UW-Madison insect researcher Patrick Liesch spent more than a decade studying the emerald ash borer — an invasive, ash-tree killing beetle the size of a grain of rice — before he finally saw it in person.
July 17, 2023
Research
Loneliness and isolation are Wisconsin public health issues
In a 2020 study, UW-Madison researchers found that a wide range of community outreach programs can help people socialize and give them something to look forward to, which can boost a sense of connection.
Higher Education/System
Supreme Court justice writes DEI education for attorneys would create ‘goose-stepping brigade’
Quoted: University of Wisconsin Madison associate professor of political science and legal studies Howard Schweber said given the current state of politics, it’s not surprising that the state’s high court denied the DEI education request. But he called Bradley’s comments shocking.
“Whatever tattered shreds of civility were left within the legal profession have surely vanished when you have a Supreme Court justice saying about her own state’s bar that they are effectively in a conspiracy to take over America and to make an explicit Nazi reference in doing so,” Schweber said.
State news
Federal agriculture officials declare drought disaster in southern Wisconsin
Josh Kamps is a crops and soils educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in the southwestern region. He said crop conditions vary greatly across his area, even from farm to farm.
Kamps said producers who were able to plant early in the season got enough rain to get crops started, allowing the plants to grow deeper roots that tapped into water farther below the surface as soils dried out.
“We have areas where crops were planted a little bit later, maybe toward the end of May,” he said. “Those crops are really struggling. These last couple of rain showers this week are going to definitely help.”
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Alder Russell Stamper II, Howard Schweber
Here’s what guests on the July 14, 2023 episode said about a 2% sales tax in the city of Milwaukee that comes with specific policy conditions and a surprising circuit court ruling in the Wisconsin abortion statutes lawsuit.
Includes interview with Howard Schweber, professor emeritus of political science at the UW-Madison and affiliated faculty at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Survey: Just under half of Wisconsin businesses plan to hire additional employees over the next six months
Steven Deller, professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said businesses remain in “wait and see mode,” as they’ve dealt with economic uncertainty since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates more than a year ago.
“Six months ago, it was like, the Fed is raising interest rates, the sky is falling, the leading economic indicators are all pointing towards recession,” Deller said. “Now, people are going, ‘Well, wait a minute, the sky is not falling.'”
Menzie Chinn, a professor of public affairs and economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Goldman Sachs’ prediction might be a little rosier than that of most economists. He said economists are anticipating an economic slowdown in the latter half of 2023 or early 2024.
“While people think the chances of a recession are receding, I think the average forecaster still sees a recession coming,” Chinn said. “That being said, I think most of them also think it would be a mild recession.”
Arts & Humanities
Author Q&A: Book within a book supplies the mystery
Q: I know you also work full time at UW-Madison. Did you take time off to finish “I Know What You Did?”
A: When I get excited about an idea, I take any possible time I can find to write. I do lunch hours, evenings and weekends. I do occasionally take myself on mini writing retreats.
Health
Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s treatment shows promise in early stages of disease — but safety concerns remain
Some Wall Street analysts tempered their enthusiasm about Leqembi’s approval in part because of limited capacity at hospitals and infusion centers to administer the biweekly IV infusions. Donanemab, however, is only administered every 4 weeks, which may ease the infusion issues as well as the long-term costs, geriatrics researchers from the University of California San Francisco, SUNY Upstate Medical University and the University of Wisconsin wrote in an editorial published in JAMA Monday.
Second Alzheimer’s drug to slow disease’s progression may be approved in the US this year
“The modest benefits would likely not be questioned by patients, clinicians, or payers, if amyloid antibodies were low risk, inexpensive and simple to administer,” wrote UCSF’s Dr. Eric Widera, SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Dr. Sharon Brangman and the University of Wisconsin’s Dr. Nathaniel Chin. “However, they are none of these.”
Opinion
Guest column: UW System must be streamlined because of enrollment decline
The closure of Cardinal Stritch University and the headlines about UW-Platteville at Richland Center and UW-Milwaukee at Washington County are, unfortunately, just leading indicators of what’s to come for both public and private institutions.
It’s time to talk unapologetically about fathers and their needs
We are delighted by these endorsements. And we look forward to the day when the Dads Caucus announces the Black Paternal Health Act and fellow members of Congress offer their endorsements for this much needed bill.
-Tova Walsh is an associate professor of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alvin Thomas is an assistant professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the host of the Black Fatherhood Podcast. They are both members of the Scholars Strategy Network.
Environmental markets should guide federal land use
Allowing markets to operate on federal land would put different American values on more equal footing, thereby reducing conflict. This might harm some political and special interests in the short run, but the change will be a win-win for free markets and for the environment.
-Dominic P. Parker is an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center, and the Ilene and Morton Harris visiting fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institutio
UW Experts in the News
4 Numbers To Watch For As The Climate Crisis Heats Up
The fourth number to keep an eye on is any metric of smoke. The U.S. has been in a relative lull, but more smoke is expected this weekend from wildfires in Canada. As of Friday, it was already evident on weather satellite imagery. The tweet below from the University of Wisconsin-Madison CIMSS site provides great perspecive on current and near-future status of vertically integrated smoke.
Obituaries
Marion Meyer
She chaired Organismal Biology from 1970 to 1994, and in 1983, Marion was promoted to Associate Professor and became the first female tenured faculty member of the UW–Madison Department of Zoology, gaining full professorship in 1991.
James Kroneman
He taught for seven years at the University of Evansville and worked for 32 years at the WARF Institute and subsequent companies, analyzing foods and feeds for metals and teaching employees about the methods for conducting these analyses.
Laura Friedrichs
As an administrator, Laura worked for two decades at UW-Madison in various positions including the Poverty Research Institute, University Housing, and UW-Press, to name a few.
Ruth Evans
Ruth was a stay-at-home mom when the children were young, slowly taking on more hours in administrative roles such as church secretary, eventually working full time as an administrator at UW–Madison.
UW-Madison Related
Rare, stinky corpse flower on the verge of blooming at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Park Domes
Noted: Amorphophallus titanum, the flower’s official name, is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Domes received a gift of a dormant corm — similar to a bulb or tuber — about 15 years ago from the University of Wisconsin and have since grown 10 corpse flower corms from the original.