The Sporting News’ Matt Hayes breaks down the Big Ten’s non-conference schedules and needless to say Wisconsin does not come out unscathed.
UW’s non-conference schedule not thought of highly by TSN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Author: jnweaver
UW’s Schumacher steps down
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jerry Schumacher is moving on.
The architect of one of the most successful menâ??s college cross country programs in the nation is leaving the University of Wisconsin to take a job coaching elite distance runners for Nike.
Slain studentâ??s parents seek tape of 911 call
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The family of a slain college student wants to intervene in a lawsuit by media groups seeking a copy of a 911 tape made from the woman’s cell phone call at the time she was killed.
The parents of University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann, 21, said their requests for the tape and other records have also been denied. The parents, Kevin and Jean Zimmermann of Marshfield, told Dane County Circuit Court in a filing earlier this month they wanted to intervene in the media groupsâ?? case because they want the tape to pursue their claim for damages against Dane County.
Parents seek safety report cards
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The unsolved murder of a college student in Madison, a string of robberies near Marquette University and a recent spike in assaults at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have some parents packing summer orientation sessions at local colleges, anxious about studentsâ?? safety.
Colleges, in turn, are trying to ease those fears while helping parents take an active role
Extreme makeover: Violent weather spurs redesign of infrastructure
Capital Times
The heavy rains, strong thunderstorms and fierce tornadoes that have attacked the Midwest in recent weeks are a sign of the future, and communities will have to adapt to more frequent occurrences of extreme weather, experts say.
It could be an expensive process.
Ken Potter, a UW-Madison engineering professor who helped review the New Orleans hurricane protection system after Hurricane Katrina, said Wisconsin engineers will have to consider how to redesign structures to prevent flooding and events such as the draining of Lake Delton after extremely heavy rains.
(Several other UW-Madison experts are also quoted in this story.)
Brittany Zimmermann’s parents want 911 call
Capital Times
The parents of a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student want authorities to release the 911 call she made before she was murdered.
Kevin and Jean Zimmermann want to intervene in a lawsuit brought by media groups seeking audio of the call from Brittany Zimmermann’s cell phone.
The face of Madison schools: Dan Nerad takes over in July
Capital Times
….Although Green Bay has been his home for more than three decades, the Kenosha native already has some strong connections to Madison.
Nerad earned two advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, including a master’s in social work. His wife, Jean, a public health nurse specializing in lead poisoning issues with children, also earned a degree from UW-Madison, as did their son Ben, 23, who works as a legislative aide in Madison.
Mike Ivey: Madison’s high-tech sector cuts both ways
Capital Times
The high-tech sector is proving to be a double-edged sword for Madison.
Sure, it has produced dozens of companies and created hundreds of jobs for those with advanced college degrees. But many of the most successful firms end up being sold to giant out-of-state corporations.
State initiative gets climate change discussion rolling
Capital Times
Given that most scientists agree the climate is changing, experts and officials are trying to get ready for possible effects — in order to avoid harm to people, places and things.
For instance, what kind of measures could prevent health effects from heat waves? What can the state do to protect the tourism economy, which depends on snowmobiling, skiing, fishing and boating? How could the paper industry react if warmer-climate trees change northern forest composition? How can stormwater be managed?
The state Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have started the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts to explore potential effects and find answers to those and other questions.
UW: Schumacher leaving to coach for Nike
Capital Times
One of the most successful coaches at the University of Wisconsin is running away.
Jerry Schumacher, the Badger men’s cross country and track distance coach, is leaving the program to take a position with Nike coaching elite distance runners in Portland, Ore.
The position was created especially for Schumacher, who will take with him a stable of current professional runners he is now coaching in Madison – most of them ex-Badgers.
Council’s vote to ban cheap booze sales gets praise — and some flak
Capital Times
Madison’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban sales of certain sizes of alcohol downtown as part of an initial effort to curb its purchase by some transients who have reportedly harassed downtown residents.
The ban takes the form of modified liquor licenses that apply to grocery, liquor and convenience stores in Districts 4 and 8, which include the Capitol, campus and State Street areas. Stores in those districts could no longer sell beer or malt liquor in sizes smaller than a six-pack — except for imports and microbrews — and they could not sell fortified wine or liquor in smaller than pint-size containers.
