Newsmakers

(Every week faculty and staff from across campus are featured or cited in newspapers, magazines, broadcasts and other media from around the country. The listings that follow represent a small selection of the many stories that spotlight UW–Madison and its people. More newsmaker listings)

Counseling questioned
Struggling with how to promote healthy marriages among their citizens, states such as Wisconsin are toying with new programs and services aimed at bolstering the marital institution. Wisconsin has hired the nation’s first state-sponsored marriage counselor, who will work with local communities to establish guidelines for couples who want to be married in local churches. The controversial program has drawn criticism from many sides, including objections on the grounds that it bridges the separation of church and state. Sociology Professor Emeritus Larry Bumpass tells the Christian Science Monitor (Nov. 16) that the program is misdirected, especially considering that half of all cohabiting couples aren’t married and one third of children are born outside marriages. “It’s exceedingly ironic that the state would take money targeted for the well-being of families,” Bumpass says, and devote it to premarital counseling, a service that he doubts will have much effect on divorce rates. The money is better spent, he argues, on health care and child care for working families.

Scout report seeks money
Researchers may lose a valuable tool for navigating the vast resources of cyberspace unless the Internet Scout project can find new funding, says the New York Times (Nov. 11). Based in UW–Madison’s Computer Science department, Internet Scout offers a web site and weekly electronic publication that cull from the leagues of electronic data the most promising sources for researchers. The project’s funding, from a National Science Foundation grant, is due to expire in the spring, and, although NSF is pleased with the project, funding guidelines prohibit the organization from continuing support. Scout’s weekly reports have at least 30,000 subscribers, and its site logs more than 45,000 hits each day. Researchers and librarians consider the service invaluable, as it filters countless Web resources into a manageable list of the best. “The focus of our project has always been to improve resource discovery on the Internet and to reach as many educators, students, librarians and lifelong learners as possible,” says Scout creator and director Susan Calcari.

Myths no laughing matter
Gender differences can often be portrayed as cute or a source of teasing fun. But psychology professor Janet Shibley Hyde tells USA Today (Nov. 11) that the perpetuation of those myths can cause real harm. “We’re limiting the options of girls and boys by telling them they can’t do certain things because they’re not going to do them well,” Hyde says. Her research has shown many beliefs about the abilities of girls and boys to be false, particularly the stereotypes that suggest that boys are better at math than girls, but not as good in verbal work. But even her data can’t always pierce through the things that people “just know,” she says. Hyde argues that schools need to do a better job of blowing up these perceptions, and stop reinforcing them, with students.

Royko’s scholarly hit
The University of Wisconsin Press has found a financial savior of sorts in the life of late Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, says the Milwaukee Business Journal (week of Nov. 29). Doug Moe’s biography, The World of Mike Royko, has sold about 10,000 copies since its release in early October, says UW Press Associate Director Steve Salemson. The book doesn’t signal a change in acquisition strategy, though. Trade books like the Royko biography are expensive to produce. “It’s not the type of thing that we’re going to be able to do very often,” Salemson says.