Author: jplucas

To land a spot in the UW Marching Band, Matt Endres made it through the physically exhausting tryout week. He nailed his audition. He beat out other hopeful trumpet players. And he did it with just two fingers on each hand. Thatâ??s quite a feat, considering the highly selective UW Marching Band turns away about 100 people who audition every year, and director Mike Leckrone isnâ??t exactly known for his leniency.

Eight out of 10 sexual assaults reported at the University of Wisconsin-Superior since 2004 were anonymous reports â?? a policy that protects victims but also makes it almost impossible to prosecute the cases.

From shoes to uniforms, basketballs to duffle bags, the Phoenix womenâ??s basketball team sports the Nike swoosh. UW-Green Bay has had a relationship with Nike for the past 15 years, but they donâ??t a contract within the specific sports. Instead, some of the coaches, like womenâ??s basketball coach Matt Bollant, have their own contracts with Nike.

Sports and college have a long, interwoven history. Athletics can be a major source of revenue for a university, and the campusâ?? sporting teams can be a major draw for prospective students. Given this deep connection between athletics and academics, UW-Madisonâ??s decision to end a licensing agreement with Nike Inc. because of concerns about labor practices is a bold and commendable move.

As a UW-Madison student and local citizen born and raised in Madison, Iâ??m troubled by the St. Paulâ??s University Catholic Center proposal. It entails a 14-story facility, including a religious learning center, a chapel and student apartments.

The U.S. Census is making a push among area college students, who typically have lagged in returning forms for the once-a-decade count. Theyâ??ve set up booths at campus events, asked instructors to make announcements and sent out mass e-mails to convince students to fill out a 2010 census form.

Student activists at the University of Wisconsin (UW) in Madison won an important victory for labor rights when Chancellor Biddy Martin announced that the university will revoke Nikeâ??s authorization to sell university apparel in response to the companyâ??s labor violations abroad.

With five days left for people to return their census forms, Wisconsin is leading the nation with a 77 percent participation rate. And starting Tuesday about 40 census workers called enumerators were squeezing more completed forms from one of Madisonâ??s lowest-participation areas – UW-Madison student housing. “Our enumerators and crew members will be swarming the campus,” said Patrick Ryan, who manages the Census Bureauâ??s 10-county Madison region. Most residents received census forms in the mail, but in UW-Madison dormitories, the forms were placed in dorm mailboxes Monday, said John Lucas, a university spokesman.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has spent thousands of dollars encouraging students to vote this week to raise their fees by $108 per year for a new fitness center, according to a review by The Associated Press. The $31,000 campaign by the universityâ??s Division of Recreational Sports included funding for a student organization lobbying for the project, NatUP.

Itâ??s a vote thatâ??ll last 30 years.UW students will be asked to vote this week on raising fees to pay for an expansion to the Natatorium, one of the student gyms on campus.

After the sixth alcohol-connected student death in two years, Charles Sorensen had had enough.Sorensen, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Stout, penned a memo to the entire campus on March 30, informing students that he planned to redouble efforts to curb alcohol abuse on and around the campus.

Itâ??s unlikely that theyâ??ll reveal any substantial spoilers about how the epic television series “Lost” will end (in only five more episodes!). When “Lost” co-writers and executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis visit UW-Madison next Wednesday, theyâ??ll more likely share how they went from UW-Madison students to major players in show business. The two graduated with degrees in communication arts and, prior to “Lost,” wrote and produced various television shows, including “Felicity.”

Members of Madisonâ??s Polish community lit candles, prayed and sang the Polish national anthem Saturday in a hastily arranged remembrance for the 97 people – including Polandâ??s president and religious and military leaders – who died earlier in the day in a plane crash in Russia. Arranged by the UW-Madison Polish Student Association and the Polish Heritage Club, about 40 people met at Library Mall before walking to the Capitol. Many carried candles or Polish flags or wore clothes with the countryâ??s colors.

University of Wisconsin campuses will be required to get student input before recommending special tuition increases but they wonâ??t need studentsâ?? permission under a policy adopted Friday. During a meeting in Fond du Lac, the Board of Regents approved a policy spelling out the process campuses must follow before implementing extra tuition increases. UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse have been granted approval to hike undergraduate tuition in order to pay for hiring more faculty and improving services. Individual academic programs, including the UW-Madison business and engineering schools, also have received such permission.