Category: Campus life

UW System Board of Regents revealed Thursday a new system wide accountability proposal to be released this spring.

The Board of Regents convened for their monthly meeting at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Thursday to discuss accountability, student misconduct and campus safety issues.

Officials urged students to â??Roll out the Red Carpetâ? for Ohio State football fans in Madison for Saturday nightâ??s game at Camp Randall.

….The participants are young men and women attending colleges, universities and post-secondary schools across the country. They come to look at groups of dairy animals, rank them according to breed standards and explain why they did so to an impartial judge.

Simple?

No, not at all. In fact, it’s a tense, nerve wracking, fingernail biting, heart racing, life defining experience!

In a city renowned for its Halloween celebrations, the UW-Madison’s annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta has emerged as one of the most inspired hoots of the season — albeit one that is not without its haunted hazards. Now marking its fourth year, this contest of the gourds is scheduled to hit Lake Mendota off the Memorial Union Terrace this Saturday, October 4.

Starting at noon, students paddling enormous hollowed-out pumpkins — buoyed by tractor-tire inner-tubes — will face off in a series of races between the piers at the Terrace. The event is organized by UW horticulture professors Jim Nienhuis and Irwin Goldman in cooperation with the Hoofer Sailing Club, a handy group to have around considering what happened during the event’s inaugural year.

UW Madison implemented the WiscAlerts text messaging system this fall.

The system is suppose to alert students of staff about any potential danger on or near campus.

Wednesday, officials tried it out and found a number of glitches.

Out of more than 13,000 students and staff, 25% did not receive the test message.

(MADISON) The manager of the U-W Madisonâ??s new emergency text-alert system says heâ??s satisfied with todayâ??s first full-scale test of the serviceâ?¦despite just 65-percent of the test calls reaching subscribers.

Lieutenant Michael Newton of the U-W Police Department says at 1:15pm today, 13,470 calls went out to peopleâ??s cell phones whoâ??d signed on for the WiscAlert program. Newton says an â??unusualâ? delay would be 30 minutes or longer, but nearly 2500 people never received the alert .

Newton says that’s because some companies — including U-S Cellular and Virgin Mobile — arenâ??t enabled yet to receive text alerts, but WiscAlert developers will work with them to do so. (10th item.)

UW-Madisonâ??s newest emergency communication method, WiscAlerts-Text, underwent its first test-run Wednesday afternoon.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam released the 2008-â??09 Campus Safety Guide in a mass e-mail sent to UW-Madison students Wednesday.

Actors Adam Brody and Joy Bryant spoke to a full crowd at Memorial Union Wednesday as a part of a nationwide campus tour to mobilize young supporters to elect Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in November.

This time, the police put out an incident report, albeit one flagging it as a mere “robbery.” There was even a four-sentence item about it on the Cap Times’ website.

But what happened to Jon Young, 23, in downtown Madison on Sept. 15 is far more disturbing than the MPD release or news brief conveyed.

At about 8:30 p.m., the UW-Madison engineering student was walking past James Madison Park when he passed a group of young males. One asked him for a cigarette. He said he didn’t smoke. That was all it took.

Walgreens’ pingpong balls and plastic cups are back in their regular places â?? no longer displayed together in a manner that UW-Madison officials said promoted binge drinking.

And peace has returned to the relationship between Bucky Badger and the nation’s largest drugstore chain.

After two recent sexual assaults on campus, local officials reminded students and Madison residents Tuesday to take precautions both day and night.

The University of Wisconsin System will take the next step this week in updating its student misconduct policy, which, if approved, could lead to serious changes in the way students are disciplined by officials.

Walgreens’ pingpong balls and plastic cups are back in their regular places â?? no longer displayed together in a manner that UW-Madison officials said promoted binge drinking.

And peace has returned to the relationship between Bucky Badger and the nation’s largest drugstore chain.

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison reported that two students were victims of separate incidents of apparent fourth-degree sexual assault.

According to a UW news release, the first incident took place in the 120 block of East Gorham Street at 10 a.m. on Monday.

In that incident, a student reported a strange man approaching her from behind, grabbing her on the outside of her clothing and making a sexual gesture while hugging her around the chest area. When the victim reacted, the man ran off.

People might think the members of Students for Obama have an easy job — backing a Democrat in a president election in which the Republicans are blamed for an unpopular war and tanking economy. But Bryon Eagan nonetheless perceives the stakes as high.

â??If he didnâ??t win and I didnâ??t give my all, I would be kicking myself down the line,â? says Eagon, 20, from Neenah, Wisconsin.

Eagon, a a junior majoring in political science and communication arts, is taking the semester off to serve as state coordinator of for Students for Barack Obama. The Daily Page recentlty sat him down for a few questions.

Two University of Wisconsin-Madison grads have launched a new website they say will boost peopleâ??s grades. But others say itâ??ll diminish the learning process.

UW-alumni Christopher Klundt and Dave Sargent began devising TheClassConnection.com three years ago, after becoming dissatisfied with the Universityâ??s online study aids. Klundt calls their creation the worldâ??s â??first and bestâ? academic network.

â??We offer students a diverse collection of tools that allow them to create academic content, to share that with other people who have similar academic interestsâ?¦and thatâ??s built around a network, that we connect students from your class, your campus, campuses around the world, anybody whoâ??s connected to you academically so that everyone can collaborate together and work together,â? says Klundt. (7th item.)

The Wheel is ready to roll.

The UW-Madison television show highlighting university programs will debut on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The 30-minute show is produced by University Communications in collaboration with John Roach Projects, a Fitchburg video production company.

Madison police are investigating a report of a “strange man” who allegedly grabbed a 20-year-old UW-Madison female student, then ran away when she asked him what he was doing.

The incident happened about 10 a.m. Monday in a parking lot in the 120 block of E. Gorham St., as the victim was getting into her car.

A possible Madison Area Crime Stoppers software upgrade could allow UW-Madison students and city residents to text message anonymous tips to help solve city crimes.

In an effort to improve safety and awareness among college students, an innovative new website called UCrime.com is combining Google Maps and police incident reports to help students track crime at UW-Madison and other campuses across the country.

The geek elite was out in full-costumed force this weekend for the second annual Geek.Kon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which simultaneously drew amused smiles and bemused headshakes from casual passers-by and n00bs like me. The campus setting was a bit labyrinthine, with patrons wandering from room to room excitedly, but it was fitting. What better place for a total nerd fest than the decrepit windowless sweat sock that is the Humanities building and the equally dank Vilas Hall on Park Street?

A federal district Judge ruled in favor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison last week, saying it had the right to both grant and deny funding to religious student organizations, the Daily Cardinal reports. The suit was originally brought by the Roman Catholic Foundation, a campus student group that was refused funding for some activities for the past two school years.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison residents have another tool to help fight crime — texting on their cellular phones.

Officials said the public can now use a cell phone to text anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers.

Police said the change is because texting seems to be where the future of communication is headed. They say more technology will help stop crime.

Alcohol was “a significant contributing factor” in the Aug. 27 crash on Midvale Boulevard that killed three UW-Madison students, Dane County Coroner John Stanley said.

The driver, Milwaukee native Richard H. Putze, 22, had a blood alcohol level of 0.144 percent, nearly twice the 0.08 legal limit for drivers in Wisconsin. Stanley said Putze’s speed was also “extremely high,” but the actual speed has not yet been determined.

t their gathering, Geek.Kon.08, at UW-Madison, they said they were fans of many things, from anime (Japanese animation) and role playing to computer games and a craze called Dance Dance Revolution.

UW-Madison’s latest survey of student computing practices shows about three-quarters of students routinely text-message, an increase of 10 percent from the 2007 survey.

Nearly a dozen Iraqi war veterans gathered in Madison Saturday to tell war stories. These were not tales of honor and glory.

There were descriptions of a macho military culture that cracked jokes about gays and called Iraqis “rag heads” and “towel heads.” There were accounts of an army that sent soldiers into battle with broken equipment and insufficient training. They told of trucks that ran over young children and soldiers who played cruel games with prisoners and panicked and shot civilians. There were stories of commanders indifferent to their troops’ medical and mental suffering.

