UW Recreational Sports facilities are “antiquated and too small to meet demand,” according to the annual report from the Recreational Sports Board.
Plan to pump up UW-Madison’s antiquated gyms would cost $60 million
Wisconsin State Journal
Author: jplucas
Will new voters complete their ballots? (AP)
Chicago Tribune
Quoted: Some political scientists, including Charles Franklin at the University of Wisconsin, say young voters have the highest drop-off rates because they are less informed about local politics. Both parties and outside groups say they’ll appeal to these voters by emphasizing what’s at stake in legislative races and trying to send them targeted messages.
Guest column: Crossroads: It’s time to invest in state’s future
Green Bay Press-Gazette
As a business leader who strives to hire UW-Green Bay graduates, I have frequent opportunities to observe the high-quality work of the university’s faculty and staff. These professionals are committed to the academic well-being of their students and get the most out of the resources available to them.
But unless and until Wisconsin makes the financial commitment to our universities we see in Minnesota and many other competitively relevant states, the higher educational system in which we take much pride will deteriorate. Such deterioration will have consequences for an economy dependent on a well-educated workforce. The consequences will be especially challenging in our “New North” region, which lags behind the rest of the state in both per-capita incomes and levels of education.
Seriously, Who Are These Undecided Voters?
Time
Quoted: University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin has crunched early-October tracking poll data and found that Regina Hansley is pretty normal.
Friedman: No strings attached (The Daily Times of Pakistan)
The critique of China in Africa as neo-colonialism is not the total truth and omits that China could trigger an African rise out of poverty. Indeed, World Bank figures already show that Chinese investments have sped Africaâ??s pace of growth
That Chinaâ??s a superpower in Africa was suddenly, painfully apparent to European leaders in 2006.
Author: Edward Friedman is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison
Dismal student loan forecast does not reflect local market (Oshkosh Northwestern)
Oshkosh lenders say national reports of a dismal student loan forecast do not reflect the local market.
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Institutions that provide Oshkosh public university students with subsidized, unsubsidized and Federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS loans, actually made more loans available this year, said Scott Chicoine, president of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Credit Union, which now has total outstanding loans at $7 million.
Weddings: Marcia Carlson, Timothy Smeeding
New York Times
Marcia Jeanne Carlson and Timothy Michael Smeeding were married Saturday at St. Philipâ??s Church in the Highlands in Garrison, N.Y. The Rev. Francis H. Geer, an Episcopal priest, performed the ceremony.
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The bride, 39, and the bridegroom, 60, teach at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she is an associate professor of sociology and he is the arts and sciences distinguished professor of public affairs and the director of the Institute for Research on Poverty.
The Visitor
New York Times
Our visitor was a petite, 60ish writer in an ill-fitting suit and a loud tie. A man of some reputation, he had been flown in to speak to the students in our graduate program about his own work and his thoughts on writing. We looked forward to his visit as eager colleagues; we were pleased he had come and grateful for whatever insights he might share.
Author: J.D. Nordell is a graduate fellow in poetry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Fact-Check: Is McCain Within the Margin of Error? (CQpolitics.com)
Congressional Quarterly Weekly
Quoted: Itâ??s important to note that the law of probability dictates that there will always be outlier polls. As Charles Franklin, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and co-developer of Pollster.com told us recently, â??You shouldnâ??t get too excited about one unusual poll.â?
Losing weight with a food diary
The Times, UK
In any case, new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has revealed a way around the tendency to fib â?? the photo diary. Taking a digital snap of every meal was shown to be an even more powerful and accurate weight-loss tool. One volunteer told the researchers: â??I had to think more carefully about what I was going to eat because I had to take a picture of it.
Sean O’Hagan on Van Morrison’s seminal album Astral Weeks
Guardian (UK)
Quoted: If the young Van Morrison felt awed in such exalted company, he did not show it. In fact, he betrayed little emotion at all, and throughout the session, spoke only to the technicians. ‘There wasn’t much communication,’ recalls Richard Davis, who now teaches music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ‘As far as I can recall, I don’t think I exchanged one word with the guy. We just listened to his songs one time, and then we started playing.’
