A state panel is meeting to decide whether to continue exploring the idea of creating a self-insured plan for Wisconsin state employees.
Panel to consider state worker insurance change
Madison.com
Author: gbump
Andy Baggot: Memorable game day experience high on UW’s priority list
Madison.com
This campaign to enhance the fan experience at University of Wisconsin athletic events has focused largely on what you eat and drink.
Badgers football: UW would get $3M for LSU game at Lambeau in 2016
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department will get $3 million to stage its 2016 football season opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
Downtown streets closing Friday for UW Homecoming parade
Downtown workers might want to hit the road home a little early on Friday afternoon, or get caught up in the UW-Madison Homecoming parade.
UW System accountability report shows retention, grad rates higher than U.S. average
Madison.com
More students keep going to University of Wisconsin System schools and graduate from those schools than the national average, according to figures released Wednesday.
New UW president could make nearly $600,000 under Regents proposal
Wisconsin State Journal
The next University of Wisconsin System president could make nearly $600,000 under a proposal being considered by the Board of Regents.
Employee pay a priority, UW-Madison chancellor says
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison?s new chancellor wants to create compensation funds to increase employee pay but said it could be a couple of years before the plans are in place.
Board of Estimates hears city budget proposals from Metro Transit, Planning Committee
Chuck Kamp, the Metro Transit general manager, mentioned during his presentation that failure to increase funding to Metro Transit could result in higher costs for University of Wisconsin-Madison student bus passes, provided by Associated Students of Madison, and Madison College bus passes.
On Campus: Hi, it’s Bill. Maher to place 100,000 phone calls in Madison on behalf of PETA
Wisconsin State Journal
If you live near UW-Madison, work at the university or are on the UW System Board of Regents, you will be getting a call today from comedian Bill Maher. He?s going to talk about research cats at UW-Madison and it won?t be comedy.
Bill Maher robocalls 100,000 UW phones to protest cat research
Capital Times
On Tuesday, a robocall message by Maher was sent to more than 100,000 UW-Madison phone numbers criticizing the school for its research involving cats.
Physics Nobel goes to scientists behind Higgs-boson particle discovery
Wisconsin State Journal
Scientists from UW-Madison were deeply involved in figuring out the physics and building and operating the collider used to discover a particle responsible for giving matter mass and shaping the very early universe.
State, ACLU reach accord on access policy for Capitol
Wisconsin State Journal
The state also must pay $88,270 in lawyer?s fees to the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Kissick, an assistant professor at the UW-Madison medical school.
Concussions in high school sports are a growing concern, but with no state oversight, who?s counting?
Capital Times
“We certainly have a better idea of what the concussion rate is than we did 10 or 15 years ago, but I think it?s still a moving target. To really know in our area, it?s tough,” said Dr. Alison Brooks, a UW-Madison assistant professor in the sports medicine program.
Wisconsin Republicans seek to stoke class resentment against Mary Burke
Capital Times
David Canon, a UW-Madison political science professor, offered a partial defense of at least one of the attacks on Burke. ?Criticizing someone for taking a year-long vacation is very different than criticizing someone for being wealthy,? he said in an email. ?It seems to me that they were trying to call her work ethic into question more than her wealth.?
Daily Caller, Yahoo! News call out UW-L prof for political email
A La Crosse area professor made national news Monday for an email she sent to students about the government shutdown.
Packers: Aaron Rodgers comes to UW campus to talk about Congo
Wisconsin State Journal
Berkeley is the Madison of the West. Or so said Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as he attempted to draw UW-Madison students? attention to the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday night at the Memorial Union Terrace.
Lions team president apologizes for Dominic Raiola’s verbal abuse of UW band members
Wisconsin State Journal
Detroit Lions team president Tom Lewand apologized to UW Marching Band director Mike Leckrone on Monday afternoon after reports surfaced that center Dominic Raiola verbally abused members of the band Sunday at Lambeau Field.
UW-Madison launches “MOOC” program
WKOW-TV 27
More people have signed up for Professor Kurt Squire?s online Video Games and Learning class than the total number of undergrad students at UW-Madison. The University launched “MOOC,” which stands for Massive Open Online Courses Thursday. Squire?s class is the pilot.
Doug Moe: ‘This was an American experience’
Wisconsin State Journal
At one point about halfway into the wild ride that was Susan Riseling?s life for a month in early 2011, something strange happened.
In the Spirit: Two views on separating church and state
Wisconsin State Journal
Two law professors took up the issue at a recent forum at UW Law School sponsored by the Federalist Society, a student group of conservatives and libertarians.
Madison academic wins spot on “Jeopardy!”
Wisconsin State Journal
Mary Murrell, a cultural anthropologist at UW-Madison, will be a contestant Monday on the famed quiz show “Jeopardy!,” according to the show?s publicist.
