UW-Madison’s biggest educational experiment begins Monday.
So long, lecture halls: UW-Madison professors shift to online classes amid COVID-19 crisis
Wisconsin State Journal
March 23, 2020
Top Stories
UW researchers study COVID-19 coronavirus to try to develop treatments, vaccines
Wisconsin State Journal
In his UW-Madison lab, Adel Talaat developed an experimental vaccine to protect chickens from coronavirus. When the pandemic of a different strain arose in people late last year, Talaat used his technique to create a vaccine candidate for humans.
Research
Coronavirus will affect everyone, even if you never get sick. But some people will be hit harder than others.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: A 2015 study of influenza and credit card and mortgage defaults in 83 metro areas found the largest effects were for 90-day defaults, suggesting a flu outbreak has a “disproportionate impact on vulnerable borrowers who are already behind on their payments.”
“And that’s just a regular flu, not a pandemic where you actually are having people sent home before they’re sick,” said J. Michael Collins, one of the study’s authors and professor and director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Daily meditation could slow aging in your brain, study says
CNN
A recently pubished 18-year analysis of the mind of a Buddhist monk by the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found daily, intensive meditation slowed the monk’s brain aging by as much as eight years when compared to a control group.
Before coronavirus, Milwaukee service workers could work more hours to get more money. Now, everything is closed — and they’re in trouble.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: One in five Wisconsin workers holds “a poverty wage job with few benefits,” according to a 2018 report from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Social distancing would be a lot less inequality promoting if we had the infrastructure of strong medical care, insurance and housing supports for low-wage workers, but we don’t,” said Laura Dresser, a labor economist and the associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. “That means that this crisis tends to push the inequality along, instead of the crisis showing how connected we are and pulling us closer together.”
Higher Education/System
With Wisconsin campuses shutting down, parents and students rush back to clear out dorms, apartments
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
As midterms came to an end at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, freshman psychology major Eleanor Johnston stood between the double doors of Sandburg Hall scanning the street for her mother’s car.
Campus life
UW-Madison cancels all study abroad programs this summer
NBC-15
According to a release from Guido Podestá, vice provost and dean of the International Division, program fees will be refunded to student accounts or credit cards, depending how you paid for the programs.
UW Medical School graduates celebrate Match Day online
WKOW-TV 27
“This is definitely different than what we had anticipated for the last four years of our lives, but this was just as special,” said graduate Tenzin Atruktsang. “We had our families and friends still participating – not in the same way that typically would happen – but they were still there. That’s what really matters.”
Q&A: Ahead of April primary, Katie Malloy works to get UW students voting
The Capital Times
Katie Malloy, the Associated Students of Madison’s legislative affairs committee chair, regularly plans voter registration events, speaks with lawmakers in the Capitol and advocates for policy change.
UW-Madison canceling all summer study abroad programs
WISC-TV 3
According to a message from Podesta, vice provost and dean of the International Division, the UW-Madison said all IAP study abroad programs and IIP international internships planned for summer 2020 will be canceled.
UW medical students celebrate virtual Match Day before starting residency in COVID-19 era
Wisconsin State Journal
The years of studying and sleepless nights for the 2020 class of UW-Madison medical students culminated in a sanitizer-slathered celebration through computer screens.
UW medical students host virtual ‘Match Day’
WISC-TV 3
“Sending out the message to the students that the Match Day was canceled was really hard because it is really probably one of the most important events in their journey to getting their medical degree,” said Associate Dean of Students at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dr. Gwen McIntosh.
UPDATED: UW System to provide student housing residents with refund
Badger Herald
Refunds will include rest of spring semester, starting after spring break.
State news
Man Charged in 2008 Killing of Wisconsin College Student
The New York Times
A 53-year-old man was charged Friday in the 2008 killing of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was found strangled and stabbed in her downtown apartment after she returned home from class.
Crime and safety
Man charged in 12-year-old murder of UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann
Wisconsin State Journal
Aman police had questioned multiple times in the beating and stabbing death of a 21-year-old UW-Madison student in her campus-area apartment nearly 12 years ago was charged Friday in the case.
