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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019 · VOL 51 Issue 7 · BADGERHERALD.COM
FRESH-FACED, FEARFUL & READY TO FIGHT Slow-moving politics spark growing restlessness in the new faces of climate activism — young adults and students pg. 12
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Wisconsin Science Festival to appear for ninth year running The Wisconsin Science Festival has grown, now features more than 220 events in over 100 locations across the state by Erin Gretzinger Reporter
The annual Wisconsin Science Festival is returning to Madison Oct. 17 through Oct. 20, featuring scientific activities and events for both the public and the campus community. In its ninth year, the Wisconsin Science Festival has grown exponentially, featuring more than 220 events in over 100 locations across the state. Laura Heisler, director of programming for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and director of outreach for the Morgridge Institute of Research, helped co-found and create the Wisconsin Science Festival. “We envisioned early on that the science festival would be a great way to bring the campus and community together around science,” Heisler said. “On campus we have so many amazing researchers and amazing groups that exist to connect people to science.” This year, the festival has many exciting events coming to campus with the hope of engaging students, including a new events series on science in the realm of arts and entertainment. Events on the role of science in art and entertainment include an expert panel and a speaker on the science of Star Wars. In the afternoon of Oct. 18, a panel of experts in the fields of visual arts, theatre, dance and film will meet in the Discovery building to discuss how science plays into entertainment. Speakers from the Institute of Discovery and other universities will discuss and explain how science is interwoven into their fields. Oct. 19 at 8 p.m., Kyle Hill, editor for Nerdist and host of the well-known YouTube science talk show Because Science, will moderate “The Science Behind Star Wars,” a highly-anticipated event. Hill will debunk myths about the popular Star Wars series and then respond to questions from the audience. Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite Star Wars gear. The festival takes over downtown Friday night with Science on the Square, featuring over two dozen small events at venues all around the Capitol. Different museums, restaurants, and stores host events ranging from food tasting on State Street to stargazing on the roof of Parthenon Gyros. There is also the Science Trivia Trolley circling around downtown where participants can test their scientific 4 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
Photo ·The festival features in over 100 locations, and includes expert panels and talks. Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald knowledge and win prizes. In response to Governor Tony Evers declaring 2019 the year of clean drinking water in Wisconsin, the festival features another theme focused on water and environmental sustainability throughout the state. In Madison, Big Ideas for Busy People: Water, Water, Everywhere is a free event in the Discovery Building featuring fastpaced 5 minute talks from different experts across the university and community. “We are a part of a national effort to look at how we can be more sustainable in our festival,” Heisler said. “That is, to improve sustainability practices internally, but also raise awareness around sustainability practices.” Interim Dean at the College of Letters and Science Eric Wilcots is serving as the moderator of the event. Wilcots said Big Ideas for Busy People is a great way for students to get a lot of information in an exciting, quick way. “You’ve got a great diverse set of
speakers,” Wilcots said. “The idea really is to convey information about really important issues in a really compact and accessible format.” The event will feature speakers from the DNR, non-profit advocacy groups and other experts from the university touching on topics ranging from social ideas of water justice to components of civil and environmental engineering. Wilcots said the event is interesting because it touches on topics that greatly impact students and the community through multiple perspectives. Wilcots encouraged students invested in water research or environmental justice to attend the event, stressing the importance of gaining knowledge from professionals in refining their knowledge and career endeavors. “This forum is a really neat way just to see how the work they might be doing or the courses they might be taking intersect with a larger discussion about water in Wisconsin and really worldwide,” Wilcots
explained. “It’s an opportunity to get a broader perspective on an issue they might be thinking about.” Wilcots said the festival is a great way for students to utilize the resources and museums available to them on campus. While Wilcots and Heisler both emphasized the importance of connecting the community to science, they both agreed the main reason to show up is to just have fun. “We want to engage people, just for them to enjoy themselves and indulge their curiosity and their creativity,” Heisler said. “It is a fun way of exploring and interacting with the world.” Heisler also said students should consider volunteering for the festival. There are volunteering opportunities available in all capacities of the festival. All volunteers get a free meal and t-shirt. More details on events and volunteering can be on the Wisconsin Science Festival website.
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Dane County submits application to change name of Squaw Bay ‘The county values and celebrates the historical significance of these lands for the Ho-Chunk Nation,’ resolution said by Courtney Erdman Reporter
Dane County wrote a resolution to request the name of Squaw Bay to be changed, submitting an application Sept. 27 and citing the name as being offensive to Native American populations. The Dane County Department of Planning and Development submitted a Geographic Name Proposal to the Wisconsin Geographic Names Council of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The proposal requests the name of Squaw Bay to be changed to Wicawak Bay, with the word “squaw” considered offensive. Dane County Supervisor Tanya Buckingham said the Ho-Chunk Nation Traditional Court, a council composed of tribal elders, requested the Monona City Council to change the bay’s name to Wicawak in 2005. The council never completed the application for reasons that remain unclear, but the Ho-Chunk were under the impression that the name was changed. They requested a name change again when they noticed their first request was not fulfilled. The origin of the word and why it’s considered offensive is debated. The word squaw is an Algonquian word for woman, but has been used to refer to women in a derogatory way. The history of why the bay was given this name is also debated. Buckingham said the word wicawak translates to muskrat. The Ho-Chunk were avid muskrat fur-trappers and they felt this name better represents the area. Buckingham worked with the Ho-Chunk and three alderpeople from the Monona City Council to draft a resolution requesting the name change. “The county acknowledges [Ho-Chunk] occupation, and the county values and celebrates the historical significance of these lands for the Ho-Chunk Nation,” the resolution reads. County Executive Joe Parisi approved the resolution Sept. 20. Dane County Assistant Zoning Administrator Hans Hilbert said there is no good reason to continue calling the bay by that name if it hurts others. “We should really take into mind other people’s feelings,” Hilbert said. Buckingham said there was confusion over who should be responsible for submitting the application because Squaw Bay sits on the border between Madison and Monona. The resolution Buckingham wrote assigns the task of submitting the application to Dane County. The Madison City Council and the Monona City Council are drafting their own resolutions in support of the county’s resolution. The resolutions from the Dane County Board
of Supervisors, the Madison City Council and the Monona City Council will be used as supplemental material for the application, Hilbert said. The WGNC will review the application, where it will be approved, approved with conditions or denied. If approved, the application will be passed on to the United States Board on Geographic Names to be decided on. The WGNC will meet in January, and the BGN’s Domestic Names Council meets once a month. The whole process could take up to a year and a half, but the probability of approval is “pretty high,” Buckingham said. “I think in a situation like this where it’s culturally insensitive these things tend to move along without a lot of hiccups,” Buckingham said. Public commentary will be scheduled for the county’s, Madison’s and Monona’s resolutions.
Hilbert submitted the application to avoid missing the deadline on Oct. 1, Hilbert said. Public comment will be taken at the state level as well. Buckingham said she has received emails from constituents thanking her for sponsoring this resolution. Monona resident Sunny Schubert, 68, has been fighting against the name change since 2005. “I object to them erasing local history,” Schubert said. In an article Schubert wrote for The HeraldIndependent, Schubert discussed the possibility that the bay is named after a Ho-Chunk woman named Sarah Wood. Schubert wrote renaming the bay would “write women out of the history books and erase us from maps.” Resident Harold Polzer of the Squaw Bay area said, “we should put our efforts into removing the insult from the word” instead of changing
the name, according to an article from the Wisconsin State Journal. “To an extent, you can use things in the past as a lesson,” Hilbert said. “There are other tools you can use to educate that don’t cause the disparities that exist to continue.” The Wisconsin DNR website lists at least eight other lakes that are called Squaw Lake. Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer William Quackenbush said the Ho-Chunk nation would be pleased if the name was changed. “This past year, the discussion came up again,” Quackenbush said. “For whatever reason, we assumed it had been renamed [in 2005].” The Ho-Chunk will continue to support the endeavor on changing the name, Quackenbush said. Ho-Chunk Nation President Marlon WhiteEagle is writing a formal letter to support Dane County’s resolution.
Photo · The word squaw is an Algonquian word for woman, but has been used to refer to women in a derogatory way. Courtney Erdman
October 8, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 5
LEGAL NOTICE Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Addendum Lathrop Drive/Bascom Hill Utility Improvements - Phase 1 DFD Project # 17J2L University of Wisconsin – Madison Bascom Hill Area: Science Hall An addendum to Final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Lathrop Drive/Bascom Hill Utility Improvements – Phase I, published June 2019, was prepared in accordance with the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act (WEPA), Wisconsin Statutes 1.11, and UWSA guidelines (Board of Regents’ Resolution 2508, November 6, 1981). University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW-Madison) Facilities Planning and Management has retained Ayres Associates on behalf of the University of Wisconsin System Administration (UWSA) to prepare this EIA addendum. The UW-Madison campus is currently served by a variety of thermal, electrical, and civil utilities and requires constant improvements to keep the systems maintained. Routine upkeep is no longer sufficient, and the university has identified the Lathrop Drive/Bascom Hill utility project as a critical campus improvement. The proposed utility improvement project will improve the reliability of the steam, chilled water, civil and electrical distribution systems in this area by replacing and adding the necessary infrastructure to complete the utility transmission in the Bascom Hill area. An additional scope of work that was not previously addressed in the June 2019 Final EIA document will be incorporated into Phase I of the project and is addressed in the EIA addendum. The additional scope includes construction of a new cast-in-place steam tunnel south of Science Hall, extending east toward North Park Street and terminating between Science Hall and the North Park Street right-of-way. Phase I of the Lathrop Drive/Bascom Hill Utility Improvement Project is divided into three phases: bid packets (BP) 1 through 3. The additional scope of work to be assessed in this addendum is included in BP3. The purpose of the Draft EIA addendum is to identify potential impacts of the project on the physical, biological, social, and economic environments surrounding Science Hall. The Draft EIA addendum describing these potential impacts is being made available to the public and to appropriate federal, State, and local agencies for a 15-day review period starting October 11, 2019. Copies of the document will be available for review at the UWMadison’s Helen C. White Library and Madison Public (Central Branch) Library, and on the following project website: http://www.ayresprojectinfo.com/Lathrop-Bascom-Utility If you are interested in this project or have any information relevant to it, we welcome your comments, suggestions, or other input. For consideration in the Final EIA, please submit your comments in writing no later than 6:00 p.m., October 26, 2019. Comments can be sent to: Ben Peotter, PE Ayres Associates 5201 E. Terrace Drive, Suite 200 Madison, WI 53718 PeotterB@AyresAssociates.com Comment forms are available via the project website.
