A: The massive storm that struck the west coast of Alaska last Tuesday and Wednesday was truly an amazing meteorological event. The entire Bering Sea coast was under the threat of hurricane-force winds, with many areas facing heavy snow and zero visibility. Importantly, this storm is able to exert hurricane force winds over a much larger area than the typical tropical storm.
A: These boulders are a legacy of the ice age, when the climate in southwestern Wisconsin resembled that of present-day northern Alaska, said James Knox, Evjue-Bascom professor emeritus of geography at UW-Madison.
China may be 7,000 miles away, but it?s one of UW-Madison?s closest research partners. There are hundreds of collaborations as university faculty regularly beat a path back and forth to China, working on such areas as blindness, the milk yield of dairy cows and the impact of climate change on deserts. As UW-Madison considers opening an office in Shanghai ? its first foreign outpost ? the potential for developing even more research partnerships is at the forefront of administrators? minds.
“Although we are there every six months, it’s not a continuing presence,” said Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies and vice provost of globalization. “If we had somebody on the ground, they could take advantage of those relationships.”
Quoted: “Make your smartphone your shopping buddy,” says Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center of Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Jane Allyn Piliavan, a sociology professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison described the whole scandal as “totally bizarre,” but said the culture of sports may help explain it.
Noted: If you are curious about numbers: about 81 percent of people misrepresent their height, weight or age in their profiles, according to a study led by Catalina L. Toma, an assistant professor in the department of communication arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who wanted to learn more about how people present themselves and how they judge misrepresentation. On the bright side: people tend to tell small lies because, after all, they may eventually meet in person.
Quoted: Tax credits rarely are the primary reason a company relocates, said Jack Huddleston, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert in economic development. The savings are too small compared with long-term costs of adding employees and setting up a permanent home for a company.
Quoted: Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which oversees the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s expansive patent portfolio, characterized the new law as a setback particularly for universities.
Quoted: UW-Madison Political Scientist Charles Franklin predicts there will be court battles in Wisconsin too. He also expects a barrage of television ads to begin soon, with some dealing specifically with signature collection.
Years of work for a professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin are now being released.
It?s Richard Nixon unplugged. Newly-released documents and recordings of the former president are the result of years of work by University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus professor Stanley Kutler.
Quoted: “There?s a knock-on effect,” said Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin. “If you have a big financial conflagration, that has repercussions that are extremely hard to predict.”
But an earlier discount season has its downsides, say experts. For starters, it can make it tougher to stick to a budget — especially for those who haven?t gotten around to making a shopping list, warns Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center of Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The more planning you do, the more measured you are,” she says. Other shoppers simple haven?t had the time yet to start picking up gifts and other holiday goods.
Using excerpts from their academic work and personal experience, a panel of professors, a graduate student and a Madison photographer examined various issues presented to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community by globalization.
An oil spill off the shore of San Francisco in 1971 sent John Francis on a journey that led him, four decades later, to the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is leading graduate students in rethinking what the environmental movement is all about. On the way, he lived without speaking for 17 years, walked across America, and came to view the environment in a holistic way that he says is the future of the movement — and the planet.
Here?s what we know: In June 1975, a disgraced former President Richard M. Nixon testified before a grand jury about Watergate. What exactly he said has been sealed for the last 36 years. That will change today when the records will be released, thanks to the efforts of UW-Madison emeritus professor Stanley Kutler.
The files will be available on the National Archives website at 11 a.m. CST.
Quoted: “It?s very difficult to extrapolate from that simple one-issue vote to the much more complex recall process here,” said Charles Franklin, a founder of pollster.com and a University of Wisconsin political science professor.
Quoted: It?s rare that someone would file a civil defamation lawsuit while a criminal case is ongoing, University of Wisconsin- Madison law professor David Schultz said. He isn?t aware of any similar cases in Wisconsin, but said he?s heard of it happening in other states.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said that while the states were distinct, the outcome in Ohio ?should probably worry him a bit,? referring to Mr. Walker.
