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Author: jplucas

Wineke: Shameful Budget Hurts Wisconsin Children – Madison News Story – WISC Madison

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WISC-TV 3

And so, after six contentious months, the state of Wisconsin has a budget, a $66 billion spending plan balanced on the backs of the state?s children….We are already paying a price for this. UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin is gone. She may have been the university?s best hope for adapting to the future but she got caught up in Gov. Walker?s schemes and her position became untenable. I expect we?re going to see many of our best faculty members leave, too. It?s one thing to work here for less money than you can earn elsewhere; it?s another to work in an environment where the Legislature takes pride in cutting schools.

Editorial: Let Patent Office keep all its fees | Sheboygan Press

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Wisconsin representatives Jim Sensenbrenner and Tammy Baldwin co-wrote an op-ed on a bill to reform procedures in the U.S. Patent Office, specifically objecting to expansion of “prior user rights,” which the two lawmakers contend will suffocate small business innovation and investments. Such a new system would a disastrous effect on research at universities, they wrote, including UW-Madison, which has benefited from protection of intellectual property rights through patents.

Scott Milfred says Biddy Martin exit “looks like a step down” on Sunday morning’s “Upfront with Mike Gousha”

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Madison.com

Wisconsin State Journal editorial page editor Scott Milfred appeared on Sunday morning?s “Upfront with Mike Gousha” on Milwaukee television station WISN-TV Ch. 12. He linked UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin?s departure to her frayed relationship with UW regents and UW System administrators following her push to split the Madison campus out of the System in Republican Gov. Scott Walker?s state budget.

Journalist digs into the organ trade underworld

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Wisconsin State Journal

Investigative journalist Scott Carney doesn?t sugarcoat his findings. When asked if anything surprised him while researching his book, ?The Red Market,? he replied, ?The depth of human depravity knows no bounds.? In a book that explores the global trade and sale of human body parts, that sort of attitude shouldn?t raise any eyebrows. Carney, who completed his master?s in anthropology from UW-Madison in 2004, worked as a journalist in Madison (including a stint writing for the Wisconsin State Journal) until 2006, when he moved to India.

College architects meet to tour UW-Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

Starting Sunday and ending Friday, some 200 university architects from the United States and Canada will make UW-Madison their latest case study. They will explore the interplay between its buildings, communities and natural settings, organizers said, as they share ideas to build better connections on their own campuses. ?Ultimately, what we all do as campus architects is build the stage for all of the activities that take place on a campus,? said Daniel Okoli, university architect at UW-Madison for the past six years.

Footnote: Who owns the Fluno Center?

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Wisconsin State Journal

Who owns the Fluno Center? Answer: The Fluno Center is an unusual hybrid. Opened in 2000, it is owned by the Center for Advanced Studies in Business, a private, nonprofit organization established in the 1970s to support the UW-Madison School of Business.

Two protesters arrested after chaining selves to railings in Senate

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Senate debate over Gov. Scott Walker?s budget Thursday was delayed for about 90 minutes after two protesters locked themselves to railings in the Senate gallery with U-shaped bicycle locks. Officials had to call in police from UW-Madison to get a special tool to cut the locks, which French and O?Brien locked around their necks.

Senate sends budget to Walker for signature, but effects already being felt

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Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Scott Walker?s aggressively austere budget is one step from becoming law, but state officials say its effects are already being felt across Wisconsin. The state Senate on Thursday night passed the $66 billion plan, which uses a combination of budget cuts and corporate tax breaks in an attempt to close an estimated $3 billion budget hole while trying to spur the economy and promote business growth. The measure aims to reduce the state?s structural deficit by about 90 percent by 2013, from $2.5 billion to $250 million. To do this, it cuts more than $1 billion from public schools and the University of Wisconsin system. It also holds property taxes practically flat, which severely limits local officials? ability to recoup lost revenues.

Senate OK’d budget goes to Walker

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Legislature on Thursday handed Gov. Scott Walker his budget remolding government at every level, even as new details emerged on how it could lead to the expansion of the state?s school voucher program to many districts around the state.

University Of Wisconsin-Madison Seeks Chancellor (NPR Morning Edition)

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National Public Radio

The University of Wisconsin at Madison is losing its chancellor. Carolyn Martin was embroiled in the recent political battles over the budget for higher education in her state. She?s acknowledged the “turmoil” of the past year but wouldn?t say how big a role it played in her departure. She?ll become president of Amherst College in Massachusetts.

U.W. System Statement on Budget Bill’s Passage (WBAY-TV)

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With the Senate?s vote today, the budget bill awaiting Governor Walker?s signature offers significant leadership flexibilities for all University of Wisconsin System institutions. The two-year budget reduces taxpayer support for UW institutions by $250 million, but it includes long-sought statutory changes in budgeting, financial management, personnel, and other areas. Together, these measures should help mitigate the impact of those cuts.

Martin says hello to Amherst

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Wisconsin Radio Network

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin took a trip to Amherst College for a ceremony introducing her as the soon-to-be president. Martin is leaving her Wisconsin after being heavily recruited by the Massachusetts college.

Protesters lock themselves to railing in Senate

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Wisconsin Radio Network

Noted: ?UW Police were called because they have special equipment. We do have lock-cutting devices here but because of the special locks and being around their neck, we had a team from UW Police that came out here  with special equipment. The locks were removed and the two individuals were taken into custody.?

Budget ready for Walker

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Wisconsin Radio Network

The Wisconsin Senate has passed the state budget, which is now ready for Governor Scott Walker?s signature. Minority Democrats argued the $66 billion two year budget hurts the working poor and elderly while cutting funding for education and local services

The Madison pop-culture legacy of Chancellor Carolyn ?Biddy? Martin (The A.V. Club Madison)

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As soon as she announced that she was leaving her post to become the president of Amherst College, UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn ?Biddy? Martin faced an onslaught of op-eds and feature stories attempting to quantify and summarize her impact on the university as a whole during her tenure here?her legacy, her policies, her controversies. None of that is really in The A.V. Club wheelhouse. Instead, we opted to evaluate how Biddy asserted her role as Chancellor over the campus literary scene, Babcock ice cream, and YouTube to influence Madison?s pop-culture zeitgeist.

UW-Madison students surprised, saddened by Biddy Martin’s departure

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Isthmus

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin?s announcement on Tuesday that she would be leaving the university to become the president of Amherst College came as a huge surprise to most of the campus community. Martin announced her decision just days after the state legislature?s Joint Finance Committee rejected the major proposals of her contentious new business model for the university, called the New Badger Partnership.

Yellow left-turn signals get their chance to shine

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USA Today

Quoted: “I don?t even think you can quantify how many have been installed in the past six months, because the installations are happening so rapidly,” says David Noyce, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin. “We are approaching where either every state has implemented it or is thinking about it.”

Deluged with calls, state legislators take WiscNet off death row (Ars Technica)

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Ars Technica

The future is looking somewhat better for Wisconsin?s state educational Internet system and the university division that supports it. By late Wednesday Wisconsin?s state Assembly had come up with revised legislation for WiscNet that will allow it to receive continued funding from the University of Wisconsin?s Division of Information Technology. The Assembly gave the provisions and state budget final approval very early this morning. WiscNet provides Internet for most of Wisconsin?s public schools and libraries.

Assembly passes state budget plan

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Wisconsin Radio Network

Lawmakers in the Assembly approved a two-year $66 billion state budget plan on a 60-to-38 party line vote. The final vote came at around three this morning, following a debate on the floor that stretched for nearly 13 hours.

Search begins for UW-Madison interim chancellor

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The process for choosing an interim chancellor to fill in for outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin officially begins Thursday.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly will appoint the interim chancellor after consulting with university faculty, administrators and alumni – along with the Board of Regents.

Reilly, who has been in Washington, D.C., on business, said Wednesday he has received a number of suggestions to fill the interim post. He said he will discuss possible candidates Thursday with the UW-Madison Faculty Senate, academic staff leadership and administrators.

High-tech inhaler from Madison company would help doctors track asthma attacks

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Wisconsin State Journal

GPS can help a tourist find the way around a strange city, tell trucking companies where their vehicles are, and guide farmers in planting their crops efficiently. Now, a young Madison company is out with a GPS-equipped product to treat asthma. Asthmapolis has developed an inhaler fitted with a GPS device and a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone. David Van Sickle, an asthma epidemiologist and honorary associate fellow at UW-Madison, came up with the idea of tracking when, where and how often asthma patients reach for the medication device.

Wis. Assembly passes budget on party line vote (AP)

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Madison.com

The Republican-controlled state Assembly passed Gov. Scott Walker?s state budget early Thursday over objections from Democrats who derided it as an assault on the middle class that will hurt public education, weaken programs for the poor and make it harder to get health care services. A Republican amendment keeps alive the University of Wisconsin?s WiscNet program, a non-profit cooperative that brings high-speed Internet services to about 75 percent of public schools in Wisconsin and nearly all public libraries. Originally, it would have had to return about $40 million in federal money under the budget. UW spokesman David Giroux called the deal, which requires any new financial commitments to be approved by the Legislature?s budget committee, a reasonable compromise.

Assembly passes budget after 13 hours of blistering debate; Senate next

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Wisconsin State Journal

The state Assembly passed Gov. Scott Walker?s state budget about 3 a.m. Thursday, sending it to the state Senate, which planned to take it up about 10 a.m. Republican leaders worked feverishly in closed-door meetings on budget details most of the day on Wednesday, delaying the start of the floor session by more than five hours. Several provisions were removed at the last minute, including a plan to give back about $37 million in federal grant money awarded to the UW System. That proposal would end UW-Madison?s support of WiscNet, a statewide Internet provider. Vos called the decision to back away from returning the federal money a compromise that should lead to a better approach. The amendment, released after 7 p.m., would allow those who now have WiscNet to keep it. The deal adds a requirement that the state?s Legislative Audit Bureau do an audit of the program by January 2013.

With Biddy Martin?s exit, UW-Madison seeks new leader at critical time

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Wisconsin State Journal

Despite a turbulent chapter in UW-Madison?s recent history, there will still be plenty of interest from qualified applicants seeking to replace Chancellor Biddy Martin, experts say. But any candidate may have serious questions about the state?s commitment to higher education and the stability of the political environment, said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education. ?Being chancellor of UW-Madison has always been seen as an exceptionally desirable job,? Hartle said. ?The state?s political uncertainty does add a certain ambiguity to the job that has not been there in the past.? Martin announced Tuesday she is resigning to become president of Amherst College, a prestigious liberal arts college in Massachusetts. She said she expects to leave in four to six weeks.

Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Acting with unusual speed, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of Gov. Scott Walker?s controversial plan to end most collective bargaining for tens of thousands of public workers.

The court found that a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state?s open meetings law, and so did not violate that law when it hastily approved the collective bargaining measure in March and made it possible for the Senate to take it up.

The chancellor exits

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[Biddy] Martin brought energy and passion to the Madison campus, with a renewed focus on shoring up the flagship?s finances through fundraising and her Madison Initiative, which resulted in higher tuition for undergraduates to fund increased financial aid and improved undergraduate education. We wish her well at Amherst. The next chancellor will need all of her energy and fundraising prowess as the Madison campus navigates what in this budget environment are sure to be uncertain times for higher education.

Martin wasn’t forced out, Reilly says

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After leading a contentious and unsuccessful effort to split the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the rest of the UW System, Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin resigned Tuesday, leaving a politically charged climate and questions about funding one of the nation?s top research universities.

Four endeavors are worthy of four-star ratings

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

First, hats off to three – yes, three – teams of food science students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who competed as finalists last weekend at the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting in New Orleans. One team, creators of a product called Pixie Dust, took home the grand prize in a competition sponsored by Disney.

Deal expected to save broadband money for UW

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Madison.com

The state Assembly is expected to undo a part of the state budget proposal that would have forced the University of Wisconsin to turn down about $40 million in federal money to help pay for broadband services. The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee approved forcing the University of Wisconsin System to return the money and no longer support WiscNet, a non-profit cooperative that brings high-speed Internet services to about 75 percent of public schools in Wisconsin and nearly all public libraries.

UW football: My role in an NCAA violation

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Madison.com

Word that an NCAA recruiting rule was broken by University of Wisconsin football player Nick Toon last week brought back an embarrassing memory. I was involved in a similar situation years ago involving the UW men?s hockey team, much to my sheepish dismay.

UW-Madison Chancellor Search

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University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly will appoint an interim chancellor to replace Biddy Martin when she leaves UW-Madison in the next four to six weeks. Then, he will appoint a search and screen committee made up of faculty, staff, students and campus supporters to come up with a slate of finalists. Finally, a committee of Regents and Reilly will recommend a candidate to the full UW Board of Regents for approval.