Following Democratic candidate Jonathan Ossoff’s loss for Georgia’s 6th congressional seat, party members are trying to regain their footings and figure out what’s next for the party. University of Wisconsin’s Barry Burden joins us to talk about what the future could hold for the Democrats.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin fruit crop entomologist Christelle Guédot.
Quoted: Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at UW-Madison’s Population Health Institute.
Warren Porter, a University of Wisconsin-Madison zoology professor who has done extensive research on environmental toxicology .. said that even in minute amounts, glyphosate can have profound long-term health effects. “Most people don’t have a clue as to what’s going on,” he said.
Quoted: “It is a bit surprising that Democrats haven’t managed a single victory yet, and haven’t had more success in turning their anger against the Trump administration into something tangible,” said Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The party can weather that for a while, but at some point it could become demoralizing.”
Quoted: That could make coverage unaffordable for many people with medical conditions, said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at UW-Madison’s Population Health Institute. “Insurers could be offering a much thinner set of benefits for less cost and price the more comprehensive benefits at a much higher cost,” Friedsam said.
Quoted: Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director for the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, said while Anthem’s decision will be a big change for the affected members, it won’t necessarily mean a huge change for Wisconsin’s individual health care market.
Noted: In 2013, Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his colleagues reported that even one day of mindfulness meditation can impact the expression of genes. In their study, 19 experienced meditators were studied before and after a full day of intensive meditation. For control, the researchers similarly studied a group of 21 people who engaged in a full day of leisure. At the end of the day, the meditators showed lowered levels of activity of inflammatory genes—exactly the kind of effect seen when one takes anti-inflammatory drugs. The study also showed lowered activity of genes that are involved in epigenetically controlling expressions of other genes. The state of one’s mind, it seems, can have an epigenetic effect.
The training was held Tuesday evenings at the Spooner Agriculture Research Station and involved a different horticulture subject each week including: annual, perennial and native plants, houseplants, landscape design, fruit and vegetables, weeds, wildlife, soils, insects, plant diseases and low input lawn care. Participants learned from a wide range of instructors from University of Wisconsin, UW-Extension, local experts and through on-line materials.
Noted: Kathy J Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, has seen this sentiment in her fieldwork. “The feeling of cultural inequality comes out of the perception that it is urban culture that gets everything,” she says, meaning that her interview subjects feel that cities are receiving inordinate financial rewards as well as media attention and cultural respect. They believed this partly owing to what Cramer called their “rural values” – tastes and beliefs that they feel have been overlooked or cast aside – rather than their class position.
Noted: “There’s not really a solid theory about why dreaming is there,” says Benjamin Baird, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Sleep and Consciousness at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. “It’s a big mystery.”
Mark Stephenson, Director of Dairy Policy Analysis with the UW, said that this spring’s events, with Wisconsin dairy farmers being told there was no market for their milk, created shock waves through the industry here and across the country. Even overseas, dairy people were aware of what was going on here and were “keeping their eye on the situation.”
While there were hundreds of headlines about the dairy industry during that time, the whole problem was more complex, he said. “Regional milk production has been evolving and that was a big part of the story.”
Noted: A lack of diverse representation in media tends to exacerbate polarization, said Sue Robinson, associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Noted: Patricia Devine, a social psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is an expert in the study of racial bias and the unconscious effect of stereotypes. She said the court’s method of “tuning jurors into their biases” a generally sound approach, though it’s hard to predict how well it will work without some experimental testing. “They’re giving them generally good advice,” Devine said. “But they’re not doing research.”
Noted: Hart Posen with the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business joined Wisconsin’s Morning News to discuss what this deal would mean for you.
Quoted: “The best possible outcome of this case, for the Democrats, is that SCOTUS grants review of the case, reverses the lower court’s decision and adopts a different standard by which to monitor the redistricting process within the state for the lower court system to reevaluate,” said Ryan Owens of the University of Wisconsin.
Noted: And of course, climate change plays a role. “Any insect-borne disease is very sensitive to climate conditions,” says Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute University of Wisconsin. “Warmer temperatures speed up the development of tick larvae and nymphs, and that can influence transmission dynamics. Modeling studies of climate change effects on Lyme disease show a northward expansion of the disease,” says Patz. “Lyme is already moving north into Canada.”
Noted: TV ads can have a powerful effect on local elections, where turnout is generally low, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mike Knetter, president and chief executive of the UW Foundation, said the merger helped the campus better engage with alumni.
Quoted: UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said people shouldn’t view the stay as an indication of where the court stands on the case overall. He added, though, that because of the time it will take for the Supreme Court to decide the case, “In 2018, we’re very likely to be using the districts we have today,” regardless of how the court rules. He said he doesn’t believe the court will rule until possibly the middle of 2018.
Quoted: “Many women in the mindfulness group used the skills to avoid pain medication in early labor and then opted for epidural when things became more intense, but as a more intentional, mindful choice, versus out of fear of the bodily sensations of labor,” said lead study author Larissa Duncan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: Chin Wu, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin, who is helping lead the Ann Arbor meteotsunami forum, “The energy (of the regressing wave) can sustain for 10 or 20 minutes. So you can imagine a swimmer swept far out into the lake, trying to fight it for that long.”
Noted: Heat kills ten times more people in the U.S. than tornados or other extreme weather events, says Richard Keller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical history.
Noted: But Lydia Zepeda, a consumer science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has found the largest consensus for what is local to be any product that comes from within an hour’s drive. But is that with or without traffic? she asks.
It’s no secret Donald Trump benefited from rural voters. But Democrat or Republican, they usually tell Katherine Cramer – who has spent a decade visiting residents of small-town Wisconsin – the same thing: it’s the cities that get all the breaks, and then have the gall to look down on them, too
Noted: The students also met with Lesley Sager, assistant faculty associate in the design studies department of the School of Human Ecology at UW Madison, and some university students who took part in the study-abroad program, UW Design Studies in Kenya, which she led. The college students talked about their experiences there and the East students did an exercise that involved cutting out magazine pictures that depict things teenagers value.
Noted: Melih Eriten is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: Jordan Ellenberg is the John D. MacArthur and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of “How Not to Be Wrong.”
Noted: Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin Madison, said the efficiency gap was a fundamental part of the case aimed at providing Kennedy with a concrete way of distinguishing when a gerrymander is constitutional and when it isn’t.
Quoted: UW-Madison Political Science professor Barry Burden predicts even more candidates. He says some will be lured by the open seat; meanwhile, people with liberal leanings may feel compelled to run. Burden says that’s because no one challenged Justice Annette Ziegler this year when she ran for reelection. Burden also expects a lot of campaign spending:
Noted: Medical historian Judy Leavitt, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, traces the history of fathers and childbirth in her book “Make Room for Daddy: The Journey from Waiting Room to Birthing Room.”
There’s an online dating site for nearly everybody, but can too many choices be problematic? Live at Four talks with professor Catalina Toma, one of the authors of a recent University of Wisconsin study, that reveals choice overload can raise the stakes.
Noted: Interview with Hart Posen of the Wisconsin School of Business.
Noted: The results highlight the fact that the fetal immune system is not merely an immature, less-active version of its adult counterpart, but one that has its own distinct function, says transplant immunologist William Burlingham at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Noted: Folks insist that the pasteurisation process decreases some of milk’s nutritional value, and that drinking raw milk might confer some sort of protective effect against allergies or asthma. There’s some evidence that the pasteurisation can affect proteins and vitamins, but not enough to lead to a nutritional deficiency. Nor is there much evidence to back up the protective effect, according to a review in Nutrition Today by University of Wisconsin food science professor John Lucey.
Video: Dr. Moses Altsech is the president of Moses Altsech Consulting and in the UW Schools of Human Ecology and Business. He talks about what the rate increase might mean
“It’s always exciting to be here,” said Schroeder as she watched members of her team check the measurements on the westernmost pit. “This is the third consecutive summer on this project to discover and explore what daily life at Aztalan was like 900 to 1,000 years ago.”
Noted: “It’s an association. It doesn’t show cause and effect. So it’s hard to know what the children who may not have been drinking cow’s milk, what else was going on in their diet,” said Beth Olson, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “They also didn’t distinguish between the types of non-cow’s milk and those sources can be quite different.”
