Fall 2021 Farewell - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - The Daily Cardinal

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Fall Farewell Issue 2021

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

IRENA CLARKOWSKI/THE DAILY CARDINAL

“…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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Fall Farewell Issue 2021

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 131, Issue 13

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

News and Editorial editor@dailycardinal.com Editor-in-Chief Addison Lathers

Managing Editor Grace Hodgman

News Team Campus Editor Ellia Nowakoski College Editor Sophia Vento City Editor Jackson Mozena State Editor Annabella Rosciglione Associate News Editor Samantha Henschel Features Editor Gina Musso

Opinion Editors Ian-Michael Griffin • Em-J Krigsman Arts Editors Rebecca Perla • Seamus Rohrer Sports Editors Lara Klein • Christian Voskuil Almanac Editors Gillian Rawling • Nick Rawling Photo Editor Irena Clarkowski Graphics Editors Jessica Levy • Zoe Bendoff Science Editors Joyce Riphagen • Emily Rohloff Life & Style Editor Samantha Benish Copy Chief Olivia Everett Copy Editor Tess Vasilakos Social Media Manager Clare McManamon Podcast Director Hope Karnopp

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Brandon Sanger Advertising Managers Noal Basil • Sydney Hawk Marketing Manager Muriel Goldfarb

The Daily Cardinal is a nonprofit organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales.

The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of WisconsinMadison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000.

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Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@ dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board Ian-Michael Griffin • Grace Hodgman • Em-J Krigsman • Addison Lathers • Anupras Mohapatra • Riley Sumner

Board of Directors Scott Girard, President Barry Adams • Herman Baumann • Don Miner • Nancy Sandy • Barry Adams • Phil Hands • Josh Klemons • Barbara Arnold • Jennifer Sereno

© 2021, The Daily Cardinal Media Corporation ISSN 0011-5398

For the record Corrections or clarifications?

Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an email to editor@dailycardinal.com.

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Shock, horror in Waukesha: What we know

By Annabella Rosciglione STATE NEWS EDITOR

A red Ford Escape driven by a 39-year-old Milwaukee man plowed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Nov. 20.

60 people were struck by the SUV, leaving 62 injured and 6 dead.

School in Waukesha was closed the following Monday.

“We will grieve as a community, and we will heal as a community,” said Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly.

“I’m grateful for the first responders and folks who acted quickly to help,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.“We are in contact with local partners as we await more information.”

The victims have since been identified as Wilhelm Hospel, 81, Virginia Sorenson, 79, LeAnna Owen, 71, Tamara Durand, 52, Jane Kulich, 52 and Jackson Sparks, 8. Of the victims, three were grandmothers, members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies.

As of Sunday, 8 children are still at the hospital with injuries from the parade. A GoFundMe has been created

on behalf of Sparks.

“I sat on the curb of this parade as a little kid, probably my entire childhood. We were always down here,” said Reilly. “This is a parade that has a lot of history. It’s almost six decades of having this wonderful event where people come together and celebrate.”

J.J. Watt, defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, Badger alumni and Waukesha native, pledged to cover the funeral costs for every family who lost a life.

Darrell Brooks Jr., the accused driver, has been charged with six counts of intentional homicide as of Monday, with bail set at $5 million. Each homicide charge carries a life sentence. His next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.

Brooks Jr. was previously out on a one thousand dollar bail for being accused of driving over a woman. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said they were launching their own internal investigation into the prosecutor’s “dangerously low” bail. Brooks Jr. has an additional extensive criminal record, being charged with 3 felonies in July 2020 and currently

has 2 open court felony cases in Milwaukee County.

According to witness reports, Brooks Jr. had multiple routes to exit the parade and appeared to be driving in a zigzag motion to hit a greater number of people.

Brooks Jr. hid the car near Carroll University before being arrested at a nearby home, where he stopped to ask for help claiming

issued a joint statement warning that outside groups may try to profit off the tragedy.

“It has come to our attention that outside individuals or groups may attempt to exploit the tragedy that occurred last Sunday in Waukesha for their own political purposes,” the statement said. “As the U.S. Senators representing Wisconsin, one from each politi-

COURTESY OF FOX6 NEWS MILWAUKEE VIA YOUTUBE

The city of Waukesha was shocked and is still grieving after the tragedy killed six. that he was homeless.

Rarely in unison, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Ron Johnson

cal party, we are asking anyone considering such action to cease and desist.”

Dane County increase in firearm injuries in 2021

By Francesca Pica STAFF WRITER

The UW Health Trauma Center reported an 80% increase in firearm injuries in 2020 and is expected to see similar levels in 2021.

UW hospitals reported treating 23 patients for firearm injuries in 2019. In 2020, that number rose to 42.

According to a March 2021 report conducted by Dane County, isolation and economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase in violence, including an increase in firearm injuries.

“COVID-19 has brought a myriad of challenges,” the report stated.

“Violence both in our community and in our homes has risen significantly, as a struggling economy, isolation and the stresses of the past year have left community

members tired and on edge.”

UW Health Trauma Center is responsible for treating lifethreatening injuries, including firearm injuries. The center is the one of two Level 1 trauma centers in Wisconsin.

Dr. Ann O’Rourke, medical director of the Adult Trauma Center at UW Health, said that the effects of gun violence harm patients’ loved ones and put patients at risk of facing more violence in the future.

“Patients who have been injured with firearms are at very high risk for experiencing future violence, and the acute psychological trauma for the patient oftentimes interferes with care and healing,” Dr. O’Rourke said. “The acute trauma is experienced not just by the patient, but also their family members and friends.”

UW Health Trauma Center has also partnered with community organizations to help prevent gun violence and reduce the impact of gun violence incidents on Dane County at large. The center hopes that partnerships will allow patients and their families to receive resources outside of hospital settings.

One of these organizations, Focused Interruption, responds to the scene of violent incidents and provides resources and assistance to patients and their families.

Focused Interruption founder Anthony Cooper stressed the importance of working with all parties involved in gun violence incidents to reduce harm to the wider community.

“We work on both sides not just with the victim but also the perpetrator because when incidents of

violence happen, it affects everyone,” said Cooper.

Dr. O’Rourke added that the recent increase in gun violence incidents in Dane County is a cause for concern not just for the people directly involved, but the county as a whole.

“It’s not just that person,” she said. “It’s their entire family, their community that is affected. Not just physically but emotionally and psychologically.”

COURTESY OF CAMERON LANE-FLEHINGER

Madison gun violence is on a rise.

Hoofers host 57th annual Ski, Snowboard Resale

By Alison Stecker STAFF WRITER

The Hoofers Ski and Snowboard Resale will return Dec. 4 and 5 after a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is the largest ski swap in the Midwest and individuals can find cross-country skis, snowboards and winter apparel at discounted prices.

“The resale is loved by members and the community, since ski equipment is usually very expensive,” Hoofer Ski and Snowboard Club President Isabel Ullrich said.

“Having the opportunity to buy discounted yet high quality equipment opens up skiing and snowboarding to people who otherwise might not be able to afford to try the sports. We are excited to hold the resale again and to get more people on the slopes this winter.”

According to Ullrich, the pri-

mary goal of the resale is to cater to any community member.

