The days of getting a college tuition bill in the mailbox will soon be gone.
UW-Madison is transitioning to a system of sending tuition bills by e-mail, rather than snail mail. Students and parents can also pay the bills online, see immediately when their payment has gone through, and view a real-time balance.
UW campuses are again swarming with students, many of whom are feeling the pinch of textbook prices. There are ways students and administrators are trying to ease the financial burden a little.
At the UW-Madison, students are holding a â??book swapâ?. They man a table covered with laptops, scraps of paper, and tall stacks of books.
The UW system says on average, college students shell out $900 a year on books. UW-Madison sophomore Jonah Zinn says the book swap lets students sell books for about 30% more than what theyâ??d get from the campus bookstore, and buy them for 35% less than the retail price, which saves them $300 to $400. (First item.)
Three teens were arrested early Sunday morning in an alleged attempt to steal mopeds parked on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. A fourth teen reportedly got away on a stolen moped.
Irwin Goodman, a pillar of the Madison community who along with his brother Robert gave more than $10 million to philanthropic causes, died Sunday at his Madison home. He was 94.
Though he amassed his fortune selling jewelry, Goodman was able to give so much because of his frugal lifestyle, colleagues said.
….The Goodmans have been among the cityâ??s most philanthropic citizens, providing millions of dollars for civic events, UW-Madison athletics, the United Way of Dane County and the Madison Community Foundation.
Ethan Cook has musical goals he’s yet to achieve. But the 20-year-old Appleton native â?? known on stage as American Fiction â?? also has a loftier ambition.
Currently a junior at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Cook is majoring in religious studies and wants to become a pastor.
“I think I’ve realized a true calling that really I feel is transcendental, and it doesn’t matter with this whole music thing,” he said. “(Music) is a huge part of my life, but I mean this is a greater part of my life
The University of Wisconsin Sigma Chi fraternity will face reduced sanctions this fall after the punishment levied for one of two violations committed during the spring semester was dropped by the Offices of the Dean of Students.
A 20-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student was mugged early Friday morning while outside his residence downtown, police reported. The attack happened shortly after midnight Friday in the 400 block of West Gorham Street.
Thought Iâ??d share this entertaining blog post I stumbled across which talks about UW-Madisonâ??s decision to prohibit beer ads on its statewide radio network during football, basketball and hockey broadcasts. This type of advertising had been worth about $425,000 per year to the UW athletic department.
Here is one sentence from the blog post: “Yep, when all those students in Madison are huddled around the AM radio in their dorm rooms listening to the broadcast of Badgers games, their will be nary a mention of beer. And I donâ??t need to tell you that without those evil beer companies convincing these innocent and naive kids to overindulge while imbibing their immoral product via radio waves, binge drinking in at the University of Wisconsin will be but a distant memory.”
ANN ARBOR, Mich. â?? The University of Michigan announced Sunday that it has launched an investigation into allegations that its football program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time players can spend on training and practice.
The announcement from Michigan athletic director Bill Martin came after a Detroit Free Press article in which players from the 2008 and 2009 teams said the amount of time they spend on football during the season and in the offseason greatly exceeds NCAA limits. The players spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions from coaches.
Madison police arrested two young men late Saturday night after a knife assault required stitches for one victim.
Jason M. Bischoff, 22, and Alexander M. Miller, 19, have been charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and carrying a concealed weapon after the incident in the 100 block of North Mills Street at around 1 a.m.
(The young men who were arrested are UW-Madison students.)
Is there something you wish every college student would know before the start of the school year?
The Capital Times posed that question to a range of people associated with higher education in the Madison area and asked them to share some â??words of wisdomâ? with students as the 2009-10 academic year gets under way.
(A variety of UW-Madison faculty and staff members offer their advice in this article.)
The Zimmermann family, of Marshfield, has offered to settle their lawsuit against Dane County and all defendants alleging the wrongful death of their daughter, Brittany, for $150,000.
In the offer filed Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court, the estate of Brittany Zimmerman, Jean Zimmermann and Kevin Zimmermann each seek $49,999 to dispose of the suit. The suit alleged negligence by the county, county executive and a 911 dispatcher in responding to a call from Brittany, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, before she was murdered at her downtown apartment.
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials have announced plans in case the H1N1 virus arrives on campus this fall.
