September 24, 2009
Green Institute builds on partners
One of the lessons learned when creating with an artist’s palette of paints is the difference between primary and secondary colors. While primary colors can stand on their own, it takes a dab of blue and smidge of yellow to make green. The Northcentral Technical College concept for a Green Institute at its Medford campus will require the same spirit as the school looks for the right balance to make the concept a reality.
One of the biggest steps in the collaboration came when a joint meeting of Taylor County’s Finance, Land Information, and Buildings, Grounds and Parks Committees approved a memorandum of understanding to transfer approximately $2 million in county property to NTC as its share of an effort to build the institute. The other shares will come from similar investments by NTC to build its dream and the federal government, which would provide funds to see the project through. School officials said the project would only be undertaken and completed with all three governmental legs playing a role in the project.
The Green Institute concept calls for programs in existing fields, but the most exciting possibilities could be in the potential for building skills in underdeveloped 21st century areas such as alternative energy, organic and biotechnology fields. One of the strongest areas in Wisconsin’s technical college system has been the ability to look outside the box and see solutions. Striving to see future programming needs points to a commitment to the school’s legacy of unorthodox thinking.
Hopefully, NTC will also continue another technical college tradition and listen to local concerns and voices. In the conceptual drawing presented Friday, the largest space allocation will be to the development of an outdoor greens and landscape management classroom. One component of the new institute is the development of a greenskeeping program. While the combination of greens, tee boxes, fairways and sand traps looks an awful lot like two golf course holes being cut out of the campus woods, NTC officials are quick to point out the purpose of the area is learning not playing. When the drawing was unveiled Friday, several voices in the audience and at the county board table asked about the possibility of partnering with the nearby Tee-Hi Golf Course - it is a three wood away from the campus - as a site to teach course maintenance. The idea of NTC being the expertise in the development of the next nine holes at the Black River Country Club was also raised. The public-private partnerships, as well as other opportunities to use existing landscape opportunities such as partnerships for learning at local schools, should also be explored as NTC works to develop an enviromentally-sensitive program. It seems obvious any development with the lofty goals and a name of the Green Institute should strive for making as little impact on the campus woods as possible.
We hope the school will continue to build strong partnerships. While the campus woods and trail are currently located on county property, the City of Medford deserves to be brought into the process. The woods and trail represent the only true greenspace in the city’s southwest quadrant. If the school needs to relocate any of the campus trail to make way for a new building and outdoor classroom space, this could be the spark needed to link the current trail with the development of other pedestrian pathways in the city.
The journey toward a Green Institute took a big step forward Friday with de facto Taylor County Board approval of the concept and the land and building transfer. As drawings and plans go from the concept to reality stage, let us hope NTC builds a campus for the future with an eye and ear toward past successes.
The cure is cheaper than the stick
Last week the state Assembly voted unanimously to stiffen penalties for drunk driving in Wisconsin. Under the bill, a first offense will still be a traffic ticket but repeat offenders will face harsher penalties.
Included in the package, fourth offense drunk driving becomes a felony if it occurs within five years of the previous violation. Currently, drunk driving is a felony after five arrests. It also requires ignition interlock devices for all repeat offenders and first offenders with a blood alcohol level of more than .15 percent. Another provision calls for first offenders with someone under 16 in the car to be charged with a misdemeanor.
The Senate will take up the bill soon and Governor Doyle is expected to sign it.
Lawmakers have made cracking down on drunk drivers a high priority this session. Criticism by national organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) have put plenty of pressure on them to do so. A comparison of drunk driving laws shows the Badger state is more lenient than others.
Still, legislators need to ask themselves, what is the goal of OWI reform? Is it to scare people into staying home with a six-pack on Saturday night or to encourage responsible alcohol consumption?
This bill may have too many sticks and not enough carrots. One excellent component is the expansion of a Winnebago County pilot program which allows second and third offenders to spend less time behind bars if they complete treatment. Treatment for chronic drunk drivers is a sorely needed component to a drunk driving law.
Statewide, 52.5 percent of drunk drivers re-offend, but those who complete the Winnebago County program do so at 4 percent. If the results of the Winnebago experiment could be repeated statewide, maybe there would be some relief for Wisconsin’s overburdened and rather expensive court system.
In Winnebago County, offering treatment actually saved $246,000 over two years. Imagine how much could be saved if this option was available statewide.
Instead of expensive prosecution and jail for repeat drunk drivers, the state should invest in revamping the alcohol assessment, expanding the SafeRide program into every county and making sure every first offender attends a victim impact panel. Education is a better option than incarceration.
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