By , deputy graphics director for Opinion. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How ‘Build Your Own College Rankings’ Was Built
New York Times
Author: knutson4
Special election in Wisconsin’s 8th Senate District will decide fate of Senate’s two-thirds majority
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the district is not yet a toss-up, but it’s now within the grasp of Democrats, a possibility that “would not have been the case five or 10 years ago.”
“It’s been zooming towards the Democrats very quickly in the last decade,” Burden said.
Student-athletes aren’t immune from suicide risk. Colleges are taking notice.
Kaiser Health News
Noted: Before cross-country runner Sarah Shulze, 21, died by suicide at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in April 2022, the athletics department was expanding its professional mental health support from two staffers to six to help the school’s approximately 800 student-athletes, said David Lacocque, the department’s director of mental health and sport psychology. The department, known until eight months ago as “clinical & sport psychology,” changed its name in part because student-athletes were asking for mental health support.
In addition to scheduled appointments, the sports liaisons attend practices, team meetings, training sessions, and competitions to help normalize mental health concerns.
“Gone are the days when we sit in our office and wait for people to knock on the door and talk to us,” Lacocque said.
Prof. Tiffany Green: Residents in Wisconsin were living in post-Roe world before Dobbs decision
MSNBC
Abortion rights took center stage at the Wisconsin Supreme Court debate this week. And it could be a bellwether for how voters in swing states are reacting to the end of Roe. Tiffany Green is an associate professor at The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She joined American Voices to discuss.
Scott Johnson, Playfully Inventive Composer, Is Dead at 70
New York Times
Noted: Daunted by the serialist compositional style that held sway in academia, Mr. Johnson turned to visual art. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a bachelor’s degree in art in 1974 and then drove a cab in Madison for a year to finance his move to New York City in 1975.
Wisconsin Supreme Court race touted as most consequential race of 2023
MSNBC
Early voting started this weekend in Wisconsin for its April 4th Supreme Court race. The outcome of the election will determine whether the court has a liberal or conservative majority, with the justices expected to rule on several key issues such as abortion and voting rights. University of California Law professor Michele Goodwin and the Director of Elections Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Barry Burden, joined American Voices to discuss.
A Quantum Leap In Timing
Forbes
Noted: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity explains how a gravitational field slows time. Optical lattice clocks have been used at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and at the University of Colorado Boulder to measure this gravitational time dilation on sub-centimeter scales. The ability to accurately measure minute changes in gravity will transform fields such as mineral exploration, earthquake prediction and national security.
Weather Guys roundup: Spring equinox, looking back on this winter, bomb cyclones
Wisconsin Public Radio
The spring equinox symbolizes the start of spring. That’s an occasion celebrated around the world, at festivals like Holi in India and Chunfen in China. We learn more about the equinox and more with the Weather Guys, Steve Ackerman and Jon Martin, both professors of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison.
GOP State Building Commission members reject Evers’ $3.8B capital budget
Wisconsin Public Radio
Republicans on Wisconsin’s State Building Commission have rejected every recommendation in Gov. Tony Ever’s $3.8 billion capital budget request, which includes nearly $2 billion for University of Wisconsin System projects.
Energy Update: Microgrids might be part of our future solution to power grid problems
Wisconsin Public Radio
We talk with Giri Venkataramanan, an engineering professor and researcher at UW-Madison, about the state of the U.S. power grid, the influence of climate change on its future and a solution being explored at UW-Madison.
Republicans reject Gov. Tony Evers’ $3.8 billion plan for building projects, but it’s not over yet. Here’s what happens next.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Nearly half of the money in Evers’ plan would be spent on University of Wisconsin System campuses. The $1.8 billion would help fund a new engineering building at UW-Madison, expansion and renovation of two dorms at UW-Oshkosh and completion of a science center at UW-La Crosse.
Settlement reached in lawsuit filed against Madison zoo director, national zoo group
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A $2.8 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a former University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who accused the director of Madison’s public zoo of sexual assault during an out-of-state work conference in 2018.
UW Health Interview with Dr. Amy Peterson
NBC-26
NBC 26 Today sat down with Dr. Amy Peterson, a cardiologist with UW Health Kids in Madison to talk about the rise in kids with high cholesterol.
Dr. Peterson explained why we are seeing a rise in kids with high cholesterol, as new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that one in five children have an abnormal cholesterol count.
