2011.11.18

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THEE UNIVERSITY UNIVERS OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Vo V olu lume me XLIII, XLI LIII I , Issue 54 5 Volume

Friday, November 18, 2011

www.badgerherald.com ww ww.ba w.b w. ba adg dgeerrh heera rald ld.com m

SPORTS | FOOTBALL Badgers eager to push past Illini Controlling its own destiny once again, Wisconsin heads to Illinois with two games remaining in Big Ten play. | 8

NEWS

| CULTURE

Students and community members will have the chance to learn about Lebanese culture at a campus-wide event next week.| 2

ARTS

| CONCERT

Talent Mat-ters Madison audiences lay in wait to hear the soft, acoustic sounds of singer-songwriter Mat Kearney Saturday. | 6

UW System wages freeze Matt Huppert State Editor A plan that provides several changes for state workers’ benefits and freezes their wages for the next two years was passed by a legislative committee Thursday, potentially weakening the hiring power of University of Wisconsin System schools. On Thursday, the Joint Committee on Employee Relations approved the compensation plan created by the Office of Human Resources and Employee Relations for state workers for the next two years. During the hearing, Greg Gracz, director of the Office of State Employment Relations, said several modifications were made from the 200911 compensation plan. A major change, he said, is that 41,000 employees, up from 9,000 in the last two years, will be covered by the new compensation plan. The increase in employees is largely due to changes to collective bargaining created by Gov. Scott Walker ’s legislation,

he said, because many law-mandated benefits formerly covered by bargaining units had to be implemented in the new compensation plan. The plan will also freeze the wages of all state employees in Wisconsin for the next two years, which would include the faculty and staff of UW System colleges, UW System spokesperson David Giroux said. The wage freeze, Giroux said, may make it difficult for campuses to hold and recruit valuable professors looking at employment from other universities. “I think the facts are that we have compensation at the UW campuses that is lower than comparable universities elsewhere, and it’s a growing concern,” Giroux said. Giroux said the biennial budget passed by the Legislature this summer does include a provision that would allow the UW System to create a supplemental plan separate from the state’s compensation plan. UW System schools could

SYSTEM, page 3

Megan McCormick The Badger Herald

Community members gather at an event hosted by the Occupy Madison movement in October. Members of the movement said a national plan to host a mass resistance against repaying student loans could be a dangerous move that the local movement does not necessarily endorse because it puts individuals in the line of fire and could have grave consequences.

Occupy takes on student loans Ally Boutelle City Editor The national Occupy Wall Street movement and the Occupy University of Wisconsin movement have pledged to focused their attention on student loans, an issue Occupy members say is quickly enveloping millions of recent graduates nationwide. Andrew Ross, a New York University professor

and prominent member of the Occupy movement in his area, told Insider Higher Ed that some sectors of the movement will begin Monday, encouraging students across the country to stop repaying their student loans in the hope that if enough people pledge to participate, there will be too many resistors for banks to enforce a punishment. According to Inside

Higher Ed, the movement will solidify when one million people pledge to participate. Ross was not available for comment as of press time. Elizabeth WrigleyField, a graduate student who is one of the Occupy UW movement’s leaders, said the movement has plans to host events and collaborate with other area schools to raise awareness about issues currently impacting

students. Of these issues, Wrigley-Field said student loans are one of the most pressing. The total amount of student loans nationwide is higher than the total amount of credit card debt, she said. “The 1 percent has $22 trillion,” she said. “What that means is that our student loan debt is nothing to them, even

OCCUPY, page 2

Recall petition destroyed; GAB says act could be felony Grant Hermes State Reporter The top election officials in the state issued warnings this week against individuals planning to destroy or not turn in circulating petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker. The Government Accountability Board said Thursday any claims or complaints of crimes or conspiracy to commit crimes in relation to tampering with official petitions could lead to

felony charges. On Thursday morning, the Madison Police Department reported an incident called in by Recall Walker petitioners of a man ripping up a petition after pulling over on the 800 block of South Midvale Boulevard. According to the police report, the petitioners were carrying signs and asking people to pull over to sign a recall form. The man, who drove a red pickup truck, pulled over, tore up the petition and then drove away

Petitioners were able to get the license plate number of the pickup truck and called authorities. MPD has not found the driver, but according to the report, destroying a petition is a federal offense punishable by up to three-and-a-half years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. The torn up petition had three signatures on it. At the time of the incident, the report said, petitioners were following legal guidelines set out by MPD for collecting

Gnarly, bro! Minnesota-based snowboarder Shane Hoschette flies through the air Thursday at the Hoofers Ski and Snowboarding Club’s third annual Rail Jam. Hoschette took first place at the event, which was hosted at Union South instead of Memorial Union for the first time this year.

signatures. While the GAB’s warning in this case might serve to protect Democrats’ interests, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Graeme Zielinski said the fraudulent tactics were a part of the Republican majority’s plan to intimidate Wisconsinites through fear and confusion. “This is part of a bigger effort to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Is it happening? Yes. Is it

illegal? Highly. Is it going to work? I don’t think so,” Zielinski said. “The people of Wisconsin aren’t going to sit around anymore.” Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Ben Sparks said in a statement there have been multiple incidents of improper use of government resources by public employees in connection with the recall effort. Sparks added in the statement that the

GAB, page 3

Signatures collected 540,206

500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 50,000 SOURCE: United Wisconsin

MEChA granted conditional funding for on-campus rent

Noah Willman The Badger Herald

Group will receive money to pay for space that better suits general mission Katie Caron Campus Reporter After debate continued over from Monday’s meeting, the student government allocated funds last night for a student organization if it does not find a space through the university. Before moving into the budget decision, the Student Services Finance Committee discussed the rent line item on the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán’s budget, which requests $50,000 for renting space for the next fiscal year. Currently, the organization is unsure of where it will take up office space next year, and CulturARTE Director Jeanette Martin said the © 2011 BADGER HERALD

group may need to move off campus if it does not find a space through the University of Wisconsin administration. Last year, the group was evicted from its location above Brother ’s Bar and Grill on University Avenue because the building is slated to be torn down, so the group moved temporarily to the Student Activity Center. Martin said the SAC space does not work for the group as part of its direct service involves messy art projects and playing loud music. SSFC Rep. David Vines said he thought the group needed to be ensured an acceptable space to perform its direct services. “The fact of the matter is that they need a space to perform their direct services, and if we fail to give them funds, we’ll be doing a great disservice to them and be putting their eligibility for next year in jeopardy,” Vines said. No SSFC members

expressed disagreement with the rent item. In the final budget, the committee approved the rent funds with the caveat that if the group finds space through the university, the funds would be returned or no longer valid. The finalized 2012-13 budget, which primarily included more funds for instruments and the rent item, allocated $159,534.12 to MEChA. The committee then moved on to address the issue of contract status for UW student organizations before passing a contract resolution to be sent to Associated Students of Madison Student Council. SSFC Rep. Justin Bloesch said he felt the intent of the resolution was to be relatively neutral and to generally express that council needed to get the ball moving in the area of contracting procedure for

MEChA, page, 3


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