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A “fundraising party” thrown by the For Accessibility Community and Empowerment of Students slate to raise money for today’s Associated Students of Madison election has sparked some concern among current members of the council.
Held at the Lothlorien Cooperative on April 4, the fundraising party raised $160 to purchase paper to print flyers, according to FACES member Kyle Szarzynski.
According to a party invitation sent out to University of Wisconsin students via Facebook, a $5 cover was required by attendees, who had to be over 21 years of age.
Although alcohol was served, Szarzynski said the cover was not enforced and all age groups were welcome to attend.
“It was not 21 and up, but alcohol was served,” Szarzynski said. “People were at the door checking IDs, and then you were given a hand stamp if you were above 21.”
According to Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee Chair Carl Fergus, there are no bylaws within the ASM Constitution prohibiting the use of alcohol at fundraising events.
“This issue came up in the special election as well,” said Student Election Chair Katherine Tondrowski. “The only thing it says is it cannot violate any state or university policies.”
Although Szarzynski acknowledged the presence of alcohol, several other members of the FACES group said otherwise, including FACES members Elizabeth Wrigley-Field and Eric Hoyt.
“Basically it was just people hanging out and figuring out where to go next,” Wrigley-Field said. “[The slate] was probably just on the invitation to cover incase someone decided to bring alcohol.”
ASM Vice Chair Hannah Karns said though the bylaws do not directly state no alcohol can be used in fundraising campaigns, the practice is frowned upon.
Karns added she would advocate discussing the addition of such a bylaw in the coming slates.
“I think it sets a bad precedent for the future,” Karns said. “Associating drinking and elections and the student government is obviously not a good thing. I don’t want to tell the next session what to do, but we should at the very least dictate some discussion.”
Questions concerning the FACES fundraising efforts outside the school have also been developed, though the bylaws do not specifically prevent it.
Fergus added members of the current council have been searching the bylaws to ensure there are no rules regulating these actions, but have not found anything relative.
According to Szarzynski, all members of the community can and should be allowed to donate to the fundraiser.
“I don’t see it being a problem,” Szarzynski said. “I think other people get funds through a variety of sources, and it’s important to note the vast majority of fundraising was through people vastly affiliated with the university including students (and) professors … but beyond that I think anyone who shares the values of the slate should be welcome to contribute to it.”
Today is the last day to vote for members of ASM to represent in the 2009-10 school year. Those interested can do so electronically on the ASM website at www.asm.wisc.edu.
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No it’s not Kyle. You’re a liar. Vote No complained about Roman Catholic orgs purchasing Presidential powers if the Constitution passed, but now it’s no problem for unaffiliated groups to dictate student government elections? So much for democracy.
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Wow… students at University of Wisconsin have a party. Now that’s news!!!
The Badger Herald News Dept. has clearly either run out of things to report or is no longer making any attempt to remain fair and balanced. This is a non-story, and by choosing to make it a front page article, the BH is making it biases quite obvious.
You’re supposed to be journalists folks!
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1:38,
You are an idiot. Badger Catholic was part of the vote no coalition, and no one ever made claims about purchasing presidential powers. This article has nothing to do with student groups dictating anything, you are just trying incite bullshit.
Oh, and nice bias in the article.
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“According to Szarzynski, all members of the community can and should be allowed to donate to the fundraiser.
‘I don�t see it being a problem,’ Szarzynski said. �I think other people get funds through a variety of sources, and it�s important to note the vast majority of fundraising was through people vastly affiliated with the university including students (and) professors � but beyond that I think anyone who shares the values of the slate should be welcome to contribute to it.�
I bet you would find a lot of people have a problem with random Madison underagers/MATC students buying beer and funding ASM. Is that what the new FACE of ASM is going to look like?
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I think its too quick and easy of a reaction to discount everything that Kyle says simply because he offers a different and fresh form of thinking.
I am glad they published this article, as I was personally very curious as to what FACES was about, and it does a good job of highlighting the edgy kind feel the group has.
If the regular ASM wanted a front page article devoted to them, they should consider doing something relevant instead of the same crap they always do.
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From the Student Org Office Handbook:
Off-campus sales or service of alcohol beverages by students or student organizations in Madison fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Madison as described by various ordinances, as well as State Statutes. Student groups wishing to sell alcohol beverages off campus need to obtain a Special Class B Picnic Beer License from the City of Madison, City Clerk’s Office, (608)266-4601. Application forms and Picnic Beer Handouts including guidelines are available online at http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/forms.cfm
I wonder if they had the Class B Picnic Beer License? But I guess the members of the slate are confused as to whether or not there was actually alcohol. hmmm…
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This is an absurd non-story and the Herald should be ashamed. Trying to smear the FACES slate during the voting cycle is obviously political and undoubtedly directed by members of the editorial board. Since no by-laws were violated and no one has any proof that any laws were violated the fact that members of the FACES slate held a party over the weekend to raise funds for publicity efforts is clearly a non-issue. As for this: “Associating drinking and elections and the student government is obviously not a good thing.” I have to respectfully disagree. People drink on this campus, it is part of the social fabric of this city and this state and inherently flavors forms of political discourse and socialization. There is nothing wrong with that. I highly doubt that FACES would have been able to successfully raise funds for their campaign efforts by selling baked goods and lemonade on library mall. People with political disagreements and personal vendettas with members of FACES are the only ones making a fuss about this, every one else doesn’t care.
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Perhaps the answer is not voting for FACES. Then there will not be this issue
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This is the second news story in two days that attempts to discredit FACES. Why? What did they do wrong here? Throw a party? Serve some alcohol? Come on, this is stupid. While the article does say that FACES didn’t violate any campaign laws, the fact that it was printed, the title, and the tone would make it seem like FACES might’ve done some crazy bad shit.
But, the key is…THEY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG. Why the fuck would you event print this? WTF Badger Herald? Do you even have an ounce of journalistic integrity? I would expect this from the Op-Ed section, not the news section.
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Sorry Logical Murkiness, but in the state of Wisconsin, you can accept donations and give out Alcohol FOR FREE without a permit.
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1:39 ….Kyle: When posting comments, you really should try to use a less noticeable writing style.
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Sorry for the logical murkiness, but why they hell is this in print? You guys can squabble all you want over which way ASM wants to go, but to bring in people who were trying to contribute in a positive way of hosting a fund raising party is despicable. That had almost nothing to do with the overall article.