Skip to main content

Author: jplucas

4 UW chancellors in line for raises (AP)

Posted on
St. Paul Pioneer Press

MADISON â?? Four University of Wisconsin chancellors are slated to receive pay raises of between 3.5 percent and nearly 5 percent.

The Board of Regents will consider the raises at its meeting in Stevens Point next week. The raises would take effect Oct. 3.

Milwaukee chancellor Carlos Santiago, who has held the position since 2004, would see a 4.99 percent raise under the proposal. His salary would go from $280,550 to $294,550 with another $20,000 paid by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundation.

Report offers tips to University of Wisconsin Regents (AP)

Posted on
Chicago Tribune

MADISON, Wis. – When searching for top officials at the University of Wisconsin, don’t forget to Google them.

That’s one piece of advice contained in a report to the UW Board of Regents released Friday on how to improve its searches for new chancellors and others in leadership positions.

University President Kevin Reilly asked for the review after a failed search for a new chancellor at the Parkside campus. The candidate a search committee selected, former University of Louisville dean Robert Felner, resigned before taking over after news broke that he was the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.

US Affairs: What’s race got to do with it?

Posted on
Jerusalem Post

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Ken Goldstein, who pointed out that there’s no empirical evidence on how race factors into the battle for Jewish votes. “It’s a big, 1,000-ton elephant. It’s not only about Jews. It’s about everybody.”

Why Earth’s Magnetic Field Flip-Flops

Posted on
U.S. News and World Report

Earth’s magnetic field is really two fields with two separate sources, argues paleomagnetist Kenneth Hoffman of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and geochronologist Brad Singer of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in a paper published in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Science.

Human Rights Initiative Kicks Off At UW

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — A public launch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s human rights initiative kicked off on Friday.

The initiative began last year on campus but the public launch promotes human rights in teaching and in research in the community as well.

The goal is to bring faculty, students and residents from numerous backgrounds together for this common cause, WISC-TV reported.

The kickoff featured the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.

Knetter: Credit crisis: Making sense of the turmoil

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For most of my professional life, Iâ??ve felt that one of the most underappreciated â??lawsâ? of economics was J.B. Sayâ??s maxim that supply creates its own demand. It seems that in projecting where the economy will go next, too many people focus on the trees that make up demand and not the forest that is supply.

Election motivates UW student

Posted on
Appleton Post-Crescent

MADISON â?? The 20-year-old never even considered entering the political fray.

Kristen Donat grew up in a Chicago suburb and followed the news and political discussion, but never had much interest in throwing herself in the middle of it.

Then this summer, something changed.

Donat, 20, is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is facing the reality of finally having a vote in the election and began more closely following the news.

Alcohol Ruled A Factor In Crash That Killed Three UW Students

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County coroner said alcohol was “a significant contributing factor” in a single-car crash last month that left three University of Wisconsin-Madison students dead.

Authorities said Richard H. Putze, 22, of Milwaukee, was driving a car that crashed into a tree near the intersection of Midvale and Hillcrest Drive on Aug. 27 at approximately 1:45 a.m.

Celebrating the “Geek” life

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

Geeks of all ages came to UW-Madison this weekend to celebrate video games, and everything sci-fi.

Outside in the courtyard, they did a little medieval sword fighting.

Inside, they solved a Victorian murder mystery, using ultraviolet light to look at invisible ink.

Judge: No rights violation by UW

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A federal district judge on Wednesday sided with UW-Madison in a case over how much religion is too much when doling out money to faith-based student groups.

Posted in Uncategorized

Moe: Visiting team liaison has ‘a great gig’

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

For the past five years, Tom Tierney has volunteered as “visiting team football liaison” for teams coming into Camp Randall to play the Badgers, which means Tierney is responsible for making sure the visitors’ equipment gets unloaded properly; that the team gets an early walk-through to see the field and other facilities; that their post-game meal is set up in the right place; and, yes, that the assistant coaches make it safely down from the press box to the locker room at halftime.

