Thursday, November 19, 2020

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Thursday, November 19, 2020

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Studying the game tape

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City decriminalizes cannabis in Madison

By Kate Van Dyke SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Madison City Council unanimously passed ordinances to decriminalize the public use of cannabis under 28 grams at its Tuesday meeting.

The ordinance permits individuals 18 years or older to consume and possess up to 28 grams of cannabis or cannabis derivatives on private or public property with consent from the landlord or owner.

The mandate also prohibits consumption of cannabis by individuals under 18 and when operating a vehicle.

Another ordinance proposal passed at Tuesday’s meeting created an exception for the crime of possession of drug paraphernalia for cannabis and cannabis derivatives use.

Before the ordinances passed, first-time offenders for possession of marijuana faced a misdemeanor violation punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and potential imprisonment up to 6 months.

A second offense, categorized as a Class I felony in compliance with Wisconsin’s state marijuana laws, resulted in a punishment by a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 3.5 years.

Now, these convictions no longer exist in Madison. People found to violate the marijuana

possession laws will face a bail deposit amounting to $1.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, spoke about the data he retrieved from the Madison Police department, citing the racial background of marijuana possession related offenses on the overall community.

“The reality based on a 20 year study on a casual possession of marijuana ordinance citations issued by the Madison Police Department, approximately 51% of those citations were issued to whites and over 43% were issued to Blacks,” Verveer said. “There are undeniable racial disparities here.”

While more white-identifying residents committed more marijuana possession related offenses, the overall demographic makeup of Madison ultimately resulted in a disproportionate number of Black community members receiving violations.

As the city council achieved consensus on the issue, other public figures disapproved of the new measures.

Acting Police Chief Vic Wahl offered his own trepidations toward the proposed ordinances in a prior interview with the Cap Times. Wahl would prefer if city ordinances remained consistent with the state law in regards to marijuana.

“I’m concerned that the city is putting forth a policy allowing 18-year-olds to smoke marijuana, but not drink alcohol,” Wahl said in an email. “I also am concerned that these ordinances don’t do enough to keep marijuana out of the school environment.”

Wahl hoped the council would raise the bail deposit for possession on school property and buses, prohibit consumption on park property, raise the permitted age to 21 and prohibit any consumption in a motor vehicle.

Ald. Max Prestigiacomo of District 8, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said prior ordinances related to marijuana criminalized poverty and homelessness and that previous laws epitomized “‘upper class progressivism, leaving our most marginalized communities behind.”

“The necessity of this ordinance amendment surpasses the reasoning that marijuana just ‘isn’t a dangerous substance’,” Prestigiacomo said. “Compounding and successive fees coupled with restricting where

consumption is allowed are direct causes of this injustice.”

Prestigacomo said the order’s

would go into effect as early as Friday, when Madison Mayor Satya RhodesConway usually signs legislation.

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ASM proposes renewable energy, telecommuting reciprocation

By Gina Musso COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR

The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) met Tuesday to propose new legislation calling for renewable energy at UW-Madison, continue payment for employees telecommuting during the pandemic and recap a Big-Ten-Wide push towards a pass/fail option for the Fall 2020 semester.

The first Special Order discussed in the meeting was the UW Divestment Coalition, which is a united effort of 10 student groups from different UW-System campuses who demand that the UW System campuses withdraw funds from unethical sources. They focused on the divestment of fossil fuel stocks and bonds and the detriments that the UW System faces by investing in fossil fuels.

“Last March and over the summer we did a lot of research and something that keeps coming up is that renewable energy

has shown better returns in the past six years,” UW Lacrosse student and member of the UW Divestment Coalition Andrew Ericson said. “Oil and gas companies are not performing well, so even from a financial standpoint it makes sense to divest.”

The goals of the UW Divestment Coalition include urging the UW-Board of Regents to vote to gain transparency within the UW System about all endowment investments, divest from all fossil fuel companies within three to five years and reinvest in companies who promote the idea of a sustainable and equitable future.

Another student group committed to fighting climate change, the Campus Leaders for Energy Action Now (CLEAN), presented the second Special Order at the meeting.

CLEAN is a UW-Madison student coalition with the goal of gaining Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s

signature on an agreement guaranteeing 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and 100 percent total renewable energy by 2035 at UW-Madison.

“When it comes to climate change a lot of people talk about adaptation and resilience as a solution to the threats of climate change, but in the long run it’s not a satisfactory solution,” CLEAN representative Maya Barwick said.

“The only genuine solution in the long run is to reverse the accumulation of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and that is through the prevention of emissions of fossil fuels such as coal.”

Barwick and fellow members referenced UW-Madison’s Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating Systems 2019 report where the University earned a score of 0.06/4.00 for Clean and Renewable Energy, with 1.61 percent of total energy consumption sourced from

clean and renewable energy sources on campus.

CLEAN teamed up with the ASM Sustainability Committee to sponsor the “Resolution Calling for a Renewable Energy Commitment,” which asks UW-Madison for its commitment to CLEAN’s goals for 100 percent renewable electricity and energy by 2030 and 2035, respectively.

This resolution passed unanimously, signifying more pressure on the University to take action.

Another resolution was proposed, calling for UW-Madison to continuously pay faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students who are telecommuting undiscriminate of where they reside.

This report will be discussed and voted on during future student council meetings, with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 1.

After the Special Reports and resolutions, Chair Matthew

Mitnick recapped the letter he, along with the Student body presidents of the 13 other Big Ten schools, signed calling for their respective universities to implement leniency in terms of grading with a system similar to pass/fail for the Fall 2020 semester.

“In this letter we are asking for a comprehensive policy that is essentially doing what happened last semester,” Mitnick said.

“The issues this semester are not mitigated from what we saw last semester and in many of my classes there have been students who have got COVID-19 due to potentially attending the in-person class and then they can’t attend class which creates even more barriers to even getting the instruction.”

Mitnick passed the letter onto members of the UW-Madison administration. ASM leaders made no motion against the proposition, further endorsing the letter.

“…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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Thursday, November 19, 2020

Food insecurity nationwide amidst COVID-19

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Food pantries around the globe have seen an uptick in food insecurity as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, and the UW-Madison campus is no exception. Here on campus, various food pantries such as the Open Seat have seen a drastic increase in the number of students, staff and faculty members alike who are struggling to find where their next meal is coming from.

Roughly 54 million people do not know where their next meal is coming from in 2020, according to Feeding America’s projected report. Food insecurity in the United States has increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. works to fight food insecurity through various programs both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food insecurity is prevalent amongst different communities in the U.S.; one such community includes college students. On the UW-Madison campus, 12% of students reported being either food or housing insecure at some point during their college career, according to a 2016 survey.

What it is and who is affected by it “Food insecurity is when families and households are not competent in their ability to meet their food needs on a regular basis,” said Judi Bartfeld, a faculty member in the School of Human Ecology.

According to Feeding America, 11.5% of U.S. citizens were food insecure in 2018 — that’s roughly 37 million Americans. One of the biggest determinants of whether or not a family is food secure is income, Bartfeld found.

“Low income and unstable income are the largest factors that contribute to food insecurity,” said Bartfeld. “First and foremost it’s about not having enough resources to meet their needs.”

Due to the strong relationship between household income and ability to meet basic food needs, there tends to be a discrepancy between who is affected by food insecurity and who isn’t.

