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Category: UW Experts in the News

Supply of new, highly effective shingles vaccine ‘day to day’ as demand surges

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The first vaccine provides some protection from the disease.

“But we don’t know how much because it wasn’t studied,” said Jeremy Smith, an internist and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

UW Health is giving the vaccine to patients with an appointment with their physician as opposed to people who call wanting just the vaccine.

Just Ask Us: Why are elections held on Tuesdays?

Wisconsin State Journal

Although some states hold primaries or other local elections on Saturdays, Tuesdays are “far and away the norm,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison. State and local governments held elections on different days of the week until the mid-1800s, when Congress mandated presidential and congressional elections be held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, he said.

A juggernaut of convenience: Kwik Trip continues its rapid expansion

Wisconsin State Journal

“The challenge for them is of growth, and many, many good companies have been felled by the challenge of growth,” said Hart Posen, who studies corporate strategy and strategic decision-making at the UW-Madison School of Business. “The key is understanding how to grow, but in the last 15 to 20 years, they’ve made a lot of very smart decisions.”

The 5G Fight With China: Politicization Leads to Suboptimal US Outcome

The Journal of Political Risk

Quoted: Cybersecurity expert David Schroeder, an information technology strategist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, confirmed the security benefits of a unified 5G block of spectrum. According to Schroeder, “A single ‘domain’, so to speak, whether wireless spectrum or any other kind of network or medium, is always going to be easier to provision, manage, and secure than many disparate networks with different ownership/administrative structures and management regimes.” Schroeder said that is one advantage to a Unified 5G, “in no small part because of how pervasive it is likely to be.”

New figures for autism prevalence in China point to previous neglect

Spectrum News

Quoted: “This approach is much more labor intensive than the CDC’s approach,” says Maureen Durkin, professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who leads the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. “It’s true that the more you look for autism, the more you’ll find.”

The case for not watching ‘Game of Thrones’ on Sunday

Deseret News

Quoted: University of Wisconsin psychologist Shilagh A. Mirgain has offered tips on how to avoid a crash landing, such as savoring the memories and planning a new goal or happy event. “I’m a big fan of repurposing and thinking about what’s next,” Mirgain said. “When I come back from vacation I have my next travel destination chosen. Athletes can focus on the next race, and someone who just had a wedding could start thinking about the honeymoon or one-year anniversary.”

Research Universities Need to Improve Their Teaching. But More Money Won’t Help, a Philosopher Says.

Chronicle of Higher Education

Noted: The Chronicle caught up before the meeting with Harry Brighouse, a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who wrote the paper. We discussed his ideas and how they’ve been received so far. The following conversation has been edited and condensed.

UW Immigrant Justice Clinic work affected by changing asylum policies at the border, director says

In October 2018, law professor Erin Barbato and her students represented a Cuban man in a political asylum case. He was “beaten, detained (and) threatened with disappearance by the Cuban authorities twice,” said Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. He fled when his wife was eight months pregnant because he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit and knew he didn’t have any other options. He traveled to South America and walked all the way to the border. He was granted asylum.

Seed money: Madison has become fertile ground for venture capitalists

Quoted: Risk management is something that Jon Eckhardt — the director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at the Wisconsin School of Business — said often gets overlooked by the general public.

“When they read about a company that worked out really well, what they’re missing is all the effort and money and energy that went into companies that didn’t work out,” he said.

What Else Is in Your Ice Cream These Days?

Consumer Reports

Quoted: There are two main schools of thought about choosing a “healthy” ice cream, according to Scott Rankin, Ph.D., a professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “On the one hand, you have consumers who want the fewest ingredients possible,” he says. “On the other, you have customers who want their ice cream to have specific ‘attributes,’ such as no sugar added or nonfat.”

Can Ice Cream Ever Be Healthy?

Consumer Reports

Quoted: In its simplest form, ice cream has just four ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, and flavoring, such as vanilla. For many years, there were limited options in overall ingredients, composition, and flavor, says Scott Rankin, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the department of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Should Nuclear Power Plants Have A Place At The Table? Nuclear Physics Professor Argues Yes, It’s A Viable Option To Curb Dependence On Fossil Fuel

Wisconsin Public Radio

Noted: Paul Wilson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison nuclear engineering professor, disagrees, saying nuclear can play a role in the reduction of carbon so long as the U.S.’s current fleet of about 100 nuclear power plants is maintained and innovation in the field — such as building smaller reactors that are less expensive — is supported.

Brian Hagedorn declares victory: What that means for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and its next election

Quoted: And mobilizing those voters is always key, said Ryan Owens, a professor of political science at UW-Madison and director of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership on campus. “Whoever mobilizes is going to be able to get there, get the victory. That shouldn’t be a huge shock. I think every election is like that,” he said.

Spring cleaning fever? Channel it into a reorganized, safety-minded kitchen

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: “When you do store things, the information the manufacturer provides can be really important,” said Barb Ingham, who as professor and food science extension specialist for the University of Wisconsin fields questions about food safety from around the state. “The shelf dating is really important … to getting the most for the money you spent for that product,” she said. “You’ll get the most quality for what you consume if you follow that date.

Madison to replace existing fleet of vehicles with electric models by 2020

Badger Herald

Quoted: The three main pollutants of most concern in Earth’s atmosphere are ground-level ozone, fine particulate matter and carbon dioxide, Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin professor and air pollution and public health specialist, said.

“The U.S. is very active and successful in eliminating emissions that affect public health, carbon dioxide is not one that affects public health,” Holloway said.

As spending increases in Wisconsin Senate, Assembly races, questions on gerrymandering, campaign donations rise

Badger Herald

Quoted: Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin political science professor and director of the UW Elections Research Center, said the GOP spending increases were not necessarily a surprise.

“Because of the expected ‘blue wave’ and the success that Democrats had in several special elections earlier in the year, there was more sense in 2018 that Republican control was in jeopardy,” Burden said. “This was especially true in the State Senate, where Democrats only needed to pick up two seats to become the majority party. As a result, several key Senate seats saw a tremendous amount of spending by both sides.”

Kremlin Clamps Down on Internet

Wall Street Journal

Quoted: “My feeling is this is the next step in an evolution in [which] Cold War cyber capabilities have grown to such an extent that they are only short of nuclear capabilities,” said Paul Barford, professor of computer science at the University of Wisconsin.

How to think about breaking up big tech

The Intercept

Quoted: India has already instituted a Warren-like rule to prevent e-commerce platforms from selling their own products on the platform. “We should go back and understand the wisdom of that kind of separation,” said Peter Carstensen, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Law School. “We would never want the interstate highway system to be owned by Walmart. It simplifies the market functions if you separate them out.”

Civic education makes ‘a powerful difference’ in creating young voters

WI Watch

“As somebody who was a high school social studies teacher … it’s extremely difficult to do a good job as a history teacher and also at the same time have the time to do everything that needs to happen in a high-quality civics class,” said Diana Hess, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education. “You’re just cramming way too much into a course.”

What makes Wisconsin swing?

Vox

A few months after majorities of Wisconsin voters re-elected Democrat Tammy Baldwin to the US Senate with a 10-point cushion but only sent Republican Governor Scott Walker packing by a razor-thin margin, the Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced that the city of Milwaukee will host the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

With vaccine misinformation, libraries walk a fine line

Salon/Undark

Quoted: There’s this underlying recognition,” said Bob Drechsel, an expert in media law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “that it’s extraordinarily important and unavoidable that librarians have a great deal of discretion to make decisions about what they think is in the best interest of their collections and their patrons.”