Skip to main content

Author: jplucas

Ochoa receives standing ovation at graduation

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

It was probably the first time a UW Law School graduation ceremony attracted national media attention, including ABC News and Univision, but this is also the first time an exonerated felon convicted of murder left prison and went on to graduate from the law school that helped him do it.

Christopher Ochoa was convicted of raping and murdering a Pizza Hut employee in Auston, Texas. In 2001, he was freed from prison, his life sentence overturned after the UW Innocence Project and new DNA tests helped prove he was wrongfully convicted.

UW-Madison probes allegations of misconduct

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A UW-Madison dean said Thursday the school is investigating former genetics professor Elizabeth Goodwin, who resigned in February, on allegations of research misconduct involving federal grant money.
Bill Mellon, associate dean for research policy, said he hoped the investigation would be finished before fall. Results would then have to be shared with the federal Office of Research Integrity, which would decide whether to pursue any legal charges, he said.

Wrongly jailed, he wants to serve justice (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Posted on
St. Paul Pioneer Press

The feeling of despair and anxiety, the same one that pushed him to the brink of suicide while in prison, came rushing back for Christopher Ochoa.

The trigger this time was not the sheer anguish of an innocent man languishing in prison. This time, it was receiving poor grades while in his first semester in law school three years ago.

From Incarceration to Graduation

Posted on
NBC-15

18ââ?¬â??years ago he was accused of rape and murder.

16ââ?¬â??years ago he began serving what he thought would be a life sentence.

Tomorrow, he graduates from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Curiosities: Better materials have stemmed rust on cars

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Q: Why don’t cars rust like they used to?

A: Rust used to be one of the great banes of car ownership. And because road salt accelerates rusting, the problem was especially severe in places like Wisconsin, where the roads are salted in winter. Many cars rusted to pieces long before they failed mechanically.

Not guilty! (Isthmus)

Posted on
Isthmus

The proponents of re-establishing the death penalty in Wisconsin should be sure to read Jason Shepard’s “Finding Justice,” our cover story on Chris Ochoa, a Texas man who spent 12 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. This week he graduates from UW Law School.

Posted in Uncategorized

Panel Explains Barrows Decision

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A report Monday explained why a committee said last month that UW-Madison failed to prove that Paul Barrows sexually harassed two women on campus.
A staff appeals committee said Barrows’ accusers were not credible enough and the university’s investigation of the matter was hurried and incomplete.

Posted in Uncategorized

Metalsmiths’ legacy shines through

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

For more than a quarter century, the UW-Madison Metals program was guided by Fred Fenster and Eleanor Moty. Together they forged a vibrant program that stretched the boundaries of contemporary metalsmithing, while maintaining a dedication to technique that firmly rooted it in the history of the craft.

Stack of legislation for Doyle’s review

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Want to make sure no one implants a microchip in your body without your consent?
Do you think schools should present abstinence as the preferred choice of behavior for unmarried pupils?

How about a state income tax credit for health savings accounts, or letting the owners of billboards cut down trees along the highway so you can see their advertisements better?

Let his year 13 commence

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

About the time Johnny Lechner was picking up his cap and gown for his graduation this Saturday from UW-Whitewater, it occurred to him there was a hole in his college record.

Second Chance at Freedom, Part III (WSAW-TV, Wausau)

Posted on

Avery is accused of raping and murdering Teresa Halbach and is one of half a dozen inmates freed from prison after their cases were reviewed by the UW Law School’s Innocence Project.
“It begins when people write to us and ask for help.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Second Chance at Freedom, Part II (WSAW-TV, Wausau)

Posted on

Keith Findley, WI Innocence Project Director, says, “They’re important to the larger community because every time we wrongly convict an innocent person, it means we’re failing to convict the true perpetrator.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Second Chance at Freedom: Part I (WSAW-TV, Wausau)

Posted on

The Wisconsin Innocence Project is an elective course at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Students review the cases of convicted criminals, usually when the prisoners themselves write and ask for help.

Posted in Uncategorized

What’s the Idea? (The American Spectator)

Posted on

Inaugurated in 1904, University of Wisconsin (UW) President Charles Van Hise gradually changed the role of the school from pure academics to service to the state.

Van Hise thought UW research should improve the lives of all Wisconsin citizens through research into better ways, for example, to farm, catch fish, and manage forests. Academics could also improve Wisconsin law and government. It came to be called the Wisconsin Idea.

U. of I. admission about to get harder for residents (Chicago Tribune)

Posted on
Chicago Tribune

University of Illinois’ goal to raise its academic reputation also has raised the anxiety level in high schools, where some students say they fear they might have a tougher time getting into the state’s flagship campus.

