Access gaps, economic adversity and school segregation in Wisconsin lead to racial disparities in educational outcomes, with efforts growing to expand learning options for diverse groups of students.
On Friday, Alliant Energy announced that they had received a $30M federal grant to build a CO2-based energy storage facility in Columbia County, Wisconsin—the first of its kind in the US, and the first ever on this scale. We talk with Mark Anderson, director of the Thermal-Hydraulics Laboratory at the UW-Madison, about what the new technology means for the future of renewable energy storage in the state and beyond.
Barry Burden is a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said the bill’s “chances are not great because there isn’t much legislation that has much likelihood of success in the Legislature today.”
Tom Owenby, the associate dean for teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the reading bill demonstrates a renewed commitment to supporting students across Wisconsin in being able to read proficiently, which is a goal everyone shares.
olleges might think that essays help open up opportunities for students, but the opposite could be true. A new study by Taylor K. Odle, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Preston Magouirk, a data scientist at the District of Columbia College Access Program, looked at the nearly 300,000 students who started but never submitted an application through the Common App.
Mikhail Troitskiy, a professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that recent military developments are not “insurmountable” for Ukraine and could simply be a byproduct of different governmental systems not properly repairing equipment.
“It’s important to explore these possibilities so that we have an idea of what all forms of life can look like, not just Earth life,” study senior author Betül Kaçar, an astrobiologist, bacteriologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Space.com.
“Why isn’t this being shouted from the rooftops?” asked Stanke, a 21-year-old nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is too Wisconsin-nice to shout, but in more than 20 states so far she has touted clean energy and nuclear medicine at schools, nursing homes, a state legislature and once on a water-skiing podcast.
Human evolution was not about “survival of the fittest and extinction,” said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s about “interaction and mixture.”
Phil Simon, a horticulture professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has spent more than a decade trying to breed a carrot whose seeds can germinate even when the soil is salty, hot and dry.
For Biden, one of voters’ biggest concerns appears to center around age. Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, previously argued that, even if Biden’s age has not affected his ability to do the job, “some members of the public may nonetheless believe he is not mentally sharp enough or that he lacks the necessary physical stamina.”
Scheufele is a professor of life sciences communication, Brossard is a professor and chair of life sciences communication, and Newman is an assistant professor of life sciences communication — all at UW-Madison.
Still, it might just work, given the fact that the election will likely come down to small groups of voters in a small number of states, says University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber.
Michael Light is a UW-Madison sociology professor and co-author of the study.
“Those are still stark inequalities and still very high numbers,” he said in a statement accompanying the study’s release. “But it’s important to note that, across the country, this is not getting worse. It hasn’t plateaued. It’s getting better.”
“It’s predictability that local election officials crave,” said UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden. “They want to know what the rules are, what resources they have and when the elections are happening, and then their job is to execute them. And that becomes a much more difficult job if things are changing.”
“The U.S. military was relatively ahead of the rest of society in implementing what today we call diversity, equity and inclusion programs,” sad John W. Hall, a 1994 West Point graduate and professor of U.S. military history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There is considerable risk associated with revoking those policies.”
“It’s shocking to suggest that we need more studies to know whether N95 respirators are effective against an airborne pathogen,” said Kaitlin Sundling, a physician and pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in a comment following the June meeting. “The science of N95 respirators is well established and based on physical properties, engineered filtered materials, and our scientific understanding of how airborne transmission works.”
“Simply expressing views or opinions on legal issues is not a commitment that requires recusal,” said Rob Yablon, who co-directs the State Democracy Research Initiative at UW-Madison. Indeed, other state high court justices have shared their personal views on a range of hot-button political issues.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has said that judges have a First Amendment right on the campaign trail [to speak] about disputed legal and policy questions,” said Robert Yablon, an associate professor of law and faculty co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at University of Wisconsin Law School.
“It’s shocking to suggest that we need more studies to know whether N95 respirators are effective against an airborne pathogen,” said Kaitlin Sundling, a physician and pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in a comment following the June meeting. “The science of N95 respirators is well established and based on physical properties, engineered filtered materials, and our scientific understanding of how airborne transmission works.”
A recent article in The Telegraph discusses what the author, the University of Wisconsin’s Nicholas Hillman, calls the college marketplace myth: that high school students should “meticulously shop around for colleges nationwide and pick the best fit.” In response, policy makers devote immense resources “into massive information campaigns and programs that help students choose among schools—such as College Scorecard, College Navigator and tuition watchlists.”
However, the overall message remains consistent, as emphasized by Michal Engelman. Engelman is a University of Wisconsin-Madisonn associate professor dealing in sociology. He noted that the timeline highlighted in the study demonstrates that life expectancy is heavily determined by a number of systemic factors, many of which extend beyond the health choices of individuals.
Robert Yablon is an associate professor of law and co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at UW-Madison. Derek Clinger is a senior staff attorney for the initiative at UW-Madison.
Members of Gen Z still face difficulties in home buying born out of the housing crisis, but they also benefited from entering the workforce at a time of record-low interest rates, said Max Besbris, an associate sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Rosh Hashanah is often treated as a time to reflect on the previous year and focus on hopes for the coming year, Jordan Rosenblum, the Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism and Max and Frieda Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY last year.
The uncertainty of not having a nonpartisan elections leader in a paramount state is worrying, experts said. “The elections commission is training clerks around the state and issuing guidance, so to have uncertainty about who the top administrator is going into this crucial election season, I think is a real problem,” said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and director of its Elections Research Center.
Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor and director of the university’s Elections Research Center, noted Iowa has used their model for decades and that there has never been a map that has had to be subject to amendment.
“The effort to remove Wolfe appears to be almost entirely partisan and not based on facts about her actions or authority,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. “Trump supporters in particular who distrust Wolfe have blamed her for many things over which she does not actually have responsibility.”
University of Wisconsin law professor and media law expert Anuj Denai said Harris would have a difficult case, because the reproduced clip is used in the ad for purposes of criticism, which is permissible under fair use. Further, the ad does not imply that she endorses a product or position.
“It’s a serious problem to not have seasoned trusted leadership in place well before the election gets under way,” said Barry Burden, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who added that the nation will be watching the state in the 2024 presidential contest. “It’s a battleground state. It’s maybe the battleground state.”
“The idea that she should recuse here is itself a legal stretch,” says Robert Yablon, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative. “And the idea that then a failure to recuse would be impeachable also seems like a stretch. I’m not aware of any other judicial impeachment anywhere in the country that was premised on a non-recusal from a case involving campaign supporters or campaign statements.”
“Child poverty took a big jump,” said Timothy Smeeding, a leading expert on the poverty line and professor of public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Tiffany Green, a professor at the school of medicine and public health at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said she believes the effort to reduce maternal mortality should focus not only on care received in hospitals, but on the social and economic conditions faced in general by Black women. The United States should consider using federal civil rights law in cases where racial bias severely hurt the care a patient received. “If you think bias is a fundamental driver of these iniquities then you have to hold providers accountable,” Dr. Green said.
“The best evidence that we have to date shows no deterrent effect of where gun violence happens in schools or where weapons are brought to schools… Similarly, when a shooting does happen in a school, those shootings, actually, on average have been more deadly in schools with police,” said Ben Fisher, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who recently reviewed dozens of studies on the effects of police in schools.
Ryan Owens, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin who ran for attorney general as a Republican in 2021, defended the calls for Protasiewicz’s recusal, arguing that she was too explicit about her policy views during the campaign.
“Candidates who are running for justice shouldn’t go to the levels that she did when campaigning,” he said. “In the short term, it might gain you votes, but in the long term, you put the court’s credibility at risk.”
“We open that door, and Chicago didn’t do anything like that,” said Donald A. Downs, the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Alexander Meiklejohn Professor of Political Science Emeritus and one of the principles’ developers.
Wisconsin job numbers reached a record high in July, at more than 3 million. However, a new report from COWS – High Road Strategy Center says beneath the bigger picture is a troubling decline of women participating in the workforce, falling below 60% for the first time since the late 1980s. Laura Dresser, associate director at COWS, dives deeper into the report’s numbers.
UW-Madison political scientist Howard Schweber said Republicans would be much less competitive in Wisconsin if the maps were redrawn.
“A threat to the gerrymander is an existential threat to their hold on power,” Schweber said.
UW Professor of Social Work Kristen Slack will hare her research into programs designed to prevent child maltreatment. She’ll discuss her work with coordinating services and benefits and detail improved strategies for preventing child neglect.
Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, previously told USA TODAY that even if Biden’s age has not affected his ability to do the job, “some members of the public may nonetheless believe he is not mentally sharp enough or that he lacks the necessary physical stamina.”
Parts of the yield curve started inverting in July 2022, yet the economy is still humming along. It’s too early to start calling the bond market a liar, said Menzie Chinn, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Some school districts are rightfully going to want to protect vulnerable students,” said Tiffany Green, an associate professor in the department of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. “Why would we not want to be proactive in protecting students, protecting teachers, protecting staff?”
“Some school districts are rightfully going to want to protect vulnerable students,” said Tiffany Green, an associate professor in the department of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. “Why would we not want to be proactive in protecting students, protecting teachers, protecting staff?”
University of Wisconsin journalism professor Mike Wagner, who is also a misinformation researcher said, “If you trust someone and think they should be the leader of the free world and they tell you, ’you were lied to and this [election] was stolen,’ it’s not surprising that some people believe that.”
Even if Biden’s age has not affected his ability to do the job, some members of the public may “believe he is not mentally sharp enough or that he lacks the necessary physical stamina,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, previously told USA TODAY.
Experts consulted on the strengths and limitations of the WBGT metric and the physiological impacts of different levels of heat include Zac Schlader (Indiana University at Bloomington), W. Larry Kenney and Daniel Vecellio (Pennsylvania State University), Jonathan Patz (University of Wisconsin at Madison), George Havenith (Loughborough University, U.K.) and Jason Lee (National University of Singapore).
Dr. James Conway, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at UW Health, said concern about outbreaks grows when vaccination rates drop below 90%. That’s because no vaccine is 100% effective, and some people can’t get vaccines.
Quoted: Adrian Treves, a predator-prey ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who sits on Peer’s board, said no proper studies exist on whether the hunts protect livestock. Rather, more studies have been conducted on how the kills affect populations of caribou, moose, elk and other wildlife, and a 2020 meta analysis of available science found little evidence that they increase populations.
Research shows two much bigger factors in herd health are weather and habitat, Treves said, but hunts are still pushed by state game agencies because “hunter perception is a big part of it, and their attitudes are typically negative toward predators”.
Quoted: Among cats, an increase in vocalization, meaning more crying or howling — an obvious and frequently reported sign. “With cats, there is excessive vocalization and disorientation and changes in interaction with humans or other animals, such as hissing and swatting,” said Starr Cameron, clinical associate professor in small animal neurology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine, who studies cat dementia. “Some cats are up all night and vocalizing. They go outside the litter box or can’t find it.”
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison population geneticist Aaron Ragsdale, who wasn’t involved in the research, says the study raises some very intriguing questions about human evolution during a time period from which both genetic and fossil data are relatively scarce. “I am eager to see if their results are replicated using other methods,” Ragsdale says.
Quoted: “The federal due process standard is viewed as setting a really high bar for recusal,” said Rob Yablon, a professor and co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Quoted: The question signaled to candidates that climate change is something young conservatives take seriously, said Dominique Brossard, a professor and chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The fact that they did ask the question at a Republican debate for the primary, that there was a young conservative on video — that already tells you that this is an issue that has made the public discourse in a way that’s not a fringe issue,” Brossard said.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter fills us in on a state Senate public hearing this week — filled with debunked claims of 2020 election fraud — to discuss reappointing Meagan Wolfe to be administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. State Attorney General Josh Kaul has said the proceedings are illegal under Wisconsin law. Then David T. Canon, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, analyzes the situation, and this instance of the governing style of Republican legislative leaders.
“Tax cuts do not drive economic growth,” said Steven Deller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in public finance and economics. “Just from the simplest perspective, states that have the lowest taxes should be doing the best and they’re not. States that tend to be doing better economically tend to have higher taxes.”
Recent research from the Wisconsin Paper Council examined the often-overlooked role of the state’s paper converters in the state’s paper industry. Scott Bowe, a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains what paper converters do and why they’re booming in Wisconsin.
As kids head back to school, we take a look at the politics of school lunch, including compensation issues among school lunch workers, parental involvement with school meals, and the role of farmers in school lunches. Interview with Jennifer Gaddis, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Society and Community Studies at UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology.
“It is really revolutionary,” said Roseanne Clark, a clinical psychologist and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s postpartum depression research treatment program.
Written by Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH, distinguished professor and John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Steven Running is professor emeritus of ecosystem and conservation sciences at the University of Montana.
“The concern is, could that cause a very similar spike epidemiologically, with more spread, more hospitalizations, more death?” said Ajay Sethi, professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It doesn’t have to replicate what we saw the last time (with omicron), … but it certainly is on everybody’s mind.”
“What we haven’t had before is a study that looks at individuals much younger and not nearly at the intensity level of professional sports,” UW Health Chief Quality Officer Dr. Jeff Pothof said.
