I was discussing The Chief/JB's recent feature of Capt Karl with a few JB readers. I'm not going to co-opt JB, go to The Chief for the link. Capt Karl is, as the English would say, a nutter. But read him and see for yourself.
Anyway, as we chuckled over the bizarre philosophy floated by Cat Karl someone mentioned Steve Quayle www.stevequayle.com. I'd never heard of him but after reading a few of his postings, he is far and away nut job #1 in my book. Capt Karl doesn't come close to the fear and paranoia floated by Quayle.
Any other blogs way out there? Post 'em here!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Green Campus?
I'm having hard time grasping this one: why parking services needed a brand new 8 passenger Suburban to cruise the parking lots in their never ending quest to issue parking tickets.
We don't have a very large campus, couldn't parking enforcement walk or bike? Likewise, couldn't a more fuel efficient vehicle be found in the campus fleet than an 8 passenger Suburban? I mean really, an 8 passenger, 4X4 SUV is needed to drive one parking enforcement guy around campus to issue tickets?
Someone please put a happy face on this story.
Our salaries are being cut and we say we are trying to have a sustainable, green campus but yet, we outfit a metermaid in a vehicle costing upwards of $40,000 and getting God knows what for fuel economy.
C'mon, please put a happy spin on this for me. Pretty please? I'm beggin!
We don't have a very large campus, couldn't parking enforcement walk or bike? Likewise, couldn't a more fuel efficient vehicle be found in the campus fleet than an 8 passenger Suburban? I mean really, an 8 passenger, 4X4 SUV is needed to drive one parking enforcement guy around campus to issue tickets?
Someone please put a happy face on this story.
Our salaries are being cut and we say we are trying to have a sustainable, green campus but yet, we outfit a metermaid in a vehicle costing upwards of $40,000 and getting God knows what for fuel economy.
C'mon, please put a happy spin on this for me. Pretty please? I'm beggin!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Kathleen Parker Channels Me
Where have I heard this before?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081802849.html
Goes to show you, a good idea bears repeating.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081802849.html
Goes to show you, a good idea bears repeating.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Sprouts, Tofu & Healthcare
What a great op-ed piece!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods (if you don't know what Whole Foods is, try watching Emeril Green http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/emeril-green/), opines brilliantly on healthcare/health insurance based on what Whole Foods has done.
The problem though is that some Republicans will write it off automatically 'cause of Whole Foods' consumer demographics. Likewise, some Democrats will write it off because Mackey doesn't automatically embrace the Obama plan and he points out problems in Canadian and British plans. And, egad, he dares to suggest that perhaps, people should make better individual choices rather than have a government fix.
His approach is from the real world and approaches the healthcare/health insurance challenge in a very pragmatic fashion. That is why it won't gain acceptance: it lacks political ideology!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods (if you don't know what Whole Foods is, try watching Emeril Green http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/emeril-green/), opines brilliantly on healthcare/health insurance based on what Whole Foods has done.
The problem though is that some Republicans will write it off automatically 'cause of Whole Foods' consumer demographics. Likewise, some Democrats will write it off because Mackey doesn't automatically embrace the Obama plan and he points out problems in Canadian and British plans. And, egad, he dares to suggest that perhaps, people should make better individual choices rather than have a government fix.
His approach is from the real world and approaches the healthcare/health insurance challenge in a very pragmatic fashion. That is why it won't gain acceptance: it lacks political ideology!
Friday, July 3, 2009
OK, A Recap
Let's see:
A Coup in Honduras.
A Velvet Revolution in Iran
Economy in the Tank
Unemployment Creeping Up
North Korea Going Nuclear.
Soooooooooo, what do we have the media reporting on? C'mon what? Potential global nuclear destruction. Ahhhhh, no! Better story! Economic meltdown. Nooooooooooooo! A Revolution in Central American. Naaahhh!
We are more concerned, according to what we are fed from the main stream media, the following:
the death of Michael Jackson;
the death of Farah Fawcet and,
Camp David is hosting a sleepover/birthday party for one of Obama's daughters.
Yep, got to love the third estate. Working real well. Got an odd story, hold page one, we'll get on.
Substance? Not needed
A Coup in Honduras.
A Velvet Revolution in Iran
Economy in the Tank
Unemployment Creeping Up
North Korea Going Nuclear.
Soooooooooo, what do we have the media reporting on? C'mon what? Potential global nuclear destruction. Ahhhhh, no! Better story! Economic meltdown. Nooooooooooooo! A Revolution in Central American. Naaahhh!
We are more concerned, according to what we are fed from the main stream media, the following:
the death of Michael Jackson;
the death of Farah Fawcet and,
Camp David is hosting a sleepover/birthday party for one of Obama's daughters.
Yep, got to love the third estate. Working real well. Got an odd story, hold page one, we'll get on.
Substance? Not needed
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Why Do We Have To Read Local News in Newspapers From 90 Miles Away?
from the Sat May 21 Wis State Journal
Judge's son accused often, rarely prosecuted
By DEE J. HALL608-252-6132
dhall@madison.com
HORTONVILLE — Reymundo Avila says he doesn’t remember what prompted Michael Froehlich to attack him, chase him through the streets of Hortonville and taunt him with racial slurs while Avila cowered in his second-floor apartment with a broken nose.
Avila, who admits he had plenty to drink that night, said his memory of the Sept. 11, 2005, incident starts with him running, bleeding from the face, from the bar Froehlich owned in this community 120 miles northeast of Madison to another bar across the street. He says it continues with Froehlich and at least one other man chasing Avila to his apartment.
“All I know is when he did what he did, I walked out of the bar. I was in a daze,” recalls Avila, 48, who has since moved from Hortonville. “My face was pretty well messed up.”
Normally, the type of attack suffered by Avila — whose account is backed by other witnesses in Hortonville police reports — could land a perpetrator behind bars for months, if not years. But Froehlich, 34, walked away from that incident without so much as a fine — and it wasn’t the only time.
Records show that over the past four years, officers from Hortonville and Outagamie County have arrested and ticketed Froehlich, the son of Outagamie County Circuit Judge Harold Froehlich, more than a dozen times for allegedly making threatening phone calls, drunken-driving related offenses, resisting arrest, battery, false imprisonment and threatening a sheriff’s deputy.
During that time, Froehlich has been criminally prosecuted just once — in 2008 — after he was caught driving drunk for the third time with a 0.361 percent blood-alcohol level, more than four times the legal limit.
In two other incidents, Froehlich was fined but not criminally charged after wrecking pickups — including one instance in which he later admitting to having been drinking, according to police reports. In both cases, he fled the scene and eluded police for more than three hours, preventing police from taking a blood sample for alcohol testing.
In an interview, Froehlich, who now lives in Appleton, denied he was driving either time — contradicting what he told police.“You can’t put me in that vehicle,” he said of one of the crashed trucks. “I never acknowledged that.”
In the Avila case, Froehlich acknowledged ousting him from his bar, The Thirsty Otter, because, he said, Avila was “not welcome” there, but he denied chasing him through town. “Never happened,” Froehlich said, contradicting other witnesses’ version of events.
‘Terrified’ residents, chief saysHortonville Police Chief
Michael Sullivan said the younger Froehlich “terrified” residents in this community of 2,700 people and has repeatedly dodged consequences in Outagamie County, where his father has been on the bench for 28 years.
The Wisconsin State Journal found no evidence that Froehlich’s father ever sought to influence his son’s treatment by authorities. Through an assistant, the judge declined to comment on his son’s legal troubles.
To avoid any potential conflict of interest, Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider said she referred seven cases involving Froehlich to the district attorney in Brown County and two to Winnebago County since 2005.Just one of those nine cases — the third-offense drunken driving — was prosecuted, by Winnebago County, resulting in a conviction. The other eight are either pending or were dropped.According to online court records, however, Schneider’s office handled six other referrals from police, including unlawful use of a telephone, drunken driving-first offense, failure to notify police of an accident, and hit and run.
In each case, Outagamie County court records show, Froehlich was ordered to pay a civil forfeiture.Schneider didn’t respond to repeated messages over the past several weeks. And while Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski declined to prosecute most of the cases sent by Schneider, he denied any special treatment. (One referral sent last month for unlawful use of a telephone is pending.)“Nobody took steps to ensure that (Froehlich) not be prosecuted, and there was never any communication with (Harold) Froehlich, the judge,” Zakowski said. “If it was anybody else, given those facts, he wouldn’t be prosecuted. It’s so ridiculous to think this guy would get a break because he’s a judge’s son. The cases were just not that good.”
In the Avila case, for example, Zakowski said, “everyone was drunk” and no one saw the attack, which would have made it difficult to prove the case. But Sullivan, who referred the case to Schneider for prosecution, said several witnesses were sober, and Froehlich acknowledged to him that he manhandled Avila.
According to Sullivan’s report, during the 13-mile ride to the Outagamie County Jail in Appleton, Froehlich admitted calling Avila a “useless Mexican,” grabbing him around the neck and physically tossing him out of The Thirsty Otter but said it was in response to Avila “throwing things” around his bar.“Froehlich also brought up several times that his dad is a judge, but I should not worry about it because he does not like dropping names,” Sullivan reported.
Froehlich denies threat
According to the numerous police reports compiled by Hortonville and the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department, Froehlich is often quoted threatening officers and bragging about his ability to avoid prosecution.In the transcript of one tape-recorded conversation with Outagamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Oligney in 2006, Froehlich made a veiled threat to harm Oligney’s children if he ticketed him for making harassing phone calls to one of his former employees, Melissa Reimer.The sheriff’s office referred that incident — and the text and tapes of the phone messages Froehlich allegedly left on the former bartender’s phone — for criminal prosecution but no charges were filed. Oligney declined to comment on the case.
For his part, Froehlich contended the veiled threat to Oligney “never happened.”
Standoff at the tavern
One incident on Oct. 14, 2005, culminated in Froehlich locking himself in The Thirsty Otter with a frightened patron while police, investigating reports that Froehlich created a disturbance at another bar, surrounded Froehlich’s tavern. Although the incident prompted police to arrest Froehlich on several tentative charges, he again wasn’t prosecuted.
During the standoff, the woman told police she repeatedly asked Froehlich to let her go. She said he relented after she told him “either he lets me out, or I can get him in trouble.”At one point, Harold Froehlich and his wife came to The Thirsty Otter. The younger Froehlich was arrested, police said, after his father restrained him. Hortonville police referred a complaint alleging false imprisonment, trespassing, resisting police and disorderly conduct to the Outagamie County district attorney’s office, but no charges were brought.
Asked about that incident, Michael Froehlich became agitated, called a reporter a series of vulgar names, then hung up.
Two mystery cases
The disposition of two cases against Froehlich remains a mystery. Schneider said she referred seven cases to Brown County, but Zakowski said he knows of just five, including the referral sent last month.The two referrals unaccounted for are from the 2006 allegations investigated by Oligney involving threatening phone messages to Reimer and her fiancee, and another complaint from that year about continuing harassment of the couple. Zakowski has asked Schneider’s office and the police agencies to resend the reports for evaluation of possible charges.
Schneider didn’t respond to messages seeking an explanation for the discrepancies or the reason for not seeking a special prosecutor in the six cases against Froehlich that her office handled.
Under Wisconsin Supreme Court rules, prosecutors are required to act on a conflict of interest “as soon as they become aware of it,” said Keith Sellen, director of the Office of Lawyer Regulation, who emphasized he was speaking generally and not commenting on Schneider’s conduct.
According to OLR records, the agency investigated Schneider for a possible conflict of interest in 2005 after her office initially prosecuted Schneider’s brother, Thomas Q. Rathsack Jr., for third-offense drunken driving. Schneider showed up at the scene of her brother’s motorcycle crash before he was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment, police records show.The regulatory agency declined to discipline Schneider in that incident, however, noting she eventually turned the case over to Brown County.
Handling of cases ‘fishy’
Sullivan said the two missing cases and the rationale for not prosecuting most of the others appear “fishy” to him.He’s not the only one. In all, Reimer and her fiancee have called police at least half a dozen times to report threatening phone calls and text messages from Froehlich. Last month, Schneider referred a case of unlawful use of a telephone to Brown County. No decision on prosecution has been made, Zakowski said.
Froehlich “has basically always gotten a slap on the wrist,” Reimer said. “He’s been sent ticket after ticket. It doesn’t seem to affect him at all.”Zakowski said the cases he declined lack proof that Froehlich engaged in criminal activity. “There’s no statute for prosecuting somebody who’s being difficult or a jerk,” he said.
Sullivan disagreed.If he believed the incidents weren’t prosecutable, the chief said, “we never would’ve sent them up.”Froehlich “was just very abusive, just very dangerous. That’s the part that really upsets me. He was left to roam the streets and harm people.”
Thus, our own inept Osh Northwestern doesn't see fit to report on pedestrian deaths and ignores this in our back yard. Way to go, Stew. You are a credit to your fishwrap.
Judge's son accused often, rarely prosecuted
By DEE J. HALL608-252-6132
dhall@madison.com
HORTONVILLE — Reymundo Avila says he doesn’t remember what prompted Michael Froehlich to attack him, chase him through the streets of Hortonville and taunt him with racial slurs while Avila cowered in his second-floor apartment with a broken nose.
Avila, who admits he had plenty to drink that night, said his memory of the Sept. 11, 2005, incident starts with him running, bleeding from the face, from the bar Froehlich owned in this community 120 miles northeast of Madison to another bar across the street. He says it continues with Froehlich and at least one other man chasing Avila to his apartment.
“All I know is when he did what he did, I walked out of the bar. I was in a daze,” recalls Avila, 48, who has since moved from Hortonville. “My face was pretty well messed up.”
Normally, the type of attack suffered by Avila — whose account is backed by other witnesses in Hortonville police reports — could land a perpetrator behind bars for months, if not years. But Froehlich, 34, walked away from that incident without so much as a fine — and it wasn’t the only time.
Records show that over the past four years, officers from Hortonville and Outagamie County have arrested and ticketed Froehlich, the son of Outagamie County Circuit Judge Harold Froehlich, more than a dozen times for allegedly making threatening phone calls, drunken-driving related offenses, resisting arrest, battery, false imprisonment and threatening a sheriff’s deputy.
During that time, Froehlich has been criminally prosecuted just once — in 2008 — after he was caught driving drunk for the third time with a 0.361 percent blood-alcohol level, more than four times the legal limit.
In two other incidents, Froehlich was fined but not criminally charged after wrecking pickups — including one instance in which he later admitting to having been drinking, according to police reports. In both cases, he fled the scene and eluded police for more than three hours, preventing police from taking a blood sample for alcohol testing.
In an interview, Froehlich, who now lives in Appleton, denied he was driving either time — contradicting what he told police.“You can’t put me in that vehicle,” he said of one of the crashed trucks. “I never acknowledged that.”
In the Avila case, Froehlich acknowledged ousting him from his bar, The Thirsty Otter, because, he said, Avila was “not welcome” there, but he denied chasing him through town. “Never happened,” Froehlich said, contradicting other witnesses’ version of events.
‘Terrified’ residents, chief saysHortonville Police Chief
Michael Sullivan said the younger Froehlich “terrified” residents in this community of 2,700 people and has repeatedly dodged consequences in Outagamie County, where his father has been on the bench for 28 years.
The Wisconsin State Journal found no evidence that Froehlich’s father ever sought to influence his son’s treatment by authorities. Through an assistant, the judge declined to comment on his son’s legal troubles.
To avoid any potential conflict of interest, Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider said she referred seven cases involving Froehlich to the district attorney in Brown County and two to Winnebago County since 2005.Just one of those nine cases — the third-offense drunken driving — was prosecuted, by Winnebago County, resulting in a conviction. The other eight are either pending or were dropped.According to online court records, however, Schneider’s office handled six other referrals from police, including unlawful use of a telephone, drunken driving-first offense, failure to notify police of an accident, and hit and run.
In each case, Outagamie County court records show, Froehlich was ordered to pay a civil forfeiture.Schneider didn’t respond to repeated messages over the past several weeks. And while Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski declined to prosecute most of the cases sent by Schneider, he denied any special treatment. (One referral sent last month for unlawful use of a telephone is pending.)“Nobody took steps to ensure that (Froehlich) not be prosecuted, and there was never any communication with (Harold) Froehlich, the judge,” Zakowski said. “If it was anybody else, given those facts, he wouldn’t be prosecuted. It’s so ridiculous to think this guy would get a break because he’s a judge’s son. The cases were just not that good.”
In the Avila case, for example, Zakowski said, “everyone was drunk” and no one saw the attack, which would have made it difficult to prove the case. But Sullivan, who referred the case to Schneider for prosecution, said several witnesses were sober, and Froehlich acknowledged to him that he manhandled Avila.
According to Sullivan’s report, during the 13-mile ride to the Outagamie County Jail in Appleton, Froehlich admitted calling Avila a “useless Mexican,” grabbing him around the neck and physically tossing him out of The Thirsty Otter but said it was in response to Avila “throwing things” around his bar.“Froehlich also brought up several times that his dad is a judge, but I should not worry about it because he does not like dropping names,” Sullivan reported.
Froehlich denies threat
According to the numerous police reports compiled by Hortonville and the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department, Froehlich is often quoted threatening officers and bragging about his ability to avoid prosecution.In the transcript of one tape-recorded conversation with Outagamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Oligney in 2006, Froehlich made a veiled threat to harm Oligney’s children if he ticketed him for making harassing phone calls to one of his former employees, Melissa Reimer.The sheriff’s office referred that incident — and the text and tapes of the phone messages Froehlich allegedly left on the former bartender’s phone — for criminal prosecution but no charges were filed. Oligney declined to comment on the case.
For his part, Froehlich contended the veiled threat to Oligney “never happened.”
Standoff at the tavern
One incident on Oct. 14, 2005, culminated in Froehlich locking himself in The Thirsty Otter with a frightened patron while police, investigating reports that Froehlich created a disturbance at another bar, surrounded Froehlich’s tavern. Although the incident prompted police to arrest Froehlich on several tentative charges, he again wasn’t prosecuted.
During the standoff, the woman told police she repeatedly asked Froehlich to let her go. She said he relented after she told him “either he lets me out, or I can get him in trouble.”At one point, Harold Froehlich and his wife came to The Thirsty Otter. The younger Froehlich was arrested, police said, after his father restrained him. Hortonville police referred a complaint alleging false imprisonment, trespassing, resisting police and disorderly conduct to the Outagamie County district attorney’s office, but no charges were brought.
Asked about that incident, Michael Froehlich became agitated, called a reporter a series of vulgar names, then hung up.
Two mystery cases
The disposition of two cases against Froehlich remains a mystery. Schneider said she referred seven cases to Brown County, but Zakowski said he knows of just five, including the referral sent last month.The two referrals unaccounted for are from the 2006 allegations investigated by Oligney involving threatening phone messages to Reimer and her fiancee, and another complaint from that year about continuing harassment of the couple. Zakowski has asked Schneider’s office and the police agencies to resend the reports for evaluation of possible charges.
Schneider didn’t respond to messages seeking an explanation for the discrepancies or the reason for not seeking a special prosecutor in the six cases against Froehlich that her office handled.
Under Wisconsin Supreme Court rules, prosecutors are required to act on a conflict of interest “as soon as they become aware of it,” said Keith Sellen, director of the Office of Lawyer Regulation, who emphasized he was speaking generally and not commenting on Schneider’s conduct.
According to OLR records, the agency investigated Schneider for a possible conflict of interest in 2005 after her office initially prosecuted Schneider’s brother, Thomas Q. Rathsack Jr., for third-offense drunken driving. Schneider showed up at the scene of her brother’s motorcycle crash before he was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment, police records show.The regulatory agency declined to discipline Schneider in that incident, however, noting she eventually turned the case over to Brown County.
Handling of cases ‘fishy’
Sullivan said the two missing cases and the rationale for not prosecuting most of the others appear “fishy” to him.He’s not the only one. In all, Reimer and her fiancee have called police at least half a dozen times to report threatening phone calls and text messages from Froehlich. Last month, Schneider referred a case of unlawful use of a telephone to Brown County. No decision on prosecution has been made, Zakowski said.
Froehlich “has basically always gotten a slap on the wrist,” Reimer said. “He’s been sent ticket after ticket. It doesn’t seem to affect him at all.”Zakowski said the cases he declined lack proof that Froehlich engaged in criminal activity. “There’s no statute for prosecuting somebody who’s being difficult or a jerk,” he said.
Sullivan disagreed.If he believed the incidents weren’t prosecutable, the chief said, “we never would’ve sent them up.”Froehlich “was just very abusive, just very dangerous. That’s the part that really upsets me. He was left to roam the streets and harm people.”
Thus, our own inept Osh Northwestern doesn't see fit to report on pedestrian deaths and ignores this in our back yard. Way to go, Stew. You are a credit to your fishwrap.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Oshkosh Pedestrian Deaths
This has been on my mind for the past number of months.
February saw the tragic death of Joan Domke on Pearl St. While you might not have known her, you might have recognized her if you frequented Planet Perk or were a regular downtown wanderer. We've heard basically nada on this since it happened.
To the best of my knowledge, the name of the person who hit her hasn't been released. Why?
We see published in the Osh NW every frickin divorce in the county. This is news? Someone gets divorced and we need to see that in print? Someone died here, quite tragically. And the story is met with nary a word about who did it. The status of the investigation? Who knows?
I may not have the best memory but didn't we have a similar case in town in late 2007. Happened on the south side of the river. A guy who used to ride around town in a 3-wheel bike was hit and killed. Never heard anything more. Who did it? Were they charged?
Every divorce is proudly published. Every kid popped for a nickel bag gets his/her name published. So in order to gain true anonymity, your need to kill someone with your car?
Not sure where the issue lies, with the OPD or the Osh NW. But, something doesn't sit right
February saw the tragic death of Joan Domke on Pearl St. While you might not have known her, you might have recognized her if you frequented Planet Perk or were a regular downtown wanderer. We've heard basically nada on this since it happened.
To the best of my knowledge, the name of the person who hit her hasn't been released. Why?
We see published in the Osh NW every frickin divorce in the county. This is news? Someone gets divorced and we need to see that in print? Someone died here, quite tragically. And the story is met with nary a word about who did it. The status of the investigation? Who knows?
I may not have the best memory but didn't we have a similar case in town in late 2007. Happened on the south side of the river. A guy who used to ride around town in a 3-wheel bike was hit and killed. Never heard anything more. Who did it? Were they charged?
Every divorce is proudly published. Every kid popped for a nickel bag gets his/her name published. So in order to gain true anonymity, your need to kill someone with your car?
Not sure where the issue lies, with the OPD or the Osh NW. But, something doesn't sit right
Saturday, April 25, 2009
NW Article on Titan Stadium
I'm a wise ass, I admit it. Hence 'glib replies'.
I read this today about how one of our neighbors continues to be aghast at the noise, traffic and light spillage from our sports complex.
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090425/OSH0101/304250046/1987
Wondering out loud here but, wouldn't one think there might be a touch of activity at a collegiate sports complex? As such, if one was not wanting to be subjected to the hubbub and all, why buy a home nearby?
Reminds me of people who move to the country and complain that the farms smell
I read this today about how one of our neighbors continues to be aghast at the noise, traffic and light spillage from our sports complex.
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090425/OSH0101/304250046/1987
Wondering out loud here but, wouldn't one think there might be a touch of activity at a collegiate sports complex? As such, if one was not wanting to be subjected to the hubbub and all, why buy a home nearby?
Reminds me of people who move to the country and complain that the farms smell
Thursday, April 23, 2009
I Wish He Wrote For The AT
from the 4/22/09 Royal Purple-UW Whitewater's Student Newspaper
Spoiled athletes need reality check (by Mike Daly)
"Not often are you afforded the opportunity to compare UW-Whitewater's sports to a typical Division I athletic program, but there's one similarity between the two: the preferential treatment some athletes receive.
The special treatment some athletes receive at the Division I level has been well documented. Most people have heard the story of former Ohio State University running back Maurice Clarett accusing his former coach, Jim Tressel, of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars and money for bogus summer jobs. Clarett also once walked out of a midterm exam because he "didn't know a thing," and was later allowed to take an oral exam instead. He "passed."
The likelihood of such events occurring at UW-Whitewater is highly unlikely, if not impossible. But some Warhawk athletes do receive treatment their non-athlete peers are not afforded.
While I was in the Williams Center weight room April 10, three athletes from one of UW-Whitewater's elite programs attempted to work out, independent of their team, without handing over their student IDs. They had their IDs, they just simply didn't want to perform the laborious task of handing them over to the Williams Center employees. One athlete was cooperative, a second eventually forked over his ID, but the third refused until the police were called. That's right; the police were summoned because an athlete wouldn't take his ID out of his wallet and hand it to the employee. Nothing really happened, and all three were allowed to stay after wasting everyone's time.
Days later, the athletes didn't want to comment on it. The coaches didn't want a story about it, and the Williams Center employees-presumably due to the fear of singling out athletes-didn't want to talk about it either.
This particular athlete conducted himself in a way his coaches surely would not condone. Neither their demeanor, nor their language was respectful, but that's OK, because they're athletes. They're allowed to play the system. Next time I'm in the Williams Center, I'll keep my ID, wear my headphones on the bottom floor and bench press naked because I feel like it. Although when I break the rules and act like a goon, I won't have a coach or administrator who will go to bat for me.
And that's where the real problem lies. The guilty party usually isn't the typical student-athlete. It's really not even the few who misbehave or accept preferential treatment. The villains are the "adults" - the coaches and administrators - who send the message it's acceptable to behave how you want because you can run fast or jump high.
I've been associated with the Royal Purple for almost two years, and in that time, I've been directly involved with, or caught wind of, people within the athletic department objecting to certain stories the paper has run.
There are no complaints when the front page displays the latest WIAC championship. No one whines when there's a story about a Warhawk athlete winning player of the year honors, or a state-of-the-art athletic facility opening. Some athletes even send complaints to the paper about a lack of coverage.
But when the same individuals bend the rules, they instantly want nothing to do with the spotlight. And their coaches and the administration are quick to defend them and explain why the negative attention is unjustified.
Sadly, the adults don't realize they aren't doing the athlete-students any favors. They'll leave UW-Whitewater thinking they can always behave how they want and be bailed out. That would probably be true, unfortunately, if they could jump high enough and run fast enough to play professionally.
But this is UW-Whitewater, and excluding rare exceptions like Derek Stanley or Matt Turk, pro sports are not an option for graduates.Then again, sometimes exceptional talent still isn't enough to bail out someone who thinks he's above the rules. Ask Clarett. You can reach him at the Toledo Correctional Institution."
Wow! Why can't we get a student writer like this instead of the current current AT editor who rails incessantly about the evils of business?
Spoiled athletes need reality check (by Mike Daly)
"Not often are you afforded the opportunity to compare UW-Whitewater's sports to a typical Division I athletic program, but there's one similarity between the two: the preferential treatment some athletes receive.
The special treatment some athletes receive at the Division I level has been well documented. Most people have heard the story of former Ohio State University running back Maurice Clarett accusing his former coach, Jim Tressel, of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars and money for bogus summer jobs. Clarett also once walked out of a midterm exam because he "didn't know a thing," and was later allowed to take an oral exam instead. He "passed."
The likelihood of such events occurring at UW-Whitewater is highly unlikely, if not impossible. But some Warhawk athletes do receive treatment their non-athlete peers are not afforded.
While I was in the Williams Center weight room April 10, three athletes from one of UW-Whitewater's elite programs attempted to work out, independent of their team, without handing over their student IDs. They had their IDs, they just simply didn't want to perform the laborious task of handing them over to the Williams Center employees. One athlete was cooperative, a second eventually forked over his ID, but the third refused until the police were called. That's right; the police were summoned because an athlete wouldn't take his ID out of his wallet and hand it to the employee. Nothing really happened, and all three were allowed to stay after wasting everyone's time.