Studies show rates of Black infant, maternal deaths increase in 2020, 2021
WISC-TV 3
New data out this month from national health leaders show infant and maternal mortality rates have been on the rise the last few years. Additionally, people of color remain disproportionately affected.
“In some ways, this is not unexpected, per se,” Dr. Tiffany Green of UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health said. “You know, it’s hard sometimes because people were like, ‘Oh, this is a big deal.’ And we’re like, ‘Well, we’ve been talking about this for a very, very long time.’”
Why some lawmakers want to raise the FDIC insurance limit for your savings
CNN
It would also help eliminate the incentive for large depositors in banks we all share to take their money out at signs of unease, said J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who focuses on consumer finance.
“When we know that those big depositors won’t make a run and take all the money out, then we’re guaranteed we can get our much smaller amounts back,” Collins said.
A Wisconsin Woman Led a German Resistance That Enraged Hitler
HowStuffWorks
If you’ve never heard of Mildred Harnack that’s about to change. By any measure, the free-thinking young woman from Wisconsin is an American hero.
Harnack was born in Wisconsin where she studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to Germany.
Update about efforts to manage Wisconsin’s aquatic invasive species
Wisconsin Public Radio
Sea lampreys, zebra mussels and white perch are a few of the aquatic invasive species in Wisconsin. We catch up with the efforts to control them with Tim Campbell, an aquatic invasive species outreach specialist with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant program.
GOP calls for secretary of state special election, but state law doesn’t require it
Wisconsin Examiner
State law doesn’t appear to require a special election, however, says Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Statute 17.19 states that the governor gets to appoint replacements whenever there is a vacancy [in an elected office] and the replacements serve until an election is held,” Burden says. “That could be the regular election at the end of the term or until a special election is held.”
WATCH: Early spring migratory birds returning to southern Wisconsin
WISC-TV 3
Anna Pidgeon, a professor of forest and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins Live at Four to share what to look for as migratory birds return to southern Wisconsin.
UW-Madison researchers studying new approach to protect bats from white-nose syndrome
Wisconsin Public Radio
A new strategy to combat the deadly white-nose syndrome decimating bat populations in Wisconsin and other states is being studied by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Summerfest 2023 in Milwaukee reveals headliner lineup, with more than 100 acts
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This year’s headliners, who will perform across at least seven stages at Maier Festival Park, range from singer-songwriter Noah Kahan (fresh off a sold-out Miller High Life Theatre show in February) to University of Wisconsin graduate and tongue-in-cheek rapper Yung Gravy to Oscar-winning hip-hop veterans Three 6 Mafia to indie rock royalty Fleet Foxes, The War on Drugs and Japanese Breakfast.
What’s happening at the Foxconn site in Wisconsin five years after the company announced its plans
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It signed an $100 million agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and several local agreements to build “innovation centers” in Racine, Green Bay and Eau Claire. However outside of signing the agreements, not much else has been done.
The $100 million agreement with UW-Madison is to create the Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology and a new interdisciplinary program in the College of Engineering.
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center receives $27.5M to develop cleaner fuel alternatives
Wisconsin Public Radio
Efforts to develop sustainable fuels as an alternative to gasoline, diesel and other petroleum-derived products are receiving renewed federal support at a University of Wisconsin-based research center.
Wisconsin layoff notices up from this time last year, showing signs of possible economic slowdown
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Despite unemployment remaining low, Laura Dresser, associate director of the COWS economic think tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said increased layoffs are tied to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation by raising interest rates.
“There’s federal policy focused on trying to cool economic growth,” she said. “I think it’s also the case that the economy remains — in spite of that — quite robust in terms of demand for workers. The unemployment rates are staying low and new workers are coming into the labor market.”
Steven Deller, professor of agriculture and applied economics at UW-Madison, said it remains to be seen whether the economy will experience the “soft landing” the Fed is hoping for.
“The debate is not whether or not the economy is going to slow down, it’s whether or not we’re going to go into a recession or not,” Deller said. “And the general consensus is that we probably are going to go into a recession. The debate really is, how severe will it be?”
UW-Madison extending tuition promise program aimed at boosting number of school teachers in state
Wisconsin Public Radio
As Wisconsin school districts struggle with an ongoing teacher shortage, a privately funded effort at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to recruit more instructors and keep them in Wisconsin is being extended.
