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Author: jnweaver

Dane County approves $8 million for housing for immigrant dairy workers. Sheriff’s office will try to close language gaps.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Dane County is home to more than 170 dairy farms, according to state records. It’s unknown how many provide housing to workers, but a recent statewide study on immigrant dairy workers by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School for Workers found that close to three-quarters of surveyed workers lived in employer-provided housing, typically on the farm

An aging, declining population of hunters spells trouble for Wisconsin deer management

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Social scientists, including Thomas Heberlein of the University of Wisconsin (now professor emeritus of community and environmental sociology), have been examining and documenting a decline in hunting in the U.S. for decades.

The rate of decline in gun deer hunting was predicted 16 years ago by a team of University of Wisconsin and Department of Natural Resources researchers.

The researchers, Richelle Winkler and Jennifer Huck of UW’s Applied Population Lab in Madison and Keith Warnke of the DNR, released a draft of their study in 2007 titled “Deer Hunter Demography: Age, Period, and Cohort Analysis of Trends in Hunter Participation in Wisconsin.“

UW Health nurses reporting safety concerns to state amid labor dispute

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Nurses at UW Health submitted paperwork Thursday urging Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services to investigate concerns about patient safety.

It’s the latest escalation amid an ongoing labor dispute with the health care system, as nurses who are pushing for collective bargaining power raise alarms about the effects of under-staffing, employee turnover and worker burnout.

UW-Madison team works to identify lost service members from Wisconsin and beyond

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Every county in Wisconsin has at least one service member missing in action since Pearl Harbor. A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is working to identify them and others at sites around the world.

Graduate and undergraduate students, professors and others at the university make up the team working on the Missing in Action Recovering and Identification Project, or UW MIA RIP. They all volunteer their time to travel to sites around the globe to find and repatriate the remains of soldiers lost in war.

Wisconsin veterans with PTSD could seek psilocybin treatment under a bipartisan bill

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder could have access to medicinal psilocybin treatment under a bipartisan bill.

The proposal would create a pilot program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison run in collaboration with the university’s Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances and its School of Pharmacy. Veterans age 21 and older suffering from treatment-resistant PTSD would be eligible to participate as long as they are not currently serving as law enforcement officers.

Answering common questions about Wisconsin’s eviction process and tenant rights

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If a tenant were to receive a second five-day eviction notice for nonpayment of rent within the same leasing year, then a landlord can give a no-cure notice, but the resident must be given 14 days to vacate, according to Sophie Crispin, director of the Eviction Defense Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

My dad fought fascism in World War II. We’re battling book bans, racial hatred.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When he turned 18, he traveled to Wisconsin, enrolling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison because east coast universities had strict quotas on enrolling Jewish students. In Madison, he became acquainted with several students who volunteered to fight for democracy in Spain. So, it was no surprise that he would enlist in the war against the white supremist Nazi regime.

Jewish students learn to cope with war at campus safe space

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Spectrum News

Joshua Manders is a Jewish student studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Manders said since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, his life has become very stressful.

“It definitely has been tough, that first week where, the first few days, especially when the war first broke out, it is a lot of emotions to go through,” said Manders.

Manders has direct connections to the war. That’s not unlike many other Jewish students on the UW-Madison campus.

Lawmakers approve changes to race-based programs at Wisconsin colleges

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday approved a wide range of proposals that would affect higher education in the state, including an automatic-admission policy for the flagship campus at the Universities of Wisconsin and standardized rules around free speech on state campuses, which Republicans argued would expand intellectual diversity and Democrats warned would have a chilling effect.

Democratic lawmakers propose funds for universal, free school meals

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WORT FM

Earlier this summer, the Healthy School Meals for All coalition and UW-Madison Professor Jennifer Gaddis released the first statewide survey of the Wisconsin school nutrition workforce.

That report found that of the approximately 5,089 K-12 school nutrition workers across the state, 94% were women, and 88% were white.

