Actually Zach I have come to expect less from my student leaders. They hardly ever represent the majority of students views, that would get in the way of their own personal political dreams. But on this one they got it right. One, it is not our fault the schedule for this year bumped finals up a week. Two, with most students wanting to participate in the festivities was it not the responsible thing of their representatives to relay that to the mayor? Three, not all studnets participate in Mifflin, so unless you were taking a census I think shifting the entire burden of cost to the students seems a little absurd. Four, the claim that the mayor had to cave to threats is absurd; yes students would have most likely partied both weekends but mass rioting was hardly on the horizon, the city could have simply went on with its plans for the original date. Fifth, and finally, looking at your form of representation, might it have been more constructive for those alders to have written a letter suggesting further cooperation between the university and the city in future years so this problem does not occur again instead of obtusely labeling the students as a bully from whom monetary retribution must be sought.

In the end, the scheduling of this event was a traveshamockery from the beginning. But to find fault in our representatives for steppping forward and voicing our opinion only compounds the problem. Which is why I personally will be boycotting Laundry 101, your place of business, until some constructive solutions are suggested for the future as opposed to the standard fare of finger pointing.

Yes Zachy, it shows well that you grew up on student gov’t — you should re-join ASM.

Sheesh, I feel like I am in a bad “Saved by the Bell” episode. Thank god we have Zach to give us the moral at the end of the show. Remember kids, you have to be responsible.

Since when are the police “for hire”? If ASM was smart they would just buy private security for next year. It would be cheaper for us. Then Zach would be whining about loss in ticket revenue. I guess police should have written more tickets this year, because its all one big revenue scam. I am having a difficult time finding a reason students would want the police there. This isn’t a threat, just self-interest. Why do you feel threatened? Perhaps the costs of lawlessness to the community are greater than the costs of having extra police on duty. That’s common sense, Zach, not a threat.

Zach, you claim ASM is responsible for these charges, but how? Should ASM be responsible to pay for tuition, because they lobby for low tuition costs? How about from now on, anyone who disagrees with the city, should be fined. Are you happy, now??

Better yet, lets call off the whole event, then we could read diatribes about downtown businesses suffering from reduced profits, since these “outsiders” wouldn’t be here to spend their cash. Of course taxing businesses is out of the question, because we know they have no interest in a police presence.

Zach, maybe you should stop preaching to ASM and talk to your constituents, because it was in their interest that ASM spoke out, too. Your inability to recognize this, makes one wonder, who do you represent?

I usually agree with Austin King a lot, but I’m going to have to disagree with him. I think this Zach guy deserves to have his business boycotted. If he is going to be so high and mighty over us lowly students maybe our money isn’t good enough for his business.

Zach, it’s painfully obvious that the letter was a publicity stunt to bolster your quest to become mayor or whatever. But its really no better than the ass hat, errr tax cap stunt. You really aren’t fooling anyone. If you really cared about this you would have done something that was actually meaningful and you would have done it wayyyyyyy sooner.

I’m staying out of Laundry 101 too.

“When the final bill is calculated, it will most likely exceed $100,000. Think about what city projects and services that are important to you that were not funded because of this event.”

Do people in New Orleans ask what they could have done with the money spent on police for Mardi Gras if they could only cancel it instead? Zach, your statement is really dumb. Like it or not Mifflin St. block party is one of the things that give Madison its identity. So apparently you would rather cancel it altogether?

Oh yeah, how much did the city take in from those 200+ tickets that were issued? Don’t go whining about $100,000 until you take the ticket revenue into account.

I think that liberals and conservatives can agree on two things: Zach Brandon is a hypocritical douchebag and Laundry 101 will be boycotted.

One has to wonder how much money this city makes a year from the students and the University…I’d be willing to guess hundreds of times more than what they spent on policing. When the people that do go out and party represent those who most likely add most to your community, deal with it. In the end you will get your money back in some other way.

I agree with the person who posted directly above me. Also, look how much the city wastes in other areas. They spent a lot more than $100,000 studying light rail, even though we know it’s a stupid idea. They spent about $100,000 or more putting in a bunch of unnecessary accomodations for bikers. The list goes on and on…

So conservatives think it is okay to spend money on beer and partying but giving state workers healthcare is a waste of tax dollars?

It’s really pathetic the contortions some conservatives will go through to make their own (un)ethics work for them.

Yeah acommodations for bikers -an improvement in our long term infrastructure- are unnecessary, but spending money on watching out for a bunch of college kids for one day is a great use of tax money.

Give me a break. There is no justifying this money. You are all hypocrites unless you pony up and pay your fair share.

“and I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you dad-blasted kids!”

Go away, grandpa.

Zach Brandon = Asshat

What’s your solution, Brandon? Cancel Mifflin and cancel Halloween altogether. Why don’t we just shut down the entire UW and rape Madison of a major aspect of its character altogether. I’m sorry, but this city wouldn’t half of what it is without the UW students and the revenue, character, and heart we bring to this place. Everyone sees through this overt publicity stunt. $100,000.00 for the Mifflin Street Block Party is insignificant in the grand scheme and pales in comparison what UW students contribute. Madison goes more and more downhill because of people like you. You have these dreams of being a politician and pushing your weight around—give me a break! You’re a city Alderman in Madison, WI and you feel like a big man by criticizing college students. Obviously you’re the type who wishes he never had to leave. Go back to Ohio and irritate people there. Nobody wants your bitching, pissing, and moaning here.

I will not set foot inside Laundry 101 ever again.

Brandon thinks we’ll all forget about this when he decides to run for a bigger office. We won’t. And if anything will make us turn out at the polls it’ll be to vote against a hypocrtical party-killer.

In the meantime, I’ll be doing my laundry elsewhere.

Excellent point, Alderman. I 100% agree. The students need to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them and their need to shut down half the city to drink. And I’m a fellow student!

Can we get the career protesters to picket laundry 101?

You know, Madison does just fine without the university. I know the students like to believe they are the center of the city, but we are a state capitol and we do have many companies whose world headquarters are here (ie, Famous Footwear). Stop pretending that the citizens of Madison owe you some big favor for being here. In fact, many of us would just assume you go away.

As a lifelong resident of madison I have to say it does annoy me when people think the university is the only significant part of the city. Before I began college, UW-Madison really didn’t contribute to my madison experience at all - well, aside from really cool trips to the Engineering Expo every other year. There is more to Madison than the UW!

That being said - this guy is a prick - ticket revenues, I would imagine cover most of the costs. The city was expecting to spend a lot to start with and moving the official date only prevented two costly parties from occuring - I’m no finance major, but I would guess that when the numbers are all added the city probably spent less money by having one date.

“You know, Madison does just fine without the university.”

Back your idiocy up with facts or shut up. Thing is, you can’t back it up because it’s not true. If UW bothers you so much then move elsewhere.

“and we do have many companies whose world headquarters are here (ie, Famous Footwear).”

Correction: we have many companies whose world headquarters are here FOR THE TIME BEING. It’s really only a matter of time before they all follow Rayovac’s lead and get the hell of here. Then where will Madison be without the university?

“Excellent point, Alderman. I 100% agree. The students need to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them and their need to shut down half the city to drink. And I’m a fellow student!”

Written by a Laundry 101 employee or Zach himself?

Saying the city wouldn’t be hurt much without the university is a joke…40k undergrad/grad students…many of whom take jobs in the city after graduation…if the university leaves, so do a lot of very highly qualified prospective employees. This city is quite the craphole without the university. Let’s all go take a look at most of Washington Ave as you get off the freeway…oh man, I want to live there and raise a family, not.

Brandon, you would have been smart to let this thing die without bringing up again and again how you hate your customers. Why not just pick up and move your shop to the far-west-side where you won’t hate the customers?

“As a lifelong resident of madison I have to say it does annoy me when people think the university is the only significant part of the city.”

If you go back and read my statement again, I never said that the University is the only significant part of the city. I said the UW is a major aspect of its character and if you disagree with that then as Michael Jackson would say, “you’re just ignorant.”

Dumb fuck.

The only good parts of Madison are Capitol Square, the UW campus, and parts of West Towne. The rest is just shit.

For the record, aside from my immediate guesses of Cindy Thomas, Paul Van Rooy, and Paul Skidmore, who DID sign that letter, anyway?

City of Madison population: 208,054 UW undergraduate population: 28,583 Percentage of Madison population: 13.74%

UW employees: 15,770 Percentage of Madison population: 7.58% (I do not know if that number includes ~5000 UW Health workers)

The University’s presence is significant, yes, but it’s not the end all and be all of the city.

Can’t we all just get along?

“The University’s presence is significant, yes, but it’s not the end all and be all of the city.”

Nobody has claimed otherwise. The bitter, UW-hating townies however, are claiming that the city will do just fine without UW (as if that could even be an option).

And now back to Brandon bashing….

I wonder how the act of ASM pointing out the problems with the confusion of two potential dates for Mifflin could be construed as threats. I was under the impression that the fines helped pay the cost for Mifflin. Why do you continue to represent students as second class citizens in Madison. We contribute a lot of business, pay for a lot of housing, and work at a lot of the jobs. We are constituents too. I can’t really think of any city projects or services that aren’t being funded that my tax money could go to instead of Mifflin. ASM’s job is to represent student interests; for once they did thier job; they should be commended.

Shhh… if you criticize him too much, he’ll have the sheriff seize your computers…

Still waiting for conservatives to tell me how they can be against permanent infrastructure improvements like bike paths and public transit and for wasting 100,000 dollars on their binge-drinking.

It’s impossible to be conservative and not share other viewpoints? Looks like maybe you, the liberal, is the one who doesn’t look outside the box. idiot.

Why must everything always be conservatives vs. liberals? This poster above me is a fucking idiot. This about people like the poster above me having their head in the sand. The bottom line is that these events do cost the city large amounts of money. But these events also bring in thousands if not millions annually to the city. And for the poster that said the city would be just fine without the campus..

Tell ALL the business owners on an around campus that the spike in their profits for Halloween, Mifflin and home athletic events is suddenly going to go away. They count on these spikes because they know people travel from all over the country to spend money in Madison.

And this Laundry 101 piece of crap, way to bite the hand that feeds you. You are going to go hungry very quick.

No more parties. Parties are bad for you. Listen to your mommy.

I noticed noone argued against his main point. Which was, every other significant event in the city that requires extra police resources pay for those EXTRA resources. If that is the case, why should the mifflin street block party be excempt from that requirement? Please someone, anyone answer that question. Don’t go off on some irrelevant tangent, just answer the simple question of…. Why should the mifflin street block party be exempt from having to pay for what all other similar events have to pay for?

  Yes, the UW is a huge asset to the community, but does that make the UW students immmune from the policies of the city.  Seems alot of people arguing that somehow they can do whatever they want because the university is good for madison.

A little arogant don’t you think.

The person who posted all those numbers about Madison and UW’s presence in the city is missing some important points. There are many other jobs here because of the university’s presence. Think of every restaurant near campus (and grocery stores for those of us that do our own cooking). Consider every apartment, along with their landlords and contractors involved with maintaining or building those properties. Think about all the companies that supply products to the many research labs on the university.

Those numbers posted above are just the beginning. There’s much more that has to be considered when quantifying the university’s impact on the city.

Your comments are unfair to and disparaging of the student population. To say that holding Mifflin on April 30 could lead to “a floating date, which can move based on whim and political pressures,” is completely ridiculous. The fact is that Mifflin has ALWAYS taken place on the weekend before the last week of classes. It just so happens that this corresponds with the first Saturday in May the vast majority of the time. (You refer to 1988 as the one other time it didn’t coincide, but finals week started on Monday back then rather than Sunday as it does now, so it wasn’t a real conflict.)

Blame the police for getting the date wrong this year, not the students. We were planning on April 30 all along, but the department never thought even to look into it. It’s the same thing that cost the city thousands of dollars when they got the date of the Halloween celebration wrong two years ago, and it points to the fatal flaw in the city’s managing of these events: failing to consult with students representative of the general student population.

You say we should “expect more of our student leaders,” but they did everything they could to make it clear when the event would take place. The city and the police department just missed the ball again. It is a shame Mike Verveer is the only alderman who is able to see this and is pushing for more student-city communication.

—Dan Ginsburg UW-Madison Senior Com. Arts Major [email protected]

Because the block party will happen either way…it isn’t organized by a few people or a group…it just happens. If the cops don’t show up, they could lose out even more.

No it doesn’t just happen, it is planned for, and if the city choose to stop it they could. So don’t give me the BS excuse that it will happen either way so the city might as well accept that and be thankful the participants dont cause more of a problem for the city.. ARROGANT!! Again noone has answered the simple question of.. Why should the mifflin block party be exempt from the policy that all other similar events must follow?

“Why should the mifflin block party be exempt from the policy that all other similar events must follow?”

What “similar events”?

Every other planned event that requires extra police resources.(excluding halloween)

“Don’t go off on some irrelevant tangent, just answer the simple question of…. Why should the mifflin street block party be exempt from having to pay for what all other similar events have to pay for?”

OK Zach, here’s the deal. Tradition. When has it ever been any different? If you are proposing a change to that tradition then please, by all means get the ball rolling for next year. Don’t come out as LATE in the game as you did and start making idiotic demands when you know damn well that something like this has to go through a whole budgeting process before any groups can start kicking in money. And if you’re really in such a snit then propose an ordinance that requires sponsorship of the event. Let’s see how much further your publicity stunt can blow up in your face.

Also, please tell us exactly how much UW athletic dept. kicks in for regular football Saturdays (not talking night games). How much do they kick in for the extra effort surrounding Crazylegs? Who kicks in and how much for the extra police for Maxwell Street Days? What about Concerts on the Square? Opera in the Park?

Dan, you’re such an attention whore.

Sorry to ruin your assumption but i am not Zach. When exactly did the students and ASM come out with changing the date? Since you were talking about doing things late in the game.

Let’s hear how much they earned in tickets before we start asking for more handouts. They seem like they are trying to make a profit instead of just paying their police fees. And the party certainly would take place police presence or not. The only thing that would be accomplished by not having them there is that crime would be waaaaaay up and be a much larger burden on the city than the price of more cops out. Sorry to tell you guys, but we do live on a very large college campus. Parties will happen. Every campus in the country has their own party traditions, Mifflin of course being one of ours. It’s what happens on colleges. If you don’t like it move away from a major campus.

“Tradition. When has it ever been any different? If you are proposing a change to that tradition then please, by all means get the ball rolling for next year. Don’t come out as LATE in the game as you did and start making idiotic demands when you know damn well that something like this has to go through a whole budgeting process before any groups can start kicking in money. And if you’re really in such a snit then propose an ordinance that requires sponsorship of the event. Let’s see how much further your publicity stunt can blow up in your face.”

This person nailed it.

It doesn’t matter at all when the date change demands came about, if you want $80,000 (or whatever) to cover police costs for an event that’s been held for decades without any group previously kicking in that kind of cash then you can’t expect to get it at the last minute by staging a publicity stunt. Sucks to be you if you didn’t plan ahead.

“OK Zach, here’s the deal. Tradition.”

Exactly. When you have several years of tradition behind an event it doesn’t always follow the same guidelines and policies as other events occurring through the year.

It just amazes me what a deal Brandon is making of all this. Seriously, $100,000.00 is pocket change in the grand scheme. If we didn’t spend it on the Block Party the politicians would just waste it on something else.

Brandon, I know you want to be a big political player and all that, but you really need to learn from some of the more successful politicians. It’s really not good practice to alientate so many people during your publicity stunts—especially the very people you depend on for your livelihood. It’s like comitting political suicide.

And yes, Dan G does love basking in the attention. Make sure you let your Badgermaniac pals see how important you are.

CONSERVATIVISM 101: Spending money on education and healthcare is WASTEFUL. Spending money on a bunch of kids binge drinking is JUSTIFIED.

What a philosophy! Oh, the rigor!

Fuck this guy boycott his gay laundromat

STOP TRYING TO MAKE THIS A CONSERVATIVE/LIBRAL ARGUMENT YOU FUCK STAIN. GET A LIFE.

I just don’t get how this is a conservative/liberal argument…stop being ignorant.

It’s a conservative liberal argument because conservatives are constantly talking about how the governement wastes “their money” by spending it on services that do not directly benefit them.

Yet, when it comes to the goverment paying their beer tab they are fine with it. It shows them to be the hypocrites they are.

Zach has got a great point. The ASM shouldn’t have gotten involved. There could have been two parties for the price of one. Damn!