Students, in the last Associated Students of Madison election, you asked Student Services Finance Committee to give you your segregated fees back. Your representatives are listening.
After years of \lone voice of reason"" status, fiscally conservative representatives finally won a narrow majority on the committee responsible for allocating student funds, and recent meetings have left several student organizations stamped ineligible for funds in its wake.
Infused with the possibilities its alliance can provide, that slim majority so dearly values its lead that majority members have seldom found themselves on opposite sides of an issue.
Diversity Education Staff, a recently launched diversity initiative, found itself without student funds this year after a narrowly approved Sept. 15 decision by SSFC. The committee found DES's services redundant and consequently unqualified for student dollars.
But don't call them racist. Wednesday, another tiebreaker vote left the UW Labor Center in the same boat. The UW InfoShop, formerly affiliated with the UW Greens, will most likely be forced to close its doors this year too, as it was also declared redundant and ineligible. While we leave the nuances of ASM bylaws and SSFC statutes to those elected to enforce them, several disturbing trends emerged from these meetings which could not escape our notice.
Of first and utmost concern was the poor grasp of the First Amendment, and by extension, viewpoint neutrality, which was demonstrated by several members of the committee.
SSFC has been charged to make its eligibility and funding decisions on a viewpoint-neutral basis, which should, under normal circumstances, provide a considerable level of speech protection to groups under consideration. Therefore, vague allegations that the InfoShop was ""anti-President"" and its literature ""violated state and federal law"" run counter to protections extended under the First Amendment and regularly upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the promise of lowered seg-fee bills at the beginning of the month is certainly welcome news and its pursuit a worthwhile cause, it is disturbing that the eligibility hearings' outcome seemed decided before the meeting began. The prospect of a polarized finance committee discourages faith in the system and the illusion of open debate.
We would like to encourage SSFC members of all ideologies to support or deny organizations based on their merits rather than on the basis of the organization's political viewpoints or partymates' votes.
