Quoted: Walter Dickey, UW Law School professor.
Door on early release closes tightly
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Author: jnweaver
UW health workers approve contract
Health care workers at University Hospital and Clinics have approved a new, four-year contract. The union, SEIU District 1199, represents approximately 1,400 employees, including registered nurses, therapists and dieticians. (11/20/04 Capital Times print edition)
Editorial: Remaining the leader (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
When it comes to biotechnology, Wisconsin isn�t a wannabe, it�s a leader. It doesn�t need to catch up; it needs to keep up. And the only way to do that is to dramatically step up the investment in biomedical research. Gov. Jim Doyle realizes that one of the surest ways to spur economic, high-tech development in Wisconsin is to continue to bank on biotechnology.
Stem-cell proposal makes some bristle
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Concerned that economic policy will trump moral concerns in the state’s push to stay at the forefront of stem-cell research, opponents of research using human embryos are lining up to fight the use of public money to fund such exploration. Details of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s $750 million plan for a biotechnology research institute on the UW-Madison campus won’t emerge until he submits his budget to the Legislature in January. But voices in and out of the Legislature are saying that any inclusion of embryonic stem cells in the plan could scuttle its chances.
Be thankful, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin has excellent schools, technical colleges and public and private colleges and universities. The state has two nationally ranked medical schools, now well-endowed with more than $600 million from the Blue Cross conversion. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the country�s leading research universities. However, Wisconsin lags in transferring technology to the private sector, says Thomas Hefty, co-chair of the Governor�s Economic Growth Council.
Health costs worsen state’s budget dilemma
Capital Times
The Doyle administration is vowing to balance the next state budget “by trimming the fat and making our government more efficient.” That promise from Administration Secretary Marc Marotta came as state agencies made it official Friday: The state is facing a $1.6 billion general fund problem in the next two-year budget.
To raise money, MATC looks for alumni
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
To help boost private funding, Milwaukee Area Technical College is on the hunt for its former students, with the goal of restarting the long-defunct MATC Alumni Association. Mentions UW endowments and the scope of the Wisconsin Alumni Association.
TABOR problems, merits discussed at open forum (Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter)
While an audience of about 150 appeared to be generally sympathetic to UW-Madison economist Andrew Reschovskyââ?¬â?¢s contentions that constitutional revenue limits would result in public service cutbacks, a weakened public education system, and lack of flexibility to meet changing economic needs, there were contrary perspectives expressed by two members of a ââ?¬Å?response panel.ââ?¬Â
Forward looking: Ex-Badger steps up for state biz development
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle’s new point man on attracting businesses to Wisconsin has no formal background in biotechnology or stem cell research. But with sales stints at two major corporations, followed by 13 years in the front office of the Milwaukee Brewers, Eugene “Pepi” Randolph brings plenty of real world experience to his new position as president of Forward Wisconsin.
4 arrested in anti-war protest near campus
Capital Times
Four UW students were arrested Thursday after they went into the Army Recruiting Station near campus and demanded that the office be shut down. The four were among up to 75 people who gathered at University Square Mall Thursday afternoon in an impromptu protest that also drew about 20 officers.
New Google tool aids scholarly work (AP)
Capital Times
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Google is setting out to make better sense of all the scholarly work stored on the Web. The online search company’s new service, unveiled late Wednesday, draws upon newly developed algorithms to list the academic research that appears to be most relevant to a search request. Google previously hadn’t been able to separate the scholarly content from commercial Web sites.
New UW program to aid start-up firms
Capital Times
The UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations announced that it will start a program next year to help create, support and sustain start-up companies that are based on research and technology developed at the UW.
Gender pay gap in state ‘appalling’
Capital Times
Wisconsin women fall far short of men when it comes to pay equity, and that’s not sitting well with people who took notice of a report out this week mapping the gap. Louise Root-Robbins, UW System coordinator for the status of women and director of the Sloan Project for academic career advancement, and Joe Soss, an associate professor of political science at UW-Madison, are quoted.
UW budget plan angers Doyle
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle criticized University of Wisconsin System officials Wednesday for submitting a budget-cutting plan that would reduce enrollment and academic staff rather than trim administrative costs. (AP)
Doug Moe: Gopher fan has a great time here
Capital Times
WHAT A difference a year makes. It was just last fall that UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley was grimly releasing e-mails sent to the university by football fans from Ohio State and Purdue who had traveled to Madison and come away shaken by the experience….Wiley was concerned enough to go door to door personally in student areas, asking for help and restraint. It appears to have worked, at least judging by a column last week in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Gov aims to keep stem cell edge
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle is ready to take on California to defend Wisconsin’s crown as king of the stem cell states. About two weeks after California voters approved a $3 billion, 10-year referendum for stem cell research, Doyle responded by putting together a comprehensive package to showcase and build on Wisconsin’s investment in biotechnology.
Governor blasts UW budget cuts
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday sharply criticized the University of Wisconsin System, saying officials there had not offered realistic options for trimming administrative costs during a recent budget exercise and that he himself might have to find places to cut.
Ultrasound enhances drug therapy in treating strokes, study shows
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: George Newman, a professor of neurology and radiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the stroke program.
Governor unveils plan for biotech
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gov. Jim Doyle announced plans Wednesday for a $375 million institute for stem cell and other biomedical research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The institute is part of a nearly $750 million plan to bolster the state’s position in the growing biotech field.
1,500 jobs on chopping block as state agencies submit cuts
State agencies have proposed eliminating at least 1,500 jobs to comply with Gov. Jim Doyle’s order to showhow they can cut costs, a plan they warn would curtail state services. Some departments enclosed letters with their plans asking the governor to spare the jobs. (11/17/04 Capital Times print edition)
Stem cell boost: Doyle calls for $375M research institute
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle today announced a $375 million research institute for the UW-Madison campus to help the state compete in the field of stem cell research. The proposal will need to be approved by the Legislature as part of the state budget…. The governor is also asking the Legislature to invest $1.5 million in Alzheimer’s disease research.
Area firms bullish on economy
Capital Times
Most area businesses are expecting bigger sales in 2005 but that won’t necessarily mean a fatter paycheck for workers. The annual Dane County Economic Survey released today shows that 78 percent of firms here are projecting increased revenues next year. That’s up from 65 percent in 2004. The survey was conducted by the UW-Madison A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research.
More UW students go abroad; more stay longer
Capital Times
WASHINGTON – While international students are entering U.S. universities at the slowest rate in more than 30 years, the percentage of Americans studying abroad has almost doubled over a year ago….The University of Wisconsin-Madison had a 7.5 percent increase this year and ranked fifth among public universities in the number of its students studying abroad.
Agencies offer cuts of $150 million
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
State agencies have given Gov. Jim Doyle blueprints for cutting more than $150 million and at least 1,400 jobs over two years, but some officials complain that those moves would cripple their agencies.
State business taxes below U.S. average
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mentions a 2000 survey of 421 executives by University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus professor Jon Udell that found that corporate and personal income taxes were a small factor in how businesses rated the state’s competitiveness, with other factors accounting for 89% of their rating.
On a roll online: Internet gambling tumbles toward the 10-year mark
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It’s a Friday night and Cory and Neil are on decent rolls on the roulette and blackjack tables. The 25-year-olds (who didn’t want their last names used) are a business graduate student and a law student, respectively, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Neither man knows or even notices the other. Instead of a seafood buffet and a bar with high-end booze, Cory has an end table with chips, dip, pizza and a can of Miller Light. Neil isn’t eating. There are no other gamblers or gawkers around him. And their roulette and blackjack tables? They’re confined to computer monitors in corners of their apartments.
Doyle to unveil biotech initiative
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gov. Jim Doyle is set to unveil today a multifaceted strategy to maintain Wisconsin’s importance in the growing scientific fields of stem cell research and biotechnology.
Editorial: Stem cell leadership
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The state�s leadership role in stem cell research is in jeopardy. California voters approved spending $3 billion over the next decade on embryonic stem cell research. California voters were persuaded that the initial investment would more than pay for itself. It�s clear in any case that if Wisconsin doesn�t pursue this research, others will. Besides California, several countries are also making huge monetary investments in this research.
Artist turns wood into provocative art
Capital Times
One of artist (& art professor emeritus) Ray Gloeckler’s various self-portraits is “Woodcutter Mouse,” a hairy, hunched and bespectacled creature scratching obsessively on a hunk of wood with a sharp little tool. What foolish behavior, the image says to us, and that mouse seems to signify most humans at some time or other, especially the biggest and most powerful. That view of the world emerges from a delightfully engrossing exhibit, “Woodcuts by Ray Gloeckler,” running through Jan. 23 at the University of Wisconsin’s Elvehjem Museum of Art.
UW official Bazzell fears harmful impact
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will deal with budget cuts if they come, but they could certainly harm student access and research, a top campus official said today. Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell said it’s unclear how the campus would digest another massive budget cut, or how big that cut would be, but it would have undesirable impacts for the university’s mission. (11/16/04 Capital Times print edition)
UW plan would cut students and faculty
Enrollment cuts and faculty reductions would be necessary under a new round of base budget cuts, the University of Wisconsin warned today. The warning was part of the UW System’s answer to Gov. Jim Doyle’s request for ways to cut 10 percent of administrative costs at each agency. (11/16/04 Capital Times print edition)
Images: Ron Daggett put many talents to use
Capital Times
“Ron Daggett, who died recently at age 88, was one of the most talented and unusual people I have ever met,” writes columnist Barbara Quirk in this farewell tribute to the UW-Madison mechanical engineering professor emeritus.
Job lessons include downsizing
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Allen Phelps, director of the Center on Education and Work at UW-Madison.
Thanks to all of our Badger backers
“Dear Editor: On the heels of our final Badger football home game of the season, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to the nearly half-million fans who supported us at Camp Randall Stadium this fall….You are the best fans in all of college football….” (Barry Alvarez, 11/15/04 Capital Times print edition)
Fewer foreign students post-9/11 worries UW
WASHINGTON — When Jack Vinijtrongjit came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from his native Thailand in fall 2001, he was excited to study in the United States….But after 9/11, things began to change for the computer science major. (Capital Times/Medill News Service, 11/13/04)
Capitol Watch: Doyle’s budget directive brings early signs of pain
Capital Times
Six months ago, Gov. Jim Doyle directed all state agencies to submit plans for cutting non-federally funded administrative costs by 10 percent. Those plans are due today, and the first three submitted indicate it will be a painful process.
Stem cells a priority for state
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to announce soon a strategy to keep Wisconsin at the forefront of stem cell research, despite a California vote to spend billions in public dollars on the effort.
Rob Zaleski: Free college could be reality, activist insists
Capital Times
Josh Healey just doesn’t buy it. Neither, he says, do most of his peers on the Student Labor Action Coalition and the Multicultural Student Coalition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We’ve done our homework,” the 20-year-old junior from Washington, D.C….And having done so, they don’t buy the argument put forth by UW administrators and the Board of Regents and the state Legislature that it would be next to impossible to actually lower tuition at state universities.
Stem cell research leader leaving UW
Capital Times
R. Timothy Mulcahy, a top research official at UW-Madison, is leaving to go to the University of Minnesota. Mulcahy has been the University of Wisconsin’s point man on stem cell research and compliance with federal regulations on human and animal research, as well as some biological agents.
Tools for detecting the next Enron
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Some of the brightest stars of investing emit false light. Finding and avoiding such fakers has become of increasing concern in the wake of the corporate scandals of the early 21st century. Missing the next Enron Corp. has become as important as hitting the next Microsoft Corp. Story focuses on a presenter at the UW-Madison Directors’ Summit.
Battles loom over basic patent on stem cells
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
According to the U.S. Patent Office, a Wisconsin foundation has the right to royalties that might be generated by stem cell therapies. But there are signs that a worldwide battle on that issue is already taking shape. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, known as WARF, holds among its 40 stem cell patents a basic one that broadly covers the preparation of embryonic stem cells. Basic patents, often the underpinnings of whole new industries, are highly prized and frequently contested.
Stem cell research race is wide open
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gov. Jim Doyle says he plans within the next two weeks to announce a strategy to expand the state’s position in the tantalizing but still-unproven realm of stem cell research.
