Skip to main content

Author: gbump

More evidence that COVID lockdowns harmed children more than the virus

Posted on
Washington Examiner

The latest data point to add to the pandemic blunder of punishing children during COVID comes from a study promoted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. According to the study by Dr. Drew Watson, a team physician for the University of Wisconsin Athletics, the cancellation of youth sports during the pandemic “was accompanied by decreased physical activity and quality of life, as well as startlingly high levels of anxiety and depression.”

The Memo: Biden faced with growing gulf between warring Russia, Ukraine

Posted on
The Hill

“If Russia pulls its troops out, the war is over — so, conceptually, it’s not like this is so complicated,” said Yoshiko Herrera, a professor of political science and a Russia expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But, practically speaking in terms of what is likely to happen, Ukraine seems quite dedicated to preserving their sovereignty and nation, because it looks like they’re winning. And Russia seems committed to continuing the fight.”

Oral history project honors 50 years of Native community’s activism, education at UW-Madison

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

While the American Indian Studies program was established in 1972, its history can be dated to the fall of 1970 when about 20 Native students formed “The Coalition of Native Tribes for Red Power,” an intertribal group that called for the chancellor to support the formation of a program. It started after two years of debate and negotiation.

After bumpy start, Madison school lunches are improving with staff raises

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Because of the pay increase, Madison is now one of the highest-paid districts in the state. It previously lagged behind other districts.

“I think that that’s a really, really great thing that the district has done,” said Jennifer Gaddis with the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology, who has been working with the district to improve its food service program.

UW-Madison freshman enrollment sets record

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

For the second consecutive year, UW-Madison’s freshman class is the largest in the school’s history, despite the university sending acceptance letters to fewer students than in previous years.

This year’s freshman class stands at 8,628, up nearly 2% from last year’s class, UW-Madison announced Monday. Of those, 3,787 — 44% — are in-state students.

Overall enrollment is up nearly 2,000 students over the prior year, with another record enrollment of 49,886.

Document spells out Paul Chryst’s buyout, includes ban on ‘derogatory remarks’

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The document confirms that Chryst has no duty to mitigate the buyout, or return money if he lands another job during the period through Jan. 31, 2027, covered by his contract. Mitigation was part of his employment agreement, and UW could have deducted any amount Chryst earned from pro or college football teams before that point from its liquidated damages if the sides hadn’t reached an agreement.

Questions mount over how Wisconsin constitutional amendment ballot questions are posed

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin Supreme Court justices appeared poised to uphold Marsy’s Law based on their conduct during oral arguments in early September, UW-Madison Law School associate professor Robert Yablon said.

“But it was a lot less clear exactly how they would articulate the standard that will apply (to ballot questions) going forward,” he said. “And the way that they do that will have effects for these future amendments.”

It’s Good For Business When Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Workers Are Given A Fair Shot

Posted on
Forbes

For instance, a recent study showed that 80% of all tenure-track faculty members in the United States derived from just 20% of PhD-granting institutions. What’s more, no historically Black colleges and universities were among that 20%. Indeed, one in eight tenure-track faculty members got their PhDs from either Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, or the University of Michigan.

Microsoft Teams users are using it for a really bad reason, so stop now

Posted on
TechRadar

This news comes just a couple of weeks after researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison made the case that Teams (and Slack) third-party apps may have some worrying security flaws. Because their code is rarely analyzed by Teams’ and Slack’s dev teams, the potential for data leaks could be greater than expected.

A Cold War Program Gets Hijacked

Posted on
Wall Street Journal

NRC-funded efforts included a training institute last year at the University of Texas, Austin, where teachers of pre-kindergartners through fifth graders were schooled in “(Un)learning patterns of whiteness in literacy teaching.” In May, Stanford University’s Center for Latin American Studies sponsored a webinar about using picture books to initiate “conversations centered on advocacy for LGBT Latina/o(x) youth.” The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia hosted a graduate student who uses critical race theory in her research on Russia and Ukraine.