“If you want to oversimplify things, rich people are less food insecure than poor people,” said Andrew Stevens, an assis-

tant professor of agricultural and applied economics.

Beyond income, however, Stevens described how different urban and rural areas can be food insecure due to food deserts, which are areas with restricted access to nutritious food.

“Sub populations, either by race or ethnicity, can really be associated with food insecurity,” Stevens explained. “The disabled community is very food insecure relative to the rest of the population and that’s very understudied.”

During COVID-19 The ongoing health crisis has only exacerbated food insecurity, an issue prevalent throughout U.S. history. According to a Feeding America food insecurity projection, revised on April 22, 2020, COVID-19 could, if it has not yet already, threaten an additional 1% to 5.2% of Americans with food insecurity.

Feeding America also reported 17 million additional people could become food insecure due to the pandemic — which would raise the national quantity to roughly 54 million Americans.

Both Bartfeld and Stevens explain this increase in food insecurity is likely due to an increase in unemployment. An additional outcome brought on by the pandemic is a loss of kid’s school meals.

“Lots and lots of kids get breakfast and lunch at school on a regular basis for free, beginning in kindergarten,” said Bartfeld.

“So when school closed, they lost access to those daily meals.”

Thankfully, one of the U.S.’s most effective social programs, according to Stevens, deals with food insecurity head-on.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) — formerly known as Food Stamps — allocates money to be used for food to families that fall below certain income levels.

“This program is, as far as public policy goes, really, really effective and means tested — which basically means that we’re very confident that the resources that go into this program have a meaningful effect on what we want them to do,” said Stevens.

What’s unique about SNAP is that this program adjusts with the

needs of the nation.

“As more people fall under the income limits, the resources for SNAP increase and they contract again when there are fewer people who need it,” explained Stevens.

Food Insecurity on campus Before the pandemic, Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” reported relatively low numbers for food insecurity in the U.S. In 2018, Wisconsin fared better than the nation as a whole, reporting 8.9% of the population as food insecure compared with the national average of 11.5%.

Izzy Boudnik, External Director at the Open Seat, a food pantry here on campus located in the Student Activity Center, noted the uptick in need for such resources during the pandemic, especially when it first kicked off in the spring.

“Right at the beginning in the spring, we had a lot of people come to us for help because they were panicking,” Boudnik said.

“A lot of student workers were told they were getting laid off and wouldn’t have paychecks, so we saw a lot of people struggle to find where their next meal would come from or how were they going to pay for food.”

While Dane County fared better than Wisconsin as a whole (7.4% of the county’s population reported as food insecure), there remains a misconception about the prevalence of food insecurity among college students, according to Stevens. A 2019 Hope Center report found that of 86,000 students surveyed, 45% of the respondents were reportedly food insecure at some point in the last 30 days.

“Those studies suggest there’s a whole lot more food insecurity on college campuses than people had previously thought,” said Stevens. “And that surprised a lot of people.”

That high percentage could, however, be due to the kinds of questions being asked, according to Stevens.

“When I was in college I ate pizza at a lot of club events, so on any given week if you asked me ‘do you know where my next meal was coming from, my answer might’ve been ‘no’,” Stevens said. ”But that wasn’t because I was

food insecure, it was [because] I hadn’t planned out my day.”

Food insecurity, especially on college campuses, remains a difficult thing to measure accurately as some studies and questions may not capture what it really means to be food insecure.

“It’s been an interesting journey,” Boudnik said. “We established right away in March when everything started happening that we pretty much wanted to stay open no matter what, because we recognized that the situation would increase the number of people on campus who are experiencing food insecurity.”

In partnership with Harvest Food Bank, the Open Seat will package Thanksgiving food boxes for almost 300 students and faculty members alike here on campus that will be distributed next week at Union South.

Nevertheless, there remains a lack of awareness surrounding how food insecurity affects college students. UW-Madison has a page dedicated to helping students find the resources they might need.

While food insecurity won’t be disappearing anytime soon, a continuous and recent increase in resources provides some hope for people, families, and students who might be at a loss.

“My perception is that this has been a stressful time for students,” said Stevens. “There’s been more intense pressure for food insecurity amongst students but there are more visible resources for students than there would have been, say, five years ago.”

Boudnik stressed the importance of their pre-covid shopping model of a food pantry that allows students to pick their own food in a grocery store-like setting. There is a plethora of research that indicates that the shopping model retains a sense of dignity and normalcy that in many settings has been forgotten during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Food insecurity can happen to almost anybody,” Boudnik said.

“A parent could lose their job or someone could get sick and financial situations can change. It is important to have this safety net of support for all students here at UW-Madison.”

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Representatives of the Open Seat food pantry on campus say the pandemic brought a spike in students seeking help to stock their pantries.

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Thursday, November 19, 2020

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Rural mental health services from new state program

By Emma Grenzebach STAFF WRITER

The Farm Center at the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection joined a multistate effort on Friday aimed at strengthening farmers’ mental wellness.

The center, which provides resources and services to agricultural communities throughout the state, will work with the UW-Madison Division of Extension to develop farmer focus groups and

“As stress among farmers continues to run high, we are excited to work with the Wisconsin Farm Center to help farmers and their families overcome mental health-related challenges,” Joy Kirkpatrick, an outreach specialist at the UW Center for Dairy Profitability, said in the Farm Center’s announcement. “Low prices and uncertainty for many primary farm and food products over the last five years have created hardship and stress for many in rural

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mental health provider trainings. Over several years, Wisconsin will receive more than $400,000 to provide support to farmers, agriculture-related businesses and mental health providers.

communities, and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has only compounded those stress levels.”

This joint effort will attempt to reduce the disparities in mental health

services between rural and urban populations in the 12 states involved.

This is an especially important effort in Wisconsin due to the large rural population — approximately 25 percent — the state holds.

These disparities were most recently reported in the 2019 Wisconsin Mental Health and Substance Use Assessment, which showed rural counties have higher rates of adults who have not been given sufficient mental health treatment. These rates are consistent with the report’s data on the number of psychiatrists needed to reduce a significant shortage of mental health treatment in each county.

According to Lucas Moore, a UW-Madison professor and licensed clinical social worker, there are no real differences in mental health reporting for urban and rural communities. The reporting differences arise mostly due to differences in social constructs.

“You might see more people seeking services in more urban areas, but that kind of turns into a chicken or the egg.

Is that because there are more services available so people seek it out? Or is there a culture that’s more accepting to actually talking about it?” said Moore.

“People in rural communities definitely have the need, it’s just how is it being talked about or not.”

There are also quality disparities in mental health services between rural and urban communities. A portion of these differences is due to mental health professionals being paid more in urban areas, which leads to fewer practitioners in rural settings.

The issue of infrastructure also exists in these same areas. Many rural communities do not have the volume of services that cities do, which leads to an exclusion when it comes to government grants.

As the former Adolescent Substance Abuse Coordinator for the state, Moore accepted grant proposals to fund mental health services. For many of the proposals to pass, communities needed to already have specific services in place. If they did not already have these services, they could not be funded by the grants.

“Sometimes when you don’t have things, then you don’t have the things that are needed to get more money to have more things and it tends to be this weird feedback loop,” Moore explained.

