Star gazers still have a few more chances to admire the night sky from Wisconsin state parks this fall through the University of Wisconsin-Madisons Universe in the Park program.
Star gazers have a few more chances in Wis. parks
WISC-TV 3
Category: State news
All public high school juniors would take ACT in 2014-15 under Evers proposal
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin would pay for all public high school juniors to take the ACT college admissions test starting in two years as part of a $7 million budget initiative State Superintendent Tony Evers announced Wednesday. The proposal also includes administering three other tests offered by ACT to measure college and career readiness in high school.
Chemistry renovation could create more labs
Daily Cardinal
Future University of Wisconsin-Madison students may have an easier time registering for introductory chemistry courses and be able to conduct more experiments in new lab facilities if building project plans receive additional funding from the UW System. The UW System Board of Regents approved the 2013-15 Biennial Capital Budget in their August meeting, but it remains subject to further approval by Gov. Scott Walker and the state legislature.
On Campus: Most Wisconsin schools with McNair Scholars to keep funding despite national cuts
Wisconsin State Journal
It was a very mixed picture for state programs designed to help poor and minority students with college. In one program on the federal funding chopping block ? Ronald E. McNair Scholars program for undergraduates hoping to head to grad school ? the state did remarkably well. In another program ? Upward Bound for high schoolers hoping to head to college ? the state?s programs took a big hit. Of 13 state universities that currently had funding for the McNair Scholars program, 12 of them will keep their federal funding despite steep cuts to other programs nationally, it was announced recently.
Report conflicts UW?s brain drain perception
Badger Herald
With the release of a UW Alumni study, questions may have been put to rest about whether the state of Wisconsin can keep the graduates of its flagship university.
Report: Wisconsin’s cuts to K-12 school aid fourth-largest in nation
Capital Times
Add it all up, and it seems clear that K-12 education in Wisconsin ? like in most parts of the country ? has taken a financial hit in recent years. And as UW-Madison researcher Carolyn Kelley notes, these state-level cuts hit hardest the districts that need the most help.
GOP sees opportunity in ‘disillusioned young voters’
Wisconsin State Journal
?I think young voters are very hungry for new ideas and solutions to address long-term problems,? said Jeff Snow, chairman of the College Republicans at UW-Madison. ?Our main objective is asking students if their future is brighter than it was $5 trillion ago?? He?s referring the ballooning federal deficit, which along with bleak employment prospects for young people are the issues Republicans plan to stress in their outreach to young voters. College Republicans will be trumpeting those messages on campuses across the state starting this week, he said, joining a coordinated effort in Wisconsin that started with a prime-time appeal to young voters by Janesville Republican and vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan at last month?s Republican National Convention.
Report: Wisconsin colleges in financial trouble
The Oshkosh Northwestern
One-third of four-year colleges in the U.S. aren?t doing enough to tighten their belts in uncertain economic times, and 11 Wisconsin schools are spending more money than they?re bringing in, putting their survival at risk, a recent report found.
Can Tammy win? Baldwin would be 1st openly gay senator, but that won’t decide the race
Capital Times
UW-Madison professor Kathy Cramer-Walsh, who has extensively studied political opinions in Wisconsin in recent years, says homosexuality almost never came up in her many political discussions with rural Wisconsinites.
UW-Madison professor Charles Franklin, who conducts political polling and is doing so this year while serving as a visiting professor at Marquette Law School, says one should be skeptical that otherwise committed Democrats would vote differently because of one issue.
Wisconsin home to rising stars of GOP
Daily Cardinal
University of Wisconsin-Madison College Republicans Chair Jeff Snow credited the success of the three fresh-faced Wisconsinites to their willingness to risk their political careers to make bold moves…UW-Madison Political Science Professor Ken Mayer said while you cannot deny the national prominence of the three Wisconsin conservatives, it does not necessarily signal a shift in the electorate in the state. ?I don?t think the emergence of Ryan, Walker and Priebus signifies an enduring shift in the Republican direction,? Mayer said. ?That might happen, but I don?t think that this is a sign that that has happened or a cause that it has happened.?
Madison360: Race, rural identity shape Wisconsin politics
Capital Times
If, after all that?s happened, you still can?t understand the appeal of Gov. Scott Walker and his arch-conservative allies, you might consider the roles of race and rural identity in Wisconsin. They seem to be crucial drivers in the anti-government tidal wave that has washed over our political landscape. That is a central finding of a major paper by Katherine Cramer Walsh, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist who has been widely applauded for a research style that relies more on personal interaction and group observation than on polling.
