Category: UW Experts in the News

Interview: We talk to Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, about his organization?s findings. We also talk to Charles Franklin, co-founder of Pollster.com and a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Noted: The authors ? Anthony Leiserowitz and Nicholas Smith of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communications and Jennifer R. Marlon of the Geography Department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison ? conclude that widespread misconceptions ?lead some people to doubt that climate change is happening or that human activities are a major contributor, to misunderstand the causes and therefore the solutions, and to be unaware of the risks.?

Quoted: It was expected that Sean Duffy and Julie Lassa?s race for the open 7th District seat and Steven Kagen and Reid Ribble?s for the 8th ? a swing district with a Democratic incumbent who?s only served two terms ? would be attractive to outside groups, said Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor.

Quoted: Bed bug bites cause itchiness and sometimes rashes. Because they?re mostly an indoor species, Wisconsin?s climate isn?t expected to hurt their numbers. And UW-Madison entomologist Phil Pellitteri says most people will likely put up with the pests, because they?re so costly to control.

Noted: These funds included an allocation to support foreclosure mediation in and around Dane County, where the Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, in coordination with the UW-Madison Law School, initiated a mediation program in January.

When the U.S. Supreme Court lifted restrictions on corporate election spending in January, critics predicted floods of corporate cash would pour into this year?s election. What?s known as the Citizens? United decision has been attacked by campaign finance reformers who say it equates speech with money and will allow corporations to buy candidates who will do their bidding.

Quoted: UW-Madison education professor Julie Mead, an expert on charter school and school-choice law.

Quoted: The timing of the change in Ribble?s health care coverage is more coincidence than anything, said Thomas Oliver, a professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: ?In many ways, this is an extension of tinkering in one?s garage or writing programs and sharing them with friends,? says Kurt Squire, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ?Platforms like these games provide a context to inspire creativity, tools to work with and an audience for your work.?

Quoted: “It?s sort of like having a bad backache and then having your kid jumping on you,” said Emily Stanley, a freshwater scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “It?s an acute injury to a chronically stressed system.”

Quoted: Diana Alfuth, horticulture educator, UW-Extension

Quoted: “They have actually found a new way to detect high-energy cosmic rays,” says Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Halzen is a collaborator on IceCube, a giant neutrino telescope buried in the Antarctic ice.

Quoted: “I would say this is akin to an organ transplantation,” says stem cell researcher Allison Ebert of the University of Wisconsin, who was not part of the study. “This is just a study for safety to see how these cells respond to the human spinal cord. But it is a logical step, one of many in the pipeline.”

Quoted: Still, testing experts acknowledge that these high-stakes tests create immense pressure for principals and administrators to improve scores, so there can be a kind of desperation that leads to cheating. James Wollack, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says how Georgia deals with this situation will set a precedent for other states.

Quoted: It?s “a fascinating and provocative paper,” says physical chemist James Skinner of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The study, he says, helps to illuminate subtle but important details about molecular motions in water.

Quoted: Linda Reivitz with the University of Wisconsin School Of Nursing said a third of the total planned Medicare cuts will cut back on payments to those programs. So, some insurance programs have decided to discontinue their coverage.

Quoted: “The problem that [Mr. Feingold] is facing this year is that voting against [the Wall Street bailout] and voting for guns is not going to be something that wins conservative voters for him,” said Charles H. Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Dean Michael Knetter was honored for his work with the UW-Madison School of Business during a Homecoming event for alumni Friday.

Quoted: Her first campaign ad, in which she promises to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington, “could easily have been made by the Texas Tea Party,” says Kenneth R. Mayer, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin?Madison.

Quoted: Both candidates have lofty goals to stimulate the economy and provide jobs, but it?s questionable whether their plans will equate to the job number they?re projecting, said John Witte, a professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies state spending and tax policy.

Quoted: Political scientist Ken Goldstein of the UW-Madison, who has polled in Wisconsin and the Midwest.

Quoted: Justin Stolarik, assistant director of bands at UW-Madison, and Gail Johnson, who works in the office of the UW-Madison marching band.

Noted: Stepan, who played two years at the University of Wisconsin, was captain of the United States? gold medal team at the 2010 world junior championships, where he led all scorers.

