The 14th Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, will visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison May 15 and 16 to inaugurate a new center devoted to the study of healthy mind development, the university said Wednesday.
….For teachers who are interested in environmental education, the UW Arboretumâ??s RESTORE Institute can help.
As part of its Earth Partnership for Schools initiative, the RESTORE Institute trains teachers how to engage their students with the local ecosystem. Funded in part by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Forest Service, the nationally acclaimed program features one- and two-week seminars where teachers from around the country learn about ecosystem restoration on school grounds.
College students are known for protesting just about every injustice they perceive, but it usually involves serious topics like war and racism.
Students at Santa Clara University have found a less serious subject to aim at: allegedly poor cell phone reception, according to Network World.
The work of building a media reform movement began long before Bob McChesney and I started writing about issues of media monopoly, the decay of newspapers and the current crisis in journalism, and it will go on long after we put down our pens â?? or, in this digital age, shut off our computers.
But the past decade has been a critical juncture in the growth of media activism, as the movement to free up and democratize our communications has gone from strength to strength. That growth has been made possible by the diligent engagement of some remarkable people who recognized early on that the media are not just something that happens to us. Media are a constant in our lives that we the people can, through enlightened policy making, shape and influence to serve human and civic needs â?? as opposed to merely enriching speculators and the CEOs of media conglomerates.
Madisonâ??s Cynthia Laitman, who has died in her early 70s after a nasty bout with brain cancer, was a pioneer in turning that recognition into activism at the local, state and national levels.
When Monona residents ask Metro Transit manager Chuck Kamp why Metro buses traveling through the city donâ??t open their doors, he explains that Monona contracts with a private company for its own bus service.
â??Thatâ??s very disappointingâ? from a regional transit perspective, Kamp said.
Discarded smoking materials started a fire that caused about $10,000 damage to UW-Madisonâ??s Grainger Hall on Monday afternoon, according to investigators from the Madison Fire Department.
The fire was reported just before noon on Monday at Grainger Hall, which is on Park Street between University Avenue and Johnson Street.
In late January, The Education Trust posted a press release noting “some public colleges and universities are making gains, closing gaps in graduation rates for minority students.”
That release then noted a small number of “Top Gainers” and “Top Gap Closers” to highlight institutions which have “made the biggest improvements in these areas.” Among those few schools receiving kudos was UW-Madison.
….Earlier this week, Newsweek used these same Education Trust figures to demonstrate how “American universities are accepting more minorities than ever. Graduating them is another matter.”
David Wilson was named by Barack Obama to the Presidentâ??s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) late last week.
Wilson is the current chancellor of UW-Extension and UW Colleges, but will be leaving Wisconsin June 30 to become president of the historically black Morgan State University in Baltimore.
A fire Monday at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s business school caused minor damage and no injuries.
Students who have fulfilled the requirements of the Wisconsin Covenant Scholars program would receive at least $250 annually off their first two years of college in the state and could qualify for up to $2,500 a year under a proposed rule Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday.
Madison firefighters extinguished a fire in an exterior wall of Grainger Hall on the UW-Madison campus just before noon Monday.
Firefighters arrived to find a large room near the entrance filled with smoke, and occupants still in the building, according to spokesman Lori Wirth. “Evacuation was slow to take place, hampering firefighting operations,” she said.
A dozen young alumni of UW-Madison are being honored by the UW Alumni Association for exemplifying the Wisconsin Idea of touching lives here, as well as around the world.
The “Forward Under 40” awards were announced on Monday by WAA president and CEO Paula Bonner.
“We are proud to recognize our younger generation of alumni for their commitment to demonstrating the Wisconsin Idea in all that they do,” Bonner said in a release from the UW-Madison news service.
A couple notes from Monday eveningâ??s Faculty Senate meeting at Bascom Hall:
** UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and University Committee chair Bill Tracy both expressed concerns about an “educational attainment initiative” that apparently is in the works by the UW System.
While Martin says she is all for educating and graduating more students at UW-Madison, she stressed that would only be possible if state funding for the university increased.
** Two separate proposals to amend Faculty Policies and Procedures received a “first reading” Monday and there was no pushback to either. It appears likely those amendments will be voted on and passed at the April 12 meeting.
Gov. Jim Doyle released the funding details for the Wisconsin Covenant program at a press conference Monday at UW-Madisonâ??s Memorial Library.
Those state students who have signed the Wisconsin Covenant pledge have agreed to “take college preparatory classes, maintain at least a â??Bâ?? average and practice good citizenship.” In return, the state has promised these students both a place in higher education and a financial aid package based on need to make it affordable.
Doyle said Monday these state students would get between $250 and $2,500 during each of their first two years of college. He indicated the $2,500 grants for low-income students, when used with other state and federal aid, would cover tuition and fees.
Barring a small miracle, either in the form of a cashierâ??s check or a change of heart, a planned practice rink for the University of Wisconsin menâ??s and womenâ??s hockey teams wonâ??t be built anytime soon.
UW athletic director Barry Alvarez set an early-March deadline for raising $2 million in gift funds toward the $25 million facility, which is scheduled to break ground this spring and be completed in 2012.
Does paying for college send chills down your spine? UW-Madison financial aid staff will try to assuage your fears during a live one-hour web chat on Tuesday from 6-7 p.m.
Staff from the Office of Student Financial Aid plus a representative from the UW-Madison Parent Program will field questions from students and parents about the aid available, work-study opportunities, common sense financial tips, even how to fill out the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials launched what appears to be a pre-emptive strike.
A letter from Dean of Students Lori Berquam to “members of the UW-Madison community” and posted on the universityâ??s website earlier this week starts by noting: “In coming days, there will be a great deal of media and online coverage of sexual assault in our community and around the UW System.”
The Center for Public Integrity is running an interesting series about “Sexual Assault on Campus.”
Midway through Februaryâ??s Black History Month, the UW-Madison Health Sciences Learning Center opened “Passed but still Present: Icons of Black History,” a show presenting artist Stanley Sallayâ??s images of Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison and Bob Marley.
…in 2006, an experience in the UW-Madison Odyssey Project, a free humanities course for adults facing economic barriers to higher education, led him to take up drawing again.
Dear Editor: I applaud Dave Zweifelâ??s column â??Fast trains are something to celebrate.â? The idea of trains not only connecting Madison to Milwaukee, but Madison to Chicago and the Twin Cities is indeed exciting.
(Schmid is a UW-Madison senior and transit intern at WISPIRG)
Dead men do tell tales. Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler are two of the people most responsible for making sure we would be able to hear them. A review of UW-Madison jounralism professor Deborah Blum’s new book, “The Poisoner’s Handbook.”
In explaining how a business does well by doing good, local ad executive Jim Armstrong talks about 18th-century brewing techniques.
Armstrong â?? whose firm, Good for Business, just became the first company in Madison to earn national certification for business ethics â?? recounts the tale of the storied Guinness Brewing Co.
Quoted: Dan Hausman, professor of business ethics in the UW-Madison philosophy department.
A motorist died early Sunday after a chase and two crashes just after midnight, UW-Madison police reported.
A UW-Madison police officer tried to stop a vehicle driven by Darrell H. Pantazes, 51, of Skokie, Ill., for going the wrong way on West Johnson Street at 12:10 a.m. Pantazes reportedly failed to stop and struck another vehicle at the intersection of University Avenue and Orchard Street, but continued westbound on University Avenue. The person in the other vehicle was taken to a hospital for precautionary measures.
For too long, bankers have gotten a free ride from the U.S. Department of Education.
Under current law, taxpayers provide as much as $9 billion each year to subsidize guaranteed student loans issued by banks. The banks earn profits on the interest; if students default, taxpayers take the loss, not the banks. In other words, working Americans pay while bankers get rich.
Meanwhile, educators, engineers and computer scientists — the backbone of the new economy — face crushing debt from six-figure college tuitions. A study of national post-secondary student aid found that in 2008, two-thirds of college seniors graduated with debt averaging more than $23,000. That number will rise as public and private college tuition costs escalate.
A group of 10 UW-Madison professors is recommending the universityâ??s Faculty Policies and Procedures be amended to account for potential academic freedom problems associated with a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
….Also at Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting, the University Committee is requesting that FP & P be amended so that departments on campus can recommend certain employees of the Morgridge Institute for Research — the privately funded research enterprise established to partner with the state-funded Wisconsin Institute for Discovery — become members of the UW-Madison faculty.
Kudos to the Greenbush Neighborhood Association for getting involved at the start in making the most of Klief Park.
The group is circulating some statements on what members want to see at the park as the city begins to develop a master plan to improve it. The park at Milton and South Charter Streets is a favorite with families — and UW students — who live nearby in the â??Bush. The group wants to keep many of the features packed into the city-block sized park: playground, basketball court, open lawns, while making improvements that show the park “is cared-for and valued by the community and is welcoming to all.” What to add? New play equipment, a water-jet kiddie cooler, benches for adults watching children, accessible walkways.
Someone held up a sign at Canada Hockey Place that read, “Play hockey like a girl.” It was meant to be a compliment, but hereâ??s a bigger one: Canada and the United States played hockey the way the game was meant to be played Thursday night, regardless of gender.
The Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday a series of research projects to improve its population estimates and management practices for white-tailed deer in Wisconsin. The projects, presented at the Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison, will cost just over $2 million. Several will include partnerships with the University of Wisconsin and draw on input from the public.
Quoted: Thongchai Winijakul, a Thai historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin report a breakthrough on Friday in the journal Science. Their two-step chemical conversion turns waste biomass efficiently into liquid hydrocarbons that could fuel vehicle or jet engines.
Quoted: Julie Underwood, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s School of Education.
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Thursday announced a discovery that advances the renewable-energy research aimed at converting corn stalks or switchgrass into jet fuel.
U.S. researchers have developed a highly efficient way of creating biofuel out of crop waste.The researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a chemical process that converts gamma-valerolactone, a derivative of the woody and grassy parts of plants, into fuel.
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — A professor at a northeastern Pennsylvania university says sheâ??s been suspended indefinitely for what she thought was a humorous posting on Facebook about hiring a hit man.
East Stroudsburg University sociology professor Gloria Gadsden says she was suspended Wednesday because administrators thought she was making threats.
WASHINGTON â?? Young Americans are the linchpin of a new progressive era in American politics. So why arenâ??t Democrats paying more attention to them?
Dear Editor: I believe Mark Sturnickâ??s letter not only insults Professor Ric Grummer for his expert opinion but insults the University of Wisconsin as well. Whether his facts are also â??industry factoidsâ? is of no import whatsoever unless they are proven to be false. When it is claimed that the other half of his statements were unsubstantiated and misleading, that is of no significance either unless it is substantiated by unbiased evidence.
Regardless of where the professorâ??s funding for research comes from, it takes character to come forward to take what some might consider an unpopular stand particularly in a community like Madison. I applaud Professor Grummer for not sticking his nose in places where it may become soiled or suffer from nauseous odors.
A nurse, a pilot and an academic, Dorothy Jean â??D.J.â? Douglas was a trailblazing woman who taught in medical schools, nursing schools and flight schools. But before all that, Douglas, who died Feb. 10 at age 82, lived as a boy.
Since the first commercial cultivation of genetically modified GM crops in 1996, Monsanto and the rest of the big six biotech seed companies Pioneer/DuPont, Syngenta, Dow, BASF and Bayer have become masters at the art of story telling.
Farmers, always looking for the next big technology fix, loved the stories: the promise of better yields, less chemicals needed for weed control, higher profits and of course, a solution to the elusive goal of feeding the world.
Governments, seeing biotechnology as a huge economic engine, embraced the technology. University research was shifted almost exclusively to biotech crops.
