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Volume 96, Number 32
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Polling begins Pilarz asks ‘big questions’
Findings reveal Wisc. voters split on Gov. Walker recall By Andrea Anderson andrea.anderson@marquette.edu
Marquette’s law school yesterday revealed the first of monthly polls regarding Wisconsin voters’ opinions on the governor race, U.S. presidential race, state policy issues and U.S. Senate race. The polls are in conjunction with Charles Franklin, co-founder of pollster.com and a visiting professor at Marquette from UWMadison. Franklin plans for the monthly survey to have different themes, while repeating some questions to track changes. He said topics on his mind are healthcare and education, but no decision has been made for next month’s poll. The poll released yesterday surveyed 701 random registered and non-registered voters from Jan. 19 to Jan. 22 via landlines and cellphones. People all over Wisconsin of different races, social backgrounds and incomes were surveyed. The results showed just how unified Wisconsinites are on some issues, like the new voter ID law, and how split they are on limiting state employee unions’ ability to bargain over non-wage issues and benefits. Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette, assisted with the construction of the poll questions and said the poll is coming at a time when Wisconsin is at a historical
political crossroads in terms of elections and public opinion. “We have a (potential) recall, (a) presidential election in which Wisconsin is a battleground and a U.S. Senate seat that is open,” Borusk said. “This is a huge coming together of major political contests this year.” Franklin is eager to see the benefits of the polls after seeing today’s results. “One of the big benefits of doing so many polls is that we don’t have to cram everything into a single poll so we have the whole year,” Franklin said. “(Yesterday’s poll) focused more on the state of the state, how voters are reacting to the last year and looking ahead to a potential recall.” At a state level, the results show Gov. Scott Walker is ahead by 6 to 10 percentage points over four potential Democratic opponents for the possible recall. Walker is ahead of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett by a 50 percent to 44 percent margin and leads former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk with a 49 percent to 42 percent margin. Former Congressman David Obey is also behind Walker by 6 percent with a 49 percent to 43 percent margin, while Janesville Democratic State Senator Tim Cullen is 10 percentage points behind Walker at 40 percent to Walker’s 50 percent. The presidential race shows similar results. President Barack Obama leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 48 percent to Romney’s 40 percent. The majority of interviews for the poll were See Law, page 7
Photo by Rebecca Rebholz/rebecca.rebholz@marquette.edu
The Rev. Scott Pilarz emphasizes working in partnership with students in the State of the University speech.
President talks change, strategy in annual address By Katie Doherty kathleen.doherty@marquette.edu
University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz announced plans to improve shared governance and implement a new strategic plan at Marquette during his inaugural State of the University address Tuesday in the Alumni Memorial Union. Pilarz said these decisions, along with changes made to the
athletic director position and faculty budgets, were made in an effort to focus on the “big questions,” including themes of research, teaching, community engagement, diversity, inclusivity, transparency and Catholic and Jesuit identity. He also thanked the university for teaching him about Marquette over his term thus far, and invited the whole community to share in what he has learned and will be learning over future years. “As I see it, the work I do as president is always in dialogue and partnership with you,” Pilarz said. “I know at my core that’s the best way, the only true way, for us to move Marquette forward.”
But while Pilarz may still be growing in knowledge, he has begun implementing changes, which he discussed briefly in the address. He added the Academic Senate chair and vice-chair to his leadership council, to help ensure shared governance. Also, Larry Williams, the new athletic director, will now report directly to Pilarz, a recommendation made by a peer-review of the athletic department that follows trends elsewhere in higher education. And to address a need for a focus on research and scholarship, Pilarz said he had increased the See Pilarz, page 7
University begins offering new voter ID cards voter ID requirements, the law also states that students must present a “Fee Payment Receipt,” which proves the student has paid tuition that semester at their college or university. This is used to verify the student’s enrollment. Marquette has also taken steps to ensure that students can obtain this information, which can be accessed through CheckMarq, said Mary Czech-Mrochinski, Marquette’s director of governmental and community affairs. “Marquette University worked not only to create an MU Voter ID Card to comply with the new law, but with the Bursar’s office to create an ‘Account Activity Report’
Eric Grow, a Senior at UWM, helps junior Jenna Wolf register to vote.
In response to this past year’s changes to Wisconsin’s voter ID laws, Marquette will now be providing specially issued IDs specifically for the purpose of students voting. The IDs are being distributed at Union Station in the Alumni Memorial Union during normal business hours and will include a student’s signature, two-year expiration date and date of
issuance — all elements not included on the traditional Marquette student ID. The cards are being provided because of laws put in place last spring which did not include college IDs as an acceptable form of photo ID for voting in Wisconsin. After some deliberation within the state legislature, the law was changed to allow the use of college IDs only if they included elements such as a photograph, signature, expiration date and current address, which most college IDs do not have. Other accepted voter IDs include Wisconsin driver’s licenses or other Wisconsin governmentissued IDs, military ID cards and U.S. passports. In addition to the changes to
INDEX
NEWS
VIEWPOINTS
MARQUEE
Rising
WHITE
ELMS
Change in response to new Wisc. law; MU foots the bill By Allison Kruschke allison.krushcke@marquette.edu
Photo by Maritna Ibanez/angela.ibanez-baldor@marquette.edu
DPS REPORTS.....................2 CALENDAR.......................2 VIEWPOINTS..................8 MARQUEE.........................10
CLASSIFIEDS....................13 STUDY BREAK....................14 SPORTS.........................16
A local group works to renovate foreclosed homes See, PAGE 3
Urgent action is needed to fight rising tuition rates. See PAGE 8
See Voter, page 7
Saturday’s Pablove concert is about more than the music. See PAGE 12