UW-Madison may be able to get the new dorm it wants without waiting for Legislative approval to get the process rolling.
As the university looks for ways to revive its bid for additional on-campus student housing, one possible option is a lease/purchase plan, according to UW System assistant vice president David Miller.
JOHN QUINLAN
‘Harness the strength we already have’
John Quinlan, 48, of Madison, is host of “Forward Forum” on WTDY and president of Q Solutions, a communications and consulting company.
Returning to school at UW-Madison to finish the undergraduate degree he started in 1978, Quinlan has been impressed by his 20-something classmates who know their history.
Barry Alvarez, UW-Madison athletic director, will talk about his partial knee implant surgery at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Madison Marriot West, 1313 John Q. Hammons Drive, Middleton.
A UW-Madison scientist who had to stop doing some Ebola virus research on campus because of biosafety concerns has plucked a vital gene from the deadly virus to create a version he and others say is safe to use in most labs.
Yoshihiro Kawaoka created the altered live Ebola virus more than a year ago in a high-level biosafety lab in Canada. He has been working with the altered virus at UW-Madison for about a year in a lab with basic biosafety standards, he said.
Scientists disarmed the Ebola virus by removing a single gene, providing a new laboratory tool that will help the development of drugs and vaccines against the lethal tropical disease.
Efforts to find ways of treating Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever that kills between 50-90 per cent of the people it infects, have so far been greatly held up by its extreme virulence. The extreme health hazard posed by the virus means that it can be studied only in highly specialised laboratories equipped to biosafety level four (BSL 4), the highest category of containment facility.
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin professor who studies campaign advertising, said the purchases “make a lot of sense” considering the cost and demands of trying to buy advertising in so many different media markets.
MADISON, Wis. — To mark Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, a state lawmaker said on Monday that he intends to introduce a bill in the state Legislature that will extend several key federal civil rights protections to state employees, including University of Wisconsin workers
Scientists have made the lethal virus Ebola harmless in the lab, potentially aiding research into a vaccine or cure.
Taking a single gene from the virus stops it replicating, US scientists wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Ebola, currently handled in highly secure labs, kills up to 80% of those it infects.
SCIENTISTS have disarmed the Ebola virus by removing a single gene, providing a new laboratory tool that will help the development of drugs and vaccines against the lethal tropical disease.
Efforts to find ways of treating Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever that kills between 50 and 90 per cent of the people it infects, have so far been greatly held up by its extreme virulence.
Chicago – US researchers have devised a way to genetically disarm the deadly Ebola virus in a development that could speed research into a vaccine against the bug or drugs to treat people who have been infected with it, a study released Monday said.
The investigators discovered removing a single gene from the virus prevents it from replicating or multiplying, effectively neutralizing the bug and making it much safer to study.
MADISON, Wis., Jan. 21 (UPI) — Contrary to the popular belief, the brain is busy consolidating information during sleep, the brain is actually shutting down, a U.S. study found.
Animal studies, published in Nature Neuroscience, found molecular and electro-physiological measures taken on rats showed the neurochemical processes underlying learning — synapses — actually weaken during sleeping hours.
The findings support the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis proposed by the study ‘s lead researchers Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. They said that during sleep the synapses actually “downsize” in preparation for a new round of learning during waking hours.
A ‘safe’ version of Ebola has been developed by researchers hoping to broaden opportunities to study the deadly virus. If approved by national regulatory authorities, the non-infectious virus could be studied in a broader variety of labs, removing a major roadblock to finding a cure.
A type of algae found in oceans, lakes and wet soil could be used to create a new, faster generation of computer chips, U.S. researchers suggest in a study released Monday.
Marine diatoms, a unicellular algae, build their hard, patterned cell walls with microscopic lines of silica â?? a compound related to silicon, which is a key material for constructing computer chips and semiconductors.
“If we can genetically control that process, we would have a whole new way of performing the nanofabrication used to make computer chips,” lead researcher Michael Sussman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry professor, said in a release.
CHICAGO (Thomson Financial) – US researchers have devised a way to genetically disarm the deadly Ebola virus in a development that could speed research into a vaccine against the bug or drugs to treat people who have been infected with it, a study released Monday said.
The investigators discovered that by removing a single gene from the virus, they can prevent it from replicating or multiplying, effectively neutralizing the virus and making it much safer to study.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it is normal for elected officials to make broader theme connections between an iconic figure such as King and modern policies.
The tribute’s main guest speaker, Gloria Ladson-Billings, also discussed a general attitude of perseverance. She called King more than a dreamer — alluding to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Rather he was a doer, she said
Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any moreâ??and several hours of sleep will refresh it.
