THEUWMPOST est. 1956
the student-run independent newspaper
May 7, 2012
Smoke free policy page 2
Issue 29, Volume 56
Winter Olympics page 6
Summer’s fests page 8
Subsidized student loan This year’s top ten A look back at the most impactful stories interest rate set to double of the 2011-2012 academic year Rate change could cost students an extra $986 By Audrey Posten Staff Writer news@uwmpost.com President Obama is making a highprofile pitch, urging Congress to take action halting an increase in student loan interest rates, going so far as to slow jam the news on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. As of July 1, undergraduate students across the country will see the 3.4 percent interest rate on their subsidized Stafford student loans double to 6.8 percent unless the federal government intervenes. This increase would only affect subsidized loans, where the interest is paid off by the government while the student is still in school. The increase would also only apply to subsidized loans taken out on or after July 1 of this year, leaving subsidized loans taken out prior to that date unaffected. According to Jane Hojan-Clark, the executive director of the Department of Financial Aid, Student Employment and Military Education Benefits, nearly 80 percent of UW-Milwaukee students receive financial aid every year. Of that number, 71 percent borrow money. Hojan-Clark said a UWM student from Wisconsin that is completing a bachelor’s degree accumulates an average of $29,000 in student loan debt. She said the 3.4 percent rate increase would add an extra $986 to that total. “We always want what’s best for stu-
dents,” said Sue Minzlaff, the assistant director of financial aid, “so it doesn’t make sense to raise the rates. But at the same time, you have to come up with the money from somewhere.” Both Republicans and Democrats agree that freezing interest rates is a good idea. What lawmakers cannot agree on is how to finance a year-long extension of the current rate, which the government said could cost $6 billion. On Friday, April 27, with a vote of 215 to 195, the House of Representatives passed a bill to freeze rates, while taking billions of dollars from the Affordable Care Act to pay for it, despite veto threats from President Obama. House Democrats had proposed a bill that would also freeze rates, but would make up the difference by closing tax loopholes for wealthy business owners. After the vote Congresswoman Gwen Moore, whose district includes UWM, released a statement saying, “On April 27, House Republicans played political games with this critical issue – passing a partisan bill that blocks the increase but pays for it by undermining the health of America’s women and children. This partisan bill does not give students needed relief; instead it has drawn a veto threat from the president. By contrast, House Democrats have a bill that blocks the increase but pays for it by eliminating billions of dollars in tax subsidies to Big Oil.”
“No matter what comes out, it’s going to be bad,” Emily Stock, a sophomore majoring in public relations, said. Returning freshman Rebecca Fenelon, who is majoring in pre-med and anthropology, said it does not seem fair that students may get punished because of the Congressional battle. Freshman Maricela Palacio, who is also pre-med, said she was also disappointed. “I think it’s sad because younger people are missing out on getting a good education,” she said. Palacio said she thinks the loan debt graduates face has a trigger effect, hurting families, jobs and the economy in general. Senior and history major Scott Payne agreed with Palacio saying, “All it’s going to do is hurt the economy because it’s people who are going to have to be paying off a ton of loans instead of being productive members of society and being able to contribute.” However, Payne said he thought loan forgiveness was more important than the interest rate jump. “It doesn’t matter if students are getting charged a ton of interest or a little bit if they can’t pay their loans back,” Payne said.
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School of Public Health to add new doctorate program
New Ph.D. program stresses community involvement By Clair Sprenger Staff Writer news@uwmpost.com
UW-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health approved a second Ph.D. concentration in community and behavioral health promotion, expected to begin this fall. The program plans to collaborate with the Milwaukee community on local public health research and projects. “It’s the type of degree that can’t be effectively achieved…without being involved in community work,” said professor Paul Florsheim, who presented it to the Board of Regents. Florsheim said the program will integrate UWM’s strength in social and behavioral sciences into a “health-promotion approach.” This will train stu-
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dents to use community collaboration to detect, research and prevent population health issues and address those that have already erupted. “Effective public health practice, programs and policies are informed by relevant research on social and behavioral health,” Dean Magda Peck said. Zilber generally does not heavily emphasize natural sciences and seeks students from diverse fields, including psychology and public policy. Many students will not come into the program with much public health background, Florsheim said. Most faculty members also have social science training. “[This focus] requires people from a lot of disciplines coming together,” Florsheim said. The school’s ultimate theme, “social
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and environmental justice,” focuses on reducing health disparities and working with public institutions, like school systems, to accomplish its goals. Students primarily do research and put together programs based on findings. “It allows UWM to participate in the larger endeavor of public health promotion…and it really gives students an opportunity to be trained in a field that’s really growing,” Florsheim said. “The faculty in this program are really committed to research.” He said the program will help UWM bring in more research grants and establish itself as a “premier research university.” Universities make significant investments when they begin new programs,
See DOCTORATE page 3
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(From left to right, top to bottom) Alex Kostal, Brent Johnson, Chris Whalley, Rick Costello, Eric Grow, Sandy Botham, Cambridge Commons, Mike Lovell, Makenzie Gillaspie SA president resigns amid scandal John Parnon (12/12/12)- SA president Alex Kostal resigned his position during an SA senate meeting prior to the release of a SORC investigation in which Kostal received five counts of violating SA’s code of ethics and four counts of abusing his power. His charges included intimidating and coercing members of SA, interfering with SORC investigations and violating a temporary restraining order. Vice President Angela Lang succeeded him after his resignation. SA vice president arrested Steve Garrison and Zach Brooke (12/06/12)- SA vice president Brent Johnson resigned following his arrest in relation to allegations of sexual assault. The alleged victim was a former SA senator. The incident was said to have taken place earlier in Sept. of 2012. A restraining order was placed on Johnson, however the case was later dropped with Johnson remaining innocent of all charges. As a result of his resignation, President Kostal appointed Angela Lang to the vacant vice president position. Soccer coaches placed on administrative leave after allegations of racism Steve Garrison (03/12/2012)- The coach of the men’s soccer team, Chris Whalley and his assistant coach Ben Shepherd were removed from their positions after players reported instances of misconduct. Martin Castro, a former player who served as a volunteer for the team, received complaints about Whalley in Nov. of 2011. Players claimed Whalley made racists remarks, belittled players
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during practice, allowed them to skip class and had some players prepare food for him and serve him tea. After a university investigation, he was dismissed from his position on Mar. 26, 2012 and Shepherd was reinstated. Personnel Foul Jeremy Lubus (04/30/2012)- UWM athletic director Rick Costello resigned Apr. 20. His resignation came during a university investigation of the athletic department. Criticism of Costello arose by former employees. They pointed to his handling of player complaints about soccer coach Chris Whalley and an inability to fulfill promises he made in regards to the department’s budget as instances of mismanagement. As part of the investigation, a climate survey was sent out to the department and Costello received exceptionally low ratings. SA election scandal Zach Brooke, Zach Garhart, Justin Jabs, Steve Garrison, John Parnon and Audrey Posten (04/03/2012)- Leading up to the SA elections, a Facebook thread of vice presidential candidate Eric Grow was released revealing a number of conversations he had with opposing party leader Hugo Nguyen about interfering with the election process and fraudulently packing the senate to make self-serving appointments. Grow was also found to have made a number of racist remarks. In addition, after defacing campaign signage of another party, Nguyen’s party Iconic was ultimately removed from the ballot before the election
See TOP TEN page 4 uwmpost.com
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