The Daily Cardinal arts staff discusses the five most influential films of the 2000s ARTS
l
University of Wisconsin-Madison
PAGE 5
BADGERS RECOVER FROM RIVAL ROW
After falling to the Phoenix Thursday, the Badgers strike down Marquette 72-63 SPORTS Complete campus coverage since 1892
l
dailycardinal.com
The first in a two-part series on Madison poverty By Ryan Hebel The Daily Cardinal
Lorenzo Zemella/the daily cardinal
UW men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan celebrated his 200th win Saturday night against Marquette. Check page 8 for the full recap and analysis, and dailycardinal.com/media for a slideshow from the game.
Regents stress four-year graduation The Daily Cardinal
UW System President Kevin Reilly stressed the economic benefits of graduating in four years at the Board of Regents meeting Friday. Reilly said only 29 percent of UW System students graduate in four years. In 2005, the four-year graduation rate for UW-Madison was 52.4 percent. These students, he said, save an average of about $15,000 more than those who take five years to graduate.Students can accomplish this by taking at least 15 credits a semester, he said. According to Reilly, the system plans to implement a communications campaign to better inform UW
System students about these benefits. “One of those things we haven’t done well enough with our students and families is communicating about these kinds of effective discounts and cost-saving options,” he said. Reilly also said undergraduates who work off-campus tend to take fewer credits, making it more likely that they will take longer to graduate. He said the money students make at these jobs in some cases is not enough to offset the amount they pay for staying extra semesters. According to Reilly, the system plans to provide more work-study options on campus for students who have to work.
“We want to keep [students] close so they don’t have transportation time and costs, and we want to get them into work-study programs that relate to their degrees,” he said. Reilly also addressed the UW System’s differential tuition policies Friday. He said the board must strike a balance on how to generate more revenue to maintain and improve the quality at all UW System schools while also ensuring affordability. “Let’s be frank, money matters to quality, but I think we’ve done a very good job in this system of keeping regents page 3
Doyle to speak at Copenhagen climate talks By Sarah Zipperle The Daily Cardinal
Gov. Jim Doyle outlined some of the events he will participate in during the climate talks in Copenhagen this week in a news conference call Friday. Doyle plans to meet with representatives from General Electric and green energy companies during his trip, and will speak at three meetings including the opening summit. He said governors at the conference will showcase green energy initiatives at the state level. Doyle said it is important to show there has been a lot of activity among states to address climate change. During the conference call,
Doyle said he was concerned about maintaining a reliance on imported fuels. He said the cost of investing in renewable energy now will allow Wisconsin to spend less in the future and will create more job opportunities. “[Wisconsin] also has major research capacities, and by putting all those components together we can build a good strong sector of our economy around the creation of alternate forms of energy and energy conservation,” he said, focusing on investments in wind and solar energy. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, who also participated in the conference call, said it is the job of governors and mayors to take a role in implementing
PAGE 8
Monday, December 14, 2009
County shelters, pantries strained by recession
Happy 200th, Bo!
By Kelsey Gunderson
l
federal clean energy policies. Legislation that would require Wisconsin to obtain 25 percent of its energy from renewable energy by 2025 could be taken up by the Wisconsin state Legislature early next year. The bill’s provisions are based on recommendations from the state’s Task Force on Global Warming. Doyle said he is excited to discuss the green initiatives Wisconsin has taken on and said he is looking forward to the conference. “We are moving on a great number of fronts … [the conference] is a great opportunity for me and for our team to learn about some of the very good things happening all over the world,” he said.
Wednesday’s snow day brought a welcome vacation for many Madison employees. For those living paycheck to paycheck, however, it was one nudge closer to homelessness. “If you’ve got a two-week pay period and you miss one day that’s 10 percent of your pay period that’s going to be gone … a lot of people can’t afford to lose 10 percent of their paycheck,” Ralph Middlecamp, executive director of Madison’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, said. Middlecamp said his pantry has already served more than 22,000 households in 2009, a 9-percent increase from last year. “We’re seeing people who never used a food pantry ever in their lives … who used to work a couple parttime jobs and lost one of them, lost hours or flat out lost jobs,” he said. For example, Peter, who asked to remain anonymous, worked in Dane County as a wireless communication consultant before being laid off last December. It was a challenging Christmas, especially for his 7-year-old daughter. He eventually started visiting The River, a food pantry near the Madison airport, after months of spending his savings and working freelance jobs that were hardly consistent. “It’s pretty much like trying to stop a boulder from rolling over you down a hill, particularly in this economy,” he said. With the recession putting so many in this difficult situation,
The River’s owner, Andy Czerkas, said society has “a false perception” of poverty. “I really think that we think there’s a moral deficit involved, and if people are poor, that they’ve done something wrong,” Czerkas said. “Some people are poor through illness … because they lost their jobs or because they don’t get paid enough at their jobs.” The one thing most people who use pantries do have in common, according to Middlecamp, is that they often juggle food costs along with rent, utilities and other essentials. “What’s left over from paycheck to paycheck is what you eat with, and if you’ve got any emergency at all, all of a sudden you get to the end of your pay period and you don’t have enough money for food,” Middlecamp said. Shelter System Madison also offers a strong shelter system, though there is rarely enough funding for everyone in need, and many end up on waiting lists. “Even before the recession, Dane County was turning away about 500 families a year who couldn’t get into shelter when they needed it … and this year is worse,” Rachel Krinsky, executive director of the Dane County Road Home, said. Her shelter helps families and children get back on their feet, find jobs and affordable housing. Krinsky said the winter months are typically harder on single men than families, since landlords are less likely to evict children out into the cold. Still, she expects the recession will fill up the normal shelters and send many to the “bare bones” warming shelters homeless page 3
Ryan Hebel/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.”