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Author: jnweaver

Online postings warn of another Va. Tech attack

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Associated Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. â?? Nearly three years after a massacre that left more than 30 dead, Virginia Tech officials are urging calm as e-mails and Internet postings originating in Italy threaten another attack on campus.

Though police do not believe the threats are credible, University President Charles W. Steger said in an e-mail to faculty and students Wednesday that classes would be held Thursday with additional security across campus.

Given the public concern, Steger said an overabundance of caution is appropriate.

From short films to documentaries, the Wisconsin Film Festival announces its lineup

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Wisconsin State Journal

French spies. A magic sword. Yodeling lesbian twins from New Zealand. A giant monster terrorizing South Korea. And, perhaps most bizarrely of all, Tom Cruise. Theyâ??re all part of the schedule for the 11th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, which is posted online Thursday at wifilmfest.org.

The schedule features 139 ticketed events, including narrative films, short films, documentaries, foreign films, and restored prints of classic films. This yearâ??s festival runs five days instead of the traditional four, April 14 to 18.

Stanley Kutler: Obama v. Roberts a pseudo event

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Capital Times

The Eric Massa story predictably and mercifully has gone. Even Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh understood when Massaâ??s auditions were over, and they cut him loose. But our intrepid media folks always are on the hunt for something â??new,â? something â??hotâ? to fill their space.

Recently, the ABC evening news offered us the ultimately silly and misplaced story of Chief Justice John Robertsâ?? remarks about President Barack Obamaâ??s criticism of his courtâ??s recent ruling, which held that corporate campaign contributions fell under â??free speech,â? and could not be regulated. Once again, historical memory is sacrificed to the interests of a â??good storyâ?; we have what historian Daniel Boorstin described as a â??pseudo event.â?

Stanley Kutler is a UW-Madison professor emeritus of history

Grass Roots: Nuts about fruit trees? Get clicking for Madison

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Capital Times

Online voting is underway to win orchards for Madison and ripe fruit for the picking in a grass roots movement you can read all about here. Madison Fruit and Nuts worked with city officials to get the okay to plant fruit trees in Madison parks and other local supporters of edible landscapes have mobilized to enter five local sites in a national competition for free fruit orchards.

Former Badger Swartz fought mental illness and won

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With the start of the NCAA Tournament, March is the best time of the sporting year for many. Around here, the 10th anniversary of Wisconsinâ??s Final Four appearance makes it especially memorable.But for the longest time, March 2000 was neither happy nor memorable for Julian Swartz.

“Looking back at it now, I donâ??t even know why it was good for me to try to play at all from a college standpoint,” he said this week.

One of the best high school prospects this state has produced in the last 20 years, Swartz averaged 23.2 points a game as a 6-foot-6 senior swingman at Waukesha South. He carried a 4.15 grade-point average as class president. A lot of schools wanted him. Swartz chose Wisconsin, where, along with his top-shelf athletic and academic skills, he brought a debilitating mental illness.

Wisconsin, UW-Green Bay women join NCAA fray

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One team waited eight long years, another had to sweat it out for a few tenuous days. But the wait was worth it because both Wisconsin and UW-Green Bay are in the NCAA womenâ??s basketball tournament.

The Badgers (21-10) earned a No.â??7 seeding and will face No.â??10 seed Vermont at 11:20 a.m. Sunday at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. The Phoenix (27-4), seeded No.â??12, will play No.â??5 Virginia at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

Smokers who quit see improved artery health within year, UW study shows

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Despite gaining an average of nine pounds, a large group of smokers from Wisconsin who quit had a significant improvement in the health of their arteries within a year of their last cigarette. The benefit was the equivalent of a 14% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison study that was presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

Capitol Report: Prayer vs. medical treatment debate continues at the Capitol.

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Capital Times

The second of two bills circulating the Capitol that deals with the right of parents to choose prayer rather than medical treatment for a sick child will be before the Assembly Committee on Children and Families Wednesday.

Among the invited speakers will be Dr. Barbara Knox, with the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Shawn Peters, author of “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children and the Law” and a UW-Madison lecturer.

Peters will be speaking in favor of Berceau’s bill.

