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Editorial, Transfer of Hygienic Lab from UI to State Oversight Would Benefit All, The Daily Iowan

Jonathan Roos, 50 Pursue Open Regents Spot, Des Moines Register

Brian Morelli, More Than 50 Apply for Board Positions, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Editorial, Let's Not Be 'Leader' In Prison Growth, Des Moines Register

William Petroski, Iowa Prison Growth to Eclipse Neighbors But S.D., Study Says, Des Moines Register

Editorial, Credit Regents for Posting E-Mails; Now Expand Idea, Des Moines Register

Editorial, Regents Step in Right Direction With E-Mail Policy, Iowa City Press-Citizen

John Metz, Misguided Sales Pitch, Des Moines Register

Linda Detroy Alexander, UI, Lottery Longtime Lovers, The Gazette

Editorial, Fight Song Controversy Should Prompt Increased Athletics Oversight, The Daily Iowan

Amy J. Walsh, Don't Allow Graduate Students to be Abused by University, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Matt Nelson, N.M. Faculty Back Hay, The Daily Iowan

Terry McCoy, UI Defends Emeritus Status, The Daily Iowan

Tim Taffe, Pressure UICCU to Hold New Election, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Robert A. Rasley and Kenneth H. Yerington, If Only We Could Return to Colloton Era, Iowa City Press-Citizen

[Note: This material is copyright by The Daily Iowan, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Daily Iowan.]

The bill would place the Hygienic Lab under the administration of a "state hygienic laboratory board of directors," which would consist of an 11-member panel with five permanent members. Among those permanent members would be the UI president and the state secretary of Agriculture, the directors of Natural Resources, Public Heath, and the Attorney General Office's consumer-protection division. The remaining six positions would be appointed by the governor from various state and local health and environmental facilities. The new board would be responsible for oversight as well as budgeting of the Hygienic Lab. The university, however, would still retain some authority over the facility, although the extent of this authority is currently unspecified.

A closer look at the function of and services provided by the lab reveals a facility teeming with educational opportunities, and a mission primarily directed at ensuring the quality of public health in Iowa. The lab provides important health services for Iowa, testing a wide range of diseases, screening for birth defects, and testing water, air, and soil. Public-health threats such as avian flu or the West Nile virus are processed by the lab.

There do not appear to be any serious problems with making such a change so long as the university may share in the use of this facility for research purposes. The university would also still retain "routine administrative purposes." Although the wording of this phrase is rather vague, lawmakers must ensure this will mean at least a meaningful involvement of the university in using the facility. It's an appropriate move to make given the value of the laboratory to the people of Iowa. The university simply doesn't have the resources, nor the inclination to prioritize the laboratory to fulfill the role it is intended to provide.

Restructuring the oversight of the Hygienic Lab would be to the benefit of Iowans, and in a smaller part, to the university, which would no longer be tasked with dishing out funding from a cash-strapped budget. It's a promising plan, and one that this Editorial Board hopes will be effectively implemented.

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The executives include William Krause of West Des Moines, chairman of the Kum & Go convenience store chain, agricultural entrepreneur Bruce Rastetter of Hubbard, and Richard McConnell, a retired Pioneer Hi-Bred vice president from Grimes.

The list also names Dr. Andrea McGuire, a Des Moines physician who was the running mate of Michael Blouin, one of Culver's rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor last year.

The Des Moines Register reviewed more than 500 applications that Culver has received so far from Iowans seeking to serve on various state boards and commissions. The Board of Regents, which oversees the three state universities, appeared to draw the largest number of applicants.

The board is arguably the most prestigious state panel but also the object recently of intense public scrutiny over its handling of the University of Iowa presidential search.

The terms of three regents - Amir Arbisser of Davenport, Mary Ellen Becker of Oskaloosa and Teresa Wahlert of Waukee - expire in April. There are indications that Culver may replace all of them.

Wahlert, the board's president pro tempore, led an 18-member committee last year that chose four finalists for the U of I president's search, only to have the Board of Regents reject the finalists. A new search is under way for a successor to David Skorton, who resigned in June to become president of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Culver has signaled that at least some of the regents up for reappointment won't be retained.

"He does want some new blood in there," said Brad Anderson, Culver's communications director.

Culver also must fill the vacancy created by the resignation last December of Regent Tom Bedell of Spirit Lake.

Arbisser said Culver told him he was "leaning" toward choosing new regents.

