Please, please, don’t call them bees.
Those are wasps, the nasty stinging insects competing for your frosted cinnamon bun at the Dane County Farmers’ Market.
“Mainly, it’s the yellow jacket that causes the most problems for people,” said Bob Jeanne, a professor of entomology and zoology at UW-Madison.
“The horrible tragedy of Sept. 11 will remain in my memory forever,” wrote Liz O’Herrin of Marshall. “However, it did not fully hit me until I heard a news commentator refer to the attack as the second Pearl Harbor. Those words made my stomach churn.”
O’Herrin was in a class of Marshall High School students who wrote letters to the editor in the aftermath of Sept. 11. She noted that more than a month before the attack, she had decided to enlist in the Air National Guard.
“Two days before I was to be sworn in, planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in a terrorist attack,” she wrote. “Suddenly, the possibility of war was in my face like never before. . . Some people go into the Guard never expecting to actually have to defend the freedom of America. Me? I would gladly die for my country.”
O’Herrin went on to serve in Kuwait, and she just returned from duty in Iraq. She is now a student at UW-Madison.
Ana Garic-Stankovic is far from the stereotype of an unskilled worker who sneaks illegally across the border into the United States.
A researcher at UW-Madison’s department of nutritional sciences, she came here legally from Macedonia, and she and her husband overcame several hurdles to stay and become U.S. citizens.
For most of its 81 years, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has enjoyed a reputation as a pioneering and savvy leader in the commercialization of university inventions, the force that helped bring to market vitamin-D-enriched foods with to fight rickets, the blood thinner Warfarin to prevent strokes, and key technologies used in PlayStation 2 video-game machines.
Here on the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin, the foundation commonly referred to as WARF is also widely heralded as an enduring and generous benefactor of the research enterprise. It has provided close to $1-billion for professorships, research grants, and new buildingsÃ? ââ?¬â? including, most recently, a matching gift that will help build the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. The project, announced this spring, will foster cutting-edge collaborations in biology, nanotechnology, and computer science.
Brigham Young University has placed Steven E. Jones, a senior professor of physics, on paid leave because of concerns over his involvement in Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group that says the U.S. government permitted and may have even orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.
Five years ago, academe braced itself.
In the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, when title logos like “America Under Attack” still loomed over newscasts, some scholars said they could already feel the free exchange of ideas constricting. As news commentators proclaimed an end to the age of irony, many professors feared the start of a new McCarthy era.
Five years ago, Al-Qaida hijackers destroyed the World Trade Center in a horrifying cloud of ash and smoke. The events of Sept. 11 galvanized Americans across all political and economic divides. “United We Stand” was emblazoned on gas station marquees, and flags flew in every neighborhood.
Quoted: Scott Straus, a University of Wisconsin professor and genocide expert.
Quoted: Robert Enright, a pioneer in the scientific study of forgiveness and professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Neil Whitehead, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin.
College football returns to Camp Randall Stadium today, though you might have trouble recognizing it at first.The University of Wisconsin’s home opener against Western Illinois, a Division I-AA school, is an example of the latest trend in the NCAA, one that is best described as College Football Lite.
Barry Alvarez signed copies of his new autobiography entitled “Don’t Flinch.” Badger fans patiently waited in line at the University Bookstore to get a personalized copy. The former coach says he enjoyed reliving the past 59ââ?¬â??years and putting his experiences down in words.
If you’re planning on being outside at all this weekend – be for warned, the bees are buzzing in record numbers.
Experts say those heading to the Badger game tomorrow and also out to watch the Ironman competition Sunday can expect to find plenty of the pests around.
While fans root for Bucky at Camp Randall stadium, odds are they’ll also be swatting at something less cute and cuddly. Along with garlic mustard and zebra mussels, you can add the German yellow jacket to a list of invasive species here in Wisconsin.
Anticipating a gruesome or traumatic event makes it more vivid and deeply imprinted in the memory, a study says.
Researchers found if people were aware something was going to happen, a key memory-forming part of the brain fired.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison said the findings may have implications in the treatment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green said Friday he would stop the University of Wisconsin System from changing admission standards to put greater emphasis on nonacademic qualities such as family income and race.
In addition, Green called for legislation to guarantee that in-state students are never denied admission in favor of students from other states with lower academic credentials.
