WASHINGTON ââ?¬â? Though Christopher Flickinger calls himself “dean” and poses in parodistic photos waving a small American flag and looking stern, he says he’s never been more serious about eliminating what he claims is pervasive anti-conservatism on college campuses today.
Author: jplucas
Hamel Steps Into Spotlight As Film Fest Director
Wisconsin State Journal
For five years, Meg Hamel has been running hard as a volunteer for the Wisconsin Film Festival. This year, she’ll run the event.
Truth vs. Hope — A Doctor’s Dilemma (NYT)
Quoted: Meg Gaines, director of the Center for Patient Partnerships, a patient advocacy program at the University of Wisconsin
Parents and children can fuel a mutual fondness for reading (AP)
Literacy is a life lesson beginning at the first cry or coo, and basically never ending so to get people psyched up for something that can seem daunting, it’s best to get them hooked young.
Reading aloud to infants, toddlers, preschoolers and then schoolchildren and beyond might be the best bait, says Dawnene D. Hassett, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the department of curriculum and instruction.
Failure to demote official cost UW $77,000, records show (AP)
Duluth News
MADISON – A University of Wisconsin-Madison administrator collected $125,000 in salary during nearly eight months of paid leave after he stepped down and his position was eliminated, university officials acknowledge in court records.
The university could have saved $77,000 of that salary had Chancellor John Wiley demoted Paul Barrows into a lower-paying backup job after he forced him to resign as vice chancellor, UW-Madison human resources official Stephen Lund said in an affidavit.
Report: University of Wisconsin campuses are understaffed (AP)
Duluth News
MADISON, Wis. – A lack of funding means police and security units on University of Wisconsin campuses are understaffed and cannot afford crime prevention programs, a new UW System report warns.
UW-Madison fraternity suspended over rowdy Halloween party (AP)
MADISON, Wis. – A national fraternity has suspended its University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter, saying members broke several rules in hosting a Halloween party that police described as dangerous.
Ethics board says ticket access for Wisconsin lawmakers must end (AP)
Duluth News
MADISON – Eleven state lawmakers purchased tickets to sold-out Wisconsin football games this fall through the school’s lobbyist in an arrangement the state Ethics Board says must end, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Another look at echinacea
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison researchers are asking what a prestigious report claimed to have answered last summer: Does echinacea curb the common cold?
Feingold: Fight terror and still protect civil liberties
Wisconsin State Journal
Visiting the UW-Madison campus Friday, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold tore into what he called attacks on Americans’ civil liberties, then laid out how he’ll decide whether to make a much-speculated-on presidential bid in 2008.
madison.com
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Sari Judge, an adviser in the UW-Madison journalism program.
UW tickets for lawmakers spawn ethics decree (AP)
Wisconsin State Journal
Eleven state lawmakers purchased tickets to sold-out Wisconsin football games this fall through the school’s lobbyist in an arrangement the state Ethics Board says must end, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
List of Illinois donors to Wisconsin campaigns raises questions
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer.
Wineke: Stocking gifts for 9,000 kids
Wisconsin State Journal
Rhonda Reese, executive director of Youth Services Inc., the State Journal charity that sponsors the Empty Stocking Club, estimates that 400 people volunteered at the Toy Depot. Among them were groups from Target Stores, Rotary, Hospice, Centro Hispano, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, UW-Madison students and, of course, the families associated with Capital Newspapers Inc.
UW could have saved $77,000 (AP)
Wisconsin State Journal
A UW-Madison administrator collected $125,000 in salary during nearly eight months of paid leave after he stepped down and his position was eliminated, university officials acknowledge in court records.
Smell of manure irks farm neighbors
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Pete Nowak, a rural sociology professor at UW-Madison.
Reaching to out South Africa
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: UW-Madison genetics professor Raymond Kessel, who was born in South Africa and for years has been bringing South African teachers to the United States to study during the summer.
