The Associated Students of Madison and Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. are combining efforts to address pertinent issues regarding University of Wisconsin students and downtown residents.
According to CNI President Bob Holloway, the group is one of several official neighborhood associations recognized by the city whose mission is to ensure and improve the quality of life within their boundaries.
CNI’s boundaries stretch to about a six-mile radius around the Capitol, including the UW campus, Mifflin and Bassett streets.
“Because the students play such a large role downtown and constitute a fair portion of the residents, it seems sensible that we all work together,” Holloway said. “I think it’s important to recognize that anybody living downtown for that matter can play and, hopefully, will choose to play a constructive role in addressing issues.”
The groups plan on collaborating efforts to address a multitude of student issues, including alcohol abuse, transportation, snow removal and anything else that will improve the quality of life, according to Holloway.
He added he hopes the two groups can extend their efforts to cover any and all student needs.
ASM elected Vice Chair Hannah Karns as its liaison at CNI’s executive committee meeting Tuesday.
According to Holloway, Karns seems like she will be a good representative of ASM and the student body.
Karns said her role as liaison has two main components: she will serve as a representative of the student body and relay information to and from CNI, addressing all issues that come up on both the campus and city level.
Karns added she has yet to develop any concrete goals for the group, though she would like to direct CNI away from alcohol issues and toward less touched upon issues including transportation and snow removal.
“CNI has several committees within the larger organization and one of them is the alcohol issues committee,” Karns said. ” It’s the most vocal committee so students often find CNI and the alcohol committee one and the same, but they aren’t so I’d like to work on the other committees and get student input in other categories as well.”
Karns went on to say she’s looking to get a better feel for how CNI operates before developing any specific plans.
“Right now my thoughts have been on ASM and the [Student Activity Center] grand opening, so I haven’t really done much except writing a blurb in the CNI newsletter about my role,” Karns said. “But when that’s done I’ll be able to focus more on what I’m actually going to do.”
Holloway agreed that specific actions have yet to be established, though he said he looks forward to working with Karns and the rest of ASM.
“We will work with them as long as they are interested in seeking information or wanting to work together with us,” Holloway said. “Hopefully this is just the beginning.”
