THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011
WWW WW.BADG BADGERHERALD GERRHE HERA R LD.COM
VOLUME XLII, ISSUE 128
SPORTS | CLUB SP
NEWS | BADGER PARTNERSHIP
ARTS | SPOT ON
Th dedicate long hours and They have h little fanfare, but UW sailing team says its all worth it page 15
How can donations make up for state funding cuts? page 2
The perfect fit With instinctive expertise, lingerie shop owner Katherine Bice offers Madison women unique shopping experience page
10 0
Rep. proposes stall on Badger Partnership UW System spokespeople say necessary flexibilities can be given to Madison without split Katherine Krueger Campus Editor With tensions wearing thin in the dispute over the New Badger Partnership, one legislator proposed delaying consideration of the plan until after the passage of the budget bill. Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, offered a plan for resolution between University of
Wisconsin-Madison and UW System officials that included removing all provisions relating to the New Badger Partnership from the biennial budget. In a letter to Joint Finance Committee members, Nass suggested the Senate and Assembly committees begin public hearings on a separate bill for administrative flexibilities once the Legislature approves the 2011-2013 Biennial Budget. Nass, who serves as chair of the Assembly
Committee on Colleges and Universities, also suggested the UW System’s Wisconsin Idea Partnership be used as a starting point for granting new flexibilities to campuses, a provision that would retain the Madison campus as a member of the UW System. Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for Nass, said members of the committee also want new accountability measures for universities as they receive greater autonomy.
He said the proposal comes after growing opposition to the New Badger Partnership has become increasingly evident on the Madison campus and nearly unanimously across the UW System, with committee members also encountering difficulty in garnering support from both party caucuses. “New Badger Partnership is hanging by a thread to have widespread support,” Mikalsen said. “It has not been well-
delivered to the campus and was not brought well to the Legislature.” Allowing the issue to be considered as a standalone bill would require a separate committee and public hearing process that such a matter required, he said, a process which would likely be abridged in the midst of the larger issues contained in the budget. UW System spokesperson David Giroux said while officials agree with the use of the
Wisconsin Idea Partnership as a starting point for flexibilities, administrators disagree on the proposed time frame for the measure. He said preventing any UW campus from “spinning off” aligns with the thinking of System officials, who have also advocated additional accountability measures as campuses gain flexibilities. “One area we disagree is timing. We continue
PARTNERSHIP, page 6
Madison City Council swears in old mayor, new body members After Dave’s goodbye, Soglin says library, Overture Center to be looked at in next few weeks Pam Selman City Editor Madison saw a historic changeover in leadership Tuesday when the city once again inaugurated Mayor Paul Soglin for his third stint in the office, ringing in a fresh series of challenges for the new set of City Council members to consider in the coming weeks. After being recognized for his eight years of service as the city’s mayor, Dave Cieslewicz addressed a crowd of reflecting alders in a somewhat bittersweet moment, thanking them for their hard work throughout his tenure presiding over the council and encouraging them to
work with Soglin. “I want to wish Mayor Soglin well in his new administration,” Cieslewicz said in his parting words to the council. “If he succeeds, so does our city, so I want to wish him all good things.” A number of council members, even some who opposed Cieslewicz’s reelection campaign, got emotional saying their goodbyes to the outgoing mayor. Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, said Cieslewicz gave her the tools necessary to succeed during her first term as the district’s alder and said the choice between the two candidates was incredibly tough. Soglin came out on top during the April election, taking the office by a mere 713 votes. “It’s like when parents get divorced and you have
to choose who you love more and who you want to live with,” Manicai said. Outgoing City Council President Mark Clear, District 19, said the projects Cieslewicz championed throughout his tenure would have beneficial impacts on the city for years to come, though in a press conference following Soglin’s oath, the new mayor addressed a number of Cieslewicz’s projects that might be impacted in the coming weeks under the city’s new leadership. Soglin said he began meeting with city officials during his transition period to discuss his requirements and adjustments to projects such as the Overture Center and the renovations planned for the Central Library. “We’ve had a series
Matt Hintz The Badger Herald
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin is sworn in for his third non-consecutive stint leading the city. He says as mayor he wants to keep Madison fiscally responsible, beginning with a few projects already started by former Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. of meetings with all the members of the council, and I’ve met with some of the department and division heads to get briefings on some of the
major conflict areas, but we have to double back and go through it all again,” Soglin said. “From the very beginning of all of these projects, they had to
be planned out not just in regard to the construction timeline, but in funding.
CITY COUNCIL, page 2
Education experts offer opinions on merits of voucher school bill Public school officials say cost of state educational institutes rarely correctly cited in debate George LeVines News Reporter The Assembly Committee on Education heard opposing testimonies Tuesday regarding two bills that would expand the K-12 voucher school program in the city of Milwaukee. Currently, schools participating in the voucher program — which allows parents and guardians to send their children to a private school with state funds — must be located within Milwaukee city limits. The proposals would allow private schools within all of Milwaukee County to participate in the voucher program and would also eliminate the program’s 22,500 total student enrollment cap, respectively. A majority of the testimony came from George LeVines The Badger Herald members of the public, including teachers, parents Milwaukee Public School Legislative Policy Manager Chris Thiel says the voucher school program and taxpayers from the “holds kids hostage” by taking money away from public schools in need, ultimately hurting the students. Milwaukee Public School
District, who said they were opposed to expanding voucher eligibility to schools outside the city of Milwaukee. MPS Legislative Policy Manager Chris Thiel told members of the committee expanding the voucher school program would hurt taxpayers. “What the program does is hold [Milwaukee Public School] kids hostage, because it revokes that money,” Thiel said. “It expects [Milwaukee Public School] property tax payers to pay the ransom. And if they don’t, the students get hurt.” Opponents of the proposals often laughed and scoffed when bill supporters testified with reports that said the cost of educating a Milwaukee Public School student averaged more than $15,000 and the teachers in the system make an average of more than $100,000 per year including benefits. Thiel said the argument that voucher schools were cheaper than traditional public schools was flawed and encouraged the debate
between the two modes of education to be based on more honest statistics. Representatives from schools participating in the voucher program testified in support of the bill citing studies showing enhanced student performance and graduation rates. Terry Brown, president of St. Anthony School of Milwaukee, a voucher school, supported both bill proposals and told the committee his school was outperforming MPS in academics. He said the bills would provide his school with resources it needs. “Every single one of the provisions that are included within this bill would put more money into the classroom,” Brown said. He added the bills would also reduce the amount of paperwork required to admit a student. But after committee members discovered Brown’s school’s population was made up of 98 percent voucher school students,
VOUCHER SCHOOL, page 5
State agency finds Waukesha County Supreme Court vote count accurate Investigation of late-discovered ballots reveals few issues; 2nd review of 2006 election ongoing Andrew Averill State Editor After a four-day investigation, the state agency in charge of validating election results announced Tuesday it found no significant irregularities in the vote totals reported in Waukesha County.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court race between challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg and incumbent Justice David Prosser ended too close to call on the night of the election. The next day, Kloppenburg came out ahead of Prosser by 204 votes and declared victory. But a Waukesha County clerk then announced the discovery of more than 14,000 uncounted votes,
which when tallied placed Prosser above Kloppenburg by over 7,000 votes. The Government Accountability Board led an investigation into the votes discovered by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus and certified by the county’s canvassing team. The GAB said its investigation did not find any significant discrepancies in the vote tally.
“We are satisfied that the numbers reported by the municipalities were consistent with the numbers certified by the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers,” GAB spokesperson Reid Magney said in a statement. “Although staff identified a few anomalies, the GAB finds no major discrepancies between the Waukesha County’s official canvass report and the
© 2011 BADGER HERALD
documentation provided by the municipalities.” Prosser, who declared victory in the election Monday, said he is satisfied with the GAB’s results and said the GAB’s report added a non-partisan voice of affirmation to the results of the election, spokesperson Brian Nemoir said in a statement. The investigation would seem to negate the need for a recount, which Prosser said Monday was
not warranted and would be costly to taxpayers. Still, despite the GAB’s report, other election observers are calling for a recount to further increase the confidence Wisconsin’s electorate has in their voting system. “We wanted them to look at it, and if they’ve investigated carefully,
WAUKESHA, page 4