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Author: jnweaver

UW, Adidas to enter mediation over Indonesian factory workers dispute

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison will enter mediation with its exclusive athletics sponsor, Adidas, to resolve a dispute over the treatment of Indonesian factory workers, interim chancellor David Ward said Tuesday. The approach is less draconian than one Ward indicated he might take earlier this month, when he said he may put Adidas “on notice” that it was in breach of a labor code of conduct. That would have given Adidas 90 days to address concerns over severance payments to overseas workers before the university would terminate its roughly $2.5 million contract with the company.

Guard mission: Butter, not guns for Afghanistan

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Wisconsin State Journal

A newly formed unit of the Wisconsin National Guard soon will deliver Dairy State know-how to war-torn Afghanistan. Team members received a 40-hour crash course from UW-Madison instructors in topics ranging from beekeeping to fish farming to water management to the ins and outs of growing corn, pomegranates and poultry.

?They are not going to be experts by any means, but at least they won?t be clueless,? said Karen Nielsen, director of the Babcock Institute for International Dairy Research. The institute does a lot of international education, but this curriculum was unique, Nielsen said. ?We haven?t had to train at this level before because most of those we?ve worked with have electricity and machinery, but the people in Afghanistan don?t,? Nielsen said. The institute plans to bring in Amish farmers to help train the next group, Nielsen said.

Biosecurity experts fear UW’s bird flu findings could fall into wrong hands

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Capital Times

Shortly before Thanksgiving science reporters and bloggers began buzzing about a newly created, genetically modified version of the deadly bird flu that could easily be transmitted between ferrets, which closely mimic the human response to flu.

….”It’s interesting that this research became a concern, because from my perspective I’m not worried about it,” Paul Umbeck, the director of UW-Madison’s environment, health and safety department, says after outlining for a reporter a lengthy list of federal and institutional regulations and safeguards in place to help oversee such potentially dangerous experiments. “But cutting-edge is always going to be somewhat controversial to somebody.” Or, in this case, seemingly to most everybody.

Gov. Walker signed Chadima probe contract; $100,000 estimate

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON — A contract between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Madison law firm and signed by Governor Scott Walker estimates as much as $100,000 in legal fees to investigate potential wrongdoing by former top UW administrator John Chadima. Governor Walker signed the contract with the law firm – Axley Brynelson, LLP – January 19, after a UW official requested Walker?s involvement.

UW football: Badgers set ‘variable prices’ for single-game tickets

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Madison.com

The cost of a University of Wisconsin football single-game ticket to “the big games” will be significantly more this fall than it was in 2011. UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, in a letter to season-ticket holders, said he will recommend a variable price model for single game tickets to the Finance and Facilities Operations committee of the UW Athletic Board when it meets today.

Andy Baggot: A year after accident, Daubenspeck embraces life, family

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Madison.com

Sitting down to lunch with Kirk Daubenspeck last week, listening to him embrace his extraordinary life, I couldn?t help but recall one of the best, most underrated movie scenes of all time….There is nothing fictional about the life and near-death of Daubenspeck, the Madison product and one-time record-setting goalie for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team. There is no script and there are no stunts.

What is real, and wonderful, is that Daubenspeck has been saved through the efforts of many. Remnants of their selflessness, generosity, expertise and support will accompany him to an anniversary celebration Friday night at the Kohl Center.

Don’t bounce tourneys from Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

As the clock ticks down toward a decision from the WIAA on where it will host its premier post-season events ? the state boys and girls basketball tournaments ? we keep coming back to this thought: Don?t blow it as the buzzer sounds. Keep the tournaments in Madison. It?s just that simple. The WIAA would do itself no favors, and possibly put its far-and-away leading revenue stream at risk, by moving the tradition-laden events to a new venue in Green Bay. A major scheduling conflict at the Kohl Center has been resolved, thanks to efforts by UW Athletic Department officials and others.

A year later, in praise of the TAA

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Capital Times

When Gov. Scott Walker attacked collective bargaining rights a year ago, many unions and union members were in shock. The oldest graduate student union in the world (now an American Federation of Teachers affiliate) “got it” immediately. Within hours of the governor?s announcement, the TAA declared: “What we do in the next five days will determine whether we keep our union, and our professional lives as educators, researchers, and public servants.”TAA members were front and center at the first rallies on campus, and the led the first great march into the state Capitol on Feb. 14.

