Video: While corn-based ethanol may be no better for the climate than fossil fuels, UW-Madison scientists are working on new plant-based fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Making fuel from plants at UW-Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
February 23, 2022
Research
Higher Education/System
In marathon session, senators vote to fund youth prison, restrict teaching race, limit safety net
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin senators held a marathon session Tuesday, passing measures that would fund a replacement for a troubled youth prison, restrict government safety net programs, limit the ability of the University of Wisconsin System to teach about diversity and race, and call for a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Should college admissions continue taking into account life experiences? Wisconsin GOP wants objective criteria only.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A Republican-backed bill that would limit criteria University of Wisconsin campuses can consider in admissions is swiftly making its way through the state Legislature, despite warnings from UW officials that it would result in more students being denied.
Wisconsin Assembly passes parental bill of rights, MPS breakup bill
Wisconsin Public Radio
Noted: A number of the day’s bills were directed specifically toward the operations of the University of Wisconsin and state technical college systems.
Those bills that passed include:
- Requiring the UW System in some circumstances to give refunds to students with housing and meal plan contracts who are unable to access those benefits;
- Removing immunity for campus administrators for violating the expressive rights of a person on a UW or technical college campus;
- Allowing public college students to take a class on the U.S. Constitution to fulfill diversity and ethnic studies requirements;
- Banning teaching of race or sex stereotyping in the state’s public colleges, including “that an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, bears responsibility for acts committed; in the past by other individuals of the same race or sex.”
Wisconsin lawmakers advance bipartisan bill targeting water pollution
Wisconsin State Journal
The Legislature’s budget committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance companion bills that would provide up to $1.4 million per year to help farmers keep fertilizer on their fields and out of lakes, rivers and groundwater, and fund a new position within the University of Wisconsin System to monitor groundwater quality.
Wisconsin GOP votes to limit race theory at UW schools
Associated Press
Republican legislators set their sights on the University of Wisconsin System on Tuesday, passing bills that are likely headed for vetoes but that will give the GOP talking points on the campaign trail heading into the November election.
Edgewood College to continue requiring masks in classrooms through April 1
Wisconsin State Journal
Edgewood College is taking a two-pronged approach in phasing out its mask mandate, officials announced Tuesday.
Legislature approves education bills, putting election-year talking points into focus
Wisconsin State Journal
The wide-ranging bills the Assembly approved include a proposal by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, AB 884, that would specify that if any University of Wisconsin System institution requires a course in diversity or ethnic studies, students could instead complete a course on the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. That bill passed the Assembly 60-34 and Senate 21-12 along party lines.
Campus life
“We The Vision” celebrates the 50th anniversary of UW’s The Black Voice
Madison 365
The Black Voice news publication was first created in 1971 with the mission to provide a safe space for Black and African diasporic students attending UW-Madison. “We The Vision,” which will be presented at Marquee Cinema in Union South on Tuesday, March 1, 6 p.m., is the tale of The Black Voice’s origins, influence and legacy told by many of the voices who have shaped its success. The documentary commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Black Voice, during the 2020-21 school year.
UW-Madison’s “UniverCity Alliance” to partner with six Wisconsin communities in 2022
Daily Cardinal
Six new Wisconsin communities have been selected to work with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to address and solve problems facing their local population, thanks to the UniverCity Year (UCY) program.
UPDATED: The Black Voice to premiere documentary ‘We the Vision’
Badger Herald
A new documentary titled “We the Vision“ will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Black Voice, which is University of Wisconsin’s only newspaper made by and for Black students, with its debut at the Marquee Theater on March 1 at 6 p.m.
SSFC votes to move meetings in-person, hears GUTS budget proposal
Badger Herald
GUTS to raise wages, add new positions with requested budget increase.
JSA commemorates 80th anniversary of Japanese American internment during WWII
Badger Herald
In recognition of the 80th anniversary of Japanese American Internment, the Japanese Student Association organized its first “Week of Remembrance.”
State news
Report: Amount of Wisconsin land being farmed declines in 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Heather Schlesser is an agriculture educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in Marathon County. She said the state has seen many producers transition out of dairy farming, which requires a lot of land for growing feed.
“They were transitioning out of dairy, making that decision to retire because they’re getting older. Or maybe they’re still younger, but they’re switching into beef production,” Schlesser said. “You can only do that for so long before you’re like, ‘You know what, I really don’t need this land. I don’t want to deal with the renters anymore. There’s no one new coming on the farm.’ And then they’re just deciding to sell it off.”
Agriculture
Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage has been a fixture in Milwaukee. Its legacy continues to grow.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: In 2011, Malone was inducted into the Wisconsin Meat Hall of Fame, joining local legends such as Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcaster Bob Uecker and Oscar G. Mayer who grew his father’s company, Oscar Mayer into a powerhouse brand, and Fred Usinger, who took the Usinger’s family sausage business to new heights in the 20th century.
The Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame resides at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Meat Science Laboratory and recognizes the contributions of individuals who have had a significant impact on the state’s meat industry.
Community
New ‘counter monument’ sculpture on State Street celebrates shared humanity
Wisconsin State Journal
Downtown Madison is not new to the debate over historic monuments. But thanks to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and a UW-Madison art professor, State Street’s iconography is now home to a new kind of monument. The museum unveiled its newest installation Tuesday evening, “Blu³eprint,” a 12,000-pound limestone sculpture designed by Faisal Abdu’Allah. For Abdu’Allah, it is a deeply personal piece that aims to reimagine the role of identity in public art.
Opinion
The U.S. and Europe didn’t get what they wanted from Putin. But Putin didn’t get what he wanted from them.
Washington Post
Written by Andrew H. Kydd, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
‘The hope is finished’: life in the Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk
The Conversation
Co-authored by Theodore Gerber, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
UW Experts in the News
Diapers address basic care need in children, leading to healthier and more economically stable adults
NBC-15
Jessica Pac, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Social Work, said diapers address a basic need because they enable kids to stay in childcare.
Kyle Rittenhouse has ‘close to zero’ chance to win lawsuits, experts say
Wisconsin State Journal
Rittenhouse winning any libel suit would be “really, really hard,” said Robert E. Drechsel, professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication.