UWL Cited for Diversity Program, by Amanda Wallman

UW-L will be featured in the INSIGHT magazine along with 55 other recipients of the 2013 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award for diversity and inclusion.

Barbara Stewart, UW-L associate dean for Campus Climate and Diversity, says "we are very grateful for the tremendous support we receive from the campus community. Winning this award is a powerful indicator of how far we have come with regard to diversity and inclusion. But also it should motivate us as a campus community to strive to make even greater progress in the future."

UW-L focuses on the many diverse groups by embracing a broad definition of diversity on campus, including gender, age, race, ethnicity, Veterans, first generation, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA community.

UW-L has TRIO programs which focus on supporting low-income students, the first in the family to attend college and people with disabilities.  UW-L also is always open to recruiting and retaining the diversity.  One example is that the university invites multicultural students annually to visit from Rufus King Middle School from the Milwaukee area.

Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, says "We hope the HEED award serves as a way to honor those institutions of higher education that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion as part of their everyday campus culture."

Employment Stuck, Better For College Grads, by Shelby Jacobson

Unemployment is still a major concern even, while decreased from 10% to 7% since 2007.

On average, says Professor of Economics Mike Haupert, people can live without a paycheck for one month before running into any serious problems. Even though the unemployment rate decreased 3%, the rate has been stuck.

According to http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/wisconsin/, the 2013 unemployment rate in Wisconsin has decreased from 7.9% in January to 7.3% in August.

College graduates have less to worry about after graduating. Graduates on average go without a job for two to four weeks. The unemployment rate for college students is 4%, even less for those with their masters. Those with their M.D. or PhD have an even smaller unemployment rate.

Haupert says the 2007 recession compared to the economic meltdown of the 1930s Great Depression is not an accurate parallel. Still, he says, the people now without jobs are hit hard.

Haupert says there is a permanent 4% unemployment rate in the United States with any increase depending on the economy. This 4% consists of people between jobs, quitting their jobs, and graduating from school.

Contact Career Services with any questions or assistance, at any time, at 608.785.8514 or at career@uwlax.edu . 

New Hunting Rules for 2013, by William Ricioppo

New DNR rules this fall will have an impact on the way Wisconsin hunters enjoy the upcoming season. Modifications recently made to existing outdoor recreational statutes will limit trapping and shooting on state lands.

In an emergency session recently, the DNR Board amended 2012 law to prohibit shooting from or across any trail or other property closed to hunting. Under new restrictions, discharging a firearm, air-gun, bow, or crossbow within 100 feet of a designated use area− a campground, parking lot, picnic facility, or hiking trail− is prohibited. A hunter on open hunting land cannot shoot across or over any such restricted area at a target on open land on the other side of the prohibited area.

Hunters will also be limited to the type of traps they may use. These rules are designed to protect animals not targeted by hunters. Under the new stipulations traps are limited to dog-proof and underwater traps. A dog-proof trap has a trip mechanism housed inside a recessed compartment to prevent being triggered by a canine. Underwater traps are specifically designed to catch prey such as beavers, protecting unintended targets.

The legislation in 2012 allowed broader access to other outdoor activities in state parks and similar public space as well as permitting the practice of trapping for the first time. The move was aimed at getting more people involved in outdoor activities.

DNR makes available to the public maps identifying all areas open and closed to hunting on any state property.

Hunting is allowed in Wisconsin April 1 into the first week of May. Gun and trapping season run from November 15^th to December 15^th, and archery hunting continues to run until early January.

Wolf Hunt Continues, with Success and Criticism, by Sofia Beccarelli

Wisconsin’s second wolf hunting season is underway, lasting until the end of February.  However it is still surrounded by controversy, since the removal of wolves from the endangered species list in 2011. Nearly half the quota for the season was killed with a few days last week.

Debates are still going strong as to how to manage wild wolf populations in Wisconsin, among wolf campaigners, sportsmen and the Department of Natural Resources.

Approximately 24 members of the wolf campaigning group, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf, assembled recently in Madison, protesting for an end to the hunting. Melissa Smith, a member of the group, states, “There is no legitimate reason to be hunting wolves in Wisconsin." The group argues that the state’s management plan is based on false information; scientific research, they claim, shows the wolf population as threatened.  "The wolf hunt is not something supported by the public," Smith states. "This has become a politically-based, not a science-based, issue."

The state management plan came under similar criticism last year, when the state’s native tribes strongly opposed the idea of managing the wolf. The wolf is part of their culture and tribal creation story and is highly respected by the tribal members. The story is the Great Spirit warned man that if the day came when the wolf no longer had a safe place to retreat and be removed from existence, then humans would follow.

The protests were on the same day  DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp released an article defending Wisconsin’s wolf management plan. According to this article, hunters in Wisconsin are able to cull 275 wolves this hunting season,  reduce the state’s population by only 13 percent, making the population closer to the state’s goal.

Stepp states, "The DNR strives to balance many of the social aspects of wolf management with the need, and the department’s responsibility, to manage the state’s wolf population."

Transported Firewood Limited, by Mikaela Kornowski & William Ricioppo

Wisconsin DNR proposes to decrease the distance firewood can be transported from 25 miles to 10.  Any wood carried from distances greater than set limits must be certified by state Department of Agriculture.

This comes from the increased risk of invasive species and diseases transported in the firewood.  As of February of this year, La Crosse is already considered a “quarantined” county. Firewood from hardwoods, ash chips, limbs or the tree itself are not allowed to be transported out of the  county. There are 15 quarantined counties in Wisconsin.

There are 727 million ash trees in Wisconsin’s woodlands, all potentially destroyed by the invasive species. The trees make up seven percent of the state’s native tree population, and they can constitute 20% of trees planted in urban areas.

Insecticide treatments can stop or reverse the effect of the disease for trees in residential areas. However, there is no practical way to stop the spread in entire forests. Landowners should consult professional foresters for help managing their private woodlands.

The Emerald Ash Borer beetle specifically has been established in Wisconsin since 2008 in Ozaukee and Washington counties. The green beetles live beneath the bark of ash trees and emerge in late May through mid-July. A single female beetle can lay 60-90 eggs.

The emerald ash borer kills ash trees by tunneling through the bark and consuming the softer tissue underneath. This disrupts the tree’s ability to move water and nutrients between its leaves and root system, eventually killing the tree from malnutrition.

The DNR asks that citizens report possible cases of the infestation to the Wisconsin EAB hotline (1-800-462-2803).

Abandoned Bikes Go Green, by Amanda Wallman

Some UW-La Crosse students neglect their bicycles, and the university claims them at the end of each semester.  The campus issues out a warning, saying that it will eventually take them if they are not moved from a particular spot if left for a certain length of time. 

Bicycles no longer claimed by their students end up part of the Green Bike Program.  

The Green Bike Program allows students can rent a bicycle for $15.  All the bicycles are donated, spray painted green for rental or scrapped for parts that could be used.  The metal that it does not use from the bicycle is then recycled rather than thrown away.  Those involved in the program have also begun to use the bike parts for making chairs.

The program was started by the UW-L Environmental Council in 2004 and has since then expanded.  It is now part of the Outdoor Connection, having rented over 200 bicycles and recycled as much as 40,000 pounds of metal.