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Author: jnweaver

Wisconsin Institute for Discovery receives grant for software research center

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Daily Cardinal

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security?s Science and Technology Directorate granted $19.6 million to the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery Thursday for a Software Assurance Marketplace research center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The five-year grant will help researchers work to improve security on the development of software used in technologies from medical devices to the national power grid.

If Romney wins, the pollsters will be the losers

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Capital Times

If Mitt Romney is declared the president-elect Tuesday night, the nation?s pollsters will have some explaining to do. ?All of the stuff about skewed polls will be put to the test,? says University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin, who conducts the Marquette University Law School poll and is a polling consultant for the political website Talking Points Memo. In spite of national surveys that suggest the race is a dead heat, the consensus among poll analysts is that President Obama is heavily favored to win re-election.

Referendums cause UW students to vote absentee in Minn.

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Daily Cardinal

Despite the critical role of Madison voters in deciding which candidate wins Wisconsin?s electoral votes, many University of Wisconsin-Madison students who are also Minnesota residents have opted to vote absentee for their home state in Tuesday?s election. Many students from Minnesota have chosen to use their vote to weigh in on the referendums on their state?s ballot, including the marriage amendment and Voter ID law.

Obituary: Henry “Hank” Geitz

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Madison.com

FITCHBURG – Professor Henry “Hank” Geitz died at home surrounded by family on Oct. 27, 2012. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1961, Hank moved to Virginia and was Assistant Professor of German Literature at the University of Richmond. He came back to Wisconsin and was Assistant and then Associate Professor of German Literature from 1962-1972, Professor of German Literature from 1972-1996, Associate Director of Academic Programs abroad from 1983-1989, and Director of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies from 1990-1997, all at the University of Wisconsin. He was the recipient of several honors and awards including Wisconsin?s Outstanding German Educator Award, Medal of the University of Freiburg, and the Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstrodens der Bundesrepublik, awarded by the President of Germany.

Obituary: Lois Jean Anderson

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Madison.com

MADISON – Lois Jean Anderson, age 61, of Madison, passed away unexpectedly Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, at UW Hospital in Madison. She worked for many years as an aide at Central Wisconsin Center caring for developmentally disabled children. After earning her Medical Assistant Certificate, she began working for the UW Animal Health Lab. She retired in August after 30 years of service to the State of Wisconsin.

Removing government from research keeps scientists honest

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Daily Cardinal

In 2005 Elizabeth Goodwin, PhD, a geneticist and professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, admitted to manipulating data on a research grant application in order to convince reviewers that her lab was worthy of the money it was requesting. She was turned in by graduate students working at her lab. Just this last week, Dr. Thomas Zdeblick, a surgeon at UW-Madison, was found to have received $34 million from a company called Medtronic because he allowed employees at that company to ghost-write papers with his name on them, which advocated the use of a controversial and ineffective spinal treatment the company was promoting. These papers failed to disclose that the spinal treatment being advocated for had been shown to cause sterility in men. These two cases exemplify a problem in modern scientific research funding: The incentive to cheat is incredibly high.

Please leave ego at home Nov. 6

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Daily Cardinal

This week holds a special significance for most of the students at the UW-Madison. I am no exception. For many of us, Tuesday will be the first time we can vote in a presidential election. I?m sure everybody?s parents have already reminded them to vote (and probably passed some advice on who to endorse as well). But whether you?re planning on rocking the vote or flat out stoning it, I think it?s helpful to remember exactly what voting means in the U.S. of A.

Students learn programming skills at museum

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Wisconsin State Journal

Children as young as 9 are learning how to program in a computer class at the Madison Children?s Museum. The class, which was designed for students ages nine to 13, uses the Scratch software developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. Through the software program, children can create their own interactive stories, games, music and animation. Three UW-Madison students have been working with the dozen younger students in the class as part of a service-learning course.

Don’t forget to vote, UW dean says

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In case you might have been under a rock or on the moon the past year, Tuesday is Election Day, and the dean of students at UW-Madison is urging all students to get out and vote. “I urge you to become an active participant in the democratic process by voting for the candidates of your choice in federal, state and local races,” said Lori Berquam in a news release from the UW-Madison news service. Something new for voters this year, thanks to 21st century communication: you can prove your residency by showing a copy of the Voter Enrollment Verification Form on your smartphone, when you go to the polls to register if not already registered.

Curiosities: Where do bees and wasps go during the winter?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Colonial insects, including honeybees, bumblebees, paper wasps and yellow jackets, have one queen and many workers, said Phil Pellitteri, a distinguished faculty associate in the department of entomology at UW-Madison. ?Honeybees are the only species that overwinters as a colony; they don?t go dormant and have to generate enough heat to live, so they need a minimum population of bees and plenty of honey, their energy source.?

Ask the Weather Guys: What can we learn from Hurricane Sandy?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Nearly a week after Hurricane Sandy struck the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States, the affected region is still reeling from the shock. This really was an unprecedented storm in the truest sense of that word. Among the amazing aspects of the event was the extraordinarily accurate and early forecasting of the storm. Numerical forecast models were latching on to the correct scenario, including the unusual and rapid leftward turn off the Mid-Atlantic coast, as early as five to seven days before the event (depending on the particular model in question).

Mail-in ballots least reliable, experts say

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Wisconsin State Journal

The hundreds of thousands of people who vote by absentee ballots in Wisconsin might not realize mail-in ballots are probably the least reliable way to ensure a vote is counted, said Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political science professor who studies election administration. ?If there?s a vulnerability in the system that both parties should be concerned about, it?s absentee ballots,? Burden said.

Pattern of success: Knitters and crocheters push idea of a museum

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Karen Kendrick-Hands is sick of knit and crochet being treated as ?the country cousins? of the textile world. She and fellow enthusiasts want to elevate the crafts? status by potentially opening a museum dedicated to preserving, documenting and sharing the knit and crochet heritage….To get the ball rolling, Kendrick-Hands, along with the Wisconsin Historical Society and a group of volunteers are organizing the symposium ?Knit and Crochet Heritage Project? Thursday through Saturday in Madison. To coincide with the symposium, the Wisconsin Historical Society will open an exhibit of 21 knitted or crocheted items from their collection and eight from UW-Madison?s Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.

UW to launch law office for veterans

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Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School will launch a new Veterans Law Center Thursday to provide legal assistance to veterans in the Madison area. The law center is funded by a $5,000 Pro Bono Initiative Grant from the State Bar Legal Assistance committee. The center was created by a partnership between the UW-Madison Law School?s Pro Bono Program, the Dane County Bar Association, Porchlight, Inc. and William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital representatives.

Young Americans for Liberty makes waves at UW, nationwide

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Joe Diedrich changed his conservative political views to embrace the independent, Libertarian party in his later high school years, when he said he realized the Bush administration?s continued shipment of U.S. soldiers and supplies to fuel warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan ?didn?t make any sense.?

?It didn?t make any sense for myself, didn?t make any sense to our national security, it didn?t make any sense for our economy to be in that war,? Diedrich said.

Q&A: Prof says Madison and Waukesha a study in contrasts — and similarities

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Capital Times

Torben Lutjen, a political scientist at the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, is researching political polarization in the United States as a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison….After returning to Germany for the summer, Lutjen, 37, is back in Wisconsin yet again. This time he?s researching conservative Waukesha County. Lutjen believes the two counties ? Dane and Waukesha ? offer a special glimpse into a trend of political polarization that is gripping the United States and puzzling observers in the rest of the western world.

Madison visit part of Obama’s key strategy, experts say

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Wisconsin State Journal

When President Barack Obama holds perhaps the largest campaign rally of the season in Madison on Monday ? aided by rock legend Bruce Springsteen ? he?ll cap three visits to Wisconsin in five days, a strategy designed to use the state to secure enough electoral votes for a second term and block challenger Mitt Romney?s path to the White House, experts say.

Quoted: UW-Madison political science professors Barry Burden and Ken Goldstein.

Retired UW-Madison historian dies at age 66

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Daily Cardinal

A University of Wisconsin-Madison historian, who contributed to a well-known, written historical account of the university, died Oct. 23 at the age of 66. As a campus historian until his retirement in 2006, John Jenkins completed many projects including histories of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, and UW Housing. He was best known for his work with E. David Cronon that contributed to the book ?The University of Wisconsin: A History,? which is regarded as ?one of the finest histories of any university in the United States,? according to a UW-Madison news release.

Developer presents plans for student apartment buildings

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Daily Cardinal

Downtown residents and community members met at a neighborhood meeting Thursday to discuss two proposed student-oriented apartment buildings on North Bassett Street and North Frances Street. Developer Scott Faust has proposed demolishing two existing houses at 313 and 315 N. Frances St. to make way for a 12-story student-oriented apartment complex. The building would include 42 apartments, 91 underground bike stalls and commercial space on the first floor for either a restaurant, bank or retail business.

Petitioners request details of HR changes

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Daily Cardinal

Many University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty, staff and community members have signed an online petition asking the Office of Human Resources to release a list of changes to be included in the personnel system redesign following recent campus feedback. UW-Madison sociology professor Sara Goldrick-Rab created the petition Tuesday morning hoping to urge the office to release the list of the changes they will make before the Faculty Senate will vote to support or deny the HR plan as a whole in a meeting Monday.

Lab develops bacterial test to help fight infant deaths

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Daily Cardinal

A University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry professor has developed a simple bacterial test that could be used to save infants? lives in developing countries, after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted him $100,000 for the project, according to a UW-Madison news release. UW-Madison biochemistry professor Douglas Weibel?s laboratory created a cartridge test to determine if the type of bacteria in a newborn?s stomach must be treated to prevent a common, often deadly, bacterial infection that kills intestinal tissue.

Obituary: Debra Wilcox Johnson

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WAUNAKEE – Debra Wilcox Johnson, age 59, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg, on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, after a two-year struggle with lymphoma. Between 1987 and 1993, Debra served on the faculties of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, and of the School of Library and Information Studies at the UW-Madison.

Seely on Science: UW weather scientists at forefront of Sandy forecasts

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Wisconsin State Journal

Once again, as a huge storm churned across the Atlantic Ocean, UW-Madison researchers were right in the middle of it ? sort of. As Hurricane Sandy barreled its way toward the East Coast Sunday and an appointment with the history books, about 20 scientists toiled in front of computer screens on the UW-Madison campus at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies. Their behind-the-scenes work ? providing startling satellite images as well as detailed analysis of what those images were telling us ? helped the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service provide forecasts that proved remarkably accurate.

?This is evidence of a revolution that?s been going on quietly here for 20 years,? said Jonathan Martin, a professor and chairman of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

Alert neighbor key in arrest of burglary suspect, police say

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Capital Times

Thanks to an alert neighbor, a man suspected of breaking into an apartment near the UW-Madison campus was arrested early Friday morning, Madison police reported. Jai Patterson, 26, was arrested on tentative charges of burglary, possession of heroin, felony bail jumping and on an outstanding warrant, according to a police news release.

Ex-Penn State president charged in Sandusky case

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WISC-TV 3

(CNN) – Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has been charged with several counts in the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal at the university, including obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children and failure to report allegations of child abuse. Additional charges also were filed Thursday against two other former university officials -? former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and ex-Vice President Gary Schultz. The three men now face the same five charges.

2 men beaten in unprovoked attack

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. – Madison police said two friends were beaten by the same person as they walked near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus early Saturday morning. Police said the victims, a 20-year-old Madison man and a 20-year-old Monroe man, reported the attacks around 2:20 a.m. but said the attacks actually occurred an hour earlier. One victim said he tried to ignore a group of four men who were on the sidewalk, yelling, in the 1700 block Madison Street.

UW to unveil Bob Johnson rink Friday

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — Friday night will be a special one at the Kohl Center. The Badger men?s hockey team hosts Colorado College in its home opener, and the team will unveil the new Bob Johnson rink. The ice sheet at the Kohl Center is being named for the legendary coach, ?Badger Bob? Johnson. He led the Badgers to seven NCAA tournaments and won three championships. It?s been more than 20 years since Badger Bob lost his battle with brain cancer in 1991.

Sandy threatens to destroy medical research

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WKOW-TV 27

NEW YORK (WKOW) — Researchers at NYU Medical Center try to save years of research into heart disease, cancer and other diseases as well as priceless lab specimens that were put in jeopardy by Hurricane Sandy. NYU Medical Center lost power shortly after Sandy hit Monday night. Back-up generators failed and the Manhattan hospital evacuated 300 patients on Monday. Cells, tissues and animals used for medical research were left to die in failing refrigerators, freezers and incubators.

2 men injured at rowdy campus house party

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. – One man was beaten to unconsciousness and another man suffered cuts to his face and hands after others broke windows at a campus-area house party near Camp Randall Stadium, Madison police said. The incidents occurred at a house party in the 100 block of North Breese Terrace early Saturday morning, according to Madison Police Department incident reports.

Giant UW used book sale starts Nov. 7

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Capital Times

Book lovers will be descending on the UW-Madison Memorial Library Nov. 7 through Nov. 10 for the annual used book sale, one of the largest used book sales in the state, according to a UW news release. More than 15,000 books will be for sale, along with maps, DVDs, CDs and many record albums.

Know Your Madisonian: Professor Larry Landweber lauded as Internet pioneer

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Wisconsin State Journal

When Larry Landweber was growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the 1950s, he competed on his high school math team. But he never imagined he would become a leader in a technology that has dramatically changed the world. Yet Landweber, 69, the John P. Morgridge professor emeritus of computer science at UW-Madison, is one of 33 people from nine countries who were the first to be inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame last April in Geneva.