"The governor has definitely been seriously considering having four new regents," Arbisser said Tuesday. "But it was my understanding that at least as of a week ago he had not yet made the final decision."

Arbisser and Becker, the two longest-serving board members, have said they hoped to remain on the board because of their experience.

Key legislators expect the new Democratic governor to make a clean sweep. "I think he's going to want to have his own people," said Sen. Michael Connolly, a Dubuque Democrat on the state government committee.

No other new Iowa governor, at least in recent history, has immediately had to make four appointments to the Board of Regents, Anderson said.

Culver is looking for candidates "willing to work with the faculty, work with the students and just change the tone of the board. Right now the public is just not satisfied with the tone of the board," Anderson said. "In addition, open government is very important to him. He does not approve of the closed meetings that have taken place with the regents."

A recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showed that 27 percent of Iowans approved of the job performance of the Board of Regents. Thirty-seven percent disapproved and 36 percent of people said they were unsure or undecided about the regents' job performance.

Culver has until March 15 to send his list of appointees to state boards and commissions to the Iowa Senate. He could act sooner on choosing a replacement for Bedell, although no decision has been made, Anderson said.

A person nominated by the governor needs the approval of two-thirds of the Senate, or 34 members.

The list of roughly 50 Iowans who have applied for a seat on the Board of Regents is likely to grow. Culver is encouraging an additional 10 to 15 people to apply, Anderson said. That doesn't mean Culver is disappointed with the current pool of applicants, he added.

At least two of the applicants included written criticisms of the current board.

Thomas Kriz of Iowa City, the Johnson County treasurer, said the Board of Regents "has been tarnished by its lack of leadership and its poor decision-making on critical matters."

David Johnson, who works in database administration at the U of I, said "there seems to be this philosophy that one can apply a 'Wal-Mart' style business plan to our institutions of higher learning."

The applications to state boards and commissions are public records. In many cases, people seeking appointment to the Board of Regents asked to be considered for other state boards as well. Krause, the Kum & Go chairman, also applied to serve on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

The five former legislators who have applied are Democrats Robert Osterhaus and Don Shoultz, and Republicans Doug Shull, Willard Jenkins and Maggie Tinsman.

The other regents include Michael Gartner, Robert Downer, Ruth Harkin, Jenny Connolly and Rose Vasquez.
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Reporter Erin Jordan contributed to this article.

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In a list provided by Gov. Chet Culver's office, more than 50 Iowans, including former state officials, corporate executives and two current regents, have applied for four regent posts -- three terms are expiring and one was vacated by a resignation.

Included were five former legislators, former Lt. Gov. Joy Corning; former Secretary of State Elaine Baxter William Krause of West Des Moines, chairman of the Kum & Go convenience store chain agricultural entrepreneur Bruce Rastetter of Hubbard and Richard McConnell, a retired Pioneer Hi-Bred vice president from Grimes.

Christopher Rossi, a University of Iowa professor; Roberta Till-Retz, a retired labor educator; Thomas Kriz, Johnson County Treasurer; and Jack Evans, president of the Perrine Foundation also have applied.

"(Gov. Culver) is very satisfied with the pool of applicants he is looking at now," Culver's spokesman Brad Anderson said. "He is also looking at (10 to 15 additional) people who aren't in the current pool that he is asking to apply."

Culver has until March 15 to send four names to the Iowa Senate. The Senate will have until April 15 to sign off with two-thirds majority approval for each candidate.

"This is historic," Anderson said. "Never has a governor appointed four regents this early in his term. We are confident he will find the right people."

Culver has been vague about whether he will choose four new members or perhaps make reappointments. He also has left the timetable for new appointments open.

What is clear is that Culver wants "new blood" on the board and wants a "new tone" for one of Iowa's most prestigious citizen-volunteer boards. The board has endured heavy criticism for behind-the-scenes decision-making and skirting Iowa's open record and open meeting laws. According to a Des Moines Register poll, only one in four Iowans approve of the job the board is doing.

"One of (Culver's) most important priorities is whether they can work with faculty and students. It is very important that these people are committed to open government," Anderson said, noting Culver's disapproval of the recent use of closed meetings.

Wahlert of Waukee was appointed in 2005 to fill a resigned spot and has been at the center of regent controversy since leading a failed seven-month search for a new UI president. The search ended abruptly after a week of secret meetings and resulted in a slew of no-confidence votes in Wahlert and regent president Michael Gartner.

Former UI president David Skorton announced more than a year ago he was leaving to become the Cornell University president.

