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September 4, 2024

Research

Main Street Agenda is hitting the road to hear from Wisconsin on issues that matter to you

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Main Street Agenda is here to help you navigate these times. It is an election-year project designed to provide information and civil conversations about the issues Wisconsin voters care most about. The topics come from a UW Survey Center survey, WisconSays, that asked residents about the top issues they face.

Why is dental care so hard to get in Wisconsin?

The Capital Times

The share of Wisconsin dentists serving Medicaid patients is lower than the national average. In 21 counties, fewer than four out of every 10 dentists filed Medicaid claims in 2021 — and in seven counties, not one dentist did, according to the UW-Madison La Follette School analysis. The numbers were similar in Dane County, where about six out of 10 dentists filed no Medicaid claims that year and less than one-third of Medicaid patients received dental care.

Higher Education/System

UW tuition promise programs finding success, but need funding

Wisconsin Public Radio

For years, national surveys of students and families have shown the cost to attend college heavily influences where high school students choose to enroll. Educators in Wisconsin have taken that seriously.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched Bucky’s Tuition Promise in 2018. The program covers a student’s tuition for four years if the family has a household income of $65,000 or less.

Campus life

State news

Wisconsin’s prison population swells as other states limit incarceration

PBS Wisconsin

Extended periods of supervision after release from prison do little to improve public safety, according to Cecelia Klingele, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School professor of criminal law. The long terms “may interfere with the ability of those on supervision to sustain work, family life and other pro-social connections to their communities,” she wrote in a 2019 study examining 200 revocation cases.

“Fewer, more safety-focused conditions will lead to fewer unnecessary revocations and more consistency in revocation for people whose behavior poses a serious threat to public safety,” she added.

Wisconsin voter ID law still causing confusion, stifles turnout in Milwaukee, voting advocates say

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“It’s a small factor compared to not liking the candidates or not caring about the outcome,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. His university colleagues published a 2017 study on the effect of the law.

Crime and safety

Agriculture

The emerald ash borer is now in every Wisconsin county. But the fight isn’t over. Why?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Homeowners and communities can also take steps to slow the spread. Ash trees should be checked out for emerald ash borer symptoms, and insecticides can be applied according to guidelines provided by a certified arborist or the University of Wisconsin extension. Trees can also be removed, and replaced with non-susceptible species.

Arts & Humanities

10 diverse children’s books with Wisconsin connections

Appleton-Post Crescent

But the number of diverse children’s books and creators has significantly increased since then, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center found. The CCBC is based in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and receives funding from the state Department of Public Instruction. It reviews the diversity of both content and creators of about 3,500 children’s and young adult books each year.

“Children are curious learners, and are most naturally interested in themselves and also in understanding the world they live in,” CCBC Director Tessa Schmidt said. “Books should offer children the opportunity to see themselves, as well as people in their local and global communities.”

Health

A probiotic called Akkermansia claims to boost health. Does it work?

The Washington Post

While there’s a “much larger body of evidence” suggesting beneficial metabolic effects of akkermansia, the studies pointing to potential downsides should not be ignored, said Federico Rey, a microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies the relationship between the gut microbiome and cardiometabolic disease. “The overwhelming data suggests that akkermansia is good for your metabolic health, but there’s also data suggesting that it might not be good for other conditions,” he added. “There’s a lot of moving parts we still have to understand before making general recommendations.”

Athletics

Business/Technology

UW Experts in the News