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Author: jnweaver

Student station allows radio host to wax poetic

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Capital Times

All around the city, or at least as far as the station’s signal can reach, WSUM/FM 91.7 host Paul Alan Baker knows a lot of radio dials flee from his program at 1 p.m. on Thursdays.

The student-run station has its rock and its hip-hop, some heavy metal and some jazz. But once a week the station has poetry and spoken word in all its forms, some as contemporary as hip-hop music, some so avant-garde it seems to be nonsense.

“I’m this big break in the day when I can just hear people turning their radios off,” joked Baker. “People just have the music on all day as background and then all of a sudden this weird, experimental poetry comes on and they think, ‘What the hell?’ ”

Baker is the host of “Wordsalad,” an hour that features authors reading from their own works.

Olin House gets a $2.4M facelift just in time for a new occupant

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Capital Times

Biddy Martin, the new chancellor for the University of Wisconsin, will have a refurbished, more energy-efficient place to call home.

A $2.4 million renovation of Olin House, the traditional residence of UW-Madison chancellors, was recently completed.

“The functionality of Olin House had badly deteriorated over time, and some of its infrastructure dated to 1911 and was failing,” said retiring UW Chancellor John D. Wiley in a University Communications news release.

In addition to being the primary residence for the chancellor, the home is also used for between 35 and 70 fundraising, community and alumni events each year.

Madison spoken word artists on home turf at National Poetry Slam

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Capital Times

Downstairs, Garbage is pouring misery out from the jukebox. Upstairs, David Hart is battling his faulty memory and the audible sound of Shirley Manson’s voice to get his poem out.

His eyes are squeezed shut, he’s trying to remember the next line. He pauses.

“Take your time, Dave!” encourages a woman from the back of the room.

He begins again, “The putrid corpse of hip-hop lies in state in a Brooklyn nightclub, flanked by bouquets of dubs, 20-inch rims and covered in shrubs of Sean John.” With that, he’s off into the lyrical web of a story about his evolution from hip-hop artist to spoken word poet. The audience makes their appreciation known.

U.S. election ad spending outpacing 2004 rate

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Reuters

U.S. presidential candidates have spent some $50 million (25.2 million pounds) and aired more than 100,000 TV ads since the start of the general election campaign in early June, far outpacing the rate of the 2004 campaign, a report showed on Wednesday.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama spent $27 million between June 4 and July 26, while Republican candidate John McCain spent just over $21 million, the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project, which monitors political ad spending, said in its report.

Wisconsin School of Businessâ?? Grainger Hall addition almost done

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Graduate students attending the Wisconsin School of Business this fall will find the digs decidedly roomier, with more space for career specializations.

Construction of the $40.5 million addition to Grainger Hall is nearly complete, with finishing touches scheduled to happen by the time students start arriving in mid-August.

Posted in Uncategorized

American Players Theatre expansion on track

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Capital Times

With a year and a half remaining, American Players Theatre has raised more than 75 percent of the financial goal for its $4 million “Touchstone Campaign.”

The Touchstone Campaign focuses on collecting donations for a new, 200-seat indoor theater, expanded scene shop and additional rehearsal space. Contractors have laid foundations for the buildings, and organizers at APT hope to open them next summer.

Quoted: Andrew Taylor, director of the UW-Madison Bolz Center for Arts Administration

Former Chief Justice Roland Day: the liberal who could win

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Capital Times

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Roland Day, who has died at age 89, will be remembered not just for his legal acumen but for the political skills that proved essential in the early days of a 22-year career on the state’s highest court. And rightly so.

In 1976, the good-humored Madison lawyer won one of the most intense court contests in the state’s history.

Appointed in 1974 by former Gov. Pat Lucey as “a liberal who can win,” Day was chosen over state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, and a young University of Wisconsin law professor who was favored by feminists to be the first woman of the Supreme Court, Shirley Abrahamson.

