Charles Darwin seems to have had a boundless interest in the many forms life takes on earth. He could find something about any animal or plant that piqued his insatiable curiosity, and masses of such observations fueled his prodigious output of books and scientific papers.
Promoting early holiday shopping is one way retailers are trying to adapt to the down economy, according to an expert at the Wisconsin School of Business. â??This week there are many, many firms both online and in the brick and mortar stores saying â??come on outâ? says Deborah Mitchell, Executive Fellow, Center for Brand and Product Management at UW-Madison.Â
University of Wisconsin Dance Program faculty artists came together with campus colleagues Saturday to create â??Splash,â? an innovative convergence of science and art where interpretive dance explores the subject of science.
Public Health-Madison & Dane County distributed H1N1 vaccines to more than 6,000 target group patients at the Alliant Energy Center during a two-day public clinic last week.
UW-Madison Professor Alta Charo was right — womenâ??s health would be sacrificed for overall health care reform.
John Milton Cooper, Jr. has some historical perspective on the difficulties President Barack Obama is facing in attempting to tackle health care reform.
Quoted: “The minimum markup law has been around for decades, and in Wisconsin its gotten most attention around gasoline,” said Deborah Mitchell with the UW School of Business. “What most people dont know is it goes beyond just gasoline.”
Quoted: Robert McGrath, a clinical psychologist specializing in mind/body wellness at University Health Services at UW-Madison, on whether laughing is good for your health.
Quoted: Morris A. Davis, an assistant professor in the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, said the government needs to act quickly before the foreclosure crisis worsens.
Mammoth dung has proved to be a source of prehistoric information, helping scientists unravel the mystery of what caused the great mammals to die out. An examination of a fungus that is found in the ancient dung and preserved in lake sediments has helped build a picture of what happened to the beasts. The study sheds light on the ecological consequences of the extinction and the role that humans may have played in it.Researchers describe this development in the journal Science. The study was led by Jacquelyn Gill from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in the US.
Quoted: Morris A. Davis, an assistant professor in the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, said the government needs to act quickly before the foreclosure crisis worsens.
The Division of Information Technology opened use of its new version of WiscMailâ??s web mail client pilot program to all students, staff and faculty this week, aiming for campuswide implementation Dec. 1.
Quoted: “This is one of your daily tempests in a teapot,” said University of Wisconsin historian Stanley Kutler. “Itâ??s not going to change anything.”
Early voting policies lead to lower voter turnout according to a new study conducted by UW-Madison political science professors in conjunction with the Government Accountability Board.
Mentions a poll last month by Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.
Quoted: “This study talks about the average woman,” said Dr. Gale Sisney, radiologist at UW Hospital and Clinics. “It doesnâ??t talk about high risk women, it doesnâ??t talk about women with genetic risk of breast cancer.”
The Faculty Senateâ??s University Committee discussed a proposal to ensure faculty rights to institutional criticism during its meeting Monday.
University of Wisconsin researchers recently evaluated former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palinâ??s speech patterns in an attempt to study the doggone reaction to her home-baked vernacular in a formal setting.
The summer of 1987 was witness to the murders of three local women — all of the slayings reportedly unrelated to each other.
Two of the cases were solved; two different men sentenced to prison. But was one of them wrongly convicted? Or is he indeed a cold-blooded killer who, today, could have a shot at freedom?
In this riverfront village, a closed case still leaves open wounds.
Quoted: UW Law School professor Keith Findley, co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project
MADISON, Wis. — While many have heard about the potential risks of the H1N1 flu virus, many are just learning about the H3N8 virus. This is the influenza virus that affects dogs. While the virus isnâ??t yet in Wisconsin, experts said itâ??s only a matter of time before it will make an appearance.
Quoted: Dr. Sandi Sawchuk, School of Veterinary Medicine
Thirty-two years ago, Rita Swan and her husband walked into a Michigan hospital with their nearly dead baby in her arms. The decision to take their son was made after days of pitting their religious beliefs against the medical needs of their young child.
After a week in the intensive care unit, 16-month-old Matthew died of a strain of meningitis, a disease treatable with early detection through antibiotics. Swan and her husband left the spiritual healing of the Christian Science Church, to which they belonged, behind.
Quoted: Dr. Barbara Knox, the medical director of the University of Wisconsin Child Protection Program at UW American Family Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UW-Madison.
A federal report Monday showed the highest level of household hunger in the country since 1995, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture began measuring it. In 2008, 14.6 percent of households had difficulty putting enough food on the table, a situation the federal government terms “food insecurity.” Quoted are Judi Bartfeld, a professor of consumer science at UW-Madison, and Kadi Row, a UW-Extension professor who specializes in food security.
Quoted: Almost a quarter of the incoming freshmen at the University of Wisconsin each year say they want to do “something in biology,” said Bob Ray, associate dean for undergraduate programs and services.
Quoted: “I think itâ??s a very interesting, potentially important finding,” says Joseph Newman, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The 2010 gubernatorial election is not until November 2, but itâ??s already shaping up to be quite the showdown.Lone Democratic candidate Tom Barrett has some heavy-hitters on his side with endorsements from both President Barack Obama and current governor, Jim Doyle.But the link between Doyle and Barrett could hurt the Milwaukee mayor, according to Charles Franklin, political science professor at UW-Madison.
UW-Madisonâ??s faculty has less freedom to criticize administrators than they realize, according to one professor who will propose amending UWâ??s academic freedom policy at Mondayâ??s University Committee meeting.
Quoted: Off-the-books work â??is probably neutral to good,â? says Alfonso Morales, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He argues that formal and informal economies are linked and cannot be neatly separated.
Quoted: “We know the brain has been evolving in human populations quite recently,” said paleoanthropologist John Hawks at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
….Pinning down the informal economy is as tough as catching a fake Louis Vuitton vendor running from the police. But itâ??s huge in the United States â?? larger than the official output of all but the upper crust of nations across the globe. And, due to the recent recession, itâ??s growing.
Whether thatâ??s good or not depends entirely on oneâ??s point of view. The rise of the informal economy is either the flourishing of entrepreneurship among Americaâ??s poorest or a drag on legitimate businesses that play by the rules.
Quoted: Alfonso Morales, UW-Madison professor of urban and regional planning
Sesame Street,” which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is not just a good show; itâ??s good for you, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison media experts.
“When it comes to educational benefits, the results have been overwhelmingly positive,” says Karyn Riddle, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication. Riddle notes the PBS program is “the most heavily researched show in the history of television.”
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mentions that state legislators will find it hard to return to the days when they committed themselves to funding two-thirds of public education costs, according to research by Andrew Reschovsky, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who participated in the Pew study of the fiscal condition of the states.
Quoted: Larry Rittenberg, an expert on auditing and governance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “The level of corruption is unbelievable. Itâ??s epidemic,” says Robert Wolensky, a Luzerne County native who teaches sociology at the University of Wisconsin but returns regularly as an adjunct professor at Kingâ??s College in Wilkes-Barre. “It wasnâ??t until I moved to Wisconsin that I realized that corruption wasnâ??t a normal part of government.”
Quoted: “Weâ??re plowing new ground here,” says University of Wisconsin law professor Frank Tuerkheimer, a former U.S. prosecutor.
A Dane County judge on Friday overturned the conviction of a man who served more than six years in prison for a sexual assault that new DNA evidence indicates he did not commit. Judge Patrick Fiedler ordered the release of 45-year-old Forest S. Shomberg, citing new DNA evidence and fresh research on faulty eyewitness identification. The Wisconsin Innocence Project took up Shomberg’s case, armed with powerful new evidence not available in 2002: DNA found on the victim’s pantyhose did not match Shomberg.
Quoted: Getting ex-smokers through six smoke-free months would greatly reduce their relapse risk, says psychologist Douglas Jorenby of the University of Wisconsinâ??s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention in Madison, which is testing NicVax.
Quoted: â??â??The reality is that this is a very, very specialized area,â??â?? said Pauli, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Midwest Regional Bone Dysplasia Clinics.
Quoted: Historian Paul Boyer, who has written books about Doomsday rumors over the years.”There is a period of crisis for those who are convinced the end is coming,” he said. “Prophecy belief is very very ancient in human history.”Boyer, a professor emeritus at UW-Madison, told us that for some, doomsday has replaced traditional religion.