Hey, Watch It! N.Y. Times film critic Manohla Dargis coming to Wisconsin Film Festival

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Wisconsin State Journal

For film junkies, today is like Dec. 23, two days before Christmas. On Thursday, the full schedule for the 11th Annual Wisconsin Film Festival, which runs April 14-18, will be released at wifilmfest.org and in this weekâ??s Isthmus. Itâ??s a cinematic feeding frenzy, because tickets go on sale this Saturday, leaving moviegoers just 48 hours or so to pore over the list of titles and plan out which movies they want to get tickets for.

Rash of thefts reported on UW campus

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Capital Times

UW-Madison police are cautioning campus dwellers to guard their personal belongings after a rash of thefts on March 12 mainly in the central campus area.

The items stolen included wallets, backpacks and purses, items that had been left unguarded in laboratories and offices. Campus police said credit cards stolen in the thefts have already been used to purchase items.

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Campus Connection: Sides agree to disagree in primate research debate

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Capital Times

Itâ??s unlikely anyone had an epiphany during Monday nightâ??s Primate Research Debate at the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus.

Although the event — which was sponsored by the Society and Politics Committee — got the mind churning, was well run and surprisingly civil, little new ground was covered for those who have been paying close attention to this topic over the past several months.

UW-Madison researchers look for ‘silent strokes’

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Capital Times

UW-Madison neuroscientists are looking for ways to find “silent strokes,” a condition that is virtually unnoticed by those afflicted but can lead to mental decline.

A team of scientists at UW-Madison has received a $1.57 million federal grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke to see if people with unstable plaque in arteries can be identified early on, so therapy can begin sooner rather than later.

Screen quality: Romanian filmmakers persevere

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Wisconsin State Journal

Madison audiences have been able to keep tabs on the growing Romanian New Wave through the free Romanian Film Festival. This springâ??s festival, which takes place Thursday through Saturday at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, is no exception, showing that Romanian film is here to stay.

The series is funded by the Romanian Cultural Institute and facilitated by UW-Madisonâ??s Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia.

Spring nearly sprung, alternate-side parking done

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Wisconsin State Journal

Streets Division spokesman George Dreckmann agreed residents are doing a better job complying with alternate-side parking restrictions, but said the cityâ??s efforts to get Downtown residents to move their cars during snow emergencies are not bearing much fruit.

About 5,100 people have signed up to get e-mail alerts of snow emergencies, Dreckmann said, and 2,500 or so get text message alerts. But such outreach “doesnâ??t seem to have any impact on compliance,” he said, and some people seem to consider the tickets part of the price of being a UW-Madison student or living Downtown.

History revisited as UW profs plan war teach-in

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Madison.com

Call it “Vietnam Redux.”

Taking a page out of the old teach-ins on campus about the Vietnam War, UW-Madison professors are organizing a teach-in on campus this upcoming weekend to teach students about the conflict in Afghanistan.

As universities tighten ethics policies, drug firms turn to private physicians to promote products

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When looking for a doctor to travel the country and tout its costly prescription fish oil pill, GlaxoSmithKline didnâ??t select a heavyweight university researcher. Instead, it wrote checks to Tara Dall, a Delafield primary-care doctor who entered private practice in 2001.

Last year, the Journal Sentinel series “Side Effects” found that there was little disclosure to patients of drug-company moonlighting among dozens of doctors at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

UWM rally showed good, bad and ugly

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Part of me – the part thatâ??s been writing tuition checks for years to the University of Wisconsin for my kids – wanted to join in the protest at UWM over the cost of a college education. But I for sure would not be climbing any rain gutters to get to the chancellor. The number of police officers I want to push or pelt with snowballs on any given day is around zero. And count me out when the chanting turns this ridiculous: “No cost, no fees, education should be free.”

Stanley Kutler: The wages of deregulation

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Capital Times

Toyotaâ??s reported sins have given us the scandal du jour, but typically, the media zips past the basic problem. Toyotaâ??s safety irregularities pointedly illustrate instead the failure — if not the virtual disappearance — of regulation, a pattern begun in the 1970s as the nation dismantled and eroded the effectiveness of its Regulatory State. In bipartisan fashion, its origins began with the Carter and Reagan administrations, and then deregulation accelerated and magnified under Clinton and both Bushes.

Off the wall: â??The Fungi Patch Gang: The Annual Bleeding Ritualâ?

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Mixed-media artist Kathryn Petkeâ??s creatures are creepy and cute, a little like the work of Tim Burton with slightly more softness. The creatures wink, grin and express joy, staring out of strange surroundings.

