When her mast broke during qualifying for the national womenâ??s collegiate single-handed sailing regatta, Lauren Knoles of Michigan State thought her quest for a national championship was over. â??It was like everything was torn from me,â? said Knoles, a junior from Grosse Ile.
Only 137 jobs, many of them held by students, were created or saved at the University of Wisconsin System thanks to $5.2 million in federal stimulus money.The universityâ??s audit, released Thursday, used a government formula to calculate the number of jobs based the number of hours worked on projects paid for with stimulus money. It did not say how many were new jobs or what the exact positions were.
The UI is bracing for some of the worst budget misery in the Big Ten with roughly $50 million in total fiscal 2010 cuts.Across the country, a couple Big Ten universitiesâ?? budgets were spared, though most are still looking for ways to save money.
The Johns Hopkins University led the nation in research and development spending in fiscal year 2008, according to a new National Science Foundation report, and most other area institutions maintained their national R&D rankings in a down economy.
Hopkins has ranked as the top research university on the survey since 1979. The school reported $1.7 billion in R&D spending in fiscal 2008. The institutions ranked second through fifth – University of California, San Francisco; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Michigan and UCLA – all reported spending in the $800 million-$900 million range.
Photo: Magdalena Cerrina, a senior at UW-Madison, gets a seasonal flu shot Tuesday from registered nurse Laura Forcia at University Health Service
The UW wants the public’s help to put a new spin on a an old familiar favorite.
The Badger fight song “On Wisconsin” is celebrating it’s 100 year anniversary, and to honor the occasion, the University is holding a contest for different versions of the tune.
At a time when getting admitted to many flagship universities is harder than ever, a growing number are considering plans to increase enrollments — dramatically in some cases — of out-of-state applicants.
The theory behind these plans is straightforward: Public universities charge much more for out-of-state students; the parents who must pay those bills vote in other states, so these tuition dollars are much less politically costly than those gained by raising in-state rates; states have run out of money. Add those factors together, and all of the sudden everyone wants a larger national student body.
Yes, the Badgers rake in the money, but Barry Alvarez and Co. spread plenty of it around.
If you want to get under Barry Alvarez’s skin, invoke the notion the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department is strictly a self-serving campus entity.
A lot is made of the fact UW Athletics, outside of utilities and tuition remissions, is self-sustaining. Its $83.326 million operating budget for 2009-10 is built on ticket sales, revenue sharing with the Big Ten Conference, gift funds, multi-media contracts, concessions and events such as concerts and WIAA tournaments.
Q. How does frost form?
A. Frost on objects is just water vapor in the air that has condensed as ice onto a surface. Frost forms on objects close to the ground, such as blades of grass.
A former University of Wisconsin basketball recruit pleaded guilty Thursday to burglarizing a dorm room and was placed in a first-offenders program.
Campuses in the University of Wisconsin System have been awarded roughly $83 million in federal stimulus funds for 263 projects, according to figures released by the UW System today.
A parade, fireworks and football game Saturday will cap UW-Madison’s homecoming week.
At 6 p.m. Friday, Bucky Badger and members the university’s Spirit Squad and Marching Band will make their way down West Gilman and State streets for the homecoming parade.
Afterward a pep rally is set for Union Terrace, a reception at Tripp Commons and a fireworks display over Lake Mendota, weather permitting. Admission to the reception is $10; children younger than 12 get in free.
Inaam Najem, age 74, passed away peacefully at the Hospice Center on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. Inaam continued her nursing career at the UW Hospital until she retired in 1994.
Win or lose, football Saturdays provide Scott Tolzien with moments that are poignant and memorable – and offer a reminder that life is meant to be cherished. Before kickoff, the University of Wisconsinâ??s starting quarterback checks his voicemail for a weekly pregame pep talk. After the game, win or lose, Tolzien returns the phone call to discuss the game.
Quoted: Dr. Yoshi Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin said studies showed people born in 1918 or earlier had many antibodies against the new pandemic H1N1 and said it may more closely resemble its distant 1918 cousin. See Next Story in Health
The death of 9-year-old Kara Neumann from untreated diabetes is not unusual. Other children in the United States have died from treatable diseases while their parents prayed instead of seeking standard medical care.
When officials at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo scheduled a free lecture by bestselling author Michael Pollan, they envisioned a lively talk about sustainable food, along with Pollanâ??s customary critiques of agribusiness.
Quoted: UW-Madison math professor Andrei Caldararu.
Noted: Much of the development before 1966 doesnâ??t match with current zoning rules. UW-Madison, for example, is in a residential district that allows colleges with a special permit. The draft code includes new districts such as campus institutional, airport, traditional (meaning older) residential and suburban residential to better reflect the existing character or plans. The new districts will let owners do more building projects as a matter of right that currently would need special permission. That means the owner of an older home likely could add an open front porch without special permission.
