Dear Fox Students:
This week there was an election for the officers and members of the next UW Fox Student [Government] Association (SA). To say they threw a party and no one came is a bit of an overstatement, but not enough people came. The SA has a provision that says the election of an officer requires the winner to receive at least 75 votes. That did not happen and as a consequence, another election is necessary or you will be without leadership in our shared governance process.
To think that a campus of 1700 students has a voting turnout as low as our last election is disappointing. This time I think I saw more quality electioneering than I have in recent memory. I think you should care and here’s why you should care – it’s all about your money.
Each year the students you elect make decisions about how a whole lot of your money is spent. $281,000 to be exact. This is the amount of money that comes to Fox from you via segregated fees. And it is the SA that pretty much controls how that is to be spent. They decide how much you are going to be taxed in segregated fees. So you have a vested interest in making sure the students who make the decision are the people you want to make that decision.
In addition, this year, SA is spending an additional $86,000 to buy new furniture, and they have come up with a plan of where and how the students will be lounging. One of the candidates (who did not get 75 votes) reminded me that my blog post on the brown couch situation generated 106 comment, more commentary than any other blog posting I have done. You must have some interest.
The University of Wisconsin has the strongest tradition of shared governance in the nation. Shared governance means students participate in all our decision making processes except personnel decisions (like merit for faculty and promotion and tenure decisions. ) The people on SA represent you.
We just came off of a national presidential election where I believe where young voters made a difference in the outcome. There are people in the world who literally are willing to die for the right to vote. It’s a hallmark of our nation. It means representation!
Voting matters, be it for the President of the UW Fox SA or for the President of the United States.
So why is it that so few students are deciding to be participants?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Earth Day and UWFox Sustainability
We are about a month away from Earth Day 2009. I'm getting notices from all sorts of organizations about activities college campuses are undertaking but I hear little about what Fox is doing. We have a Sustainability Committee that has been working on the LEED certification of the new Communication Arts Center (the very first LEED certified academic building in the UW System!), but from what I hear Fox students don't seem to be very active. I thought this younger generation was concerned about what is going environmentally, so how come I'm not hearing more from the students?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Blog Civility and Anonymous Posts
We're not going to allow posts that denigrate people by name-calling or labels that are disrespectful to remain on this blog. Nor things that might be considered libelous. If you cannot express yourself without resorting to this don't post. If you do it'll be removed. We won't remove posts that disagree with my opinion; this is not a censorship issue, it's a civility issue.
(The "Question of the Day" outside the library ceased because people wrote things that the people who maintained it thought inane, childish, embarrassing, crude or all of the above.)
Now you might consider "BCM" labeling but I happen to know it was done without malice, so since it's my blog, I guess I can decide what's appropriate and what's not. How's that for dictatorial power? :-)
I thought that allowing anonymous posting would allow more free expression of ideas. Some blogs require that one register before posting. Only the blog administrator (that's the Fox IT Department) really can access that information I believe. I really don't want to do that, but nastiness will cause us to rethink that.
(The "Question of the Day" outside the library ceased because people wrote things that the people who maintained it thought inane, childish, embarrassing, crude or all of the above.)
Now you might consider "BCM" labeling but I happen to know it was done without malice, so since it's my blog, I guess I can decide what's appropriate and what's not. How's that for dictatorial power? :-)
I thought that allowing anonymous posting would allow more free expression of ideas. Some blogs require that one register before posting. Only the blog administrator (that's the Fox IT Department) really can access that information I believe. I really don't want to do that, but nastiness will cause us to rethink that.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Darwin's Birthday and the Evolution of Life
Today marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. This weekend is Evolution Weekend. Many churches will be engaged in discussions of faith and science. The campus is hosting two highly respected local clergy to discuss the compatibility of science and religious belief.
While I serve as a campus administrator most know that my undergraduate and doctoral degrees are in the biological sciences. So I have more than a passing interest in science education. And evolutionary science.
As someone who sees education as a means to ensure economic and social vitality, I become dismayed and disheartened when even those who have college educations reject evolutionary science in favor of belief in a deity that created life in its present forms. I fail to understand why those who believe in a deity cannot at least accept that perhaps this deity “created evolution.” Even the Vatican accepts evolutionary science, and the fact that life on Earth has evolved from simple, one-celled organisms. So I am dumbfounded when I read stories that so much of United States society rejects evolution in favor of creation. I suspect it’s because people need to think – to believe -- they are alive for a reason, that they have a higher purpose in life.
As a scientist one cannot cherry pick which scientific principles to accept and reject. So the general public’s acceptance of science that benefits them (such as the understanding germ theory, how microbes evolve in response to antibiotics, the ability of viruses to mutate and other advances in medical science) yet rejecting all the evidence that humans share a common ancestor with other primates is just plain unfathomable to me.
My personal beliefs aside, I worry about a society that rejects the fundamental tenet of the biological sciences, puts more stake in belief systems than evidence. I try to think logically. Seems to me that a lot of the world’s woes are based on the absence of respecting the unity and diversity of life, thinking humans are better than other forms of life, and beyond, that one’s personal religious belief system if worth literal warfare. Is science education failing us?
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin.
While I serve as a campus administrator most know that my undergraduate and doctoral degrees are in the biological sciences. So I have more than a passing interest in science education. And evolutionary science.
As someone who sees education as a means to ensure economic and social vitality, I become dismayed and disheartened when even those who have college educations reject evolutionary science in favor of belief in a deity that created life in its present forms. I fail to understand why those who believe in a deity cannot at least accept that perhaps this deity “created evolution.” Even the Vatican accepts evolutionary science, and the fact that life on Earth has evolved from simple, one-celled organisms. So I am dumbfounded when I read stories that so much of United States society rejects evolution in favor of creation. I suspect it’s because people need to think – to believe -- they are alive for a reason, that they have a higher purpose in life.
As a scientist one cannot cherry pick which scientific principles to accept and reject. So the general public’s acceptance of science that benefits them (such as the understanding germ theory, how microbes evolve in response to antibiotics, the ability of viruses to mutate and other advances in medical science) yet rejecting all the evidence that humans share a common ancestor with other primates is just plain unfathomable to me.
My personal beliefs aside, I worry about a society that rejects the fundamental tenet of the biological sciences, puts more stake in belief systems than evidence. I try to think logically. Seems to me that a lot of the world’s woes are based on the absence of respecting the unity and diversity of life, thinking humans are better than other forms of life, and beyond, that one’s personal religious belief system if worth literal warfare. Is science education failing us?
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Athletics at UW Fox
This has been a roller coaster season for the Athletics Program at Fox. We has a stellar soccer season. Volleyball went through ups and downs, and the basketball season has been less than acceptable in many respects. In fact, our women’s basketball team folded in mid year.
Clearly UW Fox is a campus where academics are far more important than athletics. But athletics can build a spirit of togetherness. Some students complain that this is not a “real college campus.” Support for athletics can make it a more typical college campus. And students who would not be able to play at places like Madison, Milwaukee or Marquette can enjoy competition. In fact, last week our men’s basketball team was jeered by the crowd at UW-Manitowoc because they have apparently picked up that this campus and community does not support the team.
Athletics can even serve as a recruiting tool for the campus. I am sure that there are many students who would like to participate in athletics to add to their academic experience. Statistics suggest that students who participate in activities outside the classroom enjoy college more than those who just go to class.
I’ve heard that other UW Colleges teams enjoy more support than Fox does. More students, faculty, staff and community members show up for the games. And from looking at the segregated fee budgets of the other campuses I know athletics get more dollars for their programs on other campuses from student government controlled allocation processes. We’ve got a very nice facility. Why does the Fox Journal not cover the games?
So what’s the problem here?
Clearly UW Fox is a campus where academics are far more important than athletics. But athletics can build a spirit of togetherness. Some students complain that this is not a “real college campus.” Support for athletics can make it a more typical college campus. And students who would not be able to play at places like Madison, Milwaukee or Marquette can enjoy competition. In fact, last week our men’s basketball team was jeered by the crowd at UW-Manitowoc because they have apparently picked up that this campus and community does not support the team.
Athletics can even serve as a recruiting tool for the campus. I am sure that there are many students who would like to participate in athletics to add to their academic experience. Statistics suggest that students who participate in activities outside the classroom enjoy college more than those who just go to class.
I’ve heard that other UW Colleges teams enjoy more support than Fox does. More students, faculty, staff and community members show up for the games. And from looking at the segregated fee budgets of the other campuses I know athletics get more dollars for their programs on other campuses from student government controlled allocation processes. We’ve got a very nice facility. Why does the Fox Journal not cover the games?
So what’s the problem here?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thoughts on a New Era
This week past we celebrated two great events, Martin Luther King Day and the inauguration of our country’s first President of color. It was a week I feel privileged to experience for me.
My alma mater, UW-Marathon County, invited me and Jim Sturm, a friend who I had not seen in 41 years share our recollection of what it was like to spend the day in 1967 with Dr. Martin Luther King. Preparing for my talk and then listening to Jim reflect on our shared experiences sometimes brought tears to my eyes. That day in 1967 was a watershed moment for me, forcing me to face social injustice, to ask questions of why it was that way, and more importantly, what I could do about it. (View video)
Dr. King’s dream of equality for all has yet to be realized, but my county, our country, took a giant leap forward as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of these United States. 1.8 million people crowded onto the Washington Mall to witness this incredible event. I was in the Minneapolis airport watching on the monitor, awaiting my flight to Seattle and the American Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting. The normal hum of the airport was muted as all eyes watched. Applause broke out when the oath was completed.
I looked around me and saw African American men and women and could only imagine what they were thinking and the pride they felt. For the first time in a long time I was proud again to be an American. What I felt more than anything was hope that we might be back on the path to realizing Dr. King’s dream, not only for our brothers and sisters in this country, but for all of those who occupy this tiny blue globe afloat in the vastness of our solar system.
In Seattle, arguably one of the most ethnically diverse cities in our nation, I attended the AAC&U meeting was sustainability. What a great time to be thinking about the duality of care for our environmental heritage and future and care for social justice. These two concepts are inextricably related. The enthusiasm and optimism of this link and the inauguration was positively palpable.
The closing plenary session wrapped up an incredible week. University of Washington’s Eric Liu used his recent “pamphlet” The True Patriot, affectionately referred to as “The Little Red Book," as the basis for his discussion of what has happened to the American political system and how we as educators have a responsibility to speak out when we believe something is wrong, and instill in our students the trust that they are able to do the same. For too long the term “patriot” has been equivalent to support for the war effort, support for the troops, my country – love it or leave it. People like me probably failed to speak up as much as we should have, for fear of being labeled as unpatriotic.
We all need to be patriots. That is not a label that restricted to Democrats or Republicans. As we stand at the edge of a new Administration and a new era, each of us need to reflect on what we bring to the world. No one knows where the future will lead us, but despite the economic abyss in which we find ourselves, I for one am a whole lot more hopeful in 2009 than I was a year ago. The human spirit is stronger than the Dow Jones. Let’s join President Obama as the new day dawns. Together – as Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Caucasian American, Gays, Straights, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Islamists, Atheists -- we can achieve the vision of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and most of all Martin Luther King of what it means to be AN American.
My alma mater, UW-Marathon County, invited me and Jim Sturm, a friend who I had not seen in 41 years share our recollection of what it was like to spend the day in 1967 with Dr. Martin Luther King. Preparing for my talk and then listening to Jim reflect on our shared experiences sometimes brought tears to my eyes. That day in 1967 was a watershed moment for me, forcing me to face social injustice, to ask questions of why it was that way, and more importantly, what I could do about it. (View video)
Dr. King’s dream of equality for all has yet to be realized, but my county, our country, took a giant leap forward as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of these United States. 1.8 million people crowded onto the Washington Mall to witness this incredible event. I was in the Minneapolis airport watching on the monitor, awaiting my flight to Seattle and the American Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting. The normal hum of the airport was muted as all eyes watched. Applause broke out when the oath was completed.
I looked around me and saw African American men and women and could only imagine what they were thinking and the pride they felt. For the first time in a long time I was proud again to be an American. What I felt more than anything was hope that we might be back on the path to realizing Dr. King’s dream, not only for our brothers and sisters in this country, but for all of those who occupy this tiny blue globe afloat in the vastness of our solar system.
In Seattle, arguably one of the most ethnically diverse cities in our nation, I attended the AAC&U meeting was sustainability. What a great time to be thinking about the duality of care for our environmental heritage and future and care for social justice. These two concepts are inextricably related. The enthusiasm and optimism of this link and the inauguration was positively palpable.
The closing plenary session wrapped up an incredible week. University of Washington’s Eric Liu used his recent “pamphlet” The True Patriot, affectionately referred to as “The Little Red Book," as the basis for his discussion of what has happened to the American political system and how we as educators have a responsibility to speak out when we believe something is wrong, and instill in our students the trust that they are able to do the same. For too long the term “patriot” has been equivalent to support for the war effort, support for the troops, my country – love it or leave it. People like me probably failed to speak up as much as we should have, for fear of being labeled as unpatriotic.
We all need to be patriots. That is not a label that restricted to Democrats or Republicans. As we stand at the edge of a new Administration and a new era, each of us need to reflect on what we bring to the world. No one knows where the future will lead us, but despite the economic abyss in which we find ourselves, I for one am a whole lot more hopeful in 2009 than I was a year ago. The human spirit is stronger than the Dow Jones. Let’s join President Obama as the new day dawns. Together – as Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Caucasian American, Gays, Straights, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Islamists, Atheists -- we can achieve the vision of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and most of all Martin Luther King of what it means to be AN American.
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