OPINION & EDITORIAL
Govenor wrongly solicits students
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Also by Sara Mikolajczak:
- Conservatives call on seldom heard voices (September 6, 2007)
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- Democrats fight for student priorities (January 24, 2006)
- Students need Pell Grant help (March 31, 2005)
- Pell grants badly misrepresented (September 28, 2007)
- Plan B (January 25, 2005)
- Budget imperils college aid (February 28, 2007)
by Sara Mikolajczak
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A serious violation of students’ privacy was committed on campus earlier this week. The story first broke on WTMJ NewsRadio with Charlie Sykes last Friday when the associate director of student financial services, Michelle Curtis, contacted students awaiting Wisconsin Higher Education Grants. Mr. Sykes reported that this action was taken in an effort to promote the progressive agenda of the university and of the governor.
The records of students receiving financial aid are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). That is, until someone decided that political incentives trump students’ rights to confidentiality and “instructed” Ms. Curtis to send the following e-mail: “I am contacting you because we have identified you as a student who received a Wisconsin Higher Education Grant (WHEG) last year but did not receive one this year due to … the current state budget impasse…
“The governor is looking for a few UW-Madison students who are WHEG-eligible for the 2007-08 year who have not been awarded WHEG because they are ‘wait-listed’… We were wondering if you were interested in participating in the press conference.”
The e-mails were not sent directly by the governor’s office; however, there is serious speculation that the office was deeply involved. That is why the Wisconsin College Republicans have filed an open records request to obtain any information regarding correspondence that pertains to these e-mails between the governor’s office and the university.
FERPA allows the use of information in students’ personal educational records to be transmitted within the academic institution for the purpose of “legitimate educational interests.” As far as we can tell, recruiting human props for a political masquerade is not within said interests.
More than 60 percent of UW students receive financial aid every year to attend the university and receiving this aid should not require them to enlist themselves as one of the governor’s political pawns. Had an e-mail been sent to the entire student body regarding the press conference, this fiasco could have potentially been avoided. But opening and searching through financial aid records to find 33 students who fit the criteria crosses the line of personal security.
The left demonizes anyone who so much as insinuates a proposal that would decrease access to aid for students who want to continue their education, but doesn’t flinch when the anonymity promised with that financial aid is flagrantly disregarded? If that’s not a double standard, we aren’t sure what is.
The Wisconsin College Republicans, as well as other prominent members of the state, refuse to allow the hypocrites on the left to get away with these or any such similar actions again. In addition to their open records request, the state federation of Wisconsin College Republicans, led by state chair Ryan Wrasse, a senior at UW-Stevens Point, have filed a formal complaint with the United States Department of Education against UW-Madison for its appalling behavior in manipulating the confidence of the student body. We, the University of Wisconsin chapter of College Republicans, are disappointed with the actions of our own university and strongly stand behind the state federation’s decision to initiate this investigation.
While Madison has been hailed as an island of idealism, it is not isolated from federal accountability.
Wrasse commented on the neglect of students rights, stating “UW bureaucrats cannot flaunt federal law and invade student privacy as part of their crusade for more tax dollars. We are asking the Federal Department of Education to investigate this despicable conduct and to vindicate student privacy rights against administrators’ need for propaganda tools.”
Several of the UW-Madison College Republicans attended the governor’s press conference this past Tuesday to show their discontent with the allegations concerning conduct of both the governor’s office and the university. When pressed to comment on the complaint, the governor claimed that such reprimands were “frivolous.” The law-abiding citizens of our great state have turned a blind eye to the governor’s blatant disregard for nuisances of “frivolous” individual rights and state law, and we refuse to tolerate it any longer.
This editorial represents the views expressed by the UW-Madison College Republicans. Please send questions or comments to chair Sara Mikolajczak at mikolajczak@wisc.edu.
Anonymous (October 11, 2007 @ 9:07am):
The Governor is right... your complaints are frivolous. I'm pretty sure the University understands student privacy laws - the have, you know, had to deal with them for quite some time. Thus, they wouldn't have sent anything out if it in any way violated someone's privacy. You're whining because you got outmaneuvered and it makes you look bad.
You're also angry because the Assembly Republicans are increasingly revealing themselves to be radical, ignorant, and out of touch with Wisconsin values. The people of Wisconsin deserve a budget that reflects our priorities, and you people are standing in the way. Move.
I wish that you'd take a page out of the Democratic Party playbook, and stop hating students and financial aid.
Anonymous (October 11, 2007 @ 9:45am):
Have you ever noticed how much Sara Mikolajczak is like the Rev. Jesse Jackson? They're both always willing to get offended at the drop of a hat, they're always making a titanic issue out of nothing, they're always crying about how they're being oppressed when no actual oppression is occuring. Just because one is freaky liberal and the other is crazy conservative doesn't mean that on a deeper level they have nothing in common.
"...receiving this aid should not require them to enlist themselves as one of the governor's political pawns."
The e-mail asked for people who were "interested in participating." I fail to see how this translates to "requir[ing] them to enlist."
"Had an e-mail been sent to the entire student body regarding the press conference, this fiasco could have potentially been avoided."
No, had an e-mail been sent to the entire student body, you would have been the first to cry foul at a campuswide political solicitation. You would have written a very similar column, making
"The Wisconsin College Republicans, as well as other prominent members of the state, refuse to allow the hypocrites on the left to get away with these or any such similar actions again."
Are the CRs so full of themselves that they consider themselves amongst the "prominent members of the state?" I mean, I know you guys are pretty proud of who you are and all, but that's just unchecked hubris. Business leaders, politicians, Brett Favre, those are the prominent members of the state. You're just a campus organization.
I personally think that the e-mails were probably legally okay, but not ethically. Since all that matters is the letter of the law (thanks to hyperliteral conservatism which allows no room for interpretation or nuance), I think all we can do is move on.
Anonymous (October 11, 2007 @ 10:05am):
Sara, do you know what evidence is?
Until you have _evidence_ of wrongdoing, there's no reason for anyone to take your complaints seriously.
Anonymous (October 11, 2007 @ 11:51am):
Let's look at the facts, Sara, since you so eloquently pointed out in the article in the Daily Cardinal that many liberals do not seem to know how to back up their claims. The fact is that it extends to both sides of the proverbial spectrum.
Governor Doyle and people from the Office of the Dean of Students did these things:
1. They searched the database of students for people who are receiving financial aid. FERPA, I believe, does not prohibit universities from accessing this knowledge - we are paying tuition to them - but prohibits parents from accessing their adult student's information without their permission.
2. The ODOS and the governor indicated that they want students to participate in the press conference. Nowhere does it indicate that they are pressed to take our Governor's side or the side of the opposition. This information was transmitted within the academic institution for the legitimate educational interests of students who may be affected by the budget impasse. In addition, he was making a request, not an order. Any student can willingly acquiesce or not.
You seem to be reading political motivation into this a little too heavily.
This reactionary behavior is disgusting.
Anonymous (October 11, 2007 @ 2:04pm):
what i like is the yet-again reposting in today's daily card of ms. Mikolajczak's story about getting spit on by an ISO member on state 3 years ago. Yes, 3 years ago. I've heard this exact sob story reprinted in those 3 years at least 6 times...but sara, don't you realize UW students have more in common with "smelly ISO members" than they do with GOP values?
Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 10:41am):
You either are ignorant of technology or willfully misrepresenting it in your article. I would go with the former, since in your article you mention the facts: that the email was sent out by the UW system and not by the Governor, but by the UW system.
I can't believe the Herald continues to print your trite garbage.
Anonymous (October 28, 2007 @ 1:44pm):
"The people of Wisconsin deserve a budget that reflects our priorities, and you people are standing in the way."
your values are spending more than you can afford? Don't say those are wisconsin values. the rest of wisconsin is smarter than that.
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