http://http://vimeo.com/14762034
Chair Sam Polstein introduces ASM’s Legislative Affairs committee
After much planning last spring, the student government finally set the date for its first annual housing informational fair.
The fair will take place Nov. 16 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union.
Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Chair Sam Polstein said the fair will feature booths that educate students on their options and resources.
ASM partnered with the Apartment Association of South Central Madison so landlords and students could meet in a single arena.
“It’s a service to students to have all the venues in one place. It’s a rare opportunity to show students what resources they have because some students don’t really know what’s out there,” Polstein said.
Coupled with multiple landlords, there will be two educational booths to give students information on the possibility of signing leases later in the year or returning to UW housing, Polstein said.
The committee also discussed the possibility of creating a medical amnesty law, which would be the first in the state.
A medical amnesty law would protect friends or passersby who call for medical assistance when a person is dangerously intoxicated.
Hannah Somers, committee intern in charge of the medical amnesty campaign, said they are still planning the steps the group will take this fall to ensure a positive outcome.
“Right now is the preliminary stages when we get all our research together. Then, we will set up a meeting with the police chief at the UWPD so they can look at the policy we have written and find out their objections,” Somers said.
Somers added they will go to the Dean of Students to get her input, and then form their final proposal.
The committee has researched past programs, such as that of the University of Iowa, and chose which ideas would fit the Madison mold, Polstein said.
“We are trying to show exactly what we want in the regulation. We are in the beginning stages so everyone has a different idea of what we want. It’s a matter of bringing it all together,” committee member Carly Michaels said.
The committee believes the friend who submits the patient, if cooperative with police, should be free from any university or city rules, Polstein said. He added the person who is sent to detox will still be punished in some way.
Polstein said currently the penalty is $350 for the detox plus the additional underage drinking ticket given out by the courts.
“Rather than pay the extra money, we could make a supplement like an educational course,” Polstein said. “It would save them the extra money, but at the same time help them learn about what they did to their bodies.”
A new topic of discussion for the committee was the idea of implementing a new work study program in UW system schools.
Minnesota currently has a work study program worth $12.2 million, so the committee would like to use this policy to formulate its own, Polstein said.
Polstein added many current work study programs across the nation are broken, and this is an area where they could work to fix the problem.