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VERSE GONE VOCAL. Spoken poetry gains local, S national popularity. CULTURE

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Ofﬁcials outline plans for downtown growth By Evan Hall THE DAILY CARDINAL

City ofﬁcials laid out a vision for downtown Madison Wednesday at the Overture Center, launching the development of a comprehensive downtown plan for the ﬁrst time in nearly 20 years. Staff from the city’s Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development focused on preserving the fabric and character of downtown Madison, as well as offering recommendations to ensure the downtown remains the thriving heart of the city. Madison’s last comprehensive downtown planning effort, “Downtown 2000,” was adopted in 1989. Although the plan pushed forward downtown progress in many areas––including the renovation of State Street––Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the downtown needs

a fresh diagnosis. “It’s time to have another look at it and to adjust to the new realities and take advantage of all of those positive influences that we have,” Cieslewicz said. “The fundamentals of downtown Madison are terrific.” In 2004, the “Downtown Advisory Report” explored areas for development in the downtown and culminated in Madison’s “Comprehensive Plan,” adopted in 2006. Wednesday’s meeting marked the beginning of the planning task force’s development of specific strategies in the coming year through city meetings, boards and public forums. The Downtown Plan will build upon recommendations from the earlier plans concerning housing, transportation, economic development, natural and cultural resources, and land-use. downtown page 4

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Dirty dancing

CHARLIE BAKER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW-Madison students ﬁlled the MSC Satellite to participate in an exotic dance class with Exotic George on Wednesday night. The event was hosted by Sex Out Loud for Sexual Health Week.

UW to launch athlete adjustment program By Whitney Newman THE DAILY CARDINAL

CECILIA CONWAY/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Bill Fruhling, a principal planner for the City of Madison, discussed goals of the Downtown Plan at the Overture Center Wednesday.

Beginning this fall, freshmen student athletes at UW-Madison will be required to participate in the Life Skills Academy, a program that aims to help them adjust to college life as Big Ten athletes. “Our goal is to be able to expose our freshman athletes to various topics and issues that they’re going to face,” said Kelli Richards, coordinator of the program at UWMadison. “Mentors will help the students with skills like time management, learning to use campus resources, getting involved on campus … kind of a ‘learning from your mistakes’ sort of approach.”

Lawmakers compromise on Great Lakes bill By Charles Brace THE DAILY CARDINAL

Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders announced an agreement Wednesday on the Great Lakes Compact, a major environmental bill that is scheduled for a special session vote April 17. “Our Great Lakes waters in many ways deﬁne who we are, and now the Great Lakes Compact will ensure that we protect this tremendous resource while responsibly using water we need to prosper and grow,” Doyle said in a statement. The bill would stop long-distance diversions from the lakes and mandate rules regarding maintaining them. Proponents state they want to pass the bill in all states surround-

ing the Great Lakes and have the proposal approved by Congress to become law. State Sen. Mark Miller, DMonona, chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said the agreement was possible because Assembly Republicans stopped pushing for changes that would have sent the GLC back to other states for reapproval, as each state has to pass the same version. However, states are allowed some leeway in how they apply the GLC, with the recent agreement dealing with implementation language in the proposal. Miller said he thought the bill would easily pass again in the Senate,

which passed an earlier version with a 26-6 vote. Mike Bruhn, chief of staff for state Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, said the bill includes some legislative oversight provisions on a governor’s ability to change the compact. He said if a governor wants to make substantive changes to the compact, the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, made up of leaders from both houses, must approve them. Bruhn also said the special session bill is likely to pass, with Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, endorsing the recent agreement.

The Life Skills Academy is UW-Madison’s take on a larger NCAA program called Challenging Athletes’ Minds for Personal Success. According to Richards, the NCAA CHAMPS Life Skills program was started 13 years ago but only provides guidelines and resources for participating schools to expand upon topics such as career development, personal development and community outreach. The Life Skills Academy at UW-Madison is targeted more toward ﬁrst-year student athletes, Richards said. Thirty-ﬁve upper-class student athletes have been selected to serve

as Life Skills mentors this fall for the approximately 200 incoming freshman athletes. “Ideally we’re educating athletes and hopefully making their transition to college easier, and then on the ﬂip side, we’re giving the athlete mentors a chance to be a leader outside of their sport,” Richards said. The program will focus on academic issues, such as time management and test-taking, as well as social issues like alcohol, sexual assault and nutrition. “In the past we’ve provided a lot of these programs for athletes, athletes page 3

UW faculty earn Guggenheim Fellowships

KIESSLING

WOLFE

SCHWENDINGER

SHIU

Four UW-Madison professors received 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship Awards Wednesday. This year’s recipients include biochemistry professor Laura Kiessling, associate music professor Laura Schwendinger, associate physics professor Gary Shiu and La Follette School of Public Affairs Director Barbara Wolfe. The professors are among 190 total recipients selected from more than 2,600 applicants.

great lakes page 4

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

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TODAY: rain hi 41º / lo 40º

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Matt matures, voices concern over changes

Volume 117, Issue 122

2142 Vilas Communication Hall 821 University Avenue Madison, Wis., 53706-1497 (608) 262-8000 l fax (608) 262-8100 News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Managing Editor News Editor Campus Editor City Editor State Editor Opinion Editors Arts Editors Sports Editors Features Editor Food Editor Science Editor Photo Editors Graphics Editors Copy Chiefs Copy Editors

Jill Klosterman Jamie McMahon Jillian Levy Amanda Hoffstrom Abby Sears Charles Brace Rachel Sherman Mark Thompson Emma Condon Ryan Hebel Nate Carey Ryan Reszel Sarah Nance Marly Schuman Jennifer Evans Jacob Ela Amanda Salm Meg Anderson Matt Riley Andrew Dambeck Al Morrell Gabe Ubatuba Rebecca Autrey Ben Breiner, Greg Grocholski Amanda Jutrzonka, Alex Kuskowski Kate Manegold, Patricia Mo Shana Pradeep, Amanda Roberson Matthew Taylor, Kami York-Feirn

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Babu Gounder Assistant Business Manager Alex Kusters Advertising Manager Marissa Gallus Web Director Christopher Guess Account Executives Natalie Kemp Sarah Resimius, Tom Shield Marketing Director Sheila Phillips Assistant Marketing Director Jeff Grimyser Creative Designer Joe Farrell Accounts Receivable Manager Jonathan Prod Archivists Raighne Mitchell-Luft Erin Schmidtke The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. 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. 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 typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than 200 words, including contact information. Letters may be sent to letters@dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board Kyle Dropp Dan Heidenreich Dave Heller Jill Klosterman John Leppanen Jamie McMahon Rachel Sherman Mark Thompson l

Board of Directors Marissa Gallus Babu Gounder Nik Hawkins Tim Kelley Jill Klosterman Janet Larson Chris Long Benjamin Sayre Adam Schmidt Terry Shelton Jeff Smoller Jason Stein l

FRIDAY: rain hi 50º / lo 35º

MATT HUNZIKER his dark matterials

alfway through my 12th birthday, my voice dropped from the grating soprano that causes people to resent children to the sub-audible seismic rumbling that causes people to resent earthquakes. Wondering why I had been dealt such an unlucky card, I spent weeks protesting my fate in a lumbering cadence that I stubbornly refused to recognize as my own. Then I looked around at my friends and realized I hadn’t been singled out for punishment. The ravages of puberty struck everyone differently, with the main similarity being how little thought seemed to have been given toward its coordination. Each physical transformation proceeded at a pace completely independent of every other one to the point that, on a ﬁeld trip, our middle school class closely resembled

an escaped colony of freaks. My classmates suddenly sported beards like prehistoric nomads or breasts that caused chiropractic issues. I spoke as though I’d grown up with Muzzy as a speech coach. I didn’t particularly mind being addressed as “sir” by telemarketers while my bearded friend was routinely complimented for being “such a helpful little girl” when taking messages from long-distance phone companies. However, as my voice plummeted in register, my rate of speech came almost to a standstill. It sounded as if someone had recorded my voice onto a collection of LPs and then started playing them back at half-speed. I was blissfully unaware of this until I came home from school one afternoon and caught a voicemail I’d left earlier in the day. “Hiiiiiiiii, thhhhissss issss Mmmmmotttttt. Iiiii Forrgoootttt myyy shooooes.” The two sentences yawned out monotonously over the course of half-a-minute, vowels inexplicably broadened, testing the patience of the

