By Jacob Batterman
Over the last decade, prostitution in the Oshkosh area has largely moved online, spurring a shift in police tactics to combat the growing trend. “We could do cases almost daily,” Oshkosh detective Paul Frey said. “The main site is Backpage. That’s where I would say almost all our arrests come from now.” From 2012-14 the OPD made on average about 43 prostitution related arrests per year. With 23 of such arrests already this year, the increased traffic that summer events bring could make 2015 a record year for prostitution in Oshkosh. “There’s girls that are gonna come up from Milwaukee or wherever else to cater to those big crowds– Country USA, EAA any of that,” Frey said. “There’s an uptick in prostitution when there’s an uptick in male clients with money.” Free classified sites like Backpage and Craigslist allow anyone to advertise prostitution thinly veiled as legitimate services. Many ads are under categories like escorts, body rubs, and strippers. It only takes a few minutes on the sites to realize most of the ads are hardly platonic. Controlled by violent and deceptive pimps who profit from them, many of the prostitutes on the sites are also victims of human trafficking, a legal term that refers to recruiting and using force to exploit someone and does not necessarily include transporting that person. Frey said the Oshkosh Police Department started investigating online cases of human trafficking about six years ago. Frey said that that the most common way to arrest johns and prostitutes is through stings. “We’ll have one of our females undercover, and we’ll post an ad on Backpage then arrest guys that respond to the ad,” Frey said. “We’ll also do stings where we arrest the females and we’ll use venues like hotels, houses, apartments, semitrailers– whatever a customer might use to contact a prostitute.” Frey said that in a city the size of Oshkosh, prostitutes aren't likely to be found walking the street and because sites like Backpage and Eros make it easier to find clients, much of the illegal trade has been pushed online. “Craigslist used to be pretty active but they faced a lot of pressure from the public and eventually kind of re-did their site to limit the amount of prostitution on there,” Frey said. “There’s another site, Eros.com, that’s sort of centered out of the Milwaukee area. We make some cases off that, and now we’re starting to see social media sites like tag become more prevalent too.” Although some sites have responded to scrutiny from authorities– Craigslist removed its adult services category in September 2010– online prostitution continues to thrive in Oshkosh and across the country. Online research and consulting firm, AIM Group reported rising profits in 2012 for five popular websites that carry prostitution ads. “During the last 12 months, prostitution advertising in 23 U.S. cities has generated at least $36.3 million,” the AIM Group estimates. “More than two-thirds of that amount, $25.4 million, was generated by Backpage.com, a general classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media.” One of the last bastions of Oshkosh’s traditional prostitution market, Naughty Girls was closed down after a successful OPD sting at the strip club. “Naughty Girls always had some level of prostitution,” Frey said. “That's very common in most if not all strip clubs. The girls will, either on their own or through a pimp, meet customers after work.” Whatever the medium, prostitution and human trafficking remain dangerous black market trades. Those involved, gamble with their lives everyday and are much more prone to drug addiction, disease and physical abuse. Nicole Tynan, an anti-trafficking advocate for Reach Counseling Services said human trafficking has been reported in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. “The average age that a girl enters into prostitution is age 13, Tynan said. “Research indicates that women in the sex industry face higher rates of drug addiction, PTSD, pregnancy, sleeping disorders, violent assaults, suicide– the list goes on and on.” The harsh reality of human trafficking makes it very difficult for prostitutes to leave the business on their own accord. Frey said many of the prostitutes in Oshkosh are involved with drugs in some way or another. “On a fair number of them we find drugs right on the arrest, Frey said. “If you had to get into what percentage are drug users or doing it because of drugs, it would be very high. Heroin is a huge reason why a lot of girls are involved in it. Trying to get that money to get that heroin every single day to keep from being sick– you see a fair amount of that.” Crippled by addiction, many prostitutes serve as easy prey for pimps who seek to control and make money of them. Tynan said that most pimps fall into one or more archetypes based on the way they handle their girls and their business. “Romeo” pimps will pursue girls romantically, feigning amorous intentions to gain trust and control. After a relationship has been established, romeo pimps convince girls to