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We Conserve campaign announces early success By Grace Kim The Daily Cardinal
We Conserve, UW-Madison’s energy conservation campaign, announced Tuesday energy savings of $3.7 million and carbon dioxide reductions of 28,000 tons annually since it began two years ago. According to Faramarz Vakili, We Conserve program director and associate director of UW-Madison’s Physical Plant, the campaign’s goals are to promote awareness of energy conservation and cut campus energy consumption 20 percent by 2010. We Conserve was successful in reducing the energy consumption of five buildings: Chemistry, Chamberlin Hall, Engineering Hall, the Kohl Center and Biotron Laboratory, according to Vakili. He said We Conserve has comprehensive programs that help to reach these goals, including efficient systems, informed individuals working on the campaign, realistic expectations and responsible actions. “We have dedication and a lot of
focus on effort, and it’s a good cause and it’s producing a great result,” Vakili said.
“I think that just promoting our ideas and getting people to participate can be really great.” Brenda Voloshin research and education coordinator We Conserve
UW-Madison students joined the campaign this year with the formation of the We Conserve student chapter. “We Conserve has a ton of potential,” said Brenda Voloshin, research and education coordinator of the student chapter. “It has a lot of funding and great ideas from people, and I think that just promoting our ideas and getting people conserve page 3
Tree huggers
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Wis. women still face wage discrimination By Hannah McClung The Daily Cardinal
Government officials and advocacy groups came together Tuesday to recognize Equal Pay Day and raise awareness for Wisconsin’s gender wage gap. Equal Pay Day is an annual event that marks how much longer women must work to earn as much as men did in the previous year. For example, women working from January 2007 through April 22, 2008, made as much on average as men made from January through December 2007. According to a report by The Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Wisconsin women earned 22 percent less than men in 2006. Women make up half of the graduates from Wisconsin colleges and universities but earn less than men on average, according to a statement from
the Wisconsin Women’s Council. There is a 10 percent wage gap that affects women with bachelor’s degrees, but the same gap affects women with higher degrees and even tenured faculty members at universities, according to Christine Lidbury, executive director of WWC. “The yawning wage gap reflects the persistent gender discrimination that we all would like to think doesn’t exist in the year 2008,” Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said. Lawton said choices regarding education do not contribute to the wage gap, adding the inequity exists in all professions but is largest in sales-related fields. Money lost to a woman and her family because of the wage gap damwages page 3
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Replacing Wiley Part two of three: Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz shares his thoughts about challenges facing the new chancellor On day two of its series on the UWMadison chancellor search, The Daily Cardinal interviews Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. The Daily Cardinal: Can you describe how you as mayor work with the chancellor? Mayor Dave Cieslewicz: The chancellor and I have a regular lunch every eight weeks or so and we usually have a very full agenda, and we usually discuss a number of things that are joint efforts between the city and UW. Very often they’re things related to building on campus, like the progress on the Institutes for Discovery or Murray Mall or other major building projects because there’s so many going on on campus. Sometimes we talk about issues related to alcohol on campus—we jointly fund the Alcohol Policy Coordinator. That position is funded 50 percent by the city and 50 percent by the university. We’ll talk as things come up, like Halloween or Mifflin Street, so quite a number of varied things. DC: What is the most challenging issue you and Chancellor Wiley had to work on together during his term? Cieslewicz: The issue of use of alcohol on campus and in the city. Generally that’s been the toughest issue and one that there’s no easy answer for, and that’s one of the reasons we came together and funded the Alcohol Policy Coordinator, which is a unique position in the state. We’ve had other places—for example, LaCrosse has come to us and asked us how that position functions.
Lakhpreet Kaur was one of about 250 passersby to participate Tuesday in the University Book Store’s Earth Day “Hug a Tree for Charity” event.
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DC: Can you describe the position of Alcohol Policy Coordinator? Cieslewicz: It’s a position that’s
Lorenzo zemella/the daily cardinal
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says he works closely with the Chancellor Wiley on issues such as building on campus and alcohol use. about three years old and it’s currently occupied by a woman named Katherine Plominski. Her job really is to work on a wide range of issues regarding alcohol policy in the city and on campus, so she meets regularly with representatives of the Greek system and student groups and downtown bar owners and the Madison police and city staff to really sort of coordinate all of their activities and to try to identify best practices. DC: What are two other additional issues you see carrying into the new chancellor’s term? Cieslewicz: The issues related to funding of the UW campus, particularly from the state. State support
for the UW, while it’s been increasing, hasn’t been increasing at a rate that really is needed to keep the UW a world-class institution. So it’s very important that the new chancellor be able to work with legislators and the government on increasing support for the UW from the state because the UW is the biggest economic engine not only here in Dane County, but really statewide, so I think that’s going to be a challenge for the next chancellor. Another one is to maintain the momentum that John Wiley has given us in terms of building on campus, in a very short time, into something that’s even more beautiful and functional cieslewicz page 3
‘Tony the Twister’ charged with sex assault By Callie Rathburn The Daily Cardinal
“Tony the Twister,” a balloon sculptor known for creating hats and animals at community events and Madison restaurants, was charged Monday with repeated sexual assault of a child, according to a criminal complaint. Anthony Stelter, 39, a selfemployed balloonist, performed for children at a wide range of events and businesses in the city, according to Town of Madison Detective Robb Hale. Prior to his arrest, Stelter worked Thursday nights at the Nitty Gritty restaurant on Frances Street. He also appeared at special local events throughout Madison, including an annual fundraiser for juvenile diabetes and Big Brothers Big Sisters activities. “At our Big Brothers Big Sisters
appreciation day, it was called a fun day, there was probably between 300 and 400 kids there,” said UWMadison senior Karissa Weske, a Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer. “He did balloons for us all day and the kids interact with him all the time.” Stelter now faces 25 years to life in prison for the sexual assault. The criminal complaint said Stelter engaged in pedophilia acts with the then 13-year-old STELTER victim approximately 200 times. During the sexual assault investigation, police found cocaine and drug paraphernalia in Stelter’s home. Hale said Stelter was first arrested for possession and later charged with the
sexual assault counts. “News like that is kind of stunning seeing that he is with kids all the time,” Weske said. “He comes to a lot of the Big Brothers Big Sisters events whenever he is able, he is kind of the first person that is called.” Hale said police investigating Stelter’s criminal activity have not found any indication that Stelter’s balloon twisting patrons were victimized by him. Stelter is currently in jail but if he posts bail, he will be released with strict limitations until his preliminary hearing scheduled for April 29, according to Hale. There will be a separate hearing for the drug charges. Community members and police said they feel safer with Stelter behind bars. “He is a threat to our community. I think that all children are at risk with Stelter being around,” Hale said.
“…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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Columnist lifestyles of the poor and famous Ashley spencer back that ash up
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’ve sunk to a new low. No, I haven’t done anything lately that’s degrading. In fact, I’ve been tallying the slightly mature things I’ve done lately. I recently responded “Not Attending” to a porn star-themed party I was invited to on Facebook. When a strange, drunk girl asked me to pee in the same stall with her at Wando’s and hold her hand, I declined. And when this same girl proceeded to stick those dirty hands into my nacho dip and lick the cheesy goodness off each of her pudgy fingers, I told her to act more ladylike in public, after I snapped her picture. Despite my maturity, like I said, I’ve fallen in a deep pit—and that pit, my friends, is called debt. I was recently contemplating buying a pair of lime-green patent
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leather stilettos that, I felt, were completely necessary for my dayto-day wardrobe. But I felt I had maybe indulged too much lately— shoes, male escorts and nacho platters quickly add up. I knew I had to check my bank account balance and make sure I would have the funds to support my eating habit. So I logged on to my Internet banking site, and there it was in writing: I was worth almost nothing. I was officially broke. I had more pounds on my body than I had dollars in my bank account. It meant that for each of my years, I had saved fewer than 48 cents. I can count the people I have dated, the number of times the fire alarm in my high rise has gone off and the number of times I call my mom a week to discuss “American Idol”—and all these numbers surpass the amount of dollar bills in my bank account. During times of self-doubt, I turn to my local mall for comfort, love and a cheap, sequined tank top to wear to the bars.
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But this time, the Macy’s sale rack, the gay makeup artist at the MAC counter and the Auntie Anne’s pretzel stand weren’t able to comfort me. I had no funds to pay for their friendship. For two weeks, I lived on ten dollars, eight cans of soup and zero nights out. Between my lack of social and retail interaction, I wasn’t able to spend a dime. I reorganized desk drawers. I contemplated selling my eggs after I saw a classified ad. I turned off lights, I chewed gum, I watched TV (until the cable bill came and went unpaid). I applied for food stamps. I went hiking. I found an old tube of Elmer’s glue, coated my hands in it, let it dry and tried to pick the glue off in large sheets. I played Candy Land with myself. I made a collage featuring my doggies, baby pictures and cupcakes. I was bored. I was bored with being bored. And I was bored with being poor. It was time do something—it was time to sell all of my ugly clothes.
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Not only did the actual process of going through my two closets and two dressers take up a large amount of my very free time— but it was also free. I had hours to contemplate how parting with a T-shirt I bought in the seventh grade, that now had somewhat visible pit stains, would affect the rest of my life. At the end of three days, I had three garbage bags full of clothes and made close to 30 dollars after selling them to a resale shop. Thirty dollars. That’s one dollar for each freckle on any given oneby-one inch patch of skin on my arm. That’s three dollars for each of my fingers. And that’s a dollar for each beer I plan to drink on Mifflin before I even leave my house. So maybe 30 dollars isn’t that much; it certainly didn’t make me feel rich, but at least I felt worth something—even if it amounted to less than the number of times I wish I had bought those neongreen shoes. If you wanna donate some dolla-dolla bills y’all, e-mail aaspencer@wisc.edu.
For the record Corrections or clarifications? Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an e-mail to edit@dailycardinal.com.
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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MSNBC writer says science news overtaken by tabloids By Devin Rose The Daily Cardinal
In his lecture titled, “Britney Spears vs. Chimps with Spears,” MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle spoke at Memorial Union Tuesday about the challenges of writing science news in a tabloid culture. Boyle, a visiting Science Writer in Residence, referenced a Feb. 22 news article about researchers in Senegal who spotted chimpanzees making spear-like weapons to use for hunting. This event marked the first time a primate species was seen making tools of warfare to hunt another primate species. The same day, Boyle said, a story about Britney Spears’ return to rehab received almost five times as many hits on MSNBC’s website as the chimpanzee story. Boyle said this example illustrates
the difficulty for science writers, who must figure out how to generate interest and break down confusing scientific topics for readers. “If we want to write about those chimps, we have to fashion our own weapons to capture the public’s attention just like the tabloids do,” he said. According to Boyle, one of MSNBC’s most popular stories this year was about a line of cloned cats developed in Korea that “glowed in the dark” because they carried a gene making them glow red under ultraviolet light. “The glow-in-the dark angle was worthy of tabloid treatment, and that sparked most of the more than 1,200 comments we got for this story,” Boyle said. Although Boyle said many readers missed the reason behind the tabloid
Local vocals
hook, journalism professor Sharon Dunwoody said it’s still a beneficial way for journalists to “trick people into learning.” “The celebrity stuff is always better known than anything else,” Dunwoody said. “There are certain things that just attract our attention.” UW-Madison sophomore Lavilla Capener said she is interested in science but might not look specifically at scientific news unless it deals with something like stem cells. Boyle said he has taken similar approaches in his own writing, including a story about sharkskin swimsuits and their effects on Olympic performers. He added these types of stories provide a sense of wonder and allow readers to come away feeling smarter, which is not the case for entertainment stories.
