THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIV, Issue 73
Thursday, February 7, 2013
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Mental health to see fund increase Walker proposes $29 million in added taxpayer dollars to bolster state services Maryn Zwier Herald Contributor
Tickling the ivories A man puts on a solo show at The Ivory Room Wednesday evening, setting the mood for the venue’s patrons. Claire Larkins The Badger Herald
Palermo’s, UW clash Students, strikers rally after research group says company violated university code of conduct Tegan Vail Herald Contributor Frustrated Palermo’s Pizza employees and members of two workers’ rights groups held a candle vigil outside the University of Wisconsin chancellor’s mansion Wednesday to protest alleged university code of conduct violations. Student Labor Action Coalition and the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin members joined Palermo’s
staff outside of Interim Chancellor David Ward’s residence to protest his inaction regarding labor violations the Worker’s Rights Consortium found Palermo’s guilty of. Around 20 people attended the vigil. However, Ward himself was not one of them. According to Lydia Zepeda, UW consumer science professor and Labor Licensing Policy Committee chair, Palermo’s is violating the code of conduct in many ways. The major infractions
include issues in union formation, the firing of striking workers and health and safety violations. In November, Ward said he would give the case consideration and would take appropriate actions based on the evidence available. “[I] will review the committee’s request and respond accordingly to them. In the meantime, we have no plans to take any action,” he said. Ward has remained
silent about whether he will maintain or cut ties with the company in the indefinite future. For the last eight months, Palermo’s workers have been on strike while the WRC investigated the violations. WRC found Palermo’s guilty of violating UW’s Code of Conduct Tuesday. At the vigil, Jesus Gaona, Palermo’s employee of 10 years, said he would like the chancellor to support cutting
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In the midst of ongoing dialogue about mental health stemming from recent shootings across the nation, Gov. Scott Walker will pursue an increase in mental health funding by about $29 million from state taxpayer funds in his proposed budget for this session. According to a Wednesday statement from Walker’s spokesperson, this increased funding will go toward supporting and expanding state and local governmentsponsored mental health services. “Earlier this year, I met with mental health professionals, advocates and consumers from across Wisconsin, and they gave me some tremendous insights into the needs of people living with mental health challenges,” Walker said in the statement. “Our budget investment will provide additional resources to improve and expand care, as well as give support to those living with mental illness.” According to the statement, this extra $29 million would fund an expansion in both Comprehensive Community Services, a community care facility for people of all ages suffering from severe mental illnesses, and Coordinated Services Team, community-
based care for youth. The funding will also establish an Office of Children’s Mental Health to ensure suitable mental health care to children, increase funding for in-home counseling for children and increase the capacity of forensic units at the Mendota Health Institute. Barbara Beckert, Disability Rights Wisconsin spokesperson, said expanding mental health care has been contested for a while, but may be a more urgent discussion in light of recent violence seen in schools across the country. Mental health care took special prominence after a shooter killed 26 students and teachers at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., late last year. She also stressed the decision to bump up funding as a result of Wisconsin’s mental health system’s poor rankings. Whereas most of the country has statewide mental health systems, Wisconsin’s mental health system runs on a county-tocounty basis, making it more difficult to get patients the help they need. According to Beckert, 42 out of the 72 counties in Wisconsin choose not to keep up with mental health standards
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ASM approves reduced GSSF budget at $1.4 million Student government revisits Constitution overhaul, considers restructuring bodies Noah Goetzel Higher Education Editor The University of Wisconsin’s student government overwhelmingly approved its slightly decreased budget and considered a potential overthrow of its current constitution at its meeting
Wednesday. Members of the Associated Students of Madison Student Council voted 12-2 to approve the General Student Services Fund budget over the 20132014 fiscal year. The newly approved GSSF budget total will be nearly $1.4 million, down more than $5,000 from this year’s budget. Primary budget cuts came from salaries of various ASM positions and spending on supplies, according to Student Services Finance Committee Chair Ellie Bruecker. She added these GSSF spending reductions were “exciting,”
and have occurred the past couple years. “I think SSFC did a fantastic job this year being very transparent. Everybody has faith in Chair Bruecker and SSFC in general to do its job correctly, and that’s why you saw basically unanimous approval over it,” ASM Chair Andrew Bulovsky said. This budget is still subject to slight change, however, Bruecker noted, as two GSSF student groups have filed appeals regarding their budgets for next year. Student Council also unanimously approved
the SSFC’s approximately $170,000 budget for next year, which also is lower than the committee’s current budget. Bruecker said SSFC was able to reduce its budget for FY 2013-2014 by approximately $1,000 despite increased wages for SSFC members associated with last year’s tuition increase. “We’re, basically just trying to be more responsible with students’ money [on these budget decisions],” Bruecker added. Student Council also proposed an overthrow of its current constitution to adopt
a slightly modified version drafted by Nominations Board Chair Sean McNally. The goal is to consolidate the process of student government funding while emphasizing focus on campus outreach, according to McNally. Major changes to the new constitution include a Legislative Branch with a Student Senate, President’s Council, nearly unchanged Judicial Branch and inclusion of a President and Vice President in the Executive Branch, according to an ASM statement. “It’s streamlining to allow
students to focus on serving other students, while other representatives to focus on making sure the budgets are checked and equitable to all groups,” McNally said. While the new 15-page constitution is largely the same as the one in place now, McNally said it would be easier to digest than a series of complicated bylaw changes that could be 100 pages long. ASM’s development of a new constitution has been going on for years, McNally added. He said the
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Stakeholders take on new student housing proposal Allie Johnson City Life Editor Yet another proposal for new student housing was brought before a city body Wednesday as the Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association considered plans to convert a church-owned school building on West Johnson Street into student apartments. The Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association addressed plans to make changes to the Holy Redeemer School building, located next to the Holy Redeemer Parish. According to Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association Chair Gene Devitt, the Madison Catholic Diocese and the Cathedral Parish initially proposed the idea to use the building for student housing. The architecture company behind the project asked the association to consider the growing gap in housing options currently available to students. “There is a tremendous need for housing,” Stephen Mar-Pol, Insite Consulting
Architects spokesperson, said. “This is an opportunity to bring that housing to a building that is basically in a dormant state.” According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, Catholic students at University of Wisconsin are the target tenants for the project, particularly those who are members of St. Paul’s University Catholic Center. While housing laws prevent landlords from discriminating against potential tenants, Verveer said the building would function similarly to the Pres House apartments on East Campus Mall. The Pres House is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, but is open to all students, he said. According to Mark Landgraf, Landgraf Construction Inc. president, the school has been a fixture in the neighborhood since 1892 and served as a school until 1965. The building is currently registered with the Historic Landmarks Commission, Landgraf said. The developers were
careful to make sure sure the plans respected the original design of the building, and the current plans take the building and bring it back to life, MarPol said. According to Landgraf, the current plans for the school involve gutting the whole interior of the building. Community members at the meeting expressed concern about using the whole building because it would eliminate the possibility of community use. Since 1965, the building has served a variety of different uses, according to Devitt. The auditorium on the top floor is important because it serves as a meeting space for the Holy Redeemer Parish, he said. The problem with many churches downtown is lack of auditorium space because it is expensive to build, he added. “If they used that school and closed down the auditorium on the top floor you’d have limited meeting space,” Devitt said. “[The Holy Redeemer Parish] would start
Comeback kid
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Senior Mike Bruesewitz gets pumped on the court during the Badgers game last night. Jen Small The Badger Herald
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