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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Police arrest former Badger football player Patricia Johnson THE DAILY CARDINAL

THOMAS YONASH/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Porchlight representative Beatrice Hadidian discusses the homeless shelter’s operations with UW-Madison students at the Sewell Social Sciences Building Monday.

UW students take ‘Small Steps’ to better community homelessness Nicole Hurley THE DAILY CARDINAL

While UW-Madison students finalize their housing plans for the 2015-‘16 academic year, a group of students hosted an event Monday to educate attendees about a severe problem: homelessness. What began as a project for a UW-Madison leadership course blossomed into nine students establishing Small Steps, an organization raising awareness about the homeless population and encouraging fellow students to reach out to those in need. The two-hour “homeless simulation” featured speakers from Porchlight shelter, the Young Women’s Christian Association and the UW-Madison Police Department. UWPD Lower Campus Community Officer Tricia Meinholz described the daily duties she carries out to aid the homeless population in and

around the UW-Madison campus, including providing homeless community members with food and warm clothing and connecting them with local shelters and food pantries. “People think law enforcement [is] there to bust the party. They’re there to issue the ticket, take people to jail,” Meinholz said. “That’s not why we’re there. We’re there to help.” Bob Faga, a formerly homeless man, praised the Porchlight services he utilized to get back on his feet and discussed how his experiences and struggles changed his perception of panhandlers and others in need. “I used to walk down State Street and some guy would ask me for change. I’d think, ‘If I give him this change, he’s just going to get drunk.’” Faga said. “Now I know that might be the one thing that keeps that person alive.”

Founding member of Small Steps and junior kinesiology major Jade Koenigs said the campus’ proximity to State Street and its homeless inhabitants qualifies the UW-Madison student body as a great audience for the homeless simulation. “College students are here to go to college, but they want to make a difference in this world. That’s why they go to college, so they can have an impact,” Koenigs said. Faga said he sees homeless stereotypes as the complication standing between students and their abilities to make true change. “The biggest [problem] is the stigma we have against homeless people, but they’re our neighbors. They’re our friends and our relatives,” he said. “We just don’t know what life’s going to dish out to us.”

After tracking the SUV used in three previous Madison robberies, the Madison and Middleton police departments were able to arrest former Badger cornerback Jack Ikegwuono and his twin brother William after their fourth and final robbery Wednesday, Nov. 26. Jack Ikegwuono, 28, became a Philadelphia Eagles cornerback in 2008 after playing for the Badgers. He was arrested in 2006 for a residential burglary and criminal trespassing in Illinois. Joel DeSpain, MPD spokesperson, said in a report that police identified the brothers’ SUV as their getaway vehicle in surveillance videos from robbing Life is good and Madison Modern Market on State Street. A Madison detective placed a GPS tracker on the SUV in question after receiving a warrant that led police to the sus-

pects after they robbed Klinke Cleaners on Odana Road. According to the report, the investigation indicates most of the money from the robberies was put toward heroin. Madison police recently arrested four individuals involved in a string of robberies that occurred in Madison and Middleton due to intensive detective work and tracking crime patterns, according to MPD Sgt. Ed Marshall. Marshall said he did not believe the two groups of criminals were connected. Although police were able to put an end to these two groups of criminals contributing to 10 different robberies in and around Madison, two more robberies occurred within an hour of each other in Madison Sunday morning. The first robbery occurred on North Pinckney Street at approx-

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SSFC proposes additional eligibility dates Laura Grulke THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Student Services Finance Committee met Monday to discuss adding a spring eligibility date for student services, and it heard the Atheists, Humanists & Agnostics’ budget proposal. SSFC Rep. Todd Garon proposed allowing student groups to apply for funding eligibility in the spring. The spring eligibility would allow new groups applying for SSFC funding more time to plan a budget. Garon said this proposal is aimed at allowing groups to apply at a more convenient time in the spring semester because more experienced group mem-

bers are available to plan the budget proposal. AHA President Sam Erickson and Vice President Cole Dreier presented a 2016 budget proposal of $63,803.69, an increase of $2,488.18 from last year. The biggest change in AHA’s budget is the addition of a marketing chair, which would add $3,032.70 to budgeted salaries. Erickson said the new position could help reach out to the student body and combat what he said is the stigma of not following a religion. The Memorial Union then presented its construction plans, which are projected to last until 2017. Amid strong reactions by

Japanese graduates

SSFC members in response to this projection, Director Mark Guthier and Vice President of Program Administration Bill Mulligan said there are plans to include more food vendors. The revenue generated by these would contribute to keeping segregated fees low. The committee also requested Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán return funds to SSFC following a third wage violation. The group incurred its first and second violations when a member not enrolled in classes received pay from student fees. The third violation followed when two members

+ OPINION, page 6

A desperate job search right out of college

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JACOB ELA/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Jack Ikegwuono, a former Badger and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, was arrested with his twin after four robberies.

Mifflin Street may see high-rise housing Mifflin Street may see construction begin for a new high-rise housing project as soon as April or May of 2015 if project developers continue to receive positive feedback from city groups. Developers from CA Ventures and architects from Shepley Bulfinch met with the Mifflin neighborhood to discuss the 225,000-square-foot, 193 unit

The Pizza Underground

development which is expected to replace the Negus Container & Packaging Company located at the corner of West Mifflin Street and North Bedford Street. The project was designed with one eight-story tower and one 10-story tower, each catering to either students or young profes-

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+ ARTS, + SPORTS, page 4

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Songs by the Velvet Underground, rewritten about pizza

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

almanac 2

hi 30º / lo 19º

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 124, Issue 49

2142 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, Wis., 53706-1497 (608) 262-8000 • fax (608) 262-8100

News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com

tODAY: partly sunny

Editor-in-Chief Jack Casey

Managing Editor Jonah Beleckis

News Team News Manager Sam Cusick Campus Editor Adelina Yankova College Editor Emily Gerber City Editors Irene Burski, Patricia Johnson State Editor Eoin Cottrell Associate News Editor Dana Kampa Features Editor Melissa Howison Opinion Editors Ryan Bullen • Cullen Voss Editorial Board Chair Haley Henschel Arts Editors Cheyenne Langkamp • Sean Reichard Sports Editors Jack Baer • Jim Dayton Almanac Editors Andy Holsteen • Kane Kaiman Photo Editors Emily Buck • Thomas Yonash Associate Photo Editor Will Chizek Graphics Editor Cameron Graff Multimedia Editors Alana Katz • Ian Zangs Science Editor Danielle Smith Life & Style Editor Claire Satterfield Special Pages Editor Haley Henschel Copy Chiefs Kara Evenson • Justine Jones Jessie Rodgers • Paige Villiard Copy Editors Andrew Edstrom • Theda Berry Social Media Manager Rachel Wanat

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Brett Bachman Accounting Manager Tyler Reindl Advertising Manager Jordan Laeyendecker Assistant Advertising Manager Corissa Pennow Marketing Director Tim Smoot The Daily Cardinal is a nonprofit organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of WisconsinMadison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor-in-chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.

