Teachers of country
Re: “Country love song” (2/10/2020): Excellent article. I moved from Madison to New Orleans over a year ago. I was thrilled to see Bill and Bobbie Malone a few weeks ago at the New Orleans Jazz Museum in the French Quarter. I’ve never been a fan of country music but because of their WORT Wednesday show, I learned so much about the music and now enjoy it so much.
— Christine Lazowski Whitten, via Facebook
Sensible redistricting wanted
Re: “Evers’ Hail Mary” (2/13/2020): Keep this in the news. Get the public riled up. The vast majority want sensible, nonpartisan redistricting.
— Maggie Carrao, via Facebook
It’s also important to note that [Assembly Speaker Robin] Vos and [Senate Majority Leader Scott] Fitzgerald are continually lying about the “People’s Maps Commission.” They scream, it’s unconstitutional! But it is not. Gov. Evers made it clear that the People’s Maps Commission will create districts and legislation to present to the state Legislature for its consideration. Vos and Fitz don’t tell you that. They just scream a Big Lie. We’ve come to expect nothing less from these two.
— Karl Johnson, via isthmus.com
Walk in their shoes
Re: “UW nurses demand union recognition” (12/19/2019): The UW nurses are attempting to have the UW Hospital board recognize that they are overworked. I learned something about administration and management years ago when I heard that our police chief, David Couper at that time, made a point of going out on a beat once a month so he could have the actual experience that his frontline staff had. I would suggest that the board members make a point of regularly shadowing the direct service staff; nurses, social workers, CNAs, respiratory therapists, to get a clear picture of what their shifts look like. Maybe they would have a better idea then of how to appropriately respond to the needs of their staff.
I’m not sure what business schools are teaching now, but it seems to me that the main job for administration, management and boards is to facilitate the direct service staff to be able to give the best possible service to the patients/clients. This means figuring out how to best help the staff with up-to-date training, good pay, the optimum number of hours, and enough staff to do the job well. It also includes fair benefits and recognition for a job well done.
As a sometimes patient of UW Hospital and a friend of many other patients, I want to feel assured that the staff is treated well so that we can get the best care. Maybe it’s time for the board to spend some time walking in the staffs’ shoes.
— Janet M. Wright, via email
Correction: There was a typo in the cutline for Christina Gomez Schmidt’s photo in last week’s story on the school board race. Her quote should have read: “We have to know what’s working, what’s not working… [and] why.”
