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Police, Politics, Press, University

The Politics of Informants at UW-Whitewater

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In a well-ordered community, there should be an accord between good policy and good politics. That’s not yet Whitewater, and this post will address the political implications of using confidential informants.  (For a review of policy, please see yesterday’s How Rural Wisconsin Campuses Coerce Students into Becoming Drug Informants.) 1. Police Leadership.  There’s almost no…

Business, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Politics, University

Local Crony Capitalism via the WEDC (and similar schemes)

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Whitewater’s had a decades-long problem of a few town insiders manipulating government and public resources for their own private ends.  That time is drawing to a close, but there are yet some years ahead in which aging, mediocre town figures will push their self-promoting lies.  As their chief motivation is personal vanity and pride, they’ll…

University

Comparing Org Charts: UW-Whitewater and the Pentagon

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Strange but true: UW-Whitewater’s administration has an org chart that’s only slightly less detailed than the one for the UnIted States Department of Defense. It’s understandable that the Pentagon should have an intricate structure: America is a vast continental republic, with a large navy, army, air force, and marine corps. (One wishes we had few…

City, Planning, University

The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues

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Yesterday, I posted on housing density in the city, and the push to move sudent housing to the northwestern part of Whitewater.  See, Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez.  A recap: the plan won’t work because (1) student housing is widespread in the center of the city by voluntary choice that cannot be undone and…

Animals, University, Weird Tales

The Fox @ UW-W

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There have been sightings of a fox on campus. Why he’s here, one cannot say, and in any event the best course is to leave a wild animal alone. For the curious, though, I’ve embedded a video documentary describing that very fox’s life with complete accuracy and absolutely sensitivity to the highest standards of nature…

Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Local Government, Official Misconduct, State Government, University

The Disgrace that is the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

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Sometimes one would prefer to be wrong, rather than right. The waste, errors, exaggerations, and lies of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation are such a case: Madison — Three Senate Democrats asked Wednesday [6.12] for a criminal investigation of Gov. Scott Walker’s signature job creation agency. The request comes after an audit last month found…

City, Police, University

Scenes from Whitewater’s Failing Drug War

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Less than a week ago, at Whitewater’s Common Council session of 5.21.13, the city heard a presentation supposedly on university policies ‘to educate young adults’ about the dangers of substance abuse. It was anything but that: after brief introductions from City Manager Clapper and Chancellor Richard Telfer, UW-Whitewater Police Chief Matt Kiederlen delivered scripted, doctrinaire,…

Beautiful Whitewater, City, History, Nature, University

Natural Plant Communities Talk & Tour at the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve on Saturday, May 26th at 10 AM

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I received the following press release that I’m happy to post: Renae Prell-Mitchell, from UW-Whitewater, will lead a ‘Natural Plant Communities Talk & Tour’ at the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve on Saturday, May 26th at 10 AM. Renae will talk about the existing wetlands, DOT prairie and Silver maples/bur oak stand, as well as the…