How the leopard got its spots and the zebra its stripes might not be just-so stories much longer. Biologists are beginning to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms animals use to deck themselves out with colorful swirls, stripes, spots and dots.
Stitting in her tiny living room here, Santa Castillo beams about the new house that she and her husband are building directly behind the wooden shack where they now live.
One day about a year ago, Donald X. Burt was at home in an exurban community west of Philadelphia, when the phone rang. The FBI was calling again, as they had done so many times over the last 40 years.
When the 2010 IAAF world junior track and field championships begin, it will be Mohammed Ahmed who carries Canada?s hopes into the distance events. Ahmed will be a sophomore at UW-Madison.
Noted: Kevin Reilly, president of the University of Wisconsin system, noted that Wisconsin is among 31 states that have joined the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of three that have applied to the federal government?s Race to the Top program for funds to build an assessment aligned to the common core.
Quoted: “A successful mayor of New York with lots of resources and lots of ambition should never be counted out,” said Charles Franklin, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and co-founder of pollster.com.
A group of students want University of Washington President Mark Emmert to do one thing before he steps down this fall: They want him to take a stand against Nike.
Quoted: After Pasteur?s experiments, people started realizing “stuff wasn?t spoiling because of some mysterious aura around it, but it was due to these contagious ?bugs,? ” says Scott Rankin, a professor in the department of food science at the University of Wisconsin.
That Bluetooth device for your cell phone or laptop computer can do more than just make a connection. TrafficCast International in Madison has found a way to use the wireless devices to show the real-time flow of traffic, whether it?s on some of the nation?s busiest stretches of highway or the smallest back road. TrafficCast was founded in 1996 by Connie J. Li and her husband, Bin Ran, both traffic engineers; Ran is on the engineering faculty at UW-Madison.
Metro Transit had a slight decrease in ridership while revenues continued to grow in the first five months of 2010. Ridership is a touchy subject for city officials because some feared a decrease after Metro raised fares in April 2009. The current decrease, however, may partly be the result of new drivers not counting riders on ?no fare? routes at UW-Madison, Metro General Manager Chuck Kamp said.
Troy Runge holds what could be America?s energy future in his hands — and it looks a little like dog food. A mix of sawdust bound into pellets, it?s Runge?s latest creation in his lab on the UW-Madison campus. There, he?s been trying different combinations of plant materials, or biomass, as a fuel to replace the coal that burns in the Charter Street power plant about a half-mile away. Runge?s work is part of a broader initiative on campus to develop renewable energy sources.
Dane County?s black infant mortality rate, which spiked in 2008 after years of surprising declines, dropped last year – but remained higher than the good years that received national attention. Health officials, puzzled by the mixed picture, say they will investigate every infant death and hope to expand home visits to pregnant women. A UW-Madison study continues to examine the situation in Dane County and in Racine County, where the black infant mortality rate has remained high.
Most allergies ? especially to airborne allergens associated with runny noses and itchy eyes ? come on in the teenage years or early twenties, according to Mark Moss, UW-Madison professor of pediatrics and immunology. Late allergy emergence is a bit of a mystery, Moss said, so much so that late-developing allergies aren?t seen as late-developing at all. If you have the potential for an allergic reaction, it?s probably always been there, waiting for the right mote of dust to waft by.
Like many leading ladies, Molly Spivey got her start in the ensemble. Luckily, that was an ensemble with the Madison Savoyards, Madison?s summer-centered community theater that produces Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. This year, Spivey, 22, plays “little” Buttercup, the mezzo soprano principal in “Pinafore.” It is her first Savoyards lead.
A new poll shows Wisconsinites are not pleased with state or national politicians. The University of Wisconsin Survey Center?s Badger Poll released Friday shows President Barack Obama?s approval rating at 49 percent, down from 60 percent in November. Only 29 percent approve of the job being done by Congress while 64 percent do not approve.
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle?s approval rating has hit a new low. The University of Wisconsin Survey Center?s Badger Poll released on Friday shows the two-term governor?s approval rating at just 38 percent. That is down from a high of 52 percent in June 2007.
You have called your plan ?Principles for progress and prosperity.? We propose to add another ?P? word ? priorities. What you really want is for us to give UW System priority in the state budget. But we want to see more prioritizing from you as well. We want you to think more boldly about trimming duplication across campuses, about avoiding the trap of trying to be all things to all people, and about doing more with less.
There?s always a lot of talk about voters from one party or another switching over to wreak havoc on an election, but there?s little evidence to show that it happens in Wisconsin or anywhere else, said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor and founder of pollster.com.
A two-day program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison allows children and their grandparents to learn together.
Quoted: Mary Prosser, law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it?s a misdemeanor to fail to prevent an additional crime.
Quoted: There?s always a lot of talk about voters from one party or another switching over to wreak havoc on an election, but there?s little evidence to show that it happens in Wisconsin or anywhere else, said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor and founder of pollster.com.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri said earwig larvae emerge from the ground every year about Memorial Day, and some earwigs still will linger into September. Before they disappear, they?ll likely munch on marigolds, hostas and aphids.
Noted: On Jan. 20, a partnership that includes Oshkosh Corp. and UW-Madison received a $5 million, five-year Technology Innovation Program grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to study the use of nanocomposites to make large-scale castings of light metals like aluminum and magnesium as strong as cast steel.
Noted: UW-Madison political science professor Kathy Cramer Walsh says it seems high to people who follow politics, but adds it?s not unusual for that many people to be undecided.
If you want to study Buddhist or Methodist or Jewish thought at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, there are relevant courses in religious studies — courses where the instructors have been selected by a department of scholars, through standard academic procedures.
Poll results released Thursday show Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has 27 percent support and Republican challenger Ron Johnson has 21 percent in a Senate race in which more than half of those asked say they?re still undecided. About another 1 percent said they would vote for a candidate other than Feingold or Johnson. The margin of error in the University of Wisconsin Badger Poll was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
In all the frenzied reporting of Michael Morgan?s UW-Madison appointment, I don?t recall questions about the salary itself. How many employees in the UW System are paid in six figures? How many are paid more than our governor? When we demanded our UW System be “run like a business,” was this the unintended consequence ? the corporatization of education and escalating competition for higher administrative compensation? Has the business of education become more important than education?
“In the scheme of things, they?re kind of pretty,” said UW-Madison entomologist Phil Pelliteri, inexplicably, of house centipedes. But then he added, pretty quickly, “It?s one of those creepy-crawlies that no one seems to like.”
A new poll shows that either major Republican candidate for governor would crush the Democrat should the election be held now. But the University of Wisconsin Badger Poll released on Thursday also shows that most people just aren?t paying attention to the race four months before the election. The poll shows that 32 percent would vote for either Republican Scott Walker or Mark Neumann. Only 15 percent say they would vote for Democrat Tom Barrett.
UW-Madison ranked fifth among large schools contributing graduating seniors to the 2010 Teach for America pool. This fall, 56 recent graduates from UW-Madison will join the corps, committing two years of service to underserved schools in rural and urban areas.
Most people aren?t paying attention to Wisconsin?s governor?s race, but those who are overwhelmingly favor the Republican candidates, a poll released Thursday showed. The University of Wisconsin Survey Center?s Badger Poll showed that 32 percent of those who responded to the random telephone poll would vote for either Republican Scott Walker or Mark Neumann. Only 15 percent said they would vote for Democrat Tom Barrett.
Megan Abel. I even remember her name.She was the red-headed girl I met at college orientation.
Quoted: “In general, there?s some research to support the idea that going to the movies to ?have a good cry? is a young person?s game – probably part of the developmental task of exploring intense feelings as well as a way to bond with your peers,” says Prof Marie-Louise Mares, of the communication arts department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “Barrett?s got a tough road ahead of him,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Katherine Cramer Walsh, who worked on the poll. “I?m a little bit surprised by the results.”
Quoted: “So water quality, air quality and heat waves would all be pertinent for Chicago,” said Jonathan Patz, director of global environmental health at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “A lot of the health infrastructure, we need to anticipate more extremes. We can?t do business as usual. We need to plan for more weather variability. Our water systems are failing.”
Remember Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war stalker of President George W. Bush? The poor lady?s 15 minutes of fame expired a good two years ago when even Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama kept his distance. Yet, here she was this past April primed to speak on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus when the Memorial Union realized that no proper university group was sponsoring the event.
Madison has a strange relationship with spirits. I?m not talking about ghosts, of course. I mean alcohol ? for better or worse a big part of our city?s history and culture. Taverns and bars line our streets. Micro- and macro-breweries are as prevalent as cheesemakers in other parts of the state. The UW-Madison student union has a German-style drinking hall inside.
President Obama on Wednesday nominated Victoria Nourse to the Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
UW Hospital and Clinics are ranked in the top 50 U.S. hospitals in seven medical specialties. That?s according to the 2010 edition of U.S. News and World Report?s ?America?s Best Hospitals? guide, something UW Hospital and Clinics Chief Operating Officer Ron Sliwinski calls an affirmation of the work people do every day.
Quoted: “Can you tell I?m disgusted by this?” writes John Hawks, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He noted that the company is perfectly within its rights to sell the kit, since DNA Consultants explains clearly that its product actually doesn?t test your genetics.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers may change the way Alzheimers Disease is detected and treated.
Noted: “Johnson has very deep pockets. He could spend $15 million to $20 million of his own money,” said Ken Mayer, a campaign finance expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A free exhibit at the Dane County Regional Airport features work done by artists from all over the world with developmental disabilities.
A medical breakthrough by Madison researchers might permanently change the diagnosis and care of patients with Alzheimer?s disease.
