Category: UW Experts in the News

Common Core standards have been a political flash point since they were introduced and implemented.  Some believe they’re an unwanted government intrusion into local control of schools, while others say nationwide standards are necessary to ensure a quality education across the country. Jordan Ellenberg, a math professor at UW-Madison, falls under the latter category.

Some lower-priced public universities are fine with introducing limits on student debt. The amount graduate students are allowed to borrow is “a little outrageous right now,” says Susan Fischer, who oversees financial aid at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Others say graduate students should be trusted to understand how to manage their financial obligations. “They know what they are doing,” says Jonathan Burdick, vice provost for enrollment at the private University of Rochester. “People are not as dumb as the public dialogue seems to think they are.”

“If you’re getting the reputation of being a flip-flopper and then you say something like the governor did … with what might be a common vocal tic when answering questions, reporters might be more likely to interpret that as another flip-flop,” said Mike Wagner, a professor of journalism and mass communication and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents should talk with their children about the dangers of alcohol by age 9.  Julia Sherman of the Wisconsin Alcohol Project talks about the report, and why early communication with kids about alcohol is important.

“Where are the eyes in an autonomous vehicle?”– John Lee, a University of Wisconsin professor and expert in driver safety on the Google self-driving car and concerns that it can’t interact with other drivers by making eye contact.

Quoted: But even that might not be enough, says Jason Vargo, who studies urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and led the recent study on bicycle deaths. He says society also needs to change the definition of what a road is to implicitly include bikers.

Quoted: The way humans often deal with these situations is that “they make eye contact. On the fly, they make agreements about who has the right of way,” said John Lee, a professor of industrial and systems engineering and expert in driver safety and automation at the University of Wisconsin.

Just in time for the new school year, today guest host Mike Wagner talks with UW professor Robert Asen on his new publication, “Democracy, Deliberation, and Education,” on the difficult decisions school boards have to make the democratic process behind it.

Noted: Chelsea White, a teaching assistant at University of Wisconsin-Madison, experienced the effects of this double standard firsthand, noting that even though she is “a hardworking, reliable and professional individual,” she has felt “unfairly judged or blown off” by potential employers because of her tattoos.

Quoted: “Many say the insurance companies should be creating a moral hazard when they insure homes on the interface,” Sue Stewart, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was formerly with the Forest Service, told me. Homeowners in fire-prone zones should bear the costs of the added risk, not unlike those on flood plains.

Quoted: The impact of abrupt leadership shakeups at universities can vary, says expert Kris Olds, but often includes financial costs and fundraising losses; delays in filling other empty senior staff positions and in long-term strategic planning; debates about the quality of governance and distrust with decision making; and a lag in forming or maintaining key relationships with politicians or funders.

Noted: Another trend highlighted in the 93-page report, authored by Theodore P. Gerber, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is the decline in federal government funding for Russia-related research and graduate training.

Noted: Committees like this have seen a resurgence after a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended an overall limit on campaign contributions by a donor to political parties, candidates or PACs in a single calendar year, said Ken Mayer, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who studies campaign finance.

A law school professor is weighing in on a referendum, to legalize marijuana, on the Menominee Indian reservation.Tribal members voted in favor of allowing recreational and medicinal use, last week. UW-Madison Professor Richard Monette says tribal sovereignty is similar to that of the states. But he says it’s not clear whether the Menominee would be allowed to sell marijuana to non-members.

Quoted: “Part of it is confidence,” Chris Velden, a senior scientist and hurricane researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told CBS News.

Quoted: And yet, it’s likely longform television dramas like The Wire wouldn’t exist if soap operas hadn’t paved the way. “Daytime soap operas were the first instances of serialized narratives in television,” Elana Levine, associate professor of media studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told Quartz. “It was in daytime that TV writers, producers, and directors figured out how to create moving-image stories that had no set ending, that had characters that changed over time and had histories and memories.”

Quoted: Future robots could be more practical if they are able to reconfigure their arms without the need of moving parts. As such, understanding how to bend materials smoothly or snap them quickly could enable more efficient mechanical designs, said Arthur Evans, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: UW-Madison professor Mike Wagner said Walker’s lower approval rating might impact his working relationships with state legislators.

Noted: Rebecca Mather, an outreach specialist with the UW-School of Human Ecology, said unfortunately there’s no magic number that implies your child is ready.

