UW-Madison’s University Health Services (UHS) opened a portal on Wednesday for the university community to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations.
UHS opens vaccine portal as Wisconsin enters new wave of vaccinations
The Daily Cardinal
March 19, 2021
Top Stories
Paul Fanlund: These UW-Madison students solve problems across the state
The Capital Times
An example is a $600,000 item buried in Gov. Tony Evers’ $91-billion proposed two-year state budget. The money would expand a six-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison program designed to tap the expertise and energy of students on the flagship Madison campus to solve problems and improve lives in communities throughout Wisconsin.
Higher Education/System
Republicans on building commission reject Evers’ capital budget, which includes UW System projects
The Daily Cardinal
The State Building Commission deadlocked on Gov. Tony Evers’ capital budget Wednesday, which includes over $1 billion in UW System projects.
UW-Eau Claire to hold second federal COVID-19 vaccination site in Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal
Afederally supported mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic will open on April 8 at UW-Eau Claire’s Zorn Arena, Gov. Tony Evers said Thursday.
Campus life
UW records record low COVID rates on campus, PHMDC announces vaccinated persons can gather without masking
Badger Herald
The University of Wisconsin recorded its lowest seven-day average for positive COVID tests last week, at 0.1% positivity.
‘I am not a foreigner here’: Students, activists take to Madison streets in wake of Asian shootings
The Capital Times
The rally, organized by local activists and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s BIPOC Coalition, started outside Madison City Hall. Brenda Yang, a Hmong woman who works at Madison East High School and the Hmong Institute, welcomed the audience, encouraging young students to resist the “model minority” Asian myth and come together across ethnic lines.
Hundreds march for Asian American lives in Madison, as many call for hate crime charges in Atlanta
NBC-15
Cindy I-Fen Cheng, a professor of history and Asian American studies at UW-Madison, agreed. Cheng argues the shooting suspect’s trail across three different spas, killing six Asian women, was tied to racist stereotypes.
Crime and safety
UWPD releases partly-redacted reciepts, resource list showing chemical munitions purchases
Badger Herald
UWPD released receipts of purchases from early June and a resource list of chemical munitions UWPD currently owns following a public records request from ASM Chair Matthew Mitnick.
Health
Your Single-Cloth Mask Doesn’t Cut It. Here’s What Can Help.
Slate
Noted: I opted for a design created by engineers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Called the “Badger Seal” after the school’s mascot, the design uses materials that are easy to order: vinyl tubing, cord locks, rubber twist ties, and elastic string. The instructional videos were easy to follow; while I didn’t time myself, I’d estimate it took about 20 minutes total to snip all the various pieces of tubing and ties, and put them together.
U.S. States Throw Open Vaccine Eligibility Before May 1 Goal
Bloomberg
Quoted: And opening eligibility doesn’t necessarily mean administration is going efficiently, said Ajay Sethi, an associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. In some cases, states are reaching the limits of vaccine acceptance.
For those still waiting to get it, he said, just knowing they’re eligible can make an emotional difference. “Sometimes people feel better standing in line than not having any line at all,” Sethi said Thursday. “Once a few states do it, other states decide to do it as well, especially if leaders are finding that they don’t want to hit the wall, they want to keep the momentum, they might as well open up the eligibility criteria.”
Hair Loss Is A Surprisingly Common Side Effect Of the Pandemic—Here Are 13 Possible Reasons Why It Might Be Happening
Parade
Quoted: “Telogen effluvium is commonly triggered by stress, and COVID-19 has definitely contributed to a lot of stress these days,” says Apple Bodemer, MD, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Department of Dermatology. “I am seeing a significant increase in this type of hair loss.”
Covid-19 advice for families as students return to classrooms
NBC-15
With schools across Wisconsin returning to in-person learning, pediatricians at UW Health provide tips and reminders for families as their kids once again join friends and teachers in the classrooms.
Athletics
Badgers’ Daryl Watts makes top 3 in voting for NCAA women’s hockey player of the year
Wisconsin State Journal
Daryl Watts finished in the top three of voting for the Patty Kazmaier Award, and now the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey forward will wait to hear whether she has won for the second time.
