Halloween adheres to no easy solution, and the beginning of solving any problem with no easy solution is extensive discussion among those involved. In this endeavor, both Associated Students of Madison and UW-Madison administrators fell short.
The lack of foresight by ASM began in May, when, unlike last year, they did not organize a Halloween committee to tackle the contentious event. As spring turned to summer, ASM continued to leave Halloween untouched by never seriously looking at past, or constructing new Halloween plans. By the time classes started, the decision to close both Unions early and allow no guests in dorms had been determined without student input.
Due to no early planning, they now lack a coherent vision for the annual event. ASM Chair Eric Varney, regarding a vision for Halloween said, \I don't know."" Without options to address Halloween, ASM has been unable to bargain with city and university officials, both who have presented visions and policies for Halloween. Essentially, they lost students' seat at the bargaining table on an issue important to students.
They failed to live up to the ASM Consititution, which states ""the object of ASM shall be to ensure the greatest participation by students in the immediate governance and policy development for the university at all levels.""
To be fair, UW-Madison administrators contributed to the lack of student input by making key decisions while the majority of students, including ASM Chair Eric Varney, were not in Madison over the summer. Moreover, their actions may have violated shared governance law, which states that students ""shall be active participants in the immediate governance of and policy development for such institutions.""
As a result of little communication, ASM has been reduced to publicizing policy more than making it. In a last-ditch effort to get students involved, ASM has organized the Halloween Student Forum for tonight. Regrettably, this forum is too little, too late. Barring an extraordinary student turnout, it will be merely part of a campaign to alert students to Halloween policies instead of a chance for students to change Halloween.
Yet we are sympathetic the to plight of ASM and UW administrators because no easy solution on Halloween presents itself. For three years the city, university and student government have watched many promising ideas fail to curb the violence on Halloween. The first step to fixing Halloween this year should have been the active involvement of students in open communication with the university and city. Unfortunately, our student government failed to act with enough speed and commitment to assure students an influential voice.
