Graduates of Wisconsin?s two law schools still won?t have to take the bar exam to practice in the Badger state. Wisconsin Supreme Court justices on Monday decided to keep Wisconsin?s so-called diploma privilege intact. Critics argue the practice is discriminatory but supporters say University of Wisconsin and Marquette University law grads are prepared well to practice here.
Graduates of Wisconsin?s two law schools still won?t have to take the bar exam to practice in the Badger state. Wisconsin Supreme Court justices on Monday decided to keep Wisconsin?s so-called diploma privilege in tact.
Every two years, the state of Wisconsin comes out with its 10-year predictions on job growth. The report is designed to guide young people into new careers, let business owners know what employment trends are coming and help educators adjust their training programs. But the timing of the just-released “2008 to 2018 Jobs Outlook” could not have been worse.
Quoted: Kari Dickinson of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS)
Despite a heartfelt request to extend Wisconsin?s diploma privilege to graduates of out-of-state law schools, the Supreme Court appears poised to deny a petition filed by more than 70 attorneys.
The nation?s political spotlight was shining on Wisconsin this week. Don?t believe us? Just ask the approximately 26,500 people (including 17,200 packed into Library Mall plus the overflow crowd) who gathered to hear President Barack Obama fire up Madtown. The president chose UW-Madison for the first of a series of rallies aimed at re-inspiring his supporters and getting them out to vote for Democrats in the Nov. 2 election.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor.
The world?s rivers, crucial sources of fresh water and important habitats for plants and animals, are in crisis and more threatened than ever by pollutants and development, according to an ambitious study led by a UW-Madison zoologist. Peter B. McIntyre, a senior author of the new study, said it is shocking to see how many problems remain despite so many years of effort. McIntyre, a professor of zoology at UW-Madison?s Center for Limnology, said rivers in this country would be much worse were it not for the Clean Water Act, passed in the 1970s.
Ryan J. Foley, an Associated Press reporter in Madison, Wis., has been named Iowa City correspondent. The announcement was made Thursday by Carol Ann Riha, Iowa Chief of Bureau. Foley, 29, has been a beat reporter in Madison since 2005, covering the University of Wisconsin and the state legislature.
A new television ad in the governor?s race by Democrat Tom Barrett gives the impression that Republican Scott Walker wants to ban all stem cell research in Wisconsin, even though he only opposes research involving embryos. In the new Barrett ad that began airing across the state Thursday, the mother of a child with juvenile diabetes speaks directly to the camera and says, “Scott Walker says he would ban stem cell research in Wisconsin. That?s right, ban it.” Embryonic stem cell research was pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998, leading to the creation of a number of university subsidiaries and local private companies.
U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson said he opposes federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells, both on moral grounds and because eliminating the funding would help balance the federal budget. Johnson, a Republican, told The Associated Press this week he supports research on stem cells, but only those derived from adult cells and umbilical-cord blood. Wisconsin would be more affected by the loss of federal funding than other states. A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor was the first to isolate the cells in 1998, and his work helped turn the city and surrounding communities into a center for stem-cell research. Timothy Kamp, the director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center at UW-Madison, said Wisconsin jobs could very possibly move elsewhere if federal funding came into question.
As of Thursday, any remnant that some 17,000 people had crammed into Library Mall Tuesday night waving “Badgers for Obama” signs, eating paper-wrapped brats and screaming wildly, was nearly gone. All that is left is settling the bill. The Democratic National Committee, which organized President Barack Obama?s rally, agreed to pay UW-Madison $10,500 for renting the space. That included 11 police officers, electricians, mechanics and groundskeepers, a green room and six VIP parking passes. But the university is still tallying any additional, reimbursable costs.
Almost 50 years ago, the young director of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Leslie Fishel, and three other leading Madisonians asked the United Givers Fund — the predecessor to the United Way of Dane County — to fund a study of discrimination in Madison and the needs of the city?s growing African-American population. The request was initially rejected on the grounds that ?discrimination as it exists in other communities does not exist in Madison.?
Fishel, already one of the nation?s pre-eminent historians of Northern segregation and discrimination, begged to differ.
(Fishel died of complications from colon cancer at his Seattle home on Sept. 8. He was 88.)
