Category: UW-Madison Related

Entrepreneur magazine lists Madison, Wisconsin as one of the Top Ten best places to be an entrepreneur in its’ August issue. The writer, Jason Daley referred to Madison as “The Diversifer” for moving beyond the cities traditional base of state government, UW-Madison, and agriculture. The article points out that Madison has expanded to grow businesses in the biotech, healthcare, and software industries.

Just when you think driving on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus couldn’t get any worse, it will.

The newest headache for motorists starts Thursday, when the westbound on-ramp from Highland Avenue onto Campus Drive/University Avenue is shut down for about three weeks.

To the Editor:

Tom Wolfe says that now is the time to send humans to Mars and beyond, and rejects sending robots in our place because they have such a tiny fraction of our brainpower.

Heâ??s got it the wrong way around. The dangers of space travel will make it prohibitively expensive until we can build spacecraft with brains as good as ours. We will have artificial brains superior to ours sometime during this century, and their incredible productivity and skills will make space travel affordable.

Ambitious human space travel should wait for smart robots.

Bill Hibbard
Stoughton, Wis., July 19, 2009

The writer is an emeritus senior scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin.

A 19-year-old Madison woman doing her laundry was startled last week when she saw a man outside videotaping her.

The incident happened about 11 p.m. July 15 in the 100 block of West Gilman Street.

Just when you think driving on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus couldn’t get any worse, it will.

The newest headache for motorists starts Thursday, when the westbound on-ramp from Highland Avenue onto Campus Drive/University Avenue is shut down for about three weeks.

Madison city officials are cracking down on crowd control at some downtown bars and restaurants.

The Madison fire marshal said that the new effort is all about increasing public safety in public places, but the initiative is limited to a series of bars.

Some of the 12 establishments, like Johnny O’s and Madison Avenue on University Avenue and the Kollege Club off State Street, have already been under the microscope by police for various problems. Others, including like the Nitty Gritty on Frances Street, haven’t had alcohol license issues.

Sixty-four red and white Terrace-style chairs were stolen from a courtyard outside UW-Madisonâ??s Grainger Hall Thursday night, according to the UW-Madison Police Department.

Grainger Hall is on the 900 block of W. Johnson Street and home to the business school.

Someone stole 64 red and white Terrace-style chairs from UW-Madisonâ??s Grainger Hall Thursday night, according to the UW-Madison Police Department.

The City of Madison Fire Department is releasing more details about a gas leak Thursday afternoon that forced the evacuation of a few buildings.

Firefighters were called to the UW campus around 12:35 p.m. for a report of a natural gas leak on the corner of Johnson and Mills Streets.

They evacuated three buildings, including the Chemistry and Education Science buildings and one residential building.

A July 14 article in the Wisconsin State Journal explained that the UW Hospital’s managing oncology pharmacist had left the pharmacy in January and may face criminal charges.

From 1998 through mid-2006, Joe Theisen provided first my husband, then both of us, with efficient and compassionate service.

He made a very difficult situation as simple and pleasant as he could.

The Madison Fire Department said a natural gas leak in downtown Madison prompted authorities to close roads and temporarily evacuate some buildings Thursday.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth said the gas leak occurred at 12:35 p.m. in the area of Johnson and Mills streets on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

A white male on a moped was struck by an oncoming car at the corner of Park St and Dayton St at approximately 7:31 p.m. Thursday.

The victim was taken away by paramedics. It is unclear if he is a student. Madison Police Department Sgt. Galen Wiering said the moped user was not wearing a helmet when struck, but said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Wiering said the victim has been identified but did not disclose the personâ??s name.

UW-Madison officials say providing the large amounts of money asked for by the state may not have an immediate impact on students, as most of this money will come from reserve funds.

According to Darrell Bazzell, UW-Madison vice chancellor, the state asked for a total of $2.2 million from UW-Madison for financial aid after Gov. Jim Doyle signed the 2009-â??10 state budget.

MADISON, Wis. — Four employees of a consulting firm billed more than $200,000 apiece in five months for work on a University of Wisconsin System information technology project.

Another 10 employees of Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group charged $100,000 or more for services on the project to install a new payroll system.

After more than three hours of discussion, Madisonâ??s Alcohol License Review Committee late Wednesday delayed for a month a recommendation on whether to issue a liquor license to a controversial proposal for a 900-capacity restaurant and banquet facility in the heart of Downtown.

The lives of a couple who were divorcing after almost 32 years of marriage ended in a murder-suicide Tuesday in McFarland and Madison.

