October 23, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
The Day's News
Coach Ferentz going to court; 200-signature petition going to President Mason; UI going to/for Johnson County Jail; Tampa Bay Rays put lie to "you get what you pay for;" 1967 flood warning more evidence of officials' need for Internet research training; UI wants explanation of the part of "public" in "public records" it doesn't understand; Movie "W" sympathetic to Bush
UI Sexual Assault Case: Year Two
Last week marked the beginning of the second year of the ongoing consequences of an alleged sexual assault on October 14, 2007. And there's still no light indicating an end to this dark tunnel.
Today's news contains three, count 'em three, stories related to the case.
Political Science Professor Michael Lewis-Beck's petition, calling for the reinstatement of peremptorily-fired former UI General Council, Marc Mills, has grown to 200 signatures, and will be presented to President Sally Mason late this afternoon. There will, presumably, be follow up stories regarding that meeting. Brian Morelli, "Prof will deliver petition to Mason; Wants Marcus Mills reinstated," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2008, p. A1.
The trial of the two athletes charged with the assault is scheduled for November 3 (when any media coverage of the case will tend to be overwhelmed by the presidential election the next day). But there are pre-trial hearings as well, and one is scheduled for today. The issue is whether statements made by an accused to the likes of Coach Ferentz, Fred Mims, and EOD (Equal Opportunity and Diversity) folks should be admissible in evidence or, as the accused's lawyer contends, are in essence "involuntary confessions" that should be excluded. The coach, and other UI administrators are expected to attend and testify. Lee Hermiston, "Ferentz expected to testify at UI Sex Abuse Hearing," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2008, p. A1.
Finally, the Des Moines Register and others have been asking the UI, "Just what part of 'public' don't you understand?" -- as in "public records" that happen to relate to a form of "student records." One federal law says they have to report to the public the campus crime statistics. Another says they must protect student "privacy." Some say the answer is to just remove the student/s' names from documents. Others say that's still a problem. Lee Rood, "U of I wants clarification after request for records," Des Moines Register, October 22, 2008 [and Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 23, 2008, p. A6].
800 Pound Gorilla Goes Directly to Jail, Does Not Pass 'Go' or Collect $200
When biking up town I often go along Capitol Street. I've noticed that it's mostly a University building and the Johnson County Jail, along with acres and acres of automobiles, but never examined it closely. So the other day, thinking about the jail expansion, I biked through the parking lots instead of on the street.
I've not been a proponent of a new jail, though I recognize there is some good data to support the idea. (My preference is for alternatives to incarceration, and multi-county regional jails for overflow -- the former already being done and the latter rejected out of hand). But as I was biking behind the jail the answer was obvious: If we're going to expand the jail wouldn't the cheapest, most efficient and least disruptive place to put it be right where it is now? There's sure plenty of unused space back there.
I forgot about that experience until I read in the Press-Citizen shortly thereafter that our Sheriff had been thinking the same thing -- only to be frustrated by an intransigent, dog-in-the-manger University refusing to sell. Brian Morelli, "UI interested in county jail space; Sheriff: Property's value estimated at $5M," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 21, 2008, p. A3.
That story, in turn, reminded me of the frustration the residents of some of Iowa City's old neighborhoods have had, watching the University destroy neighborhoods that could be real assets for the University as single-family homes, a walking distance from the campus (if not, in some cases, right across the street), that would be ideal in attracting new and visiting faculty to Iowa.
The University is, and acts like, the local community's "800-pound gorilla" ("Where does an 800-pound gorilla sleep?" "Anywhere it chooses.")
Nor is the problem limited to the state's universities. It's an issue involving state property needs generally. It has implications for Iowa communities' quality of life, for local property tax revenues, for flood control and flood plains.
It needs to be reviewed by the Legislature. Hopefully it will be. Meanwhile, given the University's contributions to the population of that jail (see stories above), you'd think it could be a little more cooperative and considerate in working with the institution's needs for expansion.
"You get what you pay for"? Not quite. Baseball and university presidents' salaries
How many times have you heard someone -- often a salesperson -- say, "Well, you get what you pay for"? The suggestion is both (a) you should always buy "the best" (even though, for a given task or general purpose, the "good" or "better" may be your "best buy"), and (b) in seeking "the best" the most reliable guide is price. The higher the price the higher the quality.
Over the near-70 years I've been aware of the Consumers Union's (CU) Consumer Reports it has been putting the lie to that canard. If a purchase is important to you, a brief review of CU's hard copy and online independent (no advertising) research can ensure both (a) that what you end up buying will be of higher quality and come closer to your precise needs and wants, and (b) often significant savings.
In short, "you get what you take the time to research and comparison price."
This year we have yet another example from the world of baseball.
I'm not about to predict who will win the World Series. For my purposes at the moment it makes no difference. My point is that this year's American League pennant winner, now playing the Phillies in the World Series, is the Tampa Bay Rays.
So what's the significance of that? Simply that the Rays, with a total player payroll of $43 million, are second only to the Florida Marlins for the lowest salaries of any of the 30 teams in the major leagues. (The Phillies' payroll is $98 million; the Yankees, $209 million.) Art Spander, "Philadelphia Phillies go one game up against the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series; So many subplots, so much artifice. So many cowbells and, honest, cownose rays swimming in a 10,000 gallon tank beyond the right field fence," [London] Telegraph, October 23, 2008, updated 11:06 a.m. (GMT).
"You get what you pay for?" Not if you're goal is to play in the World Series.
It's a story worth remembering next time we buy the "you get what you pay for" line when hiring university administrators (in the last couple weeks we hired another one in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range (salary, plus benefits, expenses, deferred compensation, etc.).
Iowa City has a relatively low cost of living compared with New York, San Francisco, or any of the other large urban areas with major universities. This is true for two reasons. (1) Some costs are lower: buying a house, going to a restaurant, or the theater. (2) Other costs can be avoided entirely: long commutes to work, parking costs, expensive (and expansive) wardrobes of clothes (see, e.g., Governor Sarah Palin's $150,000 campaign expense for two-months' clothes), or country club memberships.
Is there really no one in Eastern Iowa, the rest of Iowa, the rest of the United States or the world, who would be equivalent in experience, intelligence, social skills, judgment, and administrative ability to that of the administrators we now have, who would be willing to accept the prestige of such positions for a "living wage" of say, $150,000?
Just something to think about. Especially when thinking about the amount of money the CEOs who brought us this economic collapse have already taken for themselves.
[Literalists, statisticians, and baseball professionals should be sure to check out Professor Tung Yin's "Baseball and University Salaries," October 23, 2008, for a much more detailed analysis of the "you DO get what you pay for" theory, and a rebuttal of this portion of today's blog entry.]
1967 Report: "The 2008 Flood is Coming! The 2008 Flood is Coming!"
It turns out that Cedar Rapids officials were warned by the Corps of Engineers in 1967 that floods the seriousness of the one we all suffered this year -- or worse -- were well within the range of possibility.
The Report was referred to in a meeting of the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission's Task Force on Flood Plain Management and Hazard Mitigation. Said member Rob Hogg, state Senator from Cedar Rapids, "I've worked on these issues, and I was just shocked that there was a study that I never knew about." Rob Boshart, "Corps Warned of Risk in 1967; Engineers Predicted 'Perfect Storm,'" The Gazette, October 23, 2008, p. A1.
I don't mean to be critical of Senator Hogg, or others who expressed shock at the discovery, but it does illustrate one of my concerns.
