At this juncture, it seems apt to reflect upon one of the more troubling story lines to cross the pages of this paper over the course of the past year. In the Paul Barrows saga, we have witnessed a story of polarizing proportions, and yet, at long last, we may finally begin to look toward a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
So if government is going to fund the expression of a wide variety of moral, political and cultural views, it cannot exclude religious perspectives. To do so would be to take sides in the great debate between religion and secularism. It would advantage non-religious ways of thinking and would send a message that perspectives drawn from faith are disfavored.
But if a wall of separation is not quite accurate, metaphors – even bad ones – are powerful things. We let go of them reluctantly.
As a case in point, John Wiley, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently announced that the school’s student government may not allocate student fees to a Catholic student organization if those fees are to be used for “religious activities,” apparently believing this would be prohibited by the wall. Wiley is reviewing his decision.
Few provisions in the U.S. Constitution have resulted in more confusion and disagreement among lawyers and judges than the First Amendment’s prohibition of laws “respecting an establishment of religion.”
Juan Gilbert invents computer software to learn by. A major breakthrough he’s had is not high-tech, however: He has cracked the puzzle of how to turn unheralded African-American students into academic whizzes. The key is what he calls the Asian model.
This finding may amount to a godsend for academic America, which is struggling to better reflect the nation’s racial diversity. The Journal Sentinel recently reported that, despite its prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks low as a recruiting stop for many major corporations because it’s too racially homogeneous.
“We’re helping remind people that we’re the campuses, the students, the faculty, and alumni” that make up the System, Bonner said. She said that the effort is aimed at undoing some of the “administrative hatred” between the two ends of State Street.
Leesburg, Va. I RECENTLY did some research for a satirical novel set at a university. The idea was to have a bunch of gags about how colleges prostitute themselves to improve their U.S. News & World Report rankings and keep up a healthy supply of tuition-paying students, while wrapping their craven commercialism in high-minded-sounding academic blather. I would keep coming up with what I thought were pretty outrageous burlesques of this stuff and then run them by one of my professor friends and he’d say, Oh, yeah, we’re doing that.
http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2006/04/23/opinion/edshakes.php
lleague of mine once asked me who had made me into a writer. “And I don’t mean one of those creative writing professors,” he said to me, a creative writing professor.
“Well, who do you mean?” I asked, probably ungrammatically, a thing creative writing professors get to do.
Higher education is again on the public and political agenda.
Remember the good-old days? You know, that time when the UW football team’s annual spring game and the Crazylegs Classic run/walk were held on the same day?
It’s hard to believe, but this will be the sixth straight year that the two events will be held on separate days.
For nearly two decades, the events were linked and signaled the unofficial start of spring in Madison as thousands would converge on the UW campus and downtown areas for a full day of fun in the sun. Now, well, it just isn’t the same.
Diversity, diversity, diversity. In an editorial last week, the Wisconsin State Journal called for an independent audit of campus diversity initiatives. While the publicationââ?¬â?¢s editorial board was right about one thing ââ?¬â? efforts to increase diversity cost the UW System ââ?¬Å?tens of millions a yearââ?¬Â ââ?¬â? it still missed the mark by placing too much value on the leftââ?¬â?¢s social engineering ideal.
Listening to Paul Barrows discuss the unfortunate saga that has enveloped his life for some two years now, one thing is clear: for the former vice chancellor, things are not yet over.
What is so disheartening about politics today is the failure of most of our politicians to step back and propose some new ideas that might actually make things better for our future.
Instead, they act like kids on the playground. “Yes, you did.” “No, I didn’t.” “Yes, you did.” “No, I didn’t.”
A case in point were press conferences this week by likely Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green and Gov. Jim Doyle.
You could hardly ask for a better textbook example of mishandling a personnel issue than the way the UW top brass treated Paul Barrows. The entire story reeks of conflict of interest. The university used unsubstantiated claims to ruin Barrows’ reputation and spent more time covering its derriere than it did on properly investigating Barrows.
