Quoted: Charles O. Jones, emeritus professor of political science.
Nader turned away again
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Author: jnweaver
Train gets traction
Capital Times
The “Dane Train” picked up some steam Monday night thanks to the task force charged with developing a transportation plan for Madison.
Health care tops GOP list
Capital Times
Republican leaders of the state legislature plan to focus much of their efforts on health care during the first 100 days of the legislative session that begins in January.
9 students in state ace the ACT
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nobody knows exactly how they did it. But whether it was natural smarts, rigorous studying, exceptional schools or some of each, nine Wisconsin high schoolers got perfect scores on the ACT college entrance exam, setting them apart from more than 2 million students nationwide who took the test in the 2003-’04 school year.
Across the USA: News From Every State
Wisconsin: Madison — City leaders hope to raise fines for disorderly conduct and alcohol-related crimes before this year’s Halloween celebrations. Crowds on State Street rioted for a second year last Halloween, and more than 300 were cited for underage drinking. The plan would hike the fine for illegally selling alcohol to $660. (USA Today, 9/27/04)
Park Street hate crime
Two men face hate crime charges after allegedly harassing an Asian couple downtown and shouting at them to “speak English.”
Racine applies to take part in young mothers program
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Baby FAST Initiative has received a one-year grant from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to try the new Baby FAST program at 10 sites in Wisconsin. Racine and about a dozen other communities have made applications to be test sites, and decisions on the sites are expected to be made by the end of October. FAST stands for Families and Schools Together. It was developed in 1988 by Lynn McDonald of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Congressmen appear safe in comfort zone
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political scientist.
New way to measure heart risk is touted
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Medicine often changes course slowly, but a growing number of doctors who aren’t happy with the traditional cholesterol test are turning to a relatively new type of blood test that may be a better indicator of a person’s heart disease risk.
Animation can help a business seal the deal
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Linda Gorchels, director of executive marketing education at UW-Madison.
43% exhaust benefits before finding work
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Joel Rogers, UW-Madison professor of law, political science and sociology.
A stealth vote for the Republican and firmly against abortion
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
When Alison Curtis arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August, she wasn’t sure how well she’d fit in. A Republican, the 18-year-old said she was warned by classmates at Brookfield East High School about the campus’ liberal reputation. Her friends shouldn’t worry. Curtis isn’t changing her political beliefs any time soon.
Fall victim improves
University Hospital has upgraded the condition of a University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman who fell from a West Mifflin St. balcony. Hospital officials said 18-year-old Jason Gratzl remains in serious condition after being listed for a month in critical condition. (Police Report, Capital Times print edition)
Tommy gives boost to Bush health care ideas
Capital Times
When it comes to health care policy, Tommy Thompson is on board with his soon-to-be ex-boss on about every issue save one.
Dave Zweifel: New report but old push for TABOR
Capital Times
Wisconsin conservatives never die or even fade away, they just go to work for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
UW MBA program ranked 33rd regionally
Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MBA program ranked 33rd among 44 regional schools in an annual survey done by Harris Interactive and the Wall Street Journal.
Fans may get a bit puckish
Capital Times
If you’ve been to a University of Wisconsin men’s hockey game or watched one on TV in the last three years, you’ve undoubtedly seen Jeff Haima.
State tribes join in opening new national museum
Capital Times
Roberta Hill, professor of English and American Indian Studies, is quoted. Art professor Truman Lowe, curator of the National Museum of American Indian Art, headed the inaugural exhibition in the museum’s Changing Exhibitions Gallery with a retrospective on Native Modernism.
UW artists shine at Overture
Capital Times
Last night the University of Wisconsin-Madison put on a student performance unlike any other. The two free Monday evening performances, one at 5 p.m. and one at 7:30, held in the new Overture Hall, were a far cry from a suspect stint on some less-than-stellar auditorium stage.
State job comeback speedy
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin’s job recovery continued to outpace both the nation and the other battleground states heading into the Nov. 2 presidential election, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quoted: UW-Madison economist Don Nichols.
Study calls for state spending restraints
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin taxpayers would have saved $2.4 billion in 2002 – or $438 per resident – if state and local government spending had been at the national average, according to a study being released today.
Matt Pommer: TABOR a threat to UW
Capital Times
Republican leaders are making the idea of a constitutional amendment on government spending and taxation a central issue in legislative elections. The idea is of particular concern to the University of Wisconsin.
UW Band adds zest to Overture Hall
Capital Times
The Overture Center for the Arts had barely opened its doors, and already people were doing the chicken dance on the balconies in the main hall. Uproarious silliness is perhaps the best thing that could happen to the Overture, according to Nancy Birmingham, an office manager in the building.
