If one would like to see the present condition and future prospects of Whitewater’s insiders, there are no better accounts (truly) than two stories from the Daily Union:
UW-Whitewater chancellor session held @ http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f042575e-a63a-11e4-bcd8-939679ffcc09.html
Whitewater bids fond farewell to Telfer @ http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_68cb8454-1c18-11e5-8e44-a3bfa315d78f.html.
Each story is purportedly about UW-Whitewater’s chancellor (the search for a new one, or the retirement of the current one, respectively). In fact, the stories are more about town notables than anyone else.
Some will see in these accounts that local group’s continuing strength and vitality; others will see in these same stories evidence of weakness and infirmity.
I’ve a definite view on this question. In any event, it seems improbable that one could read these stories without thereafter forming an opinion, one way or the other.
(This post’s title is not original with me, needless to say. The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about an English butler. There was also a film version of the story. Both were well-told, if melancholy, tales of lost opportunities. )
If insiders are people like Stevens from The Remains of the Day then they aren’t really doing that well. “Tales of lost opportunities” puts it very bluntly. Nice literary reference, by the way.