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Category: UW-Madison Related

UWM, UW to encourage teamwork

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The rise of research efforts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has sometimes put the campus in competition with its larger, older sibling in Madison, but chancellors at the two campuses are seeking ways to get researchers cooperating.

Thatâ??s why the two campuses are putting together a $300,000 grant program to encourage their faculty to work together.

In March, Blount Street plant to make gas its primary fuel

Wisconsin State Journal

In March, the century-old Blount Street power plant Downtown will make natural gas – not coal – its primary fuel. As new generation has been built in recent years – including the natural gas-fueled power plant on the UW-Madison campus that provides steam and chilled water to heat and cool campus buildings, in addition to generating up to 150 megawatts of electricity – the Blount Street plant has been relegated to secondary status.

School pitch looks promising

Wisconsin State Journal

Bold plans for a new kind of middle school in Madison deserve encouragement and strong consideration.

The proposed Badger Rock Middle School on the South Side would run year-round with green-themed lessons in hands-on gardens and orchards. The unusual school would still teach core subjects such as English and math. But about 120 students would learn amid a working farm, local business and neighborhood sustainability center.

2 Wis. volunteers safe in Haiti

Madison.com

Two volunteers from a Milwaukee church group are safe in Haiti after a powerful earthquake. Volunteers at the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukeeâ??s Haiti Project were trying Tuesday and Wednesday to reach two men who had been working in a small village in the mountains near the community of Jeannette, Haiti.

DOJ, Universities Agree to Halt E-Reader Use (PC Magazine)

The Department of Justice has reached agreements with three more universities regarding the use of e-book readers and blind students.

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore. have all agreed not to use the Amazon Kindle DX or any other e-reader until blind students can use the devices as well as sighted students, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Interim registrar named at UW-Madison

Capital Times

A former registrar at UW-Whitewater has been named interim registrar at UW-Madison.

Dan Edlebeck will begin his year-long appointment on Feb. 1, replacing Joanne Berg, registrar and vice provost for enrollment management, according to a release from UW-Madison.

Alleged burglar arrested after break-in, could be tied to other crimes

Capital Times

An alert couple on the cityâ??s west side helped police capture a burglary suspect who could be linked to other break-ins.

“Detectives from both the Madison and University of Wisconsin-Madison police departments were interested in speaking with the suspect about possible involvement in recent burglaries and thefts,” (Madison Police spokesperson Joel) DeSpain said.

Council member, professor, teen leader win King awards

Capital Times

A Madison council member, a retired UW-Madison music professor and a senior at Memorial High School are the 2010 recipients of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awards.

The humanitarian award winners are Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and James Latimer, while the youth leader winner is Jarrel Brandon Luke Montgomery.

Catching up: Where is Ralph Armstrong?

Wisconsin State Journal

Ralph Armstrong, whose convictions for the 1980 rape and murder of a UW-Madison student were overturned in 2005 and charges against him in the case were dismissed in July after he spent almost 30 years in prison, remains in a New Mexico prison on decades-old parole violations.

Armstrong, 57, was transferred in August from Wisconsin to New Mexico after the Dane County district attorneyâ??s office decided not to appeal the dismissal of charges against Armstrong in the death of Charise Kamps.

Shadow of demolition hangs over housing proposal (The Daily Reporter)

A Madison commission memberâ??s caution could unravel a developerâ??s strategy to build on property targeted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Madison developer Otto Gebhardt III is planning a 10-story, student housing project on the north side of Spring Street in Madison. The property is on a block the university identified in its 20-year plan for construction of a new academic building.

Felner to plead guilty (Kenosha News)

Robert Felner, who withdrew from his appointment as University of Wisconsin-Parkside chancellor in June 2008 shortly after being named to the post, is expected to plead guilty Friday to defrauding two universities of $2.3 million.

Three UW campuses among “best values in public colleges”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Three University of Wisconsin campuses have been named among the top 100 best values in public colleges for 2009-â??10 by Kiplingerâ??s Personal Finance. UW-Madison is ranked highest in the state, with a No. 14 ranking nationwide for value. UW-La Crosse is ranked 43rd nationally and UW-Eau Claire is ranked 67th nationwide.

Exelon’s Carbon Advantage (Forbes)

Forbes

Noted: Roweâ??s pragmatism was bred on the dairy farm in Wisconsin where he grew up. He went to a one-room schoolhouse before heading to Madison for both undergraduate and law degrees. He has funded two chairs in history there and is in the process of funding one in virology. “The University of Wisconsin is the only thing I am truly chauvinistic about,” he says.

Arboretum programs don’t slow down in winter

Wisconsin State Journal

While humans battle the elements this time of year, native plants and animals in the UW Arboretum are mounting their own struggle to survive.

On a recent â??Nature of the Winterâ? walk, a handful of visitors to the Arboretum explored the prairies, woodlands and savannas near the visitor center to get a glimpse of the survival strategies. The walk is one of several winter educational programs offered by the Arboretum.

Cough up the records

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin’s medical school should release, as a matter of public record, faculty comments about a proposed conflict-of-interest policy.

That the Journal Sentinel would have to resort to a lawsuit to compel this is a telling comment on the school’s willingness to be transparent on how it arrives at its ethics decisions.

Madison residents help police catch robber

WKOW-TV 27

Madison Police officers thanked four citizens who helped them catch a robber Monday.Police say a UW-Madison student who was on his way to class, a UW Credit Union customer, a woman who was driving her car, and a local bicyclist, all conspired to catch the robber.