Catching Up: UW-Madison plans to try a three-week ?winterim?
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison will offer a few three-week classes in January, experimenting with a small-scale ?winterim? term that could grow in future years, said Aaron Brower, vice provost for teaching and learning. The idea of offering classes during the typically dormant month on campus arose last school year as part of discussions about ?educational innovation,? a term interim Chancellor David Ward used to describe how the university can operate more efficiently and creatively in a time of diminishing state funds.
Regents approve new budget proposal for UW System
WKOW-TV 27
The University of Wisconsin System regents approved a budget proposal Thursday to ask the state for more money. The plan asks for an additional $21 million in funding.
On the agenda: More autonomy for campuses
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
As the University of Wisconsin begins to noodle out its budget for the next two years, it?s a good time to remind the state?s lawmakers – and the public – of some unfinished business that we hope is taken up in the next session of the Legislature: greater autonomy for the university.
Amid the firestorm in 2011 over a secretive plan to split off the Madison campus from the rest of the system, a very good idea was lost: giving all the campuses more control over their own affairs. More autonomy especially would benefit the Milwaukee campus, which educates more Wisconsin natives than any other and runs leaner than most other campuses in the nation.
UW System regents approve new budget proposal
AP
The University of Wisconsin System regents have approved a budget proposal that seeks an additional $21 million in state funding.
Official state bird is ‘super spreader’ of West Nile virus, researcher says
Capital Times
The official state bird of Wisconsin is being called the primary culprit in spreading a deadly virus across the Northeast and Midwest. The American robin is being called the West Nile “super spreader,” based on research conducted by a team headed by UW-Madison infectious disease expert Tony Goldberg. “Robins are in the sweet spot,” Goldberg said in a news release from UW-Madison. “They are abundant, mosquitoes like to feed on them and they happen to support virus infection better than other species.”
Editor to retire after 26 years at The Journal Times
Wisconsin State Journal
RACINE ? Steve Lovejoy, editor of The (Racine) Journal Times, announced plans Tuesday to retire from the newspaper at the end of September….In April, Lovejoy was honored with the first Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics by the University of Wisconsin?s Center for Journalism Ethics.
Van Hollen asks Supreme Court to take up photo ID law
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mentioned: A demographer who testified in the case for the state, Peter Morrison, argued virtually all eligible voters had a photo ID, but University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Kenneth Mayer estimated more than 301,000 do not have a driver?s license or state ID card. That?s 9.3% of registered voters.
State makes it easier to obtain license to teach in public schools
Wisconsin State Journal
The announcement raised some concern at the UW-Madison School of Education, Associate Dean for Teacher Education Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell said. “At the same time that they are ratcheting up requirements for students going through the traditional route, it looks like they?re reducing the cost and requirements for those going through alternative-route programs,” Hanley-Maxwell said.
Report paints mixed picture of UW-Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
When the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents meets later this week, it will for the first time be presented with a separate, Legislature-mandated performance report on UW-Madison in addition to the one regents typically see annually for the 13-campus university system. Both reports were released publicly late Monday. At first glance, they paint a picture of the flagship UW-Madison campus living up to its reputation, with students more likely to stay put from freshman to sophomore year, more likely to graduate in six years and more likely to say they?d recommend the school to others when they?re done.
UW System budget proposal seeks $21 million for initiatives
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin System will request a nearly $21 million investment in new initiatives over the 2013-?15 budget biennium, according to agenda materials for an upcoming Board of Regents meeting.
UW System seeks additional $21M in new budget
AP
The University of Wisconsin System will propose a budget asking for an additional $21 million in state funding, according to a preliminary request released Monday.
UW Extension celebrates 100 years of education
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen
The Dodge County Fair is 125 years old and the University of Wisconsin-Extension is 100 years old. So Thursday, the fair made room so a few of the hundreds of UW ?Extension services could set up displays.
Walker says budget cuts to UW will not be permanent
Wisconsin State Journal
A $66 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System?s budget will not be made permanent, Gov. Scott Walker said in a letter to state agencies. The university is one of a handful of agencies Walker wrote to Tuesday to declare them exempt from permanent cuts going into the next two-year budget cycle. The Associated Press obtained that letter Friday.
