UW-Madison in the Media

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

• Living with the rusty red menace Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine Oct. 9, 2008 Quoted: Rusties are extremely aggressive and have huge appetites. They do the most damage by eating water plants. “The way I describe what rusty crayfish do, they are underwater lawnmowers,” says Jeff Maxted, an invasive species research specialist with the University of Wisconsin Center for Limnology in Madison.
• A breakthrough, then a surge, in stem cell research Chicago Tribune Oct. 9, 2008 Less than a year after a Wisconsin team helped discover a major alternative to human embryonic stem cells, the Madison scientists say more than 800 labs have begun using the approach, suggesting that many stem-cell researchers are starting to move beyond controversial embryonic sources for their work. Such shifts may reframe the emotionally fraught debate over stem cells—an issue that has ignited passions across the political spectrum. Both presidential candidates have indicated they would lift President George W. Bush's restrictions on research funding, though Sen. Barack Obama has been more adamant than Sen. John McCain.
• Beetles Grow Weed Killer Science News Oct. 3, 2008 Southern pine beetles get by with a little help from their friends, including a newly discovered bacterium that makes a weed killer. When the beetles burrow into trees to lay eggs, they leave behind spores that sprout into a garden of fungal baby food. Now electron microscopy, beetle sampling and lab tests suggest that the female beetles also mix in helpful strains of bacteria, says Jarrod Scott of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• New twist in brain obesity riddle BBC News Online Oct. 3, 2008 The discovery of another way in which the body appears to control how much it eats could shed fresh light on obesity. US researchers said poor diets may trigger a signalling system which prompts the body to consume even more. The latest "pathway" under investigation, by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is normally associated with the immune system, and inflammation, one of the body's defence systems.
• Common cold virus 'could increase child's risk of asthma tenfold' The Telegraph (UK) Oct. 2, 2008 Youngsters close to the age of three who develop wheezing with the virus have a 30-fold risk of becoming asthmatic by the time they turn six. The older the toddlers are when they catch the virus, the greater their chance of developing the condition, which is called Rhinovirus, according to the research. Around 5 million people in Britain, including more than 1m children, suffer from asthma. Daniel Jackson, from the University of Wisconsin, who led the team which carried out the study, said that the Rhinovirus was a "significant predictor" that children would go on to become asthmatic.
• Psychoanalytic Therapy Wins Backing New York Times Oct. 1, 2008 Quoted: “But this review certainly does seem to contradict the notion that cognitive or other short-term therapies are better than any others,” said Bruce E. Wampold, chairman of the department of counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin. “When it’s done well, psychodynamic therapy appears to be just as effective as any other for some patients, and this strikes me as a turning point” for such intensive therapy.
• McCain stem cell ad irks conservative Christians St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sept. 30, 2008 Quoted: Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, said the ad was "designed to confuse voters."
• When will crisis sink in? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sept. 30, 2008 Quoted: Morris Davis, assistant professor of real estate and urban land economics at UW-Madison, said any government solution should address the ongoing concern of falling home prices.
• Knetter: Credit crisis: Making sense of the turmoil Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sept. 29, 2008 For most of my professional life, I’ve felt that one of the most underappreciated “laws” of economics was J.B. Say’s maxim that supply creates its own demand. It seems that in projecting where the economy will go next, too many people focus on the trees that make up demand and not the forest that is supply.
• Why Earth's Magnetic Field Flip-Flops U.S. News and World Report Sept. 29, 2008 Earth's magnetic field is really two fields with two separate sources, argues paleomagnetist Kenneth Hoffman of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and geochronologist Brad Singer of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in a paper published in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Science.
• Is civil conversation about politics even possible? The State (South Carolina) Sept. 25, 2008 Quoted: Katherine Cramer Walsh, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the author of “Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life.”
• Hours from death, inmate receives reprieve, with help from Innocence Project Wisconsin State Journal Sept. 25, 2008 When the U.S. Supreme Court gave a reprieve to a Georgia inmate less than two hours before his scheduled execution Tuesday, the relief was felt around the world and at the UW-Madison Law School, where Wisconsin Innocence Project co-director Keith Findley played a key role.
• Former UW student earns prize and a Smithsonian display with wax-paper dress Wisconsin State Journal Sept. 24, 2008 When art student Sarah Muehlbauer began work last spring on a wax-paper dress in an experimental textile class at UW-Madison, little did she know it would end up at the Smithsonian — and earn her a $20,000 cash prize.
• UW Hospital and Clinics gets kudos Wisconsin State Journal Sept. 24, 2008 A Madison organization has been named one of the best places to work in the country, according to Working Mother magazine. The list of 100 firms, released Tuesday, had three Wisconsin companies, including UW Hospital and Clinics, which was cited for its strong maternity leave program.
• Surgical tools not fit for smaller hands Chicago Tribune Sept. 24, 2008 Now that more doors are opening for women who want to be surgeons, it may be time to look at the equipment they are given at the operating table. A recent study finds that some devices commonly used in what was once a male bastion are too big to be comfortable for women. The study, which appears in Surgical Endoscopy, notes that women's hands tend to be smaller then men's, but that men with smaller hands also may find the equipment challenging. One of the report's authors, Dr. Peter Nichol of the University of Wisconsin medical school, said he had gotten the idea for the study while working with a resident and co-author, Dr. Danielle M. Adams.
