Life Interrupted: How the Dem Debate Affected Campus

The melodious sound of harp strings being plucked by well-trained hands is not something you hear everyday. But for Kate Ray, the music that comes from her harp is all too familiar.

Ray, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee studying String Harp Performance. She spends most of her nights in the Helene Zelazo Center for Performing Arts, practicing and perfecting her music. This past week, however, the Democratic Debate has taken over her practice building leaving her to fend for herself.

The Debate will be held in the Zelazo Center on Thursday, Feb. 11. Preparations for the debate began a week ago. On Friday night, Feb. 5, the Zelazo Center closed to the public. Students had until Saturday to move their instruments and supplies out of the building. Students were asked to remain out of the building until Monday, Feb. 15. Considering the Zelazo Center serves as a practice building for many of UWM’s music students, this was a tall order.

Ray is one of the main students affected by the Democratic Debate simply because of her instrument. The debate is providing some students with career opportunities, such as the chance to cover the media filing center and spin room and interact with national media. One journalism student snapped a ticket for the debate, and another is working as a production assistant for PBS.

However, it’s also disrupting life as you know it for other UWM students and at least one professor thinks there’s too much focus on PR at a time of severe budget cuts. Parking around UWM on Thursday is another issue sparking conversation. More than half the University’s students are commuters. When events like the Democratic Debate come to campus, most commuters must find other sources of parking during the day; parking in the student Union was saved for the media and Kenwood Avenue was closed off for safety reasons.

Ray’s harp stands over 6 feet tall and weighs 82 pounds. It must be wheeled around on a dolly. This makes hauling it around a real inconvenience, not to mention, the cost of her instrument cashes in somewhere around $23,000. Without access to UWM’s harp or practice space, Ray was forced to move her harp into her Cramer home for the week.

“My practice times have changed because I’m home,” says Ray. “I don’t want to practice at like six o’clock in the morning and wake everybody up or like too late at night.”

Students who play percussion were assisted in the moving of their instruments. This was not a courtesy Ray was extended.

“For me personally, I was not contacted by anybody so I had to figure everything out,” says Ray. “I would have liked a little more personal contact because I had one of the bigger instruments to move.”

Ray was fortunate to move her harp home on a “warmer” winter day with temperatures around 40 degrees. Exposing a harp to temperatures below 15-20 degrees can actually ruin the finish on the instrument. If ruined, repairs can be costly. With falling temperatures, transporting her harp back to the Zelazo could get tricky.

“I might even have to wait to move it back until the temperatures are better.”

Students were sent various emails in the weeks leading up to the Democratic Debate specifying the logistics of Parking and Transit matters for Thursday.

Adonis Torrence, 25, works for Parking and Transit at UWM. He has been answering questions regarding debate day parking all week. When asked, he rattled off the buildings allowing and restricting parking on Feb. 11, as if it was any other day. Anything directly affecting Kenwood Boulevard is shut down. Streets between Kenwood and Linnwood including Farwell Ave., Prospect Ave., and Stowell Ave., will be closed as well.

Jordan Brinkman, a 21-year-old junior, is one of UWM’s commuters. Thursdays are his longest day on campus starting around 7:30 in the morning and ending at 10 at night. He parks on Capitol and Humboldt during the day, then moves his car to two-hour metered parking after 7 p.m. There, he can park freely until the end of the night. Other weekdays are not much different. He gets up early, commutes in his own car from Colgate, Wis. to UWM, parks on Capitol Drive, and then takes the bus to campus. He commutes to save money.

“Is it really worth it? I don’t know,” says Jordan.

The Democratic debate has made him question his choice as a commuter.

Not all students see the Democratic Debate on campus as an inconvenience, however. The debate is giving many UW-Milwaukee students opportunities they have long waited for, especially journalism students. Dan Peters is one example. After encouragement from a senior lecturer in the Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies – JAMS – Department, Peters applied for a production assistant position with PBS for the debate.

“I would recommend any student to jump on these opportunities when you get them,” says Peters.

He was hired specifically to work with Washington Week for PBS. The job opportunity comes with great responsibilities including running schedules for lighting, tech and journalism crews covering the debate. Despite the workload, Peters prefers real-world experience to school assignments any day. He’s a 31-year-old student, formerly a member of the Air Force, ready to acquire hands-on opportunities in broadcasting.

Gabe Stoltz, a sophomore in the JAMS program jumped on the opportunity to get involved with the debate himself. He entered his name in a raffle to attend the actual debate with low expectations of actually winning a ticket. To his surprise, he won.

“I’m still in shock that I was one of the 25 to receive them, but I’m not complaining,” says Stoltz. “I’m grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Stoltz will be missing a Thursday night class in order to attend the debate, but he says his teacher was more than understanding considering the circumstances.

Just because students are finding golden opportunities amidst the debate, not all professors are in favor.

“I don’t like it,” says David Pritchard, a JAMS professor who has taught at UWM since 1993. “It’s very disruptive.”

Due to the time and day of the Democratic Debate, Pritchard believes it is minimizing the importance of the work being done at UWM. The University has also been facing serious budget cuts. In an attempt to fix the $30-35 million “operating deficit,” UWM’s Chancellor Mark Mone reported future budget cuts of $12.2 million in 2016 and $18 million in 2017 in UWM’s Operating Deficity: An Explanation.

“Here we are in the biggest budget crisis at UWM, and all we are thinking about is PR,” says Pritchard.

With such hype revolving around the debate, it’s difficult to remember that normal campus life will still take place this Thursday night. Cru is an interdenominational Christian student organization that meets weekly on Thursday nights at 8p.m. Meetings take place in Lubar S151. Emily Susler, 21, attends Cru on a weekly basis.

“I think attendance is going to be really low tonight,” says Susler. “Conservative people and religion often go together.”