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Author: gbump

Maher, Louis J. Jr.

Lou and Jane came to Wisconsin in 1962 in the midst of massive hiring at the University of Wisconsin. The Geology Department was welcoming, and he began his long career of Introductory Geology lectures in Science Hall to large classes of undergraduates from many fields.

$30 million poured into effort to energize young voters in Wisconsin, elsewhere

Wisconsin State Journal

Students returning to the UW-Madison campus this summer were greeted by therapy dogs for petting. Those lured by the chance to ruffle a dog’s ears were then asked to register to vote — a “Pups to the Polls” gimmick that was just one of several similar events being staged in 11 battleground states by the liberal group NextGen America.

Elle Kaplan Science-backed ways to use self-talk for motivation

CNBC

Quoted: Other research finds that hearing a word can help you see it thanks to a theory known as the feedback hypothesis. For instance, if you are looking for something, talking about it out loud could help you find it. “For tasks with a multi-step sequence, talking to yourself out loud can help you keep out distractions and remind yourself where you are,” said Gary Lupyan, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in the New York Times.

Report: Wisconsin’s economy has recovered, but not all can celebrate

Wisconsin State Journal

But one of every five workers in Wisconsin is earning poverty-level wages, black women are three times more likely than white men to work at lower-paying jobs, and Latino employees earn 43 percent less than white employees, based on median pay, according to the analysis by COWS, formerly known as the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

Are Tech Giants Doing Enough To Fight Against Foreign Powers Trying To Influence Elections?

NPR

Quoted: So far, the most common complaint against the new rules is how broadly Facebook applies them. If you spend enough time on the ad archive, you’ll find news stories and even random events like a comedy show – but also, of course, the never-ending flood of political ads. University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim studied divisive advertising in 2016. And she says Facebook’s new archive still does not address one common tactic – multiple groups coordinating to push the same agenda.

College football is back. But is it safe?

The Washington Post

At the University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin, faculty members — including famed historian Frederick Jackson Turner — demanded that the Western Conference (later the Big Ten) meet to discuss ways to reform the game.

Under Fire: How We Rebuild After Wildfires

Engineering.com

Quoted: Volker Radeloff, a forest ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is one of those voices. He was one of the scientists behind the 2018 study that measured growth of the WUI through a combination of census data and satellite images. He believes that certain fires are inevitable and thinks municipalities should prevent building on risky lots rather than just try to perform damage control afterwards.

A vegan take on apples & honey

Intermountain Jewish News

As for the apple, the custom was started among Ashkenazi Jews in medieval Europe, when the apple as we know it had become more accessible due to cultivation, said Jordan Rosenblum, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who studies food and Judaism.

In Defense of Air-Conditioning

Jacobin Magaziner

In July, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison concluded that up to a thousand people die annually in the eastern US alone due to the elevated fine particulate matter from increased use of fossil fuels to cool buildings. By saving ourselves, we’ll be killing ourselves.

Here out west, ‘smoke season’ keeps getting worse

Fairborn Daily Herald

Right now, much of the west is affected by wildfires.An unlucky minority will have to evacuate their homes, and some will lose their homes altogether — or even their lives. But for millions more across the west, “smoke season” is a real thing.

—OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in San Diego. Distributed by www.OtherWords.org.

The New Science of Seeing Around Corners

Quanta Magazine

Quoted: Self-driving cars already have LIDAR systems for direct imaging and could conceivably someday also be equipped with SPADs for seeing around corners. “In the near future these [laser-SPAD] sensors will be available in a format that could be handheld,” predicted Andreas Velten, the first author of Raskar’s seminal 2012 paper, who now runs an active-imaging group at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Earth’s oxygen increased in gradual steps rather than big bursts

Astrobiology Magazine

By using the Hüttenberg Formation, which formed between a billion and half a billion years ago, to study the time between Earth’s change from an anoxic environment (i.e. one lacking oxygen) to a more hospitable environment that heralded the animal kingdom, a team of researchers led by Dr. Huan Cui of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison discovered a sustained, high level of carbon.

