UW In The News

More evidence that COVID lockdowns harmed children more than the virus

The latest data point to add to the pandemic blunder of punishing children during COVID comes from a study promoted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. According to the study by Dr. Drew Watson, a team physician for the University of Wisconsin Athletics, the cancellation of youth sports during the pandemic “was accompanied by decreased physical activity and quality of life, as well as startlingly high levels of anxiety and depression.”

The Memo: Biden faced with growing gulf between warring Russia, Ukraine

“If Russia pulls its troops out, the war is over — so, conceptually, it’s not like this is so complicated,” said Yoshiko Herrera, a professor of political science and a Russia expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But, practically speaking in terms of what is likely to happen, Ukraine seems quite dedicated to preserving their sovereignty and nation, because it looks like they’re winning. And Russia seems committed to continuing the fight.”

UW-Madison freshman enrollment sets record

The real source of Puerto Rico’s woes

That’s all intentional, said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You will see that the reason why Puerto Ricans were not granted statehood [at the time] was precisely because the United States — including the president, congressmen, and academics as well — did not think that Puerto Ricans were fit to govern themselves.”

In Wisconsin, Michels’ shift on abortion isn’t 1st reversal

Michels is in his first campaign since an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate 18 years ago. Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, said such candidates “make mistakes sometimes.”

What Can Zircons Tell Us About the Evolution of Plants?

In particular, as rocks erode, they disintegrate into sands and eventually muds made from clays. Clays tend to incorporate more heavy oxygen, explained Annie Bauer, an assistant professor and geochronologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was also not involved in this study. Subducting mud and mixing it into the mantle would result in melt—and likely zircon—featuring heavier oxygen than a melt that incorporates no crustal material or crust that experienced less weathering.

9 ways to debunk political misinformation from family and friends

Mike Wagner, a professor and political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, said it’s important to remember that “the facts don’t matter” for many people who share misinformation. They often don’t trust mainstream news sources or political institutions. Find the shared experiences that bring you together and demonstrate you’re not on the attack or calling them stupid.

“Aim for the heart, not the head,” he said. “If facts worked, there would be no need to have the conversation.

Nobel awarded to Swedish scientist who deciphered the Neanderthal genome

At the time, the ancient DNA field was “kind of a joke,” full of incredible claims that would turn out to be incorrect as scientists tried to recover DNA from dinosaurs, said John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The Return of College as a Common Good

“That’s the origin story,” says Nicholas Hillman, a professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “There became this general acknowledgment that individuals benefit a lot from college, so it justified a shift toward individuals paying.”

Fact check: Archives agency is in charge of Barack Obama’s records

Classified documents, such as those containing nuclear weapons information, have restrictions on who can access them based on the calculation that the information’s release could pose a danger to national security, according to Kenneth Mayer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

As Floridians recover from Ian, most homeowners in the state do so without flood insurance – CBS News

“Flood insurance is not equally distributed  in risky areas — homeowners who are more wealthy and in Whiter areas are more likely to have coverage,” said Max Besbris, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and coauthor of a recent book on the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

How Hurricane Ian and other disasters are becoming a growing source of inequality – even among the middle class

Friendswood, Texas, is the type of community that one might think of as a “best case scenario” when it comes to recovering from a disaster.

–Max Besbris, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abortion laws from 1800s became legal issue after Supreme Court ruling

The ramifications of the old laws are “huge, enormous,” said Jenny Higgins, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and director of the school’s Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE).In Wisconsin, “health care systems are putting their services on ice because they can’t risk having their providers or patients commit felonies,” Higgins told USA TODAY. “It’s amazing that these laws that are this old are suddenly coming back to have an effect.”

What we know — and don’t — about how climate change impacts hurricanes like Ian

Reliable global records of hurricane intensity only go back about four decades, when weather satellites began scientists to accurately estimate the strength of storms. In the years since, hurricanes appear to be getting stronger, according to a 2020 paper from researchers at NOAA and the University of Wisconsin. They found that the likelihood that a cyclone will reach Category 3 wind speeds — the threshold to be designated a “major hurricane” — has risen about 25% since 1979, as extra heat in the oceans and atmosphere gives storms more fuel to grow.

As Hurricane Ian threatens Florida, the National Weather Service shines | The Hill

The best defense against natural disasters is accurate, reliable and tailored weather predictions and observations that enable Americans to take actions to save the lives and protect the property of their families, neighbors, and themselves. The NWS is achieving this mission for Americans, and its shining success — based on the cumulative efforts of its many meteorologists to convey weather forecasts and impacts with trust and hope — is something that we should recognize amidst the dark days following the next disaster.

-Jordan Gerth is a meteorologist and honorary fellow at the Space Science and Engineering Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

One of the most significant Jewish holidays is here. What to know about Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is often treated as a time to reflect on the previous year and focus on hopes for the coming year, according to Jordan Rosenblum, the Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism and Max and Frieda Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The push to control America’s exploding geese population

“We have probably 11 million Canada geese in the Eastern half of the United States,” said David Drake, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico as a Category 1 storm. Flooding still wrought havoc.

