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Weekend, November 6-8, 2009
Students disconnected from state-level politics Part 3 of 3 in a series on student political activism By Hannah Furfaro The Daily Cardinal
President Barack Obama’s imagedriven 2008 campaign and his use of social media outlets fostered in young voters an interest in public policy rarely seen in today’s political climate. Obama was able to brand himself through campaign slogans based on ideas of change that appealed to dissatisfied voters, particularly the youth. Unlike Obama’s campaign, which was able to cut across age, gender and ethnic divides, most politicians on both a national and local level remain disconnected young constituents. Stephen Duerst, political relations chair of UW-Madison College Republicans, said many state-level politicians are ineffective at providing information about their position on key state issues, preventing them from connecting with potentially politically interested youth. (Duerst is a Daily Cardinal opinion contributor through the College Republicans.) Duerst emphasized the importance of using technology to communicate with voters and said while lawmakers in Illinois, New York or Texas may have started online networking, Wisconsin lawmakers remain out of touch with technology-driven youth. “[Many state lawmakers] don’t
even have websites,” he said. Crystal Lee, chair of UW-Madison College Republicans, said it is also challenging for students to get involved in local issues because many students leave Madison after they receive their degree. Lee, a political science major and a Minnesota native, said even she found it difficult to connect herself to Wisconsin politics during her first few semesters. “I dove myself into politics,” she said. “Besides knowing who the governor and the lieutenant governor were, I didn’t know anything about Wisconsin politics.” However, a technology-related generational gap as well as student apathy for state politics are only a few factors that separate lawmakers from youth voters. According to Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor, an “underlying structural” problem of low youth voting turnout that stretches back 60 years helps explain the disconnect between lawmakers and young constituents. “It’s irrational for any politician to spend too much time on the groups least likely to turn out to vote, and it makes a lot more sense to go to retirement homes and talk to 65-year-olds who do vote at very high rates.” Franklin said state lawmak-
Just dance!
ers do create connections with students by providing them with internships, but generally, low youth voter turnout gives lawmakers more of a reason to focus on issues voiced by older constituents. Molly Rivera, chair of UW-Madison College Democrats, interned at state Rep. Donna Seidel’s, D-Wausau, office last summer. She said she was able to sit in on meetings and work on issues that are “important to students.” “They were talking about BadgerCare Plus, and our age group was a huge focus of the provisions that were put into the budget,” she said. Lee said students rally around other political issues, including education policy and tuition increases, as well as legislation dealing with alcohol, such as the recently proposed increase in the beer tax. Rivera agreed, stating that students focus on several key issues. “Student loans and tuition costs, finding jobs, the job economy … I think a lot of these issues that are kind of hot topics affect students disproportionately,” she said. Franklin said although students may have some common interests, they are unlikely to make a real impact because of overarching students page 3
The Daily Cardinal
Lorenzo Zemella/the daily cardinal
Dane County Board OKs regional transit authority By Robert Taylor The Daily Cardinal
The Dane County Board voted 20 to 16 to establish a regional transit authority Thursday that would oversee mass transportation planning within the county. The vote falls in line with the 22-13 vote the board sent as a signal of support to the state government for the creation of an RTA in 2007. The resolution would give the new RTA the powers of taxation and eminent domain. It would bring Madison one step closer to building commuter rail through the isthmus and out into its surrounding communities. Members of the public on both
sides of the debate were invited to voice their opinions and weigh in before the vote, and the audience was standingroom only. UW-Madison student members of Wisconsin Students Public Interest Research Group stood outside with posters reading “RTA is the WAY” and urged attendees to support the creation of the new transit authority. Adam Johnson, Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee chair, said he and the rest of ASM support the creation of the RTA. “We have a vested interest in this community while we are here as stutransit page 3
Increase in heroin dependence leads to rising criminal activity in area, officials say By Ryan Hebel
Students gather in Memorial Union’s Great Hall to bust a move at ’80s Dance Zone, which meets every Thursday evening.
Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal
WISPIRG members show their support for the proposed creation of a regional transit authority. The Dane County Board approved the creation of the RTA at Thursday night’s meeting.
Increased heroin addiction in Madison could be responsible for a recent spike in robberies, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said at a news conference Wednesday. Although violent crime in Madison dropped 9 percent and property-related crimes fell 10 percent since the same period last year, the Madison Police Department reported 45 robberies in September, the highest total in the past two years. “[Heroin addiction] is an epidemic in our community,” said Lt. Mary Lou Ricksecker, a member of Dane County’s Narcotics and Gang Task Force. “Not surprisingly, investigations of burglaries and robberies indicate that a majority of these crimes are related to drug dependence.” Ricksecker said many of the fastfood robberies in early October were related to drug dependency, including an Oct. 7 incident in which Gregory Bickford, 26, allegedly robbed a Cousins Subs at gunpoint
before being fatally shot during an armed struggle with a Madison police officer. Ricksecker said Bickford has been identified in an ongoing federal heroin investigation.
“[Heroin addiction] is an epidemic in our community.”
Mary Lou Ricksecker lieutenant Madison Police Department
Reported heroin overdoses have also increased in Madison, from 31 in 2007 and 78 in 2008 to 106 just through September 2009, and that excludes health-care, hospital and ER data, according to Ricksecker. UW-Madison is not untouched by the drug, though Ricksecker said use is generally less prevalent than in the rest of the community. According to Michael Florek,
president of Tellurian UCAN Inc., a nonprofit that provides addiction treatment, heroin has become more accessible in the last decade, especially for teens and young adults. Teens get it through prescription drugs like OxyContin that contain opiates and are frequently stolen from household medicine cabinets, pharmacies and hospice centers. “In the past three years, there’s been a 20-fold increase in 16- to 28-year-olds coming in for treatment due to heroin and other opiates,” Florek said. Although Dane County offers treatment centers comparable to cities its size, Florek said it needs more free resources, since heroin addicts who cannot afford treatment often wait two months for care. “We see [heroin] impact in a number of different ways, not only the collateral damage with robberies, muggings, et cetera, but also with overdoses, drug dealing that impacts the quality of life and many of our neighborhoods,” Wray said.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”