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Author: gbump

Hurricanes are slowing down, and that’s bad news

Digital Journal

Several hurricanes appear to be moving more slowly, according to new research. This means they are spending increased time over land. This means more local rainfall and dangerous flooding.According to James Kossin, who works at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate (University of Wisconsin–Madison), the speed at which hurricanes track along a paths is slower.

New thinking about cribbing

Equus Magazine

Quoted: “There are many non-cribbing horses kept in stalls next to cribbing horses who don’t learn this behavior,” says Amelia S. Munsterman, DVM, PhD, DACVS, DACVECC, of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Is Facebook a publisher? In public it says no, but in court it says yes

The Guardian

Quoted: Kathleen Culver, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism professor, said Facebook must consider its ethical obligations outside of its legal responsibilities.But, she added, it was difficult to define Facebook’s media role using traditional terms like publisher: “What we’re navigating is a space where the language we have to date does not match the technology that has now been developed.”

Excerpts from recent Wisconsin editorials

AP

That does not mean, as Walker seemed to suggest, that the fight against partisan gerrymandering is finished. The court invited additional litigation. Bill Whitford, the retired University of Wisconsin law professor who was the named plaintiff in the Wisconsin case, said, “We are confident we can prove the real harms to real citizens caused by lawmakers who choose their voters instead of the voters choosing their representatives.

U.S. white population is dwindling, SC nearing that point

The Herald

A recent study lists South Carolina among a growing number of states where white deaths outpace births. Discrepancies aren’t unusual, and can be based on labeling. The Applied Population Lab study, done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, deals specifically with “non-Hispanic whites.” The state data lists births by mother’s race alone, and only as “white.”

Dorner, Peter

Madison.com

Peter Dorner, professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UW-Madison, early director of the Land Tenure Center, and former dean of International Studies and Programs, died June 4, 2018, at age 93.

Emergency Rooms Run Out of Vital Drugs, and Patients Are Feeling It

The New York Times

Quoted: Philip J. Trapskin, the program director of Medication Use Strategy and Innovation at UW Health, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s health system, said such actions pose a risk to patients and said he had instructed his staff to find other suppliers. Otherwise, he said, with about 2,500 nurses in his health care system who might need to use the syringes, “We’re kind of setting them up to fail if we give them something that is cracked and compromised.”

State producers battling through trade war

Wisconsin State Journal

Quoted: Noah Williams, a UW-Madison professor of economics, said that when the Trump administration first announced its tariffs, many predicted they would be a short-term negotiating ploy. Since the retaliatory tariffs have been announced, “those hopes are dwindling,” he said. “I don’t really see any signs of people stepping back.”

Cancer therapy hope, hometown pride on parade

Wisconsin State Journal

Reisem is one of more than 500 cancer patients from Wisconsin who have had newly available genetic testing done on their tumors, which can lead doctors to use therapies that target specific mutations instead of standard chemotherapy. The initiative, started at the UW Carbone Cancer Center in 2015, is supported by $1 million in the current state budget.

Hookah posts on social media may promote its usage

The Quint

A team of researchers from Florida International University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Miami, the Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies, and the University of Pittsburgh selected 279 posts from 11,517 posts tagged hookah or shisha within a four-day period.

Wisconsin lawmakers slam ‘lenient’ three-year sentence for ex-college student charged with sex crimes

New York Daily News

Alec Cook had initially been charged with 23 different crimes involving 11 female accusers, all them fellow students at University of Wisconsin-Madison. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, the 22-year-old in February pleaded guilty to five of those charges — three counts of third-degree sexual assault, one count of strangulation and one count of stalking.

UM efforts to aid lower-income students begin to bear fruit

Detroit News

UM isn’t alone is seeking to attract more moderate and low-income students through targeted tuition programs. This year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Bucky’s Tuition Promise in February, guaranteeing free tuition for four years to in-state residents with family incomes below $56,000 and the University of Texas at Austin debuted the Texas Advance Commitment in April, offering free tuition to in-state students with family incomes below $30,000.

Doctors told why some people sleep with open eyes

The Siver Times

Noted: A group of scientists headed by Vladyslav Vyazovskiy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that rats who were deprived of sleep, during wakefulness, the individual parts of the brain “turned off”. That is, in some points, there was no difference between a sleeping and wakeful state.

Departure of Justice Kennedy could erase Supreme Court majority backing consideration of race in admissions

Inside Higher Ed

Another topic on which Justice Kennedy wrote a key decision on higher education involved student fees at public universities. He wrote the unanimous 2000 decision, in a case involving the University of Wisconsin at Madison, finding that public universities could charge mandatory student fees that support various organizations.

Focus on Just One Sport Risks Burnout for Teens

US News and World Report

Quoted: “Today’s students have so many responsibilities and when you add specializing in a sport — with participation in school and club teams, practices, tournaments and lots of travel — there just aren’t enough hours in the day to finish their schoolwork, spend time with friends, enjoy other activities and get a good night’s sleep,” said lead author Eric Post. He’s an athletic trainer and research assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SCOTUS: Kennedy’s Retirement Leaves John Roberts in the Swing Seat

The Weekly Standard

Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his long-awaited retirement from the Supreme Court on Wednesday, leaving conservatives to gush with joy and liberals to wring their hands. The vacancy sets off what will be a very interesting summer.  -Ryan J. Owens, J.D., Ph.D., is a political science professor at UW-Madison, a faculty affiliate at the University of Wisconsin School of Law, and the Acting Director of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

New Survey Reveals Equal Pay the Biggest Challenge Facing Women in Commercial Real Estate

AP

Quoted: “No one wants to work somewhere where they are undervalued or treated unfairly, and the RETS Associates survey shines a light on the fact that the CRE industry still has significant work to do in the area of gender equality,” said Andra Ghent, associate professor of real estate & urban land economics and academic director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at Wisconsin School of Business.

UW-Madison Official: Local Communities Responsible For Own Alcohol Culture

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: “The city council in Menomonie has looked at the situation downtown and decided it doesn’t fit within their morals. It’s not the standard they wish to see for their community,” said Julia Sherman, director of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project, part of the University of Wisconsin Law School. “It’s also very important for us to realize that every community in Wisconsin has the ability and authority to create its own alcohol environment.”

Chinedum: On Kevin Sharkey and Immigration

Dublin Inquirer

Noted: Princeton Professor Matthew Desmond and University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Mustafa Emirbayer, wrote about five fallacies that pertain to race and racism. Among these is the legalistic fallacy, in which people assume that the existence of laws will result in automatic protection.