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Total solar eclipse: What to know if you’re viewing from Madison

The Capital Times

The total eclipse — which occurs when the moon aligns entirely in its orbit between the sun and the Earth — will begin to be visible in Madison at 12:50 p.m. but will be at maximum coverage at 2:05 p.m., said James Lattis, the director of the University of Wisconsin Space Place.

“The basic astronomy of the eclipse is that the moon comes between us and the sun, and blocks part of the disk or all of the disk of the sun,” Lattis explained. “So if you’re at the right place, that path of totality where the alignment is right for the moon to completely cover the disk of the sun, you get the sight of the total eclipse.”

How sheep could be a key to Wisconsin’s solar energy future

The Capital Times

This spring Alliant Energy and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will break ground on a 2.25 megawatt, roughly 15-acre solar array that will be used to study agrivoltaics at the university’s Kegonsa Research Campus 10 miles southeast of Madison.

Researchers will study the soil and water quality of the solar site, its effect on wildlife, and the feasibility of grazing animals and growing crops among the array, said Josh Arnold, UW-Madison campus energy adviser.

Voting hours extended on UW campus due to poll site issue

The Capital Times

Voting hours have been extended from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus due to a management issue at the polling place earlier Tuesday. The extension was opposed by a lawyer who represents the Wisconsin Republican Party, according to court filing.

Letter | GOP lawmakers aim to deny opportunities at UW

The Capital Times

Letter to the editor: Wisconsin Republican legislators, with one exception, deny the University of Wisconsin staff and programs that help individuals whose economic, cultural, historical and educational backgrounds did not give them the preparations for higher education (“DEI deal votes lead senators to reject two Evers Regent appointees,” March 12).

Universities of Wisconsin, UW-Madison to offer paid parental leave

The Capital Times

The new policies give eligible employees six weeks of paid time off following the birth or adoption of a child. The change comes after UW-Madison faculty and staff lobbied administrators to implement such a policy.

“I’m really happy that we’re in a position to be able to announce this,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin told faculty at a meeting Monday. “This has been something I’ve wanted to bring to conclusion, and there’s been interest in this for a very long time.”

UW-Madison, UW system propose 6-week paid parental leave policies

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin are each proposing a paid parental leave policy granting six weeks of leave for the birth or adoption of a child, following more than a decade of studying its feasibility and increasing pressure from faculty and staff.

UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said Monday that adding paid parental leave allows the university to stay competitive in recruiting graduate students and employees, and catch up to other local private businesses and governmental agencies that already offer it.

Patricia Coffey is a forensic psychologist who loves learning about what makes you tick

Wisconsin State Journal

The forensic psychologist is a faculty member in the UW-Madison Department of Psychology. She not only teaches UW-Madison students pursuing their graduate degrees how to conduct court-ordered psychological evaluations or forensic assessments for those who have been charged with crimes — at times quite violent crimes; she also teaches an introductory psychology course at Oakhill Correctional Institution near Oregon, for which incarcerated people can obtain college credit.

Shelley M. Lagally

Wisconsin State Journal

She believed that further education would offer new opportunities and so she earned, with honors, an MA in Public Policy and Administration with a concentration in bioethics from The LaFollette Institute at UW and immediately accepted a position as a staff member in the office of the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University. Shelley’s charm often won the day in vital ethics deliberations.

Wisconsin football sets up another West Coast trip with home-and-home series

Wisconsin State Journal

The program announced Tuesday that the Badgers will take on the University of California in a home-and-home series in 2029 and 2030. Wisconsin will head to Berkley to face the Golden Bears on Sept. 1, 2029, and Cal will play at Camp Randall Stadium on Aug. 31, 2030. These dates were originally set for matchups against UCLA, but those games were nixed after the Bruins joined the Big Ten.

Richard Davis film looks at the teacher behind the jazz master

The Capital Times

Davis, who moved to Madison in 1977, never rested on his laurels, and didn’t talk much in interviews about a career that included collaborations with Sarah Vaughan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen. Never one to look backwards, Davis preferred to look ahead. He loved to talk about his career in Madison as an educator, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who founded the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists to inspire future generations of musicians.

Robert A. Herbsleb

Wisconsin State Journal

He was employed by the University of Wisconsin Madison Space Science and Engineering Center for over 30 years. Robert received Emeritus status July 20, 2001.

A small, northern Wisconsin college must raise $12 million in 3½ weeks — or face closure

Wisconsin State Journal

Raising the money by the board’s April 3 deadline would give leadership the fiscal stability for the 2024-25 school year to reimagine a “new” Northland with a yet-to-be-seen sustainable model. Without the infusion of cash, the 132-year-old college will be forced to close at the end of the year, displacing hundreds of students and dozens of faculty and staff.

West Madison plan sparks outrage over city’s answers to big question

The Capital Times

To Kurt Paulsen, a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there’s no question the city faces a critical shortage of housing to meet the needs. Paulsen’s research focuses on housing and land use.

“It absolutely is accurate to call it a crisis,” he said. “It’s the basic facts: Jobs are growing really quickly. Lots of young people are moving here. All those things mean housing demand is off the charts.”

Wisconsin Senate approves bills restricting transgender athletes, giving Legislature control over federal funds

Wisconsin State Journal

The Senate also for the first time passed Assembly Joint Resolution 109, a constitutional amendment that’s Wisconsin Republicans’ latest step in their fight against government-run diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Republican lawmakers last year struck a deal requiring the Universities of Wisconsin to restructure its DEI programs, and GOP legislative leaders have said they plan to scrutinize similar programs in state agencies.

Wisconsin Republicans fire 8 more Evers appointees, including regents and judicial watchdogs

The Associated Press

Republicans who control the state Senate fired eight more of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees Tuesday, including two Universities of Wisconsin regents who voted against a deal that limited campus diversity and four judicial watchdogs who wouldn’t commit to punishing liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.

Senate rejects 8 of Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees, including 2 from the UW Board of Regents

Wisconsin State Journal

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday fired eight of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees, including two on the UW Board of Regents whose rejection came after they voted last year against a divisive deal that gives the UW system additional state funding in exchange for scaling back diversity efforts.

3 Wisconsin volleyball players training with Olympic gold medalists

Wisconsin State Journal

National Player of the Year Sarah Franklin, middle blocker Carter Booth and opposite Devyn Robinson are among the 17 collegiate players training in Anaheim, California, through Friday with a scrimmage scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday. They also will get to train with a pair of Olympic gold medalists in outside Jordan Larson, who played at Nebraska, and setter Jordyn Poulter, who played at Illinois.

Wisconsin Senate to vote on regulating AI, giving Legislature control over federal funds

Wisconsin State Journal

The Senate appears likely to fire John Miller and Dana Wachs, two of the six regents to vote late last year against a sprawling, controversial deal struck by UW system President Jay Rothman and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, that gives about $800 million in funding to the UW system in exchange for changes to the public university system’s diversity programming.

UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha is closing in 2025, the fifth branch campus to close in 18 months

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Milwaukee announced the closure Monday, saying it would instead shift to a university center model at Waukesha County Technical College, where UW-Milwaukee will eventually have a physical space on the WCTC campus. UW-Milwaukee will also stop offering associate degrees and end its College of General Studies, the academic department that oversaw both the Waukesha and Washington County campuses.

Alabama court ruling worries Wisconsin IVF patients, providers

The Capital Times

A spokesperson for UW Health — which operates multiple hospitals in the Madison area — told the Cap Times that the health group has heard concern from patients who aren’t sure how the ruling in Alabama may affect access to fertility treatment elsewhere in the country.

“According to the medical director of UW Health Generations, patients have been inquiring about any risk to having their embryos stored and potentially losing their ability to choose what to do with them,” Sara Benzel, a spokesperson for UW Health, wrote in an email to the Cap Times.