Leader-Telegram, Oct. 24
Thrill-seeker’s plunge is ill-advised
Let’s preface this editorial by saying that we’re glad UW-Stout student Mason Barth is alive and well.
But let’s add this: We’re also glad the 20-year-old Neillsville native is being held accountable for his reckless actions.
Barth last week BASE jumped from a 300-foot Charter Communications tower in Menomonie. The stunt went awry when his parachute got tangled in a guy wire and he was left dangling about 50 feet from the ground. BASE stands for building, antenna, span and earth, which are the fixed structures from which thrill-seeking jumpers launch themselves into the air.
Barth has been charged with a count of criminal trespass to an energy provider property. He has a pre-trial conference slated for Dec. 10.
“You always want to make sure you’re not trespassing on private property. You don’t know the situation and in addition to the safety risks, it’s a criminal offense,” Brenna Jasper, crime prevention specialist with the Menomonie Police Department, said in a story by Travis Nyhus of the Dunn County News. “This particular gentleman is extremely lucky that he wasn’t injured and that we were able to get him down safely and have such a successful resolution.”
Barth was taken to a local hospital, treated and released. The rescue effort involved a police department that, according to its website, has 27 sworn officers and handles more than 16,000 calls a year, the Menomonie Fire Department and the Menomonie Street Department.
Barth, who spent about two hours dangling from the wire, was quick to credit emergency personnel in a follow-up story by Nyhus.
“I just really want to emphasize how much I appreciate the people that helped me that day,” Barth said. “They were a very good crew and they did their job perfectly.”
Nevertheless, their services could have been put to better use elsewhere. What if there was an emergency at the same time at another location and available personnel and response times were affected by Barth’s reckless act?
“There’s all kinds of ways to do things like BASE jump, those types of thrill-seeking activities safely and legally,” Jasper said, “so it’s just important to take the proper precautions when you’re wanting to do those things.”
In the U.S., according to a National Geographic magazine report, “BASE jumping is banned at all national parks but is allowed in Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service spaces.”
Jumpers also are allowed at a site in Twin Falls, Idaho, and, once a year, at a location in Fayetteville, West Virginia.
“The sport has remained largely underground because of its danger and the fact that jumpers are often required to trespass, burgle or pick locks to access launch points,” reads a recent Washington Post story. “One study found BASE jumping is five to eight times as dangerous as skydiving. An online magazine maintains a list of fatalities in the sport. It numbers 377.”
BASE jumping and the more advanced “sport” of wingsuit BASE jumping are particularly popular in Europe due to an agreeable landscape and relaxed regulations. But even across the pond some sites have been banned because they can put rescue personnel at risk.
Admittedly, breaking the law can be one of the thrills some jumpers are seeking. That doesn’t change the fact that they - and, in this case, Barth - should obey the rules in place.
A few letters to the editor were critical of the Leader-Telegram’s coverage of Barth’s stunt. But it’s important to note that reporting on an act or event is not at all the same as endorsing it. BASE jumping is a rarity in the Chippewa Valley, which makes it newsworthy.
Hopefully, this incident will serve as a valuable lesson for both Barth and others considering such acts. It may seem “cool” to jump from structures hundreds of feet in the air. What’s not “cool” is putting oneself and others in dangerous situations and taxing the emergency response resources of our communities.
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La Crosse Tribune, Oct. 13
All in Wisconsin plan deserves support
Imagine western Wisconsin without our University of Wisconsin campuses.
Imagine the loss to our economy. Imagine the loss to our quality of life. Imagine the loss of employment. And imagine what our future would hold for our workforce. Every year, UW campuses award more than 36,000 degrees. Those degrees represent a wealth of talent. And talent - specifically, the recruitment of talent - is one of the biggest challenges that employers in our region face as we look for the next generation of company and community leaders.
That’s why UW’s All in Wisconsin initiative is so important.
It reminds us of the Wisconsin Idea - the century-old concept that UW research and resources should help solve the problems and improve the quality of life in our state from border to border.
During a recent visit to western Wisconsin, UW Board of Regents Drew Petersen told our editorial board: “I think we need to do a far better job at showcasing how impactful all of our campuses are, region by region, in the state.” That’s an important message at a time when higher education often struggles for support - financial and otherwise. “We have tremendous stories to tell … we just need to go out there and make our case,” Petersen said.
