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Henry Vilas Zoo mourns death of resident lion Pelo By Grace Yue STAFF WRITER
Pelo, a 13-year-old lion that spent nearly his entire life at Henry Vilas Zoo, died after a rapid decline in his health, the zoo announced Sept. 18. Zookeepers noticed Pelo was moving strangely and losing his balance in June, the zoo said in their statement. An eventual diagnosis found chronic degenerative disc disease in his neck and spine. Although he initially responded to treatment, Pelo’s symptoms returned in recent weeks and after a rapid decline, staff made the decision to euthanize him.
Pelo’s death is a loss that extends beyond the zoo. Over 13 years, Pelo left a connection between the Madison zoo and lions living thousands of miles away. Jess Thompson, the zoo’s conservation and education curator, who also worked as one of Pelo’s keepers for his entire life there, told The Daily Cardinal the zoo has given more than $30,000 to wild lion conservation in Africa over the past five years, including a donation made in Pelo’s honor on his final day. Pelo was born at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and arrived at Henry Vilas in 2014 at 16 months old, still a young lion with no mane yet.
Thompson recalled how Pelo had never seen snow. “I remember the first time he went out onto exhibit and he just sat in the middle of the snow with the flakes falling around him, looking in wonder,” Thompson told the Cardinal. That wonder never left him, Thompson said. According to Thompson, Pelo loved stealing the tongs the keepers used to feed him through the mesh, then reluctantly nosing them back. He carried a favorite blue plastic donut proudly around his den and outdoor habitat, and loved nothing more than rolling around
‘WE WONT STAY SILENT’
each winter with a donated Christmas tree. Even as he grew sick, he kept offering his tail through the fence for voluntary blood draws. Pelo shared his life with Shakura, a lioness who wanted little to do with the “teenager” dropped into her pride. He won her over anyway and the two had cubs, Ansel and Amboseli, in 2017. Since Pelo’s death, Shakura has remained relatively calm, Thompson said, though she had occasionally called out to Kusa, a tiger housed nearby. Continue reading at dailycardinal.com
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood files lawsuit The state lawsuit aims to protect abortion access in Wisconsin. By Riley Nee SENIOR STAFF WRITER
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Blk Pwr hosts vigil to remember Corey Ruiz and bring attention to other Black lives recently lost. By Tori Baerenwald STAFF WRITER
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Blk Pwr Coalition hosted a candlelight vigil on Library Mall Thursday night in remembrance of 13 Black lives, including Corey Ruiz, who Madison police shot in a fatal encounter on Williamson Street this summer. Around 60 students gathered to light candles, recite poems and anecdotes and grieve with the community. The vigil’s main purpose was to let families of the victims know they will not be forgotten, Blk Pwr Coalition’s chief operating officer Azuri Lawson said. “This vigil is our refusal to let our brothers and sisters become nameless statistics. We gather to say their names, to honor their spirits and to affirm that their lives matter deeply,” Lawson said to the crowd. “Remembering is an act of love, and mourning together is an act of resistance.” The vigil invited attendees to gather in a circle around candles shaped into a heart. The Blk Pwr Coalition provided candles for anyone who
wanted to hold one during the vigil. The vigil started with a moment of silence, attendees solemnly looking down or closing their eyes in honor of 13 Black people whose fatalities involved officers or suspicions of racial motivation — Corey Ruiz, Nolan Wells, Richard Lee Johnson, Kyle Bassinga, Juliana Nzita, To’Nea Nicole Miller, Justice James, Jerard Jackson, Tasia Fortune, Javion Magee, Dennoriss Richardson, Earl Smith and Trayvon Reed. Among the 13 names Lawson recited was Corey Ruiz, a 38-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a Madison police officer this past summer. His death sparked protests after videos circulated online and calls for the Madison Police Department to provide transparency about the fatality after videos circulated online. Lawson also called the moment of silence in honor of Black deaths the coalition couldn’t name. “To every brother and sister whose names were never recorded, whose stories were never
told or whose disappearances were never met with institutional silence, we hold you here tonight,” Lawson said. Alongside Ruiz’s name was Richard Lee Johnson, a 32-year-old Black man who died in Madison in 2024, one day after being arrested. He was originally said to have died from “complications from cocaine toxicity,” but Madison leaders called for a review after a forensic pathologist disputed the original cause of death and pointed toward a “restraint-related cardiac arrest.” Lawson said she was impressed with the vigil’s turnout and talked about what it meant to see everyone come together. “We won’t stay silent,” she said. “I think it shows that we are still a community on campus and that people still care.” Students from UW-Madison’s chapter of Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), a nonprofit led by youth of color, and Madison Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) spoke at the vigil. Continue reading at dailycardinal.com
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) filed a lawsuit on Sept. 10 asking state courts to assert women’s right to abortion, according to a PPWI press release. The group filed the suit on the basis that current requirements — only physicians can perform abortions and there must be a 24-hour time delay between requesting and receiving an abortion — are “medically unjustified.” The lawsuit from PPWI comes after abortion access for University of Wisconsin-Madison students and Wisconsinites has been shaky in the years since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson decision. At the beginning of October 2025, PPWI discontinued abortion care at its Madison office due to Medicaid cuts from the passage of President Donald Trump’s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Three weeks later, PPWI continued its abortion services after reclassifying its organization’s Essential Community Provider status in order to fall in line with the bill’s requirements for receiving Medicaid funds. Roe v. Wade protected abortion access federally through the right to privacy, which was granted due to “substantive due process,” political science Professor Emeritus Howard Schweber told The Daily Cardinal. When the Dobbs v. Jackson case was decided, protections for abortion in line with the U.S. Constitution were abolished, which caused what Schweber called “trigger laws” to take effect. In Wisconsin, an 1849 law describing “any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a felony” was triggered, which was originally interpreted to ban abortion. In the July 2025 Kaul v. Urmanski case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the law did not restrict abortion. Continue reading at dailycardinal.com
“…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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An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892 Volume 136, Issue 6
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Jane Kamensky talks role of universities in aiding civil dialogue By Erin Bickford STAFF WRITER
Editor-in-Chief Alaina Walsh
Managing Editor Avery Chheda
News Team Campus Editor Sonia Bendre College Editor Grace Carlson City Editor Jane Dardik State Editor Audrey Lopez-Stane Associate News Editor Zoey Jiang Features Editor Jake Kilander Opinion Editors Brady Ahler • Siena Ferraro Arts Editors Ryan Kim • Liset Zacker Sports Editors Otton von Sothen • Haellie Opp Sports Associate Editor Luca Muehlbauer Special Pages Editor Natalie Popper Photo Editor Jonathan Mintz Graphics Editors Eloise Guth • Klaire Maduscha Science Editors Lauren Eno • Addison Dama Life & Style Editors Isabella Bajaras • Jackson Baker Beet Editor Lizzi McGann Podcast Directors Yadiel Chavez • Amellia Fowler Digital Editor Meredith Schadrie Video Director Ted Hyngstrom Copy Chiefs Emma Schieffer • Brendan Wolf Copy Editors Isabella Barajas • Delaney Chronister • Audrey Lopez-Stane • Kimberly McGee • Danielle Witelson • Lam Pham • Aarav Amin • Phoebe Morris
Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Wyatt Vail Marketing/Outreach Director Hallie Egelseer Social Media Manager Aanya Agrawal Ad Manager Lauren Downham 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. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be 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
Editorial Board Avery Chheda • Alaina Walsh • Brady Ahler • Siena Ferraro • Safa Razvi Chair Safa Razvi
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University of WisconsinMadison Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots and Dr. Jane Kamensky, President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia, hosted a fireside chat discussing the role of public universities in society on Sept. 16. The event was sponsored by the Wolff Center for American Thought, Culture, and Society and was the first event hosted in the new Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall. Kristin Eschenfelder, the Interim Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, opened the event by explaining the core foundations of a liberal arts education, saying it “provides a transformative experience for students,” and “empowers them to go out and participate substantially and meaningfully, as free citizens, in society.” Those ideas set the stage for a conversation centered around preparing students to enter into a polarized world. Interim Chancellor Wilcots began the discussion by asking Kamensky about how she views the country’s current political polarization. “I believe in hope as a practice, and one of the ways, as a historian committed to rigorous truth-telling, that I practice hope is by looking at times when Americans have faced equal problems and found small ways through,” Kamensky said.
Kamensky brings a long career in American history to her role at Monticello. An author and historian, she is the John Trumbull Professor of American History, Emerita, at Harvard University. As the head of Jefferson’s Monticello, she oversees the site’s educational museum and research programs. She discussed the long feud between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, which began when Jefferson served as Adams’ vice president. “Like many people in the heat of politics, their differences reached a point where they decided they could no longer talk to each other,” Kamensky said. “And part of that was because they were both living entirely as political beings.” She explained Americans today are similar, constantly living in “the sphere of national politics.” Her key point was that the two men eventually overcame their differences and were able to work together. “They said that the American Union was more important than whether you realized it through Federalist or Democratic Republican principles,” Kamensky said. Wilcots then asked Kamensky how she thinks controversial topics should be discussed in a university setting. “There are exterminationist ideologies in the world. I don’t think they’re sitting next to you in class. For the most part, I think we can pull
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back that concept of words as harm, and think a lot more deeply and a lot less reflexively than we tend to about what I might learn from hearing someone who thinks radically differently than I do,” Kamensky said. As the conversation turned to how public universities should navigate the current political climate, considering they rely on taxpayer funding, Kamensky introduced the idea of obligation. “I think [obligation] is both an honest and key strategy of the way universities can successfully negotiate in this time is by recognizing that you have an obligation and a trust to fill, rather than always speaking in the language of rights, which is of course vital
too,” Kamensky said. She connected that sense of obligation to the importance of viewpoint diversity on campus, arguing that universities benefit from bringing people with different perspectives together, much like building a faculty. “Recognizing that pluralism itself is a strength,” Kamensky said. The discussion attested to a larger effort at UW-Madison to embrace diversity in all forms. “[Jefferson] was a foundational dinner table diplomat,” Kamensky said. “His granddaughter said that conversations at his table were always feasts of reason. And so, we have the imprimatur of our founder to do this difficult thing — disagree.”
