Gov. Jim Doyle’s travel records were reviewed by a group of reporters and student journalists as part of a joint project involving the Journal Sentinel, a University of Wisconsin-Madison investigative reporting class and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
UW-Madison students will see a tuition increase of $618 a year under rates proposed by UW System President Kevin Reilly this afternoon.
Care to learn the lute? Always dreamt of playing the krumhorn? Hoping to polish up your recorder skills or master a few madrigals?
Aspiring musicians and Renaissance enthusiasts can enjoy and practice the music of the 15th through 17th centuries for a full week at the upcoming Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month and begins Saturday, July 11.
Quoted: Thomas “Rock” Mackie, an investor in the company who is also co-founder of TomoTherapy Inc. and a professor in the medical physics department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has stopped taking most freshman applications but is still offering to make room for students from 11 counties in the region.
Admissions director Pam Harvey-Jacobs said the university has heard from some students who’ve had to change plans because of the economy and now need or want to attend college closer to home.
MADISON, Wis. — Nitty Gritty owner Marsh Shapiro has sold 400,000 hamburgers and been in business in downtown Madison for 40 years.
So, he said he thinks it’s time to move on, a decision that has prompted him to list his popular restaurant near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus for sale.
University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff were given the right to form unions with collective bargaining powers under the state budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle. Or were they? “This is all getting a little frustrating,” David Ahrens, who holds an academic staff position at UW-Madison, told the Cap Times Tuesday afternoon. “It’s turning into a bittersweet event.”
When Jolene Anderson went off in pursuit of her dreams of playing professional basketball, she made a promise to her coach, Lisa Stone.
She’s making good on that promise this summer, as she has returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to get the three credits she needs to earn her degree in sociology.
“It’s very important for me to graduate from the University of Wisconsin,” said Anderson, the leading career scorer in UW history — male or female — with 2,312 points. “If I didn’t come back this summer, I don’t know how far along the line I would’ve gotten before I came back.”
Before Mark Johnson can take temporary leave of his job as University of Wisconsin womenâ??s hockey coach, he will have to address an unexpected departure from his staff.
Assistant coach and top recruiter Dan Koch has accepted an offer to coach one of the nationâ??s elite girls prep programs at Shattuck-St. Maryâ??s High School in Faribault, Minn.
Koch and fellow assistant Tracey (Cornell) DeKeyser had been tabbed to coach the defending NCAA champion Badgers next season while Johnson takes a one-year sabbatical to guide Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Many promises were made and broken during the nearly five-month process of passing Wisconsin’s new two-year budget.
Gov. Jim Doyle said the middle class would be protected while he and fellow Democrats in charge of the Legislature figured out how to solve a $6.6 billion budget shortfall, the largest in Wisconsin history.
Democratic leaders in the Assembly said they would work with Republicans under a new spirit of bipartisanship to pass the spending plan. And there was also talk of the process being more open.
All of the promises sounded good, but most didn’t come true.
Gov. Jim Doyle used his veto pen this week to weigh in on a dispute over whether some University of Wisconsin System staff can be absorbed – without an opportunity to vote – into existing labor unions.
But on Tuesday it appeared the issue may not be decided until it is sorted out before a state regulatory panel and, possibly, in the courts.
Under a provision inserted into the budget, roughly 4,000 currently unrepresented academic staffers at UW campuses could have been reassigned into the unions without a vote on the matter, state officials said last week.
Doyle struck that provision Monday in his budget vetoes.
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials ended months of intense competition Tuesday by announcing the five core ideas that researchers are to pursue in the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, to be completed in December 2010.
On Monday, the Obama administration announced decisions for two U.S. Department of Agriculture positions for the state of Wisconsin.
Brad Pfaff was named Wisconsin state executive director for the Farm Service Agency at the USDA, and Stan Gruszynski was named Wisconsin state director for rural development at the USDA.
….Before accepting his new position, Gruszynski worked as the director of rural leadership and community development for the Global Environmental Management Center at UW-Steven’s Point College of Natural Resources.
While Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed items in the state budget, at least one legislator was protesting a university decision to deny a UW-Madison student group funding.
Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, a group that advocates for smaller government to solve environmental problems, was denied funding last year by a UW-Madison student government committee in charge of doling out student fees.
They were one of a number of groups â?? including Vets for Vets, Engineers Without Borders, the Legal Information Center, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council â?? that lost funding last year because of stricter criteria.
Here are some interesting tidbits that I’ve been sitting on. Just thought I’d share them with you.
