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Sunday, September 14, 2025

News

Scott Walker
NEWS

Fresh off national stage, Gov. Scott Walker turns eye toward state problems

Fresh off the national stage, any hopes of Gov. Scott Walker sliding back into his comfortable role as the equal parts loved, reviled and respected governor of America’s Dairyland were dashed by a new poll showing his approval rating at a record low 37 percent. Unpopularity being new territory for the former Tea Party golden boy, experts and legislators are bracing themselves, as he and his party decide how to respond. Walker’s approval started spiraling downward in November from a post re-election high of 49 percent.


Retention grads
CAMPUS NEWS

UW-Madison freshman retention, graduation rate increase

More than 95 percent of Badgers returned to campus this fall after their freshman year at UW-Madison, an increase from the previous academic school year. The Office of Academic Planning and Institutional Research at UW-Madison released fall 2015 enrollment numbers, which showed the university had a freshman-sophomore year retention rate of 95.8 percent, an increase from 95.3 percent the previous year, according to a UW-Madison release. UW-Madison’s average time to degree is the lowest in university records at 4.13 years, decreased from last year’s data of 4.16 years. “These metrics are viewed as indicators of quality of the educational experience and represent a focus on student success by all of the faculty and staff who work with and teach undergraduates,” UW-Madison Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf said in the release.


Cigarette
CITY NEWS

Coalition forms to help promote smoke-free properties

In honor of National Fire Prevention Week, a statewide initiative to promote smoke-free housing properties is taking action in Madison this week, according to a Thursday City of Madison press release. Clear Gains Initiative, Public Health Madison and Dane County, the Madison Fire Department and the Tobacco Free Columbia-Dane County Coalition, or TFCDC, are combining efforts to encourage Madison property owners to implement smoke-free environments. Nina Gregerson, assistant coordinator for the TFCDC, discussed the goal of the movement in the release. “The TFCDC is committed to reducing the impact of smoking-related fires and their potential to cause property damage and loss of life,” Gregerson said, adding that smoking-related fires accounted for 88 percent of all property losses in Madison between 2005-’11. The Clear Gains Initiative is a statewide organization, and said in the release it hopes that its success in Madison will inspire the rest of the state to follow suit in enacting these policies.


Pocket Points
CAMPUS NEWS

App rewards students for paying attention in class

With the first round of midterms under way, and libraries beginning to fill with anxious note card flippers and coffee-fueled all-nighters, many students are just now feeling the sting of getting distracted in class, as they realize all they missed while their eyes were glued to their phone screens. Pocket Points, an app launched this semester at UW-Madison, aims to eliminate that problem by rewarding students for keeping their phones locked during class.


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