8
University of Wisconsin-Madison Complete campus coverage since 1892 dailycardinal.com Thursday, September 30, 2010 l “…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.” MATT MARHEINE/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO Dane County Supervisor and 77th Assembly District Representative candidate Brett Hulsey received support from outgoing Representative Spencer Black Tuesday. TIF Review Board OKs Edgewater funding By Taylor Harvey THE DAILY CARDINAL The Tax Incremental Finance Review Board voted 4-1 Wednesday in favor of a resolution that will enable funding for the Edgewater Hotel project. “At the end of the day, this has not been an easy one, but I am going to support it. The city wants this,” Dane County Treasurer Dave Worzala said. “There are good things here. This terrace has the potential to be integral in our com- munity and be a really nice piece.” The consensus of agreement among the board was hinged on the substantial economic benefit to the city. Madison resident and support- er Amy Supple said this long-term investment will bring $70 million to $200 million of incremental tax value to the city. Former alder and common council president Gary Poulson emphasized the importance in the creation of jobs through the project. “I think there is an investment here and I think it will provide enough of a bump that it is worth supporting,” Poulson said. School Board Representative Rep. Spencer Black supports Hulsey By Ariel Shapiro THE DAILY CARDINAL State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, a champion for environmental issues in the state Legislature who will not run for re-election, announced Tuesday his support for Democratic can- didate Dane County Supervisor Brett Hulsey to fill his seat. “It is my intention to vote for Brett Hulsey for Representative from the 77th Assembly District,” Black said in a state- ment. “During his 12 years on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, Brett Hulsey has established a good record with regard to keeping in touch with his constituents.” If he takes over Black’s district, Hulsey’s new constituents will include most of the student body. Hulsey said he was very pleased to receive Black’s backing, and that Black has been a good resource throughout the campaign. Because of their previous work together on environmen- tal policy, Hulsey said he was hopeful all along that he would receive Black’s endorsement. Ben Manski, the Green Party candidate, said he was not surprised Hulsey got Black’s endorsement, but only because Black is “doing what he feels his duty is to his party.” Manski, who was endorsed by prominent Wisconsin pro- gressive Democrat Ed Garvey, noted that the word “endorse- ment” does not appear in Black’s statement, and that it was issued the day of President B a r a c k Obama’s visit. “If there had been a desire for this to be a ringing endorsement, that would not be when you’d issue that statement,” Manski said. However, Hulsey said he is grateful for receiving the sup- port of a politician he admires. “He’s been an icon and hero of mine for the last 25 years,” Hulsey said. Proposed rail station presented to Urban Design By Jourdan Miller THE DAILY CARDINAL Madison’s Urban Design Commission held a special informa- tional meeting about the proposed high-speed rail station Wednesday. Carrie Cooper of the Division of Transportation System Development presented a tenta- tive blueprint for the Wisconsin High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Station. “Our vision is to connect to the Chicago hub network,” Cooper said. “Once these pieces are put in place, that connection will be able to get us anywhere in the Midwest.” Community member and Downtown Madison Inc. employ- ee Susan Schmitz expressed her support for the project along with her concern for the acces- sibility of the building for other modes of transportation. “We are very excited about the high-speed rail and the station,” Schmitz said. “However, we want this building to be multi-modal; pedestrians, buses and bikes.” Greg Uhen of Eppstein Uhen Architects commented on the prematurity of his firm’s plans. “It’s important to note we’re in early concept. We have not established a final design,” Uhen said. “We are refining our ideas as we move forward.” Additionally, the committee discussed the initiative to pre- serve the view of the lake. “The big thing is to recognize that people are going to be wait- ing there and should be able to experience the train station as well as the lake. I’m concerned about the view being lost,” committee member Todd Barnett said. Committee member Melissa Huggins said she was disappoint- ed in the building’s overall design and called the design very plain. “There is a sense of place in older train stations—they are unique,” Huggins said. Committee member Mark Smith also said he was concerned about the structure and feel of the building. “We need to have a little bit of Grand Central Station here,” Smith said. “The station needs to take prominence here. If it’s half-baked it’s going to flop.” Chairperson Richard Wagner said the committee is looking for- ward to the design as it develops. Flaming utility truck causes explosion A fire caused an explosion at the construction site of the new Target store at Hilldale Mall Wednesday morning. The firefighters that respond- ed to the scene found flames coming from the back of a util- ity track on the lowest level of the building, according to the Madison Fire Department. The truck bed was said to have been loaded with compressed gas cyl- inders and gasoline cans. Madison Fire Investigators said they believe a popped space tire caused the explosion after the tire’s exposure to the intense heat of the fire. Firefighters extinguished the flames before a great deal of damage could be done. However, there was still some heat and smoke damage to a beam near the truck. An engineer inspected the beam to check if any structural damage occurred. The cost of testing this beam could rise to $20,000, according to a statement. Damages to the truck and its contents were estimated at $50,000, the fire department said. The cause of the fire remains undetermined. Nerd alert! Early-bird bookworms could pay $5 Wednesday to sift through Memorial Library’s used book sale early as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival. For more events in Madison this week, turn to page three. ALYSSA GEORGE/THE DAILY CARDINAL tif page 3 Dave Worzala treasurer Dane County “This terrace has the potential to be integral in our community and be a really nice piece.” BLACK BADGERS DIG THEMSELVES INTO HOLE Columnist Miles Kellerman dwells on the overall message of Obama’s rally OPINION PAGE 5 l Volleyball falls to No. 7 Illinois in third straight conference loss SPORTS PAGE 8 l

The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

Citation preview

Page 1: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

University of Wisconsin-Madison Complete campus coverage since 1892 dailycardinal.com Thursday, September 30, 2010l

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

Matt Marheine/cardinal File Photo

dane county Supervisor and 77th assembly district representative candidate Brett hulsey received support from outgoing representative Spencer Black tuesday.

TIF Review Board OKs Edgewater fundingBy taylor harveythe daily cardinal

The Tax Incremental Finance Review Board voted 4-1 Wednesday in favor of a resolution that will enable funding for the Edgewater Hotel project.

“At the end of the day, this has not been an easy one, but I am going to support it. The city wants this,” Dane County Treasurer Dave Worzala said. “There are good things here. This terrace has the potential to be integral in our com-munity and be a really nice piece.”

The consensus of agreement among the board was hinged on the substantial economic benefit to the city. Madison resident and support-er Amy Supple said this long-term investment will bring $70 million to $200 million of incremental tax value to the city.

Former alder and common council president Gary Poulson emphasized the importance in the creation of jobs through the project.

“I think there is an investment here and I think it will provide enough of a bump that it is worth supporting,” Poulson said.

School Board Representative

rep. Spencer Black supports hulseyBy ariel Shapirothe daily cardinal

State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, a champion for environmental issues in the state Legislature who will not run for re-election, announced Tuesday his support for Democratic can-didate Dane County Supervisor Brett Hulsey to fill his seat.

“It is my intention to vote for Brett Hulsey for Representative from the 77th Assembly District,” Black said in a state-ment. “During his 12 years on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, Brett Hulsey has established a good record with regard to keeping in touch with his constituents.”

If he takes over Black’s district,

Hulsey’s new constituents will include most of the student body.

Hulsey said he was very pleased to receive Black’s backing, and that Black has been a good resource throughout the campaign.

Because of their previous work together on environmen-tal policy, Hulsey said he was hopeful all along that he would receive Black’s endorsement.

Ben Manski, the Green Party candidate, said he was not surprised Hulsey got Black’s endorsement, but only because Black is “doing what he feels his duty is to his party.”

Manski, who was endorsed by prominent Wisconsin pro-gressive Democrat Ed Garvey, noted that the word “endorse-

ment” does not appear in Black’s statement, and that it was issued the day of President B a r a c k Obama’s visit.

“If there had been a desire for this to be a ringing endorsement, that would not be when you’d issue that statement,” Manski said.

However, Hulsey said he is grateful for receiving the sup-port of a politician he admires.

“He’s been an icon and hero of mine for the last 25 years,” Hulsey said.

Proposed rail station presented to Urban DesignBy Jourdan Millerthe daily cardinal

Madison’s Urban Design Commission held a special informa-tional meeting about the proposed high-speed rail station Wednesday.

Carrie Cooper of the Division of Transportation System Development presented a tenta-tive blueprint for the Wisconsin High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Station.

“Our vision is to connect to the Chicago hub network,” Cooper said. “Once these pieces are put in place, that connection will be able to get us anywhere in the Midwest.”

Community member and Downtown Madison Inc. employ-ee Susan Schmitz expressed her support for the project along

with her concern for the acces-sibility of the building for other modes of transportation.

“We are very excited about the high-speed rail and the station,” Schmitz said. “However, we want this building to be multi-modal; pedestrians, buses and bikes.”

Greg Uhen of Eppstein Uhen Architects commented on the prematurity of his firm’s plans.

“It’s important to note we’re in early concept. We have not established a final design,” Uhen said. “We are refining our ideas as we move forward.”

Additionally, the committee discussed the initiative to pre-serve the view of the lake.

“The big thing is to recognize that people are going to be wait-ing there and should be able to

experience the train station as well as the lake. I’m concerned about the view being lost,” committee member Todd Barnett said.

Committee member Melissa Huggins said she was disappoint-ed in the building’s overall design and called the design very plain.

“There is a sense of place in older train stations—they are unique,” Huggins said.

Committee member Mark Smith also said he was concerned about the structure and feel of the building.

“We need to have a little bit of Grand Central Station here,” Smith said. “The station needs to take prominence here. If it’s half-baked it’s going to flop.”

Chairperson Richard Wagner said the committee is looking for-ward to the design as it develops.

Flaming utility truck causes explosionA fire caused an explosion

at the construction site of the new Target store at Hilldale Mall Wednesday morning.

The firefighters that respond-ed to the scene found flames coming from the back of a util-ity track on the lowest level of the building, according to the Madison Fire Department. The truck bed was said to have been loaded with compressed gas cyl-inders and gasoline cans.

Madison Fire Investigators said they believe a popped space tire caused the explosion after the

tire’s exposure to the intense heat of the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the flames before a great deal of damage could be done. However, there was still some heat and smoke damage to a beam near the truck. An engineer inspected the beam to check if any structural damage occurred. The cost of testing this beam could rise to $20,000, according to a statement.

Damages to the truck and its contents were estimated at $50,000, the fire department said.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

Nerd alert!

early-bird bookworms could pay $5 Wednesday to sift through Memorial library’s used book sale early as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival. For more events in Madison this week, turn to page three.

alySSa GeorGe/the daily cardinal

tif page 3

Dave Worzalatreasurer

dane county

“This terrace has the potential to be integral in our community

and be a really nice piece.”

BlaCK

BaDGerS diG theMSelVeS into hole columnist Miles Kellerman dwells on the overall message of obama’s rally

oPinion PaGe 5l Volleyball falls to no. 7 illinois in third straight conference loss SPortS PaGe 8l

Page 2: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

page twol

Steve Olikara is the former ASM Diversity Chair.

For the record

tODAY:sunnyhi 65º / lo 43º

Graduation is almost upon me, so lately I’ve been pre-occupied with dissecting

various scenarios that may come into play in my future. But rather than doing productive things like make an appointment with Career Services, I find it easier to forgo thinking too seriously about my life and instead create mental dialogue along these lines:

Will I end up living in a card-board box? Will I have to steal that cardboard box? Will my mother occasionally buy me groceries? Will I have to sell my eggs and bodily fluids for money to buy something on the Dollar Menu?

The uncertainty and anticipation is killing me. So I decided to try and tap into my two functioning brain cells… Let’s see, what are my options. Well, I already know I can’t

do math for shit, as shown by my consistently declining grades from year to year in high school.

Econ? Nope, tried that. I had to get a tutor for 101. (Embarrassing, yes.) Meteorologist? I’ve never been able to stifle my undying love for severe weather ever since I was a kid, standing on the back porch licking my index finger, holding it to the wind and proclaiming to whichever of my family members was closest that there was a “good chance we might get some thunder.” I would have one of those storm-chasing trucks, I would fly into hur-ricanes, anything! Then Weather and Climate 100 made me realize I still can’t understand even the most sim-ple of calculus concepts, so I ditched that fantasy job. Back to square one.

Some people draw inspiration from thinking about the successful people of the world. I inevitably dig myself into an even deeper hole of despair when I start to contemplate their achievements. This week alone is the record holder for the most devastating blows to my dwindling stores of self-importance.

First, like many of you I listened, in person, to a speech Tuesday at our own university by our nation’s first African-American president. Second, on Wednesday I spoke with the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Dave White, who showed a picture presentation sampling of species and parcels of land in the U.S. which he has helped re-establish and restore.

Talk about a bomb to my delicate feminine ego, which in turn led me to create a list of average jobs that might suit me and my qualifications best.

First, professional deep-fried cheese curd tester. I’m from Wisconsin. What else can I say? Except that I have already tried and ranked at least ten area establish-ments on their offerings in this genre, based on thickness of bread-ing, greasiness of curd and level of cheese-meltiness. Someday, I’ll publish a tell-all that will make mil-lions. Then I’ll finally be able to afford to eat the massive quantities of cheese I consume on a weekly basis. (I buy cheese by the brick, like a true woman. Not some shitty

pre-shredded, pre-bagged excuse for a dairy product.)

Next, a carnie. I read about this shit in the Isthmus the other week, so I know what’s up. Most impor-tantly, I think I could keep pace with or exceed them all in a contest of obscenities, hands down. Plus, I have got these huge biceps, so I can virtually lift anything, even the Tilt-a-Whirl. Just don’t ask me to get on it—I will coat everything in my path with half-digested funnel cake.

Third: … Thus, I conclude there is only

one guaranteed thing in store for me: One day I will be absorbed back into the carbon cycle, since I doubt anyone wants to cryogenically freeze my bitch ass once I kick the bucket. But I don’t even know if that means I’ll be run over tomorrow by a Metro bus or suffocate in thirty years from choking on a sausage link!

Do you also avoid thinking about important decisions? And/or start to sim-ply feel really incompetent when present-ed with tons of lofty jobs you don’t have the knowledge base for? Well, shed your tears on Victoria at [email protected].

friDAY:partly sunnyhi 63º / lo 40º

2 Thursday, September 30, 2010 dailycardinal.com/page-two

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison

community since 1892

Volume 120, Issue 222142 Vilas Communication Hall

821 University AvenueMadison, Wis., 53706-1497

(608) 262-8000 l fax (608) 262-8100

News and [email protected]

Editor in Chief Emma RollerManaging Editor Todd StevensCampus Editor Kayla JohnsonCity Editor Maggie DeGrootState Editor Ariel ShapiroEnterprise Editor Alison DirrAssociate News Editor Beth PickhardSenior News Reporters Jamie Stark

Ashley DavisOpinion Editors Dan Tollefson

Samantha WitthuhnEditorial Board Chair Hannah FurfaroArts Editors Jacqueline O’Reilly

Jon MitchellSports Editors Mark Bennett

Parker GabrielPage Two Editor Victoria StatzFeatures Editor Madeline AndersonPhoto Editors Danny Marchewka

Ben PiersonGraphics Editors Caitlin Kirihara

Natasha SoglinMultimedia Editors Eddy Cevilla

Briana NavaCopy Chiefs Anna Jeon

Margaret RaimannNico SavidgeKyle Sparks

Copy Editors Lauren Foley, Hannah Giese, Jenny Peek, Ted Porath, Ben

Siegel, Sara Vinson

Business and [email protected]

Business Manager Cole WenzelAdvertising Manager Blair PollardAccounts Receivable Manager Michael CroninBilling Manager Mindy CummingsSenior Account Executive Mara GreenwaldAccount Executives Sasha Byaliy

Taylor GrubbsGraphic Designer Jaime FlynnWeb Director Eric HarrisMarketing Director Erica Rykal

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

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

Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief.

The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both.

Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager.

Letters Policy: Letters must be word processed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to [email protected].

© 2010, The Daily Cardinal Media CorporationISSN 0011-5398

Editorial BoardHannah Furfaro

Emma Roller Nico Savidge Samuel Todd Stevens Dan Tollefson

Samantha Witthuhn

l

l

Board of Directors Board President: Jason Stein

Emma Roller Cole WenzelSamuel Todd Stevens Blair Pollard

Vince Filak Janet Larson Alex Kusters Jenny Sereno

Chris Drosner Melissa Anderson Ron Luskin Joan Herzing

l

l

l

l

l

l

Victoria really needs an aptitude test

Victoria statzthe tor-ture chamber

Choosing a beer is a lot like rent-ing a movie, there are so damn many and I would like to experience every one, but all I have is ten bucks and one night. So I shop and I shop until I find a new beer that looks wor-thy with the right price and finally I decided on this friendly looking chap. At home I crack it open and think and taste and enjoy.

This week it is Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Dortmunder Gold Lager. I don’t know what it was, but from first foamy taste I was in love.

I thought it was like an Oktoberfest with a little more bite. So in my ramblings I think of other ways to describe this beer. Somehow my first thoughts are of sauerkraut and bratwurst, then to the incred-ible, spicy Dortmunder mustard to put on them, then back to the beer. Then it struck me that the three work perfectly together, like a real working man’s beer should.

Anyway, it’s damn near October and you Wisconsin girls and boys all know what time of year it is:

Oktoberfest! Time to dust off your bundhosen and dirndls, time to celebrate the great glory of your Bavarian heritage, time to drink!

Wait a second, I’m not from Wisconsin, nor am I Bavarian (though my grandma claims she has an uncle or something from Baden-Baden which is in the state right next to it), nor do I own a pair of bundhosen—or even lederhosen, (though my brother-in-law does). The best part is it doesn’t matter. It’s the time of year some of us pre-tend to be German, dance to polka and drink German-style beer. So we choose Oktoberfest beers seen on the shelves. Exactly why I had one last night—and it was delicious.

All I know is that Oktoberfest beers are orange and taste like creamy malty, slightly spicy, copper-colored heaven; I thought Dortmunder Gold was one of these. Welp, come to find out Dortmund is nowhere near Bavaria, but they still make damn good beer. Dortmund is in the northwest and Bavaria is the southeast, me calling Dortmunder a Bavarian could be like calling aged California dairy products cheese.

Anyway, onto the beer analy-sis. Great Lakes Brewing Company

describes the Dortmunder style as less dry than a pilsner (Becks, Pilsner Urquell) and less malty than a Munich style lager (think Spaten’s Optimator toned down a few notch-es)—pretty much an Oktoberfest with a little more bite.

The beer geeks call GLBC’s Dortmunder Gold things like bready, biscuity, with flavors like damp orange peels, wet grains, dry hops, with a solid blah blah blah. I’m no beer nerd because I would rather just enjoy the damn beer instead of over analyzing it—it’s akin to how we’re all so keen to graphics and stuff when we watch movies that we forget the plot and the suspense, instead worry-ing about the stupid CGI—this isn’t “King Kong,” this is beer. Drink it, enjoy it, don’t worry about it, unless you’re brewing it—then go for it. All I can advise is to drink this beer, drink it in a glass or a stein near 48° F and enjoy the hell out of it.

—Benji Pierson

New Beer thursday

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager

Great LakesDortmunder Gold Lager

Martin Schultz, a 67 year-old engi-neering professor known for his tough grading and distant relationship with his students, is regaining popularity by sharing intimate details of irresponsible and often illegal behavior he exhibited over thirty years ago. While Professor Schultz had previously been content with his reputation as a stern professor that challenged his students, he decided to share intimate details of his past with students after seeing comments about him on ratemyprofessor.com. Schultz, who was interviewed for this article, said that he was “shocked” when he

read student comments on the Rate My Professor website that described him as “a fucking douche” and a “miserable, sad, lonely old man who will die alone if there is any justice in this world.”

“A few of those comments really stung,” Schultz said. “I mean, I am certainly a tough grader so I would understand if a student or two might say that my course is challenging, but I had no idea that students’ hatred for me went so far as to wish that I never again find love before my death,” Schultz continued somberly.

Professor Schultz had pre-viously been married, but divorced nearly twenty years ago.

According to Schultz, it was after reading these harsh student comments that he decided to change his teaching

style. He replaced his blue blazer that he came to class wearing for nearly thirty years with a leather jacket with a mari-juana plant stitched on the back and began to swear frequently during the class. Schultz also incorporated these changes into his grading by writing “you fucking rocked that shit” on “A” papers.

After the students began to respond positively to these changes, Schultz went a step further by subtly integrating tales of his own drug abuse as well as a few close calls he had with police back in the 1970s, when he was pulled over on his motorcycle for suspicion of DUI after “having ten or eleven shots of tequila.” According to Schultz, the changes have made students feel far more comfortable with him, and his ratemyprofessor.

com score has increased dramatically.“The key to my success, I think,

is not simply telling my students these stories but integrating them into the course material in a subtle way,” Schultz said. For example, a student came to me the other day with questions over a test he had just failed. I tried to cheer him up by telling him that he got closer to a D than I got to getting a DUI on that motorcycle, which is pretty damn close. The student didn’t laugh but I think he really appreciated my sense of humor because he flipped me the bird and walked out, which I think, is his way of sort of acknowledging that I’m an edgier teacher now and I’m OK with that sort of thing.”

—Phil Vesselinovitch

Hard-ass professor regains popularity among students with tales of intoxicated motorcycle riding, marijuana use

campus Briefs The best in fake news delivered in briefs for your reading pleasure

Page 3: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

newsdailycardinal.com/news Thursday, September 30, 2010 3l

Emily Chan/The daily cardinal

aSM Vice chair adam Johnson proposed to move responsibility of the internal budget away from the Finance committee Wednesday.

ASM debates control of $1.1 million budgetBy andrew KasperThe daily cardinal

Although in the past the Finance Committee has drafted the over $1.1 million inter-nal budget, some ASM leaders are now pushing to have that changed.

The changes, which passed through the first phase of rati-fication in a 13-3 vote dur-ing Wednesday’s student coun-cil meeting, aim to move the responsibility of drafting the ini-tial budget to the Coordinating Council, which is comprised of the chairs of all the separate committees.

ASM’s internal budget pays the stipends of some student council members, provides direct student services and accounts for ASM programming and administration.

Most members of the stu-dent council spoke positively of the proposed bylaw changes.

The chair of the Finance Committee, Matt Beemsterboer, even came out in support of the changes and said his committee should not have the responsibil-ity of drafting the budget.

“[The Finance Committee] allocates event, travel and opera-tions grants, and the only rea-

son we have anything to do with internal budget right now is because our name is the ‘Finance Committee,’” said Beemsterboer, who hopes to change the com-mittee’s name to the Grant Committee come spring.

Yet other members of the council expressed concerns about the changes.

Representative Max Love said he fears the changes may con-centrate too much power in the hands of the council and would have preferred that the com-mittee chairs work within the existing system in cooperation with the Finance Committee—which is composed primarily of students who are part of the Student Council.

Vice Chair Adam Johnson, who proposed the bylaw chang-es, said the changes would improve the internal budget by avoiding a scenario in which portions of the budget go unused and facilitate a more effective delegation of funds.

Johnson believes the chairs of the committees have the best idea of ASM’s budgetary needs.

The proposed changes need to be brought back to the coun-cil for a second approval by two-thirds vote at the next meeting.

Milwaukee in top five poorest cities, according to CensusBy ariel ShapiroThe daily cardinal

Statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday named Milwaukee the fourth poorest large city in the country in 2009.

The overall poverty rate in Milwaukee in 2009 jumped by 3.6 points to 27 percent, a rate only surpassed by Buffalo at 28.8 percent, Cleveland at 35 percent and Detroit at 36.4 percent.

“Tom has said it’s unaccept-able,” said Phil Walzack, spokes-person for Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candi-date Tom Barrett, adding that these statistics show the necessity to create an economic environ-ment hospitable to growth.

Milwaukee County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker’s spokes-person Jill Bader said “it’s unac-ceptable that our state includes the fourth poorest city in the country.”

“This is yet another example of disastrous [Gov.] Jim Doyle and Tom Barrett policies that are costing jobs and hurting families

across Wisconsin, and especially in Milwaukee,” she said.

Madison also saw a significant rise in poverty between 2008 and 2009, with a poverty rate of 21.4 percent, 3.7 points higher than the year before.

Of those who were over 25 years old and below the pov-erty line in Madison in 2009, 51.1 percent received a bachelor’s degree and 22.2 percent received some sort of graduate degree.

Although the state’s overall poverty rate rose by 2 points to 12.4 percent in 2009, it was ranked 31st in the Union, and was 1.9 percentage points below the national average.

UW System receives grants for adult students

The University of Wisconsin System was recently rewarded a four-year, $800,000 grant by the Lumina Foundation for Education to help adults obtain college degrees.

The grant will give adults who have had previous college experi-ence a chance to finish and receive a college degree. The grant will provide increased opportunities to adults so that they can earn college credit and use the credits toward degrees within the UW System.

The Lumina Foundation is supporting 19 large-scale proj-ects across the country, with each program focused on different areas of need.

The UW System will use this grant to expand its Prior Learning Assessment program-ming, which is given to future adult students to evaluate their prior learning experiences, including past job trainings and skills. Various standardized tests are used for the assessments.

With the help of this grant, the UW System hopes more adult students with previous col-lege experience will complete a degree within this program.

Lucy Mathiak, the motion’s sole rejecter, said she could not sup-port a project that interferes with the school tax dollars.

“At the end of the day we are responsible for education and the well-being of our school dis-trict, which is already suffering,” Mathiak said.

Mathiak, in addition to a number of other opposing individuals, argued the expect-ed occupancy rates are diffi-cult to project because of the shrinking hotel business. Some said they fear that in the end, the expansion project is going to cost taxpayers instead of benefit them.

“I am trying to anticipate down the road not just what hap-pens with this, but the impact of property taxes that will come in and the impact on the group that I represent,” Mathiak said.

tif from page 1

Wisconsin Book FestivalThis year’s Wisconsin Book Festival celebrates literature with book sales, author lectures and writing

workshops focused on the theme of beliefs runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 at various local bookstores and libraries.

Ethnic StudiesOct. 1-7 is a week to celebrate Ethnic Studies nationwide, through multi-cultural education panels,

lectures and discussions. The week kicks off Monday with a panel featuring the UW-Madison Ethnic Studies program founders at the Pyle Center from 4-7 p.m.

Crossroads Café openingThe Crossroads Café in the new Education Building is celebrating its grand opening this week. Stop

by for samples of Steep and Brew coffee.

Diversity ForumUW-Madison’s annual diversity forum is today from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union

Theater. The event, named Cultivating Excellence: Nurturing the Seeds of Success, will feature Vice Provost of Diversity and Climate Damon Williams and discuss the progress of inclusive excellence at the university.

Coming up on campus

Jill Baderspokesperson

Scott Walker

“It’sunacceptablethatourstateincludesthefourthpoorestcity

inthecountry.”

Page 4: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

features

E very summer there is that one Hollywood block-buster that gains so much

hype everyone seems to be talk-ing about it through the end of the year. This summer was no exception. Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” had movie critics, the blogosphere and moviegoers a buzz with the idea of controlling our dreams—a topic everyone can relate to.

People experience dreams throughout their life, and yet they are still one of the big-gest mysteries in human behav-ior, particularly when they evolve into nightmares.

Sleep specialist Dr. Ruth Benca, a psychiatry professor and director of the Center of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research at UW-Madison, has spent much of her career researching the topic of sleep and dreams.

“Dreaming is basically some-thing your brain does when it is not interacting with the environ-ment,” Benca said.

Although “Inception” has brought the idea of manipulating dreams to the mainstream, the idea of controlling the content of our dreams through lucid dream-ing has been a topic of conversa-tion with sleep researchers and students alike.

Benca said lucid dreaming is when “people have the ability to be conscious or awake while they are dreaming.”

David Plante, an assis-tant professor of psychiatry at UW-Madison, said lucid dream-ing also consists of having input on what the dream is about.

“The individual is aware that they are dreaming but they also have the ability to manipulate their dream content to varying degrees,” Plante said.

Nolan’s science-fiction film reflects this idea, as well as the confusion that most people feel when they are asleep and don’t know what is real and what is just their imagination.

“Dreaming is really interesting from the standpoint of how there is this quality of whatever we are dreaming is absolutely real to us,” Benca said.

This false sense of reality in a dream state can be unpleasant when the emotional content of our dreams become negative and turn

into nightmares.In fact, negative emotions are

more common in dreams than positive ones, according to Benca. This can contribute to people wanting to control their dreams so they may rid themselves of scary thoughts and sleepless nights.

In a New York Times arti-cle from August 2010 titled, “Preparation for Aggression,” author Allan Hobson, who is a New York Times contributor and professor at Harvard’s medical school, states that negative dreams actually function as an evolution-ary tool for survival.

“REM sleep, the brain state most highly correlated with anx-ious, angry dreams, occurs late in evolution and early in the lives of those creatures which have REM,” Hobson writes. “These two facts suggest that REM (and its neces-sarily bad-feeling dreams) is impor-tant to development and survival.”

For humans, negative dreams are not only an evolutionary means of survival against other species but also a means of sur-vival in our social world, accord-ing to Hobson.

“Via rehearsal, bad feelings in dreams can prepare us for bad feelings in our social lives,” Hobson said.

Although UW-Madison senior Devin Mckee understands Hobson’s theory, he would prefer not to experience nightmares if it was technologically possible.

“I personally would replace nightmares with better dreams,” Mckee said. “[After] waking up from a bad dream I feel stressed out which makes it hard for me to fall back asleep.”

It is not uncommon for night-mares to have a negative effect on sleep, according to Plante.

“Nightmares can cause specific problems for people such as hav-ing difficulty falling back to sleep or [the] fear [of ] falling back to sleep because of the nightmares.” Plante said.

Yet these kinds of dreams may have a significant impact on people’s subconscious thoughts and behaviors.

In a research study conducted at the university, rats were used as models to test the importance of REM sleep.

For several nights each rat was able to fall asleep but was never

allowed to fall into REM sleep. The rats were then given tests that simulated a threatening situation that a rat would experience in the wild. The animals acted without using the instinctual behaviors that rats normally display when in danger.

If the rats would have displayed this behavior in the wild, their sur-vival would have been in jeopardy.

Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo, who was quoted in a Psychology Today article that featured the experiment, believes negative dreams can function as practice for frightening situations.

“The primary function of negative dreams is rehearsal for similar real events,” Revonsuo said. “So that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in compa-rable real situations.”

This theory reflects UW-Madison senior Sasha Gasparian’s nightmares.

“Sometimes I am being chased by someone or that an intrud-er is breaking into my house,” Gasparian said.

Research suggests that if Gasparian didn’t have these types of dreams, she may not be as well prepared to handle a similar real- life situation.

Fellow UW-Madison senior Sarah Bewitz believes that Hobson’s and Revonsuo’s theories are valid, adding that she wouldn’t want to get rid of her mind’s capacity to work things out on its own.

“I believe when you dream your mind is free from your abil-ity to control it,” Bewitz said.

If nightmares are getting in the way of sleep, Benca says lucid dreaming is one way people can control their dreams on their own.

The ability to perform lucid dreaming varies widely among people. However, an individual can always improve their ability to lucid dream, according to Benca.

“Just like most things in life, the more you practice [lucid dreaming] the better you will become.” she said.

In the end, Benca says the importance of dreams and night-mares, and the effects of con-trolling them depends on the function of sleep. “And the short answer to that is, we don’t know,” she said.

l4 Thursday, September 30, 2010 dailycardinal.com/features

student life

Sleep experts suggest it may be possible to manipulate the content of bad dreams. But could there be a purpose to our nightmares? Story by Peter Swanson

NataSha SogliN/The daily cardinal

Page 5: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

dailycardinal.com/opinion Thursday, September 30, 2010 5opinionYES WE CAN... be a bit forgetful

B arack Obama has his fair share of critics. He’s been labeled a Socialist, a Muslim, a Marxist,

a Communist, Obama Bin Laden, Hitler and, according to Glenn Beck, a guy with a, “deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture.” But regardless of your political affiliation or bias, you have to admit the guy has got a way with words. And it’s a good thing too, because after waiting on Park Street for three hours, almost get-ting trampled in a rushing mob, suf-fering through an overly-enthusiastic emcee and watching a funerary perfor-mance by The National, anything less than spectacular would have been a disappointment. For those of us lucky enough to gain access to Library Mall, our expectations of the speech were more than fulfilled.

But in order to fully gauge the quality of the president’s speech, we must also remember the context and setting in which it was given. When Barack Obama stepped up to the stage and said, “Hello Wisconsin!” he was not addressing the general public. This was a Democratic rally at a famously Democratic university.

The president came to Madison as a cheerleader for the Democratic Party, whose candidates at multiple levels of Wisconsin politics are losing ground to Republican challengers. As expected, the crowd ate it up and Obama fever seemed to awaken, if at least temporar-ily, the sleeping giant that is the young, undecided voting population. But now that the dust has settled, we can appre-ciate Obama’s speech not simply for the style in which it was delivered, but also for the message it conveyed.

The speech obviously geared itself towards supporting Wisconsin politi-cal candidates Russ Feingold and Tom Barrett, but ultimately it was address-ing the midterm elections as a whole.

In his attempt to influence the

heated midterm congressional contests across the nation between Democrats and Republicans, Obama is fighting an uphill battle. Congressional losses in the first midterm elections after a new president is elected are almost always high. This phenomenon, referred to as surge and decline, exemplifies the effect of Obama’s campaign on local elec-tions in 2008. Many Democrats won in traditionally Republican voting dis-tricts by riding the coattails of Obama’s popularity and increased Democratic voter turnout. These narrow victors now suffer from the inevitably unre-alistic expectations of a new president, and the backlash of increased criticism of the party as a whole.

Much of the negativity towards Obama’s first two years in office is a result of forgetfulness and a lack of patience. As Obama highlighted in his speech, his administration has achieved a number of political mile-stones. The health care plan’s passage is going to have a massive effect on the medical community of this country, and has significant meaning for us as students. The ability to stay on your parent’s insurance until age 26 is a valu-able safety net in an economy where insurance-providing jobs are uncertain.

Student loan reform, taking effect in 2014, will cap annual repayments to private banks to 10 percent of our income, while introducing lower inter-est rates and higher approval rates. Obama’s equal work bill, geared toward gender equality in the workplace, will allow women to sue companies for unequal pay beyond the 180 day limit previously set by the a Supreme Court decision in 2007. The economy also seems to be slowly recovering, and the Obama administration has approved 2,500 highway projects, estimated to provide over 250,000 jobs. In educa-tion, Obama has created a $2,500 tax credit for tuition paying purposes, estimated to save five million students about $9 billion.

This list of achievements highlights those that affect us most as students and residents of Wisconsin, but fails to address potentially negative aspects of Obama’s first two years as president.

The government bailouts rewarded the greed and incompetence of big business, and many economists have feared that its passage was unnecessary. Furthermore, billions of dollars have been granted without strong restric-tions, opening the door to repeated offenses by irresponsible banks.

In foreign policy, the president has improved our national image and standing with much of the world. We still continue to fight in the Middle East, and promises of complete remov-al seem unrealistic, if not contrary to an increased military presence as a result of decreasing relations with Iran and Pakistan. Finally, on the issue of gay and lesbian equality, Obama has been far too slow to act on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that is an unconsti-tutional violation of our soldier’s right to freedom of speech and expression.

Obviously the first two years of Obama’s presidency has had its highs and lows. But we’re also observing an administration attempting to make progress while simultaneously address-ing the economic, domestic and for-eign dilemmas brought on by eight years of Republican leadership.

It is our duty to hold our elected leaders responsible for their actions and to question their decisions as a means of checking their power. But the misinformed condemnation of Barack Obama at every stage of his presidency has ignored the achievements of his administration. Not helping progress is a Republican Party that refuses to collaborate and work with Democrats, even if they agree. In doing so the GOP has proved that the self-interest of their party is of a higher priority than the interests of the nation.

If we take a step back and really look at what this administration has accomplished in spite of the resistance of Republicans and the mess they walked into, they deserve another two years before we completely write them off. Let’s not grade their paper while it’s still only in its rough draft.

Miles Kellerman is a sopho-more with an undecided major. Please send al l f eedback to [email protected]

milES kEllErmANopinion columnist

Last week, members of the Campus Women’s Center cel-ebrated reinstatement of funding for their group for the next two years. An undercover audit show-ing the CWC followed through with direct services they claim to provide, sealed the deal for CWC and ensured the group the $100,000 they requested.

Although we are glad CWC’s funding was approved, using an undercover audit as the lynchpin for whether or not to grant fund-ing is problematic on many fronts.

According to e-mail corre-spondence between SSFC Chair Matt Manes and Accountability Liaison Brenden Leib, the audit itself seemed to consist of a stroll through the CWC office that ended with Leib requesting to join a peer council advising group. According to Manes, if the SSFC had not received validation the CWC provided the services they said, it is “highly question-able” whether CWC would have received funds.

It is troublesome that one per-son’s anecdotal experience in the CWC office and his review of CWC’s website was enough to decide whether or not the group would get funding. A friendly encounter with a CWC mem-ber and a paragraph-long e-mail “report” of the experience should not have so much clout when it comes to thousands of dollars of segregated fees.

However this is not Leib’s fault. Manes’ decision to con-duct an undercover audit of CWC without the knowledge of CWC or the other SSFC

committee members sounds a lot like ignorant kids play-ing “spy.” The decision to only audit CWC rather than all GSSF groups is also alarming. SSFC member Aliyya Terry said all GSSF groups should receive the “same level of scrutiny,” and we agree that targeting some groups and not others is an unfair way to determine funding eligibility.

Conducting audits is an impor-tant way to ensure accountability among GSSF groups. However, if SSFC wants to conduct audits in the future, it should tell all GSSF groups at the beginning of the semester that they will be audited, and all members of the committee should be told when and where the audits will take place.

Instead of taking one per-son for his word, a formalized approach with written procedures should be used for all audits. The accountability liaison should face questions from all SSFC mem-bers after the audit is conducted and members of the GSSF groups should be able to review their audit report.

When it comes down to it, an “audit” conducted without any real approved procedures and a paragraph-long e-mail from Leib determined where $100,000 worth of segregated fees went. It was poor judgment on the part of Manes to use this e-mailed audit report as the determining factor for funding, and it was irresponsible for him to conduct the audit without the knowledge of the committee. We hope other SSFC members will help keep this watchdog position in check in the future.

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

Cardinal View editorials represent The Daily Cardinal’s organizational opinion. Each editorial is crafted independent of news coverage.

view

‘secret’ ssfc audit unacceptable

l

Page 6: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

6 l Thursday, September 30, 2010 dailycardinal.com/comics comics

Starting to crack the whip© Puzzles by Pappocom

Evil Bird By Caitlin Kirihara [email protected]

Branching Out By Brendan Sullivan [email protected]

Crustaches By Patrick Remington [email protected]

Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Today’s Sudoku

OPPOSITE COUPLES

ACROSS 1 Use a divining rod 6 Renowned Dadaist 9 Society’s collective

attitude 14 Belted constellation 15 Bygone fl ightless bird 16 Daughter of a sibling 17 Large-eyed tree-

climber 18 “___ Dieu!” (French

exclamation) 19 A maternal relation 20 Thoroughly 23 ‘50s sitcom staple 24 Color gradation 25 In a hurry 27 Virginity 32 Wolfe in Stout books 33 Used to possess 34 Bird found in Florida 36 Better protected 39 Former orchard spray 41 “___ Joe’s” (sandwich

board message) 43 Dorothy’s pooch 44 Mail, as a payment 46 Fiber for cordage 48 “Casey at the Bat”

fi nale 49 Indian city in

“Slumdog Millionaire” 51 Related to meanings 53 Instrument panel

56 Former capital of Japan

57 It made Leary bleary? 58 Good times and bad 64 Bitter-tasting 66 The only even prime

number 67 A 10, by some

standards 68 Type of orange 69 Brain scan, briefl y 70 Send to seventh

heaven 71 Aquatic bird similar to

a loon 72 Nineteenth of 26 73 Asian goat antelope

DOWN 1 One who is not very

bright 2 Sandwich cookie 3 Hardly a he-man 4 Some bridge hands 5 Destination-bound 6 Hunter’s need 7 Canine anchor 8 They have two legs 9 Some are bitter or

sworn 10 What whitesmiths

work with 11 Range of the entire

body 12 Based on the number

eight

13 Far from four-star 21 Biscuit-hued 22 Have and hold? 26 Campus group, for

short 27 Blacken, as steak 28 Companion of hearty 29 Eden pair 30 Refrain syllables 31 Abominable

Snowmen 35 Zap with a stun gun 37 Container for small

toiletries 38 Campus marchers’

org. 40 “Arranges” a prize

fi ght 42 Domesticated 45 Misfortune 47 Edinburgh boys 50 Yodeling spot,

perhaps 52 Lo mein ingredient 53 “The Trolley Song”

sound 54 Trash-talking Muppet? 55 Compact fi rst name? 59 Deeply astounds 60 Holiday egg drinks 61 Depreciation

consideration 62 Partnership for Peace

gp. 63 Did away with, as a

dragon 65 CSA soldier, for short

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Dookingham Palace By Natasha Soglin [email protected]

I knew there was a reason to fear them. The electric chair, used to sentence people to death, was invented by a dentist.

Washington and the Bear By Derek Sandberg [email protected]

Beeramid Classic By Ryan Matthes [email protected]

Page 7: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

artsdailycardinal.com/arts Thursday, September 30, 2010 • 7

David Saliterman, Alec Lehrman and Ryan Lehrman (L-R) originally hail from Minnesota, but they’ve found themselves perfectly comfortable in the Madison music scene performing as The 5th Suit.

danny Marchewka/The DAiLy cARDinAL

By aimee katzThe DAiLy cARDinAL

Since their early teenage years, Alec Lehrman, Ryan Lehrman and David Saliterman have been playing music together. Jazzed at the idea of a broth-er-type band, they first performed as a group in junior high school. “In the beginning, we were really just jamming together and never really got together for practice,” Ryan explained. “But after a year, we began performing live and making music as a group.”

Now, Alec, Ryan and David togeth-er comprise a band dubbed “The 5th Suit.” The trio is most inspired by blues and jazz, thus most of their music focuses strongly on instrument precision.

“A lot of people forget that you need to be able to play your instru-ment before you go into the studio” Alec said. “We want to bring it back to playing our instruments well ... we’re all very proficient and skilled.”

With Alec on guitar and vocals, Ryan on drums and David on bass, The 5th Suit has covered a number of songs, but by no means are they strict-ly a cover band. Their original song “Daddy’s Little Angel” captures the essence of the sound this band is trying to establish–an integration of music and lyrics that reflects a collaborative effort of all three band members. The layers of percussion and strings, varied tempo and soft vocals put the listener at complete ease. Additionally, like

many other 5th Suit tracks, there is a strong focus on the blending of differ-ent sounds from different instruments.

Alec defines the style of The 5th Suit as “audio-chocolate,” which is a result of what he describes as the band’s “raw yet connected sound.” “We con-centrate on the emotion of the music,” he added.

One can easily perceive the influ-ence of other musician in The 5th Suit’s music. “Each of us has our own niche of music that we’re inspired by,” said Ryan. “Music is an outlet for any kind of emotion … we want to express [emotions] in a way that other people understand.”

Though The 5th Suit has not released a full-length album yet, they prefer the experience of catering to an audience. “You don’t get energy from the basement walls … it’s fun to have the audience respond at live shows,” Alec said. The 5th Suit are undoubtedly a group that feeds off the audience’s atti-tude, “The more people that are there, the better we sound,” David added.

The members of The 5th Suit stress that they want the audience to relate to their music. The lyrics and music of each of their original songs are a group effort, with each member contributing to each song in some shape or form.

“Most of the songs we write solo and bring to set sound much differ-ent; it really just reflects how much collaboration we have in our music,” said David.

“We love that [our music] is mold-ed by everyone’s hands,” Ryan added.

The idea behind the song “Crazed” is the essence of what The 5th Suit attempts to convey in their music. On this song, Alec sings, “I said hey / all my answers never getting better / but now I’d like to think / the way to change ain’t a different name.” By writ-ing music about poignant issues that likely affect everyone at some point in life, they achieve the goal of allowing their listeners to enjoy and connect to their music.

The 5th Suit are elated to be performing at Der Rathskeller this Thursday. This show will be their first for audiences of all ages, and promises to be a fun time for all who attend. Since The 5th Suit are indeed loud, the good acoustics at the Union should create a congenial atmosphere.

At first listen, one can see the strong passion The 5th Suit has for their music. Looking to release an album in the coming months, they have strong ambitions and, in light of their musical prowess, should be an absolute success. “If people are going to go out, go out and see music,” David said. “No matter who you’re seeing, you’re watching this musician collective of Madison ... people would be happier if they saw more music.”

The 5th Suit will be playing at Der Rathskeller on Thursday, Sept 30 at 9:30 pm.

5th Suit yourself tonightSelf-described as “audio chocolate,” 5th Suit ready to rock Rath

Preaching to the choir: when musicians overextend their political opinions

Finally acting their ‘Age’ By noah kiseThe DAiLy cARDinAL

For a while now, No Age has cap-tured the interest of many indie-rock fans with their noisy punk music and notorious live performances. However, the previous full-length releases from this guitar-and-drums duo have con-sistently fallen short of what the band seems capable of. Randy Randall’s tendency to over-rely on distorted feedback and Dean Spunt’s less-than-trained singing voice have stifled their previ-ous efforts, although brilliant songs like “Teen Creeps” and “Losing Feeling” revealed a band full of promise. On Everything in Between, that promise is realized.

The album opens with a one-two punch of great songs, begin-ning with the gradually building “Life Prowler.” This is a change-up from past No Age material, with less thud in the drums and less distortion in the guitars. Your speakers won’t blow up, but this newfound restraint allows their songwriting to shine through, unmuddled by the lo-fi production that was a mainstay on Weirdo Rippers and Nouns. “Glitter” follows suit, with the addition of screeching feed-back that doesn’t overpower the mix, but remains present providing har-monic accents that give deeper feeling to the choruses.

Any fears of No Age going soft are quickly stifled by the blistering punk rock of “Fever Dreaming” and “Shed and Transcend.” The latter finds Randall using squealing feedback to eerie effect, a ghostly prelude to the thunderous pop gem that emerges from the mist. The former, which clocks in at 3:48, is evidence that No Age have begun to flesh out their material. The sing-along choruses of past No Age albums that almost always receded just as they became hummable repeat here on Everything in Between, allowing for songs that neither overstay their welcome nor leave the listener wanting more.

No Age experiment with their tone more on this record, and these rewarding detours from their familiar sound reflect the depth of their song-writing ability. The mostly acoustic “Common Heat,” guitar instrumental “Katerpillar” and upright piano-based “Positive Amputation” serve to thicken the already lush sound of No Age. The looping pedal employed on this record creates a thick wall of sound best suited to headphone listening, where all the

nuances of these multi-layered i n s t r u m e n t s shine through the haze of feed-back. “Dusted,” with its numer-ous electronic tracks and “Depletion,” a scorcher that utilizes several

layers of electric guitars, particularly benefit from this method of listening.

As always, No Age’s vocals are muddled and difficult to under-stand, which focuses the listener’s attention to their hidden melodies in the context of the cacophonous tapestry over which they are smat-tered. This format is the best fit for Spunt’s voice, which is cer-tainly unconventional and at times painfully flat. Not even the best production and guise of feeling can hide the moments when he is off-key, and for some listeners this is the crutch that keeps No Age from being listenable. Despite many melodic songs, there are a few tracks which lag behind the rest and bring the full album listening experience down a few pegs as a result. “Skinned,” for example, cov-ers a weak melody with distracting offbeat bit-crunched drums: find-ing this hook among this track’s cacophony is a fool’s errand.

“Chemtrails” finishes the album with a bang, beginning with Spunt and Randall singing call and response followed by what actually sounds like fireworks. The percussive interlude gives way to one last bombastic chorus, and No Age leave us with the message, “Don’t wanna be anything like you.” One would expect nothing less from a band heavily rooted in spastic lo-fi bliss, and these moments of youthful rebellion shine even brighter when scattered among the balancing creative depth of Everything in Between.

Everything in Between no age

cd reVIew

T hree or four glasses of wine into the set, Matt Berninger declared, “This one’s for the

swing states.”Earlier that evening, Berninger’s

band, The National, played at a rally for President Barack Obama. Two years ago, the band’s song “Fake Empire” was featured in Obama’s predominant campaign video. Earlier that year, the band designed a T-shirt with Obama’s face above the words “Mr. November”—a clear play on both the November election and the National’s song of the same name. The National weren’t the only ones—they shared the stage Tuesday with Ben Harper and Mama Digdown’s Brass Band, and were one of sev-

eral bands that designed T-shirts to support Obama’s presidential cam-paign—but that’s the whole idea. Somewhere between Is This It and Living With the Living, more and more musicians started throwing their hats in the political ring. Ultimately, it leaves us with two big questions: Does it matter? Should it?

P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige, The Foo Fighters—file these under: well-known artists who tried and failed to accomplish anything in the 2004 presidential election. That didn’t dis-suade bands like No Age and Conor Oberst from coming out in sup-port of Obama in 2008, though that seemed more indicative of a gen-eration’s surging involvement than a musical revolution. But bands are still at it. Case in point: The Sound Strike.

The Sound Strike was organized this past summer in opposition to the proposed immigration reform legisla-tion in Arizona. Hundreds of artists,

from Rodrigo y Gabriela to Kanye West, have signed the petition.

All of these bands signed onto the strike have agreed to boycott the state of Arizona so long as they continue to promote inhumane discrimination, and the state has since reconsidered its stance, if only slightly.

But even a non-partisan observer can easily see the flaws in the boycott. Frankly, Gov. Jan Brewer doesn’t care if Yeasayer plays a rock ’n’ roll show in Phoenix. The Sound Strike is doing little more than denying local ven-

ues income while also taking a very hands-off approach to the grassroots uprising that overturning such legisla-tion would require. Simply put, The Sound Strike is doing very little help to anyone, and is currently benefiting from internal political struggle.

It’s a pretty short-sighted agenda, and it again begs the question: Should we really listen to these guys?

Probably not. There’s a reason bands like Anti-

Flag and post-2004 Green Day have a hard time resonating with higher-educated audiences: None of us feel like getting preached at. We all con-struct individual political paradigms based on our experiences. Politics are very personal, and we group ourselves along party lines simply to reconcile the infinite discrepancies. That’s why it comes off so hollow and off-putting when Billy Joe Armstrong tells us what to think—he has no idea who we are. We don’t need bands to lobby for our

votes–rather, we need bands to help us figure out why we need to vote. We don’t need to hear what to do–we need to hear why. We need bands that say something unique that we can adapt into our own personal paradigms.

At no point during their show at the Orpheum Tuesday night did The National lecture the crowd about political responsibility or activism, and even their dedication to swing states would have been non-partisan had we not known of their previous affili-ation with Obama. Likewise, when Berninger sings in “Mr. November,” “I wish I didn’t sleep so late / I wish that I believed in fate,” it can have as much political resonance as when he repeats, “I’m Mr. November / I won’t fuck us over.” He’s not actually talking about politics, but he’s making us talk. That’s the whole point.

Think Kyle should cut the political crap and stick to music? Let him know at [email protected].

kyle SparkStotal awesome

No Age experiment with their tone more on this record,

and these rewarding detours from their familiar sound reflect the depth of their

songwriting ability.

We don’t need bands to lobby for our votes–rather, we need bands to help us figure

out why we need to vote.

Page 8: The Daily Cardinal - Thursday, September 30, 2010

sportsl8 Thursday, September 30, 2010 dailycardinal.com/sports

Volleyball

By Stephanie RichterTHE DAILY CARDINAL

The Wisconsin Badgers (11-3, 0-3) fought tough against the No. 7 Illinois Fighting Illini (11-2, 3-0) on Wednesday night but couldn’t seem to close out sets and lost the match in four sets. After winning the fi rst set 25-19, the Badgers fell

to the Illini in the next three. Freshman outside hitter Elise

Walch once again stepped up for the Badgers, leading the team with 15 kills. Senior outside hit-ter Allison Wack also added 11 kills in the match for the Badgers. Sophomore right-side hitter Mary Ording started for the Badgers and

contributed seven kills. Junior setter Janelle Gabrielsen led the team with a hitting percentage of .357, which came from her strategic dumps to the deep corners.

The defense was a definite key in the Badgers ability to hang tough with the Illini, led by Junior libero Kim Kuzma.

Kuzma extended her double-digit digs streak to 18 matches, with 27 digs on the night. Freshman defensive specialist Annemarie Hickey came up with some great digs, adding 14 to the Badgers’ 81 total digs.

The Fighting Illini were led by senior outside hitter Laura DeBruler, who lead both teams with 26 kills and a .236 hitting percentage. Defensively, freshman libero Jennifer Bonilla came up with 28 digs on the night. Junior outside hitter Colleen Ward also added 25 digs.

The Badgers started off the first set on the right foot, with a huge kill coming from sophomore middle blocker Alexis Mitchell to make the score 14-10. A big momentum change in the set was a hard serve from Wack, which caused the Illini to pass it back to the Badgers. It was in perfect position for Welch to kill the ball right into the ground. This got the crowd rallied up and the momen-tum carried the Badgers to win the set 25-19.

DeBruler dominated the second set, racking up seven kills. The Badgers couldn’t fi nd the rhythm to get any-thing going on the offensive side and ended up falling to Illinois, 20-25.

Both teams fought to the end

in the third set, as it was the most exciting of the match. The defensive efforts of the Badgers got them off to a 10-6 lead over the Illini. Illinois went on a 5-0 run, which then gave them a one-point lead. With two pancakes in the game coming from Kuzma and freshman right-side hitter Julie Mikaelsen, the Badgers had a 21-19 lead. Despite the late kill from Mitchell to tie the game at 23-23, the Badgers couldn’t close it out and lost 23-25.

The momentum from the win of the third set gave the Fighting Illini an advantage going into the fourth set, and the Badgers were down 18-12 quickly in the set. Regardless of the defensive solidity of Hickey and Kuzma, the Badgers could not stop DeBruler, who had eight kills, and fell to Illinois 21-25.

Still, head coach Pete Waite is optimistic for the team’s next game against Northwestern.

“We’ve been hitting top 10 teams the last two matches, top 25 the last three and Friday,” Waite said. “They’re tasting it, they are getting close and they’re ready to grab one here,”

The Badgers close up their homestand on Friday, as they host No. 25 Northwestern at 7p.m. at the UW Field House.

MATT MARHEINE/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Junior libero Kim Kuzma fi nished Wednesday’s match against Illinois with 27 digs. She has now registered at least 10 in 18 straight matches. Her 4.56 digs per game leads the team so far this year.

Badgers drop third straight Big Ten match