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Pocan talks UW at brown-bag forum
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by Courtney Johnson
Thursday, September 28, 2006
State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, met with University of Wisconsin students and faculty Wednesday to discuss concerns in higher education ranging from tuition hikes to domestic-partner benefits.
At the "brown bag" forum held in Education Hall, Pocan, who is openly gay, said he hopes the UW System would adopt a domestic-partner benefits plan.
"One, you're saying '[You] don't matter,' and two, you aren't giving [them] the fair benefit that [they] can get somewhere else, and you aren't able to offer a competitive package" Pocan said, referencing faculty members who left UW due to a lack of domestic-partner benefits.
UW-Madison is currently the only school in the Big Ten not to offer domestic-partner health insurance to employees, a point that has caused a number of university faculty members to seek employment elsewhere. Most recently, UW engineering professor Robert Carpick left the university in August because of this issue.
But according to State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, domestic benefits will not be implemented anytime soon in the UW System.
"We are not going to, certainly [not] in our house, authorize domestic-partner benefits," Suder said in an interview, adding that most Wisconsin taxpayers don't support offering such plans.
Pocan's talk also addressed the nearly constant UW System tuition increases over recent years and the unlikelihood of any future tuition freezes.
"You're going to have increases, realistically; there's no way it's not going to happen," he said. "You have to look at the Legislature; it's Republican-controlled."
In addition, Pocan said that increases are inevitable given the UW System's current budget situation.
But his stance has not deterred some student groups from requesting complete tuition freezes, such as the United Council of UW Students, a lobbying group for UW System students statewide.
"Students are going to continue fighting for a tuition freeze, given the over-70 percent increase in the last six years," United Council executive director Anthony Adams said.
And Adams said he sees tuition freezes as absolutely possible, citing past instances where freezes were implemented.
"In [1999], students in Wisconsin fought for a tuition freeze and won a tuition freeze for the 2000-2001 school year," Adams recalled.
Despite lobbying efforts within the Legislature, Suder said people need to be reminded the Board of Regents sets tuition, and he noted his own support for capping tuition.
Suder also expressed surprise that Pocan does not see complete tuition freezes as a real possibility.
"I would hope Rep. Pocan, who represents a lot of students, would join us in that fight," Suder said.
In lieu of a tuition cap or freeze, Pocan said he thinks there are other ways to keep UW System schools affordable for students, such as increasing financial aid.
Overall, Pocan, whose district encompasses much of the UW-Madison campus, said he would like to see the needs of the UW System better represented in the Legislature.
"There should be no entity more politically powerful than the university," he said.
Anonymous (October 1, 2006 @ 11:53am):
Great! Thanks for covering the WISCAPE events. They provide a good service for the university community.
