… in the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that the most charitable description of what’s been going on at the clubby University of Minnesota medical school would be “bizarre.”
Showing posts with label UM_Rochester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UM_Rochester. Show all posts
Thursday, April 5, 2007
University of Minnesota, Rochester
If you fund it, they will come...
An update on University of Minnesota Rochester from KTTC:
Chris Woodard
KTTC TV
Updated: April 3, 2007, 5:34 pm
ROCHESTER, MN -- The only thing growing faster than the size of the new University of Minnesota Rochester campus, is the budget they'll need to get it completed.
Hmm... It is growing like Topsy, somehow this is a familiar story.
As UMR's plans change they're asking the city step in and help them foot the bill.
Mr. B. is shocked, shocked.
At the Monday city council meeting the university asked for several million dollars from the city.
It's money the city is willing to spend, even if it's not exactly being used for what it was set aside to do.
UMR Provost David Carl says, "This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for our city."
The Southern Minnesota version of a chopstick factory ?
It's an opportunity that's coming with a price. A few months after construction began the university decided they needed more room.
Carl says, "As we looked at the additional programing opportunities that the university has in Rochester our expectations grew."
Original plans called for the college to take 30-thousand square feet of space at the cities downtown galleria. About a month ago plans changed and they'll now be more than double that size.
Of course more space means more money.
Who would have guessed?
Council member Marcia Marcoux says, "You look at what they're spending to me that means they're doing a first class job."
There is another interpretation possible, and it is not very flattering.
Monday night the city agreed to give the university 4-million dollars to help out with the new and improved plans which include a lot of top line equipment.
That money is coming from the local sales tax fund which was previously established to allow the set-up of a permanent campus.
Marcoux says, " I think there was a little discrepancy as to whether it was to be permanent or whatever but it was to be for the development and I think by that we meant other than just internal, in a small way, on the current campus. So this fits that."
Please tell me what the above crapspeak means. Marcoux blithely dismisses the permanent/temporary distinction with the galling "or whatever."
While the soon to be downtown campus is not permanent, the university has agreed to a series of leases that could keep them there for at least 15 years.
Obvious questions arise. When does temporary become permanent? Does the university just plan to walk away from this increasingly expensive many million dollar investment? Will they give it back to the Galleria? Sell it to the University of Phoenix?
The city is also working on a deal that would give the school 750-thousand dollars in tax abatement funds to cover construction cost's for the building's owner.
As of right now, all construction is on schedule and while a little bigger than planned, the university still plans to be in place by August.
Mr. Bonzo believes that eventually a little leadership is going to be required to extricate ColdState's higher education system from the large hole being dug. This will require a governor - remember Arne Carlson ? - who can take the flack. OurLeader will also have to start being honest with the people and the legislature - remember Mark Yudof ?
Bonzo circuits going down, down. Please do not reboot. Let me recover...
If you fund it, they will come...
An update on University of Minnesota Rochester from KTTC:
Chris Woodard
KTTC TV
Updated: April 3, 2007, 5:34 pm
ROCHESTER, MN -- The only thing growing faster than the size of the new University of Minnesota Rochester campus, is the budget they'll need to get it completed.
Hmm... It is growing like Topsy, somehow this is a familiar story.
As UMR's plans change they're asking the city step in and help them foot the bill.
Mr. B. is shocked, shocked.
At the Monday city council meeting the university asked for several million dollars from the city.
It's money the city is willing to spend, even if it's not exactly being used for what it was set aside to do.
UMR Provost David Carl says, "This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for our city."
The Southern Minnesota version of a chopstick factory ?
It's an opportunity that's coming with a price. A few months after construction began the university decided they needed more room.
Carl says, "As we looked at the additional programing opportunities that the university has in Rochester our expectations grew."
Original plans called for the college to take 30-thousand square feet of space at the cities downtown galleria. About a month ago plans changed and they'll now be more than double that size.
Of course more space means more money.
Who would have guessed?
Council member Marcia Marcoux says, "You look at what they're spending to me that means they're doing a first class job."
There is another interpretation possible, and it is not very flattering.
Monday night the city agreed to give the university 4-million dollars to help out with the new and improved plans which include a lot of top line equipment.
That money is coming from the local sales tax fund which was previously established to allow the set-up of a permanent campus.
Marcoux says, " I think there was a little discrepancy as to whether it was to be permanent or whatever but it was to be for the development and I think by that we meant other than just internal, in a small way, on the current campus. So this fits that."
Please tell me what the above crapspeak means. Marcoux blithely dismisses the permanent/temporary distinction with the galling "or whatever."
While the soon to be downtown campus is not permanent, the university has agreed to a series of leases that could keep them there for at least 15 years.
Obvious questions arise. When does temporary become permanent? Does the university just plan to walk away from this increasingly expensive many million dollar investment? Will they give it back to the Galleria? Sell it to the University of Phoenix?
The city is also working on a deal that would give the school 750-thousand dollars in tax abatement funds to cover construction cost's for the building's owner.
As of right now, all construction is on schedule and while a little bigger than planned, the university still plans to be in place by August.
Mr. Bonzo believes that eventually a little leadership is going to be required to extricate ColdState's higher education system from the large hole being dug. This will require a governor - remember Arne Carlson ? - who can take the flack. OurLeader will also have to start being honest with the people and the legislature - remember Mark Yudof ?
Bonzo circuits going down, down. Please do not reboot. Let me recover...
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
A New Home on the Range for BigU ?
Now that the University of Minnesota, Rochester, has been such a stunning success, a state legislator wants to establish yet another U. (YAU)
The Daily reports:
April 4, 2007
Range campus possible
A state representative hopes to forge a graduate mining program on the Iron Range.
By Karlee Weinmann
Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, wants to establish a postsecondary presence on northern Minnesota's Iron Range ... Rukavina said he wants to see greater use of the area's mining resources for programs focusing on graduate study in areas of mining, metallurgical engineering and bioenergy, among others.
"I want to utilize the resources we have up here," he said. "It's really about the wealth we have - natural resource-based wealth."
[Uh-huh, that's why Rudy Perpich, in the IRRB days of yesteryear, built a now defunct five million dollar chopstick factory on the Range (Hibbing) that went belly up.]
In a bill set for presentation this legislative session, Rukavina proposes a viability study to assess the demand of students and employers for higher education in the area, which extends from Grand Rapids to Ely. The study would require $300,000 in state funding, and completion is slated for Jan. 15 of next year. [Well at least initially that's less than the chopstick factory but you can be sure that it will grow, just like Topsy.]
Rukavina said plans for an Iron Range campus would follow a course similar to the University's Rochester campus. Ideally, there would be a centralized facility, as in Rochester, with others joining to ease on-site research.
[If the Republicans in Southern Minnesota can have their U, then I guess the Dems on the Range should get one too - fair is fair, you roll my log and I'll roll yours, nicht wahr ?]
"I envision the MnSCU system cooperating with the University of Minnesota and maybe even some other private higher education facilities," he said.
[I'll just bet that if the spigot can be turned on at the legislature, the administrators will all gather together at the river of money that runs through Morrill Hall and sing Kumbaya while the checks are cut.]
Already-established research programs would provide unparalleled research opportunities, Rukavina said. Current research in the region includes projects at the Tower-Soudan mine and the Duluth campus's Natural Resources Research Institute mineral analysis laboratory in Coleraine. The Soudan Underground Laboratory, housed in the mine, falls within the borders of Rukavina's congressional district. [What a coincidence..]
In 1980, physics professor Marvin Marshak began conducting physics experiments in the laboratory. Since then, the facility has become more comprehensive and renowned. Marshak said Rukavina has been a longtime supporter of his research initiatives, but he is unsure of the feasibility of Rukavina's plans.
[Whoops! How ungrateful of Professor M. Doesn't he know how this game is played ?]
"I think it is true that mining engineering programs in U.S. universities have been shutting down or downsizing," he said. "A lot of this has to do with a lack of student interest." The University's civil engineering department formerly contained a mineral engineering group which disbanded several years ago. Marshak attributed the program's demise to low enrollment stemming from heightened interest in emerging computer-based engineering fields.
[And as if that weren't enough, professor M issues the ultimate insult to former miners at home on the Range. As an aside, when Mr. B. worked at the pilot plant in the Mining - with real engineers - we didn't sit in our offices either.]
"Engineers today do computer stuff; they sit in nice offices," Marshak said. "Mining is messy and dirty and hard physical work even [sic] for the engineers." [Ouch, that hurt! Professor M speaks here like an elitist physics professor. Could this be?]
Marvelous Marvin is the new czar for undergraduate research at BigU - I’m sure he knows that with BigU’s limited resources, we don’t need yet another U. (YAU) If we don't need General College, we certainly don't need YAU.
An amazed Mr. Bonzo writes from BigU where the search for greatness on a shoestring becomes daily more bizarre and our few remaining M&Ms are being gobbled up by hungry administrators and politicians.
Now that the University of Minnesota, Rochester, has been such a stunning success, a state legislator wants to establish yet another U. (YAU)
The Daily reports:
April 4, 2007
Range campus possible
A state representative hopes to forge a graduate mining program on the Iron Range.
By Karlee Weinmann
Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, wants to establish a postsecondary presence on northern Minnesota's Iron Range ... Rukavina said he wants to see greater use of the area's mining resources for programs focusing on graduate study in areas of mining, metallurgical engineering and bioenergy, among others.
"I want to utilize the resources we have up here," he said. "It's really about the wealth we have - natural resource-based wealth."
[Uh-huh, that's why Rudy Perpich, in the IRRB days of yesteryear, built a now defunct five million dollar chopstick factory on the Range (Hibbing) that went belly up.]
In a bill set for presentation this legislative session, Rukavina proposes a viability study to assess the demand of students and employers for higher education in the area, which extends from Grand Rapids to Ely. The study would require $300,000 in state funding, and completion is slated for Jan. 15 of next year. [Well at least initially that's less than the chopstick factory but you can be sure that it will grow, just like Topsy.]
