UW-Madison will be able to move ahead with a nearly $53 million addition and renovation to the School of Human Ecology following approval from a state committee Wednesday.
The project consists of renovation of the existing building, 1300 Linden Drive, and a 100,000 square-foot expansion to the west that includes an underground parking garage.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The longtime University of Wisconsin-Stout chancellor is supporting a bill that would require regional representation on the Board of Regents.
Charles Sorensen says the Chippewa Valley region has never had a non-student member on the board “for as long as anyone can remember” leaving Stout and UW-Eau Claire without representation.
MADISON, Wis. — The president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents says his top priority is expanding access to state universities.
Milwaukee businessman Chuck Pruitt told a Senate committee on Tuesday a key part of that goal is providing more financial aid for low-income students. He says the state has made some progress, but needs to do better.
Struggling with budget shortfalls that reach into the billions, several states are making deep cuts in college financial aid programs, including those that provide a vital source of cash for students who most need the money.
At least a dozen states are reducing award sizes, eliminating grants and tightening eligibility guidelines because of a lack of money. At the same time, the number of students seeking aid is rising sharply as more people seek a college education and need help paying the tuition bill because they or their parents lost jobs and savings during the recession.
Also quotes Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on financial aid.
Quoted: Tom Oliver, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s School of Medicine and Public Health.
A new technique that transforms embryonic and adult stem cells into six types of mature white blood cells could produce blood cells with specific defects for use by researchers studying the development and treatment of disease.The method, devised by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, could also be used to grow specific types of immune cells to target specific infections or tumors, or to test the safety of new drugs, they said.
An engine which blends diesel and gasoline fuels could potentially be 20% more efficient than traditional gas engines, while also lowering the emissions, say researchers at the University of Wisconsinâ??Madison.
The popular Abraham Lincoln statue at the top of Bascom Hill on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is getting its first cleaning in more than a decade.
James Baughman is stepping down as director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication after six years. And those werenâ??t just any six years. It was a period of tremendous upheaval for the mass media, with advertising revenue plummeting, daily newspapers downsizing or going out of business, and the Internet turning the industry on its ear. Has the UW journalism program kept up with these tumultuous events? Baughman believes it has, but heâ??s too modest to accept much of the credit. He points to a new undergraduate curriculum, instituted in 2000, that foresaw the shifts in journalism.
Fifty state workers who handle vehicle registrations and titles are being offered overtime to help reduce a work backlog days after all state Division of Motor Vehicles offices were closed Friday for a furlough day.
But the DMV unit in question is still paying less overtime this summer â?? about $8,000 instead of the $17,000 paid last summer â?? said Chris Klein, the No. 3 official at the state Department of Transportation. Klein said the backlog accumulated before the furlough.
Quoted: Bioethicist Rob Streiffer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The city streets division is pulling out all the stops this week to remove materials from curbside during the annual move out/move in days.
Garbage and recycling trucks were on the road by 4 a.m. today (Thursday, Aug. 13) and will be out once again at 4 a.m. on Friday, trying to stay ahead of the tidal wave of stuff discarded downtown and on campus by thousands of renters moving from one apartment to another Friday and Saturday.
Last summer, University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Keira Wiatrak and her roommate found themselves in a common predicament: The lease on their downtown apartment ended Aug. 14, but their new least didnâ??t start until Aug. 15.
Fortunately, the residents of Wiatrakâ??s new apartment had moved out early, so apartment managers told Wiatrak she and her roommate could move in early if they were willing to pay $40 a night before their lease began.
Wiatrakâ??s boyfriend, Jeff Stein, wasnâ??t as lucky.
MADISON, Wis. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Capitol Lakes®, downtown Madisonâ??s only retirement community (www.retirement.org/madison), announced today that it has formed a partnership with Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) from the University of Wisconsinâ??Madison.
This is the first time that these two parties have joined forces, and it begins a long-term relationship that will serve seniors for generations to come. Together, they will expand their already extensive lifelong learning programs in downtown Madison and provide special benefits to UW alumni age 55 and above.
â??WAA has searched for and found an ideal partner in Capitol Lakes,â? says Bruce Beckman, Marketing Director for Capitol Lakes. â??Our comprehensive community offers the lifestyle and retirement options UW grads deserve in a cultural, downtown location. We look forward to inviting alumni to reexperience Madison and consider it as their retirement destination.â?
