Quoted: “Housing right now is unlike 2008, when we overstimulated housing demand, and that drove up housing prices. Now, housing is expensive because there’s an inadequate supply,” said Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Author: jnweaver
Wisconsin voters change the state’s constitution on cash bail. Here’s what the decision means.
Quoted: “There are two parts to the discussion about bail in Wisconsin,” University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Adam Stevenson said. “One is what, if any, cash is required for release and the other is what conditions or rules do folks have to follow when they are out in the community on bail.”
Wisconsin voters back expanding work requirements for welfare benefits. Here’s why the vote is mostly symbolic
Quoted: Lawmakers can use the results to gauge public opinion on an issue and inform policy decisions, according to state documents. However, referendums have been increasingly used by both political parties, particularly with non-partisan spring elections, which don’t usually generate great voter turnout, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“These elections just don’t generate the same level of media coverage or public discussion so these gimmicks are one way to get the attention of the voter,” Burden said. “The effect on overall turnout probably won’t be great, but in Wisconsin, most people assume elections are going to be close, so even a change in the balance of things by a percentage point or two could tip the race and tip the balance of the Supreme Court itself.”
Dan Knodl’s win gives Republicans a supermajority in the Wisconsin Senate. Could they impeach elected officials?
Quoted: While nearly unheard of, Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said the old norms of how Wisconsin government operates have fallen away since Former Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 legislation followed by the recall election in 2011.
“The series of steps both parties — but especially Republicans have taken — shows the Legislature plays hardball,” Burden said. “Republicans, in their majority for the last 12 years, have not been shy about exploring what tools are available to them and trying to push them as far as possible.”
Wisconsin pediatrician says improving social media requires input from teenagers
The leader of the social media and adolescent research team at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Dr. Megan Moreno, says conversations about social media best practices need to include teenagers.
What repealing Iraq war authorizations would mean for U.S. policy in Middle East
The Senate voted last week to repeal the authorizations for the use of military force in Iraq, and President Biden has indicated he would sign it. We talk to John Hall, a U.S. military policy expert and associate pofessor of U.S. military history at UW-Madison, about what the repeal would mean and how these authorizations work.
Measuring Wisconsin’s civic and political divides — and how to repair them
The UW-Madison Center for Communication and Civic Renewal released a new survey measuring political divides and common ground in Wisconsin. We talk to the Mike Wagner, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the group’s faculty director, about the results and the path forward.
Young Wisconsinites want to change Madison’s political landscape
Madison’s political landscape is shifting and its common council is looking much younger.
More and more young Wisconsinites find themselves not only running for, but sitting in Madison Common Council seats. Some said their interests piqued while enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bernie Wyatt, a critical member of Barry Alvarez’s first Wisconsin staff, passes away at 84
When Barry Alvarez decided he was ready to leave his post at Notre Dame and accept the challenge of taking over the University of Wisconsin football program, one of the men he targeted to join his first UW staff was Bernie Wyatt.
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Daniel Kelly, Justice Jill Karofsky, Cecilia Klingele
“Under the law, you’re not supposed to use cash to keep people detained. Cash bond is always supposed to be just a way of making sure people are complying with the rules to decide if they actually are guilty or not,” said Cecelia Klingele, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. “The idea is if you have money, you get to be out pending release, and if you don’t have money, you’re stuck, and so we should set high bonds that people can’t meet. In fact, under existing law — U.S. and state law — you have to set reasonable bonds in amounts that people are expected to be able to pay. People are supposed to be out pending release. And we use conditions to keep everyone safe, not money, which has disparate effects on different people.”
Following PFAs from toilet paper to the Great Lakes
The growing research into PFAs contamination finds sources in everyday consumer goods like toilet paper and traces PFAs into Green Bay and the Great Lakes. We talk to Christy Remucal, is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of the Water Science and Engineering Laboratory at UW-Madison, about where we’re finding PFAs in Wisconsin’s waters.
The effect of climate change on freshwater fish
When it comes to adjusting for warmer water, some fish are defying expectations. We talk to Olaf Jensen, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Center for Limnology at UW-Madison.
