“Despite his past, most would describe his educational research as pretty mainstream,” Simone Schweber, a UW-Madison education professor, said of Ayers, now a University of Illinois-Chicago education professor.
Quoted: Pam Oliver, a UW-Madison professor of sociology who has long studied the racial disparity in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.
Q: How do the Chinese alphabetize?
A: The Chinese don’t have anything resembling the Roman alphabet of European languages; instead, their language has been written for centuries in symbols known as Chinese characters.
Man-made reservoirs are contributing to the spread of non-native species in Wisconsin lakes, a study has found.
In a comparison of natural lakes and reservoirs created by damming rivers, the reservoirs were up to 300 times more likely than lakes to harbor invasive aquatic species, according to the study published in September in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Quoted: Professor Jake Vander Zanden of the UW-Madison Center for Limnology
College students become increasingly liberal within their first three years of college, according to a recent study.
The presidential campaign is taking on a growing role in Wisconsin classrooms this fall, as teachers find ways to interest young students in elections while leading older students through potentially divisive discussions of issues such as abortion, the Iraq war and immigration.
“We want kids to talk about it better than adults do, actually,” said Diana Hess, an associate education professor at UW-Madison who organized a recent workshop attended by more than 180 classroom and student teachers from 30 school districts.
Quoted: “The house is like a Honda Accord â?? it deteriorates over time. It’s the land that appreciates,” says Morris Davis, a real estate professor at the University of Wisconsin who has studied land values. During the boom home builders and speculators spent lavishly to accumulate land.
Quoted: “The same factors that are driving non-Latino voters to favor the Democrat right now are driving Latinos in the same way,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.
Quoted: This was McCain’s big chance to get back in the presidential contest, and it was important for him to come across as a leader, as assertive and someone on the offensive â?? all of which he did, said Dietram Scheufele, a professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a professor of political science and polling expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says these voters are probably in the same boat they were before the third and final showdown between the senior Arizona senator and the Illinois senator.
Noted: Mr. McCain is currently running all negative ads, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But he has run a number of positive ads during the campaign.
Quoted: Katherine Cramer Walsh, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the author of â??Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life.â?
Almost half of Wisconsin’s minority working families are not earning enough to meet their basic needs, according to a new national report.
Overall, 24 percent of working families in Wisconsin were identified as low-income. But among minority working families, that number was nearly double at 47 percent.
“The national economic crisis is not just a problem for Wall Street, it is a problem for Wisconsin’s hard working families,” said Laura Dresser, associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at UW-Madison.
Quoted: UW-Madison comparative biologist Hannah Carey.
Quoted: Jim Seward, UW-Madison School of Business finance professor.
The 2000 US presidential election highlighted one of the most unusual aspects of American politics: the fact that the president is selected, not by popular vote, but via a complicated 18th-century formula known as the Electoral College.
In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Professor Franklin explains how the Electoral College works:
Quoted: With three weeks left to the election, the chances of a dramatic shift are slimmer â?? but that doesn’t mean McCain can’t regain some of the ground he appears to have lost, said Charles Franklin, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Maggie Hawkins, a UW-Madison professor of education who specializes in bilingual education.
“The program at Verona is a model program,” Hawkins said. “The universities know it, the state knows it. It has a lot of eyes on it right now looking at the process that you’re going through.”
Quoted: “You can already observe that people do feel the effects of (a plant closure), even when it’s projected a year off,” said Laura Dresser, labor economist at UW-Madison’s Center on Wisconsin Strategy. “That already changes behavior.”
Quoted: In the meantime, modern technology, and the skills it fosters, is evolving even faster than we are. There’s no telling whether future iterations of computer games, online communities and the like will require more or less of the traditional social skills and learning strategies that we’ve spent so many eons cultivating. “Too many people write about this as if kids are in one country and adults are in another,” says James Gee, a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What the future brain will look like is still anybody’s guess.
