Recent sightings

Peaceful meal
Buddhist monk Geshe Sopa enjoys dinner and conversation with student residents during an International Learning Community (ILC) dinner held Sept. 19 at the Upper Gulley. Geshe Sopa was the guest speaker for the group’s meeting, and spoke about his experiences and steps to the path to enlightenment. Pictured at right is ILC faculty director and professor of sociology Joseph Elder.

Photo: Jeff Miller

A dialogue on diversity
Nola Walker, a research intern with the General Library System, talks with Chancellor John Wiley following a panel discussion about initiatives related to improving campus climate. The talk, held Sept. 21 in Great Hall at the Memorial Union, was part of the seventh annual Plan 2008 campus diversity forum. Earlier during the forum, Walker expressed her feeling of cultural isolation on campus and her concern about what she perceived as an apparent lack of cultural diversity initiatives targeted to academic staff members.

Photo: Jeff Miller

After commuting four miles to work, Miguel Rosales stores his bicycle in a campus bike locker next to the Sewell Social Science building. Rosales, a student services coordinator for Letters and Science Academic Affairs, is one of about 90 of UW–Madison employees involved in the annual Car-free Challenge, held through Thursday, Oct. 5. Participants reduce their driving as much as possible for two weeks and log their mileage by car, bus, bike, foot and other means. During the first week of the challenge, Rosales walked his sons to school and then biked to campus three days and bused twice. Earlier this year, the university was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a “Best Workplace for Commuters”; 50 percent of faculty and staff and 89 percent of students travel to campus by methods other than driving alone.

Photo: Michael Forster Rothbart