Bill would allow faculty, staff unions at UW (Oshkosh Northwestern)
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells said he supports a state Senate bill that would give faculty and academic staff members at University of Wisconsin institutions the right to organize unions.
Wells met with Northwestern editors Wednesday morning to discuss UWO’s annual report, its future growth plans and the bill, Senate Bill 452, which is making its way through the state Legislature.
UC’S PAID LEAVES CALLED ‘BETRAYAL’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
San Francisco Chronicle
More than a decade after promising to end the practice, the University of California has given several top administrators lengthy paid leaves when they stepped down.
In the past 13 months alone, at least three senior managers have received paid furloughs at their executive salaries before returning to teaching.
Booker Stanley In Jail
WKOW-TV 27
Badger running back Booker Stanley is in the Dane County jail, facing tentative charges that he attacked and strangled a woman.
Stanley’s alleged actions, jeopardize several things, including his chances of playing in the Badgers’ upcoming Capital One Bowl game in Orlando.
UWEC Students Will Not Subsidize Faculty Pay (WPR)
Wisconsin Public Radio
The interim Chancellor at UW-Eau Claire has said no to a plan for students to pay an extra fee to subsidize faculty pay.
Last month, the UWEC Student Senate voted to charge students a twenty-dollar annual fee to fund pay raises for professors and instructors. The fee would have been the first of its kind in the UW System. (10th item.)
What works, what doesn’t
USA Today
Colleges nationwide are trying to contain or deter problems associated with dangerous drinking. Here, University of Georgia students weigh in on what’s effective on their campus.
Students sound off on drinking
USA Today
USA TODAY’s special report Nov. 17 on widespread campus drinking drew reaction from across the USA. College presidents often cite underage drinking as their No. 1 headache. But students are closest to the problem
Big bucks for Bucky (The Business Journal of Milwaukee)
Milwaukee Business Journal
The $110 million renovation of Camp Randall Stadium is generating more than $7 million a year in new revenue for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Department.
The major project, completed in August, has been a financial success because so many of Wisconsin businesses bought luxury suites and club seats, said Vince Sweeney, senior associate athletic director for UW. The project added 72 luxury suites, priced at $50,000 a season, and 900 indoor club seats, priced at $1,500 to $4,500 a season.
DNA tests to examine ââ?¬Ë?tailored’ stem cells
USA Today
Officials at a South Korean university said Monday that they expect results next week from DNA tests meant to determine whether disgraced scientist Hwang Woo Suk made tailored stem cells, as he claims.
A steep road to admission. Teacher letters can pave way or hurt chances
USA Today
Every year at this time, school counselors and teachers write countless letters of recommendation that supplement the college applications of high school seniors. Selective colleges typically require letters from the school counselor and two teachers.
A letter can determine a student’s fate. ââ?¬Å?Homogeneity among applicants makes it difficult to discriminate in a highly selective pool. The letters provide an independent view,ââ?¬Â says Ann Wright, vice president for enrollment at Rice University in Houston. ââ?¬Å?It can make all the difference in the world.ââ?¬Â
MONEY GAME
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Madison – Barry Alvarez, the soon-to-be full-time athletic director at the University of Wisconsin, knows exactly what kind of program he’s running.
“Let’s face it. We’re running a business, a $71.2 million business,” he said.
What are the 25 most important science questions?
Wisconsin State Journal
CHICAGO – To celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding by Thomas Edison, the journal Science asked more than 100 of the world’s top scientists what they thought were the 25 most important scientific questions likely to be answered in the next 25 years.
The 25 big questions range from what is consciousness (the mysterious interplay of brain cells and neurotransmitters that conjures up awareness and the ability to ask questions) to what is the universe made of.
Smith: Students yielding to home rehabbers
Wisconsin State Journal
I can see it on the nightly news:
An army of middle-class people marches on the student neighborhood south of Regent Street. They’re armed with paint scrapers and floor sanders and wearing tool belts and Menards’ hats. And they’re chanting: “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Student housing’s got to go!”
Since UW-Madison planners first talked about a Workforce Housing Initiative to encourage employees to buy and rehabilitate dilapidated student housing in the Vilas and Greenbush areas, they’ve been swamped by people who want to sign up.
Badgers running back Stanley arrested
Wisconsin State Journal
The UW-Madison football team could be one running back short at the Capital One Bowl in Florida now that its No. 2 rusher has been jailed again. The arrest also means that Booker Stanley, 22, likely botched a plea agreement for charges for his arrest in April after a fight at the Mifflin Street Block Party.
Late night shopping at the mall
Wisconsin State Journal
Cynthia Jasper, a consumer science professor at UW- Madison who studies consumer behavior, said the expansion of shopping hours has been evolving since the 1960s, when more women began entering the work force. They could no longer shop during traditional daytime hours, so stores accommodated them in the evenings.
Baggot: You need big bucks to support Bucky
Wisconsin State Journal
The Man of the House was reading the morning sports section when he mashed the paper in his lap and yelled for his wife.
“Honey, get in here,” he said. “Hurry.”
A weary figure, carrying an overloaded clothes basket, appeared in the doorway of the adjacent laundry room.
Day care providers surrender (Appleton Post-Crescent)
Appleton Post-Crescent
Quoted: Dr. Greg Hollman, a pediatric intensive care unit physician at the University of Wisconsin Children�s Hospital.
Dial straits (Metro Times Detroit)
Quoted: Jack Mitchell, a professor of mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Olympics-bound curler visits schools in her hometown (Portage Daily Register)
U.S. curling champion Maureen Brunt swept through town Tuesday with many reasons to celebrate.
The Portage native is only weeks away from leaving for Torino, Italy, to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Brunt also is marking two unrelated but important milestones: graduating from college and turning 23.
Casting Calls
Wisconsin State Journal
Under coach Barry Alvarez, the Badgers’ rags-to-riches tale reads like a Hollywood script. If the story ever makes it to the big screen, here are our picks to play the starring roles.
Group says taxes, fees paid in Wisconsin this year set record (AP)
Duluth News
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, professor of public affairs and applied economics at UW-Madison.
Fraternity suspended over rowdy party (AP)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MADISON, Wis. ââ?¬â? A national fraternity has suspended its University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter, saying members broke several rules in hosting a Halloween party that police described as dangerous.
Doyle campaign donor probe widening
Wisconsin State Journal
Authorities investigating a state travel contract given to a major donor to Gov. Jim Doyle’s campaign are also looking for links between donations from utility executives and state regulators’ approval of the sale of a nuclear power plant, sources said.
Pharmacy students have options
Wisconsin State Journal
Andrea Duchac, a fourth-year pharmacy student at UW- Madison, isn’t sure what she wants to do when she graduates.
Tips & strategies for healthy holiday eating (WRN)
Wisconsin Radio Network
Holiday temptations need not add up to extra pounds.
UW nutritionist, Donna Weihofen, says we can arm ourselves with tips and strategies to make our holidays healthier. (Audio.)
Tech firms team up with big universities (San Francisco Chronicle)
San Francisco Chronicle
Some of Silicon Valley’s largest firms, including Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., joined forces with big-name universities like UC Berkeley and Stanford on Monday, announcing a new set of guidelines intended to expedite research collaborations on new technology and eliminate legal wranglings over intellectual property rights.
The Reality Behind King Kong?
NBC-15
It seems like we just can’t get enough of the gigantic ape. Three versions of King Kong have been made. Each one more elaborate than the next. But, could this story of the beauty and the beast have its roots in reality?
Yes, according to Dr. Gregg Mitman, who teaches History of Science and Medical History at UW-Madison. “In part based on a 1920 expedition to film and capture the komodo dragon in Indonesia– this search for a prime evil monster in a prime evil time.”
