UW In The News

What we found in Facebook ads by Russians accused of election meddling

Young Mie Kim, a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who published some of the first scientific analysis of social media influence campaigns during the election, said the ads show that the Russians are attempting to destabilize Western Democracy by targeting extreme identity groups.

Half of Russian Facebook ads were aimed at dividing Americans on race

A recent study out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that more than half of the sponsors of Facebook ads that featured divisive political messages ahead of the 2016 election were from “suspicious” groups with little or no paper trail to identify them. One in six turned out to be linked to the IRA.“I expected that we would find some unknown actors in the digital media political campaign landscape, because there are some regulatory loopholes,” Young Mie Kim, the study’s lead author, recently told me. “The findings are a lot worse than I thought. It is shocking and surprising.”

Individual experiences shape the path of thousands of UW-Madison graduates

When Angeline Mboutngam first attended Madison Area Technical College in fall 2012, she was enrolled in a math class that covered basic concepts such as 1 + 1 = 2. She went on to conquer calculus.On Thursday afternoon, Mboutngam settled into a desk on the third floor of UW-Madison’s College Library to study for the last exam of her undergraduate career — organic chemistry.At 45, Mboutngam, who received no formal education growing up in the Central African nation of Cameroon, will walk across the stage Saturday at Camp Randall to receive her bachelor’s degree from one of the top-ranked public universities in the United States.

What parents and teachers can do to not make the 7th grade the worst ever

Noted: A professor of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rountrey also can’t understand how her only child can be so disorganized.

How training doctors in implicit bias could save the lives of black mothers

Quoted: “The Implicit Association Tests are humbling. I have every bias in the book,” said Dr. Molly Carnes, director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and an internal medicine doctor.Carnes has developed workshops for the university’s faculty that increase awareness about bias by teaching participants how to recognize it.

The U.S.-North Korea summit could be Trump’s ‘Nixon-to-China’ moment

After the release of three U.S. prisoners Wednesday in North Korea, President Trump tweeted that the “Date & Place” for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “set.”The recent thaw in U.S.-North Korean relations has taken many foreign policy analysts by surprise.

Study: Illegal Immigration Linked To Decrease In Violent Crime

But a new study from University of Wisconsin-Madison sociology professor Michael Light suggests people living in the country illegally are linked to a decrease in violent crime, not an increase.

Scott Walker is giving Wisconsin families $100 per kid. Democrats should learn from that.

Quoted: What’s more, there are some barriers to poor families getting the money, like the requirement that recipients of the funds have bank accounts for direct deposits. After looking over the procedure for filing for the refund, Tim Smeeding, an economist and poverty expert at the University of Wisconsin Madison, commented, “I am sure poor people won’t follow all of this and won’t get the money.”

State Seeks Different Avenues To Improve Opioid Addiction Treatment

Quoted: Aleksandra Zgierska, a professor who specializes in addiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, says one possible explanation for the surge in emergency room visits is that people hooked on prescription drugs don’t have timely access to treatment and may be turning to illegal drugs.

Urban predators

A recently published two-year study of urban canids in and around Madison, Wisconsin, sheds light on the issue. Researchers used radio collars and statistical analysis to assess the movement and home ranges of coyotes and foxes through a mosaic of residential, commercial, and public natural areas, including tallgrass prairie and oak savanna located within the University of Wisconsin–Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve.

Are There Enough Young People In Rural Wisconsin?

Research shows the loss of young adults raises the cost of schools, public services, and recreation for individuals. The Applied Population Lab at the UW-Madison projected that 15 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties will have smaller populations in 2040 than they did in 2010.

Fox, Sinclair vie for executive with ties to Hannity

Quoted: “If they’re interested potentially in Hannity and they’re interested in Pirro…that gives us some clue of what’s going to be on the Sinclair cable network,” said Lewis Friedland, who directs the Center for Communication and Democracy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Harassment should count as scientific misconduct

When I talk to senior scientists, many view harassment as an injustice that happens somewhere else, not in their field or at their institution. But data suggest that the problem is ubiquitous. In separate surveys of tens of thousands of university students across Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, upwards of 40% of respondents say that they have experienced sexual harassment.

