Subleasing, rent, career goals factor into student summer housing decisions
As many students head home for summer, Madison’s economy is impacted
by Patricia Clark News Associate Editor
With the end of the spring semester comes a decision for University of Wisconsin students — do they stay in Madison for the summer or live elsewhere? This can be a difficult decision, as students must consider rent prices, subleasing and job opportunities, according to District 8 Alder MGR Govindarajan.
The majority of students decide to go home over the summer. Madison’s economy takes a hit, MGR said.
MGR commented on student significance to downtown Madison give the campus’ proximity to the area.
The majority of UW’s student population lives off campus, according to a report from the U.S. News and World Report. 25% of UW students live in university owned or affiliated housing, and the other 75% live in off campus
May 6, 2025
housing.
Many of the students living in off-campus housing that leave Madison struggle to find a sublet, mostly due to high rent prices, MGR said.
Even if a student is able to find a subletter to take over their lease for the summer, the outcome may still be costly as students are more likely to attract a subletter with lower prices, MGR said.
“Hypothetically, if someone is in a oneroom apartment, and they pay a total of a thousand dollars, they’re not going to sublease it for a total of a thousand dollars,” MGR said.
There are some apartments in Madison that offer shorter leases, which can be helpful for students trying to sublet for the summer, MGR said. MGR had a 9-month lease for his apartment sophomore year, which he said
allowed him to move back home for the summer.
If students do plan on subletting, they should consider adding a bit of cushion to their budget to offset the cost of lowered rent for their subletter, according to UW Financial Capabilities Specialist Jonathon Ferguson.
Primary subleases include students coming back from study abroad, but another group of potential subletters are new students to Madison, like transfers, according to Ferguson. These students may want to come to Madison early, and get a head start taking courses or getting to know the area.
When making the decision to either stay in or leave Madison until the next school year, UW students must take their own unique varying factors into consideration, Ferguson said. Students can make the best decision by considering which location will best suit their
future goals.
“We best make decisions that are going to be based off of goals and values that we’ve already identified, that we know we’re aiming for,” Ferguson said. “Then we can measure up the options we have against those things to determine what might be best for us.”
When making the decision whether or not to stay in Madison for the summer, many students may be focusing on the aspect of finances, but they should take more into account than that, Ferguson said.
Rather than just looking at their current situation, students should picture where they want to be in 2-3 years. Looking into what location will give students the best professional development and opportunities should take priority over financial factors, according to Ferguson.
“You’re going to continue to have to make decisions with imperfect information and still be able to make those decisions confidently,” Ferguson said.
Madison offers many job and internship opportunities, and many of the students who stay for the summer take advantage of these opportunities.
“I haven’t heard from business owners that it’s exceedingly difficult to find jobs, or find students to fill jobs, but I do know it’s not super easy either, especially over the summer,” MGR said.
When deciding summer plans, students also take other factors into consideration, like the opportunity to spend more time with family, said sophomore Carsyn Johnson, a personal finance major. Johnson is living in off-campus housing during the school year, and decided to go home for the summer, even though she has a 12-month lease.
Johnson said her biggest factor in deciding to move back home was the desire to see family.
Johnson and her roommates each have varying plans for the summer, with two of them going home, one going to Chicago for an internship and the other staying in Madison for the summer, she said.
It is important for students to remember that what they do in the summer can impact what they will do after graduation, Ferguson said. If students can get an opportunity.
Staying in Madison versus going home or elsewhere can mean different opportunities for each student, and the answer may not always be clear. However, it is important for students to remember that what they do in the summer can impact what they will do after graduation, Ferguson said.
“Sometimes the realities are the realities,” Ferguson said.
State Street. March 21, 2025.
MARY RICHARDS. THE BADGER HERALD.
Tariffs could churn up trouble for Wisconsin’s dairy industry
Consumers may benefit from cheaper products while farmers could receive less income
by Ayesha Yousef News Associate Editor
Tariffs enacted under the Trump administration could have significant impacts on the agriculture industry in the U.S. and particularly on the dairy industry in Wisconsin, according to University of Wisconsin associate professor of agriculture and economics Chuck Nicholson.
“The tariffs have a number of different impacts, whether that be the tariffs we are placing on imports from other countries or the tariffs that other countries will place on us,” Nicholson said.
As exporting from the U.S. becomes increasingly costly, foreign countries are likely to find different exporters, Nicholson said. Countries like Canada and Mexico have placed retaliatory tariffs of over 25% on U.S. imports. China has placed retaliatory tariffs over 100% in response to the Trump administration’s actions.