Much of the university’s plans include how classes can continue, even if students are not able to attend. Professors are being asked to have online lesson plans ready.
Officials from University Health Services discussed ways for students to protect themselves from the H1N1 virus at an information session Thursday.
Dr. Sarah Van Orman, UHS executive director, said she coordinated the meeting to inform people on how to minimize the impact and spread of the diseaseâ??which is also known as swine fluâ??across campus.
According to Van Orman, students should wash their hands frequently, cough and sneeze into their sleeves and keep their hands away from their eyes, nose and mouth to avoid getting sick.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin is the latest campus official to urge students and staff to stay away if they begin to feel ill. The move comes as another precaution to prevent a potential widespread outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus.
In an e-mail, Martin acknowledged that it will require people to change their mindsets, as they have to make a decision whether to not show up to commitments when they feel slightly sick.
Professor Claudia Card was in her second year of teaching in 1968, when Christine Rothschild was murdered on the UW campus. “I’ve never forgotten Christine. She was in my honors philosophy class. She was such a lively and smart participant in the class.”
Forty-one years later, it came as a shock to hear there is a person of interest in the case. “My reaction was Oh gosh,” says Card. “It’s the first clue that I’ve heard that might actually turn out to help solve the case.”
NBC 15 News has confirmed serial killer William Floyd Zamastil is a person of interest.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of 23 Wisconsin colleges named to the first-ever list of military-friendly schools created by G.I. Jobs, a veterans magazine.
The 2010 list recognizes the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that provide recruitment, retention and other services for veterans.
“This list is especially important now because the recently enacted post-9/11 GI Bill has given veterans virtually unlimited financial means to go to school,” G.I. Jobs publisher Rich McCormack said in a statement.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is addressing its H1N1 virus concerns for the upcoming fall.Much of the universityâ??s plans include how classes can continue, even if students are not able to attend. Professors are being asked to have online lesson plans ready.”Weâ??re preparing as much as possible for a not entirely predictable event,” said Aaron Brower, UW-Madison Vice-Provost of teaching and learning. “Weâ??ve been preparing for [something like this] for almost two years.”
Freshman Derrick Borlie is looking forward to a lot of things this year, especially the upcoming wrestling season.
“It’s important that I stay healthy for my school work and my athletics. So I am going to really try hard,” he said.
The UW hopes other students follow in Borlie’s footsteps.
Especially with the expected return of the H1N1 virus, which experts fear will be more dangerous this flu season.
“We worry with larger type cases that this could disrupt our normal activity so that’s why we are taking it so seriously,” says Dr. Sarah Van Orman, Director of University Health Services.
The family of slaying victim Brittany Zimmermann is trying to settle its lawsuit against Dane County.
The mother and father of Zimmermann are asking the county for $150,000 to settle their wrongful death lawsuit, WISC-TV reported.
No decision on the offer has been made.
The Associated Students of Madison and Academic Affairs Committee will be holding their semi-annual book swap Friday, Aug. 28 through Sunday, Aug. 30.
According to Jonah Zenith, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, students will buy books for 35 percent less than what the University Bookstore sells the same book for and the seller will make 30 percent more than if they were to sell the book back to the bookstore.
MADISON, Wis. — Campus-area bars are working with the Madison Police Department to prepare for the return of students for the fall semester.
Bar employees attended tavern safety training on Wednesday night in Madison to review the basics of maintaining safe and trouble-free establishments.
“We go into everything. We go into legal issues, what can happen to you; we go into capacity issues,” said Katherine Plominski, the cityâ??s alcohol policy coordinator, who used to work as a bartender herself.
Since the most at-risk population for contracting H1N1 is under age 24, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a flu plan in the works. The plan includes teaching classes from a distance to sick students who would be asked to return home to their parents if they become ill.
“Part of our preparation from an instructional standpoint is also making sure that we’re able to support students that need to stay home. Can they complete their assignments and do what they need to do while they’re not able to go to class?” said Sarah Van Orman, of University Health Services at UW-Madison.
Swine flu vaccine clinics will be set up at all public and private schools in Dane County this fall, when the illness is expected to start spreading widely again, health officials announced Wednesday.
UW-Madison will take the unusual step of having clinics at Memorial Union and campus recreation centers â?? in addition to dormitories and University Health Services â?? to protect students against the virus, also known as H1N1.
