Dear Editor: Much has been said already about the increasingly quiet nature of the basketball fans at the Kohl Center. Rob Schultz described the crowd at the Penn State game as morose and the quietest in the history of the Kohl Center. This did not happen overnight.
It is a sad day in Badgerland when the student athletes have to act as cheerleaders to exhort the fans to get involved.
For nearly the first half of this decade, former University of Wisconsin-Madison student Reed Rogala was raking in cash by bringing thousands of pounds of Canadian marijuana to Madison.
And when that business failed, he turned to making and selling glass bongs.
In Dane County, more young people between seventh and 12th grades are abstaining from alcohol than regularly using it, according to a 2005 assessment. Still, the fact that nearly 30 percent of local youth are considered regular drinkers is a cause for concern for many.
About 30 people turned out Monday night for the first meeting of a new coalition looking to combat alcohol abuse in Dane County. Every seat was filled in an upstairs meeting room at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center.
The union that represents a former Dane County 911 dispatcher accused of mishandling an emergency call from a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student shortly before she was killed will appeal her three-day suspension.
The first meeting of a new coalition to combat alcohol abuse in Dane County will be held Monday night after being postponed in early December because of bad weather.
Students who start classes at one college and transfer after just one year might harm their chances of graduating further down the road, according to University of Wisconsin System data.
UW students who began their studies in fall 2001 had a 68 percent graduation rate if they transferred from a UW college after two years, according to a report released by the UW System Office of Policy Analysis and Research.
University officials say there are no UW-Madison students studying in Gaza as Israeli air strikes rain down on the area.
But Jennifer Loewenstein, associate director of UW-Madison’s Middle East Studies Program, said she was supposed to be there. After living in Gaza for six months in 2002, Loewenstein said she has been back almost every year since.
While sitting in his Dane County courtroom last week, I didn’t hear Judge Richard Niess give a single good reason in support of his decision to let local authorities continue to withhold the recording of murder victim Brittany Zimmermann’s mishandled 911 call.
As I’ve noted elsewhere (“Judge Backs Secrecy on Zimmermann 911 Call,” TheDailyPage.com, 12/22/08), Niess’ ruling was wildly at odds with his reasoning. He observed that local authorities have on this matter been completely untrustworthy, even in their arguments for suppressing the recording. Then, in a stunning display of pretzel logic, he came around to declaring that he had decided to trust them.
When Ryan T. Muneio was tailgating with his parents at a Michigan State football game this fall, he noticed a big tent emblazoned with a Bank of America logo. Inside, bank representatives were offering free T-shirts and other merchandise to those who applied for credit cards and other banking products.
More students are applying for scholarships in the D.C. Everest School District, possible signs of the rising cost of a college education and tough economic times.
Last year, one or two students came in the career center each day to get information and applications. This year at least five or six students a day are coming in, said Rose Matthiae, career specialist at the school.
“I’m also seeing more parents come in to get information, at least two or three a week,” she said.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk on Monday defended the three-day suspension that her interim chief of the county’s 911 call center gave the dispatcher who took the emergency call from slain student Brittany Zimmermann’s cell phone last spring.
Former 911 dispatcher Rita Gahagan now has another county job, but was suspended last week.
Earlier this year, county officials said after an investigation that the call, apparently made sometime before Zimmermann was killed in her campus-area apartment, was mishandled. After Zimmermann’s minute-long call disconnected, Gahagan didn’t send police or call the number ba
As the number of college students using MySpace and Facebook social networking sites grows, so do concerns about what theyâ??re posting. Some companies see an opportunity in helping them avoid embarrassing themselves, and even hurting their future.
Quoted: Justin Doherty of the UW Madisonâ??s athletic department says they could potentially use such a service. He says right now, they just talk to all the UW teams about online postings. (Third item.)
Andrew Knips picked UW-Madison over some other schools, in part, because he knew there was a local table tennis club of longtime players.
And in 2006, Knips, 22, met Richard Qian and Brian Hibler, both of Brookfield, and worked to start table tennis as a club sport at UW-Madison.
Wind, rain and sleet greeted 14 University of Wisconsin students as they trudged through briars, mud and hilly terrain, driving whitetail deer from the woods.
About a dozen other students â?? members of the Badger Hunting Club â?? waited in anticipation, rifles ready to shoot as deer bolted into a clearing.
The hunt Nov. 8 was a field trip as part of the Madison’s school’s Geography 343 class â?? People, Wildlife, and Landscape â?? in which Professor Lisa Naughton teaches the dynamics of human/wildlife interactions using deer hunting as a case study.
Everyone who has heard the recording of the 911 call from Brittany Zimmerman’s cell phone seems to agree that something went horribly wrong at the Dane County emergency dispatch center April 2.
A Dane County judge has ruled, however, that the time has not yet come for the taxpaying public to hear exactly how wrong it was.
A former emergency dispatcher has been suspended for mishandling a slain college student’s 911 call.
Topf Wells, chief of staff for Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, said Friday that Rita Gahagan will serve a three-day suspension without pay from her current job as a county child support clerk. Gahagan’s immediate supervisor will decide when she must begin the suspension.
Someone broke into University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann’s campus-area apartment in the middle of the day on April 2 and stabbed her to death. The killer remains at large.
The Dane County 911 dispatcher who mishandled the emergency call from murder victim Brittany Zimmermann will face a 3-day suspension without pay.
Rita Gahagan is no longer working in the 911 call center, but she will serve her suspension sometime in the new year, according to the Dane County Executive’s office.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — It’s the “P” word that Willy Leparulo dreads. Pingpong.
“It’s like putting nails on a chalk board,” Leparulo said. “It’s defeating some of the stereotype with just the general sport. Hopefully, by calling it table tennis you get a little bit more respect.”
UW-Madison’s winter commencement ceremonies have passed, but one student’s speech has generated continuing controversy for giving parents and families a little too much detail about what their graduates may have been doing over the past four or more years.
UW-Madison graduate Savannah Ziegelbauer spoke on behalf of graduates at the 10 a.m. ceremony Sunday. While her speech’s focus was on three campus landmarks that symbolized the growth and achievements of graduates, it also made eight references to drinking or partying — including four in the first 30 seconds — which caused offense for some faculty and audience members.
Hillel Foundation University of Wisconsin in Madison is gearing up for another exciting winter Taglit Birthright Israel trip, scheduled for next month.
Twenty-five UW students are weeks away from embarking on their free trip to Israel, and they will share a bus with 15 students from New York University.
UW-Hillelâ??s new Israel program coordinator Nilli Glick will be on staff for this trip. Nilli brings with her several years of experienc
Recordings of the 911 calls from a Madison homicide victim’s cell phone and her fiancee will not be released to the public, a Dane County judge decided Monday.
Judge Richard Niess said the tapes still had investigative value to the police and that value was more important than the public interest in disclosing them.
The Wisconsin State Journal asked on April 17 for recordings of all 911 calls related to the death of UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann on April 2.
Using higher education to solve the economic and social problems of the present and future was a highlight of several speeches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s winter commencement ceremonies Sunday.
Nearly 3,000 students received graduate or undergraduate degrees as part of the winter commencement, although typically only about half attend the two ceremonies.
As hundreds of new University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates filed out of the Kohl Center on Sunday, some huddled close with friends and family, others lingered inside in their caps and gowns, while several trudged into the into the subzero afternoon making new prints in the snow.
On many of the about 1,500 graduating minds was the blistering economic news of recent months and the uncertain prospects of the job market.
MADISON, Wis. — A victim’s advocate said the release of audio of a 911 call from a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student’s cell phone would traumatize her family.
A new reality series on MTV called “College Life” will document University of Wisconsin-Madison students as they embark on their freshman year.
An admissions officer for the UW-Madison says thereâ??s an unusual trend developing among this yearâ??s applicants which may be tied to the nationâ??s struggling economy.
Tom Reason is the associate director of admissions at the U-W Madison. He says currently, his office has received nearly 18,000 applications from students wrapping up high school. Thatâ??s on par with last yearâ??s rate. However, he says in-state applicant numbers are down significantly while out of state applicant numbers are up significantly.
â??Thatâ??s particularly unusual,â? says Reason.
Reason says the increase in out-of-state applicants is roughly 10-percent, with a nearly identical decrease from Wisconsin applicants. He says other Big 10 Conference schools are reporting the same disparity in their applicant pools. (Second item.)
Daily Variety is reporting that one of cable channel MTV’s new programs will be a reality show from the UW-Madison campus.
“College Life” will feature freshmen chronicling their own life with cameras, and will be a part of the network’s new round of reality shows, several of which focus on higher education.
The dispatcher accused of mishandling a 911 call from a slain college student’s cell phone had sent an e-mail to the 911 Center director suggesting that equipment problems might have been to blame.
Dispatcher Rita Gahagan had said she didn’t know why she didn’t hear a scream on the 911 call from Brittany Zimmermann in April.
“If I heard the initial ‘scream,’ it didn’t register as a scream,” Gahagan said during a personnel interview in April.
A Quiznos submarine sandwich shop in the new food court at University Square will not be able to sell beer after a unanimous vote by the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee Wednesday night.
Susan Crowley, the director of prevention services for UW Health Services — the largest tenant in the student services tower part of the development — spoke against the move. She said the large seating area would make it nearly impossible to control the distribution of alcohol once it was sold by Quiznos.
The Kohl Center will be filled with pomp and ceremony Sunday as about 1,500 UW-Madison students don caps and gowns for the winter commencement.
Political science and public affairs professor Dennis Dresang will deliver the commencement address in ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
University of Wisconsin-Madison students celebrated Study Day Monday at Blackhawk Evangelical Free Church in Verona, where the congregation opened its doors and hearts to 1,000-plus students in the midst of final exams. They arrived with books, laptops and appetites for free meals, quiet or group study, tutoring, recreational breaks of ping-pong and basketball, Christmas-themed movies and an optional worship service.
It was a snowball battle royale, a fight of the flurries, a snowy scuffle so scurrilous that UW-Madison police were called to the scene of the crime: the courtyards of Sellery and Ogg halls.
University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Rianna Hardesty learned she won the national “Next Year’s Model” contest as she walked to her Introduction to Buddhism class, providing an unusual clash of information: Earning a much-sought pop-culture prize, then studying a religion developed in the 6th century.
On the brink of a college student’s graduation, everyone â?? Mom, Dad, Great Aunt Sue â?? has one question: What’s next?
Now, UW-Madison is joining the chorus of voices by asking graduating students about their plans in an online survey.
It’s happening all over the UW-Madison campus:
Teams of sharply dressed students are showing up, often bearing PowerPoint presentations, to impress their professors and classmates with plans to save businesses, build potentially patentable devices and more.
These team projects supplement, and sometimes replace, final exams, which begin Sunday at UW-Madison.
Keith Agoada, 22, became interested in the idea of rooftop farming after winning the top prize â?? $10,000 â?? for his Sky Vegetables concept in the University of Wisconsin School of Business 2008 G. Steven Burrill business plan competition. He says that turning a profit is key.
â??We want the farm to have a financial feasibility,â? he said. â??The idea is to minimize the carbon footprint while maximizing the profit. Without economic viability, itâ??s hard to have adaptors.â?
As the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s fall commencement nears, many graduates will be entering an unstable workforce in a slumping economy.
UW School of Business junior Ashley Chalmers, of Reedsburg, is like many students. She’s working hard to graduate, worried about what jobs will be out there for her, WISC-TV reported.
Madison resident Juli Speck was one of just 40 people nationwide to be chosen to take part in the TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Program, part of a new conservation initiative of the National Audubon Society with support from Toyota.
I’m not the only one who believes the UW student section at the Kohl Center is extremely overrated. Kellis Robinett, a writer from the Idaho State Journal who attended the Badgers’ victory over Idaho State Tuesday night at the Kohl Center, wrote an accurate account about UW fans, and the students in particular, in a recent blog entry.
When University of Central Florida junior Nicole Nissim got stumped in trigonometry, she checked out what was showing on YouTube. Nissim typically scours the video-sharing website for clips of bands and comedy skits. But this time she wasn’t there to procrastinate on her homework. It turned out YouTube was also full of math videos. After watching a couple, the psychology major says, she finally understood trig equations and how to make graphs.
