It?s final exams week, and that means it?s time to send in the hounds. UW-Madison students will have a chance to relieve test stress by petting and hugging therapy dogs at Helen C. White Library Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. Dogs on Call, Inc. will bring more than 20 pooches into the library – from Shih Tzus to German Shepherds. This is the event?s third year.
The latest version of a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls cleared the Legislature?s budget-writing committee on Monday after undergoing more changes that Democrats said will only lead to chaos and confusion. The measure could clear the Legislature as soon as Wednesday. The version passed Monday would allow college IDs, but would not require them to include a student?s birth date or address. The expiration date would have to be no more than two years after the date the ID was issued. UW-Madison lobbyist Don Nelson said the latest version was an improvement.
This weekend kicks off the college graduation season. Here?s a round-up of local ceremonies. Alumni John and Tashia Morgridge will deliver the commencement speech at four UW-Madison undergraduate ceremonies on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15 at the Kohl Center.
University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez released a statement Monday night pledging support for women?s tennis coach Brian Fleishman after questions were raised about his treatment of players. Alvarez?s vote of confidence came in the wake of a report in Thursday?s Badger Herald in which four unnamed members of the team alleged Fleishman subjected players to unhealthy eating habits and psychological abuse.
The latest version of a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls cleared the Legislature?s budget-writing committee on Monday after undergoing more changes that Democrats said will only lead to chaos and confusion.
The voter ID bill, which would require you to show a photo ID at the polls, passed the final hurdle to reach the full legislature.
The legislature?s Joint Finance Committee has passed an amended version of voter ID legislation. This latest voter ID bill would require individuals to be living at their current address for 28 days before voting.
The past few years have been very discouraging for graduating seniors. But, for the class of 2011 at UW-Madison, it?s a better story. Across campus, UW career advisors say they?re not surprised and overall more companies are hiring.
Every year after the spring game, University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema gathers the seniors, plus a select group of juniors ? and their parents ? to discuss the NFL draft process.
This week the state Legislature will debate a controversial measure requiring voters to show a photo identification before they can cast a ballot. The legislation, which proponents say will prevent people from voting illegally, would give Wisconsin arguably the most restrictive voter identification law in the country. Proponents say combating voter fraud, no matter how rare, is a good thing. Critics say the measure is a solution without a problem. They say fears of voter fraud are overblown, and photo ID laws discourage many people from voting, especially college students, seniors, minorities and people with disabilities…Student IDs would be allowed, but would have to include a current address, birthdate, signature and expiration date. Currently no college or university ID used in the state, including UW-Madison, meets those standards.
As an emeritus professor at the UW-Madison Medical School, I have published papers on the potential beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, such as two glasses of red wine, and the harmful effects of excessive consumption. I thought it would be interesting to take my blood alcohol analyzer to the block party. As I tested myself by blowing into it, a group of young people gathered and wanted to be tested, too. So I randomly tested six men and six women, and showed them the results. I was amazed at how eager most of the subjects were to be tested, and they all wanted to have the highest level like it was a contest.
When we should be encouraging our citizens to vote, why do some of our legislators want to restrict voting rights?…Assembly Bill 7 requires all voters to present a photo ID card, lengthens the residency requirements and makes it nearly impossible for students to use their university-issued ID cards for identification (which might require the University of Wisconsin to spend dollars it doesn?t have to create new IDs).
….Wisconsin?s bill, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, would cost more than $5.7 million to implement. The measure would require voters to use a driver?s license, state ID, military ID, passport, naturalization papers or tribal ID at the polls. Student IDs would be allowed, but would have to include a current address, birthdate, signature and expiration date. Currently no college or university ID used in the state, including UW-Madison, meets those standards.
Tired of reading stories about the ever-escalating costs associated with higher education? Here?s something different: Texas Gov. Rick Perry challenged universities in the Lone Star state earlier this year to create a bachelor?s degree which will cost students only $10,000 for four years of tuition, fees, and textbooks.
That might sound impossible considering just one year of tuition, fees and textbooks at UW-Madison now tops $10,000. But last week the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board indicated it?s moving “aggressively” to tackle Perry?s challenge, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
With the expansion of a national program for underrepresented students the University of Wisconsin, officials look to further diversify campus and instill enthusiasm for studying science.
Madison Police Department officers were dispatched to the Langdon Street neighborhood Wednesday after a tense situation on a rooftop culminated in a woman falling to the ground and being rushed to the hospital.
The University of Wisconsin cycling team will compete in the USC Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, hosted for the second consecutive year by the UW Cycling Club.
While taking my kids to a school athletic event at 9:30 a.m. the morning of the Mifflin Street party, I had to address their questions about people playing ?beer pong? on the sidewalks and students doing beer bongs in the school parking lot.
The rampant pre-partying, as well as the debate about the party itself, are embarrassing for UW-Madison, the city of Madison and its officials. It?s amazing there is any consideration of allowing this ?party? to continue. Aren?t life-threatening injuries, sexual assaults and injured police officers enough? Will it take a death in the community to make a difference?
As an emeritus professor at the UW-Madison Medical School, I have published papers on the potential beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, such as two glasses of red wine, and the harmful effects of excessive consumption.
I thought it would be interesting to take my blood alcohol analyzer to the block party. As I tested myself by blowing into it, a group of young people gathered and wanted to be tested, too. So I randomly tested six men and six women, and showed them the results. I was amazed at how eager most of the subjects were to be tested, and they all wanted to have the highest level like it was a contest.
Dear Editor: In response to the Mifflin Street block party: It saddens me to see that we have raised a generation that has so little respect for themselves and people around them and the property of others. Why is it that people have to get so intoxicated and consider that to be fun?
….UW-Madison has a reputation of being ?the? place to get a great education, yet the administration and professors look the other way when their students behave in this manner. Amazing to me.
Several members of the University of Wisconsin women?s tennis team have come forward to The Badger Herald illuminating issues with the team?s head coach, saying his actions have put the players? health at risk. According to phone interviews with four players, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, head coach Brian Fleishman places strict limitations on what they eat and how they train, which has forced several girls to surrender to unhealthy lifestyles.
As public rhetoric surrounding the New Badger Partnership continues to dominate conversations on campus, Chancellor Biddy Martin and other University of Wisconsin officials offered the campus community another chance to voice their concerns with the new model.
UW-Madison police are investigating three separate muggings on or near the campus that happened late at night on April 30, the same day the annual Mifflin Street Block Party drew thousands of young people to the area. None of the victims were UW-Madison students or staff, police said.
As public rhetoric surrounding the New Badger Partnership continues to dominate conversations on campus, Chancellor Biddy Martin and other University of Wisconsin officials offered the campus community another chance to voice their concerns with the new model.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is proposing major changes to the decades-old tuition reciprocity agreement between this state and Minnesota. The agreement allows Badger State students to attend Gopher State universities at reduced rates. Walker is proposing to eliminate a state subsidy for the program after Wisconsin shelled out about $12.9 million to Minnesota under the agreement ? and got no payment in return.
The Teaching Assistant Association and United Council invited Chancellor Biddy Martin and 10 other University of Wisconsin affiliates to debate the controversial New Badger Partnership with them Tuesday.
The Madison Police Department Monday released a report tallying up the total number of reported incidents from Saturday?s Mifflin Street Block Party.
Dear Editor: No Saferide route services my housing community, so why am I concerned? The restructuring of the late-night campus bus routes endangers most strongly the students who do not have a voice on the matter: the incoming freshmen and freshmen for years to come.
Voters will be required to show photo identification at the polls under a bill approved Tuesday by an Assembly committee, despite warnings from Democrats and the state?s nonpartisan election watchdog agency. Some GOP lawmakers said they would support minor changes, including tweaks to the bill?s new provision allowing certain college IDs to be used as photo ID at the polls.
Voters will be required to show a photo ID at the polls under a bill approved by an Assembly committee Tuesday despite concerns from Democrats and the nonpartisan board that monitors Wisconsin elections that the measure was moving too quickly. To address concerns that the measure was too restrictive, Republicans on the Assembly?s election and campaign reform committee voted Tuesday to expand the list of acceptable identification to include student IDs from public and private colleges and universities. But even that proved to be problematic. As the bill currently stands, student IDs would have to include a current address, birthdate, signature and expiration date. No college or university ID used in the state, including at the 42,000-student University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, meets that criteria. Further complicating things for the Madison campus, student ID cards there are used to gain entry to residence halls and other buildings. Because of the security risk raised by placing a student?s address on the card that also works as a building key, UW-Madison opposes it, said Don Nelson, director of state relations for the campus.
