Category: Campus life

UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell has just announced the cancellation of all afternoon and evening classes, effective at 3:30 p.m. Other campus operations — including recreational, sports, libraries and the student unions — may continue or remain open, but anyone “planning to attend evening events on campus is encouraged to call ahead to ensure programs are continuing,” according to the UW-Madison press release issued Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement also notes the early cessation of Madison Metro bus service, with the last buses scheduled to depart transfer points at about 7 p.m. Metro passengers are advised to expect delays of 15-20 minutes or more, due to hazardous weather and road conditions.

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard has embraced the issue of mental health on campus.

He has encouraged students to seek counseling if they are depressed or are having difficulty coping. Last year, he addressed the stigma associated with depression with an open letter to the campus community that talked about his son’s suicide.

MADISON, Wis. â?? University of Wisconsin System graduates might soon have two transcripts to show potential employers.

The traditional one would still list classes taken and grades earned. But a second would describe the studentâ??s personal development during college, such as whether they interned for a company, directed a play, or edited the student newspaper.

MADISON, Wis. — While authorities warned everyone to stay home and off the streets Wednesday, thousands of students and teachers struggled to make their way to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Despite Wednesday’s snowstorm, classes there were not called off until the middle of the afternoon. Due to “deteriorating conditions,” UW-Madison made the decision Wednesday afternoon to cancel all classes for the rest of the day starting at 3:30 p.m.

But some said the announcement was too little, too late. Many of those who braved the blizzard-like conditions Wednesday morning to attend and teach classes said they weren’t happy about it.

The Roman Catholic Foundation, a religious student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is suing the school for refusing to fund evangelical training camps, religious retreats and Lenten booklets.

A judge in a U.S. District Court issued a preliminary ruling Jan. 17 in favor of the Foundation’s claim that refusing to fund these activities violated the group’s First Amendment right to free speech.

UW-Madison womenâ??s studies majors and certificate-seekers will soon receive their degrees from the Department of Gender and Womenâ??s Studies, not from the Womenâ??s Studies Program.

The University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate proposed to create a new department and released the annual report for the Campus Planning Committee Monday.

The Roman Catholic Foundation-UW-Madison will get another chance at securing university funding for the 2008-â??10 academic years, according to an Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary decision Sunday.

The Associated Students of Madisonâ??s Student Judiciary decided Sunday to create a panel to review an appeal from a student group denied funding by the Student Services Finance Committee last summer.

Tech-savvy university students have also developed their own unique social networks around shared use of technology. Brian Hagen, a former UW-Madison student, was a coordinator at Madison ‘s Geek.Kon convention last fall and ran the Geek.Kon programs for the video games Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Hagen said that while the networking aspect of the convention was less structured than that at other conventions, “more than one friendship was helped along by the social atmosphere of the game. “

In a letter sent to the New Era Cap Company Friday, the University’s Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights urged the hat maker to address allegations of racial discrimination against black workers at an Alabama facility or risk endangering its relationship with the University.

Having the contract to make caps for Major League Baseball means being under a spotlight that brings both positive and negative exposure.

The labor talks between Buffalobased New Era Cap Co. and 118 newly organized warehouse workers in Mobile, Ala., have been pushed into the national spotlight, with observers seeing first-hand how standard contract negotiations representing a handful of workers can become national news.

Jeopardy! College Championship is set to take place April 11 & 12, at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Ticket information will be announced on Friday, February 15.

Ten episodes (2 weeks of shows) will be recorded on April 11 & 12. These episodes will air in the middle of May, on NBC15.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz spoke at Memorial Union Thursday to highlight concerns on global warming as part of 1,600 schools and organizations across the country for Focus the Nation.

The prime real estate on the 700 block of University Avenue will finally reach its potential when construction ends in December and its tallest tower looms just feet below the Capitol skyline.

The Madison fire department is taking a new approach to get the attention of UW students when it comes to fire safety.

The department teamed up with Ian’s pizza Wednesday to give out free pies to students who could prove their fire detectors worked.

MFD tells 27 News 3/4 of all fires destroy homes because people didn’t put batteries in their smoke alarms, or the alarms weren’t working at all.

About 3,000 people die each year because of fires. The National Fire Protection Association also says about 74% of those deaths are in homes without working smoke alarms. The Madison Fire Department is taking the smoke alarm message to college students in a unique way.

Lori Wirth works with the Madison Fire Department. However, Wednesday night she helped deliver pizzas. It was all part of a cooperative effort between Ian’s Pizza and the fire department. When callers ordered a pizza, they also had a chance of getting a visit from the fire department. “Hello, what’s up guys? Ian’s Pizza. You were randomly selected to have the fire department come with,” said Marty, a manager at Ian’s Pizza.

