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March 21, 2024

Top Stories

How campus orgs connect UW-Madison with broader community

“Community outreach, community engagement and community service are central to the university’s guiding principle, the Wisconsin Idea, which sets forth that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom,” UW-Madison Media Relations and Strategic Communications Director Kelly Tyrrell said in an email. Tyrrell said the university’s South Madison Partnership and the Morgridge Center for Public Service reflect these ideas to foster mutually beneficial relationships. Class projects, internships and other extracurricular opportunities are meant to help students “make lives better for people,” Tyrrell said.

Research

Student podcast recognized by NPR, America’s hardest jobs, Research on daddy longlegs, Carbon neutral parks

Wisconsin Public Radio

A UW-Madison student tells us about his podcast on changing technology. Then, a Washington Post columnist and a member of the Milwaukee Fire Department talk about America’s hardest jobs. Then, we explore new research on daddy longlegs. Then, we discuss efforts to make national parks along Lake Superior carbon neutral.

Higher Education/System

Campus life

Slow Food UW fights food insecurity with community

Daily Cardinal

The smell of tostadas drifts under your nose as you watch the people around you smile. You’re eating with friends, family and people you’ve never met before. It’s nice to share a meal, easy to connect over trying something new. This is made possible by Slow Food UW, a student-run nonprofit organization dedicated to providing good, clean and fair food for the Madison community.

State news

With maple syrup season coming early, Wisconsin specialist wants to tap into state’s full potential

Wisconsin Public Radio

During a strangely warm winter that made maple trees ready to share their sap earlier than usual, a Wisconsin forestry outreach specialist found a constant: The state still has a lot of trees ripe for tapping.

While Wisconsin trails Vermont, New York and Massachusetts for maple syrup production, Wisconsin has more untapped maple trees than any other state, according to Tony Johnson, a natural resources educator for the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

“There is a lot of room for growth,” Johnson said recently on WPR’s “Central Time.”

Crime and safety

Arts & Humanities

UW Experts in the News

Planet-Eating Stars Are Surprisingly Common, New Study Suggests

Scientific American

Numerous unanswered questions remain, such as what sorts of planets tend to be consumed and how to know with certainty whether any given star has wholly abstained from devouring members of its brood. Even so, “this work is super compelling,” says Melinda Soares-Furtado, an astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “I’m excited about what we’re starting to find.”

5 Tips for a Healthier Relationship With Your Phone

The New York Times

If you want to peacefully coexist with technology, you need to get a handle on those impulses. Start by noticing when you have an urge to lift your phone or open social media on your browser window, said Richard J. Davidson, the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Obituaries

UW-Madison Related