Wisconsin women’s hockey team makes history winning 7th national title, most of all time
Wisconsin Public Radio
The University of Wisconsin Women’s Hockey team made history — again.
The team won its seventh national title on Sunday in a major upset, beating the Ohio State Buckeyes, the top ranked team of the season and the 2022 defending NCAA champions. The Badgers now lead Minnesota with the most national titles of all time in the Frozen Four.
What the Wisconsin Supreme Court race could mean for the state’s Republican-drawn redistricting maps
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Whether the court takes that step almost surely depends on who wins next month’s election. A victory by former Justice Dan Kelly would preserve the 4-3 conservative majority. A win by Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz would give liberals control of the court for the first time since 2008.
If the latter happens, it would open the door to a redistricting case, said Rob Yablon, a University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor and redistricting expert.
“The court likely would have that opportunity,” Yablon said. “I think there are litigants who would almost certainly try to bring a case.”
Tomah Health, UW-Madison look to address rural pharmacist shortage through hands-on program
WKBT
A new program for UW-Madison pharmacy students looks to help address a rural shortage while giving students a hands-on experience.
In May 2021, UW’s School of Pharmacy began the Advanced Pharmacy Experience rotation. The program rotates students in their fourth year into rural pharmacies to practice under the supervision of a pharmacist preceptor.
John Gross on drug-induced homicide penalties in Wisconsin
PBS Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin Law School professor John Gross, director of the Public Defender Project, explains efforts by lawmakers to increase penalties for drug overdoses resulting in homicide charges.
Milwaukee’s Academy of Excellence offers lesson in what school vouchers mean for education – and parents’ ability to choose
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Randy Melchert, the founder and leader of the Academy of Excellence, is a graduate of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, a widely known conservative Christian school. Melchert, who has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin, has also been active in Republican politics and in legal organizations, primarily as an advocate for religious causes.
April welfare referendum: What’s on the ballot, what is existing policy, and what would it actually do?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: Referendums are increasingly being used by both political parties, particularly with non-partisan spring elections, which don’t usually generate great voter turnout, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“These elections just don’t generate the same level of media coverage or public discussion so these gimmicks are one way to get the attention of the voter,” Burden said. “The effect on overall turnout probably won’t be great, but in Wisconsin, most people assume elections are going to be close, so even a change in the balance of things by a percentage point or two could tip the race and tip the balance of the Supreme Court itself.”
Former UW-Madison student indicted for making graphic threats to professors, students
Wisconsin Public Radio
A former University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he threatened students, professors and their families.
Arvin Mathur was arrested at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport March 10 after emailing victims that he was returning to campus for “an evening of fun” on St. Patrick’s Day. Mathur, 32, of Grass Lake, Michigan, now faces six counts sending online threats to nine individuals associated with UW-Madison.
Wisconsin banking officials reassure customers after 2 out-of-state bank failures
Wisconsin Public Radio
Roberto Robatto is associate professor of finance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said the Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse is the result of two failures of the regulatory framework and serves as a warning sign for industry.
“This interest rate risk is something that banks are supposed to be careful about, and they manage that, but the type of interest rate risk that Silicon Valley Bank took was very high,” he said.
Here’s what to know about UW promise programs for low-income students
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The UW System is funding the first year of the Wisconsin Tuition Promise program, which launches next fall and provides full tuition coverage for new, in-state freshmen and transfer students whose families earn $62,000 or less. The program is open to students attending any UW campus except UW-Madison, which already offers its own tuition promise program that isn’t funded with taxpayer money.
University of Oregon hires new president after six-month search
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After six months of searching, the University of Oregon has found its new president.
John Karl Scholz, an economist, professor and provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was hired by the UO Board of Trustees in a unanimous vote Monday morning.
New partnership between WEDC and Korean UW alumni aimed at boosting Wisconsin exports
Wisconsin Public Radio
A new partnership aims to expand opportunities between Wisconsin and one of the state’s biggest foreign trade partners.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., or WEDC, and the Wisconsin Alumni Association in Korea signed an agreement last month to promote the state both as a good place to do business and as a welcoming destination for Korean students.
As UW System ends classes at Richland Center, other communities wonder if their 2-year campus is next
Wisconsin Public Radio
County boards overseeing some two-year University of Wisconsin schools are delaying maintenance and upgrades until they get commitments that the university system won’t close those campuses.
