March 16, 7:25 a.m.
Yesterday was the day. We have four new Regents. "What a difference a day makes"? That remains to be seen. Michael Gartner still has "UI Held Hostage Day 419." (Commentary below.) And . . .
Iowa's Disadvantages Not Eliminated by "Advantage Fund"
Yesterday the Press-Citizen launched a double whammy on behalf of something called the "Iowa Advantage Fund," introduced in the legislature as House File 730. It's another proposal designed to keep Iowa college graduates in Iowa by subsidizing employers who help pay off the graduates' student loans. The Press-Citizen's support took the form of an op ed column, Jay Christensen-Szalanski, "Iowa's Bipartisan Solution," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 15, 2007, and an Editorial, "State Should Set Aside for an Iowa Advantage Fund," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 15, 2007.
First, let me say that I love creative ideas like this and would rather encourage than discourage them. But I find that something like 90% of my creative ideas don't pan out for one reason or another and need to be rejected, and since I freely admit that, I think it gives me license to subject others' ideas to the same critical evaluation I give my own.
This is one that doesn't make it to the finish line.
Why do we need it, according to the Press-Citizen? Because "many young professionals graduate college with such a high debt load that they can't even consider a lower-paying job in Iowa."
Read that again, and then think about it. "A lower paying job in Iowa"? Might that -- just possibly -- be the problem?
This is not rocket science.
I'm reminded of what my high school track coach told me when I asked him how I could improve my time in the mile. He had only two words of advice for me: "Run faster."
You want to know how to keep graduates in Iowa? "Pay more."
We might start with our anti-union attitudes and laws in this state, and the opposition of public officials and the business community to "living wage" proposals -- even increases in the minimum wage. Whether an employer has 100 workers or 10,000, there's no way that an out-of-work individual, looking for a job, can bring anything like equal bargaining power to the table in negotiating their salary and benefits. They have little option but to take what they're offered. Unions level that playing field.
If it weren't for unions we'd still be working 60-hour, six-day work weeks. It's unions that fought for us -- literally -- to get us the weekend. We'd still be working for the third-world wages that American corporations pay to workers in countries without unions. We'd still have child labor, and even more death and injury from unsafe working conditions than we have now. Businesses will pay workers the least they can; some would even make the argument that they have an obligation to shareholders to do just that.
Unions? Forget unions, prevailing wage rates, "living wages," and "project labor agreements." We can't even get an Iowa Legislature that will pass a "Fair Share" bill. See this morning's report: Jennifer Jacobs, "Democrats postpone action on 'fair share'; House leaders realize they don't have enough votes to pass the proposal," Des Moines Register, March 16, 2007. And that's a legislature controlled by Democrats!
Want to know what "Fair Share" is really about? The Press-Citizen has a letter to the editor this morning, challenging the paper's opposition to this modest proposal, with an apt analogy. (The paper editorialized that "Fair Share" wasn't necessary because if workers really appreciated the higher wages the union got for them they'd naturally want to just join the union.) Here's an excerpt from the letter: "[T]he Press-Citizen should put its money where its mouth is. The Press Citizen should be giving subscriptions to anyone and everyone who requests one. Then after reading the paper for awhile, anyone who feels that they are getting the services, news and information that is worth paying for can pay the subscription fee. If they feel they are not getting the services worth paying for, no problem, they can continue receiving the paper for free. Sounds like a deal to me." Michael Petersen, "Editorial Misses Mark on Fair Share," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 16, 2007.
Don't like unions? Want to hold wages down? Think that improves your annual income as an owner/employer? OK. But then don't bellyache about young people leaving the state, or the fact that those who stay can't afford to buy your goods and servces.
Make it possible for blue collar workers to increase their wages and benefits and increases in the salaries of the young professionals will follow. Level the playing field. "Pay more." Don't subsidize poverty, eliminate it.
So what else is wrong with House File 750? The day before, the Des Moines Register offered its view of the "Iowa Advantage Fund" in Editorial, "Another 'Brain Drain' Bill Misses Quality-of-Life Focus," Des Moines Register, March 14, 2007. Here are some excerpts:
"Iowa needs to retain and attract more young college graduates. But a bill in the Iowa Legislature that would grant tax credits to employers who pay back student loans is a bad way to try to accomplish that.
"House File 730 would allow businesses that repay a new employee's student loan debt of up to $25,000 over three years to get tax credits of up to $7,500. Employers would have to pay the new worker a salary or wage of at least $25,000, employ the person within the state and start repaying the student loan within six months of the hiring date.
* * *
"But believing this program would create new jobs is a lot to assume.
"Businesses trying to attract young, educated workers can offer to pay back student loans without help from Iowa taxpayers. And who's to say employers wouldn't simply reduce starting salaries to make up for the cost of repaying loans?
"It would be a misuse of precious public money to pay off student loans for workers who might very well have stayed in the state anyway. . . . Also, there is nothing to stop workers from packing up and heading across the state line after a mere three years.
"Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this bill: It would be unfair to students and families who planned, scrimped, saved and avoided high loans. Knowing you can have $25,000 in student debt repaid could provide an incentive to borrow more.
"To reduce student loan debt, public money would be better used to hold down tuition costs at state universities, so students don't graduate with huge debt in the first place."
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There's a lot to that last point. We no longer have the "state universities," the "public universities" that were originally created to provide virtually free higher education to all Iowans. We have "private universities," charging -- and regularly raising, well beyond rates of inflation -- private universities' rates for tuition, room and board, and parking fees. Just as "pay more" is the best way to get our kids to stay in Iowa, so is "charge less" the quickest way to reduce students' loan burdens.
The Register also advocates "recreation, cultural amenities, clean water and good schools." It fails to mention the advantages of "pay more," but it does give House File 750 the once over it deserves.
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What a Difference a Day Doesn't Make
OK, we have four new Regents on a nine-person board. They look reasonable enough. But I don't have a clue what they're going to do with our Regents universities, and I suspect they don't either.
What I do know is that to rearrange four of the deck chairs on the "H.M.S. Iowa Titanic," while leaving Captain Michael Gartner at its helm, setting its course, is like turning over the U.S. House and Senate to the Democratic Party while leaving President George Bush in charge of the Iraq War. In fact, four new Regents are even less likely to change course for our educational ship of state than a whole new House and Senate have been for the course of the War.
Sorry, Governor and media, but the story, the headline, is Michael Gartner, it's not Campbell, Evans, Lang and Miles. But if you'd like to read the media's take on the story anyway, including Culver's acceptance of Gartner's continuing as Regents president, here are a couple of links. Erin Jordan and Jonathan Roos, "Culver heralds 'a fresh start'; Selections impress university officials," Des Moines Register, March 16, 2007; Diane Heldt, "4 New Regents Named," The Gazette, March 16, 2007; Brian Morelli, "Regents ready for 'fresh start'; Culver says 4 appointees value openness," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 16, 2007.
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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.
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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.]
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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 11, 11:55 a.m., 3:45 p.m.
Never did get back to the blog two days ago, when the topics were going to be "Iowa City as a writing community;" "Fair Share;" "drug courts;" "Colloton;" and "UICCU ('Optiva')." So here are those topics now along with a little more about "UI, Athletics and Gambling Partnerships."
And my one-person exploratory committee and sole supporter -- the insightful, humorous, fearless, articulate, and often cited but never sighted State 29 -- is continuing to urge my Democratic Primary run against incumbent U.S. Senator Tom Harkin. (State29, "Tom Harkin's Half-Assessed Competition," March 9, 2007 (a reference to Cedar Rapids Republican businessman Steve Rathje, lest that headline leave any ambiguity), and State29, "Tom Harkin is Fundraising for Re-Election in 2008," February 12, 2007.)
I'm going to try to get some academic writing done during this "spring break" week, so the comments will be much shorter, and the references to newspaper stories will only provide links to the papers' online versions (if they're available on a non-subscription basis) rather than permanently available copies on my server.
Iowa City: A Writing Community
My comments about this are found in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 412 - March 9," March 9, 2007.
The primary article on the subject is Diane Heldt, "University of Iowa a Writing Mecca; UI hopes to add another jewel to its crown by launching an undergrad writing program," The Gazette, March 9, 2007.
"Fair Share"
The proposal that those who personally benefit from unions' negotiations for higher pay and better benefits and working conditions ought to pay their "fair share" of the costs of those union activities -- while not requiring them to "join" the union and pay the full dues -- passed the Iowa Legislature, sort of. Rod Boshart, "Senate approves 'fair share,'" The Gazette, March 9, 2007. (The Senate voted 28-21 for a bill that would apply the requirement to public employees only.) And see letter from Barbara Beaumont, "Non-Members Get Benefits for Free," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 10, 2007 ("When non-members receive the good benefits of negotiations, they don't join the union, they just consider themselves clever for getting something for nothing.").
"Drug Courts"
On March 8, in discussing prison overcrowding and proposals for bigger jails, I mentioned "drug courts" as a way to better solve the drug problem than putting addicts in jail, while also reducing the pressure on overcrowded jails. ("Prison Alternatives" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 411 -- March 8," March 8, 2007.) Blog comments seldom have more than a slight, if any, impact on public policy, and certainly not that one of mine -- if for no other reason than the timing. But it was a delightful coincidence to see on the front page of the Press-Citizen the following day that the idea is apparently being taken seriously. Brian Morelli, "Drug court proposal may lighten legal load; Diverse team would supervise offender," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.
John Colloton
The ongoing praise of John Colloton, in op ed columns and letters to the editor, continues (See, e.g., Shams Ghoneim, "Colloton is an Iowa Jewel," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.) And now a much more tangible honor has come his way as well. Diane Hedt, "UI Pomerantz gives UI $4 million; Half of donation from former regent will honor Colloton," The Gazette, March 10, 2007 (the John W. Colloton Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine).
As with those Colloton fans who have written earlier, Ms. Ghoneim leads with, "I have been alarmed by the unjustified and public criticism of John W. Colloton." As I have written before, the public commentary involving Colloton has seemed to me to almost unanimously sing his praises for his years building the UIHC into the highly regarded institution it is today. I have not sensed either "justified" or "unjustified" "criticism of John W. Colloton." And for his fans to suggest that it is he who is being criticized, and then try to knock down this straw man of their own creation with a flood of praise of the man, seems to me to do him no favors. It's almost a "they protest too much" suggestion that maybe there should be "criticism of John W. Colloton."
Colloton has been the catalyst in bringing three issues to public attention -- none of which, however, involves any hint of wrongdoing on his part.
One involves the legal issues surrounding "email as public records." This happens to be a personal academic interest of mine. Colloton honestly believes that his email messages should be considered personal, private, documents unavailable to the public and media as "public records." The Iowa Attorney General agrees with him as a matter of law. Others disagree. Email as "open meetings" and "public records" raise interesting public policy questions to which the Iowa Legislature is turning its attention. But no one, so far as I know, has suggested that Colloton did anything wrong in sending email, or in asserting his belief that his emails are not public records. So I don't quite see how discussion of the issue (for which he happens to have been a recent focus) can be characterized as "criticism."
Another issue involves the Regents universities' policies regarding emeritus status. Few, if any, have suggested that the emeritus title should be done away with for Iowa's retired university professors. Here again there has been no hint, of which I am aware, of any wrongdoing by Colloton. He was given the title, and such perks as accompanied it, by a grateful University for years of quality service. He didn't steal any perks in the dead of night. He simply used what he had been given. In fact, the person of John Colloton is almost totally irrelevant to the issues, which go to the clarity and consistency of the policies regarding who is and is not awarded the title, and what perks should go with it. Those are, again, public policy issues worthy of attention. But to address them in no way suggests a "criticism" of Colloton merely because his case is what triggered the discussion.
The third issue is a little more problematical, but even it is more a matter of fact finding and public policy than it is a criticism of Colloton as such. It involves the relationship between Wellmark and UIHC, and the fact of Colloton's role on the board of Wellmark. Whether that could ever be a problem requires a fact finding regarding the relationship between the two institutions and the ways in which their interests might diverge. Even to the extent there is a potential problem here, so far as I am aware there was never a misrepresentation by Colloton as to his roles with both institutions, a violation of any law of Iowa or regulation of the Regents or the University, or a protest of the relationships from anyone with a responsiility for oversight. As with the other two issues, conflict of interest issues are clearly worthy of attention, exploration, review and revision of policies and regulations -- if necessary.
I may be wrong. There may have, in fact, been public ad hominum statements focused on criticism of Colloton as such. But, if not, I think his friends might want to think twice about "defending" him from charges that have not been made.
UI, Athletics and Gambling Partnerships
The Press-Citizen reports the Presidential Committee on Athletics (PCA) will be voting April 5 on the ties between the Athletic program, Iowa Lottery and Riverside Gambling Casino. The Faculty Council unanimously recommended the ties be severed. PCA Chair Charles Lynch noted that, unlike some faculty governance decisions, faculty committees can only recommend regarding matters having to do with athletics. And since Interim President Fethke, Athletic Director Barta and, seemingly, PCA Chair Lynch all favor gambling ties it's probable any faculty opponents will be stiffed on this one. Ryan Suchomel, "Vote set on UI ties to lottery; Decision by PCA will be nonbinding," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.
As a reminder of what's at stake here, a related story in the Des Moines Register reported the consequences of gambling for Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, banker Deb Anderson. S. P. Dinnen, "Gambling pushed banker to steal $1.4 million; The longtime employee of Pioneeer Bank embezzled to feed her addiction," Des Moines Register, March 10, 2007. The paper noted that this is certainly not the first time this consequence of legalized gambling has occurred in Iowa.
UICCU ("Optiva")
As I've written before, the UICCU-Optiva story is behind us, so far as commentary from me is concerned. But since this blog contains one of the more complete records of the matter, for those who come here looking for the details I'll continue to add such items from time to time as seem important for that record. (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).)
Among the questions that have been raised is the extent to which the UICCU management used the employees as a means of "winning" the issue and the vote, specifically the pro-Optiva letter-writing campaign. Someone has now done the research on that one:
"It seemed that many of the pro-Optiva [letters] were written by UICCU employees, and I decided to do some research to determine what percentage of the pro-Optiva letters were written by employees. Of the 21 pro-Optiva letters I saw, 19 were written by employees, and 2 were written by people of unknown affiliation. Of the 12 pro-UICCU letters, none were written by employees as far as I can determine. It makes me wonder how there can be such a disconnect between management and non-employee members." Sue Travis, "Listen better to members' votes," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007. (The names, dates and details of this research are on file with the Iowa Credit Union Division.)
As of March 11 there were two comments from individuals I do not know added to the Travis letter on the Press-Citizen location linked above:
UICCU among the nation’s elite Posted by: sillyme on Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:34 pm
The UICCU is a cooperative financial institution. That the word financial appears in that sentence is no accident. The prime measure of management’s responsiveness is not the debate of participatory versus representative governance but the degree to which the cooperative's profits are returned to the membership. In that key respect the management of UICCU President Jeff Disterhoft and Board Chairman Dean Borg has led this representative cooperative to a place among the nation’s elite.
UICCU: Straying from the point Posted by: fromafar on Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:00 am
The admirable financial performance by UICCU has never been an issue in the debate regarding changing the name of the credit union, so this has no bearing on the present discussion. Failure to communicate, failure to seek and achieve "buy-in" by members/customers, and failure to demonstrate understanding, sympathy or empathy towards those who questioned the name change all represent textbook examples (literally) of how not to lead a major change in a brand.
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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.]
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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
_______________
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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