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Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Student leaders aim to rebrand activity center By Cheyenne Langkamp The Daily Cardinal
A student government subcommittee met Tuesday to discuss possible changes to the Student Activity Center. The Student Activity Center Governing Board, an Associated Students of Madison committee, has the responsibility of allocating space and determining policies for student organizations that use the center. According to SAC GB Chair Katie Cary, board members feel the building is currently used as a “quasi-library” rather than a community space for student organizations, as was intended upon the building’s creation through an ASM internship project more than ten years ago. “They came up with this building plan and the idea was there were going to be these student organization offices in these
cubby, garage-style offices, with ‘living room space’ where student orgs would come and collaborate with each other,” Cary said. In the meeting, members discussed possible changes to the current atmosphere at the SAC, ranging from alternative furniture arrangements to a café serving coffee, snacks and sandwiches. Cary said she hopes this project will allow the space to better serve its original purpose of showcasing student organizations, as well as create “an atmosphere that is similar to the union.” The board hopes to create a concrete plan over the course of the semester by laying out specific initiatives for the future of the building. “It’s something where we want to make sure we’re kind of tying the hands of future boards to take this on so that it doesn’t just get dropped off,” Cary said.
Ex-Walker aide to appear at plea hearing Thursday By Tyler Nickerson The Daily Cardinal
A former chief of staff under former Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is scheduled for a plea hearing Thursday related to charges alleging she made illegal campaign calls while on public time, bringing the ongoing John Doe investigation one step closer to its culmination. Kelly Rindfleisch is scheduled to meet with Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf in
Milwaukee, according to online court records, and would be the second former Walker aide charged. Rindfleisch faces four felony charges for misconduct in public office. If she enters a guilty plea, Walker, who was on a list of possible prosecution witnesses, would not have to testify at the trial. The prosecution alleges Rindfleisch and Darlene Wink,
hearing page 3
Graphic by Dylan Moriarty
Freshman enrollment rates have fluctuated over recent years, reaching a peak in 2012 and a minimum in 2002. UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca said the increase is a “good sign.”
Freshman enrollment reaches historic level By Sam Cusick The Daily Cardinal
Official enrollment data released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison revealed an increase in overall enrollment, making the 2012-13 freshman class the largest in the school’s history. The data showed there were large increases in out-of-state as well as in-state residents. UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca said the overall increase could be attributed to the university’s worldwide reputation for high quality education and student experience on campus. “It’s always encouraging to see increased pressure on people wanting to come here,” DeLuca said. “I think that’s a result of the quality of what we’re doing and the experience the students have when they’re here.” While most of the UW system is experiencing declines
in enrollment, the fact that UW-Madison is increasing is a “good sign” for future of the university, DeLuca said. Some of the increase was intentional, according to DeLuca, through efforts put in place by the Madison Initiatives for Undergraduates, which uses an extra tuition charge to increase the quality of undergraduate experience.
But DeLuca said the increase was higher than the university’s models predicted. The data also revealed all 72 counties in Wisconsin and 48 states in the nation are represented on campus. Additionally, 35 countries have representatives on campus and international students have climbed to ten percent of the student population.
Out-of-state students over limit Due to increased enrollment rates for the 2012-13 academic year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison surpassed the Board of Regents’ limit on the proportion of out-of-state students allowed to attend the university. The current percentage of outof-state students on campus is at 25.8 percent, which is a “slight drift” over the 25 percent Regent limit, according to UW-Madison
Provost Paul DeLuca. DeLuca said the university will discuss the increase with the regents to find a solution. A three-year rolling average of 25 percent out-of-state students may work better than the current system, according to DeLuca, as it would give UW-Madison the chance to adjust after any changes in enrollment. sAM cuSICK
UW releases report on impact of undergraduate initiative By Cheyenne Langkamp The Daily Cardinal
ON CAMPUS
‘Define American’
Journalist Jose Vargas speaks at the Pyle Center Tuesday about his unique American identity. + Photo by Aevyrie Roessler
The University of WisconsinMadison released a report Tuesday detailing the status of the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, a program with the goal of increasing the quality, efficiency and affordability of the university. The program, created by former Chancellor Biddy Martin and approved by the UW System Board of Regents in April 2009, aims to provide need-based financial aid and improvements to undergraduate education through new funding provided by “differential tuition,” or costs added to the base level of
tuition to create supplemental services and programs for students. The program was funded by an increase in tuition of $250 per year for in-state undergraduate students and $750 per year for outof-state undergraduate students from fall 2009 to fall 2012. According to the report, the funds have created 54 new improvements to undergraduate education through additional faculty, academic staff and teaching assistant positions over a multitude of departments. Sundar Sharma, an undergraduate student representative on the MIU Oversight Committee,
said MIU funding helped the Department of Chemistry acquire more teaching assistants, giving students more options for chemistry classes and discussion sections. “In general, all the things we’ve been able to do using MIU tuition differential money have been great,” Sharma said. “I think that the overall impact on campus has been phenomenal and it’s measurable and that’s the one thing that you can see in the report.” The report said half of the MIU funds created additional need-based financial aid resources for thousands of undergraduate students.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”