The plan is a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin System, the state’s technical colleges and the state Department of Workforce Development.
Walker Unveils $20M Technology Job Training Initiative
AP/Wisconsin Public Radio
Author: gbump
The Ad Industry Keeps Selling An American Dream That Most Aren’t Living
Fast Company
Would you consider yourself middle class? Chances are, whether you’re wealthy, lower income, or actually somewhere in the middle, you still identify as middle class. There are plenty of reasons why that is–“middle class” might be the most used word in modern politics–but a new University of Wisconsin study posits that it could also be because ads are telling us we’re middle class.
Case of 13 California kids allegedly tortured ‘fits this pattern we’ve been tracking for a long time’
The Washington Post
A 2014 study by University of Wisconsin pediatrician Barbara Knox and colleagues found that in 38 cases of severe child abuse, 47 percent of parents had never enrolled their children in school or pulled their youngsters out when abuse was suspected and told authorities they were home schooling.
Surprise Democratic winner of Wisconsin special election is a school board member
The Washington Post
An interest in education issues could affect elections later this year in a state where public education advocates have accused the Walker administration of cutting K-12 funding (even though Walker says he is spending more than ever in the state), stripping teachers of collective bargaining rights and attempting to change the long-standing mission of the University of Wisconsin system.
Ready for an anti-Trump wave in November? Look at Wisconsin.
The Washington Post
Democrats won Wisconsin in every presidential election from 1988 to 2012, but Hillary Clinton’s strategists made the mistake of taking the state for granted in 2016. What they missed were trends brilliantly analyzed by Katherine J. Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, in her prophetic book, “The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker.” It was published eight months before the 2016 vote.
‘My name is Lorraine Hansberry’: New PBS documentary tells her story
Chicago Tribune
Hansberry did not remain in Chicago after attending the University of Wisconsin. By her early 20s, she was married to a fellow radical, a white, Jewish guy named Robert Nemiroff. They lived at 337 Bleecker St. and together imbued all that was Greenwich Village in the 1950s. But there is no question that Chicago and its theater formed her artistry. She had been exposed to Chicago theater as a child. And she rapidly figured out that playwriting was a way to make people both think and feel, and to express the ideas in which she believed. It was the theater that would allow Hansberry to fight.
The 1962 Alcatraz Prison Break, Inspired by Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
This man’s name is Bayard Richard, and you shouldn’t worry about him. He swam backstroke for the University of Wisconsin, and could make it to the edge of the pool and climb out whenever he wants. Richard is thirty years old and works at Popular Mechanics in the promotions department. Mostly he comes up with ideas to get companies interested in buying ads—mailers, meetings, stuff like that.
Perris torture case shows need for homeschool oversight
The Sacramento Bee
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education, which advocates for tougher homeschool regulation, has a graphic database of homeschool abuses, from starved children to teenagers locked in cages. A 2014 study of extreme child abuse conducted by a University of Wisconsin pediatrician and five colleagues found that in nearly half of the school-age cases, the abusers had pulled their children out of classes to homeschool; another 29 percent had never even enrolled their children in school.
Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal on Sundance Opener ‘Blindspotting’
Variety
Before Diggs and Casal could complete a shooting version of the script, they were pulled away by other professional opportunities. Casal went off to teach verse-driven theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for three years. And, for Diggs, “Hamilton” happened.
Luxury retailers are set to reap the benefits from tax reform
CNBC
Jerry O’Brien, director of the Kohl’s Center for Retailing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNBC the tax cuts could result in a bigger gap between luxury retailers (i.e. Tiffany, Hudson’s Bay, Neiman Marcus and Tapestry) and other players, though he said off-price brands will continue to outperform in 2018. This leaves the “middle ground” of the industry at risk, he added.
Trump Hands Out ‘Fake News Awards,’ Sans the Red Carpet
The New York Times
At the time of Mr. Ross’s suspension, Kathleen Culver, the director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that the president was likely to use the mistake as ammunition against his political opponents — an observation that seemed borne out by the “Fake News Awards.”
Donald Trump Gets His Sanity Grades
New York Times
When we think about presidents losing their mental grip, we generally go back to Woodrow Wilson, who had a stroke in 1919 that left him bedridden and pretty much off the playing field. “Wilson was the worst case of presidential disability,” said John Cooper, a Wilson expert at the University of Wisconsin. The stroke was followed by other physical ailments and a long period of isolation under the protection of his wife, who some claimed was taking over the presidency. It left Wilson’s cognitive function unimpaired, Cooper said, “but it warped his judgment horribly.”
