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Author: jnweaver

Respectful ASM needs to branch out

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Daily Cardinal

If we can learn anything from the Associated Students of Madison, it is that history repeats itself. With each session comes new representatives, ideas and debates, but through it all ASM has seemingly been forever plagued with the unofficial ?parties? that impede its progress. So far this year, student council has seemingly operated productively with mutual respect on both sides of the table. In comparison to last year, meetings have run smoother and been hours shorter.

Finalists in assistant dean, director of Center for the First-Year Experience to visit campus this month

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Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison released the names of three finalists for assistant dean in the Division of Student Life and director of the Center for the First-Year Experience. Carren Martin, interim co-director of UW-Madison?s Center for the First-Year Experience; Elizabeth John, Edgewood College?s assistant dean of Students and Director of Student Activities; and Emily Arth, Indiana University?s senior assistant director in the Office of First-Year Experience Programs are the three finalists chosen by a six-member search committee.

Officials meet with students to discuss city, county budgets

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Daily Cardinal

County and city officials jointly held a forum Monday to hear University of Wisconsin-Madison students? input and to answer questions about the 2013 city and county budgets. Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, and County Board Supervisor and UW-Madison student Leland Pan discussed a wide range of issues at the forum, from explaining where revenues for the county and city budgets come from to talking about proposed cuts and expansions of programs affecting students, such as the implementation of surveillance cameras throughout downtown streets.

UW search panel to rely on interim chancellor David Ward’s know-how

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Wisconsin State Journal

As UW-Madison starts public meetings Tuesday on who should be its next chancellor, the university can depend on one well-placed person to sell the job: David Ward, who?s been interim chancellor since 2011. He said that the relationship between the flagship campus and the University of Wisconsin System has improved since former chancellor Biddy Martin unsuccessfully sought to split UW-Madison from the UW System.

Chris Rickert: Heroes, villains and humans

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Wisconsin State Journal

Public television?s investigative series “Frontline” did a great job last week telling the life stories of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. So great it actually made me want to vote for them. Not because they came off as particularly brilliant or capable or caring. But rather because they came off as all these things and more, including unserious, haughty and ineffectual. Human, in other words.

Arguably at the forefront of efforts to understand what fuels political stance-taking in Wisconsin is UW-Madison associate political science professor Kathy Cramer Walsh, who spent more than a year gathering the opinions of regular folk in face-to-face interviews around the state. In a guest column in this newspaper in June she noted that “politics is often … about us versus them” and candidates “often make claims about the ?type? of people they are battling on behalf of.”

The biomechanics of stronger bones

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Daily Cardinal

Among the books and binders in her office in the Mechanical Engineering building, associate professor Heidi-Lynn Ploeg?s shelves are filled with bones. She pulls out a thin cardboard sleeve, and inside are dozens of mouse femurs. Each one of these leg bones is shorter than the length of a fingernail. ?It?s amazing how we can compare these to the human body,? Ploeg said. Ploeg is the director of a Bone and Joint Biomechanics laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Questions abound before Wisconsin’s wolf hunt

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Wisconsin State Journal

As the state prepares for its first wolf hunt, scientists say they don?t know what effect the five-month hunt beginning Monday will have on Wisconsin wolves. One hunt won?t put wolves ? removed from the federal endangered species list last year ? back on the list but research hints at possible longer-term harm to the wolf population and even an increase in wolves killing livestock, researchers say.

Quoted: Tim Van Deelen, a wildlife biologist at UW-Madison who has studied the state’s wolves extensively.

Q&A: Laurie Cox helps a growing contingent of international students at UW

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Capital Times

Of the 42,818 students enrolled at UW-Madison this fall, 4,753 are international students, according to preliminary figures produced by the university. That?s a record high for UW-Madison and means that one of every nine students on campus today hails from outside the United States….One of the people tasked with providing information, programs and support to these international students is Laurie Cox, an assistant dean with the Division of Student Life who directs the International Student Services program.

Playing it safe: New standards in place to protect young athletes from repeat concussions

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Madison.com

Even with increased focus on concussions, football remains by far the most popular high school sport. In Wisconsin, 29,807 football players compete at about 420 schools in Wisconsin ? nearly double the number of track and basketball players. But greater awareness of the effects of head injuries has prompted much conjecture about the viability of the game, said Dr. David T. Bernhardt, a pediatrician in primary care sports medicine at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

Curiosities: How do scientists find origin of metals in archaeological artifacts?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A: Metal sources are determined by finding some attribute that is unique to a given source, explained UW-Madison chemist James Burton, who directs the T. Douglas Price Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry. “For example copper from Europe has gold in it, while North American copper does not. We are mainly interested in bronze, an alloy of copper and other metals such as tin and lead.”

Ask the Weather Guys: What is an air mass?

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Wisconsin State Journal

A. An air mass is a large body of air whose properties of temperature and humidity are similar in any horizontal direction. Air masses can cover hundreds of thousands of square miles. Air masses are formed when air stagnates for long periods of time over a uniform surface. The characteristic temperature and moisture of air masses are determined by the surface over which they form. An air mass acquires these attributes through heat and moisture exchanges with the surface.

Scholar panel discusses Sikh temple shooting

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Daily Cardinal

A panel of scholars from across the country met Friday to discuss ways to educate the public about the Aug. 5 Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting by connecting it to greater issues involving racism and violence. To connect what happens in smaller-scale terrorist incidents, such as the Oak Creek shooting, to current larger issues, UW-Madison professor Donald Davis said it is necessary to determine if such incidents are ?just a weirdo acting out? or if they are linked to greater global and national problems.

Scholar panel discusses Sikh temple shooting

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A panel of scholars from across the country met Friday to discuss ways to educate the public about the Aug. 5 Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting by connecting it to greater issues involving racism and violence. To connect what happens in smaller-scale terrorist incidents, such as the Oak Creek shooting, to current larger issues, UW-Madison professor Donald Davis said it is necessary to determine if such incidents are ?just a weirdo acting out? or if they are linked to greater global and national problems.? The purpose [of the panel discussion] is to think about what scholars of South Asia can and should be doing to educate people about incidents like this to help make sense of why they happen,? Davis said.

Vilas Zoo to break ground on $2.7 million Animal Health Center

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Wisconsin State Journal

Tigers with toothaches, capybaras with upset tummies and penguins with dings in their flippers will soon have a larger dedicated space to be treated and healed. ….The zoo has a 600-square-foot treatment room in the administration building but it has limited capabilities. Animals are typically taken to Stoughton, where the zoo?s longtime veterinarian, Michael Petersen, has a practice, or are treated at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. The upgrade in facilities will not only lead to improved health care but also aid in training veterinary students from UW-Madison and improve the zoo?s breeding programs.

UW-Madison chancellor panel to gather public input

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Wisconsin State Journal

A committee searching for the UW-Madison?s next chancellor is looking for the public?s thoughts on what makes a good leader. The committee has scheduled three public forums on campus next week to discuss the abilities the next chancellor should possess. The first forum is set for Tuesday.

Jim O’Keefe tapped to head community development for Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

Mayor Paul Soglin on Thursday named veteran government official Jim O?Keefe as Madison?s next director of community development. O?Keefe was administrator for the Division of Housing and Community Development in the state Department of Commerce under former Gov. Jim Doyle, and remained with the agency under the Walker administration to assist with its transition to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., where he was hired as a policy analyst. He also served as the city?s government relations officer under Soglin and former Mayor Sue Bauman from 1990 to 2003.

Alumni return to campus to advise undergraduates in diversity forum

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Daily Cardinal

The Office of the Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Damon Williams sponsored an evening dinner featuring a six-person panel of University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni Thursday, to kick off the 2012 Diversity Forum. The forum, entitled ?An Evening of Alumni and Student Conversations on Leadership,? aimed to showcase young, diverse UW-Madison alumni who now work as professionals and to advise current undergraduates about making the most of their college experience.

Plain Talk: Fans gouged by Camp Randall carry-in rules

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A fellow named Bob Drane of Madison had a letter to the editor published in the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this week that hit the nail on the head. Drane said he observed a small sample of the ?money gouging tactics? that average sports fans ?find disheartening.?….One of the foibles of turning old is that you remember times when things weren?t so tethered to the almighty dollar.

Chancellor search gains steam

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison interim chancellor David Ward was a bit of a godsend for UW System when then-chancellor Biddy Martin left Madison abruptly in June 2011 to take a new job at Amherst College in Massachusetts. System leaders were able to tap Ward ? a smart, nationally known administrator who had led the Madison campus successfully as chancellor from 1993 to 2001 ? to step in and lead again, initially on a one-year basis that was quickly extended to a two-year interim role. Now, the search to find a permanent replacement for Martin is gaining steam, starting with three public forums next week where the campus community and larger community can offer input to the 25-member search committee.

Campus Connection: High court case could alter UW?s admissions policy

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Capital Times

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard opening arguments in a case that could change whether a place like UW-Madison can continue to use race as one of many factors in a so-called ?holistic? admissions process. The case, Fisher v. the University of Texas-Austin, centers on a white student, Abigail Fisher, who says she was discriminated against in the admissions process after the university failed to offer her a spot at the institution in 2008.

Seely on Science: Historic comet may be in store for 2013

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Wisconsin State Journal

Of all the astronomical events that open eyes here on Earth, few generate more excitement ? and sometimes, as history has proven, strangeness ? than the arrival of a comet in our neighborhood. So, get out your calendars. Astronomers tell us that the year 2013 will see the passage of a comet that could be historic.

Ken Nordsieck, a UW-Madison astronomer who has studied his share of comets, used a wonderful phrase to describe these bright comets as Hale-Bopp passed in 1997, bright enough to glimpsed with the naked eye. He called it “a great driveway comet.” And Nordsieck, studying the data on 2012 S1, said the approaching comet has the potential to be “quite spectacular” from Madison and other North American locations.

Campus Connection: Feds clear UW of wrongdoing following PETA complaint

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Capital Times

UW-Madison officials have contended from the onset that allegations of animal welfare violations on campus leveled last month by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were much ado about nothing. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services unit obtained Thursday via an open records request I made backs the university?s stance.

Photos of two more suspects in Montee Ball attack released

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Capital Times

Surveillance video photos of two more suspects in the Montee Ball assault case have been released, courtesy of the Madison Police Department and Madison Area Crime Stoppers.Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain told Madison.com the department is seeking the two suspects shown in the photos in connection with the early morning beating of the Badgers running back on University Avenue on Aug. 1.

Madison police looking for more suspects in attack of Montee Ball

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — The Madison Police Department and Madison Area Crime Stoppers need your help in identifying additional suspects in the battery of Badger football star Montee Ball. Madison police say on August 1 at around 2:15 a.m., Montee Ball was attacked while walking on the 500 block of University Avenue. According to police, witnesses told them a group of five individuals where involved in the assault.

Campus Connection: UW geography professor emeritus Knox dies

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Capital Times

Jim Knox, who spent more than four decades as a faculty member at UW-Madison, died at his home in Madison on Saturday, the university announced. Knox, 70, was the Evjue-Bascom professor emeritus of Geography. Although he retired last year, the university reports he continued to work in Science Hall. Knox?s research focused on the field of fluvial geomorphology, which the university describes as the study of streams and the landforms they produce.

Letter: Student input at forum could help university?s diversity struggles

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Daily Cardinal

This Friday, Oct. 12, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be hosting its biannual Diversity Forum. The Diversity Forum is a place for students, staff, faculty and administration to discuss the challenges that UW-Madison faces regarding race, religion, sexuality, gender identity and social class. All students are welcome to attend, and student input is crucial for helping determine UW policy for diversity in the coming years.

LGBT speaker addresses issues behind ?freak shows?

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Daily Cardinal

Amidst the excitement surrounding ?National Coming Out Week,? the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center hosted an event Wednesday dedicated to disabilities and circus freaks in conjunction with other LGBT and campus organizations. Eli Clare, an activist and writer specializing in disability and LGBT issues, spoke about the history of freak shows, defined as spectacles that feature humans with unusual characteristics.

Labor group rejects adidas? summit plan

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Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Labor Licensing Policy Committee expressed concern Wednesday after adidas announced its plan to host a summit abroad to address the issue of companies? failure to pay severance in the global garment industry. Over the past year, LLPC has urged Chancellor Ward to cut licensing and sponsorship ties with adidas, the university?s primary licensing partner, after the company failed to pay more than 2,700 Indonesian workers due severance pay after a PT Kizone factory contracted by adidas abruptly shut down in January 2011.

Grass Roots: What are your favorite and least-favorite Madison places?

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Capital Times

Got a corner of the city you just love? Or know a place that?s a jumble or ugly or kind of scary? How about Union Terrace, the lakefront patio of UW-Madison?s Memorial Union? That was one Madisonian?s rave for a list of favorite and least favorite places being collected by the city of Madison in preparation for the Mayor?s Neighborhood Conference 2012: Great Neighborhoods ? Great Places, to be held 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Monona Terrace Convention Center.

Tom Oates: Texans’ J.J. Watt a force to be reckoned with

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Madison.com

GREEN BAY ? If you thought Russell-mania was sweeping Seattle, you haven?t seen anything yet. J.J. Watt fever is reaching epidemic proportions in Houston, if not the entire NFL. In spearheading the Texans? 5-0 start going into Sunday night?s game against the Green Bay Packers, Watt, the second-year defensive end with the compelling career path and a heart as big as Texas, is the early leader for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Parenthood inspires UW grad?s stories

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Wisconsin State Journal

It?s typical for people to come to Madison for school and end up being utterly transformed by the experience, and in ways only peripherally related to the completion of an academic degree. In this way, writer David Ebenbach, author of the short-story collection ?Into the Wilderness? (Washington Writers? Publishing House), is a typical former Madison student. But his gifts of perception and storytelling are anything but common.

John Nichols: Yes, Ryan should appear at UW

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Capital Times

It has been suggested that Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan should make a campaign stop on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Conservatives who objected to the way in which UW officials managed President Obama?s visit last week want Ryan to visit in order to test the commitment of the UW to a genuine ?sifting and winnowing? of ideas. It?s a great idea. Schedule Ryan for a rally on Bascom Hill. Give his campaign the same cooperation that the Obama campaign got. And let?s see how things go for the crown prince of conservatism.

Author Lauren Redniss explores love, history and radiation

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Wisconsin State Journal

In a narrative that spans more than 100 years, Lauren Redniss uses scientific papers, historic photos, and vibrant, at times unsettling, drawings that come to brilliant life on the pages of ?Radioactive,? the book selected by UW-Madison for its Go Big Read program. On Monday, Redniss will talk at Union South about her experiences researching and creating her work.

Death of UW-Whitewater student who fell in quarry ruled accidental

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Wisconsin State Journal

Investigators have concluded the death of a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student who fell in a limestone quarry this summer was accidental. The body of 21-year-old Benjamin Fuder was found July 29 in the Whitewater Limestone Quarry in the Town of Whitewater. Fuder had been reported missing the night before after being last seen in downtown Whitewater.

Court to review race in college admissions

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WISC-TV 3

(CNN) – Heman Marion Sweatt and Abigail Noel Fisher both wanted to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Both claimed their race was a primary reason for their rejection. Both filed civil rights lawsuits, and the Supreme Court ultimately agreed to hear their separate appeals — filed more than half a century apart. Their cases share much in common — vexing questions of competition, fairness, and demographics — and what role government should play when promoting political and social diversity.

Badgers football: Barry Alvarez still pushing for game against Alabama

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Madison.com

An initial “no” from Alabama football coach Nick Saban wasn?t enough to stop University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez from pursuing a non-conference game against the Crimson Tide. Neither, apparently, was the whuppin? that ?Bama put on Big Ten compatriot Michigan in the season opener at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Alvarez took his campaign to the heart of Dixie on Monday night, telling attendees at a function in Mobile, Ala., that he wants the Badgers and Crimson Tide to kick off the 2015 season ? and hinting that it?s a real possibility.

Metro officials say fare increase was only way to plug budget hole

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Wisconsin State Journal

Metro Transit says it’s raising bus fares to close a hole created by the 5 percent tax levy reduction asked for by Mayor Paul Soglin. The proposed fare increase was discussed as part of a budget hearing Tuesday at the Board of Estimates. “The mayor asked every department for a 5 percent tax levy reduction,” said Chuck Kamp, transit general manager. “We were allowed, when we looked at that tax levy reduction, to either reduce expenses or add revenue. “With our ridership growing to record levels, with overcrowding on buses, we did not want to cut services, so we looked at revenues.”

Doug Moe: Writer returns to football Saturday

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Wisconsin State Journal

Laura Bly?s job has taken her to 85 countries and every state except Kentucky, but she was still happy for the rush of memory that came with eating a red bratwurst last weekend at State Street Brats….It was work that brought Bly back to her hometown. She had a good time even though she was working. It’s hard not to have fun on a home Badger football weekend in Madison, which was the whole point of Bly’s being here. Bly coordinated USA Today’s late summer feature contest in which the newspaper set out to name the best college football town in America.

Freshman enrollment reaches historic level

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Daily Cardinal

Official enrollment data released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison revealed an increase in overall enrollment, making the 2012-2013 freshman class the largest in the school?s history. The data showed there were large increases in out-of-state as well as in-state residents. UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca said the overall increase could be attributed to the university?s worldwide reputation for high quality education and student experience on campus.

Metro proposes fare increase

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Daily Cardinal

A proposed increase in Metro Transit bus fare will not affect student bus passes in 2013 but could potentially affect the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s negotiations with Metro Transit when their contracts are up for renewal.

Campus Connection: Too many non-residents enrolled at UW-Madison?

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Capital Times

According to preliminary UW-Madison fall enrollment figures, 25.8 percent of all students on campus are non-residents, a total that tops the 25 percent out-of-state limit set by the UW System?s Board of Regents. “Keep in mind that enrolling a class of 6,000 to 7,000 people with the appropriate in-state and out-of-state residency requirements is a fine art,” says UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca.”There is a great deal of uncertainty associated with that process and we try to hit our numbers as precisely as we can.”