….A sparse audience of only 200 attended the Memorial Union Theater event, which was coordinated by the Iraq Veterans Against the War. IVAW is a national organization with 1,200 members in 48 states. Over the past year, IVAW has held a handful of similar panels across the country in an effort to mobilize opposition to the war.

MADISON, Wis. — A public launch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s human rights initiative kicked off on Friday.

The initiative began last year on campus but the public launch promotes human rights in teaching and in research in the community as well.

The goal is to bring faculty, students and residents from numerous backgrounds together for this common cause, WISC-TV reported.

The kickoff featured the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.

MADISON â?? The 20-year-old never even considered entering the political fray.

Kristen Donat grew up in a Chicago suburb and followed the news and political discussion, but never had much interest in throwing herself in the middle of it.

Then this summer, something changed.

Donat, 20, is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is facing the reality of finally having a vote in the election and began more closely following the news.

MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County coroner said alcohol was “a significant contributing factor” in a single-car crash last month that left three University of Wisconsin-Madison students dead.

Authorities said Richard H. Putze, 22, of Milwaukee, was driving a car that crashed into a tree near the intersection of Midvale and Hillcrest Drive on Aug. 27 at approximately 1:45 a.m.

Geeks of all ages came to UW-Madison this weekend to celebrate video games, and everything sci-fi.

Outside in the courtyard, they did a little medieval sword fighting.

Inside, they solved a Victorian murder mystery, using ultraviolet light to look at invisible ink.

UW-Madison can give money to religious student organizations, but is also allowed to deny funding to the groups, according to a federal district judgeâ??s ruling Wednesday.

Members of the city and university police departments addressed a group of Madison residents Thursday in the Memorial Union in an effort to increase awareness about safety and crime prevention measures.

City and university officials teamed up Thursday and urged Madison residents to be on high alert after a string of violent robberies in the downtown area.

More than a dozen robberies and burglaries on the University of Wisconsin campus are being linked by a common theme: violence.

A drunk man needing a table for a game of beer pong tried to steal one from the Memorial Union, then led an officer on a foot chase after he was spotted, according to charges filed Wednesday.

Madison, UW and Fitchburg police are investigating 13 similar incidents that occurred between March 7 and Sept. 19 â?? including one in which a student was shot in the leg and another in which a student was pistol-whipped, said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

“Many of the crimes share the same characteristics,” said Capt. Jim Wheeler of Madison’s South Police District.

Madison police are investigating more than a dozen violent robberies.

Victims include men, women and businesses in Madison and Fitchburg.

Police say the criminals attacked their victims either at gunpoint or implying they had a gun.

The robberies started in March through this month and most centered around the Vilas Neighborhood.

Police believe a string of as many as 13 armed robberies may be connected. Twelve of the 13 center around one area. But what connects all of these robberies is the disturbing part.

“What draws us here today is the violence that is really associated with this dozen or so robberies,” said Lt. Joe Balles with the Madison Police Department Central District at a press conference on Thursday.

Since March, Madison Police believe two men may have been involved in as many as 13 armed robberies. Most of those were around the UW campus.

A college dropout awaiting trial in the high-profile stabbing death of a Madison man is under suicide watch after trying to hang himself.

The Dane County sheriff’s office says a 20-year-old inmate from Stillwater, Minnesota, tried to hang himself in the shower Thursday morning with his jail-issued pants.

Two prominent government officials tonight are calling on a local Madison business to take down a display they think promotes college binge drinking.

Dane County Exec. Kathleen Falk and UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam told 27 News they’re disappointed with the Walgreen’s on campus.

The new Walgreen’s in the University Square complex on campus has a display with plastic cups and ping pong balls. Students say it’s clearly for the popular drinking game beer pong.

MADISON, Wis. — A former University of Wisconsin-Madison student accused of killing Madison resident Joel Marino in his home last January apparently attempted suicide in the Dane County Jail on Thursday morning.