Next semester’s distinguished lecturers chosen By Caitlin Gath The Daily Cardinal
kris ugarriza/the daily cardinal
Ten student contestants performed at Memorial Union Theater Tuesday for All-Campus Idol, a part of All-Campus Party.
Wisconsin traffic deaths down 30 percent The amount of traffic accident fatalities in Wisconsin has fallen by 30 percent so far in 2008, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. According to the Capital Times, the DOT’s Chief of Transportation Safety Programs Dennis Hughes said 188 people died in car crashes by this time last year, but only 137 people have died in car accidents to date. Steve Olson, spokesperson for the State Patrol’s Bureau of Transportation Safety, said the drop in fatalities is probably due in large
wages
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ages not only the ability of the family to prosper economically, but also the state economy, according to Lawton. “The wage gap creates lost opportunities for businesses by not harvesting the best group of women because [the wage gap] continues to hold them back,” Lawton said. According to Lawton, the only way to ensure equal opportunities for women is to insist on it. She said women want to pretend gender discrimination no longer exists, but data show there are persistent gender issues that can only be solved if women refuse to tolerate them.
part to lower driving speeds and reduced traffic volumes during the severe winter weather months. Olson said the high price of gasoline is another likely factor. With warm weather comes heavier traffic and more reckless driving and could mean more accidents during the approaching summer, according to Olson. “It’s kind of a paradox, but as driving conditions get better, we tend to have more fatal crashes simply because there are more cars on the roads and they’re going at faster speeds,” Olson said. “We haven’t caught up to the fact that women can do the same job and they should be doing it for the same money,” state Sen. Dave Hansen, DGreen Bay, said. The wage gap is closing slowly but steadily, and it will still take two or three generations to close completely, according to COWS Associate Director Laura Dresser. Earlier this year, the state Senate passed the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, but the legislation was not addressed in the Assembly. According to Hansen, if Wisconsin continues at its current pace the wage gap should be closed by 2050, but passing the Equal Pay Enforcement Act will decrease the gap more quickly.
ben pierson/the daily cardinal
Alan Boyle, Science Writer in Residence and MSNBC.com science editor, speaks of the challenges he faces writing science news in a tabloid culture.
The process of choosing a list of seven to nine speakers for next year’s Distinguished Lecture Series lasted over three hours Tuesday at Memorial Union. Around 11 p.m. a list of possible speakers was finally determined. Included in the list are Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Sandra Day O’Connor, Amartya Sen, Michael Pollan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tim Gunn, Steven Pinker, Ishmael Beath and Andrew Sullivan. Aaron McKean, director of DLS, said this is a tentative list because as with most events, scheduling problems can likely occur. A list of alternate speakers includes, among others, Bill Nye and David
Brooks. With an original list of over 40 speakers to choose from, the meeting was prolonged due to a lack of consensus among voters. The list of speakers was divided into several different categories, some of which included women’s issues, pop culture and science. Of these three categories, some of the more recognizable candidates were O’Connor, Gunn and Nye, respectively Although speakers such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton pulled in the most votes, they were eliminated because of their high costs. There was a strong push for women speakers, as one committee member questioned why Arianna
Huffington, a nationally syndicated columnist with a very popular blog, was not on the list of possible speakers. Committee member Farha Tahir defended the decision to strike her from the list. “A lot of the speakers are under several different categories, and it became a question of what different speakers were going to talk about and whether there was someone who could do a similar if not better job,” Tahir said. DLS is organized by the Wisconsin Union Directorate and brings prominent speakers to campus each semester free of charge to students. Every event asks attendees to fill out ballots of speakers they would like to see. Final speakers are chosen from this list.
Madison City Council elects new leadership for 2008-’09 The Madison City Council elected new leadership and recognized outgoing leaders at its meeting Tuesday night. The council elected Ald. Tim Bruer, District 14, as president for the 2008-’09 term. Bruer replaces Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, in the position. Bruer served as the council’s pro tem president during the 2007-’08 term. The council elected Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, as the new pro tem president for the 2008’09 term.
Verveer, who assumed the presidency in April 2007, thanked the nine rookie alders who began during his term for their hard work and expressed gratitude toward the council at the meeting. “I appreciate each and every one of you and the faith and confidence and trust you placed in me a year ago,” Verveer said. “I love this institution, I’ve devoted much of my life to it.” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz recognized both the outgoing president
and pro tem president’s accomplishments through formal honoring resolutions on the council’s agenda. “Alderperson Verveer’s tenure as Common Council president was marked by great dedication and enthusiasm,” Cieslewicz said to acknowledge Verveer. Presidential duties include meeting weekly with the mayor and pro tem president to discuss city issues and convening with the county clerk to set agendas for council meetings. —Abby Sears
cieslewicz from page 1
John Wiley, I’d be happy. I don’t think you can improve much on John—he’s been terrific to work with. He’s very direct, you never have to guess what he’s thinking. He confronts different issues. If the university can deliver a chancellor who has all of John’s strengths, I think that would be excellent. DC: If you could give the new chancellor one piece of advice, what would it be? Cieslewicz: Well it would prob-
ably be buy the mayor lunch (laughs). I suppose one piece of advice for Madison—listen. Just listen. There are so many people who want to be heard and so many people who need to be heard that I think it’s very important to get out in the community and listen. Listen to students, listen to neighborhood groups, listen to the business community, listen to legislators ... so much of the job involves getting out and hearing people, so that would be my advice. —Interview by Abby Sears
not only helping people to reduce their own energy consumption, but also by making them aware of different things that are being done on the campus,” Voloshin said. As part of UW-Madison’s Green Week, ending on Tuesday’s Earth Day, We Conserve worked with the Wisconsin Student Public
Interest Research Group to sponsor the Midwest Clean Energy Conference and made its first big push in promoting and getting people involved. Vakili said currently 1,200 individuals have pledged, and the goal is to have 2,000 pledged by the end of the semester.
