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Category: Campus life

Businesses around Camp Randall feel impact from beer sales inside stadium

Wisconsin State Journal

The athletic department had more than $3 million in alcohol purchases from seven home games last season, the first with sales open to everyone of legal age instead of only those in suites and clubs.

The impact of expanded alcohol sales on businesses around the stadium who also sell beer wasn’t as pronounced as owners and managers feared a year ago. But the Dillises are among those feeling changes on game days.

Galin Scholars expands free college prep program in Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

The Galin Scholars program is welcoming its third cohort of high school students this fall, continuing its expansion of free college prep in the greater Madison area.

The Madison-based nonprofit now supports 15 students from seven high schools. The first five students graduated from high school this summer and will begin college at Northwestern University, Lake Forest College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall.

911 services restored in Middleton, at UW-Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

Police departments in Middleton and at UW-Madison restored their 911 services Monday afternoon after outages earlier in the day.

Around 3:30 p.m., UW-Madison issued an all-clear for the 911 system, which earlier in the day had problems taking calls from landlines. Middleton police Capt. Tyler Loether also confirmed to the Wisconsin State Journal Monday afternoon that the city had restored its 911 system too.

UW system would fund project to recover MIA soldiers under GOP bill

Wisconsin State Journal

Legislative Republicans nixed a plan to fund a UW-Madison program that recovers the remains of missing service members, but a new proposal would require the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents to pay for it.

A team of students and experts in the Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project at UW-Madison sifts through archives and conducts field excavations in an effort to return the remains of veterans who went missing in combat to their families.

How Dane County, UW-Madison have prepared for potential measles outbreak

Wisconsin State Journal

Jake Baggott, UW-Madison associate vice chancellor and executive director of University Health Services, said in a statement that UW-Madison as a campus has been actively preparing over the last year for a potential measles case.

University Health Services led and coordinated a walkthrough exercise with campus, local and state public health officials to simulate their preparedness during a measles outbreak, Baggott said

UW-Madison organization repurposes old dorm, apartment furniture for students in need

WMTV - Channel 15

An organization at UW-Madison is giving gently used college furniture a second life.

“Badger Reclaim” was founded by two UW-Madison students, Amelia Wozniak and Kaleb Roessler.

They started Badger Reclaim during their sophomore year after they noticed the amount of college dorm and apartment items that get thrown on the streets of Madison during student move out.

Why a UW-Madison ‘treasure trove’ of health data could go away

The Cap Times

Fifteen years ago, the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison launched the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. The resource provides a “treasure trove” of public data and offers a snapshot on the health of nearly every county in the nation, said Sheri Johnson, the institute’s director.

While more than 700,000 people use the resource each year, Johnson said, County Health Rankings and Roadmaps will soon lose its primary funder. The New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is set to end its support after 2026.

UW-Madison hosting men’s swimming and diving for 2025-26 Olympic sports championships

Channel 3000

UW-Madison will be hosting swimming and diving squads this winter for the 2025-26 Olympic sports championships and tournaments.

The Big Ten Conference announced the dates and host sites Wednesday. The fall season is kicking off on Oct. 31 at Michigan State, with the Spartans hosting cross country championships from Nov. 6-9.

Tom Still: A new college at UW-Madison focused on AI? Now may be the time

Wisconsin State Journal

What’s so special about being a college versus a school or even a department, which is how computing programs at UW-Madison were structured up until six years ago? It’s not about bragging rights or status, but being able to build business relationships, raise money and more quickly carry out a mission that’s in step with the times.

UW exhibit asks ‘What If Everything Turns Out OK?’

WORT FM

The world is a terrible mess right now.  Climate change, government upheaval, warfare have many of us on edge and filled with anxiety about the future. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Nancy M. Bruce Center for Design and Material Culture asked its Design and Innovation graduate students to contemplate the question, “what if everything turns out OK?”

Discovery of grenade at UW-Madison Arboretum deemed safe

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The discovery of a training grenade closed the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum for a couple hours as authorities investigated.

The incident took place Aug. 4 at about 9:30 a.m. when a university police officer on routine patrol in the arboretum was flagged down by a passerby who reported they saw a grenade sitting on a railing on the boardwalk near Mills Street entrance, according to a news release from UWPD.

Middle-earth comes to UW-Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

In a sunlight-dappled room in UW-Madison’s Science Hall, between historical maps from around the planet, rests a world unlike the others: the fantasy land of Middle-earth.

