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Author: knutson4

After Slow Start, Nearly Half Of Wisconsin’s Prison Population Has Been Fully Vaccinated

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Health experts highlight that incarcerated individuals are at higher risk for COVID-19 outbreaks due to a limited ability to social distance and other societal factors, said Dipesh Navsaria, a physician and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

“People who typically are in carceral settings like jails and prisons (that) are disproportionately people of color, people with lower educational attainment and people who come from backgrounds of poverty, trauma, stress, and are often subject to racial bias and discrimination,” said Navsaria. “And all of these elements tend to play into just being at higher risk.”

Republican Lawmakers Reject Badgercare Expansion

Posted on
WORT FM

Quoted: Evers’ bid to bolster Medicaid is less an “expansion” and more of a “restoration,” according to Donna Friedsam, a researcher with UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty.

Friedsam says that, prior to the Affordable Care Act, Wisconsin’s medicaid program covered parents and caretaker adults at up to double the federal poverty level.

“So, when the ACA came along, it said all states should cover everybody, no matter who they are, up to a certain level of 138% of the federal poverty level,” she told WORT. In 2021, 138% of the federal poverty level is about $17,700 for a single person.

Opinion: Paying for college is difficult, but UWM is trying to do something about it

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Alyssa Huglen’s May 17 story in the Journal Sentinel highlights a problem that has long concerned us at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Students with limited financial resources take longer to graduate and are less likely to graduate than their peers, and many struggle with debt from college loans. But what the story did not address are the extensive efforts UWM is making to help students from low-income families.

Billions Of Brood X Cicadas Emerge

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WORT FM

The high-pitched buzzing of the Cicada’s mating call is one of the most familiar sounds of summer. We see, or mostly hear, small amounts of these large and noisy insects every year, but this year they are coming in the billions if not trillions. Having been underground for 17 years the phenomenon known as Brood X have been emerging from the ground on the East Coast and the Midwest shedding their exoskeletons, and performing their mating call.

Director of UW-Madison’s Insect Diagnostic Lab and insect identification and biology expert Patrick Liesch joins Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk about this phenomenon.

Wisconsin Latinx History Collective to enrich state’s historical narrative over the next 5 years

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Madison 365

Noted: The Wisconsin Latinx history collective is an organization created in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and the UW–Madison Chican@ & Latin@ Studies Program and will spend the next five years documenting the history of Latinx people in the state of Wisconsin.

Officially created in January of last year, the collective began with the meeting between Arenas and four other academics, including historian and UW–Madison assistant professor Dr. Marla Ramírez Tahuado; UW–Madison Associate Professor with the School for Workers Dr. Armando Ibarra; cultural anthropologist and assistant professor of geography and Chican@ & Latin@ studies Dr. Almita Miranda; and assistant professor of Latinx Studies at Marquette University Sergio González.

‘I’m Here. I Made It’: UW Students Reflect On A Year Of COVID-19 On Campus

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Wisconsin Public Radio

The last of the University of Wisconsin’s spring graduates will get their diplomas this weekend, capping off a year of unprecedented disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a sudden shift to online classes and heavy social restrictions aimed at preventing outbreaks, some students say they’ve felt trapped watching screens in their rooms — and for those returning next fall, they hope campus will feel more normal.

Affordable driverless cars could curb public transit

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Popular Science

In a new study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison asked over 800 local residents in the Madison metropolitan area to assess their attitudes towards using autonomous vehicles in the future and found that study respondents would be interested in using a driverless car about 31 percent of the time, a significant chunk more than taking the bus. Wissam Kontar, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin Madison and lead study author, says that with growing popularity and industry investment in autonomous vehicles, that this “excitement” may be “overshadowing potential environmental impacts.”

Which processed foods are better than natural?

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BBC

Quoted: “Cows in cities were milked every day, and people would bring milk in carts back to their neighbourhoods to sell it,” says John Lucey, food science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“As cities got bigger, milk got further away and took longer to get to the consumer, which meant pathogens could multiply.”

A Brief History of Reading is Fundamental

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Book Riot

Noted: As it turns out, they have a national board of advisors to help them continually take stock of what books they’re offering (and what other resources they are creating), which includes author-illustrator Don Tate. They also signal boost the work and resources done by other groups, such as We Need Diverse Books, Embrace Race, and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Marijuana companies’ THC edibles mimicking candy favorites aimed at kids, confectionery lawsuits allege

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Fox Business

Noted: A 2018 study lead by University of Wisconsin, Madison professor of pediatrics Dr. Megan Moreno found that some companies were flouting regulations on marketing, with social media posts that appeal to teens and promote therapeutic benefits.