Noted: Doctors in the study also overused medical terms that patients might not understand, said co-author Dr. Toby Campbell, chief of palliative care at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Interviewed: Susan Paskewitz talks about the upcoming tick season, and ways we can protect ourselves from getting bitten.
Recognizing poisonous plants and knowing proper livestock management are important steps in minimizing the potential for poisoning according to Mark Renz, University of Wisconsin-Extension weed scientist at UW-Madison.
“We often receive questions about toxic plants, the level of toxicity, and what animals they are toxic to,” Renz said.
Quoted: Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political science professor, said Walker’s approval ratings don’t provide as much of a cushion as he’s had in past election cycles, and visiting schools and providing more money for schools might rebuild public support.
Noted: Insight from UW’s Tamara Jeppson, Greg Tripoli and Harold Tobin.
Noted: But take the marshmallow out of the heat, and it’ll deflate — although the stretched out gelatin doesn’t bounce back. “It shrinks to a shriveled mass,” Richard Hartel, a food scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tells The Verge in an email. “Don’t get me started on Peeps jousting.”
The fairly common habit of talking aloud to yourself is what psychologists call external self-talk. And although self-talk is sometimes looked at as just an eccentric quirk, research has found that it can influence behavior and cognition. “The idea is, if you hear a word, does that help you see something?” said Gary Lupyan, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “You’ve got genes and then you’ve got environment and then you’ve got lifestyle and then the interactions between them,” said Dr. Steven Barczi, a geriatric specialist with UW Health.
Noted: Not everyone is ready to accept the claim that the Jebel Irhoud fossils necessarily belong to H. sapiens, however. Paleoanthropologist John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin–Madison says their modern-looking traits might not actually reflect a connection to our species.
Quoted: At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, economics professor Noah Williams said Wisconsin’s manufacturing jobs losses would have been steeper without the tax break. “Job growth would have been lower in manufacturing and overall,” the economist said in an email.
Quoted: Can a governor radically change the course of a state’s economy?” asked Steven Deller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension. “Not really, but they can influence on the margins, or around the corners. As you know, the larger macroeconomy (what is happening to the U.S. economy) is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. But a governor can set the tone of how the state thinks about the business climate.”
While she had tried to get sober before, it wasn’t until her doctors treated her disease in several ways that she began recovering. Her treatment regimen includes enrollment in a methadone program, outpatient care and the use of a new smartphone app called A-CHESS, created by a UW-Madison professor.
Addiction CHESS, or A-CHESS, is designed to aid recovery and prevent relapse for people after they leave treatment for substance-use disorders.
Quoted: “Those schools must provide reasonable accommodations” for students with disabilities, says Julie Mead, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But they do not have to alter their existing programs or add anything to them. What that means is, if their existing program does not provide any special education or related services, then they don’t have to provide any.”
Noted: For instance, John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is concerned about the study authors’ claims that the Moroccan fossils belong to the Homo sapiens clade.
Noted: Cara Moravec is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and she uses CRISPR in her research all the time. She found a few anomalies in the study that raised some concerns for her in regards to the interpretations of the findings. She says off-target effects are a known issue with CRISPR but that this study isn’t the best representation of those problems.
Noted: John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the new study, said that it was a plausible idea, but that recent discoveries of fossils from the same era raise the possibility that they were used by other hominins.
Noted: “The idea is, if you hear a word, does that help you see something?” said Gary Lupyan, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “The license holder is held accountable to certain standards of food handling, food sourcing, food holding,” said Monica Theis, senior lecturer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Food Science. “If those steps to enforce that are no longer part of the process, then there’s a risk there that people could get sick.”
Quoted: The hope is for those 150 cuttings to sprout into hearty trees in the next few years so they can be replanted elsewhere on the property, said Curt Meine, adjunct associate professor in University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Forest and Wildlife Ecology Department.
Quoted: “It’s a great idea,” said Alan Sorensen, an economist at the University of Wisconsin who has studied drug prices. Referring to doctors, he added that “even a small moving of the needle on their prescribing behavior can have a pretty big impact on costs.”
Noted: Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at 11:45 a.m. the last Monday of each month.
