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Author: jnweaver

Analysis finds limitations of new public school report cards

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Wisconsin State Journal

Julie Underwood, dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, said she was surprised so many charter schools didn’t receive ratings. Private schools in Milwaukee and Racine that receive public voucher funds also don’t have report cards unless a change is made in state law.

“All of the charter schools should be evaluated and we should figure out ways to make valid assessments of them,” she said. “Not only do we need to give parents the information, but we also need good accountability measures because public funds are going to those schools.”

Criticism of HR redesign continues at public forum

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Daily Cardinal

Around seventy-five campus community members filled the Memorial Union?s Great Hall on Tuesday to discuss issues with proposed changes to the University of Wisconsin-Madison personnel plan. One of the goals outlined in the plan is to improve university employee recruitment, but many attendees said they had concerns about how the plan might end up harming senior UW-Madison employees.

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Badgers men’s basketball blog: High praise for trainer Henry Perez-Guerra

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Madison.com

Henry Perez-Guerra, the athletic trainer for the University of Wisconsin men?s basketball team, has some pretty good material the next time he goes in for his annual review. Badgers coach Bo Ryan was talking Tuesday about the gruesome injury senior forward Mike Bruesewitz suffered during a team workout Oct. 9, and it quickly became clear that Perez-Guerra, who?s in his 20th year as a trainer at UW, was the undisputed MVP that day.

Ryans to host cancer-research fundraiser

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Daily Cardinal

Wisconsin men?s basketball head coach Bo Ryan and his wife, Kelly, will host the Charity Stripe Challenge, a fundraiser for Coaches vs. Cancer and The American Cancer Society, Thursday at the Kohl Center. The Ryans will donate $1 for every UW-Madison student who comes to the arena between 3 and 7 p.m., and each student will have the opportunity to shoot a free throw and a half-court shot on the Kohl Center floor. The Ryans will donate $10 for every free throw made and $1,000 for each half-court shot made, and students who connect from long distance will also win men?s basketball season tickets.

Health Sense: New study boosts hormone replacement therapy

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Wisconsin State Journal

Millions of post-menopausal women were taking hormones to protect their hearts, bones and minds a decade ago when a major study revealed shocking findings: hormone replacement therapy increased the risk of heart disease, strokes and memory loss, along with breast cancer and blood clots. Now a new study, involving UW-Madison, reinforces advice that emerged after the troubling discoveries: hormone therapy makes sense for women with severe symptoms of menopause, but only for a few years and not for other reasons.

Quoted: Dr. Sanjay Asthana, a UW-Madison geriatrician who led the cognitive arm of the study

High temperatures near 80 in October? It’s not as unusual as you might think

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Wisconsin State Journal

You could be forgiven for thinking it?s summer again on Wednesday, when temperatures are predicted to climb into the upper 70s. By Thursday night, however, Madison will be back into the fall, with overnight lows in the 30s. The 40-degree fluctuation is the result of a storm that?s going to pass well to our north, but will bring warm air up from the south before pulling down cold winds from the north as it passes through, said Jonathan Martin, a UW-Madison professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

Strong independent streak makes Wisconsinites fickle voters

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Capital Times

Why are Wisconsin voters so changeable? Polling results reinforce our independent streak. The Capital Times asked UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin, who is conducting polls this election season as a visiting professor at Marquette University Law School, to review recent survey results and pull out data on how Wisconsinites say they will vote based on their beliefs on several social issues: the Affordable Care Act “Obamacare”, Medicare, immigration, gay marriage and abortion.

The student-state tuition dilemma

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore Amber Cypcar works four days each week at Gordon Commons and nearly 40 hours a week at Buffalo Wild Wings in her hometown during semester breaks. But instead of spending her money on State Street shopping sprees or eating at expensive restaurants, she saves money to pay for her entire college education.

Nobel Prize winner speaks at UW-Madison

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Daily Cardinal

Nobel Prize-winning scientist and University of Utah professor Mario Capecchi shared stories and advice from his career as a molecular biologist with students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Monday.

Badgers football notes: UW linebackers spurned by Butkus Award

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Madison.com

It?s an outstanding year for linebackers in the Big Ten Conference, which was reflected in the 12 semifinalists named on Monday for the Butkus Award, given to the nation?s top linebacker. Four of the players are from the Big Ten ? but none from the University of Wisconsin. The Badgers had two worthy candidates in senior Mike Taylor and junior Chris Borland.

UW officials respond to sexual assault letter

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Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison released a joint statement Monday with University Health Services and the UW-Madison Police Department after a UW-Madison alumna published an account of her sexual assault in The Daily Cardinal. Erin Reilly, a UW-Madison alumna, wrote about her experience with sexual assault on campus, which included being discouraged from reporting the incident by counselors. Dean of Students Lori Berquam, UWPD Chief Susan Riseling and UHS Director Sarah Van Orman contributed to the statement, which expressed the university?s sympathy for Reilly, and detailed the available resources on campus for victims of sexual assault.

Researcher found growing marijuana in UW building

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Daily Cardinal

Police arrested University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry researcher Christopher Schwartz Monday days after discovering he was growing between 200 and 1,000 grams of marijuana in the university Biochemistry building. The UW-Madison Police Department has charged Schwartz with the felony of Manufacturing and Delivering THC, the active chemical in marijuana, according to UWPD Sgt. Aaron Chapin. The charge applies to anyone who is ?either growing or selling an illegal substance,? Chapin said.

Stanley Kutler: Ignore McGovern?s message at your peril

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Capital Times

George McGovern lived his public life with an integrity that, in these rancid political times, all of us might envy. He unfortunately is remembered most for his overwhelming defeat at the hands of Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1972, but it is worth noting that Nixon resigned in disgrace, the only president to ever abandon his office. McGovern was a historian, undoubtedly with profound respect for the presidency; it is difficult to imagine his obstructing justice or abusing his power in the Nixon manner.

(Stanley Kutler, a UW-Madison professor emeritus, is the author of the “The Wars of Watergate” (Norton), and with Harry Shearer has written the forthcoming television series, “Nixon’s the One.” This column first appeared on Salon.com.)

In the news Tuesday: Chancellor search, interest rates

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Wisconsin State Journal

Chancellor search: UW-Madison will continue its search for a new chancellor with an online chat including members of the search committee from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. All are welcome to join the chat, offering suggestions and questions for the panel about the chancellor search. Go to wisc.edu to join the chat.

Second fire in 2 weeks hits UW Memorial Union

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Capital Times

Burned popcorn in a popular bar at the UW-Madison Memorial Union brought firefighters to the facility for the second time in two weeks, authorities reported. The fire in the Rathskeller was reported at 2:47 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release from Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth. Staff of the Rathskeller met firefighters in the hallway and led them to the bar, where the popcorn cooker had been on fire before being extinguished by the bar?s general manager.

Combo of Freakfest, UW Homecoming could scare up traffic woes

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Wisconsin State Journal

The scariest part of this year?s Freakfest could be the traffic congestion from some 80,000 fans leaving Saturday?s Badgers Homecoming football game at the same time Downtown streets are being closed for the annual Halloween celebration on State Street that?s expected to draw close to 45,000 revelers.

Campus Connection: UW-Madison to host chancellor search web chat Tuesday

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Capital Times

Are there particular characteristics or skills you think UW-Madison?s next chancellor should possess? Or would you simply like to learn a bit more about the chancellor search process? The university is hosting a web chat from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday that?ll feature members of UW-Madison?s chancellor search-and-screen committee, including chair David McDonald, who is a history professor.

Obituary: Michael A. Napstad

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Madison.com

Michael A. Napstad, age 55, of Madison, passed away unexpectedly at his home on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012. He worked for the University of Wisconsin Physical Plant for over 25 years where he made many lasting friendships for which he was very grateful.

Badgers roundup: Women’s hockey wins shootout against Bemidji State

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Madison.com

It wasn?t the script University of Wisconsin women?s hockey coach Mark Johnson would?ve penned for the opening weekend in the new LaBahn Arena, but at least the ending was a hit. Bemidji State scored an extra-attacker goal in the final minute of regulation Sunday and, after a scoreless overtime, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

Badgers football: Winning streak vaults UW into coaches’ poll and BCS standings at No. 25

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Madison.com

Riding a three-game winning streak, the University of Wisconsin football team moved into the USA Today coaches? poll and BCS standings at No. 25 and moved to the fringe of The Associated Press rankings. The Badgers (6-2) are one of just two Big Ten Conference teams ranked in the coaches? poll, with Michigan at No. 20 there and in the AP poll. Because it is serving a one-year bowl ban, Ohio State (8-0) is ineligible for that poll, although the Buckeyes check in at No. 9 in the AP poll. Wisconsin is the third team receiving votes in the media poll, the equivalent of being ranked No. 28.

