Category: UW Experts in the News

A pending lawsuit against the University of Wisconsin System may determine whether professors must disclose their course syllabi under the state?s Open Records Law or whether the material is exempt under copyright law. The National Council on Teacher Quality sued the UW System earlier this year for refusing to hand over syllabi for UW?s schools of education.

Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab, an associate professor in the School of Education, and Donald Downs, professor of political science and an expert on academic freedom.

Quoted: “Videogames change your brain,” said University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green, who studies how electronic games affect abilities. So does learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating the streets of London, which have all been shown to change the brain?s physical structure.

Quoted: ?The rest of the nation is moving upwards. We?re one of the few states moving downward. There?s something wrong,? said economist Steven Deller of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: But the existing “hyper-royalism” in Thailand has spiralled out of control and may actually be working to the detriment of the nation, said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of south-east Asian history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who spent two years in prison after participating in a 1976 pro-democracy protest that saw over 100 demonstrators killed.

Noted: Sort of, says University of Wisconsin-Madison wolf researcher Adrian Treves. Wolves can cover lots of ground when they?re hunting or roaming — Treves co-authored a 2009 study on wolf dispersal patterns around the Great Lakes, which included several accounts of wolves roaming hundreds of miles in relatively short periods. One young male traipsed 428 miles during a five-month span in 2003.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison History professor Stephan Kantrowitz said the Confederate flag has been adopted by many different people for various reasons.

Quoted: Janet Hyde, the Helen Thompson Woolley Professor of Psychology and Women?s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says such name-calling ?is a method for exerting power and control over women.?

A retired University of Wisconsin professor will receive an internationally recognized award for his work promoting relations between Germany and the United States. 

Quoted: John Magnuson, who has researched freshwater habitats at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for several decades, urges me to choose my words carefully when I ask him how serious the situation is.

Quoted: Although it may not be a bribe, it could be the simple perception that causes a problem, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in elections.

Quoted: Barry Orton, a telecommunications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he doesn?t think the Federal Trade Commission would pursue violations as well as the state has done.

Noted: According to Johnathan Martin, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, ?temperatures have been probably averaging 5 to 10 degrees above normal from November to the end of January, which is just exceptional.?

The embattled Syrian president held a referendum on a new constitution Sunday.

Noted: The study “is pioneering in delving into the behavior of crop raiders,” adds Lisa Naughton, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who focuses on interactions between human societies and animals.

Noted: The release of the individual rankings has even been controversial among the scientists who designed them. Douglas N. Harris, an economist at the University of Wisconsin, where the city?s rankings were developed, said the reports could be useful if combined with other information about teacher performance. But because value-added research is so new, he said, ?we know very little about it.? Releasing the data to the public at this point, Dr. Harris added, ?strikes me as at best unwise, at worst, absurd.?

Quoted: ?The New York model is arguably one of the best in the country in terms of attention to detail. The model is comprehensive, The completeness is a plus,? said Rob Meyer, director of the University of Wisconsin?s Center for Education Research, who helped design the city?s teacher-data report.

Noted: Among the many word magicians at the Tucson Festival of Books on March 10 and 11 are the alchemists who transform complexity into readable prose ? the science writers. Deborah Blum, for example, likes to trick people into loving chemistry.

Quoted: Jonathan Gray, a professor of media and culture at the University of Wisconsin.

In what is already shaping up to be a heated national race, President Barack Obama leads all Republican candidates currently competing in the Republican National Convention primary, according to two polls released over the past two days that focus on Wisconsin?s possible role as a battleground state.

Quoted: Sandra Adell, professor of literature for the department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Quoted: Prominent Wisconsin pollster, and UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.

Quoted: “It was a gentle introduction for the new voter ID law,” says Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political scientist.

Quoted: Jonathan Gray, a professor of media and culture at the University of Wisconsin, said he had a measure of cynicism that ?a study by Comedy Central found that comedy matters.? But whenever he teaches a course on television and comedy, he said, it is ?filled within a matter of minutes,? and his students regularly name ?South Park,? ?The Daily Show? and ?The Colbert Report? as shows they like. All are from Comedy Central.

Quoted: Another nationally known expert on test cheating, Jim Wollack, director of University of Wisconsin Testing & Evaluation Services, says the Taft situation struck him as ?odd.?

Quoted: “It?s an FDA approved medication so many people perceive it as safe. Whether it is or not for them to take is another issue,” said Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, head of psychiatry for the University of Wisconsin health services.