Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment Progress Report: 2004 Funded Projects
Continuing Projects | Completed Projects
After School Science Program for Economically Disadvantaged Children
Project Leaders: William Barker, Assistant Dean, College of Letters and
Science (608-263-0540, barker@geology.wisc.edu);
Kevin Niemi, Outreach Program Manager, Center for Biology Education
Project Duration: 2004-2006
This partnership between UW-Madison and the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Dane County, is designed to create, assess and disseminate informal science education programs for economically disadvantaged youth through after-school programs and demonstrations. After-school science programs for both elementary and middle-school students now include the BGC of Dane County, the new BGC on Allied Drive and the Bayview Neighborhood Center. It is hoped that this public-private partnership will serve as the model for similar relationships between other UW system schools and local BGCs.
Multicultural Theatre and Drama in Wisconsin
Elementary Schools
Project Leaders: Manon van de Water, Assistant Professor, Theatre and
Drama, (608-263-2329, mvandewa@wisc.edu);
Norma Saldivar, Professor and Director of Theatre, Theatre and Drama
Project Duration: 2004-2006
UW-Madison's Theatre for Youth program has established a multicultural touring program for underprivileged students in elementary schools in Janesville, Beloit, Milwaukee, rural Dane County and elsewhere. The first play presented was "Wondrous Tales of Old Japan," written and directed by departmental faculty member David Furumoto. The program included on-site performances in 14 schools, reaching some 3,500 children. Study guides and follow-up drama workshops were held in individual classrooms. During the project's first year, three schools in the Fox River Valley were added to the program through a partnership with UW-Madison's On the Road program. Productions address societal opportunities and problems and foster understanding of diverse cultures. The drama and educational program expands access for underprivileged children to learn through the arts, and it integrates in-class and out-of-class learning for undergraduate and graduate students. The second year of the project features a bilingual production, "Bocón!" by a Mexican-American playwright, which will tour schools with large Latino and Latina populations in spring 2005.
Rejuvenating Oneida White Corn; Genetics
and Culture
Project Leader: William F. Tracy, Professor, Agronomy (608-262-2587,
wftracy@wisc.edu)
Project Duration: 2004-2006
Wisconsin's Oneida Nation has been reinvigorating traditional culture, knowledge and language through the nation's Turtle School and Tsyunhehkwa, an organic farm, food processor and pharmacy. To the Oneida, white corn plays an important part in their cultural heritage as part of the creation story and is the foundation of Onieda traditional agriculture. During the first year, staff from UW-Madison and Tsyunhehkwa developed a selection program for improving white corn and an improved cropping system for Tsyunhehkwa and Turtle School's gardens. This resulted in dramatically improved weed control and increased crop yields. A new and improved corn dryer for this year's harvest has also been developed, which is expected to reduce corn losses during drying due to molding. In the project's second year, work will continue on: improving the genetic base of white corn; developing community outreach materials on growing and maintaining white corn and; developing a school garden curriculum incorporating traditional knowledge of Eastern Woodlands people.
Student Outreach to Prevent and Reduce
Smoking
Project Leaders: Betty Chewning, Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy
(608-263-4878, bachewning@pharmacy.wisc.edu);
Dave Kreling, Professor, School of Pharmacy; Beth Martin, Clinical Assistant
Professor, School of Pharmacy
Project Duration: 2004-2006
This project aims to reduce the health and economic costs of smoking and tobacco use in Wisconsin. Pharmacy students, working with a statewide network of pharmacist preceptors, will provide tobacco cessation services to 750 adults and tobacco prevention education to 750 grade school students. Pharmacy students are receiving training in tobacco cessation programs, marketing and management concepts, case management and outcomes documentation, and tobacco prevention curriculum for grades 5-7. Partnering pharmacists also received training to provide tobacco cessation programs, and will use innovative case management software to enhance content delivery and outcome monitoring. This program is based on National Clinical Practice Guidelines and was developed after a successful pilot effort. Evaluation will include the number of clients served and grade school students receiving prevention education, tobacco quit rates achieved, and the number of participating pharmacists in underserved areas. The project was recognized as an exemplary model of a university community partnership by the UW-Madison Chancellor in summer 2004.
