Recent Sightings: Lake on the rocks January 9, 2013 Share As winter sets in, ice begins to form on the surface water of Lake Mendota at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. For more on the lake ice, click here. Photo: Bryce Richter Editor’s picks Teaching students to deliberate, not debate In a public policy course, UW–Madison students put the science behind productive disagreement into practice. Smart farming UW‘s statewide network of hyper-local weather stations gives Wisconsin growers a powerful tool to reduce costs and improve yields. ‘Prepared for life’: UW–Madison awards the most degrees ever This spring UW–Madison reached a major milestone, awarding 13,733 degrees to new graduates — the most in university history. Half a million Badgers and counting UW–Madison has reached the milestone of 500,000 living alumni. See how they’re spreading the Wisconsin Idea around the state, country and world.