Wahlert did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

Amir Arbisser, a physician from Davenport, and Mary Ellen Becker, a special education educator from Oskaloosa, are re-applying. They are longest serving regents whose six-year terms are ending.

Culver isn't 100 percent committed to replacing all the regents, Arbisser said, but Culver "told me he is leaning in that direction."

"With all the controversy this year, there is a fair amount of pressure to take opportunities to get a new team in there," Arbisser said, adding that the new board will face pressure to regain Iowans' trust.

Arbisser and Becker highlighted the importance in new appointees for medical and education backgrounds and geographically decentralization -- the board office and four of nine regents are based in or near Des Moines.

Culver could replace the slot of Tom Bedell, who announced his resignation in December, before the other three posts, but he has not decided if he will.

When Bedell resigned, he asked Gartner, in a public letter and in an internal e-mail, to step down from his post as president. Gartner has refused.

Gartner of Des Moines joined the board in 2005 and finished the president term of former regent and Wellmark CEO John Forsyth, who resigned. Gartner was re-elected in 2006 for a two-year term that ends in the spring of 2008.

Gartner doesn't sense pressure for the new board to do things differently, but he noted a new communications policy where e-mails between five or more regents will be posted publicly. He said there will be a lot pressure to get up to speed.

"There will be a period where people have to do a lot of orientation and reading. It is $3.5 billion enterprise. In the early months, there will be a lot of extra work for the regents," Gartner said.

[Note: This material is copyright by the Des Moines Register, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Des Moines Register.]

It costs an average of $23,367 per year to keep an inmate incarcerated in an Iowa prison. If that isn't bad enough, growth of Iowa's prison population over the next five years is expected to outpace that of all but one surrounding Midwest state (South Dakota), a new study has found. Iowa's nine prisons held about 8,800 convicts at the end of last year. By the end of 2011, the prison population is expected to grow to more than 10,000.

It's embarrassing for Iowa to be a "leader" in locking people up.

How can Iowa quell that growth?

- Lawmakers should take a fresh look at this state's criminal-justice policies, especially mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes. That ties the hands of judges and keeps some people behind bars longer than they need to be there - with taxpayers footing the bill.

- Lawmakers should spend more on substance-abuse treatment, which would help keep people out of prison in the first place and, as a result, save money in the long haul. About 80 percent of Iowa prisoners have been identified as having a substance-abuse problem. Since 2003, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has asked the Legislature to increase funding for drug treatment and prevention, to no avail. He's doing so again this session.

He has said the No. 1 thing this state can do to fight crime is to fight drugs, and the best way to do that is with adequate drug treatment.

Lawmakers should finally listen.

- This state has done a good job of using community-based corrections programs, which include halfway houses, to help keep people out of prison. But mandatory-minimum sentencing prevents judges from directing people to community-based programs; they're sent directly to prison instead. The state should do all it can to get criminals rehabilitated while keeping them in less-costly community programs.

The bottom line is that getting tough on crime, especially drug crimes, has accomplished little except fueling the growth of this state's prison population. In recent years, about one-fourth of inmates entered prison for drug crimes.

It's time for Iowa to change course - and re-evaluate spending priorities.

The more Iowa spends on prisons, the less there is for public schools or for health-care programs for low-income children. Iowans should be furious that this state spends more than $23,000 apiece locking up growing numbers of people each year when there are less costly and more effective alternatives.

Giving judges sentencing discretion and funding drug treatment and alternatives to prison should be top priorities for this year's Legislature.

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Iowa's nine prisons, which held 8,857 convicts at the end of 2006, are projected to grow to 10,284 inmates by the end of 2011, an increase of 16 percent, according to a report sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The only neighboring state that is forecast to grow at a faster rate is South Dakota, where the prison population is projected to increase from 3,442 to 4,241 inmates, up 23 percent.

The Rev. Carlos Jayne, a retired United Methodist minister who is a lobbyist for the Justice Reform Consortium, a criminal justice activist group, contends Iowa is wasting taxpayers' money.

"We've always felt that people are being put in prison too long and they're not getting out soon enough," he said.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a Democrat, has a different view. Like many other prosecutors, he believes most people are behind bars because they have "earned their way to prison" by repeatedly breaking the law.

"If you look at the people in prison, you are not going to find choirboys there. There is a myth that we are sending first-time drug possessors to prison. That doesn't happen in Iowa," Sarcone said.

Nationwide, state and federal prison populations are projected to increase over the next five years from 1.53 million to 1.72 million inmates, up 13 percent, the study said. This follows a 700 percent increase in the U.S. prison population between 1970 and 2005.

The price tag for prison growth nationally is staggering, the Pew study added. The projected 192,023 new prisoners could cost as much as $27.5 billion: potentially a cumulative $15 billion in new operating costs and $12.5 billion in new construction costs by 2011.

"Every additional dollar spent on prisons, of course, is one dollar less that can go to preparing for the next Hurricane Katrina, educating young people, providing health care for the elderly, or repairing roads and bridges," the report concluded.

In Iowa, the national study comes at a time when some state lawmakers have been discussing the possibility of taking a fresh look at Iowa's criminal sentencing laws.

Although the numbers of drug offenders sent to prison in Iowa have declined the past two years, increased admissions of drug offenders have helped drive the increase in Iowa's prison population, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning.

Over the past two decades, the percentage of convicts serving time for drug offenses has increased from 2 percent of Iowa's prison population to 25 percent. More than half of these offenders are serving time for crimes linked to methamphetamine, amphetamines or meth-making substances.

Each Iowa inmate costs taxpayers an average of $23,367 annually, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. To accommodate future growth and to update aging facilities, consultants have told Iowa prison officials to consider building new housing for 1,500 inmates.

The state corrections agency already employs about 4,100 people and last year had an operating budget of $313 million for prisons and community corrections programs, such as probation, parole and work release.

Jayne contends Iowa is allowing criminal sentencing to be controlled by county attorneys rather than judges and is requiring mandatory sentencing for too many crimes. He also complains that Iowa is using prisons as warehouses for the mentally ill and it is failing to provide substance abuse therapy instead of prison for thousands of offenders.

Sarcone, the Polk County attorney, said offenders in the Des Moines area are offered drug treatment, mental health services, job training, and other programs in an effort to keep them out of prison. Despite those efforts, some offenders still fail, leaving judges no alternative but incarceration, he said.

He added he strongly supports investing in education and other programs for young people, theorizing if someone has a high school diploma, he or she is less likely to get into trouble.

Gov. Chet Culver campaigned last fall on a platform that included continuing the state's crackdown on meth and constructing a new maximum-security state prison in Fort Madison that would cost at least $80 million. Since taking office last month, Culver has called for a $17 million increase in spending to help staff an expansion of the Oakdale state prison and to fill correctional officers' posts in other prisons.

"Obviously, the No. 1 priority is public safety," said Courtney Maxwell Greene, a Culver aide.

Culver isn't proposing changes in criminal sentencing laws, but Iowa is a leader in community corrections and has a comparatively low incarceration rate, Greene said. Iowa has about 30,000 offenders in community corrections, and its 2005 incarceration rate was 12th-lowest in the nation.

Former Lt. Gov. Arthur Neu, a lawyer from Carroll who now serves on the Iowa Board of Corrections, has seen many mandatory sentences added to the state's criminal laws since the late '70s, some of which he says should be re-examined.

"I would rather leave sentencing to the vagaries of a judge, rather than a one-size-fits-all Legislature, especially when they are pandering to the public to show how tough they are," Neu said.

Gary Kendell, the new director of the Iowa Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy, said mandatory minimum sentences aren't necessarily bad because they provide sentencing consistency. But it's also important to know details of each offense in evaluating each sentence, he said.

"If, for example, someone is making $1,000 a week dealing dope, they are dealing that to other people in the community and they are a problem," Kendell said.

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This will help alleviate frustration felt by members of the public who thought they were being cut out of discussions by the nine-member board, which governs the three state universities. The extent to which the regents use e-mail was highlighted in late 2006 during the botched search for a University of Iowa president. At one point, Regent Rose Vasquez spoke of a "barrage" of e-mails in which regents exchanged their views.

It should be recognized that each e-mail sent by a regent in the course of official duties to even one other board member is a public record, with few exceptions. That's the case for e-mail sent or received by all elected and appointed officials, under Iowa's open-records law. Anyone can request copies of such e-mails, and they generally must be provided, but the process of having to ask for them after the fact builds in a delay in access.

That is why the regents should take an additional step: Post every e-mail online for all citizens to see, no matter how many regents are involved. Such a policy acknowledges the reality that e-mail exchanges are useful and a fact of life in modern communications, although they should not replace discussions among public officials in public meetings.

The Legislature should require every public body, not just the regents, to post all e-mails. That should be part of updating the open-records law to better serve Iowans. Technically, it's an easy step, and it would offer instant information for Iowans about what government officials are discussing and considering on their behalf.

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That policy was changed last week, however, when Regents President Michael Gartner announced -- in an e-mail -- that the regents would be positing online all e-mails sent between five or more members.

Although we have been highly critical of the regents over the past 13 months -- to the point of suing them for violating Iowa's open records and open meeting laws -- the new e-mail policy marks an important step into the sunlight for this all too secretive board. E-mail is an effective way for the regents to communicate between their meetings, but it becomes a problem when the bulk of their decision-making takes place electronically rather than in open session. The new policy ensures that the public will have some record of the discussions that result in board policy.

Eventually we would like to see this policy expanded to all e-mails regarding policy issues, but posting e-mails is a good first step toward reversing the board's loss of credibility with the University of Iowa community. Hopefully they'll continue to send group e-mails to each other now that they know such communication is open to public scrunity.

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John Metz,
Urbandale

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  Those who say the university shouldn’t be in bed with the Iowa Lottery seem to forget that education and gambling have been in bed for a long time. Of course, just because something has been happening doesn’t mean it should continue.

  But those people also seem to forget that education gets a great big financial boost from gambling money. Apparently it’s OK to take gambling money but it’s not OK to help out the hand that feeds us. Could we suddenly turn our backs on that money? Not on your life.

  ‘‘Don’t tarnish the university’s image,’’ people say. ‘‘Education and gambling don’t mix,’’ they say. ‘‘It’s just wrong.’’

  Whatever.

  Let me make this clear: I am no fan of gambling. I don’t gamble. (Disclaimer: I used to buy Iowa Lottery scratch-off tickets, and I think I still owe Iowa City activist Gary Sanders a lunch for a silly bet we made so many years ago that I can’t even remember what it was about.) Gambling is a waste of time and money, and it gets too many people into serious trouble.

  Still, gambling is legal, and people enjoy it. Since it was created in 1985, the Iowa Lottery has put more than a billion dollars (that’s a 1 followed by nine zeros) into state coffers for the Legislature to hand out. In fiscal 2006, the lottery deposited almost $81 million into the general fund; 60 percent went to educational purposes.

  On the business side of that coin, the athletics departments at the UI, Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa and some private colleges have had promotional contracts with the Iowa Lottery for years. In the last year, the Iowa Lottery ran promotions like this current one, rewarding lucky winners with custom-built motorcycles; one resplendent in black and old gold, and the other splendiferous in crimson and gold. The lottery has given away trips to bowl games, basketball tournaments and more, with attendant promotional materials.

  So why, all of a sudden, is this kind of promotion a problem? Where’s the outrage that UI basketball head coach Steve Alford’s TV show, ‘‘Iowa Basketball with Steve Alford,’’ is being sponsored by the Iowa Lottery? That’s part of the department’s promotional contract with the lottery.

  Seems to me, the only real line that was crossed was that UI athletics officials didn’t vet the TV ad closely enough. As carefully as the athletics officials guard the use of the Tiger Hawk (or even images that kind of look like the Tiger Hawk, as the folks at University of Southern Mississippi found out), they know about copyright laws, infringement and misappropriation. The use of Meredith Willson’s tune for the ‘‘Iowa Fight Song’’ with rewritten lyrics never should have been approved without checking with Rosemary Willson, the writer’s widow. Maybe they’d learn something if she decides to sue.

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Questions have arisen regarding the ethical nature of the UI's seeming endorsement of the lottery, and it emerged this week that permission to use the song was not the university's to give. Now that the university administration finds itself threatened by litigation, officials have been quick to issue statements similarly questioning the appropriateness of the use of the fight song in the lottery advertisement. These same officials - most notably Athletics Director Gary Barta - were responsible for approving the use of the song in the commercial, and they raised none of these concerns until the negative publicity began to roll in. Although the lottery announced on Monday that the commercial's run was over, the incident calls into question the athletics department's procedures for oversight.

Publicity regarding the "Iowa Fight Song" reflects poorly on the university at a time when this institution - in light of its search for a permanent president - seems to be receiving continuous negative attention. The university does not own the rights to the song, which was written by composer Meredith Willson. His widow, Rosemary Willson, owns the rights, and she alerted the university to this fact via a cease-and-desist letter from her lawyers, threatening potential criminal and civil liability.

