Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: “The window of opportunity to avert a humanitarian, environmental and climate crisis is rapidly closing, and we need better information and tools for managing the tradeoffs in how we grow our food and use our resources,” says Molly Jahn, dean of the University of Wisconsin?s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and another author of the Science article. If we hope to thrive in a warmer world ? one that?s coming ? we have no other choice.

Quoted: “It feels like we have a lot of everything,” says Kathleen T. Horning, director of the Cooperative Children?s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She?s also the author of “From Cover to Cover,” a guide to evaluating children?s books.

Quoted: In an interview, Molly Jahn, a plant breeder at the University of Wisconsin, said the research also needs to focus on ways to help the poorest people, who will not necessarily come out as winners if agricultural systems in developing countries become more sophisticated. Virtually everywhere it has happened, that transition has involved larger farms, more capital ? and fewer farmers.

Quoted: “The economic boom in China and Asia has expanded demand and Wisconsin can meet this demand consistently, if the growers do it carefully,” says Paul Mitchell, associate professor at the department of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: Although there?s no standard definition for insomnia, suggested criteria include taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, waking up too early, or sleeping less than 6.5 hours a night, write Morin and co-author Ruth Benca, MD, PhD, a sleep disorders doctor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. If you meet any of those criteria and feel like you can?t focus during the day because you?re so tired, you might have insomnia, they say. But if you feel fine after sleeping less than 6.5 hours at night, you might just be a short sleeper.

Quoted: “He was in a bunker mentality very quickly in February of his first term and maybe having survived that may make a more resilient politician now,” said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

Quoted: Still, UW-Madison Political Science Professor Barry Burden expects labor to play a big role if there is a recall race. Burden says unions are already weighing in on the potential Democratic candidate.

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine Dr. Greg DeMuri said necrotizing fasciitis is a rare, but serious bacterial infection. He said adults can get it, but it is most prevalent in children.

But R. Alta Charo, a professor of medical ethics at University of Wisconsin, said CHOP?s statement suggested their decision was not based solely on Mia?s disability but “in compliance with with current norms.”

Until recently, Keith Findley served as the president of the Innocence Network, an affiliation of 64 innocence projects in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. He is the co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. In this extended conversation, Gillian Findlay learns about his first case defending a client charged with SBS, what he has learned about the science, and his perspective on the issue globally.

Quoted: “The modern era started in the 1960?s,” says John Lucey, director of the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin, when food scientists figured how to capture the best stuff from the whey.

Quoted: Dr. Ken Robbins, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin, said, “Some people don?t make it to full moral development and don?t learn about empathy or feel guilt or remorse.”

Quoted: ?If it passes in Indiana it would certainly galvanize people looking to weaken unions,?? said William Jones, a labor historian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Noted: Many people base their systems on past experience and knowledge, said Sharon Derry, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: Illinois, with its budget woes and recent income tax increase, serves as a regular foil in Walker?s political narrative. “The governor uses Illinois as a straw man,” said Andrew Feldman, who teaches at UW-Madison and runs a nonprofit that tracks state economic data. “But Illinois has been much better than Wisconsin in job growth.”

Quoted: “Many people who did not qualify in past years may be newly eligible because of lower earnings stemming from the tough economy,” says Judith Bartfeld, Extension food security research and policy specialist and professor at UW-Madison.

Quoted: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, a professor at the Centre for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin and a leading expert on the Indus Civilisation, said he had visited the Lahore Fort every year for the last 20 years. ?The monuments appear improved every year I come,? he said, but added that the Fort needed more information signs and public toilets.

Quoted: Meaningful use and accountable care organizations will encourage patient engagement, according to Patti Brennan, a professor of nursing and engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and national program director of Project HealthDesign.

The recent temperatures along with a mild winter overall have kept area lakes from freezing over, but along Monona Bay, a few brave ice fisherman still were waiting for the days catch.

Quoted: As Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison, correctly observed back in 2008, the New Hampshire polls were wrong not because they overestimated Obama?s support; rather, the polls consistently underestimated how many voters would cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. In fact, the polls were only wrong about the former first lady.

Noted: The latest economists to get on the inflation bandwagon are Menzie Chinn of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jeffry Frieden, who teaches international monetary policy at Harvard.

Quoted: A study conducted in Milwaukee showed that one of every 20 renter-occupied properties is evicted each year. In mostly black neighborhoods, the rate is one in 10 households. The research was based on an analysis of court records and fieldwork from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, led by sociologist Matthew Desmond, now at Harvard University.

Quoted: ?Some studies have questioned these treatments, but the bulk of clinical trials have unequivocally endorsed them,? said Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the University of Wisconsin?s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention and the chairman of the panel that wrote the guidelines. Dr. Fiore, who has reported receiving payments from drug makers, said that ?there are millions of smokers out there desperate to quit, and it would be a tragedy if they felt, because of one study, that this option is ineffective.?

Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political science professor, says it?s “not out of the question” that Ryan could lose. “He could be made unpopular with senior citizens. He could be linked to Scott Walker. But it?s a high hurdle.”

Quoted: To identify the things that contribute to feeling fulfilled and purposeful, Carol Ryff, the director of the Institute on Aging at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, developed a list of questions to measure well-being and divided them into six broad categories.

Long-time University of Wisconsin-Madison Ag Economist Bruce Jones will have a little more responsibility going into the new year. He has been named the new director of the school?s Renk Agribusiness Institute, which coordinates UW-Madison agribusiness teaching, research and outreach activities.

Four UW-Madison professors earned recognition from Education Week blogger Rick Hess as being among the top 50 most influential education scholars in America. That figure was more than all other Big Ten Conference institutions combined, with the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor placing two academics in the top 50 and Northwestern one. Those being recognized on the UW-Madison campus include: Gloria Ladson-Billings, Adam Gamoran; Sara Goldrick-Rab, and Douglas Harris. John Witte, a professor of public affairs and political science, was also recognized.