This week in fake news...
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ZOMG! Vagina on the loose in Madison!
The history of environmental consciousness began in the ‘60s with one Wisconsin senator and his hope to educate people about protection of the environment. + SCIENCE, page 4
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Weekend, April 20-22, 2012
Unemployment, privatesector jobs fall in March
Mohamed Aqeel/the daily cardinal
ASM student council delayed a decision on MCSC’s funding Thursday, despite Chancellor David Ward’s request for a ruling to be made this week.
Student council delays MCSC vote By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
The Multicultural Student Coalition presented its request for funding eligibility to the Associated Students of Madison student council Thursday. Despite Chancellor David Ward’s order that student council determine whether the group is eligible to be funded through student fees this week, council pushed the decision to next week. The Student Services Finance Committee denied the group eligibility last fall. After the Student Judiciary upheld the committee’s ruling, MCSC appealed to Ward, who sent the decision to council. While Ward said council had to decide if the group is eligible for funding this week, council members said they needed additional time to formulate their opinions on the group’s funding. ASM Chair Allie Gardner said officials from the chancellor’s office told her postponing the decision until next week would be acceptable. But Diversity Committee Chair Niko Magallon said taking another week is
against Ward’s request and is unfair to MCSC members, who drafted their presentation within five days. He said if council grants the group eligibility, it will only have until the end of the week to set a budget for the group. “I feel like it was a very privileged decision,” Magallon said. Several members of various student groups told ASM that MCSC helped their groups through trainings and other services, and said MCSC losing funding would be a detriment to the campus climate. Student Labor Action Coalition member Jonah Zinn said budget cuts have influenced universities to cut down on programs that benefit multicultural students on campus, and student groups have begun to see the same effect. Zinn said student council needs to defend marginalized students who suffer from the programs being cut. “If students aren’t going to stand up for students’ interests, then no one will,” Zinn said.
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Appeal sends redistricting to US Supreme Court Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to reverse the decision made March that redrawn voting district maps violated the federal Voting Rights Act. Every 10 years, voting districts are redrawn in order to reflect changes in population shifts. Last year, the Republicancontrolled state legislature redrew the 132 legislature voting districts, but were sued by Democrats and the immigrant rights group Voces De La Frontera over two south-side Milwaukee districts. The plaintiffs accused GOP officials of
redrawing the two districts in a way that deliberately split up the area’s Latino community, weakening the Latino vote. A panel of three federal judges agreed, ruling in March that the GOP acted in violation of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits discriminatory voting practices. Van Hollen’s decision to bring the decision before the Supreme Court gives the Democrats an opportunity to crossappeal the some of the district complaints they lost. Federal redistricting appeals are required to go before the Supreme Court.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped from February to March, according to data released today from the Department of Workforce Development Thursday. The state lost 4,300 privatesector jobs in March. Despite the job loss, Gov. Scott Walker said March’s drop in unemployment indicates progress. “Wisconsin’s economy is turning around, but there is still a lot of work to do,” said Chris Schrimpf, Walker’s communications director, adding that the state has added more than 15,000 privatesector jobs since the start of the year. In the public sector, data released by the state Department of Public Instruction Wednesday reported layoffs in education, as public school districts lost 2,312 full-time positions from the previous school year. “This jobs report is more evidence that Wisconsin continues to head in the wrong
direction under Gov. Walker,” Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said in a statement. “All our workers … deserve elected officials who are working for them – not devoting their time to an extreme agenda that does nothing to create jobs,” Barca said. Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.8 percent remains lower than March’s 8.2 percent national rate, as well as those of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The information for the state unemployment rate was drawn from a small sample size comprised of unemployment insurance claimants and 1,400 surveyed households. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data is preliminary, it will continue to be reviewed in the upcoming weeks. Walker, who campaigned for governor in 2010 on a promise to create 250,000 jobs by 2015, is facing a recall election in June. The state’s economy and job creation is expected to be a major campaign issue. —Ben Siegel
Isabel Álvarez/Cardinal File Photo
The Dane County Farmers’ Market will continue its tradition of showcasing Wisconsin’s top sources of locally made products when it opens Saturday.
Farmers’ Market opens Saturday featuring five new vendors By Meghan Chua The Daily Cardinal
When the Dane County Farmers’ Market opens for the season Saturday, it will welcome about 150 vendors, including five new ones, to the Capitol Square. Four of the vendors sell products from plants to fruits and vegetables, while one produces organic crackers. They join the Saturday tradition that showcases some of Wisconsin’s top sources of organic and local products from cheese curds to baked goods. Nancy Potter and her son Peter own Potter’s Crackers. Although her business has been met with “wonderful” local support, Potter said being at the Farmers’ Market could help her crackers reach new audiences as well as give her the
chance to meet local suppliers. “Whatever I can bring closer to home, the better,” said Potter. All of the products sold at the farmers’ market are produced in-state, according to farmers’ market Manager Larry Johnson. Only vendors from Wisconsin who make and sell their own products are allowed at the market, and some travel from as far away as Eau Claire or Door County to sell their goods. The market is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting April 21 and continuing every Saturday through early November. The summer market is the “largest producer-only farmers market in the nation,” according to Johnson.
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”