I know Senate confirmation of political appointees is not particularly flashy but:
- 7 of
@GovEvers
appointees to UW Regents unconfirmed
- 3 picks for
@WisTechColleges
can't serve b/c GOP appointees refuse to leave despite terms expiring last spring.
Some personal news: After nearly four years at the
@WiStateJournal
, this is my last week at the paper. I’m moving to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel where I’ll still be covering higher education.
📸
@bethbeyer
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, more than a thousand
@UWHealth
employees sign their names in 2-page
@WiStateJournal
ad urging ppl to avoid gatherings & wear masks.
Breaking:
@UWSystem
says it will comply w/ Biden's vaccine order.
“We cannot afford to jeopardize millions of dollars in federal contracts, which are integral to our academic & research missions... we intend to be in compliance w/ the federal executive order on vaccine mandates.”
.
@GovEvers
: “The transfer of power is a part of our democracy, & it’s breathtaking, frankly, that Republicans have decided it’s more important to play politics than confirm appointments they know are qualified, dedicated people who want to serve our state"
Smart records request from a
@UWMadison
grad student asking for survey results from students/families re: reopening. The university's response: there was no survey.
.
@UWMadison
finally responded to an open records request by noting that there have never been any surveys of students and/or their families regarding in-person instruction and/or returning to campus. [2/3]
.
@BillGlauber
retires tomorrow after a 47-yr career in journalism, including 18 yrs at JS. He’s joked over the past yr that he’s on sorority row w/ all the young women working in the newsroom.
So we made up a chapter and initiated him as an honorary member of Delta Journo Chi-O
Today marks one year for me at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Most days, I still feel 🤩 that I get to work at this place.
(Photo taken by the old JS building because new one lacks sign.)
Businesses say they need more engineers but the Legislature hasn’t moved on a
@UWMadison
building that would enroll hundreds more.
I contacted all 132 lawmakers to find out why. The responses were revealing.
What a way to start the semester.
On the third day of classes,
@UWMadison
student government calls on administrators to move instruction online and empty out dorms.
As newly elected student leaders, we are disappointed with the University’s leadership in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please read our statement.
How great of a reporter is
@ehamer7
?
Shortly b/f print deadline, she called me to make sure I got photos we needed for today's
@WiStateJournal
. Her work day began around 2PM. She did her last interview at 3:45 AM, updated the story around 5AM and was still tweeting as of 6AM.
My parents donated an evergreen on their property to be the city’s Christmas tree & the paper wrote about it.
My dad, who isn’t what I’d call particularly quotable, said the tree has good pyramidal shape. 🤦🏽♀️
He said I’m not the only Meyerhofer who can get above the fold.
This means gov's race in November could have major implications for the 2 boards overseeing higher ed if GOP continues to keep Evers' appointees unconfirmed.
Inbox: Northwestern announces former
@UWMadison
chancellor Rebecca Blank will be unable to lead a president. She has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer & will return to Madison area for treatment.
NEW:
@UWMadison
joins more than a dozen other state universities offering tuition waiver program for Native students.
UW's program goes beyond some programs by covering the full cost of college, including housing & books, for undergrad students.
First time I've gotten "shitshow" in a story.
Using nearly 1,500 pages of emails & texts, I pieced together the week late last year when UW's budget deal came together, fell apart & then pieced back together again. Here's a look back at that crazy week.
.
@UWMadison
relied on empty dorms & hotels for quarantine/isolation space last yr.
But w/ dorms full & many hotels booked for Badgers games, UW is turning to its apartment complex, where many young families live, to house sick students.
Today’s my two-year anniversary
@WiStateJournal
. Thanks, as always, to my readers. ✏️ 📰
Last year’s anniversary was “celebrated” at a JFC meeting. This year’s took place in my kitchen “office” amid a pandemic, protests and presidential search. What will next year bring?!
After publication of my story on a "toxic"
@UWMadison
lab,
@NSF
reached out w/ more information.
I pieced together a timeline on how the professor at the center of the lab landed a job at the federal research agency.
Got mistaken again for being a student while covering college move-in today. Which is to say I not only often feel like I don’t know what I’m doing on this job but I also look like it too!
Anyway, talking to actual students was great. Looking forward to my 4th yr covering UW.
NEW: In the strongest rebuke to Republicans to date,
@TommyThompsonWI
said the
@UWSystem
won't cooperate w/ GOP lawmakers who claim they have the power to approve/reject campuses' COVID-19 policies.
Well, folks, the moment has happened.
A college student I’m interviewing asked when I graduated college.