than the campus that we had before he took office. Of course we’ve got one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, but the plans that John Wiley has put in place really are going to transform it and make it an even more attractive place to come and be a student and do research. DC: What are some qualities you’d like to see in the new chancellor? Cieslewicz: If they get close to
conserve from page 1 to participate can be really great.” Voloshin said the student chapter is involved in research, education, activities and marketing. “We mainly focus on ways we can promote energy awareness by
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
view Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.
reforms must avoid fate of past plans
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ewly elected representatives of Associated Students of Madison issued a release Sunday citing a five-point mission to improve ASM for the next academic year. The five goals range from the obvious—implementing a budget cap for ASM expenditures— to the elusively vague—focusing on “issues of higher education.” After listing the five points, the release goes on to clarify that ASM as a whole has not committed yet. Hopefully the organization will officially adopt at least a similar set of goals, but members still face an uphill battle. Their precedent is bleak: New representatives acknowledge that past sessions have failed to put together effective campaigns that address higher education, garner sufficient input from students and provide a viable forum for student issues. A plan to repair the inadequacies of ASM is a nice idea, but it seems these new members are still operating partly within ASM’s current, ineffective structure. The third goal on the release is to “create a press office to handle public relations.” Perhaps it’s merely poor word choice, but “handle” is a very passive term, and PR must be proactive to be effective. Otherwise the press office would be working to respond to the problems it’s actually supposed to be fixing. Regardless, the fourth goal— electing an ASM president—will
likely promote the organization better than a press office ever would. Students—all students, not just those already involved in student government—need a face they can assign to ASM, as well as a significant election that will inspire them to vote. As for the first objective, “[to] focus on issues of higher education, specifically those elements impacting the quality of education at UW-Madison,” there remains the question of what that point actually means. What are the issues of education impacting quality at UW-Madison, after all, when the whole institution is nothing if not an entity for higher education? Of course, UW-Madison also has its share of researchers and branch organizations. But ASM is unable to affect those aspects anyway, necessarily making a focus on issues of higher education something implicit in student government already; otherwise it would not be doing its job. It is a positive step for representatives-elect to want to make ASM more effective and to bolster student participation. But a lot of talk and less action is what has caused ASM problems in the first place. If the 15thsession members really want a new course to act upon—a way to get their organization’s act together—they must offer more descriptive goals and pursue them in a more effective manner than ASM has with many past proposals.
GRACE FLANNERY/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
Mifflin area residents are petitioning against a city noise ordinance so bands can play at the Mifflin Street Block Party May 3 without risk of getting a ticket.
Without bands, Mifflin nothing but a drinkfest MATT JIVIDEN opinion columnist
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he Mifflin Street Block Party is coming up soon. If I remember correctly, the block party is pretty fun, but then again, anyone who says they can remember being at the Mifflin Street Block Party obviously wasn’t there. I want to talk about the fact that music may be in jeopardy at the block party this year, but first let’s start with the history of the Mifflin Street Block Party. The first block party was in 1969. The gathering was originally a venue for political demonstration. During one of the first block parties, students lined the streets in opposition to the convoys of police in attendance. The scene devolved into a tumultuous battle between rock-throwing, barricadebuilding and fire-starting block partygoers and the police armed with clubs and tear gas. The incidents spread onto adjacent streets and lasted for days. The resulting violence seems to be the most publicized aspect of the early Mifflins, but that isn’t what the event was, is or should be about. The space itself represented an area where like-minded people could come together to demonstrate, talk, eat, drink and (I’m sure) smoke copious amounts of cannabis. It was an exhibition in the fact that young people could come together spontaneously, in large numbers and without the express permission of city bureaucracy. The first block party was more about asserting the right of those people to assemble than simply getting drunk. At heart, the block party began as a protest against the war in Indochina, but let’s not kid ourselves—it was a party, too. The original participants no doubt enjoyed themselves, but the majority of them never lost sight of the core message. Perhaps the wartime circumstances loomed heavier over their heads than ours. Perhaps it was also the fact that many of the men graduating during those years became eligible for the draft. After ’71, deferments for college students
were severely curbed—making all undergraduate men initial draftees. The Mifflin Street Block Party has undoubtedly changed much since the first one in ’69. These days, you’re much more likely to see drunk college students posing for pictures with police than erecting makeshift barricades and throwing beer bottles at them. Obviously, that’s good. Perhaps the students have changed a bit. The Madison Police Department has changed quite a bit as well. At the block party, they still arrest people for drinking in the street, but that is a far cry from the overtly violent tactics used to forcefully disperse the crowds during the first block parties. This year, for example, the most pressing student-police issue is the volume of the music. These redacted and much more lenient policies by the MPD toward student gatherings are a direct result of the political and social ramifications of student gatherings like the original Mifflin. Even if that spirit is seemingly gone from the gathering, it is something of which we should at least be aware. But, I digress.
There needs to be a much more serious and organized drive by the residents of the Mifflin area to obtain a street permit.
