Nearly one in four Wisconsin high schoolers earned college credit in the 2021-22 school year through a public university or technical college, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum study released Wednesday.
About a quarter of Wisconsin’s high school students earn college credits during the school year. But participation in these programs varies widely across the state based on students’ access to participating schools, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Interview with Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW Madison, about why it’s so hot, and what this means for our climate.
Yellow perch, rainbow trout and tilapia are just a few of the fish farmed for food in Wisconsin. We break down the aquaculture industry and take a tour of a fish farm. Interview with Sharon Moen, an outreach specialist for the Sea Grant Institute at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute.
Shawn Conley is a soybean and small grain specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said many farmers who just finished harvesting winter wheat brought in quality grain. Conley said soybean fields are also doing OK, but they’ll need at least an inch of rain per week until September to reach their best yields.
“If we don’t get rain, we’ll start seeing a yield hit on the soybean side of things,” Conley said. “Corn is a different matter. I think we’ve already started to see some corn yield losses out there.”
Tomorrow is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s demisemiseptcentennial anniversary as the University of Wisconsin System’s flagship campus celebrates its 175th anniversary. To honor the milestone, the university will be holding a free celebration with music, fireworks, and of course, free ice cream.
While paper converters often go overlooked, they play an important role in both Wisconsin’s paper industry and its economy, according to a recent study from the Wisconsin Paper Council and University of Wisconsin titled, “Adding Value to Our Economy – Paper Conversion in Wisconsin.” More than 145 paper converters operated in Wisconsin in 2022, according to the study.
That number gets bigger a lot faster if you factor in companies that use paper along with plastic and other types of products, Scott Bowe, a professor and wood products specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in the May 31 episode of the Wisconsin Paper Council’s “The Paper Files” podcast about the study.
Leonard Polzin tracks dairy markets at the UW-Madison Division of Extension. He said the state is feeling the effects of a post-pandemic lag in milk demand.
“Total supply is up, and demand is down. We’re increasing inventory, cows keep producing every day, and we just can’t turn it off. Our inventory numbers of all dairy products are increasing, and buyers know that. Buyers are not hungry for product,” explained Polzin.
For 37 years, the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) has helped innovate the dairy industry.
“Cheese-making has been around, there are lots of different guesses right now, but probably somewhere in the region of 8000 years,” CDR and University of Wisconsin Madison Professor of Food Science John Lucey said.
Maddison Iwen beams when she talks about teaching fourth graders at Coloma Elementary School in the Central Wisconsin-based School District of Westfield.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, who will begin her fourth year heading a classroom this fall, says she was born to teach. But even with this enthusiasm, Iwen knows it might not be for everyone.
Leonard Polzin is dairy markets and policy specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. He told Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Central Time” that most dairy processors have ongoing recruitment efforts and continue to think about ways to compete with employers hiring from the same labor pool. But he said processors are also starting to pay more attention to advancements in technology and how automation could make jobs easier or replace them altogether.
“If they can take what once was done by 10 people and do it by one person through the advent of additional investment, that’s always a topic of discussion,” he said.
Farmers across the Midwest are again dumping volumes of milk down the drain as an oversupply floods the markets. We talk with Leonard Polzin, UW-Madison Extention’s Dairy Markets and Policy Outreach specialist, about what’s causing the milk surplus and how long it may last.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin Madison associate professor of political science and legal studies Howard Schweber said given the current state of politics, it’s not surprising that the state’s high court denied the DEI education request. But he called Bradley’s comments shocking.
“Whatever tattered shreds of civility were left within the legal profession have surely vanished when you have a Supreme Court justice saying about her own state’s bar that they are effectively in a conspiracy to take over America and to make an explicit Nazi reference in doing so,” Schweber said.
Josh Kamps is a crops and soils educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in the southwestern region. He said crop conditions vary greatly across his area, even from farm to farm.
Kamps said producers who were able to plant early in the season got enough rain to get crops started, allowing the plants to grow deeper roots that tapped into water farther below the surface as soils dried out.
“We have areas where crops were planted a little bit later, maybe toward the end of May,” he said. “Those crops are really struggling. These last couple of rain showers this week are going to definitely help.”
Here’s what guests on the July 14, 2023 episode said about a 2% sales tax in the city of Milwaukee that comes with specific policy conditions and a surprising circuit court ruling in the Wisconsin abortion statutes lawsuit.
Includes interview with Howard Schweber, professor emeritus of political science at the UW-Madison and affiliated faculty at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Steven Deller, professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said businesses remain in “wait and see mode,” as they’ve dealt with economic uncertainty since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates more than a year ago.
“Six months ago, it was like, the Fed is raising interest rates, the sky is falling, the leading economic indicators are all pointing towards recession,” Deller said. “Now, people are going, ‘Well, wait a minute, the sky is not falling.'”
Menzie Chinn, a professor of public affairs and economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Goldman Sachs’ prediction might be a little rosier than that of most economists. He said economists are anticipating an economic slowdown in the latter half of 2023 or early 2024.
“While people think the chances of a recession are receding, I think the average forecaster still sees a recession coming,” Chinn said. “That being said, I think most of them also think it would be a mild recession.”
For the first time in a decade, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office is receiving government funding. A USDA grant will focus the office on rural needs, particularly those of farmers. We talk to Steve Vavrus, the Wisconsin State Climatologist and a senior scientist for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Climatic Research at UW-Madison, about this and funding for a statewide network of weather stations.
One of the measures put forth by Republicans sliced $32 million from the University of Wisconsin System budget in an attempt to eliminate nearly 200 DEI jobs on UW campuses.
Vos relabeled the DEI acronym “division, exclusion and indoctrination” and called diversity programming at Wisconsin’s public universities the “single most important issue” facing humanity last month at a Republican state party convention in La Crosse.
Warmer nights can be especially concerning because the body no longer has a chance to cool down, said Elizabeth Berg, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the effect of heat in urban environments.
“If temperatures stay above a certain threshold overnight, that’s when it’s … constant stress on your system,” she said. “And that’s when things get dangerous.”
Wisconsin Republicans released two proposals Wednesday that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports at every grade level and in college.
The bills, authored by Republican Rep. Barbara Dittrich of Oconomowoc and Sen. Dan Knodl of Germantown, would bar male and transgender female students attending publicly-funded K-12 schools, University of Wisconsin System campuses and state technical colleges from competing in sports designated for females.
Wisconsin schools that had a longer period of virtual or hybrid learning during the pandemic saw graduation rates rise among wealthier students and fall among those at an economic disadvantage, a new study found.
The study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published in the journal Educational Researcher, analyzed data from 429 public high schools in the state during the 2020-21 school year and two years before then.
Supporters of a plan to merge a two-year University of Wisconsin System campus and nearby technical college in Washington County say they’ll go it alone after Gov. Tony Evers struck the proposal from the state budget this week.
Chuck Nicholson, agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it’s not unusual to see some milk dumping in late spring and early summer.
“We tend to see a peak in the production of milk per cow around this time of year,” he said. “That’s based on biology of the cow and the timing of what the climate looks like to make that milk.”
The board overseeing Wisconsin’s public universities on Friday approved spending nearly $60 million to finish several University of Wisconsin-Madison building projects that are over budget.
“It’s probably more common than we think,” said Dr. Bruce Klein of the University of Wisconsin Medical School.
We learn about a potential new bill that would aim to prevent losing top academic talent in Wisconsin to other states.
July is a key month for corn pollination, making the next few weeks all the more critical for the crop. That’s according to Jason Otkin, an associate research professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in drought.
“We’re entering a really important time of the year now for the corn crop — pollination in July is so critical. So if we stay dry, and if we get really unlucky and have a big heat wave, that’s going to do quite the number on the corn crop,” he told “The Morning Show.”
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Republicans will withhold $32 million in funding for the University of Wisconsin System unless it ends diversity, equity and inclusion programming. The statement comes one day after a veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reinstated 188 DEI positions at state campuses with a budget veto.
At least one member of the board overseeing the University of Wisconsin System is pushing for more transparency about the dire financial situation facing some campuses.
The governor protected the 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, a point of emphasis for Vos. Evers eliminated a tax break for people in the top two income brackets, prompting a rebuke from the Assembly leader.
Evers, who used his partial veto powers to rewrite portions of the Republican-authored 2023-25 budget, eliminated the earmarked funding that would have helped Washington County create a community college concept that merged the resources of UW-Milwaukee at Washington County and Moraine Park Technical College, both of which have campuses in West Bend.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday the University of Wisconsin System won’t be able to get $32 million the Legislature set aside for its workforce programs unless it eliminates programs addressing diversity and equity.
Another area that Evers vetoed was the elimination of 188 jobs in the University of Wisconsin system that were focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, a Republican priority. He did not roll back a $32 million University of Wisconsin budget cut aimed at curbing funds for DEI programs, however. Under the Republicans’ proposal, the University of Wisconsin is still able to access those funds, but it must get approval from GOP legislators regarding its use first.
The UW System: A total of $1.7 billion will go to projects across the UW System statewide. Some of the big ticket items in there include $285 million for replacing Camp Randall Sports Center and turning it into an indoor football facility, $347 million for replacing the Engineering Building and demolishing the Computer Aided Engineering Facility at UW-Madison, and $231 million for demolition of Phillips Hall and the completion of a new Science/Health Science Building at UW-Eau Claire.
Aproposed community college pilot in Washington County is in jeopardy after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed $3.35 million in state funding for the project Wednesday.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Gov. Tony Evers has signed a Republican-drafted state budget that includes income tax cuts for most residents and a major increase in funding for K-12 education, more state aid to local governments and workforce housing. With his powerful veto pen, Evers spared 188 UW System diversity, equity and inclusion staff positions from elimination and eliminated tax cuts for the state’s two highest income brackets.
Evers also vetoed a plan from Republican lawmakers to eliminate 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, but maintained the $32 million cut in funding that was paired with the staffing reduction. Republicans put $32 million into a fund UW officials may request money from as long as the GOP-controlled committee approves the officials’ plans for its use.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican plan Wednesday that would have merged the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County with Moraine Park Technical College.
In signing the state’s two-year spending plan Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto authority to ensure rising public school funding for four centuries, remove proposed tax cuts for top earners, and retain University of Wisconsin System diversity positions.
In addition, the budget also gives the University of Wisconsin System the ability to retain 188 positions that “had been targeted by the Legislature for work remotely related to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” per a press release from the governor’s office.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican attempt to eliminate 188 UW System jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion Wednesday, cuts that were intended by GOP lawmakers to curb DEI efforts on campuses across the state.
He said he would give the UW System the ability to retain 188 employees working in diversity, equity and inclusion offices that Republicans sought to eliminate.
Tommy Thompson, a former governor and former president of the UW System, said the time is now to address the fiscal future of the statewide public university system and overlaps with technical colleges across Wisconsin.
David Drake, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and Extension wildlife specialist, teaches a class on wildlife damage management. He said that the beaver population is not at risk of being endangered or threatened. Rather, he said, beavers, which are a rodent species like mice or rats, breed regularly.
“The beaver population is healthy in the state of Wisconsin, as it is throughout the United States. And I think the management is justified and I think it’s responsible and I think it’s ethical and professional,” Drake said.
UW-Madison senior Ciboney Reglos interacts with DEI programming “basically every single day” she’s on campus. She is the senior class diversity, equity and inclusion director and a board member for the Filipinx American Student Organization, one of at least 65 multicultural student groups competing for limited funding and campus programming space.
The median home price in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the last decade, as supply has failed to keep up with demand after homebuilding slowed during the Great Recession. That’s according to new data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association, or WRA, and a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Steven Deller, professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, authored the report. He said many were hoping to see downward pressure on prices in response to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, but that hasn’t happened yet. Deller said high mortgage rates have had a modest effect on demand for homes, but a greater influence on those who currently own a home to postpone older couples from downsizing or young families upsizing, keeping some homes off the market.
“The normal churn in the housing market, the new supply of housing or the increase of existing homes going on the market is actually dropping a little bit more than the decline in demand,” he said.
“When we think of both climate and air quality, we often think of it as something that happens to other people,” said Tracey Holloway, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “As climate changes, it’s changing everything for everyone.”
The Higher Educational Aids Board, which administers the program, did not respond to a request for comment. A similar grant program is available for students of color attending University of Wisconsin System schools.
“It is remarkable how hard-nosed tactics have become in Wisconsin politics,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Burden said, under state law, “It seems to me that the commission took no action on Wolfe as administrator.”
Evers previously said he would not sign a state budget that includes tax cuts for wealthy residents or maintains a $32 million cut to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the UW System.
Both measures were included in the budget passed Thursday, but Evers has since softened his position and signaled he could support the UW provision because Republicans on the budget-writing committee included a companion provision that allows UW officials to request for the funding to be restored if the committee approves their plans for it.
The budget does not include state funds for a new engineering building on UW-Madison’s campus, a top priority for the university. A new building would replace the College of Engineering’s 83-year-old facility, adding over 1,000 engineering students per year.
Evers previously threatened to veto the entire budget over the University of Wisconsin’s $32 million cut, funding that Republicans identified as going toward diversity, equity, or DEI, programming and staff. But the budget would allow for the university to get the funding later if it could show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Despite Evers’ recent call for the Legislature to make significant changes to the budget to ensure that he signs it into law, neither chamber this week made substantive changes to the document before passing it. He opposed the significant tax cut for the wealthiest Wisconsinites as well as the proposed cuts to the UW System’s diversity programs. Both remain in the proposal.
Under a Republican-led bill, Wisconsin high schoolers who graduate in the top 5% of their class would receive automatic admission to University of Wisconsin System schools, including UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin Senate voted to pass a two-year budget plan Wednesday that drastically cuts the state’s income taxes, decreases funding for the University of Wisconsin System and excludes many priorities that were originally included in Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal including paid family and medical leave and state funding for the Child Care Counts program.
Wisconsin students ranked in the top five percent of their class would receive a guaranteed spot at University of Wisconsin-Madison and at other state universities and technical colleges under a GOP bill.
The Republican-controlled state Senate on Wednesday passed a nearly $99 billion two-year spending plan for the state that again cuts taxes by more than $3 billion, using a windfall of unexpected revenue Wisconsin has amassed navigating the coronavirus pandemic.
