UW System Clipsheet

"Shielding the UW from budget cuts," Wisconsin Radio Network, Jan.10.

A legislative leader says protecting the UW in these difficult financial times is a "must" for state lawmakers. State Senate President Fred Risser (D-Madison) has long been a champion of the university, and says he needs to continue fighting with the state facing $5.4 billion in red ink. The Madison Democrat says the budget can't be balanced with deep cuts to the UW because it's so important to the long term economic strength of the state. Risser says it's at the UW that ideas will likely germinate to foster an economic rebound...

Listen: http://www.wrn.com/ge...82A-3708AFC10E2A1B18

"UW think tank studying 'Racine Promise' for free college tuition," Journal Times, Jan. 11.

The director of a University of Wisconsin think tank is analyzing education options for Racine, including free college tuition for students. The economic and education analysis is the first step toward creating the recently proposed Racine Promise program, which would provide free college tuition for all City of Racine high school graduates. It would be funded by private and corporate dollars rather than city taxes, but the details on how it would run have not been established...

"Waukesha County officials would welcome stimulus," Greater Milwaukee Today, Jan. 11.

For Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas, the idea of an economic stimulus package is a good one, as long as there's control to the spending...Vrakas said the projects the county submitted for a potential package are from the 2009-13 capital projects plan because those are initiative that could be completed in the near future and would have a positive impact on operations. Some of those projects include renovating the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha campus...

"Drug firms wine, dine and pay up for doctors' speeches," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 12.

...Meredith was one of more than 40 UW physicians in 2007 who were paid to work as speakers or authors by drug or medical device companies, records show...It's a practice that increasingly is drawing criticism because of concerns that it can influence patient care and raise the cost of treatment, in addition to blurring the line between research and marketing. The deans of the state's two medical schools say they would like to ban the practice or severely limit it...

"Doctors face pressure to disclose all side pay," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 11.

...Fox is one of dozens of University of Wisconsin-Madison physicians who also work for drug companies. Some sit on advisory boards; others do promotional or educational work...Doctors' moonlighting for drug companies - though legal - is coming under increased scrutiny, both at UW and across the country...

"Please answer the call to be a mentor," Editorial, Journal Times, Jan. 12.

...In declaring January 2009 National Mentoring Month, the president expressed appreciation for the millions of individuals who “dedicate themselves to making a difference in the lives of others.”...Big Brothers Big Sisters is getting support from Mentor Kenosha & Racine, a University of Wisconsin-Parkside community program that began in October and is trying to build partnerships with colleges, local government and businesses to enlist mentors for Big Brothers Big Sisters, San Juan Diego Middle School, Boys and Girls Clubs and other groups...

"Student loans in short supply," Telegraph-Herald, Jan. 12.

For many college students across the country, the task of obtaining a private loan for college has become more difficult. "It is considerably more difficult for students to get the alternative loans than it was a year-and-a-half ago," said Jesse James, the dean of admissions at the University of Dubuque. "Students are having trouble with it all the time"...

"Universities offering in-state tuition to out-of-state students," USA Today, Jan. 12.

For 20 years, Southern Illinois University's student numbers have languished, proving so vexing it cost a top administrator his job in 2006. Much of the problem, the chancellor contends, is that would-be students from Illinois bolted to other states on the promise of sweet tuition deals. Now, the university is fighting back: This fall, it will begin offering in-state tuition to first-year students from neighboring Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana. Across the country, a bidding war of sorts has developed over prospective students seeking bargains in a bad economy. While some universities have long tried to lure students across state lines with lower tuitions, such incentives are gaining popularity as the nation's financial meltdown has withered families' college savings and home equity to help pay soaring education costs...

"College grads avoid brunt of layoffs," Associated Press, Jan. 11.

For one group of workers, the recession hasn’t hit quite so hard. Their unemployment rate was nearly half the overall workforce in December. When they do lose jobs, they tend to find work more quickly than others. Their wages are higher, and they typically have enough savings to survive between jobs. Yes, it still pays to get a college degree. Despite recent high-profile layoffs of bankers, accountants and other highly educated workers, college graduates are faring much better than the labor force as a whole...

"University leaders from around the world discuss fund raising in troubled times," Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 12.

The worldwide economic crisis is creating unprecedented challenges for fund raisers, but the new philanthropic landscape could also yield unexpected opportunities for higher-education institutions, university leaders from around the world were told at a three-day meeting here last week... (paid subscription required)

"College affordability: The wolf in sheep's clothing," Column, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 12.

...The urge to encourage greater access and affordability by curbing tuitions misses the mark because rising tuition rates are the effects — not the causes — of the college funding problem. In tough times like these, the tragic flaw in policies to “make college affordable” is that they tend to focus disproportionately on reducing tuition rates rather than increasing public investments...(Author: Anthony P. Carnevale, research professor and director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)...