When I used to serve on the local school board I would observe "with some 15,000 local school districts in America, it is highly unlikely that there is any challenge we confront that has not been experienced elsewhere, studied, resolved, written up and made available on the Internet."
I'm not sure that's true of this 1967 Report (though there would have been other ways to find it).
Of course it's good to talk things through and share personal anecdotes, opinions and intuition. But it is so much more efficient and productive to, first, do some basic research to find "best practices" from others (without the need to pay hefty "consultants'" fees).
I have always been amazed at the public officials who will willingly take two or four days from work to attend a conference, at considerable public expense, and rationalize the time and expense by citing how much they learn there. And yet they won't invest a half hour or less looking for the answers they need from the billions of Web sites, government and academic reports available to them for free -- and often Google-accessible in far less than a minute.
Movie "W" Sympathetic to Bush
Saw "W" last evening. It's sure not a political propaganda film that George Bush would want to use if he were running for re-election. But neither is it the kind of Saturday-Night-Live-style comic caricature we've seen so much of regarding our president. It won't alter by much your present evaluation of the kind of president he's been. But it will give you some additional sad and sympathetic understanding of why.
# # #
August 21, 2008, 7:15 a.m.
Currently Most Popular Blog Entries
"UI Sexual Assault Update" is now embodied in, and being updated as, a Web page, "University of Iowa Sexual Assault Controversy -- 2007-08," July 19-present; although the original blog entry (July 19-August 9) has not been removed,"UI Sexual Assault Update," July 19-August 9. Both remain among "most popular."
"Forbes, Mural, Poverty and 7 Presidential Candidates," August 17, 2008.
"Solving Illegal Behavior Problems by Making It Legal," August 20, 2008.
"Earthpark: 'Pretty Quiet Phase; No Timetable to Speak of,'" August 14, 2008.
"UI Football Promoting Gambling?" September 16, 2006.
"Police Accidental Shootings -- Of Themselves," May 9, 2008.
"What We Know That Ain't So," July 28, 2006.
"How to Build an Indoor Rain Forest," July 10, 2008.
And see, Database Index of 500-plus blog entries
Elevators and the Escalating Costs of Incarceration
"Slow Elevators" and . . .
One of my favorite stories when explaining "systems analysis" is the hotel elevator story.
A hotel was besieged with guests' complaints about the hotel's slow elevators. Understandably, the hotel manager called the elevator service company. The elevator repair folks did what they could, but the complaints continued. He called them back again, but the elevators still ran too slowly to suit the hotel's guests.
A systems analyst who was staying at the hotel heard of the problem and offered his services as a consultant.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"The elevators are too slow," the manager explained.
"What do you mean?" the consultant continued.
"I mean we're getting lots of complaints from our guests about the elevators," the manager said.
"Aha," the consultant brightened, "You don't mean you have a problem with slow elevators, you have a problem with guests' complaints."
"Well, yeah, I guess so," the puzzled manager replied. "But what they're complaining about is those slow elevators."
"Give me a day or two and I think I can come up with something," the consultant said with confidence.
He spent the morning watching the guests as they waited for the elevators to arrive. He observed near the elevator doors in the lobby and on four or five of the upper floors where the rooms were located. He saw guests looking at their watches, and pacing back and forth as they waited.
By the afternoon of the first day he had solved the problem and reported his proposal to the manager: "Put full-length mirrors across the hall from every set of elevator doors on every floor."
Six months later he was back at the hotel and ran into the manager. "Are those slow elevators running any faster now?" he grinned.
"I doubt it," said the manager, "but we haven't had a single complaint about slow elevators since we put in those mirrors."
In short, the problem was neither "slow elevators" nor the time people were waiting, it was their lack of something to do while they were waiting that caused them to complain about "slow elevators." Give them the opportunity to preen in front of a full-length mirror and the elevators were getting to their floor almost too soon. Identifying the problem as "complaints" rather than "slow elevators" was what enabled the systems analyst to envision a solution.
. . . "Overcrowded Jails"
So what does all this have to do with an "overcrowded" Johnson County Jail?
The Press-Citizen editorializes this morning, "Scales Tipping on the Cost of a New County Jail," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2008, p. A11. The editorial speaks of "overcrowded conditions [with] the average daily population . . . at least 30 inmates more than the jail can hold."
From time to time I have blogged about alternatives to either "house the inmates in other jails" or build a multi-million-dollar expanded new one.
When I have, John Neff has usually weighed in with an informed comment he's added to my blog entry, trying to keep me both honest and better informed about the practicality of my "solutions."
Today, alongside the Press-Citizen's editorial, is a full-length op ed column by John Neff in which someone who is really informed and has thought about this stuff lays out what I would be writing if I knew more. John Neff, "Controlling the Jail Population," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2008, p. A11.
Read it. Not just because we all need to know more about our criminal justice system -- and the prisons and jails that constitute our major, if not our only, public housing program in America. Not just because we'll probably be asked to take on an added property tax burden to pay for a new jail. But because of what Neff has to teach all of us about how we need to approach public policy questions in general, from indoor rain forests to outdoor rivers' floodplains.
Whether or not our jails are "overcrowded" is not the issue. Indeed, framing the issue that way is so totally overly simplistic as to virtually guarantee we'll come up with the wrong answers.
What we ought to be asking -- and what John Neff does ask, and answer -- are questions such as the following:
How many persons are booked into our jail? What are their most common offenses? Why couldn't the police use "cite and release" for those who will probably be released on bond anyway? Since "public intoxication" (34% of offenses) and "OWI" (28%) are nearly 2/3rds of our jail's occupants, might it be cheaper to build a "sobering up or detoxification center" than a "jail"?
So, we could concentrate on reducing the number of people who are booked into jail.
We could also reduce the length of stay for those who are there.
It turns out that 80% of the bed use each year is by those who are in the jail for three weeks or more (68% of those booked are released within 24 hours). How could we reduce the long-term stays? Neff suggests: "mental health diversion, improving court efficiency and revising [bail practices]."
Do we have returning jail occupants?
Absolutely; about 350 individuals. They constitute 10% of all bookings. What to do? Neff suggests, "substance abuse screening and treatment, the Department of Transportation Court . . . and the new drug and mental health court." (I seem to recall reading somewhere that on the order of a full half of all prisoners are suffering from some form of mental illness, which prisons are not designed to deal with and, if anything, simply make worse. Providing meaningful and hopeful treatment in mental hospitals would do a lot to reduce "overcrowded" jails, mental illness -- and the total costs to taxpayers for dealing with this population.)
Neff goes on to discuss "Increasing the use of jail alternatives" -- something he thinks Johnson County has done a pretty good job of, but could do even more about.
In fairness, and to avoid any possible distortion of his views (though the best source is the full text of his column, which I've already encouraged you to read), my impression from his comments added to my prior blog entries is that he felt we had pretty much done all we could by way of alternatives and that our best course was to consider a new and expanded jail. Hopefully, he may see this blog entry and add a clarification of his own on that score.
Finally, I would simply note that a part of what we're dealing with here is what a systems analyst would call a "peak load problem." For example, how many shopping carts should a supermarket, or big box store, invest in? If they buy enough to handle the largest crowds they'll ever have, they will have a capital cost/investment most of which will be sitting idle most of the 168 hours each week. If they don't, they may lose a customer from time to time whose purchases might have covered that cost. The airlines are confronting this question now with regard to the number of planes, flights and employees that will optimize their cash flow. How many rooms should a new hotel have? A large family, with a single bathroom, and most family members needing to leave the house about the same time each day, also has a "peak load" problem.