Discussing limited services, Moore also explained, “It’s not that [rural mental health services are] poor quality or good quality, sometimes it’s just the thing that they have and it’s not best for what the individual needs, which then makes the service lower quality.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the disparities between many populations, it has actually allowed more people from rural communities to access mental health services.

Before the pandemic began, there were rules regarding where practitioners could operate based on their and the patient’s locations. These rules were temporarily lifted to allow further access to health care and resulted in greater numbers of rural residents seeking this type of care.

To further decrease the differences in mental health care throughout

Wisconsin, Moore believes the state needs to provide outreach to counties that have increased need.

“Basically doing equitable analyses of who needs what, and if places like Dane County or Milwaukee County already have stuff, then it’s good to do that kind of outreach for more rural communities too,” Moore said.

Many policy decisions in Wisconsin are made at the county level. Counties can participate in a practice called Comprehensive Community Services, which groups counties with different health capabilities together to create an entity that will support all aspects of healthcare in rural communities. The state Department of Health Services offers technical assistance and support to CCS providers.

Along with CCS, Moore believes in the importance of supporting grassroots organizations to try to overcome much of the bureaucratic delay that comes with working through the state.

To effect change on a personal level when it comes to mental health, Madison is home to meetings of the State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and the Wisconsin Council on Mental Health. These organizations inform state legislation on mental health and substance abuse disorders and the meetings are open to the public.

“If you want to get involved as a citizen, you can have your voice heard. Go be a part of this stuff,” urges Moore. The meeting schedules and minutes for both of these organizations can be found on their websites, linked on dailycardinal.com.

Surveys seek student, employee input on COVID-19 response

By Sophia Vento STAFF WRITER

On Oct. 27, UW-Madison leaders emailed surveys to both undergraduate and graduate students asking for their thoughts and experiences concerning the university’s approach to the pandemic and any challenges they encountered, according to a Nov. 18 report by student life writer Doug Erickson.

The emails containing surveys for graduate and undergraduate students were signed by Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Karl Scholz, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor and Interim Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Cheryl Gittens.

“This feedback will be immensely valuable in helping us maintain our commitment to student safety, health and success,” said Scholz. “It is crucial that we continue to listen to our students as we plan for the months ahead.”

A total of 5,328 undergraduate students — 17 percent of enrolled undergraduate students — completed the survey and nearly 75 percent of students who completed the survey expressed a desire for some synchronous, in-person learning during the Spring semester.

“We know that forming meaningful relationships with instructors and peers is crucial for student learning — and everything we’re hearing from students reinforces that,” said John Zumbrunnen, the UW-Madison vice provost for Teaching and Learning and leader of the undergraduate survey effort. “While we can’t recreate the full on-campus experience, we can and will keep working to build engaging and interactive learning

experiences for our students.”

Over half of the undergraduate survey participants (55 percent) noted their courses have been going relatively well during the current academic semester. However, there is dissonance concerning which mode of remote learning is best suited for students’ needs. 50 percent of respondents prefer asynchronous learning, while 47 percent prefer synchronous classes.

“We’re of course happy that many of our students are having good academic experiences this fall, but there’s more work to do,” said Zumbrunnen.

This survey, as well as other student feedback throughout the semester such as student focus groups held earlier this Fall, have motivated the creation of a grant program aimed at better supporting faculty and their respective departments as they develop more innovative ways to build both interaction and engagement during the Spring semester.

2,735 graduate students had responded to the survey by Nov. 11, articulating challenges such as minimal access to field experience, fewer in-person interactions with students and the finite opportunities to collect face-to-face data for research.

Approximately eight percent of graduate student respondents also claim to be dealing with financial insecurities and struggles due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ASM Chair Matthew Mitnick said “the surveys are a step in the right direction, but we also must recognize non-response bias in not presenting the authentic viewpoints of all students.”

Mitnick also stressed that, if survey data and responses are “utilized in shared governance committees and

the administration can point to direct Questions about employees university will actively enforce and changes they make in regard to sur- accessing on-campus buildings dur- communicate health protocols, as well vey response with numerical data to ing the Fall semester, frequency of as allow for workplace flexibility given back it up,” the surveys “may prove to campus visits for work-related pur- the current circumstances. Employees be beneficial” in conveying some student voice in the universitywide conversation.

Both the undergraduate and graduate student surveys were created with the intention of helping the university to better understand where plans have worked well, but also to recognize where improvements can be made that will affect the remainder of the Fall semester and leading into the Spring.

In addition to plans regarding instrucCOURTESY OF LEAH VOSKUIL tion and learning, the The university sent out surveys asking students and faculty about the campus COVID-19 response. university is working to ensure all students and employees have the ability to get poses and days and times in which also stressed the need for clear comtested regularly and will be expanding they do so are included in the sur- munication from university leaders testing efforts next semester by part- vey to get a grasp on potential ways regarding COVID-19. nering with Shield T3, a subsidiary of orchestrating an effective testing UW-Madison has ultimately of the University of Illinois system, to program and plan on-campus for the decided to continue with the hybrid better address the ongoing COVID-19 next academic semester. learning model and to expand the pandemic on and across campus.

Last month, the Department of COVID-19 testing program according This week, UW-Madison sent Human Resources at UW-Madison to an Oct. 21 report. At this point in out a survey to employees asking also put together a survey for employ- time, the extent in which these survey for confidential responses relating ees. This survey gauged ways in which responses have influenced or changed to the COVID-19 testing plan for the employees feel the university can bet- tentative plans for the upcoming Spring semester. ter help them. It also asked for gen- semester remains unclear.

According to a Nov. 17 news eral input regarding the university’s More details about the updatrelease, “responses to this survey response to the pandemic, according ed testing program and arrangewill help UW-Madison’s public to an Oct. 15 report. ments for next semester will health team decide where to estabAlthough the survey results have be made available to the publish campus COVID-19 testing sites yet to be released, responses to a lic once all plans are finalized in the spring, as well as the days and UW-Madison August workplace sur- on the UW-Madison COVID-19 hours of operation.” vey stressed employees’ hopes that the response website.

sports Analyzing Kurtis Blow’s ‘Basketball’

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Thursday, November 19, 2020

dailycardinal.com

By Joe Rickles SPORTS EDITOR

As we hurtle towards a NCAA basketball season like none before it, analysts and beat writers are sharpening their basketball senses by watching old film, reading up on new players, checking stats and box scores from last year and finalizing their season previews.

Everyone watches and reads to get ready for the season, but who truly listens to prepare?

Me. I do. Joe Rickles, Sports Editor and men’s basketball beat writer for The Daily Cardinal.

Confused? Let me explain.

Music and basketball are forever intertwined; specifically, hip-hop and basketball.

Rappers haven’t been shy to name-drop their favorite athletes or teams, whether it’s Kanye West mentioning LeBron James or the Beastie Boys referencing Anthony Mason (RIP).

There’s even the song that tells the story of how former Backstreet Boy Aaron Carter beat 15-time NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal in a game of one-on-one, which to this day is nothing short of traumatizing.

Basketball and hip-hop grew together in the 1980s; as the foundations of hip-hop were laid out by Bronx natives like Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc, the NBA was truly breaking into the mainstream with Magic Johnson & Larry Bird. The NBA wasn’t unpopular beforehand, but, for reference, it wasn’t until 1986 that the NBA Finals were shown live rather than on tape-delay.

The year was 1984, the air was crisp (probably, I wasn’t there), spirits were high (again, probably) and the NBA was looking good with the Magic/Bird rivalry in full swing. Bird was the Most Valuable Player, Michael Jordan was the Rookie of the Year and the Knicks, even with a rookie Patrick Ewing, went 24-58 — some things never change.

And then, one fateful day in the Bronx, hip-hop godfather Kurtis Blow decided to absolutely bless the world with, in my opinion, the greatest song of all-time in the aptly-titled, “Basketball.”

Blow was an expert in selling his music before most hip-hop artists were. Most historians will tell you that Blow was one of the first commercially-successful rappers and one of the first to sign to a record label. He was one of the first true originators of hip-hop to take the genre from parties in the Bronx to the recording studio — emphasis on “true” because the Sugar Hill Gang are frauds.

I mention this because, well, you can tell the superiority in every note while listening to Blow’s music. He incorporates oldschool hip-hop style with parts of pop music that, by design or not, make his music a lot more marketable. Songs like “The Breaks” and “Christmas Rappin” use classic tropes and repetition, and it’s no coincidence that those are two of his most popular songs.

But alas, no matter how much I pine to describe the arts, I’ve been cursed to be a sportswriter. So let’s dive into

COURTESY OF RADIO CAMPUS ANGERS

Kurtis Blow (pictured above) was one of the first successful rappers, with hits like "The Breaks" and "Basketball" alongside many more.

“Basketball.” I’ll try to stop myself from going line-by-line since I don’t want my EICs and Copy Chiefs to hate me more than they already will for my overly-long analysis.

The masterpiece begins with a beautiful chorus of women explaining exactly what they are doing (playing basketball) and what “we” love (that basketball).

Who is this unnamed “they?”

Hoopers? Rappers? Just everyone in general? We might never know.

That’s the contiguous beauty and mystery of Kurtis Blow.

I gotta shift back to Music Writer Joe for a second. The instrumental here is untouchable.

The chorus shifts from acapella to a simple boom-clap beat, followed by the hi-hats and a snare drum so wet it would make Cardi B jealous.

Blow slaps you in the face again with some staccato electric guitar chords higher than Joe Rogan and brings it all together with some kind of synth-bass that you probably couldn’t find after 1993. It is impossible not to bob your head to the song.

So you listen to the intro, and you’re probably like, wow, this is a really good song. And then you hear from your speakers, which should be absolutely pounding by this point, “now rapping ‘Basketball,’ number one: Kurtis Blow,” and it gets TEN TIMES BETTER. “Basketball is my favorite sport/I like the way they dribble up and down the court” is the most perfect introduction to any song in human history.

You already knew the song was gonna be about basketball, but now you know why it exists: because Kurtis loves basketball!

Who doesn’t? Deep down, even @carol194803420 on Twitter who swore off the NBA because it got “too political” loves basketball. There goes Mr. Blow with an ultra-relatable statement right off the bat.

But, says the philosopher in you, why do we love basketball?

Why is it our favorite sport?

Well, Mr. Blow’s got you covered there too. For him, at least, the way they dribble up and down the court? Impeccable. Beautiful.

Artistic. I could go on, but this is on pace to be five thousand words, so let’s keep it moving.

The whole first verse is just so wholesome. It’s nothing but Kurtis Blow telling us everything he loves about basketball.

He “likes slam dunks,” sure, but the best play? In his eyes, it’s the alley-oop, no question.

But don’t confuse Blow for some of these kids nowadays who only care about flashiness and athleticism; he’s got respect for the fundamentals, too. “I like the pick n’ roll, I like the give n’ go / ‘cause it’s basketball with Mr. Kurtis Blow,” he says. This kind of respect for fundamentals might get the 61 year-old Blow a contract with Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks. Lord knows they need a point guard.

By now, you’re probably thinking, “wow, this is a great song, but we’re already a minute and a half in so it’s going to be over soon.”

Well, buddy, do I have news for you. We’ve got FIVE MORE MINUTES of musical mastery filled with Mr. Blow’s greatest memories of basketball players in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Mr. Blow reminisces on the days when he would “go to dinner

and then take the girl / to see Tiny [Archibald] play against Earl the Pearl [Monroe].” Maybe I’m just jealous because when basketball games were a thing, I’d usually go to dinner at some Irish pub on 33rd Street with my dad and then see Mindaugas Kuzminskas play against Dennis Schroeder at MSG, where I’d learn new curse words from my greasy-haired older cousin. So seeing two hallof-famers duke it out, especially when the Knicks were good, sounds like a dream. Kurtis Blow, you lucky son of a gun.

After a verse where Blow lists off players’ names and their skills the same way white grandparents describe baseball games in the 1950s — y’know, back when you could get into Shea for three nickels — we get the ad-libs. They make the song.

Honestly, they are the song. That wacky synth-bass thing only gets wackier when you get a clean “huh-huh-ho, huh-huh” followed by “to the hoop, y’all.” At one point Blow seems to forget there’s a song going on, his own song, just to cross up some fool that tried to check him. The man just goes “alright, here we go, d-up, in yo face … swishhhhhhh” like it’s nothing. I hope the poor sucker who tried Mr. Blow took off his Converses and got a desk job after a humiliation like that.

Blow’s third verse is a magnum opus within a masterpiece within a tour de force. He shames his lame, casual listeners for not picking up basketball before, asking if they were “in the joint” for some of basketball’s most historic moments. Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game and back-to-back titles for Bill Russell’s Celtics, when they notably “didn’t

give nobody no kind of slack,” came first. Some arena organ sounds come in out of nowhere and he asks about when Dr. J shook the whole damn team WITH MOVES THAT CAME RIGHT OUT OF A DREAM, OR WHEN WILLIS REED STOOD SO TALL PLAYING D WITH DESIRE THAT’S BASKETBALL! [No quotes there because that was me rapping along. It’s impossible not to.]

The song’s final verse closes with some more flawless ad-libs and some more wholesomeness about how much Mr. Blow enjoys playing one-on-one with his friends and watching hoops with the fellas. Honestly, there’s nothing else you need in this world.

At this point, the song has peaked and is coming down.

The song shifts into a skit of sorts. A group of guys talking about their favorite basketball players and teams. Someone who brings up the Knicks gets (understandably) brushed over very quickly. The usual.

I like this part because they basically just recite the song as a conversation with the homies.

Like, the same song. Same players mentioned, same teams. But now it’s just a thirty-second conversation between Kurtis and the gang. And just like that, the song tapers off into silence, because they hadn’t yet figured out hard cuts and could only fade-out.

I think this ending part really gets the point across that Mr. Blow is an incredible showman; sure, he could have told you everything he wanted to in one quick conversation, but instead he made it a five-minute banger.

For you. For me. For us. For the world. Thank you, Kurtis Blow.

arts Bleachers, Bruce and the Garden State dailycardinal.com

By Emily Knepple ARTS EDITOR

Jack Antonoff and his band Bleachers have teamed up with the Boss himself on new track, “chinatown.” Dropped this past Monday, ‘chinatown’ comes out alongside another new Bleachers track, “45.”

While the success and significance of these artists alone speak volumes, putting two New Jersey natives together means a lot and it’s not entirely by coincidence at all.

In a press release ahead of the drop, Antonoff shares that “china-

Thursday, November 19, 2020

town” is about being pulled back to where you’re from and coping with the flurry of emotions that come with it.

