Ask Abe
Direct your "I-always-wanted-to-ask-but-never-did" questions to askabe@uwalumni.com.
Bob Graf ’79 asks Abe: “How many times does a member of the Marching Band play ‘On, Wisconsin!’ in four years?”
Answer: I asked several band alumni to weigh in on your question, Bob, and they enjoyed crunching the numbers. For starters, there’s registration week or “Reg Week,” when students trying to earn a coveted spot on the field practice intensely and might play the university fight song 10 times per day.
Once they’re in the band’s ranks, they play “On, Wisconsin!” at least twice at every practice, four days per week, throughout football season. That’s eight times per week for 13 weeks or 104 rounds.
On game day, the UW Marching Band rehearses at the stadium before entertaining crowds at a pregame concert and tailgates, after every touchdown or field goal, in the stands and during the Fifth Quarter. The number varies but band alumni tell me that the average is 20 times during each home game, plus one away game per season. That’s around 160, and if the Badgers go to a bowl game, they’re bound to play it 30 more times.
The band also performs during the Homecoming parade and at special concerts and events. Factor that in and you could safely say 400 times each fall, or 1,600 total if a band member plays all four years.
And there’s more to this song than football. Most Marching Band members also play indoors in the Varsity Band. They perform during home basketball, hockey and volleyball games, at their three-day spring concert on campus, and at other special events, including weddings, birthday parties and grand openings around the state. Not every band member performs at every function, but most attend a dozen events throughout the year and play “On, Wisconsin!” several times or more at each. That’s another 50 times annually.
So, my best guesstimate is 1,800 times. Any more, and the song would begin to get old.
Answer: I asked several band alumni to weigh in on your question, Bob, and they enjoyed crunching the numbers. For starters, there’s registration week or “Reg Week,” when students trying to earn a coveted spot on the field practice intensely and might play the university fight song 10 times per day.
Once they’re in the band’s ranks, they play “On, Wisconsin!” at least twice at every practice, four days per week, throughout football season. That’s eight times per week for 13 weeks or 104 rounds.
On game day, the UW Marching Band rehearses at the stadium before entertaining crowds at a pregame concert and tailgates, after every touchdown or field goal, in the stands and during the Fifth Quarter. The number varies but band alumni tell me that the average is 20 times during each home game, plus one away game per season. That’s around 160, and if the Badgers go to a bowl game, they’re bound to play it 30 more times.
The band also performs during the Homecoming parade and at special concerts and events. Factor that in and you could safely say 400 times each fall, or 1,600 total if a band member plays all four years.
And there’s more to this song than football. Most Marching Band members also play indoors in the Varsity Band. They perform during home basketball, hockey and volleyball games, at their three-day spring concert on campus, and at other special events, including weddings, birthday parties and grand openings around the state. Not every band member performs at every function, but most attend a dozen events throughout the year and play “On, Wisconsin!” several times or more at each. That’s another 50 times annually.
So, my best guesstimate is 1,800 times. Any more, and the song would begin to get old.
Kathleen Horning ’80, MA’82 asks Abe: “The University of Iowa was the first Big Ten school to offer partner benefits in 1992. Since then, every Big Ten school except for the UW has followed suit. Why is the UW so far behind the times? How many faculty and staff have left the UW since 1992 due to the lack of partner benefits? Is there anything alumni can do to help correct this deplorable situation?”
Answer: After lobbying for nearly a decade as an issue of equity, recruitment and retention, UW-Madison now offers domestic partner health insurance for faculty and staff. The new law is effective January 1, 2010. And you are correct, Kathleen, in pointing out that all other Big Ten universities offer this benefit and Wisconsin was the last institution to do so.
To enroll, faculty and staff must file an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership form with the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds, certifying that they meet the requirements under Chapter 40 of Wisconsin law. They must also fill out applications for the benefit programs in which they would like to enroll their domestic partner. Detailed enrollment information is available at www.benefits.wisc.edu.
To answer your other question, no one knows for sure how many people left due to a lack of partner benefits but several departers made it clear that it was a factor. Alumni, students, faculty and staff from all corners of the campus community worked together — contacting members of the Legislature and the governor’s office on their personal time, using nonuniversity resources — to highlight the importance of these benefits.
Answer: After lobbying for nearly a decade as an issue of equity, recruitment and retention, UW-Madison now offers domestic partner health insurance for faculty and staff. The new law is effective January 1, 2010. And you are correct, Kathleen, in pointing out that all other Big Ten universities offer this benefit and Wisconsin was the last institution to do so.
To enroll, faculty and staff must file an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership form with the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds, certifying that they meet the requirements under Chapter 40 of Wisconsin law. They must also fill out applications for the benefit programs in which they would like to enroll their domestic partner. Detailed enrollment information is available at www.benefits.wisc.edu.
To answer your other question, no one knows for sure how many people left due to a lack of partner benefits but several departers made it clear that it was a factor. Alumni, students, faculty and staff from all corners of the campus community worked together — contacting members of the Legislature and the governor’s office on their personal time, using nonuniversity resources — to highlight the importance of these benefits.
Dick Zielinski ’72 asks Abe: “What is the oldest sport on campus?”
Answer: Rowing is Wisconsin’s and the nation’s oldest intercollegiate sport, dating back to 1852 as a contest among Ivy League men. UW oarsmen started to make waves in 1874, and they have since won more national titles than any other Wisconsin team, snagging trophies in 1951, 1959, 1966, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1990 and 2008. Badger rowers have benefited from long tenures among the head coaching staff: Norm Sonju (1946–1968), Randy Jablonic (1968–1996) and Chris Clark (1996–present), and from a state-of-the-art rowing facility, constructed in 2004 on the site of the former boathouse along the Lake Mendota shoreline. All those erg tests have paid off — Wisconsin rowers have competed on every U.S. Olympic squad since 1968, and four Badgers have gone on to row for Oxford University as graduate students since 2002.
Answer: Rowing is Wisconsin’s and the nation’s oldest intercollegiate sport, dating back to 1852 as a contest among Ivy League men. UW oarsmen started to make waves in 1874, and they have since won more national titles than any other Wisconsin team, snagging trophies in 1951, 1959, 1966, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1990 and 2008. Badger rowers have benefited from long tenures among the head coaching staff: Norm Sonju (1946–1968), Randy Jablonic (1968–1996) and Chris Clark (1996–present), and from a state-of-the-art rowing facility, constructed in 2004 on the site of the former boathouse along the Lake Mendota shoreline. All those erg tests have paid off — Wisconsin rowers have competed on every U.S. Olympic squad since 1968, and four Badgers have gone on to row for Oxford University as graduate students since 2002.
Please note that, due to time constraints, each e-mail cannot be answered individually. Abe will try to answer as many questions as possible in upcoming issues, but it may take awhile for yours to be published. You may also want to check our archives before submitting a question, since Abe will not publish questions that have been previously answered.
Events
- Global Hot Spots Lecture Series - December 11
