A University of Wisconsin-Green Bay vice chancellor will step down in December amid questions about the decision to rehire him after he had retired.
Vice chancellor Tom Maki leaving UW-Green Bay
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Author: jplucas
Why Some Men Earn Less Than They Did 40 Years Ago
National Public Radio
Quoted: “Educational progress sort of atrophied,” University of Wisconsin economist Tim Smeeding says. “So, in other words, we have not been graduating people from college as fast as we should have.”
Roshi Joan Halifax: Zen Brain: Exploring The Connection Between Neuroscience And Meditation (Huffington Post)
Huffington Post
In these unusual programs, participants explore constructs like “affective stickiness,” a phrase coined by Dr. Richard Davidson, Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This is the phenomenon by which we interpret an experience as negative and then become so strongly identified with it that it becomes a fixed part of “us.” The particular kind of misinterpreation of self-identification can prevent us from accessing our full range of consciousness and often limits our capacity to make choices regarding a situation.
College 2.0: Fear of Repression Spurs Scholars and Activists to Build Alternate Internets
Chronicle of Higher Education
Noted: Mr. Cronon, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, was recently the subject of an unusual public-records request by a political group. The Republican Party of Wisconsin asked the university to turn over a batch of e-mail messages by the professor containing certain keywords, as The Chronicle reported, after he wrote a blog post examining how conservative groups had helped craft controversial legislation, including the 2011 measure to strip Wisconsin public employees of collective-bargaining rights.
Marketers feel new freedom to talk about the … vagina (AP)
Salt Lake Tribune, The
Quoted: ?Gen Y people are more relaxed about their bodies, so there?s more attention to products that people would have been embarrassed to talk about before,? says Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. ?It?s part of this trend of women saying, ?Hey, we?re not embarrassed to talk about this.? ?
Editorial: University of Wisconsin-Madison policy right to promote diversity
Appleton Post-Crescent
Every so often, a group calls out the University of Wisconsin-Madison for having an admissions policy that takes into account factors other than academics ? such as race.
The Cyborg in Us All
New York Times
Noted: Justin Williams, a biomedical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, has already transformed the ECoG implant into a microdevice that can be installed with a minimum of fuss. It has been tested in animals for long periods of time ? the micro ECoG stays in place and doesn?t seem to negatively affect the immune system. Williams said he hopes to try it in humans soon. ?Our goal is to make devices that would require only an outpatient procedure,? he says. ?Even if we could make it an overnight stay in the hospital, that would be good.? The implant, in humans, would be about the size of a quarter and sit like a plug in the skull, with a tiny antenna for wireless hookup between machine and brain.
Kane: Affirmative action faces new challenge
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A friend in Madison sent a gleeful message about a recent affirmative action protest at the state?s largest university.
4 Web 2.0 Technologies To Inspire Students (Campus Technology)
Campus Technology recently had an opportunity to talk to Masterson about how she uses Web 2.0 technologies in both the graduate library science course she teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in her position as Instructional Technologist at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.
Does UW take the discrimination cake … or should I say cheese? (Indiana Daily Student)
Indiana Daily Student
Is there discrimination in the land of cheese? Yes, said an advocacy group based in Falls Church, Va., that seeks to promote a ?colorblind society.?
Our View: Reforms will give campuses a freer hand
Wausau Daily Herald
When Gov. Scott Walker earlier this year proposed splitting the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the rest of the UW System, we opposed the measure for two reasons.
New Program To Recruit, Retain International Students
WISC-TV 3
Conversation and coffee at Union South is an opportunity for international students to take a break from their sometimes rigorous course work.
Homeland Security helping international students
Wisconsin Radio Network
The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made a stop in Madison Friday to unveil a new program aimed at making it easier for international students to come to America. Speaking on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano says the nation has a strong interest in attracting academics from around the world because of the economic, educational, and cultural benefits they have to offer.
Chavez: Campus thugs defend racism (New York Post)
The campus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison erupted this week after the release of two studies documenting the heavy use of race in deciding which students to admit to the undergraduate and law schools.
Conservative Group Says UW-Madison Admissions Favor Minorities (Diverse Issues in Higher Education)
MADISON, Wis. ? Black and Hispanic applicants were more likely to be accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison even though they had lower average test scores than White and Asian applicants, according to an analysis by a conservative group.
Editorial: Betraying the American ideal (Beloit Daily News)
College students need something to protest ? it?s all part of the growing-up process ? and young people on the UW-Madison campus found the latest cause earlier in the week.