And so it is with jails.
I don't know when Iowa began laying out what are now its 99 counties; probably about 150 years ago. They made sense as governing units when you had to get to the county seat on horseback or in a wagon moving relatively slowly along sometimes muddy dirt roads. Now we have automobiles, Interstates and what I would suspect is one of the nation's best "farm-to-market" systems of county roads.
It probably makes sense to continue to provide some governmental functions from within these relatively tiny jurisdictions called "counties," with their "county seat courthouses." Other functions might better be performed from regional centers, the state capital -- or even Washington, D.C. And still others from cities -- or even precincts, and neighborhoods.
Much of our "overcrowding" problem, as the Press-Citizen's editorial acknowledges, is a result of the fact "that the floodwaters have closed down Linn County Jail." That is, because the Linn County Jail, to the north, is not available for our overflow -- our "peak load problem" -- it now costs more to ship our excess inmates to more distant jails. With all respect, however serious and costly that problem may be we don't need, as the saying has it, "a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
The flooded jail gives us two opportunities/lessons we should seize: (1) don't ever, again, build a public building (such as a jail) in a floodplain where we know that it will, someday, be flooded out, and (2) let's rethink the possibilities and benefits of "regional" jails to deal with counties' peak load problems.
I'll leave it to others to calculate the optimum occupancy rate and peak load solution. But I would guess it to be somewhere between 70% and 90%. That is, if (after we've done every imaginative thing we can think of to reduce the number of inmates and their length of stay) the Johnson County Jail is adequate to handle the number of inmates for 70% to 90% of the 365 days of the year, the most economical next step might be to join in with the surrounding counties (and someone else can figure what that optimum number, location, area and population would be) to build a "regional overflow jail" for all to use.
The alternative is for all 99 counties to build jails that can handle, say, 95% to 98% of their largest ever occupancy -- with a significant number of empty beds in county jails all across Iowa on any given evening.
There's more than one way to speed up the slow elevators.
Just a thought.
# # #
September 25, 2007, 3:15 p.m.
The Good News and the Bad News
Last Sunday, September 23, brought both good news and bad news.
Oh, you want the bad news first? OK.
"Revenue is needed" has reared its ugly head again in academia. It's the basis for one of the best investigative stories in any of the Iowa papers since this blog began 16 months ago. More -- actually much more -- on this story further down in this blog entry.
The Good News
. . . Shaner Magalhaes: MBAs, They're Not Just in For-Profits Anymore. The first good news story is selected because it illustrates (a) the application of MBA skills to non-profits, and (b) the selection of employment on the basis of doing what you love rather than what will pay the maximum income.
The Johnson County Historical Society has a new Executive Director. His name is Shaner Magalhaes. That's a story for the reasons it's important to him and his family, and those who support or otherwise care about the Historical Society -- and that the local papers found worth prominent mention. Rachel Gallegos, "Mixing Business with History," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 23, 2007, p. A1; Emily Heiden, "All Work and All Play; New Historical Society Director Brings Wealth of Experience to the Job," the Gazette, September 23, 2007, p. J3.
I'm not disinterested in such factors. But it's not why I select this story as an example of "Good News."
It's because I've long advocated to public interest organizations and other non-profits on the one hand, and business students and business colleges on the other, that they get to know each other better. Non-profits need what MBAs have to offer. They're different from for-profits, of course, but both have far more in common than what differentiates them. Both need business plans, human resources, governance models, budgets and accounting, management information reporting systems, insurance, and so forth.
The late Molly Ivins once wrote about Texans for whom "too much is not enough." How many college graduates -- and not just MBAs -- select jobs on the basis of pay alone, or what they will "be" rather than what they will "do," without regard to what they're best at, most enjoy doing and gives them the most satisfaction?
Like the medical student who decides to specialize in "diseases of the rich," it's not uncommon for individuals to choose professional specializations that will permit them to bill the wealthiest Americans at the highest rates. This option is particularly difficult to resist among the MBAs who are offered jobs in the financial community that may ultimately pay millions of dollars a year.
It takes awhile, but many find that the old adage about money not buying happiness is true -- and that it is not necessary to have "too much" in order to have "enough" -- as they try to figure out where life went wrong. And so I've encouraged those with an aptitude for organizing and running institutions to think about the advantages of jobs with non-profits: looking forward to going to work every morning, an ability to sleep soundly at night -- and usually a salary that provides "enough."
As Magalhaes is quoted as saying, "My wife and I love this area. I really love history. I really believe in what the State Historical Society is doing. . . . I thought this would be a great thing to do."
The next Magalhaes story, a year from now, should be: "so what?" What difference did it make for the Johnson County Historical Society? Under the "but for" test, how different did it become from what it would have been without an MBA running it? Did he apply the John Carver -- or other -- approach to the activities of the board, and its relations with the CEO? Was there a better focus to the organization's day-to-day activities as a result of the board's equivalent of Carver's measurable "ends policies"?
Hopefully we'll get the answers to those kinds of questions a year from now if Gallegos and the Press-Citizen will do that interesting follow-up story.
Meanwhile, Sunday's story contains two lessons I consider "good news."
. . . Lonny Pulkrabek: Thinking Outside the Jail Cell. Rachel Gallegos has another story in last Sunday's (September 23) paper that is, by my standards, good news because it illustrates the possibilities when research, analysis and rational thought are brought to bear by public officials in the formulation and execution of public policy.
As with the Shaner Magalhaes story, the Pulkrabek story is also one that is, among other things, important to him and his family, and those who support or otherwise care about the Johnson County Sheriff's office and the current sheriff and his re-election. That's primarily (I'm guessing) why the Press-Citizen assigned a good reporter to write it. Rachel Gallegos, "Pulkrabek announces bid for re-election; Says he has some unfinished business," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 23, 2007, p. A3.
Those aspects of the story are also of interest to me. But the reason it came to my attention as "good news" is for what it reports of his creative thinking about crime and punishment.
The story reports one supporter as emphasizing "Pulkrabek's role in creating more solutions for working with people with substance abuse problems, rather than just locking them in jail," and continues, "If re-elected, Pulkrabek said he wants to see through the work on a joint dispatch center and continue tracking the jail alternative programs that have been implemented in the past three years, especially the mental health diversion program."
I wrote an op ed in the Press-Citizen a year ago, when he was under attack for such innovative ideas, suggesting that we need to encourage, rather than attack, that kind of thinking by public officials. Nicholas Johnson, "Shooting Our Messengers," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 3, 2006.
(Not incidentally, this story shares something more with the Magalhaes story than the existence of "good news." Pulkrabek also enjoys what he's doing: "it is a job," Gallegos reports, "that he 'really, truly enjoys. I've just really enjoyed doing it.'")
I'm not writing about the merits -- either of any of Pulkrabek's proposals or, indeed, the whole of his performance in office. That's not the point of this blog entry. Frankly, I don't know the details of Pulkrabek's day-to-day performance in office, and it's not my area of expertise. I see by the story that he's still pushing a "new and larger" jail. Are there more alternatives that could still be pursued, or has he truly exhausted all of them? I don't know.
What I do know is that we have altogether too much "shoot from the lip" in public policy discussions and political decisions. Some officials who are quite willing to invest three days in a conference -- 72 hours away from the office -- are "too busy" to spend 72 minutes researching a local issue on the Internet.
As is often said, "We have more problems than we deserve and more solutions than we have ever tried."
It is highly unlikely that there is any challenge confronting our County, City, University or School Board (among other institutions) that has not existed elsewhere -- existed, been identified, researched, resolved, with the solution implemented, written up, and made available for us to read (at no cost for "consultants") on the Internet.