Corpse Flower Expected to Bloom as Soon as Tuesday at Milwaukee Public Museum (AP)
The Milwaukee Public Museum’s titan arum — known as the “corpse flower” — is preparing to bloom.
Museum officials predict this will happen within the next two weeks, possibly as soon as Tuesday.
The Milwaukee Public Museum’s plant was obtained in August 2002 and came from a seed produced by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s “Big Bucky.”
Another choice: Burlington man wants you to write him in on Tuesday
Racine Journal Times
Quoted: No one has ever won the presidency as a write-in candidate and there are only two examples of successful write-in candidates in national politics, according to John Cooper, a professor of U.S. history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Report: Wisconsin Ranked Eighth Among States In Ad Spending (WISN-TV, Milwaukee)
Quoted: UW-Madison professor Ken Goldstein is the founder of the ad project, and said watching a candidate’s television spending can tell you, better than anything else, where the real battlegrounds are in an election.
What is an emergency detention?
Janesville Gazette
QuotedL Wisconsin statutes give police the authority to place a person on an emergency mental health detention for his or her own protection or the protection of others. Two things are required to place someone on detention, said Ron Diamond, professor of psychology at UW-Madison and the medical director of the Mental Health Center of Dane County.
Moment of truth (Rhinelander Daily News)
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky is a professor of applied economics at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. Reschovsky has worked extensively on the economics of school funding throughout the state.
For MADD, the Legal Drinking Age Is Not Up for Debate
Chronicle of Higher Education
Statistics can tell you a lot, but statistics do not grieve. That was the power of a group of activists who emerged in the early 1980s. They called themselves Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and they described what numbers alone could not.
Police Report Nothing Scary About Friday Night Downtown
WISC-TV 3
Halloween in Madison didn’t live up to its sometimes infamous reputation Friday night and early Saturday morning as the holiday remained relatively quiet with authorities reporting a few dozen arrests.
In year’s past, the sight of costumed revelers wandering the city’s downtown sometimes got out of hand and improvised street parties turned into small-scale riots, leading to arrests, property damage and hefty costs for the city and police.
Sixty-day incident log now available on UWPD website
Daily Cardinal
Federal law requires universities to have 60 days of crime data available for public view during business hours, but a new online incident log from the University of Wisconsin Police Department aims to make UW-Madisonâ??s data more accessible.
According to UWPD Capt. Karen Soley, who worked on implementing a web version for about 18 months, the log was placed on the UWPD website in mid-October. It lists every case number university police have generated within the last 60 days.
UW ranks 14th for affordability
Badger Herald
A national personal finance magazine ranked the University of Wisconsin 14th last week in terms of affordability in public universities.
Large Crowds Turn Out For Freakfest
WISC-TV 3
On a mild Saturday night, large crowds in costume flocked to State Street for Freakfest, the city-sanctioned annual Halloween party.
This was the third year that the city of Madison gated off State Street and charged admission to what was previously a spontaneous street event. Rechristened as Freakfest, the event has become more of a downtown happening with live music than the near-riot it was sometimes in the unregulated years.
Professorsâ?? Liberalism Contagious? Maybe Not
New York Times
An article of faith among conservative critics of American universities has been that liberal professors politically indoctrinate their students. This conviction not only fueled the culture wars but has also led state lawmakers to consider requiring colleges to submit reports to the government detailing their progress in ensuring â??intellectual diversity,â? prompted universities to establish faculty positions devoted to conservatism and spurred the creation of a network of volunteer watchdogs to monitor â??political correctnessâ? on campuses.
Wisconsin Covenant update
Wisconsin Radio Network
The Wisconsin Covenant continues to expand. The program has now enrolled 35,000 eighth grade students around Wisconsin, according to Amy Bechtum, Director of the Office of the Wisconsin Covenant.
Domestic partner benefits for UW teaching assistants?
Wisconsin Radio Network
Teaching assistants on the Madison campus may hold the key to the future of domestic partner benefits in the University of Wisconsin System.
