Local businesses are devoting time and effort on plans to deal with widespread absences if the Swine Flu hits hard. Just yesterday we learned the State Department of Public Instruction is asking local school districts to move up their timetable for administering key progress exams, before the Swine Flu hits in full force. And a handful of no-doubt well-intentioned but mislead moms will not let their kids get the Swine Flu shot, fearing the vaccine is linked to a severe nerve disease.
Mother Nature really knows how to throw a party.
A fascinating article in the online edition of In Business magazine has some dandy pointers for Dane County business owners who may face some thorny problems, if the Swine Flu hits their workforce. One expert the magazine talked to, pointed out that while employers have a right to send a sick employee home and request they don’t come back till the sickness passes….it’s quite another thing to deal with all the state’s wage-and-hour rules.
And there’s that wonderful little thing called HIPPA: as the In Business article says, you can’t share an employee’s health information with anyone else. According to the HIPPA rules, you can’t tell anybody that Joe in maintenance is out with the Swine Flu.
Isn’t that special!
Businesses have to take this stuff seriously. Within the last few weeks lawsuits have been filed against cruise line companies by passengers who got sick on their ships. Of course, filing the suit is one thing…proving you got it onboard is another.
Madison schools are taking the DPI’s party line seriously - they’re moving standardized academic tests up several weeks, just in case the Swine Flu starts marching through classrooms. Officially, the tests are supposed to be given starting October 26th, but Madison may start the testing as soon as next week.
Facebook, even here in Madison, has been dotted with posts from moms who now won’t let their kids get the Swine Flu vaccination. This apparently all started with an article in Mothering magazine, citing an item from Dr. Joseph Mercola, who claims secret, unreleased information in Britain shows a connection between Swine Flu Vaccine and Severe Nerve Disease. Dr. Mercola, who never met a vaccine he liked, is outraged that the mainstream media won’t pick up the secret story.
Wonder why. Could it be that the mainstream media is actually showing some restraint here? Usually a story like this would be the lead on network and cable newscasts for at least a day.
Whether or not the Swine Flu hits as hard as some of the public health experts have predicted, the H1N1 virus has already brewed up a witch’s cauldron of controversy and angst.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Scooter Jensen: Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
First of all, Scott Jensen HATES being called Scooter. I’m sure he thinks such an appellation is dismissive of a man who has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard, who once served as Tommy Thompson’s right-hand man, and who ran the Republican Caucus.
That is, until he got caught being a crook.
Scooter was criminally charged seven years ago, he was convicted on three felony counts and sentenced to 15 months in prison three years ago, and has since spent enough money to bail out a small automotive manufacturer to hire a phalanx of lawyers to delay, delay, delay.
And he has succeeded in staying out of jail.
Late last week the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s Big Money Blog put up a clock showing how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds it’s been since Scooter was criminally charged with Misconduct In Public Office. As of today, Tuesday, the clock is about to tick over to 2,538 days.
Three months ago, I opined it was well past time to put Scooter into the clink. The others charged with him in the caucus corruption scandal - Chuck Chvala, Brian Burke, Steve Foti, and Bonnie Ladwig, have all long since done their deals with the criminal justice system and have paid their debt to society.
If it’s been so long that you don’t remember, Scooter and his pals who ran things up under the big dome got caught using state-paid employees to do their political bidding, thumbing their nose at the law and the taxpayers. Under Scooter’s watch, our state government became one of the most corrupt, pay-to-play operations in the nation.
Their public defense was a disgusting combination of “we didn’t know it was against the law”, “nobody got rich doing it”, and “that’s the way the system has always worked”.
Anybody smart enough to be reading this knows exactly how to game the justice system. All it takes is a lot of money. Just hire enough expensive lawyers and delay, deny, depose, discover, and ultimately defeat the system.
If you’re a big-time politician and not independently wealthy, just use the huge storehouse of campaign cash or contributed money you’ve set aside. No problemo.
In Scooter’s case, he’s been able to string this thing out so long that when and if a conclusion of some sort is ever reached, it will likely result in a drastically reduced penalty. Nobody but a few watchdogs really cares any more.
