Comments for Sifting and Winnowing

Comment on Regents Plan Next Steps for Growth Agenda by Joe Salmons

Joe Salmons — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:53:56 +0000

Thanks so much for this. Of course we rely heavily on S&W for information as well. With continuing strong faculty support, we can accomplish a lot, even in present circumstances.

Comment on Press coverage of the restructuring controversy by Todd Finkelmeyer

Todd Finkelmeyer — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:09:11 +0000

FYI: I just posted a story on this topic at captimes.com.

The academic staff ad hoc committee’s report is out. That group sees no need for a restructuring. Paul DeLuca was not available for immediate comment. If I can track him down later in the day, I’ll add his quotes to my post.

Comment on Reflections on the NY Times “engagement survey”. by Todd Finkelmeyer

Todd Finkelmeyer — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:09:57 +0000

Thanks for pointing this out. That’s very interesting.

Of course, I can’t say I’m shocked. Twenty years ago I was attending UW-Madison, had no meaningful relationships with faculty and yet I loved my time on campus.

Comment on The administration responds to animal lab citations. by Grant given to fund research into Ebola and Marburg (using animals) « Thinking Outside The Skinner Box

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:57:13 +0000

[...] “The administration responds to animal lab citations” at Sifting and Winnowing blog (January 7, 2010) [...]

Comment on The administration responds to animal lab citations. by Admin

Admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:30:23 +0000

Looks like the folks at Channel 3 are on this story with a vengeance:

http://www.channel3000.com/news/22166699/detail.html

Is their reporting one-sided? One reporter we spoke with recently stated emphatically that it is “their job” to highlight the facts that will make the story look interesting. I inferred from this statement that their job also includes downplaying facts that make the story look less interesting.

Comment on The future of public research universities? by GP

GP — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:25:46 +0000

This article from today’s Wisconsin State Journal makes clear that the Titanic is still heading straight for the iceberg, despite almost 10 years to change course: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/editorial/article_57e05e42-fa56-11de-bdef-001cc4c03286.html

Comment on Animal research lab violations and the Graduate School restructuring plan. by David Ahrens

David Ahrens — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:53:51 +0000

It is not clear from the reporting whether these violations though serious are unusual. Is it common for large animal (that is many animals) research facilities to have this scale of violations, more? less? Given what we know about medical errors in hospitals it seems consistent that for each 1000 “patient” days there would be a X serious/ mid/ minor errors.
Should this be corrected? Of course. Or will it be more grist for the climate of fear as evidenced by the Provost’s comment that this is a “near mid-air collision.” And how exactly will that improve animal welfare?

Comment on Animal research lab violations and the Graduate School restructuring plan. by Admin

Admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:59:07 +0000

Very important additional perspectives on the animal lab story in the following two threads on another blog:
http://thesconz.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/even-citizen-reporters-lose-perspective
http://thesconz.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/questions-arise-about-animal-welfare-investigation/

Comment on Animal research lab violations and the Graduate School restructuring plan. by Admin

Admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:41:59 +0000

It has just been brought to our attention that the story about the animal labs first broke here a day earlier: http://www.channel3000.com/news/22094338/detail.html?taf=c3k
and that the Wisconsin State Journal simply followed up with its own story.
In short, the question is no longer how the WSJ came to be aware of the story but perhaps how channel3000.com did. Even there, we’re aware that the inspection reports are public documents, so there may or may not have been a tipoff.

We continue to hope the timing is indeed a coincidence.

Comment on Animal research lab violations and the Graduate School restructuring plan. by Holly

Holly — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:26:40 +0000

I am positive the timing is purely coincidental. No worries. However, that may not stop it from being brought up in discussions of restructuring the grad school. But it would be an absolute outrage if the violations alone actually lead to wholesale restructuring of the grad school, as I’m sure (I hope?) UW officials understand the lack of severity of the violations.