Every first week in March, the state of Wisconsin celebrates Leopold Week, honoring the legacy of the esteemed conservationist, writer and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Aldo Leopold with events and demonstrations in the spirit of his land ethic.
March 5, 2024
Research
‘I am a champion for growing Milwaukee’: Takeaways from Cavalier Johnson’s State of the City address
His comments included a reference to a city plan that prioritizes lead service line replacement based most heavily on the area deprivation index, which ranks neighborhoods by “disadvantaged status,” according to the Center for Disparities Research at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Campus life
UW student John Oncken often hitchhiked home to Stoughton to help with dad with farm work
My future was cloudy at best until I remembered a scholarship given to me at graduation by the local Legion that paid my University of Wisconsin semester fees for two years. True, I had never considered the U.W. before but my future choices seemed limited – so off to college I went.
Explore Wisconsin history through artifacts with PBS Wisconsin Education’s new ‘The Look Back’ collection
PBS Wisconsin Education announces the launch of a new education series called The Look Back, which explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The Look Back was made in collaboration with the Wisconsin Historical Society, University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries, UW–Madison’s Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History, Wisconsin educators and learners, and museums around the state.
State news
Liberal group makes U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil one of its top targets in 2024
While Steil’s seat appears relatively safe, it’s actually “rather competitive,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden. Noting that Trump won the 1st District by two points in 2020 while losing the state by less than one point, “even a slight shift in political winds could bring the district into play,” he said.
Wisconsin’s Medicaid postpartum protection lags most of the country
“The year following a delivery is a very important year with huge life changes and where having adequate health care is absolutely essential,” said Dr. Lee Dresang, a family medicine doctor at UW Health and a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Of the patients he followed with postpartum depression, “exactly zero magically got better at 60 days after delivery,” he said during a legislative hearing.
Residency, authenticity emerge as early issues in Senate campaign
Even before Hovde formally announced his candidacy, Democrats had spent months casting him as a carpetbagger, who spends more time in California tending to his business interests than in the Badger State. Hovde does own homes in both Wisconsin and California, but he grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Agriculture
USDA: Farm income forecast to drop 25 percent
Paul Mitchell, director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said tight margins are the norm in agriculture.
“You’ve got to keep your costs under control, and hope for good yields and that the market prices for your crops or your livestock are still good,” he said.
Health
Scientists have used cells from fluid drawn during pregnancy to grow mini lungs and other organs
Scientists have created miniorgans from cells floating in the fluid that surrounds a fetus in the womb – an advance they believe could open up new areas of prenatal medicine. Alta Charo, an emeritus professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who wasn’t involved in the study, said the new approach doesn’t raise the same ethical issues. “Obtaining cells from amniotic fluid that is already being sampled for standard clinical purposes does not appear to add any physical risks to either fetus or pregnant woman,” she said in an email.
UW Experts in the News
Wisconsin efforts to remove Donald Trump from ballot dismissed after Supreme Court ruling
“Today’s decision appears to put an end to all the pending litigation in Wisconsin and other states seeking to remove Trump from the ballot based on the Fourteenth Amendment’s insurrection clause,” UW-Madison Law School associate law professor Rob Yablon said Monday. “The Court is quite categorical in saying that states do not have the power to enforce that provision against candidates for federal office.”
Smart traffic lights starting in Fort Atkinson to reduce carbon emissions, commute times
“These adjustments in the system can make it more efficient and truly provide a system that we all want,” said UW-Madison professor Dr. David Noyce. “We want a system that’s safe. We want a system that’s green as much as possible.”