Days later, the athletes didn't want to comment on it. The coaches didn't want a story about it, and the Williams Center employees-presumably due to the fear of singling out athletes-didn't want to talk about it either.
This particular athlete conducted himself in a way his coaches surely would not condone. Neither their demeanor, nor their language was respectful, but that's OK, because they're athletes. They're allowed to play the system. Next time I'm in the Williams Center, I'll keep my ID, wear my headphones on the bottom floor and bench press naked because I feel like it. Although when I break the rules and act like a goon, I won't have a coach or administrator who will go to bat for me.
And that's where the real problem lies. The guilty party usually isn't the typical student-athlete. It's really not even the few who misbehave or accept preferential treatment. The villains are the "adults" - the coaches and administrators - who send the message it's acceptable to behave how you want because you can run fast or jump high.
I've been associated with the Royal Purple for almost two years, and in that time, I've been directly involved with, or caught wind of, people within the athletic department objecting to certain stories the paper has run.
There are no complaints when the front page displays the latest WIAC championship. No one whines when there's a story about a Warhawk athlete winning player of the year honors, or a state-of-the-art athletic facility opening. Some athletes even send complaints to the paper about a lack of coverage.
But when the same individuals bend the rules, they instantly want nothing to do with the spotlight. And their coaches and the administration are quick to defend them and explain why the negative attention is unjustified.
Sadly, the adults don't realize they aren't doing the athlete-students any favors. They'll leave UW-Whitewater thinking they can always behave how they want and be bailed out. That would probably be true, unfortunately, if they could jump high enough and run fast enough to play professionally.
But this is UW-Whitewater, and excluding rare exceptions like Derek Stanley or Matt Turk, pro sports are not an option for graduates.Then again, sometimes exceptional talent still isn't enough to bail out someone who thinks he's above the rules. Ask Clarett. You can reach him at the Toledo Correctional Institution."
Wow! Why can't we get a student writer like this instead of the current current AT editor who rails incessantly about the evils of business?
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mulitcultural Preview Day
Yep, great idea.
Really, I'm in favor of it.
Bring in lots of potential students, particularly 1st generation higher ed students. Always a good thing. Great thing actually.
Issue I have (note I'm not saying problem) is in regards to the tour of the students about campus. I saw several of the groups touring. They were every where and for this type of program they should be. I saw one group just sitting in the grass by Taylor and noted the smiles of the students. This was fun. Many were experiencing a college campus for the first time and one could see the delight in their faces.
My issue? Did we really need to have a a tour in Spanish? I'm not getting this second hand. I saw it and heard it, in Reeve. I know enough Spanish to understand basic things. What I was able to understand from this group as I walked by was it sounded like any other student tour I'd heard go through Reeve...but in Spanish.
Why?
We've got students from abroad on campus. I delight in having them on campus. Foreign students are generally good students and they add to the discussion in upper level classes I've taught here and elsewhere. Great kids for the most part and I'm glad they are here. They don't get a tour here in their native tongue. Like wise, we've got numerous other ethnic groups represented on campus with ESL issues, most noted are the SE Asians (Hmong and Vietnamese) and I don't remember ever seeing tours in their languages. These kids are so rewarding in class. They are almost all first generation students and so damn eager.
But we bus in kids from a Wisconsin High School and speak to them in Spanish, is it me or are we going a bit overboard here? Really, I teach in English. I speak a couple of foreign languages pretty decently (some might suggest English ain't one of them and to that I say: youse guys is all wrong) one because I took it in high school and as an undergrad and one because it was a family language (I'm truly very close to being a goat herder so be careful)
I really would like to know what others thoughts are on this. What do other faculty, staff and students think?
Really, I'm in favor of it.
Bring in lots of potential students, particularly 1st generation higher ed students. Always a good thing. Great thing actually.
Issue I have (note I'm not saying problem) is in regards to the tour of the students about campus. I saw several of the groups touring. They were every where and for this type of program they should be. I saw one group just sitting in the grass by Taylor and noted the smiles of the students. This was fun. Many were experiencing a college campus for the first time and one could see the delight in their faces.
My issue? Did we really need to have a a tour in Spanish? I'm not getting this second hand. I saw it and heard it, in Reeve. I know enough Spanish to understand basic things. What I was able to understand from this group as I walked by was it sounded like any other student tour I'd heard go through Reeve...but in Spanish.
Why?
We've got students from abroad on campus. I delight in having them on campus. Foreign students are generally good students and they add to the discussion in upper level classes I've taught here and elsewhere. Great kids for the most part and I'm glad they are here. They don't get a tour here in their native tongue. Like wise, we've got numerous other ethnic groups represented on campus with ESL issues, most noted are the SE Asians (Hmong and Vietnamese) and I don't remember ever seeing tours in their languages. These kids are so rewarding in class. They are almost all first generation students and so damn eager.
But we bus in kids from a Wisconsin High School and speak to them in Spanish, is it me or are we going a bit overboard here? Really, I teach in English. I speak a couple of foreign languages pretty decently (some might suggest English ain't one of them and to that I say: youse guys is all wrong) one because I took it in high school and as an undergrad and one because it was a family language (I'm truly very close to being a goat herder so be careful)
I really would like to know what others thoughts are on this. What do other faculty, staff and students think?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Wow, Never Would have Thought of This.
From the Osh Northwestern, March 14, 2009:
"......UW-Oshkosh will pull in $428,000 for two separate projects, which includes $333,000 requested by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin, to create a demonstration training program for preventing elderly abuse and neglect at nursing homes, said Tom Sonnleitner, vice chancellor for administrative services. Sonnleitner said the Kohl-backed project would provide the resources for UWO's Center for Career Development to create workshops, a Web site and a CD for training employees of nursing homes."
We need to teach professionals in nursing homes to not abuse and neglect patients? I never would've thought that. Guess I thought that the various degree programs for RN's, CNA's, LPN's etc would've mentioned that somewhere along the line.
So once again, we are on the cutting edge of vocational education.
"......UW-Oshkosh will pull in $428,000 for two separate projects, which includes $333,000 requested by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin, to create a demonstration training program for preventing elderly abuse and neglect at nursing homes, said Tom Sonnleitner, vice chancellor for administrative services. Sonnleitner said the Kohl-backed project would provide the resources for UWO's Center for Career Development to create workshops, a Web site and a CD for training employees of nursing homes."
We need to teach professionals in nursing homes to not abuse and neglect patients? I never would've thought that. Guess I thought that the various degree programs for RN's, CNA's, LPN's etc would've mentioned that somewhere along the line.
So once again, we are on the cutting edge of vocational education.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Emporer's New Clothes?
Why was it when the international press reported of American failures under Bush, the US media picked up on those reports and used them to correctly illustrate the US landscape but NOW, when the international press critiques THE ONE, they are ignored by the US Media? Same for many bloggers. Bloggers critical of Bush linked international media reports correctly illustrating American missteps. But now? If the international press dogs Obama, not so much!
Read Rosemary Righter of The Times here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rosemary_righter/article5613759.ece
An excerpt as follows:
"....Is Mr Obama a protectionist? Instinctively, yes; he has never seen a free-trade deal he would actually vote for, and he talks about trade policy as a tool “to support good American jobs”. But as the election campaign wore on, he toned down his invective against foreign competition, and, because his economic team is basically free trade, the jury is still out.
The verdict, however, will be in very soon. At the behest of the most protectionist Congress in memory, Mr Obama may be about to repeat, at the dawn of his presidency, the same historic error that the much derided Herbert Hoover made just before quitting the White House in 1933. In the depths of the Great Depression, he signed into law the innocent-sounding Buy America Act. It required the US Government to use American suppliers in all public contracts. Less notorious than the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, “Buy America” did huge damage. It proved a disaster for US manufacturing exports and the global economy. Other governments followed suit, and it took decades to begin to reverse the closure of markets.
Now, prodded by America's mighty steel lobby, a key congressional committee has voted, 55-0, to attach a still more rigorous “Buy America” clause to President Obama's stimulus package. It bars federal funding of any public projects “unless all of the iron and steel used is produced in the United States”. The clause could be extended to asphalt, cement, heavy machinery, you name it. US dollars, the committee intones, must be used to create “American jobs in America, not Chinese jobs in China”.
Leave aside value for money. Pass over the detail that the US does not produce enough steel to meet domestic demand. Admit that, when economic activity evaporates as precipitately as it has this winter, “saving” jobs looks more important than ensuring long-term competitiveness. Admit, further, that all governments are in the hidden subsidy game right now, whether they boast about it, as in France, or deny it as stoutly as Lord Mandelson - whose “this is not a bailout” brings to mind Magritte's famous “ceci n'est pas une pipe” painting.
Agree, finally, that when you are the newly elected US President and the money you are preparing to print runs into the trillions, the queue at the trough is bound to form pretty fast. But the scale of the temptation is precisely what makes Congress's populist “Buy America” rider an irresponsible, innumerate, pernicious bit of political and economic folly.
If Mr Obama blocks this clause, he will anger the Left. If he does not, retaliation is inevitable. That will shut American workers out of “hundreds of billions of dollars of new business”. Caterpillar, to take just one example, is actively bidding for big infrastructure projects in China; it reckons that “Buy America” would kill its prospects there.
The truth politicians need to ponder is that the financial crisis has made sophisticates of us all. Most of us understand far more about how globalisation works, how the pieces hang together, than we did before everything went pear-shaped. We have made the connection between prosperity and globalisation - at the simplest level, that cheap T-shirts from Bangladesh leave us with more money for other things. We do worry about our ability to compete; we demand clear and impartial trade rules. But we can see how beggar-thy-neighbour protectionism creates more beggars - costing, not “saving”, jobs. It is time the language of politics caught up with us."
Hhhmmmm. Chickens....coming.....home....to roost?
Caterpillar just announced layoffs. About 20,000. Read here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-caterpillar-layoffs-090126-ht,0,2651573.story
Read Rosemary Righter of The Times here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rosemary_righter/article5613759.ece
An excerpt as follows:
"....Is Mr Obama a protectionist? Instinctively, yes; he has never seen a free-trade deal he would actually vote for, and he talks about trade policy as a tool “to support good American jobs”. But as the election campaign wore on, he toned down his invective against foreign competition, and, because his economic team is basically free trade, the jury is still out.
The verdict, however, will be in very soon. At the behest of the most protectionist Congress in memory, Mr Obama may be about to repeat, at the dawn of his presidency, the same historic error that the much derided Herbert Hoover made just before quitting the White House in 1933. In the depths of the Great Depression, he signed into law the innocent-sounding Buy America Act. It required the US Government to use American suppliers in all public contracts. Less notorious than the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, “Buy America” did huge damage. It proved a disaster for US manufacturing exports and the global economy. Other governments followed suit, and it took decades to begin to reverse the closure of markets.
Now, prodded by America's mighty steel lobby, a key congressional committee has voted, 55-0, to attach a still more rigorous “Buy America” clause to President Obama's stimulus package. It bars federal funding of any public projects “unless all of the iron and steel used is produced in the United States”. The clause could be extended to asphalt, cement, heavy machinery, you name it. US dollars, the committee intones, must be used to create “American jobs in America, not Chinese jobs in China”.
Leave aside value for money. Pass over the detail that the US does not produce enough steel to meet domestic demand. Admit that, when economic activity evaporates as precipitately as it has this winter, “saving” jobs looks more important than ensuring long-term competitiveness. Admit, further, that all governments are in the hidden subsidy game right now, whether they boast about it, as in France, or deny it as stoutly as Lord Mandelson - whose “this is not a bailout” brings to mind Magritte's famous “ceci n'est pas une pipe” painting.
Agree, finally, that when you are the newly elected US President and the money you are preparing to print runs into the trillions, the queue at the trough is bound to form pretty fast. But the scale of the temptation is precisely what makes Congress's populist “Buy America” rider an irresponsible, innumerate, pernicious bit of political and economic folly.
If Mr Obama blocks this clause, he will anger the Left. If he does not, retaliation is inevitable. That will shut American workers out of “hundreds of billions of dollars of new business”. Caterpillar, to take just one example, is actively bidding for big infrastructure projects in China; it reckons that “Buy America” would kill its prospects there.
The truth politicians need to ponder is that the financial crisis has made sophisticates of us all. Most of us understand far more about how globalisation works, how the pieces hang together, than we did before everything went pear-shaped. We have made the connection between prosperity and globalisation - at the simplest level, that cheap T-shirts from Bangladesh leave us with more money for other things. We do worry about our ability to compete; we demand clear and impartial trade rules. But we can see how beggar-thy-neighbour protectionism creates more beggars - costing, not “saving”, jobs. It is time the language of politics caught up with us."
Hhhmmmm. Chickens....coming.....home....to roost?
Caterpillar just announced layoffs. About 20,000. Read here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-caterpillar-layoffs-090126-ht,0,2651573.story
Nice to See Where My Money Is Going
From the Jan 30, 2009 Daily Mail on line (www.dailymail.co.uk) blog of reporter Mary Ellen Synon.
"The Democrats: packing the pork barrel with fish.
Washington Democrat pork-barrel, how its done: this just in to me from an former Senate staff member. If you want about a couple of hundred other examples of this kind of thing -- 'pork barrel' is legislation designed to pay off or buy up political supporters -- just go through Obama's so-called stimulus Bill, which the House Democrats passed on Wednesday. It is almost 90 percent pork, and not much stimulus. For details, see my piece on Obama on the Mail's Online Debate page.
So, the example of how this is done on the Hill. The wildly-powerful Speaker of the House is the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Her home district -- that is, constituency -- includes San Francisco. The headquarters of the Star-Kist tuna brand, owned by the global giant Del Monte Foods, are in San Francisco.
Star-Kist is a major political contributor to Pelosi.
Star-Kist is the leading employer in American Samoa, employing 75 percent of the Samoan workforce. According to the Washington Times, the company has two packing plants there with 5,000 workers. More, Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul holds a substantial amount of Star-Kist stock. The guess last year was $17m (£12m) worth.
In January 2007, when Congressional legislation increased the US minimum wage from $5.15 (£3.60) an hour to $7.25 (£5.10), Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase -- making it the only US territory not subject to federal minimum wage laws. This insured that that Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage -- so Del Monte products would be less expensive that those of their competitors.
Now Pelosi has added an 'earmark' to one of the Democrat bail-out bills adding $33m for an 'economic development credit in American Samoa.'
The frequently-disgraceful Republicans refused, to a man, to vote for Obama's so-called stimulus bill, just because it was loaded with this kind of thing. Which shows that the Republicans can occasionally find their spine."
OoooKaaaayyyyyy-let some of you arguing for higher minimum wages opine how this was good to exempt American Samoa? Tell me how carving them out helps them, helps me, helps the country. And Pelosi supporters, tell me how it is merely a coincidence that substantial portion of the Pelosi family net worth is being benefited by this action.
C'mon? JB, maybe you?
"The Democrats: packing the pork barrel with fish.
Washington Democrat pork-barrel, how its done: this just in to me from an former Senate staff member. If you want about a couple of hundred other examples of this kind of thing -- 'pork barrel' is legislation designed to pay off or buy up political supporters -- just go through Obama's so-called stimulus Bill, which the House Democrats passed on Wednesday. It is almost 90 percent pork, and not much stimulus. For details, see my piece on Obama on the Mail's Online Debate page.
So, the example of how this is done on the Hill. The wildly-powerful Speaker of the House is the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Her home district -- that is, constituency -- includes San Francisco. The headquarters of the Star-Kist tuna brand, owned by the global giant Del Monte Foods, are in San Francisco.
Star-Kist is a major political contributor to Pelosi.
Star-Kist is the leading employer in American Samoa, employing 75 percent of the Samoan workforce. According to the Washington Times, the company has two packing plants there with 5,000 workers. More, Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul holds a substantial amount of Star-Kist stock. The guess last year was $17m (£12m) worth.
In January 2007, when Congressional legislation increased the US minimum wage from $5.15 (£3.60) an hour to $7.25 (£5.10), Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase -- making it the only US territory not subject to federal minimum wage laws. This insured that that Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage -- so Del Monte products would be less expensive that those of their competitors.
Now Pelosi has added an 'earmark' to one of the Democrat bail-out bills adding $33m for an 'economic development credit in American Samoa.'
The frequently-disgraceful Republicans refused, to a man, to vote for Obama's so-called stimulus bill, just because it was loaded with this kind of thing. Which shows that the Republicans can occasionally find their spine."
OoooKaaaayyyyyy-let some of you arguing for higher minimum wages opine how this was good to exempt American Samoa? Tell me how carving them out helps them, helps me, helps the country. And Pelosi supporters, tell me how it is merely a coincidence that substantial portion of the Pelosi family net worth is being benefited by this action.
C'mon? JB, maybe you?
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