Don’t confuse anti-Zionism with antisemitism

Posted on
The Capital Times

Letter to the editor: My question for the chancellor is what bridge could she possibly build to connect the group of determined students against Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation of Palestinian land and its horrible treatment of the Palestinian people with others at UW who called the activists who scrawled those simple chalk messages against Zionism — the ideology used to justify those crimes — “antisemitic”?

The real source of Puerto Rico’s woes

Posted on
Vox

That’s all intentional, said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You will see that the reason why Puerto Ricans were not granted statehood [at the time] was precisely because the United States — including the president, congressmen, and academics as well — did not think that Puerto Ricans were fit to govern themselves.”

Blair D. Savage

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

He went on to enjoy decades of fulfilling teaching and astronomy research at University of Wisconsin-Madison where he specialized in UV astronomy, studying the interstellar medium known as “star dust.”

Hopeful tenants camp out overnight for affordable housing in Madison

Posted on
NBC-15

Within the line of tents, sleeping bags, and blankets, some UW-Madison students say they are waiting for J Michael Real Estate to open at 9 a.m. Hopeful tenants say they started lining up almost 24 hours before then because Friday is the first day applications are accepted and it’s on a first come, first serve basis.

‘Living through the seasons’: Small but growing movement taps ancient traditions to feed future generations

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Cornelius, who balances farming with his full-time job as deputy director of the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center at UW-Madison and raising his 4-year-old son, hopes the farm can be economically self-sustaining, providing food for his family and his community as well a space for gathering, learning and passing on knowledge.

GOP governor hopeful Tim Michels’ shift on abortion isn’t first reversal

Posted on
Associated Press

Michels is in his first campaign since an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate 18 years ago. Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison, said such candidates “make mistakes sometimes.”

“They say things that commit them to a position or a path that they eventually don’t want to be on so that creates inconsistencies with their positions as they try to walk back earlier views,” he said.

Langdon Street move saves Zoe Bayliss co-op

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

University Housing Director Jeff Novak said he wished the co-op well in the new location. “Glad to hear they found something in the community,” he said. “We tried to work hard together with them to find something suitable here on campus and thought that we had a great option for them, but (it’s) very positive to hear that they are able to secure something.”

‘The sky is not the limit:’ Astronaut Scott Kelly shares life lessons from his year in space

Posted on
Daily Cardinal

The mysteries of space have captivated the human race for centuries, driving us to learn and explore. Since Yuri Gagarin first reached orbit in 1961, over 600 people have ventured beyond Earth’s atmosphere. One of them is Captain Scott Kelly, who the Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series (WUD-DLS) welcomed to campus on Tuesday.

Why Vote? Voices from the UW Odyssey Project

Posted on
The Capital Times

Current and past students were invited to submit short essays, poems, songs and artwork designed to persuade others to vote. Some will be showcased on Oct. 12 at UW’s Memorial Union for Odyssey’s nonpartisan “20 Years of Amplifying Student Voices and Celebrating Voting” in-person and online event. Partners for this event include the Cap Times, the League of Women Voters, the Madison Public Library and the Urban League of Greater Madison. The mayor has proclaimed Oct. 12 “Odyssey Day” in recognition of its 20th anniversary.

What Can Zircons Tell Us About the Evolution of Plants?

Posted on
Eos

In particular, as rocks erode, they disintegrate into sands and eventually muds made from clays. Clays tend to incorporate more heavy oxygen, explained Annie Bauer, an assistant professor and geochronologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was also not involved in this study. Subducting mud and mixing it into the mantle would result in melt—and likely zircon—featuring heavier oxygen than a melt that incorporates no crustal material or crust that experienced less weathering.

9 ways to debunk political misinformation from family and friends

Posted on
The Washington Post

Mike Wagner, a professor and political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, said it’s important to remember that “the facts don’t matter” for many people who share misinformation. They often don’t trust mainstream news sources or political institutions. Find the shared experiences that bring you together and demonstrate you’re not on the attack or calling them stupid.

“Aim for the heart, not the head,” he said. “If facts worked, there would be no need to have the conversation.