Indeed, while graduation rates and placement rates and other campus statistics are impressive, the best stories are shared by graduates whose lives have been improved for a lifetime because of their UW education. During his visit to La Crosse, Petersen said: “UW-La Crosse is a great illustration of that - high enrollment, high graduation rates, unbelievable career placement in both business and civic engagement. We all need to be in the sales business, and that’s exactly the kind of story we want to highlight.”
You can make the same case at UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire and other campuses in the UW System. In every community, there are strong examples of campus-community partnership that extends educational opportunities to K-12 students and enriches the region we call home. UW System President Ray Cross says campuses have developed crucial partnerships that help nurture and retain talent.
“What I’m hearing from businesses is they’re just screaming for talent - more IT people, more nurses, more engineers,” Cross said. “Here, there’s almost a seamless transition for these high school students into a career path requiring higher education. How do we advance that elsewhere as well?” Petersen emphasized the increased need to expose high school students to what’s available on UW campuses. He also said increasing funding for facilities, programs and retaining quality professors “will pay dividends not just for our campuses, but for the employers who get a workforce pipeline from our campuses, and for the regions that build economic development around our campuses.” ’’We compete with corrections, with Medicare, with transportation,” he said. “In my mind, higher education is the best investment that our taxpayers and legislators can make.”
We agree.
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The Journal Times of Racine, Oct. 24
To fight homelessness, focus on affordable housing
A recent set of reports by The Journal Times and newspapers throughout Wisconsin make it clear: There’s an acute need for affordable housing with regard to homelessness in the Badger State.
Elected officials - led by people from both sides of the aisle, particularly Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Rep. Jim Steineke of Kaukauna - are now building off that foundation with efforts to increase funding for shelters, encourage the sharing information across institutions, better connect people in need with jobs, and to invest in housing.
“We see homelessness. We see the problem,” Steineke said. “Everybody’s got similar goals, just different approaches in accomplishing them.
“Addressing homelessness and housing insecurity has been and continues to be among my administration’s top priorities,” Evers said. “We’ve demonstrated since day one our willingness to work with Republicans to end homelessness as we know it in Wisconsin. I think it’s incredibly important for me as governor to set the tone that this is a critical issue which requires all hands on deck, and that it is an issue I intend to lead on.”
“We have an affordable housing crisis,” said Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison.
In a recent 40-page report, the Wisconsin Realtors Association outlined a shortage of low-cost housing that has many dimensions. The state, when compared to its neighbors, has the highest rate of extreme rental cost burden for lower-income families and the second-highest rate of extreme cost burden for low-income homeowners, it says.
As he travels the state in his new job, Mike Basford, the director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, said he hears a common theme.
“I thought I’d be finding out about a lot of differences,” he said. “I’m surprised by the number of similarities. Everybody has the same issue - housing, particularly for those making less than 30% of county median income.”
In July, Gov. Evers, Basford, and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority announced $500,000 would be available for “shovel-ready” projects to help fight homelessness. The state received 44 responses with requests totaling $3 million, and in August, the council awarded $500,000 to 13 projects across the state.
“We can’t just throw a bunch of money around and hope it will solve the problem,” Steineke continued. “We have to prove concepts and that they are having a lasting effect.”
Steineke is correct. We also want the state government to focus its efforts on long-term solutions to homelessness, not quick fixes or mere Band-Aids.
The Racine Revitalization Partnership is one of the 13 Interagency Council recipients and will be receiving $50,000. The nonprofit community development corporation will be using the money to rehab a duplex on Clark Street near Uptown and a single-family home on Packard Avenue less than half a mile to the west, and each property will be made available to tenants at-risk of homelessness.
Both homes had been included in the City of Racine’s Property Reactivation Program, through which the city is turning over tax-foreclosed properties to eligible home buyers, nonprofits and/or for-profit entities that have sufficient financing to bring the homes back to livable standards. The city is in the process of transferring the properties to the Racine Revitalization Partnership.
Ed Miller, RRP’s executive director, envisions opening those homes as permanent supportive housing to local people and families who had been chronically homeless.
“Instead of vacant homes in these neighborhoods, they will be active and used for their intended purpose,” Miller said. “There’s a dire need to find places for people (who are currently) living at (the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organzation shelter) to live.”
When housing is affordable for people with lower incomes, or people who are otherwise at risk of homelessness, the likelihood of such people becoming homeless is reduced. If you make it easier for such people to pay the rent each month, they’re less likely to be evicted; in some cases, those who are evicted end up with no option other than places like Racine’s HALO shelter.
Democrats and Republicans in Madison often have sharp differences of opinion. The need for, and desire to, take action to fight homelessness isn’t one of them.
So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see some action in the Capitol.
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