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Author: Kelly Tyrrell

Cold Stone Creamery, Pinkberry parent company names new tastemaster, food scientist

QSR Web

Kahala Brands announced that Dr. Maya Warren will join the company as tastemaster and food scientist for portfolio brands Cold Stone Creamery and Pinkberry. Says Michael Serruya, chairman and chief executive officer of Kahala Brands: “Maya, who received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Food Science, has vast knowledge of frozen aerated products, so we are really excited to have her on board.”

Badgers begin indoor season ranked No. 9

NBC15

The Wisconsin women’s track and field team, led by a trio of returning first-team All-Americans, will begin the season ranked No. 9 in the country, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

After finishing 18th at last year’s national indoor meet, the Badgers moved up nine spots and enter the season as the highest-ranked Big Ten squad in the USTFCCCA National Computer Rankings.

Several cases of mumps reported on UW-Madison campus

Channel3000.com

Several cases of mumps have been recently reported in students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to an email sent Tuesday to students from University Health Services.

The cases are connected to current outbreaks of mumps occurring at other Midwestern universities, officials said.

Last mass at iconic church on the UW-Madison campus

WKOW TV

After serving the UW-Madison community since 1909, an iconic church hosted its final mass on Sunday.

St. Paul University Catholic Center will be torn down in the coming months. The building was last remodeled in 1968 and is not meeting the church’s needs anymore. The new facility will be a five-story building including a chapel, dining facilities, meeting rooms, a rooftop terrace and a hall accommodating 200 people.

Celebrating a couple of retirements, and contributions to our community

Channel3000.com

Cindy Foss retired this month after 24 years of steering, editing and nurturing On Wisconsin, the UW Alumni Association publication. The magazine’s always been a good read whether you’re a UW alum or not. But it has become an even more important chronicle of The Wisconsin Idea recently and Foss was awfully good at leading that effort. Thanks to her we continue to need publications like On Wisconsin.

Katherine Vosters is a game changer at UW

Madison Magazine

Katherine Vosters has an up-close, rare view of University of Wisconsin men’s basketball history.

She also had a hand in the Badgers’ success in her position as the team’s director of operations. The twenty-five-year-old became one of a handful of women in the nation working this job in NCAA Division 1 men’s college basketball, a position often used as a step toward becoming a coach.

Bronson Koenig honors his heritage

Madison Magazine

Bronson Koenig knows what it’s like to step into a role that needs to be filled.

When the University of Wisconsin’s veteran point guard Traevon Jackson broke his foot halfway through Big Ten conference play in the 2014–15 season, it was Koenig who stepped up. A sophomore, Koenig led the team as starting point guard through the last twenty-four games of the season, which ended with a NCAA championship game appearance—the first since 1941.

The insect wallpaper patterns of Jennifer Angus

Fine Print NYC Blog

Just when we think we’ve seen every concept for custom wallpaper, University of Wisconsin professor Jennifer Angus puts a creative twist on an ancient medium. With an extensive background in textiles, a love for insects and a universal message of ecological insight she has lovingly pieced together these brilliant wallpaper patterns. The designs are so precise that newcomers to the WONDER exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum could be forgiven for mistaking the walls for a printed pattern, and not some masterpiece of taxidermy.

Badger band battles USC band before Holiday Bowl

Channel3000.com

(Video) Badgers fans are gearing up for Wednesday night’s Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Tuesday it was the battle of the bands between the University of Wisconsin and USC, complete with cheerleaders from both schools. Kevin Lewis was at the battle Tuesday.

Ground-breaking research eliminates antibiotics from animal meat

Channel3000.com

Noted: The research first started in chickens. Animal science professor Mark Cook and associate researchers disabled a gene that helps defeat the immune system in sick hens.

From that discovery came ground-breaking work inside Arlington’s UW Beef Nutrition Farm, where researchers have been feeding those hens’ eggs to cattle in an effort to help prevent disease without the use of antibiotics.

Nature’s warning signal

The Atlantic

Nestled in the northern Wisconsin woods, Peter Lake once brimmed with golden shiners, fatheads, and other minnows, which plucked algae-eating fleas from the murky water. Then, seven years ago, a crew of ecologists began stepping up the lake’s population of predatory largemouth bass.The Peter Lake experiment demonstrated a well-known problem with complex systems: They are sensitive beasts. “Once that top predator is dominant, it’s very hard to dislodge,” said Stephen Carpenter, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led the experiment.