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The U.S. exports around 20% of milk fat and milk
fat products, and retaliatory tariffs will have a substantive impact on the ability to sell products into those marketplaces, Nicholson said.
“Because Wisconsin particularly is a major cheese and dry whey producer, there is potential for there to be a little more of an impact within the state than within the nation,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson added that for dairy farms and dairy processing businesses in the U.S., retaliatory tariffs may mean increasing the cost of equipment, making it difficult for plants to expand and open.
In response to losing foreign buyers, the dairy industry will have to reduce domestic prices of goods to increase consumption within the U.S., according to UW Dairy Markets and Policy Outreach Specialist Leonard Polzin.
On the consumer side, the price of milk may be reduced by around 20 cents, and a possible 50-cent decrease in the prices of cheese. But
Polzin argued the benefit for the consumer doesn’t necessarily outweigh the cost for the producer.
“When an individual consumer goes to check out at the grocery store, they might be able to save 60 or 70 cents,” Polzin said. “I wouldn’t say from a policy perspective that that’s a positive economic effect when you take into account the entire supply chain affected by this.”
Wisconsin currently exports approximately $8 billion in agricultural products — which is projected to decrease by $3 billion because of the impact of the tariffs. Though domestic prices have already dropped slightly, the agriculture industry is yet to see a fundamental change in production and consumption, but change is expected, Polzin said.
In the short term, U.S. exports may increase as international buyers make their purchases before permanent tariffs are set in place or before tariffs increase.
But, in the long term, the amount of product the agriculture industry is exporting is expected to drop, and domestic inventory will increase — meaning milk prices are expected to decrease by around 9%, Polzin said.
Polzin compared this situation to increased immediate consumption of products during the COVID-19 pandemic, when buyers bought in bulk to prepare themselves for shortages. He said the Trump administration may deceive the public by making it seem as though the tariffs led to increased exports, when that may only be a short term effect.
Many farmers are worried about the uncertainty of tariff impacts and international trading policy, Nicholson said.
“They [farmers] want to know what the best policy is in this situation, and if the policy is being jerked around quite a bit it’s really difficult and tends to create a paralysis of decision making,” Nicholson said. “People don’t commit to doing anything because they’re not sure how it’s going to work out for them.”
Farming companies may be afraid to commit to contracts, buy equipment or complete an ongoing plant expansion because of uncertainty of tariff policy, according to Nicholson.
The impacts of tariffs on other agricultural products will indirectly affect the dairy industry as well, Nicholson said. The U.S. exports half of its soybeans to China, but now it will be twice as expensive to export, and the domestic soybean market will likely respond by decreasing prices within the U.S., making soybeans — used as feed for cattle — cheaper.
“I wouldn’t call this [cheaper soybeans] a bright spot to the situation, but it could have the effect of lessening the pain a little bit because it does lower one of the key costs for dairy farms,” Nicholson said.
If the tariffs are paused or permanently ended, the effects will not end immediately, Nicholson said. As countries find different producers, the U.S. may not be able to recover the consumers it had before the tariffs.
Within the U.S., the Trump administration is considering cutting food income support programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to Nicholson. SNAP and other food assistance programs use a considerable amount of dairy, and the elimination of the programs would reduce domestic consumption.
“The tariffs will cut the demand for our products outside the U.S., but the cutting demand on the inside or within the U.S. doesn’t help either,” Nicholson said.
The Trump administration is considering making payment programs to farmers available to offset the damage caused by tariffs, but this wouldn’t eliminate the harm caused altogether, Nicholson said.
Wisconsin farmland. March 5, 2025.
LIZZY LARSON. THE BADGER HERALD.
Trump administration renews $600 million grant set to help build renewable energy infrastructure across Midwest
Clean
energy across Midwest is cheaper alternative that bring energy independence to region
by Beth Stacey Science News Associate
The Trump Administration recently renewed a Joe Biden-era grant for sustainable energy in Wisconsin. The grant totaled $595 million for Dairyland Power Cooperative, a La Crosse-based cooperative that provides power across the Upper Midwest, according to Dairyland Power.
Funding sustainable energy is not only effective in helping to mitigate emissions reductions but can also create an energy system that is more resilient to the impacts of climate change, according to the Environmental Protections Agency.
Amy Barrilleaux, communications director for climate change advocacy group Clean Wisconsin, said the grant will help fund solar and wind projects across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.
As the climate crisis continues to become more impactful, local and national companies are creating pathways towards sustainability.