UW men’s hockey: Defections lead to short-handed season for Badgers

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Madison.com

In order to take honest stock of the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey program at this juncture, some facts must be acknowledged. UW is deep in the second division of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association because its top goal-scorer, top assist man and another double-digit goal-scorer turned pro after last season before exhausting their UW eligibility.

Madison sweetens deal to keep WIAA tournaments as Green Bay makes push

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Wisconsin State Journal

Madison continues to sweeten its bid to keep the state high school basketball tournaments, making Kohl Center more available, offering cash to the WIAA and ensuring better deals for parking, lodging and restaurants. Madison didn?t initially recognize the danger of losing the tournaments but is now doing all possible to keep them, Mayor Paul Soglin said. The plans are a collaboration between the university, the city and the hospitality industry. They would include a contribution to the WIAA from the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau.

UW scientists at forefront in search of elusive ‘God Particle’

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Wisconsin State Journal

Sometime this year, physicists could very well announce they have confirmed the existence of a particle so important it has been dubbed the “God Particle.” Its discovery would fill in a crucial missing piece of a model that, despite a few quirks, has been used for decades to explain the fundamental structure of the universe and all that it contains, including us. Standing with the scientists making that announcement will be some familiar faces to many here in our corner of the universe: researchers from UW-Madison.

“We have a long history,” said Francis Halzen, the physicist who leads another groundbreaking UW-Madison effort to build a neutrino detector in the Antarctic ice. “And I think a distinguished history.” But the word “distinguished” hardly captures the fizz and pop, the headines and the historical reach of some of the physics that has gone on here.

Chris Rickert: In Chadima case, what did they know and when?

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Wisconsin State Journal

Three weeks ago, we were probably satisfied ? and happy ? that the John Chadima story had run its course….But now that as many as two people have come forward to credibly allege that Chadima assaulted them, the saga continues, if with a different focus and higher stakes.

….To his credit, UW interim chancellor David Ward has directed the panel investigating the latest allegations of abuse against Chadima to inform him of “any other matters (that) come to your attention about which I should know” ? like, for instance, a cover-up. Ward’s mandate did not include specific instructions to question athletic director Barry Alvarez or football coach Bret Bielema, said Vince Sweeney, the vice chancellor for university relations.

UW student beaten, robbed near campus, police say

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Capital Times

The UW-Madison Police Department said in a news release the attack happened shortly after bar closing time early Sunday morning at 408 N. Lake St. The student was assaulted by three or four males of Asian descent, all about 18 to 25 years old.

UW men’s basketball: Badgers, Spartans both make sizable leaps in rankings

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Madison.com

The University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team and Michigan State both made sizable leaps in the polls heading into Thursday?s matchup in East Lansing. The Badgers jumped six spots in The Associated Press poll to No. 15 and five spots in the ESPN/USA Today coaches? poll to No. 17, while the Spartans moved up to No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.

UW student beaten, robbed near campus, police say

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Capital Times

A UW-Madison student was beaten and robbed early Sunday morning in a parking lot downtown, UW-Madison police reported. The UW-Madison Police Department said in a news release the attack happened shortly after bar closing time early Sunday morning at 408 N. Lake St.

UW men’s basketball: Did Sullinger’s dad call out Ryan, Badgers?

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Madison.com

In a column that ran today (Saturday) in the Columbus Dispatch, the father of Ohio State star forward Jared Sullinger is quoted as saying that he believes some Big Ten Conference teams are being too rough with his 265-pound son. Satch Sullinger doesn?t specifically name the Badgers, but there was no doubt in the mind of the column?s author, Rob Oller, that the elder Sullinger was talking about coach Bo Ryan and UW.

UW student wins top Innovation Days prize for prosthetic hand

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Wisconsin State Journal

Daydreaming during class paid off for UW-Madison student Eric Ronning. He won $11,250 on Friday at UW-Madison?s annual Innovation Days for an invention he came up with during an engineering lecture. “I space out a lot,” Ronning admitted, a sophomore from Lincolnwood, Ill., who is majoring in mechanical engineering.

On Campus: Name chosen for new UW-Madison nursing building

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison?s new nursing building will be named after Signe Skott Cooper, a pioneer in nursing education and the facility?s largest individual donor. The UW Board of Regents approved the name at its meeting Friday. Cooper, 91, was inducted into the American Nurses Association?s “Hall of Fame” in 2000 and was named a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing in 2003.

