Quoted: James A. Wollack, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert in test security, says that testing systems would benefit from impartial investigators who would independently investigate cheating allegations.
Author: jplucas
In Honor of ‘Planet of the Apes’: The Top 3 Monkey Stock Pickers (AOL DailyFinance)
Quoted: “It?s pure chance,” Warren Porter, zoology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told DailyFinance. “It?s like playing roulette.”
Will the heat wave affect food prices?
WKOW-TV 27
Quoted: Nolan Andersen, a UW Extension Dairy and Livestock Agent for Dane County, says, “If we don?t get a good crop, that?ll drive costs up, the price per bushel will go up, and that all impacts the consumer.”
UW’s planned reduction in handicapped parking stalls criticized
WKOW-TV 27
Disabled students and advocates for the physically challenged criticized UW-Madison?s plan to eliminate more than fifty handicapped parking stalls on campus beginning Sept. 1.
Disabled Parking Spots To Move From UW Campus To Area Ramps
WISC-TV 3
Disability advocates are questioning a move on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Right now there are 73 free disabled parking spots on campus. Over the next year and a half that number will be cut to 16.
Reilly gives budget forecast for statewide system of colleges, universities
Wisconsin Public Radio
UW System president Kevin Reilly is talking about what $340-million in state budget cuts will mean to the system. UW System president Kevin Reilly says that the cuts for the 2011-2013 biennium will have a big impact on individual campuses.
Ruth Hirsch, widow of Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch, dies at 87
Madison.com
Ruth Hirsch, the widow of iconic University of Wisconsin athlete and athletic director Elroy Hirsch, died Monday. She was 87.
UW football: Badgers set for ‘Depth Chart’ on ESPN
Madison.com
The national spotlight continues to shine on the University of Wisconsin football team, much to the pleasure of coach Bret Bielema. Bielema said the Badgers will be part of a program on ESPN called “Depth Chart,” and UW is one of four college teams that will be featured. The show will focus on the quarterbacks and the cameras will be on hand throughout preseason camp. Players report Thursday and the first practice is Friday.
The tea party and the debt deal: Fiscal ‘terrorists’ or principled heroes? (MinnPost.com)
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a polling expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ESPN to focus on QB at UW, 3 other schools
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Bret Bielema isn?t afraid to provide the Wisconsin football program with national exposure when the opportunity arises. When the NFL Network approached Bielema about offering commentary during the NFL draft in April, UW?s head coach jumped at the chance.
The program gained even more exposure earlier this summer with the recruitment of quarterback Russell Wilson, who joined UW after starting for three seasons at North Carolina State. Now ESPN?s cameras are set to visit UW?s pre-season camp, which opens Friday, to give viewers an in-depth look at the program.
Court quashes stem-cell lawsuit
Nature
Was the case a fluke or a forewarning? Now that a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to halt US government funding of research using human embryonic stem cells, scientists who depend on that support are left wondering whether the battle is truly over, or is merely moving on to a different arena.
Metropolitan Museum Returns Antiquities Found in King Tut’s Tomb to Egypt (WNYC-FM)
Quoted: ?He?s really willing to put himself out there and he?s willing to make a bit of a spectacle,? said Kimberly Alderman, an art law expert at the University of Wisconsin. ?And because in a lot of these repatriation requests, they don?t have a legal claim, it ends up being well, ?Who?s making the most noise?? We?ll see in the coming months whether Egypt?s new government is able to replace him or not.?
Shiny pests return for more
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
You can see them glimmering in gardens, nestled in rose blooms, whether at the Boerner Botanical Gardens or in your own backyard. It?s “the bug from hell,” as University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri calls it.
Drunk Support
Inside Higher Education
College students like to drink. Sometimes they drink too much. And sometimes they pay the price ? academically, socially, and sometimes, with their lives. No matter how well-intentioned they are, educational prevention methods like posters and lectures alone will not stop all this from happening.
Study: Larger farms produce better milk
Wisconsin Public Radio
Larger dairy operations in Wisconsin tend to have better milk quality, according a UW-Madison study. But its lead researcher says there might be some confusion on how the study defines “quality.”
