Fans of Madison-area artist S.V. Medaris can view her work, including “The Handbook Said…” (above), in two spots this week.
Eyeworthy: By S.V. Medaris
Wisconsin State Journal
Author: jnweaver
Campus Connection: A bachelor’s degree for $10,000?
Capital Times
Tired of reading stories about the ever-escalating costs associated with higher education? Here?s something different: Texas Gov. Rick Perry challenged universities in the Lone Star state earlier this year to create a bachelor?s degree which will cost students only $10,000 for four years of tuition, fees, and textbooks.
That might sound impossible considering just one year of tuition, fees and textbooks at UW-Madison now tops $10,000. But last week the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board indicated it?s moving “aggressively” to tackle Perry?s challenge, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Editorial: Professor case: silence betrays university ideals | The Oshkosh Northwestern
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh this week passed up a golden opportunity to shine a light on the inner workings of academia and foster an intelligent, informed discussion of academic freedom and politics at the university.
UW football: NFL lockout negates Scott Tolzien’s ability to master playbook
Madison.com
Former University of Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien would like nothing more than to have his nose buried in an NFL playbook. Any other year and that?s likely what Tolzien would be doing, getting a head start on making an NFL roster the only way he knows how ? by preparing, studying and working as hard as he can.
Campus Connection: Jury awards former MATC instructor $1.1 million
Capital Times
A federal jury awarded $1.1 million in damages Wednesday to a former history instructor at Madison Area Technical College after finding he had been fired for complaining about discrimination and harassment by two colleagues.
Timothy Raichle: Will it take a death to end Mifflin ?party??
Wisconsin State Journal
While taking my kids to a school athletic event at 9:30 a.m. the morning of the Mifflin Street party, I had to address their questions about people playing ?beer pong? on the sidewalks and students doing beer bongs in the school parking lot.
The rampant pre-partying, as well as the debate about the party itself, are embarrassing for UW-Madison, the city of Madison and its officials. It?s amazing there is any consideration of allowing this ?party? to continue. Aren?t life-threatening injuries, sexual assaults and injured police officers enough? Will it take a death in the community to make a difference?
John Folts: Blood alcohol tests had surprising results
Wisconsin State Journal
As an emeritus professor at the UW-Madison Medical School, I have published papers on the potential beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, such as two glasses of red wine, and the harmful effects of excessive consumption.
I thought it would be interesting to take my blood alcohol analyzer to the block party. As I tested myself by blowing into it, a group of young people gathered and wanted to be tested, too. So I randomly tested six men and six women, and showed them the results. I was amazed at how eager most of the subjects were to be tested, and they all wanted to have the highest level like it was a contest.
Cross Country: Dairy consultants give farmers needed information
Capital Times
….Jim Barmore of Verona has been providing technical service and management consulting to dairies for more than 25 years. He has a master?s degree in dairy nutrition from UW-Madison and spent a dozen years with Madison-based Vita Plus, a major livestock nutrition provider, and Monsanto before opening his Five-Star Dairy Consulting in 2003. Barmore explains his role as an independent dairy consultant as one of offering the dairy producer information and understanding of the many factors affecting the dairy operation: feed management, monitoring herd records, herd health, manager development, systems development, facilities and cow comfort, and risk management among them.
Jury awards $1.1 million to former MATC professor
Wisconsin State Journal
A federal jury awarded a former history professor at Madison Area Technical College $1.1 million on Wednesday, finding that he lost his job at the college for complaining about religious harassment and discrimination.
Jean Slezewski: Mifflin party a sorry statement about alcohol in our society
Capital Times
Dear Editor: In response to the Mifflin Street block party: It saddens me to see that we have raised a generation that has so little respect for themselves and people around them and the property of others. Why is it that people have to get so intoxicated and consider that to be fun?
….UW-Madison has a reputation of being ?the? place to get a great education, yet the administration and professors look the other way when their students behave in this manner. Amazing to me.
The Badger Herald: Players speak out against women?s tennis head coach
Badger Herald
Several members of the University of Wisconsin women?s tennis team have come forward to The Badger Herald illuminating issues with the team?s head coach, saying his actions have put the players? health at risk. According to phone interviews with four players, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, head coach Brian Fleishman places strict limitations on what they eat and how they train, which has forced several girls to surrender to unhealthy lifestyles.
On Topic: State employee ‘depreciation’ day declared
Capital Times
Some state workers are not buying Gov. Scott Walker?s recent efforts to honor state workers and, in response, held a noon event outside the Capitol Thursday they?re calling “State Employee Depreciation Day.” A news release notes the event is being sponsored by the “Ad Hoc Committee for State Employee Depreciation.”
Campus Connection: Do faculty unions provide real benefits?
Capital Times
“What good do faculty unions do?” That?s the headline from a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, which notes: “Many union leaders have declared the right to collectively bargain essential if faculty members are to be paid adequately, treated fairly, and given a voice in their institutions? affairs.”
But, the article continues, “the research that tests such assertions offers mixed findings. At most private colleges, as well as at public colleges where faculty members have chosen not to form unions or have been precluded from doing so by state law, many faculty members work without union contracts without feeling particularly exploited.”
On Campus: Lovell will earn $330,203 as next UW-Milwaukee chancellor
Wisconsin State Journal
Michael Lovell will earn an annual salary of $330,203 as the next chancellor of UW-Milwaukee.The UW Board of Regents confirmed his appointment at a special meeting Tuesday and set his salary.
UW men’s hockey: As expected, Murray turns pro, forfeiting final year with Badgers
Madison.com
As expected, Jordy Murray has opted to turn pro and forgo his senior season with the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team.The forward, a three-year letterwinner who posted career highs with 18 goals and 26 points as a junior this past season, has signed a contract with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Swiss National League A.
Campus Connection: Sen. Hopper calls for UW-Oshkosh prof to resign
Capital Times
A criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is coming under fire for encouraging students on March 7 to sign a petition to recall Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, the Oshkosh Northwestern reports.
Hopper is calling for an investigation into the matter and is asking for the resignation of the professor, Stephen Richards, the newspaper reports. In addition, the state GOP, college Republican groups and several lawmakers also immediately demanded accountability.
Biz Beat: Republicans slash Wisconsin bicycle funding
Capital Times
No big surprise here given the state?s hard turn right …. but the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee has eliminated $5 million in bicycle funding from the 2011-2013 state budget. Siding with Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposal, the Republican-dominated panel voted 12-4 Wednesday to remove state support for bicycle and pedestrian paths from the $6.4 billion transportation budget.
Three muggings reported on UW campus the night of the Mifflin Street party
UW-Madison police are investigating three separate muggings on or near the campus that happened late at night on April 30, the same day the annual Mifflin Street Block Party drew thousands of young people to the area. None of the victims were UW-Madison students or staff, police said.
Chris Rickert: Walker employee recognition program gets well-deserved eye rolls
Wisconsin State Journal
There may be nothing more entertaining in state politics this week than the contrast between the obliviously upbeat YouTube video Gov. Scott Walker made to solicit nominations for his new state employee recognition program and the decidedly downbeat comments posted in response.
Vital Signs: Global warming is world’s biggest public health threat, visiting author says
Capital Times
By now pretty much everyone admits that global warming is an inconvenient truth, but a new book argues it?s a deadly one, too—and not just for critters stranded by melting ice in far away places. “This is not just about polar bears and penguins, this is about us,” says Dan Ferber, co-author with Harvard doctor and researcher Paul R. Epstein of a fascinating new book called “Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Our Health and What We Can do About It.”
Campus Connection: Nebraska kicked out of exclusive club
Capital Times
Some professors on the UW-Madison campus questioned whether the sports side of the equation — Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and league athletic directors — wielded too much power in making the University of Nebraska the 12th member of the conference last summer.
Nonetheless, when the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors voted unanimously to approve Nebraska?s entry to the league effective July 1, 2011 — with competition to begin in all sports for the 2011-12 academic year — most agreed that Nebraska was a good fit academically with the other Big Ten institutions.
UW football: Sought-after California quarterback a ‘perfect’ fit with Badgers, coach says
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin football program has a reputation for not being able to recruit highly ranked quarterbacks. Junior quarterback Bart Houston, from prep powerhouse De La Salle in Concord, Calif., should help change that after giving an oral commitment to the Badgers.
Casey Sweeney: Keep Saferide accessible to underclassmen
Capital Times
Dear Editor: No Saferide route services my housing community, so why am I concerned? The restructuring of the late-night campus bus routes endangers most strongly the students who do not have a voice on the matter: the incoming freshmen and freshmen for years to come.
Plain Talk: Even loyal workers reach a tipping point
Capital Times
….We?re already seeing some of our most dedicated and experienced teachers leaving their jobs, fearful that their employers either can?t or won?t hold up their end of the bargain on pensions. Further, their governor has decided that in addition to giving up benefits, they shouldn?t even have the right to bargain on their working conditions or fair treatment on the job.
Not only are they going to have to give up what amounts to about 8 percent of their take-home pay, they?ve been vilified by state leaders, small-minded politicians and a host of petty complainers as being shiftless, selfish and pampered.
Obituary: Manindra K. Verma
Manindra K. Verma of Railroad Place in Saratoga Springs, and a 35-year resident of Madison, died peacefully at home on Sunday May 1, 2011. As a professor of linguistics for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he served both as the chairman of Linguistics and as the director of South Asian Studies at the university. Under his guidance the annual conference of South Asian Studies grew to international prominence.
UW women’s basketball: Prized recruit Nicole Elmblad backs out after Lisa Stone dismissal
Madison.com
Nicole Elmblad, one of the prizes of former coach Lisa Stone?s 2011 recruiting class, has decided not to join the University of Wisconsin women?s basketball program. Elmblad, a 5-foot-11 guard from St. Ignace, Mich., said last month that she would request a release from her National Letter of Intent to attend UW, but was still interested in becoming a Badger. After she and her family met with new UW coach Bobbie Kelsey, Elmblad has opted not to join the UW program and received her release, allowing her to pursue other options.
Professor disciplined for politicking
WKOW-TV 27
MADISON — A UW-Oshkosh professor received a letter of reprimand for urging students to consider signing a recall petition against Senator Randy Hopper during a class session. In a statement, Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) called for public affairs professor Stephen Richards? resignation.
Obituary: Marie Olsen
Mom died on April 30, 2011, during hymn sing at Covenant Oaks. While in Madison, Mom was very proud of her employment as an LTE with the UW Registrar?s Office for 20 years. So, how do you say goodbye to someone who has been a part of your life longer than most parents have been?
UW football: At long last, Badgers get commitment from an elite quarterback
Madison.com
All the successes of the University of Wisconsin football program?s passing game in recent years haven?t quieted one of the fan base?s chief questions on the recruiting front: Why can?t the Badgers land an elite quarterback? If Bart Houston?s pedigree is any indication, that need for validation is over.
Needed health care put off because of high cost, UW study shows
The high cost of health care is hurting everyone, with parents forgoing taking their sick kids to the doctor even if they have health insurance and make enough money to cover the cost, according to a new study from researchers at UW-Madison.
Suicidal inmate gave no sign of intentions, attorney says
Wisconsin State Journal
Rajib Mitra?s lawyer said Monday that if Mitra had intended to kill himself in the Dane County Jail, he showed no signs of it during a meeting to talk about Mitra?s appeal just hours before Mitra committed suicide on Friday.
….Mitra was a 24-year-old UW-Madison graduate student in 2003 when he was charged in U.S. District Court in Madison with jamming Madison police radios. At the same time, he was dating a 16-year-old girl whom he had met in an Internet chat room.
When Mitra’s computer and radios were seized as part of the radio jamming investigation, police found that portions of the computer’s hard drive had been heavily encrypted, keeping police from discovering their contents until 2009.
Laptop City Hall: Is there a way to rectify the Miff-stake?
Capital Times
If you want damning evidence about what the nature of this year?s Mifflin Street Block Party was like, look no further than the extensive Madison Police Department press release that details two stabbings, two potential sexual assaults, battery and general resistance to police officers and emergency responders, and the level of intoxication of all 162 people arrested or cited. On that last point: More than two-thirds of the people cited were legally drunk, and many were dangerously so – 29 people (18 percent) had a blood alcohol concentration between .251 and .300, and three people had a blood alcohol concentration between .301 and .400. For those who need a refresher, .20-.29 often leads to stupor and loss of consciousness, while. 30-.39 can lead to unconsciousness, impaired breathing and heart rate, and death.
The Badger Herald: Without alternative focus, Mifflin may well be an indefensible event
Badger Herald
Like most Madisonians and veterans of Mifflins past, I read with dismay the news that two partygoers were stabbed ? leading to ?multiple life-threatening injuries? requiring emergency surgery in one case ? at this year?s celebration. Equally disturbing is that three police officers were injured ? including a female officer who was punched in the face when she tried to stop a reveler ? and that four times as many partygoers ended up in detox as compared to last year.Not surprisingly, Mayor Paul Soglin and other city leaders want to see Mifflin come to an end.
Campus Connection: UW-Madison faculty senate backs split from system
Capital Times
With the 2010-11 academic year winding to a close, UW-Madison?s faculty senate passed a resolution supporting Gov. Scott Walker?s controversial proposal to award Wisconsin?s flagship institution some long sought freedoms from state oversight by granting it public authority status and breaking it away from the UW System.
“I am very happy about the senate?s support of the public authority model,” UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin — who was unable to attend Monday evening?s meeting at Bascom Hall due to a “health problem” — said in an email to the Cap Times. “I appreciate the hard work of the University Committee and the serious deliberations of the faculty.”
Soglin?s right about Mifflin mess
Capital Times
Two people were stabbed ? one of them suffering life-threatening injuries that required surgery. Three police officers were injured. At least 160 people were arrested on a variety of charges ranging from underage drinking to depositing human waste.
That?s not a block party. That?s a riot. And while we don?t have much problem with the University of Wisconsin?s reputation as a party school, we have a big problem with the mess that organizers of the Mifflin Street block party have made of the annual event.
Biz Beat: Milwaukee 2nd in U.S. for job growth; Madison 76th
Capital Times
….the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes Dane, Iowa and Columbia counties — added just 400 jobs in the past 12 months for a 0.1 percent increase, 76th out of the 100 largest metro areas. The jobs report received little coverage in the Madison media, not surprising given that job creation has been flat here.
Noel Radomski, who heads a UW-Madison think tank, says the region hasn?t had to aggressively pursue a pro-growth strategy because of all the public-sector jobs here. That has allowed policymakers to focus on other issues like social safety nets and environmental regulations, he says.
UPDATE: Madison police investigate two stabbings
WKOW-TV 27
Madison Police are investigating two separate stabbings that took place Saturday evening at the Mifflin Street Block Party in downtown Madison. The stabbings happened just a few hours apart on Mifflin Street. A 22-year-old suspect with a Green Bay address was detained in connection with the first stabbing. That happened around 5:00 Saturday evening.
Police say a 21-year old UW-Madison student suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed multiple times in the 500 block of W. Mifflin Street.
Curiosities: When boiling meat, what causes foam on liquid?
Wisconsin State Journal
Q. While cooking my St. Patrick?s Day corned beef, I noticed a large amount of foam that formed on top of the boiling liquid. What causes this?
A. That foam is made of proteins released from the cooking meat, says Jeff Sindelar, a meat scientist in the UW-Madison Meat Laboratory.
Dave Zweifel’s Madison: Busy week at UW-Madison’s School of Journalism
Capital Times
Jeff Greenfield, a 1964 graduate of UW-Madison?s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, was back at his alma mater this week to take part in a discussion of “where television news goes from here” and to deliver the annual lecture named in honor of the late Robert Taylor, a revered journalism professor. Greenfield, considered to be one of the country?s best political analysts, says he likes to get back to Madison as often as he can.
Outspoken professor gives Biddy Martin’s plan a failing grade
Capital Times
Sara Goldrick-Rab does not shy away from controversy. Being direct, she says, is in her genes.
