Top 10 films of 2011
Win at last, Win at last Ben Brust powered the Badgers to a win over UNLV Saturday with 25 points +SPORTS, page 8
This year’s top flicks have a lot in common: namely, Ryan Gosling +ARTS, page 5 University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Monday, December 12, 2011
TA’s union decides not to recertify, others do By Tyler Nickerson the Daily Cardinal
The Teaching Assistants’ Association decided to not retain its official status as a union, despite a report showing a vast majority of teachers unions throughout Wisconsin voted to recertify. Under the law passed earlier this year that restricted collective bargaining rights for public employees, unions are now required to vote
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UW System President Kevin Reilly told the Board of Regents Friday he has met with legislators and is asking them to ease budget cuts to the system.
UW System President hopes for smaller cuts By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
UW System President Kevin Reilly remains hopeful the state will decrease funding cuts to the system, he told the Board of Regents Friday. In October, legislators announced they expect the UW System to absorb an additional $65.7 million in budget cuts this biennium, bringing total cuts to the system to over $300 million for 2011-13. Cuts to the system account for 38 percent of total cuts included in the lapse.
“We’re working hard to shine a spotlight on this important public policy discussion.” Kevin Reilly president UW System
But Reilly said he remains optimistic his discussions with legislators will lead them to reconsider the size of the cut. “I’ve had several conversations with the Secretary of the [Department of Administration], Mike Huebsch, and as of today those lines of communication remain open and I remain hopeful that the DOA will reconsider UW’s share of the new budget lapses,” Reilly said. UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Michael Lovell said the cuts
and decreased staff could make it more difficult for students to enroll in the classes they need to. Lovell said 41 UWM faculty and staff have left the university since the initial cuts were announced. “That number is much greater than I expected,” Lovell said. “These are the top performers on our campuses that are being poached away from other universities in other parts of the country.” Reilly said by publishing editorials and speaking to citizens
statewide, members of the board hope to draw attention to the cuts. “We’re working hard to shine a spotlight on this important public policy discussion,” Reilly said. Reilly said Wisconsin citizens have spoken out against the proportion of the lapse given to the system. “Prominent businesspeople have stepped forward to assert that cutting the UW so disproportionately is bad for business in Wisconsin,” Reilly said.
annually to recertify. According to a report released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, 177 of Wisconsin’s 208 local teachers unions operating under the new rules voted to recertify. But the TAA, the union that represents UW-Madison’s teaching assistants, decided that the certification wasn’t worth it.
taa page 3
Regents talk campus safety after Virginia Tech shooting By Alex DiTullio The Daily Cardinal
In response to the recent shooting of a Virginia Tech campus police officer, UW-Madison Police Chief Sue Riseling discussed improvements the university and campus police departments have made to their crisis prevention and response strategies. At a Board of Regents meeting Friday, Riseling said following the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, UW-Madison dramatically improved its ability to communicate with the community. She said in an emergency situation, campus can send out alert messages to more than 77,000 people in 10 minutes or less. Assistant Director for UW Communications Terry Devitt said many of these improvements come in thanks to text alerts and emails, which can reach students instantly.
“[There are] lots of different tools that one can use to get to the university community and beyond very quickly, and we would use the whole menu if the situation warranted it,” Devitt said. Riseling said another important safety measure is detecting an individual’s violent tendencies and counseling them before they act violently. “The key to understanding Virginia Tech of 2007 is the key to prevention,” she said. “If we can identify folks early on, intervene and get them some assistance we can thwart a lot of this.” The challenge currently facing many of these counseling programs is a lack of funding, Riseling said. She said the university has been forced to lower the administrative services budget, which includes counseling services, to combat the budget deficit.
Regents pass Union plan, Brothers Bar demolition The UW System Board of Regents also unanimously approved the proposed Memorial Union renovation plans, the destruction of Brothers Bar and Grill on University Avenue and the addition of club seats in the Kohl Center. Bartell said the board passed the Memorial Union renovation plans because they were modified after UW-Madison students voted against the former plans in this fall’s Associated Students of Madison election. “The Union went back and asked designers to look again and take into consideration the objections that had been raised and [a proposed] addition is now considerably smaller than before,” Regent Jeffrey Bartell said. Bartell said Brothers will
mark kauzlarich/cardinal file photo
Union renovations would extend onto the terrace. stay in its current location until May so bar owners can find a new site. The board also passed a resolution allowing the addition of the “South End Club” to the Kohl Center, an area for patrons to eat and drink in the arena.
downtown
Great Winter
Eau Claire native Justin Vernon returned to Wisconsin Saturday night, as Bon Iver played to a sold-out crowd at the Orpheum. + Photo by Mark Kauzlarich
Anna Duffin / The Daily cardinal
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”