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Monday, March 11, 2013
New bill: bars can sue patrons under age of 21 By Jack Casey The Daily Cardinal
on campus
Gimme five
Students extend free high fives to passersby on East Campus Mall Friday to encourage high spirits and provide emotional uplifting. + Photo by Grey Satterfield
Professor Profile: Richard Davidson, expert in meditation By Sam Cusick The Daily Cardinal
While people have been meditating for centuries, one University of Wisconsin-Madison professor is working to scientifically prove meditation makes people happier. Richard Davidson, a psychology professor at UW-Madison since 1984, also runs the university’s Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, which includes his research to incorporate the Dalai Lama’s theories on the healing powers of meditation into scientific research. Davidson said he has been interested in this topic for many years, although he was initially hesitant to publicly express his interest, since many people did not feel it was “scientific research.” But, after meeting the Dalai Lama
in 1992, Davidson said he was convinced meditation and emotion regulation were important research areas to pursue. “Meeting the Dalai Lama was a pivotal meeting that changed the course of my life and my research,” Davidson said. Davidson said his research has shown him that happiness is not cultivated by external factors such as money or material possessions, but through mindfulness and meditation. He said this is often shown in lottery winners, who have an initial spike in happiness, but soon after return to previous, or in some cases lower levels of happiness. “A wealth of evidence has shown that external factors are not highly correlated with [happiness] at all,” Davidson said. Davidson is currently work-
ing with school districts to study the effects of his research, as well as conducting research on veterans to reduce effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Throughout the course of his research, Davidson has continued to consult with the Dalai Lama. He said the Dalai Lama’s advice has greatly influenced his research and has added necessary insight into the effects of meditation. “I’ve never had a conversation [with the Dalai Lama] ever, where I haven’t learned something important as a result of that conversation,” Davidson said. Davidson will welcome the Dalai Lama to campus May 15. There will be a lecture open to the public at the Overture Center with students tickets costing $10, according to Davidson.
State Republicans introduced a bill Thursday that would allow bars and other alcohol retailers to take underage patrons to court if the individuals try to illegally obtain alcohol from the retail location. Current state law states underage people who intentionally defraud an alcohol retailer, with a fake ID or otherwise, face a potential fine between $250 and $1000, according to an analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The new bill would change the law and allow a retailer to bring a civil suit against the underage person. If the person were found
guilty in court, he or she would face a fine of at least $1000 plus any legal fees accumulated during the court process. Additionally, if the individual is not yet 18 years old, the bar could bring the lawsuit against the person’s parents or legal guardians. Mark Woulf, Madison’s food and alcohol policy coordinator, said while the new bill would give alcohol retailers an extra deterrence measure for underage drinking in a state with a “deep and embedded drinking culture,” it would not have any real impact on underage people trying to buy alcohol in Madison.
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Chancellor finalists Wilcox, Blank to visit, speak on campus this week Two finalists for the University of WisconsinMadison chancellor search will visit campus this week, following visits by the other two finalists last week. Dr. Kim Wilcox, former provost and vice president for academic affairs at Michigan State University, will visit Monday, March 11, followed by Dr. Rebecca Blank, acting secretary of commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Wednesday, March 13. The finalists will be available at public receptions from 1:30 p.m. to
3 p.m. in the Mead Witter Lobby of the Chazen Art Museum. All four finalists will meet with UW System President Kevin Reilly and a Board of Regents special committee by the end of the week for interviews. Reilly and the special committee are expected to present a final candidate for approval by the full Board of Regents at their April meeting. If approved, the candidate will replace current Chancellor David Ward by the beginning of the 2013-’14 academic year.
WUD plans Humanities mural By Genevieve Globus The Daily Cardinal
The Wisconsin Union Directorate is spearheading a project to bring a mural to the notoriously bland and uninteresting cement exterior of the Mosse Humanities building, home to arts, music and history classes. The WUD Art Committee hired local artist Sharon Kilfoy, who has worked on similar art initiatives at public buildings around Madison, to head the project and assist students in the committee in designing and constructing the mural.
The mural would illustrate a representation of what the humanities mean to students. The committee said it hopes to involve a variety of humanities students in the project, including those involved in music, dance, art and history. The approximate budget for the project is $8,000. An Innovative Grant from the Wisconsin Union Directorate will provide $5,000 of those funds, and the committee hopes to earn the rest of the money through fundraising. Before the plans can proceed, the Campus Planning Committee must approve the
location and basic design of the mural. Student leaders are pushing for a prominent location on the Humanities building, such as one facing Park Street, where the mural would be highly visible. But UW Facilities Planning Manager Daniel Einstein said it may not be possible for the mural to be on such a prominent location of Humanities. “There will be more resistance by [CPC] members to higher profile locations,” Einstein said.
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Abigail Waldo/the daily cardinal
Sharon Kilfoy, who worked on this mural at the Madison Social Justice Center, would design the new Humanities mural.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”