In the past few decades, the political nature of the block party has fallen by the wayside. The block parties of recent years have consisted of pouring as much beer down your gullet as possible—that’s OK, but it’s not for everybody. There’s that, and some bands. That’s right, I’m here to talk about the bands. In the last few years, the MPD has been fining houses for hosting bands. I’ve always enjoyed having bands at the block party. Sometimes the bands play well—something that is always fun to watch. Other times the bands are terrible—something that is always funny to watch. At the very least, the bands provide something other than drinking (although combining the two can also be fun). The MPD has been fining the
houses based on a city ordinance that prohibits excessively loud noise— which, in layman’s terms, means if you’re playing music that can be heard three houses down, you will be fined. The ordinance makes sense on most days, but perhaps it should be disregarded during the Mifflin Street Block Party. The intent of the ordinance is to protect the people on the block from disturbances, but I doubt many people that live on the street or visit the street during the block party would describe the music as disturbing. If anything, I think it adds to the carnival-like atmosphere that Mifflin has come to represent. The political nature has already been drained from Mifflin, and now the live music aspect of Mifflin is in jeopardy. All that will be left is an allout tribute to binge drinking. The city is well within its rights to enforce the ordinance. After all, the Mifflin Street Block Party has no street use permit. The time has long passed to acquire a permit for this year, but residents of the Mifflin Street area should show up to voice their concerns at the annual neighborhood meeting that precedes the block party. May I suggest, as many already have and undoubtedly more will, that perhaps it would be a gesture of good faith if the MPD decided to let the music play at its appropriate (yet somewhat louder than generally accepted) volume, or at least use its best discretion as to what actually constitutes a disturbance during the often outlandish street parties? As for next year, there needs to be a much more serious and organized drive by the residents of the Mifflin area to obtain a street permit. This would give the people who live on Mifflin Street much more autonomy and discretion in choosing when and where bands will play, a methodology for beer and food distribution, and other general neighborhood issues. Maybe we could even walk across the street with an open container without a several-hundred-dollar fine. This avenue may be quite a change from the traditional impromptu, hands-off approach of Mifflin, but, then again, you’d be hard-pressed to find something else about Mifflin that hasn’t changed over the years. Matt Jividen is a senior majoring in history. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
8 arts Silent trio paints the Kohl Center blue NEW PORNOGRAPHERS AND OKKERVIL RIVER Check us out online for a review and slideshow of last night’s concert at the Orpheum.
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By Simon Dick The daily cardinal
A citywide pandemic is afoot. Blue men are roaming the streets. These men do not have a blood disorder, nor are they aliens from another planet (as far as we can tell). These creatures belong to a touring rock performance group known as the Blue Man Group.
The Blue Man Group relies on extraordinary music to make you get up and dance.
In their last week of the “How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1” in North America, the Blue Man Group will make a stop in Madison, before heading to Paris, France, to start a month-long stay in Europe. Performing Wednesday night at the Kohl Center, this concert is guaranteed to be a fresh and electrifying experience for veteran listeners of the Blue Man Group as well as those new to the band. The Blue Man Group is composed of three peculiar, blue men dressed in black jumpsuits who play a variety of odd instruments, such as the cimbalom, chapman stick, airpoles, a drumwall and many others. Blue Man are a “very primal and innocent being,” according to Kirk Massey, one of the blue men. “They have the eyes of a child and possess no preconceived notions, only the instinctive desire to drum.” They do not speak, but instead communicate through their actions and the instruments they play. Most of these instruments have been invented by the blue men them-
selves. However, a backup band is also present to provide additional instrumentals and vocals. Described as a mixture between a rock show and a comedy performance, the Blue Man Group relies on extraordinary music guaranteed to make you get up and dance, as well as tongue-in-cheek humor to make you laugh. Each show changes, as the blue men incorporate improvisation in every performance. This allows audience members to come back, time and time again, to an entirely new experience. Fans sitting in the front sections, commonly referred to as the “poncho section,” will receive special surprises, as occasionally things do fly from the stage. However, the Blue Man Group website assures audience members that the group will provide them with ponchos and suggests that people do not wear their best outfits. “Everyone can find a connection to the Blue Man Group,” Massey assures those new to the idea of the Blue Man Group. Massey said that seeing “people who wouldn’t normally have that much in common having a great time” gives him a great feeling and constitutes part of the motivation that drives him while on stage every night.
The Blue Man Group assures audience members that the group will provide ponchos.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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photo courtesy Lobeline
The enigmatic men of the Blue Man Group don’t speak on stage but come more than ready to rock with their arsenal of unique instruments and a backing band prepared to level the Kohl Center. can be purchased either online at the UW Badger Athletics website (www.uwbadgers.com) or at the ticket office for $47 and $77. There is a 10-ticket limit per account. Additional information about the Blue Man Group as well as samples of their music can be found at the Blue Man Group official website, www.blueman.com.
The Blue Man Group where: The Kohl Center So whether you’re a frail, 80year-old grandmother, a toddler or anywhere in between, this is one show you will not want to miss. Tickets are currently on sale and
when: 8 p.m. cost: $47 and $77
photo courtesy Lobeline
Audience members brave enough to sit in the front of a Blue Man Group concert have to be prepared for splatter from the stage.
Mike Myers’ steady fall from grace may be one Dr. Evil too many Brad Boron the boron identity
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s I grow up, I find myself rethinking many of the attitudes and decisions I made when I was a lot younger. The thought of taking care of a Tamagotchi is much less appealing to me now than when I was in third grade, the Ewoks are not nearly as lovable as I once believed and I’m still waiting to get rich selling Beanie Babies. For a long time, as well, I believed that Mike Myers could do no wrong, but like digital pets and a certain species from Endor, I’m beginning to rethink that decision I made a long time ago. It seems strange that I’m writing to bury the career of someone who by all accounts is still thriving in the tough business of Hollywood. As the voice of a certain ogre, Myers has grossed over a billion dollars internationally between box-office revenues, DVD sales and merchandising. But as I look up and down his filmography, Myers has made more missteps than savvy career movies, more embarrassing flops than smash hits. Mike Myers has embodied some
of the most beloved characters on film in the last 15 years. He was Wayne in “Wayne’s World,” a film that was self-aware but still really funny (and still one of the few “Saturday Night Live” sketches ever successfully translated to film) and of course, both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil in the “Austin Powers” series. But he was also the eponymous Cat in the Hat in the dreadful adaptation and has starred in so many dreadful films and sequels it’s impossible to list them all in this amount of space. Do “54,” “View from the Top” or “Pete’s Meteor” ring any bells? No, I didn’t think so.
As I look up and down his filmography, Myers has made more missteps than savvy career moves.