It also found that four out of five school food workers who were not managers worked part-time, and that a quarter of schools across the state offered poverty-level starting wages for school nutrition workers.

After Craig Counsell leaves for rival, a look at other Wisconsin sports ‘betrayals’

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Everyone was shocked in December 2012 when Bret Bielema, the University of Wisconsin football coach, announced he was leaving for Arkansas, even athletic director Barry Alvarez. The Badgers were on the cusp of playing in a third straight Rose Bowl when the news came down, and Bielema went 68-24 during his seven seasons with the Badgers.

To fill Milwaukee special education teacher jobs, program pays for master’s at UW-Madison

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The UW–Madison Special Education Teacher Residency Program comes with a commitment: three years working in MPS after finishing the master’s. Those teachers continue receiving mentorship and guidance for at least the first two years of teaching after finishing the degree.

Republicans pass bill barring race-based criteria for UW financial aid, setting up likely Evers veto

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Assembly Republicans have voted to bar University of Wisconsin system officials from considering race when deciding how to distribute publicly funded financial aid to students, setting up a likely veto by Gov. Tony Evers.

The bill, which passed 62-35 along party lines Tuesday, seeks to eliminate race-based criteria for college scholarships, grants and loan programs.

Collisions with deer spike every November. One surprising factor? Daylight saving time

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Timothy Van Deelen is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. He said the breeding season increases the likelihood of human-deer interactions for three or four weeks each fall.

“The male deer is almost a different animal during the breeding season, behaviorally,” Van Deelen said. “Bucks will dramatically extend their home range, and mature bucks are moving through their big home range trying to find does who are receptive to being bred.”

Can the University of Wisconsin recover? Campuses are closing and the system faces open hostility from the Republican Legislature

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Isthmus

It may be too harsh to call it a death spiral. But the University of Wisconsin System is in trouble and it’s not clear when or how it can turn things around. Consider what’s happening.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos nixed a 6% pay raise for UW System employees while allowing it to go through for other state employees. He’s trying to put pressure on the UW to discontinue its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

What you need to know about proposed amendments to Wisconsin election policy

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Wisconsin Public Radio

This week, the State Legislature debated a series of election-related amendments to the state Constitution. The Republican-led proposals would outlaw private funding for elections, prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in local elections and have current voter photo ID requirements written into the state constitution.

Interview with Howard Schweber, professor of political science and legal studies at UW-Madison.

The Queen of “Midwestern Noir” Books

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TMJ4

Hannah Morrissey just released “When I’m Dead,” a book thatfollows the gripping story of a murder case, the third installment of the Black Harbor books. Having studied English and creative writing at University of Wisconsin-Madison, she has grown to know the ins and outs of every cold winter, meaning each and every detail added draws the reader deeper into the story.

Gov. Tony Evers sues GOP lawmakers over blocking UW System pay raises and conservation projects

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In a lawsuit that could upend how the state Legislature operates, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is suing Republican lawmakers over decisions to withhold pay raises for University of Wisconsin System employees and to block conservation projects, arguing such actions made by legislative committees rather than the full Legislature violate the state Constitution’s separation of powers requirements.

Fact check: Scott Walker mostly misses the mark by calling Wisconsin a blue state

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Elections Research Center, said the situation in the state is not as black and white  … er, blue and red, as Walker claimed.

“It seems factually incorrect to call Wisconsin a blue state,” he said via email, adding Wisconsin is actually remarkably balanced between Democrats and Republicans.

Fact check: Claim that Wisconsin abortion restrictions worsened OB-GYN shortage half-true

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In fact, the UW Health spokesperson said the hospital isn’t certain if its decrease in applications is an indication of a trend – though she noted that some applicants have asked about the 1849 law in their interviews.

Dr. Ellen Hartenbach, chair of the OB-GYN department at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, also told Wisconsin Health News in May that the university is uncertain if abortion restrictions caused this year’s decrease in applicants.

Did a survey ask UW-Madison students if trans women are ‘real women’?

