In the current gubernatorial race, much noise has been made about the problem of the ""brain drain,"" or the loss of Wisconsin's recent college graduates to areas such as Chicago and the Twin Cities, particularly by challenger Mark Green. Green has blamed this trend on everything from high property taxes to a lack of jobs, with an emphasis on the latter. Green has promised to bring in new jobs, should he win the election.
However, before Green worries about retaining college graduates, perhaps he should do all he can to retain the talent that we have already attracted, particularly in the field of stem-cell research. Wisconsin is at the cutting-edge of this science, and it has attracted some of the top scientists. But Green does not support the current method of stem cell research that is practiced at UW-Madison, and wants to restrict funding for it.
Many are worried that Green's restrictions will in fact drive away the best and brightest scientists and researchers here in Wisconsin. As stem cell researcher Gabriela Cezar told the Wisconsin State Journal, ""We have the best people in the world here. Wisconsin should do whatever it can to keep this talent here.""
Keeping stem cell research on the path it is currently on will not only retain the talent we have already attracted, but it will likely retain graduates interested in the field. Even more, it may keep other graduates here through not-so-obvious means. College graduates want to join an active, progressive world and want to be a part of a place that has global significance, hence their migration to Chicago and the Twin Cities.
Not only does stem cell research put Wisconsin on the map, but it creates a buzz around Madison and Wisconsin in general, giving it the reputation of an exciting, intelligent place.
This sounds like a world many college graduates want to join and even more, this reputation may actually attract new business and talent to the state.
Green doesn't seem to understand that his vision for Wisconsin is not what attracts most college graduates. Graduates have just left a liberal, progressive university and are in a similar mindset, and may not want to disperse through the conservative state that Green envisions.
Green supports the ban on gay marriage and is a staunch pro-lifer, values that many college students don't share. Graduates will be looking for a vibrant, progressive place at the forefront of ideas, and if that place is not Wisconsin, they will go elsewhere, no matter how low the property taxes are here.
If Green wants to take constructive steps towards lessening the ""brain drain,"" he should try to understand the mindset of recent college graduates and create an environment that is attractive to them.
He could bolster and support the art scene in Madison, Milwaukee and throughout the state, as well as promote urban renewal. He could focus on making the state as pristine as possible through conservation, renewable energy, and tougher environmental laws. A higher minimum wage wouldn't hurt, either.
As the recent polls show, there is a good possibility that Mark Green will become the next governor of Wisconsin. If so, Green must realize that many graduates are looking to the coasts or large metropolises for their future, areas with which Wisconsin cannot possibly compete.
However, he can increase Wisconsin's ability to contend with these places by staying on the cutting edge of science, research, art and progressivism.
