Category: UW Experts in the News

At some point, some open records requests cross the line between legitimate political pressure into something poisonous. In the name of academic freedom and fairness to individuals and the democratic process, we call on the Republican Party of Wisconsin to back off its open records campaign against Cronon. And we extend the same request to Democrats and their allies.Wisconsin State Journal city editor Phil Brinkman suggests we not worry about open records requests, only about the information they produce. He writes that exercising one?s right to find out what government is up to is always legitimate. We entirely agree. But we do not agree that every janitor, school teacher, police officer and college professor is part of “the government.” Open records laws are a mechanism for keeping power accountable; in a democracy, public officials have special responsibilities.

Noted: After studying as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, he immersed himself in the world of invasives in his first academic job, at the University of Wisconsin, conducting research into an invasion of crayfish from the Ohio River basin into the lakes of northern Wisconsin.

Ants and wasps battle relatively frequently, said Robert Jeanne, an entomologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was not involved in the study. Wasps have even been seen picking up and dropping ant scouts that show up near nests looking to snack on wasp larvae, he said. But those are defensive ? not competitive ? behaviors. [Read: How to Eat Ants Without Getting Bitten]

Noted: “It?s disappointing to see it go, but I guess I?m not heartbroken,” said Joel Meyerson, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Religious scholar Shawn Peters said a potential Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on the case is needed to push the Legislature to clarify the state?s conflicting laws on the role of faith healing and parenting

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison officials suspended their programs in Egypt and Japan this semester. Wisconsin spokesman John Lucas said suspending its two programs has been a rare and unfortunate occurrence ? advising students studying in Egypt and Japan to pack their bags and come home.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Political Science and Law Professor Howard Schweber says it?s a peculiar stance for the attorney general. He says ?the argument that?s being made now says everything that everyone in Wisconsin thought they knew for all these many decades was wrong. All along for all these many years, it?s been the case that it was the action of the Legislative Reference Bureau that made an act law, not the act of the Secretary of State. It?s just that no one ever noticed it before.”

UW-Madison School of Education Dean Julie Underwood, School of Nursing Dean Katharyn May and Dean of Students Lori Berquam hosted an open forum Monday to discuss the New Badger Partnership, at which they shared their opinions on the partnership and answered questions from the community.

Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the new governors are linked by the fact that they “are on the young side” ? except for Brown, who is 72, they are in their 40s or 50s

Quoted: Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the new governors are linked by the fact that they “are on the young side” ? except for Brown, who is 72, they are in their 40s or 50s.

A Joliet man recently gave longtime television journalist and UW-Madison associate professor Patty Loew the helmet her grandfather, Edward DeNomie, had worn in Europe during World War I.

Quoted: Dr. Megan Moreno, a University of Wisconsin adolescent medicine specialist who has studied online social networking among college students, said using Facebook can enhance feelings of social connectedness among well-adjusted kids, and have the opposite effect on those prone to depression.

Quoted: The Mekong is unique among the world?s large rivers because “the fish diversity is extremely high, the diversity of migratory species is extremely high, and human dependence upon these species for fisheries is extremely high,” said Peter McIntyre, a freshwater conservation expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “It?s been pretty rare and when you compare Wisconsin to other states that do have recall, we are much more restrictive,” said Dennis Dresang, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You don?t want this done on a whim. You really want it done because there is a serious breach of trust.”

Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist David Canon asked the Assembly Committee on Election and Campaign Reform: ?Why duplicate the state?s efforts in terms of having (students) go out and get another free ID at a cost to the state??

Quoted: Dr. Michael Stier, a forensic pathologist from UW-Madison, told jurors that Kara, as she was known, died of diabetic ketoacidosis as a result of untreated juvenile onset diabetes. Complications from diabetes caused her body and internal organs to break down days before her death and some of the signs would have been obvious, Stier said.

Quoted: “Even targeted boycotts are very difficult,” says UW-Madison associate professor of history William P. Jones, “so one this diffuse is not likely to be effective.” Jones notes that successful actions ? the Montgomery bus boycotts and the one against non-union grape growers in California ? were “focused on one company and supported by vigorous picketing.”

Quoted: Tom Eggert, co-director of the UW-Madison business, environment and social responsibility program, and Deborah Mitchell, who teaches marketing at UW-Madison.

Quoted: In the plainest sense, heirlooms are just old seeds. What has changed is the way we venerate them, said Bill Tracy, 56, a sweet-corn breeder and professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Tracy knows the old sweet corns well. He estimates that, over the decades, he has grown 75 to 80 percent of these varieties.

Quoted: Around one-third of panelists expect home prices to increase in 2011. Bill Cheney, chief economist of John Hancock Financial, and Abdullah Yavas, and professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin, are calling for a 3% annual gain. Another dozen economists, including the National Association of Realtors? Lawrence Yun, expect home prices will be flat for the year.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism also analyzed more than 50,000 emails obtained through an open records request, and the watchdog group said the majority of emails supported the governor and his plan to curb collective bargaining rights.

“We crunched a lot of numbers over the weekend,” said Andy Hall, who heads up the group. “In broad terms, the governor enjoyed a margin of support of about 2-to-1.”

Quoted: UW-Madison philosophy professor Harry Brighouse.

Quoted: “I honestly don?t understand how they can say they?re not involved in the race if they?re running these advertisements about Justice Prosser,” University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said.

Quoted: Max Lagally, a professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison and an expert on roughness.