While who owns rights to the song may appear trivial in comparison with more substantial issues, such as the search for a new UI president, it has nonetheless placed the university in the media spotlight as the target of potential litigation.

If UI officials were aware that the rights to the song were not in their possession, then greater care should have been taken to ensure that violations of the pertinent copyright did not occur. The highest-ranking official to approve the commercial was Barta, who admitted to not actually viewing the commercial. Members of the university's sports marketing department did view the commercial, however; that none of these university employees - whose jobs presumably entail the use of a lot of copyrighted university-related logos and themes - were aware the university does not own the rights to the song speaks very poorly about Iowa's oversight process.

The university should not have to be prompted to act by the threat of litigation. However, this presents an opportunity for the university to pursue ownership of the fight song, which, as an integral part of the UI's image, should be under its jurisdiction and used to promote the university - not draw criticism.

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UI denies its graduate students basic rights like tuition waivers and livable wages -- things no other Big Ten university denies, to say nothing of top tier research universities throughout the country. UI is the only Big Ten university that still forces their grad students to pay tuition, most of which comes out of their already meager salaries. Now, UI also wants to cut health benefits to its students -- and their families -- as well. The UI graduate student union has been fighting these conditions for years, but the university's demands against the graduate students continue to worsen.

The conditions forced upon graduate students do not just affect those students. It affects their spouses and children, who are also contributing citizens of Iowa City and area. The spouse or child of a graduate student must put many aspects of their lives on hold. We will not be able to buy a home or have children until after my husband receives his Ph.D. We must live like we are undergraduates until our 30s. Even the one benefit of being a graduate student, high-quality medical benefits, is now being threatened by the university.

Graduate students are one of the most colorful, intelligent, and cultured aspects of any university community. They are both students and employees, scholars and teachers, consumers and producers. They work 60 to 80 hours a week both on their own studies and to teach undergraduates or assist professors, while making less than $16,000 a year -- not including tuition, fees and insurance. That's less than many service industry jobs

If the Iowa City community allows the university to continue to abuse its graduate student employees, Iowa City and the University of Iowa will suffer in reputation and prestige. Every year, top doctoral applicants choose other universities, other cities and states, to take their talents. These are future ground-breaking scholars who shun the University of Iowa for schools that pay better, do not demand tuition and do not threaten cuts on benefits.

A university's lifeblood relies on its ability to produce the finest scholars of their field, who then go out into the academic world and display the intellectual wealth of their doctoral alma maters. Without prestige and reputation, a university and its community become just another undergraduate mill.

Iowa City cannot afford to let its university and its reputation slide by allowing the university to abuse its graduate students. It cannot allow its citizens to be abused by an employer that denies basic employee rights simply because they are graduate students.
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Amy J. Walsh is married to a University of Iowa graduate student.

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Hay, who had been one of five candidates for the job, now faces only Robert McGrath of Ohio State University for the chief spot at the university, which is held by interim President David Harris.

New Mexico faculty members responded positively to Hay's visit to their campus in Albuquerque last week.

"She came across very well in the faculty forum," said Beverly Burris, a New Mexico sociology professor present at the unanimous vote on Tuesday. "People were impressed with her. She engaged well with faculty."

The faculty members have sent their endorsement to the New Mexico state Board of Regents, which aims to consider the faculty's opinion and select a candidate by Feb. 23.

Louis Caldera was the previous president of the University of New Mexico, but resigned in January 2006.

"I would say that I'm humbled at the support of the faculty at the University of New Mexico, and [it] is a fantastic university with a great future," Hay said Wednesday night.

The faculty at New Mexico had reviewed five candidates in their search for a replacement for Caldera but rejected three of the five, leaving only McGrath and Hay. None of the three other candidates secured more than half of the 66 faculty votes at the review.

"The best way to try to predict success is to look at someone's track record," said Julia Fulghum, a member of the New Mexico presidential-search committee. "[Hay's] had a lot of success at the University of Iowa."

The vice president has been with the UI for a year and a half; she was backed for the vice-presidential position by a UI panel of students and faculty under former UI President David Skorton's tenure.

If she were to become the New Mexico school's leader, Hay would become part of a recent exodus of UI administrators to other institutions. Skorton left the UI in June 2006 to take the helm at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and Linda Everett, the senior associate director of the UI Hospitals and Clinics, plans to depart for the executive vice presidency in the nursing department in Indianapolis.

In addition, current UI Provost Michael Hogan, who was among the four original finalists for the UI presidency in November, was named one of two top candidates for the University of Delaware presidency last fall.
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DI reporter Ashton Shurson contributed to this story.

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For some senior citizens, retirement means gardening, leafing through the AARP Magazine, or dialing sons and daughters every hour on the hour, but such activities aren't top priorities for the 78-year-old.

"I love to teach, and I love research; it is an unusual privilege to have an office, and it is one that I enjoy and something that serves me very well," he said.

Four years have passed since he left the UI political-science department, but his scholarly work has not tapered off - he teaches an annual course, supervises doctoral dissertations, and is the director of the UI Comparative Legislative Research Center.

Although not an active faculty member, Loewenberg still has an office, 336 Schaeffer Hall.

Last month, the state Board of Regents inquired about the university policy for emeritus faculty members following an alleged UI Hospitals and Clinics computer security breach involving UI Hospitals and Clinics administrator emeritus John Colloton. He has office space at the hospital and has a secretary, though he's not an official employee.

Loewenberg and UI representatives maintain that emeritus faculty at the university receive no unwarranted benefits.

"I think people have been misunderstanding what the emeritus status is," Loewenberg said. "There is a great deal of variety in what emeriti do, and I think the university treats emeritus faculty variously depending upon what they do."

Regent Robert Downer said the UI must have a set policy on the use of UI facilities by those with emeritus status.

"I certainly have no interest in dictating what that policy is, but as a part of our responsibility for overseeing the institutions, I think we should have a policy," he said.

He added that he has no quarrel with emeritus faculty holding personal UI offices if their services are of use to the university.

Susan Johnson, an associate provost, said the UI's emeritus policy is exactly what Downer said he supports - offices awarded based on merit. If such people continue to assist in scholarly research or toil on account of the UI, they deserve a personal office, she said.

The only "perk" given to all faculty emeriti is free parking, she said. In addition, they and other retired faculty are allowed to purchase sporting-event tickets at a reduced faculty price, she said.

Although both sects of departed faculty receive their sporting tickets at a decreased price, their status is quite different, Loewenberg said.

The actual title of emeritus is a "rank by virtue of merit," Loewenberg said. And only those who leave the university in good standing and have contributed significantly to the UI garner the title.

Currently, the UI boasts 611 emeriti, said Stephen Rhodes, a UI administrative assistant in the Provost's Office, noting that the data are constantly changing.

The emeriti archives may change frequently, but the UI's emeritus policy likely will not, Johnson said.

"I think people who have given a substantial portion of their life as valued professors of the university should have that title," he said. "It is an academic tradition."

[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

Thank you to all who signed a petition, as authorized by Iowa Superintendent of Credit Unions and Iowa Attorney General. The credit union reports that it has verified well in excess of the required 100 bona fide signatures to demand a meeting within 30 days of receiving the petition.

The petition requests that the meeting be held Feb. 28, although law provides for a date up to March 8, and that the credit union allow for a new election with all members being adequately notified. The petition also requests the election have a level playing field, without endorsement, bands playing and theatrical hoopla that distinguished this past October's vote along with stuffed ballot bags, no checking of credentials, no lists of voters, no oversight of counting and early absentee voting.

Having representatives at the new election from offices of the Iowa Superintendent of Credit Unions or the Iowa Attorney General would further ensure that conventional election procedures are followed.

If you've been away, this started last summer. The credit union consulted a Seattle-based marketer who is paid big bucks for converting very logical brand names into very illogical brand names. Weber morphed John Deere Credit Union into "Veridian." Why not into "Travesty"? The thought seems to be: If the people of our River City liked the Music Man and slide trombones, we'll just love the name "optiVa".

Wrong. We hate it.We love "University of Iowa Community Credit Union," but no amount of advertising will make us love "ooopstiVa."

Two major points that the credit union prefers not to address is the suggestion that the whole name change was mandated by the University of Iowa, a claim denied by the university representatives.

Second point is -- hit your Google -- "Optiva Mortgage" already exists in San Diego, and though small, is authorized to do business nationwide. What confusion. Two Optivas!

This controversy is not about the silly name, but about the integrity, honesty and decency of the credit union management and board of directors, who do not at all represent the cross section of credit union members. Integrity is also on the table, as the board needs to be accountable to the members for actions and decisions.

Credit union charters are all about a concept of "encouraging thrift," so it is irreconcilable that the staff and board have so far spent more than a half million dollars of membership money on this cavalier escapade.