Seven years after the fact, we’re more concerned about Obama Death Panels and who’ll win this season’s Dancing With The Stars.
That is, until he got caught being a crook.
Scooter was criminally charged seven years ago, he was convicted on three felony counts and sentenced to 15 months in prison three years ago, and has since spent enough money to bail out a small automotive manufacturer to hire a phalanx of lawyers to delay, delay, delay.
And he has succeeded in staying out of jail.
Late last week the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s Big Money Blog put up a clock showing how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds it’s been since Scooter was criminally charged with Misconduct In Public Office. As of today, Tuesday, the clock is about to tick over to 2,538 days.
Three months ago, I opined it was well past time to put Scooter into the clink. The others charged with him in the caucus corruption scandal - Chuck Chvala, Brian Burke, Steve Foti, and Bonnie Ladwig, have all long since done their deals with the criminal justice system and have paid their debt to society.
If it’s been so long that you don’t remember, Scooter and his pals who ran things up under the big dome got caught using state-paid employees to do their political bidding, thumbing their nose at the law and the taxpayers. Under Scooter’s watch, our state government became one of the most corrupt, pay-to-play operations in the nation.
Their public defense was a disgusting combination of “we didn’t know it was against the law”, “nobody got rich doing it”, and “that’s the way the system has always worked”.
Anybody smart enough to be reading this knows exactly how to game the justice system. All it takes is a lot of money. Just hire enough expensive lawyers and delay, deny, depose, discover, and ultimately defeat the system.
If you’re a big-time politician and not independently wealthy, just use the huge storehouse of campaign cash or contributed money you’ve set aside. No problemo.
In Scooter’s case, he’s been able to string this thing out so long that when and if a conclusion of some sort is ever reached, it will likely result in a drastically reduced penalty. Nobody but a few watchdogs really cares any more.
Seven years after the fact, we’re more concerned about Obama Death Panels and who’ll win this season’s Dancing With The Stars.
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Best State Supreme Court Money Can Buy
In my humble but deadly accurate opinion (as my friend Steve would say), big business in Wisconsin has now purchased a couple seats on the State Supreme Court, and the impact is subtly being felt. A recent ruling by the highest court has made it easier for companies to enforce non-compete agreements.
The author of the ruling is the newest member of the court, Justice Gableman, who won his seat with money from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and highly misleading TV ads (which are still the subject of ethics review) referring to his opponent, a sitting Justice, Louis Butler, as “Loophole Louie”.
This recent ruling is a complicated legal decision, but in essence, it changes the landscape for those employees who enter into a covenant not to compete. If you’re not familiar with the concept, let me explain it in radio terms. When I worked for Mid-West Family Broadcast Group here in Madison, I signed a non-compete which said if I quit, I couldn’t go to work on air for any other radio station within sixty miles, for six months. Many professional sales people have similar agreements, so they don’t go to work for a competitor and take their accounts with them.
Non-competes are becoming less and less typical in many industries, because courts have been leery about keeping people from changing jobs or working in their chosen field. In some states, in some professions, companies have stopped forcing their employees to sign them, because the courts won’t enforce them.
It used to be in Wisconsin, if you challenged a non-compete and the court found something wrong or too restrictive about ANY part of the agreement, it could set aside the entire agreement and invalidate it. Now, with Justice Gableman’s piece of handiwork, finding something wrong with one part of a non-compete will NOT invalidate the entire agreement.
This ruling is good news for big business; bad news for employees.
Agreeing with Justice Gableman, of course, was Justice Ziegler - the woman I referred to during my on-air days as “The Gut-Check Judge”. She, too, was elected with money from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and a tribunal decided she acted unethically in deciding circuit court cases involving her wealthy husband’s bank. She defended her unethical action by saying she did a “gut-check” to see if there was a conflict…but, of course, never found a conflict of interest.
Dissenting on the non-compete ruling were Chief Justice Abrahamson, and Justice Bradley, who concurred in part and dissented in part with the ruling. Full disclosure: I was a financial contributor and volunteer assistant with Chief Justice Abrahamson’s successful re-election campaign earlier this year.
There is an active debate in our state right now about whether Supreme Court Justices should be elected or appointed. That’s a discussion for a different day. What this recent ruling about non-competes says to me, is that big business is reaping the benefits of buying a couple seats on our state’s highest court.
The author of the ruling is the newest member of the court, Justice Gableman, who won his seat with money from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and highly misleading TV ads (which are still the subject of ethics review) referring to his opponent, a sitting Justice, Louis Butler, as “Loophole Louie”.
This recent ruling is a complicated legal decision, but in essence, it changes the landscape for those employees who enter into a covenant not to compete. If you’re not familiar with the concept, let me explain it in radio terms. When I worked for Mid-West Family Broadcast Group here in Madison, I signed a non-compete which said if I quit, I couldn’t go to work on air for any other radio station within sixty miles, for six months. Many professional sales people have similar agreements, so they don’t go to work for a competitor and take their accounts with them.
Non-competes are becoming less and less typical in many industries, because courts have been leery about keeping people from changing jobs or working in their chosen field. In some states, in some professions, companies have stopped forcing their employees to sign them, because the courts won’t enforce them.
It used to be in Wisconsin, if you challenged a non-compete and the court found something wrong or too restrictive about ANY part of the agreement, it could set aside the entire agreement and invalidate it. Now, with Justice Gableman’s piece of handiwork, finding something wrong with one part of a non-compete will NOT invalidate the entire agreement.
This ruling is good news for big business; bad news for employees.
Agreeing with Justice Gableman, of course, was Justice Ziegler - the woman I referred to during my on-air days as “The Gut-Check Judge”. She, too, was elected with money from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and a tribunal decided she acted unethically in deciding circuit court cases involving her wealthy husband’s bank. She defended her unethical action by saying she did a “gut-check” to see if there was a conflict…but, of course, never found a conflict of interest.
Dissenting on the non-compete ruling were Chief Justice Abrahamson, and Justice Bradley, who concurred in part and dissented in part with the ruling. Full disclosure: I was a financial contributor and volunteer assistant with Chief Justice Abrahamson’s successful re-election campaign earlier this year.
There is an active debate in our state right now about whether Supreme Court Justices should be elected or appointed. That’s a discussion for a different day. What this recent ruling about non-competes says to me, is that big business is reaping the benefits of buying a couple seats on our state’s highest court.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Pickoffs 4 (Non-)Profit
Wednesday I made a quick run up to the Fox Valley to have lunch and spend some time with my mom. Having been a broadcaster for much of my professional life, once I get north of Waupun on HiWay 151 I start punching from one radio station to another, to see “what’s going on” up in the Valley.
Years ago I worked in the Valley, as a news stringer for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, augmenting my income while working my way up the food chain in radio. I tend to judge radio stations not by their music, since that franchise was lost to the mp3 player and iPod years ago, but by their local content.
I always have to check 1150 AM, the spot on the dial where WHBY-AM now lives. Growing up in Hortonville, WHBY-Appleton has always been my “home” station. The station has changed hands several times over the last half-century, and is now owned by the Woodward Group of stations headquartered in Iowa.
Back in January when I made a trek up to spend some time with mom, WHBY had a local talk show on, one of those “ask-your-neighbor” sort of shows where folks call in to help other people. The biggest item of discussion that morning was where you could find sidewalk salt. They’d had a big swing in temperatures, and one day’s thaw turned into the next day’s ice rink.
The callers were the real entertainment. They’d say stuff like “I just was over to the hardware store on Cecil Street in Neenah and they’re plumb out”. One guy said “yah, I talked to the fella at the True Value over on Richmond Street and they ain’t got nothin, but he said the store over on South Lawe was gonna get a shipment in today”. One lady wanted to know if table salt would work.
Even though the last thing I cared about was sidewalk salt, I was drawn into the topic by a skillful host and an excellent and entertaining example of the essence of community service. People really DID care about making their sidewalks safe for their friends and neighbors.
They broke for news at the top of the hour, and after a brief national report, the local newscaster gave an excellent five-minute summary of what was going on in and around the Fox Valley. WHBY still has a huge commitment to local news, a very rare thing in these days of the decline of radio. You don’t need me to tell you how much cutting has gone on in most radio, TV, and print newsrooms over the last year. My friend and former colleague Rick Schuh is now one of the stalwarts of WHBY’s excellent news operation.
