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THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIII, Issue 131
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
www.badgerherald.com
Tensions run high at ASM meeting Katie Caron Higher Education Editor In a heated meeting last night, members of University of Wisconsin student government once again did not vote on a funding eligibility decision for a student organization. Among accusations of viewpoint neutrality violations during the meeting and debate over the processes being used, members of Associated Students of Madison Student Council did not vote on the Multicultural Student Coalition’s eligibility as had been originally planned after a hearing last week. This came after Student Services Finance Committee voted to support Chair Sarah Neibart’s move to freeze MCSC’s funds Monday after learning of four alleged intentional policy violations made by the group. In last night’s meeting, MCSC member Swati
Bhargava read a message from MCSC member Althea Miller, which said the occurences were a misunderstanding and that MCSC would never go out of its way to violate a policy. Tensions rose during the meeting when the body decided not to allow members of SSFC to have speaking rights. Student Council Chair Allie Gardner said she would not be allowing it because the decision was in the hands of Student Council and not SSFC, and a motion to overrule her failed. SSFC Secretary Ellie Bruecker spoke in open forum and said she was disappointed in the body for silencing a group of student voices. “I agree that this is Student Council’s decision,” she said. “But we aren’t here to give opinions but rather to be here as unbiased resources.” Student Council again came to a point of contention when Gardner said the body would vote on who would be
allowed to vote in the eligibility decision. Ultimately, the body voted to exclude anyone from voting who had not been present at the eligibility hearing last week. In an interview with The Badger Herald, Rep. Cale Plamann said this constituted a viewpoint neutrality violation, because UW Legal had made it clear that Student Council would have to follow the same process SSFC does in eligibility decisions. He said SSFC’s consistent procedure this year has been to allow members to vote on eligibility either if they were at the budget hearing or if they lobbied with the group and listened to meeting minutes. He said the vote showed members were voting with a clear intention to exclude other representatives from voting despite adhering to the process SSFC had been uniformly using. “You have to have a uniform
Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald
ASM Chair Allie Gardner was met with opposition Tuesday night at a special student government meeting because she said SSFC members would not be able to speak during the meeting. She also proposed a vote on what the requirements would be for ASM members to vote on the contentious MCSC eligibility decision. process,” he said. “What was done here was done clearly for political reasons … people were well aware of the members who would be excluded by their
Badger nation idolization University of Wisconsin junior Neal Cragg listens to the judges’ critiques after performing Skinny Love by Bon Iver at Tuesday’s All Campus Idol event. The event, which took place at the Overture Center, was part of the week-long All Campus Party. Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald
vote and made that vote for a political reason.” In an interview with the Herald, Neibart said she found this to be a blatant viewpoint
neutrality violation as well. She also said for members to silence the voices of
ASM, page 4
Wis. leads US in 2011-12 job loss Stats show state lost 23,900 positions with majority coming from pubic sector work Mike Kujak State Legislature Editor Despite numbers last week showing a decrease in statewide unemployment, Wisconsin is the only state in the country to experience a statistically significant job loss throughout the last year, according to recently gathered national statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs from March 2011 to March 2012, with 17,800 of the losses coming from the public sector
JOBS, page 2
Record job loss
14,600
Jobs lost in Wisconsin in November, the highest nationally
23,900
Jobs lost between March 2011 and March 2012
7.3%
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate, the lowest level in a year SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
UW pulls anti-Mifflin video, dean continues safety push Kelsey Ryan Herald Contributor After receiving a negative reaction from students and other viewers, University of Wisconsin officials pulled Dean of Students Lori Berquam’s Mifflin Street Block Party safety video early this morning.
Berquam said the video, which encouraged that students “don’t go” to Mifflin, was ultimately removed after responses caused it to veer away from its intended message “It started being much more mean-spirited and left the educational realm,” Berquam said. “I hope that the message wasn’t lost.
The message about the students being safe is what is important.” Berquam said her concerns about student safety stemmed from previous Mifflin events that resulted in sexual assaults and stabbings. She said a UW student suggested she create a video to reach out to
students, rather than an all-campus email. After speaking with the Advisory Board, students and the city, Berquam said she put the idea into action by creating the non-scripted, low-dollar video to convey her message to students. “In general, Lori and the Division of Student Life care deeply about student
safety, and that was the whole intent of the video,” UW spokesperson John Lucas said. Berquam said she would prefer students did not attend the event, but if they do, she hopes they take all necessary precautions to remain safe. This might include not taking a drink from an
unknown person and going with trusted friends. Despite the intent of the video, many students had an adverse reaction, which brought an influx of negative comments on the video as well as a wave of new Mifflin T-shirt designs.
DEAN, page 4
UWPD stands guard at ASM INSIDE meeting following online threat Jackie Allen Campus Life Editor The University of Wisconsin administration and Police Department are investigating an apparent safety threat against “those in power and those with perceived power” posted anonymously on Tuesday in the online comments of a Badger Herald article. Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmcamp
said officials deemed the threat to be credible based on its specificity, adding they have informed UWPD in an attempt to determine the individual’s identity and the intent of the comment. The threat was brought to officials after a member of the Herald’s editorial staff notified UW Communications. Helmkamp added they do not know who is responsible for the
comment, which was posted at around 8 a.m. on an article detailing the Student Services Finance Committee’s Monday vote that found the Multicultural Student Coalition intentionally violated a Wisconsin and UW policy. It was removed at roughly 11 a.m. At this time, officials are also unsure if the
THREAT, page 4
After White Stripes, Jack goes solo
What’s still White, but no longer black and red all over? Blunderbuss.
ARTS | 8
It’s our Mifflin
Those dang youngsters
Berquam’s tone ignores that we are adults capable of holding ourselves accountable.
Wide reciever is possibly the most inexperienced position on Wisconsin. But Zach Azzanni doesn’t mind.
OPINION | 9
SPORTS | 12
© 2012 BADGER HERALD