Dispatches
Conspiracy in the Classroom
Why is the UW letting a 9/11 denier teach students?
This fall, Kevin Barrett ’81, MA’98, PhD’04 will tell a class of UW-Madison students things that many people consider outrageous — so outrageous, in fact, that some say he shouldn’t be allowed to discuss them in a classroom at all.
Barrett, a part-time lecturer hired to teach a course titled Islam: Religion and Culture, is among a fringe group of conspiracy theorists who believe that U.S. government officials orchestrated the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A converted Muslim and a former UW teaching assistant, he ignited a furious controversy after appearing on a conservative talk radio show in June to air his theory that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers was “an inside job,” intended to hasten a long-term war in the Middle East.
Barrett’s views — and his declared intention to discuss September 11 conspiracy theories as part of his course — have drawn the ire of Wisconsin lawmakers and others who say he has no business teaching UW-Madison students. Sixty-one of the 131 members of the state legislature signed a letter decrying Barrett’s views as “academically dishonest” and demanding that the university fire him.
“The fact that Mr. Barrett uses his position at UW-Madison to add credibility to his outlandish claims is an unacceptable embarrassment to the people of Wisconsin and the UW System,” said Steve Nass, a Republican state representative who has led the call for Barrett’s dismissal. He and other legislators have threatened budget cuts to the UW System if administrators do not terminate Barrett’s one-course contract, which will pay him a little more than eight thousand dollars.
But university officials refused to do so, fueling a fierce and at times bitterly contentious debate about who — and what — deserves a place in UW-Madison’s curriculum.
This fall, Kevin Barrett ’81, MA’98, PhD’04 will tell a class of UW-Madison students things that many people consider outrageous — so outrageous, in fact, that some say he shouldn’t be allowed to discuss them in a classroom at all.
Barrett, a part-time lecturer hired to teach a course titled Islam: Religion and Culture, is among a fringe group of conspiracy theorists who believe that U.S. government officials orchestrated the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A converted Muslim and a former UW teaching assistant, he ignited a furious controversy after appearing on a conservative talk radio show in June to air his theory that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers was “an inside job,” intended to hasten a long-term war in the Middle East.
Barrett’s views — and his declared intention to discuss September 11 conspiracy theories as part of his course — have drawn the ire of Wisconsin lawmakers and others who say he has no business teaching UW-Madison students. Sixty-one of the 131 members of the state legislature signed a letter decrying Barrett’s views as “academically dishonest” and demanding that the university fire him.
“The fact that Mr. Barrett uses his position at UW-Madison to add credibility to his outlandish claims is an unacceptable embarrassment to the people of Wisconsin and the UW System,” said Steve Nass, a Republican state representative who has led the call for Barrett’s dismissal. He and other legislators have threatened budget cuts to the UW System if administrators do not terminate Barrett’s one-course contract, which will pay him a little more than eight thousand dollars.
But university officials refused to do so, fueling a fierce and at times bitterly contentious debate about who — and what — deserves a place in UW-Madison’s curriculum.
Provost Patrick Farrell said that a ten-day review of Barrett’s syllabus and previous teaching evaluations revealed no reason to believe that he wouldn’t handle the course and his opinions responsibly. But he was also clearly concerned that action against Barrett would create a political litmus test that might be used against other instructors who hold unconventional views.
“We cannot allow political pressure from critics of unpopular ideas to inhibit the free exchange of ideas,” Farrell said in a statement. “That classroom interaction is central to this university’s mission and to the expansion of knowledge. Silencing that exchange now would only open the door to more onerous and sweeping restrictions.”
In tone, Farrell’s words hearken to the regents’ 1894 defense of Richard Ely, a renowned UW professor of | economics whom conservatives tried to fire for advocating labor strikes and boycotts. The controversy prompted the famous “sifting and winnowing” statement, which reads: “Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
Yet few people around campus see this as a clear-cut battle over academic freedom. While Ely was a respected scholar and head of the economics department, Barrett was the sole applicant to teach a class normally led by a professor who will be on sabbatical this fall. As Barrett made television appearances in which he has repeatedly described his views on September 11 as pure fact, many people, both within and outside the UW-Madison community, have wondered why the university would stand up for a part-time lecturer whose views seem so outlandish.
“We cannot allow political pressure from critics of unpopular ideas to inhibit the free exchange of ideas,” Farrell said in a statement. “That classroom interaction is central to this university’s mission and to the expansion of knowledge. Silencing that exchange now would only open the door to more onerous and sweeping restrictions.”
In tone, Farrell’s words hearken to the regents’ 1894 defense of Richard Ely, a renowned UW professor of | economics whom conservatives tried to fire for advocating labor strikes and boycotts. The controversy prompted the famous “sifting and winnowing” statement, which reads: “Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
Yet few people around campus see this as a clear-cut battle over academic freedom. While Ely was a respected scholar and head of the economics department, Barrett was the sole applicant to teach a class normally led by a professor who will be on sabbatical this fall. As Barrett made television appearances in which he has repeatedly described his views on September 11 as pure fact, many people, both within and outside the UW-Madison community, have wondered why the university would stand up for a part-time lecturer whose views seem so outlandish.
Law professor Ann Althouse, for example, has been highly critical of the decision to hire Barrett, writing on her Internet blog that his beliefs raise doubts about whether he can be trusted to teach students responsibly. “You don’t find the truth by ‘sifting and winnowing’ in a pile of obviously worthless ideas,” she wrote in July, as the controversy became national news. “And you don’t learn to exercise critical thinking by reading a lot of material that is clearly wrong.”
Other professors, especially conservatives who can feel outnumbered on a traditionally liberal campus, wonder if the university’s faith in Barrett stems from an institutional soft-heartedness toward left-wing ideologies.
“I don’t believe this university would have allowed a Klansman to teach black history or a Holocaust denier to teach Jewish studies,” says history professor John Sharpless. “Liberals always seem to feel that extreme views on the left can be tolerated and are even healthy to discuss, while those on the right are dangerous.”
Yet Sharpless also admits he would be “very troubled” if he thought he could lose his job because of opinions he expressed outside the classroom. Similar concerns have led many faculty to support the university’s refusal to fire Barrett, despite their misgivings about his analysis of the September 11 attacks.
“Firing someone because of their beliefs is a huge deal,” says Donald Downs, a political science professor who has chaired faculty committees on academic freedom. “If the legislature is asking us to examine ourselves and make sure that we take standards seriously, that’s one thing. But if the legislature is dictating that you fire someone based on that person’s beliefs, then who’s next after Barrett? Maybe Barrett is an isolated case, but I’m not so sure that would be the case.”
Other professors, especially conservatives who can feel outnumbered on a traditionally liberal campus, wonder if the university’s faith in Barrett stems from an institutional soft-heartedness toward left-wing ideologies.
“I don’t believe this university would have allowed a Klansman to teach black history or a Holocaust denier to teach Jewish studies,” says history professor John Sharpless. “Liberals always seem to feel that extreme views on the left can be tolerated and are even healthy to discuss, while those on the right are dangerous.”
Yet Sharpless also admits he would be “very troubled” if he thought he could lose his job because of opinions he expressed outside the classroom. Similar concerns have led many faculty to support the university’s refusal to fire Barrett, despite their misgivings about his analysis of the September 11 attacks.
“Firing someone because of their beliefs is a huge deal,” says Donald Downs, a political science professor who has chaired faculty committees on academic freedom. “If the legislature is asking us to examine ourselves and make sure that we take standards seriously, that’s one thing. But if the legislature is dictating that you fire someone based on that person’s beliefs, then who’s next after Barrett? Maybe Barrett is an isolated case, but I’m not so sure that would be the case.”
Susan Zaeske ’89, MA’92, PhD’97, an associate professor of communication arts whose classes often study the rhetoric of conspiracy theorists, says she worries that curtailing Barrett would create “a chilling effect” among professors who deal with potentially inflammatory material in classes.
