In an attempt to gain more student involvement, the Associated Students of Madison not only introduced an updated website, but also forged a new relationship with Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc.
The new affiliation came Monday night when ASM Vice Chair Hannah Karns attended a CNI meeting as their official student liaison.
Karns said she hopes to develop a working relationship with them.
CNI has deep experience and commitment to downtown Madison. As ASM takes on local issues, CNI can be a wonderful partner,"" she said in a statement. ""We are all downtown neighbors, and what affects one of us affects the other.""
According to the statement, ASM and CNI will work together on such items as alcohol issues, safety, transportation, homelessness, environmental concerns and downtown development.
In an effort to change their image and become more accessible to students, ASM's website (www.asm.wisc.edu) has been revamped.
According to Claire Lempke, press office liaison for ASM, Brian Epps will be Webmaster for the new site. He is the first paid Webmaster ASM has ever had.
According to Epps, the site generally gets 5,000 to 10,000 visits per month. The new design is an attempt to increase usage of the site and communication between ASM and the student body.
""We'd like to try to get more of a two-way system going where students can give us feedback and we can respond directly,"" Epps said. ""Eventually we want it to be a sort of online community, where students can talk to each other and discuss issues, and where we can hear what they're saying and act on their opinions.""
ASM aims for new bylaws
ASM aims to have bylaws for the new constitution completed at least two weeks before they officially vote on Feb. 23 and 24. Members working on bylaws will bring drafts before ASM at their meeting next Wednesday. When they have completed the bylaws they will post them on the constitutional committee's blog at asmconstitution.wordpress.com.
One change recently made to the bylaws is the addition of a chief of staff, who will serve as an assistant to the president and vice president and handle administrative and logistical matters of the executive branch.