Crowley outlines plan to combat corruption in state government By Riley Nee SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor, announced his proposed anticorruption policies advocating for increased accountability and transparency in the legislature in a press conference Sept. 14. Crowley listed four main points in his policy plan, including banning elected officials from trading stocks and engaging in prediction markets. Anyone in office with current investments would be forced to put them into a mutual or index fund or transfer them to a blind trust. The policy also says energy companies would no longer be able to hire former industry regulators for two years after the regulator would exit office. “Elected officials, whether they be governors, legislators or regulators, are there to serve the public. They’re there to use their offices to help people,” Crowley said. He condemned corruption in public office, calling for greater “transparency and accountability” in Wisconsin state government. “Working families are paying a steep price for the corruption we’ve seen in Washington from Donald
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Trump and MAGA Congressman Tom Tiffany that puts corporate interests above working families in Wisconsin,” Crowley said in a statement to The Daily Cardinal. “It’s the same self-serving politics that allowed Robin Vos and Michael Gableman to use their legislative power to rip off taxpayers and try to hide it.” Former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice Micheal Gableman came under fire in 2021 for high expenses and salaries of his staff during a taxpayer funded review of the 2020 election. Gableman and members of his staff made a false claim that President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos,
R-Rochester, has also received backlash for operating as a landlord, while also sponsoring bills in the Legislature that could benefit his personal business. The City of Whitewater has fined Vos and his companies $11,866 for several different kinds of minor breeches. “Wisconsinites see politicians across the state and in Washington doing better than them. They’re doing fine, and in many cases, they’re thriving. And how can that be when diesel right here in the state of Wisconsin is nearly $6 a gallon?” Crowley said during the press conference. Crowley also emphasized the importance of undoing the loophole in Wisconsin’s open records law. Public employees in Wisconsin must retain records, but the law
exempts state legislators. If records are requested legislators must comply with the law and share them, but if these records have been destroyed or deleted, they have nothing to send. “I will require that legislative documents and correspondence cannot be deleted before they are requested, ensuring that journalists, the courts, the most important, youth, the public, can see how their elected officials are or are not serving,” Crowley said at the event. The proposal would require legislative approval, and there have already been attempts to pass bipartisan bills that combat stock trading and prediction markets. Washington D.C. and Madison alike are tackling negotiations and potential legislation surrounding politicians using insider information for profit. “The ability for elected officials to profit off of their office with zero consequences is legalized corruption,” Crowley said. “You may not always agree with me. But as governor, I will always do what I think is best to the great state of the states. And that starts by making sure that everyone who serves in this building right behind me, and in our state government, is held to the highest standards of transparency.”
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ASM blocks re-election, tables new code of conduct at first fall meeting By Sonia Bendre & Dominic Violante CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR & THE BEET EDITOR EMERITUS
Associated Students of Madison (ASM) representatives blocked a motion to re-elect their 33rd session chair and tabled discussion of a new ASM code of conduct at their first fall meeting Sept. 16. ASM representatives voted down a motion to discuss a judiciary order from spring chair candidate and ASM Rep. Michael Harry, which, if passed, could have allowed representatives to re-elect their 33rd session chair by a majority vote. The motion to discuss Harry’s judiciary order required a two-thirds majority to pass. 15 students voted in favor and nine voted against — blocking the motion by one vote. Harry lost the April 24th election for 33rd session chair. He claimed the election results were invalid in a
petitioner’s brief sent to the Student Judiciary Committee six days later. In the brief, Harry said meeting rules were violated during the election and the Chief Justice was not present, thus nullifying the results. The Student Judiciary Committee released an ordinance on Sept. 8 to allow discussion of Harry’s brief during Wednesday’s meeting. There was no official debate over the motion, but Graduate and Professional Committee Co-Chair Elizabeth Anderson made comments in support during the open forum preceding the vote. She claimed ASM Chair Haia Al Zein intimidated opponents, including a candidate for Internal Affairs Chair and other candidates for 33rd session chair. In a previous email to the Cardinal, Al Zein denied telling Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC) Vice Chair and spring chair candidate Lander Levers that anony-
mous letters would be introduced against him at the April open forum if he ran for chair — one claim in Harry’s petitioner’s brief. Levers left his position as a representative over the summer, but will continue to serve as SSFC Vice Chair. An anonymous letter was also read in the open forum, claiming the previous election was conducted inappropriately and urging representatives to vote in favor of the motion. “The mistakes that were made in [the April 24] meeting have seriously damaged my trust in ASM. I am frustrated and frankly enraged by the behavior I saw on display,” the letter read. “Student Council is supposed to be a space to advocate for the good of all students, not to conduct personal crusades or political attacks on members of the body.” New Code of Conduct pushed to
CNN’s Manu Raju confronts future of truth-seeking in the press at AI, journalism event By Matthew Pronovost STAFF WRITER
CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju spoke about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms at a Center for the Humanities event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sept. 17. The chat, moderated by Tomás Dodds, director of the Public Media Lab and assistant professor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, sought to discuss journalism as a truth-seeking practice from Dodds’ perspective. Dodds is also an academic researcher who has recently co-authored a book about AI in journalism, and Raju is a top national journalist who has won numerous awards and served as a veteran reporter on Capitol Hill for decades. Part of the Center for the Humanities’ Civics Lab initiative, the event is part of a broader effort to understand contemporary factors impeding civic engagement and dialogue across a variety of nuanced perspectives. Dodds began the event by noting the increased pressure journalists are facing to accelerate their story output with the advent of AI tools. “We are creating this idea that we need to publish 30 stories per day rather than three because artificial intelligence is there,” Dodds said. Raju championed the uniquely human component of investigative reporting, stating that a “journalist’s job is not to make a powerful person comfortable; journalism makes sure someone is there to ask the question in the first place.”
As the event transitioned into a fireside chat between Dodds and Raju, a humorous video displaying a montage of various times Raju has been brushed off by U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), U.S. Rep.Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others played, affirming Raju’s ironclad belief that pressing authoritative figures for the truth is something AI simply cannot accomplish. “Technology cannot replace the most important part of this job: human judgment,” Raju said. In terms of CNN’s journalistic ethics in the age of AI, Raju said “you can ask [AI] ‘what do you think of this headline’ ... but there are redlines in copying and pasting AI.” When “a story generated by AI content, [people] hate it, but they use it and they need it,” causing an inherent tension,” Raju said. Dodds disagreed with Raju’s statement, as he doesn’t believe we need AI. “I don’t think we need AI. I think, to some degree, AI needs journalism more than journalism needs AI,” Dodds said. Once the fireside chat convened, the moderator opened the floor to questions from the audience. A student journalist opened his question by stating he has “never used ChatGPT or Gemini or any AI tool,” leading him to seek advice for those who “love writing in all of its capacity, even the part that a lot of people would say is boring.” Raju responded by encouraging the student journalist to “keep writ-
ing, develop your own voice, because your voice is uniquely yours and AI can’t replace that voice.” Continue reading @dailycardinal.com
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Sept. 30th meeting Later, ASM Chair Haia Al Zein introduced a new code of conduct that could block ASM members from contacting others using UW-Madison directory information, including email addresses and phone numbers, without their direct consent. The motion was tabled to the Sept. 30 ASM meeting, where it will be reconsidered. Several representatives voiced confusion with the new code of conduct and asked for more time to review the document. ASM members currently follow the 29th session code of conduct, Al Zein said. Al Zein said the new code is adapted from the 29th session code based on feedback from last semester and over the summer, including from ASM members who said being contacted by phone made
them uncomfortable. “While I recognize the intent, this code of conduct as written is flawed and may contradict existing university policies and federal, state and local laws,” Anderson said. Anderson raised concerns about the stipulations prohibiting using contact information from university directories to locate or contact individuals without their consent. Students in ASM who use the directory to search for information like a teaching assistant’s office or a group project member’s phone number could be violating the code. “If you don’t opt out, your cell phone number that you provide to the university is on the student directory,” Anderson told the Cardinal. “To me, if people don’t want to be contacted by their cell phone number, they should take it off.” Continue reading @dailycardinal. com
Madison oversight officials push for transparency in Ruiz investigation By Jane Dardik CITY EDITOR
The Police Civilian Oversight Board (PCOB) is compiling evidence for the alleged Corey Ruiz homicide, but the Madison Police Department (MPD) is making the job difficult, according to PCOB members. PCOB, working alongside the City of Madison Office of Independent Police Monitor (OIPM), was formed in November 2020 after several police-involved gun fatalities between 2012 and 2019, but citizen outrage after Corey Ruiz was fatally shot by an MPD officer on July 22 revitalized the board. PCOB and OIPM are the first oversight boards of their kind in Wisconsin, both operating independently from the City and Common Council. Protests following Ruiz’s death called for police accountability and de-escalation training, relying on PCOB to provide the accountability and policy recommendations. “What happened to Corey was excessive use of force,” Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores, the former PCOB chair, said in a Sept. 17 community forum. “Had they not killed him, had they just kicked him and hit him with the car, that was excessive. The first bullet, that was excessive use of deadly force. And then the two extra bullets? Those were overkill.” Many Madison residents asked how the city plans to hold MPD accountable, and PCOB, as well as a new sector of MPD, responded, according to Dr. Inada Murali, the forum facilitator. Aeiramique Glass, the interim Independent Police Monitor for the City of Madison, said her office operates separately from City influence in the forum. OIPM is authorized to analyze evidence and make policy recommendations, but it cannot enforce them. OIPM requested evidence for the Ruiz shooting but was denied and issued a subpoena against MPD. The death of Ruiz on Williamson Street was different from other cases OIPM has reviewed, as several board members were able to get on scene within minutes, collecting their own evidence and gathering information from locals and storefronts, according to Glass. Glass said OIPM is running into issues regarding the Ruiz investigation, including
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MPD withholding evidence and MPD Chief Patterson cancelling two scheduled meetings with Glass, which she noted in a Sept. 16 PCOB meeting. The OIPM website cites MGO §5.19(7) (i), which “entitles this office to unfettered access to MPD records, and this office holds subpoena power under §5.19(7)(j).” MPD has created the Service Excellence and Outreach Division within the department in response to police involvement in Ruiz’s death, but Glass said citizens should be wary of city-led institutions within the criminal justice system. “[The district attorney relies] on MPD to give them investigative materials and police reports to prosecute people, so when you do not see the DA prosecuting officers, it is because they work with them every single day, and the police unions are who help these individuals get elected,” Glass said. Kilfoy-Flores agreed, saying she does not trust City authority to evaluate the evidence impartially. “Even though it’s being investigated as a homicide, we know what District Attorney Ozanne’s decision is going to be because of history,” Kilfoy-Flores said. “From the very beginning I saw the city trying to vilify Corey and anyone that stood with Corey as being villains.” Continue reading @dailycardinal.com
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Mt. Joy performance, unreleased Noah Kahan docuseries at Future Friends event By Lilly Nicandri & Sonia Bendre STAFF WRITER & CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR
Mental health nonprofit Two Bridge is hosting its second Future Friends experience for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, featuring a Mt. Joy headliner and a screening of a docuseries episode including Noah Kahan in this year’s lineup of wellness programming and social events. Two Bridge partnered with UW Hillel and other student organizations to host the events, which also include a speech by mental health activist Kevin Hines, a yoga session, a line-dancing night and a financial literacy game show experience, according to cofounder Harris Schwartzberg. All events are exclusive to UW-Madison students and free — with the exception of the Mt. Joy event, which costs $20 for entry. Last year’s event, featuring headliner Alex Warren, was free to students. Esther Rosett, a psychology major and Two Bridge student ambassador, interned with the company over the summer and helped plan Future Friends activations. Rosett told The Daily Cardinal she’s most excited for the docuseries screening with Kahan, describing it as “per-
