Not Quite All the Problems

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporting is not quite complete:

Legislators have pounded the university system this summer for one example after another of what they consider reckless spending - $700 car stipends given to administrators, paid leaves guaranteed to those who relinquish management positions, back-up jobs handed out to seemingly everyone.

I think that keeping CONVICTED SEX-CRIMINALS on the UW PAYROLL should be part of the paragraph (it's never mentioned in the story, at all)--and that little manipulation about why Ms. Hong left UW deserves a phrase in the 'graph, as well.

"Her decision to leave UW-Madison, Hong says, was influenced by the state of Wisconsin's lack of commitment to higher education, which manifests itself in a continuous struggle for fiscal and staff resources, and by difficulty recruiting staff because the university currently is not able to provide benefits to domestic partners."In my three years here, I have seen a complete turnaround from what I thought higher education was all about in this state, " Hong says.

Today, the Steingass report on the Paul Barrows affair was released. When reading through it, it is clear that Hong was right in the middle of it, having allegedly being harassed by Barrows himself. On page 33 of the report, it says, "Hong says that Barrows' conduct, the university's lack of forthrightness in dealing honestly with it, and the factions that developed as a result, caused her to leave the University of Wisconsin-Madison and take another position at Arizona State University, Phoenix. There are rumors that Hong was asked by Wiley to resign, but they do not appear grounded in fact."

So let me get this straight - Hong was sexually harassed and blew the whistle when she learned that this was the case with other women at the university. Things then got so bad for her, she not only left, but Wiley likely forced her to do a completely bogus press release about how she was leaving because state taxpayers don't pay enough to support the university.

(Via Sykes from Dennis York)

And Lakeshore Laments summarizes this very nicely.

The bill of particulars indicting UW's management is far, far more serious than $700/month car allowances. Maybe David Walsh, the President of the Board, will get this, someday...