About two blocks northwest of Brothers Bar, the austere Humanities Building houses UW-Madisonâ??s School of Music. The building itself stifles the music, officials say. Heating ducts rattle the walls and ceiling during sensitive moments in concerts. The full orchestra violates fire code when it squeezes onto the Mills Concert Hall stage. Windows arenâ??t insulated. Ceilings are peeling. Over the 40-plus years since the school moved into Humanities, about 30 faculty grew to 50. Two hundred students made way for 450. There isnâ??t enough office, storage, practice or performance space.
Author: jplucas
Curiosities: Why is 350 degrees the magic number in baking?
Wisconsin State Journal
If you look closely at bread and cakes, there are open areas in the structure that provide a soft texture that yields when you bite into it, says Franco Milani, assistant professor of food science at UW-Madison.
Politics Blog: Audit: $2.4 million in state spending of federal money questioned
Wisconsin State Journal
At least $2.4 million in costs related to federal programs administered by the state are being called into question, an audit released today says. The audit examines fiscal year 2008 – 2009, a period in which state agencies administered $13.6 billion in federal financial assistance. That involves more than 1,600 federal programs, including 919 grants awarded to the University of Wisconsin System.
Love endures wrongful conviction
Wisconsin State Journal
The wedding invitation for Forest “Woody” Shomberg and April Anello reads, “Love: 1 Injustice: 0. “When the two are married on June 5, it will be the culmination of years of waiting for the Madison couple, who were separated for six of the eight years since they met by Shombergâ??s imprisonment for a sexual assault a judge determined he didnâ??t commit. Shomberg, 46, was released in November on the strength of DNA evidence indicating he had nothing to do with the incident on March 8, 2002, in which a UW-Madison student was pulled from State Street and violently groped. Shomberg, whose account that he was celebrating his birthday a few miles away at the time was corroborated by Anello and other friends, was the victim of mistaken identity, the judge found.
Body found in Iowa reservoir may be UW coach’s missing brother
Madison.com
Family members of missing rural Cedar Rapids snowmobiler Martin Davis say sheriffâ??s deputies have asked them for his dental records to check against a body found near the Coralville Reservoir. Davis is the brother of University of Wisconsin wrestling coach Barry Davis.
Bar fight could have ripple effect for businesses, UW’s growth
Wisconsin State Journal
Just blocks from the UW-Madison campus, Brothers Bar and Grill is a classic college tavern with sports-crazed patrons, 10-cent chicken wings and a line out the door on Saturday nights. But it now stands in the way of the very institution that has been feeding it a steady stream of customers over the years. The university has moved to take the land on which the bar sits at 704 University Ave. to build a new School of Music performance hall.Bar owners Marc and Eric Fortney sued the university, sparking a debate about when itâ??s appropriate and legal for government institutions to condemn private property for public purpose. The two sidesâ?? arguments will be aired in court during a trial scheduled for this week. Given the schoolâ??s ambitious long-term building plans that seep into surrounding neighborhoods, the results of this case could inform the way UW-Madison acquires property for future expansion. “If this works for them now, why wouldnâ??t they use it again?” asked UW-Madison political science professor Donald Downs.
UW System unveils goal to produce more graduates
Madison.com
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is challenging campuses to find new ways to graduate more students as part of a long-range plan to increase the number of degree-holders in the state. Reilly said he wants the system of 13 four-year universities and 13 two-year colleges to increase the number of degrees issued by 30 percent by 2025. That would bump the number of graduates up from the current 26,000 per year to 33,700 and produce 80,000 more graduates in the next 15 years, he said. The system must act, Reilly said, for the good of the stateâ??s economic future.
Robert Goodman, beloved Madison philanthropist, dies at 90
Wisconsin State Journal
Robert Goodman, 90, who with brother Irwin changed the face of Madison by bringing a smile to it, died Thursday. On the advice of his brother, he transferred from the University of Minnesota to UW-Madison, beginning a fast-pitch softball career that landed him on a “best ever” team for Madison. Both brothers were athletes and promoters of healthy lifestyles, an attitude reflected in their frequent donations to the UW-Madison athletic, nutrition and exercise programs.
