Alan J. Borsuk – Page 40 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Amid Continuing Concerns, MPS Chief Highlights Progress in School Initiatives

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 8, 2017
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee Public Schools Public Speakers at Marquette

“I’m very impatient and I want everything changed overnight. But it doesn’t happen that way.”

How does it happen? I Supt takes time. It takes the involvement of pretty much everyone in the community. It takes a willingness to make changes, but then stick with them so that they can take root and grow.

Those were among the broad and important lessons Darienne Driver, the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, offered at an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Marquette Law School on Wednesday. Driver was enthusiastic about progress being made within MPS and about the prospects for success growing. But she was also realistic about MPS’s problems, and about how it will take time before the impact of current initiatives can be judged.

Author Bemoans “Worship of Ignorance” and Urges New Vitality in US Civic Life

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 28, 2017
Post category:Political Processes & Rhetoric Public Speakers at Marquette

Tom Nichols thinks we’re in a pretty big mess in America. We’re narcissistic in a big way, we are ”obsessed with worship of ignorance,” we’re thin-skinned, we’re unwilling to have serious conversations on serious issues, we wear the fact that we don’t know much as a badge of honor, and we’re deeply divided.

His deep concerns didn’t arise from the 2016 political tumult and the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency. Nichols has been studying and writing about his concerns for several years.

The result is his new book, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters. And the book led to an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program Tuesday at Marquette Law School.

Kleefisch and Nygren Describe “An American Epidemic” in Law School Program

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 23, 2017
Post category:Public Speakers at Marquette

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch asked the audience in Eckstein Hall’s Appellate Courtroom a question: How many of you have been given a prescription for opioid pain medication in the last several years?

A large number of hands – perhaps a majority – went up.

Among these people, the drugs had been provided legally. But the large response illustrated one of Kleefisch’s main points at an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program on Thursday:

Powerful drugs are all over our communities. And, in a shocking number of cases, they are ending up being used for illegal purposes, they are triggering or feeding dangerous addictions, and they are leading the way for people to become involved in illegal drugs such as heroin.

Kleefisch and State Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) are co-chairs of Gov. Scott Walker’s Task Force on Opioid Abuse, created last fall. Nygren is co-chair of the legislature’s powerful Joint Committee on Finance, but also has a daughter who has struggled with heroin addiction.