***According to a UW-Madison press release, a university biomedical engineer and colleagues have developed a method that — applied in MRI scans of the breast — could spare some women with increased breast cancer risk the pain and stress of having to endure a biopsy of a questionable lump or lesion.
*** The Daily Camera is reporting that the University of Colorado might start asking fans at Buffs football games to text-message donations to the school.
University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff were given the right to form unions with collective bargaining powers under the state budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle. “The right for faculty and academic staff to unionize is in there,” said University of Wisconsin System spokesperson David Giroux.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A University of Wisconsin-Madison club says the school cut its funding because it disagrees with the group’s conservative stance on global warming and other issues.
Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow believes environmental issues are better handled by the free market, not by government interference.
Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday vetoed 81 items worth $10 million out of the two-year $62 billion state budget.
Doyle announced the vetoes the same day he signed into law the new budget, which plugs a record $6.6 billion shortfall. It marks the first time since 1977 that a state budget has passed the Legislature and been signed into law before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
Doyle’s vetoes leave intact most of the major parts of the budget deal reached by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, including a new 75-cent tax on cigarettes and a 75-cent monthly fee on all phone users.
After years of trying, it is likely UW System employees will be allowed to form unions under the next state budget, but it wonâ??t come for free.
UW System officials estimated that they would need to hire 32 staffers at a cost of $2.2 million annually to negotiate and administer collective bargaining agreements for UW faculty and academic staff, according to a May report by the stateâ??s Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The estimate includes an assumption that there would be 30 separate collective bargaining units across the UW System for some 20,000 employees.
Longtime Madison architect Kenton Peters wrote a column for the State Journal last week lamenting the state Public Service Commission’s decision to allow the American Transmission Co. to run a new towering electrical transmission line along the Beltline.
He criticized the PSC, which is supposed to balance the public good with the interests of the utilities it regulates, for ignoring urban aesthetics in its decision.
….The 345-kilovolt transmission line, for instance, will be squeezed between the Beltline and an array of new buildings that have sprung up along the highway in recent years, not to mention the aesthetic damage to the Arboretum, Odana Golf Course and other scenic venues along the route.
“It’s really nice,” says Verona (Maya Rudolph) in the movie “Away We Go,” as she and her partner Burt (John Krasinski) tour what’s supposed to be the UW-Madison campus. (It’s actually some college in Connecticut standing in for the UW).
Dear Editor:
I want to applaud the kindness and thoughtfulness of Bret Bielema and the Wisconsin Badgers’ football staff.
I was working at their high school football camp last week when I got a phone call stating that my father had had a heart attack. I told coach Bielema and camp director Mark Taurisani that I would have to leave, and of course they said, “By all means, go.” That didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was the genuine concern displayed by the Badgers’ staff and the other high school coaches when I returned.
University of Wisconsin sports fans can watch an entire day of Badger-themed programming on the Big Ten Network on Monday, June 29.
Patrick Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
HOLLYWOOD — Hollywood is full of filmmakers who are uncompromising perfectionists, but only Michael Mann could boast that he not only has a favorite room to screen his films — the Zanuck theater on the Fox lot — but also a favorite row in the theater where he thinks you should park your fanny for the optimal viewing experience.
A judge has ruled in favor of the Journal Sentinel and several other media outlets that had been involved in a legal battle over records in the case of a murdered University of Wisconsin-Madison student.
Dane County must pay attorney fees and court costs to the outlets, which sought the release of 911 tapes and other records in the case of Brittany Zimmermann, according to the decision Friday by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard G. Niess.
In both quantity and quality, Paul Peercy wants to improve the workforce coming out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering.
Gavin McCabe Weir could be a prototype.
A May graduate with a double major in mechanical engineering and physics, Weir already has broad, hands-on engineering experience from internships in mechanical and civil engineering and volunteer projects in Orongo, Kenya, and Red Cliff, Wis. He values the volunteer projects especially because they’re community-based and sustainable.
The 68 state lawmakers – 67 Democrats and one independent – whose Friday votes put the next state budget on Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk said it was the best they could do, given the worst fiscal crisis in Wisconsin history.
Also quotes UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.
“Public Enemies” director Michael Mann was born and raised in Chicago. But he came of age while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1961 to 1965.
“I wanted to attend a great liberal arts school, but I wasn’t uninfluenced by the physical beauty of the place,” said Mann in a recent interview.
Quoted: Shawn Peters, a University of Wisconsin-Madison lecturer and author of “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children and the Law.”
Although state budget details were worked out in secret, it’s no secret many state and University of Wisconsin employees remain boiling mad at Gov. Jim Doyle for ordering 16 unpaid days off over the next two years to help close the $6.6 billion budget gap that keeps on growing.