‘Not everyone in every county has the same opportunity to be healthy’: Outcomes among Wisconsin counties are unequal
Health outcomes are not even across Wisconsin’s 72 counties, and even the healthiest counties have sharp disparities, with Black residents far more likely to die prematurely, according to new data from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Population Health Institute.
How are Wisconsin’s state symbols, like the state bird, chosen? Schoolchildren often play a part.
Noted: Although the badger has long been associated with Wisconsin and shows up in things like the coat of arms, state seal and as the University of Wisconsin’s mascot, students in four Jefferson County elementary schools were shocked to find the badger wasn’t the official state animal; in 1957, they lobbied to get a bill introduced to declare the badger to be the state animal.
Business group pulls pro-Kelly Supreme Court ads featuring a rape victim’s case
“Ads are rarely pulled in races even when they’re really controversial,” said Michael Wagner, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism professor who directs the school’s Center for Communication and Civic Renewal.
“It’s not common for a candidate to ask for an ad to get pulled. But it’s uncommon for it to happen in a race,” Wagner said.
In a campaign drawing record-smashing cash, out-of-state donations flow into Supreme Court race
Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center, attributed Protasiewicz’s fundraising haul, in part, to a national network of donors Democrats have had better success than Republicans in creating in recent years.
“Democrats have generally built up more national infrastructure to promote fundraising for candidates across the country,” Burden said.
Uncovering the causes of infant and maternal mortality
Two new reports from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention detail infant and maternal mortality rates in the U.S. We talk with Tiffany Green, a reproductive health expert and assistant professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, about what needs to be done to save the lives of mothers and their babies.
UW campuses will raise residential tuition for first time in 10 years
In-state undergraduate students in the University of Wisconsin System will see the first tuition hike since Republican state lawmakers instituted a tuition freeze a decade ago.
The UW System Board of Regents on Thursday approved the tuition hike with 16 members voting in favor and one voting against. Regents Héctor Colón and Jennifer Staton were not present. The average increase of 5 percent comes as a GOP bill aims to limit the board’s tuition setting authority once again.
Economic impact of federal spending on Wisconsin veterans rivals the state’s beef farming industry
Noted: A report from University of Wisconsin-Extension found that while the number of veterans in Wisconsin is declining, spending on veteran services by the U.S. Department of Veterans Administration, or VA, is increasing.
Steven Deller, a professor of applied and agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the report, said those funds return federal tax dollars to the state and inject money into local economies.
“We tend to lose money to Washington,” Deller said. “Making sure that the veterans that are in the state are taking full advantage of all the benefits that are offered to them is one way of getting some of that money back into the state.”
UW Regents increase in-state tuition for first time in a decade. Here’s what you need to know.
The board overseeing Wisconsin’s public university system voted Thursday to increase tuition for in-state undergraduates.
It’s the first rate increase since 2012, a move craved by University of Wisconsin System campuses that have operated under financial strain for years and opposed by students who already take out tens of thousands of dollars to earn their degrees.
‘Science of reading,’ whole language,’ ‘balanced literacy’: How can Wisconsin resolve its ‘reading wars’ and teach kids to read?
Quoted: On the other side of the debate is Mark Seidenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the leading scientists cited by advocates for the science of reading. Seidenberg said there is a large volume of research that sheds light on how children learn to read and that supports the science of reading approach.
Can using such approaches raise the overall success of kids in becoming readers? “I think it’s huge,” Seidenberg said in an interview.
She saved 9-year-old Scott Hanson from drowning in the Manitowoc-Two Rivers YMCA pool in 1973. 50 years later, he connects to tell her thanks.
Noted: Cloutier received an award for her efforts, and a photo was published in the newspaper. She left Manitowoc to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, married Daniel Cloutier and moved to northern California.
April bail referendums: What they’re about, who supports them and who could be most affected by them?
“There’s two parts to the discussion about bail in Wisconsin,” University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Adam Stevenson said. “One is what, if any, cash is required for release and the other is what conditions or rules do folks have to follow when they are out in the community on bail.”
Referendums are increasingly being used by both political parties, particularly with nonpartisan spring elections, which don’t usually generate great voter turnout, said Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor.