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Researchers make recommendations to farmers
Dairy farming produces greenhouse gases in various ways, could cut emissions by half by Courtney Erdman City News Editor
Researchers found ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms while increasing profitability and provide opportunities for students. The Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project began in 2013 with a $10 million grant as one of many projects related to climate change, food, fiber and fuel. This project is part of a larger Sustainable Dairy Project, which researches ways to adapt to climate change and mitigate efforts in dairy production systems in the Great Lakes region. The U.S. dairy industry hopes to
“Dairying generates meth-
ane several different ways, and this grant was meant to try to measure the emission of greenhouse gases from dairy and to figure out how to reduce those emissions through various techniques.” - Molly Jahn UW professor
reach their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020. The University of Wisconsin led the project, working with seven other universities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. The USDA funds largescale multi-million dollar projects in order to “promote collaboration, open communication and the exchange of information,” according to its website. University of Wisconsin professors Molly Jahn and Matthew Ruark are leaders on the project. “Dairying generates methane several different ways, and this grant was meant to try to measure the emission of greenhouse gases from dairy and to figure out how to reduce those emissions through various techniques,” Jahn said.
UW partnered with other organizations to perform innovative research and ensure the information will be used by the dairy community, Ruark said. Greenhouse gas emissions on dairy farms is produced from cows’ digestion, manure storage and spreading, and growing crops for feed. A dairy cow can produce up to 20 or more gallons of manure and urine everyday. Methane is a byproduct that is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. The impact of one pound of nitrous oxide from manure and fertilizer is 300 times that of one pound of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Dairy farms could reduce emissions by a third to almost half through a combination of ideal cow genetics, improved feeding strategies and better manure management. If these practices were implemented, farms could also produce more milk with less feed, according to a news article from UW. The increase in efficiency will increase profits for an industry that is struggling. Wisconsin’s dairy prices have been fluctuating for four years, according to a Badger Herald news article from last year. Researchers are recommending ways farmers can adapt to the warming climate, such as how to predict the ventilation needed in a barn to keep cows cool and productive. Higher temperatures are associated with decreased productivity in animals and increased survival of parasites and disease pathogens. Decreased productivity in cows means reduced ability to produce milk, gain weight and conceive, according to research. The project’s findings have been made public on the Virtual Farm website hosted by Pennsylvania State University. This virtual farm shows what typical dairy farming practices are like with different numbers of cows. The solutions, however, are not singularly applicable. In terms of manure, the management system differs upon design, location, climate, regulations, soil type, access to capital and labor and other factors, according to the Virtual Farm website. There are a few different ways to process manure, but the most ecofriendly is through an anaerobic digester, the professors said. This process uses microorganisms to degrade organic matter in manure,
which produces biogas. Biogas contains methane that can be burned for heat, combusted for electricity or cleaned and compressed for vehicle fuel, according to the Virtual Farm website. The project was divided into a measurement team, modeling team and extensive team, Jahn said. The measurement teams collected data from the farms, the modeling team then applied the data into the designs and the extensive team anchored all of the models to farmer decision making, Jahn said. “Computer models and life cycle assessment show where greenhouse gases can be reduced to alleviate global warming potential without pollutant trade-offs,” according to the final report. The project provided opportunities for students as well. Through a partnership with Harold S. Vincent High School in Milwaukee, students now have the opportunity to learn about new subjects, such as animal science, food science, environmental science and more. Undergraduate students were provided summer internship opportunities at UW, Cornell University, Penn State University, and North Carolina Ag and Tech State University, according to the Dairy CAP report. The undergrads participated in field and laboratory experiments related to sustainable dairy production. Undergraduates and graduate students presented their research findings to peers at professional, scientific and regional meetings, according to the Dairy CAP report. Ruark is including his research findings on climate change and soil health in the Soil Science/Plant Pathology 323 class he teaches. Jahn included her research findings in an agronomy class, “A Systems View of Life.”
“ Computer models and life
cycle assessment show where greenhouse gases can be reduced to alleviate global warming potential without pollutant trade-offs.” - Final report, UW
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Hamel Center to open this month, but students have concerns
In response to complaints, UW Communications director said “no single building can accomodate all of the musical acitvity on campus.” by Jackie Miller City News Editor
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the University of Wisconsin Hamel Center, which has been in the works for over a decade now, is scheduled to open this month. According to the WSJ, the Hamel Center, located on the corner of North Lake St. and University Ave., has had many delays due to funding issues and design changes among other things. The building is meant for the School of Music. However, according to the UW School of Music Director Susan Cook, it is
currently only partially taking the place of the old Humanities building. “This was simply phase one, which was to replace the performance centers. Phase two would be to replace studios and classrooms but that requires a combination of state and private funding,” Cook said. Many performing arts students, including Shelby Zang, a sophomore at UW with a vocal performance major, are somewhat upset that they don’t get to spend a lot of time in the new building. Zang, who spends a lot of time in the Humanities building, says it’s frustrating that UW is advertising the building as a great space for students, yet students rarely get to use it.
Photo ·The Hamel Center has had many delays due to funding issues and design changes among other things. Aidan McClain The Badger Herald
“I think the concept is amazing and if the school actually follows through with the plans to let students use the space it will be much more beneficial. It seems like they’re advertising to the public that this is a great space for students to use but we aren’t even able to use it right now,” Zang said. Currently, classrooms and practice rooms remain in the old Humanities building and Zang said that this is a bit of a struggle. The practice rooms in Humanities don’t carry sound very well, she said. She added that there are lots of areas in the rooms where the sound is able to escape and where background noise from other classrooms comes in. UW Director of News and Media
Relations Meredith McGlone said that there are reasons students cannot engage with the new space yet. ”It’s important to note that students are already using this space even though it’s not officially open yet. Students in the School of Music are rehearsing there and large ensembles are beginning to use it for performances,” McGlone said in an email to The Badger Herald. “Once the center officially opens, all School of Music student recitals will take place in the center.” McGlone added that going forward, there will still be need to use spaces in buildings besides the School of Music as “no single building can accommodate all of the musical activity on campus.” Despite the fact that students still have to make use of the old practice rooms, Zang is still thrilled about the new and improved performance centers. “The sounds in the new building will most definitely improve. One thing that I love is the green rooms. They are soundproof which allows us to fully warm up and we weren’t really allowed to do that in the Humanities building. There is also a bigger lobby area so after the performance we’re able to come out and talk to the people who came to our show,” Zang said. According to Zang, the two performance centers in Humanities — Morphy and Mills — are hard to book and are always in high demand. She hopes with another performance center available, they will be easier to book and less chaotic. On the other hand, some students like Ella Wolle, a sophomore at UW majoring in political science and English, are completely on board with the Hamel Center. Wolle, who plays the Cello and spends 5-6 days a week in the Humanities building isn’t bothered by the fact that she still has to use the old classrooms. “I actually don’t think it’s that much of a problem — I think it’s cool that we have a separate performance center. It seems a lot more professional,” Wolle said. Despite some polarizing viewpoints regarding the Hamel Center, Cook emphasized that the funding for this portion of the project was mainly dedicated to the construction of new performance centers and that classrooms and practice rooms are to follow in the near future. Cook said that UW should spend some time celebrating both the major and minor donors that made this project possible in the first place. Those include the Hamel family, the Mead Witter Foundation, the Vilas Trust Estate and Paul Collins. October 8, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 7
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Bipartisan bill looks to the legalization of medical marijuana
Co-introduced by two Democrats (Erpenbach, Taylor), one Republican (Testin), this is first bipartisan bill since 2001 by Lauren Henning State News Editor
A bipartisan medical cannabis bill was introduced to the Wisconsin legislature on Sept. 20 by Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison and Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point. According to Testin, the bill would introduce a regulated process on both the patients’ end and production end. The bill requires a recommendation from the doctor as well as a registry system for said patients. On the production end, a licensing system would be put into place for growers, producers and sellers. For Testin, the medical marijuana issue has had a personal impact on his life as his grandfather, Blair Testin, fought a terminal diagnosis of cancer. Testin said his grandfather made the choice to seek out medical marijuana illegally, and it was the only thing that provided much-needed relief during rounds of chemotherapy as well as helping him to gain back his fleeting appetite. Testin pointed out that his family’s experience is not unique in any way. “Conversations I’ve had from individuals from all across the 24 Senate Districts, because my family stories not unique, but stories of people who have used things like CBD oil, who have used other cannabinoid-derived products and eventually get them much needed relief,” Testin said. Testin said that he is most impacted by stories of veterans who experience vast difficulties once they are home. Testin explained that they are suffering from physical conditions such as chronic pain as well as mental conditions such as PTSD from serving our country. Testin said that for him, the bill boils down to patient choice. Testin feels that patients should have access to options besides opioids, which are associated with many horror stories among an opioid crisis. “We’ve got people who have served our country, they’ve gone overseas, they’ve come home with scars that are visible and some that aren’t, and they have to go commit illegal acts and get the medicine that they need,” Testin said. Testin thought that while recent conversations have started turning the stereotypes surrounding medical cannabis, many physicians remain skeptical. Testin believes that this is due to the fact that there is more research surrounding opioids and other similar drugs. Testin said that professionals often fall back on the argument that there is not enough research to back medical cannabis. Testin, however, does not agree. ”For me, we’ve seen the opiate crisis run rampant throughout the state,” Testin said. “And oftentimes people who get addicted to more 8 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
Photo ·The bill was ntroduced to the Wisconsin legislature by Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison and Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point. Flickr user Katherine Hitt dangerous drugs, such as heroin or fentanyl, started off on legally prescribed drugs. So for me, taking a look at the big picture, and based on research, I’ve taken a look at other countries and ... science [does] tend to point that medical cannabis can serve as a safer alternative.” Testin said that one of the challenges to get this bill passed is uncertainties within the Republican party. Testin, while being very public about his support, has found that some of his Republican colleagues are not opposed to the idea of medical cannabis, but are weary of putting a robust framework in place to support it. Taylor felt that the bill is a “no brainer” and expressed frustrations with the Republican party’s hesitations, specifically with the Majority Party leadership. Taylor, however, did have high praises for Testin. “He is listening to the people of his district and of the state,” Taylor said. Testin and Taylor both agreed that the
implementation of the bill does face challenges. They cited the list of structures that need to be in place. Taylor did not let those challenges shake her confidence. Taylor explained that this bill is not the first of its kind. Thirty-three other states — including the District of Columbia — have passed medical marijuana legislation. Taylor pointed out that there are states that have moved beyond that, and have passed recreational legislation as well — including Illinois. “It’s going to take a little bit to get the whole system up and running,” Taylor said. “But 33 other states and the District of Columbia has done it. So, it’s not like we’re breaking new ground here.” Testin and Taylor felt that if the bill is passed, Wisconsin would be positively impacted, including finding relief for patients as well as their families. With the legalization of medical marijuana, no patient will need to resort to criminal acts in order to get the
medication they need, they said. Testin and Taylor urged the importance of conversation surrounding the medical marijuana issue in order for everyone to gain perspective of those who would benefit. In regards to those who do not support the legalization of medical marijuana, Testin had a message of respect and understanding. “I respect your opinion, and I understand why you may not support this position,” Testin said. “But I would encourage you to sit down with the people in your district and hear their stories and see how them using this as a form of medicine has directly benefited them.” Testin and Taylor believe that constituents communicating with their representatives and senators is also vital for this bill. During the referendum last fall, Wisconsin showed widespread support for medical marijuana. Taylor stressed that this bill would be difficult to pass, and that it needs the support shown in the referendum to be shown again —
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UW celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with student-planned events New report from Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty suggests Governor’s response time is purportedly lacking by Arushi Gupta Reporter
Numerous events are held throughout the four weeks to celebrate the Latinx community and its culture. President of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc. and Co-Representative of ChiLaCSA Carlos Puga discussed the significance of Latinx Heritage Month. “I really saw the importance of the Latinx Heritage Month as a way for us students, mainly those who identify as Latinx, to be seen on campus, not only by other campus officials or the administration but also our fellow students,” Puga said. One of the many Latinx Heritage Month events was organized Sept. 20 by the Department of Chicano-Latin Studies at UW. It involved individuals of the Latinx community marched up Bascom Hill with flags of countries they identified with. UW sophomore Luis Cazarin Quiroga, who took part in the march, said it was an
“empowering” experience. At the top of Bascom, people who participated in the march had paletas de la Michoacana, a type of popsicle. Puga said the march was significant as it helped showcase the different identities embraced under the umbrella term “Latinx”. “Sometimes, when individuals hear the term Latinx, they can be very scooped into one nationality, but there are so many countries being represented under that term that often, at times, we forget about them, and it’s good for us, as the Latinx community, to also value those other countries,” Puga said. Later in the evening, Latinx music — a mixture of bachata, reggaeton, merengue, cumbia and hip-hop — was played at the Memorial Union Terrace for “Fiesta En La Terraza”, an event organized by Lambda Theta Phi in collaboration with WUD Music. Puga said over 1,000 Latinx individuals attended the music event from Madison, Chicago and Milwaukee. The events are posted on Facebook, and every year sees an
attendance of hundreds of people. “It feels like we’re a more tight-knit community now, with all the Latinx organizations on campus,” Quiroga said. “It feels like a second home.” Puga, a junior, added that during his freshman year, he knew little about the Latinx Heritage Month because he was not a part of as many organizations. He added another contributing factor was that there were not that many events being planned out. The Latinx Planning Committee is largely responsible for planning and organizing events during the Latinx Heritage Month this year. “I think it’s almost our duty to create a lot of events to increase public outreach so that everyone can learn about these great opportunities to come by and ultimately find groups you’re comfortable with,” Puga said. “I think Madison can be pretty intimidating for incoming freshmen. Often, you don’t have any friends, you’re coming to a new space, Madison being predominantly white can often
offset students of color from going to a space by themselves, so when an event is geared and specifically oriented towards a minority community, I think that’s how it attracts more freshmen to come here and get involved.” Latinx organizations on campus are pushing for more events and public outreach this year. As compared to the years before, 2019 is likely to see the most events and involvement. The events are open to the general public and usually free which attracts more people, Puga said. “The month really makes us think that we’re here because this is our history — this is how we got to where we are today. For a lot of us, our parents’ goal for us was to come to college. And now that we’re here, at college, we usually ask ourselves: what’s next?” Puga said. “I think their dreams of us coming to college have now evolved to our dreams of changing the world, making an impact in any way possible, making sure we’re getting recognized by the Madison community, by the student body, the Madison administration.”
Dane County’s veteran’s housing project secures lease for site
As largest veterans housing project in country, building features 59 housing units, 50 to be priced as affordable housing units by Savannah Kind Reporter
Dane County’s veteran’s housing project, Valor on Washington, moved closer to breaking ground after the land lease to Gorman & Company was approved. The Valor on Washington project will be the largest housing and service development for veterans and their families in the nation. The building will feature 59 market-rate and affordable housing units, all with a preference for veterans, as well as programming and services veterans. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced the progress made on the project. “We are happy to have the Valor on Washington development take this step forward so we can provide more affordable housing and support to veterans and their families,” Parisi said in a news release. “Veterans and their families have given so much to our country, and we cannot wait to see this project reach completion so more veterans can access the environment and services they need.” Dryhootch, a local non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans reconnect within their community, will provide services
in the programming space on the first floor of the building. The service area will have a coffee shop open to the public, work out facilities, places for writing and art, a mechanic shop, training spaces, a video game area, support groups and supportive services. Lutheran Social Services will also help to provide supportive services as well, like mental health counseling. Lutheran Social Services is a local no-profit that is partnering with Dryhootch and Gorman & Company for this project. Communications and Homeless Services Manager Casey Becker spoke about what made this project unique. “[The] thing that is really unique about it is the partnership that will exist between Gorman, the developer, Dryhootch, which is a local nonprofit ... and Lutheran Social Services … who will be able to provide some of the other services tenants may need,” Becker said. “Having that combination of non-profits and developers is not necessarily new, but having it focus on veterans specifically is unique.” The development will hold a benefit for student veterans as well. The building will be
located a short distance away from campus and could serve as a housing option. Student veterans could take part in the services available at the location and connect with other veterans who have shared experiences with them. “If there are student veterans who are looking for that sense of community with others who have had … similar experiences to ones they have had, [then] this would be a welcoming environment for folks who are looking for that,” Becker said. The University of Wisconsin also provides resources for student veterans through the Veteran Services and Military Assistance Center. In addition to helping student veterans process educational benefits, it also offers programs such as Peer Advisors for Veteran Education which pairs incoming student veterans with current student veterans on campus to help them transition onto campus. Aaron Goodwin, a UW senior and student worker at VSMAC, spoke about the services available. “We really try to provide help where we can,” he said. According to the news release, the Valor on
Washington building will have 59 units total — nine of the units will be priced at marketrate, while the other 50 will be affordable housing units. The building will have 29 twobedroom units, 28 three-bedroom units, and two units with four bedrooms. “Increasing the number of affordable three bedroom units in our community is a priority the County has identified ... [it makes] the project stand out,” Becker said in an email. The county provides other veteran housing programs as well. The County Human Services Department also contracts with Lutheran Social Services to provide rapid rehousing for veterans — this rehousing program helps to end veteran homelessness by finding apartments and helping with rental assistance for those who need it. The rehousing program started in May this year and targets at veterans who are experiencing homelessness due to ineligibility for other housing programs. “[It’s] a really exciting resource that we are excited to provide veterans in our community,” Becker said. The demolition of the location is expected to begin this fall and construction should begin in early 2020.
October 8, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 9
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‘Ad Astra’ goes deep into outer space to teach us about what is within While ‘Ad Astra’ may not be the exciting space epic some were hoping for, it is a valuable lesson in the way of human connection, self-discovery by Zach Lutz ArtsEtc. Editor
James Gray’s newest film, “Ad Astra,” is a technical masterpiece starring Brad Pitt like you have never seen him before. The gist of the movie is that its set in the near future and Pitt’s character, Roy McBride, is a calm and skilled astronaut following in his thought-to-be-dead father ’s footsteps, a man who is said to be one of the best astronauts known to man. Roy’s father, Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) abandoned Roy when he was a kid to set out on a dangerous mission to the edges of the solar system searching for extraterrestrial life. When high-ranking military officials inform Roy that his father may not only be alive, but he may also be humanity’s biggest threat, Roy is dispatched to Mars to deliver his father a message. What follows is a journey of inner conflict and a series of chaotic mishaps as Roy seeks to find truths about himself and his father. While the film has come out to universal critical acclaim since its Sept. 20 release, it has also been met with some underwhelming reviews from fans, mostly on the basis that the movie is slow or boring. These negative reviews stem from marketing that promised an action-packed, sci-fi, space adventure like Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” or Ridley Scott’s “The Martian.” Unfortunately, the trailers featured almost the full extent of the movie’s action scenes as well as some intriguing scenes that ultimately did not make the final cut. If you go into the theater expecting “Ad Astra” to follow suit with previous space odysseys, like I did, you will likely leave frustrated and cheated. If you go into the movie understanding what to look for and analyze, you will find the beauty and mastery in “Ad Astra. The movie has some big-time veteran actors in supporting roles like Jones and Donald Sutherland among others, but Pitt’s Roy McBride is far and away the movie’s biggest focus. In the films two-hour, three minute runtime, Pitt is hardly away from the screen. With countless close-ups and consistent voice-over narration, the audience is put in the headspace of Roy, often being restricted to his knowledge and perceptions. Roy is a deeply complex character. He is a dedicated astronaut so focused on his work, like his father, that he never made time to connect with other people on an emotional level. Over the course of the film, we learn how obsessed Roy is with his father and how Clifford’s abandonment has made Roy a closed book. Every life choice and personal decision Roy makes comes back to his father. As we learn more about Roy and Clifford as the journey progresses, we 10 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
see the striking and sometimes destructive most of his technical achievement, however, why should we care what they say or what parallels between father and son. assuring that the visuals add to the happens to them. Pitt takes his performance to the next level emotional depth and storytelling. The phrase “ad astra” is a Latin with rare and subtle nuance. He manages to While the script leaves something to expression for “to the stars.” make you feel the struggles going on within be desired with a few awkward lines and “Ad Astra” will continue to play in him with the slightest of facial expressions abrupt out-of-character moments, part of it theaters all over in the following months. and a few revealing monologues. His ability goes back to the lens with which you view While its lack of popularity with fans to tell you more by saying less proves quite this movie. If you look at it through Roy’s will likely limit the movie’s potential for impressive, so it’s a little frustrating when eyes, the comings and goings of other the most popular major awards, look for a few of the voice-over narrations feel characters and what they say is meaningless “Ad Astra” to be a big player in all of the unnecessary. to him in achieving his greater goal, so technical categories. If you watch the movie with the understanding that Roy is closed off to everything but the mission, including himself, you may realize that the series of seemingly misplaced misadventures and brushed-over deaths are just mere obstacles for Roy to get past. Many of the life or death moments along the journey do not seem to carry any emotional weight because they do not carry any emotional weight with Roy. The audience is only meant to feel what Roy feels, and Roy really only cares about the mission to find his father. The film is about human connection, self-discovery, masculinity and the fact that you can spend a lifetime traveling all the way to the edges of the solar system searching to answer life’s biggest questions about the unknown, but it’s all for naught if you fail to make meaningful connections with others. In addition to these deep underlying themes, on the surface, “Ad Astra” will dazzle you with groundbreaking visuals, Photo ·”Ad Astra” takes place almost entirely outside of earth with crazy colors and visuals throughout the film set pieces and cinematography. Courtesy of flickr user jacqueline Gray makes the
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Tekashi 6ix9ine is making more enemies, testifies in court
Possibly affecting the future of rap, Teskashi 6ix9ine has amplified his already loud trial by becoming a star witness and calling out popular rappers by Will Lundquist ArtsEtc. Staff Writer
Tekashi 6ix9ine is facing a minimum sentence of 47 years, as he was arrested in 2018 for racketeering and weapons charges. He has decided to strike a deal with the government in an attempt to reduce his sentence. Daniel Hernandez, more popularly known under his rapper name Tekashi 6ix9ine, has pleaded guilty to a variety of charges including conspiring to murder. The bulk of 6ix9ine’s testimony consists of him pointing out members of his former gang, the Nine Trey Bloods. Federal prosecutors are using 6ix9ine as their primary witness in an attempt to convict the other five codefendants in the case. 6ix9ine’s rap career took off with his single “GUMMO,” and his unique appearance of rainbow hair, face tattoos, and aggressive style of music set him apart in the rap industry.
