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Category: UW Experts in the News

Japanese beetles stay for another month

Wisconsin Radio Network

One expert calls it ?the bug from hell.? University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri is quite familiar with the Japanese beetle. ?The small kind of coppery green, metallic beetle looks like a small bumble bee almost, in both the way it flies and kind of lands on plants.? And when it lands, you can be sure it?s not there for the view.

Campus Connection: UW officials say bill would have ‘chilling effect’ on biomedical research

Capital Times

With its fiscal agenda mostly complete, members of the state?s Republican leadership now are turning their attention to social issues. On Tuesday, Assembly Republicans introduced a bill backed by an anti-abortion group that would make it illegal to provide or use for experimentation a “fetal body part.” Many fear the legislation would have a “chilling effect” on a range of biomedical research conducted at places such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

…. “I think what’s particularly concerning is the motivation behind this legislation; it’s based on either a lack of understanding or misplaced view of what actually goes into the research that goes on at the university,” says Mark Bugher, the director of University Research Park and a special assistant to new UW-Madison interim chancellor David Ward. “I read the memo from Rep. Jacque and it sounded pretty ominous but not based on any evidence or fact.”

Experts urge investors to stay in the stock market

Wisconsin State Journal

Brian Hellmer, director of the UW-Madison School of Business? Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis, said he thinks concerns about the finances of Italy, Spain and Greece were exacerbated by a loss of confidence in the ability of the U.S. to handle its own debt problems.

Curiosities: Why do chipmunks make that annoying sound?

Wisconsin State Journal

“This group tends to live in underground burrows. When they are above ground feeding, they are constantly on the lookout for predators – feral cats, hawks, owls and eagles,” says Hannah Carey, a professor of comparative biosciences in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine who who studies hibernation in the 13-lined ground squirrel.

Study: Wolf hunt gathers support

Wisconsin State Journal

There is wide support for a regulated wolf hunt in Wisconsin, according to a new study published by UW-Madison researchers, although that approval was more tepid among non-hunters and those who live outside wolves? range. In a study published in the journal Society and Natural Resources, Adrian Treves and Kerry Martin surveyed hunters and non-hunters in Wisconsin, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming between 2001 and 2007 to gauge their attitudes toward wolves.

Wisconsin recall elections at center of turmoil (AP)

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Quoted: “It?s not clear whether the mood has shifted dramatically enough to recall Republicans, but it?s certainly shifted enough to make some tight races,” said Katherine Cramer Walsh, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor who directed a recent poll that found dissatisfaction with both Democrats and Republicans.

Lueders column: Campaign cash evident on TV

Wausau Daily Herald

Noted: David Canon, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, says there?s no doubt that combined candidate and third-party spending in the state?s nine recall elections (one already decided) will top $10 million. One of his colleagues has predicted based on early totals it could go as high as $20 million.

A Second Recession Could Be Much Worse Than the First

New York Times

Quoted: If the economy were healthy, it would be much bigger than it was four years ago. Economists refer to the difference between where the economy is and where it could be if it met its full potential as the ?output gap.? Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin, has estimated that the economy was about 7 percent smaller than its potential at the beginning of this year.

Residents in Other States Interested in Recalls

WUWM

Noted: So now that we?re moving into an unprecedented batch of recall elections, national attention will return. In fact, MSNBC will broadcast its ?Ed Show? live from the Capitol square Monday and Tuesday night. UW-Madison Political Science Professor Charles Franklin is not surprised.

Romney picks right-wing icons as legal advisers

Boston Globe

Quoted: Romney?s public release of an extensive list of prominent conservative advisors is intended to ?reassure conservatives in the party and clearly the Rick Perry-Michele Bachmann wing of the party,?? said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A High, Icy Lab for Learning the Past and Future Impacts of Climate Change

New York Times

Quoted: “Clouds are one of the major feedbacks in cooling and heating the surface” of the ice, said Nate Miller, an atmospheric science graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. But it?s not clear which effect predominates in the Arctic, he explained, since different types of clouds have different effects on climate, depending on whether they?re made of ice or snow, whether they?re thick or thin, and how high they sit in the atmosphere.

Campus Connection: Report contends University of Wisconsin home to hundreds of ?sugar babies’

Capital Times

According to this Huffington Post article, a good number of young people, mostly women, are paying for college or paying down student debt by hooking up with “sugar daddies” ? wealthy men who pay for companionship and sex. And according to information provided to the Huffington Post, the University of Wisconsin is among the national leaders in producing “sugar babies” ? young adults willing to provide these services.

Quoted: Janet Hyde, UW-Madison professor of psychology and women’s studied

State’s Rural Population Shrinking

WUWM

Noted: New census data released last week shows that rural America now accounts for just 16 percent of the U.S. population ?the lowest ever. The statistics mirror a trend in Wisconsin, according to Gary Green. He?s part of U-W Madison?s Department of Community and Environmental Sociology and studies demographic changes.

Out-of-state groups send in cash to deliver recall message

Capital Times

Sandwiched between Klinke Cleaners and Check ?n Go in a strip mall in Sun Prairie is one of the biggest financial players in Wisconsin?s historic round of recall elections. But don?t be fooled by the 1223 W. Main St., #304 address. The conservative, pro-business Wisconsin Club for Growth boasts no posh suite, just a simple mailbox at a UPS store. While its office presence may be lacking, its political influence is not.

Quoted: Charles Franklin, UW-Madison professor of political science

Metropolitan Museum Returns Antiquities Found in King Tut’s Tomb to Egypt (WNYC-FM)

Quoted: ?He?s really willing to put himself out there and he?s willing to make a bit of a spectacle,? said Kimberly Alderman, an art law expert at the University of Wisconsin. ?And because in a lot of these repatriation requests, they don?t have a legal claim, it ends up being well, ?Who?s making the most noise?? We?ll see in the coming months whether Egypt?s new government is able to replace him or not.?

UW study finds large dairy farms produce higher quality milk more often than small operations

Wisconsin State Journal

A UW-Madison study has found that milk produced on Wisconsin?s large farms, including the controversial industrial-size operations, is often of higher quality than milk from smaller farms. Steve Ingham, who led the study while working as a UW-Madison food science professor, speculated that the bigger farms may have more money to spend on equipment or may be better able to identify and remove cows with illnesses that affect milk production, such as mastitis. Ingham, who is now the food safety division administrator at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, added that all of the state?s farms, whether large or small, produce milk that easily meets federal food safety guidelines.

Judge: Time to unseal Nixon’s testimony (AP)

Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

Quoted: “Nixon knew when you testified before a grand jury you exposed yourself to perjury, so I?m betting he told the truth,” said University of Wisconsin Professor Stanley Kutler, who filed the lawsuit along with four historians? organizations. Kutler, author of “Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes,” previously successfully sued to force the release of audio recordings Nixon secretly made in the Oval Office.