Local educators travel to Arizona for an astronomical adventure

Astronomy Department researchers expanded the scope of their ongoing program to involve K-12 educators in research observing runs at telescopes on Kitt Peak, Arizona. 

This past May, four Wisconsin teachers joined UW-Madison astronomers Eric Hooper and Marsha Wolf at the WIYN 0.9-meter and 3.5-meter telescopes. 

The Wisconsin teachers represented the first high school teachers, as well as the first pre-service teachers, to experience the WIYN in Arizona. 

The local teachers included:

• Evan Gnam, a former UW-Madison graduate student in astronomy, who now teaches math, physics, and astronomy at Madison East High School. 
• John Heasley, an English teacher at Richland Center High School, who teaches a course on literature involving Mars.  He is also an avid amateur astronomer and a NASA Solar System Ambassador.
• Derek Engebretsen and Brandon Olszewski, both UW-Madison undergraduate preservice teachers, who trained at Madison East.  Engebretsen just graduated and will begin teaching in the fall, and Olszewski will graduate next spring.  Both also taught in the UW-Madison Physics Learning Center.
  

Despite a tight schedule, the teachers had time to use the electronic detector on the 0.9-m telescope to make images of some of their favorite objects in the sky such as nebulae formed by dying stars, globular and open star clusters, distant galaxies like the Whirlpool Galaxy and even clusters of galaxies. 

The impact of the trip will spread far beyond this summer and the four teachers. 

Gnam and Heasley have already enthralled their students with tales of the trip. 

Gnam is processing data for all four to use and Heasley has talked to an amateur group about the experience.  Both are planning activities comparing true and false color using the data they took, plus Engebretsen and Olszewski are planning how to incorporate astronomy into their future physics teaching. 

The trip was made possible by the support of Astronomy Department Board of Visitors, Professor Andy Sheinis and Madison East and Richland Center High Schools. 

UW-Madison will continue to use the 0.9-meter telescope for educational purposes this summer, as Hooper will lead its contribution to the Astronomy Camp program, which will be resident on Kitt Peak this June for only the second time in its more than two decade history. 

Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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Journalism Ethics Conference goes global

Journalists and citizens from the United States to India used their laptops and other mobile devices to participate in the second annual journalism ethics conference, "New Journalism – New Ethics?" staged by the UW Center for Journalism Ethics.

Nearly 140 people viewed the live stream of the conference April 30 from the US, Canada, Argentina, the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, India — and Tuvalu.

Many viewers used social media to send comments and questions to the conference's blog and twitter sites. The social media was moderated by a team of student bloggers under UW Journalism Professor Katy Culver.

The ethics conference has now established itself as a leading forum for discussion and debate on journalism ethics and has established a platform for the future, according to center director Stephen J. A. Ward.

Inside the conference hall, over 125 leading journalists, media scholars, and students debated the ethics of new media. Attendees came from across the Midwest, with university faculty from Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Vancouver, Canada.

Just before the conference, the center, with partners, published one of the first comprehensive reports on the ethics of not-for-profit investigative newsrooms. The report was discussed at a special session of the conference.

Also at the conference, the center presented its first Wisconsin Commitment to Journalism Ethics award to veteran and much-respected broadcaster Tom Bier, VP and station manager of WISC-TV in Madison.

Video and pictures of the conference, plus information on the speakers, is available at the ethics center's web site, www.journalismethics.info

Category: Social Sciences
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UW-Madison undergrad one of three to win system Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition

Evan Mast, an undergraduate student studying economics and mathematics, is one of three students in the UW System to win the fifth annual UW System Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition.

Mast is the only student to win from UW-Madison this spring for his essay, The Importance of Cartography.

The College of Letters & Science is proud to see such an great example of a liberal arts student putting into words the value of his degree and area of study.

The essay competition, which was established to support and promote liberal education throughout the state's public university system, invited students to discuss the transformative nature of their educations by focusing on an experience that changed how they viewed themselves and the world.

The competition, which is funded by private funds, is part of the UW System's Liberal Education Initiative, which seeks make the goals and outcomes of liberal arts education accessible and valuable to all UW students, regardless of major or degree program.

Winners will each receive a $2,000 scholarship to help fund the remainder of their undergraduate education.   

The awards were also briefly mentioned in The Capt Times.

Category: College Updates
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L&S 'Forward Under Forty' are movers, shakers

This year, 10 alumni of the College of Letters & Science were named Forward Under 40 honorees.

The award, given by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, honors UW grads under age 40 who are making an impact on the world by living the Wisconsin Idea.

The outstanding contributions by these young graduates are a reminder of the caliber of our alumni and a testament to the value of the liberal arts. 

Of the twelve honorees this year, ten graduated with liberal arts degrees. 

Congratulations to the L&S alumni!

Aaron Bishop ’94, ’95, MS’00
UW Major: Bacteriology, Genetics and Social Work
An adviser to Wyoming senator Michael Enzi, Bishop is a tireless advocate for Americans with disabilities and has shaped several laws aiding disabled people.

Phillip Chavez ’94, JD’98
UW Major: Political Science and Sociology; Law
A former Badger linebacker, Chavez is now the first elected Latino municipal court judge in Milwaukee’s history.

Jerry Halverson ’94, MD’99
UW Major: Psychology and Medicine
Now the medical director for adult services at Rogers Memorial Hospital, Halverson conducted research into new psychiatric therapies and interventions at UW-Madison.

Britt Lintner ’92
UW Major: Economics
Lintner, a London clothing designer, creates functional and fashionable apparel for professional women and has earned praise from Vogue and Marie Claire.

Brian Riedl ’98
UW Major: Political Science and Economics
Riedl is the lead federal budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, and he’s recognized as a national leader on tax and spending issues.

Elsworth Rockefeller MA’06
UW Major: Library and Information Studies
As the manager of children’s and teen services in the District of Columbia library system, Rockefeller writes an influential column that informs librarians around the country.

Angela Rose ’02
UW Major: Sociology
A survivor of sexual assault, Rose founded Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE) while an undergrad at UW-Madison. This grassroots organization now has chapters combating sexual assault in 55 cities and three countries.

Susanne Rust MS’99
UW Major: Physical Anthropology
Rust was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her work as an investigative reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Her articles revealed the presence of toxic substances in food containers.

Ahna Skop PhD’00
UW Major: Cellular and Molecular Biology
An assistant UW professor of genetics, Skop leads a lab that has expanded our understanding of cell division, and she’s an accomplished artist whose exhibits adorn campus buildings.

Nelson Tansu ’98, PhD’03
UW Major: Applied Math, Engineering and Physics
Tansu is the youngest tenured professor at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University, where his research focuses on nanotechnology, energy efficiency, and renewable energy sources.

Category: College Updates
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Health by Motorbike: UW faculty, students head to Kenya this summer

Gender and Women’s Studies Lecturer and Faculty Associate, Araceli Alonso (RN, MA, MS, PhD) will be spending her summer working on her "Health by Motorbike" initiative in rural Kenya.

Alonso will be conducting a summer health camp for women and adolescent girls in Lungalunga, Godo and Perani.

The health camp, funded by the Davis Foundation for Projects for Peace, will provide culturally sensitive health training and education about reproductive health, maternal health, child health, preventable diseases, and treatable infections.

As a part of this community health initiative, Gender and Women’s Studies undergraduate students, Megan Kleber and Sarah Maria Donohue, have been awarded a Wisconsin Idea Grant and will travel with Alonso to distribute mosquito nets to pregnant women and children under five to help prevent the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in that particular part of Kenya, malaria.

After the camp, the Mama-Toto (mother-child in Swahili) Mobile Clinic will be launched to serve women in the same communities throughout the year.

Alonso was also recently named a UW-Madison's Outstanding Women of Color honoree for 2009-10 for her work building community to create an inclusive and respectful environment on and off campus.

Category: Humanities & the Arts
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L&S scores a second grand slam at the Distinguished Alumni Awards

The College of Letters & Science scored a grand slam for a second year with a sweep of the 74th Distinguished Alumni Awards.

All outstanding award winners were L&S alumni with liberal arts degrees in English, Political Science, History and Economics.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the the highest honor bestowed by the Wisconsin Alumni Association and celebrates outstanding UW-Madison graduates whose professional achievements, contributions to society, and support of the university exemplify the Wisconsin Idea.

The College continues to produce top alumni who are movers and shakers around the world as demonstrated by these awards.

Watch video of the ceremony on the Wisconsin Alumni Association's YouTube Channel.

The honorees are:

• Robert Barnett '68, English  and Rita Braver '70, Political Science:  Barnett is a leading Washington, D.C. attorney who represents authors, television news anchors and producers, and government officials, and has worked on eight presidential campaigns. Braver is an award-winning senior correspondent for CBS News, where she reports on topics ranging from arts and entertainment to politics and foreign policy for Sunday Morning.  Both serve on the Board of Visitors of the Department of Political Science.

• Haynes Johnson MS'56, History; and Kathryn Oberly ’71, Political Science JD’73: Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, one of America’s leading voices on current politics, and the author of more than a dozen books of political analysis and modern history. Oberly is an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; her first official act was to swear in Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State.
  
  

• Arnold Weiss '51, Economics and Political Science LLB'53: German-Jewish immigrant and decorated World War II U.S. intelligence officer, Weiss discovered Adolf Hitler's last will, now in the National Archives. Having witnessed the war's destruction, Weiss dedicated his career as an investment-bank attorney to building, and his efforts brought social and economic progress to many developing nations.
  

For more information:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/17941

Category: College Updates
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Political science, journalism alum earns second Pulitzer Prize

University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus Anthony Shadid (BA'90, Political Science & Journalism) has earned a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the lasting effects of the war in Iraq. 

This is Shadid's second Pulitzer Prize. 

His first Pulitzer Prize also came from his coverage on the United State's war in Iraq in 2003. 

Currently a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, the award comes from a series written for the Washington Post. 

Some awards Shadid has received from UW include the journalism school's Ralph O. Nafziger Award, honoring achievements by young alumni, and the Wisconsin Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award.  

For more information:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/17945

Category: Social Sciences
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