Skip to main content

Category: Opinion

Reader’s View: Walker’s attack on UW system harmful

Posted on
Duluth News Tribune

The current crisis facing the University of Wisconsin system is part and parcel to the agenda of the administration of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to open the state to the tyranny of the “free market.” Much of the rhetoric of “flexibility” and “autonomous” that has been discussed in relation to the budget cuts gives off the impression that the schools in the UW system are cleaving themselves from an ineffective system that would not provide them with the resources to operate at optimum level. However, the rhetoric mis-recognizes the true effects of the budget cuts: hiking tuition rates, massive layoffs, and the potential brain drain from some of the system’s most prestigious institutions.

Reader’s View: Walker’s attack on UW system harmful

Posted on
Duluth News Tribune

The current crisis facing the University of Wisconsin system is part and parcel to the agenda of the administration of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to open the state to the tyranny of the “free market.” Much of the rhetoric of “flexibility” and “autonomous” that has been discussed in relation to the budget cuts gives off the impression that the schools in the UW system are cleaving themselves from an ineffective system that would not provide them with the resources to operate at optimum level. However, the rhetoric mis-recognizes the true effects of the budget cuts: hiking tuition rates, massive layoffs, and the potential brain drain from some of the system’s most prestigious institutions.

Addressing racial disparity in schools

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, during the 2013-14 school year, just three of 131 students who received a degree in elementary education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were black. The year before, just one black student received an elementary education degree. Consequently, according to 2014 data, less than 5% of Wisconsins teachers are non-white.

Wisconsin still the Selma of the north

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: According to a 2011 University of Wisconsin-Madison study, 75% of white residents were born in Wisconsin, yet only 59% of black residents and 43% of Latino residents were born in the state.

What Is the duty of public colleges? 

Posted on
Huffington Post

In his recent budget proposal, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker sparked a national debate on whether institutions of higher learning should primarily focus on classroom teaching to promote workplace readiness or public service and conducting research with a global impact. As part of his proposal, Walker changed the language of the 100-year-old mission of the University of Wisconsin System UW, known as the “Wisconsin Idea,” removing the portion that calls for extending “knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses.”

The Lowdown on Higher Education

Posted on
The Weekly Standard

Scott Walker was never going to win fans among the faculty at the University of Wisconsin. Four years ago, Wisconsin professors were in the state capitol protesting the governor’s plans to limit public employee collective bargaining powers. But, boy, did he make enemies this month when he proposed $300 million more in budget cuts to the state’s university and altering the words of the school’s mission. Walker has clearly made some tactical missteps in recent weeks—and the fact that he himself doesn’t have a college degree doesn’t add to his credibility. But Walker’s problems are those almost everyone in the Republican field could soon have.

Editorial: Preparing our young people for global work and citizenship

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

This Saturday, the UW-Madison Division of International Studies and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction are holding the third annual Wisconsin Global Youth Summit. More than 170 students from 35 high schools around the state will participate in activities that involve interacting with people from other cultures to stimulate their reflection on global citizenship and inspire them to explore the world. There’s an additional session for teacher with more than 60 participating.

The Wisconsin Idea: Under Siege but Stronger Than Ever

Posted on
The EvoLLLution

The Wisconsin Idea is the guiding principle of the University of Wisconsin. This approach to higher education emphasizes service to the state: working shoulder-to-shoulder with people in their communities to solve problems and make life better. The philosophy was first articulated in 1904 by University of Wisconsin President Charles Van Hise, who said he would “never be content until the beneficent influence of the university reaches every family in the state.”

Rep. Melissa Sargent: Step up to protect our UW family

Posted on
Capital Times

I grew up in a family with three generations of proud UW graduates. My great-great-aunt received two degrees at UW and went on to teach here in Wisconsin for 44 years. Both of my grandpas, upon returning from World War II, decided to go back to school and were proud graduates of UW. My parents graduated from UW in the 1960s and my dad has been a local, small business owner for over 30 years.

Bob Nowlan: We must band together to stop UW cuts

Posted on
Capital Times

Dear Editor: A 2.5 percent cut to the UW System is grossly inaccurate. UW-Eau Claire is facing the prospect of cutting $19.7 million from its general fund budget, currently $95.6 million, over the course of the next two years. Thats a 20.6 percent reduction: $7.6 million each year in response to the governor’s proposed budget cut, and $4.5 million in response to a pre-existing structural budget deficit. That’s the equivalent of a minimum of 126 out of 440 full-time faculty positions and 24,892 classroom seats, or 152 full-time staff/administration positions, or a 20.5 percent increase in tuition which won’t happen because of the tuition freeze. By my own estimate, the total cut is the equivalent of completely eliminating the College of Business one of our four colleges, as well as all positions within and all costs associated with that college.

The UW will live

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Recently, I wrote a piece at Right Wisconsin on the flap over the “Wisconsin Idea” at Right Wisconsin. Short version: the Wisconsin Idea is a common place generality that, at least in 2015, distinguishes the University of Wisconsin from nobody. No one has suggested that UW become a trade school or abandon research.

Editorial: Campus Life and Guns

Posted on
New York Times

The gun lobby is flirting with self-parody as it exploits the issue of sexual assaults on college campuses by proposing a solution of — what else? — having students carry guns. Experts who study the complicated issue of predatory behavior and advise colleges point out that rapes often begin in social situations. “It would be nearly impossible to run for a gun,” said John Foubert, the national president of One in Four, a rape-prevention organization.

O’Marah: Scott Walker’s Plans For University Of Wisconsin Are Epically Stupid

Posted on
Forbes

Gov. Scott Walker plans to cut $300M from the budget of the University of Wisconsin and, if he has his way, will alter its mission from a “search for truth” to “meeting the state’s workforce needs.”  These steps are so fantastically at odds with what the business community, economy and state need from its public university system that no synonym for ‘stupid’ is too strong.

Don’t let UW hide its research records

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Deep in the bowels of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2015-’17 budget is language to exempt research done by the University of Wisconsin System from the state’s open records law, unless it is published or patented.

Scott Walker’s School Days

Posted on
Wall Street Journal

Colleges are usually at the forefront of radical politics, but when it comes to their own privileges they become feudal empires. Behold the revolt in the Wisconsin state university system over Governor Scott Walker ’s appeal for modest accountability. (Subscription required.)

Gov. Scott Walker is not the first to try to destroy the Wisconsin Idea

Posted on
Isthmus

Gov. Scott Walker seems to genuinely enjoy antagonizing his perceived opponents, which has earned him a good deal of political currency outside of Dane County. But his move to gut the Wisconsin Idea has perplexed many. He has passed it off as a drafting error in his proposed budget, but we’ve since learned the cut was on his administration’s docket since at least December 2014. Why would Walker, given his presidential ambitions, risk such a politically brash move with nothing tangible to gain?

Our UW System needs to be saved

Posted on
Jackson County Chronicle

Anyone who has attended a University of Wisconsin System school knows the lifelong value of the education they received there. Every year, tens of thousands of Wisconsin families rely on our state’s public university system to provide new adults with a solid foundation of employment skills, problem-solving abilities and invaluable relationships. The system also gives back to the state through research and outreach efforts that benefit the public.

Letter: UW budget cuts harmful, not efficient

Posted on
Sheboygan Press

It is good to see that even members of his own party object to things in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget. My own view is that Walker has aimed heavy artillery at some of the things I most care about: education at all levels, environmental preservation, and the fund which supports Wisconsin Public Radio.

Letters: Walker’s UW cuts misguided

Posted on
Appleton Post-Crescent

My family has a long tradition with the University of Wiscosnin-Madison and I’m appalled by Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million cuts to the UW System. We’ve had six members of our immediate family graduate from UW-Madison at the undergrad, graduate and Ph.D. levels.

UW must address research funding crisis

Posted on
Badger Herald

Like many of my fellow Badgers, I am constantly impressed by the incredible production of academic research that is undertaken and led by some of the greatest minds in the country at University of Wisconsin. Ranked fourth nationally in 2013 for annual research expenditures, UW places an emphasis on the importance of discovery and furthering the Wisconsin Idea.

Laura Chern: UW leaders should urge Scott Walker to accept Medicaid money

Posted on
Capital Times

Dear Editor: Many Wisconsin citizens and organizations have pointed out that Gov. Walker can save the University of Wisconsin System from huge cuts by accepting the $261 million to $315 million that is Wisconsin’s share of Medicaid money under the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. That sounds like a great way to save the UW System, save lives and honor the Wisconsin Idea.

Sen. Frank Lasee: UW System can handle a mere 2.5 percent cut

Posted on
Madison.com

A mere 2.5 percent budget reduction is what is being asked of the University of Wisconsin System. With a $6.1 billion annual budget, 35,000 employees for reference, the city of Manitowoc has 34,000 residents, 26 campuses and $700 million in cash reserves, the System has many opportunities to get lean, find efficiencies and make your tuition and tax dollars stretch further.

Peter R. Orszag: Scott Walker’s risky UW experiment

Posted on
Madison.com

It’s hard to believe that Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin’s budget over the next two years would allow the school to maintain its quality. Walker would prohibit the university from raising tuition during that period, but instead give university officials more flexibility in managing contracting and construction projects.

Evans: Save the Wisconsin Idea

Posted on
New York Times

MILWAUKEE — Earlier this month, Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin and potential Republican presidential candidate, unveiled a proposed budget that would cut $300 million of funds to the University of Wisconsin system and shift power over tuition from the Legislature to a new public authority controlled by appointed regents. The initial draft of Mr. Walker’s budget bill also proposed to rewrite the university’s 110-year-old mission statement, known as the Wisconsin Idea, deleting “the search for truth” and replacing it with language about meeting “the state’s work-force needs.”

Cuts to UW System could seriously hurt state’s economic growth

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Wisconsin is in a fight to create good-paying jobs for the 21st century economy. Wisconsin’s trend of declining household incomes only will be offset if we can generate new, good-paying jobs and stop the exodus of college graduates to other states. The recent proposal to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System’s budget, in the absence of a concrete plan to ensure that our standards of excellence remain intact, will strike a blow to a key source of potential economic growth and undercut a major opportunity to translate the system’s scientific research into new, high-growth companies and jobs.

Jonathan N. Pauli: Alumni should step up to challenge UW cuts

Posted on
Capital Times

UW reliably ranks among the nation’s most prestigious institutions and develops students who shape the world. Now, expand that impact to all 26 campuses that make up UW System and the 180,000 students enrolled plus the million Wisconsinites who benefit from UW-Extension services. It is immeasurable the impact that accessible education has on our communities.