Quoted: Terry Devitt, spokesman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Madison, Wis. – Ananda Chakrabarty is modest about the role he played in sparking the American biotechnology industry, but others are willing to do the boasting for him.
Chakrabarty, the first person to successfully patent life forms, visited Wisconsin this week to lecture students enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s biotechnology program. Asked if he understood the full impact of securing the legal right to patent genetically engineered Psuedomonas – engineered living organisms – Chakrabarty downplayed his contribution.
Quoted: David Canon, a political-science professor at UW-Madison.
Quoted: Dennis Maki, a medical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Council on Public Health Preparedness since 2002.
Two announcements this week bode well for the Dane County and Wisconsin biotech communities.
One is the news that an Illinois life sciences company will be moving to Madison. The other is that a fledgling venture capital fund ââ?¬â?? backed by
Boston financiers – will be investing in startup life sciences and information technology companies in Wisconsin and other Midwestern states.
MADISON, Wis. — There are approximately 1,100 suicide attempts on college campuses each year, and some schools are taking drastic steps to avoid liability in such cases.A Hunter College student in New York was kicked out of her dorm after a suicide attempt.Other schools have been found liable in court for student suicides, and experts said that has pressured some colleges to distance themselves from suicide cases.
A prominent military strategist says he is considering “some kind of action” to defend his reputation after conspiracy theorists suggested that his work might have led to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“This is slander of the worst kind,” Edward Luttwak, who has advised the State Department, the National Security Council, and several branches of the military, said.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin.
Quoted: Calvin DeWitt, a University of Wisconsin biology professor and a founder of the Evangelical Environmental Network.
Hundreds of thousands of college students are petitioning to stop a popular website from posting their personal information. Facebook is an online social network, much like myspace.com, where friends can share information and pictures but some say it’s gone too far. Facebook has hundreds of thousands of users across the globe and now it’s added a feature that shares parts of your profile with others around the clock.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison’s annual Halloween party on State Street will now take on a new name, according to a new student group that is organizing the event.
There’s a break in one of the more disturbing downtown Madison crimes, a gang rape.Ã? Detectives are intensifying their seach for other suspects after arresting one man in the rape of a 23 year old woman.Ã? Authorities say the arrested man is Mario Amaya, 26, Ã? of Madison.Ã?Â
Q: Is it safe to reuse plastic water bottles? I heard somewhere that the plastic can break down and chemicals can leach into the water.
A: “It’s not a good idea,” said William Sonzogni, a UW- Madison environmental chemist.
Whoo-hoo!
Wisconsin ought to put its money for embryonic stem cell research where it has the best chance of curing disease.
That means supporting existing, ethical and proven research at UW-Madison. It also means pushing President Bush to loosen unnecessary restrictions on the creation and use of new stem cell lines.
Is Dane County really becoming nationally known as a hotbed for biotechnology, with the potential to generate jobs and income for Wisconsin as well as medical advancements for mankind?
Are the millions of dollars of state investment in biological sciences at UW-Madison really paying off?
Is there really economic development potential in a Madison-to-Milwaukee-to-Chicago triangle of regional cooperation?
Wisconsin policymakers should take note: This week produced more evidence that the answers to those three questions are yes, yes and yes.
Public college costs are taking a much bigger bite out of the average Minnesota family’s annual income than in recent years, according to a nationwide report released today.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin Emeritus Professor Gary Frank.
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin eighth-graders in spring will be the first class allowed to sign a pledge promising to be good students in exchange for state help getting into college, Gov. Jim Doyle vowed Wednesday.
Video games involving multiple players serve as informal gathering places akin to old-time pubs and coffee shops, and can thereby boost players’ social connections, researchers argue in a new study.
In their report, Constance Steinkuehler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign question the perception that kids who play computer games are isolating themselves, at least when they are playing so-called massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).
NEW YORK – A depressed Hunter College student who swallowed handfuls of Tylenol, then saved her own life by calling 911, was in for a surprise when she returned to her dorm room after the ordeal.
Students who ride mopeds on the UW campus now have to dish out some extra cash to drive legally on campus.
“Welcome to Conspiracy Theories 370.”
Controversial UW-Madison lecturer Kevin Barrett opened his class on Islam: Religion and Culture on Tuesday by jokingly referencing the scrutiny he has come under for his view that the U.S. government was complicit in planning and orchestrating the attacks on Sept. 11.
