To: (no_cf_prison list)
Subject: New proposal for the Northern Center for the Developmentally Disabled
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 15:41:19 -0500
I have sent this to the Governor, Senator Zien's office, Rep.s Balow and Sykora, the UW System President, President of CVTC, UW Board of Regents, and the following Senators districts: 31 10 25 29 32 along with Assembly districts 69, 91-93, 28-30, 73-75, 85-87, 94-96.
Al
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The on going decline of patient population at the three state centers
for the developmentally disabled has been the reason for the two
controversial attempts to develop part of the Northern Center as a
prison.
I believe there is a much better use for the Northern Center. This use would allow it to be used as it is currently for a long as a need exists, and win the support of Chippewa Falls, Lafayette, and Hallie, and the population and businesses of the whole Chippewa Valley. Governor Thompson frequently has referred to this area as Wisconsin's "Silicon Valley". To maintain that status and grow upon it there is one very important element missing. The closest engineering school is 100 miles away, in another state. All of the "high tech" businesses in this area and many of the other industries need engineers, computer, electrical, mechanical, and civil engineers. Since currently there are no engineering schools in this area, companies have to recruit students from other states, most of them in warmer climates and larger cities. Without a steady supply of qualified employees Wisconsin's "Silicon Valley" would soon become Wisconsin's high unemployment area. There is also the need to continually upgrade the skills of CVTC trained technicians to college educated engineers, and update the skills of graduate engineers to the master and Ph.D. levels. So how does this help keep jobs at the Northern Center? I believe one of the reasons engineering courses have not been added to UWEC is lack of space. While it probably would not be the best solution to have a split UWEC campus, with the engineering department located at the Northern Center site, that is one possibility. Another possibility would be to move the CVTC main campus to the Northern Center and allow the University to develop the EC CVTC main campus as an under and postgraduate engineering school. Also since there are buildings at Northern Center that could be used or converted for use as dormitories CVTC would for the first time be able to accommodate students from a wider area. Students attending UWEC that are currently housed in area hotels, due to lack of dormitory space could also be accommodated at the Northern Center. Accepting and moving forward with this idea will not only benefit the laundry, food service, maintenance, and other employees at the Northern Center. It will benefit the families and businesses in all of northwestern Wisconsin. As students start graduating from an engineering school in this area, business from other states will come here to recruit employees, giving this area more exposure to business will mean more business locating here, which in turn means economic growth for everyone, including the state.
Sincerely,
Alan L. Ellefson Sr.
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