Quoted: John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, explained evolution is all about natural selection and genes, and humans have evolved because superior genes led to the procreation and survival of those with the most robust genetic makeup.
Author: jplucas
Wisconsin Covenant ‘clear path’ to college
Green Bay Press-Gazette
DE PERE â?? For PaHoua Moua, it means studying education at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. For Brigitta Hammond, it’s pursuing a degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
The Wisconsin Covenant means something a little different to each of the 120 or so eighth-graders who gathered Thursday at St. Norbert College.
But the message for each is the same, Gov. Jim Doyle told the assembled students. “You can get to college,” he said, “and here is a clear path to do it.”
Child Abuse Experts Urge Overwhelmed Parents To Seek Support
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — Infant child abuse cases might trigger the stereotyping of abusers, but a prominent child abuse specialist in Madison said the crime cuts across all demographics and often involves well-intentioned parents.
Child abuse experts said that nationally an average of three children die each day from child abuse or neglect and that at least four out of five child abuse victims in general are abused by at least one parent, often by a parent who lacks simple support during stressful times.
“I certainly see on a day-to-day basis, well-meaning parents who became so frustrated, and made really bad choices in regards to their children. And these are people who clearly love children but just made really horrific choices,” said Barabara Knox, medical director of the University of Wisconsin Health’s Child Protection Program at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison.
Not taken for granted: A state technology project that succeeded
http://wistechnology.com/articles/4694/
Madison, Wis. – In the tradition of squeaky wheels getting all the grease, state technology failures – and the waste in tax dollars that result – have been getting a lot of attention. Media coverage, state audits, and legislative hearings all have accompanied the State of Wisconsin’s technology frustrations.
There are, however, exceptions to the rule. Case in point: the recently completed (almost on time and definitely on budget) PeopleSoft module for grant management and tracking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, and UW Extension campuses.
UW-Whitewater Without Heat, Hot Water Until At Least Sunday
WISC-TV 3
WHITEWATER, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater said that there won’t be any hot water or heat on campus until Sunday at the earliest.
A boiler exploded in the university’s power plant on the north side of campus Wednesday afternoon, knocking out the heating system.
On Thursday, windows were boarded up at the building, and nearby Esker Dining Hall remained closed.
New Program Aims to Helps Addicts, Mentally Ill Stop Smoking
Wisconsin Public Radio
A U-W Health Services psychiatrist says a habit once promoted as helping psychological well-being is now endangering people coping with mental health or addiction problems. An initiative being developed by the U-W Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention in Madison, seeks to address the problem. Brian Bull reportsâ?¦ (Audio.)
Obituary: Fannie Turnbull Taylor
Madison.com
Fannie “Fan” Turnbull Taylor, age 94, passed away due to complications of old age on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. She was instrumental in establishing the Arts Administration program at the UW Graduate School of Business, the first in the nation. Taylor was a University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus professor (L and S, Union, Consortium for the Arts). She was a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters; received the Wisconsin Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award; and in 1992 was given the Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts for “a half century of dedicated service to the arts.”
UW football: Badgers to play back-to-back home games at night
Wisconsin State Journal
Camp Randall Stadium. At night.
Back-to-back games. Ohio State and Penn State.
Does anything more need to be said?
UW honors its outstanding women of color (Madison Times)
Madison Times
On April 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison Assistant Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate Ruby Paredes and Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell presented the first annual UW-Madison Outstanding Women of Color awards to six accomplished women, all of whom value their capacity to serve as one of their most outstanding qualities. It certainly was a common thread in the reasons each was selected to receive the honor. In addition, the reception honored Professor Linda Greene, the 13th woman to receive the UW Systemâ??s annual Outstanding Woman of Color in Education award.
Jackie DeWalt, director of the UWâ??s PEOPLE program (Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence), which puts and keeps disadvantaged youth on the pre-college track, is â??an inspiration and role model for women and men, girls and boys, with a level of attentiveness and intelligence that makes what she does so creative and adored. â?¦ She is a major change agent!â? Paredes re
Dark matter may have been found on Earth
New Scientist
Particles of invisible “dark matter” have been detected deep inside a mountain in Italy, a collaboration of Italian and Chinese physicists claims. But others remain sceptical of the result, because other experiments have failed to detect any dark matter at all.
