H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°As Governor Doyle addressed a packed state capitol last night, his misleading rhetoric produced hope for a University of Wisconsin System badly neglected of late. But his numbers told a different story, one with as much heartbreak as his hyperbole had delivered hope; one where students will now be forced to fork over a five to seven percent tuition increase, neatly packed onto the steep hikes already thrust upon undergraduates last time the governor delivered his budget.
With this hike, out-of-state undergraduates will now pass through a symbolic financial gateway into a world of five-figure tuition. The governor gleefully boasts UW places near the bottom of all Big Ten schools when it comes to tuition; we wonder if this ranking won’t soon slip just as the football team’s equally boast-worthy record plummeted late last season.
Indeed, much of Doyle’s speech relies on spin-heavy rhetoric used to paint a picture of a UW budget “on the move.” However, declaring affordability in higher education as a priority in an applause line before subtly dropping the tuition-hike bomb is an insult to the intelligence of students at this fine university.
In addition, Doyle’s decision to eliminate 200 administrative positions while adding 125 faculty members strikes us as a possible solution in need of clarification. What jobs have been deemed expendable? What faculty positions will be added? We are glad the governor has highlighted possible bureaucracy in need of trimming, but wonder which jobs have been earmarked for pink slips.
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Doyle is a liar, a cheater, and a thief. I hope and pray the Republicans will come up with a suitable candidate to run against him, one I feel is worth voting for.
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I don’t remember when Doyle said he would never raise tuition, so how is he lying…
Anyway. Considering I’m paying almost 6k for in-state tuition (and seg fees), I’m pretty sure out of staters are already paying in five figures, where did the BH come up with their numbers?
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Doyle hates the UW System, sure, but not as much as Republicans hate it.
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“Doyle hates the UW System, sure, but not as much as Republicans hate it.”
And together, they’ll destroy it and bankrupt the state.
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Doyle is lying in two ways:
First - He’s lying now. His spin is that he’s reducing the tuition burden and restoring funding to the UW that he cut last time. That’s an outright lie.
Second - When he ran for governor, he promised that he would never increase tuition more than 10%. He’s now proposed doing that twice.
Finally - As to the “who hates the UW more” debate. Neither of the establishment parties hates the UW. The real question is, who funds their campaigns - who are they financially accountable to? Jim Doyle is worse than Tommy Thompson ever was in terms of corporate backing.
People - In this case, there is no good guy. The bipartisan consensus about the UW is a bad thing. The only way students can survive this budget year is by raising hell, and creating a political environment in which each party of the establishment vies to use our thunder against their opponent. This is already happening, with the GOP attacking Doyle for his tuition hikes. That’s not a bad thing. It’s no more hypocritical than the Democrats attacking Tommy for all those years. Step it up.
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“When he ran for governor, he promised that he would never increase tuition more than 10%. He’s now proposed doing that twice.”
And he’s ALREADY done it twice, so that will make a total of four times.
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The dems had better gear up for a crushing defeat in the ‘06 governor’s race. They have put up a lying, cheating, small man who works in the pocket of the teacher’s unions and cares little for the UW or its students. I only wish his replacement weren’t one of the three Republican stooges vying for a shot at him.