While many Wisconsin industries lost jobs during a five year period, the vast field of bioscience added them according a new report from the group Bioforward. Wisconsin bioscience jobs grew three percent in 2004-to-2009 while the state overall lost three percent of its jobs that same period according to lead researcher Sammis White.
Enrollment at two-year campuses in the University of Wisconsin System is at an all-time high this year, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth.
That old political saying goes something like this: If you?re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you?re not a conservative at 40, you have no brain. No wonder then that President Barack Obama chose Madison ? a town rife with 20-somethings ? to kick off a series of rallies aimed at getting an increasingly down-hearted Democratic base to the polls this November.
Teachers and staff at La Follette High School used words like ?surreal? to describe the detour the presidential motorcade made Tuesday en route to a late-afternoon rally on the UW-Madison campus.
Obama addressed concerns, and more, during his two-day, four-state tour that ended Wednesday in Richmond. In the middle, he drew raucous cheers at a college rally in Wisconsin. “I know times are tough,” he told thousands of students at the University of Wisconsin on Tuesday. In 2008, he said, “the feeling was, well, this is just exciting. You got those nice ?Hope? posters.”
Wisconsin?s bioscience industry provides jobs for 24,000 employees whose paychecks are nearly two-thirds higher than the average Wisconsin worker, a study released Wednesday shows. And the industry, which ranges from drug development to medical instrument manufacturing, is a growing field.
While employment statewide dropped 3 percent between 2004 and 2009, the number of bioscience jobs increased 3 percent during the same period, according to the report, compiled by the UW-Milwaukee Center for Workforce Development.
Embattled Democratic candidates in Wisconsin joined President Barack Obama at a rally Tuesday, urging the 17,000 college students in attendance to get energized to ensure Republicans don?t have an enthusiasm gap in the midterm election. “We can?t sit this one out,” Obama told the crowd packed onto an outdoor mall in the middle of the University of Wisconsin?s campus. Another 9,000 people showed up but couldn?t fit into the mall, according to university police.
The usual sight of students meandering leisurely in flip-flops and shorts mixed Tuesday with those of heavily armed police, barricaded streets and snipers atop the campus library, adding an intensity to the toasty fall day as UW-Madison welcomed its first sitting U.S. President in 60 years.
Obama got laughs from the crowd on Library Mall as he reminisced about his early days in Chicago, when he used to visit friends going to school in Madison. “I had some fun times in Madison,” he said. “I can?t give you all the details, but I have good memories here.”
If you did not feel great urgency about the Wisconsin economy three years ago, the impact of the Great Recession has probably changed your mind. It has changed ours. That is why we both agreed to serve on the steering committee consisting of representatives from business, government and education that commissioned the Wisconsin Competitiveness Study. We strongly support the recommendations of the completed study, entitled ?Be Bold Wisconsin? — especially the two recommendations that would radically alter the economic development infrastructure in the state.
(Wisconsin School of Business Dean Mike Knetter and Marquette University School of Business Dean Linda Salchenberger)
Welcome to the State Journal?s live blog of President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall. Follow along as our reporters and photographers provide dispatches from the scene, or submit your own observations or questions.
Clearly frustrated by Republicans? energy _ and his own party?s lack of enthusiasm _ President Barack Obama scolded fellow Democrats even as he rallied them Tuesday in an effort to save the party from big GOP gains in the crucial midterm elections. At an outdoor rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the president urged thousands of students to stay as inspired and involved in this election as they were two years ago.
President Barack Obama served as the closing act Tuesday for a rock-n-roll, fire-up-the-troops extravaganza on the UW-Madison campus ? a giant rally meant to recapture the excitement of the campaign trail and bridge the so-called “enthusiasm gap” among younger, Democratic voters. Obama took the stage at Library Mall to a raucous crowd, following a performance by musician Ben Harper and a series of speeches by the state?s major Democratic candidates. From the outset, the president made it clear why he was in Madison, and on campus, at this moment.
Quoted: Pamela Herd, an Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the UW Madison.
Barbara Thompson, long-time Wisconsin educator and the first woman to serve as state superintendent of public instruction, died Thursday at a retirement residence in Bradenton, Fla.
Thompson served two four-year terms in the state?s top education office from 1973-81. During her tenure she introduced rules requiring teachers to complete a professional development program every five years to renew their licenses, essentially eliminating lifetime teaching licenses.
President Barack Obama plans a University of Wisconsin rally complete with rock bands to ask young voters who helped propel him to the White House to re-engage and save fellow Democrats from political disaster this November. Crammed into an outdoor mall at the Madison campus, Tuesday?s visit carries a decidedly different political atmosphere than the one that surrounded the then-candidate in 2008, when a boisterous overflow crowd of more than 17,000 people greeted Obama at a basketball arena. His popularity has since dipped amid the nationwide recession, and many Democrats face tough challenges in the Nov. 2 midterm election. During a Monday conference call with college journalists, Obama acknowledged excitement has waned in the last two years. But he said he hoped the Madison rally would re-emphasize the importance of the midterm to advancing his agenda.
Signs and posters are among the rather lengthy list of items not allowed at President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall Tuesday, which is sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. This bothered local marijuana activist and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Ben Masel, who said it infringes on his right to speak freely in a public space.
Library Mall buzzed with activity Monday in preparation for President Barack Obama?s visit Tuesday, a rally intended to excite Democrats for the November election. On an autumn day bright with sunshine, workers put up risers, lights and a sound system at the site of the UW-Madison rally, wedged between Memorial Library, the Wisconsin Historical Society and State Street. Many UW-Madison students cited the historic opportunity to see a sitting president, even if they aren?t his biggest fan.
Rock band the National along with singer-songwriter Ben Harper are serving as opening acts to President Barack Obama?s political rally on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Tuesday. Thousands of students and others are expected to converge on campus for the outdoor rally, the first of four such events Obama has planned before the election.
With five weeks left to Election Day, President Barack Obama is trying to rekindle some of his 2008 campaign magic on college campuses while also devoting more time to a relatively new format of backyard visits that give him time to explain his policies in cozy, unhurried settings. The two-step strategy, which will play out in four states Tuesday and Wednesday, confronts Democrats? two biggest needs: to pump enthusiasm into young supporters who may stay at home this fall, and to persuade undecided voters that Republican alternatives are unacceptable. On Tuesday night, Obama will headline a rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he hopes to replicate the raucous, youthful, big-stage events for which he became famous in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Gov. Jim Doyle will not be around next week to welcome President Barack Obama to Wisconsin.Doyle?s office Friday announced the governor would be away on an “industry and trade” trip to China from Friday through Oct. 1. The president will be in Madison on Sept. 28, holding a rally on the UW-Madison campus.
A Democratic president, facing waning popularity, heads into the heart of the country to seek support. He chooses to speak at the state university in Madison ? to be welcomed by thousands of young, eager faces in a bastion of liberal support.The scenario applies to President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall on Tuesday, but it also describes the last time a sitting president came to the UW-Madison campus ? 60 years ago. Harry S. Truman was on a 6,400-mile whistle-stop tour through 16 states when he spoke at the Field House on May 14, 1950, in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 people. It was also a midterm election year. Quoted: Jeremi Suri, history professor at UW-Madison.
With President Barack Obama?s visit to UW-Madison just a couple of days away, Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker visited campus on Sunday and told students he?s ready to fight for their votes.
“I?m not conceding any votes anywhere in the state of Wisconsin,” he told the crowd of about 40 students gathered inside a small room at the Memorial Union.
Just steps from Memorial Union and State Street, Library Mall is an idyllic backdrop for President Barack Obama?s campus rally on Tuesday. But it could also pose logistical and security challenges.With some campus streets already closed due to construction, including Observatory Drive, and more closed for the event, expect gridlock in the UW-Madison area on Tuesday. The program is scheduled to begin at rush hour, 4:45 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
Democrat Tom Barrett went on the offensive against Republican Scott Walker in the first governor?s race debate Friday, saying his tax cut plans would bury the state in debt and force deep cuts to public safety, education and property tax relief. Barrett is scheduled to appear with Obama at the rally on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Citing a statewide poll he conducted, University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ken Goldstein said only 2% of residents think the state government is doing an excellent job. In contrast, 25% rate the government?s performance as poor.
Gov. Jim Doyle said two national organizations would give $12 million in financial grants to help students throughout Wisconsin pay for higher education Thursday.
Budget requests coming in from just three state agencies would increase Wisconsin?s projected deficit by almost a billion dollars. The Department of Health Services, the University of Wisconsin and the Department of Corrections are collectively asking for an additional $988-million in state tax funding over the next two years.
