Author: jnweaver

Cora Marrett, the University of Wisconsin System’s chief academic officer, has been named to a post at the National Science Foundation.

Marrett will serve as assistant director of education and human resources at the foundation, UW System President Kevin Reilly has announced. Marrett, who is senior vice president for academic affairs, will lead the foundation’s efforts in science, technology, engineering and math education.

A Madison man was ordered to stand trial today in the vicious attack and attempted sexual assault of a woman at her Langdon Street apartment building.

Paul C. Aud, 33, was charged with kidnapping, attempted second-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor battery in the Aug. 23 attack.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will not recognize and fund the oldest and largest religious group on campus, for now, in a move that is sparking a debate over the separation of church and state.

A UW-Madison official told the UW Roman Catholic Foundation in an e-mail Friday that it had rejected its application to be a registered student organization because only three of its 12 board members are students.

The e-mail came just as a staff member of the Catholic group filed a complaint with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice alleging UW-Madison had discriminated against the religious group in a number of ways. The timing of the rejection and the complaint was called coincidental.

Although the school year has just begun, candidates are already jockeying for position in next spring’s School Board race, as longtime board member Ruth Robarts confirmed that she will not seek re-election.

….”This will make 10 years for me. I’ve done my service,” said Robarts, who is dean of students for the University of Wisconsin Law School.

A popular diversity resource center and the gay and lesbian student center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are in danger of losing their student funding.

This spring, Chancellor John Wiley sent a memo to the panel that disperses student funding, stating that only registered student organizations can receive student fees. That panel, the Student Services Finance Committee, wrote those rules into its bylaws.

Several programs, including the Diversity Education Program and the LGBT Campus Center, have received student funds but are not registered student organizations. That’s because they are run by professionals who work for the university, not students.

A 23-year-old woman avoided sexual assault by screaming and kicking her attacker. The scuffle knocked off the assailant’s glasses and forced him to flee, leaving behind the glasses and a portion of his shirt, which the woman clutched in her hand.

The glasses and the shred of shirt, along with a cigarette discarded during a police interview, provided DNA evidence that linked 33-year-old Paul C. Aud to the Aug. 23 attack at the woman’s Langdon Street apartment building.

Aud was charged Monday with kidnapping, attempted second-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor battery.

The rock band Tool has cancelled its performance scheduled for tonight at the Kohl Center, due to one of the band members falling ill. The concert will not be rescheduled, promoters said.

CAMPUS NOTEBOOK: A plan that would convert hundreds of University of Wisconsin-Madison limited-term employees to permanent status is heading toward ratification.

Under the plan, workers in about 40 percent of UW-Madison’s approximately 1,300 limited-term positions would see their pay raised. Many make about $7.50 an hour, and the UW would raise their pay to the city’s living wage level, currently $10.23 per hour, by July 2007.

About 500 limited-term jobs would be converted to permanent status over six years, estimated Darrell Bazzell, vice chancellor for administration.

Cell phone drive: The University of Wisconsin-Madison is organizing a used cellular phone drive to benefit victims of dating and domestic violence….