Dane County jail inmate attempts suicide; description fits Adam Peterson

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A Dane County jail inmate accused of first-degree intentional homicide tried to commit suicide early Thursday morning, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The inmate, described as a 20-year-old man from Stillwater, Minn., fit the description of Adam Peterson, who has pleaded not guilty in the stabbing death of Madison resident Joel Marino.

Violent robberies targeted UW-Madison students and staff

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Madison, UW and Fitchburg police are investigating 13 similar incidents that occurred between March 7 and Sept. 19 â?? including one in which a student was shot in the leg and another in which a student was pistol-whipped, said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

“Many of the crimes share the same characteristics,” said Capt. Jim Wheeler of Madison’s South Police District.

Keeping Tabs on Glacierâ??s Elusive Pika (Flathead Beacon, Montana)

Posted on

Lucas Moyer-Horner crams his arm under a truck-sized boulder and pulls out a handful of peppercorn-like pellets. The dark brown scat belongs to a small animal that looks like a fur-covered Russet potato. American pikas inhabit high alpine talus slopes â?? rugged, steep places most people fear to tread, but Moyer-Horner scampers over like he’s in a playground. “Pika get me up high,” he says. “Grizzlies or elk wouldn’t.”

The University of Wisconsin-Madison zoologist has spent his summer hiking more than 500 miles of Glacier National Park to search for pika. He climbed peaks to spot their likely talus habitats and then surveyed the rubble of rock for signs of the rabbit-cousin â?? all to gain a baseline on the park’s population. Since heat intolerant pikas have been disappearing from the West, Glacier Park wants a starting point to chronicle the future of the endearing creature.

Illinois has sent more blacks to Congress than any other state, partly because of segregation (AP)

Posted on
Newsday

Quoted: “The main explanation for the large number of blacks in Congress from Illinois is the fact that residential segregation patterns in south Chicago created a firmly black-majority district long before they existed in other northern cities,” said David Canon, a University of Wisconsin political science professor. “African-Americans are rarely elected in House districts that are not black majority.”

Distance monitoring helps hospitals with critical care

Posted on
Wausau Daily Herald

MARSHFIELD — A doorbell rings and a voice bellows out of a speaker in one of the 16 rooms in Saint Joseph’s Critical Care Unit.
Advertisement

“Hi, this is the e-ICU,” the voice says.

No one enters the room; instead, a small white camera that looks like a high-tech version of an at-home webcam turns from the wall and faces the patient. It’s an experienced critical care nurse or physician from University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics’ e-Care of Wisconsin program checking in through an electronic intensive care monitoring system.

Ernst & Young donates $840,000 to UW-Madison for computer lab

Posted on
Wisconsin Technology Network

Milwaukee, Wis. – The professionals of Ernst & Young, LLP, together with the Ernst & Young Foundation, have announced a donation of $840,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The donation will be used to create a new Accounting Student Computer Lab in the School of Business and complete the funding of the Ernst & Young endowed chair in the Accounting department.

Madison police investigate scary trend: violent robberies

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

Madison police are investigating more than a dozen violent robberies.

Victims include men, women and businesses in Madison and Fitchburg.

Police say the criminals attacked their victims either at gunpoint or implying they had a gun.

The robberies started in March through this month and most centered around the Vilas Neighborhood.

Researchers Report Stem Cell Advance (HealthDay News)

Posted on
Forbes

Researchers report that they have sidestepped a major technical hurdle in the generation of pluripotent stem cells from adult cells.

A team of Boston scientists developed a way to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) — which are functionally similar to embryonic stem cells, but which can be produced from adult cells, rather than via the creation or destruction of an embryo — more safely than ever.

A New Contender For Earth’s Oldest Rock

Posted on

Quoted: John Valley, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says scientists have long expected to find rocks from this time period. “We’ve always been puzzled by our failure to find them. So the question then arises: Were the earliest rocks completely destroyed by some unusual process? Or do these early relics really exist and we just don’t know how to recognize them?”