Rukavina said plans for an Iron Range campus would follow a course similar to the University's Rochester campus. Ideally, there would be a centralized facility, as in Rochester, with others joining to ease on-site research.
[If the Republicans in Southern Minnesota can have their U, then I guess the Dems on the Range should get one too - fair is fair, you roll my log and I'll roll yours, nicht wahr ?]
"I envision the MnSCU system cooperating with the University of Minnesota and maybe even some other private higher education facilities," he said.
[I'll just bet that if the spigot can be turned on at the legislature, the administrators will all gather together at the river of money that runs through Morrill Hall and sing Kumbaya while the checks are cut.]
Already-established research programs would provide unparalleled research opportunities, Rukavina said. Current research in the region includes projects at the Tower-Soudan mine and the Duluth campus's Natural Resources Research Institute mineral analysis laboratory in Coleraine. The Soudan Underground Laboratory, housed in the mine, falls within the borders of Rukavina's congressional district. [What a coincidence..]
In 1980, physics professor Marvin Marshak began conducting physics experiments in the laboratory. Since then, the facility has become more comprehensive and renowned. Marshak said Rukavina has been a longtime supporter of his research initiatives, but he is unsure of the feasibility of Rukavina's plans.
[Whoops! How ungrateful of Professor M. Doesn't he know how this game is played ?]
"I think it is true that mining engineering programs in U.S. universities have been shutting down or downsizing," he said. "A lot of this has to do with a lack of student interest." The University's civil engineering department formerly contained a mineral engineering group which disbanded several years ago. Marshak attributed the program's demise to low enrollment stemming from heightened interest in emerging computer-based engineering fields.
[And as if that weren't enough, professor M issues the ultimate insult to former miners at home on the Range. As an aside, when Mr. B. worked at the pilot plant in the Mining - with real engineers - we didn't sit in our offices either.]
"Engineers today do computer stuff; they sit in nice offices," Marshak said. "Mining is messy and dirty and hard physical work even [sic] for the engineers." [Ouch, that hurt! Professor M speaks here like an elitist physics professor. Could this be?]
Marvelous Marvin is the new czar for undergraduate research at BigU - I’m sure he knows that with BigU’s limited resources, we don’t need yet another U. (YAU) If we don't need General College, we certainly don't need YAU.
An amazed Mr. Bonzo writes from BigU where the search for greatness on a shoestring becomes daily more bizarre and our few remaining M&Ms are being gobbled up by hungry administrators and politicians.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Does ColdState Really Need Another U?
Problem: College/university tuition at public universities in ColdState is out of control.
Solution: Spend more money on yet another educational institution.
[This does not compute, Bonzo circuits overloaded, going down, down, down…]
As pointed out yesterday in the Winona Daily News
Now, we are left to trust the Legislature again and, even more scary, trust the University of Minnesota to do the right thing. We hope that the University of Minnesota isn’t just shedding big crocodile tears when it talks about the lack of funding from the Legislature and then, at the same time, creating redundancies in Rochester.
Our legislative delegation has done an admirable job of raising this issue and keeping it in the public light. We hope they keep the spotlight focused on the University of Minnesota, which should soon be telling us exactly what it plans on doing in Rochester. Still, questions about the legitimate need for a university in Rochester have never been answered satisfactorily, especially when one considers the community is already being served by four (count ‘em) higher education facilities.
When Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his plan for Rochester two years ago, it was political pandering to an eroding Republican base in Rochester. Today, it’s simply bad policy in the midst of much hand-wringing about the rising cost of higher education.
Hopefully, the ColdState legislature as well as the ColdState taxpayers will start thinking about the disconnect between limited resources, leading to higher tuition, and the highly questionable use of ColdState resources for a redundant ColdStateU.
Ciao!
Mr. B.
Problem: College/university tuition at public universities in ColdState is out of control.
Solution: Spend more money on yet another educational institution.
[This does not compute, Bonzo circuits overloaded, going down, down, down…]
As pointed out yesterday in the Winona Daily News
Now, we are left to trust the Legislature again and, even more scary, trust the University of Minnesota to do the right thing. We hope that the University of Minnesota isn’t just shedding big crocodile tears when it talks about the lack of funding from the Legislature and then, at the same time, creating redundancies in Rochester.
Our legislative delegation has done an admirable job of raising this issue and keeping it in the public light. We hope they keep the spotlight focused on the University of Minnesota, which should soon be telling us exactly what it plans on doing in Rochester. Still, questions about the legitimate need for a university in Rochester have never been answered satisfactorily, especially when one considers the community is already being served by four (count ‘em) higher education facilities.
When Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his plan for Rochester two years ago, it was political pandering to an eroding Republican base in Rochester. Today, it’s simply bad policy in the midst of much hand-wringing about the rising cost of higher education.
Hopefully, the ColdState legislature as well as the ColdState taxpayers will start thinking about the disconnect between limited resources, leading to higher tuition, and the highly questionable use of ColdState resources for a redundant ColdStateU.
Ciao!
Mr. B.
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