University of Wisconsin students who have been busted for underage drinking or are in a dispute with their landlords might have a new resource on campus to help them with their legal troubles if a proposal put forth by the student government is implemented.
The Associated Students of Madison Student Services Finance Committee expressed support for a plan to create a Legal Information Center to provide students with legal information on campus.
SSFC Chair Matt Manes said it is critical that every student on campus has access to legal advice.
Although there is currently a Registered Student Organization under the name Legal Information Center, Representative Cale Plamann said the group is very limited in what they can do.
“Up until this point this has been taken care of by the [student organization], and they have dropped the ball several times and the student body has suffered for it,” Manes said. “These are services that we need … they need to be provided consistently and professionally.”
Manes said there are two possible ways they could implement the new LIC. The first, and most practical, would be to set up the infrastructure and have the service be run by UW law students and possibly have law professors advising the students.
The other, more ambitious goal, Manes said, would be to have attorneys on retainer who would be able to give legal advice and even represent students in court. He added University of Illinois and University of Indiana currently have this type of system.
“It will require a lot of work and lots of logistical difficulties … but just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to do it,” Manes said.
If SSFC wants to get the LIC implemented sometime next semester they would have to find an office on campus. Manes suggested they use an office in the Student Activity Center or renovate the work room on the third floor of the SAC.
However, Manes said renovating the work room would cost around $50,000.
Representative Sarah Neibart said she supported the idea of the LIC, but was not sure if they should take space away from existing student organizations for the office.
SSFC also began their internal budget hearings at the meeting by hearing budget proposals for the Student Judiciary and SSFC’s own budget.
Chief Justice Kate Fifield presented SJ’s budget to the council and asked them to eliminate the position of Student Election Commission vice chair.
Fifield said the current SEC chair and the previous chair both said the position was unnecessary and could be eliminated.
“[The last SEC vice chair] got paid $2,150 a year, and he didn’t really do anything. It was a grotesque waste of money,” Fifield said.
Manes presented SSFC’s budget and said every line item on their budget either stayed the same or decreased from last year, except for an additional $50,000 for the LIC and money for possibly hiring several auditors to help with the funding process for General Student Services Fund groups. SSFC will debate and vote to approve SJ and SSFC budgets Thursday.
