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Faculty endorses Campus Drive name change
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by Ken Harris
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate voted Monday to support changing the name of Campus Drive to honor a former UW professor who created a popular blood thinner.
The faculty’s governing body passed a motion submitted by UW mathematics professor Anatole Beck, requesting the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to consult with the city of Madison about renaming the street Karl Link Drive.
Link, a former UW professor of agricultural chemistry, developed a useful blood thinner from a substance he originally intended to be rat poison. The rat poison turned blood thinner is now vital to preventing dangerous blood clots in heart surgery patients worldwide, including Beck.
Link named the agent Warfarin after WARF, the foundation that patented this technology, as well as all other discoveries by UW researchers.
During his introduction of the motion, Beck called Link a “hero of research” for UW faculty, adding “as a hero he deserves this honor.”
“This is a wonderful opportunity to show the world what he has done,” Beck said. ” If we honor him we honor ourselves, and if we fail to honor him we lose that honor also.”
UW food sciences professor Mark Etzel echoed Beck’s sentiments, saying Link “exemplifies the Wisconsin idea” and calling Link’s discovery “an accomplishment under-recognized.”
The Faculty Senate passed a similar resolution in the past, according to Beck’s motion, but the idea was dropped after meeting opposition in the city’s planning commission, even after WARF agreed to cover the cost of renaming the street and erecting new street signs.
In UW Chancellor Biddy Martin’s first Faculty Senate meeting, the motion passed by a large majority.
During the general questions portion of the meeting, Martin addressed concerns of some faculty members about allegations of secrecy in the Athletic Board.
Martin acknowledged she received a letter of resignation from UW professor and former faculty representative Jeremi Suri containing allegations of misconduct on the board. She said she has not acted independently to investigate because the board has started a self-study committee within the department.
According to Martin, the Athletic Board needs two more meetings to discuss the findings of the committee before it is sent to the University Committee and the chancellor’s office. The board meets once per month.
Martin said she will wait for the report to reach the University Committee because she does not want to “usurp” the committee’s authority, but added, “We are by no means at the bottom of this story.”
The meeting ended by passing a motion to allow professors six days to submit students’ grades after the scheduled final exam block. In the past, they were allowed only four days after the day of the final, but this deadline often had to be extended for the fall semester because of holidays directly following the end of the semester.
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