….The assistant professor of educational policy studies and sociology is the most outspoken faculty critic of Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to award UW-Madison some long sought freedoms from state oversight by granting it public authority status and breaking it away from the rest of the UW System. sue that has divided many smart folks both on campus and across the state.
Editorial: Why Not Madison College Too?
WISC-TV 3
Welcome to the autonomy discussion Madison College. Thanks for advancing the conversation President Bettsey Barhorst. And welcome to the new world of higher education Wisconsin.
Barhorst thinks Madison College should have the same amount of autonomy from state budget and regulatory rules as Chancellor Biddy Martin is seeking for UW Madison. Of course she does. While on a smaller scale, the competitive world in which Madison College and most other colleges operate is similar. And it?s a different world that that of 10 years ago, and certainly 40 years ago.
UW men’s hockey: Toronto goaltender commits
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team has received a commitment from Toronto goaltender Gabe Grunwald for 2013-14. Grunwald is the 18-year-old son of Glen Grunwald, who won a NCAA men?s basketball title at Indiana in 1981 and currently works in the NBA as vice president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks.
UW men?s hockey: Jordy Murray as good as gone
Madison.com
It?s not a done deal, but it looks like Jordy Murray will pursue a unique professional opportunity in Europe and give up his final year of eligibility with the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team.
Chalkboard: Important voice missing in blue ribbon reading discussion
Capital Times
While working on another story this morning, I kept checking Wisconsin Eye?s live coverage of the first meeting of Gov. Scott Walker?s blue ribbon task force on reading.
….Unfortunately, as far as I could tell from the portions of today’s conversation that I saw online, there wasn’t representation from the education schools at the table in the Governor’s conference room. In the future, it would be useful to hear from people like the UW’s Julie Underwood, dean of the School of Education, or from researchers who are studying the remarkably complex business of learning to read. Until these folks responsible for teacher training and curriculum speak up and contribute their voices to the discussion, I’m not sure there’s much hope of changing the status quo.
J.B. Van Hollen: Alcohol is most prevalent date rape drug
Capital Times
The month of April has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a month focused on raising public awareness about sexual violence and educating communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual assaults. Sexual assault is a pervasive problem in our society. It is estimated that one in six American women has been the victim of sexual assault or attempted assault. However, sexual assault can affect people of any gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation or ability.
Biz Beat: Public pensions face changes
Capital Times
Government employees are some of the last workers still covered by traditional pension plans, which guarantee retirees a payment until they die. But facing tight budgets and a new economic reality, many states — including Wisconsin — have looked at shifting workers into personal savings accounts like a 401(k).
Students protest UW-Madison split with Bascom Hall sit-in
Capital Times
UW-Madison students showed their displeasure over a proposed split of the main campus from the UW system by staging a sit-in in Bascom Hall Tuesday afternoon outside of Chancellor Biddy Martin?s office.
The chancellor met with about 100 students and staff for about 90 minutes at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, talking about the New Badger Partnership, a plan to give UW-Madison “public authority” status by splitting it from the other schools in the system.
Campus Connection: UW-Madison chancellor meets with student protesters
Capital Times
A group of more than 60 students convinced Biddy Martin to come out of her Bascom Hall office Tuesday afternoon to chat about the state budget and future of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With five members of the UW Police Department looking on, the students and UW-Madison chancellor held a sometimes tense but mostly friendly conversation in a first-floor hallway.
Obituary: Robert C. Walsh
Robert C. Walsh, age 84, passed away on Sunday, April 24, 2011, at his home. He was employed by the University of Wisconsin Nuclear Engineering Department for 30 years, retiring in November 1994. He was employed as a machinist and welder, and assisted many students in their thesis projects.
On Campus: Democrats object to changes to tuition reciprocity with Minnesota
Wisconsin State Journal
Four Democrats on the state?s budget committee raised objections to proposed changes to Wisconsin?s tuition reciprocity program with Minnesota. The proposal won?t end the program, which allows Wisconsin and Minnesota students to pay in-state tuition at public universities in either state. But it means Wisconsin students would pay more to attend college in Minnesota.
Hospital report card reveals faults at local facilities
Wisconsin State Journal
This story appeared first in the Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper.