Quoted: The solution includes a system more elaborate than using just test scores, said Allan Odden, UW-Madison professor of educational administration.”All states and districts need a database that links students and their achievement scores to teachers (who taught them the subject) and to schools, both as an overall management tool and for many, many other purposes,” Odden said in an e-mail response to a question from the Gazette.
Today Sesame Street celebrates 40 years on air. An expert in children and TV viewing applauds their efforts over four decades. UW communication professor Marie-Louise Mares says the program was launched with the intent of getting children ready for kindergarten, especially those from lower income families although soon all children became involved.
Quoted: UW political scientist David Canon expects Barrett to announce he is going to run for governor. â??My gut feeling is that heâ??s going to jump in,â? said Canon.
In his approach to National Security Agency surveillance, as well as CIA renditions, drone assassinations, and military detention, President Obama has to a surprising extent embraced the expanded executive powers championed by his conservative predecessor, George W. Bush. So says an online opinion column by Alfred McCoy, UW-Madison history professor and author of “A Question of Torture,” among other works.
Wisconsin is one of top 10 states facing â??fiscal perilâ? this year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Center on the States.
Its no secret that California is in deep financial trouble. But a new report shows nine other states, including Wisconsin, are headed toward economic disaster, as well.
Quoted: Morris Davis, a real estate economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin residents should brace for more tax increases and service cuts, based on an analysis that rated the stateâ??s budget predicament among the 10 worst in the country. Story notes that Andrew Reschovsky, a professor in the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison participated in the Pew Center analysis.
After evaluating the effectiveness of Plan 2008, UW-Madisonâ??s 10-year plan to increase diversity on campus, officials are focusing on the creation of a more comprehensive plan to improve campus diversity.
Rob Meyer canâ??t help but get excited when he hears President Barack Obama talking about the need for states to start measuring whether their teachers, schools and districts are doing enough to help students succeed.
“What heâ??s talking about is what we are doing,” says Meyer, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Value-Added Research Center.
If states hope to secure a piece of Obamaâ??s $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” stimulus money, theyâ??ll have to commit to using research data to evaluate student progress and the effectiveness of teachers, schools and districts.
Quoted: “I think overall what weâ??re seeing from companies in this recession is they figured out they need a strategy,” said University of Wisconsin professor Mason Carpenter. “They need to figure out how to be profitable, not just big, and thatâ??s what weâ??re seeing them work through in these holidays.”
Quoted: But Robert Drechsel, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and treasurer of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said there is no such balancing test.
Quoted: Yet again, people often donâ??t fully understand what it takes to receive a transplanted kidney, said Rebecca Hays, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. They might meet with a doctor one time and think thatâ??s all they need to do.
President Barack Obamaâ??s image-driven 2008 campaign and his use of social media outlets fostered in young voters an interest in public policy rarely seen in todayâ??s political climate.
Quoted: At that pace, given the historical relationship between payrolls and GDP, payrolls would fall through the second quarter of 2010, according to University of Wisconsin economist Menzie Chinn. And unemployment typically peaks after payrolls bottom.
Quoted: Charles Franklin professor of political science at UW-Madison. “Jim Doyleâ??s getting an awful lot of precious presidential time right now,” Franklin marveled. “We were all surprised when we saw him (Doyle) walk up the steps of Air Force One.”
President Barack Obamaâ??s appearance in Madison Wednesday also marked the one-year anniversary of his historic election victory.
Since that night, Obama has dealt with many significant and complicated issues. The debates regarding health insurance reform and the economic stimulus have raged through the halls of Congress, and their effects have been felt in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided not to hear a case involving the constitutionality of domestic partnership benefits this week.
Quoted: “This really is not a practical issue at this point,” said Dr. Chris Olsen, a professor of public health and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. “Is that to say itâ??s not possible? No.”
Noted: Obama is on his way to James C. Wright Middle School to discuss how states can compete for $4.35 billion in grants through what he calls the Race to the Top Fund. Wright Middle is a public charter school that partners with the University of Wisconsin at Madison on a teacher preparation program.
Quoted: “Right now, the size of the deficit, the growth of government and the perception of government meddling in the private sector are all things that resonate pretty broadly and especially in conservative areas,” says Charles Franklin, co-founder of Pollster.com and a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
