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Beloved UW-Madison journalism professor James Baughman dies at 64 By Jim Dayton THE DAILY CARDINAL
PHOTO COURTESY OF UW SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
James Baughman, a highly respected journalism and mass communication professor, died Saturday after battling lung cancer.
James Baughman, who spent more than 30 years as a journalism professor and instructor at UW-Madison, died Saturday morning from lung cancer at the age of 64. Highly revered by both his earliest students and current journalism undergraduates, Baughman came to Wisconsin in 1979 as an instructor and became an assistant professor in 1981, according to a School of Journalism and Mass Communication release. He earned full professorship in 1990 and led the J-School as its director from 2003 to 2009. Baughman was a leading researcher in the history of mass communication and wrote four books related to its effects on society (which he’d tell you could be purchased on Amazon.com).
However, his personal accomplishments never usurped his commitment to educating the next generation of journalists. “He had a style where he always demanded excellence of you … but he always made that excellence seem attainable,” said Katy Culver, an assistant J-School professor and former student of Baughman’s. “There weren’t any goals that were beyond something we could achieve.” Baughman earned degrees from Harvard and Columbia but always emphasized his Ohio roots, routinely using the phrase “mad as a wet hen” and fruitlessly rooting for Cleveland sports. His lectures were full of wit and presidential impersonations, giving him a down-toearth persona that endeared him to hundreds of students. His classes covered topics such as history of mass communication,
literary journalism, creative nonfiction and opinion writing. When teaching history of mass communication, Baughman closed every semester with a moving lecture on students’ futures. “The main thing I remember from [the lecture] is just that sense that you were going to go out in the world and do good things,” Culver said. “He never spoke with sentiment. He wasn’t a Hallmark card. Yet he always inspired you.” Spurred on by such inspiration, dozens of his former students took to social media to share their favorite Baughman stories and express their condolences. The City of Madison proclaimed Saturday as James Baughman Day. But the void in Vilas Hall will remain. “He’s irreplaceable,” Culver said. “There will be no replacing a person like Jim.”
Get to know the Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates While presidential candidates for both parties square off ahead of Wisconsin’s April 5 primary, there is another race students should know about as well. Rebecca Bradley and JoAnne Kloppenburg are vying for an open seat on the State Supreme Court and its corresponding 10-year term. The state’s highest court hears cases from lower courts across Wisconsin and issues verdicts affecting all citizens, including students. Here is some background on the two nonpartisan candidates.
Kloppenburg highlights her nonpartisanship
Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg is championing independence and rejecting partisanship in her campaign for a seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Kloppenburg has 25 years of
experience, beginning her career as an assistant attorney general and now serving as a judge in the District 4 Court of Appeals in Madison. Bradley has 19 years of experience in the judicial profession and, like Kloppenburg, positions herself as being committed to a fair and impartial application of the law. During the last debate of the race on March 23, contrasting views on how to finance campaigns arose between the two candidates. Kloppenburg said she would “support having taxpayers fund the campaigns of judicial candidates so they would not have to raise money from private donors,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bradley said the race showed public financing gives “an even more outsized voice for third-party interests.” Kloppenburg portrays herself
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Rebecca Bradley (left) and JoAnne Kloppenburg will face off for a seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court in the April 5 Primary election. Kloppenburg serves as a judge in the District 4 Court of Appeals, and Bradley is a current justice on the state Supreme Court. as the defender of law from special interest groups. She is seen as the liberal candidate, despite her emphasis on being nonpartisan. “I have always believed that fairness and justice are fun-
damental principles we must uphold,” Kloppenburg said on her website. “I am unwilling to surrender our courts to outside special interests and partisan politics...Rebecca Bradley is
Walker’s choice. I am running to be the people’s choice.” —Lily Price
candidates page 3
Clinton, Kasich to visit Madison in advance of Wisconsin Primary Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John Kasich will each visit Madison Monday as they look toward Wisconsin’s primary election April 5. Clinton is holding an event at
Gordon Dining & Events Center, according to a UW-Madison news release. The event will not be open to the campus community or the public. Lake Street will be closed to traffic between Dayton Street and
Johnson Street between approximately noon and 3 p.m. due to the event, and the Sellery basketball courts will likely be reserved for event parking and media, according to the release. Second floor
seating areas in Gordon will also be closed until the end of the event. Kasich will host a town hall event Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Sheraton Madison Hotel, according to his campaign’s website. Tickets can
be purchased through his website. Recent polls show Clinton with a slight advantage over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and Kasich as a distant third in the Republican primary.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”