UW-Madison in the Media

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

• Ritalin Dose Changes Effect Scientific American July 14, 2008 Doctors prescribe Ritalin to hyperactive kids to calm them down and increase their attention span. And college kids have taken to using Ritalin to concentrate when they hit the books. But it hasn’t been clear how the drug boosts focus. Now a paper in the journal Biological Psychiatry suggests how it might work. (Audio.)
• UW-Madison team advances effort to find drugs to thwart evolving viruses Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 10, 2008 A team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is one step ahead of a quickly evolving influenza virus that’s been threatening the planet with pandemic disease for the past five years. The team, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, is leading the charge to find new drugs and weapons to fight a virus that has evolved to resist the only drugs known to beat it.
• Study uncovers how Ritalin works in the brain Reuters July 3, 2008 Stimulant drugs like Ritalin work by "fine-tuning" neuron activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for filtering out distractions and helping people to focus on tasks, new UW-Madison research in rats suggests.
• Are Some People Mosquito Magnets? Newsweek July 3, 2008 Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are released whenever we breathe or sweat, but the emission rates vary by person. Larger people and pregnant woman, for example, have higher levels and are more likely targets. According to Susan Peskewitz, a mosquito researcher and entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the scents of these compounds coupled with body heat are the biggest attractors.
• Book Review: 'One to Nine - The Inner Life of Numbers,' by Andrew Hodges New York Times July 7, 2008 Author: Jordan Ellenberg is an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of “The Grasshopper King,” a novel.
• Writing's easier for obsessives Sydney Morning Herald June 30, 2008 IN COMMUNITY LIFE, a short story by Lorrie Moore, a woman librarian looks around and realises that compared with her boyfriend's social group, her friends are all a bit wonky. They say sour things in quiet voices and make terrible wardrobe decisions. They are "delicate and territorial, intellectual, and physically unwell" but, writes Moore, "these were the people she liked: the kind you couldn't really live with". She might be describing her characters in general, who, even when they do find someone to live with, tend to wince at everything they say and then show them up in public.
• Extinctions of Early Life Probably Happened Slowly Over Time, Not With a Bang U.S. News and World Report June 30, 2008 A new study suggests the epic ebbing and flowing of sea and sediment for eons upon eons account for world's periodic mass extinctions over the past 500 million years. "Impacts, for the most part, aren't associated with most extinctions," said Shanan Peters, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of geology and geophysics and leader of the study. "There have also been studies of volcanism, and some eruptions correspond to extinction, but many do not."
• For Kids: IceCube Science Science News June 30, 2008 Francis Halzen has an unusual job. This scientist studies itsy bitsy, teeny tiny objects zipping through the universe. They’re called neutrinos. His job should be easy because neutrinos are all around us, all the time. They pass from the depths of outer space to the depths of your sock drawer — and then just keep going. And don’t even think about trying to count these super-tiny particles. The neutrinos flying around our universe outnumber all of the people, animals, plants, satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, black holes and asteroids combined. They’re also fast, traveling at almost the speed of light. In the time it took you to read the previous paragraph, more than a trillion neutrinos zoomed through you. They always travel in straight lines. Some fly from your eyes to your ears, others from your feet to your head. They fly from the left, from the right and from everywhere in between. Although you can’t see them, they’re also flying through everything you can see. So you would think Halzen’s job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison should be a snap. All he has to do is catch a few of the gazillions passing through his university every day.
• UW-Madison biochemist named Searle Scholar Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 25, 2008 University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemist Doug Weibel has won the prestigious Searle Scholar Award, a prize recognizing academic excellence of young faculty in medicine, chemistry and the biological sciences. The award nets Weibel $300,000 over the next three years in research funding, one of the top monetary prizes available in the biomedical sciences.
• Binary stars might not form simultaneously United Press International June 24, 2008 NASHVILLE, June 23 (UPI) -- A U.S.-funded study finds binary stars might not be identical, and that might cause the world's astronomers to re-examine some of their theories. "The easiest way to explain the observed differences is if one star was fully formed about 500,000 years before its twin," said Keivan Stassun, an associate professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University. The discovery by Stassun and Robert Mathieu from the University of Wisconsin-Madison appears in the journal Nature.
• Harsh climate weathered away early rocks MSNBC.com June 24, 2008 The climate of early Earth was no day at the beach, with stinging acid rains and an intensely warm surface, a new study suggests. These harsh conditions could explain why geologists today have found no rocks more than 4 billion years old: They were all weathered away. Geologists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined zircon crystals, the oldest known materials on Earth, to shed light on the fate of rocks from the early Earth. Zircons, which are smaller than a speck of sand, can offer a window back in time to about 4.4 billion years ago, when the Earth was a mere 150 million years old because they are extremely resistant to chemical changes.
• Scientific Fraud May Be More Widespread Than Thought, Poll Says Bloomberg News June 19, 2008 About 1,000 potential incidents of fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in scientific research go unreported every year, according to a survey that suggests such misconduct is far more prevalent than suspected. On average, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity receives only 24 reports of suspected misconduct from academic and other research institutions yearly, according to a report in the journal Nature. The authors called for scientists and institutions to implement more safeguards against research fraud. Research fraud happens even though the scientific community uses measures such as replicating original research, and evaluating it through a peer review system, said James Wells, a study author and director of research policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Science Fraud at Universities Is Common -- and Commonly Ignored Chronicle of Higher Education June 19, 2008 Acts of scientific fraud, such as fabricating or manipulating data, appear to be surprisingly common but are underreported to university officials, says a report published today in the journal Nature. And the institutions may have investigated them far too seldom, the report's authors write. The authors are Sandra L. Titus, an official in the research-integrity office, Lawrence J. Rhoades, the emeritus director of its education division, and James A. Wells, director of research policy at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Mr. Wells previously worked for Gallup, where he directed the survey on research misconduct.
