According to The Capital Times, Carolyn “Biddy’ Martin is the new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Martin is currently the provost at Cornell University, a position she has held since 2000. Martin earned her doctorate in German literature from UW before and joined the faculity at Cornell in 1985. She is the first chancellor from outside the UW system since Donna Shalala in 1988.

For more information on the new UW chancellor, check out this previous Dane101 article.

When asked the advantage she would provide as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Carolyn “Biddy” Martin cited her inexperience with the UW system.

“A fresh pair of eyes, and a new look at things,” said Martin, the provost at Cornell University. “A less strong sense then people that have been here for longer that things have to be done in the way they have always been done.”

Martin, who received her doctorate in German literature from the University of Wisconsin, has been a faculty member at Cornell since 1985. However, she still has a soft spot for Madison.

Gary Sandefur believes building relationships is key for the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin.

Sandefur is the current dean of the College of Letters and Science, and the the only internal finalists for the chancellor position. He is also the first of the four candidates that will be in town this week to discuss the position.

“A big part of my approach to this job, especially in the first several months would be to try and talk to as many people as I could about what's going on at the university,” says Sandefur.

Sandefur says its important to understand the concerns and needs of people, and “try to think of ways that the university can work with people in Madison and the state to solve some of our common problems.”

The UW-Madison campus was buzzing yesterday with not only an appearance from former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton, but also a heated debate between the the University of Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans. You can read a round-up of Chelsea's visit here and a report on the debate at the Badger Herald. Phil Ejercito was kind enough to provide us with the below photos for this phlog (photo blog). The debate pictures are of College Democrats Chair Oliver Kiefer and College Republicans Chair Sara Mikolajczak. More photos from Phil can be found at his website cfuct.org. Click on them to view larger.

A house fire at 123 North Bedford Street has gutted a home and left one dead. According to news reports from WISC:

This is the second fire in Madison in less than two weeks that has involved student residents.

Starting tonight with the "Transgender Monologues," a series of events aimed at promoting awareness and education about transgender issues will take over the UW campus. Transgender Awareness Week, put on by the UW LGBT Campus Center and a number of student and community organizations, comes at a time when transgender rights have recently been in the national spotlight.

Madison’s own representative, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, recently authored and pushed for an amendment to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that called for "sexual identity," i.e. transgendered people, to be included as something employers could not discriminate against when hiring. While ENDA itself did, happily, pass (though it still faces a threatened veto from President Bush), Baldwin’s amendment didn’t receive enough support from either Democrats or Republicans to make it through.

After a brief lock down the campus area can return to normal after a robbery on Regent Street. The suspect who fled into the UW-Madison Welcome Center has been taken into custody. The robbery resulted in the center and two residence halls being locked down as police searched the area. it is not known if this robbery is connected to the multiple acts of strong armed robberies that have occurred around Madison during the past week. More details here.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Madison’s drinking problem. We have the most binge drinkers in the nation. Though no longer number one, the UW ranks high on the list of top “party schools.” The amount of underage drinkers is the highest in the country. Our city council just passed an ordinance to limit the liquor licenses granted in the downtown area in an effort, successful or not, to curb excessive drinking.

In the midst of it, a few locals have decided to take their own action to address part of the problem: drunk driving. Recognizing the inevitability that some folks are going to drink to excess, Erika Campbell helped to start Bender Defenders, a designated driver program that serves Madison, Middleton, Fitchburg and Monona. The company began operations on September 8th and run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 10PM until after bar time. They’re also available for pre-registered day appointments and things like weddings and parties.

The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 (H.R. 2669) was passed, rather soundly and by a bipartisan vote, last Thursday by the House. The President has even said that he'll sign it — though whether he’ll include one of his fabulous little signing statements remains to be seen.

The thing sounds like a pretty good (and about damn time) bill to me. You can read about it here - http://edlabor.house.gov/micro/ccraa.shtml - but to sum it up, it claims the following actions:

How the mighty have fallen. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, long one of the top contenders (if not thee number one contender) for best party school in the nation based on the Princeton Review's annual survey has completely fallen from the top 20.

In 2005 the Princeton Review named the University of Wisconsin-Madison the number one party school in the country. The method of determination used by the review is a survey of 110,000 college students across the country asking them to rank schools based on "the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day, and the popularity of the Greek system." To the chagrin of University officials in 2005 Madison also ranked near the top in "Lots of Beer," "Lots of Hard Liquor" and "Reefer Madness." In 2006, Madison had a slight drop as a party school, slipping to fourth in the country.

In the last meeting of the year for the UW-Madison Labor Licensing Policy Committee, the Student Labor Action Coalition presented Chancellor John Wiley with an award for being the Sweatshop Chancellor of the Year. SLAC member Molly Glasgow presented Wiley with a trophy and a brief speech indicating that he won the award for his unwillingness to enforce the University's code of conduct which requires that all licensees adhere to minimum labor standards affecting freedom of association, wages, and health and safety.

The two hour meeting focused on how to respond to a letter from Adidas that attempted to address allegations of misconduct. The allegations of misconduct stem from an incident in 2002 where workers in El Salvador were laid off when Hermosa Manufacturing closed. The closing of the factory left 260 workers jobless and with nearly $1 million owed in severance pay and back wages. Adidas claims that they are not responsible for providing back wages or severance pay to the workers because the workers were employed by Hermosa Manufacturing, the subcontractor, and that they paid the money to Hermosa.

"I think Madison has a huge variety of world cuisine, especially downtown and on campus. This is a great opportunity for students and locals to get a taste of the world at a somewhat affordable price." After speaking to former University of Wisconsin-Madison Food Science Club president, and Culinary Institute of America graduate, Michelle Tittl, a growing culinary appreciation by the city's student population is unquestionable.

"Many different ethnic cuisine line State Street and neighboring streets, including Afghan, Indian, and Mediterranean. Though think the culinary scene of Madison is still trying to establish itself and is constantly growing, there are [restaurants] that have made a mark nationally including Harvest, up by the capital, for it’s seasonal tasting menus," Tittl adds.

A fervent passion for all things food is indeed evident when listening to Yvonne Bushland try to decide on her favorite restaurant in Madison. "Buraka has a great curry meal that is similar to the tastes I experienced in Malaysia," Bushland speaks of her past experiences with food and culture, "I love Frita's chips, and the Great Dane has delicious sandwiches." Former University of Wisconsin-Madison food science lecturer (retiring this semester), Bushland has a definite diversity of insight about the food community in Madison.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is without doubt, an extensive asset to the Madison community. Daily, CALS professors and students are participating in research to better agriculture production, crop harvest, food nutrition, and sustainable foods. Established in 1889 CALS functions with three main goals: undergraduate instruction, research and graduate student training, and outreach/extension. The school accomplishes these goals through farm and industry short course classes, undergraduate degrees, numerous internship placements, student organized clubs, a leadership certificate, cooperative extension, and international programs.

I wasn't expecting to make this entry. The plan was to walk home from my bar-b-que on the other side of the Capitol Square, drop off some things, and head out again to take pictures of the debauchery and shenanigans on Mifflin Street. As I passed Cap City Market and got closer to Ground Zero, I had a bitter sweet feeling that the pictures I would be taking were going to be much tamer. Street sweepers were cleaning the streets, only a handful of balconies were crowded, there was very little music thumping, and police officers were tapping people on the shoulder and saying "time to head home." It was 8:45 p.m.