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Category: Community

Fundraiser for scholarship in memory of Sun Prairie couple

WKOW TV

Noted: Friends and family held an event Sunday at Mid Town Pub in Middleton to raise money for a memorial scholarship set up in their name through the UW Foundation.

Kotila says she hopes to raise at least $25,000, to support two freshmen every year in memory of the Dorresteijns.

UW football night game keeps UWPD busy

NBC15

Those with UWPD say it’s no secret, a late start adds extra hours of drinking and usually means more work for officers.

“Night games bring a unique challenge to us,” UWPD, public information officer, Marc Lovicott, said.

A challenge those UWPD say they’re ready for.

“It could lead to and we’re expecting to lead to a few more fan issues inside the stadium,” Lovicott added.

Free online UW-Madison course to focus on forests and humans

Wisconsin State Journal

The free course, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 28, is open to the public and entitled “Forests and Humans: From the Midwest to Madagascar.” The course will focus on an exploration of forest ecosystems from the Midwest to Ecuador and Madagascar. Participants will learn about the ecology, geography and economic significance of the world’s forests, and how humans interact with these environments on a daily basis, according to a description from the university.

Grant to UW, city offers new opportunities for research

Daily Cardinal

UW-Madison and the City of Madison will join more than 20 other city-university partnerships as beneficiaries of a $1 million grant to launch a program coordinating efforts of research and funding between academic institutions and their communities.

The White House announced the MetroLab Network, funded by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in a statement Monday along with other “Smart Cities” initiatives.

Ground broken on Union Corners development

WKOW TV

One of the last, large, vacant lots in Madison is now the site of the city’s newest development.
Union Corners, between East Washington Avenue and Winnebago Street at Milwaukee Street, will be home to a UW Health clinic, among other things.

Local businesses excited about groundbreaking at Union Corners

Channel3000.com

“This transformation is going to be quite a difference for this area in particular,” Dr. Peter Newcomer with UW Health said.

Newcomer was one of many to help break ground on the Union Corners Clinic, a facility at the center of the new multi-use development on Winnebago Street. The new clinic will replace the East Towne Clinic, offering services in urgent care, primary care and OBGYN.

Climate change affects lakes, walleye in complex ways

Scientists are still trying to figure out how a changing climate affects walleye and other species of fish. Most don’t expect the walleye to be a winner. As global climate change continues delivering warmer temperatures and heavier rains to Minnesota, lakes and their inhabitants will feel it. “One of the places you expect climate change to make a big difference is in changing the mix of species that do best in a lake,” said John Magnuson, director emeritus of the Center for Limnology — the study of inland waters — at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

School Spotlight: Imagination is the limit for printable programming students

Madison.com

Sun Prairie High School sophomore Harish Prabaharan proudly lined up three small plastic replicas of the Taj Mahal — each one aimed to achieve the perfect representation of the famous mausoleum — that he made through a printable programming course. The course was designed by Krishnan Suresh, a mechanical engineering professor at UW-Madison, as a fun and tangible way to teach visual thinking, creative problem solving, programming and 3-D printing to students. The objective is to model real-world objects like airplanes, architectural models, teddy bears, Lego parts and musical instruments. Ultimately, students can print their models using a 3-D printer.

Writer calls for long-term thinking about water quality

Madison Magazine

Progress on cleaning up lakes Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa and Kegonsa has been slow, despite fifty years of settled science on what’s causing the problem and significant effort invested in trying to improve water quality. Freshwater ecologist Stephen Carpenter, director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Limnology, has long wondered why.

Arboretum night walks

The UW-Madison Arboretum offers 17 night walks a year, including one on each month close to the full moon, walks near the summer solstice and other changes of season, and one on New Year’s Eve, outreach and education manager Molly Fifield Murray said. On average, about 40 people attend each walk — accompanied by two naturalists funded by Friends of the Arboretum — though weather is a factor in attendance. The walks are free.

Science On Tap Explores Pollinators Disappearance

WXPR-FM, Rhinelander

Pollinators will be the focus of the next “Science On Tap” presentation at Minocqua Brewing Company. The first Wednesday of most months the public gathers to hear the latest from UW researchers who also listen to questions from the public about specific topics.

