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

University of Wisconsin-Madison Since 1892 dailycardinal.com Wednesday, April 30 , 2014l

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Voter ID law struck downBy Andrew HahnTHE DAILY CARDINAL

A federal judge struck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law Tuesday, which required vot-ers to show photo identification at the polls on the grounds it would hinder minority citizens’ right to vote.

U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman’s decision ruled on two combined legal challeng-es filed by multiple minority-rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Adelman said in his deci-sion the law did not address concerns for electoral integri-ty because “virtually no voter fraud occurs in Wisconsin and it is exceedingly unlikely that voter impersonation will become a problem in Wisconsin in the foreseeable future.”

In the opinion Adelman said the state did not adequately demonstrate a single instance of voter fraud during the hearings.

“Moreover, if voter imper-sonation is occurring often enough to threaten the integrity of the electoral process, then we should be able to find more evi-dence that it is occurring than

we do,” Adelman added. University of Wisconsin-

Madison political science profes-sor Barry Burden, who testified in the lawsuit, said Tuesday’s ruling

on Wisconsin’s law could set legal precedent for the rest of the nation.

“There were a bunch of states that adopted voter ID laws in the last two and a half to four years, and Wisconsin’s was one of the strictest laws,” Burden said. “Maybe the strictest in the country, or pretty close.”

Legal challenges to voter ID laws have become common across the country, but Burden said Wisconsin’s is the first such law to be invalidated on the grounds that it dispropor-tionately limits racial minori-ties’ ability to vote.

“This is the first time that a voter ID law has been struck down in any state under section two of the Voting Rights Act,” Burden said. “Wisconsin is a test case.”

Peter Balogun, co-president of the UW-Madison Wisconsin Association of Black Men, said his organization was happy to see a court dismiss a law that he said would have disadvantaged minority students at the polls.

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Gov. Scott Walker both said in statements they believe the law to be consti-

tutional and necessary.

State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, joined many of his Republican colleagues in denouncing the decision.

“Judge Adelman is a known activist judge, and I expected him to use flawed logic and a twisted misunderstanding of the U.S. Constitution to strike down a law that he personally disagrees with,” Grothman said in a statement.

In March, Walker said he would convene a special session of the legislature if the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the law in another lawsuit regard-

City grants beer permit for localpedal-pubsBy Patricia Johnson and Dana KampaTHE DAILY CARDINAL

Madison’s city Council approved an ordinance to allow alcohol consumption on down-town commercial quadricycles and renewed a contract with Judge Doyle Square project directors to continue its negotiation process.

Quadricycles are typically seen rolling along State Street as four-wheeled vehicles that can seat up to 12 passengers. Wisconsin state legislatures recently passed a bill that permits the consumption of “fermented malt beverages” while operating pedal-pubs.

Passengers power the quadri-cycle through pedals attached to their seats but an operator has control over steering and braking the machinery who is not permit-ted to consume any alcoholic bev-erages while driving, according to the state law.

The city ordinance permits passengers to carry a maximum of 24 oz. of fermented malt bever-ages, which would still allow pas-sengers to drive home with a legal blood alcohol content.

City Council members also approved a city contract with AVA Civic Enterprises Inc. that would allow the current project director for the Judge Doyle Square project to continue negotiations.

The city chose George Austin from AVA Civic Enterprises Inc. as the project director for the first time in 2011. The new contract would extend his services until April 30, 2015. The contract will reward Austin “no more than $48,000.”

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the project has been the result of “over four years worth of effort.” Despite opposition from various outside parties such as Progressive Dane and Citizens Against Subsidized Hotels, Verveer believes the project will be an asset to the city.

Strict Photo ID Strict Non-Photo ID Photo ID requested

ID requested; photo not required

Voter Identification Laws in Effect in 2014

No document required to vote

The above graphic represents the states that have voter identification laws currently in effect.

WIL GIBB/THE DAILY CARDINALWisconsin’s voter identification law passed in 2011 and injunctions were filed by two Dane County judges in 2012.

Federal judge rules against voter ID law, policymakers react to decision

GRAPHIC BY MIKAELA ALBRIGHT

Student Judiciary favors College Republicans in office space appealThe Student Judiciary ruled

Monday that College Republicans did not receive due process in its April 23 appeal for a larger office space in the Student Activities Center and should receive a re-application hearing.

Following the College Republicans’ appeal for the SAC Governing Board to recon-sider, the group filed a com-

plaint that the SACGB did not give it fair consideration.

The original application’s meet-ing calendar lacked the number of people to occupy the office. Since the application was incomplete, the Student Judiciary ruled SACGB did not give College Republicans due process, according to a statement.

College Republicans Chair Charlie Hoffmann said he

is pleased with the Student Judiciary’s decision.

“I think we kind of got screwed over in the application process, and we believe the SAC is not taking into account what we use the office for and how effective [the larger office space] is to our organization,” Hoffmann said.

College Republicans previ-ously operated in a “small” office

space but moved to a “medium” office for this academic year. However, the SACGB again allo-cated a small office to College Republicans for 2014-’15.

“We’ve been able to reach out to a lot more students,” Hoffmann said. “We have a place on campus where kids can congregate and know they can come to talk to us about any issues.

Hoffman also said the small office space is only big enough for storage and the lack of closed doors prevents discussing private finances or political agendas.

Although College Republicans also charged the board with violating viewpoint neutral-ity, Student Judiciary found the board did not.

—Dana Kampa

council page 3voter page 3

Barry Burdenprofessor

Political Science, UW-Madison

“This is the first time the voter ID law has been

struck down in any state under section two of the

Voting Rights Act.”

+PHOTO, page 4

Data courtesy of National Convention of State Legislatures

Serendipity for secrets hidden before our eyes.

Epiphany that strikes each morning as we arise.

Hours pass, the trickle of transitory days,

The secret revealed but in illusive ways.

Kane Kaiman is a gradu-ate of Cedarburg High School. There, he scored a 5 on his AP Psychology test, giving him the authority to interpret the dreams of all humans and some of the earth’s more intelligent mammals. Kaiman is currently the president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Psychology Department.

This week’s dream:

“My Dream: I wake up in my bed, which is in The Daily Cardinal’s newsroom in front of the newsroom table. The Marketing Director and the Sex Columnist are also in the newsroom. After waking up disoriented, I begin to feel that it is normal that I am sleeping in my bed, which is now in the newsroom. We start chat-ting, and then another individual crawls out from underneath my bed. The man underneath the bed is apparently an illegal immi-grant who is also a friend of the Marketing Director and the Sex Columnist. All three begin asking for my help in trying to get legal papers for their friend. I explain to them that I feel uncomfortable engaging in this illegal activity and

also do not have the connections to do so. Then I wake up.”

—Abby Becker, junior and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Cardinal

100% Accurate Interpretation:

I’ve been under the gun before; I’ve interpreted the dreams of kings. When you botch those interpretations, heads roll, nations crumble.

But never before has an editor-in-chief come calling. If I screw this up, no one’s going to cart out the guillotine. But I’ll probably get fired, and with my finances in complete disarray, that’s essen-tially a death sentence. I’ll end up on State Street in rags playing the bongo drums.

High school level psychological education, don’t fail me now!

To the untrained eye, this dream is a no-brainer. The fact that your bed is located inside the office obvi-

ously symbolizes the amount of time you spend doing your job. As editor-in-chief of a highly politi-cized college newspaper, it’s your duty to keep up with the issues that plague the nation. Therefore, it’s no wonder that illegal immigration rears its ugly head. Regardless of your stance on the matter, you feel uncomfortable aiding and abetting a criminal because you’re a law-fearing woman; you always have been. After all, the rules are in place for a reason. Breaking them is inconceivable, even in dreamland.

Yeah. That’s the interpre-tation you’d get at home from mommy and daddy, or from some amateur that pulled an all-nighter junior year of high school only to wind up with a 4 on his AP Psychology test.

That simply won’t do. Not for the editor-in-chief, leader of The Daily Cardinal staff and command-er of its military forces!

We both know it’s time for 100

percent accuracy. And, when deal-ing with subconscious hallucina-tions, that level of precision can reveal truths that are difficult to handle. But you deserve the facts, and my straight-forward philoso-phy is what keeps me on the payroll around here.

The key to your dream is a detail lesser interpreters would have never picked up on: the only other staff in the office are the marketing director and the sex columnist.

Marketing and sex. Business and pleasure.

And there you are in your bed. Out pops a handsome illegal immi-grant, the stereotypical Latin lover. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife; it’s certainly not the prospect of breaking the law that’s making you uncomfortable.

I’m glad you woke up when you did.

So what does it all mean?In a nutshell, you’re afraid to

let your romantic desires inter-fere with your livelihood. Can an editor-in-chief oversee the complex Cardinal machine while maintain-ing a healthy love life?

That’s one question even I can’t answer.

P.S.: If I had a nickel for every time an illegal immigrant popped out from under my bed I’d be a mil-lionaire.

If he’s still employed after this article, you can email your dreams to Kane at kaiman@wisc.edu.

l

almanac2 Wednesday, April 30, 2014 dailycardinal.com

Thursday:rainy

hi 54º / lo 39º

TOday:rainy

hi 55º / lo 39º

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

community since 1892

Volume 123, Issue 1082142 Vilas Communication Hall

821 University AvenueMadison, Wis., 53706-1497

(608) 262-8000 • fax (608) 262-8100

News and Editorialedit@dailycardinal.com

News Team

News Manager Sam CusickCampus Editor Adelina YankovaCollege Editor Emily GerberCity Editor Patricia Johnsonstate Editor Eoin Cottrell

associate News Editor Dana KampaFeatures Editor Melissa Howison

Opinion EditorsHaleigh Amant • Ryan Bullen

Editorial Board Chair Anna Duffinarts Editors

Cheyenne Langkamp • Sean Reichardsports Editors

Brett Bachman • Jonah Beleckisalmanac Editors

Andy Holsteen • Kane Kaiman Photo Editors

Courtney Kessler • Jane ThompsonGraphics Editors

Mikaela Albright • Haley Henschel Multimedia Editors

Amy Gruntner • Grey Satterfieldscience Editor

Nia SathiamoorthiLife & style Editor

Katy Hertelspecial Pages Editor

Samy Moskolsocial Media Manager

Rachel WanatCopy Chiefs

Vince Huth • Justine JonesMaya Miller • Kayla Schmidt

Copy EditorsKara Evenson • Jessie Rodgers

Paige Villiard

Business and advertisingbusiness@dailycardinal.com

Business Manager Tyler Reindladvertising Manager Jordan Laeyendecker

assistant advertising Manager Corissa Pennow

account Executives Mimi Dao • Emilee MarkinKathy Petri • Tim Smoot

Rachel Usdin Marketing director Cooper Boland

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 recy-cled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

All copy, photographs and graphics appear-ing 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 rep-resenting a wide range of views. This accep-tance 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 pro-cessed and must include contact information. No anonymous letters will be printed. All letters to the editor will be printed at the discretion of The Daily Cardinal. Letters may be sent to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

© 2014, The Daily Cardinal Media CorporationISSN 0011-5398

Editor-in-ChiefAbigail Becker

Managing EditorMara Jezior

Editorial BoardHaleigh Amant • Abigail Becker

Ryan Bullen • Anna DuffinMara Jezior • Cheyenne Langkamp

Tyler Nickerson • Michael Penn Nikki Stout

l

Board of directorsHerman Baumann, PresidentAbigail Becker • Mara Jezior

Jennifer Sereno • Stephen DiTullio Jacob Sattler • Janet LarsonDon Miner • Phil BrinkmanJason Stein • Nancy Sandy

Tina Zavoral

Corrections or clarifications? Call The Daily Cardinal office at 608-262-8000 or send an email to edit@dailycardinal.com.

For the record

DREAMSDo or die: The most

important interpretation of my career

:

In your

KAnE KAIMAndream interpreter

Campus Wordsmiths

EXTRAQuatrain For Our Days

By Sina Siahpoosh

GRAphIc by cAMERon GRAff

Scott Walker wants to ban dancing on campus.

Don’t let him.

Follow The Daily Cardinal on Twitter at @dailycardinal.

newsdailycardinal.com Wednesday, April 30, 2014 3l

“Hopefully when it’s done, it’ll be worth every penny,” Verveer said.

City Council members also announced Ald. Scott Resnick’s, District 8, resignation from re-election of the Common Council pro-tempore position.

Common Council President Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, formally announced the resig-nation at the meeting resulting in members sharing their senti-ments about Resnick.

“I personally had a really excellent relationship with him that deepened because of his role in leadership,” Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said.

Schmidt also commended and thanked him for his “dedicated and conscientious services.”

Resnick turned down the Common Council president nomination while in the middle of deciding to run in the next mayoral election.

Preceding the official Common Council meeting, city equity team representatives pre-sented a report on racial equity and social justice initiative.

Representatives Melissa Gombar and Jordan Bingham said they are excited to take action on racial equity, espe-cially moving from equality to equity. Equality is equal support for each group, while equity is giving people the resources they need for equal opportunity.

Gombar highlighted addressing racism at individ-ual, institutional and struc-tural levels in Madison, since the Equity Team projects Dane County will be nearing a “majority of people of color” in 2040.

Bingham said the city should focus on equity to con-tribute to community conversa-tion and because it will benefit everyone, considering evidence of racism still exists in the area. However, Madison has promis-ing programs promoting diver-sity, according to Gombar.

“This is something we really need to focus on and make a priority,” Gombar said.

WILL CHIZEK/THE DAILY CARDINALAld. Scott Resnick, District 8, announced he will not run for theposition of Common Council President at a meeting Tuesday.

HR adjusts management planThe new University of

Wisconsin-Madison personnel management system has encour-aged further development of the Human Resources Design Project strategic plan, according to a university release.

The HR Design strategic plan will be implemented July 1, 2015, and developers have continued to work on other components of the plan. Improving employ-ee performance management across campus is an important component of the plan, accord-ing to the statement.

The state legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations approved the system April 23. The approval gives the university an “unprecedented chance to tailor its human resourc-es system to the needs of a teaching

and research institution,” accord-ing to another release.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement the implementation of a personal system gives employees “impor-tant tools” to help the university uphold its standards.

“The legislators recognize that UW-Madison is not like other state agencies,” Blank said in the statement.

Blank also said the university needs a good human resources sys-tem to attract, develop and retain good employees and because it is in competition for talent in nation-al and international markets.

The Office of Human Resources developed a draft policy that defines “performance management” as providing coaching, feedback and support

to employees about their work, needs and accomplishments.

HR Employment Relations Program Coordinator Patrick Sheehan has been working on the draft policy.

“The goal is to provide the campus with a general frame-work and training to assist managers and supervisors in regularly facilitating meaning-ful conversations with employ-ees regarding their performance and professional goals,” Sheehan said in the statement.

Other developments include improved processes for integrat-ing new employees into the uni-versity and more consistency across employment categories.

The next campuswide forum on HR Design is scheduled for June 10.

—Dana Kampa

councilfrompage 1

A Madison driver struck a pedestrian on the 600 block of East Washington Avenue Tuesday, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.

The pedestrian, a 50-year-old Madison woman, sustained a broken left arm and other non-life threatening injuries as a result of the collision, accord-ing to Lt. Eric Tripke in the report. She was admitted to a local hospital for observation.

The pedestrian was cross-ing the intersection of East

Washington Avenue and South Blount Street when the driver failed to stop and proceeded to hit her, according to the state-ment. Witnesses said other drivers at the scene slowed down as the woman crossed the street.

Police arrested the driver, a 74-year-old Madison resident, for failure to yield to a pedestri-an walking in a marked cross-walk, according to the report.

Police officials are still inves-tigating the incident, according to the statement.

Madison police arrest 75-year-old driver for striking a pedestrian

UW students win sustainability prizeBy Adelina YankovaTHE DAILY CARDINAL

“Styrocycle,” a sustain-ability initiative conceived by four University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate stu-dents and several postgraduate advisors, received $90,000 at the National Sustainable Design Expo held in Washington, D.C., Friday through Sunday, accord-ing to a news release.

The undergraduate team, com-posed of sophomore Jenna Walsh, juniors Emily Baumann and Katelyn Budke and senior Jared Ottmann, created a plan to recycle and reuse Expanded Polystyrene containers, commonly known as Styrofoam, on campus.

In collaboration with WE CONSERVE, a UW-Madison pro-gram aimed at conservation and waste elimination, the Styrocycle team instituted 15 campus collec-tion sites intended to gather and reuse EPS shipping containers. These containers generally origi-nate from biochemistry and chem-istry labs as well as the Wisconsin

Institutes for Discovery. Local biotechnology companies can then reuse the containers, which could benefit the university both financially and environmentally, Baumann said.

“I think it’s important because, from an economic standpoint, the university spends so much money on … anything recyclable going into landfills,” she explained. “Not only could we save money by recy-cling, but we could also save car-bon output into the atmosphere.”

The Styrocycle team plans to collaborate with other universities and implement similar collection programs, Baumann said, cit-ing Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as existing partners.

Additionally, they intend to launch a website to help the public find EPS recycling locations.

“We were surprised that a lot of people didn’t know if their city recycles EPS or where the near-est collection site is so that kind of inspired us, now that we have this

funding, to kind of start a web plat-form where people can log in and figure out their nearest recycler,” Baumann said.

Andrew Markley, one of the team’s advisers, came up with the idea to recycle EPS containers from previous experiences with similar projects. Styrocycle was further developed once the team realized the amount of Styrofoam waste UW-Madison accumulates.

“Within our campus, we noticed that around 10,000 to 20,000 of Expanded Polystyrene shipping containers are being land-filled each year,” she said. “These shipping containers account for 30 percent of UW-Madison’s landfill volume, which is this huge waste on our part.”

Styrocycle operates under UW-Madison’s Office of Sustainability and is co-advised by Markley and Frank Kooistra from the Division of Facilities and Physical Plant Management. Professor Craig H. Benson serves as the team’s principal investigator.

Melissa Gombarrepresentative

Equity Team

“This is something we really need to focus on and

make a priority.”

ing voter ID requirements. Burden predicted it would be difficult to structure new voter ID legislation under Adelman’s interpretation of the law.

“I think it is going to take some time to figure out exactly what they would have to do to meet that standard,” Burden said. “It is a very strong decision.”

Representatives of the UW-Madison College Democrats and Young Progressives said although the decision is a step in the right direction, other recently passed laws such as Wisconsin’s proof of resi-dency requirement also limit students’ access to the polls.

