Quoted: Stephen Malpezzi, the University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who directs the School of Business real estate program.
Property values in state jump nearly 10%
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Author: jnweaver
Jayanthi Ganapathy: Why is UW bashed by its beneficiaries?
Capital Times
Dear Editor: As a faculty member at one of the UW System campuses, I am tired of the constant bashing of the UW System, mostly by people who have benefited from the affordable and valuable education the system has been offering for decades.
I do acknowledge that the system has its share of flaws like any large public institution, but do the Wisconsin public and the state politicians honestly believe that the flaws far outweigh the tangible and intangible benefits the state and its citizens realize from the system? Listening to them speak, it certainly appears to be so.
Dennis Schumacher: Union South needs selfless support
Capital Times
Dear Editor: Excellent article on Union South in Friday’s Capital Times. For those of us who work there, it was nice to hear the latest news about the future plans for this site.
The Wisconsin Union did a student survey three years ago to ask for input from the students about what they thought of the current Union South. The result was an opinion that the current building was cold, sterile and needed “more wood, more marble flooring and higher ceilings.” And a coffee shop, “like Starbucks.” The only thing they left out were crystal chandeliers. And they want someone else to pay for it.
Isn’t this indicative of society as well? We want first-rate schools for our kids, excellent roads for our SUVs, 75 cent-a-gallon gasoline. We just want someone else paying for it.
‘Political genius’ Lowell Jackson dies
Capital Times
Former state Transportation Secretary Lowell Jackson, who served under both Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus and Democrat Tony Earl during the 1970s and 1980s, has died at age 75.
Jackson, an engineering professor at UW-Extension, was part of the team of Republican insurgents who helped elect Dreyfus governor in 1978.
UW’s Landry, Stiemsma have come a long way since last season
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma, this will be a much-needed vacation.
The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team leaves Thursday for a 10-day tour of Italy that will include a visit to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and to Michelangelo’s David.
Rome and Florence are lovely at any time of year but it’s the five exhibition games the Badgers are scheduled to play that have Landry and Stiemsma excited. The two, who are expected to be key players for the team next season, haven’t played a game or traveled with their teammates since January, when both were declared academically ineligible for the second semester.
Outdoor crashers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The scene outside a pink brick house on Gorhman St. was a common one Monday afternoon near the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A wooden futon was perched on the front lawn, buried under piles of boxes and dishes. Bunk bed frames rested against the front porch. Garbage bags overflowing with clothes were strewn amid lamps naked of their shades.
UW urban ag day set for Saturday
Capital Times
As part of the Renew America Food Traditions program, visitors to the annual UW Urban Horticultural Field Day will be able to view vegetables grown from seeds discovered in prehistoric Anasazi ruins in the Southwest.
The free field day is set for Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station, 8502 Mineral Point Road.
Moving blues
Capital Times
Eviscerated sofas, cracked bookshelves, dirty mattresses and bags of trash lined the streets of Madison on Moving Day today as thousands of students deal with moving companies and being temporarily without a home.
“The worst thing is being homeless for a day,” said Tony Fischer, who was using his parents’ minivan to move from his Mifflin Street house with his roommate Lucas Brasig. Their lease, like hundreds of others near the University of Wisconsin campus, expires today.
Artist paints ‘Wild Wisconsin’
Capital Times
Suzanne Ellis’ art was born of love and obsession, manifest as painstakingly realistic renderings of wild animals. But increasingly she senses the realm beyond.
Wisconsin wildcats are the ghosts, be they real cats or not, but so are the memories of all these creatures encountered firsthand by this intrepid artist and nature lover.
This makes her new show, “Wild Wisconsin” in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum’s Steinhauer Gallery, substantially more than your typical wildlife art show.
Roads Traveled: Following Bucky to Cleveland
Capital Times
My friends, we have a dilemma: There are too many things to do in Cleveland over the Labor Day weekend.
That is the way my e-mail to two dozen people began this month, in response to questions about what we’ll do to pass the time during a group outing.
We are heading to Ohio to watch Wisconsin play Bowling Green at Cleveland Browns Stadium, but college football isn’t the only lure.
Ronald Kalil: Arboretum plan hits all bases
Capital Times
Dear Editor: I am writing to commend letter writer Matthew McNamara for his thoughtful comments regarding the efforts by many to protect the UW Arboretum from for-profit development.
