Twelve years after scientists in Wisconsin delved into all the genes of a young Monona boy, diagnosed a new disease and saved the child’s life, a new clinic will try to do the same for scores of other people suffering from mysterious illnesses.
Quoted: “We used public data that is so often used against people to help correct situations or improve situations that might be barriers to employment, housing, education, childcare and health,” explained Marsha Mansfield, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Economic Justice Institute and director of LIFT Dane.
States around the country are gearing up for projects that could pair engineering schools and industry, but the dean of UW-Madison’s College of Engineering warned this week the state will be at a disadvantage unless there’s more investment in infrastructure needed to compete. “If we don’t act soon, we’re going to lose out,” said Ian Robertson, dean of Madison’s 4,500-student engineering college. “Others are going to get ahead of us. They’re all gearing up to go after the Endless Frontier money. It’s that simple.”
“Individuals who participate in DACA, are undocumented or from mixed status families are important members of our community,” UW-Madison said on Saturday in a statement posted to its social media channels.
In a welcome change, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway unveiled plans last week to “likely” remove city buses from the lower half of State Street in Downtown Madison. Doing so would make way for a true pedestrian mall with cafes, public art, live music, trees, kiosks and fun events — without any motorized vehicle traffic. The street is already off-limits to most cars and trucks, but not buses.
Quoted: “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I have no idea why he did that,” said John Witte, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus who specializes in tax and budget policy.
Witte said there is speculation that Evers vetoed the change in the withholding tables because the governor hopes Democrats will take control of the Legislature in the 2022 election and repeal the tax cuts. By not changing the withholding tables, most taxpayers wouldn’t notice a difference, that thinking goes.
“If he changed the tables the tax cuts would be permanent,” said Witte.
Quoted: Menzie Chinn, an economics professor with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an email that while there is much demand for workers, supply remains constrained.
“Rising wages are not a ‘bad’, since that’s how the market adjusts to market conditions,” said Chinn. “There’s not a ‘shortage’ as the business community keeps on complaining about.”
Steve Deller, an applied economics professor at UW-Madison, said increased wages and benefits are one way companies are trying to be creative in the current labor market.
“Five years ago or so, people would think that a $15-an-hour job is a good paying job,” said Deller. “People are coming to the realization that’s not a good paying job. It’s got to be more than that. And businesses are coming around and saying, ‘If I want quality workers, I’ve got to up my pay.'”
Noted: Steven Deller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist and part of a group that studied the impact of Verso’s closure in Wisconsin Rapids, said he thinks the paper industry in Wisconsin is declining for reasons similar to what happened in Maine, where he worked at a university before coming to Wisconsin.
The problem in both states, he said, is that many of the plants are old and companies are finding it doesn’t make sense to invest in aging facilities. Instead, they are building new, often in the south to reduce transportation costs by being closer to timber producers in warmer places where trees grow faster.
Noted: The fridge was co-founded by Taste Of Home Associate Culinary Producer Sarah Tramonte and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division Of Extension nutrition educator Hataya Johnson.
The UW School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin are launching a $3 million effort to address health disparities in Wisconsin, which have been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s a real demand for this kind of public thing,” Leckrone said. “I know people who do theater and other things just don’t have venues to perform. And I’m interested in all the arts. So I thought I could lend a hand. I certainly want to.”
Column by Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Pitching similar feelings for softball’s return to the Olympic games is UW Madison Head Softball Coach, Yvette Healy.“With Tokyo hosting and them being such a great softball community, everyone knew that they would pick that sport back up, so we were thrilled. I mean the sport needs to be in the Olympics. There’s so many fans watching so we loved it,” said Healy.
When we hire graduate assistants at the University of Wisconsin at Madison Graduate School, we expect them to do a deep dive into graduate education administration — but what often surprises students is how much the experience prepares them for future careers.
It’s a difficult statistical problem, and the researchers “developed a valuable tool that takes account of missing data in the ancient genomes,” said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was not involved in the research.
“I expect to see lots of color,” agreed Gail Brassard, who taught costume design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Covid was such a life-changing event — like war or an economic crash — that its effects will be profound on all visuals and especially in the arts.”
Quoted: “This is just a stunning change in the American social policy context,” says Tim Smeeding, a professor of public affairs and economics with the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an advocate for the policy.
Some form of universal child allowance benefit is found in 17 affluent countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
“They allow parents who don’t have enough money to do things for their kids,” he adds. “It says kids are important.”
Quoted: “It’s transformative,” said Tim Smeeding, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s a recognition that kids are expensive, and that we as a society have an obligation and an interest in having them grow up well, and do well.”
Smeeding noted that it’s particularly remarkable for including families who aren’t typically reached by the Earned Income Tax Credit, like the children of immigrant parents and “grandfamilies” — families where kids live with grandparents at least half of the year, and for whom grandparents provide at least half of the support. Unlike the Earned Income Tax Credit, which families receive as a credit when they file taxes each year, families can be eligible for the child tax credit even if they don’t make enough to file taxes.
Quoted: “It is a little bit gray whether or not courts have the authority to do that,” said Cecelia Klingele, a law professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Wisconsin law alludes to the inherent authority of the court over its sentence, but it has not been fleshed out fully in case law, sort of, what are the outer bounds of that power,” she said.
Quoted: “We haven’t seen these kinds of protests in Cuba, in part because the system is not one that grants the legitimacy of that kind of civic protest,” said Patrick Iber, an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The Cuban government often sees and accuses people who are involved in these protests as being interests of foreign powers, and that is the kind of accusation that the current president has used against the protestors.”
Then, instead of working for a living, he became a university professor. He pursued the Peter Principle, earning a professional development degree and becoming Associate Dean for engineering outreach and now Emeritus Professor.
He taught for many years at the UW electrical engineering extension, where he traveled abroad teaching about power systems in Brazil, China, and beyond. He was highly regarded by colleagues and created many friendships that lasted his entire life. He taught at the UW well into his 70s and still had an office until the time of his death.
Noted: Phillips lived and worked a life of firsts. She was the first black woman to graduate from the university of Wisconsin law school. She was the first black woman on the milwaukee common council. Phillips was the state’s first black woman judge. In 1978, she was elected secretary of state, the first female, nonwhite person so elected. Her statue will be a legacy to not only her own work, but the product on gg work propelled by the racial justice movement. Phillips’ son was there on tuesday. He said his mother’s statue will help ensure her legacy.
