A few weeks after breaking the Republicans’ 16-year lock on Massachusetts’ highest office, Deval L. Patrick, the governor-elect, traveled to the University of Massachusetts system’s flagship campus, in Amherst, and made a vow: He would champion the state’s public colleges.
A proposal to give free tuition to University of Wisconsin students who stay in Wisconsin for 10 years after graduation has run into resounding opposition from the chairman of the state Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities and has yet to receive an endorsement from top university administrators, who said they want to learn more before committing their support.
With Senate Democrats and Assembly Republicans holding slim majorities in their houses, this session of the Legislature stands to be in sharp contrast with the often-contentious debate of the past session.
DNA samples moved to the front of the line led to the Dec. 15 arrest of a 31-year-old man for two similar University of Wisconsin-Madison campus-area rapes that happened within a span of 10 days.
“We’re not really going to do this again, are we?”
Of course we are, you wienie,” cackled Wanda, the 97-year-old State Street mystic, sliding her cold, clammy hands over her crystal ball.
But I’ve been coming to you for a decade now, and you still haven’t gotten a single New Year’s prediction right. I mean, what do I tell my readers?
“Tell ’em to lock the doors and batten down the hatches. ‘Cause 2007 is gonna be a real doozy. Here, take a peek”:
(The UW Athletic Department is mentioned in this tongue-in-cheek column of predictions for 2007.)
The swan song could be coming soon for the mute swan, an aggressive, non-native waterfowl that some bird experts say has wreaked havoc on wetlands across Wisconsin and is expanding its population at an alarming rate.
A federal appeals court recently removed mute swans from protected status, allowing the state Department of Natural Resources to act on a plan to begin shooting the birds later this month in southeast Wisconsin.
(Wildlife ecology professor emeritus Stan Temple is quoted.)
Inviting Ward Connerly to speak to a special Wisconsin legislative committee studying affirmative action is like inviting the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan to address a hearing on race relations.
….The irony is the embarrassing Grothman and Connerly show is taking place at a time when the University of Wisconsin System has a serious problem with affirmative action. Namely, we don’t have nearly enough of it.
Some major corporations have stopped job recruitment on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus because executives say the lack of racial diversity on the campus does not properly prepare students to succeed in their companies after graduation.
A UW-Madison program that has helped Wisconsin apple growers reduce pesticide use without sacrificing fruit quality has a new name and a broader mission.
The project recently received a $125,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to expand into more apple growing regions and to set up a similar program for Wisconsin berry growers. Therefore, the project that began in 2003 as the Eco-Apple project has been renamed the Eco-Fruit project.
Concerned about potential harm to patients from long working hours, the Wisconsin Nursing Coalition will meet in January to discuss whether work hours should be limited.
Preventing medical errors has become a major focus of hospitals nationwide in recent years, but the issue of nurses’ hours came to the fore locally after Julie Thao was charged with a felony when a patient of hers died while giving birth at St. Mary’s Hospital in July.
Investors have lots of money they want to put to use in growing companies but it’s apparently going to established businesses, not to entrepreneurs coming up with new ideas, a study finds.
The survey, by the Milwaukee-based Foley and Lardner law firm, with offices in Madison, shows that more than three-fourths of the investors questioned have raised money in the past two years, and nearly as many expect to raise another fund in the next year or two.
Here’s the deal: Students get four years of reduced or free college tuition in exchange for staying in Wisconsin 10 years after they graduate.
That’s the plan, known as the “Big Bang,” from a special state commission that looked at daunting economic projections and decided last week it was time for a “Hail Mary” approach to stave off an era of serious decline in the Dairy State. It could cost billions of dollars, depending on how it is structured. And it could be a big bust, dying under the political weight of high cost.
Not only will Bo Ryan be present when UW-Platteville renames its basketball court in his honor — so will the entire University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team.
Ryan, in his sixth season as coach of the Badgers, won four Division III titles in a 15-year run with the Pioneers, at one point winning 96 straight regular-season games in Williams Fieldhouse.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman is trying to block the only sure path to racial diversity on University of Wisconsin campuses: namely, affirmative action. The West Bend Republican shouldn’t be allowed to succeed.
Racial diversity is too important of a goal for the state to discard. Diversity enhances the educational environment, meets the legitimate needs of corporate America, bolsters the country’s non-white middle class and narrows the nation’s racial rift.
