A foolproof guide to funding your student organization Guest column: How to make a General Student Services Fund group and receive $100,000 in ten simple steps. OPINION | 8
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIV, Issue 89
Thursday, March 7, 2013
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Church plan criticized Stakeholders voice concerns over apartment proposal that would gut house of worship Allie Johnson City Life Editor
Ian Thomasgard The Badger Herald
The Holy Redeemer School could be gutted if a proposal to turn it into new student housing goes according to plan.
Madison residents voiced their concerns over the planned conversion of a downtown church building into new student housing at a neighborhood meeting Wednesday. The meeting was called to address the application of the Cathedral Parish to convert the Holy Redeemer School building, located at 142 W. Johnson Street, into new apartments. The application to change the land use of the property was contentious due to the status of the building as a Madison city landmark, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. The school was built in 1892 and was declared a city landmark in 1999, according to a statement from the Mansion Hill Neighborhood
Association. The proposed changes would require gutting the interior of the building and creating 48 single occupancy bedrooms and five double occupancy bedrooms, according to the statement. Kevin Holmes, a pastor at Holy Redeemer Church, cited several reasons for the proposed conversion of the building. The school building is currently underutilized, according to Holmes. The building is an old structure and is badly deteriorated, he said, adding it would be more expensive to bring the building up to modern standards through renovations. Through this project, the building could be restored and would be in much higher use, Holmes said. He added the revenue from renting the building would support
the construction and the life of the parish. Parishioners from Holy Redeemer Church expressed concern with looking at the building as a business and using it to make money. Parking was another fault community member and parishioners found with the proposed project. The church parking lot borders the school building, Verveer said. John Kothe, one of the real estate partners on the project, explained the tenants of the apartments would not be allowed use of the parking lot. Students with cars would look elsewhere for parking or not rent apartments in the building, he said. Parishioners and community members also took issue with the loss of space for church activities, such as religious education and serving
homeless meals. “They argue [the project] is going to bring the building back to life, but up until a couple months ago the building was full of life,” Gail Geib, a Holy Redeemer parishioner said. Additionally, about 250 parishioners signed a petition against the project as a whole, according to Gene Devitt, Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association chair. According to Holmes, converting the building into apartments is the most feasible route to go in terms of cost to the church. “We can only do what is feasible to do,” Holmes said. “[The project] seems to me to be extremely positive with regards to the life of the
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Mining bill nears vote in Assembly Legislators prepare for heated debate about environmental concerns, job creation in state Noah Goetzel State Politics Editor As the Legislature readies to officially decide whether to support a contentious mining bill today, debates have continued to rage regarding the environmental impact of building the mine among lawmakers, lobbyists and state agencies. The Assembly is poised to pass the Republican-backed bill proposal and place it on Gov. Walker’s desk to sign next week. The GOP holds a 30 seat advantage in the
Assembly, but that will not stop the Democrats from ensuring all representatives hear their voices of opposition, according to Rep. André Jacque, R– DePere. Jacque said he expects a nine-and-a-half-hour Assembly floor session Thursday full of “robust discussion.” “Largely, this is going to be a debate on whether or not we want to see mining in Wisconsin based on what is, I think, reasonable
Melancholy (Bascom) Hill Lincoln looks over a fresh snow covered Bascom Hill after a storm left several inches Tuesday.
MINING, page 2
Claire Larkins The Badger Herald
ASM passes alcohol policy recommendation changes Muge Niu Higher Education Editor Members of student government unanimously approved two changes to the recommended campus alcohol policy brought forth by a graduate student representative Wednesday,
resonating with faculty senators’ opposition to the proposed alcohol permit application process. Jamie Wheeler, Associated Students of Madison Student Council graduate student representative, presented two amendments to the
campus alcohol policy recommendations. The first amendment to the recommended policy is to allow registered student organizations with graduate and professional students to get alcohol permits at studentonly events and to allow
teaching assistants and project assistants to serve as responsible employees at such events. The current recommended campus alcohol policy will no longer allow registered student organizations to get alcohol permits and
will require faculty or staff to serve as responsible employees at events that serve alcohol. “We want to make sure the students’ voices are heard, we see these as vital to maintain the community environment,” Wheeler said. “[We want
to] be sure that events with participants who are above the minimum drinking age can be possible without the prohibitive cost.” In addition to the amendment directly related to graduate
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Committee continues textbook swap talk INSIDE Members of student government consider affordability, mandatory advising meetings for freshmen Riley Sexton Herald Contributor Members of student government continued assessing solutions to textbook affordability on campus as well as considered mandatory advisory meetings for freshmen Wednesday. In a University Affairs Committee meeting, representatives laid out initiatives to create a textbook swap program to aid students with textbook costs. Past initiatives, like
the Associated Students of Madison Textbook Swap which used to take place before each semester from 2008 through 2011 have been called “unstructured” by current University Affairs Chair Becca Buell. Buell has said the program, which involved ASM coordinating swapping students’ textbooks and handling cash was not effective, and current efforts aim to create a similar exchange that is more financially and logistically feasible.
To generate ideas for a new program, the committee is looking at four separate initiatives to amount to one solution. Proposals brought to the committee included increasing the use of e-books by professors as texts for class, creating a campus textbook swap program, expanding rental textbook availability and requiring professors to post textbook information two weeks before the start of the semester. Regarding revamping
e-book availability, some committee members voiced concern that it would be difficult for students without Internet access and the cost savings would not be very large. In light of speculations over this and the issue of compliance, Buell said she will continue to research the issue. As for the proposal recommending expansion in University Bookstore rental textbook availability, members said the current program is seen as underutilized.
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Buell said the proposed book swap would be school, department or major specific, and the structure would resemble the CoEWide Book Exchange sponsored by Polygon and other engineering organizations. The committee will look into setting a date and space for the swap. The subcommittee needs to do further research to determine the structure of the swap and is in the
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Take me home tonight ... to the Coliseum The men’s hockey team is set to host St. Cloud State at its former home ice this weekend.
SPORTS | 10
Snowstorms not predicted in budget After snow hits city, officials say removal funds run low and reserves may be tapped.
NEWS | 4