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Should they let it fly? The debate on publishing avian flu research. University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Looking back into ‘Protest Village’
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
UW to mediate with adidas over conduct By Alex DiTullio The Daily Cardinal
In a decision that is frustrating members of one UW-Madison student group, UW Chancellor David Ward announced Tuesday the university will enter a period of mediation with adidas in an attempt to resolve the dispute over whether or not the company owes 2,800 unemployed workers severance pay. The company, currently the university’s main licensing partner, sparked anger when one of its factories abruptly closed in January and the workers were not paid due severance. Adidas says it is not responsible for paying workers severance fees, because the factory was independently owned and it should not be
held accountable for the factory owner’s behavior. Ward’s decision comes nearly two weeks after the Labor Licensing Policy Committee recommended, in agreement with the chancellor’s initial recommendation, that adidas be given 90 days to remedy the situation or have its contract terminated. But in a recent email on behalf of the chancellor, UW’s Senior Legal Counsel Brian Vaughan told LLPC Chair Lydia Zepeda that Ward has decided to take a different course of action rather than giving notice. In the coming days, the parties will agree on a designated mediator and a date for the mediation, which could
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Protesters ‘still heart UW’ By Tyler Nickerson The Daily Cardinal
ben pierson/cardinal file photo
A protester holds up a sign supporting University of Wisconsin System funding at the ‘I heart UW rally’ Feb. 14 2011, which was the first organized rally protesting Walker’s budget. By Samy Moskol The Daily Cardinal
While many remember the Capitol protests that thrust Madison into the national spotlight one year ago as surrounding the right to collectively bargain, the movement first started as an organized action supporting UW System funding. In the face of proposed budget cuts to the UW System, the Teaching Assistants’ Association, AFSCME 171 and activist student groups began planning the “I ‘heart’ UW” rally in December and collected 5,000 signatures from supporters across the state. Just three days before the rally was to take place, Walker announced his budget repair bill that would limit collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin. “It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we had already mobilized for that entire week of protest,” said Beth Huang, a former Student Labor Action Coalition member who slept on the Capitol floor for four nights during the protests. The Joint Finance Committee public hearing began at 10 a.m. Tuesday and lasted into the morning. The drive to keep the public hearing list filled with speakers
kept the building open through the night, and allowed community members to stay in the building. Huang recalled a moment Tuesday night when a woman testifying in front of the committee began singing “Amazing Grace.” “Everyone got kind of quiet, and then everyone started to sing along. There was this incredible echoing affect of everyone singing Amazing Grace together on the first night of the Capitol Occupation,” Huang said. Damon Terrell, a third-year UW-Madison student who became a recognizable figure in the Rotunda, spoke at the Capitol for the first time at the public hearing. He has been arrested numerous times for resisting a police officer and continues to protest at the Capitol after most demonstrators left. “Just seeing person after person share their personal story really got me engaged. The next day I came back and I didn’t leave,” Terrell said. Over the following days, 6,000 students across 12 campuses participated in student walkouts organized by the Teaching Asisstants’ Association and various student groups, according to the TAA.
Fourteen Democratic senators fled to Illinois Feb. 17 to block the bill, leaving the Republican senators without the 20 required for a quorum on budget-related bills. Students dressed in Badger red filled every floor of the Capitol building and cheered when the word spread. Huang said the amount of student-labor solidarity was both the foundation and the continual driver of the protest. “[The fact] that people who weren’t directly affected still showed up … that says something, I don’t know what exactly but it says something,” Huang said. The “Capitol occupation” eventually evolved into a “protest village,” as demonstrators were allowed to stay in the building after the hearing ended. The Capitol Rotunda was the epicenter where, through the first two weeks, there was always a group of protesters drumming and chanting. Terrell recounted seeing a man with a wheelbarrow overflowing with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for protesters. “People just started to see needs and fill them,” he said.
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Crowds led by UW-Madison’s Teaching Assistants’ Association marched on the Capitol Tuesday to demonstrate their continued dissatisfaction one year after the first major protest against Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms. Starting at Memorial Union, Tuesday’s rally took the same route down State Street and toward the Capitol as last year’s “I ‘heart’ UW” Valentine’s Day march, the event credited as the spark that led to the historic protests last spring. “It’s a lot of nostalgia,” said Leland Pan, a UW-Madison student and candidate for Dane County Board District 5, who was
at last year’s march. He said he was happy with Tuesday’s turnout, numbering in the hundreds. “I think it shows that the UW Madison community really does understand that this fight is still ongoing,” Pan said. “Our university is still under attack by those in power and we need to defend it.” ASM chair Allie Gardner speculated Tuesday’s event could lead to more protests like last year’s Valentines Day march did. “Before it was about fighting for what they had and now it’s about fighting for what they have lost,” Gardner said. “Especially for students, because now we just
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on campus
Who’s your Valentine?
Bucky Badger posed for photos with students Tuesday at the Memorial Union in an event sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association. + Photo by Abigail Waldo
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”