Suspected drunken driver runs from police, asks officer for ride home

NBC 15

A Dodgeville man is facing several charges after he allegedly ran away from an officer when he was getting handcuffed following a traffic stop early Saturday morning, according to a release from the UW-Madison Police Department.

The incident happened around 2:05 a.m. at the intersection of South Park Street and Chandler Street.

UW official draws fire over remarks critical of prosecuting shoplifters

Capital Times

Everett Mitchell, director of community relations at UW–Madison, made comments critical of prosecuting shoplifters at “big box” stores. Mitchell, a pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church and a former prosecutor with the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, made the comments on Aug. 18 during a discussion on best policing practices at Vilas Hall, which also featured former Madison Police Chief David Couper and Young Gifted and Black organizer M Adams.

‘Little Free Library’ inspires neighborhoods to read

Springfield News-Leader

At first glance, it often looks like a giant birdhouse on a post in someone’s yard.But upon closer examination, you will notice it’s a miniature library and it’s stocked with books. Children’s books, self-help books, novels, historical features — a variety of reads for a variety of ages.

Boys & Girls Club awards $100,000 scholarship

WKOW TV

The Dane County Boys and Girls Club awarded a $100,000 scholarship to a Madison high school student. West High school senior Cristhabel Martinez was one of three finalists. Cristhabel wants to go to UW-Madison to study social work and eventually become a lawyer.

UW’s Everett Mitchell recognized as a ‘Difference Maker’ for community work

Madison.com

Everett Mitchell, director of community relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on Tuesday received the Difference Maker Award of the Madison chapter of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute. Mitchell – an attorney, pastor and community leader – brings varied experiences to his work of bridging the gap between the university and the community.

Out Run Asthma 5k held to support special camp in Madison

WKOW TV

Despite Saturday’s heat and humidity, hundreds of people exercised outside to help kids with asthma in the Madison area.

The Allergy, Asthma, and Pulmonary Research Unit at UW-Madison put on a run-walk on Saturday to raise money for a one-day camp for elementary school students with asthma.

King Drive project would fulfill Welford Sanders’ legacy

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Sanders grew up in Chicago before attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his bachelors degree in history and economics in 1971 and a masters degree in urban and regional planning in 1973. Sanders worked at the Chicago-based American Planning Association and as a consultant before the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning hired him as an instructor in 1993.

Raising funds to honor Mama Goose

WKOW TV

The 7th Annual Mama Goose Memorial 5k Run/Walk to benefit the UW Carbone Cancer Center will take place on August 15th, 2015 at Veterans Park in Verona.

The event was started six years ago to honor Margaret “Peggy” Giesfeldt who was known as Mama Goose.

Two men arrested after crime spree on Langdon Street

Channel3000.com

Two Madison men were arrested Friday morning in connection to a string of downtown burglaries overnight, police said. Anthony Williams and Taris Henderson, both 18, threatened residents on Langdon Street with a knife before creating a disturbance inside a University Avenue store, which led to their arrests, according to a police report.

Intergenerational housing community takes bloom in Madison

Madison Commons (on Channel3000.com)

Quoted: Krause believes connections between the generations, particularly old and young, make everyone’s life richer. Barbara Bowers, professor and assistant dean of research at the UW-Madison School of Nursing, said that sentiment is supported by research.

“In general, there is pretty good evidence that interacting with–not just young people–but across generations is beneficial for [everyone],” she said.

Head of South Madison Farmers’ Market looks to train formerly incarcerated men to farm

Capital Times

Robert Pierce, director of the South Madison Farmers’ Market, in partnership with Anthony Cooper, director of reentry services for the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development, Growing Power, Inc. Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, will provide an underemployed group of men with the skills to create a business feeding an under served population.

Paul Soglin proposes time limit on benches, sidewalks Downtown

Madison.com

At a press conference Thursday, Soglin said the proposal is needed because the city’s posture of compassion with no rules toward the homeless and drifters leads to behavior problems including violence, drunkenness, drug use and trading sex for drugs. The problems are interfering with the use of public space and straining emergency and other resources, Soglin said.