Whether it's the creation and preservation of Eastern Iowa's green spaces, deciding on the most appropriate number of Iowa City police officers (a "peak-load" analysis, among other things), the arming of campus police, students' binge drinking, the most appropriate way to help those children who have been "left behind" in our School District, for the City of Iowa City to deal with economic development, or alternatives to the ever-escalating building of "newer and larger" prisons as a national response to the "crimes" of mental illness and substance abuse -- there are answers out there.
Lonny Pulkrabek has found a couple of them. And that's why this story was, for me, an example of "good news."
. . . Richard Doak: Almost Always Good News. The Des Moines Register's Richard Doak, former editorial page editor and continuing columnist, sort of combines both of the two prior elements of "good news" -- he clearly loves his work, and he's committed to research and innovative thinking. So I just selected the latest in his life's work of columns: Richard Doak, "Iowa Isn't Enough; Sell the Best Region in the Nation: The Midwest," Des Moines Register, September 23, 2007.
This time, in addition to the suggestion in the title -- that we should emphasize promotion of the "Midwest" rather than going it alone as "Iowa" -- he also reminds us once again of Richard Florida's advice:
Florida recognized the emergence of a new driving force in economic growth, "the creative class."
This new class is made up of people who make their livings by thinking, creating, innovating and independent problem solving - people such as engineers, scientists, designers, architects, educators, artists, musicians, writers and others.
. . .
Florida's great discovery was that economic growth occurs in regions that are most inviting to creative people. That's what revolutionized thinking about economic development.
The old model of development was that you create jobs and the people will follow.
The new model is that you attract creative people and the jobs will follow.
. . .
Iowa has not entirely embraced the new thinking. There's still a strong element of bribe-the-companies-and-they-will-come in the state's development strategies.
Nevertheless, Iowa communities increasingly seem to realize that their best hope for growth is to become the kinds of places that creative-class people would find attractive.
. . .
The smart thing to do would be to take all the money wasted on business incentives and plow it into education and quality-of-life improvements. . . .
Doak is right. "Money can't buy love," and bribing businesses can't buy economic growth. The good news is that Iowa can have both: economic growth and improved quality of life. Indeed, that's the only way we can have either.
The Bad News
I may not have seen it all, but I've seen much of it in my lifetime.
And yet even I was simply not prepared for the page-one story in last Sunday's Des Moines Register. Clark Kauffman, "U of I, Iowa State use student data to sell credit cards," Des Moines Register, September 23, 2007, p. A1. (You might also want to take at look at the 42 comments -- as of the afternoon of September 25 -- entered by readers of the story, most of whom, it turns out, responded as I did.)
(To remind: Last week was also when UI professors were told they could no longer refer to students by name in class out of respect for the students' privacy, and the laws and regulations protecting it. (The suggestion was subsequently rescinded.) Now it appears the UI thinks it's perfectly appropriate to sell students' personal information -- and that of their parents -- to banks for the purpose of marketing credit cards!)
As I have written before, "Once 'revenue is needed' is the Polestar for a university's financial decisions its moral compass begins to spin as if it was located on the North Pole." Nicholas Johnson, "UI Loves Gambling" in "UI Held Hostage Day 410 - March 7," March 7, 2007.
"Revenue is needed" is why politicians accept the bribes called "campaign contributions;" why "non-commercial" educational radio stations run commercials; why K-12 schools subscribed to "Channel One" and continue to sell sugared soft drinks to their students, knowing they will increase obesity, dental caries, and diabetes; why the UI's athletic program becomes a partner with the organized gambling industry's casino in Riverside; and why universities provide advertising on their buildings, and in naming their colleges, that promotes their corporate "donors."
But the Regents' universities have really set their moral compass to spinning with this one.
You have to read the full 2300-word Register-copyrighted story to become totally outraged, but these fair use excerpts will get you started:
Iowa's two largest public universities are aggressively marketing credit cards to their students as part of an arrangement that generates millions of dollars for the schools' privately run alumni organizations.
Publicly, the University of Iowa and Iowa State University have expressed concern over the debt of their students, many of whom graduate with $25,000 to $30,000 in bills to pay. The schools say they are trying to reduce that debt load.
At the same time, however, the two schools have signed deals with their alumni associations in which they have agreed to endorse, promote and profit from Bank of America credit cards marketed directly to students.
Records obtained by The Des Moines Register also show that the U of I has agreed to give the bank access to databases that include the mailing addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of students, parents and people who buy tickets to Hawkeye football and basketball games. The university has also promised to provide its biggest-spending cardholders with exclusive access to university facilities, coaches and even student athletes.
. . .
In Iowa and most other states, the financial details of those partnerships are often shrouded in secrecy, despite the involvement of public universities that rely on taxpayers to provide a substantial portion of their operating revenues.
. . .
Consumer advocates . . . contend the schools are also facilitating on-campus marketing aimed directly at students who have limited income and are struggling with debt from student loans. They say public assets are being used to enrich corporate lenders . . ..
. . .
U of I alumni officials declined to say how much they are paid through their arrangement with Bank of America. Also, the bank declined to comment on its partnerships with Iowa schools.
But federal records show the University of Iowa Alumni Association was collecting $550,000 per year from MBNA, now Bank of America, through 2005.
Under the terms of the association's newest contract with the bank, the school is guaranteed at least $200,000 per year - all of which is to go to the athletics department.
. . .
Chris Bavolack, vice president of the U of I alumni association, declined to comment on the revenue-sharing deal that results in the association collecting additional money as cardholders' debt loads increase. . . .
The sales pitch that arrives in students' mailboxes in Iowa City is written on alumni association letterhead that includes the trademarked logo of the U of I.
The letter is signed by Vince Nelson, president of the U of I Alumni Association.
It begins: "Imagine the convenience of being able to purchase supplies for your classes without worrying about carrying a lot of cash. You could pay for your books - or get quick cash in an emergency - and put it on one easy-to-use account. That's the kind of flexibility every student can appreciate and it can be yours with the University of Iowa credit card."
Nelson's pitch also includes this postscript: "Bank of America helps support the University of Iowa with every account opened, and for every purchase made with the card. All at no additional cost to you."
[T]he alumni association . . . has signed a contract with the school committing the university to "creatively and aggressively" marketing the Bank of America card.
As part of that agreement with the association, the university has promised to provide Bank of America with lists of all people who purchase season or single tickets to athletic events - a list that would include students, parents and other supporters [as well as] for Bank of America's use, electronic lists containing the phone numbers, e-mail addresses and mailing addresses of students and their parents . . ..
In return for every new account opened as a result of the university's sales pitches, the school collects $50.
The agreement obligates the university to help sell the credit cards through public-address announcements during games at Kinnick Stadium and Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Card applications are mailed to buyers of sporting-event tickets, and the cards are promoted in advertisements during the coaches' weekly TV shows.
. . .
The [Iowa State] athletics department agreed to exclusively endorse the credit card program at athletic events and agreed to give the bank, free of charge, the names and contact information of season- and single-game-ticket holders.
. . . The company could set up booths and tables [at athletic events] to sign up cardholders at football and basketball games. To help with the "Charge it to Cy" campaign, the school authorized the bank to give T-shirts, hats and bobbleheads as gifts to new card applicants.
. . .
Robert Manning, a professor of consumer finance at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has testified before Congress [that] such programs increase the likelihood of students failing to complete school. He faults school administrators for having a "greater interest in increasing credit card royalties than in fulfilling their responsibility to ensure the graduation of their students with the lowest possible level of financial debt."