Final plans OK’d for $9.2 million Allied Drive revamp
Capital Times
….Also Monday night, the commission approved a restrictive convenant to govern design and operation of a $10 million, four-story, 48-room hotel slated for the corner of Monroe and Regent Streets.
The agreement prevents the general public from using the hotel facilities during football games at Camp Randall Stadium or big events at the Fieldhouse. It also includes rules on parking, hotel security and outdoor music meant to reduce impacts on the adjoining neighborhood.
Also Monday night, the commission:
* Approved the Regent Street-South Campus Neighborhood Plan and the Greenbush Neigborhood Plan in separate votes.
Wis. Supreme Court asked to take open records case
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether state government must release the names of union employees.
The Department of Administration says employment contracts prohibit the release of information identifying union workers.
Class action status given to Wis. bar exam lawsuit
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s policy of allowing in-state law graduates to become lawyers without passing the bar exam.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb says anyone who applies to practice law in Wisconsin within 30 days of graduating from a law school outside the state can join the lawsuit.
Two UW softball players to take on Team USA
Capital Times
University of Wisconsin softball team members Lynn Anderson and Leah Vanevenhoven have been chosen to play with the Wisconsin ASA Regional All-Star team against Team USA. The regional all-star team, made up of players around the state, will take on the U.S. Team on Tuesday, 7 p.m., at McCarty Field on the UW-Stevens Point campus. The exhibition game is part of the 46 stops for the U.S. Olympic team on its Bound 4 Beijing Tour before heading to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Team USA heads into the exhibition 43-1, having lost 1-0 to Virginia Tech.
Stanley Kutler: Hype and flourishes of the vice presidency
Capital Times
Mark Twain once remarked about a man with two sons: One went to sea, the other became vice president, and neither was heard of again.
We have scant evidence that vice presidential nominees influence voters very much. Will possible John McCain voters be swayed by an added choice of Mitt Romney, Charles Crist, Bobby Jindal or any other equally insignificant? Some Democrats yearn for Hillary Clinton’s nomination, envisioning an irresistible union of race and gender politics. An office once mocked as totally obscure now has become a desirable prize.
(UW-Madison professor emeritus of history Stanley Kutler is the author of “Wars of Watergate” and of numerous writings on American constitutional law and the presidency. This column first appeared on truthdig.com.)
City should limit cheap booze sales
Capital Times
Madison Ald. Mike Verveer’s proposal to restrict sales of cheap alcohol downtown is sound public policy that should have an immediate positive impact on a challenge that local officials have struggled to address.
Public intoxication is a problem. It is fueled by sales of individual cans and bottles of beer and malt liquor and small containers (less than a pint) of hard liquor.
Verveer, who represents the downtown 4th District, has proposed a ban on such sales at 11 outlets in the 4th and 8th aldermanic districts.
Frances Plaza to get water sculpture
Capital Times
Artist Tom Askman has done many sculptures around the country and has sat and watched people look at public art. What he’s discovered is that most people just walk right by.
Airports often have a lot of public art, commissioned at high prices, and maybe one person out of 500 might notice the artwork, he said.
“There is nothing engaging enough in the art to pull them off their conceptual trap,” said Askman, who in all likelihood will design and install Madison’s next major piece of public art, a high-profile water feature at Frances Plaza, which is part of the State Street Design Project.
….The sculpture is of two bronze cones leaning toward each other with six waterspouts crisscrossing from cone to cone. There will be multicolored LEDs in the middle that will shine up and illuminate the water overhead.
Smarter than the average Badger
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
University of Wisconsin athletes made the grade this year.
According to a report released at the UW athletic board meeting Friday, Badger athletes had a grade-point average of 2.97 in the spring semester. They also posted a cumulative GPA of 2.97.
Gamers up the ante
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Nick Nowakowski, 19, a pre-med student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, talks about the possibilities of going pro on the competitive video gaming circuit.
Baggot: Raising a question after Alvarez’s raise
Wisconsin State Journal
What was your reaction when it was announced last week that University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez was getting a $150,000 raise, boosting his salary to $750,000 for 2008-09?
“Good for you, big guy?”
“Boy, that sure is a lot of coin?”
“What the heck?”
“Why I oughta â?¦?”
Here’s mine: UW chancellor John Wiley is the one retiring, so why is Alvarez the one getting the going-away present?
Wiley, as is his wont, went before the UW Board of Regents and lobbied for the 25 percent raise for Alvarez, citing “long-term performance and the market,” according to a board member.
Applications up 10 percent at UW-Whitewater
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Applications for this year’s incoming class at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater were up 10 percent from last year, outpacing much of the UW system, which saw slight growth.
The school got 6,700 applications this year and will have a freshman class of 2,100 or more in the fall. That’ll make it the largest class since 1985 – a year when many of their incoming freshmen weren’t even born. Nationally, the 2008 class of high school seniors is the largest ever, so there are more students applying.
Admissions officials said Whitewater was seeing a boost from its athletic programs, including a national championship in football. Admissions director Steve McKellips also said the university is attracting students in popular programs like accounting and business and through more personal recruiting efforts.
Report: Comcast, Big Ten Network deal near
Capital Times
More than three months after the Big Ten Network and Comcast Corp., the nation’s biggest cable company, were reported to have agreed on the framework of a deal, the deal is essentially completed, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
“For all intents and purposes, it’s done,” one source close to the negotiations said Sunday, the Tribune reported Monday. Sources expect the deal will be completed and unveiled this week, the paper said.
Such a deal is significant here because a BTN-Comcast deal is seen as providing a potential framework for a deal between BTN and Charter Communications and Time Warner, Wisconsin’s two major cable providers.
“It’s Comcast first, Time Warner a distant second, and Charter third,” UW-Madison professor of telecommunications Barry Orton said of the size and pecking order of major cable companies serving states in the Big Ten Conference.
Smile! You’re on Terrace Webcam
Capital Times
Now that we’re in the thick of the volatile weather season, it isn’t always easy to know when and where it’s raining. That’s not the case anymore at the Memorial Union Terrace, which now has a Webcam running so people can check conditions.
The Webcam is at www.union.wisc.edu/webcam. It offers a clear view of the Terrace and weather conditions. Also, if equipment can be seen being set up, it will confirm that the evening music will be outside on the Terrace stage rather than moved inside to der Rathskeller in case of inclement weather.
Athletic board rewards UW’s Schuman, Van Emburgh
Capital Times
The rewards for good seasons for a pair of University of Wisconsin coaches came in the form of a little extra job security.
Men’s golf coach Jim Schuman and men’s tennis coach Greg Van Emburgh both have been given three-year contracts running through the 2010-11 school year; they previously were on one-year deals.
3 Badgers score in 1,500; UW men finish in 21st
Capital Times
DES MOINES, Iowa — Three University of Wisconsin runners placed in the top eight in the men’s 1,500 meters Saturday on the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake University. The Badgers scored 12 points in the event to finish 21st in the team standings.
West High grads get lesson from an Onion writer
Capital Times
Hey, high school graduates. Quit texting and listen up. Todd Hanson, lead writer of The Onion, has some advice for you.
“Get ready to start suffering,” Hanson told nearly 500 students at Madison West High School’s graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
Hanson later reneged on that statement and admitted “unbelievable, wonderful things are also going to happen to you,” but not before sharing his own personal suffering with the graduating class.
No Olympic berth for ex-Badger wrestler Pritzlaff
Capital Times
Former Badger wrestler and current assistant coach Donny Pritzlaff came up short in his bid to make the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team for this summer’s Olympics in Beijing, China.
In team trials on Sunday in Las Vegas, Pritzlaff didn’t advance to Sunday night’s finals in the 163-pound weight division when he lost a decision to his training partner, Ryan Churella.
Family Of Slain UW-Madison Student Sues County, 911 Operator
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — The family of a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student is suing Dane County and the 911 operator who handled a call from the woman’s cell phone.
Kevin and Jean Zimmermann are the parents of Brittany Zimmermann, a 21-year-old killed in her Madison apartment on April 2.
The federal lawsuit filed Friday alleges that operator Rita Gahagan took Brittany Zimmermann’s 911 call but lost contact with her, then failed to call back as required or send police to investigate.
The suit requests a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.
Zimmermann family to file suit against Dane County, dispatcher
Capital Times
The family of Brittany Sue Zimmermann, a UW-Madison student who was killed in her downtown apartment in April, will file suit against Dane County and one of its former emergency dispatchers Friday in U.S. District Court, according to preliminary papers filed.
