Category: UW Experts in the News

Manuel Teodoro, a UW-Madison associate professor who published a book on the connection between drinking water failures and public distrust, says the system used by cities like Wausau is a broken one. In his peer-reviewed paper, Teodoro said the ability of low-income families to pay for basic water and sewer services is a subject of increasing concern. He also wrote about this issue in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opinion piece.

“When people pay taxes through their water bills, the government response to nonpayment is denial of a life-sustaining service,” Teodoro said. “Nobody should have their water shut off because the city wants money for a jail or to pay a city employee’s pension.”

National media outlets, including the New York Times and AP, have reported on cases of the illness in numerous states, notably Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. However, veterinarian Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said every state, including Wisconsin, has probably seen cases of the new dog respiratory illness.

“What we’re seeing is multiple different states seeing different types of respiratory disease, and there are some outbreaks that we’re not getting an answer to with our in-depth diagnostic tests,” Poulsen said.

That’s because salt, rainwater and snowmelt drain into the storm sewer system, which then discharges into Lakes Mendota and Monona, UW-Madison limnologist Hilary Dugan told the Cap Times last year.

“The city has been very forward-thinking in reducing (its) salt use,” Dugan said. “It’s frustrating when you cross over from city-maintained paths to campus-maintained paths because the sudden change in practice is just so noticeable.”

UW-Madison sociology professor Samer Alatout, a native of Palestine, shares thoughts about nationalism, the historical relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, and building a democratic state.

Managing, monitoring and connecting community members to over 1,200 acres of woodlands, savannas, prairies and wetlands could seem unimaginable for some. For Karen Oberhauser, director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, upholding the area’s three pillars — conserving and restoring arboretum land, advancing research and fostering the land ethic — is an everyday reality.

The situation raises a series of questions in addition to ethical concerns and legal concerns about misuse of public office, said John P. Gross, a clinical associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“It’s particularly suspect when it sounds like this particular private citizen may have engaged in prior business transactions with the city attorney and has ongoing business transactions, essentially, with the city attorney, because they’re storing their cars for them and they’re not paying rent,” he said.

Ross Milton, an assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted that the state has something that the city or county of Milwaukee currently lacks: a budget surplus. Original funding plans called for local governments to contribute over $300 million to the project, leading to fears that the county and city governments would need to cut services to make the needed payments.

“I think the opportunity cost is different for local governments than it is for the state,” Milton said. “And that does mean that who’s paying for it does somewhat affect how we should think about it.”

A University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinarian describes the signs a bull gives when it’s about to charge at someone.

“So they’re going to turn sideways to you if they’re feeling threatened or aggressive, and then they’ll lower their head toward people or other animals, again, as a way of showing aggression, aggressiveness towards those individuals,” Ryan Breuer said.

Eric Booth, hydroecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he remembers learning about the historic project in college classes.

“It’s the story of how we can change land use and land management for the better, to stem erosion and improve flooding outcomes,” he said. “Certainly in Wisconsin, it’s even more of a story that is told. But nationwide, people in soil conservation and water science know about the Coon Creek watershed.”