Category: Campus life

Farmers at Fresno State have answered every child?s wish: They grow a vegetable that tastes like candy.Sweet, buttery, crunchy. Every day the university sells 10,000 to 30,000 ears of super-sugary corn grown on its campus farm smack in the middle of this Central Valley city. People line up for it at the university?s Gibson Farm Store, helping to make it one of the most profitable student markets in the nation. The farm earned $4.5 million in the fiscal year just ended, twice as much as the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dear Editor: The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse is excited that Mayor Paul Soglin and other city leaders are working to address Madison?s alcohol problem on a wide scale. The proposed ordinance, which would curb dangerous house parties and reduce risky drinking, is the beginning of what we hope will be a collaborative effort among the entire community.

A hot charcoal grill is being blamed for a fire that caused $500,000 in damage to a campus area house early Monday morning. The Madison Fire Department said the fire at 1521 Jefferson St. was caused by a small charcoal grill being placed on top of the wooden cover for a hot tub, causing the cover, hot tub and deck at the back of the house to catch fire.

Students looking for a workout Tuesday on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus couldn?t use campus facilities. The Division of Recreational Sports has shut down all facilities “as air-conditioning demand continues to outpace supply,” according to UW officials. With a chiller at the Charter Street Heating Plant out of service for two weeks, UW-Madison continues to struggle to cool all of its buildings.

A fire that damaged a house near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus early Monday morning was caused by a small charcoal grill, the Madison Fire Department said.

Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday, July 13, named Katie Pointer of De Pere one of two student representatives appointed to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. Pointer, who is replacing Aaron Wingad, will serve a two-year term as the traditional student representative. After spending one year studying political science, public administration and finance at UW-La Crosse, Pointer will continue her education at UW-Madison in the upcoming academic year.

A fire that damaged a house near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus early Monday morning was caused by a small charcoal grill, the Madison Fire Department said. Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez said an unstable grill was placed on top of a wooden hot tub cover, catching the empty hot tub and back deck on fire. The fire quickly spread into the home, causing a total estimated $500,000 in damage to the home, the detached garage and surrounding homes.

About 40 buildings across the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus continue to be affected by air conditioning problems on Tuesday after failures at several power plants. While a heat wave continues to cook southern Wisconsin, UW officials warned in a news release Tuesday that the warm conditions in the buildings are likely to continue for several days “as air-conditioning demand continues to outpace supply.” The result has been that many students and staff members have had to endure summer heat outside and inside campus buildings.

UW-Madison?s 330 or so buildings that rely on a central heating-cooling system were being provided with less than a big chill in Monday?s heat. Four of the system?s chillers were down at three power sources, putting the university?s cooling capacity at 77 percent for most of the day. One chiller was fixed Monday, another will take several days to repair, one was out for scheduled repair and the fourth was waiting for a part, said Alan Fish, vice chancellor for facilities, planning and management.

A Madison firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a downtown fire damaged a house near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus early Monday morning.

Ali Johnson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December with a degree in biomedical engineering. Now she?s back home – living with her parents, working as a prep cook for a cafe in Red Wing, Minn., and still hunting for a job in her chosen field.

“It?s hard. You never expect to have to move back in with your parents,” she said. “It?s stressful.”

For these four UW-Madison students, what began as an introduction in a virtual reality class morphed into a real-life trip to Disneyland ? and a behind-the-scenes look at the technology behind the fantasy of the Magic Kingdom. Liana Zorn, Joe Kohlmann, Rachina Ahuja and Samuel Sclenker were among 20 college students this summer chosen from across the U.S. by Walt Disney Imagineering to travel to Glendale, Calif., as part of Disney?s ImagiNations Competition, a talent search of sorts. During their four-day, expenses-paid trip, the UW-Madison students had the chance to network with “Imagineers” ? the people who dream up and engineer the “three-dimensional attractions” for Disney parks and resorts across the globe ? and to present their concept for a high-tech ride called “Operations Discover E.”

Mayor Paul Soglin and other Madison officials want to give police authority to quickly shut down dangerous or rowdy house parties, fine hosts and attendees, and hold landlords accountable for future problems. But some say the proposed law is too tough. Under the proposal, police could declare a party a nuisance if attendees are violating one of 17 existing laws, including providing liquor without a license, providing alcohol to underage or intoxicated people, obstructing entrances or stairways to buildings, disturbing the peace and overcrowding. The proposal puts a spotlight on kegs, letting police deem a gathering a nuisance if an open keg is visible from a public sidewalk, street or neighboring property and one of the 17 existing laws are also being violated. Ald. Scott Resnick, who represents the student-dominated 8th District near UW-Madison, is cool to the proposal.