Using a credit card to pay for textbooks and class supplies can be risky, too. The U of I card offered to students has an interest rate that can balloon to 29.99 percent in the event of a single late payment. . . .
Governor Bill Richardson says he has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, I think this story of Clark Kauffman's should be nominated at least four times for a Pulitzer Prize.
It's eligible for any one of the first five (of fourteen) categories "for excellence in journalism work."
This is the kind of "investigative reporting" that serves to remind us of what newspapers used to be and should continue to be today.
That's the "good news."
The bad news is what he found, and needed to report.
What a sad commentary on what happens "Once 'revenue is needed' is the Polestar for a university's financial decisions."
# # #
August 21, 2007, 8:40 a.m.
Lots of news items inspiring commentary this morning:
Building Character (or is it "characters") Through Sports
Three Iowa football players are in trouble with the law; two for credit card theft and one for failing to make a court date regarding a prior offense based on an offense before that. Scott Dochterman, "2 Iowa Receivers Charged, Suspended," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. C1.
And pro ball players are also on the legal pages. The Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick pleaded guilty yesterday to animal abuse in a dogfighting operation, conspiracy charges, and bankrolling gambling -- crimes with a maximum term of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is now scheduled for August 27 (next Monday) -- at which time it's more likely to be one year than five. AP, "Vick to Plead Guilty," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. C4.
Very likely in the minds of these four the greatest penalty will be the interference the legal system is going to put in the way of their getting back on the field for awhile.
What ought to be on the minds of our UI and athletic program administrators is: What went wrong? We put enormous resources into the recruiting, guidance and academic assistance for these athletes.
Ironically, one of the credit cards was stolen from inside one of those very expensive resources: the University of Iowa's Gerdin Athletic Learning Center. Makes you wonder what they're learning inside that building.
No program, however tightly run, can prevent all conceivable legal violations and other misconduct. But does the story behind these sad and costly violations provide any insight into how our own program could do even better? Let's find out.
Party On!
Of course, every time the reputation of the University and its athletic program take a punch in the nose like that, fortunately there is always some good news to balance it out. And so it is this morning.
The UI may only rank 64th among America's universities according to U.S. News & World Report, but by golly we're 5th in the nation for students' consumption of hard liquor according to the Princeton Review (not to mention number of bars per student and "most profitable market in which to operate a bar with the least City Council and University oversight" according to me). Hey, at least we're known for something positive around here. Hieu Pham, "UI Again Ranks Among Party Schools; School Also Ranks 5th for Har Liquor Use, 18th for Beer Use," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2007, p. A1.
UI VP for Student Services, Phillip Jones, put it best: "We suffer from a reputation that has, unfortunately, been earned." Erin Jordan, "Less Partying Gives U of I a Real Reason to Celebrate,"
Des Moines Register, August 21, 2007. How earned? The University's own statistics reveal that "nearly 70 percent of U of I students surveyed last fall by Student Health Services said they had participated in binge drinking in the previous two weeks."
How is the United Way Like an Overcrowded Jail
I often write about governance models, and governance guru John Carver's notion of "ends policies." This approach requires the kind of hard thinking by board members that produces little beads of blood on your forehead. "What is it we're really, and most fundamentally, trying to accomplish?"
Once you think about it, it turns out that "We got 32% more news coverage for our organization than last year," or "We exceeded our fund raising goal by more than $25,000," or "We handed out more leaflets in high schools this year than in any prior year" don't qualify as "ends policies."
The Gazette, always a leader in "civic journalism," is this morning editorializing about -- regardless of what the United Way of East Central Iowa folks are calling their process -- amounts to this kind of tough thinking about "ends policies" (or "goals").
The whole editorial is worth reading, but here's an excerpt:
Some details on what’s changing in United Way’s transition from its traditional role to the new community impact model:
* Traditional: United Way is a fundraising organization. New: United Way is a community impact organization.
* Traditional: Funds agencies and programs. New: Invests in strategies for community change.
* Traditional: What do agencies need? New: What does the community need/want?
* Traditional: Emphasis is on money raised. New: Emphasis is on impact agenda results
* Traditional: Builds relationships with businesses. New: Builds relationships with businesses, individual donors and the entire community.
Editorial, "United Way's Expanded Role," The Gazette, August 21, 2007, p. A4.
So what on earth does this have to do with jails?
The Press-Citizen is editorializing this morning that we need a timeline for building a new Johnson County jail. Editorial, "Establish Clear Timeline for Overcrowded Jail," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 2007, p. A11.
In fairness, the editorial does provide the balance that Press-Citizen editorials often do. It notes,
the question has long been whether the county is using the space it has most effectively. The Sheriffs' and other departments have to prove that they are working together to alleviate enough of that overcrowding through jail diversion programs and other alternatives. Only then will Johnson County voters be convinced that a new jail is not merely an expansion of the "incarceration industry." No one is interested in merely having the county lock more people up; we want the county to lock up the people who present a danger and to be providing alternatives and rehabilitation to those inmates for whom it would be beneficial.
When it comes to the final sentence, however, the paper advises, "It's past time to establish a clear timeline for how long the county expects the jail staff and other law enforcement officers to work in such an overcrowded facility."
How might we think about the "jail issue" if we were to apply the Cedar Rapids United Fund, and Gazette's, notion of "traditional" and "new" thinking -- or what John Carver calls "ends policies"?
What is it we're really trying to accomplish when we have conversations (and editorials and blog entries) about the number of Iowa City police officers, whether or not to arm the campus police, or whether to build the consultants' recommended 450-bed new jail?
Isn't the "end" we seek a community that minimizes the threats to its inhabitants' health, safety and (as the Declaration of Independence puts it) "pursuit of happiness"? That includes a focus on clean air, water and safe food; the need for affordable housing; plans for dealing with natural disasters, such as tornadoes and flooding; epidemics of new strains of flu -- and, of course, the adverse consequences of criminal behavior.
That is one (not the only) way of expressing our "ends policy." That's not to say we're unconcerned about criminals in crowded conditions, or county employees working there. It's only to say that it is but a relatively minor sub-set of what we're really trying to accomplish.
When we do get around to that subset issue, that "means" to our "end," we have another challenge. As the Press-Citizen puts it, "The Sheriffs' and other departments have to prove that they are working together to alleviate enough of that overcrowding through jail diversion programs and other alternatives."
And after we have put in hours of searching the Internet for what other counties -- and nations -- have done to most efficiently deal with this challenge, and after we have run the benefit-cost analyses for all conceivable alternatives to the way the current criminal justice system works, we are left with another question.
Like the issue of how many police officers the City of Iowa City should employ, the question of how many beds for criminals should be supplied by Johnson County in the form of a 450-bed, multi-million-dollar jail is a "peak load problem."
That is to say, it's highly unlikely we will ever have enough police -- or space in jail, or hospital emergency room personnel, beds and supplies -- to deal with worst case scenarios. We probably want to maintain something more than the average (whether mean, median or modal measures) need for all of these resources. But how much more is a judgment question -- and a judgment question that must balance the enormous cost of maintaining mostly unused facilities and resources against the costs of not having them on the rare occasions when they really are needed.
This further complicates the comparative benefit-cost analyses of, say, a 450-bed Johnson County jail vs. transportation to other State of Iowa or counties' facilities. (It's almost inconceivable that there would not be economic and other benefits to Iowa's 99 counties cooperating on this, as other, basic county obligations -- as has been advocated to little avail over the past half-century or more.) If, after exhausting all possible alternatives to putting persons in jail, we are transporting, every day between 20 and 30 prisoners elsewhere, and the most reasonable projections are that this will continue and possibly even increase, and the cost of doing so is greater than housing them in Johnson County, a case could be made for creating more jail beds here (although not necessarily 350 more).
There are others more wise than I about the criminal justice system, prisons, county government -- and benefit-cost analyses. But it does seem to me that our logic is a little simplistic when we say that (1) our jail is "overcrowded" (without providing answers to the "what do you mean? and how do you know?" questions), (2) the only way to solve an overcrowded jail problem is to build more and bigger jails and prisons, and, therefore, (3) we need a timeline regarding the planning and ultimate construction of a multi-million-dollar, 450-bed jail.
# # #
June 24, 2007, 8:00 a.m.; 12:30 p.m. [times reflect additions to the entry -- for the benefit of those few individuals who check back occasionally during the day -- as well as reflecting the fact that what is called "life" occasionally interrupts blogging]
Wanted to complete the links to news stories about the UI Prez Search that I didn't get to yesterday. Virtually all from November through June are now somewhere on this blog.
There 's also some commentary, below, regarding the Press-Citizen's editorial about increasing the size of the Iowa City police department.
Yesterday's and today's UI prez search links:
Brian Morelli, "New UI president starts connecting with students; Mason becoming a Hawkeye," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
Brian Morelli, Fundraising Important Presidential Task," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
Duncan Stewart, "UI Presidential History: Dear President Mason," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
Russell Scott Valentino, "'A Person Who Can Unite Others, Motivate, Even Inspire Them,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
John Solow, "'Our Athletics Department is Run By People of Great Integrity,'" Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
John C. Keller, "The Link Between Teaching, Research and Scholarly Missions," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007
Erin Jordan, "U of I head gets bonus if she stays for 5 years; Sally Mason's deferred compensation of $60,000 a year is in addition to her base salary of $450,000 per year," Des Moines Register, June 23, 2007
Diane Heldt, "Ripple effect; UI salary could mean pay bumps for other presidents in state," The Gazette, June 23, 2007, p. A1; Diane Heldt, "Open Search for UI President Gets an A," The Gazette, June 24, 2007, p. A1 (these stories may be found by going to The Gazette's main Web site and using drop down menus to find "06/23/2007" and "06/24/2007" and page "A1")
# # #
"How many police officers does it take to . . ."
Yesterday the Press-Citizen editorialized "Iowa City Police Understaffed in Relation to Nation," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 23, 2007.
Let me make some things clear up front.
a. If we really need more police officers let's get them. I'm not opposed to raising taxes to do so, if necessary. But a City Government the size of that in Iowa City often contains people, practices and programs that could be run more efficiently -- and in the process often more effectively.
b. I like the police. My anticipated career when in junior high was in law enforcement. I helped organize, with some classmates, the "Johnson County Junior Bureau of Investigation." J. Edgar Hoover kindly sent us materials. We got old "wanted posters" from the Post Office, the Sheriff, and the Police Chief. A former FBI agent showed us how to make plaster casts of footprints. The first "book" I ever wrote was How to Classify Fingerprints. Our little group was permitted to attend the annual "Iowa Peace Officers' Short Course" -- and did very well on the exams.
c. My personal experiences with the police have been positive. I don't recall ever being given a ticket for anything more serious than overtime parking. But it's pretty easy to avoid speeding, and even parking, tickets when you put more miles on your bicycle each year than on your gas vehicle. So I don't take a lot of credit for that.
d. Like most of the subjects I write about, I claim no expertise as to this one either.
e. Moreover, I'm willing to work with the assumption that any ideas I can come up with have probably long been on the mind of our new Iowa City Police Chief, Sam Hargadine.
But, if not, he and others responsible for such things might want to consider the following -- many of which are beyond the control of our Police Department.
1. Less input, better output. There are retired admirals and generals who pointed out how cuts of as much as one-third of our defense budget would actually improve our national security and defense posture -- and that was years before they even needed to calculate the additional harm we're doing to our "homeland security" with the billions spent on our military operations in the Middle East. (See, e.g., Center for Defense Information.)
It's true of many governmental programs -- presumably including police protection.
It helps no one -- especially not tax payers -- to cut programs that are truly essential, not to mention programs that will return in savings later many times over what they cost today.
But it is not the case that "you get what you pay for" -- as Consumer Reports has been dramatically demonstrating for 70 years.
So what are some of those alternative approaches?
2. Task and Mission. What is it we're asking our police force to do? With regard to any given task, "Why?" Is it necessary for anyone to do it? If so, are police officers the best trained and efficient folks to call on?
Years ago, one of their tasks was to check for overtime parking and write up tickets. It was ultimately realized that we didn't need police officers -- well trained, armed and fully equipped, driving expensive, outfitted police cars -- to perform this function. It could be done just as adequately, and much cheaper, by others (especially given today's technology).
Here's another example of spending less and getting more. Cities like Iowa City, as well as others all across America, have experimented with at least some police officers on bicycles, or walking beats, as an alternative to their driving cars. It's both cheaper, and often more productive, as a way of integrating the police into neighborhoods.
Our department used to have, and I presume still does, a "community relations" program. Is there more that we could do on the front end (in our schools, among other things) to reduce the need for police on the back end? As with health care, prevention is almost always cheaper (and requires fewer officers) than dealing with a problem later.
Are there potential savings in administrative overhead? Are there paperwork requirements that are hindering officers from doing their jobs -- while adding to the administrative costs of processing the paper (or electronic reports)? On the other hand, are there administrative jobs that could be more efficiently done by officers than other employees; or, as with the parking tickets, jobs being done by officers that could be done more cheaply by others?
3. What's a "crime"? Bars are businesses designed to profit from the sale of alcohol. It's illegal for them to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. To permit them to admit customers who are legally prohibited from participating in the business in which the bar is engaged defies common sense -- whether before or after 10:00 p.m. Under-age drinking in Iowa City's bars is commonplace, the bar owners know it, and they profit from it. My view is that we should either (a) lower the drinking age to 18, or (b) simply enforce the law, limiting admission to bars to those over 21.
I mention this now only because it is an example (which happens to be outside the power of the police department to control) of how what we define as a "crime" has an impact on the size (and budget) of our police department. Enforce the 21-only standard and my instinct tells me there would be less need for police downtown late at night on Fridays and Saturdays. (Whether, as some contend, there would be greater needs elsewhere as a result is another matter.)
What I call "the lesser drugs" (alcohol being our nation's number one hard drug problem by any measure), also offer examples. I don't know what the standards are now under Iowa law, or in Iowa City, regarding the quantities of marijuana that are either illegal or are thought worthy of police enforcement. But as those amounts are varied up or down they have an effect on needed police resources.
Not incidentally, they also have an impact on the "need" for additional jails and prisons. A system of "drug courts" and treatment programs may not affect the number of drug offenders coming to the attention of police and judges, but it can certainly have an impact on how many return.
The same can be said for speed limits, and restrictions on turns at intersections -- in fact virtually everything mentioned in the Code of Iowa and Municipal Code of Iowa City. The police can't change those laws, but they -- in consultation with the City Council, County Attorney and others -- can modify the standards they will apply in enforcement, and the County Attorney in prosecution.
4. "Peak loads," Coordination and Overtime. Peak loads are a classic problem for systems analysts.
