Category: Campus life

Administrators at the University of Wisconsin took a step yesterday to address campus safety under the direction of its new permanent dean of students.

Dear Editor: We, the Hmong parents of Hmong students at UW-Madison, want to send you, Professor Leonard Kaplan, a message:

….We want you to respect us, Hmong people and culture as well as our sons and daughters as we respect you. Of course, your remarks not only made Hmongs and Hmong students mad and confused, it also devalued us as Hmong people living in the community and our sons and daughters as Hmong students at the university.

As a matter of fact, we need a truly public apology from you to us (Hmong), to the university who is your employer, and to the community at large that this is a mistake from your part and you will never again use any racial slur or misleading information about any minority group to illustrate your lecture in the class.

With nearly two feet of sticky and wet snow expected to cake the University of Wisconsinâ??s streets and walkways, crews are working at fever pace to ensure safe conditions for todayâ??s classes.

Even with most of the campus buried under the heavy snow, Amy Fisher of UW Communications said students should plan on business as usual.

â??As of right now, the campus will be open and classes will be held â?? itâ??s extremely rare that we would close,â? Fisher said. â??Iâ??d be really surprised if [classes] were cancelled.â?

I was surprised and angered to read in the â??Alleged Rape at UW Fratâ? about how the University is handling the latest sexual assault allegations. University officials are attempting to pin the blame on alcohol, fraternities and the Greek System in general rather than the underlying problem. While alcohol lowers the need for force in sexual assaults, the larger societal issue is Wisconsinâ??s drinking culture that tolerates abuse.

University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Ken Davis issued a public apology Thursday after UW-Madison law professor Leonard Kaplan was accused of making racist comments against Hmong people in one of his classes Feb. 15.

Law student Kashia Moua circulated an e-mail to organize a meeting of Hmong law students and UW-Madison administrators Wednesday nightâ??the e-mail contained Kaplanâ??s alleged comments.

According to Moua’s e-mail, obtained by the Capital Times, Moua quoted Kaplan saying, â??Hmong men have no talent other than to kill,â? â??All second-generation Hmong end up in gangs and other criminal activity,â? and â??All men purchase their wives, so if he wants to have sex with his wife and she doesnâ??t consent, you and I call it rape, but the Hmong guy is thinking, â??Man, I paid too much for her!â??â?

The Recording Industry Association of America ranked UW-Madison 10 out of 25 colleges with the most illegal downloads for Fall 2006. (Christopher Guess/The Daily Cardinal)
Even though UW-Madison ranked high on the list of universities receiving the most number of music copyright complaints this year, campus administrators say they do not plan on cracking down on downloading.

UW-Madison ranked 10 on the Recording Industry Association of Americaâ??s list for the most amount of illegal downloads among college campuses, with 513 copyright complaints so far this school year.

UW-Madison Acting Associate Dean of Students Elton Crim told 27 News if violations of drinking rules during a December Zeta Psi fraternity party are deemed to be “egregious,” the fraternity’s social priveleges will be immediately suspended.

Crim said a decision on potential sanctions could be made within days.

In an exclusive 27 News interview, a woman said Madison police detectives have spent more than two months investigating her alleged sexual assault at the Dec. 9 party. The woman was 20 and a student at the time. She told 27 News she drank at the party, remembered little of what happened there, and underwent a hospital rape examination which determined she had injuries consistent with a sexual assault.

A UW law professor has angered Hmong students for making what some deem racist remarks.

But, one student in the class says those comments were taken out of context.

Law students in Professor Leonard Kaplan’s class say last Thursday they were discussing how laws are made and viewed by different groups.

That’s when students say Professor Kaplan went on a rant about the Hmong.

Most would think it absurd to step out into the snowy and frigid weather wearing sandals, but after enjoying the luxurious spa treatment of a pedicure during the winter months, that is exactly what women are forced to do.

University of Wisconsin officials highlighted their comprehensive student information database Wednesday, nine years after the system was first implemented.

College students at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse held an open forum Tuesday to discuss the cityâ??s proposal to institute a public intoxication ordinance.

For many University of Wisconsin students, bar time on a Saturday morning means time to stumble home after a long night of drinking and maybe devour some after-hours Ianâ??s Pizza or Taco Bell along the way.

The president of a University of Wisconsin fraternity Wednesday responded to allegations of a sexual assault at a party in his fraternityâ??s house last December.