“These elections just don’t generate the same level of media coverage or public discussion so these gimmicks are one way to get the attention of the voter,” Burden said. “The effect on overall turnout probably won’t be great, but in Wisconsin, most people assume elections are going to be close, so even a change in the balance of things by a percentage point or two could tip the race and tip the balance of the Supreme Court itself.”
Dan Kelly says his politics don’t matter in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. Supporters say Republican priorities hang in the balance.
Quoted: Howard Schweber, a professor of political science and law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Kelly’s connections send a message to conservative voters and groups.
“He has all of that background that, without him having to say anything, tells those interests that he is their guy,” Schweber said. “And in a way that frees him to be able to afford to run as a traditional conservative or even traditional judge … trusting that those more ideological voters will understand that this is just advertising.”
A High-Stakes Election in the Midwest’s “Democracy Desert”
Noted: Donohue, who is seventy-three years old and has curly chestnut hair, grew up in Sheboygan. She has been a community-minded activist since high school, when she won the Young American Medal for Service, which L.B.J. put around her neck in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. After college, she and a friend took a ten-month trip across the country in a 1960 Volkswagen bus that they called the “flying tomato,” and then she applied to an auto-mechanics program at a technical college and to the University of Wisconsin Law School. She was rejected by the technical college but got accepted to law school. She eventually returned to Sheboygan to work on cases involving domestic-violence victims, tenant disputes, and disability benefits, among other things.
Republicans announce hearings on UW free speech issues
Republicans on the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities announced on Tuesday they’d be holding a series of hearings about free speech and “intellectual diversity” on Wisconsin’s public university campuses.
In Wisconsin Supreme Court race, ad spending for Kelly ekes past Protasiewicz after she led in ads 23-to-1
Quoted: “There seems to be an intense interest on the ideological left, especially among various pro-choice groups, to focus on this race,” said Michael Wagner, who studies elections and media at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Helen Schubert, longtime Chicago PR executive, dies
Noted: Born Helen Celia Schubert in Wisconsin, Schubert grew up outside Cedarburg, just north of Milwaukee. She received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and journalism in 1952 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also wrote for the student newspaper.
Wisconsin’s healthiest, least healthy counties; UW reveals new data
Ozaukee County ranks the healthiest in Wisconsin and Menominee is the least healthy county in the state, according to new data from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released on Wednesday, March 29.
Republican lawmakers to hold hearings on what they call lack of ‘intellectual diversity’ at UW campuses
A Republican legislator who has accused colleges of “indoctrinating students” will hold hearings next month on whether a lack of what he calls “intellectual diversity” at UW System campuses is hurting the quality of education. The push follows a campus free speech survey that found some conservative students reported self-censoring views in class.
College Admissions Trends For 2023
Noted: Students should also be prepared for the possibility of deferment, especially at early action colleges, as some schools are experiencing record application volume and are deferring a larger number of students than usual. For example, University of Wisconsin-Madison deferred 17,000 of its 45,000 early action applicants, while Clemson University delivered deferment messages to 15,000 of its 26,000 early applicants.
Helping People Pay Their Sky-High Water Bills Is a SNAP
Written by Manuel P. Teodoro, an associate professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Teodoro studies water sector management, regulation, and finance.
How the Gun Became Integral to the Self-Identity of Millions of Americans
University of Wisconsin–Madison researcher and assistant professor Nick Buttrick studies the psychological relationship that millions of Americans have with their guns. Buttrick’s research builds on the historical record to show that in the U.S.—the only country with more civilian firearms than people—white Southerners started cultivating the tradition of the home arsenal immediately after the Civil War because of insecurities and racial fears. During the rest of the 19th century, those anxieties metamorphosized into a fetishization of the firearm to the point that, in the present day, gun owners view their weapons as adding meaning and a sense of purpose to their lives.
Scientific American spoke with Buttrick about the psychological roots of the gun culture that has contributed to the more than 100 mass shootings that have occurred in the U.S. so far this year.
DNA from half-eaten burrito ties ex-Wisconsin doctoral student to pro-life center firebombing attack
DNA found in a half-eaten burrito helped exposed a former Wisconsin university research assistant now accused of firebombing a pro-life center last Mother’s Day.
