Category: Campus life

Mifflin may be one step closer to reliving its heyday with a large-scale music sponsorship after a local production company applied for a street permit Monday.

University of Wisconsin Dean of Students Lori Berquam gave her support to WSUM 91.7 potentially managing a soundstage at the Mifflin Street Block Party Saturday afternoon.

Going out with friends on the weekend and hitting up a bar for a $5 beer is the norm for many students at the University of Wisconsin, but a $172 underage drinking citation isnâ??t often accounted for on the nightâ??s tab.

In an 11th-hour decision, it appears that next week’s Mifflin Street block party will be an organized, sponsored event.

If all goes planned, it could be the first time the large campus-area block party has had some sort of organization in almost 20 years.

Police said if that happens, they will welcome the positive change to the annual end-of-school celebration that has featured many alcohol-related arrests in past years.

After being sexually assaulted on campus by a summer acquaintance in the fall of 2008, a UW-Madison female student walked to her classes, feeling unsafe and consumed with anxious thoughts.

Despite recent bad luck the 2009 Mifflin Street Block Party has had acquiring sponsorship, the University of Wisconsinâ??s WSUM 91.7 confirmed Thursday the station is looking to potentially manage a soundstage at the event.

Tree huggers had some extra love to give this Earth Day. Wednesday marked the second annual hug-a-tree event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For every person who wrapped their arms around a tree, the school’s bookstore donated a dollar to charity. That money went to one of three charities — Clean Wisconsin, the Nature Conservancy and Wisconsin Environments.

Still grumpy because your dream political science class is full again? The school has something more to offer: UW-Madison just launched an iTunes page last week, featuring a series of podcasts and videos, including a political science talk show. For an institution of global ambitions, there couldnâ??t be a better way to extend its outreach.

ReThink Wisconsin will be kicking off its 2009 recycling season in a “crazy” way on Saturday.

The student organization dedicated to improving waste management will have 50 volunteers at Camp Randall Stadium, collecting thousands of plastic water bottles being drained by 17,000 thirsty runners and walkers participating in the 28th annual Crazylegs run and walk.

Theyâ??re playing in rain-sodden fields near the University of Wisconsin-Madison Natatorium, not in the airspace next to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And instead of zipping loop-de-loops on bewitched broomsticks, they trot doggedly with kitchen brooms between their legs.

For the first time, recent Wisconsin college graduates will be able to stay in state this year while participating in Teach for America.

The service program will put 30 to 40 teachers in Milwaukee schools this fall, said Garrett Bucks, executive director for Teach for America Milwaukee.

Teach for America recruits college graduates to work at least two years in urban and rural communities with high poverty rates.

UW students have crowned a new All-Campus Idol.

Of the top ten finalists, Cari Rongstad of Eau Claire received the most text-message votes from the audience.

“I was really excited.” Cari said after the win. “I’m really surprised. This is my first time playing a big crowd, I’ve played coffee shops. But, I’m happy. I’m excited. It’s cool that people got to hear me sing and they liked it!”

Celebrity judge Michael Johns, who was in the top ten American Idol – Season 8, called Cari’s voice ‘pure’.

The Street Use Staff Team granted a permit on Tuesday to DCNY PRO to organize the 41st annual Mifflin Street Block Party, but because of deadline and funding issues, it is unlikely the event will be sponsored this year.

The Madison City Council unanimously voted to brighten up the city as plans to expand lighting in Districts 4, 5 and 8 were approved.

After weeks of uncertainty, officials announced Tuesday there will be no sponsorship or stage at this yearâ??s Mifflin Street Block Party, scheduled for May 2.

The owners of a local music and event promotion company told city officials Tuesday they are dropping their bid to host the annual Mifflin Street Block Party this year.

DCNY PRO, operated by Ny Bass and Dave Coleman, had proposed setting up a stage for musical acts and possibly bringing in food vendors but withdrew their street use permit application because there wasnâ??t time to properly organize for the May 2 event, said Kelli Lamberty of the city Parks Division.

UW-Madison campus leaders reframed and broadened the image of diversity on campus through speech and performance Monday as part of the Multicultural Student Coalitionâ??s Hip Hop as a Movement Week.