He was constantly in the limelight for his reckless persona, beef with Chief Keef, and sexual misconduct case. He is no stranger to the courtroom, but 6ix9ine now has a very different role in a case as the government’s star witness. A federal courtroom can be an intimidating prospect, and 6ix9ine is receiving special treatment due to him being in considerable danger because he’s testifying against a popular gang. According to Lisa Evers a reporter who was at the trial on Hot 97, he was brought in through a different tunnel than witnesses normally come through, and is being held in a separate part of the prison. 6ix9ine had no problems pointing out people he was previously affiliated with and calling them out as members of a criminal organization. Perhaps most humorously, 6ix9ine also testified that various rappers, including Cardi B, Trippie Redd, and Jim Jones were gang members. The severity of these allegations remains to be seen considering some of these rappers themselves
Photo ·Tekashi 6ix9ine has spent much of the last few years since 2015 in an out of court rooms Courtesy of Patrick Feller, Creative Commons
have not shied away from claiming themselves as being bloods. The prosecution is making some headway in their case with 6ix9ine as their witness, and his testimonies have led to two of his former crew members, Anthony Ellison and Aljermiah Mack, to being convicted of racketeering. Ellison was also convicted of kidnapping and assaulting 6ix9ine, something that 6ix9ine had been publicly speaking about for sometime, and there was even a videotape of the incident posted on youtube. Mack was convicted of distributing narcotics. 6ix9ine’s transformation from his boisterous gangster persona to a star witness is one of the most radical changes popular music has ever seen. Many rappers, including Snoop Dogg and The Game have called out 6ix9ine, labeling him a snitch and condemning his actions. Many people on twitter have humorously labeled Martha Stewart as more “gangsta” than 6ix9ine because she accepted her prison sentence in 2003 without
ratting anyone out. Following the trial, a variety of memes surfaced and began to trend, saying random people like Tony Hawk or Barack Obama is a member of the Nine Trey Bloods. The memes alluded to the fact that 6ix9ine looped in quite a few people with the gang, and bringing popular rappers into the mix was enough to catch many people’s attention. The internet couldn’t get enough of the trial, as it was frequently reported on across a wide variety of popular media platforms. While most people have taken to calling 6ix9ine a snitch and disapproved of his actions, some have come to his defense and said that given his situation, they would go on the stand to lower their sentence as well. Facing up to life in prison after being threatened and kidnapped by your own management team is not a great situation to be in, and some think that 6ix9ine’s snitching is warranted. That being said, there is no doubt that 6ix9ine put himself in this situation to begin with, and had he not gotten involved with the Nine Trey Bloods simply to bolster his image, he would not have to testify in order to reduce his sentence in the first place. Prosecutors have said that 6ix9ine will be given the option for witness protection, but with his unmistakable face tattoo that reads “69” it will be very difficult for him to disappear altogether. Besides, 6ix9ine has reportedly rejected witness protection as an option, and will likely try to revive his music career upon his release from prison. He will need some pretty heavy security if he wishes to stay safe in public, as he’s made quite a few enemies throughout the course of his trial.
Photo ·The highly controversial Tekashi 6ix9ine and his face tattoos are hoping to see the stage again soon Courtesy of Alexis Jazz, Creative Commons badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019 • 11
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Fresh– faced, fearful and ready to fight
Slow-moving politics spark growing restlessness in the new faces of climate activism — young adults and students
by Mary Magnuson Digital News Editor
Hundreds of people stand crowded atop the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Most are young. Many hold painted signs with phrases like “We deserve the future,” or “Climate emergency!” Sounds of the crowd chanting words like “you can’t drink oil, leave it in the soil,” and “the sea levels are rising, so are we,” ring through the air, as the group sprawls across the capitol lawn like a wildfire. Up on the steps, a projector screen displays the image of Greta Thurnberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who’s become the face of the international youth climate movement. Though Thurnberg is speaking in New York City, her speech is broadcast throughout the world. With each point she makes, the Wisconsin crowd roars in support. It’s clear Madison’s youth climate strike isn’t an isolated occurrence, limited to the space between the Madison Gas and Electric building and the capitol. Rather, it’s a global movement, the youth of cities around the world organizing together despite momentous distance. The climate movement, which has shifted players, foci and direction throughout the years, is driven now by young activists pushing for immediate change. But in the U.S., partisan politics still saturate every facet of the issue.
Politics and research Tristan L’Ecuyer is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin. He studies computer models of climate to verify how accurate they are as predictors of our future. He described how, from a scientific perspective, the politicization of climate makes conducting and communicating research more difficult. He also said this politicization is relatively new. “Climate change, when I first started, was more accepted [as an issue],” L’Ecuyer said. “There was a lot more widespread support for it. Then, I think we went through a period — and we’re still kind of in the end of that period, where it’s become more of a political issue than a scientific issue, which as a scientist is very difficult to deal with.” L’Ecuyer got into climate science while studying theoretical physics. After deciding he wanted to work in a more applied field, he began studying precipitation and changing weather patterns. When it comes to the politicization of the issue, L’Ecuyer said economics may be one root of the issue. He said many people who oppose climate change laws believe government regulations on carbon emissions and other business practices might dangerously expand the role of government in the U.S. Plus, implementing green energy systems requires an initial economic investment, and L’Ecuyer said even if that investment ends up becoming more cost-effective in the long run, many people don’t want to put the money in up front. “There’s a concept called future discounting, which everybody does,” L’Ecuyer said. “This is the same reason that people don’t save enough for retirement — people just devalue the value of $1 later in their lives than today. You want to have the money in your wallet now.” 12 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
UW geography professor and ecologist Jack Williams added that many administrations and organizations have realized the importance of investing in green energy solutions, in part because of shifting public perceptions about the issue, but also by riding the coattails of recent natural disasters like flooding and fires which have only been exacerbated by climate change. Williams said Wisconsin has committed to carbon free energy sources by 2050, through an executive order by Gov. Tony Evers. Other states like Texas have planted large numbers of wind turbines, and many automakers continue to explore sources of clean energy. “As you see things like stronger hurricanes in Texas, bigger fires in California, and more rain in Wisconsin, people are starting to realize that climate change has an impact,” Williams said. “And that something needs to be done.”
“Climate change, when I first started,
was more accepted [as an issue]. There was a lot more widespread support for it. Then, I think we went through a pe-
riod— and now we’re still kind of in the end of tha period, where it’s become
more of a political issues than a scientific issies, which as a scientist is very difficult to deal with.”
Tristan L’Ecuyer
UW-Madison atmospheric scientist
But even if some state administrations and organizations make progress toward clean energy, Williams said the federal level doesn’t reflect the same changes. Atmospheric scientist Stephen Vavrus said on the federal level — the level many youth activists involved with the climate strike focus on — climate change research and climate policy proposals remain unsupported. He said the presidential administration, by taking the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords, reversed progress. “Right now, at the national scale, the presidential scale, we’re not getting any support whatsoever from the president — in fact, the opposite,” Vavrus said. “Fortunately, we can still get a lot done, make progress in other areas. Typically, states and communities take up moving things forward on climate change preparation.” Vavrus said the politicization of climate change also affects climate research from a solely scientific standpoint.
Every researcher interviewed for this story explained that procuring funding in the first place is a huge barrier to conducting climate research. Atmospheric scientist Michael Notaro acts as the assistant director for the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research. He said some executive and statelevel administrations make it easier than others to secure funding for climate research. Without funding, researchers can’t pay their salaries, or the postdoctoral students and students who help conduct the research itself. “Typically, submitting 15 to 20 page proposals — which take maybe a month to prepare — with a 10% success rate is pretty standard in our country. So it’s hard to get funding to do the research,” Notaro said. “Depending on who’s in office at the federal and state level, those challenges can increase or decrease — as we’ve seen.” Williams described this problem as the U.S. “underinvesting” in climate science. He said other countries like China and many European states prioritize funding for climate research while the U.S. does not. Williams said one way to combat climate change in America’s current political atmosphere is to study the ecological effects of climate change in order to engineer cities and systems that are sustainable and resilient. “There are things happening, but we need to invest more resources at a state level and on a national level in moving towards non-carbon energy sources, and towards improving climate adaptation,” Williams said.
