Written by rofessor of information at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Yes, the government can track your location – but usually not by spying on you directly
The Conversation
December 3, 2025
Research
Early study results show landfill runoff in Wisconsin has high PFAS levels
Wisconsin Public Radio
Early results of a new study show landfill runoff contained the highest levels of PFAS among liquid wastes sampled statewide in Wisconsin.
Since 2023, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been collecting and analyzing samples from four waste materials that could be potential sources of PFAS in groundwater, which provides drinking water to two-thirds of state residents. It’s also a source of drinking water for around 800,000 private wells.
UW-Madison proposes moving L&S’s largest majors to new AI-focused school
The Daily Cardinal
The University of Wisconsin-Madison wants to separate the school’s largest and fastest growing majors into a new college focused on Artificial Intelligence and computing.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will vote Thursday on the creation of a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence at UW-Madison, meeting materials show.
Higher Education/System
UW’s ‘exuberant cult of fraternity and sorority’ was defended a century ago
Wisconsin State Journal
This State Journal editorial ran on Dec. 11, 1925:
It is probable that no street the length of Langdon Street in the state has dwelt so many significant people of the earlier period.
The sons and daughters of Langdon Street are known in the world’s affairs, and today are carrying on in many places. The ancestral homes have no special right to complain that, in the march of progress, they have been intruded upon.
Behind the scenes at UW: How staff manages communication on visa terminations
The Badger Herald
The Badger Herald requested text messages and emails from university officials involved in the visa terminations issue in order to look at the inner workings of the university and, in particular, the communications department.
Campus life
With his sculptures full of natural splendor, artist Truman Lowe could make wood look like water
Smithsonian Magazine
Lowe earned an undergraduate degree in art education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1969 and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. During his graduate program, Lowe studied sculpture, glassblowing, ceramics and other art forms that would go on to influence his work: a catalog of earthy, curved sculptures built from organic materials.
State news
Wisconsin Supreme Court elections have drawn an ‘obscene’ amount of spending. Here’s why and what can be done about it.
Wisconsin Watch
That kind of “strident, negative television advertising” characterized Wisconsin’s first million-dollar contest in 1999, then-Rep. Mary Hubler, D-Rice Lake, complained at the time. Liberal Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson won reelection against conservative challenger Sharren Rose in a race that cost $1.4 million.
Before then, high court candidates in the 1990s typically spent around $250,000 each, which “looks like a pittance” now, former Justice Janine Geske said in an interview. Howard Schweber, professor emeritus of political science and legal studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called those earlier races “gentlemanly” and “low-key affairs.”
Community
Madison families demand greater access to sports for disabled students
The Cap Times
Public schools must provide disabled students with equal opportunities to participate in athletics. But how schools meet that requirement can be complicated, according to Julie Mead, a professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in special education law.
Arts & Humanities
Amanda Shubert’s new book reveals the history of optical illusion
Madison Magazine
“When you see your best friend on Zoom, you don’t think, ‘OMG, a ghost,’ or ‘How did she get so tiny and inside my computer?’” says Amanda Shubert, teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of the new book “Seeing Things.” “The question my book asks is: When, how, and why did this experience of seeing things that are not there become part of daily life — a kind of illusion we enjoy, but are not tricked by?”
Longtime Wisconsin radio host Larry Meiller announces retirement
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In addition to his radio career, Meiller was a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 106 semesters, before retiring in 2022. He taught in the university’s Department of Life Sciences Communication.
UW Experts in the News
Think it’s cold now? Just wait for this week’s Arctic blast that’s poised to break records
CNN
Over the rest of December, we can expect frequent oscillations between milder-than-average conditions and frigid temperatures as storms move through.
However, this polar vortex event isn’t the only factor behind those upcoming temperature fluctuations, said Andrea Lopez Lang, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s definitely contributing, but it’s not the whole story,” Lopez said.