sonal,” “up-close” and “real”. “[Students] get to learn something through this documentary that they wouldn’t normally through [how] he presents himself,” she said. According to Rosett, Future Friends aims to make student connections as easy as possible at the activities, leaving notebooks for students to take numbers at the phone-free event and encouraging students to go on a walk with someone after the yoga. Rosett said aside from Two Bridge, UW-Madison can help combat student loneliness by hosting more events and asking professors to connect students in lectures, referring to 600-person lectures where “I don’t connect with a single person.” “You can be surrounded by thousands of people and still feel very lonely because there aren’t that many opportunities, in my opinion, to get to know each other,” Rosett said. “There’s also a lot of pressure in college to look like you’re constantly busy and having fun, which can make it a lot harder to admit what you’re actually feeling.” Two Bridge’s founder, Schwartzberg, said he ran a healthcare company with 16,000 employees before starting the nonprofit. With Two Bridge and Future
Friends, he looked to connect mental health and music in honor of his brother, a musical theater fan who passed away 19 years ago following mental health struggles. Schwartzberg told the Cardinal one of the biggest threats to student mental health is social media, as it can hinder human connection. “People aren’t talking to each other,” he said. Instead of face-to-face conversation, people usually send a text or email. Future Friends promotes the idea of “[being] here,” “[being] present.” “There’s not a worse message you can give someone you’re sitting with that they’re less important than by looking at your phone,” Schwartzberg said. The goal is to be less “clinical” with the Future Friends activities than other Two Bridge efforts like psychological first aid training for high school and college students, Schwartzberg said, adding students need programs that force them to be uncomfortable and talk with their peers. This event gives students the opportunity to talk to each other spontaneously, and “[that] spontaneity… creates community and connection.” “You all are so scheduled and serious,” Schwartzberg said. “While that’s great
$3 billion state surplus passes on to next budget cycle By Riley Nee SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Wisconsin state tax revenue was higher than expected for the previous fiscal year, resulting in almost a $3 billion surplus for the 2025-27 biennium. Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders developed a $1.8 billion dollar spending agreement, but it failed to pass in May. “In the stalemate between the parties, the surplus just continues to build without really benefiting taxpayers or the or the government in any way directly,” University of WisconsinMadison Professor of political science Barry Burden told The Daily Cardinal. The deal failed after an analysis by the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office found it would have created a $2.9 billion deficit at the end of the 2027-29 biennium. Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, who voted against the proposal, spoke with the Cardinal in June about the failed spending agreement. She voiced her concerns for passing legislation that would spend money not guaranteed in the next budget cycle. The surplus has increased by over half of a billion dollars in the past few months, but Roys is firm in her stance. “I still believe that we need to focus on meeting state’s needs before we start giving money away, particularly money that is skewed away from those needed and more towards those who act,” Roys told the Cardinal. Despite the June bipartisan legislation failure, the proposal was found to be widely popular with Wisconsinites. According to a Marquette Law School Poll, 80% of
Wisconsinites think the legislature should have passed the deal. “It’s easy to understand why the public would find it appealing. It was going to lower their income taxes and give their schools more money,” Burden said. “Republicans and Democrats in the survey and independents all thought this sounded like a good deal, but that way of thinking about things is not the same way that legislators have to think about proposals.” Burden said polls can reflect popularity in certain situations, but public popularity does not take into account the “complications of fiscal policy.” “The Trump administration is wreaking absolute havoc on our economy and on people’s finances, and we cannot leave the state in the following decision, that is incredibly irresponsible,” Roys said. The deal was negotiated by three lameducks — Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg — who are all on their way out of office. Burden attributes this to part of why the deal failed to pass. Vos made comments in June calling for another vote on the legislation, but the Legislature is out of session until January 2027. “[The money] is going to be in the hands of a new set of elected officials, a new governor, new leaders in both chambers, maybe new party control in one or both chambers. Democrats are hoping to win back and maybe get a trifecta. So there are a lot of possibilities in terms of who will be in charge of this process,” Burden said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TWO BRIDGE/FUTURE FRIENDS CAMPUS SERIES
because you’re all achieving so much more, you’re also so stressed out. Whether it’s the political environment, whether it’s grades at school, whether it’s the job market, social media… at 18 to 22 years old, you should also be having a lot of fun.” The familiarity of texting and social media has made conversation with students’ peers and mentors a challenge. When virtual means of communication are accessible and more comfortable, stu-
dents often choose not to see each other face-to-face. Schwartzberg said concerts bring joy to many students, and he hopes the activities can incentivize students to not only get off their phones but talk to those around them and build connections. They are all there under one common interest. “We call them Future Friends because I would love people to come by themselves and meet new people,” Schwartzberg said. “That’s part of what you’re at college for.”
UW-Madison jumps in 2027 university rankings By Zoey Jiang ASSOCIAITES NEWS EDITOR
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked 8th among top public universities and 34th in overall national universities out of 427 institutions in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best College Rankings for 2027, the outlet announced Tuesday. The rankings are the university’s highest in the Best Colleges report in almost two decades. UW-Madison was ranked 12th in top public universities for 2026 and 36th overall in the 2026 report, and 13th in public and 39th overall the year before. This follows Time Magazine’s January ranking of UW-Madison as 4th in top public universities in the U.S. “These rankings — while only one measure of a school’s success — reflect the incredible breadth of educational programs, research opportunities and crosscampus collaborations that makes UW– Madison unique,” Eric Wilcots, interim chancellor, said in a university statement. “We are dedicated to excellence and pre-
paring today’s learners to be tomorrow’s forward-looking leaders.” UW-Madison also rose to 24th, up from 47th, in the Best Value Schools ranking, and was ranked 4th in a new category, “Best Value Schools for In-State Students.” Wilcots said the university’s placements in these categories is also validation of the innovative programs UW-Madison offers to make college accessible and affordable “such as Bucky’s Pell Pathway and Bucky’s Tuition Promise,” both programs dedicated to help low-income students. According to the 2025-26 budget report, one in four Wisconsin resident undergraduate students receive financial aid through these programs and 22% of the budget was spent on financial aid. Other rankings UW-Madison received for this year include 15th in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs and Business Programs, 22nd in computer science, 19th in nursing and 24th in study abroad.
JONATHAN MINTZ/THE DAILY CARDINAL
news dailycardinal.com
Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Cardinal View: State politics should matter to University of Wisconsin students By The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board For many University of Wisconsin-Madison students, state politics can feel distant from everyday life. It’s easy to see all of this as a separate entity from state politics, but it is not. The Wisconsin State Capitol building is only a few blocks away from campus, but the policies and decisions made inside seem far removed from the classroom, residence hall or student org meeting. They are not. In reality, students are the ones who pay tuition, rely on university resources and attend a public institution whose leadership, finances and policies are deeply connected to the state government. Understanding that relationship is part of understanding the institution students have chosen to attend. State politics, like the upcoming gubernatorial election, can easily become another event students participate in, but don’t fully comprehend. It’s easy to see it as another set of campaign ads to scroll past or another box to check on a ballot. But engaging in local politics isn’t just a civic duty, rather a responsibility to understand what the offices on the ballot actually control and how those decisions can affect the institutions and communities around us. The idea isn’t just to vote
for the sake of voting. It’s to inform yourself and make a knowledgeable choice about what is best for you, your community, your education and, on some scale, what comes after it. UW-Madison students cannot afford to treat the Wisconsin state government as a distant issue when they play a direct role in determining how the university functions, is governed and led. As UW-Madison students, that starts with understanding the governor’s role in the University of Wisconsin System. The UW system is governed by an 18-member Board of Regents. Sixteen are appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the state Senate, including 14 members who serve staggered seven-year terms and two student members serve ex officio. The Board establishes rules and policies across the entire system, reviews and approves their budgets and sets admission policies. They also appoint the UW system president and chancellors of its 13 universities. That means the governor does not directly run UW-Madison, but does have a role in determining who governs the UW System and, ultimately, who leads their universities. Given student’s previous criticism of former Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, students have even more reason to understand where candi-
dates stand on higher education. Knowing their positions allows students to make their voices heard and better understand the priorities that will eventually shape university leadership. The people who lead UW-Madison ultimately have a huge, direct impact on the student body, making it essential that students pay attention to the political decisions that help determine who holds those positions. That distinction is important to understand before voting this November. It is also important because the state government plays a significant role in determining the financial environment in which the UW System operates. The UW System’s annual operating budget is based on the state’s biennial budget signed by the governor and subsequently approved by the Board of Regents. The connection is difficult to ignore this year because in August, the Board approved a 2027-2029 operating budget, a $730 million request including a proposed four-year tuition pledge if the state provides $190 million to support the freeze and other operating needs. That request is now before the state for consideration by the governor and Legislature. Issues spanning across all fields of importance such as tuition, university funding, leadership and academic priorities. These are not issues that
stop at the Capitol doors. They eventually make their way into the universities themselves. Despite this, state politics routinely receive less attention from students than national politics. This is because of an underlying disparity between what we perceive as important vs what actually is. It’s hard to idealize state politics as being important especially as an out-of-state student. However, it’s necessary to understand the systems that shape those lives before the consequences become obvious. Looking beyond names on the ballot, focus on what the office actually controls. What authority does the governor have over the UW system? What are their views on higher education and how would that impact you? Realizing who appoints the people making decisions and the role of the Legislature in determining the university’s financial environment can make voting for a candidate more desirable. These questions are not partisan, they’re informational. The responsibility to understand this extends beyond individual voters. It belongs to the institutions that educate them and, especially, to student journalism. Translating the complicated structures of state government into something students can easily consume is the goal. It means explaining the difference between
The Daily Cardinal Crossword Across 1 Participate in “Varsity”, e.g 5 Somewhat, but not entirely 7 Have an emotional breakdown, perhaps 9 Psychedelic experience 10 ___ era (unsuccessful phase) 12 “Be ___” (Ella Langley song) 13 MLB legend Gehrig 14 ___ B. Wells (civil rights activist) 15 Former SCOTUS justice that’s the subject of the movie “On the Basis of Sex” 16 The ___ (campus gym across from Gordon) 18 Lack of objectivity 19 “How weird!” 22 Command to soldiers to relax
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the authority of the governor, Legislature and Board of Regents when that context is necessary. It also requires us to examine candidates’ records and proposals without turning coverage into a campaign for or against anyone. Most importantly, it means recognizing that the lack of national attention does not make state politics any less relevant to our lives. UW-Madison students are members of a public institution. The Wisconsin Idea reflects the university’s relationship with the state and the public body it serves. The university is not an isolated campus operating separately from the state of Wisconsin. Instead, it sits in the center of the state capitol and is part of a public system whose leadership and finances are merged with state government. The upcoming governor election is an opportunity for students to examine how that office intersects with one of the largest public universities in the nation and one where they spend their time, money and next several years of their life. Students should not wait until a decision reaches their classroom, tuition bill or doorstep before realizing state politics matter. State government is a part of campus life whether we pay attention to it or not. The least we can do is understand the system we are participating in and take our responsibility as voters seriously.
