THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Thursday, October 6, 2011
www.badgerherald.com
Volume X XLIII, LIIIIII, L I, IIs Issue sssu s 23
SPORTS | FOOTBALL
NEWS | LEGISLATION
ARTS | ONLINE FEATURE
Borland, Taylor anchor UW defense
State legislators are attempting to turn back the clock on a recently enacted proposal concerning voucher schools | 2
Click through to the virtual version of the ArtsEtc. page to read about a student organization that always rolls large
Linebacker duo thrives in Wisconsin’s first 5 games, especially against Nebraska, combining for a total of 87 tackles so far this season | 10
Board, baby, board At badgerherald.com
State Street businesses to receive less comp tickets Owners say giving fewer Freakfest passes could be harmful to stores Ally Boutelle News Reporter Madison business leaders heard small business owners’ grievances caused by changes to Freakfest rules and reviewed security measures for enforcement of the event during a meeting Wednesday. During the Madison Business Improvement District meeting, members said State Street business owners were given four Freakfest tickets to ensure they could access their businesses in the past should problems arise. This year, that number was lowered to three for businesses that close at or
before 6 p.m. Jeanette Riechers, owner of Madison Sole on State Street, argued reducing the number of complimentary tickets inconveniences small businesses and displays a lack of concern for business needs as a part of the city’s event. According to Riechers, problems such as vandalism or attempted robbery frequently arise during Freakfest. Riechers said she and her staff would require more than three tickets to be able to access the property and ensure the store remains unharmed. “It seems counterintuitive to me when we are already sacrificing business that day,” Riechers said. “This seems like such a petty thing to do to cut off tickets we may need to access our stores.” BID member Mary Sollinger echoed these
concerns, saying that providing businesses with additional tickets does not constitute a loss of revenue for the city and only hurts small businesses. Assistant to the Mayor Astra Iheukumere contended small business owners are able to request more tickets, should they feel that they are needed. “I realize it’s inconvenient, but this is the city’s response to accommodating the needs of businesses,” she said. According to Iheukumere, the lowered number of tickets available coupled with increased ticket prices are among the city’s attempts to cut costs on an event that costs Madison more than $200,000 each year. Business owners and downtown residents continued to express concern, to which Iheukumere responded
Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
Event attendees gather on State Street during last year’s Freakfest Halloween celebration, when nearly 45,000 came to listen to live music. This year, All Time Low and Neon Trees will be headling the event, with a live DJ performing at one of the three stages. she would raise the issue with Mayor Paul Soglin. Madison Police Department Central District Capt. Carl Gloede and Frank Productions Productions Manager Charlie Goldstone also discussed the security measures that would be taken this year, along
A Heavy Metal Drummer Lead singer of popular band Wilco Jeff Tweedy performed at the Overture Center Wednesday night as the group returned to Madison. While several of the band’s followers turned out to support the group, they were greeted with opening act Nick Lowe. Matt Hintz The Badger Herald
with the logistics of the event. Private security staff will patrol the perimeter while the MPD controls enforcement within the event zone. Gloede said that extra police will be in the downtown area on Friday night as well.
He added the entire event zone will be fenced and closed off beginning as early as the morning of Oct. 29. Every intersection and cross street of the State Street area will be blocked off during the event and throughout
TICKETS, page 3
Bill proposed to fund tech colleges Dems unveil legislation to use income tax increase on rich to support education, jobs Sean Kirkby State Reporter
Council split on SSFC power check Student government votes down the middle on legislation to create watchdog committee Selby Rodriguez Campus Editor Members of Student Council faced critiques during Wednesday night’s open forum before moving into a debate over a new piece of legislation that could affect the Student Services Finance Committee. The proposed legislation, which was sponsored by Reps. Tito Diaz, Tia Nowack and Vines, calls for the creation of a Process Standardization Committee. This committee would serve as an extra check on the SSFC and Student Judiciary by looking over
new legislation. SSFC Emeritus Chair Manes said the legislation would undermine both SSFC and Student Judiciary — and that the proposal undermined past work of the SSFC. Rep. David Vines also spoke in open forum concerning the legislation. “We’ve been in a habit of giving ourselves more power without checking it … sometimes in illegal ways,” Vines said. The legislation was not formally brought to SSFC before presented during Council. During questioning, Vines added this legislation should not go to SSFC as it is asking
members whether or not they believe they should have more oversight. Nowack said this should not be an issue as prior legislation regarding SSFC had also been brought to Council first and that it seems irresponsible to give a body a vote on whether or not they should check themselves. SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said SSFC is an autonomous branch of the Associated Students of Madison that should have the power to govern itself. She added she thinks the representatives putting their names on the bill could have brought it to her, and she would have
put it on the agenda. Neibart emphasized SSFC is a team that works together, and this bill is questioning the competency of its members. Rep. Cale Plamann said that while he thinks there should be some sort of oversight, he disagrees with how it came about in the bill. This looks like an “after-the-fact addition” to try to negate a waiver already passed and in use, Plamann said. The question was called, but it resulted in a tie. ASM Chair Allie Gardner voted not to refer the
COUNCIL, page 3
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Democratic legislators began circulating a bill Wednesday to increase the funding for technical colleges in Wisconsin through an income tax raise on millionaire Wisconsinites. The bill, called the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative, could increase funding to the Wisconsin Technical College System by $70 million, which would offset the $34.2 million cut it received in the biennial budget, Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said. “Technical colleges are the bridge between the unemployed and jobs,” Larson, one of the coauthors of the bill said. “Employees use technical colleges to get the skills they need. We do not want to knock down that bridge.” The other $35.8 million left after offsetting the cuts would be awarded in grants to technical colleges, which would use them to provide more classes and increase the number of students who could enroll in programs, Larson said in a statement. Technical colleges in areas with the highest unemployment rates would receive more money. Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, said the bill would aid middle-class families throughout the state. “Middle-class families and workers have been asked to make tremendous sacrifices in recent months,” Mason said in a statement. “This bill asks Wisconsin’s wealthiest individuals to share a small amount of that sacrifice in order to train and educate at least 35,000 Wisconsin workers.” The bill would raise the money by a 1 percent income tax increase on the 2,900 Wisconsinites who make more than $1 million a year, Mason, one of the bill’s co-authors, said. The biennial budget cut about 30 percent of the state’s budget for WTCS,
which means that technical colleges have offered fewer classes that give workers the skills employers need them to have, Mason said. During a Wednesday press conference, Mason said one nursing student who addressed the group spent a year waiting to get into the courses she needed at one of the state’s technical colleges. Another student had to wait three years to get the courses she needed. “These are high demand jobs, and employers need people to get the training they need,” Mason said. “We had a businessman from Port Washington who said he wanted to hire four new employees but could not because they did not have the training.” In an email to The Badger Herald, Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the bill proposed by Larson and Mason does not have have all the necessary tools to improve the state’s economic situation. “There is much more to improving the economy than the government just spending more and more money,” Welhouse said. Welhouse said raising taxes has not helped create jobs or improve the economy in the past and would prove no different with the implementation of this bill. The bill already has the support of the WTCS, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO. “The Wisconsin Jobs Initiative would provide the shot in the arm that our technical college system needs to get workers out of the unemployment line and into the workplace,” said AFT-Wisconsin President Bryan Kennedy in a statement. While the bill is only beginning to circulate among legislators, Larson said he hopes it will receive bipartisan support. Mason and Larson will know how
TECH, page 3