At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the council discussed and gave direction to the city attorney to draft an ordinance regulating large gatherings of people on private property during the pandemic. (Updated with video. A revised agenda is available here.) The council plans to meet again on 9.9.20, where they will consider a…
University
Business, City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Libertarians, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health, School District, University
Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Temporary Mask Ordinance: 7 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 10 Comments
Updated evening of 7.22.20 with meeting video. (The discussion on Whitewater’s mask ordinance runs from 31:09 to 3:37:50.) At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the seven-member council voted unanimously for a temporary mask ordinance, taking effect 8.1.20 and running through 12.31.20, requiring masks in parts of buildings open to the public, and…
City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, Radio, University
Radio Interview on UW-Whitewater’s Plans for the Fall
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Yesterday, UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, and Communications Director, Jeff Angileri, gave a radio interview with WCLO about their plans for a fall semester during a pandemic. The interview is available online as an audio file. A few remarks: A College Town. There’s a difference between a town with a college and a college town,…
City, Culture, Employment, Local Government, School District, University
Mentoring
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
When a small community like Whitewater comes to rely on hundreds of non-resident commuters to provide services (for city, schools, or university), those commuters will have a different work relationship than resident workers. (About these workers see The Commuter Class.) Many will be less attached to the community (as they’ve freely chosen to live elsewhere…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Local Government, School District, University
The Commuter Class
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Education, University, UW System
Sole Finalist in UW System President Search Withdraws
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Kelly Meyerhofer reports today that University of Alaska president withdraws as sole finalist in UW System president search: The sole finalist in the running to lead the University of Wisconsin System withdrew his name from consideration Friday after a months-long search marred with criticism. University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen, 62, informed search committee chairman…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Lingering Problem of Local Exceptionalism
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
A common error in small rural communities is the persistent, false claim that local officials are examples of a local exceptionalism that makes them implicitly immune from the flaws and mistakes that beset the rest of humanity. Under this thinking, while there may be problems in the wider world, there are no local examples of…
Budget, Coronavirus, Public Health, University, UW Madison, UW System
UW System President Ray Cross’s Overreach
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Outgoing UW System President Ray Cross claims he has a long-range plan for the System, and he’s insistent that now is the time for its implementation. Henry Redman of the Wisconsin Examiner reports on the reasonable concern that Cross’s rush to implementation presents in UW faculty worry about ‘power grab’ by Cross at budget listening…
CDA, Conflicts of Interest, Ethics, University
On Conflicts of Interest, It’s Not Enough to Ask a Question
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The annual meeting of the Whitewater University Tech Park Board was scheduled for this earlier morning, and the second item of the published agenda is a superficial attempt to address potential conflicts of interest among board members: Declaration of Conflict of Interest [Watson] a. Would any member(s) of the board wish to declare any known…
City, Law, University
March 4, 2020 @ 5:15 PM: What is DACA? (A Legal Understanding)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Blogging, Law, Newspapers, Public Records, University, UW System
Five Months
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
In a local newspaper’s story about a former chancellor’s leave of absence, one learns that information about her leave came five months after a public records request: Tuesday marked five months since The Gazette filed an open records request with UW-W for information on Kopper’s leave during the fall semester, when she previously had plans…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Ethics, Misconduct, Sexual Harassment, University, UW System
At UW-Whitewater, Beverly Kopper’s Tenure Was about More than Beverly Kopper
by JOHN ADAMS • • 6 Comments
Former UW-Whitewater chancellor Beverly Kopper was on leave – apparently for part of that time under federal or state medical leave act provisions – before her resignation from UW-Whitewater. I’ll not speculate about the circumstances under which she claimed leave under the law. There’s another matter that requires attention. There’s talk at UW-Whitewater these days…
University, UW System
On the Announcement of Budget Cuts at UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
One reads from UW-Whitewater’s chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, information about possible budget cuts at UW-Whitewater. (The full announcement appears at the bottom of this post.) A few remarks: Announced cuts aren’t always the same as final cuts; there may be fiscal changes yet ahead as the Wisconsin Legislature may act to mitigate this situation (and…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Hunger, Language, Public Relations, University, UW System, Writing
At UW-Whitewater, For All That Value, Too Little Administrative Respect for Values
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
There’s a press release (screenshot here) contending that UW-Whitewater contributes a large sum – hundreds of millions – to the Wisconsin economy. The release is written by Assistant Vice Chancellor Sara Kuhl. Kuhl begins the release touting the power and influence of the university by misspelling a common English word (emphasis added): UW-Whitewater, one of…