The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents is the governing body for the Wisconsin school system, and while the board has many tasks, political activism is not one of them. Despite this minor detail, the UW Board of Regents voted last Friday to oppose a state amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.
As part of his plan to provide $5 million to stem-cell research companies, Gov. Jim Doyle presented $1 million Tuesday to a new company aiming to generate blood products from human embryonic stem cells.
Doyle presented the financial package to founders of Stem Cell Products Inc., started by research pioneer and University of Wisconsin biology professor James Thomson, who isolated the first embryonic stem-cell line.
Gov. Jim Doyle announced another pledge for stem cell research Tuesday, giving $1 million to a stem cell start-up company founded by three UW-Madison researchers including James Thomson, the professor who pioneered stem cell research and isolated the first embryonic stem cell.
Stem Cell Products, Inc., run by Thomson and fellow UW-Madison researchers Igor Slukvin and Dong Chen, will begin research on a process that derives red blood cells and platelets from embryonic stem cells. According to Doyle, platelets are in short supply and the U.S. military frequently flies wounded soldiers to Germany in order to perform blood transfusions.
Stem cell pioneer James Thomson and two other University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists have started a company that aims to grow platelets and red blood cells from embryonic stem cells.
The company, Stem Cell Products Inc., has the chance to have the first therapeutic product based on human embryonic stem cells to make it to the marketplace, said Bob Palay, managing member of Tactics II Ventures LP, a Wisconsin venture capital firm that invested in and helped start the company.
Gov. Jim Doyle today gave $1 million in state funding to a Madison-based firm headed by UW-Madison stem cell researcher James Thomson.
Doyle announced the combination of state grants and loans to Stem Cell Products, Inc., the second start-up firm headed by Thomson, at a news conference this morning.
The firm is developing the use of embryonic stem cells in producing components of human blood cells, such as platelets that assist in blood clotting.
PLATTEVILLE ââ?¬â? In a move that adds fuel to a fiery statewide debate, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted Friday to oppose a state amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.
The board took the formal stance as part of an effort to retain quality educators in the UW System, saying the amendment would hurt the chances of instituting domestic partners benefits in Wisconsin schools.
PLATTEVILLE ââ?¬â? The president of the University of Wisconsin System and the UW Board of Regents said Friday that people across the state of Wisconsin are voicing their support for higher education in the state.
UW Board of Regents President David Walsh said people have been passionate about the work the UW System is doing.
Incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle and his Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green, butted heads for a second time Friday night in Milwaukee, debating a wide range of social issues including stem cell research, abortion, the death penalty and education.
Stem cell research proved to be the hot topic of the debate, with Doyle saying, “There is no issue on which we differ [more] fundamentally.”
Citing the need to compete as the university loses faculty due to its lack of partner benefits, the UW System Board of Regents voted Friday to oppose the proposed gay marriage amendment.
Regent President David Walsh said the amendment might further limit benefits for same-sex domestic partners.
Even though a statewide survey revealed a majority of Wisconsinites plan to vote in favor of the same-sex marriage ban, Students for a Fair Wisconsin is mobilizing the UW-Madison community to vote no and sway the final outcome of the Nov. 7 referendum.
In a move that further damaged its rocky relationship with the state Legislature, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents passed a resolution Friday opposing the proposed constitutional amendment on gay marriage, saying it was the right move no matter what the political consequences were.
MADISON – University of Wisconsin System regents voted Friday to oppose the Nov. 7 referendum banning gay marriage, saying it will hurt their ability to recruit and retain gay and lesbian employees.
Regents, who govern the UW System of 13 four-year universities and 13 two-year colleges, said the amendment would threaten the state’s ability to provide domestic partner benefits.
Quoted: Dietram Scheufele, a professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Green equates stem cell research with leaving the ââ?¬Å?moral compassââ?¬Â behind. On the other hand, incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle equates stem cell research with an industrial compass that will bring scientific breakthrough and job market expansion to Wisconsin.
Emphasizing the need for increased diversity, the UW System Board of Regents met Thursday at UW-Platteville for its first monthly meeting of the 2006-Ã?¢ââ??‰â??¢07 academic year.
The Business, Finance and Audit Committee passed a resolution to take a formal stance opposing the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages and civil unionsÃ?¢ââ??‰â?¬Âthe full Board is considering the resolution today.
A University of Wisconsin Board of Regents committee voted Thursday to oppose the controversial same-sex marriage ban that will be on the state ballot this November.
You have probably all heard, at one point or another, that UW-Madison scientist Jamie Thomson was the first person in the world to grow human embryonic stem cells. You have also probably heard about the amazing promise that stem cell research has to cure scores of deadly diseases.
In an effort to better connect University of Wisconsin students� academic and social lives, UW�s Office of the Dean of Students has revised its mission statement to better reflect the Wisconsin Idea.
