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Not so deep thoughts

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* I knew there were a lot of social networking websites. I didn’t think there were this many, however. I don’t have to join them all, do I?

* I really hope they don’t fence off The Bean because of some moron. People love that thing.

* I’ve heard of yesterday’s papers, yesterday’s wine and yesterday’s news, but I’ve never heard of yesterday’s tomatoes. Thanks, Gov. Quinn, for enlightening me.

* Emphasis is in the original, which ironically highlights a very weird attitude over at a taxpayer funded institute…

The Illinois Report 2009 examines the performance of the State of Illinois on a set of crucial issues. This examination relies on evidence of the state’s performance and comparison of that performance to what is happening in neighboring or peer states. We believe the information contained in The Illinois Report 2009 is important to ongoing public policy discussions in Illinois.

The publication of this report annually emphasizes IGPA’s belief that solutions to the problems facing Illinois can be found with cooperation and collaboration among all relevant stakeholders. IGPA encourages these collaborative deliberations and is eager to help them succeed. […]

You are allowed to download one PDF copy of each chapter for your personal use. However, reprinting or distribution of these articles and photographs without the authorization of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs is strictly prohibited.

Please obtain permission by contacting:

Director of Communications
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
1007 W. Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801

Hilarious. I gotta obtain permission before downloading a single copy and swear on whatever is holy that I won’t pass it around? This is supposed to enhance “ongoing public policy discussions in Illinois”? And how can people collaborate if we can’t share the thing?

I think I’ll pass.

…Adding… Let’s turn on the not so wayback machine for the leader of the IGPA…

Robert Rich, director of the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs, said he doubts Blagojevich would resign, partly because it might make him look guilty.

Rich also doubts the Legislature would remove Blagojevich from office. House Speaker Michael Madigan and incoming Senate President John Cullerton wouldn’t want to be seen as interfering with the federal court process, he argued.

He predicts Blagojevich will stay in office and have a seat at the table in Springfield but that Madigan and Cullerton will gain new influence over the shape of the budget and other top issues.

Prescient, no?

* I’d say something about this, but it’s probably been said before…

Members of a committee formed in response to plagiarism accusations levied against a former university administrator received word this week that they need to reconvene and examine documents they may have plagiarized.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the 10-member committee of Southern Illinois University academics and administrators commissioned to develop a plagiarism policy may have borrowed from Indiana University’s definition—without citing IU.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 1:21 pm

Comments

Ditto on the Bean… I love shooting pics of it every time we go there.

But to walk up scratch it… Did they have a portable Dremel on hand??

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 1:25 pm
We need t-shirts. Support the Bean.

If people think that Burris talks odd, just wait until you get more quotes from Gov. Quinn.

Comment by Sangamon Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 1:44 pm
Blagoenza is spreading…eggheads, and wannabe eggheads unite in a desperate attempt to be relevant.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 2:14 pm
I like that they didn’t give an e-mail address or a phone either. Not even a fax! You can only get permission by sending something in the paper-mail. Do they accept singing telegrams?

Comment by lincoln street Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 2:31 pm
Perhaps a CandyGram would suffice.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 2:40 pm
on Chicago Tonight (WTTW) Julie Hamos was on. One bit from her….she said that Abner Mikva and Dawn Clark Netsch have an informal sort of ethics group that will come up with reform ideas, a la the Collins led group. is this group, informal though it may be, going to ask for info from anyone else or are they just sitting around musing from their (considerable) experience?
or will they appear in front of the reform commission? also, it sounds a bit like Lisa Madigan campers vs. Quinn campers. show was on last night.

Comment by Amy Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 2:40 pm
Well, looks like Robert Rich is batting .500 at least — he was right about Blago not resigning but wrong about him not being impeached/removed.

Comment by Secret Square Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:05 pm
More like one out of three.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:06 pm
So SIU plagiarized their plagiarism policy. Not at all surprising with Poshard in charge. What a whitewash that inquiry was. He needs to be removed, and now. If he’s qualified either professionally or ethically to be a university administrator, I’m the Dalai Lama.

Comment by Excessively rabid Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:20 pm
lol that thing on the IGPA is pretty funny.

Comment by Kevin Fanning Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:26 pm
Could there possibly be any more embarrasing news coming out of Carbondale? Are they going to bring Halloween back next? Yikes, what an embarrasment!

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:28 pm
Another balloon from Carboncopydale!

Comment by Captain Flume Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:34 pm
“I think I’ll pass.”

If the bizarre 1 chapter/pdf format and the rights claim don’t turn you off, wait ’til you read the thing:

” … replacing the corporate income tax with a progressive individual income tax will better the business environment and economy of Illinois. By getting rid of the corporate income tax, businesses would be heavily encouraged to do business in Illinois, and the legal structure of Illinois’ tax laws would be significantly simplified. On the other hand, a progressive individual income tax would assure that tax revenue in the state is sufficient to cover expenses and that those with higher incomes contribute more to the state’s revenue.”

Comment by BannedForLife Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:44 pm
Wow…a University of Illinois thinker that got it wrong? This, from the same center of great thinking that the Auditor General cites for losing over $100 million in public money by operating their own power plants.

Shocked…shocked I say.

Comment by chicagoist Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:48 pm
As a not-so-distinguished graduate of SIU-C, let me say there is no new thing under the sun and all my best ideas were stolen by the ancients.*

And if President Poshard brings back Halloween, I’m going to party like it’s 1985.*

* Any similarity between these words and writings by the Ecclesiast, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Prince Rogers Nelson are purely coincidental. If you are considering legal action, please file suit against “Dr.” Glenn Poshard. Thank you.

Comment by Fan of the Game Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 3:51 pm
It would irritate me when I’m on a bus or the L and people scratch crap in the windows.

Comment by Levois Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 4:13 pm
Could there possibly be any more embarrasing news coming out of Carbondale? Not at all surprising with Poshard in charge. Perhaps a CandyGram would suffice. Shocked…shocked I say. Eggheads, and wannabe eggheads unite in a desperate attempt to be relevant. If Poshard is qualified either professionally or ethically to be a university administrator, I’m the Dalai Lama.

You read it here first folks!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 4:43 pm
Nice. You can NEVER find too many ways to squander taxpayer money and find new rules to do it. Let’s forward these goof’s behavior to the IL Inspector General. Scary that these are our IL universities/colleges.

Comment by sal-says Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 4:56 pm
it could get worse-poshard could become Obama’s integrity chief and Blago could be SIU’s President-of course from his home in Chicago

Comment by red dog Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 6:04 pm
Twit:

In interview with van susteren, gov says president obama may be called as a witness… Segment airs at 10pm et on fox newschannel.

Comment by Anonymous Coward Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 6:30 pm
At some point the state will need to look at cutting higher education. Why close prisons and mental health centers and allow colleges to build capitol projects while admissions dwindles? At some point people will question weather they need a 100k college loan debt to for a degree that allows them to repair computers made in china.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 6:47 pm
Chicago Tonight reports that Cullerton and Madigan are co chairing a reform commission. the more things change….

Comment by Amy Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 7:45 pm
Anon 6:47pm raises some good points about reforming higher education in Illinois. But just in case others are interested, Blagojevich pretty much cut higher education to the bone during his reign of terror. The state (and many other states) has been cutting higher ed for the last 4-5 years, which is the main reason tuition has gone up faster at public universities than at privates. I fully expect Illinois (and other states) to reduce its support of financial aid dollar-for-dollar with the increase in the federal Pell grants proposed in the economic package. That might save Illinois some money, but students won’t save a dime.

Nobody likes huge loan burdens, but until we come up with is a better way for most Americans to move up on the economic ladder, higher education is still the best investment most people will ever make.

Is there fat to cut? Yes. Are there other ways to save money while improving higher ed in Illinois? Probably. But don’t think higher ed has been some sacred cow in Illinois lately. The budget record says otherwise.

And where are enrollments dropping in Illinois over the last 4-5 years? I think the opposite is closer to the truth, enrollments have increased while state support has declined.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 7:45 pm
Amy: Subscribe and read all about it!

==where are enrollments dropping in Illinois?==
Why, at our very own SIU-Carbondale! Quite the exception as SIU-Edwardsville sets record enrollments and is expanding its nursing school to the Carbondale campus (but will be considered SIUE students–how odd!) SIUC now offers in-state rates to out-of-state residents—I thought our taxes paid for something, but I thought wrong.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 8:00 pm
Vote Quimby…..thanks, not a professional, just a hobbyist watcher. so i’m happily using Google and reading and figuring
it out.

and watching Blago on Larry King saying Cullerton on tape or in person told him about how much money he raised in relation
to the Senate Presidency.

i’d say this state makes me sick, but, then there’s NY too.

Comment by Amy Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 8:31 pm
and Larry King just called SF Stacey Feigenholtz.

Comment by Amy Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 8:33 pm
“But just in case others are interested, Blagojevich pretty much cut higher education to the bone during his reign of terror.”

Baloney.

Fetch thee the well-hidden, but public list of University of Illinois employee salaries. Focus on administrators. They make the North Shore school superintendents look like Mother Theresa.

Rich, I think there is a clear explanation for this IGPA foulup with the 1-copy of the report, etc.

Edgar must have been in charge. We all know he’s tight-fisted, and he was just trying to save money.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 10:00 pm
Blago would never become SIU president…he can’t even pronounce ‘downstate’! Har har.

Comment by LN Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 10:50 pm
I’m watching Blago on David Letterman now, and I must say that this is the best interview I have seen since all this craziness happened. No other “journalist” has asked any of these tough questions, and Letterman doesn’t even pretend to be a reporter, he’s a comedian!

Comment by It's Just Me Tuesday, Feb 3, 09 @ 11:15 pm