On Wednesday 16 April, at a workshop in Venice, Italy, the Dark Matter (DAMA) collaboration announced the results of the 4-year second phase of its experiment. DAMA scientists claimed to see dark matter back in 2003, but some scientists believed the result was a quirk of statistics. Now the evidence is stronger.
“We are pretty sure now that this [signal] is not a statistical fluke. What it means is another matter,” says Francis Halzen, an astroparticle physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US. He spoke to New Scientist after attending the announcement by DAMA project leader Rita Bernabei of the University of Rome, Italy.
UW grad Allee Willis is show business’ “best-kept secret”
Wisconsin State Journal
Start listing UW grad Allee Willis’ show business credits â?? hit songwriter, renowned artist, acclaimed Broadway tunesmith, multimedia pioneer and kitsch singer â?? and she responds about her behind-the-scenes, unknown status with a big laugh.
“I’m the best-kept secret,” Willis bursts out.
Zimmermann family asks for donations for scholarship
Wisconsin State Journal
The family of slain UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann is establishing a scholarship fund in the hope that another student will be able to realize dreams that would otherwise be out of reach.
“They want for another student to have the opportunity that Brittany worked so hard to accomplish on her own,” said Julie Foley, who manages the Dane County district attorney’s trauma victims services. “The legacy of Brittany’s life will be that someone else will be able to achieve the dreams she couldn’t.”
Football: UW gets 2 night home games on TV
Green Bay Press-Gazette
The University of Wisconsin football team will be featured in a pair of prime-time games at home during the 2008 season, the Big Ten Conference announced today.
Wisconsin is scheduled to host Ohio State on Oct. 4 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison in a game to be seen on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
Watchdog: Organic baby formula uses banned ingredients (AP)
Quoted: Dr. Frank Greer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who stressed he was speaking for himself.
Predicting stress (Sydney Morning Herald)
Michelangelos’s David may look relaxed, but he is actually rather stressed, especially around his left thigh, right shin and ankles. A new software analysis of the masterpiece predicts where it is most under strain, based solely on its shape. The method may also be able to help treat people’s physical problems as well as those of statues.
The computer conclusions match the real cracks, which have begun to appear in the 5.17-metre marble sculpture.
The crack damage, detailed in a 2006 study published in the Journal Of Cultural Heritage, indicates that the new scanning method could help archivists predict what areas of an ancient artefact may need to be bolstered to prevent damage, even if the statue has not yet shown signs of fatigue.
“Understanding structural properties of historical and cultural artefacts through computer simulations is often crucial to their preservation,” says Professor Vadim Shapiro of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Peters: Law ill-equipped for faith healing cases
Wausau Daily Herald
A girl falls ill with diabetes. In an effort to restore her flagging health, her parents turn to the Bible rather than medical science; she never sees a doctor. Prayer, however, fails to heal the youngster, and she dies. Authorities then puzzle over whether the parents, in denying her the medical treatment that almost certainly would have saved her life, have committed neglect, abuse, or even manslaughter.
Sound familiar? Actually, it’s not the story of Kara Neumann, the Weston teen whose death on Easter Sunday has generated headlines throughout the nation. Rather, it’s a description of the death of Shannon Nixon, a Pennsylvania youngster who succumbed to diabetic ketoacidosis (the same ailment that struck Kara Neumann) in 1995. Shannon’s parents, like Kara’s, were devoutly religious people who treated their daughter’s illness with prayer rather medicine. The results were similarly tragic, and confounding.
Shawn Francis Peters’ latest book, “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law,” was published in October by Oxford University Press. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW Continues Prevention Efforts Year After Virginia Tech Shootings
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — After the shootings at Virginia Tech one year ago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison put plans in place to notify the campus community of an emergency.
The university also developed efforts to help prevent similar tragedies on campus. One of those efforts is a training session called “Avenger Violence Awareness” that UW-Madison police put on Wednesday.
During the training, police reviewed the events that happened at Virginia Tech and explained how communication can be key to preventing campus violence.
Family Sets Up Memorial Fund For Slain UW-Madison Student
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — The family of the University of Wisconsin-Madison student killed on April 2 announced it is establishing a scholarship in Brittany Zimmermann’s name and conducting a fund drive called “Dollars for Brittany.”
