May 25, 2007, 9:10 a.m.
More on Dean Hines' Analysis of Search Secrecy
If you're interested in the issue of whether Search Committee II is covered by the Iowa Open Meetings law, and former UI law dean Bill Hines analysis of the issue, I added some further analysis last evening to yesterday's blog [Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 488 - Regents Meeting; Hines on Law," May 24, 2007], including a link to the full text of the case he relies on and the Iowa law's definition of "meeting.
Mary Gilchrist Wins Chance At Jury Trial
There's been a major development in the Mary Gilchrist law suit. Here's an excerpt from The Gazette's report this morning:
Judge moves lawsuit over UI lab director's firing to next stage
IOWA CITY — A judge denied a summary judgment motion by University of Iowa Interim President Gary Fethke and another top university official in a lawsuit former University Hygienic Laboratory Director Mary Gilchrist filed over her firing. The UI officials had asked Judge Mitchell Turner to decide the case without bringing it to trial.
In February, a Johnson County District Court judge denied a temporary injunction that would have prevented the UI from firing Gilchrist under Iowa’s whistle-blower statute. Attorneys for the UI argued last month that if she isn’t a whistle-blower, then she has no case to take to a jury.
But that judgment applied only to the temporary injunction and wasn’t a final judgment in the case, as UI attorneys had argued, Turner wrote in a 10-page ruling filed Thursday.
Had Gilchrist's attorneys lost on the defendants' summary judgment motion that would have been the end of the matter. Now they have the opportunity, if they choose to pursue it, to have a "jury of her peers" decide whether she was "insubordinate" or fired for being a "whistle blower."
Ending the War
And speaking of Mary Gilchrist, I earlier repeated her comment that, "I think one has to do the right thing, and the consequences cannot be the major factor that determines what one does." Nicholas Johnson, "Pounding Nails" in "UI Held Hostage Day 486 - Secrecy Issues & Other UI Items," May 22, 2007.
I'm reminded of it this morning as I'm reading the Washington Post's account of yesterday's war funding bill. Shailagh Murray, "Congress Passes Deadline-Free War Funding Bill; Measure Includes Benchmarks for Iraqis," Washington Post, May 25, 2007, p. A1.
I have known a number of elected public officials, for many of whom I've had enormous respect. Together, they have ranged along a continuum from hopelessly naive and unrealistically idealistic to almost exclusively self-serving and personally enriching.
A widely held belief, or rationalization, among them has been the view that because, on balance, they are doing more for the public than would be done by their likely successor, that fact fully justifies whatever compromises they make, the time they spend raising money from the wealthy and special interests (and then doing their bidding), and the times they go along with their leadership in supporting bills they actually oppose.
I'm not sitting in judgment of any of them this morning. I can't know what they know. They may truly believe they have done all they possibly could to end this war.
But I can't help but wonder how many of those Democrats who were elected in an anti-war campaign voted as they did yesterday, at least in part, out of a fear of being cast as "unpatriotic," "soft on terrorism," or unwilling to "support our troops," when they were next up for re-election. (As State29 puts it this morning, "Democrats are Weak and Surrender Easily," May 25, 2007.)
I was fully aware, when serving as an FCC commissioner, that my dissenting opinions, Congressional testimony, articles, books and speeches would result in my never being offered one of those lucrative jobs in broadcasting, the telephone industry, or the law and lobbying firms that represent their interests. Similarly, when I ran for and was elected to the local school board, I announced that I was only going to serve one term.
It has always seemed to me that focusing on one's re-appointment, or re-election, can get in the way of the job one is supposed to do when courageous and unpopular stands are required to fully serve the public interest.
I don't see how you can say that you want to end the war and bring the troops home and at the same time vote an additional $100 billion dollars to prolong the killing. Maybe cutting off funding is not the answer. But, if not, then all those bright folks in Congress, and the think tanks that populate the nation's capital, have an obligation to come up with better alternatives. Merely bemoaning the war, while funding it, is unacceptable.
This war has become, for me, as if every day is Memorial Day. It's like attending a seemingly unending series of funerals. It is a somber moment for me when the PBS evening news, or the ABC Sunday morning show, show the pictures of those who have most recently died in Iraq -- along with their age and home town. I stop whatever else I am doing, focus in silence, reflect on each in turn -- what it has been like for their family, friends, former classmates, and home town -- and I pray and I grieve.
