Opinion
SSFC squanders student funding
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Also by Daniel Tenenbaum:
- Sudanese victims need real support (September 19, 2006)
- SSFC squanders student funding (October 17, 2006)
- Bias necessary to promote diverse college learning experience (November 1, 2006)
- New hope for Israel as Hamas falters (November 15, 2006)
- Legality of hijab vital to security (November 28, 2006)
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Every semester, countless students are shut out of classes that fill up within minutes of opening. Academic departments simply lack the funding to pay for the extra teaching assistants and lecturers. While not directly related, lengthy waiting lists for courses like Arabic and Urdu can seem ridiculous when we consider that another portion of our tuition money continues to be funneled into the pockets of Sex Out Loud "facilitators," who hold under-attended lectures covering topics like "BDSM and sensation play" and how to go about "pleasing yourself and your partner(s)." Of course Sex Out Loud, a student organization with a recently doubled budget of $88,849, isn't going teach these pertinent skills without props — rest assured that our money is also going to the purchase of dildos and vibrators. President Reagan once wasted $44 billion in an attempt to use lasers to protect America from nuclear missiles. In 2003, amidst two under-funded and overly ambitious wars in Southwest Asia, President Bush allocated $1 billion to "protect marriage." And now Sex Out Loud needs a hundred thousand dollars to protect you from … um … improper masturbation technique? Every year, the Student Services Finance Committee becomes the most hated group of students in Madison as they sift and winnow through page after page of organizational budgets, searching out and deleting attempts to make students pay for gratuitous travel expenses and other questionable uses of tuition money. This year, Sex Out Loud did their best to abuse the segregated-fee system and ultimately succeeded, getting funding for brand new sex toys as well as rent for an expanded office on State Street (the most expensive address in Madison). With many years of experience gaining access to student segregated fees, Sex Out Loud has also mastered the PR game. Students who point out the absurdity of using student fees to teach blowjob tips are countered with prepared rants about Sex Out Loud's free condom distribution program, a service already provided by University Health Services and the Campus Women's Center. SSFC has already denied funding to the Polygon Engineering Student Council on the basis that their services were already provided by other campus organizations; there is no reason why Sex Out Loud should be exempt from this rule. Sex Out Loud is not altogether undeserving of segregated fees. The programs on Safer Sex and Relationships provide a much-needed opportunity to counter the inadequate and often inaccurate sexual education programs we all suffered through back in 10th grade. Sex Out Loud absolutely crosses the line by using seg fees to conduct "Pleasure" classes where attendees are supposed to sit around and learn how to get each other off with leather whips, rubber dildos and porn. You don't need to be a social or fiscal conservative to recognize the ridiculousness of sex-toy shopping sprees funded by the students of an institute for higher education. During a time of rising tuition, such absurdist humor is best suited for The Onion. The lavish excess demonstrated in the Sex Out Loud's budget is nothing less than a slap in the face of the students of UW-Madison. Danny Tenenbaum (drtenenbaum@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science, international studies and history.
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All members of SSFC…please heed Danny’s article and take note: You dropped the ball on Sex Out Loud. You failed to cut sex supplies which could easily be bought at a nearby store such as Walgreen’s or gotten for free at UHS. Instead of using student’s taxes to fund public education events, you passed money to be used for private sexual activities. The students should expect better!
Tim Schulz Former SSFC Member
I love that this was written by someone that used to work for WUD. GO UNION REFERENDUM!
Oh, you forgot to mention that their office is off campus in violation of SSFC funding criteria.
Also, Sex Out Loud is not the true problem. Why does SSFC have enough money to fund this group? Maybe our SEG FEES ARE TOO HIGH?
The SSFC members are not the problem, it is the entire system.
I’m tired of people writing articles in the newspaper bashing the SSFC and spreading misinformation. If you actually took the time to come to a meeting you would have found that there were many members (not quite a majority though and therefore ineffective in voting) who were strongly opposed to Sex Out Loud’s lavish spending. There were a number of committee members so disatisfied with the final budget that they voted to minimally fund the group (which would have given Sex Out Loud no more than $5,000). While Mr. Tenenbaum got all the facts straight, he failed to put together an accurate story about what really happened. There are a number of responsible members on the committee, but they are a minority and can not be effective without your help. I hope this article is a wake-up call to everyone on this campus. PLEASE VOTE TOMORROW in the ASM elections. ANYONE on campus can vote for the vacant SSFC seat. Stop whining and do something!!!
I have been to each and every one of Sex Out Loud’s Programs, and each of them is based in the notion that we as students and people need to be responsible and safe sexual beings. The use of toys has always been in relation to showing students, particularly freshmen, how to put on condoms and use proper protection. It is vital to be talking about safe sex on this campus, particularly in the wake of a number os sexual assaults this year and the dramatic increase in students contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections. In regards to frivolous spending…Sex Out Loud is not the biggest problem on this campus. There are many student organizations using plenty of GSSF money in extravagant ways. Maybe it is time to stop questioning sex positive education like Sex Out Loud, the Campus Women’s Center, the LGBT Campus Center, PAVE and many others who provide a truly unique and helpful service to our students.
Go out and vote tomorrow and Thursday in the ASM elections. This is your chance to vote for SSFC members who will be fiscally responsible and vote against raising budgets for overfunded groups like Sex Out Loud. One such fiscally responsible candidate is Alex Schmus. Vote tomorrow 12-6:30 College Library, Engineering Hall, Gordon Commons, Holt Commons.
“In regards to frivolous spending…Sex Out Loud is not the biggest problem on this campus.” No, but it is a problem, and shouldn’t be ignored.