DataminingGeek

I was accepted, but am very wary of attending any University of Wisconsin school, given that their governor has just stripped the grad assistant unions of their collective bargaining rights, and has eliminated their ability to automatically deduct dues from employee paychecks (which will probably mean that there will soon be no unions at all). Without collective bargaining rights, things like tuition remission, pay, and healthcare rates cannot be guaranteed. I simply cannot afford to lose my tuition remission half-way through the program. In addition, who knows how many of my advisors might leave the state in search of fairer opportunities? As long as you have other offers, I would strongly encourage you to reconsider. I think I will turn down my offer. I am not that desperate for tier-4 place. Wisconsin, mayors, school superintendents and county executives are already thinking through how to use the legislation to hold down public employees’ raises and health costs. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/01ohio.html?src=twrhp Earlier in the week, there had been as many as 40,000 protesters, leading to schools been canceled as unhappy union workers, who make up the majority of public university employees, took to the streets. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0218/Wisconsin-protests-why-week-of-rage-matters-to-rest-of-America "I'm fighting for my home and my career," said Virginia Welle, a 30-year-old teacher at Chippewa Falls High School. She said she and her husband, who is also a teacher, each stand to lose $5,000 a year in higher pension and health care contributions. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41624142/ns/politics-more_politics/ The bill, which the Republican governor signed into law today, limits collective bargaining rights for most unionized public employee workers in Wisconsin. In Portland, students from Portland State University, Portland Community College, Lincoln, Grant and Marshall high schools marched into the downtown square chanting slogans like "this is what democracy looks like." http://wweek.com/portland/blog-26699-portland_students_rally_against_wisconsin_union_bi.html "This attack on workers and students is not exclusive to Wisconsin," says PSU student and rally organizer Wael Elasady.