Skip to main content

Author: jnweaver

Vendors pay thousands to meet with university officials

Posted on
Capital Times

Two key UW-Madison officials attended a conference at a New Mexico resort where vendors who paid large fees were promised one-on-one meetings with university, school and hospital officials who attended.

Vendors participating in the “Sustainable Operations Summit” in June each paid $18,500 to event organizer CraigMichaels Inc. for 15 one-on-one sales meetings with officials at the summit, or $25,500 if the vendor sent two representatives to each meet with 15 people, according to the event organizer.

The higher-ranking UW official who attended denied knowing about the fees, but Mike McCabe, executive director of the government watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said the practice appeared to be “a dire sign of the times. The university should resist a temptation to act the way people at the State Capitol act. That people can pay to get a higher degree of access to you is dead wrong.”

Doug Moe:

Posted on
Capital Times

….I WONDER if John Szarkowski, the noted photographer and photography curator who died over the weekend at 81, knew that one of his photos was indirectly responsible for a book that has become a cult classic.

Szarkowski, who was curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 19 years, had deep Wisconsin ties. (In an appreciation Monday in the New York Times, Verlyn Klinkenborg began: “It’s worth remembering how much Wisconsin there was in the voice of John Szarkowski.”) A native of Ashland, Szarkowski had most recently spent a semester in 2000 teaching at UW-Madison.

Expectations rise with Phoenix as Tucker debuts

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Alando Tucker can barely hide his excitement about playing with the Phoenix Suns.

The former University of Wisconsin star is getting his first taste of the pro game in the National Basketball Association Summer League this week, playing alongside Marcus Banks, fellow rookie D.J. Strawberry and Pape Sow.

Editorial: A tax credit that works

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

But angel tax credits work. They help the state’s smallest, newest companies, not multinationals that shouldn’t get assistance. It’s shortsighted not to expand what, frankly, was a fairly meager effort to begin with.

Angel investors are a key link in the chain of capital that pulls good ideas into the real world – good ideas like those being honed in that little corner of the airport in Racine.

Assembly approves pinching taxes

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Republican-run Assembly passed a budget late Tuesday that avoids tax increases by funding education, the University of Wisconsin System and local governments with much less than what Democratic legislators insist is needed to protect programs for two years.

Clay report premature

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One day after the Journal Sentinel reported that tailback John Clay would not be academically eligible to play for the University of Wisconsin as a freshman in 2007, UW coach Bret Bielema insisted that the status of his recruit was not finalized.

Fund program changes leaders

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A new Mark is about to be stamped on the Applied Security Analysis Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.

Mark Fedenia is stepping down after 21 years at the helm of the nationally known program that has graduate students managing a portfolio of more than $44 million in university money.

Replacing him as just the fourth director in the 37-year history of the program is Mark Ready. Both are to remain professors in the business school.

Posted in Uncategorized

Dirt boosts prion disease, study says

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Prions and dirt can make a sickening combination.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that when prions, the abnormal proteins believed to cause chronic wasting disease in deer, are bound to common soil minerals, they become nearly 700 times more infectious than prions alone.

Mike Lucas: Badgers might be missing their two ‘big gets’ in 2007

Posted on
Capital Times

Josh Oglesby and John Clay were the bluest of blue chips in a state more widely known nationally for producing cow chips than football players. As such, they were two of the most decorated and heavily recruited high school players in Wisconsin history.

….Yet, in a twist of fate and circumstance, it’s possible that neither Oglesby, by design, nor Clay, by default, may step on the field this season for the Badgers.

Police investigation continues at Oregon crime scene

Posted on
Capital Times

Investigators today continued the painstaking work of analyzing a wooded area where the probable remains of Kelly Nolan were found Monday morning.

“They’ll have a team of police officers and detectives who are literally going to be on their hands and knees, going shoulder to shoulder, going through a grassy area near the woods,” Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said today.

Coroner’s officials have yet to make a positive identification of the body found on private property off of Schneider Drive near its intersection with County MM north of Oregon. Indeed, as of this morning, police had yet to approach the body, for fear they might disturb valuable evidence in finding a suspect.

Doug Moe: Theater prof creates play on Milwaukee icon

Posted on
Capital Times

UW-MADISON assistant professor of theater Patrick Sims was on a stage in Utah Monday night, acting in “10 Perfect,” the one person show he wrote based on the life of James Cameron, who survived a lynching as a young man and later founded America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee.