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dailycardinal.com
NSF renews $53 million in funding for UW-Madison’s IceCube Observatory By Addison Dama SCIENCE EDITOR
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) renewed its agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to run the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, committing $53 million over the next five years to running the particle detector located at the center of Antarctica, according to an IceCube news release. The funding covers continued operation and maintenance of IceCube for 20262031, according to the report. UW-Madison has led IceCube since its establishment and contributed to its construction. UW-Madison physics professor Francis Halzen now acts as IceCube’s principal investigator, and the Wisconsin IceCube Particle
Astrophysics Center is primarily responsible for operating IceCube. IceCube observes neutrinos, nearly massless subatomic particles that rarely interact with matter, letting them travel across the cosmos undisturbed and carry information about some of its most violent events. IceCube uses Digital Optical Modules (DOM), electronic detectors buried in the ice, to detect these signals. The funding follows the IceCube Upgrade, the facility’s first major upgrade since its completion in 2010. Albrecht Karle, IceCube’s coprincipal investigator and a UW-Madison physics professor, led a team to install six of seven strings of upgraded DOM sensors over three months in December 2025,
The Daily Cardinal reported in March. With the upgrades, IceCube will operate more than 5,500 optical sensors, while they currently operate 5,160. Simulations suggest the upgrades could make IceCube up to a factor of ten more sensitive to short bursts of lower-energy neutrinos from short-lived events like supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, according to a study submitted to the journal Physical Review D. The first data from the new sensors are expected later this year. The upgrades to IceCube allow it to detect lower-energy, short-lived neutrino bursts better than before. For steady sources, the improvement is smaller, as IceCube already has a large amount of existing
PHOTO COURTESY OF UW-MADISON/NSF
data for them. With this upgrade, scientists will be able to better characterize the surrounding ice, improving neutrino reconstruction, according to the IceCube release. The upgrade will also allow a reanalysis of 15 years of archived data. Over the next five years,
the funding will also support new software development for advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods. The update also supports upgraded hardware, including replacing IceCube’s 20-yearold surface data acquisition electronics, according to the IceCube release.
Clean Wisconsin joins lawsuit over EPA repeal of power plant carbon standards By Lauren Eno SCIENCE EDITOR
Clean Wisconsin joined a coalition of environmental and public health groups in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) repeal of federal carbon pollution standards for fossil fuelfired power plants on Sept. 17. Clean Wisconsin argues the agency failed to properly account for the environmental and public health benefits of reducing carbon pollution. The groups filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit three days after the EPA finalized a partial repeal of carbon pollution standards adopted in 2024. The 2024 standards established limits on carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants and new natural gas-fired power plants. Some of the standards are based on carbon capture and storage technology designed to capture 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. “Either these existing coal-fired plants and new gas, new build gas plants would have to be prepared to include carbon capture for 90% of their emissions,” Brett Korte, senior staff attorney at Clean Wisconsin told The Daily Cardinal. “The flip side of it was they basically need to run less, right? Or get gas off the system.” The EPA repealed provisions of the 2024 standards including emission guidelines for existing fossil fuel-fired steam generating units, carbon-capture and storage-based standards for coalfired plants undergoing large modifications and for new baseload natural gas turbines beginning in 2032. Other standards for combustion turbines remain in effect. “The rollback of this will just mean that those plants can keep operating without doing much to reduce their local and climate impacts,” Korte said. EPA estimates that the finalized repeal will save up to $310 billion in compliance costs. A separate proposal to repeal GHG emission standards for power plants is estimated to save an additional $370 billion in compliance costs over a 20 year period.
PHOTO COURTESY OF COREY COYLE / WIKIMEDIA
Clean Wisconsin’s lawsuit challenges the EPA’s reasoning for rolling back the standards. “EPA is no longer considering public health as a benefit when they’re looking at the cost-benefit of these standards. They’re just looking at the cost to industry of implementing them, and ignoring the benefits to the public. That’s the thrust of our legal argument, that that’s unlawful,” Korte said. The lawsuit was filed by Clean Wisconsin alongside the Natural Resources Defense Council, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Clean Air Council and Environmental Defense Fund. Clean Wisconsin is represented by the Clean Air Task Force. “We want to make sure that in our lawsuit, we’re covering all the harms of this rollback,” Korte said. “We’re looking forward to co-litigating the case with them.”
The groups also argue reducing carbon pollution from power plants can reduce other pollutants released when fossil fuels are burned. “Measures that clean up power plant emissions also clean up other lungharming pollutants at the same time. EPA has the authority and the responsibility to protect people’s health from air pollution,” Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said. “Efforts to control carbon emissions from power plants also reduce other harmful air pollution like particulate matter (soot), nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide,” Paul Mathewson, science program director for Clean Wisconsin, said in a statement to the Cardinal. “The repeal of these rules will therefore result in worse air quality for local communities already being most impacted by fossil fuel energy production.” Korte said many fossil fuel power
plants are located near communities already facing economic and environmental burdens, and highlighted how Wisconsin has the ninth-highest death rate from particulate matter pollution from fossil fuel combustion. “Most of our fossil fuel combustion power plants are located near communities that are already underserved and already burdened by economic and environmental harms,” Korte said. “They’re impacting the most vulnerable people in our communities.” The coalition also pointed to climaterelated effects occurring in Wisconsin. “Wisconsin residents are already experiencing harmful effects of climate change from hazardous air quality from wildfire smoke to extreme rainfall events leading to record-breaking flood events. The repeal of these rules will mean more of these events,” Mathewson said. Korte pointed to warmer winters and more frequent extreme weather events in the state. “We’re seeing less ice cover, less snow, worse storms. We’re seeing tornadoes in parts of the state that hardly ever see them. We’re seeing flooding in places like Milwaukee and up north, and all of these things are exacerbated by climate change,” Korte said. The lawsuit is still in its early stages. Korte said the groups have filed their petition challenging the EPA’s action but have not yet filed their full briefs. Additional lawsuits could also be filed, potentially leading courts to consolidate the cases and establish a briefing schedule. “For immediate next steps, folks should look for briefings being filed in the coming months,” Korte said. The case could eventually move through the federal court system, though Korte said that process could take years. In the meantime, Clean Wisconsin encourages people to get involved. “I encourage people to hold their elected officials accountable for this type of action… Let people know that you care about these things,” Korte said. “It impacts every single person on Earth. In Wisconsin, these aren’t issues that are far away or down the road.”
life & style
dailycardinal.com
Thursday, September 24, 2026 • 7
The face behind Madison’s favorite $7 spring rolls
AVERY CHHEDA/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Why the jumbo spring rolls from Fresh Cool Drinks have become a campus phenomenon. By Erin Bickford STAFF WRITER
Everyday on State Street, something new is happening. Whether it’s a civil protest or a company handing out free merchandise, Library Mall is full of surprises. Just one thing is reliable: the long line at the Fresh Cool Drinks food truck, where students order huge smoothies and bite into forearm-sized spring rolls dripping with peanut sauce. Opened in 2006 by Tuy Anongdeth, the Fresh Cool Drinks food truck has been serving quick, affordable options to students at the University of WisconsinMadison for over 20 years. But in a city with no shortage of dining options, what’s the fascination with these comically large, burrito-esque spring rolls on library mall? Made fresh-to-order, their food is known as a healthy and inexpensive alternative to other local restaurants and food trucks. “The spring rolls are huge, and they’re so affordable,” Evelyn Hentschel, a senior at UW-Madison told The Daily Cardinal. “Every time I’ve come here, my stomach is full after seven dollars.” “I usually hang out in Memorial Union, but when I’m walking down State
Street, and I see the line for this — and it’s short — I hop in,” she said. Hentschel is not the only customer who raved about the low prices at the food truck. “I’ve tried some of the other [food trucks], and I just don’t think they’re as reasonably priced,” UW-Madison senior Kile Sullivan said. He also said the longer wait times at Fresh Cool Drinks can sometimes amount to “paying with your time.” He discovered Fresh Cool Drinks with a friend his freshman year. “You get so much food for such a little price,” Sullivan said. “And the girl that works it, she’s always so happy. I think she’s just in it for the love of the game.” The affection Sullivan describes becomes clear the moment you ask Anongdeth about her customers. “It’s not just work, it’s like my family, my friends. I know them, they know me, and that’s a part of my business, that’s the community,” Anongdeth told the Cardinal. Originally from Laos, Anongdeth has worked in restaurants for as long as she can remember. “My family has a restaurant in my country,” she explained, saying it serves Lao and Thai food. After moving to the U.S.
and marrying her husband, Anongdeth decided to start her own food truck after seeing her in-laws successfully run one in California. “At the beginning, it was so bad. I made like $30 a day,” she said. “I was just like, okay, I gotta change all the stuff, and create my own [recipe].” After much trial and error, she found that customers really liked the large spring rolls, and they have been coming back ever since. Anongdeth estimated that she now sells around 100 smoothies and spring rolls each day. But despite consistent sales, the truck still struggles to make a profit. “Everything is so expensive,” she said. “Right now we sell [spring rolls] for seven dollars, and next year I will have the price going up for the beef. The beef is really expensive.” She will also be raising smoothie prices by one dollar, the first change to her drink pricing in over 10 years. Still, despite these struggles, Anongdeth’s spirits remain high thanks to her community. “I really want to thank all of my lovely customers,” she said. “I tell my kid, ‘If I don’t work in the food shop, what am I going to do?’ You know, I love people. I love my customers.”
Click-clacking across campus: Flip-flops are the new ‘it’ shoe By Sophia Han STAFF WRITER
Walking through Library Mall this fall, I’ve noticed a repetitive sound. It’s not the clicks of a student’s high heels on her way to class or the quick steps of sneakers on concrete as students run to class. Instead, it’s the obnoxious click-clacks of flip-flops. Essential college shoes in the cooler months at University of Wisconsin-Madison typically include sneakers, dress shoes and, inevitably, snow boots — not flip-flops. But this semester flip-flops have undoubtedly extended past their summer due dates. According to life-long Madisonian and UW-Madison sophomore, Olivia Morsbach, wearing flip-flops in the fall is “not normal in Wisconsin at all.” Although, this year, with early 2000s trends resurging, Teen Vogue said sandals are just the latest form of “Y2Kinspired nostalgia.” This means students will be seen wearing them with tank tops, long skirts, capri pants or a striped polo and khakis. It’s like the return of skinny jeans, even though students at UW-Madison were mostly likely babies when they were first trending. This time, flip-flops are the new vintage fashion statement. The most popular flip-flop brand I’ve noticed across campus is “Rainbow Sandals,” which has sold out frequently according to the company’s blog. From their comfort to their long-lasting soles, the sandals are a favorite around the country.
Rainbow Sandals produces over 2,000,000 sandals a year, making it a leading manufacturer of luxury flip-flops in the United States, priced at a whopping $90 a pair. And yet, they are definitely the comfiest flip-flops I’ve ever owned, and it seems like half the student body agrees. “When I started my fall semester of freshman year at UW-Madison, [a] big culture shock for me was the amount of people wearing flip-flops, and not just flip-flops for the summer or for lake activities,” Morsbach told The Daily Cardinal. Flip-flops popping up on campus may not just be a result of Y2K fashion coming back into style, or students chasing luxury brand crazes. Morsbach believes it could be coastal influences bringing these sandals to Madison. “People wore flip-flops for every kind of activity. I saw people wearing them through the winter sometimes, so that was very surprising to me,” she said. “It was kind of unexpected. I think the number of people wearing flip-flops suggests it is a coastal thing.” Flip-flops in Madison matter — and not just because of the cacophony of squeaks we are now treated to every time we walk across campus — but because they say more about our student body than we’d expect. From the East Coast to the West Coast, UW-Madison is a melting pot of students from all over the country and even the world. To quote the hit artist Zara Larsson, “Summer Isn’t over yet” for these Badgers.
