2011.11.16

Page 1

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 OPINION

Volume XLIII, Issue 52

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

www.badgerherald.com

NEWS

| EDITORIAL

| CAMPUS LIFE

UW ranks nationally in sending students abroad U

Could UW have a sports scandal the same magnitude as Penn State? In some aspects, it’s possible. | 10

Madison has one of the most active study abroad programs in the country, and also attracts many international students to campus. | 5

ARTSETC. | HUMP DAY Sexy playtime Stop wandering the aisles like you’re lost at sea — here’s how too navigate your local adult sex shop or website. | 13

Democratic governors enter Wis. recall fray Though potential opponent a mystery, both campaigns confident, ready Ilona Argirion State Reporter

John Lemmon The Badger Herald

Mayor Paul Soglin would not break the tie vote on the Edgewater Hotel project during Tuesday night’s meeting.

Council tie ends Edgewater Hotel Ally Boutelle City Editor Public funding for one of Madison’s most highly contested building projects came to a close Tuesday night when the City Council halted plans for the redevelopment of the historic

Edgewater hotel in a tie vote. The vote over whether to provide $16 million worth of tax incremental financing to the project was a 10-10 split. Ald. Lisa Subeck, District 1, passed on the vote at the beginning of the process and was revisited at the end of voting. She provided the

final and definitive no. Mayor Paul Soglin declined to provide a tiebreaker vote, rendering one of Madison’s most divisive topics in recent city politics a no-go. The Edgewater project

EDGEWATER, page 2

After the efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker kicked off Tuesday night, the Democratic Governors Association took a stance to financially support the recall if enough petition signatures are collected. On Monday, DGA Chair and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a statement the association plans on becoming financially involved, assuming the issue is ultimately put before voters. “If we have an opportunity to replace a narrow-minded, ideological and ineffective governor with a Democratic governor that gets things done, we’ll be in there with both feet,” O’Malley said in a statement. Organizers of the Wisconsin recall effort already started their 60-day campaign to collect signatures at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman

Mike Tate added more than 9,000 people have been trained for the recalls and that he believes Democrats could take back control of the state Senate, which Republicans currently hold by a 1716 majority. “I fully anticipate there will be signatures collected in every single Wisconsin county,” Tate said. “I hope to collect at least 600,000 signatures by the deadline.” Still, Walker has not publicly come off as alarmed about the events. The governor released a statement Monday saying he is trying not to get distracted by the recall and is instead attempting to remain focused on his 2010 campaign pledge to grow jobs in the state by 250,000 before the four-year term he was elected to serve is over. During the Green Bay Packers’ Monday night football game, Walker came out with his first television ad in reaction to the recall. The 30-second ad had the featured Waukesha school board speaking on the behalf of the governor and was followed by Walker talking directly to the camera. “Wisconsin’s best

days are yet to come,” Walker said in the ad. “It won’t happen overnight, but we are on our way.” According to Walker ’s campaign manager Keith Gilkes, the ad ran in all Wisconsin markets except Milwaukee and will be up for at least a week. University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin said he expects that, as with this summer ’s recall efforts, there will be a great deal of media coverage surrounding the recall efforts. He said between $70 million and $100 million are expected to be poured into the election from both sides — a sum that would be unprecedented for the state. According to Franklin, DGA would supply a strictly financial contribution to the recall efforts, the extent of which is unknown and unpredictable. While no official Democratic candidate has been selected to run against Walker should the recall go through, a number of potential front-runner

RECALL, page 4

Voter ID law dredges up concern over GAB process Electoral issues, including stickers, to be decided on in coming months Matt Huppert State Editor A legislative committee asked state election officials to turn their motions on electoral issues into formalized rules to be approved by the governor

Tuesday, a move critics say takes away the group’s independence from the Legislature. In a 6-4 vote split down party lines, the Joint Committee for Review on Administrative Rules voted to change a motion made by the Government Accountability Board into a finalized rule requiring Gov. Scott Walker’s approval. Jason Rostan, spokesperson for JCRAR Chair Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, said the

MCSC appeals for new eligibility trial Katherine Krueger Deputy News Editor Members of a multicultural student organization appealed their eligibility decision to receive funding Tuesday, saying individual committee members violated viewpoint neutrality and calling into question whether biases played a role in the decision. The Multicultural Student Coalition brought their suit against the Student Services Finance Committee before the Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary Tuesday night, calling on justices to rule the committee must retry the eligibility hearing. MCSC leadership contended committee members shifted the eligibility criteria applied to assessing the group’s budget. They also alleged the decision was made using a higher level of discretion than used with other

motions on voter ID stickers, technical college IDs and who can pre-fill petitions must go through a fairly lengthy process to become formalized. Rostan said a majority of the committee believed the GAB’s motion allowing the voter ID law to accept the use of technical college IDs is essentially new law created without legislative oversight. The GAB is not an elected body, Rostan said, and should not be able to make

new laws. Consequently, the JCRAR asked the GAB to make this decision a formal rule to be approved by the governor, sent to a legislative hearing, and finalized by the GAB no later than February. Reid Magney, spokesperson for the GAB, said the voter ID law clearly allowed college IDs to be used as voter identification. As a result, he said, the judges in the GAB felt technical college ID should be included because tech

schools are by definition colleges. Magney said the GAB cannot tell clerks to accept stickers, and will ask the campuses that wanted stickers to seek alternatives for the time being. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said the Republicans on the committee have taken away the GAB’s independence with this decision. “We created the Government Accountability Board to allow for a more

ethical government,” Pocan said. “For Republicans to try to take away their power, it flies in the face of an objective watchdog for good government.” He also said this decision reflects the Republicans’ intentions in the Legislature to suppress voters, particularly students, who tend to favor Democrats in elections. He said the decision

GAB, page 4

Not quite old enough to vote... Fabiela and Isabella register to vote at the Mock Election at the Great Hall in Memorial Union on Tuesday. Several mock elections have been taking place in the area to test out voter response to new voting laws, which are still in flux.

groups, particularly in the case of weighing whether services contained in the budget are duplicated on campus. The case comes on the heels of a Student Judiciary decision ruling in favor of MCSC on two of three counts, including the decision that the spending waiver for budgets over $250,000, along with its related policies, is invalid. A key tenant of MCSC’s case centered on differing calculations among committee members on the hours spent on direct services, particularly in reference to Rep. Cale Plamann’s calculations, which were compiled into a spreadsheet and distributed to committee members. Nneka Akubeze, a member of MCSC’s leadership team, said Plamann used his own viewpoint in appropriating educational value and

Matt Hintz The Badger Herald

MCSC, page 4 © 2011 BADGER HERALD


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.