Still: Federal cuts will be felt at universities (Milwaukee Small Business Times)
Even after the federal debt ceiling is raised, one thing is certain about federal spending over the next decade: There will be less of it than expected. To be precise, federal spending will drop by about $2.4 trillion from current estimates. That means a full range of programs, from social services to defense to academic research, are likely to feel the pinch.
Diabetes has a new opponent
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
More than four decades ago, Hans Sollinger lost one of his closest relatives to diabetes, an experience that strengthened his resolve to find a more effective treatment for the disease.
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness and amputation in the United States, and 1 million patients could potentially qualify for pancreatic and kidney transplants because of the disease. About 1,000 patients end up receiving transplants each year.
Sollinger, chief of kidney transplantation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began his search for a long-term treatment for the affliction 20 years ago. To help him with his research, Sollinger hired Tausif Alam from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he had been conducting diabetes research.
State needs to show GE that it’s wanted
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
One solid building block is GE Healthcare?s relationship with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the nonprofit patenting and licensing arm for the university.
Ten years ago, the university, WARF and UW Hospitals launched intellectual property agreements that have allowed UW and company researchers to work side-by-side in Waukesha and Madison.
On Campus: Grants, goats, Greenland
Wisconsin State Journal
Twelve grants have been awarded to research groups as part of an initiative to foster cooperation between researchers at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. A total of $600,000 was divvied up between 12 groups Thursday, as the second batch of Intercampus Research Incentive Grants were allocated.
Shorter building proposed for St. Francis House site
Wisconsin State Journal
Developers are proposing a shorter apartment building on the site of the Episcopal student center at UW-Madison following opposition from a neighboring church and defeat at the city?s Plan Commission. The altered plan calls for an eight-story building, down from 12 stories.
Chris Rickert: Bringing a little transcendence to Willy Street
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Theresa Kelley, an English professor at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison gets a little help from some goats
Wisconsin State Journal
A herd of goats trimmed part of UW-Madison?s grounds last week, munching their way through brush to clear a steep hillside and drawing surprised glances from passers-by. The overgrown slope sits behind the School of Human Ecology building, 1300 Linden Drive. The building is getting a renovation and expansion, with a new addition to the west.
On Campus: UW-Madison ranks No. 14 in top party school list
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison?s ranking as a top party school is slipping. In the Princeton Review?s annual ranking, UW-Madison was listed as No. 14 among top party schools, dropping from No. 12 last year and No. 8 the year before.
UW study finds large dairy farms produce higher quality milk more often than small operations
Wisconsin State Journal
A UW-Madison study has found that milk produced on Wisconsin?s large farms, including the controversial industrial-size operations, is often of higher quality than milk from smaller farms. Steve Ingham, who led the study while working as a UW-Madison food science professor, speculated that the bigger farms may have more money to spend on equipment or may be better able to identify and remove cows with illnesses that affect milk production, such as mastitis. Ingham, who is now the food safety division administrator at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, added that all of the state?s farms, whether large or small, produce milk that easily meets federal food safety guidelines.
Carroll: The Call of the Thylacine ? Protect the Wild
New York Times
Kakadu National Park, Australia ? Eleven thousand miles from my home in Wisconsin, this national park is one of my favorite places on the planet ? a vast area of wetlands, woodlands and rock formations that is home to a fantastic array of wildlife.
Survey ranks UW-Madison as No. 14 party school (AP)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ohio University, set in an Appalachian town known for its rowdy Halloween bashes, has been named the nations No. 1 party school, pushing the University of Georgia down a slot in the 2011 Princeton Review survey released Monday.
Tech and Biotech: Madison is No. 3 for young professionals, Forbes says
Wisconsin State Journal
Forbes magazine says Madison is the third best city in the U.S. for young professionals. In ranking Madison No. 3, Forbes cited low unemployment, the UW-Madison and “a growing number of biotech and advertising companies.”
New state task force sets out on its task: school accountability
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: UW-Madison education professor Doug Harris.
Little Library supporters find that if you build it, they will come
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Rick Brooks, outreach program manager in the division of continuing studies at UW-Madison and a co-founder of Dane Buy Local.
Curiosities: What bug is the most dangerous carrier of diseases in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: UW-Madison entomology Professor Susan Paskewitz.
Just Ask Us: Do walk buttons impact timing of stoplights?
Wisconsin State Journal
Do those buttons that pedestrians can push at busy intersections make any difference in the timing of the lights? A: Yes, they make a huge difference, said traffic engineer Dan Dettmann. At some intersections Downtown or on the UW-Madison campus, the walk sign comes up every cycle because of heavy pedestrian traffic all day.
Ask the Weather Guys: How is the dew point measured?
Wisconsin State Journal
Quoted: Steven A. Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
Richard Nixon Watergate testimony ordered released
BBC News Online
Quoted: Mr. Kutler, a professor from the University of Wisconsin, has written several books about Nixon and Watergate and has previously successfully sued to force the release of audio recordings Nixon secretly made in the Oval Office.
Judge: Time to unseal Nixon’s testimony (AP)
Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Quoted: “Nixon knew when you testified before a grand jury you exposed yourself to perjury, so I?m betting he told the truth,” said University of Wisconsin Professor Stanley Kutler, who filed the lawsuit along with four historians? organizations. Kutler, author of “Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes,” previously successfully sued to force the release of audio recordings Nixon secretly made in the Oval Office.
Circle the calendar: Nebraska’s Oct. 1 visit ripe for monster hype
Madison.com
Two months and two days from now, when Nebraska comes to town for its Big Ten Conference debut, we could be looking at an unrivaled spectacle that extends the boundaries of hype. UW and Nebraska are favored to win their divisions in the newly aligned league and meet in the first Big Ten title game on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis.
Durkin: Lower Wisconsin River offers fair share of fishing fun
Madison.com
Quoted: Karl Malcolm, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student studying black bears.
How TV can make you dumber (TribLocal.com)
Noted: Think you?re too smart to be influenced by the media you consume? Anything we see ? a person on the street, a character in a movie ? has some influence on your next thoughts, emotions or actions, simply because it?s the last thing your mind absorbed, says Joanne Cantor, a psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association who has studied the emotional and behavioral effect of TV and movies.
Dairy farmers worry that proposed E-Verify law will kill industry
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: A 2009 study by Jill Harrison, an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison department of rural sociology, found that immigrants – primarily Mexicans – make up 40% of dairy employees in the state
Gov. Christie’s status as GOP star proves a double-edged sword (Newark Star-Ledger)
Quoted: “He?s established a profile for himself … that goes way beyond the boundaries of New Jersey,” said Dietram Scheufele, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Memorial Services Scheduled For UW Electrician
WISC-TV 3
MADISON, Wis. — Brad Krause?s life involved working with his hands. The electrician for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died on Tuesday as a result of electrocution while working in the Humanities Building. He was 40 years old.
It?s time to plant for a second season
Janesville Gazette
Noted: We asked the experts at UW-Madison?s West Madison Research Center and the Rock County Extension for advice on how to grow lettuce and other second-season crops.
Recall elections: Mailers, money flood area (LaCrosse Tribune)
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political scientist and co-founder of pollster.com, agrees that Wisconsin is a bellwether for a national conservative agenda. UW-Madison?s Ken Mayer doesn?t think a win by either party will have sweeping ramifications in other states.
Debt-Ceiling Deal Provides $17-Billion for Pell Grants
Chronicle of Higher Education
The White House and Congress reached a deal Sunday to raise the nation?s borrowing limit and shrink the federal deficit, just two days before the August 2 deadline.
Some Scientists Fear Computer Chips Will Soon Hit a Wall
New York Times
For decades, the power of computers has grown at a staggering rate as designers have managed to squeeze ever more and ever tinier transistors onto a silicon chip ? doubling the number every two years, on average, and leading the way to increasingly powerful and inexpensive personal computers, laptops and smartphones.
Ominous sign from ancient sea level rise
MSNBC.com
In the whodunit-style search for the culprit behind drastic sea level rise many thousands of years ago, new research may have cleared one falsely accused party ? but, like any good thriller, the story of the exoneration brings with it an ominous twist, and one that has implications for life on Earth today.
Sports Mascot Games: Professional and college sports mascots battle at the Celebrity Mascot Games at Stetson University (Orlando Sentinel)
Orlando Sentinel
But instead of hunky, muscular men tumbling off the pedestals, the mascot version saw Bucky Badger from University of Wisconsin, the Vancouver Canucks? Fin and Klaw from the Orlando Predators take falls onto inflatable mats.
Meditation: Re-Wiring Your Brain for Happiness
ABCNEWS.com
A quiet explosion of new research indicating that meditation can physically change the brain in astonishing ways has started to push into mainstream.
Recently, the Dalai Lama granted permission for his monks, who are master mediators, to have their brains studied at the University of Wisconsin, one of the most high-tech brain labs in the world.
Antarctica’s Ice Less Stable Than Greenland’s; New Study Predicts ‘Scary’ Collapse Anytime (International Business Times)
Melting ice sheets of Greenland have been a cause of concern for researchers and climate change proponents, as previous studies on the ice sheet behavior projected Greenland?s ice less stable compared to Antarctica?s ice. But a recent study by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, suggests that we may have got it all wrong.
UW-Madison Prof. hails victory over stem cell research (WTAQ-FM, Sheboygan)
A UW-Madison official praised the dismissal of a lawsuit Thursday that threatened to end federal funding for the university?s embryonic stem cell research.
Social Networking Nudge
Inside Higher Education
Colleges are on social media, regardless of whether they have figured out what it is worth to maintain an institutional presence there. A recent survey by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth found that 98 percent of higher ed institutions are on Facebook, and 84 percent are on Twitter. Those numbers have risen dramatically in the past few years, college recruiters, fund-raisers, and marketers having bought into the value ? much of it speculative ? of keeping active in those communities.
NSF Announces Public-Private Partnership to Advance Technology
Chronicle of Higher Education
The National Science Foundation announced on Thursday that it planned to spend $1.25-million this year on a program designed to connect 100 of its university grantees with members of the private sector to help convert academic research into marketable products.
Wisconsin works to stop smoking to targeted populations
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Up until recently, smoking has been ingrained in the mental health and substance abuse cultures, says Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, Director of Psychiatry at University Health Services in Madison.
Wisconsin recall debate shifts from unions to budget cuts
Appleton Post-Crescent
Quoted: “I don?t think I?ve seen a single ad that?s directly about union representation issues,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Antarctica: A ‘Scary’ Source for Rising Seas
Discovery News
Noted: Geoscientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oregon State-Corvallis tested the prevailing thinking by analyzing ocean sediments deposited by glaciers melting from different, chemically distinct, regions in southern Greenland.
Sorensen latest Badger to land free-agent deal
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Blake Sorensen, from Eden Prairie, Minn., has signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
Thanks to wet 2010 summer, firefly population is up
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A bumper crop of fireflies has been lighting up southeastern Wisconsin this year, thanks to a wetter-than-usual summer in 2010, said Phil Pellitteri, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist.
UPDATE: UW-Madison electrician electrocuted
WKOW-TV 27
The Dane County Medical Examiner?s officer is identifying the UW-Madison electrician who was electrocuted Tuesday.
See Images Of Goats Hard At Work On UW Campus (Channel3000.com)
JP Cullen & Sons, the contractor for the University of Wisconsin Human Ecology Building, used a green technique that is actually quite common in the area.
Worker Electrocuted At UW-Madison Building
WISC-TV 3
An electrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was electrocuted Tuesday at the UW Humanities Building.
US judge upholds federal embryonic stem cell funds
Reuters
A U.S. judge on Wednesday upheld the federal government?s rules that allow funding of human embryonic stem cell research, ruling for the Obama administration.