News

ASM member resigns from position in protest

Associated Students of Madison Shared Governance Chair Eyal Halamish said he would step down after this semester during the student council meeting Wednesday.

In protest of what he describes as a lack of unity and focus on students within ASM, Halamish announced he will not be serving his position in any capacity after this semester. He plans to pursue other extracurricular activities — including the University of Wisconsin Trebuchet Club — and focus on class work.

During the meeting, Halamish cited a number of grievances, but attributed specific attention to a recent referendum backed by him that stipulated all workers in the Memorial Union and other university services should be paid a higher wage close to $10 per hour. That referendum was later declared unconstitutional by the Student Judiciary after several ASM representatives, including Chair Eric Varney, challenged it in court.

"One of the big things that's coming to mind is this whole referendum that just went through and was passed by the students and did represent a majority of what students really care about," Halamish said.

The student government needs to understand that they represent the students and if there is an issue with a referendum, the people who are behind it need to be notified, he added. ASM shouldn't just present a counter argument, Halamish said.

ASM also needs to allocate more attention to student issues rather than focusing on running an efficient program, Halamish added.

"We need [to work on] really making sure that we are staying true to what students stand for and that we are representing the students and that we don't run the student government like a business," he said. "This isn't a business to run things efficiently, this is a student government to represent students. And I think we've lost that vision."

Halamish said he would continue efforts to bring living wages to UW employees.

In the wake of Halamish's announcement, ASM representative Jennifer Knox said he is entitled to his opinions, but added the loss will be felt next semester.

"I think his opinions … are definitely his prerogative," she said. "I guess that's an unfortunate loss to ASM."

In addition to the announcement at the meeting, ASM also successfully passed its internal budget for the 2006-07 school year at about $750,000, a slight increase of nearly $50,000 from this year's.

While relatively untouched from last year, next year's budget includes, among other changes, an $80,100 increase to initiate a textbook rental program, ASM officials said.

"I think it went how it normally goes," Knox said. "The ASM process isn't about getting everyone to agree, it's about getting a majority vote."