As the father of a young girl with type 1 diabetes, Charles Plueddeman clings to the hope that the disease will be cured.
Until then, Plueddeman will continue to closely monitor research and keep tabs on medical breakthroughs that can improve the quality of life of those who are afflicted with diabetes. That includes his 10-year-old daughter, Mabel, a fifth-grader from Oshkosh who has been living with the disease since age 2.
Plueddeman was encouraged to hear about a study that is under way at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. A UW student became the first patient in Wisconsin to enroll in a research study aimed at learning if an infusion of experimental stem cells â?? known as mesenchymal cells â?? will limit the intensity and scope of his newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes.
A recent analysis of the food purchased by the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s dining services found that 37 percent of its $1.58 million annual food budget goes to Wisconsin companies, according to a university news release.
The list of companies patronized by UW-Stout includes food producers and processors that have facilities in the state.
MADISON (WKOW) — You probably know U-Haul for its bargain prices.
You can rent a truck for 24 hours for only $19.95.
But 27 News Call for Action has heard from customers lately complaining about rising prices and shirking time periods during this weekend’s campus moving weekend.
“Moving is always stressful. We have everything boxed up. My wife is pregnant. It’s not a good time, a week before the move, to find out everything has been cancelled,” said U-Haul customer Brandon Dybdahl.
Dybdahl reserved a truck a month ago for 48 hours this weekend.
Everything was fine for three weeks. Then, with six days before his move, U-Haul called and said he could only rent his truck for six hours, instead of 48.
Dybdahl says U-Haul blamed busy campus move-in weekend.
Both Chris Schwarz and Bill Hehli know theyâ??ve merely bought themselves a little time.
Sure, the UW-La Crosse baseball and menâ??s tennis programs have been granted a reprieve. Both programs, which UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow announced in June would be cut, have raised enough money to continue for the 2009-10 school year.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Struggling with budget shortfalls that reach into the billions, several states are making deep cuts in college financial aid programs, including those that provide a vital source of cash for students who most need the money.
At least a dozen states are reducing award sizes, eliminating grants and tightening eligibility guidelines because of a lack of money. At the same time, the number of students seeking aid is rising sharply as more people seek a college education and need help paying the tuition bill because they or their parents lost jobs and savings during the recession.
Quoted: Assistant professor of educational policy studies Sara Goldrick-Rab, an expert on financial aid
State agencies have suffered a string of costly computer blunders in recent years. Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan needs to get serious about the problem by quickly appointing Assembly representatives to a legislative panel that’s supposed to oversee the state’s big information technology projects.
Sheridan, D-Janesville, shouldn’t need much convincing of the need for a bipartisan committee of state senators and representatives to monitor large computer upgrades and initiatives on behalf of taxpayers. Sheridan sat on a task force that recommended more legislative oversight early last year.
So what’s the holdup?
The whole point of a free press is to have reporters and editors who are willing to challenge those who hold political and economic power, to push them to serve the public interest, and to defend liberty and equality against the overwhelming thrust of the special interests. If these missions are pursued with the energy and boldness that is required to sustain democracy and civil society, mistakes will be made.
Wherever honest journalists do not make honest errors, you can bet that caution is ruling the day — and that power is prevailing. But errors on the Web, on television and radio, and in print are serious matters. They have to be corrected, and they usually are.
Unfortunately, there are instances where the error so overshadows the correction that a false impression lingers.
Such has been the case with the investigation by the not-for-profit Center for Investigative Journalism and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of the travel records of state officials.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A task force will look for ways to improve Wisconsin’s system of awarding financial aid to low-income college students.
The Higher Educational Aids Board voted last week to create the task force, which is expected to look at how other states award grants and make recommendations for change.
MADISON, Wis. — For motorists who commute through downtown Madison, officials are advising they watch out for movers.
Most renters in the city’s downtown have to be out later this week so the city’s Streets Division will be busier than usual. Crews will empty trash and recycling carts each day this week for downtown residents who put items out on the curb.
MADISON, Wis. — Move out week underway in Madison, and this year there are new options for displaced students.
With off-campus leases ending Friday, and new ones starting Saturday, thousands of students are left with no place to go. But this year, the student government is sponsoring the first ever “Move Out” night at the student activity center in University-Square. The all-night event is free with a valid student ID, and offers games, food, entertainment and a place to spend the night.
