Category: UW-Madison Related

In the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 1970, a mysterious van parked unnoticed outside Sterling Hall on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig made a major gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday, establishing a chair in the history department that will focus on the relationship between sports and society.

The University of Wisconsin-Stout will become the first four-year school in the UW System to go smoke free on Wednesday. The school is banning all tobacco products on all university property, including parking lots and sidewalks. Some two-year campuses in the UW System are smoke free but there are no other smoke-free four-year campuses. Some state technical colleges also ban smoking.

The Dane County Bomb Squad said a suspicious item resembling a pipe bomb found in the back of a van Downtown on Friday was safe, according to the Madison Police Department. UW-Madison?s Geology Museum and Charter Street Heating Plant were evacuted for at least two hours due to the item, found in a van parked on the 600 block of Spring Street.

I went to UW-Madison years ago and have enjoyed going back often. But this summer it was so different on State Street. The place was flooded with panhandlers and people passed out in doorways, stoned and drunk, and not a cop was to be seen anywhere. It was not fun, and I will not be taking my family back any time soon.

A 600-plant basement marijuana greenhouse will keep a former UW-Madison horticulture student in federal prison for nearly three years. Curtis J. Faustich, 23, told U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb that since his basement greenhouse was busted by police on April 13, he has been on a path to change that he pledged would continue after he is released from prison in two years and nine months.

If you can?t take pride in who you are, what can you take pride in?

Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and their supporters and friends headed to the Capitol Square and State Street on Sunday for the annual Pride Parade.

The University of Wisconsin System is wise to put in writing its policy on hiring interim employees to top administrative positions.

What we said… 40 years ago: A Wisconsin State Journal editorial from Aug. 25, 1970. They?ve been playing with murder for years. Now they?ve achieved it. It wasn?t the “military-industrial” complex that was attacked here Monday morning. It wasn?t cement and steel beams and equipment. It was innocent human beings. It was a father who was killed. It was a fellow researcher who was injured, and it was a student, a working man, and a hospital patient.

The bombing of UW-Madison?s Sterling Hall has its 40th anniversary this Tuesday, and historians want to hear from people who lived through it. A “story booth” will be set up this week in Memorial Library, 728 State St., to collect audio and video remembrances. “We hope anyone with a story, no matter how small or detailed, takes the time to sit down and get it preserved,” said Troy Reeves, director of the university?s Oral History Program.

Forty years after a powerful bomb exploded on the Madison campus, Leo Burt remains the last fugitive wanted by the FBI in connection with radical anti-Vietnam War activities. He vanished almost immediately after the bombing, and is now what one former prosecutor calls “Wisconsin?s state ghost.” This week, the university will mark the anniversary by opening a recording booth in the library, where people can relate their memories of the event for inclusion in the university archives and in a documentary theater project. A small plaque honoring Robert Fassnacht, the 33-year-old scientist killed in the blast, is the only permanent sign on campus that the bombing happened.

The University of Wisconsin System would have a new policy governing interim appointments under action taken Thursday by a Board of Regents committee. The action is in response to criticism over the hiring of former Gov. Jim Doyle aide Michael Morgan as a senior vice president for $108,000 more than he was earning previously.

President Obama announced Winslow Sargeant as a recess apointment as chief counsel of advocacy for the Small Business Administration. Sargeant serves as a Director of the University of Wisconsin Foundation and was the Vice Chairman of the UW-Madison Astronomy Board of Visitors. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of WiCell, WiSys and the Waisman Center. Sargeant is a Trustee for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

The Dane County UW-Extension has a new director, hailing from the Mississippi River town of Quincy, Ill. Carrie Edgar, University of Illinois extension director for Adams and Brown counties in Illinois for the past 11 years, will become the Dane County director Oct. 1, according to a press release from County Executive Kathleen Falk.

Wisconsin Capitol Pride Weekend — “Proud, Connected, Visible” — is Thursday, Aug. 19, through Sunday, Aug. 21, with events at various Madison locations.

A Cross Plains teen is likely headed to federal prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to taking part in a sophisticated, large-scale marijuana growing operation. Zachary A. Czerkas, 19, said in court that he had taken a job with his co-defendant, Curtis J. Faustich, to earn money for school and help him move out of the home of his mother and step-father. Until his arrest on April 13, Faustich, 23, had been a horticulture major at UW-Madison.

