The Deer Cardinal offers its semester farewell advice PAGE 2 University of Wisconsin-Madison
RUGBY TAKES SECOND IN NATIONALS
UW’s club rugby team loses 27-11 in the DII national championship game to Middlebury
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THE DAILY CARDINAL
Close to 8,000 UW System students who received financial aid package projections in March will be given an average of $310 less than expected in grants for the 2009-’10 school year. The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee made cuts Wednesday to a proposal in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget to spend more on Wisconsin Higher Education Grants, an increase in financial aid meant to protect students with family incomes of $60,000 or less from tuition increases. Connie Hutchison, executive secretary for the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board, told the Associated Press student grants on average will be reduced to $2,300 from $2,600. “To those who are paying attention to their financial aid numbers and they are comparing to the memo they got in March to the one they get later in the summer, they will see a difference and not a good one,” UW System spokesperson David Giroux said. However, Giroux made it clear that the cuts were made to proposed, not concrete, financial aid amounts. He was not surprised by the JFC’s decision. “Given the condition
of the state’s finances, we shouldn’t be surprised by almost anything right now,” he said. According to Giroux, additional Pell Grant funds will offset tuition increases for many of the same people who would have received Wisconsin Higher Education Grants. State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said the JFC’s cuts are only a recommendation and are “just one part of the process.” He said he is hopeful the state Legislature will end up passing Doyle’s original proposal. “We need to provide the maximum amount of financial aid possible so that higher education remains affordable to all regardless of their financial circumstance,” he said. Giroux also said the budget is a long way from being done and is still subject to change. “On the one hand, we recognize the state is in a very difficult financial position right now, and on that level it’s very understandable. On the other hand, financial aid has never been more important for our students, and so we’re still hopeful there might be some new investment in the WHEG program,” Giroux said.
KYLE BURSAW THE DAILY CARDINAL
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Faculty Senate adds review committee for Athletic Board By Grace Kim THE DAILY CARDINAL
ISABEL ALVAREZ/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
Supporters of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker rally at his gubernatorial campaign announcement last week in Dane, Wis.
Poll shows support for Walker as GOP gubernatorial candidate By Megan Orear THE DAILY CARDINAL
An unofficial poll taken at the state Republican Party convention in La Crosse puts Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who has announced a run for governor, in the lead against other prospective Republican gubernatorial candidates. The poll, conducted by WisPolitics, asked 423 convention delegates and guests which candidates they would choose to be the Republican Party’s nominees for governor and lieutenant governor if the primary were held at that moment. Walker received 395 votes,
Talon show A Cooper’s hawk feasts on a female mallard duck at the top of Bascom Hill Monday afternoon.
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JFC decision may reduce student aid By Hannah Furfaro
SPORTS
and Mark Neumann, a former Wisconsin congressman who has said he plans on running for governor, received 25. Of the prospective candidates for lieutenant governor, Dave Ross, mayor of Superior, had the most support with 147 votes, and state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, received 109 votes. Neither has officially declared that he will be running. UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said polls like this one correctly reflect the sentiment of people who attend the convention, but Walker is the walker page 3
The UW-Madison Faculty Senate approved a motion to create an external review committee for the Athletic Board during its meeting Monday. Professor Bruce Jones, a member of the UW-Madison Athletic Board, drafted the proposal to create the committee and presented it to the senate. Although the Athletic Board previously conducted an internal analysis, the new committee will consist of seven to nine non-Athletic Board faculty members to review the group’s functions. Chancellor Biddy Martin opposed the motion. According to Martin, faculty members who stand outside of the Athletic Board cannot be called upon to review the group’s functions because they do not have genuine expertise. “It makes no sense to have a committee of five to seven members and call it an external review team … and imagine that that somehow is going to give us an accurate comparison to other institutions,” Martin said.
“This is not really about the athletics, this is about fairness and the integrity of the institution.” Jeremi Suri former member Athletic Board
Martin said if there is a need for review of the Athletic Board then “it ought to be done in a way that is really sound.” She said she does not think the faculty have enough expertise to make a sound review. According to professor Jeremi Suri, a former member of the Athletic Board, external review by an ad hoc committee is necessary because of serious allegations by at least five Athletic Board members. Allegations include harassment, mistreatment, miscommunication and intimidation. “I think we do have cause to investigate what is happening. I’m certainly open to an amendment which would allow people other than faculty to a review,” Suri said. “A number of people came to the university committee in two different years … and those people feel that their concerns weren’t adequately addressed.” Several previous and current members of the board said university officials did not address all earlier Athletic Board issues with the internal review. One of the members of the senate who pushed for the additional review committee said questions about the Athletic Board remained unaddressed by previous reports, documents and other statements. “When we have serious allegations about the body, we don’t let that body alone review itself,” Suri said. “This is not really about the athletics, this is about fairness and the integrity of the institution.”
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”