Historically large rallies, celebrity visits and dual appearances of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on the eve of election night kept Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes in the national spotlight during the 2004 election season.
Wisconsin's Feb. 15 primary came at a crucial time, and political experts considered it a deciding factor of who would go on to run against Bush. Kerry emerged with the victory. Shortly thereafter, the state and campus witnessed a deluge of campaign visits. Most notable was Kerry's appearance with Bruce Springsteen at a historic rally on West Washington Avenue, with more than 80,000 city residents and students in attendance.
In the end, Ohio proved to be the determining factor in who would occupy the Oval Office for the next four years. Excruciatingly thin margins put Kerry and Bush neck-and-neck for most of the night Nov. 2, and though Bush commanded a 3.7 million-vote lead over Kerry in the popular vote, slow returns with Ohio's 20 electoral votes led Kerry's running mate John Edwards to announce at 1:30 a.m. that the Democrats would not concede.
\We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night,"" he told a bleary-eyed audience.
America did not have to wait long-Bush declared victory less than 24 hours later.
""A campaign has ended, and the United States of America goes forward with confidence and faith,"" he said.
In Wisconsin, Bush narrowly lost to Kerry by winning 49.36 percent of the vote to Kerry's 49.76.
UW-Madison students remained active in the political realm as well. Organizations such as the ""Vote 2004 Coalition"" and ""Get Out the Vote"" encouraged students to get to the polls Election Day, and campus Democrats, Republicans and Greens chalked and rallied on campus throughout the fall.
When it became clear in January that the city's official date for the annual Mifflin Street Block Party coincided with the beginning of finals week, UW-Madison partygoers and planners confronted Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and influenced the decision to move the bash to the alternative April 30 date.
The city supported the May 7 date because of contract negotiations with the Madison Police Department that forced the city to pay officers that day regardless of whether there was a party.
The MPD advertised May 7 as the official date through posted letters and talks with Mifflin Street residents.
Despite the city's initial resistance and financial concerns associated with a changed date, the mayor declared April 30 the official date following a closed meeting early April 21.
""The students' voice was heard loud and clear,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
The university originally supported May 7, but changed its stance after the mayor declared April 30 the official party date.
Despite the initial confusion over law enforcement on the changed date, bands were allowed to perform and the MPD's enforcement of the block party mirrored past years.
After seeing Madison's Halloween celebration end in calamity for the third consecutive year, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the future of the event is ""in peril.""
During this year's festivities, revelers threw objects at police officers, passed bodies and lit small fires on State Street, prompting officers to use pepper spray to disperse the Oct. 30 crowd that swelled to an estimated 85,000.
""I have had enough of placing our police officers and firefighters in danger,"" Cieslewicz said at an Oct. 31 press conference. ""I have had enough of the black eye these disturbances give to the reputation of our city.""
Despite the fact that the property damage done this year was minimal compared to that of years past, Cieslewicz said at the press conference he would not call Halloween 2004 a success just because the city avoided ""total mayhem.""
At an April 28 meeting, Cieslewicz said he will take every effort to ensure a disturbance does not happen this October.
""I want to deploy every tactic we can to substantially reduce and change this event because this kind of outrageous behavior is not happening again in the city of Madison,"" he said.
Officials are considering several options to control this October's crowd, including barricading entrances to State Street, closing liquor stores early or even canceling the event altogether.
""We will do what we can in our power to fundamentally discourage and change this event,"" Cieslewicz said. ""If we can make it go away entirely, that would be wonderful.""
While critics decried immorality, UW-Madison officials and state politicians including Gov. Jim Doyle pushed to place the university at the forefront of stem-cell research this year. A revolutionary breakthrough in early February, in which scientists formed spinal motor neurons from human embryonic cells, brought the stem-cell spotlight back to Wisconsin after California scientists earned attention for the $3 billion of funding taxpayers bequeathed them in November.
Wisconsin's motor-neuron breakthrough was a beacon of hope for those afflicted with spinal-cord injuries or conditions such as Parkinson's disease, though vast amounts of research will still be needed to find cures for such afflictions.
Nevertheless, Doyle reiterated his commitment to facilitating such research by proposing $375 million of state financing for the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery.
The institute will meld several campus facilities into one during the next 10 years and will prompt the destruction of the Psychology building and two physical science buildings on the west side of campus to accommodate it. The governor as well as university officials eagerly await the fruition of the institute, which they predict will provide a cutting edge to Wisconsin both scientifically and economically as stem-cell research spurs high-paying jobs.
The UW-Madison Athletic Department ran into two athletic ticket distribution issues during the 2004-'05 year.
After men's basketball season ticket demand exceeded supply, the Athletic Department surveyed the approximately 3,700 students who applied to decide how tickets would be distributed for the 2004-'05 season. In a narrow vote, those polled voted to approve an all-or-nothing approach to ticket distribution, where a lottery would be held and only 2,100 students would receive full-season ticket packages. But the software company handling the lottery, Paciolan Inc., fouled up the lottery, requiring the drawing to be repeated. The outcome changed??-some students who received tickets in the first drawing did not receive tickets the second time and vice-versa. The 2,100 students who ended up receiving full-season ticket packages the second time around, got an early Christmas present courtesy of Paciolan, Inc., who picked up the charge.
