Two competing local companies, both working to produce a scarce radioactive isotope used in heart stress tests and cancer scans, have each brought in money from investors. And at least one is getting wooed by three communities to house the manufacturing plant it plans to build.
Elizabeth Warren, the leader of President Barack Obama?s controversial new mortgage industry watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will not speak at a UW-Madison conference on real estate and the economy this week.
Phyllis Lucile Graham Boyle, age 87, passed away peacefully on June 4, 2011, in Monona, of causes associated with Alzheimer?s disease. Phyllis received a master’s of library science from the University of Wisconsin in 1969, and worked until 1985, as an administrative assistant and in Admissions and Placement in the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin. She loved her colleagues and the students.
The University of Wisconsin System would be forced to return about $37 million in federal funds intended to extend broadband Internet across Wisconsin, under a provision passed by the Legislature?s budget committee Friday. The legislation would also prohibit UW System campuses from supporting WiscNet, a cooperative that brings high-speed Internet to most schools and libraries across the state. Campus leaders say they fear the change could cripple the network.
MADISON, Wis. — Republicans have voted to ban using state money to pay for abortions at a Madison medical facility where they aren?t being performed. The GOP-controlled budget committee of the Legislature voted on Friday to ban using state money for abortions at the Madison Surgery Center, which is operated by the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority.
The Big Ten Conference?s football title game will be held indoors, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, for the first five years in an agreement announced on Sunday. The indoor facility beat out Chicago?s Solider Field, which also bid to hold the conference championship game outdoors.
Nina Leopold Bradley, age 93, died May 25, 2011, at her home on the Leopold Reserve near Baraboo…. Along with her second husband Charles Bradley, she rekindled the “axe-in-hand” philosophy of her father (Aldo Leopold), establishing the Bradley Study Center on the Leopold Reserve along the Wisconsin River in 1976. This work included creation of a graduate ecological research program in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin and expansion of the land restoration and phenological observation that her family had begun so many years ago.
Jan M. Bliese, age 65, met with Jesus on Saturday, June 4, 2011. Jan worked as an account specialist for the University of Wisconsin for 43 years before she retired.
Dear Editor: Gov. Scott Walker decreased state employees? take-home pay and their ability to meet their personal budgets and keep their homes. This clearly caused chronic heightened stress.
….Media reports regarding medical excuses written by physicians missed this key information, which more accurately answers the ?why? question for those stories in terms of the Hippocratic Oath.
Apparently the calendars in the NCAA offices are permanently stuck on the 1950s. By refusing to allow college athletes to be paid, NCAA officials would like us to think they?re preserving some idyllic moment in history when the “student” role dominated a student-athlete?s focus. All the collegiate athletics-ruling organization preserves with that stance is its own hypocrisy.
After a scandal at Ohio State University brought down highly touted football coach Jim Tressel and scarred another legendary program, NCAA leaders should finally acknowledge what the rest of the world knows: They?re taking advantage of the athletes.
The three finalists to become dean of the Wisconsin School of Business are visiting the UW-Madison campus in the coming days. Each candidate will spend two days in town meeting with a range of individuals and groups as the final part of the search-and-screen process.
Former North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson is scheduled to visit the University of Wisconsin next week, a UW source said. Wilson has been granted his release from North Carolina State and has one year of college football eligibility remaining. Because he has graduated, he is eligible to play immediately.
The Legislature?s budget committee re-opened the fight over collective bargaining rights shortly after midnight on Friday, proposing that newly hired police and firefighters be forced to pay more for their health insurance and pension benefits. The change, approved by the Republican-controlled committee on an 11-4 party line vote, would force police and firefighters to make the same level of contributions as other public workers as required under a bill pushed by Gov. Scott Walker and passed by the Legislature in March.
When the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee finally gets around to taking up the University of Wisconsin System?s budget, faculty, staff and administrators at campuses across the state will be holding their collective breath. Leaders within both UW-Madison and the UW System have been spending seemingly every waking moment since mid-February pushing their proposals for how to break public higher education free from state oversight so campuses can operate more efficiently and effectively. The problem is that UW-Madison and UW System officials have been unable to get on the same page to pitch a unified message.
Given a distinct choice of venues for future Big Ten Conference football championship games, University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez and football coach Bret Bielema agree. It should be played indoors, which means the league should make a commitment to staging the game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
How fortunate was the University of Wisconsin football team to retain offensive coordinator Paul Chryst during the offseason, despite overtures from Texas? Rivals.com lists Chryst, who is entering his seventh season as offensive coordinator for the Badgers — and eighth season overall as an assistant with the team — as the third-hottest assistant football coach in the nation. Chryst trails only Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops.
