Category: Campus life

A new bill in Congress aims to require that U.S. colleges and universities inform campus residents of an emergency within 30 minutes. Backers argue it could save lives, but critics say it could cause more problems.

The â??Virginia Tech Victims Campus Emergency Response Policy and Notification Actâ? mandates that schools notify students within half an hour of a confirmed emergency. Its introduction comes about a year after the Virginia Tech massacre, where officials didnâ??t alert the entire campus of a shooting in a residence hall for nearly two hours. By that time, the gunman had started a second shooting spree, killing a total of 32 people before taking his own life.

UW-Madison students still question university security a year after the Virginia Tech massacre.

With so many campus crises this year, headlines like this one are ever-present, however, safety officials at UW-Madison and other campuses say blanket terms like â??lockdownâ? are misleading and infeasible to implement.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz described his career path to University of Wisconsin students over dinner Tuesday night.

The heated debate surrounding the deportation orders of Tope and Oluwagbenga Awe highlights the urgent need for immigration reform. The Awes came to the United States from Nigeria on a tourist visa in 1989 and in July of 2004 after their application for citizenship was finally denied, the Awe family was ordered to leave the country.

Samuel Awe, Tope and Oluwagbenga’s father, was undergoing kidney treatment at the time and the family failed to contact the immigration service in July. The lack of contact classifies the family as “immigration fugitives.”

WASHINGTON — While most of the Democratic Party’s superdelegates are members of Congress, governors or senior party officials, UW-Madison student Awais Khaleel, Lauren Wolfe and Jason Rae are still in college. Yet the votes of the three student superdelegates might help decide the Democratic nominee.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Medical investigators have determined how a University of Wisconsin-Madison student died in southern New Mexico.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator said that Michael Mowers, 22, set himself on fire.

A woman walking her dog found his body last Nov. 21 in a Las Cruces culvert.

A controversial website that has made headlines across the Country is now up and running at UW Whitewater. JuicyCampus.com is a trash talking site where people can post anything – with impunity and anonymity.

Some of the postings are so “juicy” we couldn’t even share them with our television viewers. Students we talked to say they don’t want their campus associated with the website.

“Always anonymous, always juicy” is the slogan of the website, started by a Duke University Alumni.. Just go to the site, type in UW Whitewater in the “choose your campus” tab and you’re in.

Officials from the Madison Police Department attended a Bassett Neighborhood meeting Monday to discuss safety concerns in the area following the April 2 homicide of West Doty Street resident Brittany Zimmermann.

The fiancé of Brittany Zimmermann will be allowed out of the lease at the apartment where Zimmermann was found killed April 2, the propertyâ??s landlord announced Monday.

Redeveloped plans for the new University of Wisconsin Union South project were revealed Monday night at the Design Committee meeting in Memorial Union.

As the homicide investigation of Brittany Zimmermann continues, Madison police called the case a â??game of DNAâ? at a Bassett Neighborhood Committee meeting Monday.

The University of Wisconsin student who found his fiancée slain in their West Doty Street apartment was released from his lease, a management company announced Monday.

Alexandra Clinton
Correspondent for The Capital Times â?? 4/15/2008 12:39 pm

The mystery surrounding the death of the University of Wisconsin-Madison student found fatally burned in southern New Mexico in November was solved recently in an autopsy report ruling the death a suicide.

The student, Michael J. Mowers, 22, was found burned Nov. 21 in a culvert near a canal in Las Cruces, N.M. The Office of the Medical Examiner in Albuquerque said Mowers committed suicide by setting himself on fire, according to stories in Monday’s and today’s edition of the Las Cruces Sun News.

Detectives investigating the Brittany Zimmermann homicide want to speak to anyone who was solicited for money or gave money to strangers in the Bassett neighborhood on April 1 or April 2, Madison police said Monday.

Zimmermann, 21, a junior at UW-Madison, was killed April 2 after her first-floor apartment at 517 W. Doty St. was broken into. Police still have no suspects or motive in the killing.

When Tope Awes parents told her she needed to go to the Milwaukee office of Immigration Customs and Enforcement last month, she and her family expected a review of her status, and thought she might get a chance to petition for a student visa.

The 22-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison pharmacy student had been brought to the United States from Nigeria at the age of 3. She had grown up and gone to school in Milwaukee and was now one year from college graduation.

LAS CRUCES â?? The state’s medical investigator has ruled that a University of Wisconsin-Madison student found dead in Las Cruces last year committed suicide by setting himself on fire.

The body of Michael J. Mowers, 22, was discovered by a woman walking her dog on Nov. 21 in a culvert leading to a canal near Calle de Alegra, off South Main Street. His body had been burned.