Now new research from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health clarifies this phenomenon, supporting the idea that sleep plays a critical role in the brainâ??s ability to change in response to its environment. This ability, called plasticity, is at the heart of learning.
Reporting in the Jan. 20, 2008, online version of Nature Neuroscience, the UW-Madison scientists showed by several measures that synapses â?? nerve cell connections central to brain plasticity â?? were very strong when rodents had been awake and weak when they had been asleep.
The deadly Ebola virus, an emerging public health concern in Africa and a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of exotic pathogens.
Due to its virulent nature, and because no vaccines or treatments are available, scientists studying the agent have had to work under the most stringent bio-containment protocols, limiting research to a few highly specialized labs and hampering the ability of scientists to develop countermeasures.
MADISON, Wis. — Investigators still aren’t saying much about the questions surrounding the death of a 22-year-old University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student in the Madison area last summer.
Madison Police and Dane County Coroner John Stanley still aren’t saying how or when Kelly Nolan died, or whether her death is believed to have been an intentional act or resulted from someone else’s recklessness or negligence.
A state lawmaker wants to restore civil rights protections for UW and state employees.
State Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine) says US Supreme Court decisions over the past decade have eroded protections for employees of the state and UW system. Mason says the state’s sovereign immunity not to be sued by individuals now trumps the equal protection granted under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As a result, Mason says many state employees are unable to take action in federal court if laws are violated.
Quoted: Gerald Kulcinski, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Fusion Technology Institute, thinks helium-3 could potentially power future long-distance space travel, though it could take decades before a commercial helium-3 reactor becomes available.
If you were reading this sentence over AOL’s new instant messenger, each word would be u-n-f-o-l-d-i-n-g letter by letter as it was typed.
Real-time messaging will add emphasis and intonation to text conversations, said Gregg Vanderheiden, professor and director of the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which also worked on the project. “It’s not there to expose all your little typos,” he said.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a professor of political science at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Creighton officials can look to Wisconsin’s largest state school and a tiny college in eastern Kansas if they want insight into the do’s and don’ts of running an on-campus bar.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has served beer inside and outside its student union since the 1930s.
University officials there briefly debated ending beer sales a decade ago, when national studies found that Wisconsin students ranked among the worst binge drinkers in the country.
Instead, the university started a binge drinking research and outreach project now called PACE, headed by Aaron Brower, a professor in the department of social work.
Chancellor John D. Wiley’s annual earnings of $341,495 – including a state-provided car, free housing, retirement pay and club dues – may seem generous to the average Wisconsin taxpayer. But it may not be enough to attract a top leader to take the reins at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when Wiley steps down in September.
“That is one of the most underpaid great jobs in America,” said Stephen Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University and a consultant with executive search firm Korn/Ferry International.
Quoted: Donald Nichols, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said initiatives that encourage innovation and research and development are aimed at industries that “employ highly educated people.”
TOWN OF DUNN — For two and a half weeks last summer, newspaper headlines blared and the airwaves crackled with the search for Kelly Nolan, a popular 22-year-old UW-Whitewater student who disappeared June 23 after a night of partying in Downtown Madison.
On July 9, a signal from Nolan ‘s cell phone led searchers to a patch of woods in the town of Dunn, about 10 miles south of where she was last seen. There, police found a woman ‘s body later determined to be that of Nolan.
Anyone entering one of the many restaurants in Providence, R.I., is likely to end up sitting next to out-of-town parents visiting their sons and daughters who attend nearby colleges. That’s because Rhode Island has one of the highest (the local chamber of commerce says the highest) concentration of colleges and universities in the United States.
Given that higher education commands a huge payroll in the city, you might assume that the local newspaper, The Providence Journal, fields a team of higher-education reporters. But the ProJo, as it’s dubbed in Providence, lacks even one full-time higher-education reporter. Staff cutbacks in the last two years have left the education reporter, Jennifer D. Jordan, covering statewide elementary- and secondary-school issues, adult education, preschool, and higher education.
Sunday’s big match-up has created a rivalry off the field and in your coffee.
27 News received complaints UW Madison uses half-and-half coffee creamer made in New York. University officials admit non-Dairy State dairy may have sneaked onto campus.
UW gets it’s dry goods from South Carolina based supplier, U.S. Foods.
Q. How can a tornado occur in January?
– Submitted by Carrie Jeschke’s seventh-grade class at Waunakee Middle School
A. Tornadoes can happen whenever atmospheric conditions are suitable, said Steve Ackerman, professor of atmospheric science at UW-Madison. Wisconsin has had at least one tornado in every month except February.
Quoted: Paul Zedler, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, looked around at the blasted landscape and said, â??To us, this is beautiful.â?
