THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIII, Issue 122
Friday, April 13, 2012
www.badgerherald.com
MPD mulls Mifflin plans Officials look to future of block party, hope for relocation; 2012 event brings high price Tara Golshan Reporter The Madison Police Department and Mifflin neighborhood residents again pushed for what they said were much needed changes to the annual Mifflin Street Block Party at a city meeting Thursday night. The Public Safety Review Committee convened Thursday for city reports from MPD and the Madison Fire Department, which presented new developments for the block party, as well as city planning and budgeting. Capt. Carl Gloede presented the MPD perspective on the Mifflin Street Block Party, emphasizing the event’s history and consequent inevitability. According to Gloede, MPD’s biggest struggle in preparing for Mifflin is fighting the history. “There are ways to have a safe event,” Gloede said. “But it’s just getting past the legend and mystique of Mifflin Street.” Other than “hopes for rain” on May 5 and an altogether end to Mifflin, MPD holds more realistic hopes to eventually have a relocation of the Mifflin Street Block Party, Gloede said.
According to Gloede, the location of the party cannot adequately support the number of attendees. As the Mifflin Block Party takes place in a neighborhood setting, it is constitutionally not an event zone, Gloede said, because people cannot be prevented from getting to their home dwellings. Students have expressed interest in limiting the Mifflin Street Block Party to only University of Wisconsin students, but Gloede said doing so would be nearly impossible given the nature of the event’s environment. Gloede also debriefed a program in which Mifflin residents will be able to contact MPD captains in case a house party has gotten out of hand. “They can call to say we tried, we failed, help us,” Gloede said. “They don’t have total amnesty in terms of criminal acts, and the expectation is that they will not have another party in that house.” According to Gloede, efforts in the past three years to steer the block party into something other than a drinking event have failed, forcing the city to
MIFFLIN, page 4
Jen Small The Badger Herald
WISPIRG Chair Matt Kozlowski and incoming chair Tess Keegan ask SSFC to consider new funding, arguing WISPIRG is unique because it is the only organization at UW to provide students with its services.
SAFEcab funding reinstated SSFC will allow free service to continue after vast complaints from student body Tahleel Mohieldin Herald Contributor After originally deciding to eliminate a program that funds limited free cab rides to students late at night, a branch of University of Wisconsin’s student government voted to refund SAFECab in a meeting Thursday night. The Student Services Finance Committee’s reversal comes after a surge of UW students emailed SSFC representatives expressing their disapproval of the board’s original decision. SSFC Vice Chair
Chase Wilson said the committee has received more feedback from students on the issue than they have for anything else this year. The committee’s decision, however, will not impact UW Transportation Service’s decision to no longer administer the service. In a letter to Student Transportation Board, Director Patrick Kass said that even if SAFECab is restored, Trasnportation Services will no longer manage the program after June 30. According to a statement
All-night strut Members of the University of Wisconsin community dance the night away at the 2012 Latino Ball, a free all-night dance marathon hosted at the Memorial Union Thursday evening. The event showcased live music and tracks by DJ Illy Holiday and Nabori. Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
released by Rep. Laura Checovich, SSFC originally cut the program over serious concerns about administrative problems such as students being denied rides and operators with inefficient knowledge about SAFE policy. Checovich said Transportation Services has made it very clear that they do not care whether or not the program exists. SSFC members said they recognize the need for the program and will be discussing several options to provide the service, which could mean contracting with
an outside administrator for the service. “If Transportation won’t do it we have to be prepared to take over,” SSFC Rep. Cale Plammann said. “I don’t want to be in a position where we are dealing with emotions instead of logic.” Checovich said she still encourages students to voice their concerns and send in their letters to SSFC, which the committee will then forward to Transportation Services and Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell. Also addressed Thursday
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Redistricting maps gain court approval Sean Kirkby State Politics Editor A panel of federal judges sided with an immigrants’ rights group and a group of Democratic voters in revising two Milwaukee Assembly districts, rejecting a plan proposed by Republicans. Immigrants’ rights group Voces de la Frontera and a group of Democratic voters brought the case against the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, which was represented by the Department of Justice, alleging the maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act. “We’re disappointed one of our maps wasn’t chosen but not surprised,” Dana Brueck, DOJ spokesperson, said in an email to The Badger Herald. “We expect to reach a final decision on whether to appeal by the end of this week or early next week, but we’re leaning toward an appeal.” Doug Poland, an attorney
who represented the Democratic voters in the case, said an appeal would go straight to the U.S. Supreme Court, which would have to agree to take it up. He said the success of an appeal would be a long shot based on the evidence and the soundness of the ruling. Both Democrats and Republicans claimed the case favored them. Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement that the court upheld the constitutionality of nearly all the Assembly districts in Wisconsin. “Once again, the court has reaffirmed that the Legislature correctly apportioned 130 out of 132 Legislative districts as well as all 8 Congressional districts… All districts in Wisconsin are constitutional,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he was pleased with the ruling. He said he did not see much
REDISTRICTING, page 4
Regents: In-state students are priority INSIDE Governing body considers future budget provisions with emphasis on Wis. residents Kylie Peterson Herald Contributor The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents deliberated on the challenges of balancing the quality of education and ensuring affordability and broad access to institutions for Wisconsin residents in a meeting Thursday night. The board discussed its budget priorities for the UW System in the 2013-15 Biennium Thursday at its first day of a two-part April meeting. In his presentation to the board, Michael
Morgan, senior vice president for administration and fiscal affairs, emphasized the Growth Agenda for Wisconsin. The initiative focuses on increasing the number of wellpaying jobs, the need for more college graduates and strengthening communities throughout the state. “Over the last 30 years, we have not seen the kind of investment that we would have liked from the State of Wisconsin and the UW System, and yet we’ve achieved quite a bit despite that,” Morgan said.
According to data Morgan presented, the number of adults with four-year degrees in Wisconsin ranks around 26 percent, while the national average is at 28 percent. Wisconsin falls even further behind Minnesota, which has 32 percent of adults with four-year degrees, Morgan said. Along with graduation rates, the board also discussed the percentage of resident versus nonresident students in the System. The increased tuition paid by nonresident students allows
for more acceptances of in-state students, but Regent Judith Crain said focusing on increasing graduation rates for resident students is key. “I value the nonresident students who are a part of our educational institutions, … but the priority for us has to [be] in educating Wisconsin students,” Crain said. UW institutions are now more than 14 percent behind peer institutions in faculty and staff pay, Morgan said. He expressed fear that the lack of pay
REGENTS, page 2 © 2012 BADGER HERALD
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