The Daily Cardinal presents...
A gift guide +LIFE&STYLE, page 4
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Putting the Bo(w) on 300 +SPORTS, page 8
Complete campus coverage since 1892
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City backs students’ campaign for human rights
By Bri Maas the daily cardinal
the daily cardinal
congo page 3
UW senior wins scholarship to study in London A University of WisconsinMadison senior will attend graduate school in London next year, after winning a competitive scholarship. Senior Class Vice President and former Associated Students of Madison Chair Andrew Bulovsky is one of 34 recipients of the Marshall Scholarship, which allows recipients to attend a United Kingdom graduate program. Competition for the scholarships is steep. In 2013, only 3.6 percent of applicants received an award.
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Zombie expert, author gives advice on disaster, apocalypse survival
By Melissa Howison A group of five University of Wisconsin-Madison students elicited the support of city officials at a Common Council meeting Tuesday in their effort to advance humanitarian policies regulating the mining of conflict minerals in the Congo. Conflict minerals include gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, according to Sarah Hulbert. Hulbert, a UW-Madison student and member of the university chapter of Amnesty International, said decades of violence in the Congo can be linked to the illegal trade of these minerals, which are frequently found in American-produced electronics such as cell phones and laptops. Hulbert, along with four of her UW-Madison Amnesty International associates, welcomed the Council’s unanimous approval of a resolution symbolically declaring the city conflict-free. Since completely conflict-free technology does not yet exist, Hulbert said the Council’s action is “not financially or legally binding.” However, she said the resolution strengthens a national effort to put pressure on electronics corporations to require their mineral suppliers implement human rights policies.
+SPORTS, page 8
EMMA PANKRATZ/the daily cardinal
State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, encourages students to get involved with the Democratic party and progressive organizations.
Student group hosts women’s rights forum By Eoin Cottrell the daily cardinal
The Young Progressives, a student political organization on campus, held a women’s rights forum Tuesday called “Stand with Women,” which included a panel made up of pro-women organizations and two state representatives. State Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, state Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, and representatives from Planned Parenthood Advocates and 9to5 answered questions from The Young Progressives’ vice president, Ann Degarmo. Degarmo’s questions focused on women’s issues such as the decreasing availability to birth control and abortion, equal pay and the disparity between male and female legislators. The questions facilitated discussion among the panel that was followed up by a brief period of questions from students. The panel first discussed legislation the Wisconsin legislature approved last summer that restricts abortion access and birth control. Taylor said the worst violation of women’s rights was a bill that man-
dated vaginal ultrasounds before an abortion could be performed. “Abortion access is hanging by a thread in the state of Wisconsin,” Taylor said. Sargent said women’s rights in the workplace is an extremely important issue. She explained that not only do women make 78 cents to a man’s dollar on average in the state, but she would like to see a bill passed that would make it illegal to fire a pregnant woman who cannot perform her job during pregnancy. Both representatives agreed one of the best ways students can make a difference in the fight for women’s rights is through volunteering and getting involved in Democratic political offices. Taylor said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., inspired her to run for public office when Baldwin said that there are not enough women at the table. Sargent said the biggest reason so many bills restricting women’s rights have passed is because of the political advantage state Republican politicians
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Writer Max Brooks, the world’s foremost expert on zombies, spoke to a crowd of approximately 500 University of Wisconsin-Madison students, community members and zombie aficionados Tuesday as part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Brooks is the author of two of the most-widely read zombie books in the world, “The Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z.” Brooks says the inspiration for “The Zombie Survival Guide” came from his childhood in Southern California where he grew up with natural disasters and read many survival guides but could not find a zombie apocalypse guidebook. When he decided to write his own survival guide, Brooks said growing up in Hollywood he learned that great entertainment may not give good life lessons. “In this country we don’t know where the line is between entertainment and education anymore,” Brooks said. Applying common sense to his survival guide, Brooks wrote what he called the factual version rather than the “sexy” version. For example, he explained the overlooked but extremely important
problem of hydration during an apocalypse. “Realism might be boring, but it’s going to keep you alive,” Brooks said. Brooks, a former history major, said he studied the history of warfare in his research for “World War Z,” and every theme from the book is from history. The origin of his zombie plague, for instance, is based on the history of the SARS outbreak in China and the AIDS epidemic in the United States. While keeping the crowd laughing with jabs at a recent Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt that “conveniently” had the same name as his book, Brooks gave valuable advice about how to survive any type of disaster, including criticism. “The thing about criticism is that it only affects me when I agree with it,” Brooks said. He also explained the abilities to specialize and adapt are vital in disaster scenarios. Brooks is currently working on a comic book series, which plots zombies against vampires to explore the importance of emotional and psychological preparedness in a disaster, especially the willingness to fail. “If you’ve never had to struggle or fail, you will not be ready for adversity when it comes in your life,” Brooks said.
TOMMY YONASH/the daily cardinal
“World War Z” author Max Brooks compares his novel to the Hollywood movie featuring Brad Pitt.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”