Van Hollen said in a state-ment he would appeal the decision in another federal court, which would begin a legal process that could end in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We are not done,” Burden concluded. “It is a major decision, but there are still lots of things happening.”

voterfrompage 1

Heavenly musicUNION SOUTH

Local rock cover bands performed at The Sett in Union South as part of a fundraising concert for Porchlight, Inc. + Photo by Tommy Yonash

photo 4 Wednesday, April 30, 2014 dailycardinal.com l

Capturing the memorable moments in Spring Semester 2014

GREY SATTERFIELD/THE DAILY CARDINAL

WILL CHIZEK/THE DAILY CARDINAL

WILL CHIZEK/THE DAILY CARDINAL

SHOAIB ATLAF/THE DAILY CARDINAL

WIL GIBB/THE DAILY CARDINAL

NITHIN CHARLLY/THE DAILY CARDINAL

NICK MONFELI/THE DAILY CARDINALJANE THOMPSON/THE DAILY CARDINAL

NICK MONFELI/THE DAILY CARDINAL

TOMMY YONASH/THE DAILY CARDINAL

artsdailycardinal.com Wednesday, April 30, 2014 5 l

Video game lingo helps move industry forward

G ame criticism has evolved so completely from its early years to

the point that many modern reviews would look wholly for-eign to the ’80s, neon-jacket wearing kids who read Nintendo Power. Assuredly many outlets do still follow the basic frame-work established back then. A succinct summation of the game’s features, how well the story holds up, its replayability, etc.—these terms aren’t likely to go away, but they do dem-onstrate an advancement of the gaming lexicon.

The idea of a gaming ver-nacular is easily ridiculed. I partake in this practice all the time, spouting “gamer” in a snooty tone and espous-ing the pleasures of “viscer-al” or “atmospheric” games. Of course, I can’t deny that I have used these terms in my past reviews. Nowadays, many people consider these once en vogue terms entirely empty of meaning, having lost their initial impact through overuse and an entire industry miscon-struing their meaning.

Calling a game “atmospher-ic” sounds silly now. What type of atmosphere? What does that even mean? It has become moot. This development is heartening, because gaming criticism’s move away from traditional buzzwords is what has helped many more obscure outlets produce some truly brilliant insight. For what it’s worth though, I think gaming critiques needed “atmospheric” to enter the industry in order to evolve.

As with any new medium,

people have struggled to come up with the proper lexicon to describe video games. This plight may result in years of stagnation with an overreliance on the same words recycled constantly, but it also caused a consistent explor-atory period. The platformer, rac-ing and shooter genres emerged through the industry’s advance-ment. In the same way, somewhat gimmicky phrases like “replay-ability” emerged.

The creation of these new concepts came out of a gradual exploration of the medium. A poking and prodding by both the developers and critics creat-ed a give-and-take as they fash-ioned an entirely new section in Webster’s Dictionary. This industry-wide project is ever-expanding, as writers constantly search for appropriate terms to describe a revelatory game expe-rience like QWOP.

However, this search for an expansive vocabulary is far from complete. With a very limited number of terms cir-cling the drainpipe perpetu-ally, it tends to result in an insular culture where people grasp at something familiar in the hopes of explaining a game whose precise definition eludes them. It perpetuates the process of comparison so prevalent in game criticism, a practice that belittles the individual accomplishments of each project.

Sure it’s really handy to call “Destiny” an interstel-lar “Borderlands” or say “Titanfall” is “Call of Duty” with mechs, but isn’t that a cop-out that ignores the sin-gular merits of each title? The only other medium where I can see this being somewhat preva-lent is music, where individual beats and sounds can bear a strong resemblance to tons of other bands.

Even in the auditory world it isn’t as prevalent compared to game descriptions that con-stantly call upon well-known titles to sell themselves. Just take a peek at the list of Kickstarter games that bill themselves using insane comparisons like “Earthbound” meets “Zelda” meets “Mario.” Boiling these products down to minute mash-ups is short-sighted and stems from the fact that people are still searching for the proper terms to define the medium.

This is part of the reason why I enjoy reading more inter-pretive reviews. They don’t necessarily have to settle on the nuts and bolts, eschewing a descriptive comparison to other titles in favor of focusing solely on the personal experi-ence they had. There are plenty of outlets still grasping onto age-old terms to give players a quick elevator pitch for sell-ing their friends on a particu-lar game—and that’s perfectly okay. There will always be a market for more traditional reviews. In the collective gam-ing dictionary, everyone has a role as curator.

But as the industry advanc-es, it’s informative to look at the type of overused tropes used in criticism. Powering through useless words is a tire-some exercise, but one which is necessary to discover a world where video games can be defined more clearly without the lazy reliance on comparing something to previously pro-duced games. Developers are working to give players new experiences. In turn, critics owe it to them to find creative, fresh ways to describe their novel creations.

What newfangled video gamer vocabulary word is your favorite? Share it with Adam at arparis@wisc.edu.

adam parissega WHAT?!

3LAU mesmerizes Segredo crowd

rECOrd rOUTiNE

By Brandon danialTHe DAily CArDinAl

The underground hip-hop scene is dominated by a style that flips mainstream rap on its head. Spearheaded by artists such as MF DOOM and the late J Dilla, this unique style of hip-hop puts the focus on produc-tion value. Jeremiah Jae adopts the same flair of creating experi-mental, complex beats, but also adds enough lyrical exposition to make Good Times a solid release.

The album’s title is based off a ’70s sitcom that follows the life of a poor family living in inner city Chicago. As if the thematic intent of the album wasn’t clear enough, it’s littered with samples taken straight from the show. Jae uses Good Times as a testament to the difficulty of growing up in the unforgiving environment of south side Chicago, as high-lighted in “Bad Times,” where

Jae constantly repeats, “I’m just trying to make it out.”

An atmosphere of cynicism is seamlessly captured through-out the LP. Piano chimes and steel guitar riffs create a som-ber ambiance that builds a feeling of anguish with each impending verse. The promi-nent instrumentals in each song clearly emphasize Jae’s produc-tion-oriented style. He seems to take his role as a producer seri-ously, almost making it more of a main attraction than his actual verses—but that’s not to say his prowess as a rapper is of any less quality. His presenta-tion comes off as very low ener-gy, even depressing, but it only further adds to his charm. His disparaging style of rap permits more cohesive and expressive lyrics, allowing the listener to feel more empathetically con-nected to Jae’s messages.

Jeremiah Jae successfully created something unique with Good Times—a nice change of pace from the multitude of main-stream hip-hop. Hopefully there’s more room for stylistic producers to take the stage and launch the genre in a new direction.

Rating: B

Good TimesJeremiah Jae

New Jeremiah Jae project impresses

By robert VanderwistTHe DAily CArDinAl

On April 24, Las Vegas pro-ducer Justin “3LAU” Blau per-formed for a sold-out Segredo’s nightclub. This was his first show in Madison since rock-ing the Orpheum in October the same night as Freakfest, in the midst of State Street’s costumed calamity. After hear-ing the hype from all corners of Madison’s social spectrum from fall until now, in addition to several hours spent browsing SoundCloud, I knew I couldn’t afford to miss 3LAU again.

Antics, the collaboration of Steven Pitzl and Tanner Dixon from Milwaukee, Wis., took the stage to open the show. Similar to 3LAU, they captured the energy of the audience with original tracks, remixes and mashups. To me, the highlight of Antics’ set was their bass-injected remix of Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” which gave the rest-less audience something famil-iar to dance and sing along to.

They played it pretty early in their set, raising the bar for the rest of the night.

3LAU took the stage non-chalantly. He didn’t dim the lights, and there was no hype-track or smoke machine intro-duction. He walked up to his computer and started his set—and it was like nothing I had seen at an EDM show before. Segredo’s unbarricaded stage and small standing room allow for an incredibly intimate con-cert experience. This was only amplified by 3LAU’s stage presence. He was filming for a music video, so it felt like he was constantly one-uping him-self. His camera man followed as he dove from the stage in a monkey mask and poured shots of Patron waterfall-style into the mouths of eager fans danc-ing in front of the stage. By the end of the night, the crowd was soaked as 3LAU popped bottles of champagne and let it rain upon the audience.

There was more to 3LAU’s

show, however, than just his stage presence. His set was impressive, and showed that an EDM show can be exciting without the lights and spec-tacle that larger venues often support. I wish I could have seen 3LAU at the Orpheum, although I’m sure it would have been a very different con-cert experience. He played one of my favorites, his remix of Bastille’s “Pompeii,” early in his set, along with his mashup of “Animals” by Martin Garrix and “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities, plus other mashups that I recognized from his monthly “3LAU HAUS” mixes. These songs were complemented by originals such as “How You Love Me,” a track that has been gaining a lot of traction nation-ally over the last several weeks. In addition, although his visual display was not over the top, 3LAU secured my respect when pixelated visual samples from “Fight Club” were played on the big screen behind him.

Brody dalle shines on first solo effort

By rose LundyTHe DAily CArDinAl

Australian punk rocker Brody Dalle has undergone many trans-formations during her music career, beginning with The Distillers and Spinnerette. Dalle’s latest reincarnation as a solo art-ist brings out a new intimacy and courageous delicacy to her sound.

Her recent album, Diploid Love, proves that her scratchy, smoky voice has not changed. She now has a stronger, more mature sound with a greater emotional range, as well as fully developed songs.

The first track, “Rat Race,” starts the album with a fist-pump-ing anthem. Dalle shouts defiant-ly, “I’m gonna burn this town to the ground,” as a chorus of trum-pets rip up and down.

The album slows down in

the middle with “Carry On.” Dalle demonstrates she is still a powerhouse belter by com-manding listeners’ atten-tion without overwhelming them. She is comfortable let-ting a more gentle side show through—something difficult to find on past albums.

Dalle has never been afraid to push boundaries, and this is evident on the quirky “I Don’t Need Your Love.” A sudden break in the middle replac-es her foreboding crooning with a giggling baby and vio-lin plucks. This surprise cer-tainly makes the track more memorable—but it’s hard to determine if that’s a good or bad thing.

“Parties For Prostitutes” wraps up the album with slick, futuristic guitar riffs as Dalle’s husky voice soothes over the top of the urgent rhythm sec-tion. It builds to a dramatic climax, but instead of ending the album on a high note, the track slows back down and fades out, providing an anticli-mactic conclusion.

Rating: B

Diploid loveBrandy dalle

opinion 6 l Wednesday, April 30, 2014 dailycardinal.com

A braham Lincoln said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; with-out it, nothing can succeed.” In 1989

Americans celebrated the 20-year anniver-sary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Then President George H. W. Bush stated, “Before the 50th anniversary of our first flight landing on the Moon, the American flag should be planted on Mars!” We are now five years from the former president’s dream, and it appears all too certain that we will not be planting the American flag on Mars anytime soon. So what happened? When did we decide as a society our thirst for space exploration was quenched on the moon?

Under the George H. W. Bush Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) saw a welcome resurgence in federal funding. As a result, the number of shuttle missions dou-bled in the 1990s compared with the 1980s. This resulted in a number of technologi-cal advancements and scientific discoveries. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided invaluable information which profoundly altered our understanding of the universe. It was Hubble which revealed the universe is 13.8 billion years old and the universe is actually increasing in speed as it expands. It confirmed the existence of black holes, identified the existence of “dark energy” and discovered visual proof depict-ing how planets form within a solar system.

When proposing an increase in funding for NASA, the first question people ask is, “Why should we spend tax dollars up there?” as they point to the sky. This statement reflects a fundamental lack of understanding regarding what our space program does for our country, not just “up there” but for people on Earth as well.

In order to illustrate this point we can look once again at the Hubble telescope. When it was launched in 1990, the images it captured were blurry. Future space shuttle missions would be sent to fix the problem; however, NASA addressed the situation by creating an algorithm to enhance the qual-ity of the blurry photos. That algorithm has since been adapted to enhance mammo-gram imagery quality thereby increasing

the detection rate of breast cancer. NASA calls these technological achievements “spin-offs.” Some other spin-offs include the development of insulin pumps for diabetics, moon boot technology adapted for athletic shoes, digital image processing technology adapted for CAT scans and state of the art water purification systems. NASA scien-tists invented the adjustable smoke detec-tor. NASA’s shuttle and robotics programs have been adapted to create more functional artificial limbs. Fire resistant polymer fabric created by NASA has been used to protect military and civilian firefighters. The list goes on and on. Clearly, when we spend money “up there” rather than throwing money away, we are in fact investing it for future returns. All of these advances, and a great deal more, were made possible because of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program which seeks to open up NASA’s research and technology for use in the private sector.

NASA’s annual budget for calendar year 2014 is a mere 0.48 percent of the federal bud-get, which is less than half a penny on the tax dollar. That small sum pays for the Hubble telescope, the production of the James Webb Space Telescope, the three currently opera-tional Mars rovers, the International Space Station (ISS), the planning of future mis-sions, the immense array of satellites in orbit above us today as well as all of its facilities and personnel.

Under current budget allocations, NASA has stated they will be unable to undertake a manned mission to Mars. That pronounce-ment is completely unacceptable. When you see the transformation of a country that is the result of putting man on the moon, which is in our cosmic backyard, just imagine the ramifications of putting man on an entirely different planet. Consider this; imagine the Earth is the size of an average classroom globe. Proportionally, the moon would be 30 feet away from Earth while Mars would be 1 mile away. It took NASA astronauts about three days to travel to the moon. Conversely, it is estimated that it would take about eight months to reach Mars. Similarly, communi-cation during the Apollo missions had a 2.6 second delay from the moon to earth and vice versa. Communications to and from the surface of Mars, however, vary from 4.3 to 21 minutes depending on the distance Mars is from the Earth. These issues are challeng-es that even NASA admits will be tough to overcome, but given the history of the afore-mentioned technological advances that were created just by exploring our “backyard,” imagine what we might achieve by walking a

mile in a Martian’s shoes.An international coalition of private and

government agencies have said they could realistically land on Mars by the late 2020s or early 2030s, but this is contingent on two associated events. First, the coalition’s plan hinges on the availability of NASA’s two newest and most innovative space trans-portation systems to date: the Space Launch System (SLS) and the deep space crew cap-sule known as Orion. Second, for its plan to succeed, it would require an increase in NASA’s budget. This is telling of how signifi-cant NASA’s contributions still are, despite its minimal budget.

In 2011, NASA witnessed the end of its manned space shuttle program due to bud-get constraints on Capitol Hill. The decision to discontinue the manned program was unprecedented in NASA’s history. This did not mean the end of Americans in space, as there are still astronauts traveling to and from the ISS. We’re able to do that only by paying Russia $63 million per passenger to get them to the station. Despite Russia’s recent actions in the Crimean Peninsula and America’s sanctions against the Russians, NASA has paid them $457.9 million dollars for services rendered. Forcing NASA to rely on another country’s manned space program is a trav-esty of such magnitude it makes you wonder if our politicians are even aware of the conse-quences of their actions.

For nearly three years, we have been wholly dependent on the Russian govern-ment to allow us to hitch a ride to space in order to work on a space station in which we have invested nearly $100 billion, and continue to invest another $3 billion per year. Second, the discontinuation of the American space shuttle program didn’t simply mean we stopped launching our shuttles into space, it also meant that over 9,000 experienced engineers, physicists, mathematicians and production workers were laid off.

For the first time in 43 years, children no longer want to be astronauts. American children between ages 6-12 no longer rank astronaut as one of the top 10 jobs they would like to do when they grow up. We’re losing the next generation because they have noth-ing to dream about. This should come as no

surprise. When kids don’t have heroes to look up to in a profession, what’s driving them to pursue a life devoted to that profession? If we no longer had athletes and pop stars on television for young children to look up to and emulate, would they want to be athletes and pop stars? I contend they would not. At a time when the United States is experiencing a shortage of engineers, mathematicians and scientists, by diminishing NASA’s budget, we seem to be sending a signal that those professions simply aren’t very important, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Just over two years ago, noted astrophysi-cist Neil deGrasse Tyson was requested to testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to talk about how NASA could be a program capable of kick-starting our economy. There are 24 senators on this committee. Of these 24 senators, only three came to Tyson’s testimo-ny. In the 1960s America demanded our gov-ernment beat the Soviet Union in the “Space Race.” Because the vast majority of the public was behind the space program, it received all the funding necessary to be the first nation to land on the moon. We must, as a nation, reenergize our space program and require Congress to reinstate adequate funding for NASA once more.

Now that our few remaining astronauts who are launched into space do so from somewhere in Russia and not the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., it’s as if they are the athlete that receives no airtime. Young Americans are no longer able to see the next crew of astronauts smile and wave to the folks sitting at home as they make that legendary slow motion walk in those all-too-recognizable blaze orange and blue trim flight suits. Younger Americans in particular are being deprived of the experience of sitting at Cape Canaveral and hearing a man over the intercom narrating: “T-minus 90 seconds and counting.” Children won’t sit on their father’s shoulders to get the best view in the house, and they won’t have their dads tell them that it could be them in that space shuttle someday. They won’t share the excitement of hearing the countdown, drowned out for a few seconds by the cacophony of the shuttle’s engine right before hearing the final “3. 2. 1. Liftoff! We have liftoff!” Will our youth ever again be witness to a behemoth of perfectly engineered craftsmanship ascend through the sky as if gravity decided to let this one go?

What is your view on NASA and fund-ing space exploration? Please send all feed-back to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Under current budget allocations, NASA has stated they will be unable

to undertake a manned mission to Mars.

For the first time in 43 years, chil-dren no longer want to be astronauts.

CULLEN VOSS opinion columnist

NASA losing hold of public imagination

T he Mifflin Street Block Party is a piece of the University of Wisconsin-Madison that is as entrenched in

the fabric of the school as anything else, whether the school likes it or not. While dozens of items, columns and what-have-yous will be written about Mifflin over the course of the week, more will be written about Revelry, the on-campus music festi-val created in its stead.

I could open this up with a lofty history of Mifflin, how the inaugural event featured the arrest of the current mayor of Madison, Paul Soglin, one of the people who is respon-sible for the annual end-of-year celebration’s demise. But I will resist every urge I have to instead give a series of disclaimers, to put all of my cards as a columnist on the table. I am a sophomore here, which means I missed all the “real” Mifflins. Furthermore, last year, I was on the marketing team for Revelry, a role I did not reprise this year.

With all of that in mind, I am writing this column from a unique perspective. The version of Mifflin I heard about was one of great revelry, with a lowercase “r,” where on

the final Saturday before finals, one of the most vibrant campuses in the world, (said with only the smallest amounts of bias), came together to blow off some steam. It was a weekend that typified “play hard” before the next two weeks where one moves into College Library to “work hard.”

Arrest records and the amount of police sent to patrol the situation clearly tell a differ-ent story, but in the pseudo-reality created by a college campus, Mifflin was described as the most idyllic day possible. The last time you could totally relax with your friends before school was over, before you parted ways for the summer, or potentially, before you gradu-ated. Before I proceed, yes, “totally relax” is extremely euphemistic, but I won’t beat you over the head with it.

When Revelry, with a capital “r,” was created as the “May 4th Festival,” it was not expressly a Mifflin replacement. When the question came up among the marketing team, we came up with the answer of “We

wanted to have a student-centric, end-of-the-year event before the chaos of finals. It’s a spring celebration.”

What came next hit us on the marketing team as much by surprise as it did the rest of the general public. The Madison police department announced they were bringing an iron fist down on Mifflin and painted us on the Revelry team in something of a corner. With a lineup fit as an alternative option, not a primary one, at best, with hun-dreds of extra police officers around, the final Saturday before exams turned Madison into a quasi-police state threat.

But what does that leave us with for this year’s event? Headlined by Dillon Francis, Waka Flocka Flame, G-Eazy and Sky Ferriera, this year’s lineup is certainly an upgrade over last year’s inaugural event headlined by Toro Y Moi, Hoodie Allen and Chance the Rapper, who was just days removed from the release of Acid Rap.

But Mifflin was unique to UW-Madison whereas Revelry could happen anywhere. The Little 500 at Indiana is something that only happens at Indiana. The bands that come there for the event are just a small piece of it, but the event itself spirals well out of control of what the school may have intended

or wanted.From an administrative and police

standpoint, I’m sure the school would rather have the students planning and attending a cookie-cutter music festival, with the promises of Madison touches like the creation of a “mini Terrace” with “real Terrace chairs.” But Mifflin was a UW-Madison event that can only hap-pen here.

Whether Revelry can turn into Crawfest,—which it won’t, as Crawfest is something that can only happen at Tulane University in New Orleans— is something that will not happen this year but will take many years to foster and develop.

But one thing I can tell you is that for this year, while people here have attended Mifflin, Revelry is an extremely thinly veiled attempt at getting rid of a Madison institution, but not necessarily a proud one for faculty.

How do you feel about the city of Madison having such a harsh crackdown on the Mifflin Street Block Party? Was it the appropriate response in order to stop the event from getting out of hand or did it go too far? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Mifflin was something unique to UW-Madison whereas Revelry could

happen anywhere.

Mifflin Street Block party tradition steadily losing popularity to RevelryBRIAN WEIDYguest columnist

comics True Dedication: A moose can dive up to 20 feet underwater while searching for food.dailycardinal.com Wednesday, April 30, 2014 • 7

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

Lord of the Fly © Puzzles by Pappocom

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

King of the hipstersACROSS 1 Chose (with “for”) 6 Do finger painting 11 Masseuse

employer 14 Jumped to one’s

feet 15 ___-cochere

(carriage entrance)

16 Horse’s morsel 17 Spans for

pedestrians only 19 Lennon’s wife 20 “... in ___-horse

open sleigh” 21 Communion plate 23 Braque and

Picasso 27 Carnal 29 Makes amends 30 Scottish bays 31 Lowly, unskilled

workers 32 Word before

“face” or “time” 34 Slithery Egyptian 37 Dinner scraps 38 Photo session 39 Little kid 40 Zilch 41 Got to one’s feet 42 Actor Charlie or

Martin 43 Type of alcohol 45 Like a wasteland

46 Cause of hay fever

48 Masters locale 49 Bright star in

Perseus 50 Beige hue 51 Busy insect 52 Colgate and Crest 59 Prickly seed

casing 60 Provide, as with a

quality 61 Christopher of

“Superman” 62 “___ none of your

business” 63 Overhauled 64 Baby boobookDOWN 1 Churl 2 Con’s counterpart 3 Also 4 What means the

most at the end? 5 Lowers in dignity 6 Rotates 7 Pie a la ___ 8 A little energy 9 Broke a fast 10 Aretha Franklin

classic 11 Fortune-tellers 12 “Doonesbury”

segment 13 Lack of muscle

tone 18 Decays

22 Burning remnant 23 Dinner fowl,

sometimes 24 Where humans

evolve? 25 Prohibition

flouters 26 Weary travelers’

stopovers 27 Noah’s challenge 28 See 1-Down 32 Get ___ of (obtain),

slangily 33 Hiss alternative 35 Clay target 36 Philadelphia’s

state (Abbr.) 38 Eyelid problem 39 Drive-___ window 41 Refuge from a

storm 42 Giant cactus 44 Love-seat

capacity 45 Pat on the back,

as a baby 46 Bar mitzvah

presider 47 Alaska native 48 Felt sore 50 Fancy little purse 53 Sawbuck fraction 54 Peculiar 55 Baste 56 ___ Aviv 57 Holiday brink 58 Complete

collection

Eatin’ Cake Classic By Dylan Moriarty graphics@dailycardinal.com

The Pipe Smokers Classic By Joseph Diedrich

Evil Bird Classic By Caitilin Kirihara

Human Resources By Emily Gerber and Maya Miller

First In TwentyClassic By Angel Lee

Washington and the BearClassic By Derek Sandberg

SportsDAILYCARDINAL.COMWEDNESDAY APRIL 30, 2014

Community outreach program enhances what it means to be a Badger athlete

Feature

Giving back the Wisconsin way

H ands in his sweatshirt pocket, clutching his miniature football filled

with signatures, seventh-grad-er Abe was getting a backstage view of what a Wisconsin foot-ball practice looks like.

Before the day was done, someone would make him cen-ter stage.

Chris Borland, who is prepar-ing for May’s National Football League Draft, came into the din-ing facility, saw Abe passively observing, and took it upon him-self to make his experience that much more special.

Borland joined Abe for din-ner, engaged him with a multi-tude of questions, showed him the locker room and gave him all the attention instead of the other way around. These acts of kindness are bridging the gap between student-athletes and the Madison community they mean so much to.

Through Madison’s Big Brothers Big Sisters organiza-tion, Todd Berge became Abe’s big brother. After their day with the Badger football team, Berge was grateful for the generosity they encountered and said he will not soon forget any of it.

“I was lucky enough to be able to tag along,” Berge said. “[It was] a once in a lifetime experience.”

Community Relations Coordinator Kayla Gross said the Badgers Give Back pro-gram, started in 2012, makes these events so special because it increases athletes’ accessibility and brings a human element to the table.

For children especially, hear-ing the student-athletes they idolize ask them about their day, their interests, their struggles, can be quite the experience. However, some are fortunate enough to have more than one of these experiences.

Last May, Badgers Give Back gave Wisconsin fan and can-cer patient Darien Moran, 14, a Badgers-themed bedroom make-over as part of Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, according to uwbad-gers.com. But since then, he has formed a relationship with the football team and Borland in par-ticular, whom he visits and talks to on a regular basis.

“[Moran’s] a big Badgers fan and was afflicted by cancer so it was with Make-A-Wish Foundation,” Borland said. “But it kind of blossomed into more than that.”

The program’s benefits go both ways. The student-athletes themselves marvel at the oppor-tunities they get to give back and how they grow from them.

“[Moran] has become a friend, like a younger brother almost,” Borland said. “Nothing compares to my relationship with Darien ... That’s been special.”

The Badgers Give Back pro-gram increased the publicity of the student-athletes’ outreach efforts, according to Gross.

Before the stories were getting out there, Borland said the over-all student-athlete outreach effort was missing an identity.

“The organization of it kind of gave it a face, which was good for the community, good for Wisconsin, but also good for our people within the program,” he said. “A lot of players from all dif-ferent sports got involved because

they, like any other fan, saw the face of it, saw Badgers Give Back and realized the opportunity.”

A favorite opportunity among the student-athletes are trips to the American Family Children’s Hospital, according to Gross. So much so, she has to turn requests away because so many people want to go.

“It’s hard to go over there and see these kids fighting for their lives sometimes, but to know they have a place that is so won-derful, for them to go to while they are sick, you leave with a smile,” Gross said.

According to Gross, the football team has been going to AFCH the Friday before every home game for about 20 years, a tradition that started during Barry Alvarez’s coaching tenure. The hockey team has also been making regular visits for about 15 years.

In October, UW Athletics

and AFCH began a new collabo-ration involving Caleb’s Pitch, an organization that is, “dedi-cated to creating memorable experiences and enhancing the quality of life for children and families confronting serious childhood illnesses,” according to its website.

Combining sports and arts, a different UW-Madison team visits AFCH each month and participates in an atypical paint-ing activity.

The team members put on protective goggles and hold up a canvas, allowing the patients to squirt them using paint-filled syringes.

After the student-athletes are covered with a collage of colors, the children leave with their signed canvas. According to Gross, this activity can help the children mentally associate the syringes with enjoyable experi-ences rather than pain.

The children keep their art-work, but also keep the memo-ries. Being icons of the commu-nity, UW and its student-ath-letes giving these unforgettable moments is, at the end of the day, what Badgers Give Back is all about.

“It makes me feel better as an alum knowing that the uni-versity isn’t this untouchable thing, but it does reach out to the community,” Berge said. “The fact that the UW is willing to open their doors, and I guar-antee not everybody does that, it makes me feel more proud to be a Badger.”

Badgers Give Back did not create a tradition of giving at UW-Madison. It simply illu-minated and expanded on an existing culture that is chang-ing lives, building friendships, making memories and giving alumni like Berge a university to be proud of.

JAZZ FESTIVAL FRIDAY, JUNE 20 & SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014

MEMORIAL UNION

JAZZ SERIES BRIAN LYNCHW/ UW JAZZ ORCHESTRA & UW HONORS JAZZ BANDTHURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014, 8:00PMMUSIC HALL

608.265.ARTS | UNIONTHEATER .WISC.EDU

MUS I C H A L L

“This performance was supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.”

Y ou should love softball.April showers have

left their depressing chill over the UW-Madison campus… again. But fear not, sports are alive and well here! Wait, still not over the football loss to South Carolina, the hockey loss to North Dakota or the hoops loss to Kentucky? OK well I’m still bummed about the last one, but softball season is in full swing.

See what I did there? Badger softball has been on

the rise for the past few seasons under the leadership of head coach Yvette Healy. Since Healy came aboard, the Badgers have recorded 30 wins or more every season. Last year, they had their best year ever, racking up 44 wins and making the NCAA tourna-

ment for the first time since 2005.This year, the Badgers are

back at it, winning 13 games in a row. They are currently 30-15 and charging their way into the Big Ten tournament.

Come on, that’s exciting!College softball is great. It’s

played in glorious spring weath-er, the games are faster and easier to digest and the field is smaller so spectators can see better.

More interesting—a fast pitch softball is harder to hit than a baseball.

A baseball is thrown faster, yes. But in baseball, the pitcher is 60 feet 6 inches away and on an elevated mound, compared to softball where the pitcher is in a circle that’s only 43 feet away.

According to ESPN Sport Science, if a baseball pitcher throws 95 mph, the hitter will have .395 seconds to hit the ball. A soft-ball pitch at 70 mph gives the hitter only .350 seconds to hit the ball.

Scarier than that, the softball rises as it leaves the pitcher’s hand,

making it almost impossible to read.With a baseball pitch falling

from high to low, it is much easier for a hitter to drop his hands to hit the ball. It follows the natural path of the swing. That’s not the case in softball.

Softball games are also very exciting because they are shorter. If a team gives up a bad inning, they have less time to reclaim their lead.

As testament to this, last year’s NCAA softball final was one of the most exciting sporting events of the year.

Tennessee and Oklahoma bat-tled into the 14th inning of game one before the Sooners won on a walk-off home run.

Maybe the Badgers can follow in the footsteps of this year’s vol-leyball and basketball teams and contend for a national champion-ship in Oklahoma City.

Do you think it’s harder to hit a baseball or a softball? Are you excited for the softball postsea-son? Email gsatterfield@wisc.edu and let him know your thoughts.

GREY SATTERFIELD50 shades of grey

Softball deserves more attention

Story by Jonah Beleckis

Kayla Grosscommunity relations coordinator

Badgers Give Back

“[To] see these kids fighting for their lives sometimes, but to know they have a

place that is so wonderful ... you leave with a smile.”

GRAPHIC BY CAMERON GRAFF