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Author: knutson4

UW-Milwaukee chancellor, others reflect on Michael Lovell’s legacy at Marquette

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The last time University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone saw Marquette University President Michael Lovell in person was about a month ago. Over beers at Cafe Hollander on Downer Avenue, they caught up on their high-pressure jobs, their families and their futures.

Both leaders were diagnosed with cancer in recent years: Mone announced he had lymphoma in 2020 and Lovell revealed he had a rare cancer known as a sarcoma in 2021. The experience bonded the leaders of Milwaukee’s two largest universities even closer together.

Madison police say rooftop party was unauthorized

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison police continue to seek a suspect in a weekend shooting at an unauthorized rooftop apartment party in the city’s downtown that left 12 people hurt.

The shooting took place at a rooftop party with more than 25 people attending at the high-rise Lux Apartment building near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and came as two other weekend shootings occurred in the city. At a Monday press conference, Madison officials said they’re still determining a motive and have yet to arrest anyone.

Wisconsin scientist: Plants respond to biting insects faster than you might think

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Simon Gilroy, a University of Wisconsin-Madison botany professor, is among a handful of scientists uncovering how plants respond to the world. But Gilroy hesitates to use the word “intelligence” when talking about them.

“One of the things that we do as humans is we anthropomorphize all the time. Inanimate objects, we attribute them human characteristics. And it’s just built into our DNA of how we interact with the world … so that must be how everything else operates,” Gilroy told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” recently. “That can sometimes totally get in the way.”

Project seeks to define presence of PFAS in deep aquifer on French Island

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Wisconsin Public Radio

A project on French Island near La Crosse aims to define the movement of PFAS in groundwater and to determine whether a deep aquifer could serve as a source of safe drinking water for residents with contaminated wells.

On Monday, a team of partners will drill to create three wells at depths ranging from 85 to 400 feet within the town of Campbell on French Island. Researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Madison will collect samples of sediment and rock beneath the surface.

Peace Corps names UW-Madison its No. 1 volunteer-producing university for 2023

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Wisconsin Public Radio

In April, the Peace Corps announced that UW-Madison was its No. 1 volunteer-producing university for 2023. Since President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 2,700 volunteers have come from UW-Madison.

Three of those volunteers joined WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” from across the world to talk about their experiences and lessons from the organization.

Cicada records help scientists study long-term health impact of pesticide exposure

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Jason Fletcher, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during the early 20th century, producers of tree crops like apples commonly used the chemicals when preparing for an emergence.

“Because cicadas are known, when they’re coming and where they’re going to be in general terms, certainly in the past, farmers tried to protect their crops by dousing everything with pesticide,” he said.

Smith: Centennial of nation’s first wilderness area highlights Aldo Leopold’s legacy

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

We Wisconsinites who value the natural world and outdoor recreation hold Aldo Leopold in especially high esteem.

Not only was Leopold a pioneering ecologist, forester and author who profoundly influenced the modern conservation movement, but he spent much of his adult life in the Badger State as a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and cultivator of his family’s “shack” on an old farm near Baraboo along the Wisconsin River.

How much are Eric Heiden’s skates from his record-setting Olympic performance worth? He wants to know, too.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Though he also began a career in competitive cycling (even competing in the 1986 Tour de France), he started college at the University of Wisconsin in his native Madison, then transferred to Stanford and ultimately became an orthopedic surgeon; he’s been based in in Park City, Utah, since 2006, and many of his patients are injured athletes.

Rainfall leads to improvement in Wisconsin drought conditions

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Less than 1 percent of the state is considered to be experiencing drought, according to the latest map from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

It’s made for a quick end to a long period of drought, state climatologist Steve Vavrus said.

“Drought has virtually disappeared from Wisconsin finally, after 12 solid months,” he said.

Farm safety experts say Wisconsin law may let youth operate tractors too early

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Wisconsin Public Radio

John Shutske, professor and agricultural safety & health specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said from the beginning, Wisconsin’s age minimum has been much younger than other farm states who have similar requirements. National best practices for farm safety recommend youth be at least 14 years old before being allowed to operate equipment.

Legislator-led committee to study sandhill crane management, including potential hunting season

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A study conducted in December by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center found 17% of state residents would support a sandhill crane hunting season while 48% oppose the idea.

The work, funded by the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo and the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, was the first controlled, science-based look at public support for crane hunting in the state. It polled 2,769 members of the UWSC’s WisconSays survey panel.

In divided Wisconsin, mixed reactions to Trump guilty verdict

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus, first-year graduate students Marian Azeem-Angel and Rusal Ferus were sitting at the Memorial Union terrace when they saw the news of the guilty verdicts.

“My friends from out of state just texted me, saying, ‘It finally happened,’” said Ferus, who grew up in Georgia and followed news about the Trump campaign’s election conspiracy charges there. “Thank god something came out of that and it wasn’t just a whole lot of deliberation for nothing.”

University of Wisconsin alum Jenn Tran is ‘The Bachelorette.’ Here’s when her season will premiere.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Back in March, University of Wisconsin-Madison alum Jenn Tran was announced as the next “Bachelorette” — the show’s first Asian American lead.

And now, we know when we’ll get to start seeing her love story unfold. The Season 21 premiere of “The Bachelorette” is at 7 p.m. CT July 8 on ABC, the network shared.

You can try beer, and a dessert, made with cicadas at Lake Geneva’s ‘Cicadapalooza’

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Insect Diagnostics Lab PJ Liesch received the first reports of Brood XIII cicadas in Wisconsin this year out of the Lake Geneva area just over a week ago. With some of the best-documented historical cicada activity in the state, Lake Geneva could very well be Wisconsin’s “bug central” this summer. Residents have already shared photos of cicadas covering tree trunks, sidewalks and other surfaces.

UW survey finds inflation, gun violence and health care top issues for Wisconsin residents

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Main Street Agenda is a project designed to focus on the issues Wisconsinites rank as most important heading into the 2024 election. The topics come from a survey of nearly 4,000 residents conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Survey Center in partnership with the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

Dane County judge hears arguments in lawsuit challenging Act 10

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Wisconsin Public Radio

In particular, Karabell questioned why Act 10 gives motor vehicle inspectors a “favored designation” as public safety employees while, at the same time, the law classifies state conservation wardens, Capitol police and University of Wisconsin police as “general” employees who saw their labor rights curtailed.

UW women’s basketball coach Marisa Moseley adds coaching veteran Frozena Jerro to staff

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By hiring Frozena Jerro, Wisconsin coach Marisa Moseley added another experienced voice to her coaching staff.

Next season will be Jerro’s 28th as a college coach, a run that included a four-year run as the head coach of a Cal State Northridge. She spent six years at her latest stop, Cleveland State, where she helped the Vikings win 68% of their games, reach the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and win the Horizon League regular-season title this past season.

Jefferson County lands more than $1 billion in new foreign-owned company investments

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jefferson County and surrounding areas have ample agricultural products to fuel the growth of ClonBio, which requires corn to make ethanol; and Kikkoman, which requires soybeans and wheat for its soy sauce. Also, the county is well positioned to attract other food companies and biotech startups from the University of Wisconsin System.

What to know from the latest inspection of Wisconsin’s only ICE detention center

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Gita Connolly, who works with people detained at Dodge through the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic, said these documents are extremely important for people to proceed with their immigration cases. Even those who have chosen to leave the U.S. voluntarily cannot leave without their identity documents.

 

One of a kind meat training program brings people from across the country to Madison

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Madison Commons

UW–Madison is home to a two-year training program, known as the Master Meat Crafter Program, that offers members of the meat industry new skills and knowledge to take their careers to the next level. Created in 2010 by Jeff Sindelar, Ph.D., a professor and extension meat specialist in Animal & Dairy Sciences, it is a one-of-a-kind program that brings people from across the country and abroad to Madison to earn the “Master Meat Crafter” distinction upon graduation.

