Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - The Daily Cardinal

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“Happy Go Lucky” forces audiences to walk out of theater smiling ARTS

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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BADGERS GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN EXHIBITION

Men’s basketball beats UW-Whitewater but has trouble with turnovers, free-throw attempts SPORTS Complete campus coverage since 1892

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Doyle anticipates budget deficit to reach $5 billion By Erin Banco THE DAILY CARDINAL

Gov. Jim Doyle announced a re-evaluation of the state budget shortfall Tuesday, projecting a deficit of $5 billion within the next 2 years. Last month, Doyle said he expected the budget deficit to reach $3 billion because of the poor state of the economy. Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said there are many reasons why Doyle changed his prediction from the estimated $3 billion. “The state law requires the governor or the administration to release information about state agency spending requests and revenue estimates for the coming years on Nov. 20,” Berry said. He said it is “interesting” that Doyle decided to announce a bigger deficit after he had previously projected the budget hole to be smaller. According to Berry, governors often raise the budget shortfall for political reasons. “There is every reason to make budget difficulty sound as bad

as possible in November because then when they unveil it they have laid the ground work for extracting favorable decisions,” Berry said. “Having a big budget problem strengthens [Doyle’s] hand going into the budget development period.” UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the $2 billion projected increase in the budget deficit would affect Wisconsin universities. “If the state faces anything like that kind of shortfall it almost certainly will affect the universities … but how severe [the effects] are is a long way from being determined,” Giroux said. Doyle will not present the next biennial budget, effective July 1, 2009, until February. Giroux said it is still too soon to tell how much the budget will affect tuition at UW System schools. “It is uncertain how it will affect the university ... discussions are still a ways off,” he said. “Anything we talk about till [February] will be pure speculation.” Calls to Doyle’s press office were not returned as of press time.

CHARLIE BAKER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the Madison Common Council launched city budget deliberations Tuesday, which will continue through Thursday.

Madison residents voice opposition to bus fare increase at initial budget debate By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Common Council kicked off budget deliberations Tuesday, hearing public input from Madison residents on amendments in the proposed 2009 capital and operating budgets. Among one of the most controversial items on the agenda of the operating budget was the proposed 50-cent increase in Madison Metro bus fares to $2, which all public speakers on the issue vehemently opposed. Madison resident Ted Voth said he has a slogan for the proposed

increase: “More fare, same service.” He argued increasing fares would be most detrimental to people who use public transportation as a necessity. “Would any of you moderate business people sell your product that way?” Voth asked the council. “I don’t think so.” He also said the increase would create more traffic congestion and parking problems throughout the city. Echoing Voth’s opinions, Madison resident Tim Wong said consequences of a fare increase would appear to go against the city’s budget page 2

DANNY MARCHEWKA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Dean of Students Lori Berquam encourages students to voice their opinion on downtown safety issues. The university plans to continue discussions about recent armed robberies near campus.

Students offer solutions for UW, downtown safety By Grace Kim THE DAILY CARDINAL

A forum held by the UW-Madison Greek community Tuesday brought students and administrators together to address issues and concerns regarding downtown safety. UW-Madison student organizations, Dean of Students Lori Berquam, University of Wisconsin Police officers and community members offered potential solutions for recent armed crimes, especially in light of last week’s mugging on Langdon Street. Berquam said she was interested in hearing student’s ideas and encouraged them to voice their opinions. “My hope for tonight is actually to review and have some amazing ideas that you might want to bring to the surface so that we could actually take action on some of them,” Berquam said.

Today on the Web8 Wisconsin lawmaker aims to repeal state abortion law State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, will work in the next legislative session to repeal an old Wisconsin law that makes abortions in the state illegal. UW moves up in national ranking of Fulbright fellows The number of Fulbright fellows from the university places UW-Madison ninth in the country among research institutions.

Many students complained about the lack of lighting on Langdon Street as well as on other isolated areas from campus. According to UW-Madison senior Maggie Molter, the issue of safety on campus has been a recurring theme and said a new lighting initiative, proposed by Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, for the 2009 city budget, is an important solution for a safer environment. “Every week, you expect to see in the paper [a] mugging, sexual assault or robbery. It is happening every week,” she said. “Something needs to be done ... It needs to be stopped.” Students also expressed concern about the time frame of late night bus schedules, the lack of WiscAlerts and the limited education of campus safety in the UW-Madison community. Cecilia Nieves, a fifth-year UWMadison student, said she did not receive a WiscAlert when the mug-

ging occurred in the Greek community last week. “[People] have to realize that [they] need to take personal responsibilities,” Nieves said, adding she thinks education would lower safety risks. According to UWPD Lt. Eric Holen, there is an environmental and procedural solution to increase safety on campus. Holen said the number one procedural safety issue is to control the environment. He stressed students need to be more aware of their surroundings and need to avoid isolation. Bob Holloway, president of Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc., said speaking to elders and communicating with neighborhood associations can also make a difference. “The issue here goes far beyond the campus,” Holloway said. “These are the issues that concern everybody downtown.”

Coalition urges Legislature to pass stricter alcohol laws By Jessica Feld THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW Health announced Tuesday the launch of AWARE, a statewide coalition to combat Wisconsin’s alcohol abuse problem. The All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education project was initiated by UW Health in response to statistics that place Wisconsin number one in the nation for binge drinking and drinking by high school students, but show’s the state trails in penalties for drunken driving. AWARE, led by a team of

clinicians, researchers and educators, aims to fight drunk driving, decrease underage drinking and eliminate insurance practices that discourage reporting injuries caused by drunken driving. “We think it is imperative to address this issue by beginning a very public set of conversations and actions that respond to the health, cultural and financial impacts of alcohol abuse,” said Dr. Jeffrey Grossman, president and CEO of the UW Medical Foundation. health page 3

“…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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