In 1971, the Wisconsin State Legislature narrowly passed, and Gov. Patrick Lucy signed into law, the merger of the Wisconsin State University system with the University of Wisconsin system.
Farmland will be less expensive to develop and harder for farm families to permanently protect under a series of proposals in Gov. Scott Walker?s budget. The governor?s plans to eliminate the farmland conversion fee and a farmland preservation program still in its infancy gut key components of the Working Lands Initiative. The moves hand developers a victory and deal conservationists and those who want to keep farmland in the family a blow.
….The WSJ promotes watching basketball as a means of ?pulling us together? is a case in point. A reminder that the owners (media included) are encouraging us to go back to sleep, believing in the American Dream — a euphemism for the American Nightmare. The busting of unions, the raiding (of the Employee Trust Fund) are problems we must confront — awake.
….Scrub the Legislature.
Another institution we have depended on ? the most important of all our institutions ? is the University of Wisconsin. UW has educated hundreds of thousands; found solutions to problems through research; brought great minds to Wisconsin, where they could work without looking over their shoulders for Joe McCarthy. Academic freedom and Wisconsin have been synonymous for over a century.
But we are about to lose our flagship campus to the privatizers, who argue that somehow things will be better if corporations can name the Board of Regents. Nonsense.
A Wisconsin judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking the law from taking effect because of a lawsuit that contends Republicans violated open-meetings laws to enact it. “This is far from over,” says Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Blogress Ann Althouse, a university of Wisconsin law professor, is half of the husband-and-wife team that has done a better job than any journalist of reporting on the skirmish in Wisconsin over government union privileges. Yesterday she posted a link to a bizarre threat against her and hubby Laurence Meade that was posted on Scirbd.com:
A Wisconsin state judge temporarily blocked a law that would strip government employee unions of most of their collective-bargaining power.
So now, Gov. Scott Walker is Tailgunner Joe McCarthy come back to life. Truly, the shamelessness of today?s Left knows no limits — or history! Yet, this is how a tenured professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison stretches logic and ignores facts to further his political agenda, by slandering Scott Walker and his supporters as McCarthyites.
UW-Madison labor scholar Joel Rogers believes that opponents of Gov. Scott Walker?s anti-union budget bill need to avoid a general strike and turn instead toward recall efforts to anticipate the upcoming redistricting.
A Dane County Judge says there is reason to believe the Legislature may have violated the state open meetings law when it convened a conference committee last week to pass an amended version of the budget repair bill. As a result, Judge Maryann Sumi on Friday morning issued a temporary restraining order stopping the collective bargaining law from being implemented until the court says otherwise.
University of Wisconsin administrators are reminding employees not to use their state e-mail accounts and computers for political purposes.
A Dane County judge issued a restraining order on Friday to block publication of the state?s collective bargaining law.
On Monday, Wisconsin?s Attorney General will take a ruling that blocks the publication of the budget repair law to the appellate court.
Two UW-Madison graduates are among four New York Times journalists missing in Libya. Reporter Anthony Shadid, photo-journalist Lynsey Addario, and the two others have not been heard from since Tuesday morning.
Executive editor Bill Keller says the Times has asked the Libyan government to help find the journalists. And he says he?s been assured that if they?re captured, they would be released unharmed.
The crowds push in against each other, jammed shoulder to shoulder. The excitement and the emotion build, as the local favorites are cheered and the opposition jeered. Now is the time to pull together, to stand strong and be counted.
Another big Saturday on the Capitol Square, with many thousands of protesters gathering, you presume? Not so, friends. This is NCAA Tournament time, and this is a different kind of emotion and excitement.
Two Democratic lawmakers boycotted a meeting chaired by Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday after they arrived to find it had been closed to roughly a dozen members of the public.
The state Building Commission has approved Republican Gov. Scott Walker?s construction and renovation projects around Wisconsin over the next two years. Projects included include the new Badger Performance Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to house a variety of programs, an education building at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and $360 million for basic repair and maintenance of state buildings statewide. The proposal also includes a new School of Nursing in Madison. That building had been left off the list when it was unveiled last week, but the governor added it on Wednesday morning, WISC-TV reported.
Projects include the new Badger Performance Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to house a variety of programs, an education building at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and $360 million for basic repair and maintenance of state buildings statewide.
Walker added plans for a new $52 million nursing school at UW-Madison and a new $63 million physical education building at UW-River Falls during the commission meeting in the governor?s conference room.
The state Building Commission on Wednesday approved Republican Gov. Scott Walker?s $1.2 billion proposal for construction and renovation projects around Wisconsin over the next two years. The spending request rings in at about 22 percent less than what was spent in the state?s previous two-year budget. Projects include the new Badger Performance Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to house a variety of programs, an education building at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and $360 million for basic repair and maintenance of state buildings statewide. Walker added plans for a new $52 million nursing school at UW-Madison and a new $63 million physical education building at UW-River Falls during the commission meeting in the governor?s conference room.
A new $52.2 million UW-Madison School of Nursing building is still alive after university officials promised to use less taxpayer-supported borrowing to fund the project. The state?s Building Commission approved it Wednesday as part of a slate of $1.2 billion in state building projects, which will now go to the state Legislature for approval with the next two-year budget.
Labor tensions are running so high right now in Wisconsin that the idea is not far from anyone?s mind.
The state has seen calls for a general strike, although they have died down in recent days. Labor is focusing its efforts on recalling state senators who voted for a new law to significantly weaken the power of public employee unions. Still, the situation remains volatile. More than 100,000 people attended a Capitol protest Saturday, including farmers who ringed the square with dozens of tractors.
William Cronon, a professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, argues in a lengthy blog post that Republican-sponsored legislation that has spurred protests in Wisconsin did not original in the state.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made two additions to his capital budget for 2011-13 Wednesday, adding projects at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing and UW-River Falls Health and Human Performance Building.
UW-Whitewater faculty members are urging state lawmakers to rescind collective bargaining changes and reconsider a proposal to break-off UW-Madison from the UW System.
Meanwhile, UW-W Chancellor Richard Telfer said leaders across the UW System are signing a separate resolution asking Gov. Scott Walker and other legislators to consider an alternative to separating the flagship campus from the rest of the UW System.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed a civil complaint Wednesday alleging legislative leaders violated the state?s open meetings law last week when a special committee adopted a bill curbing collective bargaining for most public workers.
Gov. Scott Walker?s 2011-?13 budget proposal includes cuts to Wisconsin?s public schools of more than $834 million. This represents the largest cut to education in our state?s history. It would be impossible to implement cuts this size without significant cuts to educational programs and services for Wisconsin?s children.
The proposal is drastic – and that is just part of the problem. You have likely heard the old adage that a frog placed in a pot of hot water will immediately jump out to avoid harm, while a frog placed in cool water will not notice if the heat is turned up and will unwittingly allow itself to be boiled alive. Similarly, the proposed cuts are placed on top of smaller cuts the schools have taken steadily over the past two decades. [A column by UW-Madison School of Education Dean Julie Underwood].
After not initially recommending it for approval, Gov. Scott Walker today announced that he wants to allow UW-Madison to build a new $53 million School of Nursing Building. Under his proposal, UW-Madison would get $17 million in state-supported borrowing, rather than the $34.8 million the university requested from the state.
The Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment Corp. wanted to borrow $10 million to help maintain and renovate the aging facility.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison wanted to borrow $49.2 million for a new $76.8 million Athletic Department building that would also house parts of the College of Engineering and a sports medicine clinic run by the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.
In his capital budget, Gov. Scott Walker said no to the Bradley Center and yes to the University of Wisconsin. Both are state facilities.
Dear Editor: For many of us the last month has been a surreal roller coaster ride. We?ve seen the highs of being part of historic protests surrounded by so many of Wisconsin?s hard-working citizens, followed by the lows of watching the governor and his followers strip the rights of those same citizens. We are so proud of the public employees of the state of Wisconsin. Many of them have had a significant portion of their income and dignity stripped from them in the past week and yet they responded by turning out in record numbers for a peaceful protest this weekend. We were proud to join them.
WASHINGTON ? Two months ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker invited businesses in Illinois to ?escape to Wisconsin? as a result of the recently enacted tax increases in Illinois. Admittedly, I don?t know whether Walker?s offer has been effective. My own experience, though, as a business executive and as a governor, tells me that businesses are interested in a lot more than a low tax rate when they decide where to locate.
University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Ken Ono, a highly regarded mathematician who is on a year?s leave at Emory University in Atlanta, says it is unlikely he will return to Madison because he is ?very worried about Wisconsin?s ability to maintain a national-level university.?
Steve Greve is concerned about the proposal to split the state?s flagship campus from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System.
Across Wisconsin, government and school district employees are weighing whether to continue working or get out of public sector employment in light of a new law limiting collective bargaining and employee benefits.
Limnologist Dick Lathrop might know more about Devil?s Lake than anybody else in the world.For nearly 20 years, Lathrop has headed efforts to improve water quality in Wisconsin?s best-known state park.
One unique project, which involves using a nearly mile-long pipeline to suck weed-boosting phosphorus from the lake bottom, has been followed by water researchers nationwide.
Senate Majority Scott Fitzgerald has told Senate Republicans that any votes taken by Senate Democrats in standing committee public hearings and executive sessions will not be counted or recorded.
“Please note that all 14 Democrat senators are still in contempt of the Senate,” Fitzgerald wrote in an email Monday afternoon that was posted on wispolitics.com. “Therefore, when taking roll call votes on amendments and bills during executive sessions, Senate Democrats? votes will not be reflected in the Records of Committee Proceedings or the Senate Journal.”
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study has tracked members of the Wisconsin class of 1957 since their graduation to inform researchers and policy makers of the effects of physical and emotional health, as well as life experience, over time.
To date, UW-Milwaukee has been a relatively quiet player in the debate over the future of the UW System. The three loudest voices have been the UW System itself, Gov. Scott Walker and UW-Madison, which the governor?s budget would reestablish as a public authority separate from the system. But Walker also appears to be considering peeling off UWM, and Interim Chancellor Michael Lovell has clearly joined the call to give UWM more autonomy.
Gov. Scott Walker recommended approval of about $300 million in building projects for the University of Wisconsin System, but did not include a highly sought-after School of Nursing building for UW-Madison. He recommended that project, valued at $52.2 million ($34.8 in general fund supported borrowing and $17.4 million in gifts and grants) be deferred to the next biennium.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.
Gov. Scott Walker is proposing spending $1.1 billion on building projects in Wisconsin over the next two years, nearly 30 percent less than what was spent in the current two-year budget. Projects included for funding include $76 million for the new Badger Performance Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to house a variety of programs.The Badger Performance Center includes a new 132,000-square foot facility to house sports medicine, academic services and strength and conditioning while sharing space with the College of Engineering. It includes remodeling space in the McClain Center, construction of a new tunnel connecting the center to Camp Randall as well as renovations at improvements at the stadium.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said unions and Democrats ?feel as if they are fighting for their lives.?
The UW Board of Regents is offering a new proposal designed to build on Governor Walker?s budget.
Gov. Walker?s two-year budget proposal was the subject of another big protest Monday. Student organizations ? along with pro-labor and faith groups ? gathered at UWM to oppose the governor?s plan to separate the Madison campus from the rest of the UW System.
Gov. Scott Walker is proposing spending $1.1 billion on building projects in Wisconsin over the next two years, nearly 30 percent less than what was spent in the current two-year budget.
Until mid-February, Wisconsin?s brand appeared headed in the right direction. The university football team made it to the Rose Bowl while the pro team, the iconic Green Bay Packers, won the Super Bowl. In January, the University of Wisconsin topped an internet brand equity study.But then the battle began over Governor Scott Walker?s budget bill, which aimed to destroy unions? collective bargaining rights. Democratic state Senators fled the state to prevent a vote on the bill and hundreds of thousands protested at the capitol in Madison over the following three weeks.
Quoted: J. Michael Collins, the faculty director for the UW-Madison Center for Financial Security.
Quoted: Barry Burden, a UW-Madison professor of political science.
The percent of state aid coming to UW-Madison has dropped over the years, but the university is still doing a little better than the average of its peers when it comes to the state dollars spent directly on students, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the 2008 fiscal year, UW-Madison got about $8,600 per student, compared with an average of $8,400 at the nation?s major public research universities, the Chronicle reported. The amount of aid per student given to UW-Madison declined by 7 percent in five years.
They thought they were made for each other.
Hearing today?s higher-education leaders opine about the heady days of the 1800s, when the Morrill Land-Grant Acts created many of the nation?s flagship public universities, is a bit like listening to some tired soul recall a once vibrant romance that has slowly soured. While major public research universities and state governments have always had their differences, observers say they?ve never seen the relationship between the two as strained as it is now.
The percent of state aid coming to UW-Madison has dropped over the years, but the university is still doing a little better than the average of its peers when it comes to the state dollars spent directly on students, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
WASHINGTON ? “We?re broke.” You can practically break a search engine if you start looking around the Internet for those words. They?re used repeatedly with reference to our local, state and federal governments, almost always to make a case for slashing programs ? and lately to go after public employee unions. The phrase is designed to create a sense of crisis that justifies rapid and radical actions before citizens have a chance to debate the consequences. Just one problem: We?re not broke.
Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the Capitol Square on Saturday, vowing to take the fight over collective bargaining powers from the streets of Madison to the voting districts of Wisconsin.
Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Saturday’s rally was planned before the state Senate’s surprise Wednesday vote on the public worker measures.
“So you transform (the rally), you transform it into the kickoff for the electoral battles to come,” he said. “This bill will be law for years and years until there’s a Democratic Assembly, Senate and governor. Until then, Republican control of one of those three things will prevent it from being repealed.
“I think we are in for a long, marathon battle of elections just to see what party has the upper hand in Wisconsin and whether this law represents a permanent change in the balance of power in favor of the Republicans, or whether, as some Democrats fantasize, the start of their recovery.”
Defiant upon their return to the Capitol on Saturday, state Senate Democrats defended their self-imposed exile to Illinois and predicted that political fortunes would soon turn their way.
Opponents of Republican Gov. Scott Walker were back at work Sunday on recall efforts targeting Republican state senators who supported the new governor?s overhaul of public employee union rights.
The protests that rocked Madison over the last month drew union members and students ? but some key figures in the mobilizations were both. Members of the Teaching Assistants? Assn. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison spearheaded the two-week occupation of the Capitol that began Feb. 15 ? two days before Democratic senators fled the state to stall legislation limiting public employees? union rights. The students helped organize food and other supplies for the makeshift overnight campground in the rotunda.
The numbers have mattered. The tens. The hundreds. The thousands. The hundreds of thousands.
Wisconsinites from every background, every religion, every political persuasion and every job have filled the Capitol Square for the past month. Their message has been clear and unequivocal. They oppose Scott Walker?s assault on working families. They oppose the lawless actions of legislative leaders who are more determined to advance the governor?s political agenda than to respect their colleagues or to serve the interests of the whole state.
Twenty rural Wisconsin counties lost population during the last decade ? experiencing more deaths than births ? part of a larger pattern of rural population loss across the Midwest, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison demographer.
….it took about 40 years for Wisconsin college teachers to win the right to try collective bargaining, which they may well lose after two years. Meanwhile, I took my math talent and training to another state and to private industry, where in eight years I managed to more than triple my last, best college salary. What message is Gov. Walker sending to Wisconsin students who aspire to be teachers? Will a career as a perpetual political football appeal to them?
Dear Editor: The otherwise well-informed and thoughtful Ed Garvey was off his game in a recent column when he implied that fearless sifting and winnowing still guides the UW-Madison. I wish he was correct. (“Don?t put UW under rightwing thumb.”)
Ed must not know about the carefully cataloged collection of 628 videotapes comprising nearly two decades of its experiments on monkeys that the university destroyed a few years ago to prevent the public from seeing just one of them. He must not be aware that unlike Scott Walker?s much criticized weeks of delay in responding to public records requests, that the university routinely takes many months to respond when the records have anything to do with its animal experimentation ? and then routinely censors key data.
