Campus about to bustle with notable summer activities

College Library and Bascom Hill may seem quiet and serene, but the University of Wisconsin–Madison will soon bustle with summer activities. An abundance of summer camps and conferences, along with Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) sessions, will take place before students return in late August.

University Housing alone will host more than 90 groups — more than 16,000 guests — in campus residence halls during the next three months. The Wisconsin Union will host several conferences and an all-day open house, along with many other events.

Youth, students and adults alike will be traveling to Madison for activities ranging from sailing to campus tours to a gang investigators conference. Notable events include:

• Conferences at the Wisconsin Union: Summer conferences include TeraGrid 2007 through Friday, June 8; Spinal Cord Research from Tuesday-Friday, June 12-15; Bacteria and Phages from Tuesday-Sunday, Aug. 7-12; and the International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man from Sunday-Tuesday, Aug. 12-14.
• SOAR: Beginning Thursday, June 7, and running through early August, thousands of incoming freshman and transfer students, accompanied by parents or guests, will come to campus for a day and a half to participate in discussions about the basics of advising, course enrollment and campus life. A special focus of the sessions explores the transition from high school to college and strategies for staying connected.
• University Theatre Summer Productions: The summer season includes "Wisconsin Wrights" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, June 7-9, and "You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, June 28-29, Thursday-Saturday, July 5-7, Wednesday-Saturday, July 11-14, and Wednesday-Saturday, July 18-21; at 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 1, Saturday-Sunday, July 7-8, Saturday-Sunday, July 14-15, and Saturday-Sunday, July 21-22; and at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 10 and 17.
• Student groups visit campus: Students from Milwaukee and Chicago will visit UW–Madison this summer. This week, sixth-graders from UNO Charter School Network in inner-city Chicago will visit the University Bookstore and Bascom Hill, eat Babcock ice cream and stay in the residence halls. Third-graders from Milwaukee Public Schools will tour the Memorial Union, the entomology department and College Library from Thursday-Friday, June 7-8.
• Memorial Union Open House: On Saturday, June 9, Memorial Union will officially kick off Terrace season with an all-day open house. Activities are free and include kayaking, canoeing, sailing, pottery-making, crafts, a jazz DJ, a climbing wall and art exhibitions. A lighted boat parade at 9 p.m. will finish the event. Brats, ice cream, pizza and more will be available.
• International Latino Gang Investigators Association Conference: Hosted by the University of Wisconsin and Madison police departments, the conference for law enforcement officials will be held Monday-Friday, June 11-15. Topics include gang prevention and intervention, firearm recovery and evidence preservation. This is the first time the conference has been held in the Midwest.
• SBDC Youth Entrepreneurship Camp: From Monday-Friday, June 18-22, the UW–Madison Small Business Development Center’s Youth Entrepreneurship Camp will foster the entrepreneurial desires of middle-school students who have completed seventh or eighth grade. The camp is a hands-on learning experience designed to guide program participants to become owners of actual small businesses.
• PEOPLE Youth College Programs: The Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) at UW–Madison will host various summer programs for minority and low-income middle- and high-school students. Programs range from advertising to veterinary exploration. The middle-school program will be held Monday, June 18-Friday, July 6, and Monday, June 18-Friday, July 20. High-school programs will be held Sunday, June 24-Saturday, July 14, and Sunday, June 24-Friday, Aug. 3.
• Hoofers Sailing Club activities: The club will host its annual Pirate’s Day on Saturday, June 23. Teams will sail around Lake Mendota in search of buried treasure. A social and pirate activities will follow.
• Junior and senior music clinics: For 78 years, UW–Madison has offered bands, orchestras and choirs for junior and senior high school students. More than 900 students will spend a week in classes and rehearsals building their creative and performance skills. Performances will be held from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Mosse Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St.
• Grandparents University: This award-winning two-day event will be held Thursday-Friday, July 19-20, and Thursday-Friday, July 26-27. Grandparents and children will share fun learning activities and a cookout, stay in a residence hall and earn degrees at a graduation celebration concluding the program.
• WiCell Summer Science Camp: From Monday-Thursday, July 16-19, rural Wisconsin high-school students will participate in a pilot project at the WiCell Research Institute. Students will be encouraged to choose science as their career path through experience and discovery. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is sponsoring the program. More information is available by calling Nirupama Shevde at (608) 441-8013 or shevde@biochem.wisc.edu.

Ongoing events include:

• Arboretum activities: The UW–Madison Arboretum will host public walks every Sunday, with family walks on the second Sunday of each month and evening walks once a month. Family programs will be held on the second Saturday of each month, and garden tours are offered throughout the summer.
• Moonlight canoeing: At 7 p.m. every Friday, the Hoofers Outing Club will lead moonlight canoe trips to Picnic Point. A lake lesson is required to participate.
• Youth sports camps: UW–Madison will host various sports camps throughout the summer.