Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: In many states, the basic requirements for becoming a police officer are lower than they are for other professions, according to Jirs Meuris, assistant professor of management and human resources at the University of Wisconsin’s school of business.

“You need 1,500 [hours of training] to become a barber, on average — you need years of trade school to become a plumber or electrician,” he said.

Quoted: A legal expert who spoke with FOX6 News said he understands why the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made the ruling it did.

“The victim here can’t force the prosecutor to prosecute,” said Ion Meyn, an assistant law professor at UW-Madison.

Meyn also said he disagrees with former Castor’s decision to not bring charges against Cosby in 2005.

“So at that time, she wanted to move forward when the evidence was as fresh as possible, to go through with the civil litigation. That makes sense,” Meyn said.

Quoted: The Maricopa County review “does not meet the standards of a proper election recount or audit,” said an evaluation of the ballot review by Trey Grayson, former Republican Kentucky secretary of state, and Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.

Gloria Ladson Billings, UW Madison School of Education professor emerita and early critical race theory researcher, speaks to its origins alongside UW La Follette School professor emeritus John Witte.

Quoted: “While it is too early to determine the cause, it is definitely not too early to worry about how building and other infrastructure will be impacted as the flooding from sea-level rise worsens, and whether there is a plan to modify and sustain these buildings or whether they should ultimately be abandoned and removed,” Andrea Dutton, a geoscientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and former associate professor of geology at the University of Florida, wrote in an email.

Quoted: Zeroing in on individual concerns such as these is exactly what it will take to have any hope for change, explains Dietram Scheufele, a professor of science communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Misinformation About Science in the Public Sphere,” published this spring by the National Academy of Sciences.

Research shows that we must reach people where they are at in terms of gut-level beliefs and first acknowledge their fears rather than preach science, Scheufele says. And having a trusted messenger is key to leading the way toward bringing people back to reality and on that path toward making good choices.

Noted: In a study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank in 1999, British engineering consultancy Sir William Halcrow & Partners Ltd called the then-proposed Lower Sesan 2 dam “unattractive” due to its marginal financial viability. The study also expressed concerns about the “extremely heavy environmental and social impacts”, in the words of Ian Baird of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Quoted: It’s intriguing that stone tools usually associated with H. sapiens were found with such distinctive-looking fossils, says paleoanthropologist John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who did not participate in the new research. “That’s not a smoking gun proving there were close interactions between Nesher Ramla Homo and Homo sapiens, but it’s very suggestive.”

Quoted: Prof John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the idea of a new lineage of humans was “a provocative claim”, because skulls can look similar even among distant relatives. The skull being Denisovan was a good hypothesis, he added, though he was less keen on a new species name. “I think it’s a bad moment in science to be naming new species among these large-brained humans that all interbred with each other,” he said. “What we are repeatedly finding is that the differences in looks didn’t mean much to these ancient people when it comes to breeding.”

Quoted: “It’s a beautiful thing,” said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s very rare to find a fossil like this, with a face in good condition. You dream of finding this stuff.”

Quoted: John Hawks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison agrees. “My opinion is that… this is more than likely Denisovan.”

Noted: The law Motley is using — Wisconsin statute 968.02 — is similar to a John Doe proceeding, but it is technically not the same thing, according to Keith Findley, a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Findley said the law is essentially used as a check on the court system. Findley also said statute 968.02 means a judge has more discretion when it comes to filing charges. Under 968.02 a judge “may” file charges if they find probable cause.