In April, the Athletic Department, fed up with Wednesday voucher exchange for football tickets, decided to scrap the current system in favor of a new mode of distribution. Problems with camping out and the sheer volume of students descending upon the Kohl Center on exchange Wednesday led the Athletic Department to make the inevitable change. In an online survey of student football season ticket holders, the Athletic Department left students to determine the new method of distribution; either game-day exchange at Camp Randall or a one-time ticket exchange prior to the season where students would retain one seat for the entire football season. Over 58 percent of students who responded to the survey voted for game-day distribution.
From University Square to the Lakeshore Dorms and beyond, UW-Madison saw a number of construction and renovation projects this year that changed the face of campus.
Most immediately, Bascom Hall began construction in August. Its fa??ade received a face lift, with revisions to its columns and portico.
Sports buildings were revamped this year as well. Phase II of the new Camp Randall stadium, which sported the largest replay board in college football, was unveiled at the team's home opener. The Crew House re-opened to the public with much fanfare in April. Concern over terrorism at sporting events also led university officials to decide in October to construct security fences around Camp Randall and the Kohl Center.
Perhaps the most stunning changes, however, were the ones that are only in the planning stages.
Officials announced in January that Van Hise, Madison's tallest building, would be razed in approximately 15 years. Planning reached the final stages with Ogg Hall and University Square, which are now entering the final year of their existence.
Students demonstrated their discontent with the proposed tuition increase during this scholastic year, holding two rallies and a three-day hunger strike at the Capitol.
The first rally on Oct. 8 had nearly 200 demonstrators, including representatives from Associated Students of Madison.
Later in the year, after legislators proposed a 14 percent increase in tuition to be implemented over the next two years, the United Council of UW Students staged a similar protest.
The council led students, TAs and professors to the Capitol steps Feb. 24, when demonstrators expressed discontent over Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed tuition hike.
The most drastic demonstration came in March, when from March 7 to 10, about 20 students and faculty members went on a hunger strike to raise awareness of their cause. Representatives from ASM, the Student Labor Action Coalition and the Multicultural Student Coalition participated in the fast.
Most recently, the UW System spoke against an alternate proposal, which sought to cap the tuition increase at 3 percent.
The resignation of Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows prompted the dissolution of the Office of Student Affairs in November, ending the department before it had even reached its sixth anniversary.
As vice chancellor, Barrows oversaw a slew of student services, ranging from admissions to student diversity issues to University Health Services. Nevertheless, the university opted not to replace his position but instead to have other campus departments assume the services he supervised. The Office of the Provost in particular absorbed many of its functions, becoming the new home to Registrar Joanne Berg and Dean of Students Luoluo Hong.
Hong came to undertake many of the day-to-day responsibilities of Barrow's former position. Her office took on additional staff to accommodate the additional duties.
Yet while the dean's office took measures to handle its new duties, concerns regarding the former Office of Student Affairs' pet diversity project persisted. Critics, including many student groups, have alleged that the project, named Plan 2008, remains largely unaddressed as its deadline approaches.
Bernice Durand, associate vice chancellor for diversity, insists UW-Madison administrators have not forgotten Plan 2008. The Office of the Provost is hosting forums to assess campus diversity while Associated Students of Madison's Plan 2008 committee has concentrated its efforts on introducing more diversity training at SOAR.
Although the season ended with a resounding thud, the Wisconsin Badger football team captured the fascination of the UW-Madison campus, the city of Madison and indeed the entire state in the fall of 2004. Riding its shutdown defense, Wisconsin ascended as high as No. 4 in the national rankings and pushed its record to a sparkling 9-0 after reclaiming the Paul Bunyan Axe in a 38-14 thrashing of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
In a season of memorable plays, Scott Starks' last-minute fumble recovery and touchdown to lift Wisconsin to victory over Purdue will stand out as one of the greatest plays in Badger history.
This fall will go a long way in determining whether 2004 was a pleasant fluke or the beginning of a resurgence not seen since the days of Ron Dayne & Co.
State Street businesses closed their doors for a day and bar patrons drank beer by candlelight after an underground blaze left much of downtown without power Feb. 21.
Two blackouts-one that began at 3 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m.-were caused by burning cable insulation beneath Henry, Langdon and State Streets. Madison Gas & Electric officials shut off power at its North Murray Street substation after manhole covers burst open, flames and smoke spewing out.
The first blackout also left much of campus in the dark. Classes in buildings on the east side were canceled, while some students reported being stuck in elevators for as long as 40 minutes.
In the end, the blackout was an anomaly, and power returned the next day for the 3,500 customers that lost it.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the company promised ""a repeat of [the] occurrence would never happen again.""