What saddens me the most as I think about the career Myers could have had is I see so much time and reputation capital spent on horrific movies. “Austin Powers” could have been one movie, two at the most, and became a cult DVD in its own right. Instead, it became a temporary cultural zeitgeist that died as
quickly as it was conceived. “Shrek” was an engaging film, but by this point DreamWorks’ animation studio has run the franchise into the ground, and every film they release shares the “Shrek” fondness for parodying popular culture. Nothing Myers has done in the past 10 years is new or especially exciting, but he’s still treated like comedy royalty. And it’s probably about to get worse. In his first non-ogre film in five years, Myers will be playing Pitka, “The Love Guru,” which costars universally revered comedienne ... wait for it ... Jessica Alba! It’s not ending there, either. Last week, Myers confirmed web reports that “Austin Powers 4” is on the way, reportedly co-starring another legend of comedy: Gisele Bündchen. Fans of Myers deserve a costar with a better résumé than “Taxi,” her only real film role to date. But the bigger issue at hand is when it will be enough for Myers. How many more laughs can one possibly squeeze out of “Yeah, baby!” and “Oh, behave”? Didn’t those catchphrases die a long time ago? (I’m also not sure how Bündchen’s boyfriend Tom Brady feels about the role, but my guess is he isn’t threatened by the possibility of Pitt-Jolie-type romance, while he plays the Jennifer Aniston role.) It saddens me to see one of my favorite comedic actors hurting
his reputation on bankable sequels when his strength was always finding someone new and interesting to become. Perhaps time-traveling ’60s superspy Austin Powers has finally found a place in time where
he’s no longer relevant. Maybe the real question is why Myers decided to make “So I Married an Axe Murderer.” Let Brad know what you think and send him an email at boron@wisc.edu.
comics 6
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Surfer on acid
Today’s Sudoku
dailycardinal.com/comics
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Beeramid
By Ryan Matthes beeramid_comic@yahoo.com
© Puzzles by Pappocom
Mega Dude Squad
By Stephen Guzzetta and Ryan Lynch rplynch@wisc.edu
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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.
Do you feel [ziggy] like I do?
Dwarfhead and Narwhal
By James Dietrich jbdietrich@wisc.edu
David Bowie was taught art by Peter Frampton’s father, Owen Frampton.
Today’s Crossword Puzzle
The Crackles
By Simon Dick srdick@wisc.edu Nothing!
May good fortune be with you may your guiding light be strong. Hey Sam what are you listening to?
Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com
hair to stay ACROSS
1 Amazon Basin creature 5 Veep replaced by Ford 10 Ishmael’s captain 14 Melodramatic cry 15 Undermine 16 Daft 17 Subjects of some TV news investigations 19 Poetic preposition 20 A hoop may hang from it 21 Moreover 22 Least threatening 24 Track-and-field orb 26 Piggy bank contribution 27 Western Hemisphere assn. 28 Proton or electron 31 Plains dweller 34 Locks up or lock-ups 35 Bireme equipment 36 Spoken 37 Spicy Delhi dish 38 Spitballs, e.g. 39 Sharp turn 40 Certain statistical values 41 Corresponds logically 42 Youngman’s specialty 44 The south of France? 45 Lightweight wood
46 Excommunication candidate 50 Figure enhancer 52 Tender on the Continent 53 Compendium material 54 Wagner work 55 Where one can go in circles 58 1950 studio cofounder 59 Citified 60 1958 Pulitzer winner James 61 Throb 62 Blank tapes? 63 Guardian’s charge DOWN
1 Demonstrates one’s nervousness 2 To whom a Muslim prays 3 City of a Thousand Minarets 4 Serpent of Egyptian art 5 Greek god of the winds 6 Matter for the mill 7 Admonishing utterance 8 August hrs., in Philly 9 Like some winds 10 Degree holders 11 Mass of cells 12 Does a thespian’s turn 13 Jodhpur, e.g.
18 “Shogun’’ setting 23 Minute invaders 25 Maul or awl, e.g. 26 Figure skating event 28 It gets under the skin 29 Decidedly uncool 30 Cupid, to the Greeks 31 A real clown 32 Meshed locale 33 Western shrub 34 Part of Palestine, once 37 Interpret 38 Adjutant 40 Signpost distance 41 Court figure 43 Collie of film 44 Peaceful 46 Storytelling dances 47 Russian forest 48 Circle one can trust 49 Encrusted 50 Closing musical passage 51 Grp. full of gas 52 Tyrrhenian Sea island 56 Bobby of the Bruins 57 Inexperienced
Anthro-apology
Is that Rod Stewart? No! It’s not! Forever young!... Forever young!...
That was Rod Stewart with Forever Young. This is WKRXO, 99.7, “The Awkward Turtle”...
By Eric Wigdahl wigdahl@wisc.edu
sports
dailycardinal.com/sports
espn
from page 8
Morning�): I group these two together because they are truly one being on their hit morning radio show that also airs live on ESPN2. Their chemistry is unmatched across sports radio. It’s so fluid and entertaining I almost take it for granted. It’s like the MVP argument— take one of them off the show and you realize how valuable they both are. The only times that the show succeeds without one of them is when Erik Kuselias fills in, which brings me to No. 2 ... 2. Erik Kuselias (“The Erik Kuselias Show�): Not many people know Kuselias, who is starting to get more recognition, filling in frequently on “Mike and Mike in the Morning� and “ESPN First Take.� He hosts a weekend show on ESPN Radio, but he’s got to be a candidate to move up soon. Kuselias is an extremely smart guy, having attended Brown, Michigan Law
crew
from page 8
depth. She said the team is strong, and that strength has come out in the races between the openweight four boats and their Big Ten opponents. “This team right now has had four years with this coaching staff, and I think we’re ready now. I think this group has a lot more speed in it ... Hopefully we’ll find it, or we’ll bring it out. We know it’s there, we know we’ve seen it. It’s just a matter of getting it to come out at the right time,� Bryans said.