“A lot of people from the community come to the resale, especially those who are buying skis or equipment for their kids.

It’s expensive to buy equipment when kids will grow out of it very quickly,” said Ullrich. “But a lot of college students also come to buy inexpensive stuff because a lot of them are on a tight budget.”

Local and national vendors supply equipment for the resale.

Some of this year’s vendors include Endurance Enterprises, Fitzharris Ski, Bike and Outdoor, Lakewood Ski and Sport, Sol Alpine and Wayne’s Ski and Cycle.

Hoofers also collects new or slightly used gear donated or sold by the greater Madison community. Drop off times are Dec. 2 and 3. Individuals interested in selling their equipment are able to track

the sale of their items online, but the Ski and Snowboard Club will take a portion of the sale.

“It’s a very great experience for me to see other people take advantage of the resale. It’s also nice for people in the community to sell their stuff. People who have skis and equipment sitting in their basement can donate or sell it to help others,” Ullrich added in an interview with the Daily Cardinal.

Proceeds from the event support Hoofers Nordic, Alpine and Freestyle teams by funding their annual free ski trips with nonprofits organizations, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

“A majority of our money comes from resale. Without the resale, we wouldn’t be able to do much,” Ullrich said. “It funds all the grant programs and other events we do for our accessibility

side of things. It opens up a lot of doors for us as a club and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.”

The Hoofers Alpine and Nordic teams will offer waxing and sharpening services for skis and snowboards to make an additional profit. Waxing and tuning for a snowboard or pair of skis will cost $15.

“Especially if you want to try out skiing, the resale is a great place to get stuff for inexpensive prices. It’s a great opportunity and you don’t have to be a member to buy anything,” said Ullrich.

The resale will take place at Union South’s Varsity Hall from Dec. 4 to Dec. 5. Community members and students can drop off or purchase winter gear at discounted prices to prepare for the frigid months ahead while supporting UW-Madison’s premier outdoor club.

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Fall Farewell Issue 2021

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Community wrestles Badger Barstool, Wisco Chicks’

By Sophia Vento COLLEGE NEWS EDITORS

A few days after the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chancellor and the Madison Police Department urged students to follow county health guidelines during gatherings, five students were photographed standing on top of a damaged white SUV surrounded by an unmasked crowd.

The Instagram account that posted the photo, Badger Barstool, posted other photos of the car — its windshield smashed in and hood dented and covered in muddy footprints as smiling college students continued to party.

Barstool Sports is a multimillion-dollar sports and pop culture digital media platform with campus-specific affiliates such as Badger Barstool and Wisco Chicks.

The outlet’s UW-Madison affiliates serve as a reminder of an exclusionary culture for some campus community members despite attracting over 200,000 followers across social media platforms.

Despite the scope of the accounts on campus, some students have concerns about their impact.

“I feel like Barstool is such an example of this dominant culture that a lot of students at UW — specifically white students — think there is,” said UW-Madison senior Gracie Regala about the sports and pop culture digital media company’s campus affiliates. “[Barstool] pushes this dominant narrative that all students at Madison are partying all the time.”

The Mifflin Street Block Party, an annual event hosted near the end of the spring semester, serves as a key manifestation of this sentiment according to Regala.

Often met with criticism regarding its effects on the greater Madison community, the block

party received increased scrutiny last year as it occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns about the spread of the virus as thousands of students attended.

Badger Barstool showcased the event, posting videos and pictures of Madison Police Department officers playing beer pong with partygoers, the vandalism of a community member’s car and the general scope of the event, describing it as the “best weekend of the year.”

In response to the party, campus leaders such as the UW-Madison BIPOC Coalition, a student activist group committed to diversity and inclusivity on-campus, issued a statement describing their frustrations and calling for Badger Barstool to “be held accountable for the promotion of [the] event and its subsequent damage.”

Regala reiterated this view, describing the event as an expression of whiteness as a shield from accountability.

“I feel like [Mifflin] perpetuated this narrative of whiteness being able to get away with whatever and this like ‘Oh it’s fun because we’re drinking,” said Regala about the block party and its attendees.

Since its creation in 2003, claims of misogyny and hypermasculinity as well as racism have emerged about the affiliates’ parent company, Barstool, and its employees. Last month, several women also came forward stating that Barstool’s founder Dave Portnoy engaged in aggressive sexual behavior.

UW-Madison junior and Badger Barstool Tik Tok administrator Al Purves declined to comment on specific concerns about the UW-Madison affiliate accounts’ role in the Mifflin Street Block Party, highlighting his belief that the accounts get “a lot of bad rep even though none of [the adminis-

trators] ever intend for anything to be hurtful or bad.”

“We’re all college kids and over the past year and a half some things have become really controversial, or people get mad at things really easily, but none of that comes out of anger or hate,” Purves explained.

Regardless, some students remain disillusioned with the accounts and their role at UW-Madison.

A UW-Madison student and employee at UW Athletics who asked to remain anonymous described their frustrations with the accounts, emphasizing that the athletic department actively avoids associating itself with Barstool Sports and their UW-Madison affiliates.

“In our department, specifically, we make sure that we’re not interacting with Barstool,” said the UW student and employee, describing the accounts’ posts as “people doing stupid things they deem cool. It just doesn’t set a good image for us as a school.”

Students like Regala remain concerned with what the accounts mean for the broader campus culture, especially when considering UW-Madison’s largely white student population and the drinking and party culture on campus.

“I think that Barstool is just a symptom of this greater campus institutionalized culture,” Regala said.

UW-Madison’s culture, as explained by the director and founder of UW-Madison’s Digital Studies program Rob Howard, can accelerate through the social media accounts that depict it.

“It’s an engine and it fires up people,” Howard said about the Badger Barstool and Wisco Chicks accounts. “If somehow, we could miraculously end the media, I still

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF JENNIFER SCHALLER

Campus wrestle with Badger Barstool, Wisco Chicks role at Madison. think people — even more people — would be down there drinking on game days.”

“That’s part of the culture, you cannot say the media is to blame,” continued Howard.

This culture and the media that depicts it serve as a barrier to connection to campus for Regala, creating a feeling of isolation at UW-Madison.

“I have found my own way to exist on-campus, but I definitely feel like it creates a distance,” Regala said. “It just makes me feel like a lot of my peers don’t recognize and see the way that the dominant narrative affects, specifically, students of color, but also just a lot of different marginalized identities.”

In Purves’ view, Badger Barstool demonstrates the “authentic side of a lot of college students.”

“I think Badger Barstool, in general, does a good job of capturing what people can be like

in a funny matter,” said Purves.

“We’re really just here to showcase what people send us and the funny side of campus.”

Yet for students like Regala, UW-Madison’s Barstool Sports’ affiliates instead serve as a reminder of an exclusive culture at UW-Madison — both on and offline.

“I hope that one day the culture of UW-Madison just feels like it’s rich in that there’s a lot of different ways you can experience the school,” Regala said.

Ultimately, Regala hopes that Badger Barstool and Wisco Chicks acknowledge and address the ways in which the brand they have created impacts campus culture.

“It doesn’t really make sense to have this dominant narrative or this dominant culture,” said Regala. “It’d be cool if eventually there’s just more recognition of different ways to exist on campus.”

Porchlight tackles new challenges amid COVID-19 crisis

By Alison Stecker STAFF WRITER

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Porchlight Men’s Drop-In Shelter in Madison had to readjust their housing, food and cleaning services to keep over 1,000 men experiencing homelessness safe and healthy.

At the start of the pandemic, the shelter didn’t see an increase in individuals seeking housing because of the eviction moratorium. The CDC passed this order to slow the spread of the disease and give additional time for rent relief. Anyone who received federal funding could not be evicted from housing, reducing the risk of homelessness.

The CDC signed an order to extend the eviction moratorium in Wisconsin for counties that faced substantial and high COVID-19 transmission. The order ended on Oct. 3 in Dane County, providing Porchlight with additional time to focus on the individuals already in the system.

Professor Kurt Paulsen, an expert in urban planning, believes the eviction moratorium will eventually create a surge of homelessness in Madison toward the end of the pandemic.

“Part of this comes from the fact

that COVID-19 layered on top of a housing market that was already in a problem situation. And then the eviction moratorium put a lid on everything for 12 to 18 months, and now things are boiling up,” he said.

Although Paulsen criticizes the eviction moratorium, it allowed Porchlight to focus all its resources on the individuals already in the homeless system. According to Director of Services Kim Sutter, focusing on people already homeless was the primary goal of the shelter.

“Since there wasn’t a lot of displacement early on in the pandemic, we were able to focus more on the folks in our housing and figure out how to serve them best in the shelter,” Sutter said.

Porchlight partnered with Dane County and Madison public health officials to educate their community members about COVID-19. However, it remained a challenge for them to maintain safe distances in the congregate shelter, said Sutter.

“People were sleeping on mats on the floor, two to three feet away from each other. There was no social distancing possibility and no way to really sanitize a cement floor,” she explained.

On March 30, 2020, the city

relocated Porchlight to a spot at the Warner Park Recreation Center to provide more space for social distancing. Dane County also put $13 million toward additional hotels-to-housing initiatives to limit virus transmission in shelters. Porchlight sent their immunocompromised populations to these county-funded hotels to allow for physical distancing, according to Sutter.

“We had three hours to identify our folks over 65 and make a list prioritizing them based on age and vulnerability to COVID-19,” said Sutter. “We plucked them out of the line and sent them over to a hotel.”

Once Porchlight relocated individuals to hotel shelters, they needed to set up a medical respite center for individuals exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

“We had to start doing health assessments right away at the door, asking every person, ‘these are the symptoms of COVID. Do you have any of these?’” Sutter explained.

“We had to get our hands on touchless thermometers, which was a nightmare at the beginning of COVID-19 because they were just not available.”

Many of the sanitary and protective equipment Porchlight need-

ed to keep their residents safe was not easily accessible at the start of the pandemic. According to Sutter, the shelter made their own hand sanitizers and local residents were donating hand-sewn masks.

People even dropped off N-95 masks they had laying around in their garages.

Porchlight also needed to modify their food and cleaning services to prevent the spread of the disease. Prior to COVID-19, elderly volunteers would cook and serve the food to the residents. Putting vulnerable populations at risk was a safety concern, so the shelter had to transition from family-style dining to individually catered meals.

Sutter also hired a cleaning service to do the laundry and wash the linens every day.

“It was all just a whole new world. Before COVID-19, we weren’t paying anyone for the food, we didn’t have a laundry service and we had an in-house janitor,” she said. “We were living in a basement and it was not humane in my opinion.”

The pandemic brought to light the inhumane conditions of the homeless shelter and attached urgency to the homeless issue.

City-County Homeless Issues Committee Co-Chair Ulysses

Williams agreed with Sutter that the homeless conditions in Madison need improvement.

“The laws have changed since I became homeless and I hear complaints about it from the homeless population right now. Although it’s a lot better than it was back then, people still get harassed by the police and local people,” Williams shared.

Before the pandemic, many city officials never stepped foot into a shelter to see how brutal the homeless conditions were.

“Once COVID-19 came around, everyone realized that shelters were not safe at all. It was the first time many of the city staff came into shelters and really understood how they work,” said Sutter.

Sutter believes that the changes made to Porchlight during the pandemic should stay because they are overall safety measures that should’ve been implemented before COVID-19 broke out.

“If we can keep these new protocols around long term, it would really help us be able to respond to a crisis in the future,” she said. “I would love for all homeless shelters to be prepared because we made some permanent changes to make spaces safer and more humane for folks.”

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Fall Farewell Issue 2021

Badgers lose Axe in upset loss

By Justin Alpert SPORTS WRITER

The unranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-4) defeated the 14th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (8-4) 23-13 in Minnesota on Saturday.

Winning this year’s edition of college football’s oldest rivalry, Minnesota reclaimed Paul Bunyan’s Axe and denied Wisconsin a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday against Michigan.

Minnesota received the opening kickoff, and on the first play from scrimmage, Wisconsin safety Collin Wilder was ejected for targeting. Wilder led with his shoulder, not his head, but he made firm enough contact with wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell’s helmet to draw the controversial call. The Gophers went 65 yards on 14 plays but settled for a field goal on their first drive.

The Badgers responded with a field goal, tying the game 3-3 after a 15-play, 85-yard drive that ate nearly 10 minutes of the clock and extended into the second quarter.

A questionable personal foul penalty had extended the possession after Wisconsin failed to convert a 3rd-and-5.

Wisconsin then went up 10-3 on a pick-six by safety Scott Nelson, who had an open lane to the end zone after a Noah Burks-deflected pass landed in his arms.

Another Minnesota field goal — then a series of punts — had Wisconsin leading 10-6 at halftime.

The second half began with a Graham Mertz interception. The Wisconsin quarterback threw a jump ball to receiver Kendrick Pryor, who was (barely) outmuscled by cornerback Justin Walley.

Mertz made a decent throw, but the 5’11” Pryor doesn’t excel at that type of leaping, contested catch.

Minnesota needed only two plays to march 28 yards and take

a 13-10 lead on Ky Thomas’ touchdown run.

The Badgers followed with another long drive, this one 11 plays and 66 yards, that stalled in the red zone and resulted in a game-tying field goal.

Thomas and quarterback Tanner Morgan led the Gophers down the field again, with help from a pass interference call on cornerback Caesar Williams.

Autman-Bell hauled in a 27-yard touchdown to give Minnesota a 20-13 lead. A collision between two Badger defensive backs left Autman-Bell crossing the field against single coverage, and Morgan took full advantage.

Wisconsin reached Minnesota’s 30-yard line on the ensuing possession but ultimately settled for a field goal attempt. Kicker Collin Larsh came up just short, hitting the crossbar on the 48-yard attempt. While 48 yards is near the edge of his range, the Badgers were in a position where neither punting nor going for it made much sense.

The Badger defense needed a stop but couldn’t make one.

Minnesota added a field goal to make it 23-13 while running the clock down to 6:08.

On 4th and 1 at their own 21-yard line, Wisconsin shockingly lined up to punt, but a false start pushed them back five yards. Then they elected to go for it and converted with a strike to tight end Jake Ferguson.

