Over these last several days, Wisconsin has begun a debate about the size of possible cuts to the UW System, to public school districts, and other parts of the state budget. Some of the discussion stems from a 2.3.15 analysis from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Fiscal Analyst Emily Pope, in reply to State Sen.…
University
Public Relations, University
Chancellor Telfer and the Narrow Limits of Public Relations
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Chancellor Dick Telfer’s several years as leader of UW-Whitewater now draw to a close. In that time, Telfer’s administration – with a staff of ten in media relations – has pushed countless stories in the Daily Union, Gazette, Register, and Banner touting not simply students’ genuinely worthy accomplishments, but significantly his own importance. That’s Dick…
Drug War, University
About UW-Whitewater Dean Mary Beth Mackin’s Drug War Defense
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s someone with whom UW-Whitewater’s Dean of Students, Mary Beth Mackin, might wish to speak: Tammy Sadek, mother of the late Andrew Sadek. Readers may recall that in October, I wrote about Dean of Students Mary Beth Mackin’s defense of using students ensnared in low-level drug stings as confidential informants. (See, The Dean’s Drug-War Equality…
City, Culture, Local Government, New Whitewater, Politics, School District, University
Whitewater’s Near Future Depends on What Year It Is Now
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Law, University
Walworth County District Attorney Clears Coach Tim Fader of Wrongdoing
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Walworth County District Attorney, Dan Necci, has sent former UW-Whitewater wrestling coach Tim Fader a letter completely clearing Fader of criminal wrongdoing of any kind, in his wrestling program or any other matter. See, Former UW-Whitewater wrestling coach cleared of wrongdoing by DA @ Channel 3000 WISC-TV. Here’s the text of that letter: November…
University
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer Announces Retirement, Effective June 30th, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Crime, Open Government, University
Support the Campus Accountability and Safety Act
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Discussion is better than silence; knowledge trumps ignorance. Thousands of universities receive federal funds, including our own campus. Under the law, those universities are required, since the Clery Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f), 34 C.F.R. 668.46 to record and report instances of crime on and near their campuses. (UW-System schools publish that information in compliance…
University
Scalding’s Not the Remedy to Freezing
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
University
‘No One Left to Lie To’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
That’s the title of a book by the late Christopher Hitchens. Although I share neither his atheism nor his support for the Iraq War, I’d suggest that for his book title alone Hitchens deserves to be remembered well. It’s just perfect. There’s a point at which, after years of dissembling, distracting, and excuse-making, shifty leaders…
City, University
The Campus-City Gap
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
All these years, so much talk about closer ties, and there’s still a chasm between city and university. So much so, that for many residents in the city to learn about university-related crime, they’d have to look for an out-of-city station or publication. See, from Saturday @ 2:58 PM, Student reportedly called name, kicked, punched:…
Crime, Law, University
The Dean’s Drug-War Equality Argument
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I’m sorry I didn’t get to this sooner, but one of UW-Whitewater Dean of Students Mary Beth Mackin’s remarks about drug busts on campus deserves a reply. She’s offered an argument for equality of treatment on and off campus. Her argument implies that she either misunderstands the underlying justification for equality arguments, or that she…
University
Coach Fader’s Interview with WISC-TV (Channel 3000)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Update: Video interview embedded immediately below. On Monday night, WISC-TV Madison broadcast an interview with UW-Whitewater’s former wresting coach, Tim Fader. Coach Fader was dismissed from his position in June 2014, two months after he reported an alleged sexual assault to the Whitewater Police Department. A story based on the broadcast interview is now online.…
University
Questions on Assault Reporting, Formality, and Former UW-Whitewater Wrestling Coach Fader
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Minor athletic-rules violations, no matter how widely reported, are trivial compared with assuring an open climate to report and address sexual assault and harassment (no matter how some try to change the subject). A focus on a university’s small athletic discrepancies inadvertently (or intentionally) distracts from a more important focus on that university’s commitment addressing…
University
Assault Reporting, Formality, and Former UW-Whitewater Wrestling Coach Fader
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
In the spring, UW-Whitewater suspended, and later fired, wrestling coach Tim Fader. See, Wrestling coach seeks answers to dismissal and Update on dismissal of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling coach Tim Fader. Around the same time that the Fader matter hit the news, UW-Whitewater was – and still is – separately under federal investigation for its handling of…