Nice going, ASM. I guess the tax-and-spend policies of liberals just reached a whole new level. Be watching for a sharp decline in in-state enrollment.

“According to the survey to which 2,286 people responded, 4.58 percent reported supporting the initiative while 14.61 percent said they were moderately in support of it. The remaining 80 percent said they where either opposed to the initiative or neutral.”

So much for representing the students…

I think it’s good that Student Council sent surveys out to get student opinions on the tuition increases. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they completely ignored the results of the survey. If a majority of students had supported the tuition increase, it would have been publicized as another way to get students to jump on the bandwagon. I’ve always heard that ASM was a joke and I wasn’t willing to believe it until right now.

Though there are many positive aspects of Biddy’s initiative, the general ignorance of the student body to these benefits is discouraging. Many students, like myself, are more interested in affordable tuition than extra services and aid we may or may not receive. With the potential to turn incoming students away, UW should be wary of increasing tuition in today’s economy. Contrary to Sheka’s comment, I have yet to jump on board in support of this initiative.

Just because they think that people who know bout the initiative will support it doesn’t mean that they can act against the opinions of the students they are supposed to represent. Somethings gotta change because this ain’t right.

SC demonstrating their arrogance again, and as a result, highly embarrassing themselves by ignoring the results of their own study.

ASM member Sol Grosskopf said. “There’s nobody on this campus that could be opposed to the initiative’s goals, but we need to be careful in what we’re going to do to get these benefits.”

Apparently Sol has not been reading the Badger Herald or the concerns expressed on the initiative’s web site. The majority of the opposition has been against the initiative’s goals.

What has been the response? “The goals are standard practice” and “Everyone is subsidized.” (Listen to the Chancellor’s interview online.) In other words, “your objections are invalid because that’s just what we do.”

As Sol stated, nobody could be against the initiative’s goals, it’s simply inconceivable. And yet many people are. Go figure.

The paternalism of the student council kills me sometimes. They establish that their constituents don’t favor an issue, and then endorse it anyway.

The job of ASM is to represent the students WHILE DOING WHAT IS BEST FOR THE UNIVERSITY…

While the survey showed that students were neutral or opposed the Initiative, the job of ASM is to weigh that information with the additional information they have concerning this initiative. That is why most funding decisions are made by student governance groups instead of sending everything to referendum - the students that are educated on about the initiative should be the ones deciding, not the students that just see a tuition hike and voted no with little to no other information.

Mr. Abbott, Were we at the same meeting? The administration got everything they wanted from ASM with the “student” representative using talking points from the initiative itself. Sincerely, Mr. Costello

Many of the people who will really be paying for Chancellor Martin’s Madison Initiative proposal are the parents and grandparents of future students. They have been completely left out of the discussion of this stealth, wealth-shifting proposal.

A differential tuition scheme like this should at least be voted on by the state legislature and not just end with approvals by the ASM (elected by 8.3% of all students!) and the Board of Regents, who would be somewhat embarrassed to veto the first major initiative of the new chancellor they just appointed last summer. This is a state university and should be accountable through the legislature to the citizens of Wisconsin.

Questions: 1. Are there any other Big Ten or public universities that directly transfer tuition revenue from those over a certain income level to those under? 2. In the spirit of transparency, what are the UW-Madison’s own internal financial estimates for the amounts of the extra tuition that will go specifically to academic programs, administration, student aid, etc.? 3. How many extra administrators will be hired to adjudicate who does or does not receive financial aid for families around the $80,000 income level? 4. What was the total UW-Madison PR bill for supporting this proposal, including entertaining ASM leaders? 5. Where is the investigative reporting by the two student newspapers looking at the impact of the Madison Initiative on constituencies beyond the current students?

Partial solution: raise the tuition by the amount needed, eliminate differential tuition, and transfer the energy behind the Madison Initiative by the chancellor, deans, and UW Foundation to solicit private funds for financial aid.

“I’ve seen that people who are informed of the initiative are in support of the initiative,” ASM member Adam Sheka said. “I think when it’s looked at in a more holistic sense people are much more on board with it.”

Sheka, wtf are you smoking dude? I’m informed and I think it is one of the worst uses of money possible. Who do you talk to? Kids who have parents paying for their school? Do you realize that this initiative is a BS excuse to take more money from a captive audience? Why don’t you try talking to more than one person (representing a viewpoint less than 5% of people at UW have) next time before you make a stupid decision.

Just wait ‘til you little brats have kids of your own someday!

The poll was actually only completed by about 2,000 students, so I think its unfair to gauge the entire undergraduate student body’s opinions on it. And although the tuition hikes will be difficult for everyone involved, people should look at and really evaluate the benefits of the Initiative - better advising, faculty recruitment and retention, more core requirement courses available so that students don’t have to go to summer school or spend 5 years here (more tuition!). ASM went through a lot of debate about this and every single person who spoke, spoke on behalf of their constituents who they had actively outreached to. One survey’s results should not negate the Student Council member’s clear dedication the the students seen by the hours and hours spent debating this initiative. Do your research, and I think that you will agree that the benefits FAR outweigh the costs.

Why did so many students oppose it? Because NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHAT IT IS. Campus media have conveniently coupled “tuition increase” with “Madison Initiative” and that’s as far as students’ examination went. I defy everyone in that 80% to tell me what the initiative really includes. Argh screw it, let’s go drink some more beer. We have plenty of money for that, right?

4:40- I resent your comment. I know exactly where that money is going. Financial aid, bringing more faculty, and enhancing classroom technology. I was one of that 40% who was strongly opposed. And in case you didn’t read up on the Undergraduate Initiative, it IS a tuition increase for the majority of the undergraduate population. Save your assumptions and stereotypes about the caliber of the student who opposed tuition increases for someone who’s actually ignorant enough to believe your brand of bull. Some of us are too busy working to have time to drink, let alone the money to do it (even though our parents make over $80,000). Oh, but that’s right, we should work more because we should pay to make it easier for someone else to go to school.