Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan and his prized pupil, Alando Tucker, understand the fuss over fifth-ranked Ohio State’s vaunted freshmen class, which the Badgers will see up close today in a heavily anticipated Big Ten game in Madison.
Textbooks are becoming a hot commodity on the UW- Madison campus.
Madison City Council President Austin King, 8th District, says the theft of textbooks reached a new high last semester, with the increasingly expensive volumes resold to local bookstores for cash.
The anonymous, hostile e-mails were bad enough. The anonymous phone callers telling Brian Butch he was a failure really crossed the line. But Butch remained undaunted about his decision to redshirt the 2003-04 season, his freshman year at Wisconsin, even though some of the Wisconsin faithful couldn’t stomach the idea of a 6-11 McDonald’s All-American sitting out.
Author Gregory Krohm is a professor of actuarial science, risk management and insurance at the University of Wisconsin. The article “A New Season?” appears in the winter issue of the Cato Institute’s Regulation Magazine.
Quoted: Dr. Kristin Seaborg, a pediatrician at University of Wisconsin Health.
Over the years we have come to raise a skeptical eyebrow when we hear the words ââ?¬Å?scientific breakthroughââ?¬Â.
Often those promises are accompanied by qualifications and the fine print talks of the number of years it will be before there are practical application, etc., etc., assuming every goes well, etc., etc.s
Still, it�s human nature to get our hopes up and we�re hopeful indeed that the announcement this week that stem cells in amniotic fluid appear to have the same benefits of embryonic stem cells is good news indeed.
Praying online in a support group may help women with breast cancer cope with the disease more effectively, a new study shows.
Dr. Bret Shaw of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues found that breast cancer patients who used a higher percentage of religion-related words in their communications with an Internet support group had lower levels of negative emotions, better functional well-being, and more confidence in their ability to deal with their illness.
UW Researchers say the discovery of stem cells in amniotic fluid, should not impact embryonic stem cell research.
Scientists at Wake Forest and Harvard Universities released a report claiming stem cells taken from the womb of pregnant women can become many different tissue types, for the liver, heart, bone and even brain.
After talking with UW senior Justin Baker, you’d think the school was paying him to say some of the things he says.
“I think this school has done an outstanding job of preparing young people to go for it and really drive change in the world,” said Baker.
Baker is about to graduate with a marketing degree and there’s a pretty good chance he’ll make his old professors proud some day.
David A. Caputo, the president of Pace University, has ricocheted from one crisis to another.
Freshman enrollment this fall at his sprawling, six-campus university in Manhattan and Westchester County plunged after a big tuition increase. That led to a sizable deficit, a hiring freeze, demonstrations, the threat of a no-confidence vote by the faculty, and attacks on his annual compensation of nearly $700,000.
Re: ââ?¬Å?Wisconsin Cityââ?¬â?¢s Revival of Downtown Has a Downsideââ?¬Â (news article, Jan. 1):Our national research involving 120 colleges in 40 states has shown that the greater the number of alcohol outlets near colleges, the higher the rate of student binge drinking, and the higher the rate of secondhand effects in neighborhoods surrounding the college.
A type of cell that floats freely in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women has been found to have many of the same traits as embryonic stem cells, including an ability to grow into brain, muscle and other tissues that could be used to treat a variety of diseases, scientists reported yesterday.
The 2005 index compiles overall institutional rankings on 166 large research universities, which include 15 or more Ph.D. programs, as well as 61 smaller research
universities, which contain between one and 14 Ph.D. programs.
For years when the dean of the graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis wanted to know how its programs stacked up to their peers, he was at a loss. He resorted to using U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of graduate programs, even though many in academe pooh-pooh them as unscientific. The National Research Council’s rankings of doctoral programs, considered the gold standard in academe, have not been updated since 1995.
Quoted: Norman Fost, MD, MPH, is a professor of pediatrics and bioethics as well as director of the program in bioethics and vice chair of the Department of Medical History and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.
Quoted: Dr. Jonathan Patz, a University of Wisconsin expert on climate-disease links.
MADISON ââ?¬â? Otto Breitenbach, a former athletics administrator at the University of Wisconsin and commissioner of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, has died at the age of 82.
Breitenbach had a heart attack Monday while watching the Wisconsin football team play Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, university officials said. He died Tuesday at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Compared with last year’s rankings, some institutions leapfrogged into the top 20 and others dropped to lower positions.
For instance, Georgia Institute of Technology moved up 17 places, to number 13, by improving retention and graduation rates and beefing up financial aid. The University of Illinois fell 22 places by raising tuition and cutting need-based aid in half. The University of Wisconsin-Madison also slashed need-based aid and dropped from number 15 to number 25.
Quoted: Irwin Goldman, professor of horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Letting the river run can help run up property values, a study recently released by the River Alliance of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals.
Minnesota has stumbled badly in the race among states for academic research and development dollars, according to a new study by University of Minnesota economists.
Once above average, Minnesota now ranks 43rd in the money it spends on academic research compared to the size of its economy, and the university’s research spending has grown the slowest among its peers. Much of the ground has been lost over the last 15 years.
Bipartisanship in the new Congress? A UW political scientist expects that can only go so far. Professor John Coleman expects the new Democratic majorities and GOP minorities in the House and Senate will have “some easy things” that they can accomplish together, but the parties remain far apart on more contentious issues like entitlement reform, tax cuts and Iraq. “The solutions are going to be hard to come by,” says Coleman.
UW-Madison students were assigned to write profiles of businesses in the vicinity of State Street, Downtown Madison’s unique cultural and shopping zone, where 80 percent of businesses are locally owned. The stores and restaurants the students chose — ranging from a chocolatier to an import store to a landmark watering hole — reflect State Street’s claim as the place Madisonians go to shop, dine and play. This is the last article in the series.
Mark Mulligan is selling what appears to be a shiny glob of tangled fishing line for at least $8,500.
These 8-millimeter thin threads are worth more than $600 an ounce because they are .999 percent pure gold.
A study suggests that preschoolers who bottle-feed for several years are more likely to develop weight problems. The study, led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher, also indicates that obese mothers are likely to raise heavy kids.
Researchers sought to find out what role income and ethnic background play in making preschoolers overweight. Rachel Tolbert-Kimbro from the UW-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences led the study. It examined the habits of three-year olds from urban, low-income families around the nation. She says the study found very high levels of television watching across all the groups, so didn�t see a lot of ethnic differences in television watching.
A massive turnout in support of affirmative action at a Dec. 19 hearing surprised the Wisconsin state senator, Glenn Grothman, who had called the meeting to attack the progressive policy. Grothman is chairman of the Wisconsin Legislative Council�s Special Committee on Affirmative Action Policies.
Does prayer benefit cancer patients?
A new study says it does. Breast cancer patients who pray in online support groups can get mental health benefits, according to the study.
“We know that many cancer patients pray in online support groups to help them cope with their illness. This is the first study we are aware of that examines the psychological effects of this behavior,” said Bret Shaw, an associate scientist in UW-Madison’s College of Engineering and lead author of the study.
A day after Nick Saban agreed to an eight-year, $32 million contract to become Alabama’s football coach, the Senate Finance Committee’s chairman and ranking Republican said Thursday they intend to keep pressuring colleges about how they are using their tax-exempt status. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement colleges “need to justify” their expenses on coaching salaries and athletics facilities if they are to maintain that tax-exempt status.
When Florida’s Joe Cohen heard about the $32 million megadeal Alabama awarded its new football coach this week, he was delighted. “I’m happy for Nick Saban,” said the Gators senior defensive tackle. “That’s a lot of money. Somebody has to get paid.”Coaches get richer. Schools and conferences rake in millions of sponsorship and television dollars for the Bowl Championship Series. Networks reap the rewards of higher ratings. College ledgers benefit, too. And the student-athletes?
