UW-Madison in the Media

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

  • University officials promise TAs tuition remission under budget Badger Herald March 4, 2011 In an effort to recruit top-tier graduate students from around the world, University of Wisconsin officials have offered an assurance that tuition remission for teaching assistants will continue under the new budget proposal.
  • The New Badger Partnership is still good for Wisconsin Idea Badger Herald March 7, 2011 If you have any doubt that now is the time for the New Badger Partnership, turn to the Wisconsin Idea.
  • Surgery Saves Face of Girl With Parry-Romberg Syndrome ABCNEWS.com March 2, 2011 Quoted: After the unsuccessful treatment with methotrexate, Honeycutt found Dr. John Siebert, professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison. Siebert has performed a special type of microsurgical reconstruction on about 120 people with Parry-Romberg Syndrome.
  • Watt's Journey Leads To Bright NFL Future WISC-TV 3 Feb. 28, 2011 INDIANAPOLIS – Dream Big, Work Hard.For J.J. Watt, it’s not just a snappy catchphrase. (Or, you’re following him on Twitter, his signature hashtag of #DBWH.). The former University of Wisconsin defense end is living proof of what you can accomplish when you do both.
  • Sit-ski developed at UW helps skier continue his dream Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 24, 2011 It took a collaborative effort to make Scott Bachmeier feel simultaneously like "death warmed over" and "a rock star." The 49-year-old skier from Madison relished that combination of exhaustion and exhilaration as he pushed himself toward the finish line of the 2010 American Birkebeiner in Hayward. The effort and the cheers wiped away remnants of the depression he felt after a series of neurological and spinal problems left him without use of his legs. As he struggled through the emotional valley, the glimmer that he could ski again, and ski in the Birkebeiner with a sit-ski developed through the University of Wisconsin, provided valuable motivation.
  • 1 in 9 people aged 45-54 is hearing impaired: study Reuters Feb. 22, 2011 A new survey of mostly middle-aged adults reveals that among people aged 45 to 54, one in nine shows signs of hearing impairment. The authors, led by Scott Nash of the University of Wisconsin, determined someone was hearing impaired if at least one ear had trouble hearing various sounds within the range of human speech.
  • Hansen to coach U.S. swimmers Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 10, 2011 University of Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving coach Eric Hansen has been chosen as the head coach of the U.S. women's team at the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China.
  • Private alumna leaves millions to UW Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 14, 2011 The daughter of Czech immigrants, Martha Pavcek lived simply and apparently frugally. She taught in Milwaukee schools for many years and never married. You wouldn’t take her for a multimillionaire. Yet the University of Wisconsin Foundation has just announced that Martha left $2.7 million to the school in her estate.
  • Franco's Faded Vistas Wall Street Journal Feb. 3, 2011 Quoted: Stanley Payne, now professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, uses a lot of historiography and a bit of autobiography to consider Spain’s fate, which has long been held hostage to evocative, distorting myths. Spain may be unique, suggests Mr. Payne, but not for the reasons we think.
  • UW professor watching Egypt Wisconsin Radio Network Feb. 4, 2011 A professor at UW Madison is among those closely watching events in Egypt. Jennifer Lowenstein is a faculty associate in Middle Eastern Studies at UW. She thinks it’s unlikely President Hosni Mubarak can remain in office until September when – he’s said – he won’t seek reelection.
  • Pets treated to cutting-edge therapy at UW vet school Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jan. 27, 2011 Lying on a soft white blanket while waiting to get prepped for his medical treatment, Clyde looked bummed as he softly moaned. It wasn’t clear whether he knew what lay in store for him. Clyde is a basset hound. Like most members of his breed, he always has a "hangdog look." On this day, 10-year-old Clyde was undergoing one in a series of TomoTherapy treatments for the cancerous tumor in his nose. He is one of the first pets to be treated by the relatively new radiation therapy at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, the first veterinary school in the nation to open a TomoTherapy clinic.
  • White House honors UW professor for mentoring Badger Herald Jan. 24, 2011 While the lasting positive effects of having a true mentor are hard to quantify, President Barack Obama’s decision to award a University of Wisconsin professor for his mentoring efforts provides recognition for years of a job done well.
  • Why The GOP Chose Paul Ryan To Respond To Obama National Public Radio Jan. 25, 2011 David Canon, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, seconds the motive. "Paul Ryan is clearly viewed as one of the rising stars of the Republican Party," Canon says.
  • President Obama to Push Jobs & Economy in Wisconsin in First Post State of the Union trip ABCNEWS.com Jan. 26, 2011 Quoted: "I think it’s the Democrats’ nightmare, a state that Obama won quite handily has suddenly switched at all levels," said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "This really puts the fear of God in Democrats that Wisconsin might stay in Republican mode, in which case for the 2012 Obama reelection campaign is particularly frightening."
  • From frozen Lake Mendota, Hongtao Zhou conjures up ice furniture Isthmus Jan. 26, 2011 Hongtao Zhou requires temperatures below freezing through at least the end of this month. An MFA candidate at UW-Madison, he is accustomed to profound chill. He studied furniture design and wood science in Harbin, the northeast Chinese megalopolis renowned for its spectacular ice festival and brutal winters, with January high and low temperatures averaging nine degrees and -12°.
  • Our nation's fear of political complexity Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jan. 20, 2011 Were the Tucson shootings simply an outcome of a single person’s struggle with mental illness or was the shooter driven - at least in part - by the hostile political climate in the U.S.? Most likely it was a combination of both those factors and many others. That doesn’t let anyone in the political arena off the hook. But it does highlight the need for a much more nuanced debate than we’ve had so far about this tragedy. Unfortunately, even commentators who tried to reintroduce some reason to the post-shooting debates by pointing to the problem of mental illness did so by offering just another monocausal explanation and relying on the same rhetorical tools that got us to into this mess in the first place. [A column by Dietram A. Scheufele, professor of life sciences communication at UW-Madison]
  • UW student Colin Tucker balances snowboards and books Isthmus Jan. 19, 2011 Balance. This is the key to Colin Tucker’s pursuit of a pro snowboarding career while working toward an undergraduate degree in legal studies from UW-Madison. Balance is essential to his competition results but also to chasing twin ambitions — one academic, the other sporting — at the same time.
  • Macular degeneration may be on the decline Reuters Jan. 12, 2011 A disabling eye condition that typically strikes in older age may be less common than in the past, suggests a large new study.Researchers estimate that macular degeneration -- which involves damage to the center of the retina, making it difficult to see fine details -- affects less than seven percent of the U.S. population aged 40 and older.
  • The Most Buzzed-About University? Wisconsin Time NewsFeed Jan. 6, 2011 The Badgers may have lost the Rose Bowl Saturday, but they can still boast that they’re the coolest school in America. The University of Wisconsin at Madison beat out the University of Chicago and Harvard to be the top national university by internet brand equity, according to the Global Language Monitor’s 2011 TrendTopper MediaBuzz internet rankings.
  • Where the Fortune 500 CEOs Went to College U.S. News and World Report Jan. 3, 2011 UW-Madison ranks 4th in the number of Fortune 500 CEOs as graduates. Wisconsin stood out among its state school peers, granting 17 degrees to the CEOs, which put the school fourth overall, despite having an average U.S. News rank of 33 for the school’s undergraduate, business, and law programs. In the Fortune analysis, Wisconsin finished ahead of highly ranked schools like Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and Northwestern University. 
  • Harvard, Yale beaten in university brand survey Reuters Dec. 31, 2010 The University of Wisconsin at Madison beat storied institutions like Harvard and Yale in terms of brand presence on the Internet in 2010, according to a survey released on Thursday.
  • Huge Wisconsin contingent witnesses Rose Bowl 'heartbreaker' Wisconsin State Journal Jan. 3, 2011 As the sun sank low behind the Rose Bowl, so did the hopes of every University of Wisconsin football fan. Texas Christian’s 21-19 victory finally silenced the Badger Nation, which had dominated the stadium in both size and noise throughout the game. "It was a heartbreaker," said Mark Braden, 58, of Lake Geneva, making his fifth trip to the Rose Bowl.
  • Sales are rosy for Rose Bowl gear Wisconsin State Journal Dec. 31, 2010 The Rose Bowl remains a gift that keeps giving, even in the days after Christmas.
  • Badger fans turn out by the thousands for Party on the Pier in Santa Monica Wisconsin State Journal Dec. 31, 2010 SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The fans gathered by the tens of thousands before a stage framed by the Santa Monica Pier, the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean.
  • UW football: Watt bigger than life on and off the field Madison.com Dec. 28, 2010 LOS ANGELES - A couple of times a semester, University of Wisconsin junior defensive end J.J. Watt returns to Pewaukee to visit the schools he used to attend. It’s not unusual for a college athlete to go back to his high school and visit his former coaches or speak to the athletes. But Watt goes beyond that. Watt likes to visit former teachers and quietly slip into the back of classrooms, to see how long he goes unnoticed, although it’s not as easy lately with his rocketing fame.
  • Boost for the Humanities Inside Higher Education Dec. 22, 2010 Tyche, the Greek goddess of chance, smiled on the University of Wisconsin at Madison this week. The university announced Monday that it had received a $20 million grant -- $10 million of which will come from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with the remainder matched by the state of Wisconsin over much of the next decade. The money will allow Wisconsin to hire new faculty members and support postdoctoral and graduate students in the humanities. None of the disciplines within the humanities have been specifically designated to receive money, save one: a $2.5 million endowed chair in ancient Greek philosophy.
  • Got a cold? Study says echinacea won't help much USA Today Dec. 21, 2010 The largest study of the popular herbal remedy echinacea finds it won’t help you get better any sooner. The study of more than 700 adults and children suggests the tiniest possible benefit — about a half-day shaved off a week-long cold and slightly milder symptoms. But that could have occurred by chance. (The study was led by Bruce Barrett, School of Medicine and Public Health.)
  • What class rank says about health New York Times Dec. 17, 2010 In a fascinating new report, investigators found that it is not just the number of degrees or years of education that make a difference, but another factor — class rank.The findings come from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has been following more than 10,000 people who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957.
  • The Mowercycle Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dec. 17, 2010 The ideas are grabby, even if they never make it to the marketplace: a pedal-powered lawnmower, a snorkel device that allows the user to remain underwater for up to five minutes, a wheelchair suitable for ice and snow, and powered windows for someone with disabilities. Those were some of the projects judged Wednesday in the third annual Engineering, Mechanics and Aeronautics design competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • Report finds dramatic changes in bars, restaurants after smoking ban Wausau Daily Herald Dec. 16, 2010 The report, published by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, measured air quality in more than 200 Wisconsin bars and restaurants both prior to and after the ban’s enactment.