Curated by Mark Fonstad, the exhibit showcases the hand-drawn maps, writing tools and stories behind the atlas depicting the “Lord of the Rings” realm his mother Karen Wynn Fonstad created.

New UW-Madison lab creates ‘Green Book’ for city’s Black residents

The Cap Times

Launched this spring, The SoulFolk Collective is the first research lab to be housed in UW-Madison’s Department of African American Studies. The group is made up of about a dozen undergraduate and graduate students and is led by Jessica Lee Stovall.

“As a Black studies professor,” Stovall said, “I’ve been really interested in the ways that we can create learning and research environments that are Black affirming, that center Black joy and Black liberation, Black organizing.”

New Wisconsin undergrads will pay in-state tuition at Iowa university

Wisconsin State Journal

Incoming Wisconsin students will pay in-state tuition at a public Iowa university starting this fall.

The University of Northern Iowa is offering in-state tuition to new first-year and transfer undergraduate students from its neighboring states, including Wisconsin, in the next academic year in an effort to attract students from throughout the Midwest.

Dane Co. Regional Airport announces new, returning nonstop flights to select UW football games

Channel 3000

Heads up, Badgers fans! The Dane County Regional Airport has announced the return of nonstop flights to select University of Wisconsin-Madison football games.

These flights, as provided by Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines, offer UW football fans to travel to the University of Alabama and University of Oregon.

UW Athletics coy about hosting more concerts at Camp Randall

The Cap Times

Given how well this summer’s concerts at Camp Randall Stadium were received, music fans might not have to wait another 28 years to attend another.

“The overall success of these shows demonstrates that we are capable operationally of hosting more shows and there is definitely an appetite and demand for more in the future,” said Mitchell Pinta, deputy athletic director and chief revenue officer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s athletics department.

Budget agreement includes funding for virtual mental health services on smaller UW campuses

The Daily Cardinal

The 2025-27 Capitol Budget passed at the beginning of July includes $7 million for virtual mental health services to University of Wisconsin students at all campuses apart from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The inclusion of the funding follows a bill introduced by Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, and Senate Republicans on June 2 to address mental health issues among UW System students.

Instructional software UW-Madison uses now has AI tools. Here’s what to know

Wisconsin State Journal

A software program UW-Madison faculty and students use on a daily basis has added artificial intelligence tools to assist with grading and summarizing discussion posts.

But the university says some of the tools could run afoul of guidance it provides instructors against using AI to automate student feedback.

Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium in Madison ranks among the top 25 college-football venues by USA TODAY

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Don’t leave your seat at the end of the third quarter,” they wrote. “That’s when Wisconsin fans ‘Jump Around’ to the 1992 House of Pain classic of the same name, often causing Camp Randall to shake and vibrate. The tradition started in 1998, took a very brief, highly controversial hiatus in 2003 and became a rallying cry during the Badgers’ development into a Big Ten powerhouse under former coaches Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema.”

UW-Madison, Madison College see growing need for student food pantries

The Cap Times

As college students locally and nationally struggle to feed themselves due to rising costs and other challenges, schools have tried to find ways to address the growing needs. UW-Madison and Madison College recently expanded their pantries and offerings, and UW-Madison hired a full-time employee just to concentrate on students’ basic needs.

Wisconsin science camps for kids with autism face uncertain future after federal funding cuts

Channel 3000

Michael Notaro, director of UW–Madison’s Center for Climatic Research launched STEM camps in Beloit, Wisconsin Dells and at Madison’s Henry Vilas Zoo with a simple mission: make science accessible to all children with neurodivergences – but the camps are at risk.

“The main goals of the camps is to support the kind of interest and pursuit of science, degrees and careers, to foster and support neurodiversity and to celebrate it,” Notaro said.

Henry Vilas Zoo host STEM camp for neurodivergent kids

WKOW - Channel 27

The camp is organized in collaboration with Dr. Michael Notaro, director of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With prior funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Notaro and his team have led similar camps in Beloit, Madison, and Wisconsin Dells.

However, future programming is uncertain. Federal support for the camps ended earlier this year when NSF grants were discontinued. While funding remains in place for this summer’s sessions, organizers are seeking alternative sources to continue beyond 2025.

Madison STEM camp for neurodivergent kids could see final year after funding loss

WMTV - Channel 15

Dr. Michael Notaro, director of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, launched the program several years ago.

“I think that’s inspired by my son Hayden,” Notaro said. “He’s autistic and a wonderful boy. My wife is also autistic. And based on my desire to support and foster neurodiversity, we created three STEM camps.”

UWPD investigates aggravated assault at Memorial Union Terrace

The Daily Cardinal

University of Wisconsin students were notified via email Thursday morning of an aggravated assault that occurred on Wednesday at about 8:45 p.m. at the Memorial Union Terrace.

The UW-Madison Police Department was notified of a disturbance involving seven to 10 juveniles at the Terrace. An investigation found that the juveniles consisted of two groups and the incident was sparked by an altercation between them on State Street earlier that day, according to UWPD’s incident report.

Police intervention during Terrace altercation prompts internal review

The Daily Cardinal

A University of Wisconsin-Madison PhD student said Thursday, UWPD officers heightened a conflict between two groups of juveniles through the use of physical force Wednesday evening at the Memorial Union Terrace.

UWPD is investigating the incident, which stemmed from an earlier altercation between the two groups on State Street. One group arrived at the Terrace prior to the second group, upon which the conflict escalated, according to an email sent to the campus community. One suspect used pepper spray on members of the other groups, and at least one individual punched another group member.

Fear led former Wisconsin runners to wait to speak out about former coach, athletes say

Wisconsin State Journal

The team’s strong performance “stemmed a lot from us being fearful of her and if we had done bad, and also the culture that was created at practice, which honestly was a pretty high-anxiety culture,” Badgers runner Victoria Heiligenthal said. “I think it motivated people but obviously from a bad place of motivation.”

Former Badgers athletes say 2 coaches created a toxic culture, and Wisconsin knew about it

Wisconsin State Journal

On the same day in January 2022 that Mackenzie Wartenberger told her runners that she was resigning for family reasons, the University of Wisconsin sang the praises of the women’s cross country coach in a tweet.

Some members of that team said they couldn’t believe their coach was being celebrated. Five women who ran for Wartenberger told the Wisconsin State Journal in interviews that they experienced mental abuse and a toxic culture on her team. One former runner, Brogan MacDougall, and her mother reported the abuse to athletics officials and the academic side of the university.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin gives shoutout to woman he met on the street in Downtown Madison

Wisconsin State Journal

Two Madison Area Technical College students had just left the Kollege Klub bar near the UW-Madison campus early Saturday when one of them thought she recognized Coldplay’s lead singer.

Coldplay’s sold-out Madison show at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday had about 58,000 attendees, according to a UW-Madison official. It was the latest stop in the band’s Music of the Spheres world tour, which began in 2022 and spans 225 nights in 80 cities across 43 countries.

Only two people arrested, and no others caught red-handed, at Coldplay concert in Madison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

All in all, Coldplay at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison July 19 went off without a hitch — and without a viral moment.

There were only two arrests and no other ejections at the concert, according to Marc Lovicott, the executive director of communication for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

U slaps students with $200 fee to help athletics budget as U starts paying athletes

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Luis Hernandez, strategic communications director and associate athletic director for the University of Wisconsin in Madison, said the school has come up with other ways to fund its $198.9 million athletics budget, including new corporate sponsorships, such as adding the Culver’s logo to the Kohl’s Center basketball court.

They’ve also scheduled events like concerts and the chance to play indoor golf at Camp Randall Stadium. The upcoming Morgan Wallen and Coldplay concerts at the stadium are the first to be held there in nearly 28 years, Hernandez said.

UW students don’t pay athletic fees, and the university plans on spending the full $20.5 million on athletes that is allowed, he said.

Class of 2025: five PhD students reveal realigned priorities in wake of COVID and cuts

Nature

“Things are a mess, and it feels like a lot of unnecessary changes have been made to hinder science,” said David Rivera-Kohr who will defend his biochemistry PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison later this year. “It takes a toll mentally, but it also makes my principal investigator and lab group more conservative about our spending. We don’t know how long the money is going to last or whether new funding will come in, so we’re trying to cut costs.”

Wisconsin State Journal

The sold-out Coldplay show coming Saturday to Camp Randall Stadium, like the two shows by country music superstar Morgan Wallen at the stadium three weeks earlier, is a game-changer for the city, said the president of Downtown Madison Inc.