• Why flooding worsens Christian Science Monitor June 18, 2008 Quoted: Kenneth Potter, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says many scientists agree that climate change is likely to increase the occurrence and severity of storms as well as droughts, and thus increase the likelihood of flooding.
• Flood raises public health risks USA Today June 18, 2008 Quoted: Environmental health professor Jonathan Patz at the University of Wisconsin.
• Zircons can help determine a rock's age United Press International June 18, 2008 MADISON, Wis., June 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists studying minerals called zircons say a harsh climate might have scoured or even destroyed the surface of the Earth's earliest continents. University of Wisconsin-Madison geologist Professor John Valley said Zircons, the oldest known materials on Earth, offer a window in time back as far as 4.4 billion years ago. Because the crystals are exceptionally resistant to chemical changes, Valley said they are now used to determine the age of ancient rocks.
• Full court press: UW senior serves as translator for Bucks' Yi Jianlian Capital Times June 11, 2008 Matt Beyer is the first to admit he's catching his breath just a bit as he wraps up a whirlwind senior year at UW-Madison. "I'm not going to lie, it was really intense," said Beyer, who is taking two courses this summer to complete his undergraduate degree. "When the year was over, I felt a little burned out." A little burned out? Not only was Beyer putting the finishing touches on a triple major of Chinese, East Asian studies and journalism, but from October through April he served as the interpreter for Milwaukee Bucks 7-footer Yi Jianlian, a rookie from China.
• Obama visits as poll shows double-digit lead in state Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 12, 2008 At the outset of a fierce campaign debate over jobs and taxes, Barack Obama returns today to Wisconsin, a blue-collar swing state that gave him one of his broadest victories in the Democratic primaries and where the political climate now tilts markedly in his favor, according to a new poll. Likely voters in Wisconsin are overwhelmingly sour about President Bush, the Iraq war and where the country is headed, according to the poll, conducted Sunday to Tuesday by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's political science department and Wispolitics.com.
• WI Poll: Obama + 13 Atlantic Monthly June 12, 2008 Two political scientists with top-notch reputations -- Charles Franklin of Pollster.com and Political Arithmetik fame, and Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project -- have teamed together to conduct a series of polls for the Wispolitics.com empire, and their first effort has a surprising result: Barack Obama is up by double digits in the state.
• Sunshine may be nature's disease fighter Los Angeles Times June 10, 2008 Medical researchers are homing in on a wonder drug that may significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many other diseases -- sunshine. A study released today found that men who are deficient in the so-called sunshine vitamin -- vitamin D -- have more than double the normal risk of suffering a heart attack. "We don't have a cause and effect relationship here yet" proving that higher doses of vitamin D prevent such diseases, said biochemist Hector DeLuca of the University of Wisconsin, who was the first to demonstrate how the vitamin interacts with the endocrine system, which manages the body's hormonal balance.
• Science said ignored in stem cell debate United Press International June 10, 2008 MADISON, Wis., June 9 (UPI) -- When forming attitudes on embryonic stem cell research, people are influenced by a number of factors, but science is not one of them, U.S. researchers say. A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison communications researchers say that scientific knowledge -- for many citizens -- has an almost negligible effect on how people regard the field.
• Obama Quandary: Why He Wins, Loses With Different White Voters Bloomberg News June 6, 2008 Quoted: Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
• How Hillary Clinton turned an air of certainty into a losing run Guardian (UK) June 4, 2008 Quoted: Ken Goldstein, an expert in campaign advertising at the University of Wisconsin.
• John McCain, Barack Obama trade charges on Iran, Iraq Los Angeles Times June 2, 2008 Quoted: Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin political scientist, whose Wisconsin Advertising Project analyzes candidates' ad spending.
• Changes in Antarctic ice come as warning Anchorage Daily News May 27, 2008 Fifty years ago, Charles Bentley and five other young men chugged across the ice of Antarctica in three tracked vehicles, exploring the mysterious white continent. In those days when frontiers existed on the planet, Bentley -- a UW-Madison emeritus professor -- and his comrades saw a mountain range ahead of them that had Rocky-Mountain-size peaks with no names.
• New Into Africa: Holmen grad embarks on medical journey to test skills and help Onalaska Community Life May 23, 2008 Natalie Ammerman, a 2004 graduate of Holmen High School, has been accepted as part of a group of professional students to tour Uganda and help in hospitals, medical clinics and pharmacies. Ammerman, 22, is a doctor of pharmacy candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. The university has an ongoing project in Uganda for pharmacy, medical and nursing students and sends students for three weeks each summer. Ammerman and 15 other UW students will travel to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on May 24.
• How safe are nanoparticles? Christian Science Monitor May 21, 2008 Quoted: Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communication and journalism at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, says public awareness of nanotech hasn’t changed at all since 2004, when he began his surveys. Scientists are more apt to be concerned about health and safety issues than the public is, he says.
• Running scared no more Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 20, 2008 The last thing Chris Solinsky sees before he closes his eyes at night is his summer to-do list, posted on the ceiling above his bed.
• Move Over, Depp; Bucky's Coming To Big Screen Wisconsin State Journal May 19, 2008 For the last year, a movie filmed in Madison stars someone more recognizable here than Johnny Depp. That's Bucky Badger, sporting the permanent grin and silenting spreading goodwill, who ranks as Madison's most famous figure. Now a Chicago film company will present the tentatively titled "Being Bucky" in 2009 after editing 100 hours of footage for the independent documentary.
• Rescue Can Bring Quake Victims New Danger Washington Post May 19, 2008 Quoted: Marvin L. Birnbaum, a critical-care physician at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and president of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine.