Weekend, October 15-18, 2015 - The Daily Cardinal

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Weekend, October 15-18, 2015

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Shocking smoking on campus

+SPORTS, page 8

H O M E CO M I N G prophecies

+OTHER NEWS, page 4

Bill would rewrite campaign finance laws By Andrew Bahl THE DAILY CARDINAL

A proposal that would dramatically alter the state’s campaign finance laws is being fast-tracked through the state Legislature, despite being termed by critics as a “deregulation” of the current system. The changes come as part of a larger package of three bills to reform the state’s election system. Two of the more contentious proposals would split the state’s

election board into two partisan agencies, generating disagreement among legislators. But a third measure, authored by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, would significantly rewrite the state’s campaign finance system. The bill would double limits on individual donations, which are currently $30,000 for gubernato-

rial candidates, and $3,000 and $1,500 to Senate and Assembly candidates, respectively. These current figures are more than the national average, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measure would also allow for unlimited spending from political action committees to campaigns and allow donors to give unlimited amounts of money to campaign committees, which

can be passed along to candidates, reflecting a state Supreme Court decision last year. Proponents of the measure say it would modernize the state’s campaign finance regulations. “We need to have more advocacy, more issues, more discussion,” Vos said at a public hearing Tuesday. “And sometimes that takes money to do it.” But Mike McCabe, founder of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign,

a watchdog organization which observes campaign donations in the state, said it would weaken the laws to the point of being ineffective. “What we’ll end up having are campaign finance laws in name only,” McCabe said. “This is a complete deregulation of the system. As much money as groups want to pour in, they can.” McCabe specifically criticized a

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Eminent domain proceedings for proposed city park come to a halt after offer is made By Anna Kaldjian THE DAILY CARDINAL

Hours before a resolution to condemn six properties on West Mifflin Street to build a park came to a vote of the Board of Park Commissioners, a property owner in the neighborhood of the proposed park offered to sell their properties. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4,

said he and co-sponsor of the resolution Madison Mayor Paul Soglin plan to ask the Common Council to delay proceedings on the resolution. This abrupt halt comes after the Plan Commission and the Board of Estimates cleared the resolution, which would permit the City of Madison to seize six private housing properties for the purposes of a

public park. Prior to this most recent development, the City of Madison’s proceedings toward the use of eminent domain led owners of the buildings in question, which service primarily middle-to low- income UW-Madison students, to voice their objections.

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KAITLYN VETO/THE DAILY CARDINAL

iPhones, iPad Airs and iPad minis all contain technology patented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

WARF wins patent lawsuit against Apple By Ellie Herman THE DAILY CARDINAL

A federal court jury in Madison supported a criminal complaint initially filed in 2014 by The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Tuesday, finding Apple Inc. guilty of infringing on the foundation’s patent rights for a specialized microprocessor. The technology, developed by UW-Madison microprocessor architecture researchers Andreas Moshovos, Scott Breach, Terani Vijaykumar and Gurindar Sohi known as “Table Based Data Speculation Circuit for Parallel Processing Computer,” was patented in 1998, according to the 2014 complaint.

WARF said in the complaint it believes Apple incorporated the technology from the patent into their latest products, including the iPhone 5S, the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display. The researchers’ patent “significantly improved the efficiency and performance of contemporary computer processors,” and is noted as a major milestone in the industry, according to the 2014 complaint. Apple originally argued the patent was invalid, and previously appealed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to review the patent’s validity. The agency rejected the appeal in April 2015, accord-

lawsuit page 2

KAITLYN VETO/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The proposed park would have had the City of Madison force a buyout of six private properties.

Nonprofit entrepreneur to speak at winter commencement A UW-Madison alumna who became a “social entrepreneur” in India after a year abroad will deliver the winter commencement speech, according to a Wednesday university press release. Zoë Timms, who graduated from UW-Madison in 1997, drew from her experiences in India when she returned years later to work for UW-Madison’s Year in India program in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. There, she met impoverished young women whose situations

affected their education, according to the release. To respond to this problem, Timms founded the Women’s Education Project in 2002. WEP is a program that provides scholarships, academic support and resources for the kinds of women Timms wanted to help, allowing them to graduate high school or college and advance their careers. The program has helped more than 500 women graduate and currently has 280 students. Past students have gone on to work in

a variety of professional positions. Timms said in the release she relates to the apprehension new graduates have after school ends. She emphasized, however, that whatever a person goes on to do should be enjoyable. “I think the key to being successful is finding your supporters,” Timms said in the release. “Not everybody is going to start a nonprofit in India. But whatever you do, you can make it rewarding for yourself.” —Laura Grulke

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”


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