He was last seen alive in Wisconsin on Nov. 12. Las Cruces police have said foul play is not suspected in Mowers’ death.

MADISON, Wis. — The murder of UW student Brittany Zimmerman is still unsettling to many people living in downtown Madison.

The case prompted more concerns about safety at the monthly Bassett Street neighborhood meeting on Monday night.

Police assured neighbors that they have increased patrols in the area since Zimmerman’s murder.

Lt. Joe Balles told neighbors that the extra police presence is not only helping calm residents’ fears but is also helping some people come forward with more information

Three days after a 27 News exclusive report, Wisconsin Management Company agreed to release Brittany Zimmermann’s fiance from his lease of the apartment where he found her body two weeks ago. Jordan Gonnering, a UW student, shared the West Doty Street apartment with Zimmermann.

Nearly two weeks since UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann was murdered in her off-campus apartment, authorities said they want more information from people who were approached by panhandlers around the time of the killing.

Zimmermann’s body was found around 1 p.m. April 2, and authorities said someone forced their way into her West Doty Street building. A source told 27 News the student was stabbed.

Madison police are looking for anyone who might have been approached by persons soliciting for money, or who gave money to strangers, on the day of or the day before Brittany Zimmermann was murdered in her West Doty Street apartment April 2.

“This would include citizens who were approached on the street or in their homes by one or more individuals,” said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain today.

Investigators are focusing their efforts on solicitations made on West Washington Avenue, West Main Street, West Wilson Street, South Bedford Street, South Bassett Street or West Doty Street.

UW-Madison student Jordan Gonnering will be let out of the lease he held on the apartment where he found his fiancee murdered earlier this month, Wisconsin Management Company announced this morning.

University of Wisconsin SAFEwalk employees said Friday they are concerned the program is understaffed and cannot properly provide for the safety needs of the campus following the homicide of a UW student.

The news that Adam Nickel died after completing the Little Rock Marathon because of the confluence of an extremely rare and difficult-to-detect medical condition and very unlucky timing gave race director Bill Torrey closure, but no comfort.

Nickel, 27, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, finished 18 th in the March 2 race after completing the 26. 2 miles in 3 hours, 2 minutes, 26 seconds, which is considered an elite time. He had a heart attack at the finish line and died moments later.

So you want tickets to tonight’s Reel Big Fish concert in Ames?

Too bad. The only people who are going to be rocking out tonight in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union are people who volunteered at least 10 hours of their time to a central Iowa community service agency.

The concert, hosted by students at Drake University and Iowa State University, is one of three 10,000 Hours Shows scheduled across the Midwest this month. The 10,000 Hours Show concept, which gives people free concert tickets for doing community service, started at the University of Iowa in 2003 and has spread to Wisconsin, Arizona and Texas.

“It’s been really exciting, watching the whole thing grow,” said Tanya Bruskewitz, a senior at the University of Wisconsin at Madison

SAUK CITY â?? Baraboo High School graduate and former North Freedom resident Carsen Nachreiner had a vision as a teenager of how to revitalize Sauk City’s downtown and riverfront.

Now, as a senior landscape architecture major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nachreiner has thrust himself into the revitalization efforts in Sauk City. Nachreiner is completing his senior capstone project with the village of Sauk City.

President Harry S. Truman popularized the phrase, “If you can’t stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen.”

Montello native Jeffrey Wright proved he can stand the heat by earning the prestigious Truman Scholarship for his dedication to public service.

Wright is one of 65 students in the nation to earn $30,000 for graduate study leading to a career in government or public service. Wright is particularly involved in human rights.

Joel Marino, 31, was stabbed by an assailant at his home in the 700 block of West Shore Drive, near campus, on Jan. 28, at about 1 in the afternoon. He tried to make his way to St. Mary’s Hospital, but collapsed and later died from his injuries. A sketch of the man who is believed to have committed the crime was produced based on information from a witness who police spokesman Joel DeSpain said got â??a very good look.â?

Brittany Zimmermann, 21, was murdered in her apartment in the 500 block of West Doty Street on April 2, in the middle of the afternoon. Sources close to the investigation say she also was stabbed. Police confirm similarities between the two murders, which occurred about a mile from each other.

Lou Marino says he tried, first through police and then through his state senator, Mark Miller, to have an alert sent to UW-Madison students: â??I wanted to be sure UW students were safe and the community would be safe.â? He also wanted to enlist the â??40,000 sets of eyesâ? that might have seen something of value to the investigation.

MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin student who found his murdered fiancee may not be able to get out of his lease of the apartment flat.

