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Author: gbump

Why America Became Numb to COVID Deaths

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The Atlantic

Richard Keller, a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, says that much of the current pandemic rhetoric—the premature talk of endemicity; the focus on comorbidities; the from-COVID-or-with-COVID debate—treats COVID deaths as dismissible and “so inevitable as to not merit precaution,” he has written. “Like gun violence, overdose, extreme heat death, heart disease, and smoking, [COVID] becomes increasingly associated with behavioral choice and individual responsibility, and therefore increasingly invisible.” We don’t honor deaths that we ascribe to individual failings, which could explain, Keller argues, why national moments of mourning have been scarce.

Studying sharks’ immune systems could lead to powerful human medicines

Posted on
The Washington Post

Aaron LeBeau regularly visits a local grocery store’s seafood department to stock up on tuna, salmon and octopus. But LeBeau isn’t shopping for himself: He has hungry sharks to feed at his laboratory.

Though they might look mean, “sharks are, to put it lightly, misunderstood,” says LeBeau. He’s a professor of pathology (the study of diseases) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nurse sharks — the kind he studies — are “probably the most docile sharks in nature. Pretty much all they do is sleep and eat.”

House slated to vote down masks

Posted on
POLITICO

We asked what prompted you to wait in line for more than two hours: Suzie Bassi waited in line to purchase a Cabbage patch doll for her daughter “way back in the day.”… Sharon Rosenblum camped out two days for Bruce Springsteen and a day to see Bob Dylan. … Daniel Goldwin: “Any, and I mean any, University of Wisconsin basketball game in the old Field House — this is how I “On Wisconsin-ed” 1989-94.”

UW-Madison, Northwestern students examine Chancellor Blank’s legacy

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Daily Cardinal

Upon receiving the news that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank was to be the next president of Northwestern University, students at the school wanted to learn more about her. In response, a series of articles in North by Northwestern, a student publication, were published throughout January, February and March that provided the campus with a picture of Blank’s past that has dismayed many.

UW-Madison senior class office election underway

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Daily Cardinal

The election for Senior Class Office officially begins Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There are seven candidates, nearly all registered as pairs, running this election season, with the voting window closing Thursday, March 10.

Q&A: Limnologist Hilary Dugan warns of warming Madison lakes

Posted on
The Capital Times

Madison wouldn’t be Madison without its lakes. At least Hilary Dugan — an assistant professor of aquatic biology and ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — thinks so. Dugan works at the Center for Limnology right off of Lake Mendota, tucked away behind a frozen Lakeshore Path next to the Memorial Union. She said people either know exactly where the center is, and what limnology is, or know nothing about it at all.

UW students could use a snow day — Natalie Unger

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Wisconsin State Journal

Letter to the editor: More than just safety (which is still important), college students have had a tumultuous two years amid the pandemic and could use the relief of a snow day when conditions are snowy and icy. Snow days provide momentary freedom from responsibilities and allow for some well-deserved free time. We have rarely had days off (and got no spring break last year).

Project to make Indigenous histories available digitally

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The initiative received a seed project grant from the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment this year, according to the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology. The maximum amount awarded from these grants is $4,000. Other funds are also coming from the School of Human Ecology’s Indigenous EcoWell Initiative.

Corn-Based Ethanol Doesn’t Solve Any Emissions Problems

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Road &. Track

The reality isn’t that clean. Fenske’s video hinges on a new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The study, released last month, suggests that in the real world, ethanol provides no discernible reduction in emissions. In fact, corn-based ethanol is up to 24 percent more carbon-intensive than traditional gasoline. That’s because, while growing corn is a carbon sink, every other part of the process of turning corn into fuel creates intense emissions output.

The link between depression and misinformation explained

Posted on
Mashable

In general, there’s strong evidence that mindfulness-based interventions, including MBCT, are an effective treatment for depression. A meta-analysis of conducted by Dr. Simon Goldberg, an assistant professor in the department of counseling psychology and faculty at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, indicates that such programs are as effective as psycho- and behavioral therapies.

A new poll suggests why some Americans feel a lot better than the rest of us

Posted on
NBC News

Religious participation seems to promote individual flourishing in a variety of interlocking ways, beginning with the friendships it fosters. In 2010, Chaeyoon Lim (of the University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Robert Putnam (of Harvard University) estimated that about half of the effect on satisfaction comes from deep and supportive relationships. The effects are also particularly strong with respect to marriage, with weekly service attenders being about 50 percent less likely to divorce than never-attenders. Religious participation also strongly protects against self-destructive behaviors: One of our studies found that, compared with never-attenders, regular attenders were substantially less likely (68 percent less likely for women, 33 percent less likely for men) to die from alcohol poisoning, drug overdose or suicide.

Two beers a day damages human brains as much as 10 years of aging

Posted on
New Atlas

“There is some evidence that the effect of drinking on the brain is exponential,” said co-corresponding author Remi Daviet, now from the University of Wisconsin. “So, one additional drink in a day could have more of an impact than any of the previous drinks that day. That means that cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain aging.”

Boycotting Russian vodka won’t do much, experts say, but here’s what may

Posted on
NBC-15

“A lot of this effort, I don’t want to say is wasted because it gives people a good, patriotic feeling, but most of this is not going to make much of an economic dent in Russia,” Jon Pevehouse, a UW-Madison professor focusing on international political economy, said. “To do that you’re going to have to turn off the gas and oil spigot, and that’s something that the Biden administration has not suggested it will do anytime soon.”

Russians live in a propaganda bubble.

