University of Wisconsin System leaders might tweak board policy to require the system president to consult with board members when making high-level interim hires, UW System President Kevin Reilly said Monday.
A nonpartisan board comprised of retired judges would be given the power to approve how Wisconsin?s congressional and legislative district boundaries are redrawn under a reform plan announced Monday by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett. The idea was also praised by David Canon, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor who studies redistricting.The plan would make Wisconsin look more like states such as California, Arizona and Iowa that rely on independent commissions or groups to handle redistricting, Canon said.
Former longtime University of Wisconsin Board of Regents member Bert Grover blasted the recent selection of a key gubernatorial aide to a top university system position without the consideration of any other applicants, and suggested current board members attempt to rescind the appointment.
….The affordable high-quality education offered by UW System schools has been a cornerstone of Wisconsin’s prosperity for decades. Here’s a question Wisconsinites should ask themselves: Might there be a relationship between Wisconsin’s sluggish economy and its recent slide in commitment to its public university system?
And here’s a question we might want to ask legislative and gubernatorial candidates: Are you planning to continue to chip away at our commitment to public higher education to balance the state budget?
On the surface it looks bad. OK, maybe it even smells bad.But upon further review, University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly?s appointment of Michael Morgan to a top-level job might pass the stink test.
Kathleen Stilling, a graduate of UW-Madison and the UW Law School, was appointed a Waukesha County circuit judge on Friday by Gov. Jim Doyle. [Fourth item]
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has seen growth in student population and graduation numbers, a trend leaders hope to continue even as budgets tighten.
Gov. Jim Doyle has appointed a lawyer in private practice to be the next district attorney in Ashland County. Doyle says Kelly McKnight, an associate at a law firm in Ashland, is an experienced and thoughtful attorney who will be an outstanding DA. McKnight will replace Sean Duffy, the Republican who resigned the position to focus on his congressional campaign. McKnight is a 2000 graduate of the University of Wisconsin law school.
The University of Wisconsin school system has faced millions in budget cuts through the years, and students have paid the price through tuition hikes.
A University of Wisconsin System budget strategy that encourages conversations about vision and priorities before specific funding requests is a prudent approach in these tough economic times.
The decision to give Gov. Jim Doyle?s former top aide a choice job in the University of Wisconsin System likely violated university hiring rules, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Wednesday.
Dr. Richard Bristol, age 85, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, July 6, 2010, at the HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg. He joined the School of Veterinary Medicine in 1981 as a professor and in 1982 was appointed associate dean-clinical affairs. He was also the past president of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association in 1977 and served as an instructor for the short course at the UW-Madison.
The appointment of Gov. Jim Doyle?s top aide as a senior vice president in the University of Wisconsin System appears to have violated its hiring policy, the attorney general said Wednesday.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said the University of Wisconsin System?s appointment of Gov. Jim Doyle?s top aide to a high-level job may have violated its policy.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says the decision to offer a $245,000 a year senior vice president position to former DOA Secretary Michael Morgan appears to be in violation of UW hiring policies.
The hiring of one of Gov. Jim Doyle?s top administrators by the University of Wisconsin System “may have violated Board of Regents? policy,” wrote Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in letter today.
Van Hollen wrote that he does not have statutory authority to investigate, but referred the matter of Michael Morgan?s hiring to the UW Board of Regents. Morgan is the secretary of the Department of Administration.
Sassy Cow Creamery just celebrated its second anniversary. Last year, looking to get its name out there, the dairy landed a contract to supply milk to a high-profile Madison event. All went smoothly and the dairy was looking forward to a repeat performance this year. But this spring the family-owned, Sun Prairie-based dairy was outbid by Dean Foods, a $12 billion company that now controls 57 percent of Wisconsin?s milk market.
This David-versus-Goliath struggle for market visibility is indicative of what is occurring across the state.
Quoted: Peter Carstensen, UW-Madison law professor, and Robert Cropp, UW-Madison professor emeritus in agricultural and applied economics
MADISON, Wis. — Madison?s high speed rail station will be located at the state Department of Administration building in the city?s downtown, Gov. Jim Doyle announced on Thursday.
