It took awhile, but another institution finally decided to follow the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s lead in putting a little pressure on athletic apparel giant Nike.
Back on April 9, UW-Madison decided to cut ties with Nike due to alleged labor rights abuses at two factories in Honduras. Nike paid UW-Madison nearly $50,000 for the right to use the university?s name or marks — such as Bucky Badger or the “motion W” — on apparel it made during the most recent academic year.
Dear Editor: Why shouldn?t UW employees pay for their bus passes? There aren?t many employees who get free bus passes or free parking these days. UW employees get good wages and many other benefits and perks that many other people do not get.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison?s high speed rail station will be located at the state Department of Administration building in the city?s downtown, Gov. Jim Doyle announced on Thursday.
The building is located at 101 E. Wilson St., near the Monona Terrace. The rail line will be connecting the state capital with Milwaukee. Doyle had previously said it would be near Monona Terrace, which is just down the street from the state Capitol, but the exact spot hadn?t been chosen.
Something needs to be done, was the conclusion reached by many attendees at the recent dairy forum held in Madison. Not an unusual conclusion in that that same sentiment has been expressed at hearings, meetings and forums held across dairyland for the past 50 years or more.
What was different about this gathering was that it was under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Justice and sponsored by the U.W.-Madison Law School and held at the Memorial Union in Madison, which is not a regular ag meeting place.
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle doesn?t have anything bad to say about his top aide getting a plum job at the University of Wisconsin that comes with a $108,000 pay increase.
Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of anatomy and neurology at UW who led the new study, said knowledge of this special gene, called a master regulator, may allow scientists to create a large bank of early brain stem cells, “so you can create any kind of neurons or glial cells in the brain or spinal cord.” For example, the technique could allow scientists to generate large numbers of dopamine-generating neurons to replace those lost in Parkinson?s disease.
Quoted: Brian Mayhew, associate professor of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dear Editor: Colombia Support Network is pleased to announce a film series co-sponsored by the Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies Program that will begin Thursday, July 1, at 6:30 p.m. in 336 Ingraham Hall (1155 Observatory Drive) on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
This series introduces the subject of Colombia by presenting all sides of the country: environment, drugs, political history (Plan Colombia), youth, political violence (the Patriotic Union), forced displacement and more.
A Dane County judge ruled Wednesday a negligence claim filed by the family of slain UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann against Dane County and 911 dispatcher Rita Gahagan should be halted pending release of evidence from an ongoing criminal investigation.But, at the same time, Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi did not dismiss the claim, which was brought by the slain student?s parents, Jean and Kevin Zimmermann.
It?s been nearly two years since Carolyn ?Biddy? Martin left as provost at Cornell University to become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A scholar in German literature with her Ph.D. from UW-Madison, Martin made the rounds in the summer of 2008, including here at The Cap Times, describing her vision for leading a world-class research university and sharing a bit of her personal story, playfully revealing herself as a low-profile Yankees fan here in the heartland.
Today, Martin readily reflects on themes where she sees progress since she came. But in a wide-ranging interview at the chancellor?s near west side residence last week, she seemed loath to frame those bullet points in anything resembling personal terms.
Lyme disease is spreading rapidly across the state, and so are confusion and controversy over what to do about it.
Quoted: UW-Madison entomologist and tick expert Susan Paskewitz
With a population of 562,065, Madison is the sole non-Western market in the top five. Its economic pillars are the University of Wisconsin and the state government. The local unemployment and poverty rates are among the smallest in the nation and it ranks in the top five in the number of management and professional jobs, which tend to pay the highest salaries.
A Republican lawmaker asked the attorney general Tuesday to investigate the University of Wisconsin System?s decision to give a high-level job to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle?s top aide.
There was the anticipation during spring practice in April that the University of Wisconsin would be getting some national recognition in June when the college football preview magazines went on sale.
When starting quarterback Scott Tolzien was asked about the prospect of lofty expectations for the 2010 Badgers, he said, â??The key is to block it out and thatâ??s a hard thing to do when youâ??ve got guys reading the magazines.â?
Hereâ??s a sampling of what they might read: Lindyâ??s has Wisconsin ranked No. 6 in the nation in its preseason poll behind Alabama, Boise State, Ohio State, Texas and Florida.
The Dane County Sheriffâ??s Office dive team planned to resume searching for a missing swimmer in Lake Mendota on Wednesday morning, after efforts to find the swimmer were unsuccessful Tuesday evening. The sheriffâ??s department called off its recovery effort around 8:30 p.m. The Maple Bluff Fire Department and the UW-Madison Lifesaving Station also participated in the search.
American Girl is trying to ignite the philanthropic spark in girls with a new campaign to donate $1 million worth of cash and goods to four nonprofit groups.
At the same time, the Middleton company is promoting sales of the custom-designed version of its dolls — with updated and enhanced features — and driving repeat visits to its website, chock-full of games, activities, and an array of products to buy.
“It’s kind of creative, actually,” said Joann Peck, associate professor of marketing with the UW-Madison School of Business.
If foreclosure is threatening your future, one local group wants you to know you donâ??t have to fight it alone.
A recent sample of court filings shows that in 85 percent of foreclosure cases in Dane County, the homeowner doesnâ??t have a lawyer, according to a news release this week from the Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce. But that could change soon.
Starting tomorrow and continuing on the first and third Thursday of every month, a free legal clinic staffed by volunteer lawyers and law students will be open in Madison from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 310 of the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Sponsored by the taskforce along with the Dane County Bar Association and UW-Madisonâ??s Law School, the Foreclosure Answer Clinic is for homeowners who have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit, and they should bring their summons and complaint with them, organizers said.
A persistent, passionate and growing group of local activists took another step toward scoring a major victory that could shine some unwelcome light on the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
On Tuesday night, the County Health and Human Needs Committee voted 5-2 to pass a resolution which asks the chair of the Dane County Board to appoint a citizens advisory panel to examine whether or not experimenting on monkeys is humane and ethical. The resolution moves on to the Executive Committee at a yet-to-be-determined date, with the possibility that the full board will vote on it at some point during the summer.
Quoted: Eric Sandgren associate professor, School of Veterinary Medicine
A Republican lawmaker is asking that Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen investigate the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s hiring of one of the stateâ??s top officials, Michael Morgan.
In a letter to Van Hollen, Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, alleges that the UW System violated its own policy by hiring Morgan for the position of senior vice president for administration and fiscal affairs without the proper search and screen process.
A 21-year-old woman lost her purse in a mugging downtown as she was walking home early Tuesday morning, Madison police reported. The mugging happened at about 3 a.m., but police said they didnâ??t learn of it until shortly before 5 a.m. when the victim was found kicking at a security door at her apartment building because she couldnâ??t get in.
The mugging happened in the 500 block of West Johnson Street. The woman lives in the 100 block of West Gorham Street.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican candidate for governor Mark Neumann says his goal is to attract 300,000 jobs in 10 years by working closely with University of Wisconsin campuses to attract more businesses and research.
Neumann unveiled his plan to create three “research triangles” that would match expertise on the campuses with businesses that create jobs.
Neumann says his plan can succeed even if the universityâ??s budget is cut as part of his plan to reduce the budgets of all state agencies. His plan even calls for offering a tax break to businesses that create jobs.
As usual, thereâ??s a controversy in Madison thatâ??s divided along political lines, with each side saying they represent the gospel truth and the other guys are being partisan hacks. And, as usual, the actual truth lies somewhere in between the combatants.
The row has to do with the University of Wisconsin System hiring state administration secretary Michael Morgan to be its chief operating officer….But the circumstances of his hiring are unusual.
….the UW folks admittedly knew how the hiring would be perceived. Yet they went ahead and made it look exactly like that. You’d think those in charge of the state’s public higher education would be, you know, smarter.
Like we said, the truth is caught in between the two sides, much like the public usually is.
Dwight Armstrong, one of four young men who in 1970 bombed a building on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, killing one person and injuring several others â?? a political protest that, gone violently wrong, endures in the national memory as an act of domestic terrorism â?? died on June 20 in Madison. He was 58.
A column by Howard Schweber, UW-Madison professor of political science and law, analyzes whether Pakistan is a failed state, or on its way out of the morass in which it presently finds itself.
Arriving in 1947 from California as a painter to a dysfunctional art department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Warrington Colescott soon became part of an outstanding group of young printmakers who revamped the department. With colleagues such as Alfred Sessler, Dean Meeker, Ray Gloeckler and William Weege, he experimented and entered print shows across the country. Made in multiples and easily shipped to exhibitions around the country, his prints raised his profile to the point where the big curators on the coastsâ??and abroadâ??took notice.
