We know doctors and nurses are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, but there are workers behind the scenes that go unrecognized.
UW Health: Environmental Services workers “unsung heroes of preventing infection”
WKOW-TV 27
Author: gbump
‘Movement Map’ shows social distancing under Safer at Home order
NBC-15
The map created by the GeoDS Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tracks the movement of Americans, using anonymous location data from cell phones.
UW-Madison launches COVID-19 research webinar series
WISC-TV 3
The webinar is part of the university’s Crossroads of Ideas series, which is typically held in-person at the Discovery building. Tuesday’s webinar is part one of a three-part series tackling COVID-19.
UW-Madison researchers map travel data to combat pandemic
WISC-TV 3
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is using a tool to estimate just how much people have cut back on travel, which is data that can be used to inform the response to the virus.
Unsung heroes: UW Hospital gives credit to environmental service workers
WISC-TV 3
UW Hospital today is giving credit to what it is calling “unsung heroes” of the pandemic: environmental service workers.
UW creates online interdisciplinary masters degree in health informatics
Badger Herald
Program will be taught fully online to increase accessibility, emulate real life experience.
UW professionals discussed transmission of, responses to COVID-19 through online panel
Badger Herald
Professionals said achieving herd immunity through vaccines was ultimate solution to cope with COVID-19.
Sex[Positive] Education
Badger Herald
With no federal mandates on sex ed, students receive vastly different information, affects college experience.
Screen Time Is Replacing Playtime — and That’s Changing Kids’ Brains
Discover Magazine
Quoted: Action games are associated with improvements on a pretty broad range of perceptual and cognitive skills,” says C. Shawn Green, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in cognitive neuroscience.
To The Polls In A Pandemic: How Wisconsin Went Ahead With An Election Amidst A Public Health Crisis
Wisconsin Public Radio
“This went against all public health recommendations,” said Patrick Remington, the director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Preventive Medicine Residency Program.
How lab animals are helping scientists fight Covid-19
Quartz
“We still need to understand how the virus behaves in different species, and which questions are best answered by which species,” said Dave O’Connor, a pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is leading some of the first research in the US on Covid-19 in monkeys. Here are a few playing a primary role in current research.
Mice, hamsters, ferrets, monkeys. Which lab animals can help defeat the new coronavirus?
Science Magazine
Dave O’Connor of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who is studying SARS-CoV-2 in cynomolgus monkeys, says the field will ultimately winnow down models. “It might turn out that some models are not really worth pursuing after we do this sort of foundational work, but I just don’t think we’re there yet. We need to let the data guide us.”
Trump-Backed Candidate Loses Wisconsin Supreme Court Race
WSJ
Ms. Karofsky is currently a circuit judge in Dane County, home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With 94% of precincts reporting, she had 54.1% of the vote.
Hospitals In Madison, Milwaukee Testing Plasma Treatment For COVID-19 Patients
Wisconsin Public Radio
Over the weekend, University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison transferred convalescent plasma donated by a 75-year-old Dane County man who had only mild symptoms from COVID-19.
COVID-19: Is India equipped to carry out clinical trials on vaccines?
Down to Earth Magazine
“Bharat Biotech had approached us for preclinical studies but we did not have the animals,” says Pothani. Now these are being carried out in University of Wisconsin-Madison. The same is true for the vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India and Codagenix, Inc. is also being tested in the USA. Pothani reveals that the institute has requested the secretary to import the animals to ensure future studies.
Madison author looks at political carnivores with ‘Coyotes of Carthage’
The Capital Times
The book pulls together the different strands of Wright’s career, including his time at the Justice Department, his work as co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project working on behalf of the wrongfully convicted, and being an associate law professor and creative writing lecturer at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin women’s basketball standout Tamara Moore named men’s coach at junior college in Minnesota
Wisconsin State Journal
The only female coach of a men’s collegiate basketball program has her name all over the University of Wisconsin record books.
First UW Hospital COVID-19 patients treated with plasma from recovered donors
Wisconsin State Journal
Two COVID-19 patients at UW Hospital were treated Sunday with antibodies from at least one local donor who recovered from the disease, the first such treatment for the new coronavirus in Madison in a nationwide study of a technique that has been around for more than a century.
Dane County Board sees turnover in election with few contested races
The Capital Times
Madison City Council’s District 8 seat also has a new representative. UW-Madison student Max Prestigiacomo, 18, was the only candidate who ran to replace Sally Rohrer.
Handrails will be installed this summer at Camp Randall Stadium
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin athletics department was given approval to install handrails inside Camp Randall Stadium, it was announced Monday.
Working off-campus, UW staff request delay on title, pay review discussions
The Capital Times
In a letter, University of Wisconsin-Madison staff on Monday requested revisions and a temporary halt to the Title and Total Compensation process, which was previously expected to finalize a new employee title and pay structure by July 1.
First COVID-19 patient receives blood transfusion as part of plasma therapy study
Badger Herald
UW Health takes part in national coalition studying convalescent plasma therapy.
Mickey Mouse Degrees: Music education decreasingly valued
Badger Herald
An unfortunately common experience that many who want to go into teaching face are receiving unsolicited comments on their finances or uncertainties in their future.
Dreamers of UW-Madison to expand statewide
Madison365
“Originally, it started in Madison but we’re shifting our focus from UW-Madison to statewide so we’re changing our name from Dreamers of UW-Madison to Dreamers of Wisconsin,” UW-Madison senior and Dreamers of Wisconsin President Cristhabel Martinez said.
Coronavirus pandemic presents UW Odyssey Project with unprecedented challenges
Madison365
“This pandemic has really highlighted the discrepancies, especially for students of color who have already been struggling with lower incomes and fewer resources, and now are being hit disproportionately hard by schools closing and jobs laying them off and lack of support systems around them,” UW Odyssey Project Director Emily Auerbach tells Madison365.
UW System changes admission policies, looks to make applying to UW universities easier this fall
WISC-TV 3
“We know this is a challenging time for our high school seniors,” said UW System President Ray Cross said in a news release issued Monday morning. “We want to do everything we can to ensure that students who want to enroll in our universities this fall can enroll.”
UW Health testing plasma treatment
WISC-TV 3
UW Health doctors say a COVID-19 patient at the hospital has received the first transfusion of plasma donated from a local patient who has recovered from the disease.
UW-Health performs transfusion of antibodies to COVID-19 patient
WKOW-TV 27
As the first people infected with the coronavirus in Dane County recover, researchers are hoping their blood can treat the most critically ill.
UW System makes applying this fall easier
NBC-15
The University of Wisconsin plans is making some big changes to its admissions process to make it easier to apply for high school seniors whose final semester was upset by the coronavirus pandemic.
UW Health injects COVID-19 patient with plasma from someone who recovered
NBC-15
Doctors hope the donated plasma will help the patient recover quickly from their illness. According to the University, testing related to other respiratory diseases and preliminary research from China indicate the procedure could limit the severity or even shorten the length of their sickness.
FluGen and UW-Madison doctors work to create COVID-19 vaccine
NBC-15
If things go according to plan, human trials could start by August.
Crisis Has Jump-Started America’s Innovation Engine. What Took So Long?
Wall Street Journal
On Friday, representatives from Detroit hospitals started consulting on the project. On Saturday, the group settled on an open-source design from the University of Wisconsin. Suppliers were identified, the factory deployed and prototypes began materializing.
Social-Distancing Rules—and Those That Flout Them—Spur Online Shaming
Wall Street Journal
Quoted: And for this generation of teens, there is little precedent for this kind of threat. Most were born after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and haven’t experienced the type of disruption that would make them fearful of going about their regular lives, said Bradford Brown, a professor of human development at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who specializes in adolescents.
Voting by Mail Could Be What States Need. But Can They Pull It Off?
The New York Times
Quoted: In the 2016 presidential election, voters there cast some 145,000 absentee votes by mail; in Tuesday’s election, there were over a million. The state’s election officials regularly process high volumes of absentee ballots, but the last-minute cascade left them swamped, said Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin’s vote in time of coronavirus is Republicans’ blueprint for November
The Guardian
I moved to Wisconsin in 2005, joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an assistant professor. At the time I knew little about the state, but that it enjoyed a reputation for good government. Forcing people to vote in a pandemic – choosing between their health and losing their franchise – would have been unthinkable back then.
Wisconsin: the state where American democracy went to die
The Guardian
Quoted: “It seems impervious to what happens with voters,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It really looks like an unresponsive institution.”
Mortgage, Rent, Apartment Showings: What To Do About Housing During The Coronavirus Pandemic
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: On May 27, hopefully, lessors and lessees will have worked out things in order to have a smooth transition into — what I hope is — a much more normal world,” said Mitch, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School clinical professor and director of the Economic Justice Institute and Neighborhood Law Clinic.
Coronavirus eyed in death of Wisconsin man working as New York trader
New York Post
Fostner, who reportedly graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in nuclear engineering and physics, had worked in New York for DV Trading LLC, a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm.
John Deere making protective face shields to be distributed throughout Iowa
KGAN
The company is using an open-source design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the project and is being done in collaboration with the UAW, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, in response to the COVID-19 health crisis.
For Caregivers Of Children With Autism, COVID-19 Conditions Can Present Extra Challenges
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Sigan Hartley is a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of human development and family studies and the 100 Women Chair for the School of Human Ecology. She’s also a Waisman Center investigator, whose research focuses on positive well-being in individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members.
While World War I Ended, UW-Madison Endured A Deadly Pandemic
WisContext
When cases of COVID-19 started accelerating around the United States, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was among the first wave of universities to take action. Its administrators suspended in-person classes and directed students and staff to avoid campus in the interest of slowing the contagion’s spread. One century earlier, though, the school faced another pandemic and responded in a very different way.
UW System Projects Nearly $170M Hit Due To Coronavirus Precautions
Wisconsin Public Radio
The University of Wisconsin System is expecting to lose nearly $170 million in revenue this spring due to the new coronavirus. The projection includes housing and dining fee refunds along with losses from college sports revenues after every university and branch campus closed in April to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Madison nurses experience desperation and ‘beautiful spots of light’ in COVID-19 hospital ward
The Capital Times
Bob Scheuer, director of materials management at UW Health, said the two shipments received from DHS from the stockpile were helpful but a “small fraction” of what the health system actually needs. He was not aware of receiving any other supplies from the state.
COVID-19 testing capacity growing in Wisconsin, but some patients still can’t get tested
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, at UW-Madison, can do about 400 COVID-19 tests per day and soon should be able to do 500, said Dr. Allen Bateman, assistant director of the lab’s communicable disease division.
Lacking physical touch, hospital chaplains get creative to offer spiritual care during pandemic
The Capital Times
To assist families who cannot visit their loved ones, UW Hospital, Saint Mary’s and UnityPoint Health-Meriter have deployed tablets and used phone or video calls to facilitate communication.
Journaling through the COVID-19 pandemic to record history
Wisconsin State Journal
The UW-Madison Archives, which is not associated with the Wisconsin Historical Society, is doing its own project to collect digital memories from the campus community during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which has halted in-person classes, closed dorms and has left the campus largely empty.
3 transfers, COVID-19 fallout make offseason harder than expected for Badgers women’s basketball coach Jonathan Tsipis
Wisconsin State Journal
From the day the 2019-20 season ended, Jonathan Tsipis understood his University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team faced a tumultuous offseason.
Apollo 13 50th anniversary: Commander James Lovell reflects on mission
USA Today
Lovell was a cool customer, at ease in a pilot’s seat. Before becoming an astronaut, the University of Wisconsin-Madison student and U.S. Naval Academy graduate, whose cellphone ring tone today is “Anchors Away,” had landed jets on aircraft carriers in the middle of the night in the Pacific Ocean. But even for him, this was a steep learning curve.
The Mysterious Demise of Freshwater Mussels
Undark
On the case is the somewhat facetiously named Unionid Mussel Strike Force, a collaboration of two researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a half-dozen other scientists from a handful of federal agencies around the country. But in addition to trying to solve a mystery, the Strike Force is struggling against another obstacle long familiar to mussel specialists: apathy.
Know Your Madisonian: UW Hospital doctor at forefront of COVID-19 pandemic response
Wisconsin State Journal
As medical director of infection control at UW Hospital, Dr. Nasia Safdar has helped lead UW Health’s response to COVID-19 and assisted local officials in explaining the pandemic to the media and the public.
Guidance to ‘move on’ a shock to some Badgers spring sports seniors
Wisconsin State Journal
It was a shock, some seniors on University of Wisconsin spring sports teams said, to hear the school had decided not to pursue waivers allowed by the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.
Slinde, Hans Edwin
Wisconsin State Journal
Hans was a dump truck owner and operator for over 20 years and then became a motor vehicle operator for the UW-Madison, retiring in 2019.
Boyle, Prof. Emeritus William C. “Bill”
Wisconsin State Journal
In 1963, he began his career as a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW Madison.
UW campuses emptied by COVID-19 anticipate a minimum $170 million loss this semester
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin System forecasts a $170 million financial hit for the spring semester alone, an estimate that will likely grow as campuses grapple with the broader economic fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stepping up to help health care workers and restaurants amid COVID-19 pandemic
Wisconsin State Journal
Beth Blum, director of events for UW Health, said UW Health also has its own fund to support workers, which, as of Monday, had raised about $11,000 … UW Health spokeswoman Emily Kumlien said a $7,000 grant from Friends of UW Health and a $3,000 grant from builder JP Cullen will be used to purchase gift cards.
WIAA confirms no spring state championships at UW-Madison
WKOW-TV 27
The WIAA has confirmed that no high school state tournament action will take place at UW-Madison this spring. The school recently announced the cancellation of campus events through June 30th, which eliminated any possibility for state tournament action on campus.
Food delivery robots stay busy on UW campus
WKOW-TV 27
“Right now we have a little over 500 students still living on campus with us, about 550ish, and we’re doing around 60-70 orders a day,” Director of Dining and Culinary Services Peter Testory said.
Filling the empty “calendar blues”
NBC-15
Quoted: UW Health psychologist Dr. Shilagh Mirgain says there is a way to help fill that empty loss feeling you may have had the last few weeks.
Four UW students receive prestigious Goldwater scholarships
Badger Herald
Goldwater scholarships recognize excellence in undergraduate research.
Winners of Distinguished Teaching Awards discuss community engagement, social justice in classroom
Badger Herald
UW honored 13 professors with Distinguished Teaching Awards.