Andrew Bird takes flight in latest record Tired of others breaking it for you? Chicago-based singer-songwriter urges listeners to âBreak it Yourself.â ARTS | 7
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINâS INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1969 Volume XLIII, Issue 102
Thursday, March 8, 2012
www.badgerherald.com
ASM presses Ward on Adidas contract Chancellor says mediation period needed in putting company on notice Jackie Allen Campus Life Editor In a meeting with the University of Wisconsin student government Wednesday night, Interim Chancellor David Ward spoke to several student concerns over recent administrative debates regarding student tuition increases and the upcoming mediation period with the athletic apparel manufacturer Adidas. In early February, Ward decided to move into a mediation period with Adidas to address an ongoing allegation that an Adidas-subcontracted factory owner failed to pay thousands of workers after the factory closed, violating UWâs code of conduct in the process. Shared Governance Chair
Beth Huang, stating some student government members assumed the code of conduct was broken by Adidas, asked Ward why he chose to enter into the mediation period. Ward said Wednesday he entered the period in part because he received information that suggested UW could be sued for breaking the contract with Adidas. âI got information that suggested that even though the report indicated there were breaches, we could be sued,â Ward said. âIt could bring the code of conduct into a court case and my worry was ⌠it would be a problem if Adidas won that case.â Ward added a mediation period is an obligation of putting the company on notice, but he decided to move it before putting the company on notice to protect the university before a potential court case could arise. According to Ward, if the mediation goes nowhere or is not successful, then UW can notify Adidas of a violation. If UWâs
case is found to be stronger in the mediation period, however, Ward said Adidas may then be forced to pay the workers their severance pay. When Huang asked how open Ward would be willing to make the mediation process, he responded he would like the period to be as open as possible. However, Ward added that the mediator, jointly chosen by UW and Adidas, decides how open to make the process. âWhat Iâm hoping is that through mediation we first of all prevent an aggressive litigation against us that could threaten us and be very expensive and somewhat embarrassing,â Ward said. ASM Chair Allie Gardner also rose concerns over a suggestion by a UW committee to raise tuition in an effort to help retain faculty, adding ASMâs official stance currently is that they do not approve of differential tuition increases, and are interested in other private Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
ADIDAS, page 5
Chancellor David Ward met with members of student government Wednesday to address widespread concerns about UWâs Adidas contract.
UW restructuring task force unveils HR goals Mike Kujak State Legislative Editor A special task force on University of Wisconsin System Restructuring unveiled its basic policy goals behind the systemâs new Human Resources Design Project at the Capitol on Wednesday. Alan Crist, UW System associate vice president
for human resources, and Darrell Bazzell, UWMadisonâs vice chancellor for administration, presented before the Special Taskforce on UW Restructuring Wednesday to start discussions over how UWâs Human Resources Design Project differs from the HR changes occurring in the UW system. The redesign of UW
System HR department is in the second phase to overhaul the system after legislation included in the Wisconsin budget last year gave the system authority to create its own HR system outside of the state government. A large portion of the discussion was over future compensation plans and flexibility options.
Bazzell said while he did not have a direct answer to compensation plan reform, the projectâs main goal would be to bring consistency to the department. âFor those of you in the Legislature, there seems to be a fairly uniform system here. In the UW System, it is very different,â Bazzell said. âWhat if nearly a
third of your workers were operating under a set of rules that you had no ability to change or bargain with? We need to bring all our employees under one umbrella.â When asked about what the budget for this project may be, Bazzell said people are working on their own time to develop the project and at this time did not
expect any significant costs. Bazzell also addressed UWâs designâs teamâs efforts to create a more efficient HR system and said an important objective was to meet the unique needs of the Madison campus. âMaybe itâs efficiency; maybe we might want to just call it more responsive
RESTRUCTURING, page 2
Diversity Committee alleges VPN breach Jackie Allen Campus Life Editor
Megan McCormick The Badger Herald
Resolutions from the University of Wisconsin student governmentâs diversity committee claim other chairs and members of the student government failed to remain neutral in their decisions regarding a multicultural campus organization, prompting calls for an internal investigation. According to the resolutions, Student Services Finance Committee Chair Sarah Neibart violated an Associated Students of Madison bylaw by failing
Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs hoped to mobilize students to turn out for Obama, providing a crucial part of the presidentâs supporters.
to make reasonable efforts to ensure the full committee was compliant with viewpoint neutrality requirements. The resolutions also state the Student Judiciary failed to take necessary action in voiding the committeeâs proceedings with MCSCâs eligibility process and denied ruling SSFC committed any viewpoint neutrality violations. The Diversity Committee called on ASM Student Judiciary Chief Justice Kathryn Fifield and Vice Chief Justice Nicholas Checker to be removed
DIVERSITY, page 5
Obama reps make campaign stop INSIDE
Officials urge UW students to get out, vote in wake of new voter ID laws Julia Skulstad Herald Contributor Officials from President Barack Obamaâs reelection campaign made a stop in the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Wednesday as part of a nationwide tour. Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and National Field Director Jeremy Bird highlighted the Presidentâs accomplishments and the campaignâs challenges in Wisconsin as part of the âGreater Together Student Summit Tour.â âThe unfortunate thing is that we now have a more difficult challenge,â Bird said, referring to a Wisconsin law that
requires voters to present identification at the polls. âBecause of laws that have been passed here and across the country, itâs even more difficult for young people to vote.â With this campaign, Bird said he hopes for better organization to bring more young voters to the polls to take the 58 percent of young people who turned out to vote in the state of Wisconsin in 2008 and bring the rate up to 65 or 70 percent. Bird said for this campaign it is important to counteract the added challenges of voter ID laws by considering them as an opportunity to talk to people about why they must register to vote.
Gibbs said the presidentâs key reform issues â like the economy, health care legislation and the war in Iraq â will be instrumental in his re-election. According to Gibbs, Obamaâs accomplishment in reversing unemployment trends throughout the past 23 consecutive months of positive job employment has helped the country to begin to come out of the economic crisis. âIn order to get younger voters as excited as they were in 2008, we must explain what is at stake for the country and for them,â Gibbs said. âThere are lobbyists with special interests all over this country and all up and down Washington that are
hoping youâre distracted in November ⌠and theyâre hoping that youâll stay home.â Gibbs said the loss of all the reforms Obama has enacted while in office, if an opponent in the upcoming presidential election were to take office, would roll back all the progress and reforms that have been made on issues such as health care and tax breaks. College Republicans Chair Jeff Snow said he believes the Obama campaign made this stop in Madison because they want to repeat the last electionâs performance of young
OBAMA, page 5
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