Wisconsin counties with shuttered University of Wisconsin branch campuses are reimagining the properties to serve a range of purposes — including at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County.
Author: jnweaver
UW-Milwaukee would be demoted by plan to split apart Wisconsin university system
This is no time to be downgrading one of the world’s most important systems of public universities. UW System President Jay Rothman, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, and Gov. Tony Evers have all publicly opposed this splitting off of UW Madison, a fugitive relic of the Walker years.
Everyone else should too.
UW-Madison professor calls incoming U.S. health secretary RFK Jr. ‘moron’ during lecture
A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor called incoming U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “moron” during a recent lecture to students.
New research offers hope in the fight against Alzheimer’s
Includes Nathaniel Chin, M.D., an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin and medical director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
The research that aims to cheese
On a recent Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, sample number 435 lies supine on a lab table where it surrenders to a gauntlet of measurements.
Brandon Prochaska slides a thermometer into the pizza’s abdomen, and the digits tick upward to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. He and a group of other trained professionals jot the number down.
Nobel laureates vs. RFK Jr.? Have those nerds even tasted roadkill bear meat?
On the flip side, John Lucey, a professor of food science and the director of the Center for Dairy Research at University of Wisconsin-Madison, told The Washington Post that drinking raw milk is “a really stupid, bad idea,” adding: “It’s almost like a doctor shouldn’t wash their hands before they go into an operating room.”
Social intelligence: The other kind of smart
In 2013, researchers at University of Wisconsin put people in MRI machines and threatened to shock them at random. The researchers measured fear activity in each person’s brain. And they found something incredible in the third group. Participants’ brains were much less active. They could literally outsource their fear to their loved ones.
More colleges offering free tuition to middle-class families
In October, the University of Massachusetts said tuition and fees would be fully covered for instate undergraduates whose families earn less than $75,000 at all four of its campuses, while the University of Wisconsin made a similar announcement in August for students whose families earn less than $55,000. Last month, the University of Texas System announced it would waive tuition at all nine campuses for Texas residents making under $100,000 starting this fall.
Wisconsin counties transform closed UW campuses into K-12 classrooms, housing, even a wedding venue
Wisconsin counties with shuttered University of Wisconsin branch campuses are reimagining the properties to serve a range of purposes including senior housing, K-12 classroom space, even a wedding venue.
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: US Rep. Mark Pocan, Bryna Godar, Kurt Paulsen, Amy Basting
Here’s what guests on the Dec. 6, 2024 episode said about Medicare Advantage plans, a court ruling to reverse Act 10, affordable housing under the second Trump administration and the need for more foster families in Wisconsin.
App designed to help reduce food waste expands in Wisconsin
The app was created by Eddy Connors and Briana Boehmer while in college in Colorado. However, Boehmer is a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad and said she knew their team wanted to expand into the Badger State.
Empty nesters own some prime real estate. And they don’t seem very interested in leaving it.
“Homeowners are aging in place,” said Mark Eppli, director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
That’s partly because most of them have mortgages at under 4%, but is also just a personal preference. “They get comfortable with the church they’re going to, with the drugstore they go to, the grocery store, to the bar, whatever it may be,” Eppli said.
Can ‘America’s Dairyland’ become the future hotbed for fusion energy?
Fusion energy’s potential to produce abundant, clean energy to fuel industry and power advancements in artificial intelligence is no longer a matter of if, but when.
Wisconsin pediatrician helps author new early childhood literacy guidelines
For the first time in a decade, the American Academy of Pediatrics released updated recommendations on how pediatricians and caregivers can encourage early childhood literacy, with a Wisconsin doctor working on the effort.
Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, professor of pediatrics and human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, helped write the new literacy promotion policy statement and accompanying technical report. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” what parents and healthcare professionals should know.
US fourth and eighth graders fall further behind in math
Steffen Lempp, a math professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says over the last decade, the School of Education has changed how prospective K-8 teachers are taught math content to fully prepare them to teach children in the subject.
The UW-Madison math department used to teach these math content courses. Those courses are now taught by the School of Education, in classes that blend content and pedagogy in one.
Can raw milk make you sick? Officials crack down amid bird flu fears.
Raw milk supporters say it contains more enzymes, probiotics (or the “good bacteria”), proteins and vitamins than pasteurized milk. They also say it helps prevent chronic health issues such as asthma and allergies, as well as ear and respiratory infections and fever, citing studies of European children living on farms. There’s little scientific evidence to support these claims, said John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and a food science professor.