Commentary By Jon Saraceno
Q: Why does too much sleep make you tired?
A: From time to time, many of us experience a dragging feeling of fatigue and grogginess when we awake from a deep sleep. Scientists call this “sleep inertia.”
Quoted: UW business professor Tom Eggert.
Buckeyes field more teams (36), spend the most ($101.8M) on athletics, but OSU’s megaprogram does have its critics.
Like a lot of other people, Bill Rock of Madison wonders why his prescription drugs are so expensive. He suspects itââ?¬â?¢s due in large part to ââ?¬Å?huge mark-upsââ?¬Â; this, he reasons, would account for wide disparities in cost and the fact that providers like Wal-Mart can fill many common prescriptions for as little as $4.
Quoted: Emeritus Professor of Limnology John Magnuson.
Now in its third year, UW-Madison’s intramural dodgeball league attracted 793 students this fall, far outpacing team tennis (250 participants) and ice hockey (300).
In case you missed Sunday’s New York Times story on Downtown Madison, I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version:
Downtown revived.
Condos appear.
Drunken students plague new residents.
A report due in 2007 could suggest changes at schools – from eliminating funding for electives to putting teachers on merit-based pay – by proposing where schools could best allocate funds toward doubling academic performance.
Allan R. Odden, a professor in the department of educational leadership and policy analysis at University of Wisconsin-Madison, organized the Finance Adequacy Task Force.
Professional violinist Aasheeta Parikh-Dimick remembers when she wasn’t so enthralled with her music.
“My mom has a story about my bad practice habits when I was young,” she recalled. “Apparently she caught me with a book I had placed on the music stand – I was reading while playing, figuring that if Mom heard the violin, she would think I was practicing. My music stand was moved to the kitchen after that!”
The U.S. Supreme Court may have unanimously squelched a First Amendment challenge on the part of law schools to a 1994 law tying federal funding to campus access for military recruiters back in March. But it left one door open for opponents of the so-called Solomon Amendment: ââ?¬Å?Law schools remain free under the statute to express whatever views they may have on the militaryââ?¬â?¢s congressionally mandated employment policy, all the while retaining eligibility for federal funds,ââ?¬Â the court ruled in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR).
New state scholarship programs proposed in Indiana and Wisconsin would offer funds to students attending in-state institutions, with strings attached ââ?¬â? or, as the man behind the Wisconsin proposal puts it, ââ?¬Å?tethers.ââ?¬Â
Paul Montague nominated Dr. David Allen for our people making a difference segment. He says Dr. Allen… “Practices what he preaches and rides a bicycle to work on most days even in winter.”
20 years ago, Madison was rooting for him as a runner. Today, he is trying save children from a disease that could catch up with them later in life. So, David along with a couple other Pediatrics Physicians came up with a fitness initiative to try and measure how fit children really are.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison, $1.848-billion as of December 8 (increase of $13.1-million in the last month); the goal was $1.5-billion by 2007.
The Latin Palace Club….An early morning fire damaged the Latin Palace Club on University Avenue. No one was injured in the blaze, reported shortly after 2 a.m.
A few weeks after breaking the Republicans’ 16-year lock on Massachusetts’ highest office, Deval L. Patrick, the governor-elect, traveled to the University of Massachusetts system’s flagship campus, in Amherst, and made a vow: He would champion the state’s public colleges.
More than a third of disadvantaged 3-year-olds in Chicago and other major U.S. cities are overweight or obese, according to a new study that supports the notion that the struggle with obesity often begins in early childhood.
Hispanic children from low-income families were most at risk, with 44 percent either overweight or obese, compared with 32 percent for white and African-American children from similar households.
The study’s authors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also identified several practices that may protect kids from excessive weight gain, including breast-feeding for at least six months and not allowing children to take a bottle to bed.
