There is a long history of scientists openly testing vaccines on themselves and their children, but in recent decades it has become less common, according to Susan E. Lederer, a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What’s ethically and legally acceptable for testing and distributing your own medical product varies by institution and by country.
Author: gbump
Campus protest asks for UW to reopen more safely
UW-Madison students are calling on the university for a “moral restart.”
UW-Madison professor seizes a virtual teaching opportunity
Design studies professor Wei Dong turns home basement into a teaching studio.
UW Health, UW-Madison School of Medicine to test new COVID-19 vaccine
UW Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine will enroll about 1,600 people over the next eight weeks at University Hospital to be part of a study on whether an investigational vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca can prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Black coaches support call for greater diversity on the UW-Madison campus
A group of 13 Black UW-Madison coaches and athletic department staff members held a silent protest today to support greater diversity on campus and in the athletic department.
‘Be part of the solution,’ UW launches COVID vaccine trial
UW-Madison researchers hope the people of Wisconsin can play a pivotal role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kohl Center approved as site that may be used for in-person absentee voting
While the athletic center was approved, Madison election day polling locations are not confirmed yet.
UW, UW Health picked to help run COVID-19 vaccine
“Our entire team has been working diligently for months to bring this important clinical trial to our state, and now Wisconsinites have an opportunity to be part of solving this crisis,” chief clinical research officer at UW Health and SMPH Betsy Nugent said.
Dr. Deborah Birx visits Wisconsin to talk pandemic response
Birx also talked about schools reopening and gave a warning to UW students about large gatherings during the upcoming Labor Day holiday.
UW Health, University of Wisconsin to test new COVID-19 vaccine
UW Health and University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health have been selected as one of the first clinical sites in the country to study whether an investigational vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca can prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Birx talks up masks; praises UW system’s coronavirus plan
The coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx talked up the value of masks during a visit on Monday to Wisconsin and praised the University of Wisconsin system’s plans for protecting students.
Despite COVID-19 shutdowns, preliminary figures show state tax collections increased
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Monday reported state tax collections totaled more than $17.5 billion in the 2019-20 fiscal year, a 1.1% increase from the previous year. That’s about $112.6 million, or only 0.6%, less than projected in January, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Police and Race in Kenosha, Beyond the Jacob Blake Shooting
“Midwesterners don’t understand their history of racism, and so these things seem surprising. They seem to come out of nowhere or be new when they’re really a reflection of who we’ve always been,” says Christy Clark-Pujara, associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Afro-American Studies. “It’s not terribly surprising to me what happened in Kenosha.”
Activists call for an end to systemic racism in America
Christy Clark-Pujara interview
Hurricane Laura’s rapid intensification is a sign of a warming climate, scientists say
Jim Kossin, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Wisconsin, says the warm ocean waters and exchange of heat between the ocean and atmosphere, plus the lack of dry air or strong upper-level winds, created an ideal environment for Hurricane Laura to rapidly intensify all the way to the Louisiana coastline.
Kenosha shooting victims Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum are remembered
“It’s like a funhouse mirror,” said Cecelia Klingele, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. “People look at the same facts and have wildly different reactions. It is troubling because when people are having such different reactions, I guess tragedies like this shouldn’t be a surprise. People are afraid of each other and that is a situation that creates danger for everyone.”
Twitter suspended dozens of accounts. But were they Russian? It’s hard to tell.
Young Mie Kim, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied misinformation networks on social media, said the accounts “look like coordinated behavior and share some similar traits with Russian tactics,” but she cautioned about making firm attributions.
Big Ten mulls Thanksgiving, other football start dates
One of the many options being considered at the conference level has the football season for the University of Wisconsin and the rest of the Big Ten starting around Thanksgiving, an earlier start date than the spring-semester dates that had been previously discussed.
UW reopening isn’t responsible — Joan Downs
Letter to the editor: There are vast numbers of such cautionary tales across the country. Why not heed these warnings, rather than put the campus and the community at risk of a potentially fatal disease?
Clifton, Kelly Hardenbrook, Sr.
After his PhD in Zoology/Endocrinology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (’55,) postdoctoral work in Boston was followed by a faculty position at the UW as a Professor of radiation biologist / cancer researcher in 1959, a job he held under various titles until his retirement in 1997.
‘Deleterious’ public service cuts likely without federal aid, new research predicts
Without federal aid to reinforce city budgets, cuts to public services made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic will be more severe, according to new research from a University of Wisconsin-Madison public affairs professor and his two colleagues.
UW Hospital to enroll 1,600 in COVID-19 vaccine study
UW Hospital plans to enroll 1,600 people in a study of one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, research that will evaluate the effectiveness of the injection before it can be submitted for approval and potentially used to tame the pandemic.
UW fraternities and sororities commit to fall events without alcohol
Fraternities and sororities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have committed to a no alcohol policy for the fall semester, in addition to previously released health and safety guidelines for student groups.
Know Your Madisonian: 19-year-old activist helps spearhead youth-led Black Lives Matter movement
She is a student at UW-Madison exploring her interests in law and healthcare but took some time off in the spring to focus on an internship at the Capitol and other roles, including creating the youth-led group Impact Demand.
Tom Still: Economy is tied to education
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, in a blog statement published Wednesday, detailed the steps being taken on campus to allow a “hybrid” reopening — some live classes, some online — and defended the plan as best for students. “Having students on campus and providing in-person instruction, where feasible, provides a better set of educational opportunities for students lacking suitable technology or spaces to effectively study at home,” Blank wrote.
UW-Madison move-in during COVID-19 era: Masks, rules and crossed fingers
Many of the nearly 6,500 UW-Madison students who moved into dorms over the past week expect a short-lived semester on campus this fall. They have watched as reopenings at other colleges across the country either failed or are in deep jeopardy.
Republican National Convention break down
Quoted: UW Political expert Mike Wagner helps highlight impactful moments from RNC.
“Learning pods” rise in popularity as families seek options during pandemic
Quoted: According to Dr. Christine Whelan, a clinical professor at UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology, these pods are typically made of small groups of three or four students in a similar age or grade range in order to share resources.
Colon cancer growing more common in younger adults
Quoted: According to Dr. Dustin Deming, a cancer researcher at UW-Madison, patients getting diagnosed with colon cancer are typically in their late 60s and early 70s. But in the last 50 years, Deming explained that the number of colon cancer patients under age 50 has more than doubled.
Protesters hold Justice for Jacob Blake march in Madison
Nearly one week after a police officer in Kenosha shot Jacob Blake, protesters in Madison marched for justice Saturday afternoon, marching from UW-Madison’s Library Mall to the Wisconsin Department of Justice building. The DOJ’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is investigating Blake’s shooting.
The Problem with Implicit Bias Training
While the nation roils with ongoing protests against police violence and persistent societal racism, many organizations have released statements promising to do better. These promises often include improvements to hiring practices; a priority on retaining and promoting people of color; and pledges to better serve those people as customers and clients.
Tiffany L. Green
Bruce Arians questions effectiveness of protests; DeMaurice Smith responds
Athletes today aren’t necessarily risking life and limb by staging protests — if anything, NFL players are sparing themselves some harm by canceling practices — but according to a professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, their platforms give them “a unique role to play” in effecting change.
“Their protest reaches ordinary people in the United States and worldwide,” Linda Greene said via email Thursday. “Their protest also touches and concerns the multibillion dollar interests of coaches, franchises, and media and other corporations, including advertisers, who depend on their labor.”
Current, former Badgers players sound off on boycotts, social justice
The University of Wisconsin turned the Kohl Center and Camp Randall Stadium green on Wednesday to support the Milwaukee Bucks in their boycott of an NBA playoff game.
“The time is now.”: Madison Common Council Pres. supports MPD body cameras
Quoted: “Many citizens and officers like body camera footage because it provides objective documentation about one portion of an interaction,” Cecelia Klingele, UW-Madison associate professor of law said.