UW-Madison’s two student unions will remain open into the wee hours of the morning starting Sunday night to give students extra study time during finals week.
The operator who mishandled a 911 call from a slain college student’s cell phone said she didn’t know why she didn’t hear a scream or sounds of a struggle, according to records released Thursday.
The dispatcher accused of mishandling a 911 call from a slain college student’s cell phone said she doesn’t know why she didn’t hear a scream on the call.
“If I heard the initial ‘scream,’ it didn’t register as a scream,” dispatcher Rita Gahagan said during a personnel interview in April.
Researchers at UW-Madison are conducting the state’s first, long-term comprehensive study of the effects of need-based financial aid on college studentsâ?? success.
The Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study includes 6,000 Wisconsin residents enrolled at each of Wisconsin’s 42 public colleges. All participants have received a federal Pell grant, which are distributed based on a family’s income. (Seventh item.)
The projected $5.4 billion state budget deficit will likely lead to a tuition increase at UW System schools in the near future, but chances are next semesterâ??s tuition will not be raised.
The University of Wisconsin Offices of Admissions and Visitor and Information Programs will be merging, effective Feb. 1, to enhance the efficiency and quality of customer service UW provides to prospective students.
The University of Wisconsin has filed an official reprimand against a teaching assistant for lewd and sexually suggestive comments he made to a female TA, records obtained Wednesday show.
The family of slain University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann said Wednesday they oppose the release of the audio from the 911 call made from their daughterâ??s cell phone on the day she was killed.
If you woke up this morning, looked outside and didn’t see your car parked on the street, don’t be alarmed, it probably wasn’t stolen.
It was, however, most likely a block away with a $110 ticket under a wiper blade. The car was likely towed during the night by the city parking enforcers so streets in the snow emergency zone could be plowed.
In order to better serve potential students, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced it is creating a new “front door” by merging its Visitor and Information Programs with the office of admissions.
The impetus for the merger is to create a smoother experience for students who are applying to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, officials said. The university has gotten record numbers of applicants in recent years.
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials are hoping it becomes a hub for student life. But for now, it is just a nexus for cardboard boxes, dollies, work gloves and shelving units.
The new Student Services Tower on the southeast end of the University Square complex stands poised and ready for business, except for the fact that it is still mostly empty. On Wednesday, the university began the process of moving units into the tower, which will take 117 truckloads and the better part of six weeks to complete.
A judge refused on Wednesday to immediately release a recording of a 911 call from a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student’s cell phone.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess said it would be irresponsible to make the tape public before he hears arguments from police on how it could hurt their search for whoever killed Brittany Zimmermann, 21, in April.
University of Wisconsin Police responded to calls on two consecutive nights as Madisonâ??s winter wonderland was transformed into a massive snowball fight outside Sellery and Ogg Halls.
Madison (WKOW) — University of Wisconsin-Madison student and former Obama campus organizer Bryon Eagon has announced his candidacy for the Madison City Council in the 8th aldermanic district.
Eagon, a UW junior majoring in Political Science and Communication Arts Rhetoric, has been an active student voice on campus.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin-Madison seniors say they are having a tough time finding jobs – and some are considering graduate school to delay entering the work force.
On top of Christmas, snow, a bad economy and flu season, UW-Madison students have one more slightly stressful thing starting Sunday: finals week.
Feeling overwhelmed?
University Health Services (UHS) put together a list of stress-reducing tips, ranging from simple exercises to free counseling sessions to students who need some help, during the final, hectic week of the first semester.
University of Wisconsin-Madison students looking for a job this year dont need a dismal report from the National Bureau of Economic Research to tell them the United States is officially suffering through a recession.
They’re living it.
University of Wisconsin System students earned a record number of degrees in the 2007-08 academic year, according to a report released by the UW System Office of Policy Analysis and Research Monday.
With snow taking Madison by storm today, the University of Wisconsin has declared snow action day.
University of Wisconsin junior Jacob Schmidt told The Badger Herald he will be running for District 8 alder in the upcoming spring election.