Police said the 21-year-old UW-Madison junior was killed after her assailant broke into her first-floor apartment on West Doty Street.
Boiler Explodes On UW-Whitewater Campus
WISC-TV 3
WHITEWATER, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is cleaning up after an explosion damaged the university’s boiler in the power plant on the north side of campus Wednesday afternoon.
The explosion took place at about 12:15 p.m. in the building, which is located near North Prairie Street and Esker Dining Hall. The force of the explosion blew out windows in the building.
Quietly, Virginia Tech Remembers the Chaos and Grief of a Year Ago
Chronicle of Higher Education
This year at Virginia Tech, April 16 was quiet and serene. Where mass shootings had claimed 32 lives and plunged the campus into chaos and grief a year ago, students, staff members, and neighbors marked the anniversary on Wednesday with calm resolve.
Under a clear morning sky, thousands of mourners clad in Hokie orange and maroon streamed onto the Drillfield, the heart of the vast campus here, for an official commemoration. As a student wind ensemble played, uniformed cadets stood watch over a memorial flame, lit at midnight for the 32 victims. The Virginia state flag, at half staff, hung still.
Remembering Virginia Tech
Wisconsin Radio Network
As the nation marks the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech Massacre, one group is calling on Wisconsin lawmakers to help prevent future gun violence.
It was one year ago today that a lone gunman killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus, wounded 17 others, and then killed himself.
Jeri Bonavia with the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) says it highlights a tragedy occurring nationwide each day. She says over 30 people are murdered everyday with guns in the US, and at least another 50 die as the result of gun violence or suicide.
Freeze-in at UW
Wisconsin Radio Network
UW Madison students freeze for fired Adidas workers. Freezing in place for five minutes on the Library Mall, members of the UW Student Labor Action Coalition want the administration to step up to the plate, on behalf of fired Adidas workers in El Salvador.
UW focuses on prevention after Virginia Tech
WKOW-TV 27
Since the mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus one year ago, schools across the county ave reviewed their safety standards. Alert systems were put under the microscope and some problems came to light. University of Wisconsin Madison Police say in the past year, the focus has been on prevention.
UW Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling says the police, staff and students are now more aware of what she calls red flags. “It’s a much more broad approach to figure out ahead of time who’s in trouble.” After the unspeakable tragedy one year ago, we learned the gunman showed signs of a problem long before the massacre.
New Campus-Alert Legislation Troubles UW Police Official
Wisconsin Public Radio
A new bill in Congress aims to require that U.S. colleges and universities inform campus residents of an emergency within 30 minutes. Backers argue it could save lives, but critics say it could cause more problems.
The â??Virginia Tech Victims Campus Emergency Response Policy and Notification Actâ? mandates that schools notify students within half an hour of a confirmed emergency. Its introduction comes about a year after the Virginia Tech massacre, where officials didnâ??t alert the entire campus of a shooting in a residence hall for nearly two hours. By that time, the gunman had started a second shooting spree, killing a total of 32 people before taking his own life.
Farmers’ markets make a fresh start
Wisconsin State Journal
The “2008 Southern Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas,” which will be available at the Downtown market information booth at the top of State Street and at www.reapfoodgroup.org, lists 41 farmers’ markets, in contrast to 26 in the first such atlas in 2003. That includes twice as many in the city of Madison, where the Dane County Farmers’ Market, Hilldale and the Eastside market were the only 2003 sites.
Virginia Tech served as warning on campus privacy
Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK â?? In the year since a mentally disturbed student went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, federal regulators, educators and legal experts have tried to reach a new understanding of the complex web of privacy laws that came under heavy criticism as one of the reasons no one acted in time to prevent the tragedy.
New regulations, information campaigns and legislation are all part of the effort to make sure that college and university officials realize that in cases of imminent threats, the safety of students trumps legal barriers that otherwise would prevent officials from discussing a student’s mental state or revealing student records.
Uw Professor Puts Focus On Severe Asthma
Wisconsin State Journal
Ronald Sorkness, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at UW-Madison, studies airway diseases. As a physiologist, he tries to understand the basic science of how lungs function.
Leopold Diaries On Web
Wisconsin State Journal
The fragile and worn diaries and journals of conservationist Aldo Leopold can now be widely viewed, without leaving an imprint.
They are available on the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Web site, the first installment of an effort to digitize his full collection of work. The materials consist of early diaries, notebooks, journals and loose drawings from 1899 to 1933, hunting journals spanning 1917 to 1945 and Portage-area journals covering 1935 to 1948.
Moe: Another accolade for brainy Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
It’s official: Madison is the smartest city in the United States. Now those of us living here must decide whether that’s a good thing.
A new study by Bizjournals, the online media division of American City Business Journals, ranking the brainpower level of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, listed Madison first, followed in order by Washington, D.C.; San Jose, Calif.; Bridgeport-Stanford, Conn.; and Boston.
UW men’s basketball: Virginia Tech is next ‘Challenge’
Wisconsin State Journal
After facing Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in last season’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team will find itself on the road for a second straight season in the event.
According to the ACC-Big Ten Challenge schedule released Tuesday, the Badgers will face Virginia Tech on Dec. 1 in Blacksburg, Va., in a game scheduled to be televised on one of the ESPN networks.
UW football: Badgers to play back-to-back home games at night
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin football team will play consecutive home games at night this fall — against Ohio State and Penn State — on national television.
The Big Ten Conference made it official Wednesday in announcing the conference’s prime-time television lineup for the 2008 football season.
Obituary: Linda Frances Kramer
Madison.com
Linda Frances Kramer, age 49, passed away on Sunday, April 13, 2008. She was currently working as a medical records specialist for UW Health for the past 13 years.
Colleges put out safety nets
USA Today
Colleges are trying to reduce the chances of violence by creating or beefing up risk assessment teams that typically include faculty, residence advisers, psychologists, administrators and police, college administrators say. The teams meet often to review reports on students who seem disturbed. The reports are submitted by professors, residence advisers, police and students.
Va. Tech more secure a year after massacre
USA Today
University President Charles Steger released a list of new security measures and policy changes late Monday. Steger says Tech has spent more than $10 million responding to 400-plus recommendations from the panels charged with dissecting events that led to the massacre.
Obituary: Paul H. Walgenbach
Madison.com
Paul H. Walgenbach, 84, emeritus professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, died on Monday, April 14, 2008. He was a faculty member at UW-Madison for 35 years.
Obituary: Tyberius Janus Jakob-Anderson
Madison.com
Tyberius Janus Jakob-Anderson of Madison, died of a heart attack at the age of 57 on Sunday, April 13, 2008. Ty worked in a variety of jobs over the years such as food service, bank data processing, grounds keeping, events setup, and driving, most recently at the University of Wisconsin.
Reformation before deportation (Marquette Tribune)
The heated debate surrounding the deportation orders of Tope and Oluwagbenga Awe highlights the urgent need for immigration reform. The Awes came to the United States from Nigeria on a tourist visa in 1989 and in July of 2004 after their application for citizenship was finally denied, the Awe family was ordered to leave the country.
Samuel Awe, Tope and Oluwagbenga’s father, was undergoing kidney treatment at the time and the family failed to contact the immigration service in July. The lack of contact classifies the family as “immigration fugitives.”
Trio in College May Hold Key Votes for Democrats
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON — While most of the Democratic Party’s superdelegates are members of Congress, governors or senior party officials, UW-Madison student Awais Khaleel, Lauren Wolfe and Jason Rae are still in college. Yet the votes of the three student superdelegates might help decide the Democratic nominee.
Obituary: Florence Genevieve Anacker Allen
Madison.com
Florence Genevieve Allen died Saturday, April 12, 2008. She received a B.A. in child development and worked as a nurse at the UW Hospital, Central Colony and HospiceCare in Madison.
UW Student Found In New Mexico Died From Self-Immolation
WISC-TV 3
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Medical investigators have determined how a University of Wisconsin-Madison student died in southern New Mexico.
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator said that Michael Mowers, 22, set himself on fire.
A woman walking her dog found his body last Nov. 21 in a Las Cruces culvert.
Va. Tech Marks 1st Anniversary Of Shooting
WISC-TV 3
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A white candle, lit at the stroke of midnight, officially began a day of mourning to mark the first anniversary of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech.
More than 1,000 people gathered around the 32 memorial stones honoring the dead.
Gov. Tim Kaine has ordered state flags flown at half-staff Wednesday.
