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Category: UW Experts in the News

Rob Zaleski: Winter not such a wonderland this year

Capital Times

Is this somebody’s idea of a cruel joke?

….Of course, it’s not just newcomers who are wondering what’s going on and, more importantly, whether this is just a freak thing.

Ed Hopkins, assistant state climatologist at UW-Madison, says he wishes he had the answer and notes that many of his colleagues are scratching their heads as well.

Study Suggests Best Time For Interleukin-7

Wisconsin State Journal

Interleukin-7, an experimental growth factor that boosts the immune system, could work best in patients if given after the peak of an infection, a new UW-Madison study says.

IL-7, which the body produces in small amounts, is being studied as a potential therapy. Similar growth factors, such as IL-2, have been used in patients with cancer and AIDS, though with some side effects.

Huckabee, McCain focus campaigns on Fox Valley

Appleton Post-Crescent

Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain continued to hammer home his theme that he is the candidate to protect America’s security.

The Arizona senator spoke at the Outagamie County GOP Lincoln Day dinner Monday night, following a momentous endorsement in Houston from former President George H.W. Bush, a nod of approval from an establishment figure in the Republican Party.

Quoted: Charles Franklin, political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Democrats burrow into Wisconsin, key state on tap

USA Today

WASHINGTON â?? Residents in three states will weigh in on the presidential contest today, but the stakes are highest in Wisconsin where Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama seek to gain momentum heading into next month’s primaries in Texas and Ohio.

Quoted: Ken Mayer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

More to Wisconsin than Madison (Chicago Sun-Times)

Chicago Sun Times

BELOIT, Wis. — It’s the state of liberal college students and conservative dairy farmers, where nearly 100 years ago Sen. Robert
Wisconsin is the last big state before next month’s primary elections in Texas and Ohio.

Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton have invested a lot of time and money in Wisconsin. The state offers 74 delegates — which most polls indicate will be split fairly evenly between the two candidates, though the winner will get a few more, along with bragging rights. Obama has a slight lead over Clinton in the delegate race at this point, and a win in Wisconsin could help, though Clinton victories in Texas and Ohio could even the score.

The word “Liberal” may have been a badge of honor at one point at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and some of that tradition lives on, though students attending rallies there over the past week say that label is a bit outdated.

Quoted: Kenneth Goldstein, a political science professor at Madison.

Two UW professors gain N.Y. research fellowships for books

Daily Cardinal

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History awarded two UW-Madison professors prestigious research fellowships earlier this month.

Ethelene Whitmire, a UW-Madison associate professor at the School of Library and Information Studies, and Chad Alan Goldberg, a UW-Madison associate professor of sociology, are two of 26 recipients to win the award for the first half of 2008.

Wolf shows up near park in Iowa County

Wisconsin State Journal

DNR biologists estimate that 500 to 600 wolves now make Wisconsin home, and last March the wolf was taken off the federal endangered species list in the western Great Lakes region, said UW-Madison ecologist Adrian Treves and his wife, UW-Madison geography professor Lisa Naughton.

Storms close area schools: ‘We’re at the epicenter’

Wisconsin State Journal

If it ‘s starting to feel like we ‘ve had a target on our back in Madison this winter, that ‘s not too far off, said professor Jonathan Martin, chairman of UW-Madison ‘s Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences department.

“We have been placed time and time again in a position where we ‘ve gotten near the maximum snowfall for each particular snow event that ‘s come through since Dec. 1. That ‘s very unusual, ” Martin said.

Quick Takes

Inside Higher Education

While nanotechnology is among the hottest areas of scientific research and many universities are expanding their nano programs, the American public is deeply skeptical, with only 29.5 percent in a recent poll believing that the work is morally acceptable. That result was presented Friday, by Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communication at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Scheufele found much higher percentages of people in Britain (54.1 percent), France (72.1 percent) and Germany (62.7 percent) believe that the research is moral, and sees Americansâ?? religious beliefs explaining the difference.

Reality Check: Candidates Flood State With Political Ads

WISC-TV 3

A WISC-TV Reality Check found that the negative ads just might be better for voters’ decision-making than they might think.

One University of Wisconsin-Madison professor said he believes negative ads can be a good thing for voters.

“Negative advertising is more likely to be factually correct than positive advertising, and is also more likely to be on issues than positive ads,” said Ken Goldstein, who heads up the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project.

Parallel processors power supercomputers

Wisconsin State Journal

How do the supercomputers used by weather centers gather so much power?

Submitted by Hanna Barton, sixth grade, Jefferson Middle School

Today’s supercomputers are built around parallel processors, and they gather their power from many chips working alongside each other, said Robert Aune, a meteorologist at UW-Madison’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies.

State a primary history-maker

Appleton Post-Crescent

GREEN BAY â?? A close race for the Democratic Party nomination has enabled Wisconsin to retain its reputation as a difference-maker in the presidential primary process.

That’s not the way it used to be, say observers of the state’s election political scene.

“I was telling people last fall that it was never going to get to us,” said Charles Franklin, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But there are unusual circumstances this year.”