Posted on
Washington Post

The weakness of the Kremlin’s propaganda effort is also that it relies on shared anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian sentiment. On its eve, the war against Ukraine was not popular, suggesting that Moscow will rely heavily on propaganda and censorship to sustain popular acquiescence to the conflict. Further hostilities, especially attacks against civilians, could undermine not only support for the war but Putin’s own approval. And if regime support crumbles, so would the power of state media.

-Anton Shirikov is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His research focuses on propaganda, misinformation, political polarization and trust.

Return to pre-pandemic normalcy not yet on the horizon for many immunocompromised Americans

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ABC News

“I see the devastating effects of this viral infection every day as it leads to death and disability of my patients who were previously leading healthy, active lives,” Dr. Jeannina Smith, medical director of the transplant and immunocompromised host service at the University of Wisconsin, told ABC News. “Omicron was not mild for our patients.”

Why we seem mired in a time of ‘toddler meltdown behavior’

Posted on
The Capital Times

Six months into the pandemic, Christine Whelan sensed something was different. “I was noticing this odd thing, that more and more cars had taken their mufflers off, and there were more and more people gunning their engines really loudly, making a bunch of racket on the road,” said Whelan, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and expert in human behavior and cultural trends. “I couldn’t understand why I was only now hearing this, and I had this sense in the back of my mind that this had something to do with the pandemic, and with a sense of anger at the political world around us and a sense of disenfranchisement.”

Future of Zoe Bayliss Co-op in limbo amid UW-Madison construction

Posted on
The Capital Times

While the cooperative is located in a university-owned building, which the cooperative has leased at the corner of Park and West Johnson streets for the past 67 years, Zoe Bayliss operates independently from UW-Madison. Elected student board members manage Zoe Bayliss’ finances and determine rent prices for the year. They also hire a chef to cook lunch and dinner on weekdays, a perk included in the rent.

The new five-story, 26,000 square-foot building — called Levy Hall — will be “one of the most heavily used academic buildings on campus,” said Eric Wilcots, dean of the College of Letters & Science, in October. Levy Hall will also support UW-Madison’s largest academic program, Dybdahl said, “providing 1,800 seats in state-of-the-art classrooms.”

UW-Madison panel confronts the challenges of Ukraine-Russia Conflict

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WISC-TV 3

UW Madison’s Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia hosted a panel Wednesday night on the Russian-Ukraine conflict to help members of the community better understand the conflict and it’s impact beyond the two countries’ borders. The public forum was the second event on the subject–the first meant to reach students–hosted by the group since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week.

UW-Madison set to unveil ‘Divine Nine’ plaza in May

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Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will begin construction on the “Divine Nine” plaza this spring. The plaza will be located in the garden space across from the Walgreens on East Campus Mall, and it will be unveiled as a tribute to the Divine Nine in early May.

How Inflation Affects Universities

Posted on
Wall Street Journal

Universities must ensure that attending is affordable for most Americans. In a country that values education, college has become less of a luxury and more a necessity for a successful career. As such, colleges and universities must combat inflation by passing the cost to donors and governments, rather than students.

—Jackson Walker, University of Wisconsin, journalism and English

From Birds on Venus to Swimming Robots, NASA Unveils Mind-Blowing Projects

Posted on
Newsweek

Elena D’Onghia and her University of Wisconsin, Madison, team’s project focuses on protecting astronauts from harmful cosmic rays and solar radiation. Just as Earth’s magnetic field does that for life on our planet, this project, CREW HaT, involves magnetic coils that can be carried by a crew producing an external magnetic field to divert harmful charged particles.

What Impact Do Video Games Have on Strategic Military Advantages?

Posted on
Newsweek

“Anyone who is in a position where they would benefit from greater than normal cognitive control, top-down attention, peripheral visual processing would benefit from playing action games, which are primarily first- and third-person shooter games,” Dr. C Shawn Green, a professor of psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison wrote in the article. “That’s obviously a huge set of individuals, from those involved in combat, to people like surgeons or pilots.”

Black women’s mental health highlighted at UHS panel

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Daily Cardinal

“What does Black Girl Magic mean to you? ”To conclude Black History Month, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s mental health services hosted a discussion panel, “Beyond Black Girl Magic: Normalizing and Centering Black Women’s Mental Health,” covering topics ranging from the mental health of Black women, to defining oneself and embracing imperfection.

Gableman report suggests 2020 election can be decertified, calls for dismantling elections commission

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison political science professor and elections administration expert Kenneth Mayer said the claim is meaningless. “Even if the Legislature did pass some sort of ‘decertification’ now it would have no legal effect,” he said. “Once the electors have cast their ballots, and they have been counted in Congress, that’s the end of it.”

Maj. (Ret.) Lowell D. “Mike” Millisor

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

He served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years, as a B17 Pilot during World War II where he flew 31 missions over Europe, retiring as Major in 1965. After retirement, Mike worked for the UW as a purchasing agent, retiring in 1987.

UW-Madison extends loan forgiveness program to keep teachers in Wisconsin

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The School of Education’s “Teacher Pledge” will run through the 2025-26 school year, one year longer than what was initially envisioned as a five-year program, officials announced Tuesday. The entirely donor-funded initiative forgives some or all of students’ loans after they teach in a Wisconsin school for four years. Those working in what the state Department of Public Instruction defines as a high-need district or subject area fulfill their obligation in three years.

Ellen M. Dudley (Straavaldsen)

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

She went on to become a freelance artist for multiple fashion stores in the Madison area and she also worked for the UW-Madison, Do-It (Division of Information Technology) as a senior graphic artist. Ellen was also a technical scientific illustrator for many university professors, where she would draw graphics for botany and anthropology textbooks. She retired from the UW-Madison after 30 years of service.