Weekend, November 3-6, 2016 - The Daily Cardinal

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Weekend, November 3-6, 2016

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Voters to decide public school funding at polls By Lucas Sczygelski THE DAILY CARDINAL

BEN GOLDEN/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Assocaited Students of Madison leaders Mariam Coker, Carmen Goséy and Katrina Morrison (left to right) were visibly upset while Representative Kenneth Cole addresssed allegations of sexaul assault against him as he resigned from the body.

Amid sexual assault allegations, Cole steps down from ASM seat By Nina Bertelsen, Peter Coutu and Madeline Heim THE DAILY CARDINAL

Associated Students of Madison Representative Kenneth Cole officially resigned from the body Wednesday with a lengthy speech that referenced sexual assault allegations against him. No alleged victims have spoken publicly about the allegations or have been interviewed by The Daily Cardinal. According to ASM Representative Katrina Morrison, no alleged victims have reported Cole to the police or the university. Morrison, who said she knows someone who was sexually assaulted by Cole, explained why she has been adamant about Cole’s removal from ASM at an open forum during the Wednesday meeting. “I know they’re just allegations, I know there hasn’t been a trial,” Morrison said. “But by saying that we aren’t going to do anything until our messed-

up criminal justice system does something, we are perpetuating rape culture, and I’m not going to stand for that.” Cole said he denied all of the accusations that have been brought up by members of ASM. Cole’s resignation follows a petition started by ASM Vice Chair Mariam Coker and Morrison two weeks ago calling for his removal from the group, which Morrison said had gathered around 450 signatures. While the petition did not directly mention the allegations, Morrison and Coker referenced them when sharing the petition on Facebook. Cole was initially accused at an April 29 meeting of the organization BlindSide, a politically active student group, where they deliberated on who should run for leadership positions in ASM. Morrison brought forward the allegations at the meeting, stating that she had friends who had been

assaulted by Cole and she did not feel comfortable with him in a leadership position. “In that meeting, I was accused of sexual assault. At that meeting many of you were there,” Cole said. “I stood there and I explained what my character was and who I am as a person. I sat there and tried to explain, and I’m not going to convince anybody.” He said he also explained at the April meeting that he knew about assault culture, reporting and victimization, as well as gray areas and toxic masculinity. “Continuing throughout the summer, I tried to do everything that I could,” Cole said. “I met with Title IX, I met with various different people, I sat in a room and met with the chair and vice chair of ASM.” Coker said during the summer months, Chair Carmen Goséy

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Each week, The Daily Cardinal will be taking a look at downballot races throughout the state. This week, we look at a school referendum in Madison which will determine funding in the city’s public schools. For Madison residents who bother to flip over their ballot Tuesday beyond the boisterous partisan races, a referendum asking for a $26 million property tax hike to prevent cuts to the city’s public schools will quietly ask for a vote. At James C. Wright Middle School on Madison’s west side, students hurry back from lunch break. Teachers mildly roll their eyes as a group of eighth grade boys innocently complain that they’re hungry from skipping the cafeteria gruel to play soccer for the entire lunch period. The student body, 87 percent of which lives below the poverty line, sweatily shuffles down clean hallways and into classrooms that rarely exceed 20 pupils. Educators worry that this scene of relative order would be banished to the suburbs if the referendum fails. As a former teacher in a southside Chicago public school where classes averaged 36 students,

Wright English teacher Pam Dempsey said she knows the benefits that accompany investment in smaller class sizes. “Personal attention matters,” Dempsey said. “We’re trying to meet the needs of the whole child. They often come to school with inadequate health care, without mental health services and without parents able to help them in academics. If the referendum fails … it would be harder to meet their needs.” Uniquely able to preserve small class sizes through a lottery enrollment system, Wright is held up as a model for what additional attention and expertise can do for underprivileged students. But instead of bringing small class sizes to other schools, the district is staring down a reduction of 75 positions for the 2016-’17 school year, bloating already packed classrooms. According to UW-Madison professor John Witte, whose research focuses on public education policy, urban districts like Madison are especially strained by state budget cuts. “Madison spends more than suburban districts do because of the problems with minority students and students living in poverty,”

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CHRISTOPHER GUESS/DAILY CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Madison residents will vote on whether to raise property taxes to better fund public schools, including Madison East High School.

UW mourns after Stout student from Saudi Arabia dies following assault By Sammy Gibbons THE DAILY CARDINAL

The UW community responded to the death of Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, a UW-Stout international student from Saudi Arabia, Monday by offering condolences and holding a memorial service. Hussain Saeed Alnahdi was found unconscious and bleeding by Menomonie police and taken to a hospital in Eau Claire. Menomonie police described the perpetrator as a white male who

was approximately 6-foot tall. The assault occurred in downtown Menomonie around 2 a.m., according to statement released by UW-Stout Chancellor Bob Meyer. “I want to make a personal appeal to anyone on campus or in the community who might have information that would help authorities locate the individual involved in the attack to come forward,” Meyer said in the statement. Alnahdi was a 24-year-old junior majoring in business

administration who enrolled at UW-Stout in 2015, according to Meyer’s statement. UW System President Ray Cross sent his condolences to the UW-Stout community and Alnahdi’s family Monday. “It is difficult to find the right words in light of such of a tragedy, except to express our sorrow for all who knew Hussain,” Cross said in a statement. A makeshift memorial was held at the site of the beating Tuesday.

Alnahdi’s friends, teachers and family placed photographs and flowers near the location to commemorate the deceased student. UW-Madison community members have responded on social media and brought up the involvement of race in the occurence, including freshman Zahiah Hammad. “Something has to be done for the voices that are not privileged enough to be heard,” Hammad said. “Islamophobia wants to make us feel fear towards each other so

bridges are built between us and hatred rises. The real challenge will be if we can see through this conspired fear and rise above.” The assault is under investigation and the identity of the perpetrator is unknown. The Menomonie Police Department is asking that any information about the assault be reported to Menomonie Police Investigator Kelly Pollock at (715) 231-8511 or anonymously to Dunn County Crime Stoppers.

“…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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