Scholarship brings influx of Saudi students to Madison area

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Wisconsin State Journal

A walk across campuses locally and across the nation will show more faces like (Arwa) Alsughayyer, a graduate student at Edgewood College, and her husband, Suliman Alghnam, a graduate student at UW-Madison. They?re here thanks to a massive scholarship program funded by the Saudi king that pays for promising young Saudis to earn undergraduate and advanced degrees in the U.S. and other countries.

Campus Connection: Online videos replace live lectures ? and students thrive

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Online education still tends to get a bad rap in some circles — especially among those of us who grew up listening to professors talk at the front of a lecture hall. But it?s becoming increasingly apparent that a good mix of online and face-to-face teaching and learning can trump the more traditional (old-fashioned?) ways.

Quoted: Aaron Brower, who is serving as a special assistant to UW System President Kevin Reilly for new educational strategies, a role that allows him to provide leadership for the system?s new flexible degree initiative. Also mentioned, John Booske, chair of UW-Madison’s electrical and computer engineering department, the director of the Wisconsin Collaboratory for Enhanced Learning (WisCEL), and a believer in the value of the flipped classroom and blended learning.

Ask the Weather Guys: How were recent heavy rains predicted so well?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Though we have been relatively dry for much of the autumn, on the weekend of Oct. 13-14 we received a soaking rain of 0.86 inches on Saturday followed by 1.74 inches on Sunday. Two aspects of this heavy rain event are noteworthy to us. First, though Madison averages an inch of rain in a single day about six times each year, the 1.74 inches that fell on Sunday was the most in a single calendar day in Madison since 3.61 inches of rain fell on July 22, 2010. That long stretch includes two full summers (2011 and 2012) in which we never received such a rain. Second, the rainy weekend was clearly in the forecast for almost seven days in advance. In other words, at the end of the prior weekend, it was clear that next weekend was going to be a washout.

University Police Department to test WiscAlerts System

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison students, faculty and staff will receive a test alert from the WiscAlerts notification system Tuesday morning. According to a university release, the test will run between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Tuesday. The UW-Madison Police Department will send out the test alert via email, text messages and voice calls. Notifications will also appear on the UW-Madison home page, Facebook and Twitter.

Alumna recounts sexual assault at UW

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Daily Cardinal

….My rape incident happened to me in the least expected of places ? at UW-Madison, a university that I had grown to call home. It happened in my apartment ? a place I had lived comfortably for three years. It is true what they say. You never think it is going to happen to you until it does. And then, it is all you can think about. Sometimes for weeks, or in my case, for months…It is a well-known fact that sexual assaults are one of the most underreported crimes in the nation. And I contributed to that trend. But I never thought that university officials, or police officers, would play a part in that process.

Just Ask Us: How were local police selected for presidential motorcade?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Police staffing for the motorcade is determined by where the president?s event is held, according to Madison police Central District Capt. Carl Gloede. For the president?s Oct. 4 visit to UW-Madison, Gloede said Madison police coordinated the motorcade route and staffing. The department?s assistant chief of operations selected the command staff for the event, who in turn coordinated with other law enforcement agencies to fill positions along the route and within the motorcade.

Panel explores issues behind Islamophobia

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Daily Cardinal

?Do you hate America?? This was one of the questions Saad Siddiqui, secretary of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Muslim Students Association, remembers hearing while growing up as a Muslim in a post-9/11 world. A panel on the origin, impacts and iterations of Islamophobia in the United States, where Siddiqui told his story, brought together UW-Madison professors, students and experts Friday. The MSA and the Muslim-Jewish Volunteer Initiative, along with the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions, co-sponsored the event, which featured six speakers and two First Wave performances, each touching on a different nuance of Islamophobia.

Plain Talk: Photos make case for burying power lines

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Capital Times

The ?beauty? of overhead power lines has always been in the eye of the beholder. Many can overlook their ugliness as a necessary evil if cities and businesses are to develop and expand. Retired UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, a renowned research engineer, would joke that while others might see a transmission tower as a blight on the landscape, an engineer sees them as a work of art. They are, after all, what brings the power to make things go. Obviously, employees at the UW Arboretum don?t see them as art.

UW alum’s real life efforts are no joke

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Madison.com

You might not recognize Josh Bycel, but there?s a good chance you?ve seen his TV shows. And, if you read the Onion in the early 1990s, you might also have seen his naked rear end. A UW-Madison alumnus, Bycel will return to campus Thursday as the first speaker for this year?s Distinguished Lecture Series, a program of talks aimed at students and faculty. Bycel, who attended UW from 1989-93, will discuss his work as an executive producer for such shows as ?Scrubs,? ?Psych? and ?Happy Endings,? as well as his foundation, OneKid OneWorld, which helps build schools in Kenya and El Salvador.

Badgers women’s hockey: Decker, Badgers return to unique homecoming

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Madison.com

Nothing like a big party, complete with presents, family and old friends, to tamp out the ache of disappointment. The University of Wisconsin women?s hockey team will christen its beautiful new home, LaBahn Arena, before a sellout crowd Friday night when it opens a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with Bemidji State.

Badgers football: Cosgroves don’t shrink from a fight

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Madison.com

It has not been the easiest of coaching journeys for Kevin Cosgrove since his successful tenure as the defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin. He was a member of three coaching staffs that were fired ? at Nebraska, Minnesota and Akron ? before landing a job this year as inside linebackers coach at New Mexico. But no matter what he might go through in his professional life, Cosgrove insists he never has a bad day. He has his son, Connor, to thank for that.

Campus Connection: Nobel Prize winner to deliver public lectures at UW-Madison

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Capital Times

University of Utah professor Mario Capecchi, co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, will give free public talks on the UW-Madison campus both Monday and Tuesday. Capecchi?s first lecture is Monday at 1 p.m. in room 1325 of the Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave. This event is geared toward students and the general public, and is titled, “The Making of a Scientist — An Unlikely Journey.”

UW-Madison professor wins 2012 American Book Award

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Daily Cardinal

A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor won a 2012 American Book Award on Oct. 7 for his book on environmental issues. Robert Nixon, a professor of English, won the award for his book ?Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor.? The book centers on the impacts of destruction of ecosystems, radiation contamination and communities lost to dams or mines.

Event to examine Islamophobia at UW

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Daily Cardinal

The Muslim Students Association, the Muslim-Jewish Volunteer Initiative and the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions will co-sponsor an event Friday to examine and discuss the way Islam is viewed in America. The event, entitled ?Understanding Islamophobia,? will feature five speakers from UW-Madison and around the nation who will discuss how Islam is depicted in American media and how it is treated in politics. The forum will also include performances by First Wave and a Q&A session for attendees.

Rick Bogle: Cruelty isn’t against the law in a lab

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Wisconsin State Journal

The title of the article in last Friday?s paper, “USDA clears UW-Madison of cruelty in cat research,” was misleading. The USDA reported that there were “no non-compliant items identified” during their inspections. “No non-compliant items” does not mean no cruelty, not by a long shot.

Campus Connection: Can states be pressured into reinvesting in higher education?

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Capital Times

Despite acknowledging concerns about the increasing costs associated with earning a college degree, the Regents this past June ultimately voted to increase tuition by 5.5 percent for the 2012-13 academic year for in-state undergraduates. It was the sixth straight year in which resident undergrads attending one of the UW System?s 13 four-year campuses have had their tuition bumped up by that exact same percentage. Add it up, and tuition and mandatory fees at UW-Madison are topping $10,000 for the first time in 2012-13, costing an in-state undergrad $10,378.

SLAC, TAA urge UW to sever ties with Palermo?s

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In the midst of the controversy surrounding the Palermo?s Pizza workers? strike, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Teaching Assistants? Association and the Student Labor Action Coalition released a joint resolution calling for the university to cut all ties with Palermo?s.The issue began when workers at Palermo?s were fired from a Milwaukee factory after attempting to unionize. Workers also condemned poor working conditions and Palermo?s lack of effort to correct them.

UW-Madison administration is aware of the current dispute between the pizza company and its workers and will continue to monitor the situation, Vice Chancellor for University Relations Vince Sweeney said in an email. ?It appears to be a difficult and complicated issue and we are hopeful that the parties can reach a resolution in the immediate future,? Sweeney said.

Student ejections up due to seating policy

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Daily Cardinal

A typical Badger home game experience includes walking with throngs of people through the Camp Randall arch, singing ?Varsity? with thousands of other Badger fans, and shaking the stadium during ?Jump Around.? But this year?s sudden enforcement of an assigned seating policy is leading to more students being ejected from one of their most anticipated traditions.

