Quoted: Students and employees have a 300-day window to report a complaint to Wisconsin universities, Luis Pinero, the assistant vice provost for Workforce Equity and Diversity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said.
Author: jplucas
Both parties use primary results to bolster cases for November (AP)
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden.
Green Bay increasingly important on national-politics stage (AP)
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agreed, calling the northeastern Wisconsin region â??the most evenly divided area in the most evenly divided state.â?
Flush with cash, Obama outbooks Clinton in TV ads
Providence Journal
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is overseeing a study on political advertising in that state.
UW-Madison Building Evacuated Due To Chemical Spill
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — A building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus was evacuated Friday afternoon after several gallons of chemicals were spilled.
The Madison Fire Department responded at 3:48 p.m. Friday to a report of a chemical spill on the 12th floor of the Engineering Research Building, which is located across from Engineering Hall.
“The chemists heard a ‘pop,’ and they left the room and evacuated. Nobody was injured,” said Bernadette Galvez, spokeswoman for the Madison Fire Department.
UW Donating Hi-Tech ID Scanners To Downtown Bars
WKOW-TV 27
UW officials want downtown bars to crackdown on underage drinking. They’re even giving away the latest technology to help bar owners find fake id’s.
The id scanners cost up to $700 a piece.
Wisconsin Flu Season in Full Swing
WKOW-TV 27
The UW is reporting more students coming to university health facilities in the past few weeks with flu-like symptoms. The worst is yet to come since cases are still increasing and haven’t leveled out yet. College campuses are perfect for virus breeding grounds.
Campus Crime Rates Fell From ’94 to ’04
Inside Higher Education
The tragic killings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University have focused unprecedented attention on campus crime. But a special report issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics last week â?? updating data more than a decade old â?? found long-term declines in campus crime rates at four-year institutions, and also substantial evidence for the professionalization of campus security forces.
More than divine: science discovers that there is power in forgiveness (Sydney Morning News)
Sydney Morning Herald
Quoted: Dr Robert Enright, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, and an advocate of what many are calling a new science of forgiveness, calls this final step “making a gesture of goodness” to a wrongdoer. It is the culmination of a process that, he insists, “you’ve got to be able to see through to the end”.
A Transcript for Soft Skills (BusinessWeek)
BusinessWeek
With competition for jobs heating up, colleges are looking to give their graduates an edge in the employment market. Will a second transcriptâ??one that focuses on a student’s so-called soft skillsâ??do the trick?
University of Wisconsin officials think so. The 26 universities that make up the state system, which includes the undergraduate business program at Madison, are working on a plan to develop dual transcripts that could be sent to job recruiters and graduate school admissions committees. These dual transcripts would include the traditional one with courses and grades and a second one that somehow validates a graduate’s creative thinking, participation in extracurricular activities, jobs, and internships, and gives those reading it a sense of the person’s life outside the classroom.
Burrill: Plenty of capital, not enough connections
Wisconsin Technology Network
Madison, Wis. – Greater Madison biotechnology executives should stop worrying too much about raising capital and focus on mastering a new biotech business model, according to life science venture investor G. Steven Burrill.
Burrill, founder of Burrill & Co. in San Francisco, is considered a pioneer in the world of biotechnology investing. The Madison native returned to his alma mater Thursday to deliver a lecture in the Microbial Science Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
4 Badgers Have Chance To Compete On U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — USA Hockey announced Thursday the 27 players who are candidates for the 2008 U.S. Women’s National Team — and four current UW-Madison women’s hockey players have a chance to compete.
Badger goalie Jessie Vetter is among a few Badgers on the list. Vetter competed in last year’s world championships.
UW Pauses to Remember NIU Shooting Victims
WKOW-TV 27
One hundred miles and one week separates the UW-Madison campus from the school schooting at Northern Illinois University.
In a show of support and as a way to remember the six victims from last Thursday’s rampage in Dekalb, the carillon bells rang at UW at noon.
State Agencies Hold Town Hall Meeting to Discuss Power Plants
WKOW-TV 27
On Thursday night, the state held a town hall meeting to get public input on a study to evaluate the future of public power plants.
