St. Mary’s Hospital and UW Health, both in Madison, will operate as regional distribution hubs for the Pfizer vaccine. “These vaccines will be going to frontline healthcare workers first, and there are still uncertainties around the quantities we’ll get and the timing of their arrival,” Matt Anderson, senior medical director of ambulatory operations with UW Health, said in a statement. “The public must remain diligent as it will not be widely available anytime soon.”
December 8, 2020
Top Stories
Higher Education/System
UW System asks for 2% and 2.5% employee pay increases in each of next 2 years
University of Wisconsin System employees would receive 2% and 2.5% pay increases over the next two fiscal years under a plan officials released Monday, but the annual raises require legislative approval and COVID-19 complicates the state budget picture.
UW System extends COVID-19 surge testing through Christmas
The University of Wisconsin System COVID-19 surge testing sites will operate at least until Christmas, System President Tommy Thompson announced Monday.
UW’s Tommy Thompson: Turn Wisconsin Prison Into College For Inmates
University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson says he wants to transform one of the state’s prisons into a college for inmates.
Campus life
UW fraternity appeals Plan Commission denial of North Lake Street project
Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is appealing the city Plan Commission’s decision to quash plans to demolish two houses on North Lake Street and replace them with a new building that would house both the fraternity several apartments for rent.
ASM leaders advocate for international telecommuting student workers’ compensation, UW defends current policy
’This [policy] is specifically targeted towards students who are currently on international soil — the vast majority being international students,’ ASM Chair says
SSFC approves Student Judiciary budget, postpones SAC Governing Board Decision
The Student Services Finance Committee met Monday to introduce their internal budget and approve Student Judiciary’s FY22 budget. SSFC was also going to vote on the Student Activities Center Governing Board budget but voted to push the decision to next week.
UW-Madison recognized for civic engagement in 2020 presidential election
The Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) Coalition hosted a virtual awards ceremony Friday awarding UW-Madison “for exemplifying the SLSV Coalition’s Guiding Principle of Removing Barriers and Increasing Access.” The award title is shared with Alabama A&M University, an institution also recognized for its removal of barriers impacting voter suppression.
Health
UW System extends COVID-19 testing until Christmas
The University of Wisconsin System announced in a release today that they will operate their COVID-19 “surge testing” sites until at least Christmas, thanks to added support from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
UW, SSM designated hubs for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine distribution
When the vaccine is available, SSM Health, UW Health and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services will distribute it to health systems and long-term care facilities.
Gene Modification Treatments Could Delay Onset Of Huntington’s Disease
The average age of onset of Huntington’s disease is 39 years old, said Jane Paulsen, a research faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Neurology Department who is leading a study to determine if the disease can be prevented or delayed. Paulsen said she has seen cases of Huntington’s in people as young as 2 and as old as 82.
Athletics
Badgers women’s hockey team has 2 more series postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests
The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team’s final two series of 2020 have been postponed due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases with the Badgers.
Positive COVID-19 test within Badgers men’s hockey team postpones series at Michigan State
The Badgers, who already were in East Lansing as part of a road trip that began last week at Ohio State, started returning home Sunday night after learning earlier in the day one of their players had a confirmed positive test for the coronavirus.
With Louisville game postponed, Rhode Island landed as replacement for Badgers men’s basketball
Badgers coach Greg Gard knew all along that it would be a matter of when, not if, the schedule would have to be adjusted on the fly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That moment arrived four games into the season and No. 13 UW will host Rhode Island on Wednesday at the Kohl Center — tipoff is at 3:30 p.m. to accommodate the Big Ten Network — instead of playing Louisville as previously scheduled.
UW Badgers give back at SYH Celebration Drive-Thru Food Drive
“Badgers give back is the philanthropic arm of Wisconsin athletics” said Jackie Davenport, the Director of Community Relations for UW Athletics. She added “They say we are the heart of Wisconsin athletics. We coordinate all engagement with the community and non-profits in our area.”
UW Experts in the News
Asteroid Dust from Hayabusa2 Could Solve a Mystery of Planet Creation
“This is a short-lived nuclide that only exists in the early solar system,” says Noriko Kita, an expert in meteorite aging from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That advanced vintage makes chondrules the second-oldest recognizable objects in our solar system, after calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), specks of white in meteorites that are thought to have formed one to three million years earlier by condensing out of the gas that surrounded our young sun.
When do voters support Black Lives Matter or the Green New Deal?
As President-elect Joe Biden continues his transition to the White House, House Democratic progressives and centrists are fighting over how to frame the party’s agenda for the public. For instance, progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said “I can’t be silent” and will continue speaking about policy goals ranging from defunding police departments to passing the Green New Deal. But centrist Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) argues that if party members keep using such language, Democrats will get “torn apart in 2022.”
-Jianing Li, Mike Wagner, Lew Friedland, Dhavan Shah
Baltimore’s New Progressive Mayor Is Ready To Tackle The City’s Biggest Problems
“Baltimore never really wrestled with the demons of segregation,” said Lawrence Brown, a visiting sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison