“We have people with a Ph.D. who have taken a job cleaning houses,” said Lon Yeary, deputy director of Forest Products Laboratory, which employs about 140 people at its facility on the west side of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
January 22, 2019
Top Stories
Higher Education/System
Scholarship encourages dedication to UW-Stevens Point humanities programs
Daily Cardinal
Helmed by Valerie Landowski, a UW-Stevens Point graduate, the Reclaim Our UW scholarship offers $1,000 to a UW-Stevens Point faculty member and $250 for two students pursuing degrees in the 13 affected majors.
Campus life
Turning moments into movements: Annual Wisconsin MLK ceremony honors women change makers
In her invocation, Rabbi Andrea Steinberger, a rabbi at the Hillel Foundation on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, pointed to powerful examples of women, ranging from the Biblical Hannah to civil rights activist Rosa Parks to “women who by their efforts of resistance led us on a path towards the women’s marches of today.”
Bologna, sausages of all sorts and, of course, bacon star in international competition at UW-Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
And while some of the stars of this week’s international competition at UW-Madison hail from Wisconsin, there is not a cheddar, Gouda or mozzarella to be found.
UW Engineering Centers building evacuated by smoke; nobody injured
Wisconsin State Journal
Smoke inside the UW-Madison Engineering Centers building on Monday forced the evacuation of the facility, but nobody was injured.
UW textile collection celebrates 50 years
Wisconsin State Journal
Those fascinating works are the basis of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, which itself is the foundation for “Applique to Zardozi: A Celebration Sampler,” an upcoming exhibition at the university’s Ruth Davis Design Gallery, located in the School of Human Ecology building at 1300 Linden Drive.
UW-Madison prof: Anti-bias programs mean well, but there’s no proof they work
Wisconsin State Journal
Brauer, a psychology professor, will speak Tuesday, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on “Approaching MLK’s dream: Scientifically tested methods to reduce racism and promote inclusivity” as part of UW-Madison’s Crossroads of Ideas public lecture series.
“We can do better” Lt. Gov. Barnes addresses crowd at UW
NBC-15
More than 400 people attended. The event was originally scheduled for the Memorial Union but due to high interest it was moved to Varsity Hall inside Union South.
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes speaks at UW-Madison MLK Day
WISC-TV 3
The event also had social justice dialogues and a food drive benefiting The Open Seat, which is a food pantry for UW-Madison students.
State news
Wisconsin farming history exhibit tours the state
“The Lands We Share” exhibit backed by the University of Wisconsin has been touring the state since October, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The exhibit , comprising oral histories, artifacts and images, will make its last stop in Madison on May 8.
Crime and safety
Sprinklers cause damage to UW engineering building, police say
WISC-TV 3
Officials said there was not an active fire and the smoke came from a large oven in the basement of the building. There was some damage to the building because fire sprinklers activated from the smoke.
Extension
Wisconsin producers worry over hay shortage, high prices
Wisconsin State Journal
Richard Halopka, a crops and soils agent with University of Wisconsin-Extension in Clark County, said he doesn’t believe there’s a hay shortage in Wisconsin, but rather the hay available is lower quality than people would like to purchase. Halopka said the biggest price increases have been for low quality hay.
Arts & Humanities
UW Scholar Creates Black, Dyslexic Superhero
Madison365
Dr. Robinson’s life-long commitment to supporting students with dyslexia is not just professional. It is also very personal. He was unable to read until he turned 18.
Health
Losing the Humanity of Transplants
Wall Street Journal
Surgeons like me, who work in the field of organ transplant, have been repeating a cliché for decades about the idea of using other animals’ organs to replace failing ones in humans: “It’s the future, and it always will be.” By: Joshua Mezrich
Is It Ethical for Alcoholics to Get Liver Transplants?
The Atlantic
Before he found out he needed a new liver, Herbert Heneman was not your typical corner-of-the-dive-bar alcoholic. Heneman, the Dickson-Bascom professor emeritus of management and human resources at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had a happy childhood and a very supportive family. He describes his parents as somewhat heavy drinkers, particularly his father, but he remembers no health issues, legal problems, or family crises related to alcohol.
This post is adapted from Mezrich’s new book,When Death Becomes Life: Notes From a Transplant Surgeon.
Athletics
UW hockey has sons, brothers of former UW athletes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The UW roster is full of young men whose older brothers, parents – and even grandparents – once wore the Wisconsin jersey.
UW Experts in the News
China Says Claim Of Gene-Edited Babies ‘Seriously Violated’ Regulations
National Public Radio
NPR’s Audie Cornish talks with Associated Press reporter Marilynn Marchione about the Chinese government’s investigation into He Jiankui, who claims he created the world’s first gene-edited babies. Mentions Marchione’s conversation with UW–Madison’s Alta Charo.
China seems to confirm scientist’s gene-edited babies claim
AP
Quoted: The statement shows that “scientific leadership is taking this situation seriously,” said Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin bioethicist and one of the leaders of the Hong Kong conference.
The Cotton Plant That Sprouted on the Far Side of the Moon Has Died
Smithsonian
Quoted: He adds that though the project was cut short, he still considers it a success. And other scientists agree, including Simon Gilroy, a professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved in the study.
Government shutdown frays America’s safety net
ABC News
Quoted: “A safety net that has a frayed bottom to it makes people much less, feel more financially fragile and financially vulnerable than they already are,” J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, told ABC News.
Protecting monarch butterflies’ winter home could mean moving hundreds of trees
Nature
Quoted: Rising temperatures and habitat destruction at the butterflies’ breeding sites in the United States and Canada are the major drivers of monarch declines, says Karen Oberhauser, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
R. Kelly and the silencing of black women in history
Raw Story
Quoted: “It is incredibly courageous for the survivors to come forward, given the gross misogyny and disregard for black women and girls in the country and worldwide,” insists Bianca J. Baldridge, an Assistant Professor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the forthcoming book entitled Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work.
Obituaries
Horlbeck, Frank R.
Frank joined the faculty of the Art History Department at UW-Madison in 1958, retiring in 1995 after 36 years of committed service to the university and his students.
UW-Madison Related
Martin Luther King’s message to Wisconsin: ‘We have a long way to go’
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nov. 23, 1965: King made stops in Milwaukee and Madison on the same day, speaking to students at both schools and giving an impromptu press conference at Mitchell International Airport.
Protecting monarch butterflies’ winter home could mean moving hundreds of trees
Nature
Rising temperatures and habitat destruction at the butterflies’ breeding sites in the United States and Canada are the major drivers of monarch declines, says Karen Oberhauser, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.