Heroes of the silver screen +PAGE TWO University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board weighs in on the recommendation of Dr. Rebecca Blank as UW-Madison’s next chancellor +OPINION, page 6
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
UW System taps Blank for chancellor T Story by Cheyenne Langkamp
I’m very interested in being part of this place, which has a great history, an enormous amount of promise and some real challenges in front of it. Rebecca blank cheyenne langkamp/the daily cardinal
The UW System special Regent committee recommended Dr. Rebecca Blank to become the next UW chancellor.
Reactions to special Regent committee recommendation of Dr. Rebecca Blank “I’m hoping that she’ll find the shared governance tradition here to actually be a strength and something that she can draw on to help her shape the path for the future of the institution.” —Jeff Shokler, ASEC Chair
“She has distinguished herself as a steady leader and a vital member of my economic team. I know the University of Wisconsin Badgers will have an outstanding chancellor for years to come.” —Barack Obama, president of the United States of America “She has a keen knowledge of economic issues that can help the UW promote great prosperity in the state.” —Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin “Initially she did not seem to understand the current debate at UW-Madison about accessibility, but that was quickly overshadowed by her willingness to work with students.” —Andrew Bulovsky, ASM Chair
“No person should be a head or chancellor of a university if they cannot say that diversity is going to be a top priority. I was literally infuriated that they could endorse a candidate who said that publicly.” —Mia Akers, ASM Diversity Committee Chair
he University of Wisconsin System announced Monday a special Board of Regents committee’s official recommendation of Dr. Rebecca Blank as University of Wisconsin-Madison’s next chancellor, pending approval from the full Board April 5. Blank said in a statement she is “ready to come home again” to a university and looks forward to the “exciting opportunity” to use her leadership skills at UW-Madison. Blank currently serves as the acting secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, where she has worked since 2009. She has also held various positions at Princeton University, Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. In the statement, Blank highlighted two priorities for the university: educating the next generation of citizens and workers, and staying ahead in national and international research and innovation. “Wisconsin has a global reputation and presence, but it’s very serious about not just being an academic institution,” Blank said in the statement. Blank said she looks forward to working at an institution with “a great history, an enormous amount of promise and some real challenges in front of it.” In a letter from Blank to employees at the Department of Commerce, she said
chancellor page 3 stephanie daher/the daily cardinal
SSFC discusses changes to bylaws, financial codes By Megan Stoebig The Daily Cardinal
The Student Services Finance Committee discussed potential changes to its bylaws Monday, which could include significant alterations to the committee’s financial code, as well as the elimination of student hourly positions from student organizations. According to SSFC Rep. Ron Crandall, who authored the changes, it is an overhaul of bylaws to “increase access, fairness, clarity and flexibility to any student organization that requests funding.” SSFC Chair Ellie Bruecker said under the proposed legislation, the General Student Services Fund would be eliminated. The GSSF currently supplies money allocated to registered student organizations, which provide direct services to students by meeting SSFC eligibility criteria. According to Bruecker, the change reflects that the GSSF is
largely unused. “We have 16 student organizations splitting $1.4 million and the other 800 fighting over $500,000 in finance committee grants that always run out,” Bruecker said. Under the new system all student organizations would be required to go through the same process to receive funding. The proposal would also give SSFC a total budget of less than $1.5 million and allow student organizations to request at minimum $200 and at maximum $25,000 in funding. More than 15 individuals spoke in open forum on behalf of their student organizations about how their group would be affected by the changes. Many student organization representatives expressed concern about the proposed removal of student hourly positions.
ssfc page 3
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An eleven out of ten
M-11 performs Saturday at Valhalla, a venue in Austin, Texas, as part of the 2013 South by Southwest festival series. Check out more coverage of SXSW on Arts, page 4 and 5. + Photo by Andy Holsteen
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”