T hu r s d ay, D e ce m b e r 9, 2010 20 Pa g e s S i n g l e Co p i e s Fr e e

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Celeb ra t ing 100 year s

Word of the WeekDivagate

To wander or stray. To digress in speech.

Campus NewsCollege readership program to expand...

Please see CHEATING, page 3Please see Schedule, page 3

International impactBy Lauren Seidl

News Editor

Cheater cheater pumpkin eaterBy Hannah Henderson

Viewpoint EditorViewpoint Editor

International students a� ect economy, classrooms at UW-La Crosse

Cheating still occurs at the collegiate level, leaving some to question Gen Y-ers

Schedulechange a

possibilityBy Heather Gage

Staff ReporterStaff Reporter

UW-La Crosse is looking at changing the daily class schedule, and they want everyone’s input on it. Recently all students received an e-mail with an attached survey re-guarding schedule changes.

� e faculty senate ad-hoc com-mittee has created four di� erent choices for the schedule: UW-L’s daily schedule (no change), UW-L’s daily schedule with an 85 min-ute common period, a schedule starting a 8:05 instead of 7:45 or a schedule starting at 8:05 with an 85 minute common period.

� e 85 minute common period would be a time when no classes can be scheduled; only things such as labs can take place. � is time would give the opportunity for campus-wide meetings or activities.

Organized groups such as Habi-tat for Humanity or Environmen-tal Club can use this time to have meetings to create better turnouts.

� e committee thinks that the common period time would be most e� cient Wednesday a� er-noon.

� ere are a couple di� erent rea-sons why the committee is bringing up the change in the schedule. Cen-tennial Hall is opening fall of 2011 and will create more classrooms, which will create more sections for

Cheating is something students are tempted with throughout their academic careers. While it seems as though at a certain point students would realize that cheating is not bene� cial, some choose to take this easy way out even as college stu-dents.

John Palmer, Assistant Dean of

Students at UW-La Crosse, works in the o� ce that deals with disci-plinary action when students are caught cheating. He doesn’t place direct blame on either the students or professors who may uninten-tionally make cheating easy, rather he simply feels it is an issue of pre-paredness.

“Generally, people aren’t pre-pared; they haven’t done the re-search ahead of time. If people were prepared they wouldn’t cheat,”

said Palmer.At UW-L, the most common

form of cheating is academic dis-honesty, or taking outside informa-tion and not accrediting the source, according to Palmer.

� e consequences for such ac-tions include a failing grade on a paper or test, a failing grade in the course, or even a possible suspen-sion from the institution in the most extreme cases.

“A lot of time it’s resolved be-

tween the student and the faculty member. Professors actually make the decision on disciplinary action, we don’t,” said Palmer.

But UW-L isn’t the only academ-ic institution dealing with cheating incidents; this is something that happens everywhere.

Earlier this semester at a univer-sity in Florida, a mass cheating inci-dent took place in which nearly 200

International students have a large impact on UW-La Crosse, and it’s not just their cultural insights that are a� ecting the campus. Last year international students contri-ubuted over $8.4 million to the lo-cal economy according to the Asso-ciation of International Educators, or NAFSA.

During the 2009-10 academic year, international students at UW-L had the largest impact � nan-cially among western Wisconsin’s higher education institutions. An estimated $8,454,900 in tuition, fees and living expenses was contribut-ed by the 383 international students enrolled at the university.

International students at Viterbo University accounted for over $1.1 million spent, and international students at Western Technical col-

lege acounted for nearly $260,000. All together, last year international students contributed more than $9.5 million to La Crosse’s three in-stitutions of higher education.

According to UW-L’s Interna-tional Education department, inter-national students’ economic impact continues to grow because of he

school’s success in recruiting.Assistant Director of UW-L’s In-

ternational Education department, Sandra Sieber, said that a great deal of recruiting success comes from Assistant Director for Contracts and Admissions Ryan Hemmesch.

Sieber said that Hemmesch is on the road during about 80 percent of the academic year, informing people of the great programs UW-L has to o� er. He travels to di� erent countries as well as di� erent areas in the Unites States.

Sieber also said that many times international students are enticed to enroll at UW-L because of stu-dents they have met from the uni-versity who were studying abroad.

“Our study abroad students are embassadors of the university,” Sieber said. “Some international students hear about UW-L through word of mouth by our students who have studied abroad.”

While Sieber agreed that inter-

national students have a great im-pact on the � nancial aspects of the university, she said they have an even greater impact on the cultural aspects of the university.

“International students aren’t only taking lessons away from the classroom, but they’re also provid-ing lessons to faculty and students,” Sieber said. “International students bring a di� erent cultural mindset and a di� erent way of thinking to the university.”

Students from 40 di� erent coun-tries are enrolled at UW-L, accord-ing to Sieber. A majority of interna-tional students who attend UW-L are from Asia, with China being the country that most international students call home.

Currenty, UW-L is ranked fourth in having the most interna-tional students among all state col-leges. � e top three universities are UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee and Marquette University.

“International students aren’t only taking lessons away from the classroom, but they’re also providing lessons to faculty and students.” -Sandra Sieber

IED Assistant Director

Published by and for the students of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Vol. 102, No. XIII

PAGE 4

Celeb ra t ing 100 year sCeleb ra t ing 100 year sPAGE 4

Centennial Special EditionThe Racquet’s 100 years old this semester!

PAGES 7-14

Celeb ra t ing 100 year sCeleb ra t ing 100 year sPAGES 7-14

SportsMen’s basketball team continues to impress...

PAGE 19

Students doing the “Cha-cha Slide” at the Dec. 3 Candy Land themed Winter Formal, which was held at the La Crosse Center from 8 p.m. until midnight. About 650 UW-La Crosse students were in attendence. Tickets purchased at the door cost individuals $8 and couples $16. The Winter Formal is an annual event hosted by the RHAC .

Lauren Gause � e Racquet

Students doing the “Cha-cha Slide” at the Dec. 3 Candy Land themed Winter Formal, which was held at the La Crosse Center from 8 p.m. until midnight. About 650 UW-La

Lauren Gause � e Racquet

Dancing the night away

Published by and for the students of the University of Wisconsin-La CrossePublished by and for the students of the University of Wisconsin-La CrossePublished by and for the students of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Vol. 102, No. XIII

CampusNewsPage 2 Thursday, December 9, 2010

Twice a year, the Wisconsin Association of Colleges and Employers, Inc., or WI-ACE, hosts a conference to share new insights and discuss recruiting trends. One of this year’s conferences will be hosted in La Crosse on Dec. 8 and 9 at the Radisson Hotel. � e pre-sentation is titled “Hot Topics in a Cold Cli-mate.”

WI-ACE is an organization of representa-tives from Wisconsin employers and higher educational institutions devoted to connect-ing students and graduates with internship, co-op and full-time positions.

� e conference is aimed at Career Ser-vices Advisors and Human Resource Profes-sionals from around the state, in hopes that they will be able to inform students of the knowledge they gain.

Speakers at the conference will also talk about student programming ideas and how to best prepare students. � e conference will provide tips on using acting techniques and other forms of communication during job interviews.

WI-ACE president and UW-La Crosse Career Services Counselor Karolyn Bald said that those who work in college Career Servic-es o� ce have greatly impacted students and state employment.

During the two day conference, there will be six di� erent presentations, or keynotes. Two will be presented by Greg Justice, who is an associate professor of theatre arts at

Virginia Tech. His presentations will include techniques that professional theatre, � lm and television performers use that can enhance business presentations, communication and training.

� e titles of his keynotes are “� e Art of Business” and “� e Art of Interviewing”. Greg Justice is a professional actor and director and an award-winning teacher. He has directed over 40 plays for the department and has ap-peared in over 100 theatrical productions and numerous television and radio commercials. Justice is also the President Elect of Virginia Tech’s Academy of Teaching Excellence.

� e other presenters are Kaye Schendel, Ben Hannemann, Willem Van Roosenbeek and Roseanne St. Sauver, and Keith Tozer.

Respectively, their presentations are titled “Fierce Conversations”, “Launching Your Campus Recruiting Marketing Plan”, “Out in the Workplace Panel” and “Rewarding, Moti-vating, and Retaining the ‘TEAM’ Player.”

� e agenda of the WI-ACE Conference includes the unveiling of the new Wisconsin Association of Colleges and Employers, Inc. Web site and multiple breaks sponsored by Kwik Trip. Kwik Trip has given the confer-ence-goers an ice cream break, an optional facility tour and a hospitality room.

Since 1963, WI-ACE has brought together professionals in collegiate career services, recruitment and sta� ng to collaborate, com-municate and connect. � is conference in La Crosse will continue the tradition of sharing knowledge between professionals around the state.

Hot topics in a cold climate

By Teresa TurnerStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

Conference to give Career Services new techniques in helping students � nd jobs

Another chapter downSenior Bi-Annual art exhibition in full swing

From one milestone to the next. � at is exactly what eight UW-La Crosse art students are experiencing as they � nish their last few weeks as a student. � ese eight students, all enrolled in the Art Foundations capstone class, are currently presenting their � nal and best work at the Bi-Annual Senior Art Exhi-bition held in the Center for the Arts Gallery.

A two-hour opening celebration was held on Dec. 3 to kick o� the show. � e gallery features several di� erent mediums of art in-cluding sculpture, metalsmithing, ceramics, graphic arts, painting, printmaking, photog-raphy and drawing.

Community members, students and sta� , as well as members within the Art Depart-ment all attended the opening ceremonies.

“Within the class, there are so many me-diums coming together, and I think that this exhibit is a good example of the quality of the art department here at UW-L and shows we produce quality art students,” ceramics pro-fessor Karen Terpstra said. “� e class pres-ents information that makes the student pur-sue the transition from student to artist.”

According to students this exhibit has more meaning and sign� cance in compari-son to previous exhibitions. Bethany LaDue, a senior in the capstone class, feels that the exhibit provides closure and direction for her and the other students.

“Because of so many mediums being pre-sented, which resist the idea of one theme,

the exhibit is more a theme of where we are going,” LaDue said. LaDue hopes that this exhibit will bring art into the community and promote people to think toward coming to UW-L in purchasing artwork, rather than go-ing to a brand-named stored such as Target.

Senior Ann Peters was particularly proud about this exhibit because it was the � rst time her work was ever being displayed in a show. She wanted to create really meaningful works because of this and presented photographs that incorporate her participation in theatre through a projector display.

“� ere was an individualistic theme as far as choosing what to present and picking your display spot, but the capstone class is � lled with a community feeling. � e art depart-ment is one big community,” Peters said.

Peters hopes that through this exhibit, the support of young artists will become more consistent.

Senior Bethany Rahn feels that everyone in the class works extremely hard individu-ally and hopes that the campus community sees their e� orts.

“� is class provides us with a completely new perspective,” she said. “� rough this class, we all have the skills that are needed for getting our art work into a studio.”

� e exhibition will run through Dec. 15 with gallery hours o� ered Monday through � ursday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

By Julie SchneiderStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

Various lithograph art pieces on display at the Senior Art Exhibition. The exhibit opened Friday, Dec. 3rd and lasts until Dec. 15.

Matt Saddoris � e Racquet

CAPTURING THE CROWD

Above: Dewayne Wrencher sings “Forget You” by Cee-Lo with backup dancers at the Dec. 2 Awareness Through Performace show at The Cellar. Below: Kenny Rosales captures the audience with a solo performance during the show.

Nichole Larson � e Racquet

of Colleges and Employers, Inc., or WI-ACE, hosts a conference to share new insights and discuss recruiting trends. One of this year’s conferences will be hosted in La Crosse on Dec. 8 and 9 at the Radisson Hotel. � e pre-sentation is titled “Hot Topics in a Cold Cli-mate.”

tives from Wisconsin employers and higher educational institutions devoted to connect-ing students and graduates with internship, co-op and full-time positions.

vices Advisors and Human Resource Profes-sionals from around the state, in hopes that they will be able to inform students of the knowledge they gain.

about student programming ideas and how to best prepare students. � e conference will provide tips on using acting techniques and other forms of communication during job interviews.

Career Services Counselor Karolyn Bald said that those who work in college Career Servic-es o� ce have greatly impacted students and state employment.

be six di� erent presentations, or keynotes. Two will be presented by Greg Justice, who is an associate professor of theatre arts at

Hot topics in a cold climate

the exhibit is more a theme of where we are going,” LaDue said. LaDue hopes that this exhibit will bring art into the community and promote people to think toward coming to UW-L in purchasing artwork, rather than go-

Senior Ann Peters was particularly proud about this exhibit because it was the � rst time her work was ever being displayed in a show. She wanted to create really meaningful works because of this and presented photographs that incorporate her participation in theatre

“� ere was an individualistic theme as far

Page 3Thursday, December 9, 2010 CampusNews

Lauren SeidlNews Editornews@theracquet.net

IN OTHER BUSINESSOther issues discussed by Student Senate

› Capital fund requests for athletics

› Resolution supporting 2011-2012 sustainability theme passed

› Academic Initiatives budget--no action

› Alternate side parking reprieve--no action

› SUFAC budget--no action

With � nals coming up quickly, the semester is almost done. What do you plan on doing over winter break?