Paul Chryst said the punt unit was sent on the field by mistake, according to Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The sequence didn’t affect the outcome of the game. Even so, it suggested a general confusion or lack of focus on Wisconsin’s sideline that’s unacceptable in a must-win game.

Mertz failed to convert the next fourth down, though, and with just over three minutes remaining, the

game was essentially over.

It had been clear for weeks that Wisconsin’s offense lived through running back Braelon Allen, who strung together seven consecutive 100-plus yard games entering Saturday. But, against Minnesota, the 17-year-old had by far his worst game since becoming the lead back, averaging just 2.8 yards on his 17 carries for 47 rushing yards.

The Gophers entered the game with the Big Ten’s third-ranked rush defense and performed admirably against Allen, swarming him at the line of scrimmage and limiting the yards after contact he had accumulated so impressively this season.

Late deficits had become foreign to Wisconsin during the seven-game winning streak, and as the Fox broadcasters alluded to, the Badger offense isn’t built for desperate, pass-heavy drives.

Mertz, who made some nice throws earlier in the game, was mostly ineffective in the second half and finished 21-for-38 with 171 yards and the interception.

Having played competently yet unremarkably as Braelon Allen’s side-gig for a couple of months, Mertz wasn’t prepared to lead a late-game comeback with so much on the line. Unfortunately, playing worse as games progress has plagued the sophomore on several occasions and did so once again Saturday.

Jim Leonhard’s defense played well, as it held Morgan to 199 yards and Minnesota’s rushing attack to 2.4 yards per carry. Though it struggled to get off the field at times, the unit kept the game within reach for the Badgers.

Wisconsin’s pass rush recorded three sacks but failed to establish a consistent presence in Morgan’s pocket. The senior quarterback often had too much time to read the Badger secondary, which had been

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Wisconsin lost the Axe game for just the second time in 17 years on Saturday, falling to the Gophers 23-13 on Saturday in Minneapolis. the weaker part of the defense all season and was fielding a hobbled cornerback in Faion Hicks.

Issues guarding tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford (3 catches, 62 yards) may be partially attributable to the loss of the versatile Wilder. That said, the 6’7” junior was Minnesota’s leading receiver and — with a big downfield gain — started the drive that gave the Gophers a 23-13 lead.

The Badgers will still play in a respectable bowl game this season (one not sponsored by mayonnaise, likely), but Saturday’s loss in Minnesota was a massive blown opportunity.

Awaiting Wisconsin was a Michigan Wolverines team that the Badgers competed with for a couple of quarters in a time before Braelon Allen’s emergence.

Although Wisconsin lost that matchup 38-17, the Badgers in their current form absolutely could’ve competed with Michigan.

The Wolverines employ a runheavy offense and would have posed less of a threat to Wisconsin’s defense than Ohio State (whom Michigan beat Saturday), which has a potent downfield passing game the Badgers would’ve struggled to contain.

Wisconsin had controlled its destiny for the Big Ten West title for several weeks, and it came so close to completing its journey back from a 1-3 start. The Golden Gophers had the opportunity to play spoiler, and they did just that, so Iowa will be the division’s representative in next week’s Big Ten Championship Game.

The Badgers will have to wait until the final College Football Playoff Top 25 Ranking Show on Sunday, Dec. 5 to learn what bowl they’ll play in, but most recent projections have the Badgers likely ending up playing in the Outback Bowl against a mid-tier SEC school on Jan. 1, 2022 in Tampa, Florida.

Badgers head into NCAA Championship Tournament

By Taylor Smith SPORTS WRITER

Badgers (25-3) and they are onto the NCAA Championship tour-

TAYLOR WOLFRAM/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Badgers secured the Big Ten conference championship and the 4 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament after an unbeaten weekend.

The regular season has ended for the No. 4 ranked Wisconsin

nament. The Badgers start off the tournament this Friday at

the UW Field House against the Colgate University Raiders (18-9). A win for the Badgers guarantees them a game on Saturday night.

The Badgers completed their final weekend of the regular season with a double win at home against No. 10 Nebraska and Indiana.

Wisconsin claimed their third-straight Big Ten title following their win against Nebraska on Friday night. The Badgers took down the Cornhuskers in four sets, 14-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-18. Despite the first set loss, Wisconsin was able to leave it behind to fiercely win the next three.

“Winning three in-a-row is a pretty hard thing to do,” Setter and fifth-year senior Sydney Hilley said following the win.

“It takes a lot of work behind the scenes. I’m just really proud of the way this team took each single day of practice. They put in the work so we could have a chance to win it.”

The Badgers swept the Indiana Hooisers in just 70 minutes on Saturday night.

This was their fastest match of the season. Wisconsin conquered Indiana 25-14, 25-9, 25-15

for their 15th and final sweep of the regular season.

Saturday night’s game against Indiana was Senior Night for the Badgers, arguably one of the most bittersweet in Badgers history.

Wisconsin is losing some of their top players after this season, many of which have been in the program for five seasons. The Badgers honored Lauren Barnes, Giorgia Civita, Sydney Hilley, Grace Loberg, Dana Rettke and Julia Wohlert after the sweep against Indiana. Among these six players are countless awards and school records, and their impact on Wisconsin will never be forgotten.

The regular season is now over and it is time for tournament play for the Badgers. This is their ninth-straight NCAA tournament appearance. The tournament means even more this year for the five seniors who got to the Championship game in 2019, but fell to Stanford in three sets.

The Badgers were chosen as the No. 4 seed for the tournament, a spot higher than the previous week’s ranking. For

the first round of tournament play, the Badgers will face Colgate University. Wisconsin last faced Colgate in 2013 and 2015, both of which were sweeps for the Badgers.

Colgate is led by two captains. Julia Kurowski, a senior setter, and graduate student outside-hitter Alli Lowe. This season, Colgate won their first Partiot League conference title since 2012. Sophomore Libby Overmyer leads the Raiders in kills with 305 this season. On the defensive end, junior Cami Carfino leads the team in digs with 241. Senior Julia Kurowski follows closely behind with 223 digs, while also leading the team in assists with 868. Kurowski was named conference tournament MVP and Patriot League’s Setter of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The Badgers begin the NCAA Championship tournament on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House against Colgate. In the case of a win, Wisconsin will face either Florida Gulf Coast University of Texas Tech on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., also at the UW Field House.

arts Moonglow Bay sets sail despite rocky launch dailycardinal.com

By Amelia Zollner STAFF WRITER

Despite my vegetarianism and general disdain for fishing in real life, I’ve somehow always been in love with the feeling of reeling in a virtual fish. Not in those rugged, story-absent games like Big Bass Fishing, but through classic cozier games in the vein of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing or Minecraft. Naturally, then, I was thrilled when Bunnyhug Studios announced Moonglow Bay, a game that takes the fishing theme of older games and makes it palatable for people like me, who wouldn’t step within 6 feet of a fishing rod in real life.

The goal of the game is to rejuvenate the aptly named town of Moonglow Bay, which has fallen into shambles after rumored fishing accidents have caused the town’s once vibrant fishing industry to crumble. To do this, the player controls the main character as they fish and cook to open a food stand. As the stand grows, the player invests their money into the town, repairing dilapidated buildings and reviving severed connections with the townspeople.

There’s a story and a definite end to the game, and there are even a few “boss fights” in the style of reeling in massive fish.

Though for me, the appeal of Moonglow Bay’s gameplay is less about the story and more about its open-endedness.

As expected from a fishing game, it absolutely nails the fishing mechanic. While I loved Stardew Valley’s take on fishing that requires a cursor to stay in a bar, Moonglow Bay’s fishing mechanic is more authentic.

Whether the player is on a fishing boat or standing on a pier, they simply cast a line and wait for a fish to bite. Once a fish bites, they press the key that corresponds to

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the opposite direction the fish is headed, pressing “D,” for example, if the fish is escaping left to bring it back in.

Different rods, baits and locations have different outcomes as

funny-sounding fish or gathering materials for a new recipe.

Cooking these fish is equally satisfying. Each step of the cooking process features a small task, though this never grows repetitive

veteran Lena Raine. While admittedly a bit repetitively implemented into the game, Raine’s Moonglow Bay work is gorgeous — even just the way a snappy little violin track kicks in while

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Moonglow Bay is a virtual fishing game that takes place on a fictional island with a seaport. well, and there are over 100 fish to catch. Perhaps the best part of the game is its unique fish. After hearing townspeoples’ rumors of fantastical fish lurking in the Moonglow Bay waters, I noticed that my in-game journal filled up with the names of these fish.

When I saw a fish a villager had referred to as “Fingerpaint Larry,” I was determined to find out what it looked like.

Moonglow Bay is great at this — there’s always something to strive for that will draw your attention away from the main story, whether it’s hunting down a

thanks to the auto-cook feature that unlocks after cooking each dish a certain amount of times.

I was also thrilled to begin filling up the museum — each fish donated here unlocks a journal entry with fish information.

Speaking of journal entries, if you win townspeople over by cooking them dishes, they’ll sign your journal. It’s definitely a smaller touch, though it adds to the town’s familial feeling set by the game’s cozy voxel art and the fishing journal’s drawings.

The whole game is set to charming music by soundtrack

I’m reeling in a tiny fish on a beach does so much to liven up the town. I haven’t yet made my way through the full game, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the soundtrack dynamically molds itself around the different scenarios the game presents.

Unfortunately, Moonglow Bay isn’t as smooth as its soundtrack makes it seem. I was able to pick up a copy just ahead of launch, and to my surprise, it was a bit undercooked. Perhaps its biggest problem is its keyboard mapping — while players are given a thorough tutorial, the controls are

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still a bit unintuitive and can’t be remapped. I imagine this issue is better on Xbox, although players also reported controls issues.

Speaking of issues, there are … quite a few others. It’s clear that Moonglow Bay was designed with a clear path for the player despite being an open-ended game, leading to some interesting dialogue moments. Before the main character even opened a food business, for example, I interacted with one NPC and they chatted away about how they should visit the business as if it was already open.

Later on, my character thanked a shop owner I hadn’t even met for selling me a vending machine upgrade I hadn’t purchased. It definitely broke my immersion a bit, as did things like instantly teleporting onto the ship for an impromptu lobster trap tutorial when all I wanted was to purchase trap for later.

Moonglow Bay is unfortunately saturated with so many little moments like this. I’ll be fishing only to have my day ruined by a misplaced apostrophe or an NPC that disappears the second we collide. It’s honestly frustrating — Moonglow Bay just has so much potential to be the next popular cozy game, but its glitches and shortcomings prevent it from being a fully enjoyable experience.

Keep in mind, this was after the game was delayed a few weeks so the team could patch up glitches.

However, Moonglow Bay’s developers have assured players that these glitches will be fixed and have already begun rolling out patches to address these issues. It looks like Moonglow Bay’s future rests on its patches. While enduring a painfully glitchy launch, as long as these glitches are fixed, it looks like Bunnyhug Games might have reeled in a cozy gaming mainstay with Moonglow Bay.

Majestic Theater crowd cheers up Alex G

By Seamus Rohrer ARTS DESK EDITOR

In the midst of his 2021 tour, Alex G stopped by Madison to play at the Majestic Theater. It was another cozy, intimate show at the Majestic — people in jackets pressed together and the heat turned up on a chilly November night.

Rapper Exum opened for Alex G, and his performance was a great precursor to Alex G’s set. Initially, it would strike one as an interesting choice by Alex G to tour with Exum, whose alternative rap sounds nothing like Alex G’s lo-fi indie. But the two combined to put on a diverse and creative performance.

Exum got the party going, and he fully embraced being the opening act.

As the former NFL defensive back put it, he has to make the audience buy “a second ticket.” Exum performed alone on stage, but his incredibly engaging performance radiated the energy even a full band can sometimes fail to produce.

During one of his opening songs, Exum climbed onto a platform near the stage and was immediately ushered off by a stage technician. This got the crowd cheering for the rapper and booing at the Majestic employee. Exum then channeled his inner David Byrne

from “Stop Making Sense,” traversing all parts of the stage and sprinting in place, raising the energy even higher.

For the climax, Exum descended into the crowd and cleared a circle from which to perform. He serenaded several audience members to a slower song, and at one point asked the crowd to get low to the ground, most of whom obliged. Exum knew as the opening act he had to be memorable, and he delivered. When he announced he’s in consideration for being an opening act on Kanye West’s Donda tour, it was impressive but not surprising.

Alex G and band took the stage shortly after. He opened with a powerful version of “Gretel” off his most recent record, House of Sugar. For this song, Alex and his band amped-up the intensity for the live performance.

Initially, I was curious as to how Alex G would perform his soft, quieter songs, but he had no interest in holding back.

Alex G has been in the game a long time, so it’s no surprise that his performance was extremely tight and his band was locked in. However, they achieved this while still playing with an unexpected amount of power. On so many Alex G recordings, his voice

is strained and almost distant. At the Majestic, he screamed into the microphone with reckless abandon.

Despite his loud and technicallysound performance, Alex G looked almost disinterested for the first half.

He spoke only a few words to the audience, and just had an unfriendly demeanor about him on stage. About midway through the show, however, something changed. He started interacting with the audience more, responding to crowd callouts and chatting with his band. He even brought a mesmerized young woman from the audience on stage to sing along with him. It was a good performance up to this point, but a more social Alex G made it a great one.

The encore ended up being almost as long as the initial set, and by that time Alex and his band were having a blast. They were clearly deciding which song to play next in the moment. Alex even took a suggestion from the crowd, playing “Brite Boy” to the fan’s delight.

Watching Alex G cheer up as his show went on was interesting. It was a good reminder that artists, like the rest of us, fluctuate emotionally. It was fun to witness Alex’s energy level build,

ANGELINA TATSIS/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Rapper Exum opened for Alex G with his iconic alternative rap stylings and held up a free the vagina poster during his set. encouraged by the Majestic crowd and the joy of performance. Alex G has

been releasing music since high school, and likely isn’t done anytime soon.

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Santa Claus to have lipo after replacing staff with Keebler elves

By Mackenzie Moore ALMANAC CONTRIBUTOR

Santa Claus has never been known for his slim physique.

While the health conscious often reach for green juice and protein bars, Santa opts for milk and cookies. Still, after nearly 2000 years, Kringle has managed not to veer out of the obese category.