Garrett WinkelmaN Industry Expert Hello, University of Wisconsin-Madison students, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Garrett Winkelman III. You may recognize my face from the television, where I share my revolutionary product “10 Secrets To Getting Richer Faster” on Channel 26 at 3 a.m. every Monday and Thursday. What I’m about to do is completely unprecedented and will almost surely make business insiders hate me. Right within this column, I’m going to tell you the number one most important step to getting your dream job, absolutely free of charge. It’s tough out there in the job market. Trust me, I know. I’ve been studying it for over 20 years. Tough, however, is not synonymous with impossible, deadly, suicidal, insane, unbearable or completely unfair. Even if it takes you a bit of time and effort to find that perfect fit, once you do, the key is to not let anyone else get the position, under any circumstances. As crazy as it might sound, it’s really that simple. In order to get that job with great benefits, flexible hours and a relaxed environment,

make it absolutely fucking certain the competition can’t show up for the interview. Once you have acquired the names and home addresses of those who think they also want that entry-level sales position as much as you (something I fully explain in “10 Secrets To Getting Richer Faster”), it requires a great deal of discipline and planning to ensure you eliminate all competition from the applicant pool. Sometimes you will be up against hundreds of other equally qualified and conniving post-grads. This is why before you even begin taking people out, it’s essential to find a large, discrete and isolated location to dump the bodies. I recommend a bog or an abandoned building ready for demolition. Obviously the most difficult part of getting that bigshot, corner-office banking job of your dreams is when you have to murder the countless sons and daughters of parents just like your own in cold blood. Just remember: It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. I’m sure if you ask around your own family, they will have countless stories of having to cut brake lines, douse apartment complexes in gasoline, push people in front of trains and bury bodies where they will never be found. There’s nothing at all unnatural about it. This is just the way the world works.

Testimonials: “I was stuck working the graveyard shift at 7-11, barely making enough to pay the bills. Then Mr. Winkelman’s 10 secrets came into my life and changed everything. I’m now making well into the six figures at a job that I love. I highly recommend his product.” —Glenn Richards, Special Systems Manager Analyst

Board of Directors Herman Baumann, President Jack Casey • Jonah Beleckis Jennifer Sereno • Stephen DiTullio Brett Bachman • Janet Larson Don Miner • Phil Brinkman Jason Stein • Nancy Sandy Jordan Laeyendecker • Tim Smoot Tina Zavoral

For the record Corrections or clarifications? Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an email to edit@dailycardinal.com.

hi 30º / lo 14º

dailycardinal.com

Garrett Winkelman, industry expert, gives tips for landing your dream job

Editorial Board Jack Casey • Jonah Beleckis Haley Henschel • Cullen Voss Ryan Bullen • Michael Penn Kayla Schmidt

Wednesday: partly sunny

“It never occurred to me that being a mortician might come in handy when trying to find a job on Wall Street. But I increased my salary tenfold after following Garrett Winkelman’s 10 secrets.” —The Tall Man, “Phantasm”

“Does Garrett Winkelman’s product work? Do pigs fly?” —David Blaine, Magician

“If you’re uncomfortable with the moral aspects of Garrett Winkelman’s magnum opus, “10 Secrets To Getting Richer Faster,” then you probably aren’t cut out for capitalism anyway.” —Douglas McMillon, Walmart, CEO

Campus Wordsmiths is an Almanac feature. It’s a space for writers from around campus to publish their poems, stories and other creative pieces. Send your work to Almanac to see it in print.

State Street Blues The streetcars are long gone, Old buildings hark back to Chicago Fair, The parking meters are no more, A sense of emptiness in the air. Fierce faces with knapsacks, On march to and from class, With furtive looks of curiosity, Concealed in a passing glance. Homeless philosophers prophesy, One with the crowd but stand out, Coffee shop exiles doing time, Internet junkies’ caffeine cult. Unhappy souls abound, Everyone seems to seek, People on State Street Peering, taking a peek. Cyclists, the finish line on their mind, So serious about the ‘pace,’ State Street, their parading ground, Stern faces, as if in a race. Skateboarders seek attention, Pretending otherwise, Street artists display their craft, The curious linger and browse. Musicians play here and there, Singing tunes to stir the soul, Street people beg for spare change, With their invisible super bowl. “The Yellow Submarine” refrain aptly prophetic In the cacophony of the crowds, The voice submerged off and on, The moon veiled by patchy clouds. State Street, Transit Theater, By the Square a surreal play! Where it all ends in homelessness, Buses come and go like yesterday. —Sina Siahpoosh

news dailycardinal.com

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 3

Faculty Senate discusses new research, disability plan Scott Bembenek THE DAILY CARDINAL

The UW-Madison Faculty Senate followed up on an April decision by Gov. Scott Walker to allow UW System schools to conduct classified research, by clarifying procedures in a Monday meeting. Professor Greg Moses started the classified research section of the meeting by giving the final report of the University Committee Faculty Working Group on Classified Research, which was formed under a state bill Walker signed in April. The group’s report focused primarily on classified research sponsored by the federal government, Faculty Senate continued by passing a new disability accommodation policy for the university. The offering a variety of recommendations for changes to

ssfc from page 1 logged high overtime hours. All three violations occurred in quick succession. A fourth violation would result in a funding freeze. Finally, SSFC made plans to rehear Sex Out Loud’s budget after it won a Student Judiciary case, alleging SSFC’s recording equipment was faulty.