The uncertainty around local campuses comes three months after the UW System announced it would stop offering classes at UW-Platteville Richland. It’s the first time the UW System has planned for instruction to cease at a campus in more than four decades.
Mental health: The benefits of walking
Wisconsin Public Radio
There are many ways walking benefits the mind. For example, it can improve sleep and reduce stress. We talk with Dr. Shilagh Mirgain, a Distinguished Psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, about how walking helps our mental health.
Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed state budget: What’s in it? And what is likely to make it through the Legislature?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Evers wants to provide the University of Wisconsin System with a funding increase of $305 million. Republicans are unlikely to go along with an increase as large as what Evers is seeking.
Former UW-Madison graduate student charged with threatening professors, students
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A former University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student was arrested in Michigan last weekend after allegedly threatening nine people on campus, emailing some about plans to kill their children and harassing others over social media for months, federal court records show.
130-year-old farm training program getting new life at UW-River Falls
Wisconsin Public Radio
A 130-year-old program created to connect Wisconsin farmers with university research is getting a second chance at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
UW-Madison announced last year that the Farm and Industry Short Course would move from a 16-week, on-campus certificate program to a non-credit format that would use online learning. Officials said the change was due to a significant decline in enrollment, with less than 100 students each year over the last decade. With only 20 students projected to enroll in the program for 2022, officials said it no longer had enough students to run the self-funded program.
Young voters can help Democrats. Will enough of them cast ballots in Wisconsin Supreme Court race?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Gordon Dining Center voting ward on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus usually draws about 50 voters in spring primary elections.
But this February, 515 voters cast their ballots there, according to turnout data from the city of Madison clerk’s office. Other campus-area voting wards reported similarly high voting rates. A dorm along Lake Mendota reported 39% turnout.
Scientists unlock new information about Wisconsin’s climate in Cave of the Mounds. Here’s what they found.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A new study, published in Nature Geoscience, found there were abrupt changes in Wisconsin’s climate that have a “credible link” to a major warming episode in Greenland between 48,000 and 68,000 years ago.
As the climate is projected to get warmer, scientists can look back at these major warming events for clues about what to expect in the future, said Cameron Batchelor, lead author on the study and now a post-doctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study was a part of her doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Fact or fiction: Al Capone’s Wisconsin stomping grounds
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: “There are many local legends of Al Capone in Wisconsin, most of which I suspect were not true,” said Robert Ritholz, who has history degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and takes friends on informal tours of Chicago mafia sites, sometimes in his antique Rolls-Royce.
“There really is very little evidence that Capone spent a whole lot of time in Wisconsin, and when he was in the state, he seems to have behaved himself,” Ritholz said.
Stalagmite from Cave of the Mounds shows evidence of sudden warming during last ice age
Wisconsin Public Radio
Researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Madison say a stalagmite from Cave of the Mounds in southern Wisconsin holds clues about the impact of abrupt, global climate changes during the last ice age. A team of UW-Madison scientists led by Cameron Batchelor removed a stalagmite about the length of a pinky finger and used chemical and physical analysis to detect telltale signs of sudden warming in the atmosphere. A paper on their research was published this month in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“This work really puts Wisconsin on the map in terms of showing that this region of the world is not immune to these abrupt climate change events,” Batchelor told Wisconsin Public Radio.
Varying temperatures mean different maple syrup seasons for northern, southern Wisconsin producers
Wisconsin Public Radio
Dane County resident Dominic Ledesma is one hobbyist who jumped on the early warm weather. Ledesma, who is chief diversity officer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, started tapping trees at his home and his family’s cabin in Jackson County last year after learning about the craft from his colleagues. He said sap was flowing in when he first tapped his trees in February, but collection slowed down in Jackson County as the weather turned cold again.
“The season really didn’t take off,” he said. “In talking with other colleagues in Extension, I certainly noticed some very significant differences between the southern part of the state and Jackson County.”
Can new, sweeter beets defeat stigmas? Wisconsin breeders hope so
Wisconsin Public Radio
“It’s no longer your grandmother’s pickled beets,” said Adam D’Angelo, a UW-Madison graduate student and plant biologist. “You go to the grocery store, and you find beet juice, beet chips, beet this and beet that.” D’Angelo and UW-Madison horticulture professor Irwin Goldman recently appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to discuss their work redesigning beets for modern tastes. Goldman said people often complain “about the fact that they taste like dirt.”