At a recent rehearsal in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Vilas Hall basement, it took more than an hour to help Robert V. Phan into his costume.
Dressers put on five layers, including a padded vest, wrist gauntlets and a cape with red and orange flames licking at the hem. His sleeves hung wide, two feet from his arms, and his legs were hidden beneath a straight, floor-length skirt.
Dear Editor: Compared to Madison as a whole, the UW-Madison delis severely lack fair trade, organic, and local products. Being part of a city full of fair trade establishments like Just Coffee, SERRV, and the farmersâ?? market, UW seems like a natural candidate for these products. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
A report released Wednesday by a conservative Milwaukee think tank attacking Wisconsinâ??s retirement system as too generous and unfair to taxpayers has drawn a stinging response from the Wisconsin State Employees Union.
“Itâ??s no surprise that wealthy interests are pumping out propaganda to erode support for pension plans relied on by lower-wage workers,” said Marty Beil. “Whatâ??s disappointing is that major media outlets give this propaganda great play, while burying news that paints Wisconsinâ??s pension system in a positive light.”
Beil notes that the well-respected Pew Center on the States recently rated the Wisconsin Retirement System a top performer.
On the UW-Oshkosh campus, cafeteria leftovers could soon be used to power the collegeâ??s heat and electricity.
The university says its planned dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester will be the first of its kind in the nation, converting campus and community yard and food waste into fuel.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and Provost Paul Deluca put out this statement thanking a pair of ad hoc committees on campus for their work in looking into the proposed restructuring of the $900 million research enterprise on campus.
Itâ??s at least mildly surprising that the UW-Madison administration appears to agree with much of what these reports were saying. The statement put up on the universityâ??s website Tuesday reads, in part: “We are inclined to agree with the major recommendations of the faculty task force. We are eager to hear from the broader campus community and are committed to working with the University Committee and faculty on developing and implementing a plan of action before the conclusion of the academic year.”
While much focus in town has been on filling vacant land at Hilldale Mall or the squabble over the downtown Edgewater Hotel, a big development is coming to the far west side that has sort of floated under the radar — the addition of a second University Research Park, or, as its backers call it, “URP2.”
I talked with Mark Bugher, research park director, who says they will break ground on a undetermined date this spring and that he foresees the first occupant there late in 2011 or early 2012. After city approval last fall, Bugher says the project has been moving along and it was decided to name new streets within the park after the five UW faculty members who won Nobel Prizes while at the university.
One of the greatest remaining benefits for government workers in Wisconsin is under fire as being too expensive and unfair to taxpayers.
In a report released Wednesday, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute says public employees pay almost nothing toward their own retirement while enjoying pension benefits that far exceed the private sector.
A new mother watched the game with her one-week-old daughter in the hospital, where she was recovering from a blood transfusion, and felt instantly energized.
A couple returning from vacation in Hawaii received score updates from the flight crew, and all the passengers were treated to a champagne toast.
….These were among the memories our readers cited after we posed the question, “Where were you for the Miracle on Ice?”
The doors at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry on Fish Hatchery Road donâ??t open for another 30 minutes, but a line has already formed.They wait quietly, for the most part, this rainbow coalition of all ages: African-American grandmothers, Latino families, young women with pierced tongues, disabled seniors and working fathers.
What they have in common is poverty.
….Measuring poverty in college towns can be somewhat misleading, researchers caution, since many students live below the poverty line and are counted by the U.S. Census Bureau as officially â??poorâ? even if they come from wealthy families.
Quoted: Tim Smeeding, director of the UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty and professor of public affairs
The annual rush of thousands of high school wrestling and basketball fans to the UW-Madison Kohl Center means big money for area businesses, but it also means moving hundreds of drivers with campus parking permits to lots away from the sports arena.
….The out-of-towners not only mean big bucks, about 26 million of them, to area businesses, restaurants and bars, but they are also an important revenue stream for the university, helping to offset the cost of parking for permit holders.