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Wisconsin Watch

“Transgender women are not ‘real women’ ” was one of the statements 3,200 University of Wisconsin-Madison students were asked to rate their agreement with in a survey.

Sent to UW intramural and club sports athletes on Oct. 9, the survey was conducted by University of Indiana researcher Dr. Austin Anderson and polled students on their views on transgender athletic participation, as first reported by the Daily Cardinal.

Youths are struggling with anxiety, depression more than ever. UW team trying to get more psychologists in the pipeline.

Posted on
Wausau Daily Herald

Every year, 60 to 70 school psychologist positions in Wisconsin go unfilled.

That’s based on the most recent data collected by the Wisconsin School Psychologists Association. And it’s a good reminder why Katie Eklund, co-director of the School Mental Health Collaborative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spends her time focusing on workforce initiatives.

Indigenous or pretender? Questions raised about UW-Milwaukee professor who led Native studies institute

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Weeks out from opening day of an Indigenous art exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum last year, Doug Kiel raised an alarm with other curators.

One of the featured artists, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor and poet Margaret Noodin, had posted a statement online meant to address long-running questions about whether she was really Native.

AI revolution in diabetes care: How technology is beating this silent killer

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Forbes

Take the case of Rufus Sweeney, a 4th-year medical student at UW-Madison and Oklahoma Choctaw. When he discovered his pre-diabetes condition, he turned to glucose monitoring apps in the market that recommended lifestyle changes, from diet adjustments to sleep tweaks. His breakthrough came when he prioritized physical activity over all other app notifications.

Weather Guys: Sea ice update, waterspouts and celebrating 75 years of the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UW-Madison

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Sea ice is one way that scientists can learn about the effects of climate change. The Weather Guys are back to share about this year’s sea ice season. They’ll also fill us in on waterspouts and 75 years of the UW-Madison Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

New drone technology could help scientists finally understand how tornadoes form

Posted on
Inverse

Most models working at coarser resolutions can’t actually see simulated tornadoes, inferring them instead based on areas of air with a lot of spins. Atmospheric scientist Leigh Orf of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has taken advantage of advances in supercomputing to build 10-meter-resolution models that can directly simulate tornadoes. At this scale, turbulence comes alive, Orf says. His models reveal how small areas of rotation could combine to kick off a tornado. “It fully resolves non-tornadic vortices that merge together in ways that are very compelling, and I’ve never seen before,” he says.

‘U.S. News’ rankings erase international students

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Inside Higher Ed

State universities may have specific mandates to educate local students over those from abroad, which was the case when the University of California system capped out-of-state enrollments in 2017. But even large state systems like the University of Wisconsin take in significant numbers of international students. Why should the more than 3,000 international undergraduates in Madison be tossed out?

Can the gray wolf help control CWD-infected deer? Great Lakes tribes and UW scientists team up to find out

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WUWM-89.7 Milwaukee

Last week, as scientists gathered inside a cozy research station in north central Wisconsin, not far from Minocqua, Michael Menon was one of the researchers in the room.

He’s the UW-Madison PhD student chosen to conduct the wolf study that’s being funded and co-led by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission.

Wisconsin poverty has come down from highs of the 2008 recession, but still above early 2000s lows

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Steven Deller, the report’s author and an agricultural and applied economics professor at UW-Madison, said he attributes the state’s inability to return to the low poverty rates it saw in the late ’90s and early 2000s to a shift away from more highly-paid manufacturing jobs toward a more service-based economy, the state’s decline in unionization and a slow recovery from the Great Recession.

Bucky Badger trademark dispute: University of Wisconsin’s legal tussle with a Houston economist

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Sports Illustrated

When Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston, coined the terms “buckynomics” and “buckymarkets,” he couldn’t have predicted he’d end up in a legal battle with the University of Wisconsin and its iconic mascot, Bucky Badger. But according to a report from the Houston Chronicle that is exactly what is happening.