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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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dailycardinal.com
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Stem-cell firms merge, acquire $18 million By Sara Lieburn THE DAILY CARDINAL
NICK KOGOS/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Members of the Madison Area Bus Advocates gathered outside the Monona Terrace Monday to protest the bus fare increase before a Transit and Parking Commission public hearing on the issue.
Residents sound off on fare hike Transit advocates voice opposition to pricier Madison Metro bus rides By Rebecca Holland THE DAILY CARDINAL
Two dozen Metro Transit riders braved the cold Monday night to gather at the Monona Terrace for a rally in protest of a proposed bus fare increase. The increase will raise fares from $1.50 to $2 and is intended to go into effect in March 2009. Barbara Smith, of Madison Area Bus Advocates, led the rally. “We the citizens own the buses, and we’re here to celebrate. Buses for the people!” Smith said. She said because Madison Metro is a publicly owned bus company, there should be full funding for the public service it provides. Smith argued that the mayor wants to increase fares because diesel fuel and other
service costs have gone up, but when the cost of asphalt goes up, car drivers do not pay more. “The whole community pays through city property tax, and bus riders want the same treatment,” she said. “Bus riders are not second-class citizens.” Smith’s words were met with shouts of “Right on!” and “Fare hike is wrong!” David Koene, a Madison resident, took part in the rally and waved a sign reading, “Bailout the Bus Riders.” He said people who ride the bus are generally those who cannot afford other transportation. “To be charging them more at the same time we’re bailing out Wall Street is kind of like reverse Robinhoodism—taking from the poor and giving to the
rich,” Koene said. Another Metro Transit rider, Kristin Kilmark, attended the rally to fight for disabled riders. “I have a disability. I have autism,” she said. Many of her friends with disabilities also use the buses daily and cannot speak. “I speak for those who can’t talk,” she said. “I can only hope that they listen to me.” The rally ended with a chant where Smith shouted pro-bus rider phrases and attendees answered with, “We ride the bus.” “We make the green choice,” Smith yelled. “We help congestion, we don’t need parking and we have a small carbon footprint,” to which attendees responded with, “We ride the bus, we ride the bus, we ride the bus.”
Public hearing hosts debate over plan’s potential effect on ridership By Abby Sears THE DAILY CARDINAL
The Madison Transit and Parking Commission heard hours of citizen commentary at the Monona Terrace Monday night at a public hearing on the proposed bus fare increases tentatively set to go into effect in March 2009. Chuck Kamp, general manager of Madison Metro, explained the logistics of price increases among a variety of fares—from cash tickets to ride passes for youth, adult and senior riders—to attendees of the hearing. The commission must now tackle the widely debated 50-cent increase for the adult cash fare from $1.50 to $2, as well as a $25 hike for the semester pass to $150 in order to hit the $682,000 in additional Metro revenue approved in Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s 2009 operating budget.
Kamp also said ridership is still expected to increase by about 1 percent despite the proposed fare increase, mainly because most of the Metro’s contracts for unlimited ride passes, such as their partnership with the Associated Students of Madison, are secured through 2009. Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12, disputed the idea that ridership would not suffer from the fare hike. “My belief is that we need to build the Metro system, and the way that we do that sustainably in the long-term is to increase ridership,” Rhodes-Conway said, noting the recent, but in her opinion limited, success of the ride-pass programs. “I think that has sustained us despite previous service cuts and fare increases that we have seen, and I don’t know how long that can con-
tinue to sustain us,” she said. Madison resident Michelle Beasley said she and her husband, who has a physical disability that prevents him from driving, make up two different kinds of Metro customers—transit-dependent and choice riders. Beasley said she supports the fare hike after seeing the debilitating effect not increasing prices had on transit services in her old community of Mesa, Ariz., where service cuts forced the couple to relocate to Madison. “[My husband] rides the bus because he has to. I ride the bus because I want to,” Beasley said. “What I do know is that we need to do what we can to maintain the riders that we have.” The TPC is scheduled to make a final decision on the fare increase proposals at its Dec. 9 meeting.
Cellular Dynamics International, founded by world-renowned UWMadison stem-cell researcher James Thomson, announced a merger Monday with sister companies Stem Cell Products Inc. and iPS Cells Inc. In addition, the newly merged CDI has received $18 million from institutions and individual donors. CDI Chief Commercial Officer Chris KendrickParker said the merger will allow the company to meet the demand of its customers, which severely outweighs the THOMSON market’s current supply. According to Kendrick-Parker, while the three companies were initially founded separately, it is now logical to combine the intellectual properties of each to accelerate commercialization of research developments. Kendrick-Parker said the primary growth of the company has been in manufacturing and product development, and the initial goals of the new CDI are to commercialize stem-cell developments for research purposes, primarily for drug discovery and development. Janet Kelly, communications
director for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, an institution that contributed to the initial round of funding, said WARF has been an avid supporter of CDI. “CDI is the kind of company Wisconsin needs to move stem-cell research from the lab to the marketplace,” Kelly said. According to Greg Hyer, associate director of the University Research Park, the merger will benefit not only medical science, but also the Midwest’s economy. “The companies started with only a handful of employees that has now, with the merger, increased to over 50, and [employees] are making almost twice Wisconsin’s average individual salary,” Hyer said. At a news conference Monday, Gov. Jim Doyle also said the merger will benefit Wisconsin economically. “Despite our national economic downturn, I am pleased that our business leaders are continuing to invest in innovative companies like Cellular Dynamics which will provide the high-end jobs of the future,” Doyle said. Kendrick-Parker said he expects employment opportunities in the company, as well as the company’s revenue, to continue growing. He said CDI already has plans for its first product, and will be able to accelerate plans for other products with the merger.
Art professors help illuminate Kohl Center Professors from the UWMadison Art Department helped design and build the light structures currently being installed outside the Kohl Center, which are intended to add dimension and color to the building’s surrounding area. Steven Feren and Gail Simpson—
professors from the department who participated in the construction— built the lights with stainless steel wrapped with bronze ribbons. “We’ve created something that’s celebratory. They combine light, kohl center page 3
JEFF MILLER/UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
The university is currently installing more light fixtures (above) on the Kohl Center promenade. Two art professors designed the lights.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”