The reintroduction of wolves has only had temporary effects on other small carnivores at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
July 1, 2024
Research
Higher Education/System
UW dorm campaigning policies up for debate close to Election Day
Leaders of Wisconsin’s state universities are weighing whether to update policies on political campaigning in residence halls for the first time since 1988.
Campus life
‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran talks about her time at UW-Madison, from Badger games to working at Eno Vino
Years before upcoming “Bachelorette” and former “Bachelor” contestant Jenn Tran was looking for love on TV, there was something else she was trying to find:
A college with “a lot of school spirit.” She’d find it — in Wisconsin.
UW-Madison antisemitism training strikes concern
Campus administration received anonymous feedback criticizing speakers for anti-Black sentiments after an April internal antisemitism training.
Health
More efforts are underway to limit social media. How do you separate good from bad?
Heather Kirkorian is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who studies how kids and parents interact with digital media. Warning labels are good for raising awareness, she said, but “my sense is that most teens and parents have heard about the potential risks and are aware that that might be a concern.” Treating social media “as analogous to cigarettes is unhelpful, because there are potential benefits of using social media as well, and I don’t think we can make that same argument for smoking cigarettes.”
New cyclotron at UW Health to boost cancer, Alzheimer’s research, treatment
UW Health plans to build a new cyclotron, which makes radioactive atoms used in scans to detect tumors and other ailments, to expand research and treatment of cancer and conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Athletics
Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin hurts ankle in final; USA volleyball wins silver
The University of Wisconsin star, who was the national player of the year last season, suffered an apparent ankle injury midway through a five-set loss to the Dominican Republic and did not return.
UW Experts in the News
With the RNC coming to blue Milwaukee, historical tensions brew in the background
“Republicans are having a harder time when it comes to picking a city for their national conventions. Big cities have become more Democratic in recent years and the GOP’s messaging is increasing about the ills of big cities, including problems like crime, culture and failing schools,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Elections Research Center. “Being in a big city is an opportunity for Republicans to emphasize their arguments about Democrats having failed to govern urban centers effectively.”
Why does Kwik Trip have a cult following in Wisconsin?
Thomas O’Guinn, professor emeritus in marketing at UW-Madison, said businesses typically gain cult-like followings by accident. But it’s the businesses that help fulfill a person’s need to belong that stick out from the pack, he said.
How ‘Rural Studies’ Is Thinking About the Heartland
Another scholar who disagreed with Mr. Frank’s diagnosis was Kathy Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But like Mr. Frank, she was interested in the question of how social class shaped politics, and thought that the way to get an accurate picture was through fieldwork. Over five years, starting in 2007, she visited 27 small towns in Wisconsin.
The World of Luxury Fruit: Does a $156 Melon Taste Sweeter?
Some of the fruits have long been given as gifts, especially in Japan and Korea. That trend is catching on in the United States, as is the taste for flawless berries and melons that travelers may have tried overseas, produce experts said. And as the luxury goods industry has grown, so too has the interest in luxury fruit, said Soyeon Shim, a scholar of consumer and financial behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The market has become much more global,” she said. Ms. Shim added, “you can buy anything you want.”
The Big Winners of This Supreme Court Term
In a famous 1974 paper titled “Why the Haves Come Out Ahead,” the University of Wisconsin law professor Marc Galanter argued that litigation systematically favors repeat players with the wherewithal to take fullest advantage of the courts. Key to his argument was the point that courts are “reactive”: They only do something when someone asks them to. That favors “the claimant with the information, ability to surmount cost barriers, and skill to navigate restrictive procedural requirements.” And most repeat players, Galanter said, tend to be “larger, richer and more powerful” than single-shotters.
Black Americans’ Responses To Trump’s Notion Of ‘Black Jobs’
Inequitable access to high-quality education plays a role in systematically routing young Black Americans into a narrow set of jobs. “Although our schools should be preparing all students for well-paid satisfying work, far too many of our Black and Brown students are relegated to poorly resourced schools,” says Gloria Ladson-Billings, the Kellner Family Distinguished Professor Emerita of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biden’s voter registration executive order is targeted by GOP
“It’s a nudge encouraging federal agencies to do more to help people register,” says Dan Tokaji, an election law expert, who serves as dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School. “Until recently, the complaints were really the federal government wasn’t doing enough, not that they were doing too much to advance voter registration.”
Wetlands may be the key to saving the Mekong River
But those habitats are often understudied. While the stretch of river in northern Cambodia has been designated a Ramsar site—a wetlands area of international importance—little research has assessed the ecological damage to the flooded forest there. “What we have is basically interviews with people,” says Ian Baird, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has studied fisheries across the border in Laos for several decades.
Obituaries
William C. Zarnstorff
He went on to complete his PhD in Physiology in 1970, and joined the UW faculty. Over the course of his career, he advanced engineering applications in medicine, taught, and mentored graduate students in Medical Physics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Radiology. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1994.
UW-Madison Related
Sanders criticizes Biden’s debate performance, defends his record
Sanders’s rally is part of a weeklong campaign swing in the Badger State. The Daily Cardinal, the University of Wisconsin’s student paper, provided audio of the Stevens Point event.