The announcement of a $50 million private donation to help fund the proposed Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery has gained headlines throughout Wisconsin. While the generosity of John and Tashia Morgridge should be lauded, serious questions remain about how the facility will operate.
The details of accreditation are so arcane and complex that the entire topic is confusing and controversial throughout all of education. When we�re immersed in the details of accreditation, it�s often exceedingly difficult to see the forest for all the trees. But at the core, accreditation is a very simple concept: Accreditation is a process of self-regulation that exists solely to serve the public interest.
It is no secret that UW-Madison is a great place to go to college. We have everything: the respect of universities nationwide for being an academic leader and a distinguished research institution, national championship titles, and a locale that boasts great restaurants and nightlife.
In 1999, the University of Wisconsin-Madison implemented Plan 2008 to ââ?¬Å?enhance campus diversityââ?¬Â by recruiting and retaining ââ?¬Å?domestic ââ?¬Ë?targetedââ?¬â?¢ minority students, faculty, and staff.ââ?¬Â
College is a learning experience on many levels. It is more than school and partying, it is about the people that you meet. Some come to UW on scholarships because of athletics, others for academics, and some because of their ethnic background. Ethnic background? It would seem that everyone who has some sort of ethnicity in their blood can get a scholarship, but that is not the case.
It seemed peculiar that Paul Barrows, an embattled former University of Wisconsin Vice Chancellor now relegated to a permanent backup position on campus, would request that his hearing before the Academic Staff Appeals Committee be open to the public. These things are kept private for a reason ââ?¬â? pleasantries do not exactly rule the room. But Mr. Barrows fought for open doors nonetheless.
California’s $3-billion stem cell program has encountered repeated setbacks since it was approved by voters 17 months ago. Now it faces an entirely new and potentially even more worrisome challenge arising from two powerful patents ââ?¬â? patents No. 5,843,780 and No. 6,200,806, to be exact ââ?¬â? which cover all human embryonic stem cells and the method by which they’re made.
Patents are supposed to stimulate innovation. That’s why they exist. But it appears that these two patents, held by a foundation affiliated with the University of Wisconsin, may exert a dangerous monopoly over all future research in the field ââ?¬â? one that may pose an even greater long-term threat to stem cell science than the Bush administration’s federal funding ban.
As the UW Master Plan unfolds on campus, transforming the physical nature of the University of Wisconsin over the next two decades, we pause to make a small observation.
The UW could use a few roof gardens.
MILWAUKEE — The better team won. Everyone knows it, and no one knows it better than Jerry York.
All of us at the College Board deeply regret the recent scoring problem on the SAT. When we found the scanning errors, we disclosed the problem as quickly and responsibly as possible to students, high schools, colleges and the news media.
Jake DeLillo recalls a rainy Saturday last October when he took the all-important SAT college admissions test at Yorktown High School in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. As captain of the lacrosse team there, DeLillo, 17, had been recruited by several colleges. Then his SAT scores came in lower than expected, and his options appeared to shrivel. DeLillo picked a college only to discover later that his SAT had been scored incorrectly ââ?¬â? 170 points shy of the accurate score.
What’s it like to wake up sober at the No. 1 party school in America?
Quoted: Aaron Brower, professor of social work.
A voting debacle at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is almost enough to make us long for the days of hanging chads.
Students at the university were turning out in droves to vote on referenda regarding fee increases and election of student government members. Less than halfway through the three-day election, about 15 percent of the student body had cast ballots; for higher education, that’s an outstanding number.
However, the students were voting by computer and unfortunately learned a very valuable lesson: technology is not a panacea.
Normally, I espouse a rather conservative economic ideology ââ?¬â? one that endorses low taxes, frugal government spending and limited regulation. However, the Taxpayer Protection Amendment, introduced this year in the state Legislature, does not fit into that line of thinking.
On March 27 you quote Vice Chancellor Bazzell in the article ââ?¬Å?UW leaders question LTE wage planââ?¬Â as warning students that the proposed ââ?¬Å?Living Wageââ?¬Â initiative would eliminate student control over funding for general student services such as University Health Services and the student unions. Bazzell goes on to say that should the initiative pass, Chancellor Wiley will assume control over funding for general student services.
The recent revelation that the University of Wisconsin system employs 40 convicted felons has brought to light the challenges one-time convicts face upon re-entry into society.
Author: Thongchai Winichakul is a professor at the History Department’s Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United Sta
Columnist criticizes says tax-limitation opponent and UW-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky’s stand against the so-called Taxpayer Protection Amendment.
Mequon attorney Rick Esenberg says the proposed amendemtn will provide needed spending controls.
Another week, another study putting a price on tax limits. The verdict: $1.9 billion of more power to you.
The latest numbers come from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the gold standard of Wisconsin government data. The bureau reported this week that had the Taxpayer Protection Amendment been at work for the past 20 years, the state would have collected $1.9 billion less in taxes in 2003-’04 – a 14% cut. Had the amendment been in place for 10 years, the state’s take would have been 3.6% less in 2003-’04.
There was a more dramatic assessment last month when Andrew Reschovsky, an economist and public policy analyst at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that state revenue would have been a third less in 2003 had the amendment’s revenue limits been running since the mid-1980s.
Temperatures rise and snow disappears as we approach the Ides of March. In no time at all, graduation will be here for thousands of young people in our state from the UW System and our technical schools.
They are filled with hope for a bright future they richly deserve. They have studied hard, worked several jobs, borrowed lots of money, leaned on families for support, sweated through countless exams, remained alert through hundreds of lectures, worried about majors and minors, and crossed their fingers while they waited for their grades. After all that, they deserve to have a state welcoming them into the mainstream of activity.
So how are we preparing their welcoming party? Well, we have a few problems. While they should be able to look to us for inspiration and leadership, frankly, we need their ideas and leadership. We made lots of promises to their generation, but unfortunately we have had our gaze diverted.
The last time the University of Wisconsin played Arizona in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Badgers were given no chance to advance.
Professor Emeritus William H. Young on Friday March 3, 2006, at his home in Madison. In 1947 Prof. Young returned to his beloved University of Wisconsin as Associate Professor of Political Science, where he was a member of the faculty until his retirement in 1983. He chaired the Department of Political Science from 1952-1959, and he was assistant to the President of the University from 1953-1963. In the latter capacity he was the Budget Director from 1953-1962 and Patent Officer from 1963-1970. In 1968 Prof. Young founded and became Director of the Center for Development.
In announcing yesterday that Patrick Farrell will become the next provost of the University of Wisconsin, Chancellor John Wiley permanently filled the first of many interim posts atop Bascom Hill and helped usher in a new era for the University.
At its latest meeting, University of Wisconsin-Madison�s Faculty Senate formally expressed displeasure with a Board of Regents policy draft on faculty suspension. Specifically, the Senate opposed allowing faculty to be suspended without pay when charged with a felony.
“The region comes first.”
That was the message – and the secret to success – relayed to us by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., a non-profit affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce that includes about 60 communities in seven counties.
An opinion column by Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and Jennifer Alexander, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
Steven Avery haunts the offices of the UW-Madison Law School’s Innocence Project.
I have here, in my hot little hand, the names of 40 known felons employed by the University of Wisconsin System.
Less than two months ago, this Board endorsed Virginia Sapiro for the position of University of Wisconsin provost. It was then, and is now, our firm belief that Ms. Sapiro is the most sensible candidate for the high office.
Is anyone else surprised by the reaction of members of the State Legislature to the recently released audit of the UW System? I�m definitely not.
As agents of a public university, housefellows should not have to give up their right to lead or participate in events such as religious gatherings. The existing policy has recently come under fire in regards to housefellows holding Bible studies in their dorm rooms. We believe that the newly proposed amendments to this policy will reconcile private rights with public regulations.
On the University of Wisconsin System�s application for a Resident Assistant position, could a candidate, through a check box promise, surrender normal student rights on attending the position? Thankfully, such may soon be an impossibility.