“Conspiracy theories have permeated history, and I think it is always important to engage them and test their claims,” she says. “I don’t believe [Barrett’s] theories, but I also don’t believe we should keep ideas outside the university. Otherwise, we’d be sitting here saying that the world is flat.”
“I would never say that there are ideas that have no place in the classroom, because even ideas that are false and political agendas that turn out to be wrong are always worth investigating,” adds David Sorkin ‘75, a professor of Jewish studies. Sorkin says he has in the past assigned students to read anti-Semitic conspiracy theories to help them understand broader themes in history. He agrees that September 11 theories, which have gained popular support in many Muslim countries, might have similar educational value if put in the right context.
Will Barrett provide that context? In meetings with the provost, he indicated that he plans to discuss various beliefs about the September 11 attacks during one week in the course and that a variety of views would be presented, Farrell says. The provost also noted that Barrett’s past teaching evaluations show no indication that he has attempted to proselytize students to his beliefs or been hostile to those who disagree with him.
“Conspiracy theories have permeated history, and I think it is always important to engage them and test their claims,” she says. “I don’t believe [Barrett’s] theories, but I also don’t believe we should keep ideas outside the university. Otherwise, we’d be sitting here saying that the world is flat.”
“I would never say that there are ideas that have no place in the classroom, because even ideas that are false and political agendas that turn out to be wrong are always worth investigating,” adds David Sorkin ‘75, a professor of Jewish studies. Sorkin says he has in the past assigned students to read anti-Semitic conspiracy theories to help them understand broader themes in history. He agrees that September 11 theories, which have gained popular support in many Muslim countries, might have similar educational value if put in the right context.
Will Barrett provide that context? In meetings with the provost, he indicated that he plans to discuss various beliefs about the September 11 attacks during one week in the course and that a variety of views would be presented, Farrell says. The provost also noted that Barrett’s past teaching evaluations show no indication that he has attempted to proselytize students to his beliefs or been hostile to those who disagree with him.
While those assurances have not quelled the debate about Barrett and his fitness to teach, they set the stage for what may be the most anticipated UW-Madison course in years. With nearly 150 students enrolled, Barrett may face his toughest audience yet. “Our students are not naïve. They are very sharp, and I think they’re very capable of taking on ideas like this,” says Zaeske. “It could be a great experience.”
— Michael Penn MA’97
— Michael Penn MA’97
Is the UW Farm Friendly?
Misperceptions may be keeping some rural students away.
Amanda Levzow ‘06 grew up in Pardeeville, Wisconsin, where she milked cows each morning on her family’s dairy farm. She earned high grades throughout school, and when it came time to apply to college, she had a clear favorite: UW-Madison.
Around Pardeeville, a town of two thousand, it wasn’t a popular choice.
“My guidance counselor told me not to apply to UW-Madison because no one from Pardeeville ever gets in,” says Levzow, who graduated in May with degrees in agricultural education and history. “I had so many of my parents’ friends say, ‘You aren’t going to make it. You are going to quit after the first year.’”
In another rural section of the state, Jason Swanson x’09 found similar discouragement. Attending Mercer Public School, among the towering trees of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, Swanson heard that “only one kid per year could go to Madison from my high school,” he says.
While Levzow and Swanson enrolled anyway, the warnings they received point to a lingering perception. In some rural parts of Wisconsin, parents and school administrators hold to beliefs that it’s harder for students from their communities to get into UW-Madison and that, even if they do, they don’t do as well as others.
University officials say that’s a myth — and they have assembled data to prove it. But these beliefs may be keeping some students from these areas from applying or enrolling. While rural students account for 25 percent of Wisconsin’s graduating high school class, they make up only 17 percent of the UW’s applicant pool.
Amanda Levzow ‘06 grew up in Pardeeville, Wisconsin, where she milked cows each morning on her family’s dairy farm. She earned high grades throughout school, and when it came time to apply to college, she had a clear favorite: UW-Madison.
Around Pardeeville, a town of two thousand, it wasn’t a popular choice.
“My guidance counselor told me not to apply to UW-Madison because no one from Pardeeville ever gets in,” says Levzow, who graduated in May with degrees in agricultural education and history. “I had so many of my parents’ friends say, ‘You aren’t going to make it. You are going to quit after the first year.’”
In another rural section of the state, Jason Swanson x’09 found similar discouragement. Attending Mercer Public School, among the towering trees of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, Swanson heard that “only one kid per year could go to Madison from my high school,” he says.
While Levzow and Swanson enrolled anyway, the warnings they received point to a lingering perception. In some rural parts of Wisconsin, parents and school administrators hold to beliefs that it’s harder for students from their communities to get into UW-Madison and that, even if they do, they don’t do as well as others.
University officials say that’s a myth — and they have assembled data to prove it. But these beliefs may be keeping some students from these areas from applying or enrolling. While rural students account for 25 percent of Wisconsin’s graduating high school class, they make up only 17 percent of the UW’s applicant pool.
The gap can be seen in some of UW-Madison’s oldest fields of study. In the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), for example, overall enrollment is up, but many departments that focus on traditional agriculture have witnessed a slow decline in student numbers.
With lower numbers of rural students, UW-Madison’s student body may not be reflecting the rural character of the state, creating a different kind of diversity problem for the university. “The chancellor is very interested in not only racial and ethnic diversity, but broader socioeconomic and cultural diversity,” says Becky Duffy ‘86, director of prospective student services for CALS. “Rural communities have a very different culture than suburban communities.”
Levzow and Swanson say they have no regrets about choosing UW-Madison, but both admit that the transition to the busy pace of college life in “Mad Town” took some adjustment.
“Most rural students have very few friends here when they arrive on campus,” says Swanson, who is working toward a degree in neurobiology. “If I wasn’t so outgoing, it would have been hard.” He says the university’s academic demands posed another challenge, describing his first round of exams as “very shocking.”
Levzow says she quickly ramped up her study habits and found her social niche by joining a handful of clubs that revolved around her interest in agriculture. “I got active on campus and started making a lot of friends,” she says. “After a while, whenever I walked around I saw people I knew, and it didn’t feel like a forty-thousand-person university.”
With lower numbers of rural students, UW-Madison’s student body may not be reflecting the rural character of the state, creating a different kind of diversity problem for the university. “The chancellor is very interested in not only racial and ethnic diversity, but broader socioeconomic and cultural diversity,” says Becky Duffy ‘86, director of prospective student services for CALS. “Rural communities have a very different culture than suburban communities.”
Levzow and Swanson say they have no regrets about choosing UW-Madison, but both admit that the transition to the busy pace of college life in “Mad Town” took some adjustment.
“Most rural students have very few friends here when they arrive on campus,” says Swanson, who is working toward a degree in neurobiology. “If I wasn’t so outgoing, it would have been hard.” He says the university’s academic demands posed another challenge, describing his first round of exams as “very shocking.”
Levzow says she quickly ramped up her study habits and found her social niche by joining a handful of clubs that revolved around her interest in agriculture. “I got active on campus and started making a lot of friends,” she says. “After a while, whenever I walked around I saw people I knew, and it didn’t feel like a forty-thousand-person university.”
Compared to other underrepresented groups, the academic and social transition of rural students doesn’t get a lot of attention. While the university sponsors orientation programs for transfer students, commuter students, and members of minority groups, for instance, there are no special gatherings for students from rural backgrounds.
Yet a recent analysis of these students’ success shows that many are handling the transition to college well. In 2004, UW admissions officials commissioned a study of rural students’ success to answer concerns from a group of high school administrators from northern Wisconsin. The analysis revealed that the students are treated with an even hand during the admissions process, making up equal proportions of the applicant pool and accepted students. It also showed that rural students earn a mean first-year grade point average of 3.05, comparable to a 3.12 average for non-rural students. And more than 90 percent of rural students return for their sophomore years, virtually identical to the retention rate for non-rural students.
“It’s important to communicate that students from rural communities are successful at UW-Madison,” says Clare Huhn ‘85, MS’90, a UW-Madison analyst who conducted the study. “If rural students are not applying to UW-Madison because they think they won’t do well, they should reconsider.”
— Nicole Miller MA’06
Yet a recent analysis of these students’ success shows that many are handling the transition to college well. In 2004, UW admissions officials commissioned a study of rural students’ success to answer concerns from a group of high school administrators from northern Wisconsin. The analysis revealed that the students are treated with an even hand during the admissions process, making up equal proportions of the applicant pool and accepted students. It also showed that rural students earn a mean first-year grade point average of 3.05, comparable to a 3.12 average for non-rural students. And more than 90 percent of rural students return for their sophomore years, virtually identical to the retention rate for non-rural students.
“It’s important to communicate that students from rural communities are successful at UW-Madison,” says Clare Huhn ‘85, MS’90, a UW-Madison analyst who conducted the study. “If rural students are not applying to UW-Madison because they think they won’t do well, they should reconsider.”
— Nicole Miller MA’06
A Warmer Welcome for Visitors
Park Street is one of the most often-used gateways to UW-Madison’s campus. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the least friendly, marked by sparse signage, heavy traffic, and almost no parking.
At least some of that is changing this fall, with the opening of a new campus Welcome Center at 21 North Park Street, just south of the new Newell J. Smith Residence Hall. Operated by the UW’s Visitor and Information Programs, the office was created to give visitors a one-stop resource for exploring campus. Much like the information center in the Red Gym, the new Welcome Center will have staff on hand to distribute information and answer questions, but it also focuses on promoting the campus and broader community as a destination for tourists and guests.
“Our goal is to really wow everyone who comes in the doors,” says assistant director of visitor and information programs Nancy Sandhu ‘96, MS’03. “If they didn’t know UW-Madison before coming in, we want them to leave having a wonderful first impression of the institution.”
— E.T.
At least some of that is changing this fall, with the opening of a new campus Welcome Center at 21 North Park Street, just south of the new Newell J. Smith Residence Hall. Operated by the UW’s Visitor and Information Programs, the office was created to give visitors a one-stop resource for exploring campus. Much like the information center in the Red Gym, the new Welcome Center will have staff on hand to distribute information and answer questions, but it also focuses on promoting the campus and broader community as a destination for tourists and guests.
“Our goal is to really wow everyone who comes in the doors,” says assistant director of visitor and information programs Nancy Sandhu ‘96, MS’03. “If they didn’t know UW-Madison before coming in, we want them to leave having a wonderful first impression of the institution.”
— E.T.
Q AND A: Newell J. Smith '41
Newell Smith, who served as University Housing director for twenty-eight years until his retirement in 1983, is the namesake for UW-Madison’s first major new residence hall since Ogg Hall was built in 1965. The hall, which opened on North Park Street this fall, houses 425 students.
Q: What is it like to have a building named after you?
A: Well, I’m very proud that somebody would think enough of me to do it. There isn’t much higher you can get than having a building named after you. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m not going to question it.
Q: You obviously made an impact on the university.
A: They have to have some excuse for naming a building after me!
Q: Did you ever think you would be in University Housing for twenty-eight years?
A: People used to ask me what I did, and the usual [reaction] was “Oh, my God.” Being the director of housing meant that you were in charge of maintenance. You were in charge of the financial end of it. You were in charge of student affairs within the halls. It was an all-encompassing job. I liked the challenge of the whole job. I loved working with students.
Q: But did the students ever stress you out?
A: Surprisingly enough — and I was sort of a hard-nosed guy — but no. We never had many troubles.
Q: What is the new hall like?
A: It’s a state-of-the-art facility. They’ve got a mixture of single rooms, double rooms, suites, and apartments with kitchens.
Q: I imagine that’s a lot different from the residence halls as you remember them.
A: There’s no way that we could go back to some of those things, because students wouldn’t accept them, and parents wouldn’t accept them. I couldn’t think of anything that I’d highly recommend we go back on.
Q: What is it like to have a building named after you?
A: Well, I’m very proud that somebody would think enough of me to do it. There isn’t much higher you can get than having a building named after you. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m not going to question it.
Q: You obviously made an impact on the university.
A: They have to have some excuse for naming a building after me!
Q: Did you ever think you would be in University Housing for twenty-eight years?
