Students will get their chance to voice opinions on the future of Madison's downtown alcohol policy when a subcommittee of the Madison Alcohol License Review Committee will hold a student input hearing at Memorial Union Wednesday.
To find the location of the 5:30 p.m. meeting, students may check TITU.
'We hope to find a consensus on how to effectively deal with the aspects of alcohol use and abuse in the city of Madison,' said Ald. Kent Palmer, District 15, chair of the ALRC subcommittee on comprehensive alcohol issues.
The hearing will be part of the subcommittee's series of 'stakeholder' meetings, in which the members gather input from various groups of people who have an interest in downtown alcohol issues.
An issue that has drawn public attention in recent months is a proposal to create an entertainment district downtown. The city would be able to set alcohol prices and limit drink specials for the bars inside the entertainment district, according to Palmer.
Richard Lyshek, owner of Bull Feathers Pub & Eatery, 303 N. Henry St., and a member of the subcommittee, said he believes the proposed entertainment district is really a 'socialist district.'
'The power to set drink prices is not and should not be within the power of city bureaucrats,' he said.
LaMarr Billups, special assistant to UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, said he supports the curtailing of drink specials.
'Such an entertainment district will hopefully eradicate the 'beer barns' that foster binge drinking,' Billups said.
Lyshek said he disagreed with the belief that discounted alcohol automatically leads to excessive drinking.
'Drink specials are not a call to binge drink,' Lyshek said. 'Instead, they are an affordable way for students to go out and relax with a few drinks after a day of work or studying.'
To encourage students to attend, pizza and soft drinks, but no alcohol, will be provided.
