News

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UW System president: cuts ‘disproportionate’

  UW System President Kevin Reilly said the additional $65.7 million cuts in funding to the university from the state is disproportionate to total statewide cuts Friday. Administration officials announced Oct. 14 that they plan to cut $174.3 more in statewide funding over the next biennium because of a budget lapse. Cuts to the UW System make up 38 percent of the lapse. “The use of a lapse is not a surprise,” Reilly wrote in an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “What is surprising, however, is the apparent reliance on the UW System to balance the state budget. Unfortunately, our students will suffer the unintended consequences of this approach.” Reilly said the timing of the lapse makes it difficult for the system to determine where to make the cuts. He said the system had already made budget allocations by the time the cuts were made mid-semester. “Students paid their tuition bills, came to campus and began working hard toward their college dreams,” Reilly said. “It’s our obligation to deliver a high-quality educational experience, but oversized funding cuts make it difficult to fulfill those promises.” In a letter to state Budget Director Brian Hayes sent last Wednesday, UW System Associate Vice President of Budget and Planning Freda Harris suggested the state lessen cuts to the UW System. Even if the state were to make Harris's recommended alterations to the lapse, the UW System would still absorb 11 percent of the $174 million cut. Reilly said UW System leaders are addressing the lapses by engaging in dialogues with state leaders and “reiterating the UW System’s role as an economic engine, and asking leaders to develop a fairer plan.” “There is still time to reconsider the methodology behind this midyear budget lapse and redress its inequities,” Reilly said. “By doing so, state leaders can send a message to all UW students and their families that higher education is a higher priority in Wisconsin.”

New districts could apply in recalls

  Wisconsin state senators who could face recall elections next year might be campaigning to new constituents if the legislature passes an amendment pushing forward the date new district lines are applied to elections. State Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, authored an amendment on Friday to Act 43,  the new state law that changes legislative district lines. Senators of even-numbered senate districts and Assembly representatives have regular elections on Nov. 6, 2012, but senators from odd-numbered districts, to which the amendment would directly apply, do not have general elections until 2014.   There could be special elections before the Nov. 6 date for senators from odd-numbered districts eligible for recall next year, in which, under the GAB’s interpretation, constituents from the old districts would vote. Lazich’s amendment would move the date the new districts will apply to elections  up to November 9, 2011 for Senate districts so constituents of new Senate districts would vote in recall elections. Lazich said in a statement if old districts were used for recall elections, voters would be recalling and electing a senator from another district.  “With the new landscape of recalls, the legislature must take steps not to disenfranchise voters living in odd numbered districts,” Lazich said. But Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, sees the amendment as an “unconstitutional” Republican effort to save their jobs and the GOP state majority. “[The legislation ensures] that Republicans facing recall can run in their new, gerrymandered districts rather than the districts that elected them to office,” Larson said in a statement.   The amendment is in response to Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy’s opinion that any recall election occurring before Nov. 6, 2012 would be held in the district that legislator represented before Aug. 24, 2011, the day redistricting took effect. Kennedy said an election occurring on or after that date would use the new district lines.

Police use Taser after fight at Plan B

Two men ended up in jail when a Madison Police officer used a Taser after being punched in the shoulder trying to break up a brawl at the Plan B parking lot early Saturday morning. Police said officers were called to Plan B on Williamson Street for a fight and when they got there saw a suspect punch another man several times. According to the report, a Taser was used on the primary suspect in order to gain his compliance. Police said a friend of the suspect tried to prevent an officer from making the arrest.

Man robbed, hit near State Street

A Mount Horeb man was robbed near State Street Friday night by two men, who took the man’s cell phone and wallet in addition to punching him in the face. Police said the man, 24, was treated at a local hospital for a possible broken jaw. According to the report, one of the two suspects had black hair and wore a blue track jacket while the other wore a dark sweatshirt.

Occupy Madison permit not re-issued

  City officials temporarily denied Occupy Madison a new street use permit Wednesday after protesters violated public health and safety conditions and failed to follow the correct processes to renew or amend a permit. The permit, which expired Wednesday at noon, required Occupy Madison protesters to relocate from their current space at 30 West Mifflin Street, also called 30 on the Square. Mary Carbine, the executive director of the Madison Central Business Improvement District, said a neighboring hotel’s staff voiced concerns about having to recently escort hotel employees to and from bus stops late at night due to inappropriate behavior, allegedly including public masturbation, from people in and around the protest. In addition, officials agreed further occupation should not be allowed to continue without restrooms on site to avoid further public health violations. “You can’t be affecting the safety and health of other people around you,” Madison Fire Prevention Officer Jerry McMullen said. “With the public health violations and the complaints I’ve heard, I don’t believe it meets the spirit of the ordinance to a street use permit.” Occupy Madison representative and street use permit holder Paul Streeter said he hopes to use the 30 on the Square space again as soon as possible after Freakfest. “[The protest] is indeed a work in progress,” Streeter said. “We will continue to address issues as they comeup.” Madison’s Parks Division requested a written form stating the dates and location where members wish to occupy. “You can tell us what your proposals are, but we have no idea what you are doing, how you are doing it or what your safety and security plan is,” McCullen said. “We have nothing in writing to back it up, and we usually require that all events have [written plans].” Occupy Madison is relocating onto Olin Terrace until Monday when Freak Fest is over, and they can request a new permit for 30 on the Square. UPDATED Oct. 30: The headline of this article has been changed from "Occupy Madison loses permit" to "Occupy Madison permit not re-issued" for the sake of clarity. UPDATED Nov. 1: An earlier update mis-attributed the allegations of public safety concerns from a city commission meeting to a Madison parks official. The allegation was, in fact, made by Mary Carbine at the meeting, who said community members had raised concerns about inappropriate behavior by individuals in and around the Occupy Madison protest, not necessarily by the protesters themselves. 

Judge upholds CFACT funding refusal

A federal judge upheld UW-Madison’s decision to deny the Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow funding Wednesday. In 2009, CFACT filed a lawsuit against the university after the Student Services Finance Committee denied the group funding. SSFC ruled CFACT did not submit its application on time and did not spend at least 50 percent of its time directly serving students, making the group ineligible for funding. But CFACT said the committee violated viewpoint neutrality by taking the group’s conservative stance on environmental and social issues into account when deciding the group’s eligibility. CFACT said one of the only differences between it and the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG), a group that received funding, is that WISPIRG is liberal and CFACT is conservative. The group said this proves SSFC ruled in a viewpoint non-neutral manner. But U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said last year WISPIRG did not receive eligibility. Adelman wrote in his opinion that in the future, if CFACT and WISPIRG’s eligibility decisions contradict each other’s, the student groups can open a new case against SSFC. This year, SSFC granted WISPIRG eligibility and denied CFACT.  

Housing specialists: MPM policy illegal

Tenants' rights experts labeled Madison Property Management's new Freakfest weekend policy illegal Thursday, saying the limits imposed violate tenants' leases, as well as state law.

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