Special Projects

The summer night was quiet and peaceful on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was a beautiful sight in the night sky. Most people were sound asleep in their beds. The days were counting down before the start of the fall semester. The quiet was smashed by a sudden explosion on campus. Sterling […]

On Aug. 24, 1970, a physics graduate student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Frank Scarpace, was working late into the night, assisting colleague and friend Robert Fassnacht with a research experiment at Sterling Hall: A very precise and time-consuming attempting to reach absolute zero. “I was helping my friend Bob Fassnacht with an […]

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professor Fahed Masalkh, senior teaching faculty and Arabic Language Program co-coordinator, serves as a cultural guide. Reflecting on his role, he states, “I believe in education’s power to bridge cultural gaps and promote understanding.” Following the Sterling Hall explosion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which claimed Robert Fassnacht’s life, our investigative report […]

Anti-war activists attending University of Wisconsin- Madison during the Vietnam War era knew that their school was making millions of dollars assisting the military in the application of research. Certainly, people were finally hearing about the war crimes happening in the Far East, and one could wonder if their Midwest university would contribute to them. […]

Meet the MSOE Men’s Hockey Team, a D3 college hockey team who are halfway through their 2023-24 season. The team had a weekend of losses, and want to come back this weekend in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In this short documentary, Kameron Jones shows us how this team works through their weak points in practice, to […]

Meet Mel and Tom, partners in life and co-owners of Handsome Hound Vintage. The pair opened their brick-and-mortar shop, located at the corner of Oakland and Hampshire avenues, in 2022. Because Handsome Hound is a small business that evolved from a traveling flea market booth, Mel and Tom’s greatest challenge has been getting their name […]

Every year in Greendale, Wisconsin people celebrate winter holidays with a public outing called A Dickens of a Village, where all the village shops open their doors and vendors host tables and tents with games, crafts and food. During the celebration, community members play a live enactment of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Story, and part […]

As pickleball continues to grow in popularity, this short documentary follows Gina Cilento’s experience as an Association of Professional Pickleball (APP) award-winner, instructor, and it gives us an inside view of her business: a pickleball athleisure brand that has Katy Perry as a customer.

25 year old Ashton Wilke has always been passionate about music. From a young age, he started a band with his friends in high school, but growing older comes with responsibilities and challenges. As an adult it can become difficult to follow your passions as you find yourself caught up with work, relationships, and the […]

About the Project This project was created through a journalism class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies Department. This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club. Student Journalists Lauren Breunig Beckett Callan Anna Gipple Dominique Hamilton Brian Kohr Mackenzie Krueger Maria Peralta-Arellano Isabella Van […]