One of the most visible plants is on the UW campus. The Charter Street Coal Plant has been a fixture on campus since 1957. It burns coal to produce steam to heat 300 campus buildings in underground tunnels.
The Search For Eco-Friendly Heat
WKOW-TV 27
UW and state officials are trying to find more eco-friendly ways to heat and cool state buildings.
Thursday night, they asked the public for help.
The town hall meeting is just the beginning of a $1.2-million study on ways to modernize state-owned power plants.
Despite no oxygen, flares could burn on moon
Wisconsin State Journal
Q: Would signal flares work and burn on the moon, or would the lack of oxygen prevent it?
â?? Submitted by Orin Silva, grade 8, Stoughton River Bluff Middle School
A: Combustion, a form of oxidation, requires heat, fuel and oxygen. On Earth, the atmosphere supplies that oxygen.
Seize chance for cleaner power
Wisconsin State Journal
Air pollution that risks a regulatory crackdown.
The prospect of a federal tax on carbon fuels.
The advantages of newer technologies.
These are among the factors compelling state government, private industry and environmentalists to evaluate what to do with the coal-fired power plants in Downtown Madison.
UW staff unions possible (Wausau Daily Herald)
Wausau Daily Herald
The state Senate has approved a measure that would allow University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff to form unions.
The plan would change state law to give about 17,000 faculty and academic staff — including 26 at the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County — the right to decide whether to form collective bargaining units to negotiate their salaries, benefits and other employment conditions. It also would allow the employees to form up to 31 separate bargaining units across the state.
What do our pets see? (Biloxi Sun Herald)
Quoted: Dr. C.J. Miller at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine reports dogs have two types of cones in their retinas
St. Louis to crack down on panhandling (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Quoted: Michael Scott, an associate law professor at the University of Wisconsin.
How important is oratory to Obama and other politicians?
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Quoted: Stephen Lucas, a professor of communications at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Nanotechnology Is Morally Unacceptable
Wall Street Journal
If you donâ??t have a super-fast, super-small computer in a few years, blame the moral majority. It turns out that most Americans find nanotechnology, the scientific field most likely to produce such a breakthrough, morally unacceptable.
Thatâ??s according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin who are studying peopleâ??s attitudes towards nanotechnology, an emerging scientific field that involves manipulating molecules and atoms. They found that just 29.5% of the 1,000-plus Americans surveyed said they thought nanotechnology research was morally acceptable.
A Rough Flu Season on Campus (US News and World Report)
U.S. News and World Report
Second semester is in high gear, and so is flu season. College campuses, those great breeding grounds for illness, are widely reporting an unusual number of cases this year, possibly because the vaccine is a poor match to the flu viruses circulating.
Flu traffic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s health center likewise has “increased dramatically in the past three weeks,” says Sarah Van Orman, director of clinical servicesâ??and two doctors and a pharmacist have been out of work sick so far this season.
25% of young voters turn out
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In an election season when young voters have made more impact than ever, a quarter of Wisconsin’s eligible voters under 30 participated in Tuesday night’s primary – making youth turnout here equal to Massachusetts and second only to New Hampshire this year.
According to The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, 220,200 voters under age 30 cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary – 25% of eligible voters in that age group.
At 16 voting wards at or near University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Sen. Barack Obama beat Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton among local college students, grabbing at least 79% of the vote. He was most popular at UW’s Gordon Commons, capturing 87% of the vote there.
Badger varsity band brings performance to Medford
Wausau Daily Herald
Some members in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Varsity Band will receive a warm welcome when they return home to Medford for a weekend concert.
The band will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday at Medford Area Senior High School, 1015 W. Broadway Ave. The stop is one of 17 concerts the band will hold this spring
Bias claim made against watchdog
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The campaign of a state Supreme Court candidate accused a judicial campaign watchdog of bias Wednesday.