The study noted around 1% of social media posts appeared to directly target teens, with one post explicitly showing a young person in the promotion, with several others using well-known cartoon characters, Reuters reported.

Sharif Chambliss returns to UW as an assistant on Greg Gard’s staff

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Greg Gard’s newest assistant coach has strong ties to the state of Wisconsin, to UW, to the Midwest and is considered a solid recruiter.

UW officials announced Friday that Racine native Sharif Chambliss is returning to work under Greg Gard. Chambliss played at UW in 2004-2005 after transferring from Penn State and served as UW’s video coordinator from 2010-2012.

As a congressional ban on earmarks is lifted, some Wisconsin lawmakers request millions for their districts, others nothing

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The Second District Democrat has requested nine earmarks for road and bridge projects totaling $20 million and 30 earmarks for community projects totaling $56 million. The most expensive of these community projects is a $24 million plant research facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to replace a plant breeding facility that Pocan described as an “outdated World War Two building.”

Some of the other requests: $4 million to support the replacement of a 69-year-old hospital in Darlington (Lafayette County);  $2.2 million for technology and equipment for the Baraboo fire and ambulance service; $1 million for a new Madison homeless shelter; $1 million toward a new Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison; $2.5 million for traumatic brain injury research at UW-Madison;  $220,000 for a Reedsburg community center, $848,000 to upgrade Fitchburg’s stormwater management; and $400,000 for a machine shop and shed at the Wisconsin Cranberry Research Station in Black River Falls.

Bice: Republicans urge Attorney General Josh Kaul to release reports on harassment complaints by staffers

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: In her complaint, Tina Virgil — head of the Division of Law Enforcement Services — disclosed that Kaul brought in an outside agency last year to look into working conditions at the Department of Justice after staffers raised concerns about possible harassment. The outside agency was the University of Wisconsin System.

Gates’ divorce shines light on ‘gray divorce’ trend

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WTMJ

Quoted: Dr. Christine Whelan, clinical professor in the Department of Consumer Science at UW-Madison, says it’s often not that the two are fighting, it’s just that they are ready for a new phase of life.

“When we say ‘til death do us part,’ back in the day that was somewhere in your 50s. Now, if you’re living until your 90s or even further than that, that can be decades more with the same person.”

As COVID-19 Restrictions Lessen, Returning To Normal Life May Take Some Time

Posted on
WUWM

Quoted: Christine Whelan, a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison, said that returning to everyday life is going to look different for each person.

“If you’re an introvert, perhaps the last 15 months or so has actually been a source of relief to you because you haven’t had to do a lot of the things that stress you out or that actually deplete your energy,” she said. “If that is you, then now’s a really good time to pick and choose what kind of in-person social events you’re going to want to add back into your life.”

Why Do Intelligent Women Join Cults?

Posted on
Institute for Family Studies

Quoted: The inclination toward self-help is strong in this country. As Christine Whelan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who wrote her dissertation on the self-help industry, told me, “The NXIVM cult started out as a traditionally leadership self-help model of empowerment and behavior modification. …. the lessons that were being taught to the broad introductory group were fairly simple strategies for accomplishing goals in your life.”

But then, she notes, NXIVM faced the same problem that all personal-improvement workshops seem to face: “How do you continue to ‘transform’ people after they’ve completed the entry-level experiences?” she asks, adding: “You up the ante.”

Drug in Kentucky Derby winner’s system is commonly used

Posted on
WTMJ

Quoted: There’s recently been controversy surrounding 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s credibility after traces of an illegal drug was found in the horse’s system during a postrace drug test.

The commonly used drug is called betamethasone.

Director of the Wisconsin Veterinarian Diagnostic laboratory at U-W Madison Dr. Keith Poulsen
says that drug is frequently used as an anti-inflammatory.

“When I was in practice, I would use it to inject a joint to calm down inflammation or arthritis,” said Poulsen.

Paulsen explains that the frequently used drug only recently became illegal on race day.

“In August the race commission had changed the ruling to no allowable levels in urine post tests in any horse that’s in a race. So, I think that’s where the conflict is now, is that the rule changed to no detectable levels and they did find some in the horse.”

New partnership works to improve vaccine hesitancy for families

Posted on
WKOW-TV 27

Quoted: UW professor Christine Whelan has shared her expertise as part of Dear Pandemic, helping people understand how to talk with others about their COVID-19 fears.

“We can see people who say, absolutely I will never get the vaccine, and a couple of weeks later, they change their mind. So, interestingly enough the research has found that it is much easier to change your opinion, than it is to change your behavior,” she said.

As COVID restrictions ease and some teams move to full attendance, Wisconsin officials couldn’t be more excited Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Jour

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Officials in the University of Wisconsin athletic department were beaming Thursday.

Why?

The Milwaukee Brewers had just announced they would end all restrictions on the number of fans allowed inside American Family Field, beginning June 25.

That announcement came just two days after the team said it would increase maximum attendance to 50% from 25%.

“(Thursday) was a big day, man,” UW deputy athletic director Chris McIntosh said. “Between the Brewers news and the CDC. That was huge.

Water levels drop in Great Lakes after record-breaking highs in 2020, years of steady increases

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Typically the Great Lakes follow a specific seasonal cycle, said Adam Bechle, a coastal engineering specialist with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. The lakes bottom out in the winter when there’s more evaporation occurring as cold air moves in over the warmer water. Lake levels are highest during the summer, after snow melts and runs into them and rain falls.

But there wasn’t as much snow this winter, and this spring has seen most of the state enter drought-like conditions.

Water levels have been climbing steadily in the Great Lakes since 2013. Before that, historic low levels going back to the 1990s caused issues, too, forcing some cities to dredge out harbors and ports so boats could gain access. Fluctuating water levels also impact beaches, and recreation is impacted, too.

“So even those who aren’t directly impacted by the lakes, they still have an impact on their lives,” Bechle said.

The CDC’s guidelines on mask wearing have created confusion. Here are answers to 12 of the most common questions.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “The goal in all decisions is to minimize risk,” said Patrick Remington, an epidemiologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who formerly worked for the CDC.

“Assuming that the person who is immunocompromised is not able to be vaccinated, then it would be prudent for you to reduce your risk as much as possible, by continuing to wear a mask in public.”

‘We’re in a fragile situation’: COVID cases are rapidly declining in Wisconsin and most states, but they could surge again in winter

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin reached its pandemic tipping point on Nov. 18.

That was the day the state recorded its highest number of confirmed new COVID-19 cases — 7,989 — and the virus began to flip from exponential growth to its opposite, exponential decay, according to Ajay Sethi, associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

Report says Wisconsin should outsource unemployment services after pandemic failures

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After a year fraught with unemployment payment delays, high rates of unemployment denials, call center headaches and other issues, a new University of Wisconsin report suggests the state should outsource at least a portion of its unemployment system.

The report by conservative UW economics professor Noah Williams detailed areas the state lagged behind most other states as the wave of unemployment claims swamped the state’s Department of Workforce Development last year.

Milwaukee-area Muslim community celebrates Eid al-Fitr, end of Ramadan with outdoor festival, fun for

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Rawan Hamadeh of Brookfield, who just finished her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was at the festival surveying people about their vaccination status.

“There are a lot of rumors being spread about the vaccine and how safe it is,” Hamadeh said. “Our goal is, if they aren’t vaccinated and they don’t want to be vaccinated, to try to educate them and inform them that there is nothing in the vaccine that can harm you.”

‘The day we have been waiting for’: COVID-19 cloud begins to lift as CDC issues new guidelines about going without masks

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “I think it actually is the day we have been waiting for, the day we feel good and safe gathering indoors,” said Patrick Remington, a former epidemiologist for the CDC.

“The pendulum has really swung back,” added Remington, who directs the preventive medicine residency program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Now the benefits of gathering in person for fully vaccinated people clearly outweigh the risks.”

Fearing medical and governmental overreach, white evangelical Protestants resist the COVID-19 vaccine mo

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Those who get their news from national outlets on the so-called Christian right likely are hearing at least some vaccine skepticism, said Daniel Hummel, an evangelical scholar and director of university engagement at the Upper House, a Christian study center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Outlets with large evangelical audiences have been blending typical evangelical messaging with right-wing views about COVID-19 that can dip into conspiracy theory territory.

‘I’m very, very serious about this race’: Wausau radiologist Gillian Battino makes bid for U.S. Senate

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Battino has done extensive work with the nonprofit RAD-AID International, which according to its website “brings radiology to low-resource areas by delivering education, equipment, infrastructure, and support.” According to an online biography, Battino “led the development of Guyana’s first Diagnostic Imaging residency while building Guyana’s CT and breast cancer screening programs.”

She also co-founded the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of RAD-AID.