To get the ball rolling on cars parking in lots away from the Kohl Center, UW Transportation Services is asking permit holders to use alternate lots so visitors can use the lots near the Kohl Center, reducing traffic congestion on campus.
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently posed the following question to its readers: “Is tenure a matter of life or death?”
Although the answer seems obvious, this is a hot topic on campuses across the country following the shooting which left three faculty members dead and three others wounded earlier this month at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
University of Wisconsin officials are conducting an internal investigation into an alleged incident that resulted in the indefinite suspensions of three football players.
Dear Editor: Speaking as a UW-Madison student, I was shocked to read about Edgewoodâ??s diversity issue (â??At Edgewood College, a surge in minority enrollmentâ?). The experiences Iâ??ve stumbled upon here in a single semester have allowed me to meet many unique individuals of all ethnicities. Itâ??s almost as if â??diversityâ? swallowed me whole.
….The New York Times posted an interesting article noting that a number of public high schools in eight states are participating in a program that allows students who pass a range of tests after their sophomore year to receive their high school diploma two years early so they can enroll in a community college. None of those schools are in Wisconsin.
Those who pass these exams but who hope to one day attend a selective college such as UW-Madison can continue with college preparatory classes during their junior and senior years of high school.
RICHMOND, VA (WKOW) — Many colleges across the country have made the decision to stop printing yearbooks.
MADISON, Wis. — High school student got into a financial state of mind on Sunday as they sought strategies to map out their futures in higher education. Hundreds of college-bound students and their families packed a Madison College classroom for help applying for financial aid for the fall.
Bonnie Bernhardt is proud to have helped nearly 400 Wisconsin residents get back some of their money from an online lender that state attorneys say overstepped its bounds.
The 43-year-old single mother from Verona was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed two years ago against online payday lender Arrowhead Investments. After an out-of-court settlement to the class action lawsuit was approved earlier this month, Bernhardt and the others will split $100,000 in restitution. Another $432,000 in outstanding loans will be closed out and forgiven by Arrowhead, and the Delaware-based company is also barred from doing business in Wisconsin for five years.
Quoted: Sarah Orr, director of the Consumer Law Litigation Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Prior to the start of each school year, Denise Bolduc typically sits down with four or five students who have food allergies.
The assistant food services director for UW-Madisonâ??s Division of University Housing not only goes through the six-week menu cycle with the student, pointing out specific items to avoid, but sheâ??ll introduce the student to the managers of the four dorm dining rooms, three convenience stores and deli that her division runs on campus.
As the mother of two boys, Micaela Preston decided she wanted to start living more mindfully to help promote a healthier planet for her family. When she realized how overwhelming the concept of “going green” can be, she started a blog, Mindful Momma, to make eco-conscious living inspiring rather than intimidating.
Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema on Sunday confirmed the suspension of three players for an alleged violation of team rules. The players, all reserves, are:Wide receiver Kraig Appleton, defensive end Shelby Harris and linebacker Nick Hill. Appleton will be a sophomore next season; Harris and Hill, from Homestead and Milwaukee Washington, respectively, will be redshirt freshmen.
University Research Park began offering space this month in its new Accelerator building.
Designed for start-ups that have outgrown smaller suites in the parkâ??s incubator building, the 80,000-square-foot Accelerator boasts cutting-edge air-exchange systems, space designed for lab build-outs, and features that could help tenants shave thousands of dollars off their energy bills.Facilities like this are becoming more common in Madison, where a growing number of parks offer young firms networking opportunities and shared resources such as research equipment and phone systems.
Quoted: UW-Madsion economists Andrew Reschovsky and Menzie Chinn.
With approval of $810 million in federal funds, state officials are moving ahead with plans for high-speed rail service between Milwaukee and Madison – but debate is still raging over where the trains should stop in Madison. As the plan has moved closer to reality, criticism of the airport site has intensified. In both Madison and Milwaukee, among both rail supporters and opponents, critics say the airport is too far from downtown Madison, the state Capitol and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to attract riders heading for those destinations.