(Both Day and Abrahamson received degrees from the UW Law School.)

Glaring resume omission: UW seniors’ success hasn’t translated into Big Ten title

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Capital Times

CHICAGO — They’ve helped the University of Wisconsin football program win 31 games over the last three seasons, the second-highest total in the Big Ten Conference behind Ohio State.

Their winning percentage is .795, better than any other class in the program’s modern era.

They’ve ended each of the last three seasons with a trip to a January bowl game.

So why aren’t the members of the Badgers’ senior class completely satisfied?

Q&A with UW Foundation President Sandy Wilcox

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Capital Times

By most accounts, the economy’s immediate forecast is mostly cloudy — if not gloomy.

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume that such a climate would cause many a sleepless night for Sandy Wilcox, president of the University of Wisconsin Foundation — a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation that is the official fundraising organization for UW-Madison. After all, few envision a scenario in which the state is suddenly going to start funding a higher percentage of UW-Madison’s $2.3 billion budget — making the work of the UW Foundation increasingly more important to the university’s financial well-being.

Bugging out: First the mosquitoes, then the flies and Japanese beetles

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Capital Times

The sign on the front door of the Copps Food Center on Aberg Avenue says it all: “Bug spray is located in Aisle 11.”

Gardeners, walkers, runners and golfers alike are being bugged this summer by swarms of irritating insects. Besides being bitten by mosquitoes, horse flies and black flies, city residents are also contending with an onslaught of Japanese beetles devouring their plants.

Quoted: UW-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri

Q&A: Civic leader Bill Barker draws on Southern roots

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Capital Times

Bill Barker’s sure-handed guidance of the panels plotting the future of the city’s east side Central Park site and the former Garver Feed Mill at Olbrich Botanical Gardens over the past couple of years won respect from both colleagues on the panels and advocates who came before them. A geology researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Barker, 52, is Georgia-born and reared, and said his experiences moving with his family from one Appalachian cotton mill town to another as his father climbed the corporate ladder taught him that “everybody’s got something to recommend them.”

Advantage Obama: Young, trained political organizers are blanketing the state

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Capital Times

For their all their political differences, Vicki Pietrus and Allison Nelson have a lot in common. Both are smart, engaged University of Wisconsin-Madison seniors from suburban Chicago. Pietrus is majoring in political science and English, Nelson in political science and film production.

But while Nelson, a Republican, is trying to get her Students for John McCain effort off the ground, Pietrus, a volunteer for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, is trained and field-tested.

University Ridge architect let Mother Nature lead him

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Capital Times

What Bruce Charlton remembers most about his first trip to Madison to look at the site where University Ridge Golf Course would be built was that he arrived the day after University of Wisconsin football coach Dave McClain died suddenly of a heart attack.

Nobody thought back in 1986 that the UW football team and the school’s golf course would become two of the athletic department’s biggest winners over the past two decades.

But Charlton, who was the lead designer of University Ridge for Palo Alto, Calif., architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., was as confident that the Ridge would become a champion as Barry Alvarez was that his UW football team would win Rose Bowls.

This year, backfield depth shouldnâ??t be an issue

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As a football coach, Bret Bielema is consistent and pragmatic.

So when the University of Wisconsinâ??s depth at tailback suffered a hit last week with the indefinite suspension of junior Lance Smith, Bielema responded as expected.

â??Any time we lose someone due to injury or in this case something off the field,â? he explained, â??it is the next man in.

UW-Milwaukee neighbors seek information on dorm plans

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

More than 100 residents from Milwaukeeâ??s Riverwest and east side neighborhoods packed a community meeting Tuesday night to discuss providing more input on a proposed dormitory that would house 500 to 700 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students.