In the days when men got their hair cut in barber shops, and usually on Saturdays, the shops had to decide how many chairs (and barbers) to have available. Too many and they lost money on chairs that sat empty most of the week. Too few and they lose customers on Saturday.
It's a problem for airlines, serving business customers who want to be on time for morning appointments in distant cities and back home for dinner. As you may have experienced, there's a bit of a crush in the early mornings and around 5:00 in the afternoon and early evening.
It's also a problem in staffing police departments, or fire departments.
There's no way we can afford to keep on a year-round payroll the 1000 police officers we'd like to have -- and would need, along with some national guard troops -- under some imaginable scenarios.
So what do we do? We don't staff up for those ultimate emergencies. We hire a few more than we need on some days, and a few less than we wish we had on others. And the factors that affect those needs are for the most part outside of the control of the police and unpredictable -- with the possible exception of football Saturdays, which are known in advance.
Given the variations in need from hour to hour and day to day, there is really only a range, rather than a precise number, of full time police officers that it would be reasonable for Iowa City to employ.
Consolidation and coordination. We're talking about a consolidated communications system for local law enforcement units in Johnson County. That's probably a great idea.
But what about the next step? The number of people in Johnson County is not that much more than the number who live in large apartment complexes in New York or Tokyo. Does it really make sense for that number of people to be served by what may be a dozen or more law enforcement organizations?
Talk about a win-win! With consolidation and coordination costs decline and quality of service improves. Just one of the reasons is that peak load problem. Each of the units must maintain a margin of resources to deal with unexpected demand. Add up all of those margins around the county, not to mention the duplication in administrative overhead, and you're talking about a lot of officers -- with budgets to match.
I don't minimize the embedded resistance to a change of this kind from within those units. And some of the resistance may well have a rational basis that would need to be seriously studied. But it might be worthwhile to think through the advantages of such a change as well, or as many of them as are politically attainable, rather than rejecting the idea out of hand.
Overtime is desired by some employees in any organization. It's an easy way to pick up additional income without working two jobs -- and in some retirement plans can even boost an employee's benefits beyond what his or her base pay was when working. So it necessarily creates a conflict of interest of sorts -- whether or not there is abuse. It may be that there could be some savings in overtime costs by rescheduling work days, postponing some tasks to regular work hours, and other advance planning. Clearly if there is an indisputable need for an ongoing level of overtime that exceeds the cost of an additional full time officer, it would be cheaper to hire one.
5. Statistics. My fading memory is that the rule of thumb used to be one police officer for every 1000 population. Apparently the national average is now 1.8 per 1000 for cities the size of Iowa City. We have 1.1 per thousand. Sounds like we need more police -- and we may.
But there are a couple of mathematical points to be made.
There are three comments readers have added to the Press-Citizen's editorial. One, by "geardaddies" at 8:42 p.m. Saturday, notes that there are "more than 30 full time police officers" with the UI's campus police. If true, they probably really do need to be included in the count -- at least in some way. That would bring the total Iowa City police resources much closer to that national average.
Is that particular average the most relevant? The editorial also reports that serious crime in Iowa City is down (while increasing in some similar college towns). Whether those numbers be accurate or not, might this "average" -- police officers per serious crime -- be the more relevant number? Of towns with populations similar to ours, what is the average number of police officers as a percentage of serious crimes per year? How do our number of police officers per serious crime compare with other communities numbers of police officers per serious crime?
Just a few thoughts as we ponder "How many police officers does it take to . . .."
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
This blog began in June 2006 and has addressed, and continues to addresses, a number of public policy, political, media, education, economic development, and other issues -- not just the UI presidential search. But that is the subject to which most attention has been focused in blog entries between November 2006 and June 2007.
The presidential search blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006. They end with Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 505 - Next (Now This) Week," June 10, 2007 (100-plus pages printed; a single blog entry for the events of June 10-21 ("Day 516"), plus over 150 attached comments from readers), and Nicholas Johnson, "UI Hostages Free At Last -- Habemas Mamam!," June 22, 2007.
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 entry related to the UI presidential search contains links to the full text of virtually all known, non-repetitive 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.]
# # #
March 13, 8:40 a.m.
Today's news includes credit unions, gambling casinos, drug courts, and Mary Gilchrist's court. And see State29 on Iowa Values Fund (State29, "'This is a Scandal, Or Should Be," March 12, 2007) and gambling casino expansion (State29, "Gambling Diet or Cannibalization?" March 12, 2007).
In Praise of a Credit Union
A friend shared with me the notice they received from their credit union. It's the "Linn Area Credit Union." Not incidentally, that's an example of a geographically broad (county-wide) name, suggesting anyone in the county can be a member, and that has not discouraged those outside the county, like my friend, from joining.
Note the features of the notice that encourage membership involvement.
1. It's a large postcard, with a resulting actual notice almost impossible to miss. (So far as I'm aware I've received no notice of my credit union's forthcoming membership meeting.)
2. Note the language: "You'll have an opportunity to vote for Directors to represent your interests." "The primary difference between a credit union and a 'for profit' bank is that members – not stockholders – own the credit union and have a say in how it is run." "We hope to see you there!"
3. The meeting's agenda is clearly set forth.
4. To encourage member attendance, the meeting is scheduled for 5:30, dinner is served, and door prizes are awarded.
5. But member participation is not limited to those able to attend an evening meeting. They can vote for Directors anytime between 9 and 5 on the day of the meeting at any credit union branch office and up until 6 at the main office.
6. Members are actually encouraged to run for positions as Directors (i.e., necessarily, thereby, running "against" currently sitting Directors)!
7. Members are provided the name and phone number of the CEO (phone numbers for my credit union's CEO and board members have yet to appear on its Web site), with the details regarding how to run for a Director position ("please call" the CEO "by March 23rd").
Here is the full text of the postcard message:
Linn Area Credit Union’s Annual Membership Meeting
You’re invited to Linn Area Credit Union’s annual meeting at our Blair’s Ferry Road office on Tuesday, April 10th at 5:30 pm. You’ll have an opportunity to vote for Directors to represent your interests. Then we’ll have a light dinner followed by a short business meeting.
Can’t make it to the meeting but still want to vote? Stop by any Linn Area Credit Union location between 9 am and 5 pm on April 10th to cast your vote for the Board of Directors and register for door prizes. Voting at the Blairs Ferry Road branch will run from 9 am until 6 pm.
Why should you vote? The primary difference between a credit union and a “for profit” bank is that members – not stockholders – own the credit union and have a say in how it is run. Since you are one of the owners of Linn Area Credit Union, we encourage you to elect the people who speak on your behalf when making decisions affecting your credit union.
Interested in running for a board position? Directors are unpaid volunteers who serve 3 year terms and oversee the credit union. For more information, please call Jim Hagerman, President/CEO by March 23rd at 378-0101 x 304.
We hope to see you there!
Gambling Casinos Expanding
The Gazette has a page-one report on the expansion of the nine gambling casinos within an easy drive of almost anywhere in eastern Iowa. The UI's gambling parter, the Riverside Gambling Casino, has spurred the competition, and caused double-digit percentage declines in the attendance and revenues of its closest casino competitors. It's a war of shares; there's a limit to how much discretionary income eastern Iowans have to drop into slot machines, so the casinos are fighting to hold on to as much of their former share of the area's gambling profits as they can. And they're fighting by spending. Riverside has hotel rooms, restaurants, swimming pool, spa -- and soon, a golf course. Now nine area casinos are following Riverside's example, hoping to at least look like Riverside even if their new hotels have occupancy rates far below profitable levels. I still believe there may be a rainbow, but there is no pot of gold; Iowa cannot gamble itself into economic prosperity. But no one seems to agree with me, so notwithstanding thousands of years of evidence to the contrary we're sticking to this fork in the yellow brick road, in the hopes that, with Robert Frost, that will make all the difference. Gregg Hennigan, "Casinos royale; Aspirations rise for luxury," The Gazette, March 13, 2007.