Antonoff, who hosts an annual charity concert in Asbury Park at the infamous Stone Pony — preCOVID, of course — has always been proud of the Garden State.

It’s evident in his music and his efforts.

Antonoff has worked with some of the biggest artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, FKA Twigs and The Chicks.

His songwriting credits span a long list and one that few in pop

JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR MTV

Jack Antonoff plays with Bleachers at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

can currently top.

As someone from New Jersey, I can confidently say that he might be in my top five favorite New Jerseyans ever.

Antonoff also shared in the press release that Springsteen has taught him the value New Jersey can have in his own voice and music.

In a way, his new collaboration can offer insight into how New Jersey artists have continued to perfect and grow over the years.

For older generations, even young, Bruce Springsteen is the New Jersey icon.

It’s hard to speak to someone on the Shore who hasn’t been personally moved by the Boss.

His music has expanded over decades and still gets played loudly and proudly across all of New Jersey.

He also resides there now and I can attest to this. Last winter, a friend of mine ran into him in Urban Outfitters and had a picture to prove it.

That being said, Bruce Springsteen is a big deal outside of state borders, too. His music has won an array of awards.

Those include 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award and a Tony for his very own “Springsteen on Broadway,”

5

JACK ANTONOFF/INSTAGRAM

Springsteen, Scaifla and Antonoff pose outside of Electric Lady Studios. which showcased the Boss himself on stage night after night, playing music and occasionally was joined by his wife, Patti Scaifla, who joined the E-Street Band in 1984.

Antonoff might just be on his way to such recognition and such accolades.

The two together on this song

showcase New Jersey’s best, both young and old.

The songs “chinatown” and “45” are the first released ahead of Bleachers’ next album, which is slated to drop in 2021.

You can listen to both Bleachers and Bruce Springsteen’s music catalogs on any and all major music streaming services right now.

New HBO mystery ‘The Undoing’ is a simple one to solve, but that does not make it any less watchable

By John Bildings STAFF WRITER

A few weeks ago, I told you Nicole Kidman would keep me around purely out of the fact that I needed a tight-laced mystery in my life as we approach another stretch of stay-at-home orders.

And while what we’ve gotten from the six-episode miniseries isn’t perfect and feels a bit repetitive in the early goings, it manages to find enough ways remain a fun thrill ride for viewers nonetheless.

“The Undoing” stars Nicole as Grace Fischer, a psychotherapist and wealthy socialite who seemingly has everything a person could ever want among a hyper-realistic, Manhattan fantasy world that feels more foreign than ever.

There’s the infallible love of her husband and prominent oncologist Jonathan, played by the always effervescent Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings”), a growing list of prospective clients who want her erudite insights on how to improve their struggling lives, and a gifted young son, played by talented up and comer Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”, “Honey Boy”) who attends and excels at Reardon Academy, one of the most renowned private schools in New York City.

Without as much as a single pot out of place, Grace appears to be living on top of the world and doesn’t seem poised to come down from her upperclass perch anytime soon. Not without a gut-wrenching, seemingly endless crash landing, that is.

Trouble begins when Elena Alves, a new mother to Reardon, arrives out of nowhere at a fundraiser committee and catches Grace’s attention from the moment they first meet.

Unlike those who hold prestigious law careers or fret over their

husband’s laundry list of ineptitudes, Elena is an artist and — stop me if you’ve heard this before — “outsider” who struggles to fit in, and after a few encounters begins to quite literally reveal herself in uncomfortable manner that clashes with the polished nature Grace possesses.

Upon a final conversation the evening of the fundraiser, Elena is found brutally murdered at her studio by her son the next day — beginning the

ous show for the flagship network — the same domestic murder mystery elements that garnered many rewards with a star-studded ensemble just a few years ago. “Undoing” transports the setting and names to the opposite coast for a more refined tone than the sunny beaches of Monterrey, California ever could.

Story comparisons — ranging from the conflict between a rigid status hierarchy and alienating new-

As the investigation unfolds, Grace’s confusion about the realities of her life grow blurrier and blurrier as more devastating details are revealed to her — throwing her through endless loops of uncertainty that Bier effectually frames with bewildering insert shots and a pulsepounding score that consistently keeps audiences waiting as the dominos continue to fall.

Tilting the lens during tense inter-

NIKO TAVENRISE/HBO

Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman star in new drama mystery "The Undoing," which is now streaming on HBOMax. unraveling of Grace’s reputation, marriage and mind as Jonathan is chosen as lead suspect.

Written and produced by David E. Kelley, the man behind “Big Little Lies”, and directed by Susanne Bier (“Bird Box”), “Undoing” feels like another season of the former’s previ-

comer who threatens the social order, to underlying animosity amongst the marriages of many — are inevitable and strain through the early moments of the pilot, but quickly pick up the pace as viewers realize that something more deceitful is at play in this bloody incident.

rogation scenes in New York City police stations and psychotic episodes in Central Park to illustrate the unspoken acting abilities Kidman possesses in her eyes alone, her direction ramps up the mental aspect that “Lies” never delivered and keeps you invested despite familiar faces.

Not to be outdone by Bier and Kidman working together to bring the heightened paranoia beyond what Kelley’s formulaic teleplay occasionally fails to provide, a pair of powerful turns from both Hugh Grant and Donald Sutherland (“The Hunger Games”) as Grace’s father Franklin manage to keep viewers invested, even if they do figure out the inevitable twist in early episodes.

Grant, revealed to be a much different person than initially believed in the opening moments, twists the inherent sense of sarcasm that made him a household name ever so slightly towards the devilish to portray an honorable man whose made many mistakes in his past, while Sutherland provides every fiber of his naturally sophisticated — and incredibly intimidating — nature to the role of an immensely wealthy and powerful father who will do anything to see his daughter and grandson survive this nightmare of a situation.

If corners were cut at all, it was not in the casting, as each at home among the impossibly rich and impossibly screwed in Kelley’s tale.

Once you start to connect the dots behind who is secretly the cause of Elena’s bludgeoning, it’s fairly easy to see where the train tracks are headed here. While I — obviously — won’t give away who this slayer might be, “Undoing” is still worthy of following along, purely for the sights and sounds of some heavy hitters and weekly reveals that will fill you up until Thanksgiving arrives. Predictable is never bad in the world we’re living in, and Kidman delivers upon that principle here.

You can find the first four episodes of “The Undoing” streaming right now on HBO.

almanac 6

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Word of effective COVID vaccine worries Wisconsinites

By Gillian Rawling College students and Wisconsin residents alike were shocked at the news of a vaccine being so close to approval this week. Many have concerns about the vaccine containing a chip for brain control, which is hard to believe considering so few Americans use their brains to begin with.

One of the concerned UW-Madison students was Hunter McDonald, an in state student studying biochemistry. I pulled him aside from a day party he was hosting to ask him about his reservations about the vaccine. After watching him break open a beer can to shotgun on his head — a method called caveman he later told me — he explained that he had heard reports that the vaccine caused brain damage to it’s recipients.

“I use my brain every day I’m at this university, it would be awful for me to lose any function or intelligence,” he said as his friends urged him to come back to the party to climb up on the roof to jump

on and break the pong table they were using.