Carlos Santiago may not have been from Wisconsin – he was born in an army hospital in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico – but as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he sometimes seemed to understand The Wisconsin Idea better than some native Badgers.

Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago, who announced Monday that he is resigning from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to head a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., said the boost in enrollment at the university and the higher research profile are among the major accomplishments in his more than six years at the helm.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago is resigning. He is leaving as of Oct. 1 to take a job as the chief executive officer for the Hispanic College Fund, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.

Regarding the article about teachers? pay, while the average pay increase for primary and secondary school teachers was 3.75 percent, professors at UW-Madison received no pay increase last year and are unlikely to receive anything this coming year. If they do, it will only be 2 percent, and they have also been put on furlough

The number of students applying to enroll at two-year University of Wisconsin Colleges is on the rise for the fall semester. The system of 13 two-year campuses is projecting that enrollment might jump by 1,000 students to 14,750 this fall.

Finish the job.

That?s our message for UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago, his bosses in Madison and state and local officials. It?s our message to taxpayers as well. Six years ago, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee launched an audacious plan to build Wisconsin?s second major, state-supported research campus. As Santiago often said, he had no money and no land. But he had a vision to boost UWM?s meager research capacity and to rebuild its aging campus.

MADISON (WKOW) — Two University of Wisconsin System professors and one academic department are being recognized for outstanding achievements in teaching. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor Jennifer Szydlik, UW-Eau Claire professor Paul Thomas and the UW-Platteville biology department were selected for The UW System Board of Regents 18th annual Teaching Excellence Awards.

The best idea Wisconsin ever had is the Wisconsin Idea ? the notion that the University of Wisconsin ought to connect to the life of the community. It?s worked: Madison and the UW are virtually the same thing in many people?s minds. And the UW has a role to play in rebuilding the connections between Wisconsinites and their capital city….

Wisconsin would be a poorer state if not for the big land grant university on the shores of Lake Mendota. It?s time we told that story better. [A column by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.]

Two University of Wisconsin System professors and one academic department are being recognized for outstanding achievements in teaching. The UW System Board of Regents announced Thursday it has selected UW-Oshkosh professor Jennifer Szydlik, UW-Eau Claire professor Paul Thomas and the UW-Platteville biology department for its 18th annual Teaching Excellence Awards.

Ken Golden, a state official who served on the Madison City Council for 18 years, said he will challenge Mayor Dave Cieslewicz in the spring elections….He has a bachelor’s degree and masters degrees in social work and behavioral disabilities from UW-Madison.

Compliments far exceeded complaints at a hearing Wednesday night on a plan by the state and UW-Madison to rebuild the Charter Street Heating Plant, eliminating the use of coal and replacing it with natural gas and Wisconsin-grown alternative fuels such as wood chips and switch grass.

The Badger Herald headline from 1988 proclaimed: ??Noel? Sweeps Elections.? The Noel Radomski Fan Club, one of several student political parties with playful names, had won the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s student government co-presidency and all open seats on a prominent committee.

It was, at that point, the biggest political victory for Noel Radomski, then a 22-year-old political science major who had worked his way up the ranks of student government for two years before running away with the co-presidency after many expected a close race.

In an email to The Sconz, former Ald. Noel Radomski said he is seriously considering challenging Mayor Dave Cieslewicz in the mayoral election next year. Radomski, who is currently the director of the Wisconsin Institute for the Advancement of Post-Secondary Education (WISCAPE), strongly criticized the incumbent?s approach to development and education in the city, and believes Madison needs to radically change its approach to a variety of economic issues.

DestinationKohler manager of golf course maintenance Michael Lee is, without doubt, an expert on grass. The 1987 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a bachelor?s degree in agriculture, and he can tell you everything you want to know about how grass grows and why.

I hope Doug Moe?s Aug. 2 column on the fate of the George L. Mosse Humanities Building will raise support for saving this valuable and beautiful part of our architectural heritage.

A sexual assault spree could have come to an end mid-morning Monday with the detention of a possible suspect, Madison police reported. Up to seven incidents of women being sexually groped at various locations on campus and downtown have been reported to Madison police and UW police, Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

DeSpain said it?s too early to say if the same man is responsible for all of the reported assaults.

Most Madisonians know what streets to avoid this summer if they don?t want teeth-rattling bumps and frantic brake pumping.

….Park Street: The one-block construction zone from University Avenue to Johnson Street should be cleared by Aug. 30, before UW-Madison begins classes on Sept. 2.

