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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Controversy prompts UW to make Madison Initiative deliberations public By Ryan Hebel
Nelson Cho/the daily cardinal
The Daily Cardinal
Controversial feminist speaks as part of DLS By Lydia Statz The Daily Cardinal
Former Muslim and feminist speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali gave a controversial lecture at the Memorial Union Tuesday night as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Over a thousand people endured hour-long lines and airport levels of security to attend the highly-anticipated event in which she delivered a message critical of Muslim society and called for increased freedom for Muslim women all over the world. Hirsi Ali said she uses her personal experiences as a former Muslim to form her views on the treatment of Muslim women. Originally from Somalia, she fled to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage, and began to question much of what she had been taught. “I had wholeheartedly embraced Islam,” Hirsi Ali says of her teenage years. “And yet, there was this deep part of me that rebelled, and I had questions about things that I had no right to ask questions about.” She said those questions included the topics of modest dress for women and the view of women as the property of their husbands. She cited cases in the Arab world and in the U.S. where violence against women was justified through the Qur’an and Islamic teachings in illustrating her argument. In countries under Islamic rule, Ali said, “It is law to disclude women from rights and freedoms enjoyed by men. Marriage and divorce, testimony in court, dress, inheritance. In these issues, Islam scripture is implicit that women are inferior to men.”
She issued a call to action for all Americans to fight against what she views as a human rights violation, stating the issue is more significant than most people realize. “We must use intelligence and reason to confront what I see as one of the world’s greatest inequalities: the treatment of Muslim women. This inequality is not only a moral tragedy, but is a threat to global peace.” Her speech met resistance from many in the audience. Shouts of “Allahu Akbar” were heard, which means “God is great” in Arabic. Rashid Dar, president of the campus Muslim Student Association, says Ali is not giving an accurate picture of Islam or of Muslims, and fears possible ramifications of her speech. “She’s trying to make it seem like Muslims ignore human rights violations. Well, we don’t. She oversimplifies and that’s at the root of the problem, that’s what can become dangerous for us in America,” Dar said. Hirsi Ali said she thanked the University for providing a forum for free speech, but Dar said he questioned the motivations of bringing such an inflammatory speaker to campus. “Would an anti-Semitic speaker have been brought to this campus? No,” He said. “But we accept Islamophobic speakers because we’re afraid, and she fits the bill for someone who can confirm our fears. “ Many audience members explicitly showed their support or opposition during the lecture, participation which was emblematic of the debate surrounding her visit.
All of us at The Daily Cardinal would like to send our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Neha Suri, who passed away Tuesday. A memorial service will be held today at 4:15 p.m. in Lathrop Hall.
One day after refusing to open a Madison Initiative for Undergraduates Oversight Board meeting to the public, university officials reversed their position regarding media access Tuesday. The Oversight Committee is one of two committees responsible for selecting from the 114 proposals submitted by departments and groups across campus, each vying for a piece of the $6.2 million left of the original $10 million Madison Initiative for Undergraduates budget. In a Monday e-mail, University spokesperson John Lucas said the committee did not fall under Wisconsin open records law. The law states that,
with certain exceptions, various government meetings and records must be made available to the public. “Because this committee is advisory to the chancellor and is not a governmental body, it is not subject to open meeting laws,” Lucas said. He referenced a passage on UW-Madison’s Office of Administrative Legal Services website stating that “ad hoc or standing committees created by university officials to advise them as administrators” were not governmental bodies. In a separate section, however, the OALS website states that “campuswide committees (ad hoc or standing) created by resolution or order of the Regents, the faculty or the academic staff” are subject to the law.
It is unclear how the committee was created, but at a May 7, 2009 meeting, the Board of Regents proposed that all MIU’s tuition increases “be evaluated on an annual basis by the Madison Initiative Oversight Board, which will be comprised of students, faculty and staff.” On Tuesday, the university changed its stance. “In the spirit of transparency and openness in which MIU was created, tomorrow’s meeting (at 9 a.m. in 260 Bascom) and all other meetings will be noticed and open,” Lucas said in an e-mail. According to the e-mail, the chancellor will make her final decisions on this round of proposals by February or early March.
Report shows biking industry boosts economy By Hannah Furfaro The Daily Cardinal
Bicycle manufacturing, sales and tourism generate over $1.5 billion annually in Wisconsin, according to a new report conducted by UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for
Environmental Studies. The report found that the bicycling industry supports approximately 13,193 jobs, and has economic effects on sectors ranging from food and services to health care and the environment.
“People do not realize that bicycling is a big business in Wisconsin,” state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said of the report in a statement. According to the report, bicycles page 3
City officials raise parking fines, discuss Mendota Ct. apartments By Hannah Shepard The Daily Cardinal
Madison Common Council members voted to increase parking fines Tuesday in addition to discussing a possible new apartment building on Mendota Court. The project would involve the demolition of two Mendota Court apartment buildings to allow construction of a twenty eight-unit
apartment building. The debate surrounding construction of the building focused on two main issues: the starting date of construction, and the lack of available parking surrounding the building. Many residents worry that a summer start date would mean an increased amount of dust and congestion that would prevent them from being able to open their windows
during the day. Residents said they would prefer an autumn start date. Bill White, one of the principle planners for the construction of the Mendota Court apartment building, claims that in the long run, an autumn start date would be worse for the residents of Mendota Court council page 3
This isn’t Sparta!!!!!!!!!
Lorenzo Zemella/the daily cardinal
The No. 16 Badgers men’s basketball team upset No. 5 Michigan State at the Kohl Center Tuesday night.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”