The Big Ten Conference won’t be playing football this fall because of concerns about COVID-19.
After Big Ten Announcement, Badgers AD Alvarez Says He Feels ‘Hollow’
Wisconsin Public Radio
August 12, 2020
Top Stories
UW System will cut $10 million in two years, create new diversity scholarship
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin System will reduce central office spending by $10 million over the next two years in an effort to streamline administration and refocus resources on students, its leader announced Tuesday.
UW System Administration announces layoffs, other cuts as COVID-19 losses grow
Wisconsin State Journal
Bracing for more financial losses associated with COVID-19, the University of Wisconsin System announced on Tuesday a series of additional cost-cutting measures for its roughly 600 administrative employees, including some layoffs.
UW rolls out first on-campus coronavirus testing site on Henry Mall
The Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s first on-campus COVID-19 testing location is now operating on an appointment basis, with at least two more sites expected to open for the fall semester.
Research
News stories suggesting gaiters are worse than no mask at all are relying on a study that proves no such thing.
Slate
Noted: It’s worth noting that another experiment, from a researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, actually found that gaiters were the most effective mask in containing a cough, though those gaiters were slightly different, containing elastic.
Higher Education/System
UW-Madison Chancellor Blank on comprehensive plan to restart [WTMJ Roundtable]
WTMJ
Quoted: No plan for opening a university can be fool-proof, which leads to UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank being both confident in her campus plan and concerned about the things she – and any university’s chief executive – cannot control no matter how comprehensive a plan’s framework is.
“I admit I am both optimisitc and worried. I think we’ve done everything we need to do. We’ve got a lot of moving parts,” Blank told WTMJ’s John Mercure during Tuesday’s WTMJ Cares Special Roundtable.
UW System administration announces layoffs, other cuts
WISC-TV 3
The layoffs Thompson announced Tuesday affect employees of UW System Administration only. The system’s 13 universities are making their own reductions that were necessary due to a loss in revenue and state-ordered cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UW System announces $10 million in cuts, investment in underserved students
WKOW-TV 27
The University of Wisconsin System announced a series of cuts expected to save millions of dollars over the coming years.
Campus life
Badgers fans weigh in on Big Ten’s decision to punt on fall sports amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal reporter Jim Polzin asked Badgers fans on Twitter what they thought about the Big Ten Conference’s decision to cancel fall sports amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Graduate students advocate for online classes, more protections for teaching assistants
Badger Herald
’I don’t want to have to choose between being safe and having no income, or a disease that has really long terrible health implications even if I survive it,’ graduate student says
State news
Why Republicans Are Walking All Over This Democratic Guv
The Daily Beast
Quoted: Miriam Seifter, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in an email that “the opinion seems to have had a chilling effect on further attempts at executive emergency response, with both the governor and the state (Department of Health Services) hesitating on or delaying actions not covered by the ruling out of fear they will lose in court again.”
“The result has been a governing gap in Wisconsin, with local governments left to try to address statewide problems,” said Seifter, who co-wrote an amicus brief in the case “on behalf of 17 legal scholars” that criticized the GOP controlled legislature’s challenge.
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 death toll passes 1,000. Here’s a look at who is dying, and how the rate compares to other leading causes of death.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Despite avoiding the worst-case scenarios predicted when the pandemic first hit, the number of deaths is still troubling, said University of Wisconsin-Madison epidemiologist Patrick Remington.
“It’s been hard to get the general public and even some policymakers to realize how serious a disease this is,” Remington said. “These are absolutely preventable deaths.”
Agriculture
How to manage and prevent summer pink eye in cattle
Wisconsin State Farmer
Noted: Sandy Stuttgen, an ag educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison extension, says the first signs of eye irritation are tearing, tear stains and squinting, which get progressively worse as pink eye continues to develop. Pink eye may also appear as an opaque spot on the cornea. Conjunctivitis and corneal ulceration may also occur, she writes.
Community
Younger generation steps in as poll workers for August primary
NBC-15
Nathan Haimowitz says this primary is his first time as poll worker. The 20-year-old UW-Madison student has said he is enjoying watching the voting process unfold.
Arts & Humanities
Quanda Johnson reads James Baldwin: A conversation with one of UW-Madison’s bright stars
Isthmus
Johnson, a UW-Madison doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary theater studies, was a spectacular interviewee. I was impressed with her experience and her clear-eyed description of the challenges of being a Black artist transplanted to Madison. She is a polymath, seamlessly shifting between academic research, writing, singing, activism and poetry. In her hands, the lines between these areas blur.
Madison-based music app LÜM locks in Ne-Yo as global ambassador, $3 million investment
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Developed by University of Wisconsin students in 2018, the music discovery streaming app launched for Apple’s iOS In July 2019, growing to about 100,000 users, 200,000 song uploads and 15 full-time employees in the year since.
Health
What Were Sports Like During The 1918 Spanish Flu Outbreak? Medical History Professor Dr. Susan Lederer Explains
WHBC
There was no Massillon/McKinley game in 1918. The game was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu pandemic. How did the pandemic affect pro sports at the time? Dr. Susan Lederer, Professor of Medical History and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison joined Jon to provide some insight.
