Fred Edward Lengfeld, age 92, passed away on Dec. 5, 2009. He served as chair person of Programs on Aging, with the University Wisconsin Extension, since 1964, and was adjunct professor of the Faye McBeath Institute on Aging and Adult Life.
Intellectuals donâ??t make good executives, Woodrow Wilson maintained, unless they take measures to stop their “everlasting disposition to think, to listen â?? and not act.” And so, as president of Princeton University and governor of New Jersey, he had trained himself, when his mind “felt like deciding, to shut it up My decision might be right, it might be wrong. No matter, I would take a chance and do something.”
The extinction of mammoths in North America at the end of the last ice age was not caused by a change in the ecosystem: itâ??s what triggered the changes, a new study suggests.T he study also elucidates a possible cause for the demise of mammoths and mastodons 15,000 years ago, and researchers say that the expanded incidence of fire in the landscape – suspected of being caused by human arrival – only appeared after the extinction.
“For the first time, we have a very close linkage between this major ecological event and some evidence about the consequences of this extinction,” said John Williams, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the senior author of the study published in the U.S. journal, Science.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is asking a state agency to dismiss a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint filed by a former employee of its fertility clinic.
Aspen trees grow faster with increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, say researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota. â??We were quite surprised to see this large of a response,â? says Rick Lindroth, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an author of the study. â??We wouldnâ??t have been surprised to see some effect, but a 53% increase is a whopping increase.â?
The miracle of the dramatic drop in Dane Countyâ??s black infant mortality rate has become more of a mystery, as the rate shot up last year after years of surprising declines that received national attention. Health officials learned last month that the countyâ??s rate of black babies who die before their first birthdays, which dropped nearly 70 percent from 1990-2001 to 2002-2007, increased last year to slightly above the previous level. Researchers, who have been studying what seemed to be going right, also are looking at what apparently went wrong last year. The recession could be to blame, said Dr. Thomas Schlenker, director of the Madison-Dane County Health Department.
A federal advisory panel Friday suggested approval of 27 more human embryonic stem cell lines for research funding, with restrictions. Earlier in the week National Institutes of Health chief Francis Collins approved 13 other stem cell lines for federal funding after they met ethics guidelines released by the Obama administration this year.
Recent UW-Madison graduate Erin Conrad was named one of 35 Marshall Scholars, a prestigious award on par with the Rhodes scholarship. She is the first UW-Madison graduate to get the award in 10 years.
Quoted: Daniel Einstein of the UW-Madison Division of Facilities, Planning and Management.
Could leftover fat from liposuctions heal other peopleâ??s wounds?It could, if a UW-Madison study in rabbits, published Friday, proves successful in humans.
Becky Hoffman, an advanced microbiologist at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene at UW-Madison, has received the Golden Spigot Award from the Water Quality and Technology Division of the American Water Works Association.
It would seem to hold all the appeal of listening to someone read the dictionary aloud. But hundreds of people will pack into a room on the UW-Madison campus Saturday to attend a presentation on the properties of carbon dioxide, liquid nitrogen and zirconium.In short, the choice activity in Madison on Saturday is a chemistry lecture.If it sounds like a snooze, then you donâ??t know Bassam Shakhashiri. This is the 40th time the UW-Madison professor has held his annual Christmas show extravaganza, otherwise known as “Once upon a Christmas cheery, in the lab of Shakhashiri.”
While solar and wind power get most of the headlines, geothermal power is quietly gaining traction on college campuses where energy costs can siphon millions each year from the budget. There are 46 schools divvying up millions in federal stimulus dollars to advance technology that uses the temperature of the Earth, rather than coal-fired power plants, to heat and cool buildings.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which spends about $50 million in climate-control costs a year, is incorporating a geothermal system in a building that opens next fall. The school should recover the $1.25 million cost in 15 to 20 years, said George Austin, the building project manager.
Quoted: Dr. John Lee, director of human factors research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said scientifically there are three kinds of driving distractions: visual, which is taking your eyes off the road; manual, which is taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive, which is taking your mind off the road.
