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Author: knutson4

Portrait Artist Blends Realism and Beauty

Wisconsin Life

Philip Salamone is a classical portrait artist, learning the craft at both UW-Madison and Grand Central Atelier in New York City. In 2010 he returned to Madison, and in an effort to cultivate a community, to teach classes and workshops, and to learn from others, he founded the Atwood Atelier—an institution devoted to teaching traditional drawing and painting from life.

Waukesha judge: Kettle Moraine teachers need parent consent to use trans students’ names

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

David Schwartz, a constitutional law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, said that although “there may be a handful of other (similar) cases around the country, it’s a relatively new area.”

The ruling does not set a binding precedent for other courts in Wisconsin, Schwartz said. While the ruling could be referenced in other cases, no other court is legally obligated to follow it.

University of Wisconsin is celebrating 175th birthday with new ice cream. It needs your help picking flavor

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In a fashion only fitting for the Dairy State, Wisconsin’s flagship university is celebrating its 175th birthday with a new ice cream flavor.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison created four new flavor ideas and is asking the public to vote for its favorite by Friday. The winner will be available at campus Babcock Dairy stores in early 2024.

Spotted lanternflies detected in 2 of Wisconsin’s neighboring states

Wisconsin Public Radio

PJ Liesch is the director of the Insect Diagnostics Lab at UW-Madison. He said the insects leave behind a sticky sap material that can lead to the growth of bacteria and fungi.

“There are some pretty significant agricultural concerns for things like grapes, hops and fruit trees. … But on most other plants, it’s probably not going to kill them, but it can be a significant nuisance issue,” Liesch said.

Former Badgers Brian Butch, Charlie Wills will be part of radio broadcasts

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin Badgers fans will be familiar with the names behind the new voices on the radio broadcast for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season.

The university announced Thursday that former UW big man Brian Butch will join the Badger Radio Network as the lead men’s basketball analyst for game broadcasts, working alongside longtime play-by-play man Matt Lepay. Additionally, former Badgers forward Charlie Wills will fill in as analyst for some games.

Gender-affirming health care would be banned for Wisconsin minors under GOP proposal

Wisconsin Public Radio

In a statement, UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert N. Golden and UW Health CEO Dr. Alan Kaplan said they will continue to support transgender and nonbinary patients.

“UW Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are committed to providing gender-affirming care that is evidence-based, patient-centered, and that focuses on the health and wellbeing of patients seeking the bright future they deserve,” the statement reads. “We will continue to lead clinical, research and education endeavors that allow patients to live their best and most fulfilled lives.”

There’s a good reason yellow jackets are hanging around you

Wisconsin Public Radio

This time of year, yellow jacket wasps can be a bit ornery and aggressive. PJ Liesch, manager of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, said there’s a good reason for that.

“To put it shortly, they’re basically ‘hangry,'” he said. “They are really hungry this time of the year because they’re running low on food.”

What we know about hand-counting ballots

Wisconsin Public Radio

Republicans who are skeptical about the 2020 election have argued that hand-counting ballots is the way forward. Barry Burden, a professor of political science at UW-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center, explains when hand-counting makes sense — and when it actually makes results less accurate.

Wisconsin may get fairer state legislative maps. But the congressional districts will likely remain GOP-friendly.

The Badger Project

“Democrats don’t have much to gain within the state by redrawing the congressional districts,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at UW-Madison and director of the school’s Elections Research Center, wrote in an email. “Doing that would, at most, tilt one or two more of the eight districts in the Democratic direction.”

Over 300 colleges agree to be more transparent about financial aid process

Wisconsin Public Radio

359 institutions, including UW-Madison, UW-Madison, UW-Green Bay and UW-River Falls, have agreed to standardize financial aid offers to undergraduates, a step towards transparency in a process that is often opaque and confusing for students. Karla Weber, communications manager for the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains.

