Category: Campus life

Aggressive marketing of credit cards on college campuses is putting some students deep into debt and needs to be reined in, a local unit of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said Thursday.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee chapter of the consumer group cited a recent national survey showing 76% of students, lured by promotions such as free T-shirts and food, have stopped at tables to consider a credit card or to sign up for one. The national survey included students from UWM and UW-Madison.

Madison police are focusing on the population of transients regularly in the Bassett neighborhood as part of their investigation into the death of a 21-year-old UW-Madison student whose body was found Wednesday in her apartment near campus.

“We’ve got people we are looking for,” said Lt. Joe Balles.

A Wisconsin college student found dead in her Madison apartment has sparked fears that a killer may be loose near the sprawling university campus.

“At this writing no suspects have been identified and detectives have ruled out that this may have been a random act,” according to the Madison Police Department incident report.

Brittany Sue Zimmermann, 21, was found dead in her apartment near the University of Wisconsin-Madison shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday by police called to check on the student’s welfare. A preliminary examination by the Dane County coroner has ruled her death a homicide. The coroner did not say how the woman was killed, but an autopsy was scheduled for today.

MADISON — Very little was revealed Thursday by the Dane County Coroner about how Brittany Sue Zimmermann, 21, of Marshfield, died in her Madison apartment Wednesday other than it was a homicide due to a “complexity of traumatic injuries.”

Coroner John Stanley was unavailable for comment Thursday afternoon and a person answering the phone, who declined to give her full name, wouldn’t elaborate on the autopsy report’s details.

MADISON, Wis. –Three unsolved killings in less than a year share at least one thread: They’ve spread fear among college students and downtown residents in Wisconsin’s normally laid-back capital.

A college student vanished in June after a night of barhopping; her body was found in the woods days later. In January, a 31-year-old man was stabbed to death with a paring knife in his home near the University of Wisconsin-Madison in what police called an apparently random act.

The first police officers from both Madison and UW arrived on the scene around 1:00pm on Wednesday.

The university posted its first message on its website warning about an “incident” downtown at 3:30pm, but it wasn’t until 5:50pm when university officials sent out a mass email and web posting to students calling it a “death” investigation.

It has been two nights since the murder of Brittany Zimmerman and many in the area are weary.

“It is really weird,” stated student and neighbor Moadh Masoud. “It is right next to where I live. I’m a student as well as she was. I didn’t think it could happen here.”

“It is really scary. Especially in Madison it is one of the safest cities,” added passerby Annaliese Kowert.

But not everyone shares that sentiment.

MADISON, Wis. — Authorities are continuing the investigation into the death of a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was discovered on Wednesday in her West Doty Street apartment.

The Dane County coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Thursday and confirmed that Brittany Zimmermann, 21, of Marshfield, was a victim of homicide.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police received a sketch of a man who illegally entered a West Washington Avenue apartment house shortly before the time that they were summoned to the scene of a woman’s death two blocks away.

Holly Davis, a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison junior told WISC-TV reporter Linda Eggert that she has six roommates but all were gone just before 1 p.m. Wednesday when she said an intruder opened her front door, walked in and halfway up the stairs to her room.

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Madison students said they are concerned about safety around campus after a student was found dead in her home on West Doty Street on Wednesday.

Students said they are shaken by the homicide investigation and how close it is to them.

UW-Madison sophomore Whitney Bauer didn’t know Brittany Sue Zimmermann, but she said that doesn’t make her death any easier to understand.

College students want to rein in “out-of-control” unfair credit card marketing.

UW-Madison Freshman Nicholas Lillious says students are coerced into signing up for a credit card with free stuff, like T-shirts and pizza. And then they’re trapped.

A man convicted of kidnapping and raping two University of Wisconsin students in the fall of 2006 was sentenced Wednesday to a 40-year jail sentence.

The University of Wisconsin is reaching out and mourning the loss of a student killed Wednesday in her campus-area home.

Police officials advised students to follow normal safety measures Wednesday after the murder of a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student.

Police are investigating the homicide of a University of Wisconsin student found near campus Wednesday afternoon, with her killer still at large.

Following her release from federal custody Tuesday, third-year UW-Madison pharmacy student Tope Awe will be able to return to campus within the next few days.

Authorities are investigating the death of a UW-Madison junior at her campus area apartment Wednesday as a homicide, according to the police.

In the wake of UW-Madison junior Brittany Sue Zimmermannâ??s death, campus officials are trying to retain a sense of community and stress awareness of personal safety.

Antonio Pope, the man convicted of kidnapping and raping two female UW-Madison students in 2006, will spend 40 years in prison for the attacks, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Brittany Sue Zimmermann, who was murdered Wednesday in her campus area apartment, majored in medical microbiology and immunology at UW-Madison and planned to go on to medical school where she was going to take on infectious diseases, said her father Kevin Zimmermann.

“She had so much to offer the world,” Zimmermann said by phone from Marshfield, noting that Brittany had a 4.0 grade-point average at Marshfield Senior High School and earned enough credits that when she entered college she was already considered a sophomore.

Brittany, 21, a college junior, was planning to graduate in the fall and marry fiance Jordan Gonnering next year in Hawaii, he said.

MADISON — Police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old Marshfield woman as a homicide.

Police say Brittany Sue Zimmermann, 21, a University of Wisconsin-Madison junior who was majoring in medical microbiology and immunology, was found dead at about 1 p.m. Wednesday in a downtown apartment.

“Deal or No Deal” is not the only deal for Wisconsinites.

While thousands hoped for a chance to be on the game show, others contemplated their moment of fame on other TV programs.

Today, University of Wisconsin-Madison students are lined up for a “Jeopardy!” casting call that will select one brainy student to join 14 others from around the country for the game show’s 2008 College Championship and top prize of $100,000. The tournament tapes April 11 and 12 at Madison’s Kohl Center.

“We are no longer classifying this as a death investigation, it is officially, we are officially investigating a homicide,” says Madison Police Chief, Noble Wray.

Just after 1 o’clock this afternoon, police were called to the 500 block of West Doty Street. There the found the body of 21 year old and U-W senior, Brittany Sue Zimmermann.

“Clearly this is a devastating and tragic situation and honestly it’s a shock!” says UW Dean of Students, Lori Berquam.

MADISON, Wis. — A 32-year-old Madison man was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to abducting and raping a pair of University of Wisconsin-Madison students on separate occasions in 2006.

Antonio Pope pleaded no contest last November to two counts of kidnapping and two counts of first-degree sexual assault in the incidents. Pope didn’t speak at his sentencing, but Dane County Judge John Markson said that Pope behaved like a monster.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police detectives are investigating the death of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student whose body was found at a residence on Doty Street on Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities said that the investigation is focused on a residence in the 500 block of West Doty and cordoned off part of the street early Wednesday afternoon.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released Tope Awe, a UW-Madison pharmacy school student, from custody in Milwaukee Tuesday, pending deportation.

A University of Wisconsin pharmacy student who was arrested last week and faces deportation was released Tuesday afternoon and is at her parentsâ?? house in Milwaukee.

In an attempt at an April Foolsâ?? Day political statement, tires on more than 300 cars near the UW campus were deflated Tuesday.

A man who kidnapped and raped two women students in the late fall of 2006 committed “monstrous” acts which permeated the community with fear and cannot be tolerated, a judge and prosecutor both said today as Antonio Pope, 32, was sentenced to 40 years in prison with no parole.

That prison term will be followed by 20 years of extended supervision, Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Markson said, meaning Pope will be 72 years old when he can be released from prison and 92 by the time he is done with extended supervision.

Madison – A former high school track star studying to be a pharmacist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her brother have been released from custody pending their deportation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday.

Tope Awe, 22, and her brother, Oluwagbenga Awe, 24, were detained Thursday after a meeting with immigration officials in Milwaukee. They were released Tuesday but must wear ankle monitoring bracelets and check in regularly with immigration officials while they wait for travel documents for their return to Nigeria, the agency said Tuesday in a statement.