Computers get better at science term cataloging Computers are quickly catching up to, and perhaps even surpassing, humans in the field of scientific data extraction and assessment, according to a Monday university news release. By searching for key words and sifting through the myriad of articles on a given topic, advanced computer systems are now able to draw connections between terms and catalog them in databases. PaleoDeepDive, a machine reading system project led by current UW-Madison computer science professor Miron Livny and former UW-Madison computer science professor Christopher Ré, imitates human cataloging techniques to enter data into the Paleobiology Database. TheapproachPaleoDeepDive takes to catalog the data is “to look at the entire problem of extraction as a probabilistic problem,” Ré said in the release. Therefore, though it cannot read context like humans can, it can connect different terms based on the likelihood they are related. The ultimate hope is that one day, a machine that can quickly read and synthesize related facts will be created to tackle big scientific questions.

the current UW-Madison classified research policy. These recommendations include permitting faculty to participate in classified research so long as it does not interfere with other “essential duties” to their departments and the information gathered from research is more important than publicizing it. The group’s recommendations also protect faculty members from suffering negative consequences in tenure or promotions for participating in such research and require that participating students and staff not publish their work openly. Additionally, the working group recognizes that while some circumstances may call for classified research, the open spread of new information and knowledge still stands as a central goal of academic research.

Faculty Senate continued by passing a new disability accommodation policy for the university. The advisory committee in charge of the policy made drastic changes to the old policy after finding it inadequate for the Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The ADA prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities. This includes providing adequate accommodations for those with disabilities. The new policy was adopted after associate professor Ellen Samuels, who herself has a disability, referred to the old system as “broken” and “appalling” in its functionality. The changes include processes for disabled persons to receive reasonable accommodations as well as modifications to training processes and who has access to confidential medical information.

THOMAS YONASH/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Professor Greg Moses explains how classified research can be implemented at UW-Madison, encouraging faculty participation.

New organization pushes for choice in union participation Wisconsin Right to Work officially launched a mission Monday underscored by the legislative freedom to choose to participate in labor unions. After the re-election of Gov. Scott Walker and the passage of Walker’s 2011 Budget Repair Bill, public discourse regarding workers’ unions has spiked. WRTW is a nonpartisan organization that supports citizen engagement and focuses on the right to participate or not to participate in a union.

“Wisconsin’s public employees have already demonstrated their strong desire for their right to choose as evidenced by the sharp decline in enrollment in the teacher’s unions,” WRTW Executive Director Lorri Pickens said in a statement. The emergence of WRTW in the state political sphere was opposed by state Senate Leaderelect Jennifer Shilling, D-LaCrosse, as well as the Wisconsin American Federation of Labor and Congress

of Industrial Organizations. Both argued for the struggling working class, urging job growth efforts according to individual statements. The AFL-CIO took a firm stance against the emergence of such an organization. “Right to Work is nothing more than an attempt by corporate special interests to drive down wages and erode the middle class,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt in a statement. Neuenfeldt concluded the

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imately 4:30 a.m., according to an incident report. A 32-year-old Madison man was able to maintain possession of his laptop after two men approached him and demanded the bag holding it. One of the suspects punched the victim multiple times in the face but got away empty-handed. According to DeSpain in the incident report, the victim would “likely” need stitches for a cut lip. Less than an hour later, two women and a man approached a 32-year-old Madison man and 31-year-old Madison woman on the 100 block of West Mifflin Street. The male suspect struck the Madison man in the face and pushed the Madison woman down, according to an incident report. The male suspect grabbed a cell phone and money from the Madison man’s pockets and the three suspects got away. Marshall said it is too early to tell if the incidents are related but police are still investigating.

sionals with unique amenities for the two demographics, connected by the first four floors dedicated to parking ramps and townhouse units. The student tower is proposed to be 10 stories high and will be located on the north side of the building facing the UW-Madison campus. The tower will be more attractive to students with furnished units that vary from one, two and four bedrooms. The east tower will be eight stories high, catering to young professionals offering unfurnished one or two bedroom units. The project also features two lobbies, one of which will have a curved glass exterior that may feature glass art from the UW-Madison Glass Lab located on Mifflin Street. “We just wanted this [lobby] to be as open and porous as possible to make it into sort of a beacon,” Tom Chinnock of Shepley Bulfinch said. Members of the Mifflin Street neighborhood generally supported the project with some opposition to the overall height of the towers and insufficient parking space. Developers have already met with the Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee and Urban Design Commission and received positive feedback from both groups. The project will move forward awaiting approval from Madison’s Planning Commission in February 2015. —Patricia Johnson

RED GYM

World AIDS Day

Harlan Pruden, LGBTQ and HIV activist, speaks about current efforts to combat HIV AIDS in both Native communities and Two Spirit traditions. + Photo by Drew Gilmore

Twelve-year legislator Joe Leibham retires early from Wisconsin state Senate State Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, announced his retirement Monday after 12 years of service in the state Senate, vacating his position a month early in order to pursue an undisclosed job opportunity. “In the interest of considering

AFL-CIO statement by saying Wisconsin is moving in the wrong direction. Shilling also expressed disappointment in Walker’s policies with her Monday release. “We’ve seen the unfortunate impact of previous anti-worker policies that have taken money out of our local communities and made it more difficult for working families to make ends meet,” Shilling said in the release. —Jen Wagman

future employment opportunities while being compliant with state law, I must resign my position as State Senator for Wisconsin’s 9th Senate District,” Leibham said in a statement, adding that he is working with replacement state Sen. elect Devin LeMahieu to ensure a

smooth transition. Leibham launched a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives instead of seeking re-election in the state Senate but lost in the Republican primary to eventual winner Glenn Grothman. “I have sought to always repre-

sent my constituents in a professional and dignified manner, striving to be respectful of the constituents I was elected to represent,” Leibham said in the statement. “It has been a true honor to work for and represent the residents of the 9th Senate District.”

arts Pizza-themed band offers weird charm l

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

dailycardinal.com

By Andrew Edstrom The Daily Cardinal

The Pizza Underground is a band led by former child actor Macaulay Culkin that covers songs by The Velvet Underground with all the lyrics rewritten about pizza. They have no drummer. Instead, a woman is paid to stand on stage and hit a pizza box with a drumstick. Another person’s job is to make sex jokes in a fake Russian accent between songs. Culkin, who starred in the ’90s classics “Home Alone” and “Richie Rich,” plays the kazoo. They hand out free pizza at their concerts, making each show into an enormous pizza party. Last Sunday, Nov. 30, they sold out the High Noon Saloon. The people have spoken. America wants pizza-themed Velvet Underground covers. This may be the strangest premise for a band since the Beatles/ Metallica cover band Beatallica, yet somehow the show promoters found openers who were just as unbelievable.

