Associated Students of Madison Chair Allie Gardner told the student government’s Legislative Affairs Committee Monday that members of the state’s committee dedicated to studying the restructuring of the UW System have been unresponsive to students’ requests to speak at its upcoming meeting, where the task force will discuss tuition.
Gardner is asking students to attend the Task Force on UW Restructuring’s meeting Wednesday.
“I think it’s very interesting that no one in that room will be speaking from the perspective of someone who pays tuition about tuition,” Gardner said.
Also at the meeting, Legislative Affairs Chair Hannah Somers said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin wants students to be more involved in the planning of the Mifflin Street Block Party this year.
While Soglin and other city officials have contemplated ending the event because they said it has become too rowdy and borderline unsafe, Somers said student involvement in the planning process could help tame the party.
“I think that if students start to realize that the future of it depends on how they act and what they do at this event, I hope that it will be less ridiculous and less dangerous than it was before,” Somers said. “I think that if students start to be more involved in [planning the party], I think that they’ll feel maybe a greater sense of ownership.”
Somers said she was “pleasantly surprised” that Soglin wants more student participation in planning the event, as efforts to include students have been somewhat unsuccessful in the past.
Committee members also discussed drafting a survey to see if Responsible Action, the policy that grants a person amnesty from underage drinking charges if he or she helps another in an emergency situation, has been useful to students.
The survey is part of the committee’s initiative to make Responsible Action a statewide policy.
“We just want to make sure that there was a need for it and to see if we can prove that it has been effective and it has been used on campus, and therefore maybe it could be used across the state,” Somers said.
Members of the committee are also currently researching legislators who would be willing to sponsor the bill and talking with other Big Ten universities who are also working to implement the process in their respective states.
Mayor, ASM discuss Mifflin
At a meeting Monday with Associated Students of Madison members and Madison police, Mayor Paul Soglin police discussed the need for a Mifflin Street Block Party plan to be formed in the next two weeks.
Soglin said open alcohol containers and students showing up earlier to the party are critical issues.
“My guess just walking up the streets was that there were more intoxicated people at 1:30 p.m. than at 3:30 or 5:30 p.m.,” Soglin said.
Suggestions include limiting the party to UW-Madison students and gating the area, which Soglin said is impossible due to legal issues.
“I personally would like to see any plan we come up with...allow time for getting student, neighborhood and police feedback,” Legislative Affairs Chair Hannah Somers said. —Abby Becker
