Thursday, February 5, 2009 - The Daily Cardinal

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: MEET THE NEW GUYS A standout lineman, quarterback and more round out Wisconsin’s recruiting class. SPORTS Complete campus coverage since 1892

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dailycardinal.com

Thursday, February 5, 2009

City urges “ban” list to combat street alcoholics By Charles Brace THE DAILY CARDINAL

City officials recently proposed a list banning chronic street alcoholics from buying liquor in order to improve downtown safety and save money. According to City Alcohol Policy Coordinator Katherine Plominski, it is meant to target people engaged in “very public sort of intoxication,” those panhandling for enough money to become intoxicated several times throughout the day. The proposal is still in the planning stages, with no criteria yet defined for what would place someone on the list. Plominski said she has received complaints from students who have been habitually harassed on their way

“Ban” breakdown What would it be? Proposed list to ban sales of alcohol to chronic street alcoholics, not directed towards students. When would it be approved? Not likely for months, though some officials want it before warmer weather starts. Costs to city due to chronic offenders: $261.52 per individual for one day in detox. Over 200 residents were sent to detox an average of 4.1 times in under a year.

to class by individuals already intoxicated in the early morning. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the proposal is not meant to target students and any ordinance eventually passed by the Madison Common Council should be worded to not affect students with underage drinking or house party violations. It is meant to affect “hard-core troublemakers,” Verveer said. “These are the people who get in fights,” he said. “It is an issue that affects the quality of life downtown.” He said the proposal is still months away from being reviewed by the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee, much less the full Common Council. Plominski said she hoped to get something passed before the weather improves, as more activity and incidents are seen during warm weather. Barb Mercer, president of the Dane County Tavern League, said her group would likely not oppose the proposal, but would be “watching it very carefully … to see if [the list] gets abusive or not.” Mercer said she has not had any problems with chronic street alcoholics, but acknowledged there were some such individuals downtown. Verveer said many downtown liquor stores already ban certain problematic individuals. Plominski said another reason for the proposal is that police officers must spend significant time and resources dealing with chronic street alcoholics, with roughly 219 offenders being taken to detoxification centers an average 4.1 times in 11 months. Todd Campbell, alcohol and other drug abuse services manager for Dane County, said it costs $261.52 per person for a single day in detoxification.

DANNY MARCHEWKA/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Board Chair David Walsh voted in favor of a proposed second-trimester abortion clinic in Madison.

Abortion clinic approved UW Hospital Board supports proposed clinic By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL

The University of Wisconsin Health and Clinics Authority Board voted unanimously Wednesday to support a proposed second-trimester abortion clinic at a local surgery center. The clinic would be at the Madison Surgery Center, a private joint venture between UW and

Meriter Hospitals located at 1 S. Park St. The surgery center’s board is expected to make a final decision on the proposed clinic at their meeting this week. Dr. Laurel Rice, chair of the UW’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, presented the proposal to the board and estimated the surgery center would perform about 120 to 130 second-trimester procedures per year. Rice also said there would be no research or state funding associated with the project, and physician and staff participation in the procedures would be strictly voluntary. Board members heard public

hearing testimony from both prolife and pro-choice advocates and members of the medical community before voting on the proposal. Dr. Todd Miller, vice president of Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Education Task Force, warned against the potentially harmful effects a second-trimester abortion facility could have on the community. He argued performing second-trimester abortions would conflict with the basic medical principle of saving lives. “There is a negative image associated with abortion … and it’s going to carry with it a stigma that will be abortion page 4

Ensuring campus safety Police provide a different perspective on house parties By Diana Savage THE DAILY CARDINAL

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STEPHANIE HEMSHROT/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Students crowd onto a porch at the annual campus-wide party on Mifflin Street.

he students shuffled around Apartment M in an effort to hide the evidence of another typical weekend of overindulging in alcohol. A girl lay on the bathroom floor, coming in and out of consciousness, waking up periodically to dry heave. One of the residents told the story. “As soon as [my friend] came

up to me and said [Susan] had passed out, I freaked out and said ‘Oh no, we should see if she needs to go to the bathroom, if she needs to throw up,’ and so we took her in the bathroom and she threw up once, maybe twice,” she said, emphasizing that her boyfriend who carried her into the bathroom was a lifeguard. “Has she been drinking?” MPD Officer Grant Humerickhouse asked, followed by a long chain of subsequent questions. “Beer and Andre, and I think that’s it,” the resident said, looking at the ceiling, trying to remember which poison had knocked her friend out of consciousness. “And shots of liquor—of

Ba c a rd i . That’s it,” she concluded. Humerickhouse and the resident stood center stage of this popular house party show while another student frantically cleared the table of hundreds of dollars worth of alcohol. The other few congregated by the staircase, prepared to be questioned. “How do you know her?” Humerickhouse asked the resident. “She’s my friend from last year,” the resident answered. “She’s my personal friend, my best friend.” safety page 6

“…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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