H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°After numerous attempts to reach you by phone, which you have refused to respond [sic], I am writing a response to your recent articles and boycott of the Nitty Gritty Restaurant & Bar regarding the possibility of adding a UW-Madison student to the ALRC committee [sic] with voting privileges.
Let me make this very clear. For many years the Tavern League has felt they [sic] should have a vote on the ALRC committee [sic] and has fallen on deaf ears through several city administrations [sic]. Now Alderman Eagon is requesting a UW student be seating [sic] on this committee with voting privileges. We consider this a direct slap in the face to the hospitality industry. With over 500 liquor licenses issued in the City of Madison, only approximately [sic] 1/3 of these businesses are located in the downtown and campus area. Why should the University and their [sic] students have any say on what transpires in the rest of the city? The Tavern League has previously opposed the appointment of a University of Wisconsin representative to the ALRC and we opposed the appointment of the student granted a non-voting seat. Both of these appointments were still made over our objections. Mark Woulf, the student non-voting member was seated on the ALRC in August and has offered his expertise (for what it’s worth) and opinions when needed in his capacity, similar to the Tavern League. The Tavern League has a more vested interest in the basic policy, licensing, review, ordinance creation, discipline and revocation processes than any student from the UW. We understand the processing issues affecting our businesses and livelihood [sic]. We truly believe the University and their [sic] students should absolutely have no say in what transpires in the hospitality industry. We feel you should mind your own business and stay out of ours! The University is the hospitality industry’s biggest competitor serving alcohol at their [sic] establishments [sic], and we have no say in what they [sic] do or how they [sic] do it! Talk about unfair!
Alderman Eagon’s proposal is unfair to all other non-voting members of the ALRC who have legitimate reasons why they should also be allowed to have voting privileges. When the student was added to the non-voting position on the ALRC is [sic] was our understanding this appointment was for a 3 year [sic] trial period, with a sunset clause, meaning it would be reviewed in 2012 to determine if that seat should continue to exist. Now, after only three months Alderman Eagon is seeking to have this seat turned into one with voting privileges. Give me a break! The student appointed Mark Moulf [sic], or anyone else appointed has nothing vested in our industry and is here only for a few years while attending the UW. We believe they lack the maturity and wisdom to be allowed to make complex decisions regarding the licensing process and what it entails for a business owner operating a business with a Class A or Class B liquor license. When the student graduates they leave and the industry would then be forced to clean up or live with the decisions this student helped formulate against the hospitality industry.
As President of the Madison/Dane County Tavern League I am truly disappointed in Alderman Eagon for his part in contacting his friends, the editors of the Badger Herald and the Daily Cardinal and asking them to contact the students at the University and tell them to boycott the Nitty Gritty Restaurant and Bar (Marsh Shapiro’s place) just because Marsh voiced the Tavern League’s concerns and rejection of seating a student on the ALRC with voting privileges [sic]. Marsh does not derive [sic] at these decisions alone, our TLW Madison Board of Directors and Officers discuss our position and Marsh follows their advice [sic]. Mr. Shapiro represents all Class A and Class B liquor license holders in the city. He was not representing the Nitty Gritty when he spoke and did [sic] not deserve the treatment his business has received from the student body and from your newspaper. Over the years, the Nitty Gritty has sponsored many fund raising [sic] events for the UW, hired more students than you can imagine, and this is the thanks you give him, shame on all of you! [sic] This just shows me the lack of maturity and wisdom from some of your readers and the editorial staff of your newspaper! With this in mind, you want us to support a student voting on our livelihood, I don’t think so! [sic] Your editorial and advertising to boycott a business is [sic] really close to anti-trust and fair business trade violations. Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, but don’t infringe on the rights of others who’s [sic] opinions differ from yours. Reminds me of a recent lawsuit the community just finished. Please, let’s not go there again!
If you have a problem with the Madison/Dane County Tavern League, you come to me! I will respond and I ask that you please leave the businesses in the City of Madison alone.
Barb Mercer, President
Madison/Dane County Tavern League
Click to download a copy of the original, unsolicited letter
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This is classic.
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Comedy Friday. Thanks Barb.
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Pwn.
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that was a riot
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that was a riot
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“Your editorial and advertising to boycott a business is [sic] really close to anti-trust and fair business trade violations.”
Is she kidding? I am embarrassed the Tavern League has to be represented by this woman.
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As someone who reads and writes, I am truly disappointed [sic] in President Mercer for subjecting the copy editors to her poorly written letter.
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Badger Herald is very sic.
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This is emburrassing [sic]. But I LOLD!
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Barb, you didn’t help your case at all. Despite the terrible grammar, many of your points are insulting to students or outright fallacies.
1)”The Tavern League has a more vested interest in the basic policy, licensing, review, ordinance creation, discipline and revocation processes than any student from the UW.” - Well, yeah the ones who receive the licenses would have a vested interested. This is like Microsoft being pissed because Congress won’t let them decide anti-trust legislation. Of course they have a vested interested, but just as clearly, they shouldn’t decide the outcomes.
2)”We believe they lack the maturity and wisdom to be allowed to make complex decisions regarding the licensing process and what it entails for a business owner operating a business with a Class A or Class B liquor license” - But some of us are intelligent enough to go on to Law School, graduate with an advanced Engineering degree, be training to be your next doctor or surgeon, or finishing up a MBA and yet “they lack the maturity and wisdom to be allowed to make complex decisions”? Trust me lady, students can make plenty of complex decisions so you need to get off that high horse that your title gives you and be real.
3)”Your editorial and advertising to boycott a business is [sic] really close to anti-trust and fair business trade violations” - I’m just speechless. “Really close”? Try pretty damn far from. It’s an opinion piece, Barb! Since the Badger Herald and Daily Cardinal has not somehow managed to assemble a parliament with the power to make legislation for Madison, including the legislation that outlines the boycott, they cannot possibly violate these laws. I expected more knowledgable statements from the President of the Dane County Tavern League.
4)”I am truly disappointed in Alderman Eagon for his part in contacting his friends, the editors of the Badger Herald and the Daily Cardinal and asking them to contact the students at the University and tell them to boycott the Nitty Gritty…” - this is just an outright lie. As a friend of Alderman Eagon, I assure you that this decision was reached in consultation with each other and not directed from Eagon. While he may or may not chuckle over the idea of the boycott, the idea did not originate from him.
Next time, Barb, bring some better arguments. If you really care about this issue (as you seem to), I expect I will see you next Tuesday at the Common Council meeting. I’ll be there with a large contingent of students in support of a student voting member of the ALRC. See you then!
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“This is like Microsoft being pissed because Congress won�t let them decide anti-trust legislation.” “Of course they have a vested interested, but just as clearly, they shouldn�t decide the outcomes.”
So those who have a vested interest in running their businesses well should be treated as scum and need to be controlled (e.g., Microsoft and area taverns). Students, on the other hand, have some god-given right to decide how business owners run their businesses.
Who’s on the high horse?
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“Over the years, the Nitty Gritty has sponsored many fund raising [sic] events for the UW, hired more students than you can imagine, and this is the thanks you give him, shame on all of you! [sic]”
Ms. Mercer, the Nitty is an expensive bar with terrible food, not a charity. It’s about time you get off your high horse and find a worthy cause; plus it appears laying off the booze would behoove you (no [sic] needed).
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Second. Terrible food.
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Not that students are around the area often, but this classy lady runs the Pitcher’s Pub near Fish Hatchery and the Beltline in case anyone is looking for a place NOT to go. Oh wait, am I violating antitrust law with that statement?
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“With over 500 liquor licenses issued in the City of Madison, only approximately [sic] 1/3 of these businesses are located in the downtown and campus area. Why should the University and their [sic] students have any say on what transpires in the rest of the city?”
ONLY 1/3? Please woman, we the students are at the center of the city of Madison. If you believe we comprise such a small part of the business, at ONLY 1/3, then you shouldn’t be concerned about us impacting that small fraction; unless that’s too complex of an idea for you to handle.
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LOL she failed math tests AND spelling tests in elementary school
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“The University is the hospitality industry�s biggest competitor serving alcohol at their [sic] establishments [sic], and we have no say in what they [sic] do or how they [sic] do it! Talk about unfair!”
I suppose this is true, if you define “the hospitality industry” as “anyone in Madison licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on premises that isn’t the Rathskellar.” How unfair of them to sell beer for as much or more than most bars in town!
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I believe that it is fair to have students represented on the ALRC as we do make up approx. 1/4 of this city. Yet, I never felt strongly about the issue until this letter insulted our intelligence. She makes pointless arguments and seems to think “students” is referring to grade school kids who will fail to notice her ridiculous errors and faulty argument. And who uses exclamation points in any sort of document meant to present your ideas. Would you put an exclamation point in the Declaration of Independence just because you “feel strongly” about it?
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1/4?? Are you freakin’ kidding me? The UW has ~42K, vs a total Madison population of 223,389. Math Majors?? Yes class, that equals 18.8%. UW is < 1/5 of the Madison population.
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Add MATC and Edgewood and it is 25%.
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Except more often than not, they’re talking about UW students and forgetting MATC & Edgewood altogether.
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Actually, I didn’t have anything to do about calling for a boycott of the Nitty but if it sounds good for you to pin it on me I guess I understand. I would have been able to answer that if you, Marsh, or anyone had asked.
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And the Badger Herald continues to show its contempt for ideas.
Certainly the letter was not well written, but for the Herald to litter it with “[sic]” just demonstrates the paper’s willingness to ridicule people and views it doesn’t like.
It is clear that the Badger Herald and possibly many students despise the Tavern League, and believe that those represented by the League need to just fall in line and be regulated.
Notice that the central arguments against having a student ALRC vote have not been addressed. Why should students have a say in the licensing of private establishments in the city? Because they go to bars? Because they drink?
What about the interests of the Tavern League to have influence over their own affairs and deal with a regulatory body that is focused long-term, rather than contend with the ever-changing opinions of a student body?
And finally, and maybe most importantly, students (as a represented group) do seem to lack maturity in this matter.
Their approach so far (at least as represented by the Badger Herald) is to boycott, pressure and ridicule any bar owner or organization that would dare question the appropriateness of having a voting student ALRC member - hardly a sign of maturity.
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I couldn’t have said it better. The BH has lost a huge amount of my respect in the past two weeks.
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Oh come on now, that is not true. Nobody has ever had any respect for the Badger Harold, so they can’t lose any respect.
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What’s the Badger Herold?
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Ms. Mercer made the point very eloquently, that the Tavern League could indeed use some intelligence on the ALRC committee.
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I believe no one has responded to Ms. Mercer’s article because it is not worth responding to the content contained within it. She has presented no solid arguments and rather attacked the entire student body. If an educated member of the Tavern League presented their opinions on the matter, then we could have a conversation.
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Well, I don’t think you can say there were no solid arguments. Here are some arguments from the letter:
1) Why should students have a voting spot when other community members do not?
2) Why should students have a vote when the Tavern League does not? If the argument is that students have an interest in ALRC decisions, then surely the Tavern League does too. And aren’t these people part of the community?
3) If the understanding was to have a three-year trial period with a sunset clause, then why is this not being honored?
4) Doesn’t a university vote represent a conflict of interest?
5) The Badger Herald’s treatment of Mr. Shapiro is unjust.
You may not agree with these arguments, but they are arguments that have been presented and, personally, I think they have some merit.
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anti-trust violation = violating the trust of Madison businesses ::wink::
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“I ask that you please leave the businesses in the City of Madison alone”
Oh, ok, boycott it is!
