Sounds like a case of academic Freaky Friday: College students push for higher tuition prices, while lawmakers attempt to reverse the trend of rising college costs.
Universities, lawmakers consider capping tuition prices
USA Today
Author: jplucas
Out-of-state enrollment decreases minority, low-income student enrollment
Inside Higher Ed
Noted: University of Wisconsin at Madison: Non-resident freshman enrollments increased from 2,319 in 2009 to 2,448 in 2011. Over that same time period, the number of black freshman decreased from 133 to 120 and the number of Hispanic freshman decreased from 246 to 226.
Tea Party Johnson, Liberal Pocan Debate the Debt
Roll Call
Well, this could end well. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic freshman Rep. Marc Pocan are set to square off Thursday in a budget debate on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
That Elastic Term
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Noted: For example, she studied life on the boundaries of a national park in the developing world, where the needs of very poor people conflict with conservation priorities, says Molly Miller Jahn, a professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
‘Jeopardy!’ tournament latest pitstop for Oshkosh native
Appleton Post-Crescent
It took a few more steps than is usual for most contestants for Julia Sprangers to cross ?compete on ?Jeopardy!?? off her bucket list.
Former UW-Madison scientist gets probation for growing pot in lab
TwinCities.com
MADISON, Wis. — A former University of Wisconsin-Madison plant researcher who grew marijuana in a campus lab was sentenced Friday to two years of probation after pleading guilty to four charges.
UW-Madison students frustrated, unmoved by MPD’s Mifflin Street Block Party crackdown
Isthmus
UW-Madison senior Matt Warnert was stabbed at the 2011 Mifflin Street Block Party, but he describes efforts on the part of the Madison Police Department to shut down the annual festival as an “iron fist” approach.
UW-Madison junior to appear on Jeopardy!
Daily Cardinal
University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Julia Sprangers is scheduled to appear on ?Jeopardy!? Monday after she flew to the game show?s home in Los Angeles from Spain, where she is studying abroad for the semester, according to The Wisconsin State Journal.
Bias and a Settlement With Black Farmers
New York Times
?Federal Spigot Flows as Farmers Claim Bias? underplays the history of racial dispossession, uses cherry-picked examples, and creates needless antipathy to the lawsuit and the settlement with black farmers. Focusing on fraud and invoking familiar, racially freighted stereotypes of undeserving opportunists serve to throw into question all payouts rather than explaining why they were ordered in the first place. Signer includes Thomas Mitchell of the UW Law School.
Spinning the Core
Science News
Imagine a fast-flowing river in which eddies carry the water from the center current to the stationary banks. Those eddies ? the turbulence ? suck speed from the middle of the river and move it to where it rapidly decays. Turbulence of the same sort normally plays havoc with an experimental dynamo, says Cary Forest, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin?Madison.
22 years with UW Band started with just a hem
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen
Lois Levenhagen didn?t know it when she hemmed that first pair of marching band pants, but she started a relationship with a band director and his students that has lasted decades.
Clinton police interim director named
Beloit Daily News
Dale Burke has been named interim director of the Clinton Police Department following a meeting of the Clinton Village Board Thursday.
Richard Florida: The World’s Leading Science Cities
The Atlantic Cities
Science and technology are key drivers of economic growth. But where are the world?s leading science cities? A new study published in Nature?s Scientific Reports ranks the top cities for physics research around the world.
Delusional activism by the slice
Badger Herald
On Monday, as a dozen protesters staged a sit-in at Interim Chancellor David Ward?s office, the dispute over labor violations by Palermo?s Pizza was thrust into the campus spotlight.
Wells on UW surplus: ‘We shouldn’t be throwing each other under the bus.’
The Oshkosh Northwestern
A tuition surplus makes up about $12 million of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh?s $37 million reserve fund, campus officials said.
Sethly Davis: An Unexpected Future: A 21-Year-Old Organ Donor and Seven Saved Lives
Huffington Post
This week, Henry Mackaman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison college student, died from bacterial meningitis. On Monday he didn?t feel great and so decided to walk to the local hospital for care — he had a headache, a fever and his right hand “felt funny.” He died on Wednesday, two days later.
Milky Way Rife With Complex Carbon Molecules, NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope Reveals
Forbes
Our 10 billion year-old Milky Way galaxy seemingly gets more complicated with each passing observation. UW-MAdison astronomer Ed Churchwell explains the newest findings from his Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Extraordinaire survey and NASA?s Spitzer Space Telescope.
Going for dollars, public universities are taking more out-of-state students
Marketplace Radio
Deposits are due today for students wanting a spot at their college of choice this fall. And for many state public universities, an increasing number of those students will be coming from other states. That means those schools collect much higher tuition.
Experts: An evil mind-set is a bigger threat than ricin
USA Today
Quoted: Danger and difficulty accessing the poisons limit the scale of possible attacks, said Dennis Maki, a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health?s Division of Infectious Diseases.
Letter from Sen. Vinehout: Surprising UW cash reserves needs audit
Pierce County Herald
?What?s happening to the UW reserve money?? the woman asked. She was concerned about criticism of the University of Wisconsin. ?It seems like they want to attack the UW,? she told attendees at the Mondovi Town Hall Meeting.
Guest editorial: It’s time to freeze UW tuition
The Oshkosh Northwestern
It?s time to freeze tuition at UW schools. The same day the University of Wisconsin System president proposed a 2 percent tuition increase, we learned that the system had more than $648 million in cash reserves at the end of the last fiscal year.
Our view: Don’t rush to judgment on UW surplus
Stevens Point Journal
If you haven?t heard, the University of Wisconsin System has a surplus. It turns out the university system, whose annual budget of $5.6 billion is about the size of Bermuda?s gross domestic product, has about $650 million in reserve funds. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau report last week revealed these funds, and it was immediately taken up by lawmakers who questioned how that much money could be sitting in reserve at the same time tuition rates have been rising.
Press get the blame over political rifts
Bangkok Post
Political polarisation in Thailand is not as extreme as the international media makes it out to be, according to a US-based media expert. Hernando Rojas, an associate professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said polarisation here is less severe than in many other countries.
Citizen Dave: Madisons missing bus depot
Isthmus
Think about traveling through the major airline hubs in Minneapolis, Chicago or Detroit. You might hate the airlines stomp out United! and the experience of being packed into the plane, but youd probably have to admit that the airports themselves have come a long way in the last couple of decades.
Big Ten going to East-West alignment for divisions
AP
PARK RIDGE, ILL. ? No more ?Legends.? And no more ?Leaders.? The Big Ten is giving them the boot and following a more conventional route for its division names.
New Views of Ancient Culture Suggest Brutal Violence
National Geographic
Noted: Confirmation of these early results, says lead author Mark Kenoyer of the University of Wisconsin?Madison, would point to a “system where women were powerful.”
Mark Bertin, M.D.: Feed Your Brain, Feed Your Life: The Science of Everyday Mindfulness
Huffington Post
At the forefront has been Dr. Richard Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating the Healthy Mind at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose pioneering research opened up an entire field of study called “contemplative neuroscience.” Dr. Davidson is featured in the upcoming documentary Free Your Mind, which highlights programs working with traumatized military veterans — and also preschool-age children.
UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells defends UW surplus at state budget forum
The Oshkosh Northwestern
A forum on the proposed state budget?s impact on local government Monday night settled into a discussion about the merits of the University of Wisconsin System?s $650 million in reserve funds.
Football: Badgers would like to play LSU at Lambeau
Green Bay Press Gazette
The possibility of a neutral-site game between the University of Wisconsin and Louisiana State football programs remains up in the air, along with any role the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field could play in it.
Wisconsin Not Alone in Spotting Perceived “Surplus” in University System
WUWM-FM, Milwaukee
Wisconsin is not the first state to question its universities? books according to Kevin Kiley, a reporter with the online publication Inside Higher Education. Kiley says other states have also assumed they?ve stumbled upon a surplus, then learned otherwise.
