Voices STUDENT

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CRITICS’ REVIEW, PAGE 9 EGGY AWARDS, PAGE 6 INAUGURATION, PAGE 10 Critics rate ‘United 93’ on Sports editor gives out Chancellor’s speech opposite ends of the scale annual Eggy Awards outlines the future to the best UW-RF athletes vision of campus TUDENTUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OICERIVER FALLS May 5, 2006S www.uwrf.edu/student-voice V Volume 93, Issue 24 State budget cuts strain campus Gay slurs slash campus Incidents targetShalena UW-RF’s Brandt gay community funding,AJ Oscarson faculty [email protected] ale [email protected] During the past two semesters at UW-Rivers Falls, mem- bers of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) have been subject Students have a history of being apathetic when it to slanderous remarks and demeaning actions. comes to politics and voting, so when something Last semester, a student from UW-RF had a saying degrad- comes to the legislature’s chopping block, universi- ing gays on a Facebook profile, said Audrey Liquard, co- ty funding is one of the first and hardest cut, said chair of GSA. A post from someone agreed with the picture political science professor Wes Chapin. and offered a way to get rid of some gay people. “It’s a well known fact the administration did cut Liquard said the profile stated, “I hate faggot fucks!!” the university budget $250 million,” said State The related post stated, “Wanna kill some faggot fucks? I Representative Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson. have a hitch on my truck, you got chains or some rope could The cuts, Chapin said, are causing him to adjunct do?” she said. all of his political science courses (give classes to A copy of the page was placed in the GSA mailbox, locat- long-term substitutes) so he has more time to run the ed in the Leadership Center, on Nov. 2, Liquard said. She new international studies major that he is heading didn’t know who placed it there, or for what reason. up. Since GSA meetings are held every Tuesday, Liquard said, He said the legislature expects the University to she didn’t want to wait a week before doing something about deal with it by doing more work, but there are only the issue. so many hours in a day. She said she wanted to do something as soon as possible to “I don’t know what the breaking point is, but we let people know GSA wants to spread love, fight hate and are stretching it pretty far,” he said. “The overall believes in allying. budget is stretched pretty thin.” Pink felt triangles were made to be handed out Nov. 14-18 Chapin and the political science department are at a table GSA had in the Student Center, Liquard said. She not the only ones feeling the stress. purchased the fabric from a store in town and cut it into tri- “We had a retirement who wasn’t replaced, and angles. one of my colleagues has been associate dean and “I think it was a good place to start,” Liquard said. acting dean of our college for the past couple of “Whoever wrote that can see the pink triangles and think, years,” said David Trechter of the agricultural eco- ‘I’m an idiot.’” nomics department. “So we have been a bit short At the table, markers were available for people to write staffed.” their own sayings about spreading love, fighting hate and Working with a short staff, long hours and multi- allying with everyone, she said. ple duties has taken its toll on UW-River Falls. “That wasn’t in our agenda,” Liquard said. “It was a total- “Like most people, I work most nights and week- ly cool campaign.” ends,” Trechter said. “People will burn out, find bet- During the United Council referendum, some GSA mem- ter alternatives elsewhere, or will cut back on the bers were out campaigning to stay with UC, said Sean Eberle, a member of GSA. Some students who were campaigning to pull out of UC See Budget page 3 told students that supporting the vote meant they were supporting gay marriage and transgender bathrooms on campus, Jen Dolen/Student Voice he said. Senior Audrey Liquard and freshman Amanda McGee hold hands in the gar- den area of the Student Center. Liquard and McGee met through a mutual Studying abroad See GSA page 3 friend at UW-River Falls this semester. allows students to explore the world Shalena Brandt UW-RFHelen student Clarke takes on a rare role in Congress [email protected] [email protected] Students, faculty and staff at UW-River Falls have A UW-River Falls student had the rare oppor- the world at their fingertips with the availability of tunity to take on the role of a congresswoman many study abroad programs offered every semester, when she participated in the United States but the reasons why students choose to utilize the pro- Model House of Representatives, put on by the grams vary. American Youth Scholarship Foundation April According to a study conducted at UW-RF last 17-21 in Washington, D.C. spring, 51 students have participated in a college-level Jane Norman, a junior and broad-field social program in another country. The study was conducted studies secondary education major with a polit- to get helpful information to build better programs for ical science emphasis, was the representative future students. Students in the senior capstone cours- for U.S. Congressional District 3 of Wisconsin, es were surveyed, and a total of 258 students partici- which includes Hudson to Eau Claire and then pated in the survey. to the south, she said. The same study showed students traveled to 25 dif- Balancing a school schedule has left little time ferent countries, ranging from locations in Europe, for Norman to take on these opportunities, she Asia, South America and Africa. Scotland had the said, but this event was planned far enough in Submitted Photo highest number of international students with 18. advance that she was able to make it work. Mexico and England had the second highest amount “I thought it would be really interesting and Student Jane Norman (front, sixth from left) stands in the Committee on Financial of students with five. challenging,” she said, recalling when Services room of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. For many, studying abroad makes sense academical- Associate Professor Davida Alperin handed out divided into different committees to spend the to each committee to debate. Political science ly, allowing them to arrange time to study in a certain flyers in a class last semester. “It was an oppor- week simulating the actions of the U.S. House professors served as committee chairs and country of their choice, said Wes Chapin, chair of tunity to learn and gain experience.” of Representatives. Norman was placed on the helped the participants debate the bills. If a bill international studies. The application process was pretty minimal, Committee on Financial Services. passed through a committee, it was debated on “This is one of the few times in their life they will she said, and she had to submit an essay, tran- The individuals spent the week writing bills the floor during the full session on the final day. probably get this opportunity to travel and study,” he scripts and a formal application. relevant to their committee, and program direc- said. The program’s roughly 400 participants were tors chose bills and submitted certain amounts See Congress page 3 Financially, it’s more affordable for students to travel, Chapin said. Significant discounts are available for students on boarding, traveling and sightseeing in a country. “Many countries are designed for student travel,” he said. Masquers presents a suspicious murder mystery Since he works with students who are in the Blair Bengs mances on April 27-29 saw the hard International Traveling Classroom, he said a majority work of the cast and crew pay off. of the students tell him they want to travel abroad [email protected] “The Butler Did It” shows the audi- because they want to understand other cultures rather ence “the irony of life,” O’Brien said. than just reading about them for a class. The Blanche Davis Theatre is the site of a suspected murder. The beginning of the play has the “They also want to learn about themselves and take potential to catch the audience off a challenge,” Chapin said. “The Butler Did It,” presented by the Masquers, offers viewers a twist- guard. After considering what people said about studying Within five minutes of the curtain abroad, Keighla Schmidt, a junior majoring in jour- ed tale that takes a different stance on the standard whodunit. opening, it is clear that there is more nalism, said that an international experience just made to the plot than meets the eye. sense. Director Iris O’Brien was not only faced with the challenge of directing Actor Keith Carl portrays Anthony She said she was determined to attend the J. Lefcourt, the role of a play director. International Traveling Classroom (ITC) program a play within a play, but the project is run entirely by students. A master of manipulation, Lefcourt since her second year at UW-RF because she always needs his play to be a success. To do knew she would study abroad. Combating the difficulties of a student-run performance required this, he obsessively seeks a perfect “I will go anywhere someone is willing to take me,” reaction from his actors as his script Schmidt said. “I want to see the world.” intense preparation and a lot of time, O’Brien said.

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