Stem cell research, Galileo and the November election

Many of you know Helen Robertson, my ex-wife and retired MATC English instructor. Helen suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease. Her mobility is impaired and her independence compromised.

These diseases have robbed her of the things that give life meaning. When our youngest daughter graduated from college, Helen was simply too ill to attend her graduation ceremony. She was also unable to attend Parents Day when Ohio State University honored our oldest daughter. Helen will never be able to walk her children down the aisle on their wedding day or take her grandchildren to the park. It forced her to retire prematurely from MATC and abandon her passion for writing and teaching. Her loss was also our students' and community's loss. . Helen’s illness has even robbed her of the joy of reading.

Helen's life has been destroyed by this disease. In one of her more despondent moments, she recently asked: "Why did this happen to me?" and said:" Sometimes, I think I would be better off dead."

Embryonic stem cell research, scientists believe, may provide a cure for illnesses like MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Juvenile Diabetes and spinal cord injuries.

It might be too late for this research to help Helen. Her diseases may have progressed too far too fast. But it is nothing less than immoral to oppose or limit this important research that provides so much hope to so many who have suffered so much.

The opposition to embryonic stem cell research has historic parallels. Galileo Galilei, the great Italian scientist, was called to Rome in 1633, and tried for the crime of heresy for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun. The aged Galileo, in his 70's, was imprisoned in a church dungeon and threatened with torture if he did not recant. Fearing torture, and the fate of Giordano Bruno, whom the church burned at the stake a generation earlier for the same crime, Galileo recanted. He was confined to his home under house arrest, neither allowed to leave or to receive visitors, for the rest of his life.

The persecution of Galileo, however, did not end with his death. His heirs were refused permission to bury the great scientist in his family tomb at Santa Croce.

It wasn't until 1832 that Galileo's work was removed from the list of banned books that Catholics were forbidden to read. 200 years after the trial... and well after Sir Isaac Newton established the truth of the theory!

In 1992, Pope John Paul II formally apologized for the persecution of Galileo.

Those like Scott Walker who oppose embryonic stem cell research are no more right or moral than those who attempted to silence Galileo centuries ago. They are extremists pure and simple. Their Twenty-First Century inquisition against researching potential cures for debilitating diseases is immoral and must be stopped..

Tom Barrett has consistently supported all forms of stem cell research. The University of Wisconsin Madison has been a leader in this area of research which demonstrates tremendous economic as well as medical potential. Nancy Reagan, whose husband, President Reagan, suffered from Alzheimer's, is a strong, proponent of embryonic stem cell research.

When you vote on November 2nd, please remember that Tom Barrett has consistently supported embryonic stem cell research which his opponent would ban. And think about what has happened to Helen. If that doesn't convince you, think about an old Italian scientist named Galileo and watch the sun set. Then do the right thing.

Who will clean up after Corinthian College?

A month ago, the Milwaukee Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) approved a zoning variance that allows Corinthian College, a diploma mill with a notorious record of exploiting students, to establish operations directly across the street from Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and on the doorstep of the Hillside Housing Project.

The change was opposed by a broad coalition including the Hillside Residents Council, Millele Coggs, the area's alderwomen, five other aldermen, the NAACP, Voces del la Frontera, MATC's Latino Student Organization, Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods, and the American Federation of Teachers Local 212.

After a critical article and skeptical editorial appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Senetinel, Corithian hired Milwaukee PR flak Evan Zeppos to make its case. Zeppos enlisted the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce's Tim Sheeehy. Sheehy's support was apparently all that was need to convince the MJS editorial board to support Corinthian. In a particularly cynical editorial, the editorial board urged BOZA to support Corinthian's efforts as a simple "land use issue"..."that could provide a boost to development in the adjacent Park East Corridor."

It cautioned; "...the school must guard against being seen as an institution that preys on rather then helps young urban students..."

The editorial board's position is inane because Corinthian's problem is not about perception or public relations. It is an institution that PREYS on young urban students. It's student default rate is is 250% of the national average for all higher education institutions, and 140% of the national average 3-Year Student Loan Default Rate at for-profit institutions.