GRAPHIC BY ELOISE GUTH
special pages 8 • dailycardinal.com
New federal guidelines limit internships for international students
Thursday, September 24, 2026 • 9
By Sonia Bendre and Jake Kilander
Angeline Morgado, a political science, international studies and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies major, has already interned in Washington D.C. and worked at Midwest Mujeres, a local nonprofit assisting female entrepreneurs in the Latino community — all before her junior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before this semester, she envisioned applying to the United Nations headquarters in New York. But now Morgado, a Venezuelan international student who planned to use her degree towards poverty alleviation, told The Daily Cardinal she no longer sees the point in attending university career fairs. “I cannot do anything for these companies, so it feels like, ‘why would I?’” she said. “I should focus my time and efforts into getting an internship outside of the country.” UW-Madison enrolls around 7,000 international students with F-1 status each year — around 3,400 undergraduates, 1,200 master’s students and 2,100 PhD and doctoral students — and 801 J-1 exchange visitors including 260 students and 541 research scholars. Approximately 4,200 F-1 students at UW-Madison are enrolled in STEM disciplines, and 2,800 are enrolled in other disciplines. Both of Morgado’s previous internships qualified as Curricular Practical Training (CPT), but new federal guidelines no longer allow students to obtain internships using CPT unless their degree program requires an internship experience for graduation, UW-Madison International Student Services (ISS) advisors said at a Sept. 11 meeting. In suspending CPT approvals for students who do not require paid or unpaid internships, clinical experience or other “hands-on” experience in their field to graduate, the federal government eliminates the primary pathway international students use to gain experience in their field before graduation. The decision prevents UW-Madison students in almost every school and major at the university from accessing CPT, except select majors like social work and interior architecture, the advisors said. “Now I'm not going to get the opportunity to develop myself as a professional while I'm doing so as a student,” Morgado said. ISS Advisors recommended Optional Practical Training (OPT) as an alternative, but it comes with drawbacks. OPT can be used for a total of one year, or two years in the case of STEM students if they request an extension while actively working. Prior to the federal decree, students typically used OPT to spend one year working in the United States after graduation, and before requesting sponsorship through an H-1B visa. Unlike CPT, which offers near-unlimited part-time work authorization as long as students are enrolled, OPT only lasts for a total of a year, meaning 24 months of part-time work or 12 months of full-time work before graduation. This exhausts a student’s OPT, preventing them from working in the United States after graduation without immediately finding a company to sponsor them. Additionally, the processing time for OPT applications can take up to five months, as opposed to three weeks for CPT — unless students pay $1,720 out-of-pocket for “premium” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing within thirty business days, ISS advisor Hao Yuan told the Cardinal. Morgado said she wants to save her year of OPT for after graduation, because any further work in the U.S. would require a company to sponsor her by purchasing an H-1B visa. Trump floated adding $100,000 fees to company H1-B applications as recently as August. Even after securing a sponsorship, applicants must go through a USCIS computerized lottery with far fewer spots than applications. “[The CPT change] felt like something added to the already restrictive policy e n v i r o n m e n t,” Morgado said. “It’s already hard for us, because most companies do not want to
hire or [give] internships [to] international students because they don't want to sponsor us in the future.” Morgado added other international students weren’t able to accept offers they received before the rule change, and said she is now less likely to pursue a master’s degree or PhD in the United States. “It makes us fearful because we don't know what we can do and what we shouldn't do,” she said. “When do we go back home, or are we allowed to travel during our breaks? It's a lot of… tiptoeing to make sure that we're not breaking any policy that could then put our visa in danger.” A travel ban currently restricts students in several countries, including Venezuela, from applying for student visas. Morgado said factors like how close students are to graduation, how long they will be visiting and current U.S. restrictions against their country of residence all influence how they could be impacted by other federal rules, creating a network of possible conditions. “Each student's situation is different and unique and complex,” ISS Advisor Emily Herbert told the Cardinal. Bruno Castro Lacerda, a teaching assistant and joint PhD student in science communication and environment and resources, learned English and left his home in Brazil to attend UW-Madison. 46% percent of primary appointment teaching assistants at UW-Madison are international students like Lacerda. The CPT guidelines were released right before the start of his second year.
“I’m not going to get the opportunity to develop myself as a professional while I’m doing so as a student.” - Angeline Morgado “When something is announced and is going to be put into practice within 2 months and that can change your whole life, I can definitely tell you that's very frustrating.” Lacerda told the Cardinal. “These are changes that haven't been discussed or haven't been properly communicated, and will impact thousands of international students.” When Lacerda found out about the CPT change over the summer, he hadn’t yet applied to pursue his joint degree. He said he had to scramble to submit the application within 20 days, and was told the changes could prevent him from doing so in the future. Lacerda added it’s very common for people to change programs or majors, and the new federal changes limit international students’ ability to do so. “Those are the things that you need time to plan,” Lacerda said. “[I] chose UW-Madison because of the possibility of pursuing this joint PhD… [the changes] could have impeded me to pursue my initial plan.” Lacerda is currently conducting research on how countries in the Amazon rainforest are creating bioeconomy policies for the region. The new guidelines have threatened the international travel he was previously doing as a part of that research. Lacerda said he heard through his work with ISS that people have been turned away at the border. “There is no research about bioeconomy policies in the Amazon if I'm not able to go to the Amazon,” Lacerda said.“[It] would annihilate any possibility for me to complete my current research and would make me completely change my plans for the PhD.” When Morgado visited her family last year in Chile, she said she worried the trip would jeopardize her ability to remain a student. “We have to carry the uncertainty when we make decisions such as going back home, because that's our decision…ISS will never advise us on traveling or not traveling,” she said. “We’re carrying that burden of trying to figure out whether this is going to affect our ability to get our degree. But it's also hard — I want to go back home because I want to be with my family. And the question is, am I willing to risk my degree for that?” At a Sept. 12 Successworks event, ISS advisors recommended international students fill time through other avenues rather than U.S.-based internships, including on-campus student jobs or research, personal projects, community service, volunteer work, job shadowing with very little or no “hands-on experience” or internships and work experiences in students’ home countries for companies that are not headquartered or founded in the United States. “Experience is experience at the end of the day,” Yuan said at the SuccessWorks event. “[Although] it may not be a formal, professional internship.” Lacerda estimated prior to the CPT changes, around 30% of the international students and around 60% of the U.S. citizens in his program pursued internships. He added for many students, direct experiences in their areas of expertise are “as important or more important” than academic experience for their CV and competitiveness in job applications. “Something that was possible Summer 2026 [is] no longer possible [in] Fall 2026 because of the announcement,” ISS advisor Kathleen Finnegan said at the SuccessWorks event. “If an
internship was required for everyone in a doctorate program, they could do it off-campus. But just because their dissertation research would be much better if they collaborate with Microsoft does not mean they are eligible for CPT anymore.” As of Sept. 17, there were 73 jobs available on the student jobs website, though Yaon said the number fluctuates and can be higher at other points throughout the school year. Students said constantly changing federal guidelines constitute another source of stress. On Sept. 14, a U.S. District Court judge granted plaintiffs, of which UW-Madison is a part, a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a Final Rule that would have limited international students’ visa stay to four years. Nearly half of current international students said if that federal rule were in place when they applied, they would not have attended UW-Madison, according to Provost John Zumbrunnen’s testimony in a court filing UW-Madison submitted as part of the DHS lawsuit. “In UW-Madison's efforts to compete in a global marketplace for academic talent, it is seriously harmed when its identity as a U.S. institution becomes a hindrance rather than an asset,” Zumbrunnen said in the declaration. Lacerda advised domestic students to extend grace and offer support to international friends during this time, adding the changes are a lot to add to academic and professional stress. At a Sept. 14 university committee meeting, professor of educational policy studies Nancy Kendall asked Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor to prioritize “students who had paid opportunities and now don't have jobs.” Many international students already lost out on paid opportunities due to federal changes and are "desperate" to find opportunities on campus, Kendall said. Morgado said students, especially in humanities or social sciences fields, need internships to show potential employers how they will apply what they’ve learned in their coursework. “I have seen many Brazilian students… facing some difficulty at the end of their programs because they didn't have the chance to get practical experiences, internships or practicums,” Lacerda said. “This also influences me in my career, and I would very much like to use an OPT or CPT throughout my graduate experience so that I could have that networking that for internationals is much more difficult than for national [students].” Lacerda said friends and family have expressed concern for his safety and stability in the U.S. “They are afraid of something bad happening to me, because nowadays it doesn't matter if you're legal or if you're not… you just don't know what might happen from one day to the [next],” Lacerda said. Reesor said Student Affairs is partnering with ISS in a work group, but couldn’t comment on specifics. ISS currently has 10 advisors for over 10,000 international students, Herbert said at the SuccessWorks event. One full-time F-1 ISS advisor is responsible for around 800 F-1 students, UW spokesperson John Lucas told the Cardinal in a statement. For now, students like Morgado and Lacerda face an uncertain future. While federal guidelines get determined and court cases get resolved, Morgado said ISS can only advise most students to wait and see how new rules may affect them. Lucas also said the university does not see a greater risk for international student travel solely off the CPT changes, given that their immigration status and documentation remain updated and accurate. “It's a lot of worry to carry around, not only because I'm worried [and] fearful, but also [because] other people are fearful for me,” Morgado said. “[Students] will be ambassadors of the experience they had here elsewhere when they go back to their countries,” Lacerda said. “We are all part of one same planet. We are all part of one same humankind. We have shared values. We can share nice experiences together. Why don't we do so?”
PAGES BY NATALIE POPPER
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Extinction
Planetarium
Movement
Klaire Maduscha
Meghan Kemper
Flower Girl
Just Keep Swimming
Danielle Witelson
Dani Nisbet
Avery Chheda
Chunk
Robin J Faulk
sports dailycardinal.com
Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Preview: Wisconsin Football vs Penn State By Kailen Shah STAFF WRITER
Coming off their first win of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers routed the Eastern Michigan Eagles in a 54-10 win on Saturday. Despite a slow start where the Badgers found themselves in a 7-0 hole, they proceeded to put their foot on the gas and never took it off. The defense forced their first three turnovers of the season and Tyrell Henry set the program record for 14 receptions in a game, helping the Badgers score 28 unanswered points in the second quarter. The Badgers will now face their first conference test of the season as they travel to Happy Valley to face the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday. As of now, the Nittany Lions are one of three ranked teams the Badgers have yet to play this year. The game will show how far the Badgers have come since their Notre Dame loss. Penn State is 3-0 after nonconference wins against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo. Penn State’s team this year is led by new Head Coach Matt Campbell and senior quarterback Rocco Becht — one of the most
experienced quarterbacks in college football with over 10,000 career passing yards. The Badgers must limit self-inflicted wounds in a loud environment Playing on the road in the Big 10 is never easy — especially when a team has to travel to Beaver Stadium, a venue that can seat over 100,000. With large levels of noise expected, it’s going to be important the Badgers prepare for a loud environment during practice this week. Specifically, in-game communication will be key between coaches and players. “This will be our first time going on the road…where it will be a hostile environment in the Big Ten. We have to be prepared for a lot of different things. There is no place that can be a wilder, crazier, louder environment than Happy Valley,” Fickell said in a press conference on Sept. 21. Against the Nittany Lions, the Badgers should strive to play mistakefree football. This includes not committing any turnovers and limiting penalties, which they have averaged over five per game so far.
