Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: “It?s the ravens calling, seeing fishers, porcupines, black bears, hearing wolves howl and of course the traditions,” said Larry Meiller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and Wisconsin Public Radio host, who started hunting deer in Bayfield County in 1965.

Quoted: Richard Monette, an associate professor of law at University of Wisconsin and an expert in laws involving native people, puts it this way: “They had societies where they had their own norms, their own values, they had customs and traditions … all of which kept their life in balance with their community, with their individuality, their families. They lost all that, and not voluntarily.”

Quoted: “It?s a real Pandora?s box. It sounds better than in fact it turns out to be,” said Dennis Dresang, a political science scholar and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: The success of the pediatric diet seems to have made it easier for keto scientists to get money for this basic research. ?Before Helen?s study, we all had a clear sense that keto worked,? says Carl Stafstrom, the head of pediatric neurology at the University of Wisconsin, ?but we couldn?t say in a grant proposal that the diet has been proven to be effective. Now we can.? There are recently financed studies, for example, exploring why the body resists ketosis and exploring compounds that might trigger the antiepileptic mechanism.

UW-Madison soil science professor Teri Balser was one of four professors given the U.S. Professor of the Year Award in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

The University of Wisconsin is known for its world-class faculty and groundbreaking research, but thanks to one UW professor, it is also the home to a Professor of the Year.

A Dane County judge will allow DNA tests of evidence for a man convicted of killing his wife in 1990, but it will be at his own expense and he?ll have another significant hurdle to leap if the tests reveal anything useful. Steven J. McConnell-Luer was convicted of strangling his estranged wife, Kimberly, in 1990 and attempting to kill their children by sparking a natural gas explosion in the rural Stoughton trailer home where the three of them lived. McConnell-Luer?s case has been taken on by the Innocence Project at UW-Madison, which in its legal briefs questioned the credibility of witness reports that placed McConnell-Luer at the trailer park.

The Hunters? Network of Wisconsin (HNW) aims to increase recuritement and retention of hunters. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, a joint effort from among UW-Extension, the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, with support from BW Communications, announced new hunter recruitment and retention development efforts surrounding Mentored Hunting and Learn to Hunt events, including the availability of Learn to Hunt (LTH) insurance and the commitment of four outdoors groups to conduct eight new LTH events each by Nov. 1, 2011.

Quoted: Political scientist Barry Burden from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Cameras came into labor and delivery rooms along with the fathers, beginning in the 1960s and especially in the 1970s, according to Judith Leavitt, author of “Make Room For Daddy” and University of Wisconsin medical historian.

Quoted: Shubha Ghosh, a law professor at UW-Madison who specializes in intellectual property, says the case is far from clear-cut. But one thing is clear, according to Ghosh ? ?They both can?t have (the trademark) for t-shirts.?

At a recent discussion on the Nov. 2 election hosted by the local Society for Professional Journalists, UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin was expounding on why Republicans emerged triumphant, in Wisconsin and throughout the land.

Quoted: An experienced investigative reporter might understand and accept the legal consequences and safety risks of secretly taping a convicted murderer as he or she is confronted with unpleasant allegations, but a student shouldn?t be asked to take that assignment, said Stephen Ward, a journalism ethics professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Quoted: Janet Hyde, a professor of psychology and women?s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently published a review of several years of studies on the math skills of boys and girls. The studies drew on international eighth-grade math tests, and Hyde and her colleagues found that the math abilities of both sexes were similar. Hyde has worked on this for a number of years, and she said that in 1990 the gap between male and female math abilities was wider than it is now.

Quoted: “With 60 seats in the Assembly and 19 in the Senate, Republicans should be able to protect most of those incumbents by making those districts more strongly Republican and then packing Democrats into the surrounding districts,” said David Canon, a redistricting expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Donald Hester, UW-Madison economics professor emeritus.

Noted: Madison hasn?t felt the downturn as intensely as Midwestern neighbors like Milwaukee or Detroit, leading some to declare the city recessionproof. ?It?s not,? says Stephen Malpezzi, a real estate professor at the University of Wisconsin. ?We just didn?t boom and bust as much.?

History Professor William Cronon was named president of the American Historical Association Friday.

Noted: UW-Extension this year is making Thanksgiving easy by putting up a food safety hotline chart.

Bill Howard of Middleton has been a UW-Madison lecturer for more than 20 years in project economic analysis.

Quoted: “The other factor that I think is quite serious for first-time candidates is the ability to manage themselves on the campaign trail,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “There?s some room for doubt that being CEO of a company prepares you for the skills of negotiation, the mutual accommodation that goes with the role of senator,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “At some level, anybody who?s in the Senate has to play the political role he?s elected to play.”

Quoted: “The other factor that I think is quite serious for first time candidates is the ability to manage themselves on the campaign trail,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

J. Michael Collins, faculty director of the Center for Financial Security and a professor at UW-Madison, said that although more banks are failing, he?s not certain consumers are paying any more attention.

Noted: The DNR and University of Wisconsin researchers will launch a multi-year study this year to better understand the impacts predators have on white-tailed deer.Scientists will track bucks and fawns to see how they die.

Quoted: ?Reducing spending for programs fits with the Republican agenda and helps the budget situation, but it can be difficult politically and cutting taxes onlyshrinks revenues sources needed to balance the budget,? said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “There?s some room for doubt that being CEO of a company prepares you for the skills of negotiation, the mutual accommodation that goes with the role of senator,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “At some level, anybody who?s in the Senate has to play the political role he?s elected to play.”

Quoted: UW-Madison Political Science Professor Charles Franklin says Walker promised voters he would stop the train, and he intends to keep his word.

Quoted: Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison.

Quoted: Andrew Taylor, director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at UW-Madison.

Noted: Explainer thanks Tineke Hellwig of the University of British Columbia and Ellen Rafferty and Melisa Tjong of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

A rush of buildings is set to open in the coming months on the UW-Madison campus ? marking the completion of a spate of major projects on the state?s flagship campus. A $33 million makeover to the UW-Madison education building will be officially unveiled next week. The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will open next month. Next year will bring a new south campus union, a biochemistry building and the Chazen art museum addition. “In the next three to five years, that big pulse will slow down,” said Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities, planning and management. “It marshals in an era where focus will be less on new structures and more on maintaining.”

Quoted: There are real-world consequences to this decision for many IT folks. Dave Schroeder, a systems engineer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, posted an open letter to Jobs, asking that if they have to cancel Xserve, could Apple please allow Mac OS X virtualization on non-Mac hardware?

Noted: HarvestPlus also is developing pumpkin-colored beta-carotene-rich corn. Kevin Pixley of the University of Wisconsin heads the corn research in collaboration with seed companies in Zambia. Orange corn now must go through two years of trials under Zambian regulations. Pixley said they hope to learn from the success story of sweet potatoes when it?s ready for use.

Quoted: The toxicology report describes a THC finding of 4.2 nanograms per milliliter, an impossible amount to generate from secondhand marijuana smoke, according to a University of Wisconsin forensic toxicology expert.”It?s not possible to get those results from passive inhalation,” Laura Liddicoat said. “It could have been one hit off a bong 10 minutes before [his death] or it could have been several joints.”

Noted: The second contract, for up to $1.5 million, was awarded to the University of Wisconsin. The school will help the district begin creating value-added scores for its teachers, termed “academic growth over time.”

Quoted: “I think Governor-elect Scott Walker and the state Legislature will be completely preoccupied initially solving the budget problems,” said Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It?s a significant problem they?ve inherited, and it will take a herculean effort to get a balanced budget together and passed by July 1.”

Pressed on the point by one of the journalists in attendance, UW political science professor Charles Franklin admitted that emotions sometimes play a larger role in political elections than facts and logic.