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January 19, 2024

Research

Research finds early exposure to lead pipes shortens lifespan

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

New research finds that early exposure to lead pipes can reduce an American man’s lifespan by an average of almost three months. Those are the findings from a paper co-authored by a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The results are part of a broader body of research examining conditions in childhood that may affect the longevity of Americans.

Jason Fletcher, a professor with the university’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, said researchers compared U.S. Census records of men living in cities that had lead pipes to those living in cities that used non-lead materials in the early 20th century. Fletcher said they then linked the names and addresses of those individuals to their death records from 1975 to 2005. Fletcher said the paper did not examine women because of difficulties with linking data due to name changes when women married.

Is Madison projected to surpass Milwaukee in population in the coming decades? No.

Posted on
Wisconsin Watch

Madison’s population will still be less than half that of Milwaukee in 2040, according to official population projections by the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013. The 2040 projections estimated a Madison population of 281,150, compared with 627,400 for Milwaukee.

A regional study from 2022 projected larger growth figures for Madison, with estimates of 306,521 for 2035 and 345,675 for 2050. That’s still much smaller than the state’s largest city.

Study: Dogs prefer to watch TV featuring other dogs

Posted on
Spectrum News

Knowing what TV shows a dog likes could help assess their vision, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s (UW-Madison) School of Veterinary Medicine.

In the study, researchers sought to determine what factors influenced a dog’s interest in engaging with videos, said Freya Mowat, veterinary ophthalmologist and professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine’s department of surgical sciences. Those factors included age and vision.

Survey: Students’ career influences and desired outcomes

Posted on
Inside Higher Ed

Why is there a gap between student expectations about career outcomes and what their institutions actually deliver? Matthew T. Hora, associate professor of adult and higher education and founding director of the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who reviewed the findings, attributes it to several factors.

Higher Education/System

Interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan sets the tone at ‘Joy Fest’ amid leadership changes at UWL

Posted on
The Racquet Press

On Wednesday, Jan. 17 Interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan addressed a room of 600 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse staff and faculty in her opening remarks for the upcoming spring semester.

The “Joy Fest”, titled by Morgan, was held in the Bluffs Ballroom in the Student Union and offered standing room only as the event commenced with a performance from members of the UWL arts program.   

University of Illinois freezes tuition for in-state students

Posted on
CBS Chicago

By comparison, the University of Wisconsin Madison’s undergraduate in-state tuition rate as of the fall of 2023 was $11,216 per year; at the University of Iowa, in-state undergraduates pay $10,964 a year; Indiana University in-state undergraduates pay $11,790 for tuition and fees at the Bloomington campus; and in-state freshmen and sophomores at the University of Michigan pay $17,228 per year in tuition and fees, while juniors and seniors pay $19,390.

Campus life

Wisconsin football is losing assistant coach Colin Hitschler to the new Alabama staff

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Luke Fickell has made two changes to his coaching staff since Wisconsin finished 7-6 in Fickell’s first full season with the Badgers. He will soon have to make a third.

A source confirmed an ESPN report Thursday that Colin Hitschler, UW’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, is joining Kalen DeBoer’s staff at Alabama.

State news

Mounted patrol units across the state train together ahead of the RNC

Posted on
Spectrum News

Preparations are well underway for the 2024 Republican National Convention, which will be held at Fiserv Forum from July 15-18. A big part of those preparations revolves around public safety and security.

Mounted patrol officers from the Milwaukee and Madison Police departments, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wisconsin State Fair Police departments, are getting ready for the big event.

Will Wisconsin’s presidential primary matter? Experts say we’ll see

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

“It’s a really unusual dynamic where neither party has a competitive primary process this year,” said Eleanor Powell, associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  “I’m hard pressed to think of a cycle where there was this much lack of interest or competitiveness.”

There will be other races and measures on the primary ballot. Some municipalities will see elections for county boards or local school funding measures, said Barry Burden, director of the UW-Madison Elections Research Center.

“So even if the presidential race doesn’t look competitive, hopefully there’ll be other things that’ll draw voters out,” Burden said.

Community

Opinion

A Second Trump Term Will Bring an End to the American Century

Posted on
The Nation

With recent polls giving Donald Trump a reasonable chance of defeating President Biden in the November elections, commentators have begun predicting what his second presidency might mean for domestic politics.

-Alfred McCoy is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Business/Technology

UW Experts in the News

Washington takes aim at facial recognition

Posted on
POLITICO

“It is crucial that governments make tackling these issues a priority,” said Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a co-chair on the committee that wrote the report, in a statement. Otherwise, she said Washington would “effectively cede” policy on a key public issue to private companies.