The Catch-22 for Working Parents
Quoted: If the U.S. is unwilling to help unemployed parents, then it should make a far greater effort to ensure that parenting and work are compatible. Expanding funding for the child-care-subsidy program to meet the needs of eligible families would be a great place to start, said Alejandra Ros Pilarz, who studies working families with low incomes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We have to look for solutions both on the child-care side and on the employment side,” Pilarz said.
Minnesota sisters Lindsey Uselding, Kirsten Meehan launch new HGTV renovations show
Noted: After college at UW-Madison, they went on different career paths. Kirsten went into the family restoration business, Ungerman, while Lindsey spent 12 years in corporate America at Target. Then came an offer.
FTC proposes banning non-compete agreements for American workers
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed banning employers from requiring workers to sign non-compete agreements. The FTC argues they suppress wages by $300 billion annually and prevent 30 million Americans from pursuing career opportunities. Martin Ganco, a professor in the Department of Management and Human Resources at the Wisconsin School of Business and an expert on non-competes, joins us.
Jane Goodall returns to Madison
We caught up with the acclaimed ethologist and conservationist before her talk on UW-Madison’s campus, where she reflected on her time in Tanzania and our shared climate future.
Tyson Foods plant closure raises antitrust concerns among US farmers, experts
Noted: The planned closure of the plant has left dozens of Virginia chicken growers scrambling to find new buyers in a region with few other options. It could also expose Tyson to fines under the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA), the U.S. antitrust law requiring the minimum advance warning, according to Peter Carstensen, a professor of law emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School who previously served in the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
This NATO Ally is Building Strongest Army After Ukraine: Military Analyst
Quoted: Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that Poland “does feel seriously threatened” by Russia’s potential victory in Ukraine, compounded by Russian ground forces moving closer to Polish territory.
“That said, I have not seen Poland advocating a forward-leaning or risk-taking offensive posture vis-à-vis Russia or Russian forces operating in Ukraine,” Troitskiy said.
What would happen if everyone just stopped paying their student debt?
Quoted: Nick Hillman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education, said he thinks Biden’s forgiveness program would be a net positive.
“Our student loan repayment system has been shut off for three years and it’s already a pretty rusty machine in the first place,” Hillman said.
Once we resume those payments, it’ll leave many people worse off, he explained.
“So cancellation would help in that transition period,” he added.
Milwaukee’s free doula program hopes to empower women, lessen race-based health challenges
Noted: While the program was initially funded through a partnership between the city and the county, the city has taken on the program on its own since, with the support of a grant from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Partnership Program.
DHS COVID-19 testing programs wind down as interest in tests changes
Quoted: Ajay Sethi, professor of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the free at-home tests are not only convenient but have been critical in making sure there’s equitable access to testing.
“Not everybody can afford tests if there was a charge for them,” he told Wisconsin Public Radio in February. “So they should continue to play a role. And it’s our job as a society to continue to promote COVID testing, because knowledge of your status of being infected with COVID goes a long way in taking the right steps to prevent spreading that virus to other people.”
Mom and son celebrate matching residency programs together: ‘Still incredible to me’
Noted: Cao, 54, a research scientist at the University of Kansas, graduated from medical school in China and practiced internal medicine for a decade before immigrating to the U.S. with her family in 2006. Meanwhile, Liu, 26, is a current student at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is expected to graduate this May.
Last week, Cao learned she would be headed to the clinical pathology residency program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while Liu learned he had matched with the radiation oncology residency program at the University of Pennsylvania in his hometown of Philadelphia.
How The Bible Took Shape
Energy Update: Microgrids might be part of our future solution to power grid problems
We talk with Giri Venkataramanan, the Keith and Jane Morgan Nosbusch professor of electrical and computer engineering at UW-Madison and director of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium, about the state of the U.S. power grid, the influence of climate change on its future and a solution being explored at UW-Madison.
Preventing the spread of dangerous, drug-resistant fungus
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention warns they’ve seen an increase in the potentially dangerous, drug-resistant fungus Candida aurus. We speak with Dr. David Andes, a UW Health infectious disease physician and Division chief for infectious disease at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, about maintaining sterile facilities and staying safe.
