Vol. 37, No. 115, June 1, 2006     /     Log Archive

This is the LOG Newsletter for June 1, 2006. June is Dairy Month in Wisconsin, so eat some cheese tonight, or at least give a “thumbs up” to any cows you might pass on the way home. June is also National Clothes Hangers Month. We just made that up, but we seriously urge you to stop at the Phoenix Bookstore to pick up your special gift (see item below). In news today:

Institute for Learning Partnership awards grants for local projects
The Institute for Learning Partnership at UW-Green Bay has awarded 13 grants totaling nearly $60,000 to support projects designed to improve teaching and learning in area schools. Recipients for the 2006-07 grant cycle — listed by school, school district or agency, and project director — are:
• Algoma High School, Annette Walaszek, $4,570, for “Soil and Water ­ Developing a Relevant Chemistry Curriculum for Northeastern Wisconsin.”
• Beecher-Dunbar-Pembine School District, Maureen Schiefelbein, $4,955, for “Designing Professional Development for Teachers.”
• Brillion Public Schools, Sally White, $2,999.50, for “PROMISE,” a reading and mentoring program.
• CESA 8, David Kwiatkowski, $10,000, for “Stand in the Gap Year Three P.I.T. Project.”
• Clintonville Public School District, Debra Manske, $1,500, for “Peer Tutoring to Increase Student Achievement in Writing.”
• Clintonville Public School District, Robert Arkens, $3,000, for “Thinking in the Content Areas: Secondary Literacy.”
• Denmark School District, Deb Kralovetz, $1,685, for “SOS: Sharing our Stories.”
• Green Bay Area Public School District, Denise McFarlin, $10,000, for “Everyone’s Invited: Discovering Educational Enrichment.”
• Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, Green Bay, Angela Hager and Joan Beyerl Pierner, $8,717, for “Ready for Kindergarten! Program.”
• Southwest High School, Green Bay, Wade Jepsen, $2,500, for “Children’s Cultural Gardens: ‘Strength in Diversity.’”
• Washington Middle School, Green Bay, Jolayne Ollmann, $3,906, for “Character Education and Achievement.”
• Oneida Nation High School, Becky Nutt, $2,590, for “Environmental Education ­ Pathway to Proficiency.”
• Westwood Elementary School, West De Pere, Lois Lensmeyer, $3,000, for “Where Have All the Boys Gone? Reading Motivation.”
For more details on individual projects, click http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2006june.htm#partnership

Volunteers will mark 20 years of bird surveys June 9-11
Volunteers are invited to join in the 20th annual Nicolet National Forest Bird Survey — the longest continuous volunteer monitoring program in the U.S. National Forest System — the weekend of June 9-11, according to Prof. Bob Howe, one of the originators of the project. The survey of the northern half of the forest will be based at Camp Nicolet on Franklin Lake east of Eagle River. Howe says volunteers need not be identification experts. Volunteers can perform tasks such as navigating, keeping time, and recording data while improving their birding skills. The group will assemble the afternoon and evening of June 9 with actual surveys taking place from 4:45 to 9 a.m. on June 10 and 11.

Evening program will celebrate 20 years
On Saturday evening June 10, the group assembled at Camp Nicolet will celebrate the longevity of the volunteer monitoring effort. Guest speaker Chris Wood of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is project manager for eBird and a birding tour guide. Howe will present an illustrated history of the 20-year survey summarizing key findings and future applications of the data. A highlight will be dedication of three Important Bird Areas (IBA) within the Nicolet National Forest. The IBA program is part of an international effort to identify important habitats for bird conservation.

Here’s how to get details
Details on the schedule, location, lodging and other information about the Nicolet National Forest Bird Survey are available at http://www.uwgb.edu/birds/nnf/ Also, Howe at extension 2272 or hower@uwgb.edu or Mike Peczynski at (715) 479-2827 can answer questions.

Rohrer, an attorney, joins Athletics as assistant A.D.
Dan Rohrer has been named the assistant athletics director for compliance and student services, replacing Amanda Braun who left for other professional opportunitites. Rohrer comes to Green Bay from Marquette University where he had been employed as an assistant in the athletics compliance office since January while working toward the Juris Doctor he earned this April. He will oversee institutional and NCAA compliance standards and will coordinate life skills awareness programs as well as other support services which assist in the professional and personal development of UW-Green Bay student-athletes. Rohrer earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from UW-Madison in 2003. He worked in the compliance office of his alma mater during the summer of 2005 and also has experience working as an assistant in a pair of law offices. While an undergrad at UW-Madison, Rohrer was employed in the office of Sen. Carol Roessler.

Need any clothes hangers? Bookstore offers unbelievable ‘sale’
The Phoenix Bookstore has 3,000 plastic hangers to unload, and they’d like you to help. Here are the details:
    Empty Hangers ‘Sale’!
    Special Pricing, today and every day:
    One Bundle (of 10 hangers): 50 cents
OR
    Two Bundles of hangers: Free!
Made expendable by the Bookstore’s purchase of new, wooden models, these beautiful clear plastic hangers accessorize beautifully with any outfits or closet color schemes, or so we’re told. Manager Pat Sorelle says there is no limit on quantities… he just doesn’t want to feed local landfills with them… if you want all 3,000 hangers, make him an offer (remembering, of course, that he can’t go lower than “free.”)

International Projects’ Harris advises award-winning diplomacy team
Jay Harris, UW-Green Bay coordinator of international projects, helped coach a group of “young globalists” from Green Bay Southwest High School that recently received recognition from the U.S. State Department. The Southwest team, competing with 305 teams from 46 countries, tied for Third Place in the Gold Award level of the Doors to Diplomacy competition. The State Department, in conjunction with Global SchoolNet, sponsored the competition to recognize student-created Web projects that best teach others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. Harris brought the students together with national speakers at the Citizen Diplomacy Summit at UW-Green Bay earlier this year. To learn more about the competition and the Southwest team’s “Cosmopolitan Collaboration” project,click http://www.globalschoolnet.org/gsh/doors/winners.html#Platinum%20Prize%20 Winner .

Albom appearance at Weidner canceled due to scheduling conflict
The Weidner Center announced today that the appearance of bestselling author Mitch Albom at the Weidner, scheduled for Sunday night (June 4), has been canceled due to a late-breaking scheduling conflict. There is no need for those with tickets for the Albom event to return their tickets to the Weidner Center Ticket Office. Refunds will be processed automatically. Contact the Weidner Center Ticket Office if you have questions. The Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. The phone numbers are 465-2217 or (800) 328-TKTS.

Teens can learn Spanish this summer at UW-Green Bay
Openings remain for students entering grades 7 through 12 to learn Spanish or improve their Spanish skills at UW-Green Bay’s Spanish Immersion and Culture Camp July 30 through August 4. The camp is directed by Rosa Nelson, English as a Second Language coordinator for the Gibraltar School District and a former Spanish instructor at UW-Green Bay. Click http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2006may.htm#Spanishcamp

Summer camps offer jazzy options
Students entering grades 8 through 12 in fall have two different opportunities to learn and perform jazz music this summer at UW-Green Bay. Those interested in vocal performance can sign up for Vocal Jazz, Blues and Gospel Choir Camp scheduled from June 25 through 30. Instrumentalists can enroll in Jazz Ensemble Camp July 9 through 14. Click http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2006may.htm#jazzcamps

Editorial calls for Barrows reinstatement
With regard to media attention to the Paul Barrows saga, coverage has now come full circle. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel — which reported early and often on the UW-Madison administrator, allegations of misconduct, and the public relations fallout — is now observing that the whole thing was “overblown.” An editorial calls for reinstating Barrows to a top-level position now that the allegations seem to have “crumbled to dust.” Click http://www.jsonline.com/story/index. aspx?id=428412. .

Article says Madison upswing in academic staff followed research boom
The number of employees with “academic staff” status at UW-Madison has grown greatly in recent years, and a newspaper article says many of the privately funded positions were created to free faculty members to devote additional time to research. Click http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2006/05/30/0605290388.php

Doyle signs tuition waiver for vets, but funding remains issue
The bill was signed on Memorial Day. It’s a generally popular idea, but UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System officials said they are concerned that a lack of additional funding from the state Legislature to finance a tuition waiver for veterans may result in additional costs to other students. Click http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=429775

Riley cites fairness issue
No one wants to be perceived as questioning important new benefits for military veterans, and UW System President Kevin Reilly has been extremely diplomatic in talking about how state schools will fund the initiative. “The argument that makes sense to me is people who serve in the armed forces are not just serving other students,” Reilly told a Madison newspaper, comparing the desirability of GPR funding to a tuition-funded plan. “They are serving all the taxpayers of the state and therefore in this kind of situation it seems that taxpayers ought to step up.” Click http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2006/05/30/0605300265.ph

And, from Racine, a similar view
An editorial in the Racine newspaper frames it this way: “There’s nothing quite as snakey as grandly offering to treat someone to a nice meal out and then forgetting your wallet.” Click: http://www.journaltimes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=5971

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