Category: Campus life

MERRILL — An Iraq War veteran who will spend the rest of his life in prison blamed his military experience and the country for ignoring the needs of returning war veterans for the death of his mother.

The UW has a unique student organization on campus thats gaining popularity.Its the Synchronized Skating Club.

Members of different student groups from across campus are working to rewrite the Associated Students of Madison Constitution, a move that could alter the makeup and structure of student government at UW-Madison.

The University of Wisconsin is taking part in an experimental program that offers students the opportunity to access textbooks online.

Residents of a UW-Madison fraternity house escaped injury early Friday morning when fireworks were set off in the basement of the house. A lawn mower with gas in the tank was also in the basement. The fire call came in at 2:45 a.m. Friday at 627 N. Lake St., according to a news release from the Madison Fire Department. City assessor records show the building is the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

There is a revolution brewing in the way college students buy and read textbooks. And, perhaps surprisingly, it does not center entirely on Apple?s announcement on Thursday about new textbook technology on iBooks 2.

Big Ten campuses in Wisconsin and Minnesota, along with four other major universities, will experiment with buying electronic textbooks in bulk

The University of Wisconsin-Madison joined forces with five other large universities to bulk purchase electronic textbooks in an effort to find ways to curb skyrocketing textbook costs for students. According to the university?s most recent Data Digest, students at UW-Madison spent an average of $1,100 on books and supplies during the 2010-11 academic year ? up from $680 a decade ago.

UW-Madison and five other major universities announced plans this week to try buying electronic textbooks in bulk, an experiment that officials say could help rein in burdensome textbook costs and bring e-textbooks into the mainstream. The university will try it on a small scale at first, in five courses involving about 600 students when the spring semester begins Monday.

St. Paul?s Catholic Center appears to be closer to moving forward with a new campus student center. A new proposal to build a six-story building at 723 State St. received initial approval from the Madison Urban Design Commission at Wednesday?s meeting.

When English major Alexis Brown realized there was no place where she could submit her undergraduate essays for publication, she decided there was only one solution ? create one from scratch.

In a session at the 2011 Educause conference in October, Bradley Wheeler, the chief information officer at Indiana University, issued a challenge to his colleagues. Unless universities assert their power as customers, the vendors that sell them products and services will continue squeezing those institutions for cash while dictating the terms under which they go digital.

An effort by college leaders to shake up the textbook industry got a boost this week, as five universities announced plans to try bulk purchasing of e-textbooks. The news comes just one day before an Apple news conference that is expected to feature that companys entrance into the e-textbook space, and it highlights steps that colleges themselves are taking to rein in textbook prices rather than wait for the market to reshape itself.

Nearly 100 residents of a transitional housing apartment building that caught fire Friday night have returned to the facility at 306 N. Brooks St. near the UW-Madison campus. However, 16 women whose rooms were too severely damaged will move around the corner to St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center, said Dave Black, a St. Francis House board member. Black said the church plans to deconstruct the residential part of its building soon to make way for a student housing project, but for now, the building has enough vacant living space ? including bedrooms, a kitchen and showers ? to accommodate the women.

UW-Madison?s Engineers Without Borders organization will be featured on “Impact the World,” a new series which airs Tuesday nights at 8:30 on the Big Ten Network. Engineers Without Borders is a student-run, non-profit organization that does community-development projects around the globe.

Imagine learning to beatbox and breakdance in a college class. Imagine watching lectures and performances by hip-hop artists like Chuck D and Janelle Monáe as program requirements. Students studying as a part of the University of Wisconsin?s First Wave program don?t have to imagine. It?s what they do.

In a generous gift, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater alumni Quint and Rishy Studer have donated $1 million for scholarships for Janesville high school students who attend UW-Whitewater. The newly established Janesville Promise Fund will award $50,000 annually to graduates of Craig and Parker high schools.

Madison police said that quick thinking by a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student helped them catch a burglary suspect.

A 19-year-old UW-Madison student locked himself in his bedroom while calling 911, helping police arrest a man allegedly burglarizing an apartment next door. Michael Clausen, 33, of Middleton, was tentatively charged with burglary and a parole violation after his arrest Saturday morning at an apartment building on South Bassett Street, according to a news release from Madison police.

Madison Area Technical College students can take Air Force ROTC courses at UW-Madison under an agreement signed Friday by campus officials. Previously, MATC students had to transfer to UW-Madison before they could enroll in Air Force ROTC. That made it difficult for them to complete officer training, which takes three years.

While UW-Madison has moped parking rules in place including a parking program requiring moped owners to purchase annual permits and park in designated areas, there are virtually no laws regarding off-campus moped parking, according to Mayor Paul Soglin. A committee will be in charge of recommending a system to manage moped parking while considering the moped use of university students, the campus parking rules, the limited availability of bike racks, the possibility of moped parking on city ramps, space and sign requirements for moped-restricted areas and the accessibility of sidewalks for citizens with disabilities.

Noted: “In the past two years, I was studying for a master?s degree in BSU. And I spent ten months in the US last year to continue my study as part of the cooperation program between our university and the University of Wisconsin in America,” said Han. “I am majoring in sports administration and will graduate this year.”

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is one of the most selective campuses in the UW System, according to a recent report from a state taxpayer advocacy group.

Madison Area Technical College students can take Air Force ROTC courses at UW-Madison under a new agreement signed today by campus officials. Previously, MATC students had to transfer to UW-Madison before they could enroll in Air Force ROTC. That made it difficult for them to complete officer training, which takes a full three years.

Around UW-Madison, it?s almost as easy to spot a moped as a backpack. But the popularity of mopeds and motor scooters also creates problems, especially with parking, so Mayor Paul Soglin is proposing a special committee to recommend parking rules for mopeds in the city. He plans to include moped riders on the committee. The university already has rules and a parking program for mopeds on campus, which requires owners to get an $85 annual permit and park only in designated spots or risk a ticket. On city property, mopeds can be parked any place a bicycle can, but a recent change in state law now lets cities regulate mopeds as motorcycles and create moped-only parking.