‘Odyssey Project’ Seeks To Solve Poverty

WISC-TV 3

A University of Wisconsin program seeks to solve local poverty problems by offering those with past problems a chance at free higher education. The program, known as the “Odyssey Project,” is a free college humanities course for adults near the poverty level that is funded by UW grants and donations. Every year, 30 students go through the program and continue on to other area schools.

UW gets $10 million for nanotechnology

Madison.com

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have won a $10 million federal grant for nanotechnology work. The five-year grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology will go toward using nanotechnology to create a new casting technology for commercial production of aluminum and magnesium nanocomposites.

Kay Plantes: Why not hire in-state architects?

Wisconsin State Journal

Why is Wisconsinâ??s Department of Administration hiring out-of-state contractors when our stateâ??s economy is in crisis? In addition to using a Michigan contractor to demolish Ogg Hall, Iâ??ve learned that design contracts for UW-Madisonâ??s new buildings have also been awarded to out-of-state architects.

Shorewood Hills apartment plan divides village

Madison.com

A developer is asking Shorewood Hills, a lakeside village of mostly single-family homes just west of the UW-Madison campus, to rezone 2.4 acres on University Avenue to build apartments for lower-income renters. But some Shorewood Hills residents say the project would strain the villageâ??s modest police force and other municipal services and be detrimental to its character.

Keep the ball moving

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents took an important and timely step Friday when it unanimously approved UW-Milwaukeeâ??s $50 million plan to develop a new School of Freshwater Sciences.

UWM water school plans move ahead

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukeeâ??s preliminary $50 million plan to develop its new School of Freshwater Sciences now calls for a three-story addition to UWMâ??s Great Lakes WATER Institute, on the cityâ??s south side lakefront.

UWM water school plans move ahead

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukeeâ??s preliminary $50 million plan to develop its new School of Freshwater Sciences now calls for a three-story addition to UWMâ??s Great Lakes WATER Institute, on the cityâ??s south side lakefront. Thatâ??s according to a funding request that the UW System Board of Regents is to review at meetings in Madison on Thursday and Friday.

Kindle Upgraded for the Blind (Wireless Week)

Amazon says it will make the Kindle DX easier to use for visually-impaired individuals by summer 2010. The eReader will be outfitted with an audible menu system and the inclusion of extra large font to allow users who are blind or have limited sight the ability to access books without assistance. The new font will be twice as large as the Kindleâ??s current largest font.

Even in snow’s aftermath, watch for cyclists

WKOW-TV 27

Even with the looming forecast and blizzard warnings, donâ??t be surprised if a hardy soul or two tries to bike in the aftermath of Tuesdayâ??s and Wednesdayâ??s protracted storm.As the snow was falling Tuesday afternoon, we saw plenty of cyclists in the downtown and UW-Madison campus areas.

Bringing PEOPLE together

Badger Herald

Defined as â??the tendency of whites not to think about whiteness or about norms, behaviors, experiences or perspectives that are white-specific,â? the transparency phenomenon of white privilege has negatively impacted the conversations about race, minority and ethnicity issues on campus. This obliviousness to white privilege, and the ignorance towards the role that race plays in the daily lives of minorities, has created the belief that a significant amount of the minorities on campus were admitted solely to reach racial goals.

Amazon’s Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font (AP)

BusinessWeek

Amazon.com Inc. will add two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users. Mondayâ??s announcement comes a month after Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., and the University of Wisconsin-Madison said they would not consider widely deploying the device as an alternative to paper textbooks until Amazon makes it easier for blind students to use. Both universities bought some Kindles to test this fall.

Report: Money short for UW energy-saving projects

Madison.com

A new report says a lack of funding is delaying major energy conservation projects on University of Wisconsin campuses. The UW System report says the easiest and cheapest energy-saving projects have been implemented, and more funding is needed to make additional progress.

Drive for geothermal power heats up on US campuses (AP)

Madison.com

While solar and wind power get most of the headlines, geothermal power is quietly gaining traction on college campuses where energy costs can siphon millions each year from the budget. There are 46 schools divvying up millions in federal stimulus dollars to advance technology that uses the temperature of the Earth, rather than coal-fired power plants, to heat and cool buildings.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which spends about $50 million in climate-control costs a year, is incorporating a geothermal system in a building that opens next fall. The school should recover the $1.25 million cost in 15 to 20 years, said George Austin, the building project manager.

Panel wants more trees for UW-Madison project (The Daily Reporter)

An estimated $34 million dining hall project for the University of Wisconsin-Madison may get snagged in the trees.

The proposed Gordon Commons building has received state approval, but when the project went before Madisonâ??s Urban Design Commission for an informational presentation, some commission members immediately called for more trees to improve aesthetics and safety. â??The unfortunate part of the building is that they have to have a dining hall throughout the construction process,â? said Bruce Woods, commission chairman, â??so the green space wonâ??t happen until the new building is done and the old building can come down.â?

Busta deems benefit a success (The Chetek Alert)

The seventh annual David Busta Basketball Tournament and Silent Auction was Saturday, and Busta feels it was success. Seven years ago, the Busta Benefit started as a way to raise money for spinal cord injury research. All funds are donated to the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Scrapbook: honors, awards

Debbie Crave, vice president at Waterloo’s Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, recently received an Honorary Recognition award from UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Crave, a UW-Madison forestry and horticulture graduate, has spent her career promoting state agriculture products