VOLUME 45, ISSUE 33
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Chris Lotten
Boxing returns to campus 54 years after a UW student died and NCAA dropped sanctions for the sport, Rec Sports has approved club level Johanna Lepro-Green Herald Contributor
10 former UW Badgers are competing in winter Olympics SPORTS 12
After being banned on campus for almost 54 years following a student’s death, boxing is making its return to the University of Wisconsin. Boxing was one of the most popular UW sports through the 1960s, and the university won eight national championships when no other school had won more
than five. Second only to football, boxing matches drew crowds of 10,000plus students, and UW quickly became a national powerhouse. On April 9, 1960, reigning national champion Charlie Mohr, a UW student, climbed into the ring in the Field House to defend his NCAA title. After winning the first round, the fight was stopped when Mohr looked like he could no longer defend
himself after a severe blow in the second round. Mohr left for the locker room, where he began convulsing and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors found a blood clot and a tear in a major vein of his brain and despite stopping the bleeding, he fell into a coma. Mohr died on April 17, 1960 from the detached blood vessel he received during the fight. A little more than a month
after Mohr’s death, UW eliminated varsity boxing as a sport on campus. The NCAA followed suit in January 1961 with a vote to stop sanctioning the sport. Decades later, Chandler Davis, a UW junior and amateur boxer, has successfully reincarnated boxing on the UW campus, starting an off-campus boxing club for students that practices at Ford’s Gym. While digging through
the university’s archives, Davis said he discovered the boxing ban and realized it did not apply to club sports. Davis began to petition for a return of boxing to campus, and Recreational Sports approved the club in December. Aaron Hobson, assistant director of Rec Sports, said the body would not have supported the club if officials
BOXING, page 2
State weighs student loan refinancing plan Community shares accounts of debt burden in bill’s first public hearing Nyal Mueenuddin Print State Editor With increasing tuition fees and an average student debt of $28,000, an overflowing crowd of lawmakers, students,
university officials and alumni came together Wednesday at a public hearing to discuss the implications of a new bill that would give students the ability to refinance and lower their federal loan interest rates. The bill, introduced by Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, and Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, seeks to establish the Wisconsin student loan refinancing
authority that would be responsible for creating and implementing a program for Wisconsin residents to refinance their federal loan agreements. University of Wisconsin students and alumni testified at the hearing, emphasizing the burden student loan debt has on individuals as they try to continue their education past their undergraduate degrees or try to start lives
on their own. “I have federal loans, subsidized and unsubsidized, which total to around $36,000,” Mia Akers, a UW junior and Associated Students of Madison vice chair, said. “Student loan debt has really affected whether I really want to go to law school.” Hansen said this bill was important because it would give some support to students who often times
are looking at 20 years or more of debt repayment. Currently in the United States, the profit from interest rates on student debt loans sits at $66 billion and is on the rise, Hansen said. A major point of concern among lawmakers at the hearing was the lack of counseling services that students receive regarding their loan plans. The bill calls for institutions of
higher education to put mandatory loan counseling into place for students who seek to take out a student loan, an aspect of the bill Mason pointed out as crucial. “Being the first state in the country to offer student loan refinancing could make Wisconsin a warm climate for businesses in industries that require a bachelor’s or
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Bill would allow alcohol amnesty Officers would be unable to cite drinkers under 21 with Responsible Action plan Nyal Mueenuddin Print State Editor During medical emergencies caused by the overconsumption of alcohol, underage drinkers could be given some amnesty from police punishment if they call the authorities for help. At a public hearing Wednesday, University of Wisconsin students, university police officials and UW administrators shared their opinions with lawmakers on what benefits and concerns they believed the proposed Responsible Action bill would bring to affect Wisconsin’s underage drinking culture. Under the bill, introduced by Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, police officers would not be able to issue citations to individuals under 21 who have been drinking alcohol if they called 911 to obtain medical or police assistance either for themselves or someone around them. “The health, safety and welfare of our young individuals is a primary concern, and we want responsible action when that occurs. And we don’t want people frightened away from responsible action because of their own actions,” Risser said. Gregg Heinselman, associate vice chancellor of student affairs at UW-River Falls, expressed concerns that under the bill, university officials would not be able to take disciplinary actions, such as suspension, expulsion
or removal from residence halls, against students caught drinking underage. Heinselman said students living in residence halls are part of a larger community to which they should be held accountable. “We need these tools in our toolbox,” he said. Heinselman’s argument stood in contrast to the testimony of David Gardner, the Associated Students of Madison chair, and Morgan Rae, ASM Legislative Affairs chair. Rae said the legislation would save lives by encouraging young people to call for medical help when needed. Rae said there are already 17 states in the U.S. with similar laws, and in a recent campus survey, 40 percent of students said they would call for medical help if they knew they would receive a police citation. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they would call for help if they were guaranteed protection from police and university disciplinary measures. Gardner said he strongly supports the proposed legislation, as it could save lives of young people across the state. He said although he and ASM do not condone the use of alcohol by minors, the main priority of the bill is to save lives. “We are balancing students’ health and we are balancing
AMNESTY, page 2
Chris Lotten The Badger Herald The final stage of the $86 million Camp Randall renovation, paid by private donations and state bonds, was completed in January.
Center for athletes now open Library, study spaces aim to alleviate ‘pressure of regimented lifestyle’ Rachel Jones Print Campus Editor The final stage of the $86 million Camp Randall renovation, the Fetzer Center for Student-Athlete Excellence, opened in January as a place for student-athletes to hang out between classes and practice. The opening of the center marks the completion of the third and final phase of the renovations at Camp Randall’s north end and the McClain Center, Jason Holtman, the assistant athletic director for academic services at the University of Wisconsin, said. The McClain Center, located
right below the Fetzer Center, is now the new studentathlete performance center which has new weight rooms, locker rooms and a new training center for studentathletes, Holtman said. Holtman said private donations and state bonds paid for the renovations, and none of the funding came from taxpayer’s money or from student segregated fees. The center offers more than just an academic center for student-athletes, Holtman said. The center offers tutoring, study space and advising spaces for student-athletes, he said. Holtman said he hopes
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the center becomes a hub for student-athletes. “We’re trying to alleviate some of the pressure that comes with the regimented lifestyle of a student-athlete,” he said. “Instead of going to class, then home to study then to practice, student-athletes will have a quiet place to study in between classes and practice.” The center also houses several different departments that work specifically with student-athletes, along with new meeting spaces, he said. The Fetzer Center includes new study halls, computer labs, meeting spaces, conference rooms and
tutoring rooms, Holtman said. The previous center for student-athletes was located in the basement of the McClain Center, Holtman said. The most noticeable changes from the previous center to the new center are windows, he said. “The center has a lot of windows now, and the light of day can do a lot for reducing stress,” Holtman said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any blinds yet, so hopefully it doesn’t get too sunny.” As an institute for higher learning, students come to UW to better themselves, Holtman
CENTER, page 3