DHS Secretary unveils new student visa program at UW
WKOW-TV 27
Normally discussing the latest terror threat or national disaster response, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano delivered a much different message at UW-Madison on Friday afternoon.
Police, Family Keeping Zimmermann Investigation Alive
WISC-TV 3
Beautiful weather provided a peaceful backdrop Saturday for the painful memories of a three-year-old unsolved murder investigation.
Youth Athletes Schooled On Risks Of Concussions
WISC-TV 3
More than 30 area student-athletes learned about concussions Sunday and took a test doctors described as a tool to prevent long-term consequences from head injuries.
Abuse of Trust?
Inside Higher Education
Less than a week after the University of Michigan brushed off a lawsuit by the Authors Guild over the university?s move to make copyrighted ?orphan? works in its digital collection freely available to students and faculty, the Michigan Library suspended the practice Friday, admitting ?serious? flaws in its process for identifying orphans.
Spotlight on textbook costs
Wisconsin Radio Network
A ?rebellion? against costly college textbooks made a stop Thursday in Madison. UW professor, Dr. Timothy Paustian, said textbooks are being priced out of the reach of many students. ?When I was a student, textbooks were 30 or 50 dollars. That seemed like a fair price back then, but textbooks have gotten more and more and more expensive.?
Where Universities Can Be Cut
Inside Higher Education
What a group of management consultants found when they analyzed several research universities in 2008 and 2009 to identify potential savings probably didn?t come as a surprise to most people in higher education.
Editorial: University of Wisconsin-Madison policy right to promote diversity
Appleton Post-Crescent
UW officials are unapologetic about their admissions policy. They don?t have to apologize.
Administrators are trying to cultivate a world-class institution that values diversity because it can lead to a better college experience, it can expose students to different cultures and it can help produce innovative thinkers.
The bottom line is this: When an admission policy is based solely on GPA and test scores, a university loses its richness.
UW football game can’t get TV treatment
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Q: Why isn?t the Wisconsin vs. Northern Illinois football game at Soldier Field on television?
A: Because the Mid-American Conference controls those rights along with its broadcast partner ESPN, which will not air the game on any of its television platforms, but only on its ESPN3 streaming service.
Madison firm places third in clean-tech competition
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
AquaMost was recognized for its development of a water purification device based on patented technology developed by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was one of two Wisconsin companies that were finalists in the competition ? the other being Lightweight Structures of Hartland, which has designed an energy-efficient, insulation-embedded wall and floor frames.
On Campus: Donors pledge $1 for every new follower of UW-Madison Facebook and Twitter
Wisconsin State Journal
A family of UW-Madison boosters have come up with a novel way to give scholarship money while also increasing support for the university on social media. Will and Jenny Hsu, of Minneapolis, pledged to give $1 to the Great People Scholarship for every new person to follow UW-Madison or the Wisconsin Alumni Association on Facebook or Twitter — up to $50,000. Will Hsu?s parents, Paul and Sharon Hsu of Wausau, Wis., will also contribute.
New York Hands Off Part of Teacher Evaluation Effort
New York Times
Noted: The city?s rankings, using a methodology called value-added modeling, have been produced by a center affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. Not producing them this year will save the city about $200,000, city officials said. Doug N. Harris, an economist affiliated with the center, said he thought the decision to end the contract ?was more broadly a political issue than about whose model is better.?
Research must still honor human dignity
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Respect for human dignity is essential in the authorization and conduct of scientific research, a point underscored by numerous and horrific past failures to establish or follow such protocols. Yet as a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate with substantial coursework in the biological sciences, I heard the declaration from more than one of my professors that the ethical questions surrounding pushing the boundaries of scientific inquiry should be “set aside and dealt with later” if there was “great potential” for medical breakthroughs.
ESPN’s Herbstreit: So far, so great for Badgers and their quarterback
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“I think it?s premature for anybody to really be a Heisman candidate right now,” said ESPN?s Kirk Herbstreit (left) during an interview on Wednesday. “But if there is anybody who is deserving, it?s this guy.”
On Campus: UW-Madison offers ‘Financial Strategies When Your Income Drops’
Wisconsin State Journal
The UW-Madison Employee Assistance Office is offering three, free sessions entitled, “Financial Strategies When Your Income Drops.” Presented by Deb Neubauer, of the UW-Extension Financial Education Center, she will offer strategies on goal-setting, new spending plans, and re-evaluating your financial situation.
No more dancing around issues in feminine hygiene
Quoted: “Gen Y people are more relaxed about their bodies, so there?s more attention to products that people would have been embarrassed to talk about before,” says Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin School of Business.
Affirmative action faces new challenge
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
During the decades-long debate over affirmative action, many schools like UW-Madison have determined that strict reliance on grades doesn?t always result in the best applicants. Despite all the overheated rhetoric from some, it?s not really that shocking to discover some people get a break in life while others don?t.
Poor Are Still Getting Poorer, but Downturn?s Punch Varies, Census Data Show
New York Times
Quoted: ?The big hurt has been in the manufacturing and construction industries, which were big in the Midwest and West,? said Timothy Smeeding, an economist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
State’s love affair with higher ed
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The end of summer sends Wisconsin?s university, college and technical college students back to fall classes. So, it?s a timely question: How many of those institutions of higher learning does Wisconsin have? The answer: 62.
Assembly passes bill to move presidential primary
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a pollster and political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Census Bureau tallies bleak toll of Great Recession
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Timothy Smeeding, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty.
White House: Jobs plan would create or save 20,000 jobs in Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, professor of public affairs and applied economics at the UW-Madison?s La Follette Institute of Public Affairs.
UW-Madison chancellor writes against fetal ban
Madison.com
The interim chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has sent a letter to Wisconsin lawmakers urging them to oppose a bill that would ban the use of fetal tissue in research. Chancellor David Ward says in the letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday that the ban would affect both fetal tissue and cells derived from detail tissue, which would hamper research at the university.
Group says UW-Madison admissions favor minorities (AP)
Madison.com
Black and Hispanic applicants were more likely to be accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison even though they had lower average test scores than white and Asian applicants, according to an analysis by a conservative group. The school?s admissions data from 2007 to 2008 was analyzed by the Center for Equal Opportunity, based in Falls Church, Va. It found that the university admitted roughly seven out of 10 black applicants and eight out of 10 Hispanic applicants, compared to about six out of 10 white and Asian applicants.
Parents? Depression and Stress Leaves Lasting Mark on Children?s DNA (The Daily Beast)
The new study shows that childhood experiences that fall well short of abuse, or even of having a mother who is depressed, leave their marks on our DNA. Led by Marilyn Essex, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and director of the Life Stress & Human Development Lab of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, scientists gave questionnaires to hundreds of parents, who were part of a years-long study, when their kids were infants and again when they were 3½ and 4½ years old.
Conservative group Center for Equal Opportunity says UW-Madison admissions favor minorities (AP)
Appleton Post-Crescent
MADISON ? A conservative group says blacks and Hispanics are more likely to get admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison even though they have lower average test scores than whites and Asians.
Is There a Chance for Bipartisanship in Madison?
WUWM
Quoted: If that is the case ? that Republicans will continue pursuing what they say most voters elected them to do — is bipartisanship in the Legislature?s future? ?Well, I think you?ll see more than you have in the last eight months, because you couldn?t see any less,? says UW-Madison political scientist John Witte.
Center for Equal Opportunity alleges UW discriminates against white applicants, students respond with protests
Isthmus
More than 100 students and Madison community members stormed a campus-area press conference Tuesday where a national interest group accused the University of Wisconsin-Madison of “severe” racial discrimination.
UW-Madison Chancellor Writes Against Fetal Ban
WISC-TV 3
The interim chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has sent a letter to Wisconsin lawmakers urging them to oppose a bill that would ban the use of fetal tissue in research.
Group Says UW-Madison Admissions Favor Minorities
WISC-TV 3
A conservative group said blacks and Hispanics are more likely to get admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison even though they have lower average test scores than whites and Asians.
UW-Madison meeting on ‘threat to diversity efforts’
WKOW-TV 27
UW-Madison officials organized what they called an urgent meeting Monday night with students to discuss “a threat to the school?s diversity efforts.”
Students protest new study on diversity efforts
WKOW-TV 27
A day of protests on UW-Madison?s campus culminated in a scholarly debate Tuesday night, all focused on the university?s affirmative action policy.
New Approach to Cuts
Inside Higher Education
When the recession hit in 2009 and colleges and universities saw many sources of funds contract, they did reasonably well making cuts to services that did not touch the academic core of the university, according to the latest annual report by the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability.
