UW-Madison in the Media

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

  • Why the Icelandic eruption caught us off guard The Irish Times Nov. 18, 2010 Scientists from Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands have spent months pouring over older records and also data from 2009 and 2010 prior to the eruption. They believe they can now tell the full story of how Eyjafjallajökull woke from centuries of slumber to cause the biggest disruption to European air transport since the second World War. “If you watch a volcano for decades you can tell when it is getting restless,” stated co-author Dr Kurt Feigl of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Parts of the dormant volcano began to swell, a sure sign that liquid rock or magma was percolating into chambers under the mountain.
  • How Icelandic volcano issued warnings months before its eruption Guardian (UK) Nov. 18, 2010 Geological events leading up to the eruption have been documented, and they show that the volcano had been rumbling for many months before it blew its top. Kurt Feigl, a professor of geosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a co-author of the study, said the volcano had been showing signs of restlessness.
  • UW helps stabilize local economy SmartMoney.com Nov. 17, 2010 Madison hasn’t felt the downturn as intensely as Midwestern neighbors like Milwaukee or Detroit, leading some to declare the city recessionproof. “It’s not,” says Stephen Malpezzi, a real estate professor at the University of Wisconsin. “We just didn’t boom and bust as much.” Part of that is due to Madison’s economic anchor—the 42,000-student University of Wisconsin.
  • 35th Anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald: UW tests rogue wave detection system WDIO-TV (Duluth) Nov. 10, 2010 The intense and dangerous wind storm and accompanying high waves the Great Lakes states experienced in late October is thought to be the same kind of storm that occurred on Lake Superior causing the fatal wreck of the ship Edmund Fitzgerald 35 years ago on Wednesday. A University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute-funded researcher is studying extreme waves in hopes of preventing future tragedies. Freak waves are exceptionally large, steep and asymmetric and often occur in the Great Lakes, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Chin-Hsien Wu. He is currently investigating the conditions and locations prone to producing the dangerous waves, which can take down a vessel like the Edmund Fitzgerald.
  • Poaching of bear leaves fate of cubs up in air Fond Du Lac Reporter Nov. 10, 2010 One of those bears was a sow that set up house in Marathon County between Rib Mountain and Mosinee and became one of the stars of doctoral student Karl Malcom’s five-year project studying bear movements. She gave birth to four cubs in 2009 and again this year, giving the University of Wisconsin-Madison student a perfect opportunity to follow the young bears as they grew to adulthood and set out on their own.
  • NYC marathon: Two Badgers finish in Top 20 Madison.com Nov. 9, 2010 Former University of Wisconsin runners Tim Nelson and Matt Downin posted Top-20 finishes at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, while ex-Badger Simon Bairu dropped out in his high-profile debut.
  • Wisconsin Crayfish Hunters Eat Their Fill of What They Kill Wall Street Journal Nov. 4, 2010 A tradition of Cajun cooking has emerged deep in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, spurred by the battle against the rusty crayfish. For years, students from the state university working with the department of natural resources have been hauling countless buckets of rusties from the waters of Sparkling Lake, five hours north of Milwaukee. "What else are you going to do with them but eat them?" says Jake Vander Zanden, a University of Wisconsin, Madison, professor involved in the project.
  • Paint The Ivory Tower Green Forbes Nov. 4, 2010 The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 granted universities the rights to most of the ideas that are developed in their labs with federal funds. That should have stimulated profit-seeking behavior by the universities, but few, aside from MIT, Stanford and the University of Wisconsin, have displayed a flair for it. Professors who disdain the marketplace are to blame, but so are the technology transfer offices themselves.
  • Wisconsin Electorate Takes a Hard Right Wall Street Journal Nov. 4, 2010 Quoted: "Wisconsin has historically been a battleground, so when a national tide comes in, the margins to flip things here are smaller," said David Canon, a political scientist at University of Wisconsin at Madison.
  • Clearing tropical forests is a lose-lose New Scientist Nov. 2, 2010 Clearing tropical forests for farmland is bad for the climate – no surprises there. But now we’ve learned that it’s also an inefficient way to feed people. Paul West of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues worked out the potential yields of 175 different crops if they were planted in different parts of the world.
  • UW study details trade-off of growing crops, climate change Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Nov. 2, 2010 A new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison underscores the often conflicting goals of feeding a growing global population and combating climate change.
  • What Feingold's Loss Means for Progressives Newsweek Nov. 3, 2010 Quoted: Dennis Dresang, a political-science scholar and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, doesn’t see Tuesday’s Feingold loss in quite such stark terms, arguing that while the state’s penchant for liberalism has taken a sharp detour, it will rise again in Wisconsin and around the country.
  • Rand Paul's big Senate test: Can tea party compromise? Christian Science Monitor Nov. 3, 2010 Quoted: "There’s a huge question of what governing looks like if tea party folks get elected to the Senate, where each individual can tie the Senate into knots by themselves," Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin, told the Monitor before Election Day. "It’s hard to see how Congress adopts a governing program that would satisfy most of the people in the tea party movement."
