Almanac

Tommy Thompson to chair Veterinary Medicine’s capital campaign
Tommy G. Thompson, former governor of Wisconsin, will serve as honorary chair of the School of Veterinary Medicine’s capital campaign, which is part of the University’s “Create the Future: The Wisconsin Campaign.” The school plans to expand by adding a building just north of the current location. The addition will integrate a new large- and small-animal hospital, expanded research facilities, an interdisciplinary clinical research center and a classroom.

Get Your Flu Shot
The Safety Department Occupational Health Program and Home Health United are sponsoring flu-shot clinics for faculty and staff, Nov. 3-10, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The shots are free for people with insurance cards from Dean, Group Health, Physicians Plus or Unity. The charge for others is $18. UW–Madison students can obtain free flu shots from University Health Services. The dates and locations are:

Monday, Nov. 3, 3081 Grainger
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 103 Ingraham
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2643 Engineering
Thursday, Nov. 6, 338 Brogden Psychology
Friday, Nov. 7, 1360 Genetics-Biotechnology Center
Monday, Nov. 10, 132 WARF Office Building

More smokers quit with help from telephone line
Smokers calling the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line (1-877-270-STOP) are four times more likely to quit smoking successfully than those who try on their own, according to a survey evaluating the Quit Line’s second year of operation. The survey, conducted by Pacific Marketing Inc., found a 22 percent quit rate for smokers using the Quit Line, compared to 5 percent for smokers quitting on their own, and a 26 percent quit rate for those using the Quit Line’s more intensive, proactive treatment program. Close to 92 percent of callers to the Quit Line were satisfied with the service, up from 85 percent a year ago.

WiscMail volume hits new high
On Sept. 18, the Division of Information Technology processed more than 2 million virus-free, spam-free messages through the WiscMail e-mail system. This doubled the average daily peak from last spring. DoIT increased system capacity from 60,000 messages per hour to about 100,000 messages per hour this past summer.

Keillor reads from UW chapbook
Garrison Keillor read from a chapbook published by Parallel Press, an imprint of UW–Madison libraries, as part of the Oct. 15 “Writer’s Almanac” on public radio. Dennis Trudell’s poem, “My Father Gets Up in the Middle of the Night to Watch an Old Movie,” is included in “Marquees of Buffalo.” The text and recording are available at http://www.writersalmanac.org/.

Backward Glance:
From Wisconsin Week of Oct. 27, 1993: Student government, in the form of the Wisconsin Student Association, is formally dissolved during the fall semester after students vote in late 1992 and early 1993 to do away with it. Students begin investigating ways to form a new student government system and constitution. … Minority graduate student populations jump from 150 to 197. Administrators say work in the area is only beginning. … The new Campus Crimestoppers tip line makes its first collar, a man attempting to scalp more than 400 Badger football tickets at $50, $30 more than their face value. … The University News and Information Service, publishers of Wisconsin Week, changes its name to the Office of News and Public Affairs.