UW-Madison in the Media

A selection of media coverage about the university and its people.

  • Health Officials: Cell Phones Might Pose Cancer Risk WISC-TV 3 June 3, 2011 Quoted: Local researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said that the findings make sense since cell phone radio waves are proven to increase brain activity. But are cell phone users buying it?"It’s radio signals, it’s all radio," said cell phone user Dave Scalia. "We get radio signals all the time. So there’s actually no proof of (health risks). Until there’s definitive proof, I’m not going to really care about it."
  • Michael W. Apple: Why I stay at the UW Capital Times June 2, 2011 As I watch many valued colleagues leave the University of Wisconsin-Madison for other institutions, I react with dismay. Not at them, but at the lack of any substantive educational vision that now seems to pervade the governor’s officer and the Legislature. We do a disservice to any serious understanding of the importance of education if we simply see it as a vocational path to more money and jobs. When the governor said that he didn’t need to finish college because he already had a job, he demonstrated how limited was his view of education as a self-making process.
  • Children of divorce score worse in math, social skills Reuters June 3, 2011 Children of divorced parents often fall behind their classmates in math and social skills and are more likely to suffer anxiety, stress and low self-esteem, according to a new study.
  • With Badger Partnership Out, UW Hopes Other Resources Are In WISC-TV 3 May 31, 2011 MADISON, Wis. -- Under the state’s current proposed budget, the University of Wisconsin-Madison faces more than $125 million in funding cuts.
  • Ask the Weather Guys: What's behind the nationwide outbreak of deadly tornadoes? Wisconsin State Journal May 31, 2011 Quoted: Steven A. Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
  • Marathon-inspired challenges get kids on path to healthy lives Wisconsin State Journal May 31, 2011 Thirty local kids completed a youth marathon Sunday, some at the finish line of the Madison Marathon. Cumulatively, in the last four to 10 months, they completed 26 miles of running, read 26 books and did 26 random acts of kindness. The idea was the brainchild of UW-Madison medical school student Katelin Krystowiak. She started the “Ready, Set, Go! Youth Marathon” this year, modeled after a similar program in St. Louis. Kids from kindergarten through eighth grade were invited to take part.
  • UW-Madison has unique mission, needs Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 25, 2011 I joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a faculty member in 1973, two years after the merger of UW-Madison with the UW System. The merger was met with much apprehension. "The University of Wisconsin: A History, 1945-1971" notes that the 1971 merger was "imposed by state political leaders over the deep misgivings of most UW regents, administrators and Madison faculty members, alumni and students." These misgivings were well-founded. In the 40 years following the merger, UW-Madison has been less than it can be. The reason is straightforward. [A column by Ronald Kalil, a professor of neuroscience in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison.]
  • Expert look at cause of deadly storms WKOW-TV 27 May 24, 2011 MADISON (WKOW) -- Experts say this is probably the most violent year of storms in half a century. That is not necessarily because there have been more storms but because those storms are hitting more populated areas. Greg Tripoli, UW-Madison Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Professor, says there is a "perfect storm" of factors that explain what is happening.
  • Solon's high school and middle school are National Science Olympiad champs Cleveland Plain Dealer May 24, 2011 SOLON, Ohio -- Take dozens of hard-working students, combine with two committed coaches, and add in a few involved parent-volunteers.
  • Tuba professor inspired by composing, performing and teaching Wisconsin State Journal May 23, 2011 People know me as: John Stevens, UW-Madison professor of tuba and euphonium; tubist with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a university faculty ensemble-in-residence; and a composer, arranger and conductor.
  • Investigating healthy minds: Preschool study seeks to teach kindness Wisconsin State Journal May 19, 2011 At the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, a research hub founded in 2008 within the Waisman Center at UW-Madison, researchers probe positive attributes such as compassion and contentment. A Waisman preschool study is attempting to determine whether children can be taught, in a statistically significant way, to be kinder. It is among the main research projects under way at the center, and it has hit a nerve with parents. "They’re wildly enthusiastic," said UW-Madison neuroscientist Richard Davidson, center founder. "I get barraged by requests on a weekly basis from parents wanting to know if they can enroll their children in this program or if we can come to their school."
  • Biddy Martin's Adult Move Madison Magazine May 19, 2011
  • On Campus: UW-Madison sends delegation to China for the 3rd time in 14 months Wisconsin State Journal May 19, 2011 UW-Madison continues to try to strengthen ties with China, sending a delegation there for the third time in the past 14 months. This time, Gilles Bousquet, dean of International Studies and vice provost for globalization, will lead a group to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hong Kong and Beijing.
  • Morgridges Challenge 2011 Graduates To Give WISC-TV 3 May 17, 2011 If you find yourself constantly checking over your shoulder this weekend, it could be from empathizing too much with those paranoid "Survivor" castaways. Or, it could be the fact that there are now roughly 6,000 new college graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who are looking for a job and the job they’re looking for may be yours.
  • A home for Braveheart WKOW-TV 27 May 17, 2011 Good news for the dog whose outlook was very bleak just a couple months ago.  Braveheart was found near death and sickly in a Kentucky dumpster when a Columbus rescue took him in, then brought him to the UW Vet Hospital for treatment.  Now Braveheart’s health is at almost 100%, and the family that is fostering him has decided to keep him.
  • Kohl retirement boosts GOP spirits for 2012 USA Today May 17, 2011 Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agreed. He said Kohl’s retirement "had been rumored for some time."