These startling results are the direct result of Corinthian's record of manipulating and exploiting students that has generated lawsuits, negative publicity and investigations including a recent $6.5 million settlement with the state of California. Its business plan is based on luring low income people to take out guaranteed federal loans that they have no reasonable chance of repaying.

In a recent call with investors and analysts, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. said it fully expects a shocking 56 to 58 percent of the borrowers to default. Yet they consider these loans good investments because they will increase enrollment and with it a profitable flow of federal grant and loan dollars that outweighs the planned writeoff.
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While several other Alderman vocally opposed the development, the Department of City Development (DCD) originally championed it and the Mayor failed to use his influence to derail it. When the final vote was taken several members of BOZA cited the city's support for the development as the reason for their affirmative vote.

Corinthian is in the sub-prime student loan business. It preys on students dreams for a better life and leaves them with nothing but mountains of debt. That is why the investor magazine Barron's, described Corinthian as a "high-pressure sales operations bent on vacuuming up student-loan dollars."

It is unconscionable that the Milwaukee top elected officials are assisting an unsavory business with as dismal a record as Corinthian's.

Whatever happened to their responsibility to serve and protect the public?

Is DCD really so desperate for investment that they will support any development no matter how exploitative?

On Sunday, the New York Times exposed Corinthian and other for-profit colleges. Peter Goodman wrote:

Their ...profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students...Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle-class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low-wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low-income students.

“If these programs keep growing, you’re going to wind up with more and more students who are graduating and can’t find meaningful employment,” said Rafael I. Pardo, a professor at Seattle University School of Law and an expert on educational finance. “They can’t generate income needed to pay back their loans, and they’re going to end up in financial distress.” these schools have exploited the recession as a lucrative recruiting device while tapping a larger pool of federal student aid."

Wyotech, a Corinthian's subsidiary,is highlighted in the article: "

Jeffrey West was working at a pet store near Philadelphia, earning about $8 an hour, when he saw advertisements for training programs offered by WyoTech, a chain of trade schools owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc., a publicly traded company that last year reported revenue of $1.3 billion.

After Mr. West called the school, an admissions representative drove to his house to sell him on classes in auto body refinishing and upholstering technology, a nine-month program that cost about $30,000.

Mr. West blanched at the tuition, he recalled, but the representative assured him the program amounted to an antidote to hard economic times.

“They said they had a very high placement rate, somewhere around 90 percent,” he said. “That was one of the key factors that caused me to go there. They said I would be earning $50,000 to $70,000 a year.”

Some 14 months after he completed the program, Mr. West, 21, has failed to find an automotive job. He is working for $12 an hour weatherizing foreclosed houses.

With loan payments reaching $600 a month, he is working six and seven days a week to keep up.

“I’ve got $30,000 in student loans, and I really don’t have much to show for it,” he said. “It’s really frustrating when you’re trying to better yourself and you wind up back at Square One.”

Corinthian is coming to Milwaukee to prey on Milwaukee's urban students at the invitation of a local developer and with the apparent blessing of DCD, the Mayor's office and the Journal Sentinel editorial board.

When their ex-students end up with broken dreams and mountains of debt will City Hall and the Journal Sentinel editorial Board be there to help pick up the pieces?

Wave district proposal is bad economics

Badger Meter CEO Richard Meeusen recently proposed that the city offer water free to firms that relocate to the area. The concept has been endorsed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. According to the Wall Street Journal the city is preparing an application for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission that would offer reduced water rates for up to five years to businesses that bring in at least 25 jobs.

This is very bad idea based on a fundamental misunderstanding of economic principles.

Proponents of “wave districts” are right that Milwaukee has a competitive advantage in reliable water. It’s the result of the city’s location and years of public investment. Climate change is making Milwaukee’s water even more valuable as UWM economics professor and department chair, William L. Holahan, has documented in his paper, "Reliable Water Supply: Milwaukee's Comparative Advantage."

Milwaukee’s competitive advantage in water makes it attractive to businesses that need reliable sources of water such as bottling plants that are relocating from cities in the southeast and southwest that are plagued by water shortages.

But if Milwaukee truly has a competitive advantage in water reliability, there is no reason to reduce its price or give it away. No business firm would cut its price in response to increased competitive advantage. In fact, it is standard for business firms to raise their prices, not reduce them, when their competition is "drying up." Badger Meter certainly wouldn’t cut its prices if a major competitor went under. So why should the city of Milwaukee?

