THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIV, Issue 2
Fall 2012 Registration Issue
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Lukas Keapproth The Badger Herald
Soglin: ‘We’re headed in a direction to end the block party. Hopefully this year.’ Leah Linscheid News Content Editor
Nearly 43 years after attending the event himself, Mayor Paul Soglin made clear his intent to end the Mifflin Street Block Party once and for all this school year. “We’re headed in a direction to end the block party,” Soglin told The
Badger Herald. “Hopefully this year.” Soglin cited cost and safety reasons for his decision to look for an end to the nearly 44-year tradition, and he added the money spent on the block party might be better used for more pressing city issues.
“We’re trapped between tremendous expenses and significantly dangerous behavior in a time where the challenges of poverty need attention,” Soglin said. Soglin said a significant amount of discourse between city officials, resident and students would take place
before a final decision is made about the future of the event. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said for the Mifflin Street Block Party to continue, the location, levels of alcohol and violence and cost to taxpayers would need to be drastically changed.
“In a difficult economic time, or any time, I don’t think we should be spending money on a party like this in this fashion,” Wray said. “You’re spending $100200,000 for a party at a time when people are trying to
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Suspects arrested in Aug. 1 Ball attack Three 21-year-old UW students taken into custody, tentatively charged with battery, party to crime Elliot Hughes Deputy News Editor The Madison Police Department arrested three suspects allegedly involved in the Aug. 1 attack on Wisconsin running back Montee Ball last Tuesday. An MPD report identifies
Andy Fate The Badger Herald
Students try the “Great Greens” section at the new Gordon Commons Dining and Event Center. UW Housing Director Paul Evans said the facility is a refinement on the old model.
Campus welcomes new residence, dining halls Dejope, Gordon facilities offer new hubs for UW’s housing residents Tara Golshan Higher Education Editor Residential students from both Lakeshore and Southeast will finally be able to enjoy several new facilities this year with the opening of Dejope Residential Hall and the Gordon Dining and Event Center. “Dejope,” a term meaning “four lakes” in the native HoChunk language, is phase one of a two-phase Lakeshore development project, which began construction in February 2011. The hall had a budget of $47.6 million, none of which came from state aid. According to Director of University of Wisconsin Housing Paul Evans, none of the expenditures in the university housing department are part of
the university’s budget because they are funded through the revenues generated from room rates, dining programs and summer programs. “There are no state dollars in any of these projects,” Evans said. “There are no tuition dollars in any of these projects, and there are no students segregated fees dollars in these projects. The state cuts have not impacted and would not impact this development.” UW Division of Housing has plans for development through 2020, including renovations to the interiors of Sellery, Witte and Elizabeth Waters Halls, according to UW Division of University Housing spokesperson Brendon Dybdahl. The Lakeshore development project, an effort to minimize residence hall waiting lists, is currently continuing construction with phase two, a second Lakeshore residence hall to be built on Lot 32 behind the present Kronshage building. “We still have over 200
students on a waiting list, which we were unable to get in on campus housing for this fall, and we are waiting for next fall for phase two to open,” Evans said. “The Lakeshore development project provides us a way to say to incoming students that if you would like to live on campus, we do have space for you.” Dejope, which opened in August, will provide housing for 408 students. However, Evans said the building is more than just a dormitory. UW Housing Administrator Jeff Hinz added it will be a place in which students will be pleased to live. The building is also home to a branch of University Health Services — to increase its access to Lakeshore residents — as well as UW classrooms and a dining hall. “This is more than just a residence hall,” Evans said. “We also took this opportunity to build a brand new — and replace an aging — dining facility which was previously located in Holt
© 2012 BADGER HERALD
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Search for next UW chancellor underway Julia Skulstad Campus Life Editor As Interim Chancellor David Ward completes his two-year stint at the helm of the University of Wisconsin at the end of this year, the UW System is moving forward with the first steps in establishing a Search and Screen Committee to help select the flagship university’s
next chancellor. UW System spokesperson David Giroux said a majority of membership on the committee must be UW faculty members. But, he said individuals from the academic staff, classified staff, UW System and UW administrators,
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INSIDE Movies, music and Madison fall events An event checklist and movie picks will keep you busy the first week of classes and beyond.
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Cyclist’s reputation tarnished Lance Armstrong’s integrity questionable after alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.
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Wendell Venerable, Deonte Wilson and Robert Wilks — all 21 years old and students at the University of Wisconsin — as being taken into custody and tentatively charged with substantial battery and party to a crime.
Andy Fate The Badger Herald
Ball adjusts to living in ‘fishbowl’ After two offseason incidents, Wisconsin’s 2012 Heisman candidate talks about learning experience.
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The Badger Herald | News |Fall 2012 Registration Issue
Events today 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ASM Student bus pass pick-up 333 East Campus Mall
3 p.m. Library tour College Library
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UW student drowns in Lake Mendota Elliot Hughes Deputy News Editor
Events tomorrow All day UW Choir Auditions Mosse Humanities Building
A University of Wisconsin student active in the university’s popular First Wave program died Thursday after being pulled from Lake Mendota by rescue divers. The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as John “Vietnam” Nguyen, 19, of Chicago. UW Police, along with the Madison Police Department and Madison
Fire Department, responded to a call at 6:49 a.m. for a possible drowning near the UW Limnology Building on North Park Street, according to a UWPD statement. Preliminary autopsy reports cite an “accidental drowning” as the cause of death. The victim had been swimming with a group of people, UWPD Sgt. Aaron Chapin said. Responders took five minutes to arrive at the scene, MFD spokesperson
Eric Dahl said. A boat from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office led divers from the fire department’s Lake Rescue Team, which conducted a search around the pier and found the victim within 15 minutes, an MFD statement said. According to a UW statement, Nguyen was also a member of the First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Learning Community, a multicultural artistic
program for UW students. His Facebook fan page, called “John Vietnam,” features YouTube videos of himself rapping and has more than 1,300 “likes.” One of his videos has been viewed more than 1,800 times. Nguyen’s YouTube video for his First Wave audition, titled “A Day in the Life,” now has more than 7,000 hits. “We’re deeply saddened by this tragic loss, which comes just before the beginning of a new semester,” UW Dean of
Students Lori Berquam said in a statement. “We will be reaching out to those in the university community who knew this student to offer all of our help, support and condolences.” Nguyen is the second person from the UW community to drown in Lake Mendota this summer. Recent graduate Matthew Roelse, 22, died June 22 after swimming with a friend in the early morning, according to a UW statement.
Jammin’
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The Taki Allstars with Dumate perform at the Memorial Union Terrace Reggae Fest Saturday. Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald
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Herald editorial Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rainey Managing Editor Taylor Nye Editor-at-Large Pamela Selman News Katie Caron News Content Leah Linscheid Deputy News Elliot Hughes City Hall Camille Albert City Life Molly McCall State Politics Meghan Zernick State Legislative Polo Rocha Campus Life Julia Skulstad Higher Education Tara Golshan Multimedia Tim Hadick Assoc. Multimedia Kate Johnson Editorial Page Reginald Young Editorial Page ContentCharles Godfrey Ed. Board Chair Adelaide Blanchard Sports Ian McCue Sports Content Nick Korger Associate Sports Sean Zak Nick Daniels
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looking forward to the new policy, particularly the price hike for the permit. “The price increase is absolutely ridiculous for only parking in one lot,” she said. “It’s a complete inconvenience for those that work in labs or off campus between classes.”
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said. The permit rate for mopeds is $120, up from $85 last year, Bacon said. Despite the price increase, UW Transportation Services has sold over 700 permits in the first two weeks, she added. Moped owner Jordan Olson, a senior, said she is not
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Students will likely notice some significant changes to both campus bus routes and moped parking policy and fees this semester. The University of Wisconsin Transportation Services implemented service updates to eight Metro routes, including routes 6, 11, 25, 44, 70, 80, 81, 82 and discontinued route 85. Route 85 has been combined into an updated Route 80 service, according to a statement from Madison Metro Transit. In addition, SAFEbus Route 81 has been adjusted to run at the same frequency as route 82, at 30-minute intervals, UW Transportation Services spokesperson Michelle Bacon said in an email to The Badger Herald. Routes 80, 81 and 82 were adjusted to accommodate Memorial Union construction, she said. She added that University Housing funds approximately
In addition to the bus route changes, UW students will also see changes in the moped parking policy, effective Sept. 1. The new policy restricts moped owners to one parking spot on campus, Bacon said. “Permit holders will have to park in the lot associated with their permit,” she said. “There are six all-access lots on campus that any valid permit holder can park in at any time during the day.” After 4:30 p.m., all moped lots are open and available for parking, Bacon said. The main reason for these parking changes is safety, she said, particularly in the core of campus during class changes. Statistics indicate an average of 30-40 injuryproducing accidents occur each year as a result of mopeds in the campus area, Bacon said. If moped owners do not follow the new parking policy, citations will be in the $40 range, and any moped that must be relocated because of safety will incur a $75 fee, she
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Peter Hoeschele Luke Nevermann Andrea Perkins
City Life Editor
six percent of the campus bus service, with Associated Students of Madison and Transportation Services equally funding the balance. “Because of the Transportation Services’ budget deficit and a decision by ASM’s Student Transportation Board to hold funding at current levels, campus bus costs were reduced to the level of available funding,” she said. Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said the reality for those using the bus system this year is longer wait times. The changes will impact all students, especially those that live farther away from campus, Resnick said. He said the university has made an effort for decades to bring campus housing closer to campus, but the students that live farther away in areas like Main Street and West Washington will now have to face a longer waiting time. However, he said some routes will expand after Langdon Street construction is finished.
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Campus bus routes shift; long waits expected
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More police to patrol downtown after crime surge Board of directors Chairman
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Peter Hoeschele Vice Chairman
Ryan Rainey Vice Chairman
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With increased incidents this summer, Madison City Council votes to add $50,000 in police overtime funds Camille Albert City Life Editor An increase in crime in downtown Madison may lead to a higher concentration of police and different policing tactics. According to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, crime increased significantly on the 600 block of University Avenue and various areas of State Street. He said this activity has mostly been from gang-related violence. Resnick added much of the crime is not new to Madison, but has been displaced. “This has been a general trend for the last two to three years, but we’re seeing the epicenter of the violence this summer,” Resnick said. “We’ve seen violence on the north side of the city and on the outskirts, [and] much of that is now coming downtown.”
According to Resnick, Madison’s City Council voted to add $50,000 for police overtime funds. He said the police have implemented different policing strategies in the downtown area, including utilizing gang officers who can help students become more aware of who is downtown and how to be safe. He added more Madison Police Department officers have been patrolling the downtown area Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the city is also looking into increasing the number of surveillance cameras in the downtown area. Mayor Paul Soglin expressed his support of the additional surveillance cameras downtown. It was initially his idea to add cameras on the 600 block
of University Avenue. He added specific cameras proved to be very valuable in solving a shooting that took place in front of Johnny O’s bar in May. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said more
“We’ve seen violence on the north side of the city and on the outskirts, but we’re seeing the epicenter of violence this summer.” Scott Resnick
District 8 Alder
streetlamps have also been installed on North Frances Street and Hawthorne Court.
According to UW Police Department Sgt. Aaron Chapin, UWPD has worked closely with MPD in areas frequented by students. “We’ve been working with our other campus partners such as the UW communications center to put out information through the media and other avenues to try to get word out that there are things going on, and we rely on our community to assist us,” Chapin said. “We’ve tried to have a stronger presence in the area.” He added UWPD will continue to educate students and parents about personal safety but is not able to increase their staff downtown. He said their staffing is set, but officers look for crime trends in a specific area and spend more time in the areas with a higher risk of crime. UWPD holds annual training for officers in
active shooter response should it happen on campus, Chapin said. He added officers look at different shootings that occur around the U.S. to keep the training updated so that they can keep anyone at risk as safe as possible. According to Resnick, the city is also taking an innovative approach to deal with crime by having neighborhood leaders from violent areas reach out to troubled youth in order to get to the root of the violence. He added this approach costs the city $35,000. DeSpain urged students to know their surroundings when going out and to leave home with a plan for the evening. “We have to work together with the students to make sure everybody stays as safe as possible,” DeSpain said.
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The Badger Herald | News | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
ASM to talk with Ward, Riley over fee hikes Student government could move forward with lawsuit if no consensus reached Julia Skulstad Campus Life Editor In response to a decision to raise University of Wisconsin student fees without student agreement, the Associated Students of Madison will engage in discussion with Interim Chancellor David Ward and UW System President Kevin Riley. ASM Legislative Affairs Chair Daniel Slatter said
Ward and Riley ignored the vote last February by ASM against an increase in student fees for the Wisconsin Union and Recreation Sports. Statter said he was disappointed because students were ignored when they gave their voice and that students wished their analysis of the budget had been taken into more consideration. Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell said the increases in fees for the Union and Recreational Sports were modest and designed to maintain operations. Bazzell said students on local governing boards for
the Wisconsin Union and Recreational Sports were involved in the process from the very beginning. He said government groups and other students and stakeholders were involved in proposing increases to the budget and student fees. “The Chancellor felt increases were warranted,” Bazzell said. Statter said there was a 4 percent increase in student fees for the Wisconsin Union and a 9 percent increase in student fees for Recreational Sports. “We think that in the spirit of shared governance that there is still an opportunity to
come to a consensus,” Statter said. According to Statter, fees have been increasing for some time now and money coming from the state of Wisconsin to UW has continued to decrease while students are expected to pay more. He said ASM recently voted 11-1 in favor of fi ling a “notice of claim and circumstances” against the decision to raise student fees for the Wisconsin Union and Recreational Sports. Statter said ASM has not engaged in a lawsuit yet and as of right now is “excited and prepared” to begin honest and open
discussion with Ward and Riley. ASM will only move forward with a lawsuit if there is no honest discussion or if they are unable to reach a consensus, Statter said. If ASM decides to file a notice of claim, it would essentially act as a formality to inform the administration, the UW System and Ward that ASM intends to file a lawsuit, Statter said. “We are not opposed to growing when necessary but, again, we felt that in these two areas the increases were unnecessary,” Statter said. In response to the
possibility of ASM filing a notice of claim, Bazzell said they will have to wait and see how everything plays out and that if the claim is filed they will read it and try to understand how to proceed from there. Bazzell said the decision to raise fees was simple because segregated fees fund most of the budget and that Ward looked at the budget for his decision. “I think the chancellor would have preferred support for what he thought was a reasonable budget, but he was not that surprised either,” Bazzell said regarding the reaction to ASM’s vote against raising fees last February.
