Last month, the leaders of roughly 100 American universities convened in Raleigh, N.C., to discuss efforts to lower the national drinking age of 21. Although the Amethyst Initiative, as it is called, has yet to articulate sound alternatives to current law, its core message â?? that 21 is not working â?? is worthy of serious consideration.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin told the crowd of several thousand freshman who gathered to hear her speak at the Kohl Center on Friday that they have something in common with her.
They’re all new to campus.
Martin, whose official first day is Monday, told the new students in a welcome address that they are “beginning a great adventure.”
For the better part of the 21st century, those in the UW Athletic Department have been trying to bring a sense of decorative order and honor to the university’s sports history.
That’s especially the case in football, where bronze statues have risen from concrete, uniform numbers have been retired and grainy images that date back to the 1880s have been enlarged and put under display lights inside refurbished Camp Randall Stadium.
With a collective high step, the trumpet section kicks up a cloud of dust. Then the trombones and euphoniums. Then the drums.
Soon, the whole UW Marching Band tromps forward through a swirling dust storm of its own making.
In 2004, UW-Madison senior Sol Grosskopf was a guest at the final night of the Republican National Convention in New York when President Bush gave his acceptance speech.
The University of Wisconsin weighed advice from a student focus group and an e-mail survey before replacing its first-come, first-served approach with a weighted lottery system. Class standing as of June 1 determined the number of chances each student carried into the July drawing, with graduate students and seniors receiving four chances to a freshman’s one. Each undergraduate class was guaranteed 2,000 lottery winners, with at least 500 tickets going to grad students.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new chancellor hasn’t officially started yet but she has already begun to take the lead.
Dr. Carolyn “Biddy” Martin made her first address to the campus body Friday.
She spoke before nearly 4,500 incoming freshmen and welcomed them to campus.
MADISON, Wis. — A 19-year-old woman is recovering after being hit by a car on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus on Thursday night.
The UW student was crossing Lake Street when she was struck by a vehicle at about 11:15 p.m., authorities said.
MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin student group is hoping more people will pitch in and start thinking green.
Students from REthink Wisconsin – – a group dedicated to sustainability on campus – – are teaming up with UW athletics to start a recycling program called “W ear red, think green, Badgers recycle.”
“What were doing is we started a recycling program with the office of the Athletic Department and our student organization,” said Maria Davis with Rethink Wisconsin. “We want to be here in order to guide them and educate them primarily on our program and how were working with the Athletic Department.”
College presidents have long gotten flak for refusing to take controversial stands on national issues. Some say the bold presidents of the past, like the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and William C. Friday, have been replaced by timid fund raisers.
But last month a large group of presidents opened an emotionally charged national debate on the drinking age. In doing so, they triggered an avalanche of news-media coverage and a fierce backlash.
MADISON (WKOW) — A UW student was taken to the hospital after she was hit by a car Thursday night in downtown Madison.
Police say at around 11:30 p.m., the woman stepped into the intersection at the corner of lake Street and University Avenue.
A car, which approached a yellow light, then hit the woman in the crosswalk.
UW System’s ten-year plan to increase diversity on state campuses ends this year.
Some progress has been made after a lot of hard work on recruitment, retention and pre-college programs.
Yet it’s unclear if the System is getting much bang out of tens of millions of bucks it spends on the effort each year.
With the college football season set to kick off, the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association is promoting sales of The Red Shirt — a one-of-a-kind, collectible T-shirt.
Proceeds will contribute to the more than $550,000 awarded to UW-Madison students each year through WAA’s matching dollar scholarship program.
UW-Madison will be kicking off another school year next week, and for many returning faculty and staff- the murders of Joel Marino and student Brittany Zimmermann are still fresh memories.
So this year the UW is putting more emphasis on safety.
Both the Zimmermann and Marino murders happened in off campus neighborhoods highly populated by students, and because of those violent crimes the UW is emphasizing safety in those communities.
Not with extra officers or a change in patrol routes, but with information.
