Skip to main content

Author: gbump

Wisconsin weighs anti-obesity drug coverage for state workers

Wisconsin State Journal

Dr. Samantha Pabich, a UW Health endocrinologist who treats many patients with obesity, said the newer drugs can help obese people lose a higher percentage of their body weight than older drugs. That can help control diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, pain and other conditions, and prevent the need for treatments such as home oxygen therapy and liver transplants, she said.

UW Health living kidney donors to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro

Channel 3000

In the last 55 years, UW Health’s living kidney donor program has seen more than 4,000 life-changing transplants. But while losing a kidney may seem like it would take a significant toll on your body, a group of living donors are out to prove giving up an organ to save another’s life doesn’t mean your life has to change at all.

Wisconsin parents of young kids more likely to struggle with bills

The Capital Times

Conducted by the UW Survey Center and analyzed by UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, the survey went to around 3,500 people across the state. Researchers compared the responses of participants who have children under age 6 with those who don’t.

None of those findings are really “huge surprises,” said La Follette School professor Sarah Halpern-Meekin, who analyzed the results.

As hunger grows, UW-Madison is redirecting excess food from the landfill to its students

Wisconsin State Journal

A number of programs, many of them student-led, redirect food waste from UW-Madison’s two largest food producers — University Housing, which runs multiple dining hall and food market locations across campus, and the Wisconsin Union, which oversees the Memorial Union and Union South — to student organizations or food pickup locations to give away free meals.

This Is Your Brain on 3-D Printing

Wall Street Journal

But then the journal Cell Stem Cell—always on my nightstand—reported that scientists at the University of Wisconsin had not only perfected a way to create brain tissue this way but could create brain cells that mimicked the behavior of real ones, and I knew that the breakthrough was real. Kudos to the Badger State scientists for figuring out that arranging the printed brain cells side by side, like a row of stick pretzels or a batch of linguine, would allow neurons to communicate just like those in a conventional brain.

How rising import prices could affect inflation

Marketplace

Not every type of import is raising a red flag right now. For instance, imports of industrial supplies, materials and other intermediate goods got more expensive. But those are just a small part of what goes into a finished product that a consumer buys, says Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SSTAR lab report shows ‘equity-based’ funding could increase student success

Badger Herald

The recent SSTAR report — “Designing Higher Education Funding Models to Promote Student Success” — examines the importance of higher education funding, including the issues that arise when funding is distributed inequitably. Financial resources are necessary for higher education institutions to fund advising, classes and technology, according to Dziesinski. But when a university does not have enough funding it cannot adequately serve students, Dziesinski said.

Wisconsin Assembly to vote on divisive power competition bill, limits to DEI initiatives

Wisconsin State Journal

The proposed constitutional amendment before the Assembly on Thursday is the latest step in Wisconsin Republicans’ fight against government-run diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Republican lawmakers last year struck a deal requiring the Universities of Wisconsin to restructure their DEI programs, and GOP legislative leaders have said they plan to scrutinize similar programs in state agencies.

Wisconsin lawmakers to vote on constitutional amendment to limit diversity efforts

The Associated Press

The proposal up for a vote Thursday would prohibit state and local governments, including the Universities of Wisconsin and local school districts, from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to anybody on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. It requires hiring decisions to be based on “merit, fairness and equality,” a term conservatives have used as a counter to DEI.

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Venus

Smithsonian Magazine

Sulfuric acid clouds circle the entire planet at a height of 25 to 37 miles above the surface. They contain tiny acidic aerosols that are about a hundred times thinner than human hair. Together the droplets resemble the air pollution in highly populated cities on Earth. “It’s like a haze that you find when you fly into, say, New Delhi or Beijing,” says Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Guest column: Early application cycles and their detriment to college admissions

Daily Cardinal

The biggest downfall of early decision for many students is financial. Depending on the school, tuition can add up to painful numbers, and an unwritten rule is that early decision often means less financial aid because colleges have less incentive to award merit scholarships. At the very least, students are unable to compare aid packages when bound by an acceptance. This is important when applying early decision as tuition can be a factor that students don’t know to consider.

Madison-Milwaukee tech hub gets near-unanimous support in Legislature

The Capital Times

Other members of Wisconsin’s tech hub consortium include businesses (GE HealthCare, Accuray, Exact Sciences, Plexus and Rockwell Automation), colleges and universities (Madison Area Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the Universities of Wisconsin), economic development agencies (Milwaukee7, Madison Region Economic Partnership and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) and workforce training organizations (Employ Milwaukee and WRTP | BIG STEP).

RecWell encourages body positivity, inclusive recreation spaces through new initiatives

Badger Herald

University of Wisconsin Recreation and Wellbeing recently posted signs with messages such as “You are powerful” in recreational spaces across campus. The signage is designed to encourage body positivity, and is part of a larger campaign run by RecWell to support all students on campus regardless of identity, according to RecWell Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Sarah Barnes.

The US military is embedded in the gaming world. Its target: teen recruits

The Guardian

Scientific research has consistently shown that video games do not make people more violent. Playing games can, however, improve perceptual and cognitive functions, says Dr C Shawn Green, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Office of Naval Research funded Green to research how certain games (mainly shooters) improve warrior performance. “These games have lots of speed in them,” he says. “There’s lots of what we call ‘transient events’ – things pop up on the screen and disappear.” He says this can improve basic visual perception as well as heighten levels of cognition (such as working memory).

Some Americans say Valentine’s Day gifts are worth going into debt

Scripps

“Everyone appreciates and remembers experiences more than ’stuff,’” said J. Michael Collins, professor of public affairs and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin. “There are lots of fun and memorable experiences that are not expensive, from moonlight walks to scavenger hunts to simple at-home dinners. Being creative can be better than bling.”