Classes over winter break a possibility for UW 3-week, 3-credit courses could be implemented this ‘winterim’ Julia Skulstad Campus Life Editor University of Wisconsin students could have the chance to take short, intensive three-week classes during winter break this school year. Provost Paul DeLuca said the three-week winter term of classes would take place within the four-tosix-week period at the end of fall and the beginning of
HALLS, from 1 Commons.” Frank’s Place, one of the main Lakeshore dining facilities, is currently closed
spring terms. “It is extremely inefficient to leave classrooms unoccupied during winter break while at the same time many students can not get into courses they want to take during the year,” DeLuca said. Courses included in this term would be three credit courses normally spanning a semester that could be divided into components and taught intensively over the short “winterim” period, DeLuca said. He added that some of the inspiration for the winter term came from the chancellor’s new educational initiative.
for construction and has been replaced with Dejope’s Four Lakes Market. According to Evans, food service and dining is the number one reason students
DeLuca said the time between the fall and spring semester would be convenient for students who remain on campus over winter break and for students who might want to pick up an extra course to complete their major earlier or expand on a subset in which they are interested. “We are committed to making things like this happen,” DeLuca said. “We are determined because it will be more effective and efficient for students to get courses they need when they cannot get them at any other time.” Jeff Russell, vice provost for lifelong learning and
dean of the Division of Continuing Studies, said students from Associated Students of Madison originally raised the idea for a winter term of classes in a town hall meeting about educational innovation. In April, UW decided to conduct a student survey to gauge interest in the possibility of a winter term, Russell said. The survey received input from 4,200 UW students and found that students do take courses over winter break at local institutions, Russell said. According to Russell, other than the initial work that has been
return to residence halls, according to polls, and Four Lakes Market proved to be an opportunity to keep up with the students’ demands. “It is important for us to
keep up with what they are demanding and expecting from the modern food service, and that is certainly not something unique at UW-Madison,” Evans said. “This is a national trend to offer a lot of choices.” However, according to Evans, a lot of what is offered at Four Lakes Dining and Gordon Dining and Event Center is not a complete transformation of the UW dining program. Rather, the new facilities provide an opportunity to enhance the previous dining program to more easily offer variety in food choices, he said, emphasizing that it has not been developed from scratch, but instead is a
done, there has been no formal commitment to implementing a “winterm” term of classes. Russell said the university is not yet ready to say whether or not winterim classes will become a reality because many other questions have to be answered in terms of what the winter term would entail, what format the classes would take and what faculty would be involved. Russell is currently working with Enrollment Management, the University Committee, the Academic Staff Representative Committee and ASM to continue
growth on an older dining model. With the construction of Dejope and the reconstruction of Gordon Commons into Gordon Dining and Event Center, UW Housing also took the opportunity to work with a design company, Canon, to create UW dining branding, Dybdahl said. Through the names of specific dining options, students will be able to obtain familiarity and consistency across campus dining, Evans said. Evans found the branding to be a great way to introduce students to UW history. For example, Flamingo Run, the convenience store found in
discussions on introducing the term. According to Russell, an evaluation of what types of courses would be able to fit into a condensed time would have to be taken into consideration because certain classes — like a four credit lab-based course — would not be able to lend themselves to a three-week session. “There are a large number of issues and folks to work through in order to move ideas like this, and I think it takes time and has to be done in a coordinated and disciplined way in order to move it ahead,” Russell said.
both Dejope and Gordon’s and eventually across campus, is named after the 1979 event in which plastic flamingos were placed all across Bascom hill, Evans said. The name Dejope is also another attempt at publicly recognizing the historical significance of American Indians and the variety of tribes native to the Madison area. “To educate students who come in here each year as they ask the question, ‘Why is this building named Dejope? What does that mean?’ We then would have the opportunity to introduce them to the historical importance of this location,” Evans said.
Jen Small The Badger Herald
Members of the campus community enter the new Dejope Residential Hall, which was budgeted at $47.6 million with no state aid.
The Badger Herald | News | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
News to watch in fall semester New ASM campaigns, campus safety initiatives, next budget cycle on horizon nomination. Burden said something News Editor to keep an eye on is what Over the summer, happens in early 2013 with the recall election the next budget cycle. He and crime in the pointed out the last budget downtown area seemed cycle brought about the to be at the forefront protests at the Capitol. “We do budgets in twoof news in Madison, but this semester year cycles, and we’re could bring some new all wondering if the next developments in the budget cycle will return to campus, city and across normal Wisconsin politics or if that’s no longer the state. possible,” he As for said. what Regarding students “We do the voter ID can expect budgets in law, he said it in the area of student two- year remains “up in air” whether government, cycles, and the it will be Associated we’re all implemented by Students of Madison wondering if the November as Chair the next cycle elections court cases are Andrew will return pending. Bulovsky said a main to normal Also, Burden out focus will be Wisconsin pointed new districts in the search politics the state means for the next or if that’s Republicans chancellor at the no longer will likely gain of both University possible.” control chambers of the of state Legislature Wisconsin. Barry Burden unless “We need UW Political Science something to make Professor drastic happens sure the new between now chancellor and November. knows As for bills to watch, he shared governance and that the two new said the only two he can students selected to see much development the Search and Screen occurring on in the Senate committee do too,” he are a venture capital bill and the mining bill. said. Bulovsky said in addition to searching for the next chancellor, student government will also be involved in preparing for the transition to a new dean of the College of Letters and Science. Over the summer, current Dean Gary Sandefur announced he would be stepping down at the end of this academic year to return to faculty. Bulovsky said other than those searches and the notice of claim filed to the UW Board of Regents, ASM will also be furthering new campaigns, including one that focuses on mental health awareness and another that focuses on issues of campus safety. In the realm of city issues, Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said in addition to ongoing conversations regarding the fate of the Mifflin Street Block Party, the city will also be continuing to address safety on the UW campus and surrounding area. “Safety on campus — especially the 600 block — will continue to be at the forefront,” he said. In particular, Resnick said sexual assault awareness will continue to be pushed as the city talks about different student-related issues. He added that the increased crime in the 600 block area over the summer is representative of crime cycles that mean different types of crimes happen more in different times of the year. For example, he said every winter break the city sees an increase in robberies in the Spring Street and Brooks Street areas. With this in mind, he added the city will anticipate other types of crime as the year moves along. Otherwise, Resnick said he does not foresee any other major developments in the city of Madison other than the city budget. On the horizon of state news, UW political science professor Barry Burden said Wisconsin will be a swing state in the upcoming presidential election because of Gov. Scott Walker’s win in the June recall election and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s, R-Janesville, vice presidential
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Voters allowed to register with electronic documents Proof of residence given through phone, computer now valid Polo Rocha State Legislative Editor Students may find voter registration in Wisconsin much easier as proof of residence is now acceptable through a phone, tablet or computer instead of solely a paper document. Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board decided unanimously during its meeting last week online documents
as proof of residence will now be acceptable when voters register to vote for an election. The decision specified, however, it is the responsibility of the individual registering to provide his or her own device and Internet access. Municipalities and election officials will not be required to provide such access. This decision will help the efforts of student groups in registering more students for upcoming elections, United Council of University of Wisconsin Students spokesperson Analiese Eicher said in a statement. “In an age where students are essentially paperless, this
is a huge victory for them and all voters in Wisconsin,” Eicher said. “This will help ease the registration process for the thousands of students who need to register on Election Day, and I think we’ll see fewer people turned away from the polls for lack of proof of residence.” Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, who proposed the voter ID law currently held up in courts, disagreed with the GAB’s decision because of the danger that documents may be forged. “While I can understand the GAB’s desire to demonstrate that they are not ‘dinosaurs,’ they also don’t grasp how simple it is for an individual with a
basic understanding of clip art to fabricate a paperless document. This decision is a creative interpretation at best,” Stone said. Stone gave an example in which electronic documents are not valid: drivers showing a law enforcement officer cellphone pictures of their drivers’ license, registration and insurance. More companies and government entities have encouraged users to do transactions online, and because poll workers do not collect the documents, it essentially makes no difference whether the proof is online or in paper, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Executive Director
Andrea Kaminski said. Institute for One Wisconsin lawyer Rebecca Mason said electronic proof of residence is already happening in some places and should be implemented statewide. “This is a new era, although in some ways not because it’s been happening for years,” Mason said. “Local election clerks hate looking at an eligible elector at the polling location and telling them [their proof of residency cannot be accepted], knowing that in many cases that voter will not be able to make it back in time.” Mason said she was pleasantly surprised to learn many in the board of “a bunch
of retired judges” understand the issue, to which a board member responded to laughter that they are not “dinosaurs.” A number of students and voter rights group spokespeople disagreed with that argument during the meeting. They said paper copies are as easy, if not easier, to forge because they are not password-protected, as an online document would be. Wisconsin Election Protection lawyer Ann Jacobs said poll workers are already trained on how to recognize fraudulent paper documents, so instructions for online documents can be added to their training.
Wisconsin a tossup after Ryan pick Latest polls show Romney closing in on Obama in state since VP announcement Meghan Zernick State Politics Editor Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s choice of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, may have made Wisconsin more of a toss-up state for the election in November, according to recent political polls. A Marquette University Law School poll conducted in August showed Obama leading Romney by 3 percentage points. The poll conducted at the beginning of the month showed Obama with a 5 percent lead. The close running in the polls has ignited a renewed kick for partisan campaigning in a state that has experienced several major elections in the last two years. Graeme Zielinski, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson, said he thinks although Ryan may initially appeal to some Wisconsinites since he is from their home state, he ultimately feels the people of Wisconsin will vote according to “what is best for their families.” “Paul Ryan will charge students more for their education, make senior citizens pay more for Medicare and tax the middle class more heavily, all so the
rich like Mitt Romney and himself can have more tax breaks,” Zielinski said. Zielinski also addressed his view on how students ought to be more educated on Ryan’s platform. He said Ryan’s views on education and women’s rights are alarming and not what is best for Wisconsin. As for Ryan’s views on women’s rights, Zielinski described them as oppressive, and said he does not believe they serve any purpose in today’s society. “Paul Ryan’s 19th-century views on women would not benefit Wisconsin, or the country as a whole,” Zielinski said. Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Nathan Conrad said all across Wisconsin, Wisconsinites are excited by Romney’s choice for his running mate. He said the pools are favorable toward Romney, especially after he added Ryan to the ticket, and he thinks this will lead to a win in Wisconsin for Romney. “I am absolutely certain that this November, Wisconsin will award its 10 electoral votes to the Republican Party for the first time since 1984,” Conrad said. University of Wisconsin
Associated Press
After being tabbed as Mitt Romney’s presidential running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, may be responsible for turning Wisconsin into more of a purple state for the coming election. political science professor Donald Downs said he thinks Romney picking Ryan will turn Wisconsin into more of a battleground state. He added Ryan is respected even by many who disagree with his positions. However, Ryan does not necessarily mean a guaranteed win.
“Ryan is a risky pick, because he tackles the big, controversial issue of entitlements, but it is refreshing to see a ticket face what has to be faced sooner rather than later. A lot will depend on how Ryan and Romney come across,” Downs said in an email to The Badger Herald.
The Public Policy Polling poll released last week shows Romney closing in further, just one percentage point behind Obama in Wisconsin, a state known for often being split almost evenly. As for campaigning, both Democrats and Republicans are working to win over the votes of independents
and undecided voters who may be more pivotal in this election than in previous years. According to the Republican National Committee, now that there is a closer race in Wisconsin, they will be spending $3.7 million on commercials to air in major Wisconsin cities.
Van Hollen asks Supreme Court for voter ID decision Attorney General hopes for reversal of permanent injunction Polo Rocha State Legislative Editor Wisconsin’s attorney general has asked the Supreme Court to decide on the voter ID law without waiting for a Court of Appeals ruling, in hopes that the law’s photo ID requirement will be in place for the upcoming November elections. In a statement, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen requested the Supreme Court bypass the Court of Appeals
and reverse the permanent injunctions on the law by two Dane County Circuit Court judges. “People in this state are very frustrated that a common sense law enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor has been blocked. While I respect the judicial process and the right to challenge a law in court, it is time for our Supreme Court to take control of these cases,” Van Hollen said. In addition to the two lawsuits at the state level, two other lawsuits are awaiting trial in federal courts, according to the statement. The appeals court had previously asked the Supreme Court to decide on the two
cases without their opinion, might make the Supreme a request the Court denied Court change its decision on whether to hear April 16. the cases. Department “Whether the of Justice “People in this Supreme Court spokesperson state are very will accept Dana Brueck said the frustrated that the cases is up the court; attorney a common sense to however, now general’s law enacted by the lower court request is and different, as it the Legislature actions is the first time and signed by the trial records are complete. The the DOJ — not the appeals governor has been court has more blocked.” information on court — has which to base its been able to ask the high J.B. Van Hollen decision to hear or decline the court directly cases,” Brueck to hear the said in an email to The Badger cases. She added the conclusion Herald. The most important thing of the two circuit court trials
for students to pay attention to is the current injunction on the voter ID requirement, said Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Her group won a permanent injunction of the law earlier this year in one of the two lawsuits the law faces at the state level. Kaminski reported her group’s election observers noticed confusion over the law in June’s recall elections, when the photo ID provision was not allowed to be implemented. This request, she added, will only add to that confusion. “We hope the Supreme Court will not take it up,
because we think it is an issue that needs full consideration from the courts,” Kaminski said. “There was a lot of confusion [during the recalls]. It would not be a good idea to change the rules again just two months before the election.” The only provision in the law being challenged right now is the requirement to have a valid photo ID at the polls. Although Kaminski noted various other provisions in the law that might make it more difficult for students to vote, she said her group is focusing on challenging the photo ID portion and called the other provisions “a battle for another day.”
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Capitol police chief pledges crackdown on protesters With workers voicing concerns, Erwin to enforce permit law Camille Albert City Hall Editor The Capitol’s newly instated police chief may be cracking down on protesters following a series of recent complaints alleging protesters prevent the community from fully enjoying the Capitol building. According to Department of Revenue Spokesperson Stephanie Marquis, Police Chief David Erwin made clear
his dedication to ensuring staff and visitors can enjoy and use the Capitol. After increased complaints began to come in from Capitol staffers regarding protesters, Erwin said he was going to push for permit laws that would better control protesters. “There are a few [protesters] who would come behind [the Capitol staff’s] desk, scream at them and follow them to their cars,” Marquis said. “The chief is worried about crossing the line from free speech to harassment.” Madison has a Capitol access policy that requires groups of four or more people to obtain a permit for Capitol
use, according to Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison. She added former Police Chief Charles Tubbs, who took a job with Dane County this summer, did not enforce this policy. Marquis pointed to a group called the Solidarity Singers, who sing in the Capitol rotunda every day at noon, as a main source of harassment concerns and staffer complaints. The group does not have a permit that allows them to occupy the Capitol every day, she added. Hundreds of groups request permits each year and Marquis said hardly any are ever denied. She said the permits allow police to know how many people are going to be in the building every
day, aiding staffing planning and ensuring there is enough space for everyone requested to be there. “It doesn’t cost anything, and the chief has been very public that he’s supportive of free speech,” Marquis said. “I would be curious as to why there would be an issue going forward, because [the protesters] want to be a peaceful group.” Marquis said Erwin has not yet provided a timeline outlining when he will begin requiring protesters to obtain a permit, but she added there will be civil penalties enforced when he does. Stacy Harbaugh, spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties
Union of Wisconsin, said the Solidarity Singers sing about a wide variety of issues, such as freedom and equality. She said the ACLU has volunteers who are trained to be witnesses at the protests to monitor freedoms at the Capitol and any infringements on First Amendment rights. “We oppose the policy that requires groups as little as four to request a permit,” Harbaugh said. “We think it’s too restrictive, and to enforce that rule would definitely be damaging to our rights to express ourselves, particularly in a very protected space like the rotunda.” Harbaugh said the permits may be unpopular among protesters because they hold
the groups responsible for damage that may happen at the Capitol. The permits also do not allow people to sue the government if they are injured in part of the protest, including activity by police, she added. Taylor said the “extreme conditions” required by the permits are very difficult to meet and would result in stifling an individual’s speech. She said enforcing the permit laws would discourage people from political discourse in the Capitol, which is the purpose of the building. Marquis added Erwin will perform training with legislators in September for basic safety and protection from harassment.
Prof. arrested for indecent exposure After revealing himself on Charter Street, Waliaula charged with misdemeanor “problem with exposing himself in public,” the Higher Education Editor complaint states. Waliaula entered a A University of Wisconsin assistant not guilty plea to any professor of African misdemeanor counts on studies was charged his initial Aug. 6 court with lewd and lascivious date, the criminal court behavior on Aug. 1 after record said. However, allegedly exposing himself according to the judicial determination, he was to a former student. Kennedy Waliaula, 47, charged with lewd and was reported to the UW lascivious behavior on of publicly Police Department on grounds July 10, after allegedly exposing his genitals exposing his genitals to to victims for “sexual five women passersby, gratification.” The victim’s account including one former student, according to was found to be “truthful reliable,” the a Dane County Circuit and complaint Court criminal said. complaint. The “The results of is Waliaula no longer complaint said that process allowed on the the student victim, 22, was could lead to UW campus given walking on a variety of unless a written North Charter consequences permit Street at to approximately up to and limited 3:15 p.m. when including employment purposes. she noticed dismissal.” Currently, her former the university professor Dennis Chaptman is working walking in UW Spokesperson Waliaula’s the opposite case through direction with the personnel his jean zipper process, UW and button spokesperson open. When the two made eye contact, Dennis Chaptman said in Waliaula reportedly an email to The Badger adjusted his jeans to Herald. He added that expose his gentials, the Waliaula is on a paid administrative leave. complaint states. “The results of that Police found and arrested Waliaula shortly process could lead to a after the incident was variety of consequences, up to and including reported. When asked about the dismissal,” Chaptman said. According to the incident, Waliaula first Waliaula’s claimed to only notice complaint, his pants were unzipped conviction, being a Class after seeing the state of A misdemeanor, carries shock in the student’s either a maximum fine of expression, but later $10,000 or nine months in admitted to consciously prison. Waliaulia’s settlement exposing himself to her as well as the four previous conference is scheduled females. He said he had a for Sept. 7.
Tara Golshan
Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald
ALRC Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf said restaurants must abide by an ordinance requiring at least 50 percent food sales, which Logan’s did not meet in its audit.
Logan’s might lose liquor license After failing audit last July, local restaurant could have license taken away by city Camille Albert City Hall Editor Logan’s Madtown Restaurant and Bar could have its liquor license suspended or taken away after failing an audit that took place last July. Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf said Madison Police Department requested an audit of Logan’s several months ago because they believed the facility was not operating as a restaurant under the density ordinance or their license. He said the city attorney then decided to formally request the audit of Logan’s to the finance director of the Alcohol License Review Committee. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said MPD originally requested to audit both Chaser’s Bar and Grille and Logan’s, but they ultimately chose to withdraw its request to audit Chaser’s. Verveer said Logan’s is required to strictly
operate as a restaurant and not a bar. In order to determine if Logan’s passed or failed the audit, MPD looked at the restaurant’s revenue to see if its sales were comprised of more than 50 percent food in its establishment between May 2011 and May 2012. He said Logan’s sales were 67 percent alcohol, which caused them to fail the audit. “The City Attorney’s Office is considering any sort of action against their license, either suspension or revocation,” Woulf said. “It is likely there will be an action because of the significant amount of alcohol sold over the 50 percent mark.” The ALRC will further discuss the outcome of Logan’s license at its next meeting Sept. 19, Woulf said. Verveer said it is likely a representative from Logan’s will appear at the next meeting and try to defend the license
of the restaurant. He said they will make a case for which penalty, either suspension or revocation of their license, is more appropriate. According to Woulf, it’s common for establishments like Logan’s to sell more alcohol during certain months, but food sales increase in other months. Woulf said the only thing Logan’s can do while the city determines how to proceed with its liquor license is to continue to try to improve their food sales so they get closer to the 50 percent mark. Verveer added Logan’s could remain open as a restaurant even if their liquor license gets revoked. He said there was a similar case several years ago when the predecessor to Chaser’s was prosecuted for failing their audit. “The last time a downtown establishment was prosecuted for this same thing, the city suspended their license for several days,” Verveer said.
It is necessary for restaurants to sell 50 percent or more food because new bars are prohibited from opening in the downtown area, an ordinance that aims to keep the spirit of downtown intact, Woulf said. He added the intention of the density ordinance is to hold constant the number of bars located in the downtown area and to ensure restaurants function in ways they are intended. At the ALRC meeting last Wednesday, the committee discussed having a “walk-a-long” in September or October in which MPD would escort the ALRC committee through the downtown area, giving ALRC an idea of the level of crowding at certain establishments. Woulf also discussed tavern safety training scheduled for September that would help bar owners, managers and staff both learn new information and ask questions.
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Obama: Youth vote will be key factor in reelection President focuses on youth vote, says other side will try discouraging it Katie Caron News Editor With the presidential election approaching and campaigning on both sides gearing up, President Barack Obama took time last week to address the importance of the youth vote and encourage students to register. In a conference call with The Badger Herald and other student newspapers
around the country, Obama said regardless of which candidate they support, he wants to make sure as many students as possible are voting this year. “The key here is to make sure your voice is heard and hopefully that people get educated on the issues that are going to make a big difference,” he said. With that said, Obama said the choice this fall should be clear for students to re-elect him for a second term, as he has created a new college tax credit, doubled grant aid for millions of students and “fought and won to keep student loan rates low” with the help of the youth vote.
He said Romney’s “top-down” approach to economic policy and advice for college students to “borrow money from your parents” are not in the nation’s, or young person’s, best interest. “On all these issues, young people are ultimately the ones who are going to pay the price one way or another,” Obama said. In addition, he said “the other side” will be discouraging the youth vote through cynicism and attack ads but that he has been visiting college campuses because he sees the kind of change young people can bring about. University of Wisconsin
College Democrats Chair Chris Hoffman said he sees Obama as the clear choice for students because he is in support of more funding for Pell Grants and federal funding for higher education. He added he agrees with Obama’s point about Republicans discouraging the youth vote, citing recent attempts at voter ID and residency requirements in Wisconsin and the rest of the country, which he thinks are making voting more complicated. “Voter ID and residency requirements are making it more and more challenging for students to vote, … and the simple act of registering
Job reports show conflicting data Tension arises over criteria used in 2 Department of Workforce Development studies Polo Rocha State Legislative Editor Although both Wisconsin political parties seem to agree jobs are the most important issue in this campaign cycle, disagreement remains not just in policy ideas, but also in which measures should be trusted to count how many jobs have been created. Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development released two different employment reports August 16. The first, the monthly July jobs report, showed a loss of 6,500 jobs. The second was the quarterly jobs report showing a gain of 28,000 jobs from March 2011 to March 2012. In July, Wisconsin lost 6,500 jobs and the state’s unemployment rate increased to 7.3 percent from 7.0 percent, as the national unemployment rate increased to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent. Earlier during the day, DWD released another
jobs report, which showed positive job creation and is described as more accurate. The numbers were described throughout the report as “actual jobs data,” as it comes from a nearly universal sample of Wisconsin employers, unlike the monthly jobs data. When asked about the jobs reports, Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Nathan Conrad said Gov. Scott Walker has a positive record in Wisconsin job growth despite a weak national economy. “Gov. Walker and his allies in the state Legislature have worked tirelessly to bring jobs back to Wisconsin,” Conrad said. “The dismal economic outlook nationwide brought on by the failed economic policies of the Obama administration have made it hard for them to be able to help job creation grow.” The release of quarterly reports comes with some criticism; as the report notes,
the national Bureau of Labor Statistics has not yet verified the data released by DWD. The first time DWD decided to release these numbers was in May, a few weeks before Walker’s recall election. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca released a statement Aug. 16 expressing his disappointment with the job numbers and said Walker should call a special session to focus on job creation. “For the second time, Gov. Scott Walker and his DWD released quarterly jobs unverified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics immediately in advance of bad monthly job loss numbers for Wisconsin being released by the federal government,” Barca said in the statement. “Having DWD spend time and energy to cover up Republicans’ unsuccessful record on job creation is wrong.” Barca found that since December 2010, this same quarterly data shows that Wisconsin has lost 26,946
jobs. As DWD spokesperson Dennis Winters explained, the quarterly reports are not seasonally adjusted and must be measured in year-long spans to be accurate, which Barca did not do. Winters said the quarterly census is based on a census of about 96 percent of Wisconsin employers and is considered more accurate but also comes with a significant lag, whereas the monthly Current Employment Statistics are reported every month but are subject to large revisions later on. The CES is a sample of about 3.5 percent of Wisconsin employers. Winters said both usually showed the same data, but unlike other economic indicators, the monthly reports have lately been negative, which he said “stood out like a sore thumb.” Despite the time lag, this difference prompted DWD to release the quarterly numbers.
is becoming more difficult,” Hoffman said. “The process is becoming overcomplicated.” Hoffman said with this in mind, his organization is aiming to get students educated on voting procedures to make things go as smoothly as possible. “We’re focusing on getting students educated on how to vote so when Nov. 6 comes there will be no problems,” he said. Obama encouraged students to register to vote, regardless of their affiliation, and said students should go to gottaregister.com to find information on a state-tostate basis.
He said although the atmosphere may not be as cheerful as it was four years ago because of a tough economy and negative TV ads currently on the air, he did not say change would be easy. “All the progress that we’ve made in our history usually came about through some struggle and I hope that young people recognize that that struggle’s worthwhile now, because I’m very optimistic about the future,” he said. Representatives from the Republican Party of Wisconsin and UW’s College Republicans did not return calls for comment.
By the numbers DWD Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Survey
Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics Monthly Survey
28,100
7.0%
March 2011-March 2012 change in jobs (1.1% growth)
37,464 March 2011-March 2012 change in private sector jobs (1.7% growth)
-9,364 March 2011-March 2012 change in public sector jobs (-2.4% change)
-11,300 March 2011-March 2012 change in private sector jobs
June
WI unemployment rate
8.2%
U.S. unemployment rate
2,316,700 Total private sector jobs
406,700
Total government jobs
7.3%
July
WI unemployment rate
8.3%
U.S. unemployment rate
2,310,700 Total private sector jobs
406,200
Total Government Jobs
UHS promotes new campus violence prevention initiative Revamped online program titled “Tonight” caters to first-year students Tara Golshan Higher Education Editor University Health Services showed a prescreening of a revamped violence prevention program targeted at firstyear students in an effort to involve faculty and staff working with the freshman class. Spearheaded by the End Violence on Campus (EVOC) Coordinating Council and the Division of Student Life, the online program, ‘Tonight,’ is an interactive instructive video that aims to provide further understanding and prevention of dating violence and sexual assault.
According to UHS Violence Prevention Specialist Carmen Hotvedt, the program, which screened Aug. 22, replaced a three-year-old one in an effort to meet more of the students’ demands and feedback. “Students after three years really said we want it shorter, we want it more interactive and we want it to look more like campus,” Hotvedt said. “It was all about getting data that looked and felt like UW-Madison to make a program.” After these three years of feedback, the council took a semester to develop the program with focus groups, student polling and multiple forums to create the current 45-minute video series, Hotvedt said. According to the new program, the scenariooriented videos, which were filmed by Wisconsin Public Television, demonstrate the
types of relationships that occur on a college campus, demonstrating signs of dating violence through ‘red flag’ situations and providing possible bystander responses. The program, although not mandatory, is expected for all first-year students and will be promoted throughout welcome week, UHS Violence Prevention Specialist Shira Phelps said. “The program will be encouraged from many directions, like with an email from Lori Berquam,” Phelps said. According to Phelps, EVOC is also encouraging teachers to incorporate the program into certain class curricula. The program, which is also available to all non-first year students online, will be run through Learn@UW for first-year students. Its completion can be tracked for classroom usage, Phelps
said. However, several of the screening attendees, including a gender and women’s studies professor, questioned the representation of relationships shown in the videos. The program, which only presents situations with straight couples and depicts females as the victims, is not meant to minimize or discredit the experience of male or LGBT victims, but only to reinforce the ways sexual assault and dating violence are predominantly perpetrated on college campuses, Hotvedt said. “I think this program really does address the vast reality and epidemic of violence against women as larger perpetrated by men and the attitudes that are put in place by all of us that make that possible,” Hotvedt said. Hotvedt also said that
the lack of diversity in sexual orientation shown through the program was a conscious decision so as not to confuse the message targeted at first year students. After careful review of other university programs, such as Ohio State’s, which
follows a lesbian couple, the committee found the relationship depicted to be unrealistic and complicated. It also raised concerns that the depiction might reinforce homophobic beliefs rather than understanding and empathy, Hotvedt said.
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CHANCELLOR, from 1 student body and outside stakeholders like campus alumni, community members and donors are all involved. Giroux said the committee wants as much representation from across many academic disciplines as possible and added that gender and ethnicity will be kept in mind as well. Giroux said there is a lot of hard work that goes into selecting the committee. “We are picking the next CEO for the institution in a way that begins by engaging faculty, staff and students,” Giroux said. Giroux said members are expected to screen the applicants and engage in an active search process to seek out people they think will be potentially a very good leader for UW’s campus. Membership on the committee becomes a significant time
commitment because of the large number of applications that are received and reviewed carefully, Giroux said. The UW System is still waiting for the nominations for individuals to be on the committee, but Giroux said the committee will be named in mid- to lateSeptember and from there will begin the search and screen process. After applicants are screened by the committee, they will name a slate of finalists that will then have to be presented to and approved by the Board of Regents and UW System President Kevin Reilly, Giroux said. “One expectation I would have is, as usual, we are going to have a very public and very transparent process for selecting the UW-Madison leader,” Giroux said. Samuel Seering, shared governance chair for the Associated Students of Madison, said he would like to see the committee
look for a chancellor to set UW on a path to maintain its status as an elite public university. Seering said he wants to get the message out to UW students that they can apply to be on the committee. The two students appointed to the committee will have the same amount of voice as any member on the committee and while the position will be intensive. Seering added those invovled will benefit from a great opportunity to network and serve UW in a capacity that will affect the campus for years to come. Seering said students appointed to the committee should look for their interpretation of what they see as important qualities for the next chancellor. “Wisconsin has a great history of shared governance where students have an equal say in matters concerning the university,” Seering said.
