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Amazon deal raises red flags for campus shared governance and student spaces Story by Madeline Heim
I
t all seemed like a fairly straightforward process. The shipping giant Amazon sought out an agreement with UW-Madison to land one of its Pickup Points, which allows customers to pick up their orders on-site, inside the campus’ historic Red Gym. Like other contracts with private profit-making organizations in excess of $1 million, the deal was required to come before the UW System Board of Regents for formal approval. The regents looked at the contract Aug. 18 and, after some discussion, approved it. But the decision surprised several shared governance groups on campus—because it was the first time they were even hearing about it. “That was when we first learned
about it, at the regents meeting when the agenda was sent out the day before the meeting,” said Michael Moscicke, acting president for UW-Madison’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “At that time, I raised a few concerns.” Amazon Pickup Points LLC has secured similar agreements in other universities, such as the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of California, Berkeley and just one other Big Ten school, Purdue University. The pickup site will occupy approximately 2,200 square feet of space in the Red Gym, according to UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas, and is expected to bring in revenues that guarantee the university will be paid at minimum $100,000 annually. The contract also requested exclusive rights to be an on-campus pickup
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The historic Red Gym, built in 1894, has long served underrepresented populations and offered other important services for students. Now, it is slated to hold a pickup site for Amazon.
Rainbow Bookstore faces potential closure after more than 25 years By Jake Skubish THE DAILY CARDINAL
KATIE SCHEIDT/THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Rainbow Bookstore will sell all items for at least 50 percent off in an attempt to generate sales for the struggling business.
After more than 25 years in Madison, the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative is in danger of closing due to financial troubles. “We are in the process of having meetings to come together and determine what we want to do as a store and as a cooperative,” said Elizabeth Severson, a Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative volunteer. Although the store is scheduled to remain open through the end of September, its future beyond that point is uncertain. To encourage business and community interest, every item at Rainbow is currently at least 50 percent off. A group of volunteers start-
ed the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative in 1989, and it remains staffed by several dozen volunteers today, according to the store’s website. The store is focused on books that “challenge the status quo,” with sections of the store containing topics such as socialism, feminism and the media, among others. It aims to use its resources to serve as “a meeting place, social space, and informational hub for Madison’s progressive community.” This engagement with the community manifests itself in the many programs that the cooperative runs each year. Rainbow runs the LGBT Books to Prisoners initiative, which sends books to LGBT-identifying prisoners in the United States, as
well as the Wisconsin Books to Prisoners program for prisoners in Wisconsin. The bookstore also brings many authors to Madison for events throughout the year. According to Sandi Torkildson, co-owner of fellow Madison bookstore A Room Of One’s Own, there is still demand for local bookstores, but community support is crucial. “There is joy in going to a bookstore because you don’t have to know what you’re looking for,” Torkildson said. “We had some tough times during the recession, but we had lots of support from the community … people should buy from their local bookstore, because it will help it survive.”
Suspected bank robber targets six local locations over several months By Hunter Nollenberg THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Madison Police Department is asking for help from the public in locating a suspected serial bank robber, continuing to investigate six incidents assumed to be related. One of six attempted robberies occurred shortly before 10 a.m. Aug. 20 at a Chase Bank location near
the intersection of North High Point Road and Old Sauk Road. MPD officers documented this as the second attempted robbery, the first being successful, at this same location. MPD reports said that July 14 a man advanced towards the teller, showed he possessed a firearm and demanded money. “MPD detectives say it is quite
possible a July bank robber was thinking about holding up the same financial institution,” said Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain, “but got spooked and ran before committing another crime.” Two robberies at Anchor Bank and Heritage Credit Union both occurred within two weeks of one another. At Union Bank & Trust
in the Village of Oregon, another attempted robbery happened Aug. 26, while a burglary transpired at a U.S. Bank location on Cottage Road Sept. 10. “They [MPD] have also found crimes are generally occurring on Fridays or Saturdays, typically during the morning hours,” DeSpain also wrote.
Officials say the individual is a 6-foot-tall African-American male between the ages of 30 and 40, weighing between 220 and 250 pounds. He traditionally is seen wearing a gray or black hoodie and sunglasses, as well as a bandana covering his face. Anyone with information is asked to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”