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Author: jnweaver

Editorial: More details needed

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If a University of Wisconsin professor submitted research for peer review as skimpy on detail and supporting numbers as a recent study by the UW-Waukesha Study Group, it is doubtful that the research would ever see the light of day. University officials need to provide the assumptions and a breakdown of their numbers if they want to quiet critics and allay suspicions that the real purpose of the study was to quash a proposal to merge the four-year UW-Milwaukee with the two-year UW-Waukesha.

Some students defend professor’s remarks

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Capital Times

A student who is in Professor Leonard Kaplan’s legal process class questions the accuracy of the quotes distributed in an e-mail complaining of his characterization of the Hmong.

Nicole Vadjunec, a second-year law student, said the main point of the Feb. 15 class discussion was how Wisconsin government has failed to bring the Hmong and Wisconsin cultures together.

Hmong wonder: How could law professor make such remarks?

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Capital Times

Peng Her wonders how a man as educated as University of Wisconsin law Professor Leonard Kaplan could have been ignorant enough to make the ethnic slurs Hmong students have reported.

What’s more, Kaplan is a tenured professor at the Law School, prized for its nationally recognized diversity, he noted.

“We’re trying to figure out why he would say things that would jeopardize his career and the university’s reputation,” said Her, a local business owner and Hmong activist.

Bringing out Chekhov’s humanity

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Capital Times

This Van Gogh has two ears. Two big, floppy ears. He’s not an artist, but a dog, a 4-year-old, 75-pound mix of Labrador retriever and Chesapeake Bay retriever.

Van Gogh is also the constant companion of James Bohnen, the former teacher and actor who is directing the University Theatre’s current production of Anton Chekhov’s classic play “Three Sisters.”

WHA history on the air

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Capital Times

At noon every weekday, Randall Davidson comes on the air on WHA/AM 970 and gives the Wisconsin Public Radio statewide weather forecast. It sounds like a little thing, and it is.

But it’s also a big thing. Because the weather was the first thing ever heard on WHA/AM back when it started in 1921. And, for a while, it was the only thing.

U.S. must return land seized in 1877 to Lakota (Contra Costa, Calif. Times)

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Contra Costa Times

A column by Ned Blackhawk says today is a sad day in American-Indian — and American — history.

On that day 130 years ago, the federal government broke its own laws and eventually used military force to seize illegally the once vast reservation homelands of Lakota communities known as the Black Hills. Blackhawk is associate professor of history and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Community groups help elderly function (UPI)

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United Press International

U.S. elderly adults who continuously participate in community groups are often spared losses in psychological well-being.

Individuals who were ongoing members of religious organizations in particular showed higher levels of personal growth than those who were not, according to an article published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

Emily Greenfield and Nadine Marks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison used survey data to track changes in respondents’ physical, psychological and social functioning over a five-year period.

Chryst talks about decision to remain at UW

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One week after turning down a lucrative offer to return to the National Football League as quarterbacks coach with the Dallas Cowboys and remain at the University of Wisconsin, Paul Chryst sounds at peace with his decision and eager to prepare for the 2007 season.

Carl Silverman: Professor says he was misunderstood, and I believe him

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Capital Times

Dear Editor:

….Given the political views of most UW Law School faculty and the propensity of minorities in Madison (Jews like me included) to play the bigotry card at the drop of a hat, I would suggest that the Hmong students might have mistaken a rhetorical device – citing contrary mistaken views in an effort to combat them – for a racist polemic.

Chia Youyee Vang: Professor should have known better

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: It is possible that Professor Leonard Kaplan may have been misunderstood. However, as a professor of Hmong and Southeast Asian history at UW-Milwaukee, I am troubled that someone of his status would use stereotypes about Hmong in such a manner in light of recent violent tragedies in the Wisconsin community.

Lue Thao: Hmong parents want apology, but offer olive branch to prof

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: We, the Hmong parents of Hmong students at UW-Madison, want to send you, Professor Leonard Kaplan, a message:

….We want you to respect us, Hmong people and culture as well as our sons and daughters as we respect you. Of course, your remarks not only made Hmongs and Hmong students mad and confused, it also devalued us as Hmong people living in the community and our sons and daughters as Hmong students at the university.

As a matter of fact, we need a truly public apology from you to us (Hmong), to the university who is your employer, and to the community at large that this is a mistake from your part and you will never again use any racial slur or misleading information about any minority group to illustrate your lecture in the class.

‘Economic Outlook’ speakers announced

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Capital Times

The UW-Madison School of Business has scheduled its semi-annual “Economic Outlook” briefing featuring four prominent economists for March 16 at the Fluno Center on campus.