Wis. police say killing 2 years ago still solvable
Madison.com
Two years have now passed since a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was killed, but police insist the case is still “solvable.” Brittney Zimmermann was stabbed to death in her apartment on April 2, 2008.
Zimmerman suspect still being sought
Wisconsin Radio Network
It will be 2 years Friday since UW Madison student Brittany Zimmermann was murdered in her off-campus apartment, and Madison Police are still looking for her killer. Investigators and Zimmermannâ??s family believe someone knows who did it, and that has brought a renewed plea by her parents for donations to a reward fund.
Disadvantaged Students May Benefit Most From Attending College – Students – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education
Noted: The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which tracked people who graduated from high school in Wisconsin in 1957.
Quick Takes: April 1, 2010 – Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Education
The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities is kicking off a series of regional meetings today to discuss the future of the public research university. The meetings will include university presidents and other experts who will review trends in state and federal support, the growing gaps financially between public and private research universities, and ideas for preserving the quality of the institutions. Todayâ??s meeting is at the University of Texas at Austin. The rest of the meetings, also in April, will be at the Universities of Georgia, Washington, and Wisconsin at Madison, and at Rutgers University.
News: How Students Fare at For-Profits – Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Education
Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab, an assistant professor of educational policy studies and sociology at the University of Wisconsin.
Century-old seed company goes to the auction block
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Bill Tracy, chairman of the agronomy department at UW-Madison.
Unsolved homicides continue to haunt families, daunt police
Wisconsin State Journal
Someone knows who killed UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann in her West Doty Street apartment two years ago. That belief – held by members of Zimmermannâ??s family since she was slain April 2, 2008, in the middle of the day on a normally bustling street – is shared by detectives still trying to find her killer, said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain. But no one has come forward with that information, prompting renewed pleas by Zimmermannâ??s parents for contributions to a reward fund.
Geoffrion ‘surprised’ to be in Hobey’s final three
Madison.com
The Badgers’ senior center said he ‘would have laughed and walked away’ if someone had suggested at the beginning of the season that he would be this close to winning college hockey’s highest honor.
Bicycling-hunting flap non-starter
Madison.com
References report by UW graduate students about impact of bicycling on the state’s economy.
Obama Signs Overhaul of Student Loan Program – NYTimes.com
New York Times
President Obama signed legislation on Tuesday to expand college access for millions of young Americans by revamping the federal student loan program in what he called â??one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill.â?
‘A great day to be a particle physicist’: Large Hadron Collider performs ‘beyond expectations’
Wisconsin State Journal
Scientists on the UW-Madison campus had little time to celebrate the history-making collision of subatomic particles at a massive collider near Geneva, Switzerland, this morning, moving quickly from running the experiment to combing through early data from the particle smash-up. Physicist Wesley Smith, one of more than 30 UW-Madison researchers working on the project, said data from the first collisions in the Large Hadron Collider were already flowing to computer banks in Chamberlin Hall and elsewhere on campus. Smith, who is now in Madison but will return to Switzerland in a few days, is part of a team that built one of the colliderâ??s main particle detectors. “It looks quite good,” Smith said of the data.
Q&A: What does student loan overhaul mean for U.S., you?
USA Today
The law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday could mean big changes for hard-pressed students and colleges as the government becomes the primary issuer of student loans. But just whom will that affect and how?
Some Wisconsin Parents Say State Broke ‘Covenant’ on Scholarships – The Ticker – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education
Some Wisconsin parents are complaining that state grants for college tuition are falling far short of what they thought Gov. Jim Doyle had promised, the Associated Press reported. The Wisconsin Covenant program has enrolled 50,000 eighth graders over the past three years, but Governor Doyle, a Democrat, only recently announced details of the grants it would pay. Those range from $250 to $2,500, based on family income. At a legislative hearing on Monday, some parents complained that they had thought the grants would cover the entire cost of college.
Some parents expected ‘free ride’ from Covenant
Madison.com
The director of the Wisconsin Covenant program acknowledged Monday sheâ??s heard from “a lot of parents” who believed it would give their children a free ride to college, but insisted that was never the intent. Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the Covenant in 2006 to motivate students to attend college and help them afford it. He promised “the neediest families will receive grants to pay the costs of education” and others would receive a mix of loans, grants and work study opportunities. Sharon Billings, who runs a service with her husband that helps parents plan for their childrenâ??s higher education, testified Monday that sheâ??s heard from many parents upset about the size of the state grants. The “word on the street” was that students would get a full ride for fulfilling the Covenant requirements of a B average and good citizenship during high school, Billings said. Covenant Director Shannon Loredo responded that she had heard from a lot of parents with similar comments, but the Covenant “was never intended to be the only piece.”
Other Downtown developments
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison-related projects, including the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at Johnson Street and Randall Avenue; a new student union across from the WID; a new facilities building at 30 N. Mills St.; and the Chazen Museum of Art addition on the east side of campus.
Collider facts
The linked computer systems that will handle data from the LHC were developed in part by Miron Livny, a UW-Madison professor who specializes in distributed computing.
An unprecedented global physics experiment with lots of help from UW-Madison scientists
Wisconsin State Journal
Scientists from around the world, including several from UW-Madison, on Monday were anxiously awaiting what could be a historic period of discovery about the nature of our universe at the 17-mile-long particle collider in Europe. Early Tuesday, the researchers who have been speeding particles around the Large Hadron Collider LHC, a $10 billion underground loop of steel and magnets near the Swiss-French border, were to take their next step toward answering crucial and puzzling questions about the nature of our physical world.
Insect wing evolution revealed in recycled genes
USA Today
“The most important insect innovation was flight,” as evolutionary biologist Sean B. Carroll of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, noted in a 1995 Nature journal study that described the role of genes in insect evolution.
Obama: Loan changes make college more affordable
USA Today
Big changes in the student loan program will help make college more affordable for students and their debt load more manageable after graduation, President Obama says. After a week when the loan program overhaul passed in the shadow of the health care law, the president cited expected benefits for young people: more student lending, caps on those repayments and more money for minority colleges and universities.
When Budget Cuts Loom – Curriculum – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education
At UW-Madison: Undergraduate program in clinical laboratory science, and masterâ??s and doctoral programs in environmental monitoring
Google offers to install a fiber network, and Madison says ‘We want it here!’
Wisconsin State Journal
Madisonâ??s bid for a $97 million high-speed Google fiber network is stuffed with facts and figures about underground conduit and utility poles, but itâ??s also complemented by digital video clips, snapshots, blog entries and tweets. The Babcock Hall Dairy on the UW-Madison campus still plans to make its mark with Google-themed ice cream.
Physician assistants provide a broad range of care
Wisconsin State Journal
Michelle Reisen-Garvey removes moles, treats chest pain, puts casts on broken bones, makes house calls, assists in surgeries and works in the emergency room. But sheâ??s not a doctor. Sheâ??s a physician assistant at Family Health of Lafayette County, working under a doctorâ??s supervision while helping a rural area meet medical staffing needs. Reisen-Garvey graduated from UW-Madisonâ??s two-year physician assistant masterâ??s degree program, which is trying to place more graduates in rural areas, said director Virginia Snyder.
Wanted: Doctors for rural clinics
Wisconsin State Journal
Medical student Clay Dean is a pioneer in a new program to increase the number of rural doctors in Wisconsin. Raised on a beef farm near Blue River, a town of 400 people about 65 miles west of Madison, Dean is in the first class of the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. The students are getting much of their training in northern Wisconsin.
Curiosities: How do fish keep from freezing in freezing water?
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Stephen Carpenter, director of the UW-Madison Center for Limnology.
Steps to boost bear population paying off
Madison.com
Quoted: Karl Malcomb, a University of Wisconsin researcher.
Donald A Downs: Union bill could hurt academic freedom
Wisconsin State Journal
A group of state senators is pushing a bill to ensure that state employers do not use money provided by the state to interfere with the collective bargaining rights of employees. Unionization is an important issue. But Senate Bill 523 raises procedural questions that need to be addressed and clarified. In particular, what effect might the bill have on academic freedom in the University of Wisconsin System?
Badgers pass physical exam en route to Frozen Four
Madison.com
UW won the sixth meeting of the season with WCHA rival St. Cloud State because it imposed its rugged will right from the get-go and significantly altered the way it killed penalties against the Huskies.
Committee backs more college aid for Wis. veterans
Madison.com
An Assembly committee has voted to significantly enhance Wisconsinâ??s higher education benefits for veterans. The Assemblyâ??s veterans affairs committee last week approved a plan that would give veterans 128 credits of free tuition after they exhaust federal tuition benefits. The vote came after the committee amended a bill by its chairman, Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, that would have given 64 free credits in the state program.
Obituary: Lillian G. Price
Madison.com
Lillian G. Price, of Madison, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Lillian worked for the State of Wisconsin for 15 years at the Department of Transportation and the UW photo lab.
Obituary: Jean A. Miller
Madison.com
Jean A. “Jeanne” Miller, age 61, of Portage, lost her long, courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. From 1985-1988 Jeanne was administrative secretary for UW-Extension. From 1989-1998 she was the office manager in the accounting department.
Tectonic plate model lets users play with 3-D planetary puzzle – Science Fair: Science and Space News
USA Today
Want to rock the world? You can do it at a new website geophysicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created which allows users to model the Earthâ??s 25 interlocking tectonic plates crashing into each other. The scientists describe it as “a dynamic three-dimensional puzzle of planetary proportions. Dubbed MORVEL, for Mid-Ocean Ridge VELocity (because much of the data comes from the mid-ocean ridges) it was created by University of Wisconsin-Madison geophysicist Chuck DeMets and collaborators Richard Gordon of Rice University and Donald Argus of NASAâ??s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Recess isnâ??t the only place for games at school
Wisconsin Radio Network
Digital and new media games are already part of kidsâ?? recreational time at home. A research group at UW-Madison is looking at ways to integrate this activity into the classroom. Moses Wolfenstein with Games, Learning and Society looks at games such as World of Warcraft, its methods of interaction and potential applications in education.
WPR News Story Archives
Wisconsin Public Radio
A UW campus went “Gothic” during its spring break. Students and Staff returning to UW Green Bay this week were greeted by a different font in their e-mail system. Backers say the small change could save a lot of money and help the school meet one of its green goals.
Wisconsin’s Bar Exemption for In-State Law Grads Stands as Lawsuit Is Dropped – The Ticker – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education
A lawsuitâ??s settlement leaves intact Wisconsinâ??s “diploma privilege” policy, which allows graduates of either of the stateâ??s two law schools to practice law without taking the bar examination but requries graduates of all other schools to take the exam.
Hot campus websites now about romance, not gossip
USA Today
“I saw you â?¦ looking like a dork. But I donâ??t care how dorky you can be. I just want you to come be dorky with me, babe.” “I saw you â?¦sitting by yourself and I desperately want to talk to you â?¦but Iâ??m too incredibly awkward to actually talk to you AND be successful â?¦but donâ??t worry, Iâ??ll start trying when I get back from Spring Break ;)” This, says Keone Hon, a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is what happens when the romantic impulses of the college student meet the declarative instincts of the social media generation.
Will Taylor: Etiquette hardly the defining Israel issue
Wisconsin State Journal
The hubris in the U.S.-Israeli relationship is embarrassing, writes Will Taylor, UW-Madison.
On Campus: Tech college tuition increase approved
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin Technical College System Board approved a 4.5 percent tuition increase for academic year 2010-2011 at a meeting Tuesday. The change means a student taking 15 credits of liberal arts courses at a Wisconsin technical college will pay roughly the same tuition as a student attending one of the 13 UW Colleges, the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s freshman and sophomore campuses. Each would pay about $4,270 per year.
Blog: Five good minutes with Brian Posick
Madison.com
Not only is Brian Posick the personable radio play-by-play voice of the Wisconsin men’s hockey team, he has a prominent sidelight: Hobey Baker Award voter.
UW-Green Bay: New e-mail font will save money
Madison.com
A Wisconsin college has found a new way to cut costs with e-mail _ by changing the font. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has switched the default font on its e-mail system from Arial to Century Gothic. It says the change sounds minor, but it will save money on printer ink when students print out e-mails in the new font.