Petke, a master of fine arts student at UW-Madison, said that when she embarked on the work for her MFA show, “Circus of Dirt,” she imagined a scientist attempting to improve the world by making “hybrid creatures.” These were blends of plants and animals that could survive in harsh environments.

Mistretta, Plexus receive MIT Club honors for technology advances

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher whose innovations have been licensed to medical imaging companies around the world, and a Neenah company that helps entrepreneurial concerns develop product prototypes, will receive awards from the MIT Club of Wisconsin Friday. Chuck Mistretta, a medical physics professor, developed technologies that gave doctors a better way to look at coronary arteries, dramatically changing the way they used MRI machines and driving many other innovations, said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the technology transfer agent for UW-Madison.

Campus community encouraged to participate in census

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON (WKOW) — With the 2010 Census starting in the next week, UW-Madison officials are asking campus community members to take part.

The results of the 2010 Census will be used to help Madison and Dane County receive a fair share of $400 billion in federal funding. That money can be used for schools, health facilities, transportation and local programs.

“UW-Madison believes that participating in the Census – and supporting Madison and Dane County – is very important,” says University of Wisconsin-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam, noting that an all-campus e-mail is going out to students, faculty and staff with Census information.

On Campus: Doyle appoints new regent

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Wisconsin State Journal

A civil trial attorney from Eau Claire will be the newest member of the UW Board of Regents.

Gov. Jim Doyle announced the appointment of Edmund Manydeeds today and reappointed current Regent Mark Bradley. Both appointments will expire May 1, 2017.

….Manydeeds has served on the governorâ??s Judicial Selection Committee and with the Office of Lawyer Regulation. He has a bachelorâ??s of arts from UW-Superior and a law degree from UW-Madisonâ??s law school. He will replace Eileen Connolly-Keesler, whose term expires this year.

UW wrestling: Schmitt earns at-large NCAA bid

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Madison.com

University of Wisconsin redshirt freshman Cole Schmitt has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA wrestling championships, giving the Badgers seven qualifiers for the national meet in Omaha, Neb., March 18-20.

Schmitt, a 141-pounder from Belleville, joins six teammates who earned automatic bids based on performances as last weekendâ??s Big Ten Championships.

Rick Marolt: Bay Creek joins call to examine monkey experiments

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Capital Times

Dear Editor: In March, the Bay Creek Neighborhood Association passed a resolution asking Madisonâ??s City Council and the Dane County Board to create a task force of experts to determine if the continued use of nonhuman primates in basic biomedical research is ethically justified. The resolution also asked that the proposed expansion of primate laboratories at the UW-Madison be postponed until the task force issues its final report.

This is big news. It means that more citizens are expressing their concern about this issue at a grass-roots level and asking their elected representatives to take it seriously. Might other neighborhood associations be interested in joining the call?

So Bay Creek now joins WISC-TV, Progressive Dane, the Badger Herald and many hundreds of petition signers in calling for a study. Will alders, supervisors — or even state legislators — listen?

UW-Milwaukee protest seems like old times

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When a group of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students clashed with police and security outside a campus office last week, it was a reminder of the days when it was the norm for college students to protest.The use of pepper spray by police during arrests at the protest was criticized by some, including the American Civil Liberties Union. The UWM chancellor decried the actions of protesters while expressing his support for freedom of speech.

DNR gives way, raising deer goals

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Mentions that among members of the stakeholders panel, seven including representatives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Deer Hunters Association, Wisconsin County Forest Association and Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association voted to hold the line at the board-adopted goal of 745,636 deer.

Faculty on 2 UW campuses take step to form unions

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WKOW-TV 27

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Faculty members at University of Wisconsin campuses in Eau Claire and Superior could be the first professors in the state to form unions.

Organizers on both campuses say they have collected more than enough authorization cards to require an election to decide union representation.

Still a good fit

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee needs a little more time to close on its 89-acre purchase at the Milwaukee County Grounds, where the university plans to build a new research facility and business park. But there are no signs the delay amounts to anything more than advertised. UWM should move as expeditiously as possible to develop the site.

Marquette, UWM launch joint research program for water industry – JSOnline

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For all the promise of Milwaukeeâ??s water-technology sector, the metro area lacks working ties between its university researchers and water-engineering companies, leaving many new ideas to be developed elsewhere. Taking the first steps to forge a missing link, Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have launched a shared research program with a small roster of regional water-engineering companies.