4 Great Lakes states are hotbed of election ads

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By the very telling measure of TV advertising, four Great Lakes states – Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania – have emerged as the hottest regional battleground in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Despite the talk of an “expanded map” in ’08, those four states accounted for half the overall television spending – and two-thirds of the Republican TV spending – since early June, according to new data compiled by the Wisconsin Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Those affected by cancer can find a place of their own at Gilda’s Club

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Capital Times

….The opening of the enormous 16,000-square-foot mansion (on August 18) marks the culmination of a massive $3.5 million fundraising campaign chaired by UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez and his wife, Cindy, who have donated $100,000 of their own money to the cause.

Over the past few years the Alvarezes, who between them have lost three parents to cancer, and other members of the board have launched sporting events, parties, dinners, benefit shows, auctions and musical extravaganzas to raise money. Once they even auctioned off a red, white and chrome motorcycle bedecked with autographs from star UW athletes and coaches.

Former Chief Justice Day remembered by colleagues

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WKOW-TV 27

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Roland B. Day is remembered by Court colleagues for fostering collegiality and working toward more prompt release of opinions. Day is remembered by friends and family for his good sense of humor, commitment to public service and dedication to family. He died July 26 at the age of 89.

Day chose to serve just one year as chief justice before retiring, but he used that time wisely to help improve the administration of justice and to encourage better public understanding of the courts, said Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson.

UW Hospital To Install Cameras, Microphones In Some ICU Patient Rooms

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison is putting cameras, microphones and other technology in some of its intensive care patient rooms, officials said.

Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said that cameras, microphones and secure data lines that can transmit changes in a patient’s status are in the UW Hospital’s Trauma and Life Support Center and will start being used next week.

Brunette said that the new technology will be used to add an extra “layer” of patient oversight. Officials will demonstrate the technology on Tuesday during a press conference.

University Theatre announces 2008-09 season

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Capital Times

In a season full of old and new(er) classics, University Theatre will explore the value of collaborations in its 2008-09 season.

The seven shows will explore settings ranging from a fantasy forest, late-1960s New York City and alien-invaded New Jersey. For artistic and financial reasons, the season is strongly cooperative with other arts organizations, which include new and continuing partnerships with Wisconsin Public Radio and the Madison Repertory Theatre and a strong link to University Opera.

“We are thrilled to work with these companies,” said University Theatre director Tony Simotes. “We know that the public will benefit from the partnerships as well.”

Brittany Zimmermann’s parents drop lawsuit

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Capital Times

The parents of a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student have dropped their lawsuit against Dane County and a former sheriff’s dispatcher.

An attorney for Kevin and Jean Zimmermann has filed a stipulation in federal court in Madison saying there’s an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit.

Nearly 10,000 sign up for UW text alert service

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Capital Times

An emergency text messaging system on the UW-Madison campus is nearing 10,000 subscribers, after being launched less than three months ago.

The service, WiscAlerts-Text, was started so students, staff and campus-based affiliates such as UW Hospital and Clinics can get alerts on their cell phones in case of a campus emergency.

“We are glad to see strong participation and expect to add even more users as we market the service aggressively throughout the fall semester,” said UW Police Lt. Michael Newton.

UW-Madison moves up in value, down in drinking, says Princeton Review

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Capital Times

A number of Wisconsin universities and colleges are prominently featured in the 2009 version of Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” guidebook.

“The Best 368 Colleges,” which goes on sale Tuesday, used 120,000 student surveys to rank the country’s colleges in 62 categories.

Although there’s been considerable griping about rising tuition the last few years, UW-Madison students evidently still think they are getting pretty good bang for their buck. The university received a top 10 ranking in the category of “Best Value Public Colleges.”

UW-Madison did not crack the top 20 party schools list, but did score particularly well in categories involving alcohol, ranking sixth overall in the “Lots of Beer” category and ninth for having “Lots of Liquor.”

Going through trial period

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin’s starting quarterback in 2008 won’t necessarily be the player who throws the prettiest ball, has the fastest 40-yard dash time or can keep up with the linemen in the bench press.

