H -°, L 48° | Tomorrow: 
H 77°, L 54°The University of Wisconsin's county district representative
announced Wednesday he will not seek a second term on the Dane County Board of
Supervisors in 2008.
Ashok Kumar, 23, who has represented District 5 — which includes
the UW campus — since spring 2006 said he plans to seek other opportunities to
participate in grassroots movements after he graduates in May.
"I have focused on how grassroots movements are the basis
for any progress that I've been able to make," Kumar said. "I want to go back
to [that] type of organizing — I feel disengaged."
Kumar said he plans to continue his work with the Liberty
Tree Foundation that has attempted to nationally democratize universities. He
also plans to possibly move out of the area, possibly to the San Francisco Bay
area or India.
Kumar pointed to the success of progressive reforms in his
work with fair labor standards, non-discriminatory housing practices and jail
resolutions.
Former Madison City Council President Austin King said he is
disappointed in Kumar's decision to not seek reelection, calling him a
"phenomenal public servant."
"He's done a hell of a lot more than any other supervisor in
recent history," King said. "His leadership on campus will surely be missed."
King called Kumar's civil rights legislation a "watershed
movement in Dane County politics," since it was a goal of many in the county
for years.
"We had campaigned in 2001 and 2002 on campus to get Madison
or Dane County to say, 'This is enough,' and we failed by one vote almost every
single time," King said. "At some point the civil rights community had given
up, and here comes this young student who thinks he can move this mountain, and
sure enough, he went ahead and did it."
In his short tenure, Kumar said he's been able to push progressive reforms and specifically address the black-to-white incarceration ratio in Dane County.
Kumar said he hopes the next supervisor representing the UW area has a similar
grassroots progressive drive, and could bring diversity to the board.
"I'd look for someone active on campus, and preferably a woman
and a person of color," Kumar said. "If they're progressive, I'd be glad to throw
my support behind them."
King said he shares Kumar's desire to see a more diverse
representation on campus with an activist spirit.
"The committee I was on had seven white guys, not that there's
anything wrong with any one of us," King said. "But it does call into question
if we're committed to diversity, whether we elect diverse representation."
Kumar beat out then-UW freshman David Lapidus in the 2006
general election, and said they remain friends.
However, he said he wouldn't fully support another bid by
Lapidus based on several of his stances, including statements opposing the
living wage amendment while serving on UW’s Students Services Finance
Committee.
Lapidus, who considers himself more of a centrist on issues
than Kumar, said he has not entirely ruled out running again but will make his
decision in the next few weeks.
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Kumar will be sorely missed.
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Yeah, missed at his County Board committee meetings, since he only showed up a third of the time.
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Lapidus isn’t running again. THANK GOD.
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Is that the rumor that the democrats are picking as their strategy to undermine Kumar’s record? I actually checked if he has (because I don’t like to get spoon-fed lies) and he has missed a 3 meetings in his entire term. You can actually check this information at http://www.co.dane.wi.us/coboard/.
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10:38 — I just checked that website and it says that he was “excused” for 2 of the 3 meetings.
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Ashok Kumar will go down as one of the loudest, most ineffective campus “leaders” in the history of UW-Madison. The guy voted against anti-gang prevention for crying out loud.
Go away Ashok, you’re a failure.
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Ashok Kumar: promoting his own resume padding abilities since 1985.
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Ashok - you did a great job! I was happy to vote for you, and would have done it again, if only you had run!
Who is running for the seat? I hope someone like Ashok. I will vote for anyone who is actually trying to make a difference and not just pad his resume. So, no college dems.
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India? Didn’t apply to go to Sri Lanka? (http://thecriticalbadger.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/re-election/) I remember when Kumar was fighting like hell against the army recruiters, the governor on tuition hikes (remember the state capital hunger strike?), and for living wages as a student activist. He has done so much for Madison (and Dane County). Thanks Ashok for being my supervisor, I wish you would run again!
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So who’s going to take his place? The CB has mentioned Steve Lawrence and Justin Rabbach.
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Ashok applying for a Fulbright, which is a scholarship program that selects individuals who best represent the values of the US abroad. Why should the US government waste money on someone who hates America?
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The reality is that Ashok pushed through more progressive legislation on the county board than most other supervisors. I don’t really know where all the hate comes from. Are the college dems insecure about having to go up against someone who does actual work instead of blogging….sorry dems, it’s a losing battle outside your campus bubble.
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hahaha… “hates america” hahahaha… why does that sound so stupid. Yes, if you dislike US foriegn policy you must hate it AMERICA! wow
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Hey pro-Ashok people: try a little harder to make your fake comments seem at least 1% genuine.
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Ha remember when he first got elected as a freshman by running around the dorms signing onto peoples computer and casting their votes for him? and then he got caught and they had to redo elections, and he cheated again? I do… this kid is a cheater!!!
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cheater? wow.. yes as a Freshman Kumar and friend Eyal Halamish did campaign for the seat and they did win and some right-wing candidates brought suit against them, but those were thrown out as having O merit. http://www.asm.wisc.edu/cms/images/stories/PDF/2003ASMSJ22.pdf and http://badgerherald.com/news/2003/11/07/asmfinisheselectio.php
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Wait, Ashok cast votes for people? For County Board? You can vote online for that? Insane.
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Don’t worry. The dirt on him will come out soon.
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ashok, I know you’re adding comments to this. some of the language you use matches up perfectly to other statements you have. good work buddy. you’ve lost campus to the “moderates”
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He was a waste of space. Good riddance
Germain X Stemme
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@ 6:52: what are you, a linguist?
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6:52— god forbid people on this campus actually support him…
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The college dems that are obsessed with Ashok are the most pathetic cabal of would-be hacks in the history of UW’s campus. I can’t believe that once upon a time, I myself was a college Democrat. The current crop is, well, below scum within the animal kingdom. Mike Verveer, would that you were still active!
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For historical record, when people google this piece: Ashok Kumar and Austin King still troll the Badger Herald comment boards, attributing every negative argument against them to the “college democrats”
It’s propaganda.
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I love people who anonymously attack people like ashok - who overwhelmingly won the county board seat - and then try to discredit his election by saying that he went to hundreds of doors “voting on their computers.”
he was already elected and has served for almost two years doing more useful shit than sitting on his ass posting anonymously on college paper message boards gossiping about him.
Please explain to me how an anti-gang ordinance, would, by the way, support student safety in any way? (since so many students are dying from those “crazy, uneducated” community residents?)