Public Colleges Lack Funds and Strategies to Help Troubled Students
Chronicle of Higher Education
The fatal shootings at Northern Illinois University last week were shocking yet familiar. For the second time in 10 months, a student with a record of mental-health problems went on a killing rampage at a large public university.
Ever since a disturbed student murdered 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech last April, college administrators nationwide have been pumping more money and resources into efforts to prevent a similar tragedy on their campuses. But they cannot keep up with the rising demand for mental-health services. And disagreements over exactly how to handle at-risk students have stymied college’s efforts to allocate their limited resources.
Going on the Offensive Against Animal ‘Liberationists’
Inside Higher Education
As a battleground for the animal liberation movement, the University of California at Los Angeles has weathered threats, intimidation and property damage directed against several of its researchers over the past few years. Today â?? two weeks after a firebomb went off at the same professorâ??s house that in October was flooded with a garden hose â?? the university moved beyond law enforcement, the bully pulpit and security reinforcements and filed a lawsuit against three groups and five individuals.
Obituary: James C. Adams
Madison.com
James C. Adams, age 71, passed away on Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, at the HospiceCare Center. Jim worked for the University of Wisconsin Physical Plant for more than 20 years.
Obituary: Frank Cawthorne Stoll
Madison.com
Frank Cawthorne Stoll, age 85, passed away peacefully on Dec. 26, 2007. Frank attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for five consecutive summers to earn a masters degree in Library Science.
Obituary: John S. Robinson
Madison.com
Mr. John S. Robinson, age 84, of Montello, died at his home, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. Following his Navy service, he finished his education at the University of Wisconsin, majoring in business. After many years at General Mills, he returned to Madison and received a master’s degree and became Dean of the business school at Madison Area Technical College.
Obituary: Emma Rhyner
Madison.com
Emma Rhyner, age 87, died peacefully on Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. Emma was employed at the University Hospital in Madison, as a food server, until her retirement.
Scenes from election day, a State Journal blog
Wisconsin State Journal
Today’s icy conditions are making it difficult for some people with disabilities to vote. “I’m not able to get there,” said Annie White Croford, who has severe arthritis and emphysema. “I sure would like my vote to count.” Croford, who lives on the West Side, said she has trouble getting up and down stairs. She drives, but not in this weather. “I’m scared if I get out there I’ll fall,” she said. “There’s so much snow and ice.” The sidewalks outside of Gordon Commons, a polling place for UW-Madison students, were particularly slick, said Adam Young, chief inspector. “I can’t imagine a student in a wheelchair getting here on this snow and ice,” he said. UW-Madison has a snow removal service on campus, in which physical plant employees clear sidewalks on request.
Obituary: Bettina Bjorksten-Orsech
Madison.com
Bettina Bjorksten-Orsech died Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, in her 100th year. In the 1950s she was invited to join the music department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she rose to the rank of full professor. Bettina was especially known as an oratorio soloist and appeared with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and University ensembles.
Record number of applications for UW
Wisconsin State Journal
It ‘s not the news that prospective freshmen want to hear, but getting into UW-Madison this fall will be tougher than ever.
UW-Madison has received a record number of applications for next fall ‘s freshman class. To date, the admissions office has received 24,747 applications — up about 500 from this time last year.
Obama notches ninth straight win in state’s Democratic primary
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison student Becca Dobrez, 19, of Chicago was one of the first-time voters who picked Obama. “What gets me is the way he motivates and inspires people in a way they haven’t been inspired for a long time,” Dobrez said.
Obituary: Laura Love Linden
Madison.com
Miss Laura Love Linden, age 100, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008, at Attic Angels in Middleton. In 1912, the family moved to Madison, where Laura attended Randall School, Central High School, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison where she graduated in 1928. In 1929, at the age of 21, she received her Master’s Degree in Italian and French. After a career in teaching, Laura retired to Madison, where for 24 years, as a student senior guest, she audited many courses at the UW – Madison
No one championed hockey in the U.S. more than “Badger” Bob
ESPN.com
After the recent Hockey Weekend Across America, what better time to reminisce about one of the imperishable personalities and most influential people the game has ever seen or enjoyed?
Because no one cared for the game itself and championed hockey in the United States more than “Badger” Bob Johnson.
Senate OKs Plan To Allow UW Faculty, Staff To Unionize
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — The state Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would allow University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff to form unions.
The plan would change state law to give about 17,000 faculty and academic staff the right to decide whether to form collective bargaining units to negotiate their salaries, benefits and other employment conditions.
UW sports: No ticket increases in 2008-09 budget
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Board’s finance committee unanimously approved a spending authority for athletics of $83.7 million on Tuesday, which includes no ticket increases, for the 2008-09 budget. The budget, with a positive net margin of $43,805, goes to the full board for approval on Friday.
Obama, McCain Continue Winning Streaks in Wisconsin
Bloomberg News
Quoted: Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
How Obama won Wisconsin (Salon.com)
It was only a few minutes after 8 p.m. when the Great Dane, a brew pub within sight of the state capitol’s illuminated eggshell dome, learned that Barack Obama was leading in Wisconsin. Soon after that, the networks called the state for Obama, and Gov. Jim Doyle mounted the stage to address his Wisconsin victory party. Obama was still speaking in Houston, but the bartenders turned the sound off, and Doyle stepped to the microphone.
Doyle was backdropped by University of Wisconsin students sporting red “Badgers for Obama” T-shirts, all bearing the candidate’s face. At his side was Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who triumphantly declared that Obama had carried the campus 10-to-1. Everyone had expected Obama to run up the score at the famously liberal school, but as the results rolled in, it became clear that Obama had won counties all across the state, from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior.
Aberdeen native Mehlhaff aims for NFL dream (Sioux Falls, S.D. Argus Leader)
University of Wisconsin kicker and Aberdeen native Taylor Mehlhaff arrives at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis today to try to impress pro scouts before the April draft. We caught up with him Tuesday.
Obama badgers Hillary in Wisconsin (Chicago Sun-Times)
Chicago Sun Times
Quoted: University of Wisconsin Professor Kenneth Goldstein.
Hats off to settlement (The Buffalo News)
Buffalo News
Welcome news: New Era Cap Co. has ended a curious and volatile period of contract negotiations with a settlement that puts the Buffalo-based company, the Teamsters union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the same page.
Obama, McCain add to victory streaks
USA Today
Quoted: Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, likened the state’s primary to the football competition that can consume campus. “It feels like the end of the regular season in Madison,” he said, “and they’ll be moving on to the championship games in Texas and Ohio.”
3 vie to be education dean (The Daily Tar Heel, University of North Carolina)
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2008/02/20/University/3.Vie.To.Be.Education.Dean-3221171.shtml
Out of 36 candidates, three men remain in competition for the next dean of the UNC School of Education – Leonard Abbeduto, Bill McDiarmid and Jonathan Plucker.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison professor also mentioned on his Feb. 5 visit that an education school should focus on a wide range of strengths and not simply on one or two.
McCain, Obama win Wisconsin; backers may gain from supporting front-runners
Appleton Post-Crescent
MADISON â?? Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ran his Democratic presidential nomination winning streak over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to nine straight states Tuesday by handily capturing Wisconsin after a frenzied week of on-the-ground campaigning.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, rolled over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as expected to capture the Badger State’s GOP race and take a delegate lead of 942 to 245 nationally over Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to win the Republican nomination.
Quoted: John Coleman, a professor of political science at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Doyle had the most to gain and the most to lose Tuesday, mainly because of his high profile as an Obama backer.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a professor of political science at UW-Madison.
Private Donations to Colleges Increase for 4th Consecutive Year
Chronicle of Higher Education
Backed by a strong economy and a growing stock market, American colleges and universities raised an estimated $29.8-billion in the 2007 fiscal year, the highest total ever recorded, according to a report scheduled for release today by the Council for Aid to Education.
Study Suggests Best Time For Interleukin-7
Wisconsin State Journal
Interleukin-7, an experimental growth factor that boosts the immune system, could work best in patients if given after the peak of an infection, a new UW-Madison study says.