I?m happy to report that my sensible daughter survived the unusually crazy Mifflin Street Block Party in Madison on Saturday without finding herself on a police blotter.
Voters will be required to show a photo ID at the polls under a bill approved by an Assembly committee Tuesday despite concerns from Democrats and the nonpartisan board that monitors Wisconsin elections that the measure was moving too quickly.
Republican legislation requiring voter ID has passed a state Assembly committee on Tuesday. The Assembly Election and Campaign Reform Committee acted in the bill, with Democrats complaining that they hadn?t had a chance to look at a lengthy amendment.
Madison Police Chief Noble Wray expressed his gratitude to law enforcement workers working at the Mifflin Street Block Party in a press release Monday, while also commenting on the seriousness of several incidents that occurred during the festivities.
Discrimination is an unfortunate reality at the University of Wisconsin. So when an employee, student or visitor needs a place to air their grievances, a few options exist on campus.
An exceptional level of violence at Saturday?s Mifflin Street Block Party led Mayor Paul Soglin to say the future of the event could hang in serious jeopardy.
Students trying to vote in Wisconsin elections may be able to use college ID cards under changes to a bill requiring voters to show identification at the polls proposed by Republicans. But some Democrats called the changes “meaningless,” saying the revised bill still threatens to keep college students from voting, is costly and risks exposing students? privacy. Earlier drafts of the legislation barred student ID cards from being used at the polls. But the latest version, which will go to a vote before an Assembly committee Tuesday morning, would allow a voter to use an identification card from accredited public or private university or college if it included a photo, date of birth, current address, an expiration date no more than four years away, and a signature. The GOP proposal privacy concerns, opponents said, noting that the UW-Madison student ID is also used as a key card for the dormitories. Anyone who found a lost card could have not only the student?s address but access to the residence hall where he or she lives.
Madison police are asking for help identifying the person who stabbed a 21-year-old UW-Madison student multiple times at Saturday?s Mifflin Street Block Party. The victim, who police said was nearly killed, remains hospitalized. Police are asking anyone who took photos in the 500 block of West Mifflin Street around 5 p.m. to see if they have any images that could be related to the incident.
Two days after a large, drunken crowd and violence marred the 42nd annual Mifflin Street block party, Madison officials are mulling what happens next ? with no clear answers. But they are sure of one thing: Letting partygoers drink in the street was a mistake. Mayor Paul Soglin vowed to end the process of issuing a permit for larger events, known as a picnic beer license, without formal approval from the mayor and City Council. A picnic beer permit now requires only an administrative review by the city clerk?s office.
BadgerBites, a proposed online food order software system, won the $10,000 top price in the UW-Madison School of Business? G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition on Friday. The product, developed by Alex Wyler, Eric Martell and Matt Howard, would streamline and improve the online food order processing, according to their business plan.
If you want damning evidence about what the nature of this year?s Mifflin Street Block Party was like, look no further than the extensive Madison Police Department press release that details two stabbings, two potential sexual assaults, battery and general resistance to police officers and emergency responders, and the level of intoxication of all 162 people arrested or cited. On that last point: More than two-thirds of the people cited were legally drunk, and many were dangerously so – 29 people (18 percent) had a blood alcohol concentration between .251 and .300, and three people had a blood alcohol concentration between .301 and .400. For those who need a refresher, .20-.29 often leads to stupor and loss of consciousness, while. 30-.39 can lead to unconsciousness, impaired breathing and heart rate, and death.
Like most Madisonians and veterans of Mifflins past, I read with dismay the news that two partygoers were stabbed ? leading to ?multiple life-threatening injuries? requiring emergency surgery in one case ? at this year?s celebration. Equally disturbing is that three police officers were injured ? including a female officer who was punched in the face when she tried to stop a reveler ? and that four times as many partygoers ended up in detox as compared to last year.Not surprisingly, Mayor Paul Soglin and other city leaders want to see Mifflin come to an end.