“It’s a double whammy. You have a hurricane with strong gusts and then a tail of intense rain that remained stationary over the south dropping two to three feet of water,” said University of Wisconsin meteorologist Ángel Adames-Corraliza, a native of Puerto Rico. “That’s a nightmare scenario.”

Water problems in Jackson, Mississippi, go deeper than pipes, experts say

“If [we] drink from the same water source, even if [we] don’t like one another, we’re sort of handcuffed, whether we like each other or not, we’re drinking from the same water, so we both have an interest in making sure that it’s good,” Manny Teodoro, an associate professor at the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC News.

Virginia’s governor restricted rights for trans students. Is it legal?

“Freedom of expression under the First Amendment is much different in a college classroom than it is in a K-through-12 classroom,” said Suzanne Eckes, an education law professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. While pronouns are a new and “gray area,” she said, “there are plenty of cases that just show that First Amendment rights of teachers are strictly limited.”

Bad Bunny Is A Folk Artist First And A Pop Artist Second

“For those of us in the diaspora, his music is a way to connect to home. It’s comforting to listen to him refer to places I used to go to when I was living on the island,” said Aurora Santiago Ortiz, assistant professor of Latinx studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scholars and teenage TikTokers alike express a sense of intimacy with the music, which speaks to us as only a local can.

President Joe Biden Declaring Pandemic ‘Over’ Has Experts Reeling

“There is simply too much uncertainty about what happens next,” David O’Connor, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin, told The Daily Beast. “Will future variants outrun existing vaccines and therapeutics? What will be the impact of long COVID years, and potentially decades, from now? What other challenges can we not foresee three years into COVID-19 that will challenge us collectively in 2025, 2030, 2040 and beyond?”

“Buy now, pay later” needs regulation, CFPB says

There are rules governing how credit card companies vet borrowers’ creditworthiness and disclose terms. In the buy now, pay later space, “it’s a little bit more Wild West in style,” said Cliff Robb, a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin.

Climate change could soon affect biofuel supply | Popular Science

“Increasingly dryer and hotter weather conditions pose a threat to successful cultivation, and ultimately, the yield of agro-derived biomass feedstocks,” says Victor Ujor, assistant professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “With a near-global drop in rainfall, plant growth and yield will fall dramatically, if this trend continues.”

Child poverty fell by nearly half in 2021, Census Bureau says

A Columbia University study estimated that child poverty jumped 40% when the expanded child tax credit expired last December. “What the numbers today really tell us is that poverty isn’t inevitable,” said Sarah Halpern-Meekin, who researches poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It is in part a product of our policy choices.”

Queen Elizabeth II’s death reignites conversations about colonial history

“We essentially have to respect her for her very long service, but as the monarch, she cannot be disentangled from colonization of South Asia,” Mou Banerjee, a professor of South Asian history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told NPR.

How to Fix America’s Confusing Voting System

Barry Burden, a professor and the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, believes that in the United States, the registration step “is probably more of a deterrent to voter participation than we realize,” he said. “It’s a little challenging for most voters, but if a person doesn’t have the literacy skills or language skills to navigate that bureaucratic process, it could be a deterrent to even getting registered or getting a ballot in the first place.”

Family Farms Can Reduce CO2 Emissions By Giving Cows More Pasture Time

When you have pasture-based systems and organic crop production, you have a smaller carbon footprint. That’s how Nicole Rakobitsch puts it. Rakobitsch is director of sustainability at Organic Valley, the largest organic dairy cooperative in the United States, and also part of a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team behind a first-of-its-kind study. The peer-reviewed research uses a “breakthrough methodology” that includes accounting for the carbon sequestration benefit of grazed pastures.

The Debate Over Muslim College Students Getting Secret Marriages

This question is in “an evolutionary moment right now,” Asifa Quraishi-Landes, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies Islamic constitutional theory, said. Recent publications have made an effort to explore the many kinds of relationships and marriages that Muslims experience, whether or not they are recognized according to traditional Islamic law. “Tying the Knot,” “a feminist / womanist guide to Muslim marriage in America,” published in the spring of 2022 by a group of female Muslim scholars, including Quraishi-Landes, takes on topics ranging from mut‘a marriages—the temporary partnerships practiced by some Shia Muslims—to interfaith marriages, L.G.B.T.Q. marriages, and polygynous marriages, in which men have multiple wives, although the latter are rare among the estimated three and a half million

Stonks Aren’t the Only Reason Why Businesses Should Know Their Memes

Are there drawbacks to this ambition? Last year, Ben Pettis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison argued that “overreliance on KYM as an authority on memes and their history can contribute to the homogenization of Web histories,” potentially obscuring or downplaying a given meme’s connections to harmful ideologies, for instance.