Digging plot holes: Why they may not be as bad as you think +ARTS, page 4 University of Wisconsin-Madison
America needs to come together in times of strife +OPINION, page 5
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Walker, legislators push tuition freeze Gov. Scott Walker and state legislators from both sides of the aisle are calling for a full University of Wisconsin System tuition freeze after a state audit revealed the system is operating with a $648 million surplus of unrestricted funds. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau report was released Friday and immediately sparked criticism from state officials who said the system’s lack of transparency was troubling and would lead them to reconsider the funding allotments to the UW System in Walker’s most recent biennial budget proposal. Walker asked the state Legislature to freeze UW tuition for the next two years, according to an email from Tom Evenson, Walker’s press secretary. Walker said the students and families paying into the UW System “deserve a break,” according to Evenson. Additionally, state Democrats, such as state Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, have joined with Republicans in calling for a freeze. “A tuition freeze is a small but neces-
sary step in once again making education affordable,” Wirch said in a statement. The tension over the surplus, 40 percent of which is funded by tuition dollars, spilled over into a state committee hearing Tuesday where top-ranking legislators altered a session originally devoted to discussing the system’s human resources plans to instead interrogate UW System President Kevin Reilly on the system’s reasoning behind keeping the tuition-bolstered surplus. State Republicans, such as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, and others who were present at Tuesday’s meeting, have also called on the system to implement a tuition freeze. “I was totally mistaken in believing that the … UW System could control their own fiscal affairs,” Vos said at the Tuesday state hearing. Walker has not commented on whether he will continue to recommend the $181 million funding increase to the UW System currently in his budget proposal. —Jack Casey
Memorial Union Terrace re-opens The iconic bright orange, yellow and green chairs scattered on the Memorial Union Terrace every spring and summer returned Wednesday, setting up the summer for movies, music and food, including a new concession stand. The terrace will open the new concession stand, named “The Gazebo,” in late May or early June and will serve sandwiches, salads and other food. The terrace will also feature free movies Mondays and live music five nights a
week, in addition to its numerous food options, according to a university release. Construction on the union will continue throughout the summer, but will be minimal on evenings and weekends, according to the release. While the exact date the chairs were first used on the terrace is unknown, they appeared in photographs dated before 1938, according to the terrace’s website. The chairs will remain outside until late fall.
on campus
A college student’s best friend
Students gathered on Engineering Mall Wednesday to eat free food courtesy of local vendors during the All-Campus Party Wear Red, Get Fed event. + Photo by Taylor Galaszewski
Committee explores more 18+ entertainment options By Melissa Howison the daily cardinal
City officials brainstormed ideas on how to bring more 18+ entertainment options to the campus area and amended a city ordinance to better assist those in the community suffering from alcoholism at a meeting Wednesday. University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Rachel Lepak, who serves as the student representative on the Alcohol License Review Committee, enlisted the help of committee members to find new ways of increasing 18+ entertainment options for students. “I hope State Street and the downtown area becomes the center of entertainment,” Lepak said. She suggested increasing live music and adding alternative recreational venues downtown, such as a bowling alley or movie theatre. “I do hope to see ... just a wide variety of options,” Lepak said. “For not only students, but for people outside Madison,
outside the downtown area too.” Food and Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf said a possible first step could be to assemble a task force with student and city representatives to more aggressively address the lack of entertainment options for people under the age of 21. The committee also approved a twoyear extension to a city ordinance that prohibits alcohol retailers from selling intoxicants to people specified by the city as being “habitually intoxicated.” Woulf said the program has shown positive results so far, but more time will allow the city to compile more thorough data. The committee also approved an amendment requiring police officers notify every individual on the “habitually intoxicated” list of their legal right to appeal their case if they feel they do not deserve to be on the list. Additionally,
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2012 Madison crime numbers down from 2011
taylor galaszewski/the daily cardinal
Despite ongoing construction, the Memorial Union Terrace formally opened for the season Wednesday, with the arrival of the iconic terrace chairs.
Madison Police Department Chief Noble Wray released a report Wednesday showing crime in Madison decreased more than 3 percent from 2011 to 2012, though reported sexual assaults increased nearly 24 percent during that time. Dane County Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Kelly Donahue said in the statement her organization also experienced a “significant increase” in crisis services over the past five years, including 2012, when crisis advocates assisted 438 victims to police stations
and hospitals, up from 406 in 2011. “We always encourage anyone seeking support or wondering what their options are to connect with the crisis line,” Donahue said of the RCC’s 24-hour support hotline, at 609-251-7273. Wray reported homicides went down 50 percent from 2011 to 2012, when the city also saw a decrease in robberies from 272 to 246. He said he attributes many of the issues that plague Madison to “three groups: opiate addicted individuals, gang involved young people and repeat criminal offenders.”
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”