“You guys like pizza? You guys like songs about pizza? Macaulay Culkin kazoo player/former child star The Pizza Underground

Tickle Torture started out the night. Tickle Torture is a disco-electro house band from the Midwest that perform their shows almost completely naked. Frontman Elliott Kozel wore nothing except a sequined thong

Graphic by Cameron Graff

that left little to the imagination, which he put to work with a lot of jumping up and down. Scantily clad dancers in gold body paint gyrated onstage and drained glasses of champagne as ambient synths thumped behind Kozel’s repetitive moans of “I’m ready for love.” A projection screen behind the stage showed blurry videos of softcore porn and close-up shots of women’s feet. It was wild, to say the least. Next up were the Candy Boys, introduced as “the sweetest boy band ever!” The Candy Boys exclusively sing about their love of candy. They wore candy necklaces, skin-tight cutoff sleeveless shirts and candy bracelets. The projection screen displayed, alternately, sweeping landscapes

of candy and a creepy picture of a man grinning maniacally from behind prison bars.

This was the strangest, most hilarious concert that I have ever seen.

As the show went on, the lyrics became less joyful and more somber. It was like watching the descent of a drug addict. At the beginning they celebrated Twizzlers, Twix and lollipops, but by the end they were locked in a downward spiral. One ballad addressed the hardships

of dealing with diabetes and expensive dental bills. Similarly, they lamented, “Our sugar highs are high / but our lows are rough / but every time we fall we get up / Just give us candy.” Their final song addressed how hard it is to be “two grown men in a boy band.” Apparently, “It’s not a piece of cake.” After a break, the Pizza Underground took the confettiridden, candy-crumbed, bodyglittered stage. Culkin, holding a beer, worked the crowd. “You guys like pizza? You guys like songs about pizza? Good, because the hamburger show is down the street.” The audience cheered. All of the band members were wearing sunglasses, and they handed box after box of Ian’s Pizza into the crowd

Flogging Molly set to tear up The Orpheum By Sean Reichard The Daily Cardinal

Flogging Molly are (almost inexplicably) a cornerstone band for me. They were a common bond between many of my friends in high school, central to nearly any playlist we had while driving through Minnetonka, Minnesota. We headbanged to “Requiem for a Dying Song.” We blared “Rebels of the Sacred Heart.” It’s kind of strange, looking back as a college senior, but the memories stick. Given Dave King’s career, it’s also strange to think he’s frontman of one of the biggest and best Celtic punk bands of the past two decades. A man who, after all, once lent his dulcet brogue to a heavy metal band called Fastway (a Motörhead/ UFO spinoff ) and a supergroup named Katmandu. “Not all who wander are lost,” I guess. And wander King did, from Dublin, Ireland to Los Angeles, California, where (in 1993) he and a few kindred spirits began honing their incipient mix of rock ’n’ roll and Irish folk music in Molly Malone’s, a L.A. pub that ended up inspiring their name. The band has had an inspired run since they came together in the early ’90s. Their debut studio album, Swagger, which

Photo courtesy of Flogging Molly

This Los Angeles, California band has been delighting crowds with their powerful mix of punk rock and Irish folk since 1993. dropped in 2000, contains a bevy of veritable classics (“The Worst Day Since Yesterday,” “Black Friday Rule,” “Devil’s Dance Floor”) and live favorites (“Salty Dog,” “These Exiled Years”). Subsequent releases ( Drunken Lullabies, Within a Mile of Home , Float ) built mightily on Swagger’s foundation and established Flogging Molly as a force to be reckoned with, on and off the stage. And of course, there’s ample proof of the band’s supremacy as a live act. Their first release was a live album (1997’s Alive Behind

the Green Door) and 2010’s Live At The Greek Theatre was a twodisc testimonial. 2011 saw a sort of renaissance for the group, as they (sort of ) broke from their standard formula and incorporated more rootsy muscle and populist bravado on Speed of Darkness (most evident on lead single “Don’t Shut ’Em Down”). They haven’t followed up with any studio releases, but if Darkness is any indication (and their cover of “The Times They Are A-Changin’” for a Bob Dylan tribute that came

out around the same time) the band is hell-bent on effecting a change in the world. The band will be joined by two opening acts: The Mighty Stef and The Pasadena Band. The former, a Dublin folk rock project fronted by Stefan Murphy, is a group after Flogging Molly’s own heart, whose music abounds with rough riffs and rumbling vocals. Their debut album Year Of The Horse is expected to drop in 2015. The latter is a Maryland band whose music is a ramshackle mix of hip hop and reggae-inflected rock ’n’ roll. Taken together, the three acts are bound to inspire a wonderful affinity. And if you aren’t sold on Flogging Molly’s history or the openers, go for the venue at least. The Orpheum Theater is almost absurdly suited to the type of crowd who will (hopefully) show up: excited, vigorous people ready to jump and mosh a bit, and sing along with a preeminent Irish punk band. Flogging Molly, The Mighty Stef and The Pasadena Band will be playing The Orpheum this Saturday, Dec. 6. Doors are open at 7:30 p.m. The show begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $27.50 in advance, $30 the day of the show.

before launching into a parody of Nico’s “These Days” with the lyrics, “I don’t do too much toppings... cheese days.” There is little to say about the music itself besides that all the songs are, indeed, Velvet Underground songs that are now about pizza. However, in one interlude there was a break from the Velvet Underground when band members showed off their side projects. The bassist performed a medley called “Kurt Cobain’d” in which he donned a wig and sang Nirvana songs converted the past tense, such as “Came As You Was” and “All Apologized.” Another side project, “Pussy Joel,” was Billy Joel songs rewritten to be about cats. At the end of the show, the pizza box drummer ripped apart her pizza box and threw the pieces into the crowd as they performed an existential song with the chorus “Why do we make this sound? The Pizza Underground.” After the Pizza Underground finished, an uncomfortably intoxicated Har Mar Superstar took the stage. At most concerts his set, which involved stripping and drunken screaming, would have stood out, but after three of the most surreal performances I have ever seen in my life, it was underwhelming and I left early. Allegedly, after I left, a shirtless Culkin came onstage and made out with Har Mar Superstar. Much later in the night, I received a text from my friend who stayed. It read, “I just grinded on Macaulay Culkin.” This was the strangest, most hilarious concert that I have ever seen. It was completely, utterly unforgettable.

PLAYLIST Some tunes to get you over the bumps while studying for finals. Walk the Moon “Aquaman” Different to start your creative juices.

Sam Smith “Nirvana” Intense vocals to keep you in rhythm.

The Bad Suns “Transpose” A catchy pick-me-up to put you back on track.

Taylor Swift “Shake It Off” Because, honestly, you kind of have to.

dailycardinal.com

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

arts

Avoiding the pratfalls of finals studying playlists BRIAN WEIDY weidyng out the noise

efore I begin my column, I’d like to start by thanking you all for reading. For the past two years, I have been lucky enough to fill your mind with my thoughts and rants on any number of musical topics from jam bands to jam bands and then some more jam bands, with a little bit of everything else thrown in. For those of you who’ve kept up with my column, you’ll know that there’s one thing I always said I would come back to and haven’t yet. With finals coming up now is the perfect time for this piece of writing. If this isn’t your first semester on campus, or if you lived in the library for your first set of midterms, then you’ve met Chad, the inconsiderate gentleman who has his headphones either halfway-on or are so loud that you can hear his music from six tables away.

While I am using the name Chad, this is certainly not a maleonly problem as there are plenty of Chad-ettes who could qualify under this as well, but for the purposes of this piece, I’m just going to be using the name Chad.

Here are four songs that cover the waterfront when it comes to genres, from math metal to newage Celtic music to dubstep.

Chad is prone to a number of other obnoxious behaviors while at the library, but because this is a music column, I’m going to keep this in the realm of what the worst songs you could overhear Chad listening to while you are studying for your own, important finals. Here are four songs that cover the waterfront when it comes to genres, from math metal to new-age Celtic music to dubstep. Four songs you absolutely don’t want to overhear

through someone else’s headphones while you study. “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”—Skrillex Some of you like Skrillex, that’s fine. Others of us don’t. The last thing I need to hear while I am trying to finish up a term paper is the smooth sounds of dubstep emanating from Chad’s headphones two tables away at College Library. When the bass drops on “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” Chad will think I am a scary monster as I throw a Sprite at his computer. As I relistened to this song just to make sure it merited inclusion, within the first 90 seconds, I was ready for my head to explode. “Shepherd Moons”—Enya There’s nothing wrong with Enya and Chad probably wouldn’t bounce from Skrillex to Enya, but if someone is sitting across from you blaring this song out of their headphones, they’re probably in a really bad way. Either they just got out of a long, tumultuous relationship or

they think that listening to this will help them study. It probably won’t, but even worse, if you personally are not choosing to put on Enya, then you almost definitely don’t want to be listening to Enya. “Electric Red”—Meshuggah You really could have picked any song off the album, OBzen, but “Electric Red” gets the nod here. While studying for a math test, Chad thinks it would be a good idea to listen to “math rock,” a genre of music that uses bizarre time signatures—performing it makes it more akin to putting together a dense math problem than a song. While no music is good for listening through someone else’s headphones, if it’s something easy to listen to, like Hall & Oates, you can tap your foot along. With this, the odd time signatures will send your brain into a tizzy and make you forget about studying. Your Favorite Song No, not “Favorite Song” by Chance the Rapper, but rather, whatever your favorite song may be. You and Chad may

actually have something in common here, but when you are studying, rarely do you want to be listening to your favorite song.

When the bass drops on “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,” Chad will think I am a scary monster as I throw a Sprite at his computer.

But if you do want to be listening to your favorite song, it almost definitely isn’t through Chad’s headphones a few tables away. And there you have it, four songs you don’t want to overhear through someone’s headphones at the library. And while Spinal Tap may have had an amp that went up to 11, for your ears’ sake and everyone around you as well, your headphones shouldn’t. Does your study playlist have Enya, Skrillex and Meshuggah on it? Let Brian know at weidy@wisc.edu.

RECORD ROUTINE

Guitar virtuosos trade ebullient licks on debut collaborative album Room ALBUM REVIEW

Room Nels Cline and Julian Lage By Michael Frett THE DAILY CARDINAL

“Pick pick glideeeeee,” calls the guitar as arpeggiated chords warmly tap dance over the fretboard. Tremolos swing left and right while hammers waltz on and off the strings with fluidity. That dance is shared with another

guitar, one that sings with more restraint as it gently signals a cadence for the first to follow. Sometimes the chords are broken. Other times, they are radiantly full. Sometimes the two guitars harmonize, while other times see them at edge as one jaunts across scales and the other turns to rhythm. Room is the simply titled collaboration between jazz virtuoso and Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and child prodigy turned jazz-circuit veteran Julian Lage. The duo keep their recording sparse, featuring only the pair as they play off of one another in what sounds like... well... an empty room. That isn’t to say their songs are empty, but they play into an emptiness that

can feel both emphasized and denied as the album goes on.

‘Pick pick glideeeeee,’ calls the guitar as arpeggiated chords warmly tap dance over the fretboard.

Their songs are the most sparse towards the opening of the album. Room starts with a series of competing guitar lines, where Cline’s more pronounced guitar jumps across scales while Lage’s guitar struts across the bass strings. Their combinations are admirable,

ent rather than show off to one another. The chords hum with warmth while the leads tone it back to embrace that warmth rather than outpace it. And when those guitars come together, that empty Room is filled with somber bliss. The guitars guide each other through the emptiness with precise pirouettes and wild west waltzes, singing their stories into each other’s harmonic rhythms. Room may tear itself up in an opening salvo of theatrics, but by the end, things are left as cozy as chords humming on an acoustic guitar, ringing in the space of a once-barren room.

made available over time.

sound. “No Feelings” is filled with frantic guitar licks, crashing symbols and grungy vocals, all split up between soft interludes, creating a dynamic that lets you appreciate the instrumental complexity during these relaxed segments, which makes the high energy explosions all the more exciting. Foulbrood doesn’t wind down but for a few instances, but the lack of explosive energy allows us to get a different taste of the group’s abilities. Two Inch Astronaut may seem to be caught in a time paradox, unable to attach themselves to a certain era of punk rock, but the group’s displacement among its musical inspirations is what allows them to fine-tune classic sounds, and take them even further. Foulbrood is as much an ode to punk rock’s origins as it is an attempt to create a new direction in the genre.