Advocating for action The climate change movement is nothing new — it has been a hot topic of discussion since the 1980s, L’Ecuyer and Vavrus said. But now the movement has a new face in 2019 — a much younger one. Max Prestigiacomo and Sophie Guthier are only freshmen at UW, but on Sept. 20 they stood in front of a crowd of hundreds at the Capitol to speak during the climate strike. “By characterizing the climate crisis as something that we still have time to solve, we provide a false sense of optimism,” Prestigiacomo said to the crowd. “This fatal lapse in reality will continue to perpetuate our sleepwalk into mass extinction. Unless we act.” UW freshman Crystal Zhao also spoke at the rally. Zhao recounted some of her experiences living abroad — she grew up in China, but also spent several years studying on a ship and sailing to countries across the Atlantic Ocean. Zhao said she’d seen the effects of climate in her travels, from dense factory smoke polluting the air outside her childhood home to plastic washing up on beaches in Cabo to the point that she couldn’t even walk across the sand. “I’m here today, because what we humans are doing to this planet is short sighted. And I’m frustrated,” Zhao said. “Our house is on fire. We need to recognize that there is a fire, and we can still put it out. It is not beyond our control to save our only hope. At least not yet.” Several student organizations on the UW campus have taken matters into their own hands when it comes to making the campus more sustainable. One, called ReThink, directs several different projects from reducing
restaurant waste to educating others about compost. Jo Annin, a junior at UW majoring in environmental studies, is the Co-Chair of ReThink. She said her organization focuses on positive change, instead of drawing out the potential negatives of climate change, in order to make progress however possible.
“I’m here today, becasue what we humans are doing to this planet is short
sighted. And I’m frustrated. Our house is on fire. We need to recognize that there is a fire, and we can still put it
out. It is not beyond our control to save our only hope. At least not yet.”
Crystal Zhao
UW-Madison freshman
“There’s so much out there in the environmental world that is so depressing — and it’s important, that stuff ’s really important — but I think it’s also important to have an outlet to actually do something,” Annin said. Since their founding in 2008, ReThink has transformed from a waste management club to an organization with a much broader mission statement. Annin explained that the organization works to advocate for change as well as implements sustainable practices on campus and in Madison. Annin, who joined as a freshman, said she’s excited to see what ReThink will do in the future. L’Ecuyer also talked about the importance of collaborating and making change, instead of getting caught up in fear and paralyzing statistics. He said a sense of urgency is important, especially when people can see firsthand flooding and other physical effects of climate change, but that it’s also important to tell people what they can do to help prevent further damage. “I think there’s been a little bit of hyperbole — or whatever you want to call it — a little bit of doom and gloom kind of messaging,” L’Ecuyer said. “I just don’t think that that resonates as well with people than saying ‘look, you can have a positive impact on the climate by doing this.’”
Communicating climate Intersecting science, politics and activism is communication — one of the most important facets of the climate change issue — L’Ecuyer said. L’Ecuyer said one of the biggest communication divides exists between the general public and scientists. Often, he said, scientists aren’t equipped with the necessary skills to
communicate their research to general audiences. Instead, most focus on communicating with their colleagues, who all have the same education and background needed to understand high-level research and its implications. To this end, L’Ecuyer suggested training incoming researchers and students about how to communicate their research in an easy-to-understand way. “I think this has been something that we’re working on — educating our new upcoming students, and maybe even existing scientists on how to communicate their science in a way that people can understand,” L’Ecuyer said. Notaro agreed with the importance of communication education. He conducts outreach with middle and high school teachers from rural Wisconsin areas, running workshops to help teachers understand climate change and the best ways to integrate it into their curriculum. Notaro said the program exemplifies the Wisconsin Idea by bringing UW research to these communities in a useful way. It also allows teachers to learn, students to study their local environments and both to meet firsthand with scientists, he said. Many of the schools partake in a program run by NASA, where students collect data samples and send them to NASA to help the agency validate their satellite data, Notaro said. “Schools in general — in Wisconsin and in our country — often feel under-prepared to teach climate change and climate science,” Notaro said. “So our goal is to both provide that training to the schools and provide the schools and the students opportunities to meet with and work with scientists.” When it comes to devising solutions to climate issues, Notaro said one communication strategy he’s seen work successfully is simply not acknowledging the source of the problem and focusing on collaborating to fix an existing situation. Notaro said the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts used this strategy to address extreme flooding in
“This movement is not about going
vegan, it is not about plastic straws. It is about structural change. ”
Sophie Guthier
UW-Madison freshman
Wisconsin. “If you appeal to a more conservative political group, sometimes you can present it in the way that you’re trying to strengthen your resource resilience in light of climate variability, or even a change in climate,” Notaro said. “But you’re not necessarily pointing fingers at a source of climate change.” While Notaro and many of the other scientists may be hesitant to “point fingers” when it comes to trying to communicate climate issues, youth activists use their platform to address the underlying human causes of
climate change right out of the gate. Both Prestigiacomo and Guthier ’s speeches at the climate rally called for more than local measures to work toward sustainable energy. They spoke about the need for greater societal change, for systemic overhaul and for a “paradigm shift.”
“When you have years worth of events that all seem to be a little bit more ex-
treme than they have in the past, you can project forward and say, ‘you know, this
is going to be a difficult climate for us to live in, if we keep going down this path.’ But I usually try to turn around and see that if we do something now, we don’t
have to have that reality. We can make a change.”
Tristan L’Ecuyer
UW-Madison atmospheric scientist
Guthier addressed the demographic history of the climate movement. She said sociological dynamics continue to support white platforms, even though the roots of the movement trace back to indigenous communities and communities of color. She also acknowledged capitalism, a structure she said caused the climate crisis, which makes the issue inherently political. “This movement is not about going vegan, it is not about plastic straws. It is about structural change,” Guthier said. Both the youth activists and Williams brought up communicating and advocating by engaging in democratic activity, specifically voting or writing to local representatives about these issues. Earlier this year, University College London professor Tali Sharot said in an interview with National Public Radio that fear functions as a powerful motivator for inaction, while hope works to motivate and inspire people to action. When mentioned to L’Ecuyer, he agreed, reiterating the importance of positive messaging. “When you have years worth of events that all seem to be a little bit more extreme than they have in the past, you can project forward and say, ‘you know, this is going to be a difficult climate for us to live in, if we keep going down this path,’” L’Ecuyer said. “But I usually try to turn around and see that if we do something now, we don’t have to have that reality. We can make a change.”
badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019 • 13
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Straw ban is insufficient — corporations must do more for climate change
Small actions from individuals are important, but ultimately won’t solve our problems — larger-scale actions are necessary by Courtney Degen Columnist
There are many ways to reduce one’s environmental impact — reusable water bottles, reusable coffee cups, reducing the use of plastic bags and, more recently, reducing the use of plastic straws. Many large cities, including New York City, Seattle, and Miami Beach, have already banned the use of plastic straws. And Madison is right behind them. Ald. Syed Abbas just proposed a city ordinance that would restrict restaurants in Madison from handing out plastic straws unless a customer specifically asks for one. While the ordinance would not technically “ban” the use of plastic straws in Madison restaurants, it would fine
restaurants if caught handing out plastic straws to customers without request. The fine for handing out straws without a customer ’s request would range from $100 to $750 — $100 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $750 for any additional offenses thereafter. The ordinance is scheduled to be presented at the end of October to the Madison Sustainability Committee before reaching the full council, but some Madisonians have already raised concerns about the impact of the ordinance on those with disabilities. The Disability Rights Commission said the ordinance, in its current form, would create more restrictions for people with disabilities who often need straws to drink. Bella Sobah, chair of the Disability
Rights Commission, explained this issue in an article from Channel 3000. “People with disabilities have several barriers being in the community [and] this would end up being another one” Sobah said. The commission suggested the Madison Common Council revise the ordinance and then send it back to the commission for a revote. I fully agree with the Disability Rights Commission in that the ordinance should be more mindful of those with disabilities. But I also feel that the ordinance is only one small step in tackling the giant issue of how to slow environmental damage. While banning plastic straws may feel like a huge step toward environmental consciousness, plastic straws make up
Photo · Straw bans present issues for folks with disabilities and tend to give feeling of being absolved of culpability. Emilie Cochran The Badger Herald 14 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
less than 1% of plastic ocean-pollution according to a Stanford report. Jim Leape, co-director of the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions spoke about the actuality of the bans. “The risk is that banning straws may confer ‘moral license’ — allowing companies and their customers to feel they have done their part,” Leape said. “The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step.” While the banning of plastic straws is a great first step, as Leape suggested, there is truly so much more that needs to be done in order to stop the pollution in our oceans right now. Leape offered two points of focus: stopping the dumping of plastic into our oceans, specifically from countries that contribute the most to this, and removing plastic from the waste stream. Leape said only 14% of plastic packaging is actually recycled. This means more products should not only be recyclable, but also need to be made from recycled material. Furthermore, large corporations need to stop relying on plastic packaging and start engaging in more environmentally conscious business practices. While individual choices may slightly help, stopping irreversible damage from reaching our planet really relies on the corporations and businesses that produce millions of products for millions of people every day. Some citizens may feel ashamed for their environmental impact on things like waste, but according to the New York Times, household garbage only makes up about 3% of overall waste in America. I’m not trying to shame anyone for carrying around their own reusable straw or insisting their coffee be poured into a reusable mug. To those people, I actually say all the more power to you for trying to contribute to saving the environment one small act at a time. Unfortunately, with the state of our planet right now, we cannot simply rely on the small choices of individuals and local businesses to make a difference. While the ordinance to ban public straws is a great place to start, environmental policy needs to tackle the issues that create the most damage, and these policies need to affect institutions that are bigger than just the restaurants in Madison. Courtney Degen (cdegen@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in political science and journalism.