Russ Endres, owner of Wisconsin Management Co., declined to say if Jordan Gonnering would be forced to fulfill the final 16 months of his lease. Gonnering found his 21-year-old fiancee, Brittany Zimmerman, murdered on April 2 and Madison police are still looking for her killer.

When the lights went up in the Kohl Center on Friday night for the taping of the 2008 “Jeopardy!” College Championship, they illuminated a made-for-TV version of Badger glory.

Shortly after UW student Brittany Zimmermann was murdered, school officials advised students to take extra precaution when walking home from class.

They listened and even more than a week later, students continue to be cautious.

The number of students using the SAFEwalk and SAFEride programs has more than tripled since the crime.

A Madison police official said the continuing investigation into the unsolved murders of UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann and medical equipment salesman Joel Marino are generating new tips, and revealed for the first time there was no forced entry into Marino’s Madison home before his murder.

Marino was killed January 28. Zimmerman was murdered April 2.

Wisconsin Management Company is refusing to allow Brittany Zimmerman’s fiance, Jordan Gonnering, to cancel his lease of the apartment where he found his fiance murdered last week. The couple rented an apartment together managed by Wisconsin Management Company, one of Madison’s largest property management firms.

UW System President Kevin Reilly said in a Board of Regents meeting Thursday a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign would soon begin for greater financial aid at state colleges.

The person who killed UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann last Wednesday used force to enter her apartment at 517 W. Doty St., the Madison Police Department said Thursday.

With the Board of Regents preparing to set their biennial budget in place, representatives of the University of Wisconsin System student population expressed their priorities regarding the budget to the Board of Regents Thursday.

Information released Thursday in the homicide investigation of University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Zimmermann indicates her killer or killers broke into her building.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville students will pay an extra $100 starting next year for enhanced services.

The UW System Board of Regents approved the increase today during a meeting in Madison. It will be a $100 charge on top of any other tuition increases approved for the campus this summer.

Madison police detectives continue to pursue leads in two recent unsolved murder cases, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said today, but are still uncertain whether the cases are linked in any way.

“We have two investigations ongoing and a lot of resources devoted to each,” DeSpain said. While officers probing the murder of UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann are sharing information with those investigating the murder of Joel Marino, there is nothing to indicate their murders are connected.

“Until we get some forensic evidence or find some suspect or suspects,” DeSpain said, such a link cannot be established.

“Certainly, there are similarities” between the two killings, he said.

Dear Editor: I was quite shocked to read in our hometown newspaper regarding the recent murder of a University of Wisconsin student. She was from central Wisconsin like I am. What really concerned and disturbed me is when I read that the police are wondering about a homeless person being involved.

My son, who is a UW student, was carjacked almost a year ago. He was told to drive the carjacker to a less desirable part of Madison so that the man could go to a drug party. My son was watched by other people while the man attended the party. After three hours of this horrible ordeal, the criminal told my son to take him to an east side motel and forced him to pay for the room.

Brittany Zimmermann’s killer broke through a door to get into her apartment before taking her life, police confirmed Thursday.

“There was forced entry on a door to the building in which Zimmermann resided,” said Joel DeSpain, spokesman for Police Chief Noble Wray.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly says he plans to launch a statewide fundraising campaign to boost need-based financial aid.

Reilly says the goal is to double the privately-funded aid awarded to low-income system students from $6 million to $12 million per year.

He says the system will publicize the campaign on its Web site and sell donors on the benefits of supporting need-based grants for students.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The slaying of a college student in a downtown neighborhood frequented by beggars has forced this liberal city to ask a difficult question: Has Madison been too nice to the homeless?

A debate over the city’s friendly treatment of its transient population had been under way for months, but last week’s killing of University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann started something of a backlash against the homeless.

Police have arrested dozens of transients on unrelated charges as part of the investigation, but none are considered suspects in the death. The city also announced plans Wednesday to confront problems at a nearby park where the homeless congregate, although those efforts were in the works before the murder.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police said on Thursday that there were signs of forced entry in the building where University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann was found dead last week.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the 21-year-old’s killing and have questioned several people, but have named no suspect or suspects in the week-old case.

Police Chief Noble Wray released the details, which are some of the first bits of information about last week’s slaying that have been revealed by authorities.

MADISON, Wis. — Many renters in downtown Madison have already pushed security to the top of their “to do” list in the wake of a college student’s death in her apartment last week.

Chelsea McNerney, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, can now count on using the backdoor to her downtown flat, the one closest to her parking lot.

She and her second-floor roommates didn’t have keys to both locks on the back door, like the downstairs renters did, so they often got locked out and had to go around to the front.