Recent Sightings: Spring rains May 1, 2014 Share A cutout section of the word “Wisconsin” is pictured on the side of a bus shelter along University Avenue in the heart of the UW–Madison campus, as dusk falls to a rainy nighttime. Photo: Jeff Miller 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.