Davis to compete at Great Edinburgh Cross Country Challenge

NBC15

Wisconsin women’s cross country and track and field freshman Amy Davis will compete for the United States at the 2016 Great Edinburgh Cross Country Challenge in Scotland on Jan. 9, USA Track & Field announced earlier this month.

A Madison native, Davis will compete for Team USA in the women’s junior 4-kilometer race at Holyrood Park, marking the third-straight year a UW runner will compete in the junior race. Last year, UW sophomore Joe Hardy and freshman Olin Hacker ran in the junior men’s race, while junior Sarah Disanza competed in the women’s junior race in 2014.

Task force finalizes new UW tenure policy

AP (via Channel3000.com)

A University of Wisconsin System task force has finalized new tenure rules. The Wisconsin State Journal reported Thursday that the task force wrapped up work Wednesday. The task force is expected to forward the policy to the Board of Regents’ education committee by February. The full board is expected to vote on the plan in March.

UW welcomes record number of Chinese students

Channel3000.com

A record number of Chinese students are flocking to the U.S. For higher education and the University of Wisconsin is a popular destination. It may be dead on campus right now, but things will certainly pick up at the start of the new semester as UW educates one of its largest number of Chinese in the 2015-2016 students ever.

10 Best Music Books of 2015

Rolling Stone

Featured: Prof. Craig Werner, lecturer Doug Bradley and alumnus Charles L. Hughes

The year’s best music reads included open books on a roots-rocker, a dance icon, a punk poet and a rap pioneer; not to mention deep looks at everything from the Vietnam war to the current EDM explosion.

Badger football player Corey Clement pays fines in disorderly conduct cases

WKOW TV

Badgers football player Corey Clement paid over $800 in fines in connection with two disorderly conduct citations.

Authorities say Clement punched a man at a downtown apartment building Nov. 8 after the man and his friends argued with Clement.

Madison Municipal Court officials say $878 has been paid to satisfy Clement’s citations. Clement has a Jan. 5 court date in the cases. An official says the cases can be closed on that date, unless Clement fights the citations.

A legislative proposal wants to bring back shared governance to the UW System

WKOW TV

Representatives Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Terese Berceau (D-Madison) held a news conference on Monday to announce a proposed piece of legislation that would bring back shared governance to the University of Wisconsin System. This proposed bill aims to improve the status of faculty, staff, and students within the UW System. If passed it would mean a return to students, faculty, and staff being decision makers on campus, not simply advisers to campus chancellors, as is now the case.

Shared governance in the UW System was removed by Wisconsin state legislators during the last passed budget.

Wisconsin Lifts Ill Baby Crane Back to Health

Veterinary Practice News

University of Wisconsin veterinary staff have bid farewell to a young sandhill crane they saved from possible death.The crane, then a sick baby, was spotted in late July in Cherokee Marsh, a wetland in Dane County, Wis. The bird walked with difficulty, drawing the attention of an observer and a team from the Humane Society’s Four Lakes Wildlife Center.

Loneliness darkens twilight years

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted in story, part of series: “Social isolation is a huge issue,” said Art Walaszek, a professor in University of Wisconsin-Madison’s department of psychiatry. “The other huge issue is suicide in older adults. After age 65, the suicide rates just skyrocket. They’re much higher than for any other demographic group. And one of the top five risk factors for suicide in older adults is social isolation.”

Back to school for the public good

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

From Jeffrey Russell, Dean of Continuing Studies: A democracy requires government to function effectively, and public employees are the ones who make that happen.It’s easy to take government services for granted. Most of us don’t think twice about the clean water that comes from our faucets, the trash that’s picked up on schedule or the effort that goes into caring for our most vulnerable citizens.One key to doing these jobs well is lifelong learning. In a rapidly changing world, public employees must commit themselves to mastering the latest developments in their fields so that government runs as efficiently as possible.

UW-Madison students pleased with renewal of low-income student loan program

WKOW TV

Caroline Russell is one of roughly 16-thousand students enrolled at UW system campuses benefiting from the Federal Perkins Loan Program.

“It’s very, very difficult to pay for college,” Russell said. “With the exception of one semester, I’ve worked about 20 hours a week for the duration of my college career to pay for food, to go towards my housing and things like that.”

Age of change in Madison

Madison Magazine

Noted: In the summer of 2015, MMSD and the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education, in a partnership known as Forward Madison (supported in part by a $1.2 million grant from CUNA Mutual Foundation), launched its TEEM Scholars program, in which eleven high school sophomores are preparing to enter UW–Madison and become teachers, with guaranteed employment at MMSD when they return. The program also provides mentoring support for every new teacher in the district plus leadership coaching for new principals. And with its planned Personalized Pathways program, intended to expose students to viable careers, coursework has been revamped.

Yes, Virginia, there is an epilepsy grant

Channel3000.com

Not believe in research funding! You might as well not believe in coconut shrimp! You might get your friends to watch their mailboxes for invitations to Lily’s Luau on Jan. 23 at Union South, but even if they did not see an invitation, what would that prove? We can’t send printed invites to everyone, but that is no sign that there is no luau and no groundswell of support for epilepsy research right here at UW-Madison. The most real things in the world are those that are explained on our website at http://lilysfund.org/luau.

Gard takes over head coaching position with Ryan’s blessing

Daily Cardinal

Omnipresent in Bo Ryan’s career was his high level of intensity, an insatiable desire to continually get better from play to play and, above all else, success. Another more impactful constant in Ryan’s coaching life has been Greg Gard.

When Ryan first announced that the 2015-’16 season would be his last as head coach of Wisconsin in June, he made it clear he wanted Gard to be his successor.

Spreading Warmth

NBC15

An effort by a UW campus group is helping a group of people that probably didn’t expect it. “Love Your Melon” is selling hats–for each one purchased, another hat went to a child with cancer. Through the program, some area police officers are helping those kids and other needy people in the community.

At least for today, officers Jessica McLay and Emily Samson are fashion experts. They’re handing out these knitted hats, to the city’s homeless.

“Not only did we get to help a child at UW but we got to help UW Madison Love Your Melon crew, someone in the community who needs some help staying warm,” said officer Samson.

Clement tells RB coach he’s returning for senior season

WKOW TV

Wisconsin running back’s coach John Settle told reporters Tuesday night that running back Corey Clement will return to Wisconsin for his senior season. That’s what Settle said he was told by Clement. When Clement last spoke to the media in late November, he said unless he received a first or second round NFL Draft grade from scouts, he would return for his senior season. There is no word on whether Clement ever did receive a draft grade.

Erickson’s UW career likely done, regardless of eligibility appeal

WKOW TV

The Holiday Bowl will likely be the final game Alex Erickson will play in a Badgers uniform. Wisconsin’s coaches are awaiting an appeal on Erickson’s eligibility. Erickson enrolled at Wisconsin in the fall of 2011 as a student, but did not join the football team until the spring of 2012. He redshirted the 2012 season, but is still classified as a redshirt senior by the NCAA. Regardless of the result of the appeal, Erickson says he’s “probably” done with his college career and will focus on the next level.

Bo Ryan: A look back at the legend’s career

WKOW TV

There were so many things about Bo Ryan that made him a great head basketball coach. From the day he was hired at UW-Madison in 2001, Ryan was a coach with confidence.

He said at the time, “People have expectations. We hope their expectations are met, but we have expectations also and the funny part about that is they might be higher than anybody else’s in this room.”

Ryan retires at midseason, ending successful Wisconsin run

Channel3000.com

The methodical brand of basketball that Bo Ryan ran at Wisconsin rarely surprised opponents as it piled up wins and two trips to the Final Four over the last two seasons.

Ryan saved the biggest shocker of his career for his final game.

The 67-year-old coach abruptly retired on Tuesday night, 12 games into the season after his Badgers beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi two weeks before Big Ten play begins.

FDA regulations on raw milk cheeses concern local cheese makers

Channel3000.com

Quoted: Marianne Smukowski, a dairy safety application coordinator at the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, says that the non-toxigenic E. coli can serve as an “indicator organism” that may show the presence of harmful pathogens in food. She says 95 percent of raw milk cheeses checked in one FDA test did not show them, which is why in part she’s unclear as to why the FDA is using that as a new testing issue.

“I don’t know why the FDA is pushing for it,” Smukowski said. “They decided to implement it based on some of the results they have seen in their assignment.”