As should be plainly obvious to anybody glancing at today's opinion page, this past Tuesday Madison's Alcohol License Review Committee rejected a proposal by District 8 Ald. Bryon Eagon to create a permanent student position on the ALRC. The proposal had previously been approved by the Common Council Organizational Committee, a body akin to the Committee on Rules in the state Legislature.
This was only after Eagon edited the proposal thoroughly to appease complaints from council members, such as concerns about the eligibility of Edgewood and MATC students and term length for the student position. The proposal was fully reworked from simply an intriguing idea into a fully fleshed-out proposition that would have brought a fresh new perspective to the ALRC and given a voice to a mostly voiceless population.
Instead, the student vote was met with a scoff.
While the ALRC's rejection doesn't signify the death of the student voting member, it certainly doesn't help. The proposal can still be approved by the Common Council as a whole, but the council usually defers to the decisions of the individual committees. This rejection from the backward-thinking ALRC means an uphill battle lies ahead.
That backwardness is the greatest pity of this whole affair. A student on the ALRC could have reinvigorated a committee that for the past several years has kept itself handicapped by the Alcohol License Density Plan, a flat out antibusiness initiative that effectively prevents any new bars from opening in the downtown area as if they are some menace to society. Apparently, new bars are a threat on par with H1N1, African killer bees and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
In particular, one has to wonder how the presence of a voting student would have affected the fate of the Badger Hall of Fame Grill, an establishment proposed by Middleton Quaker Steak and Lube manager Scott Acker for University Square. The resistance Acker faced from the ALRC ultimately resulted in him canceling his new business venture, something I bemoaned on this page several weeks ago. As it was designed primarily to be a restaurant, the under-21 crowd would have been able to mingle with their legal counterparts after bar time, filling a previously empty niche in the campus area. But ALRC members like District 18 Ald. Michael Schumacher questioned whether the grill would truly be a restaurant and meet the 50 percent food sales threshold, despite Acker's solid track record.
Perhaps a student would have given Acker the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps a student would have realized that there are several 18-to-20-year-olds wandering the streets of Madison at 1 a.m. who wouldn't mind finding a respectable place to socialize and would be more than willing to spend some cash on a cheeseburger. But since students don't have a vote on the ALRC, we'll never know.
The ALRC has made a few good decisions recently. Their approval of the bowling alley/lounge combo Segredo was a step in the right direction to help fill that under-21 niche. But the ALRC really did this mostly to replace Madison Avenue, an establishment with a history of problems. You could have replaced Madison Avenue with a Beer Bongs ‘R Us and it probably would have received approval.
Segredo is more about improving safety downtown. While this is still a worthwhile pursuit, it must be balanced with the rights of businesses. Students care about their safety and will surely take this into account while still making sure downtown residents can enjoy themselves.
What the ALRC needs is somebody who sees the bar scene from a student perspective. Last weekend, ALRC members went on a bar crawl from Capitol Square down State Street, and many members called it an eye-opening experience. Most students go through this eye-opening experience every Friday night. If this isn't a perspective that the ALRC feels it needs, then they have clearly become dedicated to close-mindedness and stodgy thinking. What the ALRC needs is some new ideas, but they don't appear to be particularly fond of those. Let's get somebody on the ALRC who does: your average, everyday intrepid student.
Todd Stevens is a junior majoring in history and psychology. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
