The University of Wisconsin athletic department contributed about $50,000 to the School of Nursing building project with funds generated from ticket sales at the spring football game.

But that was only part of the story.

School of Nursing dean Katharyn May believes a $1 million donation received about three weeks prior to the spring game probably would not have happened without the affiliation with the football program.

"I am absolutely convinced that gift would not have happened without the enthusiasm and momentum, if you will, leading up to the spring game," May said Monday.

Wisconsin fourth- and eighth-graders scored better in science than the national average, according to scores released Tuesday by the state Department of Public Instruction.

Photo by Ron Wiecki

A Republican lawmaker wants to undo a new state law aimed at eliminating Indian mascots and other race-based team names and logos in Wisconsin public schools.

Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, has drafted legislation to repeal the law, which allows any school district resident to file a complaint with the local school board over the use of offensive nicknames, logos or mascots. The state school superintendent can then order districts to stop using such symbols if they promote discrimination, harassment or stereotyping.

City and school officials here are scrambling to react after it came to light that a property owner wants to set up a gun shop kitty-corner to an elementary school.

But they're not likely to prevent the shop from opening, and they may even be limited in what they can do to keep other such businesses away from schools.

Michael G. Govas, who owns a commercial and apartment building at 2192 S. 60th St., applied for a business occupancy permit in August to operate Shorty's Shooting Sports in a 1,500-square-foot storefront in the building.

The application says the store would sell "hunting supplies, handguns, shotguns, ammo, basically all hunting and shooting supplies, long guns."

The store is at S. 60th and W. Grant streets, the same intersection where Longfellow Elementary School in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District is located.

"I'm all for people having guns," said Diane Dorow, a neighborhood resident with a son in third grade at Longfellow. "I'm just real concerned that there's going to be problems.

"There's plenty of places they could open a gun shop, but across from an elementary school? It's just not right."

Don't look for baby swings or conventional monkey bars at the new playground next to Randall Elementary School. With names like "Wobble Pods," "Swiggle Stix," "O-Zone Rings" and "Podstomper," the bounding arcs of equipment look less like your grandfather's schoolyard than a structure preparing for lunar liftoff.

While traditional playgrounds — with places to swing and slide, dangle and climb — are still a hit with kids, a new generation of park equipment, designed for open-ended play, is cropping up around Madison. The idea is to add novelty while also giving children's bodies and imaginations a tougher workout.

"It does look space-age," said Alison Alter, a neighbor who helped head up the $110,000 fundraising effort for the first phase of improvements to Olive Jones Park, a one-acre, city-owned public park used daily by Randall's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. The playground is being dedicated Wednesday.