Doug Moe: Raising the dead on film
Wisconsin State Journal
While researching the history of psychology for her 2002 book on UW-Madison professor and psychologist Harry Harlowe, titled ?Love at Goon Park,? Deborah Blum found numerous references to a leading late 19th century intellectual named William James. Blum, herself a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and UW-Madison professor, was intrigued by stories suggesting James ? brother of the novelist Henry James ? had lost his mind.
Executive Q&A: Lab chief balances cutting-edge research, budget uncertainty
Wisconsin State Journal
Presumably, the federal government will resume operations. But as of late last week, the federally funded Madison-based Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) was closed due to the government shutdown.
Badgers football: Quarterback Curt Phillips makes presence felt in backup role
Madison.com
As much as he tries to ignore it, University of Wisconsin backup quarterback Curt Phillips admittedly can hear the clock ticking in the back of his head.
Mary Burke running for governor
Madison.com
Former Trek Bicycle executive Mary Burke, long rumored to be a candidate for governor in 2014, made it official Monday.
Self-insurance for state employees could shake up Wisconsin market
Wisconsin State Journal
When Minnesota shifted state employee health benefits from a competitive HMO model to a self-insured program 13 years ago, the workers? largest union became one of the new system?s biggest fans.
Blog highlights timeless aspects of UW-Madison campus
Capital Times
Some traditions can transcend time. That?s what UW-Madison student Kait Vosswinkel has found while viewing the campus through a camera lens.
Cross Plains girl lives her rock star dreams
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison fashion design graduate student Cory Linsmeyer sketched an outfit for Nova, complete with a butterfly-bedecked purple tutu and sparkly shirt.
Goalie award named for Mike Richter
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin men?s hockey program has long been known for churning out elite goaltenders and now that reputation has been validated in a unique way.
Doug Moe: A stunning discovery’s Madison connection
Wisconsin State Journal
Nellie McKay would have enjoyed the recent front page story of The New York Times about a woman named Hannah Bond … McKay, a UW-Madison professor and one of the nation?s foremost scholars of African-American literature, died in 2006. The Times story last month on Hannah Bond appears to have solved the last piece of a mystery that McKay played an early role in unraveling.
The knowing needle: Leslee Nelson’s memory cloths stitch together the past
Wisconsin State Journal
In January, Nelson, 65, retired from her dual role in art at UW-Madison, where she both taught in the art department and did outreach, partly as director of the Wisconsin Regional Art Program for nonprofessional artists. The mother of two adult daughters, Nelson also became chairwoman of the Madison Arts Commission this year. Her husband, UW-Madison Afro-American Studies department director Craig Werner, urged her to do a retrospective exhibit.
Madison to become Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood next Monday as star QB comes to town for Congo rally
Wisconsin State Journal
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will join ?Entourage? actor Emmanuelle Chriqui and Congolese rapper Omekongo Dibinga next Monday at a UW-Madison rally.
UW arts go global with South American dance, Indian textiles and an Irish play
Wisconsin State Journal
With a new crop of students also comes a new slate of performances and exhibitions on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Gov. Scott Walker on self-insurance: There is no proposal yet
Wisconsin State Journal
‘Alarming’ racial disparities continue to plague Dane County
Wisconsin State Journal
The report was unveiled Wednesday during the YWCA?s annual Racial Justice Summit, attended by about 500 local leaders, representatives of social-service agencies, the UW-Madison and business.
Wisconsin dairy industry’s global vision is in sharp focus
Wisconsin State Journal
?It wasn?t until 2007 that we really started to recognize our export opportunities. That wasn?t very long ago. We?re still learning,? said Mark Stephensen, director of the Center for Dairy Profitability at UW-Madison.
Bill would allow UW schools, technical colleges to authorize charter schools
Wisconsin State Journal
All University of Wisconsin System campuses, state technical colleges and educational service agencies would be able to authorize charter schools under a bill to be discussed by a legislative committee Thursday.
Bill Lueders: Elections need army of poll workers
Capital Times
There are also thousands of local elections officials and what Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has called “an army of temporary poll workers.”
UW roundtable talks to start with Chancellor Rebecca Blank
Madison.com
New UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will kick off the 2013 fall university roundtable series with a discussion about the future of the university.
On Campus: Federal shutdown “a mess” for UW-Madison researchers
Wisconsin State Journal
Normally, the Oct. 1 beginning of the federal fiscal year kicks off a mad scramble for UW-Madison researchers hoping for federal funding, with applications coming due and nerves frayed. This year is no different — it?s just a scramble of a different kind with the dawn of the federal government shutdown, the first in 17 years.
Federal shutdown brings Guard, military furloughs; closed forests, parks
Wisconsin State Journal
And for University of Wisconsin researchers, confusion reigned. The National Institutes of Health, the largest source of the $620 million in federal funds awarded to UW-Madison researchers last year, said Tuesday that researchers should hold off submitting quarterly funding requests, which were to be due Friday, until the shutdown ends.
