Students haven't been historically known as great political contributors, unless, of course, you count volunteer labor to fold envelopes, take people to the polls, hand out literature and do other grunt work. (In the case of certain politically-connected students in Milwaukee, that grunt work also included slashing tires on opposition vehicles in 2004.)

But a recent Wisconsin Democracy Campaign investigation found a unique class of politically-active students in the Badger State -- those that gave some $86,243 to state candidates between 2002 and June 2007. But it wasn't a massive outpouring of pennies coming from dorm-room jars, it was 177 people listing themselves as "students."

And, even more curious, 12 of 31 students who gave more than $1,000 to their favorite candidates, did so at the same time their parents gave the same candidates massive donations, the campaign finance watchdog group found.

It's not a new trick in politics for the wealthy to use their offspring and extended family to fund pols -- and gain the influence that comes with it -- it's just easier to document these days.

State law, however, prohibits family members from making contributions on behalf of other family members. It's a practice that caused Kenosha businessman and casino-owner-wannabe Dennis Troha his downfall, forcing him to plead guilty to misdemeanors after funneling money to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign.

And some of the students' parents had prominence of their own. Topping the list was Vikram Saini, of Elm Grove, who gave Doyle $5,000 on March 8, 2002 -- the same day his father, Dr. Bhupinder Saini of Advanced Pain Management also gave $5,000.

Troha's son, Matthew, of Kenosha, was near the top as well, giving $4,000 to various candidates, including $500 to Doyle.

Matching Matt Troha at the $4,000 level was David Sensenbrenner, son of former Madison Mayor Joe Sensenbrenner. The Sensenbrenners, including wife/mother Mary Ellyn, gave the bulk of their contributions to former gubernatorial and attorney general candidate Kathleen Falk.

Other heavy student donators include:

• Courtney Oldenburg, daughter of former TV newswoman Melodie Wilson and Milwaukee businessman Wayne Oldenburg, the latter of whom contributed $2,500 to GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, the same day her dad gave Green $5,500.
• Several students named Walsh -- John, Mary and Michael -- who each gave Doyle $2,000.

Doyle topped the list as a favorite among students, getting $26,185 in contributions. Second was Gary Baier, a GOP Senate candidate who got $6,000 from six students in two families whose parents also gave to Baier on the same day.

Cop commission quandary: Michael Tobin was dealing with a two-edged sword this week. The soon-to-be-former Milwaukee assistant city attorney who will be executive director of the Fire and Police Commission starting Nov. 4 was in a unique position during budget hearings in front of the Common Council's Finance Committee this week.

On the one hand, Tobin claimed to have no dealings with the commission's proposed 2008 budget, while on the other, he found himself defending its plans. He told aldermen that he would "appreciate some latitude" in running the commission under the 2008 budget since he had nothing to do with its writing.

But he defended parts of the budget after aldermen repeatedly questioned him on the need for the so-called "Integrity Unit" -- which would cost about $300,000 -- while at the same time the department already has an internal affairs investigations unit. The Integrity Unit would focus on citizen complaints while internal affairs focuses on police misconduct; sort of a blurry line of distinction some aldermen suggested.

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