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Author: knutson4

Proposed TRIO cut jeopardizes at-risk students’ future

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program through TRIO helped me earn my Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and led to my becoming dean of the Dougherty Family College (DFC) at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. DFC is a mentoring student-focused two-year college, and I have incorporated my research and experiences in TRIO programs into the college’s design.

Fossil corals reveal that sea-level rise occurs in rapid bursts

Earth.com

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Florida led the project, working with colleagues at the University of Sydney, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Victoria University of Wellington, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“This is not good news for us as we head into the future,” said Andrea Dutton, a professor of geoscience at Wisconsin.

Minnesota shootings, Wisconsin hit list prompt increased security in state Capitol

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Reached on June 16, Kapenga told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he looked at a few security systems after the 2023 incident and put together a proposal to implement a weapons detection system used by the University of Wisconsin.

“There was not enough support in my caucus to get that put in place, unfortunately, but I hope this opens their eyes to the real, unfortunate threat that’s out there,” Kapenga said. “We live in a different world.”

Are plastic cutting boards useful kitchen tools or a breeding ground for microplastics? Here’s what to know

NBC News

It’s important to note, however, that the study’s findings are limited — researchers conducted testing on mice and only tracked health effects for about three days after exposure. Plus, microplastics are difficult to quantify — if another team of researchers did the same study, their findings may vary, says Hoaran Wei, an assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A history of Wisconsin punishments for NCAA major infractions cases

Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin athletic department was involved in seven NCAA major infractions cases in a 20-year stretch from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

The NCAA punished the Badgers for illegal recruiting tactics, car rides and payments as well as the actions of boosters. The violations led to administrative changes within the athletic department to ensure compliance with regulations.

UW-Madison to add Korean major amid popularity of K-pop and K-dramas

The Cap Times

When Ava You applied to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she looked to see if she could major in Korean.

“Honestly, I was a little disappointed considering they had a Chinese and a Japanese major already, but not Korean,” said You, an incoming sophomore at the flagship campus.

That will soon change when UW-Madison introduces a bachelor’s degree in Korean Language and Culture this fall. The Board of Regents, which oversees UW-Madison and the state’s 12 public universities, granted final approval this month. UW-Madison will be the first school in the Universities of Wisconsin to offer an undergraduate program in Korean.

Museums house clues to our polluted past, biologist says. Can we probe the artifacts?

Dallas Morning News

Now an assistant professor of biology at the University of Texas at Arlington, DuBay is advocating for scientists to consider using museum specimens as tools for public health and environmental research. He and fellow scientists at the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Yale University and the University of Wisconsin published a perspective last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailing the need to view museum specimens in a new light.

Wisconsin man’s case raised the competency standard for execution. He died at 67 on death row.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Panetti died from acute hypoxic respiratory failure on Texas’ death row the morning of May 26, the macabre space he called home for more than 30 years. There, he was known as The Preacher, according to his longtime lawyer, Greg Wiercioch, now a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Panetti was 67 years old. He had four children.

Wisconsin military historian says situation in Los Angeles could ‘absolutely’ happen here

Wisconsin Public Radio

“[The president] has made clear that his definition of what constitutes unlawful combinations, in terms of protests, is relatively low,” said John Hall, a military historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel. “So where protests emerge, he has threatened he will take similar measures to respond to those protests.”

“Moreover, he seems to be suggesting that states and municipalities that, in his judgment, are interfering with ICE’s mass deportation efforts right now are themselves obstructing the laws of the United States,” Hall continued.

This is the Wisconsin basketball coach emulated by Jeff and Greg Gard

The Cap Times

University of Wisconsin-Platteville coach Jeff Gard got the sad news while in Greece with his basketball team during a nine-day exhibition tour to Thessaloniki and Athens.

His older brother, Greg Gard, the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach, called and informed him that Jerry Petitgoue had passed away last Saturday. Petitgoue was 84.

Wisconsin Republicans back $1.3 billion tax cut plan that lowers bills for 1.6 million residents

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Evers said in a statement that he had agreed to support Republicans’ half of the deal including their top tax priorities, while Republicans could not reach consensus within their caucuses to back the governor’s proposals, including funding increases for K-12 education, child care and the University of Wisconsin System.

