Campus safety is a perennial issue at UW, and for good reason — recent statistics suggest that campus violence and sexual assault are on the rise. As a result, nearly every candidate for ASM includes this issue in his platform.
Unfortunately, this is yet another area where both ASM and the administration are failing students.
One of the most important initiatives taken up by ASM last year was SAFEPark. We enthusiastically endorsed this concept, which made parking lots near libraries and other student resources open to students after 5 p.m., after most UW employees had vacated the lots. Free use of the lots would allow students to drive to libraries and avoid dangerous late-night walks.
All in all, the SAFEPark idea was a perfect example of good student government and a great opportunity for the administration to implement an inexpensive and innovative solution to a campus problem.
Today that work should have borne fruit, as the UW-Madison transportation committee will approve a change to UW parking-lot enforcement times.
Instead of nearly 100 different types of lots, there will be three types. “A” lots will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and afterwards will be open to the public. “B” lots will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., after which people can park there if they have a permit for any other UW lot (such as Lot 60). “C” lots will be enforced at all times.
Instead of incorporating the ideas of SAFEPark and designating parking near libraries and other student resources as “A” lots, the new transportation plan does just the opposite. For that, students should hold both ASM and the administration responsible.
This year, ASM declined to pursue SAFEPark, complaining the main supporters of the idea had graduated and current members just didn’t have the time. Thus, the transportation committee formulated a new plan without student-government input.
As a result, many lots near libraries and other student resources (such as Lot 6 under Helen C. White) are about to become even more inaccessible — enforced 24/7 instead of until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (The administration claims they want to limit drunk driving, but it would make more sense to limit the lots only on weekends and increase student safety the rest of the week.)
We have stressed two themes this year: The administration is out of touch with students’ needs, and ASM is not effectively representing our interests. Both themes are abundantly clear in today’s proposal. ASM failed to act on an issue that could have actually helped students, and the administration demonstrated how desperately it needed the input.
