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A Message From Local 212 President Michael Rosen:

February 11, 2005

Filthy Campus

Did you know that over the holiday break, the men’s bathroom on the second floor of MATC’s downtown campus was closed? The sign on the door said it all: “Closed; rat inside.”

Despite frequent emails and concerns, the downtown campus remains filthy. On Monday, Feb. 7, the second floor bathroom in the T building smelled like an overused outhouse by 1:30 PM. Perhaps the infamous rat had died in there. Rancid water covered the floors. And this was not an exceptional occurrence! The downtown campus, our flagship, is filthy!

Why can’t the administration keep the buildings clean? Is it because it is trying to save money by holding building service worker positions open? Or is it that team cleaning doesn’t really work? I don’t know. But the administration needs to make this issue a priority. Filthy buildings, classrooms and labs do not attract students and their families. Nor do they create a positive learning environment. We appear to have money for flashing information screens and new signage featuring a new logo, but not sanitation! It’s like buying a big flat screen TV while failing to clean the house! Before we build a dormitory, we need to figure out how to keep our classrooms clean! This problem deserves immediate action!

Parking and Traffic

Parking and traffic problems continue to escalate. The lack of affordable parking is the biggest obstacle to downtown student attendance. I have never heard a student complain or even ask if MATC provided housing. But hundreds of students complain about the lack of parking and the parking ticket problem.

Last year, we tried to address the problem by getting the city to turn off the meters at 6 PM. This was a step forward for our evening students. But parking remains a critical problem that the college needs to address. With the Pabst development lining up to receive almost $40 million in public subsidies, we need to insist that they include parking that is reasonably priced in their plans.

Otherwise, the city should refuse their request for public dollars! The Cole Administration should make this a top priority.

The traffic problems are also out of control. Highland has been turned into a main artery now that the Marquette interchange reconstruction has begun. One of our members recently suffered three broken vertebrae

when he was hit by a car on 6th and State. More accidents will follow unless something is done to slow the flow of traffic on the boulevard! We were successful in getting the city to put up a light. But more needs to be done to control the traffic on Highland!

While cleanliness, parking and traffic control may not be high profile, headline grabbing issues, they are critical to attracting and retaining students.

Bush Eliminates Perkins Funding

Finally, the Bush administration’s 2006 budget proposes to eliminate all Karl Perkins funding! This is one of the few federal programs that invests in post secondary adult vocational education. MATC received $3 million from the Perkins program, funding the Multicultural Office, the Bilingual Office and Special Needs. In other words, this program funds essential student services, yet Bush wants to entirely eliminate it. Please call your Congressperson and urge him or her to restore the Perkins funding. If you need additional information on who your representative click here.

Archived Messages...

Michael Rosen's Speech to the MATC Board - September 29, 2004

Welcome back, August 2004

"Jobs report paints bleak picture for the nation",
Michael Rosen's editorial in the August 21, 2004 Journal Sentinel