Zimmermann, 22, made a 911 call on her cell phone before her death, but the call was disconnected, and the dispatcher did not call her back. No police officer was sent to Zimmermann’s home until after her death.
No one has been arrested in the case.
June 19 is ‘Wisconsin Day’ on Big Ten Network
Capital Times
The Big Ten Network will say “On Wisconsin!” next Thursday, June 19, with 24 consecutive hours of Badger programming.
The day will feature some of Wisconsin’s best performances in 2007-08, including the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game against Illinois, the thrilling road win at Indiana thanks to Brian Butch’s last-second heroics, the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and the women’s soccer team’s win against Ohio State. In addition, the 2008 spring football game will air in its entirety at 9 a.m.
….The schedule also contains more than four hours of campus programming produced by the UW.
A gift tied up with strings
Capital Times
It’s a familiar scene to Bonnie Greene: A boy takes a crumpled dollar bill out of his pocket and hands it to her.
That weekly payment is all some low-income families can afford in exchange for lessons and the loan of a violin. Through Music Makers, a program Greene founded to bring music into the lives of low-income children from several of Madison’s neighborhoods, that’s all that is needed.
….Greene also has received instructional help from longtime friend and peer Janet Jensen, a professor of string pedagogy and associate director of the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Twice a week, Jensen brings UW music students to Centro Hispano to provide lessons for Music Makers students. Jensen said the impact of Music Makers is felt on many levels by children and teachers alike.
UW prof Bryson, climatology pioneer, dies at 88
Capital Times
Reid Bryson, a pioneer in the field of climatology and a founder of the UW-Madison’s meteorology department and Center for Climatic Research, died Wednesday, June 11, at his home in Madison at the age of 88.
Bryson was among the first to explore the influence of climate on humans and human culture and, in turn, human impacts on climate.
He was an early developer of simple computer models to study the causes of past climate change, comparing those simulations with records of paleo-climate and human culture.
CDA vote is boon to WARF’s Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery
Capital Times
Madison’s Community Development Authority voted Thursday night to limit the fee it would charge to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for the use of CDA bonds in building WARF’s Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery.
The authority decided it would charge one-third of a 1 percent fee on up to $175 million worth of the bonds used to build the Institutes of Discovery, a dual public and private research center funded by three $50 million donations from the state, WARF and private donors John and Tashia Morgridge. The CDA authorized bonds for up to $185 million, making $33,000 the maximum discount WARF received on the project. If the total amount of bonds needed runs over $185 million, the CDA must hold another public meeting, restarting the process of issuing bonds.
Let the synagogue-chasing begin (Jerusalem Post)
Jerusalem Post
Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist Ken Goldstein.
Throw money where it belongs
Racine Journal Times
As critical as leadership is, it can be overrated.
The Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin System fell into that trap last week by giving hefty raises to some top officials. Most noticeably, the board gave system president Kevin Reilly a 21 percent boost to more than $400,000.
To his credit, Reilly plans to pass much of that fatter check on to his scholarship fund. Which makes us wonder why the board was so determined to vote it through in the first place.
Was it simply a symbolic move to lighten the ego bruise that Reilly must have suffered when new UW-Madison head Carolyn â??Biddyâ? Martin became the first chancellor to out-earn the leader of the system? Or is this a genuine strategy the regents have adopted to better compete for top talent?
Donâ??t answer that. Neither answer could justify such a big salary hike for a top dog.
UW-Madisonâ??s Bryson was pioneer in climate research
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Reid Bryson was a national pioneer of climate research and the founder of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s meteorology department and Center for Climatic Research.
One of the first climatologists to explore the link between human activity and the climate, he became one of the scientists skeptical of the near-universal belief in the human role in global warming.
Bryson, 88, died in his sleep at his home in Madison early Wednesday.
Poll: Obama leads in Wis. by 13 points (UPI)
United Press International
Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain 50 percent to 37 percent among 506 likely voters, according to a poll conducted Sunday to Tuesday by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s political science department and Wispolitics.com, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
Kelly Nolan memorial Friday in Waunakee
Capital Times
Friends and family of Kelly Nolan will hold a memorial service for the young woman from Waunakee who was found murdered almost a year ago.