Rather than providing water hungry-firms with windfall profits by cutting the city’s nationally low water rates to zero, Milwaukee should use its competitive advantage in reliable water to attract water hungry-firms and invest the revenue generated through increased sales of water in other public goods that benefit all of the city’s citizens and businesses, like our schools, employment and training programs, parks, transportation and communications infrastructure, or in property tax relief.

The economic attractiveness of the city depends on its quality of life, its schools, parks, streets, public health, safety and tax rates among other things. Milwaukee badly needs revenue to invest in these attractors in no small part because shared revenue from the state has declined by almost 25% over the past decade.

The Milwaukee Water Works is an asset of the city, paid for by rate-payers, and its value must be maximized for the benefit of the city, its residents and employers. Proper pricing and investment of water revenue is a key to maximizing the value of the city’s competitive advantage in water reliability. Establishing “wave districts” will not contribute to this objective or enhance the city’s competitiveness.

A tale of two technical colleges

Ten days ago, the the faculty and staff at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), members of the American Federation of Teachers Local 212 (AFT 212), voted to forgo their 2009-2010 raise to ensure that the college would continue to serve all of its students.

The college's two other unions quickly passed similar resolutions.

MATC's enrollment has spiked as unemployment has soared in Southeastern Wisconsin. Yet revenues have fallen at the property tax dependent institution as home values have plummeted in Milwaukee and state aid has been cut by more than 50% since 1990.

Because of the unions' voluntary $5 million investment, MATC will not eliminate any sections or programs and will enroll all qualified applicants. (Full disclosure: I am the president of AFT Local 212 and have taught economics at MATC for 22 years.)

This is a fairly remarkable event in the history of the MATC board and the unions,” MATC Board Chair Lauren Baker said. "We tried to do everything we could to keep programming for students in tact." Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett issued a statement supporting the move.
"I applaud the MATC Board, Administration and the American Federation of Teachers Local 212 for the very reasonable settlement achieved today," the statement reads. "It’s clear they put services for the students at the forefront.”

The agreement between AFT Local 212 and MATC also received national attention when it was featured in Inside Higher Education.

In Florida, on the other hand, Miami Dade, one of the nation's largest two-year colleges, announced it would be forced to eliminate hundreds of class sections, and that as many as 5,000 students would be unable to enroll. Additionally 30,000 students may be unable to get the classes they need.

Miami Dade, in instituting the equivalent of an enrollment cap, announced that state budget cuts had also forced it to cancel upcoming open houses because it would not be able to admit students who had not already enrolled for the fall.

Will MPS live up to its promise?

In response to advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced yesterday that all previously closed schools and childcare centers were free to reopen.

MPS spokesperson Roseann St. Aubin said that all classrooms will be equipped with hand sanitizer and tissues so that students, teachers and staff can follow good health practices. That's as it should be although I remain skeptical about the administration's following through on this.

As anyone who works in the Milwaukee public schools know, bathrooms are routinely without toilet paper and hand soap. Conscientious teachers, staff and parents often purchase these items for their schools. But that really isn't their responsibility.

Crucial to teaching children good hygiene, providing MPS students with a healthy learning environment, and protecting students, faculty and staff from diseases is providing them with these basic sanitary products.

As public attention to this latest health scare wanes it will be interesting to see if MPS lives up to its promises.

Swine Flu scare demonstrates need for paid sick days

Earlier this week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that anyone with flu-like symptoms stay home from work or school to minimize the danger of spreading the swine flu.

For millions of mainly low-wage workers this is an impossibility because they lack paid sick days.

Last November voters in Milwaukee overwhelmingly passed an ordinance that would guarantee all workers paid sick days.

Ironically Mayor Tom Barrett who joined the Milwaukee Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in opposing this important labor and health and safety reform is now urging workers to stay home and is asking employers to honor the intent of the law he has refused to implement.

Haven't the last eight years of experimenting with voluntary regulation demonstrated the abysmal failure of this laissez faire approach?

New York Times columnist Judith Warner has written a column arguing that paid sick days is an idea whose time has come. It is linked.