Weekend, February 29-March 2, 2008 - The Daily Cardinal

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COLOR COMICS Beeramid captivates in CMYK COMICS

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BADGERS TURN OVER RECORD BOOKS ...but not the ball. UW commits only one turnover, wins record 14th conference game

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Weekend, February 29-March 2, 2008

Union officials deny loss of ‘student voice’ By Amanda Hoffstrom THE DAILY CARDINAL

Wisconsin Union officials denied allegations of studentworker mistreatment Thursday, after a group of students sent a letter to the Offices of the Dean of Students alleging management has deteriorated the vision of Memorial Union. Thirtythree current and former number of students U n i o n who signed the letter alleging union employmismanagement ees sent the letter, which approximate “expressed number of student displeaemployees of sure” with the Union the new direction of Union Assistant Director for Facilities Paul Broadhead, who began working

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at the Union in spring 2007, the letter said. The students said they represented the Building Services unit—overseen by Broadhead— as well as from the Rathskeller, Stiftskeller, Daily Scoop and building managers. The students wrote that the working environment at the Union is “completely different to that of the Memorial Union of the past.” Broadhead was accused of assigning employees tasks not listed in their job description. “We fear that the Memorial Union is going to lose the student voice that carried it into prominence and importance for many organizations and students on this campus,” the letter said. In response to the letter, Wisconsin Union Director Mark Guthier said of more than 700 student workers, the 33 students who chose to sign the let-

Employees charged in Union theft Five former Stiftskeller employees cited for stealing nearly $15,000 By Katrina Rust THE DAILY CARDINAL

THE DAILY CARDINAL

The United States Patent and Trademark Office decided Thursday to uphold the terms of one of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s three previously contested stem-cell patents. The approved patent, “913,” which describes the replication of in-vitro culturing of human embryonic stem cells, and two other patents still under investigation were created to protect UW-Madison stem-cell researcher James Thomson’s work. Thomson Thomson was the first person to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells, which he did in 1998. Prior to that, Thomson cultured primate embry-

to fix facility problems noted by UW-Madison students, faculty, staff and Union members. Guthier said to make Union buildings cleaner, customer service better, set up rooms properly for events and improve food options, “[This] means changing how [the Union] did things before.” “While a few people may not like changes in their work schedules and patterns, the focus has been on the needs of the greater student body, campus community and Union membership,

The District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint Wednesday against five former employees of the Memorial Union’s Stiftskeller for allegedly stealing a total of nearly $15,000 from cash registers. In October, Union Food Service Manager Jim Long reported an ongoing Stiftskeller theft problem to University of Wisconsin Police Department. At the time, Long suspected a large number of employees had been stealing. By the end of the month, Long narrowed the number of suspected employees to five bartenders who had the most void or no sale transactions from cash register records.

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LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Wisconsin Union officials said Thursday management changes have been necessary to improve the quality of Memorial Union. ter represent less than 5 percent of the student staff employed by the Wisconsin Union. Wisconsin Union employees work in many different units at more than 10 campus buildings, including Ingraham Deli in Ingraham Hall and Open Book Cafe in College Library, among others. “To allow the thoughts and feelings of a few unhappy employees to misrepresent the hard work of hundreds of students is unfortunate,” Guthier said. According to Guthier, the primary focus of the Union is

U.S. patent office upholds WARF patent By Staci Taustine

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And all that Jazz...

onic stem cells. All three patents were issued between 1995 and 2001 for these stem-cell discoveries. In April 2007, the Public Patent Foundation and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights joined to ask the patent office to re-examine their validity. “We think they are inappropriate and never should have been issued. We believe that while Jamie Thomson did significant work, it didn’t meet the requirement of being new and nonobvious,” said John Simpson, a spokesperson for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. “Many people in the stem-cell research community felt that WARF was aggressively asserting the patents and hindering research.” patent page 3

Wisconsin to remain top player in biotechnology field By Francesca Brumm THE DAILY CARDINAL

A disputed stem-cell patent held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation was upheld Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent was one of three held by WARF under review. The decision to uphold the patent is raising questions about the future of stem-cell patent disputes as well as Wisconsin’s future in the biotech industry.

“It’s hard to say,” President of Wisconsin Stem Cell Now Inc. Ed Fallone said of future patent disputes. “It is an issue that will continue to be controversial.” Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, is optimistic about what the ruling could mean for the biotechnology industry in the state of Wisconsin. “The stem cell industry is expected to reach $10 billion a year by 2016. Wisconsin’s

goal is to attract ten percent of that,” Still said. “Because of patents and our research team, we have a very good chance at that.” Fallone said that these patents would not necessarily preclude other groups from doing research, but they will ensure that Wisconsin remains a player in the industry. Still likened the Wisconsin stem-cell industry to a “loss leadeffects page 3

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Members of the Luke Palmer Quartet entertain at Der Rathskeller on Thursday evening for the Jazz Jam, an opportunity for student musicians to perform with the house bands.

“…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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