Police believe Robert J. Beaulieu, 61, of 1126 Moorland Road, shot himself Tuesday at his Madison apartment after killing his wife, Shereen C. Beaulieu, 51, with one shot to the head at her McFarland apartment. The couple filed for divorce June 19 after several years of separation.

Shereen C. Beaulieu had been working in administrative support of research grants at the UW-Madison Graduate School since January 2007.

NBC-15 learned tonight that Shereen was a UW-Madison employee as a Grant Contract Specialist, helping faculty members submit applications for funding.

Her boss says Shereen was described as a generally happy person who will be missed.

“We sent home a number of people because they were so upset and needed a place that was quiet and begin to deal with this,” said Kim Moreland, Shereen’s co-worker. “But you don’t replace her. I think that we all believe that she had tremendous potential and that she would be in this department working with us for a long time.”

The Dane County coroner has ruled the deaths of a separated couple in McFarland and in Madison Tuesday evening were an apparent murder-suicide.

Preliminary autopsy findings indicate 51-year-old Shereen C. Beaulieu died from a gunshot wound, and her husband, 61-year-old Robert J. Beaulieu died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

UW-Madison officials said Shereen Beaulieu was a well liked staff member and grants specialist with a university graduate program. “She was a model employee whose personal impact and professional contributions to this office are already missed,” manager Stephanie Gray of Research and Sponsored programs said.

The Dane County coroner has ruled the deaths of a separated couple in McFarland and in Madison Tuesday evening a murder-suicide.

Preliminary autopsy findings indicate 51-year-old Shereen C. Beaulieu died from a gunshot wound, and her husband, 61-year-old Robert J. Beaulieu, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

….UW-Madison records list the woman as an employee with the university’s graduate school program.

President Obama on Tuesday announced his intention to nominate former Peace Corps volunteer Aaron Williams to run the federal agency.

Mr. Williams, who speaks fluent Spanish, graduated from Chicago State University and has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin.

The kind of shaky handheld footage that is a hallmark of home movies has become popular with Hollywood directors in recent years. But new software means that handheld cameras need no longer give wobbly results.

Computer scientists at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and software giant Adobe have developed a technique that mixes 3D reconstruction with optical illusion to turn distinctive wobble of handheld camera footage into the smooth glide of a Hollywood tracking shot.

An autistic 15-year-old boy was helped from Lake Mendota near the 3400 block of Lake Mendota Drive in Shorewood Hills this morning by Dane County Sheriffâ??s Marine and Trail Deputies and UW-Madison Lifesaving.

Since Sunday eight beaches in Madison have closed because of potentially toxic blue-green algae. The latest beach, the Memorial Union. Blue-green algae isn’t uncommon this time of year. But, it’s a problem public health officials are running into more frequently.

“It looks like you might die jumping in there if you swallowed some of that,” Erik Macaulay was taking one last trip around Lake Mendota before he headed back to Salt Lake City Monday afternoon.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison research employee charged with possession of child pornography appeared in Dane County Circuit Court Friday.

The court entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Sidney Gullens, 40.

Gullens was charged in May with two counts of possession of child pornography.

A large oak tree toppled Friday morning into the path of a car on Oregon’s Main street, crushing and killing the car’s driver, a UW researcher in the physics department.

Authorities said the victim was Roch Kendrick, 46, of New Glarus.

The tragic news is still sinking in for those who knew Roch Kendrick.

The only thing harder to believe than how it happened, who it happened to.

The scene is still hard to believe for those who were there. The accident is even tougher to comprehend.

A UW-Madison researcher was killed when a large part of a tree fell on his car as he was driving through strong winds in the village of Oregon early Friday.

Roch D. Kendrick, 46, of New Glarus, was pronounced dead just after 9 a.m. by the Dane County Coroner’s Office after the accident about 45 minutes earlier in the 400 block of North Main Street.

Kendrick was a “vibrant person who was incredibly sharp, knowledgeable, well-spoken and incredibly bright,” said Cam Choy, an art professor at UW-La Crosse who knew Kendrick socially. In 2001, Kendrick used his experience working with molten iron to help Choy create an annual event for artists at UW-La Crosse.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison says a new agreement with Google will expand public access to its library collection.

The university says readers across the country will be able to preview its books for free and buy access to the full texts online.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Google have expanded their agreement to make more of the university’s huge collection of books available to the public, researchers and libraries and other universities.

The expanded project came about when Google reached a settlement with a broad class of authors and publishers in 2008 to put their works online.

It’s been two years since 22-year-old Kelly Nolan’s body was found in a wooded area south of Madison.

