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The Badger Herald | News | Friday, March 9, 2012
SSFC maintains neutrality not violated in decision Chair says students would file appeal to regents if Ward overturns decisions Tahleel Mohieldin Herald Contributor A branch of University of Wisconsin student government took up items designed to improve internal efficiency as well as addressed the possibility of appealing to the Board of Regents if Interim Chancellor David Ward overturns its nonallocable budgets. In a meeting Thursday night, Student Services Finance Committee Chair
Sarah Neibart said the committee will be focusing on making changes to increase its efficiency for upcoming academic years. During the discussion, Rep. Ron Crandall proposed updating the committee’s website to make it more accessible. He said the committee should expand the website to accommodate a more clear and open government. Secretary Ellie Bruecker said while creating a better web server would be beneficial, the majority of issues with SSFC bylaws stem from difficulty for readers in understanding the language of the laws. “In the current form, you’re not going to understand
Bruecker also made a motion to amend the agenda to strike a special order to discuss a letter written by former committee member Justin Bloesch. Bruecker said because the letter was not sent directly to SSFC, and because Bloesch was not present at the meeting, the committee should not discuss it to avoid hostility. Neibart agreed, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss the letter. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about people in their absence, and we already had this conversation, so at this point [discussing it] would be inappropriate,” Neibart said. Bloesch’s letter sent to
[the bylaws] unless you sit down with someone who understands them,” Bruecker said. The committee focuses on clarifying and potentially changing problematic SSFC bylaws. “The clarity of the rules and the means for explaining them are of the major complaints,” Plamann said. “Having a clear set of directives for how to go through [SSFC] bylaws will solve a lot of problems.” Bruecker said she hopes these initiatives will increase communication between SSFC and General Student Services Fund groups in the future. In addition to addressing the subcommittee items,
Associated Students of Madison Coordinating Council members said SSFC had violated viewpoint neutrality during Multicultural Student Coalition’s eligibility hearing last semester, in which SSFC denied GSSF funding eligibility to the group. According to Bruecker, Bloesch said in the letter he also violated viewpoint neutrality, even though he voted in favor of MCSC’s eligibility. Neibart said these allegations were a “blatant lie” and maintained the committee was viewpointneutral and respectful throughout the process. Despite the letter, she added she felt Bloesch was
viewpoint neutral during the process. “I trained Justin, and I monitor all of the meetings. … I told him he couldn’t speak for anyone but himself,” Neibart said. “When you’re on SSFC, you have to protect the integrity of [SSFC’s] rules. It’s not the outcome; it’s the process,” Along with these items, Neibart said she will report SSFC’s budgets for the year to Ward on Wednesday. The committee would likely hear back from Ward within two weeks. Neibart added she anticipates Ward may overturn SSFC’s non-allocable budgets, at which point the committee would appeal to the Board of Regents.
Bill would bring back union rights Risser, Pocan introduce proposal to repeal governor’s law to limit collective bargaining Kylie Peterson Herald Contributor As the one-year anniversary of the passage of the bill repealing most collective bargaining rights for public unions approaches, Democratic legislators are seeking to do away with the contentious law. At a press conference Thursday, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, introduced the Collective Bargaining Restoration Act, which would create provisions in the state statutes dealing with how unions are certified and the collection of union dues, as well as re-establishing the ability of public unions to collectively bargain. The bill would repeal the collective bargaining legislation, originally part of the budget repair bill, passed by the Republican legislature last year and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker. In 1959, Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to implement
collective bargaining for public employees, a task Risser helped accomplish. “Back then Wisconsin was known as a progressive, innovative state,” Risser said. “Gov. Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature in less than five weeks undid 50 years of labor, collective bargaining and peace.” Although Wisconsin saw a slight jump in job growth this month, the state experienced an overall loss of jobs and increase in retirements for state and local government positions during 2011, Pocan said. He said these downfalls could be attributed to the labor unrest caused by the passage of Republican legislation last year. Individuals from various public and private sector union organizations also spoke at the conference about how the budget repair bill has affected them. Sheila Ellis from the Department of Health Services called the bill an “assault on the workers of Wisconsin.” Still, she stressed the importance of creating a unified state.