“Unlike most other state employee unions, we are still negotiating our 2007-2009 contract,” says Tim Frandy, co-president of the Teaching Assistant Association at UW Madison. “Consistently, we’ve heard through our negotiations with the state, that the UW System would love to have all UW employees with domestic partner benefits,” says Frandy.
Freakfest 2008 ends peacefully
WKOW-TV 27
MADISON (WKOW) — There was litter on Library Mall and beer bottles in nearby bushes, but overall a group of student community service volunteers for the Wisconsin Union Directorate found Freakfest 2008 didn’t leave much of a mark on Madison.
“It’s not too bad surprisingly, but we’re trying to keep it as clean as possible,” said Mike Lasecki, the group’s director, on Sunday morning.
Badger Poll on health care shows dissatisfaction
Capital Times
Wisconsinites have mixed feelings about the health care system today, but when pressed, a large majority said they were more dissatisfied than satisfied, according to a new Badger Poll released Friday.
The Badger Poll, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center, was of 538 people chosen at random from Oct. 21 to 28.
Obama outspends McCain 5-1 on TV ads in Wisconsin
Capital Times
The advertising advantage held by the Obama campaign this year puts us in uncharted waters,” said Ken Goldstein, a UW-Madison professor who directs the Wisconsin Advertising Project. “This year the spending is hugely unequal and in some cases the Obama campaign has massive advantages.”
Campaign flyer called racist
WIBA Newsradio
Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist David Canon calls it a “crude and outrageous attempt to try to scare people into not voting for Barack Obama.” He says it plays up racial divisions that may exist in Wisconsin, specifically in Wausau.
There will be blood
Isthmus
Quoted: Toma Longinovic, chair of the department of Slavic languages and literature at UW-Madison, sees the vampire as a violent image that matches our increasingly violent everyday: “As a society becomes more saturated with images of violence that we must essentially accept â?? wars, murder, genocides â?? then the vampire becomes more acceptable.”
Ayers petition supporters chided
Wisconsin State Journal
As a UW-Madison alum, I was disappointed and ashamed to learn that UW educators participated in supporting domestic terrorist Bill Ayers by signing an on-line petition.
No thinking person can condone his and his wife’s terrorism, regardless of whether it occurred 40 years ago. Following the signers’ logic, will the next petition be to rename Sterling Hall the “Armstrong Building?”
UW-Madison 14th best in value for public schools, magazine says
Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is the 14th best value for in-state students out of 100 of the nation’s public colleges and universities, according to business magazine Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Two other UW campuses made the annual list of the 100 best values in public higher education — with UW-La Crosse at No. 38 and UW-Eau Claire at No. 65 for in-state students.
Keep the Freak safe and fun
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison has a great chance to finally and emphatically declare the annual State Street Halloween party a success this weekend.
Curiosities: Brain’s ‘fear center’ gets kick from horror films
Wisconsin State Journal
Q. Why do people like to scare themselves by watching horror movies or going on thrill rides?
A. First of all, it’s important to remember that many people don’t enjoy these experiences, said Jack Nitschke, a UW-Madison professor of psychiatry and psychology. But those who do may be seeking thrills provided by the amygdala, a brain region that controls our emotional responses to salient objects and events.
On Willy Street, voters bleed bluest in Dane County
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Lewis Friedland, a UW-Madison professor of journalism, mass communication and sociology who researches social networks.
Cornell Suspends Hiring as Financial Crisis Extends to Schools
Bloomberg News
The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression is beginning to shake up the budgets and planning on U.S. college campuses, even in the elite Ivy League.
Cornell University, one of eight Ivy League institutions, yesterday became the latest school to react to the declining economy. The school will suspend hiring of non-faculty staff from outside the university through March 31, Cornell President David Skorton said. Construction won’t begin for any new projects on Cornell’s Ithaca, New York, and New York City campuses for at least 90 days.
Taking Statins To The Next Level (Forbes)
Forbes
Widespread screening for high CRPwould be expensive, says James Stein of the University of Wisconsin. But if Crestor clearly saves the lives of people with high CRP counts, patients will probably find a way to get the test and the drug.