At this moment the ball is in credit union management's hands. The superintendent of credit unions has stated that an election must be held with sufficient member signatures. The board and staff can make things simple and let the voting proceed Feb. 28 or any other agreeable date before March 8.

Feb. 28 is a logical date to be agreed upon, because the name change is scheduled to take effect March 1. The vote should happen before March 1 to avoid confusion.

It is critical that many credit union members vote to retain the 69-year-old "University of Iowa Community Credit Union." Otherwise, on March 1, your credit union as you know it will cease.
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Tim Taffe, a member of the University of Iowa Community Credit Union, owns a health and life insurance practice. He can be contacted at SINKOPTIVA@aol.com.

[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

Now for the editorial's misstatements:

• Statement: The editorial states that it "seems unfathomable that, at the same time, he was directing University Hospitals, Colloton was allowed to be on the Board of Directors of Wellmark." It goes on, "we immediately become suspicious of anyone acting with such profound conflicts of interest or such monopolistic results."

• Factual analysis: If the Press-Citizen had done its research, it would have discovered that for 16 years from 1974 (when Colloton was first elected to the Wellmark Board) until 1991 (when Wellmark became a mutual company), Iowa law mandated that a majority of Wellmark Board of Directors be providers (1939-83) and that no more than one-third be providers (1983-91).

Hence, there was no conflict of interest involved in any of Colloton's service on the Wellmark Board. Given this Iowa Legislative stipulation regarding Wellmark Board composition, the company could not have made a more logical appointment of a responsible provider Director than Colloton to serve with several other Iowa physicians, hospital directors and subscribers on its board. The fact that Colloton was eventually elected, by the board, to its chairmanship and lead director positions shows the wisdom of his original 1974 election by the company and its members.

• Statement: The editorial stated that Colloton's Jan. 6, 2005, letter to Regent Robert Downer "was sent immediately following the university notifying Wellmark that it intended to terminate its multi-million dollar contract with the insurance company." The editorial goes on to declare that "the letter clearly shows that Colloton was lobbying the regent."

• Factual Analysis: The Jan. 6 letter of Colloton's clearly stated that Colloton was recapping a conversation that he had had with Downer in November 2004 -- nearly a year after UI entered negotiations with Wellmark and sometime before UI gave its notice of termination. The timing of Colloton's letter clearly was totally unrelated to UI's notice of its intent to sever the Wellmark contract.

Further, Colloton's letter of Jan. 6 clearly stated (in bold letters no less) that "you (Downer) came to me to obtain a modicum of 'off the record' understanding of the payment issue." Obviously, Colloton was not lobbying Downer as the editorial states -- he was responding to a regent's and friend's request for help.

As the Colloton letter explicitly states, he had provided consultation to Downer, at the regents' request, in their discussion of November 2004, during which Colloton advised that UI was pursuing "an ill-conceived and counterproductive strategy," and hence would fail. It would be our guess that he gave others tied to UI, who sought his opinion, the same advice.

It was a remarkably accurate prediction for at the end of the negotiations, UI received zero additional payment dollars and severely eroded a highly productive collaborative partnership with Wellmark that Colloton and many of us had worked diligently to establish and nourish over several decades.

• Statement: The editorial boldly declares that "the UI/Wellmark contract dispute of 2004 and 2005 led to ...the resignation of former UI President David Skorton, last year's failed presidential search and the ongoing concern about the direction of the university's educational and medical missions." It goes on: "We can't move forward effectively with either the UI presidential search or the proposed changes to University Hospitals until we sort out some of the complicated interconnected relations that brought us to the present -- and until everyone involved pledges not to let them happen again."

• Commentary: This astonishing extrapolation and broad speculation regarding cause-and-effect relationships and perceived barriers and strategy for moving UI forward defies factual analysis. From our perspective, we do not even perceive what the bad things are that some folks are being asked by the paper to pledge never to repeat.

But to the extent that they relate, in the view of the Press-Citizen, in any way to University Hospitals, we want to say that the two of us are exceedingly proud to have been members of the Colloton team, which was both highly capable and ethical, and which led, most impressively, during the golden years of University Hospitals.

Before making sweeping inaccurate editorial declarations, the Press-Citizen would be well advised to do more analysis of the facts available to the paper and to research necessary background information that is not spontaneously placed in its possession.
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Robert A. Rasley served as business manager and admissions officer for University Hospitals from 1961-1972 and head of staff relations and development from 1972-1993. Kenneth H. Yerington served as the senior financial officer for University Hospitals from 1966 to 1999.