New Beer Thursday Raison D’Etre a belgian strong dark ale Possibly the patron saint beer of the Enlightenment and beet farmers, Raison D’Etre goes a long way in explaining Dogfish Head’s reigning status as the oddball champ of the craft brewing world. Brewed with beet sugars and green raisins, the beer offers a drinkable, yet still sharp counterpoint to the brewery’s tongue-withering IPAs. Raison D’Etre pours and tastes dark brown. Expect a bitter woody current that occasionally gives way to sunny sweetness. The beer is a bit overcarbonated, and the ingredients don’t always mesh as well as they should. However, it’s an interesting and enticing flavor overall. It’s strange to say, but Raison D’Etre tastes like varnish, but in a good way—in the “I’m walking through a freshly stained house” kind of way, and not in the “I’m huffing wood stain in my basement” kind of way. Incidentally, the Daily Cardinal does not advocate huffing in any way. More puzzling is the overall classifi-

cation of the beer. It’s too bitter to be a Belgian, not bitter enough to be an IPA, too light to be a stout and too dark to be a standard ale. It’s a hybrid for sure, and Dogﬁsh Head thrives in estuaries like this. At 8 percent alcohol, this beer is a stiff one, although a far cry from the 21 percent rating of Dogﬁsh Head’s 90-minute IPA. Its drinkability is pretty solid as well. We wouldn’t polish off six of these at a time, but it’s a beer that’s easy to drink more than two of before switching over. So, if the existential drive resides within you and you want a “reason for being,” Raison D’Etre might not offer that exactly, but solid beer is just as good and easier to prove.

Dogﬁsh Head Craft Brewery • Milton, Del. $7.99 at Riley’s Wines of the World

answering machine tape. Never before self-conscious about my speech, I had always loved the sound of my own voice as I had been allowed to know it. Unfortunately, this idealized version playing over and over inside my head had nothing to do with the sounds that actually issued from my lips. Doubtful that I would one day grow into my new voice and start speaking as a normal human again— just as I thought I’d never get used to being an additional foot taller and stop falling down the stairs—I faced two options. The first was to face an eternity of silence. The second was to abandon my native tongue and choose a new dialect, something that would stop people from asking if I had recently emigrated from an anonymous European country known for its slow-talking heritage. Despite the thousands of miles between Minnesota and California and the fact that I had never seen the Pacific Ocean, surfer slang seemed, to me, a fine choice, and I began practicing my “Dude’s” and “Whoa Man’s”

For the record

with enthusiasm. Because I wasn’t able to completely stamp out my northern roots, the ﬁnal product of my efforts drew unwelcome comparisons to how Pauly Shore might have sounded if he had been tragically miscast for a role in “Fargo.” Had there been a larger crossover audience between the Coen brothers and “Bio-Dome,” my experiment might have been more successful. As it was, the positive side of the situation was that I was eventually able to grow out of my adopted dialect. By the time this happened, I had already begun to notice the next wave of age-related transformations, but, having learned my lesson, I’d resolved to handle these with more patience. In another 20 years, the silver patches in my hair will compare favorably to friends who are losing theirs. When that day comes, I hope I’ll think back to our traumatic pre-teen years and realize that I’m still not too mature to mock them. Connnnntaccccttttt Mmmmooooottttttttttttt at hunziker@wisc.edu.

Corrections or clariﬁcations? Call The Daily Cardinal ofﬁce at 608-262-8000 or send an e-mail to edit@dailycardinal.

MORGRIDGE CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Now Hiring Student Staff for 2008-09 APPLICATION DEADLINE: APRIL 11, 2008 Find applications and position descriptions at www.morgridge.wisc.edu/students/hiring.html Positions include: *Campus Liaison *Community Liaison *Marketing Intern *Service-Learning Fellows *Special Projects Intern *Americorps*VISTA position *Summer Program Intern *Student Organization Outreach Coordinator

Find yourself through service to others Red Gym, Room 154 716 Landgon Street Madison, WI 53706 morgridge@union.wisc.edu 608-263-2432

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Report shows income gap in Wis. By Charles Brace THE DAILY CARDINAL

A Wednesday report showed the income gap between Wisconsin’s rich and poor is increasing, with the disparity worse than it was 20 years ago. Two non-profit groups, the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, conducted the study. “Inequality is a political problem,” COWS Director Joel Rogers said. “It makes fewer people willing to help pay for critical public goods, like education, which further increases inequality.” The report stated Wisconsin is ranked 11th in terms of equal distribution of incomes, but the state was ranked ﬁfth in the 1980s. Increasing the minimum wage in

the state and reforming the tax code to lessen the burden on lower-income workers would reverse the current trends, according to the report. According to the report, it would also help to reform the unemployment system in the state and advance public awareness of BadgerCare Plus, the state health insurance program for low-income workers. Jon Peacock, WCCF research director, said the main reason for the increase in disparity is the growing global economy, which has led to a decrease in manufacturing jobs in the state. Peacock said globalization also increased poverty overall in the state. He said more training for low-income workers, combined with other propos-

UW stem-cell support institute names new executive director WiCell Research Institute, a private, non-profit supporting organization of UW-Madison stem-cell researchers, named its executive director Wednesday. Erik Forsberg, who currently has a partial faculty appointment in the university’s surgery department, will become the first full-time executive director of WiCell. “Over the past six months, we conducted an international search for an executive director for WiCell, and are extremely fortunate to have found the best candidate right here in Madison,” Carl Gulbrandsen, president of the research institute, said in a statement. “Erik brings to WiCell impressive academic credentials, an innovative scientific background and hands-on commercial and management experience. These strengths, combined with his in-depth knowledge of UWMadison and the international scientific community, make him an excep-

athletes from page 1 but we haven’t necessarily targeted our freshman,” Richards said. First-year athletes and mentors will be required to attend six largegroup meetings throughout the academic year. Bridget Warren, UW-Madison athletic academic advisor and co-coordinator of the Life Skills Academy, said the structure of the program will do a better job of starting freshmen off with a good foundation. “Before [the academy], the students could choose to go to any events that they wanted,” Warner said. “This way we can pick the topics that we think the young studentathletes need and know that they’re for sure going to get that program throughout the year.” UW-Madison senior and member of the women’s track team Kira Cerroni said she sees the Life Skills Academy as a beneﬁcial program for younger athletes. “As a freshman, you miss out on dorm life because you’re at the stadium so much, and it’s really helpful to have teammates around who have been in your situation and can give you suggestions,” she said. “Responsibility is a big thing, and it’s important to encourage younger athletes to make smart choices when it comes to being a student athlete. It’s important to learn how to balance a social life, athletics and academics.” Warren said the focus on life skills

tional leader for WiCell.” Janet Kelly, communications director for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, said Gulbrandsen served as WiCell’s part-time executive director while also serving as the managing director of WARF. “WiCell has grown to the point where it really needed a full-time executive director,” Kelly said. “In the last couple of years, it’s expanded both its services and its staff and much of its growth has been due to its operation of the National Stem Cell Bank and so it was recognized that WiCell needed it’s own full-time dedicated executive director.” Forsberg received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and a doctorate in physiological and pharmacological sciences from the University of Chicago. Forsberg has also served on the UW-Madison Masters of Science in Biotechnology Advisory Board. —Amanda Hoffstrom was what made UW-Madison’s Life Skills Academy stand out from similar programs at other universities. “A lot of times universities focus on leadership, but a lot of coaches teach leadership already,” she said. “To hear life skills advice from a peer leader, someone closer to your age, someone who’s been there … it just makes more of an impact.”

als, would help reverse the current trends in a short amount of time. However, the proposals advocated in the report are likely to face opposition in the state Legislature. Leaders in the Republican-controlled Assembly oppose raising the minimum wage and criticized Gov. Jim Doyle when he proposed it in his January economic initiatives. Republicans also opposed increasing the Homestead Tax Credit for low-income families in the last session, which, according to Peacock, has not been adjusted to keep up with inﬂation. Peacock said the recent problems in the state budget are likely to put pressure on “safety net” programs for poor residents.

Disparities in state wealth levels Average incomes slow to increase The bottom fifth of incomes increased 7.3 percent, or $1,369, since the 1980s. The top fifth of incomes increased by 35.6 percent, or $31,600. Middle income families increased by only 14.1 percent. Ratios continue with upward trends The richest residents earned 4.7 times what the poorest earned in the late 1980s. The wealthiest residents now earn six times what the poorest earn. Proposals face uphill battle The report’s analysts said increasing the minimum wage would help current trends, but Assembly Republicans oppose doing so. Many lawmakers also oppose increasing funding for some job training programs because of the state’s financial crisis. Source: Center on Wisconsin Strategy, WCCF

news

Thursday, April 10, 2008

downtown from page 1 “We are starting a process that will unfold over the next year,” said Bill Fruhling, one of the principal planners for the Downtown Plan. He added that the Downtown Plan will provide “the next step in the evolution of downtown.” Among the more substantial recommendations of the Downtown Plan include expanding retail on King Street, East Wilson Street, the State Street District and the Capitol Square. The Plan also includes developing future commuter rail stations and laying the groundwork for a commuter rail system, as well as expanding on-street parking. Fruhling said some of the problems the ongoing planning process would tackle are the water quality in lakes, creating affordable housing and dealing with the homeless and transient population in downtown Madison. “There are a lot of issues and a lot of changes that have occurred in the downtown since our last comprehensive planning effort for downtown,” Fruhling said. Mark A. Olinger, director of the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development said the Downtown Plan aims to maintain the downtown as a center for government, education employment and culture. The question the Downtown Plan will address, Olinger said, is “How do we maintain a vibrant, dynamic core when so many of other things around us are going in a different direction?” In the end, Olinger said, it is the people of the city—the fabric of the downtown—that matters most. “While we think about these sometimes as individual projects, I suggest to everybody that cities are still about people, still about interaction, still about how we deal with each other on a daily basis.”

great lakes from page 1 “I imagine this will have overwhelming bipartisan support,” Bruhn said. Keith Reopelle, program director at the environmental group Clean Wisconsin, said the GLC does not change current laws regarding property owner rights over groundwater, which some previous critics alleged. He said the recent agreement would also take effect as soon as the governor signs it, unlike in other states where it does not become law until passed by Congress.

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Green business owner discourages oil use By Ashley Finke THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies hosted a presentation Wednesday in recognition of Gaylord Nelson’s contributions to the well-being of the environment. Nelson is a former Wisconsin governor and the ofﬁcial founder of Earth Day.

“Somebody is going to have to kick Exxon’s ass.” Michel Gelobter founder Cooler Inc.

Michel Gelobter, founder of the carbon-offset firm Cooler Inc., a business that provides carbon-neutral goods and services to consumers and retailers, spoke to the Madison community about global warming.

Gelobter stressed how climate change is a justice issue and said there is an unequal allocation of energy resources in the world. He said the United States went to war for oil, a war that has led to signiﬁcant injustices in the countries it affects. According to Gelobter, the war in Iraq will end up costing $3 trillion by the time it is over. He said all of the money put toward the war effort could be allocated to the entire population of Wisconsin and Illinois and would allow each and every person to live an afﬂuent lifestyle. Gelobter said the nation must work together to put Exxon Mobile out of business. “Somebody is going to have to kick Exxon’s ass,” he said. “Unshackle yourselves, throw off the chains and take a crowbar to the kneecaps of the dinosaur industries, just take them down.” “The past 300 million years of history we have put up into the sky,” Gelobter said. He even quoted

a line from Joni Mitchell’s song “Big Yellow Taxi” and said, “We paved paradise to put up a parking lot.” Cooler Inc.’s mission is to connect every purchase to a solution for global warming. Gelobter said it

is currently more efﬁcient to make a backpack in Vietnam than the United States because they use less carbon in the entire process. “Green people are just feel-good people,” he said.

AMANDA SALM/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Michel Gelobter of Cooler Inc. addresses energy resource and global warming issues Wednesday night in Humanities.

featuresculture dailycardinal.com/features

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Breaking the line and leaving the page After being cast to the bottom of bookshelves and cut from class readings, spoken word might just give poetry a new breath of life Story by Sarah Nance

omewhere between Dr. Seuss and E.E. Cummings, students are wandering away from poetry and not returning— even as the American poetry scene continues to develop, albeit for an increasingly dwindling audience.

“I really believe this is a tremendously exciting time for poetry in this century,” Kelly Cherry, professor emeritus of English at UWMadison, said. “[There is] such a wide range of poets and of poetic styles that I just feel tremendously encouraged by it.” However, many students never get exposed to the new boundary pushers in poetry, according to Laurel Yourke, who teaches poetry and ﬁction through the department of liberal studies and the arts at UW-Madison. “If traditional poetry is going to be taught, it has to be done in a special way,” Yourke said. “There are all these exciting new things, but I think students and the general public are not aware of them.” The small audience size doesn’t worry Cherry, who said poetry has long only appealed to a relatively niche audience. “Except maybe during one point during the Victorian period, poetry’s never been a mass sport,” Cherry said. Two roads diverged That may all be changing, though. Poetry’s popularity is on the rise, but it’s not selling traditonal poetry books. Instead, some of the most renowned new poets are speaking their minds. Spoken word poetry

has been gaining momentum as a movement for a while now, according to Josh Healy, program director for the First Wave program at UWMadison. First Wave unites a group of 15 student poets, painters, performers and spoken word artists to perform and learn on campus and nationwide. “[Spoken word] is exciting, it’s fast, it’s fresh and it’s become part of youth culture and become part of what’s cool,” Healy said. “It makes poetry cool, which is not always what we have when we read Shakespeare in high school.”

“This is a tremendously exciting time for poetry in this century.” Kelly Cherry professor emeritus UW-Madison

Spoken word combines the language of poetry with the performance aspect of the stage, which is how poetry originally started, according to Healy. “Poetry began as an oral tradition,” he said. “Poetry began before people wrote it down. Poetry began as telling stories.”

Healy, a spoken word artist himself, oversees the First Wave students as they learn and compete. This is the inaugural year for the program and students for next year’s program have already been chosen. For UW freshman and First Wave member Jair Alvarez, spoken word is taking poetry to new heights. “I think it speaks to you on a different level,” Alvarez said. “When you read a book, you read it, and it speaks to you in a way, but it’s not something you can share with a lot of people.” According to Healy, artists like Tupac Shakur and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, as well as media coverage such as HBO’s “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” have popularized spoken word and received public acclaim. “It’s about using poetry and art as a way to build community,” Healy said. Krystal Gartley, another First Wave student and a UW-Madison freshman, agreed. “You just get on stage and you say your words, how you feel,” Gartley said. “As long as it deﬁnes who you are, if it’s from you and if it’s original, that’s what really makes it come alive on stage.” Even with the appeals of watching poetry performed, however, the written word offers an experience that can’t be replaced, according to Cherry. “I think there are things you can do in written poetry that you can’t do in spoken poetry, and things you can do in spoken poetry that you can’t do in written poetry,” Cherry said. “I see them as complementary, as two direc-

MATT RILEY/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Speaking out: upcoming events 5th Annual Wisconsin Teen Poetry Slam What: When:

Details:

Grand Slam Finals Saturday, April 12 7 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater $5 student tickets available at the Orpheum, 216 State St.

Line Breaks: The Remix What:

When: Details: Featuring:

Line Breaks Showcase: Hip-Hop on the Main Stage Thursday, April 24 7 p.m. at Memorial Union Theater $5 student tickets available at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Ofﬁce Marc Bamuthi Jones (host) First Wave Hip-Hop Theater Ensemble

April 22 - April 25: Hip-Hop as a Movement Week For event details, visit www.omai.wisc.edu.

tions that are not, however, pulling against each other.” Healy sees the two aspects of poetry in a similar way. “A lot of people talk about the page versus the stage, like they’re opposites,” Healy said. “Really, they’re just brother and sister, same sides of the coin, and some people gravitate toward one for whatever reason.” Alvarez, who writes both poetry for the page and poetry for performance, sees a necessity for both forms. “You can never take away what you do on the page with performance and vice versa,” Alvarez said. “They’re different but beautiful in their own ways.”

are in an oral tradition again, but who would want to throw out the centuries in between?” Yourke agreed with the need to keep promoting written poetry as well as spoken word. “If slam poetry gets more people listening to poetry, I’m all for it,” Yourke said. “But I think it’s just one part of the whole experience of poetry.”

The perfect time for rhyme Although spoken word is getting youth across the country involved with poetry, the future of the often-neglected genre is a little uncertain, according to Yourke. “Poetry has a bad rap and we haven’t had a person who has the energy and the skills to change that,” Yourke said. “What we really need is for Oprah to decide she loves poetry.” Not everyone is sold on the idea of poetry leaving the page, either. “My own allegiance is to the kind of poetry that can be visited and revisited on a page,” Cherry said. “Some of the greatest poetry ever written is for the page. Not all of it; go back to Homer. There we

The key, according to Healy, is to get students involved in poetry in any way possible. “Poetry is not just your 60year-old white guy reading out of a book at Barnes & Noble,” Healy said. “It is that, for sure, but it’s not just that. If you’re trying to get students excited about anything, you have to give them something that they understand and is relevant to their lives.” Additionally, Madison as a city is a good place for spoken word to take off, Healy said. “Spoken word is at the stage of kind of maturing and growing up,” Healy said. “The goal is to really make [Madison] a center for spoken word culture and art. I think it’s going to happen.”

“What we really need is for Oprah to decide she loves poetry.” Laurel Yourke faculty associate UW-Madison

arts ‘Peter Pan’ hooks Madison 6

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

By Ryan Hebel THE DAILY CARDINAL

The second star to the right will shine above the Overture Center this weekend when the Madison Ballet’s production of “Peter Pan” soars above the stage, sprinkling pixie dust over young and old viewers alike. Heading the production is W. Earle Smith, Madison Ballet’s artistic director and choreographer for the past nine years. New to the Madison Ballet’s gamut, “Peter Pan” stands in sharp contrast to the typical ballet, calling on the director to pay attention to acting and storytelling as opposed to just endless sprees of unpronounceable maneuvers. It’s this difference that attracted Smith to the project in the first place. “I chose to do ‘Peter Pan’ basically because it’s a little more of a guy’s ballet as opposed to, you know, that real kind of fluffy story,” Smith said, adding he wanted to direct a ballet that was “a little more action-packed and more swashbuckling.” With sword fights, ornery pirates and epic battles, “Peter Pan” offers plenty of both. Still, its most ground-breaking departure from traditional ballet is... well, get-

ting the dancers to leave the ground. Unfortunately for Smith, finding a way to make his dancers fly required more than just telling them to “think of a wonderful thought.” Choreographing graceful movements for his dancers to perform 20 feet in the air was tricky enough, but the real challenge Smith faced was coordinating a system of wires and pulleys so complex that, from backstage, it seems more spectacular than the fairy magic it imitates. When it comes to the dancers themselves, flying can be a little intimidating at first. Nikki Wilson, who plays Peter Pan, was a bit unsure about hooking up to the high-flying, whizzing wires at first. “I thought I would be more apprehensive about it or little bit afraid, but once you get up there it’s so much fun,” she said. Airborne twirling might sound thrilling at first, but you can’t just strap in and fly off to Neverland in one try. Instead, Wilson and the cast trained 19 hours in just two days to practice their gravity-defying stunts. All that practice is crucial because things don’t always go smoothly at first,

and the dancers constantly deal with the threat of being tossed into set walls, furniture and other cast members like kites in a car wash drying cycle. Jennifer Tierney, who plays Wendy, said this production was unique for her because of the relationships she formed with the backstage crew. “The stage hands were our dance partners,” Tierney said. “After a flying sequence, you look offstage to give the little ‘air high five’ to the people who are really doing it for you.” The stage hands must also be even more attentive than usual, according to Smith. Although the element of flight makes “Peter Pan” different from other ballets, Smith’s production is distinct from other versions of “Peter Pan” as well. For instance, while most versions of “Peter Pan” portray Tinker Bell with some sort of luminescent gadget, Smith decided to cast the role out. According to Smith, the additional dancer (Beth Heneghan), gives the ballet “more texture” and a chance for him to choreograph the whirlwind speed of a fairy. Fans of the story will be glad to hear the ballet rarely deviates from the original plot. The entire cast is represented, including a dancing version of Nana (Quinton Guthier)—to watch over Michael (Sam Taylor) and John (Ted Ballard)—as well as the hungry crocodile (Elyse Snyder) to chase after Captain Hook (Bryan Cunningham). Whether in search of dazzling effects, brilliant music (by the Madison Symphony Orchestra) or just don’t want to grow up, “Peter Pan” should have something for everyone.

The Madison Ballet presents ‘Peter Pan’ where: Capitol Theatre in the Overture Center when: April 12 - 13 cost: Starting at $33 at www.madisonballet.org

PHOTOS BY ISABEL ALVAREZ

Top: Peter Pan (Nikki Wilson) and Wendy’s daughter, Jane (Anna Slukvin), practice ﬂying through the nursery window during rehearsal. Middle: Jennifer Tierney practices her spins while preparing to play Wendy. Bottom: Sam Taylor (on bed) and Ted Ballard (airborne) learn to ﬂy.

‘Ofﬁce’ spinoff could easily tailspin CASEY MYSLIWY in case of emergency

f there is one big revelation I have had about the culture of television, it is this: Finding a person who doesn’t like “The Office” is almost impossible. It’s one of those lucky shows everyone seems to be fond of, and even if they don’t follow it regularly, any mention of the series will at least get a whimsical little chuckle out of even the most cynical TV viewer. Well, “The Office” fans had reason to rejoice last week, as NBC announced that a spinoff of “The Office” will air in 2009. The new series will premiere after the Superbowl, a slot that attests to the immense success and popularity of “The Office.” No details have been released yet, but that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating which character from “The Office” will the new show feature and what hilarious exploits said character will be up to. Now, I don’t mean to spoil everyone’s fun, but when I heard the news about the spinoff, I hesitated before jumping on the party wagon with everyone else. Before “Office” fans across the world condemn me to

the ﬁres of hell for my skepticism, know that it’s not because I dislike “The Ofﬁce.” It’s because that little word—“spinoff”—can either make or break a TV show, and there is usually no in-between. Spinoffs are tricky that way: They can either win fans over completely or leave them totally disappointed.

Finding a person who doesn’t like “The Ofﬁce” is almost impossible.

Take “Joey,” the godforsaken “Friends” spinoff that most of us wish we could erase from our memories forever. The show seemed to start off OK, even winning a People’s Choice Award, but ratings steadily declined as people realized just how much of a train wreck “Joey” was. The acting was horrible and the characters didn’t resonate with audiences, but even more than that, the character of Joey just didn’t work as a lead role. In an ensemble cast like that of “Friends,” Joey was able to work off the other characters successfully. On his own, the character just didn’t succeed the same way.

But there are rare spinoffs that end up doing quite well. “Private Practice,” a spinoff of “Grey’s Anatomy,” ended up with one of the most-watched season premieres of September, despite its unfavorable reception from critics. The key to the show’s ratings was keeping the tone and style of the series as similar to “Grey’s Anatomy” as possible but tweaking the setting and the characters just enough to make “Private Practice” stand on its own. With so many hit-or-miss spinoffs out there, it’s tough to predict whether or not the one proposed for “The Office” is a good idea. Much like “Friends,” the strength of “The Office” is its ensemble cast. My fear is that removing one of those characters from the show to stick in a spinoff could mean disaster for the winning formula “The Office” has perfected. Of course, if it’s done right, the spinoff could be a huge hit. If the show’s creators follow the example set by “Private Practice,” the show could easily win over audiences. We’ll have to wait until 2009 to find out just what the spinoff is made of, but until then, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that this one will be a hit. Baffled Casey would even suggest the failure of a show called ‘Dwight?’ Put her stapler in Jell-O or just send your outraged e-mails to mysliwy@wisc.edu.

featuresscience

dailycardinal.com/science

Thursday, April 10, 2008

BILL ANDREWS one in a billion

Bad morning mouth pushes Bill to widen breath of knowledge

Find love through meditation

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Scientists believe meditation may lead to more compassion By Jennifer Evans THE DAILY CARDINAL

cott Fenton knew he had to do something when his anxiety began interrupting his sleep during the ﬁnal stage of his training to become a psychologist. In search of an alternative to medication, he turned to meditation, and within four weeks, he said he began to see an improvement in his life. “[Meditation] was a simple concept— being with your own breath ... I found it relaxing,” Fenton said. Now, six years since he ﬁrst began experimenting with meditation, Fenton works as a psychologist and meditation instructor at University Health Services, where he regularly witnesses how meditation can improve a person’s outlook on life. “We all have [opinions about] how we should be and what our grades should be, and when they don’t happen, we think we did something wrong,” Fenton said. “Meditation is simply the practice of being with what is and letting go of all thoughts and judgments ... [it is] the practice of self-compassion.” Although meditation begins by focusing one’s thoughts internally, UW-Madison researchers recently discovered meditation can also lead people to become more compassionate toward others. “Meditation is simply the practice of being with what is and letting go of all thoughts and judgments ... [it is] the practice of self-compassion.” Scott Fenton psychologist University Health Services

In the first study of its kind, Richard Davidson, a UW-Madison professor of psychiatry and psychology, and Antoine Lutz, a UW-Madison associate scientist,

found trained practitioners of compassion-meditation have a higher sensitivity toward the emotions of others than novice meditators. The scientists reported their findings online March 25 in the scientific journal Public Library of Science One. Compassion-meditation is a form of Tibetan meditation that focuses on the virtuous wish of happiness for all people. “The point of our study was to see if loving kindness can be learned like chess,” Lutz said. Just like training to become a doctor or baseball player sharpens the regions of the brain fundamental to an expert’s profession, Lutz explained scientists also believed the brain could be trained to be more compassionate.

“Our results suggest we can train [our] culture in compassion and kindness.” Antoine Lutz associate scientist UW-Madison

Using an fMRI—a technique that allows researchers to track the brain’s response in real-time—Lutz compared the brain activity of individuals with more than 10,000 hours of compassion-meditation practice to individuals with only one week of practice. Compassion meditation begins with meditators concentrating on their wishes of “well-being and freedom from all suffering” for a person they love, Lutz explained. After visualizing loved ones, meditators then expand their wishes of compassion for a person they don’t know or even dislike. During the experiment, participants were asked to practice compassion-meditation while listening to emotionally charged sounds, such as a baby laughing and a “distressed” woman. Compared to novice meditators, experts demonstrated higher brain activity in the insula and the temporo-parietal juncture (TPJ) in response to the emotional cues— two regions that Lutz calls the “empathy regions of the brain.” According to Lutz, the insula is involved

in “sharing the emotions of others” and the TPJ “helps humans to try to understand someone else.” “Our results suggest we can train [our] culture in compassion and kindness ... and areas of the brain play an important role in empathy and perspective taking,” Lutz said. “This now opens the door to study how meditation itself will change brain circuitry in individuals.” The ability to teach individuals compassion through meditation may potentially be used as a therapy to help people with depression or anger problems, Lutz added. “Let’s face it, our culture celebrates anger and violence,” said Greta Guenther, UHS psychiatric nurse practitioner and meditation instructor. Instead, compassion meditation offers a way for people to find peace through nonviolence and freedom from anger, she added. Guenther experienced the healing nature of compassion meditation in her own life when, after 17 months of meditation, she was able to put a 15-year-old feud behind her. “Practicing compassion doesn’t make you stupid or a doormat or weak; it only fills you with love and wisdom and makes you stronger,” Guenther said. Although the healing effects of compassion-meditation vary between individuals, Guenther said students in her meditation classes often report improved sleep, study and attitude. For Fenton, the true test of a person’s compassion for others must start by developing a love for oneself. “Practicing compassion doesn’t make you stupid or a doormat or weak; it only fills you with love and wisdom and makes you stronger.” Greta Guenther meditation instructor University Health Services

“We can’t take care of others without ﬁrst taking care of ourselves,” Fenton said. “Once we ﬁnd peace and contentment, we can offer it to others.” Both Fenton and Guenther offer noncredit meditation classes at UW-Madison through UHS.

’ve never been much of a morning person. Mornings are just something to be endured, gotten through as quickly as possible. The other day, though, my usual morning speed hit an unexpected bump: crazy morning breath. Now, the more observant among you may have noticed that I am a guy, a species not generally known for its fastidious grooming habits. I mean no disrespect to those fellas who work extra hard to keep clean—for all I know, you may be the majority, and most of my friends and I are the minority. Thus, waking up with a bit of funkiness going on is not unusual for me, and I’m OK with it. But this breath was truly awful. It was like my mouth had gone through my memory bank of worst-breath encounters and made me a little mix-tape; some garlic here, some curry there and a pervading taste of feet. I probably would have gagged had I not immediately gone to brush my teeth, throwing my whole morning rhythm out of whack. The rest of the day, it haunted me. What the heck happened to my mouth? I’m a firm believer in the gospel according to evolution, so anything that happens with us must have some evolutionary advantage. What possible evolutionary benefit might some stank breath bring me? I worried my breath would suffer a relapse over the night or, worse, sink to even newer depths. Eventually I did what anyone with a problem should do: I asked for help. I tried calling up some local Madison scientists, but somehow not many were willing to talk about bad breath. Eventually, through a series of referrals and awkward voice mails, I found someone willing to help me out. Richard Sherwood, an assistant professor in the department of community health at Wright State University in Ohio, said breath odor was a matter of sexual attraction. As a guy, I suppose I should have guessed. Before getting to the sexy stuff, though, Sherwood explained we have bacteria in our mouths to help with digestion, and bad breath is a result of such mouth bacteria going awry. Normally, saliva helps keep things under control, but when your mouth is open for a long time, such as during sleep or when you eat lots of sweet things, bacteria in your mouth can start to run amok. But what I really wanted to know was why this reaction had evolved along with us. “A lot has to do with smells in recognizing mates,” Sherwood said. “Humans actually have a very good sense of smell and use it all the time when finding mates.” He mentioned as an example the strong sense of personality evoked by smelling someone’s used shirt. Along with the memories that the smell triggers are all the subconscious decisions about how good a mate that person would be. Sherwood suggested pheromones—the chemicals insects use in mating, which are rumored to also play a role in human attraction—may also play a part in regulating breath quality. So, basically, I’d been looking at the evolutionary reason for my crazy breath the wrong way: Instead of looking for what advantages it gave me, I should’ve been looking at what liabilities it saddled me with. In this case, it seems like either a bad night’s sleep with my mouth open or too many sweets the night before, which is not improbable for me. Either way, I had an explanation for my dreaded morning breath, and I knew I could stop worrying about a lifetime of gum chewing and Tic-Tac carrying. I breathed a sigh of relief and knew my mornings were once again safe from unwanted interruptions. Have bacteria running amok in your mouth, causing an unwanted stank? Tell Bill about it at science@dailycardinal.com.

comics 8

dailycardinal.com/comics

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Today’s Sudoku

Writing a mildly creative Sudoku difﬁculty every day

Beeramid

By Ryan Matthes beeramid_comic@yahoo.com

Mega Dude Squad

By Stephen Guzetta and Ryan Lynch rplynch@wisc.edu

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.

It’s kind of like NASCAR.

Dwarfhead and Narwhal

By James Dietrich jbdietrich@wisc.edu

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

The Crackles

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com SOMETHING TO DO ACROSS

1 Corduroy rib 5 Alaska’s is nearly 600,000 square miles 9 Keep from desiccating 14 An accomplice to, as a plot 15 Equipment 16 San Antonio tourist destination 17 Breeding horse 18 Be deserving of 19 1960 debate participant 20 Kids’ pastime 23 Absorbed, as a cost 24 Rep. in court 25 Wrote 27 Big name in criticism 30 Aviated effortlessly 32 Arcing toss 33 Unaccented, as syllables 36 Beautiful swimmer 39 Flappers’ hairdos 41 Turkish province or its capital 42 Hardly racy 43 Asian nursemaid 44 They have their reservations 46 Part of a famous soliloquy

47 Lowest points 49 Onion and garlic relatives 51 Part of a cardinal’s attire 53 Sting operators? 55 Polar drudge 56 Light, teasing repartee 62 Soviet prison camp 64 90 degrees, on a compass 65 “Summertime,’’ for one 66 Brick dried in the sun 67 Not just for now 68 Tobacco containers 69 Comparatively modern 70 Be dependent (on) 71 It may be found near a drain DOWN

1 Birthday party tradition 2 Disapproving of 3 Like obnoxiously colored clothes 4 Make beloved 5 William Morris employee 6 Poised for action 7 What otoscopes examine 8 British composer Thomas 9 Assigned standings to 10 One attending Yale 11 Fluctuate in intensity

12 Be a drama queen 13 Not ﬂabby 21 Lead-in to “boy!’’ or “girl!’’ 22 Like DeMille ﬁlms 26 Hatching post? 27 1814-15 exile site 28 Bust alternative 29 Emulate a tide 30 Itsy-bitsy biters 31 Waiter’s place 34 Gauguin’s paradise 35 Olfactory perception 37 In a crazed frenzy 38 Clears, on a pay stub 40 Bygone Iranian despot 45 Inuit conveyance 48 Cloak’s partner 50 Beverly Hills home, stereotypically 51 One of King Lear’s daughters 52 Avoid or dodge 53 Swiss city on the Rhine 54 Your ticket permits it 57 Avoid a collision 58 Roofer’s concern 59 Hot and dry 60 Compassionate 61 Word used to calm people down 63 Honest Lincoln

By Simon Dick srdick@wisc.edu

Anthro-apology

By Eric Wigdahl wigdahl@wisc.edu

...OR HERE W: 35 p 2 H: 14 p 7

opinion dailycardinal.com/opinion

Thursday, April 10, 2008

view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.

statewide smoking ban a necessity

n recent weeks, a number of developments have made the need for a statewide smoking ban even more pressing. Municipalities throughout the state continue to enact local restrictions on smoking, making lives more difficult for business owners and residents alike. Also, a new study lends support for a universal smoking ban in finding that variances across the state in such bans leads to increased drunk-driving fatalities. For both economic and public health reasons, Wisconsin needs a statewide smoking ban now more than ever. Because of the state Legislature’s failure to pass a statewide ban, a patchwork of local smoking bans has developed across the state. Municipalities such as Eau Claire, Fitchburg and Marshfield have passed bans in recent weeks, and many more are seriously considering them. This may seem like a move in the right direction, but this patchwork complicates matters for residents and businesses alike. Each ban is unique in its exemptions and time horizons. Businesses that have locations across the state will have to change their practices

according to any number of plans. Residents in districts that have not passed smoking bans will still have to drive farther to avoid smokeﬁlled bars and restaurants. A statewide ban is the easiest way to clear up this confusion. Many support a statewide ban because they see the deleterious public-health consequences of secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants. Adding to this debate, two Wisconsin researchers have found that a patchwork of smoking bans may endanger public safety. Findings show that smokers who drive longer distances to smoke in bars without smoking bans are more likely to get in accidents. With a statewide ban, there would be no incentive for smokers to drive out of their district to frequent bars that allow smoking or for non-smokers to drive farther to ﬁnd a non-smoking bar outside of their district. At least 22 states, including our neighbors Illinois and Minnesota, have passed statewide bans. According to a recent poll, 69 percent of Wisconsinites support a statewide ban. The state Legislature must act now: End the patchwork of local smoking bans and enact a statewide ban.

Sleep in And still get to class on time.

Earn summer credits online. ed Limit lments. rol AY! s en clas ster TOD Regi

We're talking fully-transferable UW freshman/sophomore credits taught totally over the internet by UW professors. So you can study when you want, where you want. Fulfill general education requirements. Earn some extra credits. Make up a class. Graduate on time. Summer 2008: Registration is open until May 22nd Classes begin June 9th Choose from 37 course offerings. To see complete course listings, for more information or to register, visit

www.online.uwc.edu or give us a call toll-free at 1-877-449-1877

MEG ANDERSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Tremendous potential for Lawton as governor ERIK OPSAL opinion columnist

ith the presidential race at a standstill, we’re stuck anxiously awaiting the Pennsylvania primary and the May 6 races to see if we come away with a clear nominee. As it increasingly looks like this race could go all the way to convention, Wisconsin could feel the effects in some unexpected ways. Last week, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton (full disclosure: I’m an intern in Lawton’s ofﬁce) said she will run for governor if Gov. Jim Doyle decides not to seek a third term. “When asked if I would consider running I said ‘yes’ because I see tremendous potential for the state of Wisconsin from my front-row seat,” Lawton told The Daily Cardinal.

Lawton would continue to look toward the future and ﬁnally bring Wisconsin’s economy into the 21st century.

