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Category: UW-Madison Related

Conditions that form more hurricanes also protect U.S., study finds

New York Times

When climatic conditions favor a lot of hurricane activity, they also create a buffer zone that weakens the storms as they approach the coastal United States.“It’s an incredibly lucky phenomenon,” said James Kossin, an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the author of the study, published Wednesday in Nature, which looked at hurricane data from 1947 to 2015. Kossin is based at UW–Madison, which is not mentioned in the story.

Bright Ideas 2017: Music from color

Capital Times

For the fourth year, Cap Times reporters have asked several Madisonians to share “bright ideas” they have for the coming year. This submission is from UW-Madison engineering student and inventor Calvin Cherry.

Amid safety concerns, the driverless car debate comes to Madison

Capital Times

Dave Cieslewicz, the head of the Wisconsin Bike Fed and a former Madison mayor, said he’s putting together a conference on the automated car, with a focus on cyclists, pedestrians and “urban form” — the impact cars have on the city. To be held with the support of the UW Urban and Regional Planning Department, the details haven’t been worked out. But Cieslewicz hopes to hold the conference in the spring.

UW Law School data breach disclosed

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A database within the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School that contained Social Security numbers and name pairs corresponding with 1,213 Law School applicants for 2005-’06 was hacked last month, the university announced Tuesday.

Multiplayer game: Video game companies join forces to level up the Madison scene

Capital Times

On an August evening in 2015, a group of about 80 video game industry insiders and tech gurus crowded into a lounge on the top floor of the former AT&T Building in downtown Madison. The goal of the meetup, organized by the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), was to bring all the key players in Madison’s video game scene — from studio executives to independent developers to University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers — together in the same room.

Milwaukee actor gives classics the hip-hop treatment

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: After graduating from Rufus King High School in 2008, Iglesias got a full tuition scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the First Wave program, an outlet for artistic students inspired by hip-hop. Casal, a UW-Madison alum, was the program’s creative director at the time, becoming “like a big brother of mine,” Iglesias said.

Clients seeking professional help for election depression

Wisconsin State Journal

Donal MacCoon at Madison Psychiatric Associates said the vast majority of his clients are talking about the election … noting that he treats UW-Madison staff who are worried about some of their minority students. “It’s affecting their lives personally, but even beyond that, it’s affecting their communities and how they feel. How do they honor their own ethical obligations?”

Trump counties tied to Obamacare

Donna Friedsam agreed. Friedsam, a policy director at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, said that prohibiting coverage denials while dropping the coverage mandate could “collapse the individual insurance market” in the United States.

Three promising lives cut short by Uber crash

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Ashley had wanted to live in Chicago since visiting the city as a high school student at Divine Savior Holy Angels. She majored in journalism and strategic communication at UW-Madison and got her first job at nearby Lindsay, Stone & Briggs.

Restaurant review: 1313 address is Lucky for this sports bar and brew pub

Wisconsin State Journal

Noted: In 2004, Ripley — a former UW basketball player — was part of the original group of five that opened Lucky’s at 1421 Regent St., when they bought the Oakcrest Tavern out of bankruptcy. In 2010, Ripley bought his partners out. He left the old location in August and two of his former partners now run SconnieBar at the former location.

Builder of the Week Homes by Towne, Jim Doering

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: I’m a UW grad, so I’m a contributor to the UW-Madison Foundation. We also contribute to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, where my father received outstanding care. As a company, we are involved with United Way and United Performing Arts Fund along with many other organizations through our Zilber Family Foundation.

New Dane County forest is paradise for hikers and naturalists

Wisconsin State Journal

Noted: Steve Morton, who grew up in the University Heights neighborhood, got his doctorate in chemistry at UW-Madison shortly after his parents purchased the property. He said he then moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he taught at Otterbein University before he returned to Madison to work with various scientific projects at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. He stayed there until he retired.

EatStreet, Titan Spine raise millions

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: EatStreet’s funding round follows the company raising $15 million in December and brings to more than $40 million the total amount of outside capital Madison-based EatStreet has raised since it was founded in a dorm room at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009. The company will use the money for general corporate purposes, according to the filing.

PerBlue game acquired for $35 million

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: PerBlue, which has about 40 employees, was founded by Beck and Andrew Hanson in June 2008. They funded it themselves, then raised $72,000 from family and friends in July 2009. Both graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with computer engineering degrees in 2009.

gener8tor forges Minnesota partnership

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The partnership is the first gener8tor has forged with a university outside of Wisconsin. About a year ago, gener8tor partnered with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which provided an undisclosed amount of funding for gener8tor to provide coaching and other services to startups.

Bay View grows mushrooms

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Catlin is a 2011 Marquette University graduate, with a degree in psychology and philosophy. Andersen and Fehrenbach are University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates with degrees in biological systems engineering and geography.

On Retail: Some suggest co-op model for Room of One’s Own bookstore

Wisconsin State Journal

Noted: Sandi Torkildson, who helped found A Room of One’s Own in 1975, has invited a representative from the UW-Madison Center for Cooperatives to give an informational presentation Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the bookstore, located at 315 W. Gorham St. Torkildson, who announced in June that she was putting the store up for sale, said she has had several customers inquire about the feasibility of a co-op, but there was no organized effort. The meeting is simply a way to bring those interested in a co-op model together and to learn about that type of business model.

Circus World calls PETA’s latest complaint ‘insulting’

Wisc News

PETA officials are encouraging people to avoid circuses that feature performing animals after a USDA inspection at Circus World in July found that one of its elephants appeared to have trouble walking. Following the USDA inspection, Kurt Sladky, a professor of Zoological Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, was brought in to examine Bunny, but he found little wrong with the elephant.

Fancy dorms aren’t the main reason tuition is skyrocketing

FiveThirtyEight

Few understand what has caused the tuition boom, particularly at the public institutions that enroll roughly two-thirds of all students at four-year colleges. Many commenters, particularly in the popular press, focus on ballooning administrative budgets and extravagant student amenities. Those elements have played a role, to be sure, but by far the single biggest driver of rising tuitions for public colleges has been declining state funding for higher education.

‘Making a Murderer’ takes home 4 Emmys

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Among the nominees with Wisconsin ties still in the running for trophies are “Modern Family,” the ABC sitcom created by University of Wisconsin-Madison alum Steve Levitan, up for outstanding comedy series and best supporting actor in a comedy series, for Ty Burrell; and “American Crime,” created by Mequon native and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley, with four nominations, including outstanding limited series.

HealthMyne names new executive

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: HealthMyne was founded in 2013 by Rock Mackie, a University of Wisconsin-Madison physicist, and a team of people who previously created three successful imaging-related companies. It has more than 20 employees, a spokeswoman said.

With his camera, Art Elkon made the scene

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Elkon grew up here and graduated from the University School of Milwaukee. After graduating from University of Wisconsin-Madison, he returned to his hometown. Elkon held various jobs before going to work for his family’s business, Jack Gronik Nut Co. After the business closed, artists repurposed its old building; the Nut Factory Open House became one of Elkon’s regular stops.

The life of a life coach

WISC-TV 3

Noted: The University of Wisconsin–Madison continuing studies department has offered a professional life coaching certificate since 2012. The university is the only academic institution in the Midwest with a program accredited by the International Coaching Foundation.