Alan J. Borsuk – Page 69 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Mission Week Expert Describes Progress and Problems on Global Water Issues

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:February 5, 2015
Post category:Public Speakers at Marquette

Great progress has been since 1990 in making clean water available to hundreds of millions of people, but there remains great need to extend that progress to hundreds of millions more, a leading figure in such efforts said Thursday at Marquette Law School.

As part of Mission Week at Marquette University, Vanessa Tobin spoke with Mike Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program. Tobin is senior technical advisor for water supply, sanitation, and water resources for Catholic Relief Services. She worked for 24 years for UNICEF on dealing with these needs and others around the world before joining Catholic Relief Services in December, 2011.

Tobin said that for people in nations such as the United States or her native England, “we take our hygiene and sanitation for granted. . . . These are luxuries in many countries.” For about 750 million people, primarily low-income residents of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, unpolluted water is not available and poor sanitary conditions affect the health of millions of people, particularly children five and under.

MPS Is at a “Tipping Point,” Driver Tells Law School Audience

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:January 28, 2015
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee Public Schools Public

The Milwaukee Public Schools system is “at a tipping point” where improvements in how the system is run and a strong base of community support need to lead to better overall academic achievement for students, the new superintendent of MPS, Darienne Driver, said Wednesday.

Speaking at an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall, Driver said, “We have to get results.” But she said MPS is going through a lot of transitions that are helping make schools poised to do that.

But Driver, who became superintendent Oct. 1, spoke a short time after two influential Republican legislators in Madison released the outlines of a plan to deal with poverty in Milwaukee that could see control of some low-performing schools taken from MPS and given to independent charter schools. The ideas floated by Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Dale Kooyenga suggest the tough time MPS is likely to have in the current legislative session.

Driver said the ideas from Darling and Kooyenga “really get away from the investment we should be making in our public schools.” She said it could be “devastating” to schools that would be closed and re-opened. The idea of creating something similar to the Recovery School District in New Orleans, which the legislators suggested, is a distraction that would not yield good results overall, Driver said.

Barrett: Streetcar Plan Is a Bet on the City’s Future

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:January 20, 2015
Post category:Milwaukee Public Schools Public Speakers at Marquette

“I’m betting on the future of this city, and I’m saying we have to invest.”

The specific investment Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was speaking of during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” event at Eckstein Hall on Tuesday is the proposed streetcar that would serve parts of downtown Milwaukee.

Barrett has been an energetic advocate for the streetcar plan, which has become a political controversy of a major order. The proposal appears to be coming to an important point (but not a final decision), with two votes scheduled for Wednesday by the Milwaukee Common Council that would create tax incremental districts in the area to be served. The districts would go far to make financing feasible. But supporters are saying that, even if the streetcar wins, there very likely will be a second round of voting in February, as well as other possible avenues of opposition to pursue.

Barrett told a full house in the Appellate Courtroom that downtown Milwaukee has seen a boom in development and that the streetcar would help continue that. He showed photos of major business projects underway and said 800 new residential units are being readied for the market. “I want that momentum to continue,” the mayor said.