Chancellor Biddy Martin outlined her vision for the New Badger Partnership and addressed student concerns Monday night during a forum hosted by the Associated Students of Madison.
Following up on his promise to cut wasteful spending, Gov. Scott Walker issued an executive order Friday requiring Cabinet secretaries to meet with state workers to identify instances of fraud, waste and abuse.
Plans to build a biomass boiler on the University of Wisconsin campus were nixed Thursday, leaving proponents of the plan dismayed at the loss of a potential new energy industry in the state.
Putting out cigarettes in Wisconsin bars and restaurants did not have a detrimental effect on the hospitality industry, according to a study released Monday. The study, conducted by the Carbone Cancer Center at UW-Madison, looked at five Wisconsin cities, including Madison, where smoking bans went into effect before the statewide ban took hold last summer.
Results showed bars and restaurants in the smoke-free cities continued to do well under no-smoking ordinances, and the number of class B alcohol licenses increased after the ordinances took effect.
Among the priorities for the year: Create more jobs. Cheerleading is fine. Controlling taxes is great. But our new governor also needs to get solidly behind Wisconsin?s growing technology sector while working closely with UW.
A team of UW-Madison researchers landed a grant worth nearly $4.7 million to teach students in rural parts of Wisconsin how renewable biofuels such as wood or switchgrass can be used to produce energy and thereby reduce the country?s dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil.
“Merging science education with the realm of energy is very important for our students and for our future,” says UW-Madison biochemistry professor Rick Amasino, one of the principal investigators who helped secure the funding along with UW-Madison?s Hedi Baxter Lauffer, the director of the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program, and John Greenler, the education outreach program director with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.
Ironically, just two days after this grant was announced, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration killed plans to spend $100 million on a boiler that would burn plant-based fuels at UW-Madison’s Charter Street power plant.
Saul Richman?s prospects were not good. In November 2009, after what he thought was the flu turned out to be leukemia, he underwent a week of 24-hour chemo. When that didn?t work, more chemo sent the cancer into remission, but with an 80% chance that it would return. Richman needed a bone-marrow transplant and, even then, his prospects were grim.
The Walker administration has canceled plans to build a biomass power plant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The power plant, a priority of former Gov. Jim Doyle, will burn natural gas instead.
A plan to spend $100 million on a boiler that would burn plant-based fuels at UW-Madison?s Charter Street power plant was axed Thursday by Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch. The DOA is overseeing the rebuild of the plant. Work will continue on outfitting the plant with new natural gas boilers. According to a 2008 university study, converting the plant to burn biofuel was the most expensive of the options considered and would be about twice as expensive as using other coal-burning technologies or natural gas.
Gov. Scott Walker scrapped plans Thursday to convert a power plant to run on natural fuels such as wood chips and paper pellets, a move that could save up to $100 million but drew stern criticism from at least one environmental group. The decision affects the Charter Street Heating Plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Its coal-fired burners will be retired next year and were to be replaced with two boilers that run on natural gas and a third that would burn biomass, state officials said.
2010 was a good year for Wisconsin agriculture, according to half a dozen UW-Madison agricultural experts speaking to about 150 agriculture folks at the 2011 Ag Outlook Forum.
The occasion was the 25th year of the issuance of ?The State of Wisconsin Agriculture? report compiled by the UW-Madison Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics with the assistance of specialists from a variety of farming enterprise areas.
UW System Board of Regents President Charles Pruitt and UW-River Falls Chancellor Dean Van Galen outlined plans for the future of the UW System and how to help the state see an increase in the number of college graduates and more jobs.
Gov. Scott Walker scrapped plans Thursday to convert a power plant to run on natural fuels such as wood chips and paper pellets, a move that could save up to $100 million but drew stern criticism from at least one environmental group.
As expected, Gov. Scott Walker?s administration kills a plan to use biofuels at a UW power plant.
The state has ended plans to convert a Madison power plant to run on biomass fuels such as wood chips.
As Wisconsin?s projected budget deficit approaches $3 billion, the UW System is preparing for significant cuts in coming years.
Around this time last semester, the University of Wisconsin administration introduced the idea for the New Badger Partnership, an equivocal vision of the university?s future, to the campus.
Mike Crane was recently named director of Wisconsin Public Radio after having served as interim director and operations director. He worked in public radio and television in Vermont, New York and Florida before moving to Wisconsin three years ago.
Wisconsin?s private colleges and universities are reporting strong enrollment figures, despite the sluggish economy. And many are seeing record numbers of first-year undergrads.
….A sober but determined focus on improving, strengthening and assuring the relevance of our educational system, from kindergarten through university or technical college, is crucial. If that means streamlining while strengthening and improving, then so be it.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is inviting Manitowoc County residents to participate in a survey designed to identify the transportation habits and needs of older residents. The National Center for Freight & Infrastructure Research & Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is conducting the survey.
Many offices are closed Monday, in recognition of the holiday named for the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There?s one part of the holiday that many will fail to focus on, according to William Jones. He?s a history professor at UW-Madison who studies issues of race, class and work. Jones told WUWM?s Ann-Elise Henzl that King?s mission and the holiday itself are tied to labor, and the struggle for better wages and work conditions.
Steffi Greiner and Petra Amann know nothing about Monday?s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration ? they arrived last week as Austrian exchange students at UW-Madison and watched from a third-floor balcony. “We know about his famous speech,” Greiner said of King, “and we want to learn more.”
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, an economist with the UW-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs.
The Legislature?s new Republican leaders will emphasize giving school districts, parents and students more choices as they seek reforms in K-12 education Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) has hired education policy consultant Sarah Archibald, a UW-Madison professor and researcher at the conservative-leaning Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. Archibald has written about attracting high-quality teachers by offering bonuses to top math and science students who decide to teach, making it easier for teachers trained outside Wisconsin to obtain certification here and increasing the grade-point requirement for aspiring teachers above the current 2.5.
Four Republican lawmakers are hoping to keep hundreds of academic staff on six UW System campuses from being absorbed into unions.
Rep. Steve Nass (R-Town of La Grange), Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) announced Thursday they plan to introduce legislation that would stop the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission from deciding whether UW System staff members can be put into a collective bargaining unit against their will.
University of Wisconsin System academic staff are now enlisting the help of state legislators in an effort to prevent getting folded into existing labor unions. Four Republican lawmakers said they will introduce legislation to stop the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) from assigning nearly 500 UW System staff members into unions, according to a news release from academic staff.
Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine has a good read this month from UW-Madison real estate expert Stephen Malpezzi on the state?s 2011 economic outlook, with a focus on housing markets.
The economic recovery is gracing businesses in northeastern Wisconsin more quickly than those in other parts of the state, including the Madison area, according to a survey sponsored by First Business Bank.
With two unionized colleges in the UW System and four more looking to do the same, there are concerns about what the presence of unions means for shared governance at UW campuses.
A good showing for the stock market in 2010 has helped boost the state?s retirement accounts for public employees. But it?s too soon to tell if the increase will be enough to avert another reduction in the pensions of some retirees, officials said Tuesday.
….The defense of public employees ? so essential to a functional society, and yet so frequently abused by the powerful players who would diminish the role of government in order to enhance their own wealth and authority ? is as vital a struggle today as it was in 1968.
As Gov. Scott Walker and his legislative allies target public employees for abuse, it is as necessary for the right-minded and right-hearted people of Wisconsin to defend those workers as it was for the right-minded and right-hearted people of Memphis.
Quoted: UW-Madison economist Andy Reschovsky.
Dear Editor: When you talk to people about politics there is one refrain that comes up over and over again: ?Those on the left and the right are the problem, we should get rid of those extremists.? This simple-minded reductionism leaves the impression that both groups are a negative force and are essentially the same. People who make these remarks view themselves as pragmatic and able to compromise.
(Author quotes UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden.)
A successful strategy must build on strengths. We need economic and regulatory policies tailored to our diverse regions. A successful strategy must address our deficit in technology-intensive industries and college-educated workers. We will only catch up economically if we can employ more of those college graduates we already produce. Because the competition is stiff, we must focus on developing that sector where it has the best chance of success – in close proximity to major research institutions and population centers.
That’s according to a column by Michael Knetter, president and CEO of the UW Foundation and former dean of the Wisconsin School of Business.
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Kenneth Mayer.
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of applied economics at UW-Madison.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial examining Gov. Scott Walker’s first steps toward job creation mentions that lawmakers also should ensure that the University of Wisconsin System remains adequately funded and is given the operational flexibility it needs.
Some experts believe there might be more organizations in the state that could use their investment muscle in a similar way.
“The SWIB announcement may start a new Wisconsin trend toward increased venture investing among public endowments, such as the UW Foundation and WARF the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation,” said Tom Hefty, former top executive of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wisconsin and a longtime advocate of strategies for luring more venture capital to the state.
….”What happens to folks who have worked 25 or 30 years, dedicated their life to the Department of Commerce?” said Marty Beil, executive director of AFSCME. “What do you say to them? Adios, thanks for the job? No.” Unions that represent workers in the Commerce Department said they may challenge the move. Both AFSCME and AFT-Wisconsin have members who work in Commerce.
“I think we?ve got both contractual and some legal standing in this issue, and we may very well fight this legally,” said Beil. “We?re going to do what has to happen to protect our workers.” Beil cited the University of Wisconsin Hospital and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority as places the unions worked with government to create public-private partnerships where employees are still with the state.
Dear Editor: I believe, since the wages paid to the employees of the State of Wisconsin Employees Pension Plan are funded by the taxpayer, anyone who is employed in Wisconsin and has money being placed into a pension fund, or if a person desires to self-fund an account, should be allowed to invest in the state pension plan. It would be safer from mismanagement, business failure, embezzlement, etc.
With all the talk about slashing government spending, you?d think the Department of Corrections would be part of the conversation. But Gov. Scott Walker has had little to say about the department, which at $2.5 billion was the third largest expenditure in the 2009-11 budget.
Quoted: Walter Dickey, UW-Madison law professor and former secretary of the Department of Corrections
The University of Wisconsin System?s Board of Regents and the Office of State Employment Relations filed a motion in Dane County Circuit Court last month asking that the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission be ordered to stop moving forward with plans to hold unit clarification hearings for academic staff working on six UW System campuses.
….”The vast majority of academic staff at UW-Madison support and are pleased to see this court filing by UW System and OSER,” says Heather Daniels, a program specialist in UW-Madison’s Graduate School who is chair of the Academic Staff Executive Committee.
Indeed, virtually all academic staff on the UW-Madison campus have long been against being absorbed into unions without getting a vote on the matter.
President Barack Obama has again nominated former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler for a federal judgeship. Butler now teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Former Sen. Russ Feingold will join the Marquette University Law School faculty as visiting professor of law beginning the spring semester 2011, according to a Marquette press release sent out Wednesday. According to the release, Feingold will teach an elective course, Current Legal Issues: The U.S. Senate.
Two days into the regime change that has ushered in the most right-wing state government of our lifetimes, a question begs to be answered: How should minority Democrats try to mitigate the potential damage to ideals that progressives and moderates hold dear?
….(Senator Fred) Risser says many constituents who work for the state or the University of Wisconsin-Madison are deeply discouraged.
?There is a lot of apprehension and a reduction in morale,? he says. ?State employees have been made a whipping boy by the incoming governor. They are not to blame for this recession.?
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden
The leader of Wisconsin?s state employees says labor is not ?rolling over? for Governor Scott Walker. AFSCME Council 24 Executive Director Marty Beil says labor in Wisconsin will be watching Governor Scott Walker closely, particularly when it comes to his goal of producing 250,000 new jobs
The first day of the 100th session of the Wisconsin State Legislature was more about ceremony than anything else; the most significant measure that passed in the Senate was the legislative calendar.
Wisconsin Republicans promised the next two years would be all about jobs, jobs and more jobs. But they kicked off their first day in complete control of state government Monday by circulating bills on voter registration, all-terrain vehicles, stem cells and self-defense.
Vowing to tackle the state?s economic woes, Republican Scott Walker was sworn in as Wisconsin?s 45th governor at an inauguration ceremony in the state Capitol Rotunda on Monday.
Gov. Scott Walker has released more details about what he wants Wisconsin lawmakers to do in a special session he?s calling that will officially begin on Tuesday.
Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are ready for a special session on jobs and the economy ? and beyond. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald says ?the silent majority? spoke at the polls November Second, and now it?s time for the legislature to deliver.
Aggressive. Powerful. Goal-oriented. Cut from Tommy Thompson?s mold. That?s how people are describing the governing style of Republican Scott Walker, who hasn?t exactly sat around waiting to be sworn in as the state?s 45th governor.
On the contrary, he instructed the current Democratic administration to halt negotiations on state union contracts and traveled to Washington to tell the Obama administration he wasn?t interested in federal stimulus money for high-speed rail previously secured by Gov. Jim Doyle. While the move cost the state thousands of potential jobs, it was an early political win with his base.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison professor of political science
Dear Editor: Gov.-elect Scott Walker?s proposal to change the way state agency rules are approved has an appealing ring, as expressed in a recent opinion piece by Journal Sentinel writer Patrick McIlheran.
In essence Walker is calling for a procedure that abandons the current ?passive approval? by the Legislature to the individual approval by the governor of each new or modified agency rule. Such a move would place enormous power in the hands of the governor while stifling the ability of agencies to develop processes by which they operate and ultimately serve the Wisconsin public.
Quoted: Richelle Winkler at the University of Wisconsin?s Applied Population Laboratory.
Governor-elect Scott Walker took time during halftime of the Rose Bowl to thank troops serving overseas.
Three state public defender offices and four University of Wisconsin System campuses will shut down Thursday for a furlough day.
Economists and commodity specialists from UW-Madison and UW-River Falls will review the financial condition of the state?s farm sector at the fourth annual Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum on Jan. 19 at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
The state?s bleak budget outlook brightened a bit Monday, as state officials projected that Wisconsin will take in $57 million more in taxes this year than previously expected and $235?million more over the following two years.