UWâ??s staff is looking for Mr. Consistency, and the contenders for the starting job know it.

Smith’s sentencing hearing will be Aug. 14

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Reserve tailback Lance Smith, whose future with the University of Wisconsin football program is in jeopardy because he was recently removed from Dane Countyâ??s first-offender program, has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 14, according to court records.

Doyle criticized for interviewing chancellor finalists

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Capital Times

Gov. Jim Doyle interviewed the four finalists for the UW-Madison chancellor job in May, days before Biddy Martin was selected, his calendar shows.

The interviews raise questions about whether the governor had any influence in Martin’s selection. A regent said Monday that was not the case, but one Republican aide still criticized Doyle’s involvement as inappropriate.

The process used to pick university leaders is under scrutiny after a new chancellor at another campus resigned his appointment because he is under federal investigation.

UW Police arrest alleged armed robber and his girlfriend in connection with pipe attack of UW student

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — More than two years ago, on Thursday July 6, 2006, UW Police responded to a 911 call from a campus emergency phone regarding an armed robbery.

The victim was a UW graduate student who was walking in the 1400 block of Observatory Drive when police say the male suspect hit him in the head with a pipe several times, knocking him to the ground. We’re told the suspect then took off with the victim’s wallet.

The victim was hospitalized, and his credit card was later used at several locations in Madison and Fitchburg by a female suspect, police say.

After DNA analysis, police arrested 24-year-old Otis Darnel Williams and his girlfriend 21-year-old Amanda Porrazzo. Police say neither has any affiliation with UW.

What School Makes Grade As Top Party Place?

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WISC-TV 3

Just call ’em the Guzzling Gators: The University of Florida is the nation’s No. 1 party school. The school tops the annual list of party campuses compiled by the Princeton Review.

The university has made the list before, but has never been first. It wrested the title away from West Virginia University.

Coming in second was the University of Mississippi, followed by Penn State University, West Virginia and Ohio University-Athens.

(UW-Madison was not listed in the top 20.)

UW to dedicate Arlington dairy research facility

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Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Badger cows have a spiffy new home.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will dedicate a state-of-the-art, $5.1 million barn at its Arlington Agricultural Research Station on Wednesday.

The Integrated Dairy Research Facility has housing for 500 cows, a milking parlor and research areas.

Impeachment town meeting in Madison Monday night

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Capital Times

Following a call for impeachment at a congressional hearing Friday, two town meetings are set Monday and Tuesday night in Madison and Milwaukee to discuss the possibility of the removal of President Bush and Vice President Cheney from office.

The town meetings will feature Vietnam war veteran Robert Bowman, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who is on a national speaking tour advocating impeachment.

The Madison “Take Back America” town meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday in Van Vleck Hall on Bascom Hill on the UW-Madison campus.

E.J. Dionne: Young voters just might tip the election

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Capital Times

WASHINGTON — The conventional wisdom on certain subjects is so deeply rooted that no amount of evidence disturbs its hold. That’s how it is with those dreary predictions that young Americans just won’t vote.

Since the late 1960s, the same chorus has been heard from election to election: The young don’t care. They’re disengaged. They’re too wrapped up in their music, their favorite sports and their parties to care about politics. Predicting that the young will vote in large numbers is like saying the Cubs will finally win the World Series.

As it happens, the Cubs are doing well this season, and the evidence is overwhelming that this year, the young really will vote in large numbers — and they just might tip the election.

Prof whose ‘last lecture’ became a sensation dies

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose “last lecture” about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47.

Pausch died at his home in Chesapeake, Va., said Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer who co-wrote Pausch’s book. Pausch and his family had moved there last fall to be closer to his wife’s relatives.

Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.

Update: Smith suspended from UW football team

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Capital Times

CHICAGO — Junior running back Lance Smith has been suspended from the University of Wisconsin football team, Badgers coach Bret Bielema announced Thursday.

“It has come to my attention that Lance has failed to meet certain requirements relating to the first-offender program he was placed in last fall,” Bielema, who is in Chicago for the Big Ten Conference preseason media event, said in a statement.

Smith was arrested in July 2007 after a dispute with his girlfriend. He pleaded guilty last October to misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct and was referred to Dane County’s first-offende

UW study shows virtually no gender gaps in math scores

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Capital Times

Crunch the numbers from a recent study, and the results might surprise you: Girls are just as good at math as the boys.

UW-Madison psychology professor Janet Hyde led a study that looked at SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were tested in accordance with the No Child Left Behind act. And the numbers showed the average scores of boys and girls were virtually the same.

“Our country has a lot of stereotypes that boys are better than girls at math, and we have current evidence that both teachers and parents think that that’s true,” said Hyde. “But the data don’t show that at all — at least with these very current samples.”

Hockey at Camp Randall on hold as WCHA objects

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Capital Times

If Camp Randall Stadium hosts a college hockey game as one group has proposed, it won’t be a conference game and it won’t be in the coming season.

Representatives from the Herb Brooks Foundation approached the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota about producing an outdoor game on Jan. 24, 2009, at the 80,321-seat football stadium in Madison, but those talks have stalled after the Western Collegiate Hockey Association balked at the proposal.

UW study shows virtually no gender gaps in math scores

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Capital Times

Crunch the numbers from a recent study, and the results might surprise you: Girls are just as good at math as the boys.

UW-Madison psychology professor Janet Hyde led a study that looked at SAT results and math scores from 7 million students who were tested in accordance with the No Child Left Behind act. And the numbers showed the average scores of boys and girls were virtually the same.

“Our country has a lot of stereotypes that boys are better than girls at math, and we have current evidence that both teachers and parents think that that’s true,” said Hyde. “But the data don’t show that at all — at least with these very current samples.”

Graffiti artists find a few places in Madison that welcome their work

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Capital Times

(Kimberley) Coonts is more involved in the graffiti world than ever. For the past three years, she hosted a graffiti wall for local artists, or “writers” as they are often called, as part of radio station WSUM’s Party in the Park, a festival at James Madison Park.

When Party in the Park moved to Memorial Union this year because of funding, renaming itself as Snake on the Lake, Coonts was dismayed that there would be no room for her wall at the festival. The wall, made from reinforced plywood, had expanded during its years as part of Party in the Park from 45 feet to 80 feet.

Rather than give up, though, Coonts — normally a Madison nightclub promoter — decided to give the wall its own event, Kilroy’s Art in the Park.

District partners with UW (LivingLakeCountry.com)

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An administrative internship project between the Oconomowoc Area School District and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will go into effect at the start of the upcoming school year. Two intern administrators pursuing certification and licensure at the administrative level will join the district in a project designed to be mutually beneficial for the interns and the district.

Posted in Uncategorized

Marquette, UW golfers go head-to-head in State Amateur

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

OK, Wisconsin vs. Marquette in golf will never rival the Badgers vs. Golden Eagles on the basketball court.

The golf competition between the two schools may be a few more layers under the surface than the basketball rivalry, but itâ??s there. For years Wisconsin was the unquestioned â??Big Dogâ? in state golf, but Marquette has been moving on up, especially this spring when the Golden Eagles made it to the NCAA Division I Regional for the first time.

UW picked No. 2 behind Buckeyes

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

First for the expected: Reporters who cover Big Ten football have voted Ohio State the preseason favorite to win the 2008 league title.

Now for the unexpected: Wisconsin was picked to finish second. The Badgers could return as many as 17 starters from a team that finished 5-3 in the league last season before losing to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl.

Madison 3rd best place for retirees, AARP says

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Capital Times

Madison is one of America’s healthiest hometowns for seniors, according to the nation’s largest circulation magazine.

AARP The Magazine has named Madison the third healthiest city in America for older Americans, right behind Ann Arbor, Michigan and Honolulu, Hawaii.