Quoted: The survey released by Quinnipiac University has Barack Obama with a 17-point lead over John McCain in Wisconsin. However, UW-Madison political scientist Ken Mayer says we shouldn’t count McCain out just yet with three weeks to go before Election Day. Mayer says something can always change before then.
It’s not surprising that many people around the globe don’t understand how this electoral system works. But according to Charles Franklin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, many Americans are just as clueless as to how it operates as people elsewhere.
The Dane County Food Council will be addressing hunger in a public meeting Oct. 27.
Jane Voichick, a retired professor at the UW-Madison department of nutritional sciences will discuss economic security for families, federal nutrition programs and emergency food assistance. The meeting will also highlight healthy and affordable food options.
A group of business and community leaders is calling for sweeping changes to stabilize the Overture Center’s finances and ensure its long-term success.
“There are issues there,” said Mark Bugher, director of University Research Park and a former top state official who led the 11-person citizens group. The enterprise needs some “tough love.”
Quoted: The few states that fund stem cell research are more likely to be able to connect donating families to specific research programs that need embryos. People in other states do not have a clear pathway to donation, says R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Most IVF clinics are not hooked up to a research team and they may not be able to refer couples to a clinic who can do it for them,” she said.
Quoted: Former student leader Thongchai Winichakul, an historian at the University of Wisconsin, said he believes the PAD would try to provoke more violent confrontations so that it could provide a pretext for a military intervention, just as they did before the 2006 coup.
Quoted: Thailand-based analyst David Streckfuss, a historian at the University of Wisconsin, said the queen’s appearance at the funeral was unusual.
Quoted: “This race is not being moved by television advertising, with the fundamental factors so much to the advantage of the Democrats,” said Ken Goldstein, who directs the University of Wisconsin’s advertising project. “It’s just adding to the fog of information out there. . . . Obama’s huge spending makes McCain have to scream even louder to get his message heard.”
Quoted: “When government money is involved, the government sets the terms,” said Ken Mayer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Quoted: The scope of that rescue will narrow the government’s options in stimulating demand, says University of Wisconsin economics professor Menzie Chinn. Chinn says the best way for the feds to stimulate the economy is to support infrastructure spending via aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, because that will increase economic activity more than a tax cut would.
Quoted: Most commercially available milk is fortified with vitamin D, but most children and teens do not drink enough of it â?? four cups daily would be needed â?? to meet the new requirement, said Dr. Frank Greer, the report’s co-author.
Quoted: Stephen Ward, a media ethics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said there is nothing so compelling in the interview that it would warrant a reversal of a commitment not to air it.
Quoted: Eliot Finkelstein, instruction coordinator at the College Library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said animal books are the “new breed” of self-help books.
Quoted: “Supplementation is important because most children will not get enough vitamin D through diet alone,” says Dr. Frank Greer, a University of Wisconsin-Madison pediatrician and co-author of the new recommendations.
Quoted: So to fund all those massive programs, the trick is to reassure China, Saudi Arabia and other foreign lenders that the United States remains creditworthy, said Mike Knetter, dean of the Wisconsin school of business at UW-Madison.
Quoted: After a seemingly endless campaign season, the number of undecided voters is shrinking by the day. Bello is one of about 8 percent of voters nationally who call themselves undecided, said Charles Franklin, political science professor at UW-Madison and co-developer of the Web site Pollster.com
As part of the Distinguished Lecture Series, UW-Madison Professor Emeritus of political science Robert Booth Fowler spoke Sunday about Wisconsin voting trends that may affect the approaching election.
Over the past weeks, the economy has become one of the dominant issues in the country. College financial aid, and thus studentsâ?? access to higher education, is one area that experts feel will be drastically affected by the financial turmoil.
James Pawley is unimpressed with University of Wisconsinâ??s sustainability efforts. A UW zoology professor, he teaches a course called â??Responding to Global Warming,â? one of his many efforts to keep students active in going green.
