The sight of a life-sized Spider-Man doll being hanged by its neck from a balcony of a Langdon Street home near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is prompting a stern response from school officials.
There are ways for universities to reduce tuition for illegal immigrants, even if state lawmakers vote to stop offering them in-state tuition, according to a lawyer for the University of Wisconsin System. Chancellors have wide discretion in offering students lower tuition rates, UW System General Counsel Tomas Stafford said Thursday. For example, schools have access to a pool of institutional aid that could be used to reduce tuition for illegal immigrants. But Kevin Reilly, president of the UW System, told the Regents Friday that ?it is our intent to comply fully with the letter and the spirit of this law, if it is passed.?
Lauren Spierer, a bubbly 20-year-old from Greenburgh, N.Y., with a flair for fashion who friends say was drawn to Indiana University because she liked the school spirit and big campus. Spierer went missing last week after drinking with friends at one of the town?s most popular bars. She was last seen walking home alone. Her disappearance highlights the danger drinking can present in college towns and calls to mind similar cases from elsewhere. Wisconsin police have never made an arrest in the 2007 slaying of 22-year-old Kelly Nolan, who disappeared after a night of bar-hopping near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her body was found weeks later in a ditch south of the city.
On a grassy hill spilling from the state Capitol down toward Carroll Street, two dozen protesters ? a mother and her eighth-grade daughter among them ? sat around a lantern for a nightly “town council” meeting led by a large, bearded man in a “Vets for Peace” T-shirt. A younger man with a spiked mohawk walked by on the sidewalk holding a “Free Solidarity Hugs” sign. Across the street, a UW-Madison graduate student sat beside a four-person tent brushing his teeth while reading Hunter S. Thompson by headlamp. Welcome to bedtime in Walkerville.
There are ways for universities to reduce tuition for illegal immigrants, even if state lawmakers vote to stop offering them in-state tuition, according to a lawyer for the University of Wisconsin System.
lawyer for the University of Wisconsin System says there are ways for its colleges to offer tuition breaks to illegal immigrants even if state lawmakers approve a provision to end the practice.
There are ways for universities to reduce tuition for illegal immigrants, even if state lawmakers vote to stop offering them in-state tuition, according to a lawyer for the University of Wisconsin System. Chancellors have wide discretion in offering students lower tuition rates, UW System General Counsel Tomas Stafford said Thursday. For example, schools have access to a pool of institutional aid that could be used to reduce tuition for illegal immigrants.
A lawyer for the University of Wisconsin System said there are ways for its colleges to offer tuition breaks to illegal immigrants even if state lawmakers approve a provision to end the practice.
University of Wisconsin System officials said Thursday they can offer significant tuition breaks to illegal immigrants even if lawmakers approve provisions in the state budget designed to curtail that practice.
The University of Wisconsin would have to return nearly $40 million in federal funds – money intended to pay for community networks and improve broadband service for public entities – if a state budget provision aimed at protecting rural telecommunications providers becomes law. UW officials say the proposal also would prevent research universities in the state from participating in a high-speed system that connects them with research universities nationwide. “The consequences would be catastrophic,” said Paul DeLuca, provost at UW-Madison.
Fewer than 20 spots are still available for the 2011-2012 Farm and Industry Short Course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
On June 3, the state Legislature?s Joint Committee on Finance slipped several policy items into the state biennial budget that would change the way the Internet service provider WiscNet operates and require the University of Wisconsin to return more than $32 million in federal grant money awarded in August 2010 for a broadband expansion project.
The proposed changes to WiscNet could result in schools, libraries and institutions of higher education paying two to three times more for Internet access from for-profit providers. Actually, it?s more accurate to say that taxpayers would foot the increased bill, or library patrons and students would no longer have the access they need and want. The policy changes would also disrupt the ability of the UW to pursue its research and education mission.
Spider-Man was seen hanging around Langdon Street on Thursday, but not in a good way. UW-Madison officials were disturbed by reports they received of a life-size Spider-Man doll hanging from a balcony at an apartment building on Langdon Street on Thursday.
A dozen silent demonstrators wearing zombie makeup and protest T-shirts were arrested early Wednesday afternoon after lying down on the floor of a legislator?s Capitol offices and refusing to leave.
