One Year In - Issue 9 by The Badger Herald

STUDENT MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 · VOL 46, ISSUE 9 · BADGERHERALD.COM

ONE YEAR IN Chancellor Rebecca Blank left Washington D.C. for UW in 2013. In her second year, she narrows in on her plans for the future of the university. by ALEX ARRIAGA

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Sustainabilty a priority in 2015 Dane County Budget While environmentally-conscious projects are on the forefront for next year, lack of funding for county jail strikes community concerns by Eden Finer Reporter

New sustainable and environmentally-friendly projects are a focus for Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s 2015 budget, while the future of a new jail facility remains uncertain. A big theme of the budget is partnerships, particularly in climate change and environmental initiatives, Parisi’s communications director Melanie Conklin said. Parisi’s budget includes roughly $532 million for the operating budget, and $38.9 million for the capital budget. Some of Parisi’s top projects for 2015 are meant to clean

up Dane County, including eliminating phosphorus runoff to improve lake quality and using new techniques to collect carbon dioxide emissions from the Madison landfills, Conklin said. Conklin said an innovative, patent-pending project involving the Dane County Rodefeld Landfill will involve using solar panel technology to cover the landfill. “When a landfill fills up you have to cap it, which is a pretty expensive process,” Conklin said. “We’ve discovered the idea to cover our landfill with a solar membrane. Envision a bathing cap with solar panels on it.” A new medical examiner’s building and the new highway

transportation garage will be located across the street from the landfill, near Cottage Grove off Highway 12. Both of these buildings are heated and supplied with electricity from the landfill currently, but the implementation of the solar “bathing cap” would generate a lot more, Conklin said. Conklin said not only will the solar panels create revenue and power, but they actually cost less. A big project that is not receiving an expansion of funding in the 2015 budget is Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney’s jail proposal, which Conklin said would have been focused on improving the conditions for inmates with

mental illnesses. “In the current fiscal environment,” Conklin said, “it is simply too much for taxpayers.” Conklin said that even though this project is not feasible for the 2015 budget, Parisi and Mahoney agree on two key issues. The ﬁrst is the inadequacy of the jail cells above the city county building. The second, Conklin said, is how inmates with mental illnesses are taken care of in Dane County jails. Mahoney said the project currently has $8 million to work with from the 2014 budget. “That money will be used to further work with our consultants and architects to look at ... the City County building jail,

which has now been declared a safety risk to those who are housed there as well as those who work there,” Mahoney said. Safety and solitary conﬁnement are two of the main problems of the current jail, Mahoney said. He said lights are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and inmates are sleeping on the equivalent of a “concrete slab.” The problem needs to be addressed, he said, before a catastrophic event or death occurs in the current facility. “On any given day we have as many as 50 or more housed in solitary confinement because of their mental illness or their medical condition, and that’s a

UW serves immigrant needs

Upset about voter ID laws? Vote.

Law school clinic offers legal representation for migrants facing deportation by Alex Arriaga News Editor

Edy Moran is a 17-yearold high school student at Madison West High School who works at a bakery and spends any free time he has playing soccer. Like many others in Wisconsin, however, he faces the threat of deportation. Moran said he decided to leave Honduras after receiving threats from angry individuals after his father, who had done work as a hitman, disappeared. Having lost his mother at the age of one, Moran was alone in his decision to leave. Moran, who has spent five months in the United States, will face a trial

in May that will decide whether he is able to stay. Moran said he considers himself lucky, however, as his chances to stay are greatly strengthened by the free legal assistance he receives from students at University of Wisconsin’s Immigration Justice Clinic. UW’s Immigrant Justice Clinic is in its third year of actively providing free legal representation to immigrants in deportation proceedings, the only one in the state. It started with the provision of a three-year grant from the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment. Stacy Taeuber, director of the clinic, said it focuses on representing people who are in immigration custody and detention. She said in Wisconsin,

the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement houses detainees in two different jails, holding about 200 people in each at any given time. Not all immigrants facing deportation are detained, however. Taeuber said the clinic works on providing visas for victims of crime and asylum cases. “The immigration population in Wisconsin has been growing very rapidly and institutions have been struggling to keep up,” Taeuber said. “There is no other nonprofit legal service in Wisconsin that represents people who are in detention. If someone can’t afford a lawyer, they can go to Chicago or pay someone but if they can’t afford it they’re stuck.” Taeuber said the issue

of immigration has been an increasing presence in Wisconsin, as many states near the border run out of space to hold all the detainees and send them up north. She stressed how difficult it is for an immigrant to represent themselves. She said there are ways for them to apply for staying rights, including family size and the amount of time already spent in the U.S. Second or third year law students get academic credit for the program, Taeuber said, which involves a credit component as well as the hands-on experience of working with clients under supervision, which she provides.

Voter ID laws likely won’t be changing before the Nov. 4 election, and getting to the polls is the best way to take a stand against voter suppression.

OPINION, PAGE 5

Badgers fall to Northwestern in Big Ten opener Saturday’s away game ended in a 20-14 loss for Wisconsin after dismal performances, missed tackles.

SPORTS, PAGE 12

MIGRANTS, page 4

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problem because it exacerbates their condition in many cases,” Mahoney said. “It’s not what solitary conﬁnement is designed for.” Mahoney said the remaining $8 million will focus on special needs housing for those who require specialized medical attention because of a medical condition or illness. The funding for the project’s current budget is appropriate, Mahoney said, and he will be putting the money to good use. The county budget proposal will be sent to the County Board for consideration and amendments. The final budget will be approved in November and go into eﬀect Jan. 1.

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