Tech the halls
Gizmos and gadgets rated by The Daily Cardinal, perfect for last-minute gifts +TECH GUIDE, pages 4 & 5 University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, December 5, 2013
State Assembly votes to extend BadgerCare The Wisconsin state Assembly voted Wednesday to adopt Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to give BadgerCare recipients, scheduled to move to the federal exchange health care system, a threemonth deadline extension. Multiple Democratic representatives voiced their concern that the bill to extend the BadgerCare deadline would leave 83,000 childless adults without coverage. State Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, asked the Wisconsin Assembly to have “compassion” for the people who would go without health care coverage for three months. He blasted Republicans for saying the extension by itself was not compassionate. “If my mom was here she would say ‘compassionate my foot,’” Jorgensen said. State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, said the Assembly’s decision was a “needless choice” and the bill was postponing Wisconsinites moving onto Badgercare. According to Mason, the Assembly did not need to “choose to cover poor people by
denying coverage to poorer people.” Mason asked the Assembly to consider a “bridge amendment” that would cover the 83,000 adults for three months and eliminate the coverage gap. Assembly members on the other side of the aisle disagreed strongly with their Democratic counterparts. State Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said the federal government cannot be trusted because of its failed rollout and botched website launch. State Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, challenged Assembly Democrats to field questions about the Affordable Care Act. He said Democrats have lost their credibility with voters on the issue of health care. Democrat’s amendment to close the coverage gap for three months ultimately did not receive enough votes. The original bill was approved 64-32 and sent to the state Senate. The Senate is scheduled to take up the BadgerCare extension bill in two weeks. —Eoin Cottrell
memorial UNION
Oh, you fancy!
Fine diners gather at Memorial Union Wednesday for the 80th Annual Tudor Dinner, featuring figgy pudding, English pageantry and holiday carols. + Photo by Drew Gilmore
UW announces grad speaker University of Wisconsin- next writing of their stories,” Madison political science pro- Downs said. fessor Donald Downs Downs first began said Wednesday he was teaching courses about “very surprised and honpublic law, American ored” when the univerpolitics and political thesity asked him to delivory at UW-Madison in er the Dec. 22 Winter 1984 after earning bachCommencement speech. elor, masters and doctor“[Commencement] ate degrees at out-of-state is such a great occauniversities. However, DOWNS sion for so many stuhis wife Susan, her pardents and a ceremony ents and her brother are that is a passageway to the all UW-Madison alums, which next phase of their lives, the makes him feel like “an alumnus
Late-night food vendors vouch for improved policies By Gillian McBride the daily cardinal
Local food vendors presented to the Vending Oversight Committee Wednesday to express concerns about problems associated with late-night vending. Jessica Wartenweiler, coowner of the Curd Girl food cart, said that the number of latenight food carts has increased rapidly within the past two years. She said while small businesses add to the city’s personality, it is not logical to have a large number of active vendors late at night. Steve Lawrence, owner of Fried and Fabulous, encouraged several vendors to attend the committee meeting and said that the result he desired was “a solution that brings everybody together and works for everybody.” He emphasized that the large number of late-night food carts is a “perennial issue” for food carts, restaurants, cus-
tomers and city staff alike, and was concerned that the response from the committee in the past was essentially a “collective shrug.” The high density of food carts, according to Lawrence, limits the customer’s choices, detracts from the success of nearby restaurants and misses the opportunity to place more watchful eyes around the city to enhance safety. Lawrence repeated that the majority of food vendors supported opening up more and varied locations for food carts to control crowds, provide a range of food choices and enhance the success of local vendors, restaurants and city law enforcement. Sharing similar views with Lawrence, James Davis, owner of JD’s Food Cart, supported the idea of spreading out vending cart locations to avoid conflict.
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by association,” Downs said in a release. “I knew the university was on the cutting edge of so many things and so dynamic and alive I knew it would be a good place to teach,” Downs said. Downs has been active in campus civil liberties issues, and is currently the president of one of the nation’s leading campus academic freedom and free speech groups,
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Police say robbers targeted victim
James lanser/the daily cardinal
Fried and Fabulous owner Steve Lawrence said the city late-night food vending policies need to be improved.
Police are still searching for five men who allegedly robbed a 20-year-old man at gunpoint at Fahrenbrook Court Apartments at approximately 4:45 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, according to a Madison Police Department report. The victim claimed he was sitting in his apartment, near the corner of North Park Street and Regent Street, when five males entered his apartment through an unlocked door. One of the males had a handgun in his possession and demanded money from the victim, according to a report by MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain. The tenant handed over cash to the robbers before they exited his apartment, the report said. DeSpain also said in the report that police believe the robbery was targeted. The victim was able to provide descriptions of two suspects as black males in their late teens to early twenties. One of them was described as being 250 lbs, 6 feet 5 inches tall wearing a dark, puffy jacket while the other was 5 feet 6 inches tall with an average build.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”