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October 22, 2021

Research

Higher Education/System

U.S. Education Critics Say Academic Freedom Will Suffer After Georgia Changed the Rules of Tenure Critics Say Academic Freedom Will Suffer After Georgia Changed the Rules of Tenure

Posted on
Time

Noted: Critics of tenure have long argued that it enables subpar teaching, makes it difficult to fire predatory professors and hinders efforts to diversify faculty. Efforts to reform tenure policies have followed. In 2016, the University of Wisconsin system changed tenure policies to allow faculty to be fired due to poor performance or cuts to academic programs. Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers in Iowa proposed legislation that would have banned tenure at public universities in the state, though it did not progress through the legislature.

Campus life

As enrollment at US colleges drops, UW sees ‘significant increases’

Posted on
Badger Herald

Fortunately, Associate Director of Undergraduate Communications and Marketing Greer Davis said the University of Wisconsin is not a part of these statistics. “UW–Madison is seeing significant increases in applications [and] enrollment, so we are fortunately not to be in a position of needing to make increases to our marketing budget, nor do we do paid advertisement,” Davis said.

State news

Monthly job growth flat in September, but well ahead of a year ago

Posted on
Wisconsin Examiner

Quoted: “There isn’t a lot of evidence in the data that people are staying home,” said Laura Dresser, an economist and associate director of COWS, a University of Wisconsin-Madison policy research center, noting the state’s continued above-average labor force participation.

Other factors, such as the continued difficulty in finding child care, are likely keeping people from working who would otherwise want to do so, she said. One reason for Wisconsin’s higher labor force participation rate is that more women are in the state’s workforce, and are likely to be disproportionately affected by the disruption in child care.

Dissatisfaction over pay and frustration with customers who angrily object to masking have given restaurant and hospitality workers reason to pursue other jobs instead, said Steven Deller, of the UW Extension’s agricultural and applied economics department. “There’s lots of little things going on here,” Deller said. “I think a lot of folks are simply saying, ‘No — do I really want to do that any more?’”

Wisconsin parents suing school boards over lack of COVID-19 protocols face an ‘uphill battle.’ Here’s why.

Posted on
Appleton Post-Crescent

Noted: Julie Underwood, a retired faculty member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and Law School, said the argument in the lawsuits are based on a claim of negligence: The school districts have a responsibility to provide reasonable care of the child, and failed to do so.

If it’s determined that immunity doesn’t apply here, the next question would be whether  it was reasonable for the school boards not to require masks, Underwood said.

Wisconsin is second in nation for school board recall attempts, driven by disputes over masking, teaching race

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it’s not uncommon for political party leaders to change their views on recall elections.

“For conservatives in Wisconsin, (they) made two keys argument against the 2012 recalls. First was that Governor Walker had only been in office for a year and deserved to have more time to prove himself before facing another election. Second was that the motivation for the recalls was merely a policy debate about labor unions and not over malfeasance in office, which is what recalls should be used for,” Burden said.

Crime and safety

Extension

Here’s how Milwaukee bakers prepare their favorite lebkuchen — a classic German gingerbread with many varieties

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Sugar does reduce water activity, and water is what lets microorganisms do their thing, said Barbara Ingham, professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a food safety specialist for UW’s Division of Extension. (“Just don’t eat raw dough,” she noted, since flour can be the subject of recalls for E. coli.)

Community

Milwaukee vet loved ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ as a child. Now, she’s echoing the series, making house calls on animals. Natalija Mileusnic

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: In 2004, Feiring graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in psychology. After studying abroad in Scotland her junior year, Feiring fell in love with the country and its culture. She decided to return to the country and attend the School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Arts & Humanities

5 Things to Do This Weekend

Posted on
New York Times

Noted: The program, which costs $15 for adults and $10 for ages 2 to 12 (museum admission is included), will also offer a scavenger hunt through the exhibition “Jennifer Angus: Magicicada.” Angus, an artist (and design professor in the School of Human Ecology), has devised decorative scenes and Victorian-like dioramas involving hundreds of preserved insects. Enhanced by historical taxidermy specimens, the show promises some haunting pleasure.

Health