• Many Wonder What Exactly Congressional Earmarks Are WISC-TV 3 Sept. 24, 2008 Quoted: "An earmark is just a specific appropriation for spending government dollars on a very specific project," said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon
• Washington Wire: Florida Rep. Apologizes for Abramoff-Funded Trip in New Ad Wall Street Journal Sept. 24, 2008 Quoted: “Obviously, the ‘mea culpa’ ad is not a huge genre in American politics,” said Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, a University of Wisconsin project that collects and codes political ads. “If someone has done something bad enough that they think they need to apologize for it with a television ad, they’ve usually decided not to run.”
• Recent Parvo Outbreaks Worries Dog Community ABCNEWS.com Sept. 23, 2008 Quoted: Ronald Schultz is a professor and chair of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine's pathobiological sciences department in Madison. He's also one of the nation's leading experts on vaccines.
• Really? - Does Grape Juice Have the Same Health Benefits as Red Wine? New York Times Sept. 23, 2008 Independent studies have found that like alcohol, grape juice can reduce the risk of blood clots and prevent LDL (“bad” cholesterol) from sticking to coronary arteries, among other cardiac benefits. One, conducted by scientists at the University of Wisconsin and published in the journal Circulation, looked at the effects of two servings of Concord grape juice a day in 15 people with coronary artery disease. After two weeks, the subjects had improved blood flow and reduced oxidation of LDL. Oxidized LDL can damage arteries.
• Badgers, brats and beauty Columbus Dispatch Sept. 22, 2008 MADISON, Wis. -- Ohio State might have the better football team, but the University of Wisconsin just might have the prettier setting. Blame Mother Nature, or whoever it was who decided to stick Wisconsin's capital city and state university on an isthmus between the shimmering blue lakes Mendota and Monona.
• As the Battle Rages, It's Time to Check the Pulse of Swing States Washington Post Sept. 22, 2008 The newly minted Big Ten Battleground Poll, conducted by two University of Wisconsin political science professors, showed Obama with 47 percent and McCain with 45 percent.
• Tight White House race keeps political pollsters busier than ever Detroit Free Press Sept. 22, 2008 Quoted: Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political science professor and co-founder of pollster.com, a website devoted to polling.
• UW Scientists Predict Plants and Biomass Will Be Transportation Fuel Of Future Wisconsin Public Radio Sept. 19, 2008 (MADISON) Scientists have taken another step toward developing cost-effective ways to turn plants and other biomass sources into alternatives to fossil fuels. One challenge has been to remove most of the oxygen atoms to form molecules that will burn. UW Madison chemical engineering professor James Dumesic says in the laboratory, he and some UW colleagues have found a way to make that happen, by passing sugars over catalysts “consisting of nano-particules of precious metal”, in a process that helps remove oxygen atoms from sugar molecules. (Tenth item.)
• The 6 Coolest Jobs for Weird Majors U.S. News and World Report Aug. 29, 2008 Quoted: Cynthia Jasper, chair of the Department of Consumer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• New chancellor offers fresh start Wisconsin State Journal Aug. 25, 2008 Incoming UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin arrived on campus last week — just in time to witness the latest spat between staunch supporters and critics of Wisconsin's flagship university.
• Hello, Biddy! UW-Madison's new chancellor arrives on campus Capital Times Aug. 21, 2008 Incoming UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin moved to town on Friday -- and her belongings finally arrived at Olin House, the official residence of the chancellor, on Monday. "I've started the process of unpacking and moving in," said Martin. "It's a lot of work but I've cleared a path from my bedroom to the coffee maker, and I thought maybe that would do for now."
• Once popular college humor magazines on decline, new exhibit shows off some of the greats (AP) Aug. 27, 2008 MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ The college graduate, wearing the traditional cap and gown, sits on top of the world. A closer look shows the world is actually a bomb and a lit fuse is coming out of one side. The date on the cover is May 1939, more than two years before the United States entered World War II, but the University of Michigan Gargoyle humor magazine was clearly on to something. Published near the end of what is considered the heyday of college humor magazines, that issue of Gargoyle is one of more than 1,000 recently donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from what may be the largest collection of its kind.
• Helping boys minus any harm to girls Chicago Tribune Aug. 20, 2008 Remember back in the old days when we used to fret about how girls weren't doing as well as guys in school, especially in math and science? Ah, that seems so last century. Gender gap? What gender gap? That's the message in a new study by five professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Berkeley. Although other studies have found similar results, this one is the most sweeping. Comparing math test scores of 7 million students in 10 states from 2005 to 2007, the study found that girls and boys do equally well.
• The healing power of forgiveness San Diego Union-Tribune Aug. 20, 2008 Quoted: UW-Madison professor Robert Enright, who has done extensive work on forgiveness.
• Yellowstone: Back from the Ashes Salt Lake Tribune, The Aug. 18, 2008 Quoted: Monica G. Turner, a University of Wisconsin fire research specialist, wrote along with others in an Ecological Society of America paper.