Rating: B Maryland band offers bracing music on debut album ALBUM REVIEW

Foulbrood Two Inch Astronaut By Brandon Danial THE DAILY CARDINAL

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but feel more like improvised braggadocio rather than thought-out constructions. On Room, Cline and Lage don’t really fill out their ideas into more than just fills, though those fills radiate with electricity and eccentricity. It’s when they tune their songs to the other’s dance that Cline and Lage fill their room. Lage often tones down his bass note bourrées to allow Cline’s leads to take center stage, though they’ll be just as likely to strum in tandem as much as they’ll carry each other. While opening songs like “Abstract” had the duo playing strengths in restrained chaos, it’s in finale songs like “Freesia / The Bond” where the two bring together their tal-

Since the materialization of the punk rock scene in the early 1970s, rebellious rockers have experimented left and right, spawning countless subgenres and genre fusions. Aside from its various stylistic changes over the years, there was always a standard of stripping away the unnecessary clutter created by typical rock ’n’ roll. Two Inch Astronaut holds themselves up to these standards, while simultaneously blending the genre’s different elements that have been

The schizophrenic changing of pace and intensity adds even more to the band’s unique sound.

Foulbrood initially feels like nothing out of the ordinary. The first track, “Foulbrood,” begins with a familiar formula, as a distorted guitar and bass set up simple melodies which lead into a loud hook, all accompanied by drums that are punchy and dry, an iconic sound from the early years of punk. But the song doesn’t stick to its roots forever, as the guitar is stripped of its distortion and gently transitions to a soothing riff to wrap up the song’s outro. The schizophrenic changing of pace and intensity adds even more to the band’s unique

Rating: B

opinion 6

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

dailycardinal.com

Japanese job hunt exhausts graduates Yukako Hirakawa Opinion Columnist

tarting a new job is an exciting and anxious moment. Even though there are a lot of things to learn and remember, people are filled with the feeling that they are able to create their own future when they start their jobs. This is particularly true at your first postgraduate job because that job has influence on all your later jobs as well. In terms of your first career, the job hunt is one of the biggest issues for would-be graduate students not only in the United States, but especially in Japan. I am now a junior at a university in Tokyo (though I am studying here in Madison for now), and my first step toward job hunting starts in about four months. When I say job hunting, that means junior and senior students start finding interviews for full-time employment after graduation. Japanese juniors and seniors face a lot of stress

trying to find a job because they need to search for fulltime employment long before graduation. It is much harder to find a job after graduating in Japan because companies want to hire the freshest graduates available. Even a couple months after graduating, the job hunt becomes exponentially harder. This custom increases stress on students still in college. According to the news report from NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, the number of students who committed suicide due to failure to find a job has more than doubled in the last five years. This shows a serious problem that Japanese students have during the job hunt. They do not have many chances to build successful careers, other than getting jobs as new graduates. If they fail in that venture, they are sometimes unable to apply to some companies under the title “new graduates” anymore. I, as well as many other students, start-

ed to worry about getting the right job in my own field right out of college. Employers in Japan should see new graduates in the same way they see those still in college because our skillset is still fresh. We do not lose what we have learned in those few months out of college.

Japanese culture has accepted a stance which actually standardizes people by making one royal road to prosperity and rejecting other possibilities at the same time.

When we look at the recruiting system of new graduates in the United States, I am totally surprised that many students have not decided their jobs even though they are already senior students. The New York Times wrote a story on a 2009 female college graduate who could

not get a job in advertising. Eventually she decided to work as a manager of a bar and do media relations for Austin Pets Alive! as a volunteer. Even though she likes that she can earn money and do advertising at the same time, she is still applying to graduate school to make her resume more appealing. There is a difference in mentality between Japanese and American graduates. Japanese graduates see it as a failure to not get a job in their field immediately following graduation. American students, however, see nonpaying jobs in their fields as successful. Thus, Japanese students have no choice but to go nuts when finding a job. They try their best to be successful in all their interviews, and that sometimes puts too much pressure on them, which is only exasperated when they fail. What happens when only focusing on finding a job is that the number of Japanese students who study abroad

decreases—they care about how easily they can earn credits so that they are not struggling to fit in extra classes toward the end of their degree. If Japan also allows students to enjoy career flexibility the way America does, all of these problems will be solved. It is hard to change the customs that are already so pronounced in a culture. Japanese culture has accepted a stance which actually standardizes people by making one royal road to prosperity and rejecting other possibilities at the same time. Japanese students need some other possibilities to be successful in their careers other than heavily relying on the current method of graduate employment. Do you agree with Yukako’s stance on post collegiate employment? Is there some point she may have overlooked? We would like to hear your view. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Thanksgiving homecoming does not meet expectations Lilly Hanson Opinion Columnist

fter watching the Nov. 22 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” I was curious to see if the hilarious and catchy skit “Back Home Baller” was true to Thanksgiving break (pause reading here if you have not seen the video and watch it). As a freshman, I had always watched my older sister come back from college with stories and leave with leftovers. In the SNL skit the lyrics say, “I’m a back home baller, if I want something I just holler. I do what I want and I get what I want cause my parents miss their daughter!” I wondered if the situation would be the same for my Thanksgiving break. As I left, I imagined platefuls of homemade food and loads of freshly done laundry. On the Badger Bus I had dreams of being reunited with my high school friends and dozing on my living room couch. All in all, I was picturing a break full of my newfound sense of college independence.

My Thanksgiving break wasn’t what I expected and it definitely wasn’t a weekend for a “Back Home Baller.”

I did not have the break I imagined. College independence does not transfer from college to home, and it most certainly does not transfer from student to parent. I was shocked to find I still had a curfew and was expected to wake

up before 9 a.m. every day. To finish my break I did not leave with leftovers, but instead with an argument and lecture from my parents. On my bus ride back to Madison I thought over what had happened over the past four days. Was I being disrespectful for wanting independence at home? Was I being stupid to think I could continue to be free from my parents’ ideas?