I’m going to bake cookies, go sledding, and spend time with my friends and families. Then I’m going to come back to La Crosse for track practice.”

-Annalise Falk-Pedersen , Freshman

I’m going to Narnia to play in the snow.

-Austen Keller, Freshman

Spending time with my family, and of course going to track practice“

-Megan Mar� lius, Sophomore

I’m gunna learn how to do some headspins (as in break dancing). It’s my New Years Resolution.“

-Emily Rauscher, Freshman

Jason Meyer, a representative from the national newspaper USA Today, spoke about UW-L’s Collegiate Readership Program and its possible expansion at last week’s Student Senate meeting.

“I’ve already been working with [Student Association President] Karly Wallace, and what we want to do now is explain what we already o� er and what the logical next step is,” he said.

� e Collegiate Readership Program is an initiative at about 500 campuses and most of the UW System that o� ers a choice of free daily newspapers to students.

Currently, the free newspapers o� ered are USA Today, the La Crosse Tribune and the Wisconsin State Journal. Students can pick up these newspapers at stands found in all residence halls. But this means that only stu-dents living in the residence halls, or about

one-third of UW-L’s student population, has access to this resource. So the “logical next step” for this program is to enable more stu-dents to get the newspapers.

Meyer explained, “We have a goal of serv-ing all students…newspapers are a resource you could provide to all.”

While costing only $5-$10 per student per year, he said, providing the news to students prepares them to work in a global economy and promotes responsible citizenship and seeking knowledge out of the classroom.

� e proposed expansion of the program remains open to input or changes by the Stu-dent Senate and RHAC, but the current plan is to run a monthlong pilot program during spring semester.

� is would involve increased locations for newspaper distribution, making them more accessible to students not living in residence halls. � ese locations are up to the Senate and Academic A� airs, but would likely in-clude Murphy Library, Whitney and Cart-

wright Center, among others. � e newspa-pers would be available either in open racks or in machines where swiping a student ID would allow access.

Expansion of the newspapers o� ered is also a possibility.

“If we can physically get the newspaper to you and people will read it, we’ll o� er it,” Meyer said.

In addition to USA Today and the other papers now o� ered, the New York Times, the Washington Post, or maybe even a Min-nesota newspaper could be added or replace one of the current o� erings.

Any changes in what’s o� ered will be based on student input through surveys handed out during the spring pilot program and also by talking to your student senators about which newspapers you would like to see on campus.

During the pilot program, consumption of each newspaper at each location will be tracked to determine which locations are

most e� ective and what is read the most. So even if it’s just a glance at the headlines, take advantage of the news; a� er all, what college student can resist free stu� ?

By Gretchen ZishkaStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

College Readership Program expansion in the works

certain classes. More sections will help make it easier for students to get into the classes they need at a time that works for them.

UW-L is also getting a new scheduling so� ware to make choosing classes easier.

One disadvantage with the di� erent sched-ules is that if they start later, that means that students will have to be in class later in the day. � is may be di� cult for any students in sports, students who work in schools or have kids to pick up from school or work sched-ules.

Having a common period in the schedule takes away class time and will change stu-dents’ schedules even more.

“I think that it would be nice to not have such early options for classes, but I wouldn’t

want classes that go later into the day,” said UW-L student Carly Frerichs. “It’s nice to get all my classes over with early. � e common

period seems a bit useless for me, though I can see that it would be beni� cial for people who need time where no meetings are sched-uled. I would much rather have the later start-ing than have the common period.”

Many students participated in the survey reguarding the schedule change. � e ad-hoc committee will share the results of the survey and recommendations with the Faculty Sen-ate. If any changes are made to the schedule, they will be e� ective in the fall of 2012.

If you have any questions on the schedule changes or want to express your opinion on the schedule change, e-mail the UW-L Stu-dent Association President, Karly Wallace at Wallace.karl@uwlax.edu.

Proposed new schedule raises concernswant classes that go later into the day,” said UW-L student Carly Frerichs. “It’s nice to get all my classes over with early. � e common

period seems a bit useless for me, though I can see that it would be beni� cial for people who need time where no meetings are sched-uled. I would much rather have the later start-

Many students participated in the survey reguarding the schedule change. � e ad-hoc committee will share the results of the survey and recommendations with the Faculty Sen-ate. If any changes are made to the schedule,

If you have any questions on the schedule changes or want to express your opinion on the schedule change, e-mail the UW-L Stu-dent Association President, Karly Wallace at

students received a copy of a textbook exam they claimed to not know their professor would be using for their exam. � is sparked a large discussion on who to blame--the stu-dents or the teachers--and what the issue at hand really was. Some say it’s ethics while others believe it has to do with generational upbringing.

While not blaming the upbringing of to-day’s students, Palmer noted that there is a signi� cant generational di� erence causing cheating to become more prominent.

“It’s a generational problem that students cheat more because of the internet. It’s also much easier for professors to catch cheating. � e internet makes it easier for students to cheat and be caught,” said Palmer.

Overall, students need to step up to the plate and be more prepared and responsible so situations like these will not occur, Palmer said.

“If you’ve got a feeling that you shouldn’t be doing this, you’ve got that feeling for a rea-son,” said Palmer.

As � nals and the end of the semester are rapidly approaching, students should be pre-pared. � ere are consequences for cheating in terms of grades and character.

So as you begin to prepare for your exams or as you write those last few papers, remem-ber academic honesty is key; cheating hurts you and only you.

“You’re cheating yourself out of your own education,” said Palmer.

Students can face serious consequences if caught cheatingFrom Schedule, page 1 From CHEATING, page 1

I’m going to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with my family. “

-Michael Bruggink, Sophomore

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Katie TuckerCity Editorcity@theracquet.netCityNews

Page 4 Thursday, December 9, 2010

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Between Tres Compadres and Vintage Vogue

Birthright- La CrosseWe love them both!

Downtown Mainstreet Inc, has been a major force in the revitalization of Historic Downtown La Crosse since its beginning in 1990. � e organization is a non-pro� t busi-ness group stemming o� its predecessor, La Crosse Business Men’s Association, � rst founded in the 1960s and displays the motto “LOOK, LIVE, LOVE.”

� e organization is comprised of over 150 members, numerous volunteers including many UW-La Crosse students and support from the City and County of La Crosse. � e results of the organization’s e� orts are clearly visible all over the downtown area.

� e main focus of DMI is to create growth and development of the downtown area.

“� ere was not enough focus on down-town La Crosse. Too many businesses were relocating out of downtown during the time Valley View and other strip malls were being constructed in the 1980s, and property values downtown dramatically declined,” said Ex-ecutive Director Tim Kabat.

According to Kabat it was di� cult to en-courage new business downtown with so many vacant store fronts, but in 1992 DMI adopted the City Vision 2000 plan to renovate downtown La Crosse and their e� orts have considerably improved conditions.

“� e completed plan has been our greatest

accomplishment to date,” Kabat said. � e plan included reconstruction of the

levy and river walk in Riverside Park, instal-lation of the new historic lighting and side-walks, several building improvements and the creation of six annual downtown events comprised of the Spring Fling in April, Kraze Daze in July, the Fall Fashion show in Sep-tember, Historic Downtown La Crosse Day in October, downtown trick or treating and the November Holiday Open House.

“It’s a celebration of downtown, especially Historic Day because it recognizes our his-tory as a community,” Kabat said.

DMI also works closely with the La Crosse City Vision Foundation, a non-pro� t group focused on the beauti� cation of downtown La Crosse. � e foundation is primarily re-sponsible for the maintenance of Riverfront and the river walk, funding for the construc-tion of special attractions such as public art displays, area statues and the clock tower on Second and Main Streets, and the annual Christmas decorations for downtown streets. Over 70 � ower planters have been installed

downtown and are maintained throughout the season with the help of Country Master Gardeners, also a non-pro� t group.

Future projects being considered by DMI include a program to � ll vacant stores with a low rent incentive, free weekly outdoor music events and a playground at Cameron Park. A campus gear store, Show Your Colors, opened downtown recently. Crunch, a new deli, will be opening soon at Fourth and Main Streets.

DMI has various committees requiring volunteer support.

“It’s a great way to get connected with the community and what’s going on downtown,”

Kabat said.“It’s more than just � ird Street.” Other businesses students may be inter-

ested in are Jules Co� ee House, Deaf Ear Music, Grounded co� ee shop, Pearl Street Books, Root Note Café featuring live music, � e Violet Flame gi� shop and � e Ware-house, an alternative music club.

Individual memberships to Downtown Mainstreet, Inc. can be purchased for $50 and include a discount coupon book worth far more. Please go to www.lacrossedowntown.com for more information.

Building a better communityDowntown Mainstreet Inc. major force behind downtown revitilization

By Jill BagniefskiStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

Lit wreaths decorate downtown La Crosse during the holiday season. The wreaths are just one of the many projects the La Crosse City Vision Foundation is involved with in beautifying the downtown area.

KaWai Hui � e Racquet

“Our main focus is to create growth and development in the downtown area. In the past, there was not enough focus on downtown La Crosse.”

Tim KabatExecutive Director, DMI

The City Vision 2000 plan to reno-vate downtown La Crosse has con-siderably improved conditions

Don’t be a hero73-year-old Joseph Jones from South

Carolina proceeded to destroy his Motel 6 room one � ne Sunday night at 11 p.m. a� er receiving a prank phone call about a dwarf being imprisoned in the room next door. � e prankster on the phone told Jones that he was being watched under highly sophisticated surveillance cameras, and in order to destroy the cameras he had to smash the TV with the toilet lid and then throw it out the window.

A� er Jones did this, the caller told him to destroy the room’s mirrors and have at the walls with a wrench to free the imprisoned dwarf. � e police arrived a� er getting calls about noise from other guests and discovered the disastrous mess in the man’s room.

� ey were � rst skeptical about Jones’ story, but believed him when the prank caller rang in and asked if he had destroyed all the cam-eras yet. He hung up when he realized he was not talking to Jones anymore, saying he had the wrong number. Jones was not charged with anything, but he was asked to leave by management. [11/25/2010 www.theregister.co.uk]

Ballsy gravestonesOne of the hottest new tourist sites in Teh-

ran, Iran is the Khalid Nabi cemetery. � e an-cient cemetery is chock-full of sti� s, and we’re not talking about just dead people here…the tombstones are shaped to represent the male penis. � ese 600 multi-sized penises have been standing in northeastern Iran for sev-eral hundred years. Tombstones representing female mammary-glands stand alongside the phallic uprights.

� e di� erent sizes of the headstones are thought to show the age of the person at their death, although some tourists have debated that the smaller headstones are that size due to shrinkage. [11/12/2010 www.globalpost.com]

Escape to Wal-MartA convicted burglar in Texas has escaped

from prison about 70 times, only to slip back in a� er his errand runs. � e 19-year-old prisoner, who worked as a prison trusty in a fenceless unit, would slip out for late-night runs to Wal-Mart just so he could buy ciga-rettes. One might expect he would be noticed in his blaze orange prison uniform, but the prisoner would stain his clothes with co� ee before slipping out so he would not be rec-ognized. � e o� cials � nally got wise when they reviewed Wal-Mart’s surveillance foot-age, which turned out to be much better than the prison’s cameras. [3/3/2010 www.newser.com]

Tiny Texan21-year-old Lizzie Velasquez gets excited

whenever she puts on a pound. � is may seem odd for a young woman, but for her it could mean the di� erence between life and death. Lizzie, a native Texan, su� ers from what the doctors think is neonatal progeroid syndrome, where a person cannot keep on weight and has accelerated aging.

Although Lizzie eats around 8,000 calories a day to stay alive, she resembles a Holocaust survivor and weighs in at just 56 pounds. Lizzie has to eat every � � een minutes to make sure that her body does not burn her away to nothing. To add to her di� culties, Lizzie is also blind in one eye with limited sight in the other. She was born prematurely at two pounds 10 ounces and had to wear doll clothes because they were the only thing that � t her. � e currently 5’2” Texan wears size triple-zero clothes, and gets pretty upset when people accuse her of being anorexic. Despite her di� culties, Lizzie remains upbeat about life and does not let her condition stop her from doing anything. [6/28/2010 www.cbsnews.com]

Weird World HappeningsBy Teresa Turner

Staff ReporterStaff Reporter

Other businesses students may be inter-ested in are Jules Co� ee House, Deaf Ear Music, Grounded co� ee shop, Pearl Street Books, Root Note Café featuring live music, � e Violet Flame gi� shop and � e Ware-

Individual memberships to Downtown Mainstreet, Inc. can be purchased for $50 and include a discount coupon book worth far more. Please go to www.lacrossedowntown.