….The article, written by Sarah Mahoney and Brad Edmondson, praised the city for embracing retirement issues and gives a lot of credit to the University of Wisconsin as a major reason why people choose to retire to Madison.

Beetle invasion hits Madison hard

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Capital Times

The Japanese beetle is the gardener’s worst nightmare, and it is proliferating in the Madison area, according to Phil Pellitteri, an insect expert for the University of Wisconsin.

“This is a superstar as far as being a pest,” he said.

The metallic green and copper beetles have been wreaking havoc in local gardens, golf courses and swimming pools in recent years, and many say they are even worse this summer.

Scanner Dan? Circle of Death? Look them up on CityDictionary.com

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Capital Times

Scanner Dan, the Piccolo Guy, the Circle of Death. Mention these terms around most Madisonians, and you’ll get a knowing look, maybe hear the story of that one time Scanner Dan accosted them on State Street or the time they nearly crashed their vehicle trying to change lanes on the Circle of Death.

But if you’re not from Madison, you’re probably wondering what the heck they’re talking about.

That’s where CityDictionary.com comes in.

Business Beat: State ranks high for drinking, not for workforce talent

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Capital Times

….to really gain some insight into Wisconsin’s workforce, one need only look at the recent analysis by Gannett Wisconsin Media of the state’s drinking culture — where boozing goes hand-in-hand with tailgating, snowmobiling, deer hunting and even children’s events.

Gannett scored Wisconsin No. 1 in the nation for imbibing, a ranking based on the price and availability of alcohol, its economic importance and its criminal justice, social and health effects.

Following Wisconsin on the list of top drinking states are North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. That’s not exactly the kind of company to keep when you’re pitching yourself as the next biotech hotbed.

Storm water runoff sullies lakes and Arboretum

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Capital Times

The heavy rains and flooding that hit Madison in early June have left their mark on city lakes and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.

In the Arboretum, numerous trails and fire lanes need repair and a non-native plant species is thriving on storm-driven nutrients. On the lakes, massive blooms of dangerous blue-green algae have closed city beaches and are making it hard to enjoy lake life.

UW football players go to extreme in Bascom conditioning runs

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Capital Times

The scene at Bascom Hill on a recent Tuesday afternoon seems normal at first glance. Young women lounge on the grass about halfway up the hill, catching some rays on a hot summer day. Not far away, two young men toss a baseball back and forth in an unsubtle attempt to catch the ladies’ attention.

Midway through the afternoon, the peaceful setting disappears in an instant with the sound of voices and the thumping of feet on the pavement. You can hear them getting closer and closer until they appear not far from Abraham Lincoln’s statue: four dozen UW football players, working through one of the more grueling days of their seven-week summer strength and conditioning program. A few hours later, after this group has passed, about 60 more Badgers appear for their turn at running Bascom Hill.

Light rail on fast track

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Capital Times

After years of roadblocks, the stars are aligning for a commuter rail system in Dane County.

On Aug. 7, a state legislative study committee will begin work on drafting a bill to allow regional transit authorities — local taxing districts that will manage and fund transit systems.

Sobering up: Behind Madison’s harder line on downtown booze

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Capital Times

The year is 1998. Michael Verveer is a 30-year-old member of Madison’s City Council, serving the heart of the city’s downtown.

He is the articulate public voice for the many students in his district who oppose stricter controls on alcohol. When the police announce in September that they have written their first tickets under a new policy to the hosts of an off-campus party with underage drinkers, Verveer tells The Capital Times that “some of my constituents are now facing several thousands of dollars worth of fines for a crime that I don’t think is that bad and that has been going on at the UW for more than four decades; namely, inviting friends over to celebrate a football game.”

….Fast forward to 2008. Madison’s economic revitalization has continued, and the face of downtown has changed as well, with many young professionals and “empty-nesters” moving in to hundreds of new condominium units.