Minnesota university administrator to lead UW-Parkside as chancellor

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

An administrator from a Minnesota university will take charge of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, officials announced Tuesday.

Lynn Akey has served as vice president for student success, analytics and integrated planning at Minnesota State University, Mankato since 2019. The UW Board of Regents unanimously approved her hire in a closed-door meeting Tuesday.

Wisconsin labor leaders say federal rule changes could help reverse declines in union membership

Wisconsin Public Radio

The change isn’t unprecedented and stems from a case in the 1960s, according to Michael Childers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Workers.

“What they’re basically saying now is that, if any unfair labor practice has is found to have occurred after an employer asks for an election, then they don’t need to have the election. The union will just be recognized and bargaining should commence,” he said. “That absolutely could have some impact on unions being formed in the private sector.”

The future of energy storage is coming to Wisconsin

Wisconsin Public Radio

On Friday, Alliant Energy announced that they had received a $30M federal grant to build a CO2-based energy storage facility in Columbia County, Wisconsin—the first of its kind in the US, and the first ever on this scale. We talk with Mark Anderson, director of the Thermal-Hydraulics Laboratory at the UW-Madison, about what the new technology means for the future of renewable energy storage in the state and beyond.

With student loan payments restarting soon, Wisconsin borrowers feel overwhelmed and confused

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“I am doing everything in my wheelhouse to be able to afford to live,” said Olivia Steele, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree and about $25,000 in debt. “I drive an old car; I don’t go on fancy trips or anything. Having payments come back will ruin me.”

US government is funding kills of endangered animals, activists say

The Guardian

Quoted: Adrian Treves, a predator-prey ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who sits on Peer’s board, said no proper studies exist on whether the hunts protect livestock. Rather, more studies have been conducted on how the kills affect populations of caribou, moose, elk and other wildlife, and a 2020 meta analysis of available science found little evidence that they increase populations.

Research shows two much bigger factors in herd health are weather and habitat, Treves said, but hunts are still pushed by state game agencies because “hunter perception is a big part of it, and their attitudes are typically negative toward predators”.

Cats and dogs get dementia. Here’s how to spot signs and support pets.

The Washington Post

Quoted: Among cats, an increase in vocalization, meaning more crying or howling — an obvious and frequently reported sign. “With cats, there is excessive vocalization and disorientation and changes in interaction with humans or other animals, such as hissing and swatting,” said Starr Cameron, clinical associate professor in small animal neurology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine, who studies cat dementia. “Some cats are up all night and vocalizing. They go outside the litter box or can’t find it.”

Our Human Ancestors Very Nearly Went Extinct 900,000 Years Ago, Genetics Suggest

Smithsonian Magazine

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison population geneticist Aaron Ragsdale, who wasn’t involved in the research, says the study raises some very intriguing questions about human evolution during a time period from which both genetic and fossil data are relatively scarce. “I am eager to see if their results are replicated using other methods,” Ragsdale says.

Climate change question at Milwaukee debate shows concerns among young conservatives

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: The question signaled to candidates that climate change is something young conservatives take seriously, said Dominique Brossard, a professor and chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The fact that they did ask the question at a Republican debate for the primary, that there was a young conservative on video — that already tells you that this is an issue that has made the public discourse in a way that’s not a fringe issue,” Brossard said.

Why state lawmakers are clashing over reappointing Wisconsin’s elections administrator

Wisconsin Public Radio

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter fills us in on a state Senate public hearing this week — filled with debunked claims of 2020 election fraud — to discuss reappointing Meagan Wolfe to be administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. State Attorney General Josh Kaul has said the proceedings are illegal under Wisconsin law. Then David T. Canon, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, analyzes the situation, and this instance of the governing style of Republican legislative leaders.

Former Badgers covers Capitol Hill for CNN

Wisconsin Public Radio

From UW-Madison student to CNN chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju credits persistence and hard work. He’s now covering the likelihood of Republicans triggering a government shutdown and President Joe Biden potentially facing an impeachment inquiry. We discuss national politics.

What are paper converters, and why are they important to Wisconsin’s paper industry?

Wisconsin Public Radio

Recent research from the Wisconsin Paper Council examined the often-overlooked role of the state’s paper converters in the state’s paper industry. Scott Bowe, a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains what paper converters do and why they’re booming in Wisconsin.

The politics of school lunch

Wisconsin Public Radio

As kids head back to school, we take a look at the politics of school lunch, including compensation issues among school lunch workers, parental involvement with school meals, and the role of farmers in school lunches. Interview with Jennifer Gaddis, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Society and Community Studies at UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology.

A highly mutated COVID-19 strain, has infectious disease experts worried. It’s not been found in Wisconsin – yet.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“The concern is, could that cause a very similar spike epidemiologically, with more spread, more hospitalizations, more death?” said Ajay Sethi, professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It doesn’t have to replicate what we saw the last time (with omicron), … but it certainly is on everybody’s mind.”

Fewer Wisconsin students of color take Advance Placement classes, tests

Wisconsin Public Radio

After a lull following the pandemic, more Wisconsin high school students are starting to take Advanced Placement courses and exams again.

But data shows students of color and lower socioeconomic backgrounds continue to fall behind in enrolling in the courses and taking the exams, which give kids the chance to earn college credits in high school.

Wisconsin volleyball team focused on its next challenge, not newly-minted No. 1 ranking

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Wisconsin volleyball team moved up just one spot in the national rankings, but it’s a big one.

The Badgers took over the No. 1 spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll that was released Monday. The move came after UW opened the season in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge with a four-set win over No. 15 Baylor on Friday and a straight set victory over TCU on Saturday.

Research shows talking through PVC pipes can hack voice identification systems

Wisconsin Public Radio

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that talking through a PVC tube can alter the sound of someone’s voice enough to trick these types of systems.

Kassem Fawaz, an assistant professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, led the research. He said this type of voice identification security is becoming popular for applications like banking. So, he wanted to test its limits.

Lunch at Culver’s fitting place to find common ground in polarizing political climate

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The promotion of civil discourse is one of the most urgent actions the La Follette School can take going forward.

Co-authored by Susan Webb Yackee is a professor of public affairs and director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. Curt S. Culver is the non-executive chairman of MGIC Investment Corp. and its principal subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), the nation’s leading private mortgage insurer. He is a founding member of the La Follette School’s Board of Visitors.

Boba tea in Wisconsin: How the colorful Asian drink is growing in popularity and creating a chance for cultural awareness

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Victor Jew, a University of Wisconsin–Madison senior lecturer in the Asian American Studies department, said bubble tea is a “pan-ethnic phenomenon.”

It “speaks to a key idea in Asian American studies that you have all these different communities and histories and groups — they can find common ground, which is that pan ethnicity, that decision to identify an umbrella away as Asian American.”

UW-Oshkosh sent these recent grads their diplomas. Then it surprised them with a bill for another $7,900.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sticker shock set in earlier this summer for a group of seven University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh students who graduated this winter from an executive MBA program and received their diplomas this spring. Then they got a letter from the university’s billing office — in June — informing them of a “discrepancy.”

Social isolation is the greatest risk factor for dying of heat stroke

Wisconsin Public Radio

Richard Keller, professor of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said social isolation is the greatest risk factor for dying of heat stroke.

“Especially if they’re living on their own in marginal conditions without access to air conditioning and without access to a steady social network, they can often find themselves with no one to help if they find themselves in crisis,” Keller said.

You need an antibiotic, but it’s not available. How drug shortages force doctors to pick frustrating alternatives.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“We are a nation with many resources, and yet, generic medications across the board, and things like infant formula, are resources that some of our citizens don’t have access to because we haven’t really built the policies to ensure that there would be access,” said Kari Wisinski, chief of hematology and oncology and palliative care at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Medicine.