Stuff that stocking with campus gifts
The holidays are getting closer while the shopping crowds are growing precariously larger. Why not avoid the mad rush for the mall and do all your shopping on campus?
Here are more than a dozen gift ideas from UW–Madison that can reduce the stress of holiday shopping. These gifts can be found only on campus. All proceeds benefit academic, social and outreach programs.
CHEESE: Yes, Wisconsin is known for cheese, whether its being eaten or used as an article of clothing, and it seems only natural that the state’s largest campus has its fair share. From Babcock Hall Dairy Store and the Food Science Club, choose from an assortment of gift boxes with 20 different types of cheese. Prices range from $12 to $40. Shipping costs $6 to $9. Contact the Babcock Dairy Store, (608) 262-3045, or visit 1605 Linden Drive. If you visit, also grab a handful of four-color notecards featuring Wolfgang Hoffmann’s night shots of snowy Allen Centennial Gardens, eight for $4.50. They make great holiday cards.
CALENDARS: The “Memories for a Lifetime 2002” calendar, a 14-by-20-inch wall calendar, features 27 full-color images of beautiful and familiar campus scenes. About 80 percent of the calendar’s cost is donated to the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. This unique partnership between the university and the University Book Store generated almost $60,000 for the fund last year. Cost: $12.95, available at all University Book Store locations. To order, call (800) 957-7052 or visit: http://www.badgerware.com.
MARCH TO THE MUSIC: For the UW Marching Band fan what could be better than the UW Band Store? It carries a wide variety of merchandise, from t-shirts to bumper stickers to buttons, and even CD and cassette recordings of the band in its finest moments. For a complete list of items for sale, visit the band store online.
MAPS: Exquisite maps available from the State Cartographer’s Office include an extraordinarily detailed 20-by-30-inch campus map compiled from 79 aerial photographs, $14; a 42-by-50-inch map of Wisconsin’s land cover compiled from satellite images, depicting 13 different types of terrain, $10; and a cultural map of Wisconsin, the first of its kind produced for any state, $12.95. All maps come rolled in a sturdy tube. Prices listed here do not include shipping and handling charges. To order, call or visit the State Cartographer’s Office, 160 Science Hall, (608) 262-3065, or the Wisconsin Geological Survey, 3817 Mineral Point Road, (608) 263-7389, or get an an online order form .
ANIMAL LOVING CARDS: For a minimum $10 donation, the School of Veterinary Medicine will send an attractive, four-color holiday card to the recipient of your choice. The card acknowledges in the recipient’s name your contribution to the veterinary school’s Companion Animal Fund, which supports health care studies into diseases and afflictions that affect companion animals. For an order form, contact Nancy Nelson, (608) 263-5152; nelsonn@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu. Deadline for ordering: Friday, Dec. 14.
RELAXING RUB DOWN: UW Hospital and Clinic’s nationally certified and state of Wisconsin registered massage therapists are available to give your special someone relief from stress and muscle tension that the holidays may bring. Massage therapists offer daytime, evening and Saturday appointments at UW Health Research Park Clinic, 621 Science Drive. One-hour sessions are $55. Gift certificates are available. For more information or to purchase a gift certificate, call (608) 263-7936.
WISCONSIN UNION MEMORABILIA: Wisconsin Union shops including Essentials in Memorial Union and The Corner Store in Union South offer the finest in Terrace-wear, such as hats, shirts, jackets, and fleeces; memorabilia, including pens, notepads, glassware, and miniature Terrace chairs; Badger clothing and novelty items. For more information, contact Stefanie Pedone, (608) 262-1245, stpedone@students.wisc.edu.
BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS: The University of Wisconsin Press has many interesting books exploring different aspects and regions of Wisconsin. Find out where to drink your fill with “Wisconsin’s Best Breweries and Brewpubs: Searching for the Perfect Pint,” by Robert Shepard, assistant professor of life sciences and communication, $24.95. Or learn about the struggles and traditions of Wisconsin’s Native Americans in “Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal,” by Patty Loew, assistant professor of life sciences and communication and member of the Bad River Ojibwe. Available for $21.95 in paperback and $39.95 in cloth, this text presents compact histories of several of the state’s tribes through oral history and Native American perspectives. See and order more titles online, or call the distribution center, 1 (800) 621-2736. Most titles are also available in local bookstores.
UNION MEMBERSHIP: Give a gift that lasts all year or even a lifetime with a Wisconsin Union membership. A gift membership entitles the recipient to Memorial Union Terrace privileges, access to mini courses and Hoofer activities. Members receive Union mailings; can hold events at the Union; receive priority status for Tudor Dinners; and get discounts on retail items, Union guest rooms and Union Theater tickets. Members are also eligible to use the Travel Center, rent outdoor boating and sporting equipment, and use Memorial Union and Union South games rooms. Cost: Lifetime memberships are $220, or $55 for graduating seniors, and annual memberships are $50. Annual membership fees accumulate toward a lifetime membership and revenues generated from membership sales support the work and programs of the Wisconsin Union.
UW SWAP SHOP: On a tight budget? The UW SWAP Shop has a smorgasbord of surplus merchandise from various campus departments, including computers and accessories, audio and video equipment, home furnishings, appliances, and office furniture and supplies. The shop even has laboratory supplies. And, for that person who never seems to get the right gift, SWAP has very unique items in stock, including a one-way window and a stainless steel cage. SWAP maintains a complete list of inventory online, or stop by Fridays at 2102 Wright St., 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (except this Friday, Nov. 23).
CONTINUING EDUCATION: Give a gift of class. UW–Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies offers hundreds of personal and professional courses, including foreign languages, music, dance, history, writing, photography, business, engineering, nursing, library science, education, human services and many more. You can view a list of continuing education classes that begin in January, visit: online or call (608) 262-3265 to receive a free catalog in the mail. You may also purchase a course by credit card; call (608) 262-2451. Course prices vary.
VARSITY SPORTS TICKETS: Catch a wrestling match at the UW Field House, or watch the women spikers dominate their next opponent. General admission tickets for varsity sports events, which include volleyball, wrestling, track and soccer, are available on for individual events or in Badger Bundle Ticket Books, which contain 15 tickets valid for single admission to any 2001-02 season varsity sports event. The bundles save you 30 percent on regular ticket prices. Cost: For adults, game tickets are $5 each and bundles are $50. For students, youths under 17 and senior citizens, game tickets are $2 and bundles are $20. Contact the ticket office, (608) 262-1440 or 1 (800) GO-BADGERS, or visit in person at Gate B of the Kohl Center, 601 W. Dayton St. More ticket information is available online.
MUGS: Pour that steaming holiday wassail into a School of Human Ecology mug, white with the blue/green school logo. Mugs cost $10 plus shipping ($3 for one to three mugs, $4 for four to eight; call for orders of eight or more). Contact: Julie Anderson, (608) 262-4847, School of Human Ecology, UW–Madison, 1300 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706.
Finally, if you don’t want to fight any crowds at all, shop online at the new Alumni Store. Order Wisconsin memorabilia including books by UW faculty, Badger CDs, Wisconsin Union merchandise and commemorative chairs and lamps. Wisconsin Alumni Association members get additional savings on a variety of products. Proceeds support student scholarships, career resources, educational travel and lifelong learning through the Wisconsin Alumni Association.