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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Possible changes to UW code of conduct debated By Sung Won Park THE DAILY CARDINAL
BECCA LI/THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Sigma Chi fraternity house, located at 221 Langdon St., is allegedly the site of a rape that took place last October. The fraternity has voluntarily put itself on social probation.
Rape allegations spark campuswide dialogue By Caitlin Gath THE DAILY CARDINAL
Allegations of a rape at the Sigma Chi fraternity house dominated the thoughts of students, faculty and staff across campus Wednesday when the alleged victim decided to come forward and share her story. The victim, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Badger Herald she was raped five months ago at the Sigma Chi fraternity house. Dean of Students Lori Berquam said in a statement that although sexual assault remains a constant issue on the UWMadison campus, she hopes more victims find the strength to come forward in light of recent attention to this case. “Survivors of sexual assaults often spend the rest of their lives trying to come to terms with the horrendous violence committed against them,” she said. “Let me state very clearly,
physical and sexual assault of any kind is [and] will not be tolerated at this institution.” According to the 2008-’09 Campus Safety Guide, there were 42 sexual assaults reported on campus in 2007. Carmen Hotvedt, student services coordinator at University Health Services, said sexual assault is often an underreported crime and that sexual-assault victims often find it difficult to tell someone their story because they are afraid of how that person will react. “We don’t live in a culture where disclosing being victimized that way has a good social consequence … It’s a victim-blaming culture at large,” she said. According to Kelly Anderson, executive director of the Rape Crisis Center of Dane County, it is easy for victims to feel overwhelmed when deciding whether to report the incident.
Cpt. Mary Schauf of the Madison Police Department said she likes to think there is hope for all rape cases to be solved, but acknowledged the reality is that some cases are easier to solve than others. A freshman student in the Greek community, who was advised by the president of her sorority to remain anonymous, said this incident gives a bad reputation to Greek life on campus. “It’s really unfortunate, because I feel like any group of guys could have done this,” she said. However, Anderson said there is a reason fraternities and other groups of men target firstyear female students to invite to their parties. “They’re not just doing that because they’re generous souls who want to share the partying experience,” she said. —Erin Banco contributed to this article
Amid the controversy surrounding the proposed changes to the UW student code of conduct, Adam Kissel of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education discussed their potential effect on students’ rights Wednesday at Memorial Union. The proposed changes would give the university the ability to punish students for crimes committed off-campus, but such offenses would have to be repeated violations or serious ones, like sexual assault or destruction of property. Kissel presented his worries that the new revisions may take away some of students' rights, such as the right to legal representation at a disciplinary hearing. Under the new proposed version of the conduct code, whether a lawyer is allowed to represent or speak for the student would be at the sole discretion of the disciplinary committee.
THE DAILY CARDINAL
Bryon Eagon, one of the two candidates vying for Eli Judge’s position
Eagon safety plans • Exclude bar raids from the Downtown Safety Initiative
• Continue funding the • • •
Downtown Residential Lighting Initiative Promote watch programs Enforce building codes involving locks/windows Help fund taxi stand with city money if necessary
as District 8 alder, released his full safety plan Wednesday. The plan, titled “Addressing Downtown and Campus Safety: Balancing Immediate Action with Long Term Solutions,” includes actions to improve campus-area safety while looking at long-term methods to reduce the conditions under which crime flourishes. Eagon has included in his safety plan a review of the Downtown Safety Initiative to exclude bar raids, but believes there is more that must be done to ensure campus safety. “We cannot just talk exclusively about bar raids and think we have a real solution to making students
safe in Madison,” Eagon said in a statement. “It is time the discussion about campus and downtown safety be guided by solid policy proposals, and I hope this safety plan is a first step in making that discussion a reality.” Eagon also included in his newly released plan the continued funding of Judge’s Downtown Lighting Initiative, the promotion of neighborhood watch programs like the Langdon Street Watch Program and the creation of a “Collaborative Safety Organization” on campus to organize discussions about student safety. safety page 3
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ASM to oversee, allocate funds to new tenant-rating website By Rory Linnane THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Associated Students of Madison voted Wednesday to allocate $9,000 to create a tenant-rating website and a board of directors to oversee it. Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who was appointed to the board, compared the website idea to the popular Rate My Professors website. “The hope here is to make sure students never have a landlord they don’t like,” Judge said. The board of directors will consist of four at-large seats and
Eagon releases safety plan with focus on campus protection By Rachel Holzman
“Only a lawyer may have the training necessary to know and respond when a student’s right has been violated,” Kissel said. Opponents and supporters had the opportunity to voice their opinions about the changes. UW-Madison Assistant Dean Ervin Cox stressed the need for a revised code, citing the need to update rules that deal with evolving technology. “Overall we need to revise the advisory code to more reflect actual practice. It’s just outdated,” he said. Deborah Katz Hunt, a parent of a UW student, said she was concerned about how the changes would affect students’ rights. “As I read this code, I think [my son’s] rights are not going to be strongly protected ... I am not confident enough that revisions to the code would be a good thing. They did not present reasons that answered my concerns,” she said.
ANDREW BERNHAGEN/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Brittany Wiegand, chair of ASM, led the debate over the creation and funding of a new tenantrating website Wednesday.
three ASM-appointed seats. Scott Resnick, who was also appointed to the board, predicted it would take 14 weeks to get the site up and running. In an effort to keep reform alive after the failure of the proposed new constitution, members of Student Council wrote a resolution to create a committee to review and propose changes to bylaws. Student Council voted it down as written, but according to ASM Media Specialist Claire Lempke, the council may take up the resolution again at its next meeting. The original resolution called for a combination of Student Council members, GSSF organization leaders and at-large members. “I think we need to keep going with the spirit of reform,” Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Kevin Ott said. Ott said he hoped the committee would use the work of the Constitutional Committee to propose changes to the bylaws. Before voting down the resolution, Student Council voted to amend it to remove the GSSF group leaders from the committee. “Since GSSF groups are service providers, not constituent servers, I don’t think it would be appropriate for GSSF groups to be guaranteed seats,” Student Council Representative Kurt Gosselin said. “By giving certain seats to GSSF leaders, we’re saying that GSSF leaders are more valuable than other asm 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.”