Dairy farmers are being squeezed out of business as other sectors of the food industry demand a greater share of the consumerâ??s dollar, farmers attending a federal hearing testified Friday.The current system leaves dairy farmers with little or no profit, several said at a U.S. Department of Justice hearing on antitrust issues in the dairy industry. The hearing attracted hundreds of farmers from around the country to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dairy farmers from across the nation will get a chance to voice their complaints about farm milk prices and antitrust issues Friday at a hearing organized by the U.S. Department of Justice. Hundreds of farmers are expected to attend the hearing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Others expected to attend include Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christine Varney, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Democratic U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, and Gov. Jim Doyle.
Dear Editor: Did you know that one company (Deans) now controls 40 percent of all conventional fluid milk in the U.S.; that in 2009 farmers received only 97 cents for every $2.99 gallon of milk and less than $1 for every $4.99 pound of cheddar cheese; that in 2008 Dairy Farmers of America was fined $12 million for market manipulation at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet the dairy giants continue these same illegal practices today?
Join family farmers, consumer advocates, and others in calling upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Justice to take antitrust action now:
In a region of the world where religion and government are still tightly tied, one Madison native has found a way to empower a population with a growing, but still comparatively quiet, political voice.
â??Bringing more women to elected office is a way to start to diffuse power â?? power that right now is in the hands of a small minority of men in the Middle East,â? says Katie Croake, a 1992 graduate of West High and a 2003 graduate of UW-Madisonâ??s La Follette School of Public Affairs. â??When these new voices of women are heard, you really start to change the culture.â?
Police and firefighters were at the scene of a small explosion at the Charter Street Heating Plant during the lunch hour today. All of the facilityâ??s occupants were evacuated and all were accounted for in the wake of the blast, authorities said. The plant is located at Dayton and Charter streets on campus.
John Harrod, director of the universityâ??s physical plant, reported a good deal of smoke and steam at the scene. To his knowledge, no other campus facilities were affected by the incident, and heating and cooling services were continuing to be provided to the campus.
UW-Madison officials shut down the Charter Street power plant after a pipe inside a coal-fired boiler ruptured at around noon on Wednesday, said John Harrod, director of the universityâ??s physical plant.
No one was injured, he said, but the broken pipe produced enough steam to fill the main floor of the building at the corner of Dayton and Charter streets.
Harrod said the boilers have been shut down to isolate the problem. He was unsure when they will be up and running again, but said the incident likely would not affect the power for UW buildings, as there are two other energy plants that can cover the needs.
MADISON, Wis. — A small explosion in one of the smokestacks at the University of Wisconsin heating plant on Wednesday brought emergency responders and prompted an evacuation of the facility.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin System president offered Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s top aide a high-level job before even receiving a copy of his resume.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show Administration Secretary Michael Morgan didnâ??t turn in his resume until hours after he was offered the $245,000-per-year job as senior vice president on June 1.
UW System spokesman David Giroux said President Kevin Reilly didnâ??t need his resume because he was already familiar with Morganâ??s work in the Doyle administration.
The study evaluated 141 medical schools on the basis of their “social mission”: a set of criteria that rated how many students graduating in 1999-2001 followed the primary care track; how many of these graduates ultimately worked in rural or underserved communities; and how many were Native American, Hispanic or African-American. The paper defined general medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics as primary care, and looked at the classes from 10 years ago because they have completed all their residency and national service requirements by now.
Power is back on at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus, a university spokeswoman said. The campus was without electricity from around 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but classes went on as scheduled, officials said.
Most of you would agree that todayâ??s culture is rife with information overload and relentless distractions, but what, if anything, should that mean for the news business?
Last year, the terrible overall economy combined with a changing business model to produce a deep newspaper industry slump. In 2010, the industry has regained its footing and is eagerly telling its story. Yet for journalists, the print and broadcast trend away from calm objectivity toward an emotional, black-or-white style is unmistakable and provocative.
Quoted: UW-Madison journalism professor James Baughman
Wisconsin taxpayers and health care groups that are following the recent challenges to UW-Madisonâ??s patents on embryonic stem cell lines may not be fully aware of the much larger and more fundamental issues at stake.
Should human body parts or tissues be patented and then bought and sold to the highest bidder in the marketplace? Human tissue samples are taken from blood tests, biopsies or during surgeries. How many of us really know how many tissue samples we have given away or how they were used? Are informed consent agreements now signed in the donation process legally binding? Lastly, should patients be compensated for allowing another to use her or his human tissue samples?
