Attorney General Josh Kaul to refuse enforcement of state’s 1849 abortion ban if Roe v. Wade is overturned
Wisconsin’s Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview on December 14 that he would not investigate or prosecute anyone for having an abortion should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, and a currently unenforceable state ban takes effect. The comments...
Lake Michigan’s shrinking beaches: DNR considers how much land to preserve as nature erodes state parks
The winds and waves of Lake Michigan have sculpted the landscape of Whitefish Dunes State Park, a must-see treasure along Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula. Water delivers fine sand to a shoreline that supports threatened plants like the dune thistle. Wind stacks that sand...
Two pandemic school years: Wisconsin colleges see continued decline in student enrollment
Enrollment in Wisconsin colleges dropped 4.9 percent from fall 2020 to this fall, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In total, Wisconsin college enrollment has declined 8.2 percent over the course of the two pandemic school...
Brain Drain: America feels prolonged economic impact from the slump in foreign student admissions
By David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Driven largely by the global pandemic, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities fell by 15%, or 161,401 students,...
Study details methods used by Trump allies that systematically remove obstacles to steal votes
Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election had absurd elements, and it culminated in the deadly chaos of the Capitol insurrection. Now, the more we learn, the more we realize there was a concerted plan to steal the election and upend the results. Next time it...
The link between deception and technology: Why people are lying more since the rise of social media
By David Markowitz, Assistant Professor of Social Media Data Analytics, University of Oregon Technology has given people more ways to connect, but it has also given them more opportunities to lie with impunity. You might text your friend a white lie to get out of...
Wisconsin ranks poorly in new report that maps disparities in health by race and ethnicity nationwide
A new report maps deep disparities in health by race and ethnicity nationwide, and Wisconsin fairs poorly compared with other states. The gap in the U.S. between the average health and well-being of white people and people who are Black, Latinx/Hispanic, or American...
Money for Nothing: Lawrence Tabak’s book explores how taxpayers funded the foolish Foxconn fantasy
When then-President Donald Trump held the first White House press conference in 2017 to tout the prospect of a massive television flat-screen factory for the Taiwan manufacturer Foxconn coming to Wisconsin, Madison writer Lawrence Tabak was immediately intrigued. “If...
Roe v. Wade rulings: Constitutional rights hinge on the judgment of when “personhood” occurs
By Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell The Supreme Court justices signaled a potential major shift on abortion law on Dec. 1, 2021. Hearing arguments in a case that could fundamentally alter abortion rights and...
From AIDS to Omicron: How America’s pharmaceutical apartheid creates a viral underclass
December 1 was World AIDS Day, marking forty years since symptoms were first reported. Over 36 million people have died worldwide from AIDS-related illnesses. The death rate is slowing as effective drug treatments gain wider distribution. But the inequity that long...
The cost of contraception: How limiting abortion access could severely harm the economy
By Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law, University of Baltimore The U.S. Supreme Court on December 1 heard oral arguments in a case that may result in a ruling that overturns Roe v. Wade. But reproductive health is not just about abortions, despite all the...
New limits on abortions: U.S. Supreme Court decision could spur a cascade of legal changes across states
The Supreme Court is weighing potentially sweeping changes to the right to an abortion, after two hours of arguments on December 1 over a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court’s conservatives, who hold a 6-3 majority, appeared...