“2016,” I said.
“Oh wow, that’s a while ago!”
👵🏻
Celebratory tweet to report that my grandma got her first vaccine dose today! My dad forgot to take a photo of it happening so here’s one from her 95th birthday. She’ll turn 97 in May.
UW-Madison has long wanted to expand its engineering college and graduate more students.
But Republicans have left the project out of their plan for a second consecutive budget.
2 yrs ago, I made a bunch of calls trying to track down the family of a
@UWMadison
student I suspected had died by suicide.
UW admin said they were unaware of how bad it was in the lab where John worked until his death. But others knew, new report says.
And here it is:
@UWMadison
chancellor asks all undergrads to "severely limit" in-person interaction for only essential activities, including in-person classes.
Details here:
All I wanted for Christmas was a break from UW news. Instead, I got this story.
The
@UWSystem
Board of Regents unanimously fired
@UWLaCrosse
Chancellor Joe Gow after discovering videos posted on porn websites featuring him and his wife.
Aug. 2018: Foxconn says it will give
@UWMadison
$100M in 5-year deal.
Aug. 2019: Records show Foxconn gave $700K.
Aug. 2020: Still at $700K of $100M pledge.
April 2021: UW hires former Foxconn official to lead office that works w/ businesses.
"If they want to increase their funding, they have to show they can prioritize things to grow the economy, not grow the racial divide,"
@SpeakerVos
said.
The push to eliminate DEI offices on public college campuses has made its way to Wisconsin.
So honored to be recognized by the Society for Features Journalism. I always read the winners' work every year so to see my name on the list is a little 🤯
My latest story looks at a tragedy that happened 3 yrs ago and what
@UWMadEngr
learned from it.
@UWMadison
's own report said: "Exploitation may not be too strong a word" to describe the working conditions.
Of the 3 continuing to serve on board past their May 2021 term, 1 said don’t call her again, another hung up on me and the 3rd ducked requests for comment.
The holdovers want the job. They just won’t explain why.
Enrollment #'s came out in Oct & I was shocked to see a UW campus w/ 155 students. I wrote up a daily & moved on. But I kept thinking of the 155-student campus, wondering how long it can hold on — and what it would mean to the community if it closed.
Wisconsin colleges & universities that mandated the COVID vaccine for students generally saw higher vaccination rates than those that offered incentives or nothing at all.
Not a super surprising finding in my latest story but there it is.
Well, we've made it through our first week in the office without
@BillGlauber
.
What helped us get through all the quiet:
@RachelTachel
made a pillow in the form of Bill, which includes a recording device we can squeeze to hear some of his favorite sayings.
Today marks three years for me
@WiStateJournal
. Here’s hoping the next year brings more stories unrelated to Covid & more assignments that get me out of my apartment.
Faculty and staff rally in support of protesters and condemn
@UWMadison
decision to send in police. They will be headed to Bascom Hall in a little bit.
Breaking: Free speech survey is delayed until fall 2022 due to "avalanche of questions arising," says director of center funding the study.
Survey was supposed to be sent out to students today.
Story TK.
I tried to capture some of the unease
@UWMadison
faculty & staff are feeling six weeks out from the start of classes & with Delta variant creating new concerns.
I’m watching this lawsuit because it could potentially open the door to UW Foundation (& other public university foundations) being subject to public records law.
More than a hundred
@MarquetteU
students and staff standing in solidarity with 10 students of color who protested Convocation late last month. MU has punished students with range of punishments from probation to suspension.
Today is my first day
@CapTimes
! I'm excited to get started covering higher education. Reach out with story ideas or to chat here or at bjacobs(at)captimes(dot)com☕️📰
3
@UWMadison
instructors w/ a disability or medical condition requested to teach online this fall. Each spoke to a different disability rep. All say they were told UW is denying most all requests.
"A disaster waiting to happen." Predictions of when campus will shut down. An age group that feels "invincible."
My interviews w/ nearly 3 dozen
@UWMadison
students on whether they and their peers will follow the rules this fall:
At UW Board of Regents meeting,
@GovEvers
says he’ll be asking for more than $800M - the largest biennial increase in UW System history - in next budget proposal coming in early 2025.
The withdrawal of the sole finalist in
@UWSystem
president search was a surprise to many. But when you look at the statements that came out that day, very little explained why this happened.
So I requested emails & other records. Here's what I learned:
Some big news out of the University of Arizona (
@uarizona
):
UA scientists & staff found a coronavirus outbreak on campus *before it happened* — and seem to have snuffed it out.
