Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: UW-Madison professor Andrew Reschovsky, who teaches applied economics, agreed that $172 seemed high and could be skewed by wealthier people buying more expensive items such as luxury cars and boats.

Quoted: Alan Turnquist, outreach specialist at the Program on Agriculture Technology Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Wisconsin customers must give car repair shops advance authorization for repairs or they do not have to pay, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and the consumer law litigation clinic at University of Wisconsin-Madison also praised the decision.

Quoted: Students have a golden opportunity to discuss their goals at the end of an interview, says Greg Iaccarino, career and internship adviser at the University of Wisconsin. That’s when most interviewers solicit questions. Ask what kinds of projects previous interns were given and discuss what specific ideas they might have for you.

Quoted: Dr. Melissa Meredith, an endocrinologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, suggests the following:

Quoted: “She was one of only three situations that we knew of where there was strong evidence of person-to-person illness,” said Dr. Christopher Olsen, professor of public health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Finances may not be the only reason for job cuts, said Mason Carpenter, UW-Madison School of Business professor of management and human resources.

Quoted: â??A divided primary can be destructive but it also can be good for the party to have a contested primary,â? said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at UW-Madison. â??It gives both candidates the chance to make their case to the primary voters, and while they do that theyâ??ll be talking and advertising to the rest of the state.â?

Quoted: Consumers tend to be staunchly loyal when it comes to their auto brands, but bad news surrounding a brand and concerns about a company’s future can eventually tip the balance, said Deborah Mitchell, a marketing professor at the University of Wisconsin’s business school.

Quoted: Scientists said Sunday that they were unable to predict what this new swine flu would do next.

“It’s impossible to say with any assurance what’s going to happen,” said Dr. Christopher Olsen, a molecular virologist who studies swine flu at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. “Influenza viruses can evolve quite quickly.”

Quoted: Confronted by a prolonged recession and a rising 8.5 percent unemployment rate, the highest U.S. rate in a quarter-century, some college seniors have grown “so anxious and worried they are paralyzed” and are not looking for a job, said University of Wisconsin, Madison, career services director Leslie Kohlberg.

Noted: At some point in reporting this article, someone pointed me to the MySpace page of Blood Jewel, a goth industrial band in the spirit of Marilyn Manson. Stylistically it could not be more different from the zaniness of Gory Bateson and the Ethnogs. Blood Jewel’s Web page seems designed to shock, full of depictions of violence and sexual bondage, and it features a music video called “Speedkilla,” a commentary on the student who carried out the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech two years ago.

This, too, is an academic project.

Blood Jewel’s leader, who goes by the stage name Detonator, is Neil L. Whitehead, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He studies depictions of sexual violence. He started the band three years ago as a way to get a new perspective on the culture of goth industrial music â?? and to propose a new approach to anthropology.

Quoted: “My impression is that it is largely ignored (today), having been superseded on the right by think tanks on the one hand and neo-Nazi groups and conservative religious groups on the other,” said Pamela Oliver, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sociology professor who in the 1980s co-authored a study of media coverage of the John Birch Society.

This is partly due to the animalsâ?? natural tendencies and partly a matter of training, says Patricia McConnell, a certified applied animal behaviorist and adjunct zoology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: But while property auctions are increasing nationally as foreclosures rise and the housing market slows, “there isn’t really a consensus among economists whether (a person bidding at) an auction ends up getting a better price,” said Stephen Malpezzi, professor of real estate development at the UW-Madison School of Business.

Quoted: “Weâ??re starting to see some serious financial strains,” said Bruce Jones, a UW-Madison professor of agricultural economics. “The dairy sector has taken some significant hits with milk prices being quite low and expensive feed costs.”

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Hospital’s Nan Peterson called 2008 “the year of the crib recall.”

The researchers who developed the evidenced-based education model that Gov. Ted Strickland used for his school-funding overhaul say most states don’t need to increase spending significantly to improve student performance.

Professors Allan R. Odden and Lawrence O. Picus say it generally should cost an additional 2 percent to 9 percent annually to finance smaller class sizes, more professional development for teachers and other proven strategies contained in the plan.

Odden, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin, said the evidence-based model calls for implementing strategies shown to improve student performance.

“Quoted: “We can choose the cattle not only based on their traits but also based on the sequences of the genes that matter,” said Bret Payseur, an assistant professor of medical genetics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “You can imagine that that’s going to be much more efficient.”

