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We mention that because of the fight that’s going on in Madison between outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and some legislators.
In a 3,000-word essay in the September issue of Madison Magazine, Wiley criticized WMC, the state’s biggest business interest group, as being more interested in right-wing politics than economic development.
WMC has for the past two years spent $2 million to help elect conservative justices to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It also supports conservative Republicans for other public offices.
Wiley also criticized legislators who have attacked the university for liberal views expressed by faculty members and for a variety of administrative issues and problems.
“The hyper-partisan environment at the state Capitol is toxic,” Wiley wrote. “The first priority seems to be to repudiate, damage or block any proposal or position of the other party.
“The second priority is to push their own party’s proposals and positions in unaltered form. The far-distant third priority — to be avoided if at all possible — seems to be addressing any genuine state need that requires compromise.”
Wiley said legislators have attacked the university’s stem cell research, which could lead to new technology jobs, all while Wisconsin’s economy has been in a 15-year decline.
UW-Madison bears the brunt of the legislative attacks, but other campuses throughout the state — including
La Crosse — have also suffered.
UW-L has had to absorb millions of dollars in budget cuts, affecting its programs. One of the legislative attacks it had to absorb was the refusal of the State Senate Democrats to hold a vote on a financial aid proposal that has sailed through the Assembly on a voice vote without controversy.
Democrats did that because their leader objected to an earlier tuition increase proposal for UW-L.
Universities provide an enormous economic benefit to the state, both in terms of job creation and workforce development. And all of the “hyper-partisan” politics in Madison hurts that effort.
And, as we have seen, the partisan jabbing can have an effect on campuses throughout the state that have not even been a part of whatever dispute the legislators imagine has taken place.
So, this is just a little reminder that there are other public university campuses in the state, and they are being hurt by the politics of attack in Madison.
Contact Opinion page editor Richard Mial at (608) 791-8232, or by e-mail at rmail@lacrossetriubne.com.
