Category: Campus life

How would you like to paddle down the lake in a huge pumpkin? That’s what UW students do at the annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta.

UW students grew giant pumpkins that they then paddled in on the lake Saturday.

The inaugural Giant Pumpkin Regatta was held in 2005, but some years have been skipped due to poor pumpkins. The event is organized by UW-Madison horticulture professors Irwin Goldman and Jim Nienhuis, with help from the UW Hoofer Sailing Club.

College rankings are in no short supply, from U.S. News & World Report to Princeton Review to the international Times Higher Education.

But one set of newly released rankings are chosen by a different kind of experts: College students themselves.

Instructor-ranking site Rate My Professors’ 2014-2015 college lists include best universities, top junior and community colleges and — of utmost importance — hottest professors.

UW-Madison’s most celebrated philanthropists, John and Tashia Morgridge, are commemorating their 60th anniversary by hosting a party at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on Saturday.

A 15-year-old Iowa Hawkeyes fan wasn’t treated very well following the football game between Iowa and Wisconsin on Saturday, suffering facial injuries when he was punched by a Badgers fan.

BELOIT—Beloit businesswoman Diane Hendricks has donated $1.75 million for research into breast cancer and surgery at UW-Madison.

University of Wisconsin-Madison police are investigating a reported assaulted and robbery in a dorm room Thursday afternoon.

UW-Madison police are investigating a reported assault and strong-arm robbery that happened in a dorm room last week on the UW campus.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student was beaten and robbed inside her room at a residence hall on campus, university police said Monday.

UW Band Director Mike Leckrone was surprised during class Monday morning with the announcement he would be receiving a Hometown Hero Award.

Madison is seeing a huge spike in high-end apartment construction. And the high cost of those leases is one of the reasons why UW Housing said more students want to live in the dorms.

Dorms are a quintessential part of freshmen life but this year 1,300 sophomores, juniors and seniors are swiping back in to student housing, rather than private apartments.

Two new daily routes (departing campus at 4 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.) and a Friday-only route (departing at 11:30 a.m., and 1 and 4:30 p.m.) are now offered.

The Babcock Hall’s famous frozen treat takes a turn in the spotlight of this ongoing series. “Why it defines Madison: The ice cream can’t be beat, whether you are a fan of the orange custard chocolate chip, a devotee of the mocha macchiato or a chocolate peanut butter enthusiast.”

Q&A with Susan Fischer, who retired last week as director of the office of student financial aid.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin has the advantage of having its own force. Chief Sue Riseling has her team run smaller active-shooter drills four times a year and bigger simulations every few years.

“We’ve practiced at the Kohl Center, this last time we practiced at Camp Randall, we keep trying to move the venue around because we’re never quite sure what venue it’s going to be when and if God forbid the days actually come,” she said.

Six decades have passed, but Ada Deer vividly recalls the words Eleanor Roosevelt said to her that day at the Roosevelt estate north of New York City.

Photo gallery of Leon Varjian, former UW–Madison student and prankster, who was found dead Tuesday at his residence in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey.

A UW legend has passed away. According to a UW news release, Leon Varjian died in New Jersey of a suspected heart attack. He was 64 years old.

The man behind such famous Madison pranks as the 1,000 pink flamingos on Bascom Hill and the Statue of Liberty head on frozen Lake Mendota has died. A relative says Leon Varjian (VAHR’-zhan) was found dead at his home in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, on Tuesday. He was 64.

A famous University of Wisconsin-Madison student prankster died suddenly in New Jersey Tuesday, according to a release from the university.

Leon Varjian is best known for putting a foam Statue of Liberty on a frozen Lake Mendota and 1,000 plastic pink flamingos on Bascom Hill.

After spending decades helping many UW-Madison students pay for a college education, director of the Office of Financial Aid Susan Fischer will retire this week, ending a career that started by chance in 1979.

Kevin Hart, one of the biggest comedians in the world (if in stature if not in height), will play the Kohl Center next Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The University of Wisconsin Foundation has announced gifts totaling $28 million from alumni Jerome and Simona Chazen in support of UW’s Chazen Museum of Art.

A Madison Gas and Electric outage at 11:15 a.m. knocked out power to several UW buildings, including the one that houses its primary data center, said Brian Rust, spokesman for the university’s Division of Information Technology. The outage was resolved in less than an hour, but the headaches for DoIT and others on and off campus lasted much longer. Also: UW-Madison faculty who want to weigh in on new layoff protections for tenured professors will have the opportunity to do so at three public meetings about the proposal this week.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has received a $28-million pledge of artworks and cash from patrons of its on-campus art museum, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. The gift from Jerome and Simona Chazen includes 30 pieces by major 20th-century painters, including Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, and David Hockney, that will join the permanent collection at the Chazen Museum of Art.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited Madison this weekend.

Warren stopped by UW-Madison to rally voters in support of former senator Russ Feingold, who’s running for his old seat again, which was taken by Sen. Ron Johnson in 2010.

A new group on campus is trying to tackle the issue of sexual assault, by encouraging men to be part of the solution.

“We’re Better Than That”- Men Against Sexual Assault is a relatively new group on campus and so is their approach to tackling to tackling the problem.

“We want men to take on this issue of sexual assault, but we want them to take it on no because they feel compelled but because they feel like it’s their responsibility,” said Hasan Nadeem, one of the group’s founding members. “It’s their issue.”

A power outage affected “a significant amount” of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Saturday, an official said.

University of Wisconsin-Madison communications spokesman Chris Barncard said the extent and cause of the power outage wasn’t clear at about noon but crews were working to restore power.

UW-Madison police spokesman Marc Lovicott said the department received reports of loss of power at about 11:15 a.m. The outage was focused on the southwestern portion of campus.

JANESVILLE — The J.P. Cullen Foundation is donating $250,000 in honor of J.P. Cullen’s birthday to the department of neurosurgery at UW-Madison.

Efforts to retain and improve retail space along the State Street corridor, around the Capitol Square and on King Street could soon get a boost from the city.

Recap of college affordability talk Saturday with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts and former Sen. Russ Feingold.

A 40-year-old Madison man accused of “upskirting” women secretly recorded more than 300 victims, according to a criminal complaint.

Steven J. Johanowicz is charged with four counts of capturing an image of nudity without consent and invasion of privacy-surveillance device.

Videos of more than 300 woman were found in an investigation of a Madison man accused of taking upskirt videos around downtown Madison. The stores around the University of Wisconsin campus are where police believe Steven Johanowicz, who has worked in downtown Madison for nearly 16 years, snapped the photos of most of his victims.

The Associated Students of Madison Student Council met with UW-Madison administration during its meeting Wednesday to examine results of the recently published campus climate survey.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam and University Health Services Executive Director Sarah Van Orman informed the council of the survey’s key results and gave recommendations for using those findings to address sexual assault and sexual misconduct on campus.

The survey, conducted by the Association of American Universities last spring, aimed to assess the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses nationwide, as well as ask for students’ perceptions of campus climate and knowledge of campus resources for these issues.

College boxing, decades removed from the days when fedora-clad fans filled smoky arenas to watch the sport, is making a comeback.

A UW-Madison student faces a felony false imprisonment charge, and misdemeanor charges in connection with a sexual encounter with another student Sept. 13.

18-year old Charles Wolf was released on a signature bond after a Monday appearance in Dane County court.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department received a report of a sexual assault at a fraternity house off campus Saturday.

Officials said the sexual assault reportedly happened early Saturday morning, and bystanders intervened to stop the situation.

The sexual assault was reported to a Campus Security Authority, and not to law enforcement, which means there is no active criminal investigation, police said.