Almanac

Ask Bucky
Do you have questions? Ask Bucky has answers! Ask Bucky is a service provided by the Campus Information and Visitor Center — your one-stop shop for information about the UW–Madison campus and surrounding community, and your centralized source for off-campus housing listings. Below is a question Ask Bucky recently answered.

Q: I am trying to find the name of the professor at UW–Madison who used to do, or is still currently doing, “Bill Nye”-type science shows on public television.

A: UW–Madison is home to several talented professors who make science fun and interesting! Two fit the description provided in your question. One is UW–Madison chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri, who performs lively science lectures and demonstrations on campus and in the community for the general public. His presentations are televised from time to time as part of the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy (WISL). You can find out more about Shakhashiri and view a schedule of his upcoming presentations at http://www.scifun.org.

The second is professor Clint Sprott, who presents a fast-paced and entertaining program of physics demonstrations titled “The Wonders of Physics.” Sprott’s shows appear on public access television, but did you know that you also can attend a live show? Find out more at http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/wop.htm.

Intramural sports welcomes Texas Hold’em star
Nine students will square off against poker superstar Phil Hellmuth Jr. to crown the Intramural Sports Texas Hold’em “Champion of Champions.”

The event will take place from 7-10:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the On Wisconsin Room of the Red Gym. The event is free and open to the public.

Hellmuth, who attended UW–Madison in the late 1980s, is one of the biggest celebrities in the world of professional poker.

He has won the World Series of Poker nine times, collecting $3.6 million in winnings. He began playing cards at Memorial Union and ultimately left the university to launch his professional career.

For more information or rules for the competition, contact Michael Warren, 265-3828, warren1@education.wisc.edu or visit the Recreational Sports website.

Working hard, falling short
Despite their hard work, tens of thousands of Wisconsin families still don’t earn enough to make ends meet. The new Center on Wisconsin Strategy report, “Working Hard, Falling Short: Wisconsin’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security,” looks at the challenges these families face.

Nearly 23 percent of Wisconsin families are low income, which is defined as earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line in 2002, or $36,784, for a family of four. Among minority working families in the state, the low-income share is nearly 44 percent.

See the COWS report or the national report on the web. (Adobe Acrobat PDF files)

Fall student art sale scheduled
The annual Fall Art Sale is scheduled for Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 17-19, in Porter Butts Gallery in the Memorial Union.

The sale hours are noon to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17, and Thursday, Nov. 18; and noon to 4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 19.

Artists price their own work, which can be in any medium.

For more information, contact Christena Gunther at 262-7592 or cmgunther@wisc.edu.

Backward glance
From Wisconsin Week of Nov. 2, 1994: Chancellor David Ward announced that Philip Farrell, chair of the UW Medical School Department of Pediatrics, would be interim dean of the Medical School … The sculpture “Maquina” became part of the College of Engineering campus during dedication ceremonies for Engineering Mall. The sculpture was the work of St. Louis artist and UW–Madison alumnus William Conrad Severson.