Category: Campus life

UW-Madison freshman Ben Emmrich skipped two classes this morning — including one exam — just so he could hear Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s message. Well, sor of. It helped that actress Natalie Portman, best known as Queen Amidala in the “Star Wars” series, was on campus to deliver the message for Kerry. (10/4/04 Capital Times print edition)

Madison police have finalized a plan for defending State Street from Halloween rioting – while preserving it as a revenue-builder for businesses – that includes using horse patrols and high-powered spotlights.

If the leaders of tomorrow are bred in the universities of today, the future looks very bright, indeed. UW-Madison is at the forefront of this bright future, enrolling talented and qualified students to fill university ranks.

High atop Van Hise Hall, with a picturesque view of Lake Mendota in the background, recently-appointed UW System president Kevin Reilly met with members of student media from around the state Friday in an effort to maintain open lines of communication.

Students gathered in the Witte Hall backyard yesterday to raise medical funds for the family of UW-Madison freshman Jason Gratzl who fell Aug. 28 from a second-floor Mifflin Street balcony and is currently in a coma.

Kevin P. Reilly, the University of Wisconsin System president, jokingly said his new position is ââ?¬Å?a little like drinking out of a fire hoseââ?¬Â during a Friday teleconference with student journalists from around the UW System.

Another University of Wisconsin student was the victim of criminal activity this weekend, adding to the list of recent robberies and assaults downtown.

Students united in the Witte Residence Hall backyard Sunday to help raise more than $1,400 for the medical expenses of University of Wisconsin freshman Jason Gratzl, who was seriously injured when he fell from a Mifflin Street balcony in August.

MADISON, Wis. — The family of a University of Wisconsin student who suffered severe brain damage when he fell from a balcony in August says he is making progress.

Recently released statistics show this year�s freshman class as the most competitive and diverse the University of Wisconsin has ever seen.

With 30 days to go until Halloween, the city of Madison is doing all it can to keep the newly redesigned 100 block of State Street free from Halloween vandalism.

I am writing in response to your staff opinion on the Halloween riots (“Dressing up the problem,” Staff Opinion, Sept. 29).

University of Wisconsin students may feel like they have seen it all on campus, from Halloween hysteria to Mifflin Street madness, so students fighting naked in the streets may not come as a surprise.

Because of the recent boom in popularity of individually-owned housing in the downtown Madison area, many new condominium complexes being built, such as the new Capitol West development, may also cause a boom in the rise of vacancies in rented apartments in the downtown area as well as on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Officer Scott Kleinfeldt thought he was heading to a fight, but it turned out to be an innocent little LSD-fueled romp by two immodest men. The men, both 19-year-old UW-Madison students, were arrested without pants Monday….” (9/30/04 Capital Times Police Report print edition)

Though most parents send their kids to college to prepare for the real world, for many students, the University of Wisconsin represents the chance to take a long vacation before entering reality.

Officials involved in reconfiguring and redesigning portions of the University of Wisconsin campus are set to field questions and suggestions from students and Madisonians on what they believe belongs in UW�s physical future.

Camp Randall provided some memorable moments for University of Wisconsin students last Saturday as the UW football team beat Penn State 16-3, but one badger missed out on part of the fun.

Madison has dealt with recent sexual assaults, physical attacks and robberies, but for the second time this month, hate crime has struck the city.

Last Halloween, like the one before it, there was a riot.

When bars let out, lots of drunken, rowdy, costumed people fled to the streets. They proceeded to cause a whole lot of damage. The Den had merchandise stolen. The University Inn found its rooms littered with glass. Tomboy Girl had to move off of State Street. Lots of bad things happened, many caused by people out of state – people with little vested interest in the happiness of Madison businesses.

Students with hopes of securing the seats at UW-Madison hockey and football games were given a rude awakening Tuesday morning. UW-Madison police officers gave out citations to 24 students who had violated university regulations regarding camping.

Despite changes and the influx of new faces each year at colleges nationwide, some traditions never fade.

Many Madisonians are familiar with two traditions native to the University of Wisconsin: the upcoming State Street Halloween celebration and the Mifflin Street block party.

