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+ARTS, page 4 University of Wisconsin-Madison
Windy city showdown Wisconsin and Minnesota renew their hockey rivalry Friday at the Kohl Center before heading to Chicago to play at Soldier Field. +SPORTS, page 8
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Weekend, February 15-17, 2013
State Supreme Court race proves partisan Party affiliation remains important in candidates’ battle for the bench By Adam Wollner the daily cardinal
Despite the nonpartisan status of the judicial branch, party politics has once again infiltrated a Wisconsin Supreme Court election. As Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone and Milwaukee lemon law attorney Vince Megna battle with Justice Pat Roggensack for her seat on the state’s high court ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, the candidates’ personal ideologies have come into question while political groups have begun to take sides in the race. “The courts are political,” University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon said. “They are another political institution just like the executive and the legislative branches, so it shouldn’t be surprising that politics enters into races when we elect our judges.” While this year’s Supreme Court campaign is not as partisan as the 2011 election between
Justice David Prosser and Joanne Kloppenburg, which took place in the wake of the collective bargaining debate, Canon said the race is more political than usual partly because it follows a year in which Wisconsin had five statewide elections. “The extremely political year we had last year with the recall election and the presidential race especially made the partisanship and polarization that was evident in Wisconsin over the past couple of years even more evident, and I think that does carry over to this election,” Canon said, adding that he expects more political players to intervene after the primary. From the moment he launched his campaign, Megna has openly identified as a Democrat, an unusual move for a judicial candidate, saying he wants to be honest with voters. “Every justice has opinions on these issues, it’s just that they just don’t tell you,” Megna said. “If I would not have told people what my opinions are, I still would have
those opinions.” Additionally, Megna has repeatedly alleged the race is just as partisan as any other state election and labeled Roggensack a Republican. Megna has even made one of his core campaign messages that he can bring balance to a court he feels is dominated by right-wing justices. “There is a four-person conservative Republican majority on the court,” Megna said. “We know how political-type cases are going to go.” Megna’s opponents, however, reject the notion that the race is partisan. While conservative donors such as the Republican Women of Waukesha County, the Fund for Parental Choice and ABC Supply Co. President Diane Hendricks have largely financed Roggensack’s campaign, the incumbent insists she has earned support from voters of all political stripes because of her independence and experience as a judge. “To make it nonpartisan in Wisconsin, you really have to run a bipartisan campaign,” Roggensack said. “You have to get support from
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Union members protest Walker at Capitol By Jack Casey the daily cardinal
University of WisconsinMadison Teaching Assistants’ Association and Madison Teachers Incorporated, among other unions, organized a rally of
about 100 people Thursday to commemorate the second anniversary of the 2011 Capitol protests and call for solidarity against current and impending union and education issues they say Gov. Scott Walker’s leadership created.
James Lanser/the daily cardinal
Ralliers march down State Street toward the Capitol, protesting cuts to education under Gov. Scott Walker.
The rally began on Library Mall in the late afternoon, with participants, including a number of UW-Madison students, sporting anti-Walker and pro-union signs. Ralliers started walking down State Street at approximately 5 p.m. to meet representatives from MTI at the state Capitol for solidarity singalongs and a candlelight vigil. The protesters made their way down State Street alternately taking up call and response chants. A few supporters joined from the sidewalk before the ralliers ended their march at the Capitol while singing “Solidarity Forever” to the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Volunteers in red MTI hats passed out hand-held candles and as darkness set in, people passed lighters to start “The Fire Still Burns Vigil” to represent the protesters’ continued work against Walker. The Capitol steps were quickly engulfed with flickering candles and anti-Walker protest songs. Charity Schmidt, co-president
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On Campus
In a flash
People gather on East Campus Mall Thursday to dance in a flash mob as part of the One Billion Rise campaign to end violence against women. +Photo by Mohammad Aqeel
MPD presents initial Mifflin policing plan By Erin Berge the daily cardinal
Madison police discussed expanding the range of police presence during May’s Mifflin Street Block party at a neighborhood meeting Thursday as part of a security plan that remains tentative until student leaders release final details for a university event scheduled the same day. Based on students’ reaction to increased police enforcement at last year’s block party, police expect house parties to occur in neighborhoods beyond Mifflin, according to Madison Police Department Central
District Patrol Lieutenant Kelly Donahue. Because of this, Donahue said MPD may need to patrol a wider range of streets May 4. “My biggest concern is that it creates a situation that is more difficult for us to police and maintain safety,” she said. Donahue also said Mifflin Street will remain open to traffic with staffing similar to previous years. Additionally, Mifflin District Chair Larry Warman said he hopes the police will work with
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UW-Madison professor researches ways to detect extraterrestrial life From UFO sightings to reports of alien activity, scientists have searched for answers to questions about extra-terrestrial life for decades. One University of Wisconsin-Madison professor is joining the search to find answers by working with a team of scientists, including almost 25 from UW-Madison, to study rocks on Earth in hopes of developing a method to detect life in rock samples from other planets. UW-Madison geoscience
professor Clark Johnson’s team examines rocks to find “biosignatures,” or traces of ancient life, in rocks on Earth to prepare for the future if rock samples from other planets, including Mars, become available for testing. “Since we can freely walk around on the earth rather than rely only on working remotely on another planet, we basically use early life on Earth to inform us about what
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”