University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Wednesday, October 7, 2015
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Cats and Hip-hop: An album review +ARTS, page 3
A passion for the game Continuing sports in college +SPORTS, page 8
Opponents of labor bill pack Senate hearing By Andrew Bahl THE DAILY CARDINAL
A bill that would streamline and reform many aspects of the state’s civil service system was given its first public hearing in the Senate Tuesday, drawing the ire of the state’s public sector unions. The proposal, authored by state Sen. Roger Roth, R-Appleton, and state Rep. Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, would change how most state employees are hired by instituting a résumé-based system, doing away with civil service exams and setting clearer standards for what offenses are fireable.
Common Council votes against time limit on public benches
Roth told the Senate Committee on Labor and Government Reform that his bill is a way of modernizing the century-old system and maintained it would not “lead us back to the days of political patronage.” “This is an opportunity recognizing the next decade in our state workforce we’re going to see a lot of turnover,” Roth said. “This is a chance for us to be proactive.” Officials from Gov. Scott Walker’s administration testified in support of the bill, with Department of Financial
labor page 2 STATE STREET
Wing-dow shopping
State Street had an unusual visitor Tuesday as a turkey made its way through downtown Madison. + Photo by Erin Bradley
The Madison Common Council voted overwhelmingly against a proposed ordinance to limit the amount of time people can spend lying down on public benches downtown. The final vote of 15-1 strikes a proposal made by Madison Mayor Paul Soglin in July to impose a one-hour time limit on benches or else face a fine. “It’s clear to me that what we should have done in making these proposed fines was making the fine a penny,” Soglin said before the vote. “The purpose is not to impose financial burden.” Soglin said he “did not appreciate the national attention” the proposal got, along with an earlier measure to prohibit loitering outside the CityCounty Building. Despite the opposition to the proposal, Soglin stressed the ban is a public safety issue. “It’s a public safety issue when there are hypodermic needles in grassy areas where
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New mobile app rewards students for paying attention during class By Bri Maas THE DAILY CARDINAL
PHOTO COURTESY OF MADTOWN HOPPER
The Madtown Hopper started with just one car, but has since added two more to transport passengers throughout downtown.
Madtown Hopper expands safe-ride service to three cars By Anna Madsen THE DAILY CARDINAL
What started out as a fivemonth agreement with the Hub Madison apartment complex for Amir Morning, founder and owner of the Madtown Hopper, has since expanded to allow the addition of two new cars to the Hopper fleet. The Madtown Hopper is a startup service in downtown Madison focused on eliminating drunk driving by providing safe, fun and free rides home during special events, at bar close and on game days.
With upbeat music, flashing lights and an all-around happy atmosphere, Morning originally designed the Hopper to appeal to college students and young people, but has discovered that older riders, including parents, enjoy the service as well. The Madtown Hopper is now looking to add sponsors to the additional cars. “The idea is to find sponsors to advertise on the Hoppers, and tie the fun, exciting experience to
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With the first round of midterms under way, and libraries beginning to fill with anxious note card flippers and coffeefueled all-nighters, many students are just now feeling the sting of getting distracted in class, as they realize all they missed while their eyes were glued to their phone screens. Pocket Points, an app launched this semester at UW-Madison, aims to eliminate that problem by rewarding students for keeping their phones locked during class. Students earn points that can be redeemed for deals at local restaurants and businesses. Founders Mitch Gardner and Rob Richardson initially launched the app in California last fall, but it quickly expanded to include 75 major institutions across the country by fall 2015. Gardner said in a little more than a month on campus, more than 5,000 students have used Pocket Points in Madison, logging more than 200 years of time total off their phones.
“We wanted to go to all the biggest colleges across the country,” Gardner said. “And not just the biggest but also the most school-spirited … so [The
University of ] Wisconsin was kind of a no-brainer for us.” Product Development
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PHOTO COURTESY OF POCKET POINTS
Pocket Points, a newly launched app at UW-Madison, incentivizes productivity by giving students points for keeping their phones off.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”