Today at 5 p.m. in the Lakefront Cafeteria of Memorial Union, the Student Council of the Associated Students of Madison, your student government, is holding a town hall meeting. The highlight of this town-hall meeting will be segregated fees. This controversial topic has been a matter of discussion in the campus media during the current semester. It is now time for students to hear the opinion of your chosen representatives.
Students pay roughly $569 a year in segregated fees. Organizations such as the Union, University Health Services and Recreational Sports are responsible for 74 percent of segregated fees. The bus pass, which is a must for all students, is responsible for 8 percent of the fee. Adding these amounts together, a student pays $466.58 a year.
The remaining 18 percent of segregated fees are allocated to ASM. Only 1 percent is attributed to the internal budget of ASM. The remaining 17 percent of seg fees are distributed by the Finance Committee to help events such as Homecoming and organizations such as the SAFE program, WisPIRG, GUTS and the Multicultural Student Center.
Without allocable segregated fees, the campus would lose a wide variety of student activities and opportunities to learn; students would have fewer chances to connect with others and share interests, and students would lose access to a wide variety of political voices and opinions that help them become informed voters and citizens.
To put this into perspective, a full-time student pays $2.84 for their student government per semester. SSFC allocates $42.76 per student to organizations that educate the student body, and $5.69 is given to events like Homecoming and “Columbine: The Untold Story.”
In addition to the amounts controlled by your fellow students, recreational sports is responsible for $19.91, the bus pass $22.76, the Union $76.81 and, finally, University Health Services takes the largest amount at $113.80.
To those who are skeptical of what some have called “student taxes,” I encourage you to attend the town hall meeting. This venue will give you the opportunity to hear the opinions of members of the student governing body of UW-Madison.
These are your student-council members, and it is your responsibility to hold them accountable. Your voice deserves to be heard on an autonomous body that represents you.
If you still would like to speak with your council members about any other issue, come on over! Ask them questions about issues on which the different components of ASM are working. These issues include the state budget, adding an additional student member on the Board of Regents, establishing a peer-advising program and fostering a diverse community across campus.
Your student-council members want to meet you and learn how they can best represent you.
Free pizza and soda will be provided along with an insightful discussion about one of the most controversial topics in past years. Forget about student apathy and fight for student autonomy. It is your turn to make your own opinion by on important issues like segregated fees.
Ryan Natasky ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and legal studies. He is an intern for the Associated Students of Madison.