Site helps to identify at-risk inland lakes

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Resource managers and cottage owners have a new tool in the fight to keep the stateâ??s inland lakes from being infested by zebra mussels. A Web site from the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Center for Limnology will help property owners determine how vulnerable their lakes are to an invasion.

Editorial: Covenant gets kids thinking about college

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Wausau Daily Herald

It sure seems like Gov. Jim Doyle promised 50,000 Wisconsin schoolchildren more than he could deliver, but his spokesman insists the promise is being fulfilled. Itâ??s too soon to tell.

One of the hallmarks of Doyleâ??s tenure as governor has been something he called the Wisconsin Covenant: If you graduate from high school having maintained at least a “B” average, take all the college prep classes you need and stay out of trouble, youâ??ll be guaranteed a place in a Wisconsin college or university and youâ??ll get the financial aid you need to pay for that education.

Campus Connection: Neighborhood weighs in on primate research debate

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Capital Times

The Bay Creek Neighborhood Association passed a resolution Monday asking the City Council and Dane County Board to create a task force of experts to examine if the use of non-human primates in research is ethically justified.

“The motivation for the resolution originated because a resident of the neighborhood brought this topic to our attention,” said Dan Kennelly, who is secretary of the Bay Creek Neighborhood Association. “Itâ??s someone who is passionate about the issue. So we passed a very simple and purely symbolic statement that expressed a wish to see more analysis and debate on the topic.”

Ohio St.: Employee Kills Co-Worker, Then Self

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WISC-TV 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new Ohio State University custodial employee who received a bad job evaluation shot two co-workers in a campus maintenance building, killing one of them, and then fatally shot himself, officials said Tuesday.

Nathaniel Brown, who had been hired in October, arrived for work at the nationâ??s largest university in dark clothing with two handguns in a backpack, campus Police Chief Paul Denton said. Denton described the shooting as work-related and said Brown recently received a poor performance evaluation, though he declined to say whether that was the motive.

No students were hurt and classes went on as scheduled.

Biotechnology Center celebrates 25 years at UW-Madison

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Capital Times

Itâ??s been 25 years since the UW-Madison Biotechnology Center started on campus, and to commemorate the occasion, a celebration is set for 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Biotechnology Center at 425 Henry Mall.

Dick Burgess, founding director of the center, said there were only three companies working in biotech in Madison in 1985.

“Now we have over 150 biotech firms in the area, and the state is recognized as a premier site for biotechnology research and industry,” Burgess said in a release from the UW-Madison news service.

Badgers run out of gas

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Samantha Prahalis scored 29 points and Jantel Lavender added 27 to help No. 10 Ohio State beat Wisconsin, 82-73, in a Big Ten tournament semifinal Saturday.

Trussoni’s ‘Angelology’ a brainy, religious thriller

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Memoirist Danielle Trussoniâ??s gorgeous writing, fantastical imagination and familiarity with biblical and mythological texts are on splendid display in “Angelology,” her first novel – an ambitious adventure story complete with epic battles between good and evil, a decades-long search for a life-extending treasure, and social commentary about class conflicts. Trussoni majoed in English and history at UW-Madison.

Roland S. Martin: Students not fighting hard enough for change

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Capital Times

All this month we will see thousands of college students jumping up and down, yelling, pumping fists and painting their faces. Thatâ??s the annual scene we see when college basketball teams are clawing their way to be one of the precious 65 seeds that enter the NCAA Tournament.

Yet these same students should say the heck with the games and put their energy, zeal and passion into two of the most fundamental issues posing the most dramatic barriers to gaining a college education: the rising cost of tuition and the lack of financial aid.

Campus Connection: Grades continue to climb, but does it matter?

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Capital Times

Grades awarded to undergraduates attending college in the United States have gone up significantly in the past couple decades according to a report titled “Grading in American Colleges and Universities,” which was published in the Teachers College Record.

The article was written by UW-Madison graduate Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, an associate professor of computer science at Furman University. Rojstaczer is a retired professor of geophysics at Duke University and the creator of GradeInflation.com, a website that tracks grading trends.

Tech: City holding public meeting Thursday on Google Fiber application

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Capital Times

The city of Madison announced that it will hold a public meeting on the cityâ??s application for Google Fiber on Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at Olbrich Gardens.

“Madison is a perfect fit for Google Fiber,” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said in a news release. “We have a tech savvy, engaged population and weâ??re already home to a local Google office. We need the communityâ??s help to make our application as competitive as possible.”

Quoted: UW-Madison telecommunications professor Barry Orton

Facebook on the clock: Businesses grapple with social media use at work

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Capital Times

Want to get fired on Facebook?

Write that your boss is a “pervy wanker” who makes you do “s— stuff” just to piss you off and then post it to Facebook, forgetting you had “friended” your supervisor months ago. Of course, the disgruntled worker’s boss read the Facebook post and fired back that the “s— stuff” you are complaining about is called your job, which you no longer have. And yes, I’m serious.”

This case, which became an Internet sensation, is a prime example of how social networking is affecting the modern workplace.

Quoted: UW-Madison communications professor Dietram Scheufele

Q & A with UW System President Kevin Reilly

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Capital Times

When Jim Doyle announced further funding details for the Wisconsin Covenant program at a news conference Monday, University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly was at the governorâ??s side. Not that this should surprise anyone.

One could argue no one in the state has focused more time and energy in recent years on trying to find ways to get more Wisconsin residents pursuing some form of post-secondary education.

Biz Beat: Call for state workers to contribute to their pensions draws fire

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Capital Times

Could pension funding for government workers turn into an issue in the governorâ??s race? It hasnâ??t come up yet that Iâ??ve seen, but a report issued last week by the conservative Wisconsin Public Research Institute showing the difference in retirement benefits for public and private sector workers is continuing to draw fire in government circles.

Wednesday, the secretary of the Department of Employee Trust Funds issued a statement attacking the instituteâ??s report, which estimated that state and local taxpayers could save $600 million per year by forcing workers to contribute to their pension plans. Currently, employees pay nothing.

Helen Matheson Rupp, a pioneering Madison journalist, dies at 88

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Wisconsin State Journal

Helen Matheson Rupp, 88, a pioneering figure in Madison journalism, died Wednesday at the Capitol Lakes retirement home in Madison. Matheson Rupp, who retired in 1977, was the first woman executive at the Wisconsin State Journal. She began at the paper in 1942 while still a senior studying journalism at UW-Madison.

Stanley Kutler: The system works, Obamaâ??s approach doesnâ??t

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Capital Times

Politics are paralyzed. The minority party is motivated by a desire to have the president of the United States fail, while the squishy majority is in disarray, drawing into question its capacity to govern. Congressional leadership of both parties is inept and ineffective. The result is drift and inertia, a pathetic situation befitting a banana republic.

Divided government need not mean gridlock, however. Political history demonstrates that despite partisan differences and jockeying for favor, the system works.

UW Medical Students Provide Care To Those In Need

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WISC-TV 3

Some University of Wisconsin Medical School students are getting an early dose of reality and at the same time, helping those in need.

Some future physicians are learning patient care through a lesson plan taking them out of the classroom into the doctorâ??s office by providing health care to those struggling to make ends meet.

No one expects to be down on your luck and out of work. And yet when people are, getting sick or needing to see the doctor can be a nightmare. If they are unable to pay, many donâ??t get the care they need.

For nearly 20 years, UW medical students have quietly been making a difference by treating patients who would otherwise go without care at free clinics throughout Madison.

Campus Connection: Holocaust awareness, new hires and stem cells

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Capital Times

….Both of UW-Madisonâ??s student newspapers — The Daily Cardinal and The Badger Herald — covered Wednesdayâ??s Holocaust awareness rally at Library Mall.This was one of two campus events organized in response to a number of anti-Semitic comments posted to the Badger Heraldâ??s website last month and that newspaperâ??s decision to publish an online ad from a group that denies the existence of the Holocaust.

Proposal would help student renters before theyâ??re pushed to sign new lease

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Capital Times

One year ago, near east side Ald. Bridget Maniaci and former Ald. Brenda Konkel were locked in a fierce battle for the cityâ??s District 2 seat, which Konkel had held for eight years. Now the two find themselves as tentative allies in Maniaciâ??s effort to push back the November downtown rental rush by reviving discussions about when landlords can start showing and leasing occupied apartments for next yearâ??s rental cycle.

Maniaci says the time is right to revisit the decade-old issue, with the downtown rental market changing as more young professionals choose apartments over buying houses.

Company donates Madison biomedical building

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A California company that is developing a Botox substitute has donated a $16 million biomedical manufacturing facility to the new Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison. Mentor Worldwide LLCâ??s donation will give the institute a building in Madisonâ??s University Research Park.