“You look at it, and you think of the huddled masses of our ancestors and their old-style foods,” Goldman said. “But there’s something about its earthiness, about its color and its beauty that I find has grown on me over the years I’ve worked on it.”
Ad war heats up as spending shatters records in Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Wisconsin Public Radio
“We’re not going to set the record, we’re gonna blow it out of the water,” said David Canon, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Canon said it was hard to say what WMC’s ad buy would mean for the race because there hasn’t been any public polling. “Although one thing that I think you can infer from that is that if they thought this was not a winnable race, they wouldn’t be putting more than $3 million into it,” Canon said.
Wisconsin native Alicia Monson shatters American record in 10,000 meters
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Alicia Monson, a former distance-running standout at the University of Wisconsin and Amery High School, crushed the American record in the 10,000 meters over the weekend when she took second at an event called The Ten in San Juan Capistrano in California on Saturday.
It’s been more than a decade since Wisconsin cracked down on phosphorus. Has it helped protect our lakes and rivers?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Phosphorus runoff also increases after extreme precipitation events, which are projected to be more frequent as the climate changes. A 2017 study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology found that phosphorus “pulses” into waterways after extreme rainfall, building on previous research that showed waterways receive most of their phosphorus in just a dozen or two events per year. The bigger the rainstorm, the more phosphorus was flushed downstream, the UW study found.
What happened to ‘Milwaukee-ese’? It hasn’t gone anywhere, but it has changed.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Joe Salmons, a linguist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says this is not just a Milwaukee concern — it’s a national and an international perception that dialects are disappearing.
Children who grew up in Milwaukee at the turn of the 20th century spoke languages besides English at home and likely learned English as adults, Salmons said.
New MPS Foundation director discusses her journey, her goals, and the role public schools play beyond education
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: After receiving a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Tardy began working with UW-Whitewater and Mount Mary University before returning to Milwaukee.
Study: The pandemic took a toll on school staff’s mental health
Spectrum News
Noted: A new study led by Matt Hirshberg, a scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, dove into the toll it took on their mental health.
Where are Marquette, Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee in the NCAA Tournament bracket projections for March Madness?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin might be on the outside looking in if the NCAA men’s basketball tournament began today, while Marquette is looking to lock down a top-four seed. And don’t forget about UW-Milwaukee, which is tied for first place in the Horizon League and could reach the Big Dance for the first time since 2014 by triumphing in the Horizon League Tournament.
Here’s what bracket projections are saying on the precipice of February.
Three new Wisconsin football assistants to be paid a combined $1.375 million in Year 1
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
University of Wisconsin officials on Monday provided the contracts of three new football assistants, Colin Hitschler, Paul Haynes and Greg Scruggs.
Ex-Badgers linebacker T.J. Edwards went from undrafted to vital cog for Super Bowl-bound Eagles. Now he faces another ex-Badger, Leo Chenal
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Former University of Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Edwards has been an essential cog for the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles, working his way up from undrafted free agent to the best linebacker on an NFC champion team.
An accounting firm with a major Milwaukee office wanted to encourage Black developers. Here’s their strategy.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: “Milwaukee is this beacon of underrepresented development talent,” said Matt Paschall, a University of Wisconsin-Madison alum who leads the Baker Tilly program.
WHYsconsin: Tubas in Wisconsin and at UW-Madison
Wisconsin Public Radio
A pair of longtime tuba players and educators answer a WHYsconsin question about the prominence of the lowest brass instrument both around Wisconsin, and specifically in the University of Wisconsin Marching Band.
Could fuel from plants replace petroleum? Wisconsin researchers think so
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center are creating carbon-neutral fuels they hope to power the transportation sector through deconstructed, nonfood plant materials.
“We are producing the basic science knowledge on campus to generate the fuels and chemicals that will allow us to have a decarbonized economy and create environmental and economic benefits for the people of Wisconsin and around the United States,” said Tim Donohue, principal investigator and director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.
Former Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling has game of his life, helping Chiefs to Super Bowl
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: The Super Bowl will also feature a pair of former Badgers going head-to-head. Rookie Leo Chenal, a star linebacker for the University of Wisconsin before turning pro after the 2021 season, plays largely on special teams for the Chiefs. Linebacker T.J. Edwards, who went undrafted in 2019 despite four solid years with UW, has become one of the best players on Philadelphia’s defense.