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THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIV, Issue 110
Monday, April 22, 2013
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Republicans call for tuition freeze $648 million surplus found in UW System budget, more than half already allotted Polo Rocha Senior Legislative Editor After University of Wisconsin officials announced plans for spending part of a $648 million surplus on Friday, the governor and state Republicans fired back by instead calling for a tuition freeze for students and
condemning the system’s “incompetence.” Of the $648 million balance, $414 million comes from tuition revenues, a number that has grown from the $212.8 million tuition balance of June 2009, according to the memo. The surplus increased despite the UW System facing about $300 million in funding cuts in the state budget over the past two years. Republicans said they were “outraged” to learn about the balance, which was laid out in a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo that stemmed from
its investigation of about $34 million in UW System benefits overpayments last year. The UW System had planned $441 million in spending from the $648 million balance, according to the memo. Of the $414 million tuition balance, the UW System has already laid out $332 million it plans on spending, part of it in initiatives, UW System President Kevin Reilly announced shortly before the memo’s release Friday. Those initiatives included eliminating a financial aid waiting list, increasing work study, economic
development grants and increasing spending on the new flexible option degree. Republican legislative leaders released a statement criticizing the “pattern of incompetence” at the UW System. In a statement, Gov. Scott Walker joined in the criticisms and ensured a tuition freeze in the budget. “It is very concerning to learn the UW System has been running a surplus balance of this size, especially at a time when students, families and lawmakers have continually heard from the UW System about the need for more
money to offset ‘devastating cuts,’” Walker said. “At a minimum, on behalf of students and their families, I am asking legislative leaders to freeze tuition increases for two years.” The actual balance at the UW System is more than $1 billion, although that includes federal aid, gifts, grants and contracts that cannot be spent elsewhere, so the LFB narrowed down the balance to $648 million. With those sources included, the UW System’s total budget is $5.6 billion, and without, its budget is $2.5 billion. A UW System statement
released after the balance was made public said the system has “only about $207 million” in uncommitted cash balances, $82 million of which comes from tuition. “We welcome a conversation about the appropriate levels of fund balances, how those funds should be used to benefit students and the state and what level of unrestricted reserves should be maintained as we manage a complex higher education enterprise in uncertain times,” Reilly said in the
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Campus zombie game criticized UWPD fields reports of assault weapons on campus after group uses toy guns in event Kayla Rathjen Herald Contributor The University of Wisconsin’s student-run Humans vs. Zombies organization drew criticism from several students this past week, as they mistook Nerf guns for assault rifles and filed gun complaints with the UW Police Department. The Humans vs. Zombies event began four years ago and occurs twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. It originated at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. but two students started a chapter in Madison, Alex Turek, a UW student who organizes the event, said. Turek said the event serves as a week-long “stress reliever” from the pressures
of college, an environment where UW students can be active and social. He said it is also a team-building event, and this year drew 230 participants. UW Police Department spokesperson Marc Lovicott said the department received a call Wednesday from a passer-by who claimed they saw a bright orange gun. On Thursday, UWPD was notified of a person carrying an assault rifle on the street. UWPD responded immediately and appropriately, but Lovicott said the event is in no way violent. “It’s a peaceful event, a fun game and we can appreciate that,” Lovicott said. “But we also have to take in mind that this is a
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Midwest Queen Jen Small The Badger Herald
Minneapolis-based musician Dessa took the stage at The Sett in Union South Friday evening alongside female First Wave students.
Milwaukee County Board proposes budget, pay cuts New overhaul will reduce supervisor salary 20 percent, cut employment Noah Goetzel State Politics Editor
Claire Larkins The Badger Herald
College students are the least likely to seek help for mental health issues, but Dean Lori Berquam said she wants students to know the value of their lives at the event.
Annual Suicide Prevention Walk draws record crowd Event aims to raise awareness, reduce negative attitudes for mental health Alice Coyne Higher Education Editor The student organization ASK.LISTEN.SAVE held its third annual Suicide Prevention Walk Sunday, seeing its most successful turnout in the event’s history.
The walk is a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an organization funding research, education and treatment programs for suicide prevention, ASK. LISTEN.SAVE Co-President Chelsey Evensen said. This organization specifically gears its research toward mental health in college-aged students, Evensen said. The event also helps raise awareness about mental health issues and works to break the stigmas
surrounding the topic. “The main goal is to come together and honor those who we have lost to suicide and other mental health issues,” Evenson said. “It’s also a therapeutic event for a lot of people to walk in their honor or as a survivor of their own mental health struggle.” The event began at 11 a.m. outside of Sellery Hall, where attendees heard from speakers as well as a spoken word performance from a
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In response to looming legislation in the state Assembly to restrict the Milwaukee County Board’s budget and influence, the board released a less extreme overhaul alternative late last week. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors announced its proposal Thursday night before an “Our Milwaukee County” listening session. The restructuring will cut the board’s budget and employment in half, while also reducing the annual pay for each supervisor by 20 percent. Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R–West Allis, authored the original bill to remove two-thirds of the board’s budget, cut salaries of supervisors in half and divert much of the board’s power to the county executive — including management of county departments or communication, negotiation and
© 2013 BADGER HERALD
contracting with county employees. The alternative to the bill would allow the Milwaukee County Board to retain some of its restricted power by ensuring the board remains the policymaking body for Milwaukee, while Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele runs day-to-day operations. Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said her overhaul proposal to the bill is based on local input from the people of Milwaukee, state lawmakers and local officials, rather than state-imposed obligation. “It’s been said that we would never reform ourselves, that we would never cut our own salaries, and that we would never cut our budget,” Marina Dimitrijevic said, calling it one of the board’s most dramatic overhauls ever. “But this package demonstrates clearly that not only have we listened, we’ve acted with a commitment to true, realistic, locallygenerated reform.” The Assembly will have its final hearing on Sanfelippo’s bill to
restructure the board next month and a Senate committee will review the measure Wednesday. Rep. Christine Sinicki, D–Milwaukee, called the board’s overhaul a “very reasonable proposal,” but said she believes it will not sway Republican representatives and she expects the legislation to pass along party lines. “The Greater Milwaukee Committee, which Chris Abele was a board member of before he became Milwaukee County Exec., has been trying to take over the Milwaukee County Board for at least 20 years, and now they have the votes to do it,” Sinicki said, adding Republicans also tried to gain control of the Milwaukee County School Board. “It’s a bad precedent to set.” If the Milwaukee County Board is reformed and limited based on the bill’s stipulations, Sinicki said she is concerned similar measures could pass in other counties and cause county executives statewide to replace the power of county boards. Sinicki said there are only two ways to keep the state’s proposed
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