Noted: Public-sector graduate student employee unions are much more advanced than their private-sector equivalents, Herbert said, after the first contract was ratified in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While state laws differ, in general their efforts have been more stable.
Author: knutson4
Decision on former Wauwatosa cop Joseph Mensah’s 2016 shooting to come Wednesday. Here’s what we know about the proceeding.
Noted: The law Motley is seeking to use — Wisconsin Statute 968.02 — is similar to a John Doe proceeding, but is technically not the same thing, according to Keith Findley, a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Findley said the law is essentially used as a check on the court system. Findley also said Statute 968.02 means a judge has more discretion when it comes to filing charges. Under the statute, a judge “may” file charges if they find probable cause.
Gov. Tony Evers Calls Special Session On Increasing School Spending
Noted: The governor said the session would be an opportunity to make investments in education he believes should have been included in the budget. GOP lawmakers approved an education spending plan that was roughly $750 million less than the governor originally requested for K-12 schools. For the University of Wisconsin System, the GOP-backed budget included an increase of just $8 million over two years, a fraction of the $191 million proposed by the governor.
More Universities Offer Vaccination Incentives. Will They Work?
Noted: On Sunday, University of Wisconsin (UW) System President Tommy Thompson announced a new program that provides an opportunity for UW students who are vaccinated against Covid-19 to win a $7,000 scholarship.
Under the “70 for 70” campaign, vaccinated students who attend UW campuses that achieve at least a 70% vaccination rate will be eligible to win one of 70 scholarships valued at $7,000 each. Students at all UW System universities except UW-Madison are eligible for the drawing. UW-Madison is reportedly developing its own vaccination incentive program.
Local groups effort more vaccine clinics as doctors urge people to get vaccinated
Quoted: “It is as simple as if we’re all vaccinated, hanging out together in large groups, however large you want, that becomes a safe thing to do,” said Dr. Pothoff, an emergency medicine doctor at UW Health.
What’s blood flow restriction training and why are Olympic athletes using it?
Quoted: “It’s almost like a personal tourniquet system. So you have a cuff that’s applied to your arm or leg that significantly reduces blood flow,” Marc Sherry, a physical therapist and manager of the UW Health Sports Rehabilitation Department in Madison, Wisconsin, told TODAY. “The basic premise is that it’s inflated to a pressure that prevents the blood from coming out of your arm but doesn’t prevent the blood from going into your arm.”
‘An abomination’: the story of the massacre that killed 216 wolves
Quoted: Adrian Treves, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied wolf-hound conflicts, found that neighboring Michigan, which has stricter hounding regulations, has seen far fewer dogs injured or killed by wolves. Lighter regulation in Wisconsin means more dogs in the woods, Treves said, which leads to more conflict. “Houndsmen prefer to hunt in a place that lets them do what they want to do.”
Reports Of Students Cheating Increased Substantially At Some UW Universities During Pivot To Online Learning
Reports of cheating and other forms of academic misconduct increased substantially at six of the University of Wisconsin System’s 13 universities when classes were moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrators say increased student stress was a major contributor, and they expect misconduct reports to decrease once more classes are taught in person.
A federal eviction moratorium ends July 31. Here’s what you need to know about rental assistance and more.
Quoted: Landlords have a lot more options available to them than eviction, Madison-based rental housing lawyer and University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Mitch said. Mitch said property owners can negotiate rather than file evictions that will go permanently on the tenant’s record.
“I know that eviction isn’t the only tool in your toolbox when renters don’t pay, and I wish that property owners would realize that they have other tools such as working out agreements on early move-outs, working on payment plans or working together to get government assistance,” Mitch said.
Intense heat raises the risk of violence in American prisons
Noted: Another, and probably underestimated, factor may be the weather. Mississippi summers usually see average temperatures rise above 80℉ (26.7℃), a threshold at which the likelihood of violence in prisons increases.