(Wisconsin dairy farmer Joel) Greeno and other Wisconsin farmers are calling on the Obama administration to aggressively pursue existing lawsuits involving market manipulation and to get serious about enforcing antitrust laws that were designed to protect farmers, consumers and communities from the excesses of corporate speculation and manipulation.
Theyâ??ll get a chance to do so directly this week, at a remarkable antitrust workshop that will be held Friday, June 25, at the UW Memorial Union. One of five workshops around the country sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice, the Madison workshop will focus on consolidation of control over the dairy industry.
Camp Randall area neighbors who absolutely hate football Saturdays can take a deep breath: The Stadium Bar & Grill has agreed to permanently cap the number of fans who can soak it up in the barâ??s outdoor beer garden.
As part of a conditional use permit to remodel the tavern at 1419 Monroe St., the Stadium Bar has also agreed to limit capacity in the beer garden to 2,416. Indoor capacity is capped at 266.
….The state has received 4,063 retirement applications through April, up 5.7 percent from a year ago.
….both of the leading candidates to replace Gov. Jim Doyle have talked about changing the way state pensions are handled. As it stands now, most public workers contribute nothing to their own retirement, but the Legislature does have the power to make changes going forward, including moving back the retirement age or increasing years of service requirements.
Trying to cut existing benefits, however, could prove far more difficult and would likely face a legal challenge. Financial commitments to public workers have long been seen as sacrosanct and courts have generally agreed.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday he fully supports embryonic stem cell research and criticized his Republican opponents in the race for governor for their opposition to the potentially life-saving research.”My concern is you have candidates for office .â??.â??.â??who want to inject politics into science,” Barrett, a Democrat, said after touring the stem cell labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Waisman Center.
The Boldt Co. of Appleton and the British consulting firm AMEC have been selected as the engineering and construction contractors for the conversion of the coal-fired power plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to burn natural gas and biomass.
Pharmaceuticals are effective at treating many diseases, but making them can hurt the environment in the process.A new technique developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, however, suggests that drugs can be made without toxic byproducts. Their report was published online June 16 in the journal Green Chemistry.
The ubiquitous presence of the pharmaceutical industry in doctor education in recent years has tainted medical education. Drug company participation is often part of a companyâ??s marketing plan; the presentations are designed to gin up interest in a new drug or to promote new uses for an old one. Such presentations may lead to overprescribing and quite possibly increases the cost of health care.
Milwaukeeâ??s education gap mattered less during the boom years for heavy manufacturing, when a high school diploma was enough to guarantee years of good paychecks. But old factory towns are wilting under the white hot heat of the worldâ??s competition and canâ??t rely on the old ways any longer. Itâ??s notable that Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit – along with Milwaukee – were all in the bottom 10 in educational attainment among the nationâ??s largest 50 cities.
Dwight Armstrong, one of the men who bombed UW-Madisonâ??s Sterling Hall in August 1970, killing a researcher, died Sunday in Madison after a battle with lung cancer. He was 58.
Spurred by anti-war furor, Armstrong was 18 years old when he, his older brother, Karl, and two others bombed the Army Math Research Center, a Defense Department project, in Sterling Hall on August 24, 1970. Robert Fassnacht, a 33-year-old researcher who was working late, was killed.
Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett spoke about his support for embryonic stem cell research, and criticized his competitorsâ?? opposition to it, on Monday during a visit to UW-Madisonâ??s Waisman Center.
“This is an institution that can provide huge benefits to the people who live in this society, but it can only do so if we allow it to continue its mission,” Barrett said. “And my concern is that you have candidates for office at the state level… who want to inject politics into science.”
Steve Ingham, a Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection official responsible for enforcing the stateâ??s raw-milk policies, has resigned. Ingham, administrator of the Division of Food Safety, is returning to his previous faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, effective July 7, DATCP officials confirmed Monday.
The Big Ten Conference is proud of its trophy games, and new member Nebraska wants to be part of the club.
But which team is the best fit as a rival? And if itâ??s the Badgers, what would that trophy be called?
University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema contacted the Big Ten office the day after Nebraska became the leagueâ??s 12th member and suggested that the Badgers and Cornhuskers lock into a season-ending game.
** Ever wonder why many higher education leaders cringe when they hear cries that colleges need to spend less time teaching the classical subjects and more time giving students the tools theyâ??ll need to get a job in the “real world?”
