Features

Rising indie stars Hippo Campus captivated students on October 6 with a wildly energetic and, many students felt, impressive show in UW-Milwaukee’s own Union Ballroom – closing the book on UWM’s debut Homecoming week. The event drew in over 300 students on a Thursday night and set the stage for a (possible) new UWM tradition. […]

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As I walked through Boerner Botanical Gardens I was transported back to my childhood in a suburb of Chicago. Every December, each resident on Forest Avenue would impressively adorn their home with Christmas lights, nativity sets and inflatable Santas in sleighs pulled by reindeer. People would park their cars nearby, get out and walk the […]

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On a crisp fall morning, a number of UW-Milwaukee students journeyed to the Riveredge Nature Center where they ascended to the canopy of a sugar maple and red oak tree forest by climbing trees. Once students reached a perch some 50 feet off the ground, some engaged in casual conversation while others admired the fiery […]

One hour. 60 minutes. That’s not a lot of time and yet so much can be happening all at once. Student journalists in JAMS 306 Magazine and Feature Writing set out to discover what people, places and things they could find between the hours of 2:00-3:00 p.m. on a typical Thursday and then wrote about […]

Habitat for Humanity volunteers at UWM have been giving back to the community for 20 years. On a breezy, sunny day in Spaights Plaza, I spoke with several volunteers raising awareness for the cause. They all agreed that their favorite event is the Collegiate Challenge Week during spring break. This year they will be taking 25 randomly selected participants to Georgia for a week to rebuild houses. Volunteers will experience the whole process of building a house. “There are many people who want to come on the trip,” said the volunteers, but space is limited. Next year the chapter hopes to raise enough money to take more volunteers, possibly on two different trips.

The Peck School of Music immediately greets you with sounds of instruments. The hallways are filled with melodies of violins and pianos as students practice and perfect their many different musical skills.

Just inside one of the multiple entrances to the building sits Azia Barner doing her math homework before her guitar class. Petite in frame, her guitar is almost as big as she is. While guitar playing runs in the family, this 20-year-old sophomore has more experience using her voice to make music.

“My sister has been playing it for a year or two and I decided to do it. I do like to sing though, so I’ve been singing a lot longer than playing any instrument,” said Barner.

The library is bustling, full of people while the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafts through the air. The noise never seems to stop in there, right?

The library is silent, never seems to have anyone in there and the mustiness of old books is pungent. It’s a nice refuge, right?

On the first floor, the former is true; there never seems to be a moment of peace. However, if you venture up to the third floor, the latter is true (yes, there’s a third floor). You wouldn’t imagine that 27,000 students attend UWM by how quiet and nearly desolate it is.

Whether you’re grabbing a quick brew at the Grind or getting a cup of quiet with your studies, the Golda Meir Library has both covered.

The atmosphere at The School of Architecture and Urban Planning from 2pm-3pm remained still, as students were in class, preparing for the most stressful time of the semester, critiques. I decided to head back into the action after sunset, around 9pm.

“Aside from the twelve hours we spend in class throughout the week, we dedicate around 24-30 hours outside of class, in the studio,” Jackson Richard, senior, said.

Students flooded the building with coffee in one hand and a bag full of tools in the other. Installations and sketches of a project on designing a residence hall at UWM covered the tables as creatively-driven students remained focused on their computer, crafting a brilliant future.

On a scarce warm Thursday in October the sun made 54 degrees feel like 70. Lamar, a campus police officer stood out to me. His shoulders were broad and his eyes were on alert.

“I’ve worked here for 16 years,” he told me. After sharing a little about his day and some of his struggles he turns it right back around, saying that being a police officer isn’t for everyone, “But I look at them like I’m their big brother.”

He recalls graduation and taking pictures with student’s families. The pay-off to the job, he boasts, is seeing those same students walk across the stage who struggled every day between classes.

Lamar is one of those guys some only notice when they need him but in others he has a lasting impact.