That is the finding of a working paper by Anita Mukherjee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Nicholas Sanders of Cornell University. The authors matched county-level weather variations across Mississippi with violent incidents reported in the state’s 36 prisons and jails between 2004 and 2010. Using these data, they built a statistical model that controlled for the time of year that the violence took place, the type of institution and other factors. They calculated that on days with average temperatures of 80℉ or higher the chances of violence increased by 20%. The hot weather leads to an average of 44 additional incidents of severe violence—those that result in serious injury or death—each year,
Kathleen Gallagher: What’s standing in the way of growing Wisconsin’s wine industry?
Quoted: “You used to have to use McKinsey or another specialized consultant, but with the Internet and data science you can do this at a fraction of the cost and make it very easy for the farmers themselves,” said Tom Erickson, Founding Director of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences.
Milwaukee considers updating building codes in the wake of Surfside collapse. Should other Wisconsin cities and the state do the same?
Quoted: Annual inspections might offer peace of mind, but building professionals said the expenses would be astronomical. Besides, it’s when the building is being constructed that inspectors have the most critical safety checklist to ensure its longevity, said Steven Cramer, vice provost for instructional continuity & academic affairs and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We have a great set of building codes in Wisconsin, but the greatest scrutiny occurs at the time of construction or remodel when building permits are required and inspections occur,” Cramer wrote by email.
Man Decries Lengthy ‘De Facto Probation’ In Outagamie County
Quoted: “Often, probation is sort of the default sentence,” said Cecelia Klingele, associate professor at University of Wisconsin Law School, where she teaches criminal law, including sentencing.
UW System Will Offer Scholarship Drawing For Students Who Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19
The University of Wisconsin System plans to offer about $500,000 in financial incentives aimed at encouraging students to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The campaign features a lottery in which a total of 70 students will each receive a $7,000 scholarship if 70 percent of a campus’ student body reports being vaccinated.
UW-Madison is not participating.
‘It’s five years since a white person applied’: the immigrant workforce milking America’s cows
Noted: Green county has seen one of the state’s fastest growths in Latino population, increasing by an estimated 228% from 2000 to 2019, according to the Applied Population Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Monroe is the largest city in Green county and has seen a steady increase of Latino immigrants over 20 years. With a population of only about 10,800, new people stand out, which has made the adjustment, like the farm work, incredibly difficult for some dairy workers.
Frustrating College Access and Enrollment Barriers: Websites and Application Processes
Noted: While some higher education institutions like the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The Johns Hopkins University feature sophisticated and user-friendly websites, and their leaders have instituted efficient, unencumbered application processes, college applicants may encounter inept websites and application processes when applying at many other institutions.
Carbon-capture pipelines offer climate aid; activists wary
Quoted: “These early plants are relatively easy and that’s a good place to start,” said Greg Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in the development of climate-friendly energy technology. “As that gets shown and proven, you get some transportation networks, then it gets easier to do the harder stuff later.”
Small Farms Vanish Every Day in America’s Dairyland: “There Ain’t No Future In Dairy”
Quoted: Mark Stephenson, the director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the industry definitely has a lot of challenges but is nowhere near extinction.
“We’ve produced record amounts of milk in the last year or two. It’s being consumed. Most of it domestically, but increasingly with exports,” said Stephenson.
UW System announces a lottery with $490,000 in scholarships to encourage vaccination
As an incentive for students across the UW System to get vaccinated, interim President Tommy Thompson on Sunday announced a lottery giving out nearly a half-million dollars in scholarships.
Under the plan, vaccinated students at all University of Wisconsin campuses except UW-Madison will be entered into a lottery for one of 70 one-time, $7,000 scholarships.
Chronically ill students remain concerned about transition back to in-person learning
Abbie Esterline, a fifth-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, found herself missing fewer classes during the pandemic.
She has several chronic illnesses, such as gastroparesis and fibromyalgia, that can make it difficult to go in person to a classroom.
Celebrate the summer Olympics with PBS Wisconsin
Noted: George Poage moved to La Crosse as a young child in 1884. Locally, he was known as a scholar and remarkable athlete. He went on to become the first African American on the UW-Madison track team. But his greatest triumph came at the 1904 Olympics when he became the first African American to medal in the 200m and 400m hurdles. From Wisconsin Life, WPR’s Maureen McCollum talked with UW-La Crosse retired special collections librarian Ed Hill about George Poage’s life as a student athlete in La Crosse.
Wisconsin Lawmaker Proposes Lifetime Restraining Orders To Protect Sexual Assault Survivors
Quoted: Ryan Poe-Gavlinski is clinical director of the Victims of Crimes Act Restraining Order Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She said creating a lifetime protective order would put survivors of assault “in the driver’s seat.”
“If someone has committed sexual assault and that’s been determined, either at the (civil) restraining order level or through a criminal court, there’s no reason that that perpetrator needs to have contact with that victim going forward,” Poe-Gavlinksi said.
Barry Alvarez, who recently stepped down as Wisconsin’s athletic director, is named Big Ten’s special advisor for football
Barry Alvarez’s retirement is over.
Big Ten Conference commissioner Kevin Warren announced Thursday that Alvarez, who stepped down as Wisconsin’s athletic director June 30, has been named special advisor for football.
UW Researchers Using Computer Modeling, Social Science To Improve Vaccine Delivery
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison plan to meld computer modeling and social science in hopes of providing better responses to future pandemics. The goal is to be ready with quicker and more equitable strategies to distribute vaccines.
Following racist post from 2019, UW-Eau Claire study finds more diversity needed, but no systemic leadership problem in athletics
A study of student athletics released by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire last week found that despite an overall culture of acceptance, student-athletes of color face disproportional amounts of stereotyping at the school.
Rethinking The Workplace Post-Pandemic
Interview with Jirs Meuris, assistant professor of management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business.
Opinion: Legislation would make obesity medications more widely available and help reduce inequities in care
Noted: Dr. Luke Funk is an associate professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Srividya Kidambi is an associate professor and chief in the Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert Hospital. Dr. Christopher Weber is an obesity medicine specialist practicing in Milwaukee.
From kindergarten to college, schools are trying to return to some sense of normalcy. But they’re not there yet.
Schools across the state — whether they serve kindergartners or college students — continue to adjust plans for the fall based on the ever-evolving COVID-19 situation. The general idea is to bring as many students back in person as possible — the so-called return to normalcy — while not endangering students, teachers or their families.
Louis C.K. Is Coming To Madison — And We Have Thoughts
Noted: Includes interview with Jonathan Gray, professor of media and cultural studies at UW–Madison.
Badgers Football Players Begin Profiting From Name, Image, Likeness Following NCAA Rule Change
Less than a month after the NCAA ruled college athletes can profit from their names, image and likeness some Badgers Football players have begun to reap the benefits.
On July 1, the NCAA adopted a temporary policy to suspend rules that banned college athletes from getting paid for the use of their names, images and likeness. It was a significant shift but a small part of a larger debate over whether students should be paid to compete in college sporting events.
New fund honors memory and legacy of young Madison woman who dedicated her life to community service
Noted: Pérez-Wilson is a 2019 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison who earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies and plans to pursue a law degree at UW.
UW-Madison chancellor apologizes for starting classes on Rosh Hashana following backlash
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank is apologizing for a university decision to start the school year on the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana.
LGBTQ patients face bias at the doctor’s office. Here’s how a first-of-its-kind fellowship at UW medical school aims to change that.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health will be the first site to host a new national fellowship that aims to make the doctor’s office more supportive of LGBTQ patients.
How the new, expanded federal child tax credit will work
Quoted: “This is just a stunning change in the American social policy context,” says Tim Smeeding, a professor of public affairs and economics with the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an advocate for the policy.
Some form of universal child allowance benefit is found in 17 affluent countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
“They allow parents who don’t have enough money to do things for their kids,” he adds. “It says kids are important.”
Families Embrace Their A, B, CTCs As Child Tax Credit Expands To Monthly Payouts
Quoted: “It’s transformative,” said Tim Smeeding, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s a recognition that kids are expensive, and that we as a society have an obligation and an interest in having them grow up well, and do well.”
Smeeding noted that it’s particularly remarkable for including families who aren’t typically reached by the Earned Income Tax Credit, like the children of immigrant parents and “grandfamilies” — families where kids live with grandparents at least half of the year, and for whom grandparents provide at least half of the support. Unlike the Earned Income Tax Credit, which families receive as a credit when they file taxes each year, families can be eligible for the child tax credit even if they don’t make enough to file taxes.
