'Artificial Accountablity' - Volume 49, Issue 13

STUDENT MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017 · VOL 49 Issue 13 · BADGERHERALD.COM

ARTIFICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

As AI programs are increasingly embedded into everyday life, researchers investigate implications of machine-driven decisions pg. 16

Designed by Autumn Brown

MADTOWN CRIER

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Madtown Crier Madtown refuses to slow down. Here are some upcoming events The Badger Herald recommends to keep you up to speed.

Thursday 12/14 Up and Coming Foundations Show closing reception at Gallery 7 in Mosses Humanities Building, 6-7:30 p.m., FREE

Tuesday 12/12 “Alone & Together” Exhibition

by Teo Nguyen at Gallery 1308 in Union South, 7 a.m.- 10 p.m., FREE

Wednesday 12/13 Ratatouille (2007) and Crêpe Study Break at the Marquee, 6-9:30 p.m., FREE

Thursday 12/14 Badger Ballroom Fall Showcase at Memorial Union, 8-10 p.m., FREE

Friday 12/15

Friday 12/15

“Tropicalia” Exhibition by Ben Orozco at the Class of 1925 in Memorial Union, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., FREE

Saturday 12/16 Holiday Zoo Lights at Henry Vilas Zoo, 5:30-9 p.m., $20

Sunday 12/17

Saturday 12/16 Anna Wang CD Release Party at The Frequency, Doors 8 p.m./Show 9 p.m., $5

2017 Madison Hip-Hop Awards at the Majestic, 7-11 p.m., ADV. $7

Black Sheep Bazaar VI at the High Noon Saloon, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., FREE

Monday 12/18 Lunchtime Yoga at Monona Terrace, 12-12:45pm, FREE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Web series producer discusses how passionate students can get involved in the project.

EDITORIAL BOARD HEADLINERS

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From free speech to Foxconn, The Badger Herald editorial board grants awards to the most notable people and occurances this semester on campus, in the city of Madison and within the state of Wisconsin.

NEWS

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THE SEMESTER T H A Campus climate survey reveals minorities, LGBTQ+ students feel less welcome on campus The University of Wisconsin released the results of a campus-wide climate survey which found minority students experience a less positive campus than majority students.

The survey, which was completed last year by roughly 20 percent of the student body, posed questions concerning the experiences students face on campus. While a majority of overall respondents reported a positive campus climate, students of color and LGBTQ+ students reported a considerably less positive experience than the overall student body.

The report came after a spring 2017 semester which saw a nearly 40 percent increase in reports of bias-related incidents from the previous year. Additionally, this semester saw several instances of vandalism on sites sacred to religious and racial minorities.

On what has traditionally been referred to as “Christopher Columbus Day,” the Dejope Fire Circle, a sacred Native American site on campus, was vandalized with racial slurs. A few weeks before this, a site near a Jewish syna-

UW introduces SNAP benefits, mandatory meal plan

In response to campaigns encouraging the University of Wisconsin to take action against student hunger and meal insecurity, one of the Flamingo Run convenience stores on campus is now accepting food stamps as a form of payment for qualifying food items.

University Housing representative Brendon Dybahl, who spearheaded the project, said the program will normalize the college experience for those in need of food benefits.

“We hope that it will be a step towards a better college experience for [SNAP users], where they can get food at some of the same places as their fellow classmates,” Dybdahl said. “Programs that help normalize their college experience are valuable to our community.”

There are other difficulties besides the success rate that the SNAP program must overcome, Dybdahl said. Currently, SNAP application processes are run by the USDA and required for every location on campus that participates in the program. Guidelines of the SNAP program exclude restaurant food and hot, prepared meals which makes the dining halls ineligible for food stamp use.

While UW dining services are trying to make 4• badgerherald.com •December 12 , 2017

gogue was vandalized with swastikas.

In discussing the results of the survey, UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the results were unsurprising and confirm what many students have already expressed to the university administration.

Specifically, the results found students of color and LBGTQ+ students felt less welcome and were more likely to experience hostile, harassing or intimidating behavior.

Additionally, these student demographics were more likely to seriously consider leaving UW and feel they had to represent their identity in class, something which the survey said has been described as a negative experience by minority students.

In the final findings of the report, it was reported most UW students find diversity to be valuable and want to see a strong institutional response to incidents of hate and bias on campus.

Shortly after the conclusion of the survey, the university formed the Campus Climate Survey Task Force to respond to the findings and posit recommendations to remedy them. the dining halls more accessible for students using SNAP benefits, dining services has also implemented a meal plan for students.

Come fall 2018, all students living in UW residence halls will have to choose a meal plan with a minimum of $1,400.

The meal plan will be billed on a quarterly basis and is available in three, each estimating different numbers of meals per week. The number of meals per week range for 9 to 20, director of Dining and Culinary services Peter Testory, said.

Although Testory said the meal plan was developed with Associated Students of Madison, a press release from ASM condemns this plan due to its lack of regard for students who have dietary restrictions due to religious, financial or health reasons.

“ASM’s Shared Governance Committee, which is fully comprised of students, clearly expressed discontent to Jeff Novak, Director of Housing and Dining, for mandatory meal plans,” the press release said. “At the time of Novak’s presentation [to ASM], the idea for mandatory meal plan was not advertised to the Committee as a serious option considered by Housing and Dining.”

Dane County Board passes $76 million jail legislation

inmates.

“That antiquated jail is unsafe,” McCarville said. “It contains asbestos, lead, and outdated technology that routinely does not work and causes people to be trapped in their cells until deputies can find a solution to get the doors open.”

Though not all supervisors were in favor of the jail such as Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner, District 2, who thought Dane County should not be investing in mental health centers within the jail.

Deciding to pass the budget, however, was not easy as protesters filled the City Council Building on the day of its passing.

Protests were too loud for the supervisors to vote verbally, so instead they voted with a “thumbs up,” or “thumbs down.”

Even after the bill was passed by board members, protestors at the meeting continued shouting and yelled “shame” towards the supervisors as they left the building.

Alec Cook to face seven different trials in 2018

issued a decision to try Cook in six separate trials Van Wagner and Nicholson also filed a motion to remove a notebook found in Cook’s apartment from evidence during trial and to have a change of venue.

The motion hearing took place on Nov. 30, where the prosecuting attorney Christopher Liegel argued that the notebook, containing lists of women’s names, should be admissible as evidence during the trial because Cook gave consent to Detective Grant Humerickhouse to search his apartment in the presence of his attorney, Chris Van Wagner.

The contents of the notebook were seized because Detective Humerickhouse took pictures of the notebook, Nicholson said.

These pictures were then part of the affidavit that provided the search warrant for the apartment.

“Diaries are extraordinarily private writings and the case [of Arizona v. Hicks] describes that private writings are typically not considered part of a limited scope of consent,” Nicholson said. “In fact, there was no request to search for writings here.”

Cook was granted a change of venue the next morning from Ehlke and Judge John Hyland.

The Dane County Board of Supervisors voted to pass the $76 million dollar jail legislation that adds onto the current jails in Dane County.

County Executive Joe Parisi said the two jails in Dane County would combine into one. The two jails are currently located at the Ferris Center and the sixth and seventh floors of the County Building.

On Nov. 21, protesters flooded the streets of Madison in opposition of the jail budget.

Groups against the legislation, like Derail the Jail, believe the $76 million can be used towards other means, such as helping people avoid jails through mental health programs.

But supporters such as Supervisor Maureen McCarville, District 22, argued there would be an expansion of medical and mental health services that would support

Former University of Wisconsin student, Alec Cook, will begin his seven total trials in late February 2018.

Cook is currently facing 23 criminal charges involving 11 women. These charges include several counts of sexual assault, strangulation and suffocation, false imprisonment, stalking and disorderly conduct.

Cook’s defense attorneys, Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson, originally filed a motion to try Cook in 11 separate trials.

Van Wagner and Nicholson argued that if all charges were in one trial, there would be “astounding prejudice” against their client. The defense team also cited the “snowball effect” for showing the prejudice that comes with being accused of sexual offenses.

“Individuals who never considered themselves victims of the defendant thus never contacted law enforcement, then saw the media coverage and later reevaluated their previously unreported interactions with the defendant, and suddenly felt it necessary to report something to law enforcement, even though months or even years had passed,” the motion stated.

Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke

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AT WAS Walker signs Foxconn into law

While state Republicans have expressed their support for the contract, state Democrats have been vocal about their concerns.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has suggested it may take 25 years or more for Wisconsin to recover the revenue.

These costs, both financially and environmentally, raised questions for state Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, because Wisconsin residents will be paying for this deal for a long time to come.

“These costs will take us into 2043 — best case scenario,” Taylor said. “And that’s if everything goes right and nothing goes wrong … but I don’t know anything to not have glitches.”

The factory, which will manufacture liquidcrystal display panels for a number of industries, is scheduled to begin construction by spring 2018. It will be located in the village of Mount Pleasant in Racine County. The factory plans to be operational by 2020.

Free speech debate on campus and Board of Regents decision

paign, which aims to highlight the “absurdity” of expanding gun rights.

In light of these protests and others, controversy has formed over what many perceive to be vague language in the policy, specifically surrounding what constitutes disruption. The policy’s official language identifies punishable disruption as “material and substantial,” a description which many have said leaves a dangerous amount of interpretive power in the hands of university administrators.

While no student has faced disciplinary action resulting from a protest thus far, the decision has highlighted partisan divisions on campus. Conservative student leaders have generally expressed their support for the bill, while liberal students have placed themselves in opposition to it.

It remains to be seen how and in what context the disciplinary actions outlined in the policy will be enforced. To date, no student has faced any disciplinary action for disrupting free expression on any of the UW System campuses. said.

Gov. Scott Walker finalized a $3 billion contract with Taiwanese technology company Foxconn in early November, making the deal the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.

The tech company is required to invest $9 billion in the manufacturing plant and has said it will create between 3,000 to 13,000 direct jobs. These jobs, the company said, will have an average salary of $53,875.

If 8,450 jobs are created by 2025, the company will collect $1.3 billion in tax credits. If it is able to create 13,000 jobs by 2022 and keep that number during the next decade, Foxconn will collect $1.5 billion in tax credits.

Walker has expressed his support and enthusiasm for the deal, saying he is excited for “Wisconn Valley” and how the opportunity is “transformational.”

“With this contract in place, Foxconn will now move forward with creating a campus that will truly transform Wisconsin’s economy and will have positive ripple effects in every region of the state,” Walker said.

Following the passage of the Campus Free Speech Act in the state Legislature earlier this year, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents passed a controversial policy which includes mandatory disciplinary guidelines for students found to disrupt someone else’s right to free expression.

While the Board of Regents has passed similar resolutions in the past, the most recent action includes mandatory disciplinary action against students who are found to have disrupted or prevented someone else’s right to free speech — something which was never included in past policies.

The specific parameters of the policy mandates the administration to suspend students who are found to have disrupted free expression on two occasions and to expel students who are found to commit the offense a third time.

Shortly after the policy was passed this year, gun rights activist Katie Pavlich was hosted by the same organization and was also faced with protest — this time with students wielding dildos as a part of the “Cocks Not Glocks” cam-

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 5

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Student entrepreneurs potentially affected in Net Neutrality battle

Keeping internet open, democratic ensures small companies with limited financial capital have equal opportunities

by Izabela Zaluska State Editor

With the Federal Communications Commission’s vote on net neutrality rapidly approaching, experts on the policy have raised concerns about how the internet will change if the Dec. 14 vote results in the repeal of net neutrality.

Net neutrality, the basic principle that ensures internet service providers, or ISPs, treat everyone equally and don’t have any favorites, means companies don’t have to pay more for their signal to get through, University of Wisconsin professor emeritus Barry Orton said.

Orton, who specializes in telecommunications policy, said repealing net neutrality would mean ISPs would be able to create fast lanes and regular lanes. Companies would have to pay more to get in the fast lane, for a better and faster signal.

Proponents of repealing net neutrality argue that the public market should be determining this instead of the government, and government shouldn’t treat broadband any differently than cable television, Orton said.

“One of the fundamental, underlying questions of all this is: Is the internet going to be

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controlled by very few content providers, or is it going to be more open than that, which is how it originally started,” Orton said.

The formal move to adopt net neutrality came under the Obama administration after a long campaign of focused activism that alerted the public about the importance of this issue, Lucas Graves, an assistant professor in UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said.

This adoption was good news when it came to maintaining the internet as an open and democratic platform, Graves said.

“The move by the Trump administration to reverse [net neutrality] and make it okay for large ISPs to create fast lanes for their favorite providers and to restrict content and services that we can access is a real step backwards,” Graves said.

The repeal of net neutrality could specifically impact students and small startups.

With net neutrality, any small company can have an equal shot at developing their business online, Orton said. But if repealed, small companies will have to pay more money — money they might not necessarily have.

Graves said companies like Facebook, YouTube and Google were able to thrive because

they emerged on an internet which treated everybody’s content equally.

“If we move toward an internet where the only way to reach the public and make sure your pages load quickly and cleanly is to pay a premium to ISPs, then small start-ups won’t be able to ever become established,” Graves said.

This impact is especially relevant to college students — traditionally, the source of many new ideas that become revolutionary start-ups has been universities across the country, Graves said.

Students aren’t only consumers — they’re also entrepreneurs, Orton added.

If basic access is controlled by private interests, the internet’s ability to be an economic engine and medium for democratic deliberation will be limited, Graves said. Additionally, opportunities to find a market and an audience will be harder to come by on an internet where access is more tightly controlled.

“If you’re trying to set up a new app to put on the internet and to get started you need to pay $500,000 a month to AT&T so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, that’s not good for economic competition and growth — that’s good for monopoly control,” Orton said.

Repealing net neutrality would make internet more like cable television, where the only way to compete is to already have large corporate backers, Graves said. The only way to get a show on television is to strike an alliance with a company that already has channels and funding on a large scale — what always set the internet apart was that it wasn’t like this system, he said.

Orton emphasized, however, that all consumers, regardless of whether or not they are students, should be wary of broadband potentially being controlled by a few large companies. The major players are AT&T, Verizon, Charter, CenturyLink, and Comcast, he said.

As of now, the FCC is set to vote on net neutrality Dec. 14.

“It’s sometimes difficult to imagine the internet we’re used to lose those qualities of openness that we like so much and that we take for granted today,” Graves said. “For us to roll back this latest development and re-establish strong neutrality rules is once again going to depend on the public showing that they care about having a democratic Internet.”

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UW alum improves Ugandan health care through motorcycles Kevin Gibbons founded Health Care Connect after witnessing first-hand urgent need for health care services in Uganda

by Abby Doeden Reporter

Kevin Gibbons began his career at the University of Wisconsin in 2008, researching Uganda’s fishing communities. His goal was to understand how sustainable fisheries could affect the families in the surrounding community.

Now, Gibbons is the executive director and cofounder of Health Access Connect, a program in Uganda that improves access to health care.

Gibbons attended UW as a graduate student and received his master’s degree in conservation biology and sustainable development in 2012.

As the executive director of Health Access Connect, Gibbons coordinates field staff, arranges meetings with government officials, applies for grants, handles social media and submits reports to donors.

Gibbons said he founded the organization after witnessing an urgent need for health care services in Uganda.

“I founded the organization after seeing the need and demand for health services in the rural villages where I was doing research,” Gibbons said. “It just seemed so pressing to me

that people were dying of AIDS and yet free, life-saving medicine was just three miles away.

I thought to myself, ‘There’s got to be a way to solve this problem.’”

The solution that Gibbons and HAC cofounder Carolyne Ariokot came up with was a program that would incentivize taxi drivers to bring governmental health workers to nearby villages three times a month, by offering them a motorcycle in return.

According to HAC’s website, this model has been in motion since August 2015 when it grew into a fully running non-profit. In addition to transporting HIV patients, the program expanded to help with malaria testing, vaccinations for children, family planning and perinatal care.

“We decided to register an organization and start pursuing the idea, and it turned into Health Access Connect and running monthly mobile clinics in these villages with micro-financed motorcycles,” Gibbons said. “It took a lot of trial and error and discussions with communities and health workers to reach that point.”

According to HAC’s website, the organization loans the motorcycles to the drivers for 18

months, and each driver serves three village clinics per month. During this 18-month loan, one driver can enable the treatment of 2,625 patients. After this period is over, the driver owns the motorcycle and is no longer obligated to drive for HAC.

“ [UW] gave me my first opportunity to visit these communities and make contacts.”

Kevin Gibbons Executive director of Health Access Connect

Chair of the UW geography department Lisa Naughton worked with Gibbons during his

graduate study and said he was a positive force to be around.

Gibbons happily reflected on his experience in Uganda, as it has re-defined what he thought he wanted to do with his life.

“It has changed the way I saw my career and life trajectory,” Gibbons said. “When I was at UW, I thought I would become a professor, my contribution would be my research and teaching.

But after a while, I steadily lost interest, and I had this itch to do something more applied that made a direct impact.”

Gibbons said he didn’t plan on working in public health, but the need for health care in Uganda adapted his interests to address the need.

Although his focus has changed, he still uses a lot of the skills he learned during his time at UW, Gibbons said. “[UW] gave me my first opportunity to visit these communities and make contacts,” Gibbons said. “I also learned a lot about research methodologies and how to prioritize local perspectives.”

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 7

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CHICKEN TRUMPS

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MAKES A LAND-

Photo · Protestors flocked Library Mall this past Saturday in response to the recent GOP tax proposal.

Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald

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UW graduate students raise concerns over education affordability

GOP tax plan will force graduate students to pay taxes which are higher than what students generally earn as income, students say

by Gretchen Gerlach Reporter

Following the passage of a federal tax plan in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate earlier last month, graduate students across the nation have expressed their concern over the affordability of postgraduate education under the bill’s provisions.

In what has been heralded as a considerable triumph for Senate Republicans and the President after earlier legislative failures, the Senate passed its version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in early December.

This came shortly after the House of Representatives passed its version of the Act in mid-November. Soon, a Congressional joint committee will meet and attempt to rectify differences between the two bills.

While both plans include provisions which cut income tax rates, double the standard deduction and eliminate personal exemptions, the bills differ in their policy towards tuition remission for graduate students.

Most graduate students at public universities, including those at UW, receive tuition reductions and a monthly stipend for their work as teaching or research assistants.

In the House’s tax reform bill, a section of the Internal Revenue Service code which exempts tuition remission for graduate students is eliminated, thus making it taxable income.

The House bill will also eliminate tax deductions for student loan interest, and both the House and Senate bills include an excise tax on private university endowments.

Many aspects of the two bills remain uncertain. Most importantly for graduate students, the policy on taxation as it relates to higher education has yet to be determined in the combined bill.

Making discounted tuition tax deductible will affect a large number of graduate students nationwide, including a considerable number on UW’s campus.

According to an article in The Capital Times, approximately 5,300 PhD students and 1,900 master ’s degree students receive this tax benefit at UW. Expanding beyond UW, it is estimated that postsecondary education would be made unaffordable for more than 145,000 graduate students nationwide if this bill comes to pass.

Kelly Murray, a UW graduate art student, said she expects her income to rise dramatically if the bill should pass.

“From the numbers I have been hearing, my income tax will likely double or triple,”

Murray said. “I don’t know where this money is going to come from.”

Like many graduate students, Murray is a recipient of the tuition waiver and a monthly stipend of around $1,000 for her work as a teaching assistant. She also bartends and participates in UW’s workstudy program, all while balancing her twelve credits.

Should the bill pass, Murray said she is concerned over how she will balance her responsibilities with school and work on top of the financial burden she believes the tax bill will place on her.

“My hope was to drop one of these side jobs to have more time for myself and for school, but with the new tax reform I am concerned where the money will come from,” Murray said.

UW political science graduate student Andrew McWard said the new bill will force graduate students to pay taxes which are higher than what students generally earn as income.

McWard said he is hesitant to pick up an extra job to compensate for this tax increase, as it further strains his already tight schedule.

“I already work roughly 60 hours a week, and it would be difficult to find extra time for another job,” McWard said.

“Any additional time spent working is time taken away from working on research and dissertations.”

The UW administration has also responded to the bills, and is reaching out to Congressional representatives to advocate on behalf of both UW’s student and institutional interests.

In a letter to U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank outlined her concerns on the Senate bill.

“While the Senate bill does not include some of the more harmful provisions to students and families in the House version, the bill would nevertheless increase costs and regulatory burden on the University of Wisconsin,” Blank wrote.

In her letter, Blank said the new bill would impact the services and resources available to students and would inhibit UW’s ability to educate and train faculty and staff. She said provisions which would tax name and logo royalties, eliminate advance refunding bonds and increase the standard deduction, would cost the university millions of dollars annually.

UW public affairs and applied economics professor Andrew Reschovsky said the new tax bill would curtail state government

Photo · Approximately 5,300 PhD students and 1,900 master’s degree students receive this tax benefit at UW.

Kirby Wright The Badger Herald spending, which he said will harm institutions like UW. “The state of Wisconsin could end up raising less revenue than it otherwise

From the numbers I have “been hearing, my income

tax will likely double or triple. I don’t know where this money is going to come from

”

Kelly Murray Graduate art student

would, which will put more pressure on tuition and result in less resources, less research opportunities, and the inability to

support scientist and lab work,” Reschovsky said.

A number of universities across the U.S. have seen their graduate students protest the new bill. At UW, a petition against the new provisions related to graduate students was circulated by the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Additionally, UW graduate students hosted a phone-bank at Bascom Hall earlier last month, in which attendees called Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation to express their opposition to the new tax reform bills. Earlier last week, a graduate student panel discussed the bill’s possible adverse effects on college students.

Murray said she hopes there will continue to be some kind of mobilization on the UW campus in dissent of the tax reform.

“This policy will keep students from pursuing higher education, and will create a disincentive for following their dreams,” she said. “I am worried for the state of our country.”

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 9

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State’s largest budget distances itself from recent trends, report finds UW public affairs and economics professor says imbalance is result of unwise budgeting, could point to signs of economic downturn

by Madeline Boulanger Reporter

A report put out by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance showed Gov. Scott Walker ’s most recent budget will have the largest spending imbalance in the past decade.

According to the report, the 2017-19 budget features increases in spending on K-12 education and a $233 million spending imbalance. Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance research director Dale Knapp said even though the budget’s spending imbalance is unusual, it will not have longterm effects.

“It’s unlike a lot of budgets over the last 15 years in that spending in the second year is greater than ongoing revenues,” Knapp said. “That imbalance sort of carries over and so there’s going to be, barring a major recession, additional tax revenues in that next biennium.”

Knapp said a portion of the expected additional tax revenues have already been claimed to rebalance revenues and expenditures.

University of Wisconsin professor emeritus of public affairs and applied economics Andrew Reschovsky said this imbalance is not wise budgeting and pointed to the chance of economic downturn.

“At some point, the economy is going to turn down,” Reschovsky said. “Wise budgeting would be that in a period where you have good economic growth, you try

10 • badgerherald.com •December 12, 2017

to grow your rainy day fund, grow your balance.”

Reschovsky said this is common in Walker ’s budgets. In the past, the “rainy

As of right now, you’ve “got an economy that’s growing fairly steadily, so if the economy continues to grow into the next budget, it’s not going to be much of a problem. We’ve been in an economic expansion for quite a while now, should the economy turn, then it becomes more of a problem.

”

Dale Knapp Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance research director

day” funds have been used for tax cuts, he added.

The budget imbalance will not be a problem as long as there is no economic downturn, Knapp said.

“As of right now, you’ve got an economy that’s growing fairly steadily, so if the economy continues to grow into the next budget, it’s not going to be much of a problem,” Knapp said. “We’ve been in an economic expansion for quite a while now, should the economy turn, then it becomes more of a problem.”

Reschnovsky and Knapp both said there will be less funding available for investing throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Sen. Lena Taylor ’s legislative aide Jordan Krieger said in an email to The Badger Herald the budget imbalance will have negative effects on

Photo · The report shows the 2017-19 budget has a $233 million spending imbalance Joey Reuteman The Badger Herald Wisconsin families.

“The spending imbalance will create uncertainty around key programs that help Wisconsin families,” Krieger said.

“Meanwhile, the continuation of corporate tax credits and incentive packages will only increase taxpayers’ liabilities down the line.

Krieger pointed to Foxconn as one such corporate incentive which increases taxpayer burden and emphasized the need to invest in Wisconsin’s infrastructure and higher education.

The report outlined K-12 aid will be the largest biennial increase in spending on K-12 education since 2005-07. Knapp said the biggest change in this budget is in increased funding for K-12 schools.

“If you look at his past budgets, there were cuts in his first one and then after that there were increases for K-12 schools but they were relatively modest, the increases in this budget are some of the biggest we’ve seen in a decade or so,” Knapp said.

This spending imbalance could have the

consequence of decreasing funding for the UW System.

Krieger added that this budget is friendlier towards corporations than towards students.

“I’m afraid funding for our UW System, the diversity of coursework offered and the ability of students to complete their programs on time will be at risk as long as Governor Walker and the GOP continue to prioritize corporate interests over investing in our students,” Krieger said.

Knapp said it is too soon to tell what the impact will be on the UW System.

The long-term effects of this budget are largely unclear due to the 2018 gubernatorial election.

“We don’t know, who’s going to be governor or if the Republicans are going to continue to control both houses of the legislature— if that changes, then everything budget wise changes,” Knapp said. “It’s really too early to say anything about impact on the UW System or the impact on K-12 schools.”

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FIELD NOTES

The Lab Report: New generation of cost-efficient nuclear reactors Junior Amy Lossen of Adrien Couet Lab works to test safer, more robust structural materials for nuclear reactors

by Riley Steinbrenner Photo Editor

Every month this semester, The Lab Report will feature a different undergraduate-research assistant on campus and their experience in the lab.

Couet Lab, Engineering Research Building Every bookworm has their favorite genre, and one University of Wisconsin junior gets to live out hers.

Materials science and engineering student Amy Lossen works in the two-years-young lab of UW engineer Dr. Adrien Couet, who is developing methods for testing materials most sustainable for constructing a new generation of cost-efficient, long-lasting nuclear reactors.

“We are going to face a very significant energy crisis on the horizon of 2030 to 2040,” Couet said.

“Nuclear energy is a solution to that crisis...but not in its current state, because nuclear reactors are too expensive.”

Today’s generation of nuclear reactors — which produce over 11 percent of the world’s electricity, according to the World Nuclear Association — cost around $10 billion to build, Couet said.

But of the four reactors being built in the U.S. today, Couet said two have already been cancelled and the other two are past schedule with overrun costs.

“I think it’s essential that we reduce the cost of nuclear reactors,” Couet said. “There are a few ways to do that, but one way is to develop new designs [and] new technologies, and materials are always at the forefront. That’s basically why I opened this lab.”

One type of reactor the Couet lab focuses on, light water reactors, are mainly made up of steel, nickel alloy and zirconium alloy, he said.

During the energy-generating process, Lossen said, materials inside the reactor undergo extreme environments, such as high temperature, pressure, exposure to radiation and corrosion.

All these stresses overtime, however, leads to degradation of the reactor, she said, which limits its safety and operational lifetime — the biggest challenge in redesigning reactors.

“We’re developing experiments where

the materials are subject to the real [reactor] environment,” Couet said. “And we’re trying to develop techniques that can tell you directly what’s going on.”

That’s where the graduate and undergraduate students in Couet’s lab come in.

With just four months of lab experience under her belt, Lossen is completing a machine, called a hydrogen permeation cell, to simulate one reactor stress called hydrogen corrosion.

“Really all it is just a fancy way a saying that I’m gonna take hydrogen and push it through a material and measure how fast that goes,” Lossen said.

Most of us are familiar with the concrete facade of nuclear reactors, but nestled inside is a reactor vessel where all the magic happens.

Inside this reactor vessel are nuclear rods, made up of uranium fuel, Lossen said. The nuclear rods are submerged in water, but cladding surrounds the rods as a barrier to separate the uranium fuel from the water.

Through a process called fission, atoms of uranium split and release heat, which turns the surrounding water into steam, she said. This steam is captured and sent through pipes to spin a turbine, which generates the electricity we use.

But, the materials that currently make up the cladding and steam pipes—zirconium alloy and nickel alloy—react with the water and frees hydrogen, she said.

Overtime, Lossen said, the loose hydrogen flows through the cladding and steam pipes, corroding the materials and making them more susceptible to cracking.

“If that cladding cracks, which will happen from hydrogen corrosion, that’s a life-limiting step,” she said. “So once it’s cracked, you need to pull that [nuclear] rod out because it becomes a safety hazard.”

Similar cracking happens when loose hydrogen corrodes the steam pipes, which would cause a shutdown of the entire reactor to replace the pipe, costing time and money, Lossen said.

Photo · Lossen assembles her hydrogen permeation cell, which simulates a type of nuclear-reactor corrosion.

Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald

This means materials more resistant to hydrogen corrosion are needed for the new generation of reactors, which is what Lossen intends to test for once her hydrogen permeation cell is complete.

Lossen will use the cell to push hydrogen through different materials, mainly nickel alloys. She will then be able to calculate the rate hydrogen moves through the sample, giving insight on its durability against corrosion, she said.

The goal is to install what Lossen calls a high temperature hydrogen permeation probe in an operating reactor.

“The very end goal is to have [one] inside a nuclear reactor and be, in real time, taking information, so we know when we’ll need to pull those rods out for safety reasons.”

Despite working out kinks to make them even safer, Lossen believes nuclear reactors are one of the most reliable sources of renewable energy the world has to depend on.

Hydroelectric power can disrupt ecosystems, such as the migratory patterns of salmon, Lossen said. Additionally, solar and wind power depend too much on location, requiring consistent sunny or windy days to be a sustainable alternatives to non-renewable sources of energy.

“Nuclear is something that is not a fossil fuel, but is also not dependant on the weather,” Lossen said. “So it’s something that I think, as our country moves forward, we need to be looking at that as a real, viable option.”

Couet believes, however, there is still a lot of work to do before nuclear energy can compete with more established energy sources, such as natural gas.

This includes continuing to develop inexpensive designs, Couet said, which can only continue with more young people interested in nuclear engineering, like Lossen, honing their expertise in the lab. “[A] big misconception is that research is hard, and really it’s not,” Lossen said. “It’s something that you have to put in a lot of hard work into, you have to put a lot of time into it and energy and thought, but is it conceptually harder than what you’re working on in class? No, not really.

You just have to understand what you’re looking at.”

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 11

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Anna Wang to share self-produced album with fans at The Frequency

Madison-based electro pop artist plans CD release party to spread fusion music from latest project, celebrate the feat with show

by Kristin Washagan ArtsEtc. Editor

Following the digital release of her latest solo album in early Nov., Madison pop artist Anna Wang will host a CD release party at The Frequency.

While Wang wrote one album of songs prior — entitled “Radio” — her latest project, “In Your Head” is the first album she produced. Using a D.I.Y. studio in her spare bedroom, Wang wrote, recorded and produced the album entirely by herself.

“It was kind of a slow learning process,” Wang said. “So this album is basically a collection of songs I created from that, so the very first song I ever recorded by myself is on this album, and then the most recent one I recorded by myself is also on this album. So it’s kind of like a journey.”

Set for Dec. 15, the event will include a performance of songs from the album by Wang, along with opening performances from other Madison musicians, including Woodrow and Genevieve Heyward. After Wang’s set, DJ Boyfrrriend will end the night.

Wang expressed her excitement for getting the chance to work with these local artists because they are each performers she admires.

“I think my favorite thing about Madison’s music scene is how much community there

is,” Wang said. “I just think that willingness to help each other. I think that’s what I’m most grateful for.”

Wang’s party will take place at The Frequency, one of the first venues she ever performed at when she first started in music.

Wang started playing music in Madison’s local music scene while attending school at the University of Wisconsin. After releasing her first solo album, “Radio,” Wang began playing with her band, Anna Wang and the Oh Boys! and played the songs most often as a band.

However, Wang soon realized that her band was limiting her own experimentation in music, because of conflicts with scheduling and creative visions.

“I think I’ve always been really drawn to more electronic, pop music in general, so I just felt like I wanted to make those sounds and I just couldn’t ever make it come to fruition with a band,” Wang said.

Wang soon parted ways with her band, and even discontinued playing music entirely after developing a condition called Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, which affected her ability to hear music without pain.

“One of the side effects of what started happening was everything sounded like a blown speaker all of the time, whenever I

was listening to music or if things even got a little bit loud, my eardrum literally felt like blown speakers. For a while, it was painful to listen to music or even go out to a show or play music,” Wang said. “So I just kind of, you know, stopped.”

After leaving music, Wang spent time focused on a new job — an advertising sales position — but the long hours and draining nature of her job made her long to get back into music.

Backed by her training as a classical pianist and her knowledge of music theory, Wang began slowly building her own home studio and learning how to mix and arrange tracks herself.

Wang’s love for music began at a young age — despite cycling through three different piano teachers at the age of three.

Her parents, now very supportive of their daughter ’s passion for music, recall the way she would make up and sing her own songs when she was a little girl.

“They actually have some really old cassette recordings back from like ’92 or ’93 when I was two or three years old of me just singing to myself, little songs I made up myself in Chinese about flowers and stuff like that,” Wang said.

Through that, Wang made the realization

that she is a bit of a “control freak” as an artist, and blames college group projects for her distaste for teamwork.

Along with the high costs of studio time as a deterrent, Wang wanted to start creating music on her own terms.

“And I just really quickly realized that it’s really hard — when you’re writing something, you have an idea of what you want that piece to be,” Wang said. “Trying to get somebody else to write it for you just doesn’t work, because you can’t really communicate those subtle nuances that you are imagining in your head.”

While “In Your Head” relied heavily on trial-and-error in its production, Wang feels proud of the work she made, and the difference in sound and style from start to finish.

“It’s much, much harder to do everything by yourself, but at the end of the day, I like being responsible for everything,” Wang said. “And if something goes horribly wrong, I have no one to blame but myself. And if something goes horribly right, I can pat myself on the back for it.”

With the confidence of a self-produced album in her works, Wang is eager to return to The Frequency with her new music.

Get Baked: Triple Chocolate Fudge combines decadence, complexity The following recipe uses various types of chocolate, pecans to create an irresstible dessert ideal for holiday parties, gifts

by Kristin Washagan ArtsEtc. Editor

With the holidays rapidly approaching, everyone seemingly wants to reconnect with their youth and their sugar-plum-dreams of holidays past. Especially in between finals, we could all use a little extra holiday cheer.

Growing up, one of my fondest memories of wintertime was helping my mom in the kitchen with my sister. My mom is a fantastic baker — coming from immigrant grandparents that opened a bakery upon coming to America — and seemingly knows all of the secrets of baking I could never dream to.

With loose-fitting, adult-sized aprons covered in flour and at knee length, my sister and I, as children, would probably cause more messes than help in her kitchen. However, my mom would just laugh and smile — and let us taste the stirring spoons.

Along with Christmas cookies and pies, one of my mom’s favorite recipes to make each year has always been her triple chocolate fudge.

Something about this time of year always makes me crave it. Decadent, smooth and just sweet 12 • badgerherald.com • December 12, 2017

enough, her fudge has always been the best I have ever tried to this day (but hey, I might be at least a little biased).

While I find many fudge varieties to be overly sweet and one-dimensional, the introduction of different types of both semi-sweet and sweet chocolate and pecans gives this fudge complexity.

While I am by no means the culinary whiz my mother is, her recipe — while a bit labor-intensive — is nearly foolproof. It serves as a perfect unique dessert to bring to any holiday gathering, and also makes a great gift (just wrap it in plastic and add a decorative bow!)

The recipe below makes about 5.5 lbs. of fudge, which is roughly 150 pieces. Trust me: you’ll definitely want to eat that many.

Beware: this recipe will likely cause a chocolate-induced food coma.

Triple Chocolate Christmas Fudge You will need: 1 15x10x1 in. pan Tin foil 1 Tbsp. butter (to grease the pan) 3 1/3 cups sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar

1 (12 oz.) can of evaporated milk 1 cup butter (cubed) 32 large marshmallows (halved) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 14 oz. milk chocolate (chopped) 2 oz. semisweet chocolate (chopped) 2 cups chopped pecans (toasted) You can begin by lining your pan with foil, and greasing the foil with the one Tbsp. of butter you kept to the side (not the butter that you cubed — save that one cup for the recipe!)

Combine the dry white and brown sugar together. In a large saucepan, add the evaporated milk, the cubed butter and combined sugar, and bring the mixture to a rapid boil on medium-high heat. Continue cooking for five minutes, and be sure to constantly stir it. It is important to keep stirring the mixture, to ensure it cooks evenly and combines well.

Next, remove the mixture from the heat. Add the vanilla extract and the marshmallows, and continue stirring. The heat from the sugar, milk and butter mixture should begin softening and marshmallows. Continue stirring until the entire

mixture is blended.

Not all at once but begin to slowly add the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate pieces.

It is important to do this gradually, to ensure the chocolate properly melts. Once the chocolate has melted, you may begin folding in the toasted pecans. If you or one of your loved ones has a nut allergy, you may leave out the pecans and enjoy the fudge nut-free. But, I believe the nuts add a nice bit of texture, saltiness and crunch to the fudge — which is ideal in a dessert that’s so decadent.

After folding in the pecans, immediately transfer the mixture to the pan you had previously covered in foil and buttered. The foil is vital in this step, to prevent the fudge from sticking to your pan. Once evenly poured into the pan, you can refrigerate the fudge until it hardens. This should take about one hour but can vary.

Once firm, you can start lifting the fudge out of the pan, and remove the foil from the bottom. I like to cut it into one inch bite size pieces, but feel free to cut it however you like.

And finally, enjoy!

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Conversation Starter ‘Staydream’ series producer Dave Grundgeiger discusses the beginnings of the show, Madison as an emerging production hot spot

by Aidan McClain ArtsEtc. Editor

when you’re not working you should be self-producing it. That’s really how I got into the entertainment industry, and that’s where the bulk of my knowledge comes from.

BH: What is a summary of the plot of the pilot episode?

USC as a filmmaker as a director, but then through unfortunate circumstances in her family, they actually can’t afford to send her. She’s from an unnamed Wisconsin town, a little town, and now she’s faced with trying to make her dreams real at her community college. One of the things we

Madison may not be known for television production, but a Madison-based production company may change that.

Dave Grundgeiger, founder of Chicago 139 Productions, is the current producer for the comedy web-series “Staydream.”

After 18 months, the series’ pilot episode went live on Youtube, with a plot that follows the life of an aspiring filmmaker.

The Badger Herald spoke with Grundgeiger about the show, its future and how students can get involved with its production.

The following interview has been edited for style and clarity.

The Badger Herald: Can you give a general overview of “Staydream?”

Dave Grundgeiger: “Staydream” is a production of Chicago 139, which is a Madison-based production company. We are a group of Madison-based filmmakers with the goal of creating studio-quality television productions right here in Madison. That was our goal that we started with about a year and a half ago.

We started by spending some time to write a pilot episode for a web series — it’s a comedy web series. Episodes are going to be about 10 minutes. We do have the pilot available. We’ve been taking our time to make a quality production. Our mantra has been that we want something that you can put up alongside anything that you record off of Netflix and Hulu or anything like that and not be able to tell the difference. I think we got a very big step of the way there, not quite all the way there with the pilot. We know what we have to do. A lot of people tell us that the pilot itself was professional and they Photo · The series depicts the life of a young aspiring film student who longs for a world like the ones she sees in classic films. can’t tell the difference, but we can see the difference. We’re going to have something where literally you can’t tell the difference Courtesy of Rick Grant between that and a studio production.

BH: Have you ever worked on any DG: “Staydream” is about a young film like about the premise is... how she sees productions in the past?

DG: I have not. My professional student who wonders why her life can’t life through the classic films, so we actually be more like the classic film genres she’s show that in the show. We see it through background is I’m a software developer — I’ve been doing that for 25 plus years. studying. It’s a light-hearted comedy — it’s her eyes as well.

BH: Are you in search of actors and As part of that, I’ve learned a lot about not a sketch-comedy at all. It’s real people project management, so I think that’s what with real dramatic situations who are trying filmmakers? to find their way through life. Inspirations DG: Yeah we very much are. We’re makes me well suited to be the producer of very interested in connecting with actors “Staydream.” The producer role is all about have been shows like “Master of None,” and crew — particularly people who are pulling things together and making sure “30 Rock,” “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” that the project continues... I’ve managed “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” things studying that. This is a vision that is a with that vibe. And so Nadia, the main professional production, so folks who my daughter ’s acting career for about 10 are in school studying acting, studying years. I’ve been her manager, and one of character, at the beginning of the pilot the things that you learn in the field is that has her heart set on... she gets accepted to filmmaking, we very much want to connect

with students who are doing that.

BH: Since 18 months went into this production, how do you feel now that it’s finally being released?

DG: I feel fantastic. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it. A lot of people worked hard, and with any filmmaking endeavor, there were setbacks. Our director, he slipped on the ice last January so he was out of commission for months while his back healed. We had other crazy situations and scheduling challenges, but we kept with. Every set back the group took as an opportunity to dig in, show their commitment, show that they were actually going to get this done, and I can’t tell you how incredible it’s been to work with this group of people.

BH: This is the first ongoing production to be based in Madison in quite some time, so I’m sure that makes you feel proud too.

DG: I’m very proud. There actually was a Hulu Original show several years ago, I think it was 2009, called “Battleground,” that was entirely shot in Madison. Our hope is that we can follow in those footsteps. Sometimes people say, “Why Madison?” Madison has a great love of the arts. We have so many ways in which we’re world class. UW is a world-class university. UW has the dance department, it has the school of music. There’s no reason that we can’t be on par with Los Angeles, New York or Chicago.

BH: Since everything is based out of Madison, why is the production company called Chicago 139?

DG: I mentioned my daughter ’s acting career, so for about the past 11 years, we had been traveling down to Chicago at least once a week, often more, for training and auditions. You get on the interstate from the Belt Line, the first mileage sign is “Chicago 139,” so over all those years I thought ‘That would be a good name for a production company.’

BH: Is there anything else about the show that you’d like readers to know?

DG: The one thing I’d like to leave readers with is that we are looking for more passionate people. This is going reach.

There’s going to be a certain population of your readers are like, ‘Man that is so cool,’ so I really want those people to know that they can reach out to us and get involved in some way.

December 12, 2017• badgerherald.com • 13

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Maintaining your sex life when living with seasonal affective disorder is manageable with communication, various resources

by Erica Uyenbat Hump Day Columnist

As temperatures drop and the holidays near, cuffing season is finally upon us. It’s a time envisioned as cuddle sessions by the fire and passionate endeavors tucked in from the cold.

Yet for some, the onset of cuffing season signals something far different: seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as seasonal depression.

Seasonal affective disorder is a subset of depression that’s related to the changes in the seasons, most commonly linked to the winter months.

As the disorder is like any other depression, it affects every aspect of one’s life. Seasonal depression hinders motivation, interest and desire, infiltrating interpersonal relationships. For most people, sex is a vital component of their lifestyle as well as a significant part of their romantic relationships. Apparent drops in libido, loss of physical signs of arousal, and even the inability to orgasm are all factors of sex while living with depression.

While medication can be very helpful in combatting these symptoms for some, certain antidepressants unfortunately have side effects including changes in libido and the inability to orgasm. Unfortunately, both the condition and the treatment may cause these changes to your sexual functioning.

It can be difficult to manage these symptoms, but thankfully, you can get through them. Here are a few options for maintaining a healthy sex life while still combatting depression.

Talk to your partner Depression is a hidden illness. Although there is no one-size-fits-all remedy for the situation, communication is always effective. Informing your partner(s) of what you are going through and the side effects of your depression is a vital step.

As depression harms the affected and those surrounding the affected, it’s important for you and your partner(s) to be on the same page and combat the issue together. Informing your partner about your symptoms can also help take the pressure off of yourself to perform, and help you feel less alone in your symptoms. Your partner(s) should make you feel reassured and comforted.

If your partner, however, tries to coerce you to have sex when you are unable to or are just not in the mood to, remember you are never required to engage in any sexual activity. Do not feel pressured to have sex simply because your partner is in the 14 • badgerherald.com • December 12, 2017

mood because the experience is for you as well. Sex should be an experience that makes you and your partner(s) feel good, and should not be forced or coerced. There is no “correct” frequency for how often you and your partner should have sex — so do not feel pressured to engage in sexual activity simply because you feel guilty for saying no repeatedly.

Therapy and Medication As always, communication is key especially for those affected by SAD. If there are issues in your sex life that stem from depression, talk about them with your doctor or therapist. Your therapist can offer coping mechanisms for your SAD and aid in the mental blocks you may have with sexual activity.

If you currently take medication for SAD, you

counseling and stress management.

Along with a crisis hotline that runs 24/7, UHS provides students with an array of options to fully support their mental well-being.

To get started, you can schedule an Access Consultation by calling the MHS reception desk (608.265.5600, option 2) or logging into MyUHS to book an appointment. During this appointment, a counselor will discuss the best resources for you based off the consultation.

Touch!

If sexual activity seems far too daunting, focus on the basics of intimacy: touch. Whether it be hugging, cuddling or even holding hands, the simple act of touch can make you feel closer to your partner(s).

Starting off slow with touch can also gradually enhance your libido and increase your desire. Be patient: good things can come with just a little more time and care. By playing around with other forms of intimacy, you can foster and maintain a connection with your partner(s) until you feel ready.

Just do it!

When you feel ready, engage in Katie Cooney whatever sexual activity you and The Badger Herald your partner(s) decide on. Engaging in self pleasure is also key as you combat SAD. Some antidepressants make can speak to your doctor about the possible side effects. For many, finding the right antidepressant physicality difficult such as erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness, or inability to achieve an orgasm. for you can be challenging, and may take a few tries In that case, lube up and focus on foreplay. to find the medication that works for you. Changing Remember that sex isn’t about reaching orgasm. your medication or even switching to a lower dose The only goal is pleasure. can help with SAD without the sexual side effects.

Be gentle with yourself If you believe your difficulty with sexual Living with mental illness is difficult. The functioning is a big enough reason to discontinue or feelings of fatigue, isolation and hopelessness can change your antidepressant, that is your decision to make. Discussing this with a medical professional be overwhelming, outweighing everything else in your life. It’s easy to fall into a negative thought can help you see other options. pattern, but try to remember that you are doing Use Campus Resources for Help your best. This is a time to be gentle with yourself.

UW-Madison has a number of resources available for students in regards to mental health services. Engage in acts of self-love. And remember that enduring a mental illness does not mean you must At no cost to you, University Health Services offer individual and couple/partner therapy, group strip yourself of your sexuality.

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ArtsEtc. shares their arts-related favorites of the fall semester

From best concerts to best comedy shows, our editors reveals the events, art pieces they collectively enjoyed the most

by Staff ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

With the semester coming to a close, it is as good of a time as any to reflect on the various artrelated events and topics Madison had to offer this fall and winter.

Best concert of the semester Lizzo From abundant audience participation to Lizzo’s powerful stage presence, Lizzo’s concert left everyone in attendance in awe. This was one of those shows where it was impossible not to dance.

Even upon leaving the venue, the fans pouring out of Shannon Hall were singing Lizzo’s songs, like “Good As Hell,” in harmony. In a show revolving around self-love and confidence, it was difficult to leave the show not feeling inspired.

Louis the Child There was never a moment of rest during Louis the Child’s Madison stop for their Last to Leave tour.

After multiple openers hyped up the crowd, the Chicago-duo took the stage. Instead of saving the best for last, they played “Fire” as the first song, which created a high-energy atmosphere full of dancing, jumping and singing. It’s hard to open with one of the most popular songs and keep the crowd engaged for the rest of the show, but Louis the Child did just that.

At the end of the night, Freddy Kennett and Robby Hauldren proved that they know what they’re doing when it comes to live performances.

From the moment the first opener took the stage to when Louis the Child walked off, there was never a dull moment.

Best album of the semester “Tell Me You Love Me” by Demi Lovato Demi Lovato proved her vocal versatility once again with her latest album, Tell Me You Love Me, which was released on Sept. 29.

This deserves best album of the semester because even after two months, the album still sounds like it did on day one. The lyrics never seem to get dry, and even though I know what’s coming, each song still makes me want to move and sing along.

The album was just one milestone for Lovato this fall. She announced that she’ll be touring with DJ Khaled and Kehlani, and she released a documentary on Netflix. The documentary explains her hardships with drugs, mental health and relationships, and the emotions of these life events are put into her music.

“Tell Me You Love Me” is a raw and real side of Lovato that the world was luckily enough to see. The album is truthful, but still allows listeners to move.

“Freudian” by Daniel Caesar This debut album established Daniel Caesar’s

talent and earned him two Grammy nominations for this upcoming award show. His voice is mesmerizing enough to rock you to sleep, however, you might just turn into an emotional wreck as each track is guaranteed to put you in your feelings.

Caesar is not only a talented vocalist, but he is practically a modern day philosopher, such as Freud. His songs explore not only love, heartbreak, and longing, but also existentialism and the concept of human nature. Each song is either sweet, sad or downright cynical, yet they are guaranteed to get your head nodding and foot tapping.

Best comedy show of the semester The Lucas Brothers Talk about double trouble! The pair of twins Kenny and Keith Lucas left the attendees at the Comedy Club on State howling with their dry sense of humor.

The Lucas Brothers made references to pop culture, the political climate and philosophy while in Madison on Oct. 12, 13 and 14. Their witty use of wordplay and mirroring combined to create a really distinct delivery that was all their own, cementing their rightful place on this list.

Some Dumb Show An underground, student-run comedy show has found a home in Madison, and its intimacy

makes the show stand out from others.

Aaron Klinger hosts the show, and he reaches out to comics from Madison, Chicago and Milwaukee to really give the show diversity.

The best part about this show: it’s free. This comedy show is trying to create a community, so whether alone or with friends, feel free to drop in and experience it for yourself.

Best art exhibit of the semester Hyphenated Photography paired with artists’ testimonies revealed life situations of “HyphenatedAmericans” in the art exhibit “Hyphenated,” which was housed in the 1925 Gallery in Memorial Union.

The exhibit explored the complexities of identity and revealed the stories of those who have marginalized identities. The exhibit was nothing short of moving, especially in today’s political climate.

Certainty and Doubt This exhibition of Dan Ramirez’s work demonstrated the power that visual images of abstract shapes can have on gallery-goers as he played with light, color, patterns, and subtle details. The symbolic theme that weaved through all of his works was his connection to faith.

Large trapezoidal and rectangular shapes with clean-cut lines could be seen through many of his small-scale sketches to his larger canvas pieces.

Student Rodrigo Smith returns to the column to share new poem, touches on themes of denying, defying institutions

by Rodrigo Smith ArtsEtc. Staff Writer

Welcome to StoriesEtc, a place where University of Wisconsin students can share their original works of creative writing with the community, whether it be poetry, short stories or anything in-between. As a section dealing with the arts, it feels only natural to create an opportunity for students to share their creative talents.

With that being said, let’s meet this week’s repeat contributor, Rodrigo Smith: Tell us about yourself. What’s your major?

My name is Rodrigo Smith, I am from the Southside of Chicago and was born and raised there my entire life. I grew up in a household surrounded by music and lyrical expression.

I am a senior majoring in mathematics. I love poetry and writing for similar reasons as to why I do mathematics. I encourage anyone to follow their passion and express their creativity through whatever medium they see fit, and I truly believe this holds for my passion

for mathematics and for writing in general.

How many times have you written for this column?

I have written to the StoriesEtc. only one other time, this will be my second submission (hopefully I can find time to write more).

Why did you want to write for StoriesEtc. to begin with?

I wanted to write for the column for two reasons. One of the main reasons (which may serve to be the most obvious one) is that I desire to improve my writing as well as get into the habit of keeping my skills sharp when it comes to developing my work. Moreover, I desire to share my poems/writings with other people that are willing to read it. The second reason is to hopefully encourage others to follow whatever passions that seems fit for them whether it’s mathematics, painting, drawing, or anything else that comes to mind.

How is this piece similar to and different from the work you submitted before?

This piece is very short (much shorter than my previous piece). I think that’s the main difference. The word length of a poem can grant a different overall tone for the message the artist is trying to portray. However, the strongest similarities between this one and the previous is that they both focus on the notion struggling to overcome odds that may have been stacked against you, and learning to traverse problems that come your way in order to establish a greater sense of self. To elaborate, by “sense of self” I mean the notion of identity in terms of where you come from and what hardships you’ve endured to make you a better person.

Here is a sample of Smith’s work: “Deny This.”

Deny this…

Deny me….

Defy what??

Defy thee…

Defy thee...system That denied me rights.

Defy the system...that pains my sight Defy the system..that denied my fights.

Defy the system..that’s foul and ripe.

Deny me this, deny me that.

Dignified I stand deny me nothing no longer For I overcome.

December 12, 2017• badgerherald.com • 15

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AS MACHINE LEARNING PROLIFERATES, FEW UNDERSTAND IMPLICATIONS Between zeros and ones, undercurrents of human bias may linger in AI

by Emily Hamer and Teymour Tomsyck Features Editor, Managing Editor

From facial recognition to self-driving cars, job hiring algorithms to online chatbots, targeted advertising to Google Translate, artificial intelligence programs are starting to seep into almost every area of human life.

AI experts surmise that there’s a 50 percent chance AI will be able to outperform humans in every task in 45 years, according to a 2017 survey conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and Yale University.

Within the next 10 years, the 352 AI experts surveyed predict AI will be able to surpass human performance in translating languages, writing high school essays and driving a truck. By 2049, they predict AI will be better at writing a best-selling novel. By 2053, working as a surgeon.

At the University of Wisconsin alone, 38 researchers are working on AI related projects.

But as the applications of AI have continued to grow, common knowledge about how AI works, its risks and its implications for our daily lives has not. As many users of AI technology remain unaware of the practical risks of the technology, UW researchers are already at work trying to solve them.

Why you shouldn’t worry about robots taking over the world When talking about AI in everyday conversation, the seductive impulse to discuss the possibility of super-intelligent robots taking over the world dominates. As seen in many sci-fi movies, such as “The Terminator,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “iRobot” and other areas of popular culture, humans are as fascinated as they are fearful of the capabilities of AI. The popular fear stems from the idea that AI will eventually become smart enough to make an AI system smarter than itself, which could result in an “intelligence explosion.” This super-intelligent machine would potentially have its own interests in mind, rather than that of humanity — hence films and tv shows of a dystopian robot-controlled future.

Yet, AI researchers say super intelligence shouldn’t be a major concern in today’s age.

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While it is an “interesting thing to think about,” graduate student Aubrey Barnard, a computer science Ph.D. student working on the applications of AI in biostatistics and medical informatics, said at this point fears of superintelligence are “way overblown.” AI researchers are not even sure how such a thing might occur on a technical level.

UW junior John Moss worked with the Department of Homeland Security and NASA this past summer on a project to create an AI-assisted helmet cam that can recognize risks for firefighters while on the scene.

Moss said people wholly underestimate how complicated AI systems are — even ones for doing seemingly simple tasks like recognizing a propane tank in a burning building.

“The number of details you need to get just right for anything to work at all — much less anything work so well that it’s going to take over the world — is just almost inconceivable,” Moss said.

More pressing AI risks

Today, the consequences of this quickly advancing field are much less flashy. In March 2016, Microsoft released an AI chatbot named Tay on Twitter. The chatbot was supposed to have fun conversations with people on Twitter as if it were a teen, learning new ways to respond from the people it talked to.

It wasn’t long before the trolls of the internet turned the well-meaning chatbot into a racist, Holocaust-denying, feminist-hating Nazi.

While Tay chatbot seems like a harmless example, AI programs today are machine learners, meaning they absorb what humans teach them. So if the data that is used to program an AI system has biases or stereotypes built into the data, even the most advanced machine learning programs can learn to be racist.

As humans begin to rely on AI in great capacities, the question of how machines can perpetuate existing systemic injustices becomes less and less theoretical. AI systems have already been used in Wisconsin courts for sentencing decisions, and they could have applications for job hiring too — two areas that

yield serious risks for the lives of Wisconsin residents.