….Verveer is not the only politician whose thinking on downtown alcohol issues has evolved in the past few years. The makeup of the Alcohol License Review Committee itself is a sign of how Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s views on alcohol enforcement have changed.

Swiss giant Roche acquires Madison firm Mirus for $125M

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Capital Times

Swiss pharmaceutical and biotech giant Roche has acquired Madison-based Mirus Bio Corp. for $125 million, the two companies announced Tuesday.

Mirus Bio is a leader in RNAi (ribonucleic acid interference) technology, a method of determining how genes are turned off and on in cells, with new medicines emerging from RNAi that could prevent disease-causing proteins from being made.

According to a press release from Mirus Bio, Roche will maintain the RNAi research site in Madison.

(Mirus Bio Corp. was founded in 1995 by Dr. Jon Wolff and his colleagues James Hagstrom and the late Vladimir Budker.)

Alleged swindler gets $3,000 in ‘loans’ from 4 on UW campus

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Capital Times

A Madison woman has been charged with four counts of misdemeanor theft by fraud after scamming a number of sympathetic citizens out of nearly $3,000.

According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, 35-year-old Crystal Cox, (aka Tonya Dexson, Tonya Deyson, Kathy Dixon, Allisha Dixon) convinced at least four people to lend her money for a variety of reasons but never followed through with her promises to repay the loans.

….Cox said her friend had advised her that “UW students are stupid,” and are an easy mark for a scam.

UW prof helps find link to Parkinson’s cause

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Capital Times

A UW-Madison pharmacologist helped discover a connection between genetics of blood cells and brain cells in the cause of Parkinson’s disease that could lead to new treatments for the disorder.

Parkinson’s, which affects as many as 1.5 million Americans, leads to higher levels of the alpha-synuclein protein in affected patients’ brains. The buildup of the protein creates a toxicity that kills dopamine-producing neurons and destroys nerves and muscles that control movement and coordination.

The team — made up of Emery Bresnick, a professor of pharmacolgy at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and scientists from the Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Ottawa — found that genetic mechanisms of blood cells also control a Parkinson’s disease-causing gene and protein.

Devin Harris hits the links — and hits the books again

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Capital Times

It was fitting that Devin Harris rolled up to Bishops Bay Country Club on Monday afternoon in a cardinal red Maserati. The New Jersey Nets point guard just finished the first year of a five-year contract extension worth a cool $42 million so he can afford to drive a swanky Italian luxury automobile.

The fact it was red was where the news value could be found. It’s the dominant color of the University of Wisconsin, which is where Harris starred before leaving after his junior year and becoming the fifth player drafted in the 2004 National Basketball Association draft.

It’s also where Harris is returning to go to school. He said Monday he is planning to enroll for fall semester classes in an effort to get his degree in sociology. He’s 36 credits short.

William R. Benedict: State must protect investment in stem cell research

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Capital Times

As a Wisconsin taxpayer, I am grateful and proud of Dr. James Thomson and UW-Madison’s bioscience community for their human embryonic stem cell discoveries. But as I study the funding issues relating to Wisconsin’s stem cell enterprise, I have become increasingly concerned with how our state is managing the intellectual property associated with these potentially lucrative discoveries.

One of my questions has to do with why did Wisconsin agree to give exclusive rights to the Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, Calif., for using Wisconsin-patented stem cells to treat heart disease, diabetes and neurological disorders? My concerns have to do with both the nature of the diseases chosen and the potential economic and health care implications involved.

I am also concerned with the potential conflict of interest involved and exactly by who and why this decision was made and whose interests are best being served.

Medical helicopter service expands to Fond du Lac

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Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee-area medical helicopter service Flight for Life plans to open an air base in Fond du Lac next month. The base will have a $5 million twin-engine helicopter and the equivalent of 15 full-time workers.

But competing services based in Neenah and Madison complain that the addition isn’t needed.