2
The Badger Herald | News | Wednesday, February 20, 2013 TODAY
18 5 mostly sunny
Telephone Fax
608.257.4712 608.257.6899
15,000 copies printed every weekday. Published since September 10, 1969.
Herald editorial Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rainey Managing Editor Katherine Krueger Editor-at-Large Pamela Selman News Katie Caron News Content Cammy Albert Deputy News Tara Golshan City Hall Sarah Eucalano City Life Allison Johnson State Politics Alice Coyne Senior Legislative Polo Rocha Senior Campus Julia Skulstad Higher Education Noah Goetzel Editorial Page Charles Godfrey Ed. Page Content Joe Timmerman Ed. Board Chair Leah Linscheid Sports Nick Korger Sports Content Nick Daniels Senior Associate Sports Sean Zak Associates Spencer Smith Caroline Sage
Statistics Lee Gordon ArtsEtc. Tim Hadick ArtsEtc. Content Colin Kellogg Comics Noah Yuenkel Copy Chief Kelsey Sorenson Associate Copy Chief Sean Kirkby Copy Editors Martha Demeules, David Glickstein, Maddy Michaelides, Heather Sieve Photo Andy Fate Assoc. Photo Kelsey Fenton Jen Small Design Directors Sigrid Hubertz Gus McNair Page Designers Katie Gaab Ali Sinkula Maddy Raff Web Director Will Haynes Web Consultant Charlie Gorichanaz
Herald business Publisher General Mgr. Business Assoc.
Peter Hoeschele Luke Nevermann Caroline Johnson
Herald advertising Advertising Director Jillian Grupp Display Manager Julia Welytok Classified Mgr. Elise Watson Executives Mackenzie Chaffee Alyssa Smith Tara Hoffman Zack Legge
Lauren Anderson Madison Wiberg Austin Marg
Board of directors Chairman Vice Chairman Vice Chairman Vice Chairman
Corey ChamberlainPeter Hoeschele Ryan Rainey Jillian Grupp Tim Hadick Pam Selman Julia Welytok Elise Watson Katie Caron
TOMORROW
26 25 mostly cloudy
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
33 21
28 11
32 18
snow showers
partly cloudy
mostly sunny
Capitol permits approved amid lawsuit Allie Johnson City Life Editor Capitol Police and the state government continue to approve permit requests for events held at the Capitol amid controversy over the policy. The Department of Administration announced as of Tuesday the Capitol Police Department approved 129 event permits for 2013, according to a DOA statement. In 2012, the police approved 496 event permits, the statement said. The DOA issued the State Facilities Access Policy requiring groups to apply for permits to hold events in the Capitol rotunda many years ago, but began to strongly enforce the policy in
September 2012, according to ACLU Legal Director Larry Dupuis. Thus far, Capitol Police have denied five permit requests, according to the statement. The requests were denied because the event was either not planning to be held on state property or another event was booked at the same date and time, the statement said. However, this permit requirement is facing controversy from members of the community. University of Wisconsin medical physics professor Michael Kissick and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed a federal lawsuit Feb. 11 against the Capitol Police over the permitting process. Dupuis said the ACLU and
Kissick took issue with the rule saying only one group can be in the Capitol rotunda at a time. He explained groups of four or larger are required to apply for a permit. This is unnecessary because the rotunda is a big space, he said. Dupuis said the ACLU is advocating for the Capitol Police to return to the voluntary reservation system. The voluntary reservation system allows groups to reserve event dates and times, but also lets them use the rotunda without a reservation if it is not in use, he explained. Dupuis said the police can also charge groups for staffing the rotunda with extra officers for their events. “This is a problem because
it invites the government to look at the content of the event and add more officers if the group looks like they will create trouble,” he said. This is a way for the police to treat groups differently, he said. The lawsuit came about because Kissick, who had protested at the Capitol periodically, stopped going when police began making arrests and handing out tickets to protestors without a permit. Kissick wanted to return to protesting at the Capitol, but felt he could not do so until the permit requirement was addressed, he said. DOA spokesperson Stephanie Marquis said the permit process is significant for several reasons. She
explained it helps Capitol Police to know how many people are in the Capitol and to allocate the proper number of staff required for events. Additionally, she said the process ensures all citizens have access to the Capitol. “All groups must follow the permitting process, and the Capitol Police issue hundreds of permits each year regardless of political party, affiliation or content,” Marquis said. “Both state and federal court cases have found that permit requirements are constitutional and do not infringe on free speech. Dupuis said he does not know what the timeline for the lawsuit looks like yet, but the team will schedule a hearing with the judge next week.
Committee focuses on campus recycling Molly Coplan Herald Contributor A student government committee for sustainability reviewed the progress of its energy campaign and planned upcoming waste campaigns for the semester in a meeting Tuesday. Associated Students of Madison Sustainability Committee Chair Colin Higgins said he met with the University of Wisconsin Office of Sustainability to go over its current energy campaign and to receive input on upcoming campaigns. “This semester we should focus a lot more on outreach, rather than running specific issue-based campaigns so we can build larger networks,” Higgins said.
ALDERMANIC, from 1 the district, not of the city. Ellingson said the results demonstrated she is doing the job the way it should be done. Issues regarding pedestrian and bike safety will be the focal point of the rest of her campaign, she said. Those are the issues residents talk about the most, she explained. By 4 p.m., 12,513 residents across the districts cast their vote for the candidates they
Higgins also said the Office of Sustainability expressed excitement about the potential of being more involved at the Student Orientation, Advising and Registration program. A focus at SOAR would concern various conservation and sustainability measures students can take in the dorms and on campus in order to live in a more sustainable fashion, according to Higgins. The committee also reviewed the possibility of creating a survey to ask students what they see as the most pressing sustainability issues on campus, as another outreach idea. Committee member Kevin Englebert introduced the idea of holding a symposium with
wanted to see on the ballot in the general election,
“I’m pretty enthusiastic.” Ledell Zellers
Aldermanic candidate in District 2
according to a report from the city clerk’s office. The primary election reported
ROBBERY, from 1 likely the three cases were connected. MPD suspects a relation between the three cases due to similarities in the style of operation, the descriptions of the suspects, the time frame and the relative proximity between the incidents, he said. The victims were all college-aged students who lived in the off-campus housing area, DeSpain said. He added all three victims reported seeing a four-door, dark-colored and older model vehicle. While no weapons were reported in any of the three cases, two of the robberies reported the suspect used physical violence, according to DeSpain. However, no injuries were reported in any of the cases, he said. The suspects were described by all victims as relatively tall males wearing dark clothing, according to the statement. The victims in the robberies on Milton Street and Randall Street both reported one of the suspects had long, braided
HEARING, from 1 Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, asked whether a student could just test out of everything, but Cross said the number of people doing so would be small. UW social work professor Aaron Brower said the new flexible option program would only “supplement” existing traditional programs, such as the typical college or nontraditional programs the UW System already has. Sen. Sheila
other sustainability groups on campus to talk about large and various sustainability issues most present at UW. This forum would provide a way to frame environmental issues as students see them, Higgins said. It would also act as an opportunity to bring a lot of people together, he added. According to Higgins, Sustainability Committee’s new waste campaign will engage different target audiences on campus to bring about the most effective change. “The main goal is education on proper disposal and availability of disposal of waste,” Higgins said. Sustainability Committee member Madeline Dent said she hopes one focus area will
6.6 percent voter turnout overall, the report said. Zellers said she would like to see a higher turnout in the general election. The election is important because it matters to people in their day to day lives, she said. Post added it is especially critical students make their voices heard because it is an important election. The Common Council general election will be held April 2.
hair, the statement said. DeSpain said MPD always advises students not to walk alone whenever possible and to walk in welllit areas. “However, it is not always possible to walk with someone,” DeSpain said. “The victims did the right thing in not putting up a fight and handing over the items.” According to DeSpain, not much could have been done to prevent the robberies in these cases. He explained this type of robbery occurring at the times it did is not normal for the downtown area. The female victim was walking along Dayton Street, a welltraveled road, not very late at night, he said. The victims in all three cases were targeted, DeSpain said, adding the three suspects were patrolling the off-campus housing areas looking for college-aged people walking alone at night. “It is a high priority for us to identify these people and get them off the streets,” DeSpain said.
Harsdorf, R-River Falls, the committee chair, agreed. “The flexible option is not going to be an option for every student,” Harsdorf said. Brower said the flexible option program only gives another option to nontraditional students, one that many of them could not currently take advantage of because of the few online degree programs that will be offered this fall. UW-Milwaukee will offer four degree programs this
encompass freshmen in the dorms. She said influencing students as they first arrive on campus could be the most effective way to bring about some sort of change. Higgins said a specific challenge the committee hopes to tackle is developing a greater connection within the dorms and raising awareness of what can and cannot be recycled. “It would be good starting in the dorms because some of those people will move off campus and have some sort of standing already with waste issues,” Sustainability Committee member Kellen Frable said. Dent said another way to enact change would involve targeting social norms and correcting them. Through
this, she said she hopes to make waste management a visual issue. It is important to put up informative visual materials, like posters and signs, Dent said. But, she added, having people commit to something is important too. Frable said the committee could also target people who visit the unions and any other facilities on campus offering compost disposal. Higgins said this would educate people on what items are or are not considered compost and share the positive effect this method of disposal has on the community. He said the campaign is not just about waste, but also about doing something to increase sustainability focus.
BUDGET, from 1 more flexibility in how it spends the money. Public Education Walker seeks to invest $129 million in public schools, which compares to the $834 billion he cut from public schools two years ago. Democrats called the increase a “paltry” amount given the last budget’s cuts. He also plans on spending $13.5 million to create an evaluation system for the state’s teachers and principals, which he said would cover the districts’ costs of $80 per teacher. He will also fund a Department of Public Instruction proposal that would require high school students to take the ACT and its precursor tests. Walker also plans to expand voucher schools in the state, which currently only exist in Milwaukee and Racine. Democrats, as well as some Republican senators, voiced their concerns with the voucher school expansion coming at the cost of school districts. Medicaid Walker plans to turn down the full Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law. He is instead proposing an alternate plan in which he would let in 82,000 childless adults who are currently on the wait list for Medicaid and move less poor parents in Medicaid to private insurance exchanges.
fall: two in nursing, one in diagnostic imaging and one in information technology. UW Colleges will offer general education courses and an Associate of Arts and Science degree. Although those are the only programs students can start this fall, faculty across the system are working on developing more. Reilly also talked about the importance of flexibilities the Legislature granted the UW System in the past session. This
More details on the plan will come out in his budget. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis released last week showed that would cost the state more than the full expansion, for which the which the federal government would never pay less than 90 percent. However, Walker said he was uncertain whether the federal government could meet those promises in the future due to its debt problems. Jobs Walker said he wants to give $75 million in tax credits to businesses, $10.9 million in the state jobs agency’s marketing efforts, $6 million in a loan program and lift the cap on a tax credit program. Walker also wants to invest $25 million in venture capital, an area the Legislature did not agree on last session. A large part of their disagreements stemmed from certified capital companies, or CAPCOs, that some think are less accountable and effective. Walker said he would not include CAPCOs in his budget. Other areas Walker will invest about $30 million in mental health services. He also wants to increase law enforcement spending by $14 million, including $4 million for sexual assault victim services.
includes flexibility with building projects and block grants that allowed the system to give money to campuses without specifying as much on where chancellors would need to use it for. He also apologized to the committee about the more than $34 million in overpayments at the UW System since a new human resources system replaced a nearly 40-year-old system that Reilly said was close to breaking any day.