At least 17 patients at Meriter Hospital got urinary tract infections from catheters during a recent 21-month period, and 20 patients at UW Hospital had the same problem. Meriter?s rate of the infections was six times the national average, and UW Hospital?s rate was more than four times the average. At St. Mary?s Hospital, five patients got the infections, about average.
Bob Lehrman: How unions make professors better
Capital Times
We?d never met. But when I walked into my class at American University a few weeks ago, I knew instantly who she was. She came up quickly, like someone who didn?t have much time. She was a grad student working at American University for the Service Employees International Union to organize adjunct professors like me. She hoped I would sign up. What surprised me was my reaction. I wished she hadn?t come.
(Bob Lehrman, a novelist, former White House aide and author of ?The Political Speechwriter?s Companion,? was American University?s adjunct of the year in 2010. This column first appeared in the Washington Post.)
College hockey: Penn State chooses Gadowsky over UW’s Johnson
Madison.com
Concern that Mark Johnson might be lured away from the University of Wisconsin women?s hockey program dissipated Sunday. Penn State officials announced that they had hired Guy Gadowsky away from Princeton to be its first men?s hockey coach. The Nittany Lions will begin playing a NCAA Division I schedule in 2012-13 and will join a new Big Ten Conference in 2013-14.
New way to produce hydrogen worth $50,000 to four UW students
Capital Times
A novel way to produce hydrogen from plant sugars in agricultural waste was worth $50,000 to four UW-Madison undergraduates who won an annual competition for new methods to fight climate change.
Trading the corporate world for the classroom
Capital Times
Physicist, neuroscience entrepreneur and businessman Jon Joseph traded the money and prestige of a flourishing career in corporate America for the opportunity to teach high level calculus, computer science and physics to high school kids. He?s doing his thing in the northern Green County community of New Glarus, teaching at a high school where there were exactly zero Advanced Placement courses less than 15 years ago.
U.S. wants to restart lab testing of chimps as science cools to it
Wisconsin State Journal
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – During Lennie?s life under the microscope, science changed.
….Researchers say advances in laboratory techniques mean that knowledge once gained only by examining a live animal now can be learned in a petri dish. And an expanding body of evidence shows that chimps don’t work as the human fill-in that researchers once hoped they would.
The ethics of animal research also have evolved. What once was commonplace is now controversial, and there’s a growing feeling that chimps should be spared the physical and mental pain of research.
Curiosities: Why do some vegetables get sweeter in the winter?
Wisconsin State Journal
Q. Why do some vegetables get sweeter in the winter?
A. “This is a phenomenon called cold-sweetening,” says UW-Madison horticulture professor Irwin Goldman.
Biz Beat: Global warming will toast Wisconsin, report warns
Capital Times
Rising temperatures could have a devastating impact on Wisconsin?s economy over the next decades, from a shrinkage in agricultural production to a meltdown of the American Birkebeiner ski marathon, according to a national report pegged to Earth Week.
Quoted: Don Waller, UW-Madison professor of botany
Drunken driver who killed girl in 1996 crash arrested for OWI again
Capital Times
A drunken driver who killed a girl in a crash in 1996, then had her probation revoked for driving drunk again in 2006 after she was released from prison, has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk yet again, authorities reported. Lori Kasten, 45, of Madison, was arrested early Saturday morning after UW police received a report of a vehicle stuck on a curb in a UW parking lot with the driver revving the engine in an attempt to free the vehicle, according to a news release from UW police.
Madison360: UW-Madison’s sad and confusing family feud
Capital Times
Chancellor Biddy Martin had finished her by-now-familiar sales pitch that the University of Wisconsin-Madison can only succeed by splitting from the UW System. On this day, her audience was Downtown Rotary, the city?s high court of business movers and shakers.
….How, if things proceed as they seem likely to, does she emerge unscarred? At Rotary, it became obvious she is acutely aware of what critics are saying. Her persona has morphed from careful to carefully combative.
I often write about progressive interests in and around Madison responding to right-wing attacks. What we have here feels like an enormous family feud, albeit nuanced, arcane and hugely important. It feels oddly timed, on the heels of everything and, well, kind of sad.