Why Race Matters — discussing COVID-19

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PBS Wisconsin

UW–Madison’s Kevin Lawrence Henry Jr., an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, has been working to improve educational outcomes for underserved students and shares his experiences and recommendations.

“Studies have shown that students who were engaged in longer periods of distance learning or virtual learning fared far worse than some of their counterparts,” he explains. “And that particularly hurt Black and brown students in the state of Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin is in the minority of states shielding police data. We’re suing to change that.

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Wisconsin Examiner

Access to police employment data could also help groups like the Wisconsin Innocence Project, said Christopher Lau, a co-director of the project and law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Being able to use data to get background on officers in support of the cases of their clients, which often involve allegations of police misconduct, “would make our litigation much stronger,” he said.

Rocket Lab to launch satellite to monitor Earth’s polar regions

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RNZ

The mission, called PREFIRE, short for Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment, includes two shoebox-sized satellites or ‘cubesats’ to find out how much heat Earth’s polar regions radiate out to space and how that influences our climate. University of Wisconsin professor, and principal investigator for the mission, Tristan L’Ecuyer spoke to Corin Dann.

Northland College announces plans to lay off 9 faculty members while remaining open

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Wisconsin Examiner

The college’s enrollment is around 500 undergraduate students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, but the college has said its enrollment goal for this upcoming fall is 385 students.

The cuts are part of a trend across Wisconsin’s smaller higher education institutions, with the University of Wisconsin system recently closing a number of its satellite campuses.

Financial aid for college, History of divestment protests, Country music by Black artists

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Wisconsin Public Radio
In echoes from the past, college students across the country have recently been calling for their academic institutions to divest from Israel over the war in Gaza. We talk with several people involved in protesting apartheid South Africa decades ago, in Madison and around the country.

Vel R. Phillips was a woman of many firsts in Milwaukee

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Vel R. Phillips has been described by many as an icon, a trailblazer, a culture shifter, and a woman of many firsts.

The Milwaukee native and North Division High School graduate was the first Black woman to earn her degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, the first woman to be elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council, the first female judge in Milwaukee, and the first Black woman to win statewide office in Wisconsin, among dozens of other accomplishments.

Patty Loew to be inducted into WBA Hall of Fame

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PBS Wisconsin

After earning master’s and doctoral degrees in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Loew became a professor at UW-Madison in 1999. She is professor emerita in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and served as the inaugural director of NU’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research before retirement.

Moving the needle: Wisconsin students calling for divestment from Israel echo past protests

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Wisconsin Public Radio

A few weeks ago, on a University of Wisconsin-Madison campus sidewalk, a message in chalk read “DIVEST from Militarism.” It was final exams week, students and older adults alike lounged, studied and conversed alongside tents pitched illegally in protest, while a dainty melody on solo clarinet could be heard playing.

University of Wisconsin nursing deans lobbied for money to graduate more nurses. Then DEI questions arose

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Leading the failed effort were state Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, and Kim Litwack, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Nursing. Litwack told the other UW nursing school deans last June that Cabral-Guevara had the votes in the Senate to give the six UW nursing schools $1 million each, as well as $3 million to private institutions with nursing schools.

On Amazon trip, Eric Hovde ate armadillo, swam with piranhas – and found relief from MS

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus John Fleming published in 2017 found that “potentially favorable MRI outcomes and immunoregulatory changes were observed” in patients who ingested whipworm eggs, “however, the magnitude of these effects was modest, and there was considerable variation among the responses of individual subjects.”

Cicadas have re-emerged in Wisconsin for the first time in 17 years. Why that isn’t all bad news.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Once every 17 years, the species emerges as adults to breed. However, the species’ adult life only lasts about four to six weeks. This means their stint as an annoyance to humans and ample food source for wildlife will be over by the beginning of July, said PJ Liesch, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Insect Diagnostics Lab.

“When folks look at the cicadas and wonder, ‘Are they good or bad?,’ in my mind, the good far outweighs any bad because these insects are really going to serve as a huge benefit for our local wildlife population,” he said.