Assumptions are unwise, especially in the case of Dorcas Akinniyi and Jessica Flax. Both are members of the University of Wisconsin women?s track and field team who qualified for the heptathlon in the NCAA outdoor championships that run through Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
….When I speak on college campuses, students will often say they don?t believe that a woman?s attire makes it justifiable for someone to rape her, but ? and there almost always is a ?but? ? shouldn?t women know better than to dress in a suggestive way? What I try to explain to those students is part of what the SlutWalk protests are aiming to relay on a grander scale. That yes, some women dress in short, tight, ?suggestive? clothing ? maybe because it?s hot outside, maybe because it?s the style du jour or maybe just because they think they look sexy. And there?s nothing wrong with that. Women deserve to be safe from violent assault, no matter what they wear. And the sad fact is, a miniskirt is no more likely to provoke a rapist than a potato sack is to deter one.
As one Toronto SlutWalk sign put it: ?Don?t tell us how to dress. Tell men not to rape.? It?s this ? the proactive, fed-upness of SlutWalks ? that makes me so hopeful for the future.
(This column appeared first in The Washington Post.)
Much of the UW-Madison campus will be reading “Enrique?s Journey” next fall. The book, by Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Sonia Nazario, is Chancellor Biddy Martin?s selection for the third annual common book read program, Go Big Read.
Red Line Report, an independent international scouting service, came out with its final prospect rankings for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft this week. Left winger Michael Mersch, a 19-year-old sophomore-to-be with the University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team, is 50th, which projects to him being chosen in the second round when the draft is held June 24 and 25 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Madison city officials and housing advocates are reeling from a one-two punch delivered by new GOP legislation that threatens to erase several decades worth of renter protections enacted here and Mayor Paul Soglin has come out swinging in response.
The term “you?re killing me” will take on a whole new life in Madison on Wednesday, as college students from across Wisconsin protest what they call anti-student legislation. The students will be “dying” and then dragging their returned-to-life zombie bodies around Capitol Square at noon Wednesday in a protest planned by the United Council of University of Wisconsin Students.
Quoted: Sam Polstein, 20, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Apparently the calendars in the NCAA offices are permanently stuck on the 1950s. By refusing to allow college athletes to be paid, NCAA officials would like us to think they?re preserving some idyllic moment in history when the “student” role dominated a student-athlete?s focus. All the collegiate athletics-ruling organization preserves with that stance is its own hypocrisy.
After a scandal at Ohio State University brought down highly touted football coach Jim Tressel and scarred another legendary program, NCAA leaders should finally acknowledge what the rest of the world knows: They?re taking advantage of the athletes.
Noted: At the UW-Madison alone, more than 1,300 students were involved in entrepreneurship courses across the 42,000-student campus during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to a report to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. About 1,000 students took part in entrepreneurship events, such as the “100-Hour Challenge” and business plan competitions. One such competition is the G. Steven Burrill contest, which attracted 22 teams and 45 students in 2011 alone.
It makes sense that professors with contrasting political ideologies might approach their lives in different ways. But whether a professor leans left or right, or votes Democrat or Republican, shouldn?t affect a student?s grade in Chemistry 101 or an upper-level philosophy course. Right? That?s not the case according to a recent study by two economists titled “Partisan Grading.” The paper indicates that, yes, Democratic and Republican professors do appear to grade in different ways.
It ain?t gonna happen. Much to the chagrin of The Sconz circa 2009, UW students will never be able to drink at Badgers games. The idea of selling beer at Camp Randall popped onto the radar screen recently when West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck proposed such a plan for Mountaineers football games. In addition to tapping into a lucrative revenue stream, Luck told his Board of Governors that allowing and controlling beer sales would help cut down on the problem of fan intoxication.
It is ironic that West Virginia, which surveys show has one of the lowest rates of alcohol consumption in the country, is considering a more liberal drinking policy than Wisconsin, the heaviest drinking state in the country, and home to Memorial Union, perhaps the proudest university-sponsored drinking venue in American history.
Thirty local kids completed a youth marathon Sunday, some at the finish line of the Madison Marathon. Cumulatively, in the last four to 10 months, they completed 26 miles of running, read 26 books and did 26 random acts of kindness. The idea was the brainchild of UW-Madison medical school student Katelin Krystowiak. She started the ?Ready, Set, Go! Youth Marathon? this year, modeled after a similar program in St. Louis. Kids from kindergarten through eighth grade were invited to take part.
Inspired by vegetarian and vegan festivals such as Chicago?s Veggie Fest and Portland VegFest, University of Wisconsin-Madison music-education student Hannah West decided, ?Madison should totally have one of these.?
MILWAUKEE – Friends and family of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student killed as she was struck by a vehicle fleeing police, gathered Saturday to honor her memory, and to call for people to take a stand against police pursuits.
A large-scale workshop this summer examining the boundaries of academic freedom can take a long stride toward enhancing understanding and restoring credibility between the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the public.
A photo of people enjoying the summer-like weather at the Memorial Union Terrace on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The Legislature?s budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students — especially those from low-income families — find a path to a college degree. Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee attempted to delete a provision in the governor?s budget which will sunset the Wisconsin Covenant program. But that motion was shot down 12-4 along party lines.
“I don?t know why we continue to say we can?t afford education,” Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D, Milwaukee, told her joint finance colleagues.
Gifts and grants totalling $1,110,270 to area educational, cultural and civic organizations for 2011 have been announced by John H. ?Jack? Lussier, president of The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times.
Included in the grants is $351,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, $200,000 of which is the fourth installment of a $1 million, five-year pledge for a William T. Evjue professorship in the School of Journalism, plus $151,000 to support 20 other programs for students and faculty at the university.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) ? Gov. Scott Walker signed into law Wednesday a requirement that voters in Wisconsin show photo identification at the polls, marking the end of a nearly decade-long push by Republicans to enact it.
A change to Gov. Scott Walker?s Minnesota-Wisconsin reciprocity agreement is being called a “reasonable and fair compromise” by State Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar).
The controversial voter ID bill is now law.
Funding for a tuition reciprocity agreement between Wisconsin and Minnesota will be phased out, under a plan approved Tuesday by the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee.
Wisconsin college students will soon have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a change to the popular tuition reciprocity agreement approved Tuesday by the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee. The 43-year-old reciprocity program allows Wisconsin and Minnesota college-bound students to pay instate tuition even if they attend public universities in the other state. Currently, Wisconsin makes up the difference between the resident tuition rate for a Wisconsin student to attend a comparable institution in Minnesota. Under the change approved unanimously Tuesday by the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee, that difference would have to be paid by the student.
With the stroke of a pen today, Gov. Scott Walker will officially solve a problem that we don?t have. If you listen to Walker and some fellow governors, they?re protecting the integrity of elections and preventing voter fraud.
….Tens of thousands of students in the University of Wisconsin System won?t be able to use their student IDs because they don?t meet the new state voter requirement. Do you think that?s a coincidence?
Here?s the message it sends: We want young people to take part in democracy. We want them to stay in Wisconsin and work after graduation. But we don?t really want them to vote while they?re a student.
Wisconsin students would be required to pay more to attend Minnesota?s public universities, under a plan unanimously adopted by the budget committee. Changes to the tuition reciprocity program would be phased in, starting with the freshman class in the fall of 2012 — a compromise to protect current students from a sudden tuition increase.
The October traffic crash that killed a UW-Madison student was caused by a woman who was texting while driving, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. Authorities charged Stephanie M. Kanoff, 20, of Sun Prairie, with homicide by negligent driving for allegedly writing a text message on her cell phone before she struck and killed Dylan Ellefson, 21, whose car had become disabled in the 1400 block of East Johnson Street on Oct. 24.
A 20-year-old Sun Prairie woman is expected to be in Dane County Circuit Court on Wednesday for charges stemming from a fatal crash in October.
Wisconsin college students will soon have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a change to the popular tuition reciprocity agreement approved Tuesday by the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee.
Georgetown University, the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and the University of Wisconsin?Madison?reported that none of their students keep cars on campus. Georgetown, for instance, does not allow students who live on campus to have cars there, though the school?s Washington, D.C., location allows access to a vast public transportation system, as is the case for NYU-Poly students in New York City.
The state Joint Finance Committee voted Tuesday to end the Wisconsin Covenant program.
MADISON (WKOW) — Wisconsin college students would have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a proposal up for approval before the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee.
MADISON, Wis. — The Legislature?s budget committee has voted to go along with Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to end the Wisconsin Covenant program. The program started by Walker?s predecessor Gov. Jim Doyle promises financial aid for college to middle school students who promise to stay out of trouble and get good grades.
