Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - The Daily Cardinal

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University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

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UW math professor emeritus dies at 87 By Jake Skubish THE DAILY CARDINAL

ALAYNA TRUTTMANN/THE DAILY CARDINAL

UW-Madison student Arturo “Tito” Diaz outlines four major areas of implementation in order to continue planning for the potential creation of a School of Ethnic Studies.

Students advocate for Ethnic Studies school By Scott Bembenek THE DAILY CARDINAL

A group of students dedicated to the formation of a School of Ethnic Studies at UW-Madison met Tuesday to discuss beginning the formal process of creating a school dedicated to studying ethnic groups and diversity on campus. There are currently four programs counted as Ethnic Studies at UW-Madison. These include the Department of Afro-American Studies and the programs of Chican@/Latin@ Studies, Asian American Studies and American Indian Studies. As a department, AfroAmerican Studies is the only one of the four capable of providing a full faculty and having a

tenure track. The others, which are programs, are made up of professors from around campus who dedicate extra time to running them. One of the key steps outlined by the group involved getting department status for all four parts of Ethnic Studies in the university. Once the programs are made into departments, they will be able to have larger faculties and provide tenure tracks. The end goal for the group, however, is establishing a School of Ethnic Studies. Arturo Diaz, one of the students behind the formation of Students for the School of Ethnic Studies, outlined what would need to be done to get the plans off the ground.

Among his suggestions was the creation of four working groups to formulate a budget, a potential structure, establish all four components of Ethnic Studies as departments and create relationships with faculty members and students. This student-led movement is intended to prove to faculty that students are serious about the need for such a school, as determined through group discussion. “We have to be sustainable ourselves, we have to be wellorganized ourselves, we have to be able to support ourselves so that we put out excellent work,” one attending student said. The group will continue to hold meetings and lay out plans in the coming weeks.

Obama rallies for gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke The Associated Students of Madison University Affairs Committee is working to create more language certificate options for UW-Madison students and continued campaign planning at its meeting Tuesday. Currently, German and French are the only languages offered as certificates. Spanish is also available, but only through admittance into the business school. Other certificate options include various languages, but only when combined with additional material such as culture studies or literature. “What is the tradeoff between offering a certificate? What are departments giving up?”

University Affairs Committee Chair John Paetsch said. “We saw that the benefits of creating a certificate would significantly out lay any costs incurred by students and departments.” University Affairs Committee Intern Kate Wiedel said she and fellow ASM members have created a survey to distribute campus wide to see how many students are interested in a language certificate. While some departments are in complete support of creating language certifications, others are still “iffy” Wiedel said. ASM members hope to work directly with the language department heads, using the survey feedback as support.

New season, new Nigel

The next step involves interacting with foreign language based student organizations on campus to encourage them to write letters to their respective language departments. Paetsch encouraged students who are currently in a language class to voice their wish for a certificate. He said past certificates were created through a chain effect as students suggested it to faculty members, who recommended it to department heads. While committee members said they hope to see more individual language certificates form soon, there is no established timeline. —Dana Kampa

+ SPORTS, page 8 Expect some shifts in roster for the upcoming season

Hans Schneider, a UW-Madison professor for more than 30 years and a mathematician whose research in classical linear algebra led to algorithms that would help develop Google, died of esophageal cancer at age 87 Tuesday. “Hans Schneider is one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century in the field of linear algebra and matrix analysis,” said Daniel Hershkowitz, President of Bar-Ilan University, Israel. A professor at UW-Madison from 1959 to 1993, Schneider was named chairman of the UW-Madison mathematics department in 1966. At 39, he became one of the youngest academics to ever attain that position at a major American research university.

To his family, Schneider was more than a mathematician. “He was honest to a fault, extremely quick-witted and quick of mind and he adored his mathematics,” his son Peter Schneider said. Schneider had many interests outside of mathematics and loved to travel. “He had colleagues in Israel and Germany and really enjoyed those relationships,” his daughter Barbara Schneider said. During his time at UW-Madison, Schneider was editor-in-chief for the math journal “Linear Algebra and its Applications,” a position now filled by his colleague Richard Brualdi. “He was very well-read and

professor page 3

ASM committee pushes for new language certificates The Associated Students of Madison University Affairs Committee is working to create more language certificate options for UW-Madison students and continued campaign planning at its meeting Tuesday. Currently, German and French are the only languages offered as certificates. Spanish is also available, but only through admittance into the business school. Other certificate options include various languages, but only when combined with additional material such as culture studies or literature. “What is the tradeoff between offering a certificate? What are departments giving up?” University Affairs Committee Chair John Paetsch said. “We saw that the benefits of creating a certificate would significantly out lay any costs incurred by students and departments.” University Affairs Committee Intern Kate Wiedel said she and fellow ASM members have created a survey to distribute campus

wide to see how many students are interested in a language certificate. While some departments are in complete support of creating language certifications, others are still “iffy” Wiedel said. ASM members hope to work directly with the language department heads, using the survey feedback as support. The next step involves interacting with foreign language based student organizations on campus to encourage them to write letters to their respective language departments. Paetsch encouraged students who are currently in a language class to voice their wish for a certificate. He said past certificates were created through a chain effect as students suggested it to faculty members, who recommended it to department heads. While committee members said they hope to see more individual language certificates form soon, there is no established timeline. —Ellie Herman

EMILY BUCK/THE DAILY CARDINAL

University Affairs Committee Chair John Paetsch says more language certificates will greatly benefit UW students.

+ ARTS, page 7 The Dirty & Island Vibes California-bred band rocks Barrymore Heads

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”


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