Saturday is set to be the biggest rally at the state Capitol in Madison. Wake Up Wisconsin hosted UW-Madison Political Science professor Charles Franklin Saturday morning. (Video.)
UW?s Board of Regents met to discuss spinning off the Madison campus from the rest of the system.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin defends a plan to allow her campus to no longer operate under the UW-System. The so-called split is part of the New Badger Partnership and Governor Walker?s next two year budget.
Last night, after 24 hours of hearing criticism over their first email, the TAA at Madison issues a second email, recanting some of their statements and more clearly outlining their concerns.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents voiced frustrations over a lack of timely details about the New Badger Partnership and the chancellor?s talks with state officials which some regents said lacked transparency at a Friday meeting.
When Biddy Martin began her chancellorship at this university, a group of legislators circulated a blog post accusing the flagship?s new steward of being ?an obscure, self-indulged, theory-laden, post-modern scholar.?
Students and faculty at UW-Madison are cautiously optimistic about a plan to separate the Madison campus from the rest of the statewide UW System. The Board of Regents discussed the plan at a special meeting in Madison today.
The New Badger Partnership can be a scary thing when first discussed. There are mountains of misinformation being disseminated about the New Badger Partnership ranging from rising tuition to dismantling the UW System. Corporatization and power grabs are participating in frightening (and frighteningly false) conversation pieces that could lead one to oppose the New Badger Partnership based on nothing but false concepts; unless, of course, you know your facts.
Along with the meaning of life and the origin of the universe, college students across the country have another existential question to ponder: the wisdom of allowing guns in class.
On the Tuesday after Valentine’s Day, the Wisconsin state legislature found itself listening to public testimony that dragged well into the night on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget repair bill. Having learned that the joint finance committee would hear a list of speakers in its entirety — no matter how many people signed up — the Teaching Assistants Association, a labor union that represents teaching assistants and project assistants at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, had recruited thousands to testify that day.
State Senate Republicans gave preliminary approval Friday of a budget-repair bill that eliminates most collective bargaining for public unions, but they were unable to send the bill to Gov. Scott Walker because of a weeklong boycott of the session by Democrats.
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden.
Protesters will have to end sleepovers in offices and hearing rooms of the Wisconsin Capitol by Saturday night. Members of the University of Wisconsin Teaching Assistants Association, who have taken up third floor office space, say the move is intended to end “democratic occupation” of the Capitol.
Faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse have voted overwhelmingly to join a union. Thursday?s vote was 249-37 in favor of union representation through AFT-Wisconsin, a statewide labor federation affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. The vote comes amid daily protests at the Wisconsin Capitol over legislation to strip most public employees of their collective bargaining rights.
Former Wisconsin hockey goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck remains hospitalized with severe brain injuries suffered in an auto accident Feb. 17 .Daubenspeck, 36, suffered the injuries when the car he was driving collided with a semitrailer truck in thick fog on Highway 18/151 near Dodgeville.
Gov. Scott Walker stood firm late Thursday on his insistence on curbs on collective bargaining for public employees, saying massive layoffs of state and local workers hung in the balance.
The governor recalibrated his message only at the margins, repeatedly calling himself an optimist and reminding public workers he shared their fears about changes in store.
“I?d do almost anything to avoid laying people off,” a poised Walker said. “We need to avoid those layoffs for the good of those workers.”
After a bitter, 61-hour debate that was the longest in living memory, the sleep-starved state Assembly voted in just seconds early Friday to approve a watershed proposal repealing most union bargaining rights held by public workers.
Just after 1 a.m., Republicans cut off debate on Gov. Scott Walker?s bill and in pell-mell fashion the body voted 51-17 to pass it. In the confusion, nearly one-third of the body – 28 lawmakers including 25 Democrats, two Republicans and the body?s lone independent – did not vote on the bill at all.
Dennis Dresang is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin. He says the modern history of the state helps explain the strong reaction.
A special meeting of the UW Board of Regents Friday will consider whether it would be wise for the UW-Madison to separate from the UW System.
Chancellor Biddy Martin, Vice Chancellor of Administration Darrell Bazzell, Dean of Students Lori Berquam and the Director of the Office of Human Resources Bob Lavigna held a live web chat for students and community members to have questions about the New Badger Partnership Thursday.
UW-Madison professor Bill Cronon fears that emotions are running high and that significant and lasting damage could be done to Wisconsin?s flagship institution during a special meeting of the Board of Regents on Friday to discuss the university?s possible split from the UW System.
Some members of the UW-Madison community are expressing concern that a UW Board of Regents meeting tomorrow could turn ugly.
Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on their plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure early Friday morning before sleep-deprived Democrats realized what was happening.
Representatives in the state Assembly have voted to pass a controversial budget repair bill that would strip public sector workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.
Republicans in the Wisconsin State Assembly abruptly cut off debate and voted Governor Scott Walker?s budget repair bill in before many legislators could figure out what was happening.
Quoted: “What we’re seeing ultimately, we’re seeing corporations understanding that data is everything. That knowing everything about the consumer, will make you, ultimately, the most successful business over the next 10 years,” said UW-Madison Professor Dietram Scheufele.
Noted: But the most data we found was uploaded by UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam. In 2009, she posted dozens of GPS-tagged photos. Using that information, we were able to track where she lives, how she gets to work and what time she leaves her house, even when and where she walks her dogs on weekends. Berquam said through a spokesperson she didn?t know her pictures revealed that information.
UW-Madison athletics director Barry Alvarez expressed his support Thursday night for the New Badger Partnership.
The past week has been a fantastic display of the democratic process: It is great to see people caring and exercising their rights. However, this is hardly the first time something like this has happened in Madison.
It was chaos in the state Capitol early Friday morning, as Republicans in the Assembly abruptly cut off debate on the Governor?s budget repair bill and forced a vote on the measure.
In the wake of the University of Wisconsin chancellor detailing the separation of the Madison campus from the UW System, Board of Regents members have voiced concerns about how the split could negatively affect the other campuses.
Two days ago I, like every other person who?s enrolled in or works at UW-Madison, received an email from Chancellor Martin. In this message, she forwarded a memo from UW System President Kevin Reilly, Regent President Chuck Pruitt, and Regent Vice President Michael Spector. If you haven?t read it, the full message can be found here.
I?ll preface this by saying that I have no problems with differences of opinion. I work on Council and if you can?t deal with many opinions there, you?ve picked the wrong business. Being a student leader necessitates that I listen, and try to understand as many perspectives as possible before any sort of decision. However, opinions do not equal lies.
I applaud the TAA for the effort put into the Budget Repair Bill work; it was truly inspiring and I?m glad I could help and be a part of it.
Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), chairman of the state Assembly Colleges and Universities committee, sent a letter to UW System President Kevin Reilly Thursday that says he opposes a plan to split UW-Madison from the system.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin said Gov. Scott Walker?s plan to split UW-Madison from the UW System is the only one with political traction that would give the state?s flagship campus the freedom it needs to compete with other top research universities.
In the live chat that just concluded on the New Badger Partnership with Biddy Martin, Lori Berquam, Darrell Bazzell and others, many people brought up concern that Governor Walker would be able to appoint 11 of the 21 members of the proposed UW-Madison Board of Trustees. In addition the answer that Vice Chancellor Bazzell gave:
Here?s a thought: maybe Madison, Wis., isn?t Cairo after all. Maybe it?s Baghdad ? specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence.
At least one doctor allegedly involved in writing sick notes for protesters at the Capitol last weekend has received “threats of violence,” the dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “Threats of violence are never appropriate,” Dr. Robert Golden said. A doctor got telephone threats at home, which were reported to local police, said UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette.
The UW-Madison doctors who wrote medical excuses for budget repair protesters without conducting a medical interview or checking patients? vital signs in the privacy of their offices seem irresponsible. These doctors should have their medical licenses reviewed by the proper authorities.
Pre-season hype had six Big Ten teams getting invitations to the NCAA tournament. Not it looks like only Ohio State, Purdue and UW are locks.
Josh Gasser’s three-point buzzer-beater shocked the Wolverines and their fans just when it looked liked they would beat the Badgers.
A new smart phone application developed by three UW-Madison students can help shoppers find local products at a grocery store and learn more about them. The True Local iPhone app was launched Wednesday at Fresh Madison Market, the only store that has been licensed to use it. The app can scan a barcode, list local products by categories and provide coupons that can be scanned off the phone at checkout.
Jenna Theissen and Jodi Cincotta are fed up with what?s going on 53 miles west of here at the state Capitol in Madison.
Let?s eliminate the No.?1 question on the minds of Wisconsin basketball fans in the wake of UW?s stunning 53-52 Big Ten Conference victory Wednesday night at Michigan.
Freshman guard Josh Gasser did not call the bank shot.
“I wasn?t trying to bank it in,” said Gasser, who did everything else right on the final play of the game. “I was trying to get it up there and have a prayer.”
Consider your prayer answered, young man. Gasser?s three-pointer, from about 20 feet on the right wing and off a remarkable feed from guard Jordan Taylor, beat the buzzer, buried an improved Michigan team and led to Gasser being buried by his jubilant teammates in the backcourt.
The debt refinancing is the single biggest piece of Gov. Walker?s budget-repair bill, which aims to close a projected shortfall between now and June 30. It?s an idea that should have bipartisan support.
It took a collaborative effort to make Scott Bachmeier feel simultaneously like “death warmed over” and “a rock star.”
The 49-year-old skier from Madison relished that combination of exhaustion and exhilaration as he pushed himself toward the finish line of the 2010 American Birkebeiner in Hayward. The effort and the cheers wiped away remnants of the depression he felt after a series of neurological and spinal problems left him without use of his legs.
As he struggled through the emotional valley, the glimmer that he could ski again, and ski in the Birkebeiner with a sit-ski developed through the University of Wisconsin, provided valuable motivation.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin polling expert Charles Franklin.
There is a kernel of truth in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker?s claim of a “budget shortfall” of $137 million. But Walker, a Republican, failed to tell the state that less than two weeks into his term as governor, he, with his swollen Republican majorities in the Wisconsin legislature, pushed through $117 million in tax breaks for business allies of the GOP. There is your crisis.
Quoted: The study could help doctors better understand why childhood asthma rates have doubled in the past 30 years, says James Gern of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, who was not involved in the study. About one in 10 U.S. children have asthma, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
St. Paul, Minn. ? Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus have decided to go forward with a vote this week on whether to unionize, although the results might be rendered meaningless by Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to eliminate their collective bargaining rights.
?This is pure party politics,? University of Wisconsin political science professor Howard Schweber explained. ?Mr. Walker is one of half a dozen Republican governors who came to power committed to pursuing a political goal of breaking the power of public sector unions because they are regarded as traditional supporters of Democratic politicians.?
University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema filled the last vacancy on his coaching staff, hiring Thomas Hammock as the running backs coach.
Quoted: ?Ironically, public financing probably will make outside groups more influential,? said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison. ?Because the candidates are constrained in what they can spend, the deep pockets of independent groups will carry more weight.?
University of Wisconsin-Madison students didn?t have a normal class day, if they had class at all.
Quoted: The latest study helps untangle that question by providing evidence that the reduction in risk is indeed significantly related to the variety of bacteria and other bugs a child is exposed to, according to James Gern, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who wrote an editorial to accompany the paper in the journal but wasn?t involved in the study.
Quoted: Large telecommunications companies are not intimidated by obstinate municipalities, said Barry Orton, professor of telecommunications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If it?s not in their economic interest to wire an entire city, they?ll stick to their plans over city objections, he said.
The possibility of UW-Madison breaking off from the UW System could have ripple, if not wave, effects on UW-Whitewater.
A proposal expected to be included in Gov. Scott Walker?s 2011-13 budget that could allow UW-Madison to withdraw from the UW System would skirt the group charged with system oversight, Board of Regents member Edmund Manydeeds said.
In recent days, I?ve watched from afar as citizens of Wisconsin have captured the attention of the country with their spirited discussion and debate at the state Capitol. Clearly, the issues are painful and of great significance.
Another possible solution to the impasse over a bill taking away collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin has been rejected by the Republican Senate leader.