All in all, I was picturing a break full of my newfound sense of college independence.

I know I am sounding ungrateful for all that my parents have done for me, especially in the past three months. But, to me, Thanksgiving break is a time to be thankful and show my parents how independent I have become. All the money and time they have spent nurturing me over the past 18 years have paid off to help me become who I am today. So despite my independent behavior being seen as disrespectful, I am only showing how I have grown to become a self-governing woman. My Thanksgiving break wasn’t what I expected and it definitely wasn’t a weekend for a “Back Home Baller.” My mother didn’t stock the fridge with Costco. My grandma didn’t say I looked taller. I didn’t do a whole load of laundry for just one sock. Though I did pretend to be napping when my mom needed help. And when people asked me what was going on with me I responded blankly saying “the same thing,”

instead of my well-rehearsed speech of how the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the best school. Despite it not being the break I expected, it was the break I needed. As college students, our independence is what makes us

become who we are. Sometimes a week back with the parents helps us realize that we need to spend a little more time trying to make something of ourselves and a little less time trying to impress the people back at home. After all, it is nice when our parents

make tacos when we say tacos. Lilly Hanson is a freshman writer for The Daily Cardinal. What was your vist back home like? Do you agree or disagree with Lilly’s stance on growing up? Please send your feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

What does your faith have to do with work? Earn a rent scholarship. Get real experience. Reflect on how faith relates to work. Apply for Vocational Internship Program through Pres House Apartments. Currently accepting internship program applications for 2015-16 To find out more, visit the PH Apartments website http://phapts.com/intentional-livingprograms/vocational-internship-program/ or contact Ginger Morgan at ginger@preshouse.org to apply

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Wisconsin’s hottest club is The Daily Cardinal Today’s Sudoku

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 • 7

Pardon Me

By Kayla Schmidt graphics@dailycardinal.com

Yourmometer

By Laura “Hobbes” LeGault graphics@dailycardinal.com

Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

FACTOFTHEDAY:

In 1567, the maNSAIDTOHAVE THELONGESTBEARDIN THEWORLDDIEDAFTER HETRIPPEDOVERHIS BEARDRUNNINGAWAY FROM A FIRE

Beeramid Classic

By Ryan Matthews graphics@dailycardinal.com

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

The Graph Giraffe Classic

515 STATE

ACROSS 1 “___ pretty sight” 1 Classic recording label 6 Christmas kings 10 Car juice 13 Even a bit 14 “... happily ___ after.” 15 Trunk of a tree 16 Waste no time in traveling to 19 Great deal 20 “___ a beautiful morning” 21 Detonate 22 Gives birth to 23 Foils 24 Commotion or type of room 28 A smaller amount 29 Beatles song “Any Time ___” 30 Citrus flavor 31 Singer Simone 35 Do the apples-tooranges thing 38 Small farm building 39 Vagabond 40 Colonizing insect 41 It can get into a jam 42 Give a hard time to 43 Categorizes 47 Deck swabber’s need 48 Labor organizer Cesar

49 It may be written in stone 50 Move little by little 54 Emulate Nostradamus 57 “Happy Days” actress Moran 58 Pitches in 59 Bitterly pungent 60 Female sib 61 Run the party 62 If-___ (computer routines) DOWN 1 Bonneville and Hoover 2 Substitute for the unnamed 3 Birthday party centerpiece 4 Ball of thread 5 Chicken ___ king 6 Track season events 7 Park and Madison (Abbr.) 8 Mousse, for one 9 Arm of the North Atlantic 10 Find attractive 11 Floating above ground 12 Lowly laborers 15 ___-carotene 17 Unfairness

1 8 Fresh information 22 ___ hoop 23 Musician’s speed 24 St. Louis gridders 25 Beehive State 26 Construct 27 Appealed, as for mercy 28 Dance requiring a pole 30 Takes as spoils 31 “___ Island” (Jodie Foster film) 32 Doctrines, informally 33 December air 34 Poker pay-in 36 Audacity 37 Get, as profits 41 Rug-buyer’s concern 42 Kachina doll makers 43 Apexes 44 Lewis with Lamb Chop 45 Rice beverages 46 Range section 47 Center 49 Winery choices 50 Draw with acid 51 In ___ straits 52 “Whole Lotta Shakin’ ___ On” 53 Ultimate purposes 55 Lead-in for “Branco” or “Bravo” 56 Garfield, for one

By Yosef Lerner graphics@dailycardinal.com

Sports

tuesday, december 2, 2014 DailyCardinal.com

Feature

Track club origins result in varsity spot By Jason Braverman the daily cardinal

ow one of the best runners in the conference, his career started by being told he couldn’t even compete at the Division I level. Three years later, senior Michael Van Voorhis finished second in the Big Ten championship behind only a fellow Badger. His journey to becoming one of the top runners for Wisconsin, if not in all of the Big Ten, began on the Wisconsin Track Club, the school’s club team for track and field and cross country. Attempting to walk on to the team, Van Voorhis was guided there after approaching the director of track and field and cross country, Mick Byrne. Byrne didn’t actually expect to see him again, though. “In my six years at Wisconsin, no guy has come up from Wisconsin Track Club and been that successful, and it’s very unlikely ever in Wisconsin history,” Byrne said. Van Voorhis took the recommendation in stride, viewing it as an opportunity to continue proving himself and eventually work his way on to the team. He also

“I knew that coming into cross country with the summer that I had and the race experience that I had here at Wisconsin that I was set up to do something special that day.” Michael Van Voorhis cross country runner Wisconsin Badgers

graphic by cameron graff

did not know that his chances to make the transition were as slim as they were. “I was all for it. Mick had said maybe a little bit of a lie, and said it was definitely a stepping stone to the team,” he said. “I just saw it as a necessary step to get to where I wanted to be.” Once he eventually did get there, Van Voorhis still faced the challenge to constantly improve. As a sophomore, he finished 36th overall at the Big Ten champi-

onship. Last year he worked his way up to 13th, second-best on the team, and was named to the firstteam All-Big Ten in cross country. This year he finished second for Wisconsin once again, but this time he set a personal best, 23:37.6 for 8K, on his way to finishing second overall in the conference. Though it may have been surprising to coaches who passed up the opportunity to recruit him, Van Voorhis always believed in his abilities.