How machine learning works

Today’s AI programs are able to engage in machine learning because of neural nets, highly complex, nonlinear functions that can complete tasks ranging from object-recognition in images to language translation.

There are other ways for artificial intelligence to be achieved, but neural nets are currently the most popular. They result in “deep learning” systems, meaning they can train themselves, computer science professor and AI researcher Jerry Zhu said.

A neural net is fed a series of inputs to “teach” the program how to complete its task. To demonstrate how a machine learns, Zhu uses an example of a neural net someone might use to identify photos of cats.

In the past, if a programmer wanted to create a program to identify an orange house cat in a picture, she would have had to code a set of rules for recognizing the color orange, Zhu said.

So the computer knows a cat photo needs to have a certain percentage of orange pixels, but this means an orange cone might be accidently be categorized as a cat photo, so the coder has to write another rule — and then another.

Humans, Zhu said, are incredibly bad at writing the sort of rules needed to create an accurate cat-image sorting program. But with neural nets, the computer is the one creating all the rules for with little help from the user.

The neural network is then fed hundreds of images, some with cats, and some without.

Eventually, the program develops its own set of rules which it can use to accurately determine whether an image contains a cat.

Computer scientists often refer to neural nets as “black boxes” because you don’t have to look inside of the box to see what’s happening for it to work. Programmers don’t hard code what is inside of the black box — it’s learning and developing on its own. And even if someone were to look inside of the box, all they would see is a massive amount of changing coefficients and variables that would be uninterpretable, Zhu said.

This is different than computer programs of the past where programmers had to hard code an algorithm for every task they wanted their program to perform.

“The major difference is we didn’t precisely code the [neural net], we only gave it training examples — we didn’t really describe what a cat should look like,” Zhu said.

But along with the ease of use that comes with neural networks is the potential for unwanted biases seeping into these programs, especially given their dependence on external data and the opacity of models these programs create.

Zhu said it’s up to users to understand the ways in which deep learning can go astray.

“Step one is always awareness. The user, the main user, the practitioner needs to understand that danger,” Zhu said. “The danger could be lurking in your data. That’s the most concerning thing to us. And you need to somehow identify it, you being the practitioner.”

Accounting for bias

Computer science professor Aws Albarghouthi studies fairness with AI and the potential for the technology to absorb bias. He said there are a number of current and potential applications for deep learning software that can affect people’s lives.

One such field is job hiring. For example, screening out potential resumes using deep learning has the potential to save an enormous amount of time for HR managers, but may unfairly screen out individuals based on data which is itself biased.

Albarghouthi said that how one defines fair is just as important as detecting bias in the first place. People can look at fairness on an individual or a demographic one and perhaps come to different conclusions about what fairness should look like.

“Cases depend on what society you’re operating in and what field you’re operating in, whether it’s hiring or giving loans or things of that form,” Albarghouthi said. “People keep arguing back and forth over what’s a good definition of fairness, and there’s plenty of definitions.”

Even though philosophers and social scientists continue to debate what fairness ought to look like, UW researchers have made headway in combating biased machine learning.

Harry Potter and the chamber of machine learning

In a forthcoming paper, Zhu proposes one way to fight bias in the hiring field using a mock data set taking place in the Harry Potter universe. Instead of looking at instances where data is inaccurate, his research looks at how even accurate can lead to problems.

“It could be that the data is reflecting reality, and you don’t like that reality,” Zhu said.

Using data from the Ministry of Magic’s hiring history, Zhu illustrates how a neural net could learn the wrong lessons from accurate data. He feeds hiring data to a neural net which includes repeated instances where Muggle-born Hogwarts graduates with the same qualifications as pure bloods are denied positions.

In the Harry Potter universe, Muggle-borns suffer from systemic prejudices which would account for the data. A naive neural net would use this hiring data and conclude, wrongly, that there must pure bloodedness makes an applicant more qualified for a job.

One could imagine instances in the real world where underrepresented groups would be similarly disadvantaged by the use of a neural net. To combat this, Zhu uses what he calls trusted items, an individual data point which tells the neural net to ignore blood status and focus on educational achievement.

In the real world, this could be used to counter historically-biased hiring trends.

AI programs in Wisconsin’s courts

While the need for Zhu and Albarghouthi’s research may seem distant, Wisconsin has already seen controversies surrounding the use of such AI programs.

In 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court saw a case about a man who was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing a car and fleeing from an officer. The man who was charged, Eric Loomis, appealed his case because the judge used a risk assessment algorithm — powered by AI — to help make the sentencing decision.

The Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanction assessment, or COMPAS assessment for short, calculated that Loomis was likely to commit another crime, making him him a poor candidate for probation.

Loomis argued that the use of the COMPAS

system was a violation of his rights because it took his gender into account when making the assessment, ranking males as more likely to reoffend. Additionally, he couldn’t determine whether the program’s assessment was accurate because COMPAS is the intellectual property of Northpointe, Inc. — meaning the public can’t have access to the program.

Northpoint, Inc. considers the programming behind COMPAS a “trade secret.”

Because of restrictions like these, Barnard said researchers can’t determine whether there is bias in the data that the neural net was trained on or whether the AI program is itself is fair. This is especially concerning with programs that are used for sentencing decisions because that can have a “huge impact” on someone’s life, Barnard said.

“We can’t verify that these systems are being fair, or if justice is being served in these cases,” Barnard said. “I think it’s a really big problem.”

In May 2016, ProPublica collected COMPAS scores of 18,610 people assessed at a county Sheriff’s office in Florida from 2013-14. From looking at the scores, ProPublica determined that the COMPAS program frequently predicted black defendants to be at a higher risk of recidivism than they actually were.

In addition, white defendants were often predicted to be at a lesser risk of recidivism than they actually were.

And while ProPublica was able to draw conclusions from the scores the COMPAS program makes, AI researchers still can’t take an in-depth look at the program itself, nor the data that was used to train it.

The court ruled against Loomis because COMPAS assessments are “merely one tool” that judges can use to come to a decision.

Today, COMPAS assessments may be included if a Wisconsin judge requests a presentence investigation report from the Department of Corrections, Supreme Court spokesperson Tom Sheehan said in an email to The Badger Herald.

But the courts made this decision with caution. If a COMPAS report is given to a judge in a report about a defendant, that report is now required to inform the court about a number of risks: (1) The secret nature of COMPAS makes it hard to determine how the risk scored are calculated (2) COMPAS’ data is national and has not been cross-validated with Wisconsin data (3) Some studies have indicated COMPAS might disproportionately assess minorities to be at a higher risk of reoffense (4) COMPAS should be constantly updated to account for changing

populations.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court advised court staff to use their “professional judgement” and override the COMPAS assessments when necessary.

Future implications of AI

Despite these risks, deep learning has the possibility to revolutionize a variety of industries.

Ronak Mehta, a computer science Ph.D. student working in biostatistics and medical informatics, is currently working on using machine learning in biomedicine to predict diseases or find trends in population health.

Barnard is working to create an AI program to help doctors more easily diagnose patients.

And if even more detailed health records data was collected, AI programs could complete even more complex tasks.

“Even if you have a very bright doctor ... they would not be able to process millions of health records of people across the U.S.,” Mehta said. “That’s where artificial intelligence is supposed to come in.”

Artificial intelligence also has potential future applications in robotics, defense, facial and voice recognition programs, self-driving cars, advertising, the stock market and other industries.

With these new developments will come new risks, but Mehta said he thinks AI researchers will be able to solve them as they come — even if there’s an intelligence explosion.

“My impression is that [superintelligence] is not something to worry about because we’re trying to solve similar problems that we have right now,” Mehta said. “And the solutions we come up with for these similar problems in privacy, fairness, bias will also help us solve the superintelligence problems when we get there.”

But one area Mehta isn’t so confident will be able to handle AI’s advancements is public policy. Should AI programs be open to public scrutiny, or should they be private, intellectual property? How do you ensure AI systems aren’t weaponized? If something goes wrong with an AI in the medical field or with a selfdriving car, how do you make policies to determine who is at fault?

Barnard had similar concerns. He said lawmakers need to understand how AI works, so they know how to handle these issues when they inevitably come.

“Whoever’s making the rules, the policies, they’re going to have to get a lot more tech savvy very quickly,” Barnard said.

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 17

ED BOARD

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2017 FALL HEADLINERS At the close of each semester, The Badger Herald Editorial Board awards those people, proposals and policies which have dominated the news cycle across the University of Wisconsin campus, city of Madison and state of Wisconsin. Below are your Fall 2017 victors.

Fight For The Right Award: UW System Board of Regents Free Speech Policy In early October, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents instituted a new policy allegedly aiming to protect the First Amendment on campuses across Wisconsin. The policy employs a stringent set of consequences for students who disrupt the freedom of speech of another student or speaker, with two offenses resulting in academic suspension and a third offense culminating in expulsion from the university.

The policy, rightfully so, was met with much backlash from students and faculty, who question the motivations of the regents for enacting the policy in the first place. While proponents of the policy, largely conservative, argue that it protects their rights to freedom of speech that have repeatedly been infringed upon by the liberal majority (re: Ben Shapiro fiasco), opponents of the legislation disagree.

Freedom of speech is essential on campus, allowing students to voice opinions, engage in dialogue with others holding similar or dissenting views and challenge misperceptions. The Board of Regents policy toes the line of ambiguity, making it incredibly difficult for

students to have a concrete, well-informed idea of when and how they are allowed to protest or question ideas on campus.

If the Wisconsin Idea aims to spread the knowledge students gain on campus to outside communities in Wisconsin and nationwide, it is troubling that the UW system administration and UW officials do not seem as committed to facilitating the spread and challenge of ideas on its campuses.

The free speech policy has yet to be put to the test, with no instances of disruption considered severe enough to fall under its scope this semester. However, moving forward into the spring semester and 2018, a pivotal year for politics, it is not unlikely that the policy will be put to its first test. If and when this happens, it is essential that the freedom of speech of all students is taken into accord before enacting a harsh, preemptive and potentially unnecessary penalty under a vague and unpopular policy.

For it’s lack of concern for underrepresented students and disproportionate consequences for marginalized communities, we award the free speech policy with the Fight For The Right Award.

Say Something, Do Nothing Award: Campus climate survey results

The University of Wisconsin released the results of the 2016 campus climate survey in November, and the results were less than shocking. Taken by 21 percent of UW students, the survey reflects a campus climate that marginalizes minority groups, who reported having less positive experiences than majority students. Additionally, an alarming 11 percent of overall students reported experiencing hostile, harassing or intimidating behavior.

This number tripled, reaching 33 percent, for trans/non-binary students, who were most likely to experience hostile, harassing or intimidating behavior.

While Chancellor Becky Blank remains adamant that all students deserve to feel welcome on campus, the campus climate survey makes it glaringly clear that this is not, and will not, be the reality until massive transformations are made at UW. Unfortunately, the results of the campus climate survey do not seem to be resonating with university officials, who have already pushed through numerous policies that further marginalize students.

Suspending funding for the innovative First Wave Program cuts funding for a program that extends scholarships to students

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largely coming from marginalized communities and provides them a space on campus to practice their artform. The UW System’s free speech policy extends a helping hand to conservative groups bringing controversial speakers to campus while potentially infringing upon students’ ability to protect their campus from rhetoric that makes UW feel less safe for them.

Moving forward, it is the job of both students and the administration to facilitate dialogue and effect real change to make our school more welcoming for students from all backgrounds. Whether this is through removing policies that ostracize marginalized communities on campus, programs that give students a voice to enact positive change for all students or a different avenue, it is absolutely unacceptable that minority students remain unable to feel as at home at UW as majority students.

We’re not sure what’s more unsurprising — the findings, or the fact that the administration has yet again failed to offer any tangible solution beyond “promoting diversity.” For their predictability and mediocrity, we award the administration and the survey task force with the Say Something, Do Nothing Award.

ED BOARD

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HOLY SHIT, EXACTLY HOW MUCH IS $1,400 WORTH OF QUE RICO AWARD?: UW DINING HALL POLICY

This fall, the university’s dining service released a plan insisting students who intend to live in UW student residence halls must put a minimum of $1400 on their Wiscard in order to access the dining options UW offers for residents. The plan allows residents to choose the number of meals they intend to eat through university dining each week, ranging from nine meals to 20.

University dining insists that this will be done in order to ensure students are using their meals, allowing the dining service to provide “affordable” meal options.

Interestingly enough, this will be further ensured by the fact that students with any cash balance left at the end of a semester will have to forfeit it to the university.

ASM immediately objected to the plan, and it was widely criticized by students around campus.

At a very basic level, this was, perhaps, not a bad

idea. Putting a minimum amount of money on a student’s card for the semester ensures there are fewer November phone calls home, scrambling for cash to get something to eat at Gordon. The plan also allows students to use financial aid money for food, something many students have advocated for in the past.

But a critical issue with this plan is that students lose whatever they don’t spend by the end of the semester. Frankly, that part of the plan feels like another money grab from a university that seems to spend an awful lot of time thinking of ways to make money off of their students.

Insisting that students put a certain balance on their card is fine, but telling them they lose it if they don’t spend it is just greedy. The goal of the UW dining should be to feed students, not make money.

Additionally, the calculation of the $1400

“average” means that a quarter of students do spend shy of that amount — the university seems entirely unconcerned with the fact that one in four students does not meet this amount, either by choice or inability to do so, and is willing to profit off this inconvenience.

The real fact of the matter is that for many UW students who aren’t required to live in UW housing, this will only serve as another deterrent keeping them from wanting to live in overpriced, underwhelming university housing.

Sounds like a deserving recipient for the Holy Shit, Exactly How Much Is $1,400 Worth Of Que Rico?

Award.

LOWERING THE BAR AWARD: $76 million jail construction

In November, members of an organization referring to themselves as the “Derail the Jail Coalition” spoke out in opposition to Dane County’s $76 million plan to renovate and build the county a new jail.

The jail is projected to cost more than $40 million on top of the original $76 million by 2025 due to interest rates on the project.

The group says that the project “just creates more incentive to lock people up, especially minorities and promotes more racial and economic inequality.”