Last Supper wax display comes out of hiding (Detroit Free Press)
Detroit Free Press
Quoted: The younger Stubergh “was a master of wax figures, an artist of the first rank,” said Blake Kellogg, professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an amateur sculptor who studied under the Stuberghs.
UW prof Eric Sandgren celebrates Freakfest in elaborate costumes
Isthmus
Eric Sandgren is wearing a Band-Aid two inches above his left eyebrow. The associate professor at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine notes that he’s been banging his head on things since he was 3 years old. This time, it was a dresser.
Hard times and higher education
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, the new chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, warned Thursday of allowing the prestige of the Madison campus to slip during these tough economic times. Martin stopped by the office for her first meeting with the Editorial Board.
“For a relatively modest investment, one can maintain one of the great research institutions in the world – not just Wisconsin,” Martin said. “I’m going to keep making that case.”
It’s a good case. And is similar to the one that UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago makes when he argues that building a second major public research institution at UWM is essential for the economic health of southeastern Wisconsinl. We agree with Santiago, and so, apparently, does Martin, who was to meet with Santiago this afternoon. She said she supports his goal.
Curiosities: Brain’s ‘fear center’ gets kick from horror films
Wisconsin State Journal
Q. Why do people like to scare themselves by watching horror movies or going on thrill rides?
A. First of all, it’s important to remember that many people don’t enjoy these experiences, said Jack Nitschke, a UW-Madison professor of psychiatry and psychology. But those who do may be seeking thrills provided by the amygdala, a brain region that controls our emotional responses to salient objects and events.
Keep the Freak safe and fun
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison has a great chance to finally and emphatically declare the annual State Street Halloween party a success this weekend.
But that will require another large and cautious police presence.
It will require cooperation from bar and other business owners.
Mifflin Street Anti-Freakfest Party Cancelled
NBC-15
A group of UW students, unhappy with the direction of Freakfest, wanted their own party on Mifflin Street Saturday night.
But after meeting with city officials, they’ve had a change of heart.
Alex Kaufer says he won’t be at Freakfest on State Street this year.
He says, “I don’t think so. I’m gonna do on my word and not go because I don’t agree with how it’s being put on.”
Mifflin Street Anti-Freakfest Party Cancelled
A group of UW students, unhappy with the direction of Freakfest, wanted their own party on Mifflin Street Saturday night.
But after meeting with city officials, they’ve had a change of heart.
Alex Kaufer says he won’t be at Freakfest on State Street this year.
Madison Launches Alert System For Snow Emergencies
Madison’s mayor and city officials on Thursday announced the launch of Alert Madison, a text messaging system to help alert citizens to snow emergencies.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz called Alert Madison part of a comprehensive strategy to respond to snow events
Plug Pulled On Alternative Halloween Party
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — Organizers who were planning an alternative party to Freakfest, the city-sanctioned Halloween party on State Street, on Thursday pulled the plug on the party.
The purpose of the alternative party on Mifflin Street Saturday had been to protest the admission price and organization of Freakfest, which is set for Saturday.
Alternative to Freakfest scrapped
WKOW-TV 27
After an hour long meeting with the mayor, Madison police and city alders, UW student organizers pulled the plug on an alternative Freakfest party planned on Mifflin Street Saturday.
“We’re doing this out of concern to the resident on mifflin street,” says Christian Von Preysing-Berry, one of the event planners.
Promotional fliers were plastered all over campus and the party was getting a lot of attention. Which is one of the main reasons it was canceled.
Analysis: New Strains Put Pressure on Traditional College-Pricing Model
Chronicle of Higher Education
Concern over the rising cost of college is nothing new, but it’s taking an interesting turn. Most of the attention given to college costs focuses on the sticker price, but few students ever pony up that much. As that price rises, merit-based aid does, too, and most students get what amounts to a discount.
The College Board’s recent reports on trends in college pricing and student aid highlight yet again the difference between the price in the admissions brochure and what families actually pay (The Chronicle, October 29).
La Crosse Community Theater Executive Director moving to UW-Madison Art Institute (WKBT-TV, La Crosse)
Allen Ebert, executive director of the La Crosse Community Theater, has been named co-director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Institute’s Wisconsin Film Festival. His last day with the La Crosse Community Theater is Nov. 14.