As states try to maintain thriving economies in the high-tech 21st century, two assets are essential: brains and money.
For that reason Wisconsin lawmakers should make it a priority in 2007 to improve the education level of the state’s work force and to increase the financing available for economic development.
On Jan. 12, the Meyers expect to sign closing papers for the residence at 850 E. Gorham St., between the UW-Madison and MATC campuses. If all goes according to plan, four male students in recovery plus a live-in counselor will call the place home when Aaron’s House opens its doors in August.
If you have been following the funeral ceremonies for former President Ford during the past few days, you might have noticed the presence of his pastor.
The Rev. Robert Certain led prayers for Ford at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, Calif., days after Ford died. Certain also led the procession of the late president’s casket into the Capitol Saturday, presided at Ford’s state funeral Tuesday and will lead services today at the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Certain is somewhat known in Madison. His brother, Phillip, is the former dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison, and Robert Certain visits here frequently.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ben Marquez.
Madison, Wis. – To find out whether radio frequency identification can improve the speed and accuracy of the blood banking process, the RFID Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is partnering with three blood banks and multiple vendor partners on what is being called an “end-to-end” research project.
Madison, Wis. – The first segment of a national and international pipeline to Wisconsin might have been put in place with the announcement that CellCura, Inc., a Norwegian biotechnology and stem cell research company, will be opening a location in Madison’s University Research Park.
MADISON, Wis. — Playing in a bowl game was a dream shared by one Badger player and his brother from the time they were small children.
Matt and Nathan Brown are former LaFollette High School athletes, and they said that they both dreamed of playing football for the Badgers, WISC-TV reported.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Although many Badgers fans have grown used to their team playing in a bowl game, the University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band is as energized as ever as they prepare in the Orlando heat to perform at the Capital One Bowl.
If anyone has a right to feel blasÃ?© about New Year’s bowl games, it’s longtime UW marching band leader Mike Leckrone. For the band and its leader, it might seem like preparing for the umpteenth bowl would get old by now.
“It hasn’t yet,” Leckrone said.
MADISON – It would take about $290 from every man, woman and child in Wisconsin to make up the shortfall in spending requested by state agencies over the next two years.
How that shortfall will be addressed is the $1.6 billion question heading into the 2007 legislative session.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Wisconsin football team showed on a national stage Monday how far it has come in the last two years.
The sixth-ranked Badgers proved again they have the athletes to compete with a favored Southeastern Conference opponent, defeating Arkansas 17-14 to win the Capital One Bowl for a second straight year, in front of a crowd of 60,774 at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Eliminating earmakrs could cost Wisconsin several projects, from $4.7 million for Rayovac of Madison to explore battery technology for the military, to $2.4 million for improvements to the Rice Lake Airport, to $260,000 for UW-Madison research on livestock grazing.
Joe Boucher is not your average dark-suited, buttoned-down lawyer who works in a well-appointed, mahogany-laden, immaculate Downtown office overlooking the state Capitol.
Boucher is a sweater guy, friendly and informal. He is co-founder of a Madison law firm, Neider & Boucher, that employs 30 people, 14 of them attorneys, with offices at University Research Park on the West Side.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, political science.
Jon Odorico: Surgeon moves stem-cell research forward
For all the noisy controversy over the use of human embryonic stem cells, it is very quiet in the places where the real work on the promising cells continues to occur – in the laboratory, for example, of transplant surgeon Jon Odorico.
Odorico is one of a legion of scientists on the UW-Madison campus working to understand and grow stem cells that might one day be used to treat human illnesses.
Meg Hamel: Film Festival director loses the “in terim” label
As interim director of the Wisconsin Film Festival, Meg Hamel helped fill 26,000 seats and show 177 films on 10 screens in 2006.
At the ninth annual festival in April, it will all come down to Hamel, who is now the event’s permanent director.