Proudly emerging in caps and gowns, students who graduate from college over the next few weeks will feel as light as a feather. Well, except for the anchor of student debt they?ll drag behind them for the next several years or longer.
A report the Pew Research Center released last week showed those who borrow money for college face an average of $23,000 in loans. The weight is especially piling on in Wisconsin, according to credit management service CreditKarma.com. Its report showed student loan debt among Wisconsin consumers rose 17 percent over the past year, the biggest increase in the nation. It?s time to expel that trend.
To help deal with high demand, more campus counseling centers are using computerized questionnaires, some that generate color-coded charts, to help them flag a serious problem more quickly than traditional paper-and-pencil evaluations. Though they stress that these evaluations are not a replacement for in-depth questioning or counseling, many counselors say high-tech methods like these appeal to students, who are often more comfortable communicating with smart phones, iPads and laptops.
Just one word of advice for the nation?s 2011 high school graduates: petroleum. An analysis of the projected lifetime earnings of 171 college majors provides a clearer picture of what one bachelor?s degree means compared to another in the labor market. And the answer can be as much as $3.64 million.
The Presbyterian student center at UW-Madison is scrambling to convince state legislators its 51-unit apartment building deserves to remain off the tax rolls. The Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee on May 12 voted 14-2 to strip Pres House Apartments of its tax-exempt status as part of the 2011-13 biennial budget. The ministry was granted the exemption by the Legislature in a controversial move two years ago. Pres House now is rallying students, parents and alumni to contact state officials before the full Legislature votes on the budget in the coming weeks.
Wisconsin college students would have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a proposal up for approval before the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee. The Joint Finance Committee planned to vote Tuesday on the change backed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. His plan would save the state about $17 million over the next two years.
MADISON (WKOW) — From the simple, to the creative, to the bizarre. There are hundreds of thousands of smart phone apps available on the iTunes and Android markets, and some are made here in Madison. UW-Madison grad student Matt Luedke and his company, SnowShoeFood, have developed a new app to help customers shop local.
ST. LOUIS, MO (KPLR)? As the school year winds down its hard to keep kids interested in school. The dancing mad scientist Jeffrey Vinokur has some creative ideas to make science fun for all ages.
Dozens of middle schoolers launched bottle rockets Saturday morning on a patch of grass at UW-Madison, some of the rockets soaring as high as the towering Engineering Research Building next door and taking nearly half a minute to return to earth. These weren?t the exploding rockets you buy at a roadside stand, but creations hand-built by physics whizzes in town for the city?s first turn at hosting the National Science Olympiad.
Another faith-based organization at UW-Madison also could lose its tax-exempt status for its housing component. Youth With A Mission Madison, part of a global Christian volunteer organization, owns a former sorority house at 602 Langdon St. that provides housing for about 20 people, most of them UW-Madison students, said Warren Keapproth, director of YWAM Madison. The state law that gives Pres House its tax-exempt status also grants it to YWAM Madison.
The sky may not be falling in the world of higher education. But it sure can seem like it some days. Concerns over college costs among the public are at an all-time high — with 75 percent saying college is out of reach for most people. In 1985, 60 percent felt this way.
CHICAGO (AP) ? Like thousands of college students this time of year, Northwestern University freshman Jim Sannes can?t wait to spend time at home this summer.
Sannes, 19, is looking forward to relaxing and ?just being around the surroundings I grew up with, the same house I grew up with. It will be a nice feeling.? He grew up in Kasson, Minn., 350 miles from Northwestern?s campus in Evanston, Ill. But after nine months away, campus and the place where college students grew up may seem worlds apart.
This year?s college graduates will get a lot of advice over the next few weeks from a parade of commencement speakers. Find your passion. Believe in yourself. Take risks. But here?s something graduates probably won?t hear from the dignitary at the podium: Pay your student loans. That?s too bad, because the consequences of defaulting on student loans are nothing short of catastrophic.
A group of Sherman Middle School seventh-graders who recently traveled to New Orleans on a rare service-learning trip are sharing their experience at UW-Madison?s School of Education on Monday. The trip was unusual because most community service projects in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina have involved high school or college students. Students, professors and researchers at UW-Madison are interested in hearing about the community service component, professor Diana Hess said.
Another faith-based organization at UW-Madison also could lose its tax-exempt status for its housing component.