State Workers In Wisconsin Can Get Transgender Treatments Covered

NPR

In another case, two transgender women employed by the University of Wisconsin and covered by the state insurance program have sued the Group Insurance Board and the university’s board of regents, among others, accusing them of discrimination based on their inability to get coverage for gender confirmation surgery. The case is scheduled to go to trial in October, before the same judge who ruled in favor of the patients on Medicaid.

Could eating crickets boost your health?

Health 24

“Insects are novel to the American diet, but they should be considered a potentially helpful food that contains important nutrients and fibres that could have benefits to our overall health, including our gut microbiome,” said the study’s lead author, Valerie Stull. She is a researcher at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Examining The New UW-Foxconn Partnership

Wisconsin Public Radio

Foxconn is planning to give up to $100 million to UW-Madison for engineering and innovation research. We discuss how that money may be used, how the partnership would work and reaction to the development.

In Wisconsin, State Workers Seeking Transgender Treatment Again Will Be Covered

Kaiser Health News

In another case, two transgender women employed by the University of Wisconsin and covered by the state insurance program have sued the Group Insurance Board and the university’s board of regents, among others, accusing them of discrimination based on their inability to get coverage for gender confirmation surgery. The case is scheduled to go to trial in October, before the same judge who ruled in favor of the patients on Medicaid.

Why Are Murder Rates So High In The Rust Belt (Paid Post by CBS From The New York Times)

New York Times (paid post by CBS)

Quoted: What does the economy have to do with violence? “For decades, we’ve seen poverty, unemployment, segregation and lack of economic opportunities strongly correlate with higher violent crime and murder rates,” says sociologist Emily A. Shrider, a research associate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Without economic options, for some people, desperate times call for desperate measures. You commit an armed robbery and maybe murder someone in the process.”

Foxconn ‘gift’ is really Trojan horse — Benjamin Olneck-Brown

Wisconsin State Journal

Chancellor Blank and other university leaders should see the giant strings attached to this gift and proceed with tremendous caution. In fact, they would do well to consult with faculty and students in UW-Madison’s highly ranked classics department. The Trojan horse was presented as a gift as well.

The perils and pitfalls of higher ed social media management

Inside Higher Ed

Social media managers need to be sensitive to the environment they are in, said Liz Gross, director of Campus Sonar, a social media and marketing consultancy for higher education institutions. The University of Wisconsin Madison, for example, used to have a pretty cheeky social media persona. “They wanted to be ‘the smartest person in the room,’”

Editorial: Foxconn, UW-Madison pushing the boundaries of knowledge

WISC-TV 3

In the midst of political squabbling over state subsidies for the Racine County plant, Foxconn has continued to press forward with strategic investments in some of Wisconsin’s most valuable assets, including collaborating with the UW in, as Chancellor Rebecca Blank put it, “pushing the boundaries of knowledge.” We welcome the partnership.

Here’s how forests rebounded from Yellowstone’s epic 1988 fires – and why that could be harder in the future

The Conversation

This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the 1988 Yellowstone fires – massive blazes that affected about 1.2 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park. Their size and severity surprised scientists, managers and the public and received heavy media coverage. Many news reports proclaimed that Yellowstone was destroyed, but nothing was further from the truth.

Professor of Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Foxconn Giving $100 Million to UW-Madison for Partnership

AP

Foxconn Technology Group announced Monday that it will invest $100 million in engineering and innovation research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, making it one of the largest gifts in the school’s history that comes as the Taiwan-based electronics giant builds a factory in southeastern Wisconsin that would be the company’s first of its kind in North America.

Foxconn Gives $100M to Wisconsin Madison

Inside Higher Ed

The electronics company Foxconn on Monday announced a $100 million gift to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The gift will create the Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology, which will operate throughout the state, in particular working with Foxconn facilities in Wisconsin.

Significant Digits For Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018

AP/FiveThirtyEight

Foxconn, known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones in China, is opening a factory in Wisconsin. Yesterday, it announced that it was investing $100 million in research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s one of the largest gifts in the history of the school, and is seen as establishing a path between the university’s students and future employment at the factory, which could eventually employee 13,000 people.

Foxconn announces $100 million matching gift to UW-Madison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Foxconn Technology Group on Monday pledged up to $100 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, including funding to help establish a new interdisciplinary research facility for the College of Engineering that will collaborate with the company’s planned manufacturing complex in southeast Wisconsin.