Aspen trees grow faster with increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, say researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota.
More rigorous scientific training in clinical psychology graduate programs would turn out more competent clinicians, researchers write in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. But not all psychologists agree. Interviewed: Bruce Wampold, professor and chair, Department of Counseling Psychology, clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, Wis.
Quoted: â??This drug is not a home run,â? Dr. Brad S. Kahl, a lymphoma specialist at the University of Wisconsin, said during a meeting of an advisory committee to the F.D.A. on Sept. 2. â??Itâ??s not even a double. Itâ??s a single.â?
An estimated $34 million dining hall project for the University of Wisconsin-Madison may get snagged in the trees.
The proposed Gordon Commons building has received state approval, but when the project went before Madisonâ??s Urban Design Commission for an informational presentation, some commission members immediately called for more trees to improve aesthetics and safety. â??The unfortunate part of the building is that they have to have a dining hall throughout the construction process,â? said Bruce Woods, commission chairman, â??so the green space wonâ??t happen until the new building is done and the old building can come down.â?
Noted: The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which spends about $50 million in climate-control costs per year, is incorporating a geothermal system in a building that opens next fall. The school should recover the $1.25 million cost in 15 to 20 years, said George Austin, the building project manager.
Quoted: That may sound like a high rate, but J. Michael Collins, a UW-Madison professor of personal finances, says borrowers often end up paying much more if they allow payday loans to carry over month to month.Â
Proposed legislation would take some power away from Wisconsinâ??s university system, and could make it more difficult for campuses to expand. Right now the UW system has the power of eminent domain, which allows them to buy private property at a fair price if itâ??s going to be used for the public good.
Miami will face Wisconsin in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando with a chance for its first 10-win season since 2003. The No. 14 Hurricanes (9-3) are hoping to use the game to propel themselves into next year and perhaps get a higher preseason ranking. Miami has improved in each of the three years under coach Randy Shannon, and next seasonâ??s expectations will be even higher.
The UW System is joining about two-dozen colleges and universities in pledging to improve graduation rates for two specific groups of students. They want to cut achievement gaps for low-income and students of color in half by 2015.A new report this week shows that collectively, 45 percent of such students earn a bachelorâ??s degree within six years, compared to 57 percent for other students enrolled at the schools. (Second item.)
Rock and classical music may seem like strange bedfellows, but if you examine the evidence, theyâ??ve been having a love affair for quite some time.In the 1970s, prog-rock bands began using orchestrasâ?? epic sounds to lure listeners into intricate rhythms and harmonies. In the past decade, KISS, Metallica and Sigur Rós have collaborated with some of the worldâ??s finest symphonies. But while orchestras have influenced the local music scene through chamber-pop groups like Pale Young Gentlemen and Fermata, UW-Madisonâ??s string ensembles havenâ??t been staging major rock-outs.
A Washington-based investigative journalism organization said in a report issued Tuesday that it found a “culture of secrecy” surrounding sexual assault cases on university campuses across the U.S. The report by the Center for Public Integrity showed that nearly half of the 33 female students it interviewed in the past year about being raped were unsuccessful in pursuing criminal charges. That left the campus judiciary system as their only recourse.
The Badger Yearbook celebrates its 125th edition. Also, “The Trochos” is Latin for badger.
Jim Gillâ??s portrait photographs of Vietnam War veterans are large-scale, arresting and full of harrowing humanity. To confront these images is to come face-to-face with men and women whoâ??ve seen and experienced things most people can only imagine. Nearly 30 of Gillâ??s portraits are on display until Jan. 3 in the exhibition â??Back in the World: Portraits of Wisconsin Vietnam Veteransâ? at UW-Madisonâ??s Chazen Museum of Art.
A majority of Wisconsin residents responding to a recent poll say they disapprove of the job being done by Gov. Jim Doyle. That is the first time in Doyleâ??s seven years in office that a majority of those participating in the University of Wisconsin Survey Centerâ??s Badger Poll had that negative of a reaction to Doyle.
President Barack Obamaâ??s approval rating in Wisconsin is holding steady, while anger at Congress is subsiding. Results of a poll by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center released Thursday show that 60 percent of respondents approve of the job Obamaâ??s doing. In the spring his approval rating was 63 percent.
Former University of Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger has been named Most Valuable Player of the inaugural season of the United Football League.
Noted: Now theyâ??re the ones left to fumble for answers as “Climategate” spirals into a hurricane of doubt. A conservative think tank has even taken aim at the University of Wisconsin, which reportedly had several scientists in the infamous e-mail loop.
A majority of Wisconsin residents responding to a recent poll say they disapprove of the job being done by Gov. Jim Doyle. That is the first time in Doyleâ??s seven years in office that a majority of those participating in the University of Wisconsin Survey Centerâ??s Badger Poll had that negative of a reaction to Doyle.
A unique procedure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is helping one infant regain his sight.
Quoted: “The fact that food stamp usage is up leads us to say the stigma once associated with food stamps is down,” said John Karl Scholz, a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author of the book “Changing Poverty, Changing Policies,” published by the Russell Sage Foundation, which studies problems facing the poor.
Noted: The Bush Foundation is partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Value-Added Research Center to evaluate teachers based on student performance. “Bush is pushing us in a new territory, because we havenâ??t really done value-added assessment for teachers,” said Chris Thorn, the centerâ??s associate director. “Theyâ??re pushing all of the teacher-prep programs into issuing a warranty for the teachers they produce. They want these institutions to make sure that their teachers are good.”
Aspen trees, the backbone of Minnesotaâ??s paper industry, are liking the extra carbon dioxide in the air linked to global warming. New research published Friday found that aspen growth rates increased by 53 percent during the past half-century, as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased about 20 percent. “Trees eat carbon dioxide for a living,” said Don Waller, study author and University of Wisconsin-Madison botany professor.
David Wilson, a son of Alabama sharecroppers who earned a doctorate from Harvard and supervises Wisconsinâ??s 13 two-year colleges, will become the 12th president of Morgan State University, school officials announced Thursday.
Quoted: I asked UW-Madison polling authority Charles Franklin if Wisconsin, long considered a swing state, was now a Democratic state, as Barack Obamaâ??s 14-point margin in the 2008 presidential election seemingly demonstrated.
You may know Wisconsinâ??s state animal (the badger), the state bird (the robin), or even the state dance (the polka). Now Wisconsin lawmakers want to name an official state microbe. Itâ??s called Lactococcus Lactis, and itâ??s the microbe that turns milk into cheese. Supporters presented Assembly Bill 556 Thursday to the Committee on State Affairs and Homeland Security.
College and university leaders are regularly criticized for making too little information available or presenting only the data that show them in the best light. No such statement can be made about the leaders of 24 public college systems that on Thursday — as part of a two-year-old initiative aimed at boosting college completion and closing racial and socioeconomic gaps in enrollment and graduation — released extensive data about their performance on those fronts.
When scholars play “rate the presidents,” Woodrow Wilson typically winds up just below the deities of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and FDR. He generally ranks in the “near great” category, neck and neck with his great rival, Theodore Roosevelt.
What does a 12th-century rabbi in Egypt, arguably the greatest thinker in Jewish history, have in common with a 17th-century Jewish philosopher in Amsterdam who was â??expelled from the people of Israelâ? for â??abominable heresies and monstrous deedsâ? and who would go on to become the most radical philosopher of his time? And what could their philosophical differences and similarities possibly have to do with us, many centuries later?
Author: Steven Nadler is chair of the department of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of â??The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evilâ? (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008).
Shares of companies developing stem cell therapies surged Wednesday on news that the federal government has cleared 13 new stem cell lines for testing, bringing to a close nearly a decade of restrictions.The news from the National Institutes of Health should provide some relief to companies that have been squeezed by limited funding from both the federal government and the private sector.
Quoted: “These drugs save lives,” says James Stein, director of preventative cardiology at the University of Wisconsin. “Youâ??d be hard pressed to find a class of drugs with more evidence for how safe and effective they are. The risk-benefit ratio trumps almost any other medication I can think of.”