In his letter, he raises several questions and makes a strong appeal that the drive to preserve the UW Arboretum rely on “credible arguments based on facts.” I’d like to assure him that this is exactly how the “Protect the Arboretum” campaign is proceeding.
Gary Hebl: Professor Epstein’s dedication to his students is an unforgettable legacy
Capital Times
Dear Editor: It is with great sadness that I write this letter in honor of the passing of professor Leon Epstein. I was struck with great pain that his obituary read he left no survivors. Although Epstein may not have had any biological heirs, he certainly had many survivors who fondly remember his magnificent teaching ability.
….Epstein was one of the many people at the UW-Madison who had a great effect on me. With their influence, one cannot help but develop a great affection for such a great institution of higher learning.
UW football: Stocco undergoes knee surgery; status uncertain
Capital Times
University of Wisconsin senior quarterback John Stocco underwent knee surgery Friday and his status for the first part of the football season is uncertain.
UW holds No. 4 rank in research spending
Capital Times
UW-Madison remained the fourth largest research university in the country in 2004 – the most recent year for which statistics were available – as measured by the amount of money spent on research and development, the National Science Foundation reported this week.
Last dance
Capital Times
The drums pounding in any open field the city has to offer, the sound of horns bouncing off downtown buildings, buses clogging traffic around Camp Randall Stadium.
Store those sights and sounds in your head, because Drum Corps International’s World Championships won’t be back for a while. This week, DCI announced it was moving its permanent headquarters to Indianapolis and taking the championships with it beginning in 2008.
Helping South Africa in science
Capital Times
Sivuyile Manxoyi works every day to reach his high school students in Cape Town, South Africa and teach them astronomy – a course previously denied to non-whites.
….Manxoyi and six other South African high school educators were part of a special international program on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, coordinated by UW geneticist Raymond Kessel, which aims to bring science and math education to non-white children who formerly had been systematically denied it.
State charity rule never reviewed
Capital Times
Despite Gov. Jim Doyle’s call, the state never reviewed whether to change the rules to allow more faith-based organizations to participate in a program in which state employees can give part of their paychecks to charity.
“No action has been taken” to review eligibility requirements for those groups, a state lawyer acknowledged July 6 in a court document obtained by The Associated Press.
A Doyle administration spokesman said the state determined a review was unnecessary after an assistant attorney general advised the program was on solid legal footing.
College Summit helps urban youth aim high
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A fact has landed in the mind of Antonio Rodriguez, 16, and blown it wide open. The bombshell: His formal education doesn’t have to end with high school.
Rodriguez sits among five high school students, all seniors this September, who share their awakening about college with grown-ups – philanthropists, educators, elected officials, agency heads and others – as part of a wild, neat, multifaceted program dubbed College Summit.
Shattering psychopath stereotypes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Once a week, Malini Aisola drives the hour from Madison to the Waupun Correctional Institution.
The 25-year-old graduate student at UW-Madison then questions incarcerated men on topics such as their family relationships and their sexual histories.
Aisola’s goal? Identifying inmates whose callousness, lack of conscience and skill at manipulation indicate they are psychopaths.
Bats drop clues for climate scientists
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The much-maligned bat may soon be earning praise from climate scientists, after a discovery that the winged mammals have dropped thousands of years of data in caves throughout the world.
That data is waiting to be mined – but only by researchers willing to scour through millenniums of bat poop.
According to Louis J. Maher Jr., a retired professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, guano, or bat dung, can be used to examine ancient environments in a manner analogous, or even preferable, to lake sediment or peat.
A woman’s fight
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Molly Carnes, a professor in the department of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the women veterans health program at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison.
Sept. 11 answers dont sway supervisor
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Maybe Im just overeducated, being able to read both Sports Illustrated for Kids and the back of a cereal box and all. But it just cant be true that more than a third of the country believes in both ET and Kevin Barrett.
Landry, Stiemsma apparently eligible
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It appears that University of Wisconsin basketball players Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma have officially regained their athletic eligibility.
Stem cell work could heal ethical rift
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
With a little coaxing, Japanese researchers were able to make adult and embryonic mouse cells behave like embryonic stem cells. The resulting cells look and grow like mouse embryonic stem cells, and analyses indicate these induced cells share the same genetic characteristics, as well.
In visit, Bush’s message turns to security
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Qouted: UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.
UW apologizes for announcement
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A top University of Wisconsin-Madison official apologized Thursday for erroneously announcing the school had reached an agreement to recognize a Knights of Columbus affiliate as a student group. (Last item in Regional Briefs)
UW’s admissions policy doesn’t slight Wisconsin students
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Provost Patrick Farrell writes that a recent Journal Sentinel article did an admirable job of exploring the complex topic of how the University of Wisconsin-Madison manages admissions and enrollment in order to provide a high-quality educational experience for undergraduate students.
However, the article may have left a misimpression that the university seeks to accommodate less-qualified students from elsewhere in the country at the expense of Wisconsin residents. This is not the case.
Mike Lucas: UW’s Monty grateful for support
Capital Times
Joe Monty confided that he experienced a restless night. Sleep much?
“No, I didn’t,” the University of Wisconsin senior defensive end said. “At all.”
His anxiety was the result of uncertainty. The 22-year-old Monty was uncertain how he would be received during the annual Media Day forum at Camp Randall Stadium.
UW report urges better job training
Capital Times
A new report from a UW-Madison think tank warns that most residents in southern Wisconsin will never earn four-year college degrees and says economic development efforts must reflect that reality.
The report from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) released Wednesday found that in Dane County over 59 percent of the population does not have a four-year degree. That number increases to 84 percent for the other 11 counties of southwestern and south central Wisconsin included in the report.
Guardian Angels arrive for training, patrolling
Capital Times
A Guardian Angels contingent plans to start training Madison recruits this weekend.
The group’s Midwest coordinator, Mike Fuentes of Chicago, said five Chicago members would be in Madison Friday to patrol the State Street area.
On Saturday at noon, Angels planned to meet with six potential recruits on State to begin training.
“We have to learn how to fight and defend ourselves,” Fuentes said.
Knights: No deal yet with the UW
Capital Times
Despite a written statement from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reporting an agreement with the Knights of Columbus, an advocate for the group says there is no such agreement.
Casey Nagy, executive assistant to Chancellor John Wiley, said this morning that he believed the university had reached an agreement with the group Wednesday night to create an officially recognized student branch of the service organization.
But the group has approved no such agreement, said David French, director of the Alliance Defense Fund, a student group that has been working with the Knights.
UW lecturer flap highlights rift between UW, residents (Stevens Point Journal)
If you harbored a crackpot conspiracy theory about … let’s say, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks … but pretty much kept it outside your workplace, your employer wouldn’t have much to say about it.
But if you used your job as a soapbox and even went so far as to subject your employer to shame, ridicule and financial repercussions, you might expect to be disciplined. At least, that’s how it goes in most of the world.
Not so at the UW-Madison, where lecturer Kevin Barrett has been pushing his luck like there’s no tomorrow. Barrett is the part-time teacher who uses his course on Islam to spout his theory that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that left 3,000 dead, damaged the Pentagon and destroyed the World Trade Center. A column by Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
Dana Hamilton: Green would not be good for UW
Capital Times
Dear Editor: As a college student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I can’t help but wonder what may be in store for UW System schools under a new administration. With the price of college reaching historic highs, action must be taken to safeguard the UW System from falling victim to hikes in tuition and closing its doors to thousands of qualified students.
Overture director finalists announced
Capital Times
Michael Goldberg, the acting director of the Overture Center of the Arts, is one of three finalists who will be interviewed by resident arts groups and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz for the high-profile job of the center’s new director.
….Goldberg is a long-time veteran of the Madison arts scene. He was an assistant director and director of the Wisconsin Union Theater for 25 years before retiring, and then becoming a vice-president for programming and development at the $210-million Overture Center, which is the state’s largest performing arts presenter.
UW-Madison allows Knights
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Knights of Columbus Council 6568 have reached an agreement to allow the formation of a broadly inclusive, registered student organization in time for the fall 2006 semester, a statement from the university said Wednesday.
Doyle defends action amid criticism
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Richard Shaten, a faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Halloween plan gets thumbs up
Capital Times
Citizen committee endorses entry fee
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s plan to charge an entry fee to the Halloween party on State Street got an enthusiastic thumbs up from the citizen committee charged with overseeing public safety.
Only Adam Lichtenheld, the student representative on the Public Safety Review Board, voted against the proposal, said Ald. Paul Skidmore, who attended the Tuesday evening meeting.
….”I think it’s going to be the last, best chance to salvage Halloween,” Skidmore said this morning.