Water for Everyone: Resources to Study,
Manage, and Protect Wisconsin's Water
Project Leaders: Robert Bohanan, Outreach Program Manager II, Center
for Biology Education (608-265-2125, rbohanan@wisc.edu);
Stanley Dodson, Professor, Zoology
Project Duration: 2004-2005
Water for Everyone is a statewide partnership providing training, expert information and a database of scientific resources and educational materials to help monitor Wisconsin's rivers and streams. The project will enhance the ability of stream and river monitoring programs by training staff and volunteers to gather data; serve as a model for other water monitoring programs; increase the recruitment and retention of participants, and help people understand the complex nature of aquatic systems. A database of more than 50 state and county agencies and organizations has been developed, as have educational materials. A series of statewide workshops began in November to train 100 leaders of organizations that would monitor river and stream water quality. These leaders will train 800 volunteers. UW-Madison and UW-System faculty and staff and state Department of Natural Resources scientists have contributed to the project.
Wisconsin Style: New Approaches to Regulatory Innovation
Project Leader: Graham Wilson, Professor, La Follette School of Public
Affairs (608-262-3908, wilson@lafollette.wisc.edu)
Project Duration: 2004-2006
Wisconsin's legislative and executive leaders believe new regulatory approaches are needed to ensure environmental excellence and economic growth. The current regulatory process is seen as inefficient and adversely affecting the state's business climate and job creation. However, Wisconsin is poised to be a global leader once again in environmental protection, especially in light of current regulatory reform efforts that may enable the state to achieve higher levels of environmental protection without incurring major economic costs. This project will work with legislators, state agencies, environmental groups, business organizations and others to reinvent and create new approaches to regulatory reform that draw upon best practices from nations around the world. The goal is to produce higher levels of environmental performance by businesses through collaboration and cooperation, rather than through the top-down adoption of rigid laws, regulations and taxes. So far, an advisory council has been established with business, government and environmental organizations, and there have been many exchanges between U.S. and European academics, businesses, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. For example, UW-Madison professors are working with Wisconsin state politicians and have helped with the second phase of the "Bavarian Pact," a partnership between Wisconsin and Bavaria on developing innovations for better environmental protection. A January 2005 conference drew more than 300 people to Madison from around the state, country and the world to explore and advance environmental policy alternatives and regulatory innovations. So far, the Baldwin grant has attracted an additional $50,000 from other groups, such as the American Chemistry Council, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Joyce Foundation. Additional university support has come from the Chancellor's Fund, the Center for the World and Global Economy, and the La Follette School of Public Affairs. A new 2004 Law School course, "New Approaches to Regulation: Law and Policy," complements the project.
Nanoworld Discovery Center
Project Leaders: Wendy C. Crone, Assistant Professor, Engineering Physics
(608-262-8384, crone@engr.wisc.edu);
J. Aura Gimm, Postdoctoral Research Associate, MRSEC
Project Duration: 2004
This project developed and installed a free Nanoworld Discovery Center exhibit to encourage students and the public to explore the excitement and potential of cutting-edge nanoscale science and engineering research. The interactive exhibit highlights current applications of nanotechnology, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and ferrofluids, and the role they play in society. Viewers learn to appreciate the extremely small scale of "nano" and are able to grasp at least one core scientific concept from each exhibit module. The project emerged from an on-going successful collaboration among the UW Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Nanostructured Material and Interfaces, the Internships in Public Science Education program, The Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the Discovery World Museum in Milwaukee. The exhibit is on permanent display in the lobby of the Engineering Center Building and in its first two months, several thousand people have already explored the exhibit. The Nanoworld Center will also be featured in major campus events, such as Engineering Expo, that also attract thousands of students and adults.
Team Up! Enhancing the Quality of Undergraduate
Education and Life in Madison
Project Leader: Dora Valentin, Residence Life Coordinator, University
Housing (608-262-1109, dora.valentin@housing.wisc.edu)
Project Duration: 2004
Student residents of Sellery Hall partnered with the Atwood Community Center throughout the year on a variety of projects. Projects included after-school mentoring, arts education, homework tutoring, working with the Food Pantry, neighborhood clean up, and working with Girls Neighborhood Power. Up to 20 students attended each project several times per semester developing a relationship between Sellery Hall students and the Atwood Community Center. Students found the experience so fruitful as they developed a deeper understanding of their community, their own privilege, and their role in future civic activities, including service as well as advocacy for less privileged groups. Although the project officially ended, the project will continue through spring 2005. And in an effort to institutionalize the activity, Sellery Hall students, most of whom turn over every year, have created student positions called, "Advocates for Civic Engagement," to continue the partnership and to continue to foster civic engagement.