For the benefit of those who can't drive the short distance to one of their neighborhood gambling casinos, The Gazette's front page also offers advice on how to run a NCAA "pool" betting operation. Rick Smith, "Know the Basics with NCAA Pools," The Gazette, March 13, 2007.
Drug Courts
The Press-Citizen is editorializing in favor of drug courts this morning. "[Johnson County Attorney Janet] Lyness's election opened the possibility of more direct explorations of diversion for low-level substance abuse offenses, of a drug court for more serious substance abuse offenses, of a cite-and-release program for some serious and aggravated misdemeanors and of expansion of the mental health diversion program. . . . The Iowa Legislature, with the strong support of Coralville's Sen. Bob Dvorsky, is considering a $300,000 plan to bring a drug court to the district. We hope the Legislature provides the funding this session so our new county attorney can make good on her promise to explore such alternatives." Editorial, "Drug Court is a Needed Local Alternative," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007
Mary Gilchrist's Court
Gilchrist wants a jury trial. Interim President Fethke and Vice President Meredith Hay prefer a "summary judgment" -- a judge's ruling in their favor that can't be tainted with the judgment of ordinary citizens. See "Fethke, Hay Ask for Summary Judgment," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007.
_______________
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.]
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Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
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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
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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
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March 8, 3:20 p.m.
Two good Daily Iowan pieces on local issues (school board and jail), and State29 weighs in on "the revenue is needed" by the UI Athletic Department.
More "Revenue is Needed"
Yesterday I commented on the Athletic Department's justification of its partnerships with the gambling industry: "revenue is needed." I wrote: "Once 'revenue is needed' is the Polestar for a university's financial decisions its moral compass begins to spin as if it was located on the North Pole."
To my list of additional profit possibilities when "revenue is needed" State29 has added the suggestion that the Athletic Department -- like ESPN -- simply declare poker to be a sport, and then sponsor and profit from these poker athletic contests held, perhaps, at the Riverside Gambling Casino. State29, "Revenue is Kneaded," March 7, 2007.
In the "be careful what you wish for" department . . .
. . . the Daily Iowan editorializes this morning about the challenges confronting the Iowa City Community School District School Board with its new-found 20% sales tax hike money: $104 million. Having sold the voters on how essential the money is, the Board has had to hire a consultant to tell it why, and just what it ought to be doing with its new riches.
Its first purchase does not bode well. A toolshed for Northwest Junior High, already a little expensive at $40,000 (substantially in excess of what homes cost in Iowa City when I was a boy), is now going to cost 50% more: $59,378. Why? The DI reports "because the architects 'forgot' a part in the estimate." As Senator Dirksen might have said, "A 50% overrun here, and a 50% overrun there, and pretty soon you're talking about a lot of money." Editorial, "School Board Must Swiftly Address Budget Concerns, Accountability," The Daily Iowan, March 8. 2007.
Prison Alternatives
Prisons have become our nation's primary public housing program, and treatment centers (though little or no treatment is offered) for the mentally ill, alcoholics and drug addicts. As a result, guess what? The prisons are overcrowded. And the first solution that pops to mind? Build new and bigger prisons.
Now I am probably a lot more willing than most to advocate increasing taxes to cover the really essential social programs that constitute a humane and civilized society. But I'm also pretty tough when it comes to spending money -- mine or the taxpayers -- with regard to exploring all options. After all, I was raised with the Depression-Era motto, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." I even offered a proposal that would have provided a better quality education for our school district's kids without the need for any of that last $40 million bond issue.
So I've been blogging about possible alternatives to expanding the Johnson County Jail. As a result, wiser folks than I have been explaining to me (in comments on those blog entries) that we really have run out many of those alternative strings about as far as they'll reach -- and besides, the jail would need to be replaced even if it wasn't going to be expanded.
The Daily Iowan reports this morning that the County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, and others, are still at it. They're exploring the contributions to be made by an "expediter." It's worked in Scott County and is one easy way to reduce the demands on jails. It addresses the number of days an accused is jailed before coming to trial, with the "expediter" working with the county attorney and judges to shorten that time as much as possible. Colin Burke, "Officials Discuss Justice Center; Johnson County Law-Enforcement Officials Also Tell the Board of Supervisors About Possible Alternatives to Jail Time and Reforming the Justice Committee," The Daily Iowan, March 8, 2007.
Obviously, the inmate population is a flexible number. (1) What's defined as a "crime" can be altered -- especially with regard to non-violent, victimless crimes. (2) Whom law enforcement officers choose to arrest, and whom they merely warn, or ignore, is a variable. (3) As the expediter proposal illustrates, how long they stay in jail before trial can be shortened. (4) There are alternatives to incarceration, such as ankle bracelets for tracking, community service, and Sheriff Pulkrabek is exploring the possibility of their working on Johnson County facilities as a way of shortening jail time.
Some of those who have commented on these blog entries have made the point that we have done about as much of this sort of thing as we can in Johnson County.
And one has noted that there are not necessarily savings -- or at least not significant savings -- from putting people in a new Johnson County Jail rather than transporting them to neighboring jails. To the extent that's true, the total cost to the State and all 99 counties might be less from shifting excess jail population around, rather than building 99 county jails, each with sufficient capacity to handle the "peak load" jail population for that county.
Meanwhile, I had a conversation with a former state official with expertise in mental illness among the prison population. He tells me the "modal" prisoners (i.e., the largest group) are not necessarily "mentally ill" as that inexact phrase is usually used, but do have some qualities in common. They tend to be (1) relatively poorly educated and not among the brightest, (2) individuals who have suffered repeated head injuries, whether from falls, fights or motorcycle accidents, (3) addicted to drugs and alcohol, and (4) evidencing some anti-social or sociopathic behavior.
He said that one thing that seems to be working are "drug courts" and "mental illness courts" in conjunction with individuals who are able to talk the language with lawyers and judges, on the one hand, and doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists on the other. Of course, if some of what would otherwise be prison inmates are to be selected out as a result of this process, the program would need to be coupled with additional facilities and staff specifically qualified to deal with addicts or the mentally ill. Apparently Iowa is making some slow progress along this line, and I'm told Johnson County at least has the individual who can play the intermediary role.
Removing such persons from prison can help reduce the need to build additional prisons and jails, but it only increases the need to build other kinds of specialized facilities -- albeit, usually of much cheaper construction than prisons.
See also:
Editorial, "Mental-Health Spending Cuts Indefensible," The Daily Iowan, March 6, 2007
Drew Henning, "Mental-health money may be on the line," The Daily Iowan, March 6, 2007
Richard Doak, "Surge in prison population shows all is not well in Iowa," Des Moines Register, February 18, 2007
Melissa Walker, "Mental Health Cuts Would Hit Thousands," Des Moines Register, February 18, 2007
Editorial, "Direct Adequate Funds to Mental Health," Des Moines Register, February 20, 2007, with readers' letters
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UICCU and "Optiva"
Unless there is a major breaking story, there will be no more separate blog entries on this topic. The last entry may be revised from time to time and, if so, will indicate the date, time and nature of additions. See Nicholas Johnson, "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007 (last entry, with links to prior entries October 2006 through March 2007)
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[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
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