ALLIANT CENTER DIRECTOR REJECTS IDEA OF TECHNO DANCE BAN

Dane County officials softened their stance on techno dances at the Alliant
Energy Center Tuesday after the director of the facility said reports of
drug use at a dance in April are "really just old news."

Bill DiCarlo told the County Board's Public Works and Facilities Management
Committee that a newspaper article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel didn't
really say anything new about what goes on at a techno dance, which used to
be called a rave.

The newspaper reported Sunday that most of the 2,500 attendees at the April
27 techno dance were using drugs. Thirteen people were arrested, DiCarlo
said, including six for marijuana use, two for using the drug ketamine, two
for using Ecstasy and three for disorderly conduct.

DiCarlo met with County Executive Kathleen Falk and Sheriff Gary Hamblin
Monday to discuss the situation, and they plan to meet again to see if more
stringent rules, such as ending the dances at midnight, should be applied
at any future techno dance.

But, DiCarlo said, there aren't any plans at the present time to ban techno
dances.

"The challenge to us is the right to public assembly," he told the
committee. "We're obligated to rent the building."

Supervisor David Blaska said Monday that the county might consider halting
techno dances at the Alliant Energy Center, but he said Tuesday that he
would trust DiCarlo's judgment on whether or not to continue allowing the
dances in the publicly owned facility.

"I question the idea that an event is there primarily to provide people
with the opportunity to break the law," Blaska said. "Where else do the
dance-goers go, to bars, to clubs? Is it just a place for people to be high
at?"

DiCarlo questioned if the techno dance in and of itself is the primary
reason for the drug use.

"On any given Saturday, do these people take drugs because it's a Saturday
or because it's a techno dance?" he said. "And what about other concerts we
have, where people might be using drugs? Once we do something (such as
banning techno dances) where do you stop?"

County Board Chairman Kevin Kesterson, a member of the Public Works
Committee, said the county could probably make it difficult for promoters
to stage techno dances at the facility by charging more money to use the
facility, but he also didn't want to slap an outright ban on the events.

"We just need to keep a close eye on it," Kesterson said.