When States Make It Harder to Enroll, Even Eligible People Drop Medicaid
The New York Times
“Without being tremendously well organized, it can be easy to fail,” said Donald Moynihan, a professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is writing a book on the effects of administrative burdens. Researchers have studied the ways complexity can reduce sign-ups for workplace pension plans, participation in food stamps and turnout in elections, he noted. “These sorts of little barriers are ways in which humans get tripped up all the time when they’re trying to do something that might benefit them.”
A Modest Immigration Proposal: Ban Jews
The New York Times
In 1914, Edward Alsworth Ross, the famous progressive sociologist from the University of Wisconsin, called Jews “moral cripples” whose “tribal spirit intensified by social isolation prompts them to rush to the rescue of the caught rascal of their own race.” Subversion? During the campaign, Donald Trump said at a New Hampshire rally that Syrian refugees “could make the Trojan horse look like peanuts.”
UW hockey player also trains dogs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Video: Wisconsin Badgers defender Lauren Williams, a psychology major, also volunteers for OccuPaws, where she trains guide dogs.
‘Politics of Resentment’ author Kathy Cramer looks ahead to 2018
Capital Times
It’s likely both political parties in Wisconsin will tap into rural resentment as the state heads into a gubernatorial and U.S. Senate election later this year, said University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher and author Kathy Cramer on Tuesday.
UW-Madison’s SERF replacement gym named in honor of philanthropic Nicholas family
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison students planning to get in cardio between classes next year will be looking for the Nick.
UW prof Kathy Cramer gave Jon Stewart a tour of small-town Wisconsin to help scout for a possible film
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison political science professor Kathy Cramer was honored to find out that Jon Stewart had read her book, “The Politics of Resentment,” but little did she know that the comedian’s interest in the book would lead to her spending two days with him.
The slow burn for marijuana legalization
Madison Magazine
Noted: Dr. Angela Janis, co-director of mental health services and director of psychiatric services at the University of Wisconsin–Madison University Health Services, says Schedule 1 classification of marijuana makes it difficult to legally study the drug, so its benefits and risks to one’s health aren’t fully understood.
How Colleges Foretold the #MeToo Movement
The Atlantic
The Harvard Crimson last month reported that the institution has seen a 20 percent increase in sexual-harassment complaints since the allegations against Weinstein surfaced in October. Bill McCants, who oversees the office charged with handling claims of harassment at Harvard, attributed that rise at least in part to the #MeToo movement, citing conversations he had with students. Other schools’ Title IX officers, who are tasked with ensuring that colleges are in compliance with the federal law that’s used to address sexual harassment, alluded to similar trends on their respective campuses.
Research Associates Bird Deaths In Lake Michigan With Warmer Water, More Algae
Wisconsin Public Radio
New research suggests warmer water in Lake Michigan could mean more bird deaths along the shoreline. The study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and U.S. Geological Survey found warmer water could favor the growth of algae with toxins that are killing off birds.
Deadly Aztec Epidemic “Cocoliztli” Linked to Salmonella
National Geographic
“From a gut instinct I would suspect there were multiple agents involved in that epidemic,” says Caitlin Pepperrell, a researcher who studies infectious diseases at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved with the study.
New documentary chronicles the brief but brilliant life of Lorraine Hansberry
Chicago Sun Times
Raised as part of a prominent, groundbreaking family on Chicago’s South Side (her father, a successful real estate broker, was dubbed “The Kitcheonette King”), Hansberry spent a brief period at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to New York in 1950 where, before turning to the theater, she worked as a journalist and political activist. Along the way she would cross paths with everyone from Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois and James Baldwin to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Report Predicts Thousands Of ‘Advanced Energy’ Jobs Could Be Added To State
Wisconsin Public Radio
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Energy Institute and a national nonprofit called The American Jobs Project have issued the look at job growth in what’s called the advanced energy sector — think of products like energy-conserving water heaters and thermostats.
Colleges Brace for Tumult in 2018 as White Supremacists Demand a Stage
The New York Times
“Should universities allow controversial speakers to have a platform on campus?” asked Catherine J. Ross, a law professor at George Washington University specializing in constitutional law and the First Amendment. “Generally yes, because the university is uniquely devoted to truth finding, to testing and challenging orthodoxy in every field. There may be some limits — if physical safety is an issue and the risk is real and attributable to the speaker.”
Call it the ‘Nick’: New UW recreation facility to honor philanthropists Ab and Nancy Nicholas
Capital Times
A new student recreation facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be known as the “Nick” when it opens next fall on the site of the former SERF.