Pumping the pond
WKOW-TV 27
Madison Gas and Electric needs to pump pond water into the underground aquifer to replenish what its new co-gen plant currently takes out of Lake Mendota. The efficient co-generational facility opened on the UW campus earlier this spring. MG&E would like to start pumping by late spring 2006.
Straight Flushed (Inside Higher Ed)
Inside Higher Education
Win Your Spring Tuition!ââ?¬Â proclaims the AbsolutePoker.com ââ?¬Å?College Poker Challenge.ââ?¬Â
The homepage of CollegePoker.com profiles ââ?¬Å?Chad F.,ââ?¬Â a student from the University of Minnesota, who, according to the site, won a $41,000 cash scholarship in 2005 through a competition the site sponsors.
UW-Madison fraternity suspended over rowdy Halloween party
Star Tribune
A national fraternity has suspended its University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter, saying members broke several rules in hosting a Halloween party that police described as dangerous.
Old Curative Gets New Life at Tiny Scale
New York Times
Quoted: Dr. Dennis Maki, a professor of medicine and the head of infectious diseases at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.
Two-year renewal of dairy subsidy gets House OK (Gannett News Service)
Appleton Post-Crescent
Quoted: Ed Jesse, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In the Classroom With Kjersten Bakke
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. – While the UW student-athletes take care of finals this week, the women’s basketball team is prepaing for its semester-ending last game with Western Illinois Friday at 7 p.m. in the Kohl Center. The following feature offers a glimpse of what the fans don’t see before the team takes the court. (Athletic Communication.)
11-year-old Murder Revisited in Assignment
NBC-15
From new evidence that could render a DNA sample, to questions about the victim’s bloodââ?¬â??alcohol level … there are a few new things Benjamin Broeren’s journalism class discovered about an old murder.
“I think there’s some things that can be pursued and there are certain questions that were not answered,” said Broeren.
Curling for Gold
WKOW-TV 27
Most UW graduates look for a job after college…but one is heading to the Olympics. 23-year-old Maureen Brunt has been curling for 17 years. In February, she’ll head to Turino, to compete in the sport. Brunt says she’s thought only briefly about winning the gold.
UW Lectures in Rural India (WPR)
Wisconsin Public Radio
(MADISON) Science educators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may soon be able to broadcast their lectures and research presentations via satellite to remote villages in India. It�s part of a new collaboration linking 15 U.S. universities with EDUSAT, the Government of India�s first educational satellite. (Third item.)
Big Brother, Little Red Book (Inside Higher Ed)
Inside Higher Education
Quoted: Uli Schamiloglu, a professor of Turkic and Central Eurasian studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison
Big plans for South Side shopping center
Wisconsin State Journal
The site now hosts the South Madison Health and Family Center – Harambee, UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College, Edgewood College, a city library branch, Yue Wah Oriental foods and others.
No decision now on retrial in murder case
Wisconsin State Journal
Dane County prosecutors likely will wait until April to decide whether to retry Ralph Armstrong for the 1980 rape and murder of UW-Madison student Charise Kamps.
Decked for college: Gift ideas for high school seniors
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison housing director Paul Evans remembers the gift he said he was “thrilled” to get starting his freshman year at UW-Eau Claire a manual typewriter.
Cold comes with diamond dust, sundogs, solar pillar
Wisconsin State Journal
Monday’s bitterly cold sunrise was accompanied by meteorological phenomona that UW-Madison scientists said are rare in combination, a glittering natural gift of diamond dust, sundogs and a soaring solar pillar.
Obituary: Barschall, Eleanor F.
Madison.com
Wife of UW-Madison physicist Heinz Barschall.
Clause Escapes Bielema
Wisconsin State Journal
Bret Bielema, the football coach in waiting at the University of Wisconsin, will always have one skeleton in his closet in the minds of some fans.
UW notes: Alvarez has holes to fill
Wisconsin State Journal
It will be interesting to see how a recent University of Wisconsin Athletic Board evaluation on administrative hiring trends impacts the search for new management staff in the athletic department.