Student organizations on display

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association is sponsoring an open door night for all student organizations on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. in the Student Union.

During the event, all student organizations will have their office doors open for students to get handouts and general information about the groups and to ask questions.

The Panther Dance Team will perform in the third floor lobby at 6 p.m. Pizza and other refreshments will be available throughout the evening.

For more information, call the SA office at 229-4366.

UWM considered a gem of Milwaukee

UWM ranked in the top 10 of the Milwaukee Press Club’s Gems of Milwaukee online poll, given in honor of the city’s 160th birthday.

The top 10 Gems of Milwaukee were announced at the annual birthday party for the city on Jan. 25.

The top 10 Gems of Milwaukee:

1. Summerfest
2. Milwaukee Art Museum
3. Ethnic festivals
4. Milwaukee's lakefront
5. Harley-Davidson
6. Milwaukee County Zoo
7. Frozen custard
8. Allen-Bradley Clock Tower
9. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
10. Friday night fish fries

The Milwaukee Press Club, which throws the annual birthday party for the city, describes the Gems of Milwaukee as a “treasure trove of the top places, sights and experiences that make the city sparkle.”

More than 7,000 people cast their votes in the contest.

Pick-a-Prof adds new services for UWM users

Pick-a-Prof, the online student reference for professor ratings and course information, has introduced two new services to UWM members: downloadable lectures and a textbook exchange.

CourseCasting is a feature that allows professors to record their lectures and make them available for students to download and listen to on their iPod, MP3 player or computer. Book Exchange is a tool that allows students to compare textbook prices and buy and sell textbooks to other UWM students.

For more information, visit the Pick-a-Prof Web page at http://pickaprof.com.

Decrease in public funding for universities affects students, education

The United States is on its way to losing its public universities to de facto privatization, write Katherine C. Lyall and Kathleen R. Sell in “The True Genius of America at Risk: Are We Losing Our Public Universities to De Facto Privatization?”

Lyall, president emeritus of the UW System, and Sell, senior lecturer in the Integrated Liberal Studies Program at UW-Madison, wrote that public investment in public universities has dropped considerably.

As a result, public universities are backing into decisions to depend more and more on student tuition, research grants, donor contributions and earned revenue, Lyall and Sell said.

According to Lyall and Sell, if the nation’s top universities do not privatize, the alternative is to downsize enrollments or reduce academic quality — neither option will serve the nation’s interests well, the authors believe.

But, said Lyall and Sell, a policy debate is needed before the nation’s public higher education is entirely privatized.

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