Although both Lawton and Doyle say they are not really thinking about it yet, they do both have campaigns set up just in case. As Lawton told the Associated Press, if Doyle decides not to run, she “can’t be caught flat-footed.” So what does this have to do with the presidential race? It has been widely speculated that if Barack Obama—who Doyle strongly supported in Wisconsin’s primary—wins the nomination, Doyle could receive some type of federal appointment, possibly even as attorney general. If this happens, Lawton would

take over as governor and instantly become the favorite in 2010. This is just one of many possibilities for the 2010 gubernatorial race, however. If Obama does not win, or if Doyle does not receive a federal appointment, he could very well decide not to run again. By 2010 he’ll be 65 years old, and after a long career in public service, he may decide to call it quits. That would leave Lawton as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, but according to Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, this might not be the case. “Lawton would have a hard time in her own primary, so we are not really worried about it at all,” Kukowski told The Daily Cardinal. Of course, many Republicans also believe the Earth is 6,000 years old and that cutting taxes during a war can actually stimulate the economy, so we’ll have to take that with a grain of salt. Furthermore, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., was once considered Lawton’s rival for the next gubernatorial race, but it now looks like he’ll vie for Sen. Herb Kohl’s seat in 2012 instead, leaving the path clear for a Lawton nomination. It’s ironic to imagine that an Obama victory (Lawton endorsed Hillary Clinton) could actually work in her favor. If she does become governor for the period of time before the Democratic primary in 2010, Lawton would gain a huge advantage and probably wouldn’t have to worry about a challenge. If the 2008 race goes as expected, Democrats will likely regain the Assembly, which leaves Doyle—or Lawton—with a friendly state Legislature for the next few years. That means no budget stalemates and partisan bickering like we saw last year. A relatively peaceful year of governing, which would include some great legislative accomplishments,

leaves Lawton with a great record to run on in 2010 and the advantage in the general election. By all accounts, Lawton would make an excellent governor. Of course, I’m obviously biased, but as The Capital Times wrote in their endorsement before the 2006 election, “Lawton has been the boldest and most active lieutenant governor in state history.” The paper even said it did not mention Lawton in its Doyle endorsement because, “We wanted to save the best for last.”

If Lawton becomes governor for the period of time before the democratic primary in 2010, she gains a huge advantage.

On two of the most important issues we’ll face in the coming years—climate change and clean energy—Lawton has taken charge. As the vice chair of the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association, Lawton authored the Energy Independence and Climate Protection Resolution last August and the Great Lakes Preservation Resolution this March. She’s also been a strong supporter of Doyle’s Clean Energy Wisconsin plan, which looks to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by increasing Wisconsin’s renewable energy market share. As governor, Lawton would continue to look toward the future and finally bring Wisconsin’s economy into the 21st century. Like I said, I may be a bit biased, but I cannot think of a better ending for this year’s presidential race than Obama in the White House and Lawton as our governor. Erik Opsal is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

sports 10

Thursday, April 10, 2008

NATE CAREY sports magnate

BADGERS DOMINATE IN-STATE MATCH. The Wisconsin volleyball team won four of ﬁve games against the Marquette Golden Eagles Wednesday in spring play. dailycardinal.com/sports

Ninth-inning HR downs Badgers ANALYSIS

RECAP

Fantasy baseball has ruined my life

here are only a few things that can turn something of pure beauty into some kind of monster like Wolfman or Jose Conseco. America’s pastime is now in full swing and while most are enjoying everything that the MLB season has to offer, I ﬁnd myself painstakingly watching Baseball Tonight every evening. The reason for my newfound detest for the game I love: fantasy baseball. This is the third season of my involvement in this great game of statistics, where numbers are everything and 162 games are turned into a seven-month stay in purgatory. Now don’t get me wrong, fantasy sports are great. Fantasy football is a blast, where running backs are key to every victory and you want to play against the Oakland Raiders every week. Fantasy basketball and hockey also have their own strong following, though I have only tried to play each once and failed horribly. But the idea of fantasy baseball seemed so promising and fun. It’s over half a year of players to own, teams to cover and friends to kill mercilessly each week. After one year—the glorious year of 2006—I won my league, and all doubts I previously had about this statistical splendor went out the window I was certain that fantasy baseball would never cease to be a yearly occurrence. However, as the old saying goes: “Never say never.” Two years later, the inner angst and anxiety that I have already felt within the ﬁrst week-and-a-half have sent me into a downward spiral.

It’s over half a year of players to own, teams to cover and friends to kill mercilessly each week.

After drafting Prince Fielder in the first round, I decided to sit back and relax, waiting for the home runs to pile up. Yet, seven games into the season, Fielder has yet to send one out of the park. This brings me to the first problem with fantasy baseball: The need for instant gratification. Society today is built around getting things fast and easy. While fantasy sites such as CBSSports.com make watching baseball and your fantasy team very easy, that sentiment unfortunately doesn’t translate over to your players. There is no reason for me to be upset with Prince, and in fact, I never could and never will be upset with him. But the fantasy owner inside of me is beating to get out, wanting to race to Milwaukee and plead with the reigning National League home run king to get back fantasy page 11

By Scott Kellogg

By Adam Loferski

THE DAILY CARDINAL

Northern Iowa got a clutch home run from Brittney Balduf in the final inning to beat Wisconsin 3-0 on a brisk evening Wednesday at the Goodman Softball Complex. It was a heartbreaking loss for junior pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven and the Badgers. Vanevenhoven entered the seventh inning with a no-hitter and the game locked in a scoreless tie. With base runners at a premium all game, NIU sophomore first baseman Jen Larsen tried to bunt her way to first base. Larsen made contact and the ball dribbled straight ahead. Vanevenhoven pounced off the mound, fielded the ball, then had to turn around quickly and snap the ball over to first base. The throw beat the runner but could not be handled by freshman second baseman Livi Abney who was covering first base. Abney was charged with the error, and it proved to be a pivotal one. NIU sophomore right fielder Rachel Gerking followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance Larsen to second. Then a walk to freshman second baseman Michelle Phillips and a groundout by senior pinchhitter Heather Tarter put runners on second and third with two out. Vanevenhoven got ahead of Balduf with a strike, but the second pitch was launched over the left field wall for a three run home run. The blast was the first and only hit all game by the Panthers. “It was a curve, and she got it before it curved,” Vanevenhoven said. “It was a pitch they’ve been missing all day.” “That hitter never should have been there,” assistant coach Julie Wright said. “[The game was] disappointing. We played well until the breakdown with the error.” Before the seventh inning Wisconsin had by far the best chance of either team to put runs on the board. A leadoff single

Five-and-a-half straight innings of stalemate softball passed before UW senior Joey Daniels took the plate in the bottom of the sixth against the Panthers of Northern Iowa. The Badgers had been connecting on pitches all night long but had received next to nothing for their efforts. Every solid hit was countered by the Panther’s quick gloves and timely throws. Daniels took the plate and put a line drive into left field. An error by junior left fielder Brittany Ruzicka put Daniels at second base. After all those innings of simply connecting, the Wisconsin batters were finally earning the bases they had been swinging after all night. Daniels advanced to third when junior Theresa Boruta bunted her way to first base. With two on and no outs, it seemed the Badgers would finally end the stalemate. Boruta utilized her speed and stole second. Sophomore Panther pitcher Sarah Bakey then walked junior Valyncia Raphael, loading the bases. However, it was as far as the Badgers were going to get. Senior Alexis Garcia took the plate and hammered a line drive up the middle, but a quick glove by Bakey robbed the Badgers of any runs. The line drive was not quite what Garcia was looking for when she connected with that pitch. “If anything we have a runner on three, we need balls hit on the ground hard or we need them in the air,” Garcia said after the game. “I sat on a change-up .... It just didn’t go through. It’s a little frustrating.” The level of frustration reached a pinnacle with a Panther three run homerun in the seventh courtesy of junior Brittney Balduf. Balduf ’s home run put a sour note on the end of a spectacularly pitched game by Badger junior Leah Vanevenhoven. Vanevenhoven struck out 11 Panther batters, setting a new career record.