“I knew that coming into cross country with the summer that I had and the race experience that I had here at Wisconsin that I was set up to do something special that day,” he said. In the last race of the cross country season, he had the opportunity to do something special once again, this time at the NCAA championship. As a team, the Badgers have had an incredible run of success, qualifying for the national meet a staggering 43 consecutive years and entering the 2014 championship with 18 consecutive Top 10 finishes. The streak extended to 19 years in a row, with the team’s top runner Malachy Schrobilgen’s 10th place finish. As just one of the two returning Badgers from last year’s NCAA team, along with Schrobilgen, Van Voorhis had his expectations set high after he finished 158th overall at last year’s NCAA meet in Terre Haute, Indiana. Another impressive streak, Wisconsin has gone 24 years in a row with an All-American runner, an honor given to the top 35 finishers at the NCAA championship. And while personally extending that streak was something Van Voorhis had on his mind, there was another goal that played as a motivating factor. “I think if I got 28th or better that’d be really cool cause at my state cross country meet in high school I was 28th,” he said. “Just to say that I came from not even being all-state in Minnesota to being all-American my senior year would be, that would be really cool just to say that.”

While he was unable to achieve that, Van Voorhis managed to improve yet again, finishing a career-best 110th at the NCAA championship.

“In my six years at Wisconsin, no guy has come up from Wisconsin Track Club and been that successful, and it’s very unlikely ever in Wisconsin history.” Mick Byrne director Wisconsin Cross Country

Although his cross country season may have just ended, Van Voorhis still has both the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons to look forward to beginning in January. His recent success has extended to the track team, as he finished third at the Big Ten championship in his firstever 10,000-meter race last May. Van Voorhis also ran the 5,000-meter race there, earning another Top 10 finish. As for the future, the chemical engineering major has already accepted a job, but that won’t get in the way of his plans to keep running. “I’ll keep running, I’ll give it a couple years still training at the high intensity that we are right now,” he said. “My plan is to run the Chicago Marathon next fall.” Given his impressive climb through the college ranks, another strong performance likely awaits him there.

Don’t overlook importance of Stave in Badgers’ revival rushad machhi breaking shad

’ll admit it, I was wrong about Tanner McEvoy being the right starting quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. Yes, shockingly I am not infallible. You know who is very right at the moment however? None other than Joel Stave! The QB who seemed to have a hard time throwing the ball forward when he had case of the “yips” early in the season has come a long way, and is perhaps the biggest X-factor in the Badgers’ quest for a fourth Big Ten title in five years. The main job of a Wisconsin quarterback these days is to essentially get out of the way of the rushing attack while making the occasional throw to keep defenses honest. This year that could not be more true, as redshirt junior running back Melvin Gordon is posting a historical season that has him on the Heisman radar. Even when Gordon decides to be merciful and take a play or two off to rest, sophomore

back Corey Clement comes right in and continues to terrorize opposing front sevens. However, even the greatest backs will have a hard time running when defenses routinely stack the box with more than seven players, and those early struggles were no more apparent than in recent weeks against Iowa and Minnesota when both teams crowded the line of scrimmage, resulting in slow starts for Wisconsin’s vaunted running attack. The Badgers have needed a quarterback all season long to prevent this, and Stave has finally emerged as that guy. In the first quarter against Iowa, the Badgers had eight plays go for a total of 13 yards, with five of them being running plays. With the Hawkeyes clearly overplaying the run, offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig knew he had to put the ball in Stave’s hands and hope that he could make Iowa respect the pass. Stave delivered admirably in the second quarter, completing five of six passes in the period, including a crucial 12-yard pass on third-and-long to keep the drive going. Undoubtedly thanks to Stave’s second quarter, rushing lanes started to

open up in the second half as the Badgers held on for a crucial win at Iowa. The contest against the Golden Gophers started out similarly with the offense looking anemic through a quarterand-a-half largely due to the fact that Minnesota refused to let Wisconsin run the ball. One of the turning points, however, occurred when Stave completed a perfect pass to Alex Erickson on third and long that went for 70 yards. On the same drive on a thirdand-goal, Ludwig once again trusted his quarterback and Stave rewarded him with a crafty touchdown pass to Gordon. Stave continued his pinpoint passing day on the next drive by driving Wisconsin 49 yards in 18 seconds to set up a momentum swinging field goal to end the first half. As a result, Gordon and Clement were able to find a lot more daylight in the second half, where they did the majority of their damage. Stave’s turnaround has really been amazing and has recently been flat-out crucial for the Badgers. He has completed over 60 percent of his passes in four straight games and has averaged an excellent 11.1 yards per attempt

in his last two games. He also hasn’t thrown an interception since the Purdue game Nov. 8. With that kind of efficiency, teams will have to at least think about protecting the pass against the Badgers. The biggest knock on Stave last year was his deep ball accuracy and his tendency to turn the ball over. I already covered his interception-free streak, but let me also emphasize Stave’s improvement with the long ball. With defenses playing close to the line of scrimmage to hold the run, opposing cornerbacks will also crowd the line and attempt to jam their receiver while also hoping to maintain outside contain on a running play, which usually leaves the defensive back vulnerable on fly routes. Well, on two occasions against Minnesota, that exact scenario happened with Erickson getting a couple steps on his defender. In both instances, Stave delivered perfect balls that would have likely gone for enormous gains or touchdowns, leaving the defender only one choice: to interfere. On both long balls to Erickson, the cornerback covering him committed obvious pass

interference penalties, a double whammy because not only is it a 15-yard infraction, but it also forces the defense to provide more help and less press coverage to avoid such mistakes. This leads to easier runs, such as Clement’s 28-yard touchdown scamper which happened to come right after one of those pass interferences. With a solid passing attack under Stave, the Badgers’ offense only becomes that much more explosive. This weekend marks a sort of revenge game for Stave as he will try to atone for his mediocre performance against the Buckeyes a season ago. If he can maintain his recent performance, that should be no problem. I’ll let head coach Gary Andersen emphasize one last time the kind of play Stave has put up, with a direct quote from his post-Minnesota press conference: “Trust me, I’m no offensive guru, but I look at him and I think he’s a very talented quarterback playing out there right now and doing a very nice job.” How much credit does Joel Stave deserve for putting the Badgers in position to win the Big Ten? Email machhi@wisc. edu and tell him your thoughts.