UW In The News

Badgers sports: Former Wisconsin running back James White visits Madison after Super Bowl win

Exactly two weeks after James White scored the game-winning touchdown for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, it’s still hard for him to explain everything that’s happened.

In Donald Trump era, UW prof’s rural Wisconsin insights gain national prominence

Kathy Cramer’s journey to the center of the political landscape began with road trips to corners of Wisconsin many people only drive through — if they drive there at all.

People Of Color Accounted For 22 Percent Of Children’s Books Characters In 2016

Two decades ago only about 9 percent of children’s books published in the U.S. were about people of color. Things have changed since then, but not by much. On Wednesday, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Education School revealed that in 2016, it counted 427 books written or illustrated by people of color, and 736 books about people of color out of about 3,400 books it analyzed. That adds up to 22 percent of children’s books.

Study: Hate Groups Increase In US, Wisconsin

Quoted: Pamela Oliver, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, said divisive political speech has a trickle-down effect, and the 2016 presidential campaign could have contributed to the uptick.

From rhetoric to media to neuroscience, lying gets another look in the age of Trump

Quoted: “I’m very, very careful with the word lie, because it does imply intent, and sometimes when people share a falsehood they’re not necessarily intending to lie,” says Kathleen Bartzen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin. “What concerns me most right now is whether we’ve come to a point where people don’t necessarily believe there is a truth anymore.”

Happ named to Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list

Ethan Happ of the No. 7 Wisconsin men’s basketball team has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Wednesday.

Chancellor calls free tuition plan ‘real incentive’ for first-generation transfer students

Rebecca Blank: University of Wisconsin at ‘crucial point’ with next state budget

Sleep Shrinks the Brain — and That’s a Good Thing

Ah, to sleep, perchance … to shrink your neural connections? That’s the conclusion of new research that examined subtle changes in the brain during sleep.

Gard stumps for votes to beat cancer

Greg Gard needs your vote. Gard, in his first full season as Wisconsin’s head men’s basketball coach, is participating in the seventh annual Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge.

New Center at UW-Madison To Research Emerging Vector-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

A new center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be researching the spread of new diseases in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest region carried by ticks and mosquitoes.

Bronson Koenig becomes Native American role model he never had

MADISON, Wis. — Google Maps told the Koenig brothers the trip to Standing Rock would take nine hours. But Google didn’t know how how many donated items — warm clothing, camping supplies and dry food — filled the 18-foot trailer they drove, slowing them down for all the right reasons. They put a flag for their Ho-Chunk tribe on the trailer, so it could fly alongside them as they drove.

‘Modern Family’ co-creator Levitan to give UW commencement

The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Wednesday its spring commencement speaker will be alumnus Steven Levitan, co-creator and executive producer of the ABC hit comedy “Modern Family.”

UW-Madison team key in developing weather satellite

The first images were stunning, like switching from black-and-white to a color high-definition television.

UW study uses video games to help smokers quit

A study being conducted by the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention is looking into whether video games on a smart phone can help smokers quit.

Stoneman’s got Badger spirit

Competitive dancing was not part of Hayley Stoneman’s college plan. Sure, the 2016 McFarland High School graduate had been dancing competitively since the age of 10, but she figured once she started at UW-Madison, she’d hang up her dance shoes.

Why You Should Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions

Noted: “Few people ask themselves why they set the goal they chose,” says Christine Whelan, Ph.D., a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin. “Accomplishing your goal can feel empty without understanding the motivation behind it.”

Remains From 800-Year-Old “Trojan Woman” Record Early Maternal Infection

In 2013, archeologists discovered the body of a 13th century farmwoman in a graveyard outside the former city of Troy in western Turkey. She sported strawberry-sized calcified nodules below her ribs, which they assumed were a sign of tuberculosis, a common disease for people of her era. But it turns out, they were wrong.

Badgers men’s basketball: Wisconsin to name Kohl Center court after Albert ‘Ab’ Nicholas

The University of Wisconsin announced at Thursday night’s game that the basketball court at the Kohl Center will be named after former Badgers player and booster Albert “Ab” Nicholas following the 2016-17 season.

Dave Skoloda: Tommy still leads the charge for UW

Gov. Scott Walker’s State of the State message this week expanded on his recent theme of how bright the future is for the state — a bright future that must assume a strong contribution from the University of Wisconsin System if it is to be a reality.

Hazmat Suits and 500 Shelter Cats: Rare Flu Forces New York Quarantine

Noted: “Any time influenza viruses start to behave in an unusual way, there’s a concern about what might happen,” said Aleisha Swartz, a doctor on loan from the University of Wisconsin veterinary school’s shelter medicine program, which is managing medical care at the quarantine center. “There’s this virus that popped up, and if we didn’t respond, it could have become widespread in cats all over the place.”

New UWPD chief hopes to bring change to strengthen trust with UW community

On her third day as the newly inducted police chief of the UW-Madison Police Department, Kristen Roman spent part of her afternoon inducting three new officers to the police force.

Chief Kristen Roman writes new chapter with UW-Madison police

As Chief Kristen Roman swore in three new police officers, it was symbolic of a new beginning for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department. The three officers join the department the same week Chief Roman assumed the leadership role.

Genome of Deadly 800 Year Old Infection Found in Byzantine Skeleton

A skeleton from the outskirts of what was once the ancient city of Troy, has yielded the genome of an 800 year old mystery infection.

UW researcher unlocks story of 800-year-old skeleton

As archaeologists excavating a cemetery near Troy, the fabled city from Homer’s Iliad, carefully removed the skeleton of a woman buried eight centuries ago, they noticed two chalk-like strawberry-sized nodules near her ribs.

Hayes, Koenig named candidates for Senior CLASS Award

Senior standouts both on and off the court for the Wisconsin men’s basketball program, Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig were each announced this week as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes notable achievements in community, classroom, character and competition.

Hugh Iltis was noted UW botanist

A journey with noted University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist Hugh Iltis usually took much longer than normal because he frequently pulled the car over to show passengers a plant he noticed on the side of the road.

Virtual canaries

Imagine an app on your phone that can sense whether there is carbon monoxide in a room. If the display doesn’t change, you’re safe. But if the screen changes, “maybe it’s time to get out of the room,” says Manos Mavrikakis.

New UW video games institution will get in GEAR Tuesday

Games Education and Research, or GEAR for short, will be the spiritual successor to the now-defunct Games+Learning+Society group, an institution that pioneered the study of games and their educational properties and made the university a hub of video game scholarship. GLS disintegrated this year after the organization’s leaders — education professors Kurt Squire and Constance Steinkuehler — announced they were leaving for new jobs at the University of California-Irvine.

Hanns Kuttner: A first gentleman

Hanns Kuttner loves “It’s a Small World stories, and last September he shared one with Madison philanthropist Jerry Frautschi.