On Wisconsin: Questions abound after UW-Superior library flooded
Wisconsin State Journal
The Jim Dan Hill Library has reopened but is still recovering. And when the university?s 2,800 students return to classes in a few weeks, they?ll find the bulk of the book collection missing. Only a few Dewey decimal signs, another telling visitors this is a “quiet floor” and the tracks from the movable shelving give a hint that the basement space had been home to thousands of books. UW-Superior had 16 buildings damaged by the floods and the cost could hit $25 million, the majority of it covered by insurance. But the library and the university?s heating plant took the brunt of the damage, collecting 1.8 million gallons of water.
UW’s budget cut a break by Walker
MADISON ? A $66 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System?s budget will not be permanent, Gov. Scott Walker said in a letter to state agencies.
Riemer defeats 29-year incumbent Rep. Krusick
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Daniel Riemer, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who took a break from law school to campaign, defeated 29-year incumbent Democratic Rep. Peggy Krusick in the newly redrawn 7th Assembly District.
Experts say this allergy season one of the longest
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. – Hang on to your tissues. Experts in Wisconsin said this allergy season will be one of the longest. Dr. Mark Moss at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health said the allergy season began about two to three weeks early. The mild winter and unseasonably warm spring temperatures caused trees to bud and bloom and release pollen and mold much earlier.
13 Wis. incumbents survive legislative primaries
AP
Noted: Daniel Riemer, a 25-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison law student, defeated Krusick, capturing 67 percent of the vote. Like Barnes, he won the seat outright.
Drought creates danger of toxic fungi in surviving crops
Wisconsin State Journal
“It?s going to take a really unique year if we?re going to see it here, and we?re having that unique year,” said Joe Lauer, an agronomy professor at UW-Madison. Lauer said farmers also need to be on the lookout at harvest time for toxins from another genus of fungi called Fusarium. Those toxins can cause milking cows to become less productive and can induce farm animal miscarriages if ingested in high enough concentrations.
A single provision should not upend state wolf hunt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Several acknowledged wolf experts in Wisconsin, including retired DNR managers Dick Thiel and Randy Jurewicz as well as University of Wisconsin researcher Adrian Treves, filed statements with the state warning against the use of dogs to hunt wolves.
GOP Senate candidates to gather for last debate
Wisconsin State Journal
The four Republicans vying for a shot at Wisconsin?s open U.S. Senate seat are scheduled to attend one more debate before Tuesday?s primary election. Tommy Thompson, Eric Hovde, Mark Neumann and Jeff Fitzgerald are set to appear on the UW-Madison campus Friday evening for an hour-long debate sponsored by Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.
Campus Connection: Some students will need to plan ahead in order to vote
Capital Times
Are you a UW-Madison student and wondering what steps, exactly, you?ll need to take to be able to vote in the primary election on Tuesday? Check out this letter from Lori Berquam, the university?s dean of students.
UW-Madison students hold candlelight vigil
WKOW-TV 27
A number of University of Wisconsin-Madison students joined together Wednesday to remember those affected by the Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek. Organizers said the candlelight vigil was a way for them to spread awareness about the tragedy that occurred at the temple Sunday. Among the students was Harmanjot Singh. The UW-Madison junior is from Burlington, Wisconsin but grew up going to the Sikh temple in Oak Creek. He was home with his family when he found out about what happened.
Lawsuit seeks to stop wolf hunting season
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Several acknowledged wolf experts in Wisconsin, including retired DNR managers Dick Thiel and Randy Jurewicz as well as University of Wisconsin researcher Adrian Treves, filed statements warning against the use of dogs to hunt wolves.
Congressional debate stays civil as candidates avoid attacks
Wisconsin State Journal
The sparks of an increasingly bitter campaign were pushed to the background Tuesday as state Reps. Mark Pocan and Kelda Helen Roys used the last actual debate of their primary season to focus on shared values over arguments about records and experience.
Capitol Report: Idea for state-managed pension fund for private workers could be headed to voters
Capital Times
Heres a question Dane County voters could see on the November ballot: “Shall the state Legislature design and enact a state-managed pension system for private-sector workers in Wisconsin, similar to the Wisconsin Retirement System for public-sector workers, which will provide private workers financial security in retirement?”
Campus Connection: Can you guess Wisconsin?s lone great college to work for?
