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Author: gbump

Wisconsin efforts to remove Donald Trump from ballot dismissed after Supreme Court ruling

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Wisconsin State Journal

“Today’s decision appears to put an end to all the pending litigation in Wisconsin and other states seeking to remove Trump from the ballot based on the Fourteenth Amendment’s insurrection clause,” UW-Madison Law School associate law professor Rob Yablon said Monday. “The Court is quite categorical in saying that states do not have the power to enforce that provision against candidates for federal office.”

Viola V. Olson

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Wisconsin State Journal

Before her daily home office was in use, Viola did work for the State of Wisconsin Purchasing Department for many years on the UW campus.

Conservative law firm challenges UW race-based programs after Supreme Court ruling

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Wisconsin State Journal

Eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of race in college admissions, a conservative Wisconsin law firm is drawing attention to what it says are Universities of Wisconsin programs that continue to consider race in other areas, while the state’s flagship university says it’s reviewing programs that might be affected by the court’s ruling.

Starbucks to give raises, start bargaining with union workers

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The Capital Times

Michael Childers, a business and labor education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the news may be bigger than the agreement the United Auto Workers reached with major U.S. auto manufacturers late last year, ending a nearly two-month strike that had shut down multiple plants.

“Historically, the service sector has struggled in a huge way to successfully organize and bargain contracts,” Childers said. “This is really exciting news for … workers wanting a voice at work.”

Study shows warming waters affecting reproduction of walleye in Upper Midwest lakes

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Wisconsin State Journal

A study from a UW-Madison researcher published Monday in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters contends that walleye, one of Wisconsin’s most sought-after fish and one of its tastiest, are not only struggling to survive in warming waters; their reproduction is also being interfered with and has been “unable to keep up with increasingly early and more variable ice-off dates.”

UW Glass Lab’s Helen Lee wins major art award, has exhibit at Arts + Literature Lab

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Wisconsin State Journal

In her 2½-minute video “Amulet,” award-winning artist Helen Lee shows her own image morphing into that of her young daughter Cicada. Both are dressed in black and framed by a black background, reciting Zhuyin Fuhao, a Chinese phonetic alphabet used today, Lee says, only in Taiwan and by the Chinese diaspora.

Lee, an associate professor of art and head of the Glass Lab at UW-Madison, wears a delicate necklace in the video with a small charm made from jade. It’s from her grandmother, and something she wears every day.

Philip A. Helmke

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Wisconsin State Journal

Phil was a professor in the Department of Soil Science at UW-Madison from 1973 to 2007. He skillfully taught graduate courses in environmental chemistry and trained and inspired many graduate students from around the world to conduct research about the soil-water-plant system.

Homegrown celebrity Bradley Whitford salutes arts educators on UW-Madison professor’s podcast

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Wisconsin State Journal

The acclaimed, Madison-raised actor Bradley Whitford is well known for his work in TV’s “The West Wing” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” — and now for the role he played in “Arsenic and Old Lace” as a teenager. It was that early experience on stage, after all, that confirmed Whitford’s love of acting and put him on a career trajectory that would later include three Emmy Awards.

Whitford, who attended East High School in the 1970s, tells that story on “Arts Educators Save the World,” a revealing and entertaining podcast co-created by UW-Madison professor Erica Halverson.

Ronald C. Bornstein

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Wisconsin State Journal

His public broadcasting career included posts as Production Manager of the University of Michigan Television Center, assisting in the development of Hawaii Public Television, General Manager of WHA Radio and Television and Director of Telecommunications for the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Vice President for Telecommunications at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Acting President of National Public Radio.

Ice fishing obsession faces peril in changing Wisconsin climate

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The Capital Times

Olaf Jensen, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology, studies fish, fishing and fishery management. He said what’s more exciting to him is what lies under the surface.

“It’s a glimpse into that mystery of life under the ice when you go ice fishing,” Jensen said. “You realize that life goes on under the ice. Lakes don’t just go to sleep for the winter and wake up again when the ice comes off.”

‘Our voices are needed’: Supporting Wisconsin women in STEM

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WKOW-TV 27

UW-Madison Spirit Squad members Elisabeth Keefner and Sophie Cowgill are passionate about showing women belong in both the dance field and the scientific community.

Keefner, a neurobiology major, sees no separation between her passions. “I don’t see a world without dance, I don’t see a world without science. They go hand in hand, in that sense that I can help people in either way,” she explained.

Lakeshore Nature Preserve unveils new master plan

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The Badger Herald

The Lakeshore Nature Preserve presented its master plan to the City of Madison’s Joint Campus Area Committee Thursday. The plan aims to protect the natural environment and share cultural resources through research and outreach.

Latinx studies panel explores intersection of labor, reproductive rights

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The Badger Herald

The University of Wisconsin’s Chican@ and Latin@ Studies Program held its third and final panel as part of the 2023-24 “Latinx Studies in the Midwest and Beyond” speaker series Thursday evening. The panel, titled “Latinx Labor and Reproductive Justice at the Border and in the Midwest,” discussed the intersection between Latinx labor experiences in the Midwest and larger economic systems.

UW-Madison students seek to oust Starbucks from campus

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The Capital Times

Two days after the largest one-day union filing in Starbucks history launched union drives at 21 stores, students at more than two dozen U.S. universities are calling on their schools to kick the coffee giant off campus for allegedly violating labor laws.

David Bagby serves as new UW director of federal relations

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The Badger Herald

The University of Wisconsin announced Wednesday that David Bagby is now serving as director of federal relations. Bagby assumed this role January 2024 after serving as associate and then interim director of federal relations over the past year. He succeeds Mike Lenn, who served as director for seven years.

UW-Madison’s Big Bet on AI

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City Cast Madison

Podcast interview with Provost Charles Isbell: As one of the leading research universities in the country, UW-Madison marshals more than a billion dollars in research money annually. And the way Provost Charles Isbell sees it, the university’s scale and its public service mission makes it the perfect place to be at the forefront of the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, where computer systems are emulating human cognition.

Wisconsin Democrats introduce a proposal to ban conversion therapy

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WKOW-TV 27

LB Klein, an LGBTQ+ Health Expert & Associate Professor at UW-Madison, says, statistically, society sees a lot of LGBTQ+ community members who face depression and anxiety. Klein believes this isn’t because they’re a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but because they’re living in cultures where people are trying to change who they are.

“If we provide access for folks to have supportive therapies, and to live in on a state local level, in a way where they’re affirmed and supported, we actually see those disparities around health and mental health go away,” Klein said.

Bakke gaming room reflects growing investment in UW-Madison esports

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The Daily Cardinal

The $100,000 room boasts 12 computers and a variety of setups for gamers of all types. The investment reflects a nationwide higher education trend: many universities are adding esports academic programs and spaces like the one at Bakke to their campuses in response to student interests and job markets.