THEUWMPOST est. 1956
November, 26, 2012
The Student-Run Independent Newspaper
The Last Issue , Volume 57
THE POST IS long live the
DEAD P OS T
At 2:0 0 a.m. on Sunday, as a l l of us at t he U W M Post wa it for t he last batc h of proofs to come out so t hat t he ne x t week ’s issue ca n head to t he pr inter, ma ny of us wonder why we do it. By t hat t ime we’re t i red, hung r y a nd bored. Work ing on homework , t h row ing da r ts (somet imes at t he cei l ing) a nd eat ing wa r med-up, hou rs old Pizz a Shut t le pizz a ca n on ly get us so fa r. Wel l, as ou r spor ts ed itor, Tony At k ins, so eloquent ly sa id a few weekends ago, “ We’re a l l a bunc h of id iots, but we a l l have a role to play in t h is Post fa m i ly.” T h is is ou r last pr int issue. No a mount of moneysav ing or money-generat ing sug gest ions or wel l w ishes cou ld save us f rom t h is fate. However, some people have ta ken t hat to mea n t he Post w i l l no longer e x ist. T hat is simply not t r ue. Just as eac h member of t he Post has a role to play in ou r fa m i ly, t he Post has a role to play on t h is ca mpus. We’re not going a ny where; we’re just c ha nging how we play t hat role.
mat. A f ter a l l, what ’s more conven ient t ha n read ing ever y t h ing on you r laptop or sma r t phone? A nd i f you’re a l ready bored or d isrega rd ing lec t u re, why not use t hat t ime to lea r n about t he un iversit y or c heck out what you r fel low st udents f ind interest ing? We a lso k now t he Post has a number of loya l readers, w it h ma ny going of t hei r way to pick up a n issue ever y week . A l l of us here at t he Post t ha n k you for t h is loya lt y, as wel l as you r k ind words, encou ragement a nd sug gest ions. We hope you w i l l cont inue to fol low us on l ine as we ma ke t h is t ra nsit ion. May be you wou ld even l ike to help us. Ne x t semester, t he Post is going to need more t ha n ou r c u r rent sta f f to ma ke t h is work . W het her you’re a jou r na l ism st udent look ing to repor t a nd w r ite, someone interested in pla nn ing events or developing a ma rket ing st rateg y, a computer-sav v y st udent t hat ca n help develop a website, or just have a n opin ion you wou ld l ike to sha re t h rough you r ow n blog, t he Post wou ld be a good f it for you.
Come t h is spr ing semester, t he Post w i l l be a l l on l ine a nd it w i l l look a l it t le d i fferent. W h i le it ’s st i l l a l it t le con f using r ight now, a nd w i l l No mat ter how f r ust rat ing ta ke a lot of work , it w i l l be it is to cha nge ou r way s a ft he sta r t of somet h ing big ter pr int ing a paper t he sa me a nd e xc it ing. way for so long, no mat ter how ma ny t imes we quest ion ou r decisions, no mat ter ou r d i f ferences in opin ion, one We k now some of ou r pr int t h ing w i l l st i l l rema in t he readers t u r n to t he Post be- sa me. We a re st i l l a fa mi ly of cause it ’s conven ient. Some id iots. A fa mi ly t hat wou ld st udents m ight pick it up do a ny t h ing to help its fel low wh i le t hey ’re ha ng ing out members, whet her persona l ly in t he Un ion, t r y ing to k i l l or professiona l ly. A fa mi ly t ime bet ween c lasses. Ot hers t hat is ded icated to ma k ing might use it to keep t hem su re st udents get t he in forawa ke du r ing a bor ing lec- mat ion t hey wa nt a nd need, t u re. Even i f you a re just a as wel l as t he oppor t un it y to casua l reader, we hope you have t hei r ow n voices hea rd. found t he Post in for mat ive A fa m i ly t hat is t ha n k f u l for a nd enter ta in ing. We a lso a l l of t he readers t hat ma ke hope t hat, even i f t he pa- us feel l ike we’re doing someper won’t be phy sica l ly t here, t h ing wor t hwh i le not on ly you’ l l consider head ing on- for ou rselves, but for U W M. l ine to c heck out t he new for-
Our future is bright. When we came to you six weeks ago was asked not only for your support, but for your attention. We didn't know where we were headed, but we knew the only way for us to emerge from this transition as a stronger organization depended on us being transparent with our process and open to ideas for growth and change. In the wake of our editorial we received an influx of feedback, and although we didn't agree with all of it, we asked for it earnestly, and took it all to heart. The last weeks have been full of tireless work from every member of our lean staff as we made the final arrangements to put the printed Post to bed and take the first steps in a major paradigm shift. We will be the first to admit, we are relieved to be on to the next phase. It is weary working in the present when your thoughts drift to the future. So you can imagine great exhortative sigh coming from our office at the thought of finally dedicating all our energies to the great "what's next." Things here have never been better.
know when we lost them. When we made the decision to pull the plug on the Post, our pullback rate was over 50%. More than half of the papers we printed we recycled without anyone ever even touching them. Shame on us for letting it get so bad. That ends here. Despite the mistakes we've made, we hold our history at the Post in the highest regard. We still got a lot of things right. We cultivated a staff of talented, dedicated people with a diverse set of skills. We learned what works and what doesn't and we are prepared to take the next step forward. We asked you to consider the value of our news, and many of you voiced support for a segregated fee to subsidize our operations. We weighed that choice in the balance a long time, but we're proud to say we will not be accepting any student fees now or for the foreseeable future. Not only can we do our jobs better, we can do them without inflated salaries or stipends. There are no more paid positions at the Post. We do this because we love it, and we can't think of anything more important than that.
We offer a heartfelt thanks to the people who challenged us. Our words in that first plea for Our best ideas came to light in help were strong: "The news- the arguments and dialogues paper industry is dying"; "We that stemmed from your crineed your help"; "Our situation tique. We ask that you not let up, is dire." We stand by all of those and work to keep us honest and thoughts today, but we want open as we push the boundaries to clear a few things up about of journalism and new media. what we meant. We at the Post have never been, and will never In the special section that be, defeatists. The gravity of our follows, you will find the bluetone and the authority of our prints for where that first step voice reflected the exact real- forward is taking us. We have ity of our situation. Funds did seen the first glimmering light dry up, and neither benefac- on the digital horizon, learned tors nor manna from heaven ap- from what others are doing and peared to save the day. Not that are applying it here in a way no we expected either, or would one has done before. We are exhave changed course had they panding our scope while elimiappeared. We had been woken nating the excess. from the stupor of print journalists everywhere. We have been the voice of students at UWM for 56 years, and, The truth is, our audience was if you're willing, we expect to be no longer there. The community here 56 years from now. We've we served had moved on with- got a strong direction and we're out us, and to be honest, it had a little crazy and we're not afraid been so long since we had both- to fail. Things are looking good ered to check that we don't even and the future is bright.
The POST reveals its secrets inside
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the uwm post
THEUWMPOST Editor in Chief Zach Erdmann
Chief Copy Editor Brad Poling
Managing Editor Steve Garrison
Copy Editors Staci Scheibel Taylor Thomas
News Editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog Assistant News Editors Justin Jabs Stephanie Schmidt Fringe Editors Steve Franz Kevin Kaber Sports Editor Tony Atkins Assistant Sports Editor Joe Horning Editorial Editor Audrey Posten Photo Editor Zak Wosewick Production Editor Cathylynne Ahlgren Production Editor Marquayla Ellison
Distribution Mgr. Lucas Hubanks Off-Campus Distribution Lucas Hubanks Business Mgr. Tyler Rembert Advertising Mgr. Jonny Grigg
POST’s Glossary
A new way of thinking calls for a corresponding new language. Here’s ours.
Nugget: The atomic unit of news. A nugget is confirmable and attributable; the bare fact and nothing else. Nuggets can be photos, facts, quotes from interviews, stats, multimedia or links to sources of information. Nuggets are reported as soon as the event happens or the information is unearthed.
Aux Designer Inna Zilberman Account Executives Tim Posl
Scope: A scope provides perspective, breadth of information, context and analysis. Scopes are written any time enough
Online Editor Kody Schafer
nuggets exist to make an informed assessment. Scopes are written by teams of editors who share a byline. The scopes all feed
Board of Directors Zach Erdmann Caitlin PenzeyMoog Steve Franz Steve Garrison Tyler Rembert
into general topics, or “pursuits.”
Phone: (414)229-4578 Fax: (414)229-4579 post@uwmpost.com www.uwmpost.com Mailing Address Union Box 88 UWM P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Shipping Address 2200 Kenwood Blvd. Suite EG80 Milwaukee, WI 53211 THE UWM POST has a circulation of 10,000 and is distributed on campus and throughout the surrounding communities. The first copy is free, additional copies $.75 each. The UWM Post, Inc. is an independent nonstock corporation. All submissions become property of The UWM Post, Inc. The UWM Post is written and edited by students of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and they are solely responsible for its editorial policy and content. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is not liable for debts incurred by the publisher. The UWM Post is not an official publication of UWM.
Pursuits: Pursuits are the overarching themes of our content, and the structure by which we organize them. Pursuits are ways of analyzing and reacting to news events. They are built on “wicked problems” and are convoluted messes that require dedicated examination and thorough reporting to parse.
Horizontal Accountability: Like several other aspects of the news business, the strict hierarchical structuring of the newsroom is a concept that has outlived its purpose. Horizontal accountability is a method of organizing the staff to ensure accountability and maximize updates. We will be organizing the newsroom around the news itself. Reporters will work in small teams, accountable to each other, creating and curating the news. There will still be members responsible for keeping potentially libelous material from being published, but at the end of the day, the teams are responsible for output.
Wicked Problems: Most of the problems at our university cannot be summed up in a 700-word article. Nor can most any of the problems in our society. These issues, called wicked problems, can only be explained and explored in any detail through continuous, rigorous reporting and coverage. Issues such as low graduation rates, the limited space available in the area surrounding campus, and the cash-strapped athletics department would all be considered wicked problems. They are time-tested, intractable issues our university faces.
REASONS TO WRITE FOR THE POST 1. My mommy made me do it. 2. Money. [Ha … Try again.] 3. I’m a masochist. 4. I want to be famous. 5. I have no life. Join us: the few, the proud, the incredibly stupid… email news@uwmpost.com.
Disruption: A company that cannot adapt to a changing environment will eventually be overtaken by smaller, more innovative companies. No environment is changing faster than the news world and the companies that succeed will be the ones that recognize those developments and change accordingly. We are attempting to internalize these changes through a “disruption team” responsible for adapting the Post to meet our community’s needs.
Fungibility: As it refers to news, fungibility means that we no longer have a monopoly on hour our community relates to the world around them. Many of the roles that were once the singular responsibility of a news organization have been eroded through online companies. Facebook has replaced news organizations as the best source of hyper-local news; Twitter and blogging are the new methods by which people express their opinion and interact with their communities; and Wikipedia is a more comprehensive source of well-organized information than any news organization could offer.
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Civic Journalism: At its essence, civic journalism is a way for the community to interact and participate in the news reporting process. Whether it is done through interactive features, message boards, community blogging, user-submitted content or some way we haven’t thought of yet, people expect to have a say in how information is provided and what information is available.
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A&E
THE
FRINGE
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Users
Disruptors
The Fringe is a source for UWM and Milwaukee area culture-related news stuffs. We try very hard to be non-traditional in that we don’t really adhere to many standards that you’d see elsewhere in the UWM Post. We make it our duty to deliver Milwaukee lifestyle articles and stories. In our section, which is just a Tumblr now, you’ll see some fun stories on local bands, shows, galleries, parties and so on. We’ll be trying to push the envelope as well in the future, because, well, we have to; to do so, we’ll be adding videos about cool things and strive to be edgy and odd, hopefully. With our web presence, it’s important for us to use the powers of social media too, so we’ll always be around (that is if you follow or friend us, so please do that if you’re reading this). It’s also helpful for you schmucks to keep the conversation going because we hate talking to a wall. We’re weird.
Reporters
Editors
Stringers
Who are we? The new staff structure for the POST Stringers:
The stringers are the young, the inexperienced, and even the people who might never have considered themselves journalists. They will go through a Post boot camp, a single-day seminar where they learn the basics of everything: writing, copyediting, video, photography, design, etc. They don’t write articles on their own, they help the staff reporters with fact-checking, copyediting, gathering information, etc. They learn by doing, and are part-and-parcel of the best stories that the POST is producing. After a certain time period (at the discretion of the Editors-atLarge) these people move up to reporters. The time as stringer is an intentional barrier to the POST. To be considered a contributing component of the POST, basic dedication and proficiency are required.
The article is out - nuggets and scopes are in Content on the Post’s new website might look very unfamiliar at first, but our new model is built on things readers are already familiar with. We’ve done away with many of journalism’s typical age-old conventions. No longer will we organize in sections, and no longer will we follow a “beat” as it is known today. Even the article has been given the axe. These sorts of staples of journalism can work in the print world. That’s why they are still around today. But online, we’ve got to think differently, because people consume news differently online.
A pursuit is the overarching theme of our content, based on problems that present themselves and what the community is interested in and passionate about. Our goal as we work on a pursuit is to gain perspective and understanding of an issue, while sharing the facts we find along the way to you. That’s where the nuggets come in. A pursuit is born when something happens or something piques interest – when the “wicked problem” arises. Members of the Post will go forth and collect data: talking to people involved, investigating deeper problems, looking
Editors:
Reporters will crank out the raw information that feed our pursuits. Whether they are dissecting the intransigency of student government or UWM’s research grants, teams of reporters from a variety of backgrounds will be continuously cranking out kernels that explain the ba-
The “why,” the essential part of any story, the part that explains, rather than just regurgitates, is sorted out by the editors, the senior staff people responsible for content. These are the analysts and the investigators. They take the raw information from the reporters, gather their own in-depth, nuanced, exhaustive information, and organize it all into larger narratives and commentary. They also take campus-specific issues and put them into the broader context of education as a whole, through article curation. The editors are largely responsible for determin-
for data and studies, interviewing experts, and scouring the internet for relevant information others have already gathered. Thus begins the stream of nuggets. As we figure something out, we relay it to you, as quickly as possible. Over days, weeks, and months, the feed of nuggets grows. News outlets strive to provide their readership with the facts, traditionally through an article. The idea of the article is different to pin down – typically it weaves facts together with transition and some context, and usually boring filler information and unnecessary quotes. Yet people don’t necessarily read articles anymore. People want the facts, and we’ll provide them directly through our nuggets – without the fluff, and without forcing you to read a 600word article. Some nuggets give birth to subse-
quent information, which are organized as “sub-nuggets.” While we organize the nuggets chronologically, the bits of information that are relevant to one another will be linked together, e.g., a reporter captures a photo of inappropriate behavior on campus. A few days later, the university releases a statement on the situation. While other nuggets we’ve collected will appear in between these two connected objects, they will be visually linked together on our website, making it easy for you to follow the story both chronologically and as the information relates to itself. After we’ve collected enough information from an adequate amount of quality, solid nuggets, a scope piece is right around the corner. This is where we provide perspective, context, and analysis. A scope piece is written using the nuggets and our understanding of them as a collection. After a scope is written,
Reporters:
How does it work?
sics: who, what, when and where. The writing, photography, copyediting and design are all done within the team and nuggets are posted as soon as they are finished. The team then pushes the nugget out through social media. Repeat as quickly as possible while still maintaining quality. The reporting teams are overseen by editors and work closely with the editors to ensure that they are getting the information they need. Similar to the stringers, reporters move up to editor after a certain period of time or by the decision of the Editors-at-Large.
ing when a pursuit begins and when it ends.
Disruptors:
Finally, there is the disruption team. They are the phrenologists of The Post, constantly thinking about, and tinkering with, the current model of how we deliver the news. They construct and implement tools for interesting, unique ways of presenting information. Disruptors do not produce or influence the editorial content of the POST.
Users:
We have created a special section, The Back Page, for students, faculty and community members to create blogs. This is, in essence, the realm of the weird, where the topics that students want addressed are curated by readers, with a mechanism for up-voting or down-voting material, similar to Reddit. Possible blogs include teaching assistants complaining about students, the hardest classes at UWM, or building and playing games based on different aspects of the community. User feedback is also encouraged and empowered on our home page, but the Back Page is where we let go of the reigns.
if there’s more information to be found (more than likely, there is), our team continues to seek out more nuggets until another scope can be written. Eventually, these pursuits will terminate. Perhaps the “wicked problem” will be become less relevant for a time, or there won’t be more information on it to be found. In that case, we move onto something else that interests us. Multiple teams work on multiple pursuits at one time, constantly evolving as the news itself evolves. The Post is breaking out of our weekly copy flow, our article-by-article coverage, and out of the norm. With our new model, we’re confident we will be providing you with higher quality news in a format that not only makes sense in an online world, but that enhances your understanding of the issues that matter to you.
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Explaining the new Post website
We dont even have a door. How’s that for accountability?
Justin Jabs Assistant News Editor news@uwmpost.com
The pitfalls of objectivity Caitlin PenzeyMoog News Editor news@uwmpost.com
Objectivity is a farce. This idea is nothing new or novel in the world of journalism. But it’s now necessary for the Post to face certain uncomfortable truths as we move from print to online and from an old way of doing journalism to a new one. In order to understand where we are going with the way we do news, it’s helpful to understand how we approached objectivity - and its pitfalls - in the past. Boiled down, objectivity means providing just the facts and not letting personal opinions get in the way of reporting. Ask, and many journalists will tell you that “true objectivity” is not attainable, but it is still a worthwhile goal. Some journalists I know personally deride objectivity while professionally adhering to its scriptures. These scriptures include a roboticlike approach to news-gathering, including what NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen calls the “View from Nowhere” (a term borrowed from philosopher Thomas Nagel). The View from Nowhere allows journalists the neutral party stance, with nothing at stake. Her view comes from nowhere. This journalist claims she doesn’t have a horse in the race, or a stake in the outcome, so her reporting is trustworthy. This has some obvious problems, the most obvious being that people aren’t robots and inevitably have opinions. Rosen encourages journalists to acknowledge they are participants. In the classic The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, a staple of journalism education, authors Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel point out that objectivity does not belong to the journalist, but rather to the method. Because journalists inevitably arrive with bias they need objectivity as a discipline to test that bias against the evidence so as to produce journalism that would be closer to truth. The Nieman Center distinguishes be-
tween objectivity and “genuine objectivity,” which takes this scientific methodlike approach to reporting: It begins with the assumption that journalists have bias, and that their bias has to be tested and challenged by gathering facts and information that will either support it or knock it down. Often, there is information that does both, and that ambiguity needs to be reported with the same dispassion with which a scientist would report variations in findings that were inconclusive. If the evidence is inconclusive, then that is—by scientific standards—the truth. Here is the heart of the problem: The Truth.
Journalists are a kind of social researcher, and take on that role in the discourse they are researching. Journalists participate. They chose the subject to report on, and not only that, the discourse of that subject. It’s like a documentary: people act differently in front of a camera, and the person behind that camera must address this in her production. It cannot be said that what the camera shows is The Truth. It is simply a truth, or what cultural studies professor Ien Ang calls interpretations, that the documentary shows. With this, as with journalism, there is no hard scientific fact that reporters can get in the real world, outside of a science lab. The sort of truth is more of an interpretation of a truth, not The Truth. These truths represent reality at a certain time and place. Take the “UWM Blitz” stories I wrote in September. I organized them according to a way that made sense to me, with the key roles of the students, police and neighbors, and minor roles of the university and a drinking education expert. There is no objective way to tell the story - I set up how it was told. I decided who to interview, I decided which people had more prominence, which aspects were the most important, which quotes to use from hours of interviews, details
to color the story...the list goes on. The point is I created the narrative framework from which to be objective. In short, my objectivity was of my own design.
The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald puts it nicely in his article “Martha Raddatz and the faux objectivity of journalists.” Martha Raddatz moderated the vice-presidential debates between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan in October. She launches a discussion with this: “Let’s talk about Medicare and entitlements. Both Medicare and Social Security are going broke and taking a larger share of the budget in the process. Will benefits for Americans under these programs have to change for the program to survive?” Raddatz frames the question around the “truth” that these programs are going broke, which is just not true, as Greenwald points out using the Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times economics reporter David Cay Johnston. But this claim is Washington D.C. orthodoxy, announced as fact by Raddatz. And D.C., with its legislature and opinion-makers, equates its ideological desires with neutral facts. The results, Greenwald explains, are that things taken for The Truth are nothing more than products of highly ideological claims that benefit a narrow elite class. This can be applied everywhere, to practically anything. There is an ideology people and institutions push to gain power. These hegemonic devices masquerade as an obvious truth - until you deconstruct it like Greenwald did. This is an example of the falsity of objectivity. It’s not about two people from opposing sides answering the question: it’s about the question asked in the first place. The Post’s new approach to news is an attempt to get out of this paradigm. Our plan is to be simple, accessible, transparent and open to change. We won’t focus on getting both sides so much as we will concentrate on gathering all relevant information. We will provide news “nug-
gets” consisting of pieces of hard, indisputable information - the atom of the news. Facts, interviews, photos, videos, multimedia, Facebook and Twitter messages, stats and studies, and other media coverage, are all nuggets. These nuggets are gathered by a team of student journalists who are interested in the subject. But anyone can contribute a nugget - if a student snaps a photo on his smartphone and sends it to the Post, we can add it to our collection of nuggets. The beauty of nuggets is that by going to an online media outlet the Post won’t be constrained by print. There’s no way a print paper would find room to print all these nuggets - nor would all readers want to see them. And while print papers have online counterparts, these counterparts inevitably follow the same format of print. It’s not really liberating when print, and the old way of doing print, follows the papers online. The Post is going to use our website in a way it makes sense to, which is very different from a print setup. After the team feels there are enough nuggets, once the reporters and editors gain a thorough, nuanced understanding of the issue, they will write about that issue. Using the facts, a “scope” piece will emerge in which the issue is analyzed, explained, and put into context. We won’t write this scope piece until we are ready to, be it days or months. Die-hard adherents to objectivity will call this editorializing, will charge us of inserting our opinions where they don’t belong. That’s fine. Those people can look at the nuggets. People who want to know what all those nuggets mean – who want to hear from the people who gathered, curated and thought a lot about those nuggets – can read the scope piece. It’s our hope that this kind of reporting will get at a different sort of objectivity: an objectivity that is transparent, with all the information we use also available to the public; an objectivity that isn’t limited by space or time; an objectivity that allows for growth, change and evolution.
All of the new content you have been reading about will be organized and displayed on the UWM Post’s new website, the designs of which are on page five. The first is the mock-up of the Post’s new home page; the second is an example pursuit page for “Underage Drinking.” The entire home page is a real-time feed of the Post’s collective content. Each piece of content is self-contained within a box, providing the information and easy sharing links. The boxes float together into the feed and are organized chronologically, with each new piece of content bumping down the old in an endless scrolling stream. The site is designed with mobile in mind so everyone can access the Post on the go. Social network sign-in buttons allow interactivity with the website. Beneath our new logo, “POST,” is a bar to input text. This bar can be used either to search the Post’s content, or to give a shout out, similar to a status update. A navigation bar separates the logo and content feed, with links to each pursuit and our sister sites: Sports, the Fringe, and the Back Page. There are a number of different types of content boxes, which include: 1) The nuggets and scopes. Each box of information contains a byline of the contributor in the lower left-hand corner, and the pursuit it is attached to in the upper right-hand corner. These nuggets can be facts, quotes, videos, pictures and more. 2) Link-outs. The Post will curate interesting, relevant content for the community. These links can be to pages relevant to pursuits. They can also be links to the best content from Fringe, Sports, and the Back Page. These are shown in the mock-up by the boxes marked “F,” “S,” and “Back.” Clicking on a specific pursuit in the navigation bar or a nugget or scope will bring the user to a pursuit page, which is the second graphic included. The graphic includes both “sides” of each page, which are displayed separately and moved between one another by pressing “flip page.” The left side of the pursuit mockup is the scope page. The scope piece is laid out to be easy to read. Within the scope, annotations to nuggets are highlighted in brown with a superscript number – this is where the pursuit team got their information. For example, in the first paragraph of the Underage Drinking pursuit, the statistic for the East Side arrest is annotated. This sentence within the scope correlates to the nugget on the opposite page, labeled “1.” Clicking on annotated text will cause the page to flip, with the appropriate nugget highlighted. It is clear with the page flip what is absolute fact (nuggets page, right), and what is the pursuit team’s analysis (scope page, left). A page flip brings users to the nuggets, shown on the right side of the graphic. These are the facts, links, quotes and more that have been showing up on the home page feed. In the example, the second nugget shows a box’s short link for easy sharing. While the nuggets are organized chronologically, some nuggets relate to one another and are shown together. Nugget 3 in the example is a quote in response to a video, which was posted in an early nugget deeper in the page. Nugget 3 and the video are linked, with a grey arrow at the bottom which will show additional relevant nuggets when clicked.
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What does it look like? A preview of the Post’s new website sign in
Violence on Campus
POST Underage Drinking
underage drinking
Milwaukee Police Crime Statistics, 11/18 to 11/25 Sixteen arrests were made in Milwaukee’s upper East Side near UWM campus last week. Fifteen of them were noiserelated.
For more details, see “Explaining
Student Sex
Campus Crunch
the new Post website,” page 4. Graphics by Justin Jabs.
sister sites
Cost of Education
This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a
student sex
Sexually transmitted diseases amongst college aged students are on the rise in the past ten years, according to a series of studies from Saving Teens from Diseases. The organization is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. This is a nugget. It is need to band together and encourage the buddy system, especially late at night. I feel like this is the only way to truly solve the issues we are facing.” - Chancellor Michael Lovell
CAITLIN PENZEYMOOG
Recap: Sleigh Bells (w/ Araab Muzik) at Turner
cost of education
Early tuition estimates for the Fall 2013 semester have been released by the University. Undergraduates can expect to pay an additional 8% increase on average from the Fall 2012 semester for classes.
STEPHANIE SCHMIDT
Panthers prevail at home, win 113-109
ZAK WOSEWICK
JUSTIN JABS
Registration Success campus crunch
Expansion contentious over campus growth
KEVIN KABER cost of education
“The Student Association of Milwaukee will strive to help the students of UWM cope with these tuition increases. One of our goals during this upcoming year will be to keep segregated fees at their current level. Hopefully, no increases on our end can be a real help.”
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is constantly expanding. Chancellor Lovell’s Growth Task Group spends night and day figuring out how to better serve the student population with more and more buildings. But in a city where much of the land... ((Click to read more.)) CAMPUS CRUNCH PURSUIT TEAM violence on campus
underage drinking
UW-Milwaukee’s SAFE ALERT email reported a robbery on Oakland and
Cops bust house party
SANDMAN79 TONY ATKINS
violence on campus
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Violence on Campus Underage Drinking Student Sex Campus Crunch Cost of Education
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Violence on Campus Underage Drinking Student Sex Campus Crunch Cost of Education
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Underage Drinking Neighborhood relations at root MPD crackdown
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The Milwaukee Police Department’s crackdown on student misbehavior on the East Side has resulted in 102 TOTAL ARRESTS1 as of Sept. 30, 72 of which were UW-Milwaukee students. While it’s still too early to assess the impact of the increased police activity in the surrounding campus area, Police Capt. Stephen Basting seems less than confident that the issue can be addressed solely through police action.
102 arrests have occured prior to September 30th during he Milwaukee Police Departmentʼs weekend East Side crackdowns. Of that 102, 72 were students from UW-Milwaukee.
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“I donʼt believe I am going to be able to ticket my way out of this. But we will continue the enforcement.” - Police Captain Stephen Basting uwmpo.st/n56j9
ROBIN TURNBLOM
3 “I think all these arrests are ridiculous. Weʼre just having a little fun, itʼs college for peteʼs sake.” - Taryn Wood, freshman
ROBIN TURNBLOM Students arrested south of campus www.youtube.com
“I don’t believe I’m going to be able to ticket my way out of this,” BASTING SAID2. “But we will continue the enforcement.” Tension between homeowners and student renters is a problem nearly as old as the university itself, but only recently have the police responded so forcefully.
These two girls were arrested just south of campus after neighbors called the cops!
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Audio: Interview with former police officer John
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A better POST
A new way to report the news Caitlin PenzeyMoog News Editor news@uwmpost.com Traditionally, here is how the news section of the Post has worked: A student either finds our office in a corner of the Union or emails us that she wants to write for the Post. If they tried calling, we probably never got the message (sorry about that, guys). The news editor then adds her to the list of student reporters and she comes in to the weekly meeting. There, the reporters chose which story they want to do from the “story list.” This story list is compiled of whatever is happening at UWM that week and whatever ideas the news team can scrounge together. In the first month of the semester, it was easy to come up with interesting ideas that weren’t worthless or event-based. After a while, though, those ideas petered out and I realized practically nothing happens on this campus. If you’ve noticed a dwindling news section over the past few weeks, you’d be right. We didn’t want to run terrible filler pieces just to plug what we call the “news hole.” The classic filler piece is the Cinco de Mayo piece. We send a student who wants to be a reporter to cover the Cinco de Mayo event on campus. She comes back with 300 words of a story that she didn’t want to write and no one wants to read. We do this all the time. That’s because our weekly model demands so many news stories to fill the news section, and events like Cinco de Mayo are an easy fix. But the reporters aren’t learning anything and the campus is not being served by work like this. It’s the investigative work, the stories you can sink your teeth into, that matters to students and that is pedagogical for student reporters. But that kind of work is hard to do well when there is a weekly deadline constantly hanging over a reporter’s head. If you’re a student reading this, imagine trying to write a story for the Post in addition to class work, jobs and a social life. It’s a pain in the ass. Oftentimes reporters are frustrated that they have essentially
four days to report and write a story. In many ways, this model expects too much of students. Reporters are expected to write a good piece in too short of time, and more often than not the result is a sloppy, thrown-together story, not because the reporter is lazy or unqualified, but because the demands of the weekly print issue don’t let them do good work. Every once in a while reporters can get around this and write something really great, something they are interested in and the rest of campus is interested in. That’s what we’re aiming for with the new POST. We will no longer be writing stories we don’t want to write. We will only write stories we are interested in writing, that we feel matter. These topics we care about can turn into what we call “pursuits.” Pursuits are topics we – as the name implies – pursue. A team of stringers and reporters can work on pursuits they are interested in following, and when its time is up those people will move onto new areas of interest. This allows us to tackle big campus issues and come at it from all sides. We’ll break down the facts into news nuggets, and once enough information on a pursuit has been gathered, we’ll write our “scope” piece where we put it all into context. And reporters can take as long as they need to do it. If there is reporting that can be turned around in a week, great. If the reporters need more time to get sufficient sources, sift through information, submit public records requests, secure an interview or compile a database, they can have the breathing room to do those things. The POST won’t be printing weekly any more. We will be online, and we plan to use that to our benefit. There’s no reason to be weekly in an online world. No one cares about something that happened five days ago; they’ve either already heard about it or its timeliness has passed. Online, we can cover stories as they break, and follow up as it makes sense. This is the essence of news at the new POST. It’s a model that allows reporters to actually report, and allows consumers to read what they actually care about.
Ken Ryan Former Staff Writer sports@uwmpost.com
R.C. Weich III Staff Writer sports@uwmpost.com
I’ll always treasure my time at the UWM Post as it brought many laughs, many friends and many unread columns defending Ted Thompson throughout the Brett Favre saga in 2008. A special thank you to my first editor Jimmy Lemke for bringing me aboard in 2006 and then to Mike Kennedy, who was instrumental in allowing me to develop skills that I use as an advertising and public relations professional. Tim Prahl and punting aficionado A.K.A. Mr. Wink-and-a-Nod Brett Winkler also were entertaining reads and great to work with. Maybe three times I caught someone on campus in the act of reading my dribble. Oh, the pride of producing 600 words scrunched between Brother’s ads and the crossword puzzle. Time has marched on. The Packers have won a Super Bowl since I put down the pen (TAKE THAT H8ers!) and I’ve moved away from the majestic East Side. It’s sad to see the Post’s reign come to an end. Here’s hoping the absence of a student paper on the UW-Milwaukee campus is short-lived because someone has to hold Rob Jeter and Police Chief Ed Flynn in check. The Leader (former campus newspaper) sure as hell won’t be able to.
During my time here at UWMilwaukee, I have had the opportunity to write as both a staff writer and as the Sports Editor for the UWM Post. The experiences I had were remarkable. While learning beneath an upper classman editor, I was able to improve my writing skills before I even started taking journalism classes. This gave me a leg up when it came time to start taking some of these classes. I learned how to interview, how to cover games and how to format articles, all in my freshman year of college. I was able to have some awesome experiences at the Post. I went to several Green Bay Packers games in the press box. The one I remember the most was Brett Favre’s 200th game. I even got to ask him a question in the post-game press conference. I attended Milwaukee Admirals hockey games, Milwaukee Wave soccer games, UWM sports events and even got to write a concert review for the Arts and Entertainment section. My time at the Post has been very valuable and it’s great being able to be published. As I move forward, I will continue to stay active with the Post and am excited for my future as a journalist.
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One more thing… Tony Atkins Sports Editor sports@uwmpost.com When I first set foot into the newsroom of the UWM Post, I had no real clue about what I was getting myself into. I had no journalistic experiences outside of JAMS 201 and no specific writing technique or anything. I remember sitting in the Union with my friends one day and saying, “I’m going to go down and write for the UWM Post.” I didn’t know what I would eventually get myself into. I remember walking into the office and being first approached by Zach Erdmann, who was then the Assistant News Editor, about what section I wanted to write for. I almost chose news, and then I thought about The Fringe. Ultimately, I choose sports, but I honestly could’ve selected any section and been content. Writing for sports, at the time, was just a random, on-the-spot choice. Again, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I honestly thought it would be a simple venture into something new for one or two issues. At the time, I didn’t know what kinds of doors it would eventually open for me as a journalist and as a professional in general. I grew apart from one of many who attempted sportswriting to become a “Postie,” as anyone affiliated with journalism on campus would call us. (Postie: UWM Post employee) I got my shot writing under the last section editor Jeremy Lubus, who taught me a lot about being a true professional and being that “check” on athletics. After all that is what journalism actually is. I, like many other students I know, had little to no school pride initially. I
A look back at the “glory years” Nicholas Dettmann Former Sports Editor sports@uwmpost.com To be the sports editor of the UWM Post was an important experience for me as it helped lay the foundation of my eventual career path. Of course, it didn't hurt to be the editor during what was arguably the glory years of UW-Milwaukee athletics. I was the editor from 2002 to 2005 and during that time, the Panthers won two Horizon League championships and went to the NCAA tournament twice, including the Sweet 16 in 2005. But that aside, the UWM Post introduced me to the world of jour-
Tony Atkins looks back at his time with the UWM Post.
came, I learned and I went back home before starting at the Post. Eventually, under Lubus, my pride in athletics and the school itself grew drastically as I became immersed in sports that flew so below the radar that I never knew they existed, especially the tennis program. Perhaps my proudest moment was helping to shed light on a program that nobody really knew or talked about. Scratch that, my proudest moment with the Post was actually seeing my work framed in Coach Sean McInerney’s office when I went in for an interview. Wait, I interviewed Sean and Marlon Wayans, which was pretty cool too. It was just a great experience. It wasn’t always about “feel good” journalism, however. As someone who considers himself a responsible journalist, I eventually had to deliver some more critical stories as well. From coaching “changes” to Athletic Director resignations, I dabbled in all of it, just as a journalist is supposed to. Being able to play both hardball and softball assured me that I had some real chops in this industry and that journalism was where I belonged. Working for the Post, in its print form, has made me the last of some unofficial alum, and (when I graduate) the UWM Post sports alumni, and for that, I am honored. The Post has allowed me to become one of them. Jeremy Lubus (NOW Newspaper), Tim Prahl (Panther Athletics), Jimmy Lemke (Panther U), Brett Winkler (Golden State Warriors) and countless others have paved the way for me in an indirect way. The only way I could repay these people was by giving them the opportunity to publish one more time.
As someone in the media who covers UW-Milwaukee athletics, one of my main concerns here is that there isn’t enough support of the teams here. The students who give their blood, sweat and tears in order for this university to grow a name for itself need more support from the students. Not just the students, but the university’s alums and the city itself need to get behind this school’s athletics like Marquette students do for their programs. Marquette went from the mid-major Conference USA to a major conference in the Big East because their people got behind them, even without a football program. However, this isn’t about me. It’s about the UWM Post, the independent student newspaper that has been producing some of the best local journalists and professionals since 1956. While there are tons of journalism majors at this university, I and other “posties” will take pride and perhaps an advantage in post-college life because we chose to become journalists before our degrees. With the print issue of the UWM Post, we were able to do things that a lot of students couldn’t. We got out there, we networked and we built our portfolios. As a sportswriter here, I was crazy enough to write a story. I was crazy enough to skip class to get an interview. I was crazy enough to stay in the office until three in the morning on production Sundays. I was crazy enough to grow attached to that office. I was crazy enough to join that family that is the Post. It’s been a hell of a ride, and, if I could do it all again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
2002-2005’s sports editor Nicholas Dettmann reflects on his
tenure during the “glory years” of UW-Milwaukee athletics nalism, which is far different now than it was then. The Post also afforded me the opportunity to work on my writing craft, which eventually got me my first newspaper job at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as a score clerk and freelance reporter. Without the UWM Post, there is a good chance I wouldn’t have gotten a job as a journalist. Being a journalist has had its ups and downs over time, especially in the past couple years as it transitions to a digital world. With that, one thing always has and always will remain the same: quality journalism starts with what you're taught right from day one. The UWM Post was instrumental in that development as an extension of the class-
room. That's the way I always viewed it and as I look back it still has that importance to me. I'm grateful to have had an opportunity to utilize the option of a college newspaper to help get my career going. Today, I'm the sports editor of the Daily News in West Bend and since I graduated from UWM in 2005, I've won seven sports writing awards, including three at the national level. I was also selected as one of three national finalists for the Penn State School of Journalism's Excellence in Youth Coverage award. I'm also an author. My debut novel is called "A Life Worth Dreaming About."
A Wink and a Brett Winkler looks back on his tenNod ure at the Post Brett Winkler Former Sports Editor sports@uwmpost.com
I made a lot of mistakes in college, and a vast majority of them were immortalized each week in a sports column in this paper way back in the late aughts, a time when people still considered referring to the decade as “the aughts.” If you’re reading this little blurb, surely you’ve already read everything else in this issue and by now are aware that The UWM Post is ceasing print publication moving forward. To commemorate this occasion, they’ve allowed washed up old student writers like me the opportunity to ink one last mistake onto these pages and reflect on a
personal tenure at the paper that can’t possibly mean anything to the current (or former) student body. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to make that mistake, because mistakes are what the UWM Post was all about for me. It was about picking up a freshly delivered paper at the Union and egomaniacally flipping to the column I submitted and knowing I could have done better. In its printed form, the paper provided me with a level of accountability as a writer that could not have been attained elsewhere, and over a period of four years, I’d like to think that my meandering columns and general writing ability sucked a little less as a result.
It’d be an easy segue to call it a mistake on the part of the paper or the university or George Koonce (former Athletic Director) or whomever that The Post is moving to an online-only product, but it wouldn’t be fair (we can’t always blame it on Koonce). It’s sad when these things happen, but they do happen, and since I still owe the university a hilarious sum of money, any noble fundraising attempts need be directed elsewhere. Make no mistake though, the Post will live on. It’s just that its writers will have to find somewhere else to make their own mistakes, and I trust that they will. I know I certainly would have.
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Where Do We Go From Here? After reading pages upon pages about all the ambitious, starry-eyed things we plan on doing, it is important at this juncture to point out that we plan on failing. Before you stop writing the donation checks, let me reassure you that failure is a good thing.
Don’t get us wrong, we will miss the newspaper (as reflected in some of our editor’s thoughtful essays), and it may not be gone forever, but it is liberating to be rid of its physical constraints. Here is what we are working on right now:
For far too long now, we have had had our backs bent under the incredible weight of the institution that is The UWM Post. The number of hours, days, weeks, months and years we have spent trying to nurse back to health this aging, dim-witted beast (all the time realizing, the students we were supposed to be writing for didn’t read newspapers) has been a fruitless effort, carried on out of a sense of duty and for lack of a better plan.
Website Development
Well, when we finally stopped and thought about it, we came up with a better plan. We are done reporting on
Why should students care about the New Post? Post’s expansion is inclusive and encouraging to new talent Caitlin PenzeyMoog News Editor news@uwmpost.com
The Post is opening its doors to students outside of journalism school. Not only are we redefining the way we do news, we are redefining the pedagogical mission of the Post. It has always been a place for journalism students to get a leg up, but we realize now on the precipice of big changes that we need to expand our
We are working tirelessly to develop a website that can do all the amazing things we need it to do. Unlike most news organizations, the website will not be a newspaper thrown out into the digital desert, waiting to be read. It will serve the purpose of the news itself and the consumers who rely on it. It is going to be interactive, playful and focused on the specific issues that we think you care about. What if we are wrong? What if the issues that we feel are important go unnoticed? Then we will do it all over again.
talent. We are opening our doors to ideas from all corners of the campus. Going exclusively online demands and allows for a great breadth of knowledge. Our barriers have been lowered. We (literally) have no doors on our office. Any student can walk in and participate. Students are welcome and virtually any major or interest can contribute. Sometimes a degree isn’t enough to get a job in a student’s desired field. Students need impressive resumes with more than their GPAs and I challenge anyone to tell us a major that does not require, in some capacity, the ability to write clearly and concisely. The Post is run exclusively by students, and it is now open to more students than ever who hope to learn. Want to learn website construction? Editing? Photography? Traditional reporting? How about how to work in a team envi-
Ramblings Of an Angry Irish Assistant Sports Editor
Recruitment We also plan on actively recruiting new people from a variety of backgrounds to come help out on this project. We will be visiting classrooms, posting notices and talking to faculty and administrators about getting people involved. It is critical that we have a large, diverse group of students on staff in the coming months. The things we want to do demand it. What if nobody is willing to drink the Kool-Aid with us? Then we scale back, focus our attention, and prove that this will work. Living Learning Community For the past few months, we have been working closely with administrators and the journalism department to create a living learning community, the first student organization to do so. For those who don’t know, a LLC is a group of students who live together in the dormitories and share a common
ronment and hone leadership skills? The Post is a place on campus to expand one’s resume. We invite anyone who has the time or the inclination to join our ranks and put ideas into practice.
The voice of the students The Post wants to be the voice of the students, both online and off. The more breadth of knowledge we have from across campus, and the more students that contribute, the more we can respect and reflect issues that matter to students. Online, we will be the platform for student issues. Offline, we will be a meeting place where students from all parts of campus come together to represent student interests. The Post’s office (Union EG 80) is open to everyone.
interest, in this case, journalism. The students would then spend their freshman year together enrolled in a class built around The UWM Post. They would start at the bottom, learning how to write and report stories in a variety of mediums, eventually working their way up to full time reporters. This will provide us a steady stream of incoming writers who, we hope, will continue to work for The Post after the class is finished. By their senior year, these students would comprise our disruption team and develop and implement new pursuits.
first glance appear vastly different in what they hope to accomplish, would strengthen what each constitute member could accomplish. We would be able to apply for funding through the Student Association as a group, making it more difficult for any single entity to be defunded for political reasons. We could host each other’s content, allowing for each member to reach a broader audience. We could sponsor events on campus to help strengthen media creation and we could learn from each other’s mistakes, probably the most valuable asset for any student-run entity.
The Student Media Group
This is what is being accomplished by a group of intensely committed students, some of whom are journalism majors, a lot of whom are just passionate participants in our campus community. If I don’t say so myself, the newspaper hasn’t been too shabby either.
The student media group is our attempt to consolidate the disparate student organizations currently producing content. As of right now, this includes us here at The Post, Broadcast Club and the Production Club. The walls between print, video, audio and design have never been thinner and we hope to finally collapse them. A partnership between these organizations, which at
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the small stuff, the stuff we hate writing about and the stuff you hate reading. We are students, too; time is precious.
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Steve Garrison Managing Editor post@uwmpost.com
Au Revoir, paper IT’S BEEN A HECK OF A RIDE, PAPER, BUT NOW WE’RE GONNA BE KICKING IT ON THAT INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY FROM NOW ON. MOVE OVER GUTENBERG, HELLO GORE (HE CREATED THE INTERNET, YOU KNOW).
If you are interested in helping out, email us at employment@uwmpost.com or just come visit us at The Post office, Union EG80. We will be here.
Gone are the nights of eating too much Pizza shuttle and sacrificed Sundays. The Fringe and its mother, the Post, are changing things up and will be back on the Internet early next semester. We won’t be on Pinterest. This means that you’ll have to find another source for Sudokus and crosswords, which reminds us that the Union’s homeless population will be on our asses.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ US!!1!
Tony lands a devistating blow in the bi-weekly boxing match.
Joe Horning’s reflects on his “pleasant” time as Tony’s assistant editor Joe Horning Assistant Sports Editor sports@uwmpost.com When I first met Tony Atkins, he seemed like a cool guy. But working under him? I think I’d rather be a tackling dummy for Clay Matthews. Now don’t get me wrong Tony is a great guy. He taught me the values of good writing and sports coverage. When he leaves we’re probably going to fall apart because I’ll have too much fun and not be serious. My first assignment was a great example. Go cover the women’s soccer game vs UIC. It sounded easy enough. WRONG. It rained, I had no clue what to do and it was confusing. Only good thing from the day was meeting the soccer SID guy and experiencing Qdoba for the first time. And where was Tony during this? He was all snazzed up at a dinner event for President Obama. My next two game coverage assignments were to cover the men’s and women's soccer game. Of course, while I’m doing these, Tony was off sitting in the office or at an indoor game WHILE IM FREEZING MY BUTT OFF IN THE BLEACHERS! I seriously lost feeling in my extremities those two nights. Luckily it was all worth it because Milwaukee won. Also, I found a
strange wooden stake in my “press box” which makes me believe UWM regularly plays teams of vampires. A couple weeks ago, I was writing the article to cover club football and Tony said meet me at Lake Park at 5 because he was working with one of the players on a class project. It was kind of cold and raining. It was very Seattle-ish day. I walked down to the field at the lake at five to meet him and cover practice. I got down there, saw nobody and called Tony. This was the response I got: “Wait you’re there? Oh man I forgot to tell you practice got moved to the Klotsche. You walked there? Man that sucks. My bad, but good work.” Top notch work there Tony Atkins. Some of the lengths I’ve gone to for this job eventually proved to him my work ethic is second to none. I mean that night I went to the lake I was hungry, was tired, and I ended up skipping Logic class to cover it, (by the way, to my TA mark, if you’re reading this, does this count as an excused absence?) but I still went to cover it because this is my job now. In the office, he sits around flirting with 40 million girls on his phone, on Facebook, on Skype, and on Twitter, and ditching me to go hang with friends around campus. Not in a lazy way
because I know he works hard and gets the job done well but he’s just kind of a jerk. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here editing a lot the articles, putting them online, making up the schedule, and doing the rest of the bidding. You know what I get? My articles (along with every other sports writer) are published under HIS name on our website, I don’t have access to our shared network, and I wasn’t even listed in the paper as Assistant Sports Editor until
two weeks ago. He calls me names. His file to send me articles to edit is called the “Joe Boat.” It’s horrible! I’ve frozen off my legs, taken mile long walks in the freezing rain, dealt with soccer parents. And ALL I GOT WAS TO WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT HOW WORKING FOR TONY ATKINS IS HELL, AN ORGANIZED, BUREAUCRATIC HELL!
Plus he has no way to have fun with it. His coverage tweets from games are like a robot. No jokes, no humor. (I suspect he may be a terminator that had too many faults.) His assignment emails lack humor. But in all honesty, I love working with Tony and I owe him a lot for giving me this shot to attempt to become better than him as a sportswriter. That’s about all the complaints I have for now. I have to get back to work.
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Post Bibliography
Our inspirations, influences, references and teachers
By Zach Erdmann, Steve Garrison and Caitlin PenzeyMoog Editor in Chief, Managing Editor and News Editor Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
Clay Shirky The unthinkable has happened to the news industry with the advance of the internet, and lack of leadership has resulted in newsrooms faced with dwindling profits and slow deaths.
We are indeed less willing to agree on what constitutes truth
Designing journalism to be used Jonathan Stray
To promote real participatory civic culture (as in, more than just voting), journalism needs to pride not just information, but information tools that are intuitive, that make information engaging, excites and facilitates curiosity and is designed in such a way that people can get lost in information like they already do on Wikipedia.
Life, Below 600 px
Paddy Donnelly Web design cannot mimic print newspaper design. Originality and innovation come from disregarding the “rules” of design.
Clay Shirky
Shirky discusses the presence of truth and how it differs with today’s online age. He discusses previously private arguments being made publically through the use of the internet.
Mastering the art of disruptive innovation in journalism
Commencement speech on Horizontal Accountability Robert Krulwich The newsroom hierarchy has no place at a modern media outlet. This method organizes staff to keep each other accountable.
Clayton M. Christensen, David Skok, and James Allworth As newspapers try to adapt to the digital age, the Nieman Reports discusses applying disruptive innovation to old-age journalistic models. This article contains much of the inspiration for the Post’s new disruption team.
Quartz
The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect
We need to reinvent the article
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel This is a classic journalism text. It sets the bar for journalism, and lays groundwork for debate of theoretical journalism.
Our overall inspiration of our new approach to journalism and website design.
Sean Blanda Articles don’t translate from print to online; information gets updated, curated, shared and shaped by users.
Fungible The New Journalism: Goosing the Gray Lady Emily Nussbaum
The New York Times is doing awesome new things on its website thanks to an innovation team that is re-branding one of the most respected brands in news with experimental features that provide information in a way that is both sensible and beautiful in an online format.
On Elephants, Obsessions and Wicked Problems: A new Phenomenology of News Gideon Lichfield Quartz’s model is an inspiration for ours.
Stijn Debrouwere In terms of news, we no longer have a monopoly of disseminating information about our community and its members.
The Network rant: “Iʼm mad as hell” An indictment of the news industry, claiming it pacifies people instead of giving them the information its obligated to so people can be informed and create real change.
The Newsroom rant: Jeff Daniels answers why America is the greatest country
Martha Raddatz and the faux objectivity of journalists Glenn Greenwald The taken-for-granted “truth” is often the result of ideological hegemony that must be questioned.
This episode launches a fictional new approach to journalism, with newsman Jeff Daniels asking uncomfortable questions, putting reporting above the bottom line and telling it like it is.
On the Politics of Empirical Audience Research
The Machine is Us/ing Us
Ien Ang Researchers, or news reporters, participate in the discourse they are discussing. This engagement is not only unavoidable, but necessary to effectively understand and analyze goings-on effectively.
This video shows examples of advances in web design – many of which will be used when designing the Post’s new internet home. It also demonstrates the connectivity of the internet.
The View from Nowhere: Questions and Answers Jay Rosen
A Call for Journalistic Courage
News articles as assets and paths
Towards a Better Definition of Curation in Journalism Adam Schweigert
The “View from Nowhere” allows journalists a falsely neutral position when reporting the news. Admitting and embracing that journalists are humans and not robots makes for transparency, greater accountability and better-informed reporting.
Jeff Jarvis The traditional news article made sense when journalists were bound to the confines of print; today that format doesn’t make sense. The web provides innovative ways to improve the news article.
Walter Pincus
The news industry has the power to insight real change, but journalists, editors and owners opt for a passive neutrality that results in news “coverage” of politicians stump speeches and public relations campaigns that provide no meaningful information. Pincus calls for courageous journalism to push issues believe the government should take up.
More than collector and organizer, news curators must also “take care” of their information by properly maintaining it, placing it in a broader context, mining the archives to surface relevant history and advancing the story, all to help people really understand the information they are custodians of.
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uwmpost.com Steven Franz Fringe Media Editor The following is the diagnosis of a problem I’ve been noticing for several years now. You are sick, Milwaukee. You’ve been showing the symptoms for quite some time. Maybe you’ve been ignoring them, maybe you’ve been unaware of them; that’s your business and I won’t judge you for the past. But you’ve made some really bad mistakes. You haven’t taken care of yourself, you’ve (for whatever reason, and again, I’m not judging here) let the problem become exacerbated to the point that it presents a real threat now to your health and stability. And I, for one, have decided that it’s high time for an intervention, to save you from yourself. Milwaukee, you fucking suck at going to rock shows. How could you not see it? Was it so invisible to you; were you raised no other way? Even in your youth, did you not rage at concerts, did you not thrash yourself around willingly when the opportunity presented itself in a mass of humans? Time after time, show after show, I’ve been noticing the same problems. You stand motionless, unmoved by music that supposedly moves you. You don’t clap, even for bands you really, really like, so steadfast are you in your disconnect. And, perhaps worst of all, you stand at minimum five fucking feet from the stage, like you’re scared that the band is going to give you cooties or there’s some serious fucking untreated social anxiety disorder happening that makes you petrified of human contact, and the band can barely see that you’re there what with the lights in their eyes and the darkness in which you lurk. And it’s not even like this is a problem at every show. Sure, if it’s a national touring band that stops by the Pabst or Turner Hall or the Rave, you get way up and stick your noses right under their feet. At Beach House, the crowd was practically clamoring up onto the stage to sleep under Victoria LeGrand’s keyboards. But any band, any band at all, that stops by Cactus Club or Club Garibaldi or Linneman’s or Quarters or the Miramar, you linger back beyond the reach of the stage lights, as if you’re afraid of some sort of exposure, like you’re allergic to both human contact
IRRELEVANT THINGS: MILWAUKEEANS, LEARN HOW TO GO TO SHOWS Or, a critique of pervasive and unacceptable crowd behavior and the light itself, hissing and oozing. Free Energy had to demand you move your timid asses up so they could fucking see you, Milwaukee. If you don’t want to stand by the stage, stand in the back. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s easier to come and go, to disappear to the bathroom or the bar during a lull or a song you don’t like. But for Christ’s sake Milwaukee, you paid money to get into these shows. Smoking Popes cost $12 at the door, and only one person – me, Milwaukee – stood up by the stage like you’re fucking supposed to do. And that was for a punk rock show,
IRRELEVANT THINGS: BLOWING UP A CAR [WAS] A DUMB WAY TO HAVE AN IMPACT
This [Blew]
Kevin Kaber Fringe Editor fringe@uwmpost.com Here are some thoughts on something dumb that happened not too long ago that really wasn’t asked for. Blowing up a car on a chilly Saturday morning didn’t really get much attention (its goal was to attract Hollywood filmmakers), save for some ignorant locals. While we wait for the finished product – a film made by Milwaukeeans with a fucking explosion in it – let’s mope, because in no way was this good for the Milwaukee art community. Don’t try to look it up either, there’s literally nothing out there on the actual explosion, because no one really cared. My hometown is unbearably small and culturally dead. It has recently lost a thousand residents (or over 15 percent
of its population) in the last few years. In order to combat this trend, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin has launched efforts to promote the city’s current cultural offerings, which include a godawful amount of flea markets and its New Year’s Eve celebration, which consists of lowering a carp from a crane at midnight. Unfortunately, these promotional gimmicks are not really enticing to outsiders, not to mention the town’s citizens. Milwaukee, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It has so much to offer its residents and visitors that it’s difficult to soak it all in. This is especially true for the local arts scene, which thrives in making Milwaukee a brilliant community to experience. While there’s always room for improvement, it’s probably safe to say that Milwaukee’s artists are happy
guys. And the crowd was big! Think of the message this sends to bands. Think of the image they’re left with: Some asshole, unappreciative crowd of stupid hipsters who don’t want to embarrass themselves or something by expressing genuine appreciation and outing themselves as living, breathing, genuinely nice human beings. That a band is playing these songs they’ve hopefully poured their souls into for you in the middle of some long, horrid tour where their van breaks down constantly and they can barely afford food because of the insane amounts of money
they’re spending on gas and everyone hates each other because they’re always around each other – for you, Milwaukee, so that you can see them perform – and you can’t gussy up the balls to bear to be close to them like normal rock show crowds in other cities is ludicrous, and you need to stop that shit right now. And it’s not like these are bands that don’t need your attention. These aren’t bands with lucrative contracts and national notoriety and touring buses and budgets and blue vinyl presses that you can pick up at your local record store; these are blue-collar, working-class
bands with Bandcamp pages where they give away their shit for free. And most of the time they’re opening for a band you actually like and care about because either the venue or that band itself decided, out of the goodness of their hearts, to throw them a fucking bone. And you, Milwaukee, are ruining it for them by not showing them that their small-time music careers are worth it in the first place, which they are. So I’m prescribing you 50 mg of empathy, Milwaukee, because apparently you really need it.
with the way things are around here. Well, a Milwaukee marketing/filmmaking team has decided that one aspect of the city’s cultural scene – its film trade – is not taken as seriously as it deserves. This much is true to some extent; there is a trove of talent and ideas for great works of film, take the Milwaukee Film Festival’s local showcase, the Milwaukee Show, for example. Or, just look at MFF’s growth and rising recognition in its short, successful lifetime. Or, look at how UWM’s small film program has been named as the twentieth best film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter. On the other hand, by no means is Milwaukee home to frequent blockbuster productions. To prove to Hollywood and other film centers that Milwaukee should be a destination for feature filmmakers everywhere, Flipeleven Creative, a marketing firm that specializes in the development of websites and their subsequent promotion through highly standardized videos, has decided to blow up a car as part of a feature production. The project, aptly named “Love MKE. Blow Up a Car.” has recently raised the $10,000 to fund the project through Kickstarter, Flipeleven and partner Newaukee, a young professionals’ and visitors’ guide to the city, blew up a car downtown on Friday, Oct. 26. As exciting as blowing up cars can be and although this is a large-scale effort on behalf of all parties involved, this was, in essence, a $10,000 gimmick. But let’s look at this construc-
tively. Obviously, there was enough people (96, according to the project’s Kickstarter) excited enough about blowing up a car to contribute. The car explosion was filmed on a super expensive and high quality camera that Kyle Buckley, the project’s director, and Flipeleven won a day’s use with as part of their winning prize package for last year’s 48-Hour Film Project. The resulting car explosion footage will be used in a feature film, which will be made by local film talent. Somehow, this single film that 96 people have put just over $10,000 into will then, according to Love MKE. Blow up a Car., “show the world just how explosive Milwaukee can be.” Overall, the project is about proving to Hollywood that Milwaukee’s filmmaking resources should be used more frequently for large scale productions. This could be translated in two ways: the first being our city’s filmmakers should be granted more respect by large Los Angeles studios, which is fair, but it should rely on the filmmaker’s own abilities and not on their hometown or some one-off marketing firm blowing a car up. The second is to promote Milwaukee as a filming location for large productions (like Public Enemies) which in turn, would, in a perfect world, employ Milwaukee talent, although more often than not, these projects would have their own teams for most aspects of production. There’s also the issue of the recently revoked Wisconsin film incentives, which allowed some productions to be shot in the state on the cheap
that the car exploders are hoping to raise awareness about. But I don’t see how blowing up a shitty car in downtown Milwaukee is supposed to change the minds of Hollywood studios and the conservative state government about our state and city’s filmmaking scene, because it can’t. It’s also frustrating that the Love MKE. group believes that their locally-made action movie in which a car explodes will be a sort of benchmark for our local film scene. This is pretty upsetting for our great base of local filmmakers that have worked their asses off to make their own projects – either to mass acclaim or a few screenings locally. Backtracking to my hometown anecdote, these types of gimmick-y things probably won’t work. Prairie’s war reenactments and carp-themed New Year’s Eve events are quirky and are celebrated, albeit limitedly, locally, but no one’s moving in due to those experiences. Milwaukee, however, is not a culturally dead community – in fact, it’s incredibly vibrant. Our artistic neighbors should be celebrated for what they’ve accomplished, not left feeling that Milwaukee’s art scene should be more. Blowing up a car as an answer to a question that no one really asked will never solve anything. Instead, it will unfortunately embarrass an already accomplished film community that hasn’t warranted the help from this business whose business isn’t film.
POST
10
U W M na med “Green College”
Maegan Krause Staff Writer news@uwmpost.com
UW-Milwaukee is officially a “Green College,” according to the “Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Colleges,” making this the university's third consecutive year on the list. The Princeton Review considers colleges across the nation when creating the list, and UWM was among several Wisconsin colleges to make the cut this year. UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point scored the highest in Wisconsin with the perfect score of 99, which put them on Princeton Review's “Green Honor Roll.” Although UWM did not make the “Green Honor Roll,” the university still scored well, with a score of 85. There are many things the university is doing to improve campus sustainability. Since the 1990s UWM has installed green roof systems on several of the campuses buildings including Cambridge Commons, Sandburg Hall and the Golda Meir Library. Cambridge Commons has a rain har-
vester system on its roof, which is connected to a 20,000-gallon underground tank. The use of this rainwater is used for irrigation around campus and helps reduce city water consumption. Also on the roof of the Cambridge commons are Photovoltaic Solar Panels used to generate electricity for the building. According to UWM Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Kate Nelson, there has been a 25-40% decrease in energy across the campus, which can be attributed to the university's energy efficiency project, Energy Matters. “This is the most aggressive energy reduction program in the state right now,” Nelson said. “There are three campus gardens, aggressive and progressive recycling programs, three solar pv systems, and an energy dashboard that shows 18 buildings on campus in real time usage.” The UWM Energy Dashboard is available online. Some of the dashboard's features allow individuals to monitor the specific energy use for individual buildings or the entire campus, as well as track the use of photovoltaic energy and rainwater use. UWM also has many transportation options available to students, including shuttles for students who live in dorms off campus; a free UPASS for each stu-
dent to ride all MCTS buses free of charge; Zimride, a ride sharing network; and ZipCar Public Transportation, a service providing students, staff and the surrounding community with cars that can be rented by the hour or by the day. Other universities in Wisconsin are also making strides toward sustainability. UW-Oshkosh uses a dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester to turn plant and food waste into energy. The energy is harvested in the form of gas, which is then used to produce heat and electricity. Nelson said although UWM does not have all the same energy initiatives as other Wisconsin universities, she believes there are great things happening at UWM. “We are currently undergoing STARS, the most comprehensive national rating for campus sustainability,” she said. Cambridge Commons and the new School of Public Health are LEED Gold, Nelson added. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is a part of the Green Building Rating System, a “thirdparty certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings,” according to UWM Office of Sustainability website.
The great American smoke out
Kamisha Harris Staff Writer news@uwmpost.com
Although some may think smoking hookah is a ‘safer’ form of tobacco, these assumptions are false. Hookahs use tobacco, which contains nicotine and can be extremely addictive according to the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society. The Great American Smoke Out occurs every November and is designed to inform students of the negative effects of smoking tobacco. The American Cancer Society created the event with the goal of promoting tobacco cessation. In 2011,
the event was hosted at Sandburg Hall; this year, it was arranged at the concourse of the UW-Milwaukee Student Union for a bigger turnout and more involvement of the students. With hookah containing toxins, there are great health problems that are likely to occur such as cancer, heart disease and potential lung problems. Sharing hookah can also pass infections such as the flu and even herpes if the mouthpiece is not changed appropriately. Many people believe that because the sensation of hookah is mild that it has no harm to the body while it still poses threat to the organs of the body. A few signs to take note to of tobacco
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addiction: feeling grouchy, jittery or sad, getting headaches and trouble sleeping or thinking. Teens tend to become addicted more easily to tobacco and it is harder from them to stop. Nonsmokers are negatively affected, especially babies, and are prone to more colds, ear infections, allergies, lung infections and asthma. Kathy Staats works with the American Lung Association and helps promote tobacco free initiatives to colleges around Wisconsin. Colleen Bernstein, nurse at Norris Health Center is also petitioning for a smoke-free UWM campus. There have already been 16 colleges that have gone smoke free in the state of Wisconsin and these people are aiming to add an-
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other to the list. The Smoke Free Air Act grants the right to nonsmokers to breathe clean, fresh air. In 2010, there were many bars and public social regions that complied but this law did not affect college campuses across the state. In order to get the campus to be smoke-free, the faculty members must agree to push making it smoke-free and getting most of the faculty members to agree can be quite the challenge. Sarah Ceschin is a Peer Health Educator of Norris Heath Center and she also was the heart of the event being put together. Robert Cherry, Director Community Advocate of Policy Institute
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pushed facts about the marketing of tobacco companies. If students ever need to talk to someone about smoking or tobacco addiction, there are plenty of resources on and off campus. Corporate tobacco companies target their audience before the age of 18. With a 30% rate of youth buying tobacco, the 18-24 year old age group continues to have the highest smoking rate amongst all adults. “Tic tacs” are mints in a small container and “orbs” are capsules of nicotine in a small container as well created similarly for easy conceal of the youth.
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POST
11
Changing the game Moneyball and the Post
You mean I could work at the POST? Wow! This was by no means the conventional thought process at the time. Major League Baseball and its other scouts and executives still thought in the old way, and the A’s were the only ones to take this particular leap of faith. They built an unconventional team, challenging the odds and age-old wisdom. They acquired players everyone else undervalued because they were old or lacked a good body, for example. Many people thought it would be unsuccessful. “[Beane has] tried to come up with a new approach. My hat’s off to him,” Hall of Famer Joe Morgan said. “It won’t work.” Here at the Post, we’re taking a similar route. We are going to challenge the system. As you read about our plans for the future in this issue and our upcoming electronic writings, we are doing away with a number of journalism’s conventions, just like Beane and the Athletics did away with conventional baseball scouting. We’re killing the article as we know it today. When people actually read articles, they don’t read them in their entirety. People read news to get the facts, not necessarily all the fluff in between. We’re killing the reporter as we know it today. Individuals who are going to get jobs in the future of journalism cannot
just be skilled writers; they need proficiency in photography, web design, social media, critical thinking and analysis. Smart news outlets are already trying to adapt. We’ve taken inspiration for our new content and staff model from a number of innovators in the business, but we have yet to find someone who is doing it exactly like we’re going to do it. That is why some of this process is going to take a while. We have to build up a new website, interface and a larger staff from scratch. But once the job is done, it will be a better Post than it was before. We’re not afraid of failure. Just like Beane and Brand, we’re all in. When faced with two options – continue the inefficient weekly structure online or try something entirely new – we took the latter. Spoiler alert to those who have not yet seen Moneyball: the new statics-based thought process that nobody thought would work actually did work, mostly. The Oakland A’s beat the odds and made it to the playoffs once again, even after everyone wrote them off. The bittersweet part, though, is that they did not win it all – they were eliminated in first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Twins. Yet the ripple effect of their new evaluation model is the important part. Beane’s new way of thinking reached coast to coast in Major League Baseball. Soon, teams
began to realize what the A’s were doing and adopted the method as their own. Boston Red Sox owner John Henry took note of Beane’s success and offered him the job of running his team. Beane declined the offer. Instead, Henry decided to hire Theo Epstein (now President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs), and two years later, Theo led the Red Sox to a World Series title utilizing the new philosophy born in Oakland. As Henry told Billy Beane, “the first guy through the wall always gets bloody.” Our new model might take some time to adapt. It might not be picked up by incoming freshman right away. It might take a bit more work than we anticipated. But if we succeed, we will have created something great for the University. Not just for the Journalism department, not just for the Post itself, but for the entire student body. We’ll have gone from a good weekly print newspaper to the top of the discussion in the future of new media. We are going to strive to create a smart, innovative and engaging news outlet for you. We’re dedicated to bringing a World Series title in UW-Milwaukee, in a sense. As Billy Beane said: “If we win, we’ll have changed the game. And that’s what I want. I want it to mean something.” At the Post, we feel the same way. Wish us luck and join us for the ride.
/MKE FRINGE UWM
A&E
The UWM Post is about to embark on an exciting journey. You hold in your hands the last print issue of the Post before we make the transition to an online exclusive news outlet. As our front page editorial a few weeks ago explained, we’re broke, and we cannot print a physical newspaper for the East Side community any longer. While some view the jump to online as a death sentence or an excuse to keep producing the same content minus the expensive printing costs, we kindly disagree. The Post family has taken this situation and turned it into an opportunity. The Post that you will experience in the coming months will be entirely different than the Post you hold right now, and for the better. I’m a baseball nut stuck in a news editor’s body – you can read my first Post baseball piece a few pages back in the sports section. One of my favorite movies is Moneyball, a stellar film starring Brad Pitt, which came out last year. The movie is based on a factual book I read a few years ago, written in 2003 by journalist and author Michael Lewis. There are some correlations between the actions of the Oakland A’s in Moneyball and what we at the UWM Post are trying to accomplish. If you haven’t seen the movie, check it out. It’s incredible. The movie follows the events of the 2002 Oakland Athletics, a major league baseball team in California run by general manager Billy Beane (portrayed by Pitt). Like the Post, the A’s are financially challenged. They are playing in what Beane calls an “unfair game” – competing against teams that are much wealthier than them to try and win a championship. The previous season, the
A’s and their $39 million dollar payroll were eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Yankees, who spent a whopping $114 million dollars on players. While Beane tries to rebuild his ballclub for the next season, he stumbles upon Peter Brand – a Yale graduate who discusses the “epidemic failure” in baseball. Fast forward a decade, and journalism is experiencing an “epidemic failure” of its own. Newspapers, both big and small, are shutting down, moving online, cutting staff, running a deficit and doing whatever they can to transition into the digital age. Print advertisement has been on a steady decline for years and there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer of what the new age of journalism is. Yet. Baseball’s epidemic all those years ago, as Brand explains, is in misjudgment of players and thus mismanagement of teams. “People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players,” Brand, played by Jonah Hill, explains. “Your goal shouldn't be to buy players; your goal should be to buy wins. And in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs.” Just like journalism was stuck in an archaic print model, baseball was stuck in an age-old way of player evaluation. Traditional scouts in the movie discuss assessing players simply by looks – either how crisp their swing is, the raw tools (or skills) they possess, even their physical appearance. While talking up one young player, a scout proclaims he has “hair on his ass” and “a good face.” Players who “pass the eye-candy test” have good physical makeup and thus will be able to perform. What Beane and Brand did was something that virtually no one in baseball did at the time – say to hell with the traditional scouting methods practiced for over 150 years and embrace a player evaluation model based solely on math, statistics, and logic. “Adapt or die,” Beane said.