1 killed, 3 hurt in fire at off-campus apartment in Eau Claire

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Wisconsin State Journal

EAU CLAIRE ? Authorities have identified the young man killed and three others injured when fire swept their off-campus apartment near the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Eau Claire fire officials say the four roommates were friends from Stillwater, Minn. They lived in an apartment above a real estate business in Eau Claire. Two of the four men escaped the building when fire broke out early Monday, while firefighters found two others unconscious inside.

Walker subpoenaed in former staffer’s trial

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Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Scott Walker has been subpoenaed to testify next week in the misconduct trial involving one of his former aides in Milwaukee County.

….”Some states have statutes that grant immunity to governors so that they cannot be called to testify in legal proceedings ? Indiana, for example. But most do not,” said Karl Shoemaker, UW-Madison associate professor of history and law. “Any witness retains, of course, the right to refuse to answer questions on grounds recognized under existing law ? for example, if testimony is covered by attorney-client privilege, or the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination.”

On Campus: UW System freshmen from other states on the rise

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Wisconsin State Journal

The number of new freshmen in the University of Wisconsin System from outside of the state increased 20 percent this fall and has doubled over the past decade, according to preliminary data released Friday. Overall enrollment dipped 0.6 percent from last year?s final count, including a 4.3 percent decline in graduate student enrollment. Part of the decline could be attributed to a record number of degrees last spring and an anticipated generational decline in high school graduates, said Mark Nook, vice president for academic and student affairs. The UW System conferred 35,708 degrees, up 3.1 percent from the previous year.

UW student reports being mugged on Regent Street

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Capital Times

A 19-year-old female UW-Madison student was mugged early Saturday morning near a busy off-campus intersection. The mugging was reported Saturday afternoon, but the student said it happened at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday at Regent Street near Park Street, the Madison Police Department stated in a news release. “The student was walking alone when a man punched her in the face and demanded her handbag,” said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

Marilyn Lewis: Seeing president trumps lecture, now as in 1970s

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Wisconsin State Journal

Regarding Saturday?s article about President Barack Obama?s visit to the UW-Madison campus, what kind of political science professor could possibly think a lecture from him on American government could be more life impacting than taking part in a live political event and a chance to see a sitting president? UW-Madison professor Ken Mayer loses credibility by questioning the event.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen: Preventing rape on college campuses

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Capital Times

As students pursue this fall semester on our college campuses, it is important to be aware of the risk of sexual assault. The American Association of University Women reports that up to one in four women experience unwanted sexual intercourse while attending college in the United States, and that one in 12 college men admit to acts that meet the legal definition of rape. Institutions of higher learning can and should help to prevent sexual assault on campus. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has launched a new initiative to do just that, with an interactive online program called ?Tonight? that is now required viewing for all first-year students.

….Wisconsin is home to many reputable colleges and universities whose goal is to create a safe and secure learning environment for all. Effectively addressing sexual violence with students, faculty, and staff is critical to achieving that goal. We should commend UW-Madison for implementing the ?Tonight? program, and we should encourage all of our colleges and universities to communicate similar messages to incoming students.

Officials say fire at Memorial Union Theater caused extensive damage

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Wisconsin State Journal

A two-alarm fire caused extensive damage to the UW-Madison Memorial Union Theater Monday morning, fire officials said, although construction work at the building was expected to resume soon after the blaze. According to a news release from the Madison Fire Department, the fire started near the Union Theater’s ground level, before flames spread up into a “large attic space above the theater.”

Scrapbook: Student honors, scholarships, class reunions

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Wisconsin State Journal

Mary Rouse, former director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, UW-Madison assistant chancellor for academic affairs and a longtime dean of students, received the 2012 Freedom Fund Award as an Unsung Heroine at the annual NAACP local branch dinner, held Friday. The award recognized Rouse?s work coordinating blood drives for those dealing with sickle cell disease.

UW police investigate fire at Memorial Union

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WISC-TV 3

….A fire official at the scene said a damage estimate is expected soon. He said because of construction at the union it?s difficult to tell what?s construction and what?s damage from the fire. UW police are handling the investigation into the cause of the fire. The union is reopened to students and traffic in the area has returned to normal.

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UW should release details of obama rally

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Daily Cardinal

When the Obama administration announced last week President Barack Obama would be speaking on campus, many students waited to hear from their professors about the status of their Thursday classes. In the meantime, they flocked to Obama?s campaign website to acquire a ticket for the event. To acquire a ticket, prospective speech-goers had to enter their email and phone number, giving the Obama campaign thousands more emails to spam on a daily basis. The university should not have let this happen, not while at the same time allowing the speech to take place in the heart of campus.