Chris Rickert: Bill for UW-Madison chancellor search firm hard to swallow

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Wisconsin State Journal

I know it?s common for major corporations and major universities to hire outside search firms to help them find top leaders. But corporations aren?t spending millions in tax dollars. And am I wrong to wonder why a tax-supported organization such as UW-Madison ? which has its own human resources department and thousands of learned people of sound judgment ? can?t find its own boss? UW-Madison history professor and search committee chairman David McDonald emphasized that “this is a really important position,” and the search firm, Storbeck/Pimentel and Associates, has expertise and connections “that none of us on the committee really has.”He also said hiring search firms to identify chancellor candidates is standard practice in the UW System.

Qi Cao receives national Phi Kappa Phi award

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Qi Cao of Shanghai, China, recently received a national Love of Learning Award from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. She is one of 140 recipients nationwide to receive the award, which helps fund post-baccalaureate studies and career development. Initiated into the Society in 2012 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cao currently is a candidate for a Doctor of Musical Arts with a major in music performance and minor in music theory at UW-Madison.

2 men injured at rowdy campus house party

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. -One man was beaten to unconsciousness and another man suffered cuts to his face and hands after others broke windows at a campus-area house party near Camp Randall Stadium, Madison police said. The incidents occurred at a house party in the 100 block of North Breese Terrace early Saturday morning, according to Madison Police Department incident reports. A battery victim contacted Madison police Sunday evening wanting to report what happened to him early Saturday morning, around 12:18 a.m.

Madison360: Our UW-Madison expert chooses a new path

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Capital Times

Too often, familiar names disappear from publications without explanation. With that in mind, we want to share that Todd Finkelmeyer, a reporter who did outstanding work writing about education issues since 2008, has left to become communications director for the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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UW police stop bicyclists, give away free bike lights

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. – Some bicyclists on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus were surprised Tuesday night when they were stopped by police because of safety concerns. State law requires bicyclists to have at least a front light on their bikes after sunset. The fine for not having a bike light is about $160. UW-Madison police on Tuesday stopped bikers who were violating the law, but instead of ticketing them, they educated them and also set them up with free front and back lights for their bikes.

Here?s where to bust some ghosts on UW campus

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Wisconsin State Journal

It turns out that midterm you didn?t study for, or the tuition bill you paid for your son, aren?t the only scary things on the UW-Madison campus. According to author Matthew L. Swayne, the campus is home to all sorts of mysterious supernatural forces. In his new book, ?America?s Haunted Universities,? Swayne collects ghost stories and unexplained phenomena from colleges all over the country, including a bunch from right here in Madison.

Malfunction in lab equipment causes fire at UW

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Capital Times

A malfunctioning piece of equipment in a laboratory on the UW-Madison campus caused a fire Monday that forced the evacuation of the building but no injuries, authorities reported. The fire was reported at 10:52 a.m. in the Service Memorial Institute, 470 N. Charter St., according to UW-Madison Police Sgt. Aaron Chapin. The fire caused about $1,500 in damage to the equipment, and was confined to the one room in the building.

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Obituary: Lois Daron

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MADISON/CAMBRIDGE – Lois Daron, age 77, died peacefully on Oct. 23, 2012, at Agrace HospiceCare in Madison. Lois spent the majority of her professional career in Madison working at the University of Wisconsin as an LTE in several departments including General Engineering, Sports Medicine, Design Studies, Psychology, Language Institute, UW Transportation Center and Bacteriology. She worked hard for her money, sifting, winnowing, authorizing, adjusting, helping, calculating, expediting, organizing, juggling, reviewing, managing, supporting, correcting, finessing and filing all to help fulfill the University?s mission.

Two men attacked outside Madison bar

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WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. – Two Madison men were attacked after accidentally bumping into two other men as they walked out of a bar Saturday morning, according to police. The victims, both 21, said they didn?t want trouble after bumping into the two men outside a bar at 1421 Regent Street at 2:32 a.m., but they were punched in the head and knocked to the ground, according to police. Witnesses and the victims provided police with a description of the attackers.

Badgers football: Curt Phillips to compete against Danny O’Brien for starting QB job

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Madison.com

University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema has never hidden his fondness for senior quarterback Curt Phillips. It was on display again Monday when Bielema addressed UW?s future at quarterback after confirming redshirt freshman starter Joel Stave will miss eight weeks with a broken left collarbone. There?s an outside chance Stave could be back for a bowl game, but until then the Badgers will have to choose between junior Danny O?Brien and Phillips at quarterback.

