Plan would add colorful plants, remove litter from campus

In the next 18 months, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus-wide beautification initiative will arise, with a mixture of colorful new plants from one end of the campus to the other, a botanical motif in front of the Business Administration Building and an innovative attempt to reduce litter on campus.

Sherwood Wilson, vice chancellor for administrative affairs, has restructured parts of the Physical Plant and the Office of Facilities Planning to form the Office of University Architect, directed by Claude Schuttey, head of the Office of Campus Facilities Planning.

The change will give Schuttey broader oversight in maintaining the integrity of the physical plant.

The first issue to be addressed is litter, a problem so big that Wilson has directed the Physical Plant employees to begin picking up litter throughout the day, instead of once a day.

Schuttey’s office is meeting with various campus groups to create a plan that integrates more botanical color into campus, and even gives one UWM parking lot a makeover.

Flowering bushes, perennials and more annuals around the signs at the four campus corners will be in place by June.

Landscaping like the gardens in front of Chapman Hall and the Hefter Center are also in the plans for two other “impact zones.” The front doors of the business building and the northeast corner of Maryland and Hartford avenues, between Chapman Hall and Sandburg Residence Hall, are the areas included.

Institute wins two grants to research Lake Michigan contamination

The UWM Great Lakes Water Institute has received two large grants to address the sources and the dispersal of bacterial pollution from the storm water runoff in Lake Michigan.

UWM scientists will be able to identify places where high levels of bacterial contamination, including human fecal pollution, are leaking into the sewer system, due to the funding from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

In the last three years UWM scientists have found human fecal pollution in Milwaukee storm water runoff which may be caused by leaking sewer lines or illicit connections of the sanitary system to the storm water system.

The study will also allow scientists to determine what is causing the pollution of those areas.

In addition to the MMSD grant, the institute also recently received a three-year, $694,000 grant from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to investigate how pathogens are dispersed in the lake.

Both grants include an environmental outreach program that will provide the public with fact sheets, Web sites and presentation materials so that citizens have the tools to make informed decisions about storm water runoff and water quality.

2 faculty members receive Women of Color Award

Two UWM faculty of 16 honorees from through Wisconsin received the 2006 Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award from the UW System.

Alice Y. Jackson, manager of Sociocultural Programming at UWM, and Lucy Holifield, former director of the Small Business Development Center at UWM’s School of Continuing Education, received the award March 4, as part of the UW System Women’s Studies Consortium Conference at UW-Eau Claire.

The annual award recognizes women who exemplify educational excellence and commitment to the community.

The ceremony upholds the UW System’s continuing commitment to Plan 2008 — a road map to achieve educational quality through racial and ethnic diversity.

The award, initiated in 1994, acknowledges the ties among those involved in the women’s and ethnic studies programs across the UW System.

Milwaukee Press Club recognized as historic journalism site

The national president of the Society of Professional Journalists will present a look at the future of interactive media today at the Newsroom Pub.

Dave Carlson, the society’s president, will be in Milwaukee to present a bronze plaque designating the Milwaukee Press Club as a national Historic Site in Journalism. The designation recognizes the club’s 120-year history and its role in southeastern Wisconsin journalism.

Carlson will combine the club’s connection to the past with a look to the future of new media. His talk comes as Milwaukee-area media ramp up their online activities and as individuals and organizations solidify the use of blogs.

Along with his role as SPJ president, Carlson is director of the Interactive Media Lab at the University of Florida at Gainesville, a post he has held since 1994. He also is the James M. Cox, Jr. Foundation/The Palm Beach Post Professor in New Media Journalism.

The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Newsroom Pub, 137 E. Wells St., with the lunch at noon and the program to start shortly thereafter.

‘Vagina Monologues’ to conclude Women’s History Month

A cast of women from UWM will perform “The Vagina Monologues” on Thursday and Friday, March 30 and 31, as the finale to Women’s History Month.

Eve Ensler’s Obie Award-winning play is based on interviews the author conducted with women about their vaginas and their experiences in female sexuality.

“The Vagina Monologues” is directed by senior theater major Rose Wasielewski and features a cast of both traditional and nontraditional female students.

Performances will be held at the Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd., at 7 p.m. Donations will be accepted at the door to benefit local organizations that work to end violence against women and girls.

The UWM production of “The Vagina Monlogues” is one of many benefit productions, which are part of the V-Day College Campaign. V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women, begun in 1998 as an outgrowth of “The Vagina Monologues.”

Marquette University officials banned the play from its campus.

This play is produced by the College Feminists and is sponsored by the Student Association, Campus Activities Board, Player’s Guild, LGBT Resource Center, Center for Women’s Studies, and Women’s Resource Center.

For more information, contact Cindy Petrites at the Women’s Resource Center, 229-2852.

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