Catching up on a couple higher education-related items …
** The FBI is stepping up its efforts to locate Leo Burt due to his connection with the bombing of Sterling Hall on the UW-Madison campus just over 40 years ago, the Washington Post reported.
** ** Most colleges with NCAA Division I sports programs are using mandatory student fees to help fund athletic department budgets, according to this USA Today report.
Chancellor Biddy Martin, former Kimberly-Clark Executive Kathi Seifert and UW Board of Regents President Charles Pruitt held a panel to discuss financing public higher education Wednesday at a Public Representation Organization of Faculty Senate event.
UW-Madison professor of public affairs and applied economics Andrew Reschovsky predicted the Wisconsin deficit to increase to $3.1 billion in the next biennium.
University of Wisconsin students may not pay the cost of increased UW autonomy with extra tuition dollars if the university is able to set its own tuition levels, Chancellor Biddy Martin said Wednesday at a forum.
The Wisconsin deficit is already projected at a daunting $2.7 billion, but a new report from a University of Wisconsin professor said the deficit is actually at $3.1 billion.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin headlined a forum Wednesday evening on campus examining the many challenges associated with funding public higher education. For those who pay close attention to this topic, little new ground was tilled ? although Martin shed some more light on The Badger Partnership, which is the chancellor?s vision for a new UW-Madison business model.
Pay attention, gubernatorial candidates, it looks like your job is getting tougher. The state deficit for the 2011-?13 budget is now estimated to be as much as $3.1 billion — $370 million more than previously forecast. Economist Andrew Reschovsky of the University of Wisconsin-Madison arrived at the projection by building on the work of the Legislature?s budget shop.
Wisconsinites are concerned about the direction of the state, its economy and their family?s own economic well-being. Furthermore, Wisconsinites do not think that their state government is doing a particularly good job and are frustrated with a state government that they do not believe is particularly innovative. Still, Wisconsinites report being relatively happy and rate life and schools in the Badger State better than in other states. [A column by Ken Goldstein, a UW-Madison professor of political science.]
Ninth graders only have eight days left to sign the Wisconsin Covenant, which ensures them a spot in a Wisconsin college or university if they work hard in high school. Gov. Jim Doyle called on high school freshmen on Tuesday to sign the pledge, joining more than 50,000 students from around the state who already have done so.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor.
Wisconsin has one of the better-funded public worker retirement systems around, but can it continue? According to data compiled for the recent Bloomberg Cities and Debt Briefing held in New York last week, less than half of state retirement systems had enough assets to pay even 80 percent of the benefits they?ve already promised.
When UW-Madison leaders quietly made it known last month they were searching for a consultant to examine how the university might run more efficiently and effectively, the few faculty and staff on campus aware of the proposal may well have been a bit uneasy with the whole idea.
The world of higher education, after all, is not an enterprise with an easy-to-measure bottom line. Of course, with the state facing a projected budget shortfall of at least $2.7 billion, no one was going to speak out against a project designed to save a few bucks during these economically challenging times.
But after university administrators told faculty leaders last week that such an endeavor would likely cost UW-Madison at least $3 million, some on campus started to openly question the merits of such a project.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin will headline a public forum Wednesday which will examine how states fund institutions of higher learning. Martin will be joined by Charles Pruitt, the president of the UW System?s Board of Regents, and business leader Kathi Seifert. The free event begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Idea Room of the newly renovated Education Building at 1000 Bascom Mall.
Quoted: Andrew Reshovsky, a professor of public affairs and applied economics with UW-Madison’s LaFollette School of Public Affairs.
University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin may hire a consultant firm to look at the efficiency of the entire university, which may cost millions of dollars, but could potentially save tens of millions.
Quoted: Ethics expert Ben Kempinen, a clinical associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
For years, young people here who wanted off the Menominee Indian reservation signed up for military service. That was one of the most promising routes to a steady paycheck for young adults in Menominee County, the poorest county in the state ? and one of the poorest in the country. But Verna Fowler started the College of Menominee Nation 17 years ago in her basement in order to give them another option. One of 36 federally-recognized tribal colleges in the country, it?s succeeding at something that the University of Wisconsin System hasn?t traditionally done well ? bringing higher education to Native Americans.
Noted: Work by UW-Madison researchers to estimate the state’s bear population.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political scientist.
Quoted: Ken Mayer, UW-Madison political science professor.