Report after report has warned that high school seniors aren’t ready for college. Some blame poorly trained teachers; others criticize students for taking easy courses. Usually, the complaints involve math and science. On Wednesday, the spotlight turned to reading.
The University of Wisconsin System has had its hands full trying to manage the scandals and bad news that have plagued Bascom Hill during the past year.
The report issued by the state Legislative Audit Bureau yesterday detailing felons employed by the University of Wisconsin System hits home as troubling for both the criminal information it finally shares with the public and that which it conspicuously leaves absent.
State employees are easy targets for mockery, but we must remember their feelings because they’re no different from us. Except that they, unlike us, are allowed to alienate colleagues, harass women and misspend money without getting fired.
I used to think “parole officer” was the best job in the world, after I learned of a Shawano County worker who got caught surfing Internet pornography at work and ended up getting a raise. Not to mention back pay for work he didn’t do during the year he spent protesting his firing.
Whew. College applications are in and hopefuls can refocus. If you’re like me, you submitted the FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid) form in January. It’s as easy as one, two ââ?¬â? 43.
Robert Myers teaches cultural anthropology at Alfred University in New York.
The University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan have this rather dubious distinction in common: Their women’s basketball teams aren’t very good.
In fact, they’re awful.
The Badgers (11-17 overall, 5-11 in the Big Ten) and the Wolverines (6-22, 0-16) have another thing in common: When they were searching for a head coach three years ago, neither Wisconsin nor Michigan bothered to interview Kevin Borseth.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents recently voted to raise the salary ranges of certain UW senior executive positions. The regents made the move with an eye squarely on the higher salaries given for similar positions at many peer institutions, fearing the compensation gap would hinder UW�s competitiveness in attracting top-notch administrators to Wisconsin.
Just pick: Pro-evolution or intelligent design. For some, the answer may be a clear-cut decision for one or the other. For others, the choice may be a bit more complicated.
Thanks to the foresight of Rep. Terese Berceau, Sen. Spencer Black and a group of UW scientists, Wisconsin has an opportunity to prove why it�s a national leader in the sciences.
A few weeks back I asked here whether the Republicans in the state Legislature knew that the University of Wisconsin-Madison is getting high marks from national publications for helping new businesses get started.
There are some ideologues in the Legislature, after all, who assume that the UW-Madison is nothing more than a breeding ground for bed-wetting liberals, long-haired malcontents, anti-Christians or whatever else is in their craw at any given moment. So if they found the UW to actually be pro-business, that surely would touch their good, Republican hearts.
Institutions of higher education should do a better job teaching students, making sure that they graduate with rigorous intellectual skills. But the federal government, with its dubious track record in management and efficiency, particularly in education, should be prevented from making matters worse.
….The recent decision of UW-Madison student journalists to reprint a cartoon that depicted the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse pitted the right of free speech against reasonable restraint. When Muslim students on the UW campus expressed outrage, calling it a racist act, The Capital Times sided with the Badger Herald’s editors.
Like The Capital Times, I, too, do not believe the publication of the controversial cartoon was necessarily a racist act, but I also do not believe printing it served the common good.
Controversy has beset the Badger Herald campus newspaper for publishing an editorial accompanied by a cartoon of Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb. Critics have hurled several accusations at the Herald, including questions about the timing of the free speech act, the motivations of the editorial board, and the claim that the board could have achieved its purpose by describing the image rather than publishing it.
….We must resist the idea that the expression of a political idea, or a statement of criticism, or satire, should be subject to sanction or prohibited simply because one group or another finds that idea, criticism or satire offensive.
New UW football coach Bret Bielema has taken enough grief and says it’s time for the final word on his controversial Hawkeye tattoo.
Like everyone who played football for Dave McClain at the University of Wisconsin, Randy Wright was shocked when McClain died from a heart attack at age 48.
But 20 years later, McClain’s passing resonates even more deeply with Wright than it did in 1986.