The group also says in the petition they circulated that the amount proposed for the jail is nearly 25 times as much money as is spend on providing affordable housing for residents of Madison. Additionally, funding for jails in Wisconsin is surpassing investment in the UW system, a deplorable reflection of the state’s priorities and vision for the future.

The city planned to build the new jail in order to fix safety and health conditions that worsen as current facilities continue to age.

This is not a clear cut issue, nor do we see it as one. While the idea of skipping a new jail in order to find better ways to deal with criminals seems lovely, the fact of the matter is that there is always going to be a need for

jails, even if the majority of inmates can be rehabilitated instead of locked up for the long-term. When individuals are required to be locked up, it’s probably for the best that those facilities are safe and healthy for those in them.

That being said, spending such an exorbitant amount of money on facilities seems reckless, especially given Madison’s continued issues with racial and socioeconomic inequality.

There is no denying the body of evidence suggesting that existing punitive systems are failing to reduce recidivism, and in fact, may increase rates of re-entry into the prison system.

This money would be better off invested in evidence-based programming emphasizing mental health treatment and rehabilitation, therapy and community service.

For prioritizing jail construction in a city already rid with mass incarceration and racial disparities in the prison population over education and housing, we deem the proposal worthy of the Lowering The Bar Award.

big fat liar award: Approved Foxconn proposal

In late September, Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a plan to introduce a $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn, a Taiwanese technology company. The corporation is recognized as the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, with experts predicting the plan to bring between 3,000-13,000 jobs to the state, although a 10,000 gap is sizable.

What’s more, the cost to Wisconsin residents per job has pointed towards questions about how much a burden said residents will have to bear.

In order to complete the ambitious project, Wisconsin residents will effectively be paying $66,000 per job, an astronomical amount for a corporation whose profits are purely hypothetical. That five figure total per job is even more appalling when you take into consideration the fact that Foxconn has openly boasted about their plan to pay their employees just $54,000 is salary annually.

Foxconn has tried in the past to implement fac-

tory sites in the states, attempting to build a compound in Pennsylvania, promising the same riches, only to see the factory plans fade into a distant haze.

As added incentive for statewide support, this glorious economic feat is predicted to not see any return on its $3 billion investment until the ripe year of 2043.

In essence, the numbers don’t add up. Far too much will have to be funneled into a plan whose taxpayer profits are potentially 26 years in the future, and whose reliability as an economic pursuit is unconfirmed to say the absolute least.

As an added note, imagine what an astounding $3 billion chunk of investment could have done for areas of Wisconsin in need of more funding.

For its hollow words and empty promises with slim-to-none chances of delivering on it’s word, we award Foxconn the 2017 Big Fat Liar Award.

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 19

OPINION

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Political sexual assault settlements must become public record Politicians who keep their cash payments history confidential only make a pattern of secrecy and dominance worse

by Adam Ramer Columnist

In the past few weeks we have seen an awakening of courage, sparking revelations and accusations from survivors of sexual assault, misconduct and harassment aimed towards their abusers.

In the private sector, we have seen these stories and allegations sinking prominent and dangerous men’s careers --- especially within the entertainment industry.

Predators and harassers alike, such as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Louis C.K. and Kevin Spacey have all lost their jobs, while others, like former Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick, has even had a criminal investigation opened up against him in light of rape claims.

Within the entertainment industry, we are seeing at the very least, karma and glimmerings of justice finally catching up with predatory and abusive men.

However, this doesn’t stand true within the nation’s capital. In lieu of politicians immediately losing their posts, we are seeing a hesitancy to even hold them to the basic standard of not being a creep.

This hesitancy can be explained simply by the toxic culture that inappropriately dominates politics throughout the country.

For one, in the predominantly male occupied political sector, men have grown far too over-confident in their power and privilege, believing that they’re somehow protected to carry out such heinous deeds.

The story of congressmen Blake Farenthold’s former communication’s director, Lauren Greene, is a prime example. A recent Politico story from December 4 describes how Greene was “blackballed” after she came forward about sexual harassment carried out by Farenthold.

Further, Greene has been unable to find stable employment since, which, according to a prospective employer, is due to the accusations she brought forth.

This is more than just anecdotal. Broadly, survivors are rarely believed, or even heard from by the public. Politicians will contort and slime their way out of owning up to their actions, trying to silence survivors through financial or threatening means.

Often, one such way to try to silence the victims of sexual misconduct in congress is through use of settlements, or hush money.

This is exactly the case of Sen. John Conyers, whose systemic predatory behavior resulted in his resignation this week. Similarly, Buzzfeed in a story from November 20, found that a settlement of $27,000 was awarded to a former staffer of Conyers. He was able to maintain his position of power and was able to keep the allegations away

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Photo ·Keeping sexual assault hush money away from society’s eye reinforces an environment where money can be passed under the table, effectively allowing politicans to walk away without consequence.

Marissa Haegele The Badger Herald from the public due to the fact his settlement funds were umbrellaed under “Capitol Hill workplace violations.”

Instead, there should be a separate, publicly accessible financial record of settlement money, and precisely why it’s being used.

Such ambiguous and opaque documentation is absurd, creating a culture that brings no justice to the guilty, and no peace to the survivor.

Additionally taxing, the lack of transparency within this catch-all fund affects the relationship between politician and their boss, us, the voters.

The loophole of general workplace violations means that sexual assault and harassment often get swept under the rug, as another “expense” for the politician’s office.

This means that a politician’s constituents cannot hold them accountable. This solves nothing, and only bolsters the guilty.

By silencing the voices and stories of survivors through private and vague financial agreements, we convey the message that powerful men are immune, effectively invalidating those who have

been brave enough to come forward in the first place.

This is a symptom of an even bigger concern. The political complex that operates at the beltway has normalized and accepted such dangerous behavior.

This can be seen by the lengths political groups are willing to go to defend abusers, in the name of sycophantically harnessing more power.

With the endorsement of Roy Moore --- someone filthy enough to be banned from a mall --- the GOP has unequivocally decided that they will die on the hill of rape apologists, sending a message to abusers in politics that they’re justified in their actions, while simultaneously continuing to belittle the voice of the survivor.

It’s imperative to society that we hold politicians --- and the broader institution they operate within --- accountable for their actions, and by maintaining a political institutive norm of hushing sexual

misconduct charges against politicians, we accomplish nothing.

Transparency and awareness can help address this crippling failure of political institutions.

By publicizing settlement details carried out by politicians, we are able to bring predators to justice, no longer allowing them to get away with sexual misconduct without consequence.

Similarly, with transparency, perhaps society will in turn no longer allow people like Lauren Greene to be victim-blamed, and will instead more broadly support these people who often feel afraid of the consequences of coming forward.

Transparency will help build stronger ally networks, while also taking an important step in dismantling rape culture in the public sector.

Which, hopefully, like in the entertainment industry, will result in more abhorrent abusers losing their jobs.

Adam Ramer (aramer2@wisc.edu) is a junior studying history and politics.

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Proud Boys’ rhetoric reiterates harmful sexist cultural narrative Women yet again relegated to the backburner with sexist, demeaning language of male-dominated clubs

by Aly Niehans Opinion Editor

The height of the 2016 presidential election was a time of intense political polarization.

It was a time where a presidential candidate had apparent free will to claim it was okay to grab women by the pussy because he was famous. It was a time where a years-old email scandal overshadowed sexual assault allegations. It was also when the Proud Boys was founded by conservative online talk-show host Gavin McInnes. The group metastasized in Wisconsin in May of this year, when eight men sat down at a bar in Milwaukee and established a new chapter celebrating their masculinity.

Estimated to have about 5,000 members nationwide, Proud Boys believes there are 10 ways to fix America: Abolish prisons, give each American a gun, legalize drugs, end welfare, close borders to illegal immigrants, outlaw censorship, venerate the housewife, glorify the entrepreneur, shut down the government and declare the “West is best”. In a perverse dichotomy, the Proud Boys simultaneously believe there is a war on masculinity that starts from the time boys

are young and continues throughout their lives, while also holding that men have the power and means to “create the modern world” and will not apologize for doing so.

While the entirety of the 10 “fixes” for America proposed by the Proud Boys is problematic, their attack on women raises questions in a society that already marginalizes and objectifies female bodies, minds, and capabilities. A female reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was asked by a Proud Boys member if he should bring condoms to the interview. McInnes told a female reporter in a later interview that she should give up her job and focus on becoming pregnant, as her eggs weren’t going to last forever.

All of this while 98 percent of Proud Boys members support President Donald Trump, a man with a long list of sexual assault allegations against him, a man who endorsed Roy Moore, an alleged pedophile and a man who repeatedly denigrated female reporters and his opponent Hillary Clinton for the sole reason that they were female and not male.

For centuries, women have been cast aside by male-dominated hierarchies of power as nothing more than baby vessels and demure

arm candy at events men use to show off their business and relationship prowess. I demand myself and all women start standing up to men like McInnes, Trump and all other men who believe women are somehow lesser than them.

“Venerating the housewife,” one of the Proud Boys “ten commandments” is code for a reversal of feminist movements that have tirelessly worked to get women into the professional workforce, to break the age-old rhetoric that women are meant to clean, care for kids and put a hot dinner on the table for their husband to come home to. As it stands today, Congress is comprised of 80 percent men. All ten of the highest paid CEOs are men.

In 2017, women are still earning only 80 cents to every dollar men earn for doing the same job.

While society has made leaps and bounds in granting women rights and opportunities, we have leaps and bounds left to go. Progress starts when men like McInnes get it through their heads that they are not victims of some tirade of oppression. White men hold unfathomable amounts of power and have

systematically used it to work towards stripping women of bodily autonomy, access to equal pay and other rights that, were taken away from men, would be unthinkable. While not all men use their power to oppress, it is important for society to recognize that some do and that those men enact detrimental policies and social norms that are constantly are affecting women.

Proud Boys is one of many manifestations of men who refuse to acknowledge that masculinity and the patriarchy can and do have negative connotations and consequences for this country. Trying to champion this ridiculous notion that “West is best” by excluding half of the population from the narrative is counterintuitive and serves as yet another reminder that, until women gain more representation and are given a serious platform to enact change, male-dominated politics and norms will continue to dominate society.

Aly Niehans (aniehans@badgerherald.com) is a sophomore majoring in international studies and intending to major in journalism.

Greek life given infinite chances to do good, still objectively problematic Given the consistent pattern of reprimanding ellenic life, where does UW draw the line when evaluating its future existence?

by Julia Brunson Columnist

Across the country, an unprecedented wave of criticism has been directed towards Greek life, drawing attention to practices that have barely changed in hundreds of years.

This new era of criticism has not come quietly. States have charged entire fraternities with murder, manslaughter and sexual assault. Dozens of chapters have been shut down. In some universities, Greek life has been suspended indefinitely.

Inevitably, the conversation about Greek life becomes local. Some have turned to Langdon Street and asked, is the University of Wisconsin next?

Over 13 percent of the UW student body is part of a fraternity or sorority. Greek life is a huge draw for out of state students. For many, greek culture is uniting — it recruits, connects and reconnects students to the university.

Like other universities, it also has a dark side. For every sorority raising money for charity, there are students of color terrified to walk Langdon Street at night. There are still fraternities on probation, trying to shrug off years of sexual assault and drug-use allegations.

Faced with lawsuits, shocking sexual assault statistics and even the deaths of students, many universities are choosing to shut down Greek life entirely. This “nuclear option” is becoming increasingly more popular with parents and those outside of Greek life.

Sometimes, Greek culture at universities become too toxic and dangerous to continue without severe restrictions or termination.

When students die at Greek life events, extreme measures must be taken, both to protect the students, and to address concerns from the media, parents of students or the national chapters of Greek organizations.

For UW, the future of Greek life is murky.

Despite having no recorded fatalities, shocking numbers persist. In 2016, nearly half of all fraternities were on probation or suspended; four sororities were also put on probation. Troubling reports about Greek life on Langdon Street revealed alcoholrelated violations, chants condoning sexual assault and other general misconduct.

Many suspensions were temporary and were lifted at the end of the semester. Some viewed the punishments as too harsh, while

others felt administration did not go far enough.

In 2015, Chi Phi fraternity made the news after a hazing event went seriously wrong.

Pledges were forced to sleep in an attic, eat extremely spicy foods, and wear pillowcases over their heads. One pledge was placed in a crate meant to be a coffin, and when a fraternity member stomped on the coffin, it shattered. The pledge sustained head injuries and was taken to a hospital.

Chi Phi was eventually terminated by the university. UW, in comparison to other universities, has escaped the national spotlight relatively unscathed. No students have died, and no lawsuits resulted from the event.

If Greek life has proven it has the potential to do great harm, then why isn’t the administration acting preemptively? Where, if not in 2015, should we draw the line?

Serious injury? Death? If the toxic aspects of Greek culture continue, it might very well be time to consider the “nuclear option” after all.

It is time to hold Langdon Street responsible for Greek life, in all its forms. It

is time to hold all fraternities and sororities responsible for the “bad apples,” and to implore them to change. It is time to stop digging for the silver lining in philanthropy and community work, and to acknowledge the mistakes of Greek life for what they are: Interconnected.

Change is beginning, but it must be supported. Some fraternities have optedin to sexual assault training, based on bystander intervention techniques, but this should be mandatory for all Greek organizations. In addition, efforts should be made to address the culture of sexism and sexual assault that pervades within Greek life and its structures. This is by no means enough, yet it is a start.

If Greek life wants to avoid the nuclear option, it must accept that long-standing practices must change. The ability to confront violence and discrimination lies within all fraternities and sororities. It is, beyond all doubts, their responsibility to use it.

Julia Brunson (julia.r.brunson@gmail.com) is a sophomore majoring in history.

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 21

OPINION

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Convenience now reigns supreme in cases of verification and justice

In cases such as COMPAS and Project Veritas, statistically unverifiable information has taken presidence over systems of validation

by Cait Gibbons Columnist

In 2013, Eric Loomis, 34, eluded an officer and operated a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

He was sentenced to six years in prison, a length determined largely by his Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions score. This score outlined he poses a “high risk” to the community.

COMPAS is an algorithm used by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections intended to analyze and determine the potential risk an offender presents to their community, as well as the likelihood that they will commit another crime.

According to the New York Times, “company officials say the algorithm’s results are backed by research, but they are tight-lipped about its details.