Working while in college doesnâ??t necessarily hurt your grades. A study finds it can help.Two economists have found what UW officials have known for a while: some work is better than none and too much, worse than some work. UW-Madison financial aid director Susan Fisher says undergraduates who work between 10 and 15 hours a week, tend to have better grades, but working more than 20 hours a week, can hurt grades.
Quoted: “If itâ??s used under optimum circumstances, it should last approximately 10 times longer (than standard incandescent bulbs),” said Jim Lawler, a University of Wisconsin-Madison physics professor.
University Police are banning fans from bringing all bags, backpacks purses and other carry-ins into Camp Randall stadium for the remainder of the UW football season.
The part time teachers union was trying to get their message out by protesting outside of MATC’s open house for it’s new west side campus.
They are claiming they have poor job security and that the wage gap between full time and part time teachers continues to grow larger.
Something didnâ??t feel right to Montee Ball as he said good-bye to his grandfather before leaving for Madison this summer.
I never paid much attention to the great Sconnie vs. Coastie divide at UW-Madison, but Iâ??ve got to admit, this new parody song about “coasties” thatâ??s circulating on campus is pretty clever.
Students in three majors at the University of Wisconsin-Stout will have the option of finishing their degrees in three years instead of the typical four.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments have begun delivering H1N1 vaccines to scores of colleges and universities across the country, and those inoculations are arriving in very different climates for the illness from campus to campus.
This summer was one of the coolest on record. Despite recent trends, Dan Vimont, an atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , believes much warmer conditions are ahead.Based on Vimontâ??s research, he expects Wisconsinâ??s climate to warm between 4 and 9 degrees by mid century.
A professor at the University of Wisconsin is studying endangered African monkeys, to better understand the spread of viruses, such as HIV/AIDS.
In an article released this week in the Journal of Virology, UW professor Tony Goldberg outlines his goal of tracking virus evolution across millions of years. Goldberg has studied the endangered Ugandan red colobus which only lives in the Kibale National Park in western Uganda.
What appeared to be a suspicious package Tuesday morning on campus at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point turned out to be a prop for a class.
Although the incident proved not to be serious, it did provide university officials a chance for a live-action implementation of the campus’s emergency management plan.
The modern climate change debate can draw ardent environmentalists and vociferous skeptics alike. Fifty years ago today, though, man finally got a better look at how the Earth retains and emits heat.
University of Wisconsin officials recently unveiled a plan to restructure the graduate school after significant growth in the institutionâ??s research and graduate education programs.
While Provost Paul DeLuca Jr.â??s plan awaits reports and recommendations from two university committees, the proposed changes have come under fire from faculty and staff.
Quoted: Robert Golden, dean of the University of Wisconsin school of medicine and public health, said the extra funding was greatly needed to try to reverse drinking rates he called astonishing.
“Clearly the current system is broken and is not working,” he said. “The strongest deterrent to drunk driving is a belief you have a good chance at getting caught. More law enforcement will keep people from getting behind the wheel … And for those who are caught, we do not have adequate access to evidence-based treatment programs.”
There is no downplaying it, no denying it, no hiding it.
The University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team is the deepest and most experienced group coach Mike Eaves has had since the 2005-06 team that won the NCAA championship.
I am struck by District Attorney Brian Blanchardâ??s apparent unequal treatment of unnamed researchers at the UW-Madison – even though he acknowledges their illegal killing of animals by “decompression” for decades – and Jorge Iglesias, whom Blanchard has charged with 13 felonies for staging cockfights.
When Michael Vick violated the law by mistreating and killing dogs, he was fined and served prison time. When UW-Madison was exposed for violating Wisconsin law by killing 26 sheep by means of decompression, the judicial system refused to fine or prosecute.
Interior construction has begun on a grocery store in the University Square complex, with Jan. 15 targeted as the opening date.
Fresh Madison Market will be on the West Lake Street/University Avenue corner of the development. The 18,000-square-foot project will have an emphasis on fresh foods such as produce, meat, seafood, bakery and deli as well as being a full-service grocery, owner and operator Jeff Maurer said Tuesday.
Noted: UW-Madison has requested 20,000 swine flu vaccinations and plans to offer walk-in vaccinations at the University Health Services, as well as seven “large scale” clinics once the vaccinations are received, said Dr. Sarah Van Orman, executive director of University Health Services.
And while the university recently reported a decrease in the number of students evaluated for influenza-like illness, “I would not be surprised if we see another uptick,” she said.
Carol D. Betts, age 84, died on Sunday, October 11, 2009. Carol was a faculty secretary at the University of Wisconsin, School of Social Work, and was employed by different University departments for nearly 30 years, before her retirement in 1988.
Quoted: Continued cold will ward off the annual invasion of the multicolored Asian beetle, said Phil Pellitteri, an extension entomologist with the University of Wisconsin Insect Diagnostic Lab.
Noted: And at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in August, Jacquelyn Gill, a palaeoecology doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reported finding no evidence of massive burning in sediment cores taken from lake beds in Ohio and Indiana.
Traffic safety experts have long known that traveling rural roads can be more hazardous because of wildlife, geography and other conditions. Now a study indicates even when those factors are controlled, alcohol impairment for those driving in Wisconsin’s countryside appears to be a greater cause of fatalities than in urban areas.
Zachary Baesman is a medical student at UW-Madison. He analyzed motor vehicle fatalities in all Wisconsin’s 72 counties over an eight year period.
The dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has been granted a one-year leave of absence from her job after being nominated to serve in a senior position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
The dean of UW-Madisonâ??s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to university officials.
Very few parents would be pleased to hear that their college son or daughter was on the 50-year plan.
Richard A. Smith, 66, is on just such a track.
He started his undergraduate education at UW-Madison in 1960 and is planning to finally graduate in May 2010 with a joint major in history and history of science.
A computer glitch which allowed some Google users to inadvertently see otherâ??s e-mail is underscoring some of the pitfalls colleges have, when students and faculty rely on computer applications that donâ??t have campus oversight.
It didnâ??t happen here in Wisconsin. The glitch occurred at Brown University in Rhode Island. UW-Madison Information Technology director Brian Rust says it doesnâ??t happen frequently. But itâ??s the kind of thing in which I.T. officials everywhere take note. Rust says it probably wouldnâ??t go over well at UW-Madison if students discovered that their gmail, facilitated by campus officials, was able to be read by other students. (3rd item.)
University of Wisconsin System regents are considering plans to build a rehabilitation center for injured wildlife in Oconomowoc.A proposal in front of the regents would allow the Wildlife In Need Center, a nonprofit group, to build the facility on land owned by UW-Waukesha.
Noted: An ongoing experiment at the University of Wisconsin on rhesus monkeys, which began in 1989, portends similar results: compared with normal-weight primates on a regular calorie regimen, the monkeys on restricted diets are healthier and more vigorous and seem destined (at least at the moment) for a longer life.
John Milton Cooper, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, is the author of the forthcoming â??Woodrow Wilson: A Biography.â?
Quoted: Mary Schneider, Professor of Occupational Therapy and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has taken up Harlowâ??s baton, showing that if you make a pregnant monkey stressed, her young will be more anxious and have a fear of being touched, which is common in autistic children.
Noted: Last year, at the University of Wisconsin’s Madison campus, business undergraduates began paying an extra $1,000. Paul Theine, 21, a senior majoring in finance and real estate, said the early grumbling eased as students realized that the money helps to retain good professors who might be recruited away.
Quoted: 27 News also spoke with a local political science professor at UW-Madison about the win. Professor Kenneth Mayer says, “Ultimately this is not going to make a huge difference to the success or failure of hiultimatelyncy.. and if anything.. it could possibly bolster opposition among Republicans, who may see that they may react that theyâ??re being pushed around by the international community.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials are lashing out at new recommendations from an influential federal panel that could dramatically weaken patent protection for the university’s genetic research.
Among other things, the panel recommended essentially exempting genetic tests for cancer and other diseases from patent protection – meaning that anyone could use genetic diagnostic research from UW-Madison or any university without obtaining licenses.
Noted: Dr. Paul Smith, associate professor in the UW-Madison Department of Family Medicine, received the Sally Sunde Family Advocate Award for his work promoting health literacy.
Former Vice President Al Gore was the keynote speaker at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference Friday.
He spoke for an hour on climate change and the possibility the world will do something to stop it. “I choose to be very optimistic about the prospects.”
Quoted: “Itâ??s like smoking cardboard without any of the benefits that most people experience physiologically from the hit they get from nicotine,” said Dr. Michael Fiore, UW Center for Tobacco Research.
Q Why do flu viruses seem to circulate more in the fall and winter?
A In Wisconsin and many other parts of the northern hemisphere, the flu virus enjoys a perfect storm of conditions for its seasonal act.
First, the virus has been shown to transmit more easily when the air is drier and temperatures are cooler, says Jonathan Temte of the Department of Family Medicine in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “When we plot flu occurrence with temperature, it picks up when the average temperature hits freezing and goes away when average temperatures rise above the freezing point. There is a very strong correlation with temperatures at the freezing mark and flu circulation.”
The Wisconsin Innocence Project and state officials will work together beginning early next year to identify inmates who claim to be innocent and whose cases could benefit from post-conviction DNA testing.
A series of high-level discussions took place this summer about the creation of a new menâ??s hockey league featuring the five Big Ten Conference members that sponsor the sport.
Last Thursday, George E. Wood, 81, got tired, found a place to sit down out of the rain, and died.
The nearest place happened to be a couch in the lobby of Witte Hall on the UW-Madison campus, at 615 W. Johnson St.