  • Anatomy of a Closing Ad With Ken Goldstein (Good Morning America) ABCNEWS.com Nov. 1, 2010 George Stephanopulos discusses the last minute election advertising blitz with UW-Madison political scientist Ken Goldstein.
  • IPad a Therapeutic Marvel for Disabled People New York Times Nov. 1, 2010 Quoted: “Making things less complicated can actually make a lot of money,” said Gregg C. Vanderheiden, an engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who has worked on accessibility issues for decades.
  • Poll shows GOP has lead in final midterm run-up USA Today Nov. 1, 2010 Quoted: "If history holds, then this is the prediction of a Republican wave of genuinely historical proportions, possibly beyond the 1994 election," when Democrats lost control of the House and Senate, says Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With Republican voters reporting record levels of enthusiasm, the GOP is poised for gains well beyond the turnover of 39 seats it needs to take control of the House.
  • TV commercials shrink to match attention spans (AP) Kansas City Star Oct. 27, 2010 Quoted: Commercial-skipping digital video recorders and distractions such as laptops and phones have shortened viewers’ attention spans, says Deborah Mitchell, executive director of the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin. Viewers are also watching TV streamed on sites like Hulu, where advertisers have less of a presence.
  • NSF Science Nation Video With Miles O'Brien: IceCube and Its Frozen Secrets SpaceRef.com Oct. 27, 2010 There’s nothing like temperatures that can reach minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit to keep you on your toes. For engineers Erik Verhagen and Camille Parisel, working in Antarctica on a project appropriately called "IceCube" is both challenging and exciting. While there are ways to get used to the harsh climate, these experts have to be very resourceful to fix technical difficulties so far away from "civilization."
  • NY attorney donates $30M sculpture collection to Chazen Museum of Art Wisconsin State Journal Oct. 26, 2010 A prominent New York City attorney and his wife have bequeathed a major private collection of 20th century sculpture to the Chazen Museum of Art at UW-Madison, a gift valued at $30 million, museum officials announced Monday. The collection from the estate of the late Terese and Alvin S. Lane includes more than 70 sculptures and 250 preparatory drawings from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, David Smith and Christo. "I wouldn’t hesitate to say that, as far as 20th century modernism, this makes us a major study center," said Russell Panczenko, museum director.
  • Burden and Mayer: Voting Early, but Not So Often New York Times Oct. 25, 2010 Election Day is nearly upon us, but for many voters it has already come and gone. States have aggressively expanded the use of early voting, allowing people to submit their ballots before Election Day in person, by mail and in voting centers set up in shopping malls and other public places.
  • Alzheimer's Patients' Children Participate in Research ABCNEWS.com Oct. 19, 2010 Barbara White of Madison, Wis., says she’ll never forget the sight of her mother’s struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. At times, she saw the disease slowly strip her mother away. But, she said, it also brought her siblings together.
  • Angle Video Reopens Topic of Race New York Times Oct. 20, 2010 Quoted: Mary Beltrán, associate professor of communication arts and Latina and Chicana studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said: “It seems like she’s trying to say, ‘I don’t see race, so how could I be racist?’ It’s an interesting thing that’s happening in politics today.”
  • Struggles of US cattle producers could mean lesser-quality meat on dinner tables (AP) Los Angeles Times Oct. 20, 2010 Quoted: "Food animal husbandry requires substantial expenditures," said Peter Carstensen, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and former Department of Justice antitrust attorney. "If you’re not going to be compensated for that, your incentive as a farmer to produce the quality just isn’t there."
  • 'Telescope' buried a mile under the Antarctic ice to find source of cosmic rays The Telegraph (UK) Oct. 18, 2010 For the past ten years scientists have been planning and building an ambitious experiment to explain the mystery of what produces the cosmic rays and elusive particles known as neutrinos, which constantly pepper our planet.
  • Children enjoy Madison's fall color change WKOW-TV 27 Oct. 18, 2010  It may be hard to believe, but we are already past the peak for fall color season. This Saturday at the UW Arboretum, families took a tour to learn how leaves turn color.
  • Girls as good in math as boys, but they still may hear “little messages” Orlando Sentinel Oct. 14, 2010 Girls are just as good at math as boys but still hear messages to the contrary that may keep them away from certain classes and careers, according to a new review of math skills.
  • Toxic Mud Spill Latest Insult to Polluted Danube River National Geographic Oct. 13, 2010 Quoted: "It’s sort of like having a bad backache and then having your kid jumping on you," said Emily Stanley, a freshwater scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "It’s an acute injury to a chronically stressed system."
  • Study pegs University Research Park impact at $825M Milwaukee Business Journal Oct. 11, 2010 A study released Monday says the University Research Park in Madison contributes more than $825 million to the state’s economy each year.
  • UW-Madison research spending tops $1 billion Wisconsin State Journal Oct. 8, 2010 Spending on research at UW-Madison has for the first time topped the $1 billion mark, according to a survey by the National Science Foundation of research expenditures nationwide in 2009.
  • Cranberry growers "growing green" WEAU TV (Eau Claire) Oct. 7, 2010 Quoted: "The greatest consumption period is during irrigation and frost protection," says Rebecca Harbut, an associate professor of Horticulture at UW-Madison.