THE BATTLE IS coming to Wisconsin. The Legislature is considering a move to ban racial preferences in state government. Meanwhile the University of Wisconsin system is looking to ratchet up consideration of race and ethnicity ââ?¬Å?to assist UW institutions in obtaining a diverse student body,ââ?¬Â according to the charge by system president Kevin Reilly.
Supporters call such racial consideration ââ?¬Å?affirmative action.ââ?¬Â Opponents call it discrimination.
A legislative committee formed to explore counteracting a University of Wisconsin proposal that would loosen academic standards in favor of expanding considerations for economic disadvantage, race and ethnicity in admissions heard from Ward Connerly during a Tuesday night session in Madison.
They came from universities around Wisconsin in buses from Whitewater, Milwaukee and Kenosha, a van from UW-Stout and about 100 marchers from UW-Madison.
“We’re here to make a statement about how important affirmative action still is,” said Dellareese Williams, a freshman at UW-Whitewater, as she entered a packed hearing room at the State Capitol where a legislative committee was considering changes in the state’s affirmative action policies.
It should come as no surprise that Fair Wisconsin, the group that led the campaign to defeat efforts to insert discriminatory language in the Wisconsin Constitution, is going to stay in business.
The vote to amend the constitution to limit the marital rights of gays and lesbians, and potentially to undermine civil union and domestic partnership protections, clearly established that continued work is needed to educate, inform and influence Wisconsinites.
A committee set up by a state senator to explore banning affirmative action in Wisconsin got a glimpse Tuesday of the opposition it would face should it press forward with such a change.
Ward Connerly, who has been fighting affirmative action across the country for more than a decade, addressed the committee at a hearing at the state Capitol. His appearance drew hundreds of university students, most of them minorities, who turned out to express their support for the policy.
Quoted: David Kindig, emeritus professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and co-chairman of the council.
MADISON – Wisconsin state colleges shouldnââ?¬â?¢t use an applicantââ?¬â?¢s race to help decide whether he or she gets into school, an affirmative action opponent told a packed committee hearing Tuesday night.
Ward Connerly, chairman of the California-based American Civil Rights Coalition, which supports banning public affirmative action programs, said he believes the University of Wisconsin System should look at other factors besides academics when deciding who gets a slot, but not race.
MADISON, Wis. — Hundreds of people from across the state packed a state Capitol hearing room to hear a special legislative committee discuss affirmative action.
Part of the reason for the large turnout was the presence of a polarizing figure. The State Special Committee on Affirmative Action brought in Ward Connerly, chair of the American Civil Rights Institute, to testify.
The special legislative committee is considering how to ban the practice in state government.
A group of UW students marched their way to the capitol Tuesday night, getting ready for a verbal battle over affirmative action.
“There are those, probably at least 50% in the nation who believe that it’s wrong to use race,” said Ward Connerly, wants affirmative action abolished.
Inside, a prominent figure in the fight against affirmative action laid out his case.
Nationally known affirmative action opponent Ward Connerly brought his message to Wisconsin today: that the era of affirmative action is over and that attacking economic disparities would be a better way of bringing racial equality.
Connerly, a former member of the University of California Board of Regents, was brought to Madison by former University of Wisconsin Regent Fred Mohs – a fellow affirmative action foe – to speak tonight to a Special Legislative Committee on Affirmative Action considering changes in state policy.
It has come to my attention that some in state government are floating the idea of offering free tuition across the University of Wisconsin system for those college grads who agree to live and work in Wisconsin for 10 years.
On the surface this seems like a good way to stem the vast brain drain keeping Wisconsin a backwater in both the nation’s and the world’s economy. However, the reality is that this is an extremely expensive idea whose results would be marginal, at best.
Should students receive preferential treatment when applying to the University of Wisconsin System because they are African-American, Hispanic, American Indian or Southeast Asian?
MADISON, Wis. — Here’s the deal: Students would get four years of reduced or free college tuition in exchange for staying in Wisconsin 10 years after they graduate.
That’s the plan, known as the “Big Bang,” from a special state commission that looked at daunting economic projections and decided last week it was time for a “Hail Mary” approach to stave off an era of serious decline in the Dairy State. It could cost billions of dollars, depending on how it is structured. And it could be a big bust, dying under the political weight of high cost.
Dear Editor: While considering free tuition for all University of Wisconsin students is unrealistic for the simple fact that it raises taxes in a state whose residents, if not the politicians, know that it is already on the high end on the tax scale. We can accomplish the objective, which is to keep students in Wisconsin after graduation, with a much better and actually workable solution.
Way back when I was covering the Wisconsin Legislature we had a Republican state senator who spent much of his political career attacking the University of Wisconsin.
….Today’s Gordon Roseleip, the shoot-from-the-lip assemblyman from the Whitewater area, Steve Nass, has been rewarded for his over-the-top confrontations. The Assembly Republican leadership has put him in charge of the Colleges and Universities Committee, where he has the potential to do untold damage to the system.
It’s one thing to hold the UW administrators to account for their mistakes and misdeeds. It’s quite another, though, to punish the entire system – students, faculty and everyone else connected to the schools – in the mean-spirited “get even” way in which Nass specializes.
….
Ward Connerly, arguably the nation’s most vocal opponent of affirmative action programs, will be in Madison on Tuesday to peddle his policy positions.
The Californian will speak before the Legislative Council Special Committee on Affirmative Action Policies, which is looking at whether Wisconsin should do away with programs designed to help people of color and women gain equal access to education, employment and contracting opportunities.
Unfortunately, the clash of ideas that ought to take place before the committee is being stifled by its chairman, state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, who has made no secret of his desire to attack civil rights protections.
STEVENS POINT (AP) – Officials at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are considering making the campus – indoors and outdoors – smoke-free.
The Environmental Health and Safety committee of the Faculty Senate is looking at the proposal. The discussion is in the early stages, said Chris Sadler, chairman of the Faculty Senate.
A commission originally launched to examine the future of Wisconsin�s two-year colleges will recommend the UW System consider granting students free tuition if they live and work in the state for 10 years following graduation.
(EAU CLAIRE) Governor Jim Doyle says he�s skeptical whether Wisconsin can afford a plan to offer free tuition to University of Wisconsin system students who pledge to work in Wisconsin five to ten years after graduation. He notes 80 percent of UW graduates already stay in Wisconsin. He says offering free educations to that many people would be a heavy financial burden.
Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders today announced a bipartisan agreement to create an independent watchdog agency with wide-ranging powers to investigate government corruption.
The announcement follows through on Doyle’s pledge to make ethics reform a top priority in his second term. Doyle said he would call lawmakers into special session in January to consider the bill. He hopes to have the measure passed in time for his State of the State speech in late January.
A commission created to find ways to upgrade the University of Wisconsin�s two-year college campuses completed its findings Tuesday in Madison, and decided unanimously to recommend finding a way to pay tuition for students who agree to live and work in the state.
One of the bolder ideas to stop the “brain drain” is free tuition for students who graduate from the University of Wisconsin system if they agree to work in the state for up to 10 years after getting their degree.
A commission looking at the two-year colleges tossed out this idea as a way to keep our best and brightest in Wisconsin after graduation.
MADISON, Wis. — Embattled University of Wisconsin-Madison administrator Paul Barrows has retired from the university but is still pursuing legal action.The former vice chancellor for student affairs came under fire after collecting his $191,000 salary during seven months of unpaid leave in 2004.
Controversial UW-Madison administrator Paul Barrows has cleaned out his desk.
But Barrows’ retirement does not end his struggle over money.
27 News has uncovered Barrows, who at 54 is too young to take standard retirement, has been granted early retirement by state officials because of a disability.
(OSHKOSH) State legislators say they’re keeping a watchful eye on the University of Wisconsin systemââ?¬â?¢s new procedure for doing criminal background checks on job applicants. State Representative Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) applauds the UW system for its new background check policy. He says drug dealers, child molesters, and murderers have no place in institutions with large numbers of young adults.
A website launched by the governor�s office Tuesday seeks to educate Wisconsinites about the global threats stemming from a pandemic flu breakout.
A new proposal would give UW students free tuition if they stay and work in Wisconsin for ten years. But how much would it cost the state? Joy Cardin and her guest talk about whether the idea is too costly, or if it could trigger an economic boom.
Guest: Philip Trostel, visiting scholar, Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education. Professor of economics and public policy, Univeristy of Maine. (Audio.)
A commission studying Wisconsin’s two-year colleges on Tuesday unanimously backed further exploration of an idea to cover tuition for students who pledge to stay in Wisconsin after graduation.
The central lesson in a new study examining the fortunes of Madison and Milwaukee is this: Education matters.
The study by the non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance found Madison had dramatically widened the gap in median family income over Milwaukee – a difference that stood at less than 10% in 1990 but had grown to nearly 80% in 2005. During that period, Milwaukee’s once-dominant manufacturing sector declined while Madison – helped in large measure by the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus – broadened its industrial base, especially in biotechnology.