To the younger set, it’s not Milwaukee – it’s Ill Mill, said endearingly.

That’s according to the City Dictionary, a Web site aiming to flesh out city-specific language and cultural information. It’s the brainchild of Thomas Carmona, and it won the top $10,000 prize in the 2009 G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition.

If the University of Wisconsinâ??s approximately 40,000 students condensed into only 200, 11 of those students would be Asian, six would be black, six would be Latino, one would be Native American and the remaining 176 would be Caucasian.

Megan Rebers will have something equally important to go with her degree when she graduates next month from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

A job.

Rebers, 22, of Campbellsport, who launched her job search in earnest last fall and accepted an offer from Target Corp., is one of the fortunate grads this year. CareerBuilder’s annual college job forecast, which polled about 2,500 employers, learned only 43 percent of them plan to hire recent grads this year, down from 56 percent in 2008 and far lower than the 79 percent the year before.

Noted: Before they arrive, the local district has submitted a wish list of jobs to be done and, in this case, raised $16,000 to pay for the materials.

â??Itâ??s just neat to see 180 people working together on one project,â? said Jared Marx, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student from Antigo. He had spent his time pruning tree limbs, helping to move monkey bars and hanging a new classroom door, among other jobs.

Marx said his roommate did the Outreach program last year.

â??He said some phenomenal things about it,â? Marx said.

UW-Madison could soon be home to the funniest college student in the country, according to one measure.

Sophomore Adam Voll from Wheaton, Ill., is one of four finalists for the national â??Funniest College Student on Campusâ? competition sponsored by Twix.

University of Wisconsin students are throwing a huge party this week. That’s nothing new — but this bash has all of the activities without the alcohol.

A kind of springtime serenade greeted students at Engineering Mall on the UW campus.

“Excellent bands,” said Drew Deitz, All Campus Party Week co-director. “They braved the weather — it was a little cold and windy out there.”

UWPD officers trained members of SAFEwalk for Badger Watch, a UW-Madison crime prevention organization, at Memorial Union Sunday.

The annual Take Back the Night rally brought hundreds of students and community members into the streets of downtown Madison Saturday evening to raise awareness and initiate dialogue about sexual and domestic abuse.

When viewers tuned in to last week’s premiere of “College Life,” MTV’s new reality show, the first thing they saw was a disclaimer: “The following program is not endorsed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”

While UW was initially eager about possibilities for a show based on campus, the school has since distanced itself from the show, calling it a misrepresentation.

Two Blackhawk helicopters from the Wisconsin Army National Guard landed a little before noon on Friday at the recreational fields just north of UW Hospital and Clinics.

The large, four-bladed “birds” picked up about 20 Air Force ROTC cadets from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and flew them to Volk Field Air National Guard Base, which is located at Camp Douglas, Wis., some 85 miles northwest of campus.

University of Wisconsin-Madison ROTC Air Force cadets are undergoing intense training this weekend, and they got a surprise Friday.

The second annual Commandant’s Challenge started with a surprise landing of two Blackhawk helicopters, which flew about 20 cadets to Volk Field at Camp Douglas to set up a base camp for the other half of their class. The rest of the class was set to arrive on buses later Friday night.

Some University of Wisconsin-Madison students said that they believe organization and sponsors are the keys to a peaceful Mifflin Street Block Party in the city’s downtown.

For decades, the annual event has gone on with no one person or group organizing it, but this year, a couple students said that they hope to change that.

UW-Madison lost its top spot in Playboy Magazineâ??s rankings of top party schools but still made the top 10, hitting the No. 6 spot in this yearâ??s poll.

Playboy doesnâ??t put out the list every year and UW-Madison was ranked No. 1 in 2006, the last time Playboy came out with the rankings.

â??The top party school from our previous list makes it again as the northernmost representative,â? according to UW-Madisonâ??s write-up in the magazine. â??Negative: Itâ??s cold, no doubt. Positive: It has the coldest beer on any campus.â?

Madison Police arrested a 49-year-old homeless man Thursday afternoon for allegedly stealing mail from someone’s porch.

Two UW-Madison students living at a home on W. Mifflin called police to report seeing a man stealing a package from their porch. It was addressed to a neighbor and contained a purse that had been ordered.