UW Experts in the News
‘Dangerous for democracy’: Why these GOP state legislatures want to restrict voting rights
USA Today
Quoted: Trump complained about mail-in voting early in 2020 and never stopped. Despite all the suspicions, the 2020 election still had a record turnout.
That’s why Barry Burden, political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, isn’t convinced voting reform bills in battleground states is about restoring voter confidence.
“They were confident. They participated at extremely high rates,” he said.
Atlanta Spa Massacres Expose a Glaring Media Blindspot: Anti-Asian Racism
The Daily Beast
Quoted: “It has been infuriating to see how this racist and sexist killing spree has been handled by U.S. media outlets,” communications professor Lori Kido Lopez, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Asian American Studies Program, told The Daily Beast. “It is also infuriating to see the news media taking seriously the idea that ‘sexual addiction’ is relevant here. There is a long history of sexual predators using this kind of faux medical diagnosis as a way of escaping responsibility.
“It was particularly insulting and offensive to see headlines repeating the suspect’s description that he was having ‘a bad day.’ That is such a callous statement that minimizes the massive loss of life, but also the way that this kind of terrorism radiates fear and pain throughout the entire community.”
Fungi are key to our survival. Are we doing enough to protect them?
National Geographic
Quoted: “We think the true biodiversity of fungi is somewhere between one million and six million species,” says Anne Pringle, a University of Wisconsin-Madison mycologist—as fungus experts are called—and a National Geographic explorer. Yet despite their global prevalence, fungi have historically been left out of conservation initiatives.
Why the U.S. is rethinking its approach to poverty
PBS
Quoted: Lawmakers in the U.S. have for years debated how to track poverty, and child poverty in particular. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, when the country is caught in a deep recession that has forced families deeper into financial difficulty amid widening inequalities, “it’s not surprising” that politicians have found renewed interest in curbing this hardship, said Rebecca Blank, a macroeconomist who worked on anti-poverty policy for the the Clinton and Obama administrations and now serves as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Unpacking Hate Crimes Against Asian American Women With Dr. Cindy Cheng
WORT FM
At its meeting tomorrow night, the Dane County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution condemning hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The vote comes as lawmakers across the country are speaking out against hate crimes against Asian Americans after a series of shootings yesterday in Georgia left eight people — six of whom were Asian — dead.
But do those resolutions and condemnations go far enough?
For more, our producer Jonah Chester spoke with Doctor Cindy Cheng, a Professor of History and Asian American studies at UW-Madison.
“Vaccine Passport”: Will you need a health-related stamp of approval to travel?
NBC-15
For that reason, requiring a vaccine passport to travel internationally could soon become a reality, according to a UW-Madison professor emerita of law and bioethics, Alta Charro.
Are food and energy prices included in inflation rates?
Marketplace
So how is inflation even measured? Well, “there’s as many measures of inflation as there are economists studying it,” said Steven Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But the inflation rates we hear about most often do include health care, energy and food. Economists will sometimes look at a number called “core” inflation that takes out food and energy prices because they can fluctuate quite a bit.
Another main measure is the personal consumption expenditures price index, or the PCE. This measure, run by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, updates how items are weighted in its formula to better reflect consumer behavior, said Menzie Chinn, professor of public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Because of this, the PCE is in some sense more representative of the costs consumers face, Chinn said.
NEWSMAKER: Team player Hassan succeeds Tanzania’s blunt-spoken Magufuli
Reuters
“She presents herself very diplomatically. We haven’t seen her yelling at people in public or firing people in public. But she is a very shrewd politician,” said Aikande Kwayu, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States.
UW-Madison Related
UW-Madison admin, student leaders clash over pandemic funds ahead of third round of funding
Channel 3000
The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), created in the CARES Act and funded again through a second relief package late last year, sought to ease pandemic-related financial tolls on universities and college students through money for both direct student aid and the institutions themselves. The federal government partially controls how some of that money is spent, but gives colleges a large degree of flexibility as well.