How in the world do you do that?
You use wastewater testing.
This healthy, half-marathon-running
@UWMadison
student battled COVID-19 for nearly two weeks.
When
@AmyShircel
saw friends on a Miami trip and others at bars, she decided to share her story in the hope that others her age would take it more seriously.
Really proud of how this story turned out, and really grateful to these young women for sharing their experiences with me. Their stories are so powerful.
“I have lost my everything in Afghanistan. … I’m hoping I can find everything here again.”
What an experience it has been to cover a national political convention! So proud of the
@journalsentinel
RNC coverage.
Some photos & videos from the past week, including a drag show I covered last night.
Happy to report that
@ehamer7
@KellyMeyerhofer
@madnewsboy
Amber Arnold, Chris Rickert and myself had a nice, chill Sunday as we walked laps around the state Capitol Building. Lots of police, lots of press, very few (if any) protesters.
Next stop:
@UWM
student union, which is one of the biggest polling places in the city. A long voter registration table was set up with at least 7 students filling out paperwork.
Over past week, when dorm move-in took place, nearly 200
@UWMadison
students have tested positive at an on- or off-campus testing site, w/ 57 of those reported today, the 1st day of classes.
UW campuses will offer six weeks of paid parental leave starting July 1.
I talked to female academics about what that will mean for women in the workforce.
.
I expected to write a straightforward story about some recommendations on how to improve the leadership search process & increase diversity, 2 things a lot of ppl w/in System are particularly interested in this year.
.... instead I wrote this.
Advertising in newspapers has nosedived since COVID-19 closed businesses and schools.
But here’s a full-page ad in today’s
@WiStateJournal
— the same day thousands are expected to gather at Capitol to protest
@GovEvers
safe-at-home restrictions.
With Minnesota & Ohio State announcing mandates this week, by my count just 5 of the 14 Big Ten schools are w/o a vaccine requirement, including
@UWMadison
.
When I moved to Madison & heard it hosted the World Championship Cheese Contest, I immediately added it to my journalism bucket list.
It took a couple years but finally checked it off. Such a cool event to cover! ✅
Inspect. Smell. Chew. Spit. Score. Repeat.
It's the rhythm of the World Championship Cheese Contest. Dean Sommer ran through this routine 118 times over two days as he methodically evaluated gouda, goat's milk, mozzarella and more. via
@KellyMeyerhofer
Kudos to
@DeviShastri
&
@MollyBeck
for pointing out that two regents whose terms expired earlier this month participated in a meeting held last week, voting on an admissions policy & multi-million dollar contracts, among other things.
Best Christmas gift goes to
@WiStateJournal
IT desk for upgrading my 2012 work laptop.
Here’s me happily parting with this trusty old thing that took me in past 18 months to a Trump rally, Regents mtgs, and 5 campuses.
Look forward to filing more stories in 2020!
This ran in Sunday's
@WiStateJournal
.
"Our teams' mental health & resiliency is being strained. They are frustrated right now & feel forgotten. Our healthcare team is also fighting misinformation & lack of trust in their expertise."
I talked to 8 people who worked in a
@UWMadison
lab until the prof leading it was forced to resign in 2019:
2 contemplated suicide
3 are still in therapy
1 has PTSD
Yet the prof who lost her unpaid UW appt & tenured status still leads a lab for
@USDA
.
I am the bearer of bad news here
@UWMatWaukesha
. Some students hadn’t read the email that went out around 11 a.m. about the campus closing in 2025.
“Like closing-closing?” one student asked me.
The strategic consultants interviewed 25 ppl... but no one who sought an accommodation under the ADA.
@PROFSUWMadison
president on that glaring omission: "You cannot get at what the failures are unless you talk to the people who feel they were failed."
🤒10% of student body infected
🧴7,300 gallons of hand sanitizer
👃150,000+ COVID-19 tests
😷1.9 million masks
🇺🇸 4th highest case count nationally, per NYT
My look back at how
@UWMadison
's fall semester went:
BREAKING:
@UWMadison
chancellor finalists named.
Ann Cudd, University of Pittsburgh provost
Marie Miranda, former provost at University of Notre Dame
Jennifer Mnookin, UCLA law school dean
Daniel Reed, former University of Utah provost
John Karl Scholz, UW-Madison provost
I remember my 1st call w/ Pat Simms. I wanted to bounce a story idea off her & asked if she had 5 min. We talked for over an hour.
"Oh, that's how all calls with Pat go," a colleague explained to me.
What a remarkable legacy she's left in our newsroom.