Think tank report stirs passions at UW
Wisconsin Radio Network
A report from a conservative think tank criticizes the admissions policies of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the group?s press conference at an off-campus hotel on Tuesday drew a crowd of protesters.
In Authors’ Suit Against Libraries, an Attempt to Wrest Back Some Control Over Digitized Works
Chronicle of Higher Education
The copyright-infringement lawsuit brought on Monday by the Authors Guild and others against the HathiTrust digital repository, the University of Michigan, and four other universities could have a major impact on research libraries and the fate of millions of book scans created by recent mass-digitizing efforts. The plaintiffs seek to take control of those files out of the hands of libraries until Congress establishes guidelines for the use of digital libraries and orphan works?those that are subject to copyright but whose rights holders can?t be identified or located.
UW-Madison faculty, students fight admissions discrimination charge
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison waged an all-day offensive Tuesday against a charge that it engages in discriminatory admissions practices ? as students and staff rallied on Bascom Hill, hijacked a press conference and disputed the findings of the admissions allegation.
Criminal minds: As brain research enters classroom, UW plans to train attorney-scientists
Capital Times
In 2008, Tyler Mills went to court on a charge of child enticement. The charge stemmed from an online conversation with a cop posing as a 14-year-old girl, during which Mills asked her to ?de-virginize? him.
Percentage of Americans Living in Poverty Rises to Highest Level Since 1993
New York Times
Quoted: ?We?re risking a new underclass,? said Timothy Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research and Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
City pool goes to the dogs; proceeds help Capital K9s
Wisconsin State Journal
Dogs are getting plenty of chances to stay fit this time of year in Madison.Sunday was the fifth annual Dog Paddle at the Goodman Pool, sponsored by Capital K9s and the local pet store Animart. And this coming Sunday is the 28th annual Dog Jog benefit race, sponsored by the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.
UW football: Badgers? next game is Can?t-See TV
Madison.com
Fans looking to see Wisconsin play Northern Illinois at Soldier Field on Saturday can only watch in person ? and not many are choosing that route ? or online at espn3.com, as it will be the team?s first game in five years not shown on TV.
Wis. elections board clarifies student ID rules
Madison.com
The state board that oversees elections in Wisconsin clarified Monday what student identification cards would be accepted under a new law taking effect next year that requires residents to show photo IDs at the polls to vote. The Government Accountability Board agreed stickers could be used by colleges and universities to indicate when student IDs were issued and expire. The law requires the expiration date to be no later than two years after the card was issued. But many campuses, including those in the UW System, issue IDs when students enter school and they are valid for four or five years, board attorney Mike Haas said. One solution to that problem would be to allow for stickers that have a shorter expiration date but are good only for purposes of voting, he said. Using stickers would allow colleges and universities across the state to more cheaply and quickly make their IDs acceptable for voting. The schools are not required to make any changes, but if they don?t students won?t be able to use their school IDs to vote. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is currently studying how to change its cards so they can be used for voting and hopes to have a redesign ready later this fall, said Don Nelson, the school?s lobbyist.
Analysis by conservative group finds black and Hispanic students more likely to be admitted to UW-Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
Black and Hispanic applicants are more likely than their white and Asian counterparts to get admitted to UW-Madison despite having lower average test scores and class rank, a new analysis by a conservative think tank has found. The Virginia-based Center for Equal Opportunity, which opposes affirmative action, analyzed sensitive admissions information from the university after winning a lawsuit to obtain it. The center is scheduled to release the first results of its review Tuesday. UW-Madison officials have said in the past that they give preference to qualified students in targeted minority groups to foster campus diversity. They say academic achievement shouldn?t be the only factor in selecting who to enroll, arguing that it?s important students be surrounded by diverse perspectives.
On Campus: UW-Madison improves to No. 42 in U.S. News ranking
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison ranked 42nd in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report ranking of best national universities, up from 45 in the 2011 edition. The rankings are scheduled to be released Tuesday. UW-Madison tied for the 42 spot with the University of Washington and UC-Santa Barbara. Nine public universities scored better than UW-Madison.
Badgers’ Soldier Field game far from a sellout
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After Northern Illinois and Iowa agreed to open the 2007 season at Soldier Field in Chicago, fans from both schools snapped up tickets and the game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 61,500. Wisconsin?s nonconference game against the Huskies, set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field, likely won?t come close to that figure.
Research at risk
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Legislature should reject this misguided approach. Banning the use of fetal tissue guarantees that researchers will take their work elsewhere and puts medical progress at risk.