Nolan, 22, disappeared early in the morning on June 23, 2007, after bar-hopping with friends in downtown Madison the night before. Her body was discovered two weeks later on July 9 in the town of Dunn.
Her murder remains unsolved.
UW study: Sleep apnea called ‘ticking time bomb’
Capital Times
Sleepers with periods of interrupted breathing during sleep were more likely to lose the expected drop in nighttime blood pressure, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health reported in the June issue of the journal Sleep.
That is a cause for concern because the nighttime drop may help protect the body against bad cardiovascular events. And blood pressure that fails to drop at night is associated with hypertension, heart attacks and stroke.
Obama leads McCain in new poll of Wisconsin voters
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain by 13 percentage points in a new poll of Wisconsin voters.
Half of the respondents said they would vote for Obama if the election was held now. Thirty-seven percent would choose McCain.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science/WisPolitics.com poll surveyed 506 randomly chosen likely voters by telephone from June 8-10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Poll shows Obama leads in Wisconsin (The New Republic Online)
In Wisconsin, Obama leads John McCain by 13 points in a University of Wisconsin / WisPolitics.com poll. Strictly speaking, this is the debut edition of this poll, and so we have no trendlines against which to compare. But the poll is conducted by Charles Franklin of pollster.com and his colleague Ken Goldstein, and so should be pretty solid.
Bitter “Biddy” Battle in Madison
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ever since an aide to Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) started circulating a reprint of this conservative blog post deriding UW-Madison’s chancellor-to-be Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, a bitter battle about the university has emerged between Nass and some of the Democrats on the state legislature.
State faces crop losses
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Bruce Jones, an economist and farm management specialist at UW-Madison.
WI Poll: Obama + 13
Atlantic Monthly
Two political scientists with top-notch reputations — Charles Franklin of Pollster.com and Political Arithmetik fame, and Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project — have teamed together to conduct a series of polls for the Wispolitics.com empire, and their first effort has a surprising result: Barack Obama is up by double digits in the state.
Donna Shalala tapped for presidential honor
Miami Herald
University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala has been selected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian award.
A White House statement announcing the honor called Shalala one of the nation’s “most distinguished educators and public officials.”
Crop planting behind schedule (Sussex, WI Sun)
Quoted: Shawn Conley, a state soybean and small-bean specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Obama visits as poll shows double-digit lead in state
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
At the outset of a fierce campaign debate over jobs and taxes, Barack Obama returns today to Wisconsin, a blue-collar swing state that gave him one of his broadest victories in the Democratic primaries and where the political climate now tilts markedly in his favor, according to a new poll.
Likely voters in Wisconsin are overwhelmingly sour about President Bush, the Iraq war and where the country is headed, according to the poll, conducted Sunday to Tuesday by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s political science department and Wispolitics.com.
High school completion grads get inspiring words of wisdom
Capital Times
Pedro Reyes, the associate vice chancellor for academic planning and assessment at the University of Texas in Austin, was in Madison Tuesday night to give the commencement address for the 16th annual high school completion recognition ceremony at Madison Area Technical College.
He addressed a group of about 450 graduates and their friends and families during a standing-room-only commencement ceremony in the Mitby Theatre at the Truax campus.
….Reyes, who studied English for two semesters at MATC before transferring to UW-Madison, where he eventually earned his Ph.D., said he came to Madison without knowing one word of English.
Cheaper fares, non-stop flights lure passengers away from Madison
Capital Times
For UW-Madison engineering Professor John Scharer, a visit from his daughter who lives in New York usually means a drive east on Interstate 94 to Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport.
It’s nothing against the Dane County Regional Airport. Scharer simply can’t justify the additional cost of the plane tickets to Madison.
….UW professor Scharer hasn’t yet flown out of Rockford but does check the fares online, searching for a deal. In addition to visits from family, Sharer also travels for work and doesn’t like to waste precious research grant dollars on pricey airfares.
June Floods: Fewer Mosquitoes? (WTMJ-AM, Milwaukee)
WTMJ’s John Jagler chats with University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri about how the big floods we’ve seen could lessen the effect of mosquitoes this summer.
Mike Lucas: Nayes happy to do dirty work for UW football program
Capital Times
Being one of the handlers for a buffalo — Ralphie, the University of Colorado mascot — sounded like a much dirtier job than being a parking attendant at Fenway Park or a beer vendor at Wrigley Field. Especially if Ralphie was on an all-bran diet. “We start running and she starts pooping,” Adam Gregory, the handler, told the Sporting News. “And I’m behind her, just trying to hold on and keep up. And it’s flying everywhere; all over my face, my clothes, everything.”