Capital Times
Only one school in all of Wisconsin made The Chronicle of Higher Education?s annual list of ?Great Colleges to Work For.? Can you guess which one? According to this article accompanying the survey, ?open channels of communication, along with concrete ways of appreciating employees and helping them balance work and home, are hallmarks of great academic workplaces. At colleges, such policies have become more important as a slow national economy delays or shrinks raises ? ?
Executive Q&A: Michael Williamson is investing in Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal
Michael Williamson holds the keys to $80 billion, money that more than half a million people are counting on to pay their bills when they retire. Williamson is the new executive director of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), the agency that manages the Wisconsin Retirement System?s two trust funds.
Know Your Madisonian: Kathy Borkowski helps make history accessible
Wisconsin State Journal
Kathy Borkowski landed in Madison as so many do, to attend graduate school at UW-Madison. She was a bit of a late bloomer ? 35 at the time ? owing to family tragedy. Her parents died when she was a teenager, leaving her to raise three younger siblings in South Bend, Ind. She didn?t begin her undergraduate coursework until age 30. The delayed start has not held her back. She went on to earn two master?s degrees, one in history, the other in library sciences. In 2004, she became director of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, the state?s oldest book publisher.
National Guard troops get crash course in ag
The Country Today
MADISON ? Captain Craig Giese of the Wisconsin Army National Guard grew up in an agricultural family ? his parents were both raised on Shawano County dairy farms ? but when he was assigned as the officer in charge of a 12-member Agribusiness Development Team that will deploy to Afghanistan early next year, he knew he needed some more agricultural knowledge.
Child poverty increases in Wisconsin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Julia B. Isaacs, an expert on poverty and child and family policy and a visiting scholar at University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Institute for Research on Poverty.
UW-Madison receives $7M grant for manure conversion projects
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison has received a $7 million federal grant that will help a large dairy farm near Green Bay convert cow manure into ethanol, fertilizer and mulch.”The idea is to use virtually everything,” said John Markley, a biochemistry professor and a principal investigator for the project, which is a joint effort between the university, Madison-based biotech company Soil Net and Maple Leaf dairy farm near Green Bay.
$6.6M in grants to 30 state groups geared to boost healthy living
Wisconsin State Journal
The Transform Wisconsin Coalition will distribute grants to 30 organizations for projects advocates say will encourage active lifestyles, healthy eating habits and smoke-free places to live. Their goal: Avoid higher health costs down the road from obesity and smoking. Tom Sieger, prevention director for University Health Services at UW-Madison, which oversees Transform Wisconsin, said the “return on investment” in funding preventive health initiatives is high. According to Sieger, $3 of every $4 spent on health care in Wisconsin goes toward treating chronic health problems, many of which are preventable. “We can realize tremendous health care savings in this state,” he said.
Chris Rickert: Kohl’s gets deal; retirees get … job?
Wisconsin State Journal
A recent UW-Madison study projects 766,326 of the 808,914 additional people living in Wisconsin in 2040 will be over 65 ? a demographic shift that almost certainly will require more taxpayer-funded medical, housing and income help for this group whose working days largely will be over. So clearly, giving a multibillion-dollar company up to $62.5 million in tax credits over 12 years is the prudent thing to do.
The Precarious Profession of University President
Chronicle of Higher Education
Noted: The case of Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin at the University of Wisconsin at Madison demonstrates the limits imposed on the discretionary actions of senior university leaders. Last year, then-Chancellor Martin, with the apparent prompting of the governor, proposed to expand the university?s autonomy by breaking away from some restrictions imposed by the UW system. The key proposal would permit UW-Madison greater tuition autonomy, given its special status as a flagship research university.
Wisconsin frac sand sites double
Capital Times
The number of Wisconsin frac sand mining operations has more than doubled in the past year, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found, and the state leads the nation in production….A year ago, the Center identified 41 facilities operating or proposed in the state. This summer 87 are operating or under construction, with another 20 facilities in the proposal stage.
Madison prepares for ‘inevitable’ emerald ash borer invasion
Wisconsin State Journal
Phil Pellitteri, a UW-Extension insect specialist, said he has been surprised at how quickly the ash borer has seemed to spread just this summer. In recent weeks, it has shown up for the first time in the city of Janesville as well as in Milwaukee. “It?s just kind of popped,” said Pellitteri of the insect?s recent spread. “That?s what it has felt like . . . So would it surprise me if it comes here this year? No, it would not.”
