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dailycardinal.com
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Anniversary of fatal fire brings alarm initiative
Martin aims to improve relationship with WMC
By Rebecca Holland
By Megan Orear
THE DAILY CARDINAL
One year after a house fire on Bedford Street killed a UW-La Crosse student and injured three UW-Madison students, city officials are taking action in the form of a new fire-safety ordinance that would create stricter fire-alarm regulations in downtown housing. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, will introduce the Peter Talen Memorial Ordinance to Common Council members Tuesday night in honor of the 23-year-old Plymouth, Wis., native who lost his life in the Nov. 18, 2007, fire at 123 N. Bedford St. while visiting his brother in Madison. “This ordinance is very personal to me,” Verveer said. “I believe very strongly in this measure to avoid the anguish and tragedy I saw a year ago.” According to Madison Fire Department public information officer Lori Wirth, there was a mass amount of support and discussion about how smoke detectors are used and maintained in student and downtown housing following Talen’s death. In Madison, landlords are required to install working fire alarms, but it is the tenants’ responsibility to notify them if they stop working. The smoke detectors in the Bedford Street house were not working properly, a problem Wirth said is not uncommon. People disable their fire alarms if they go off randomly, or they forget to replace the batteries. “Nobody ever expects a fire at their home, so they can’t really say, ‘I’ll just take the batteries out for a little while, or I’ll go to the store later.’ We see a lot of smoke alarms
not working properly,” Wirth said. The ordinance, which would take effect in August 2009, demands the use of new tamper-resistant smoke detectors with lithium batteries that last 10 years and would require landlords to place fire alarms in every bedroom. The alarms would also feature a silence button, rather than taking out the batteries. Verveer said the ordinance benefits students living in houses built before 2002, as houses built since then have stricter safety codes. “There are so many students living in old houses downtown, so this is a major safety improvement,” he said. Although the ordinance will raise costs for property owners, Verveer said he has been working with landlords to move beyond the monetary increase. “What’s important is to avoid another tragedy. If the ordinance saves one life, it’s worth it,” he said. “There is no price tag on a life.” University Communications spokesperson John Lucas said fire safety has become a top priority for Dean of Students Lori Berquam after fires at a Carroll Street apartment complex last November and another blaze at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house on Langdon Street in May. “Last year was a huge wake-up call for not only students, but also staff on campus,” Lucas said. Although UW-Madison doesn’t own or control safety in much of the downtown housing, Lucas said the university is working to establish a relationship with the MFD to stress the importance of safety to students. “It’s something you have to take really seriously,” he said.
THE DAILY CARDINAL
NICK KOGOS/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Steve Pogorzelski, the keynote speaker for the Global Entrepreneur Week kickoff, said he is optimistic about the future job market. He encouraged students to look for jobs they are passionate about.
Entrepreneur Week speaker advises job-seeking students By Beth Pickhard THE DAILY CARDINAL
The continuing economic crisis drove UW-Madison students and faculty to the Global Entrepreneurship Week campus kickoff Monday. Keynote speaker Steve Pogorzelski, former president of Monster North America and 2006 recipient of the UWMadison journalism school’s Distinguished Service to Journalism Award, spoke about the effects of the crisis on young university students. Pogorzelski said because of the national economic crisis, corporations have cut back on the hiring of college graduates. However, Pogorzelski remained positive, saying the conditions of the economy will get better
for people currently entering the job market. “There’s going to be some short-term gain, but I am going to guarantee that there will be some long-term gain for you folks. You just have to weather the storm,” he said. Pogorzelski encouraged students who are undecided on a major to avoid financial incentives and to focus on finding a job based on their interests. “If you are money-oriented and you haven’t figured out what you really want to do or what you love to do, don’t look at the starting salary, look at your career [as a whole],” he said. “I can guarantee you if that’s what you are going by, entrepreneurs page 3
Obama transition team did not discuss possibility of cabinet post with Doyle
JACOB ELA/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
On Nov. 18, 2007, a late-night fire at 123 Bedford St. killed 23year-old Peter Talen and injured three UW-Madison students.
Gov. Jim Doyle has spoken with the transition team for President-elect Obama, but Doyle announced Monday the conversation was not about a possible cabinet position. Because he was an early supporter of Obama and was active in campaign efforts for him, speculation arose that Doyle might be offered a post in the Obama administration, especially after knowledge of communication between Doyle and the transition team became public. Doyle spokesperson Lee
Sensenbrenner told the Associated Press he does not know what the dialogue between Doyle and the transition team was about, but Doyle continues to emphasize he wishes to remain governor of Wisconsin. “The job he really feels the strongest about is being governor of the state of Wisconsin,” Sensenbrenner said in an interview Friday. Doyle has not yet announced if he is running for re-election as governor, a race that will be decided in 2010.
Chancellor Biddy Martin said Monday she will aim to develop a relationship between the university and Wisconsin’s largest business interest group that will benefit the state. Although former Chancellor John Wiley has been an open critic of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Martin said her goal is not to provide an analysis or opinion of the group. “What I want to do, however, is not so much form a view of the WMC … so much as I want to build a relationship I think will be beneficial to the university,” Martin said. Martin and WMC President Jim Haney met shortly after she took office and shared their visions for UW-Madison. She said her desire to improve relations with WMC does not necessarily stem from a difference of opinion between her and Wiley, but from her desire to build “positive relationships with any and everybody who has the well-being of the university and the state at heart.” Martin said she hopes relations between the university and WMC will help the state increase the economic benefits it receives from the “economic engine” of UW-Madison. “I think that the university is an economic engine in its own right,” Haney said. “Some of the research that comes out of the university is very good for the economic development of the state.” Haney said he is “inspired” by what he has heard from Martin but also thought he had a good working relationship with Wiley, contrary to Wiley’s comments in the September issue of Madison Magazine. In his article, Wiley criticized WMC for promoting deregulation and not supporting higher wages, saying these measures have not moved Wisconsin toward the goal of economic competitiveness. “Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to closely examine the strategies … WMC employs to pursue that goal,” Wiley wrote. “Apparently, the organization’s definition of being competitive is being among those states with the lowest taxes, lowest wages and least regulation in the nation.” However, Martin remains much less critical of the group and said she hopes to continue to meet with WMC to develop shared goals.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”