Latest news with #UW-Oshkosh
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Universities of Wisconsin names the next Chancellor of UW-Oshkosh
OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – On Tuesday, officials with the Universities of Wisconsin officially named the next Chancellor of UW-Oshkosh. According to a release, the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents unanimously approved Dr. Manohar Singh to be the next Chancellor of UW-Oshkosh following a recommendation made by a selection committee. 60+ businesses pitch to over 2,000 students during Fox Cities Chamber Career Expo Singh, the current interim president of Western Connecticut State University will assume the role of UWO's 12th leader beginning on July 1. Officials say he has served as the interim president at Western Connecticut State University since 2023, before that he was the Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Southern Connecticut State University. He is said to have held leadership positions at Humboldt State University (California), Penn State University Abington (Pennsylvania), and Long Island University Post (New York), and was also a professor of finance at several schools. The engagement of the UW-Oshkosh campus community in the search process was significant, and the enthusiasm for what comes next was palpable. We feel that Dr. Singh possesses the talent and skill to harness the energy on campus and lead it into a bright future. Regent Ashok Rai, chair of the Search and Screen Committee Under Singh's leadership, Western Connecticut State University reversed years of enrollment decline and found financial stability while also expanding its athletic programs and introducing new academic offerings. De Pere school 1 of 35 nationwide schools chosen for the NFL PLAY 60 'Day of Play' Singh earned a bachelor's and master's degree in economics from Punjab University-Chandigarh (India), as well as another master's degree in economics from the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He also earned a Ph.D. in finance from Southern Illinois University. I am moved by the passion of UW-Oshkosh students pursuing their dreams, the devotion of faculty mentoring them with compassion and rigor, and the dedication of staff ensuring student success every step of the way. They are the reason I believe in the promise of this university—and the boundless potential of what we can achieve together. Dr. Manohar Singh Officials say Singh succeeds Andrew Leavitt, who is reportedly planning to teach chemistry at UW-Oshkosh after spending a year away at another university. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wheel tax proposal axed in Shawano County
SHAWANO COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – At their board meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Shawano County supervisors unanimously voted down a proposal for a new countywide wheel tax. It would have added a $20 annual registration fee for every vehicle that stays in Shawano County. Officials say that there's about 37,350 vehicles countywide that fit this criteria and that it would have generated about $747,000 for the county. County officials could have used that money for road projects. Supervisors said the wheel tax proposal was tremendously unpopular with their constituents. 'I just didn't like it from the very start, and the more we got into it and the more people we talked to, (we knew) it wasn't going to go anywhere,' said county supervisor Martin Elmer. City of Shawano residents already pay a $40 wheel tax. They would have had to pay the county wheel tax on top of the existing $40 fee from the city. Some residents have said they feel like this would be double taxation and wouldn't be fair. Green Bay bishop says faithful worldwide praying for Pope Francis' recovery The wheel tax proposal went through several committees before landing in front of the full board on Wednesday afternoon. For a full list of municipalities in the state of Wisconsin that have a wheel tax, please click here. Now that it hasn't passed, county administrative coordinator Jim Davel said they'll likely have to fill in holes in their budget. He said in many areas, state funding has remained stagnant as costs for different services the county offers have risen. 'I think the long-term plan is to work with the state legislature,' he said. 'The state doesn't react fast enough to the impacts on the ground and that really hurts the counties across the board.' He said although there's been some recent new sources of state funding like Act 12, it's not nearly enough to cover all the expenses in a county's budget especially when costs have risen so significantly. Davel said he's confident that the county will still be okay even without the additional revenue that the wheel tax would have created. UW-Oshkosh student honors fallen Ukrainian peers through powerful exhibit 'We did borrow last year to maintain that (highway department projects) and we will continue to do what we have to do to have our safe and reliable network (of roads),' Davel said. 'For us, it was like putting a band-aid on a big cut,' Elmer said when describing what the wheel tax would have done if it supervisors had given it the thumbs up. 'What we need long term is something out of Madison, to give us the funds we need to support our county.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UW-Oshkosh student honors fallen Ukrainian peers through powerful exhibit
OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – A UW-Oshkosh student from Ukraine showcased days of hard work in a presentation exhibit honoring Ukrainian college students who have died three years into the Russian invasion. Vladyslav Plyaka, who goes by Vlad, was determined to remember Ukrainian students killed in the war—some of whom were his closest friends. No criminal charges for law enforcement in Oshkosh's officer-involved shooting back in December Plyaka, a sophomore from Rivne, Ukraine, tragically learned that his friend, Kostiantyn Yuzviuk, had been killed while serving as a drone operator in Ukraine's military. Determined to keep his friend's story from fading into the background, Plyaka spearheaded a powerful event at UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday. The exhibit featured two photo displays: one focusing on Yuzviuk's life on the front lines and another titled Unissued Diplomas, which honors 40 Ukrainian college students who lost their lives in the war. Attendees also watched video podcasts highlighting the stories of Yuzviuk, Plyaka, and Iryna Levada, a UW-Eau Claire student from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Plyaka recounted Yuzviuk's lifelong fight for Ukraine, from his activism during the 2013 Revolution of Dignity to his service as a soldier in the 117th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Yuzviuk died on July 18, 2024, from injuries sustained in combat in the Zaporizhzhia region. 'This project is an incredible example of student-driven civic engagement,' said Mike Lueder, director of UW-Oshkosh's Center for Civic and Community Engagement. 'Vlad and Kostiantyn represent the truest forms of civic and community engagement.' For Plyaka, the war is deeply personal. On the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, he awoke in his family home in Rivne to find his father packing emergency supplies. 'I asked him one simple question, 'War?' And he just said, 'War.' That's when I knew everything had changed,' Plyaka recalled. Plyaka arrived in the United States on a student visa in August 2022 and has not been able to return to Ukraine since, as there is no guarantee he could reenter the U.S. 'It is so hard to be in a safe place and see how my friends, relatives, and my nation are being killed by missile and drone attacks,' he said. Fox Cities Salvation Army running short on pantry staples, looking for donations After earning his degree, Plyaka plans to return to Ukraine to work as an investigative journalist. 'In 20 years, I want to be able to look my children in the eye and tell them that I did everything I could to ensure that they live in a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LETTERS: UWO campus closure puts community facilities in jeopardy, DEI promotes fairness
I'm writing to express my concern about the closure of the UW-Oshkosh, Fox Valley campus in June and what it might mean to the communities it serves. The future of many popular facilities on the campus are in doubt. These include the Barlow Planetarium; the Communication Arts Center that provides space for art exhibits, theatrical and musical performances, fundraisers and public events, to name a few; the Weis Earth Science Museum; the Children's Center and the Community Garden. All of the moveable equipment in all of those facities belongs to UW-Oshkosh and could be removed. The endowment set up by the Weis' could shift to the Weis Ecology Center in New Jersey. Much of the museum's collection could be taken away. It's important to remember that the Barlow and the Weis work closely together. I've personally enjoyed many of these facilities over the years and would hate to see them go. We once had a guided tour of the planets out on the lawn through high definition telescopes. Our grandchildren were mesmerized and I was thrilled to see Saturn's rings. Please visit the Save the Fox Campus's website at to find out the details and how you can help. Margaret Kroll, Appleton The Appleton Area National Organization for Women chapter whole-heartedly endorses Judge Susan Crawford for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 1. Judge Crawford has the best experience and has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to be fair, independent, and impartial in her rulings. Prior to her current judgeship on the Dane County Circuit Court, Crawford fought on both sides of the courtroom, both as a prosecutor taking on tough criminal cases and enforcing our laws, and as a private practice attorney defending voting, workers' rights, and access to reproductive health care. We endorse Judge Crawford because we expect her to bring her knowledge, experience, and wisdom to make the best decisions to keep our communities safe, healthy, and functional in the uncertain future that lies ahead. In contrast, her opponent clearly opposes women's rights, trying to limit access to contraception and abortion when he was attorney general of Wisconsin. He also worked to maintain the state's voting maps when a three-judge panel ruled that they are an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. He has further blights on his record related to his unethical conduct as a judge both during the COVID-19 pandemic and later as Circuit Court judge in Waukesha County, prominently participating in partisan events. Judge Susan Crawford believes in doing the right thing for Wisconsin, applying Wisconsin values to protect our rights and freedoms. Electing Susan Crawford is a vote for safeguarding reproductive rights and ensuring justice for generations to come: Our state's future depends on it. Irene Strohbeen, Menasha, President, Appleton Area NOW Nobody's insurance rates are safe from climate change. It's not just California and Florida. Everywhere is susceptible to climate damages, and the nature of insurance is that it pools risks such that we pay for damages even if our own properties aren't directly affected. Ashville, North Carolina, is a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from climate-worsened extreme weather risks. A recent Senate Budget Committee report concluded that extreme weather is 'destabilizing insurance markets.' And the problem extends beyond insurance policy costs. If home values fall, governments take in less tax revenue. That means less money for schools and police. Climate change can wreck communities by something as seemingly mundane and even boring as insurance. Ultimately the solution must involve prevention: reaching net zero global climate pollution to stop global warming so that these extreme weather events cease to worsen. In the face of such a challenge, climate advocates like us have an important role to play. We can remind our Legislators that we want them to act to reduce pollution. The sooner they do, the more stability and security we will have. Kate Hancock-Cooke, Neenah When I heard the shocked and appalled pearl-clutching following Bishop Mariann Budde's post-inauguration sermon, I wondered what could've provoked such strong reactions from the President, Vice President, and other pastors who participated in the inauguration. Listening to the sermon, I was surprised at how ordinary it was. I could even agree with President Trump that it was boring. However, that doesn't make it less truthful. One only needs to flip through a Bible to find calls for unity, concern for widows, orphans, and immigrants, and examples of pleas to those in power to show mercy. Go to any mainline church, and you will likely find a similar message. So why a need to attack the Bishop as partisan and divisive when she is clearly faithful and biblical? The attempts to silence Bishop Budde are consistent with ongoing efforts to intimidate four-star generals, accusing civil servants of partisanship, even after they worked under both parties and targeting former staff who refuse to demonstrate the requisite loyalty to President Trump. As a preacher, I can tell you it's one thing to call a sermon boring; that happens. However, this will never happen: those of us, like the Bishop, prioritizing the gospel over falling into line, will never bow down to bullies who demand silence when they can't dominate with fear. 'Jesus is Lord' is a political statement meaning nothing and no one else will have our ultimate allegiance. Pleas for mercy from those in power are both patriotic and faithful. Rev. Dr. Michael J. Goodwin, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Appleton Here are my ideas on making our country great. I would love more support on these ideas, to me they create win-win outcomes for all of us. The poor state of medical coverage in our country – other nations have national insurance which covers everyone, is this one of the ways we will become greater? The learning loss and state of education in our country – will we get year round school calendars and lower class sizes in order to make our future leaders more capable of the needs that our society presents? The use of the death penalty, as people want to honor God, why does our country still use it, I thought that only God can affect life and death? The fact of so much homelessness, our country is the richest in the world, why are so many with out a place to live? The cost of rent and a home these days, should not we each pay 30 % of our wages for the roof over our head? Let us all work on these great needs of ours. John Gosling, Appleton 'Liberty and Justice for All', 'All men are created equal' and 'E Pluribus Unum' are all values upon which our country was founded. These values were then codified into the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and various other amendments and laws. New on the block is the phrase 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' which means basically the same thing as 'Liberty and Justice for ALL.' Put simply, DEI is an anti-discrimination program advocating for the fair treatment of all people. DEI programs promote fairness and equal opportunity, core values of our country and of my faith. There is a lot of gaslighting going on about DEI and merit-based hiring. Some in the political world have demonized DEI falsely claiming it is a form of discrimination and results in the promotion of unqualified people. In fact, it is just the opposite. DEI programs advocate for fairness and opportunities that help people reach their potential. Unfortunately, the stigmatizing of DEI may lead to legalized discrimination and the hiring of privileged people in spite of their questionable qualifications. That is what is happening today. Perhaps it is the intended outcome of the gaslighting. Regardless of which phrase is used, 'Liberty and Justice for All,' 'All men are created equal,' 'E Pluribus Unum' or 'DEI,' we must stay true to our American values. Carol Lenz, Appleton The last fiscal year ended with a state budget surplus or $4.5 billion. I can imagine our Republican legislators saying, 'Whoo-hoo! Look at how frugal we are and, hey, it's your money anyway so we're gonna figure out ways to get it back to you.' Is that the best response to having extra funds on hand? Returning dollars that don't deserve to be sitting around doing nothing? Or is it a misguided dislike for any government action that takes money out of peoples' pockets? Nobody likes paying taxes, but they are not inherently evil. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, 'I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.' FDR called taxes the dues we pay for the privilege of membership in an organized society. Being good financial stewards is one thing, but withholding funds that could be responsibly used to address glaring state needs is not only irresponsible; it is wrong. Kristen Brey's recent Post-Crescent editorial spotlighted the state's financial stranglehold on public education, higher education, child care, environmental safety, outdated prisons and struggling care facilities. Our legislators aren't blind. Ignoring and underfunding have been conscious choices. 'Too much government interference in peoples' lives. They'll become too dependent on government handouts and won't do enough for themselves.' No. Let's have state officials do what they were elected to do – provide for the public safety, health, fiscal stability and overall well-being of all Wisconsinites. Do that and we'll be glad to make the investment. Jeff Zdrale, Neenah Letters must include your first and last name, address and phone number. Only your name and community will be published. Letters have a 250-word limit. One letter per person in a 30-day time period. To submit letters, email pcletters@ visit or mail to P.O. Box 59, Appleton, WI 54912. This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: LETTERS: Readers share thoughts on UWO closure, DEI, paying taxes