Mitigating factors in these plans can be public efficacy of the solution as well as funding, Salzwedel Distinguished Faculty Chair in Business and Regulation and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor Gregory Nemet said in an email statement to The Badger Herald.
“The Trump Administration’s confirmation of the grant to Dairyland Power is unequivocal good news for the energy transition in Wisconsin,” Nemet said in the statement. “Our state has some catching up to do in the transition to clean affordable energy, and this plan for adding a gigawatt of clean generation helps. Demonstrating that rural communities can embrace wind and solar will be a key outcome of this initiative.”
Transitioning towards renewable energy has more than just environmental benefits.
Wisconsin does not drill for oil and therefore getting it into our state can be very expensive.
It costs Wisconsin $14 billion a year to import oil from other states and counties, Barrilleaux said.
Solar and wind power are the cheapest forms of energy in Wisconsin.
“Investing in clean, homegrown energy sources is becoming less and less expensive, and right now it is the cheapest way to get energy,” Barrilleaux said.
Additionally, the implementation of clean energy can contribute to stabilization of income for family farms across Wisconsin, Barrilleaux said.
Local governments’ solar or wind
projects get $5,000 per megawatt every year. This could potentially generate millions of dollars to serve the counties and towns.
municipal buildings, repairing roads and emergency response equipment, Barrilleaux said.
way of life continue, and we are going the wrong direction for that,” Barrilleaux said. “You know, we see dairy farms going under all the time.”
Beyond the economic benefits of switching to renewable energy there are a plethora of health benefits as well. There are intense health costs of burning fossil fuels as air quality diminishes, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Burning fossil fuels can cause asthma, cancer and heart disease.
The widespread implementation of solar can not only mitigate air quality issues — as less air pollution is produced — but also save on public health costs. Each kilowatt hour of electricity generated from solar can save five to ten cents per kilowatt hour in public health costs.
Solar and wind are also much more land efficient than growing corn for ethanol, with solar producing 100 times more energy per acre than corn, Barrilleaux said. There are a million acres dedicated to growing corn for ethanol in Wisconsin. By integrating solar into farmlands, soil is allowed to rest, and it can help bring back pollinators to areas that have been heavily tilled and even limit runoff.
“We don’t necessarily need to do a million acres for ethanol when we can get too much more bang for our acre in solar,” Barrilleaux said. “And I think it’s just people, it takes a while to understand that there’s a fear of replacing cropland with solar.”
Moving towards solar and wind energy increases Wisconsin’s energy independence, which is a talking point for a lot of Republican lawmakers, Barrilleaux said.
Though Wisconsin and the Midwest at large are a great place for creating an independent energy grid, the benefits — economic, health and ecological — are not fully understood by the populace.
Getting Wisconsinites to learn and speak out about the benefits of renewable energy can bring us closer to energy independence.
“And, you know, we do need Wisconsinites kind of saying, hey, we want this stuff,” Barrilleaux said. “We want these grants. We want the incentives for rooftop solar. We, you know, we want jobs. We want the manufacturing of wind and solar components here. We want all those things. And in order for that to continue, you know, people are going to have to speak up, but it’s been good to see that.”
These funds can help create safer environments through renovations of
“I think people want to see Wisconsin’s rural areas protected and preserved, and the farming, you know, the family farm
Badger Herald archival photo of solar panels. April 21, 2016.
KATIE COONEY. THE BADGER HERALD.
SEAT AT THE TABLE
MENA students push for physical space on campus
by Jenna Innab ArtsEtc. Editor
Finding your people, finding your space and finding your home away from home — the college experience hinges on these connections, especially for ethnically diverse students at the predominantly white University of Wisconsin.
At the heart of UW’s campus stands the Gymnasium and Armory — the Red Gym for short. Home to the Multicultural Student Center, it stands as a physical embodiment of UW’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Yet for students of Middle Eastern and North African descent, something crucial is missing — a dedicated space they can call their own.
While the MSC houses cultural centers for Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American and Indigenous students, MENA students continue to struggle for official recognition and representation within the university’s multicultural framework.
The absence of a MENA cultural center represents more than just a missing physical space — it symbolizes an institutional blind spot that leaves MENA students feeling invisible and unsupported.
For many MENA students, this reality creates a stark contrast between the university’s public commitment to diversity and their lived experiences on campus.
Haia Al Zein, Internal Affairs Chair for Associated Students of Madison, spoke with The Badger Herald about her experience as a MENA student coming to campus.
“When I came here as a freshman, especially like my first semester when I didn’t have the foundation of friends I have now, I felt so left out,” Al Zein said.