This trip, though, my “take-away” moment from WHBY was the announcement I heard about their newest contest. Without mentioning his name at all, the ad said every time player number four for the Vikings throws an interception, we’ll kick a hundred bucks into the kitty. If he throws one against the Packers, we’ll double it and kick TWO hundred bucks into the kitty.
They do mention the player’s name on their website, where you have to go, to enter the contest. Whoever is closest in predicting the actual number of interceptions #4 throws in the regular season will split the pot with a charitable organization. Their “Pickoffs 4 Profit” promotion shows how seriously folks in the Valley take their Packers football.
The Packers are the only game in town in the Fox Valley when it comes to football, and WHBY is the only game in town when it comes to local radio news. Hats off to Woodward Communications for bucking the trend, and keeping things “live and local” on WHBY.
Years ago I worked in the Valley, as a news stringer for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, augmenting my income while working my way up the food chain in radio. I tend to judge radio stations not by their music, since that franchise was lost to the mp3 player and iPod years ago, but by their local content.
I always have to check 1150 AM, the spot on the dial where WHBY-AM now lives. Growing up in Hortonville, WHBY-Appleton has always been my “home” station. The station has changed hands several times over the last half-century, and is now owned by the Woodward Group of stations headquartered in Iowa.
Back in January when I made a trek up to spend some time with mom, WHBY had a local talk show on, one of those “ask-your-neighbor” sort of shows where folks call in to help other people. The biggest item of discussion that morning was where you could find sidewalk salt. They’d had a big swing in temperatures, and one day’s thaw turned into the next day’s ice rink.
The callers were the real entertainment. They’d say stuff like “I just was over to the hardware store on Cecil Street in Neenah and they’re plumb out”. One guy said “yah, I talked to the fella at the True Value over on Richmond Street and they ain’t got nothin, but he said the store over on South Lawe was gonna get a shipment in today”. One lady wanted to know if table salt would work.
Even though the last thing I cared about was sidewalk salt, I was drawn into the topic by a skillful host and an excellent and entertaining example of the essence of community service. People really DID care about making their sidewalks safe for their friends and neighbors.
They broke for news at the top of the hour, and after a brief national report, the local newscaster gave an excellent five-minute summary of what was going on in and around the Fox Valley. WHBY still has a huge commitment to local news, a very rare thing in these days of the decline of radio. You don’t need me to tell you how much cutting has gone on in most radio, TV, and print newsrooms over the last year. My friend and former colleague Rick Schuh is now one of the stalwarts of WHBY’s excellent news operation.
This trip, though, my “take-away” moment from WHBY was the announcement I heard about their newest contest. Without mentioning his name at all, the ad said every time player number four for the Vikings throws an interception, we’ll kick a hundred bucks into the kitty. If he throws one against the Packers, we’ll double it and kick TWO hundred bucks into the kitty.
They do mention the player’s name on their website, where you have to go, to enter the contest. Whoever is closest in predicting the actual number of interceptions #4 throws in the regular season will split the pot with a charitable organization. Their “Pickoffs 4 Profit” promotion shows how seriously folks in the Valley take their Packers football.
The Packers are the only game in town in the Fox Valley when it comes to football, and WHBY is the only game in town when it comes to local radio news. Hats off to Woodward Communications for bucking the trend, and keeping things “live and local” on WHBY.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Chuck Todd Is An Idiot (2.0)
Back on the 26th of March I wrote a story for YourNews titled “Chuck Todd Is An Idiot”. He asked one of the most stupid questions in American political and journalism history at President Obama’s second news conference.
Todd, who like most network TV news actors is paid an obscene salary, asked the President why he was making the executives of the huge investment houses we’d bailed out sacrifice so much, and when was the President going to ask the American people to sacrifice?
It had apparently escaped Todd’s notice that by mid-March this year, hundreds of thousands of people had lost their jobs, and the retirement plans of the huge majority of the population of this nation went up in smoke with the economic meltdown caused by the greed of the investment houses. Enough sacrifice, Chuck?
A month or so ago Todd was a guest on Bill Maher’s popular political satire show on HBO, “Real Time”. An independent reporter who writes for several new media outlets exposed Todd’s complete lack of depth on the issue of Blackwater’s mercenary assassination squads in Iraq, and the failure of mainstream media to cover it in any way. Todd was really getting angry, and clearly losing the argument. Comedian Jay Leno, who was also on Maher’s panel that night, removed the tension from the moment by cracking a joke.
Todd’s latest gaffe was just a week ago, at a White House news conference about Swine Flu. In the middle of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius’s presentation on government preparedness, Todd let out a lusty sneeze.
Sibelius stopped her talk, and chastised Todd in front of the entire White House press corps, for not covering up his sneeze in any way….just blasting the germs right out there for all the reporters to enjoy. One of the points of the news conference was to try and get the media to help spread the word to schoolchildren about learning to sneeze without spreading germs everywhere.
Tuesday I took my wife’s car to the dealer for an oil change and quick check-up. There were a handful of people in the customer waiting room, including a young mom and her 3 or 4 year old child. Something caused the child to sneeze (she didn’t look sick at all) and she quickly put her face into the crook of her arm and let fly - just the way health officials want you to do it.
I wasn’t a bit surprised that a young child is smarter than Chuck Todd.
Todd, who like most network TV news actors is paid an obscene salary, asked the President why he was making the executives of the huge investment houses we’d bailed out sacrifice so much, and when was the President going to ask the American people to sacrifice?
It had apparently escaped Todd’s notice that by mid-March this year, hundreds of thousands of people had lost their jobs, and the retirement plans of the huge majority of the population of this nation went up in smoke with the economic meltdown caused by the greed of the investment houses. Enough sacrifice, Chuck?
A month or so ago Todd was a guest on Bill Maher’s popular political satire show on HBO, “Real Time”. An independent reporter who writes for several new media outlets exposed Todd’s complete lack of depth on the issue of Blackwater’s mercenary assassination squads in Iraq, and the failure of mainstream media to cover it in any way. Todd was really getting angry, and clearly losing the argument. Comedian Jay Leno, who was also on Maher’s panel that night, removed the tension from the moment by cracking a joke.
Todd’s latest gaffe was just a week ago, at a White House news conference about Swine Flu. In the middle of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius’s presentation on government preparedness, Todd let out a lusty sneeze.
Sibelius stopped her talk, and chastised Todd in front of the entire White House press corps, for not covering up his sneeze in any way….just blasting the germs right out there for all the reporters to enjoy. One of the points of the news conference was to try and get the media to help spread the word to schoolchildren about learning to sneeze without spreading germs everywhere.
Tuesday I took my wife’s car to the dealer for an oil change and quick check-up. There were a handful of people in the customer waiting room, including a young mom and her 3 or 4 year old child. Something caused the child to sneeze (she didn’t look sick at all) and she quickly put her face into the crook of her arm and let fly - just the way health officials want you to do it.
I wasn’t a bit surprised that a young child is smarter than Chuck Todd.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
2 Big 2 Fail
“Too big to fail.” That’s what we heard from a lot of Wall Street and Washington money-changers when the economy started a precipitous nose-dive last year, and certain failed institutions were bailed out with an IOU from our grandchildren.
A few days ago the President gave Wall Street a modest tongue-lashing about executive pay, bonuses, and excessive risk-taking. He’s hinting that “the fed” - the Federal Reserve - may begin taking a more active role in looking over the bankers’ shoulders.
Heaven forbid the federal money regulators should ever have to actually REGULATE something.
Whether it’s the biggest of the big, in the “too big to fail” category (the farther down the road we get, the more it’s looking to me like we should have let them fail) or the small local bank that “buys” money from us at less than one percent (savings account) and “sells” it to us at six percent (personal loan), there’s plenty to be leery about these days.
The problem of high risk-taking has very little to do with small, local banks. And we don’t have to worry too much about local bankers taking home gazillions of dollars in bonuses. The overwhelming majority of the local banks are vital community elements that loan money to buy cars and build homes and expand businesses.