After 35 years of being kept secret, a UW-Madison professor is helping bring to light documents and recordings related to former President Richard Nixon.
After 35 years of being kept secret, a UW-Madison professor is helping bring to light documents and recordings related to former President Richard Nixon. The documents, which will be available online to the public Thursday, will include a transcript of Nixon?s grand jury testimony related to the Watergate investigation given in 1975.
The earth?s population hit the 7 billion mark last week. Perhaps just as eye opening is the fact that the planet is adding more than 200,000 people to that total every 24 hours. That?s nearly another Madison each day.
“We need to start thinking proactively about energy use and other sustainability issues, or we?ll be forced to face the consequences of having to be reactive,” says Craig Benson, who this summer was named UW-Madison?s first director for sustainability research and education. “Resources are no longer plentiful, so it behooves us to think much more strategically about our energy resources.”
Quoted: Relying too heavily on charter schools to improve public education can also be risky, according to Adam Gamoran. He?s director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison.
LEÓN, Nicaragua ? Seven doctors and a surgical tech from Madison plunged into a sea of need: parents clutching toddlers with cleft lips and cleft palates, women hiding faces with grotesque bumps and birthmarks, men whose crooked noses suggested car crashes or bar fights. More than 70 patients gathered, most sitting on wooden benches in the hot, cramped, open-air waiting room of León?s public hospital. Some had traveled from hours away. They were waiting for the American doctors to join Nicaraguan doctors and perform the transformative magic of reconstructive plastic surgery. By the end of their visit last month, the UW-Madison doctors would be reshaped, too.
If successful, Bishops Bay could be the largest single source of new homes in Dane County, at a time when almost no one else is building anything new. UW-Madison real estate expert Morris Davis said the local market was ready for new construction.
“In two years, we’re going to start needing more housing units,” said Davis, an associate professor of real estate and urban land economics. “You figure this project will take up to (20) years. That’s an awfully long time. (The county’s excess inventory) should be completely cleared up within two to three years.”
Three of the inductees were in the field of science: Steve Ackerman, an atmospheric scientist the UW-Madison and one of the “weather guys” on Wisconsin Public Radio; Robert H. Dott Jr., longtime UW-Madison geologist, who has pioneered research into sedimentary processes; and Judith Faulkner, the founder of the phenomenal medical software company, Epic.
Letters honors were bestowed on longtime UW-Madison economist Donald Nichols, now emeritus, for his leadership at the university, his work as a public servant (he served as gubernatorial financial adviser for Gov. Tony Earl) and his award-winning teaching; and to Prof. Jeremi Suri, a nationally recognized UW-Madison history professor for the past ten years who wrote the critically-acclaimed Henry Kissinger and the American Century. Suri was recently named to a major chair in the University of Texas-Austin’s Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law.
Quoted: “It?s the perfect environment for botulinum to grow,” says Eric Johnson, a professor of microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: Edward Friedman, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, echoes some other observers when he goes so far as to call China?s rise “the greatest challenge to freedom in the world since World War I” aimed at “making the world safe for authoritarianism.” But does China really want to overturn the US-led post-World War II international order ? the very system that has allowed the country to flourish so remarkably? And if the men at the top of the Chinese Communist Party are indeed so minded, could they, or those who come after them, ever succeed?
Quoted: “This could hurt particularly rural communities that already struggle from an economic standpoint,” said Bret Shaw, an environmental communications specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Extension and a professor at UW-Madison.
Interviewed: Dr. David Mickelson with the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin?Madison.
Quoted: ?That?s a big difference,? said Timothy Smeeding, an economist at the University of Wisconsin who oversaw the study in that state. ?It?s about time we started counting the programs we use to fight poverty.?
In the nation?s Northeast, millions of brown bats are dying off.
It?s estimated that the bat population there has declined by 80 percent since 2007, but a breakthrough discovery at a Madison lab could help researchers understand why and battle back against the disease causing the deaths.