Juicy Website Nothing but Gossip, Students Say
WKOW-TV 27
A controversial website that has made headlines across the Country is now up and running at UW Whitewater. JuicyCampus.com is a trash talking site where people can post anything – with impunity and anonymity.
Some of the postings are so “juicy” we couldn’t even share them with our television viewers. Students we talked to say they don’t want their campus associated with the website.
“Always anonymous, always juicy” is the slogan of the website, started by a Duke University Alumni.. Just go to the site, type in UW Whitewater in the “choose your campus” tab and you’re in.
Vytoringate: James Stein, ‘Man in the Middle’
Wall Street Journal
As Congress investigates the delay in the release of data from Merck and Schering-Ploughâ??s now infamous Enhance trial of Vytorin, one of the key players is speaking up.
James Stein, a cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin, had reservations about the way the companies were characterizing a meeting of experts on the trial, which failed to show that Vytorin was better than a generic statin alone in slowing the progression of cardiovascular disease as measured by ultrasound.
Last week the release of documents by a congressional committee made public Steinâ??s objections to a change in the standard for success in the trial. â??We never made a recommendation to change any endpoints. We simply gave our opinion,â? Stein (pictured) told Forbes. (See his refutation in the image from the report. For the full set of documents, see this post.
NBA: Ex-Badger Harris focuses on future with Nets
Wisconsin State Journal
MILWAUKEE â?? Success in the business of pro basketball is all about adapting.
From the start of his career, point guard Devin Harris has understood that.
The former University of Wisconsin star was traded by Washington to Dallas immediately after being selected fifth overall in the 2004 NBA draft.
UW women’s basketball: Freitag calls it a career
Wisconsin State Journal
They’ve shared so many moments on the basketball court together.
Lisa Stone, the energetic point guard and Donna Freitag, the mellow post player.
They grew up together, played together at Oregon High School and then collegiately at Iowa.
Madison police search for panhandlers in Zimmermann investigation
Wisconsin State Journal
Detectives investigating the Brittany Zimmermann homicide want to speak to anyone who was solicited for money or gave money to strangers in the Bassett neighborhood on April 1 or April 2, Madison police said Monday.
Zimmermann, 21, a junior at UW-Madison, was killed April 2 after her first-floor apartment at 517 W. Doty St. was broken into. Police still have no suspects or motive in the killing.
St. Xavier’s shutdown produces ripple effect
Chicago Tribune
The campus of St. Xavier University was like a well-guarded ghost town Monday, its classrooms empty, its dormitories shuttered and its every entrance patrolled by school security officers and Chicago police.
That quiet watchfulness spread to neighboring campuses as well, after threatening graffiti was found last week in a university residence hall.
Following St. Xavier’s lead, four schools adjacent to the South Side universityâ??Mother McAuley and Brother Rice High Schools, and Queen of Martyrs and Southwest Elementary Schoolsâ??closed for the day Monday.
UW women’s basketball: Freitag calls it a career
Wisconsin State Journal
They’ve shared so many moments on the basketball court together.
Lisa Stone, the energetic point guard and Donna Freitag, the mellow post player.
They grew up together, played together at Oregon High School and then collegiately at Iowa.
When Stone took over as the coach at Drake in 2000, she hired Freitag as an assistant, just as she did when she arrived at the University of Wisconsin in 2003.
Student released from lease
USA Today
University of Wisconsin-Madison student Jordan Gonnering, 22, will be let out of the lease on the apartment where he found his fiancee murdered on April 2. Gonnering had 16 months left on the $790-a-month apartment he shared with Brittany Zimmermann, 21. Under Wisconsin law, renters must fulfill terms of a lease even after a death. But after refusing to discuss the issue last week, landlord Russ Endres said Monday he will release Gonnering from the contract.
Colleges Grapple With the ‘Behavioral Broken Arm’
Chronicle of Higher Education
One year ago, Richard F. Celeste, president of Colorado College, did not keep a red card in his wallet that explained how to send messages to the entire campus during emergencies.
Charles D. Green, leader of the University of Iowa’s police department, did not arm his officers with .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistols â?? or any guns at all.
And William N. Flagler Jr. did not hand out business cards identifying him as the director of Northern Virginia Community College’s Office of Emergency Planning, because the job did not exist.