Ebert will rejoin Norma Saldivar, a professor with whom he studied while earning his bachelor’s degree in theater and drama at UW-Madison.
Obituary: James B. Nolden
Madison.com
James B. Nolden, age 78, died after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and cancer on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, at UW Hospital in Madison. James worked for UW Student Health for 33 1/2 years.
Obituary: Margaret Ames Myers
Madison.com
Margaret Ames Myers, age 87, of Madison, passed away on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008. Margaret worked for many years in the UW-Madison General Library System prior to her retirement.
Obituary: Clarence King
Madison.com
Clarence C. King, age 90, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, died on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, in Madison. Mr. King was employed by the University of Wisconsin for more than 38 years and retired in 1986 as an Officer and Director of Pre-Audit for the University of Wisconsin System.
Cadets, boozers both learn at police drunken driving training program
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Marcos Hernandez, 39, a research specialist in fetal alcohol syndrome at UW-Madison, who volunteered as a drinker.
UW dean of students hires liaison for marching band
Wisconsin State Journal
Donna Freitag, a former UW-Madison women’s basketball assistant, has been hired by the UW-Madison Dean of Students Office to help promote a positive culture change in the UW Marching Band.
City tries to scare away Freakfest alternative party on Mifflin
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison police say their plan for handling Saturday’s Freakfest on State Street is adequate even if a free, illegal Mifflin Street block party springs up to compete with it, but city officials are trying to avoid testing the premise.
Colleges entering ‘difficult financial times’
USA Today
After several years in which college costs rose more rapidly than other consumer goods, average costs for tuition and fees this year increased less than 1% for public and private institutions when adjusted for inflation, a report released Wednesday shows. They even declined at public two-year institutions.
But context is everything: The 2008 inflation rate of 5.6% is more than double last year’s rate (2.4%) and well over 1991’s 4.4%. And while financial aid spending has increased, it is not keeping pace with tuition increases.
Capital projects scaled back
Capital Times
Despite a struggling national economy, the Wisconsin Badgers Athletic Department plans to go forward with two major capital projects.
But not only have the projects been scaled back in terms of scope and cost, UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said he wouldn’t hesitate to pull back completely rather than jeopardize the financial future of his department.
Alvarez said this week that a practice facility for men’s and women’s hockey and an athletic performance center remain on the same priority course to be built starting in 2009. The projected cost of the two initiatives has been trimmed from approximately $100 million to $70 million.
Wisconsin Badgers football: Bowl prospects looking brighter
Capital Times
Ken Hoffman, the executive director of the Motor City Bowl, never expected to be talking in late October about the possibility of the Wisconsin Badgers football team playing in his bowl.
The Badgers had Bowl Championship Series aspirations as recently as five weeks ago.
“I think everybody is a little surprised that Wisconsin lost four straight games in the Big Ten to start the season,” Hoffman said. “People realize they’re a talented team, they have a lot of tradition and they’ve already started to turn things around.
College Tuition Rises Faster Than Inflation Yet Again
Bloomberg News
Costs rose 5.9 percent this year at private four-year colleges in the U.S., outpacing the biggest gain in inflation in 17 years and increasing the demand for financial aid.
Tuition and fees rose 0.3 percentage point more than inflation at those schools, to an average of $25,143, according to a report today by the College Board, the New York-based publisher of the SAT exam for high school students.
Obama rules the TV ad airwaves
BBC News Online
Noted: Analysis by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project shows that both candidates have used negative ads, despite Mr Obama’s accusation, in the final presidential debate, that Mr McCain had run a wholly negative campaign.
City Monitoring Plan For Alternative Halloween Party
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — As the city of Madison makes final preparations for Freakfest, news that students might congregate on Mifflin Street for an alternative Halloween party Saturday is posing a big unknown for the city.
Downtown city Alder Mike Verveer said he will meet with the student organizers Wednesday night and ask them to pull the plug on the party. Organizers don’t have a permit for the alternative party, and city leaders said they are concerned that problems will arise.