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UW wrong to deny Badger Catholic funds Court rules UW violated First Amendment By Anna Discher The Daily Cardinal
A federal appeals court ruled last Wednesday that UW-Madison was wrong to deny funds to Badger Catholic, a student group for religious activities. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in a 2-1 decision that UW-Madison’s policy of withholding funding requests through segregated fees to students groups for activities involving prayer, worship and proselytizing was a violation of the groups’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech. During the 2006-07 and 200708 academic years, UW-Madison denied funding for some activities of Badger Catholic, arguing that six activities were strictly religious in nature. The activities included student mentoring sessions with Catholic nuns and priests and a retreat where participants held regular mass and prayer sessions. The UW-Madison legal department believed these activities were a violation of the separation of church
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and state, and therefore the group should not be awarded student segregated fees for these activities. In a precedent court case in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted an assurance that funds are distributed without regard to the speakers’ perspectives. It concluded that a neutral program could be funded by a uniform fee collected from each student in University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth. Nico Fassino, UW-Madison student and leader of Badger Catholic, said Badger Catholic is a religious organization that fills a particular role on campus. “There are no other student organizations that try to serve or cater to students’ spiritual needs,” Fassino said. “Our goal is to connect students to a faith, help them to find a faith that will inspire them to be great drivers of positive change in the world.” According to Fassino, the goal of Badger Catholic is to reach out to as many people on campus regardless of their faith or background. Fassino said the lawsuit began in 2007 when Badger Catholic was denied reimbursement of a previously approved budget. “At the end of the year the legal department from the University catholic page 3
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dailycardinal.com
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Snake near the lake
Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal
Due to weather conditions, WSUM’s Snake on the Lake was held in the Rathskeller Friday. Maps & Atlases headlined the 2010 festival. Flight and Phonetic One opened.
Obama unveils infrastructure plan at Milwaukee’s Laborfest By Jamie Stark The Daily Cardinal
President Barack Obama visited Milwaukee Monday to address economic issues at Laborfest, a unionsponsored Labor Day celebration on the Summerfest grounds, and promoted his $50 billion plan to improve national infrastructure. Obama gave an energized speech as part of the approaching campaign season, marking his third visit to Wisconsin since July. The president made sure to address growing economic concerns. “The problems facing working families, they’re nothing new.” Obama said. “But they are more serious than ever. Obama lauded the middle class and unions and also highlighted tax
cuts passed by Democrats. He ridiculed Republicans, claiming they arbitrarily disagree with everything he does. He blamed the current economic doldrums on the recent Republican majority, calling it “a decade worth of policies that saw too few people being able to climb into the middle class.” Obama also gave a shout out to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in his speech. The Obama camp has made no secret that they want Barrett, a long-time Obama supporter, to win the Nov. 2 gubernatorial race. In November, Barrett will face either Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker or former congressman Mark Neumann, both of whom are vying for the
Republican nomination. Jill Bader, Walker’s spokesperson, said she was not surprised by Obama’s visit.
“We used to have the best infastructure in the world, we can have it again.” Barack Obama president
“Obama promised Barrett he would do everything possible to get Barrett elected governor to continue a third term of Gov. Jim Doyle’s obama page 3
Walker reveals plan for education reform By Ariel Shapiro The Daily Cardinal
ben pierson/the daily cardinal
UW denied Badger Catholic funding for “strictly religious” activities on the basis of separation of church and state.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, Republican gubernatorial candidate, unveiled his education plan Friday, calling for stricter evaluation of teachers and schools and more focus on literacy. “By ensuring students are learning a year’s worth of knowledge during each school year and giving schools the freedom to succeed, Wisconsin will once again become a model for the nation,” Walker said in a statement. His plan entails promoting literacy by barring entry into the fourth grade for children who cannot read. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, 33 percent of fourth graders cannot
read at a proficient level. Walker also called for a grading system for both schools and teachers. Teachers are graded on a scale from “exemplary” to “ineffective,” and schools receive a grade on the A-F system. “In every other profession, excellence is rewarded and teaching should be no different,” the plan stated. The concept of a grading system for schools was presented in June by Walker’s rival for the Republican nomination, former congressman Mark Neumann. “This appears to be a shorter, similar version of a comprehensive education reform plan that Mark released back in June, which stresses grading schools and
teachers, and requiring students to measurably advance academically every year,” said Chris Lato, Neumann’s spokesperson. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin was also critical of the plan, saying this is not a solid plan for education reform, “but what is actually a lackluster collection of slogans and gimmicks meant to mask his plan to throw thousands of Wisconsin teachers out of jobs to fund his $1.8 billion tax cut for the richest one percent.” Walker said through this plan, “Wisconsin can again be a leader in educational excellence by refocusing on success in the classroom. Our students, our teachers, and our state’s future depend on us taking this action.”
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”