Barbara Smith: Follow Wisconsin Idea and pay living wage

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Wisconsin State Journal

Since UW-Madison has $77 million to give Camp Randall a facelift, I assume there is no reason any longer for the university to deny a living wage to workers who serve the facility. Currently, temp workers making around $8 an hour are used to clean up after sporting events and graduation. UW should do the decent thing and use staff custodians to do the work.

UW women’s soccer: Meuer, one of 11 incoming recruits, extends family legacy

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Madison.com

McKenna Meuer continued a family tradition by signing a national letter of intent to play women?s soccer at the University of Wisconsin, paving the way for her to become the fifth member of her family to compete for the Badgers. Meuer, a two-time All-State midfielder for Madison Memorial and a member of FC Milwaukee?s 2011 national club championship team, is one of 11 players whose commitments were announced Friday.

Executive Q&A: Union Cab GM deals with a challenging landscape

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: I joined the co-op as a driver in the fall of 1988, after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in history and English literature. I was basically taking a year off before deciding on graduate school. I did go to New York University for a semester but decided that my heart was really in the cooperative business model, not English lit.

Curiosities: How is concrete recycled?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Concrete generally is crushed into “recycled concrete aggregate,” or RCA, said Craig Benson, a distinguished professor of geological engineering and co-director of the Office of Sustainability at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Once steel is removed, old concrete can be crushed and used to replace aggregate (the mix of sand and gravel) in new concrete. Crushed concrete can also be used to replace gravel as fill or base layer in construction.

Solutions for Mifflin Street Block Party

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Daily Cardinal

Editorial Board Disclaimer: We will address this issue once and only once, because, frankly, it will be in the news until the world explodes and we have only one thing to say about it. Talk of shutting down Madison’s beloved Mifflin Street Block Party has been plaguing our news since last year’s event turned riotous and violent.

Regents recognize diversity across system

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Daily Cardinal

The Board of Regents recognized three programs across system campuses for their contributions to furthering the UW System?s efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusivity Friday. UW-Madison was not an award recipient.

Social media blur the boundaries of personal privacy

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Daily Cardinal

On Feb. 8 at 5:58 p.m., UW-Madison student ?Alex Paverson? checked into Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Three of Alex?s Facebook friends saw the post and immediately followed Alex there. Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment, a student organization dedicated to ending domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault, created Paverson?s page, resembling a typical UW student?s account, to raise awareness about the relationship between stalking and technology on campus.

Three things to know this week

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Wisconsin State Journal

Experts will debate world oil supply.

UW-Madison Professor Alan Carroll will moderate a debate between two prominent oil experts Tuesday at Union South. John Hofmeister, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy and former president of Royal Dutch Shell?s U.S. operations, will debate Tadeusz Patzek, professor and chair at the University of Texas-Austin Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, in the 90-minute forum “World Oil Supply: Looming Crisis or New Abundance?” The program begins at 6 p.m. in Varsity Hall II on the second floor of Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St. A reception will follow the event.

Ask the Weather Guys: Just how warm has this winter been?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: This winter began much warmer than normal, but where does this year?s mildness rank all-time? You might be surprised to learn that although we are in the top 10 warmest starts to winter, we are not really close to the top. In fact, we are experiencing only the sixth warmest Dec. 1-Feb. 8 in Madison history with an average temperature of 28.3 degrees Fahrenheit during that stretch.

Stretch of Observatory Drive closing starting Tuesday

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Capital Times

There will be no love on Valentine?s Day for drivers normally taking Observatory Drive on the UW-Madison campus. A stretch of the busy street from Charter Street to Babcock Drive will be closed beginning on Tuesday, so construction crews can install a steam line under the roadway, near the Soils Building driveway.

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Campus Connection: UW police investigating third allegation against Chadima

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Capital Times

University of Wisconsin-Madison police have been informed of a third allegation of misconduct involving former UW senior associate athletic director John Chadima. The news was broken in a statement released Thursday morning by UW-Madison interim Chancellor David Ward. Once again, the allegation was made by an adult male, the university says.

Posted in Uncategorized

ASM Town Hall sees low turnout

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Daily Cardinal

Despite representatives? attempts to “pump up” the atmosphere with pop music, only around 15 students showed up for the Associated Students of Madison?s Spring Town Hall Thursday. Representatives acknowledged low turnout to ASM-sponsored events seems to be a trend.