Five years from now, a UW-Madison freshman who has never known the splendor of Ogg Hall could stand at the site of the demolished dorm and see Lake Mendota. His gaze will fall down a pedestrian corridor, a tree-lined and brick-paved promenade, perhaps filled with students milling around public art or rushing from two new residence halls on the southern end of campus.

Incoming freshmen in the year 2009 will walk onto an entirely different University of Wisconsin campus. The future remodeling of the East Campus Mall was the topic of Monday night�s Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee, trying to link up Lake Mendota to Regent Street with a pedestrian thoroughfare.

The 2004 Halloween Planning Group adopted a proposal Monday to have costume contests and chicken dances as part of this year�s Halloween festivities on State Street.

More than 400 students, faculty and community members attended the fifth annual Plan 2008 forum Monday at the Memorial Union. The meeting put focus on diversity throughout the University of Wisconsin system.

The nights are getting colder and longer, but many students are finding more time to spend outside. Ticket turmoil is in full swing for men�s basketball, football and hockey tickets as the lines grow outside of the Kohl Center box office

Wisconsin: Madison — City leaders hope to raise fines for disorderly conduct and alcohol-related crimes before this year’s Halloween celebrations. Crowds on State Street rioted for a second year last Halloween, and more than 300 were cited for underage drinking. The plan would hike the fine for illegally selling alcohol to $660. (USA Today, 9/27/04)

For some college student, it’s drinking as usual at this year’s Oktoberfest.

Just six months ago, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Jared Dion became the seventh young man to drown in area waters in as many years.

Alcohol played a part in all seven deaths.

Three teams of dairy cattle judges from the University of Wisconsin-Madison competed at last week’s Midwest Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Viroqua, held by Accelerated Genetics.

Lawyers for the UW-Madison are advising faculty members and other employees to put away their political buttons while at work

Rising levels of obesity among young people in Wisconsin may have their roots in common college behavior. If left unchecked, a “typical” college diet of daily gorging on frozen pizzas and binge drinking lays the groundwork for obesity later in life, according to Scott Spear, University Health Services director of clinical services.

One quarter of the women in Wisconsin colleges this fall will be raped or the victim of attempted rape, according to a release from the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Inc.

The University of Wisconsin freshman that fell from a Mifflin Street balcony the weekend before classes began was upgraded to ââ?¬Å?fairââ?¬Â condition, according to UW Hospital source Trudy Brule.

Two men were charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime and bail jumping on the night of Friday, Sept. 24 in the campus area.

Although the University of Wisconsin Police Department did not staff more officers at Saturday night�s victory against Pennsylvania State University, many students said they experienced a heightened police presence during the first and only night game of the season.

Two young Madison men were charged with misdemeanor hate crimes after allegedly making threatening comments and showing what looked like a human skull to passersby on UW-Madison’s campus.

MADISON, Wis. — Problem partygoers better bring extra cash if they come to Madison for Halloween.

When Alison Curtis arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August, she wasn’t sure how well she’d fit in. A Republican, the 18-year-old said she was warned by classmates at Brookfield East High School about the campus’ liberal reputation. Her friends shouldn’t worry. Curtis isn’t changing her political beliefs any time soon.

University Hospital has upgraded the condition of a University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman who fell from a West Mifflin St. balcony. Hospital officials said 18-year-old Jason Gratzl remains in serious condition after being listed for a month in critical condition. (Police Report, Capital Times print edition)

More bad news as Madison gets ready for Halloween 2004.

AÃ? second article has been published surrounding the infamous State Street Halloween bash. In the new October issue of Maxim magazine, the annual event is calledÃ? ââ?¬Å?just plain mad.ââ?¬Â The article describes the State Street scene of 2002, and advises attendees to dress as a riot cop to fit in.

A downtown business owner says the collective anxiety level along State Street about the annual Halloween bash just went up.

Eat, sleep, party … yes, that is all part of life in university housing, but academics are creeping out of classrooms into campus housing around the country, including UW-Madison.

There is no excuse to be late when the classroom is right in your residence hall, an arrangement for a third of all freshman composition classes at UW-Madison. Of course, students rolling out of bed into morning classes may not be at their peak.