Mike_Lowe's Blog

Why is Latin a dead language?  The verbs wanted to conjugate, but the nouns declined.

That's an old joke classicists like to tell, but there may be a new twist on the punchline. 

This year, if someobody asks why Latin is a dead language, the answer could be  budget cuts.

It's no secret that colleges and Universities are struggling in this economic environment (Even mighty Yale is looking leaner: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/business/17yale.html
).

But I found this story (http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1329932,CST-NW
S-classics14.article#) particularly disturbing.

A tight budget may force the University of Illinois at Chicago to eliminate all courses in ancient Greek and Latin, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times.  One reason, the report suggests, is that fewer and fewer people are interested in the Classics.

This, if you ask me, is the reductio ad absurdum of an American system of higher learning which values meaningless metrics like enrollment numbers over actual education.

Full disclosure, here: I'm the son of a classicist.  Therefore, I studied Latin -- somewhat reluctantly -- in high school.   Some of my friends would raise a critical eyebrow and ask, why? Why study a dead language?  Why not study something you can actually use?

To me, that question misses the point.  Is Latin a langauage that you can "use"?  Not in the sense that you can visit Rome and speak it on the street.  It is, however, a language that is useful by any other measure.

It has been said that if you can learn Latin, you can learn anything (you'll certainly have a better shot at learning the Romance languages, which take much of their vocabulary from Latin).

The study of Latin encourages the growth of memory, helps build a disciplined mind, expands vocabulary, and increases understanding of the culture and the history of West. 

Much of our own shared knowlege can be traced back to the Ancients.  From politics and poetry, to literature and law, to art and architecture the discussion begins in the Ancient world. I defy anyone to discuss these topics without a basic understanding the Greco-Roman world. 

This is a defining moment in history, the President-Elect has said. I agree, we are becoming more and more connected.  We must increase understanding across cultures. Cutting classics would accomplish the opposite.

I began with a joke, but I'm sure Cicero would disapprove.  He said: "Adhibenda est in jocando moderatio." (Moderation should be used in joking).  Moderation, indeed.  This is no laughing matter. I hope UIC reconsiders.  The classics are worth saving -- and worth studying.

One of the benefits of working at Fox 6 is this: my desk is only a few feet away from local TV treasure Gus Gnorski. 

I profit from the proximity.  Friday was a prime example. 

Gus and I were discussing an idea for a news story, and somehow, the topic turned to cheese.

Conversations tend to do that here in Wisconsin. 

But this wasn't just any cheese.  Gus told me about the fried, squeaky variety: the cheese curd.   

Despite growing up less than two hours from Milwaukee, just across the Illinois state line, I had never tasted a cheese curd.  It's not part of the Prarie State pallete.

But, I learned, cheese curds are a staple of the Dairy State diet.  I'm told you can get them at fairs, local shops and some restaurants.  

Gus gave a good pitch.  He said they're delectible little morsels of fresh cheese, with a warm rubbery texture, usually covered in a crisp beer batter.

 "The good ones squeak when you bite them," he said.

So, my questions to the Milwaukee area blogosphere:

1) Where can you find the best cheese curds?

2) What goes good with a cheese curd?

Please share your suggestions with me and the rest of Fox 6's blog readers.

It's no secret that drinking in excess can cause people to do dumb things. We hear about the consequences almost every day from the serious (drunk driving) to the trivial (drunk dialing).

But today, we reported on a story that takes intoxicated behavior to a new depth.

Sheboygan police say a mother and her boyfriend were drinking all afternoon. After ten or 12 beers, the boyfriend proposed a $1 wager.

He bet that she wouldn't shoot her daughter with a BB gun.

She took the bet and fired a shot into her 8-year-old daughter's leg, according to police.

She won the dollar, but may also get a stay in prison. She's facing a felony child abuse charge and could spend three years behind bars.

It's important to note that she has not yet been convicted in a court of law, but this is one of those cases that -- if true -- makes you sit up and say, "wow, that was dumb."

Does anyone have any stories that can top this one for drunken stupidity?

What do you think should happen to the mother in this case?

We're working on a story about graffiti in West Allis for tonight's 10 p.m. broadcast.

The mayor of the city is getting ready to unveil a plan to target taggers. Meantime, business owners and residents are fed up with the image graffiti projects. 

Municipalities around the country are coming up with ways to deal with the problems.  One town in New Jersey plans to fine the victims of graffiti if the fail to remove it within a certain period of time.

Is graffiti a problem in your neighborhood?  What is the best way to stop it?  Who should hold responsibility for its removal?

We broadcast a story last night about Brittany Zimmermann, a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was murdered on April 2 in her apartment.

The investigation has raised many questions, but we now have learned a startling new detail: before Zimmerman was killed, she called 911 from a cell phone. 

The emergency dispatcher apparently heard silence and hung up.  Then -- in contravention of policy -- failed to call back .  

The police were never sent to investigate.  Later that afternoon, Zimmermann was discovered dead in her apartment by her boyfriend.

The incident raises some painful questions: could a better response have saved Zimmermann's life?

But one thing stuck out: the cell phone call. 

Madison emergency officials said that police are sent to the locations of every 911 call placed from a land line.

Authorities we spoke with say it takes more time to track cell phone locations (although most newer cell phones are equipped with tracking technology as required by the FCC.)

So here are my questions for you:

Should police be sent to every 911 call?  What responsibility does a busy dispatcher have to follow up on a "hang up," "silence," or "abandoned" call?

It also seems more and more people have totally given up on land line phones and now only have cell phones?  If you fall into this category, does the Zimmermann story make you think twice?