Skip to main content

Category: UW Experts in the News

The state’s expensive IT mess

Wisconsin State Journal

Rafael Lazimy, a UW- Madison business professor who specializes in the development of IT systems, said sometimes canceling a project is the right call, for instance if the need for an application is no longer as great.

But when several projects are being canceled for technical or cost issues, it calls for investigating whether it was the result of poor planning, Lazimy said.

So far, oversight of troubled state projects has been uneven. An internal audit released this month showed that the UW Board of Regents wasn’t notified about setbacks in the $28.4 million project for the payroll and benefits system until it was scrapped.

Better quarters for premature babies at Meriter

Wisconsin State Journal

Both Meriter Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital have had ward-style NICUs since they opened the units in the late 1960s.Kristin Lutz, an assistant professor in the UW-Madison School of Nursing who studies families with preterm and multiple birth babies, said many parents describe ward-style NICUs as “fishbowls.”St. Mary’s Hospital is following closely in Meriter’s footsteps.One of the challenges of designing the new units has been balancing privacy with close care, since one advantage of the ward setting was that staff members were always just steps away from any baby in need.

Equal justice task force set

Capital Times

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray will co-chair a new task force charged with examining discrimination in the state’s criminal justice system.

Gov. Jim Doyle formally created the Commission on Reducing Racial Disparity in Wisconsin’s Criminal Justice System by executive order this morning and announced the panel’s makeup in a news release.

Also named to the 24-member commission are Madison attorneys Victor Arellano and Stan Davis, Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard and Pam Oliver, University of Wisconsin-Madison sociology professor.

Carbon monoxide: Generators can poison you even when they are outside (Biloxi Sun Herald)

WARNING: Carbon monoxide kills hurricane survivors.

The irritating buzz of portable generators is a necessity in the powerless hours following a blackout for those attempting to save refrigerated foods, or power a TV or air conditioner. But you and your family could pay the ultimate price for such luxuries.

Quoted, David Van Sickle, Robert Wood Johnson Health & Social Scholar at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Generators can be deadly

Wisconsin State Journal

Gasoline-powered generators are a staple on many Wisconsin farms and are always hard to find in stores after storms, such as Midwestern tornadoes.

But a study by a UW-Madison researcher has found that, even when used properly, such generators can be deadly.

Chazen Museum brings Ancient Rome to UW

Badger Herald

The story of Pompeii is commonly known. It is one that tells of the prospering Roman city near the Bay of Naples, which was tragically buried under volcanic ash and pumice with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Less known is the similar story of Stabiae, a lavish resort community a couple of miles from Pompeii, also preserved through the ages under volcanic debris.

Breaking down borders

Badger Herald

Transcending both the bounds of Madison and the North American continent, a group of University of Wisconsin students continues to bring sustainable technologies to devastated and underdeveloped areas both at home and across the world.

When the bully is the boss: Workplace persecution hurts productivity, health, creativity, experts say

Capital Times

Physically safe working conditions and fair employee treatment help make a workplace healthy, but some say another aspect needs to be confronted.

The on-the-job bully, who is usually but not always a boss, drains productivity, creativity and employee health, says Gary Namie of Washington, director of the nonprofit Workplace Bullying Institute, established in 1997 and financed by consultant work.

Quoted: Corliss Olson, a labor educator at UW Extension’s School for Workers

The skinny on trans fats

Daily Cardinal

Trans fats have always been present in small amounts in animal products such as dairy and meats. However, large amounts of trans fats are now present in processed foods as a result of the addition of hydrogen to plant oils in a process called hydrogenation.

Kaplan Case Calls For Engagement

Wisconsin State Journal

Until now, I have refrained from commenting on the law school controversy involving what happened in UW Law School professor Leonard Kaplan’s classroom, because I believe discussion — while sometimes uncomfortable — is part of what a strong university should offer and tolerate.

Ziegler owns stock in companies before her

Wisconsin State Journal

Conservative commentator Ann Althouse told a statewide radio audience Friday that Ziegler’s approach to conflicts of interest makes her question the conservative jurist’s fitness for the high court.

Althouse, a political blogger and UW-Madison law professor, said on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Week in Review” that “the more (conflict cases) there are, the worse it gets.” She criticized Ziegler’s public statements to an audience in Spring Green that she uses a “gut check” to decide when she’s got a conflict of interest.

UW salaries no longer online

Daily Cardinal

The UW System has significantly reduced the online availability of salary data for faculty members.

Since December, the salaries of individual professors are no longer accessible through the Internet, though data will be provided upon request.

Bush Taps Ex-UW Chancellor To Lead Probe Into Military Hospitals

WISC-TV 3

MADISON, Wis. — President George W. Bush is calling on a former University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor to co-lead an investigation into the country’s military hospitals.

Donna Shalala, who was the secretary of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, along with former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole will guide a probe into the problems at the nation’s military hospitals, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, WISC-TV reported.

UW reacts to allegations

Badger Herald

A woman alleging she was sexually assaulted at a campus fraternity party spoke with a University of Wisconsin advisor shortly after a police investigation began, according to a representative from a campus support organization.

Madison could again get passenger train service

Wisconsin State Journal

Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park and chairman of Madison’s Economic Development Commission, said the idea fit in with efforts to think of economic development in terms of the overall region.

“I think it’s inevitable that the (two) communities will be joined from an economic development perspective,” Bugher said. “I think it can only help Milwaukee and Madison both.”