“The short answer is no, there are no proven benefits,” he told USA TODAY. “You are being conned with these claims,” he said. “This is snake oil.”
Her son shot himself by accident with her gun. Should she be charged with a felony? In Wisconsin, it depends.
“It seems like the responses really vary based on the person and the place where the event occurs,” said Dr. James Bigham, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who teaches medical students about how to talk to patients about firearms injury prevention.
“It doesn’t necessarily seem like we have a uniform or universal application of the law.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt UW Board of Regents meeting at UW-Madison
For the second time this year, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting, continuing their efforts to demand universities cut ties with Israel.
Alcohol became available at Badgers football games this year. Then, arrests went down.
According to University of Wisconsin–Madison Police Department interim police chief Brent Plisch, alcohol-related police contacts decreased by about 25%, from 118 incidents in 2021 to 89 incidents this year.
Act 10 could take center stage in upcoming state Supreme Court election
“It tends to be the court where the big battles get fought out,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Elections Research Center. “Without a kind of regularly functioning legislative branch and executive branch working together, the court is the venue where the hot items, big ticket items, are being decided.”
Long before this week, South Korea had a painful history with martial law
The country has faced a turbulent political history that saw authoritarian rule starting from its founding after gaining independence from Japanese colonialism all the way to the 1980s, according to Charles Kim, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
“This is a period in which there was a lot of political suppression, repression of the media, political violence against dissidents,” Kim said.
Texas could become a major producer of another source of renewable energy
Green hydrogen is forecast to meet global energy needs that will not be easily satisfied by battery, wind or solar power, Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Energy Institute, told ABC News in 2021. Batteries, for example, currently can take up a lot of space and also weigh a lot, making their use an issue for air travel and long-haul trucking. Hydrogen, by contrast, doesn’t include those challenges and also stores better long-term.
Despite state restrictions, Wisconsinites are receiving abortions via telehealth
The data comes from states with so-called “shield laws,” said Jenny Higgins, director of the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These laws give some legal protections to clinicians who offer abortion care by telehealth to people living in states with abortion bans or telehealth restrictions, she said.
Rothman on ‘UpFront’ previews UW financial report
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman today will release the final third-party financial review of university administration.
Report: Wisconsin farm, food industry grows slightly behind the rest of state’s economy
“The size of the pie is getting bigger,” said Steve Deller, a UW-Madison professor of agricultural and applied economics and co-author of the report. “Agriculture’s slice of that pie is also getting a little bit bigger, but it’s not growing at the same pace as the state’s economy is growing.”
Do pulsed microwaves cause brain injuries? UW-Madison researchers work to find out
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are launching the first comprehensive study into how pulsed microwaves might cause traumatic brain injuries.
UW professors fear proposed copyright policy would lead to ‘massive seizing’ of their work
For decades, University of Wisconsin faculty have operated under a simple guarantee. They are state employees, but they own and control the products of their work, including syllabi, assignments and other course materials.
This understanding, however, could be upended. The UW System is proposing a new copyright policy that professors say would eliminate faculty ownership of instructional materials. The revisions are stoking alarm among professors statewide who say such a move would cheapen higher education into a mass-produced commodity.
I didn’t fully appreciate Milwaukee parks until I moved away. Neglect must end.
Written by Theresa Delgadillo, a professor of English and director of the Chican@ and Latin@ Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-editor of Latinx Talk.
Survivor, 3 victims killed in Northern California Cybertruck crash identified by family
During a Friday interview with CBS News Bay Area reporter Da Lin, the mother of the sole survivor of the terrible collision identified her son and the three victims who died in the crash.
The mother, Samantha Miller, said that her son Jordan Miller was back in surgery late Friday morning. She confirmed that he is a 20-year-old sophomore at University of Wisconsin.
Scientists confront a mystery: Why have U.S. bird flu cases been so mild?
The viruses circulating in cows could be less virulent than other versions of the virus, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a flu virologist cross-appointed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo. But it’s impossible to prove that, given the animal studies don’t reflect it, he said.
Huckabee pick as Israeli ambassador reflects long evangelical alliance
If confirmed, Huckabee, a former Fox News host and Israel tour guide for Christian visitors, will be the first evangelical in the ambassador role. Evangelicals and other Christian Zionists — those who use Christian reasoning to argue for a Jewish state in some part of biblical Israel — could have only dreamed of this moment a half-century ago, said University of Wisconsin religious historian Daniel Hummel.
Supplementing income off the farm, Social media warning labels, Powwow music
We learn how workers in Wisconsin are looking to bolster family farm income via employment in surrounding communities. Then a pediatrics professor shares research on social media and youth. And two members from the Wisconsin band Bizhiki discuss their new album of Indigenous music.
How to avoid Black Friday sale scams: Red flags, tips for safe shopping
AI-powered schemes can also have the typical telltale signs of a scam, Allen Monette with the University of Wisconsin-Madison says. Things like something pressuring you to act immediately and unusual requests for sensitive information unexpectedly can tip you off that it is not real.
What is vertical oscillation and how can it affect running performance?
‘If you have a very low vertical oscillation, below 5cm, that can be very inefficient – and if you run with a lot of vertical oscillation, above 10-12cm, that can also be very inefficient,’ notes Bryan Heiderscheit, a professor in orthopaedics at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Wisconsin Innocence Project co-director discusses victories and next steps
Manuel Cucuta was released from prison on Monday, November 25th, 2024. The Wisconsin Innocence Project will be representing him as he seeks to fully overturn his conviction. Professor Christopher Lau is the co-director of the Innocence Project. He sat down to speak with WORT about the group’s recent successes and what comes after.
Breakthroughs in bioplastics may be coming
Despite recycling efforts, plastic accounts for 20% of the material in Wisconsin landfills and does not breakdown. But what if more of our plastic was biodegradable? Working on that is Erica Majumder, an assistant professor of bacteriology at UW-Madison, who joins us.
UW researchers hope to identify how the body processes different types of meth
Methamphetamine is typically associated with recreational drug use. But Heather Barkholtz, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy, said the drug also has a place in medicine.
Wisconsin football game vs Minnesota today could be coldest at Camp Randall in 60 years
On Friday, the Wisconsin Badgers will face off against Minnesota in the annual battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
Not only is the showdown at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison important for the Badgers — they need to beat the Gophers to become bowl-eligible — it’s also expected to be the coldest game at Camp Randall in decades.
UW-Oshkosh may outsource its bookstore to save money. But doing so will cost students more
The next casualty stemming from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s budget crisis may be the campus bookstore.
The store is one of three left across the UW System that is not run by a third-party chain. Outsourcing the operation would save some money in the short term but likely increase costs for students and lead to poorer service on campus, according to a recent report by a university task force. The report raised the question of whether there would be any long-term financial benefit to the switch.
‘He was the guy’: How Rudy Martzke invented the sports media beat
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Martzke graduated from the University of Wisconsin and worked for a few newspapers and ABA teams. (He liked to tell people he helped hire Bob Costas at the Spirits of St. Louis.) Eventually, he ended up at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York, before moving to the D.C. area to help launch USA Today.
Explainer: What are bomb cyclones and how do they form?
A bomb cyclone’s winds can reach hurricane force – 74 miles (119 km) per hour – and stronger. These storms tend to form during winter and can spawn copious amounts of precipitation. They have life spans of about a week during which they grow to peak intensity over roughly four to five days and then dissipate over the last two, according to Jon Martin, a professor of meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Disposable personal income rose at a faster pace in October than the month before
There are some factors that could limit spending next year: Menzie Chinn, a professor of economics and pulic affairs at the University of Wisconsin, said delinquency rates have been rising and some consumers don’t have a lot of savings to fall back on.
“Those have been largely depleted, particularly among those income groups that are, let’s say, at median or below median income,” he said.
Trump won the popular vote, contrary to claims online
Barry C. Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained to us in a Nov. 25 email, “Trump has not won an outright majority of the popular vote; that would require surpassing the 50% threshold. He has won a large plurality, which means that he attracted more votes than each of his opponents, but he is just short of a true majority.”
What exactly is shoofly pie anyway?
“Shoofly pie is a classic Pennsylvania Dutch pastry,” said Mark Louden, a professor of Germanic linguistics and director of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It’s an “apt symbol of traditional Pennsylvania Dutch culture as it incorporates elements from Old World Europe but is a fundamentally New World phenomenon.”
Facing legal threats, colleges back off from race-based programs
In the place of racial, ethnic, and gender labels, some schools are embracing experiences or identities such as “low-income,” “first-generation,” and “veteran”—or simply scrapping controversial wording. After the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Creando Comunidad: Community Engaged Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Fellows program faced a complaint from the Equal Protection Project in January, it became just “Creando Comunidad.” Rather than explicitly gathering BIPOC students, applicants instead now must show “demonstrated interest or experience in promoting equity, inclusion, and social justice for communities of color.”