At a time when most radio stations, including college stations, are locked into a narrow format, UW-Madison’s WSUM- FM (91.7) has found its niche by allowing individual students to find theirs.
“You’re not going to find another place like this,” said senior Michelle Koffel, former station manager of WSUM, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary on the air after years of court battles to erect a radio tower in the town of Montrose.

MADISON, Wis. — Authorities said that the desire to buy more crack and alcohol appears to be the motive behind a robbery and battery at a University of Wisconsin-Madison dorm earlier this month.

According to court documents, Brian Buhler allegedly told police he was coming down from a crack and alcohol high the night of Feb. 6 when he decided he needed to steal money to buy more.

Sudanese refugee August Mayai attended a Capitol press conference Wednesday announcing the bill. The UW-Madison student fled the country in 1989 at the age of seven. Mayai says he was recently able to finally get in touch with his brother, only to find his parents and many other family members had been killed since he fled the country. Mayai says the state needs to help send an economic message that the Sudanese government will understand.

The executive chairman of the UW-Madison’s Zeta Psi fraternity chapter told 27 News he did not believe a woman student at his fraternity could have been sexually assaulted during a December party of about 100 people at the fraternity house.

“There was no opportunity,” UW-Madison senior Ari Metzger told 27 News. “I think we do a really good job of monitoring our guests.”

Another case of campus sexual assault has arisen.

According to WKOW TV, an anonymous UW-Madison student said she was the victim of a sexual assault on Dec. 9, 2006.

Brian Buhler, 39, was formally charged in Dane County Circuit Court on 11 counts Tuesday afternoon after turning himself into the Dane County Jail, four of which were for the robbery of two Witte Hall students Feb. 6.

A coalition of student leaders held a press conference Tuesday evening at Memorial Union to voice its opposition to a proposed alcohol-consumption policy.

A proposed policy that would define and set new limits on alcohol consumption when it involves student organizations on the UW-Madison campus is going back to the drawing board.

A group of University of Wisconsin students officially pledged Tuesday night to fight a proposed university policy that would limit the consumption of alcohol by student organizations.

The man who allegedly attacked a University of Wisconsin student in Witte Hall Feb. 6 was charged on four counts by the Dane County Circuit Court Tuesday.

The Madison Police Department is investigating an alleged sexual assault at a University of Wisconsin fraternity party last semester.

The Madison Police Department is investigating an alleged sexual assault at a University of Wisconsin fraternity party last semester.

Partygoers who attended a December event at Zeta Psi, located at 132 Breese Terrace, are being investigated for the alleged sexual assault of a UW student who has since dropped out of school, according to Dean of Students Lori Berquam.

Even at age 19, University of Wisconsin-Madison students Ben Fiechtner and Troy Vosseller knew they had the entrepreneurial spirit. When an online student dating service and gasoline delivery failed to come to fruition, an apparel line donning the affectionate Wisconsin nickname “Sconnie” quickly developed into the business they’d dreamed of starting.

Sconnie Nation began in 2004 as a $600 investment yielding 100 T-shirts. When the shirts sold out in a week, Fiechtner and Vosseller knew they were on to something.

A 27 News report on a crowded fraternity party and the alleged sexual assault of a UW-Madison student there, has prompted a university investigation into the party sponsors and what occurred.

In an exclusive 27 News interview, the woman said the night at the party has thrown her life into turmoil.

For two months, Madison police detectives have been investigating what happened to this woman.

What is clear at this point is the woman, then 20 years old, was drinking at the December 9, 2006 party.

Students protested a proposed alcohol-consumption policy at a meeting Monday evening at Memorial Union, complete with pitchers of beer.

The current draft of the policy would restrict â??student groupsâ? from providing alcohol at certain group-related events.

A group of students met Monday evening to plan how to challenge the University of Wisconsin administration over a proposed policy limiting alcohol consumption at university events.

Following your bliss may be good advice, but if you want to follow Milton Bliss, you better be able to keep up.

In addition to working his Alderly farm, carving out time to volunteer in the community and being active in his church, Bliss drives to Madison three times a week to take classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Despite the old adage, ignorance is not bliss. In fact, in this case, Bliss is knowledge.

Nearly a year and a half after New Orleans and much of the South was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, clean-up efforts are still in high demand, and many organizations have targeted college students when recruiting volunteers for the cause.

Wisconsin residents planning to attend the University of Minnesota may soon pay higher tuition.

U of M Provosts Office Senior Analyst Peter Zetterberg said one of three actions could be taken to close the tuition reciprocity gap that currently has Wisconsin residents who attend the U of M paying approximately $1,200 less per year than Minnesota residents.