THE UNIVERSITY Y OF WIS WISCONSIN’S SCONSIN’ INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Vo olu ume me XLIII, XLI LIII, Issue 51 Volume
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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SPORTS | HOCKEY
NEWS | ELECTIONS
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Growing pains ail Badgers
A presidential candidate made a stop in Wisconsin Monday afternoon. Find out why experts say it won’t be the last visit. | 2
Rich, rich whine
Mike Eaves’ young squad proved it can skate with the best after upsetting tting No. 1 Minnesota last weekend but still remains inconsistent. | 8
When you’ve become wealthy from complaining, why stop? Drake’s latest effort, ‘Take Care,’ reviewed on badgerherald.com. m.
MCSC funding hits further stall Student government refuses appeal, case heads to Judiciary for additional input Katie Caron Campus Reporter
Malory Goldin The Badger Herald
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin began its recall campaign against Gov. Scott Walker early Tuesday with overnight events taking place across the state. Supporters in Madison gathered at Hawk’s on State Street.
Walker recall kicks off As the clock struck 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Democrats in Wisconsin began circulating petitions Mike Kujack State Reporter The petition process to recall Gov. Scott Walker began Tuesday, although Democrats have yet to find a candidate to run against him. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin launched its recall campaign against Gov. Walker at midnight Monday with a variety of themed events to celebrate the effort’s kickoff. A local recall party took place at Hawk’s Grill and Bar on State Street. United Wisconsin, an independent grassroots organization, held a pajama-themed social event at the bar to commemorate “the beginning of a historic journey,” according to spokesperson Erik Kirkstein. “The people of Wisconsin have been waiting for this for months,” Kirkstein said.
“This is the culmination of citizens all across the state, and we can’t wait to recognize them and start [the recall] off on the right track.” Wisconsinites interested in participating in Walker’s recall were able to sign petitions beginning at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday at United Wisconsin’s event and at similar events across the state. According to Kirkstein, United Wisconsin was created for the sole purpose of bringing about a “successful” recall of Walker. The organization operates separately from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin or unions in the state, though they do hold partnerships with both the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party. Democrats still lack a candidate expressing interest in running against
Edgewater nears final approval After more than 2 years of contentious debate, project close to securing funds Adelaide Blanchard News Editor The persistent Edgewater Hotel project cleared another hurdle in its race to completion last week when a private financing plan was approved and finalized, but the project still has to undergo a city vote during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Project Developer Robert Dunn said the project received all the private financing necessary to proceed with the hotel to be built on the shore of Lake Mendota, but a contentious debate is expected on the public financing end as the City Council takes on the 2012 capital budget tonight. While he would not dive into exact details on the finance plan’s size, he said it has been consistent with the Tax Increment Financing plan the city laid out. Dunn said he was excited the “outstanding requirement” had been met and was confident the plan would go forward based on recent comments from Madison Mayor Paul Soglin.
the governor in the potential recall election. Two of Wisconsin’s more wellknown Democrats, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, have both publicly stated they do not have intentions of running during the 2012 election. Graeme Zielinski, DPW spokesperson, said the Democrats would not focus on finding candidates until after the recall petition efforts are complete. “A recall election hasn’t been triggered, so you can’t put the cart before the horse,” Zielinski said. “The process will work itself out. There are plenty of worthy successors to Scott Walker. You don’t need to have a candidate to know that people want him recalled. Now is not the time; now is the time to collect 540,000 signatures.” The GOP launched a
website Monday called the Recall Integrity Center that allows citizens to report petition fraud. A statement from the party said it launched the website to protect the integrity of the signature gathering process. RPW spokesperson Nicole Larson said in an email to The Badger Herald that the website will provide Wisconsin voters with a sense of security in the signature collecting process. “The Republican grassroots in Wisconsin proved to be among the best in the nation during the 2010 elections and will continue to stand with Gov. Walker and his common sense reforms,” Larson said. The site lists several ways to report fraud, including calling the center and reporting the fraud, posting videos or photos
RECALL, page 2
Members of student government denied the appeal of a multicultural student organization in last night’s Student Services Finance Committee meeting, with none of the members who had originally voted “nay” changing their original vote. In its appeal to the committee, Multicultural Student Coalition appealed SSFC’s original decision to deny the group funds on the basis of incorrectly implementing procedure, miscalculations during the original hearing and improper bylaw implementation. A main point of debate centered on the group’s accusation that committee members bordered on a viewpoint neutrality violation when they did not take the group’s numbers at face value and made internal calculations. MCSC member Rebecca Pons said the moment prorating is introduced, there has to be a viewpoint involved. SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart responded, arguing the committee is allowed to assess and interpret the numbers given by the group, and that
The most wonderful time of the year Holiday decorations light up Olin-Turville Park Monday evening after the city kicked off its annual Holiday Fantasy in Lights Nov. 11. The decorations will remain in place through New Years and are lit up from dusk until dawn. Malory Goldin The Badger Herald
He said he hopes to start construction by next year and added there is a big economic value for Madison in his project. “We’re in a time of true desperation,” Dunn said. “We need to focus on bringing people back to work.” The banks were confident they could finance the Edgewater Hotel after a state appeals court approved the project in late October, Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, said. Now one of the only questions left concerning the project’s feasibility is contingent upon a vote tonight in City Council. The council must decide whether to restore $16 million in TIF loans to the budget, which is the portion of the bill the city would need to pay for the hotel to be built. The Edgewater Hotel has been contentious as its funding process has been convoluted, and it faces both strong support and opposition on City Council. “People who want to kill the project are going
VPN refers to the way members cannot take into account any viewpoints regarding the group itself. SSFC Rep. Cale Plamann agreed and said he did not believe he made any violations when making calculations. He said the body has a responsibility to interpret the numbers given from a group based on direct service criteria. “The criteria as written and as decided on by the seventh circuit is legal,” he said. “This is legal, this is procedurally valid and if someone did change their procedure from group to group, that would be a problem.” SSFC Rep. Tia Nowack said she felt members of the committee were not acting consistently with how they had in previous hearings during the original MCSC budget hearing and said she felt this meant the committee should reconsider and have a rehearing. SSFC Rep. David Vines said he agreed with Plamann that the process is legal but felt significant errors in the committee’s finding of fact constituted reason to reconsider. He cited the example of the group’s survey direct service, which members
MCSC, page 2
Trans Week set to inform Madison LGBT campus center works to bring more community education through involvement Jackie Allen Campus Reporter As part of a nationwide movement this week to raise awareness of transgender issues, the University of Wisconsin’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transexual Campus Center is kicking off a number of events throughout the week to support the transgender community and educate the city and campus on transgender issues. Simon Fisher, LGBT Campus Center event coordinator, said this week’s events would have an educational focus on transgender issues both for the university and the Madison community. He added these issues are sometimes marginalized because of a focus on gay and lesbian programming. “I think what we really want to talk about is the fact that gender identity is not a thing that a lot of people
EDGEWATER, page 2
TRANS AWARENESS, page 3 © 2011 BADGER HERALD