Bats, already maligned enough in movie and myth, are facing a tough time in real life these days. The state?s cave bat populations are being closely monitored for signs of white-nose syndrome, the fungal disease that has already wiped out untold numbers of bats in the east. And now, researchers at the UW-Madison have learned more about how bats are dying on wind farms. David Drake, a UW-Madison wildlife ecology professor, and former masters student Steven Grodsky, teamed with the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine to study the carcasses of bats found near wind turbines.
People lucky enough to live in America?s major metropolitan areas have the chance this month to witness two key manifestations of our newly invigorated class war.
….Some retailers can do between 25 percent and 40 percent of their annual sales during the holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation. Indeed, Black Friday takes its name from all the black ink needed to record profits during the holidays, according to Jerry O’Brien, executive director of the UW-Madison Center for Retailing Excellence.
Quoted: Peter Carstensen, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he has not read the bill but also said that whether it applies in Vos? case depends not only on the language of the bill but also whether Vos? attorney asks to extend the time for debating fees.
A proposal to eliminate race as a factor in a college grant program passed the Assembly Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reports. The surprise proposal was made about 11 p.m. Tuesday by Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, and backed by Republicans. It passed around 8 a.m. Wednesday, with all Democrats except Krusick voting against it. A procedural move by Democrats, however, will block final passage until Thursday. The Senate, however, probably won?t decide whether to take up the measure until 2012.
Quoted: Sara Goldrick-Rab, a UW-Madison associate professor of education policy studies and sociology.
The weed-killer Roundup gets used for everything from killing dandelions to painting the stumps of invasive species such as buckthorn. As pervasive as its use, however, may be the growing presence of the herbicide in our environment, according to recent studies, including some by UW-Madison professor Warren Porter, who specializes in environmental toxicity and zoology.
Everyone knows about issues like fair-trade coffee and blood diamonds, according to UW filmmaker Dan Banda, but very few people have heard about conflict minerals. His documentary, “A Road from Lubumbashi,” seeks to change this.
Quoted: “To put this in the same category (as Watergate) is just preposterous,” said Stanley Kutler, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin who wrote “The Wars of Watergate”, a history of the era. “What happened down there is a terrible thing, and it?s terrible in its own right, but it?s apples and oranges.”
Noted: One of Wisconsin?s most quoted political scientists — Charles Franklin — is moving over from UW-Madison to run the new project. He says the poll will be completely transparent, all questions-and-results will be posted online for all to see. He says the Marquette Law School project should give voters “an extraordinary level of understanding” about the many views of Wisconsin?s electorate.
Waking up early for some of the best deals of the holiday shopping season may be on its way out. Now, it?s a matter of staying up.
“It’s a huge day,” said Jerry O’Brien, executive director of the Center for Retailing Excellence at UW-Madison. “There’s too much risk for a retailer not to jump on board (a midnight opening) right now.”
A. We tend to remember those Halloweens with bad weather. Slogging through rain or snow in costumes with trick-or-treat bags is tough. But according to Dr. Ed Hopkins of the Wisconsin State Climatology Office, in the last 30 years (1981-2010), Madison has had only 10 Halloween days when measurable precipitation (0.01 inches or greater) fell, which translates to a probability of 33 percent that rain falls on that date.
A. Cutting fruit damages cells and removes the protective peel, exposing the flesh to the environment and altering its chemistry. Some fruit does actually continue ripening. However, it also starts to rot much faster, said Rebecca Harbut, an assistant professor of horticulture and fruit expert at the UW-Madison.
Some students didn?t take well to Steven Maranville?s teaching style at Utah Valley University. They complained that in the professor?s ?capstone? business course, he asked them questions in class even when they didn?t raise their hands. They also didn?t like it when he made them work in teams. Those complaints against him led the university denying him tenure ? a decision amounting to firing, according to a lawsuit Maranville filed against the university this month.
Quoted: Michael Apple, UW-Madison professor of curriculum and instruction.
Mangoes are Haiti?s largest export, but the country imports mango juice.
“It doesn?t make sense,” said Gergens Polynice, a UW-Madison research assistant from Haiti. “How can we process the foods in Haiti and take advantage of the local market?” Polynice and other campus researchers will explore that question in one of eight projects to win grants through the university?s new Global Health Institute, launched Thursday at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
To mark the Halloween holiday the American Chemical society has released a couple of videos featuring Richard Hartel, a professor of food engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
More than three years after a global financial near-meltdown ground a decades-long era of prosperity to a halt, the United States economy is still reeling.
Quoted: Susan Riseling, police chief at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where demonstrators also have established a foothold, said the national scope of the protest movement warrants a broader discussion in law enforcement about how to manage it. “We?re in the middle of something that is bigger than what each of our cities are doing individually to respond to it,?? she said. “We need to learn from each other about what is working and what is a struggle.??
LifeGen Technologies, a Madison company studying the genes associated with aging, will be purchased by Nu Skin Enterprises, of Provo, Utah, for $11.7 million. The letter of intent announced Thursday includes LifeGen?s genetic research, patents and tissue bank and says the transaction is expected to be completed before the end of 2011. UW-Madison School of Medicine professors Richard Weindruch and Tomas Prolla founded LifeGen in 2000.
Quoted: If Walker enraged organized labor, Obama?s health-care reforms and economic stimulus programs ?helped mobilize the conservative base and contribute to their resurgence in ?09 and ?10,? says Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. ?You?ve got an unhappy middle class, unhappy with their situation. They were looking for someone to improve it, and then they were disappointed when that didn?t happen.?
Quoted: “Take a list of things that are really going to be scary (for young children) — vicious animals with big teeth, grotesque, mutilated or deformed characters — and it really describes Halloween,” said Joanne Cantor, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied the impact of media on children. “The No. 1 thing to know about kids of that age is that they don?t understand the difference between fantasy and reality.”
As a little girl growing up in Philadelphia, Dawn Crim never dreamed that she would play such an important part in higher education. And certainly, not far away in a mid-sized midwestern town.
?I had no idea I?d be living in Madison, Wisconsin, and I hadn?t thought about a career in higher education,? Crim remembers. ?But now, I?ve been in higher education for 20 years….and I have worked on three different campus and I am now a board of trustee member for Edgewood College. So, you never know. We say education opens doors. I had no idea that my door would actually be in the career of higher education.?
Quoted: While video of the confrontation has flooded YouTube, it may do little to settle the question of who did what to whom, says Pamela Oliver, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin.How you are going to view the situation is always up for grabs. Police and protesters will both try to shape perceptions in their favor.
Quoted: “We have some misgivings and I think we should have some misgivings but nevertheless we?re overall suggesting approval for this indication because… the device is being used for this indication every day,” said panel member Dr. Richard Page, a cardiologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: The U.S. economic downturn even plays a role. With unemployment around 9 percent, men looking for a job have to make sure their look is as polished as their resume. “The better you look, the more you?re going to earn,” said Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. “Men are increasingly thinking ?Wow, I need to look good or look young.?”
Noted: Andrew Milkowski, adjunct professor in the animal sciences department at the University of Wisconsin and scientific adviser for the American Meat Institute, which represents the interests of companies selling meat products, agrees with Dr. Huffman that research linking nitrates and nitrites to health problems is flawed.
Noted: John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin, who summarized what is known about Denisovans, whose remains were found in a particular cave in Russia where the remains of modern humans and Neanderthals were also found; and other archaic human species that may once have co-existed with our own.
WORCESTER ? Political parties are as far apart as they have been in 100 years, and as a result there?s no overlap between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and presidential candidates have little incentive to appeal to moderates, a noted political scientist said last night. ?This polarization is deep in the American party system right now,? John Coleman told an audience of about 75 at Clark University.
Quoted: “There?s a class of homeowners that are severely underwater that are current on their payments that this will help,” says Morris Davis, academic director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but that?s a small group. “I don?t think this is going to help many people,” he adds.
Quoted: Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