Two people were stabbed ? one of them suffering life-threatening injuries that required surgery. Three police officers were injured. At least 160 people were arrested on a variety of charges ranging from underage drinking to depositing human waste.
That?s not a block party. That?s a riot. And while we don?t have much problem with the University of Wisconsin?s reputation as a party school, we have a big problem with the mess that organizers of the Mifflin Street block party have made of the annual event.
The debate over Mifflin fits into a broader dialogue about how to best address binge drinking on college campuses. Is it by enforcing strict rules against underage drinking? Is it through alcohol education and awareness?
They were celebrating spring in downtown Madison Saturday at the 43rd annual Mifflin Street Block Party. New rules allowed for open container and beer drinking in the street. But the day didn?t end well for a number of people. As of Saturday 9 p.m. 160 people were arrested and two people were stabbed.
Pakistani students here in Madison say they are concerned about what the news of Osama bin Laden?s death in Pakistan means for their country.
The sponsors of this year?s Mifflin Street Block Party are speaking out, and Madison?s mayor is calling for changes after Saturday?s event was marred by violence.
Amid divided opinions on the proposed New Badger Partnership on campus, UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin met with students and community members Friday to discuss their concerns about the proposal.
UW-Madison students may no longer have to pay underage drinking tickets if a proposed alcohol education program is put in place.
The future of the Mifflin Street Block Party could be in jeopardy after several acts of violence, including the stabbing of UW-Madison student, at Saturday?s block party.
Fifty years ago, a group of scientists at the University of Wisconsin formed what would eventually become the Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate program.
After many students raised concerns Wisconsin college students would be negatively affected by voter ID legislation being debated in the Legislature, a substitute amendment was released Friday containing language that would include student IDs on the list of identification accepted by election polling staff.
Students gathered in the hallway outside Chancellor Biddy Martin?s office in Bascom Hall Friday to urge the University of Wisconsin?s chief executive to plot an alternate course for the school?s future.
This year?s Mifflin Street Block Party ended on an unsettling note as the crowds swelled to record numbers, bottles and cases of beer flooded the street and police said two partygoers were stabbed.
UW-Madison is considering a new alcohol intervention program that could include a component that allows students to opt out of an underage drinking ticket in exchange for taking courses on the risks of alcohol abuse. The program is one that has been nationally recognized as a model to reduce problem drinking on campuses and could mark a significant shift in the way it is handled at UW-Madison. The goal is ?trying to reduce the number of students who are having negative consequences from alcohol,? said Sarah Van Orman, executive director of University Health Services, ?whether that be trouble with the law, drinking to the point where they get into trouble with housing or academic difficulties.?
City leaders are interested in ending the Mifflin Street block party once and for all after a huge crowd turned out for the 42nd annual party Saturday that culminated in two people being stabbed and three police officers getting injured.
The number of people who aren?t paying back their student loans is on the rise, and the government is increasingly threatening to sue them for the money. The amount of loan defaults that the Education Department has referred to Justice Department lawyers for possible legal action has risen dramatically since before the recession and nearly doubled from 2009 to last year.
Next fall, a group of 10-12 students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will live together in a dorm dubbed the Russian House. Throughout the semester, they will speak, read, watch TV and pretty much do all their communicating in Russian.”The idea is that we are creating a little bubble for them of Russia on the Madison campus in a supportive environment,” says Diana Murphy, associate director of the Russian Flagship Center and Language Institute.
Madison Police are investigating two separate stabbings that took place Saturday evening at the Mifflin Street Block Party in downtown Madison. The stabbings happened just a few hours apart on Mifflin Street. A 22-year-old suspect with a Green Bay address was detained in connection with the first stabbing. That happened around 5:00 Saturday evening.
Police say a 21-year old UW-Madison student suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed multiple times in the 500 block of W. Mifflin Street.
Sara Goldrick-Rab does not shy away from controversy. Being direct, she says, is in her genes.
….The assistant professor of educational policy studies and sociology is the most outspoken faculty critic of Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to award UW-Madison some long sought freedoms from state oversight by granting it public authority status and breaking it away from the rest of the UW System. sue that has divided many smart folks both on campus and across the state.
