Category: Campus life

With Freakfest fast approaching, both city officials are making last minute preparations to ensure optimal security and fun on Saturday night.

In a ruling released on Wednesday, a federal judge said he would not force the University of Wisconsin at Madison to award money from mandatory student fees to a conservative student group called Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The group, known as CFACT, sued in 2009, saying the university had veered from a policy of awarding funds on a ?viewpoint neutral? basis when it denied the conservative organization?s request, while at the same time awarding funds to the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group. CFACT argued that the two groups were essentially identical, but that WISPIRG was politically liberal while CFACT was politically conservative.

Wisconsin students are reacting to President Barack Obama?s plans to help alleviate debt from higher education. University officials said that during the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly 12,000 University of Wisconsin-Madison students took federal subsidized Stafford loans, totaling $65 million. Students said they are hopeful the plan will work, but they said more should be done to reform higher education.

A federal judge issued an opinion Wednesday that he won?t force UW-Madison to fund the conservative student group Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow. CFACT filed a lawsuit in 2009 arguing that the university had denied its request for funding because of its conservative views on environmental and social issues.

A federal judge says he wont force the University of Wisconsin-Madison to fund a conservative student group.

While the UW-Madison student government?s Diversity Chair said students in the past had called the Diversity Committee unproductive, she said the committee is now working to improve diversity within ASM and on campus.

Madison?s first gated Halloween got under way peacefully on State Street early Saturday evening as ghouls and goblins and witches waited patiently in lines to present their tickets and get their hands stamped.There were a few grumbles from party-goers about the fences and the tickets. But, at least early in the evening, patrons appeared pleased with the orderly way everything seemed to be operating.

Saturday night?s Halloween crowd on State Street wasn?t as big or as rowdy as those in the late 1970s and the 1980s – but it was close, said Madison Police Capt. George Silverwood.Minor injuries and at least 10 arrests resulted as the estimated 60,000 to 70,000 merrymakers rocked the streets and State Street bars until almost 3 a.m., Silverwood said Sunday.

There was a time in the history of Halloween on State Street when a pair of naked rumps would have elicited only the briefest of attention. That time was not Thursday night, as the street itself was disguised as an ordinary street. Sure, there was the odd wandering cleric, the occasional dance hall girl with a sagging garter, the usual bundle of giggling dormies dressed as M&Ms, or public displays of confection.

At a press conference Monday, city leaders outlined final details regarding Freakfest, including plans to reduce police presence compared to previous years.

Frank Productions and the Madison Police Department released details about the Freakfest entertainment schedule and costume contest and reviewed safety precautions at a press conference Monday morning.

In the efforts to continue the ?Occupy Wall Street? and ?Occupy Madison? movements, University of Wisconsin protesters kicked off an ?Occupy UW? movement Monday afternoon, demanding more equal opportunities to higher education and reduced student debt.

The cost of higher learning is the focus of an “occupy” movement emerging on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Madison police said they would reduce the size of their force at Saturday?s Freakfest event downtown, a decision that concerned nearby business managers.

UW-Madison named Karen VandenBosch the new dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Friday.

The search for a new College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean has ended, the University of Wisconsin announced Friday.

The University of Wisconsin has named Kathryn VandenBosch as its new dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

President Obama?s re-election campaign launches an initiative this week aimed at rekindling the connection with younger voters that helped fuel his 2008 campaign.

The outreach effort, called “Greater Together,” will tap Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites and target students on college campuses in key states, such as the University of Wisconsin, Ohio State University and Penn State.

Columnist Chris Rickert?s Sunday column asked “What is a UW-Madison degree worth?” After claiming that the university resists asking this question, the column claims the university engages in “hard sell,” rather than “hard facts.” In fact, the opposite is true.

Robert Haveman is a professor emeritus of economics at UW-Madison.

Police said they forsee minimal problems Halloween weekend at a city meeting where city officials discussed last minute Freakfest updates and changes Thursday.

The city?s Downtown Coordinating Committee heard an update on Freakfest and reviewed the city?s increased focus on underage drinking at the event, as well as the possibility of bringing larger acts to Madison in future years.

Changes to the University of Wisconsin bias incident reporting model have come under discussion with the intent to bring more streamlined responses to incidents and to foster a safer environment.

Police say they?re investigating 36 residential burglaries in the neighborhoods north and south of Regent Street since September 1.

By a slim majority of 23 votes, UW-Madison students said they did not support the theater lobby addition for the Memorial Union in an advisory referendum. About 11 percent of the student body voted in the election. The theater lobby has been a controversial part of a $52 million plan to renovate Memorial Union. Critics say the new glass expansion will block views from the Union Terrace. Wisconsin Union officials say it will improve the atmosphere.

Students on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus narrowly voted down an advisory referendum designed to gauge support for an addition to the Memorial Union Theater lobby. The non-binding referendum was part of the Associated Students of Madison?s fall ballot. The question stated: “Do you support the current design of the student/theater lounge addition for the Memorial Union?” This roughly 3,000 square feet of glassed-in space — which also will serve year-round as a student lounge — extends north onto part of the Union?s upper Terrace. The final tally: 2,363 (50.2 percent) voted no; 2,340 (49.8 percent) voted yes.

Burglaries have been on the rise in Madison over the last two months, leaving police concerned about the origin of the uptick. Police are investigating 36 residential burglaries in the Near West Side area, spokesman Joel DeSpain said. The residential burglaries date to Sept. 1 and target mostly laptop computers, iPods and other small electronics. The suspects enter primarily through unlocked doors or, during warmer weather, by cutting through screen windows, Jugovich said.

By a slim majority of 23 votes, UW-Madison students said they did not support the theater lobby addition for the Memorial Union in an advisory referendum. About 11 percent of the student body voted in the election. The question asked: “Do you support the current design of the student/theater lounge addition for the Memorial Union?” While 2,340 students voted yes, 2,363 students voted no.

Students on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus narrowly voted down an advisory referendum designed to gauge support for an addition to the Memorial Union Theater lobby. The non-binding referendum was part of the Associated Students of Madison?s fall ballot.

At a time when they are cutting at least an additional $65 million from the UW System on top of $250 million of previously announced cuts, Republicans took aim yet again at the UW at this week?s public hearing of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee. The hearing was one of the most embarrassing meetings I?ve ever been a part of in my 13-year legislative career.

Every Wednesday around lunchtime, crowds line the stairs leading to the basement of the University United Methodist Church. It?s food, not faith, that draws the throng. That said, there?s a distinctly reverent vibe at The Café, where a weekly meal is served to the public by Slow Food UW Madison, a university-based club with a city-approved restaurant license.