And while the hit to the pocketbook hurts — especially for those toiling in low-wage jobs — much of the frustration comes from staffers whose pay doesn’t come out of Wisconsin tax coffers.
Quoted: Laura Brown, a senior scientist at the UW Medical School
A budget that closes the biggest deficit in Wisconsin history with tax increases, one-time federal stimulus cash, cuts in aid for schools and local governments, and furloughs for state workers was passed by the state Senate early Friday.
Opportunities abound for investors in a world facing massive population growth and escalating demands for food, fiber and fuel, according to a report released Thursday by Deutsche Bank and the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The incubator would tap into Kenosha’s proximity to such major Chicago-area firms as pharmaceutical maker Abbott Laboratories Inc.; area universities, including University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Parkside, and local medical device makers, such as Bradshaw Medical Inc.
Thousands of currently unrepresented academic staffers at University of Wisconsin campuses could be assigned into existing unions – rather than having the chance to vote – under a provision included in the state budget, state officials say.
MADISON (WKOW) — Your favorite radio station has a dire warning: they might switch to talk radio or shut down completely if Congress passes a new law charging them to play music.
It’s part of a new bill called the Performance Rights Act. Congress would authorize a special agency to collect fees from radio stations to play copyrighted music.
(WSUM general manager Dave Black is quoted)
Perks that private companies once offered employees, such as retirement fund matches and generous raises, are a thing of the past, at least until we emerge from this recession. Why should state government operate any differently, especially one saddled with a two-year, $6.6 billion deficit? Specifically, why should it continue to pay the entire contribution to employees’ retirement funds?
This Saturday, a picture display at one corner of the Dane County Farmers’ Market will bring the wonders of the universe all the way down to State Street.
Forty images of galaxies, planets and other space sites will be on display at the corner of State and Mifflin streets from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. In the event of rain, the exhibit will be on display on Saturday, July 4.
The exhibit, “From Earth to the Universe,” is part of a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, which marks the 400th anniversary of when Galileo used a telescope to see beyond the Earth.
A budget agreement reached in secret by Democratic leaders of the state Legislature is expected to be made public on Thursday.
A bipartisan conference committee was expected to vote on the plan in the morning before it heads to the full Senate in the afternoon. The committee met for the first time Wednesday night, but Democrats refused to let Republicans offer any changes to the budget.
Ever wonder how fireworks actually work?
Inquiring minds can find out on Saturday at Memorial Union Terrace during a free public demonstration on the chemistry behind fireworks by UW-Madison chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri.
In a sign that a potential state budget deal could be approved soon, a special Assembly-Senate conference committee started work late Wednesday on a compromise to send to the full Legislature.
SAUK CITY, Wis. — More than 100 employees were evacuated from a building in Sauk City on Wednesday afternoon after a chemical spill.
The incident occurred at an equipment room at Unity Health Insurance, in the 800 block of Carolina Street, at about 1 p.m.
Sauk Prairie Police Chief Gerald Strunz said that they evacuated 140 employees from the building. About 36 workers were taken to area hospitals after complaining about burning throats, coughing and scratchy sinuses. He said they were taken to hospitals as a precaution and there were no serious injuries reported.
A large Badger-themed sports bar and full-service restaurant is being planned for University Square, taking a space that has been vacant since the $190 million mixed-use project opened last year.
Scott Acker, who owns Quaker Steak & Lube in Middleton, is teaming with University Square developer Greg Rice on the sports bar, which wouldn’t open until sometime in 2010. A liquor license application has been filed with the city.
From the University of Wisconsin:
This morning around 10:45 a.m., the UWâ??Madison campus was affected by a widespread power outage.
FP&M is restoring power intermittently to affected buildings through backup sources. As a result, some air conditioning capacity may be affected this afternoon.
All are asked to look for ways to reduce heat by closing off unused areas or shutting off unneeded, heat-producing equipment.
FP&M is working as quickly as possible to restore all systems to normal capacity.
MADISON, Wis. — An “almost campuswide” power outage at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday is leaving many in the dark.
UW official Faramarz Vakili said the university’s heating and cooling system went down, effecting much of the campus. He said that while some buildings are without power as well, their primary focus is to restore the heating and cooling system.
This week marks the centenary of a landmark known to UW-Madison alumni everywhere: the statue of Abraham Lincoln seated in front of Bascom Hall.
The sculpture was a duplicate made by Adolph Weinman, who created the original for Lincolnâ??s birthplace. When he agreed to cast a single replica, requests came from around the nation, but Madison won the bidding. Philanthropist Thomas E. Brittingham covered the cost in honor of the 100th anniversary of Lincolnâ??s birth.
The statue was unveiled at commencement on June 22, 1909, part way down the slope of Bascom Hill. It was moved to the top of the hill only after a decade of wrangling between the University and the Legislature over details concerning its stone base.
WIW: UW FB coach BB njoys Twitter b/c he can control IM 2 fan base. Moving fwd, itz a GR8 way, IHHO, to update pple abt da Badgers, 4 sure.
Y not?
Works 4 me 2.
Many state offices would be closed 11 weekdays – instead of the typical seven – each of the next two fiscal years under a plan to furlough state employees to help chip away at a budget shortfall.
Tuesday’s announcement came as Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle tried to prod lawmakers to act quickly on another budget priority – expanding the hospital tax passed earlier this year to net $74 million in additional federal aid. He called a Wednesday special session of the Legislature to deal with that.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Harvard University is cutting 275 staff jobs as fallout continues from the school’s dropping endowment.
The layoffs amount to less than 2% of Harvard’s 16,000 staff and faculty. The school also is reducing hours for 40 staffers. The cuts don’t apply to faculty.
Betraying some tension with fellow Democrats in the Legislature, Gov. Jim Doyle said he would call a special session for Wednesday at 1 p.m. to approve changes to the state’s hospital tax before a June 30 budget deadline.
â??My preference would be for the entire budget to be completed on time, but the Legislature is now facing critical financial deadlines and I am calling on them to act,” Doyle said in a statement.
The Big Ten Network announced Tuesday that it has signed a deal to be on Cablevision in the New York City area.
Cablevision, the nation’s fifth-largest cable operator with 3.1 million subscribers, will offer BTN in both standard definition and high definition as part of its iO TV Sports Pak.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Tuesday that Chancellor Biddy Martin has selected Vince Sweeney to be the university’s first vice chancellor for university relations.
Martin cited Sweeney’s deep knowledge of the University of Wisconsin-Madison community, his effectiveness as an ambassador on behalf of the institution and his experience.
She said Sweeney’s wide range of experiences and his reputation for integrity will serve him and the institution well.
One hundred years ago today (June 22) the Abraham Lincoln statue was unveiled on Bascom Hill at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Three hours after they went on sale, all football season tickets for UW-Madison undergraduate students are sold out .
Some UW-Madison students who logged on to UWBadgers.com this morning to buy tickets may have had some trouble accessing the site. It was temporarily down, apparently overwhelmed with people trying to buy the tickets, which went on sale this morning at 8:30 a.m.
Occasionally through the years our Evjue Foundation has been able to help fund the publication of books that deal with Wisconsin or Madison history.
….The latest of these Evjue Foundation-assisted endeavors has just been published — “Mensch,” a biography of the late and deeply loved Madison Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky.
Long before it became fashionable to have a “bucket list” — compliments of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in the 2007 movie by the same name — former University of Wisconsin sports information director Jim Mott had buckets, and lists.
An anecdote told at a UW Foundation-sponsored reception last week for the School of Nursing had a lot of heads nodding in agreement.
It was about the patient who said, “A physician saved my life, but nurses gave me my life back.”
Many people who have experienced the trauma of hospitalization would agree, but inexplicably the nursing profession has gotten short shrift, particularly here in Wisconsin. And now, just as the baby boomers begin to age, we’re faced with what could turn out to be a critical shortage of nurses.
Investment losses in the state retirement fund last year will force taxpayers across the state to come up with a combined $79 million more in contributions next year to the keep the system fully funded.
From beavers to bad parents, thunder gods to Cinderella, the new University Theatre season is populated with unusual characters from all over the world.
UW-Madison’s producing theater, housed in two stages in Vilas Hall, hopes to educate as well as please audiences, and the upcoming 2009-10 season contains ample opportunities for both.
“We’re really going all over the place for this season,” said new University Theatre director David Furumoto. Furumoto replaces Tony Simotes, who left to head Shakespeare and Company in Massachusetts.
For the first time, hockey players swept the athletes of the year award at the University of Wisconsin.
Jessie Vetter — who capped her stellar career by backstopping the Badgers to a third NCAA title — claimed top female honors, while WCHA Player of the Year Jamie McBain was named top male.
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department has lost an institution.
Jim Mott, the schoolâ??s Sports Information Director for 34 years, died Sunday night. His age was not available late Sunday night, but research showed he most likely was 79 or 80.
â??It might sound corny,â? Mott told The Capital Times just before his retirement in June 1990, â??but it really has been a love affair between me and Wisconsin athletics.â?