Committing turnovers could be dangerous against a Penn State team that has a dynamic offense featuring sophomore receiver Koby Howard, who has 344 receiving yards this season and seventh in the country. Keep getting the ball to Tyrell Henry The senior slot receiver is an electric player to watch who seems to be becoming more of a threat to opposing defenses every game. Through three games, Henry is 20th in the country in receiving yards — 293 — and tied for 11th with 22 receptions. Against Penn State, continuing to prioritize getting the ball to Henry will be crucial, considering his breakaway speed and contributions so far to Wisconsin’s scoring and offensive success. Whether it’s screen passes in the backfield or home-run hitting plays, Henry will be heavily involved in a big game for the Badgers. Wide receiver Chris Brooks Jr and Eugene Hilton as well as tight end Jacob Harris who is coming off a strong performance have all emerged as crucial players for the team. They’ll have to continue getting open to help
quarterback Colton Joseph be a threat through the air.
options in the backfield.
Continue to work on the run game
There should not be nerves, you are the underdog
While their running game is slightly improved from last season, the Badgers are still only averaging 139 rushing yards per game, which ranks in the bottom half of FBS. Against Eastern Michigan, quarterback Colton Joseph accumulated 46 yards on the ground and a score, but the other running backs only ran for 75 yards on 20 carries, averaging 3.75 yards per carry. Although the Badgers should continue to use Joseph’s legs by running zone reads to confuse the defense, the running backs will have to contribute more through accumulating bigger-chunk plays. Leading rusher Abu Sama III didn’t see the field against Eastern Michigan due to rest, but his explosive playmaking ability is critical to the Badgers’ run game. With a full week of practice, Sama should see lots of touches against Penn State and will help the Badgers become a more consistent run offense. Lookout for running backs Darrion Dupree, Nate Palmer and Bryan Jackson as other
The Badgers need to capitalize on the fact that they’ve already been tested by playing No. 3 Notre Dame in week 1. The experience Wisconsin has against high-level competition needs to be used to their benefit. This includes continuing to use the loss against the Fighting Irish to fuel growth and focus on what they learned from playing against one of the best teams in the country. Penn State hasn’t been tested, as their three wins have come against non-power 4 teams who combine for a 4-5 record. With good preparation in practice this week and already having a difficult game under their belt, the Badgers should understand the mindset and mentality needed going into this game against a top-15 team. This will serve as Matt Campbell’s first true test as Penn State’s head coach. The Badgers need to be aggressive and to set the tone early in order to force Campbell to make hard decisions.
Wisconsin’s pitch performance Has Wisconsin finally figured out their goaltending core? echoes the past By Lucy Simmons STAFF WRITER
Why should I watch? Fans should keep their eyes trained on No. 7 Wisconsin men’s soccer despite a recent setback in their first loss of the season to No. 8 Maryland. This season, the Badgers have a team that looks promising. They welcomed back two of their three top goalscorers from the previous season, including senior Markie Hrvojevic who gives the attack an edge with his veteran presence and experience. Leading the team alongside Hrvojevic is junior Matthew Zachemski, who boasts three goals and one assist so far this season. Zachemski has drawn a lot of excitement around the team with his late game heroics, namely his eightseconds-remaining equalizer against No. 3 Ohio State. A new offensive player to keep an eye on is junior transfer Emile Kisse. Kisse, who joined the roster from Fordham University has been an electric player with three goals scored thus far, showcasing his individual quality in a last-minute winner against Portland. Kisse has established himself as a high impact player with great speed and a great left foot making him a game changer for Wisconsin. Alongside Wisconsin’s lethal attack, the defense’s dominant play is notable. In 2026, the squad acquired sophomore goalkeeper Judewellin Michel from Indiana, who was recently named a Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week. Since his acquisition, Michel has proven to
be an important addition for the Badgers. He showed that potential with a career-high nine saves against the Portland Pilots that helped the Badgers earn a notable non-conference victory. The Badgers are looking the best they have in years. They are not only achieving results on the scoreboard, but they’re making the game entertaining. Wisconsin fans should start to sit up, take notice and witness the great heights Badger soccer can reach. Why is that important? Wisconsin’s dominant 5-1-1 record is not just an impressive stat, it forces a look back at the team’s past. Climbing to No. 7 in the national rankings, the program’s highest regular-season ranking since 1996, the squad has naturally drawn comparisons to the Golden Era of Wisconsin soccer and its legendary 1995 championship team. Led by coach Jim Launder, the 1995 Badgers looked promising headed into the season, featuring a star-studded cast of veteran players, and the return of four out of five top scorers from the previous year. The team first went on to reach Big Ten victory, a run that featured Wisconsin men’s soccer’s largest home game attendance to date in their 2-0 win against Indiana Oct. 13, 1995. The team kept this momentum in their postseason campaign and kept a clean sheet throughout the tournament thanks to the outstanding defense. They reached the championship without conceding a single goal in their five tournament matches. Continue reading @ dailycardinal.com
EDWARD YE/THE DAILY CARDINAL
By Aanya Agrawal SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
With the departure of the Badgers’ second and third string goaltenders, and addition of transfer sophomore Alexis Cournoyer and freshman Xander Miceli, Wisconsin men’s hockey’s goaltending situation looks different this fall. The only returning goaltender for the Badgers is sophomore Daniel Hauser. His .900 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against backstopped the Badgers to their first national championship appearance in sixteen years. Even as the youngest amongst the goaltending core, Hauser played the majority of the games last season. He started 30 of 39 games, and played 34 total. Unstable goaltending has been a pressing issue for Wisconsin for the past few seasons. According to Head Coach Mike Hastings, goaltending was a position he thought they could “continue to get better at,” at the end of last season. The belief drove the decision to add Cournoyer from the transfer portal. Cournoyer played at Cornell for one season where he appeared in a total of 28 games and held a save percentage of .915. The six-footfour Quebec, Canada native was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the Fifth Round of the 2025 NHL Draft. He was awarded the 2026 Eastern College Athletic Conference Goaltender of the Year and Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Cournoyer was an instrumental player for Cornell, where he posted an 18-10-0 record and a 2.05 goals against. After a strong debut season, the news of his departure came as a shock for the Big Red. Freshman Miceli played 34 games in the North American Hockey League for the Corpus Christi IceRays and held a .900 save percentage. Standing at six-foot-four, Miceli brings his size as he starts his collegiate career at Wisconsin.
With all three goaltenders competing for ice time, it will be interesting to see whether the Badgers will settle with a primary starting goaltender or rotate throughout the season. While Hauser was a key part in the Badgers Frozen Four run, his smaller frame could become a deciding factor, despite his flexibility and fast post-to-post movement in the crease. Additionally, Hauser’s upper body injury from just before he came to Wisconsin has affected his play, especially when he got bumped into against Ohio State on February 13, 2026. He was left unable to play for three weeks. “[Hauser] is physically and mentally as stable and prepared as an athlete as we have in that locker room,” Hastings said in a press conference on Tuesday. If I were to predict, given Hauser and Cournoyer’s seniority, it is likely that they will battle for the starting goaltender position over Miceli who would sit as third string goaltender. Wisconsin has also brought in Steve Briere, the Director of Goaltending and Development, to the coaching staff. “[Briere’s] a self-motivated, focused, all-in type of guy. It’s been a great addition from the energy he brings and the newness to providing some game planning on how to be better on and off the ice,” Hastings said. While the competition for who gets the starting position has already begun, it hasn’t affected the chemistry the goaltenders are building outside the rink. “The relationship in our goalie room has been amazing. Alexis and Xander are great goalies on the ice and even better people off the ice,” Hauser said in a press conference on Tuesday. With Briere joining the coaching staff and three goaltenders showing promise for the future, Wisconsin appears to have built a more stable goaltending core heading into the season.
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Dutch Interior brings their unique sound to UW-Madison By Lilly Nicandri STAFF WRITER
Filling the walls of Der Rathskeller is a unique blend of warm acoustics, gentle piano and light drums, all wrapped in muted neon lighting. At a moment’s notice, these sounds build into more intense drums, distorted guitars and melodic synths. Each song has a stylistic unpredictability that makes the overall sound experimental. Dutch Interior’s sound filled Der Rathskeller on Friday, Sept. 18 in a concert hosted by the WUD Music Committee. The LA-based band performed after opener Racecourse, who caught the audience’s attention with their clash of electronic synths, hazy guitars and soft vocals. Dutch Interior kicked off their 2026 tour earlier in September with a varied setlist display-
ing their versatile discography. Their lighthearted, unconventional shows include a guitar strummed with a screwdriver, a wooden guiro and intense musical improvisation. The band is unique in both performance and music. Their style is fluid, but their sound is distinct. They don’t limit themselves to one genre but instead blend together indie, country, folk and rock music. Dutch Interior’s six members use pieces of themselves and their relationships with each other to create their music. Their individuality, along with the group’s collective sound, sets them apart from other bands as they don’t limit themselves to one genre. When they perform live, they switch vocalists depending on the song. The number of vocalists varies, as does the type of instrument.
Dutch Interior’s variety extends to the switches they make from studio to live versions. In songs like “Say Anything” and “Sweet Time,” there’s heavy guitar improvisation that doesn’t exist in the studio versions of their songs. It adds to the element of spontaneity and casualness the band carries when performing. Even if the live song has little improvisation, each one has a different cadence, bringing new life to the songs. One standout song that sounds different live than on streaming is “Fourth Street” from their most recent album “Moneyball,” which leans into a rock sound. The song includes soloing over distorted guitar which gives the sound a very classic rock feel. The melody has a bittersweet tone and with single notes layered on top, the song becomes both
electric and melancholic. Guitarist and vocalist Noah Kurtz’s verses include soft guitar, which makes the vocals more prominent. Yet, in the live version, the guitars in “Fourth Street” are heavier, especially during the instrumental section from verse to verse. This amplified the song and enveloped the whole room as audience members bobbed their heads and swayed to this particular banger. One of my personal favorite songs they played, “Cannibal Song” sung by Jack Nugent, starts with soft vocals that overshadow the minimal guitar in the background. As the verses progress, the instruments build. First comes a shaker and bass guitar, followed by the drums, then more guitars. Suddenly, the tone switches halfway through the song into one more distorted,
a distinct contrast from the quieter instruments at the beginning. The song then ends as it begins in a more acoustic and slow manner. The switch from a slow melody to indie rock halfway through aligns with the band’s experimental style, which works for them and their audience very well. Dutch Interior creates an atmosphere similar to cozying up on a couch as it snows. Originally, the band was supposed to play on the Terrace, but due to poor weather, they moved inside. I think the band playing inside added to the atmosphere of the performance as they are the type of band one listens to during a storm. As seasons change in Madison, so too does the music students listen to. After seeing Dutch Interior live, I can affirm that they’re the perfect band to transition from the summer into the vibes of fall.
