Monday, December 8, 2008 - The Daily Cardinal

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Monday, December 8, 2008

Bar fight leads to brutal attack Man suffers serious head wounds in downtown beating

By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL

Madison Police are investigating a bar fight that escalated into a violent beating outside a downtown tavern early Sunday morning that left a Madison man with life-threatening injuries. According to a police report, a fight broke out at the Crave at 201 W. Gorham St. and moved to the intersection of State and Johnson Streets when three suspects confronted the 26-year-old victim around 1:54 a.m. The victim, who is not believed to be a student, suffered a blow to the head, causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Police arrived and transported the victim to a local hospital where he is listed in critical condition. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said police could have a homicide investigation on their hands if the victim succumbs to his injuries. “The victim is gravely ill with life-threatening head wounds,”

MATC student ends campaign for District 8 alder Less than one week after announcing he would run for the District 8 alder position, Madison Area Technical College student Michael Johnson withdrew his candidacy Sunday. “Because of a number of different factors, mainly a developing family situation, I have decided the best course of action is to cease campaigning for the position,” Johnson said in a statement. “Thank you for all of your support and energy for my campaign. This was a difficult decision to come to, but I believe JOHNSON this is best for not only myself, but my campaign team and my family.” Johnson, who is a co-founder of Student Progressive Dane, announced his candidacy last Wednesday. The current District 8 alder, UW-Madison senior Eli Judge, announced Dec. 1 he would not seek re-election, citing his decision to attend law school as a significant factor in not running. Johnson said any financial contributions made to his campaign will be returned, and asked those who considered contributing to make a donation to the non-profit Madison campaign page 2

Verveer said. “It sadly does not look very good.” Verveer said police officials told him they were making good progress developing information on the three suspects involved in the beating. Police do not believe the beating was a random act and Verveer said it appeared the victim and suspects did not likely know one another. A Crave employee could not comment on the incident when contacted Sunday. The beating occurred across the street from where a Madison man was stabbed to death Sept. 3 outside the Plaza Tavern, located at 319 N. Henry St. Justin Stout, 31, is awaiting trial on first-degree homicide charges after he allegedly killed 22-year-old Juan Bernal following a fight over music playing on the tavern’s jukebox. Despite the recent brutal bar fights in the downtown area, Verveer said violent crime has decreased in the Central District and incidents like the Plaza stabbing and Crave beating could have happened anywhere. “Bar fights have been around forever and usually in comparison they don’t amount to much,” Verveer said. “This one obviously is as … potentially serious as you can get and all the more apparently troubling and tragic.”

LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Students attended the “Wrecking Ball” event Friday at Union South, which marked the last student event before the building’s demolition. One of the most popular events of the night was the dance party in Club 770.

Students say goodbye to Union South By Cassie Holman THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW-Madison students said their final farewell to Union South at the “Wrecking Ball” Friday night. The event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate, commemorated the closing of the existing union and the construction of the new south campus building, slated to open in the spring of 2011.

If only the budget was evergreen

“The people who put on the event thought the Wrecking Ball was a smashing success,” said Shira Weiner, vice president of public relations for WUD. “Hundreds of students came to enjoy a wide variety of fun, free events.” The UW-Madison Ballroom Dance Association and the Badger Ballroom Dance Team kicked off the event with free swing dance lessons. During the

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union page 2

Regents approve cut in UW faculty salary raises By Sarah Zipperle

State lawmakers gathered Friday for the annual Capitol Tree lighting.

twisting and dipping, the UW Big Band, a student jazz ensemble, took the stage to carry on the party. Weiner said it was one of the night’s biggest successes. In addition to taking the dance floor in Club 770, students were eager to try their hand at free bowling but had to wait an hour or more for their 45-minute slot. Jon Hietpas and Nate

The UW System Board of Regents approved Friday a proposal to increase UW faculty salaries by 2.5 percent each year for the next two years. The Regents discussed raising salaries by 7.78 percent at its Nov. 6 meeting, but UW System President Kevin Reilly recommended last week reducing the pay increase to 2.5 percent because of the projected $5.4 billion state budget deficit. This approval will be forwarded to the state Department of Administration, which will then forward a recommendation to the state Legislature to make a final decision. “We must do our part to help balance the state budget, yes, but while remaining focused on the state’s critical educational needs,” Reilly said. According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, UW faculty and staff salaries are 10 percent less than average salaries at universities with a similar size and mission. In the past year, the UW System lost five chancellors, three of whom left partially because

they were offered higher salaries at other institutions. Giroux said a salary increase is imperative for Wisconsin schools to be able to compete for new faculty considering the growing number of retirement-age faculty. “Almost every private and public university is facing some sort of economic difficulty at this time,” Giroux said. “We need to do something eventually to close that gap.” According to Giroux, UW is not the only university system that will not be giving significant salary increases. He said in the current economic downfall, a 2.5 percent increase is sufficient to keep the salary gap from growing until it can be addressed in the future. Reilly said cutting back the planned faculty pay increase is unfortunate, but necessary because of the state’s economic hardships. “It’s not what we hoped to come forward with, and it’s not what the �faculty and staff deserve, but we want the public in Wisconsin and elected officials to know that we understand the depth of �the [economic] crisis,” he said.

“…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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