I also talked with a medicaid recipient that lives in one of Madison’s surrounding apartment complexes. He said that he had reservations “ever since Joe was declared the winner of the race.” The Obamacare beneficiary described that it was “too dangerous to listen to the democrats on health care,” and despite his preexisting condition, he “won’t be taking the vaccine.”

Braelynn from a local church also explained that she wouldn’t take the vaccine, insisting that it infringed on her 2nd Amendment rights to religion.

“I just think it would be a sin for me to take this vaccine knowing how all powerful God’s healing is.”

She said it would be a “slap in the face” to learn that any of her fellow congregants took the vaccine, despite reports of the effectiveness of herd immunity.

Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIAID explained that while his team would continue to work on the vaccine and raising counters to conspiracies, “you can’t win them all, I guess.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Harbaugh says team has spent hours studying tape from Wisconsin game after bitter defeat

By Jordan Simon Following Michigan’s excruciating loss to the Wisconsin Badgers over the weekend — and I mean, like, a really bad loss. Like, it was a super embarrassing loss. Like, are they the Michigan Wolverines or the Michigan Can’t Score-verines?

— coach Jim Harbaugh has said he has his team closely reviewing the tape from their game against the Badgers.

“I’ve told my players that we’ve got to study this tape.

It shows what Wisconsin did right, and where we went wrong, and it’ll provide key insight on what changes we need to make for next game,” Harbaugh told reporters. “This

tape, it kept Paul Chryst’s mask on and his glasses fog-free, which allowed for the secretive play calling that ultimately bested us on Saturday.”

At this point, it became unclear to reporters whether Harbaugh was talking about a video recording of the game, or the literal piece of scotch tape that was on Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst’s mask when he referred to ‘the game tape.’

“No, the literal tape,” Harbaugh said in response to our inquiry.

Interviews with several Michigan football players confirmed that the team has, in fact, spent hours studying the literal piece of tape from Paul Chryst’s facemask.

“At first I thought, ‘for real?

dailycardinal.com

Op-ed: How come UWPD didn’t display any of my definitely-notracist gifts in their office?

PHOTO BY BETSY OSTERBERGER

By Jordan Simon UWPD came under fire — again — after posting a photo which showed a “thin blue line” flag displayed in their office to their social media accounts over the weekend, a pro-law enforcement symbol that has frequently been used to denote opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. UW Police Chief Kristen Roman released a statement about the photo saying — and this is a direct quote — that “while many people may interpret the ‘thin blue line’ imagery as racist, in this case it actually means something definitely not racist, like promoting weight loss among smurfs or some shit.”

In her statement, Chief Roman also noted that — and this part actually is real — the imagery displayed was a gift from a member of the community, and that it is one of two definitely-not-racist gifts hung up at the UWPD office. Now, I’ll be honest, this part of Roman’s statement was particularly troubling to me. Not because I felt that it was a shoddy and inexcusable pivot away from the fact that proudly displaying this imagery is tone deaf and wrong. Rather, I took issue with those words because I have, in fact, also sent in a host of definitely-not-racist gifts to UWPD and I find it very rude that UWPD would selectively display We’re just gonna look at this piece of tape?’ and then after that, I thought ‘how did coach Harbaugh get Paul Chryst’s mask with the piece of tape still on it? That dude’s crazy,’” said Michigan QB Joe Milton. “But I gotta say, the process has actually been really insightful.”

Harbaugh was also asked if he feels that studying the tape strip has tangibly influenced how Michigan will approach their next game.

“Oh definitely,” Harbaugh said. “For example, look how devastating that tape was in our game against the Badgers, and that was only scotch tape! I think if we go into next game with something even stronger, like painter’s tape or packing tape, our team will be a force to be reckoned with.”

definitely-not-racist gifts.

I feel that it’s the duty of police departments across the nation to treat every definitely-not-racist member of their community with dignity and display every definitelynot-racist gift proudly in their office.

Now, I do recognize that some of my gifts may have been misinterpreted by those with a less-than-innocent worldview. Thus, in order to ensure UWPD that my gifts are, in fact, definitely-not-racist, I have included a list of them, each with an description explaining away concerns of racism based on what I want to see — much like Chief Roman’s statement on “thin blue line” imagery come to think of it.

Gift 1: Kid Rock vinyl with an image of a Confederate flag Sure, the Confederate Flag — and Kid Rock himself — are considered to be symbols of racism by some, but what’s more important is that music brings people of all backgrounds together. Also, this was the cheapest record in the store and I’m on a budget.

Gift 2: A bobblehead of George Wallace wearing an Indian Headdress Some may try to argue that George Wallace was a little racist, but I found this little knick-knack in an antique store and thought, “wow, what a great example of a white person embracing other cultures! This belongs in the UWPD

office for sure!”

Gift 3: A framed photo of Emmett Till with a big red ‘X’ over it After learning about the murder of Emmett Till I thought “Oh my goodness, what a horrible thing.”

So I printed out a photo of him and framed it, and then drew a big scary red ‘X’ over it to show that this kind of atrocity is a thing of the past. I sent it to UWPD so that they can help prevent history from repeating itself.

Gift 4: Jefferson Davis’ copy of Mein Kampf Wow, Jefferson Davis’ original copy of Mein Kampf, a true historic artifact! What’s even better is that Hitler wasn’t even alive during the life of Jefferson Davis — which means this artifact is proof of time travel! I see no reason why UWPD wouldn’t want to display humanity’s best evidence that time travel is possible in hopes that one day, we will travel back in time and eliminate racism altogether!

Gift 5: Nathan Bedford Forrest’s ‘Pointy Ghost’ Halloween costume Inspired by the same garment that fashion designer Nathan Bedford Forrest wore on Halloween in 1868, this “pointy ghost” Halloween costume was meant to help UWPD get into the spirit of spooky season, and … oh shit ok I see it now. Yeah this one might have been a bridge too far.

GRAPHIC BY JORDAN SIMON

opinion Badger football is back ... for now dailycardinal.com

By Samantha Telson STAFF WRITER

There is no better feeling than waking up on a Badger game day, with ecstatic energy in the atmosphere, the people of Madison united in red and the smell of brats roasting on the barbeque. All of this seemed very distant, however, as the season was canceled in late August, leaving Badger fans everywhere devastated.

The cancellation of the Big Ten conference in response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused an uproar of disappointed fans and players and a lot of backlash, with even Trump voicing his opinion that the conference should reverse their decision.

Amidst all this criticism from players and fans, Big Ten conference presidents voted to reverse their decision and start the season on Oct. 23.

The Wisconsin Badgers kicked off the season on Oct. 23 and as a fellow member of the Madison community, I was worried about how our town would act in response to the regulations in place and if they would still apply on this game day.

The Big Ten instituted regulations to keep their players and community safe. Under its new COVID-19 guidelines, the Big Ten will require athletes and staff mem-

Thursday, November 19, 2020

bers on the field to undergo daily coronavirus testing. Athletes who test positive won’t be allowed to play for at least 21 days. The athletes are expected to follow these guidelines so the season will be able to continue smoothly.

The major concern with the return of college football was if our community would be willing to follow the proper rules needed to keep people safe.

Dean of Students Christina Olstad sent out an email the Thursday before the big game to all faculty and staff emphasizing the rules and restrictions in place within the UW-Madison campus and community. In this email, she stated that if students do not follow the rules, they will be subject to heavy municipal fines and disciplinary action with the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards and University Housing.

This email was a strong action by the university, demonstrating that they are serious and willing to punish students for their actions.

Unfortunately, this was the only action taken by UW-Madison.

There was a lack of enforcement by campus officials to

keep social rules in check. Bars were packed with long lines and large groups were gathering on houses all throughout campus disobeying everything that was stated in Olstad’s email. The school failed to handle the student body and did not back up any of their statements made in their email.

team including Coach Paul Chryst have also tested positive for COVID19. This outbreak halted all Badger football activity for seven days, canceling the scheduled Wisconsin vs.

Nebraska game for Oct. 31 and the game on Nov. 7 vs. Purdue.

This news has devastated the Badger community and ripped another college football gameday from our fingertips. The outbreak calls Wisconsin football’s COVID-19 protocol and Big Ten’s decision to restart the league into question. Did they do enough to protect their athletes and students?

Was bringing back colPHOTO COURTESY OF BIG TEN lege football an irreThe Badgers destroyed sponsible decision?

Michigan, with the final score of In this wave of ups and downs, 49-11. Even though we were unable the Badgers resumed activity for to jump around, we were still their game against Michigan for cheering on our Badgers in spirit Saturday, Nov. 14. UW’s protocol is from all over. The second return to follow local health officials’ guideof Badger football brought some lines regarding isolating those who needed joy to our Madison commu- have contracted the virus. Due to the nity and united us in today’s very recent rise of cases Dane County just divided environment. released a new public order banning Sadly this excitement appears to all indoor gatherings. be short-lived, as news of Graham At the first game on Oct. 23, the Mertz’s positive COVID-19 diagno- seven day average for percent positive sis disrupted the world of Badger cases was a mere 1.2%. That number football. Mertz’s diagnosis has now is now up to 3.9% — almost four times revealed that 22 other members of the larger. If things are not handled prop-

7

erly as we approach Thanksgiving break, we could likely see another spike like the one at the beginning of the semester.

Wisconsin is not the only school to have COVID-19 outbreaks on their football teams.

Jeff Brohm, head coach of Purdue football, contracted COVID-19 and was forced to miss their first game against Iowa.

The decision to bring back college football was made too fast. Not enough safety protocols were established and the health of students at these campuses was put at risk.

When millions of people are battling the contagious COVID-19, it is careless of the Big Ten to prioritize the return of college football without addressing the health and safety of their students.

These COVID-19 outbreaks continue to emphasize that bringing back college football was not a smart or safe decision. The future of Badger football remains uncertain, but no matter what happens with the rest of the season, our love for the Badgers will continue.

Samantha is a junior studying Strategic Communications, with a certificate in Digital Studies. Do you think football should have returned, all things considered? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com

Election 2020: Woke culture destroyed the ‘blue wave’

By Ian-Michael Griffin STAFF WRITER

If the political forecasters were right, this year’s election cycle would have marked a historic landslide victory for the Democratic Party as they gained the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Instead, the mythical “blue wave” fizzled out into a splash long before the first ballot was even cast.

While President-Elect Biden won with a sizable lead in both the electoral and popular votes, the Democratic Party barely held its own in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Currently, the Senate majority will be decided by two Georgia run-offs, cementing the Senate as a hotly contested political battleground. The House saw multiple Democratic seats flip to the GOP and Republicans may be on track to win back the House in 2022.

How could Democrat’s expectations have been this wrong though? While they technically won in some areas, this victory should feel more like a dismal participation trophy rather than a resounding first place finish.

The echo chamber within the Party itself likely strengthened the ill-advised self confidence, as well as its ties with the media which spread the assumption of this easily won gold medal. This election should feel like a defeat even though they won — and it seems some Democrats in the House agree.

If Democrats truly want to emerge mightily victorious in the future, they must analyze why over 73 million people voted against them and their party. The analysis must be a brutally honest one for it to have any merit, and conclusions such as the opposition being “racists” or “fascists” are lazy responses which fail to examine the failures of the Democratic Party to reach out to millions of Americans.

On Friday night, Bill Maher — a vocal Democrat — addressed on his show that the biggest enemy to liberals is themselves. He stated that the woke culture which has permeated both the personal and professional world is halting the Democrat’s chances at flipping right-leaning voters.

Maher’s analysis could not be more astute. Phenomenon such as Political Correctness (PC) or “woke” culture are the very thing which created the political atmosphere in which a person like Donald Trump could thrive and rally supporters.

Democrats created their own monster in this regard. While President Trump may be in office for only a few short months, the angst which propelled his political support is here to stay.

Common sense is no longer a staple of the individual thought for many of those who identify as Democrats and many subscribe to the belief that “if you don’t agree with me, you’re a racist and a bigot and your career should be destroyed.”

To be clear, this mindset does not represent the beliefs of the party as a whole, but there are the cases of millions with which it is representative.

Fear has gripped many, as they struggle to articulate their thoughts, frightened if they may be the next ones to be “cancelled”. A frequent rebuttal to that is that cancel culture is not real and these are isolated incidents. Well, I would certainly like that to be the case, but as I type these very words, #FireGinaCarano is No.10 trending on Twitter.

You have likely seen a lot of Gina Carano in the past fews years, from her roles in “Deadpool” (2016) and also the more recent “The Mandalorian” series, as well as from her MMA career. Unfortunately for her, she has voiced concern over the integration of transgender athletes into MMA, as well as her vocal sup-

port of Donald Trump.

Now, whether or not Carano is correct in her beliefs is beside the point. All she did, however, is voice her beliefs in a free society and now thousands are calling for her to be blackballed from her industry and means of income due to her “flagrant transphobia.”

To the average moderate, this is a

lenged and we as a society would become stagnant.

No one should misunderstand, this is not a problem that lies solely with Democrats. Facets of this culture extend into the right, but it is simply more pronounced within the left.

That being said, it is more of an ideological issue between

PHOTO COURTESY OF GAGE SKIDMORE

Ben Shapiro is a frequent critic of the lefts 'Politcally Correct' culture. concerning movement that is gaining steam in the nation and that very concern is what pushes them into the arms of the GOP. In an effort to separate the “offensive” from our culture, it is simply creating the stage for Trumpism to grow and for cults of personality to expand in American politics.

Being offensive is not an inherently bad thing. Grouping that with malice and hatred is, however. We should all strive to be offensive every now and again, as it means something you just said struck a nerve and it symbolizes a discussion that is worth having. If you have never offended anyone, then you have never said anything that needed to be said at the risk of upsetting perhaps even 5% of your audience.

If we were to extract all offensive aspects of culture in an attempt to create a national “safe space,” no one’s beliefs would ever be chal-

Americans, not just between parties. Politico recently ran a poll regarding cancel or woke culture in everyday society and their findings were concerning, but also hopeful.

They determined that if you examine the stats for every demographic, a majority believe that cancel culture is a dangerous path to follow and that it must end. More generally, however, they discovered that 46% of Americans believe cancel culture has gone too far, and also that a significant portion are not involved in social media and are not aware of digital exiling.

It is clear that these practices of wokeness and cancelling do not fall along the simple and clear lines of Republicans vs. Democrats. They are nuanced and blurred and seemingly a movement all in it’s own.