NLRB sides with pizza maker as protesters occupy UW-Madison chancellor’s office
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The National Labor Relations Board?s Washington, D.C., office on Monday upheld a local decision that Palermo Villa Inc. did not violate labor relations laws when it fired dozens of workers last year because they didn?t have appropriate documentation proving their eligibility to work in the United States.
Buraka, Hüsnü’s, Kabul, Roast and other restaurants may be uprooted by State Street development
Isthmus
With the proposed redevelopment by the Mullins Group and Core Campus of Chicago of much of the 500 block of State Street, including the University Inn property (technically with a Frances Street address) and a building at 529 State St., the campus area stands to lose several longstanding and well-loved locally owned restaurants. Kabul Afghani and Mediterranean restaurant, Hüsnüs Turkish restaurant, and Buraka East African Cuisine are at street level or basement level below the hotel. Also located at the street level are Campus Candy and an outlet of Jimmy John?s sub sandwich chain. Roast Public House occupies 529 State.
No student consensus on UW System reserve flap
Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON ? Ellie Bruecker is set to graduate next month from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shouldering about $20,000 in student loans.
Study: sea squirt solves crystal mystery
Wired UK
Studying sea squirts has revealed the crystal structure of the mineral vaterite — a mystery which had spanned almost a century.
Walker hedges on plan to boost UW budget
AP
WAUKESHA, Wis. ? Gov. Scott Walker began to hedge Thursday on his initial proposal to boost the University of Wisconsin System?s budget by $181 million, saying most of that money may be redirected to pay for a tuition freeze or boost funding for public schools.
Marathon bombings affect local race’s policies
CBS 58, Milwaukee
MADISON- Saturday thousands of people will take part in the Crazylegs Classic in Madison, but because of the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon there have been some changes made.
Is The UW System Holding Too Much Money in Reserve?
Patch.com
The University of Wisconsin system is under fire from both parties in the state Legislature after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed it had $650 million in reserve ? including $414 million in tuition reserves ? despite annual tuition increases of more than 5 percent.
Make it a smooth trip down memory lane | South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
When US scientists introduced stem cells to the damaged brains of live mice, they were surprised by the results: the treated mice scored significantly better on learning and memory tests than their untreated peers.
UW-Madison students create a better hamburger for Gilly’s
Sheboygan Press
Even Abbey Thiel admits when she thought of Gilly?s, she thought of its famous frozen custard. Now she, and others, have another reason to like the burgers as well.
Emergency text alerts not reaching most people on University of Wisconsin campuses
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
In the wake of campus shootings the past five years, police throughout the nation are using text alerts to deliver warnings and advice to students in emergency situations.
Janesville double amputee finishes Crazylegs in support of Boston
Madison.com
Marty Pomplun walked across the Crazylegs Classic finish line with a huge grin and prosthetic legs emblazoned with John Deere logos.
Holocaust survivor Gerda Lerner ‘found a home’ at UW as women’s studies historian
Wisconsin State Journal
By all accounts, Gerda Lerner was a serious scholar with a fierce intellect. She was also a trailblazing feminist, a mentor to generations of graduate students, a taskmaster, a poet, a nature lover.
University of Wisconsin grad Louis Uccellini leads National Weather Service
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Even though it?s been decades since Louis Uccellini was a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, he vividly remembers the state?s weather and quickly rattles off details of three blizzards that hit his senior year.
UW officials defend reserves as lawmakers call for tuition freeze
Baraboo News Republic
Reaction to last week?s revelation that the University of Wisconsin System has built a $648 million reserve fund has run the gamut, from hyper-critical to shrugs of indifference.
Walker to change his original UW funding request
Wisconsin Radio Network
Governor Scott Walker backs off on his original plan to increase the University of Wisconsin System?s budget by more than $180 million. Backlash from revelations the system has $650 million in surplus has led politicians in both parties to call for a tuition freeze.
UW not the only state university system investigated for net assets
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The firestorm surrounding University of Wisconsin System?s reported $648 million in cash assets at the end of the last fiscal year has attracted national attention.