Al Zein’s experience echoes a common sentiment among MENA students who arrive at UW from more diverse communities.
Coming from Milwaukee, which has a more substantial MENA population, the cultural isolation at UW was jarring for Al Zein. This disconnect prompted her to begin advocacy work during her second semester, launching a MENA project with ASM aimed at establishing a dedicated cultural center.
Push for recognition
The push for a MENA cultural center emerges from a genuine need for community, recognition and belonging. Without dedicated resources and spaces, MENA students often find themselves navigating the university experience without the institutional support provided to other minority groups. This disparity creates an uneven playing field that
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affects everything from social integration to academic performance and mental well-being.
As universities nationwide face increasing pressure to meaningfully address diversity and inclusion, the absence of MENA-specific resources at UW highlights a gap between institutional rhetoric and action.
Despite advocacy from student-led efforts
that wanted to do anything with DEI.”
This gap between the university’s public statements on diversity and its actual resource distribution leaves many MENA students feeling overlooked and unrepresented on campus.
Belonging with no blueprint
Some MENA students at UW say the
similar to Al Zein, progress has been slow and has included obstacles. The current political climate surrounding diversity initiatives has further complicated these efforts, leaving many MENA students questioning the university’s commitment to serving all members of its diverse student body.
“I thought that such a big university like this would actually encourage more diversity and inclusion,” Al Zein said. “But in reality all they did was kind of dismantle any student
absence of a dedicated cultural center symbolizes their institutional invisibility and the university’s failure to fully recognize their unique cultural identity and needs.
Dana Tabaza, who reignited the fire for MENA inclusivity as the MENA cultural programming intern for two years, described what a cultural center would mean.
“[The space would be] a manifestation of all the hard work that we did, recognition for this community that is long overdue, this
community that has been in the shadows for years intentionally by this university,” Tabaza said. “Bringing them to the front and giving them space is a sign that they see us and that we are no longer invisible,” Tabaza said.
Emphasizing that official recognition through a dedicated space would validate the MENA community’s presence and contributions to campus life, Tabaza said.
Maha Mustafa, president of Muslim-interest sorority at UW Alpha Lambda Rho, spoke with The Badger Herald about the practical importance of having a physical space for MENA-identifying students.
“A physical space is so important,” Mustafa said. “The motto of the MSC is ‘home away from home,’ and lots of other identity centers are really able to feel that because they have a physical space to sit in, to nurture their identities in, but because MENA has a lack of that, I don’t feel comfortable calling it my home away from home necessarily.”
This absence of dedicated space forces MENA students to occupy general areas in the MSC, further reinforcing their perception as an afterthought in the university’s diversity framework.
More often than not, MENA students consistently occupy the general spaces of the MSC because there is no designated space for them.
The struggle for recognition extends beyond a physical space — MENA students face challenges in the current political headwinds that have created significant barriers to their advocacy efforts.
“Because of the political climate that we’re in now, even then the political climate that we were in then, made it really hard for me to even move forward with this project,” Al Zein said.”It was really hard to talk to people that were higher up on this campus that actually cared about it because none of them said that it was gonna work or happen.”
This resistance has forced MENA student leaders to adapt their advocacy strategies. Al Zein has shifted toward more internal, grassroots approaches rather than public campaigns.
“I’ve come to realize that that project is not feasible now or ever because cultural centers all across the Big 10 are getting dismantled,” O’Zan said, referencing the concerning trend of diversity initiatives being scaled back at peer institutions. “No one knows what school is going to be next. No one knows if UWMadison will be next.”
The uncertainty surrounding diversity initiatives creates additional stress for student advocates already juggling academic responsibilities and personal challenges.
Class of 2025: Senior standouts leave lasting legacy on Badger athletics
Seniors shape UW Athletics history across all sports
by Elliot Buxton Sports Reporter
As the 2024-2025 athletic season wraps up at the University of Wisconsin, The Badger Herald is highlighting a group of outstanding outgoing seniors who have helped shape the UW Athletics legacy.
Men’s Basketball
6-foot-7 senior forward Carter Gilmore made his mark on Badger men’s basketball in the 2024-2025 season. Gilmore appeared in 99 games in his five years of eligibility at Wisconsin, but one game stood out against the rest, the “Carter Gilmore Legacy Game,” in which he scored a career high 15 points in a win against Northwestern this February.
On February 1, 2025, Gilmore achieved his career high, scoring 15 points in the game against Northwestern. Gilmore ended his time as a Badger with 1860 minutes played, 312 points and a free-throw average of .647%.
Softball
Wisconsin-raised senior Molly Schlosser has helped lead the Wisconsin Softball team to a winning record in the Big Ten conference this year (11-10). Schlosser appeared in 181 games over her four years of eligibility at Wisconsin.
Throughout her career, Schlosser racked up 59 RBIs and 90 runs scored and also maintained a batting average of .283%. Schlosser is also a stud in the field. With only eight recorded
errors in her career as a Badger, she earned a .955% fielding percentage. Schlosser also earned Academic All-Big Ten Team honors in both 2023 and 2024.
Men’s Hockey
Transfer goalie Tommy Scarfone made an impact on the Badger Hockey team in his first and final season at Wisconsin. Scarfone, a transfer from Rochester Institute of Technology, played in 32 of the team’s 37 games this season.
Securing a starting spot in the Badger lineup, Scarfone ended his career with the Badgers with 721 saves and a save percentage of .900%. Scarfone also achieved three shutouts during the 2024-2025 season, only allowing 80 goals in his 32 games played.
Women’s Hockey
The Wisconsin Women’s Hockey team secured its third national championship in the past four years with help from many players, but few contributed more than senior Sarah Wozniewicz. Wozniewicz’s time as a Badger has been strong, playing in 155 games over the past four years.
Wozniewicz also scored two goals for the Badgers in their game against the University of St. Thomas, allowing the Badgers to reach 11 goals in the second-highest scoring game of the season. Wozniewicz ended her career as a
Badger with a total of 36 goals scored, 35 assists and a .107% shot percentage.
Women’s Track & Field
Women’s Track & Field senior middle distance athlete Maggie Munson set her mind to breaking her own records this season. Munson broke her mile time record twice, and more impressively, both were consecutive. She first set her PR on Feb. 1 at the Meyo Invite with a time of 4:55.10, then broke that PR seven days later at the DePaul Invite, with a time of 4:53.32.
The Wisconsin native earned bronze in the steeple chase at the Fighting Illini Twilight outdoor meet on April 28, with a time of 10:41.87. Munson is also a five-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Men’s Track & Field
Senior distance runner Adam Spencer participated in Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field, but that wasn’t all for him. Spencer was a part of the second-fastest outdoor Distance Medley Relay (DMR) at the Penn Relays on April 24, 2025, finishing eighth with a time of 9:32.56.
He was also the Australian National Championship runner-up in the 1500-meter race with a time of 3:34.57. In his four years as a Badger, Spencer earned many honors, such as NCAA first-team All-American in the 3000
meters and the distance medley relay in 2024 and Big Ten Indoor champion in the mile and distance medley relay and school record holder in the mile at 3:52.70 in 2023.
Wrestling
Redshirt senior Gavin Model started the season strong, going 5-0 at the Pointer Open in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, taking first place. In his first season back in 2021-2022, Model went 10-4 at 165 pounds across five different tournaments.
Model went 1-5 against top-ranked NCAA Division One opponents and went 1-2 against Big Ten opponents in the 2022-2023 season.
Honorable Mentions
Men’s Basketball
6-foot-5 graduate student guard John Tonje left his mark on the Badger Basketball program. Tonje joined the Badgers as a sixth-year graduate student after playing at Colorado State and Missouri.
With his skill level and experience, Tonje brought a much needed veteran presence to the Wisconsin Basketball program. Tonje averaged 19.6 points in 37 games, recording one of the most notable single-season performances in program history. Tonje became the first Division One player since Kemba Walker to record three 30+ point games against top ten opponents.
In his phenomenal first and last seasons as a Badger, Tonje set a school record by scoring 37 points against BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tonje ended his career as a Badger with a .906% free-throw percentage, 741 points scored and an average of 31.3 minutes played per game.
Women’s Swimming & Diving
Graduate student Phoebe Bacon has become a well-known name in the Wisconsin community. This Olympian has been a driving force behind the progress of Wisconsin’s Swimming & Diving program. During the 2024-25 season, Bacon shattered four personal records, including a standout 1:45.16 finish in the 200 freestyle.
Bacon also secured the titles of 200 back NCAA champion in 2024, Big Ten Swimmer of the Championship in 2024 and 2025 and 2023 Big Ten Swimmer of the year. Being an Olympian and college athlete isn’t the easiest duo to balance, but Bacon has shown that anything is possible with the love of the sport. Bacon has secured two gold medals from the 2019 Pan American Games — 100m back, 400m medley relay — three gold medals from the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships — 100-meter backstroke, 400 mixed medley relay, 400 medley relay — and is a four-time U.S. National Team Member.
BRODY KILLOREN. THE BADGER HERALD.
Accidental Wisconsin shooting calls for stricter implementation of gun control laws
Federal
by Josh Standal Associate Opinion Editor
On April 16, at around 10:05 PM, De’Shawn L. Sturkey, 19 years old, was killed in an accidental shooting near the 1200th block of Fish Hatchery Road.
Police said that he and his friend, Montrae K. Stalling, 17 years old, were playing with the firearm before it went off and hit Sturkey. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Stalling was arrested for negligent handling of a dangerous weapon, according to WKOW 27 News.
Unfortunately, this incident comes as a result of a lack of gun control and safety. There are roughly 27,000 unintentional firearm injuries and 500 unintentional firearms deaths per year in the U.S, according to Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment. Sturkey’s
death represents yet another casualty of the lack of gun control and regulation.
It is no secret that the U.S. has a gun problem.
In 2021, the U.S. had 26,328 suicide deaths by firearm, 20,958 deaths from homicides with firearms, 549 unintentional firearm deaths, 537 deaths involving legal interventions with firearms and 458 firearm deaths that were undetermined — or unclear what situation these individuals were in when they died.
In addition, there were 502 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2024 — a mass shooting is defined as a shooting leading to the injury of four or more people, excluding the shooter.
The U.S. has 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, with second place being Yemen,
which has 52.8 firearms per 100 residents.
It is glaringly obvious that the U.S. has a serious gun problem — and we need to do something about it. Contrary to what the National Rifle Association and prominent pro-gun lobbying groups will lead you to believe, gun legislation and restrictions are not implemented to “take your guns.” This is far from the truth.
In my view, owning a firearm is a constitutional right that should be protected — I am not coming to take your guns or advocating for the government to do so. But, the laws surrounding firearms need to be improved to prevent mass shootings, lower the number of Americans killed by firearms and make our country a safer place.
A major piece of gun control legislation
that could have saved Sturkey’s life is the safe storage of firearms. There are currently no federal laws that enforce the safe storage of firearms, although there are various state-level laws that require varying forms of safe storage of firearms.
As of 2025, 26 states and Washington D.C. have some level of secure storage and/or child-access laws. These laws help prevent children or individuals who are not supposed to own firearms from acquiring them, which forces gun owners to safely store and lock away their firearms when they are not in use.
Secure gun storage has shown to reduce gun violence, with households that safely lock and store their firearms and ammunition seeing up to 85% fewer unintentional injuries. Researchers also found that safe storage laws reduce injuries and deaths among young people, according to Everytown For Gun Safety. Passing federal laws to regulate child access and secure storage laws could help keep firearms out of the hands of children and others who shouldn’t possess them. As a result, we can halt accidental shootings and save lives.
In addition to creating federal child access and safe storage laws, there should be harsh penalties for the individuals who do not properly store their firearms as not doing so can have dire consequences.
On April 17th, a 20-year-old Florida State University student obtained access to a firearm belonging to his mother, who was a sheriff’s deputy. The student then went on to kill two people on FSU’s campus and wound five others in a horrifying school shooting.
If the shooter’s mother left her firearm out in the open, without a locking mechanism on it or allowed her son to gain access to the firearm, then she should be held liable and prosecuted. By imposing strict punishments for individuals who violate child access and safe storage laws, it would encourage gun owners to follow them or face serious consequences.
While there is a range of gun legislation that could help protect American citizens, strict federal child access and safe storage laws would be a massive step forward in terms of protecting Americans from the firearm epidemic. It is time that we accept the reality of our country’s gun control epidemic, because it has already spiraled out of control.
Badger Herald archival photo of Fight for Our Lives march.
RILEY STEINBRENNER. THE BADGER HERALD.
Wisconsin Supreme Court’s passing of Evers’ 400-year school budget sounds constitutional alarms
Governor’s creative veto stretches legal limits, erodes democratic checks, balances
by Alexia Becker Associate Opinion Editor
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided to uphold Gov. Tony Evers’ 400year extension of public school funding through a creative veto in 2023.
A creative veto refers to a partial veto where a governor alters a bill’s language to create new meaning or outcome, especially when it comes to budget bills.
The budget sent to Evers in 2023 was intended to apply to the 2023-24 school year and the 2024-25 school year. But, using his veto power, Evers extended it to apply for 2023-2025.
The litigation arm of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, an association of manufacturers, service businesses and chambers of commerce, argued the Democratic governor’s veto usage was too far. The Wisconsin Supreme Court defended Evers, claiming he has the right to use creative vetoes. In a 4-3 decision, the court’s justices ruled the governor’s partial vetoes did not violate the Constitution.
Critics of Evers asserted his partial veto clearly violated a 1990 amendment to the Wisconsin State Constitution that bans what is informally referred to as the “Vanna White” veto. With a clever
reference to the star of “Wheel of Fortune,” the amendment bans piecing together letters from different words to create new words.
But there is an obvious loophole in this amendment in that the state law does not prohibit the governor from striking individual digits to create new numbers.
Following this line of logic, the governor did not make an unconstitutional decision. But just because the ruling isn’t directly unconstitutional doesn’t automatically make it cleanly constitutional either. The veto was an arguably dirty move.
Intention is not an easy thing to argue, and it is an even harder thing to prove, but I feel confident in arguing that lawmakers did not intentionally leave out the aspect of rearranging numbers because they thought it was constitutional. Creating new numbers is essentially the same as creating new words — you’re allowing people in power to read between the lines and manipulate meaning to benefit their goals.
While the budget does expand funding for public schools, it will also allow school districts to increase local property taxes for the next 400 years, entirely unchecked by other branches of government. This is a fact that will have serious effects on Wisconsinites.
I have no problem with long-term solutions, and investing in public education is absolutely necessary, but what we’re witnessing right now is the start of a slippery slope. Setting the precedent that you can manipulate the words of the Constitution to get the legislature you want passed opens up doors to a whole lot of trouble. What Evers did is a clear abuse of power and executive authority that undermines the democratic process our country was built on.
Reading between the lines and warping intended meaning is not something that should be done to the Constitution to support political moves. Whether or not the budget itself is a good thing isn’t the point — the point is that we shouldn’t be allowing our governor to set dangerous precedents for other leaders to follow.
Long-term educational stability is not worth what can potentially come from telling government leaders they can manipulate and assign meaning to state constitutions to fit their agendas.
While Wisconsin lawmakers still have the opportunity to override the governor’s vetoes, this is nearly impossible
since Republicans in the Senate and the Assembly no longer have the two thirds supermajority they need to override a veto without help from the Democratic party, which leads me to my next issue.
There is simply no way that every Democratic lawmaker agrees with Evers’ veto, but the party divide is so strong in Wisconsin that presumably none of them will want to go against a Democratic governor. Not every issue has to be a party issue — some things are simply wrong.
You can both be an advocate for the funding of public education, while recognizing that the ends don’t justify the means in this case. There are ways to go about achieving what you want without setting a precedent of governmental manipulation of the Constitution.
Long term funding for public education is a cause I stand firmly behind, but allowing our government leaders to abuse their executive authority is something I simply cannot support, and I do not see how anyone could. And as a student at a public university, I would not want the funding of my education resting on dirty political moves.
LIZZY LARSON. THE BADGER HERALD. Governor Tony Evers speaks during the State of the State. January 22, 2025.
GABE GERMAIN. THE BADGER HERALD. Madison West High School. October 17, 2024.
PHOTO BY ROSS ZENTNER.
PHOTO BY ROSS ZENTNER.
PHOTO BY ROSS ZENTNER.
PHOTO BY ROSS ZENTNER.
Don Giovanni (Charles H. Eaton), Leperello (Jeremiah Sanders) at Commendatore’s (Ashraf Sewailam) grave. May 2, 2025. Donna Elvira (Emily Fons) confronts Don Giovanni (Charles H. Eaton) who pliages on Zerlina (Sachie Ueshima). May 2, 2025.
Don Giovanni (Charles H. Eaton) meets with the ghost of the Commendatore (Ashraf Sewailam). May 2, 2025. Don Ottavio (Andrew Stenson), Donna Anna (Katerina Burton), and Donna Elvira (Emily Fons) seek revenge. May 2, 2025.
Consider the food scraps
Badgers
have big appetites, unscrupulous dining habits, here’s how UW works to offset food waste
by Aiden Mellon ArtsEtc. Editor
11 AM Sunday, you and your roommates scan into Gordon’s for brunch before the homework doldrums begin. Maybe you’re a nervous eater or just nursing the post-Saturday blues. Either way, if you’re anything like me, every trip back to the buffet line offers a few more minutes of freedom, another sugar high and an opportunity to think about the 100 men vs. a gorilla problem. These methods also ensure that I consistently take more than I can actually eat and send a healthy portion of food straight to the dish return void, never to be seen again — or so I thought. But thanks to UW Housing and the Office of Sustainability’s progress in composting and food waste reduction, the ramifications of our collective gluttony have been reduced, though students like me continue to contribute significantly to food waste on campus.