Man arrested for driving stolen vehicle, police say

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Capital Times

A Madison man was arrested Thursday on the UW-Madison campus after he was found driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen, authorities reported. Jermaal Maymon, 21, was arrested by UW-Madison police shortly after noon on Thursday on tentative charges of operating a motor vehicle without the owner?s consent and having no valid driver?s license, according to a campus police news release.

Loopy roundabouts actually work

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison transportation safety expert David Noyce traces the roundabout?s bad rap back to Chevy Chase in the 1985 comedy “European Vacation.” Chase?s character, Clark Griswold, drives his family in an English rental car into the inner lane of a roundabout near London?s Lambeth Bridge. “They got stuck in the circle and couldn?t get out,” Noyce recalled Thursday. “So people had a negative view.” And a lot of motorists in Wisconsin still do.

Property Trax: Local advocates warn struggling homeowners not to assume $25 billion settlement with banks will help them

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Wisconsin State Journal

Dane County advocates for struggling homeowners this week generally welcomed the national $25 billion settlement with five of the nation?s biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses like robo-signing….UW-Madison Professor Morris Davis, academic director of the university’s Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, said he didn’t believe the settlement would help most people who are “deeply underwater” on their mortgages avoid foreclosure.

“But (the aid) could encourage some families that are only marginally underwater to postpone the foreclosure process as long as possible,” he said.

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UW police investigating third allegation against Chadima

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Wisconsin State Journal

A third allegation of misconduct involving an adult male has been cast against a former top UW athletic official, adding to a growing investigation of John Chadima. Interim UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward said in a statement Thursday the UW-Madison Police Department is investigating the allegation and has deemed it “credible,” but did not release any more details.

Unions want repeal pledge from Dem candidates

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Wisconsin State Journal

State union leaders are asking Democratic candidates for governor to pledge they will veto the next state budget if it doesn?t restore collective bargaining rights for public workers. The limitation of those rights is largely what motivated the petition drive to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Madison West grad J.D. Walsh brings his politically charged series, ?Battleground,? home

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Wisconsin State Journal

The 13-episode dramedy was filmed in town last fall, and Madisonians who watch “Battleground” will see a show steeped in Mad Town culture. There are references to Ancora Coffee and the Farmers? Market, and scenes filmed in instantly recognizable Madison locations, from State Street to Mickie?s Dairy Bar. Walsh even repurposed Badgermania to his advantage. “We have a big (political) rally in the show, so what we did is we just filmed on a football Saturday, and put our actors in the middle of the crowd,” said Walsh, who rented a house with his family in Middleton during the shoot. Via email, Webb said that Madison, which hasn?t had much experience with television and movie productions, was a very accommodating place to shoot a series. “It was out of the pathway of most TV productions where the locals are really resistant to accommodating film crews,” he said. “In Madison, people were generally game.”

Three UW students arrested in September sex assault

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW Police arrested three male students allegedly connected to a sexual assault that occurred last September. Brian K. Allen, 18, of Menomonee Falls; Prentice A. Williams, 18, of Milwaukee; and Bruce H. Beckley, 18, of Milwaukee, were arrested Wednesday morning in connection to an alleged second-degree sexual assault that occurred in a UW-Madison residence hall on Sept. 10, 2011, Sgt. Aaron Chapin said in a news release.

Know Your Madisonian: Anne Morgan Giroux ‘co-pilots’ Lily’s Fund

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Wisconsin State Journal

There?s nothing worse than feeling hopeless and helpless when it comes to your child, says Anne Morgan Giroux.The Madison mother of three knows that feeling first-hand, since her oldest child, Lily, was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 2. At times, seizures were a regular, frightening occurrence for Lily. As any parent would, Giroux, 47, felt compelled to do something. So in 2007, she and her husband, David, executive director of communications for the UW System, established Lily’s Fund for Epilepsy Research. The fund is run through the UW Foundation and supports research at UW-Madison, including funding for a research fellowship position.

New Overture president upbeat about future, but says ‘there are no quick fixes’

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Wisconsin State Journal

Making his first public appearance in Madison, new Overture Center President Ted DeDee voiced confidence in the arts center?s future and vowed to reach out to the community as he takes the reins of a $205 million facility with enormous potential and challenges. DeDee, who takes over for Tom Carto on April 2, said he wants to quickly begin a dialogue with staff, resident companies, donors, city officials and UW-Madison, understand the organization “inside and out,” and look at revenue streams and explore untapped financial opportunities.

‘Tepid response’ to Roundy’s initial public offering of stock

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Wisconsin State Journal

Shares of Roundy?s stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday and ended the day up 50 cents, at $9 a share. The Milwaukee grocery company offered 19.2 million shares of common stock in its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol RNDY. Shares were priced at $8.50, which was below the $10 to $12 price projected in a company document filed with federal regulators in January. That signifies “tepid response from the marketplace” to the offering, said Jim Seward, associate professor at the UW-Madison School of Business and faculty director of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking.

On Campus: UW-Madison engineering dean to retire

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Wisconsin State Journal

Paul Peercy, longtime dean of the UW-Madison College of Engineering, announced on Wednesday plans to retire. He will stay on until the international search for a new dean is complete, according to a UW-Madison news release. Peercy, 71, became dean in 1999. As dean, he oversees 14 undergraduate degrees and 22 at the graduate level.

Martin to speak in Madison

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Daily Cardinal

Former UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin will be returning to Madison in March to discuss the impact of new technologies on university education and instruction.

Legislative Task Force on UW Restructuring talks tuition, campus advisory boards

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Daily Cardinal

Amid discussions of who should set tuition in Wisconsin and how the UW System should be structured, UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward told members of a state task force Wednesday there is no ?one size fits all? model for flexibilities needed across campuses system-wide. Ward said individual institutions would benefit from having ?university councils? to facilitate communication between the campus community, the Board of Regents and the state.

Engineering a floating concrete canoe

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Daily Cardinal

Just off the coast of Sunset Beach in Cape May, N.J. lies an empty concrete shell. These are not the remains of a pier or other building lost to the seas, but of a ship that once traversed the Atlantic Ocean in a time of war. The final resting place of the S.S. Atlantis is both a curiosity and important part of U.S. history. In her life, she was a transport ship in the World War I Emergency Fleet. Now she intrigues tourists, often raising the question “how did a concrete ship manage to float?”

Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison spend their nights shut in at the Engineering Centers Building answering this question year after year. These students are members of the UW-Madison Concrete Canoe Team (UW-CCT) and are tasked each year with designing and building a canoe out of concrete.

Bus driver did not follow blind spot procedures before crash, officials say

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Wisconsin State Journal

A bus driver failed to perform a physical maneuver to overcome a blind spot before striking a pedestrian in a fatal crash on University Avenue last June, Metro Transit officials said Wednesday. General Manager Chuck Kamp said Metro is now remounting the external driver?s side mirror on its buses to reduce the left-side blind spot, and is considering adding audio signals to alert pedestrians that a bus is making a left turn.

Eight Badgers invited to NFL combine

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — Eight Wisconsin football players will take part in the NFL scouting combine, the most from any Big Ten school and second only to national champion Alabama, which has nine players invited. Six players from the 2011 Badgers team will try to impress the scouts in Indianapolis this February, including three offensive linemen.

UW-Madison ranked as nation’s fifth-highest top-value university

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Daily Cardinal

In the midst of a year when student groups have protested the high tuition costs of higher education, UW-Madison is the fifth-highest-valued public university in the country, according to a list released Monday by The Princeton Review….Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Paul DeLuca said he was excited to see the university receive a top-10 ranking for the first time. “We strive to provide an absolutely world class education in as cost-effective way as we can,” DeLuca said. “And when you get a ranking like this, its recognition that maybe we are achieving that.”

The chair of the Economics Department John Karl Scholz reflected DeLuca, saying that a university of UW-Madison’s caliber cannot maintain a high academic level and lower tuition rates. “It takes resources to be outstanding,” Scholz said. “The money needed for that has to come from somewhere.”

Michael Knetter: Every donation adds value to UW-Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

Chris Rickert?s Thursday column, “Big donors don?t make a big impact on tuition at UW-Madison,” misses the mark by focusing on the fact that philanthropy does not lower the price of tuition. In 2011, the UW Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising, investing and distributing donor gift funds to support UW-Madison, transferred more than $220 million in philanthropy to enhance the quality of the people, programs and facilities at the university. It is this enhanced quality funded by a source other than tuition that makes UW-Madison a great value (i.e., quality per unit of cost).