The tradition of UW-Madison’s Tudor Holiday Dinner Concerts goes back more than eight decades. But this year there’s something new.
UW Tudor Holiday Dinner Concerts add family-friendly matinee
Wisconsin State Journal
Author: knutson4
Season ticket sales show buzz for UW volleyball, which plays in Sweet 16 Friday
Capital Times
As the Wisconsin volleyball team rolls into Austin, Texas, this weekend for the NCAA Sweet 16, it has left a record to remember at the UW Field House.
UW regents approve UW-Extension business degrees
Madison.com
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has given the system’s adult education arm the authority to grant business degrees.
Madison startup aims to make app development easier
Capital Times
Noted: That access is something Willis, a web developer and former Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, didn’t have when he tried to launch a different startup in Madison a couple years ago.
Students stage silent protest at UW Board of Regents meeting in Madison
Capital Times
About 30 University of Wisconsin students and allies staged a silent protest after they were refused a chance to speak Friday at a meeting where the UW System Board of Regents adopted a resolution supporting free speech.
Quick road to revenues for young startups
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Jon Eckhardt, executive director of the UW-Madison Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship and a co-founder of gener8tor, said he thinks programs like gener8tor are spurring more cooperation between Madison and Milwaukee.
Fast-track for free speech resolution puzzles some UW System regents
Capital Times
At least a handful of UW System Regents were confused about what was behind a resolution committing to free speech on system campuses that was fast-tracked through the body’s approval process and adopted Friday.
Madison’s winter bikers get a BCycle option
Capital Times
Noted: Laugen said the service, owned by Trek, worked with city and UW officials to come up with a network of bike stations that would serve riders but not interfere with snow removal operations.
GOP bill would place inspectors in Wisconsin state agencies
Madison.com
Noted: The UW System anticipates that its inspector general office might cost as much as $3 million if it rings in at the size of its existing internal audit office. But Craig and Mikalsen said the inspectors general could save the state money in the long run by ferreting out fraud and waste.
Chris Rickert: An extra 50 cents per bus ride isn’t much — unless you’re poor, that is
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: “Planning horizons for poor folks are very short — weeks or a month at most — and uncertain, too, so a pass may be too far to go because of both budget and uncertainty,” said Tim Smeeding, a UW-Madison public affairs and economics professor and former director of the university’s Institute for Research on Poverty.
Career Corner: Test your job-market knowledge
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: Author Moira Kelley is a senior career counselor in UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies.
Just Ask Us: How does an endangered species transition to ‘safe’ status?
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: Once an animal is delisted, the population is monitored. It can be relisted if the population declines, said Kurt Sladky, a UW-Madison professor of zoological medicine and special species.
Ask the Weather Guys: When is the winter solstice?
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at 11:45 a.m. the last Monday of each month.
UW committee passes free speech resolution inspired by controversies at other campuses
Wisconsin State Journal
A committee of the UW Board of Regents reaffirmed its support for free speech Thursday by unanimously approving a resolution inspired by debates over how colleges should handle sensitive or divisive subjects.
Student demonstrators call for mandatory diversity training in UW System
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison student demonstrators Friday released a list of demands aimed at making the University of Wisconsin System more inclusive, adding UW to a growing group of institutions across the country where black students have sought changes from administrators to improve their experiences on predominantly white campuses.
Regents approve resolution supporting free, and offensive, speech on UW campuses
Wisconsin State Journal
Ideas that are unpopular or even offensive should not be shut out of debates over controversial topics at University of Wisconsin System schools, the System’s Board of Regents affirmed Friday, when its members passed a resolution restating their commitment to free speech.
Wisconsin companies saluted as ‘Green Masters’
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: “I know the privilege of being recognized in front of your peers is a big incentive for companies to continuously improve,” said Tom Eggert, who teaches sustainable business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and serves as executive director of the council. “The competitive nature of staying at the front of the pack causes Wisconsin companies to rise above their peers from other states.”
Lawmakers look to end Wisconsin’s nuclear plant ban
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: State Rep. Kevin Peterson (R-Fond du Lac) says his bill is designed to support the kinds of advanced nuclear technology that’s being researched at nuclear engineering programs at institutions including the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MIT.
UW-Whitewater pays $112,000 for sports rings
Appleton Post-Crescent
Prestige isn’t the only prize on the line for UW-Whitewater as it competes Saturday for a third consecutive trip to the NCAA’s Division III football championship.
After a humble start, ‘Nutcracker’ grew into a classic holiday treat
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Sabine Gross, a professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke recently about Hoffmann’s story and the era.Calling Hoffmann one of the “dark Romantics,” she explained that he and many of his literary colleagues had a fascination with folk and fairy tales, as well as stories of the supernatural. The Grimm brothers, who collected and published their versions of such classic folktales as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty,” also fall under that heading.