The Wisconsin Book Festival French-Senegalese singer anaiis brings returns to local libraries for its neo-soul to Wisconsin Union Theater 25th anniversary celebration By Dani Nisbet STAFF WRITER
The Wisconsin Book Festival will return to Madison from Oct. 15 through Oct. 18, marking the festival’s 25th year of free author programming. The festival is hosted by the Madison Public Library and the Madison Public Library Foundation, and offers free events both virtually and in-person. The festival brings a host of different authors from a variety of literary genres to Madison. Past guests include Pulitzer Prize winners, politicians and award-winning authors. This year’s lineup is no exception. Emily St. John Mandel is coming to the Overture Center on Friday, Sept. 25th to present her new novel “Exit Party.” The sci-fi dystopian novel takes place in a future full of mysteries and parallel timelines, and the U.S. has split into warring city-states. Then, at the L.A. party where this novel opens, the host mysteriously goes missing, and guests begin to see doppelgängers of themselves. John Green is also coming to the Overture Center on Thursday, Oct. 1 to present his new book “Hollywood Ending.” The best-selling author also visited Madison last February to present his medical nonfiction novel, “Everything is Tuberculosis.” His new young-adult romance follows two young, rising actors cast in a movie about Andy Warhol. As they rise to fame, they’re forced to confront how fame disrupts their lives, security and privacy. Author and music critic Steven Hyden is presenting his novel “Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise And Fall Of The Strokes (And Rock ‘n’
Roll)” at Central Library on Oct. 16. Hyden has also written books looking at legends like Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Radiohead. Hyden’s new book tells of the Strokes’ struggle to reach long-standing commercial success, and how they endured the fall of rock n’ roll in the early 2000s. If you saw their concert this past August in Milwaukee, this reading and discussion would serve as a great encore. An especially fascinating book being presented comes from entomologist and evolutionary biologist Dino J. Martins. A professor at Stony Brook University, Martins is coming to the Discovery Building on Oct. 16 to present his book “Hidden Creatures.” The non-fiction book presents his research on parasites you can’t see. Martins does frequent presentations of his research, sharing how they’re more than “pests” and delving deep into what they contribute to our ecosystems. The Wisconsin Book Festival is also hosting several poetry, reading and discussion sessions. These events host multiple authors who read their works aloud. “Still/Here: Wisconsin Women Poets On Work, Life, And The Long Haul” is a panel bringing together six different Wisconsin poets. The authors talk about their struggles with being creative while navigating their personal and professional lives. This panel encourages discussion on how to find this delicate balance. Attending the Book Festival is a great interactive way to learn more about any given topic. It’s also an opportunity to meet different academics and authors. More information can be found on the Wisconsin Book Festival website or at Central Library on Mifflin St.
DANI NISBET/THE DAILY CARDINAL
By Brady Johnson STAFF WRITER
Audience members rose from their seats and applauded as anaiis concluded the Madison stop of her first North American headlining tour for her album “Devotion & The Black Divine” at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Sept. 18. The performance was part of the theater’s Black Box Sessions, a series designed to bring R&B and neo-soul artists to the intimate, club-like setting of the Play Circle. During the performance, anaiis paused to read an excerpt from writer and activist bell hooks’ essay “Love as the Practice of Freedom.” The room fell quiet as a spotlight centered on anaiis, leaving her voice uninterrupted as she read. The lowercase styling of anaiis’ stage name pays tribute to hooks, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate who also stylized her name in lowercase. This particular show combined anaiis’ established work and unreleased material into a performance that she says changes according to the audience and moment. “I often see performances as a conversation, actually,” anaiis told The Daily Cardinal. “You get to approach it from the feeling and the mood and the color that you’re in that day.” The Madison stop departed from the tour’s usual structure, according to anaiis. “I feel like what made tonight different from all the other shows was that we kind of felt a bit freer, and we experimented a little bit with the order of the songs,” she said. “Generally, I feel like we took more risks, which was really nice.” Some of those changes came at the end of the night, with “Green Juice,” a mid-tempo track driven by a steady drum groove and layered vocals, closing out the main set for the first time. This was followed by a lastminute encore rendition that anaiis said was “spur of the moment.” Audience member Elaina Durnen told the Cardinal the live performance differed from her previous experience with anaiis’ music. “I thought she was better live than she is recorded, so that was amazing,” Durnen said. “She’s a very beautiful art-
ist, and she really thinks through what she curates into her shows.” Looking ahead, anaiis said she has recorded a new project that takes a more intimate approach than “Devotion & The Black Divine,” which grew into a larger production with choir and strings. She described her upcoming work as more personal and raw. “This one feels a lot smaller, and it feels like sitting in the room together,” she said. “I’m really excited to present something different and how that, then, will react [with] the rest of my discography.” Special guest and alternative folk/R&B artist Elliott Skinner also marked a milestone in the Play Circle, opening the show on the same day he released his debut EP, “How Far We’ve Come.” “I’ve worked to try to be as intentional as possible,” Skinner said. “It feels right that it’s coming out today, and that I’m in this space.” anaiis emphasized patience and persistence in developing a creative voice. “It takes time to find your voice creatively, to become the person that you want to be in the world … perseverance and consistency and passion, and all of these things coming together allows you to create something beautiful over time,” anaiis said. She also reflected on what it meant to be able to bring her music to Madison. “I live in London, and it’s like, ‘Wow, there are people here who want to hear it!’” anaiis said. “That was really special for me.” Interior live, I can affirm that they’re the perfect band to transition from the summer into the vibes of fall. granted in Roe v. Wade. A majority of the public — 62% — said they disapproved of the court’s decision to overturn Roe. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a lower court decision that would significantly restrict access to mifepristone, a medication used in medical abortions. Of Wisconsin voters polled, 60% said the court should rule to keep current access to the medication, and 25% said the court should rule in favor of the lower court and restrict access to the medication.
opinion
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Thursday, September 24, 2026 • 13
Tiffany will fight for his Ed Sheeran has a billionaire megadonors, moral spine of string. not for Wisconsin Now, it’s unraveling. By Brady Ahler OPINION EDITOR
PHOTO COURTESY OF DREW OF THE COME UP SHOW / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
By Siena Ferraro OPINION EDITOR
Ed Sheeran’s net worth is estimated to be a cool $400 million. Ethically and morally, he’s bankrupt. The British alt-pop luminary is facing backlash after dropping Macklemore as an opener on his “Loop Tour” following Macklemore’s onstage advocacy for Palestinian justice. Owners of certain stadiums where Sheeran was set to perform, like Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft and others who opted to remain unnamed, presented him with an ultimatum: drop Macklemore from the tour or get dropped himself. Perhaps out of fear his pockets would grow barren and shallow, Sheeran keeled over and kissed the ring. Rather than root himself firmly in political, ethical opinionation, Sheeran opted to err on the side of surfeiting greed and apolitical apathy. Macklemore, however, doubled down. He released a statement gracefully addressing his removal from the tour, reaffirming his belief in Palestinian liberation and pledging to donate the $1 million he earned on the tour to Palestinian relief efforts. Sheeran remained silent. That is, until he had to save face and say something. So, naturally, he opted for a bulletpointed “laying-out of some facts” via an Instagram post. And yes, of course the comment section was disabled. To save you the grief, Sheeran all-but-vomited-up a canned statement saying his concerts aren’t “political forums” and continuing on without Macklemore was a “very difficult” decision. Also present were the typical excuses of not being a “political person” and his pledge to
never let down his fans. He made sure to absolve himself of any blame, writing “I am not complicit.” Ironically, when it comes to international warfare, silence is a dog whistle for complacency. Sheeran’s statement was a gaunt, flimsy, whining stint with the ethical integrity of a loaded shotgun in a crib. There was one line buried in Sheeran’s “fact-setting” Instagram babble that was especially alarming: “If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change.” But when have whispers and unscrupulous business ploys ever contributed to the resolution of international violence and tragedy? Sheeran laid out the facts. I will, too. What is happening in Gaza is a genocide — it has been deemed as such by most major humanitarian organizations. Since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been more than 73,000 Palestinian deaths from Israeli attacks and unhalting aggression. 20,000 of those deaths have been children. Palestine now contains the highest number of child amputees globally. Additionally, Israel has proposed and subsequently violated at least one ceasefire in the West Bank. How could anyone not shout about that? Celebrities operate within an echelon of elitism so extreme they are under a false pretense of political, humanitarian inapplicability. Perhaps, when your wallet is worth more than the entire GDP of a small country, you grow to believe that fence-sitting and silence are excusable. That belief has a kill count. Operating with a globally and politically ignorant mindset is the utter antithesis to artistry. Art is inherently
political — it always has been. Thus, Sheeran is less an artist and more so an industry puppet smacking his guitar to hollow applause. He is performing in stadiums of up to more than 80,000 fans on each stop of his tour. Eighty-thousand. There is exuberant opportunity for him to speak out — not from a teleprompter, but from his heart — and use his robust platform to encourage sociopolitical change. To let the fans who care about him know that he cares about them, too. But, Sheeran did not. Macklemore did. That simple fact has absolutely nothing to do with fame and everything to do with each performer’s ethos. It is a display of how much value they place on humanity. Damage control is not activism. It is selfishness masked as heroism. When Macklemore proclaimed, “Free Palestine,” on that stage, he did so with the knowledge that it could tarnish his public image. Inversely, his actions have made him more commendable than the music monolith for whom he was opening. Sheeran, on the other hand, is plummeting into career pitfalls that could signify a point of no return. Each of his opening acts, as well as members of his band, dropped out of the “Loop Tour” following Macklemore’s removal. That is solidarity, unlike Sheeran’s teleprompted, perfunctory speech. This entire controversy just goes to show that the fans do care if artists speak up. Our global political climate is so intensely polarized that neutrality itself equates to taking a side. As consumers of art — as fans — we share the weight of that responsibility with the artists we support. We must ask ourselves why we idolize those who shrink behind their silence.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany presents himself as a folksy, flannel-wearing populist running on a “commonsense” platform. The home page of his campaign website reads, “As governor, he will fight every day for families, for farmers and for the hardworking people who make this state great.” As a former dairy farmer and current smallbusiness owner, it seems Tom Tiffany is looking out for the little guy. Yet the deeper one looks into Tiffany’s campaign finances, the harder his persona becomes to maintain. Despite claiming he will “take on the powerful,” Tiffany’s campaign has largely been funded by just three conservative billionaire megadonors. The first of these megadonors is Diane Hendricks, who has given $9 million to the Wisconsin Republican Party this year, as of August. Hendricks is the owner of ABC Supply, one of the largest roofing supply companies in the U.S. With a net worth of around $24 billion, Hendricks is America’s richest selfmade woman and the largest political donor in the state of Wisconsin. The other two are Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, the owners of Uline. As of August, the duo has donated a combined $28 million to the Wisconsin Republican Party in 2026. Together, they are the sixth-largest political donors in the 2026 midterm cycle, with $70 million total being donated to various political action committees and organizations. One may wonder how it is legal for these individuals to donate such large amounts of money to political candidates. A 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling generated suspicion surrounding a Wisconsin law capping yearly political donations at $10,000, triggering Republicans to rewrite the state’s campaign finance laws. Despite remaining caps on individual political donations in Wisconsin, a new loophole was created. Individual Wisconsinites are now allowed to donate unlimited amounts of money to political parties, which can thus direct the money to candidates. Of the $16.8 million in contributions the Tiffany campaign has reported thus far, a little over $10 million has come from the Republican Party of Wisconsin. From a small-d democratic standpoint, such large political contributions are incredibly concerning. If individuals can “buy” politicians and ensure they win, it follows that those politicians will reward their donors through policy implementation to “pay their debts.” In other words, corruption. Coincidentally, Hendricks and the Uihleins have benefited from policies enacted by candidates they funded — what are the odds? In 2017, Ron Johnson, whose 2016 campaign was funded by the Uihleins, threatened to vote “no” on a Republican tax bill unless the tax cut for “pass-through” businesses was fattened. A “pass-through” company is one where profits flow through the owners, allowing profits to be taxed