Tim KabatExecutive Director, DMI

Carolina proceeded to destroy his Motel 6 room one � ne Sunday night at 11 p.m. a� er receiving a prank phone call about a dwarf being imprisoned in the room next door. � e prankster on the phone told Jones that he was being watched under highly sophisticated surveillance cameras, and in order to destroy the cameras he had to smash the TV with the toilet lid and then throw it out the window.

destroy the room’s mirrors and have at the walls with a wrench to free the imprisoned dwarf. � e police arrived a� er getting calls about noise from other guests and discovered the disastrous mess in the man’s room.

but believed him when the prank caller rang in and asked if he had destroyed all the cam-eras yet. He hung up when he realized he was not talking to Jones anymore, saying he had the wrong number. Jones was not charged with anything, but he was asked to leave by management. [11/25/2010 www.theregister.co.uk]

ran, Iran is the Khalid Nabi cemetery. � e an-cient cemetery is chock-full of sti� s, and we’re not talking about just dead people here…the tombstones are shaped to represent the male penis. � ese 600 multi-sized penises have been standing in northeastern Iran for sev-eral hundred years. Tombstones representing female mammary-glands stand alongside the phallic uprights.

thought to show the age of the person at their death, although some tourists have debated that the smaller headstones are that size due to shrinkage. [11/12/2010 www.globalpost.com]

from prison about 70 times, only to slip back in a� er his errand runs. � e 19-year-old prisoner, who worked as a prison trusty in a fenceless unit, would slip out for late-night runs to Wal-Mart just so he could buy ciga-rettes. One might expect he would be noticed in his blaze orange prison uniform, but the prisoner would stain his clothes with co� ee before slipping out so he would not be rec-ognized. � e o� cials � nally got wise when they reviewed Wal-Mart’s surveillance foot-age, which turned out to be much better than the prison’s cameras. [3/3/2010 www.newser.com]

whenever she puts on a pound. � is may seem odd for a young woman, but for her it could mean the di� erence between life and death. Lizzie, a native Texan, su� ers from what the doctors think is neonatal progeroid syndrome, where a person cannot keep on weight and has accelerated aging.

a day to stay alive, she resembles a Holocaust survivor and weighs in at just 56 pounds. Lizzie has to eat every � � een minutes to make sure that her body does not burn her away to nothing. To add to her di� culties, Lizzie is also blind in one eye with limited sight in the other. She was born prematurely at two pounds 10 ounces and had to wear doll clothes because they were the only thing that � t her. � e currently 5’2” Texan wears size triple-zero clothes, and gets pretty upset when people accuse her of being anorexic. Despite her di� culties, Lizzie remains upbeat about life and does not let her condition stop her from doing anything. [6/28/2010 www.cbsnews.com]

In a college town, a business that doesn’t

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good.• Increase name recognition

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� e next time you pass a Salvation Army bell ringer, saying you’re out of cash can’t be an excuse for not contributing. New this year, bell ringers are able to accept credit card donations.

Donations can be made by � lling out a donation form pro-vided by the bell ringer. � e form asks for a credit card number, but will be immediately placed in the locked kettle and brought back to � e La Crosse Salva-tion Army located on Eighth Street.

“It’s just as secure as any other monetary amount you place in a kettle. � e forms come back to a very safe situ-ation and are recorded in the same way as if you would have mailed them in,” Julie Nelson, Development Director of the La Crosse Salva-tion Army said.

Individuals are also able to create personal online kettles. A per-son can host their own Red Kettle page and then invite others through e-mail to � ll their kettle via secure online donations.

� e goal for this year's Red Kettle Cam-paign is $600,000, which was the same as last year. According to the Salvation’s Web site, the donations made from the Red Kettle Campaign comprise almost one third of the local branch’s annual budget.

Donations go towards supplies to provide meals and shelter for local individuals in need. All donations received will stay locally according to the organization Web site.

According to Nelson, donations are need-ed more this year than ever before. � e or-ganization served 90,000 meals from Octo-ber 2009 through this past September, up 14 percent from last year. � e number of shelter nights provided also rose by 10 percent.

Red kettles are set up in 30 locations in La Crosse and Onalaska until Dec. 24. � e Sal-vation Army is still looking to � ll bell ringer shi� s toward the end of the season. Anyone

who would like to volunteer can go to www.bells2ring.org.

People can donate by dropping money into any of the Red Kettles around town or go online to bells2ring.org. You can also text "coin" to 85944 to make a $10 donation.

Currently, donations are about $10,000 below where they were last year accord-ing to Nelson. � e organization has earned about 13 percent of its overall $600,000 goal. Nelson accredits this to the lack of volunteers so far this year.

“Volunteers really make all the di� er-ence. A kettle that has a volunteer present can make on average $800 a day, where as those without ringers make very little,” Nel-son said.

In addition to cash, the Salvation Army is always need food for its meal programs. � e shelter provides three meals a day to anyone who is in need of food.

With � nals and the holidays nearing, most students are concerned with the safety of their sanity, but physical safety is just as important as the seasonal weather nears. � e city of La Crosse wants to remind residents to clear their sidewalks within 24 hours a� er snowfall, or they risk a � ne.

La Crosse Ordinance 5.08 states the fol-lowing, “Snow or ice must be removed within 24 hours a� er the snow or ice has stopped falling. � is includes the corner crosswalk area for property owners with the corner lots or those whose property abuts a mid-block crosswalk.”

� is means that apartment-dwellers must have their sidewalks clean the day following a snowfall. For example, if it snowed on Tues-day sidewalks must be cleared by Wednesday at 6 p.m. � e city also states that it is not re-sponsible for alley snow clearing. Strict en-forced � nes may also occur if not done so properly and in a timely matter.

Any violator of this ordinance, according to the city of La Crosse’s Winter Operations department, will be � ned $50 and $2.50 for every foot of snow that the city has to clear.

� e staggering � nes are due to safety of the sidewalks.

“� e intent of the ordinance is to keep the city sidewalks clear of snow and ice to ensure that they are safe and people are able to walk on them,” Assistant City Engineer Bernard Lenz said.

It is also prohibited to shovel said snow onto the street or another privately owned property.

According to the O� ce of Residence Life, 72 percent of students enrolled at UW-La

Crosse live o� campus. As winter nears, it is important to know what your landlord’s poli-cy is for snow removal.

“Our landlord doesn’t provide snow re-moval, but if one person in the complex takes on the responsibility of shoveling they get money taken o� of their rent,” said o� -cam-pus student Sophomore Shelby Brown.

Even if ill or gone for winter break, the property needs shoveling, However, if you have an objection the city will allow appeals to be � led at their o� ce.

If you wish to send in an appeal for a � ne or learn more about the city’s ordinance, you can contact the Street Department O� ce at 608-789-7340, or visit their Web site cityo� a-crosse.org

Page 5CityNewsThursday, December 9, 2010

CAMPUS CALENDAR

All St r Lanes

www.allstarlaneslax.2gobowl.com or Join us on Facebook!

Mondays @ 8pm

$5 PitchersWednesdays

$2 SilosBloody Mary Bar

every Sunday11am - 3pm

Watch Football Live Here!

Fridays & Saturdays@ 8:30pm

Karaoke

POPCORN TAVERNLaCrosse’s Home of Live Music

Fayme Rochelle and the Waxwings

Fri 12.10

The KokopelliansSat 12.11

Free barrel for CJ’s Birthday!

Som’n JazzSun 12.12

December 19th Christmas Party! Free Beer and Live Music All Night Long!

308 4th St. S. (608) 782-9069

www.popcorntavern.com

12/11

12/09

12/11

12/10

Twelfth Night (play). 7:30 p.m. Toland Theatre, Center for Arts. Student tickets $4 with id.

UW-L Swimming and Diving vs. Eau Claire. 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Mitchell Hall.

UW-L Gymanastics Intrasquad. 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Mitchell Hall.

UW-L Mens Basketball vs. Plateville. 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Mitchell Hall.

12/17

12/11

12/16

12/15

Study Day. All day, University Wide.

Festival of Carols. 3:00 p.m. Valhalla, Cartwright Center.

Finals Begin. 7:45 a.m. University Wide.

UW-L Mens Basketball vs.Carleton College. 7:00 p.m. -9:00 p.m. Mitchell Hall.

No change, no problemSalvation Army bell ringers now accepting

donations via credit cards, virtual red kettlesBy Katie Tucker

City EditorCity Editor

UW-La Crosse student Jessica Earp volunteers for Salvation Army as a bell ringer at the Onalaska Walmart. The annual Red Kettle Campaign fundraiser takes place through Dec. 24.

Photographer name � e Racquet

who would like to volunteer can go to www.

People can donate by dropping money

most students are concerned with the safety of their sanity, but physical safety is just as important as the seasonal weather nears. � e city of La Crosse wants to remind residents to clear their sidewalks within 24 hours a� er snowfall, or they risk a � ne.

lowing, “Snow or ice must be removed within 24 hours a� er the snow or ice has stopped falling. � is includes the corner crosswalk area for property owners with the corner lots or those whose property abuts a mid-block crosswalk.”

have their sidewalks clean the day following a snowfall. For example, if it snowed on Tues-day sidewalks must be cleared by Wednesday at 6 p.m. � e city also states that it is not re-sponsible for alley snow clearing. Strict en-forced � nes may also occur if not done so properly and in a timely matter.

to the city of La Crosse’s Winter Operations department, will be � ned $50 and $2.50 for every foot of snow that the city has to clear.

the sidewalks.

city sidewalks clear of snow and ice to ensure that they are safe and people are able to walk on them,” Assistant City Engineer Bernard Lenz said.

onto the street or another privately owned property.

72 percent of students enrolled at UW-La

Dashing through the snow

By KC PowersStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

City o� cials remind students about snow removal ordinance

City snow plows remove snow from down-town La Crosse streets. With the recent snowfall, the city wants to remind residents that they must remove snow within 24 hours of snowfall, or they face a � ne under Ordinance 5.08.

Courtesy of the City of La Crosse

To learn more about donating to the Red Kettle Campaign visit bells2ring.org

Page 6

ViewpointThursday, december 9, 2010� e voice of the campus community is printed here

You can’t be heard if you don’t speak up!Send your letter for The Open Forum to

viewpoint@theracquet.net today!

O� the Record...

-OTR-

Hannah HendersonViewpoint Editor

viewpoint@theracquet.net

Needed: 2 Asst. Track CoachesSend Letter of Application and Resume to:

David Schulte, Activities DirectorLa Crescent Middle/High School

1301 Lancer BoulevardLa Crescent, MN 55947

Closed when positions � lled

Please send invoice to:ISD #300

703 South 11th StreetLa Crescent, MN 55947

Attn: Nancy

5 bedrm. Now renting for next school year. June 1.� ree blocks from UWL ,774 N 22 St. No pets. $300 per person.

plus utilities, o� street parking, laundry, large o� ce can be used as a bedroom, separate heat controls,

have larger units also. 608-792-7319.

TheRacqueT

EDITORIAL BOARDKelli Ponce | Editor in Chiefkponce@theracquet.netJake Gietman | Publisher jgeitman@theracquet.net Nik Nelson | Assistant to the Publisher nnelson@theracquet.netLauren Seidl | News Editor news@theracquet.netKatie Tucker | City Editorcity@theracquet.netAlex Witt | Features Editor features@theracquet.netAllen Knappenberger | Projects Editor aknappenberger@theracquet.netIsaac Lindahl | Sports Editor sports@theracquet.netTaylor Fagerburg | Multimedia Editor photo@theracquet.netHannah Henderson | Viewpoint Editor viewpoint@theracquet.netMegan Fallon | Online Editor online@theracquet.netChris Rochester | Editorial Consultantcrochester@theracquet.net

NEWS REPORTERSKC Powers | Crime & Safety powers.kath@uwlax.eduGretchen Zishka | Student Gov’tzishka.gret@uwlax.eduDan Dodge | Admin & Budgetdodge.dani@uwlax.eduJill Bagniefski | Explore the Citybagniefs.jill@uwlax.eduNick Kammers | Sweden Bureaukammers.nich@uwlax.eduJulie Schneider | General Assignmentschneider.juli@uwlax.eduTeresa Turner | General Assignmentturner.tere@uwlax.eduHeather Gage | General Assigmentgage.heat@uwlax.edu

FEATURES REPORTERSAshley Atkinsonatkinson.ashl@uwlax.eduMeghan O’Connoroconnor.megh@uwlax.eduEthan Peterspeters.etha@uwlax.eduErica Gullicksongullicks.eric@uwlax.eduPhilippe Meistermeister.phil@uwlax.eduOlivia Mercermercer.oliv@uwlax.eduEmily Kingking.emil@uwlax.edu

ART AND PHOTO STAFFKaWai Hui | Senior PhotographerPhotographers | Lauren Gause, Yuhan Luo, Lars Roeder, Matt Saddoris, Mollie Verdick, Paige Rice, Michael Westberry, Amanda O’Keefe, Nichole LarsonDesigners | Bethany LaDue, Mai Zoua Vang

BUSINESS STAFFJake Gietman | Publisherjgeitman@theracquet.net Nik Nelson | Assistant to the Publishernnelson@theracquet.netBrian BlanchetteAdvertising Directorbblanchette@theracquet.net

Charity PradiptariniAccount Executivecpradiptarini@theracquet.netKim MavesAccount Executivekmaves@theracquet.net

The Racquet is a student-produced weekly newspaper distributed for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The editorial sta�

assumes full responsibility for content and policies. The Racquet values accuracy and

will publish corrections if necessary; please send them to editor@theracquet.net.

Deadline for article submission is Friday by noon. To advertise with The Racquet, please contact bblanchette@theracquet.

net. For general inquiries, contact editor@theracquet.net.

Single copies are free to members of the UW-La Crosse, WTC, and Viterbo campus

communities. Multiple copies can be acquired from The Racquet at a price to be determined by the publisher by contacting

the Racquet business o� ce. Newspaper theft is a crime and is subject to civil and

criminal prosecution and/or university discipline.

231 & 232 Cartwright Center1725 State Street

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To reserve your issue of The Racquet, visit www.theracquet.net/subscribe or call us at

(608) 785-8378. Single issues are free on campus or available by mail for a subscrip-

tion fee.FALL 2010: 15 issues for $30FULL YEAR: 30 issues for $50

Subscriptions

The Racquet

Sarah OddenStudent

� e fairly politically correct and liberal environment that comes naturally with living on or around campus de� nitely has it’s bene� ts, but there also are negative implications as well. One issue with living in the this environment is that students are isolated to real problems impacting the rest of the La Crosse commu-nity. Hate crimes are one of these problems. As we carry on day to day in our own little bubbles, hate crimes

are being committed in the mean time in the La Crosse community. � ey can have their motives stem-ming from race, sexual orientation, religious views, or the one I wish to address, immigrant status. � e Hmong Mutual Assistance Associa-tion here in La Crosse has an average of two hate crimes reported a week solely against the Hmong immigrant population. � e reasons for many of these hate crimes come from a lack of education about immigrants and their economic and cultural impact. As students, I believe it is our duty to educate ourselves so we do not have the same perceived and untrue ideas about immigrants and can thus advocate for the legal immigrants whom deserve justice.

Classi� edsEliminate Hate

Packers, Vikings, and Bears. All are NFL Football teams and all are in the same division. Why is it that at college no one seems to see both sides to the story. Yes, Brett Favre is a Viking. And yes, Packer fans are swayed in whether they hate him or like him. But what really burns people’s grits is the fact that Viking fans will blame Favre for every loss, every interception, and everything that goes wrong with the Vikings. It must be pointed out that in the NFC Championship game a year ago, Adrian Peterson fumbled the football and couldn’t hang on to a simple hand o� from Favre. Favre performed in that game. Peterson did not. � e receiving squad for the Vikings did not know how to catch in that game either. Perfectly thrown passes were dropped and simply no e� ort was made to catch the ones that were within reach. So, before people blame Favre for everything wrong with the Vikings, they might want to look at the players who were supposed to

actually catch the ball and run with it. It might not be a bad idea for Viking fans to pay attention to the Packers while they are at it. Jennings and Driver are perfect examples of how any ball thrown is catchable. Some-times diving for it helps win games. Maybe Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin should take lessons from those who can actually perform. As for the Bears, there is not much to say there other than they are lucky this year.

� e end of the semester is wind-ing down, and that only means one thing...� nals are near. Although we advise studying, its also nice to take breaks between study sessions to re-lieve your sanity. What better way to rest your mind than to enjoy what the City of La Crosse has to o� er this hol-iday season. Put down the books for an hour and head down to Riverside Park to check out Rotary Lights, grab a cup of hot chocolate at � e Pearl, or catch a holiday play at one of our local theatres. � ere’s a big di� erence between unhealthy procrastination and healthy procrastination. So start studying now, but take time to enjoy this holiday season.

It wasn’t supposed to get cold, and not just because Al Gore told us it wouldn’t. See, cold weather means winter months, which in turn mean an end to the semester, which back in September I � gured was farther o� than it actually was. Denial or otherwise, this issue is my last before I start collecting my university pen-sion.

I’ve certainly spilled out plenty of in� ammatory words over the last couple of months, and gotten into my fair share of trouble. But it was worth it. And at least it was all hon-est. And yes, I feel entitled to start sentences with these conjunctions.

So enough rhetoric-spewing. It’s time for some fun, and when it’s cold what better way to stay warm than with a few (responsible and of-age, parting) shots?

Vodka ShotTo the classes I took but didn’t

like and the crummy grades I got (all certainly earned for lack of initiative on my part), since I’m not much a fan of this liquor straight, and not just because I despise the Soviet Union. My best education came from writing and editing this paper, the practical experience of dealing with real deadlines, and interacting with people who weren’t always easy to get along with.

Tequila Shot

To student senate, which has always given me something to write about, good and bad. Once I had a bad experience with Souza Blanco a� er a Coldplay concert, but before that it was my favorite, much like the awe I had for student governance when I covered it (objectively) as a

beat writer.

Gin ShotTo the professors who always had

in the back of their minds - some-where, at least remotely - that theirs wasn’t each student’s only class. A simple notion to most, probably, but the elitest-est of UW-La Crosse’s aca-demia snobs commonly ignored the real world beyond campus’ borders. If my best education stemmed from editing the Racquet, the runner-up goes to a class taught by one of those professors with a sense of reality. So like gin, which is usually only good when mixed in with a ton of other stu� (like, say, a Long Island), even the best classes were made worthwhile when I could apply what I learned to my work at � e Racquet.

Kool-Aid ShotTo the paper’s advisor, Mary Beth

Vahala, who has always kept me in check, talked me o� the ledge, and and will probably shake her head at me for focusing my last words in � e Racquet on liquor.

Rum ShotTo Kelli Ponce and Chris Roches-

ter, two people I can always count on to laugh at my jokes no matter how lame and pretend to care when I gripe about hyphens in decks. More importantly, they’ve taken great care of this newspaper.

Whiskey Shot

And � nally, to the next publisher of the newspaper and my friend Jake Gietman, a whiskey shot. Snatch.

-Nik Nelson

Refusing rail will strangle Wisconsin economy

Time LopezStudent

When shadowing a vascular surgeon two summers ago, I wit-nessed the progression of a foot sore into a severely gangrenous lower limb in only two weeks. I can vividly remember the smell of dead tissue as I heard the doctor explain to his pa-tient that an emergency amputation was absolutely necessary. Poor blood circulation induced by diabetic com-plications was identi� ed as the cause of this rapidly developed condition. E� cient transportation of resources and waste may be major determi-nants of the rise and fall of any con-siderable population from the cellular level to globalized trade: port cities thrive, sieged fortresses collapse, and feet without a well-managed blood supply must be removed.

In this light, the role of the inter-state system in the establishment of our nation’s strengths and weaknesses

is substantial. Entire economies must have been dramatically shi� ed based on their distance to an exit ramp. How much did communities along the old roads su� er? How were other communities and what practices were promoted?

While concerns about the pro-posed high speed rail raised in last weeks “Derailed” may be valid, does it behoove Wisconsin to remain stagnant in the development of newer and more e� cient transportation initiatives while other states and countries move forward? Dualistic opposition to high speed rail in lieu of constructive criticism aimed at accomplishing the goals of optimized resource management and economic progress seems to be some sort of egocentric superhero complex endemic in government that states “if I can’t save the world, no one can.” � e abrupt shi� from rail advocacy of Tommy � ompson, former governor who helped lay the tracks for this project years ago, helps illustrate this point. If Wisconsin does nothing and rail projects succeed elsewhere, socioeconomic necrosis may be the logical future for communities too far from the most e� cient blood supply.

THE OPEN FORUM

PARTINGSHOTS Worrying about what matters It takes a whiskey drink, it takes a vodka drink

I planned this column, my last as a student at UW-L, to be a set “part-ing shots” at all those who might still be angry. But some might’ve expected that.

� e past two years in � e Racquet have featured ardent commen-tary, hardcore reporting, and heart wrenching tragedy. But the latter, sadly frequent in this town, always reminded us of what matters.

� ough I’m a whole two years older than Nik Nelson, he started his career at � e Racquet a year before I did. Together, we’ve made more than a few people uncomfortable who no doubt wished their names hadn’t been put into print. But one thing I’ve realized is that as soon as we forget we’re isolated in this ivory tower, the real world always reminds us who’s boss.

As soon as we started worrying about student government a little too much, we discovered again the triviality of the drama and pettiness that can accompany any such social experiment.

� ree times in the past two semesters it took a lost life to remind us what matters. � ese are always the toughest stories to consider, both emotionally and ethically. So if you think we missed something in our coverage, think again. � ere are some things that just don’t belong in a newspaper.

I get passionate when I think about the state of Wisconsin pulling the rug out from under the UW System, something I used to report on weekly. What will happen when UW-L goes from state funded to state subsidized, and eventually state located? But in the grand scheme, what di� erence does it make?

Tuition’s going up…deal with it and be thankful we won’t have to pay the rates of a few decades from now.

It irks me to remember that an endorsement drove a few idiots to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of newspapers last spring, until I remember that it’s a student government, not the US Senate, and that they’re newspapers being destroyed, not lives. I got over it, as I hope the perpetrators did.

It’s annoying to remember the rumors swirling that we’d cancel our Earth Day edition last semester be-cause of some preconceived notions about us. But then I remind myself that the Earth Day issue we did run was perhaps the best of the semester.

I’ve always tried to defy stereo-types. To be a mouthpiece is to throw away any hope of being a serious person. � at’s right, people who mindlessly repeat talking points are morons who can’t be taken seriously. Cynicism, a� er all, is an important thing to learn while we’re here.

Editors are told to “inspect what matters,” things like grammar and punctuation, headlines and decks, callouts and photo captions. We always did our best, but I think we’ve also taken that axiom further. On those issues that matter over the long-term—especially the deaths and mourning—we did what we knew to be right, not what we thought would be senational.

To those we’ve bothered, irked, annoyed, or o� ended, let’s focus on what matters. In that spirit, I wish you good luck, and hope you always look as critically at yourself and your friends as you do your opponents. Until next time...

-Chris Rochester

RacqueTThe University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

Y o u r n e w s . y o u r v o i c e . s i n c e 1 9 1 0 .

One hundred years

1917

1937

1948

1968

1993

2010

1980

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 2 Thursday, December 9, 2010

FLASHBACK

CENTENNIAL SPECIAL EDITION UW-La Crosse opened

its doors in 1909 as a single building

known as Main Hall, located in a � eld on the outskirts of the still-young city of La Crosse. It was called the La Crosse State Normal School, dedicated to training teachers.

� e next year, one room of Main Hall was handed over to the new school’s new semi-quarterly publication, what would become the campus’s weekly newspaper.

More than just the look of � e Racquet has changed in the century since. In fact, the only thing that hasn’t changed is the name, the logic behind which still makes sense today; George Sanford, the � rst editor, explains below.

One hundred years ago, � e Racquet was essentially monthly; its sta� consisted of mostly seniors; its coverage of campus news was sparse; and it was 40 pages of mostly ads.

Just as with the stories and editorials over the years, the ads re� ected the culture of the moment. One very early ad advised women to avoid draining their husband’s bank ac-count and have their old dresses cleaned instead of buying new ones. Phone numbers were three digits. Times have changed.

In this Centennial Special Edition, we’ve included some of the most relevant stories, editorials, and advertisements from over the years. For the sake of expediency, we modi-

� ed the layout of some stories for this edition.� e � rst issues of � e Racquet were pressed at

Inland Printing using Gutenberg-style technology, ancient to an editor sitting before a Mac using Adobe InDesign CS5 for layout.

Converting century-old print into the so� ware we use in 2010 is a tedious process, much like the actual production process of a century ago. But neither pro-ducing this edition nor keeping a grasp on the history of this newspaper wouldn’t have been possible without the fastidious � ling done by the folks at Special Col-lections at Murphy Library. For this, we thank them. Without them, our papers would turn to dust and the his-torical record of UW-L, of which � e Racquet is an integral part, would be lost.

Last year, � e Racquet reported on the university’s cen-tennial festivities. Now it’s our turn, but as it’s been for � ve

generations, there’s no time for a party.� at is, not until this Centennial Special Edition has

traversed the Internet and reached our printing company in Calmar, Iowa, is printed, shipped by UPS, and in stands � ursday as always. Enjoy winter break.

generations, there’s no time for a party.

The object of The Racquet is to gather up and carry through the goal of pub-licity the sphere of our school’s activities--intel-lectual, moral, and physical.

Folks involved in news media are easily annoyed when they hear complaints about the number of inserts or ads in their newspaper.

For its entire century, and like all newspapers, � e Racquet has depended on advertising revenue to keep it � nancially healthy. While students have for decades contributed via segregated fees to supple-ment bad years and subscribers have provided ad-ditional income, without print advertising, this paper could not survive.

Some advertisers whose ads ran in our � rst edi-tion, like the one below for Citizens State Bank, and others like Rose Jewelers and Bodega, are familiar names to this day. Others, like the makers of the Conklin self-� lling fountain pen, seem to have faded.

� e following message, which appeared in that � rst edition of � e Racquet, is as relevant today as it was then.

DECEMBER 16, 1910

Ad blitz

Much like in 1910, � e Racquet leans on a dedicated sta� to produce most of its copy. But as then, it still eagerly requests and accepts submis-sions from students who invest time and thought into writing columns or letters to the editor, or even guest stories, on any topic they choose.

LOCAL BUSINESS AND

STUDENTS HAVE LONG

RELATIONSHIP

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 3 Thursday, December 9, 2010

NOVEMBER 7, 1969

DECEMBER 12, 1941 BY LORRAIN GAUTSCH, EDITOR

APRIL 10, 2003

The Open Forum: A student dissents

Patriotismbeforeprotest

Staff editorial: support Vietnam War dissent

When Congress declared war on Japan a� er the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the outcome was, obviously, unknown. In that uncertainty, the Racquet editor, who notes that the paper had very intentionally refrained from covering the violence, leaving it to trained professionals, calls on students to rally behind their country and hope for victory.

A little less than 30 years a� er Lorrain Gautsch’s editorial call-ing for patriotism, the editorial

board railed againstthe government and encouraged students to attend peace ral-lies to oppose the Vietnam War.

“I see no reason to expect any signi� -cant increase in the level of the tempo of operations in South Vietnam, said Sec-retary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1966.

But since that time more and more troops have been sent into Vietnam. Washington politicians continually talk of de-escalation and U.S. troop withdrawal. So a few hundred men are pulled out, never mentioning the thousands which are sent there each month. � e people in the big white house on the hill never seem to notice the anti-domcratic poicies being enacted in South Vietnam while they are supposedly involved to make Vietnam a free and democratic country.

With these and several more discrep-ancies on our hands, the American people have felt it is time for them to arise and have thier voices heard. But it all seems pointless because they aren’t the silent majority that Preident Nixon caters to and he refuses to have their opinions in� uence him, in no way!

Yet they continue to vocalize their be-liefs and demonstrate their sentiments against his policies. � e e� ort is there, and should be heard.

However, now is the time for more and louder e� orts. It is the � rst ware in our history fought not only on the battle� eld but brought into our livingrooms daily by today’s mass communications. And it

is here at home this confusion and frus-tration has raised challenges within Con-gress, within colleges and universities, within the press, within the military itself and all to a degree not experienced n the United States since the Civil War.

All this confusion and disillusionment with our poicies must be faced. We must make our voices heard, and heard well. As October 15 was recorded in history, so will November 13 and 14 and the Mora-toriums that will follow until the war is ended.

� e injustices that exist in our society and our world must be eradicated. � ese injustices are appalling and thus far have only added to the decay of our society and the hypocrisy of the system.

� e November Moratorium must be bigger and louder than October’s. More activities mut be participated in y more people. Local plans are given on page 1, and national plans center around the ash-ington and San Francisco marches.

Letters must be written to the Presi-dent. � e national organization is calling for a “Sign for Peace Postcard” which is a postcard addressed to President Nixon stating that one does not support further military action in Vietnam and one wants all the troops brought home now. You are to include your name and address.

Participate is the Moratorium word for peace on November 13 and 14.

WAR STORIES

Depending on your de� nition of “war,” � e Racquet has experienced seven of them in its century. � ough � e Racquet has consistently avoided printing war news, � e Racquet has been a forum for student opinion throughout.

JUNE 4, 1918MARCH 19, 1917

The war to end all wars...

As it turned out, by the mid-30s that nickname used for WWI during its course proved less than accurate. � e Racquet tacitly covered deployments of students and faculty, but focused from 1915-1919 on patriotism, as seen in the 1917 clip at the le� .

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 4 Thursday, December 9, 2010One hundred years of The Racquet

THE RACQUET THROUGH THE CENTURYTHE RACQUET THROUGH THE CENTURY1910

2010 19902000

19301920

1910

RacqueTThe University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

T hu r s d ay, N ove m b e r 11, 2010

12 Pa g e s S i n g l e Co p i e s Fr e e

Please recycle

231 & 232 Cartwright Center

1725 State StreetLa Crosse, WI 54601

IndexNews. . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

ViewPoint . . . . . . . 6

Life Etc . . . . . . . 7-9

Spotlight . . . . . . . . 10

Sports. . . . . . . . . . . .11

Grin Bin . . . . . . . . . 12

w w w.t h e racq u e t . n e t

Word of the WeekCaterwaul

To have a noisy argument.

Dr. Sex: If you’re not ready to talk about sex, you’re not ready to have it ... PAGE 3 | Hunger’s face is a familiar one ... PAGE 8

State approves School of Education programs

Students involved with UW-La

Crosse’s School of Education can

breath a sigh of relief. � e Depart-

ment of Public Instruction of the

State of Wisconsin formally ap-

proved the School of Education’s

teacher education programs.

Dr. Marcie R. Wyco� -Horn, the

Interim Director of the School of

Education, said, “� e DPI conducts

accreditation visits every � ve years

for teacher licensing programs.”

Earlier this fall, more than 30 of the

teacher education licensure pro-

grams were approved, and UW-L’s

teacher preparation program was

approved the week of Oct. 18.

Without approval from the DPI,

there is a distinct possibility that

UW-L graduates would be ineli-

gible for a teaching license from the

State of Wisconsin. In fact, when

they did their last review in the fall

of 2008, the State found a number

of problems with the school’s pro-

grams, including insu� cient sta�

numbers and inadequate training.

In response to this, UW-L has

hired many new teacher education

faculty in the past two years and re-

structured many of their programs.

According to the School of Ed-

ucation’s Web site, they can trace

their roots back to the formation

of the La Crosse Normal School in

1909, with 176 students and 14 fac-

ulty members. � e numbers have

grown considerably over the past

Please see EDUCATION, page 3

By Racquet StaffBy Racquet Staff

Student accused of

rape remains jailedUW-L COMES UP SHORT IN MADISON

Freshman forward Derek Braucht moves past a Wisconsin defender. The Eagles lost 84-59 in the Saturday,

Nov. 6 exhibition game. The Eagles home opener game is Nov. 23 against Viterbo.

KaWai Hui � e Racquet

Fake IDs are something that

isn’t new to the city of La Crosse.

Housing three colleges within one

city is bound to show some e� ects

in the downtown lifestyle. A recent

increase of false identi� cation has

local cops and popular bars crack-

ing down.� e combination of the easy ac-

cess to obtaining fake IDs and the

consequences of being caught with

one is deadly, according to the City

of La Crosse Police Department.

La Crosse police o� cer Andrew

Dittman says there are two forms of

false identi� cation. One is a completely fabricated

ID card that is either ordered online

or by a production company. � e

second form is a real person’s driv-

er’s license that someone who is of

age gives to a minor when they get a

new ID. Both of these forms of fake

Yo, I got a fake ID though!

By KC Powers

Staff ReporterStaff Reporter

Please see FAKE ID, page 5

By Jake Gietman

Sports EditorSports Editor

Yo, I got

La Crosse has a lot of amazing

women.� at is the general sentiment

of organizers of the YWCA of the

Coulee Region Tribute of Out-

standing Women 2010 Awards Gala

set to be held � ursday, Nov. 11 at

the La Crosse Center Ballroom.

� e 28th annual event recog-

nizes 11 inspirational leaders from

the Greater La Crosse Area who

excel in their � elds and embody

the YWCA mission of empowering

women and eliminating racism.

Several UW-La Crosse alumni,

sta� and students have been se-

lected to receive awards, including

UW-L senior Yang Cha � ao, Cam-

pus Climate Coordinator Amanda

Goodenough and Director of the

Self-Su� ciency Program Amy Sul-

livan. � e tribute recognizes selected

women who have made important

contributions and for their exam-

ples of leadership, integrity, dedi-

cation and self motivation, both

within self and in the community.

� e YWCA award came as a

surprise for � ao. “I was really hon-

ored to be nom-inated,” � ao said. � ao’s mentor, Maggie McHugh from Student Sup-port Services, nominated her for her volun-teer work in the community. “I never knew anyone was watching and would

recognize me for the work I do. I

do things not because I want some

special recognition or get a name

for myself, but because I want to

make a di� er-ence,” � ao said.

� ao won the Young Women of

Please see AWARD, page 5

� e Eagles’ size disadvantage

contributed to them losing to UW-

Madison in an exhibition game at

the Kohl Center on Nov. 6 in front

of 17,230 spectators. Even though

UW-La Crosse was � rst to put

points on the board, the scoreboard

� ashed 84-59 at the end of regula-

tion. UW-Madison even added a

little salt to the wound with a long

three point buzzer beater to end the

game by forward Duje Dukan.

Clearly a win was not the most

important thing when playing a

NCAA Division I powerhouse

team, and the Eagles will undoubt-

edly take many positives back to La

Crosse with them from the experi-

ence. “� e guys performed really

well especially in the second half,”

UW-L head coach Ken Koebl said.

Playing time was also spread

out a little more than usual with

starters totaling a little over half the

minutes for both teams. Badgers

head coach Bo Ryan was impressed

with his team and thought his team

played very well, even though many

of the players went in knowing their

time on the court would be lim-

ited. Still, Ryan expressed concern

that the Eagles were able to take so

many outside shots. “We don’t want

Please see SHELLAKIN’, page 11

By Dan Dodge

Staff ReporterStaff Reporter

Kohl Center bleeds maroon

The golden three UW-L staff , students win YWCA

Outstanding Women Awards

By Katie Tucker

City EditorCity Editor

Lattimore

Thao Goodenough Sullivan

State approves School of Education programs

isn’t new to the city of La Crosse.

Housing three colleges within one

city is bound to show some e� ects

in the downtown lifestyle. A recent

increase of false identi� cation has

local cops and popular bars crack-

ing down.

cess to obtaining fake IDs and the

consequences of being caught with

one is deadly, according to the City

of La Crosse Police Department.

La Crosse police o� cer Andrew

Dittman says there are two forms of

false identi� cation.

ID card that is either ordered online

or by a production company. � e

second form is a real person’s driv-

er’s license that someone who is of

age gives to a minor when they get a

new ID. Both of these forms of fake

� ao won the Young Women of

“� at’s what Plan B is for,” John

Lattimore allegedly told another

UW-La Crosse student just before

he raped her, according to a crimi-

nal complaint � led Oct. 28 in La

Crosse County Circuit Court.

� e complaint accuses Latti-

more, a UW-L sopho-

more, of second degree

sexual assault and false

imprisonment. � e incident occurred

mid-September in a

UW-L residence hall, the

complaint states. According to the

complaint, the victim

was out with friends that

evening and texted Lat-

timore. He asked the vic-

tim to meet up with him

and come to his dorm room. Ac-

cording to the complaint, the victim

said, “No one was in the kitchen or

living room.” Lattimore invited the

victim into his bedroom and locked

the door. � e victim felt weird that he

locked the door, but he told her he

didn’t know his roommates well,

the complaint states. � e two sat on

the bed and began to kiss until she

told him that they shouldn’t do this.

Lattimore continued to be aggres-

sive, pinning her down with his le�

arm and undressing her. � e victim

told him to get o� and let go, and

she attempted to get up when he

undressed, pushed her back on the

bed and raped her, the complaint

states. O� cer Timothy Shantz of Uni-

versity Police made contact with

Lattimore on Nov. 1. Lattimore was

read his Miranda Rights. He then

requested to contact his mother in

regards to a lawyer, a� er which he

chose to remain silent. Lattimore appeared in court

on Friday, Nov. 5 with an attorney.

He is being held on a $25,000 cash

bond, and he is prohibited to have

any contact with the vic-

tim, the UW-L campus,

or Facebook. At the time

of press on Wednesday,

Nov. 10, he remained in

the La Crosse County

Jail.Lattimore was sched-

uled to appear in court

Wednesday for a prelim-

inary hearing, according

to the La Crosse County

Clerk’s o� ce.Chief of University

Police Scott Rohde stressed that

cases like this commonly involve

people who are familiar with one

another. “Rarely do we see a strang-

er hiding in the bushes and assault-

ing someone. It’s almost always a

previous acquaintance,” said Rohde.

“Alcohol was not a factor in this

particular case,” Rohde said. He

advises students to take the neces-

sary precautions into consideration

when at parties. “� e best defense

is to keep your judgment. Impaired

judgment is the number one cause

of sexual assaults on most college

universities. It is also important to

keep awareness of yourself and your

drink and to have an adult conver-

sation about your comfort level

with every sexual partner,” said Ro-

hde.

RRRDr. Sex: If you’re not ready to talk about sex, you’re not ready to have it ...

Coach Terry’s

� nal home game

Eagles pummel

Eau ClairePAGE 11

Co� ee Conundrum

Change is brewing at

Murphy’s Mug, Cyber Café

Page 2

Murphy’s Mug, ???

The

look

Edit

or in

Chie

f20

10-p

rese

nt: K

elli

Ponc

e

2000

-200

1:Br

ittan

y Ti

bbits

2002

-03:

Dus

tin R

eede

r

2003

-04:

John

Hun

ter

2004

-05:

Tod

d Fa

bos

2005

-06:

Kee

gan

Kyle

2006

-07:

M

egan

Buh

rand

tA

ndre

a W

ilson

2007

-09:

And

rea

Wils

on

2009

-Spr

ing

10: N

ik N

elso

n

2010

: Chr

is Ro

ches

ter

1910

-11:

Geo

. E. S

anfo

rd

1911

-12:

How

ard

Jone

s

1915

-16:

Ken

neth

Sco

tt

1916

-17:

M

arga

ret B

oden

stei

n

1918

-19:

Ann

e H

arm

acek

1912

-13:

Hal

lie R

ober

t

1913

-14:

Ivan

Sw

ancu

tt

1914

-15:

Jane

t And

erso

n

1919

-20:

Rand

olph

M. E

vjen

1917

-18:

Geo

. C. K

reut

z

1988

-89:

Ren

ae B

auer

1989

-90:

Rob

yn

`Hed

berg

1991

: Peg

gy A

rnso

n

Fall

1990

: Am

anda

Ro

bins

on

1991

-92:

Tah

sina

Ster

ger

1992

-93:

Ale

x H

ujik

1994

-95:

Joha

nna

Sand

ross

1993

-94:

JS C

orse

n

1995

-97:

Mar

y Bi

rm

1997

-99:

Sha

nnah

Moo

re

Fall

1999

: Cra

ig M

iller

Kam

m K

nipp

Sprin

g 19

99:

Jenn

ifer Y

oung

1929

-30:

Alic

e H

anse

n

1930

-31:

Rob

ert F

ries

1924

-25:

Way

ne M

artin

1923

-24:

Eld

on M

ulde

r

1922

-23:

Will

iam

H. V

oss

1920

-21:

Viv

ian

Lew

is

1921

-22:

Rus

sell

War

tinbe

e

1928

-29:

F.A

. Sch

wei

zer

1927

-28:

Ken

neth

W

ard

Sear

les

1925

-26:

Fra

nk R

. Sch

neid

er

1926

-27:

Mar

y E.

Fra

nzin

i

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 5 Thursday, December 9, 2010One hundred years of The Racquet

THE RACQUET THROUGH THE CENTURYTHE RACQUET THROUGH THE CENTURY

19401930

1980

1973

: G

ail E

ssey

1970

Fall

1982

:Ri

char

d M

ulde

r

Fall

1976

: Kat

hy Ja

gmin

Sprin

g 19

76: S

teve

Pin

ger

Fall

1975

: Kay

Hei

nz19

74-7

5: A

nne

Kie

mitz

1974

: Kar

en K

appe

r

1977

: Dua

ne G

ay

1978

: Mar

k Be

lling

� ere are no records for 1967-spring 1973

1979

: Kev

in

Kav

anau

gh

1980

-81:

� om

as J.

Gun

ning

1981

-82:

D

iane

Fra

wle

y

Sprin

g 19

83:

Mik

e St

arlin

g

1983

-84:

Sha

wn

Dal

ton

1985

-86:

Meg

Bar

ge

1988

: Den

nis C

oole

y

Fall

1987

: Bla

ke

Mor

rison

1988

-89:

Ren

ae B

auer

1964-67: Bruce Vandervort

1963-1964: Don Mudrak

1962-63: John O’Neill

1960-61: Gordon Borreson

1961-62: Keith Larson

1954-55: Gregory Ziegelmaier

1953-54: Lucile Hanson

1952-53: Lenore Dregne

1950-57: Bob Linse

1951-52: Russ Johnson

1959-60: Ken Arneson

1958-59: Morris J. Meyer

1957-58: Lorin C. Hyslop

1955-56: Hugh GucettiJoan Larson

1956-57: Greta Sprick

1943

-45:

Virg

inia

McC

ann

1942

-43:

John

Ber

nd

1941

-42:

Rob

ert P

aulse

n

1939

-40:

Pau

l Has

sett

1940

-41:

Ger

ald

Mor

iarit

y

1948

-49:

Mar

ty S

ills

1947

-48:

No

Dat

a

1945

-46:

Mar

y G

arvi

n

1946

-47:

Arm

in S

cheu

rle, J

r.

1933

-34:

John

Nek

ola

1932

-33:

� o

mas

Cla

rk

1931

-32:

No

Dat

a

1930

-31:

Rob

ert F

ries

1937

-39:

Kat

herin

e Sk

emp

1936

-37:

Will

iam

E. S

canl

an

1934

-35:

John

F. B

urke

1935

-36:

H. D

avid

Mor

t

1950

1960Fa

ll 19

76: K

athy

Jagm

inFa

ll 19

76: K

athy

Jagm

inSp

ring

1976

: Ste

ve P

inge

rFa

ll 19

75: K

ay H

einz

1974

-75:

Ann

e K

iem

itz19

74: K

aren

Kap

per

1960

MARCH 28, 1963

“So, I noticed you weren’t on the list...”

A literary journal?

Even in 1963, at progressive institu-tion, it was necessary to split up the boys and girls when congratulating GPA achievements. Should this have run today, the uproar behind what

would surely be labeled an “invasion of privacy” would have this paper shut down, and pronto. (Also note the reminder to get vaccinated for Polio at the end of the article).

Before moving to broadsheet format in 1915, Th e Racquet was a small, bound book of sorts that featured social

commentary and student contributions like the

ones below. In many issues original poetry and quirky submissions like these graced the pages, a grab bag of student ingenuity and wit.

APRIL 1, 1914

MARCH 23, 1949

MAY 16, 1914

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 2 Thursday, December 9, 2010

FLASHBACK� ese selections of stories through the years cast light on some of the changes in editorial content and style as the paper evolved.

DOODLES

DECEMBER 16, 1910

OCTOBER 10, 1914

APRIL 7, 1911

Before Props ‘n’ Drops...In the inaugural issue of The Racquet, edi-

tors compiled a list of witticism from favor-ite faculty, reprinted below. They captured

a sense of the instructors, intended as a wink-and-nod to their quirks rather than being mean or hurtful. Though perhaps out of context today,

at the time these Pet Expressions surely humored those who read them.

Send the funny or witty (or obscene) expres-sions of your professors to editor@theracquet.net; maybe we’ll bring “Wit and Humor” back to UW-L.

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 2 Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sketches like this accompanied similar stories; in this case, it was paired with a story about football tryouts.

Graphics like the one above set apart each section of the newspaper in its earliest inception.

One hundred years of The RacquetPage 4 Thursday, December 9, 2010

*today, site of Erbert’s and Gerberts and Polito’s Pizza

DECEMBER 16, 1910

SEPTEMBER 20, 1962

NOVEMBER 7, 1941

SEPTEMBER 20, 1962JANUARY 19, 1961

OCTOBER 10, 1914

Before easy access to InDesign and Photoshop, box ads like these were commonly used for local vendors and service providers. Not � ashy, but certainly to the point.

ADVERTISING

� ese selections span a century, starting from before it was illegal to advetise cigarettes in print. (� e Camel ad is pretty tame; one for Chester� eld promised those were the “best for you” cigs). � e rest are memories of La Crosse, for places long gone.

� e holiday season is once again upon us. As we all know, it is a time of year where lavishness and extravagance peak. People of all ages from all walks of life take this time of year in an attempt to escape reality, even if it is just for a little while. But nothing helps us escape reality during the holidays like the music that the season has made so famous. Timeless songs tell us stories about the ideal holiday season, creating an imag-inative � urry that is seemingly inescapable, at least for a few short moments. “� e 12 days of Christmas” is just one of the holiday carols that tell us about “true” love and how far some-one would go to please their loved one over the holiday. But, exactly how far is someone supposed to go, and what kind of � nancial cost going to be associated with purchasing the gi� s of the 12 days?

Remember, all of these prices are best estimates (partly be-cause it is di� cult to � nd the price of a drummer boy) based on average U.S. in� ation of the 2008 prices the items. � e best estimates on current prices of all of the times adds up to a grand total will turn up no less than shocking, especially for a college student.

� e � rst of the 12 days is certainly not the most extrava-gant, nor is it the most expensive of the days. Although a par-tridge is not the priciest item on the list, the rare game bird would make a romantic meal � t for a king or queen. In 2010, the price of Bartlett pear trees have dropped signi� cantly and their 75 years of fruit bearing make it the most economical gi� on the list. � e closest estimate of this year’s price of a partridge in a pear tree could be as little as $89.99, plus tax of course.

On the second day of Christmas, you still won’t � nd your-self breaking the bank like you may on some of the other days. But due to scarcity, the two turtle doves can be found for any-where between $100 and $120. Since the birds are so di� cult to � nd, the symbol of everlasting love and friendship is found at more of a premium this year.

� e expensive sounding French hens don’t actually carry the tremendous import premium they seem to carry. But in 2010, their cost has gone up over 200 percent to about $50 each, totaling somewhere in the ballpark of $150.

Perhaps the most � exible option out of all of the proposed gi� s in the carol is four calling birds. Depending on what type of calling bird you choose the price range could be anywhere from $610.99 to approximately $2400. For the purpose of this

story, we’ll use four standard yellow canaries at the $610.99, which will still chirp a lovely tune.

� ere is nothing better to give your loved ones at Christ-mas time than a token of your appreciation. Gold jewelry, particularly rings might be a nice touch. But, buyer beware, the price of gold has recently skyrocketed at a growth rate of nearly 30 percent. So if you are looking to get your lady � ve golden rings this December, it is going to cost you. Estimates of � ve reasonably priced gold rings cost a total of between $600 and $850.

If you are looking for pure value, the geese might be where you � nd it. Geese do seem like strange, somewhat ugly ani-mals. But they promise to add a magical touch in the middle of the celebration. � ey also promise to be the easiest on your wallet. Six geese-a-laying will run you about $150 in 2010, nearly a $100 drop from 2008 according to popular estimates.

A� er you are half way home, don’t be surprised to see a sig-ni� cant increase in prices. Swans are o� en regarded as some of the most beautiful, elegant birds available. Unfortunately, they carry a higher price than some of the other birds in the song. According to the Christmas index on PNC’s Web site,

seven swans total about $5,600. Moving onward, the eighth day is where some of the prices

start to get a bit more questionable. Tracing prices for maids-a-milking isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do because deciding what factors in to a “maid-a-milking” isn’t cut and dry. According to a PNC bank report, milk maids typically are paid about $7.25 per hour, totaling $58 dollars for the eight required to preserve true love. But it might cost you a little bit more if you are generous enough to give them a holiday pay raise.

Finding nine ladies to perform a dance may not be as dif-� cult as it is to � nd milk maids, but the price tag is certainly much higher. For one performance, the dancers will typically cost about $800-1000. Obviously it will be much higher if you want to go all out and contract a professional dance team or the Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders.

On the tenth day of Christmas, the cost of the gi� s starts to add up rather quickly. Finding lords-a-leaping may also pose

a challenge. But assuming the lords are simple performers, they will cost, on average, $5,000.

With only two days le� in the Christmas season, the � nal gi� s are sure to seal the deal with the love of your life if you haven’t already. � e eleventh day presents you with an op-portunity to actually supplement your gi� of the day with a song of your choice. For the right price, the 11 pipers will play any song you want to hear, giving you a chance to serenade the woman or man of your dreams. � is year, the pipers run about $2,250.

Finally, the last day of Christmas will come and you will be faced with the task of � nding suitable drummers to elevate your loved one’s heart-beat. According to PNC, a 12 person drum line typically costs around $2,500.

A� er all is said and done, it is only � tting to � nd the dol-lar amount of true love according to the carol. Including the requisite 5.6 percent state sales tax, true love will cost you a grand total of $19,408.21. Don’t worry; if this number scares you away from true love, all hope is not lost. � ere are plenty of alternatives to all of these gi� s that will show that special someone you care. In fact, walletpop.com o� ers up meaning-ful gi� s that resemble the 12 days and won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Howie’s Bar will be transformed into a Vegas stage complete with drag, vocal performances, and stand-up comedy on Dec. 11 as a fund raiser for Toys for Tots.

Familiar to Howie’s, due to monthly perfomances, the exciting entertainment group, Illusions, will host a fundraise for the third year for Toys for Tots.

Toys for Tots, a program designed to provide toys for underprivileged children during the holidays, is sponsored by the La Crosse Jaycees.

Champagne, a co-producer for Illusions, describes it as a night � lled with “glitz, glamour, and fantasy.”

� e members of the variety show will entertain the crowd by showing o� their drag and engaging the crowd in wacky performances like lip-syncing. Tips collected throughout the night will immediately be used to purchase toys for the children’s program.

“We raise about $1,000 each year. We at Illusions believe that no child should wake up on Christmas morning without a present,” John Unnasch, one of the show’s producers said.

� is bene� t performance started � ve years ago and was originally hosted at Players. � e audience grew so large that they moved the venue to Howie’s. Each year about 150-200 people come to see the per-formance. Champagne explains that people enjoy themselves so much the � rst time they see it that they come back year a� er year.

“� ere is no star of the show; the audience is our star. Without them we’d be nothing,” Champagne, speaking of the overwhelming spectator support said. Both Champagne and Unnasch reiterate the fact that this performance allows people to come to relax and have a good time, and forget about the stressors in their lives.

� e Illusions group puts on two bene� t shows each year. Besides the Toys for Tots bene� t, they also raise money in July, to support local organizations like Wafer food pantry and New Horizons women’s shelter. “We believe in giving back to the community that supports us,” Unnasch said.

Illusions has orchestrated the longest running show in La Crosse, performing for a total of � ve years.

� is year they have teamed up with the Jackson Street Papa Murphy’s, who has also raised money to buy toys for kids.

Although dressing in drag is frequently associ-ated with sexual preference, the producers stress that anyone and everyone is invited to attend and that the main goal is to provide children with a happy holi-day season. � ey want to spread open-mindedness and showcase the performers’ unique entertainment skills.

Howie’s owner Mark Bernadot said that the audi-ence usually responds to the special show by increas-ing the amount of tips they give. � e bene� t will start at 9 p.m. and will last until about 11p.m. Contact Howie’s Bar and Grill at 608-397-4226 or visit Illu-sions Facebook page for more information about the event.

“My true love gave to me”Page 15Thursday, December 9, 2010

LifeEtc.

ILLUSIONS FUNDRAISING PERFORMANCE AT HOWIE’S

What: Fundraiser for Toys for TotsWho: Open to anyone interested

When: Dec. 11, 9-11 p.m.Where: Howie’s Bar and Grill

For information regarding the show and Toys for Tots

fundraiser contact Howie’s Bar and Grill

at 608-387-4226

Christmas carol gives false hope for the average student

By Alex WittFeatures EditorFeatures Editor

Annual drag show to raise money for tots at local bar By Ashley Atkinson

Staff ReporterStaff Reporter

From bar stage, to Vegas stripWrite for

The Racquet!Don’t wait any longer...Become part of

the 2011 team before it’s too late!

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Most of us would agree that the show “Han-nah Montana” is not known for displays of ex-treme aggression. But, through funding and extensive research, one student was able to dis-prove this and demonstrate how this show has instances of aggression. � is is just one example of the many Communication Studies projects that were conducted last year.

Each year, about 100 to 120 students study-ing in the Communication Studies � eld design, conduct, and analyze research projects as part of a course o� ered at UW-La Crosse. Over the course of a typical CST major’s collegiate ca-reer at UW-L, they go through a progression of courses emphasizing student research.

� e � rst step challenges students to create a proper research proposal. � is is an impor-tant � rst step toward a research project because students must demonstrate their purpose and go through an extensive application process. � ey must obtain letters from faculty mentors, a summary of the project, expenses, and a � ve page maximum proposal of the study. Although CST students are not required to carry out this speci� c project, it gives them the tools they need when they propose research to be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

� e UW-L Communications Studies depart-

ment is unique because they require students to carry out an original research study in or-der to graduate. � e � rst of the courses, CST 498, focuses research project development, an important skill to have in the work force. “We learn about the di� erent types of communica-tion studies and how we can be most e� ective as

researchers,” Amy Czerniak, a current CST 498 student said.

� ese studies are fascinating to read about, even for people who are not studying commu-nications-related topics. � e projects generally pertain to how messages a� ect people. It sounds like an extremely broad topic to research, but there are virtually no situations in which com-

munication doesn’t come into play. Czerniak said that people think about gen-

eral topics of interest and develop speci� c ques-tions from there.

CST 499—Senior Project, gives Communi-cations Studies students an opportunity to put the methods they have learned to use. Projects have ranged from analyzing the aggressive mes-sages in “Hannah Montana,” as previously men-tioned, to analyzing father-daughter a� ection-ate behavior. � e wide variety of studies allow anyone to � nd a topic that interests him or her.

Anthony Docan-Morgan is a faculty men-tor and is involved in many student oriented committees on campus. “I'm excited to see the development of students' research projects this semester,” Docan-Morgan said. “But I'm even more excited to see students present their � nd-ings at the end of the semester and see presenta-tions at the Annual Celebration of Student Re-search and Creativity.”

Professors aren’t the only ones on campus excited about the research being conducted. Students are also excited about what their peers are able to accomplish. It is always intriguing to read these types of studies. But the fact that UW-L students are conducting them, most of the time in close proximity to campus, makes these studies even more relatable to all people a� liated with UW-L.

� e results of these studies will mostly be presented toward the end of the spring semes-ter, but there will be a handful being revealed at the end of the fall semester as well. Keep an eye out for these potentially ground-breaking projects because they may change your view on subjects you never thought possible.

Money is, by de� nition, “a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and bank notes collectively.” And man-agement is, “the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.” Combine those two words and you will � nd a college student’s worst nightmare and most challenging task, money management. As student loans, semester tuition, meal plans, and everyday expenses begin piling up, it seems that managing money is easier said than done. Fortunately, there is advice out there that can help make money manage-ment a less formidable task.

College gives birth to freedom. Freedom in which deems eating out, grocery shopping, and casual clothing shopping become more and more necessary. It only takes a matter of time before the debit card has insu� cient funds and most are stuck at rock bottom. According to UW-La Crosse Fi-nance professors, Steve Tippins and � omas Krueger, the key to managing money comes from knowing exactly how much you actually have. Once you know how much money you have, budgeting is made easy. Students should also be aware of what Tippins calls, “death by ten dollars.” He describes this money spent on small-ticket items like co� ee or candy bars, all of which can pile up rather quickly during long study ses-sions.

Secondly, it is wise to always pay yourself � rst. In the end, there is always more month than money. � e easiest way to do so is keep a change jar and � ll it every time you empty your pockets. Another way to pay yourself is putting a � xed amount of each pay check into a savings account before having

a chance to spend any of it.

Diagnosing a spending problem may not be as easy

as it sounds because there are several dis-tinct spending types: spender, hoarder, avoider, amasser, or money monk. Ac-cording to Tippens, “one size doesn’t � t all.” � ere are many di� erent types of money managers and spenders. Deter-

mining a type lowers anxiety, provides helpful tips to avoid frivolous spending habits, wards o� future � nancial problems, and maintains equilibrium be-tween necessities and desires.

A “spender” typically has di� culty determin-ing the di� erence between a need and a want. Basically, they can be described as one who easily � nds something to spend money on and struggles waiting to spend it. A hoarder holds onto money, frequently checks into account balances, and � nds spending money on personal pleasures di� cult. An avoider procrastinates, disregards check-book balancing, paying bills, saving money, and keeping track of amounts. An amasser, on the other hand, wants to make their money grow. � ey invest time accumulating large sums of money to spend, save, or invest. Finally, money monks believe that money can somehow corrupt them politically, emotionally or spiritually and choose not to spend for those reasons.

For the average college student, the biggest challenge in managing money is � nding a way to pay for tuition. “� e best time to start paying for college is six months before you

were born,” said Tippins. Individuals are typically held back because they neglect to save money in the present. So many are fostered to believe that the money will eventually come, and they can save it then. Students have a number of options to help make payments easier. For example becoming a Resi-dence Hall Assistant, applying for all the loans and scholar-

ships available, and get involved with campus jobs all can help ease � nancial strain.

A part time job is also an e� ective way to make money while attending college.

Contrary to popular belief, stud-ies have shown that students with a part time job actually do better in school than those without one. Students e� ectively manage time better, therefore dedicating free

time to their studies. “Never be afraid to ask questions

and be open to making mistakes,” said Tippins. Financial endeavors and obstacles will continue on-ward for the rest of your life. Be-cause “one size doesn’t � t all,” ask as many questions as possible and

� nd the best path available for you. Luckily, UW-L is one of the few

universities that o� er a personal � nance class as a general education course. For more

speci� c instructions and a “how to” guide about all � nancial areas, Tippins encourages all students

to consider taking the introductory course.

Page 16LifeEtc.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Alex WittFeatures Editorawitt@theracquet.net

By Olivia MercerAssociate ReporterAssociate Reporter

“ I’m excited to see students present their � ndings at the end of the semester and see presentations at the Annual Celebration of Student Research and Creativity.”

Anthony Docan-MorganCommunications Studies Professor

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Useful advice to keep cash in your pocket

As student loans, semester tuition, meal plans, and everyday expenses begin piling up, it seems that managing money is easier said than done.

Traditional holiday carols, cookies, and ap-pearances by Mr. and Mrs. Claus are just some of the fun activities that will be o� ered at La Crosse Symphony Orchestra’s holiday con-cert, “A Holiday Homecoming”. � e Dec. 17 and 18 concerts hosted by Viterbo University have something for everyone in the family to enjoy.

� e performance themed, “Christmas, American Style,” features popular American holiday compositions such as “It’s Christmas time,” “� e Christmas Song,” “Let It Snow,” “Winter Fantasy,” and many more. But this year it won’t be just any old Nutcracker sweet. � e LSO will jazz up this year’s performance of the holiday hit by performing the great Duke Ellington version.

� e traditional holiday performance is family oriented and promises to be entertain-ing for the entire audience. Children will have a blast with the sing along portion and have the opportunity to meet with Santa to talk about their Christmas wishes. Tracy Fell, the

orchestra’s executive director is particularly excited for this year’s show. “It is a symphony, but not your typical symphony. People who don’t usually enjoy this type of performance will,” said Fell.

  � e featured Christmas sing-along won’t be your average sing-along this year. Special guest artists, � e Grand River Singers, will be

leading the charge. � e Grand River Singers are a local show choir that frequently performs at big events around the area. Alexander Platt, conductor and newly appointed music direc-tor, was called upon to direct the 2010 edition.

  In a post show reception complete with co� ee and cookies from Linda’s Bakery, au-dience members will get the chance to meet the orchestra performers and conductor along with all of the guest artists. Not to mention, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be out and about in-teracting with families and handing out candy canes.

 Performances are set for Dec. 17 and 18 at the Viterbo Fine Arts Center. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. for a concert preview, and the two hour show starts at 7:30 p.m. � e reception will follow at 9:30 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the event this year, WKBT 8-La Crosse will air the event on Dec. 24 and 25.

Tickets are sold both in advance and on the day of the event. Single seats are $20 for up-per balcony seats and $37 for lower balcony or main � oor seats.

To get tickets or ticketing information, contact the Viterbo Box O� ce at 608-796-3100, or boxo� ce@viterbo.edu.

For those of you looking for a� ordable entertainment before the holiday season, hit � e Cellar � ursday, Dec. 9 where UW-La Crosse will host 1, 2, 3 Walrus, a local punk/ska band.

� e band started as a bunch of friends--all of which had previous band experience--looking for an excuse to hang out and jam. A� er a few jam sessions, a new band was o� the ground and the rest was history. � e most interesting part about the story of the band’s creation isn’t how they got together or what kind of music they play. Rather, it is how they came up with a name like 1, 2, 3 Walrus.

� is band formed in the winter of 2008 in the dorms at UW-L. A group of friends got together a� er they discovered similar interests and experiences in marching band and alternative music. It didn’t hurt that all of the members have previous experience in bands of their own. � e band members had so much fun at their “jam sessions” that they decided that they should form their own band and perform for entertainment; both for themselves and the audience.

� ey play ska music, an alternative genre originated in Jamaica in the 1950’s. It has a similar rhythm to reggae, but more upbeat with a jazz-like in� uence. � e band plays mainly original songs but also cover popular ska bands like Reel Big Fish, Gold� nger, and Big D & the Kids Table.

Drummer and a Racquet photographer Lars Roeder said that at � rst it was di� cult getting the band o� of the ground and sched-uling gigs. But the fact that they kept having fun with it was reason enough for optimism. � e band quickly gained recognition in the local music by playing at multiple campus events.

� e band attributes their success to their main motive, having fun. “I think that dy-namic carries over to shows too. We are have

a great time goo� ng around, we just so hap-pen to be on stage,” said Roeder.

� e fun-loving band inherited the name 1, 2, 3 Walrus from Bob Tolson, the lead singer. When Tolson was in high school, he and his friends wanted to come up with a band name that would stick but they couldn’t think of anything. Someone came up with the idea of saying the � rst word that came to their minds and then they would name the band a� er that word. Well the � rst word that came out a� er counting to three was “meat thermometer,” which they eventually decid-ed was not a good band name. � en, as if it was destiny, one of the members saw a poster with a walrus on it and found it to be quite � tting.

� ey will hit � e Cellar stage Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. � e show is free for UW-L students, so be there or be a meat thermometer.

Page 17Spotlight

Thursday, December 9, 2010

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facebook.com/theracquet

Friends, band members to rock Cellar stage

By Philippe MeisterAssociate ReporterAssociate Reporter

Allen KnappenbergerFeatures Projects Editor

Alexander Platt, above, poses for a quick picture in his o� ce. Platt will conduct this year’s “Holiday Homecoming” at Viterbo Dec. 17 and 18.

Contributed by La Crosse Symphony

By Erica GullicksonAssociate ReporterAssociate Reporter

Viterbo hosts performance pleasing to all

� e La Crosse County Historical Society invites the public to an open house on Dec. 14 featuring an exhibit highlighting the steamboat era.

� e free event will be held in the Swarthout Museum on 9th St. from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

� e museum showcases a variety of displays throughout the year depending on seasonal historical celebrations. � e current exhibit showcases steamboats to mark the 100th an-

niversary of steamboats arriving in the region.“Steamboats have brought a lot to the La Crosse area,” said

La Crosse Historical Society’s Director of Development, Jane Beseler. Beseler works on all of the society’s spotlight presen-tations up to a year in advance.

She said that the jazz music, new foods, and immigrants, among many other things, accompany the appearance of the steam-powered vessel. � ey took a big role in economic de-velopment for the region because of their role in the lumber-ing aspect and transportation during the Civil War.

Attendees can � nd out more information about the Soci-ety’s three museums as well as available volunteering oppor-

tunities while they explore the exhibit. Upcoming exhibits will highlight Women’s History Month

in March by presenting the background of the Franciscan Sis-ters.

� e Swarthout Museum is located adjacent to the main Public Library and is open from 10:00 a.m until 5:00 p.m Tuesday through Friday, and from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information about the La Crosse County Historical Society, visit their website at www.lchsweb.org.

Swarthout Museum features vessels downtown La Crosse

By Ashley AtkinsonStaff ReporterStaff Reporter

Blowin’ o� steam

“It is a symphony, but not your typical symphony. People who don’t usually enjoy this type of performance will.”

Tracy FellLSO Executive Director

IF YOU GO

What: 1,2,3 Walrus

When: Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.

Where: Cellar, Cartwright

This event is free for UW-L students

Dan Rosenblatt, above, sports a t-shirt with MUASA’s motto, “got consent?” MUASA meets every other Wednes-day at 7 p.m. in 342 Cartwright.

Contributed by Dan Rosenblatt

Page 19Thursday, December 9, 2010

CampusSportsEagles remain unbeaten at home

� e UW-La Crosse men’s bas-ketball team continued to perform well on their home court last Monday (Nov. 29th). UW-L beat Northwestern College (Minn.) 68-61, improving their overall record to 3-4 and their home record to 2-0.

Although the � nal score looks close on paper, the game was anything but. Northwestern made the � rst basket of the game to take their only lead of the game.

UW-L came back to lead early in the game 9-4. A few minutes later, Northwestern’s Nate � omp-son hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 9. � is was as close as the Northwestern Eagles would get to the La Crosse Eagles for the rest of the game.

Al Chery seemed to learn from last week’s home game when his dunk landed him a technical foul. � is time he threw one down respectively with 10:30 le� to play in the � rst half as part of a UW-L 15-1 run in the next two minutes.

� e UW-L dance team cel-ebrated the 39-27 lead at hal� ime, performing to the song “Tiny Dancer.”

Coming out in a full court press to start the second half, UW-L kept increasing the lead. A� er only four minutes and a 10-4 run by UW-L, Northwestern called a timeout.

� e strategy for UW-L was unchanged however, and with 7:13 le� to play and an 11 point de� cit, Northwestern called another timeout. Again, the full-court press by La Crosse continued to frustrate Northwestern.

� e UW-L Eagles were able to give some of their bench players some time later in the game which let the Northwestern Eagles catch up a little.

� ey were able to hold o� Northwestern, and the score at the buzzer read 68-61 in favor of La Crosse.

Tony Mane � nished with 22 points. Michael Hanson scored a career high 10 points. Jordan Rum-

pel also � nished with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Je� Heiden had nine points, Braden Tice scored eight and Al Chery had seven. Lucas Morrissey led the team with nine rebounds and Cory Dregner coming in a close second with eight.

UW-L shot 43.9 percent from the � eld, including 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from three-point range, and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) at the free throw line.

UW-L’s next home game is against WIAC opponent UW-Platteville on Saturday, December 11th at 3:05pm.

By Isaac LindahlSports EditorSports Editor

Basketball beats Northwestern 68-61

Isaac LindahlSports Editorsports@theracquet.net

Women’s basketball loses � rst of seasonEagles fall to Whitewater 83-62

It was a high-octane match-up between two nationally ranked teams at Mitchell Hall on Dec. 1 when the 23rd ranked UW-Whitewater Warhawks met the 16th ranked UW-La Crosse Eagles. � e di� erence in the game was turnovers. � e Eagles had 27.

UW-L forward Dana Churchill, who was named WIAC Player of the Week on Nov. 30 a� er averaging 17.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in the three games dur-ing the week prior, was amongst the starters.

UW-L took their � rst lead of the game by a score of 13-12 with 13:00 on the clock due to a lay-up by Churchill.

UW-L would have the lead once more during the contest later in the second half, but Whitewater ended up beating La Crosse with a � nal score of 83-62. Churchill � nished with ten points in the game.

Other notable performances for UW-L included Danielle Frank, who had 12 points and 14 re-bounds, Lindsey Litrenta, who had 11 points, and Taylor Larson who made a few impressive three-point baskets.

Top scorers for UW-White-water were Chantel Burg and Cort-

ney Kumerow with 17 points each. Kaitlyn � ill also had a respectable performance with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

� e Eagles shot 44 percent from the � eld, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 70.6 percent from the free-throw line.

� e Warhawks shot 52.5 percent from the � eld, 35.3 percent from three-point range and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line.

� is game had major impli-cations for the rest of the sea-son. UW-L entered the game with a 6-0 record and UW-Whitewater entered with a 3-1 record, but this was the � rst conference game for both teams.

� e Eagle’s got their � rst win in the WIAC on Dec. 4 at UW-Eau Claire this weekend, so UW-L currently owns a 7-1 record with 1-1 in the WIAC. Lindsey Litrenta led the Eagles with a career high 20 points.

UW-L’s next conference game is Dec. 8 at home against UW-Stout.

By Jake GietmanPublisher

Churchill

Bethany Rahn � e Racquet

Don’t look now, but the Packers may be able to run the ball now. I know it sounds crazy. A� er weeks of watching Brandon Jackson all season drag and stumble his way for 3 yards a pop, a new face has appeared in Green Bay’s back� eld.

Finally someone could be bringing some balance to the Packer o� ense. James Starks, a beast of a man, who many have never heard of, is a rookie from the tiny college of Bu� alo.

Originally projected as a 2nd-round pick, Starks fell down the dra� boards be-cause of questions regarding his durability. He would last until the 6th round of last year’s dra� where Green Bay took a chance on the run-ning back who was coming o� a season-ending shoulder injury.

� e questions per-sisted a� er Starks joined the Packers and injured his hamstring in the o� -season conditioning program.

A� er losing Ryan Grant for the season in week 1, Green Bay tried to fall back on the production of back-ups Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn.

Neither proved capable of being a feature back. In his 3 seasons in Green Bay,

Jackson was never more than an adequate 3rd-down back. John Kuhn was signed to play fullback.

So with the absence of a rushing attack, the Packers struggled at times to keep defenses honest. � ose days could be over with the ar-rival of James Starks.

� e rookie stands at 6-2 and weighs a chiseled 220 pounds. He has a diverse skill-set that could give de-fenses � ts for the last month of the season and possibly into the playo� s. He dem-onstrates the power to run inside and the quickness to take plays outside and turn the edge.

He also had 52 catches in his last season in college, making him an intriguing option in the passing game. And one more thing: he also played some quarterback while in college. Wildcat package anyone?

Last Sunday Starks car-ried the ball 18 times for 73 yards. � ose are not exactly numbers that jump o� the page. But all things consid-ered, it is still an impressive performance.

It has been almost 2 full years since Starks saw live game action. He went from having no carries for the

longest time to having 18 Sunday. Half of those carries came on the same fourth quarter drive where Starks was running straight into the teeth of the 49er defense to run out the clock.

He may not have been � ashy, but Starks kept pick-ing up the � rst downs the Packers needed to put the game away. � e addition of Starks could be the deciding factor in close games for the rest of the season. � e Pack-ers’ season has started to look bleak in recent weeks.

� e Chicago Bears have taken over the division. A high number of elite teams in the NFC have made the Packers’ playo� chances anything but guaranteed.

Multiple analysts have cited the Packers as being good, but not elite. � ey have criticized the Packers for not being able to win games due to their one-dimensional o� ense and inability to play physical football.

Change may be com-ing to Green Bay with the arrival of a new weapon. By the time the season is over, people will know the name “James Starks”.

New face in Green Bay back� eld

Packers running game may have found new light

Build your resume by writing sports articles for The RacqueT Contact sports@theracquet.net or visit www.theracquet.net

By Ryan PomereningSenior Reporter

Courtesy UW-L Athletics

MyEaglesNest.NET

Page 20 GrinBin Thursday December 9, 2010

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+/– Props to spur of the moment shopping trips to the dells. Drops to spending way too much money.

+/– Props to eating at Erbert and Gerbets. Drops to shoving the cookies for sale down my shirt instead of paying for them.

+/– Props to Polito’s Pizza. Drops to the last UW-L football game of the season. Drops for them losing it.

+/– Props to going out for the $6 wristbands. Drops to seemingly “forgetting” every-thing that I did while I was wearing it.

+/– Props to free beer at Brother’s. Drops to it being Keystone Light.

+/– Props to knowing the bouncer at a bar. Double props to him for giving my friend’s ID back.

+/– Props to bringing my birthday flask out with me. Drops to Bronson Bombkamp stealing it from me.

+/– Props to professors who give take home exams. Drops to waiting until the day before it’s due to start working on it.

+/– Props to fist-pumping all the way from Tomah to La Crosse. Drops to not being able to move my arms the next day.

+/– Props to Patti Mendez-Smith visiting this weekend and double-fisting drinks at Brother’s with us!

Send us your best Props and Drops to features@theracquet.net or post them on our discussion tab at facebook.com/theracquet.

+/- Props to visiting friends over the weekend. Drops to almost missing the bus back to La Crosse.

+/- Props to the � rst snow fall. Drops to doing a 180 in the middle of the street.

+/- Props to having a ultra fun night out. Drops to being so hung over that I couldn’t change out of my out� t from the night before until 8 p.m. the next day.

+/- Props to teacher evaluations. Drops to not having enough space to write all the horrible things I wanted to about one of my professors.

+/- Props to meeting people who you think are really cool at � rst. Drops to getting to know them and � nding out they aren’t so cool.

+ Props to those who volunteer at Operation River Watch.

+/- Props to going to the library on a Friday. Drops to accomplishing absolutely nothing.

+/- Props to � nding out one of my friends secretly makes up raps. Drops to

listening to him for two hours straight on Saturday night.

+/- Props to getting really drunk on Friday night. Drops to peeing your pants and waking up naked under your futon.

+/- Props to some guy for going out to parties dressed like a 12-year-old girl wearing zebra print clothing. Drops to trying to start a � ght with a girl at one of

the parties.

+/- Props to going trashed to your intramural basketball game. Drops to getting hit in the face with a ball while trying to get a rebound.

+/- Props to my roommate trying to save money. Drops to her ordering food for dinner almost every night.

+ Props to having friends who will be there for you no matter what.

+ Props to Nik Nelson and Chris Rochester for making this newspaper what it is today. Happy Graduation!