A new student group encouraging UW-Madison students to vote Feb. 17 in favor of allowing DeJope Bingo to become a full casino held its first meeting Thursday.
The coordinators of Students for Fair Indian Gaming & Revenue Sharing Agreements, UW-Madison seniors Steven Singh and Danica Sorensen, said the casino in southeast Madison would benefit the city and county as well as its owners, the Ho-Chunk Nation.
\I know a lot of people think people are going to go gamble away their children's college funds,"" Sorensen said. But she said less than one percent of the population has gambling problems and there are programs to help them.
Singh said he did not know of any students who gamble and had never been to DeJope but might go if it became a full casino.
Much of the controversy surrounding the casino's development has come out of sharply contrasting economic forecasts. DeJope claims its expansion would bring $91 million to Madison and Dane County in the first 13 years, while an opposing report predicts it would cause the county's economy to lose $150 million per year.
That report, funded by the group No Dane Casino, included social costs such as increases in crime and gambling addictions. The social costs may hit students especially hard, said the group's director, David Relles.
""According to the addiction folks, that's the age where people are most susceptible to an addiction,"" he said.
To slip under an age limit of 21, ""Students will go there with fake IDs"" he said. ""And you know what happens when an underage student wins the jackpot? They won't pay.""
No Big Ten college campus has a full casino in the same city, he said. But this is the only gambling facility in the state that has not been allowed to expand, according to Singh.
UW-Madison senior Casey Brown, who receives college funds as a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, said the casino would represent traditional gaming.
""The gaming helps keep me in this school,"" he said.
The student group has made plans to attend a debate on the casino expansion Feb. 5 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Anderson Auditorium at Edgewood College.
The vote is scheduled on the same day as Wisconsin's presidential primary, which may lead to higher participation.
