Milwaukee – Page 27 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Law School and Public Policy Forum Offer Web Site on Future of Cultural Assets

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:June 17, 2015
Post category:Marquette Law School Milwaukee Political Processes & Rhetoric Public

Set aside the hot subject of a new basketball arena for downtown Milwaukee – that’s a horse race that’s already far down the track – and we still face a lot of major policy questions about the future of the Milwaukee area’s cultural and recreational assets.

Museums, the zoo, parks, playgrounds, the convention center, cultural organizations– these are important assets to the community and keys to the overall quality of life of people living in and visiting the Milwaukee area.

What should do to keep them vibrant and how should we pay for what we do?

Marquette Law School and the Public Policy Forum, a non-partisan local research organization, are partnering in an effort to help educate people on the issues surrounding these important aspects of our community. The two institutions have created a Web-based tool for learning about the issues and developing your own thoughts on what should be done and how it might be financed.

The School of Don Walker

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:May 26, 2015
Post category:Marquette Law School History Milwaukee Public

Several people have used the phrase “old school” when talking about Don Walker. I know what they mean and it is certainly intended as a compliment.

But I want to make sure no one thinks that what Don did as a news reporter and editor for 37 years in Milwaukee was in any way out of date.

The Don Walker approach to news was to get to know all you can about important subjects and to tell what you know to the public in as clear and straight-forward a way as you could. That’s something we need so much these days. That’s why whatever he wrote, whatever subject he was covering, his reporting was a must-read for anyone who wanted to know what was going on.

That’s one big reason – but only one – why Don will be missed. He collapsed and died Friday at home, apparently of a heart attack. He was 62.

Urban Poverty Conference Offers Insights and Some Bits of Hope

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:April 27, 2015
Post category:Marquette Law School Milwaukee Poverty & Law Public Speakers at Marquette

“Urban Men in Poverty: Problems and Solutions” – that was the name of a morning-long conference at Eckstein Hall on Friday. Not surprisingly, the content of the gathering, which featured presentations from five professors from four universities, shed more light on the problems than the solutions. The problems are large and urgent, and good research illuminates them. The solutions are much more difficult to identify and implement.

That gave the conference a lot of content but a sobering tone. On the other hand, hope was present too.

For one thing, the fact that such a gathering occurred was a promising sign, Marquette University President Mike Lovell told the audience of more than 200. This was the first collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs and Marquette Law School. Lovell suggested this was an example of the kind of partnerships that are needed to create change.

“The only way we’re going to face and overcome the problems of urban men in poverty is by working together,” Lovell said. He said there are no easy answers. The problems related to urban men in poverty are rooted in events of decades. Solutions will not come quickly. But, he said, he was excited so many people with serious interest gathered to show commitment to pursing solutions.