Tick flies free from Uganda to Madison in researcher’s nose, offers glimpse into chimp diseases
Wisconsin State Journal
The first two times Tony Goldberg found a tick in his nose, he was in rural Uganda and responded like the rest of us. ?I was grossed out enough that I wanted them away from me,? he said. The third time, the symptoms were the same ? slight irritation and pain as if he?d blown the schnoz a few too many times ? but the scene shifted to his laboratory at UW-Madison.
UW System announces its own network will replace WiscNet
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin System will be transitioning from its broadband provider, WiscNet, to its own network over the next 14 to 18 months, System officials announced Tuesday at the state Capitol.
Union, insurers concerned about self-insurance proposal for state employees
Wisconsin State Journal
State employees could see reduced health benefits and Madison-area HMOs would struggle financially if Wisconsin self-insured all state employees, representatives from the groups said Tuesday after Gov. Scott Walker discussed the idea with health care executives.
UW Board of Regents on the right track with more transparency, communication
Wisconsin State Journal
More transparency. Improved communication. Better decision-making. Those are the top three priorities for the UW System Board of Regents, according to board President Michael Falbo and Vice President Regina Millner, who met with our editorial board last week.
Crowdfunding of academic research catching on. At UW-Madson? Not so much
Capital Times
Crowdfunding for academic research is catching on, according to a blog post at Scientific American. Individuals, as well as a growing number of universities, are turning to the masses for funding as government funding dwindles, writes recent UW-Madison graduate Alexandra Branscombe. The option is particularly helpful for new researchers without track records to attract potential funders.
Faced with a new invasive fly, some Wisconsin raspberry growers give up
Capital Times
“When you get infested berries, they start to get soft and fall apart and weep,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri. Though some other berries have been affected in the state, he?s hearing the biggest outcry from raspberry growers.
Federal shutdown could hamper Wis. fuels research
Madison.com
The people anxiously awaiting news about a government shutdown include Timothy Donohue, principal investigator at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in Madison.
Wis. colleges turn to social media for recruiting
Madison.com
A quick scan of a bar code was all it took for college recruiters in Milwaukee to add prospective students to their database.
School Spotlight: School nurses have a new resource on chronic issues
Wisconsin State Journal
Unlike a clinic or hospital setting, school nurses aren?t surrounded by their peers. In addition, some may not have had a lot of course work on kids with chronic health conditions, said Lori S. Anderson, assistant professor at the UW-Madison School of Nursing.
Community celebrates beginning of UW-Madison’s Hmong American Studies
Capital Times
Yang Sao Xiong?s new position teaching Hmong American Studies at UW-Madison is the first tenure-track post in that subject area in the United States, he says.
Scott Walker in talks with HMOs on shifting state employees to self-insured program
Wisconsin State Journal
A proposal to shift state employee health benefits from a competitive HMO model to a self-insured program could be gathering momentum, with Gov. Scott Walker scheduled Tuesday to discuss the matter with health plan executives.
Landlocked and self-funded, UW sailors make waves nationally
Wisconsin State Journal
One sailor grew up in Rochester, Minn., part of the only county in the Land of 10,000 Lakes without a natural one. Another grew up in Los Angeles, home to dreamy Pacific Ocean waves.Despite the divergent backgrounds, Tom Sorenson and Nathan Jamieson are two of the 40-strong UW-Madison sailing team that takes to the water for hours every afternoon
UW Health, United Way to help pay insurance costs on exchange
Wisconsin State Journal
UW Health is donating $2 million to the United Way of Dane County to provide financial help to low-income people buying insurance on the new exchange opening Tuesday, the organizations said Friday.
Two blocks of State Street will be closed Sunday morning
Wisconsin State Journal
Two blocks of State Street will be closed for five hours Sunday morning for the setup of a mobile crane that will install rooftop equipment on a building on Frances Street.
Badgers football: UW’s Dave Aranda is the man with a plan to stop Ohio State
Madison.com
University of Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda was no different than a lot of defensive coaches when the read-option started making its way into college football.
UW-Madison study leads Popular Science to drop comments from stories
Capital Times
Earlier this week Popular Science made news by stating this it will no longer allow comments on its articles. This decision was based in large part on a study earlier this year by UW-Madison Prof. Dominique Brossard and her team of researchers.
John Etchemendy and Vivek Wadhwa: Five myths about college debt
Capital Times
The trillion-dollar student debt burden has spawned many debates about the value of college. Some argue that we educate too many young people. Indeed, average tuition costs have gone up faster than the rate of inflation. The cost of college today is, in inflation-adjusted terms, roughly double what it was in 1980. This creates legitimate concerns about the continued affordability of a college education.
Badgers men’s basketball: UW coach Bo Ryan returns to his classroom
Madison.com
Not only was it a shorter-than-normal offseason for Bo Ryan, the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball coach also had to deal with a loss that was far more painful than any buzzer-beater or season-ender could be.
Supreme Court case tests UW Regents’ right to quell disruptive protest
Capital Times
Can a Wisconsin body of government supress disruptive political protest through an injunction outlawing contact or communication with public officials?