UW-Madison grad wins Miss Wisconsin
At only 22 years old, recent UW medical school graduate Tina
Sauerhammer beat out 26 women, including five UW-Madison
students/alums, to be crowned Miss Wisconsin last weekend.
“I’m still in shock. The past few days have been crazy,” said
Sauerhammer in a telephone interview.
She will now represent Wisconsin at the annual Miss America pageant
in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 20, 2003.
According to Sauerhammer, this was one of the deepest crops of
women at the Wisconsin pageant in recent years.
“This was a unique year because there were nine returnees. All the
girls had strong qualities. It was a real honor just to be there
and to [be given the chance to] represent them [at Miss
America].”
UW graduate Julia Kraschnewski also placed, finishing as the
competition’s third runner-up.
UW engineering students win National Concrete
Canoe Competition
A 10-person UW-Madison undergraduate engineering team won the
16th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition in
Philadelphia, over the weekend.
The Badgers finished first in five races,
appearance and structural integrity, a written portion of the
competition, as well as an oral presentation. Approximately
30 undergrads worked on the project, but only 10 team members were
permitted to officially register for the national competition.
Previously, UW had never finished better than
fifth in the national competition.
UW to require writing test for admissions
Applicants to UW-Madison will need to submit
standardized writing test scores, beginning with the freshman class
of 2006.
This new admissions policy coincides with
plans to add writing segments to both the SAT I and the ACT
Assessment during the next few years. The SAT I will feature a
mandatory writing section beginning in March 2005, while the
ACT Assessment will offer an optional writing
test beginning in the 2004-2005 school year.
According to UW admissions director Rob
Seltzer, writing-test scores will not replace or supersede existing
admissions criteria but will be instead be incorporated into the
current admissions process.
“Requiring a written assessment will give us
an additional factor to consider in our review of prospective
students,” he said. “Ultimately, we will be able to select
better-qualified students.”
The UW Faculty Senate approved the change May
5.
French Wine Producers Feel Squeeze of U.S.
Boycott
BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) – Calls to boycott
French products during the trans-Atlantic spat over Iraq
contributed to a slump in U.S. sales of French wines, which were
down by about a quarter from last year, wine merchants said.
“There’s been a drop of 14 percent in March
and 22 percent in April in sales of French wine,” said New York
wine importer Timothy Enos at the 12th biennial Vinexpo salon,
describing the U.S. backlash against French products as “ridiculous
and excessive.”
“The big wines still have their place. The
drama is for the smaller wines, like generic wines. I’m afraid that
for them the competition is much more difficult,” he said.
France’s opposition to the U.S.-led war in
Iraq, which prevented Washington getting United Nations approval
for its military campaign to oust Saddam Hussein, sparked U.S.
calls for consumers to boycott French products like wine and
cheese.
Other merchants at the wine fair muttered
off the record that their sales were down as much as 40 percent,
and an online survey concluded that sales of French wine to the
United States fell 26 percent in volume terms in the month to
mid-May, compared to the same period a year ago.
While the United States accounts for less than
10 percent of overall French exports, the U.S. market is the
biggest buyer of Bordeaux wines which include favorites like
Saint-Emilion.
France’s wine producers are also suffering,
along with other traditional producers like Italy and Spain, from
increased production and tough competition from New World vineyards
in California, Australia and Chile.
Nicolas Gailly, chief executive of wine firm
Barton et Guestier told the French daily Les Echos this week that
his sales were down 25 percent in early 2003 “because of the weak
dollar and the boycott.”
Overall U.S. imports of French goods fell 9.6
percent in the first quarter.
-compiled from staff reports
