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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Court declares ban on Madison drink specials acceptable By Hannah McClung THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday downtown Madison bars could continue their policy of not providing drink specials after 8 p.m. on weekends. A lawsuit was filed against local bars over the policy. The bars were accused of violating antitrust laws by agreeing to the city’s attempts to curb binge drinking. The drink-special lawsuit was a major impediment to city licensing cooperation and voluntary compliance by bars for many years, according to Katherine Plominski, Madison’s Alcohol Policy Coordinator. “Even in recent months, simple decisions whether or not to carry one product, people have been using antitrust implications as an argument,” Plominski said. An added benefit for the city, according to Plominski, is the ruling shows the state has strong powers to set additional regulations on the sale of alcohol, including license conditions. However, according to the majority bars page 3
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008
911 error gives MPD false lead
UW officials investigate possible SigEp misconduct The Offices of the Dean of Students is conducting an official investigation into the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, university officials announced Tuesday. According to University Communications spokesperson John Lucas, the DOS office received a complaint about the fraternity and sent staff to visit the house Monday evening. Sig Ep president Mike Mielsen said the complaint, which alleges the fraternity was practicing hazing-like behavior at their house at 237 Langdon St., was inaccurate. “I met with Kevin Helmkamp and two other associate deans and they spoke to many members of our house on Monday night and came to the very clear conclusion that we did not haze,” Mielsen said. However, Mielsen said the fraternity’s activation of new members ceremony occurred May 2 and following the ceremony, some Sig Ep members acted in an inappropriate manner. “After the activation, there was an event that was not condoned by myself or the other fraternity leadership that was irresponsible and immature and we’re taking the correct steps so that it never happens again.” Lucas said the Committee on Student Organizations and the Greek Judicial Board would likely deal with any conduct issues regarding the fraternity. —Jillian Levy
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By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL
CHRISTOPHER GUESS/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Members of the new south campus union Design Committee present updated building plans to Union Council Tuesday at Memorial Union.
Union Council approves new Union South design direction By Megan Orear THE DAILY CARDINAL
Members of Union Council, the governing board of the Wisconsin Unions, met Tuesday to hear the latest plans for the new south campus union. Project Director Jan van den Kieboom presented the newly updated Broad Scope Program Model, a list of functions that will take place at the new building and how much space the current plan allots each of them. Kieboom also displayed the tentative floor plan, which includes interweaving terraces, space for student organizations, a theater, bowling alley, climbing wall and a pub that could double as a performance space. Major updates to the plan include moving the bowling alley from the lower level to the second level and rearranging the sizes of specific areas without changing the overall number of square feet. The meeting was then open for questions and discussions. According to John Barnhardt, Union president and chair, the purpose of the discussion was to give recommendations on the general direction of the project. Barnhardt said the Union Council mem-
bers are not the real experts in regard to the project, and the architects have given great thought and consideration to the project. “I don’t think the point of this evening is to go through fine details of square footage,” Barnhardt said. “We should be giving recommendations on how to move forward.” The Design Committee approved the Broad Scope Program Model, but left room for the possibility of amendments. Considerable disagreement arose around the size and location of a planned climbing wall. Design Committee member Dan Cornelius said he was concerned the climbing wall would fail because it is not currently placed in a central place. There was also concern that the current plan does not allow room for “bouldering,” which is a style of climbing to low heights without ropes. After much discussion, committee members voted on recommendations to make to the architectural team. They approved the recommendations to change the name of the climbing wall to include the word “bouldering,” as well as giving the climbing wall a minimum of 30 feet and adding 400 square feet to the climbing wall area.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced Tuesday that an error in the handling of a 911 call from the cell phone of homicide victim Brittany Zimmermann led investigators to pursue a false lead for nearly two weeks. At a news conference, Falk said a second call that came in after Zimmermann’s showed up on the dispatcher’s screen but that the caller hung up before the dispatcher answered. The dispatcher then proceeded to call the second number back, thinking it was Zimmermann’s phone, and reached two males who said their call was a mistake. Early in the investigation of Zimmermann’s April 2 killing, officials at the 911 Center mistakenly told Madison Police Department investigators that the two men answered the dispatcher’s call back on Zimmermann’s phone. Falk said police focused some of their investigative efforts on finding the men. Thirteen days after the homicide, 911 officials discovered the call back went to a landline in Middleton, not to Zimmermann’s cell phone in her Doty Street residence in downtown Madison. Falk said police then found and questioned the men who verified their call was not related to the homicide. The new details come in the wake of intense scrutiny of the county’s emergency response system after 911 Center Director Joe Norwick admitted policy errors occurred in dealing with Zimmermann’s call. Falk said the center conducted an internal investigation into the event and presented her a 40-page report Friday. After viewing the report, Falk decided to write a letter of apology to members of the Zimmermann family for the incident. Despite the 911 Center errors, Falk said she did not think there was a way to stop Zimmermann’s killing. “I do not believe, had the errors not occurred, that her murder could’ve been prevented,” she said. Falk said the contents of the report could not be made public in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation, adding county officials were instructed by MPD investigators not to release any specifics. falk page 3
Four campus staff apply to be Madison chancellor By Charles Brace THE DAILY CARDINAL
Four candidates from UW-Madison are potentially vying to be chancellor on campus, though finalists are set to be announced Wednesday. According to the Small Business Times, the candidates from campus positions include: Michael Knetter, professor and dean of the UW School of Business; Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science; Richard Moss, professor and chair of the department of physiology; and Patrick Farrell, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. While some have speculated on which candidates were applying from within the
university, this is the first time any names have been released. Knetter said he would not comment and he wanted to “respect the process” of choosing the next chancellor. The SBT said Knetter interviewed for the position last week. Sandefur and Farrell both also declined to speak when asked for comment, with Moss unavailable for comment as of press time. Other candidates whose names have been made public include David Bejou, dean of the school of business at Virginia State University, and Vincent Pellegrino, a vice president at Southwest Minnesota chancellor page 3
KYLE BURSAW/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk says she sent letters of apology to the family and fiancé of slain student Brittany Zimmermann.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”