UW-Madison is facing more financial hardship as the state continues to cut funding from the university system it claims to hold so dear. When students return in the fall, the smoking ban in bars will be in place, and the city government will no doubt continue to try to decrease student drinking with new rules pertaining to house parties and local festivals. Meanwhile, the City of Madison will continue to expand at a rapid pace.
With all that in mind, here are three issues students should pay close attention to over the summer.
Many UW-Madison students have a serious a cash flow dilemma, as they have been hit hard by the state's budgetary woes. In fact, in-state tuition has risen an astronomical 37.5 percent during the past two years. A flurry of political action, which will directly affect the pocketbooks of UW students, is beginning to heat up.
Most of the action surrounding the tuition issue is starting to recognize students' tight budgets. The proposal by Madison Democratic Reps. Spencer Black, Mark Pocan and Joe Parisi to give $17 million in financial aid for students whose family income is below $46,000 is a step in the right direction. Yet the fact that only Democrats sponsored this plan, with many Republicans doubting the proposal, is a troubling sign.
It would serve Republicans well to remember Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau Claire has demonstrated that tuition is a bipartisan issue. His proposal to cap tuition increases at 3 percent over the next two years deserves substantial consideration due to its improvement on the tuition increase over the last two years and its potential for bipartisan support.
There is no reason lower tuition should not unite legislators, just as it has united students from across the political spectrum-for both understand the future of Wisconsin depends on quality higher education.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the City Council have recently brought the Halloween festivities back into the headlines. The mayor wants to overhaul the event or possibly even cancel it altogether while downtown alders, led by Alds. Mike Verveer, District 4, and Austin King, District 8, maintain that only minor changes are needed.
We are inclined to agree with the downtown alders. While Halloween has ended in riots each of the past two years, there is little fundamentally wrong with the event itself. The easiest way to fix Halloween would be to give potential rioters a reason not to riot.
One solution would be to keep bars open later. This might mean extending bar time by several hours, which would allow revelers to trickle off State Street at their leisure rather than being forced off all at once. Similarly, giving extended hours to bars that are not in the State Street area but are still downtown would give those who wanted to celebrate late places to go without having them all be in one central area.
Even with the problems Halloween has created, it is still beneficial to downtown businesses. Those businesses, and responsible partiers, should not have to pay for the idiocy of a few. The city should find creative solutions to peacefully dissipate the State Street crowds.
As Madison transforms from a college town to an expanding urban area, its physical development is undergoing extensive changes. From the proposed Archipelago Village to the rise of condominiums around Capitol Square, the skyline of the city is reaching ever higher.
While Madison's upward expansion is inevitable and its effects are apparent near campus with recent additions like the Aberdeen, development must be balanced with the recognition of Madison's mix of neighborhoods.
Archipelago Village is a 27-story building tentatively planned for the 900 block of East Washington Avenue. It would be twice the height of the Capital and tower above everything in the immediate area. Obviously, it would be out of place.
Archipelago Village has the potential to speed up the gentrification of nearby Williamson Street and pull development away from the Square. If it was moved west four or five blocks, it would complement, rather than compete with, downtown Madison.
On the other side of the Capitol, Overture's final phases, the expansion of Metropolitan Place and the Campus Master Plan will raise the city's skyline. Perhaps developers should look farther, to the west end of campus. The UW Hospital has been steadily growing and will certainly need the housing to support its burgeoning staff. Furthermore, as UW-Madison continues its tradition of research, the west side of campus will need the infrastructure to support it.
City growth must encompass and match the university's needs. The height of the Capitol will be surpassed, but the UW should not be ignored in the next round of development.