Proposed State Street changes inspires Madison, UW officials to address connections
Isthmus
Representatives from the city and the UW-Madison kicked off plans to redevelop the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street near Library Mall Tuesday with a public input meeting. The plan is part of a larger movement that will change the appearance State Street, with the 100 block currently under construction and the Mullins Group recently announcing broad changes to the 500 block.
Survey of Peers in Fieldwork Highlights an Unspoken Risk
Science
Coverage of study on sexual harassment at field research sites includes comment from UW-Madison anthropology professor John Hawks. “I spoke to some very senior people in the field who are worried about how making this stuff public will damage public perceptions,” [Hawks] says. But “it is time to do something about this problem.”
Ice-bound hunter sees first hint of cosmic neutrinos
New Scientist
A pair of neutrinos detected in Antarctica may be the first of these ghostly particles seen coming from outside the solar system since 1987. If the finding is confirmed, it could lead to a new way of looking at the universe that may solve a number of cosmic puzzles.
Deborah Blum on science writing: I’m a neurotic over-researcher
Guardian (UK)
Our series to accompany the 2013 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize asks top science writers about their craft. Today we talk to author, blogger and professor of journalism Deborah Blum
Wireless networks may learn to live together by using energy pulses
Computerworld
Noted: Michigan computer science professor Kang Shin and graduate student Xinyu Zhang, now an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, set out to tackle this problem in 2011
Editorial: Breaking The Tuition Pattern
Kenosha News
Democrats and Republicans in state government are uniting in opposition to tuition hikes at the University of Wisconsin in the wake of reports that the university has a substantial reserve fund from tuition revenues.
Experts offer tips for talking to kids about Boston bombing
The Deseret News
Terrifying, televised news images of fear and suffering scare children, and in the wake of 9/11 led to hundreds of cases of kids who developed post-traumatic stress disorder from seeing too many disturbing scenes on TV news broadcasts. That PTSD epidemic created a conundrum for Joanne Cantor, who studies how media consumption affects human brains.
Editorial: UW slush fund insults citizens
Beloit Daily News
Chalk this one up under the category of, ?You Gotta Be Kidding.? Like clockwork, every year, the sprawling University of Wisconsin system pleads and whines about the penurious state of its finances and objects to the tight?fistedness of the legislature. That is generally followed by yet another announcement that tuition costs for students and parents will be raised in an amount exceeding prevailing inflation rates.
Lawsuit against Adidas over shuttered factory nears end
Portland Business Journal
Adidas on Wednesday said it has reached a settlement with displaced workers at a shuttered Indonesian factory, likely bringing a lawsuit in Wisconsin to a conclusion and reversing a trend of universities parting ways with the German sporting goods giant.
UWM Chancellor Details His Campus’ Reserves
WUWM-FM, Milwaukee
On Wednesday, UWM Chancellor Mike Lovell released a statement addressing the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee?s cash balance. He did so, in response to criticism over a state audit indicating the UW System has built up reserves of $648 million, mostly from tuition:
Our view: Uproar over surplus not helpful
LaCrosse Tribune
Is saving money for a rainy day good public policy? The answer ? in Wisconsin anyway ? appears to be based on which side of the political aisle you sit.
Implanting stem cells into brain can restore memory
Times Of India
WASHINGTON: Scientists have for the first time transformed human embryonic stem cells into nerve cells to help mice regain the ability to learn and remember. The study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in US is the first to show that human stem cells can successfully implant themselves in the brain and then heal neurological deficits.
In wake of grilling from lawmakers, Ward reflects on higher ed’s changing landscape
WisBusiness.com
When David Ward returned to UW-Madison in July of 2011 for his second go-around as chancellor, some thought he?d simply be a calming force until a new leader was picked.
Christian Schneider: The UW’s backward budgeting
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In 1860, Wisconsin legislators were already beginning to question whether they were getting enough out of their investment in the University of Wisconsin. State government had spent over $100,000 to build the university, and critics believed the UW “was not rendering that large and practical service to education which the state expected.” In 1864, when all but one of the senior class joined the Army to fight in the Civil War – no commencement was held – it appeared the university might be headed for extinction.