New Ramp May Help Winter Parking Problems, by Melissa Koch

The new parking ramp on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus hopes to resolve some past issues with parking spots for commuting students and staff: availability and bad weather.

Commuter student Shelby Jacobson says had no problems finding an open spot during the first two weeks of Fall.  If she ever does have a problem, the university has a solution to offer.  According to Jacobson, if the ramp ever fills completely, students with ramp parking passes can stop into the parking office, within the ramp, and will be given a permit for the other commuter lots for the day.

The ramp’s success plans to continue for the increase of commuters the snow and cold of winter brings. Jacobson suggests that people who need to park on campus choose ramp parking.  “I would encourage more people to look into the parking ramp permit because of many reasons.  First of all it is not a long walk from campus halls.  Second, when winter comes you don’t have to worry about taking time to clean snow and ice off your car.  Third, it’s the same price as a commuter lot space!”

The new structure, finished this summer, provides a sheltered area to leave vehicles.  The ramp has three levels and adds 600 more available parking spaces than last year.  Sheltered levels will not lose spots to plowed piles of snow or inability to see dividing lines for spaces under snow.

A pass for the new parking ramp is the same price as a pass for the university’s other commuter lots.  The first two levels offer parking for visitors, commuter students, faculty, and staff.  The third level is the only level offered to students living on campus.  

Parking passes that could be purchased online were sold to commuter students in the middle of July.  The rest of the permits were sold at the parking office on a first come first serve basis following the first week of class. 

The office is located at 605 17^th St. N.  Students with questions about university parking can visit the Parking & Transportation Services link on the university webpage.

Next Fest, Much Less, by Amanda Wallman

Many students are looking forward to the next Oktoberfest.  Some may not be aware of the significant changes that Oktoberfest will undertake during the 2014 school year.

The festivities will actually decline from nine days to a smaller four days. This change will be accompanied by more robust and energetic activities. The plan is to bring more attention to the North Side fairgrounds by making the festival shorter and still keeping the same amount of activities. Kam-Lin Roswell, president of the Oktoberfest Board of Directors, states, "The Oktoberfest board has shared their thoughts with the fest family groups, and there is strong consensus that this is the right move at the right time.”

Although the event will be shorter, there are still plenty of activities and traditions that will still draw in fest-goers. The Maple Leaf parade will still take place on Saturday as usual, but the organized festivities will end on Sunday.

If people wish to reserve a spot for the Maple Leaf parade next year, they will have to purchase a permit. Each of 55 spots will cost $35, though there will still be some available seating left over for those who do not save their spot via permit. There will be no camping out.

There is still debate on whether the price for Oktoberfest buttons will be changed in 2014 due to the shorter amount of days.

For more information and updates on the issue, check out http://www.oktoberfestusa.com/.

Tales of the "Shutdown," by Ellen Barrett

No, the government shutdown does not entail a real life “The Purge,” and yes, students must still attend scheduled classes, but the recent government shutdown does affect UW-L students and the surrounding community in multiples forms.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Joe Gow stated, “So far, I’m not aware of any effects the Federal Government shutdown has had on our university.” As of Thursday, students have been informed by Gow that UW-L’s Reserves Officers Training Corps Eagle Battalion (ROTC) will be shut down after more than 40 years of involvement at UW-L. The U.S. Army decided to close the program due to insufficient funds likely caused by the sequester and government shutdown, said a ROTC cadet yesterday.

According to a press release from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, “The root of the pending Republican plan to shut down the federal government if they can't defund ObamaCare and allow employers to legally deny women birth control goes back to Paul Ryan’s budget.”

According to David Rogers, the unofficial dean of of the congressional press corps, "He (Paul Ryan) is too smart not to have seen the holes in his budget plan. And once the Senate followed with its own resolution, he failed to follow up by aggressively pursuing a conference with Democrats.”

Paul Ryan commented in a press release on September 30^th, "We have an opportunity to help families in need and help grow the economy. I hope we can find willing partners on the other side of the aisle.”

After countless hours of deliberation between the House and the Senate regarding a spending bill to fund the government, no agreement was reached. As promised by Tea Party Republications, if a provision to defund or derail Obamacare was not added, they would not agree to a spending bill. With no incoming money to the government, a shutdown commenced early Tuesday morning. The new health care law (The Affordable Care Act commonly known as Obamacare) does not have direct connections to the spending bill. The first stages of Obamacare still commenced on October 1^st.

Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan reacts, “This is a sad day for the American people, and our American democracy. Instead of working together to fulfill our most basic duty—to keep the government running—the extreme Tea Party wing has taken Congress hostage all the way to a government shutdown. Instead of being the world’s greatest example of representative government, we seem to have become the nation’s largest kindergarten—only with control of the nation’s checkbook and nuclear arsenal.”

Wisconsin Congressman Reid Ribble continues, “Whether two days, two weeks or two months from now it is irrational to assume the President is going to sign a law eliminating his hallmark legislative achievement.  The only outcome this yields is additional acrimony, risk to our economy, and escalating but appropriate distrust of government to actually get its work done.  I hope congressional leadership in both chambers and both parties will work expeditiously to resolve this issue and bring this shutdown to a close."

President Obama states in a press release, “We know that the last time Republicans shut down the government in 1996, it hurt our economy.  And unlike 1996, our economy is still recovering from the worst recession in generations.” Other implications include veteran services and benefits that American seniors, veterans, and business owners depend on must be put on hold. Certain government offices, national parks and monuments will also be shut down. Many government/military workers on the job will be furloughed. This means they will be forced to stay home and be unpaid. President Obama did sign legislation to ensure that 1.4 million active-duty military personal will remain paid.

These effects will remain in place until the Senate and the House of Representatives come to an agreement. Until then, families with government paychecks and local businesses which rely on government workers will suffer. Losses such as the ROTC Eagle Battalion to the UW-L campus is but one of many to come which will affect students in the area.

 

 

University IDs May Still Need Changing, by William Ricioppo

If new voter ID laws are enforced, changes will come to the way Wisconsin universities design and issue student identification cards. Despite uncertainty over the law, state universities are considering redesigning their campus IDs to enable students to vote.

Although laws ro require a valid form of ID−one issued from a government agency and containing a photo, birth date, expiration date, name, and current address, including the residence during university year − have been gradually increasing since 2002, it wasn’t until late 2011 when resistance to new laws began to increase. Since then, several courts, including two in Dane County, have intervened with injunctions blocking the new legislation.

The laws require voters to produce a state-issued photo ID when registering or voting at the polls. Supporters say it will cut-down on fraud and ensure a voter is a legal citizen, the only common qualification to participate in an election. Those opposed claim the requirements are intended to exclude certain segments of the population−particularly minorities, the elderly, and students at temporary addresses−from the voting process, as large percentages of these groups do not possess photo identification, especially with a temporary address.

The controversy over voter ID laws is largely divided along partisan lines, with republicans being heavily in favor of the requirements while democrats are widely opposed.

Many "Rankings" for UWL, by Mikaela Kornoski

In regard to President Obama’s recently proposed scorecard system, Heidi Macpherson, vice chancellor for academic affairs at UW-L, said, “It may be useful for students who are seeking out universities and want to make comparisons, but with any score card, it only tells part of the story.”

Macpherson is reporting for the evaluations given by Higher Learning Commission , by which UW-L is currently accredited. HLC’s next visit to the campus will be in the 2015-2016 school year. The institutions are judged by their peers and a “quality initiative” of the school’s choice.

Macpherson said, “There are a number of different measurements out there, and different organisations that are collating information. What I can say is that generally, they use the same source data, but may interpret it in different ways.”

UW-L chose “Firm Footing” as its quality initiative for HLC. The program looks to increase student academic success by identifying populations that would be deemed “at risk.” Such populations may include first generation or transfer students.

There are many different ways that universities are graded and ranked. It is important to do research and expand one’s search in fact gathering. As Macpherson said, “All measures show interesting results, but they only ever tell a partial story.”

College Measures is an organization that wants to improve the decision making process of students, parents, and lawmakers. The group provides data on the ability of schools to meet 4 goals: completion and progression, efficiency, productivity, and gainful employment. Performance by state and at the national level can also be found on collegemeasures.org.

Education Trust is an organization concerned with closing the achievement gap. It states that college rankings, specifically that by US News, aren’t practical. Education Trust’s College Results Online is a tool that provides the demographics of universities, net price, average student loan default rates, and graduation rates sorted by race and gender.

Tuition Freeze Helps Boost UWL Enrollment?, by Carly Vail

UW-L broke records with the largest freshmen class in history. There were 1,990 freshmen alone  enrolled in the fall of 2013.  The increase in freshmen enrollment at a four-year public university in Wisconsin could be due to the UW tuition freeze.

Increase in enrollment at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has increased  to 10,427 students,  200 more than the fall of 2012.

Although there are higher numbers at UW-L, the student enrollment at Viterbo and Western Technical College has decreased. Enrollment rates at WTC dropped about 260 students and about 60 students at Viterbo.  For a freshman living on campus at Viterbo, the cost is around $30,070 a year, depending on financial aid – about double the cost at UWL.  WTC’s tuition is around $5,314 a year, depending on how many credits a student takes.  Most are commuters.

The Associated Students of Madison Chair David Gardner said, “This freeze will make higher education more accessible and affordable for all current, prospective, students as well as allow students and their families to plan for the costs of higher education and ensure a more stable economic future.”

According to Wisconsin Public Radio News, UW-La Crosse has its largest number of new students since the mid-1980s. There are now more freshmen and transfer students enrolling. UW-Stout has also seen an increase in student enrollment, but UW-Milwaukee’s freshmen enrollment rate has gone down six percent.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, “The proposed tuition freeze comes after a chaotic spring for UW, which started with amicable relations with lawmakers and a proposed budget increase of $181 million. The System in April proposed a 2 percent tuition hike each of the next two years, down from the 5.5 percent annual increase approved by Regents in each of the past six years.”