The building is located at 101 E. Wilson St., near the Monona Terrace. The rail line will be connecting the state capital with Milwaukee. Doyle had previously said it would be near Monona Terrace, which is just down the street from the state Capitol, but the exact spot hadn?t been chosen.
Something needs to be done, was the conclusion reached by many attendees at the recent dairy forum held in Madison. Not an unusual conclusion in that that same sentiment has been expressed at hearings, meetings and forums held across dairyland for the past 50 years or more.
What was different about this gathering was that it was under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Justice and sponsored by the U.W.-Madison Law School and held at the Memorial Union in Madison, which is not a regular ag meeting place.
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle doesn?t have anything bad to say about his top aide getting a plum job at the University of Wisconsin that comes with a $108,000 pay increase.
Lyme disease is spreading rapidly across the state, and so are confusion and controversy over what to do about it.
Quoted: UW-Madison entomologist and tick expert Susan Paskewitz
A Republican lawmaker asked the attorney general Tuesday to investigate the University of Wisconsin System?s decision to give a high-level job to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle?s top aide.
A Republican lawmaker asked the attorney general Tuesday to investigate the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s decision to give a high-level job to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s top aide.
A state lawmaker asked Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to investigate the UW Systemâ??s hiring of a former cabinet member to Governor Doyle, alleging the hiring did not comply with system hiring policies.
A lawmaker is asking the attorney general to investigate the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s decision to give a high-level job to Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s top aide.
A Republican lawmaker is asking that Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen investigate the University of Wisconsin Systemâ??s hiring of one of the stateâ??s top officials, Michael Morgan.
In a letter to Van Hollen, Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, alleges that the UW System violated its own policy by hiring Morgan for the position of senior vice president for administration and fiscal affairs without the proper search and screen process.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican candidate for governor Mark Neumann says his goal is to attract 300,000 jobs in 10 years by working closely with University of Wisconsin campuses to attract more businesses and research.
Neumann unveiled his plan to create three “research triangles” that would match expertise on the campuses with businesses that create jobs.
Neumann says his plan can succeed even if the universityâ??s budget is cut as part of his plan to reduce the budgets of all state agencies. His plan even calls for offering a tax break to businesses that create jobs.
As usual, thereâ??s a controversy in Madison thatâ??s divided along political lines, with each side saying they represent the gospel truth and the other guys are being partisan hacks. And, as usual, the actual truth lies somewhere in between the combatants.
The row has to do with the University of Wisconsin System hiring state administration secretary Michael Morgan to be its chief operating officer….But the circumstances of his hiring are unusual.
….the UW folks admittedly knew how the hiring would be perceived. Yet they went ahead and made it look exactly like that. You’d think those in charge of the state’s public higher education would be, you know, smarter.
Like we said, the truth is caught in between the two sides, much like the public usually is.
Advocates who are pushing for more changes say the law taking effect Thursday is a good first step but doesnâ??t go far enough. “People need to believe that they could get caught,” Nina Emerson, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Resource Center on Impaired Driving, said Monday. “Right now the perception is there is a very low possibility of apprehension.”
Dairy farmers are being squeezed out of business as other sectors of the food industry demand a greater share of the consumerâ??s dollar, farmers attending a federal hearing testified Friday.The current system leaves dairy farmers with little or no profit, several said at a U.S. Department of Justice hearing on antitrust issues in the dairy industry. The hearing attracted hundreds of farmers from around the country to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Nina Emerson, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Resource Center on Impaired Driving, said drunken driving carries a certain degree of social acceptance in the Badger State.
Dairy farmers from across the nation will get a chance to voice their complaints about farm milk prices and antitrust issues Friday at a hearing organized by the U.S. Department of Justice. Hundreds of farmers are expected to attend the hearing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Others expected to attend include Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christine Varney, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Democratic U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, and Gov. Jim Doyle.
Aides to State Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) confirmed Wednesday they plan to reach out to the state Attorney General asking him to look into a controversial hiring at the UW System.
Dairy farmers frustrated with ever-eroding profit margins and possible antitrust violations in the industry will get a chance Friday to voice their concerns to federal regulators in “Americaâ??s Dairyland.”
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, the departmentâ??s chief antitrust investigator, were scheduled to host the roundtable discussion in Madison, Wis., a state where dairy is a $26 billion a year industry.
The University of Wisconsin System offered a $245,000 per year position to Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary Michael Morgan without requesting his resume, records show. The hire was criticized as political patronage by Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater. Morgan would have been out of a job when Gov. Jim Doyle left office next year. The university offered Morgan the job as vice president for administration and fiscal affairs without conducting a national search.
The University of Wisconsin System president offered Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s top aide a high-level job without reviewing his resume or conducting a background check, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Documents released under the public records law shed new light on the unusual and speedy process in which Administration Secretary Michael Morgan landed the $245,000-per-year job as the systemâ??s chief operating officer.
In a region of the world where religion and government are still tightly tied, one Madison native has found a way to empower a population with a growing, but still comparatively quiet, political voice.
â??Bringing more women to elected office is a way to start to diffuse power â?? power that right now is in the hands of a small minority of men in the Middle East,â? says Katie Croake, a 1992 graduate of West High and a 2003 graduate of UW-Madisonâ??s La Follette School of Public Affairs. â??When these new voices of women are heard, you really start to change the culture.â?
While the number of victims seeking sexual assault services is rising, the Office of Justice Assistance reports that sexual assaults reported to law enforcement in Wisconsin dropped in 2009, with two counties, Iron and Buffalo, reporting zero sexual assault cases.
E-mails released by UW-System officials in connection to the recent selection of former Doyle administration cabinet member Michael Morgan to a highly paid, senior vice presidentâ??s job include a frank assessment of the worth of searching far and wide for administrative talent in higher education.
MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin System president offered Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s top aide a high-level job before even receiving a copy of his resume.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show Administration Secretary Michael Morgan didnâ??t turn in his resume until hours after he was offered the $245,000-per-year job as senior vice president on June 1.
UW System spokesman David Giroux said President Kevin Reilly didnâ??t need his resume because he was already familiar with Morganâ??s work in the Doyle administration.
(Wisconsin dairy farmer Joel) Greeno and other Wisconsin farmers are calling on the Obama administration to aggressively pursue existing lawsuits involving market manipulation and to get serious about enforcing antitrust laws that were designed to protect farmers, consumers and communities from the excesses of corporate speculation and manipulation.
Theyâ??ll get a chance to do so directly this week, at a remarkable antitrust workshop that will be held Friday, June 25, at the UW Memorial Union. One of five workshops around the country sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice, the Madison workshop will focus on consolidation of control over the dairy industry.
….The state has received 4,063 retirement applications through April, up 5.7 percent from a year ago.
….both of the leading candidates to replace Gov. Jim Doyle have talked about changing the way state pensions are handled. As it stands now, most public workers contribute nothing to their own retirement, but the Legislature does have the power to make changes going forward, including moving back the retirement age or increasing years of service requirements.
Trying to cut existing benefits, however, could prove far more difficult and would likely face a legal challenge. Financial commitments to public workers have long been seen as sacrosanct and courts have generally agreed.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday he fully supports embryonic stem cell research and criticized his Republican opponents in the race for governor for their opposition to the potentially life-saving research.”My concern is you have candidates for office .â??.â??.â??who want to inject politics into science,” Barrett, a Democrat, said after touring the stem cell labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Waisman Center.
The Boldt Co. of Appleton and the British consulting firm AMEC have been selected as the engineering and construction contractors for the conversion of the coal-fired power plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to burn natural gas and biomass.
Milwaukeeâ??s education gap mattered less during the boom years for heavy manufacturing, when a high school diploma was enough to guarantee years of good paychecks. But old factory towns are wilting under the white hot heat of the worldâ??s competition and canâ??t rely on the old ways any longer. Itâ??s notable that Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit – along with Milwaukee – were all in the bottom 10 in educational attainment among the nationâ??s largest 50 cities.
Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett spoke about his support for embryonic stem cell research, and criticized his competitorsâ?? opposition to it, on Monday during a visit to UW-Madisonâ??s Waisman Center. “This is an institution that can provide huge benefits to the people who live in this society, but it can only do so if we allow it to continue its mission,” Barrett said. “And my concern is that you have candidates for office at the state level… who want to inject politics into science.”
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison was ranked 20th out of 141 U.S. medical schools for fulfilling its social mission. In the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, medical schools were ranked by three criteria: the percent of graduates who practice primary care, work in health professional shortage areas, and are underrepresented minorities.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he will back stem cell research just like Gov. Jim Doyle if heâ??s elected governor. Barrett says itâ??s wrong for opponents of embryonic stem cell research to suggest the work is unethical. Barrett says he will be a champion for stem cell research being done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and will stand up to attempts by lawmakers to limit it. Barrett spoke after touring the Waisman Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday.
The Department of Administration on Monday announced that it will proceed to negotiate a contract with The Boldt Co., Appleton, and AMEC, United Kingdom, to engineer and construct the Charter Street Heating Plant rebuild project on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, according to a press release from Gov. Jim Doyleâ??s office.
The Democratic candidate for governor is defending UW research using embryonic stem cells. Thereâ??s been groundbreaking work on Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, or IPS cells, derived from adult stem cells, at the University of Wisconsin
The Boldt Co. of Appleton has been selected by the state to convert a power plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus from coal-burning to biomass.
Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett spoke about his support for embryonic stem cell research, and criticized his competitorsâ?? opposition to it, on Monday during a visit to UW-Madisonâ??s Waisman Center.
“This is an institution that can provide huge benefits to the people who live in this society, but it can only do so if we allow it to continue its mission,” Barrett said. “And my concern is that you have candidates for office at the state level… who want to inject politics into science.”
Steve Ingham, a Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection official responsible for enforcing the stateâ??s raw-milk policies, has resigned. Ingham, administrator of the Division of Food Safety, is returning to his previous faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, effective July 7, DATCP officials confirmed Monday.
Despite having a lineup of political heavy hitters, the heart of next weekâ??s dairy industry workshop in Madison will be the words that come from farmers, said a UW-Madison law professor who will be a panelist. Fridayâ??s event at Union Theater on the UW-Madison campus will feature a roundtable discussion with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Christine Varney, U.S. assistant attorney general for the Justice Departmentâ??s Antitrust Division. It has been organized by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The elaborate, enclosed structures that businesses have constructed for smokers, described and shown in Sundayâ??s State Journal, are not in keeping with the intent of the Wisconsin Statewide Smoke Free Air Law, writes Dr. Theresa Guilbert, pediatric pulmonologist, American Family Childrenâ??s Hospital, UW-Madison.
Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday named longtime prosecutor Ismael Ozanne the new Dane County district attorney. Ozanne takes the job vacated by Brian Blanchard, who was elected in April to the District IV Court of Appeals. Ozanne received his undergraduate degree from UW-Madison and his J.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
When Gov. Jim Doyle was elected in 2002, he pledged to put Wisconsin in the forefront of stem cell research nationally and internationally. He has kept that promise by:
â?¢ Increasing Wisconsinâ??s investment in this critical field with a goal of capturing 10 percent of the stem cell market by 2015.
â?¢ Launching a $750 million initiative to develop stem cell research and biotechnology in Wisconsin, highlighted by the construction of the Institutes for Discovery, which is scheduled to open in December
Is it anything to worry about? Freshman enrollment at UW campuses is not growing as fast as many other campuses around the country.
The state commits to collaborating with California on stem cell research. Wisconsin signs an agreement with California to help scientists in both states to combine forces and more quickly discover better treatments for patients.
UW-System vice presidents hired before the increasingly-criticized decision to handpick Doyle administration cabinet secretary Michael Morgan for a system vice president position were chosen through a nationwide search and screen process.
