Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ken Goldstein said that the process of electing judges might be the problem.

The infusion of cash is part of a “very troubling” nationwide trend of special interest groups trying to control the makeup of state supreme and appeals courts through contentious campaigns that give voters a negative view of the judiciary, said Howard Schweber, who teaches law and political science at the UW-Madison.

The Madison Water Utility Board is considering a water conservation plan aimed at reducing residential per capita water use by 20 percent by the year 2020, to protect the groundwater supply that feeds area wells.

The proposal developed by a water conservation team includes a change in the water rate structure that would charge residential customers more if they go over certain thresholds of water use. Currently, Madison and almost all other water utilities in the state charge less for water used after a set threshold.

Quoted: Water conservation team member Joel Creswell, a UW-Madison postgraduate student in environmental chemistry and technology

Quoted: R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We all need to take a step back and realize that this is different than many tests that you take,” she is quoted as saying. “This is a life-changing moment.”

Quoted: Blueprint lead author Jonathan Patz of the UW-Madison Gaylord Nelson Institute.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ken Goldstein has researched the role of negative advertising for years and concluded that such ads can actually enrich the political process by focusing vital attention on issues and the differences between the candidates.

“One very serious question is whether the system of judicial elections in Wisconsin is broken beyond repair, ” said Howard Schweber, who teaches both political science and law at the UW-Madison. “It may be the case that from now on, judicial elections in Wisconsin will increasingly become exercises in personal attacks and ideological mudslinging carried out by party operatives and private groups hiding their agendas. “

“For a long time, linguists believed that mass media and education would even out the differences between regions and we would eventually all sound alike,” said Joseph Salmons, a UW-Madison professor of linguistics.

“In fact, the opposite has happened.”

Quoted: Rob Howard, an assistant professor of communication and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Dr. James Stein, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said many doctors prescribe Zetia and Vytorin because they seem to be safe ways to get cholesterol down quickly, without annoying side effects like flushing that some other medicines carry.

Quoted: But Shawn Peters, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scholar who wrote “When Prayer Fails,” a book about faith healing and the law, said “It’s more of a complex issue than it might appear on first glance. It’s a really thorny public policy issue.”

Quoted: Chris Kucharik, a scientist with UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

Quoted: R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Quoted: Professor Zhenqiang Ma of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who also works on flexible silicon circuitry, said the new research was an “important step”.

Quoted: Steve Schroeder, director of the business career center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Morris Davis, professor of real estate and urban land economics at UW-Madison.

Quoted: Frank Greer, a professor of pediatric medicine at the University of Wisconsin and chairman of the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the body can make DHA on its own from what is naturally present in the diet — even a diet that doesn’t include lots of fish.

Quoted: Dr. Jonathan Patz, an environmental health scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a member of the U.N. climate panel.

The death early this week of a young Wisconsin girl from a treatable form of diabetes, whose parents prayed over her rather than seek medical help, could re-ignite a debate over a state law that essentially shields such activity from criminal prosecution.

So says the Madison-based author of When Prayer Fails, a new book about parents who, for religious reasons, refuse to provide medical care for their children.

“Maybe the statute will get tested out soon,” muses Shawn Francis Peters, who teaches writing and U.S. history at the UW-Madison.

Police in Weston says an 11-year-old girl died there Sunday of diabetes, because her parents chose prayer over medical treatment. An author and UW-Madison scholar says it would be hard to prosecute the parents in such a case.

Shawn Peters studied the subject extensively for his book, “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law.” He says Wisconsin law does protect a parent’s right to choose faith-healing over medicine. He says there can be complications when religion-based treatments of illness are involved.

Quoted: Patricia Burch, UW-Madison School of Education

Quoted: Patricia Burch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Dr. Norman Fost, professor of bioethics and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison.

There are signs that a recession this year could be more painful that first expected, but the impact in Wisconsin may be eased somewhat.

