UW-Madison in the Media

A selection of media coverage about the university and its people.

• Could the moon provide clean energy for Earth? CNN.com July 21, 2011 Gerald Kulcinski, nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin, needs a rare isotope -- helium-3 -- to fuel his research into a fusion reactor. There's plenty of it on the moon, though. "A few years ago we thought we were going back soon, but that's all changed now," he said.
• Economist: Debt Limit Talks Affect Madisonians WISC-TV 3 July 18, 2011 Everyone in south central Wisconsin, from individuals to local and state governments, would hurt if Congress fails to raise the U.S. debt limit, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist said.
• For generation that grew up with Harry Potter, new movie is the big event Wisconsin State Journal July 15, 2011 Quoted: Kathleen Horning, director of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
• Internet Use Affects Memory, Study Finds New York Times July 15, 2011 The widespread use of search engines and online databases has affected the way people remember information, researchers are reporting.
• Failure to raise debt ceiling could impact everyone WKOW-TV 27 July 15, 2011 Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison economist Justin Sydnor.
• Tech and Biotech: UW grads spin success Wisconsin State Journal July 13, 2011 Three recent UW-Madison graduates found out just how quickly the world of social media commerce can work. Corey Capasso, Andrew Ferenci and Dan Reich created a company, Spinback, whose technology includes EasyShare, a system that lets consumers share products and purchases through social media and then lets companies find out how those communications translate into sales.
• Ocean carbon sinks feeling the heat CNN.com July 12, 2011 The ability of oceans to soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide is being hampered by climate change, according to a new scientific study. A fresh analysis of existing observational data taken from locations across the North Atlantic Ocean recorded over a period of almost three decades (1981-2009) has revealed that global warming is having a negative impact on one of nature’s most important carbon sinks. "Warming in the past four to five years has started to reduce the amount of carbon that large areas of the (North Atlantic) Ocean is picking up," said Galen McKinley, lead author and assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Q&A: Bidding goodbye to Biddy Martin Wisconsin State Journal July 11, 2011 In her final days as chancellor, Biddy Martin’s office in Bascom Hall is flooded with well-wishers, news reporters and campus officials with last-minute business.
• UW-Madison names new business school dean Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 11, 2011 After beginning as a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, François Ortalo-Magné will be the next dean of its School of Business.
• Republicans Release Redistricting Maps For State WISC-TV 3 July 11, 2011 Quoted: "I think the question will be what challenge could be posed," University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin said. "Redistricting is in one sense easy to get equal populations and relatively easy to draw it, so they provide minority representation. But beyond that, it’s easy to move the lines for partisan reasons, and generally partisan reasons are not subject to challenge in court where the population and minority representation."
• Universities, company team up to research 'powertrain of the future' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 1, 2011 A wide-ranging partnership between Johnson Controls and the University of Wisconsin will create three energy storage research laboratories in Milwaukee and Madison, in a bid to put the state on the map as a center for development of next-generation batteries. Scientists at Johnson Controls Power Solutions business will work side by side in the labs with engineering students pursuing doctorates at both University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Madison, the company and state officials announced.
• Wisconsin mosquito, tick season starts Green Bay Press-Gazette July 5, 2011 Quoted: But Phil Pellitteri, an entomologist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension in Madison, suggests that complaining about pesky bugs should be discouraged.
• Outgoing chancellor a UW fan for life Madison.com July 5, 2011 University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin shared a big hug on the Kohl Center stage after he received his diploma in May was a regular visitor to the Badgers’ locker room after games and quickly became a favorite of the players and the coaches. She was the campus boss, which can be unnerving to some, but coaches and players felt comfortable around her.
• Editorial: Welcome Back Chancellor WISC-TV 3 June 30, 2011 It sure is nice to have a bench of former chancellors so deep that we can just pluck one from the list of globally respected education leaders to fill the temporary void on the Madison campus.
• UW-Madison seeks stability with David Ward as interim chancellor Wisconsin State Journal June 30, 2011 UW System President Kevin Reilly lured former UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward out of retirement to serve as interim chancellor of the state’s flagship university, an effort to provide an experienced and familiar leader after a period of contentiousness. “He’s someone who can bring people together on campus, who can reach out to the other UW System chancellors and can serve as a very strong advocate for our flagship, land-grant, global institution that is UW-Madison,” Reilly said at a news conference Wednesday at Bascom Hall.