Coronavirus Grips Midwest Rural Areas That Had Been Spared
The Wall Street Journal
Ajay Sethi, an associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said that while case numbers in some rural parts of Wisconsin may be far lower than in cities such as Milwaukee, rates of infection in some rural counties are now higher.
Coronavirus has upended school plans. It will also worsen racial and economic inequalities, experts warn
CNBC
With coronavirus cases still high around the country, half of U.S. elementary and high school students will attend school only virtually this fall, according to a study by Burbio, which aggregates school and community information nationwide.
That will have grave implications for minority and disadvantaged students, said Madeline Hafner, executive director of the Minority Student Achievement Network Consortium at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
The past five or six months have “really brought to light these racial disparities that have persisted for generations,” she said.
“With great uncertainty about the new school year, wealthier, predominantly White parents are using their resources to secure educational options for their individual children,” Erica Turner, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in her “Equity in Pandemic Schooling” action guide.
Athletics
Badgers volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield hopeful a ‘meaningful’ season can be played in the spring
Wisconsin State Journal
“We’re a little bit bummed,” UW coach Kelly Sheffield said. “Had we progressed in the fall I think our team would’ve been fine and ready for it. Moving to the spring, I think we’ll be fine and ready for it. They want a full season. The team’s approach is whatever gives us the best chance of having a full season and getting into a tournament where they can play is what they want.”
Barry Alvarez, Paul Chryst offer thoughts on shorter spring football season
Wisconsin State Journal
A spring football season has never been attempted in the Big Ten, and a host of questions need to be answered before teams can plan to play.
Barry Alvarez says he hopes to avoid cutting some Badgers sports amid budget crunch
Wisconsin State Journal
Since March, the University of Wisconsin athletic department has modeled various ways of addressing projections of cratering revenues for this school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alvarez: Postponing Big Ten fall sports seasons produces ‘hollow feeling’
WISC-TV 3
“My body just aches as I’m dealing with this from first thing in the morning,” the University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics said. “It hasn’t been fun.”
What’s next financially for UW Athletics after fall sports postponement?
WKOW-TV 27
In a statement from Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, the athletics department could lose nearly $100 million. Alvarez said cuts and layoffs will continue to help combat the loss.Alvarez made it clear on Tuesday that as of now he has no intentions of cutting any of the teams on campus.
As uncertainty surrounds college football, Big Ten postponses fall sports season
Badger Herald
Players, coaches take to Twitter to express desire to play.
Big Ten announces cancellation of fall sports season
Daily Cardinal
For the first time since 1888, Wisconsin will not play a college football season.
Opinion
Trump’s Wrong Logic About Learning To Speak Chinese
Forbes
Noted: I grew up in New England with no family ties to China, and started learning Mandarin in grad school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the 1980s out of a curiosity about an Asia that was on the rise. I benefited from scholarship money, and spirited teachers like Arthur Chen and Clara Sun. The Chinese language is a wide window into one of the world’s most influential civilizations, richest economies, largest military forces, and biggest populaces; it’s also a country whose ambitions aren’t about to go away.
Business/Technology
What Economists Fear Will Happen Without More Unemployment Aid
FiveThirtyEight
Quoted: Menzie Chinn, an economist at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, said the July jobs report only confirmed his suspicion that the economic recovery was starting to plateau. Now, he thinks a W-shaped recovery — where the economy improves somewhat, only to crash again — is still possible, and “a stall is more and more likely.”
UW Experts in the News
Little traction for Trump memos on unemployment, housing
Wisconsin Examiner
Quoted: “It’s inadequate,” says Tim Smeeding, who teaches economics and public policy at the University of Wisconsin La Follette School of Public Affairs and whose research topics include income and wealth inequality. “It’s too small, misdirected, legally questionable. It’s clearly not enough. So it’s more show than the actual dough.”
UW Health’s Dr. Pothof shares latest pandemic news
WISC-TV 3
Interviewed: Last week, La Crosse County announced a case where someone was reinfected with COVID-19. Is that actually possible? Here to talk about that is Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer for UW Health.
UW Health: Tips for parents with children returning to school amid pandemic
NBC-15
Quoted: “We know these are difficult times for parents as they weigh the benefits of in person education for their children against the sometimes difficult to interpret risk they may be exposing their children and themselves to during this historic pandemic. As health officials we want to offer guidance to families grappling with these issues,” said Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer at UW Health.
Obituaries
Larson, Barbara A.
Wisconsin State Journal
When her children were mostly grown, Barbara joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Center as a Project Administrator in the School of Social Work.
UW-Madison Related
Who Are Kamala Harris’ Parents? 5 Things to Know About The VP Candidate’s Family
Women's Health
Noted: Gopalan and Harris separated when Kamala as just five, according to the BBC. The reason, per Kamala’s book, The Truths We Hold: Harris took a professorship position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.