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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Complete campus coverage since 1892
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dailycardinal.com
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Monday, February 2, 2009
Work study fund unstable in light of poor economy By Andrea Carlson THE DAILY CARDINAL
JOHN MANIACI/COURTESY WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
Protestors on both sides of the issue met in front of the Madison Surgery Center Saturday to rally in light of the possible opening of a second-trimester abortion clinic.
Abortion clinic ignites controversy Protesters argue over a possible abortion clinic opening By Kelsey Gunderson THE DAILY CARDINAL
Hundreds of protestors on both sides of the abortion debate clashed Saturday in a heated dispute over the opening of a second-trimester abortion clinic at the Madison Surgery Center. Opponents of the clinic met at Library Mall and listened to speeches from pro-life activists like Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. ADF, a legal alliance that defends religious liberty, originally voiced its discontent with the opening of the clinic in December 2008. In a speech, Bowman said prolife doctors should not have to work at a center that performs abortions. The challengers of the clinic marched from central campus to the Madison Surgery Center parking lot to confront a group of
pro-choice advocates organized by the International Socialist Organization. Steve Karlen, a Madison Vigil for Life member who helped organize the event, said he felt abortion procedures should not be performed at the Madison Surgery Center. “It is a proven fact that life begins at conception,” he said. “We cannot have our UW Hospital or Meriter killing lives in what is ordinarily a legitimate surgery center.” The anti-abortion group met pro-choice advocates like Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, leader of ISO. Wrigley-Field said an abortion is a procedure all women have the right to and that access to the procedure is drastically limited in Wisconsin. “Right now Wisconsin has only nine abortion providers for the whole state,” she said. “That has to change.” Dozens of UW-Madison students took part in the event and showed strong support for both sides of the issue. “At the very heart of all issues
should be life,” Patricia Kosmalski, a UW-Madison senior, said. “If our university doesn’t support life I don’t know how we can trust it with any other type of knowledge.” In contrast, Anna Igler, a UWMadison fourth-year medical student, said she felt abortions are a health-care right and women should have access to them regardless of the situation. Wrigley-Field said she hopes the pro-life movement will not deter UW Hospital Board of Directors’ decision to open the clinic. “I think today showed [UW and Meriter] that there is another side that will actively defend women’s abortion rights in Madison, and can help them stick to the decision they’ve made to serve women’s health,” she said. According to a statement on the UW Health website, the decision to open the clinic will come from the Madison Surgery Center’s board of directors. However, directors of UW Medical Foundation, Meriter Hospital and UW Hospital must approve the decision.
Even in this weak economy, many students may think holding a university job is a guaranteed paycheck. Think again. “Just because there’s a deficit in the state budget doesn’t mean we’re going to get more money to give to students. I would love to say that is the case but it just isn’t true,” Susan Fischer, director of the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid, said. Fischer added that approximately 2,000 students each year take part in a work-study program. According to its website, the federally funded program “provides funds that are earned through parttime employment to assist students in financing the costs of post-sec-
ondary education.” Students accepted to the program can find jobs through the university at places like Pop’s Club and the government will pay half of their salary. Fischer said there is a chance the amount of money in the work study program fund will decrease because of Wisconsin’s poor economy. However, UW-Madison has not seen program cuts from the federal government yet. Fischer said officials expected to see a reduction in program funding last year, but the decrease never occurred. The financial aid office said it is still waiting for next year’s allocation money and it is hard work study page 3
SARAH HAMILTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Bad budgeting contributes to state deficit
Man sentenced for Plaza Tavern fatality
By Megan Orear
By Rachel Holzman
THE DAILY CARDINAL
The economic recession was not the only factor leading up to Wisconsin’s worst budget deficit in state history, according to a report from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. Although the recession is the main cause of the 2009-’11 budget shortfall now projected at $5.7 billion, poor budgeting practices have made it worse, the report says. The increasing reliance on onetime revenue sources, such as money from a 1998 tobacco lawsuit settlement, results in the state spending more than it takes in as yearly rev-
enue. This has allowed the state to live beyond its means while creating deficits in subsequent budgets. According to the report, Wisconsin may receive up to $3.5 billion from Congress’ stimulus package to fix its budget, but this one-time revenue source may make the budget difficult to balance in the future. In addition, the study points out how Wisconsin has not set aside enough money for a “rainy day fund” and will have to cut more programs and raise taxes in order to balance the budget without this emergency fund to draw from. In 2007, states set aside money
for emergency funds, averaging 8.2 percent of total state revenue. According to the report, however, Wisconsin is one of the four states that requires less than one percent of revenues to be set aside. Andrew Reschovsky, UWMadison professor of public affairs and applied economics, said one reason Wisconsin lawmakers did not maintain the emergency fund may be that saving money is less popular politically than cutting taxes or paying for new programs. “Politics have the upper hand,” he said, but added that periods budgeting page 3
THE DAILY CARDINAL
A Madison artist who was involved in a fatal downtown bar fight last year was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for his role in the incident and for an attack on a woman several months earlier. Travis Knapp, 34, local street spraypainter, apologized to the family of Juan Bernal, who died the day after the Sept. 3 stabbing outside the Plaza Tavern, for having had any role in Bernal’s death. Knapp was charged for harboring and aiding a felon for taking the knife used to stab Bernal from Justin Stout, 31, who is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for Bernal’s death.
Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan sentenced Knapp concurrently for his role in the Plaza Tavern incident and for a substantial battery charge, when he reportedly punched a woman on State Street in February 2008 after she asked him for a cigarette. Flanagan said he made the sentences concurrent in the two separate cases because they both stemmed from Knapp’s drinking. Flanagan said he could not ignore the danger that Knapp poses to the public since he failed to address his drinking problem after the first crime. Stout is scheduled to stand trial on the reckless homicide charge in March.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”