I scream …You scream …We all scream for …Mad Fiber ice cream?
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Madison Schools Superintendent Dan Nerad and Irwin Goldman, dean of UW-Madisonâ??s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will be providing samples of Babcockâ??s newest flavor of ice cream Friday at noon as Madison ramps up its efforts to land a $97 million high-speed Google fiber-optic network.
My personal spring break is over, so itâ??s time to catch up on a couple higher education-related items:
Voter turnout in Tuesdayâ??s spring election may have been the lowest of the past decade, raising the question: What happened to voter angst about the recession?
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professors Barry Burden and Ken Goldstein
Despite concerns by city officials about height and size, St. Paulâ??s University Catholic Center is proposing a striking, 14-story facility with a chapel, student center and residences on State Street Mall â?? a project Madison Catholic Diocese Bishop Robert Morlino says is more important than rebuilding the Downtown Cathedral.A redevelopment of the Catholic Center would create a “religious learning center” that would serve thousands of Catholic students at UW-Madison and the larger community, church officials said.
In 2008, 31-year-old Jodie Zebell appeared to have a full life. The UW-Madison graduate was married with two young children and a part-time job as a mammographer at a La Crosse clinic, where she was praised as a model employee.
But soon afterward, Zebell became the target of co-workers who unfairly blamed her for problems at work. After she was promoted, the bullying intensified, her aunt Joie Bostwick recalled during a legislative hearing Wednesday attended by members of her nieceâ??s family, including Zebellâ??s mother, Jean Jones of Spring Hill, Fla.
The fact that a Madison-based tech company could raise $7 million in venture capital in the current financing climate is noteworthy. That the financing was led by one of the premier Silicon Valley venture capital firms may be the bigger story.
Local and state leaders have long acknowledged the importance of tapping into the big money financing firms on both coasts for the money, contacts and expertise necessary for the areaâ??s developing tech sector to reach its potential. To aid such efforts, officials have organized special fund-seeking trips to places like Boston and Silicon Valley. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation even opened an office in California.
While the UW-Madisonâ??s effort to condemn property owned by the Brothers Bar & Grill chain has grabbed plenty of attention, a prominent campus-area landlord is also bumping up against the universityâ??s thirst for real estate.
For months, Otto Gebhardt has been seeking city approval for a new 87-unit, high-rise student apartment building at 1208 Spring St. Three aging rental houses on the property now would be torn down. Gebhardt and others have been quietly redeveloping other properties in the area between Randall Avenue and the Park Street viaduct.
The comparisons that have been drawn between the last University of Wisconsin team to win the NCAA Division I menâ??s hockey title (in 2006) and the current group of players just two victories away from winning the seventh title in program history, are understandable.
The 2005-â??06 team, Mike Eavesâ?? fourth as UWâ??s head coach, was dominated by upperclassmen and in winning the national title took the final step in a rebuilding project that began with Eavesâ?? hiring in the spring of 2002.
Eavesâ?? current team is dominated by upperclassmen, most of whom talked openly before the season about making a run at the national title, and is the first UW team to reach the Frozen Four since â??06.
Sean B. Carroll, a molecular biologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been chosen by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to be its next vice president for science education. Carroll will maintain his lab at UW-Madison.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In the lab that summer morning, Thomas Wernerâ??s heart pounded.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison post-doctoral researcher had to sit down and take deep breaths before continuing the crucial experiment.Werner, who had grown up in East Germany hoping to study butterflies, had instead devoted more than three years to a species of the North American fruit fly, Drosophila guttifera.
Focusing on this species of fruit fly, he and the other researchers in the lab of molecular biologist Sean B. Carroll, had made a prolonged assault on one of the key questions in evolutionary biology: how nature endows creatures with their colorful patterns, from a leopardâ??s dark spots to a butterflyâ??s bold swirls. In different species the patterns serve to attract mates, provide camouflage or provide other advantages in the struggle to survive.
Wisconsin resumes spring football practice later Tuesday but coach Bret Bielema tweeted to his fans that UW is trying to secure a home-and-home deal with either Notre Dame or Nebraska.
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and his assistants now have the flexibility to add a guard for the 2010 freshman class if they choose. Sophomore center Ian Markolf, who played a total of six games in two seasons, has decided to quit the team but plans to remain at UW and work toward a degree in personal finance and investment.
MADISON, Wis. AP – A fight between a popular bar and the University of Wisconsin-Madison heads to a courtroom Wednesday in a case that will test the schoolâ??s power to take private property for a public use.
University of Wisconsin System schools rank among higher educationâ??s top players in the Washington lobbying game, as it spent nearly $3 million over the past decade, an analysis of congressional records shows.
And there are ways to cut startup costs â?? by purchasing used equipment, for instance, or leasing land instead of purchasing it.
Dick Cates, director of the Agricultural Department and a director of University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s School for Beginning Dairy Farmers, teaches students these tricks. The school has trained more than 200 future farmers over a 10-year span, some of whom never grew up on a farm. Tapping into experts such as Cates for ideas on how to make it should spur the new farmer, not lottery money.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison nuclear engineering professor Michael Corradini.
An animal rights group alleges in a lawsuit that the University of Wisconsin illegally withheld public records related to animal testing at a Madison lab.
MADISON, Wis. — The Denver Nuggets have reached an agreement to sign former University of Wisconsin Badger Brian Butch for the rest of the season, according to an ESPN.com report.
A 6-foot-11 center out of Wisconsin, Butch is averaging nearly 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Bakersfield Jam in the NBA D-League.
Members of an animal rights group said they sued the UW Board of Regents on Monday, alleging that UW-Madison has not provided them with documents they requested related to eye movement research on monkeys and cats.PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the university withheld videos and redacted information in other records when there was “no basis,” according to the lawsuit.
MADISON, Wis. — An animal rights group alleges in a lawsuit that the University of Wisconsin illegally withheld public records related to animal testing at a Madison lab.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed the lawsuit on Monday in Dane County Circuit Court. PETA alleges that pictures and videotapes of animal tests at the university should have been provided when requested instead of withheld.
The Daily Beast has published its list of the most stressful U.S. colleges and universities. At the Daily Beast points out, getting accepted at a school is only the beginning.No. 1 is Stanford. UW, with Bucky Badger as its image, ranks 45th, with a tuition cost of $15,467, an acceptance rate of 52.7%, a ranking of 39th for competitive academics, an engineering rank of 14 and a crime rank of 22.
Quoted: Ellen Zweibel, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
University of Wisconsin System leaders are crafting a plan to boost the number of degrees the schools award each year by 30% over the next 15 years, a move that would make the universities even more of an engine that makes the stateâ??s economy attractive for businesses.
A column by William Barnes, a junior majoring in communication arts, and Porter Pearce, a junior majoring in political science and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both are interns at One Wisconsin Now, a statewide liberal advocacy organization.
The CIC delegation also met representatives of Aligarh Muslim University AMU and discussed facilitating more research students. The delegation evinced interest in sending students for pursuing studies in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and other Indian languages.
The delegation comprised Wolfgang Schloer from University Illinois, Will Glover from University Michigan, Molly Portz from University of Minnessota, Ken Shapiro and Aseem Ansari from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Terry Webb from Madison Area Technical College and Partlow.
Kathi Bennett emphasized her familyâ??s basketball tradition Wednesday when she interviewed for the head coaching position at Indiana State.Bennett, an assistant to Lisa Stone with the University of Wisconsin womenâ??s basketball team, is one of four finalists for the job at Indiana State.
Swine flu seems so 2009 and is hardly talked about today, but state health officials say the H1N1 virus isnâ??t gone and people should get vaccinated.
State health officer Dr. Seth Foldy said in a release on Wednesday that the lull in cases in Wisconsin may only be temporary.
“We should not be complacent,” Foldy said. “Many of us have a little extra time during school spring break, so we should take advantage of the time by getting ourselves and our families vaccinated.”
Some southern states have reported an increase in new H1N1 pandemic influenza cases, prompting the Wisconsin Department of Health Servicesâ?? call for people to get their flu shots.
None of this might have happened if a Madison woman named Jane Pawasarat hadnâ??t had an extra ticket to a documentary at the Wisconsin Film Festival seven years ago. The film was “Spellbound,” which followed eight young spellers as they prepared for and competed in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Pawasarat called a friend – Jeff Kirsch, who directs the independent learning program in Spanish and Portuguese at the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies – and asked if he wanted to go.
Furious and afraid, Harriet Shetler and Beverly Young met for lunch one day in 1977 at the old Cuba Club in Madison. That lunch between two mothers worried about their mentally ill sons resulted in a national movement that would bring solace, facts and practical assistance to the mentally ill and their families.
….Shetler, who worked as an editor for UW Extension, was always interested in words and writing. She was a 30-year member of University League Book Critics, which was founded on her front porch.
Like a growing number of college students across the country, Teresa Welsh considered spending a semester studying abroad.
â??But Iâ??ve heard from a lot of people that you basically go and hang out with other Americans or English speakers, live in a dorm with others like you and donâ??t necessarily integrate yourself with the culture or students in your classes,â? says Welsh, who is set to graduate from UW-Madison in May with a double major in journalism and Latin American studies. â??Thatâ??s not what I wanted.â?
Thanks to Newt Gingrichâ??s loose lips, the cat is out of the bag: The Republican Party, answering the call of a large part of its following, will continue its subtle and not-so-subtle uses of the â??race card.â? Gingrich said during the health care debate that â??much as Lyndon B. Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 yearsâ? when Congress enacted civil rights legislation, President Barack Obamaâ??s health care reform will prove as destructive. His audience needs no reminder of Republican divisiveness, but Gingrich, no stranger to distorting history, demands correction.
(Kutler is a UW-Madison professor emeritus of history and author of â??The Wars of Watergateâ? and other writings. This column first appeared on truthdig.com.)
Quoted: Bob Cropp a dairy market specialist with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension in Madison.
Administrators at the University of Wisconsin-Stout are trying to crack down on alcohol abuse after six students died in alcohol related incidents in the last two years.Chancellor Charles Sorensen informed students and staff of the new measures in an email Tuesday, saying “strong and decisive steps are necessary to address a serious situation,” and he said the school would begin taking disciplinary actions against students who abuse alcohol.
Quoted: Thongchai Winichakul, a Thai analyst at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
After the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are free to spend money trying to influence the outcome of elections, we heard a lot of horror stories alleging that Big Business would soon have all the politicians dancing to its tune. What you wouldnâ??t know from those tales is that about half the states, including Illinois, already allow such spending. And what difference does it make? According to John Coleman, who chairs the political science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, not a bit.
Quoted: Kurt Squire, an associate professor of educational communications and technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political polling expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Allen J. Dines, president of the Midwest Research University Network and assistant director of the office of corporate relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But the Virent story shows whatâ??s possible when lab smarts of the university are blended with the financial savvy of business. There is a lesson here for the Milwaukee region as it works to develop a more nimble and robust economy. [The editorial mentions that Virent was born to commercialize ideas formed at UW-Madison.]
MADISON, Wis. — The Memorial Union Terrace will officially open on Sunday, April 4, when the green and yellow Sunburst Chairs return to the terrace on the shores of Lake Mendota.
Despite some summer construction planned for the east end of campus after graduation, the Memorial Union will be operating at full capacity, said Marc Kennedy, Communications Director, in a news release.
Last year, when Katja Favretto started telling friends in Los Angeles that she was considering a job offer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the young political scientist says she started feeling apprehensive about a potential move to the Midwest.
â??People outside of academia would say, â??Where is Madison?â??â??â? recalls the 33-year-old Favretto, who earned her doctorate at UCLA, spent her adult life living in Southern California and joined UW-Madisonâ??s political science department as an assistant professor this past fall.
â??After I told them, theyâ??d say, â??Wes-consin? Why would you want to go to Wes-consin?â??â? Not long ago, many within academia were starting to ask the same thing.
….Yet today, UW-Madison is on the offensive. And surprisingly, the school is winning more recruiting battles than itâ??s losing.
MADISON, Wis. — This week marks the two-year anniversary since the death of University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann in her downtown apartment.
For Madison police investigators, the Doty Street house where the 21-year-old lived and was killed serves as a reminder. Much like the public perception of their investigation, the building is unchanged from two years ago.
â??People just want to know the answer, so I do appreciate that side of it as well,â? said Police Capt. Mary Schauf. â??We want to do a quality investigation, but we also want the right person arrested.â?
Schauf said that this case is far from cold. In fact, she said detectives work on it daily and there have been occasions that they thought they might have a break.
For years, the rallying cry for education parity was on behalf of girls. This culminated in 1992, when the American Association of University Women reported that female students werenâ??t being called in class as often as boys, werenâ??t participating in math and science classes like their male peers, and thus, werenâ??t likely to pursue those fields in college.
Schools caught on, and for the most part, the campaign worked. But a curious thing happened on the way to Jane earning her chemistry degree â?? the boys got left behind. Over the past decades, public high schools report that more girls than boys are taking Advanced Placement courses, including calculus and biology. And your typical college campus is nearly 60 percent female.
Dear Editor: I agree with Rick Marolt that the UW-Madison has not properly evaluated ongoing experiments using monkeys. My interests, however, concern the living conditions that are forced on all the monkeys kept by the university.
Several years ago I was allowed to visit the UW-Madison monkey colony after proving I was free from tuberculosis. I still recall the horrendous smell of monkey urine, but mostly I remember looking carefully at individual monkeys and deciding they were very sad and probably
Quoted: Ron Kean, a University of Wisconsin-Madison poultry specialist who appeared as an expert in the documentary “Mad City Chickens,” which detailed Madisonâ??s successful drive several years ago to legalize chickens at the urging of urban local food enthusiasts.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will be closed Friday, one of four designated campus-wide furlough days scheduled this year in accordance with the mandate approved in the 2009-11 state budget.
For several University of Wisconsin-Madison students, this yearâ??s spring break was an opportunity to skip the traditional beach parties in Florida or Mexico in order to spend their time volunteering at parks, schools and nursing homes in six cities – including a stop Monday in Auburn.
Laura Phelan, a freshman at the university, said the students have already stopped in South Bend, Ind., and Pittsburgh and will visit Bethel, N.Y., Philadelphia and Washington D.C. when they are done volunteering.The trip is part of a nationwide Pay it Forward Tour meant to encourage college students to spend their spring break volunteering in local communities.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies polling.
Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin.
University of Wisconsin wrestling coach Barry Davis got some sobering news while riding the team bus to the NCAA championships in Omaha, Neb., last week.
….â??I got a call on the way down to Omaha from the Johnson County (Iowa) Sheriffâ??s Department,â? Davis said. â??They found my brotherâ??s helmet. That was between me and them. I kept it to myself, and I focused on the team and moved forward.â?
Davisâ?? brother, Marty Davis, 52, who lives north of Shueyville, Iowa â?? midway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in Johnson County â?? has been missing since Jan. 3 when he left home on his snowmobile.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will be closed Friday, one of four designated campus-wide furlough days scheduled this year in accordance with the mandate approved in the 2009-11 state budget.
Campus workers also have to take four furlough days of their own this year, part of the 16 unpaid furlough days in the two-year budget cycle for all state workers including those on University of Wisconsin campuses.
MADISON, Wis. — The director of the Wisconsin Covenant program said sheâ??s heard from “a lot of parents” who mistakenly believed it would give their children a free ride to college.
LA CROSSE, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student has been found sleeping in another personâ??s car after he was reported missing after leaving a bar, prompting a nearly six-hour search.
The La Crosse Tribune reported Sunday that the 22-year-old student was last seen at 1 a.m. leaving the State Room bar downtown. He had told friends he was walking home, but never made it.
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison is celebrating next monthâ??s 40th anniversary of Earth Day with an exhibit on its founder.
APPLETON (WKOW) — A tragic end to spring break for seven Wisconsin college students returning home over the weekend, after a deadly crash in Missouri killed one and injured six others.
Brittany Zimmermannâ??s mother shares a personal nightmare in hopes others will share what they know about her daughterâ??s murder.
Our countryâ??s obsession with food is nothing new, as a fascinating exhibit at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Ebling Library, in the Health Science Learning Center makes clear.
â??Itâ??s Good for You,â? which closes April 6, traces the history of our food and diet fads through a thoughtful compilation of books, magazine articles and photos from university libraries and archives that both amuses and surprises.
STEVENS POINT â?? One of natureâ??s great choruses will soon echo again across the verdant woods and wetlands. The spring peepers, wood frogs and their fellow amphibians will be at it again, carrying on one of natureâ??s most glorious and resonant love fests.
Across Wisconsin, volunteers will fan out to record the sounds on 120 routes, all of them part of the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey coordinated by the Department of Natural Resources. But for the first time since the surveyâ??s inception in 1981, the woman who initiated it and nudged it along for many years wonâ??t be among us.
….Madisonâ??s point man on the census, planning staff member Brian Grady, says the city is working with members of its Complete Count Committee and the organizations it represents to get an accurate count of the cityâ??s population. Every person not counted means the loss of an estimated $1,000 a year in federal funding to the community, he says.
The city has focused on census tracts that had a low response rate in the 2000 census, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, South Park Street, Fish Hatchery Road near the Beltline and Allied Drive. Mail-in returns of the 2000 census for those areas ranged from 60 to 70 percent, compared to 81 percent for the city as a whole.