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UW Homecoming video emblematic of deep-seeded racial issues at UW
While diversity training and more extensive critique process are good steps, they fail to address underlying racial issues in Wisconsin by Samiha Bhushan Columnist
The University of Wisconsin Homecoming Committee posted a video Sept. 30 intended to generate excitement about the upcoming homecoming events. Instead, it incited massive backlash from the community due to its lack of racial diversity. Several current and past students have expressed their disappointment at UW’s total disregard for the minority community. Current UW student Janiece Piolet succinctly described it, “The video is racist. Do better.” Vice Chancellor Lori Reesor and others in the UW administration sent out an email to all UW students where they detailed “a number of efforts underway to improve campus climate.” This includes promises of more diversity training within all WAA-sponsored student organizations. For me, this message is not comforting. It just raises more questions: is this enough? Why was it not implemented before? Frankly, is it necessary? The fact that 40+ people on the Homecoming Committee did not catch the glaring whiteness in the video is absurd, diversity training or not. The video just serves as a reminder of the longstanding, problematic relationship between UW and minorities. As a student of color myself, the video just proves that non-white students are not — and perhaps never have been — as welcome to the campus as majority whites have been. Wisconsin is one of the only states to declare racism as a public health crisis. This is unsurprising for most students of color as many of us have had to face the reality of increasing rates of hate crimes in Wisconsin. With a less than 20% minority population, UW itself can be considered one of the least diverse schools in the country. The homecoming video is just another piece of evidence to the growing pile of racial exclusion in Wisconsin. This video represents the never-ending struggles of being a minority, even in an urban city such as Madison. Forever underrepresented, always struggling to be a part of the larger community at Wisconsin. Those who think the homecoming video is being blown out of proportion should know that this is not the first time Wisconsin has had mishaps with race representation. In 2001, UW photoshopped minorities into their booklet for the 2001-2002 academic
Photo · The homecoming video is the latest installment in a long series of incidents indicative of UW’s contentious relationship with minority students. Daniel Yun The Badger Herald year to make it seem more racially diverse. For a more recent example, last year, Dean of Students Lori Berquam claimed that there is not enough funding to establish cultural centers for minority students. It’s things like this that make me question the idea of “Badger pride.” Should I be proud of a school that promises superficial changes to make it seem as though students of color have more representation than they do, all while refusing to implement any real
change? Should I be proud of a school where a large portion of minorities feel unwelcome — even unsafe — on campus? Diversity training and stricter oversight in releasing media, while a positive move by the UW administration, do not properly address why they happened in the first place. The fact remains that there is not enough being done to create a safe space for ethnic minorities on campus. These repeated issues within the UW system are a reminder
of that. I don’t speak for the minority community, but I can say there is a racial epidemic that both UW and Wisconsin overall faces. It’s time we start to take real, significant action against it so embarrassing incidents such as the Homecoming video never happen again. Samiha Bhushan (bhushan3@wisc.edu) is a freshman studying neurobiology and English literature.
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Immigration Policy: Where are we now?
College Democrats: Republican immigration policy is inhumane College Republicans: Trump is making America safe again There is a crisis at America’s Southern border — a crisis of conscience. While the President of the U.S. cynically and wrongly claims America faces an “invasion,” there is a challenge to rise to. While the past 19 years have seen a steady decrease in border crossings, they have also seen an increase of nearly 37,000 more individuals seeking asylum. An increasingly large percentage of these people come from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and face danger and deprivation as they journey to the U.S. in search of opportunity and safety. In 2017 alone, 68% of migrants who were provided with services by Doctors Without Borders were victims of crime. As climate change stands slated to displace 2 million more people out of Central America, its ecological impact falling hardest on those already surviving poverty and violence, the Western hemisphere faces a humanitarian disaster — and the U.S. faces a major challenge. Under President Trump, we have seen the face of the Republican response to this crisis: unimaginable cruelty. Children, taken from their families under the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy, are still held in overcrowded facilities, sick and unwashed while the administration shamefully argues in court that they can go without soap and toothpaste. A toxic culture has festered at our border patrol agency, with guards on the job dumping out jugs of water left to save people from dying of thirst in the desert, circulating images photoshopped to depict Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez, D-N.Y., being violently assaulted in their free time. While Wisconsin was governed by Republican Scott Walker, we saw our national guard sent to aid Trump’s human rights violations, men and women who signed up to provide our state with safety and security instead dispatched to Arizona to protect us from the poor and desperate. Wherever they are elected, around the country, Republican officials rush to make themselves complicit and waste time and taxpayer money in a war on the vulnerable. In the face of these challenges, the Democratic Party has different answers, because we ask the right questions. Not how we’ll fund a wall to keep away former business owners who didn’t want to pay a gang’s protection racket, but how to open the door of opportunity. Not how to send
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back women fleeing partner violence, but how to offer safety. Not how many aspiring Americans we can reject, but how best to live up to our own ideals, and keep alive what President Barack Obama called “a faith in simple dreams.” Once, the Republican party might have understood this. Ronald Reagan, perhaps the most iconic Republican of the pre-Trump era — in spite of his private racism — would speak about America as a shining city, “teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace … and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” Not just rhetoric, Reagan extended amnesty to 3 million immigrants living in America, the largest amnesty of its kind. It’s hard to imagine a party falling so far in the span of just thirty years. While the Republican Party has forgotten, Democrats haven’t. The Wisconsin Democrats we’ve seen already in office have been leading the charge in realizing this vision. Gov. Tony Evers ended Walker’s unjustifiable policy and brought our National Guard home where it belongs. In the House, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., made visits to where children were and are being imprisoned, bringing to light the Trump administration’s institutional child abuse. He introduced a bill to abolish ICE and transfer its critical functions to other agencies, with the goal of disbanding the deportation force preying on those who cross the border. When we vote for Democrats, we vote to not deny ourselves the economic benefits of immigration. We vote to keep true to the original promise inscribed under the Statue of Liberty, not to erase the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We vote to end the unconstitutional and unconscionable insanity unfolding daily at our border, and replace it with common-sense solutions that respect human rights. So come 2020, vote with us, and celebrate what makes America truly great. Ethan Carpenter (emcarpenter2@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in political science. He is the press secretary for the College Democrats of UW-Madison. Editor’s note: Ethan is a columnist for The Badger Herald. Here, his views strictly represent those of the College Democrats and do not represent The Badger Herald.
Prior to the 2016 election, if you told someone that the President of the United States would be signing his name on a newly constructed southern border wall, it would have been a joke. But President Donald Trump was doing this in Otay Mesa, California just weeks ago. With the President’s pledge to protect our homeland first and foremost, the safety of the American people is flourishing. We are seeing unprecedented leadership from the President on policies concerning the southern border. Just look at the numbers: the White House has secured $1.6 billion in border wall funding and there was a 10% increase in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2017, the brave men and women who wear the ICE uniform have seized more than 1.6 million pounds of narcotics at the U.S./Mexico border. Additionally, ICE made more than 105,000 criminal arrests and removed more than 145,000 criminal illegal immigrants, according to acting ICE Director Matthew Albence. These numbers show precisely how we are making America safe again. People forget that America has the single most generous immigration system in the world. We continue to lead the way when it comes to financial and resettlement options for refugees. The U.S. expects to receive over 368,000 new refugees and asylum claims in 2020. But with the fallacious nature of the mainstream media, most Americans would never imagine this to be true. There is a lot of dispute regarding the conditions of detention facilities on the southern border. In July 2019, an outcry formed surrounding treatment of illegal immigrants that were minors at ICE detention facilities. We invite you to take it from an ICE agent himself who works in these detention facilities everyday. In a video released on July 3, 2019 by the Arizona U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Chief Patrol Agent of Tucson Sector, Roy Villareal, gave all Americans a crystal clear look at the truth with footage inside a facility. While it’s easy to make acquisitions about the conditions at the border, we ought to at least listen to the men and women who put their lives on the
line everyday there. Additionally, a few weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security reinstated a program that delays the deportation of illegal immigrants that are sick at detention centers. This program allows immigrants to get healthy before returning to their home countries. This demonstrates how President Trump truly has a heart for the migrants stuck at the border, but he wants them to reenter into our country the lawful way. It is extremely unfair to the millions of Americans who immigrated to the U.S. legally when thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to sneak across our southern border illegally. While Congressional Democrats have been charading with the Russian hoax, the Kavanaugh hearings and now the Ukrainian sham, President Trump has been getting actual results for the American people. He has laid the groundwork for nearly 500 miles of border wall to be built and he anticipates this construction to be completed by next year. The wall will stop the flow of dangerous criminals, harmful narcotics and sex traffickers across our border. This construction includes all-weather roads, lighting, enforcement cameras, and other related technology to create a complete enforcement zone. It’s clear that President Trump is focused on ensuring the safety of all Americans. He will continue to work on fixing our immigration issues even when democrats refuse to assist. The United States is and will always be one of the most legal-immigrantfriendly nations in the world. Our President believes in protecting that ideal and so should you. Ryan Christens (rchristens@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in marketing and business management. He is also the chair of the College Republicans of UW-Madison. Alec Bukowiec (abukowiec@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in marketing with a digital studies certificate. He is also the communications director of the College Republicans of UW-Madison. Design by Greta Zimmerman The Badger Herald
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Going for green: Education must be a new priority in sustainability efforts
As an institution whose primary focus is on education, UW’s lackluster performance in this category is a call to action by Cait Gibbons Opinion Editor, Editorial Board Chair
Earlier this week, a new ranking for the University of Wisconsin was announced. It wasn’t for party schools or gameday college towns. No, this time it was something more serious, and unfortunately, UW didn’t perform as well as it typically does in the lighter-hearted categories. UW ranked last among Big 10 schools for sustainability in a report released Monday. The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System is a third-party program which helps higher education institutions understand their impact in sustainability, while highlighting areas for improvement. The report is based on self-reported data and STARS compares data with that of other similar institutions. UW did perform relatively well in categories of water use, diversity and affordability, coordination and planning, well-being and work, transportation, and purchasing. But it was sorely lacking in performance when it came to academic curriculum and research, campus and public engagement, building maintenance, use of renewable energy, food and beverage purchasing, and investment and finance, among others. It’s important to note that UW has taken some steps toward addressing issues related to sustainability, such as significantly reducing the use of disposable containers in University Dining Halls, diverting more than 450 tons of organic waste from landfills to composting and an energy-producing anaerobic digester and hiring the institution’s first full-time director of sustainability. But it’s also important for UW administration as well as students to recognize that the results of this report should only guide us forward. In a media advisory preempting the announcement of the results, Chancellor Rebecca Blank highlighted the importance of addressing and improving UW’s sustainability efforts. “Sustainability is woven into the fabric of the University of Wisconsin– Madison,” Blank said. “Our commitment to conservation and stewardship now runs through every aspect of our campus as we continue striving toward a more sustainable community.” The results identified particular weaknesses in community engagement and education about sustainability, and as an institution of higher education, those must
Photo · UW’s low score in education and engagement related to sustainability highlights need to improve, especially given its primary goal is to educate. Herald Archives The Badger Herald be priorities — that is, if sustainability truly is woven into UW’s fabric. Education and engagement are important for all organizations, corporations and institutions, but for an institution whose primary goal is to educate, that category really must be a priority — before quick fixes like changing takeout box policies. It may be true that sustainability is woven into UW’s fabric, but for progress to be successful, all of us — that includes students, faculty, administration and community members — must be committed to being educated and engaged about issues related to sustainability, the environment and the climate. For UW, this means increasing the availability of sustainability-related
education in class. Maybe this includes introducing a breadth requirement stipulating that all students must take a class related to the environment or sustainability. In this way, all UW students would be exposed to this issue during their college career, and we would be given the chance to engage with the issue in a way that is palatable and interesting. For students, this means paying attention to these issues and how they affect the things around you. It means working to educate yourself and engaging with those around you when there are things like classes, lectures and events happening. And for all of us, this means taking a look at our own power, given our role and asking what we can achieve. Students
don’t have individual power to dismantle oppressive capitalist institutions which perpetuate ideals of anti-environmental policy and society. But as a whole, students do have collective power to implore those with institutional power to take action. So to students — keep speaking up about this issue. Changes in recent years have shown us that change is possible, albeit slow. And for the university — if sustainability truly is woven into the fabric of UW, it’s important to recognize how the priorities of the university as a whole might interact with sustainability, as well as how best to leverage the institution’s power in this battle against climate change. Cait Gibbons (cgibbons@badgerherald.com) is a senior studying math and Chinese.