The Madison Police Department is working with UW-Madison police on three sexual assaults — two on campus and one downtown — early Monday morning that may have been committed by the same man. Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said it?s too early to say if the same man committed the reported downtown assault and the reported assaults near Camp Randall Stadium and the Memorial Union.

Social Security marks its 75th anniversary this week, but it almost didn?t happen, according to the Wisconsin citizen who played a key role in its development.

Passage was doubtful in the Senate Finance Committee ?in part because there was no popular demand for old age insurance, or very little, and still more because there were grave doubts about constitutionality,? Edwin Witte said in a 1955 interview.

Witte, then a University of Wisconsin economist, was tapped in 1934 to be the executive director for the Committee on Economic Security, created by President Franklin Roosevelt to develop a program of old-age assistance. He was widely known as the ?father of Social Security.?

Being a scientist no longer has to mean years of schooling and dozens of science classes. Citizen scientists, from elementary school children to retirees, are taking to the field and collecting data – and observing environmental changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Citizen scientists conduct or contribute to data collection for which university researchers and government officials do not have the funds or manpower. But organizers of research projects emphasize that the volunteers are not just a set of hands, as their work contributes to long-term conservation efforts and may even affect policy decisions.

“We?re trying to give people an idea of the diversity of things they don?t normally think about,” said Mara McDonald, assistant administrator at the Laboratory of Genetics and the J.F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who coordinates a volunteer bird banding program in Madison.

MADISON, Wis. — A man is in serious condition at a local hospital after suffering stab wounds to his neck and chest in a fight. Madison Police responded to a call for a fight at the corner of Frances Street and W. Johnson Street at 2:18 Friday morning. They found the stabbing victim when they arrived at the scene.

A man is in serious condition at a local hospital after suffering stab wounds to his neck and chest in a fight near West Johnson and Frances streets.

It?s not easy going green. Just ask John Harrod Jr., who is helping guide the $250 million green makeover of UW-Madison?s Charter Street Heating Plant.

The coal-burning plant will be converted so that it burns natural gas and cleaner, farm-grown fuels such as switchgrass. The changeover that has won praise from the plant?s many critics, including the Sierra Club, which sued the university for violating the Clean Air Act. Gone will be the giant, dust-generating pile of coal that has become a symbol of the plant and its grimy history.

But Harrod, director of the UW-Madison Physical Plant, said getting rid of that coal pile and moving to cleaner biofuels has brought its own set of problems to solve.

Also quoted: Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor of Facilities Planning and Management

Michael Gaffney?s varied career, culminating in a thriving, coast-to-coast chain of floral design schools, has been guided largely by whims — not to mention a remarkable talent for landing solidly on his feet no matter where his impulses have propelled him.

Consider: As a fine arts major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he joined a bus trip to New York organized by the school to tour the art museums there. He promptly fell in love with the city and declined to get back on the bus for the return trip to the Midwest.

The private group that raises money for the University of Wisconsin-Madison won?t say how much its new leader will make. The UW Foundation announced last week that UW-Madison business school dean Michael Knetter (Kuh-NET-ter) will become its next president and chief executive officer starting Oct. 16.

The second longest serving chancellor in the UW-System begins his retirement this week.When Julius Erlenbach was hired at the University of Wisconsin-Superior in 1996, he agreed to stay five years. Those five years turned into 14.

University of Wisconsin-Madison business school dean Michael M. Knetter has been chosen to head the $2.5 billion University of Wisconsin Foundation.

After a nationwide search, the dean of the Wisconsin School of Business has been named to head the private, nonprofit corporation that raises, invests and distributes funds for the benefit of UW-Madison. Michael M. Knetter will succeed Andrew A. Wilcox, who has served as the Foundation President for 22 years. Knetter will assume the duties of president and chief executive officer in October, when Wilcox retires.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison?s highly regarded business school dean is taking a new job as the school?s top fundraiser. The UW Foundation announced Wednesday that Michael Knetter will become its next president and chief executive officer starting Oct. 16. The foundation is a nonprofit that raises money for the university.

Mike Knetter, the dean of UW-Madison?s School of Business, has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the University of Wisconsin Foundation according to a press release.

Knetter will succeed Sandy Wilcox, who is retiring from his position after 22 years as president of the UW Foundation. Knetter has served as head of the business school since July of 2002 and will join the Foundation on Oct. 16.

UW alum Abby Sears has recently joined FNC?s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” as an Associate Producer. She will handle all media requests for Van Susteren?s show.

The University of Wisconsin System is bidding farewell to the state?s second longest-serving chancellor. The Board of Regents on Friday praised retiring University of Wisconsin-Superior Chancellor Julius Erlenbach as a champion of the liberal arts who oversaw a building boom on campus. Erlenbach served as chancellor of what he called the “northern jewel in the crown” of the system since 1996.

A former aide to Gov. Jim Doyle is ducking questions about his controversial new job at the University of Wisconsin System and $108,000 pay increase. After staying silent and not responding to interview requests for weeks, Michael Morgan said Friday he “has nothing to add” about his appointment as the system?s chief operating officer. Morgan spoke after a Board of Regents meeting, where he was welcomed with applause.

Neil Willenson was 22 years old when he created Camp Heartland, a summer retreat for children with HIV or AIDS or who live with someone who does.That was 17 years ago.

Now called One Heartland, the Milwaukee-based nonprofit agency has become a year-round national organization whose mission is to improve the lives of socially isolated children through a series of camps in three different states.

At the end of September, Willenson, 39, will step down as CEO of the foundation he created. He is a UW-Madison graduate.

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin System is bidding farewell to the state?s second longest-serving chancellor. The Board of Regents on Friday praised retiring University of Wisconsin-Superior Chancellor Julius Erlenbach as a champion of the liberal arts who oversaw a building boom on campus.

MADISON (WKOW) — The 23-year-old Waunakee man who drowned in Lake Monona early Thursday was a volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club. The Boys & Girls Club?s CEO Michael Johnson said Jawaun McClain was one of the group leaders at the Allied Boys & Girls Club. McClain was a graduate from the University of Wisconsin and was about to attend Law School.

McClain also was a mentor for the PEOPLE Program, worked recently at MSCR and coached a speech team at West High School. He was remembered by dozens of kids that sent letters to his family because of the impact he had on their lives.

A popular chain known more for its pharmacy hopes to reintroduce alcohol to its stores? inventory in the Madison area.

University of Wisconsin coaches received nearly $400,000 in exceptional achievement award bonuses in 2009-10, a development that seemingly runs counter to a series of major cost-cutting initiatives that took place during the school year. UW Athletic Department officials directed coaches in 23 sports and supervisors in 22 support units to cut their operating budgets by 5 percent. It was the second consecutive year that services such as sports medicine, academic services, communications and marketing were directed to make such reductions. In addition, the state directed its employees to take 2-percent pay reductions and take eight unpaid furlough days. But 51 Badgers coaches ? including assistants and strength and conditioning staffers ? received bonuses totaling $391,573 for various achievements, including bowl berths, NCAA tournament participation, Big Ten Conference titles and individual awards.

Green Bay and former UW-Madison student Steve Olsen is shooting for his dream job.  He?s in the middle of a 50-day journey where he?s playing 20 rounds of golf in nine countries. 

The Dane County coroner has identified the person who died in a traffic crash at the intersection of S. Ingersoll Street and Williamson Street in the City of Madison.

The driver of a car being followed by a police car after a failed traffic stop was killed Wednesday morning when the car crashed at Williamson and Ingersoll streets, UW-Madison police Sgt. Aaron Chapin said.

The driver was identified as Michael J. Benkert, 24, of Waunakee, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the Dane County deputy coroner.

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down lawmakers? 2007 raid of a medical malpractice fund, delivering a victory to Wisconsin physicians, a defeat to Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature, and a bruising blow of more than $200 million to the state budget.

The ruling left open the crucial question of when lawmakers and Doyle will have to patch together a repayment plan out of the state?s already shaky finances – opening the door to new possible spending cuts, tax increases or borrowing. A top aide to Doyle and the head of the state Senate said a special session for lawmakers ahead of November?s elections is unlikely.

The driver of a car being followed by a police car after a failed traffic stop was killed this morning when the car crashed at Williamson and Ingersoll Streets, according to UW-Madison police Sgt. Aaron Chapin. A UW-Madison police officer tried to stop a car that was swerving across lanes West Johnson Street shortly before 1 a.m., but the car didn?t stop.

Tuesday?s Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling means the state will have to pay back millions of dollars taken from a medical malpractice fund, but there?s plenty of partisan finger pointing going on already