The fed doesn’t have to stick its nose too far into the business of local banks that still have things like “tellers” and “vaults” and “safe-deposit boxes”. But an Associate Press poll taken just a few days ago says 7 in 10 Americans lack confidence that the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial industry melt-down.
The big outfits - the ones “too big to fail” - are still handing out bonus money hand over fist, and we still don’t have anywhere near a clear picture of exactly what they did with those billions we gave them a few months ago.
One of the main problems now associated with the fed actually starting to regulate something, is the current climate of anti-government noise being made by the tea-baggers and their ilk. Should, God forbid, President Obama suggest that the fed should actually police the pay and bonus policies of these “too big to fail” financial behemoths, the sloganeers will wail about “big government” interfering with private enterprise.
Never mind that while these “too big to fail” outfits are showing strong signs of prosperity again, millions of regular folks are still dealing with extremely high unemployment rates, record numbers of home foreclosures, medical-bill bankruptcy, and retirement portfolios that went down the drain when the financial house of cards collapsed.
It’s been just over a year since the Lehman Brothers financial firm failed, and didn’t get bailed out - the largest bankruptcy in US history. I’m beginning to be convinced we should have let nature take its course with a few other “too big to fail” financial houses.
A few days ago the President gave Wall Street a modest tongue-lashing about executive pay, bonuses, and excessive risk-taking. He’s hinting that “the fed” - the Federal Reserve - may begin taking a more active role in looking over the bankers’ shoulders.
Heaven forbid the federal money regulators should ever have to actually REGULATE something.
Whether it’s the biggest of the big, in the “too big to fail” category (the farther down the road we get, the more it’s looking to me like we should have let them fail) or the small local bank that “buys” money from us at less than one percent (savings account) and “sells” it to us at six percent (personal loan), there’s plenty to be leery about these days.
The problem of high risk-taking has very little to do with small, local banks. And we don’t have to worry too much about local bankers taking home gazillions of dollars in bonuses. The overwhelming majority of the local banks are vital community elements that loan money to buy cars and build homes and expand businesses.
The fed doesn’t have to stick its nose too far into the business of local banks that still have things like “tellers” and “vaults” and “safe-deposit boxes”. But an Associate Press poll taken just a few days ago says 7 in 10 Americans lack confidence that the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial industry melt-down.
The big outfits - the ones “too big to fail” - are still handing out bonus money hand over fist, and we still don’t have anywhere near a clear picture of exactly what they did with those billions we gave them a few months ago.
One of the main problems now associated with the fed actually starting to regulate something, is the current climate of anti-government noise being made by the tea-baggers and their ilk. Should, God forbid, President Obama suggest that the fed should actually police the pay and bonus policies of these “too big to fail” financial behemoths, the sloganeers will wail about “big government” interfering with private enterprise.
Never mind that while these “too big to fail” outfits are showing strong signs of prosperity again, millions of regular folks are still dealing with extremely high unemployment rates, record numbers of home foreclosures, medical-bill bankruptcy, and retirement portfolios that went down the drain when the financial house of cards collapsed.
It’s been just over a year since the Lehman Brothers financial firm failed, and didn’t get bailed out - the largest bankruptcy in US history. I’m beginning to be convinced we should have let nature take its course with a few other “too big to fail” financial houses.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Drunken Animals (Gophers and Badgers)
Five years ago, after a barrage of complaints about drunken college kids making the game-day experience miserable for other fans, the UW instituted the “Show and Blow” policy. Essentially, it means if you get tossed out of the game for being obnoxiously drunk - and 135 UW students did last year - you have to pass a breathalyzer test before they’ll let you into the stadium for the next game.
Now, with its brand new stadium, the University of Minnesota has taken a page from the UW playbook and has instituted a “Check BAC” program. It’s pretty much the same policy as the UW’s. Get kicked out for drunken rowdiness, and you have to pass a breathalyzer test at the gate before you can come to the next game.
Nobody keeps track officially, but it’s believed the UW and the U of M are the only two schools in the nation with such a policy.
The young revelers aren’t getting blitzed on 7-dollar beers in the stands. Neither school sells alcoholic beverages at its football games, although reliable estimates indicate they could each put another million dollars a year on the bottom line if they did. The college kids get schnockered at house parties or tailgate parties before the game.
The amusing traditions and idiosyncrasies of game-day behavior are a big part of what gives collegiate football its color and appeal. The “jump around” at the end of the third quarter - which has actually only been around since the Purdue game in 1998 - is one of those colorful things. The fifth quarter, which goes back to my college days, started in the late 60’s after the Badgers had lost two dozen games in a row, and they tried to bring some enthusiasm back to Camp Randall Stadium. (It wasn’t officially named “The Fifth Quarter” until 1978, though.)
But at some point in the maturation process, boorishly drunken behavior loses its appeal, particularly when you’re paying what you pay today to go to a Badgers football game. Student tickets are reasonably priced, but if you’re an adult paying the freight for a season ticket package, you’re talking big bucks.
If you’re a season ticket holder, the price printed on your game tickets has little to do with the actual cost. There’s the fee to apply for a seat license, the seat license fee, the fee to apply for season tickets, the season ticket fee, the fee to apply for parking, the parking fee, and then there’s the ticket cost and the parking cost, if you’re lucky enough to get UW parking. Otherwise you pay 20 bucks to somebody in the Regent Neighborhood to park on their lawn.
Add it all up, and it’s an expensive ticket. And those who can afford it don’t see the humor in some drunken college kid giving you a “used beer shower” by puking all over your nifty new red-and-white-gameday-garb. Even the tolerance for the obscene chant in the student sections (eat s***, f*** you) is wearing thinner each year.
Given the cost structure of today’s NCAA Division-One football programs, and the tight economic times, the people in charge of marketing those programs and selling tickets are keenly aware their revenue base is not college students.
They may not be able to change attitudes about drinking by instituting these “Show and Blow” or “Check BAC” programs, but they’re sure taking steps to change behavior.
Now, with its brand new stadium, the University of Minnesota has taken a page from the UW playbook and has instituted a “Check BAC” program. It’s pretty much the same policy as the UW’s. Get kicked out for drunken rowdiness, and you have to pass a breathalyzer test at the gate before you can come to the next game.
Nobody keeps track officially, but it’s believed the UW and the U of M are the only two schools in the nation with such a policy.
The young revelers aren’t getting blitzed on 7-dollar beers in the stands. Neither school sells alcoholic beverages at its football games, although reliable estimates indicate they could each put another million dollars a year on the bottom line if they did. The college kids get schnockered at house parties or tailgate parties before the game.
The amusing traditions and idiosyncrasies of game-day behavior are a big part of what gives collegiate football its color and appeal. The “jump around” at the end of the third quarter - which has actually only been around since the Purdue game in 1998 - is one of those colorful things. The fifth quarter, which goes back to my college days, started in the late 60’s after the Badgers had lost two dozen games in a row, and they tried to bring some enthusiasm back to Camp Randall Stadium. (It wasn’t officially named “The Fifth Quarter” until 1978, though.)
But at some point in the maturation process, boorishly drunken behavior loses its appeal, particularly when you’re paying what you pay today to go to a Badgers football game. Student tickets are reasonably priced, but if you’re an adult paying the freight for a season ticket package, you’re talking big bucks.
If you’re a season ticket holder, the price printed on your game tickets has little to do with the actual cost. There’s the fee to apply for a seat license, the seat license fee, the fee to apply for season tickets, the season ticket fee, the fee to apply for parking, the parking fee, and then there’s the ticket cost and the parking cost, if you’re lucky enough to get UW parking. Otherwise you pay 20 bucks to somebody in the Regent Neighborhood to park on their lawn.
Add it all up, and it’s an expensive ticket. And those who can afford it don’t see the humor in some drunken college kid giving you a “used beer shower” by puking all over your nifty new red-and-white-gameday-garb. Even the tolerance for the obscene chant in the student sections (eat s***, f*** you) is wearing thinner each year.
Given the cost structure of today’s NCAA Division-One football programs, and the tight economic times, the people in charge of marketing those programs and selling tickets are keenly aware their revenue base is not college students.
They may not be able to change attitudes about drinking by instituting these “Show and Blow” or “Check BAC” programs, but they’re sure taking steps to change behavior.
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