UW economist Don Nichols says Wisconsin has actually managed to avoid the financial crisis being felt by much of the nation because housing prices here did not get out of line. He says there have been very low mortgage delinquency rates in Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay

Quoted: Edward Friedman, a China specialist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Quoted: Adam Gamoran of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who analyzed the findings.

A UW expert thinks Democrats could be in big trouble if the Obama-Clinton fight drags on.

There’s no indication when the battle for the Democratic nomination between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will end. Some are even questioning if it will be settled before the party’s convention in August. If that happens, UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin says that would be very divisive and damaging for the party.

Quoted: Philip Moy, a fisheries and invasive species specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sea Grant Institute.

Quoted: Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin psychologist Robert Enright, who founded the International Forgiveness Institute in 1994, points to a study they conducted at a Veterans Administration Hospital. Patients in the cardiac unit who received “forgiveness interventions” showed improved cardiac function after four months.

Quoted: Michael Bell, a professor of rural sociology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who has surveyed raw-milk consumers in the Midwest.

QUoted: Joanne Cantor, a University of Wisconsin professor who studies the effects of violent media. “We are designed to have our attention grabbed by violence.”

Quoted: In another set of experiments, social psychologist Amanda Brodish at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research showed that prejudice may play a role, too. Whites with high levels of prejudice — who think blacks are not as smart as whites, who think blacks and whites are inherently unequal, and who reported being uncomfortable with a black roommate — invariably evaluated racial equality only in comparison with the past.

By contrast, said Brodish’s co-author, Patricia Devine of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, low-prejudice whites were equally willing to apply the yardsticks of both past and future.

Quoted: Barry Orton, professor of telecommunications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Ken Streit, who studies juvenile crime issues as a clinical associate professor at the UW-Madison Law School.

As the Clinton and Obama campaigns hit the homestretch in their neck-and-neck race for the Democratic nomination, it’s becoming increasingly likely that, barring compromise, the party’s superdelegatesâ??elected officials and party leaders who aren’t bound by the choices of primary votersâ??will decide the winner. Not surprisingly, this has caused an epidemic of hand-wringing among political experts, who worry that this state of affairs is dangerously similar to 1968, when a furious battle within the Democratic Party over two popular candidates, Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey, spilled from the Democratic National Convention onto the streets of Chicago.

Quoted: Jeremi Suri, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Quoted: University of Wisconsin Political Science Professor Howard Schweber.

Quoted: “The Fed actions are not going to stop house prices from falling,” said Morris Davis, a former Fed economist and professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin- Madison’s School of Business. “In an environment with falling prices and defaults, mortgages are a lot riskier now than three years ago.”

Quoted: John Witte, a political science and public affairs professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, doubts either event will make a big impression so close to the election.

Quoted: Today, Vadim Shapiro of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Igor Tsukanov of Florida International University and their colleagues will present their latest results from their “Scan and Solve” computer technique at the International Conference on Computational and Experimental Engineering and Sciences in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Quoted: Property-rights expert Harvey M. Jacobs, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cited James Madison as an early advocate for giving unique status to private property in American laws and culture.

Quoted: “Understanding structural properties of historical and cultural artefacts through computer simulations is often crucial to their preservation,” said Prof Vadim Shapiro at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At present this kind of analysis was expensive, time-consuming and error-prone, he said. “The ‘scan and solve’ technology promises to transform the simulation into a simple and fully automated process that can be applied routinely.”

Quoted: Andy Garcia-Rivera, director of environment, health and safety at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a hazardous materials expert.

Quoted: Morris Davis, a former Fed economist who is now a professor at the University of Wisconsin’s business school.

Quoted: Human-sexuality researcher John DeLamater of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It’s estimated more than 60 percent of U.S. households have a companion animal. But those dogs and cats go beyond “best friends.” They’re family to many people — who are more willing than ever to spend big bucks on the best of everything, including medical care.

Quoted: Somesh Jha, computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.