This season, the Pioneers women’s basketball team absconded to California for two games against University of California-Santa Cruz and University of Redlands.

“The games were tough,” said head coach Megan Wilson. “They were tough, physical, scrappy teams.”

The long travel and a flu bug that spread throughout the team caused problems for the Pioneers. “Our biggest issue was that we didn’t have two players that put back-to-back good games together out there,” Wilson said.

Despite the difficulties, the Pioneers were able to split the two games, defeating UC-Santa Cruz 54-47 but falling to Redlands 58-51.

Off the court, the Pioneers had time to partake in a variety of Golden State entertainment, such as driving through downtown Beverly Hills, going to Huntington Beach, and a two-hour tour of Universal Studios, highlighted by visiting the set of ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

“We like to take trips like this because it gives our players an experience beyond the games that our players might not have had otherwise,” Wilson said.

“My most memorable moment would be when we went to Huntington Beach together in Orange County for the day,” junior forward Ashley Henry said. “I am glad that I got to experience going to California with my teammates and coaches. It is one of the best memories so far that I have from this year’s basketball team.”

Junior guard Liz Lawinger echoed those sentiments. “My favorite experience on the trip was being able to go to California for the first time and experience it with a very close knit team [and getting] to see the famous ‘HOLLYWOOD’ sign on the mountains,” Lawinger said.

The Pioneers have six games left in the season, all of which Wilson has high expectations for. “We need to do better at executing our offense, but we’re taking the right steps on defense that will help us compete in all of our remaining games,” Wilson said. “We have to be road warriors. Playing on the road is tough, but if we can play all 40 minutes and avoid giving up big runs to the other teams, we should be in all these games.”

Acceptable documents for identification cards are Wisconsin state drivers licenses, Wisconsin state identification cards, US passports and UW-Platteville issued voter identification cards.

The Pioneer Passport is not an acceptable form of identification for students. School ID cards must have a signature, picture and expiration date of two years.

The first UW-Platteville voter ID card is free and can be issued at the Passport Office in the Markee Pioneer Student Center.  The campus ID card has an advantage over Wisconsin State ID cards. Voters who have been issued a state drivers license cannot receive a Wisconsin ID, according to Interim Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs D. Joanne Wilson.

However, if students are using a campus issued voter ID card, a enrollment verification form will also be needed upon voting.  The form can be accessed on PASS. Before printing the form, students need to update their current address.

“The form was created to provide proof of residency for on-campus residents and off-campus residents who do not have utility bills in their name,” Registrar David Kieckhafer said.

Finding a way to allow non-local students the right to vote at UW-P has been a process for Student Affairs.

“Only four other states have a similar voting system,” Executive Director of Auxilary Services James Mueller said. “It’s been like reinventing the wheel to figure out how to deal with this new law.”

Proof of residency is needed to register for voting. University employees will not be able to register to vote in Wisconsin without proof of residency and a state ID.

There has been discussion throughout Wisconsin as to whether or not the voter ID law is constitutional. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in Dane Country back in October claiming that the new law violates the state constitution by creating a third class of ineligible voters- people without an ID.  Under the state constitution, only felons and people deemed incompetent cannot vote.

If a recall election is held for Gov. Walker in August, Student Affairs may have to make changes to the wording on the enrollment verification form for students staying in Platteville over summer recess.

The System will launch a website later this week to provide students more information on voting regulations. Access it at wisconsin.edu/vote.

Samuel Arndt, 19, Beaver Dam, was given a verbal warning for failing to stop at a stop sign. He also received a citation for driving a vehicle without proof of insurance.

Jan. 25

Cole Cushman, 29, Platteville, was placed under arrest for possession of THC and drug paraphernalia after a complainant reported several people starting a fight outside. He was transported to Grant County Jail.

Jan. 26

Martinez Deboe, 22, Platteville, and Letreal Williams, 22, Platteville, were stopped in traffic due to expired registration. Martinez was cited for driving after suspension. Williams was found to have two valid warrants and unable to post bond for them. He was transported to the Grant County Jail.

Brandon Gaston, 18, Platteville, was given a warning for an open intoxicant in public after he threw a beer can into the snow upon seeing the officer. He will also receive a citation through the mail for underage drinking.

Jan. 27

Joseph Prange, 20, Green Bay, Mitchell Wagner, 19, Green Bay, Weston Mayville, 18, Suamico, Jacob Stadler, 20, Suamico, Kaitlyn Miedema, 19, Green Bay, and Nathan Hoffman, 20, Green Bay, all received citations for underage drinking after a complaint was made for loud music. Prange will also receive a citation for disorderly conduct due to the loud noise.

Jan. 28

Daniel Rommelfanger, 22, Platteville, and Melissa Dupont, 23, Platteville, were both issued citations for failure to wear their seatbelts.

Scott Nikolai, 41, Platteville, was issued a citation for failing to stop at a stop sign.

Jena Garrett, 20, Moline, was given a verbal warning for failing to yield right of way. She also received a citation for underage possession and consumption of alcohol.

Connor Lenz, 18, Platteville, was cited for underage drinking.

Jan. 29

Allen Hauser, 46, Livingston, was arrested and taken to jail after being observed by an officer as a wanted subject. He is unable to post bond.

Jan. 30

Anthony Franklin, 20, Peosta, was given a warning for operating a vehicle with two missing headlights. He also received a citation for driving without a valid driver’s license.

Stephen Conroy, 20, Johnsburg, was given a citation for possession of a stop sign.

Specifically, James discovered a print done by the Belgian Expressionist James Ensor in 1888. “He was an early modern art expressionist, within early European modern art,” said James. “He’s in all of the art history books.”

James said she started pulling back more pieces and discovered four or five highly valuable pieces, including prints from American abstract artist Robert Motherwell, a fellow member of the New York School with Jackson Pollock.

“At this point, I was incensed,” James recalled. James explained that the art had not been inventoried since the 1980s, and much of it had been lost to institutional memory.

The university tasked James with addressing the issue by conducting a campus-wide inventory of all pieces of art owned by, or donated to, UW-P. James used a grant provided by the university to hire four interns over the summer of 2010 to complete the task. “We spent several long days going through the archives on campus and taking pictures and recording information about the size, artist’s title, year created, all that information about each work,” said Katharine Caywood, one of the interns that worked on the project. “It was tedious at times but also rewarding when we found something surprising.”

Together, the team cataloged some 772 total works of art: 660 prints and drawings, 55 paintings, 20 works of sculpture, and 37 various other works, including textiles and ceramics. 412 of the pieces located were definitively determined to be a gift from the Graf collection, two-thirds of that coming from Christopher and Janet Graf. According to documents provided by James, “the Grafs gave the vast majority of the prints in the permanent collection to UW-P between 1984 and 1986. [Christopher] Graf has continued periodic and valuable donations of art to the campus after . . . 1999.”

A conservative estimate of the collection’s total value lies between $500,000 and $600,000. The collection includes works from historically significant artists such as Paul Gauguin, Georges Rouault, Christo, Charles-Francois Daubigny, and the previously mentioned Motherwell pieces.

With the inventory of the university’s artwork complete, James is now taking steps to ensure the collection’s secure and safe storage and eventual display around campus. For now, James is focused on providing proper framing; she noted that no more than ten percent of the collection is currently framed. “To frame a piece properly, which means it is of archival quality and retains the integrity of the work with backing, matting, glass, wood or metal being completely inert [against the work],” comes at a cost of 500-1500 dollars per piece, James said.

James is also intent on removing all of the art currently stored in the Nohr Gallery storage closets. The majority of the collection is presently being stored in the secure, climate-controlled archives of the Southwest Wisconsin Room in Ullsvik Hall.

With an eye on the long-term health of the university’s art collection, James has submitted a grant proposal to fund a permanent art collection at UW-P. One of James’ suggested projects is a permanent gallery approximately 200 square feet in size located in the Nohr Gallery to showcase the most impressive and significant works in the collection. Another suggested idea was to undo some of the collection, which could help raise funds to frame and display the remaining works around campus.

Cathy Kutka, assistant director of the Nohr Gallery, said that while the remodeling of Ullsvik has increased foot traffic in the facility, the Gallery’s dual-purpose as a meeting space for the campus has proved to be a challenge. Kutka said that ideally, the installation of a permanent gallery would lead students to have a moment in the gallery in which they are “personally engaged with something that catches their attention as well as ties in with curriculum around campus.”

James said that she hopes that visitors to the gallery would experience “shock and awe.”

“[A permanent gallery] would expand the reputation of the art department,” said Caywood. “To know we have professionals here on campus that can verify the legitimacy of those pieces and be able to put those pieces on display is impressive; the collection is much more extensive than a lot of people realize.”