Quoted: Nearly a dozen people who attended a meeting last night on Madison’s West Side claim their pets have been attacked by coyotes in recent weeks. “It’s almost impossible to assess a risk factor,” said UW-Madison urban wildlife expert Scott Craven, who addressed the residents. “The threat posed by coyotes is infinitesimally small, but not zero.”

A panel of labor rights activists at the University of Wisconsin Wednesday called for the United States Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to ensure employeesâ?? right to unionize.

The progressive tradition that Stern noticed was legendary in an earlier era. Tony Michels, a professor of Jewish and labor history at the University of Wisconsin, said that in the â??30s, labeling a union as Jewish was often a shorthand way of describing its socialist politics. A number were further to the left, which is to say, communist.

Quoted: Some residents asked about the safety of children. Scott Craven, a UW-Madison wildlife ecologist and expert on dealing with urban wildlife, said any such threat is very small.

“In the bigger scheme of things, the threat posed by coyotes is infinitesimally small, but not zero,” Craven said.

College is an investment in a student’s future. That’s a good thought to keep in mind as financial aid offers arrive this spring. The high school class of 2009 is the biggest class of entering freshmen ever; at a time when there’s less money being made available to pay for school.

“First we’ve seen a lot in the news about private lenders withdrawing from the student loan funding side. There’s been a reduction in the amount of money available for basic student loans, ” notes University of Wisconsin financial specialist Michael Collins.

Quoted: Dr. Sarah McAchran, with UW Hospital and Clinics’ department of urology, said Botox injected into the wall of the bladder using a cystoscope has helped people with such neurological disorders as multiple sclerosis or Spina Bifida, reducing the frequency of catheterization. She said more recently it’s being used for people with overactive bladders when anti-leakage medications fail. This can prevent the need for surgery.

Quoted: Bob Plankers, a VMware customer who is a senior systems engineer with the University of Wisconsin in Madison, says the new “internal cloud” feature might appeal to companies that are skittish about letting outside companies, like Google or Amazon, take control of all their internal data. “We are definitely worried about that,” he says.

Quoted: John Sturdk, a UW School of Business professor, said the magazine story might be frustrating for some to hear as Madison is rising up when many other cities are falling down rapidly.

“You see a lot of interest in non-profit innovations and non-profit organizations, as well as in the traditional medical device and bio-technology arena’s here,” Sturdk saod. “And so, you see this incredibly diverse pool of talent that have opportunities, custom made for them — and that’s pretty rare.”

Quoted: “I think it’s not dissimilar from what we had in 2003 with the anti-war protests, where a lot of people were uncomfortable with the war, but also uncomfortable with the anti-war position, recognizing there are terrorists out there,” says Jeremi Suri, a history professor who specializes in social movements at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “Here we have a similar thing: There are serious economic issues, and it’s unclear to many people whether the stimulus is going to deal with these.”

Quoted: “School districts or schools that are smaller or less diverse have fewer targets to hit,” said Adam Gamoran, interim dean of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Q: Countries such as France and Japan have been recycling nuclear fuel for decades. Why doesnâ??t the United States do the same?

A: The United States actually was poised to start a nuclear fuel-reprocessing program in the mid-1970s, said Paul Wilson, UW-Madison associate professor of engineering physics. But due to concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation, President Jimmy Carter turned the country away from that option in 1978.

Quoted: “The old elite and bureaucratic elite are afraid of losing power,” said Thongchai Winichakul, professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who added that Mr. Abhisit will soon have to choose between becoming an authoritarian leader or calling elections that Mr. Thaksin’s supporters are likely to win. “Rural and poor people found that democracy, elections, were good for them, after decades of bureaucratic and aristocratic rule and after years of elections that neglected them. Thai democracy, since 1997 at least, began to work well for the poor at the expense of the elite.

Quoted: Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park, agrees things have improved. He credits the business community itself with being more of a force.

“There’s a heightened level of activism and interest that’s drawn the attention of policy makers,” says Bugher, who two years ago resigned in protest as chair of the city’s Economic Development Commission. “In the past, there’s always been this lack of recognition that businesses â?? and small businesses in particular â?? have been important to the community development programs.”

Noted: Also in “Here, Kitty Kitty” are Stan Temple, the UW-Madison professor whose study blaming cats for the deaths of millions of birds was often cited by those who believed the cats were pests, and Gordon King, a retired farmer and self-proclaimed environmentalist who was prosecuted for trapping and drowning cats on his property in Merrill.

