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.
Quoted: The University of Wisconsin’s Douglas Laube, a former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, blames “very significant external forces” for the overuse of expensive technologies in maternity care.
Quoted: 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.
Quoted: Douglas Laube, chair of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Only a small percentage of women in the country have breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy. A survey of Wisconsin surgeons examined the attitudes and biases which may affect breast cancer patients.
A third of respondents do not routinely refer eligible patients to further discuss having an implant or other reconstruction after breast cancer. However, the study published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal says a referral was more likely to be made if a woman expressed concerns about her appearance. (6th item.)
Doctors in the survey said the biggest deciding factor for them was cancer recurrence and worries that an implant or reconstruction might make it harder to detect. One of the report’s authors, Dr. Heath Stacey from UW Madison, says there’s evidence to the contrary. He also says other factors in the decision to refer vary from where someone lives and how old they are.
Finding a job in investment banking has always been a top priority for University of Wisconsin senior Ross Chapman.
Each year, Dr. Marcia Slattery, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with UW Health, said she and her colleagues treat hundreds of children who are anxious about school-related issues, including homework. For some, the problem is limited to homework. For others, homework exacerbates an existing anxiety disorder or indicates other problems, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or an underlying learning problem.
Finance professor Mark Ready at the UW-Madison School of Business agreed that part of Monday’s decline resulted from problems in Europe. “The global economy is starting to look weaker than everyone had anticipated,” said Ready, academic director of the university’s Stephen L. Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis.
“Some of the European institutions bought securities backed by U.S. mortgages, but there also have been declines in European housing markets,” Ready said.
Don Nichols, UW-Madison professor emeritus of economics and public affairs, said much of the fear revolves around the liquidity position of banks, and that has not yet been solved. Even with passage of the bailout plan, it will take time to assess which of the mortgage-backed securities the banks invested in are worth buying.
“The Treasury Department is only going to buy the good ones, not dump taxpayer money on losers,” Nichols said. “It’s going to take time to determine which have intrinsic value. So we’re in sort of a holding pattern.”
Quoted: “Given how cluttered the airwaves are with information about the economic situation . . . it’s going to be hard to move it from its trajectory unless we get blatantly new information,” said Ken Goldstein, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: 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 says.
Quoted: For several years, Wisconsin enjoyed a near monopoly on specialty cheeses, according to Brian Gould, a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “When people settle a new area, there’s not a set accent,” said Joe Salmons, director of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “And it takes several generations for a new accent to form. What that means is, she was raised in an environment where … Upper Midwestern influences were going to be very strong.”
Quoted: “Being very popular but among a low turnout group like the young under 30 isn’t as valuable to you in terms of votes cast as it might be to have a smaller advantage but to have it among the high turnout older groups,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Quoted: There is still little research on whether students ultimately absorb information better by playing games. â??I actually think reading is pretty great and can compete with video games easily,â? said Mark S. Seidenberg, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who specializes in reading research.
A passage in the brain may determine caloric intake and therefore obesity, University of Wisconsin researchers announced Thursday.
Quoted: Professor Ken Goldstein of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who oversees a project that studies political advertising, said both sides started the summer running hard in Michigan, but polls soured for McCain after the Wall Street collapse.
Quoted: “Economic growth has become a spectator sport for many workers,” says Laura Dresser of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a UW-Madison group that tracks state economic trends. “You can see it, but you can’t take it home with you.”
Q. How many people can the Earth support?
A. It depends on the kind of lifestyle those people enjoy, says Lisa Naughton, a UW-Madison professor of geography and environmental studies.
The late 18th century English economist Thomas Malthus — one of the first to express concern about overpopulation — observed that there should be no more people in a country than can “daily enjoy a glass of wine and piece of beef for dinner.” But what if people choose tofu and beer instead?
Quoted: “She had done a lot of interesting and surprising work” as an undergrad, says Sean Carroll, a University of Wisconsin molecular biologist and Wittkopp’s PhD advisor.
Quoted: “There are states that are pretty close in the electoral college where a small vote sure could matter,” said University of Wisconsin political scientist Barry Burden, an expert on third party candidates and their influence.
Quoted: Tom Purnell, assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Quoted: “It’s a very large magnetic field strength for a galaxy by any standard,” confirmed astronomer and galactic magnetism researcher Ellen Zweibel of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
