Waukesha teen wins C-Span student cam competition

Waukesha teen Jacob Berg is getting national recognition for his work on a documentary. The senior from Waukesha West High School won third place in C-Span's student cam competition, and appeared live on C-Span April 6th.
Berg's eight minute documentary explains what's included in the more than 2,000 page law. He centralizes it around his father who can benefit from the health care overhaul. Berg says, "My dad recently had a few surgeries, and because he has crones disease and ulcer colitis."
Berg's student cam video is just one of 27 winning videos across the country more than a thousand student entries were submitted to C-Span that addresses a national issue facing their community.
During his appearance on C-Span Berg explained why health care was his video of choice. "I wanted to make it so that people would understand it, and it was just a little bit easier to understand.", says Berg.
Berg isn't the only Wisconsin student who was a winner in this national competition. Eight other students from Racine took home three second place awards for their documentaries on LED lights, sustainability, and gun rights.
Each student takes home up to $1,500 for their winning videos.
The three other Wisconsin winning videos will be aired on C-Span throughout the month of April.

SEIU releases budget-balancing report

Oregon's largest state workers union today released a report suggesting $1 billion in new savings and enhanced revenue to help close the $3.5 billion budget gap that threatens important services.
About a third of the savings in the SEIU Local 503 plan come from recommended reforms to state government that would eliminate inefficiencies and save money.
The reforms include weeding out unnecessary middle management; eliminating contracts for services the state could more affordably provide; produce more accurate projections for departmental expenditures; and improve collections for unpaid taxes.
The other two-thirds would come from closing down corporate tax breaks and limiting deductions available to people who earn more than $200,000 a year.
"I want to commend SEIU Local 503 for proactively engaging its members in exploring cost-saving measures for the state in the 2011-2013 biennium," Gov. John Kitzhaber said in response to the SEIU report. "This is a clear statement that in order to be successful, we must all participate in sharing the burden of our difficult budget reality.
"I will ask Michael Jordan, my new Chief Operating Officer, to review the suggestions and identify the most promising options for near-term savings. I look forward to working with all involved parties when we receive the Co-Chairs budget later this month."