The play — which had a reading at the Madison Rep last November — was scheduled for performances Monday night and July 16 at the Caine Lyric Theatre in Logan, Utah. Sims, who last spring starred in the Madison Rep’s production of “Home,” is working this summer with the Old Lyric Repertory Company in Logan. “10 Perfect” is being directed by UW-Madison grad student and adjunct theater instructor Sheri Williams Pannell.

Clay fails to make grade

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin football fans eager to see heralded tailback John Clay line up in the UW backfield will have to wait until the 2008 season.

Clay, a former all-state performer for Racine Park High School and a key member of the UW’s 2007 freshman class, has failed to meet the NCAA’s minimum academic eligibility standards and won’t be allowed to play this season.

Assembly GOP would expand choice, cut UW

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Republican plan would fund the University of Wisconsin System by $96 million less over two years than what Democrats sought. The plan would limit UW tuition increases to 4% a year through the 2010-’11 school year.

Bruce Jones: UW should fix error, bring back baseball

Posted on
Capital Times

Dear Editor: I enjoyed Dave Zweifel’s recent comments regarding University of Wisconsin baseball. I too think a mistake was made back in 1991 and now is the time to right this wrong.

The elimination of baseball and other sports was justified because the budget needed to be balanced. Well, the budget has now been balanced. (Even though coaches and administrators are being paid salaries well above those being paid back in the early 1990s.)

So the time is right for bring these sports back to UW.

WisconsinEye Network ready for launch

Posted on
Capital Times

After nearly eight years of preparations, the all-government digital cable channel WisconsinEye is set to go live on Tuesday.

The network, which will be carried on Time Warner and Charter digital cable channels reaching about 500,000 homes statewide, will carry live coverage of the state Assembly’s floor debate on the state budget. The debate is scheduled to start at noon, but legislative sessions are often plagued with delays.

Update: Body found near Oregon; cops wait on ID

Posted on
Capital Times

The search for a missing 22-year-old woman from Waunakee came to what may be a tragic end this morning outside the village of Oregon when police found a body during a search for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan.

Police are treating the case as a homicide.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said at a news conference this morning that there is no positive identification yet that the body is that of Nolan, who has been missing since June 23, but the remains were found during a massive search for her on private property near a quarry northeast of Schuster Road, which forms the eastern boundary of the village.

UW tuition is still up in air (AP)

Posted on
Capital Times

University of Wisconsin System students will have to wait until next month to find out how much their tuition for the coming academic year will cost.

The UW System Board of Regents announced Friday it will delay a decision on tuition increases from next week until early August because of uncertainty surrounding the state budget.

The regents said they are shooting for a 3.3 percent increase, which would boost tuition by $198 at UW-Madison and $150 at most other campuses. But they said the increase could grow if lawmakers do not fully fund raises for faculty and staff or if they cut funding in other parts of the system budget.

Innovator fears U.S. losing edge

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Story mentions that the University of Wisconsin-Madison, home to the state’s largest engineering school, graduated 104 mechanical engineers this year, down from more than 140 in previous years.

Posted in Uncategorized

UW-Madison student known for volunteerism

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison just months away, Andrea Sperka had reached a decision on her future after college while studying abroad this past spring in Cape Town, South Africa, her mother, Carol Sperka, said Sunday.

“She was going to tell us all the stuff she had decided on when she got home” in the next few weeks, Carol Sperka said. “She was going to tell me where she was headed, but we didn’t get that far.”

That conversation with her parents never occurred, because Sperka was killed in a car crash on July 1 in Botswana.

Neutron stars show their power, efficiency

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Scientists have known for decades that black holes produce powerful jets of plasma, releasing energy into the universe at nearly the speed of light and fueling the formation of interstellar objects.

Now, a new observation suggests that neutron stars, a smaller cousin of black holes, can produce relatively strong jets that rival black holes in power and efficiency.

“This is the first time it has been shown how powerful these outflows from neutron stars can be,” said Sebastian Heinz, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

U.S. U-21 Women’s team wins the gold medal

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The United States turned back Australia, 96-73, to win the gold medal at the FIBA U-21 Women’s World Championship in Moscow. Crystal Langhorne finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the U.S.

University of Wisconsin star Jolene Anderson scored 14 points in 26 minutes for the Americans (8-0).

Fight clubs: Madison’s medieval re-enactors revel in combat with swords and armor

Posted on
Capital Times

Amid the modern, austere buildings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, something peculiar and esoteric is taking place at the Stock Pavilion.

On the front steps, two women dance in tandem to the sounds of the Middle East, their chain belts emphasizing the sinuous gyrations of their hips.

Through the open doors of the pavilion, a flash of metal beams into the evening air, followed by the sound of muted blows. Men and women clad in glittering armor rush at each other, rattan weapons at the ready.

Sam Harmet: Bryson climate view could foster inaction

Posted on
Capital Times

Dear Editor: In reading the recent article about retired Professor Reid Bryson, I couldn’t help but feel that Bryson is a rebel without a cause. Current science shows a consistent connection between atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and the amount of carbon dioxide that humans are putting into the atmosphere. The large majority of the scientific community is in agreement about the reality of global warming and the need for a concerted response.

What is most troubling about Professor Bryson’s position is that it encourages inaction.

UW scientists: Soil is key in CWD transmission

Posted on
Capital Times

UW-Madison researchers have found that the abnormal proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer dramatically increase their infectious nature when bound to soil particles.

A group of scientists led by Professor Judd Aiken published a study in the current issue of the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens stating that the proteins known as prions that cause CWD and other brain wasting diseases bind tightly to a common soil mineral.

Supremely qualified: UW grad and mom of 5 will clerk for Justice Stevens

Posted on
Capital Times

Cecelia Klingele decided the University of Wisconsin Law School was for her when she saw a diaper-changing table in the women’s bathroom.

That decision — along with a lot of help from her husband, her in-laws and fellow students who are also parents — allowed the mother of five to achieve a record that earned her the honor of being chosen as a law clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the first UW Law School graduate in more than 65 years to earn the honor.

Thank bookworm Curtis for planting seeds (Green Bay Press-Gazette)

Posted on
Green Bay Press-Gazette

No matter where you spend your free time, one book worth owning is “The Vegetation of Wisconsin” by John T. Curtis, a University of Wisconsin botanist who died 46 years ago this weekend â?? July 7, 1961, to be exact.

Curtis compiled incredible amounts of information about our native plants and plant communities in his brief career and relatively short age. Fortunately for us, he understood the value of documenting and cataloging his observations so those who follow might benefit from his labors.

Carlisle schools pay $1 for wildcat logo (Des Moines Register.com)

Posted on

Just as the Waukee school district begins scraping the “W” from gym floors and ball field signs, the Carlisle school district got the green light to let its wildcat roam free.

Well, almost free.

The Carlisle schools will have to pay Kansas State University $1 to use the Manhattan, Kan., school’s wildcat logo for the next three years.

Kansas State’s decision to allow the Warren County school district to use its logo is a far cry from the troubles Waukee, a Dallas County school district, faced when dealing with the University of Wisconsin at Madison and its “W.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Building the campaign to ‘Help Find Kelly Nolan’ (Isthmus)

Posted on
Isthmus

The search for Kelly Nolan, a UW-Whitewater student who was last seen downtown in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 23, is widening each day. Utilizing Facebook, a blanket of fliers around the city, and a swell of national media attention, the family and friends of the 22-year-old woman persist in their search and efforts. Their latest tool is a blog, helpfindkelly.org, through which they are tracking the search and offering background information, photos, and flyers for persons looking to help.

Study suggests changes in UW administration (Wisconsin Radio Network)

Posted on
Wisconsin Radio Network

A new report suggests changed are needed in how the UW System is managed.

The study conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank, examined the UW System over the past 35 years. Coordinator Tom Fletemeyer says an outdated administration is preventing the System from reaching its full potential, largely because the UW has become too decentralized in its management. As a result, issues are difficult to address because too many people are involved.

Tearful plea from mother of missing co-ed (Wisconsin Radio Network)

Posted on
Wisconsin Radio Network

Twenty-two year old Kelly Nolan disappeared from downtown Madison nearly two weeks ago after a night out with friends.

Her mother, Mary Jane Nolan has been searching. She’s also been recruiting. Trying to get anyone who will listen to be on the look out for her daughter. She says it could be their daughter and hopefully will think what they would do.