enter prostitution through guilt and abuse. “Business” pimps are another common type of human trafficker that coerce women into the prostitute lifestyle. They see themselves as managers and create things like pyramid schemes to deceive their victims with the promise that prostitution will only be a temporary situation that will lead to more successful illegal pursuits. Tynan said that the worst types of pimps are called “gorillas.” “They’re very aggressive,” Tynan said. “They don’t even attempt to play girls like the romeo pimps. “They use physical methods like assault and rape to control the women. Video taping them during rape and assault for blackmail has also been used.” To the average Oshkosh citizen, human trafficking may not seem like a problem. Its shift online may make it easier for police to set up stings, but it also allows for virtually anyone to advertise and respond for free, creating a game of cat and mouse that will likely continue until major policy changes are made. By Greg Peterson
The sport of bowling has fallen some hard times since the peak of the sport's participation, but the sport is getting a shot in the arm thanks to a bunch of young guns and a new way to throw the ball. The drop in bowling recently has not been in terms of total participants, as it's estimated over 50 million people hit the lanes every year, but rather commitment to the sport. The number of certified league bowlers during the 2013-14 season was 1,457,000, a drop of over 41 percent from the nearly 2,483,000 from the 2007-08 season. The number of serious or competitive bowlers has slipped 75 percent of participants in the 1980's to 25 percent today. Though these numbers may make it look like the sport of bowling is dying, the sport may have a ray of hope on the horizon to get the involvement numbers out of the gutter. College bowling has seen a dramatic rise in both growth and popularity. In 2014-15, there were 169 different colleges that had men's bowling teams that competed in sanctioned college tournaments, a big jump from the 112 squads 10 years ago. UW Oshkosh has had a bowling club ever since there were lanes in Albee Hall in the 1970's, but the club now has a chance to compete in a wider variety of tournament as a result of the recent boom. Something that is unique about the types of tournaments the squad takes part is the structure of them. Instead of bowling a traditional three game set and going home like most standard bowling leagues, college bowling tournaments take the grind to another level. In bowling matches at the college level, the norm is to have five guys on a team bowl a total of six individual games in one session, then having those same five guys bowl 20 team games of bowling the next day. Though bowling may not be known as a sport that requires tons of cardio and weight training, many of the best in the college and professional ranks workout heavily to achieve success. Former Robert Morris (Ill.) college bowler and reigning Professional Bowling Association Rookie of the Year Marshall Kent notes that he follows a diet and workout routine in order to stay in top form. Though that can be difficult, Kent called the mental aspect of college bowling “by far the toughest. "The day in which there are six individual games bowled by five team members, it can lead to days of up to eight hours at the lanes. Compare that to a football game that is usually three hours in length or a college basketball game, which is closer to two hours, it can lead to mental fatigue. There are times where technical issues and pin malfunctions can lead to bowlers waiting as long as 15-20 minutes in between shots. It also can cause bowlers to get stiff and makes shotmaking difficult since many bowlers through a high hook shot that must be accurate to a single board of their intended target. “My back would hurt by game two from standing around and there are still four games to go after that.” Kent explained when talking about his college bowling experience. This kind of bowling has helped guys like Kent be able to make the jump to professional bowling with good results. With all of these young bowlers breaking into the sport, they are bringing a revolutionary style to the sport. Though the material used to make bowling balls and the oil patterns on the lanes have changed several times in recent years, the one-handed throw with two fingers and a thumb in the ball has been the standard. Many young bowlers are defying this style and throwing the bowling ball with two hands, including UW Oshkosh junior bowler Kyle Senft is one of them. Senft has spent all three years in college on the UW Oshkosh bowling club and picked up the style while in high school after nearly 10 years of traditional one-handed bowling. “I started bowling two- handed my junior year of high school because I kept tearing my thumb and I picked it up by teaching myself and just practicing a lot” While Senft picked it up to protect his thumb, there are other advantages the style give him including the way it looks. “People think its really cool because its different do it starts up a lot of conversations,” Senft said. The reason it sparks so much buzz is because the two handed style typically involves a large skip on the approach and a higher powered throw than what most most traditional one-handed bowlers can muster. The style was adapted by Australian bowler Jason Belmonte, who developed the style as a toddler because he couldn’t throw a 10 pound ball one-handed. He never gave up the style and with the strength he gained growing up, and has his bowling ball spinning unlike any other shot style most in the game. His ball speed can exceed 20 miles per hour while his ball rotates at over 600 revolutions per minute, over 50 percent higher than the PBA average. He and his style could not have come to America at a better time as the decline in dedicated bowlers has been sharp and immediate. With bowling's downward spiral coming right after the invention of new entertainment-based technologies went mainstream like the Internet and cable TV, it has received much of the blame. Oshkosh area bowler Aaron James has a different thought on why league bowling has been in a tailspin recently and it involves the bowling centers themselves. "No longer is a bowling alley the smokey, child-free environment it used to be," James said. "League prices have increased with the decline of the sport among the older generation, often costing $10-$20 any given night." It makes the advent of college and two-handed bowling all the more important as it could allow the sport to tap into a whole different pool of talent. In observing a bowling league of mainly bowler above the age of 35 in the Oshkosh area and the Midwest Collegiate Bowling Tournament in Milwaukee, there is a large disparity in use of the two-handed style. The divide in use of the style may have to do a lot with conditioning. Nearly any adult is able to throw a ball underhand down a lane, but the two-handed style is significantly more complex and takes a larger toll on the body. The most common form of two-handed bowling is a four-step approach which includes one small step before a huge skip and a throw which a bowler puts a significant amount of energy into. The point in using the two-handed style is to throw the ball faster and with a higher amount of hook and that takes an additional amount of energy. The body of someone in their 20's can adapt to the added wear and tear on the body than the traditional mid-40's recreational bowler. Even Kent, one of the best one-handed bowlers on the PBA circuit, used the two-handed style while he was dealing with an injury and made the cut in a tournament with it. James has also noticed the younger generation latching on to new intricacies in the sport. “What I have seen from the younger generation of bowlers is that most are being taught about the game differently, and see these "complexities" and turn them into challenges and advantages,” James said. There was not a single bowler in the Oshkosh League using the style while the majority of college teams had a two-handed bowler, with some having multiple two-handed bowlers. With how progressive and popular college bowling has become, it has captured the attention of CBS Sports. On April 10, the media outlet agreed to a deal to air 10 different college, professional women’s, and junior gold bowling sessions. For years, the only way to watch college bowling live without being at the event, the only way it could be done is via streaming. The only college bowling that has ever been aired by a national TV outlet have been the men’s and women’s national championship matches. If these telecasts are a success, it could to more college bowling on TV as well as more people becoming aware of college bowling. James believes that bowling will begin to trend upward the next few years with the key to it being the growth of the PBA. “I think the key to bowling's success is the PBA,” James said. “The PBA was hugely popular in the 80's and 90's, occupying a Saturday afternoon time slot on ABC. Now, the PBA competes with the NFL, playing on Sunday afternoons on ESPN. If the PBA can stand out again and gain popularity, bowling as a whole will grow.“ With the vast majority of professional bowling’s rising stars either coming from overseas or college programs, it could mean the top performers on college teams today could become the sport’s faces tomorrow. San Jose State has a duo of brothers in Michael Tang and Darren Tang, both of whom averaged better than 218 in competition in 2014-15 over the course of more than 80 games. Ninety-seven college bowlers had averages greater than 200 in over 32 games bowled, meaning that there are a bevy of players who could become the face of bowling. Most sports have their stars burst onto the scene in college and then transfer that talent on the professional level. Many bowlers have done this, but with bowling not being televised, the nation did not have the chance to see this. If the coverage of college bowling continues to expand and the talent remains high, bowling may be able to do what sports like football and basketball have and allow fans to have a long term intimacy with a player. The sport is attempting to go away from the face of bowling being an average Joe with a beer belly and an awful mustache. The sport is trying to build a buzz around the recent youth movement and climb back to prominence with the new adjustments to the modern day bowler leads to a newfound popularity in the sport. By Tim Schuetz
When it comes to drinking in Oshkosh, popular national trends don’t always prevail as local residents tend to know exactly what they want and the kind of consistent taste they are looking for. But as Wisconsin’s winter gives way to warmth, Oshkosh bartenders are expecting their customers to move way from warmer and heavier drinks and turn to the nice, light, fruit-flavored drinks that are being poured across the country. Redd’s Apple Ale is an example of the perfect summertime drink. Will Amacher, manager of Calhoun Beach Club said one of his favorite drinks, Redd’s Apple Ale, will be and has been an incredibly popular drink in summer. “If I’m drinking a lot of beers and Redd’s is available, I’m probably gonna go Redd’s,” Amacher said. “That product isn’t gonna die. That’s just a product that was damn good, damn marketable and they did a pretty good job on it.” Amacher said that Redd’s Apple Ale is perfect for incredibly hot days. While he was at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival last year, Redd’s was his drink of choice. “I don’t think I had anything like malt beverage wise other than Redd’s the whole weekend,” Amacher said. “It was so hot, you could really drink a ton. It’s like 95 degrees and you can’t get good Wisconsin drunk in 95 degrees and no shade if you’re out watching shows for 10 hours.” As to why Redd’s Apple Ale became so popular in Wisconsin, Amacher said he believes it could have been because of a past fruit crop problem. “My theory, about three or so years ago there was a really messed up fruit crop for whatever reason throughout the country and one of the only things that really really really flourished was apple crops,” Amacher said. “I remember that year New Glarus, they didn’t make their Belgian Red because Door County cherries, they normally made it with Door County cherries. There was like 15 percent the normal year of cherries in Door County that year so they couldn’t make it. So products weren’t being made so they had to figure out other ways to kinda mess around.” The Fox River Brewing Co.'s most popular beer is the BLÜ Bobber and can be found at Fratellos Waterfront Restaurant in Oshkosh. The BLÜ Bobber is a blueberry flavored beer that is expected to keep selling like crazy throughout the summer. Lee Reiherzer, founder of the Oshkosh Beer Blog and contributor to the Scene Newspaper and Oshkosh Independent, wrote an article for the Oshkosh Independent about the BLÜ Bobber. In his article, Reiherzer said he wasn’t surprised that the BLÜ Bobber took first place at a Wisconsin beer festival. He also mentioned how much he personally liked the drink. "I hadn’t drank this beer in years," Reiherzer said in his article. “It’s not the sort of thing a beer geek drinks. But it turned out to be exactly what I needed.” Reiherzer is also an expert on craft beer and brewing in Oshkosh. He said that there are particular flavored craft beers people will be drinking in summer. “If they’re drinking craft beer then their glass is likely to be filled with something that gives off the distinct aroma of American hops,” Reiherzer said. “India Pale Ale is the beer style driving the craft beer movement. These intensely hoppy beers have become the default brews for a large segment of the good-beer crowd.” Along with the fruit drinks, Dani Anglea, a bartender at Kelly’s Bar in Oshkosh, said Twisted Tea is also becoming increasingly popular. Anglea said one of the Twisted Tea flavors, strawberry and lemonade, tasted like a hard iced tea. However, Anglea said that there are many fruit drinks people will choose from this summer. “I would say like cider beer like Ciderboys, Redd’s, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, maybe like margaritas or something like that,” Anglea said. “Anything like Summer Hummers are big, which is lime vodka and lemonade.” Joe Solomon, a bartender at the more up-scale Mahoney’s Restaurant & Bar, said that he agreed that many people will be drinking margaritas this summer. “Margaritas are probably the No. 1 selling summertime drink,” Solomon said. “Nationwide, margaritas [are] super popular.” Solomon also said that people will be looking into what drinks Oshkosh has to offer locally. “People are moving into more of like the fresh, local kinda attitude,” Solomon said. “There’s a lot of that going on. So I have a feeling like peach bellinis or mimosas, stuff like that are gonna become a little more popular. Just like anything with a fruit juice in it is more popular.” |
AuthorThis site was produced by students in the Department of Journalism at UW Oshkosh in spring 2015. ArchivesCategories |