A New York Times headline that appeared late last week was shocking: “Colleges Spend More on Recreation Than Class.” It also wasn?t true. The Times corrected it, but not before other outlets picked up the story. And even the resulting story, with the new headline “Share of College Spending for Recreation Is Rising,” misinterpreted the report it cited.
The headline on the press release sure sounds like this is a case to be outraged over: “Ill. prof. fired for teaching about Catholic beliefs in class on Catholicism,” says the announcement from the Alliance Defense Fund. Many newspapers articles ran variations of that headline — “University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs,” read one. Framed that way — and plenty of people think that?s exactly how it should be framed — it?s not surprising that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken a lot of heat for telling Kenneth Howell, an adjunct, that he is no longer wanted to teach a course on Roman Catholicism, his faith.
President Obama on Wednesday nominated UW-Madison law professor Victoria F. Nourse to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to replace retiring Judge Terence Evans. Nourse, 51, who has been at UW since 1993, has also been a visiting professor at Yale University, New York University and Emory University. At UW-Madison she teaches courses in legislation, statutory interpretation, constitutional history and criminal law and has written extensively on those topics, as well as the separation of powers.
Wisconsin may be facing a $2.5 billion budget gap, but that?s no excuse for failing to make the investments required to improve the economy. A growing economy ? producing jobs, income and tax revenue ? is the best way to close any budget gap as well as offer expanding opportunities to residents. That?s the spirit in which lawmakers should consider proposals to shore up one of Wisconsin?s glaring weaknesses in the competition for economic success ? a scarcity of money to bankroll young businesses. Dane County?s thriving biotechnology business community, much of it based on ideas from UW-Madison research, is an example. In fact, UW-Madison makes Wisconsin a prime candidate to generate the ideas and entrepreneurs to be matched with venture capital. The university annually ranks among the top five universities in the country in attracting research dollars.
He was a classics professor at UW-Madison who taught about 26,000 students. More, he believed, than any other faculty member. She was an arts and literature lecturer, denied tenure because she was a “faculty wife.” The prominent UW-Madison couple died within two days of each other. A memorial service for Herbert and Evelyn (Eve) Mitchell Howe will be held Friday. He died June 29 at age 98; she at age 94 on July 1. The Howes were, for many years, familiar characters on campus ? frequently seen walking or riding bikes to and from their home in the University Heights neighborhood because they didn?t own a car.
Only three women are head coaches ? but that shouldn?t matter. Look carefully at this word picture and tell me if you see something that doesn?t fit. The University of Wisconsin has more women?s sports programs (12) than men?s teams (11). According to the latest Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data, UW is one of three schools in the Big Ten Conference to have more women student-athletes (393) than men (374). Minnesota and Northwestern are the others.
The rhetoric is heating up between Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold and his leading Republican challenger. A new poll could add fuel to the fire. The University of Wisconsin Badger Poll was conducted between June 9 and July 10. That was before the two campaigns released their TV ads this week but it should still give the candidates an early idea of where they stand.
No, Greta Van Susteren wasn?t in Wisconsin filing signatures to get on the ballot in time for Tuesday?s deadline for candidates. But the Fox News host did tell Politico that she would run for Wisconsin governor if she knew she “could not fail.” Then again, Van Susteren, the daughter of a Wisconsin judge who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also told the interviewer that she?d “get rid of February,” if she was president and could make only one executive decision.
A free exhibit at the Dane County Regional Airport features work done by artists from all over the world with developmental disabilities. The exhibit features 65 artworks in different media. The selected works are from a collection that?s grown over the last 34 years to 150 pieces altogether and usually hangs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Waisman Center.
Richard C. Dolan, age 81, of Madison, passed away on Sunday, July 11, 2010, at Belmont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Quoted: People buy iPhones for emotional reasons, not because they?re the best phones, said Deborah Mitchell, executive director of the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin.
Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor, said the large number of open seats has him expecting a “huge” turnover in the Legislature.” The open seats will be most of the new members,” he said. “And the turnover and remaking of the Legislature is a question mark.”
“In today?s market, a lot of people are really looking for an opportunity to make a good deal on real estate,” said Tom Landgraf, a senior lecturer in the real estate program at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison purchased a disputed plot of land at Capitol Court near North Charter Street last year with the intent to significantly expand its primate labs. But an application for $15 million in federal stimulus funds to expand the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center was rejected, said Alan Fish, vice chancellor for facilities, planning and management. That means that the expansion is on hold, he said.
Noted: “To my eye at least, it is a baboon, which lives in Africa,” said Christopher Coe, director of the Harlow Primate Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “The more common monkey that lives in that part of the world is a rhesus monkey. They live in India and can also be found in China. But this photo is not [of] a rhesus monkey. … While you could train a monkey to shoot a gun, I certainly wouldn?t want to be anywhere in the neighborhood after that. I rather doubt you could trust its aim,” he said. “In addition, the noise would certainly scare most animals and make them stop.”
Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab teaches education policy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She says nonprofit colleges and public universities deserve a closer look too. Plenty of students graduate from those schools with piles of debt and slim job prospects.