Using brand to promote social justice movement a first step for Wisconsin Athletics
In developing a strategy on inclusion and engagement for the University of Wisconsin athletic department during a period of discussion about social justice, associate athletic director Michael Jackson often has returned to a saying.
UW limits size of in-person events for student orgs this fall
Though the University of Wisconsin-Madison is welcoming students back to campus for the fall semester, most of their activities outside the classroom will continue to look much like they have since March: online and from the safety of their own computers.
A tiny fish takes on its predators—and wins, transforming the Baltic coast
The work also stands out because it documents such a widespread and lasting ecological shift, adds Steve Carpenter, a limnologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. More typically, researchers have observed such shifts in a single location, often a lake, showing how dominance swings back and forth between two species as temperature changes or fishing becomes more intense, he says. The new results “show that regime shifts can spread among connected habitats and transform an entire coastline rather rapidly.”
Tropical storm Laura damage, flooding, and other impacts on the ground: What we know
These warmer-than-average waters are, in part, the result of climate change. A new study published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a group of NOAA and University of Wisconsin Madison researchers found that from 1979 to 2017, the odds that a given tropical cyclone would become a Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane increased about 8 percent per decade as the planet has warmed.
Is it possible to rid police officers of bias?
Patricia Devine, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who led the study, poses a situation in which a tall, young black man is walking on a college campus. “A student might assume he’s on the basketball team,” she says. In this situation Devine suggests if people check the assumption, they will likely realise there is no evidence other than the stereotype.
Black Lives Matter Grows as Movement While Facing New Challenges
“Part of what’s going on this spring is continuity from six years ago,” said Pamela Oliver, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Groups had actually never stopped. All those street protests that were happening 2014 to 2016 died down after the fall election, but the issue didn’t die down.”
Bucs Coach Bruce Arians rips protests, prompting an inspiring response from NFLPA head
Athletes today aren’t necessarily risking life and limb by staging protests — if anything, NFL players are sparing themselves some harm by canceling practices — but according to a professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, their platforms give them “a unique role to play” in effecting change.Mets GM apologizes for criticizing MLB commissioner as Mets, Marlins stage silent protest“Their protest reaches ordinary people in the United States and worldwide,” Linda Greene said via email Thursday. “Their protest also touches and concerns the multibillion dollar interests of coaches, franchises, and media and other corporations, including advertisers, who depend on their labor.”
Tommy Thompson: Investing in UW System will renew the Wisconsin Idea
Column from interim System President Tommy Thompson: If our great state is going to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic poised for growth, we will need to renew the Wisconsin Idea for the 21st century with a real investment in the University of Wisconsin System.
Hurricane Laura: map and times of arrival
“Rapid intensification events are more likely because of climate change,” Jim Kossin, a hurricane researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Wisconsin, told The Post.
‘Tomboyland:’ A Love Letter To Midwestern Strength, Complexities
Sometimes people would say things — though I don’t think they’re meant to harm or even be insulting, but they came out condescending. You know, calling the University of Wisconsin a state school, which totally blew me away.
Wisconsin Universities Begin Reporting Cases Of COVID-19
Wisconsin universities are reporting multiple positive cases of COVID-19 among students and staff as many campuses within the University of Wisconsin System prepare to start classes next week.
DNA droplets may be key to Rett syndrome, researchers say
The findings are exciting but “a stepping stone,” says Qiang Chang, professor of medical genetics and neurology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved in the work.
University of Wisconsin Officials Avoid Speech Retaliation Suit
The First Amendment retaliation suit by an outspoken University of Wisconsin-Madison student who was told he didn’t qualify for a position on a temporary student-government board was properly dismissed on qualified immunity grounds, the Seventh Circuit said.
Jennifer Gaddis on the History and Politics of School Food
But how was this critical food provisioning infrastructure established? Who are the workers that make it possible? And where should it go in order to advance a more just food system? These are the questions Dr. Jennifer Gaddis seeks to answer in her 2019 book The Labor of Lunch.