For more than 40 years, the event has been helping business leaders and owners translate economic trends into competitive intelligence, the UW said in announcing the event.

The economists will explore factors impacting the economy such as oil prices, federal budget deficits, interest rates, employment outlook, and the war on terrorism.

UW patent income up to $49 million in 2005

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Capital Times

The University of Wisconsin-Madison saw its licensing income – done through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation – rise to $49.1 million in 2005 from $47.5 million in 2004, according to the latest annual report from the Association of University Technology Managers.

However, the UW dropped from third to fifth in the nation in licensing income.

Doug Moe: Ex-UW prof keeps busy in N.C.

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Capital Times

IF YOU’VE been wondering what acclaimed author and former UW-Madison professor Tim Tyson has been up to since returning to his native North Carolina a little over a year ago, the answer is he has been up to plenty.

Tyson, who taught African-American studies on the Madison campus for more than a decade, is probably best known as author of the 2004 book “Blood Done Sign My Name.”

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Hmong students demand apology from Wisconsin law prof (AP)

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Star Tribune

Hmong students are demanding that a University of Wisconsin law professor publicly apologize for remarks they consider offensive and that the law school show a greater commitment to diversity.

In a statement late Sunday, the students asked law school administrators to take several steps in response to remarks professor Leonard Kaplan made during a Feb. 15 lecture to his legal process class.

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Assault is not normal, just ordinary (Duke Chronicle)

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Chronicle of Higher Education

A column by Timothy Tyson says:

My first job after getting my Duke Ph.D. was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I taught for 10 years. Wisconsin is the un-Duke: a public school in the Midwest with 40,000 students. But this matter of women getting sexually assaulted by classmates did not change. It was not just a Duke thing.

One of my students at Madison was raped by a highly touted running back and one of his friends. She had dated him before. She let the two men into her apartment. The violence that followed seared her soul. I walked her to classes for two weeks afterward because she was afraid to leave home. The district attorney thought it was “too confusing” to prosecute. I watched her recover, graduate, complete her doctorate and land job offers at major universities across the country. But her pain is still there, eight years later. Not that it matters, but so is mine.

Universities log record fundraising year (AP)

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Prosperous alumni helped make 2006 a record fundraising year for colleges and universities, which hauled in an all-time high of $28 billion – a 9.4 percent jump from the year before. Among public universities, the University of Wisconsin-Madison raised the most money with $326 million, making it No. 10 on the list of top fundraisers.

UW computer programming team heads to Tokyo

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www.wisbusiness.com

One of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s computer programming teams will travel to Tokyo for the world finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest in March.

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Badgers-OSU draws top TV ratings

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin’s men’s basketball game Sunday at Ohio State delivered the highest national overnight rating for any basketball game carried this season on CBS-TV.

When the game was played, the Badgers were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches’ poll, while the Buckeyes were No. 2 in the AP but No. 1 in the coaches’ poll.

Badgers regrouping after two tough losses

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Now the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team must pick up the pieces.

The Big Ten regular season championship is out of reach. The Badgers’ premium positioning for the NCAA tournament has been jeopardized. And Brian Butch, their starting power forward, is out four to six weeks with a dislocated elbow.

A lot has happened in a week.

Scientist offers a hurricane warning

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Capital Times

The increasing intensity of hurricanes hitting the U.S. is partly driven by global warming, and the ferocity of storms to come is likely to increase as surface temperatures of the ocean rise, says a noted scientist visiting UW-Madison.

“The effects of global warming do not only concern scientists,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Kerry Emanuel told an audience at a public lecture Thursday. “I want to put this issue into a societal context.”

Badgers ned to take lessons of defeat to heart

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Hard to believe, but here in Big Ten country we tend to get a little provincial and maybe a little too close to our own for the sake of critical analysis. Just as there was a lesson somewhere in that whole Ohio State-Michigan football debate a couple of months ago, the Ohio State-Wisconsin basketball question should also present a vigorous discussion here at the approach of the madness of March.

AP classes face scrutiny in audit

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Pressured by colleges and universities with similar stories, the College Board is launching its first major oversight effort of the popular advanced placement courses this year. By fall, the organization responsible for the AP program and its associated tests expects to have reviewed detailed descriptions of what’s being taught in about 120,000 courses throughout the world bearing the AP label.

This one really hurts

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kammron Taylor could barely speak and, to be honest, he looked exhausted.

About 30 minutes earlier, the University of Wisconsin senior’s shot at being a hero and a Big Ten champion were rejected by Ohio State’s Ron Lewis, allowing the Buckeyes to preserve a 49-48 victory, claim a second straight regular-season conference title and cause yet another set of fans to rush the floor after a victory over the Badgers.

Can Badgers stay at the top?

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Capital Times

There’s nobody hotter in the world of college athletics these days than the University of Florida, the reigning national champion in both football and men’s basketball.

To suggest the University of Wisconsin could equal that unprecedented feat at some point would be incredibly premature. That said, a short list of programs that could pull it off would have to include the Badgers, at least if the magical ride they’re on now is any indication.

Kenneth E. Hitzke: Athletic Board not living in real world

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: It has been reported the UW football coach has been given a $550,000 increase in salary after his first year at Wisconsin. That amounts to a 73 percent addition for winning 12 football games and losing one. This record was very commendable even though it was a relatively easy schedule.

It would be interesting to compare this increase to the proposed raise of 3 percent for thousands of citizens in the Wisconsin Retirement System or the 2-3 percent raise in Social Security benefits for millions of people.

Confusion in the court: Hard-working Judge Shabaz shows signs of slipping

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Capital Times

During his tenure on the federal bench, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz has forged a reputation for being in complete control of his courtroom.

While criticized for dealing out harsh sentences, he’s known for his keenness of mind, his unparalleled work ethic, his ability to get to the core of an issue. But some attorneys say Shabaz’s legendary capabilities are not always evident now, his intimidating presence diminished.

….A UW legal scholar, who also spoke to The Capital Times on the condition of anonymity because the scholar regularly writes recommendations for judicial clerkships, says if their observations are valid, the attorneys have reason for concern.

Mad for snacks

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Capital Times

“You buy, we fly.” That’s the motto of a new Madison business that caters to the late night whims of University of Wisconsin campus area residents.

Every night except Monday and Tuesday until as late as 4 a.m., Madtown Munchies delivers everything from soda and chips to cigarettes and condoms to an area between lakes Monona and Mendota from roughly Camp Randall Stadium on the west to James Madison Park on the east.

High court takes gay rights case (AP)

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Capital Times

The state Supreme Court said Wednesday it will take up a politically charged and complicated gay rights case.

The court said it will decide whether the city of Green Bay and other Wisconsin municipalities, including the town of Cottage Grove, can intervene in a lawsuit in which gay and lesbian state employees are seeking health insurance benefits for their partners.

UW professor accused of Hmong slurs

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Capital Times

Law students have accused University of Wisconsin Law Professor Leonard Kaplan of making statements in class that denigrate Hmong people, leading to a public apology from the dean of the Law School at a meeting of more than 100 people.

According to the e-mail that organized the meeting Wednesday night, Kaplan told his legal process class that “Hmong men have no talent other than to kill,” and that second-generation Hmong become criminals, among other statements.

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UW research grants target reading, Ritalin (AP)

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Capital Times

The University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded seed money to eight major research projects Wednesday as part of a program to build interest in its new research institutes.

The proposals will receive a total of $3 million to tackle problems including detecting disease, producing human embryonic stem cells and improving reading among black children.

The research projects, selected from a pool that originally included 220 ideas, are designed to illustrate the interdisciplinary approach embodied by the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

Minnesotan: Tuition pact unfair (AP)

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Capital Times

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota lawmakers might insert themselves into a dispute over a tuition reciprocity agreement that has some Wisconsin students paying less to attend Minnesota universities than their home-state classmates.

A House higher education panel heard testimony Wednesday on a proposal to raise Wisconsin students’ tuition rates to Minnesota levels by fall 2008. Under the reciprocity pact, a Wisconsin student pays about $2,000 less a year to attend the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.

Author’s love of buildings inspires frat house break-in

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Capital Times

The last time she was in Madison, Sarah Vowell said she used her 10 free minutes to get someone to drive her to the Frank Lloyd Wright Unitarian Meeting House.

It was closed but there were two older women outside working on a project, the author said.Vowell tells the story of bolting past them, yelling “Architectural enthusiast passing through town!” She then looked around the sanctuary for a few seconds and sprinted back out.

“Today, I broke into a frat house,” Vowell, 37, told a nearly full audience of UW-Madison students and others during her Distinguished Lecture Series talk at the Union Theater Wednesday night.

17 pols urge AG to rule on UW admissions policy (AP)

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Capital Times

Seventeen legislators want the state attorney general to offer a legal opinion on whether a new University of Wisconsin admissions policy violates a 1973 law that says race and certain other factors can’t be used as a test for admission of students.

UW regents recently voted to adopt a new freshman admissions policy that requires officials to consider nonacademic factors such as race and income to increase diversity, although they first must consider academic factors.

Michelle A. Behnke: Admissions worries miss larger picture

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: I note that the concerns expressed regarding the University of Wisconsin admission policy never recognize a central fact. More high school graduates are seeking college admission. Not just in Wisconsin but across the country. So the competition to get into the college of your choice is greater.

If students from the majority are not accepted at the UW campus of their choice, it has far more to do with the number of other applicants from the majority culture than it has to do with the UW considering additional factors in its admission policy.

College basketball: Big Ten, officials working through glitches of new timing system

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Capital Times

If you’ve watched many Big Ten Conference basketball games this season, you’ve seen more stoppages because of problems with the clock than in the last five seasons combined.

It’s not because there’s an epidemic afflicting the clock operators at each conference school. It’s because of a new timing operation put in place at each Big Ten arena called Precision Time Systems.

Nikolais’ dances in tune with Wisconsin Idea

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Capital Times

As choreographer Alwin Nikolais traveled through life, debris and ideas stuck to him like a dancing bear drenched in honey. He would pick off the best fragments and shape them into what he called total dance theater. He would roar musically, creating his own funky, jazzy electronic music scores.

….The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company will present a multimedia dance concert of Nikolais’ works at 8 p.m. Friday in the Wisconsin Union Theater.

….It is also a celebration of the pioneering UW-Madison dance program’s 80th anniversary. The UW’s connection to Nikolais has several important threads.

UW men’s basketball: Spartans offer rude introduction to new No. 1

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Capital Times

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The giddiness of finally attaining the No. 1 ranking in the country followed by the sucker-punched feeling 24 hours later from losing a game and seeing the Big Ten Conference title slipping away certainly tests Bo Ryan’s order of staying on an even keel.

But amidst the rubble of the top-ranked Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s 64-55 loss to upstart Michigan State at an electrified Breslin Center Tuesday night, the Badgers were focusing only on fixing what ails them by the time they face Ohio State Sunday afternoon in Columbus.

UW football: Chryst to stay with Badgers

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Capital Times

Paul Chryst acknowledged during an interview a few months ago that he was perfectly content in his current role as an assistant coach with the University of Wisconsin football team.

“I love doing what I’m doing and I’m fortunate to be at a great place working with great people,” he told The Capital Times in mid-November. “The best way you can be appreciative is to do your job, and that’s where I’m at and I love it. I’ve got a pretty good gig going.”

That helps explain why Chryst turned down an offer to be the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach in order to remain at his alma mater.

Music companies target colleges in latest crackdown (AP)

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Capital Times

WASHINGTON (AP) – Cracking down on college students, the music industry is sending thousands more complaints to top universities this school year than it did last year as it targets music illegally downloaded over campus computer networks.

A few schools, including Ohio and Purdue universities, already have received more than 1,000 complaints accusing individual students since last fall — significant increases over the past school year. For students who are caught, punishments vary from e-mail warnings to semester-long suspensions from classes.

Hip-hop major, major hip-hop

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Capital Times

What is hip-hop theater?

The medium, which encompasses elements of spoken word, music and dance, is so new that even those who practice it have a hard time defining it. This spring, University of Wisconsin-Madison students will join with some of the top performers in the evolving art form to do just that.

“It’s so fresh and dynamic that the architects are just kind of figuring out what it is,” says Willie Ney, director of the UW Multicultural Arts Initiative.

2000 Badgers truly special

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As much as I’d like to see a computer geek match the ’57 Braves against the ’82 Brewers in this, the year of our consecrated gold/silver anniversaries, someone ought to program in the vitals of the 1999-2000 Wisconsin Badgers against their contemporary.

Now that would be a basketball game for the ages, the current No. 1 team in the country against the last UW team to make the Final Four. Although in the case of the latter, you might have to define the age: Stone, Bronze or Iron.

Shot from the top

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Not even the top-ranked team in the nation could overcome a finish like this.

One day after earning its first No. 1 ranking in school history, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team lost to Michigan State, 64-55, on Tuesday night on the strength of some tough defense and rebounding and the hot shooting of Drew Neitzel.

Hip surgery keeps boomers at top of their game

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Capital Times

Roy Prange was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 1996 – as the cartilage cushion between the bones in his hip joints began to break down.

….The Madison attorney, now 61, eventually had both hips replaced the first in 2001 and the second in 2002, at the University of Wisconsin Hospital.

These days, he has a lot of company. In the few years since Prange got his hips replaced, the surgeries to repair these joints have become increasingly popular in the Madison area.

We’re No. 1 – in other things, too

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Capital Times

With Wisconsin ascending to the top of the heap in men’s college basketball, it’s time to look at other No. 1 rankings attained by the Badger State.