Students who attend the 26 campuses of the University of Wisconsin System will pay hundreds of dollars more in tuition this fall ? ranging from $235 more a year at UW Colleges to $659 more a year at UW-Madison. On a vote of 11 to 4, the UW Board of Regents approved a 5.5 percent tuition increase for in-state students at a meeting Thursday in Madison. Tuition will cost an average of $6,543 a year for resident students attending a four-year UW System campus in 2011-12. That?s an average increase of $381 per year. Out-of-state students will pay increases at the same dollar amount as residents.

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay students could shell out an extra $311 in tuition for the academic year that starts in the fall, under a state proposal to be voted on today.

A local UW student has been appointed by Governor Walker as a new student representative to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.

Tuition likely will increase by 5.5 percent per year starting in the fall at all University of Wisconsin schools, including the University of Wisconsin Marathon County, which hasn?t seen a tuition hike in five years.

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker announced on Wednesday the appointments of two student representatives to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.The students — Troy Sherven, of Oregon, and Katie Pointer, of De Pere, — will join with other members of the body, which is responsible for “establishing policies and rules for governing” the UW System, according to a news release issued by the governor?s office.

The city?s Plan Commission voted Monday night to kill a proposal by St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center that would have added a 12-story student apartment building to its site. Ald. Chris Schmidt, a member of the commission, said the first vote to recommend approval of the project to the City Council failed on a 5-3 vote. The UW-Madison student center could wait at least several weeks to resubmit the proposal to the commission or they could come back with a different proposal, Schmidt said.

Damon Williams looked out at the eager faces of incoming UW-Madison freshman and told them the truth.

?Now, you?ll notice that the faces in this room are pretty diverse, particularly from an ethnic and racial perspective,? said Williams, UW-Madison?s top diversity officer. ?I?m here to tell you, that?s not going to be your experience on a day-to-day basis here at UW-Madison.?

On Sunday, UW-Madison held an orientation session ? known as SOAR Student Orientation Advising and Registration ? for new students of color. The idea is to allow under-represented students a chance to get to know one another before school starts.

MADISON, Wis. — A federal grand jury has indicted a former University of Wisconsin-Madison student on one count of sharing child pornography computer files. According to court documents, an FBI agent in Los Angeles logged onto a file-sharing site in August 2010 and downloaded nearly 160 images linked to a computer in 23-year-old Matthew Hendrickson?s UW-Madison dorm room.

Madison police are coordinating with UW police to investigate a pair of violent attacks against women that occurred over the weekend and might be connected.

MADISON (WKOW)– The Madison Common Council adopted new alcohol licensing legislation Tuesday that will allow for more opportunities for businesses looking to sell liquor downtown.

Madison police said they?re investigating two sexual assault cases in which a stranger attacked women walking alone in downtown Madison.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police said they are investigating an attempted sexual assault early Saturday morning near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Many in Madison have long perceived the city to be a youthful place based in part, I suppose, on the annual infusion of University of Wisconsin freshmen. Well, the facts are indicating otherwise. A report by The Brookings Institute has Madison 6th in the nation for the rate of growth of pre-seniors, people ages 55 to 64, between 2000 and 2010. It is hard to generalize, but it feels like all those Vietnam-era Baby Boomers at UW who chose to stay are still around.

UW-Madison accepted about half of the students who applied to be a member of the freshman class, the lowest admission rate in at least 20 years for the state?s flagship university. It?s a function of the fact that a record number of students applied, while the size of the freshman class remained the same as in recent years, at about 5,900.Officials say more applicants for the same number of spots have led to an unintended consequence: Admission to UW-Madison is more selective.

MADISON, Wis. — Nearly two years ago, Stephen Lee uprooted his wife and two children from their home in Clarksville, Tenn., to study political science here at the University of Wisconsin.

Dear Editor: I am a former city worker and a union supporter, but Madison Metro has way too much attitude. Service gets worse every year. Both management and drivers are at fault, so fire them all. Close Metro down!

Madison police are investigating several downtown residential burglaries that were reported Saturday morning.