That’s not dirty, that’s downright nasty, and it has to rank near the top — or the bottom — of the Sporting News’ list of dirty jobs, which included being an NHL enforcer, a NASCAR tire man, an NBA stopper, an NFL wedge buster, and a Major League catcher for a knuckleball pitcher.
There were a few other entries on the list, which appeared in the May 26 issue, not the least of which was being the director of football operations at the University of Wisconsin.
Two-way traffic experiment on Gilman Street rejected
Capital Times
Concerns about pedestrian safety helped convince members of Madison’s Public Safety Review Board to vote unanimously to reject making part of Gilman Street near State Street a two-way road temporarily.
The 400 block of West Gilman Street, which includes several residential buildings and commercial businesses such as Amy’s Cafe, Laundry 101 and Yummy Buffet, is currently a one-way street, but the resolution rejected by the panel calls for a pilot project that would test the street as a two-way for 120 days, with an additional traffic light regulating cars turning onto University Avenue.
Uncommon practice: Research says virtual colonoscopies are just as good
Capital Times
Dr. Perry Pickhardt still finds it a bit shocking that more patients can’t make use of his research.
Almost five years ago, he arrived at the UW Hospital and Clinics radiology department from the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, bringing with him extensive work on what was then a relatively new screening procedure called virtual colonoscopy.
Success on dry ground
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gwen Jorgensen knows she is fortunate.
Right off the bat, the University of Wisconsin junior acknowledges that God has given her athletic gifts. And itâ??s not too long before she sings the praises of Badgers coach Jim Stintzi and throws some love to her teammates, who she says welcomed her with open arms and pushed her to be better.
Wisconsinâ??s latest running protégé is right on the money in that regard: One doesnâ??t come as far as she has as fast as she has all by herself.
In the span of about 15 months, the Waukesha South graduate has gone from being an average swimmer for the Badgers to an NCAA qualifier for the UW track team in the 5,000 meters. Tonight, sheâ??ll run in the semifinals of her event on the first day of the Division 1 national outdoor meet, which runs through Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Full court press: UW senior serves as translator for Bucks’ Yi Jianlian
Capital Times
Matt Beyer is the first to admit he’s catching his breath just a bit as he wraps up a whirlwind senior year at UW-Madison.
“I’m not going to lie, it was really intense,” said Beyer, who is taking two courses this summer to complete his undergraduate degree. “When the year was over, I felt a little burned out.” A little burned out?
Not only was Beyer putting the finishing touches on a triple major of Chinese, East Asian studies and journalism, but from October through April he served as the interpreter for Milwaukee Bucks 7-footer Yi Jianlian, a rookie from China.
Catching up with Brian Butch
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The next two and a half weeks are going to be very busy for Brian Butch.
The NBA hopeful and former University of Wisconsin big man has a handful of workouts scheduled for NBA teams. His first one was last Friday in Boston where he was part of a six-man workout that included Indiana’s D.J. White, Louisville’s David Padgett, Alabama-Birmingham’s Robert Vaden, Rhode Island’s Will Daniels and Western Kentucky’s Courtney Lee.
Swollen by rain, Lake Delton nearly empties, wrecking homes, damaging tourism hopes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison geography professor Jim Knox
Dear Wisconsin: Thank you. Sincerely, UNLV
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nevada has mandated budget cuts, but thanks in part to Wisconsin fans, UNLV’s athletic teams aren’t as bad off as others around the state.
According to a story in the Las Vegas Sun, “ticket revenue for UNLV football increased 114 percent this past season â?? largely as a result of a home game with Wisconsin, for which Badgers fans bought thousands of UNLV season tickets.”
Ex-Badger Anderson loving life in WNBA
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Life is great for Jolene Anderson.
It’s Sunday afternoon and the former University of Wisconsin standout is standing outside the Connecticut Sun locker room she shares with some of the best players in the WNBA. Among those shuffling in and out of the cramped quarters at the UIC Pavilion are Lindsay Whalen, one of the league’s top point guards, and forward Asjha Jones, a reigning all-star.