Why Did Evers Veto An Update to Withholding Tables After a Tax Cut?
Quoted: “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I have no idea why he did that,” said John Witte, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus who specializes in tax and budget policy.
Witte said there is speculation that Evers vetoed the change in the withholding tables because the governor hopes Democrats will take control of the Legislature in the 2022 election and repeal the tax cuts. By not changing the withholding tables, most taxpayers wouldn’t notice a difference, that thinking goes.
“If he changed the tables the tax cuts would be permanent,” said Witte.
Wisconsin Labor Market Faces Challenges New And Old Coming Out Of COVID-19 Pandemic
Quoted: Menzie Chinn, an economics professor with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an email that while there is much demand for workers, supply remains constrained.
“Rising wages are not a ‘bad’, since that’s how the market adjusts to market conditions,” said Chinn. “There’s not a ‘shortage’ as the business community keeps on complaining about.”
Steve Deller, an applied economics professor at UW-Madison, said increased wages and benefits are one way companies are trying to be creative in the current labor market.
“Five years ago or so, people would think that a $15-an-hour job is a good paying job,” said Deller. “People are coming to the realization that’s not a good paying job. It’s got to be more than that. And businesses are coming around and saying, ‘If I want quality workers, I’ve got to up my pay.'”
Previewing the Statue of Vel Phillips
Noted: Phillips lived and worked a life of firsts. She was the first black woman to graduate from the university of Wisconsin law school. She was the first black woman on the milwaukee common council. Phillips was the state’s first black woman judge. In 1978, she was elected secretary of state, the first female, nonwhite person so elected. Her statue will be a legacy to not only her own work, but the product on gg work propelled by the racial justice movement. Phillips’ son was there on tuesday. He said his mother’s statue will help ensure her legacy.
‘Why Do You Keep Harassing Me?’: An Outagamie County Judge Controls Defendants After Sentencing
Quoted: “It is a little bit gray whether or not courts have the authority to do that,” said Cecelia Klingele, a law professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Wisconsin law alludes to the inherent authority of the court over its sentence, but it has not been fleshed out fully in case law, sort of, what are the outer bounds of that power,” she said.
New UW clinic to use latest genetic technology to help patients with unknown diseases
Twelve years after scientists in Wisconsin delved into all the genes of a young Monona boy, diagnosed a new disease and saved the child’s life, a new clinic will try to do the same for scores of other people suffering from mysterious illnesses.
A Milwaukee community fridge that has provided food to hundreds has been shut down, and is looking for a new home
Noted: The fridge was co-founded by Taste Of Home Associate Culinary Producer Sarah Tramonte and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division Of Extension nutrition educator Hataya Johnson.
LIFT Dane’s Legal Tune-up Tool can help you remove eligible criminal and eviction records
Quoted: “We used public data that is so often used against people to help correct situations or improve situations that might be barriers to employment, housing, education, childcare and health,” explained Marsha Mansfield, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Economic Justice Institute and director of LIFT Dane.
Milwaukee Cuban-Americans watch with unease as Cubans take to the streets in protest
Quoted: “We haven’t seen these kinds of protests in Cuba, in part because the system is not one that grants the legitimacy of that kind of civic protest,” said Patrick Iber, an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The Cuban government often sees and accuses people who are involved in these protests as being interests of foreign powers, and that is the kind of accusation that the current president has used against the protestors.”
Shutdowns, sales and uncertainty: Can Wisconsin’s paper industry adapt to remain viable post-COVID?
Noted: Steven Deller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist and part of a group that studied the impact of Verso’s closure in Wisconsin Rapids, said he thinks the paper industry in Wisconsin is declining for reasons similar to what happened in Maine, where he worked at a university before coming to Wisconsin.
The problem in both states, he said, is that many of the plants are old and companies are finding it doesn’t make sense to invest in aging facilities. Instead, they are building new, often in the south to reduce transportation costs by being closer to timber producers in warmer places where trees grow faster.