While Madison is far from foreign countries and international borders, itâ??s home to many people who delve into international problems, some working at an individual and grass-roots level.
The cityâ??s international sensibility and influence come through in its 10 sister-city relationships and its international student population of nearly 4,000. More than 1,000 people from the Madison area have served in the Peace Corps, said spokeswoman Christine Torres.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison made two significant announcements over the past 24 hours related to research on campus.
First, scientists at UW-Madison have transformed stem cells into progenitors of white blood cells and into six types of mature white blood and immune cells, according to this press release. The technique works equally well with stem cells grown from an embryo and with adult pluripotent stem cells — which are derived from adult cells and have been converted to resemble embryonic stem cells.
The researchers believe this new technique could someday produce cells with “enormous potential for studying the development and treatment of disease.”
….Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Cargill have entered into a license agreement for patented canola breeding technology.
After a disappointing performance in 2008, the stateâ??s retirement accounts are tilting back up.
Retirement funds managed by the state Investment Board totaled $63.3 billion as of June 30, a 2 percent increase over the Dec. 31 close of $61.8 billion, according to preliminary results.
But they are 13 percent higher than the March 31 total of $56 billion, shortly after the U.S. stock market hit its low point.
Beau Hoopman headlines a group of six former University of Wisconsin rowers who will compete for the United States at the World Rowing Championships from Aug. 23-30 in Poznan, Poland.
Among the Badgers contingent are three Intercollegiate Rowing Association national champions and a two-time Olympic medalist — Hoopman, a former UW captain who won Olympic gold in the men’s eight during the 2004 Games in Athens and captured bronze in the same event in 2008 in Beijing.
The popular Abraham Lincoln statue at the top of Bascom Hill on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is getting its first cleaning in more than a decade.
Milwaukee art conservator Cricket Harbeck will start cleaning the statue this week. The cleaning coincides with the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the centennial of the statue’s placement on the hill.
Catching up on a couple higher education-related items from the past couple days …
*** The University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health has taken a number of significant public relations hits over the past year. On Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel added to that tally when it reported that the UW is tied to male hormone marketing — touting the benefits of testosterone and downplaying the risks.
Some Wisconsin high school students will be able to send their official transcripts to college electronically this year under a new statewide e-transcript initiative.
The initiative is an attempt to get state high schools to offer online transcripts of courses and grades, one of the last pieces of the college application that canâ??t be sent electronically for many students.
“It really removes the hassle factor,” said Mari McCarty, vice president of WAICU, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and part of a statewide task force that implemented the initiative. “The application itself is already online. The one piece that remains stubbornly on paper is the transcript.”
Coming this weekend are two of Downtownâ??s most hectic days â?? Aug. 14 and 15, a stressful time for Downtown residents whether youâ??re a student whose lease is up or not.
But Madisonâ??s Tenant Resource Center wants to help those struggling to figure out why that landlord charged you for cleaning an immaculate bathroom or what to do with that extra sofa.
MADISON (WKOW) — A team of engineering students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed an engine that can handle a blend of gasoline and diesel fuel. It outputs low emissions, and offers up to 20 percent greater fuel efficiency.
MADISON (WKOW) — The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) are offering a safe place for students and their stuff to stay overnight on this year’s annual move-out, Friday, August 14.
ASM is hosting the first-ever Move-Out Night in the Student Activity Center (SAC) at 333 East Campus Mall.
ASM is teaming up with the University Police Department, the dean of students’ SafeU task force and Transportation Services to keep the SAC open all night. There will also be secure parking offered.
WASHINGTON (WKOW) — U.S. Senator Herb Kohl will meet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner in Madison on Tuesday to discuss science, food safety, and public health.
Senator Kohl and Commissioner Margaret Hamburg will start off their meeting with a tour of the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant.
Senator Kohl is the chairman of the Senate’s Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, a group that oversees funding for the nation’s two main agencies responsible for keeping the food supply safe – the FDA and the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
On a warm, breezy day in Oak Lawn, veterinary graduate student Jessica Girard of the University of Wisconsin-Madison removed a robin from a finely threaded net hidden in the shadows of a tree-lined meadow.
Gently, she extended its wings to check for emerging feathers and look for parasites. She took measurements, noting patterns in the feathers indicating the robin’s age. Her fingers traced its orange chest, feeling along the bone for telltale fat deposits that signal a healthy bird.
Girard needed a blood sample from the robin to test the strength of its immune system, and she had to work quickly, before the bird’s stress weakened its immune response. She moved feathers from the bird’s neck, baring translucent skin colored with fine blood vessels. Whispering soothing words, she drew her sample with a needle.
In all, Girard and her colleagues would catch and test four robins, a sparrow, a cardinal and a blue jay this morning as part of a research effort aimed at understanding why certain neighborhoods in the Chicago area are “hot spots” for the West Nile virus.
A rash of television commercials in recent months have told millions of middle-age men that their diminished sex life and somber mood may be the result of low levels of testosterone.
Setting the stage for the ads was a series of medical journal articles that first appeared four years ago. The articles, which were sponsored by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, read more like promotions than rigorous research, touting the benefits of testosterone and downplaying the risks.
While the TV commercials were intended for consumers, the medical articles were written for thousands of doctors who could earn continuing medical education credit by reading them. Presumably, they also would write more testosterone prescriptions.
Both the ads and the articles were paid for by Solvay Pharmaceuticals, the company that dominates the testosterone therapy field and which allegedly conspired to pay off generic drug makers to keep their testosterone products off the market.
Two murals at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Joliet — “The Agony in the Garden” and “The Ascension” — are getting an old look.
Tony Rajer, art conservator, author and part-time instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began work on the paintings Aug. 3. Rajer estimates it will take six weeks, thousands of cotton swabs and about $15,000 to restore the murals that had been painted over in the 1970s. When complete, Rajer will apply a preservative coating to the murals.
Freshmen in the know will heed these pieces of advice as they prepare for dormitory living: Shop early. Be selective. Place everything you plan to take to college in a big, open space and take a hard look at what you have.
Quoted: Amanda Gevens, a University of Wisconsin-Madison plant pathologist.
The Department of Energy Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center GLBRC at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has received $8.1 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide crucial support for plant cell wall imaging and sustainability research.
Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s chief legal counsel resigned yesterday after the Republican Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with state regulators alleging that she was practicing law without a license.
â??Chandra Miller Fienen has voluntarily tendered her resignation. She realizes that she has placed this office in a difficult position,â? Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said in a statement.
Quoted: UW-Madison professor of law and political science Howard Schweber
Here’s a swell idea (or not) for recent college grads having trouble finding a job: Sue the school from which you earned a degree. That’s what Trina Thompson is doing. According to an Aug. 2 article in the New York Post, the 27-year-old Thompson filed a lawsuit in Bronx Supreme Court late last month against Monroe College, which is based in the Bronx.
Thompson is seeking the $70,000 she spent on tuition, plus $2,000 for the emotional stress associated with an unsuccessful job search over the past three months. She says she has been unable to find gainful employment since earning her bachelor of business administration degree in information technology in April and claims the school’s Office of Career Advancement hasn’t provided her with the leads and career advice it promised.
Quoted: Steve Schroeder, director of UW-Madison’s Business Career Center, and John Archambault, director of career services in the College of Engineering.
Q. How long can bacteria live outside humans?
A. Bacteria have vastly different survival abilities, says Jeri Barak, an assistant professor of plant pathology at UW-Madison. Many species normally live in soil or water, but some of those that live in the human intestinal tract display extreme longevity outside the body.
Motorists expecting to use Observatory Drive on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will have to wait at least another week and possibly longer for roadwork to end.
The project is one of many on or near the campus that has tied up traffic and given headaches to motorists for the bulk of the summer.
Observatory Drive has been closed between North Park Street and Charter Street and the westbound lane was supposed to reopen today (Monday, Aug. 10), and the eastbound lane on Wednesday, but now it won’t happen until next week, according to university officials.
When Mike Knetter took the helm of the UW-Madison School of Business in July 2002, the nation was still reeling from the technology bust of 2000-01 as well as from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But within several years, Knetter managed to wrangle major contributions to the Business School, restructure its MBA program and raise its standing significantly among influential magazine polls.
Q. Can you share with us the designer/artist of the glass art along the walkways in the Kohl Center? Do you have any other details about it?
A. The stunning, nearly 50-yard-long glass structure is called â??The Mendota Wall.â? It was installed, about 18 feet above the floor, just before the Kohl Center opened on Jan. 17, 1998.
With endowments shrinking, donations falling and operating budgets squeezed, colleges and universities face great pressure to cut costs. Athletic departments are an obvious target. But, troublingly, men’s sports are disproportionately bearing the brunt.
Dear Editor: As environmentally friendly biodiesel becomes more easily available and regularly used, biodiesel education programs are popping up at schools all across Wisconsin.
….Students and faculty at UW-Green Bay’s Environmental Management and Business Institute are studying the use of land that’s unsuitable for farming for growing native grasses to make into biofuels.
The annual “rite of summer” known as move out/move in days in Madison will be a little easier for young apartment and flat dwellers this year, as city crews downtown plan to empty garbage and recycling carts every day this week.
Most leases end on Aug. 14, which is Friday, with most new leases starting up the next day.
Hundreds of tons of refuse and recyclables used to be piled high at curbside, but the city has been very proactive for several years, both in collections and working with agencies to get dropoff donation sites set up downtown and on campus.
OSHKOSH — The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is trying to incorporate interactive technology such as Twitter and Facebook into a four-year degree.
Jakob Iversen, a professor of Information Systems, is part of a three-member team looking to incorporate the popularity of the technology, its workings and possible applications into the degree.
Motorists using Randall Avenue should look for an alternate route Friday night into Saturday morning as a construction company removes a tower crane, officials warned.
The 300 block of North Randall Avenue south of University Avenue will be closed beginning at 6 p.m. Friday (today).
A 24-year-old man suffered head injuries Thursday night after falling 30 to 40 feet into a construction site on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, authorities reported. The accident happened about 11:30 p.m. just north of the Wendt Library, 215 N. Randall Ave.
Preliminary investigation by the UW-Madison police indicated the man, who has no affiliation with the university, was attempting to enter the construction site when he fell.
The Waisman Center on the UW Madison campus is one of the premier facilities in the world for advancing knowledge about human development, developmental disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases. Its mission of research, training, service and outreach put it squarely in the lives of doctors, students, scientists and especially families with a person with a developmental disability. Despite its profound impact on the quality of life for so many, it remains for most folks an underappreciated resource in this community. And that?s why we so love the annual Films in the Field.
MADISON, Wis. — A new study by the Emergency Nurses Association finds workplace violence is all too common in the nursing profession, but it’s patients and their families — not co-workers — that the violence typically stems from.
According to the survey of more than 3,000 nurses, more than half said that they have experienced physically violence on the job. Even more alarming, one in four of those nurses said they have been physically assaulted more than 20 times in the last three years.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Maggie Meyer gave the University of Wisconsin its first title at the U.S. Open Swimming Championship, cruising to victory Wednesday in the 200-meter backstroke.
Meyer, who will be a junior this fall, posted a winning time of 2 minutes, 9.53 seconds, building a big lead early and then holding off runner-up Escarlata Bernard of Spain by 1.15 seconds.
The recording industry has settled a lawsuit against a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student accused of illegally downloading songs from the Internet.
Scientists who want to turn their research into biotechnology companies or who want to grow their young businesses may be able to tap into a new round of grant money.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development DWD is providing a $100,000 grant, to be matched by $100,350 from BioForward, formerly the Wisconsin Biotechnology and Medical Device Association.
The funds are aimed at training up to 50 researchers and scientists to start a business and to compete in the global economy.
The year 1969 is in the news these days. Retrospectives 40 years later have focused on everything from Woodstock to anti-war demonstrations and the moon landing.
That year also marked one of the most important moments of modern-day environmentalism, and Madison was at the epicenter. The Wisconsin Legislature in 1969 voted to effectively ban the persistent pesticide DDT from use in the state. The action was a first in the nation.
The same year also marked the end of remarkable hearings in Madison that put DDT on trial in front of the nation. A small group of concerned state conservationists and an old-school professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked the Department of Natural Resources to rule on whether DDT was a water pollutant under state statutes.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Ashley Wanlandâ??s stay in the record books was a short one, but the University of Wisconsin standout added another impressive line to her growing resume on the opening day of the U.S. Open Swimming Championships.