Big boost in state population seen, especially older residents, study says
Wisconsin State Journal
The number of Wisconsin residents older than 65 will double within 30 years, suggesting a host of challenges that future employers, leaders and taxpayers will face, a new state study shows. Released Thursday by the state Department of Administration, the report by UW-Madison?s Applied Population Laboratory predicts the state?s overall population will grow by about 800,000 people by 2040, bringing the total to about 6.5 million.
Big challenges for graying state
Wisconsin State Journal
….Wow. We?re graying fast. And that means longer lives, something we all hope for. In fact, Wisconsin enjoys higher life expectancies than the nation as a whole, a trend that?s expected to continue. But our rapidly aging population also will mean fewer workers per retiree to pay the state?s bills for everything from schools to health care to government services for the elderly and poor. And that makes keeping, educating and attracting young, talented, highly productive people more important than ever for Wisconsin. Our state and region need to encourage entrepreneurs, innovation and technology that lead to more high-paying jobs.
Chris Rickert: Will lowered test scores bring about broader change in Madison schools?
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin has a “long way to go in all our racial/ethnic groups,” said Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison. My hope is that, given Wisconsin?s overwhelmingly white population, proficiency problems among white students will spur more people to push for policies inside and outside of school that help children ? all children ? learn.
Economic development study group to provide update Thursday
Wisconsin State Journal
Business, labor, community and academic leaders will get a briefing Thursday in Madison about a study in progress that will look at how well prepared Wisconsin is to meet the needs of businesses for skilled employees in coming years….The briefing will be hosted by Madison Area Technical College, UW-Madison, UW Colleges, UW-Extension and Competitive Wisconsin.
Second judge rejects state voter ID law
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mentions that University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Kenneth Mayer estimated more than 301,000 do not have a driver?s license or state ID card. That?s 9.3% of registered voters.
Poll finds statewide support for strong Milwaukee
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Charles Franklin, a political-science professor who directs the Marquette polls, said the depth of support around the state for Milwaukee?s economy took him by surprise.
UW Hospital named top hospital in the state
WISC-TV 3
Madison has the state of Wisconsin?s top hospital, according to a new study released by US News and World Report.
In its first ranking of hospitals by state, the magazine named UW Hospital and Clinics as the state?s top hospital, and among the nation?s top hospitals in seven specialties.
With wolf hunt vote set for Tuesday, UW expert rips proposal
Wisconsin State Journal
With the Natural Resources Board scheduled to vote on the final version of a fall wolf hunt Tuesday, a UW-Madison expert on wolf management says the agency?s plan to allow hunting with dogs is unsafe and that the 201-wolf quota set for the proposed hunt is too high. Adrian Treves, a UW-Madison expert on predators and prey, said in a letter to the board that “wolves and hounds will die in savage ways modern society abhors,” if the DNR allows hunters to use dogs to hunt wolves.
Less than half of the state’s students measure proficient under new national standards
Wisconsin State Journal
Nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin students who took the state reading test last fall scored below proficient, and less than half were proficient in math, according to recalibrated results released Tuesday by the Department of Public Instruction. In previous reporting of the same results, about 80 percent of students scored proficient on the reading and math tests. The difference is a change in the yardstick used to measure “proficiency” ? what students in a certain grade level should know and be able to do ? rather than a change in how students performed on the tests.
Still, the new results should be a “smack in the face” for Wisconsin, said Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison. “It?s going to be a wake-up call,” Gamoran said. “It?s a more honest reckoning of where Wisconsin students stand relative to other students across the nation and relative to the goals we want for all of our students.”
UW-Green Bay segregated fees are among the highest in University of Wisconsin System
Appleton Post-Crescent
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay students aren?t just spending money on tuition and books when they return to class in the fall.
Three property tax payments a year leads to fewer tax bill deadbeats, UW study shows
Wisconsin State Journal
A new study from researchers at UW-Madison?s La Follette School of Public Affairs shows three payments are better than the usual two to get annual property tax bills paid on time.
Madison Politiscope: Conflicting Senate polls leave an unsolved mystery
Capital Times
The poll, conducted by UW-Madison professor Charles Franklin for Marquette University Law School, stands in stark contrast to a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based firm that frequently works with Democratic candidates, as well as a recent poll conducted for the campaign of Democratic candidate Tammy Baldwin, who will take on the GOP nominee in the general election. PPP showed Hovde ahead of Thompson by two points, 31 percent to 29 percent, whereas the Marquette poll has Thompson leading Hovde 35 to 23 percent. Franklin says he is puzzled by the gap between the two polls.