Quick Takes: Summer 2012

• After further consideration, the U.S. National Advisory Board for Biosecurity agreed that the journal Nature could publish a study of the H5N1 flu virus conducted by UW professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka. In December 2011, the organization raised security concerns that delayed the study for several months. (See “Weighing the Issues,” Spring 2012.) The study was published in Nature’s May issue.
• Glamour magazine named UW junior Jasmine Mans one of its top ten college women. Mans is a poet and spoken-word artist and has appeared on HBO’s Brave New Voices and on Broadway.
• Once again, the UW has surpassed $1 billion in research expenditures. In fiscal year 2010, the university spent $1.3 billion, up $15 million from 2009. The UW ranked third overall among U.S. universities, and second among public universities, behind Johns Hopkins and the University of Michigan.
• UW–Madison also ranked among the best in a Chronicle of Higher Education survey on college completion. The UW received high marks for four-year (49.7 percent) and six-year (83 percent) graduation rates. It fared poorly, however, in spending per completion ($92,402) and percentage of Pell Grant recipients (14.6).
• The geography department’s Robinson Map Library received more than 1,200 topographic maps, a gift from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. Topographic maps give highly detailed records of the shape of a land surface. Today, scientists and hikers use digital maps, but the library’s new collection includes paper maps created during the first half of the twentieth century.
• Learn how to preserve Wisconsin’s waterways by playing Wisconsin Lakes Trivia, a game created by UW-Extension. Through 408 questions on 102 cards, the game offers information about how to protect water quality and wildlife habitat. The game is available online at learningstore.uwex.edu.
• The 2012 graduating class included Serra Crawford, who turned sixteen years old on May 1. Crawford majored in international studies.
• The 2012 commencement speaker was Carol Bartz ’71, former CEO of Yahoo! and of Autodesk. She is currently the lead director of the board for Cisco Systems.

Published in the Summer 2012 issue