  • Job outlook improving for graduating seniors WKOW-TV 27 May 9, 2011 The past few years have been very discouraging for graduating seniors. But, for the class of 2011 at UW-Madison, it’s a better story. Across campus, UW career advisors say they’re not surprised and overall more companies are hiring.
  • UW School of Nursing gets unexpected $1 million donation in connection with Badgers' spring game Wisconsin State Journal May 10, 2011 The University of Wisconsin athletic department contributed about $50,000 to the School of Nursing building project with funds generated from ticket sales at the spring football game. School of Nursing dean Katharyn May believes a $1 million donation received about three weeks prior to the spring game probably would not have happened without the affiliation with the football program. Fans were charged $5 for admission to the spring game, which had been free in past years. The official crowd was a disappointing 11,169, though UW athletic director Barry Alvarez remains committed to using the game as a fundraiser for campus projects. Proceeds from next year’s game will go to the Human Ecology department.
  • John Roberts: UW-Madison is different, not elitist Wisconsin State Journal May 10, 2011 We are competing against research organizations and universities throughout the world for top researchers, students and research dollars. UW-Madison competes for and wins over $1 billion in research funds per year. This reflects the significant difference in the mission of UW-Madison and UW-Oshkosh. This is not elitism. The campuses are not better or worse than the other, just different. These different missions drive the need for a different set of operating rules.
  • Carpenter: Autonomy allows Madison campus to compete Superior Telegram May 5, 2011 Freshwaters are Wisconsin’s crown jewel. Lakes and rivers of our forests and farmlands provide natural beauty, fisheries, water sports and other benefits. Bordered by two Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, and with thousands of inland lakes and streams, Wisconsin is truly a place where land, people and water meet.
  • UW-Madison Professors React To Bin Laden's Death WISC-TV 3 May 2, 2011 It’s been a mission that’s taken ten years -- Sunday night, two leading professors at the UW-Madison reacted to the news that 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden had been killed. (Video.)
  • Wisconsin's Political Split Hardens Into Great Divide National Public Radio May 2, 2011 Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Kathy Cramer Walsh says voters here have always had their disagreements, "but Wisconsinites, in general, are good at sort of smoothing over differences and getting along. And right now we’re not getting along, and it’s blown out into the open. I’d say it’s pretty different. It feels un-Wisconsin-like to me."
  • Giving the UW-Madison more freedom makes sense Isthmus April 28, 2011 Since I graduated from the UW-Madison last May, my sense of attachment to the university has actually increased. Still, I couldnt help but feel like a poseur as I filled out a Wisconsin Alumni Association membership form online.
  • College campuses add language immersion programs USA Today April 29, 2011 Next fall, a group of 10-12 students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will live together in a dorm dubbed the Russian House.
  • Sleep-deprived brains turn themselves off USA Today April 28, 2011 A team of researchers in Wisconsin and Italy has found that in rats kept awake past their bed times, their brains begin to turn themselves off, neuron by neuron, though the rat is still awake. Not only that, but the neurons that we use the most during the day are the ones that appear most likely to go offline. "It’s very worrisome. It means that even before we have obvious global signs of sleepiness, there are more local signs of tiredness and they have consequences on performance," says Chiara Cirelli, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the researchers.
  • Barry Alvarez: Give UW-Madison tools to compete Wisconsin State Journal April 25, 2011 Right now the UW-Madison is operating on an uneven field that, if not corrected, will slowly erode our great university’s ability to compete - for students, faculty and research dollars, just to name a few - not only nationally, but around the world as well. We all know how economically challenging these past few years have been for our country. Those challenges exist on college campuses as well, including UW-Madison. I always taught my players to meet challenges head-on and that’s what is necessary now. Chancellor Biddy Martin has a plan that would give UW-Madison some of the decision-making flexibility necessary for our university to continue to compete on a national and international level.
  • A fitting grand marshal: Elroy was always running to see his best girl Madison.com April 25, 2011 The Crazylegs Classic will be held this Saturday for the 30th time, and Elroy Hirsch's widow is the grand marshal. "I can't believe it started 30 years ago," Ruth Hirsch, 86, said with a shake of her head. "I'm not that old."
  • Union South gets it right Isthmus April 25, 2011 Living in Madison, it can be easy to take the University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Union for granted. Doesn’t every college town have a massive student center perched on a glorious swath of lakefront, with sailboats lazily gliding by in the summer? (I love to sip a New Glarus brew and watch for the Holstein-spotted one to go by.)
  • UW-Madison celebrates 40 years of Afro-American Studies Madison Times April 25, 2011 Black students at the University of Wisconsin– Madison reacted to the murder of Dr. King by orchestrating a series of strikes intended to force the university’s administration to institute a program of study about African Americans. A year later, in April 1969, then UW Chancellor Edwin Young appointed a steering committee for what would become the Department of Afro-American Studies, which, after being approved, offered its first classes in the Fall of 1970.
  • Mitman: Jobs grow in a healthy environment Milwaukee Journal Sentinel April 22, 2011 Yet as we celebrate the 41st anniversary of Earth Day - founded by Wisconsin’s own Gaylord Nelson - the jobs-vs.-environment argument has surfaced again. It is a more dubious claim than ever. Case in point: recycling, mandated by the state in 1990 after a long, contentious political battle. Just 20 years later, Wisconsin municipalities recycle more than 700,000 tons of material each year - waste that otherwise would go to landfills. The environmental benefits of keeping plastic, metals and other materials out of the ground are many and obvious, including protecting the quality of our groundwater and conserving valuable resources. [A column by Gregg Mitman, interim director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison].