Somewhere between the election of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the appointment of Noble Wray as police chief, the annual Mifflin Street Block Party began to lose its spark. Revelry was replaced by restriction as the arrest tally ballooned from seven in 2003 to more than 400 last May.

In the wake of this frivolous increase in official presence, the Majestic Theatre has proposed sponsoring the event in order to address the city’s concerns about security as well as student concerns about arrests.

The Majestic would perform a number of functions individual students may not be able to carry out on their own. First, it would bring in notable bands, reducing traditionally excessive noise citations. Second, it would attempt to reduce the number of open-container violations by turning certain portions of Mifflin Street into “beer gardens” where students 21 and older would be legally permitted to purchase and consume alcohol. Wristbands would be distributed to distinguish between legal drinkers and underagers.

To pay for the event, the Associated Students of Madison would enact a rise in segregated fees to be determined by what kind of attractions UW students desire. In order to give the sponsorship a semblance of legitimacy, ASM is tentatively exploring putting the matter to a referendum to gauge student support.

While we support a reduction in the degree of police interference in the event, we cannot endorse the sponsorship of Mifflin if ASM plays an essential role. Not only would this fundamentally alter the significance of the event — a student festival independent of the constraints of university governance — but it would also serve to unnecessarily involve student government.

A Majestic-ASM partnership has too many pitfalls to be considered feasible. First, it remains to be explained how ASM referendums are a legitimate barometer of public opinion, as those referendums regularly receive a turnout lower than 10 percent of the student population. Additionally, with a constitutional overhaul currently underway, there is little necessity for ASM to take on additional tasks, even if the functions it would perform with regards to Mifflin — the polling of the student body and the levying of segregated fees — are already part of ASM’s normal scope of duties.

Perhaps most importantly, there is no legitimate reason why students should see an increase in their segregated fees go towards sponsorship of an event that would not benefit all students. Funding a drinking fest that a large portion of the student body cannot drink at does not strike us as a reasonable use of segregated fees — even if the cost to each student is only $1.80.