Veterans interested in talking with recruiters from some of America?s largest companies are invited to a job fair Friday afternoon on the UW-Madison campus. The “Hiring Our Heroes” job fair is a joint venture of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Student Veterans of America.
Just when you think things can?t get any more bizarre in the UW-Madison vs. UW System family feud ….UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin emailed leaders across the UW System Wednesday night to say she was “dismayed” by a press release put out earlier in the day by the Badger Advocates, a privately funded group of more than a dozen lobbyists advocating at the Capitol on behalf of Martin and her vision for a new business relationship between the state and Wisconsin?s flagship higher education institution.
MADISON, Wis. — As hundreds gear up to support breast cancer research at this weekend?s Race for the Cure, thousands of breast cancer survivors in Wisconsin are paying their success forward through a unique research project on the University of Wisconsin campus.
Researchers are looking at when a woman may be most vulnerable to environmental hazards during her life, specifically the stages of childhood, adolescence and menopause. It?s what researchers call “windows of susceptibility.”
“Many studies have been done on environmental exposures, but studies have focused on recent exposures and how they relate to breast cancer risks,” said Dr. Amy Trentham-Dietz, a cancer epidemiologist at UW.
….With new allegations surfacing that Buckeyes players have been selling memorabilia and getting sweetheart deals on cars since 2002, the message being sent is even more loud and clear: This isn?t a Jim Tressel problem or an Ohio State problem, it?s a college football problem. At its highest levels, the sport is out of control.
With lawmakers gearing up for a vote on the state budget, a ?Walkerville? camp similar to the one that sprang up during the protests at the state Capitol earlier this year may be returning this weekend ? this time to the terraces of Mifflin and Carroll streets.
We Are Wisconsin, an alliance of community groups, labor unions and others, has asked the city for a permit to set up the camp across from the Capitol to provide information about Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposals and efforts to recall Republican legislators who voted to eliminate bargaining rights for most public employees.
As I watch many valued colleagues leave the University of Wisconsin-Madison for other institutions, I react with dismay. Not at them, but at the lack of any substantive educational vision that now seems to pervade the governor?s officer and the Legislature.
We do a disservice to any serious understanding of the importance of education if we simply see it as a vocational path to more money and jobs. When the governor said that he didn?t need to finish college because he already had a job, he demonstrated how limited was his view of education as a self-making process.
It makes sense that professors with contrasting political ideologies might approach their lives in different ways. But whether a professor leans left or right, or votes Democrat or Republican, shouldn?t affect a student?s grade in Chemistry 101 or an upper-level philosophy course. Right? That?s not the case according to a recent study by two economists titled “Partisan Grading.” The paper indicates that, yes, Democratic and Republican professors do appear to grade in different ways.
It ain?t gonna happen. Much to the chagrin of The Sconz circa 2009, UW students will never be able to drink at Badgers games. The idea of selling beer at Camp Randall popped onto the radar screen recently when West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck proposed such a plan for Mountaineers football games. In addition to tapping into a lucrative revenue stream, Luck told his Board of Governors that allowing and controlling beer sales would help cut down on the problem of fan intoxication.
It is ironic that West Virginia, which surveys show has one of the lowest rates of alcohol consumption in the country, is considering a more liberal drinking policy than Wisconsin, the heaviest drinking state in the country, and home to Memorial Union, perhaps the proudest university-sponsored drinking venue in American history.
People around the globe took notice of the Egyptian revolution earlier this year. Anna Therese Day was on the ground in Cairo following it all. A 2010 graduate of UW-Madison, Day covered the uprising ? which led to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11 following more than two weeks of protests and public pressure ?as a freelance journalist for a number of media outlets.
The Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to take up the University of Wisconsin System?s budget later this week. The state?s budget-writing committee is meeting Thursday and Friday, starting at 1:00 p.m. each day, in Room 412 East of the Capitol to examine the budgets of a range of agencies — including that of the UW System. It?s not yet clear which day the JFC will tackle UW System-related issues.
Kathleen “Kay” Kraemer, beloved wife and mother, age 64, passed away Monday, May 30, 2011, at St. Mary?s Care Center in Madison after a long and courageous battle with multiple sclerosis. Kay worked as an obstetrics nurse at University of Wisconsin and Meriter hospitals.
Union supporters were handed a huge ? although possibily temporary ? victory Thursday morning, when a Dane County judge struck down a controversial bill that stripped most collective bargaining rights from public employees.
MADISON, Wis. — A Dane County judge has struck down a law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most state workers. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled on Thursday that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin?s open meetings law during the run up passing the controversial measure. She said that renders the law void.
In her ruling, Sumi said that there was “no conflicting Senate, Assembly or joint rule in effect on March 9, 2011, that would have excused compliance with the public notice requirement” of 24 hours notice. She went on to say, “The evidence also demonstrated a failure to obey even the two-hour notice allowed for good cause if 24-hour notice is impossible or impractical.”
The Legislature?s budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students — especially those from low-income families — find a path to a college degree. Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee attempted to delete a provision in the governor?s budget which will sunset the Wisconsin Covenant program. But that motion was shot down 12-4 along party lines.
“I don?t know why we continue to say we can?t afford education,” Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D, Milwaukee, told her joint finance colleagues.
Gifts and grants totalling $1,110,270 to area educational, cultural and civic organizations for 2011 have been announced by John H. ?Jack? Lussier, president of The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times.
Included in the grants is $351,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, $200,000 of which is the fourth installment of a $1 million, five-year pledge for a William T. Evjue professorship in the School of Journalism, plus $151,000 to support 20 other programs for students and faculty at the university.
With the stroke of a pen today, Gov. Scott Walker will officially solve a problem that we don?t have. If you listen to Walker and some fellow governors, they?re protecting the integrity of elections and preventing voter fraud.
….Tens of thousands of students in the University of Wisconsin System won?t be able to use their student IDs because they don?t meet the new state voter requirement. Do you think that?s a coincidence?
Here?s the message it sends: We want young people to take part in democracy. We want them to stay in Wisconsin and work after graduation. But we don?t really want them to vote while they?re a student.
Terry Lee Kell, age 60, of Madison, died peacefully surrounded by family on Monday, May 23, 2011, at HospiceCare in Fitchburg, following a battle with cancer. Terry retired as assistant director of financial aid for the University of Wisconsin, where he worked for 35 years.
Kenneth Walter Keul, age 79, passed away on Sunday, May 22, 2011, due to Parkinson?s Disease. Ken worked for the State of Wisconsin in various capacities until retiring from Protection and Security at the UW Hospital.
Wisconsin students would be required to pay more to attend Minnesota?s public universities, under a plan unanimously adopted by the budget committee. Changes to the tuition reciprocity program would be phased in, starting with the freshman class in the fall of 2012 — a compromise to protect current students from a sudden tuition increase.
The October traffic crash that killed a UW-Madison student was caused by a woman who was texting while driving, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. Authorities charged Stephanie M. Kanoff, 20, of Sun Prairie, with homicide by negligent driving for allegedly writing a text message on her cell phone before she struck and killed Dylan Ellefson, 21, whose car had become disabled in the 1400 block of East Johnson Street on Oct. 24.
MADISON (WKOW) — Wisconsin college students would have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a proposal up for approval before the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee.
MADISON, Wis. — The Legislature?s budget committee has voted to go along with Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to end the Wisconsin Covenant program. The program started by Walker?s predecessor Gov. Jim Doyle promises financial aid for college to middle school students who promise to stay out of trouble and get good grades.
The Pro Arte Quartet, one of the country?s oldest quartets-in-residence, will celebrate 100 years of performance and education this coming year with substantial help from a $40,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant. Sarah Schaffer, the ensemble?s manager, announced on Monday that with the $40,000 from the NEA?s Access to Artistic Excellence category, fundraising has risen to more than $300,000 toward the overall $460,000 goal.
I?ve become much too good recently at writing accolades about retiring public workers. I?m glad to praise the praiseworthy, of course. It?s just that there are too many inspiring public servants departing state government right now. I?m losing words to express my sense of loss and outrage.
….State workers who have worked for decades under multiple administrations suddenly are leaving in droves.
Proudly emerging in caps and gowns, students who graduate from college over the next few weeks will feel as light as a feather. Well, except for the anchor of student debt they?ll drag behind them for the next several years or longer.
A report the Pew Research Center released last week showed those who borrow money for college face an average of $23,000 in loans. The weight is especially piling on in Wisconsin, according to credit management service CreditKarma.com. Its report showed student loan debt among Wisconsin consumers rose 17 percent over the past year, the biggest increase in the nation. It?s time to expel that trend.
News that defenseman Chris Chelios was chosen for induction in the University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame later this year wasn?t a huge surprise. After all, he might be the greatest American hockey player ever. But the UW Hall of Fame should be predicated on what an inductee did in school, not as a professional.
The sky may not be falling in the world of higher education. But it sure can seem like it some days. Concerns over college costs among the public are at an all-time high — with 75 percent saying college is out of reach for most people. In 1985, 60 percent felt this way.
CHICAGO (AP) ? Like thousands of college students this time of year, Northwestern University freshman Jim Sannes can?t wait to spend time at home this summer.
Sannes, 19, is looking forward to relaxing and ?just being around the surroundings I grew up with, the same house I grew up with. It will be a nice feeling.? He grew up in Kasson, Minn., 350 miles from Northwestern?s campus in Evanston, Ill. But after nine months away, campus and the place where college students grew up may seem worlds apart.
Many scheduling challenges remain unresolved, but the new men?s hockey initiative in the Big Ten Conference is moving closer to a definitive playoff format.Administrators and coaches at the six schools have a list of three options and are being asked to submit their preferences to the Big Ten offices by the end of this week.
Prof. Dean Otis Cliver, born March 2, 1935, died Monday, May 16, 2011, at his home in Davis, Calif. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in the Food Research Institute from 1962 to 1995 and was a professor at the University of California in Davis from 1995 to 2008, continuing as a professor emeritus until his recent illness.
A 16-member search-and-screen committee has narrowed its picks for the next dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, and two of the three finalists have ties to UW-Madison.
Bicyclists will be banned from riding along the dirt path that leads to Picnic Point, starting May 28. UW-Madison officials said they made the decision because people complained about reckless bikers riding too fast among pedestrians and off the designated trail.
A group of Sherman Middle School seventh-graders who recently traveled to New Orleans on a rare service-learning trip are sharing their experience at UW-Madison?s School of Education on Monday. The trip was unusual because most community service projects in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina have involved high school or college students. Students, professors and researchers at UW-Madison are interested in hearing about the community service component, professor Diana Hess said.
Margaret Raymond, a professor at the University of Iowa since 1995, is the new dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
“Margaret is a distinguished legal scholar and a lively intellect,” UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin says in a news release announcing the move. “She has a keen sense of the strengths of our law school. We are delighted she has decided to join our team.”
People know me as: John Stevens, UW-Madison professor of tuba and euphonium; tubist with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a university faculty ensemble-in-residence; and a composer, arranger and conductor.
Another faith-based organization at UW-Madison also could lose its tax-exempt status for its housing component.
A 16-member search-and-screen committee has narrowed its picks for the next dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, and two of the three finalists have ties to UW-Madison.
Jeremi Suri has fielded outside job offers before. But in the past, the history professor always turned down more lucrative overtures to remain at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That changed this week when the highly regarded expert of international history and American foreign policy decided to take his talents to the University of Texas at Austin.
….”Quite frankly, I feel guilty about leaving,” says Suri. “I’ve been treated very well here. But I also think this shows the need for granting (UW-Madison) more flexibilities. And if our institution isn’t given the resources or allowed more flexibility from state oversight, we’re going to be stuck in place. I’m very worried about future retention here and having the resources to do the kinds of innovative work that’s necessary to remain a great university.”
UW-Eau Claire finally has a mascot. Sort of. The student senate announced Wednesday that students chose the image of a blue and gold bird for a school mascot, based on a student-wide survey. But UW-Eau Claire leaders are not taking on the image as the official university mascot.
….Upon returning to Madison, Smith reiterated his plans to play another season at the college level. That?s good news for the Badgers, who have already lost two underclassmen to the pros in defenseman Jake Gardiner and winger Jordy Murray.
“I made my decision before I left,?? Smith wrote in a text message. “That?s what felt right in my heart.??
University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema can remember a time in the not-so-distant past when the Badgers seemed to play all of their games at 11 a.m. Central time. In fact, in Bielema?s first year as head coach in 2006, UW kicked off all of its Big Ten Conference games at that time.
This year, the Badgers have four nationally televised night games, a sign of their growing national reputation. But with that prestige comes some challenges.
A popular gravel path that leads out to the end of Picnic Point on the UW-Madison campus will soon be off limits to bicyclists. The change from a shared-use path for both pedestrians and bikers to a pedestrians-only path will start on Saturday, May 28. The reason for the change is safety, not only for people but for the natural resources.
Forget about voting in the July 12 recall elections if you move to Wisconsin after June 14. Under a proof-of-residency provision in the voter ID bill passed this week by the state Legislature, voters will now need to live in the state 28 days before an election — instead of 10 — in order to cast a ballot.
….Once fully implemented, the voter ID law will require voters to present a valid driver’s license, passport, tribal ID or naturalization papers to obtain a ballot. Student IDs are allowed but will need to include a current address, birth date, signature and expiration date. No college IDs used in the state, including those on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, now meet those standards.
Last weekend I attended one of the commencement ceremonies at UW-Madison and, while I was very proud of the students, I was disappointed with the graduation itself.
….All in all, it was disappointing to see these students? graduation ceremony hijacked by politics and begging for funds.