Olivia Thompson-Davies The Badger Herald
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, introduced the legislation to restore public unions’ collective bargaining rights in a press conference held Thursday. “We’re here to discuss, we’re here to sit together and to work together to make this state better,” Ellis said. Concern for the quality of education in the state is a high priority for Sara Bringman, a retired middle school special education teacher who spent more than 30 years in Madison schools. Bringman said loss of collective bargaining rights, pay cuts and loss of six percent toward retirement has decreased morale
among teachers. “We’re killing public education, not only in Wisconsin but across the country,” Bringman said. “We need to get our collective bargaining rights back, so our teachers and assistants and security people can concentrate on the education of our kids.” Along with education, Walker’s budget repair bill is affecting public safety and other services funded by taxpayer dollars, Pocan said. He said he feels it is
REGENTS, from 1 not getting the funds from the decision makers, and that’s going to be a shame for the students and a shame for the state.” Contrary to Walsh’s belief, Nook said the net price paid for college tuition is less today than it was five years ago due to grant aid and federal tax credits. Over the past several years, the UW System has passed along generally modest tuition increases while retaining a reputation as one of the
nation’s most respected and most efficient systems of higher education, Nook said. However, according to Jane Hojan-Clark, UWMilwaukee director of financial aid, the grants and financial aid resources available are not sufficient to meet demands of Milwaukee students. “At the end of the day, there are not enough funds to meet the needs, and the needs are growing,” Hojan-Clark said. In addition to addressing the needs of
important for the state to maintain a high level of quality when it comes to these programs. The Collective Bargaining Restoration Act was unsuccessful in an earlier attempt to pass through the Senate, Risser said. Whether the bill would pass in a Republicancontrolled Legislature remains uncertain. Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said
UW students, the Board of Regents also deliberated over the school system’s employees in light of the upcoming university personnel system renovations. The establishment of a new UW System personnel system, required by the state Legislature, is intended to connect all UW employees under one unified system, said Al Crist, vice president of human resources and workforce diversity. UW-Green Bay professor Clifford Abbott
MIFFLIN, from 1 Fire Department and developer Hovde Properties to build a new facility downtown for MFD. Soglin said concerns have also arisen over the plan to build the new facility in 10 years, as some worry that starting it now will be tough under current financial conditions. He said if the fire department decides to carry out the project 10 years from now without the partnership, it might have to find a new location for 12 city employees. In an interview with The Badger Herald, Fire Chief Steve Davis said MFD has been pressed for downtown space for some time with 45 employees and only room for 25 of them. “The buildings are to the point where they need improvements in the heating and the roofs,” Davis said in the interview. The new facility would include an apparatus floor for fire trucks, with a residential floor and
Fitzgerald stands by the reforms and the actions of the Legislature last year. Risser and Pocan said they hope this summer’s recall election will encourage support for the bill and correct the political divide they say Walker has created. “We are going to change this law; there is absolutely no question in my mind Wisconsin will restore collective bargaining,” Pocan said. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.”
said the task forces working on developing the system are attempting to homogenize the structure and the current system is wrought with complexities. “We are trying to find simplicity in this situation which sometimes results in winners and losers in terms of benefits,” Abbott said. “Every time we find a bright idea to meet one need, we find that it creates complexity on another end.” According to Crist, the new system will be unveiled on July 1, 2013.
offices above that, Davis said. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the development of the proposal is progressing very quickly, and some residents from the Mifflin neighborhood are not ready for a community meeting before they have a better understanding of the project.
“We are trying to change [the party] away from the drunk culture,” Indy Stluka Mifflin St. Resident
Association member Scott Kolar said he is concerned about how the project is developing on a fast track and said he believes a community meeting is needed soon to discuss it. “I just want to make sure that we got the neighborhood’s voice heard in there,” he said. --Adrianna Viswanatha contributed to this report.