Dr. Gaddis is an assistant professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this conversation, we discuss the politics of participatory research, the centrality of racial justice organizing to the success of the food movement, and the stunning connections between school food and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and uprisings against white supremacy in the United States.
UW-Madison releases COVID-19 test results in new data dashboard
About 1% of COVID-19 tests administered by UW-Madison over the past three weeks came back positive, according to a new data dashboard that launched Wednesday.
Republicans, like the Democrats last week, lean into Wisconsin’s battleground status
UW-Madison journalism professor Mike Wagner said Democrats appear to be trying to win back some of those who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but shifted to Trump in 2016. Trump’s narrow Wisconsin victory four years ago was aided by the fact that Clinton received nearly a quarter-million fewer votes than Obama did four years earlier.
Online panels Thursday to focus on anti-racist schools, virtual learning
The first event, which requires registration, is hosted by the UW-Madison School of Education’s Professional Learning and Community Education department, or PLACE, and Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The 3 to 5 p.m. discussion on anti-racism in schools is the first in a “Real Talk for Real Change” symposia series that will continue through the fall.
Downtown merchants begin to fear losing all of 2020 as protests, destruction continue
Now virtually every window on Capitol Square, State Street and part of University Avenue is boarded just as UW-Madison students return to campus.
Peace reigns in Downtown Madison protests on 4th night following shooting of Jacob Blake
As the demonstration, which started on UW-Madison’s Library Mall, moved throughout Downtown, police diverted traffic from behind, keeping a far distance from the group, and protesters on bicycles moved along with the crowd to halt vehicles on side streets.
‘Students are where the heart is’: UW-Madison students watch, participate in protests
Students who just moved in are watching as history plays out from their front porches.
UW-Madison launches COVID-19 dashboard to track coronavirus on campus
According to the dashboard, which was last updated Tuesday, the university has conducted 3,006 tests since testing began on Aug. 6. Thirty-six people have tested positive. Of those 36 people, 33 of them are students and 3 are employees. An additional 87 students and eight employees have tested positive at an off-campus testing site.
UW-Madison launches campus COVID-19 dashboard
The site will be updated every day with information on the number of tests performed on campus, the percentage of campus tests that are positive, positive cases identified both on and off of campus, and cumulative data. Updates will happen by 2 p.m.
UW Madison launches new COVID-19 dashboard
The website will include the number of tests performed on campus, the percentage of campus tests that are positive and positive cases on and off campus, according to a news release.
Protesters march down State Street to protest police brutality, white supremacy at UW
Tuesday, around 100 protesters gathered at the Capitol and marched down State Street to demand the City of Madison and the University of Wisconsin take action against white supremacy and police brutality.
Many Tulsa Massacres: How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence
However, African Americans have long known that they have deep roots in all regions of the United States. As the African American Bishop Richard Allen wrote in 1829, affirming that Black people belonged:See the thousands of foreigners emigrating to America every year: and if there be ground sufficient for them to cultivate, and bread for them to eat, why would they wish to send the first tillers of the land away? . . . This land which we have watered with our tears and our blood, is now our mother country.
Christy Clark-Pujara is Associate Professor of History in the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is the author of Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island. Her current book project, Black on the Midwestern Frontier: From Slavery to Suffrage in the Wisconsin Territory, 1725 to 1868, examines how the practice of race-based slavery, black settlement, and debates over abolition and Black rights shaped White-Black race relations in the Midwest.
What Aldo Leopold Taught Me About Nature
Aldo Leopold wore many hats in his life. A writer, professor, member of the forest service, and conservationist, his development of what is called land ethics, or ecocentrism, continues to influence modern environmentalists today. Leopold, who spent time working for the Forest Service before a professorship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was an early proponent of a holistic approach to wildlife conservation that trumpeted biodiversity and a need for humans to understand the impact they had on the land around them. As a professor, he worked to create the UW Madison Arboretum, which continues to work on restoring original Wisconsin landscapes today.