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project and UW-Madison political science professor.
Quoted: Michael Knetter, dean of the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A culture that fails to encourage and even ostracizes young people, especially girls, who excel at mathematics is putting America at a disadvantage compared to countries where such talent is recognized and encouraged, according to a new study led by UW-Madison researchers.
The findings are reported today in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
The project, developed with the help of UW-Madison’s Applied Population Lab, lets users study neighborhood profiles, compare neighborhoods against one another, and eventually study neighborhoods over time.
Among the choices more people are expected to have this year is a “consumer-directed plan” â?? a high-deductible option with a health-savings account.
Those plans, which started a few years ago, can be cheaper for employers and employees, especially for people with few medical needs, said Donna Friedsam, associate director for health policy at the UW Population Health Institute.
Quoted: Menzie D. Chinn, who teaches economics at the University of Wisconsin, figures consumers won’t be in a position to spend freely for five years.
Q: Why do apple slices turn brown?
A: The moment a knife slices through apple — spilling the contents of apple cells along the surface of the cut, and allowing everything to mix — a reaction begins. In particular, an enzyme known as polyphenol oxidase that had been held in check is loosed.
Quoted: Rusties are extremely aggressive and have huge appetites. They do the most damage by eating water plants. â??The way I describe what rusty crayfish do, they are underwater lawnmowers,â? says Jeff Maxted, an invasive species research specialist with the University of Wisconsin Center for Limnology in Madison.
Quoted: “Topical honey is cheaper than other interventions, notably oral antibiotics, which are often used and may have other deleterious side-effects,” said Dr. Jennifer Eddy, a University of Wisconsin researcher who is studying whether honey helps diabetic foot ulcers.
Quoted: Youth “turnout rates remain well below that of their elders,” said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who studies youth voting patterns. “There’s an awful lot of students whose biggest concern is the football game.”
John McCain purchased $1.25 million worth of television advertising in Michigan last week, the same week he withdrew from the state and effectively conceded defeat.
McCain’s substantial (and puzzling) ad buys from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 are the most he has ever spent in seven days in the Wolverine State, according to a report [PDF] released Wednesday by the nonpartisan University of Wisconsin Advertising Project. Of the 15 battleground states where McCain bought ads last week, he spent more money only in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin said the turning point is the economy and that’s reflected in the latest poll numbers.
Quoted: “What’s most discouraging about this complaint was not only that everyone saw it coming but that the campaign worked,” University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Howard Schweber said.
Quoted: â??Because of Obamaâ??s fundraising advantage, his campaign is able to spend more in more states than weâ??ve seen in recent memory,â? said Ken Goldstein, the University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who directs the ad-tracking project.
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, director of the project, said advertising by both candidates is ramping up as the election approaches.
Quoted: Ken Goldstein, the University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who directs the ad-tracking project, notes that 10 of the 15 states where both sides are advertising were won by President Bush in the 2004 election. The 10 states are Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
With national and state polls showing him building a broader lead over McCain, Obama has switched to a more positive pitch. Last week, only 34 percent of his ads attacked McCain directly while virtually all of McCain’s ads attacked Obama, according to a study by the Wisconsin Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Election Day is closing in, and things are getting “meaner” on the political stump. That’s according to UW-Madison political scientist Ken Mayer, who says attacks are getting more bitter and personal in the race for president. Mayer says it’s not surprising though, because it’s just the natural progression of campaigns.
A new CNN/Newsweek poll has Obama leading McCain by five percentage points in the Badger State.
“In the last week and a half we’ve seen the trend go towards Obama not just in the national polls but state after state after state,” says UW Political Analyst Charles Franklin.
Quoted: Douglas Laube, chair of UW-Madison obstetrics and gynecology.
Quoted: Douglas Laube, UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
“I don’t like to admit it, but there are economic incentives” for doctors and hospitals to use the procedures, says Laube, who reviewed the new report before its release.
