Green Bay Press-Gazette, Feb. 10
Libraries keep up with the times thanks to Internet upgrade grants
Rural libraries will continue to be important members of their communities thanks to a $4 million grant to pay for Internet upgrades.
These libraries will see more bandwidth and faster Internet speeds as fiber optic cables are installed. The project will get underway once crews can dig a hole in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, which might not be any time soon given this cold winter.
The grant is from the state’s Technology for Education Achievement program and the independent telephone companies that participate in BadgerNet Converged Network.
The libraries that will benefit in Northeastern Wisconsin are the rural ones under the Nicolet Federated Library System, which covers Brown, Kewaunee, Door, Shawano, Oconto, Menominee, Marinette and Florence counties. It also includes two Oneida Tribe of Indians libraries.
In an increasingly digital world, these libraries need to be able to provide this service. Whether you’re applying for a job, looking for a job, filing for unemployment or keeping in contact with friends, you benefit from having an Internet connection.
Adding fiber optics “puts the rural libraries on the same footing as several urban libraries and suburban libraries that have fiber-optic connections,” said Mark Weller, CEO and president of Access Wisconsin, which manages the video and data transmissions of the state’s independent telephone networks, such as Nsight Teleservices, based in Howard, and Niagara Telephone Co.
“This will allow the good folks who work at these libraries and manage these libraries the opportunity to expand their offerings to the public, their customer base,” Weller said.
“It future-proofs these libraries as technology migrates into the future.”
In other words, with fiber optics you won’t have to change the connections, just the hardware that attaches to the fiber-optic lines.
It makes rural libraries relevant in a world where time has passed by many small-town amenities, such as post offices, and it positions them for future growth.
These rural libraries are important parts of the communities. Upgrading their digital reach will allow them to keep up with the times.
___
Beloit Daily News, Feb. 12
The government America deserves
If citizens ever want this circus to change, they have to do more than complain.
The good news is that the U.S. House of Representatives did not spark another round of financial jitters and a market tumble with a misguided battle over America’s debt ceiling.
On a 221-201 vote the House did its part to extend borrowing authority and avoid the sort of brinkmanship that has threatened financial stability several times in recent years.
The bad news is the closeness of the vote and the fact the numbers were reached only when a handful of Republicans - including Speaker John Boehner- joined Democrats to squeak out passage.
Counting the speaker and his top leadership in the House just 28 Republicans wanted to avoid a fight they couldn’t win and a battle which history clearly indicates would have roiled the markets and damaged the economy.
It’s also a battle, leading economists say, that could threaten global economic stability if opponents of extending the debt ceiling managed to win the day. Crashing the national credit and failing to pay the bills should not be an option.
It should be obvious that debt, by its very definition, is what is owed because the government has spent it already or authorized its expense. The government cannot default on its obligations without consequence, any more than a household or business can.
This is the wrong fight, even if 201 members of Congress can’t grasp the concept. Of equal concern is the inescapable conclusion that Speaker Boehner has lost what little control he may have had over his caucus. A leader troops won’t follow has no influence at any negotiating table.
Let’s make this clear: We are in agreement with the fiscal hawks who believe the federal government is too big and spends too much money. The growth of government - particularly since Sept. 11, under both Republican and Democrat administrations - has been unconscionable.
America fought two wars on the credit card. Under President Bush a costly new Medicare entitlement was enacted but not funded. Bailouts and stimulus programs made Wall Street whole and buried everyday Americans under a mountain of debt. The Obama years have been marked by trillion-dollar-plus deficits, year after year. The ongoing cost of Obamacare is uncertain, but it’s a cinch the entitlement will not make debt and deficits any better.
So when House Republicans argue for more aggressive actions to improve the country’s balance sheet, logic and common sense clearly are on their side.
The problem, though, is this: You can’t fix irresponsibility by being irresponsible. The bills have to be paid. A functional legislative process, with give and take on both sides, is necessary to achieve progress. No such system exists in today’s capital.
On the face of it, one would think American voters would be so fed up with the Washington circus they would turn on incumbents with a vengeance at the ballot box.
Not so. In 2012, the most recent election, 90 percent of incumbents were re-elected. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while hoping for different results, then the entire nation has lost its marbles.
The truth, though, hangs on a more corrupt hook. This newspaper and many others have been beating a drum regularly on the topic of rigged redistricting, protecting politicians by drawing districts so safe incumbents can’t lose. Wisconsin not only rigged its state legislative districts, but congressional lines as well. So did many other states. That means despite surveys showing Americans have almost no respect for Congress, the same faces go back election after election.
Most Americans don’t understand the nuts and bolts of the political machinery, but until they do - and get up on their toes to demand change that makes government responsive to the people again - we will continue to get the government a detached and distracted people deserve.
Heaven help us.
___
Wisconsin State Journal, Feb. 12
Give rural schools better odds
When the Assembly’s Rural Schools Task Force reports its findings in a few weeks, Wisconsin will have an opportunity to solve some of the problems confronting rural schools and their communities.
It will be tempting for most state lawmakers to ignore that opportunity. After all, more than 80 percent represent districts that are chiefly urban, with big challenges of their own. The problems of rural schools are complex and controversial.
But failure to address rural schools would lead to costly consequences statewide. By forcing rural schools and their communities to continue to fight headwinds, lawmakers would diminish the value those areas offer as economic assets. Failure to act would encourage more population growth in urban areas, adding to sprawl, stressing public services and crowding urban schools.
Wisconsin’s prosperity as a whole would suffer.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance has identified problems facing rural schools. The Assembly task force wants to develop solutions. The Legislature should follow through with a cost-effective plan.
Rural schools have fewer students spread over larger areas. The result is higher costs - including transportation, which is more than 50 percent greater per student.
State policies exacerbate the problems. Because rural school districts from 2000 to 2010 suffered a 7.5 percent enrollment decline, they were penalized by the state’s revenue caps, which are tied to enrollments. From 2001 to 2010 rural school districts’ revenues rose 26 percent, compared to 39 percent for non-rural districts.
State aid policy is stacked against many rural districts, which contain expensive vacation homes, because higher property values reduce state support.
Forty percent of the state’s rural population does not receive high-speed service. That means students don’t have it for homework. Communities without high-speed Internet have a harder time attracting economic development, which exacerbates enrollment declines.
Many rural school districts do an excellent job of educating students. But they do so despite difficulties that threaten their future. Lawmakers should help rural schools thrive. It’s in the best interests of the entire state.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.