Date: 1/24/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When a whistle blew Saturday afternoon, two teams of University of Wisconsin-Madison students pelted each other with snowballs, but the 45-minute battle won’t be going down in history.
Freshman organizer Mike Basak had hoped the epic snowball fight would break a 2006 record set by 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University, but acknowledged Saturday that the turnout at his school was disappointing.
Basak guessed that 2,000 or more students showed up, but other observers put the total at hundreds of students, not thousands.
“It was definitely huge and it was a great event,” he said.
In advance of the fight, more than 4,000 people had joined the event’s Facebook group, and word continued to spread as rival dormitories got ready to rumble in the center of campus.
School officials also prepared, recruiting a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene.
Basak said no one was hurt in the melee, although “there were a few bumps and scrapes.”
Some skeptics had said chilly weather and a scheduled school basketball game would diminish an attempt at the record. Temperatures in Madison were only in single digits, and the powdery snow on campus was hard to pack.
Basak said organizers hoped to go for the record again later this winter or next winter.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Groups condemn UW plan to perform abortions
Date: 1/7/2009
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Anti-abortion groups condemned a University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at a Madison clinic and questioned whether it was legal.
UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said its gynecologists plan to begin performing abortions for patients between 13 and 22 weeks pregnant at the Madison Surgery Center. She said the plan needs final approval from the center’s board, which could take action this month.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based conservative Christian legal group, publicized the plan and sent a letter asking UW officials to stop it. The group said the plan might violate a state law that prohibits state or federal money from being used to pay doctors or clinics to perform abortions.
Brunette acknowledged state-paid doctors working for the university would provide the services but she said its lawyers were comfortable the plan is legal. She said the abortions themselves would be paid for by insurance and patient fees, not public money.
ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman said the group was researching the arrangement and would “take quick legal action in the event that any legal violations are uncovered.”
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Anti-abortion groups condemned a University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at a Madison clinic and questioned whether it was legal.
UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said its gynecologists plan to begin performing abortions for patients between 13 and 22 weeks pregnant at the Madison Surgery Center. She said the plan needs final approval from the center’s board, which could take action this month.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based conservative Christian legal group, publicized the plan and sent a letter asking UW officials to stop it. The group said the plan might violate a state law that prohibits state or federal money from being used to pay doctors or clinics to perform abortions.
Brunette acknowledged state-paid doctors working for the university would provide the services but she said its lawyers were comfortable the plan is legal. She said the abortions themselves would be paid for by insurance and patient fees, not public money.
ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman said the group was researching the arrangement and would “take quick legal action in the event that any legal violations are uncovered.”
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
About 30 students sickened with norovirus
Date: 11/12/2008
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
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Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
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Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.