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Author: knutson4

Kathleen Gallagher: How a Madison area non-profit is accelerating demand for psychedelic mushrooms used to treat mental illness

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Beyond Usona, the Midwest has been waking up to psychedelic medicine’s potential. UW-Madison and University of Michigan both started research centers for psychedelic drugs in 2021. Ohio State launched such a center earlier this year. University of Chicago has a leading researcher in the field in Harriet de Wit. And the Medical College of Wisconsin has one of the best serotonin-based pharmacology researchers in John McCorvy.

A Cedarburg clinic and a Walker’s Point apartment conversion are among projects honored by the American Institute of Architects Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The American Institute of Architects Wisconsin bestowed honor awards, the Wisconsin Architectural Awards program’s highest recognition, on four projects designed by its members.

Another eight projects received merit awards including:

• Hamel Music Hall, Madison. Strang Inc., Steinberg Hart.

University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music’s concert and performance space uses the “warmth of precast concrete (which) echoes the limestone of other iconic campus buildings, but the form of the Music Center reflects the forward-thinking, progressive ‘Wisconsin Idea,'” the nomination said.

In Wisconsin, what are my options if genetic testing shows the fetus isn’t viable?

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: “In the absence of any maternal illness, genetic abnormalities in the fetus — including those that would not allow the fetus to survive outside the womb — do not constitute a life-threatening condition for the mother,” Dr. Lisa Barroilhet, interim chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a written statement. “Because the abortion is not being performed to save of the life of the mother, it would not be legal in Wisconsin per the 1849 statute.”

Farming costs in Wisconsin were up 8 percent in 2021

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Steve Deller, ag economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said agriculture experienced the same supply chain issues that almost every industry faced in 2021.

“A lot of the stuff that farmers need to operate were in very low supply. So essentially it’s more expensive for farmers to operate,” Deller said. “It’s like any business. You know, I need to buy a new piece of equipment, but I can’t find it and prices go up.”

Confusion on ballot curing remains as absentee votes for Aug. 9 primary are cast

Wisconsin Public Radio

Noted: As absentee ballots are being cast across the state for Aug. 9 primary elections, Robert Yablon, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, recently joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Central Time.” He said leaving the voting rule debates unsettled amid an election is essentially asking for controversies.

Inflation, democracy, climate change are among the issues worrying Wisconsin. We’re hosting events across the state to talk about it.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

We’ve never seen anything quite like this in our politics.

There have been bitter divisions in the past — the Civil War and Vietnam Era come to mind — but at no time in our history has politics been so fraught with anger, distrust and disinformation — and turbocharged by algorithms that reward fighting and conflict and discourage deliberation.

We need to find our way through this thicket, and I think it begins with encouraging thoughtful discussion.

That’s why we’re collaborating this year with the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wisconsin Public Radio on a project we’re calling Wisconsin’s Main Street Agenda.

Lethal inaction: The era of ‘eco-anxiety’ is here. What is it and how does it apply in Wisconsin?

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Quoted: “Younger generations keep seeing this message of doom and gloom and the end of the world in 12 years, 15 years and so on,” Dominique Brossard, professor and chair in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. “We know from research in the psychology of risk that if you keep on talking about doom, what you end up doing is fueling a feeling of helplessness, anxiety.”

Museum of Wisconsin Art exhibitions showcase Native American identity, history, veterans

Wisconsin Examiner

Over the past few weeks, the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend has opened two new exhibitions by indigenous artists to the public.

On July 23, the museum opened Ho-Chunk photographer Tom Jones’s first major retrospective, which features 120 photos from sixteen bodies of work over 25 years.

“There’s something that a friend of mine said once,” says Jones, a professor of photography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “She came to a show, and she’s like, ‘Your work is so beautiful, but then when you really look at it and get up on it, it slaps you in the face.’”

‘He is the reason I am the player I am today’: Veteran NFL lineman Kevin Zeitler raves about UW’s Bob Bostad

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kevin Zeitler is preparing for his 11th NFL season.

He has started all 140 games in which he has played.

The graduate of Wisconsin Lutheran High School and the University of Wisconsin has played for four NFL teams – Cincinnati, Cleveland, the New York Giants and Baltimore.

The most demanding, most detailed coach for whom Zeitler has played?

Bob Bostad, who is back overseeing Wisconsin’s offensive line.

Masking recommended again as COVID-19 rises anew in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Examiner

Quoted: “When we get that high community level CDC indicator, that’s when community-wide masking is really necessary,” said Ajay Sethi, a University of Wisconsin epidemiologist. Even at lower community levels of COVID-19,  “people who are especially vulnerable to severe disease should always be wearing their mask indoors,” he added.