I don't care how partisan you are, no one's re-election is worth that -- especially not for an unnecessary, "pre-emptive," counterproductive war that only serves to breed ever more potential terrorists and reduce, rather than enhance, our national security.
Mary Gilchrist is right: "one has to do the right thing, and the consequences cannot be the major factor that determines what one does." Voting to continue this war is not "the right thing."
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007. Since then there have been two major additions: Nicholas Johnson, "Open Letter to UICCU Board" in "UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU," March 20, 2007, and "'Open Letter': Confirmation from World Council of Credit Unions" in "UI Held Hostage Day 424 - March 21 UICCU," March 21, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
March 14, 9:00 a.m.
Credit unions, corporate welfare, the search for Regents, and return on investment in college athletics are four of this morning's topics.
UI Problem with "UICCU"? Oh, "Never Mind"
One of the major reasons advanced for the necessity of a change from "University of Iowa Community Credit Union" to "Optiva" was the representation by the UICCU CEO and Board of objections from the University of a perceived relationship between the UI and UICCU.
Yesterday's actions by the Regents would seem to have put that concern to rest. Knowing that the name change was rejected by the membership, and that the credit union was continuing to use its "University of Iowa" name, the Regents voted to approve the credit union's return to the campus. (At its inception, in 1938, and for years thereafter it was housed on the campus.) See Brian Morelli, "Regents OK UI Relationship with Credit Union," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007.
"Corporate Welfare, 'Good;'" "Welfare for the Downtrodden, 'Bad'"
Beth Cody has taken on the local Chamber of Commerce in this morning's Press-Citizen, charging that it "lobbies for . . . corporate welfare for big-industry special interest groups." She continues with examples:
"The chamber's 2007 Legislative Agenda is illustrative of the wrong turn it has taken: They are lobbying to increase big business handouts such as Tax Increment Financing, Economic Development Funds like the Iowa Values Fund (remember the rain forest boondoggle?) and a Destination Attraction Fund.
"They also want more tax-financed research facilities and support Iowa's ambition to become the nation's renewable fuels leader. This is a fine goal -- for private industry, not taxpayer-subsidized ones."
Beth Cody, "Local Chamber of Commerce Has Wrong Priorities," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007.
She starts from what is essentially an anti-tax, anti-government position: "The chamber is supposed to work to keep taxes in check so that businesses can thrive." That's where Cody and I part company. As I've written before, I think focusing on taxes qua taxes is almost meaningless. (The exception is tax policy; e.g., how the tax burden is allocated among socio-economic classes; the relative merits of income, property, sales and other taxes; or the role of "user fees," such as using gasoline taxes to pay for road repair.) The discussion, the analysis, needs to begin with programs. Which programs do you want to eliminate or cut -- or add or expand -- not how much do you want to "cut taxes."
But we "meet in the middle" when it comes to programs that essentially transfer taxpayers' dollars into the pockets of for-profit businesses. She's right that there's a certain irony, or hypocracy, to someone simultaneously preaching with a religious fervor that free private enterprise and "the marketplace" are the natural order of things, and that hundreds of dollars to a "welfare mother" is a moral outrage, while simultaneously holding out a tin cup and begging for millions of dollars in taxpayer-financed corporate welfare.
The Search for a UI President . . . and Four Regents
David Letterman has a feature called "A George Bush Joke That's Not Really a Joke." One is tempted to say that this morning we have "A Press-Citizen Story That's Not Really a Story." But that would be unfair.
The lead, page-one story -- Brian Morelli, "Regents to be named this week; No word on who Culver has tapped," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007 -- actually does leave us knowing more than we knew before. Example: "Culver has hinted that he is leaning toward naming four new members instead of reappointments, and Arbisser has said Culver told him as much." So the paper is not just offering us the "news" that "there is no buzz about who will be appointed." And see Erin Jordan, "Shake-up of Regents Expected This Week," Des Moines Register, March 14, 2007.