A: People used to ask me what I did, and the usual [reaction] was “Oh, my God.” Being the director of housing meant that you were in charge of maintenance. You were in charge of the financial end of it. You were in charge of student affairs within the halls. It was an all-encompassing job. I liked the challenge of the whole job. I loved working with students.
Q: But did the students ever stress you out?
A: Surprisingly enough — and I was sort of a hard-nosed guy — but no. We never had many troubles.
Q: What is the new hall like?
A: It’s a state-of-the-art facility. They’ve got a mixture of single rooms, double rooms, suites, and apartments with kitchens.
Q: I imagine that’s a lot different from the residence halls as you remember them.
A: There’s no way that we could go back to some of those things, because students wouldn’t accept them, and parents wouldn’t accept them. I couldn’t think of anything that I’d highly recommend we go back on.
Re-Union
The Union puts its future to a vote — again.
Hoping to address a lengthening list of inadequacies, the Wisconsin Union is putting its case to the student body. In a referendum this fall, the Union is asking students to fund what it calls the Student Union Initiative, an ambitious program to update both Memorial Union and Union South. The plan could cost students as much as $96 each per semester for the next thirty years.
The referendum is critical, according to Richard Pierce, the Union’s assistant director of facilities, because the plan envisions not only expansion, but also work to get the Union’s aging buildings — Memorial opened in 1928 and Union South in 1971 — compliant with current safety and access regulations. “The rule of thumb is that we can’t make any improvements until we’re code compliant,” he says, “and that’s where the bulk of our cost lies.”
Of the plan’s total $170 million cost, student funds would total more than half — $97 million. The rest of the money would come from private donations, Union revenue, and government funding.
The referendum’s passage is far from certain. It went before the students once before, in March 2006, and appeared to fail by a narrow margin in an online vote. But the university’s Division of Information Technology found that there were significant technical errors in both balloting and tabulation. The university nullified the election results and rescheduled the vote for October.
Hoping to address a lengthening list of inadequacies, the Wisconsin Union is putting its case to the student body. In a referendum this fall, the Union is asking students to fund what it calls the Student Union Initiative, an ambitious program to update both Memorial Union and Union South. The plan could cost students as much as $96 each per semester for the next thirty years.
The referendum is critical, according to Richard Pierce, the Union’s assistant director of facilities, because the plan envisions not only expansion, but also work to get the Union’s aging buildings — Memorial opened in 1928 and Union South in 1971 — compliant with current safety and access regulations. “The rule of thumb is that we can’t make any improvements until we’re code compliant,” he says, “and that’s where the bulk of our cost lies.”
Of the plan’s total $170 million cost, student funds would total more than half — $97 million. The rest of the money would come from private donations, Union revenue, and government funding.
The referendum’s passage is far from certain. It went before the students once before, in March 2006, and appeared to fail by a narrow margin in an online vote. But the university’s Division of Information Technology found that there were significant technical errors in both balloting and tabulation. The university nullified the election results and rescheduled the vote for October.
The Wisconsin Union Directorate, the student group that oversees Union activities, has made passage its top priority, according to Directorate president Shayna Hetzel x’08. Her organization helped draw up the plan with an eye toward meeting the long-term needs of UW students. This would mean radical changes, particularly for Union South. Although it’s the newer facility, the initiative calls for it to be demolished and replaced by an environmentally friendly facility that is nearly twice the current building’s size — 200,000 square feet as opposed to 109,000.
“The future of Union South is really up in the air,” says Hetzel. “Some UW administrators feel that the building is dysfunctional. We looked at plans to renovate it, but the cost was nearly the same as rebuilding. This way, we can create a building that will serve the community and be less brutalist in its architecture.”
But though Union South would require entirely new construction, Hetzel notes that the bulk of the cost — some 52 percent — will go to renovations at Memorial Union. The plan calls for improvements to the Union Theater, an expansion of lakefront facilities, and additional construction to bring Memorial into line with fire codes and Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
Should the referendum pass, the new fees will be assessed in fall 2007, and construction could begin as early as fall 2008.
— John Allen
“The future of Union South is really up in the air,” says Hetzel. “Some UW administrators feel that the building is dysfunctional. We looked at plans to renovate it, but the cost was nearly the same as rebuilding. This way, we can create a building that will serve the community and be less brutalist in its architecture.”
But though Union South would require entirely new construction, Hetzel notes that the bulk of the cost — some 52 percent — will go to renovations at Memorial Union. The plan calls for improvements to the Union Theater, an expansion of lakefront facilities, and additional construction to bring Memorial into line with fire codes and Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
Should the referendum pass, the new fees will be assessed in fall 2007, and construction could begin as early as fall 2008.
— John Allen
STUDENT WATCH: Podcasting
Walk around campus and you’ll see plenty of students plugged into iPods, those ubiquitous digital audio players that store a library of their favorite tunes. But the sound in their ears may not be music — in fact, it may be homework.
A growing number of professors are using the digital audio technology to augment their teaching. A technique called podcasting allows them to record audio clips — everything from famous speeches to class lectures to bird songs — that students can download to their personal players. Need to review a key point in a lecture? Just put it on your iPod and listen to it again whenever and wherever you want.
Students are already pretty fluent in digital audio, and increasingly, so are faculty. The university has given out eighty grants to faculty, which include ten hours of podcasting instruction, to stimulate use of the technology in the classroom.
— Elli Thompson x’08
A growing number of professors are using the digital audio technology to augment their teaching. A technique called podcasting allows them to record audio clips — everything from famous speeches to class lectures to bird songs — that students can download to their personal players. Need to review a key point in a lecture? Just put it on your iPod and listen to it again whenever and wherever you want.
Students are already pretty fluent in digital audio, and increasingly, so are faculty. The university has given out eighty grants to faculty, which include ten hours of podcasting instruction, to stimulate use of the technology in the classroom.
— Elli Thompson x’08
Catching Up
UW-Copenhagen? That’s what some observers contemplated after seeing the national flag of Denmark flying above Bascom Hall in August. Unknown pranksters hoisted the flag — doing such a good job that it took workers two days to take it down.
Chancellor John D. Wiley MS’65, PhD’68 and his wife, Georgia, made a permanent move out of Olin House this summer to allow for needed renovations on the historic home. Olin House, which serves as the official residence of the UW chancellor and as the site for many university fundraising events and alumni functions, will undergo several changes this fall to modernize its internal systems and facilities.
The university has launched an ambitious campaign to cut its energy use 20 percent by 2010. In addition to investing in new energy-efficient systems, the broad program, called We Conserve, underscores the importance of energy conservation in daily life to faculty, staff, and students. Campus energy costs totaled $41million in 2004–05, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. With continued uncertainty in the energy market, UW facilities managers say a comprehensive approach is essential to accomplish the targeted 20 percent reduction.
Susannah Jacobson ‘02, a program assistant for UW-Madison’s communications staff, made a three-day run on the game show Jeopardy! in June, taking home more than $58,000 in winnings. On her first day, she won with a total of $37,201, the second-highest one-day total by a woman in the show’s history.
Chancellor John D. Wiley MS’65, PhD’68 and his wife, Georgia, made a permanent move out of Olin House this summer to allow for needed renovations on the historic home. Olin House, which serves as the official residence of the UW chancellor and as the site for many university fundraising events and alumni functions, will undergo several changes this fall to modernize its internal systems and facilities.
The university has launched an ambitious campaign to cut its energy use 20 percent by 2010. In addition to investing in new energy-efficient systems, the broad program, called We Conserve, underscores the importance of energy conservation in daily life to faculty, staff, and students. Campus energy costs totaled $41million in 2004–05, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. With continued uncertainty in the energy market, UW facilities managers say a comprehensive approach is essential to accomplish the targeted 20 percent reduction.
Susannah Jacobson ‘02, a program assistant for UW-Madison’s communications staff, made a three-day run on the game show Jeopardy! in June, taking home more than $58,000 in winnings. On her first day, she won with a total of $37,201, the second-highest one-day total by a woman in the show’s history.
