Fifth year State Senator and UW-L graduate Dan Kapanke visited the Student Senate last week to talk with the representatives of the student body on key issues important to both La Crosse and UW campuses in general.
Kapanke began by thanking the student body as a whole for helping him win last year's election, noting that the ward containing UW-L was his most successful.
"The ward here was the ward I did the best...I'm very very proud of that because I worked the students, I worked this campus, I worked hard out here and you've gotten to know me and I've gotten very good support here and I'm very honored by that," Kapanke said.
After praising his alma mater, Kapanke stressed Wisconsin's education program as a means to aid the state's ebbing economy.
"My number one focus has been Wisconsin's economy," he said and later added, "some of you might not be from Wisconsin, but if you stay here and graduate here, you'll probably learn to like this state as much as I do and you'll want to stay here, and it's our job, I think, to make sure that if you really want to do that, that we have an opportunity for you here."
Kapanke stressed the need for Wisconsin to increase the number of jobs available in the state as well as the necessity to maintain the state's highly acclaimed education program at all levels.
"Wisconsin, in my opinion, is so well positioned because of our education system," he said, "We have a lot going here for us in Wisconsin as far as education is concerned."
After opening up the floor to questions, senators focused mainly on topics pertaining to health care, bipartisanship, and their own representation in Madison, specifically pertaining to the Board of Regents.
Kapanke also said he supports a bill to divide representation on the UW Board of Regents geographically. The bill, recommended by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education, would require the UW Board of Regents members to come from seven distinct regions of Wisconsin, eliminating an advantage held by eastern Wisconsin schools.
"I support that bill, very much so. We need to be represented over here, and throughout the entire state. We have campuses here, north, south...those geographic regions need to be recognized," Kapanke said.
The Board of Regents is a committee of fourteen members all of whom are appointed by the governor. Twelve seats are appointed to seven-year terms and the other two seats are given to students for two-year terms. The board is responsible for appointing the UW president, chancellors, and other oversight functions.
Kapanke, who will challenge incumbent Ron Kind for the Third Congressional District next fall, returned to UW-L Thursday night for a forum with conservative and moderate students.
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