Diabetic Eye Problem Linked to Heart Failure (HealthDay News)
U.S. News and World Report
Quoted: Dr. Nancy Sweitzer, director of the heart failure program at the University of Wisconsin, said, “The interesting thing about this study was that the association was as strong for mild degrees of eye disease as for strong degrees. It has to be taken very seriously.”
Wisconsin student set himself on fire, medical investigator finds (Las Cruces Sun-News)
LAS CRUCES â?? The state’s medical investigator has ruled that a University of Wisconsin-Madison student found dead in Las Cruces last year committed suicide by setting himself on fire.
The body of Michael J. Mowers, 22, was discovered by a woman walking her dog on Nov. 21 in a culvert leading to a canal near Calle de Alegra, off South Main Street. His body had been burned.
He was last seen alive in Wisconsin on Nov. 12. Las Cruces police have said foul play is not suspected in Mowers’ death.
Red Barn to market ‘humanely produced’ milk (AP)
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Quoted: Scott Rankin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of food science, said some consumers may find the “humanely produced” label important. But there’s a danger that some could infer that milk that doesn’t carry such a label comes from farmers who treat their animals poorly, he said.
Gap Persists Between Faculty Salaries at Public and Private Institutions
Chronicle of Higher Education
Gaps in faculty pay between private and public colleges and universities continue to widen, warned the American Association of University Professors in its annual report on the economic status of the profession. It is a divide, the group argues, that threatens the ability of public institutions to recruit and retain faculty members at all levels.
“When public universities cannot compete in terms of salary and other resources,” states the report, “private universities may be able to attract the best and most-productive scholars.”
Doyle Touts Covenant Project On UW Campus
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle called on Madison-area eighth-graders on Monday to sign the Wisconsin Covenant and ensure a spot for themselves in a state college or university.
Doyle spoke about the Covenant project, a program that he nurtured into existence in 2007, at its ceremonial kickoff held at the Red Gym on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Last year, 17,000 students joined the program, representing all 72 Wisconsin counties, WISC-TV reported.
Police Address Downtown Crime At Bassett-Area Neighborhood Meeting
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — The murder of UW student Brittany Zimmerman is still unsettling to many people living in downtown Madison.
The case prompted more concerns about safety at the monthly Bassett Street neighborhood meeting on Monday night.
Police assured neighbors that they have increased patrols in the area since Zimmerman’s murder.
Lt. Joe Balles told neighbors that the extra police presence is not only helping calm residents’ fears but is also helping some people come forward with more information
Colleges Extend Security to Scientists’ Homes
Chronicle of Higher Education
At work, security checks and locked doors are becoming routine inconveniences for biomedical researchers who work with animals.
But as animal-rights extremists have escalated their attacks, some universities have extended these protections to scientists in their homes.
After members of the Animal Liberation Front vandalized cars and harassed researchers at home last year, the Oregon Health & Science University began increasing police patrols, installing cameras at some homes, and counseling scientists not to debate protesters.
Protesters Fail to Slow Animal Research
Chronicle of Higher Education
The e-mail reply was polite but firm. “No. I will not be available for an interview,” wrote a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, when asked about the effects of recent animal-rights protests there.
That scientist was downright chatty compared with most of the other investigators around the country contacted by The Chronicle. Most simply refused to answer phone calls or e-mail messages, while a few recruited university public-relations officials to explain why scientists were clamming up.
In the past few months, animal-rights groups have stepped up their demonstrations against academic researchers who use animals, spawning a new wave of concern among scientists. In February, extremists caused a fire at the home of a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, and protesters struck the husband of a scientist from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Time running out for budget fix
Wisconsin Radio Network
The Governor says time is running out for lawmakers to reach a compromise on a budget repair bill.
Legislative leaders have been holding closed door meetings to discuss how to plug a $527 million budget hole. Governor Jim Doyle says they need to reach a deal soon. Even though he doesn’t want to set an “absolute deadline,” Doyle says an agreement should be reached within the next eight to ten days.
Coping with Campus ‘Avenger’ Violence
WKOW-TV 27
A classroom of UW-Madison administrators, advisers, and faculty members received training on spotting unstable students; barricading doors; even playing dead.
The purpose? To deal with what’s termed, “avenger violence.”
The on-going training session took place on the the anniversary of the week when a student gunman killed more than thirty people on the Virginia Tech campus.