Two years later, Madison police are actively investigating the crime: with two full-time detectives on the case.

UW-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan was working in Madison for the summer when she vanished in June of 2007, after a night out with friends.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is expanding its relationship with Google and its online book search.

The university began working with Google in 2006 to digitize documents and historical materials in the university’s collection and make them available online.

So far, about 200,000 works are searchable.
The new agreement would make even more books available and allow purchased access to view the entire text of a copyrighted book.

Six accomplished University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni have been named to the board of directors of the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Turns out Austin King, the progressive activist who became Madison City Council president at age 24, was only getting started.

Now, at 28, after two years in New Orleans, heâ??s headed back to school, earning scholarships at New York Universityâ??s School of Law and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In Madison, King often was at the center of action, fighting for social justice causes while a UW-Madison student.

UW-Madison students will see a tuition increase of $618 a year under rates proposed by UW System President Kevin Reilly this afternoon.

Madison, a liberal college town that doubles as the capital of a politically complicated state, pulls its disparate elements together into a spirited reality all its own, a funky amalgam of hard-partying students, socially conscious activists, sports fans, outdoor warriors, politicos from both sides of the aisle, artists, foodies and more. Long pigeonholed as a hotbed for frat parties and activism, Madison has a vibrant but much more tempered side brimming with arts, culture and food. In a city with so many types to keep happy, itâ??s impossible not to find something that suits your fancy.

Before venturing into Madisonâ??s nightlife nine years ago as a UW-Madison student, Justin Karter and a friend considered where to start among the cityâ??s many clubs geared toward the college-age crowd. The choices were as plentiful as options on a drink menu.

Karterâ??s friend considered their options. â??Wouldnâ??t it be cool,â? he said, â??to see the bar scene before we went out?â?

Nitty Gritty owner Marsh Shapiro has sold 400,000 hamburgers and has been in business in downtown Madison for 40 years.

So, he said he thinks it’s time to move on, a decision that has prompted him to list his popular restaurant near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus for sale.

University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff were given the right to form unions with collective bargaining powers under the state budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle. Or were they? “This is all getting a little frustrating,” David Ahrens, who holds an academic staff position at UW-Madison, told the Cap Times Tuesday afternoon. “It’s turning into a bittersweet event.”

Help people get to where they want to go on Picnic Point so they donâ??t go where they shouldnâ??t.

Thatâ??s the smart strategy UW-Madison is proposing for the cherished peninsula that curves nearly a mile into Lake Mendota.

The public should support the Picnic Point improvement plan and thank the Ebling Charitable Trust for covering the estimated $750,000 expense.

Governor Doyle praised lawmakers for timely work as he signed a state budget which resolves A $6.6 billion deficit with spending cuts, state worker furloughs and lay offs, and tax and fee increases.

Doyle said he defied pundits by balancing the books without raising the state sales tax, nor hiking the income tax for the middle class.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed the state’s two-year budget on Monday, but not before using his partial veto power to block various measures.

State lawmakers gave final approval to the $62 billion spending plan early Friday evening. The budget closes a record $6.6 billion shortfall that was brought on because state agencies’ spending requests outpace projected revenue.

For the first time since 1977, Wisconsin’s state budget has been signed into law before the end of the fiscal year.

Governor Jim Doyle signed the budget bill Monday morning during a ceremony at the Executive Residence. Doyle says the $62 billion spending plan protects his top priorities, while making some of the deepest cuts ever in state history.

While Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed items in the state budget, at least one legislator was protesting a university decision to deny a UW-Madison student group funding.

Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, a group that advocates for smaller government to solve environmental problems, was denied funding last year by a UW-Madison student government committee in charge of doling out student fees.

They were one of a number of groups â?? including Vets for Vets, Engineers Without Borders, the Legal Information Center, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council â?? that lost funding last year because of stricter criteria.

Here are some interesting tidbits that I’ve been sitting on. Just thought I’d share them with you.

***According to a UW-Madison press release, a university biomedical engineer and colleagues have developed a method that — applied in MRI scans of the breast — could spare some women with increased breast cancer risk the pain and stress of having to endure a biopsy of a questionable lump or lesion.

*** The Daily Camera is reporting that the University of Colorado might start asking fans at Buffs football games to text-message donations to the school.

University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff were given the right to form unions with collective bargaining powers under the state budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle. “The right for faculty and academic staff to unionize is in there,” said University of Wisconsin System spokesperson David Giroux.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A University of Wisconsin-Madison club says the school cut its funding because it disagrees with the group’s conservative stance on global warming and other issues.

Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow believes environmental issues are better handled by the free market, not by government interference.

Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday vetoed 81 items worth $10 million out of the two-year $62 billion state budget.

Doyle announced the vetoes the same day he signed into law the new budget, which plugs a record $6.6 billion shortfall. It marks the first time since 1977 that a state budget has passed the Legislature and been signed into law before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

Doyle’s vetoes leave intact most of the major parts of the budget deal reached by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, including a new 75-cent tax on cigarettes and a 75-cent monthly fee on all phone users.

After years of trying, it is likely UW System employees will be allowed to form unions under the next state budget, but it wonâ??t come for free.

UW System officials estimated that they would need to hire 32 staffers at a cost of $2.2 million annually to negotiate and administer collective bargaining agreements for UW faculty and academic staff, according to a May report by the stateâ??s Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The estimate includes an assumption that there would be 30 separate collective bargaining units across the UW System for some 20,000 employees.

My grandson is a student at UW-Madison. He had to be at his summer job painting houses last Monday at 8 a.m. so he had no opportunity to get on his computer at 8:30 a.m. to apply for football tickets when they went on sale.

In her review of Anne Nelsonâ??s â??Red Orchestraâ? (June 7), Dagmar Herzog chose Libertas Schulze-Boysen to represent members of the German resistance executed by the Nazis. Another victim of interest to American readers was her comrade Mildred Fish Harnack, who was also beheaded in Berlinâ??s Plötzensee prison. She was a University of Wisconsin graduate who taught literature in Germany after marrying Arvid Harnack (also executed) and was the only United States citizen executed on Hitlerâ??s personal orders. A school in former East Berlin is named for her.

A judge has ruled in favor of the Journal Sentinel and several other media outlets that had been involved in a legal battle over records in the case of a murdered University of Wisconsin-Madison student.

Dane County must pay attorney fees and court costs to the outlets, which sought the release of 911 tapes and other records in the case of Brittany Zimmermann, according to the decision Friday by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard G. Niess.

Gov. Doyle’s office says he is expected to sign the fiscal year 2009-2011 state budget tomorrow at the Executive Mansion.

If this goes through, it would be the first time a budget has been completed on time since 1977.

A budget that closes the biggest deficit in Wisconsin history with tax increases, one-time federal stimulus cash, cuts in aid for schools and local governments, and furloughs for state workers was passed by the state Senate early Friday.

Noted: Thankfully the acceptance letter from the University of Wisconsin-Madison arrived shortly after (in retrospect a fantastic school that in every aspect is as good and in many ways a much better university experience).

The first road cycling course proposed for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid began in the city’s suburbs and wound its way through some hilly terrain before building to a big finish downtown in the heart of the Olympic village.

It was roundly rejected as being too easy.

That sent former professional cyclist and Chicago-area resident Robbie Ventura back to the drawing board.

A former UW-Madison student who is serving an eight-year federal prison sentence for jamming Madison police radios in 2003 could face child pornography charges after police on Wednesday finally cracked open encrypted files found on his computerâ??s hard drive.

Rajib K. Mitra, 31, who was convicted of interfering with emergency communications on Halloween weekend in 2003, allegedly stored child pornography on his computer, according to a search warrant filed Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court.

After more than twelve hours behind closed doors, Senate and Assembly democrats released their final version of the budget to the public.

The conference committee met at 8:30 Thursday night– they were scheduled to meet at 8 am to take up the differences between the assembly and senate.

Major resolutions include: no new tax on oil companies, and no driver’s card for illegal immigrants.

Closed door budget negotiations by Democratic legislative leaders come in for harsh criticism, from Senate Minority Leader Scott Fizgerald Thursday night. Fitzgerald said the secrecy was far more extreme than anything the GOP ever did while in the majority. “I don’t ever remember somebody going into . . . that office over there, and not coming out day after day after day, and not coming out with no word on what was being done,” Fitzgerald said to Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker. “I don’t remember that, maybe you do.”

Perks that private companies once offered employees, such as retirement fund matches and generous raises, are a thing of the past, at least until we emerge from this recession. Why should state government operate any differently, especially one saddled with a two-year, $6.6 billion deficit? Specifically, why should it continue to pay the entire contribution to employees’ retirement funds?

A budget agreement reached in secret by Democratic leaders of the state Legislature is expected to be made public on Thursday.

A bipartisan conference committee was expected to vote on the plan in the morning before it heads to the full Senate in the afternoon. The committee met for the first time Wednesday night, but Democrats refused to let Republicans offer any changes to the budget.