A group of university presidents, including David Joyce of Ripon College, have signed the Amethyst Initiative, which has among its goals reopening debate over the nationâ??s drinking age. Their move is well-intended: Alcohol is frequently abused at college campuses around the country â?? including the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other UW campuses. Kids are hurting themselves. But this is actually a well-settled question.
It’s unwise to consider lowering the drinking age, especially if that lower age is 18, which would put alcohol into the hands of high school students.
Noted: Bryon Eagon, a delegate and junior from UW-Madison, found it hard to remember a Democrat in Washington before Clinton
MADISON (WKOW) — From Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s office:
The Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office and the Wisconsin State Fire Marshal, along with the National Association of State Fire Marshals and the Center for Campus Safety, recognize the month of September as Campus Safety Month. I and the State Fire Marshall’s Office would like to encourage students to keep safety in the forefront as they return to campus. Each year, lives are lost in campus-related fires.
MILWAUKEE — An estimated 4,000 low-income technical college students may get less aid this fall because the state has run out of grant money for them.
Friends of Lindsey Plank describe the 23-year-old chemistry student’s personal side, calling her fun-loving, goofy, perky, wild, energetic and uniquely charismatic.
“She was ready and raring to go all the time. I could never imagine her being in a bad mood. She was incredibly energetic and wild. She had a zest for life that I haven’t seen with anybody else,” said Ashley Gritton, 23, who has known Plank since elementary school and reunited with her a month ago at their five-year high school reunion.
Plank, a Stoughton native, and her boyfriend, Richard H. Putze, 22, from Milwaukee, were killed along with Daniel Myers, 22, when the car the three were traveling in hit a tree just after 1:45 a.m. Wednesday at 215 S. Midvale Blvd., just north of Mineral Point Road.
College students today celebrate 21st birthdays with an average of 12 drinks for men and nine for women, finds the most in-depth picture yet of the consequences of extreme partying.
Wauwatosa West High School graduate Cameron Collier wasnâ??t sure whether to bring a car with him for his freshman year at Ripon College, but a brochure from the school sealed the deal with an offer he couldnâ??t refuse.
To save parking spots and go green, the 1,000-student college offered incoming freshmen a brand-new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet and a Master Lock U-Lock – all to keep – if they pledged to leave their cars at home. Collier signed up.
Prominently mentions UW-Madison’s efforts to help students get around in an environmentally responsible way.
Madison motorists are advised to be on the lookout for out-of-state license plates Wednesday and Thursday when panicky dads and moms look for parking on the UW-Madison campus, their eager youngsters anxious to move into their dorms.
About 6,900 freshmen and sophomores will be descending onto the nearly 20 campus dorm halls and houses, prompting the university and city to shut down or restrict access to several campus/downtown streets.
Noted: New to the convention scene is Molly Rivera, a sophomore at UW-Madison and Wisconsin delegate.
Rivera was chosen by the Obama campaign to appear on stage at the Pepsi Center as a representative of the youth vote.
Three UW-Madison undergraduates who died Wednesday after the car they were in hit a tree on Midvale Boulevard were remembered as outstanding students who overcame personal obstacles, pushed boundaries and went out and did amazing things.
“We don’t know what these young people could have been or done,” said Lori Berquam, dean of students. “It’s nothing short of horrific tragedy that’s befallen our campus.”
Killed were Lindsey T. Plank, 23, and Richard H. Putze, 22, both seniors majoring in chemistry, and Daniel Myers, 22, who this summer completed his requirements to graduate with a major in music performance, with piano as a specialty.
Authorities said two UW-Madison seniors and a recent UW-Madison graduate have died after a car left a well traveled Madison boulevard and smashed into a tree early Wednesday morning.
Authorities identified the victims as Lindsey Plank, 23, and Richard Putze, 22, both seniors majoring in chemistry, and graduate Daniel Myers, 22, whose degree is in musical performance. Plank and Putze lived just three blocks from the scene of the crash, which was in the 200 block of South Midvale Boulevard on the city’s west side.
MADISON, Wis. — A third person has died after being injured in a single-car crash early Wednesday morning on Midvale Boulevard.
The Dane County coroner has identified the third victim as Daniel Myers, 22, of Madison. Myers was pronounced dead at UW Hospital late Wednesday morning.
The other victims were identified as Lindsey T. Plank, 23, of Madison, and Richard H. Putze, 22, of Madison, according to the Dane County coroner. Putze was pronounced dead at the scene while Plank was pronounced dead at UW Hospital.
At around 1:45 am, Madison Police say a car swerved off the road and crashed into a tree on the 200 block of South Midvale Boulevard.
All three people in the car were killed in the crash.
23-year-old Lindsey Plank and 22-year-old Richard Putze were Seniors at UW-Madison, and 22-year old Daniel Myers was a recent graduate of the UW.
UW chemistry professor John Moore is numb.
MADISON, Wis. — Thousands of University of Wisconsin students are moving into their dorm rooms this week, and the school’s new chancellor is also trying to acquaint herself with campus life.
Carolyn Biddy Martin is introducing herself to some new students at Ogg Hall.
Just days before the opening of a new semester, the University of Wisconsin-Madison community was stunned today by the deaths of two incoming seniors and a recent graduate in an early morning crash Wednesday on South Midvale Boulevard, just south of Hillcrest Drive between Mineral Point Road and Regent Street.
MADISON – The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus community is mourning the deaths of three of its students in a Midvale Boulevard car accident early Wednesday.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of three members of our campus community,” says Dean of Students Lori Berquam. “The timing of this tragedy, just as we’re about to start a new semester, hits us all particularly hard.”
“ODOS offers our deepest and sincerest sympathies to all those who knew, attended class or worked with Lindsey Plank, Richard Putze and Daniel Myers,” Berquam says. “In particular, our thoughts go out to their parents and families, during this time of grief.”
….”The UW chemistry community is devastated by this loss,” says Professor Robert Hamers, chair of the Department of Chemistry. “In addition to being chemistry majors, Lindsey and Richard volunteered their time and energy to assist with lecture demonstrations. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the family and friends of all three students.”
Greg Rice is scurrying about like the owner of a brand-new home, checking all the details and looking for any signs of shoddy workmanship.
“I wonder what happened here?” asked Rice, noting a small chip in the corner of a concrete planter on the massive, fourth-floor rain garden that captures stormwater from the new University Square. Upstairs on the top floor of the Lucky Apartments portion of the project, Rice is curious about an 18-inch-ring stain on the hallway carpet.
But you can excuse Rice, 53, for being a little nervous. He’s overseeing the final phase of the largest mixed-use project ever built in downtown Madison just as some 40,000 students start pouring onto the UW campus and the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of recession.
Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2008 were the same as last year, even as a larger, more diverse group took the test, a College Board report released Tuesday says.
MADISON, Wis. — Student season ticket holders to University of Wisconsin football games are being reminded of the new section reserved seating system in place for this season.
When students enter Camp Randall Stadium, they will receive a wristband designating their seating area within a section. Once in the designated section, students may sit in an open seat between the row numbers written on the wristband.
Madison motorists are advised to be on the lookout for out-of-state license plates Wednesday and Thursday when panicky dads and moms look for parking on the UW-Madison campus, their eager youngsters anxious to move into their dorms.
MADISON, Wis. — Student season ticket holders to University of Wisconsin football games are being reminded of the new section reserved seating system in place for this season.
When students enter Camp Randall Stadium, they will receive a wristband designating their seating area within a section. Once in the designated section, students may sit in an open seat between the row numbers written on the wristband.
Incoming Chancellor Biddy Martin will address the University of Wisconsin-Madison community for the first time at the Chancellor’s Convocation for New Students.
The event will be held at noon on Friday, Aug. 29, at the Kohl Center. As a bookend to commencement, the convocation inaugurates students into the campus community as they begin their studies.
The majority of University of Wisconsin-Madison students who will be living in university residence halls this fall – approximately 6,900 of them – began moving in on Aug. 24, and many of them are scheduled to move in Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 27 and 28.
Motorists should be aware that the following temporary changes in campus-area traffic patterns will take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate the unloading of the students’ belongings.
China is hoping that American college students watching the Summer Olympics will want to travel there, providing a bump similar to what Australia and Greece enjoyed in 2000 and 2004. But even before the 2008 Games, China was already on its way as the hot new destination for study abroad.
Crammed on middle linebacker Derek Walker’s plate are beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, spinach and a roll. In the other hand, he balances a salad and a bottle of hot sauce. He lumbers through the small, tabled-filled cafeteria and plunks down without spilling a drop.
All without a tray.
Like most Americans, Democratic delegate Awais Khaleel was deeply affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Not only was he shocked by the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, but as a young Muslim two weeks shy of his 17th birthday, Khaleel was dismayed that members of his religion committed the attacks in the name of their faith and that Americans’ images of Muslims were shaped by the attackers.
“The events of September 11th shook me up and made me re-examine my own life and my own purpose,” Khaleel said. “At that point, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in politics and public service.”
â?¢ Superdelegate Is Super Busy Being Wooed (Feb. 10)
Khaleel, 23, and a recent UW-Madison graduate, is off to a fast start.
College enrollments have been on the rise for decades, but the proportion of students who earn a bachelor’s degree within five years has stagnated at about 52%, down from 55% in 1988, says a report due this fall by the College Board, owner of the SAT. Some of those left behind eventually graduate, while others drop out.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison has launched a new Web site to help raise the level of safety education and awareness for students who will soon start the fall semester.
The Web site, Safeu.wisc.edu, contains information about personal safety, off-campus living, sexual assault and domestic violence prevention, emergency preparedness tips and information on how to sign up for WiscAlerts-Text, the university’s new emergency text-messaging system.
The Web site is part of the university’s “Safety 24/7” campaign, which encourages students to take care of their personal safety at all times by integrating safety measures into their everyday lives.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse ranked No. 2 on U.S. News & World Reportâ??s list of the best colleges in the Midwest.
We mention that because of the fight thatâ??s going on in Madison between outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and some legislators.
In a 3,000-word essay in the September issue of Madison Magazine, Wiley criticized WMC, the stateâ??s biggest business interest group, as being more interested in right-wing politics than economic development.
WMC has for the past two years spent $2 million to help elect conservative justices to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It also supports conservative Republicans for other public offices.
The new Chancellor, Carolyn Martin, says the stakes are “very high” for UW Madison to be able to help fund the education of graduate students. Martin says it’s one of several budget items she hopes to discuss with lawmakers. Shamane Mills reports. (Audio.)
From University of Wisconsin: Taking care of your personal safety isn’t something to just to think about at nighttime or after class, but to make a part of your life, all of the time.
That’s the message from the Offices of the Dean of Students to UW-Madison students, faculty and staff, at the start of the 2008-09 academic year. Move-in for some University Housing residents is already under way, and classes begin on Tuesday, Sept. 2.
The university is making an added effort to raise the level of safety education and awareness during the start of the fall semester with the launch of a new Web site.
It’s too simplistic to dismiss out of hand a call by about 100 college presidents to examine the practicality of the 21-year-old drinking age. It’s also too simplistic to embrace dropping the age to 18, and that’s not what the so-called Amethyst Initiative is about.
Young adults of 18 through 20 have been considered underage drinkers for about 25 years, ever since the federal government threatened to withhold 10 percent of transportation funds to states that did not set the legal drinking age at 21.
MADISON, Wis. — Some of the nation’s most educated academic professionals believe the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.
The movement, called The Amethyst Initiative, was undertaken by college leaders who believe that lowering the drinking age could cut the abuse of alcohol.
“The important thing from the university perspective is the decision-making,” said UW Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp. “We want our students to make good decisions.”
Though 128 college and university chancellors and presidents have weighed in, the UW has not. Outgoing UW Chancellor John Wiley did not sign the initiative, though there is a possibility that incoming chancellor Biddy Martin could.