• Dog found in trash bin makes 'miraculous' recovery Wisconsin State Journal June 28, 2011 Braveheart, the emaciated mutt found in a commercial trash bin in Kentucky with mange and worms and covered with sores, is now strong and healthy and virtually unrecognizable after being treated at the UW Veterinary Care Small Animal Hospital and finding a loving home.
• Engineer Simon Chen built strong connection to UW Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 29, 2011 With hindsight - and all history is hindsight - it made sense that Simon K. Chen would write a history of his family in retirement.
• Rob Nixon: Slow Violence Chronicle of Higher Education June 28, 2011 Environmentalists face a fundamental challenge: How can we devise arresting stories, images, and symbols that capture the pervasive but elusive effects of what I call "slow violence"? Climate change, the thawing cryosphere, toxic drift, deforestation, the radioactive aftermaths of wars, oil spills, acidifying oceans, and a host of other slowly unfolding environmental crises confront us with formidable representational obstacles that hinder efforts to mobilize for change.
• UW System sees some budget benefit Wisconsin Radio Network June 21, 2011 The University of Wisconsin System has gotten some of what it wanted from the state budget. The Madison campus will not be spun off, although the issue will be studied. Michael Spector, President of the UW System Board of Regents, said the campuses will have some long sought flexibilities in areas including budgeting and personnel management. “Not everything we wanted in those areas, but certainly a significant amount. I think, the way legislation works, it’s a good start for the next biennium,” he said.
• College architects meet to tour UW-Madison Wisconsin State Journal June 20, 2011 Starting Sunday and ending Friday, some 200 university architects from the United States and Canada will make UW-Madison their latest case study. They will explore the interplay between its buildings, communities and natural settings, organizers said, as they share ideas to build better connections on their own campuses. “Ultimately, what we all do as campus architects is build the stage for all of the activities that take place on a campus,” said Daniel Okoli, university architect at UW-Madison for the past six years.
• Bright, bold Biddy a big loss Wisconsin State Journal June 15, 2011 The UW-Madison chancellor accomplished so much in so little time and will be missed on and off campus.
• Carolyn Martin to Lead Amherst College New York Times June 15, 2011 Carolyn A. Martin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a flagship public research university with 42,000 students, is resigning to become president of Amherst College, a prestigious liberal arts college with 1,750 students.
• UW-Madison Chancellor Announces Resignation WISC-TV 3 June 14, 2011 MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has announced her resignation on Tuesday to become president of Amherst College.
• Chancellor Biddy Martin leaving UW-Madison Wisconsin State Journal June 14, 2011 After suffering a recent defeat in her effort to split UW-Madison from the University of Wisconsin System, Biddy Martin announced Tuesday she will leave the university after three years as chancellor to become president of Amherst College.
• Campus Connection: In letter, Biddy bids adieu Capital Times June 14, 2011 Biddy Martin is leaving her post as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become the next president at Amherst College, a highly regarded liberal arts school of 1,600 students located in Massachusetts. Martin made her announcement in an email sent to the campus community Tuesday morning. She started her post in Madison in September of 2008 after serving as provost at Cornell University.
• Editorial: A First Step For Martin & UW WISC-TV 3 June 8, 2011 It is accurate to say UW Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin did not get everything she wanted with her New Badger Partnership proposal. And that’s too bad because, in fact, she is right.
• Bousquet: China and the United States, A Tale of Two Views on Education Chronicle of Higher Education June 8, 2011 “We will be hiring dozens of new faculty across disciplines. Would you have some Ph.Ds ready?”
• UW discussion needs to be thoughtful, deliberative Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 6, 2011 As the Wisconsin Idea has long been a model for public higher education in this country, it is a propitious time to at once reaffirm and replenish our public commitment. Just over a half-century ago, Helen C. White reaffirmed Wisconsin’s motto of public higher education, calling again for a "continual and fearless sifting and winnowing in the pursuit of truth." Now is the time to reaffirm that creed, seize the moment and re-imagine public higher education both in Wisconsin and across our nation. [A column by Geoffrey Mamerow, a doctoral student in higher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Clifton Conrad is professor of higher education at UW-Madison.]
• UW-Madison to stay in system, with flexibilities for all campuses Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 3, 2011 The state's flagship university will remain part of the University of Wisconsin System, with all public universities receiving deep cuts but also new flexibilities from state rules, under a proposal coming before lawmakers Friday.
• Campus Connection: Some freedoms from state oversight to be granted to all UW campuses Capital Times June 3, 2011 University of Wisconsin System campuses will be granted some freedoms from state oversight on budgeting, personnel, construction and purchasing when the Legislature’s Republican-led budget-writing committee meets later Friday.