Clinton makes fresh push in Wisconsin (AP)

Contra Costa Times

MADISON, Wis.â??Sen. Barack Obama has been lavishing attention on the historically independent voters of Wisconsin. Rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is moving belatedly to make a contest of next Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary.

The senator from neighboring Illinois has spent more time in the state than the former first lady. Obama drew 4,000 people at a rally last October and beat Clinton back to Wisconsin this year.

Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist John Coleman.

Szarzynski has facts all wrong

Badger Herald

Kyle Szarzynskiâ??s column (â??Animal torture: Another shameful UW institution,â? Feb. 6) deserves a response, if only to help Mr. Szarzynski learn what it means to write an objective and fact-based opinion piece. He pretty much got everything wrong.

Rob Zaleski: Slow down, Fitchburg, prof urges

Capital Times

Does the city of Fitchburg really need this?

That’s the question Fitchburg residents should be asking themselves regarding the proposed 868-acre Northeast Neighborhood in the city’s far northeast corner. Or so says Cal DeWitt, UW-Madison’s highly respected environmental sciences professor.

Indeed, if Fitchburg residents took the time to look into the issue, DeWitt says, they’d quickly realize why the city would be making a huge mistake by approving the project. And why that approval could well come back to haunt the city years down the road.

Dogs Circle And Cats Knead Before Napping

Wisconsin State Journal

Q. Why do cats walk in a circle before they lie down?

– Submitted by Larry Haynes, grade 6, Whitehorse Middle School

A. Circling behavior seems to be more ingrained in dogs than cats. Cats tend to knead with their claws when they are happy and settling down on a favorite person’s lap or to nap.

Matc Offers Course In Caring For Lab Animals

Wisconsin State Journal

“MATC has been strong in the area of training lab animal technicians,” said Joseph Kemnitz, director of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at the UW-Madison. “This is a career pathway that can lead to other opportunities working in research and animal care. It is a steppingstone to veterinary technician program or laboratory technician program opportunities.”

Madisonâ??s PM newspaper Capital Times cutting back print editions (AP)

MADISON, Wis. â?? Madisonâ??s afternoon newspaper, The Capital Times, will move to an all-Internet edition in a transition that could be the first of its kind in the struggling industry.

The 17,000-circulation newspaper announced the changes, which include publishing twice-weekly free print editions, to staff and with a story on its Web site Thursday. There will be job cuts and a buy-out program, but details and how many staff will be affected were not immediately released.

Quoted: James Baughman, director of the journalism program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said given the paperâ??s distinctive voice it should have success attracting readers on the Internet.

Capital Times To Stop Printing Daily Newspaper

WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — The Capital Times, Madison’s 90-year-old newspaper announced Thursday it will stop printing a daily newspaper, reduce staff and focus on Internet operations.

Editors at the paper announced Thursday that the paper will end its six-day a week publication and instead offer readers a tabloid-style insert in the Wisconsin State Journal twice weekly.

Quoted: James Baughman, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism.

Donâ??t like winter? Doc says â??Get outsideâ?? (Wheeler News Service)

Even if you donâ??t like winter, doctors say youâ??re better off getting outside during the day.

What many of us call cabin fever can produce some real health problems in what experts call seasonal affective disorder.

Nancy Barklage, University of Wisconsin psychiatrist of Madison says you can throw your life into turmoil if the only contact you have with winter is shoveling snow, and adjusting to changes in your kidsâ?? school schedules.

Botanical identities

Nature

Quoted: Kenneth Cameron, director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. â??There are a lot of politics and personalities involved.â?

Startup Battles Botnets

PC World

A startup with U.S. military backing will begin beta-testing a security appliance this month, which it argues could change the face of network security by automating and refining the generation of malware signatures.

The startup, Nemean Networks, was co-founded by Paul Barford, a computer scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is named after the first of Hercules’ 12 tasks – to kill the Nemean lion, a beast with an impenetrable coat.

Startup aims at destroying botnets (Techspot.com)

Botnets are a huge problem for the Internet as a whole. With millions of infected machines prepared to attack sites at any given moment, it is both difficult to find and bring down the leaders of these botnets. Perhaps one of the most challenging problems in doing so is that most of the computers infected have owners who are blissfully unaware their machines are being used in such a manner.

A new startup called Nemean Networks wants to attack the problem head on with a device that aims to help curb the botnet problem by preventing machines from getting infected in the first place.

Dramatic change in state plants

Wisconsin State Journal

Aldo Leopold, Wisconsin ‘s most famed conservationist, urged his students to simply “pay attention. ‘ ‘

He was talking, of course, about more than just the wandering attention spans of students in the classroom. He was explaining an approach to understanding how the natural world works. It was this approach that motivated Leopold to rise before dawn, take his cup of coffee and a notebook to the stoop of his old shack near the Wisconsin River, and wait to hear the morning ‘s first bird songs.

For UW-Madison botanist Don Waller, Leopold ‘s instruction to be attentive to the changes on the landscape around us has been a driving force behind his teaching and his research.