A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in the next 40 years, minorities, including Asian Americans, Latinos, and African Americans, will become the majority of the United States population. You might not be aware of this, living in Wisconsin, but Damon Williams, who on Aug. 1 started his new job as vice provost for diversity and climate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, knows full well that the nation is changing demographically and that businesses need employees who understand and reflect the types of consumers they are trying to connect with their products.
At 4 a.m., while many college students are in bed, Danny Spirn is reading the Web sites of UW-Madison’s student newspapers.
Spirn, who is the author of the Critical Badger blog, says he wants to be “the first person to get a real good look at this stuff and put commentary out there. So in a sense, it would shape the day’s thoughts for those who read it, or at least give them an alternative vision.”
It’s been 10 years since the UW System launched its major diversity initiative — Plan 2008 — and in that time administrators have successfully recruited hundreds of students of color and faculty to come to UW-Madison.
In that same 10 years, UW-Madison has made news for photoshopping a photo of a black student into a crowd of white students on a brochure and for a law school professor’s remarks about the Hmong that some considered racist.
A growing number of universities are starting to take a more proactive approach to monitoring off-campus behavior and neighbors say the efforts are working.
MADISON â?? University of Wisconsin System regents called for action Friday in response to what they called a troubling audit that showed a growing demand for mental health counseling.
The audit found UW students often wait a week or more for counseling now and wait times are likely to increase as demand grows faster than resources. Also, not all UW campuses track troubled students referred to off-campus health care providers to make sure they get treatment, the report by UW System auditors found.
As the students come flooding back into Madison those looking to party are finding a new obstacle.
Meant to curb underage drinking, new scanners at local businesses are getting their first real test.
It’s a Friday night in Madison and the streets are packed, students are back in town and liquor stores are buzzing.
Those looking to celebrate their return with alcohol are getting a surprise.
MADISON, Wis. — Some of the nation’s most educated academic professionals believe the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.
The movement, called The Amethyst Initiative, was undertaken by college leaders who believe that lowering the drinking age could cut the abuse of alcohol.
“The important thing from the university perspective is the decision-making,” said UW Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp. “We want our students to make good decisions.”
MADISON, Wis. — A Dane County judge has set a trial date for a Minnesota man accused of fatally stabbing a Madison man earlier this year.
Jury selection will begin Jan. 12 for Adam Peterson, 20, of North Grant.
The former University of Wisconsin-Madison student has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Most people struggling to pay off their student loans keep quiet about it. They do not want to acknowledge that, perhaps in a fit of naïve, youthful optimism, they borrowed more than they could handle.
Then there is Alan Collinge, who for years has described his struggle with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt to anyone who will listen. He has appeared on â??60 Minutesâ? criticizing Sallie Mae, the nationâ??s largest student lender, and has been quoted in the pages of this and other newspapers attacking loan companies.
The National Wildlife Federation on Thursday released its Campus Environment 2008 Report Card, which offers an in-depth look at trends in sustainability among U.S. institutions of higher education.
The report compares findings with a previous study conducted in 2001. The complete report is available at www.nwf.org/campusecology.
Locally, both UW-Madison and Edgewood College received kudos as institutions with “exemplary programs” in at least one of the 18 areas being graded in the report.
UW-Madison received high marks in three areas: “students taking a course on ecology or sustainability”; “green landscaping and grounds”; and “plans to do more green landscaping and green grounds.”
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is aware of a push by some leaders of higher education to ask lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage binge drinking on campus.
And while Reilly isn’t ready to jump onto that bandwagon just yet, he didn’t discount the notion, either.
It’s almost time to head back to school — and back to the doctor’s office. Doctors recommend adolescents and college freshmen get vaccinated against meningitis. But one family has learned how suddenly this deadly disease can strike.
“He loved to read,” Ruthann Baxter-Cutting says of her son.
22-year-old Erik Baxter was an aspiring writer himself.
Nearly 100 presidents of some of the top universities and colleges are banding together to tackle binge drinking on campuses across the country.
The UW was approached, but declined to take part.
That’s because their top leader, newly appointed Biddy Martin, doesn’t even start until September.
Still, UW Associate Dean Kevin Helmkamp says he is skeptical of the idea.