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Junior pitcher Leah Vanevenhoven threw a gem of a game Wednesday, stricking out a career-high 11 in the 3-0 loss. by senior catcher Joey Daniels, a bunt single by junior third baseman Theresa Boruta and a walk to junior left ﬁelder Valyncia Raphael loaded the bases with no one out. But the Badgers came out with nothing thanks to bad luck and poor execution. First baseman Alexis Garcia was next to bat, and the junior hit a screamer up the middle that was snagged by sophomore pitcher Sarah Bakey, who was in relief of senior Ashley Lepley. Then, with one out, designated hitter Letty Olivarez struck out swinging. “I expected a really good atbat from [Olivarez], she’s been having great at bats all game,” Wright said. But the sophomore could not

come through, and a groundout by senior shortstop Lynn Anderson ended the promising threat for Wisconsin. “You get all that momentum and then you come away with nothing,” Wright said. “That’s tough sometimes.” Vanevenhoven took the loss to fall to 4-15. The lefty pitched seven innings, allowed one hit, three walks, no earned runs and set a career high with 11 strike outs. “I don’t think she’ll look at that today and be pleased,” Wright said. “She’s a team kid.” Bakey earned the win in relief, but the Panthers got a great start out of Lepley. Lepley threw ﬁve innings and allowed two hits, one walk, and at one point retired 14 consecutive batters.

sports

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Track expects a good showing at Sea Ray Relays in Tennessee

Anderson drafted by the Sun

By Scott Allen

WNBA Senior Vice President of Personnel Renee Brown strode to the podium at the Bob Martinez Center in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday afternoon as several hopeful draftees awaited their fate. “With the 23rd pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, the Connecticut Sun selected Jolene Anderson from the University of Wisconsin,” Brown said, sending the Big Ten Player of the Year and Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer to Uncasville, Conn., to begin her professional career. ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman said during the selection show Wednesday that after releasing the majority of its veteran players from last season, includANDERSON ing 7'2" center Margo Dydek and all-around leader Nykesha Sales, the Sun was looking forward to several high draft picks in 2008. “In the WNBA you have to think of three things—best available, need, and how can I get better by trade,” Lieberman said. “I think [Connecticut head coach] Mike Thibault took advantage of a need.”

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The Wisconsin track teams will try to rack up regional qualifying marks against the best competition they’ve faced this season at the Sea Ray Relays this weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. “The Sea Ray Relays is a huge meet,” men’s head coach Ed Nuttycombe said. “There’s like 50 or 60 schools there.” The competition includes Tennessee, Georgetown, Ohio State, Eastern Michigan and a plethora of other top-notch squads. Men’s squad Last weekend, five men’s distance runners qualified through to regionals at the elite Stanford Invitational along with the 4x400 meter relay at Auburn. The distance crew will take this weekend off. “The distance guys ran really well,” Nuttycombe said. “The rest of the guys at Alabama, I think we made some strides. We had a hard week of training, so we weren’t really geared to run real fast.” The Sea Ray Relays—like most early season outdoor meets—is not scored, so most athletes are focused on qualifying for the Midwest Regional Championships in individual events. After running 14.36 and 14.38 seconds in his last two 110 meter hurdle competitions, sophomore Nate Larkin is just short of hitting the necessary 14.30 standard. “I just try to run my race,” Larkin said. “It will come with time. Once you start worrying about marks and trying to hit a certain point, you kind of lose track of what you’re doing.” Last year, Larkin qualified in the 110 meter hurdles after running 14.26 seconds. Big Ten indoor runner-up in the long jump Rayme Mackinson is about four inches off the 24 feet, 1 inch standard. “We’re trying to get as many guys regionally qualified in the next couple weeks as we can, and in Nate Larkin’s case, he just needs to run a half step faster and he’s qualified,” Nuttycombe said. Sophomore high jumper Pat Nichols and freshman middle distance runner Zach Beth, who each placed in the top three at Auburn, are potential regionals qualifiers along with a slew of others.

fantasy

from page 10

into it. With that said, the second problem is the amount of games. One hundred and sixty-two games is ﬁne with me, but it surely doesn’t translate well to fantasy. Keeping track of 15 players over 23 weeks can be tiresome, especially if you encounter the season I had last year, where injuries piled up. Many friends over the past two seasons have stopped caring or dropped out completely, as even checking one’s lineup once a week can become a challenge. However, with all of that said— and I want to remind everyone that

“Being in a big setting really helps get your adrenaline going, so it makes the race that much more fun, and when you’re with guys that are running fast times in a fast race, you’re going to run fast,” Larkin said. Women’s squad The top point-getters for the women’s track team—especially the distance runners and throwers—will be in fullforce at the Sea Ray Relays. Most members of the distance team, except for senior Katrina Rundhaug who qualified for nationals in the 10,000 meters at Stanford last weekend, will make their season debut. Indoor standouts including juniors Ashley Benson, Maggie Hippman and Gwen Jorgensen will be looking for early qualifying marks along with senior Ann Detmer, who earned eighth place at the indoor NCAA championships in the mile. Junior thrower Amanda Hoeppner, who qualified for regionals in the shot put last weekend, will be aiming to match her success in the hammer throw and discus this weekend. Senior Kayla Schultz and junior Joanne Verpil, throwers who also placed well at Auburn, will get another chance at qualifying against stronger competition. Senior pole vaulter Blair Luethmers, who took first place at Auburn, will also be competing in Knoxville. UW’s top jumper, junior Chavon Robinson, is looking forward to her first big meet of the season in the long and triple jumps. “This is my first outdoor meet that I will be really performing at a high level,” Robinson said. “I have Drake and Big Tens if I don’t qualify now, but I really want to get it done early.” She said qualifying early will allow her to better focus on training and peaking for the end of the season. Robinson already hit the outdoor regional standard indoors but has to go at least 40.4 feet in the next several meets to get through. “Everybody’s pretty confident from indoor, so we just want to go out there and perform like we did indoor, but better,” Robinson said. these “problems” are based off of my own experience—I truly love the sport of baseball, both real and fantasy. I will undoubtedly continue to frantically flip through every box score, checking every player I own—both past or present. Fantasy baseball has made me a fanatic for the game I was already a devoted follower of and no matter how many antacids I have to take to deal with the atrocious aspects that come with it, I can’t imagine living without it. If you’d like to join Nate at his weekly Fantasy Fanatics Anonymous meeting, e-mail him at ncarey@dailycardinal.com.

By Jay Messar THE DAILY CARDINAL

“Anderson will help on the perimeter to shore up some of those deficiencies.” Connecticut selected Middle Tennessee State forward Amber Holt with its first pick, the ninthoverall. The Sun also drafted UConn’s Ketia Swanier with the No. 12 pick and acquired fellow Husky alums Tamika Raymond and Barbara Turner in the offseason, reuniting the trio with 2002 grad Asjha Jones.

“Anderson will help on the perimeter to shore up some of [the Sun’s] deﬁciencies.” Nancy Lieberman analyst ESPN

Holt, Swanier, Anderson and the Sun’s final pick at No. 37, Lauren Ervin, will complement former Minnesota Gophers star Lindsay Whalen—who Anderson passed on the all-time Big Ten scoring list this March. Thibault knew this year’s draft class was particularly talented, with all three rounds comprised of several high-quality athletes. “It’s one of the deeper drafts since I’ve been in the league,” Thibault told WNBA.com.

“Somebody might have gotten as good a pick at 15 than they might have gotten at eight or nine, depending on how it falls out.” “Honestly, this draft is so deep that players well into the second round could end up playing a big role this season,” WNBA commissioner Donna Orender said. “This is a class that will have a profound effect on this league for many, many years.” Anderson became just the third Badger drafted by the WNBA since its debut in 1997. Forward Tamara Moore was the most recent Wisconsin grad in the WNBA, playing on three different teams from 2002 to 2006. The now defunct Charlotte Sting also selected Wisconsin forward Jessie Stomski in the fourth round in the 2002 draft. Guard Robin Threatt played for Seattle in 1999 and 2000 and guard Keisha Anderson played for Washington and Charlotte from 1999 to 2002, but neither was part of the draft process. Fellow Wisconsin guard Janese Banks, who also attended the WNBA draft combine in early April, was not selected in the ﬁrst three rounds. Barring a preseason trade, Anderson will begin training camp later this month. Connecticut’s preseason opener is May 1 at Minnesota and its season opener is May 17 at home against the expansion Atlanta Dream.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

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