A possible UW-Madison campus grocery store and issues concerning student organizations' off-campus rent were detailed at the Associated Students of Madison kickoff meeting Wednesday at the Humanities Building.
Rachel Butler, ASM Student Rights Campaign chair and UW-Madison junior, informed students that the rights to their segregated fees might be taken away.
Last semester, university administrators wrote a memo to ASM informing the organization that student segregated fees were no longer to be used to rent off-campus office space.
[The] policy considered right now threatens the ability of students to '¦ determine our campus experience,"" said Butler.
Following ASM's appeal on the issue to the UW System Board of Regents in July, the Regents sided with Chancellor John Wiley against the usage of student fees for renting office space.
""We've been doing it for a decade and a half,"" said Alex Gallagher, chair of ASM's Student Service Finance Committee.
The Regents created the UW System Segregated Fee Committee in response to the appeal. The committee is planning to review the entire policy regarding student fees.
Butler said the reviewing process would take power away from students.
Each semester students pay $455 for student fees in addition to tuition. This money is used for bus passes and for funding different student organizations on campus.
Another student issue addressed at the meeting was the lack of affordable groceries on campus.
ASM's Shared Governance Committee is currently campaigning for a student-run grocery store to be added to the design plans for the new Union South.
""There's a big need,"" said Jeff Wright, a UW-Madison senior and chair of the governance committee, of the demand for alternative groceries.
Wright said having a non-profit, student-run grocery store would lower food prices on campus, as competitors would be forced to lower their prices to stay in the market.
""This is a very popular idea,"" he said.
Construction on the new Union South will begin in 2008 if approved by the Wisconsin state budget.