An Evers spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the June 12 vote.

Bud Selig, Shel Lubar, Steve Marcus receive Herb Kohl Service Award–highlighting their friendship

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Allan “Bud” Selig, Sheldon Lubar and Stephen Marcus each received the Herb Kohl Service Award from the Milwaukee Jewish Federation on June 11. Roughly 550 people from the Jewish community, and the greater Milwaukee community, attended the Pfister Hotel event.

Each award winner knew Kohl personally from their childhood, or from attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I found power, confidence and calm at a poker table full of men

HuffPost

Poker puts into focus the same gender dynamics that can create anxiety for women in a patriarchal society, says Jessica Calarco, a sociologist, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of ”Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net.” “You’re expected to read the room, stay composed, and manage risk — much like women do every day in a world that asks them to carry everything without appearing to struggle,” she tells me.

How viruses can help the fight against antibiotic resistance

“One approach is to create more antibiotics but this only postpones the problem. New antibiotics also can lead to new forms of resistance, creating a never-ending cycle. An alternative and promising solution is phage therapy, which uses viruses called bacteriophages (or simply phages) to kill specific bacteria,” said Dr. Anantharaman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

UW-Madison lake researchers face uncertainty over potential cuts to the National Science Foundation

Channel 3000

UW-Madison researchers, who study Wisconsin’s lakes, are grappling with uncertainty as cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could threaten decades of freshwater research.

Professors Emily Stanley and Hilary Dugan from the UW-Madison Lab for Limnology have dedicated their careers to studying freshwater systems, with Lake Mendota serving as a key research site.

Many falls are preventable. These tips can help.

The New York Times

Many falls can be prevented, said Dr. Gerald Pankratz, a geriatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That makes him “optimistic about this issue,” he said.

In his practice, Dr. Pankratz said, it is not unusual for people assessed as having a 50 percent chance of falling over the next year to cut their risk in half by taking action to avoid slips and trips.

Jon Hickey explores belonging and tribal politics in debut novel, ‘Big Chief’

Wisconsin Public Radio

In an interview with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Hickey, a University of Wisconsin-Madison alum, said it wasn’t easy writing about the nuances of tribal politics, especially because it was inspired by his own tribal community. He was worried about how the book would be received — whether he was going to get called out for getting something “completely wrong.” Instead, people embraced the story.

Wisconsin state lawmakers, industry experts share concerns about proposed limits to AI regulation

Wisconsin Public Radio

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Annette Zimmermann is a political philosopher of AI and co-lead of the school’s Uncertainty and AI research group.

“Much like many other experts working in this area, I’ve been deeply concerned about imposing such a heavy handed blanket ban on any sort of state-based efforts to effectively regulate this space,” Zimmermann said. “Right now, unfortunately, we’re in a regulatory landscape where we are heavily relying on individual states to think very hard about how to protect ordinary citizens and consumers from these kinds of harmful outputs.”

UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin set to receive $150K bonus

The Cap Times

Jennifer Mnookin stands to earn an extra $150,000 if she stays in her role at the helm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the end of the month.

The Board of Regents, which oversees UW-Madison and the state’s 12 other public universities, approved the “retention incentive” for Mnookin last summer. The goal was to create “continuity at our flagship university where total compensation is not competitive with its peers,” UW system spokesperson Mark Pitsch said at the time.

What’s next for University of Wisconsin athletics after the House vs. NCAA settlement

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Major college athletic departments can now pay their student-athletes directly but also must comply with more stringent rules for NIL deals and adhere to uniform guidelines for roster sizes.

At Wisconsin the job will be to adjust to those changes while managing an athletic program that features 11 men’s and 12 women’s teams and attempting to maintain the standards of an athletic program that has been pretty competitive across the board.

Nearly quarter of WI college students are single moms. They need child care help.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

While the daycare dilemma is large and complex, colleges have a unique role. Student parents (and faculty and staff) can be supported with resources by the university. Tuition paid by students should cover the costs of child care, if provided on campus.

