The Brent Farve Scandal

Finally time to address this.

During the election, ASAP's opponents Jared Bierbach and Shawn Matson pulled me into their office and attempted to blackmail me.

They claimed several people had come to them regarding emails I sent allegedly over my UWM Pantherlink account and were ready to file formal complaints against me not just within the University, but in civil court or something. The pair had a letter written by a lawyer saying what I did was illegal, and that they would press charges against me unless I stepped down from the running.

What did they allege?

That I sent out a picture of my penis to several people.

This was surprising. I did not and still don't remember ever sending a penis pic to anyone. And that strikes me as something that would stand out in memory. But I'd like to point out several issues with my opponents' tactic, as it's becoming relevant again.

First, the assumption is I'd be ashamed of having knowledge of this get out. That I'd want it hidden. Truth is, I wouldn't care. I've already told just about everyone I know about this issue, much to Rick's chagrin.

Second, I do not recall ever send out any pics. I do not believe I did. This is why I called Jared's bluff during the election. So I say this to them now:

Release the picture. You claim to have the evidence. Show me. In fact, why didn't you make it public after I didn't drop out of the race? Makes ya wonder.

Third, using UWM email to distribute pornographic images is not illegal. The Fair Use Policy of the University does not allow for it, but it also doesn't allow anyone using the UWM network to look up porn either. Including the people in the dorms.

The charges my opponents brought up were not against me sending the images, but rather about me allegedly violating the Fair Use Policy. No sexual harassment charges. Just violating a commonly-violated policy.

Shame on me.

Fourth, and maybe most importantly, my opponents are trying to make an issue of the fact that one of the people that apparently approached them was male. They seem to think this would be a bigger issue if it got out I had sent a penis picture to a guy.

In the 21st century, should it matter? If you do care, you're probably a homophobe. Go see a therapist. I'll see whom I want.

My opponents are trying to make a big deal out of the nonexistent picture because they see it as a moral issue. They see this sexual behavior as dangerous and corrupting because it involved a member of the same sex and took place, according to them, on a University-owned email server.

But we're at college. If the Post were to write a story on an SA member possibly sending a penis pic to someone, they would have to run it across from an article about dildos.

The matter does not affect or concern my behavior as an SA official in any way, and if a pic was sent, it could have only been conceivably sent long before I was a member of the SA and does not concern any SA-related business.

My opponents' allegations are an unabashed attempt to delegitimize me based solely on unfounded accusations and sexual preferences. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with the current issue of the College Republicans not receiving as much money as the chair would like.

What has the SA done this year?

The Student Association at UWM has sort of a bad rep. In the past, prominent members have embezzled, made racist remarks, and generally been corrupt. But this past year, all that has changed.

Travis Romero-Boeck’s administration has brought diversity and positive student change to the SA atmosphere. The employees of the Student Association have fought for student rights through shared governance and good works. For the first time in a long while, the Student Association has begun to actually benefit the students.

But why should the average student care about the SA’s doings?

The students of Wisconsin schools are fortunate enough to have a state statute that protects their rights as equal members of the public university system. Statute 36.09 (5) clearly details the rights that students have, and one of those big rights is to have their own self-governance.

The benefit of having this ruling autonomy is two-fold: we can create our own system of management so as to avoid administrative bureaucracy, and we can form a single body for relations with administration. The Student Association of UWM effectively serves both of these purposes.

Firstly, the presence of the Student Association allows for the creation of committees and a process for filling those committees with student representatives. These committees can range from resource center advisory boards to campus-wide funding commissions, and they allow interested students to voice their opinions and suggestions on how the University should be run. One example of the more crucial boards is the Senate Finance Committee – the student-run group that decides how to spend the University’s segregated fees.

Having the ability to allocate the 400 or so dollars per semester that every student pays is another right guaranteed by Statute 36.09 (5). The segregated fees go to support services like the BOSS, the resource centers, the U-Pass, and student organizations. Having the right people on the Senate Finance Committee is what makes the difference between a good University and a great one. This year, the SFC was staffed by competent members of the Romero-Boeck administration, and, as a result, we’ll be seeing an increase in the funding awarded to student organizations and more services offered by the Office of Student Life.

Aside from increasing services in a very broad sense, this year’s Student Association has helped accomplished several impressive good works. We’ve recently redesigned the entire Office of Student Life and Dean of Students Office, and provided a powerful advisory committee to give students even more input on how the University is run.

More vegan options are appearing on campus, including the very successful Rocky Road cookie. This happening in part because the Student Association facilitated a dialogue between VIVE, the vegan student organization, and Restaurant Operations. There is a similar story with the composting bins that have already arrived to Restaurant Ops and are soon to come to the Union. Additionally, the SA has effectively eliminated the food sale caps that were imposed on the student organizations – Spaights Plaza no longer has any limit on how many orgs can sell brats there per semester, for example.

The Student Association is receptive to student concerns and gives many opportunities for the students to share them. If you have a suggestion and think the SA might be able to help, just come to one of Travis’s Fireside Chats or visit the SA office to speak to us directly!

In Response to the UrbanMilwaukee.com Article

Recently, the totally awesome website urbanmilwaukee.com posted a front-page editorial/article saying how the SA is subsidizing parking and encouraging car-driving and not giving a squat about the commun -- here, read it: http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2011/03/10/uwm-should-end-the-parking-subsidy/

As a member of the Student Association of UWM, I believe I have an explanation for what's going on (if you read the comments, then you already read this).

First off, we are actively lobbying against the loss of the lakefront lots. Those lots allow free parking for hundreds of UWM students on a daily basis. If we do lose the lots, we do not want to force these students to pay four dollars a day every day to park. This is why we are suggesting raising segregated fees 15 dollars per student per semester -- to try and make the loss of the lots much more manageable for our commuter students.

This isn't a matter of us encouraging students to take the bus as opposed to driving to school (we are encouraging that quite sufficiently with our participation in the U-PASS program). I personally know several students that live well beyond the range of our increasingly cut-back bus system (i.e. Racine, Zion). Living near/on campus is simply not an economic solution for many UWM students in these times, and the loss of many of our free parking spots would be a deal-killer for more than a few students. We recently acquired a whole parking garage and I see no reason why we cannot transfer the lost spots to the new location. It most certainly will save us those students that cannot afford an estimated $500/semester tacked on to their transit.

Furthermore, UWM has been contributing more now than ever to the urban environment of Milwaukee. For the first time in our history, we have enough residence hall space for an entire freshman class. Chancellor Santiago, before his departure, was contemplating a mandatory on-campus first year for all incoming freshmen. And, unlike certain other urban campuses in our city, our new dorms and proposed schools are not cloistered together in a single area but woven in to the fabric of the East Side and Downtown, with the regrettable exception of Innovation Park (which the Student Association had no input on).

Try not to think of the SA as "subsidizing parking." We're trying to not only keep commuter students at our university, but ensure that they can stay on campus and participate in our community without having to shell out hundreds more to do so. At the same time, the University is renewing its commitment to contribute to the city by pursuing the School of Freshwater Sciences and the School of Public Health.

Last Week's Senate Meeting

I started this blog kinda late, so I'm retroactively covering what went down at last week's senate meeting.

In case you didn't hear, one of the most controversial pieces of paper the senate had in front of it (aside from that steaming heap of wordspout known as the proposed constitution; more on that later) was SB 1011 - 40 aka the thing that said we should stand with our TA's and their collective bargaining rights.

The budget bill is a hot issue right now and will be for some time. The students of UWM clearly want to stand with their instructors and brethren no matter what -- they are, after all, what makes this campus what it is. It therefore follows that the elected representatives of the students (i.e. senators) should make this clear to everyone else.

But where things get fuzzy is in how we should say just that.

Their are students that stand with the TA's and firmly agree that they should maintain their collective bargaining rights. There are some who say that bargaining rights en masse make our University more attractive to prospective employees and can be used as a bargaining chip to bring them to UWM. And of course there are those who do not agree with the first two and either support what Walker has proposed or simply don't give two thumbs about the situation and would like to take no concrete stance.

As senators, it is our job to represent all of our students to the best of our ability. And while the two former groups I just described are obviously in the majority, there are many students who fall into the other categories. Giving all sides representation is what is honestly very important here, no matter what the perceived effects of passing a neutered bill would be.

Which is why Senator Hastert, the logical thinker he is, suggested a very diplomatic and entirely inoffensive compromise that said students stand with their TA's while not mentioning collective bargaining.

But that's not what got passed.

Passionate arguments were given on both sides, and the original bill ended up passing. This disappointed me for the sole reason that it did not accurately represent the sentiments of students.

The day after the senate meeting, I was explaining the occurrences of the meeting to my better half at the route 15 bus stop when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and was politely greeted by a <NAME REDACTED> grad student whole had overheard my conversation with Courtney. She explained that she was in fact one of the students that did not agree with collective bargaining and was royally pissed by the fact that several of her TA's had taken off to Madtown and some of her professors encouraged her to go protest. She couldn't believe her student representatives could pass such legislation fairly.

I personally do not want to make our University seem unappealing to TA's and I will stand with them. I just can't bring myself to support legislation with such a clear bias unrepresentative of the student body of UWM.

And that's my two bits :)

The SA's own Guardian of Liberty

Hey everyone, I'm Brent -- the infamous Assistant Legislative Liaison of the Student Association of UWM. It's more important a title than it sounds.

My ulterior motive for creating this blog is to plug the Red Menace's and my own 2011 election campaign, but I'd also really, REALLY like the chance to have some things said about the SA and what's going on.

So check back for updates and mind-spout on this sparingly-updated glorified twitter feed!