Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 71. Sunrise is 6:22 AM and sunset 7:24 PM, for 13h 01m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 13.7% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1777, during the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, the Flag of the United States…
UW System
Coronavirus, Daily Bread, Right-wing Populism, UW System
Daily Bread for 8.25.21: Thompson Dares Nass in Front of 5.8 Million People
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 90. Sunrise is 6:13 AM and sunset 7:39 PM, for 13h 26m 38s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 90.2% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee meets at 5 PM. On this day in 1812, the American frigate, USS United…
Politics, Public Health, Rhetoric, Trumpism, UW System, Vaccines, WISGOP
Steve Nass: Troll-King in Autumn
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
For many years, Steve Nass, as a state representative (now a state senator) was a notable farthest-to-the-right Wisconsin politician. The bête noire of liberals and universities, he was the state’s unmatched troll, criticizing the center-left time and again. Nass was a right-wing populist long before Trump. He was the great troll-king of Wisconsin, firing florid press releases…
Education, Free Markets, University, UW System
The System Balks
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
For eight years, there has been a state-imposed price freeze for in-state UW System tuition. (This restriction applied to UW-Whitewater as a System school.) The WISGOP wanted this freeze, and it has lingered since Walker’s defeat in 2018. During its imposition, administrators complained about the freeze, and rightly so: price freezes, even short-term ones, are a…
City, University, UW System
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Watson Resigns Following Cancer Diagnosis
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dr. Dwight Watson has resigned following a cancer diagnosis: UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dwight Watson has resigned following a diagnosis of stomach and intestinal cancer, officials announced Thursday. “After much deliberation, I must resign from my position as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater,” Watson wrote in his resignation letter. “I…
City, Economy, University, UW System
The Bad Economy Isn’t Causing Good Enrollment Numbers
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Catherine Rampell observes Tough economies usually push people into more education. It’s not happening this time. She writes that Usually, postsecondary enrollment increases during tough economies, as workers seek shelter from the lousy job market and invest in upgrading their skills. This can be a (small) silver lining of downturns: If displaced workers choose wisely…
Bad Ideas, Boosterism, Budget, Education, University, UW System
Tommy Thompson @ UW-Whitewater: Day Late, Dollar Short
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Former governor and current UW System president Tommy Thompson spoke at a UW-Whitewater Faculty Senate meeting on Tuesday. Thompson addressed a campus that confronts statewide funding reductions, a tuition freeze, repeated administrative scandals and failures over the last decade, a decline in the conventional student-age demographic, and competitive pressures from other universities. For all these…
Budget, City, Demographics, Government Spending, University, UW System, Wisconsin
UW-Whitewater’s Budgetary Challenges Require a Studied Approach
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Whitewater is a college town. If a college town, then a college: the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I’ve written about the university now and again. A simple summary of my views would be that Whitewater benefits from having a university, but that the school’s leaders (notably Telfer and Kopper) have failed both individuals and the community.…
University, UW System
UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, Resumes University Role
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Kelly Meyerhofer of the Wisconsin State Journal reports UW-Whitewater chancellor returns after complaint found to be ‘without merit’: UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dwight Watson returns to his leadership post on Monday after sexual misconduct allegations made against him at a previous job were found to be without merit, according to the University of Wisconsin System. The System…
City, University, UW System
UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor on Paid Administrative Leave
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Update, afternoon of 9.3.20 — there is no chance – none whatever – that I will write in any detail about this matter without a careful review of published, substantial claims or documents. (I have never written about a matter like this without a review of published claims or documents, and never will.) Original post…
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…
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…
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…