Noted: Much of the obnoxious behavior that occurs at sporting events is directly related to the excess consumption of alcoholic beverages. Football games, with their customary tailgating, are tailor made for problems. Two schools, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota, have instituted programs to combat problems associated with excessive drinking. Fans that are ejected from games for drinking related offenses are required to pass a breath test if they want to attend a future game.
Quoted: “Because it was the first network to emerge, it really saw itself as sort of the equivalent of the BBC in Britain,” said Michele Hilmes, a media professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and editor of “NBC: Americaâ??s Network.”
A doctor and a scientist hired to rebuild the University of Wisconsinâ??s fertility clinic after a workplace misconduct scandal are facing allegations of inappropriate behavior in their first year on the job. A former employee has claimed that in vitro fertilization lab supervisor Charles Bormann and clinic director Dan Lebovic routinely used offensive language, insulted staff members and joked about masturbation.
Health officials Wednesday gave the green light to federally funded research on 13 human embryonic stem cell lines, the first approved since the Bush administration imposed limits eight years ago.
Even after the game, Trevon Hughes FSY had all the answers. Hughes had 19 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and Wisconsins 73-69 win over No. 5 Duke on Wednesday night snapped the Blue Devils perfect mark in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Shark teeth, cephalopod shells, and replicas of Tyrannosaurus rex teeth will be for sale at the UW-Madison Geology Museum Friday. The one-day sale is a trial run, designed to raise money for the museum and its education programs.
It may be a brave new world, but not every bold business move is made by a 23-year-old who looks 16. â??Iâ??m a geezer entrepreneur,â? 59-year-old Tom Olscheske was saying Wednesday. His Madison-based company, a-Peer, is helping create a cultural park in Shanghai. The companyâ??s main focus is digital technology as it relates to the music and video industry, and China â?? which Olscheske first visited as a UW-Madison student in 1971 â?? is its start-up market.
Quoted: Bob Cramer, co-founder of several local banks and a lecturer at the UW-Madison School of Business Puelicher Center for Banking Education.
A new poll shows that Wisconsin residents are more satisfied with the way things are going in the state than they were in the spring.The University of Wisconsin Survey Center poll released on Wednesday also shows that nine out of 10 Wisconsinites believe the state is in bad economic times. However, 51 percent say they are generally satisfied with the way things are going in the state. Thatâ??s 9 percentage points more than in the spring.
A judge will not step aside from a case that challenges a Wisconsin rule allowing in-state law school graduates to become lawyers without taking the bar exam.
It was one of the most hyped and anticipated games in the history of the Kohl Center. Remarkably, the University of Wisconsin menâ??s basketball teamâ??s 73-69 victory over Duke Wednesday night exceeded expectations.
Some of the student emcees of First Wave, at its core a bridge between academics and the arts, are putting on an end-of-semester hip-hop show at the Rathskeller on Saturday, Dec. 5. Their efforts are two-fold: theyâ??re using their music as a vehicle for academic inquiry, and theyâ??re also giving Madisonâ??s off-campus hip-hop scene a shot in the arm.
This fossilized tooth of a shark called Otodus obliquus that lived 45 to 60 million years ago will be available at the Holiday Sale at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Geology Museum Dec. 4, 2009. The shark may have reached 30 feet in length.
The seventh annual David Busta Basketball Tournament and Silent Auction was Saturday, and Busta feels it was success. Seven years ago, the Busta Benefit started as a way to raise money for spinal cord injury research. All funds are donated to the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: The University of Wisconsin-Madison is encouraging all students 24 years old and younger to get a free H1N1 vaccine shot on Friday. University Health Services has about 4,000 doses available and is holding the vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.
The portion of the “Aids Memorial Quilt” was on display at the Overture Center Wednesday. It was hosted by the UW Hospitalâ??s HIV clinic. The 21 panels of the quilt are on display in the main lobby. Among the hundreds of people represented on this portion, 13 panels are in honor of people from Wisconsin, many of whom received treatment from UW Hospital.