UW Regents expected to affirm commitment to academic freedom
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents on Friday is expected to approve a statement reiterating its commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression, while students plan to show up at the meeting dressed in black to deliver a list of demands to make the UW System better for students of color.
Adding Us Up – UW-Madison ranks high for college city, football fans
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
College-application deadlines are looming for many high school seniors across the state.
UW-Eau Claire pitches plan to increase four-year graduations
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In an effort to graduate more students in four years, reduce their debt and ensure they have what they need to be successful early in their careers, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wants to offer a tuition discount incentive that would be a first in the UW System.
Nearly 75% of UW System graduates have debt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nearly 75% of new graduates within the University of Wisconsin System left school in debt, according to a new report.
Paris climate debate reflected in Wisconsin divisions
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: The state lacks high-profile symbols, such as melting glaciers and rising seas. In Wisconsin, “you have to be paying attention,” said Stanley Temple, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Badgers to play USC in Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin is heading west for its bowl game, to face a Pacific-12 power.
Nuclear energy: business-friendly and climate-safe
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Author John Williams is the director of the Nelson Insitute’s Center for Climatic Research and Professor of Geography at UW-Madison. Paul Wilson is the interim chair of the Nelson Institute’s Energy Analysis Policy Certificate and professor of nuclear engineering in the Engineering Physics Department at UW-Madison.
UW System launches online survey to gauge public opinion about its priorities
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin System is asking residents to participate in an online survey about the public university system’s priorities.
Adding Us Up – Packers fans ranked in top 10 of league’s most obnoxious
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: It used to be that stellar academics, a nice campus and perhaps an array of extracurricular activities were all a university needed to attract students. Now you might have to add a good social media presence to the list. If that’s the case, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is in good shape. The state’s flagship university has one of the best college Twitter accounts according to HubSpot, a marketing software platform. Wisconsin ranked No. 4 on the list.
EatStreet gains another $15 million in investments
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Howard, 26, started the company with two friends when he was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The company’s core focus is on gaining restaurants in college towns and medium-sized cities as customers.
Household income takes sharp downturn in most of Wisconsin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: “We’ve taken a definite step downward,” said Tim Smeeding, professor of public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Things don’t look good.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers generate cells that model primitive leukemia
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a way to generate cells similar to primitive leukemia cells, an advance that will allow researchers to study the disease in a lab dish and perhaps even find better treatments. The new work appears in the journal Stem Cell Research.
Christian Schneider – Degrees in victimhood at Wisconsin colleges
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For more than a century, the term “in loco parentis” (“in place of a parent”) was used to describe a university’s responsibility to care for and guide its students. In recent years, however, the Latin term “loco” (“place”) could be more adequately represented by the Spanish meaning of the word.
Search for new WARF director extended after top candidate deal fizzles
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Eight months into the search, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation identified a candidate for its top job — which one observer called one of the most important openings in the state — but failed to clinch the deal.
Wisconsin wide receiver Alex Erickson earns Big Ten honors
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin fans know Alex Erickson’s value to his team.
Did you leave your Berliner in your Rumpelkammer?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sheepshead lives. So does the card game’s Germanic name, Schafskopf. Wisconsin residents still gulp water at bubblers and eat cannibal sandwiches (made from raw ground beef seasoned with onions, and also known as tiger meat).
UW likely headed to Holiday Bowl in San Diego
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Paul Chryst’s first season as Wisconsin’s head coach is rapidly nearing its conclusion, with just a bowl game to go.
Wisconsin’s Joe Schobert honored as Big Ten’s top linebacker
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Joe Schobert’s rise from anonymity to all-star continues.
Tenure policies violate standards, UW faculty leaders warn
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Policies on tenure protections and job reviews for University of Wisconsin System faculty that a special task force will consider Monday afternoon fail to meet nationally recognized professional standards for academia, according to faculty leaders from three UW campuses.
Dispatch from Madison: Why the Oscar Mayer factory is closing
Quoted: Even before Heinz bought Kraft, the small-town ways of Oscar Mayer were changing, says Mike Judge, former head of consumer insights and strategy there and now Director of the Center for Brand and Product Management Center at the University of Wisconsin Business School. “It was always part of the fabric of the community,” with a homegrown leader at the helm, he says. That changed about three years ago when Kraft, which had owned Oscar Mayer since 1988, began to feel its own financial pressures and installed corporate executives from the head offices in Illinois.
100 books for holiday gift-giving
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: “The Zonderling” (KN), by Kersti Niebruegge. A small-town Wisconsin college grad, trying to gain a foothold in New York, lands in an old-fashioned residence hotel for women. Comic complications ensue. Niebruegge is a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad who has worked for “Conan” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”
Alan J. Borsuk – West Milwaukee school finds a mindful minute goes a long way
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Recently, I heard Richard J. Davidson, a prominent expert on meditation and similar practices, talk to a small group, mostly of educators. Davidson, who founded the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, predicted that in a few years, doing mental fitness exercises will be as respected and widespread for both kids and adults as doing physical fitness exercises is now.