In San Francisco, ‘I Dos’ Echo Throughout City Hall
Noted: Benjamin Reid and Lauren Marinaro met in high school in Minnesota, but their relationship didn’t spark until college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I skipped orientation to watch Shark Week, so Lauren picked classes for us,” said Mr. Reid, 32, a biochemist at Quanta Therapeutics in San Francisco.
UI President Barbara Wilson begins tenure at university
Noted: Wilson has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, a Master of Arts in communication arts, and a PhD in communication arts, all from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
U.S. Covid Cases Have More Than Doubled in Recent Weeks. What to Know.
Quoted: Ajay Sethi, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that even though the Delta variant is the most infectious strain, “there are areas of the country where too many people have not yet gotten vaccinated and wrongly believe that the pandemic is over.”
Boosting Funding for K-12 Schools
An increase for Wisconsin’s K-12 schools in the state’s budget coupled with one-time federal pandemic aid still falls short according to public school advocates. Julie Underwood, former dean of the UW-Madison School of Education and board president for the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, explains.
A Basic Primer On The Delta Coronavirus Variant
But, according to numbers from Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services, only about 83 casesof the variant have been formally diagnosed in the state.
For more on the variant, and the risk it could pose, our producer Jonah Chester spoke with Doctor Ajay Sethi, an Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences at UW-Madison.
‘They’re More Than Willing To Suppress My Vote’: Voters With Disabilities Sound off on GOP Voting Bills
Quoted: The proposals, which would broadly make absentee voting more difficult, are in line with legislation that’s moved forward in other battleground states with Republican-majority legislatures, said Barry Burden, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. Similar bills advanced in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona.
“The bills we’re seeing in Wisconsin and other battleground states are really just an immediate reaction to legislators’ discontent with what happened in 2020,” said Burden. “Its roots are in Donald Trump’s complaints about absentee voting. He railed for about a year, consistently and publicly, in speeches and on Twitter, about what he believed was fraud happening with mail-in voting,” he added.
How the new, expanded federal child tax credit will work
Quoted: “This is just a stunning change in the American social policy context,” says Tim Smeeding, a professor of public affairs and economics with the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an advocate for the policy.
University of Wisconsin is planning a Badgers block party … in Milwaukee’s Deer District
From an ocean of green to a sea of red. It really is Christmas in July at the Deer District.
Maybe Frank Kaminsky will be present for both?
Though the Milwaukee Bucks playoff run will be over one way or another by July 29, the Deer District will still be a hot spot for local sports celebration, though this time it’s for a brand outside the city.
Declining enrollment, weak legislative support, pandemic fallout all cloud UWM’s future
A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum paints a grim picture of the future of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which was facing mounting financial challenges even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
With a new 18-acre site, Clare Gardens expands mission to provide food for senior living centers
Noted: An integral part of it all is Anna Metscher, farm manager at Clare Gardens. Metscher studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a degree in soil science.
The Complicated Patenting of Our Psychedelic Future
Montgomery Meigs, who led U.S. Army in Europe, dies at 76
Noted: In addition to his West Point degree, Gen. Meigs received a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin in 1982. His awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Navigating A Post-Vax Summer
Interview: Christine Whelan, UW–Madison professor and Chief Happiness Officer at Dear Pandemic, offers “Nerdy Girl” insight into navigating our emotions, finding joy, and spreading kindness at this stage of pandemic life.
Wisconsin DNR working on wolf hunt and management plans
Noted: A recent study from UW-Madison showed that about an additional 100 wolves had been killed during the hunt last winter on top of the 218 killed by hunters and trappers.
“Researchers estimate that a majority of these additional, uncounted deaths are due to something called cryptic poaching, where poachers hide evidence of illegal killings,” a university release about the study said.
Gov. Evers stresses importance of vaccines after someone at budget signing event tests positive for COVID-19
Quoted: Ajay Sethi, professor of population health sciences at UW-Madison, said this scenario is proof the pandemic is not over.
“It’s a good reminder that anybody who is not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 really ought to do so because as soon as you leave your house without a mask, you have a risk of catching the virus,” said Sethi.
Republican State Lawmakers Float “Tech Accountability Bill”
Interview with Howard Schweber, a professor of constitutional law and free speech at UW-Madison.