The agency says Tope Awe and her brother, Benga Awe came to the U.S. in 1989 on six-month tourist visas. Their requests to stay in the country have been repeatedly denied

Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison took to the streets Monday to protest the detention of Tope Awe, a Nigerian pharmacy student being held by federal immigration authorities. University officials, meanwhile, made cautious statements about the popular student’s plight.

At least 50 students rallied at the Memorial Union, calling for the release of Awe, repeatedly described as a dedicated student and leader in the campus community.

Over 40 UW-Madison students, staff and community activists gathered Monday in Memorial Union to rally support for a student facing deportation.

The last phase of an eight-year project to revamp State Street began Monday, closing all vehicle traffic on the 500 and 600 blocks until September.

Mondayâ??s pouring rain was no obstacle for more than 60 University of Wisconsin students protesting in support of a pharmacy student arrested last week and facing deportation to Nigeria.

The answer is, “This popular television game show needs UW-Madison students as contestants.”

The question is, “What is Jeopardy?”

The quiz show is taping the 2008 collegiate championships at the Kohl Center April 11-12, so the show’s Brain Bus will be here Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Memorial Union to give Badger students a chance to audition for the show.

If you’re a UW-Madison student or faculty member who believes you should have the right to carry a concealed weapon on campus, there’s a new group for you.

But you’ll have to overcome several hurdles, including the fact that Wisconsin is one of only two states with a ban on concealed weapons.

Dozens of people gathered Monday at the Memorial Union in support of UW-Madison pharmacy student Tope Adesola Awe, who is at risk of being deported.

Awe was arrested Thursday and is being held at the Dodge County Jail with her brother, Oluwagbenga Awe. Both have orders of deportation against them, said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman.

A former Milwaukee star high school athlete now studying to be a pharmacist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is in custody along with her brother and faces deportation, friends and family say.

And although students have held a rally and gathered signatures, and a state legislator is in their corner, immigration officials say the two have exhausted their options.

An official at the Dodge County jail confirmed that Tope Awe, 22, and her brother, Oluwagbenga Awe, were detained Thursday on immigration hold and were still in custody Monday afternoon.

UW-Madison students to rallied to stop the possible deportation of classmate Tope Awe to Nigeria, and claimed such a move would punish a nearly life-long Wisconsin resident, and derail a promising career.

Awe, 22, a student of the school of pharmacy, is an inmate at the Dodge County jail in Juneau. Dodge County officials have a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally.

Tope Awe is a third year pharmacy student at the U-W Madison. She left her native Nigeria and came to this country with her family when she was three years old.

But, her family never obtained legal residency for her and now she is in custody in the Dodge County Jail.

Said her friend Nurilign Ahmed, “I feel like losing her would be like losing a very important person from the health care profession and U-W Madison school system.”

UW-Madison students mobilized this weekend to help save Tope Awe, a pharmacy school student, from deportation.

A University of Wisconsin graduate student was arrested late last week and risks deportation to Nigeria, her family said this weekend.

A UW-Madison student summoned to Milwaukee for questioning about her immigration status is in danger of being deported, friends say.

Tope Adesola Awe, a pharmacy student, and her brother Oluwagbenga Awe, are being detained at the Dodge County Jail after being unexpectedly placed in custody Thursday, said Selamawit Zewdie, a UW-Madison senior and close friend of Tope Awe.

A UW Madison program is bridging the digital divide one student at a time.

The Information Technology Academy is a four year program for Madison high school students.

Every year, 30 eighth graders are selected.

They receive a free, desktop computer loaded with software and attend college prep classes throughout high school.

Since 1990, students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have abandoned the luxury of sandy beaches to travel across the country and volunteer during their precious week of spring break.

According to the campus’ news service, Alternative Breaks, a program sponsored by the Morgridge Center for Public Service at the University of Wisconsin, challenges hundreds of students every year to step outside their comfort zones, pick up a shovel, hammer or kitchen apron and experience hands-on volunteer experiences in environments drastically different from their home.

UW-Madison announced two new vice provosts Wednesday.

The University of Wisconsin selected a new vice provost for faculty and staff programs Wednesday, filling the position from within their own ranks.

The University of Wisconsin expanded the vice provost for diversity and climate position Wednesday, naming Damon Williams to the job, ending a nine-month search process.