Wednesday, January 29, 2014
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Ray Cross to focus on student outreach By Emily Gerber THE DAILY CARDINAL
Don’t let his age fool you: University of Wisconsin System President-Delegate Raymond Cross is still willing and able to challenge college students to a pick-up game of basketball. Though, you may need to take it a little easy on him.
“The strength of this System is in its diversity and in its inherent differences; let’s magnify that.” Raymond Cross president-delegate University of Wisconsin System
“I used to play basketball with students all the time and develop relationships,” Cross said in a one-on-one interview with The Daily Cardinal Tuesday. “I hope I am able to do more of that.” Student outreach is a key area of focus for Cross once he takes office Feb. 15. Identifying the individual needs of students at each of the UW System’s 26 universities, as well as at the 13 UW Colleges,
is a task Cross said he plans on tackling through what he considers the most achievable way possible: listening. “Understanding those needs comes through listening and spending time with [the different campuses] and trying to understand how to help them address those needs in a collaborative way, in a partnership, whether it be the needs of a community or a campus, or in general, the people of the state,” Cross said. Understanding the public includes the continuing concern, most notably from students, regarding the increasing cost of higher education. Cross said he wants to hold listening sessions across the state in order to grasp the unique, individual concerns of the different factions of the universities. “Sometimes we work at creating policies that homogenize us and make us look too much alike,” Cross said. “The strength of this System is in its diversity and in its inherent differences; let’s magnify that.” When originally asked about the opportunity of
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GREY SATTERFIELD/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
President Barack Obama delivered his 2014 State of the Union address Tuesday and discussed multiple ways to increase jobs, improve education and expand health care.
Obama outlines plans for ‘year of action’ By Eoin Cottrell THE DAILY CARDINAL
President Barack Obama opened his 2014 State of the Union address Tuesday with examples of Americans who “make the state of our union strong” and ended it with the face of an American veteran who embodies the determination the president believes the country needs to move forward in his “year of action.” Obama touched on more than a dozen issues and outlined his plan for the new year. Notably, the president addressed college affordability, raising the minimum wage and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
University of WisconsinMadison professor David Canon said the president’s address was typical of most states of the union, in that it laid out a laundry list of political issues. Canon also said Obama called attention to future executive orders as a result of “political gridlock seen in Washington.” However, UW-Madison College Republicans Chair Charlie Hoffmann, called the address the “same empty rhetoric we have seen over the past six years” and said governing through executive orders was a “fine line to tow.” Obama began by discussing the “College Opportunity
Summit,” which has over 150 universities setting their sights on reducing inequality in higher education. The goal is to “help every hardworking kid go to college and succeed when they get to campus,” Obama said. Additionally, Obama cited commitments from big technology firms such as Apple, Microsoft and Verizon as substantial groundwork that will lead to the spread of high-speed broadband Internet to schools across the country. The president also expressed his readiness to work with Congress on new initiatives to help men of
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Recent heroin arrests signify local abuse
EMILY GERBER/THE DAILY CARDINAL
UW System President-Delegate Raymond Cross plans on beginning his tenure listening to the people of Wisconsin.
Madison police arrested a 25-year-old man for impaired driving and possession of drug paraphernalia on the 500 block of University Avenue Wednesday, according to a Madison Police Department incident report. The suspect, James Land, admitted to using heroin in a parking garage just before pulling out on the street and falling unconscious while resting his foot on the brake pedal. Land was found slumped over the steering wheel in the running car by a student, according to MPD Spokesperson Joel DeSpain.
‘Opportunity is who we are’
The Cardinal reacts to the State of the Union OPINION +page 4
Later the same afternoon, just two blocks from the Capitol, a second driver was charged with driving under the influence of what is presumed to also be heroin, according to DeSpain. These events underscore the rising heroin epidemic, both in Wisconsin and across the nation, DeSpain said. “We’ve seen an increasing number of individuals driving into Madison from smaller communities looking to purchase heroin, and many of them shoot up before they drive back,” DeSpain said. “In an area with lots of pedestrian traffic, that
kind of DUI is troubling.” In Wisconsin alone, heroinrelated deaths have risen by 50 percent in the last year. While the use among high school students is low compared to other drugs such as marijuana, it is steadily rising, according to a survey of county coroners. As for the public response to this growing problem, DeSpain said, “It is as much a publichealth issue as it is a police one. We are not going to be able to arrest our way out of it. There are a lot of addicted people who desperately need help.” —Will Doss
Let’s get surreal ARTS +page 5
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”