This is why tenure matters
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Christina Ewig is professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and vice president of the UW-Madison Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Tom Still – Drop in academic R&D spending should worry policy-makers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The latest figures on academic research spending in the United States provide, on the surface, some reassuring news for Wisconsin. For starters, the University of Wisconsin-Madison held its position as the nation’s fourth-largest research and development powerhouse.
As demand for data skills grows, big gift bolsters UW computer sciences
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Computer science classes, once the exclusive realm of computer geeks planning careers at software companies, are fast becoming part of the mainstream college experience.
Why we should be confident that Putin is genuinely popular in Russia
Washington Post
Noted: Scott Gehlbach is a professor of political science at UW-Madison.
No matter the direction in which relations are trending, new research (ungated) presented at last week’s Association for the Study of East European and Eurasian Studies Annual Meeting by political scientists Timothy Frye, Scott Gehlbach, Kyle L. Marquardt, and Ora John Reuter suggests that the West will be dealing with a leader who is genuinely popular at home.
Spencer Black: Nations could make real progress on climate change
Capital Times
Noted: Spencer Black represented the 77th Assembly District for 26 years and was chair of the Natural Resources Committee. He currently serves as the vice president of the national Sierra Club and is an adjunct professor of urban and regional planning at UW-Madison.
5 UW scientists named fellows of national society
Madison.com
Five UW-Madison scientists have been honored as elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to the university.
Cap Times Talks: How many new apartments does Madison need?
Capital Times
To longtime Madison residents, the city seems to be experiencing an apartment building boom like never before, yet a recent report from city planners says more than 1,000 new units will be needed each year to keep up with current demand.
Bryan Cranston plays blacklisted ‘Trumbo’ with gusto and heart
Capital Times
Noted: Trumbo tries to talk rings around HUAC in his testimony (drawn from the actual transcripts, which are archived along with 45 boxes of other Trumbo materials at the UW-Madison), but he’s found in contempt and sentenced to prison.
‘White student union’ Facebook pages pop up in response to campus anti-racism actions
Capital Times
Race issues on U.S. college campuses continue to be contentious again after the appearance of Facebook pages (some apparently phony) for “white student union” groups founded to counter recent anti-racism protests.
New startup hub @1403 opening in heart of UW-Madison campus
Capital Times
Madison is about to get another startup hub. Nestled in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, right across the street from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a (formerly purple, as some Madisonians know) brick building was christened “@1403,” named for its location at 1403 University Ave., last week.
UW-Madison 4th nationally in research spending despite shrinking revenue
Capital Times
UW-Madison retained its 4th place national ranking in research spending, despite a continuing erosion of federal and state funding, the university’s news service reported Tuesday.
Scientists have grown human vocal cords in a lab
Fox Business
Video: Associate Professor of Surgery Dr. Nathan Welham on the creation of lab-grown vocal cords.
Man kicked out of Camp Randall pranks UW police with 240 coconut doughnuts
Wisconsin State Journal
A man who was kicked out of Camp Randall Stadium during Saturday’s Wisconsin football game let UW-Madison police know he wasn’t happy about what happened — but that there were no hard feelings — by sending them 240 coconut doughnuts on Monday.
Photos: 1966 Badgers football team and UW campus scenes
Capital Times
In 1966, an “American Graffiti” atmosphere was giving way to the tumult of the Vietnam War era on the UW campus in Madison. Many of these photos from that year are from the UW-Madison Archives.
Lost socks and letter jackets: The Badgers’ 1966 win over Minnesota signaled the end of an era in Madison
Capital Times
Almost a half a century ago, as the Wisconsin Badgers prepared to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers in their season finale, the campus was on the verge of melting down over the Vietnam War, beloved coach Milt Bruhn was pressured out of his job two days before the game and, unlike today’s well-funded and popular squad, the team was disrespected and unloved. Somehow they overcame all of this to play one of the most memorable games in Badger history.
Odd Wisconsin: The first Wisconsin Badgers-Minnesota Golden Gophers game in Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
University of Minnesota football coach J.E. O’Brien had always refused to play in Madison because he said the Badgers weren’t worth the trouble of the trip.
UW faculty, guest artist dancing in Macy’s parade Thursday
Wisconsin State Journal
Dancers with a UW-Madison connection will be performing as part of Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
$5.2 million grant targets student achievement gaps
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will fund a collaboration between the state Department of Public Instruction and the University of Wisconsin-Madison aimed at helping schools narrow the achievement and opportunity gaps among Wisconsin students, the DPI and the university announced Tuesday.