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Regents approve renovation of campus dairy buildings UW moves forward with $75 million project to upgrade Babcock, build labs Molly McCall City Life Editor The University of Wisconsin is moving forward with a $75 million renovation project that will upgrade research and teaching facilities in Babcock Hall and build a new livestock and poultry products lab on campus. According to a UW statement, the Board of Regents approved the plan last week. The plan will provide half of the funds for the new livestock and poultry products lab as well as a remodeling and expansion of pilot plants in Babcock Hall. The initiative involves two separate projects — the Babcock Hall remodeling and expansion and the construction of a new livestock and poultry product research facility, News Manager of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Bob Mitchell said in an email to The Badger Herald. The Center for Dairy Research and the Department of Food Science are involved in the expansion and renovation of Babcock Hall, and the Department of Animal Sciences and the Food Research Institute are involved in the construction of the new meat and poultry research facility, Mitchell said. CDR Director and food science professor John Lucey said he believes the Babcock renovation has been needed for a while. “There has been no renovation of the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant since it opened in 1950,” Lucey said in an email. “The old dairy plant is basically obsolete and needs considerable upgrades to bring it to modern food processing standards.” Discussion of a renovation began in the 1980’s, Dean of the UW College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Kate VandenBosch said.
Andy Fate The Badger Herald
According to Center for Dairy Research Director John Lucey, Babcock Hall has never received a renovation since opening in 1950. The project must now be approved by the State Building Commission and be included in the 2013-15 state budget. According to the statement, Lucey added the new the new livestock addition to the and poultry dairy plant will products lab will have a range “The old dairy provide research of new pilot training plant areas plant is basically and facilities to help for products obsolete.” processors create including John Lucey new artisan meat yogurt, specialty CDR director products. cheese, protein The new lab fractionation will support a and an auditorium with a capacity of research program to develop new products for human and 100 students.
animal health as well as a pilot-processing plant where food researchers can test ideas for preventing contamination, the statement said. “A modern Babcock Hall Dairy Plant will ensure that Babcock ice cream, which has iconic status for Badgers, alumni and citizens of Madison, will continue to be made in the decades to come,” Lucey
said. With over 22 short courses held every year, the CDR helps both students and businesses, he said. “A world-class dairy research and education facility at Babcock hall should be a source of pride for all Wisconsinites who love their cheese and dairy heritage,” he added. Now the project must
be approved by the state building commission and included in the 2013-15 state budget. The funding will be split between the next two state biennial budgets, the UW statement said. If the project is passed in the state budget, renovation and construction will start in 2015 and be finished in 2017 or 2018, Lucey said.
PPP: Thompson holds slight lead in Senate race Meghan Zernick State Politics Editor With elections approaching and campaigning kicking into high gear, former Gov. Tommy Thompson is holding onto a slight majority in the U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin, according to the latest Public Policy Polling findings. Over the course of the past six weeks, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., has been losing ground in the poll, dropping four points from her 4545 tie with Thompson earlier in July. Meanwhile, Thompson seems to be gaining momentum,
increasing from 45 to 49 percent, according to the poll. Thompson defeated several other Republican candidates in the Aug. 14 primary, including Madison businessman Eric Hovde, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and former U.S. Representative Mark Neumann. According to the same PPP poll, 45 percent of the voters in Wisconsin want the Republican Party to control the Senate, while 44 percent prefer the Democrats have control. Thompson is also leading Baldwin by three points among the independent voters of Wisconsin. The results from the Rasmussen reports’ latest
telephone survey show Wisconsin. In turn, the party has Thompson winning 54 percent of likely voters and elected to spend $3.7 campaigning Baldwin with 43 percent. million The remaining 3 percent in Wisconsin in hopes are made up of those who of taking Wisconsin in the national would prefer elections. another candidate and “Tommy Donald Downs, those that are certainly has to University of Wisconsin undecided. be considered political science Thompson’s the favorite.” professor and victory in the adviser to The Republican primary, Donald Downs Badger Herald, and GOP UW Political Science said he thinks Professor Thompson’s lead presidential is no surprise. He candidate said if President Mitt Romney’s Barack Obama selection of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, had more influence in R-Janesville, as his running Wisconsin, Baldwin might mate, have given more have a stronger ability to national attention and sway the state. “Tommy certainly energy to the GOP in
has to be considered the favorite. His relative moderation will also help him with independents and moderate Dems. Tammy is a shrewd politician but also a Madison liberal, which doesn’t always appeal outside urban areas,” Downs said in an email to The Badger Herald. “She will be helped, though, by the anti-[Gov. Scott] Walker movement. Thompson will be helped, in turn, by the Paul Ryan enthusiasm.” However, UW political science professor Barry Burden said he does not believe Romney’s increased momentum in Wisconsin has any connection to Thompson’s increased success in the Senate race. He said Thompson’s
success can be attributed to notoriety among Wisconsinites. “At the moment the only issue connecting the two campaigns is discussion of both Thompson and Romney’s tax returns. Obamacare is also a possible link between the two races, as both Thompson and Romney are critical of the law but have endorsed elements of it in the past,” Burden said in an email to The Badger Herald. The PPP results also show no decrease in Walker’s favorability ratings. Fifty-one percent of voters approve of the job he has done as governor, while 46 percent do not approve.
Game Day Students and fans fill the stadium for the first Badger game of the season against Northern Iowa last Saturday. Wisconsin came out on top with a score of 26-21. Andy Fate The Badger Herald
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Madison ranked No. 1 city for young people Kiplinger study cites Badger games, lake life, employment among other areas Molly McCall City Life Editor As University of Wisconsin students return to campus and freshmen explore their new home, a recent Kiplinger study has ranked Madison as the number-one city for young adults. According to a City of Madison statement, the Kiplinger study cited the Dane County Farmer’s Market, Badger games at Camp Randall and boating and fishing in the area’s four major lakes as a few reasons why Madison topped the list. Kiplinger also noted Madison’s tech-savvy residents, start-up firms, brewpubs, a low unemployment rate and affordable housing, the statement said. Madison’s areas of entertainment, including new bars, restaurants and boutiques, make the city a special place for young adults, according to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8. “A lot of start-ups come out of the city,” Resnick said. “Students working on projects stay in Madison and have success.” The statement said Kiplinger based its decision on rated areas such as living costs, employment growth and education. Mayor Paul Soglin said he was satisfied with the results and said unlike other studies and surveys, Kiplinger sent an individual to Madison to look around the city. “We’ve developed a whole network that’s responsive to young people, including cultural facilities and programming,” Soglin said. He added that Madison is a convenient spot for young people to be far away yet close enough to home. A number of years ago, the city made a commitment to make Madison a safe and healthy place for raising families and to work and play, Soglin said. “Every time we make a decision, we keep that in mind,” he added. With contradictory results from Forbes Magazine’s Best Places for Business and Careers that ranked Madison 89th, Resnick said he will
MIFFLIN, from 1 make ends meet. I don’t think that’s an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.” Wray added the 2012 party took a $65,000 jump in costs compared to 2011’s event, costing the city and taxpayers approximately $195,000. Soglin declined to speculate how city officials would respond should
Jen Small The Badger Herald
The Kiplinger study found a multitude of reasons to place Madison atop its list for young adults. Beyond just entertainment factors, Madison’s cultivation of start-ups, tech-savvy population and education hoisted the city to No. 1. make an effort to see what is working and what needs work in the city. Recently, Madison’s Department of Planning and Community and Economic
Development announced several strategies aimed to make its development review process run smoother. This process is more
transparent and will have a gradual impact, Resnick said. Developers are happy and have expressed interest in the new process, according
to Soglin. According to the statement, Kiplinger’s recent series on “Best Cities for Every Life Stage” also highlighted communities for
Mid-Career Professionals, Families and Retirees. The runner-up for Young Adults went to Austin, Texas, according to the city’s statement.
students congregate on Mifflin Street the first Saturday in May despite plans to cancel the party, but Wray said MPD would continue to work to provide a safe event no matter what. “Whatever happens on Mifflin Street, we will do anything and everything we can to ensure it’s safe,” Wray said. Wray suggested
fundamentally altering the block party much like Halloween festivities were transformed into Freakfest several years ago. Like Soglin, Wray said discourse between the main stakeholders invested in the event — including downtown vendors, community residents, city officials and students — would take place before a final decision on the block
party is made. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, suggested the party be moved to an alternate location and undergo significant structural changes in order to keep the tradition alive. “I remain supportive of the desire to move the event elsewhere and provide it greater structure, because the reality is that the event just
cannot be made safe in its current historic location, and in fact costs the taxpayers a lot of money in our efforts to keep it safe,” Verveer said. Verveer named city parks or an area on campus as potential venues should the block party take place in 2013. Wray expressed his support for a location change to a less residential area,
citing space problems and subsequent safety issues as major difficulties with the block party’s current location. “It’s not a location that is conducive to having tens of thousands of people crammed into a street,” Wray said. “We should look for a location where we can improve access, and where we can improve crowd control.”
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Judge issues injunction on dog use in wolf hunt Temporary measure creates snafu as deadline for hunter application nears Sean Kirkby Senior reporter A Dane County judge has issued a temporary injunction on the use of dogs to hunt wolves in Wisconsin, throwing into question whether hunters will be able to participate in the upcoming wolf hunting season. Judge Peter Anderson issued the injunction Friday afternoon, according to a Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources statement. However, the statement said Anderson made it clear in his decision the wolf hunt will proceed. DNR spokesperson Bill Cosh said in the statement the DNR will extend the application deadline for wolf hunt applications until Sep. 7, adding the injunction is only temporary and on the use of dogs. He said the DNR is consulting with its attorneys on how to move forward. However, in a statement released Aug. 29, DNR officials said if the judge grants an injunction, it could prevent the issuing of more licenses until additional restrictions for the use of dogs are adopted. “Given the time it would
take to initiate a rule making process, such an action would prevent the 2012-13 wolf hunting and trapping season,” DNR officials said in the statement. Jodi Habush Sinykin, attorney for the Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, National WolfWatcher Coalition and other groups bringing the suit, said based on the recommendations of experts, they are asking for adequate training and a series of safeguards to prevent physical confrontation between hunting dogs and wolves. Sinykin said experts are recommending changes to the rules which would require hunters to put dogs on a leash, allow only certain
breeds to pursue wolves and the DNR put in place specific rules pertaining to the training of dogs. She added the lawsuit is to ensure that dogs are only used to track, not hunt, wolves. “That’s how dogs are supposed to be used: to track and not kill,” Sinykin said. In a statement, Patricia McConnell, expert in canine training and behavior who has filed an affidavit in support of the groups bringing the charge, said the proposed regulations will prevent dogs from suffering severe injuries or death in a wolf confrontation. She added without these regulations the wolf hunt would be “little more than state-sponsored dog fighting.”
Bob Welch, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition, said the lawsuit is “frivolous and borders on ridiculous.” Wirch also said much of the testimony provided by experts is not true and show they have never run dogs in any sort of hunt. “[The claim that if] dogs chase wolves there’ll be fights — that’s just not true,” Welch said. Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said in a statement he was disappointed with the ruling and cruelty to animal rules does not apply to legal hunting activities. He added hunting with dogs has been part of the hunting traditions of Wisconsin for a long time.
Sing it, brother An alpaca at Henry Vilas Zoo tilts its head back to let out a wail of sorts last weekend. The zoo recently welcomed a new baby alpaca named Phantom of Birchwood. Andy Fate The Badger Herald
According to Wisconsin annual wolf damage payment summaries, the DNR has paid $214,794.16 in wolf damage payments to Wisconsinites this year, more than the total annual payments for any other year since the program started in 1985. The DNR also received an estimated 13,215 permit applications as of Aug. 21, according to a DNR statement. The DNR will issue about 1,100 public harvest permits. The hunt would run from the middle of October to the end of February.
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The Badger Herald | News | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
City voters hope for national gun control dialogue Carla K. Johnson, Michael Rubinkam and Patrick Walters Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In a tough Philadelphia neighborhood where an offduty police officer was shot to death last month, a mother is afraid to walk to the corner store with her two children. In a Chicago area where 23 people have been killed by gunfire so far this year, kids don’t want to go outside. In Harlem, a 26-year-old man worries his family will get hit by crossfire. Residents of inner-city neighborhoods plagued by gun violence say they feel
neglected and ignored even in a presidential election year marked by highly publicized shootings at a Colorado movie theater, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and outside the Empire State Building — a year in which Republicans have launched a full-throated defense of gun ownership while Democrats have largely kept quiet about an issue they used to put front and center. “People are being gunned down. Nobody’s talking about it. But both parties want our votes,” said the Rev. Ira Acree of Greater St. John Bible Church in Chicago. Acree lives in the city’s Austin neighborhood, where 7-year-old Heaven Sutton
was killed by a stray bullet as she was selling snow cones. Gunfire frequently pierces the neighborhood. Nearly two dozen people have died this year, and children in his congregation are afraid to walk outside. Citywide, homicides are up sharply from 2011, though still way down from their historic highs in the early 1990s. “It’s a state of emergency here in Chicago,” Acree said. “We want all hands on deck. That includes the president.” But within the national Democratic Party — the traditional home of urban voters like Acree — the voices calling for gun control are silent again this year. Jobs and the economy
have muted discussion of other issues, while public opinion has swung sharply against restrictions on gun ownership. Even some urban voters are openly hostile to gun control, viewing it as unilateral disarmament, and a steep long-term decline in violent crime has removed some of the impetus for action. President Barack Obama did touch briefly on the gun issue a few days after a man opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 and wounding 58. In a speech to the National Urban League, Obama declared that assault-style weapons like the AK-47
“belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities,” and “we should leave no stone unturned” in the effort to keep young people safe. But his spokesman later said that while Obama wants Congress to reinstitute a federal ban on military-style assault weapons that lapsed in 2004, the president is not pushing for it. And the Democratic Party, which holds its national convention starting Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., is not saying whether it will strengthen its stance on gun controls. Republicans, meanwhile, strengthened the gunrights section of their party platform as they met in
Tampa, Fla., this week to nominate Mitt Romney for president, endorsing socalled “stand-your-ground” laws and unlimited bullet capacities in guns. Since the July 20 theater massacre, there have been at least four more high-profile spasms of gun violence in public places: the rampage at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb, the deadly shooting outside the Empire State Building, a shooting inside a cafeteria on the first day of school near Baltimore, and one at a New Jersey supermarket on Friday that left three people dead, including the gunman — who authorities said used a rifle similar to an AK-47.
Obama, Romney clash over higher education issues Alan Fram Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama would make tax credits for college expenses permanent and expand Pell grants for students from lower-earning families. The Republican team of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would emphasize the need to curb rising tuitions and federal education spending that are burdening families and the government. The different approaches to coping with growing college costs highlight one way that Obama and the GOP ticket are competing for young voters. This important group leaned heavily toward Obama in 2008 and still prefers him, according to polls, though less decisively. Tuitions and fees for fouryear public colleges grew by 72 percent above inflation over the past decade, averaging $8,244 last year, according to the College Board, which represents
more than 6,000 schools. Student loan debt in the U.S. has hit $914 billion; the average borrower owes more than $24,000, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says. Democrats are sure to reach for the college vote at the party’s national convention in Charlotte, N.C., a week after Obama spoke to students in university towns in Virginia, Colorado and Iowa. Romney was counting on his youngest son, Craig, and the 42-yearold Ryan to court young supporters. In 2008, voters age 18 to 24 sided with Obama over GOP candidate John McCain by a 66-32 margin. A Gallup poll taken in July and August found that same age group preferring Obama over Romney by 56 percent to 36 percent, an edge that Republicans would love to erode further. Well before the party conventions, both sides had issued proposals directly affecting college students — and their parents — coping
with those mushrooming costs. Obama would let the current $5,550 per year maximum Pell grant increase to $5,635 next year, as scheduled under current law. That figure has grown by more than $900 since 2008 for a program that is the largest source of federal aid for students, serving more than 9 million of them. Obama would make permanent the American Opportunity tax credit, created as part of his 2009 economic stimulus program. The credit provides up to $2,500 a year per student for college costs but is due to expire Jan. 1. Renewing it would cost an estimated $13 billion next year alone. Obama has also proposed tying some federal aid, including Perkins loans and subsidies for students’ work-study jobs, to schools’ abilities to curb tuition increases. The president’s proposals continue “the administration’s commitment to keep college affordable for students and
BALL, from 1 According to the original report, five men attacked Ball at approximately 2:15 a.m. Aug. 1 on the 500 block of University Avenue. Ball was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly. He sustained a concussion and facial injuries in the attack. Over the course of the investigation, however, the MPD uncovered details of a precipitating fight that occurred at a downtown house party in the late hours of July 27. The report said UW students, UW football team members and others not associated with the athletic department were involved in the altercation. Ball was present at the party, but police do not believe he participated in the fight, the report said.
their families,” his 2013 budget blueprint said. Separate plans by presidential nominee Romney and his running mate focus more on containing federal costs. In a May paper, Romney argued that even as federal spending for higher education has grown, the costs of attending college and student debt have ballooned. Obama initiatives making the government the direct source of federal student loans, creating the American Opportunity tax credit and boosting Pell grants have not worked, it said. “Flooding colleges with federal dollars only serves to drive tuition higher,” said Romney’s education paper, “A Chance for Every Child.” It said Romney would improve college access and affordability: “A Romney administration will tackle this challenge by making clear that the federal government will no longer write a blank check to universities to reward their
tuition increases.” Romney would eliminate duplicative federal college financial aid programs, direct Pell grants to “students that need them most” and put the program on a sustainable long-term path, the document said. It provides few details. He would put private lenders back in the business of issuing federally backed student loans, let companies compile data about lending and colleges for consumers and help families save for higher education. The paper says little about how. Campaigning in March, Romney was asked by a voter what he would do to make college more affordable. Romney replied that while it might be popular for him to answer that he would provide students with government money, “what I’m going to tell you is shop around.” Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, wrote a Houseapproved 2013 budget that
One person suffered to suggest that Montee injuries and was treated at Ball was involved in that violent and precipitating a hospital. MPD spokesperson event,” DeSpain said. No charges have been Joel DeSpain said police believe the two incidents filed relating to the July 27 fight, the are related report said. but did not specifiy “We have According DeSpain, whether no credible to police are still the three information to reviewing arrested suspects suggest that that incident, the attended Montee Ball while Aug. 1 attack the party. was involved in also remains “There is that violent and an open a likelihood that precipitating investigation. If found there is a event.” responsible, correlation the three between Joel DeSpain suspects the two MPD Spokesperson could receive events, but sanctions at this time “ranging from we’re not at a meeting a position with the to say which people we believe [dean of students] or a were at that party other letter in their file up to a than to say that we have suspension or expulsion,” no credible information according to a statement
would let the American Opportunity tax credit expire in January. It would freeze the maximum Pell grant at $5,500 for the next decade and it suggests rolling back some subsidies for student borrowers and recent provisions making the grants more widely available. Ryan’s budget says the Pell grant program, currently costing about $36 billion a year, is unsustainable. “Urgent reforms are necessary to enable the program to continue as the foundation of the nation’s commitment to helping lowincome students gain access to higher education,” budget documents say. Obama also proposed keeping interest rates at 3.4 percent for subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduates. After initial Republican hesitation, Romney endorsed the idea and Congress eventually approved it. Ryan’s budget would have let the rates double to 6.8 percent, as was scheduled under previous law.
from UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam. “We are unable to discuss the discipline process, as it relates to specific students under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,” Berquam said. Ball, a senior, ran for 1,923 yards and tied an NCAA record with 39 touchdowns last season. He finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy and is considered by many to be a candidate for the award in 2012. During the football team’s media day Aug. 12, Ball said he was on his way home the night of the attack after going out with friends before the start of the football team’s summer camp. “I’m looking at it now as I’m just blessed, very blessed, because obviously it could have been a lot worse,” Ball said.
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Isaac travels north of Gulf Tropical storm heads away from coast, leaves thousands displaced and uncertain Stacey Plaisance and Vicki Smith Associated Press BELLE CHASSE, La. (AP) — As Isaac’s drenching rains and cooling winds drifted north of the Gulf Coast, heat and humidity moved back in — along with frustration, exhaustion and uncertainty. People stuck inside stuffy, powerless homes were comparatively lucky. Thousands of others were displaced by floodwaters and had no idea where they would end up next. Some boarded buses to faraway shelters. “I’m with my family, and my wife’s with her family,” said 35-year-old construction worker Jarvis Mackey as the couple and their two children boarded a bus to Shreveport, 5.5 hours away from their Port Sulphur home, which lay underwater. “All we can do is pray — pray we come back home to something,” Mackey said. LaPlace resident Roshonda Girrad was staying in a state-run shelter in Alexandria, 200 miles from her home. She was waiting for the chest-deep waters in her neighborhood to recede. The massive, beige, windowless shelter next to Louisiana State University’s Alexandria campus is currently home to almost 1,600 evacuees who either drove themselves or were bused in from various parishes inundated by rain from Isaac and the rising water from Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. “The showers are horrible. The food is horrible,” Girrad said. “I’m not from around here. I don’t know what’s going on. We’re in the dark.” As the Labor Day holiday weekend got under way, so did what was certain to be a long, slow recovery for Louisiana. Motorists ventured out as power came back on and businesses reopened, clogging intersections with no traffic lights and forming long lines at gas stations. The Mississippi River opened to limited traffic, and in New Orleans, the normally lively French
Quarter awoke from its nearly weeklong slumber. Isaac dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in some spots, and about 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles. Thousands remained in shelters late Friday. At least seven people were killed in the storm in Mississippi and Louisiana. Isaac remained a powerful storm system carrying rain and the threat of flash flooding as it lumbered across Arkansas into Missouri and then up the Ohio River valley over the weekend, the National Weather Service said. The storm knocked out power to thousands of people in Arkansas, and Ohio hotel operators said their holiday weekend business was already taking a hit as families canceled planned outings to theme parks. Meanwhile, newly nominated Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited floodravaged communities, and President Barack Obama said he would arrive Monday — appearances this part of the country is all too familiar with after Hurricane Katrina in 2007 and the 2010 Gulf oil spill. In Lafitte, a fishing village south of New Orleans, Romney saw waterlogged homes, roads covered with brown water and debris-strewn neighborhoods. The GOPfriendly community is outside of the federal levee system that spared New Orleans and it lies on an exposed stretch of land near the Gulf. Romney met along a highway with fellow Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and they spoke about challenges facing the stricken area, which relies on fishing for its livelihood. “I’m here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what’s going on here,” Romney said. “So that people around the country know that people down here need help.” U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., had a message for Romney as she shared a podium in Belle Chasse with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig
Associated Press
As Isaac heads through the gulf, a man wades out into flooded waters of Bayou Coden in Alabama to check on his boats Aug. 29. Top sustained winds of the tropical storm reached 70 mph. Fugate: The $2 billion a a reservoir, easing the year the U.S. Army Corps pressure behind an Isaacof Engineers has for the stressed dam in Mississippi nation’s flood protection on the Louisiana border. and coastal restoration The threat for the earthen efforts is insufficient. “We dam on Lake Tangipahoa prompted could absorb evacuations $1 billion — in small at least 50 “This is where our towns and percent of home is, where we rural areas. that — alone,” she said. have our roots, our Crews “I realize family. ... We know intentionally breached a he’s all about the consequences levee that cutting this federal of living where we was strained Isaac’s government,” live. That’s why we by floodwaters Landrieu said have homeowners’ in southeast of Romney, insurance, flood Louisiana’s “but this is one agency insurance, wind Plaquemines which that cannot insurance. It’s Parish, is outside — absolutely federal cannot — expensive ... but it’s the take any what we do now.” levee system. Parish additional President cuts.” Reginald Fountain Billy The Gulf Coast needs Resident of Diamond, Louisiana Nungesser said the work a state-ofwas slowthe-art, going. Workers were only able comprehensive flood protection system, she to reach one spot, he said, said, calling it “just and 10 to 12 cuts were inconceivable” that planned. The levee is cut as hundreds if not thousands the tide goes out, he said, of people still see water then patched while the tide up to their rooftops. To comes back. The storm cut power the east, officials pumped and released water from to 901,000 homes and
GOP: Romney needed to save U.S. At convention, Republican party makes case against Obama, stress unemployment Donna Cassata Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Listening to Republicans, a vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is imperative to save the nation. “The republic of Washington and Jefferson is now in danger of becoming the democracy of debt and despair,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told delegates at the GOP convention delegates this past week. “Our great nation is coming apart at the seams.” He was one of many Republican speakers who tried to tap into the public’s unease about the country’s future. In just days, Democrats will present a starkly different vision at their three-day convention in Charlotte, N.C., sketching out a portrait of a nation on the rebound after the worst financial crisis since the Depression. They will try to play a consistent theme in America’s history — optimism. As Republicans convened in Tampa, President Barack Obama gave a preview of his pitch, telling a crowd in Charlottesville, Va., “We knew that solving our biggest challenges would take more than one year, or one term, or one president. We know we’ve still got a lot of work to do, but we are determined to get it done. We are determined to finish the job.” The November election
offers the political parties’ sharply different visions of the state of America, as well as of the government’s role and reach. Republicans envision a smaller government, with fewer social safety net programs, increased defense spending, less regulations and additional tax cuts. Democrats see a government able to lift those who need help and a nation where the wealthier pay more of their share. In the 10 weeks to the vote, the campaigns will present their competing views of the United States, a country plunged into the darkness of joblessness and debt versus one emerging into the light of recovery. Which vision stays with the electorate on Nov. 6 will determine whether Obama wins a second term or Romney captures the presidency. “To the majority of Americans who now believe that the future will not be better than the past, I can guarantee you this: If Barack Obama is re-elected, you will be right,” Romney told the convention. Obama, in his Virginia speech last week, pleaded for more time. “We’ve got more jobs to create and more good schools to build,” he said. “We’ve got more homegrown energy to generate. We’ve got more troops to bring home. We’ve got more young people to send to college. We’ve got more doors of opportunity to open to
everybody who is willing to work hard and walk through them. And it all depends on you.” Polling suggests the public sees little reason for optimism. Associated Press-GfK polls have found the share of the public who think the nation is headed in the right direction has been below 40 percent for more than a year, and has been below half for Obama’s entire presidency. AP polling has not found a majority saying the nation is moving in the right direction since 2003. Republicans determined to oust Obama made it personal and dramatic during three days of speeches at their convention, assailing the Democrat’s leadership as a failure while using apocalyptic terms to describe a nation teetering on the financial precipice. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and onetime presidential candidate, said the clock is ticking. “Our great republic is almost out of time,” he said. The GOP pointed to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, tens of millions out of work, a sluggish economic recovery and a growing debt as the nation spends more than it has. This image of doom and gloom, bolstered by financial numbers, is the GOP’s best-case argument that change is necessary in November. “America is suffering
through an economic calamity of truly historic dimensions,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said voters should be able to tell their children and grandchildren that “we helped elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to save America.” The images were bold at the Republican convention of the present and future. Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, described college graduates, jobless and forced to return home, staring at the faded Obama posters in their bedrooms. “None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a governmentplanned life, a country where everything is free but us,” said the Wisconsin congressman. Starting Tuesday in Charlotte, Democrats will argue that Obama inherited a financial crisis that was the product of eight years of Republican George W. Bush. Count on Obama’s party faithful to emphasize the following: The housing market has shown signs of life after a deep downturn, retail spending had its best performance since March and the Dow Jones industrial average stands above 13,000, good news for those checking their quarterly statements on their retirement accounts.
businesses in Louisiana alone, or about 47 percent of the state, but that was down to fewer than 620,000 by late Friday. More than 15,000 utility workers began restoring power to customers there and in Mississippi, but officials said it would be days before power was fully restored. Farmer Matt Ranatza fled with his disabled wife from Jesuit Bend to Metairie, about 25 miles away, before the storm hit. He didn’t get any water in his house but has no power. Now he fears the electricity won’t be restored for at least a month — the same length of time he was displaced after Hurricane Gustav in 2008. “It’s priorities. It’s triage, you know?” he said. “I mean, the city’s got to get theirs first and then … it trickles down to us.” While Ranatza could travel back and forth to check on his more than 200-acre citrus and vegetable farm, others like Lisa Encalade found water blocking the way to their homes. The 42-year-old stayat-home mom was headed to Shreveport, nearly 380
miles north of her home in Pointe a La Hache, with her five sons ranging in age from 8 to 21 years old. She has no idea when she’ll return. “I’m just going to put my hand in the hand of the man up above and take it from there, have my faith in God because it’s all I can do,” she said. Sixty-year-old June DeMolle was displaced from her home in Pointe a La Hache for three years after Katrina. “They’re telling us it’s going to be less time. They’re going to get us back home as fast as they can,” she said, sounding skeptical. But others like Diamond resident Reginald Fountain, 45, said the risk of such storms comes with the territory in south Louisiana. “This is where our home is, where we have our roots, our family,” Fountain said as he also boarded a bus to Shreveport with his mother, brother, a niece and a nephew. “We know the consequences of living where we live. That’s why we have homeowners’ insurance, flood insurance, wind insurance. It’s expensive … but it’s what we do now.”
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The Badger Herald | News | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
the badger herald
hanging out with garden gnomes since 1969
Editorial Page Editor Reginald Young oped@badgerherald.com
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The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Opinion
Herald will be informative, thought-provoking Ryan Rainey Editor-in-Chief The Badger Herald’s office is a sight to behold this time of year. In the last several months, we have removed doors that refuse to shut, picked a broken desk apart by the legs and, as I write this, we continue to endure the August heat in an office that refuses to cool down despite our frequent use of air conditioning. When last summer’s small earthquake struck the east coast, I instinctively ran out of the building in fear that even
trace seismic activity would bring down the flimsy, century-old brick building we share with Silvermine Subs and Madhatter Bar. But despite the heat and peeling paint, this is my home, and there is nowhere else in the world I would rather spend my final year of college. At the Herald, we realize the most important service we provide isn’t to our resumes, but instead to the students and community members that make the University of Wisconsin so special. Perhaps that’s why we’ve spent our entire
college lives staying up until the early-morning hours to pour blood (rarely), sweat (too often) and tears (occasionally) into the largest fully independent daily student paper in the United States. Like any other journalism student, folks often ask me how I can stay optimistic about a business like the Herald with so much bad news about college journalism in the headlines. The answer is simple: There has never been a more exciting time to be a student journalist. Nor has there ever been
Section to explore issues that impact student body Reginald Young and Charles Godfrey Opinion Page Editors It’s easy to conceptualize the opinion section as just a place for others’ opinions, a place where students express points of view that you would survive just fine without reading. I mean, why not just read the news section and be done with the paper? The answer is twofold. First, a news item will give you the facts of a story and maybe a few quotes from key individuals. But an opinion can reach beyond those facts and tell you why it matters. Sure, you can read about how the University of Wisconsin is taking Adidas to court, but why is that
significant? Why might it be either a good or bad thing? The opinion section explores where events fit in the larger framework of, for example, the concurrent political atmosphere. Put plainly, the opinion section explores why the things that happen all around us matter. Second, reading the opinion section will help you develop one of the most important skills you will acquire as an undergrad — critical thinking. By reading someone else’s argument, you are able to follow someone else’s train of thought, someone else’s way of thinking. Too often we become limited by our own cognitive modus operate and forget how to think in new ways. By reading how others
reason, you expand your own critical thinking skills by assimilating someone else’s. Perhaps you will question an assumption your beliefs rest on, or perhaps you will learn to play devil’s advocate in order to strengthen your own position. Either way, you will hone your critical thinking skills by reading others’ opinions. So welcome to the opinion section! With the presidential election and Wisconsin being considered a swing state, this semester will prove to be interesting, to say the least. We encourage all of you to write for us, and if you’re interested, email oped@badgerherald. com for more details. Here’s to another great semester.
Public editor set to bring critical, experienced eye
Jason Smathers Public Editor I have had my share of emails start off with the same refrain: Your paper is horrible. The reasons abound: You’re full of liars. You lack morals. You’re racist. Sexist. Xenophobic. When I worked at The Badger Herald, especially as Editorin-Chief, I got these emails and phone calls on a daily basis. You can always write letters to the editor, but for some, that’s not enough. A published tirade can be dismissed as quickly by editors as an Anti-Shout Out. It’s not that the employees don’t care about what the public thinks. Quite the opposite: Herald employees are fiercely defensive of their paper. It’s just that sometimes the quote on their sweatshirts are taken a little far — the Herald can be, at its worst moments, “dangerously close to cult status.” But the editors this year understand the need to step outside of the offices once in a while and get a better look at themselves. This year, I’m helping them — and you — do
just that. This year, I’m serving as the paper’s public editor. I intend to review the paper on a daily basis for the fundamentals of good journalism: well-sourced stories, ethical treatment of sensitive issues, appropriate coverage of campus minority groups (in every sense of the word) and wellreasoned choices when putting together the paper.
“I intend to review the paper on a daily basis for the fundamentals of good journalism: well-sourced stories, ethical treatment of sensitive issues, appropriate coverage of campus minority groups and wellreasoned choices when putting together the paper.” A bit of disclosure off the bat — I had a rough time with this during my tenure. While I was happy with the strength of our journalism and work of my colleagues, we had controversy. Allowing an advertisement on our website that advocated denial of the Holocaust was only the most high-profile of my blunders. There are a range of other smaller
issues that occurred during my time that I’ll bring to bear on some of the situations that may arise, but just for disclosure’s sake, know this: I wasn’t pristine and wouldn’t claim to be. As such, I don’t intend to pull punches with you or editors in this column. Writers and editors will be given a chance to defend their decisions, but I will be giving my opinions as well. I don’t want to see this as rendering judgment on the paper, but suggesting redirection when they’ve made a mistake and giving a thumbs up when they’ve done something worthy of praise. Anyone and everyone who reads the paper should feel free to contact me when they have issues with the paper. Those concerns will be voiced in a weekly column along with my observations. And don’t hesitate to point out any area of the paper that seems “off” to you. Even misunderstandings of how the paper addressed a topic or operates on a daily basis can be a helpful exercise for the public. Jason Smathers (smathers@outlook. com) is a reporter covering the state Capitol for WisPolitics.com. He was editor-in-chief of The Badger Herald from 2009-2010.
a more exciting time to be a reader of student newspapers. This might be the last point in our lives in which we have the privilege of either working for or reading a traditional newspaper without paying obscene sums for the novelty. And luckily for students who read this paper, the Herald covers daily university, local and state news in print and online for free — something your average local newspaper cannot claim. If you would like to become part of the Herald family, please stop by our
office for one of our open houses. We’ll have our doors open to prospective writers, reporters and multimedia gurus on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. Don’t let my description of our office at 326 W. Gorham St. frighten you; no one leaves the Herald without being impressed by its character and uniqueness. Students not enrolled in UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication should still feel encouraged to pick up a notebook to start writing, too. If you can’t attend our
meetings or you have a comment or concern about our newspaper, still feel free to stop by the office or send me an email at rrainey@ badgerherald.com. As the Herald’s office cools down by September, starts to freeze by December, warms up by March and finally returns to its sweat-inducing state by May, the Herald family will continue to put out some of the most informative and thought-provoking content you’ll find in a student publication. We hope you enjoy experiencing the year with us.
Herald Editorial Wisconsin has failed UW Perhaps it is finally time to say what has been on the minds of those in the University of Wisconsin community for several years. The state of Wisconsin has failed its flagship university. Decades of constant fiscal belt-tightening have only led to the same refrain from our leaders on the other end of State Street: Keep trying. The university, now at its most efficient and wastefree status in years and facing some of the largest state budget cuts it has ever seen, continues to face the misguided and dangerous suggestion that it is not efficient nor important enough to warrant a better standing in the state’s budget. Take it from Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, who said this month in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he hopes the state can continue a commitment to its most important public investment but fears “that there is still a great deal of waste.” Or take it from the office of Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities. Nass’s myopic proposal that the university should take the cuts without raising tuition has been rendered even more ludicrous by his spokesperson’s suggestion that the UW System faces financial penalties if it does not follow the state’s instructions. Through all of the
mixed messages from the university about the budget and the varying messages from the Capitol about the future of the university, this board can only discern one clear consensus: Students are screwed. Often used as a rhetorical buffer to politically legitimize the proposals of Republicans and Democrats, students have been asked to work more summer hours, brace for higher tuition and be more fiscally conservative with their own money. We are willing to work, and we are prepared for higher tuition. But we have reached a point where there are no more hours left to work in the summer, no more opportunities to be more frugal and, most importantly, no more opportunities to be patient with a state government that has dilly-dallied its way around maintaining the quality of this university. If the anti-UW rhetoric continues and Republicans like Nass continue to make the decisions, cherished departments seen as wasteful or inefficient might cease to exist. Students who came to UW with the promise of an unparalleled variety of academic disciplines could see majors disappear from their viewbooks. And, of course, tuition will inevitably rise, regardless of Nass’s efforts to put a cap on hikes. Multiple parties are to blame for this scenario.
The administrations of former governors Tommy Thompson and Jim Doyle both failed to anticipate such a difficult situation for the university, and when the university’s administration alerted them to problems, proposals like the New Badger Partnership fizzled into failures catalyzed by political posturing and fears of a third rail. The Board of Regents continues to avoid endorsing any form of bold or risk-taking leadership, and our current governor’s idea of bold leadership is to “give UW the tools to run like a business,” as he stated last year in a tweet. No consensus. No compromise. No new ideas. No solutions for students. That sounds like failure to us. The UW we love — the seemingly infinite selection of academic disciplines, the accessible yet distinguished faculty and the overwhelmingly middle-class composition of our student body — is slipping through the hands of state and institutional leaders who either foster a genuine disdain for the institution that holds our state’s economy together or simply cannot come to an agreement over what should be done to save our elite status. The class of 2013 can be proud of its degrees, but will the class of 2016 be afforded the same opportunities for success? The outlook has never appeared so grim.
Wanted: effective chancellor It may be difficult to find a group of twenty-somethings with a more intense interest in who will be the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin than The Badger Herald Editorial Board. Maybe the Associated Students of Madison, but we don’t count them. This year the University of Wisconsin will form a search and screen committee to begin its search for the next leader and figurehead of the university. The ideal template for a chancellor is someone who acts as an effective representative and advocates for all the different (and sometimes opposing) constituencies that comprise UW. Easier said than done,
to be sure, but in the unique political, social and economic situation UW finds itself in going into 2013, it is important that the next UW chancellor understand and leverage the value of public higher education in a greater social context, which means a respect for the individual student as well as the capacity to convey that to legislators. We are not looking for Biddy 2.0. We are certainly not looking for a sequel to Ward’s aloof, albeit intelligent, leadership. We don’t expect perfection: There are too many different facets of the make-up of UW — students, faculty, staff, donors, legislators, parents — to find
someone who can effectively and enthusiastically make them all agree, let alone happy. So the key to making and keeping UW a viable academic and economic powerhouse is to make sure there is someone in Bascom Hall who values the UW student enough to convince legislators the university is an investment worth making. The key word here is “convince.” Of course, everyone who will come through the committee’s vetting process will be a selfproclaimed champion of higher education, but we need a leader with a history of being an effective bridge between the student voice and policy-makers.
Adelaide Blanchard
Ryan Rainey
Taylor Nye
Editorial Board Chair
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Reginald Young
Charles Godfrey
Editorial Page Editor
Editorial Page Content Editor
Meher Ahmad
Pamela Selman
Sarah Witman
Editorial Board Member
Editor-at-Large
Editorial Board Member
Editorial Board opinions are crafted independently of news coverage.
Your Opinion · Send your letters to the editor and guest columns to oped@badgerherald.com. Publication is based on space and takes into account relevance and quality. Letters should be sent exclusively to the Herald. Unsigned letters will not be published. All submissions may be edited by the Herald for length and style. Reader feedback on all articles and columns can be posted at badgerherald.com, where all print content is archived.
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The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
Herald Editorial Erwin’s hard-line approach overkill The current ragtag group of protesters at the Capitol now has the good fortune of dealing with new Capitol Police Chief David Erwin, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He brings with him a promise to more strictly enforce rules regarding demonstrating. While the protesters may be a slight disruption on the pristine lawns of the Capitol, Erwin’s harsh approach is not the solution. Whether or not you agree with them, the protesters at the Capitol early last year had legitimate, justifiable grounds in exercising their right to assemble. But with time and the passing of the gubernatorial recall election, the pertinence of protesting as a means to immediately affect politics has waned while idiocy has increased. This has happened in a manner similar to Occupy Wall Street turning from a valid assembly to a motley group of the homeless and anarchists.
Despite this reality, a rotation of the same disruptive figures has remained. While these few hangers-on do have a right to assemble, they give the Capitol an image of insecurity because the police have to continually tend to them. They fail to appreciate that continuing to protest a moot point is an insult to the legitimacy and significance of the constitutionally established proceedings in our Capitol. Just because a citizen may not agree with what bills are passed, that does not delegitimize the political system in our state. Put bluntly, the First Amendment does not exist so you can be a prick. Yes, the ragtag protesters are mildly irritating. And yes, the anti-Walker effort would seem more respectable without them. But this does not warrant a hardline approach like that of Chief Erwin. Chief Erwin will hand cases involving civil tickets to the
Department of Justice, run by Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, instead of to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. Of the previous cases sent to him by the Capitol Police, Ozanne has dismissed at least 94 of the 139 cases. It is likely that cases involving protesters will have a lesser chance of being dismissed under Van Hollen. Madison has an image problem of being seen as a city that takes protesting too far. But by cracking down, Chief Erwin will only add fuel to the fire by giving the lingering protesters a reason to return louder than before; it could also result in a dangerous situation arising where there had not been one. Furthermore, everyday visitors to the Capitol should not have to live in fear of the police. Chief Erwin’s hard-line, harsh approach to protesting at the Capitol is not the right solution to a minimally irksome problem.
Adelaide Blanchard
Ryan Rainey
Taylor Nye
Meher Ahmad
Editorial Board Chairman
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Editorial Board Member
Pamela Selman
Reginald Young
Charles Godfrey
Sarah Witman
Editor-at-Large
Editorial Page Editor
Editorial Page Content Editor
Editorial Board Member
Kelsey Fenton The Badger Herald
Lake Mendota is a hotspot for aquatic recreation in the city and on the University of Wisconsin campus, but the dangers of unsupervised and after hours swimming cannot be underestimated.
Awareness needed to make lake safe
Editorial Board opinions are crafted independently of news coverage.
Charles Godfrey Editorial Page Content Editor
Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
The recent success of Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Wisconsin Republicans is a sign that conservativism has taken a stubborn root in state politics, despite vocal liberal opposition in the Capitol city.
Conservativism nothing to fear Reginald Young Editorial Page Editor It should be pretty obvious to everyone but the most oblivious hermits in Wisconsin that politics over the past year have taken a very conservative turn. Gov. Scott Walker has dominated headlines by pushing conservative legislation and now Walker, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and the GOP’s National Chair, Reince Priebus, are three of the more important figures at the Republican National Convention, as noted by Craig Gilbert of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And of course, with one party’s dominance in the headlines, there’s always an abundance of opposing sentiment, like the editorial on
Wisconsin’s Voter ID law by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal’s Editorial Board. While this kind of discourse promotes educated decision making by exploring all the options, it tends to overlook the fact that a changing of the parties in power is part of the political process. While the majority of anti-Walker noise has died down in the state, there still remains an undercurrent of contempt for Wisconsin Republicans. Or ,at least, that undercurrent exists in Madison. Driving back from northern Wisconsin last week I was reminded what this state is not — homogenous. After spending the majority of my time in Madison the past few years, it was easy to forget about the rest of Wisconsin. And with an almost entirely liberal dialogue here, it made it easy to think that most Wisconsinites support a liberal agenda. But, of course, that’s not the case. The fact that
Republicans can gain a majority in our government is something to be lauded regardless of what party with which you align. We should have faith in the fact that the political pendulum in this state is capable of swinging not only to the left, but to the right. That pendulum is one of our myriad of crucial checks and balances enabling and limiting those in power. Because of Republicans being in power in Wisconsin during redistricting, the vast majority of new voting districts will likely benefit their party, as they would benefit Democrats if they were to draw them. So the message is simple, really: Wisconsin is likely going to be Republican for a while. Get used to the thought. And despite how crazy you may think the right is due to a few notable loonies in the spotlight, remember that the left has those too. Yeah, Paul Ryan may have made some pretty obvious
factual blunders in his speech at the Republican National Convention, as noted by USA Today. But that doesn’t mean you should completely ignore all Republicans ever. Try listening to a party you don’t agree with, but instead of assuming you’re going to disagree with them, go in with no prejudice and pay attention to the content of their speech, even if they’re talking to the president in an empty chair. Wisconsin’s going to likely be conservative for a while. If you’re conservative, that’s obviously a good thing. But if you’re liberal, it’s also a good opportunity if you keep an open mind. The best political solutions come from healthy discourse that considers all sides of an equation. Reginald Young (ryoung@badgerherald. com) is a senior majoring in legal studies and Scandinavian studies.
The excitement of a new school year, a return to the college lifestyle and the crunch of autumn leaves have all been tempered by sudden tragedy in the waters of Lake Mendota. Mendota has for many years been a scenic landmark beloved by Madison residents for its natural beauty, cool lake breezes and potential for for outdoor recreation. Last Thursday the lake displayed its dark side when it claimed the life of a University of Wisconsin student who was swimming with friends near the Limnology building when he failed to surface and spent several minutes underwater, as reported by The Wisconsin State Journal. The Madison Fire Department’s Lake Rescue team began a search, and within fifteen minutes they pulled the drowning man from the water and brought him to the UW hospital, where he died. This tragic incident illuminates in harsh detail perennial problems with the way the UW community coexists with Lake Mendota. On the Langdon and Lakeshore sides of campus, its azure waters are a hot spot on sunny days in the fall and spring, where students soak up rays and cool off with a swim. It is no secret that late-night splashes in the lake are as prevalent in UW culture as Saturday morning tailgating. It appears that our campus community has come to see the lake as an aquatic playground, like a beach or public pool. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In the first place, Mendota is an uncommonly polluted lake. Melissa Malott, chair of Dane County’s Lakes and Watershed Commission, explained to Isthmus that “… phosphorus is the biggest problem because it leads to algae blooms, including the toxic cyanobacteria from blue-green algae” and added that “You just have to touch the water and you can get sick.” The occasional barrier of yellow tape along the shoreline reminds us that every so often, bluegreen algae blooms make swimming a serious health hazard. For long stretches of shoreline, in particular the Lakeshore Path and Picnic Point, students and residents swim at their own risk in the absence of designated swimming areas and lifeguards. In light of this lack of supervision, it is surprising that there are few signs along the shore alerting swimmers of potential hazards. In the aftermath of yet
another tragedy, it is time for the Madison community to learn from the past, take action to make the lake safe and prevent future incidents. From a risk management perspective, Mendota swimming needs to be reevaluated and regulated. Lakefront swimming, especially on unsupervised shoreline that has not been inspected for underwater hazards, is inherently dangerous. Sections of the lakefront that are unsafe for swimming ought to be closed off to the public and adequately signed. Fortunately, there are safe swimming areas on Lake Mendota. The Memorial Union swim pier is supervised by lifeguards every day from 11 a.m. until sunset, and its prime location just below the iconic Union Terrace makes it a perfect place to chill out on hot September afternoons. Swimmers ought to be made aware that this is the safest — and coolest — place to swim on Lake Mendota in the campus neighborhood. There are a number of city beaches on the lake, such as those at James Madison and Tenney Parks, but they are not life-guarded after Aug. 19. A change in infrastructure to make the lake safe for swimming and a heightened awareness of where to swim and where not to swim are pressing needs, but what is most important is that local residents stay informed of the potential hazards presented by Lake Mendota. Lifeguards would provide a safe environment for Mendota swimmers, but they would be unable to save swimmers in distress after hours or away from a designated swim area. It is the role of a well-educated community to discourage swimming in unsupervised areas, especially in the dark. For those of you who might find yourselves at the water’s edge this fall amid an inner soliloquy of “to swim, or not to swim,” I offer a few personal words of advice. Mendota’s lakewater is murky with pollution — there are better places in the Madison area to swim, such as UW rec center pools, public beaches on Monona and even Wisconsin Dells, if you are feeling crazy and don’t mind the roadtrip. If you do choose to swim, you will probably feel gross and want to get clean immediately afterward. Take a shower. Please, don’t swim at night, especially after an evening of drinking; it is hard to keep track of fellow swimmers, impossible to see underwater and alcohol makes swimming difficult and ups the ante on inherent risks. Keep an eye on friends and don’t be afraid to put the kibosh on late-night swimming — it may feel like a buzz-kill, but you could be saving lives. Ultimately, as a community, we have to watch out for each other. Charles Godfrey (cgodfrey@ badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in math and physics.
The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
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Rape rhetoric troublesome which, he said, means no abortion in the case of pregnancy. What’s to happen if the Mitt Romney-Ryan ticket loses the election but sends Ryan back to represent Wisconsin in a now Pamela Selman elevated position with Editor-at-Large increased respect and persuasion powers? Referring to rape as With election season in a legitimate form of full stride, campaign ads, conception brings a bad partisan political experts name to Wisconsin and and my own grandparents a bad name to politics. are all daunting me with A woman’s body should what this election period never be a card to play in could mean for me as a a politician’s hand, not to student, as a member of mention rape. a middle-class family or As a college student, as a soon-to-be young sexual assault professional. and rape While it are very is certainly unfortunate true the elections “A woman’s body realities. It’s time to take a have should never be woman’s worst monumental a card to play in a nightmare off potential to affect me politician’s hand. the table and on all those . . It’s time to take put issues like tuition, student fronts, what loans and the gets me most a woman’s worst economy front is the impact nightmare off the national the table and put and center. not and local issues like tuition, in We’re a good elections can student loans place, locally have on me as a woman, and the economy or nationally, it comes especially front and center.” when to a woman’s with right to make Wisconsin’s decisions own Rep. regarding her own Paul Ryan, the GOP’s pick body. Victories for the for vice president, taking conservative platforms spotlight on the national could take us back decades. ticket. But, there’s light at National attention has of the end of the tunnel: late been drawn to abortion It’s not too late for UW and rape rhetoric, and I students and women all cannot help but wonder around Wisconsin to call why the female student up their representatives, body at the University of Wisconsin has not yet taken get involved in their local elections’ campaigns or, a stance for women’s rights. at the very least, become With the rape and abortion informed about their discussion picking up candidate of choice’s views speed each day in the GOP, on the issues that matter what’s to say the talk and most to them. its ramifications won’t soon spread to Wisconsin? Pamela Selman (pselman@ Ryan recently told the badgerherald.com) is a media he views rape as junior majoring in political a form of conception as science and journalism. reported by the Examiner,
Lukas Keaproth The Badger Herald
Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen wants to bypass the Court of Appeals and put the contoversial voter ID law on a fast track to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This move brings politics into play in the courts.
Van Hollen’s ID request politicized Jared Mehre Columnist In May 2011, Gov. Scott Walker signed into effect the controversial voter ID law, which would require voters to show any of several types of state issued IDs in order to participate in elections. Supporters of voter ID claim some form of identification should be required in order to better regulate elections and prevent fraud. Critics of the law argue requiring citizens to show identification disenfranchises voters, especially the elderly and minorities. Critics also argue there is ultimately no evidence voter fraud has been a prevalent problem in past elections. Since that time, two injunctions blocking the law have been filed, one by the League of Women Voters and the other by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Until these injunctions are resolved in court, the voter ID law cannot go into effect. In the most recent phase of this story, Attorney
educating the electorate General, J.B. Van Hollen should the law be declared has asked the Supreme constitutional. In order to Court of Wisconsin to perform fair elections, an bypass the two appellate adequate amount of time courts which are hearing must be given to properly the current injunctions, inform our citizens about to take both cases at the the new voting policies. same time and to deliver Not only will voters need a decision before the to be informed, but also November election. poll workers There will need to be are several taught how to problems “There are several run elections. with Van problems with Van This cannot Hollen’s be expected request Hollen’s request to be done to the to the Supreme Supreme Court, the biggest properly, even if the Court, the one being time.” Supreme biggest Court were one being to take up time. It the case now and make a is a poor government decision by early October. that forces decisions to Time constraints aside, be made quickly. Our the voter ID law itself government system is has several failures. The set up to perform slowly, kind of voter fraud the giving time for all sides law is aimed to prevent is of the issue to be brought referred to as in-person forward. If the Supreme voter fraud, in which Court does take up the a person shows up at cases now and makes a decision before November, polling places to vote multiple times or under it will not only disrupt the the name of a different arguments taking place in person. An investigation the appellate courts but conducted by Carnegiealso take time away from the thorough and efficient Knight on voter fraud found that only 10 cases discussions that need of alleged in-person voter to take place in order to fraud have occurred since make rational decisions. 2000 in the United States. There is also the timeNot only is there very sensitive conundrum of
little evidence that the voter ID law is necessary — there is actually evidence that it will be ineffective against several types of voter fraud. The voter fraud cases that are most damaging to elections usually take place through absentee ballots and when people who control elections tamper with the results. In both of these scenarios the proposed voter ID law will not prevent fraud, as most types of absentee ballots do not require ID and ID has no effect on who runs elections, according to the Government Accountability Board. In order for a fair and informed decision to be made, sufficient time must be given to the courts to hear discussions. It will also take time to educate Wisconsinites on what is needed to vote. If we go into November with a confused electorate, fewer people will be able to properly vote. In order for democracy to work efficiently, an educated electorate is necessary. Jared Mehre (mehre@ wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science.
Armstrong’s doping case raises ethical sports questions Yes, the man who has climbed more literal and Columnist metaphorical mountains before breakfast than most For perhaps the first of America did in the last time in his life, Lance year is stepping down from Armstrong has stopped the bike. Because of his fighting. After nearly a decision to forego the legal decade at the pinnacle fight, the USADA declared of competitive bicycle him guilty, stripped him of racing, the seven-time his seven titles and barred Tour de France champion him from ever having and Livestrong founder any involvement with the called it quits in his legal sport again. Although its battle against the United jurisdiction in this matter States Anti-Doping Agency, hardly stands on solid legal declining to rebut their ground, Armstrong appears claims that he had taken to have ceded the fight — performance-enhancing at least for now. drugs, according to the So, did Lance enhance? Washington Post. The If you think no, I’ve got Guardian reports that in a bridge to sell you. The a statement given to the man won his sport’s most press Aug. 23, Armstrong challenging event seven announced “There comes years in a row. Seven! a point in every man’s During that time period, life when he has to say, between 1999 and 2005, ‘Enough is enough.’ For 16 of the 38 racers who me, that time is now.” finished in the top ten at Wow. least once were doping, as
Nathaniel Olson
have rushed to Armstrong’s noted by The New York side to champion his Times. If Armstrong’s trial foundation’s work in had taken place, there combating cancer, lambast would have been a line of the questionable legal cyclists, including several process employed by the of his former teammates, USADA and stress the who would have testified rampant corruption and against him and argued his cheating embedded in the guilt. Also, does a man who has based “Does it not cheapen the path culture of the sport. his entire In fact, brand and that Lance has taken, even if USA Today life story it does not detract from his on the extracurricular acheivements?” reports donations qualities to the Livestrong of perseverance and foundation went up by determination fold his more than 25-fold the day hand when he is holding after the announcement, the winning cards and the from an average of $3,000/ pot contains every chip? day to $80,000 on the Aug. Here’s the real question: 24. I would like to suggest Does it matter? Apparently the new catchphrase, “If not in the court of public cancer won’t play by the opinion, where unlike rules, neither will Lance — other contemporary Livestrong.” sports icons such as Barry Not all reactions were Bonds or Marion Jones, glowing. “I’ve never met Armstrong has enjoyed an innocent man who far-reaching support. Fans stopped fighting for his and sportswriters alike
innocence because it was ‘taking a toll’ … ” tweeted professional soccer player Alecko Eskandarian. Many were funny. “Thinking of taking up cycling … ” Aussie football player Shannon Byrnes quipped, “Just found out I’ve won as many Tour De France’s as Lance Armstrong.” The difficulty with characters like Lance is that their actions raise existential questions about the value of the sports they play. Sports are just games, but people still obsess about them because they give us insight into the triumph of the human spirit, something all of us identify with and celebrate. Shouldn’t the confirmation that our Real McCoy was only a carbon copy mean something to us? Does it not cheapen the path that Lance has taken, even if it does not detract
from his extracurricular achievements? Here at Madison, we take sports fairly seriously. But would we feel differently about Montee Ball’s touchdown records if he was juicing? Would we still identify as the Big Ten champs if Brett Bielema had stolen Michigan State’s playbook? Once you’ve started thinking of someone or something in a favorable light, it can take some serious cognitive restructuring to accept that what they did was wrong, even if their followup actions were virtuous. Lance has inspired millions to live with his story. I just hope he doesn’t inspire people to cheat, too. Nathaniel Olson (naolson@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science, history and psychology.
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Photo credit: envisionmadison.org The Editorial Board knows most students are too busy basking in the sun or working day jobs over summer to pay attention to news sources other than their regular, trusty Badger Herald, so here’s a list of some events you might have missed this summer.
Sandwich Boards? Not in Soglin’s city! The current ragtag group of protesters at the Capitol now has the good fortune of dealing with new Capitol Police Chief David Erwin, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He brings with him a promise to more strictly enforce rules regarding demonstrating. While the protesters may be a slight disruption on the pristine lawns of the Capitol, Erwin’s harsh approach is not the solution. Whether or not you agree with them, the protesters at the Capitol early last year had legitimate, justifiable grounds in
UW sets tone with Adidas lawsuit The prolonged battle between the Board of Regents and Adidas has been prolonged further. Attempts to mediate the disagreement over Adidas’ contractual obligations, centered on an Indonesian factory that produced much of its goods, have resulted in an all-out lawsuit. The step is monumental in that the university has presented itself as a hard-line supporter of workers’ rights at home and abroad, and the lawsuit is the only hope for the workers of PT Kizone to receive their $3.4 million in lost wages. But the nature of the lawsuit could very well mean Bucky will continue to wear the Adidas logo until their contract expires anyway.
Gov. Walker still Gov. Walker Lastly, in case you had not heard, Gov. Scott Walker got reelected in the summer recall election. Apparently protesters on the Capitol steps are still unaware that he’ll keep the office through the end of his term.
exercising their right to assemble. But with time and the passing of the gubernatorial recall election, the pertinence of protesting as a means to immediately affect politics has waned while idiocy has increased. This has happened in a manner similar to Occupy Wall Street turning from a valid assembly to a motley group of the homeless and anarchists. Despite this reality, a rotation of the same disruptive figures has remained. While these few hangers-on do have a right to assemble, they give the Capitol an image of insecurity because
the police have to continually tend to them. They fail to appreciate that continuing to protest a moot point is an insult to the legitimacy and significance of the constitutionally established proceedings in our Capitol. Just because a citizen may not agree with what bills are passed, that does not delegitimize the political system in our state. Put bluntly, the First Amendment does not exist so you can be a prick. Yes, the ragtag protesters are mildly irritating. And yes, the anti-Walker effort would seem
more respectable without them. But this does not warrant a hardline approach like that of Chief Erwin. Chief Erwin will hand cases involving civil tickets to the Department of Justice, run by Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, instead of to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. Of the previous cases sent to him by the Capitol Police, Ozanne has dismissed at least 94 of the 139 cases. It is likely that cases involving protesters will have a lesser chance of being dismissed under Van Hollen.