Literacy council students illuminate health care challenges (Oshkosh Northwestern)

Posted on

A new state study reveals that limited literacy skills can affect one’s health care.

The study, conducted with the assistance of the Winnebago County Literacy Council and other state literacy organizations, found that people with limited literacy could not take full advantage of the health care system.

“They can’t understand doctor’s instructions and prescriptions and have challenges filling out medical forms,” said Paul Smith, Associate Professor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Family Medicine.

Tapping into the Brain of Generation Y (American Venture Magazine)

Posted on

BrainReactions provides teams of trained, Generation Y idea-makers who are professionals in structured brainstorming sessions that on average provide 700 ideas per two-hour session, or an idea every 15 seconds.

The company, which is self-financed and currently running off its earnings, employs 10 people and names Bank of America, BMW and the U.S. Peace Corps as clients. The company was founded in 2004 by Anand Chhatpar, himself of Generation Y, who started the company in his senior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thomas Underwood: Cable lineup needs Big Ten Network

Posted on
Capital Times

Dear Editor: In this day and age, you can pretty much watch anything on cable TV. We have a seemingly endless menu of generic national programming from outdoor and food channels to old movies, home repair, and ESPN for national sports.

But where does the average dyed-in-the-wool, Bucky-red Badger fan go for all his or her games? Sure we’ve had limited public TV coverage, but what about a dedicated Big Ten channel on cable? Seriously, is that so much to ask?

Think tank: UW, system should split

Posted on
Capital Times

A conservative Milwaukee-based “free market” think tank recommended today that the UW-Madison should be broken off from the University of Wisconsin System, which should also be reorganized to create clearer lines of management authority.

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute says that in the 35 years since the former University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin State University systems were merged, the result has become “an outdated, inefficient management structure.”

Wisconsin woman’s disappearance remains a mystery

Posted on
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Was Kelly Nolan kidnapped? Is she lost, hurt, or worse? Or did she just walk away and not look back? All anyone knows for sure is the 22-year-old college student has been missing for a week and a half, and Madison detectives have been unable to pick up her trail.

“Under most circumstances, I’d be less hopeful, but if you knew Kelly, she’s just a really tough girl. That girl, I’m sure she’s out there. I’m sure she can be found,” said Nolan’s co-worker, Megan Janeway.

….Janeway said Nolan “was always up for a good time, like any other college student.”

Review: Essays can’t fully capture Elaine Marks

Posted on
Capital Times

For those of us who were fortunate enough to know her, to study and work with her, the late University of Wisconsin professor Elaine Marks was a never-ending source of insight and joy.

….Just why Elaine (1930-2001) still lingers can be found in a new book, a collection of a dozen essays written in tribute to Elaine and ably edited by her UW colleague Richard E. Goodkin and published by the UW Press.

….I suppose I feel sorry for the people whose paths never crossed Elaine’s, which is why I wish this volume would reach a more general public, particularly at a time when that public needs to know a lot more about the day-to-day life of university professors, intellectuals and the life of the mind.

Altman, Africa and more on tap at UW-Cinematheque

Posted on
Capital Times

…for movie lovers who savored each of his films, great and small, for the way they used improvised dialogue, group dynamics and loose plotting to capture the chaos of modern life, (Robert) Altman’s passing felt pretty close to a tragedy. Which is why it’s gratifying that the UW-Cinematheque, the free on-campus film series, is featuring four of his 1970s films as part of its summer schedule.

The summer series, which screens at 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave., on Thursday and Friday nights in July, also features a four-film series of award-winning African films.

Corporate subsidy oversight urged

Posted on
Capital Times

To better monitor state subsidies to corporations, a UW-Madison think tank is calling for a searchable database to track whether those monies actually benefit the Wisconsin economy.

Patterned after a system recently implemented in Illinois, the database would include how much companies pay in state taxes, how much business they do in the state and how much financial help they get.

UW women’s basketball: Trip Down Under will give Badgers a head start

Posted on
Capital Times

Taking a foreign trip less than two months before official practice begins will be a luxury for the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team.

The Badgers embark Aug. 16 on an 11-day trip to Australia and New Zealand, and besides sightseeing junkets, they’ll also get a chance to play four games in the land Down Under.

Art of thanks: Grateful immigrants donate $1.5M Chinese collection to UW’s Chazen

Posted on
Capital Times

To immigrants Simon and Rosemary Chen, donating their $1.5 million collection of modern Chinese art to the University of Wisconsin’s Chazen Museum seemed a simple act of loyalty, fairness and gratitude.

“We like America, and we like Madison,” says Simon, a UW alumnus and successful entrepreneur who is 83 and about to retire in the coming weeks. “We got everything here, our education and our kids. We immigrated, and we want to be a part of the USA.”

Missing woman’s family offers reward

Posted on
Capital Times

Buoyed by information from Madison detectives, the family of Kelly Nolan announced Tuesday they were offering a reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

“We’re here with hope and optimism,” Nolan’s mother, Mary Jane Nolan, said at a press conference Tuesday on Library Mall near the UW campus.

Scientists join stem cell patent debate (AP)

Posted on
Capital Times

Some high-profile scientists have jumped into the fight over the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s stem cell patents, supporting the effort to have them revoked.

The California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and others are challenging patents that cover discoveries by UW researcher Jamie Thomson, who was the first to grow and isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998….Competing scientists have jumped into the fray.

Secrets of mother-of-pearl are sought (UPI)

Posted on
United Press International

U.S. scientists are studying the remarkable shiny material known as mother-of-pearl in an effort to harness its simplicity and superb strength.

University of Wisconsin-Madison physicists said while the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized in jewelry, mother-of-pearl — also called nacre — is 3,000 times more fracture-resistant than the mineral it is made of, aragonite.

Campus Vanishing: Where Is Kelly Nolan? (ABC News)

Posted on
ABCNEWS.com

More than 10 days after a 22-year-old college student went missing, police continue to search for the woman who virtually vanished from a downtown campus.

Kelly Nolan, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student who was planning to take advantage of part-time job opportunities at the university’s main campus in Madison this summer, was last seen in the early morning hours of June 23 in the downtown area.

Faker pays back town $9,000 (AP)

Posted on
Chicago Sun Times

The city’s most famous missing person has paid $9,000 in restitution for faking her own disappearance.

The sum covers only a portion of the $100,000 the Madison Police Department spent on its extensive search for Audrey Seiler.

Posted in Uncategorized

Funds raised for rabies study (Bangor, ME Daily News)

Posted on

Inspired by the love she has for her ill dog, a stay-at-home mother from rural Maine has raised enough funds to bankroll a major scientific study on how long rabies vaccines remain effective.

“These will be the first long-term challenge studies on the canine rabies vaccine to be published in the United States,” Kris Christine said this week. The research will be conducted at the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Early music fest focuses on composers from Low Countries

Posted on
Capital Times

Certain periods of art are forever linked to certain places. Renaissance art and Florence. Impressionism and Paris. Abstract Expressionism and New York. Some musicians think that the Flemish countries in the 15th and 16th centuries deserve a similar status for early music.

“One reason we chose this topic is that in the 1400s and 1500s, and even into the 1600s, almost every musical center in Europe was run by someone from the Low Countries,” says Madison soprano Cheryl Bensman Rowe, who co-directs the upcoming eighth annual Madison Early Music Festival with her husband, University of Wisconsin-Madison baritone Paul Rowe. The festival, which starts Saturday and runs through July 14, will specialize in “The Age of the Netherlanders.”

Jacob Stockinger: Time to broaden festival’s appeal?

Posted on
Capital Times

Is there a chance the Madison Early Music Festival might expand its public appeal by moving more into mainstream baroque music or even the early Classical period with famous and familiar names like Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert that might, in turn, attract a bigger public?

It’s possible but not likely, says a longtime festival participant who also serves as an artistic adviser to the festival’s board of directors.

Downtown bar crackdown: Some suspensions active during football season

Posted on
Capital Times

Five downtown and campus bars are being slapped with suspensions and fines tonight by the Madison City Council, a sobering reminder to all bars that if youth is served, penalties will follow.

Underaged drinking is the primary reason for the actions against Bull Feathers, 303 N. Henry St.; Kollege Klub, 529 N. Lake St.; Church Key Pub and Grill, 626 University Ave.; City Bar, 636 State St. and the Orpheum Theatre’s lobby bar, 216 State St., for incidents dating back to 2005 and 2006.