The University of Wisconsin�s Board of Regents may be ready to get involved with another political controversy.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced Tuesday that it plans to re-examine patents covering research by stem cell leader and UW-Madison scientist James Thomson and other UW-Madison scientistsÃ?¢ââ??‰â?¬Âsupposedly the first researchers in the world to grow and isolate human embryonic stem cells.
After negotiations spanning over a year between labor groups, UW-Madison administration, workers and student government, UW-Madison limited term employees have secured a living wage and, potentially, full-time positions.
Higher Education Day was recognized yesterday in Wisconsin, with Gov. Jim Doyle, other state leaders and even former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, calling on residents to start saving for college early.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced Tuesday that it intends to review patents for embryonic stem-cell research held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley signed a new Limited Term Employee policy into effect Tuesday, what he called a ââ?¬Å?milestoneââ?¬Â for the university.
A state-run program allowing employees to donate part of their paychecks to charity may not exclude religious charities on grounds that the groups use religion as a basis for employment or membership on their governing boards, a federal judge has ruled.
The Association of Faith-Based Organizations, a coalition of faith-based groups based in Springfield, Va., filed the lawsuit in the spring. It challenged an annual program, called State Employees Combined Campaign, that allows state workers to direct payroll deductions to charities that are deemed eligible by a state committee.
A Christian organization at the University of Wisconsin-Superior has filed suit against the university, claiming it wrongly de-recognized its campus chapter.
The university notified the campus chapter of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship that it could not be recognized for the current school year because it required its leaders to take a religious vow. The UW System has stated that under a United States Supreme Court decision, it cannot allow student organizations to discriminate.
Madison – An annual program that encourages charitable giving by state employees may not exclude religious charitable organizations from participating if the groups use religion as a basis for employment or board membership, a federal judge has ruled.
LA CROSSE (AP) – The body of a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student was found in the Mississippi River this morning, police said.
Lucas G. Homan was last seen around 2:30 a.m. Saturday after he celebrated Oktoberfest downtown, police Capt. Robert Abraham said.
The La Crosse Police Department and Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations are continuing their investigation of his death, a statement from La Crosse police said.
With recent shifts in stem cell support, voters could be confused by each candidate�s political rhetoric laced with scientific information in their campaigns. Traditionally, Republicans have not supported government funding of stem cell research, but U.S Rep Mark Green has taken a more progressive approach after announcing a $25 million plan to fund adult stem cell research.
University of Wisconsin lecturer Kevin Barrett and University of Minnesota-Duluth professor James Fetzer took time Sunday afternoon to explain their Sept. 11 theory that has been the source of recent widespread media attention and legislative debate.
It’s been six months since Wisconsin wowed the world at BIO 2006 in Chicago, and Capital Region biotech firms are reporting success in forming partnerships with potential collaborators and investors from contacts made at the conference.
In the state of Wisconsin, minoritiesââ?¬â?including Blacks, Latinos, American Indians and Asiansââ?¬â?comprise 9.8 percent of the population. At UW-Madison, the flagship of the UW System, minorities comprise a comparable 10 percent of the student body. And yet university administrators continue to vigorously strive for greater diversity.
Doyle, Green walk a tightrope over controversial issue
With elections rapidly approaching, both gubernatorial candidates seem eager to establish a position on the popular issue of stem cell research.
Doing stem-cell business in Wisconsin just got easier.
Under a new partnership agreement announced Thursday by Gov. Jim Doyle, companies will not have to pay royalty fees to use stem-cell lines patented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation if they partner with non-profit academic institutions in state.
Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager can defend the state against a lawsuit in which gay state employees are seeking benefits for their partners even though she has expressed sympathy for their cause, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The District 4 Court of Appeals rejected claims that the Department of Justice’s ability to defend the case was compromised by Lautenschlager’s statements or her appearance at a gay pride rally with activists who are suing the state.
MADISON ââ?¬â? Companies sponsoring stem cell research in Wisconsin will no longer have to purchase a costly license to use the technology under an agreement announced by Gov. Jim Doyle on Thursday.
Decreasing state funding is making it difficult for low-income families to send their children to University of Wisconsin schools, Board of Regents President David Walsh said Thursday.And it�s going to become even harder if the state does not start putting more taxpayer money toward public higher education, Walsh told members of the La Crosse Downtown Rotary.
University of Wisconsin lecturer Kevin Barrett and fellow Scholars for 9/11 Truth member James Fetzer will discuss their thoughts on the events of Sept. 11, 2001 Sunday.
Companies sponsoring stem- cell research exclusively in Wisconsin will no longer have to buy a costly license to use the technology under an agreement announced by Gov. Jim Doyle on Thursday.
Doyle said the agreement between his administration and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which holds patents covering embryonic stem- cell research, will give the state a significant advantage in attracting biotechnology companies and research dollars.
The Doyle administration has reached an agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation that will give Wisconsin stem cell researchers a considerable competitive advantage over those in other states.
Gov. Jim Doyle announced today that WARF, which holds patents and royalty rights on some of the world’s most promising stem cell lines, has agreed that companies conducting research in partnership with nonprofit and academic institutions in Wisconsin will receive a free research license under the stem cell patents held by WARF.
The UW-Madison community received pointers on dealing with a state legislature increasingly hostile to the university from one of the legislature�s own, 1986 UW-Madison graduate state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison.
As part of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyleââ?¬â?¢s effort to reduce the stateââ?¬â?¢s reliance on energy, four University of Wisconsin System schools will be part of an ââ?¬Å?off-the-gridââ?¬Â pilot program to become energy independent by 2012.
Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., issued a statement Tuesday directly condemning the University of Wisconsin for not firing Kevin Barrett, a controversial lecturer who drew nationwide media coverage to UW this summer.
MADISON – A Republican lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate renewed their call Tuesday for the University of Wisconsin-Madison to fire a part-time instructor who believes the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks.
The calls by GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Green and Rep. Steve Nass of Whitewater came after they learned a UW-Madison academic unit was sponsoring a lecture on Sunday by Kevin Barrett titled: “9/11: Folklore and Fact.”
UW-Madison lecturer Kevin Barrett will talk Sunday at the university about his controversial belief that the U.S. government was complicit in the 9/11 attacks, prompting two elected officials on Tuesday to again call for his termination.
A Republican lawmaker says UW-Madison instructor Kevin Barrett’s plan for a special lecture on 9/11 on campus Oct.1 should get him fired.Barrett has been teaching a course on Islam this semester, with strict university instructions to contain discussion of Barrett’s theoryÃ? the 9/11 tragedy was orchestrated by the government.Ã?Â
MADISON, Wis. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green is using paid actors in one of his campaign ads to drive home discontent over University of Wisconsin tuition and wait-list policies.
The University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate discussed proposed changes to the disciplinary process for felonious faculty at their first meeting of the academic year Monday.
Eighth-graders at Perry Tipler Middle School were thinking ââ?¬â? and talking about ââ?¬â? their educational futures Monday.
Jessica Doyle, wife of Gov. Jim Doyle, made a stop at Tipler to speak with students about the Wisconsin Covenant, an initiative that guarantees students with good grades a place in the Wisconsin higher education system.
Gov. Jim Doyle was set to announce a plan today to invest $80 million in state funds in an effort to encourage the development and use of renewable energy.
The governor says the state money would help leverage an additional $370 million in private investment and put the state at the forefront of the national movement to find alternative sources of fuel.
The plan includes a $50 million fund to give loans to companies expanding their use and production of renewable fuels and energy, tax credits to prod more gas stations to add ethanol-based gasoline and millions of dollars in grants for energy researchers.
WAUSAU (AP) – A Wausau man has become the first patient in the University of Wisconsin transplant program to accept a transplanted kidney from a donor with a different blood type and to overcome antibodies that make organ rejection likely.
The transplant between Chad Stockinger and his wife, Kristin Calhoun Stockinger, was made possible by desensitization, a process that removed those antibodies from Chad’s blood and kept them away with medication.
The UW transplant center is one of about five in the nation to perform the procedure.
As voters select a governor this November, architects will be drafting plans for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a $150 million research complex at UW-Madison.
The public-private complex, to expand research on stem cells and related fields, will be built whether or not Republican Mark Green defeats Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, organizers say. It is to open in late 2009 in the 1300 block of University Avenue.
Lois Anderson, a “card-carrying, lifelong” Republican from Madison, isn’t sure who to vote for this November in the race for governor.
The reason: stem cells.
Anderson would normally support Republican candidate Mark Green, whose opposition to much embryonic stem-cell research is shared by her Christian Reformed church.
Gabriela Cezar is a stem-cell researcher at UW-Madison, but she’s not studying the cells as potential cures.
She’s trying to come up with tests to detect developmental disorders such as autism.
In her lab, Cezar exposes dishes of embryonic stem cells to the epilepsy drug valproate. Studies have shown that the drug, when taken by pregnant women, increases a baby’s risk of autism, spina bifida and skeletal deformities.
Between 2002 and 2004, over 18,500 17-year-olds were booked into adult jails across the state – thats nearly double the 2004 freshman admissions to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Milwaukee.
A federal judge sentenced state worker Georgia Thompson to 18 months in prison today for steering a state contract to a company that made campaign contributions to Governor Jim Doyle.
A judge threw out a lawsuit Thursday by a developer that claimed an aide to Gov. Jim Doyle improperly scuttled its bid to turn the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Kenilworth building into student housing and retail space.
Meg Hamel, who took the reins of the Wisconsin Film Festival as interim director last year, has now been hired as its permanent director.
The UW Arts Institute, which runs the four-day festival, hired Hamel for the position after a nationwide candidate search. She just spent the last week at the Toronto International Film Festival scouting potential films for next year’s event.
Gov. Jim Doyle thrust the politically charged issue of embryonic stem cell research back onto the front burner of his November re-election race Wednesday with a proposal to free up $2.5 million in state funding for biomedical research in metropolitan Milwaukee.
