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Author: jplucas

On Campus: UW-Madison got $8,600 per student from state, slightly better than average

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Wisconsin State Journal

The percent of state aid coming to UW-Madison has dropped over the years, but the university is still doing a little better than the average of its peers when it comes to the state dollars spent directly on students, according to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the 2008 fiscal year, UW-Madison got about $8,600 per student, compared with an average of $8,400 at the nation?s major public research universities, the Chronicle reported. The amount of aid per student given to UW-Madison declined by 7 percent in five years.

Flagships Just Want to Be Alone

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They thought they were made for each other.

Hearing today?s higher-education leaders opine about the heady days of the 1800s, when the Morrill Land-Grant Acts created many of the nation?s flagship public universities, is a bit like listening to some tired soul recall a once vibrant romance that has slowly soured. While major public research universities and state governments have always had their differences, observers say they?ve never seen the relationship between the two as strained as it is now.

Tens of thousands rally, look to future in Wisconsin

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USA Today

Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the Capitol Square on Saturday, vowing to take the fight over collective bargaining powers from the streets of Madison to the voting districts of Wisconsin.

Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Saturday’s rally was planned before the state Senate’s surprise Wednesday vote on the public worker measures.

“So you transform (the rally), you transform it into the kickoff for the electoral battles to come,” he said. “This bill will be law for years and years until there’s a Democratic Assembly, Senate and governor. Until then, Republican control of one of those three things will prevent it from being repealed.

“I think we are in for a long, marathon battle of elections just to see what party has the upper hand in Wisconsin and whether this law represents a permanent change in the balance of power in favor of the Republicans, or whether, as some Democrats fantasize, the start of their recovery.”

Milk Sliding 14% on Output Boost, Cheese Jump to 1984 High (Bloomberg)

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San Francisco Chronicle

Quoted: “Grain farmers are having some of the best years they?ve had in a long time profit-wise, but you couldn?t say that for dairy,” said Bob Cropp, an economist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who has been studying the industry since 1966. “Dairy facilities are running at the maximum. With a little softening in demand, prices are going to come down.”

Wisconsin union fight not over

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USA Today

Opponents of Republican Gov. Scott Walker were back at work Sunday on recall efforts targeting Republican state senators who supported the new governor?s overhaul of public employee union rights.

Wisconsin university teaching assistants at forefront of Capitol protest

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Los Angeles Times

The protests that rocked Madison over the last month drew union members and students ? but some key figures in the mobilizations were both. Members of the Teaching Assistants? Assn. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison spearheaded the two-week occupation of the Capitol that began Feb. 15 ? two days before Democratic senators fled the state to stall legislation limiting public employees? union rights. The students helped organize food and other supplies for the makeshift overnight campground in the rotunda.

Look, no embryos! The future of ethical stem cells

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Guardian (UK)

It is unclear at exactly what point the phrase “stem cell” entered the vernacular, one of very few scientific terms that achieve the status of, say, DNA in not requiring a detailed explanation every time it is written down or spoken.

Badgers have nice warm feeling over placement

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Christmas in the desert. That is how Wisconsin junior guard Jordan Taylor reacted Sunday to the news UW was given a No.?4 seeding in the Southeast Regional of the men?s NCAA Tournament and will travel to Tucson, Ariz.

Preston loved to puncture advertising puffery

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ivan L. Preston wasn?t exaggerating when he found examples nearly everywhere of puffery – his favorite word to describe unsubstantiated advertising claims.

Neither would it be an exaggeration to say Preston became something of an expert on the subject. He long taught with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, earning a reputation with his first book, “The Great American Blow-Up: Puffery in Advertising and Selling.”

PRWeek Awards highlight industry’s progress (PRWeek)

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Noted: Other very happy people included a slightly shell-shocked looking Marian Salzman from Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, who beat off intensely strong competition to become PR Professional of the Year; and PR Student of the Year Alyssa Vande Leest from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who received $5,000 and an internship at Hill & Knowlton as a prize to add to her trophy and a well-deserved round of applause.

The Science Behind Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami

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LiveScience.com

Quoted: In this area, the Pacific Plate, the plate beneath the Pacific Ocean, is moving almost due west and being pushed down into the Earth?s interior along a trench off Japan?s east coast. On average, the Pacific Plate is moving at 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) per year, but this process is not continuous, according to Keith Sverdrup, a professor of geophysics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [The Science behind Japan?s Deadly Earthquake]

Campus forum on state cuts (The UWM Post)

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Interim Chancellor Mike Lovell was called upon to take a stance against Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposals Wednesday afternoon at the all-campus budget forum where campus officials fielded questions and concerns from upset faculty, students, graduate assistants, and community members.

Wisconsin volunteers celebrate 50 years of service and realizing JFK?s dream

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Madison Times

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a half-century since JFK first uttered those words, but it’s true: The Peace Corps is celebrating 50 years of work across the developing world this year. Founded in 1961 by President Kennedy, men and women have traveled to the farthest corners of the globe to satisfy the Peace Corps mission. One of Kennedy’s goals when he started was to improve the reputation of Americans, too often seen as imperialistic or intrusive, around the world.

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Earthquake: Impact Felt In Madison

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NBC-15

From the international media to Twitter & Facebook, images from the deadly earthquake in Japan continue to stream in. For Minami Goda it?s close to home. Luckily for Goda, a senior at the UW, her family is in Osaka and hasn?t been affected.

UW Students, Faculty Check In With Family In Japan

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WISC-TV 3

University of Wisconsin-Madison officials have confirmed all 14 students studying abroad in Japan are safe after a devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked the island nation, but the 82 Japanese students on campus are finding it difficult to watch as the devastation unfolds.

Still: Give UW-Madison a crack at autonomy

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Frayed tempers. Strained relationships. And the end of an era in Wisconsin public policy.

That?s a fair description of the struggle between Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin?s public employee unions, but it also describes what?s happening these days in the emerging fight over whether the University of Wisconsin-Madison should be granted the freedom to run its own affairs.

Wisconsin Professors Plan to Forge Ahead With Union Elections and Tough Negotiations

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Chronicle of Higher Education

The Wisconsin chapter of the American Federation of Teachers will proceed with planned union elections on four University of Wisconsin campuses, despite the state?s adoption of a law this week denying collective-bargaining rights to the university system?s faculty and academic staff members and curtailing the bargaining rights and benefits of many other public employees.

A defining moment

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Reason has taken a holiday in Wisconsin politics. Civility along with it.In their place is a nastiness rarely seen in a state that long has believed in good government as a guiding principle.Republicans got what they wanted Thursday: a flawed and divisive bill that strips public employees of most of their ability to bargain collectively. Gov. Scott Walker?s party may now reap the whirlwind.

Regents want to keep UW intact

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin defended the governor?s proposal to split the state?s flagship campus from the rest of the UW System during a tense Board of Regents meeting Thursday.

But ultimately, the regents voted, 16-1, to seek an amendment to Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed 2011-?13 budget to give all UW institutions the same management flexibilities proposed for UW-Madison, and to do it within the current regents governance structure, so they can better deal with budget cuts.

Mark Pitsch: Time to celebrate open government

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Wisconsin State Journal

March 16 is the 260th anniversary of James Madison?s birth, and to mark it the American Society of News Editors and other groups, including the Society of Professional Journalists, celebrate Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week promotes the importance of freedom of information and open government at all levels. A proposed proclamation submitted to the governor reads in part, ?an open and accessible government is vital to establishing and maintaining the people?s trust and confidence in their government and in the government?s ability to effectively serve its citizens.? The proclamation further calls for all state deliberative bodies and their committees to be open to the public. This is especially important now as the governor is creating the new public-private Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to replace the Department of Commerce, splitting UW-Madison from the University of Wisconsin System and backing a statewide board to grant school charters.

UW Regents float budget amendment to prevent UW-Madison from breaking off

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Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin System is floating a proposed amendment to Gov. Scott Walker?s budget that would keep UW-Madison in the System and give all 26 campuses flexibility on tuition, purchasing and human resources. Calling it the Wisconsin Idea Partnership, it?s a counter-proposal to the language in Walker?s budget that makes UW-Madison a public authority and splits it from the System. At a UW Board of Regents meeting Thursday, UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin urged the Regents to not stand in UW-Madison?s way, saying there?s been “a certain amount of smug snottiness about Madison.”

Wisconsin Capitol quiet after anti-union vote

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Madison.com

The Wisconsin Capitol was eerily quiet Thursday night following three weeks of protests against anti-union legislation that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators to Madison. While people had been sleeping in the building for weeks, all eventually left after the Assembly voted to approve a bill eliminating public employee?s collective bargaining rights. Danny Spitzberg, 26, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said officers gave protesters vague explanations for why they had to leave.

Scott Straus: Last Chance in Côte d’Ivoire

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Huffington Post

While international attention has been focused on North Africa and the Middle East in recent weeks, the electoral crisis in Côte d?Ivoire has worsened and is entering a new and dangerous phase. Repeated efforts at international mediation have failed, and despite a financial squeeze on the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, he shows no signs of relinquishing his illegitimate claim on power. There is a real risk that civil war will reignite or that military officers will stage a coup. Just this past week security forces loyal to Gbagbo opened fired on peaceful women protesters in the commercial capital Abidjan, and the UN reports 200,000 civilians fled neighborhoods largely supportive of Alassane Ouattara.

Wisconsin Union-Busting Drive Feeds Off Towns That Are Shrinking

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Bloomberg News

Quoted: Resentment in those areas helps explain support for Republican Governor Scott Walker?s push to restrict the collective bargaining rights of some unions, said Katherine Cramer Walsh of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She noticed the bitterness while doing research in 27 communities, where many residents work multiple jobs without benefits while local government employees have health coverage and pensions.

Wisconsin GOP wins union battle (Washington Post)

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Arizona Republic

Quoted: Although Wisconsin has traditionally had liberal and conservative forces, “usually the discourse is much more civil and deliberate, even when there are differences in public policy,” said Dennis Dresang, founding director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “If this can happen in Wisconsin, it can happen anywhere.”

Assembly approves budget repair bill

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Wisconsin Radio Network

A day of turmoil at the state Capitol wrapped up Thursday afternoon, with the state Assembly giving final approval to a modified version of the Governor?s budget repair bill. The bill passed on a 53-42 vote, despite numerous calls from Democrats to stop an assault on middle class families by removing many collective bargaining rights from public employees.

Last Chance in Côte d’Ivoire

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Huffington Post

While international attention has been focused on North Africa and the Middle East in recent weeks, the electoral crisis in Côte d?Ivoire has worsened and is entering a new and dangerous phase. [A column co-authored by Scott Straus, UW-Madison professor of political science and international studies.]