Quoted: ?We consider a person?s experience of his or her own health, how they pay attention to their symptoms and changes in their condition, how well they know themselves and take healthy action as all part of health literacy and a patient-centered definition of health care [integral to health-care reform],? says Patti Brennan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing.

Quoted: Johnson?s lack of political experience could play well in a year when voters seem to prefer outsiders, said Charles Franklin, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: The genetically modified plants, called Bt corn, have had an economic benefit of $6.9 billion during the past 14 years in the five Upper Midwest corn-producing states studied, the researchers concluded. They were led by William Hutchison, head of the entomology department at the University of Minnesota, and Paul Mitchell, an agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin.

Noted: Yi Gang, deputy governor of China?s central bank, acknowledged a link with other Asian currencies after watching a presentation in Washington Thursday where University of Wisconsin economist Menzie Chinn showed how the Korean, Thai and Singaporean currencies mirrored the yuan?s ups and downs.

Quoted: Ken Goldstein is a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is tracking ads in governor?s races in six Midwestern states. He says Barrett and his allies have an advantage in the air war but Walker?s allies played a crucial role while he replenished his campaign war chest.

Quoted: Stephen Ward, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism ethics expert, called her demotion draconian and chilling.

Quoted: “Charter can charge whatever it wants to, for whatever it wants to,” said Barry Orton, a University of Wisconsin telecommunications professor. “They charge what they can get away with. Legally, they can charge anything they want; what they can get away with is what the market will bear.”

Quoted: “They almost certainly came from prisoners, either executed or deceased prisoners… people who may have died under uncertain circumstances. There?s no record about consent,” said Dr. Norman Fost, directof of the UW School of Medicine?s bioethics program.

Quoted: “The greatest consumption period is during irrigation and frost protection,” says Rebecca Harbut, an associate professor of Horticulture at UW-Madison.

Interviewed: Barry Burden, political scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Ron Johnson has been able to convince voters that — at least some voters — that he?s responsible for many of the things happening in Washington that they don?t like at the moment: government spending, health care, stimulus funds and the like. (Video and text.)

Quoted: “What you?re looking at here is people at the bottom trying to hang on,” said Timothy Smeeding, public affairs professor and director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “You can?t go below a certain level.”

Quoted: Dr. Megan Moreno, an expert on cyberbullying with the University of Wisconsin, said what makes online bullying so serious is how public it becomes.

Noted: What these findings mean for those of us who work out regularly is still being determined by scientists. But one message is clear. ??The evidence suggests that antioxidants are not needed?? by most athletes, even those training strenuously, said Li Li Ji, a professor of exercise physiology and nutritional science at the University of Wisconsin and one of the authors of the rat study. ??The body adapts,?? he said, a process that can, it seems, be altered by antioxidant supplements.

Quoted: The ad points to Verizon?s large investment in fiber optic cable to the home, said Barry Orton, professor of telecommunications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That results in fewer slowdowns when lots of people in the same neighborhood are using the Internet, he said.

Quoted: Sue Robinson, a UW professor who specializes in online journalism.

Quoted: ?We can?t call this research,? said Sara Goldrick-Rab, an assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. ?The for-profits are under attack and this report is being paid for by for-profits. We need to be asking many of these questions, but a report like this one isn?t providing meaningful answers.?

Quoted: If they succeed, they will be giving up something unique in American politics. Joel Rogers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has founded organizations focused on both state- and city-level policymaking, calls being mayor “a total gas … You?re known everywhere. Your decisions touch people directly. You deal with an incredible variety of issues. You get instantaneous feedback.”

Quoted: At this stage, the equipment is all too sizeable to be used outside the lab. “The question of practical applications to sleep will require further study before any implementation would be practical,” says Michael Peterson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who works with Tononi.

Quoted: One skeptic doubts POM?s motive for the new ads. “It sounds to me like they?re trying to change the subject (from the FTC lawsuit),” says Ivan Preston, ad professor emeritus at University of Wisconsin.

Prof Edward Friedman, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that many Chinese people sympathetic to the sentiments Wen was espousing also seemed doubtful of whether he was engaged in a political struggle for them, “or just setting out a position so he has a certain historical legacy”.