Category: UW Experts in the News

We have analysis of yesterday’s special election results, and get a refresher course on the redistricting case before the US Supreme Court. Guest: Barry Burden

Quoted: “They basically again just punted on any underlying questions of the constitutionality of this and didn’t say anything about whether gerrymandering is OK or not,” said David Canon.

Noted: David Canon, a University of Wisconsin political science professor, weighed in on the court’s decision Monday.

Quoted: Jo Handelsman, a microbiologist and genomic sequencing pioneer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who likewise is not associated with the project, concurs. “The thrill of sequence information is that you don’t know what you’re going to find,” she says. “I think probably the bigger payoffs will be things that we can’t even anticipate.”

Noted: Mental health advocates hope this bit of viral attention can be harnessed for lasting changes. Dr. Steve Garlow, a psychiatry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied suicide, said he hopes the growing awareness can finally build a lasting public health effort like those rallied around other leading causes of death.

Noted: A spending plan shows how overspending one week will leave you with a cash shortage the next week. Even a $50 shortfall can feel stressful, says J. Michael Collins, faculty director for the Center for Financial Security at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said the November election will likely draw more voters than Tuesday, but higher turnout doesn’t necessarily mean good news for Republicans.

Mental health advocates hope this bit of viral attention can be harnessed for lasting changes. Dr. Steve Garlow, a psychiatry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied suicide, said he hopes the growing awareness can finally build a lasting public health effort like those rallied around other leading causes of death.

Noted: Over five school years, ending with the spring of 2016, 71 percent of rural districts in the state saw a drop in enrollment, said Sarah Kemp, a school demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Titletown Brewing Company and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are teaming up for “UW-Madison Presents: The Rise of the Craft Brewery” this Thursday at the Titletown Brewing Company taproom.

Quoted: “Democrats are sure to make gains in this year’s midterm elections, but the monstrous wave that appeared to be building in late 2017 now appears to be more modest,” says Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will once again answer questions from citizens in his annual, multi-hour, live television call-in show, “Direct Line With Vladimir Putin.” Many observers describe these shows as entirely fake, and “Direct Line” is indeed a highly staged and controlled event: Journalists have reported on this year’s preparations and the elaborate rehearsals that those selected to appear undergo.

Christine E. Evans is an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and author of “Between Truth and Time: A History of Soviet Central Television” (Yale University Press, 2016).

Quoted: “The attempt to compare something that humans created or restored to something natural has shown a shortfall in the outcome,” said Joy Zedler, professor emerita of botany and restoration ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Some functions and some magnitude of functions fall short of what would be present in the same kind of wetland in the same place if it were left in its natural condition.”

Noted: Meanwhile, the World Bank commissioned the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a part of its East Asia urbanization data initiative. The Wisconsin team typically studies urban sprawl in order to assess how costly it would be to provide infrastructure. Mapping houses and buildings may seem like a straightforward task, but converting data into information depends on the objectives of the institution conducting—and funding—the project.

Noted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ryan Owens talks about the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of a Colorado baker.

Noted: “I’m not sure how much people will know that term,” says Dominique Brossard, a communications professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in life science issues like GMOs. “I don’t think it’s going to be very easy for people to find out [which foods are genetically modified].”

Noted: This is the planet now. Of the seven major storm regions on Earth, five had their strongest storms on record since 2013. And any of them, or any other storm, could be worse depending on if or where it comes ashore. “Irma, we had a chance of having a $500 billion disaster, had it taken the eastern track along the Florida coastline,” says Shane Hubbard, a disaster researcher at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Generally we plan for the 1-percent annual chance flood, and in Houston we had an event that was so far from that, how do we plan and prepare? Should we? Did they just flip a coin and win a $500 billion jackpot?”

The United States government reinstated tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. The Trump Administration said that the tariffs were in the interest of national security. But U.S. allies disagree with that claim. Since then, Canada and the EU have been swift to retaliate by implementing tariffs on some U.S. exports. We speak with Mark Copelovitch, associate professor of political science & public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the move and how it could import foreign trade.

Noted: “I think the people making these videos are tapping into a need where you want to be social without being disrupted from your study goals,” says Mitchell Nathan, professor of educational psychology and learning sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Think of it like parallel play. This is parallel studying: You’re ignoring each other, but that’s still much more preferable than doing it all by yourself.”

Noted: Brad Singer, a geology professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who investigates lava flow magnetic fields, said: “When the lava flows erupt and cool in the Earth’s magnetic field, they acquire a memory of the magnetic field at that time.

Quoted: Susan Paskewtiz, a professor in the entomology department at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the area’s mosquito hatch is off to an early start thanks to a very rainy May.

Noted: UW’s Chief Information Security Officer, Bob Turner, tells us what these emails mean and what you should do with them.