….Beyond boosting the state with its basketball program, the University of Wisconsin has its own list of superlatives. For starters, it has more CEOs of Standard & Poor 500 companies than anywhere else.

The UW is also the school that “parties the heartiest,” according to Playboy magazine.

And, making sure no category is too specialized to brag about, the Financial Times says that Wisconsin has the best food and accommodations for executive education facilities in the country.

Believe it: Badgers are No. 1

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Capital Times

When Yoni Macagon heard the news, he went ballistic.

“I was at an airport in Dallas, and I just started going nuts,” he said. Ben Voelkel yelled across his apartment to his roommate, who was in the bathroom.”We sorta shared a moment there,” he said.

Nick Penzenstadler came to a sudden, shocking realization.”We are the big dogs,” he said. “We are Duke and North Carolina this year.”

Polls go bully for Bucky

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Finally, respect.

That was the sentiment of the man who started the ball rolling for not only the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program but the Badgers’ athletic department as a whole.

Pat Richter was at Mitchell International Airport on Monday afternoon when he first heard that the Badgers were the top-ranked team in the nation. It’s an accomplishment that few can truly appreciate more than the former UW athletic director can.

Chryst hasn’t made decision

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Paul Chryst watch continues.

In the last week the University of Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator has interviewed with the Dallas Cowboys for a vacant position on their staff and received a multiyear contract offer to remain with the Badgers, who finished in the top 10 of both major polls last season.

Yet according to sources, neither Dallas coach Wade Phillips nor UW coach Bret Bielema had learned of Chryst’s plans as of Monday.

The plot thickened Monday when the San Diego Chargers hired Norv Turner as head coach. Turner, who was the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator last season, worked with Chryst in San Diego for three seasons (1999-2001) and the two remain close.

Rob Zaleski: U.S. needs to invest in clean energy

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Capital Times

Jon Foley was a sixth-grader in Bangor, Maine when the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

Though he was just 11, Foley says he remembers how it was front-page news for days and how relieved everyone was when disaster was finally averted.

….Foley, director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, says he tends to believe nuclear experts when they say today’s nuclear plants are far safer than those built 30 years ago.

Millard Susman: Research advances can keep rural life sustainable

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Capital Times

It’s been just over 50 years since I first laid eyes on – and fell in love with – Wisconsin.

After the dull ride through bleak Illinois, my college buddy, Marty, and I entered the green, rolling, exuberant countryside of Wisconsin in its late spring glory and thought we had suddenly entered paradise. The prosperous-looking farms with their gleaming white houses, bulging Holsteins, just-emerging corn and carpets of new alfalfa quickly erased the gloom of Illinois.

Even the University of Wisconsin was a sort of bucolic haven.

UW prof’s research shows how kids learn by playing certain video games

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Capital Times

Nobody ever accused computer games of being too educational. The most that most players learn from hours in front of the gamepad is the best way to defeat a Strogg alien army or find the blue key that unlocks Level 17.

But professors at the UW are on the vanguard of research into the idea that computer game technology can be a powerful learning tool, one that could transform education as we know it.

Bill Hantke: Common sense needed to reject houses, protect Lake Wingra

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: After taking a few days to calm down and collect my thoughts, I still feel discouraged and disgusted after attending a recent Dane County Board of Adjustment meeting.

The community presented facts supported by the University of Wisconsin, the UW Arboretum, the DNR and the Arboretum Neighborhood Association. Some members of the board, however, seemed not to listen to the facts and instead proposed a motion in favor of granting two unwarranted variances.

The issue is the proposed granting of variances on two substandard-sized, wooded, shoreland lots in the Arboretum.

Nuclear comeback heats UW classroom

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Capital Times

The prospect of new nuclear power plants rising on the Wisconsin horizon sent sparks flying on the UW-Madison campus Friday.

UW engineering physics professor Michael Corradini irked many in the audience at Grainger Hall with his call for expanding nuclear energy, saying that concerns over safety and waste disposal have been overblown.

….”This is an industry that built two bombs that killed a lot of people and since then they have been trying to make something good out of it,” said Jim Pawley, a UW professor of zoology.

UW coordinates plan to keep Chryst

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Paul Chryst faces a clear but difficult decision.

Does he want to remain the University of Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator for the foreseeable future and make the college game his permanent home?

Or is a second stint in the National Football League, this time as quarterbacks coach of the Dallas Cowboys, more appealing and satisfying?

According to multiple sources, Chryst was scheduled to meet with UW coach Bret Bielema sometime Friday in Las Vegas, where the coaches are attending a clinic.