That is not the perception however, as many on the right use this as an opportunity to decry the left as pro-

ponents of censorship. Even former President Obama has publicly condemned cancel culture. Earlier this year, he stated that people should “get over” their “idea of purity.”

This is overlooked by right wing pundits such as Ben Shapiro or Alex Jones, as they sensationalize this behavior as leftist censorship and blatant betrayal of the First Amendment. While it is censorship and betrayal of our rights, it is not only a leftist issue and to represent it as that is a political tool to sow division. While it may not swing Democrats to vote Republican, it definitely had an effect on Republicans considering a blue vote.

In the end, this is why the blue wave never hit. Millions upon millions are turned away by this type of behavior, and it will only continue to sow dissent within the nation. It is an unfortunate truth of life that perception is reality and right now, the Democratic Party is seen as the party of censorship to a significant portion of voters.

This is merely one of the many issues that are plaguing the Democratic Party at the present.

Their public image is declining in some circles and this requires remedying if they hope to flip red voters and states. A death of a thousand cuts is the malady, and woke culture is only one of lacerations which are holding the Party back. True or not, the party of censorship is their current reputation and if Democrats are to truly have success in the coming decades, this divide needs to be addressed and these methods need to be halted.

Ian-Michael is a freshman studying Political Science and Journalism. Do you think “woke culture” has gone too far? Do you think it affected the presidential race? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com

comics

8 • Thursday, November 19, 2020

GLASS BOX

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Life & Style How to handle a COVID-19 Thanksgiving dailycardinal.com

Thursday, November 19, 2020

By Molly Welsh STAFF WRITER

From family fun and turkey bowls to masking up and social distancing, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way in which Americans will be spending this upcoming Thanksgiving. The increase of coronavirus cases in the United States has caused numerous festivity cancellations, which will unfortunately continue throughout the holiday season.

Cases within the University of Wisconsin-Madison have grown since Halloween, causing mandatory testing for both Witte and Sellery Residence Halls, both of which were already on a two-week quarantine in September.

Because most students will not be returning to campus after Thanksgiving, the spread of this virus within the university will hopefully diminish upon the return to school in January.

Students have expressed their

discontent with the direct impact this pandemic has had on their studies and overall livelihood at UW-Madison by posting TikToks and memes to bond over these similar depravities.

The Witte and Sellery quarantine of 2020 seemed somewhat like the end of the world, with kids running in and out before the 10 p.m. shutdown. However, friendships were formed throughout these resident’s halls by students putting Post-it Notes on the windows and attending virtual dorm events.

With Thanksgiving approaching, although this semester was very different, we all still have something to be thankful for. Whether you are glad you met new people this semester, or have remained healthy within this crazy pandemic, you can always be gracious. This holiday will certainly not encompass the typical large family gatherings or pumpkin patch traditions, but it is important to stay positive in these tough times.

When asked how her Thanksgiving has been impacted

by COVID-19, freshman Claire Hanley claimed her family would be spending the holiday with a closer circle instead of the usual extended family. Claire was also upset to say her family’s annual turkey bowl was cancelled, but she understood the need to maintain social distancing and ultimately stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Similarly, freshman Ryan Planek’s family will be altering Thanksgiving in order to have a safe holiday. Ryan, however, is excited to be able to spend some quality time with his siblings whom he has not seen since the Witte and Sellery quarantine, in which he went home for.

Both Claire and Ryan, and the rest of the students of UW-Madison, hope the cases will decrease after winter break, causing a smoother and more exciting second semester.

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CLARA DON /THE DAILY CARDINAL

This year will be a unique Thanksgiving, but it can still be memmorable.

Baking yummy holiday treats

By Chloe Herbrand STAFF WRITER

JESSIE LEVY/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Changing enviornments for school may be tough, but there are plenty ways to make it work.

Managing school during break

By Hannah Rifkin STAFF WRITER

Adjusting to school at home: How to stay balanced and productive Adapting to online school on campus was already chaotic, and now that some of us are heading home our learning environment is about to get shaken up again.

Managing school in the presence of your family without that campus structure can be daunting. Luckily, there are mindful actions you can take to ease your stress and help transition to a new home life.

A great way to set yourself up for success is by finding your own workspace.

Siblings, pets and parents can be a distraction so creating an oasis to be your most productive self is key. If you have a desk in your room that’s great, but if you’re looking to get a

little further away from the temptation of a bed nearby there are other places to try.

A parent’s unoccupied office at home can be a quiet, distractionfree environment. You can also try your home town’s public library, or venture to a coffee shop, hunker down and get to work!

Another part of working hard is knowing when to stop and give yourself some time to decompress. Take a lunch break or even dinner. Fitting family time in when you’re overwhelmed with school work can seem like another task on your to-do list, but having a meal with your family gives you time to catch up and recharge before getting back to work.

It will give your mind the break it needs and allow you to connect

with your family while cooking, eating and even cleaning up the dishes after.

While home life is nice, bringing back collaborative school culture will help you stay on task with work. If you’re used to studying and doing homework with friends, keep it up! One of the pros of technology is keeping us connected, so schedule a facetime or organize a group Zoom to go over your work and help each other study just like you would if you were at the library with friends.

Changing environments is hard, especially when we have to stay consistent in our work to keep up grades throughout the adjustment period. But with these tips hopefully you can settle into your new surroundings, relieve your school stress and enjoy time at home.

The holidays are a time to gather together with those you love and reflect on the highlights and sacred moments from the previous year. My family suffers from sweet tooth, and it is passed down in our genetic makeup.

That being said, our favorite way to share grace is with delicious treats in our bellies!

1.

Momma’s Iced Pumpkin Bars: Beat three eggs in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer until foamy; add two cups white sugar, ¾ cup canola oil, ½ cup water and one can of pumpkin puree.

Beat on medium speed until incorporated, two minutes.

Mix 2 ½ cup flour, 1 and ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and ¾ teaspoon nutmeg — this is the secret — in a separate bowl. Beat flour mixture into egg mixture on low speed until just combined, one minute. Pour batter into the prepared, sprayed pan. Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees until a

toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Completely cool. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Gradually add ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over cooled pumpkin cake; sprinkle with cinnamon.

Optional: Add chocolate chips or nuts.

These can pretty consistently be found in our fridge after entering the month of October.

My precious mother is thought highly of amongst my friends on campus for her thick, creamy pumpkin cake, as they always bring a sense of home and are constantly delivered in each of her visits, or as she is passing through.

2. Gramma’s Butterscotch “Blonde” Brownies: Melt butter over the stovetop. Remove from heat and stir in one cup dark brown sugar, one egg and a splash of

vanilla; mix until completely incorporated. Stir in remaining ingredients including ¾ cup flour, one teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.

The mixture will be thick.

Spread in a greased baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. The bake time will depend on the dish you choose!

Optional: Add butterscotch chips or nuts.

It is rare to meet an individual who is not a fan of brownies, but it’s a hot take to make them butterscotch!

Nope, no chocolate in these brownies. These are always passed around our table at any holiday.

Grandma likes to include nuts in her recipe, but I appreciate the simplicity of the butterscotch chip! These blonde delicious treats cut best in their pan when they are cooled, but I will warn you that it is almost impossible to wait this long! Let that delectable brown sugar smell fill your home this holiday season.

LYRA EVANS /THE DAILY CARDINAL

Baking is one of the best part of the holidays and Chloe has great recipes for you to try!