at the individual tax rate rather than on the corporate level — the exact structure of Uline. Similarly, Hendricks has pushed Republican politicians to enact policies benefiting her business. A clip from 2011 shows Hendricks asking then-Governor Scott Walker, “Any chance we’ll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions? And become a right-towork? What can we do to help you?” Clearly, the issue must have weighed heavily on Walker, as in 2015, he signed legislation making Wisconsin a “right-to-work” state, banning mandatory union membership and dues at privately owned businesses — such as ABC Supply — significantly weakening unions in the state. Even if politicians are not specifically promising to enact policies that benefit individuals or their businesses, the existing campaignfinance laws create an environment where corruption can occur. If politicians wish to receive ongoing support from uber-wealthy individuals in their re-election campaigns, they are incentivized to help out their “friends” through their official actions. Wisconsin Republicans’ paths to power run straight through megadonors like Hendricks and the Uihleins. More concerning is how the policies benefiting rich donors often come at the detriment of ordinary citizens who can’t give millions of dollars to politicians who will fight for them. Every dollar that the Uihleins saved from the 2017 tax cuts was money that could’ve gone to SNAP or Medicare, or even tax cuts for the working and middle classes. The right-to-work legislation, pushed by Hendricks, weakened the bargaining power of unions, limiting their leverage to fight for better conditions and worker benefits. The overwhelming presence of money in politics creates an extreme imbalance of power between the average voter and wealthy individuals. An ordinary person can tell their friends and family to vote a certain way, volunteer for a campaign and make a small donation. A billionaire can provide the entire financial foundation of a candidate’s campaign and pay for political ads that reach millions of people. These wealthy activists are engaging in politics at a scale completely out of reach for regular people. So when Tiffany says he will “take on the powerful,” can we believe him? The majority of his funds come from some of the most powerful individuals in the country. It seems implausible that, as governor, he will take action contrary to the wishes of his puppetmasters. If he wins the governorship this fall, Tiffany will wield immense influence over the state budget, tax policy, business regulations, union rights and issues that concern all Wisconsinites — not just a few wealthy individuals. When decisions are passed by Tiffany, we are left to wonder if he acted to help Wisconsin or the small group of billionaires who carried him across the finish line. Continue reading @ dailycardinal. com
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LUKE FICKELL FIRED (up for Homecoming) By Adam Capatske STAFF WRITER
Yes, you read that wrong. Wisconsin Football’s Head Coach, Luke Fickell, has never been so happy. Somehow the Wisconsin Badgers curbstomped Eastern Michigan, 54-10, (yes, you read that part right!). Fickell told The Beet, “I know I’m not necessarily wellliked on campus, but I’ve never felt so welcome. As we returned to the locker room, I heard them chant ‘Fri-ed Pic-kle clap* clap* clap* clap* clap* fri-ed pic-kle.’ I love fried pickles! They’re my favorite food.” Because of this, Fickell said he is beyond pumped for the Homecoming game, and continues to go into excruciating detail about his pre-game hype routine to anyone who will listen. Every night before any game in his basic two-story colonial Middleton home, he draws a long lavender and
eucalyptus bubble bath while watching “White Chicks”. He tends to watch it until his hands shrivel up and the water changes colors. Fickell said he wants to finish the movie because he wants to know if “the black guys win or not.” Once he slips into his Paw Patrol jammies, Fickell goes to the kitchen for a midnight snack: fried pickles with a glass of Hi-C Flashin Fruit Punch. He then attempts to call each of his players individually to say good night and a prayer while cuddled up in his silk Cincinnati Bearcats bedsheets. After calling all 113 players with everyone going straight to voicemail, he then calls each referee assigned for the next game. They also go straight to voicemail. He has the same luck with the Packers front office as his plea to be the head coach for the 16th time falls on deaf ears. Fickell then screams for his
butler to tuck him in, rub his feet, paint his toenails, do his taxes and read him his favorite book: “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx. Three minutes into the book and Fickell is out for the night. As Fickell began to speak about his morning routine, I, Adam John Capatske, was the only reporter left at the press conference. Fine, I lied. I left my phone recording on a chair while I went to enjoy the fifth quarter. But I’m still the only one with the scoop. First thing in the morning, Fickell again tries to call all 113 of his players to say good morning, but hasn’t realized they are already at the Kellner Center warming up for the game. Afterwards, he sets aside 45 minutes to cry. Apparently, the crying purges his emotions, so he seems lifeless as Mitch McConnell all day long. He then goes to his office, where he eats his favorite oat-
UW proposes tuition freeze and exponential price increase of everything else By Parker Rupnow STAFF WRITER
Annual tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has increased each of the last four years. On August 17, however, the UW system proposed a plan to freeze tuition from 2027 to 2029 if the state agrees to invest $190 million into the universities. Though some students may appreciate this, any sane person will surely empathize with the UW Board of Regents, as this change would bar them from the most self-satisfying part of their jobs: raising tuition. Fear not though, for the UW-Madison administration has wasted no time finding other ways to make students’ lives more expensive! If this proposal passes, UW has multiple fees ready to apply to frequently used amenities throughout campus. In a statement to The Beet, UW stated all new price increases are “essential, due to inflation.” Some of the new fees are: Union restaurants will now charge $40 per food item and $39 per beverage; the Bakke and Nick will have a $10 entry fee; dining halls will swipe your Wiscard twice and each swipe will charge a service fee of four additional meal swipes; and lecture slides will become pay-per-view. Perhaps the most damning new charges, though, are the taxes on water. Both bubblers and sinks will now have meters, and all toilets will have usage fees anywhere from $10 to $15 depending on the building, with Mosse Humanities on the higher
extreme so as to pay for its own demolition. These fees in particular have caused outrage and cries for mercy throughout campus. One squalid student, sophomore Herbert Gonk, told The Beet he devised an extreme plan to protest the water tax by defecating in, drinking from and washing his hands in the Hagenah Fountain on Library Mall, in that order. According to Mr. Gonk, he “Doesn’t want to do this, but someone has to stand up and protest,” however it should be noted that this is the fifth time Herbert has done this to protest something. Amidst the panic, UW-Madison Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots was able to give reason behind all the sudden changes. “If the proposal goes through, the money from the state will actually fully cover the money lost from the tuition freeze, so we’re really just doing this for the love of the game,” Wilcots told The Beet. If it couldn’t get any worse for students, the City of Madison is very impressed by the University’s new surcharges, and they have announced they will soon implement fees of their own. The first of these is a $6 fare per ride on the 80 bus route, which is sure to gauge students. Madison will also introduce an equal-priced tax on walking and biking, so you will empty your pockets to the city no matter how you get to class. Also, on a separate note, The Beet has been informed that your landlord is raising your rent for shits and giggles.
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meal: Original. If he is feeling spicy, he squirts in pickle juice. As he eats, he reads and responds to his emails, Communist Party USA, one at a time. Then Fickell begins to go on about how he is planning on resigning ... but my phone died.
So, unfortunately, I never found out whether Fickell is actually resigning, but Wisconsin may have a bigger problem than Homecoming. Or maybe Fickell is already planning his next move. No matter if he gets fired, at least he’ll finally have time to finish “White Chicks.”
ASM now outsourcing jerking off the student body By Lizzi McGann THE BEET EDITOR
In the University of WisconsinMadison’s endless endeavor to make students’ voices feel heard, the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) threaten to continue representing students, especially the horniest among us. Sex Out Loud (SOL), a student organization dedicated to reducing stigma around sexual topics of all kinds, fondled the ASM budget spreadsheet this week. Following their actual, nonsatirical $130,000 check for “activities” being cashed, SOL is starting their pilot program directed towards modernizing club dues collection and other “enrichment funds.” SOL already collects club dues in installments tracked by their patented “Collection Collar,” worn at all times currently by members. Every time the wearer takes a free condom, demonstrates a tax-payer titty toucher (also referred to as a triple T), or masturbates at all, the LEDs inside flash green and take exponentially lower amounts of money from the wearer’s accounts over the course of the semester. The withdrawals are further lowered by how many collars are active, hence SOL has been recruiting more often in the past three years. They’ve used their allocated $7,000 “Miscellaneous Expenses” to buy more collars, and the pilot program will distribute them to every student starting on Oct. 1. General student contributions will enter a separate UW Credit Union savings account labelled “Efficiency” which will be used to pay for executive board salaries, flavored lubricant and masturbating workshops. In a statement given only because “I love beating,” Sex Out Loud President and ASM Chair of Student Life Danny “Dildo” Davis told The Beet, “Being in two student groups makes working in between them so much easier. Moving the money from other clubs into my own goes so much smoother now, and I get to practice being a sex-crazed bureaucrat.” He said also of their recruitment methods, “I’m a firm believer in manifestation, you know, putting things out into the universe and they’ll happen.
FINNEGAN RICCO/THE DAILY CARDINAL
That’s why most of us joined this friggin club, the hope is if we talk about having sex often enough we’ll finally get some. I actually take a lot of pride in that area of our diversity — some of us are praying for tail and others just can’t stop pulling!” To kick off SOL’s “Autosexual October,” the pilot collars will be accompanied by a new hit-and-run attachment style. Volunteers (of which there are many) will go out in trios, each with their own job in an encounter. One disorients an unsuspecting student by flailing a solid-gold dildo in their face, the second holds them and the third attaches the collar and gently kisses them on the cheek. Students with concerns about financial security and sexual material have been advised to “get a grip,” and accept modernity. If you find yourself with neither, you’re just shit out of luck.
Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Students kick off Latin Heritage Month
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All smiles on Bascom in the rain.
Judges hold up scorecards on Bascom Hill.
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LUCY SIMMONS/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Students gather around a Pinata for Latin Heritage Month festivities.
A student hands out a flag at the March Up Bascom.
JAEDEN PENA/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Students come together to celebrate their Hispanic heritage.
LUCY SIMMONS/THE DAILY CARDINAL
A woman takes a swing at a piñata.
JAEDEN PENA/THE DAILY CARDINAL
A man in a Cuban flag celebrates with peers in front of Bascom Hall.
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