UW researchers make cancer breakthrough

Spectrum News

For the first time, researchers have learned two cancer drivers are linked together, and some top University of Wisconsin scientists are taking the credit for the incredible discovery.

“It’s an emergent field,” lead author Dr. Mo Chen said as she explored how the two most mutated cancers markers actually work together.

“Science teaches you that you have to be open to things that are unexpected,” UW Health’s Dr. Vince Cryns said of what they found underneath the microscope.

The pain of inflation for people trying to make ends meet

PBS Wisconsin

Quoted: “As we talk about inflation, I think sometimes we hear about the price of houses or the price of big things, but little stuff that really hurts low-income families,” said J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs who studies consumer decision making. “If you think about an extra $2.50 for a gallon of gas or an extra dollar for a gallon of milk, those things just start to add up because you buy them so frequently.”

PETA is suing a Wisconsin dairy co-op for separating calves from their moms. But why do farmers do so?

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Jennifer Van Os researches animal welfare on dairy farms for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She said cow-calf separation is standard for dairy farms across the U.S. and the world. She said the practice started as a way to prevent newborn calves from contracting diseases from other cows in a herd.

“Newborn dairy cows are vulnerable to disease because their immune system is still developing,” Van Os said. “Their immune system develops in a way that’s a little bit different from that of humans. So it came from good intentions, and it was done for the sake of the animal.”

Japanese beetles vs. Wisconsin gardeners: As you wage war against the despised, invasive pests, here’s what to know to get the upper hand

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Noted: Entomologist PJ Liesch is director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, aka @WiBugGuy on Twitter. He’s been studying the not-so-little buggers for nearly 15 years and graciously agreed to share his insights, offer some tips and bust a few myths.

How to Find an Old 401(k) Account

U.S. News & World Report

Quoted: “The first place you should look is the human resources department of the prior employer,” says Anita Mukherjee, an assistant professor of risk and insurance at the University of Wisconsin—Madison’s Wisconsin School of Business. “There, they should have all of the information as to the whereabouts of the 401(k) account you had with them.”

‘Heat’-ing up: Michael Mann writes sequel-prequel ‘Heat 2’

Washington Post

Noted: “Heat 2” is the first of three planned novels (one of which may be related to “Heat”), and an ambitious literary beginning for a man who had never attempted a work of fiction before. He majored in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with thoughts of becoming a teacher, but decided that would be “really immensely boring.” Asked to cite literary influences, he mentions John le Carre, but otherwise says he doesn’t read crime fiction. Instead, he looks to “primary sources,” the various killers, crooks, law enforcers and government agents he has met and befriended and whose stories he adapted for “Heat,” “Thief” and other films.

Milwaukee city committee moves ahead with stricter ordinance requiring gun owners to lock up firearms, report thefts

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin and The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in March 2021 reported that firearm-related homicides in Milwaukee among non-Hispanic African Americans were 14.6 times greater than among white residents. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has also reported that there has been more than a dozen juvenile homicides as of late June.

Dr. Maria Mora Pinzón works to improve access to Alzheimer’s disease services within the Latinx community

Madison 365

“My research is [focused on] how to improve access, how to make sure that communities benefit from the research, and how to make life a little easier, at least on the healthcare side,” says Dr. Maria Mora Pinzón, a preventive medicine physician and scientist at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who focuses her research on improving access to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) services within the Latinx community.

Pandemic support fading for 1 in 12 Wisconsinites who were food insecure

Wisconsin Watch

Noted: Before the pandemic hit, 1 in 12 Wisconsinites were food insecure — meaning they couldn’t or were uncertain they could get the food they needed. Food insecurity is linked to children struggling more in school, worse health outcomes in all age groups and greater stress on families, according to the Wisconsin Food Security Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Half dozen cases of monkeypox in Wisconsin

Spectrum News

Quoted: “[Infected people] are shedding virus through those blisters during that period, until it sort of scabs over,” said Dr. Ajay Sethi, a population health scientist at the University of Wisconsin. “They’re itchy, they can be painful. When they scab over, you’re no longer infectious. But there’s a several week period when you are infectious. It’s not that different from chickenpox.”

Five women in NHL assistant GM jobs took different paths

Associated Press

Noted: A finalist for top college player of the year, Meghan Hunter moved into coaching women’s hockey at the University of Wisconsin: “I just naturally gravitated into coaching because that’s all I really thought was available at the time.”

Hunter spent time with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights and Hockey Canada, joined the Blackhawks in an administrative role in 2016 and climbed the ranks in scouting and hockey operations. Chicago promoted her to AGM in June.

“My path’s never been linear,” Hunter said. “I wanted to play in the NHL, so then when I realized that wasn’t a reality, I was like, ‘Wow, if I work in it, that’s pretty cool.’”