“It really depends on a number of factors. Probably most importantly the maturity of the child, the circumstances of the family and probably the parenting style of the parents too,” said Mather.

There are a certain number of factors that can give parents a touch stone. Mather said things like responsibility and impulse control are among the most important.

Over the last 38 years, bicycle fatalities in the United States have decreased dramatically, according to a study published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was led by Jason Vargo, an assistant scientist with University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

The NCAA and the NFL have launched a new campaign to prevent kids from focusing on just one sport. Dave Knight, an athletic trainer at UW Health’s sports rehab clinic, talks about the pros and cons.

Quoted: Jill Boissonnault, an associate professor in the doctor of physical therapy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said she doesn’t have a problem with parents balancing babies on their hips — so long as it’s only for a short period of time and they’re paying attention to their spines and posture while they’re doing it. They should focus on keeping their spines in a neutral position rather than bending to one side, forward or backward, she said.

Noted: But if Aprecia does manage to move the drug-manufacturing process closer to the patient, it will buck more than a general trend toward centralization and mass production. Drug manufacturers have tended to consolidate not only over the past 100 years but also over the past couple decades, says Gregory Higby, a University of Wisconsin professor and the executive director of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. This corporate consolidation especially accelerated during the 1990s, he told me.

Various cities on the east and west coasts of the county have raised their minimum wages to $15 per hour. Amid calls for other cities and states to follow suit, an economist looks at what economic impact that raise would have in Wisconsin, a state with lower wages an a lower cost of living than cities like New York, Washington DC, and Seattle.

Quoted: But Leslie Bow, English and Asian-American studies professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, called the employee’s following “quite bizarre,” noting the fetishistic aspect of a fascination with a woman who looks like a doll.

(Video) UW-Madison chair of psychiatry Dr. Ned Kalin shares tips on how to help kids cope with school anxiety.

Quoted: Gary Green, professor of community and environmental sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the six ICC counties experienced numerous changes what some scholars call “the Great Reset,” which started in about 2007 and is only now starting to show signs of waning.

Quoted: Kurt Squire, a professor in digital media at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said teachers who have designed lessons using games like World of Warcraft see students getting more excited about what they’re learning.

Noted: Professor Jerry Kaster of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his students are collecting mayfly eggs and putting them in the bay. The Green Bay Press Gazette reports the goal is to restore the ecosystem and help Green Bay become a world-class fishery.

Noted: Calling Donald Trump a “novelty candidate,” Barry Burden of the UW-Madison Elections Research Center said Walker is well positioned to gain support in Iowa, citing proximity to Wisconsin and the governor’s former residency in the Hawkeye State as likely contributors.

Quoted: Working with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, Dougherty began by wondering whether the flashes are communications between clams. But even though the clams have 40 eyes, their eyesight is surprisingly poor.

Noted: Attempting to counteract that last, problematic development has been a longtime goal of the creators of educational television series. Sadly, however, a research team led by Marie-Louise Mares of the University of Wisconsin–Madison reports the impact of such shows appears to be extremely limited.

Quoted: “We’re not sure that the roads have become safer,” says Jason Vargo, assistant scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute and the lead author of the report. “We may be just putting people out on the same roads that are as dangerous as they were before.”

Noted: The traditional way of making transistors using photolithography doesn’t work because it leaves the nanoribbons with rough, disordered edges, which compromises performance and is not ideal for digital applications, says Michael Arnold, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Quoted: The blast, which was caught on camera at numerous angles, was so powerful that it knocked down anyone in its path, and the heat it generated could be detected from space, according to Russell Dengel, a science and engineering researcher at the University of Wisconsin.

Quoted: “Harley is often held up as an American success story,” says Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “There are people who buy those bikes over other brands because they’re American-made. There were unions involved and there was government assistance at various times. It hasn’t just been market forces that have made that happen.”

Quoted: The state legislators who introduced and whipped votes to pass VIVA refused to testify in the trial, but they deny both discriminatory intentions and the charge that the law will yield discriminatory results. University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden, an expert witness for the civil rights team, had a different testimony:

Noted: “We too often in higher education embrace the one size fits all view,” says Conrad, the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The challenges that many students at Minority Serving Institutions face are very diverse. It isn’t just about money or being non-native speakers. But it’s some of the more invisible challenges and the intersection of these challenges that are not often discussed.”

Quoted: “These things are almost never a good deal from a macroeconomic standpoint,” said Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “How does he explain it to undecided or Republican primary voters?” Mayer said.