SVP requires answers in Schutzbach affair
The members of the SVP have expressed their outrage at "anti-democratic" statements made this week by Franziska Schutzbach, a lecturer for sociology and gender studies at the University of Basel.
Ms Schutzbach wrote in her blog and in the Basler Zeitung that airlines, hotels, and taxi companies should boycott the members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). She wrote that the move would mean the members of SVP and similar parties could be "eliminated" from society. In her blog, Ms Schutzbach disparaged representatives of the SVP, CVP and FDP political parties and accused them of “anti-intellectualism”.
She further called for the media to stop reporting on such parties and said that public referendums that would not reach the result she and others desired should not be implemented.
The SVP has called her comments "undemocratic and unacceptable" and said she should be investigated. In a statement, a party spokesperson said the SVP wants the government to respond and called on the university to carry out an investigation into the controversial lecturer, who is an elected member of the Equal Opportunity Commission.
The spokesperson said the party supports freedom of speech but also stated that it is "shocked that an employee of the University of Basel can express such antidemocratic ideas, even in her own private blog".
"In doing so, she damages the reputation of the oldest university in Switzerland," the spokesperson said.
"At the University of Basel, a neutral intellectual climate prevails, and the institution values high academic quality. The SVP cannot accept that an employee of the university can express in public such misplaced and undemocratic statements. We call on the government and university management to take a stand against this undemocratic behaviour by Ms Schutzbach."
The party went further in calling for her dismissal from the Equal Opportunities Commission.
"These statements (made by Ms Schutzbach) are problematic under constitutional law and shocking, contemptuous, and repulsive," said the spokesperson. "The SVP is calling for our government to immediately dismiss Franziska Schutzbach from her mandate as a member of the governmental Equal Opportunities Commission of the canton Basel-Stadt."
In regards to her academic work, the SVP called on the university management to dissociate itself from Ms Schutzbach to "avoid further damage to the reputation of the University of Basel".
"The university cannot allow such unqualified statements to be made without reacting to them, considering the important discussion about the future financing," the spokesman said. "Therefore the university management is responsible and must make a statement in this instance."
The spokesman added that the party had submitted an interpellation calling for the government to take action in relation to the case.
Second wood-fired power plant to be built
Woodchips are to replace natural gas for heat production in Basel, in a bid to reduce the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Basel's energy supplier, IWB, is to increase its share of renewable energy by building a second wood-fired power plant (HKW II).
Yesterday, the first heavy plant carrying the first part the steam generator arrived at the construction site in Basel. The 40-ton-item, which will form part of the generator, was lifted into the steel construction by special cranes and a lifting system.
The first sod was cut in February, and now the outer shell of Basel's second wood-fired power plant is almost finished. In the second phase, the steam generator will be installed and the equipment assembled. The steam generator, one of the first and most important parts of the new power plant, is about to be delivered and installed. It is within the generator that enough steam for the production of electricity and heat will be produced. The steam
is created under high pressure at a temperature of 450° C. All the energy produced goes into a steam turbine and eventually ends up on the city's heating network.
From next winter onwards, the new power plant will generate around 80 million kilowatt hours of ecological heat and 27 million kilowatt hours of renewable electricity from woodchips. It is expected to save around 19,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from being released into the atmosphere. The new power plant is located right next to the incinerator (KVA), the most important producer for the city heating. A spokesperson for IWB said the location is useful in terms of staff and infrastructure.
"The staff at the incinerator are fully experienced in operating the first wood-fired power plant which has already been integrated into the KVA," the spokesperson said.
An unusual attempt at a family reunion on the A5 in Germany
In their usual sober manner, traffic reporters yesterday warned about an animal on the road, this time on the A5 motorway.
However, in this incidence the animal was a billy goat, which had made its way onto the motorway from a farm in Munzingen at 8.30am. The runaway goat was seen by several drivers between the Bad Krozingen and Freiburg-Süd exits. Called to the scene, the police carried out a search for the adventurous goat but were unable to find it.
The reason for this was that a caring driver had found the animal and given him a lift in his Volkswagen bus. Through internal investigations, the police later discovered a somewhat romantic background to the story. A policeman based at the district headquarters in Freiburg, who lives in Buggingen, had sold a pregnant goat to a local farmer. A billy goat, which also belonged to the policeman, was apparently upset about losing his mate. It is understood that the billy goat then made a pre-natal attempt to reunite the family on his own.
The billy goat was eventually reunited with its owner. Apart from the goat's lovesickness, there was no further damage caused.