UW’s current food recovery and waste reduction systems comprise efforts at every level of the three R’s — reduce, reuse, recycle. The most efficient way to decrease food
waste on campus is simply to reduce the amount of it. The first of these methods, “lean pathing,” involves indexing the amount of extra food produced by the kitchen at every shift before it is thrown out or set aside for composting.
First introduced to Rheta’s Market in 2022 as part of a student-led effort to prevent food waste, lean pathing has since expanded to all dining markets and led to reductions in food waste, according to LeanPath and UW sustainability coordinator Malorie Garbe. Today, the data acquired from lean pathing enables UW Housing to send out weekly updates to dining hall staff on food waste and set specific goals for waste reduction.
Garbe said the ability to limit food waste to specific menu items has been especially helpful in reducing waste.
“That’s where we’ve been able to see a lot of success, is targeting areas with a high opportunity for reduction and then really create a process that targets that waste, and then move on to other areas of opportunity,”
Garbe said.
Outside of lean pathing, university housing has also reduced food waste by increasing sustainability messaging on campus and structuring the allyou-care-to-eat system around smaller portion sizes, according to Garbe. In the dining halls, serving utensils and dishware sizes have been scaled down to encourage diners to make multiple trips and sample food before taking more than they can eat. Walking back to the dish return with a 6-stack of dishes shouldn’t cause you any shame — it’s all part of the plan.
In the past few years, University Housing has also performed numerous food waste audits and has worked to communicate their findings with the student body, according to Garbe.
“We’ve had a lot of success with outreach efforts,” Garbe said. “Last year, we implemented a new series of datainformed posters that saw a big decrease in plate waste.
Between lean pathing, increasing sustainability messaging and implementing waste-conscious measures in the dining halls, UW has enhanced its ability to stop food waste before it happens. Inevitably, though, kitchens are stuck with extra food at the end of the night and patrons still eat with their eyes. Cue food recovery and composting.
Dining and Culinary Services collaborates with UW’s student-run branch of the national Food Recovery Network to help alleviate food insecurities among the campus community, according to University Housing. The dining halls also donate excess food to local pantries and help address student food insecurity through their proprietary Nutrition Access Program, which diverts unserved food from the dining halls to frozen, pre-packed and microwaveable meals at no cost to any UW student, according to University Housing.
These measures, however, don’t implicate
the over-zealous student diner, whose halfeaten breakfast waffle sandwich obviously cannot be repurposed for further human consumption.
Fortunately, all is not lost for those of us who have historically treated all-you-careto-eat dining as an invitation to take out our inner angst on Dionysian amounts of food. This is because the Gordons and Four Lakes dining halls send food scraps to the West Madison Agricultural Research Station for composting.
In the past, UW and the city of Madison both sent food scraps to an anaerobic digester unaffiliated with UW, according to Office of Sustainability resource coordinator Travis Blomberg.
This system worked well because the digester could separate organic matter from non-compostable trash — a roadblock which had hindered UW’s previous composting collaboration with WMARS, according to the Office of Sustainability. In 2021, though, the company operating the digester converted it to a renewable natural gas production facility and could no longer recycle food scraps. Fortunately, WMARS stepped up again, Blomberg said.
“So, lucky enough for us, our internal group, Cal’s West Madison Agriculture Research Station, they stepped up and they said, ‘hey, we’ll collect food scraps if they’re clean and they’re from back of house operations,’” Blomberg said.
The current iteration of UW’s composting program is still technically in its trial phase, but it involves the transportation of food scraps from Gordon, Dejope/Fourlakes, Union South and Memorial Union to WMARs, where the food matter is composted aerobically in windrows, according to the Office of Sustainability.
Still, Four Lakes and Gordon are currently the only dining halls in the trial, and composting costs Housing more than it would to just send the food scraps to the Dane County Landfill, according to Garbe.
In short, though Dining and Culinary Services composts food where they can, the real onus to prevent food waste at the plate lies with us students. According to lean pathing data, plate waste from the all-youcare-to-eat facilities can account for up to 60% of all food waste coming out of the operation, Garbe said.
So, the next time you shuffle into Gordon’s on a Sunday morning, ask yourself if you actually need a third pizza bagel?
Hungry Hunrgy Badgers. May 4, 2025.
BRODY KILLOREN. THE BADGER HERALD.