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Category: UW Experts in the News

Russian Twitter trolls stoked racial tension in wake of Milwaukee rioting before 2016 election

KVUE

A team that included University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Chris Wells found last month that at least 116 articles from U.S. media outlets included tweets from @TEN_GOP and other Russian-linked accounts, with the tweets usually cited as examples of supposedly ordinary Americans voicing their views. Wells said that the tweets found by the Journal Sentinel seemed similar.

When Do Toddlers Start Having Night Terrors? The Scary Phenomenon Comes On Earlier Than You Think

Romper

According to a presentation by Dr. Cami Matthews, MD, Associate Professor Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics’ Wisconsin Sleep Center, sleep terrors or pavor nocturnus usually happen between the ages of 4 and 12, and they’re associated with “Pallor, sweating, pupil dilation, piloerection (hairs standing on end), tachycardia (rapid heart rate), and screaming.”

How Cheese, Wheat and Alcohol Shaped Human Evolution

Smithsonian

You aren’t what you eat, exactly. But over many generations, what we eat does shape our evolutionary path. “Diet,” says anthropologist John Hawks, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “has been a fundamental story throughout our evolutionary history. Over the last million years there have been changes in human anatomy, teeth and the skull, that we think are probably related to changes in diet.”

How Forests Change Over Time

WXPR

The rate of natural forest succession is affected whenever a disturbance such as fire, a windstorm, pests, or management activities occurs on the site. The more severe the disturbance, or the more often disturbances occur, the more slowly natural forest succession moves forward.

Let Them March: Schools Should Not Censor Students

Education Week

Noted: Kathleen Bartzen Culver is the James E. Burgess Chair in journalism ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Center for Journalism Ethics. Erica Salkin is an associate professor of communication studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., and the author of the 2016 book Students’ Right to Speak: The First Amendment in Public Schools (McFarland).

Real Time Economics

Wall Street Journal

“Naloxone access may unintentionally increase opioid abuse through two channels: (1) saving the lives of active drug users, who survive to continue abusing opioids, and (2) reducing the risk of death per use, thereby making riskier opioid use more appealing,” the University of Virginia’s Jennifer Doleac and the University of Wisconsin’s Anita Mukherjee write. Because there are more opioid abusers needing to fund their drug habit, theft may also rise.

How to make your cover letter shine

Wisconsin State Journal

Cover letters are powerful tools in your quest for a new job. A good one can get you an interview and make you a top candidate. Even if the position you’re seeking doesn’t require much writing, it’s important to demonstrate your communication skills and tailor your message to both the employer and the job. Here are some tips for crafting a compelling message.

Teens Are Sexting — Now What?

New York Times

Noted: Dr. Megan Moreno, a pediatrician who is vice chair of digital health at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said: “My main message would be for parents to step back for a minute from the alarmist nature of the word ‘sexting’ and think about developmentally appropriate foolish romantic things teenagers do.”

The ‘moral hazard’ of naloxone in the opioid crisis

Washington Post

Noted: As opioid usage has worsened in the United States, more and more jurisdictions have acted to increase access to naloxone. Not only first responders but also friends, family and even librarianshave started to administer it. These state laws were passed at different times, giving researchers Jennifer Doleac and Anita Mukherjee a sort of a natural experiment: They could look at what happened to overdoses in areas that liberalized naloxone access and compare the trends there to places that hadn’t changed their laws.

Latest US weather satellite highlights forecasting challenges

Nature

Quoted: The science has been slow to evolve on this because there was less demand for a constant stream of data when forecast models were run only every six hours, says Jason Otkin, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies in Madison. Now, agencies are shifting towards more-frequent forecasts, using models that can take advantage of larger amounts of high-resolution data. “If anything, the value of these geostationary sensors is only increasing with time,” Otkin says.

Wisconsin doubles GPS monitoring despite five years of malfunctions, unnecessary jailings

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: Cecelia Klingele, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate law professor who specializes in correctional policy, said DOC is in a difficult position when it knows some, or even many, of the alerts it receives are caused by equipment malfunctions. “Even short periods of jail are highly disruptive and can cause a person to lose his job, be unable to care for children or even lose stable housing,” Klingele said.

Nunberg TV tour sparks media food fight

Politico

Quoted: “I think absolutely in the early going and, given the gravity of the situation, sure, there’s news value in what he has to say,” said Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But as time wore on, it seemed to me the public interest was less served and the potential for harm was greater.”

No Agreement Among Reviewers of Grant Applications

Inside Higher Education

“We’re not trying to suggest that peer review is flawed, but that there might be some room to be innovative to improve the process,” co-author Elizabeth Pier, a postdoctoral fellow in educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said in a news release. Among other changes, Pier and her co-authors recommend a modified lottery system, in which weaker proposals are eliminated and the remaining applications are funded at random.

Asia’s hunger for sand takes a toll on endangered species

Science

Noted: In grasslands near Poyang, the kind and amount of food the cranes consume “may no longer be enough to fuel egg laying” at the levels the birds managed in the past, says James Burnham, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His group has documented a worrisome decline in the ratio of juvenile cranes to adults at Poyang between 2010 and 2012.

