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FAKE NEWS FRIDAY
Apology pizzas from Herman Cain
Wisconsin and Minnesota face off in the Border Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe +SPORTS, page 8
+PAGE TWO University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Weekend, November 11-13, 2011
Survey: Budget cuts hurt schools By Ben Siegel The Daily Cardinal
A survey released Thursday highlighted the effects funding cuts have had on public schools since the adoption of Wisconsin’s biennial state budget. According to the report from the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, the $749 million decrease in school district funding until 2013 has negatively affected the quality of K-12 public education through the loss of staff positions and the increase in class sizes. “The depth and breadth of losses of experienced educators statewide is large,” the survey said. Nine out of 10 students surveyed lost one staff member in the staffing areas measured. The report noted an increase in class sizes in roughly a quarter of surveyed districts. In terms of class offerings, the survey’s findings indicate decreased subject sections and Shoaib altaf/the daily cardinal
UW’s Fiji chapter will compete against the University of Minnesota’s chapter for a replica Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
FIJI runs to U of Minn. stadium for Red Cross By Shannon Kelly and Alex DiTullio The Daily Cardinal
Members of UW-Madison’s Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity began the first leg of a 268mile philanthropic run from Camp Randall to the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium Thursday. About 35 participants in the third annual Fiji Rivalry Run, which raises money for the American Red Cross, will take mile-long shifts toward the stadium with the game ball in hand. “[The run] really brings us all together,” said Leo Warman, co-chairman of the Rivalry Run committee of Fiji. “It’s a good time because it’s a challenge that we all have to face as a unit.” The UW chapter will run 156 miles to Winona, Minn., where they will hand the football to the U of M Fiji members, who will run the final 112 miles to TCF Stadium. The event also serves as a competition between the UW and U of M, where the two
chapters attempt to raise the most money for their respective Red Cross branches. Last year the UW chapter raised nearly $11,000, an amount Warman hopes to top this year. According to Tom Mooney, CEO of the Western Wisconsin Territory Red Cross, fraternity charity is an important contributor to their cause. “I just can’t thank them enough,” he said. “[Showing] that kind of philanthropic initiative is really a great credit to the university.” Mooney said donations will directly impact people in the Madison area at an important time. “We’re coming into the fire season,” he said. “Unfortunately we’ll have to provide a lot more support, and this run really adds to that.” Fiji established the event to pay tribute to the WisconsinMinnesota football rivalry while keeping a strong emphasis on charity. Warman said the rivalry between the two chapters is fun
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offerings throughout Wisconsin. Ten percent of surveyed districts reported eliminating math sections, while three percent of school districts completely eliminated entire math courses. Two-thirds of districts expect similar or greater cuts to be made in the next year’s budget, the survey said. In response to the release of the WDI survey, Gov. Scott Walker asserted that the data “shows [the governor’s] reforms are working.” In Walker’s statement, 90 percent of all districts “have the same number or increased” math sections, while 97 percent of districts also maintained or increased the math courses offered to students. According to the governor’s release, 75 percent of surveyed districts have K-3 classes either smaller or the same size as before the budget took effect. State politicians from both
parties connected the budget’s cuts with implications for public education along party lines. “Wisconsin’s schools are suffering at the direct hands of Walker’s immoral budget,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said in a statement. “Scott Walker should be ashamed to claim that his assault on public education is working.” Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, accused results of “misleading” the public about education in Wisconsin. “ W h a t we should be How many talking about millions schools lost is education in funding reform,” he said. “We all know that Percent of success in the schools that classroom isn’t decreased directly tied to math sections funding.”
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JFC passes proposal that limits Medicaid
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved a Department of Health Services budget proposal Thursday that includes $225 million in Medicaid cuts by an 11-4 vote along party lines. Republicans, along with DHS officials, view the cuts as a way to deal with rising costs from expansion in the Medicaid programs. Programs like Badger Care Plus and Family Care have grown nearly 10 times the rate of Wisconsin’s population during the past two decades due to increases of both need and expanded program offerings, according to Republicans on the committee.
“These proposals preserve that health care safety net and build on the private system of coverage to ensure the Medicaid program is sustainable now and into the future,” Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith said in his testimony to the JFC Thursday. Approximately 65,000 people would leave or be rejected by state health programs because of the funding cuts, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s projections. To Democrats, these cuts amount to “social injustices.” “The Republicans are waging a campaign against social justice and the enemy appears to be working-
class families who are struggling to make ends meet,” Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, said in a statement. Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, expressed similar concerns. “There is no justification for stealing health care from 65,000 citizens, including nearly 30,000 children,” she said in a statement. The budget’s proposal next requires approval from President Barack Obama’s administration by year’s end. If not signed by Dec. 31, more than 50,000 people will be excluded from the programs to create immediate savings. —Kendalyn Thoma
SSFC considers using Campus Services Fund for WISPIRG By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
The Student Services Finance Committee discussed employing a controversial fund that would allow student groups to hire non-university-employed staff members Thursday. SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said the committee could amend the Campus Services Fund to allow the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) and other student groups to contract non-university employed staff members. The fund was created last year to allow the Associated Students of Madison Student Council to provide students with services it deems important that are not already pro-
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Grace Liu/the daily cardinal
SSFC Chair Sarah Neibart said the CSF would allow WISPIRG and other student groups to hire non-university employees.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”