UW-Madison will celebrate its 159th birthday Feb. 5 with cake distribution at University Housing dining halls.

University of Wisconsin Alumni Student Board has agreed to terms securing rapper Talib Kweliâ??s performance at the All-Campus Party in April.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison has canceled its contract with an apparel company that refused to allow a labor inspection of one of its plants, according to The Daily Cardinal, the campusâ??s student newspaper.

The business, the New Era Cap Company, prevented a university-hired labor-monitoring group from entering its facility in Mobile, Ala. The universityâ??s code of conduct requires companies licensed to use its logo to have their working conditions observed by a monitoring agency, the Worker Rights Consortium.

A UNC committee recommended Tuesday that the chancellor give the New Era Cap company an ultimatum to allow labor rights monitoring organizations into its Mobile, Ala., factory.

The UW Madison has ended its contract with a New York-based sportswear manufacturer that made official UW knit-caps. As Brian Bull reports, administrators say reports of worker abuse and a violation of the universityâ??s code of conduct for licensees are behind the decision. (Audio.)

At 11 a.m. Monday, New Era Cap Co. leadership and workers staged a rally at the company’s Derby plant designed to show “who the real New Era is.”

Two hours later, the Buffalo-based hatmaker was slammed in a Washington, D.C., press conference by the leaders of the Teamsters and NAACP.

What fueled the dueling press conferences were charges from the NAACP and Teamsters that New Era discriminates against employees at its Mobile, Ala. plant.

New Era Cap Co. came out swinging against the Teamsters union Monday with a rally at its Derby production facility. Workers rattled the plantâ??s corrugated roof as they joined to support the company against allegations of racial discrimination and unfair labor practices at a warehouse in Alabama.

MADISON, Wis. â?? University of Wisconsin-Madison has canceled a licensing contract with New Era Cap Co., citing allegations of discrimination and anti-union activity at one of its factories.

The action is part of a growing national movement to get the company, the exclusive cap supplier for Major League Baseball teams, to improve its labor practices at a distribution center in Mobile, Ala.

The NAACP released a report Monday accusing the company of paying black workers less than whites, passing minorities over for promotions and firing employees involved in organizing workers. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based company called the allegations baseless.

MADISON, Wis. — A student labor group is calling it a victory for labor rights.

After months of outside pressure, citing unfair labor practices and low wages, UW-Madison has ended a contract with New Era – a hat company responsible for numerous UW-Madison licensed baseball and knit hats.

The university announced the contract cut on Friday, after a member of the Student Labor Action Coalition recounted what she witnessed at a production facility in Mobile, Ala.

Arriving in Kenya, the nine of us were unaware of the dangers and uncertainties that lay before us. From the plane, even the fires we saw were all “natural” in our minds. Our drive to the hospital in Maseno forced our eyes open as we bribed our way through a myriad of roadblocks. Hundreds of men were on the road that day, Dec. 29, some carrying machetes, others with loads of looted materials.

As senior nursing students at UW-Madison on the La Crosse campus, we had tried to prepare ourselves for what we would experience in Kenya. Since this was the second annual trip, we thought that we knew what we were getting into, but we couldn’t have anticipated what the next few weeks would bring.

Nobody knows the importance of working smoke alarms better than UW senior Andy Talen. He was asleep inside his house on N. Bedford St. last fall when it caught on fire. Andy escaped, but his brother, Peter, died.

Andy asked the UW’s dean of students office and Madison fire department if he could help pass out batteries on Friday during their planned event to raise awareness.

“It’s just a simple check…just put a battery in,” said Andy.

MADISON, Wis. — A student group at UW Madison is promising to continue its fight against what it believes is religious discrimination.

A District Court ruled last week that the UW must allow funding for the Roman Catholic Foundation’s programs, even though the activities include prayer and worship.

The UW has refused to fund the programs because officials believe sponsoring the group violates the separation of church and state, reported WISC-TV.

A Madison neighborhood association presented strategic plans Thursday to increase prices and taxes on alcoholic beverages.

Several major city intersections, some which are located in UW-Madisonâ??s campus, are now equipped with traffic lights featuring a vocal signaling system.

Representatives from UW-Madison and the city of Madison met with downtown residents to outline current and future plans to combat the cityâ??s alcohol problems at a Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. meeting Thursday night

Madison and UW-Madison officials took a wait-and-see approach Thursday to a report by a Downtown neighborhood association that — among other things — calls for a crackdown on underage drinking, higher drink prices and fewer bars to stop alcohol-related crime in the central city.