University of Wisconsin-Madison
Thursday, November 21, 2024
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ASM establishes Black Affairs Committee By Finnegan Ricco PHOTO EDITOR
The University of Wisconsin-Madison student government, Associated Students of Madison (ASM), unanimously passed legislation to establish the Black Affairs Committee Nov. 13 following testimony from Black student groups. The committee will work in collaboration with the Black Cultural Center and student groups such as the Black Student Union, National PanHellenic Council to “ensure that the needs and voices of black students are represented in decisions about cultural programming and student services,” according to the legislation.
“A Black Student Affairs Committee would create a dedicated space to address community challenges that Black students face,” said Ashley Green, a representative from Leaders Igniting Transformation, an organization focused on young people of color leadership and political involvement. “By establishing this committee, we create opportunities to improve protection, foster leadership and ultimately help shape the university.” The Black Affairs Committee will hold open meetings “regularly” and submit reports to ASM on a quarterly basis to discuss any challenges or updates on campus Black affairs.
“This committee will create a campus culture that sees Black students not as statistical anomalies, but as essential to the life and the mission of this university,” said bill sponsor Rep. Farhiyo Ali. The effort comes after a September report by the Ad Hoc Study Group on the Black experience recommended a “proactive and strategic approach” to address long-standing issues Black students and faculty still face on campus. One of the recommendations proposed by the study was the creation of a Black student council responsible for “elevate[ing] the needs and concerns of these councils to the relevant campus
Bad River Band talks sovereignty, fight against oil pipeline
governing bodies or administrative units.” The ad hoc group was formed in response to the release of a video in which a UW-Madison student used racial slurs, and campus groups including the Blk Power Coalition organized large-scale protests calling for increasing funding for Black student organizations and required programming for first-year students that covers racial bias. Awa Phatty, a representative for minority pre-health organization AHANA-MAPS, told ASM representatives it was “a crucial time to
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Badgers fire offensive coordinator Phil Longo By Tomer Ronen FEATURES EDITOR
The Wisconsin Badgers have fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo, head coach Luke Fickell announced Sunday. The move comes after a loss against No. 1 Oregon during which the Badgers struggled to move the ball against through the air, netting 96 yards and only scoring 13 points. “After continuing to evaluate the program, I decided we are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team,” Fickell said in a statement Sunday. The team has yet to announce a replacement for Longo, who was hired in 2022 alongside Fickell. Longo’s Air Raid offensive system has underperformed for the Badgers, who have the 97th ranked scoring offense in the NCAA, averaging 23.9 points per game this season. Under Longo, quarterback Braedyn Locke has averaged under 200 yards through the air this season and has thrown only eight touchdowns to nine interceptions in six starts. ELIJAH PINES/THE DAILY CARDINAL
By G Sorenson & Elijah Pines STAFF WRITER & SENIOR STAFF WRITER
During a moderated Q&A after a University of Wisconsin-Madison film screening, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa members discussed threats to their water, including the Enbridge Energy Company Line 5 pipeline that received initial approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Thursday. The documentary “Bad River: A Story of Defiance” follows their fight for sovereignty and the history of the tribe and the Line 5 pipeline. Hugging the south shore of Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin is the Mashkiiziibii reservation, part of Bad River’s ancestral home. The tribe has 8,000 registered members nationwide, including 2,000 living on the reservation. Bad River organizers feel invigorated despite going up against Canadian oil company Enbridge. “We got shit to do, and I don’t see anybody else doing it,” said Aurora Conley, vice chair of the Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance. Enbridge uses Line 5 to transfer crude oil from west to east Canada. The pipeline mostly stays within Canadian borders but dips into American territory and runs through the Bad
River reservation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs initially let Enbridge install the pipeline without the tribe’s permission, according to the documentary. However, since the 1990s, the tribe has been in control of renewing Enbridge’s lease to their land. Enbridge proposed a reroute of Line 5 to go around the Bad River Reservation, but the land surrounding the reservation is still in its watershed. A pipeburst there could still leak crude oil into the rivers, polluting Bad River water and Lake Superior. An Enbridge pipe burst in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2010, the largest in-land oil spill in U.S. history. “I’m angry that the DNR has signed off on a half-baked plan that spells disaster for our homeland and our way of life,” Bad River Band Chair Robert Blanchard said in a Nov. 14 statement. “We will continue sounding the alarm to prevent yet another Enbridge pipeline from endangering our watershed.” The Army Corps of Engineers will send the DNR’s decision to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA will review the proposal and determine if the new pipeline might affect the tribe’s water quality, according to panelist Patty Loew, Bad River member and professor emerita at UW-Madison and
Northwestern University. The Biden administration urged that the pipeline be kept open last April after a Chicago-based lower court ordered its closure. The administration cited a 1977 energy treaty between the United States and Canada that keeps oil flowing. “That was really disappointing,” Loew said. “Especially since everybody seems to forget that [the Bad River tribe and the U.S.] had treaties in 1837, 1842 and 1854. Our treaties predate the treaties that were signed in Canada, but nobody’s talking about those treaties.” The Bad River band sued Enbridge to remove the Line 5 pipeline from their land in 2019 on the grounds that Enbridge was trespassing after their lease expired in 2013. The tribe also feared the pipe would burst as the Bad River banks eroded and exposed the pipe. Erosion of the land following historic floods in 2016 and 2018 left the pipe at risk of rupturing, according to the documentary. Despite the challenges they’ve faced, the Bad River people have maintained their culture and autonomy by finding refuge in ceremony and community, UW-Madison American Indian Science & Engineering Society coordinator and
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Hovde concedes to Baldwin By Anna Kleiber STATE NEWS EDITOR
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde conceded in his race against Sen. Tammy Baldwin Monday nearly two weeks after the Nov. 5 election. “As a result, and my desire not to add to political strife through a contentious recount, I have decided to concede the election,” Hovde said in a video released Monday. Hovde said he didn’t regret running for the U.S. Senate, but said he would take a “muchneeded break” and return to his businesses and look for “other ways to make an impact” through philanthropic work. The concession comes after Hovde released a video on Nov. 12 in which he questioned “irregularities” in the results. While Associated Press called the race for Baldwin on Nov. 6, Hovde claimed that certain precincts in Milwaukee had over 200% voter turnout, which the Wisconsin Elections Commission later refuted in a statement released Thursday.
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”