How ‘Build Your Own College Rankings’ Was Built
By , deputy graphics director for Opinion. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Special election in Wisconsin’s 8th Senate District will decide fate of Senate’s two-thirds majority
Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the district is not yet a toss-up, but it’s now within the grasp of Democrats, a possibility that “would not have been the case five or 10 years ago.”
“It’s been zooming towards the Democrats very quickly in the last decade,” Burden said.
Student-athletes aren’t immune from suicide risk. Colleges are taking notice.
Noted: Before cross-country runner Sarah Shulze, 21, died by suicide at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in April 2022, the athletics department was expanding its professional mental health support from two staffers to six to help the school’s approximately 800 student-athletes, said David Lacocque, the department’s director of mental health and sport psychology. The department, known until eight months ago as “clinical & sport psychology,” changed its name in part because student-athletes were asking for mental health support.
In addition to scheduled appointments, the sports liaisons attend practices, team meetings, training sessions, and competitions to help normalize mental health concerns.
“Gone are the days when we sit in our office and wait for people to knock on the door and talk to us,” Lacocque said.
Prof. Tiffany Green: Residents in Wisconsin were living in post-Roe world before Dobbs decision
Abortion rights took center stage at the Wisconsin Supreme Court debate this week. And it could be a bellwether for how voters in swing states are reacting to the end of Roe. Tiffany Green is an associate professor at The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She joined American Voices to discuss.
Scott Johnson, Playfully Inventive Composer, Is Dead at 70
Noted: Daunted by the serialist compositional style that held sway in academia, Mr. Johnson turned to visual art. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a bachelor’s degree in art in 1974 and then drove a cab in Madison for a year to finance his move to New York City in 1975.
Wisconsin Supreme Court race touted as most consequential race of 2023
Early voting started this weekend in Wisconsin for its April 4th Supreme Court race. The outcome of the election will determine whether the court has a liberal or conservative majority, with the justices expected to rule on several key issues such as abortion and voting rights. University of California Law professor Michele Goodwin and the Director of Elections Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Barry Burden, joined American Voices to discuss.
A Quantum Leap In Timing
Noted: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity explains how a gravitational field slows time. Optical lattice clocks have been used at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and at the University of Colorado Boulder to measure this gravitational time dilation on sub-centimeter scales. The ability to accurately measure minute changes in gravity will transform fields such as mineral exploration, earthquake prediction and national security.
Weather Guys roundup: Spring equinox, looking back on this winter, bomb cyclones
The spring equinox symbolizes the start of spring. That’s an occasion celebrated around the world, at festivals like Holi in India and Chunfen in China. We learn more about the equinox and more with the Weather Guys, Steve Ackerman and Jon Martin, both professors of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison.
GOP State Building Commission members reject Evers’ $3.8B capital budget
Republicans on Wisconsin’s State Building Commission have rejected every recommendation in Gov. Tony Ever’s $3.8 billion capital budget request, which includes nearly $2 billion for University of Wisconsin System projects.
Energy Update: Microgrids might be part of our future solution to power grid problems
We talk with Giri Venkataramanan, an engineering professor and researcher at UW-Madison, about the state of the U.S. power grid, the influence of climate change on its future and a solution being explored at UW-Madison.
Republicans reject Gov. Tony Evers’ $3.8 billion plan for building projects, but it’s not over yet. Here’s what happens next.
Noted: Nearly half of the money in Evers’ plan would be spent on University of Wisconsin System campuses. The $1.8 billion would help fund a new engineering building at UW-Madison, expansion and renovation of two dorms at UW-Oshkosh and completion of a science center at UW-La Crosse.
Settlement reached in lawsuit filed against Madison zoo director, national zoo group
A $2.8 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a former University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who accused the director of Madison’s public zoo of sexual assault during an out-of-state work conference in 2018.
UW Health Interview with Dr. Amy Peterson
NBC 26 Today sat down with Dr. Amy Peterson, a cardiologist with UW Health Kids in Madison to talk about the rise in kids with high cholesterol.
Dr. Peterson explained why we are seeing a rise in kids with high cholesterol, as new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that one in five children have an abnormal cholesterol count.