A few sharp ice crystals ruin ice cream’s silky texture, as all connoisseurs know. An edible, tasteless antifreeze may soon come to the rescue.
The non-toxic antifreeze, made from a gelatin protein, could be added to any frozen food to prevent unappetizing ice crystals from forming, without otherwise affecting the food itself.
“This has been a major problem in frozen foods,” said food scientist Srinivasan Damodaran of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who conducted the research. “Ice crystal growth can change properties of frozen food like texture. We live in Wisconsin â?? dairy country. We produce a lot of ice cream.”
When Dave Doeren and Bob Bostad were hired on the original staff of University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema two years ago, it was with two moves potentially in mind.
Doeren, who was hired as linebackers coach, co-defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator, would ultimately take over as defensive coordinator.
Once again a federal judge has ruled that the University of Wisconsin at Madison must provide student-activity funds to a Roman Catholic student organization â?? even though the money will be used for religious purposes like worship services and proselytizing.
In an order issued today, Judge John C. Shabaz of the U.S. District Court in Madison said the university could not deny funds to the UW-Madison Roman Catholi
MADISON, Wis. â?? The University of Wisconsin-Madison can no longer refuse to pay for student activities involving prayer, worship and proselytizing, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge John Shabaz said the schoolâ??s policy of turning down funding requests from student groups for such activities violates their First Amendment right to free speech.
He granted a preliminary injunction sought by the Roman Catholic Foundation, a student group, that calls for the university to immediately stop enforcing the policy.
UW alumnus Robert L. Herman, the man who started Herman Landscape Service in Madison and whose landscape designs are evident at many homes and businesses in southern Wisconsin, will be posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation Hall of Fame.
The outrage should ring loud and clear in the ears of the Doyle administration.
For the third time in just over a year, Wisconsin residents ‘ Social Security numbers have been mistakenly revealed on information from the state sent through the mail.
About 200 UW-Madison employees learned recently their university identification numbers — which were based on their Social Security numbers — were available for about a year on a publicly available Web site that tracked purchases made at the university ‘s technology store.
Birkemeier is succeeding by thinking differently from the way he was taught about forestry in the early 1970s at UW-Madison.
It has won five of the last six NCAA titles, nine of its 10 teams were ranked in the top 20 poll just last week and its programs are regularly raided for talent by the NHL.
For the 3rd time in a week and the 4th time in a little more than a year – a group of Wisconsin residents have learned their social security numbers were made available to the public. This time it’s University of Wisconsin employees who are at risk – and their social security numbers visible in cyber space.
We’ve all heard horror stories about identity theft – and we see our social security number as the key to unlocking our personal information. But financial experts say your social security number isn’t the only number you should protect.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) â?? University of Wisconsin-Madison officials have advised more than 200 employees of a potential exposure of their personal information on the Internet.
The information included e-mail addresses, phone numbers and Social Security-based campus ID numbers of faculty and staff who made purchases from a campus computer shop. It had been accessible on a campus Internet site for at least a year, said Brian Rust, a spokesman for the universityâ??s department of information technology.
MADISON, Wis., Jan. 17 (UPI) — Information technology employees said University of Wisconsin-Madison workers had their Social Security numbers exposed on a public Web site.
The school ID numbers of a small number of university employees who purchased goods at the school’s technology store were discovered online in late November, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday. University of Wisconsin-Madison Davidson of Information Technology spokesman Brian Rust said about 205 of the ID numbers had been derived from Social Security numbers.
The third bombshell had better be the charm.
Wisconsin residents were just beginning to calm down after the tax form fiasco that left many of their Social Security numbers exposed in the mail. In the past couple of weeks, three new foul-ups were reported.
Waiting for word on whether or not a student has been accepted into UW-Madison is always a nail-biter, but this year that waiting game is even more stressful than usual.
Admissions decisions are coming about four to eight weeks later than normal, said admissions director Rob Seltzer, because the office of admissions is still getting up to speed with some major new technology.
Quoted: Max W. Carbon, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin, contends that nuclear power has a phenomenally good safety record.
NEW YORK (AP) — Just hours after baseball assured Congress it’s working to address the sport’s doping problem, scholars debated whether performance-enhancing drugs should even be banned.
Intelligence Squared, an organization that holds Oxford-style debates on such topics as global warming and illegal immigration, hosted a doping debate that included two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy and former World Anti-Doping, Agency chief Dick Pound.
“More people died playing baseball than died of steroid use,” declared Dr. Norman Fost, a professor of pediatrics and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin who supports allowing the drugs.