Judge dismisses Wis. bar exam challenge
Madison.com
State attorneys have settled a lawsuit challenging Wisconsinâ??s policy of granting in-state law graduates licenses without passing the state bar exam. The agreement leaves Wisconsinâ??s so-called diploma privilege rules intact. The deal calls for the state to pay the woman who brought the lawsuit $7,500 and prohibits her and her husband from challenging any provisions governing admission to law practice in Wisconsin ever again. Under Wisconsin rules, law students who graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University donâ??t have to take the bar exam before they can go into business. Instead, the state Supreme Court sets the law school course requirements at both universities and students must pass them with certain average scores.
Obituary: Carey Dulaney Hall
Madison.com
Carey Dulaney Hall Jr., age 80, passed away on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Carey worked as a protection and security officer for the University of Wisconsin for more than 24 years, retiring in 1989.
The politics of the health care overhaul
Wisconsin Radio Network
Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist David Canon.
Questions and Answers on the Student Loan Bill – The Choice Blog – NYTimes.com
New York Times
Somewhat lost in the House of Representativesâ?? approval of the health care reform bill on Sunday night was its vote in favor of President Obamaâ??s overhaul of the federal student loan system. Under the measure, fees paid to private banks as intermediaries would be eliminated; the maximum value of Pell grants would rise â?? though not by as much as in previous versions â?? and college graduates in low-paying jobs would have an easier time paying back loans.
Doug Moe: Author’s ‘geeky’ novel earns praise
Wisconsin State Journal
This year Jacqueline Houtman turned 50, published her first novel and embraced her inner geek. â??The Reinvention of Edison Thomas,” targeted at readers age 8 and older, was written by Houtman, a professional science writer who earned her doctorate in medical microbiology and immunology in 1996.
Madison reporter receives award from the Humane Society of the United States
Wisconsin State Journal
Bill Lueders, the news editor for the weekly Isthmus newspaper, has received a â??Genesis Awardâ? from the Humane Society of the United States, presented in Beverly Hills this past weekend, for his writing and reporting on animal issues. Lueders was honored for his reporting on animal research at UW-Madison.
Technical College system considers 4.5 percent tuition increase
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuition for technical college students will increase by 4.5 percent if the Wisconsin Technical College System Board approves proposed 2010-2011 rates Tuesday. The change means students taking a full load of liberal arts courses at a Wisconsin technical college would pay roughly the same tuition as a student attending one of the 13 UW Colleges, the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s freshman and sophomore campuses. Each would pay about $4,270 per year.
UW-Eau Claire cancels trips to Mexico
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is among schools canceling student trips to Mexico because of continuing violence there. The universityâ??s Center for Service Learning has canceled a spring break trip to Durango, Mexico.
Wisconsin’s Walker, Neumann stay positive in ads
Madison.com
Walker and Neumannâ??s ads may have started a tad early in the campaign season, but they follow the standard mold of early, introductory spots, said Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor whoâ??s considered a national expert on campaign advertising.
Census count affects local funding, representation — GazetteXtra
Janesville Gazette
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professors Barry Burden and Ken Mayer.
Courting Google, City Fathers Turn to Silliness – NYTimes.com
New York Times
The mayor of Duluth, Minn., threw himself into the ice-ringed waters of Lake Superior. The mayor of Sarasota, Fla., immersed himself in a tank filled with bonnethead sharks, simply to one-up him. The mayor of Wilmington, N.C., said that he would even jump out of an airplane â?? with a parachute, of course. Not to be outdone, a dairy in Madison, Wis., aided that cityâ??s efforts by creating a â??Google Fiberâ? ice cream flavor â?? vanilla ice cream with granola and M&Ms to match Googleâ??s multicolored logo.
Bias Called Persistent Hurdle for Women in Sciences – NYTimes.com
New York Times
A report on the underrepresentation of women in science and math by the American Association of University Women, to be released Monday, found that although women have made gains, stereotypes and cultural biases still impede their success. The report, â??Why So Few?,â? supported by the National Science Foundation, examined decades of research to cull recommendations for drawing more women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM fields.
Wisconsin-Madison Researcher Was Suspended Over Alleged Animal-Welfare Problems – The Ticker – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle of Higher Education
The University of Wisconsin at Madison suspended an associate professor last year based on what officials said was a “clear pattern” of animal-welfare problems in her laboratory, according to records obtained by The Wisconsin State Journal.