However, after rumblings of an elf-union potentially forming, Claus opted to replace his staff with the Keebler elves, resulting in a significant weight gain and the decision to have liposuction.

After some speculation, it has been confirmed that the doctor Father Christmas has chosen to perform the surgery is none other than Dr. Nowzaradan of “My 600-lb Life.” For the unfamiliar, Nowzaradan — best known as Dr. Now — is like Jillian Michaels if she had been born in 1944, gone to medical school and looked like sans-mustache Iranian Mario.

According to the North American Aerospace Defense Com-

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mand, Santa’s weight previously hovered around 260 lbs. Given that Dr. Now is best known for his work on the TLC show, it is likely that Santa Claus has gained in the neighborhood of 340 lbs.

While Santa and Mrs. Claus have stuck to their preference of avoiding speaking publicly, longtime assistant Alvin Openslae agreed to comment.

“Whenever the elves would end the day having made many irredeemable mistakes, they would prevent Mr. Claus from getting frustrated by giving him boxes of cookies,” Openslae began. “Given that the Keebler elves were hired despite having no experience building toys, Santa received lots of apology cookies.”

Openslae went on to say that

What your top Spotify Wrapped™ artist says about you

Santa submitted himself to the fact that he could not control his cookie intake, but did try to amend the issue on his own through exercise. Unfortunately, the bitter North Pole weather and the obstacles that come with a 600 pound, 1,750-year-old man walking in two feet of snow made the task difficult.

Claus did burn calories by

Almanac’s Guide to holiday small talk

By Gillian Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR

COURTESY OF SPOTIFY

By Nick Rawling ALMANAC EDITOR

With Halloween coming up on SuIf your top artist was The Beatles: Your taste in music is not as great as you think it is. Learn some humility.

Bo Burnham: You are annoying. Your sense of humor is annoying. Everyone in your life is tired of you.

Kanye West: You are almost as annoying as the Bo Burnham people, but for a different reason.

At least Donda was good.

Drake: You are cringe. Kanye is better.

Greta Van Fleet: Have you ever heard of Led Zeppelin?

It’s basically what you’re listening to, but way better.

Grimes: You check Co-Star every day. Also there’s like coin-flip odds you have a nicotine addiction.

One Direction: Still listening to 1D in 2021 is not as ‘fun’ or as ‘quirky’ as you think it is. Harry Styles is still hot though.

Taylor Swift: You either are, or were, a horse girl. You think Taylor Swift is an ‘indie’ artist (she’s definitely not). Maybe if you stream her another 500 times she can afford another scarf. Jake Gyllenhaal is still hot though.

Justin Bieber: If Spotify Wrapped™ had been a thing 9

years ago, you’d have been fucked. But Justin Bieber is actually cool now, so congratulations! Also still hot.

Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Frank Ocean, Lana del Rey, Soccer Mommy: You are most likely already on a tranquilizer. If you are not on a tranquilizer, you should be.

Charli XCX: You are completely normal. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Olivia Rodrigo: What are you, a college student, doing listening to music made by a 17-year-old for 13-year-olds? I know what you’re doing, you’re trying to get over your breakup with some guy named Brayden or something who you were seeing for three weeks.

Billie Eilish: You love reminding people that you started listening to her before she got popular. I promise you though, nobody cares.

DaBaby: You like eating at Chick-Fil-A, and not even because you particularly like the food.

You’re especially angry about January 6 because they almost hurt Mike Pence.

Doja Cat: You like Doja Cat because of her versatility and her consistently high-level effort and energy. I like Doja Cat because she’s super fucking hot and I can’t get the ‘get into it yuh’ song out of my head. We are not the same.

Ed Sheeran: He’s in love with my body. They say I just got a buck. Get into it, yuh. Pop out with a truck. Get into it, yuh.

spending long hours re-making the toys that the elves messed up, but this was negated due to Kringle becoming a stress eater.

Former workshop elf Iwan Minstix believes that relationship troubles is what ultimately led Santa to seek out Dr. Now’s help.

“After spending all day eating Keebler cookies, the chocolate chip cookies that Mrs. Claus made for him probably just didn’t have the same magic that they once did. Given that he had enjoyed them hundreds of times without any sign of fatigue, she began to feel unappreciated,” Minstix said.

By taking action now, Santa Claus will be able to get to a low enough weight to fly in his sleigh without snapping the spines of his reindeer by Christmas Eve. Even better, those close to Claus believe that once he tastes millions of homemade cookies, he will come to his senses and regain a preference for cookies not stored in a plastic tray.

The holidays can be a really rough time of year for a lot of people, especially college students. Being away from your homes and thrust back into the purgatory that is whatever smallWisconsin-town you managed to crawl your way out of can be hard enough as it is. To make this time easier Almanac has created a conversation guide to get you through what can only be described as a minefield — especially in today’s political climate amiright??

Without further adieu, here are the topics to avoid, and bring up, at your holiday gatherings.

What you shouldn’t bring up: The Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Listen, I know it’s important that the punk of the century gets what’s coming to him. But that pie isn’t going to taste very good if your uncle Joe is talking about how that little shit is a national hero. In fact, that from earlier might make a reappearance.

Significant Others. This one is kind of a given, but it’s important to reiterate just how crucial it is to steer the conversation away from your relationship — or lack thereof. Yes, grandma I know I’ve never had a boyfriend and that both my brother and sister are in long term relationships. Why are we talking about this again?

How school is going. Well dad, since you asked, half of my class has the Rona, I have alcoholic tendencies, and I’ve had the lowest score in the class for the last four midterms I’ve taken. Trust me, it’s better for you and them if they don’t know.

Mental health. It’s not good. Moving on.

Perspective jobs/internships. Life

isn’t real. Neither is working.

What you can bring up: Taylor Swift. The girl-boss-ification of America has fully set in and that means everyone is finally allowed to admit that Taylor Swift and her music are good. Bonus points for playing some classic holiday tunes like “Tis’ the damn season” when with your toxic ass ex from Ashwaubenon while you’re hooking up in a church parking lot. Just make sure you tell your parents you were out getting ice cream when you get back and they inevitably question you.

The weather. A perfectly acceptable topic in all social settings. As long as it doesn’t turn into a dangerous discussion about climate change where your grandma starts asking how that’s even possible if her fridge is still warm.

Badger Volleyball. Who doesn’t love to watch a college team win. And volleyball is without a doubt one of the least controversial sports at UW-Madison up to this point. Nothing but good vibes from and to that team.

Daylight Savings. Daylight savings is one of the worst concepts to ever grace the midwest. As I’m writing this the sun is going down five short hours after I got out of bed. Just make sure you don’t accidentally slip up and tell them that your seasonal depression is coinciding with your regular depression once again.

The members of the family that aren’t there. Nothing brings people together like talking shit and the holidays bring about one of the most opportune moments. Talk about how ugly cousin Elise’s boyfriend is when they leave to go pick up the ingredients for dinner.

Or talk about how uncle Chris has really let himself go this time.

We’re always looking for more funny and insightful writers with fresh takes on topics ranging from the UW campus to international news. We accept and encourage creative submissions as well! Any and all submissions are more than welcome. You can send your submissions and any comments or questions to almanac@dailycardinal.com. All articles featured in Almanac are creative, satirical and/or entirely fictional pieces. They are fully intended as such and should not be taken seriously as news.

opinion Biden’s executive order on vaccinations dailycardinal.com

By Celia Giles STAFF WRITER

Imagine this scenario: yoEveryone dreads getting calls from their jobs on off-days, with the ominous fear that they might ask you to come in and that your guilt will get the best of you. When you really need this one day off, the guilt leads you to succumb to working another shift.

After working a long shift from 6:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. the day before in an assisted living home, I let that call go to voicemail. I tried to act as if I wasn’t on my phone, as if I had better things to do on my summer vacation, as if I wasn’t just sitting in my car after my trip to Starbucks. Immediately after, a lengthy voicemail entered my mailbox.

“Hello staff. Unfortunately, we have had two staff members test positive for COVID-19. We will now have to proceed with the following protocols…”

Immediately, a rush of remorse and confusion overcame me when I received this message. Do I know them?

Did they work with me on the dementia resident side? Were they vaccinated? Am I next? Are my residents next? I begrudg-

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ingly got out of my car and headed towards my house, now scared that I got COVID-19, despite my vaccination status.

In the following days at work, I learned that I did not work with the people who tested positive. However, they were not vaccinated. As my coworkers and I discussed the newfound positive cases, I mentioned that I thought almost everyone here was vaccinated, because frankly, that’s what I was told at my interview. My coworkers all awkwardly looked at each other in the break room, and two of them admitted that they also weren’t vaccinated.

I was utterly shocked. How could two people who cared about these residents put them in harm’s way? From that point forward, I felt uncomfortable around them. It created an obvious and understandable divide between certain coworkers. In nursing homes, vaccinations are a matter of life and death for residents, and because of certain staff’s skepticism with vaccines, it could result in families losing loved ones.

I was even more confused as to why they wouldn’t require vaccinations from my coworkers. We work with one of the

most high-risk groups. COVID19 hit my facility hard in October of 2020, and many residents had passed away as a result.

It was insanely difficult to provide COVID-19 care to residents, specifically those with dementia that I worked with.

Each time testing had to occur, my coworkers had to physically hold down my residents. They

facility wasn’t big enough to the point where each resident could socially distance. We had to keep residents together with mere portable cubicles of sheets between them, creating a highly transmissible environment.

When my facility underwent major COVID-19 breakthroughs in October, vaccines were not yet available. It’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

fought back and yelled as their noses were swabbed.

Worsening the situation, dementia residents are not required to wear masks, creating a dangerous situation in the event of COVID-19 exposure. And unfortunately, our

impossible to blame the staff member who brought it to the facility. However, with the current widespread availability of vaccines, it seems unfair that something exists that could protect patients, yet is not being enforced.

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A major stride was taken as of Nov. 4 with Biden enacting an executive order requiring all businesses with staff sizes of 100 or more people to require worker vaccinations. However, this executive order leaves leeway to people who want to be exempt for religious or health purposes.

While there remains shortfalls in the executive order in not detailing how corporations should implement these requirements as well as failing to outline repercussions if the legislation is not followed, this is one step closer to a safer America. A safer country for our senior citizens.

Requiring vaccinations across the healthcare field is an effective way to ensure proper care. This will decrease the rate of transmission and bridge the divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated workers. It allows workers to continue as a coherent team, protecting themselves and their patients from potential infection.

Celia Giles is a sophomore studying pre-nursing. Do you agree that all workers in assisted living homes should be vaccinated? Send all comments to Opinion@dailycardinal.com.

An evaluation of Biden’s Build Back Better Bill

By Pranav Krishnan STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 19, with a razor-thin majority of 220 to 213, the United States House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi succinctly remarked, “This bill is monumental. It’s historic.

It’s transformative. It’s bigger than anything we have ever done.”

She is wholly justified in saying so. The $1.85 trillion reconciliation package marks the most extensive effort to combat climate change in American history and is arguably the most comprehensive investment in the country’s middle class, children, healthcare and education in decades.

The Build Back Better Act attempts to circumvent the Republican Senate Minority’s usage of the filibuster, which provides them with the power to block any bill unless overridden with a 60 vote supermajority. Thus Republicans have the de facto authority to veto most legislation Congressional Democrats attempt to propose. However, the budget reconciliation process established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 allows a majority in the Senate to expedite budgetary legislation once a year without facing the threat of a filibuster.

There is the caveat that reconciliation bills are limited by — the “Byrd Rule.” This prohibits extraneous provisions whose principal purpose is not a change in spending or tax revenues or would increase the deficit beyond 10 fiscal years. The usage of the reconciliation process is not without precedent and has been used 22 times prior, most recently with

Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and before that, Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If passed by the Senate as stands, the Build Back Better Act would have an immense impact on how the US will respond to climate change going forward. While the title, “reconciliation bill,” as it is commonly referred to, is hardly inspiring, it provides $555 billion. This is the largest sum of money ever allocated in American history towards mitigating and preventing climate change.

Through tax credits and rebates offered to citizens and corporations, the bill will incentivize renewable and clean energy. This will work to decrease consumer energy costs, spur innovation in green technologies and reduce the United States’ reliance on finite fossil fuels. Billions more will go towards air pollution reduction, forest restoration, clean water, green energy research and development, National Parks and coastal communities conservation and energy-efficient infrastructure. These conservation efforts, as well as renewed domestic manufacturing in energy technology, will create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs for the American people.

Additionally, with over a hundred billion dollars going towards pre-school, the bill ensures that all children are provided with adequate educational development before entering school. The bill will also allow millions of American parents to reenter the workforce amid an unprecedented labor shortage. Nearly half a trillion dollars of child care subsidies and tax credits will lower the burden working-class families

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face to raise the next generation of Americans.

In regard to higher education, the Build Back Better Act will expand Pell Grants to subsidize college tuition, mandate higher wages for teachers and provide free school meals to almost 9 million children.

The act also calls for further expansions of labor and healthcare protections. The bill allocates another two hundred billion dollars towards extending four weeks of family leave to all American workers, as well as medical leave in the event of illness, joining the 174 other nations around the world in doing so.

The bill also expands Medicaid for senior citizens and provides healthcare coverage for 4 million Americans that were previously uninsured while reducing premiums for a further 9 million.

Pharmaceutical companies that artificially raise prices beyond inflation will be taxed to lower the costs of prescription drugs.

The bill is nothing short of a monumental step forward for the US and the progressive agenda. In conjunction with Biden’s recent-

ly passed Infrastructure Bill, the country can address the inevitable ramifications of climate change, while also proactively mitigating the further emission of harmful pollutants and greenhouse gasses.

This bill additionally uplifts working and middle-class Americans by creating an expanded social safety net and hundreds of thousands of well-paying and accessible jobs.

And despite the acrimonious and mendacious protests of the debt hawks in Congress and the media who seem to conveniently forget their concerns when a Republican administration occupies the Oval Office, the specious claims that the bill represents unchecked government spending does not reflect the reality that Democrats have largely covered the cost of the bill through targeted tax hikes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans. From the latest analysis of the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan organization with the statutory authority to determine the costs of federal legislation, the bill will add a net of 16 billion dollars to the federal deficit for each of the next ten fiscal years.

Compare that to the nearly 1.9

trillion dollars added to the federal deficit by Trump’s 2017 tax cuts — tax cuts which did nothing but disproportionately benefit massive corporations and the wealthiest of America’s elite.

In stark contrast to his Republican counterparts in past administrations, who have repeatedly increased the deficit through unrestrained and irresponsible legislation, Biden’s plan is largely paid for. The costs of implementing the vital reform enacted by the bill will be reimbursed, as the Build Back Better Act also increases taxes on corporations, foreign profits, stock buybacks, and millionaires and billionaires. This bill also allocates money for the IRS to audit tax evaders more aggressively.

Pranav Krishnan is a freshman studying economics. Do you agree that the Senate should pass the Build Back Better Act? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com Read the rest online at dailycardinal.com/section/opinion

comics 8 • Fall Farewell Issue 2021

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science I just think they’re neat: Reindeer dailycardinal.com

By Sophie Baggs STAFF WRITER

You’ve heard about Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, but with Christmas on the way, now is the perfect time to learn about who exactly Santa’s little travel buddies really are.

In North America, reindeer are often given the name Caribou, as they are the same species as deer.

There are two types of reindeer, tundra reindeer and forest reindeer. The tundra group migrates between the tundra and

Fall Farewell Issue 2021

forest in herds, numbering up to half a million. They can cover as much as 5,000 km (3,000 miles).

Forest reindeer, though, are much less common.

These beasts can get up to four feet tall, weighing up to 550 pounds! Their antlers follow close behind, with the ability to grow up to approximately 1.4 meters long. No wonder they can pull Santa’s sleigh!

Reindeer are native to cold weather environments, most commonly found in the Arctic tundra and damp forests of Greenland, Scandinavia,

Russia, Alaska and Canada.

Their lives span for up to 15 years, 20 when domesticated and have diets consisting mainly of the fungi called lichen. This is a moss-like plant that’s often found in high, open spaces.

Although big in size, predators such as wolverines, bears and eagles still prey on reindeer in the wild.

Now that you know a couple more facts about Santa’s pets, make sure to leave out a carrot or two on Christmas Eve for these hard working animals, aka Santa’s helpers!

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Not sure if this is Dasher, but this sweet reindeer is dashing.

It’s time to deck the halls in Madison!

By Julia Gozdziewski STAFF WRITER

It’s the most wonderful time of the year … right? For students at the University of WisconsinMadison and colleges across the country, this isn’t always the case. The beginning of the holiday season does not only usher in gift exchanges, holiday movie marathons and jamming out to Mariah Carrey’s, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on repeat.

“Tthe most wonderful time of the year” also marks the beginning of the most dreaded time of the year: finals season.

During the month of December, most students’ schedules do not stray far from the daily grind of study, eat and (maybe … hopefully?) sleep. As final exams and papers seemingly creep closer and closer, it can be difficult to remove oneself from the pressure to constantly be buried in readings and study guides. For this three and half week period until winter break finally makes its appearance, the holiday season — with all its merriness and cheer — can feel firmly reserved for those lucky enough to not find themselves in the library 24/7.

Yet when it comes to finding ways to manage finalsinduced stress, embracing the “most wonderful time of the year” — even amidst its admittedly terrible timing — might represent the key to keeping

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IT'S TIME! Get your own giant ladder and your own giant ornaments. Be safe on the ladder. your feel-good dopamine hormones pumping.

And is there any bigger embrace of the holiday season than decking the halls as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey is cleared from the dining room table? While the “perfect time” to start hauling out the holiday decor is highly contested, a recent study might have confirmed that those who favor any early start have the upper hand.

Researchers found that holiday decorations spike dopamine levels. Because early decorators surround themselves with holi-

day cheer for a longer period of time, they exhibit higher levels of happiness than those who wait longer to welcome in the holiday season.

Why might this be? One explanation points to the nostalgia that is commonly associated with the holiday season. As psychoanalyst Steve McKeown explained, “Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of childhood. Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement.”

For many of us, the holi-

day season is reminiscent of the wonder in the make-believe that encompassed many holiday childhood traditions. From hanging stockings, sending a Christmas List to the North Pole or watching out the window for a red sleigh sighting on Christmas Eve, the presence of holiday decorations brings to life this magic once again. It is important to recognize that not everyone associates the holiday season with happy, carefree memories. But for those who do, the nostalgia attached to the holiday season transports

them back to a time when their burning question was whether they made the naughty or nice list — not if they’d find a way to write two papers while somehow still passing their final chemistry exam.

Even for those who struggle with the feelings and memories attached to the holiday season, researchers also point to the effects of chromotherapy or color therapy to show how holiday decor can still heighten happiness. Bright colors and lights have been found to increase our overall mood and energy levels — a hint that spending an evening putting up a Christmas tree or decking your room out in holiday lights might just be the push you need to power through that final essay assignment.

So, as you prepare yourself to take on the most dreaded time of the year, remind yourself that the most wonderful time of the year doesn’t have to wait to start until after you’ve clicked submit on your final paper or turned in your last final exam.

If you haven’t already, hang up some stockings and string some holiday lights. Decorate a Christmas tree. Set up a winter village. Finals have arrived, but so has the holiday season — and it’s more than time to do your dopamine levels a favor and bask in the magic and merriness that makes the “most wonderful time of the year” live up to its name.

The Omicron Variant: What you need to know

By Joyce Riphagen SCIENCE EDITOR

The pandemic has dragged on for nearly two years now, and we’ve seen a number of troubling developments, the most recent of which is the detection of a new variant of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Omicron has been designated as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, and the first case in the United States was confirmed on Wednesday.

Omicron is worrying — there’s not much known about transmission, severity

or vaccine efficacy. So what do we do now?

In a sense, what we’ve been doing. Masks and vaccinations, along with social distancing, continue to be the most effective ways to prevent infection, and maintaining diligence with these measures will be crucial in handling Omicron. Variants like these often develop in unvaccinated individuals, and spread to vaccinated populations.

WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan has stated she believes current vaccines will be effective against Omicron,

a sentiment echoed by vaccine manufacturers. Getting vaccinated is still your best shot at avoiding COVID, and helps protect vulnerable people in your community.

Recently, the CDC has begun recommending boosters shots for everyone 18 and older. If your second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or your first dose of Johnson & Johnson, was administered at least six months ago, schedule a booster shot soon. Your booster shot does not need to be from the same manufacturer as

your original vaccine.

As of now, WHO has not recommended mass shutdowns or blanket travel bans, citing the extreme effects these measures have on people’s livelihoods. However, people at high risk for infection or serious illness should limit travel when possible, and everyone traveling should test frequently.

Omicron has also raised larger concerns about equitable distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments — the pandemic has disproportionately affected marginal-

ized, low-income people, but these people are often the last to be immunized or treated, especially in the global south.

It is disheartening to hear of a new variant in what seems like an endless barrage of mutations and bad news.

However, there’s good news.

We have the tools to beat this variant. We just need to use them! If you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated. Mask up. Wash your hands! These simple steps will be crucial in keeping our campus community, as well as broader Madison, safe.