Category: Opinion

In Sunday?s Business section, Tom Still?s column, ?Higher education still pays for itself,? cites studies that conclude ?going to college … still makes economic sense for many.” Still recommends college leaders remain publicly accountable and transparent. These leaders have been anything but accountable and transparent on one issue that causes many students to gain a degree yet fail to gain a good education. That issue involves the ability to write, speak and think.

Noted: Donald Moynihan is a professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of the National Academy of Public Administration. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.

The acting inspector general?s investigation into delays at Veterans Health Administration facilities points to problems so systemic that they cannot be attributed to a few bad apples. But the report does not tell us why these problems occurred.

Is economic inequality growing in American higher education? A report just issued by the Institute for Policy Studies ? The One Percent at State U ? indicates that it is.

In February of 1927, the historian Joseph Klausner stood before an audience at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and delivered a lecture on the ?Jewish character? of Baruch Spinoza?s philosophy.

Thailand?s Senate, the country?s only functioning legislative chamber, convened an informal meeting last week to deliberate on ways to end that country?s six-month-old political stalemate.

For America?s worst racial achievement gap to exist within the very shadow of UW should be seen as appalling. Imagine how the American Family Children?s Hospital would feel if Madison had the highest rate of childhood leukemia deaths? You can be sure there would be hell to pay.

Writer attacks idea of “trigger warnings.”

The author congratulates UW-Madison graduates and enjoyed coverage of commencement, but “as a faculty member at Madison College, it was frustrating to see the approximately 1,900 Madison College graduates ignored by the media.”

From my vantage point (higher level seat), it seemed that there were no students of color among the band members. I would like to be wrong on that and would welcome a correction, if I am. I assume that the Varsity Band reflects the diversity of the student body. If that is truly the case, the UW has significant issues to address.

Democrats in Wisconsin want to lower the interest rate on student loans to help make college more affordable.

Wisconsin needs to think big so young people here can get the training and education they need to compete globally ? without being buried in debt.

Am I alone in noticing that the UW Badger football schedule this year, for home games, is the worst I have seen since having season tickets for over 30 years?

Isn?t anyone else disappointed with UW-Madison?s commencement ceremony plans?

Noted: Happily, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that bastion of liberal thinking, has bucked the trend a bit this year by having as its commencement speaker, Jon Huntsman, a generally conservative Republican candidate for president in 2012, as well as former ambassador to China and governor of Utah. To my knowledge, his invitation has not stirred any unrest.  Well done, Madison.

Noted: There may be a recovery going on, but Wisconsin still isn?t out of the hole: The poverty level continued to drop in Wisconsin in 2012, thanks to increases in jobs and earnings, according to a new study released by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, the Journal Sentinel reported last week.

You are correct that there needs to be a rational balance between the risks of technology and the ultimate benefit, which in the case of nuclear power is supplying electricity while reducing the effect of climate change. The case for nuclear, as you say, lies in the drawbacks of the competition.

WASHINGTON ? ?TO waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.?

The Red Gym is one of the hubs of diversity on campus; should the new Diversity Plan pass, the very definition of diversity at UW will change.

The Forward Together plan is confusing because it uses two radically different definitions of diversity. One is the traditional definition that focuses on racial and ethnic diversity in students, faculty and staff.

Editors? note: we?re pleased to post a ?long read,? but a good and worthwhile read, consisting of a series of informed reflections about the future of the university from an historical perspective. Universities 2030: Learning from the Past to Anticipate the Future, was coordinated and co-edited by our colleague Adam Nelson (Professor, Educational Policy Studies and History, University of Wisconsin-Madison). I asked Adam to explain more about how this material came together, so let?s pass it over to him! Kris Olds & Susan L. Robertson

As a conscious student at the University of Wisconsin, I can confidently say UW isn?t at the top of any diversity lists. Whether we choose to ignore it or not, Wisconsin is far from being as diverse as we like to believe it is.

When Wisconsin set up its new state-backed venture capital fund last year to spur economic development, one of the few industries left out in the cold was biotechnology.

Lisa T. Alexander is a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She is the author of “Hip Hop and Housing: Revisiting Culture, Urban Space, Power and Law” and the forthcoming “Occupy the Right to Housing.”

Writer David Maraniss and former Regent Tom Lyons will receive honorary degrees during UW-Madison’s Friday commencement ceremonies on May 16.

The University of Wisconsin System has moved closer to the edge of political waters with the hiring of a lobbyist with links to Gov. Scott Walker to be vice president for university relations.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is once again looking for a new leader. But that?s not the biggest problem on campus. The school has scored three times in a row with chancellors ? hiring Nancy Zimpher, Carlos Santiago and Mike Lovell. There is no reason to suspect it can?t find a top candidate this time.

Opponents of affirmative action have leveled a new three-pronged attack on affirmative action in higher education that could significantly change admissions at selective universities and colleges for the better.

Kyara Moss graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December 2013.

No, he doesn?t have Anders Holm?s charm or Russell Wilson?s national title, but don?t cast judgement on this year?s commencement speaker quite yet.

Stanley Kutler is a University of Wisconsin professor emeritus.

Last year, the media reported that the University of Wisconsin System had been accumulating large reserves of money while simultaneously raising tuition year after year. Understandably, there was significant public backlash and the state Legislature reacted accordingly by mandating a tuition freeze.

In late April 2013, the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin chapter gathered for a post-election “workshop” on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In part, this is the fault of college administrators who have failed to control the cost of education. But we as taxpayers are also to blame. The share of tax dollars used to support our colleges and universities is far less than it once was.