Minnesota native Christina Olstad is “thrilled” to begin her new position as dean of students at UW-Madison starting this semester.“As I read through the job description, my level of excitement just began to rise,” Olstad said.
Author: gbump
UW System protest policy could become state law
n November 2016, around 15 students protested conservative media personality Ben Shapiro’s on-campus lecture. Now, the UW System policy that states students who disrupt campus speech three times will be expelled could become state law.
The 2020 electoral map could be the smallest in years. Here’s why.
Northwestern Wisconsin has become more deeply entrenched as Republican territory, while southeastern Wisconsin has become less friendly to the GOP. The city of Milwaukee and Dane County, home to Madison and the University of Wisconsin, remain the biggest and most important vote producers for the Democrats.
Digestive problems may respond to diet changes
Although chronic digestive disruptions warrant a doctor’s attention, “generally about 80 percent of patients will benefit from doing some sort of diet intervention,” says Melissa Phillips, a clinical nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin Health System’s Digestive Health Center.
Humans and Neanderthals Kept Breeding—and Breeding—for Ages
Quoted: “But that kind of very simple approach isn’t very good at sorting out the complexity” of how those lost populations interacted, said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Nor does it allow researchers to test specific hypotheses about how that interbreeding unfolded.
Farmers Look to Apps to Help With Timing of Crop Treatment
That has made it difficult for farmers to decide when to apply fungicide to crops because it’s based on specific growth stages of the plants, said plant pathologist Damon Smith from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But an app is helping farmers make better decisions about when to do so.
Long-term meditators may be perceived by strangers as less neurotic and more comfortable in their own skin
We were particularly curious about the possibility that short- and/or long-term meditation training may impact social perception (i.e. how one is perceived by others),” said study author Simon Goldberg, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and affiliate faculty at the Center for Healthy Minds.
UW Researchers Develop Camera That Can ‘See’ Around Corners
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain have developed a new kind of virtual camera that appears to be able to see around corners.
Wisconsin Fares Well Comparatively When It Comes To Credit Card Debt
Quoted: Financial capability specialist Peggy Olive breaks it down like this: half of all people who have a credit card balance pay it off entirely each month. Another quarter carry a balance a few months of the year, and the rest regularly owe money on their cards.”Definitely, there’s different ways that people handle that credit card debt,” said Olive, who works with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology’s Center for Financial Security and UW-Extension.
BBB warns of scams targeting college students
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology Clinical Professor Christine Whelan says that’s okay.
A musician with a talent for engineering
Like so many musicians, Schyvinck also proved to be adept at maths and ended up at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Could microbes be affecting Venus’ climate?
The researchers used a suite of satellites to monitor the long-term variations in ultraviolet light. As Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at University of Wisconsin–Madison, explained:The difference between Earth and Venus is that on Earth most of the energy from the sun is absorbed at ground level while on Venus most of the heat is deposited in the clouds.
Giant Norway pension fund weighs Brazil divestment over Amazon deforestation
Quoted: “If you buy soybeans that have been raised in the Amazon, you can be almost certain that it is deforestation free,” Lisa Rausch, an agricultural land use researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told Mongabay.
White coat carries cachet for future docs, including one who lives on the cutting edge
UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health holds its “white coat ceremony” each year, welcoming the incoming class of medical students and presenting them with a hip-length, cotton white coat.
Labor report chronicles severe decline of unions in Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) released its annual “State of Working Wisconsin” this week, showing that since the passage in 2011 of Act 10 — the law that stripped public unions of bargaining rights — union membership has declined by 53.9%. That’s three times the decrease of 14.9% in neighboring Minnesota. The decrease nationally was 21.2%.
Buss, Kristine Kay
She worked as a student status examiner for the University of Wisconsin, retiring in 2001.
Pferdehirt, Wayne P.
In 1991, Wayne was recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison/UW-Extension to help establish the UW Solid & Hazardous Waste Education Center. In 1998, Wayne became director of the online graduate engineering programs at UW-Madison. He directed the Master of Engineering Management program starting in 1998, one of the nation’s top-ranked online graduate degree programs. Wayne also recently directed the Master of Engineering in Engineering Data Analytics program.
UW-Madison tackles sexual assault, hazing, alcohol, racial climate in review of Greek life
A report released Thursday offers a breadth of recommendations on how to improve what is often considered a distrusting relationship between the two, particularly when sexual assault, racial discrimination, hazing or alcohol abuse is involved.
UW-Madison freshmen get ready for their first year of college
“I’m super excited. A little bit nervous, but really excited,” said Searra Funch, an incoming freshman from Middleton.
Back to school study tips
Quoted: David Williamson Shaffer, a UW- Madison Professor of Learning Science, says it sometimes takes a trying a few different methods before a student starts doing well in school.