When state and local leaders look at the economic gap between Dane County and the rest of Wisconsin, they should hear an alarm.
While Dane County is riding the trends of a new economy forward to generate more jobs and higher incomes, much of the rest of the state is foundering.
A UW commission says the idea of free tuition is worth more discussion.
The proposal would provide free tuition for all students in the UW System who agree to live and work in Wisconsin for 10-years after earning a bachelor’s degree.
(MADISON) The legislature’s most vocal critic of the University of Wisconsin System will chair the state Assembly’s higher education committee in the upcoming session. Whitewater Republican Steve Nass has at times been a thorn in the side of the UW, but he says it’s always been for good reason. Nass has criticized the University for a 26-million dollar contract that went awry; for offering backup appointments to some employees; and for hiring instructor Kevin Barrett, who says the federal government helped orchestrate the 9-11 attacks.
The speaker of the state Assembly tapped a longtime critic of the University of Wisconsin System on Monday to lead the universities committee.
The choice of Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, to chair the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee could complicate UW System leaders’ efforts to improve their relationship with lawmakers as they lobby for a larger budget.
MILWAUKEE – The median family income in Madison is $64,264 a year compared to $35,765 in Milwaukee, according to a report by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
The group said Monday that the difference has grown to about 80 percent after being less than 10 percent about 15 years ago.
….Madison has some “built-in advantages,” such as the major research center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and that it is the state capital, said Ryan Parsons, a research associate for the alliance.
Parson said, “One of the reasons Madison has such an edge over Milwaukee is having people who can fill high-tech science research jobs. A lot of that work force is missing from a city like Milwaukee.”
Criminal background checks are commonplace in the working world. Fortunately, the UW System Board of Regents voted Friday to join the club, adopting a policy requiring background checks for all potential employees.
As incoming speaker of the state Assembly, Mike Huesbcsh, R-West Salem, announced the new committee chairs for the upcoming 2007-Ã?¢ââ??‰â??¢08 legislative session Tuesday, two state lawmakers butted heads over the new head of the College committee chair.
The brain-drain in Wisconsin that was a heated topic of debate during the gubernatorial campaign has pressured state legislators to find ways to keep college educated workers in state. Many students leave the state after graduating from the UW System.
The gap between median family incomes in Wisconsin’s two biggest cities has widened to 80% – $64,264 in Madison compared with $35,765 in Milwaukee – after being less than 10% about 15 years ago, a report released Monday says.
Madison has some “built-in advantages,” such as the major research center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and that it’s the state capital, said Ryan Parsons, a research associate for the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
Recent optimism over a possible era of improved relations between the University of Wisconsin System and the Legislature in the coming legislative session may have been premature.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has lobbied hard for a school of public health at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee throughout the past year. This is understandable ââ?¬â? he is the cityââ?¬â?¢s mayor, and heââ?¬â?¢s actively trying to rectify what he believes is a key liability of Wisconsinââ?¬â?¢s most populous municipality: poor public health.
Free tuition in exchange for 10 years of living and working in Wisconsin ââ?¬â? sound like a fair deal? This is one of many ideas the state education reform commission is considering to improve Wisconsinââ?¬â?¢s schools and economy.
A state commission might recommend a huge incentive for University of Wisconsin students to stay in the state after they graduate: four years of free tuition at any UW System school.
Relations between the University of Wisconsin and the state Legislature may soon take a hit, as one of UW�s most outspoken critics was appointed chair of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Monday.
MADISON, Wis. — Free UW tuition, the phrase is enough to get nearly every parent to take a look.
The proposed program being talked about across the state would offer free UW tuition in exchange for students making a 10-year commitment to live and work in Wisconsin after graduation.
The program is meant to help UW students and the state’s economy.
A commission of leaders in business, academics, and government proposed a unique plan to offer free tuition to any campus in the UW system in exchange for a promise to live and work in Wisconsin for ten years after graduating.
MILWAUKEE (AP) – A commission is considering recommending free tuition for all students in the University of Wisconsin System who agree to live and work in the state for 10 years after earning a bachelor’s degree.
The commission which was created to upgrade UW’s two-year college campuses is scheduled to meet Tuesday in Madison to discuss that idea along with other changes primarily geared toward improving the two-year campuses.
Following pressure from state legislators, University of Wisconsin campuses will perform criminal background checks after a Board of Regents decision Friday.