Green raps UW for dropping student Knights of Columbus
Capital Times
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Green says it’s “just plain stupid” that the Knights of Columbus is no longer a recognized student group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The university told the group this summer that it cannot be a recognized student organization because it does not allow all students to participate, the group told The Associated Press.
Dave Zweifel: Say it enough, people will believe you
Capital Times
Five will get you 10 that state Rep. Steve Nass, the La Grange Republican whose favorite sport is savaging the University of Wisconsin, has his TV set tuned to Fox News.
He’d be a rare George W. Bush Republican if he’d be enlightened enough to watch a cable channel or even a network news show that was actually “fair and balanced” as Fox claims to be even while it leads the propaganda campaign for the current administration.
But folks like Nass, who can get all bent out of shape over a part-time UW lecturer believing in conspiracy theories, never speak out when a national cable channel, talk radio and a variety of big-time politicians spread false theories of their own.
Siobhan Nassalang: Barrett is just speaking up for truth
Capital Times
Dear Editor: Your recent articles on Kevin Barrett fail to address the issue of what really happened on 9/11 and contribute to the practice of vilifying anyone who dares challenge the so-called official story put out by the administration.
John P. Kaminski: Madison’s life spent defending liberty, justice
Capital Times
Editor’s note: Today we begin publishing the third set of excerpts in the America’s Founders chapbook series by John P. Kaminski, director of the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at UW-Madison. There will be 11 weekly excerpts of “James Madison: Champion of Liberty and Justice.”
UW men’s hockey: Retiring U.S. Marshal hired as equipment manager
Capital Times
How does a retiring U.S. Marshal become the equipment manager for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team? In Steve Castelletti’s case, it’s about following his passion.
By day, Castelletti tracked fugitives – in his words, “not very nice people.” By night, he was an equipment manager. After accepting a position with the Badgers, he’ll do the latter full time.
Conspiracy Theories Find a Home on the Internet
National Public Radio
Conspiracy theories surrounding the events of Sept. 11 are popping up on the Internet. The documentary Loose Change is an Internet sensation that explores many of these theories. Renee Montagne talks to Dylan Avery, director and narrator of Loose Change. She also talks to historian Timothy Naftali to understand what’s behind the fascination with conspiracy theories. Mentions the Kevin Barrett controversy.
Editorial: UWM school still needed
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Monday’s announcement by the Medical College of Wisconsin that it is ramping up its graduate studies in public and community health in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee bodes well for everyone in Wisconsin.
Mike Lucas: Delany wants Big Ten under the lights
Capital Times
…if you’re unhappy about the direction of Big Ten football – specifically, the proliferation of night games – there’s only one person to blame.
Blame Woody Hayes. Or Jim Delany.
UW, MATC partner on biodiesel reactor
Capital Times
Madison Area Technical College and UW-Madison have collaborated to build a biodiesel reactor to produce motor fuel blended from waste vegetable oil and methanol.
The reactor, which was dedicated on Monday, will be used to educate MATC students in the production, use and quality control of biodiesel fuels and the maintenance of biodiesel-fueled engines and vehicles, and to promote the use of biofuels across Wisconsin.
Kerry Thomas: Key point missed on Green, stem cells
Capital Times
Dear Editor: In his July 29 column, Joel McNally used a lot of ink to lambaste Mark Green over stem cell research. But he missed one key point.
The bills Green voted against had to do with embryonic stem cell research. There is a difference between embryonic and adult stem cells.
Matthew McNamara: Base Arboretum future on facts related to zoning rules, runoff, contamination
Capital Times
Dear Editor: The current controversy over development within the Arboretum has created a surge of emotions and opinions regarding what should be done with the land. If people are concerned with development within this local greenspace, they should do some fact checking so that they can efficiently stop the development with due process.
Randle El seeks the right route
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Marcus Randle El talks a good game.
“I think I’m growing up as a leader,” he said. Now the University of Wisconsin junior must prove it.
Bill Berry: Citizens need to defend UW from opportunists
Capital Times
….The University of Wisconsin System and UW-Madison are easy punching bags for those who want to score cheap political points. Like any big institution, the UW System has its share of flaws. Like any big institution, it is slow to respond, slow to change, slow to learn from its own mistakes. Like any big institution, it has its share of prima donnas. Maybe even more than its share of the latter.
But imagine what life in Wisconsin would be without the University of Wisconsin System. A lot of people seem unable or unwilling to do that.
Doug Moe: Author’s journey to the strange
Capital Times
MADISON AUTHOR Deborah Blum’s eagerly awaited follow-up to her acclaimed book on UW-Madison Professor Harry Harlowe, “Love at Goon Park,” has just been published, and the early reviews signal another hit.
Entertainment Weekly gives Blum’s “Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death” an A, and the Aug. 14 Time magazine, in mailboxes this week, calls it a “fascinating new history … a captivating and even poignant tale.”
Waisman Center director named head of Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery
Capital Times
The first interim director of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will be Marsha Malick Seltzer, the director of the Waisman Center, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced today.
The institutes, planned for the 1300 block of University Ave., will be a $150 million interdisciplinary research center funded with public and private funds.
Seltzer is an expert researcher on people with developmental disabilities. She will continue as director of the Waisman Center, where scientists conduct basic and clinical biomedical and behavioral research.
UW-Madison opens probe into sexual harassment claims at plant
Capital Times
(AP) – University of Wisconsin-Madison is investigating allegations of sexual harassment brought by a female employee at a campus power plant against her male co-workers, including the plant superintendent.
University lawyers started the probe late last week after receiving a complaint by 31-year-old Amy Gabel alleging she has suffered harassment during her two years at the UW Walnut Street Power Plant and retaliation for complaining, UW spokesman Brian Mattmiller said Monday.
Woman robbed near zoo
Capital Times
An armed man robbed a Madison woman near Henry Vilas Zoo early Sunday morning.Madison police responded at around 2:40 a.m. to the robbery.
According to police, the 22-year-old victim was walking on the 300 block of South Randall Avenue when a man exited a dark-colored, newer vehicle and ran up to her. He displayed a handgun and took her purse before returning to the vehicle to flee the scene. The victim was uninjured.
Scott Woods: Nass opponent: Rights being disregarded
Capital Times
Dear Editor: I am running against Steve Nass in the 31st Assembly District, in part because of his previous attack on free speech at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and also in part because of his backing of the same-sex marriage ban amendment.
There are 60 other legislators who apparently also do not value free speech and academic freedom, since they are trying to establish that they can punish anyone with whom they disagree by having them fired. I don’t believe they have that right and that precedent should not be established.
UW programs on Charter VOD
Capital Times
Subscribers to Charter Digital Cable now have video on demand access to UW-Madison programming on ResearchChannel.
The free service, which began July 1, enables Charter digital customers to see UW-Madison programming that includes lectures, forums, research reports and other research programs at any time.
Living on edge: Israeli vet has brother in the fight
Capital Times
The first time Diklah Cohen boarded a bus in Madison, her eyes involuntarily began darting about, seeking the exit, looking for the spot where she’d be best buffered from a bomb blast.
“I started looking around. And then I thought, ‘You don’t need to do that,'” said Cohen, who grew up in Israel, in an interview last week. She recalled that once in Madison, someone forgot a bag on the bus, and she started panicking. But it was just a bag.
Living on edge: 6 Lebanese students stranded in U.S.
Capital Times
Studying abroad can be a life-changing rite of passage, but it pales in comparison to watching a humanitarian crisis unfold at home and being powerless to lend a hand.
For six Lebanese research interns at the University of Wisconsin, this summer has been a coming-of-age experience.
They have become refugees stranded in a foreign land. Their peaceful homeland of a mere six weeks ago is little but a memory.
David Hammond: Check actual facts of 9/11 conspiracy: There’s something fishy going on
Capital Times
Dear Editor: Grad student Patrick Michelson’s July 13 guest column denouncing instructor Kevin Barrett is perfectly indicative of the myriad challenges facing the 9/11 truth movement.
His ridiculous statement that Barrett’s assertions “have no grounding in reality, forensic evidence or common sense” is precisely the sort of inane drivel that we most often hear from those who have (quite obviously) never examined the arguments behind this growing viewpoint.
Kerry Thomas: Key point missed on Green, stem cells
Capital Times
In his July 29 column, Joel McNally used a lot of ink to lambaste Mark Green over stem cell research. But he missed one key point. The bills Green voted against had to do with embryonic stem cell research.
There is a difference between embryonic and adult stem cells. Green supports stem cell research when the cells are derived from adult stem cells or even umbilical cord cells.