Agriculture
Wisconsin Farmers Brace For Impact Of Coronavirus
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he doesn’t think the agriculture industry has seen the full impact of the pandemic yet.
Health
Barred From Clinic During The Pandemic, Nursing Students Find A Way To Help
Wisconsin Public Radio
Johnson Crosby is finishing her final semester of nursing school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Under most circumstances she would be poised to start her final clinical rotation at University Hospital while preparing to join the workforce in May.
Dane Co. companies and UW-Madison partner to help protect healthcare workers
NBC-15
Rodgers and other UW-Madison engineers teamed up with Madison design firm Delve to develop an easy way to create face shields, one of the pieces of PPE used by healthcare workers.
UW Health staff member tests positive for COVID-19
WKOW-TV 27
“As COVID-19 spreads in our community, we know our physicians, providers and staff may be exposed and contract the virus, either through workplace interactions or providing care.” UW Health’s Emily Kumlien said.
UW Health consolidates primary care clinics during coronavirus pandemic
WISC-TV 3
UW Health will temporary consolidate its primary care clinics to 10 designated locations during the COVID-19 outbreak.
UW Hospital, American Center restricting visitors; many primary clinics set to close
Wisconsin State Journal
UW Hospital and the American Center will begin restricting visitors guidelines starting at 3 p.m. Saturday in response to the spread of COVID-19.
Athletics
John Erickson, former UW men’s basketball coach and the GM of the Milwaukee Bucks from 1968-70, has died
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
John Erickson, the men’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin from 1959-67 and the first general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks, has passed away.
Erickson died Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was 92.
Madison hospitals prepare for COVID-19 surge as workers test positive, worry about safety
The Capital Times
An SSM Health doctor and a UW Health worker have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and close contacts are being notified, the organizations said Friday.
Through China, Russia and a hockey title, Verona’s Claudia Kepler builds a stockpile of stories
Wisconsin State Journal
Kepler, a Verona native and former captain of the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team, has some heavy matters on her plate. Should she continue her hockey career? Is it time to move on in life?
Business/Technology
Know Your Madisonian: Small Business Development Center director enjoys challenges of launching companies
Wisconsin State Journal
Michelle Somes-Booher had been helping entrepreneurs and small business owners get their companies off the ground long before she became director of the Small Business Development Center in Madison … The center is based in Grainger Hall on the UW-Madison campus and is open to anyone in Dane, Columbia and Sauk counties.
UW Experts in the News
Vaccines Won’t Work for Some Coming Health Threats, Like Climate
Bloomgberg Quint
Quoted: Environmental degradation has already been identified as a cause of the Covid-19 pandemic. China’s wildlife markets—where both live and dead animals are bought and sold in tight quarters—likely allowed viruses to mix across species, creating conditions “ripe for new emerging agents of disease, like Covid-19,” said Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kidscreen » Archive » The case for claymation, puppets and paper cut-outs
Kidscreen
Quoted: According to Marie-Louise Mares, a professor with expertise in children’s media and educational TV at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, having a soothing and dependable set of characters that show friendly, caring behaviors can be very comforting for preschoolers and their parents. “This was part of the appeal of Mister Rogers,” says Mares. “An early study showed that when children were feeling bad (the researcher praised another kid, and not them), they were more likely to choose Mister Rogers than other faster-paced content.”
Tips for families working and learning from home
NBC-15
Quoted: For families with young children, University of Wisconsin-Madison educator and family engagement researcher Lorena Mancilla offers advice on how to create spaces and establish routines for learning and working effectively from home.
Obituaries
Ketterer, Elizabeth Ann
Wisconsin State Journal
She worked for the University of Wisconsin for 35 years as a program assistant.
Former Badgers coach, ex-Bucks general manager John Erickson dies at 92
Wisconsin State Journal
John Erickson, who coached the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team from 1959-67 and later served as the first general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks, died Wednesday at age 92 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Mangasarian, Olvi Leon
Wisconsin State Journal
They lived in Berkeley, Calif. where he worked at Shell Development Co. In 1967, they moved to Madison when Olvi joined the faculty of the Computer Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin.