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Falling food prices a win for consumers

Appleton Post-Crescent

Noted: Bruce Jones, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and agricultural economist, said the decreases are an extension of the agricultural economy — commodity prices are down on most commodities farmers are producing, he explained. There are ample supplies of corn, soybeans and pork as well as increased milk production.

Giving names to the nameless

Bangkok Post

Thongchai Winichakul just turned 59 this past Saturday, but the bloodiest moment of his life took place when he was a student 40 years ago. Now a successful scholar, the black hole remains even though he maintains that he has “dealt with that historical trauma” through a mechanism of rationale — and never vengefulness.

Do political fact-checks matter?

CBC Radio

Lucas Graves, a former reporter and now an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, argues traditional-style reporting — often characterized by what he calls “he said/she said” reporting — leaves too much room for abuse of the facts.

Stress control

Isthmus

Seven and a half hours of boredom, plus 30 minutes of terror. That’s how Dr. Michael Spierer, a Madison-based psychologist, describes the typical police officer’s shift. Eight hours of paperwork and petty crime, with the knowledge that a high-pressure and dangerous turn of events may be just around the corner. Chronic stress is inherent to the job, he says.

Do Fact Checks Matter?

NPR News

Noted: Furthermore, repeating a false claim can make it more believable, so real-time fact checks can mitigate that by following false statements with refutations, as Lucas Graves, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin and author of a new book about the rise of fact checking, has said.

The importance of fact-checking the debate in real time, according to an expert

Vox

Noted: As it turns out, fact-checking experts tend to agree with Clinton’s campaign on this one: To have the highest impact, moderators should fact-check the debates live, Lucas Graves, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison and author of Deciding What’s True: The Rise of Political Fact-Checking in American Journalism, tells me.

Getting down to business with a business consultant

Madison Magazine

“You’re making the face,” said a client to Michelle Somes-Booher, business consultant and director of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. According to Somes-Booher, it’s the tough love face, the one she puts on when she says something that a client doesn’t want to hear.

How Climate Change Is Cranking The Heat On Public Health Crises

Here & Now

Droughts, floods and heat waves are becoming more common in various parts of the world thanks to climate change. As part of our weeklong look at climate change, Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks with Dr. Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the public health impacts of global warming.

Hora: State must invest in experiential learning

As Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature consider the request for $42.5 million in new state funds for the University of Wisconsin System in the 2017-19 biennial budget, they should not only accept this proposal but also embrace the teaching and learning functions of Wisconsin’s colleges and universities as the centerpiece of the state’s workforce development strategy.

Effort fights ‘epidemic’ of deadly elderly falls

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: While studies are underway and advocacy groups and others scramble for better answers, specialists with the University of Wisconsin-Madison have teamed up with their counterparts in Oregon, as well as with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health care records software giant Epic Systems, to build a program that helps predict whether an older person will fall. It not only calculates the risk — it steers physicians to preventative treatments.

Williams: Sticking with the University of Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Column by Jack Williams, a geography professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: In the wake of a $250 million state budget cut and weakened protections for intellectual freedom, I’ve thought carefully about my family, my career, the University of Wisconsin, and whether I still felt a calling to serve Wisconsin and The Wisconsin Idea. It hasn’t been easy. It’s difficult to express my pride in being a part of the University of Wisconsin.

Local orchard owners embracing ‘eat ugly apples’ campaign

Wisconsin State Journal

Quoted: There are plenty of ugly apples in Wisconsin this fall because of the hard frost that struck last May. But, overall, the quality of the apples is excellent across the state and the harvest is on schedule, according to Amaya Atucha, an assistant professor in horticulture for UW-Madison and the state fruit specialist for UW Extension.

UW-Madison grows summer enrollment

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is reporting a 10% increase in enrollment and $4 million boost in new revenue for its recently completed summer term, and it is planning to continue ramping up the number of courses next summer to help students stay on track for graduation and bring in more money for the university.

Becoming a Badger

This American Life

This week, stories about people trying their best to turn themselves into something else—like a badger. Or a professional comedian, in a language they didn’t grow up speaking.

UW-Madison engineering student receives awards for developing noise cancellation theory

Daily Cardinal

UW-Madison formally congratulated Chris Nguyen, a fourth-year biomedical engineering major, Monday morning at Engineering Hall for winning the grand prize in General Electric’s “Unimpossible Missions: The University Edition” competition.The challenge asked participants to debunk common idioms such as “A snowball’s chance in hell,” or, for Nguyen, “You can’t unring a bell.” Noise cancellation technology and research on sound waves were used to help Nguyen support his theory.

2016 Could Be Fact-Checking’s Finest Year—If Anyone Listens

Wired

Noted: “We don’t behave at all like the ideal picture of engaged citizens neutrally and dispassionately analyzing the evidence before casting their ballot,” says Lucas Graves, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin and author of Deciding What’s True: The Rise of Political Fact-Checking in American Journalism.. “It’s not how people work.”

Why Supermarket Bacon Hides Its Glorious Fat

Bloomberg

Quoted: “We’ve had the [rear window] regulation now for 40-some years,” said Andy Milkowski, who worked in research and development at Oscar Mayer for three decades and currently teaches in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s one of those automatic things you don’t even think about. But people understand what bacon is. They understand that when they fry it up, it’s going to have a lot of fat.” Exactly. Maybe it’s time for a package that embraces that reality.

For millennials, 9/11 and its aftermath shaped their view of the world

The Allentown, Pa. Morning Call

Noted: Connie Flanagan, a University of Wisconsin professor who studies young adults and civic identity, said the most reliable predictor of volunteerism, voting and other forms of engagement are the everyday values families share with their children at a young age. But she also acknowledged the importance of reflection that begins in the mid- to late teens as young adults face leaving home and think seriously about what they want to do with their lives.