Category: Campus life

The UW Board of Regents is setting new guidelines for approving special tuition hikes.  The Board on Friday approved changes to how requests for differential tuition increases are reviewed. UW System spokesman Dave Giroux says Regents want to stress the importance of having student input on efforts to launch new initiatives on a specific campus.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is cutting ties with Nike because the company has failed to address its concerns related to the closing of two factories in Honduras.

The UW-Madison campus is in a city that hosts the nationâ??s largest producer-only farmerâ??s market, is home to three grocery co-ops, nearly 50 community gardens, and more than 200 organizations working on food or sustainability. Youâ??d think it would be easy for students here to find a variety of local and sustainable foods at campus grocery stores and dining facilities.

If you happened to pass the Microbial Sciences building on the UW-Madison campus Thursday morning, you would have noticed a strange sight: college students swinging from a tree. About a dozen students attempted to scale the swamp white oak as part of a tree-climbing lab. Itâ??s the highlight of the universityâ??s arboriculture course, where students learn to care for trees and the landscape. Yes, for one day, they were getting course credit for climbing trees.

University of Wisconsin campuses would be required to seek input from students but not their formal approval for special tuition increases under a proposed policy revision. The Board of Regents on Friday will consider the policy spelling out the process for approving differential tuition increases for specific programs and campus initiatives. UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse have won approval for major increases to improve their quality in recent years, but it hasnâ??t always been clear what role students play in the process.

 At least 50 University of Wisconsin students marched on Bascom Hill Thursday afternoon, demanding the school sever ties with Nike. Four months ago, Chancellor Biddy Martin issued the apparel company an ultimatum — clean up your act, or weâ??ll take away your license to do business with the UW.

A group of UW students is calling for the university to drop its contract with Nike.

Despite concerns by city officials about height and size, St. Paulâ??s University Catholic Center is proposing a striking, 14-story facility with a chapel, student center and residences on State Street Mall â?? a project Madison Catholic Diocese Bishop Robert Morlino says is more important than rebuilding the Downtown Cathedral.A redevelopment of the Catholic Center would create a “religious learning center” that would serve thousands of Catholic students at UW-Madison and the larger community, church officials said.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. And as commemorating events get underway nationwide, the Center for Public Integrityâ??s recent project, Sexual Assault on Campus: A Frustrating Search for Justice, continues to resonate in significant ways.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly set goals for UW campuses to increase the number of graduates by 30 percent over the next 15 years.

The University of Wisconsin System will strive to increase its graduates by 30 percent in the next 15 years, a plan that will be presented at the Board of Regents meeting in Fond du Lac today.

The student suing the University of Wisconsin Sigma Chi fraternity, national headquarters and insurers for an alleged rape in the fall of 2008 is seeking more than $10 million in damages, according to documents filed recently in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

The president of the University of Wisconsin system is challenging state campuses to find new ways to increase the number of graduates over the next decade.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is challenging campuses to find new ways to graduate more students as part of a plan to increase the number of degree-holders in the state.

Two years have now passed since a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was killed, but police insist the case is still “solvable.” Brittney Zimmermann was stabbed to death in her apartment on April 2, 2008.

A column by William Barnes, a junior majoring in communication arts, and Porter Pearce, a junior majoring in political science and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both are interns at One Wisconsin Now, a statewide liberal advocacy organization.

It will be 2 years Friday since UW Madison student Brittany Zimmermann was murdered in her off-campus apartment, and Madison Police are still looking for her killer. Investigators and Zimmermannâ??s family believe someone knows who did it, and that has brought a renewed plea by her parents for donations to a reward fund.

Like a growing number of college students across the country, Teresa Welsh considered spending a semester studying abroad.

â??But Iâ??ve heard from a lot of people that you basically go and hang out with other Americans or English speakers, live in a dorm with others like you and donâ??t necessarily integrate yourself with the culture or students in your classes,â? says Welsh, who is set to graduate from UW-Madison in May with a double major in journalism and Latin American studies. â??Thatâ??s not what I wanted.â?

Someone knows who killed UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann in her West Doty Street apartment two years ago. That belief – held by members of Zimmermannâ??s family since she was slain April 2, 2008, in the middle of the day on a normally bustling street – is shared by detectives still trying to find her killer, said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain. But no one has come forward with that information, prompting renewed pleas by Zimmermannâ??s parents for contributions to a reward fund.

Administrators at the University of Wisconsin-Stout are trying to crack down on alcohol abuse after six students died in alcohol related incidents in the last two years.Chancellor Charles Sorensen informed students and staff of the new measures in an email Tuesday, saying “strong and decisive steps are necessary to address a serious situation,” and he said the school would begin taking disciplinary actions against students who abuse alcohol.

The Memorial Union Terrace will open officially on Sunday, April 4.

“She was everything. She was my only daughter. She was my best friend. I cannot even imagine that Iâ??m gonna have to live the rest of my life without her.”

Only on NBC15, Brittany Zimmermannâ??s mother pleads for help in finding her daughterâ??s killer.

MADISON, Wis. — This week marks the two-year anniversary since the death of University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann in her downtown apartment.

For Madison police investigators, the Doty Street house where the 21-year-old lived and was killed serves as a reminder. Much like the public perception of their investigation, the building is unchanged from two years ago.

â??People just want to know the answer, so I do appreciate that side of it as well,â? said Police Capt. Mary Schauf. â??We want to do a quality investigation, but we also want the right person arrested.â?

Schauf said that this case is far from cold. In fact, she said detectives work on it daily and there have been occasions that they thought they might have a break.

For several University of Wisconsin-Madison students, this yearâ??s spring break was an opportunity to skip the traditional beach parties in Florida or Mexico in order to spend their time volunteering at parks, schools and nursing homes in six cities – including a stop Monday in Auburn.

Laura Phelan, a freshman at the university, said the students have already stopped in South Bend, Ind., and Pittsburgh and will visit Bethel, N.Y., Philadelphia and Washington D.C. when they are done volunteering.The trip is part of a nationwide Pay it Forward Tour meant to encourage college students to spend their spring break volunteering in local communities.

An Assembly committee has voted to significantly enhance Wisconsins higher education benefits for veterans.

LA CROSSE, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student has been found sleeping in another personâ??s car after he was reported missing after leaving a bar, prompting a nearly six-hour search.

The La Crosse Tribune reported Sunday that the 22-year-old student was last seen at 1 a.m. leaving the State Room bar downtown. He had told friends he was walking home, but never made it.

Brittany Zimmermannâ??s mother shares a personal nightmare in hopes others will share what they know about her daughterâ??s murder.

….Madisonâ??s point man on the census, planning staff member Brian Grady, says the city is working with members of its Complete Count Committee and the organizations it represents to get an accurate count of the cityâ??s population. Every person not counted means the loss of an estimated $1,000 a year in federal funding to the community, he says.

The city has focused on census tracts that had a low response rate in the 2000 census, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, South Park Street, Fish Hatchery Road near the Beltline and Allied Drive. Mail-in returns of the 2000 census for those areas ranged from 60 to 70 percent, compared to 81 percent for the city as a whole.

Quoted: John Bechtol, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant dean of students.

As spring break approaches, many college students will head to the beach for fun in the sun.However, University of Wisconsin-Madison student Gergens Polynice has a different plan. Polynice will visit his home country of Haiti to assess the damages caused by the devastating earthquake that struck on Jan. 12.

â??My goal is to make a difference in the lives of some people in Haiti,â? Polynice says, a graduate student in Latin America, Caribbean and Iberian Studies.

A University of Wisconsin Law School mock trial team defeated Georgetown University Sunday to win the 2010 National Student Trial Advocacy Competition.

Though it has been almost two years since the University of Wisconsin campus was shaken by the murder of junior Brittany Zimmermann, the Madison Police Department are still confident they will find her murderer.

Not every UW-Madison team struggled over the weekend. The University of Wisconsin Law Schoolâ??s mock trial team defeated Georgetown Sunday to win the championship at the National Student Trial Advocacy Competition, which was held in New Orleans. Itâ??s the first national title for the team, which was captained by Andrew Rima.