The Badger Herald loves “freedom of speech” only in the context of stuffy academic poetics on the subject matter; businesses are exempt. Perhaps you speak from internal knowledge of frat life, but are your UW-Madison peers so stupid as that they cannot decide, even if given sweet perks, to like or dislike the project on their own? “Hammes can get some frat boys good and drunk before sliding the city�s largest project in 15 years down their throats.” Right, because they have any relevance in the outcome. Poor Bryon Eagon better watch out, in between bong rips and toga parties, the brothers of TKE might uprise against him if he doesn’t support their political demands. It’s not like there’s a referendum on the project. Your statement is warrant-less and pointlessly edgy.

The reality is that most students and kids in these fraternities would already support the project. They don’t care about the trees around the area, lake view, or some silly liberal political posturing assuredly taking place in an attempt to make one, Bridget Maniaci look bad. This is merely icing the cake. Extrapolating any further is naive logic fit for a first year philosophy class at Oregon Technical College.

I am so tired of the thinking that none of us students can make up our mind for ourselves. So some were invited to a game- WHO CARES. Are you more pissed that you weren’t invited. Students have been treated for years from the people at CNI that we have no real opinion or cannot act like the “upstanding citizens” that they believe will contribute to their world. At least hammes wants to reach out to us and hear us. This letter is a joke- because it is a developer all of a sudden they are buying “votes”. Your “grassroots” that do not have “resources”- bull crap. This is CNI- and if you think they will give 2 rips about your opinion you are sadly mistaken. If this writer would do any research at all they would have found this little paragraph from the Mansion Hill Design Criteria authored by CNI: The Mansion Hill Neighborhood and Historic District is a fragile area that is experiencing extreme and multiple pressures. First, its lovely old homes are primarily used for student rentals. While some renters are caring about their home, a significant number are uncaring. The many that are uncaring,coupled with the transient nature of most of the occupants, take a heavy toll on the homes.

Or the Neighborhood Plan: Work with the University of Wisconsin to educate students that live off campus in residential neighborhoods like Mansion Hill about acceptable behavior.

So basically we are uncaring about our homes and do not know how to act- nice. Don’t take my word for it- read them for yourself…and then let’s talk… www.capitolneighborhoods.org

you got owned on this one dude, are you going to even try and defend yourself?

I am pretty sure Kevin’s point was that this looks fishy; any reasonable person should be able to understand that. If you can’t understand how a developer taking influential campus leaders to a Packers game, a game at which they will give their Edgewater presentation, a presentation they could have easily done somewhere in the Union is questionably ethical, then you are a fool. In fact if this was Alder Eagon, Maniaci and Verveer instead of Greeks, it would be illegal by city ordinance.

Free speech: only when the Herald masturbates to it.