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Antiwar panel stresses need for third party
Remembering the victims
By Alison Bauter The Daily Cardinal
isabel Álvarez/the daily cardinal
Supporters of the Queer Student Alliance lie on Library Mall Monday afternoon to represent victims of hate crimes against LGBT people.
Madison Board of Estimates approves Central Library renovation plans By Taylor Harvey The Daily Cardinal
The city Board of Estimates approved a resolution on the planned renovations to the Central Library Monday. “The goal here all along was to get a great Central Library,” Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, said. “[It’s] something that’s been
promised to the library users, to the staff and to the public for a number of years.” The library construction is expected to take roughly a year, including grace periods to allow for design specifications. The library is anticipated to be complete by early to mid-2012. The six-month design peri-
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
od in place was recognized as a tight time window for construction, but Board of Estimates and Madison Public Library Board members said they remained positive. Proponents said the project time frame was “aggressive” but still feasible. library page 3
War protestor Cindy Sheehan and a panel of fellow antiwar and electoral reform advocates presented their ideas in a discussion Monday at Memorial Union. Sheehan, whose 2005 protests outside then-President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch earned her national and international attention, opened the discussion with blunt disapproval for both past and current foreign policies. “I don’t think much has changed since the Bush administration,” Sheehan said. “My new line is ‘Are you against the war, or are you a Democrat?’” Sheehan said she had become disenchanted with the two-party system’s ability to solve problems as a result of the
left’s support for increased war funds and an Obama foreign policy that she described as “Bush on steroids.”
“There really is no difference in federal politics between a Democrat and a Republican.” Cindy Sheehan antiwar activist
“There really is no difference in federal politics between a Democrat and a Republican,” Sheehan said. “We need an alternative to the war party. We need an opposition party, and we need to do that at the panel page 3
Federal bill could change private student loan policy By Alison Dirr The Daily Cardinal
A new bill introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate would make it easier for students to erase private student loan debt when they declare bankruptcy, if the bill is signed into law. U.S. Reps. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., co-sponsors of the bill, say the bill would help both the federal government and students save money. “The student loans were 100 percent backed by [federal]
government guarantees, so they were essentially no-risk loans,” Ira Cohen, Davis’ director of issues and communication, said. “How did the banks justify the interest rates on loans that had no risk whatsoever attached to them?” Cohen said because the federal government was already bearing the risk, the bill addresses this issue by transferring student loans directly to federal government control. Susan Fischer, UW-Madison director of financial aid, said loans page 3
Leinenkugel officially announces candidacy for Feingold’s Senate seat
nelson cho/the daily cardinal
The Central Library project plans were approved at the Board of Estimates meeting Monday and are expected to include green initiatives during renovation.
Former Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce Dick Leinenkugel formally launched his Senate campaign as a Republican at an event in Janesville Monday. After weeks of rumors surrounding his intentions to join the race, Leinenkugel said he plans to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., in November. Leinenkugel, who recently resigned as commerce secretary under Gov. Jim Doyle, joins challengers Dave Westlake and Terrence Wall in the race for the Republican nomination. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson announced he would not seek nomination earlier this month. Leinenkugel has faced criticism
from Democrats for changing his opinion on high-speed rail funding and clean energy legislation and from Republicans for working for a Democratic governor. After showing support for the high-speed rail line during his term in Doyle’s administration, Leinenkugel has since said the rail line should not be a priority. “Now that he’s becoming a Republican, I think Secretary Leinenkugel will face challenges as he seeks to explain his past support [for] Gov. Jim Doyle, tax increases, the stimulus boondoggle and an expensive high-speed rail project,” Wall said in a statement in response to Leinenkugel’s announcement.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”