JS Online: Editorial: Educational alarms
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Despite giving some good grades, a new report card on higher education in Wisconsin sounds alarms the state should heed.
1,000 UW students hear fiery Feingold
Capital Times
During a rally on Library Mall that drew more than 1,000 UW-Madison students Friday, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold hammered his Republican opponent, Tim Michels, on issues ranging from student loans to health care to the war on terror.
Tour of Hope to carry local cancer survivor across country
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sheila McGuirk had three children younger than 8 when she was told that her entire colon needed to be removed because of cancer. The news was devastating to McGuirk, an associate professor of veterinary sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but after two surgeries she is cancer-free. In the eight years since, McGuirk, 52, has become such an accomplished cyclist that she has been picked as one of the 20 to ride cross country, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope.
Pressure is on stem cell firms
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Venture capitalist Lutz Giebel raves about the amazing power of stem cells, but even he is not ready to write checks to companies trying to turn them into medical treatments for diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injuries.
State faces stem cell competition
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Hugh Ilyine considers Wisconsin one of the best places in the world for stem cell research. He should know. Ilyine, the general manager of Stem Cell Sciences Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland, is looking for a U.S. home for his company, and Wisconsin is on a short list. But despite its reputation as a pioneer in the field, Wisconsin faces huge competition from states with much bigger resources.
UW System heavy at top, report says
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A massive new report from the state Legislative Audit Bureau says the University of Wisconsin System devotes almost four times as many financial and personnel resources to administration than it formally counts and that despite recent state budget cuts, has managed to add several dozen more employees.
3 charged for Shorewood bombs
Capital Times
Three 19-year-old college students allegedly put their ingenuity to unproductive use last month when they planted three chemical bombs in the village of Shorewood Hills, blowing up two mailboxes.
UW, state clash on audit
Capital Times
University officials clashed today with state auditors over adminstrative staffing and funding levels.
Second-year programs aim to provide helping hand
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sophomores are in many way the most ignored of college undergraduates. Not yet upperclassmen and no longer wide-eyed freshmen privy to a slew of new-student programs, students in their second year find themselves unattended to at a time some say they need attention most.
UW’s Read will retire
Capital Times
W. Charles Read plans to retire after a 35-year career with the University of Wisconsin-Madison – the last 10 as dean of the School of Education.
Couple donate $8M to expand UW school
Capital Times
A 1955 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Human Ecology and her husband say they will donate $8 million to help expand and modernize the school’s 90-year-old main building.
Fitzgerald expected to be new GOP leader
Capital Times
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau is expected Friday to become the Republican leader in the state Senate. Sen. Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, who was routed in the Republican primary Tuesday, will resign from the leader’s post at a caucus.
Nader whips up frenzy of admirers: $10,000 raised in event at UW
Capital Times
At the end of a rousing speech in Madison Wednesday night, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader turned the podium over to a protege who worked the room with the skill of an auctioneer and the passion of a preacher at a revival meeting. Greg Kafoury managed to raise about $10,000 from a hall filled largely with UW students.
World music comes to Madison
Capital Times
Not all the action on State Street this weekend is happening at the Overture Center. At the other end of the street, at the Memorial Union, the first annual Madison World Music Festival will kick off Thursday, bringing artists from all four corners of the world to the shores of Lake Mendota.
Fewer can afford college in state
Capital Times
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Wisconsin’s high school students are well prepared for college, but fewer of them are able to attend because of rising tuition, according to a new study. The nonprofit National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Wisconsin’s four-year public colleges a “D” grade for affordability, about average in the national study.
Students found less likely to head for college
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin’s high school graduates may be better prepared for college than a decade ago, but the likelihood they will pursue higher education has declined, according to a national report released this week.
Grothman pulverizes Senate leader Panzer by 4-1 margin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: John Sharpless, UW-Madison history professor.
Police Report: Man charged in ticket scam
A Madison fraternity member faces a misdemeanor charge after allegedly reaping hundreds of dollars by posting phony parking tickets on cars. (9/14004 Capital Times print edition)
Quiet on campus: During his UW years, Cheney was a GOP gofer
When asked why he sought and received five deferments to avoid serving in the military during the Vietnam War, Dick Cheney said “I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service.” (Excerpts from “Dick: The Man Who Is President” in the Capital Times 9/14/04 print edition.
Doug Moe: UW prof proves once a speller …
Capital Times
WHEN JEFF Kirsch saw the splendid documentary “Spellbound” at the Wisconsin Film Festival in spring 2003, he was transported back 39 years to when, as a 13-year-old, he competed in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C….On Saturday, Kirsch won the national senior bee. (Kirsch is lecturer in the UW-Madison Department of Spanish & Portuguese.)
Small biz owners love Madison: survey
Capital Times
Madison entrepreneurs surveyed believe the University of Wisconsin (69 percent), Madison’s lifestyle (60 percent), population growth (60 percent) and geographic location (48 percent) are the keys to their small business success.
Investors buy 80% of Luther’s Blues
Capital Times
Three out of state investors have acquired 80 percent of Luther’s Blues, with Steve Murphy retaining 20 percent ownership, and John Prigge taking over as general manager. Icon Entertainment president Rich Peterson said in a release that Luther’s would “gear more toward the student crowd, as well as bringing bigger and better names in the industry.”
Elizabeth Edwards backs stem cell research
Capital Times
The government must begin to support research on new human embryonic stem cell lines, said Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards, on a visit to Madison on Monday.
Gathering video evidence
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
David Parry, the coordinator of football officials for the Big Ten Conference, should soon receive a highlight video from the University of Wisconsin. Coach Barry Alvarez, concerned that his defensive linemen are getting held without any consequence, plans to forward Parry a video of selected plays.
Ironman Wisconsin: New contract on deck after record turnout
Capital Times
After a third wildly successful Ironman Wisconsin which drew a record 2,188 competitors, Ironman North America officials said Sunday they likely will extend their contract and keep the event in the Madison area through 2009.
Camp Randall life’s real suite
Capital Times
The new Camp Randall Stadium skyboxes are so exclusive and security is so tight that Gov. Jim Doyle and his entourage found themselves momentarily locked outside the suites during Saturday’s Badger football game.
Scholarships honor UW global scholar
Seven UW-Madison students are receiving scholarship funds to learn about international relations through travel. The scholarships are named for Scott Kloeck-Jenson, a doctoral student who was killed, along with his wife and two children, in a car accident in South Africa in 1999. (9/11/04 Capital Times print edition)
Expert: No recession on horizon
Capital Times
With consumers far from tapped out and business spending picking up, the sputtering U.S. economy should keep growing through 2005 and perhaps beyond. That was the reassuring message attendees at UW-Madison’s semi-annual Economic Outlook heard Friday.
UW scientist is wiser and better equipped after Ironman 2003
Capital Times
(UW scientist) Nancy Wiegand signed up to do last year’s Ironman Wisconsin to build up her physical fitness. And for the challenge. Unfortunately, she had so many challenges during the event that she had to drop out less than a quarter of the way into the bike ride.
Doug Moe: Local run-in trails MTV celeb
Capital Times
JOE LOUIS, the great heavyweight champion,is purported to have said about a light but fast boxing opponent: “He can run, but he can’t hide.”
Editorial: Drink specials not the problem
Capital Times
The Madison City Council quietly ended drink special restrictions for three University of Wisconsin campus area bars this week, after it was revealed that the restrictions did nothing to curb excessive drinking or violence. The UW administration’s campaign to restrict drink specials was never anything more than a misguided attempt to blame bar owners for a problem that they did not create.
Ironman Wisconsin: UW professor hooked on triathlon
Capital Times
A year ago, Thomas Brunold took eighth place at the Ironman Wisconsin, beating out many seasoned pro triathletes in his first-ever attempt at the grueling race.
Since then, the 35-year-old University of Wisconsin professor has become a regular on the circuit, and this year will compete in three Ironman events.
Citizens’ corps will help in crises
Capital Times
Gov. Jim Doyle is setting up a new statewide panel to help local citizens’ groups aid police, firefighters and other emergency workers during disasters.
UW System head: I’ll reach out to public
Capital Times
In his inaugural address to the Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly pledged to “demystify” the university by reaching out to the public. Meanwhile, regents once again broached the delicate topic of raising executive salaries for the first time since an uproar last year.
Some UW System officials earning below their range
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The salaries of faculty, top administrators and other employees of the University of Wisconsin System continue to lag those of their peers at other institutions. And in some cases, the universities are not paying administrators the minimum of their established salary range, according to data presented to a committee of the UW Board of Regents on Thursday.
Singing pianist Fischer a classical rarity
Capital Times
Some musicians sing. Some musicians play the piano. But only a few can do both at the same time, at least up to professional performance standards. One of those is Martha Fischer, a mezzo-soprano who teaches accompanying (or, more accurately, “collaboration”) at the University of Wisconsin School of Music.
Editorial: Galvanizing young voters
Capital Times
The New Voters Project merits encouragement, even with the glitches that have developed. The national, nonpartisan campaign aims to register 265,000 new voters ages 18 to 24 in Wisconsin and five other states considered battlegrounds in this year’s presidential election.