To address those worries, U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Richard Herman on Tuesday met with Chicago-area high school counselors to explain why he wants to attract more out-of-state, minority and international students–and how that could help their students.

UWM announces winners of RGI awards

Posted on
Wisconsin Technology Network

Milwaukee, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has announced the funding of 45 top-ranked research proposals generated in an internal seed-funding competition.

Downtown muggings have put leaders on edge

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison students are also bringing it up, said Lori Berquam, interim dean of students. A number of the victims have been university students.

She and her staff have been meeting with students in small groups – such as fraternities, service groups and government groups – to remind them to travel safely at night and to urge them to report the crimes.

MGE profits jump 40% in first quarter

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Madison Gas and Electric Co.’s profits jumped 40 percent in the first three months of 2006, thanks to its new power plant on the UW-Madison campus and another plant under construction near Milwaukee, the company reported Monday.

Ruth Bachhuber Doyle

Posted on
Madison.com

MADISON – Ruth Bachhuber Doyle passed away on Saturday, May 6, 2006, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 89.

Gov. Doyle Signs State Labor Contracts

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Jim Doyle signed 16 state employee labor contracts Friday granting thousands of state workers pay raises of about 6.25 percent while increasing health-care premiums.

The deals cover more than 24,000 state workers represented by 12 unions. The raises come after state employees had received a total 1 percent pay increase between 2003 and 2005 as the state struggled with budget problems.

Blooms Of Spring Misery Can Bring

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

High atop UW Hospital, a little machine catches invisible grains of pollen wafting through the air on their way to attack vulnerable people. Sunny, breezy spring days are perfect for microscopic tree pollen to bring runny noses and itchy eyes to nearly 36 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies.

UW alters student-athlete disciplinary policy

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin Athletic Board overhauled Friday the much-maligned student-athlete discipline policy, which even board chairman Walter Dickey referred to as an “unmitigated disaster.”

The revised policy, which was unanimously approved and will go into effect immediately, attempts to do a better job at fact finding for each case.

Madison Guidebook Helpful, Convenient

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

What’s a city without a guide? That’s not for us to say. Madison has lots of guides, many of them useful. The latest, “Madison: The Guide” by Gwen Evans (Jones Books: $13.95) is one of the most useful.

Researchers on reforming our schools� (The Washington Times)

Posted on

If you want to be better informed about the best ways to reform our schools, you ought to study the history of American education. A good place to start might be William J. Reese’s informative book, America’s Public Schools: From the Common School to “No Child Left Behind (Johns Hopkins, $21.95, 333 pages).

Mr. Reese, an education historian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has set out to tell the entire history of our schools in a book.

Researchers: Madison schools closing racial achievement gap (AP)

Posted on
Duluth News

MADISON, Wis. – Madison’s public schools appear to be succeeding with efforts to attack a problem common to urban districts nationwide – the performance gap between students of different races, according to two education researchers.

Strategies such as more one-on-one tutoring and smaller class sizes should continue even in the face of tightening budgets, said Julie Underwood, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, and Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Doyle says he’ll include private schools in college aid plan (AP)

Posted on
Duluth News

MADISON, Wis. – Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday he would expand his plan to guarantee college financial aid to low-income students to include private schools and technical colleges.
Doyle earlier this year unveiled a plan designed to make college affordable to the low-income families in the face of skyrocketing tuition in the University of Wisconsin System.

Young, Eager — and Cheap (Wall Street Journal)

Posted on
Wall Street Journal

Dawn Cherek, who owns a chain of hair salons in the Madison, Wis., area, was having trouble drawing student customers to her newest salon, just blocks from the University of Wisconsin campus. A friend suggested she contact the university to see whether there were any marketing majors who could hammer out a plan to lure those potential customers.

4 recent muggings have Madison officials worried about trend (AP)

Posted on
Duluth News

MADISON, Wis. – Four violent muggings were reported in recent days, adding to about a dozen similar attacks reported in the last two weeks, police said.
The attacks occurred downtown near the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison but it’s unclear whether the attacks are related to each other or to previous muggings, authorities said.

Labor Groups Protest At UW Campus

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — Campus labor groups are asking the University of Wisconsin-Madison to take a stand against racism after they said that black and Hispanic employees across campus are being harassed by white supervisors.A couple dozen supporters gathered on campus on Thursday at the stairs of Bascom Hall. They said that they won’t stop sounding off until the university takes action, WISC-TV reported.

Posted in Uncategorized