According to an analysis by the American Council on Education, nearly one in every five undergraduate college students, about 18%, are parents, typically to preschool-aged or younger. In Wisconsin alone, 22% of all undergrads are single moms.

Clinical psychologist explains how ADHD drugs work, addresses unscientific harm concerns

Wisconsin Public Radio

James Li is the A. A. Alexander Associate Professor of Psychology and an investigator at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that Kennedy’s statements on the harms of medications like Adderall aren’t based in science.

“The evidence is quite clear that the medications that are currently FDA-approved and prescribed to treat ADHD in particular are fairly well tolerated. They don’t lead to early mortality … and they are generally very beneficial when used properly under doctor’s orders,” Li said.

UW-Madison provost leaving to become chancellor of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison Provost Charles Isbell Jr. is leaving to become the next chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the university announced Thursday, ending a near two-year tenure that saw a torrent of federal and state attacks on UW-Madison’s diversity programs, research apparatus and the university’s academic mission.

Pressure mounts on UW animal research

Isthmus

Dr. Eric Sandgren, a professor emeritus at the UW-Madison who headed the university’s animal research operations for a decade, ending in 2016, calls these directives “nothing new.” Researchers, he says, have for some time been moving away from the use of animals as other models have become viable. “This just formalizes something that’s happening already.”

Immigrant advocates say Trump travel ban adds to uncertainty for Milwaukee families

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

International students, a particular target of the Trump administration in recent months, could also be affected by the travel ban. Iranians made up the fourth-largest international student contingent at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in fall 2024, according to university data, with 61 students. At UW-Madison, there were 57 Iranian students last semester.

Don’t rinse raw chicken: nine food safety tips from microbiologists

The Guardian

Dr Jae-Hyuk Yu, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recommends using a bleach solution (one tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water), an Environmental Protection Agency-registered kitchen disinfectant, or an alcohol-based spray for sanitizing hard surfaces, especially after preparing raw meat. And when handling cleaning chemicals, use gloves and ventilate well. He recommends cleaning fridge shelves monthly and ensuring your fridge is consistently under 40F (4C) to prevent bacteria from lurking around.

What to know about Fusarium graminearum, the biological pathogen allegedly smuggled into the US

ABC News

Breakouts of Fusarium graminearum infections already naturally occur in dozens of U.S. states — basically any state that produces wheat and barley — and has been established in the U.S. for at least 125 years, Caitlyn Allen, a professor emeritus of plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC News. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture keeps a list of potential agroterrorism agents, and Fusarium graminearum is not on that list, Allen said.

“We’re not talking about something that just got imported from China,” Allen said. “People should not be freaking out.”

Tick tock: Timing out a busy tick season in Wisconsin

Spectrum News

“Ticks have been active for quite a while now,” said P.J. Liesch, the director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab. “It’s something that can often catch folks off-guard. We might not be thinking about ticks in those winter months — January, February, March — but once temperatures get above freezing consistently and we maybe hit 40-degrees with no snow on the ground, ticks can be active.”

A hidden gem on campus: Inside UW-Madison’s Zoological Museum

The Daily Cardinal

All that most students see of the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum (UWZM), located in the Noland Zoology Building, is the fourth floor staircase’s sign prohibiting entrance from all other than museum staff.

Behind the locked doors, however, the museum’s extensive collections of animal skins and skeletons serve as a powerful resource for research and learning.

A UW-Madison researcher studied social media’s impact on teens. The Trump administration cut the grant.

The Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison lost at least $12 million in federal research grants since the start of the Trump administration, forcing faculty and researchers to shut down projects, lay off staff and scale back scientific progress.

Dr. Ellen Selkie, an assistant professor at UW-Madison and principal investigator on a now-defunded National Institute of Health-funded study, said her team enrolled more than 325 adolescents from across Wisconsin and collected comprehensive data to explore a question they believed to be at the center of national concern: How does social media affect youth mental health?

How students spend their summer in Madison

The Daily Cardinal

During the school year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus is filled with the neverending buzz of over 52,000 students. When summer comes, many students leave for home, but for the thousands that decide to stay, the summer months are about staying busy and making campus a home-away-from-home.