On Campus: UW to pay $167K to identify/recruit chancellor candidates

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison will pay a search firm about $167,000 plus additional expenses to help the university identify and recruit candidates to be its next chancellor, according to a contract obtained by the State Journal. The company, Storbeck/Pimentel and Associates, is a household name in recruiting top university executives nationally and touted its record in placing non-traditional candidates in top jobs.

Writing the book, teaching the class: The difference in how instructors use their earnings

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Daily Cardinal

At the first lecture for Political Science 103, before explaining the United Nations or mentioning Greece?s economic troubles, Professor Jon Pevehouse announces that he donates the royalties he makes off of UW-Madison students who buy new copies of his textbook to the Red Cross. While instructors like Pevehouse who require their own textbooks say the book is ideal for their class, they differ on what to do with profits they make off their students. Faculty members must disclose outside earnings related to their work on campus, but UW-Madison has no overarching policy telling instructors who use their own textbooks how to use their profits, giving UW-Madison professors a relatively flexible reign.

Bikers to see the light on UW-Madison campus

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Capital Times

If you?re biking around the southeast side of the UW-Madison campus on Tuesday and you don?t have lights on your bicycle, you could be stopped by the police. And it could be a good thing. The UW-Madison Police Department, in partnership with Safe Communities, will be installing combination (front and back) lights on bicycles during the Be Bright bike light initiative on campus.

Posted in Uncategorized

Hurricane Sandy causes concern among East Coast UW students

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Daily Cardinal

Over the next two weeks, Julia Boms has to take two midterms and the Graduate Record Examination. But what distracts the University of Wisconsin-Madison senior from studying is not the average internet browsing or chatting, but Hurricane Sandy, a tropical storm headed toward her family at home on Long Island, New York. Students at UW-Madison, many of whom come from the East Coast, are worried about Sandy, which hit land along the coast of southern New Jersey around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

UW student dies in Smith Hall Monday

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Daily Cardinal

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student died from cardiac arrest in Smith Residence Hall early Monday evening, according to Dean of Students Lori Berquam. UW-Madison Police Department Lt. Mark Silbernagel said the death is considered ?an open investigation? and more details, including the student?s name, will be released after further investigation.

Josh Gasser Out For Season

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WKOW-TV 27

The Badger men?s basketball team suffers a major blow before the season even begins. Point guard Josh Gasser, a junior, tore his anterior cruciate ligament Saturday at Badgers? practice. He?ll redshirt this season and undergo surgery in the upcoming days, according to the school, which did not specify the ACL in question (left or right).

Plain Talk: Simpson Street Free Press youth are right to be proud

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Capital Times

The young people over at the Simpson Street Free Press are proudly busting their buttons these days. And well they should. They?ve just put out another great edition of their little newspaper, which has been distributed to area schools where other kids read it and some of their teachers use it in class. The public can also pick up copies at local grocery and drugstores and other outlets all over town….The editorial page tackles the dismal graduation rate in Madison high schools and includes a column that labels recent attacks on UW-Madison?s admission policy misguided.

In liberal Madison, young Republicans rare, passionate

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Wisconsin State Journal

Plenty of research suggests the political views of a city?s adult population will be reflected in its student population, said Kathy Cramer Walsh, an associate professor of political science at UW-Madison. “There tends to be a pretty strong transmission between parents and kids in political leanings,” she said. “It may not be as specific as a candidate or a policy, but it influences who they pay attention to and what news they listen to.”

Badgers women’s hockey: Alex Rigsby nets first shutout at La Bahn Arena

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Madison.com

The University of Wisconsin women?s hockey team is still recording many firsts at the new LaBahn Arena. Scratch a shutout off the list. Senior forward Brianna Decker and freshman defenseman Courtney Burke each enjoyed three-point games, and junior goaltender Alex Rigsby made 21 saves as the Badgers rolled to a 5-0 win over New Hampshire before 1,367 spectators on Sunday.

Curiosities: Why are the US’s coastlines so different?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: The answer resides in the interaction between the giant “tectonic plates” that form Earth?s crust, said Phil Brown, a professor of geoscience at the UW-Madison. “The east coast of North (and South) America are passive plate margins, which have subdued topography on land and broad shallow continental shelves that may extend 200 miles off shore, before diving to the Atlantic abyssal plain.”

Ask the Weather Guys: Are wind turbines detected by weather radars?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: While a single wind turbine is unlikely to confuse a radar return signal, a wind farm, particularly one 20 square miles or larger, will pose a problem. For example, the radar returns from the weather radar in Sullivan continually measures what looks to be a rain cloud to the north. This signal is always there and is the location of a wind farm.