Marquette faculty vote no-confidence in new president and chief operating officer
New Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun’s honeymoon easing into the job was cut short Monday when faculty narrowly declared a lack of confidence in the administration.
Paul Smith: Following Aldo Leopold’s teachings, a deer hunt on his old farm
A question sometimes is raised in the conservation community to help guide decisions: What would Aldo do?
The reference is to Aldo Leopold, former University of Wisconsin professor, pioneer in the field of wildlife management and author of “A Sand County Almanac,” the widely acclaimed collection of essays and inspiration for a “land ethic.”
Falling enrollment plagues many UW campuses. UW-Green Bay is framing the problem differently
Jen Jones remembers the meeting well, down to which chair she sat in.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay administrators huddled together in a meeting room about a decade ago, studying enrollment and financial reports. A new chancellor, Gary Miller, had just started and took a different tact from his predecessor.
A love of writing led to Journal Sentinel job for Kelly Meyerhofer
When Kelly Meyerhofer started covering Wisconsin’s public universities in 2018, she told herself she’d cover the topic for one year, two tops, before switching to something more exciting.
Now in her seventh year, Meyerhofer continues to be fascinated by the Wisconsin higher education beat.
‘Airplane!’ filmmaker Jim Abrahams, a Shorewood High School alum, has died
While students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Abrahams and his friends Jerry and David Zucker and Dick Chudnow started the comedy group Kentucky Fried Theater, which combined video satires of TV commercials and a stage show.
UW mechanical engineer launches study of the brain and the “Havana Syndrome”
A team of University of Wisconsin researchers, led by Professor Christian Franck, have obtained a grant to investigate how pulsed microwave beams might affect the brain. Christian Franck is the Bjorn Borgen Professor and H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellow at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the director of the UW PANTHER lab, which studies brain trauma.
UW-Madison ranks sixth in national research rankings, rising for the first time since 2016
The University of Wisconsin-Madison rose in national rankings on federal research activity after slipping for nearly a decade.
Eat avocado to lower cholesterol, put on antiperspirant before bed and 11 more tips to have a great week
Talking to yourself out loud can be a great way to problem-solve — especially for people who regularly misplace things, Gary Lupyan, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Time. For example, if you lost something in your home, saying what you’re looking for out loud (keys, remote, your favorite sweatshirt) can “keep its visual appearance active in your mind as you’re searching,” Lupyan explained, making it more likely for you to spot it.
The government wants to develop this battery type
LENS will collaborate with eight universities, including Virginia Tech, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Maryland, University of Rhode Island, and a few others.
Wisconsin departments request 8.8% spending increase to $53.8B next fiscal year
Wisconsin state agencies have requested to spend $53.8 billion next fiscal year and $55.8 billion in fiscal 2026-27 in the state’s upcoming biennial budget.
Those are increases from the adjusted base of $49.4 billion this fiscal year with a large portion of that increase coming from the Department of Public Instruction’s $3 billion requested increase and Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $800 million increase for the University of Wisconsin System.
Man proposes to cancer-fighting girlfriend in hospital
Check out the viral and dramatic moment that Matthew Piehl of Madison, Wisconsin, got down on one knee at the UW Madison Hospital Carbone Center while his girlfriend was receiving chemo for breast cancer.
Millions from tax refunds go to pay hidden fees, report finds
Sarah Halpern-Meekin, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Research on Poverty, agreed, cautioning that some taxpayers would wait longer for their refunds — or be unable to afford the up-front cost of tax preparation altogether — without these services.
“It’s easy to critique any products that are offered that incur costs or high interest rates, but we also need to ask what happens if those go away,” she said. “Is it better to pay a fee and then get to avoid eviction or avoid having your heat cut off? There are consequences for being credit-constrained.”
Ryan Borgwardt likely wouldn’t face significant jail time after staging death, experts say
Clinical associate professor of law at University of Wisconsin Law School John Gross explained if Borgwardt returns home, he would likely be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for obstruction, but it’s not certain whether he could be charged with a Class I felony for insurance fraud.
How to survive a Thanksgiving dinner with relatives who disagree about politics
Co-authored by Amber Wichowsky, an associate professor with the La Follette School of Public Affairs and holds the Leadership Wisconsin Endowed Chair for the Division of Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Allison Keeley who is pursuing a master’s degree in international public affairs at the La Follette School.
Wisconsin’s next elections are in February and April. Here’s what’s on the 2025 ballot.
Jill Underly, the incumbent who has been in the position since 2021, is running for a second term. She was previously the superintendent of the Pecatonica School District and has held roles as a principal, teacher and academic advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.