MADISON, Wis. — Many parents sent their college students to school with a moped, but this year students will need a $55 permit to park a moped on campus.University of Wisconsin-Madison said regulation is needed since moped use is exploding on campus, especially among faculty.
The United States has made incremental improvements in preparing students for college in recent years, but it has made ââ?¬Å?no notable progress since the early 1990sââ?¬Â in increasing college participation rates, a report says. And, it says, degree-completion rates in the USA compare poorly with those of other countries.
Making Camp Randall Stadium a more customer friendly place continues to be a major initiative for the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department.A year after celebrating the end of a $109.5 million renovation with a grand reopening, UW officials spent another $500,000 to further upgrade the 89-year-old facility in advance of the 2006 season.
After fighting for the formula their son Tyler needed to survive, and then fighting for his life, Jeff and Kristin Tracy are engaged in another challenge: raising $200,000 for a sibling care center that will grace the lobby of the new UW Children’s Hospital in memory of their 17-month-old son, who died in 2003.
Seeking to blunt criticism he would stand in the way of groundbreaking science, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green on Tuesday proposed spending $25 million in state money on embryonic stem-cell research that doesn’t harm embryos.
Green even took a page from the playbook of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, making the announcement in Hartland flanked by families affected by juvenile diabetes, one of the diseases stem-cell research holds promise to treat. Doyle has made championing the science a centerpiece of his campaign.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison, $1.777-billion as of August 4 (increase of $11.4-million in the last month); the goal was $1.5-billion by 2007.
MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin football fans will find a few changes to Camp Randall when they come to see the Badgers’ home opener this weekend.
Squeezing 84,000 cheering badger fans inside Camp Randall Stadium is no easy task, and getting them in and out quickly is an even higher priority this year.
A big advantage will be to fans who have a ticket but nothing else on them. They can use a marked express line, found at Gates 1, 6, 7, and 10. Associate Athletic Director Doug Beard said Penn State and Detroit’s Ford Field during the Super Bowl used the concept, and it seemed to work.
MADISON – Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green on Tuesday proposed spending $25 million on research aimed at deriving new stem cell lines without destroying human embryos.
UW-Madison instructor Kevin Barrett’s first class session on Islam prepared students for what’s to come: different views on what caused the 9/11 attack.
But Barrett also warned discussion of 9/11 will be limited.
As the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks looms, skepticism about the official version of the atrocities that day has gained traction in the minds of many Americans and among a small, but growing, number of academics.
MADISON, Wis. – A part-time instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison taught the first class of his course on Islam Tuesday after drawing intense scrutiny for his belief the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Star Trek” fans are acquainted with nanotechnology, which the feared Borg employed to transform humanoids into automaton members of their conquest-minded collective. Well, the real world is catching up with science fiction. Nanotechnology, which entails the development of super-tiny products and machines invisible to the naked eye, is a rapidly growing discipline and, according to the National Science Foundation, could amount to a trillion-dollar industry by 2015.
After reading the Sept. 2 article “Researcher, grants leaving UW for lack of partner benefits,” I’m again left wondering when politicians are going to get out of our bedrooms. And, once again, I’m left wondering how gay marriage is a threat to these politicians, their marriages or their families.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison police are searching for several men after a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted on Monday.
MADISON, Wis. — A part-time instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison taught his first class on Islam on Tuesday since drawing criticism this summer for his belief that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
MADISON, Wis. — Madison’s mayor decided to compromise with University of Wisconsin-Madison students Tuesday night on final details of the Halloween festivities on State Street.
The instructions Michel A. Wattiaux received when he started a faculty job in dairy science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison six years ago were simple yet daunting: Change the way the students learn.
UW-Madison researchers have found a new way to tap the natural sugars of plants and bacteria in the search for new drugs to treat cancer and infectious diseases.
To George Orwell, 1984 signified a big-brother world under omnipresent surveillance. Orwell missed the Bush administration by about two decades.
To me, 1984 represents a new generation characterized by the arrival of my big sister, the birth year on my fake ID and the introduction of the very first Macintosh computer. Together, these elements of 1984 define a generation that never knew life without computers and continues to mature at hi-speed.
A 19-year-old UW-Madison student was in intensive care with a brain injury Friday after a fall down a flight of porch stairs following a night of drinking and a fight of some kind.