** Auburn University is planning to build a campus in China, the Birmingham (Ala.) News reported earlier this week. This move would make Auburn “the first U.S. college with a major physical presence in that country.”
** Not long after the Big Ten Conference added the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to its membership in an attempt expand its reach and funnel more dollars to league athletic departments, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics put out its latest report calling for reforms designed to check what many view as out-of-control spending on college sports.
The nature of emergency room medicine frequently results in more testing than treatment in a less hurried medical setting, according to members of a Madison physiciansâ?? group that specializes in emergency care.
Quoted: Dr. Shawn O’Brien, clinical assistant professor, School of Medicine and Public Health
When Gov. Jim Doyle was elected in 2002, he pledged to put Wisconsin in the forefront of stem cell research nationally and internationally. He has kept that promise by:
â?¢ Increasing Wisconsinâ??s investment in this critical field with a goal of capturing 10 percent of the stem cell market by 2015.
â?¢ Launching a $750 million initiative to develop stem cell research and biotechnology in Wisconsin, highlighted by the construction of the Institutes for Discovery, which is scheduled to open in December
Wisconsin has won $7.9 million in stimulus funding for development of energy-efficient building technologies as well as training programs designed to help eliminate energy waste and reduce energy costs in buildings. Projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy include two by Johnson Controls, one by Eaton Corp., two by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one by Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Dear Editor: As Wisconsinâ??s economy continues to show signs of returning vigor, it is important to take stock of the distance we have traveled in a short time. The past two years have been challenging for every state, but Wisconsin has continued moving forward on the path to economic success. Nowhere is this clearer than in the stateâ??s sustainable industries.
Sustainable jobs hold the promise of strengthening our communities, improving our environment, and increasing profits for businesses. However, the question remains how to best prepare a work force to take advantage of these business opportunities. The answer is in programs such as the University of Wisconsinâ??s Sustainable Management Program.
If you call Betty Merten an athlete, sheâ??ll laugh.
â??Athletes are supposed to be tall and buff,â? she says. â??Iâ??m short and plump and I use a seat to get around.â? But last Sunday Merten rolled across the finish line of the Capital View Triathlon in 3 hours and 30 minutes â?? an impressive feat given that only two years ago she had a tough time transferring from her wheelchair to the exam table.
Quoted: UW-Madison professor of kinesiology Tim Gattenby and Kara Mathys, a UW-Madison undergraduate
….Some academics on the UW-Madison campus are asking if the sports side of the equation â?? Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and league athletic directors â?? wielded too much power in making the University of Nebraska the 12th member of the conference earlier this month.
â??Itâ??s an unfortunate, to my mind, reflection of the times that athletics are driving academics,â? says UW-Madison communication arts professor Rob Asen. â??The fact that the primary decision makers here are Jim Delany and the athletic directors to me is disturbing. It seems to me like the educational leaders at UW-Madison and elsewhere are sort of abdicating their role as leaders.â?
Donald Downs, a UW-Madison political science professor, sees it the same way.
MADISON (WKOW) — A sexual assault lawsuit involving a University of Wisconsin-Parkside student can now move forward, according to a U.S. Judge.
A woman said she was assaulted in her dorm room in 2008 by a residence assistant, and then felt she had to drop out of school. In addition to identifying the alleged residence assistant, the lawsuit also mentions university discrimination and violation of civil rights.
MADISON, Wis. — A construction worker at the Chazen Art Museum work site in downtown Madison fell 15 to 20 feet, but suffered what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Madison Fire Department.
Officials said emergency responders were called to the construction site at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday at 750 University Avenue for a report of a fall. Upon arrival, they found a worker who had fallen off of a wall.
Weâ??ve heard a lot of talk about the staggering racial disparities in the stateâ??s criminal justice system in recent years. Wisconsin has routinely ranked at or near the top of states for the rate at which it locks up blacks compared with whites. And Dane Countyâ??s progressive reputation has been tarnished by the rate at which it sends black offenders to prison – nearly half of black men between the ages of 25 and 29 residing in the county are either incarcerated or under court-ordered supervision.
According to a study by Pam Oliver, a UW sociology professor, black men in Dane County are 21 times more likely to be incarcerated than white men. And according to a Justice Policy Institute report in 2007, black men in Dane County were 97 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes, the second-highest rate in the nation.
An analysis of jobs data released Tuesday by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce suggests the United Statesâ?? economy is in trouble due to a contrast in the skills needed for jobs of the future and the educational credentials of the next generation of workers.
