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Food pantries struggle for resources Many in Dane County still in poverty despite employment By Caitlin Gath The Daily Cardinal
Although the national economy may have begun its climb back toward prosperity, leaving the city of Madison relatively unscathed in comparison to other, far worse areas of the country, there are still signs that Madison may not be out of the woods just yet. People all across Madison and south-central Wisconsin are faced with the issue of poverty every day. For many college students, eating and buying groceries on a tight budget is sure to cause headaches, but for others in the community, poverty can mean the difference between eating and not eating. Food pantries are valuable resources that continue to feel a strain on their services, in large part because of the ailing economy. Over the last several years, St. Vincent de Paul, the largest food pantry in Dane County, has seen many people using its services for the first time. “Resources are always a struggle, but we work hard to get stuff, and it’s important for us not to run out,” Ralph
Middlecamp, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul, said. “When you’re the safety net for so many people you kind of have an obligation to not fail.” Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, a private, nonprofit organization that distributes food to 16 counties in southwestern Wisconsin, including Dane County, has also been stretched in terms of fundraising, according to Dan Stein, its president and CEO. According to a hunger study compiled every four years on both a national and state level, Second Harvest had formerly served an estimated 78,000 unique people per year. Today that number has increased to 141,000, of which about 43 percent are children.
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Author and ‘professional feminist’ Jessica Valenti spoke about sexual violence on campus Thursday as part of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Matt Marheine the daily cardinal
“It’s not that they’re not working, they’re just not getting paid enough for a living wage.” Chris Brockel food and gardens manager Community Action Coalition
Stein said unemployment has doubled because of job loss, forcing people to eat through their savings. “It becomes ‘Do I buy food or do I pay rent?’ or ‘Do I buy food pantries page 3
WE’RE BRINGING SEXY BACK: Erica makes her long-awaited return to The Dirty Bird PAGE 2
Weekend, April 23-25, 2010
Love in this club
matt marheine/the daily cardinal
Students dance the night away at All-Campus Party’s Club Bucky event, which featured music from the ’80s and ’90s in a tent set up near Sellery Hall Thursday.
Clean Energy Jobs Act stalls in Senate By Cathy Martin The Daily Cardinal
Gov. Jim Doyle’s clean energy bill did not become law after the state Senate failed to vote on it Thursday, the last day of this year’s legislative session. The Clean Energy Jobs Act aimed to create 15,000 new jobs in the state’s growing alternative energy industry by 2025, according to a statement. The proposed legislation detailed goals and strategies for advancing renewable energy use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency in Wisconsin. State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, who introduced the Assembly version of the bill, said the initiative would have improved the state’s economy and environment and that he is “extremely disappointed” in the state Senate’s decision. “I think the Senate has been der-
elict in its duty by failing to take up and pass this legislation,” Black said. “It’s especially shameful that the state Senate would act in this way on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.” Environmentalists, farmers, many businesses and others supported the bill, according to Black. However, it faced bipartisan opposition in the Senate, including that of Majority Leader Russell Decker, D-Wausau, and Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. The bill outlined goals to reduce emissions to 2005 levels by 2014 and would have mandated that all new buildings constructed after 2029 be “zero-net buildings,” using only energy they generate on-site from renewable sources. Senators who opposed the bill said it would have raised utility prices and established new building codes. “All of that would have an
impact on Wisconsin taxpayers and Wisconsin employers, raising the costs to build homes [and] commercial buildings,” Kimber Liedl, Fitzgerald’s spokesperson, said. State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, said these added financial burdens would have been overwhelming for some Wisconsinites. “I think at a time when our economy is in such precarious shape, to take up a bill which would have forced electric rates up for Wisconsin’s manufacturing community as well as low-income citizens was callous to the extreme,” Grothman said. The state Legislature adjourned Friday until January, but Black said he hopes Doyle will call a special legislative session specifically for this issue. Otherwise, the Legislature could consider it again next year. “Bills never die,” Black said. “But the time to pass this legislation is now.”
PAVE hosts ‘professional feminist’ to speak about rape By Alison Bauter The Daily Cardinal
The student group Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment hosted author and speaker Jessica Valenti Thursday as part of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Valenti, a blogger for feministing.com, author of “Full Frontal Feminism” and self-proclaimed “professional feminist,” discussed ideas from her book “Yes Means Yes” to facilitate a conversation with students about sexual violence on campus. Senior John Ludders said he attended the event after reading Valenti’s book “The Purity Myth”
because he thought it was an interesting and important perspective. “I think she’s great,” Ludders said. “She perpetuates the view that feminism is an equality thing, not antiman.” Indeed, Valenti began her speech by defying the “bra-burning” stereotype of the angry feminist. “Telling women that only ugly man-haters are feminists is ... a great way to keep young people away from feminism,” Valenti said. “I really do believe that one of the best ways we can start to combat sexual violence is to be feminists. Their work is some valenti page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”