Quoted: By 8 years old, children know the difference between fantasy and reality, so they are more likely to be frightened by televised news coverage of events such as kidnappings, murders and terrorism, said Joanne Cantor, professor of at University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved with the study. Before age 8, they express fears of fictional scenarios and characters but also worry about hurricanes and drowning, she said.

Quoted: So far, “we havenâ??t found any evidence there is a major crisis right now,” said Ken Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who chairs the cityâ??s commission on clean elections. “But weâ??re trying to peer into the future.”

Quoted: “It really does depend. I can’t say that they’re always a bad deal or always a good deal. But I think there are some things to be careful of if you’re thinking about an extended warranty,” says University of Wisconsin financial specialist Michael Collins.

A new national study on trends in drug convictions finds a surprising trend: the number of African-American drug offenders is falling while the number of white offenders is rising.

The study by the Sentencing Project found that between 1999 and 2005, the number of black drug convicts in the country fell by over 30,000 while the number of white drug convicts increased by more than 20,000. In Wisconsin, the trend is still weak. UW-Madison sociology professor Pamela Oliver says there are still disproportionately more black drug convicts but the racial disparity isn’t as pronounced as it was at the height of the drug war in the mid-990’s. (Fifth item.)

Over the past several decades, women politicians have made strides in Africa. The share of parliamentary seats held by women increased from 7 percent in 1990 to 17 percent in 2007.

Interviewed: Aili Mari Tripp is a professor of political science and womenâ??s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the Womenâ??s Studies Research Center. (Audio.)

Quoted: â??Whoever wins or loses this round, the stalemate and tension will remain,â? said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin.

Quoted: Journalism professor Stephen Ward describes the Tyee’s experiment as a sign of the journalistic times.

“It is just a further development of the current troubles with the economic model of journalism right now,” said Prof. Ward, the James E. Burgess Professor of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an adjunct professor at the journalism school at the University of British Columbia.

Quoted: â??Campaigns are contacting record numbers of individuals,â? said University of Wisconsin political scientist Charles Franklin, who specializes in polling and elections. â??Polling is certainly not a new thing, but the ability now to link the polling and use it for optimal effect in targeting and turning out voters is unprecedented.â?

Quoted: Michael Shank, a professor of the History of Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, believes it’s probably just coincidence that the recent surge of interest in science and science history comes at a time when Trinity College’s annual religious survey shows a growing number of Americans – 15 percent – claim no religion.

Quoted: Borrowing has propelled consumer spending in recent years, but that will be constrained, too. Lower house prices mean fewer lines of home equity. Banks, with their profitability in question, are lowering credit-card limits. Menzie Chinn, an economist at the University of Wisconsin, thinks consumers won’t spend freely again for five years.

“Basically, it’ll take a long time for households to rebuild their balance sheets, i.e., wealth, in the form of housing and equities,” says Mr. Chinn.

Quoted: David Canon, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Having great teachers in every classroom is critical to creating educational equity, according to Douglas Harris, education policy expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I think there’s pretty widespread agreement that is the most important thing to do, and that is the weak point of the system now.”

Quoted: “He is perceived in the district [as] someone who is young, bright, all-American, with integrity,” says professor Dennis Dresang of the UW-Madison’s Robert M. La Follette School for Public Affairs. “Ryan’s done well at constituent casework. People are grateful and will reward you with support.”

Also: “It’s clear to economists, [including] pretty conservative ones, that monetary policy is exhausted and there is a massive pullback by consumers and capital markets,” says Laura Dresser, associate director of the UW-Madison’s Center on Wisconsin Strategies. “Any honest look at these numbers endorses the idea of spending a big amount now to shorten the downturn [and] get the economy moving.”

Noted: More people are trying to kick the habit as taxes on cigarettes continue to rise. On April 1 the federal tax on a pack of smokes jumped 62 cents. Michael Fiore. Director of the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, calls to the state’s tobacco quit line doubled in the month leading up to the tax hike. Fiore does not have the numbers for after the tax increase but anticipates it will be as equally busy if not busier.

Quoted: Dan Anderson, professor of risk management in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, said thereâ??s a market for companies that create products that are more environmentally friendly and have less adverse effects on the environment â?? even if they do cost more.