MADISON, Wis. — How can the accomplishments of Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and others of the “steroid era” of baseball be compared to those of Aaron or Ruth? Can Major League Baseball and the National Football League and the others ever get drugs out of their systems? Will the athletes named as users in the Mitchell report face futures threatened by cancer, heart attack, stroke? What will come of the House committee hearings, now postponed until February? Is there any tarnish remover strong enough to put the shine back on sports in America?
As the controversy over use of anabolic steroids by athletes swirls like a wind-whipped snowstorm, Norman Fost, professor of pediatric medicine and director of the Program in Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, is a center of calm and certainty. He says, as he has for many years and virtually alone, that the maelstrom is nothing more than “the hypocrisy, bad facts, inconsistency and moral incoherence of anti-drug hysteria.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison was once again ranked the No. 2 university for producing Peace Corps volunteers, according to a statement posted on the Peace Corps web site yesterday.
UW-Madison sent 99 undergraduate alumni volunteers as of September 2007. Coming in first place for the peace-prize was last year’s big winner, the University of Washington, with 113. Check out the rest of the list here.
How does UW-Madison pump out such a steady stream of do-gooders?
Molly Corbett Broad, who orchestrated sweeping changes to the tradition-bound University of North Carolina system during her recent nine-year tenure there, was named president of the American Council on Education on Tuesday.
Ms. Broad, who will succeed David Ward on May 1, will be the first woman to lead the nation’s top higher-education group since it was founded in 1918.
People with criminal pasts will be red-flagged if theyâ??re applying for work on UW campuses. A year after the UW Board of Regents approved giving virtually every new hire a background check, UW campuses are starting that practice. Mike Simonson reports from Superiorâ?¦(Audio.)
The next chancellor of UW-Madison will represent and deal with a broad spectrum of interests, and so should those who are involved in the selection process, says University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly.
The federal government wants more specifics built into a proposed settlement between the Sierra Club and the state intended to clean up emissions from a coal-burning power plant on the UW-Madison campus.
Yale University Monday became the latest high-priced, highly selective private college to reduce tuition for families across a broad range of incomes.
Its new undergraduate financial aid policy, which will go into effect for all new or returning students beginning this fall, will exempt more lower-income parents from having to contribute to their child’s education, and cut the average cost of attendance by thousands of dollars for families with incomes of up to $200,000.
University of Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan’s teams have always played well at home.
This season, they’re not doing too shabby on the road either.
This week, the No. 21 Badgers will get tested both on the road at Penn State on Tuesday and then at home on Saturday against Northwestern.
It was 4 a.m. on a snowy Christmas Eve as Linda Quire lay in her hospital room with her head shaved. She and a doctor wore special goggles to protect their eyes as the physician aimed an experimental laser device through her scalp and skull into her brain.
Quire’s treatment at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison last month was part of a clinical trial to test a novel method for protecting brain cells hours after a stroke. Doctors say such therapies are desperately needed because most stroke victims don’t get to a hospital soon enough.
If Plymouth High School freshman Marcus Gamoke can keep up a B average throughout high school, he’s likely to be assured a spot in whatever college, university or technical school he wants to attend. So why would the 15-year-old care whether he’s officially a Wisconsin Cove-nant scholar?
“I think it’s a good idea,” Gamoke said. “There’s a lot of extra stuff.”
Gamoke was one of 16 Plymouth High freshmen who visited with Wisconsin first lady Jessica Doyle Monday and talked about the merits of the brand-new Wisconsin Covenant program, which aims to make it easier for students to get into college.
Quoted: The outcome of the fight over coal could determine the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions for years to come, said Gregory Nemet, assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin.
Area parents eager to understand what’s behind their baby’s coos, their toddler’s meltdowns or their preschooler’s grasp of language are in luck.
The Appleton Education Foundation is hosting four leading “brain investigators” from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Center who will speak about brain development in young children in a series of free lectures beginning next month.
The University of Washington, for the second year in a row, tops the list of colleges and universities sending the most number of volunteers to the Peace Corps in 2007.
The University of Washington sent 113 volunteers to the 47-year-old, Washington D.C.-based program, ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 99 volunteers and the University of Colorado-Boulder’s 94. The University of Washington also sent the most graduate school volunteers, with 17.
Far from resolving an epic moral quandary, last yearâ??s groundbreaking discovery that ordinary skin cells eventually could replace the use of human embryos in stem-cell research actually stoked the fiery debate over the cutting-edge science.
Religious opponents hailed the skin-cell breakthrough as proof that research involving the destruction of embryos is unnecessary and must end. Scientists countered that studies on stem cells harvested from human embryos must continue for at least several more years while the new technique is perfected. And the battle went on.
