2011.09.06

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THE UNIVERSITY SITY YO OF F WISC WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Fall 2011 Registration Issue

www.badgerherald.com

Volume XLIII, Issue 2

SPORTS | FOOTBALL

NEWS | CAMPUS

ARTS | FEATURE

The return to Pasadena

Proposed changes to the Memorial Union Terrace have some concerned sunset views will be compromised | A2

Come in and stay awhile

Wisconsin’s shot at another Rose Bowl appearance will not come easy | C1

The much-anticipated, modern minimalist HotelRED is open for business, just behind the gates of Camp Randall. | D1

MPD, Soglin: Mifflin must end City officials argue historic block party too costly, reckless to continue in 2012 Sasha Hayman City Editor If the Madison Police Department and Mayor Paul Soglin get their way, the Mifflin Street Block Party will be no more. A report released recently outlined the safety concerns surrounding the 2011 event, including what MPD spokesperson Howard Payne labeled as a number of “concerning issues.” The 2011 Block Party cost MPD $130,000, a $42,000 increase from 2010. There were two stabbings, several sexual assaults and incidents of battery, all related to the over-consumption of alcohol, Payne said. “When you balance those elements of cost and public jeopardy with the way the previous years of the event played out, the department does not see the event as having a positive benefit for the community,” Payne said. Soglin said he thinks everyone would be better served if the Block Party

came to an end. “In a very critical time, the tens of millions of dollars being spent on setup and cleanup and police enforcement for the event would be better spent on community services,” Soglin said. As a participant in the first Mifflin Street Block Party in 1969, Soglin said the focus of the event has shifted drastically from its politically-based origin and the per capita consumption of alcohol has increased significantly, creating serious problems for public health and safety. Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said he does not feel an event of this size and caliber can be ended. “Students celebrate prior to finals in many different ways,” Resnick said. “The police and the city can take steps to curb the amount of consumption, but in the past those attempts have not worked.” Payne said MPD looked at Mifflin’s trends beginning in 2008 in terms of cost and different vendors and promoters in an attempt to change the branding of the event and divert attention away

MIFFLIN, page A4

Zhao Lim The Badger Herald

Qualified partygoers at last year’s Mifflin Street Block Party were allowed to have open containers in designated streets for the first time, but the party cost the Madison Police Department $42,000 more to control than in 2010. Two stabbings and multiple battery incidents occurred during the event.

Search for new UW leadership starts with committee Administrators seek stakeholders’ advice in process to replace Martin, relieve Ward Selby Rodriguez Campus Editor The hunt for nominees to fill a search and screen committee responsible for working to find a new permanent chancellor for the University of Wisconsin is advancing. UW System President Kevin Reilly began the

search in August, sending letters to the University Committee, Academic Staff Executive Committee, Associated Students of Madison and Interim Chancellor David Ward requesting nominations for a committee consisting of 23 hand-picked individuals. Ward was appointed interim chancellor after Biddy Martin resigned earlier this summer to lead Amherst College in Massachusetts. The committee will consist of 12 faculty

members, two academic staff members, one classified staff member, one administrator from the Madison campus, another administrator from UW System Administration, one undergraduate UW student, one graduate UW student and four community members, according to a statement from the UW System. “We’re searching for a combination of people who will not only be strong advocates for the groups they represent but are also able to see the whole

institution, everything it does and what qualities a person who can do the job might have,” said UW System spokesperson David Giroux. The committee’s job will be to find five qualified finalists to pass on to a small group of regents appointed by Regent President Michael Spector, Giroux said. Once the committee and Reilly confirm the selected finalists are adequate, the search will become public with candidates visiting campus and

participating in forums to gain community support. Using this feedback, Reilly and the committee will then make their recommendation to the full Board of Regents for confirmation. Reilly stressed the entire process was one of shared governance. “The search and screen committee’s work is to come up with a list of five great finalists,” Reilly said. “We take it from there, utilizing input from the community to ultimately decide which person we

want to go after.” Nominations for the committee are due Sept. 30, and Reilly said he hopes to have a board in place no later than mid-October. Once appointed, the committee will have to first make a position description involving a strong focus on what qualities a new chancellor must possess. They will then engage a national search firm to help them narrow down possible candidates, after which

CHANCELLOR, page A4

System offers more flexibility

TEXTBOOK PRICES

UW administrators form plan to give campuses autonomy provided in budget Adelaide Blanchard News Editor

Students seek cost-cutting text options Growth of electronic media poses threat to local bookstores as prices climb Katherine Krueger Deputy News Editor Being prepared for class is painful. As students head back to lecture halls across the nation this fall, many will spend hundreds of dollars purchasing textbooks. The University of Wisconsin Office of Student Financial Aid website estimates that undergraduate students will spend $1,140 on books for the 2011-2012 academic year, a figure which continues to draw scrutiny to the business model of the bookstore. But even as prices continue to rise in each successive academic year, students and educators are beginning to embrace new electronic forms of text and other emerging media, which are often available for around half the price of a traditional textbook.

PRICES HAVE ‘ALMOST ALWAYS’

GONE UP

Although most of the feedback students provide local textbook retailers may take the form of groans at the checkout, Steve Scheibel, manager of the textbook department at University Book Store, said prices are largely determined by the publisher and chosen by instructors who are aware of the price of the required materials. Scheibel, who has worked in the textbook business for decades, credited steadily increasing book prices as a result of inflationary and other market pressures rather than the margins charged by the individual booksellers. “The prices of textbooks has almost always gone up,” he said. “As long as I’ve been in the business, students have complained about the price of textbooks. It’s the first thing you have to buy that you don’t want to.” While consumers running on a

student’s budget and increasing faculty awareness of the issue have increased the demand for three-hole punch “loose leaf” editions, which retail for around two-thirds the price of a traditional book, Scheibel said students still seem to prefer the physical textbooks. He said there remains no widely available electronic version of textbooks that are the “be all, end all” to make bookstores obsolete.

A WAR AGAINST USED BOOKS

For students hunting storefronts downtown for their required titles, Underground Textbook Exchange has carved out a different kind of niche — it will beat any local competitors’ price. Curtis Macek, manager of the State Street location, said a business model focused on cheap textbooks instead of gimmicks and a link to a

TEXTBOOKS, page A8 © 2011 BADGER HERALD

Under a proposed plan from the University of Wisconsin System president, chancellors and administrators from individual campuses across the state would have more influence in financial and operating decisions for their respective institutions. The plan is a product of a committee assembled by UW System President Kevin Reilly with the purpose of reevaluating the roles of the UW System and the institutions within it. Chancellors would have a greater leadership role within the System, the responsibility of maintaining degree programs would shift and the type of audits the system conducts would narrow, according to a statement from UW System. The plan looks to speed up the rate at which new degree programs are approved, the statement said. Under it, the System would make sure the variety of degrees is preserved, and maintaining academic standards would fall to the leaders at the

campus. The System would also scale back what kinds of audits it performs, UW System spokesperson David Giroux said. Currently, audits are conducted to make sure the System is spending its resources and money in accordance with the state and federal government, Giroux said. A second type of audit ensures institutions are following the best academic and administrative practices. Giroux said this more objective audit will now be conducted by each campus. The plan will go before the Board of Regents during their Sept. 8 meeting. The UW System received more flexibility from the state when the 2011-13 biennial budget was passed in areas including budgeting, financial management and tuition, according to a statement from the UW System. Throughout the next two years, the System will have to work with a $250 million budget cut from the state. One immediate cut laid

FLEXIBILITY, page A5


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