This past semester has been one of the most partisan, highly debated, conflicted semesters ASM has ever had — and that is good. Gone are the days when only the far left ran ASM. For the first time in years, actual discussion and debate is occurring. People are fighting, and both sides are playing partisan games, but debate continues, and everyone involved in ASM should be proud, and the Badger Party brought this debate to ASM.
In the ASM mid-term elections, which start today and run through Thursday, students will face a difficult choice — whether to vote or not. Typically, 90 percent of campus decides not to vote, and the Badger Party would encourage that 90 percent to try voting, even if you only vote in this one election.
Why would you want to vote in the “stupid ASM elections,” many of my friends ask me.
Vote in the ASM elections and vote for the Badger Party, because we work on issues that affect students and on issues that students care about.
We promised to cut your student taxes. Thus far, we have kept our promise. If everything else stays the same as last year, your tuition taxes will still go down by over $530,000! This is a promise we are proud we made, and we will continue to work hard at saving students as much money as reasonably possible. We will also continue to eliminate an organization’s funding if they break the law or violate Regent policy papers, and we will reward organizations that follow the rules, ask for fiscally responsible budgets and serve students.
We also believe that as a student, you should be given a choice on how your money is spent. This means we will explore options and do whatever we need to to ensure you will be given the choice of whether you spend $50-$100 on “student services.” This is not to say we are against some of the valuable services that are offered, but we want you to decide, not a committee. To continue protecting against increased taxes, though, we need you to elect more Badger Party members to student council and SSFC.
The Badger Party promised to fight for a 24-hour library. Within weeks of being elected last year, we were already hard at work on Bascom Hill lobbying the administration extensively. We did this because this benefits you as students and allows you to work and study on your schedule, not the hours the administration thinks are appropriate.
We have already succeeded in getting the West Corridor of Memorial Library open 24-hours a day throughout the entire semester. We will continue to fight for College Library to be open extended hours, but we need your help by electing more Badger Party members.
A third promise we have made is to do what we can to protect drink specials. Again, the Badger Party has fulfilled its promise.
Recently, area bars announced they would voluntarily discontinue offering drink specials on weekends. (Remember, the best drink specials are on weekdays.) This again, was a victory for students and the Badger Party. We worked closely with area bars and lobbied hard to protect specials.
In one year, all the data will show drink specials are not the cause of binge-drinking, and the bars will bring specials back on weekends. The city will have a difficult time banning them, once they cannot show a cause-and-effect relationship. For the next year, we still have drink specials five days a week. To continue to focus on this issue, and to make this a priority, the Badger Party needs your help by electing more students who will represent issues that truly represent you, the average student.
Despite the misconceptions, the Badger Party is not made up of a bunch of evil Republicans. The Badger Party consists of students who are Democrats, Libertarians and Republicans that are concerned with representing students on issues that really affect students.
If you agree with any of our platform and want students to finally represent you and work on issues that are important to you, then I would encourage you to vote for my fellow Badger Party members. It only takes two minutes, and you can vote on-line at www.vote.asm.wisc.edu
Please vote for: Chad Kemp for SSFC, Bob Thelen, III for Freshman Representative and Rob Shereda for non-L&S graduate.
Drew Horn ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in history and political science.