THE
Justin Jabs Assistant News Editor news@uwmpost.com
A True Technical Achievement Life of Pi wows in 3D Colton Dunham Staff Writer Fringe@uwmpost.com
At one point, critics and fans alike weren’t so sure that Yann Martel’s bestselling novel Life of Pi would ever make it on the silver screen. The fantasy novel was actually once deemed as “unfilmable” due to the substantial technical work that would have to go in making the film be a mere possibility. Oscar winning director Ang Lee, known for being an ambitious visionary, used state of the art digital technology to bring the majestic tale to life. The story of Life of Pi centers on the survival of a young man as he tries to endure a journey of hunger and faith on board of a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Life of Pi showcases not only Ang Lee’s progressive visual artistry but also an artistic use of 3D technology that, for the first time since it’s implementation in mainstream cinema, serves a purpose to the overall scope of the film by adding depth to the vivid imagery. We are first introduced to Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) when he’s a middle-aged man living in Canada (played by Irrfan Khan). He serves as the narrator of the film as he tells the story of his youth up to the point of his time on the lifeboat to a journalist (Rafe Spall) who’s interested in writing about Pi’s life. The narrative then
takes us back to Pi’s youth in Pondicherry, India when his peers tormented him and he becomes interested in multiple religions. His father is a zookeeper and because of his father’s occupation, Pi has grown up to love and understand animals. As Pi grows older and becomes infatuated with girls, he and his family are forced to move out of India due to the tough economic times. Although they own the animals that inhabit the zoo, they don’t own the land so they board up all of the animals including themselves on a Japanese cargo ship to a Canadian destination. In the middle of the Pacific, a devastating storm changes Pi’s life forever. The monstrous waves cause the cargo ship to sink. With no time to save his own family, Pi is forced to board a lifeboat that crashes into the fierce water. He’s not alone as he’s accompanied by a hyena, a orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger. As you can imagine, not all of the animals make it and eventually Pi is left alone with the 450-pound Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. What follows is Pi’s survival tale that tests Pi’s faith as he’s left rationed with very little food and endurance to keep himself and Richard Parker alive. Clearly the right choice was made when newcomer Suraj Sharma was cast in the role as Pi Patel. Sharma excelled at portraying the commanding role of a young man who is fearful but courageous
as he tries to survive. As the days go on, he starts to become hungry and irritable as he seeks a comforting sign from God. There’s an emotional scene near the end when he feels that he cannot go any longer out on his own. Instead, he begs for God to take his life. An interesting aspect of Life of Pi is the subject of religion and faith. Pi is a man of many faiths as he’s devoted to multiple religions. During his time on the lifeboat, his faith is tested as natural elements threaten his life. Suraj Sharma was extremely impressive and carries the emotional weight of the film on his shoulders. If Life of Pi has any Oscar potential, it’ll get nominated mainly for the technical awards because the film is truly a technical achievement. As someone who has never been a huge fan of 3D technology, it surprises me to write that I actually thought the 3D displayed in the film is the most impressive I’ve ever seen to this day. It proves that when a master filmmaker uses 3D an artistic tool rather than a profit tool, the display can be jaw dropping. Director Ang Lee continues to prove that he’s a master of his craft by developing a film that was once deemed as “unfilmable” and still managed to make beautiful film. Life of Pi a visual feast that must be experienced sitting in a dark theater surrounded by others who want to be taken away.
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OP-ED
The soundtrack of my life
What music has taught me about life and love Patricia Cole Columnist editorial@uwmpost.com Music is a way of life because it can inspire us in so many ways. It can lyrically paint a picture and draw us in with its catchy tune. Have you ever noticed that on “reality” shows the producers play a song right after a dramatic scene like a break up or the end of a friendship? Imagine you were on a reality show, what would be the soundtrack of your life? Have you ever thought about it? Lately I have been going through my own little ups and downs that life has to offer and I find myself shuffling through my iPhone for that one song that’s going to motivate me to get the hell over it! I discovered that not only is music relatable, but there are some awesome messages in songs to guide you through life and love! And the list goes…. Break Even by The Script: “What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you. What am I supposed to say when I am all chocked up, but you’re okay?” Although the guy seems to be miserable due to the loss, the girl appears to be doing well and has moved on. Lesson learned: Break ups are hard and it’s okay to mourn them, but eventually you have to move on and realize that they’re the ones missing out on an amazing person! Red by Taylor Swift: “Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met, but loving him was red.” Taylor uses colors to describe the emotion she felt while in a bad relationship. The message here is, if you feel cautious about loving someone, then listen to your intuition and proceed with caution, because you want to be sure about the person you give your heart to. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger by Kelly Clarkson: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Stand
a little taller.” Although Kelly appears to be discussing a bad relationship that made her stronger, this can apply to every part of life, including school, friends, careers, etc. The lesson here is that everything you are going through is making you a stronger person, so take whatever lesson you need to learn from that situation. Be grateful for the experience and move on! Undone by Haley Reinhart: “I’ll come around again. I know it’s not the end, but right now I’ve got nowhere to begin. I’m undone.” Haley talks about coming undone with the challenges of life and love and how sometimes it gets hard. Sometimes it’s okay to come undone. That’s a part of life, but it’s all about how you bounce back from the situation. Scared of Beautiful by Brandy: “Scared of the good more than the evil, scared of the light more than the dark, scared of the truth so much more than a lie, scared of beautiful.” Although Brandy is talking about a battle with anorexia, the messages in this song have an impact on many aspects of life and love. The lesson here is not to be afraid of being successful and to be confident in your own skin, because there are people who want you think otherwise. It’s a song about reflection and seeing everything you have to offer the world. Payphone by Maroon 5: “If happy ever after did exist, I would still be holding you like this; all those fairy tales are full of shit.” Who doesn’t love the sexy Adam Levine or the part where he saves the lady from being a hostage in a bank robbery? The lesson is that love is not a fairy tale; it’s a work in progress. It’s up to you to decide if you want to stay and work on it. Bandz a Make Her Dance by Juicy J: Okay, I had to have at least one song that was fun! So the lesson here is to loosen up, act like Ellen DeGeneres and dance! What songs have taught you lessons about life and love?
POST Five Alarm Fire by North Ave - Photos by Zak Wosewick
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OP-ED
13
Don’t get caught cramming How the party of Reagan became the party of Rand Students should start preparing for finals now Brittney Adekola Columnist editorial@uwmpost.com The fall semester is finally coming to an end. Midterms are finally over and done with, and all that is standing in the way of winter break is final projects, papers and exams. The end of the semester may always feel like a drag to some students, but it is important not to get too relaxed until the examination period is over. A lot of us put off assignments, even when we have time to get them done right away. There can be a number of reasons why we put them off, whether we’re distracted by social media or we have a fear of doing the assignment wrong. While all of this inevitably happens, one thing you should not do is cram before an exam. While we have a little under a month before the examination period begins, the best thing students can do is start preparing for exams now. Having that leeway can bring down stress and help you feel like you aren't under a tremendous amount of pressure. Cramming may work for some people because they might go with their first instinct and end up being right. However, it's not usually advised because of the negative effects it has on grades. It's better to study the material well beforehand and then revisit it either the day
before or the day of in order to retain the information. Of course, cramming is better than not looking at the material at all, but it's certainly not the best option. In the long run, you will lose out on sleep, which may result in students using stimulants to keep them awake. As a result, during the test, you will not only have a lack of concentration, but also a bad test performance. It all comes down to making a balanced schedule, as well as how committed you are to your schoolwork. You will find that you have more time for leisure if you prioritize and complete tasks in order of importance rather than just waiting until it piles up. There will always be distractors, but you can’t let that get to you. It will be more rewarding to do what you want when you know you’re caught up with what you have to do. If you break small tasks up over a course of time, it can end up being more manageable. It's also best to look into long term goals. Instead of being caught up with the immediate gratification of friends, you need to think about where you want to be five years from now. Students need to ask themselves what exactly is it that is preventing them from doing what they need to do. Once they determine what that is, all they need to do is figure out when enough is enough.
The transformation that resulted in a setback for the conservative movement William Bornhoft Former UWM Post Editorial Editor editorial@uwmpost.com “Only by taking responsibility for oneself, to the greatest extent possible, can one ever be free” Those lofty, philosophical words were written in the introduction of Rep. Paul Ryan’s 2010 A Roadmap for America’s Future, and they represent the basis of Ryan’s political ideology. The huge national debt, in Ryan’s mind, is largely to blame on an American populace that is overly dependent on expensive social programs and a government that commits itself to far too much redistribution of wealth. These beliefs are reflected in the specific cuts made in his congressional budget proposal, which has become known as the “Ryan budget.” While many conservatives praised Ryan for proposing a bold but necessary measure to solve the deficit, the unpopularity of the Ryan budget extended beyond partisan Democrats and liberals. The Ryan budget did the seemingly impossible, and brought the New York Times editorial board and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops into full agreement on a political issue. “These cuts are so severe,” read a Times editorial published in August, “that the nation’s Catholic bishops raised their voices in protest at the shredding of the nation’s moral obligations.” Some priests provided more poignant criticism outside of the bishops. Jesuit Father Thomas J.
Reese, of Georgetown University stated, “I am afraid that Chairman Ryan’s budget reflects the values of his favorite philosopher Ayn Rand rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Father Reese was correct in asserting that Ryan has had an appreciation for the works of the late atheist and objectivist philosopher. Ryan is filmed on tape stating that “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.” After receiving public criticism from various Catholic groups, Ryan distanced himself from Rand, publicly rejecting her “atheist philosophy.” Yet his public policy proposals and rhetoric continue to echo Rand’s doctrine of radical individualism. Ryan’s rigid ideology serves as a microcosm for the modern conservative movement overall. And the starkest difference between the modern conservative mind and the conservative mind of the 1980’s under the Regan presidency is the current appreciation, and sometimes even devotion, for radical libertarian thinkers like Rand. True Reagan era conservatives believed that churches, families and strong neighborhoods should be the foundation for the nation’s architecture. This is quite different from the Randian point of view, which loathes religion, community and anything else that might impede on an entirely self-interested agenda. However, the Randian point of view isn’t so different from the modern con-
servative perspective. This is the conservative that talks condescendingly about community organizing or ignores calls from religious leaders (even socially conservative ones) regarding our obligation to the poor and needy. The modern conservative is much more likely to read Ayn Rand’s “The virtue of selfishness” rather than Robert Nisbet’s “The quest for community.” And perhaps this very transformation is the reason Republicans were unable to unseat an incumbent president during a time of relatively high unemployment and whose signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, remains unpopular. The message of the Romney-Ryan ticket was void of anything that might reflect a compassionate conservative agenda. In fact, there wasn’t much of a specific policy agenda to begin with. It was light on practicalities and heavy on bold, divisive philosophical language. If then Senator Obama’s 2008 message was about “hope and change,” the Romney-Ryan message of 2012 was about the country’s “makers vs. the moochers.” Predictably, only one of these messages managed to resonate with the American people. The end of the Reagan era wasn’t marked when President Barack Obama was elected for a second time. The end of the Reagan era came when conservatives choose to derive inspiration from radical philosophy books, rather than learn from history books.
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