Articles by Laurence Bell

“We’re ready for this, boys!” yelled captain Zach Lubin. “Everything starts tonight.” The thud, thud, thud of his goalkeeper gloves echoed inside the tunnel. I fiddled with my shinpad tape, stretched a quadricep muscle, and glared at the referees, willing them to get this landmark evening underway. I was understandably impatient. I had waited six […]

Due to declining enrollment, reduced retention rates and a lack of reserve funds, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is considering cuts to academic staff. According to Margo Anderson, a distinguished professor who sits on the University Committee, less students and less funding equals less instructors. “It’s not that anybody wants to lay somebody off. It’s just […]

There I sat, two days after semester’s end, journalistic gumption bleeding out my side from the final, decisive puncture wound in a miserable month of sporadic attacks. “I must deny this request because the information you requested is not a public record,” read the crippling message. The author: a UWM public records custodian with an […]

Emily McClellan missed out on the Olympics by just over a second, but that didn’t stop the UWM standout swimmer. It energized her. She is capping off her university career as one of the nation’s top swimmers. The UWM senior from Delavan recorded the third fastest 100-yard breaststroke time in NCAA history this spring. The […]

Madison officials said the annual Mifflin Street Block Party was banned, but students went ahead anyway with the controversial and previously violent spring celebration. Laurence Bell reports.