How College Campuses Are Trying to Tap Students’ Voting Power

New York Times

Quoted: Young people have the lowest turnout rates of all because they are more transient and have not yet established the habit of voting, said Kenneth R. Mayer, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “They don’t have concerns of property taxes, schools and other things that make older people go to the polls,” he said. The likelihood of voting increases steadily with age, until about 80, when illnesses begin to prevent habitual voters from casting a ballot, he said.

Kansas Voting Rights Trial Has National Implications

AP

Noted: “Kansas is the site of the major showdown on this issue, and Kris Kobach has been such a prominent advocate for concerns about noncitizens voting and other fraudulent behavior. He essentially led the Trump commission on vote fraud and integrity and he has been a lightning rod — which makes him a hero to people on his side of the argument in trying to tighten up voting laws, but makes him kind of a mischief-maker and a distraction for people who are on the other side,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Reinvigorating The Wisconsin Idea

Wisconsin Public Radio

The Wisconsin Idea is a concept that university research can help stakeholders solve real world problems. The theory is more than a century old. UW–Madison biochemistry professor Mike Sussman says now is the time to rejuvenate the Idea and use innovation, collaboration, and passion to achieve Wisconsin’s full potential.

Foundation Revisits Anti-Poverty Strategies with an Eye to Change

Nonprofit Quarterly

Noted: Elaborating on the timing of the publication, Katherine A. Magnuson, a poverty researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an editor of the double-issue journal, told Colorlines, “We felt it was important to bring together a set of fresh ideas that would engage with what we have learned about anti-poverty policies of the past in order to generate positive and innovative solutions.”

‘Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education’

Inside Higher Education

Noted: Also contributing essays to the volume are the two editors of the book, Gary Orfield, Distinguished Research Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning, and co-founder and co-director of the Civil Rights Project, at UCLA; and Nicholas Hillman, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Orfield and Hillman responded via email to questions about their new book.

Watch an Atlas V rocket launch a next-generation weather satellite to space

The Verge

Noted: The two satellites — part of the so-called GOES-R series — are a much needed upgrade to NOAA’s old weather satellites, which sport 1990s hardware. “Very few people still have a tube television in their house; they have a nice flat screen TV,” says Jordan Gerth, a research meteorologist at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin. “So the old satellite was built on that tube television technology, and it really doesn’t provide a crisp image that a nice LCD or plasma screen TV provides today.”

As Organic Produce Sales Grow, So Does Competition For Farmers

Wisconsin Public Radio

Noted: “Not only do we have still a vibrant local market for organic products including community supported agriculture, farmers markets and farm stands, but we also see increased interest in our grocery stores procuring local organic product to meet consumer demands,” said Erin Silva, assistant professor of organic and sustainable agriculture research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Why Is California Rebuilding in Fire Country? Because You’re Paying for It

Bloomberg

Noted: Nonetheless, local officials almost always decide that rebuilding makes sense despite the risk that the houses will burn again. Anu Kramer, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, looked at what happened to 3,000 buildings destroyed by wildfires in California from 1970 to 1999. She found that 94 percent were rebuilt. The result is that fires consistently—and predictably—destroy homes in the same place.

This Smart Mouthguard Can Monitor Concussions

Wired.com

Noted: “It’s opened up the ability to measure head impact exposure in sports other than football,” says Dr. Brian Stemper, an associate professor in the joint department of biomechanical engineering at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin. Earlier this year, Stemper’s team started using the Prevent mouthguard to measure head impact exposure in NCAA Division III football players.

Science of smiles

Waupaca County Post

Paula Niedenthal will present “The Science of Smiles” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 5, at the Waupaca Area Public Library. Niedenthal, a social psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will share her research into emotions.

Black farmers finding their way in Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Quoted: “Many black folks came north not to continue their jobs as a farmer, but to move into the rust belt and fill the factories,” said Monica M. White, an assistant professor of environmental justice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the forthcoming book “Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement.”

10 super-rich spending most in midterm elections for Congress

USA Today

Noted: “No one had heard of Kevin Nicholson, but suddenly this gift was available,” Barry Burden, who oversees an election research center at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, said of the Uihlein money.  “I doubt that Kevin Nicholson would be a candidate — at least not a serious one — if he didn’t have the Uihlein family backing.”

Fed’s Crisis-Era, Bond-Buying Plan Was Largely Ineffective, Economists Say

Wall Street Journal

The paper presented at the conference was written by David Greenlaw of Morgan Stanley , James Hamilton of the University of California San Diego, Ethan Harris of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Kenneth West of the University of Wisconsin. It argues most of what people now believe of the asset purchases is likely wrong.

Ancient cave paintings turn out to be by Neanderthals, not humans

The Verge

Other experts agree with the dates and that the timing means the art must have been created by Neanderthals. There’s no fossil evidence of modern humans in Spain that long ago, says John Hawks a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who wasn’t involved in the research. “There’s no secret story,” he says. “The results are just, ‘Hey, Neanderthals were making these things, and you didn’t know it.’”

What Is Telehealth and Is It Right for You?

Care Dash

Noted: A study conducted by the Wisconsin School of Business found that increased use of e-visits might have unintended consequences.

“Our study shows that giving patients email-like e-visit access to their doctors, does not reduce the patients’ use of office or phone visits,” said Hessam Bavafa, study author and Assistant Professor of Operations and Information Management. “In fact, we find that e-visits lead to more office visits without obvious improvements in patient health. We also found that doctors accepted fewer new patients after they started using e-visits.”