Almost every student on the UW-Madison campus owns a laptop computer, according to a new survey. The annual survey on technology use, which is conducted by the universityâ??s Division of Information Technology, found that 93 percent of students own laptop computers, while 26 percent own desktop computers.
Anheuser-Busch InBev is dropping its “Fan Cans” promotions from communities around the country where colleges have complained that the effort â?? which sells cans of Bud Light in school colors â?? promotes underage drinking and infringes on trademarks.
In some cases, such as at the University of Wisconsin, the campaign hadn’t even made it near campus yet, but the schools didn’t want to wait to tell Anheuser-Busch to drop the program.
“If you don’t protect your trademarks, you eventually lose them, so we felt it was important to at least communicate to them that we didn’t think it was an appropriate tact,” said Vince Sweeney, vice chancellor for university relations at University of Wisconsin.
He said the school in Madison, Wis., received a letter from Anheuser-Busch this week saying it would stop selling the red-and-white cans in the area.
Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2009 dropped two points compared with last year, a report out today says. And while the population of test takers was the most diverse ever, average scores vary widely by race and ethnicity.On one end, students who identified themselves as Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander posted a 13-point gain. On the other end, students who identified themselves as Puerto Rican posted a 9-point drop in average scores.
Student journalists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison can breath a sigh of relief. Their biggest critic, a fellow Badger, is on break. At least for now.
“The site will remain up for historical record and in case I break out of retirement,” but that’s not likely, said Danny Spirn, also known as the Critical Badger.
A strong hand planted stiffly on my shoulder and sent shivers through my body, freezing every muscle as I stood on my host familyâ??s front lawn in Ethiopia. I slowly turned as my eyes traveled up a large arm and over to the other arm, which was grasping an AK-47. I looked up at his face as he glanced back at two other armed men and his lips parted into a grin.
One of the busiest times of the year for downtown Madison is getting started as students begin to move in on campus.
Tuesday is considered “early move-in day” for student employees, resident assistants and other students who need to come to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus a little early.
Experts say up to half of the U-S could be infected by H1N1 this fall and worse, a prediction that thousands could die from the virus.
There is a sobering warning for UW students tonight as they head back to school and into the dorms.
Health officials there say it’s not if any students get H1N1 but how bad the spread will be.
It is the beginning of a new beginning, move in day for some at the UW Madison dorms. A day that’s normally filled with excitement is now coming with a warning, more specifically concerns about a major fall outbreak of H1N1.
According to financial aid officers at UW-Whitewater the tough economy is causing more students to apply for financial aid late in the process.
UW-W has also run out of work-study grants and Wisconsin Higher Education grants for the first time in memory before the fall. Those programs typically run out of money by November or December.
“It makes me feel very bad,” said Carol Miller, director of UW-W’s financial aid office. “That’s the rewarding part of the profession, helping kids be able to go to school.”
College students say social networking makes them more narcissistic, a national survey reports today â?? and they also believe their generation is the most narcissistic of all. Thatâ??s what a majority of 1,068 college students said when asked about narcissism in a poll on social networking sites in June by Ypulse
As millions of students head back to campus this month, college and university health care workers are stocking up on masks and flu-fighting drugs such as Tamiflu as they encourage students to get both annual seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine in mid-October.A University of Wisconsin committee brainstormed how to get food to sequestered students in dorms and what routine appointments to halt at the student health center if thereâ??s an influx of flu patients, says epidemiologist Craig Roberts. “We think about it almost constantly.”
(Roberts is clinical assistant professor with the School of Medicine and Public Health at University Health Services.)
There are conflicting emotions tugging at Bill Nagy as he deals with the physical and mental scars left from a moped accident that occurred more than a month ago.
Part of Nagy, a junior right guard for the University of Wisconsin football team who has been sidelined throughout the first two weeks of preseason camp because of injuries he suffered in the crash, feels unlucky that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The other part of Nagy feels fortunate his injuries werenâ??t more severe. Heâ??s out indefinitely with strained ligaments in the heel of his right foot and is wearing a cast to protect his injured right wrist, but those injuries will heal in time and Nagy eventually will begin his pursuit for a starting spot he so cherishes.
â??Iâ??m just lucky I didnâ??t hit my head,â? Nagy said.
In whatâ??s becoming a semi-annual event, UW-Madisonâ??s student government is holding a textbook swap from Friday to Sunday.
This is the fourth semester the Associated Students of Madison is holding a textbook swap among students.
The idea is that students can essentially cut out the middle man (a book store) and save money by selling books directly to each other.
As college students head back to school in Madison this week, theyâ??ll be greeted at their campus dining halls by new ways to practice environmentally-friendly eating.
From greener packaging for carry-out meals to reducing plastic water bottles to finding more options for eating food thatâ??s raised in the area, they can enjoy options that didnâ??t exist even last year.
The combination of new freedoms and unhealthful conditions can be “incendiary,” says Richard Gower, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, Spokane
Some campus-area streets will be closed or limited to one-way traffic next week as UW-Madison students move into residence halls.
In Room 411 South of the state Capitol, a gathering of college students could well be the future of K Street, the lobbyistsâ?? boulevard in Washington, D.C.
The men have swapped typical campus attire of T-shirts for ties; the women, sneakers for skirts. Theyâ??re all there to learn the slick art of influence and persuasion. In other words, theyâ??re being trained as lobbyists.
The veterans made their moves last week.
The rookies (and their moms and dads) will hit the streets next week as thousands of fresh-faced frosh cram into dorm rooms on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, UW said in a news release.
Move-in days are scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Aug. 25, 27 and 28) at the residence halls on campus, so traffic will be bollixed up more than it has been (due to road construction all over campus) as confused parents in SUVs, cars and an occasional U-Haul, try to find parking to unload the stuff thatâ??ll help little Jimmy become a Badger.
Over the years, the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the top of Bascom Hill has been painted red for a student protest of McCarthyism, surrounded with plastic pink flamingos and sat on by countless graduates asking for good luck.
Likely one of the most recognizable features of the UW-Madison campus, the bronzed statue of Lincoln peers east toward the state Capitol. When unveiled at commencement on June 22, 1909, according to a Wisconsin Historical Society write-up, the president of the Board of Regents called the statue “a sign to all future generations of the high ideals of American citizenship.” President Charles Van Hise apparently imagined thousands of future students silently absorbing the great manâ??s virtues as they walked past.
The first phase of the Credit Card Holder’s Bill of Rights is in effect.
President Barack Obama signed the legislation guaranteeing sweeping changes to credit card rules in May. It pass with broad support, but credit card companies lobbied hard against it. The changes could slash their profits by $12 billion.
The changes that started Thursday, Aug. 20, are aimed to help consumers, like UW-Madison senior Andrew Weckerly.
A Web-based appeals process for Urbana campus admissions will go online this fall at the University of Illinois, Chancellor Richard Herman said today.
“At the end of the day, we want a model which can be used nationally, so when people think about improving admissions, they’ll think of Illinois,” said Herman, who was at the State Fair with Gov. Pat Quinn.
Ralph Armstrong, whose charges for the 1980 rape and murder of a UW-Madison student were dismissed last month, will be heading to New Mexico to face decades-old parole violations.
The Dane County district attorneyâ??s office said Wednesday that it will not appeal the dismissal of the charges against Armstrong in the death of Charise Kamps.
If first-year students must face the trials and yes, sometimes ridicule, of being freshmen, then they should at least be able to band together as a group.
Thatâ??s why UW-Madison student government, Associated Students of Madison (ASM), is considering a proposal to broaden the definition of who is a â??freshman.â?
Under the ASM bylaws, only students who meet the strict university definition of freshmen â?? someone with under 24 credits â?? can vote for the five â??freshmanâ? seats on the student council.
After 29 years behind bars, a man convicted of raping and murdering a UW student is cleared of those charges.
This month, a judge tossed out the conviction of Ralph Armstrong and blasted prosecutors. On Wednesday, the Dane County District Attorney’s office said it will not appeal.
Even as high school graduates in recent years have grown increasingly better prepared for college, too many members of the class of 2009 cannot adequately perform all of the academic skills they will need to succeed, a report says. Just 23% of students, up from 22% last year, earned test scores suggesting they can earn at least a C in first-year college courses in English, math, reading and science, says the report, released today by the non-profit Iowa-based testing company ACT. Itâ??s based on scores of 1.48 million 2009 high school graduates who took the ACTâ??s college entrance exam.
A new online jobs tool connecting highly skilled UW-Madison alumni with employers seeking candidates with specific expertise will be fully operational Wednesday, after a successful test launch from March through May.
The Badger Career Network Alerts program will use targeted e-mails to connect graduates in mid-career and executive-level jobs anywhere in the nation with Wisconsin companies seeking new management, scientific and professional talent in biotechnology, health care and information technology.
Noted: Of course, there is no lack of colleges working on green technologies of their own. It is hard to walk around the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus without seeing a slew of students on mopeds zooming by. One of my favorite projects I have heard about recently is a class at the university that immerses engineering students into various engineering disciplines. A recent class took on a project to improve the environmental performance of a Vespa moped, a vehicle that already gets 90 miles per gallon. The goal was to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle by 10 percent using a system based on electrolysis, or splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric charge. Whatâ??s most impressive is that the class is comprised of freshman students, most being exposed to real-life engineering problems for the first time.
Scott Rosenow has a year left of college, but he already has his sights set on a prominent job upon graduation.
He wants to be the mayor of Neenah. He plans to earn a political science degree in May from the University of Wisconsin.
The 18-year-olds entering college this fall have lived their entire lives with Iraq as an enemy, Russia as a friend and investment opportunity and Ozzy Osbourne as a perpetual comeback kid. These cultural touchstones, part of the annual Beloit College Mindset List, aim to remind adults that the incoming crop of freshmen brings to classrooms a very different frame of reference than their parents.
As thousands of downtown renters recover from move-in weekend, this year’s citywide turnover of tenants coincides with Madison’s smoke alarm ordinance going into effect.
One downtown landlord is on a mission to educate his tenants about the new rules.
Before University of Wisconsin-Madison student Josh Moss finishes unpacking a few essentials and settles into his new home away from home on Garfield Street in Madison’s downtown, he’s getting a lesson in safety.
The University of Wisconsin – Madison is trying to make it easier for students to volunteer.
UW-Madison Morgridge Center civic engagement coordinator Anne Whisner wants to make it easier for students to give back to the community without the complications.
So last fall, Whisner launched Badger Volunteers at the Morgridge Center.
Last summer, University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Kiera Wiatrak and her roommate found themselves in a common predicament: The lease on their downtown apartment ended Aug. 14, but their new least didnâ??t start until Aug. 15.Fortunately, the residents of Wiatrakâ??s new apartment had moved out early, so apartment managers told Wiatrak she and her roommate could move in early if they were willing to pay $40 a night before their lease began.
At a busy bar near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Friday night, someone suddenly shouted: “Who’s homeless tonight?”
The assembled students erupted in cheers.
The city’s streets held the evidence: Students crashing on couches, sleeping in moving trucks and guarding piles of furniture. Dylan Loss, a 20-year-old junior, pitched a tent in his friend’s yard. Kristin Paul, of White Bear Lake, squatted in the cabin of her sailing club’s boat on Lake Mendota.
Mike Lucas, a UW-Madison junior, had a bad day on Friday.
It was moving day for him, just as it was for scores of other students in Madison, and he had already gotten two parking tickets, had his car battery die, and he clipped another car earlier that day with his trailer.
One thing he didnâ??t have to worry about was finding a place to sleep on Friday night.
There’s a 24 time window for UW-Madison students moving out of one apartment: that typically leaves many with no place to call home.
It’s the annual move-out weekend downtown. Students who are not renewing their leases had to be out of their apartments by noon Friday. They can move back into their new units beginning at noon Saturday, august 15. The one-day lag gives landlords the opportunity to clean apartments between tenants.
The large-scale moving out of downtown Madison apartments has become a mainstay leaving thousands of rentals empty for 24 hours each August.
But, the annual event that leaves young renters scrambling and clogs sidewalks with possessions is leaving many to ask if there’s a reason behind it.
Near the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, there’s one of three secured parking lots that are new this year. UW police are patrolling the lots that are packed with cars, moving vans and trailers packed with student belongings.
Wisconsin has suspended safeties Aubrey Pleasant and Shane Carter.
Head coach Bret Bielema did not say in his statement on Saturday why the two seniors were being suspended. Both players have been an integral part of the Badgers’ defense.
The 6-foot-1 Pleasant has made 80 career tackles over 14 starts and was listed beside safety Jay Valai for a starting slot on the most recent depth chart.
