Mark Green sure can't seem to do enough to try to finagle votes from the people of Wisconsin, and he really likes to use the University of Wisconsin System to do it.
Early this week, he unveiled his "Wisconsin First" proposal, a plan that looks OK at face value, but at further inspection is about as plausible as George W. Bush finishing a New York Times crossword by himself.
Green's latest brainchild is a scheme that would give Wisconsin residents preferential admission to UW System schools over out-of-state applicants of the same caliber.
Like I said, it sounds cool, and I feel Green is being somewhat honorable in this most recent quest, but he is ignoring the fact that the plan is totally and completely fiscally irresponsible.
The UW System budget has been recently ransacked by the state, and unless this trend changes significantly, this plan would force UW System schools to cut back salaries, classes, programs and positions even more than it has already. A major problem for the system as of late has been the loss of high-quality faculty and administrators who leave UW schools for greener — and higher paying — pastures. This plan would stifle the system's abilities to compete with the best and brightest in the nation.
So why on Earth would Green float such an idea in the state? To get some more votes come Election Day, of course. But does Green really have no concept of math, or is he just living in a dreamland where he thinks such a plan will not harm UW?
As a freshman, I had the opportunity to hear then-Provost Peter Spear speak to my Chemistry 104 class. The only thing Spear said that I actually remember — maybe I was just too distracted by his amazing mustache — was when he explained to us how out-of-state students pay more to attend UW schools to cover where in-state tuition falls short. From what I recall, Spear said an in-state student's tuition pays for about 40 percent of the actual cost of educating the student. A major way to recoup this gap is to encourage admissions of out-of-staters.
Yes, the UW System has lessened the tuition increases for non-Wisconsin residents, but that is a means to promote good faith between other schools in different states and also bring in more students from these states.
And Gov. Jim Doyle did make extensive cuts to the UW System in his budget proposal nearly four years ago; but in the last biennial budget, he tried to restore funding and financial aid that the Legislature had slashed when he initially tried to hold the cuts stagnant in his most recent budget.
Further cuts by the Republican-controlled Legislature would effectively cripple the system and cause an all-out breakdown in the way Wisconsin's university system operates.
I highly doubt Mark Green would be willing to advocate enough increases in the system's funding to cover the losses that would be incurred by his plan. And I would be willing to put money on the fact that he would fail to stand up to members of his own party who sit like a pack of hungry wolves waiting to punish UW but ravaging its budget. It seems Green and some other state Republicans do anything they can to fight tooth-and-nail with the UW System Board of Regents, just because it gets them so much press time.
Another point this plan ignores is that the system continually throws around this concept of increasing diversity on campuses statewide, and this diversity can come from many locations throughout the nation.
Sure, nobody in the state wants to see a cute, corn-fed Sconnie denied by the admissions committee in favor of some Coastie or FIB, but honestly, the reason we are able to celebrate the top-notch education we receive here can be attributed to the tuition money brought in by out-of-staters. It is through a balance of in-state, out-of-state and foreign students, faculty and staff that this university system strives.
Green's plan defies logic and remedial math, but in an election year, can we expect anything less from a man who would opt to get votes the cheap way, rather than propose actual ideas that hold more water than a wet paper bag?
Carolyn Smith ([email protected]) is a continuing student at UW.