They do acknowledge that men and women receive different assessments, as do juveniles, but the factors considered and the weight given to each keep as secrets.”

There’s no doubt that crime assessment and analysis is vital to the maintenance of a safe society. Crime analysis can help reveal patterns or trends in crime and knowledge of these trends can help law enforcement develop tactics and strategies to deploy appropriate resources, and can also help inform the public about ways to keep themselves safe. Additionally, there is value in analyzing trends in the character of a supect in a crime. Defendants and prosecutors will frequently use character evidence to illustrate how likely (or unlikely) it is the defendant committed the accused crime.

But there is a difference between constructing a unique character assessment about a defendant, and allowing a secret computer algorithm to determine the theoretical threat someone might pose to society. COMPAS infringes heavily on the sixth amendment in the Bill of Rights: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state.” How can this algorithm be “impartial” when it was constructed using data and information gathered from an inherently partial society, compiled by inherently partial analysts, and interpreted by inherently partial prosecutors?

COMPAS might be impartial with respect to any one individual, but the algorithm itself reflects the bias of its creator, which may be systematically biased against entire neighborhoods or ethnicities.

The algorithm itself would then be responsible for reinforcing and perpetuating those biases, resulting in a grave miscarriage of justice.

The main benefit of COMPAS is that it is easy. It is easy to put people into boxes and quantitatively analyze their character. It is easy to say that one specific recipe for a person is more likely to commit a crime than another. It is easy just to convict everyone who follows that recipe, but it is dishonest. It is dishonest to try to quantify people’s behavior and personality. It is dishonest to create a narrative in which “most crimes” are being committed by “this type” of person. It is dishonest to use equations to 22 • badgerherald.com • December 12, 2017

Photo · Rather than follow conventional standards of confirmation, expediency has, at times, come to dominate otherwise diligent processes.

Sarah Godfrey The Badger Herald determine the life of a United States citizen.

This program illustrates a growing problem in this country. We frequently ignore the truth about a situation if it does not fit the narrative we desire, and we search for facts — whether true or ‘alternative’ — that advance that narrative.

This past fall, a woman approached The Washington Post with accusations she was in a sexual relationship at age 15 with Roy Moore that ended with an abortion. After further investigation, Post reporters uncovered the accusations were completely false, and they did not report on the unsubstantiated claim. Furthermore, the woman making the accusations was revealed to be working with an undercover sting operation called Project Veritas.

Per their website, Project Veritas’ mission is “investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, selfdealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.” In truth, Project Veritas is a non-profit organization that receives millions of dollars in “charitable” donations from people like the Koch Brothers to create corruption in the so-called liberal, mainstream media, and

subsequently expose said corruption to generate distrust of these media outlets.

Project Veritas receives funding through Donors Trust, a conservative/libertarian, tax-exempt charity group that facilitates donations for many conservation groups, including the Government Accountability Institute, an organization started by Steve Bannon in conjunction with Breitbart News.

Project Veritas exudes the dishonesty it vilifies at every turn. Its very name is an Orwellian anachronism.

Earlier this year, David Remnick, editor at the New Yorker, presented at Cannes Lions to discuss this era of “alternative facts.” He explained that the circulation of misinformation is “powered by speed and ubiquity.”

It is much easier to develop a distrust in all media corporations, with no exceptions, as opposed to individually weeding out sources that do not provide reliable information. Project Veritas aims to expand the ubiquity of fake news to propagate distrust of media as a whole. While the past couple years riddle with “fake news,” the insidious impact of this phenomenon is that it engenders an environment falsely discrediting and slandering

those organizations which are not perpetuating misinformation. This sort of unexamined, catch-all distrust of all media does nothing to create a wellinformed society. The casual consumer of news can self-righteously excuse all information that is inconsistent with their beliefs.

In both cases — COMPAS and Veritas — we desire to tame the constant barrage of information.

While the sixth amendment does outline the necessity of a “speedy trial,” speedy does not — and cannot — mean cursory. The news which we consume to develop our opinions on vital issues cannot — must not — be ruled by the expedience of propaganda. Expediency cannot overrule reality, and simplicity cannot nullify integrity. If we continue to move through information at a pace which exceeds our ability to process and exercise good judgment, we risk drowning as a society in our dystopian flood of falsehoods.

Cait Gibbons (cgibbons3@wisc.edu) is a sophomore studying math.

OPINION

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On Trump’s first year in the Oval Office: College Republicans: Trump still devoted to making American great again

College Democrats: Our worst Trump fears have been realized

Can you feel it? America is getting greater by the second. It’s almost a year since Donald Trump took office, and what was his top priority, his biggest promise? Making America Great Again.

He’s off to a great start.

What’s his best accomplishment yet? Merry Christmas, we are saying Merry Christmas again.

Truly that represents the shift in our society.

Under Obama, America was losing some of the traditional values that make our country amazing. The unnecessary cultural war that liberals have been trying to wage on Americans for the past eight years is fading. Once again, we can finally stop apologizing for what America stands for and instead start being proud of it.

Donald Trump’s first great accomplishment since being elected? Appointing Neil Gorsuch.

Neil Gorsuch is a Justice that everyone can get behind, a true leader who will uphold the constitution and judge with fairness. History happens every day, and each day the Supreme Court faces monumental decisions, including the most recent, the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case.

We can be put at ease knowing that our Supreme Court is well-equipped to uphold the spirit of free speech and freedom of religion (and the real truth about wedding cake) especially with Neil Gorsuch now on board.

Did Republicans flop on health care?

That’s one way to look at it. Or one could say Republicans are taking the time to fully assess the situation to ensure the new healthcare bill they pass in the future will benefit all Americans instead of penalizing hardworking Americans and deteriorating our healthcare system like Obamacare. The “Affordable” Care Act mandated Americans buy plans they didn’t necessarily need or couldn’t afford and provided few choices and a lack of coverage. Hopefully, in the next year, Republicans will restore our health care choices back to the people they will be impacting.

What else have Republicans made moves on? Tax Reform for starters. Americans have been burdened under the weight of the Obama administration’s taxes for years. It’s a personal tragedy that many of our families experience, crippled by the weight of increased taxes.

In addition, Obama-era taxes have buried small businesses and pushed large American corporations out of the country. Now? There’s incentive for American business to settle back in the country. Now? There will be more tax breaks

At first, we laughed at the idea of Trump “Making America Great Again,” and after he won, we were scared he’d follow through with his terrifying campaign promises. He now brags his administration has made “incredible progress,” but we know he has failed to accomplish anything to take pride in. After almost a year of his presidency, Trump has represented America, and its values dreadfully, and effectively made strides in reversing American progress.

Most likely to go down as the worst president in history, Trump is currently one of the most unpopular presidents in the modern era. His approval rating is currently 37 percent, and sadly for him, it continues to average right around there. This is unsurprising, though, considering he not only failed to receive 50 percent of the votes in 2016, he also lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

But, the American people’s feelings of anguish and defeat have pushed many people to get involved in politics to stop the same thing from happening in future elections. We see this on campus, with a splurge of students joining College Democrats as an opportunity to no longer feel powerless but rather feel empowered by the democratic movement. We also saw this in New Jersey and Virginia, as Democrats swept the 2017 elections and took many key seats, a major rebound as the American people showed where their true values lie. We will most likely see more of this in the 2018 election next year, where we can take back the House and Senate, and say goodbye to Governor Walker for good. sic trajectory of the economy under President Trump remains the same as it did under President Obama. He did not make a serious impact on the economy so far. But, we can expect the national debt to climb now that the tax reform plan passed which will add $1.7 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade. Republicans scrambled to pass this sloppily written tax plan to fulfill at least one of their promised goals, yet the plan barely passed the Senate with a 51-49 vote, and it will have serious repercussions for the American economy and people in the future.

Throughout the Obama presidency, Republicans complained and moaned about Obamacare, yet after gaining control of the executive and legislative branch they had no plan to “repeal and replace” whatsoever. After proposing a horrific health care bill they knew would make millions of Americans sicker and poorer, the Senate bill did not have enough support to bring it to the floor for a vote.

It was quite the embarrassing episode for Trump and the Republican Party, which controls the

for small businesses and hard-working families who know they deserve a break that’s long overdue.

Another jaw-dropping achievement? Trump’s travel ban is enforced. This is a great display of the value the president places on national security. Recently, around the world and in our own country, we’ve seen instances of terror attacks. President Trump values the American people and is devoted to protecting us. Trump’s travel ban will work to prevent individuals who hate America or wish to cause harm, from infiltrating our country. After all, to protect others, we first need to protect ourselves. Securing our own borders will help keep America the number one country in the world.

President Trump’s administration also rolls back a significant portion of federal government regulations placed on labor, the environment and public health by the Obama administration.

By reducing government regulations, President Trump is helping reduce government involvement in our lives, and boost the economy.

Overall, we’ve had a great first year. President Trump has expanded rights that were once infringed upon by the Obama Administration, effectively reaffirming that our rights don’t come from government, but our creator. You’ll hear from our opponents how terrible this past year has been, they’ll rant about non-existent instances of discrimination and hate, they will bash every Republican piece of legislation (even if it benefits them) and they will make claims of a hostile political environment. But the truth is our opponents are the ones who created the hostile environment in the first place. Their cries of Trump’s discrimination? False — they’re just offended because suddenly they’re not the only ones with a voice, suddenly conservatives are allowed to speak too.

The Trump administration is on a mission to Make America Great Again. Beyond boosting our economy, securing our borders or protecting our rights, President Trump’s biggest achievement?

Boosting morale! I’ve never seen more people, Democrat or Republican, energized by American politics. Make America Great Again and Merry Christmas!

Emelia Rohl (erohl@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in journalism and mass communications. She is the Communications Director of College Republicans of UW Madison.

presidency and both chambers of Congress for the first time in 11 years.

Blindly putting “America first,” the Trump administration put the environment last on their list of priorities. After taking office, Trump foolishly approved the controversial Keystone Pipeline that environmentalists, Native American tribes and landowners avidly protested to protect sacred land and drinking water. Surprise, surprise, the pipeline recently leaked 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota last month. He also withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and we are now the only country in the world to refuse the deal, which focuses on preventing climate change.

On top of this, he also signed an executive order revoking federal flood-risk standards that incorporated rising sea levels predicted by climate science; the Trump administration’s EPA decided to delay Obama-era regulations on ozone; his administration canceled a rule that — prevented endangered whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in fishing nets. Recently, he keeps us on our feet waiting to hear if he will allow the import of elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is frankly absurd to make these seemingly small and arbitrary changes that will have major impacts on our environment.

Lastly, let’s not forget that the White House babysitters fail to keep him from sending out extremely inappropriate and blatantly childish tweets. He repeatedly provokes unstable North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him a “bad dude,” a “madman,” “short and fat,” and threatened him with “fire and fiery” the world has never seen before. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Trump and his administration are “begging for nuclear war.” There is no excuse for his immaturity and lack of professionalism on Twitter, and everywhere else for that matter.

College Republicans now proudly announce their full-fledged support of Trump, despite their extreme hesitation to endorse him last year. Just like the GOP, they blindly support him although he is an embarrassment to our country. Donald Trump will go down as the worst US president in history.

His immaturity, lack of self-control, and inability to follow through with his promises proves just how true that is.

Claudia Koechell (ckoechell@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in history and political science. She is the press secretary for UW College Democrats.

December 12, 2017 • badgerherald.com • 23

SPORTS

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Happ: Carrying young team after loss of former teammates

The junior forward is leading an inexperienced team, struggling to deal with new role as season progresses

by Daniel Farber Men’s basketball beat writer

This year has been a difficult transition for Ethan Happ after the recent loss of his former teammates Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, Vitto Brown and Zak Showalter.

Almost nine months have passed since the fateful day in March when the Badgers shocked the College Basketball world beating #1 seed Villanova. When Nigel Hayes’ layup bounced off the backboard to fall gracefully into the net it seemed to hang there for a lifetime. But unfortunately for the Badgers, this elation would disappear almost as quickly as it came.

A difficult defeat in Wisconsin’s next match against Florida had many questioning what the future of the team would entail. Key contributors Hayes, Brown, Koenig and Showalter were all in their final seasons and only one senior, forward Aaron Moesch, remains with the team.

The stakes for this team to succeed are high; Wisconsin has made the NCAA tournament an incredible 19 consecutive seasons. However, the possibility of increasing the streak to 20 seems to grow more and more unlikely with each game that the Badgers play this season.

Early in the year success has been limited; the team is currently 4-7 in regular season play with only one win against a power conference opponent. The team has lost four of their last five games and are starting to look for anything to gain some positive momentum.

Happ has been taking on the majority of the weight for this team all by himself. Despite averaging a solid 16.2 points a game, Happ alone has not been enough to lead Wisconsin to success.

With so much on the line this season, and so much of the pressure falling on Happ to continue the success that Wisconsin basketball has been building over the past two decades, there is a lot of stress that falls on the junior’s shoulders. It is in these moments when Happ thinks back to his former teammates and realizes how much he misses his old support system.

“I miss having [Brown], [Hayes], [Showalter] and [Koenig] around cause when I’m really struggling I can lean on those guys,” Happ said.

“Now I do feel that I have to play [a] complete [game]. I can’t gamble, I can’t foul out. I have to play a complete 40 minutes and I have to play a very productive 40 minutes.”

The redshirt junior has been averaging more minutes and field goal attempts than at any point in his career. Unfortunately, this increased 24 • badgerherald.com • December 12, 2017

usage has led to a decrease in efficiency for the forward as his field goal percentage has dropped from .586 last year to .536 this season.

This is in large part due to opponents using heavy double teams on Happ throughout games. While last year this strategy would have been ineffective as Ethan could simply rely on teammates Koenig and Showalter to hit open shots when facing pressure, this team simply doesn’t have the same depth of talent this year.

Two freshmen are currently starting on Wisconsin, Brad Davison and Aleem Ford, while freshmen Kobe King and Nate Reuvers are getting significant minutes. In fact, Reuvers just recently had his redshirt removed in an attempt to bolster an uncharacteristically weak Badger frontcourt.

The veteran presence comes from players who came off the bench in previous seasons like Khalil Iverson, D’Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl. Despite the challenges that come with an inexperienced team, Happ remains optimistic.

