Author: jplucas

Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab of the University of Wisconsin, one of the education scholars whose research influenced Obama’s plan, tells The Nation via e-mail that she anticipates that “total enrollment will increase and some of that will be from people…who otherwise wouldn’t go to college at all,” and completion rates should also rise. Great, but now the task is ensuring students are supported enough to stay on track.”

Quoted: Higher education scholar Sara Goldrick-Rab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has looked at ways to divvy up costs between the federal and state government to save students the headache of covering fees, books and supplies. In a recent research paper, she proposed having the federal government provide grants to schools to cover two years of tuition and states redirect higher ed funding to cover books and supplies. Living expenses, she said, could be covered through 15 hours a week of state or federal work study at a living wage.

Quoted: “Obama probably won’t get this done in the next couple years, but he’s laying the groundwork with his message,” said Sara Goldrick-Rab, an education policy expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who for years has advocated for free tuition during students’ first two years in college. “We didn’t get free high school overnight.”

Quoted: “Federal monetary investment would be matched by federal power under this plan,” said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of ed policy studies at University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Noted: Also, to get the proposed funding, colleges must adopt “promising and evidence-based institutional reforms” to improve outcomes. Using funding as a reform carrot is one of benefits, Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, pointed out when she proposed the idea of free community college in April.

Noted: The bacteria that caused Ault’s infection, Staphylococcus aureus, commonly lives on the human body. An underlying illness or compromised immune system can turn its presence into a medical emergency, but “for most people, Staphylococcus aureus is going to be nothing. It just sets up shop in their nose, not doing anything,” says Dr. Caitlin Pepperell, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: One clear influence on the Obama plan is a proposal by Sara Goldrick-Rab and Nancy Kendall, professors at the University of Wisconsin. They argue that the current financial aid system is broken, which explains why “students from high-income families who enter college are now six times more likely than those from low-income families to complete bachelor’s degrees by age 25.”

One clear influence on the Obama plan is a proposal by Sara Goldrick-Rab and Nancy Kendall, professors at the University of Wisconsin. They argue that the current financial aid system is broken, which explains why “students from high-income families who enter college are now six times more likely than those from low-income families to complete bachelor’s degrees by age 25.”

Quoted: Katy Culver, associate director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the issue is not so black and white. “I don’t think it’s a simple question of those who are republishing the images are right and those who are not republishing them are wrong,” she said. “There seems to be a vein of commentary on social media — that any publication not republishing the cartoons at issue is somehow not standing in solidarity. I don’t buy that. I think it’s much more multilayered.”

Quoted: “I think it’s the ultimate attack on freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” said Robert Dreschel. “Things don’t get much more extreme than shooting and killing people with which you take issue.”

Quoted: “This is a fundamental systematic change. It’s bold and exactly what we need right now,” says Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “Attempting to understand evolutionary trade-offs is of interest to a broad swath of biologists,” Peter Zani, an integrative biologist at the University of Wisconsin, told Science.

Quoted: “I found the work to be fascinating and convincing,” said Dr. James E. Gern, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. But he cautioned that rhinoviruses infecting cells in a dish may not behave as they would in, say, a wheezing subway commuter.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin political science professor Ken Mayer said while Walker’s elections and fight over Act 10 have garnered him national attention, the field could be tough.

Quoted: Every year since 2004, the figure has dropped, to around 9,400 miles driven last year. “Unlike other past dips in driving, this recent downward shift has had no clear, lasting connection to economic trends or gas prices,” said Chris McCahill of the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin. American driving patterns “aren’t as responsive to gas prices as they used to be,” McCahill said. “There’s less elasticity in driving.”

The U.S. Embassy in Paris is telling Americans who live there to be on alert. WTMJ’s Michelle Richards spoke with Elena Luoto Meister, a UW-Madison graduate who’s been living in Paris for the last 10 years.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Political Scientist David Canon said spring elections are low-turnout races, but it still could get a fair amount of interest.

Quoted: Becoming more oriented to processes and practical applications can also help schools keep up with rapid advancements in science, said Anne Lynn Gillian-Daniel, the education director for the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Kids are still memorizing what amino acids look like,” she said. “Why? I can look that up on Google in 10 seconds.”

Quoted: The company is adding a $2.75 fee for sports programming. UW-Madison telecommunications professor Barry Orton says there’s really nothing new about cable fees going up, but the latest increase adds a bit of transparency.

Noted: But what about jobs? An analysis done by Menzie Chinn, a University of Wisconsin economist, measured private nonfarm job growth in four states — California, Wisconsin, Kansas and Minnesota — that elected new governors in 2010.

Noted: By the time it comes to choosing a college major, only 0.3 percent of high school girls select computer science. Janet Hyde, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, found that girls who grow up believing boys are better at math—something parents and teachers persist in thinking—are more likely to avoid the harder math courses.

Quoted: Much of the focus has, however, been on grains and meat, according to Sundaram Gunasekaran, a professor of food engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and editor of the book Nondestructive Food Evaluation: Techniques to Analyse Properties and Quality.

The spring is usually the time when the dairy industry builds up the butter supply for the all-important holiday season.  But, a huge bump in exports led to a lower-than-normal inventory, which also meant higher prices, which hit a record in September, according to Mark Stephenson, the director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: In an e-mail, Professor Thongchai Winichakul, who teaches South-east Asian history at the University of Wisconsin -Madison in the United States, wrote: “I don’t think there has ever been abuse and enforcement of 112 like today.

“This was as quiet a year for agricultural pests as I’ve ever seen in my career,” said entomologist Phil Pellitteri. Not only that, he added that it was a low activity year across the board, regardless of the crop.