Cosmic Log: Science you can see

Posted on
MSNBC.com

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words – but when it comes to science, one good picture might be worth 104 or 105 words, judging by this year’s winners of the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.

One winner is Ye Jin Eun and Douglas B. Weibel, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for “Polymazing.”

Bank bailout could free-up money for Americans

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

Experts say the government bailout of banks should make getting a loan easier, freeing up billions of dollars, that would, in theory, jump start the economy.

“The reason that we are in trouble is that the financial system appears to be at the point where its freezing up,” said Mark Ready, Associate Professor of Finance at UW-Madison. “It’s not working properly.”

Violent Robberies Connected

Posted on
NBC-15

Police believe a string of as many as 13 armed robberies may be connected. Twelve of the 13 center around one area. But what connects all of these robberies is the disturbing part.

“What draws us here today is the violence that is really associated with this dozen or so robberies,” said Lt. Joe Balles with the Madison Police Department Central District at a press conference on Thursday.

Since March, Madison Police believe two men may have been involved in as many as 13 armed robberies. Most of those were around the UW campus.

Suicide Attempt in the Dane County Jail

Posted on
NBC-15

A college dropout awaiting trial in the high-profile stabbing death of a Madison man is under suicide watch after trying to hang himself.

The Dane County sheriff’s office says a 20-year-old inmate from Stillwater, Minnesota, tried to hang himself in the shower Thursday morning with his jail-issued pants.

Walgreen’s accused of promoting binge drinking on campus

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

Two prominent government officials tonight are calling on a local Madison business to take down a display they think promotes college binge drinking.

Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk and UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam told 27 News they’re disappointed with the Walgreen’s on campus.

The new Walgreen’s in the University Square complex on campus has a display with plastic cups and ping pong balls. Students say it’s clearly for the popular drinking game beer pong.

Violent Robberies Increase In Madison

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police are warning residents about downtown safety.

Over the last few months, the downtown and southwest sides of Madison have seen a big jump in the number of violent robberies. Police said the public needs to be aware and be safe.

The sheer number of robberies isn’t what concerns police. They’re more concerned with the violent nature of the robberies, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said.

$35-Million Helps Cornell U. Recruit Faculty and Ward Off Poachers

Posted on
Chronicle of Higher Education

When it comes to building a top-notch faculty, racing to land prominent scholars is only half the battle for colleges. The other half: Fighting off the poachers intent on swiping the college’s existing talented midcareer professors.

At Cornell University, a $35-million gift to be announced by officials today will give the institution an edge in an increasingly competitive market for faculty members. It will be used for endowed professorships to be awarded universitywide. One of these positions has already been used to hold onto a prominent chemist who was being wooed by another Ivy League university.

Williams: The Complex Mandate of a Chief Diversity Officer

Posted on
Chronicle of Higher Education

Perhaps more than any other top campus administrator, the chief diversity officer is a lightning rod for criticism. Of course, some people simply oppose efforts to increase access, equity, multiculturalism, and inclusion. But even people committed to diversity can object to the presence of these officers.

Some critics believe that hiring a chief diversity officer removes the responsibility for diversity and inclusion from the university’s president, other leaders, faculty members, and the campus as a whole. The institution now has a “diversity messiah,” who is singularly responsible for advancing campus-diversity efforts and is nothing more than a symbolic figurehead.

The author is the vice provost for diversity and climate at UW-Madison.

Freakfest lineup announced; O.A.R. will headline

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Frank Productions announced the 2008 Freakfest line up Wednesday, promoting a national act that will bring higher ticket prices with it.

The annual State Street Halloween party will have four main entertainment areas this year, with headliner O.A.R. â?? an acronym for Of a Revolution â?? performing on the Mountain Dew Amp/Z104 stage at the top of State Street at the Capitol Square. Other stages will be hosting local bands such as The Box Social, Natty Nation and Awesome Car Funmaker.

Former Wis. Justice To Teach At UW Law School (AP)

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler has been hired to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

The school announced Wednesday that Butler will teach courses in criminal law, appellate advocacy and legal process under a two-year appointment to its faculty.

Posted in Uncategorized

River Watch still going strong

Posted on
La Crosse Tribune

Just last week, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior Casey McHugh came between two intoxicated people and the river.

â??I think that it is something no one should ever die from,â? he said. â??But, it has happened so much in the past.â?

For nearly two years, student volunteers have been an extra set of eyes along the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown La Crosse as part of Operation: River Watch.

Judge: Voter ID lawsuit can continue (AP)

Posted on
Appleton Post-Crescent

Quoted: “That strikes me as a de facto decision. With that kind of schedule, it just seems like the immediate question is going to become moot because there isn’t enough time to resolve it,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin. “You can order it, but it’s presumably just not physically possible to do it in that time.”

Kathleen Falk Announces Recommendations of Alcohol Initiative

Posted on
NBC-15

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today her 2009 budget proposal will include funding for a brand new pilot project intended to provide early intervention to middle school students to help prevent them from abusing alcohol in future years. Falk also announced her budget will fund additional drunk driving enforcement by the Dane County Sheriffâ??s Department on Friday and Saturday nights.

Musical Acts, Stages Announced For Freakfest

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — Organizers and Madison’s mayor have announced the lineup of bands and entertainment stages for Freakfest, the city-sanctioned Halloween party on State Street.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Wednesday that O.A.R. will headline Madison’s Freakfest 2008 on Saturday, Nov. 1. This year, the city is again partnering with Frank Productions to feature live entertainment at the event.

Professor calls for change in drinking attitude after 3 student deaths

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

The Dane County Coroner reported this week the driver in the Midvale Blvd. fatal accident that killed three UW students in August had a blood alcohol level of 0.144, well over the legal limit of 0.08.

In light of that, UW music prof. Todd Wellbourne is calling for change.

Not change of laws or change of official programs, but change of attitude.

Butler to UW Law School

Posted on
Wisconsin Radio Network

The first African American to sit on the Wisconsin Supreme Court court will teach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

Posted in Uncategorized

Obituary: Kay A. Ewers

Posted on
Madison.com

Kay A. Ewers, age 62, passed away Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008, in Madison. She was employed by UW-Madison for 38 years, most recently the last 17 years in the Division of Information Technology (DoIT).

Cartoonist Phil Hands joins panel tonight

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

In addition, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden will speak at 7 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center. He leads a UW research team recently awarded a grant to improve the state’s ability to collect accurate election returns.

UW Hospital and Clinics gets kudos

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A Madison organization has been named one of the best places to work in the country, according to Working Mother magazine.

The list of 100 firms, released Tuesday, had three Wisconsin companies, including UW Hospital and Clinics, which was cited for its strong maternity leave program.

Wisconsin’s lag in funding higher education increases

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin has lagged behind every other state but one in providing funding increases for higher education over the past five years, according to a report this week by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

The report, which looks at state tax funding for the University of Wisconsin System over the past 25 years, was sparked in part by tensions between the state and the university, said Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance President Todd Berry.

World Stem Cell Summit tackles medical treatment tourists

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

American patients frustrated with the pace of science in this country are increasingly going overseas for stem-cell treatments, a controversial trend that created sharp divisions Tuesday among attendees at the last day of the 2008 World Stem Cell Summit in Madison.

Pets take the bite out of dorm life

Posted on
USA Today

Two years ago, Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania joined what appears to be a growing college-life trend: pet-friendly dorm rooms offered to interested students. There are at least a dozen such colleges, and administrators and students alike declare the concept a hit.

State funding of UW System

Posted on
USA Today

State spending on the University of Wisconsin System has trailed inflation and overall state spending, according to a report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. The report shows state funding for UW nearly doubled between 1983 and 2007. But state aid and tax credits for primary and secondary schools more than tripled, as did overall state spending, while inflation also contributed to the disparity.