Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 Now you know Students enrolled in any four-year undergraduate program in the U.S. have an opportunity to spend six weeks in a historic manor in Scotland learning, observing and writing about the country and Scottish sports through a special course offered by UWRF in summer 2008.            The sports writing course is offered by the UWRF journalism department and taught by Jim Thies who has been the UWRF sports information director for 30 years. “Students will have a chance to see sports in a different culture and to experience life in Scotland, a country with a great sports history,” says Thies, who has supervised hundreds of journalism students during his career at UWRF. “They will learn about traditional Scottish sports such as football (soccer), rugby, cricket, golf, curling and more.” The class will run from May 22 to July 11, 2008, and is limited to the first 15 students admitted to the class. The class will travel within the country to learn about the sports in the Highland Games (traditional Scottish events such as the caber toss, stone and hammer throws, and tug of war), which contributed to the ritual of modern athletic events. Students will watch football, tennis, cricket, and as a special experience, will visit the St. Andrews Links to see the Old Course, the home of golf, and the British Golf Museum.             Students will be expected to complete assigned readings and produce samples of feature, opinion, pre-event, and post-event articles. Students will be expected to take the three-credit sports journalism course and a three credit Scottish Culture Colloquium course.             Course fee is $4,900 (plus approximately $1,000 for airfare), which covers two day trips, a bus pass for the summer term, a room-and-board plan including breakfast Monday-Friday and lunch Monday-Thursday each week. Students will also have full use of the Dalkeith House facilities.             The class is one of several offered through the UWRF Wisconsin in Scotland program. For more information, visit the program’s Web site at http://www.uwrf.edu/wis/.             For more information about the course, contact Thies at ext. 3846 or  james.g.thies@uwrf.edu.          Falcon Daily:          recognized for          excellence by         Submit an item to Falcon Daily Subscribe to Falcon Daily Feedback on Falcon Daily  Visions and Values Web site. Strategic Planning Web site. Academic Affairs: • Excused class absences • Class cancellations • Faculty/staff searches • Retention, promotion, tenure notices • Governance committee meetings • Grants information • Graduate exams UWRF home page UWRF News Source "Perspectives," a column in the River Falls Journal by Chancellor Don Betz. UWS in the News "Wisconsin Residents Very Disillusioned with their State Government and Public Institutions," Wisconsin Public Policy Research Institute, Dec. 16. "Trust the voters, not politicians," Beloit Daily News, Dec. 14. "Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson speaks out about public financing for campaigns," Green Bay Press Gazette, Dec. 16. "UW shouldn't put fees on free speech," Editorial, Capital Times, Dec. 14. To see news about the UW System from around the state, visit System’s clip sheet site to read the stories or to subscribe to the daily briefing. On Wisconsin The following is a digest of links to critical news and information sources for UWRF employees: The Wheeler Report. This is a daily listing of all news stories, editorials, and press releases affecting public issues in Wisconsin. WisPolitics.Com State public policy news with a political interpretation. WisconsinEye News. Wisconsin’s version of C-Span, with live coverage of the Legislature, with the State Supreme Court and Executive Branch soon to follow. UW System Board of Regents Audio. The Regents web cast their monthly meetings held on the first Thursday and Friday of each month. UWS/UWRF Budget. A handy index to the UW System executive and legislative advocacy information on our budget proposals, analyses, and maps, charts and graphs to support our positions. Wisconsin Legislature. This site contains legislators’ profiles, committees, bill digests, hearing schedules, and links to Web casts of floor and committee discussions.

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."                                             -- Muhammad Ali Lt. Alger remembered at commencement Saturday's commencement ceremony included a special remembrance of Lt. Tracy Alger, a UWRF alumna who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in November. Wisconsin Army National Guard Staff Sergeant David Till presented the flag on behalf of Alger's family to two of Alger's friends, Carrie Hickman, '00, and Mickie Larson Moos, '00. Some 3,000 family and friends attended commencement as 290 degrees were conferred. For more photos by Jens Gunelson, visit http://www.uwrf.edu/photo_archive/. Announcements Turkey Trot Team Challenge Winner. Thanks to all who participated in the Turkey Trot Team Challenge. As always we had a beautiful morning for the walk/run. Folks enjoyed each others company and the opportunity to interact outside of the workplace. If you weren't able to participate this year we look forward to seeing you next year. Ten teams participated this year. The teams with the highest percentage of participation are: Third Place:   InfoTechServices Second Place:   HHP And the winner is . . . Enrollment Services. Congratulations to The Enrollment Services team! Each team member who participated will receive a certificate and their team name will be added to the Turkey Trot Team Participation Challenge plaque. Mark your calendars for 2007! Fall final grades may be entered electronically in eSIS through Jan. 3, 2008, at 3 p.m. Additional information at http://www.uwrf.edu/registrar/. Adobe Creative Suite and Acrobat Pro products sold via the WISC site to students are now available to all full or part-time faculty and staff. The software is strictly for personal use on a home computer (not a University/department owned computer) and the license is perpetual. Visit the WISC Web site at http://www.wisc.edu/wisc and select River Falls under Faculty/staff (Personal sales) to see products and pricing. This promotion ends March 15, 2008. The Facilities Management Survey is available through Friday, Dec. 21. If you have the opportunity to take five minutes, we would appreciate your feedback. Visit   http://www.uwrf.edu/facilities-management and look for the 'Survey' link in the upper left hand corner. For information on Finals Week changes in dining hours at all locations in the UC, visit http://www.dineoncampus.com/riverfalls/.Thank you and happy holidays! -Chartwells Upcoming Events Tuesday, Dec. 18, 9 - 11 p.m., Riverside Commons, UC, Chancellor's Late Night Breakfast. Don't Forget Monday, Dec. 17, 2 p.m., Rush River Room, UC, The Academic Staff Council meeting. For more information, contact Mark Kinders at ext. 3771. Monday, Dec. 17, 4:15 p.m. Room 179 CSH, TEC Training.