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Security bills rile UW GOP group
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The University of Wisconsin charged College Republicans nearly $1,300 in security fees for an event held earlier this semester. But chair Sara Mikolajczak said Monday the group will not pay the debt.
College Republicans is being charged for security services provided by UW police during an Oct. 22 event featuring conservative speaker David Horowitz. The event turned out to be peaceful and no major incidents were reported.
In a meeting previous to the Horowitz visit, police told College Republicans there would be a charge for security services provided, but Mikolajczak said a Union representative present said the fee would "probably be no more than a couple hundred dollars."
Mikolajczak said she has been contacted by a representative from the chancellor's office to discuss the matter, but has not been able to schedule a meeting.
"They haven't called me back yet, but we think that $1,300 is absolutely ridiculous to expect a student organization to pay for a service we didn't ask for," Mikolajczak said. "We're just not going to do it. We can't afford to pay them $1,300."
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, criticized UW's security fees policy and asked the Board of Regents to "take immediate action forbidding its campuses from charging security fees for on-campus speakers."
Grothman said he intends to introduce legislation preventing the university from charging these fees, if UW does not act on the matter.
"It is clear the UW is using 'security fees' to try to silence any voices which may be out of step with the hardcore left-wing orthodoxy found in so many liberal arts classrooms," Grothman wrote in a statement. "The UW has been unable to name any similar fees charged for left-of-center speakers."
The highest fees included $4,976.42 for a Primate Research Center conference and $2,407.15 for guest speaker Ward Connerly, a Republican political activist like Horowitz.
College Republicans had been previously charged $891.68 for a 2002 Horowitz lecture.
Don Nelson, UW assistant director of state relations, said it is not the university's interest to "squelch up opportunities of free speech."
"We want to facilitate the exercise of those events, and we want to meet with those groups to make sure these groups have the ability to carry these events forward," Nelson said.
Nelson said UWPD makes assessment of the security need surrounding student-organized events, and follows specific guidelines to determine if additional security is needed.
"Those guidelines do not include the political nature of the event," he said. "[The issue] could be location, time of day — could be anything. They do not take into consideration 'this is a conservative event, they automatically need security.'"
He said security surrounding the event is what UW police are responsible for, adding, "security is not an option on this campus."
Nelson said UW administrators are willing to meet with College Republicans to discuss the matter, and should schedule a meeting within the near future.
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If only the U.S. raised taxes on the wealthy to increase funding for education and other social programs and if only our government was not involved in such a senseless and costly war, then the university would probably be able to pay for this….
To bad.
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Did the College Republicans plan protests for Horowitz? No. It was various groups well to the left of the College Democrats. It’s not fair for the College Republicans to have to pay for others to protest their speaker of choice.
I’m not a Horowitz fan at all, but charging such an outlandish fee to a student organization that wants to bring in a speaker is ridiculous.
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“He said security surrounding the event is what UW police are responsible for, adding, "security is not an option on this campus."”
if it’s “not an option” then they should dish it should be budgeted for by the uw or the uwpd.
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It seems that the leftist thugs WILL succeed in preventing conservatives from speaking on campus, with the assistance of the administration.
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try yammering on about fiscal responsibility when you’re too whiny to pay a $1,300 debt that was vital to your security.
college republicans has lost their “moral authority” on preaching fiscal responsibility and the related BS if they won’t even pay a small $1,300 that protected their security.
first time in years i’ve seen republicans cry about having to pay money to assure their security…security comes at a price. maybe now you republicans understand this
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So if there was a liberal speaker on campus, they would totally charge fees. Get a life CRs and pay the damn bill.
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To bad. umm, don’t you mean too bad?
hippy.
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How much did it cost to bring in Horowitz? UWCR needs to take personal responsibility for their event, and fund-raise if necessary to cover the costs. Besides, I’m sure there’s some wealthy Horowitz disciples in the Capitol that would pitch in.
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Isn’t that just like Republicans? Run up a debt and refuse to pay the bill…
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That’s fine, as long as none of those young republicans has ever made the slightest whimper about another group being saddled with such high fees and asking for relief. But come on, it’s young republicans, so I’m sure they’d never pull that kind of hypocrisy and self-delusion.
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What happened to fiscal responsibility eh republicans??
UW College Republicans needs to quit making a mockery of itself. Until the organization adapts to the political climate here on campus and actually engages in meaningful conversation and debate with the Madison left- instead of inviting the fringe elements of their own party to lecture- UW College Republicans will remain how its always been: completely irrelevant.
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Why wasn’t CR crying about the security fees charged to every minority group that tries to hold an event of any kind on this campus?
Oh, yeah, they aren’t as important as Republican ‘free speech’ patriots like Horowitz.
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What’s the lesson to be learned here? Oh yeah, Always get a quote in writing!
You knew they were going to charge you for security so it’s your own fault for not finding out what the costs were going to be.
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I think the message here is, the University finds a way to pay for security if a leftist speaker comes to town, yet charges the organization when a more right speaker comes to town. Perhaps it is because conservatives are better mannered and do not act like spoiled brat children when they disagree with a speaker, unlike the protesters on the left.
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“So if there was a liberal speaker on campus, they would totally charge fees.”
Any examples? Maybe if the conservative would just adopt the liberal tactics? Nope - that would be a hate crime felony, damn sure the tazers would come out!