Author: jnweaver

Four campus and downtown Metro bus routes will be detoured starting Tuesday, June 23, because of road construction, while an east side Metro route will be detoured beginning June 29, also due to construction.

Does tutoring in public schools really work?

A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor is getting $3 million to expand her exploration of that question.

Carolyn Heinrich, a professor of public affairs and director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand her research on evaluating tutoring programs mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Her research to date concentrated on the Milwaukee public school system.

Dear Editor: Your headline says: “UW police crack down on speeding through campus.” With all due respect, I find it difficult to believe that people could actually speed through campus or any part of the construction sites because of the extreme and unnecessary traffic congestion.

MADISON — Three years after the University of Wisconsin System put an end to its first attempt to install a new computer program for payroll, a second try is now months behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.

A UW System spokesperson says project leaders remain confident the program will succeed, but adds the planning is taking longer and costing more because it’s more complicated than they had anticipated.

A natural gas leak forced the evacuation of several buildings on old University Avenue at Lathrop Street late Tuesday morning, but the gas was turned off and conditions were returning back to normal as of noon.

The cause of the leak wasn’t determined yet, but Madison Gas and Electric crews were on the scene to look for the cause.

Madison Fire Department public information officer Lori Wirth told The Capital Times that the leak was discovered in the Institute for Enzyme Research, a four-story University of Wisconsin-Madison facility in the Biochemistry Department at 1710 University Ave.

A church that owns a private dorm for UW-Madison students wouldnâ??t have to pay roughly $239,000 in property taxes under an amendment inserted into the state budget last week.

Because the Pres House Residence, which opened in 2007, is the only residence hall operated by a religious organization on a public campus in the entire state, it fell into a â??gray areaâ? in the tax code, said Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison.

Black, who sponsored the legislation, said it is only one of three such facilities in the country.

Dear Editor: I wrote a book in 2004. It was not created to become a bestseller; only 200 were printed. But it was my book, about my family. I say “was” because the University of Wisconsin, in a commercial venture with Google Inc., has digitized it and now holds virtual copies, which I consider digital printing plates, and an infringement of my copyright.

As I registered my copyright with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office-Copyrights in 2004, the University of Wisconsin, with a few clicks of the mouse, could have found the information to contact me for my permission. It chose not to.

I feel that copyright infringement is akin to plagiarism, and universities have strict rules about plagiarism. Most universities of the world teach their students about copyright infringement.

University of Wisconsin-Madison police were nabbing speeders at a good clip last week, cracking down on fast drivers in construction zones on campus, not unlike county deputies doing likewise in rural area construction zones.

The state Senate plans to draft its version of a state budget quickly, after the Assembly vote to approve a $62.2 billion, two-year spending plan early Saturday.

“We will be busy over the next few days reviewing the changes the Assembly made to the budget so we can have the budget on the floor of the Senate as soon as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston) said in a statement Saturday.

That set up a timetable that could put the budget on Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk by July 1: a Senate vote Wednesday or Thursday, reconciliation of Assembly-Senate differences over the next few days, and votes on the final budget deal in the Assembly and the Senate the week of June 22.

Nearly four years after a consultant’s report cited poor communication, lack of leadership and low morale in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Education, the problems continue and now include a $1.1 million deficit because of declining enrollment.

Other changes by Assembly Democrats made late Tuesday and Wednesday at their budget caucus leading up to floor action, as announced by Speaker Mike Sheridan’s office, included dropping a plan to issue $28 million in bonds for a University of Wisconsin-Madison nursing building. The earmark was one of several that came under criticism after the Joint Finance Committee inserted it into the budget in the middle of the night last month.

The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation has elected Leigh Richardson as its new president, the group announced Tuesday.

Richardson is the owner of The Richardson Group, specializing in custom health programs and communications, and holds a doctorate from the UW-Madison. She has taught at three state universities and directed education and outreach activities at Meriter Hospital here for 12 years.

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin System officials are commending state lawmakers for investing in new campus building projects despite the recession.

Instead of putting on your bike helmet or tightening your seatbelt for the morning commute on Thursday, grab a paddle and take the water route to work.

As part of the 15th annual Take a Stake in the Lakes Days, the county Lakes and Watershed Commission is hosting the 11th annual Paddle to Work Day, a fun alternative to getting to work or school on Thursday.

When the nation was deep into World War II, soldier Gordon Cunningham was sure he’d die, so he blew his $1,500 savings dining and dancing with his girlfriend. Story tells of the wartime experiences of Cunningham, who taught forestry at UW-Madison from 1963-83.

Gifts and grants to area educational, cultural and civic organizations have been announced by The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times.

The grants this year total $1,219,411, considerably less than what the foundation in past years has been able to give the nonprofit and educational communities in the Madison area. Of the total, $452,911 this year has been donated to the University of Wisconsin for 22 projects and $766,500 to 56 Madison area community nonprofits.