A new class of UW freshmen descend on Madison this weekend
The bittersweet ending of summer brings with it the annual arrival of a new freshman class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Former Badger Montee Ball offering alternative to game day drinking culture with special tailgates
Now, Ball is grabbing headlines for all the right reasons. As the UW-Madison prepares for its first home game of the season Sept. 7, many of the planned, pregame parties are fueled by alcohol. Ball is working to prove you don’t need the booze to have a blast.
UW-Madison students move in for start of school year
New UW-Madison students started moving into dorms on campus this morning. The Class of 2023 moves in this weekend in residence halls that they were assigned to in June. Some students have been moving in during recent days for trainings or orientation activities, but it’s safe to say they’re excited for the next chapter in their lives.
One afternoon, two celebrations: Honoring Madisonians Terry Devitt and Boris Frank
Devitt was the consummate “the story isn’t about me” writer — we heard he waved off efforts by the university to recognize his service — so I figured an interview with him was unlikely. The event at the Crossroads was as far as he would go.
Trip to Canada carries marketing value for Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team
There was a healthy list of reasons why the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team wanted to take part in a foreign tour that the NCAA allows once every four summers.
Revisionist History Podcast
Featured: Throughout the 1970s, a biologist named Howard Temin became convinced that something wasn’t right in science’s understanding of viruses. His colleagues dismissed him as a heretic. He turned out to be right — and you’re alive today as a result.
Mysterious dark patches in Venus’ clouds are affecting the weather there
“It is hard to conceive of what would cause a change in the albedo without a change in the absorbers,” said Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and paper co-author.
Rick Esenberg and Luke Berg: The doublethink of the campus free speech debate
Ultimately, the UW Board of Regents deserves great credit for crafting this campus free speech policy and taking, head-on, the unique and growing threats to civil discourse on today’s college campuses. With the above modifications, Wisconsin students and taxpayers can be assured that UW campuses will remain incubators of ideas, forums for debate, and truly “safe” for speakers of all points of view.
Fossil DNA Reveals New Twists in Modern Human Origins
Quoted: “But that kind of very simple approach isn’t very good at sorting out the complexity” of how those lost populations interacted, said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Nor does it allow researchers to test specific hypotheses about how that interbreeding unfolded.
Wisconsin Officials Say Gray Wolf Population Seems Stable
Quoted: “I don’t think that the information coming out of the state should be used by the federal government in its decisions on gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act,” said Adrian Treves, professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Cross names interim UWGB chancellor
The system announced Thursday that Cross picked Sheryl Van Gruensven as interim chancellor. Van Gruensven currently serves as UW-Green Bay’s vice chancellor for business and finance. She’s also the co-founder and co-leader of UW-Green Bay’s Women’s Leadership group.
Helicopter Parents Are Great at Financial Risk Management
Quoted: “If a parent gets health insurance through their employer, then, through the Affordable Care Act, their kids are covered through their parents at some level,” says Marjorie Rosenberg, a professor of actuarial science, risk, and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.
UW Study: Exercise Could Help Slow Development Of Alzheimer’s
A recent study conducted by a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows exercise can help slow the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
Kay Ann Johnson, 73, Who Studied China’s One-Child Policy, Dies
Professor Johnson received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1976 she earned her Ph.D. there; her thesis was about women’s rights and family reform in China. Along the way she learned to speak Chinese fluently.
Graphic Novels With Fresh Voices From the Margins
Flowers’s loose, expressive line is a little messy, a little scribbly, with both cursive and all-caps text floating through the images. She is a protégée of the great cartoonist of childhood, Lynda Barry, also known for her expressive style. A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Barry has explained how important handwriting is to the experience of reading comics; in her view, judging “good” and “bad” drawing misses the point of comics, which has more to do with the personality of the hand of the cartoonist than with any kind of realism.
Humans Dominated Earth Earlier Than Previously Thought
Quoted: Because information about the past informs predictions of global change in the future, in terms of climate and land use, hard evidence of past land use is invaluable, experts say. “It’s an important paper,” said John Williams, a paleoecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was not involved in the project.
Woman arrested for 9 vehicle break-ins near UW Hospital
A 28-year-old woman is behind bars after police said she is responsible for nine vehicle break-ins at the parking ramp and lot near UW Hospital.
Woman arrested following string of smash and grab thefts in UW parking lots
Over the course of the investigation, and with the help of some local businesses with security cameras, UW Police Department officers and detectives were able to identify a primary suspect – Brittany L. Townsend, 28, of Madison.
UWPD arrests Madison woman in connection with rash of vehicle break-ins
According to police, since late July, at least eight vehicles in the hospital parking ramp and a nearby parking lot were broken into. The windows and windshields of some vehicles were broken, in addition to valuables stolen.
Gray wolf population seems stable, Wisconsin officials say
Quoted: Adrian Treves is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Treves says Wisconsin hasn’t been transparent with its count and that the federal government shouldn’t rely on the state’s numbers.
Cross names interim UWGB chancellor
She will replace Chancellor Gary Miller effective Oct. 1. Miller is resigning to become president of the University of Akron in Ohio.
What Meditation Does To Your Brain When You’re Annoyed, According To Experts
“We begin to see stabilization of changes in the brain after 1,000 to 1,500 hours of meditation practice,” Dr. Richard Davidson, PhD, William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds, tells Bustle. “You can think of it as learning a musical instrument; if you got 24 hours of training in playing the violin, you still wouldn’t be very good at playing it.”
An all-woman team will edit the flagship political science journal this year. Here’s why that matters. – The Washington Post
In a bold move, the American Political Science Association recently appointed us — a team of 12 women — to edit the flagship journal of the discipline of political science, the American Political Science Review (APSR).
Aili Mari Tripp is Wangari Maathai Professor of political science and gender & women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
While Cutting Expenses, Wisconsin Farmers Look To Digital Apps To Help Weather Challenges
In a corn field near Black River Falls, plant pathologist Damon Smith from the University of Wisconsin-Madison points to a section on the edge of the field where the corn stalks get shorter and paler in color.
Latest Wolf Count Provides Further Evidence Wisconsin’s Wolf Population Is Stabilizing
Quoted: Some scientists argue the state hasn’t been fully transparent or allowed independent verification of Wisconsin’s wolf count since 2012, including Adrian Treves, professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison ranked 23rd best university in country by Washington Monthly magazine
The ranking appears in Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide and Rankings and is based on three criteria: research, social mobility, and community and national service. UW-Madison ranked 16th, 74th and 55th in those respective categories.
Attorneys for women accusing Quintez Cephus of assault question UW’s reinstatement
Attorneys representing the women who accused Wisconsin Badgers player Quintez Cephus of sexual assault last year say UW-Madison’s decision to reinstate him sends a message that the university cannot be trusted to protect victims.
Humane society volunteers get free ice cream for their hard work
The Wisconsin Alumni Association brought them free Babcock Ice Cream as part of the ’Get the Scoop’ tour.
New UW-Madison research project to help farmers grow hemp
Wednesday marked the first field day at the university’s Arlington Agricultural Research Station, where researchers shared what they have learned so far.
UW students say man attempted to sexually assault friend; police look for person of interest
Sophomore Cameron Jacobson said her friend, who is also a student, woke up around 4 a.m. Sunday morning to a man standing over her. She said the man was holding a flashlight over her friend’s face, trying to pull her pants down.
$550,000 Homes in Vermont, Wisconsin and North Carolina
It is on the edge of Hoyt Park in the Sunset Hill neighborhood, less than 10 minutes southwest of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and downtown.
The Amazon Is on Fire, but Earth Has Plenty of Oxygen
Shanan Peters, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is working to understand just how it was that our lucky planet ended up with this strange surplus of oxygen. At a presentation in June, at the North American Paleontological Convention in Riverside, California, he pulled up a somewhat unusual slide.
Hot Toddy: Can This Home Remedy Really Cure Your Cold?
Hot liquids help move mucus and germs out of your system. They “increase the mucociliary clearance rate,” explains Bruce Barrett, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of family medicine and community health at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Basically, it helps your body sweep mucus and germs out of your body.
Luxury student housing worsening socioeconomic divide in higher ed
A 1926 brochure for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cited in the book, described two new quadrangle-style dormitories as places where “the son of banker and farmer will find mutual understanding.”
First day of school: Teaching jobs go unfilled at rural schools
Quoted: In fact, said University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Peter Goff, who has studied teacher retention in rural areas, educators value strong support systems, good school leadership and welcoming communities just as much as higher pay.
Hoveland, Dorothy A. “Dottie”
She worked as a waitress at the Memorial Union Rathskeller and then for the University of Wisconsin-Ag Sciences as an accountant for 30 years.
UW Cinematheque provides the cure to the summer movie blahs
The start of fall means movies with a little more substance to them, usually. That’s especially true in Madison, because when the University of Wisconsin-Madison is back in session, the UW Cinematheque fall season begins.
Classroom ‘exodus’: Education schools grapple with finding the next generation of teachers as more leave the profession
While UW-Madison’s teacher education program has a large market share among the state’s preparatory programs due to its size, the number of students earning teaching degrees declined by 25 percent between 2010 and 2016, according to data compiled in a 2018 paper by researchers at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
What happened to Witte?! Inside the 2.5 year, $53 million renovation of a popular UW residence hall
Two and a half years and $53 million later, you’d never know Witte Hall was built in 1964. Its new amenities, from top-of-the-line WiFi to new furniture and air conditioning, are not only on par with the UW-Madison’s newest dorms but rival luxury student housing.
Better sleep in space? Madison researchers help future astronauts
Researchers at UW-Madison are helping future astronauts get a better night sleep.