Madison has an image problem of being seen as a city that takes protesting too far. But by cracking down, Chief Erwin will only add fuel to the fire by giving the lingering protesters a reason to return louder than before; it could also result in a dangerous situation arising where there had not been one. Furthermore, everyday visitors to the Capitol should not have to live in fear of the police. Chief Erwin’s hard-line, harsh approach to protesting at the Capitol is not the right solution to a minimally irksome problem.
Moped parking changes SAFECab services will make campus safer should be reinstated The City of Madison has always treated mopeds as bicycles when it comes to parking, allowing them to park near bike racks, on sidewalks, you name it. As of this month, however, University of Wisconsin transportation officials have recognized mopeds’ many car-like traits — require no physical effort, emit carbon, crash into things more frequently and pose greater harm to bystanders — and have
decreed moped users must pick one designated parking spot on campus. Passing time on glutted roads like Charter Street and Observatory Drive, and sidewalks for that matter, are convoluted enough without tiny motorists zipping from class to class. The new rule encourages moped owners to take one trip from home to campus rather than fight for parking spots between classes. For safety’s sake, we agree.
No longer will University of Wisconsin students have the prepaid, late night SAFECab rides as part of their tuition fees, so plan ahead for the late nights at the library, work or downtown. While SAFEwalk is and will remain a safe and practical, albeit clumsy, service, the cab rides through the program were
a quick and safe answer to making it home safe late at night after work and play. Here at The Badger Herald, we admittedly have a personal interest in bringing back the handful of free rides because we wrap up our work in the late hours of the night, and we are sure we are not the only students who work and study late as well.
Soglin overreacts on Proposed winterim State Street taxi rules beneficial for students theory. However, the measures The motives behind Mayor seem needlessly controlling Paul Soglin’s stance on taxi on an issue which up until this cabs in the city are puzzling. point was a non-issue. And According to The Cap Times, ostensibly, he wants to keep taxi really? This was a hot-button issue on the cabs from mayor’s agenda clogging summer? traffic late “And really? This was a hot- this Cabs looking at night on State Street, button issue on the mayor’s for customers? and the agenda this summer? Cabs If Soglin could control State new stands Street comings where cabs looking for customers?” and goings like can park and a game of The wait for a call should make it easier for people Sims 3, we have an awful feeling he totally would. out late to hail a cab, at least in
With examples of poor governance in abundance, it is refreshing to see University of Wisconsin officials are considering giving students more academic options in the face of an assault on higher education. UW announced over the summer it is exploring the option of a three-week “winterim” between the fall and spring semesters that would allow students to explore more classes during the otherwise dead portions of January. We applaud this initiative and hope the university takes action on
it quickly. We only wonder why UW had not considered this policy earlier. Because our winter recess is so short compared to summer’s, an interim is a perfect method to keep students occupied in Madison since most cannot find jobs for a five-week period. We hope students would take the initiative to enroll in these courses, maybe knock out a general education requirement or two and stay in Madison instead of at home watching Netflix in the weeks between New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Day.
Van Hollen pushes Supreme Court on voter ID State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reconsider taking up the voter ID law at the end of summer. Van Hollen thought
it worthwhile to try to ask a second time for the court to take up the case despite the fact the composition of members has not changed. Since the courts are bound by
Wisconsin’s Constitution, not the politics of whoever is the given attorney general at the time, Van Hollen’s request is, in a way, disrespectful to the role of the judicial branch. It is like
a child who keeps stomping their feet for something until they get their way. But maybe, just maybe, if he adds a pretty please and a few $20s, he might get his way this time.
Your Opinion · Send your letters to the editor and guest columns to oped@badgerherald.com. Publication is based on space and takes into account relevance and quality. Letters should be sent exclusively to the Herald. Unsigned letters will not be published. All submissions may be edited by the Herald for length and style. Reader feedback on all articles and columns can be posted at badgerherald.com, where all print content is archived.
The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
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Super PAC onslaught favorable for conservatives out emails and tweets and phone calls imploring anyone with liberal tendencies to donate, while according to nymag. com, the latest numbers show GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney Meher Ahmad with $62 million more cash Staff Writer on hand than Obama as of Aug. 20. The difference in numbers between Obama As we dive headfirst and Romney’s biggest super into election season, PAC backers dramatically the countless attack illustrates the point. advertisements that have According to independent plagued our televisions, newsroom ProPublica’s especially at the height PAC Track, the pro-Obama of the recall elections, Priorities USA sits with are coming back to flood a measly $21,933,068 in the airwaves in Biblical total receipts, while the proportion — all thanks pro-Romney Restore Our to the onslaught of super Future super PAC has PACs footing the bill. $82,224,493. And it’s not But the American public just Romney. The Center has been well prepared for Responsive Politics for this barrage, with reports conservative super countless analyses of PACs have spent $137.1 the post-Citizens United million through the end political environment. One of July, while liberal super thing is clear in this age of PACs spent only $31.1 super PACs, though — the Republicans are better at it. million. It makes too much sense President Barack that the Republicans are Obama’s campaign sends
blowing Democrats out of the water when it comes to funding, especially through super PACs. Rich people have always loved Republicans because rich people love not paying taxes. Why would billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, has donated $36 million to conservative causes this election cycle — by far the biggest donor to super PACs across the board — back a candidate who wouldn’t be likely to allow his company, Las Vegas Sands, to make more of its total profits untaxed? He wouldn’t. When the floodgates of campaign finances were opened through Citizens United, the layers of separation put in place to avoid cooperation between candidates and their supposedly independent backers were obliterated. As reported by The New York Times, Restore Our Future
shares an office building with several Romney campaign consultants. But Romney will tell you he doesn’t like the game he has to play. “My own view is I don’t like all the influence of money in politics,” he said, as noted by The Boston Globe, “but I don’t have a solution that’s a lot better than saying let people contribute what they will, then report it, let people know who gave what to who.” Which would be all good and well if that were the reality of the situation. Non-profit organizations, unlike super PACs, are not required to disclose their donors, reports USA Today. Thus, a more inconspicuous donor can drop millions at a time for groups like the Mercury Trust, a nonprofit which the Center for Responsive Politics reports donated close to $500 million to Restore Our Future without ever having to disclose its identity. It’s a simple process that leaves
the public in the dark. A few months out from the election, the picture is getting clearer. Whatever stipulations the Supreme Court and the Federal Election Commission have placed on super PAC funding have been manipulated past recognition, and now modern day robber barons like Adelson buy candidates their seats with negative ad funding. But Adelson and his crew of conservative bigspenders could very well be dropping their cash in vain. There is plenty of evidence to suggest wild spending makes a marginal difference in polling. On Freakonomics. com, Steven Levitt and Kai Ryssdal conducted a study attempting to isolate the effect of spending in campaigns and reached this conclusion — all other variables held constant, when a candidate doubles their spending, they only get an additional one
percent of the vote. The authors go on to point out that Rick Perry, who with $4.3 million spent the most on advertising at the Iowa caucuses, was far surpassed by Rick Santorum, who dropped a mere $30,000 and essentially tied with Romney. The latest Gallup Poll shows Romney and Obama neck and neck at 46 percent to 47 percent, respectively. If Obama wins, he will be the first to win the presidency after being outspent by his opponent. And while Adelson and his buddies might shake their wrinkly fists at the screen if Obama wins, the millions they donated will still be drops in their proverbial buckets. If only they felt that way about paying taxes. Meher Ahmad (mahmad@ badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in international studies and Middle Eastern studies.
Mich. attack shows need for cohesion presented when speaking to the Associated Press about the case. Until someone steps forward to corroborate or oppose Tennen’s story, we all owe him, the victim, credulity. In regard to someone stepping forward, there Sarah Witman are reportedly quite a few Staff Writer someones. About 20 people, one-third of the party’s The story of Zachary estimated attendance, were Tennen’s attack is a in the front yard watching, common one in its basic the victim says. One can arc: As reported by The imagine that a Hitlergruß Huffington Post, In the would have been visible, front yard of a house even if those 20-some party where he had been people were at a distance enjoying some beverages, and intoxicated. Yet no one a 19-year-old sophomore at has come forward with a Michigan State University conclusive story. was punched in the face. The beliefs to which After the incident, he was Zachary’s alleged attackers barred by the hosts from pay homage are more than re-entering the house. Not 70 years old, centuries an average night, but also if they are truly KKK not unheard of for a college supporters as well. Both guy. groups, in their prime, There are several relied on the silence of details that set Zach apart, bystanders to flourish however, details that local and grow to unstoppable police are refusing to numbers. acknowledge. For one, he Tennen’s assault appears was knocked unconscious. isolated. But when it is His jaw was broken. When amassed beside similar he came to, he found incidents staples in that happen “Tennen’s assault his mouth with shocking appears isolated. through to regularity — his gums. He But when it is just on the had to take amassed beside University of a taxicab, Wisconsin’s similar incidents alone, to a campus we’ve that happen with hospital in seen at least Lansing. shocking regularity, two raciallyAnd — motivated . . . we should be the victim crimes within far less skeptical told his the past year parents, the that this crime could — we should university, have been driven by be far less police skeptical that officers and hate, and we should this crime the press — be more adept at could have been his attackers responding to it.” driven by hate, acted and we should only after be more adept learning that he is Jewish. at responding to it. He says they told him they Whether potential hate people like him, that witnesses are simply the they are Ku Klux Klan victims of herd mentality members and neo-Nazis. or a deeper divide between He said they heiled Hitler Jewish and non-Jewish in a Nazi salute. Only then individuals in the Midwest did they beat him up. is unclear. One only need Let’s forget for a second go as far as YouTube — the that we know Zachary UW student-produced Tennen is Jewish. The “Coastie Song” video or most important thing “Pursuit of Jappiness” about Zachary at this made by several University point in time is that he is of Michigan students — to a victim. No one disputes get a clear and accurate his broken jaw, and view of the stereotypes everyone, including police, many hold on Midwestern agrees that his assault campuses, especially in was unprovoked — he is the Big Ten. These videos a victim. And how do we are not radical or hateful treat victims? Ideally, we — some of the filmmakers give them medical aid, are, in fact, Jewish students ask them to recount what poking fun at themselves — happened and try to find but they represent a lack of the people who harmed cross-campus cohesiveness them. We do not doubt the that is imperative to context of their assault as preventing and lashing they recount it. We do not back at these types of try to convince them that crimes. Individuals, like they “felt a wire in [their] Zachary’s parents, may mouth” and mistook it for speak out against hatred a staple, like they are some after an incident, but the confused retiree. “One power of a united campus punch to the mouth” does community is 40,000-fold. not break a jaw, and it does not form false delusions of Sarah Witman (switman@ anti-Semitism. Yet this is badgerherald.com) is a the attitude East Lansing senior majoring in journalism police Capt. Jeff Murphy and environmental studies.
Media fact-checking political necessity Joe Timmerman Columnist Half-truths and outright lies are nothing new in politics. Politicians are adept at bending the truth any which way in order to suit their needs. However, in his recent speech at the Republican National Convention, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, showed a remarkable disregard for facts, as reported by The Washington Post. While it’s not unusual for politicians to make some questionable claims, Ryan went beyond this; he made several unambiguously false statements, and he did so on a national stage. Ryan’s claim that the stimulus was “the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal
government” is simply false. There’s no way this is true, no matter how one looks at it. In fact, it isn’t even close. The stimulus, at $631 billion, is dwarfed by World War II, which comes in at a whopping $4.1 trillion, according to the Congressional Research Service. This is not a matter of opinion — it’s a matter of math. Not content to merely lie once, Ryan goes on to state that President Barack Obama has done nothing to address the buildup of the national debt. The president’s plan on whitehouse.gov to address the debt crisis, released last September, may disagree with that claim. Just because Ryan doesn’t agree with Obama’s plan doesn’t mean there is no plan. Once again, there is no wiggle room here. Ryan is unequivocally lying. Ryan then blames the president for the nation’s credit downgrade, from AAA to AA+, by Standard & Poors. However, actually
reading S&P’s report tells a different story. It says that the ratings agency now believes the Bush tax cuts will remain in place after 2012 “because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues …” Once again, Ryan speaks with absolutely zero regard for the truth. When confronted with this knowledge by CBS News’ Scott Pelley, Ryan refused to back down. The bright spot of this situation is that the news media, for the most part, has held Ryan accountable for his inaccuracies. Columnists from media outlets as disparate as the Washington Post and Fox News have called Ryan out on his blatant lies. In a presidential campaign that has been marked by a remarkable absence of truth, this is a welcome change. None of this is to say that Ryan, or more generally Republicans,
are the only ones dancing around, or sometimes, simply disregarding the truth. It takes place on both sides of the aisle and both parties should be held equally accountable. Of course, it’s easy to call for more fact checking from the sidelines. In reality, it’s a very complex issue. By holding politicians accountable for what they say, the media risks appearing biased. It doesn’t look good for a newspaper when a well-respected politician decries it as biased for actually calling the politician out for their bullshit. However, this shouldn’t stop newspapers from thoroughly fact checking politicians’ claims. After all, the media should be beholden to the public, not to a select few politicians. Joe Timmerman (jptimmerman@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in math and economics.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “A child splashing at a beach without supervision is a potentially dangerous situation.” -Brett Hulsey, State Rep. (D-Madison) Indeed, a child might be made uncomfortable by splashing water. And of course that totally justifies a state representative getting involved in the situation in the most awkward way possible. As the Huffington Post reports, State Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Madison) plead no contest to disorderly conduct after flipping the innertube of a child who was splashing others. The Opinion Section editors can sleep soundly now, knowing that one of our state representatives is so concerned with citizen safety that they’re willing to break the law by infringing on others’ privacies in order to protect us.
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The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BITCHY A roundup of some of the more thought-provoking (or thoughtless) comments left on badgerherald.com In response to the 8/1 news:
Montee Ball injured in University Avenue attack Anon Well.. shit. ... If a running back can’t walk home safely after bar time, then a small girl such as myself is screwed.
In response to the 5/10 column:
The “uhh, Ward?” Award Anon
TROLOLOLOLOLOLOL BYE BYE WARD
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I did, I did.” -GOV. SCOTT WALKER According to the Tampa Bay Times, Gov. Scott Walker responded affirmatively when asked if he became emotional at the Republican National Convention during Rep. Paul Ryan’s speech. The Tampa Bay Times reporter said Walker was moved to tears while listening to his fellow Wisconsin Republican hold forth on economic policy and his family values. Walker went on to say of Ryan, “He’s just an overall, I think, quality person. . . . What drives him is his kids, his mother, his family, his constituents, his love for this country.” There appears to be a brewing bromance between the two Wisconsin politicians, who relate on like a thousand different levels, from conservative ideology to budget reform, and can totally bond over their dislike of all things left of center while they attack their common opponent, Barack Obama — it’s kind of adorable.
The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue
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The Badger Herald | Opinion | Fall 2012 Registration Issue