tournament come March.

Contrary to the Badgers’ impressive record at home, Wisconsin has struggled on the road with a 4-9 record away from the Kohl Center. This includes a 4-6 record in true road games and an 0-3 record in neutral-site games.

Obviously, as most basketball fans know, home-court advantage has a huge influence at both the collegiate and professional levels. Generally, teams have a better win percentage at home than they do on the road — which is the case in the Big Ten this season, where all 14 teams have played better at home than they have on the road.

What separates this Wisconsin team from previous Wisconsin teams is just how much better they play at home compared to on the road. When looking at the Badgers’

win percentage differential between home games and neutral/road games, the 20192020 season is drastically different from previous Wisconsin seasons.

For those of you who like numbers, let me break it down for you — Wisconsin’s 0.929 win percentage at home is a whopping 0.621 percent better than their road win percentage (0.308). The only team in the Big Ten to have a greater margin between home and road win percentage is Rutgers, who has gone 17-1 (0.944) at home and 1-9 (0.100) in road/neutral games — a difference of 0.844, which is simply unheard of.

Last season, Wisconsin went 12-4 (0.750) at home compared to 11-7 (0.611) away from the Kohl Center, a difference of just

Photo · Badgers have lost just once in the Kohl Center this season, dominating recent opponents behind loud, rowdy home crowds in crucial games Ahmad Hamid The Badger Herald

0.139.

Across the past 10 seasons (20092010 season to the 2018-2019 season), Wisconsin’s smallest differential from home record to road/neutral record was the 2014-2015 NCAA Tournament runnerup team, which went 16-1 (0.941) at home and 21-3 (0.875) in road/neutral games.

Wisconsin’s largest differential across the same 10-year stretch was the 2010-2011 season when the Badgers finished a perfect 18-0 (1.000) at home but went just 9-9 (0.500) when playing elsewhere.

Yes, Wisconsin’s quality of opponents at home and on the road differs from year to year, but they’ve played some teams twice this season, both at home and on the road.

This includes Ohio State (won on the road and at home), Purdue (lost on the road, won at home), Michigan State (lost on the road, won at home), Nebraska (won on the road and at home) and Rutgers (lost on the road, won at home).

So what does all of this mean for Wisconsin men’s basketball this year?

On the surface — and most obviously — it means Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the nation at home, but an average team when they are away from the Kohl Center.

On a deeper level, there is reason for concern as the Badgers approach tournament season. Wisconsin has just four regular-season games remaining, with two of those taking place on the road — at Michigan Feb. 27 and at Indiana March 7.

After the regular season concludes in early March, the Badgers and the rest of the Big Ten will converge in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament, which runs from March 11 to March 15. While no team in the Big Ten is great on the road (Maryland and Penn State are the best at 7-4 in non-home games this season), the Badgers will be faced with tough competition all weekend.

Since the Badgers currently sit in a tie for the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten, they will need to win most, if not all, of their remaining games to move into the top four, which would allow them to get a two-round bye in the tournament.

With the Big Ten Tournament just a few weeks away, the Badgers need to solve their road struggles before the regular season ends if they want to perform well in the Big Ten Tournament, and further, in the NCAA Tournament. While there will certainly be plenty of Badger fans in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament, there will also be a wealth of fans from the other 13 teams, making it a true neutral tournament.

Stay tuned in March to see if the Badgers are able to overcome their road struggles as the regular season draws to a close and the tournament season begins.

February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 21

BANTER

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Do it for the ‘gram: Lake Mendota A few things you can do to add to the frozen lake fun

by Keagan Schlosser Banter Contributor

It’s that special time of year! Lake Mendota is frozen over and every Basic is going onto the ice to acquire the perfect Instagram post. Bums have been busted, teeth have been chipped and dignities have been lost – all for the gram.

The two most famous Lake Mendota moments have passed. Lady Liberty came and went in a weekend, causing at least half of your feed to contain “Big Apple” captions.

Lily’s Classic, the philanthropic event hosted by Sigma Alpha Epsilon, had a similar effect. The combination of daydrinking and hockey jerseys caused any semi-fratty person you know to post a picture from the lake.

You can’t blame them. The ice simply provides for the best lighting in all of Madison. Pair Mendota with an overcast day, and all of your flaws are blurred away.

Slap a VSCO filter on it and prove you go to UW-Madison by embracing the cold.

The only problem – there are no more events on the lake, and at least one – okay honestly two – months of winter left! You have to document something to prove to your hometown friends that you’re doing better than them. Don’t sweat it! Get creative, and check out these ideas to get your Instagram feed absolutely frosty!

Start LARP-ing!

anymore.

If you loved the merry-go-round, you’ll love this activity. But be careful! Most of Lake Mendota is extremely bumpy and rigid – find a smoother part to really let your bod spin round.

Caption idea: well maybe don’t post a picture of this one. Live in the moment – get a concussion.

Fight with your significant other!

This is something that is bound to happen anyway! If you bring your significant other to run your photo-op, they’re most likely going to screw it up or complain that your demands are too high.

Hold your ground during this argument. They should know better – adjust the screen for brightness levels, put you in the center of the frame and NEVER zoom in goddamnit. Unfortunately, this activity results in a grainy photo of you mid-smile.

Caption idea: “low quality picture low quality picture-taker” There you have it! Spice up your feed with these unique ideas and have actual, genuine fun while doing so. Once the ice melts away, you can resume your regularly scheduled Mendota Sunset shoots. Until then, grab your Sperry duck boots and say cheese!

There are plenty of movie scenes that are shot on ice – reenacting them will bring a rush of nostalgia and add some pop culture to your feed! A few recommended ones are – “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “I, Tonya,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and in warmer months, “Titanic.” Think of some of your favorite TV shows or movies and let Lake Mendota act as your scenery.

Caption idea: “Lake Mendota is just like a movie!”

Alternative Caption: “No knees were bashed in the making of this post”

Have a picnic!

Nothing says “I love Wisconsin” more than eating a bag of shredded cheese on the lake. Sure, your butt may get wet. And sure, you may not be able to feel your hands at the end of your meal, but you’ll probably burn the calories you eat by shivering. Win– win!

Caption idea: “Couldn’t get more Wisco than this!”

Make a friend spin you around like a ragdoll!

Unleash your inner child by having a friend throw your limp body across a patch of ice. College kids don’t get to just play

Photo - Great ideas right? You’re welcome!

Keagan Schlosser The Badger Herald

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You’re not allowed to open a Trader Joe’s in a lot with a regular, adequate parking lot. It has to be quirky with a bad traffic pattern. Gotta be.

the worst birthday party i’ve ever been to was in second grade and the girl invited our ENTIRE class and she ordered enough pizza/ cake for all of us but we weren’t allowed to.....have any???? we just watched her eat cake while we were starving. like ok marie antoinette m

@okaishawty

Jawn Dwyck @tyronem

Scientists recently placed a 10-piece set of matching Tupperware in a sealed chamber.

Since we’re talking about range

When they opened it a month later, the chamber had 24 lids that did not match any of the 6 remaining containers.

Axis II of Evil

@joannathemad89

The two types of wives

Cameron Bradford @camerobradford

Uriel

@LOLitsUriel

February 25, 2020 • badgerherald.com • 23