Weekend, September 11-13, 2009 - The Daily Cardinal

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Weekend, September 11-13, 2009

UW employees found misusing state funds By Hannah Furfaro THE DAILY CARDINAL

ISABEL ALVAREZ/THE DAILY CARDINAL

The City of Madison’s Planning Department met with residents and Common Council members Thursday to discuss possible changes to the West Mifflin and West Dayton Street neighborhood.

Mifflin Street may receive huge face-lift By Callie Rathburn THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Mifflin and Dayton neighborhood could see some major changes in the future, with Madison’s Planning Department considering redevelopment of the historic area. Madison city planners met with residents and Common Council members Thursday at the Madison Senior Center to discuss future development plans and concerns about possible changes to the West Mifflin and West Dayton neighborhood. Bill Fruhling, principal planner

for Madison’s Planning Department, shared ideas for the city’s Downtown Plan, a comprehensive agenda for Madison’s downtown area. “The Madison Downtown Plan is a very critical document … because it will literally guide development for several years to come,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. “Mifflin Street, that’s an area we get a lot of input, a lot of attention … It is split down the middle of what people would like to see,” Fruhling said. The Downtown Plan’s two alternatives for the West Mifflin area are

Campus organizations unite to remember 9/11 victims By Melanie Teachout THE DAILY CARDINAL

In honor of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the College Democrats and the College Republicans are collaborating to hold a memorial ceremony on Bascom Hill Friday. Both the College Democrats and the College Republicans feel their annual ceremony represents the country’s need to unite after such a tragic event. “The event just shows there are some things that go beyond politics and even students that are actively involved in their separate political parties can work together,” Molly Rivera, chair of the College Democrats, said. According to Crystal Lee, chair of the College Republicans, terrorism and the war on terror are issues that affect both parties. “Attacks made on the United States’ soil represent attacks on the U.S. itself,” Lee said. “We

need to band together and remember the innocent lives lost because of these tragic attacks.” Students will be able to view flags scattered on Bascom Hill representing the lives lost in the Sept. 11 attacks before the actual ceremony. The ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a short introductory speech from the chairs of the College Democrats and College Republicans, which will be followed by a spoken prayer, the national anthem, a moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony. “It was such a significant day ... Most people can remember the place they were when the event occurred,” Stephen Duerst, public relations chair of the College Republicans, said. “We are hoping that most students will just pause and reflect on the freedoms that we have and perhaps sometimes take for granted.” memorial page 3

to restore the area or to redevelop it with new buildings, such as fourto-six-story warehouse apartments. The alternatives, however, are cause for controversy. Bob Holloway, a Capitol neighborhood resident, opposed the possible redevelopment project. “I really enjoy walking our neighborhood ... I like the character of the buildings. Why can’t we preserve what we’ve got until there really is a strongly demonstrated need to build mifflin page 3

Over $74,400 in inappropriate purchases made by state employees on items, including a vacation package to Las Vegas, a personal laptop and expensive tickets to a theater production, were identified by the Legislative Audit Bureau Wednesday in an audit of purchasing card use. Out of over 600,000 purchases made by state employees, 3,071 were reviewed. According to the report, the assessed purchases were not chosen randomly, but selected because they showed risk of abuse. “High-risk” purchases were those made during holidays and weekends or at luxury retailers. The report did not say if there were other potentially high-risk purchases that were not reviewed. UW System purchases represented 73.7 percent of all purchasing card expenditures. Irresponsible purchasing varied across UW System schools. At UW-Milwaukee, only 35.7 percent of purchases explicitly stated a business-related purpose when submitted for review. At UWMadison, 47.1 percent were explicitly reported as business-related. The report found $52,463 in “excessive or unnecessary” purchases made in agencies statewide. According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, UW System

employees made 10 percent of the total irresponsible purchases. A $695 fox-fur stole was purchased by a UW-Milwaukee cardholder, a UW-Superior cardholder used $292 for veterinary services for her sister’s horse, and an unknown $1,003 Wal-Mart purchase was made by a UW-Oshkosh employee. UWOshkosh indicated the record for the Wal-Mart purchase was destroyed in a flood. The LAB report said UW System schools are given discretion and flexibility regarding oversight. Giroux said the UW System has a set of controls in place to prevent inappropriate spending. “We already have a number of checks and balances. These purchasing cards are routinely looked at on a department basis and on a campus basis. There are multiple signatures that need to be provided to authorize these purchases,” he said. Giroux said the UW System is looking to improve the process with more standardized training for individuals who administer and use purchasing cards. He said a web-based training program is currently in the works. The report suggested the spending limit on many purchasing cards was set too high and could make the funds page 3

Snack attack

STEPHANIE MOEBIUS/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Students take bags of chips at the Helen C. House Party at College Library Thursday night.

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”


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