UW swimming and diving: Coach Whitney Hite says LaBahn Arena is a game-changer

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Madison.com

Just before Whitney Hite conducted his first practice as the men?s and women?s swimming and diving coach at the University of Wisconsin, he took grease pen in hand and scrawled his code for life on a white board for his charges to see. “Entitled to nothing, grateful for everything,” he wrote. “If you can live your life with that motto,” he told them, “then life becomes a heck of a lot more fun and a heck of a lot more enjoyable.” That sentiment is meant to be applied 24/7, but there are moments when its ring is a bit truer.

New technique produces better view of Uranus

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Capital Times

Scientists now can see Uranus in sharper focus, thanks to a new technique developed by two UW-Madison scientists and other scientists using the world?s largest telescopes. High-resolution infrared images of the seventh planet from the sun, taken at the Keck Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, were shown at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society?s Division of Planetary Sciences in Reno on Wednesday.The images are being called the best look ever at Uranus? complex and enigmatic weather patterns. The UW-Madison scientists working on the project were Larry Sromovsky and Pat Fry.

UW scientist to help unearth secrets of ancient Troy

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Wisconsin State Journal

Just a few months ago, Greg Barrett-Wilt found himself beneath an awning on the dry and dusty site of ancient Troy in Turkey on the Aegean Sea. The UW-Madison scientist held in his hand a broken piece of pottery, an invaluable piece of antiquity. And he was about to do something unthinkable: deface it with a scraping tool. Barrett-Wilt, who specializes in using sophisticated instruments to study proteins, is a partner in a collaboration that will use cutting-edge science to bring to life a very old and storied place. He was recruited by William Aylward, a UW-Madison archaeologist, who will lead new excavations of Troy, the setting for Homer?s legendary tale of love, betrayal and war, and a real and bustling city that was continually occupied for 4,500 years.

Short and sweet American history

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Wisconsin State Journal

Imagine boiling American history down to 138 pages in a small book. The result is ?American History: A Very Short Introduction,? one of the newest entries in Oxford University Press? VSI series. This offering ? one of almost 350 ? is of particular interest because it was written by Paul S. Boyer, a UW-Madison history professor emeritus who died in March.

UW trains new class of triple threats: Actors, directors and entrepreneurs

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Wisconsin State Journal

For young actors graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s theater department, finding work is all about flexibility, both physical and intellectual. In response to students who are starting their own companies and forging multifaceted careers, the UW Department of Theatre and Drama has created a new, combined graduate degree in acting and directing starting this year.

Four Beltline power poles lowered for views inside Arboretum

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Wisconsin State Journal

American Transmission Co. has lowered the height of four power poles along the Beltline so they don?t ruin the pastoral view inside the UW Arboretum. In the quiet of the Arboretum, where wild turkeys wander and bicyclists meander, there?s little sense of the hubbub of the city ? or the busy Beltline Highway ? just beyond.

Quoted: Donna Paulnock, the Arboretum’s interim director and associate dean for biological sciences in the UW Graduate School.

Why third-party candidates find it so hard to win, even in Madison

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Capital Times

In Madison, of all places, third parties should flourish. The city is rife with intellectuals and creative class types ? the people who pride themselves on eschewing conventional wisdom. It is also the capital of a state with a long history of strong third parties, from the Socialist Party, which dominated Milwaukee politics for decades, to the Progressive Party, which competed with Republicans for control of state government in the 1930s and 1940s.The argument for third parties is rather simple: The two major parties aren?t good enough.

Mentioned: Joel Rogers, UW-Madison professor of law, political science and sociology.

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Campus Connection: Search for next UW-Madison chancellor begins ? with a yawn

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Capital Times

Maybe it was the 7 a.m. start time. Or perhaps it was because the event was held on the western edge of the UW-Madison campus. Whatever the reasons, initial efforts Tuesday morning to gather public input about what characteristics or attributes people would like to see in UW-Madison?s next chancellor largely failed to garner a wide range of thoughts. About half of those on the 25-member search-and-screen committee tasked with helping to identify the next chancellor were in attendance for the public forum held at the Health Sciences Center, which is adjacent to the sprawling UW Hospital and Clinics complex.

First chancellor forum receives low turnout

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Daily Cardinal

In the face of low turnout at a forum Tuesday morning, the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Chancellor Search and Screen Committee heard its first taste of public opinion on the qualities the next leader of Wisconsin?s flagship university should have. The committee aimed to solicit input from faculty, staff and the community at the 7 a.m. forum in the Health Sciences Learning Center. However, with only approximately 15 in attendance, turnout was lower than expected according to Jason Chiang, a student representative on the committee.