UP: Mark Pocan. Madison's openly gay state representative married his longtime partner, Philip Frank, in Toronto over Thanksgiving weekend. After the ceremony, the couple honeymooned in Indonesia before returning to Madison this week. The marriage is not recognized by the backwater state of Wisconsin, but congratulations are due nonetheless.
DOWN: University of Wisconsin System. Rep. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), a harsh critic of the UW System, is named one of its main overseers, as chair of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee. Nass erupted this year when the UW-Madison hired a controversial instructor and over alleged abuse of sick leave by UW faculty ' before it emerged that many state lawmakers do exactly the same.