IL-7, which the body produces in small amounts, is being studied as a potential therapy. Similar growth factors, such as IL-2, have been used in patients with cancer and AIDS, though with some side effects.
Students’ Bladder Device Wins $10,000 Prize
Wisconsin State Journal
Anyone curious about the ingenious ways in which classroom lessons can have practical applications can look to the annual Innovation Days competition held this past week at UW-Madison’s College of Engineering.
Five UW-Madison biomedical engineering students claimed $10,000 and the Schoofs Prize for Creativity with their ActiveCath creation, a catheterized system to sense bladder pressure and prevent incontinence.
Fungal Gene Could Lead To Antibiotics, Other Drugs
Wisconsin State Journal
When Nancy Keller talks about fungi, she doesn’t refer to damp basements or moldy shower curtains.
The UW-Madison plant pathologist speaks of fungi’s helpful byproducts, including penicillin and the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin.
In tune with his talent
Wisconsin State Journal
It’s been a long time since Tom Wopat appeared on the Wisconsin Union Theater’s stage.
“I think it’s been 40 years since I’ve performed there, ” says Wopat, who will star in the Four Seasons Theatre Company’s production of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Follies” next weekend at the UW venue.
Clinton claims experience
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Political scientist Charles Franklin.
Huckabee, McCain focus campaigns on Fox Valley
Appleton Post-Crescent
Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain continued to hammer home his theme that he is the candidate to protect America’s security.
The Arizona senator spoke at the Outagamie County GOP Lincoln Day dinner Monday night, following a momentous endorsement in Houston from former President George H.W. Bush, a nod of approval from an establishment figure in the Republican Party.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Selig still reviewing Mitchell Report cases (AP)
USA Today
MADISON, Wis. (AP) â?? Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Monday that he is still reviewing cases of players accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs and steroids as outlined in the Mitchell Report released two months ago.
Selig said he had hoped to complete the review by spring training, but now does not know when he will finish or what punishment he’ll pursue.
“I’m still in that process,” Selig said at a news conference on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A 1956 graduate, Selig was invited back by the history department to speak with students about his career.
Democrats burrow into Wisconsin, key state on tap
USA Today
WASHINGTON â?? Residents in three states will weigh in on the presidential contest today, but the stakes are highest in Wisconsin where Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama seek to gain momentum heading into next month’s primaries in Texas and Ohio.
Quoted: Ken Mayer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
More to Wisconsin than Madison (Chicago Sun-Times)
Chicago Sun Times
BELOIT, Wis. — It’s the state of liberal college students and conservative dairy farmers, where nearly 100 years ago Sen. Robert
Wisconsin is the last big state before next month’s primary elections in Texas and Ohio.
Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton have invested a lot of time and money in Wisconsin. The state offers 74 delegates — which most polls indicate will be split fairly evenly between the two candidates, though the winner will get a few more, along with bragging rights. Obama has a slight lead over Clinton in the delegate race at this point, and a win in Wisconsin could help, though Clinton victories in Texas and Ohio could even the score.
The word “Liberal” may have been a badge of honor at one point at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and some of that tradition lives on, though students attending rallies there over the past week say that label is a bit outdated.
Quoted: Kenneth Goldstein, a political science professor at Madison.
Americans Reject Morality of Nanotechnology on Religious Grounds
Christian Post
Religion is said to be the driving influence behind Americansâ?? low moral opinion of nanotechnology, according to a researcher who surveyed public opinion on science and technology.
Dietram Scheufele, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of life sciences, and a colleague found in their study that only 29.5 percent of respondents from a sample of 1,015 adult Americans agreed that nanotechnology was morally acceptable.
When the survey was conducted in European countries, who are reportedly also key players in nanotechnology, the results were strikingly different.
Detox visits double at UW-Madison (Minnesota Daily)
Over the past four years, Sue Riseling has watched a disturbing trend surface on the University of Wisconsin campus: The number of students drinking themselves to incapacitation has nearly doubled.
But as alarming as the numbers are, Riseling is uncertain how serious the problem is, because no other campus can offer comparable statistics.