Mayor Paul Soglin proposes moratorium on new downtown Madison alcohol licenses
Capital Times
Following heightened concerns over alcohol-related problems, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin is proposing a moratorium on new alcohol licenses downtown.
Scott Walker has nearly four times more cash than the Democratic field
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said Walker’s fundraising total is somewhat lower than he expected given individual contribution limits have doubled to $20,000 since the 2014 election, Walker’s national profile was elevated during his short-lived presidential run and he became chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Spectrum Brands selling Rayovac battery business to Energizer Holdings for $2B
Wisconsin State Journal
“That’s validation that it’s just strategically optimal for both companies,” said Page Moreau, UW-Madison School of Business marketing professor and academic director of UW’s Center for Brand and Product Management.
Madison named one of National Geographic Traveler’s best small cities
WISC-TV 3
The brief on Madison referenced the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
Sue Robinson: Staying in the room
Madison Magazine
A generation of newsroom protocol—the kind I trained under and teach at UW–Madison—mandates that reporters remain free of conflicts of interest.
LGBT Campus Center welcomes new director
Daily Cardinal
Warren Scherer, who identifies as queer and biracial and uses the pronouns per and pers, has 19 years of experience working with LGBTQ+ populations.
Zepnick looks to hire interns, UW to notify students of sexual misconduct allegations
Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin-Madison political science department will make its students aware of sexual misconduct allegations against state Rep. Josh Zepnick, D-Milwaukee, as his office seeks to hire interns for the spring semester.
Scott Walker, state jobs agency paint contradictory pictures of Madison
Wisconsin State Journal
One video from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. shows UW-Madison’s Camp Randall and Bascom Hall. Another targeting millennials contrasts long commutes in Chicago with leisurely kayaking on Lake Monona and young people sipping drinks al fresco at a high-rise Downtown.
Harris, Philip E.
Madison.com
Phil was an Emeritus Professor and former chair of the Agriculture and Applied Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught agricultural law for 37 years.
Rossmeissl, John H.
Madison.com
He was employed as a supervisor in the Department of Housing at UW-Madison for 24 years.
No damage to vegetation by jumping worms shown yet, but invasion is still new
Wisconsin State Journal
There’s no known way to eradicate the invasive species called “jumping worms” when they make their way into a large area, a UW-Madison Arboretum ecologist said, but there also isn’t definitive proof that the worms would harm local vegetation.
Martin Luther King Jr. visited UW-Madison campus twice decades ago
Wisconsin State Journal
Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday the nation celebrates Monday, visited UW-Madison twice, the last time drawing an estimated 3,000 people — mostly students — who packed into the Stock Pavilion on Nov. 23, 1965.
Meet Julia Nepper, who earned a UW-Madison Ph.D. at 23
Capital Times
“It’s OK to be wrong. Until you acknowledge what you don’t know, you cannot progress,” said the North Carolina native who, at age 23, received her Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison last month.
Supreme Court race showing its political stripes
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: Ryan Owens, a UW-Madison Law School professor who specializes in judicial issues and is a member of the conservative-leaning Federalist Society, said the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 decided it was permissible for judicial candidates to make their positions known.
UW-Madison police welcome newest K9
Madison.com
K9 Officer Kobalt and his handler, UW police Officer Nikki Zautner, are on their way home from a six-week intensive training program at Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, a kennel the department has used before to select dogs, said police spokesman Marc Lovicott.
UW-Madison study suggests asking young people how to attract millennials
Capital Times
“Young adults aren’t necessarily moving to Wisconsin, they’re going to move to a particular community in Wisconsin,” said Randy Stoecker, a sociologist who works with the University of Wisconsin-Extension Center for Community and Economic Development. The questions become very local, he said.
Technology on Park Street intersections will communicate with passing vehicles
WISC-TV 3
Quoted: “If they’re behind by say five minutes on their schedule and they have people either trying to get to a location on time, trying to get to work on time, or trying to get picked up on time, they can actually preempt the signal so the signal knows by the time it gets here it needs to be green,” said Jonathan Riehl, transportation systems engineer at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How Scientists Saved Bald Eagles From Destruction in Minnesota
Inverse
Over two-and-a-half decades later, it’s being hailed as an unqualified success. On Tuesday, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey announced in the Journal of Applied Ecology that bald eagle populations at Voyageurs have been tremendously rehabilitated to stable numbers thanks to nest protection. Collected data in reveals that the breeding population of these birds has risen from 10 pairs in 1991 to 48 pairs in 2016.
In a fast-warming world, scientists say recent cold wave was exceptionally weird
Washington Post
Their finding that the intensity of Arctic cold is easing in a warming world is supported by many other studies. For example, Jonathan Martin, a meteorology researcher at the University of Wisconsin, has documented considerable shrinkage of the pool of frigid air surrounding the Arctic in recent decades.
Independent investigation into sexual harassment at Rochester provides little closure
Inside Higher Ed
Seth Pollak, a distinguished professor of psychology and professor of anthropology, pediatrics, psychiatry and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who signed the open letter against advising students to work or study at Rochester, said Thursday that he hoped Seligman’s resignation was a step in the right direction for the campus. But the report itself was unsatisfying, he said, as Jaeger was found not to have harassed women to a “pervasive” or “severe” degree, even though multiple women testified about harassment.
This Is When Your New Year’s Resolution Will Fail
Fast Company
Make sure the quick win isn’t too hard or too easy, adds Alex Stajkovic, assistant professor of management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin. “Easy goals are not motivating, and goals perceived to be beyond our ability may cause cessation of effort,” he says.
UW Study Questions Effectiveness Of Killing Wolves To Protect Livestock
Wisconsin Public Radio
Scientists at the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies looked at 230 verified wolf attacks on livestock in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from 1998 through 2014.
The Olympics in the Korean Crisis
Huffington Post
According to David Fields, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Korean-American complex is like a precarious iron tower, which is strong but brittle, ready to collapse from any unexpected action like a preemptive strike of North Korea by the Trump administration.
School District to Settle Transgender Student’s Lawsuit
The Cut
Whitaker, who is currently a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, alleged that officials at his former high school invasively monitored his bathroom use, forbade him from running for prom king, ostracized him, repeatedly called him by his birth name, and referred to him using female pronouns, according to the Transgender Law Center.
Math Whiz Who Doubled Debt Is Favorite to Win Colombian Election
Bloomberg
Fajardo, who studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that a crackdown on evasion must come first, and be shown to have worked, before taxes can safely be reduced. Colombia will hold the first round of presidential election in May, with a run-off vote in June, and the new president taking office in August.
Ahead of 2018 election, Gov. Scott Walker attacked for spending more on corrections than colleges
Politifact Wisconsin
Candidate Kelda Helen Roys used part of her time to attack Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is running for a third term. Roys, a former state Assembly member from Madison, accused Walker of putting prisons ahead of the University of Wisconsin System, saying:I think in 2011, it was Walker’s first budget, and we had the dubious distinction of spending — for the first time in our state’s history — more on our prison system that we did on the entire UW System.
Climate Change Is Altering Lakes and Streams, Study Suggests
The New York Times
“We’re monkeying with the very chemical foundation of these ecosystems,” said Emily H. Stanley, a limnologist (freshwater ecologist) at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. “But right now we don’t know enough yet to know where we’re going. To me, scientifically that’s really interesting, and as a human a little bit frightening.”
Seattle officials feared these rumors would start race riots
KUOW (Seattle)
Citizens were asked to call in with rumblings they’d heard, especially things that might foment rebellion, according to Stephen Young, an assistant professor of geography and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
White Racism Class at FGCU Causes ‘Vile’ Backlash
Time
This is not the first time a professor has faced controversy because of their courses or lesson plans. In May, student protesters shut down a sociology class at Northwestern University after a professor invited both an Immigration and Customs Enforcement public relations officer and an undocumented immigrant to speak in back-to-back lessons. Last year, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison started teaching a course titled “The Problem of Whiteness,” prompting complaints from a Republican lawmaker in the state, who called on the university to discontinue the class. The school defended the course and is offering it again this semester.
School district settles discrimination lawsuit with transgender student
Miami Herald
Whitaker said in a statement released by the Transgender Law Center that he’s “deeply relieved” that what he called a “long, traumatic” part of his life is over. “Winning this case was so empowering and made me feel like I can actually do something to help other trans youth live authentically,” he said. Whitaker is now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Buzzfeed News reported.
New Chazen Art Museum director brings industrial Midwest background
Wisconsin State Journal
Amy Gilman has lived in Madison only a few months — but will likely become one of the more visible faces in the city’s art world.
Bond set for man accused of taking pictures of woman in UW bathroom
NBC-15
He faces charges of capturing an intimate representation and disorderly conduct.
Jumping worm damage appears limited in Wisconsin
WKOW-TV 27
A new report shows an invasive species found in the UW-Madison Arboretum is spreading, but it’s had a limited effect so far.
Bitcoin mining software found on servers at UW System schools
WISC-TV 3
There is no evidence that anyone attempted to access personally identifiable information on the servers.