Is Russia interfering in Guatemala’s anti-corruption commission? The real story might surprise you.

On April 27, the U.S. Congress’s Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, held a hearing about alleged Kremlin pressures on the United Nations Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a hybrid legal body that investigates and tries high-level corruption cases.

Rachel A. Schwartz is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

#BlackandHooded celebrates advanced degrees while making political point

Using social media, two University of Wisconsin-Madison alums have created a movement among African-American students in higher education that has two goals: one academic, the other political.

UW-Madison alums start a movement with #BlackandHooded pride

It’s graduation season, and UW-Madison alums Anthony Wright and Brian Allen are promoting #BlackandHooded to black recipients of advanced degrees, inviting them to share photos celebrating their accomplishments.

Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug

Quoted: In certain circles, they’re held in high esteem. Clinicians interested in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy often seek them out for training. And Charles Raison, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sees merit in the couple’s approach.

As Young People Leave Rural Areas, What Is Dating Like For Those Who Choose To Stay?

Wisconsin’s rural counties saw an estimated 9 percent fewer 20- and 30 year-olds in 2010 than they would have if their population from 2000 had remained static, according to data from the Applied Population Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That’s compared to a statewide average loss of less than 1 percent. And looking at just 20 year olds, that figure jumps to a loss of 34 percent in rural counties.

Safety experts say Missouri would be brainless to repeal helmet law

Noted: The National Conference of State Legislatures says helmets saved an estimated 1,630 lives in 2013. The organization, citing a 2009 report by the University of Wisconsin Medical School, also says several studies have proved the obvious, that medical costs from motorcycle crashes are higher for riders without helmets.

Global trade

Marco Werman speaks with Menzie Chinn about tariffs and global trade.

Will Starbucks’s Implicit-Bias Training Work?

One training, developed by Patricia Devine and colleagues at the Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Lab at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, looks at bias as a habit that can be broken. Their approach—which I’ve written about before—consists of a couple of hours of modules based on what the researchers see as three essential elements of an antibias intervention: awareness of the problem, motivation to do something about it, and strategies for what to do.

Editorial: Driverless cars will save lives and money

UW Origins Project Explores How Scientists Research Our Beginnings

UW-Madison’s recently released Origins project links together different academic fields to paint a picture of how scientists research Earth’s and mankind’s beginnings.

Will the Social Media Loopholes Be Closed Before the Midterm Elections?

(also published in the Council on Foreign Relations)

Young Mie Kim, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, collected controversial Facebook ads displayed over a six week-period before the 2016 elections. She found that one-half of groups purchasing these ads not only failed to file a report with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), but also had no IRS or online footprint indicating who they were.

How to Talk to Kids About Money

Research out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison found that by age three, kids can understand basic money concepts, such as value or exchange.

Study: Fewer Young Girls Giving Birth In US

Quoted: “The average age of a girl getting her menstrual cycle is 12 years old. But it can happen as young as 9,” said Dr. Jasmine Zapata, a pediatrician and preventive medicine resident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Zapata said it can be both physically and emotionally hard for pregnant girls and its important to go beyond just teaching abstinence, as some politicians, including President Donald Trump, have advocated.

Undocumented Immigration Doesn’t Increase Violent Crime

A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison refutes the assertion that more undocumented immigrants in the U.S. correlate to an increase in violent crime.

Waisman Center New Director Talks Mission, Research

The Waisman Center has a new director. The organization at UW-Madison is one of only 14 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the country. The new director Qiang Chang is our guest. He discusses current research on autism and Rett syndrome and explains how research and clinical service connect. Plus learn about the promise stem cell research holds for degenerative diseases such as ALS.

Program filling the need for doctors in rural Wisconsin

Quoted: “Twenty-six out of 72 counties in Wisconsin don’t have any Ob-Gyn’s,” said Jody Silva, the rural residency program manager for the University of Wisconsin.

Top Colleges Push To Recruit More Low-Income Students

High-achieving, low-income students make up just 3 percent of enrollment at elite colleges. This week, 100 top U.S. universities are vowing to do something about it. Chancellor Blank is interviewed.