MUDSLINGING SULLIES ELECTIONS
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The effectiveness is proven, but the results of negative ads harm democracy
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
Opinion
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dailycardinal.com
Weekend, October 3-5, 2008
Cab companies cannot fund weekend taxi stand By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL
KYLE BURSAW/THE DAILY CARDINAL
The vice presidential debate draws a lively reaction from the crowd gathered at Memorial Union Thursday.
VP candidates defend running mates’ policies By Megan Orear THE DAILY CARDINAL
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin brought their own opinions to the table in the first and only vice presidential debate Thursday night. However, they spent the most time defending the stances of their respective running mates, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, while attacking the policies of the opposing presidential ticket. The war in Iraq was a hot topic during the debate, as well as the economy and the presidential candidates’ tax policies. According to Biden, McCain is “out of touch” when it comes to the economy, but Palin said she and McCain promise to fight the “greed and corruption on Wall Street.” Biden said McCain’s tax proposal would not help the middle class and would give over $300 billion in tax cuts to wealthy people and corporations, but that Obama’s plan would not raise the taxes of anyone earning
less than $250,000 a year. Obama’s tax proposal would affect small businesses, according to Palin, because they would fit under the category of those making $250,000 or more a year. Although each candidate landed some jabs, the debate may not have much impact on the polls. “In the history of vice presidential debates, they very rarely made
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much of a measurable impact,” UWMadison professor of political science Charles Franklin said. However, he said this particular debate was important because it could cause voters to determine if Palin, who has been criticized for her performance in recent interviews, is qualified for the job of vice president. debate page 3
Student reaction “I think [Palin] did better on some issues than others. I think foreign policy is where she really showed her strengths.” —Sophomore Lucas Moench “I thought Biden was much more straightforward ... He got angry about points and he was forceful, he got his point across.” —UW student Madeline Nordholm “With Palin, a lot of the time I felt like she wasn’t answering the question, and she would talk her way around issues.” —Senior Julia Byers
LORENZO ZEMELLA/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Badger Cab, Madison Taxi and Union Cab companies all participate in the late-night weekend taxi stand at 600 University Avenue.
UW Regents discuss need for greater accountability in 2009 By Erin Banco
Two more parties allowed to join Attorney General lawsuit Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi ruled Thursday to allow two more groups to join Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit over voter registration checks. The Milwaukee National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association will join the case, bringing the total number of parties to nine. The other parties involved are Van Hollen, the Government Accountability Board, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the American
City officials will continue to search for outside funding to staff a downtown taxi stand after representatives from two of the three participating cab companies announced they are not able to provide the money at a Thursday meeting. Badger Cab, Madison Taxi and Union Cab all send taxis to the late-night weekend stand located on the 600 block of University Avenue. Madison Alcohol Policy Coordinator Katherine Plominski declined to identify which two said they couldn’t help fund the stand, but said the third company needed more time to decide. It costs about $3,000 to run the stand for one year, which goes toward staffing the stand with a sober monitor to supervise the line and put customers into cabs. The stand is currently being funded
by Madison’s Central Business Improvement District, but the $1,000 start-up money provided by BID will run out at the end of October. Until then, Plominski said the stand will operate as normal while officials try to find outside funding to sustain the project. Plominski said she and cab company representatives also discussed hopes for opening a second stand in the downtown area, but will be forced to postpone those plans until funding is secured for the first stand. “I guess we just have to keep working through it,” she said. “It’s really a service for the whole community.” Additionally, Plominski said she and Madison Police Department Central District Lt. Joe Balles will meet with each cab company individually to tweak
Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, Madison Teachers Inc. and Madison Firefighters Local 311. Van Hollen sued the GAB last month over its failure to comply with a federal law requiring state voting agencies to cross-check voter databases with driver’s licenses or social security numbers. Richard Saks, the attorney representing Milwaukee NAACP, said minority voters would be hurt if Van Hollen wins this case because many black citizens, especially in Milwaukee, lack valid driver’s licenses. Saks said they would have to
rely on social security numbers, which have an almost 50-percent mismatch rate. “There would be large, large numbers of minority voters who would end up being found ineligible to vote in the upcoming election,” Saks said. UW-Madison professor of law Frank Tuerkheimer said all the parties added onto the lawsuit would probably not slow down the proceedings because they will have to accommodate the existing schedule. —Megan Orear
THE DAILY CARDINAL
UW System Board of Regents revealed Thursday a new system wide accountability proposal to be released this spring. Sharon Wilhelm, director of policy analysis and research for the UW System, introduced the proposal. According to Wilhelm, the regents have been publishing proposals since 1993, and first introduced the 2009 accountability draft in a meeting last spring. “It became apparent that we would need to add some additional accountability measures,” Wilhelm said. “This is a detailed initiative that requires close coordination between all of our universities … And fuller alignment of the
accountability system with the growth agenda of the UW System.” She said the draft includes many of the same accountability indicators used in the 2007 report. “There are four new indicators and 15 existing ones,” she said. “The remaining indicators and context and capacity items are included as ‘related information.’” The accountability report has three sections: context and capacity, broad goals in service to students and other reports on various aspects of the UW System. Aside from providing new indicators, the regents also sought to make the proposal clear for reading. Wilhelm regents page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”