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I can remember when the Badger Herald was really good.What happened?How did it sink to a content-free journalistic landfill?
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Agree. While this woman clearly does not represent the Tavern League in a positive light, the Herald’s obvious taunting of her inability to write makes light of a serious situation first brought to light by the Herald itself. How are you supposed to encourage “dialogue” (to quote Jason Smathers, written in today’s “apology” piece regarding a recent horrendous oversight in the Shout-Outs) when you belittle and berate those who oppose your opinions while highlighting their personal shortcomings unrelated to their arguments? What is happening to this paper? I sense more than just inadequacy in this Herald staff, but immaturity and an inability to shoulder any sort of responsibility or integrity regarding their jobs.
By the way, I use the term “you” and “your” in reference to the Herald purposefully, because your institution does not represent me as a student, nor does it do our student community a service.
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Well said!
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Maybe I’m off base here, but don’t you think the article was littered with [sic]s because they don’t want to alter her letter because she could accuse that they edited its content and they didn’t want to leave out the [sic]s because then readers would think the Badger Herald copy editor is an idiot? Just a thought.
As for her argument, the Tavern League shouldn’t have a voting spot. They would have an obvious bias since new licenses could threaten their own businesses. Students don’t have a vested interest in which businesses receive or don’t receive a license.
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“They would have an obvious bias since new licenses could threaten their own businesses. Students don�t have a vested interest in which businesses receive or don�t receive a license.”
This is bizarre.
So having in interest in running a successful business is a “bias” [!] and students should vote on the future of local businesses because they have no vested interests in whether those businesses succeed or fail?!
This is completely backward.
By this logic you should not decide your own career, decide what to eat or what health care to choose because you have an obvious bias [!], since these decisions could threaten your own life.
And correlatively, some random guy on the street or a politician in Washington, since he has no interest in your life, is the perfect “unbiased” candidate to determine your fate.
Pretty sick view, if you ask me.
Precisely because owners have an interest in their businesses that they should have a say.
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Yeah, so that’s why they titled the piece “An [sic] letter…”. The BH chooses the titles.
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Hey, I wrote 1:08am’s response. I object to their pointing out every [sic]. Clearly it is unnecessary. There are disclaimers in the editorial section stating that any and all articles printed/posted are altered for “length and style”. Clearly, the Herald decided to ridicule this woman by pointing out every single mistake she made in her writing, serving to belittle her through her medium, not through her content. To be honest, I’m on the fence on the whole issue. However, the handling of this letter to the editor does nothing to further the discourse of this issue, nor does it directly combat the issue at hand, it merely serves to belittle an opposing viewpoint (however inarticulate) publicly. The Herald, in essence, chose to print her response in the most detrimental manner possible, rather than taking this email response as an opportunity to open discourse with the tavern league and ask the really hard questions they should really be asking. I’m not a journalist, but even I could tell you, having only taken J201, that content will trump sensationalism if it’s presented in an honest, balanced manner. However, the Herald seems to be interested only in promoting “controversy for controversy’s sake” (despite claims to the contrary here: http://badgerherald.com/oped/2009/10/29/fromthedeskofthe.php), and for that reason, I can’t help but find serious fault with their journalism practices.
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Wow. Now I expect to pick up the BH and something as simple as writing Democratic or Republican properly capitalized in an article will be done correctly.
Not gonna hold my breath.
Last time I complained about “democratic representative so-and-so (D-Pumpkin Patch)…” the response was “we’re just students…”
The Badger Herald ought to be ashamed for this snide editing hatchet job.
I can’t stand the Tavern League and I have heard Barb Mercer interviewed on TV. She is not the brightest bulb on the planet, but she deserves better than this.
Any idiot with a word processing program can find grammatical errors.
Grow up!
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Perhaps writing an angry e-mail AFTER enjoying some Tavern League member establishment’s “hospitality” wasn’t such a good idea….