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December 22, 2025

Top Stories

UW scientists alarmed by Trump plan to break up national weather research center

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are sounding the alarm over a Trump administration plan to dismantle a prominent weather and climate research center, saying it could jeopardize the future of weather forecasting.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is based in Boulder, Colorado, but is overseen by a consortium of universities, including UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. The center allows researchers to work together on large projects that no one scientist or university could do alone.

Higher Education/System

Wisconsin tech colleges viewed favorably by majority in new survey

Posted on
The Cap Times

Two-thirds of Wisconsin residents hold a favorable opinion of the state’s 16 technical colleges, and a majority believe the state benefits from the education the schools provide.

Those are two findings from a statewide public perception study the Wisconsin Technical College System conducted online this spring, with over 2,300 adults completing the blind survey.

Why some majors are harder to get into than the college itself

Posted on
Chicago Tribune

In the Midwest, Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois show similar bottlenecks. In the Northeast, Northeastern’s combined engineering-CS programs have become harder to crack than many Ivy divisions. Even the University of Wisconsin, once known for broad access, now reports sharply lower admit rates in engineering and data science.

For parents and students, the message is sobering: the real competition may not be “between” colleges, but “within” them.

Campus life

Chazen showcases local influence in newly acquired photos

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The Chazen Museum of Art has added 28 photos taken by acclaimed photographer Irving Penn to its collection.

The photos were donated to the museum by the Irving Penn Foundation in Penn’s name. It was a gift in honor of UW-Madison alumnus and former Museum of Modern Art photography director John Szarkowski, according to a statement from museum spokesperson Kirstin Pires.

State news

What to know about Wisconsin Democrats’ climate change agenda

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A proposed bill in the package would create and fund two agriculture and climate change research positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.

According to the co-sponsorship memo, the two new positions would be dedicated to studying climate change and agriculture, as well as learning about how the changing climate impacts the state’s landscape and economy.

Health

Sleep monitors and poop tests: Health-tracking gifts find a place under the tree

Posted on
The Wall Street Journal

Giving health testing and monitoring gifts comes with some tricky etiquette questions.

“There is some risk of offending,” says Evan Polman, a consumer psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has studied gift giving. It could convey that the recipient is somehow inadequate, he says.

If you are giving devices that track both sleep and physical activity, such as those from Oura and Whoop, Polman suggests highlighting the sleep monitoring—not the fitness.

When giving health-testing and tracking devices, he suggests buying them for yourself, too. “If we’re doing it together, I think it takes away almost all of the judginess,” he says.

UW Experts in the News