Ward’s ‘hairy’ situation
The end is near
Seniors Jordan Taylor and Rob Wilson will play their last regular-season game Saturday. + SPORTS, page 8
+PAGE TWO
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Weekend, March 2-4, 2012
Official: Ward feared lawsuit from adidas Said the company threatened to sue if chancellor gave 90 days’ notice By Alex DiTullio The Daily Cardinal
UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward decided to enter a negotiation period with adidas out of fear that giving the company a 90-day ultimatum to remedy its alleged labor violations would result in the company suing the university, according to Labor Licensing Policy Committee Chair Lydia Zepeda. For the past two weeks, members of UW-Madison’s primary licensing advisory committee have criticized Ward’s decision to disregard its recommendation to give adidas 90 days’ notice. This strategy, LLPC members said, would
pressure the company to pay workers laid off from an Indonesian factory contracted by adidas that closed in 2011. In an e-mail to Zepeda Feb. 14, UW-Madison’s Senior Legal Counsel Brian Vaughan said adidas contested the applicability of the code of conduct—which outlines a company’s responsibilities in dealing with workers, factories and suppliers— to the issue of severance pay. Under such “unique” situations, Vaughan said the university is contractually obligated to mediate with the contesting party. Zepeda said in recent discussions with Ward, however, the chancellor offered a different motive for the decision. According to her, Ward said adidas threatened to sue the university if it gave the company 90 days’ notice. Zepeda and other members of the committee said putting
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Matt Marheine/Cardinal File Photo
Former Chancellor Biddy Martin will speak at an event hosted by the Madison Civics Club at the Monona Terrace Saturday.
Martin returning for talk in Madison Former UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin will return to Madison March 3 to discuss the impact of new technologies on university education and instruction. Martin, who resigned from her position at UW-Madison last July, has since become the first female president of Amherst College, a liberal arts school in Massachusetts. The Madison Civics Club is hosting the event, which
will take place at the Menona Terrace Convention Center at 11 a.m. Tickets will cost $20 for students and $30 for members of the public. Founded in 1912 to promote woman’s suffrage, the MCC has invited other prominent female professionals to speak, most recently Washington Week Managing Editor Gwen Ifill and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, to celebrate its centennial.
ON CAMPUS
The hunger games The La Follette School Student Association hosted a dinner to portay what it says is an inequality of wealth in the country. Attendees were randomly served meals ranging from very simple food to fine dining, with most receiving the former and a small percentage receiving the latter. +Photo by Abigail Waldo
Officials look to change rules for moped parking on campus By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
UW-Madison Transportation Services is working on an initiative that would discourage students from driving mopeds from class to class throughout the day, officials said Thursday. Transportation Services Director Patrick Kass said part of the initiative includes a new policy for moped parking, where students would buy a permit for a specific lot rather than parking in the lot nearest to their destination. There would be several lots available across campus open to all permit-holders. Kass said UW-Madison has the largest number of moped users of any college campus in the nation, with nearly 1,800 moped parking permits issued this school year. The large ridership leads
to increased traffic, which Student Transportation Board member Laura Checovich said can be dangerous. “I think the amount of congestion we see leads to very dangerous situations,” Checovich said. “Getting mopeds off the streets during passing times will really improve what we see on campus.” In the past year, there have been 96 reported accidents involving mopeds on campus, including one Monday involving a biker and a moped driver on the 1600 block of Linden Drive, resulting in the biker being sent to a nearby hospital. But sophomore Wisconsin football player Michael Trotter said driving a moped is no different from driving any other motor vehicle and as long as the driver is not reckless, it is not necessarily dangerous.
Trotter said the additional travel time required to walk to the designated moped lot could make it difficult for athletes to quickly get from class to practice or a meeting in a short time. “At the end of the day, classes can end at 2:15 and we have to be at meetings dressed by 2:30, so we don’t really have time to walk to a lot that’s even just five to 10 minutes away,” Trotter said. But Checovich said having a specific parking spot could help students better manage their time. “I think once you have a set parking spot that you know you’re going to, you’re going to be able to plan better to make sure that you know where you need to be and when in order to get to all of your activities on time,” Checovich said.
Uncertain future for GOP mining bill By Adam Wollner The Daily Cardinal
Wisconsin Republicans’ goal of passing a bill easing mining restrictions by the end of the legislative session could be in jeopardy after state Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, said he would not support the most recent version of the legislation Wednesday. State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington,
attempted to craft a compromise to appeal to Schultz after he raised concerns over the lack of environmental protections and public input in the Assembly’s version of the bill, which passed in January. Republicans, who have argued changing regulations on mining in northern Wisconsin will create thousands of new jobs, need Schultz to vote for the bill because they only hold a one-seat majority in the Senate.
No Democrats support the bill because they say it does not allow for enough public input on mining activity and the lowered environmental regulations would threaten fragile ecosystems. Darling and Vos said they believed their proposal struck the right balance by allowing mining to thrive in the state while taking environmental
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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.”