“They are a great leadership class and they are very highly respected by the rest of their team.� Bebe Bryans head coach UW women’s rowing
A good time for the strength and speed of the team to come out is May 3 at the Big Ten Championship regatta in Ann Arbor, Mich. Bryans said Michigan State will be Wisconsin’s best competition because they have been
School and Columbia. It shows when he constantly makes Bayless look like the idiot he is on “1st and 10.� 3. Scott Van Pelt (“The Mike Tirico Show�): Like Mike Greenberg, Van Pelt is a “SportsCenter� guy that also does radio. Unlike Greenberg, Van Pelt doesn’t have his own show yet. I thought there was a good chance he would take over in the spot vacated when Dan Patrick left ESPN Radio, but instead the time slot went to Mike Tirico, and Van Pelt went on as his sidekick. It’s too bad, because I personally think Van Pelt is better on that show than Tirico is. Honorable mentions: Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser (“Pardon the Interruption�). If you think ESPN should force Skip Bayless and Jay Mariotti to compete in some sort of steel-cage death match, e-mail Adam at hoge@wisc.edu. consistently fast so far this season. Bryans said she expects Wisconsin to be competitive at the Big Ten Championships, but the race is really “a matter of who is ready on that day.� After the Big Ten Championships, the women’s team will have two weeks to get ready for Central Championships and then the NCAA Championships. Wisconsin will use the time to mix up boat lineups and test novice rowers in varsity boats to make the fastest possible combinations for the remainder of the season. “For Central Championships and for NCAAs we will have the fastest people [rowing] regardless of their class,� Bryans said. Bryans said she is proud of her team and the effort and patience they have shown throughout the exceptionally long winter training period. She feels the rest of the season is about having fun, working hard, producing results and enjoying the time on the water. “We’re just keeping our heads down and getting some work done,� Bryans said. “People can think we’re fast or not think we’re fast, we don’t really care. We’ll do what we do on the water.�
raphael from page 8 make significant contributions for the Badgers. This year, Raphael is batting .198, but has 20 runs batted in, which is best on the team. She has also hit four home runs and five doubles, which are both second on the squad. Raphael has hit third in the batting order most of the season, a spot in the lineup usually reserved for the team’s best hitter. “The coaches just look for me to be relaxed and to do whatever I can, whether it is to move over the
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 runner or score a run,� Raphael said.
“When I came in, coach started working with me from the ground up.� Valyncia Raphael
outfielder softball
Even with a large offensive role on the team, Raphael is still constantly looking for tips from her
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teammates. “More so than not, people are giving me advice,� Raphael said. “If someone asks I’ll definitely say something but [it’s most likely that] people are giving me advice.� Raphael’s junior season is winding down, but she and the Badgers are still hoping to qualify for the Big Ten tournament. Their season will continue Wednesday with a non-conference in-state clash with UWGreen Bay at home. The Phoenix have struggled this season with a 6-18 record and are winless on the road in 11 tries.
Wisconsin Union Directorate Presents MU=Memorial Union US=Union South $=paid event
STARLIGHT CINEMA: SUPER ANIMATION
THURSDAYS Rathskeller, MU Cork n’ Bottle String Band, 6-8 pm Open Mic, 8 pm, sign up at 7:45 pm (except for Jazz Jam, the last Thursday of the month) FRIDAYS acoustic, jazz, blues 5-7 pm, Rathskeller, MU
BEHIND THE BEAT
THUR APR 24, 7:30 PM, MU
JAZZ JAM THUR APR 24, 8:30 PM, MU
BEHIND THE BEAT FRI APR 25, 5-7 PM, MU
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 8:30 to 11:30 pm, Rathskeller, MU
JAZZ JAM
THE MIKE MANGIONE BAND FRI APR 25, 9:30 PM, MU
MU MOVIES: SWEENEY TODD FRI & SAT, APR 25 & 26, 7 & 9:30 PM, MU
Rathskeller
LEROY SMOKES WITH DEAN WELCH AND RHYTHM METHOD – HIP HOP
Memorial Union, 9:30 pm
SAT APR 26, 9:30 PM, MU
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
LADYHAWK W/ NEVA DINOVA @ CLUB 770
THE MIKE MANGIONE BAND
SAT APRIL 26, 9:30 PM, US
MIDNIGHT MOVIES: HAROLD & MAUDE SAT APR 26, 11:59 PM, US
CORK N’ BOTTLE STRING BAND THUR MAY 1, 6 PM, MU
INTERNATIONAL CINEMA: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
THUR MAY 1, 7:30 PM, MU
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, APRIL 25 & 26 MU MOVIES:
SWEENEY TODD 7 & 9:30 pm , Play Circle, MU
OPEN MIC W/ RA FURY THUR MAY 1, 8 PM, MU
WISPIRG BIG RED GO GREEN ECOPARTY W/ NATTY NATION, CODEBREAKER AND MORE! FRI MAY 2, MU
LYMBYC SYSTEM
F ILM
SAT MAY 3, MU
OWEN W/ ICARUS HIMSELF @ CLUB 770 SAT MAY 3, US
THURSDAY, APRIL 24 STARLIGHT CINEMA
Club 770 9:30 pm, US SATURDAY, APRIL 26
Ladyhawk w/ Neva Dinova
SUPER ANIMATION: ROBERT BREER, LARRY JORDAN, HARRY SMITH 7:30 pm, Play Circle, MU
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 MIDNIGHT MOVIES
HAROLD AND MAUDE 11:59 pm, US
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED Tickets: www.uniontheater.wisc.edu Info: www.union.wisc.edu/events Free events are intended for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff, Union members and their guests; paid and DLS events are open to the public.
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KEYBOARD CONVERSATIONS WITH JEFFREY SIEGEL TUES MAY 6, 7:30 PM, MILLS HALL
MIDNIGHT MOVIES: BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE SAT MAY 3, 11:59 PM, US
REAL TO REEL CINEMA: NO END IN SIGHT WED MAY 7, 7:30 PM, MU
SOMETHING TO DO @ CLUB 770 FRI MAY 9, US
COOL KIDS W/ YEA BIG & KID STATIC FRI MAY 9, MU
sports Raphael anchors Badger lineup 8
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Junior excels in transition from infield to outfield
Adam Hoge a hoge in one
Skip Bayless: the scourge of sports TV
By Scott Kellogg the daily cardinal
Junior outfielder Valyncia Raphael has been a fixture in the outfield this season for the Wisconsin softball team, starting 46 games in left field. But Raphael, who now makes the position look easy with her routine sliding catches, did not step foot outside the infield until just three years ago when she arrived in Madison. Raphael was team captain and second team all-league in high school as a shortstop, and was recruited for the position by Wisconsin. But it did not take long for head coach Chandelle Schulte to change her mind about Raphael’s position. “Right off the bat, on the second day of practice, coach is like, ‘You’re not an infielder.’ So I had to learn a new position,” Raphael said. Raphael appears to be a natural in the outfield now, but the change was initially difficult. “It was hard,” Raphael said. “I definitely felt as though I had never played the game before.” Though Raphael had been around the game of softball for a long time, she was not used to the elements of playing the outfield, and learning them was not easy. “Simple pop flies would pop out of my mitt, running for balls seemed harder and the field seemed so much bigger; there was so much more ground to cover,” Raphael said. Switching from shortstop to the outfield was a major transition for Raphael, but it was not the only one she had to make coming into Wisconsin. Raphael was also asked to make drastic changes in her
dailycardinal.com/sports
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I
’m starting to realize why I’m not a morning person. His name is Skip Bayless. Tuesday morning, I was eating my breakfast as Sage Steele and Bayless exchanged this conversation: “Welcome to ‘1st and 10,’” Steele said. “Today we are S-cubed, as Scoop Jackson joins us.” (Yes, it’s another lame welcoming joke on “First Take.”) “Actually Sage, there’s three of us today,” Bayless said. Really, Skip? Cubed means three. Sage, Skip and Scoop. Three Ss. In record time, Skip Bayless set me off with his first sentence of the day. Usually it takes at least 30 seconds. This got me thinking about how many personalities on ESPN actually bother me. Then there are those I love to watch. Some of these guys are worth listening to, and a lot of them aren’t. But we don’t really have a choice. They are going to be on our televisions no matter what. So let’s look at the best and the worst:
Lorenzo Zemella/the daily cardinal
Junior outfielder Valyncia Raphael leads Wisconsin in RBIs but is batting just .198. Her offensive and defensive contributions could be key in Wednesday’s doubleheader against UW-Green Bay. offensive approach. Similar to the defensive transition, the change was a successful one. “Coming in, coach had a very different batting style, and when I came in, coach started working with me from the ground up,” Raphael said. Just coming to Madison was
a major change for Raphael, who played high school softball in La Habra, Calif. “I’ve never been so far away from home by myself,” Raphael said. Because Raphael was able to make such a shift offensively and defensively, she earned 25 starts in the outfield her freshman year. That
season, she hit three home runs and batted .260, including a .333 batting average in Big Ten play, which was second on the team. Since her first year at Wisconsin, Raphael’s batting average has dropped, but she has been able to raphael page 7
Measured strokes carry crew into Big Ten races Strong crop of seniors lead youthful team By Rebecca Autrey the daily cardinal
Photo courtesy UWBadgers.com
Senior Denise Kragness is one of 12 rowers in their final year at UW. The team aims to make waves in upcoming conference and national regattas.
As the Wisconsin women’s openweight rowing team heads into a rare spring weekend without a race, head coach Bebe Bryans reflected on her team’s season thus far, the long-overdue spring weather and the special group of athletes that make up this year’s team. The team this year is young, with only nine seniors on a squad of 42 rowers. Last weekend, Wisconsin competed in Columbus, Ohio, at the Big Ten Double Duel, where they won 10 out of their 12 events against Ohio State and Indiana. Though Bryans was happy with her young team’s performance, she said the experience reminded them to be ready the second their blades hit the water.
“They were just more ready in the afternoon than they were in the morning. And some of that is experience in racing, but we’re to the point now where we need to be ready to go on stroke one of piece one, and hopefully that’s what we learned from this weekend,” Bryans said. The nine graduating seniors are the only girls left on the team who rowed for Wisconsin before Porter Boathouse opened in December of 2004. As a small senior class on a team of talented underclassmen, Bryans said the girls could have flaunted their seniority over the rest of the squad. However, she said nothing but good things about her graduating class. “They are a great leadership class, and they are very highly respected by the rest of their team and have set a great example for next year’s seniors.” According to Bryans, the seniors this year are just one component of a team with great crew page 7
Bottom 3 ESPN personalities 1. Skip Bayless (“1st and 10” on “ESPN First Take”): I’m pretty sure I could write an entire novel about the idiotic things this guy says on a daily basis. He’s your typical “I’ll say the most outrageous stuff just to get noticed” guy. Hey, I’ll give you credit Skip. You’ve been noticed—as a moron. He’s got a vendetta against LeBron James that has turned into the most embarrassing, stubborn argument in the history of sports broadcasting. How can you consistently say that LeBron is overrated? And the sad thing is that it spills over to other arguments, including one made Tuesday morning when he argued that Brendan Haywood’s foul on LeBron in game two of the Wizards-Cavs series was not a flagrant foul. If Haywood had done that to any other player in the league, Bayless would have been calling for his head. The former columnist in Dallas, Chicago and San Jose is simply the most biased personality in sports. 2. Jim Rome (“Rome is Burning”): Un-in-tell-i-gent. Annoy-ing. Please-shut-up. If you’ve seen the show, you understand. 3. Jay Mariotti (“Around the Horn”): Any reporter that can rip a guy apart and not face the players in the locker room the next day is a coward. This is Mariotti’s reputation in Chicago and it makes it hard to take the guy seriously. Honorable mentions: Doug Gottlieb (“The Pulse”) and Woody Paige (“Around the Horn”). Top 4 ESPN personalities 1. Mike Greenberg/Mike Golic (“Mike and Mike in the espn page 7