“I mean there is a lot of guys and they’re not all young guys” Happ said, “Brad is an obvious choice just cause of the toughness that he’s shown. His shot’s been there so I see him being like a [Showalter] Josh Gasser type of player. But as far as skill wise I mean I think Aleem can really take a jump here in the next year or two.”

Both Ford and Davison began the year on the bench but earned their way into the starting lineups. Coach Gard’s decision to give these players heavy minutes in critical situations may be partly to hasten the experience and development from Wisconsin’s younger pool of talent.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, things are only going to get harder this season after it was announced on Saturday that Trice would be out for an indefinite period of time and that King would miss the remainder of the season. King will undergo knee surgery in the immediate future, but he is eligible for a medical hardship waiver.

Hopefully Wisconsin can regain its form as a powerhouse in the basketball world as the season goes on. But regardless of this team’s success, it is important to recognize the accomplishments of Wisconsin basketball coaches and players that made excellence not only desired but expected over the past two decades.

Photo · Ethan Happ finds himself having to be more productive on the court, with each play and each point carrying a significant amount of weight with them..

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

SPORTS

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Badger Herald picks for female and male athletes of the semester After impressive seasons, freshmen Dana Rettke and Jonathan Taylor have made quite the names for themselves this fall

by Kristen Larson Sports Editor

It was an entertaining season for Wisconsin fans, with so many athletes standing out and having outstanding seasons. Although it was difficult, we managed to narrow the list down to two impressive athletes who had a killer fall season.

Male athlete of the semester: Jonathan Taylor After the departure of Dare Ogunbowale and Corey Clement, there was a vacancy in the Wisconsin depth chart that needed to be filled. Both players made their mark on this Wisconsin program, and whoever would follow in their footsteps would certainly have big shoes to fill.

Enter Jonathan Taylor, who would come

in to Madison as a true freshman with an impressive high school career behind him.

It was a surprise to many when this young running back would begin to make some big plays during his first year, helping Wisconsin to go 12-0 in regular season play.

Taylor earned 1,847 yards during his freshman year, earning a number of accolades and even throwing his name into the Heisman conversations throughout the year. Taylor has also been compared to some of the NFL’s greatest running backs such as Montee Ball, Adrian Peterson and Melvin Gordon.

With his first year of collegiate play under his belt, fans are excited to see how this young running back develops over time. His impressive performance is just an indicator of what is to come, and Taylor certainly has a bright future ahead of him.

Photo · Jonathan Taylor had such an impressive performance during the 2017 season, he would wind up in the running for the Heisman trophy.

Daniel Yun The Badger Herald

Female athlete of the semester: Dana Rettke When the 6’8” middle blocker stepped onto the court this season, it was unknown just how great she would be. Dana Rettke quickly started this season off with a bang, earning a grand total of 10 Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors throughout the season.

Although she has only been playing volleyball since her freshman year in high school, Rettke has been showing great talent

during her time on the court. This Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner helped the Badgers to have a great season in 2017.

Rettke and setter Sidney Hilley proved to be a deadly combination on offense and their connection on the court is only going to grow as their careers progress. Wisconsin volleyball is lucky to have a player like Rettke on their team, and fans are always entertained by the impressive plays that she makes for the team.

Photo · Dana Rettke was a true standout this year for Wisconsin volleyball, earning herself an impressive ten Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.

Emily Sachs The Badger Herald

December 12, 2017• badgerherald.com • 25

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Wrestling dominates over Maryland, earns major Big Ten victory

Wisconsin wrestler Eli Stickley managed to defeat No.12 Ryan Diehl, Badgers went on to outscore Terrapins 32-6

by Stephanie Browne Associate Sports Editor

The No. 19-ranked University of Wisconsin wrestling team defeated Maryland Thursday evening in the season opener for Big Ten play at the UW Field House. Coming off of an impressive performance by the team’s rookies at the Cliff Keen Invitational, the Badgers (3-0) broke into an early lead over the Terrapins (3-2.)

Redshirt sophomore Eli Stickley stuck it to the Terrapins’ No. 12-ranked Ryan Diehl in the 141-pound category when the Badger scored an early takedown in the first bought followed by a second back play in the second period. In the third period, the Roadrunner Open champion secured a major decision for Wisconsin in a 14-1 result, upsetting the nationally ranked Terrapin.

“I went out there and wrestled my match and not his,” Stickley said. “And it was proven that I could get my shot, my turn.”

Stickley did not find that he would be

facing nationally ranked Ryan Diehl until he stepped onto the mat for his first Big Ten battle of the season. The nationally ranked wrestler had been injured last week, and the Maryland alternate, Peter Tedesco, was scheduled to start in the category.

“I made a quick adjustment up top mentally, and I was very calm before the match just because I thought I was about to wrestle somebody else,” Stickley said.

In a freshman to freshman faceoff, Jens Lantz took three back points for the Badgers in the 133-pound weight class, and after a riding time of a minute and 10 seconds, Lantz committed to a 7-2 Wisconsin victory over Jhared Simmons.

NCAA Championship bid-winner, Andrew Crone, took down Maryland’s 157-pounder, Justin Alexander, adding another win to the redshirt senior’s record of nine wins and five losses. Crone defeated No. 15 Taleb Rahmani earlier in the season, and the Maryland saga left another major decision for Wisconsin.

No. 7-ranked Evan Wick made his debut in Big Ten play, winning his 165-pound

matchup in a 13-3 major decision for the Badgers.

“It’s really relieving,” Wick said. “It’s something I’ve been anxious about for a whole year being here and I didn’t know I would react to it but I think I reacted very well.”

The six-foot-two redshirt freshman came in second place at the Cliff Keen Invitational last weekend, and went undefeated in all periods of the tournament hosted by Cal State-Bakersfield, showing promise for an NCAA Championship bid.

Just one seed away in the rankings at No. 8, three-time NCAA qualifier Ricky Robertson swept his opponent recruited from Alaska in a decisive 6-0 result.

Redshirt junior Ryan Christensen used two minutes and thirteen seconds to make a major decision of 13-2 for the Badgers.

“For me its really just embracing these moments and understanding that it’s the last ride,” Christensen said. “It’s always looking to score as many points as I can.”

The two-time NCAA qualifier used two

minutes and thirty-two seconds of riding time to shut down the Terps in his final debut home match.

Sophomore Hunter Ritter ranked No. 19 took a stance in securing six points in only 40 seconds of riding time during his first bought. Ritter ’s second round closed out Maryland with a 9-0 decision for the Badgers.

In another heavy impact play, the heavyweight match ended after just one minute and 11 seconds when No. 10 Youssif Hemida pinned UW’s Ben Stone to the ground. This defeat is inconsistent with the recent performances that Stone has been executing as a regular in Wisconsin’s starting lineup.

“On paper you could say we’re favored in quite a few ways, but you still got to perform,” said Associate Head Coach Trevor Brandvold. “It starts 0-0 every time, no mater who you’re wrestling.”

The Badgers are slated to face UWWhitewater for an in-state dual Saturday at 1 p.m.

Greatest sports moments during the 2017 fall season

There were so many highs during the first four months of the school year, but plenty of exciting things happened across all sports

by Kristen Larson Sports Editor

There were so many great moments in the world of Wisconsin sports this fall, and each sport had a particularly great moment that stands out from the rest. It is challenging to narrow the list down to four, but someone has to do it.

4 - Women’s soccer defeats No. 3 Virginia UW women’s soccer had quite the season this year, but nothing was sweeter than when they managed to defeat the No. 3 team in the nation Virginia.

While it was a tough game for the Badgers, it would be sophomore Dani Rhodes who would cement a win for Wisconsin. Rhodes would score a goal 68 minutes into the game, and Virginia would be unable to answer.

After storming the field to celebrate their victory, the Badgers would then go on to earn themselves a four-game winning streak, before eventually losing to Michigan. This was just the start of all of the great things that the UW team would do this season, and man was it a good 26 • badgerherald.com • December 12, 2017

start.

3 - Volleyball heads to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen Wisconsin volleyball had an outstanding season in 2017, which was topped off by their fifth straight NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance.

The Badgers had to defeat both Marquette and Iowa State to make it the second round of the tournament, which was a rather easy feat for Wisconsin. After sweeping both teams in only three sets, the No.11 Badgers would head to Palo Alto, California to take on No.3 Stanford.

Wisconsin volleyball has become quite the team since head coach Kelly Sheffield stepped onto campus five years ago. With impressive performances year after year, it is only going to be a matter of time before the Badgers find themselves in the NCAA title game.

2 - Football earns Big Ten-West regular season title The Wisconsin football team certainly had a remarkable season, remaining undefeated through weeks of intense play. A pinnacle moment of this season was when the Badgers clinched the Big Ten - West regular season title

against Iowa.

The Badgers had faced so much adversity at this point of the season, with many people discrediting them for remaining undefeated into week 11, saying that the Badgers “weak” schedule was the reason for their success. After their win against Iowa, the Badgers showed that they deserved to be called the best team in the west, and punched their ticket to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game.

Honorable mentions: • Wisconsin women’s hockey remains undefeated for 18 games • Men’s hockey has a successful weekend on the East coast • Carranza and Dodridge make it to the ITA semifinals 1 - Wisconsin men’s soccer wins the Big Ten Championship for the first time in 23 years Despite all of the other impressive things that happened in the fall of 2017, the best one was when the men’s soccer team managed to bring home a Big Ten Championship trophy back in November.

Although their season started off on the wrong

foot, Wisconsin would manage to bounce back in a big way as the season progressed, earning themselves a spot in the Big Ten tournament.

It would be a fight for the ages, as Wisconsin would manage to blank the No.1 seed Michigan during the first game of the tournament, earning a 4-0 victory.

The Badgers would then take the field against the Hoosiers, and a 110 minute long war would ensue on the pitch. Even though they added on an overtime period, the game’s victor would be decided by penalty kicks.

Thanks to Wisconsin goaltender Philipp Schilling, Wisconsin would manage to hold Indiana to only two shootout points. Schilling and the rest of his teammates would manage to score all four attempts, earning themselves the Big Ten title.

Fall 2017 has been an exciting season for Wisconsin sports fans, with so many memorable moments coming from such a short period of time. Fans eagerly await for more excitement during Spring 2018, with so many more thrilling moments sure to appear.

Cost primary reason why UW doesn’t have baseball team

It is possible that a team could arise in the future, but unlikely now

by Alanna Goldman Sports Beat Writer

The University of Wisconsin is currently home to 23 varsity sports teams, but baseball is not one of them.

Wisconsin, however, once had a team from 19001991 but was cut along with men’s and women’s fencing and women’s gymnastics. In recent years there has been the talk of bringing baseball back, but the idea still faces significant challenges.

For starters, the athletic budget. One of the reason’s the team was cut was that it lost money for the athletic department. Few people want to go watch a game that is played outside during the frigid Wisconsin winters and the chilly spring and the nature of the sport requires hefty travel fees.

Since teams on average spend three to four days in a location, UW would have to pay for at least four days of travel expenses which can add up. Wisconsin would also need to find money to pay coaches, build a facility on campus, and offer scholarships to athletes.

The second challenge would be adding another women’s sport to the athletic department. With Title IX, schools must have an equal number as men’s and women’s sports. Bringing back baseball would mean bringing in another woman’s sport.

Fan favorites like women’s volleyball and ice hockey are popular, but not self-sustaining because ticket prices are low. Not only would baseball drain the budget, unfortunately, a woman’s athletic program would likely do so as well.

According to Jon Beidelschies, a writer for Bucky’s Fifth Quarter, having a baseball program and a new women’s team would cost approximately $100 million dollars over ten years. With so many questions left unanswered, it is easy to see why the UW Athletic Department will not commit to adding two new teams.

Despite not having a varsity team, UW does have a club baseball team. The club program is split into two divisions, D1 and D2. I spoke with club president Bobby Ehrlich about his experience on the club team and what he thinks it would take to bring back varsity level baseball to Wisconsin.

“To be honest, I don’t see it happening with [Barry] Alvarez as long as he is the Athletic Director,” Erhlich said. “Just because I know there has been some movement and I know he doesn’t want that. I know he is right in some senses that a baseball program here would lose money because every Big Ten baseball program does lose money.”

In recent years, the Athletic Department has been managing to keep their budget relatively under control, which means an increase in scholarships for athletes and

other benefits. Adding a baseball team takes away from that bottom line, and it is unknown if the University would be able to keep up with their current regime.

While it might sound like a harsh statement, Erhlich knows that a sport that would lose the UW so much money is unlikely to be added anytime soon. Wisconsin has to think of ways that they can provide for their current athletes first, and then decide if they have the potential to add a new sport.

“The Athletic Department is doing very well,” Erhlich said, “and [baseball] would lessen that for sure, so in a way [Alvarez] is right and I’m not sure it will happen.”

Of course, sometimes things don’t solely come down to monetary issues, and outside factors can contribute to a team being added or taken away. Baseball is the national pastime, and it tends to hold a special meaning within society.

There are also plenty of UW alumni who could help bring baseball here to Madison. From Jeff Block, the current coach of the club baseball team, to former Badger players who now hold prestigious positions in various organizations, there are many who might be able to help.

“Our coach, [Jeff Block] has pushed for it more and led this effort to at least make it more publicized,” Erhlich said. “I do think that if I guy like Bud Selig or a guy Pat Richter came out and said that they support UW baseball and that they are willing to give a whole bunch of money, then it would happen. Because I think there is a public need for it and I don’t think Alvarez would be able to say no to a large public donation like that.”

Bud Selig, a Milwaukee native, and UW graduate currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Formally he was the Commissioner of Baseball and was in office for many of the changes we see in baseball today such as the wild card, interleague play, and the merger between the National League and the American League under one office of the commissioner.

Pat Richter is a former UW football player and UW Athletic Director and would go on to hire Alvarez as his replacement.

Both these men have the ability to significantly impact the UW Athletic Department, and if they offered a significant amount of money upfront to be used for a baseball program, it is likely that baseball would come back to Madison.

While there is still a lot of discussion around bringing a baseball team back in Madison, a lot still needs to happen before the Badgers can come together to watch America’s national pastime. For now, fans can still enjoy the sport by cheering on the UW softball team.

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