It's a matter of no little consequence for the UI president search. After all, knowing the history of Regents President Michael Gartner's relationship with the University of Iowa would you want to take a job trying to work under his thumb? Or, otherwise put, if Search Committee II comes up with a candidate who is willing to work under those conditions, is that someone the University community should want?
Thus, who the new four Regents turn out to be, and the degree to which they are willing to recapture the powers and responsibilities of the Board of Regents from the one-man rule the present Board members seem to find acceptable, will have a major impact on whom Search Committee II is going to be able to submit to that new Board as "finalists" for the UI presidency.
Meanwhile, the Search Committee II Web site is looking up. There is now a link to "Meeting Minutes" (formerly submerged within "Meeting Schedule"). And there's a description of Iowa City and the University that makes you wonder why even more people don't come here as faculty, students -- and just to live. And a description of the president's job that makes you wonder (a) where we're going to find a single individual with the qualities formerly only found in Jesus plus Jefferson plus Einstein plus Franklin Roosevelt, etc., and (b) why anyone would want it.
If you haven't looked it recently, take a click over to: http://www.uiowa.edu/uipresidentialsearch/ .
College Athletics Budgets as "Investments"
A professor at the Des Moines Area Community College Boone campus, Bruce Kelly, has an op ed in this morning's Register that addresses one of the arguments for college athletic programs: "they are revenue producers." Bruce Kelly, "Let's Fund Education, Not College Sports Machine," Des Moines Register, March 14, 2007. Kelly reports that of 121 NCAA Division I-A schools, 52 either made no money or actually lost. All told, 75% earned less than a 6% return on their athletic "investment." Not surprisingly, Kelly offers some better ways to spend the nearly $3 billion a year spent on these non-remunerative supposedly "money-making" programs.
_______________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
March 12, 8:30 a.m.
A couple of short items on subjects of interest to this blog: economic development (transferring taxpayers' money to private, for-profit ventures), and the UI's enthusiasm for partnerships with the gambling industries.
Economic Development
There can be abuses anywhere, but in general I have no problem with either public enterprise or free private enterprise. The former gives us public roads, schools, libraries and parks -- along with police and fire protection and many other services. The latter, when monopolists are sufficiently restrained to let it work, can give us innovation, price competition, and better customer service.
My concern involves the transfer of taxpayers' money to private sector, for-profit businesses. Here, in its entirety, is a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register this morning on the subject:
Iowa Values Fund: Audit shows a scandal
March 12, 2007
The Register failed to report the central implication of the state audit of the Iowa Values Fund ("Audit: State Lags in Tracking Jobs," March 1). The audit is about accountability and transparency in government.
The implication of the auditor's report is that millions of taxpayer dollars have been used with very little accountability on the part of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. In short, the record keeping is a mess, and the claims it has been making about job creation to bolster public opinion and political support for the program are false.
I find it astonishing that individual taxpayers and individuals receiving public assistance are held to a very high standard of accountability and expected to provide the government with all kinds of documentation, while the IDED cannot manage to even assemble an accurate spreadsheet that depicts the status of its programs.
This is a scandal, or should be.
- Cathy Mabry McMullen,
Des Moines
_______________
The University of Iowa's Gambling Addiction
The Gazette's Monday morning "Gomers" includes this one:
"GAMBLING ADDICTS: Iowa has just about as many forms of gambling as the Vegas Strip does, so it should come as no surprise that there is a growing number of Iowans seeking assistance for gambling problems. Requests for treatment increased 17 percent over the past year, and 22 percent over the past two years. At least anecdotally, it appears that gambling is being blamed for more and more crimes, such as embezzlement. The state needs to take a closer look at how it can stem this problem, especially as more communities lobby for licenses to open casinos."
Yesterday we read (andt this blog mentioned) a $1.4 million loss as a result of an Iowa banker's gambling addiction. Now we learn there's something between a 17 and 22 percent increase in those requesting treatment for the disease. The Gazette suggests "the state" should try to reduce the problem.
Perhaps "the state" might begin by having its "state university" stop its program of partnerships with the gambling industries' lotteries and casinos that are designed to promote gambling and increase the problem.
_______________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record" (as was the case yesterday). But for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007 (with links to Optiva entries October 2006 through March 2007).
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