UW Health offers free sports physicals for uninsured high school students

Madison.com

Of the approximate 85,000 students in Wisconsin involved in high school athletics, it’s estimated that two to five percent don’t have health insurance to pay for the sports physicals required by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. To help those athletes out, the Dane County Sports Medicine Council is partnering with the UW Health Sports Medicine and UW School of Medicine and Public Health to offer free sports physicals from 6-9pm on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

3D scanning technology at UW is helping with crime scene investigations

NBC15

Technology originally designed to study homes and heath with UW-Madison’s School of Nursing is now being used at crime scenes. Researchers at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery are hoping 3D scanning will make some of the most complicated crime investigations more efficient. Quoted: Kevin Ponto, assistant professor of design studies; Ross Tredinnick, systems programmer at the Living Environments Laboratory.

UW-Madison student, a Peace Corps alum, inspires his parents to suit up, too

Madison.com

After Jeff Shaver survived a devastating fall in 2010, he and his wife reevaluated their lives. They felt he’d been given a second chance, and they wanted to make the most of it by contributing something meaningful to the world. Their son Lee, 30,a UW-Madison graduate student in electrical engineering, had an idea. Years earlier, as a new college graduate seeking a purpose, he had joined the Peace Corps at his parents’ urging. He suggested they do the same.

UW-Madison Marching Band surprises cancer patient after last chemo treatment

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When Ann Trachtenberg joked that she wanted to be escorted out of her last chemotherapy treatment by a marching band, little did she know her niece would contact the University of Wisconsin Badger Marching Band to make it happen.

And it’s already gone viral within a day of the UW Carbone Cancer Center in Madison sharing it, with over 190,000 views and 4,000-plus shares on Facebook alone.

July birthday-month for Morrill Act

Agri-View

July in the United States is about barbecues. July is also the month for an important birthday in America — passage of the Morrill Act, on July 2, 1862. The act established the land-grant college system, which would eventually include the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois, Purdue University, Iowa State University, University of Minnesota and many more.

UW-Madison opens science labs to rural Wisconsin students

Wisconsin State Journal

Stem cell research at UW-Madison typically aims to create skin and organs; this summer, its goal is to create scientists.

Twenty small-town Wisconsin high school students and teachers, alongside UW-Madison students and researchers, donned lab coats and blue plastic gloves at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery to experiment with cryopreservation and live human stem cells.

Final state budget brings modest changes for Madison, Dane County

Wisconsin State Journal

Noted: The county is most concerned about indirect impacts of a $250 million cut to UW-Madison and level K-12 funding, said Josh Wescott, chief of staff to county executive Joe Parisi. Over time, a lack of investment in education, job training and other areas creates “a risk to stunting the growth we’ve seen here locally,” he said.

UW program seeks to expose rural students to science careers

Channel3000.com

When University of Wisconsin researchers study stem cells, they typically seek to create skin and organs. This summer, they seek to create scientists.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that 22 small-town high school students and teachers joined UW-Madison students and researchers in donning lab coats and blue plastic gloves to experiment with live human stem cells. The four-day experience was part of a program that encourages science careers and aims to give small-town students chances they wouldn’t ordinarily get.

UW med students offer free care to children at new monthly clinic

WKOW TV

A group of students at UW School of Medicine and Public Health are taking some time out of the classroom to help kids in the greater Madison area. Their seventh student-run pro clinic offers pediatric care. UW students from the medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy and physician assistant programs man the clinic, as well as social workers from the CFF and UW medical faculty.

Downtown well monitored for radium

Channel3000.com

Madison Water Utility is monitoring a well in the area of the University of Wisconsin campus for radium. The utility said Thursday that recent testing on a well on North Randall Avenue showed radium levels exceeding the federal standards.

Radium level exceeded federal limits in city well near UW campus

Wisconsin State Journal

Madison Water Utility officials say they will keep a close eye on a water well near the UW-Madison campus after recent tests showed radium levels higher than federal limits.

Well 27 on North Randall Avenue tested at 6.2 picocuries of radium per liter, exceeding the federal maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 picocuries per liter, officials said Thursday.