Budget-writing committee begins work by stripping hundred of Evers items out

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The two-year state budget plan also won’t allow the University of Wisconsin System to borrow for operational expenses, restore collective bargaining for public employees, make Juneteenth a state holiday, create a so-called red flag law for gun owners or adopt maps from the governor’s redistricting commission, among other proposals.

Climate change is bringing heavier rains. Here are steps Wisconsin communities are taking to combat flooding

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

While the northern half has seen a smaller increase, Dane County has seen a 20% increase and Milwaukee County has seen a 15% increase, according to data from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Scientists started keeping records of precipitation levels in the 1890s, said Steve Vavrus, a climate professor at UW, and since then, all records for the state have been broken.

Climate change explains the rising amount of rain falling from the sky, Vavrus said. As temperatures rise, warmer air can hold more droplets of water.

“More moisture can be wrung out of the air than 100 years ago or so,” he said. “And climate models have been projecting that for a long time that as the climate warms, we’ll get more heavy rains.”

Opinion: UW-Madison chancellor and state legislators use digital dodges to hide records from the public

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In March, The Washington Post reported that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sought to move a conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus in the fall to a private portal used by presidents and chancellors of the 14 Big Ten universities.

The census is months behind schedule. What that means for the fight over Wisconsin’s election maps

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: The new maps are supposed to be in place for the 2022 elections. But the delays could be so severe that Wisconsin’s existing, Republican-friendly maps will have to be used for those elections, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“It seems unlikely I think that the litigation would be resolved in time for elections to happen in new districts in 2022,” he said.

Keeping the old maps for another cycle “doesn’t feel right,” he said. “But I think courts often view it as the least bad option, as opposed to forcing candidates to make very quick decisions or changing the dates of primaries or something else.”

Wisconsin budget battle begins: GOP lawmakers plan to remove 280 items from Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The two-year state budget plan also won’t allow the University of Wisconsin System to borrow for operational expenses, restore collective bargaining for public employees, make Juneteenth a state holiday, create a so-called red flag law for gun owners or adopt maps from the governor’s redistricting commission.

A minor change could bring the state $1.6 billion in federal dollars. Republican legislators are uninterested.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Republicans in Wisconsin first took their stance when Scott Walker was governor, contending that the federal government eventually could stop paying as much as promised for the expansion.

“There might be a little bit of Scott Walker legacy in all of this,” said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

How COVID-19 may have made the economic divides in youth sports worse than before

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Out of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, Milwaukee County ranks 70th in both health outcomes and health factors, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Health outcomes measure length and quality of life, while health factors account for things that can improve health, such as access to education, quality clinical care, healthy food or affordable housing.

As participation in youth sports grows, more are winding up on the injured list

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The prime injury culprits are specialization — which the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health defines as participation in a single sport for more than 8 months of the year — and overtraining.

A groundbreaking 2017 University of Wisconsin study of 1,544 Wisconsin high school athletes found that those who specialized were 70% more likely to sustain a lower extremity injury than athletes who played multiple sports.

“Should we really be asking our young kids to do what we’re asking our collegiate athletes?” asked David Bell, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory.

“Kids aren’t programmed to do a single sport for 15 to 20 hours a week for the entire year.”

Kathleen Gallagher: Why do schools like MIT excel in launching startups, while UWM and other area schools do so little?

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UWM’s Sandra McLellan and MIT’s Eric Alm are among the world’s foremost experts at detecting very small organisms in very large quantities of sewage — a useful tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite their similar research capabilities, Alm’s work is having a wider impact and creating more economic value and high-paying jobs.

Ron Johnson disputes scientific consensus on the effectiveness of masks in preventing spread of COVID-19

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “People who wear masks in close settings have a lower risk of being infected than people who don’t,” said Patrick Remington, former epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s preventive medicine residency program.

It took a hustler, a native son, a priest’s blessing and a city hungry for sports to bring the Bucks to Milwaukee

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Fishman grew up in Milwaukee on North 14th Street, served in the Army in the mid-1940s and went to college at the University of Wisconsin, according to a Jan. 15, 1997, airing of the PBS TV show I Remember Milwaukee. Fishman started a real estate company, building Cape Cod-style homes for the Baby Boom generation.

There’s a new agreement between Foxconn and Wisconsin. Here are some important unanswered questions.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Foxconn has worked to try to create goodwill with other parts of the state by signing agreements with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and local governments in Racine, Eau Claire and Green Bay to establish “innovation centers.”

The company has signed a $100 million agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology within the College of Engineering.