Intersystem Transfer: Supporting Our Students in Wisconsin

Inside Higher Education

The University of Wisconsin System places a high priority on improving baccalaureate completion rates, closing the opportunity gap for minoritized students and minimizing the financial and other barriers to degree attainment for all students regardless of where they begin their college career. In a collaborative attempt to remove transfer barriers for Wisconsin students, the UW System engaged in statewide initiatives and created strategic partnerships with the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to improve credit transfer between or among institutions of higher education across the state. The system-to-system partnership is key to student success, reducing time and credits to degree, lessening student debt, and providing the workforce the employees needed to support the vitality of the state.

‘He’s keeping the fires burning’: Why Trump continues to pressure top Wisconsin Republicans on false election claims

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Trump lost Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes in 2020. It was a key state to his re-election and one that he won in a historic victory in 2016 that a Republican hadn’t pulled off in decades. The state is key to any new run for president, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Wisconsin is one of the states where he falsely claims to have been robbed of victory, so the recent Supreme Court decision gives him yet another opportunity to explain why his loss wasn’t actually a loss,” Burden said.

“Nearly two years after an election that every judge and security expert deemed to be proper, Trump’s continual fixation has an air of desperation.”

Why Do Moms Tend to Manage the Household Scheduling?

New York Times

Noted: While some families don’t mind dividing labor in this normative way, with moms controlling the scheduling, other hetero couples would prefer to make scheduling more egalitarian. So I called Allison Daminger, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who studies how couples divide labor, to see if she had any thoughts about how to divide this work.

Daminger suggested two potential ways to help divide scheduling. One is a shared family email address or calendar. The latter is a tool my husband and I use — he’s more proactive than a lot of dads, and has organized many a playdate, but I still do more than half of the scheduling. The other is dividing tasks by area. For example: “Partner A does the school stuff and Partner B does extracurriculars,” Daminger suggested. Or Partner A does the dentist appointments and Partner B does the pediatricians’ appointments. It might help to specialize because then you can build relationships and learn all the peripheral information you may need, Daminger said — you’ll know how long the dentist appointments take and how your kid responds to them, and you’re the one who always interacts with the staff.

988 mental health crisis hotline “finally sending the right message”

WTMJ

Quoted: UW–Madison clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology Dr. Christine Whelan says this number will reduce the stigma attached to mental health care.

“This an incredibly important and frankly long overdue and much awaited necessary tool in the fight against suicide and to really raise awareness about mental health. So, when we break an arm or have a physical emergency, we might call 9-1-1, and now to have 9-8-8 for a mental health emergency is really finally sending the right message,” said Whelan.

Maine Med doctor donates kidney to former patient in Wisconsin

Portland Press Herald

Noted: Djamali became a nephrologist himself and spent more than two decades practicing at the University of Wisconsin Health Transplant Center in Madison.

That’s where he met Jartz, among hundreds of other patients.

Late last year, Djamali decided to leave the UW Health Transplant Center to take a job at Maine Medical Center. But he made another decision around the same time. He would donate his kidney to Jartz.

Direct payments of $500 to be sent to Wisconsin families every month for a year

Washington Examiner

Noted: While the deadline to apply has already passed, the city will still allow families to participate in surveys regarding the program, which will be studied to learn more about the success of the program. These surveys will be given out three times at six months apart from each other, and participants will be compensated for their time, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Videos of IUD Insertions Have Gone Viral on TikTok — Here’s What Really Happens

Good Housekeeping

Quoted: IUD insertion pain may be another example of the gender pain gap, an adjacent topic that has recently been experiencing a swell of attention. It’s based on the understanding that there is an implicit bias in health care rooted in sexism and racism that has led to the underserving of women in medical settings. Even if your practitioner is another person with a uterus, and a person of color, they are working within a system that still doesn’t adequately legitimize pain experienced by women or marginalized folks.

“The pain gap is particularly pronounced when it comes to gynecological services, because for most of medical history, and up until now, women’s voices about what they are experiencing have been disregarded, minimized and trivialized,” says Leigh Senderowicz, a health disparities research scholar at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Patrick Michaels, outspoken climate change contrarian, dies at 72

Washington Post

Noted: Dr. Michaels received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 1971 and a master’s degree in biology in 1975, both from the University of Chicago. He received a doctorate in ecological climatology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1979. He was a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists.

UCLA Bruins player Thomas Cole retires from college football after suicide attempt

NBC News

Noted: Since March, there have been a number of high-profile suicides of college student-athletes across the U.S., including Katie Meyer, a goalkeeper on Stanford’s soccer team; Sarah Shulze, a top runner for the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Lauren Bernett, a standout softball player for James Madison University, and Arlana Miller, a star cheerleader at Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana.