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
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…
Police, Politics, Press, University
The Politics of Informants at UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
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…
Police, University
How Rural Wisconsin Campuses Coerce Students into Becoming Drug Informants
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Business, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Politics, University
Local Crony Capitalism via the WEDC (and similar schemes)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
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…
City, University
The Town-Gown Divide, Simply Illustrated (in Forty-Four Seconds)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Whitewater is a small town, of about fifteen thousand people. From east to west, the main road in town is about three miles long. Our town is lovely, but not a big place. For years, this small town has struggled with town-university conflicts, despite myriad committees, projects, task forces, and commissions. There’s no quicker illustration…
University
Comparing Org Charts: UW-Whitewater and the Pentagon
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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…
University
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Telfer to serve as interim UW System President
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard J. Telfer will serve as the University of Wisconsin System president when Kevin Reilly leaves the post at the end of the year. Michael Falbo, president of the UW System Board of Regents, made the announcement in a news release Wednesday. Telfer, chancellor at UW-Whitewater since 2008, will serve as interim president…
University
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Telfer to serve as interim UW System President
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard J. Telfer will serve as the University of Wisconsin System president when Kevin Reilly leaves the post at the end of the year. Michael Falbo, president of the UW System Board of Regents, made the announcement in a news release Wednesday. Telfer, chancellor at UW-Whitewater since 2008, will serve as interim president…
City, Planning, University
The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
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
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
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,…