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SPORTS
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Men’s Soccer: Failure to launch, Badger attack has faltered thus far
While successful 2018 season also began with relatively slow start, Badgers’ struggles have continued through mid-season mark in 2019 by John Spengler Sports Editor
Three minutes. That’s essentially what abThe Wisconsin men’s soccer team is playing well through the first nine games of their 18-game regular season schedule. To their credit, they did not get off to a fast start in 2018 either. Yet, by the end of that regular season they were able to take down top Big Ten talent such as Michigan and The Ohio State University. The ultimate cause to a slow start to this season was a faulty offense that couldn’t seem to score a meaningful goal to save its life. What was once a nagging problem holding back an otherwise talented team is now a systemic issue. Through nine games, the Badgers have scored a whopping five goals in total. Four of these five goals came during the Badgers’ only two wins of the season against University of AlabamaBirmingham and Lehigh. That leaves just one other goal throughout the rest of the season. This is no longer the start of the season — the Badgers are now over halfway through the regular season. Despite an ample number of games at their disposal, they have
scored just one goal outside their two wins, one of which was against a UAB team that is struggling mightily in a conference significantly less competitive than the Big Ten. Let’s dive into exactly why the Badgers are currently unable to put up steady production in the opposing half of the field. In 2018, the team managed 1.33 goals per game off an impressive 11.4 shots per game. This year’s stats amount to less than half of those numbers. They are currently averaging a measly 0.56 goals per game with just 6.4 total shots per game in 2019. It doesn’t matter how many miracle performances goalkeeper Dean Cowdroy is able to put out, of which there have been multiple — with such low production coming out of the attack, the Badgers won’t be able to secure any sort of consistency. Cowdroy currently has a goal-against average of 1.30 compared to just .988 in 2018, despite having a save percentage practically equal to his 2018 average. This means that he is saving roughly the same percentage of shots taken against him but the opposing team is scoring more goals nonetheless. Part of this unfavorable reality may be due to lacking performances from their defensive unit, but an undeniably key factor is that the Badger
attack simply hasn’t been able to keep the ball in their opponents’ half in order to get quality shots off. Including post-season games played in the Big Ten championships in 2018, the Badgers played 18 games in total. In 2019, they are currently 6-2-1, meaning that they’ve played exactly half of their total games played in 2018. Especially for a team that is returning key players in the attacking zone, including sophomore forwards Andrew Akindele and Noah Melick as well as senior midfielder Noah Leibold, one would expect that their shot totals would be equal to around one half of their total numbers from 2018. With 205 total shots had in 2018, that number would be just barely over 100 shots through 9 games. Instead, the Badgers have fired off a grand total of 58 shots in all of 2019. This total is barely over one quarter of what they managed last season. But the problem is not just with the quantity of shots, it’s the quality too. Last year’s squad put 42% of their shots on target. This year, that number has fallen down to 34.5%. These two stats constitute the crux of the problem for the Badgers this year. Even with just a measly 58 shots taken, that number is padded
Photo ·Similar to 2018, the Badgers have started slow in 2019. This season, however, their woes have continued into mid-season
Quinn Beaupre The Badger Herald
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by the fact that many of those shots are of lower quality than those taken last year. It’s tough to find much of a reason for why such a dramatic shift in output took place in a season that saw the Badgers return much of their talent. Looking through their stat sheets, it is becoming harder and harder to refute the possibility that last year’s hot streak in the back half of their season was a fluke. If the Badgers can’t turn around their season at this point, it’s quite tough to believe that this nine-game stretch has been simply some sort of extended slump. Each and every shutout loss, of which there have already been five, adds to the narrative that the Badgers have a systemic problem in their current program. Their competition against reigning national champion Maryland was the first sign of some spark from this team all season. Yet, even that game saw the Badgers score zero goals as they tied Maryland 0–0 after double overtime. Time still remains for the Badgers to pull together a decent season, but just how they will get past their current offensive struggles remains to be seen. One thing remains certain, if no significant changes are made, they will continue down their current path of underperformance.
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UW Athletics: An examination into student-athlete compensation
With California becoming the first state to allow student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, could Wisconsin be next? by Harrison Freuck Sports Editor
The University of Wisconsin Athletics Department will likely face an issue in the coming years that is becoming more common nationwide: The controversy over whether or not college athletes should get paid. California and New York are the first of potentially several states looking into the payment of college athletes for their name, image and likeness. The issue — which has been a major controversy for more than a decade — has taken rise with the revenue of the National Collegiate Athletic Association reaching into the billions. California’s bill — titled the Fair Pay to Play Act — won’t allow schools to pay college athletes, but rather allows student-athletes to hire an agent who could then seek business deals for them. In addition to that rule, the law prevents California universities from revoking
scholarships or eligibility for taking money from these business deals. The California State Assembly passed the act by a vote of 72 to 0 in early September, the first major step toward student-athlete compensation. In the works since 2016, two California lawmakers wrote the bill with support from civil rights advocates and freemarket proponents. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Ca., signed the bill into law last Monday, Sept. 30. With that, the measure will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023 barring any major fight from the NCAA, which there is sure to be. While the bill has received opposition from the NCAA, the University of California and California State University systems and highprofile private universities in California, it has also received support from several prominent figures, including NBA star Lebron James and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Just days after the proposed bill from
California made an appearance, a New York senator proposed a similar bill. This bill would not only allow athletes to seek deals for their name, image and likeness, but would also include the requirement of college athletic departments to give athlete’s a 15% share of their annual revenue. The amendment requiring schools to pay student-athletes 15% of their annual revenue would be divided equally among all studentathletes who compete for the school. Unlike California, New York hasn’t yet voted on the bill. New York’s legislature meets from January to June, so there won’t be any official votes until 2020. While California and New York are the first two states to seriously discuss student-athlete compensation, Florida, Maryland, Colorado, South Carolina and Washington are among several others who have also discussed creating laws to pay student-athletes. Gov. Newsom stated that he hopes that the
Photo · While several states have started conversations about allowing athletes to sign endorsement deals, Wisconsin is among those who have not The Badger Herald Archives
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passing of the law will encourage dozens of other states to introduce similar legislation and allow students to advocate for themselves and their finances. Now, let’s take a look at how the University of Wisconsin looks at this issue. The position that UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank takes is one that clearly aligns with what the NCAA and most universities believe: student-athletes should not be paid. “It’s not clear that we would continue to run an athletic program,” Blank said, according to Law360.com. “We’re not interested in professional sports. We’re interested in studentathletes.” While Chancellor Blank’s position on the matter is no surprise, it is surprising that, according to UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, no one at UW or within the Big Ten has held serious talks on the matter. According to UW, non-resident scholarship athletes are paid $4,880 per year in full cost of attendance, while resident scholarship athletes are paid $4,270 per year. Alvarez also added that all athletes are offered free breakfast seven days a week at a training table.“ I find it upsetting that the athletes are saying that they’re starving,” Alvarez said. “I know what our athletes get. No Big Ten schools or states within the Big Ten have seriously discussed compensating athletes, but states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania are among those in preliminary talks. Immediately following the announcement that California passed the Fair Pay to Play Act, Barry Alvarez released a statement in regards to his view on the implications for Wisconsin.” I wouldn’t schedule anyone from California right now,” Alvarez said. “If they have different rules than we do, then all the sudden they aren’t amateurs.” Just a day after Alvarez’s statement, coaches and players from across the Big Ten made comments about the California bill. The responses were generally positive, with basketball players like Michigan State guard Cassius Winston and Minnesota guard Marcus Carr among those in support of the act. Basketball coaches Fred Hoiberg of Nebraska and Richard Pitino of Minnesota also endorsed the implications of the bill. On the other hand, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany announced his dismay with the Fair Pay to Play Act, citing that it breaks the educational bond that goes with college sports.” To me, the outer limit is the cost of college. Once we’re beyond the cost of college, we’re in pay-for-play and it’s a totally different game,” Delany said. While the broad issue of student-athlete compensation has come to the forefront in several areas of the U.S., there is no guess as to when that argument will reach Wisconsin. For now, Wisconsin athletes will continue to represent their university without compensation, with the exception of their monthly stipend.
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Football: Offensive line consistent, but remains to be truly tested
Strong rushing performances, few sacks usually good indicators of strong o-line, but do Badgers have what it takes to go all the way? by John Spengler and Dani Mohr Sports Editor and Staff Writer
The Wisconsin Badgers’ offensive line was put to the test going into the 2019 season. So far, they’ve gotten off to both a hot start and one that leaves certain questions unanswered. Sophomore Kayden Lyles, senior Jason Erdmann and sophomore Josh Seltzner are splitting snaps at guard, and are successfully working to have this offensive line build upon its performance last season. “The Hippo formation,” a setup in which the Badgers stack seven offensive linemen on the line with two tight ends in the backfield, is just one example of this changing offensive line. Joe Rudolph, the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, spoke to the La Crosse Tribune about the line strategy. “We’re an O-line at Wisconsin, that’s
what we’re known for, is consistency there,” Rudolph said. “Next guy in is not going to drop off, there’s not going to be any difference, that rotation shows exactly that. I can go in at one spot, communicate, get the right calls out, somebody else can come in on the other side. It’s the same thing all the way around.” Going into this season, the Badgers weren’t confident in who would start at guard. Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve been developing this rotation into one of the premier offensive lines in the nation. In between the starting guard positions, All-American and first-team All-Big Ten center Tyler Biadasz is the perfect bridge in the foundation of this strong and dominant offensive line. Biadasz, a 6-foot3 junior who earned All-Big Ten honors in both his freshman and sophomore years is undoubtedly a key member of the Badger
front line of attack. No matter what leaders the Badgers have returning to their offensive unit, facing Big Ten teams such as Michigan and Northwestern was always going to be a rigorous test. They handled that test with relative ease. Against Michigan, the offensive line propelled the Badger running game to one of their best performances of the year. Jonathan Taylor, among contributions from Nakia Watson, John Chenal and others, netted the team a grand total of 359 rushing yards on the day. This performance is in large part thanks to the offensive line that stifled the Michigan front defensive seven all game. Furthermore, the Badger front held strong against a Michigan defensive line that, after Saturday’s game against Iowa, proved themselves to be a sturdy source of
Photo · While the offensive line has performed well in 2019, it is unknown how they will hold-up against strong defenses in Iowa, Ohio State Riley Steinbrenner The Badger Herald
pressure on the opposing offense. Wisconsin allowed just one sack and one other tackle for loss the entire game, even when they began to rotate through their depth chart toward the end. Northwestern was another story. The offensive line ran into what was without a doubt their toughest test of the season to date. Northwestern managed to hold the Badgers to a measly 130 yards on the ground and nearly held Taylor to his first sub-100 yard game of the season. The Wildcats’ defense also managed to outperform Michigan in achieving tackles for loss with four total on the day. While no one can deny the Badgers have put up stunning numbers on the ground and given up relatively few sacks on the season, its difficult to attribute all of this to the talent level of the offensive line. It is entirely possible that the raw talent of Jonathan Taylor and company was enough to have a string of breakout performances against teams with sub-par defensive front sevens. When the Badgers went up against a strong defensive line in Northwestern, they showed signs of faltering. The fact of the matter is the Wisconsin offensive line is always going to be the heart of the team. It will continue to get recruits like five-star Logan Brown who, while he hasn’t contributed to this year’s efforts on the field in a significant way, shows promise as a developing talent. In fact, two of the top three recruits the Badgers snagged in 2019 were offensive linemen. This team is an undoubted pipeline for talent in the trenches. Yet, with a lot of developing youth following a strong 2018 graduating class, it’s fair to be skeptical that the offensive line will be able to hold up against a defensive test such as The Ohio State University. They almost folded in the face of the Wildcats, and it’s impossible to know whether that game was a fluke or not. My heart tells me yes, but only time will tell. Kent State provided little insight into the true prowess of this offensive line — it will take a Big Ten competitor to give them their first true litmus test to see what they’re made of. October 8, 2019 • badgerherald.com • 21
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Spooky Story Corner: The gasping mouth of the mysterious figure
Latest installment of spoopy serial reveals new faces, fresh looks, dance moves (maybe not dance moves), cool new plot by Angela Peterson Public Relations Director
When we last left off Spooky Story Corner, a spooky scary skeleton pulled Tommy Turnwell into another dimension with his bicycle, ignoring all of the crosswalk lights. After confronting Tommy, the skeleton revealed he was also a Tommy, and that Tommy the human killed his wife with his AirPods. A gasp resounded in the corner when this happened. What could that gasp be? All will be revealed. Tommy, in perilous straits, turned to see what made the gasp. Odd, it looked inhuman, maybe like a cat? A dog? He expected to know all animals after thorough teaching in the first grade, but right now, Tommy was stuck. ”Excuse me,” the animal thing said. A large plot of light swept across the figure’s form. It looked fluffy, too fluffy even, but it was definitely animate. Glasses framed the figure’s face with impeccable style. His
sweater bore iconic red and white stripes. Could it be? ”Bucky is, is that you?” Tommy queried. “Yes Tommy, in my University Book Store nerdy Bucky stuffed animal form,” Bucky said. “I am trapped in this pinnacle of nerdiness here in this realm because I too played ‘Spooky Scary Skeletons’ on my AirPods. It was a nice cool-down song after I did 194 push-ups on Saturday. After I left the field, though, a rogue tuba sucked me down his hole. It was a skeleton in disguise!” Tommy heard these words and felt implications beyond just mere empathy for dear old Bucky. ”Bucky, how can the school live without you?” he asked. “There are so many students who need you to look out for them and to brighten their spirits. You’re our school’s guardian badger.” “Tommy, now is not the time for questions,” Bucky said. “We must sit here and accept our fate. We are spooky scary skeletons
of ourselves now.” Tommy looked down — his appearance had changed. No more bro tank lined his body, but instead an oversized parka drowned his frame. His once swaggy shoes now became chunky Filas, a cause against which he used to be passionate in protesting. He felt his hair in horror, it was no longer the same generic cut everyone had. A sense of panic arose within him. ”EEuueRgHAh!” Tommy shrieked. Bucky sighed and cried at the expression, his tears dripping onto his cute little sweater. A couple of skeletons heard Tommy’s cackle and swiftly approached the scene, ready to remedy the situation. “What’s wrong, Tommy boy?” Skelly Skeleton asked. “Your tongue didn’t turn so well?” ”Maybe he’s just a scared pansy,” Scooter Skeleton suggested. ”Why do you use the word pansy?” Skelly asked.
“Were you born in like 1817?””Uhm yeah, that’s around when I died too,” Scooter said. ”Oh, true true, makes sense,” Skelly said. Bucky and Tommy just looked in awe in this moment. They didn’t really know what to do. In their minds, there was no way out — they had to listen to these skeletons banter on for eternity. “Bucky, what will we do?” Tommy said. “I absolutely need to go back on campus. It’s trivia night and my team needs me. I’m the only one who remembers Massachusetts is a commonwealth.” Slouching, Bucky looked defeated, but suddenly a spark jolted through his system. ”Don’t worry Tommy,” Bucky said. “I have an idea.” Will Bucky’s idea really be swell? How many people listen to “Spooky Scary Skeletons” on their AirPods? Does anyone still use the word “pansy” in 2019 besides the spawn of Draco Malfoy? Turn the page to Spooky Story Corner next time to potentially have all of your questions answered.
Wasp dies tragic death on impact in J201 class, many scarred
Students, professor contribute to murder of innocent wasp, notebook seals wasp’s fate, family not found for comment by Katie Hardie Staff Writer
In the beige depths of the Humanities building last Friday morning, one could almost feel the bubbling desire to learn hanging around the lecture hall. It was a normal day — it could have been a normal day — but then something obnoxiously loud and overly dangerous buzzed into the room. Sophomore Daniel Appleton was present for the experience, and recounted the memory with unease. “It horrified me,” Appleton said shamefully. “You don’t really know fear until a small insect with a powerful size to aggression ratio comes into contact with you.” According to freshman Gloria Heiss, who sat in front at the time, the wasp stayed in the upper middle section of the room. “The pesky little (thing) was tormenting the students behind me in the middle section right as you enter the room,” Heiss said. From Appleton’s perspective, the lecturing professor, Michael Wagner, handled the situation well once he found out what was bothering the students in the back of the 22 • badgerherald.com • October 8, 2019
room. “Once the affected students told Professor Wagner the problem, he made a quip about the situation, connecting it back to the lecture topic,” Appleton said. “I’m sure it was witty, but I can’t remember, as I blacked out after the entire experience.” The wasp spent about ten minutes total with the students in the journalism class. For freshman Matthew van Bastelaer, the wasp made profound use of her time in the lecture hall. “It was really a very Sorkin-esque character development,” van Bastelaer said. “Really deep as it flew all around the group, garnering life experiences from wall to wall before experiencing a sudden death towards the back of the poorly lit room.” The wasp’s termination came from a person who smacked her with the backside of his notebook, Appleton said. “The sound reverberated through the room, you could almost feel it,” Appleton said. “The hall became ten degrees cooler with the dismissal of the fiery heat coming from the insect’s chaotic devil energy.” As the class gave an applause to the end of the wasp drama, Heiss shared why she did not expect that type of reaction.
“I’m honestly kind of surprised people clapped, because I’m used to people shaming those who kill insects, but I guess wasps give back enough minimally where people don’t
“One word: legislation. If a stinging insect interrupts a class from now on,the class should be cancelled, period.” Daniel Appleton get upset,” Heiss said. When asked about the paranormal effects the dead wasp could possibly leave, van Bastelaer didn’t think there would be any horrible consequences. “I don’t think the Humanities building is hospitable to any sort of spirits,” van Bastelaer said. According to van Bastelaer, those survived by the dead wasp might have seen something like this happening, especially the wasp’s
mother, who definitely did. “(She would’ve been) a bit like ‘I told you so.’ I’m sure that she always told her kid to avoid Humanities, just like my mom always told me to,” van Bastaelear reasoned. Reflecting on the entrance of the intruder, van Bastelaer speculated his Hydro Flask might have been the insect’s Trojan horse. “I think the wasp got in [through] my water bottle,” van Bastelaer said. “When I opened it up it came out really quick, but I think that’s the Hydro Flask manufacturer’s fault, not mine.” Regardless of how the wasp ended up in the lecture hall, nothing like this could ever happen again, Appleton concluded. “One word: legislation. If a stinging insect interrupts a class from now on, the class should be cancelled, period,” Appleton said. The wasp died quickly and publicly with a 100% disapproval rating Friday, Oct. 4. She was survived by a mother and an uncountable number of siblings, who all are still unaware of her death. Read the Badger Herald for updates on student Daniel Appleton, who is now facing legal charges for setting up a wasp trap in front of Humanities that ended up encapsulating students instead.
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