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OP/ED: Out of touch?
SA president gets reserved parking space
By Kyle Duerstein
Draheim is now the only student without a physical handicap to have a reserved parking space on campus. That’s right, you or I couldn’t buy a reserved parking space even if we wanted to.
With all of the Presidential campaigning going on, we hear a lot about politicians accusing each other of being out of touch with the average person. Increasingly around UWM, your elected officials in student government can legitimately be accused of the same.
You may not know this, but while the rest of us are driving around frantically at 10:50 a.m. looking for a parking spot so we can get to our 11:00 class on time, Student Association President Tyler Draheim will be pulling into his RESERVED parking space in Lubar Hall.
You see, President Draheim wanted to be like every other commuter student on campus and suffer through the same parking issues that we have to deal with. He doesn’t want special treatment. Oh, wait…that’s not right, because none of the rest us can get reserved parking spaces. Draheim just wanted to make coming and going to and from meetings easier, so, he conned the SA Senate into approving, by a vote of 12 to 6, a parking pass in the Lubar Hall parking garage, and deduct the $100 per month cost from his salary.
Admittedly, this wouldn’t be a big deal at all, except for the fact that Draheim is now the only student without a physical handicap to have a reserved parking space on campus. That’s right, you or I couldn’t buy a reserved parking space even if we wanted to.
Even more troubling is the fact that, since these permits are for faculty use, the cost of the monthly permit is based on faculty parking rates. If you thought that your instructors pay the same price for parking that you do, I’m sorry to break this to you, but they don’t. In fact, faculty can park for as cheap as 40 cents per hour, or as much as 55 cents per hour. That’s some deal, hey?
The Parking and Transit department has a budget deficit until the Klotche Pavilion parking garage is paid off. This means that it was necessary for Parking and Transit to raise student parking rates two years ago from 70 cents up to 80 cents per hour. Parking and Transit also significantly decreased their contribution to the remote parking lot UPARK program and shifted the burden onto students. Parking and Transit will likely ask students to pick up even more of tab for the program next year.
So we are the ones repeatedly getting shafted on segregated fees, with on campus parking rates, and not to mention a decreased availability of public (student) parking availability because of all the “reserved” spaces around campus that only faculty can park in.
That’s all about to change. At the end of last semester, the Student Association formed a student committee to oversee parking on campus. Not surprisingly, faculty were getting a pretty sweet deal on parking because the Physical Environment Committee, the committee that has dealt with parking rates in the past has been made up of almost entirely faculty and staff. It’s no wonder parking rates have been going up for students, and remaining unchanged in some locations for faculty and staff.
Reducing the number of reserved spaces for faculty and staff and increasing their parking rates to put them closer to what students pay will be an uphill battle. Parking and Transit doesn’t want to hear the whining cries of the faculty, and they know that students won’t complain all that much
Want to change that? Parking and Transit needs to hear from you if we want to make any progress. Their number is 229-4000. And while you’re near a phone, call Tyler Draheim (229-4366) and tell him you’re not OK with his reserved parking space.
Kyle Duerstein is a Student Association Senator.
> Comments
_ on Sep 15, 2008 at 10:45 PM:
I agree with you on Draheim, but that move shouldn't surprise anyone. This is old hat for the SA.
But I think your argument concerning faculty vs. students is absurd.
Maybe faculty should have to take pop quizzes and live in the dorms, too, because it's just not fair that students should have to shoulder all the weight...
Esteemed, Highly Regarded UWM Alum on Sep 15, 2008 at 11:42 PM:
Kyle, Time and time again, your crazy ideas get old and fall on deaf ears. The senate voted in favor of the bill 12-6, including support from the speaker of the senate. Also, the money is coming out of his line item- there is no abuse of power and he did not "con" the senate. Maybe if you didn't lose rapport with your PEERS (yes, you are a Senator like everyone else- stop acting like you are above them) by harassing them when they don't support your extreme right-wing ideas, you would have a little more sway. This is a democracy...remember that.
Your feigned concern for student segregated fees (see over-inflated past Broadcast Club SAC requests) is getting old. You are turning your blog and this editorial page into the extreme right-wing equivalent of the Huffington Post.
Student government isn't just a vehicle to get your name on as many google search results as possible. It's about doing what's right for the students.
How do you do what's right for the students, you ask? Well, you can start by building coalitions instead of breaking them down with your weak attempts at character assasination. SUFC won a great victory last year and it's obvious they are being targetted by the Post who incidentally shouldn't be considered a school "news"paper due to their lack of journalistic integrity.
How about you all work together to continue SUFC's success at doing what's right for the students? Time to grow up, Kyle!
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 16, 2008 at 01:21 PM:
Well AJ/Tobin, we're all glad you're gone and not a student here anymore, so please, don't come back, not even to this comment page posting as some anonymous supposedly mainstream student.
The SA Senate seems to be under the impression that they have to agree with those that are in officer positions. That's how I see it, and until I see evidence otherwise, that's what I believe. Like it or not, and I know you don't, I'm standing up for what I believe is right. I'm not afraid to vote like that, and I'm not afraid to talk about it. And if I think people are foolish for not agreeing with me, I'll tell them that.
Funny how you, AJ/Tobin, are the one trying to be above everyone else by talking about compromise and loyalties. I'd much rather be loyal to my ideals and beliefs than to people. Your brand of loyalty breeds the type of cronyism and comfortable relationships that brings stalemate to Washington, DC.
Draheim made a bad decision with this parking pass. He did, and the 12 senators that voted in favor of it are a party to that bad decision. Bottom line, that's how I feel.
Segregated fees are a very important issue for me, and for SUFC, AJ/Tobin. Perhaps you've forgotten since you've left. You are, to say the least, out of touch with current happenings here, and you should know, what you read in the newspaper isn't by any means a complete picture of what's happening.
I'm not going to listen to AJ Piwarun/Tobin Huibregtse about how to do what's best for the students of UWM. Coalitions that weaken positive change or weaken a pro-student position are not coalitions that I want to be involved in. Compromise is great, but when it's the wrong thing to do in certain circumstances, it's the wrong thing to do.
Unlike you, I'm capable of working with people after criticizing them on issues and positions they take. President Draheim, myself, and many others have been hard at work this week finding creative new ways to fix the Parking and Transit budget without raising student parking, and without raising segregated fees.
I'm perfectly grown up. I'm not worried about losing a friend if I stand up for what I truly believe in. SA isn't about friendships and coalitions, it's about doing what should be done for the student body.
Maybe you should grow up. You're the alumni that can't seem to get away from college enough to not return to the comments page of the school paper. Move on, you're not in college anymore. These issues are no longer your own, so leave them for us "kids" who are entrusted to solve them. Grow up yourself.
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 16, 2008 at 01:24 PM:
Well _,
Since I didn't see an underscore on the results of the SA elections, I doubt you're on the Senate.
I can't blame the student body for not voting for you. If you think it's perfectly fine that faculty pay 40 cents an hour to park, while students are paying 80 cents to $1, you don't belong in a decision making position.
The only morons that think that's alright are the faculty that take advantage of it. We've got a budget to balance, and it's time to get rid of cheap faculty parking. I DO NOT support balancing the parking budget by raising student rates even higher, while the sweetheart deal remains for faculty. That position seems to be yours, however, and it's a stupid position to hold.
Melissa G. on Sep 16, 2008 at 06:25 PM:
From a non-Student Association position, it seems like there is a large amount of arrogance on the part of some of these elected represtatives. "Kyle Duerstein is a Student Association Senator." on the bottom of the page is a very sad statement.
Why do you call people morons if you claim to not be an elitist senator?
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 16, 2008 at 06:41 PM:
FYI, Melissa, I am required by the UWM Post to put that on the bottom of each of my columns in the interest of full disclosure. It's not an ego thing, it's an ethics thing.
Bus Driver on Sep 16, 2008 at 06:50 PM:
First it was thrown into drive, then it was put in reverse, now it's time to put it back in drive?!?!
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 16, 2008 at 09:05 PM:
Drive it is. It won't shut me up though.
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 16, 2008 at 09:26 PM:
Melissa-
You seem to miss the boat on the article. Funny how you think it's arrogant to criticize the faculty for their sweetheart parking rate, but you think it's ok for Tyler Draheim to be the only student that can get a reserved parking space, simply because he's the SA President.
Has been SAer on Sep 16, 2008 at 10:09 PM:
Kyle,
Being under the bus certainly hasn't shut you up. The fact is, your opinion is (and has been) irrelevant. You are writing this editorial in a news source, which you are known to have said is uncredible several times! You do this to get a rise out of people (like Tyler), and to get satisfaction while you read these comments at your parents house in St. Francis.
You are the first to admit you have a sharp tongue. Where has that gotten you in SA, where is this getting you? After all your disloyalty and innapropriate reactions, does anyone take you seriously for more than a few minutes?
In four years of involvement you have never made it higher than leg. affairs (the same distance as Joe Ohler). You get fucked repeatedly because of your utter and alienating stupidity. You could have been the President and it is inconvievable that you are not SAC Chair (it must burn deep down to be thrown under the bus in a manner completely lacking precedent by over 2/3 of the Senate, voting in the negative on your conformation). It puts a smile on my face to even know that you are five years into school, no undergrad degree in sight and are still wasting your time with the old SA. Will ALL your hair have fallen out when you get done with this?
I guess you'll probably be the same Bloated Rat Bastard when running for SA Senate in 2016! I hope you have moved out of your parents by then though!
-You know who!
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 18, 2008 at 07:48 PM:
Notice, when someone is correct, the only thing the opposition can do is levy personal attacks, as evidenced here by cowardly anonymous comment makers.
Kyle, on Sep 19, 2008 at 06:32 PM:
I don't think the attacks had much to do with the content of your article... It seems they were addressing your attitude more than about you being right or wrong.
Kyle J. Duerstein on Sep 20, 2008 at 03:12 PM:
Really? It seems to me that they were launching personal attacks because I would dare to speak out against "someone on my side" because of a bad decision on this one issue. That's just what it seems like to me.
The Ghost of JPO on Sep 20, 2008 at 03:18 PM:
Your little bitchfits about mindless shit are getting old. I just hope you continue your undergrad at a more rapid pace so you can graduate within 8 years and find out how irrelevant your views are in the real world.
Low battery warning on Sep 20, 2008 at 03:39 PM:
I support President Draheim, and I oppose Kyle J Duerstein for the following reasons:
Tyler J Draheim came from the school of hard knocks in the roughneck neighborhood of Compton, Manitowoc. There he fought crime and dismantled organized crime to such an extent that it ceased to exist. I guess for me it comes down to this: Who would you want with you in an alley when 6 VOX members want to take your baby?
I choose DRAHEIM!
Low battery warning on Sep 20, 2008 at 03:41 PM:
I support President Draheim, and I oppose Kyle J Duerstein for the following reasons:
Tyler J Draheim came from the school of hard knocks in the roughneck neighborhood of Compton, Manitowoc. There he fought crime and dismantled organized crime to such an extent that it ceased to exist. I guess for me it comes down to this: Who would you want with you in an alley when 6 VOX members want to take your baby?
I choose DRAHEIM!
Low Battery on Sep 20, 2008 at 03:42 PM:
I support President Draheim, and I oppose Kyle J Duerstein for the following reasons:
Tyler J Draheim came from the school of hard knocks in the roughneck neighborhood of Compton, Manitowoc. There he fought crime and dismantled organized crime to such an extent that it ceased to exist. I guess for me it comes down to this: Who would you want with you in an alley when 6 VOX members want to take your baby?
I choose DRAHEIM!
move on fuckface on Sep 20, 2008 at 05:17 PM:
Your little bitchfits are what's getting old. If you were in the real world, you wouldn't spend so much time with personal attacks on the website of a student run newspaper from the school you don't even attend anymore.
funny on Sep 21, 2008 at 10:19 PM:
I love most of you insulting him are no longer in SA or even going to UWM. I also love the fact that you insult him for not moving on but you can not too. WOW
Losers on Sep 21, 2008 at 11:24 PM:
HMMMMM...Lets think here you are all insulting him and saying he does not matter. Wait then why do you spend the time and get so mad about it? You guys are a class act. I bet many of you were behind Russ and the SHAC scandal and also when the ballots were counted this year. You guys are the ones that need to move on.