Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: Dominique Brossard, who studies public perceptions of controversial scientific topics at the University of Wisconsin, which holds many of the usable embryonic cell lines, said she was surprised the Republican Party platform would include language on stem cells in 2012. ?I was surprised to hear that they were going to add that issue because as far as public opinion is concerned, this is an issue that wasn?t really defined by party lines,? she told Salon.

Noted: Outside of education, some call these ?reward, recognition and motivation programs.? And Alex Chisholm, executive director of the Learning Games Network, a spin-off from the MIT Education Arcade and University of Wisconsin, shared an equivalent perspective recently when he noted that saying you?re going to ?gamify? something in education means you?re applying game design principles to motivate and inspire learners.

Quoted: Jae Park, an environmental engineer at the University of Wisconsin?Madison, agrees. He says that a combination of plenty of sunlight and high levels of nutrients in the rivers, rather than slower flow speeds, is responsible for the the algal outbreak. In fact, the algae do not seem to thrive in water deeper than 3 metres, so by creating a number of deep reservoirs, the dams have helped to curb algal growth.

Quoted: Lou Brown, professor emeritus of special education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Lee was in the forefront of those working to include people with cognitive disabilities in society when her son was in school.

Quoted: “I?d sure like to see him in my clinic,” said Dr. Patrick McBride, a preventive cardiology specialist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Quoted: “A lot of people are really busy because they take a little dose of family and then they want to back off,” says Joanne Cantor, a communications professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “You can see parents with teenagers and see teens going for their gadgets all the time. It?s a good thing, but not necessarily the easiest thing to devote more time to your family.”

Noted: Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has confirmed that this alternative will help dairy farmers turn a profit without also limiting New York?s opportunity to grow its dairy industry.

A: “The short answer is, exactly what is listed on the label,” said Jeff Sindelar of the University of Wisconsin?Madison Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory. The most common hot dog formula is poultry and pork meat, salt, sugar or other sweeteners, spices and other flavorings such as mustard or garlic, and two additives called sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite.

Quoted: “Baum tackled inherently controversial topics – global climate change, for instance, surging population growth, disease, violence and war and the denial of basic human rights,” said ACS president Bassam Shakhashiri, who is a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin. Baum will be among the panelists, as well as National Center for Science Education director Eugenie Scott, veteran science journalists Deborah Blum and Tom Siegfried, and Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann, whose recent book, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, recounts his much-attacked research.

Quoted: Dr. Patrick Remington, a professor with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, suggests that whooping cough is on the rise because vaccination rates have declined, in part due to perceived concerns over vaccine safety and potential side effects.

The Dane County Narcotics & Gang Task Force is putting area retailers on notice after seizing more than $60,000 worth of an illegal marijuana-like drug being sold at 10 area gas stations and shops. They also want the public ? including parents ? to know that federal and state laws prohibit the possession or sale of so-called synthetic cannibinoids, which are marketed as incense. Also known as “Spice” or “K2,” the chemical-laden plant substances are usually smoked in joints or pipes, and can cause heart palpitations, strong hallucinations and amnesia as well as feelings of euphoria, said UW-Madison police Det. Carol Kashishian.

Quoted: Many lawn owners may have already noticed some greening up of dead patches, following recent rainfalls. And, chances are that the greening trend will continue through the rest of August, according to Doug Soldat, associate professor and University of Wisconsin-Extension specialist in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kentucky bluegrass, which is the most common lawn grass in Wisconsin, has underground stems called rhizomes which can regenerate new plants, Soldat explained.

Quoted: ?In Wisconsin, you?d have to see Ryan being a plus point or two for Romney,? said David Canon, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Quoted: The robot?s color-changing ability doesn?t have much in common with its biological inspiration?s, according to Douglas Weibel, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin?Madison who is unaffiliated with the paper. The squid in the wild doesn?t use biochemical processes like fluid and air manipulation to create its color-changing effect. Rather, the animal uses an optical illusion to reflect light and blend in to whatever background it finds itself within. “It?s structural color, and I think that?s pretty hard to do,” Weibel says. “People know how to make iridescent structures, but I don?t know any really good examples of structured color.”

UW-Madison officer Erik Pearce says 15 cops and 11 security officers patrol the campus regularly, logging above 2,200 hours on bikes last year, and more than 3,100 in 2010. The UW police have used bikes since 1992. Pearce likes to point out that bike policing is green and cost-effective. According to Madison police officials, purchasing and equipping a squad car can cost about $47,000, not to mention the approximately 2,400 gallons of gas each burns in a year.

Quoted: ?He?s definitely extremely conservative but his vote for Tarp showed he was more of a [George W.] Bush loyalist than an ideologue,? says Ken Mayer, professor of politics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: David Canon, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said adding Ryan to the ticket should help Romney gain 1 or 2 percentage points but probably not enough to carry the state. Ryan isn?t particularly well-known to voters statewide, Canon said.

Quoted: In a typical restructuring, the company must develop a plan that all of its creditors agrees to, said Jim Seward, an associate professor of finance and academic director of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: The new figures suggest that sex education programs need to directly address oral sex as well as vaginal intercourse, says Craig Roberts, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s University Health Services department and a member of the American College Health Association.

Quoted: ?This is an unprecedented allergy season,? said Dr. Mark Moss, an allergist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Professor Charles Franklin.

Quoted: Charles Franklin, the director of the Marquette University Law School Poll and a professor in the political science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: ?It?s like what happens when the Packers win the Super Bowl. Concretely, not a whole lot. But symbolically, it makes a difference,? said Kenneth Mayer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an affiliate professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs. ?It puts Wisconsin on the national map.?

Quoted: “George Shultz is a gimme,” says the University of Wisconsin at Madison political science professor Ken Mayer, of the man who has run Labor, Treasury, and State. “People who have served in nine different capacities are easy.”

Quoted: “If you are producing organic dairy products, you must have organic feed,” said Ed Jesse, a retired professor of agriculture and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: ?Salt serves as a preservative, as a director of flavor development,? said Mark Johnson, senior scientist with the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ?If I remove it, my flavor goes in a different direction.?

Quoted: Ken Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison

Quoted: Tim Smeeding, a UW-Madison professor of public affairs and economics

?The schools have to start out with one hand tied behind their backs when a child starts school already thinking that Pop Tarts are breakfast and that pop is what you drink at lunch,? said Susan Nitzke, cooperative extension nutrition specialist and professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin.

Nitzke and colleague Dave Riley, an expert on child development and early education for Cooperative Extension and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote ?Rethinking Nutrition: Connecting Science and Practice in Early Childhood Settings.?

Quoted: Kenneth Mayer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an affiliate professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri.

Quoted: Jiwan Palta, a University of Wisconsin-Madison horticulture professor and Stanley Temple, a Beers-Bascom Professor Emeritus in Conservation.

The University of Wisconsin?s School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison continues to enroll students who want to work with large animals, said Dr. Christopher Olsen, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of public health with the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Michael Scott.

Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.

Quoted: UW-Madison ag economist Ed Jesse.