I posted yesterday about a statement from UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor Kopper about allegations of racial incidents on our campus. Kopper later walked back one of her concerns, about two students appearing in blackface in a photo (they claim they were just showing the results of a mud-pack facial). See, The Claims of Ongoing Incidents on Campus (Updates).…
Culture
City, Culture, Misconduct, University
The Claims of Ongoing Incidents on Campus (Updates)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, Thursday afternoon, 2:30 PM. UW-Whitewater officials are now contending that a photo with students in blackface had a benign meaning. See, Image spurs concerns about race at UW-Whitewater @ Channel 3000. From that story: “Kopper later said the students said they just had a facial and took a picture. She said the students did not…
City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, School District, University
Whitewater’s Mentoring Gap
by JOHN ADAMS •
Looking back ten years (or nine in the case of UW-Whitewater), one finds at the helm of Whitewater’s public institutions leaders who so very much embodied Old Whitewater: Steinhaus, Brunner, Coan, Telfer (beginning in ’07). They were the perfect representatives of Old Whitewater, where Old Whitewater is an attitude, not an age: narrow, grandiose, mediocre, producing…
Blogging, City, Culture, New Media, Newspapers, Press, School District, University
Revisiting Kozloff’s ‘Dark, Futile Dream’
by JOHN ADAMS •
About a year ago, I wrote a post on an off-campus meeting at which local notables and a search consultant (Jessica Kozloff) discussed a replacement for Richard Telfer. A story on that meeting, published in the Daily Union, is one of the best accounts of insiders’ thinking. See, from that newspaper, UW-Whitewater chancellor session held, http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f042575e-a63a-11e4-bcd8-939679ffcc09.html.…
Culture, Television
Back to 1993
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Commentary & Chronicle
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I’ve been writing, happily, from Whitewater for years. Writing like this has, to my mind, two aspects: as commentary and as chronicle. Blogging as commentary is obvious, of course. Blogging as chronicle, however is just as important, if not more so. One writes sometimes to advocate, but always to describe. Longtime readers know that I have…
City, Culture, New Media, New Whitewater
The Lingua Franca of a New Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
If it should be true – and it is – that Whitewater is more diverse than her town fathers care to admit, with the city now a collection of disparate, minority factions, how can one reach a majority with a message? (For Whitewater’s waning notables of this generation, there’s no way to return to their former…
City, Culture, Local Government, New Whitewater
A Small But Diverse City, Seldom Described That Way
by JOHN ADAMS •
About four months ago, a councilman in Whitewater (intelligent, educated) expressed concern that a municipal meeting was poorly attended (it was). His solution was to post notice of the next meeting on the Banner. They city posted a notice there, and the next meeting was still poorly attended (with only a few more people than…
Culture, History, Science/Nature
Time as Length
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
A, B, and Wrong
by JOHN ADAMS •
Most choices for government, such as an option between Policy Choice A or Policy Choice B, involve choices of ordinary outcomes. One option may be more efficient than the other, or one more aesthetically pleasing than an alternative, but either would be considered a normal, reasonable policy outcome. Preferences of the Right or Left, of…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, University, Waste Digesters, WEDC, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the ninth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater for 2015. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions are available for comparison. The list runs in reverse order, from mildly frightening to truly scary. 10. The Coming Ferret Invasion. Alternative title: The Unprepared Will Be Doomed. Earlier this year,…
Culture, Newspapers, Politics, Press
Sadly, Milwaukee Will Catch Up to Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
In our small and beautiful city, what passes for professionally-produced news is poorly written, poorly reasoned, and fawning of authority. That’s been true for years in Whitewater, much to the delight of local officials, who’d prefer a good headline at the Gazette, Daily Union, Register (or even the Banner) to actually doing a good job.…
Culture, University
The University Gateway Near Whiton & Main
by JOHN ADAMS •
Five years ago, this community considered whether there should be changes at the intersection of Main and Whiton, where there was then a stone gateway to the university. One now sees that the gateway is being moved back from near Main, farther up the hill from the street. Moving the gateway assures greater visibility nearer the road. It’s good…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Small Groups Don’t All Fare the Same
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not sure if it should be true everywhere, but in Whitewater it seems as though small (apolitical) community groups fare better than small political groups. I’ve not made a study of this; the observation rests on impressions, here or there, only. There’s not enough to say as much with confidence. Many would note –…