State keeps up aggressive work against deer disease
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Scott R. Craven, wildlife ecologist at UW-Madison.
Challenge of a generation: Firms attract new crop of college grads
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
At his age, Chad Zdroik’s parents already were raising a family near the central Wisconsin potato farm where his father grew up and worked. Zdroik, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, plans to pursue a career in magazine design or film production, maybe in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago, somewhere he sees a diversity of culture and a breadth of opportunities.
Grantsburg unearths questions of science
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Ron Numbers, a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on the evolution/ creation debate.
Fun times can be had without a single drop of alcohol
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“But can she still wear a toga?” You bet I can – even though I went through four years of college without drinking a single drop of alcohol, says Kathryn Audie Sturino who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003 and now lives in New York.
Teen’s rocket takes top honors
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Ronald Schuler, University of Wisconsin-Madison biological systems engineering professor.
Recall hampers UW cops: Defibrillators have problems
UW police and several other agencies across the state are trying to deal with a defibrillator recall that has forced them to shelve the lifesaving devices.
Rob Zaleski: Is riot gear big part of problem?
Capital Times
Is there something about the mere sight of police officers in riot gear that incites large crowds to go berserk? Former Madison Police Chief David Couper suggested as much two years ago….
Reception for Gloeckler art Saturday
Capital Times
The Elvehjem Museum of Art, 800 University Ave., will host a free reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition “Woodcuts by Ray Gloeckler” on Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty member Ray Gloeckler has become nationally recognized as a leader in the field of woodcuts.
Anti-war protesters snarl traffic
Capital Times
A group of about 60 anti-war protesters created confusion Thursday when they held up rush hour traffic on University Avenue for over an hour. The group, protesting the escalation of fighting in Fallujah in Iraq, clogged the thoroughfare at about 4 p.m., after marching from Library Mall with a long, white, wordless banner.
History museum cut from budget
Capital Times
WATERTOWN – The Wisconsin Historical Museum on the Square will be history if a plan approved Thursday by the Historical Society Board becomes part of the state budget.
UW nurses agree on new 4-year pact The Capital Times
Capital Times
UW Hospital and the union representing its nurses have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract. The agreement, which still must be ratified by both sides, calls for an end to forced overtime and pay raises of about 10 percent.
UW-La Crosse meetings law ruling upheld
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The state appeals court upheld a decision Thursday that the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse did not violate state open meetings law in naming Veterans Memorial Stadium and its field after a former coach.
Yes, election ad blitz really was the worst ever
WASHINGTON — Now that the 2004 elections are history, participants in the Wisconsin Advertising Project can rest their eyes….According to (UW-Madison professor) Kenneth Goldstein, director of the project, this election proved more arduous than ever before, with more commercials on the air earlier and in higher concentration. (11/11/04 Capital Times/Medill News Service)
Patrick Keeffe: Friend’s tales brought home reality of war
Capital Times
“The Vietnam War was raging in the summer of 1968 when I heard that one of my high school classmates had returned from Saigon in a body bag. I didn’t know him that well, but the horrible news brought the war much closer to home.”
Investors bring biotech to Milwaukee area
Capital Times
An investment of $8.5 million from a venture-capital syndicate has drawn a St. Louis biotech company to Wisconsin, where it will inhabit brand-new lab facilities at Milwaukee County Research Park, the Wisconsin Technology Network reported.
UW-Madison honors its vets: Those serving since 9/11 swap stories at the union
Capital Times
Veterans of the Iraq war on the UW campus are not worried about being harassed like vets of the Vietnam era. But they acknowledge they can still spark politically heated conversations.
State Historical Society may close museum to cut costs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Officials at the Wisconsin Historical Society are considering whether to close the organization’s museum on Capitol Square as they look for ways to cut costs.
Putting stock in shareholders
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The best way to improve corporate accountability would be for the Securities and Exchange Commission to make it easier for shareholders to nominate directors, SEC Commissioner Harvey J. Goldschmid said Wednesday. His remarks were made in an address to the annual Directors’ Summit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.