UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent coverage:

The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) reported that UW faces a $42 million budget reduction after Gov. Mark Gordon last week finalized the first round of state budget cuts, amounting to more than $250 million in reductions. WyoFile, Cowboy State Daily, K2 Radio and Wyoming Public Radio posted similar articles.

K2 Radio, The Gillette News Record and Washington Times were among media outlets that reported on how UW’s enrollment has rebounded recently after Gordon set aside $57 million in grant payments to students and adults affected by the pandemic. Cowboy State Daily published a related article.

The Washington Post published a Bloomberg article about the decision by players on the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks to not proceed with a playoff game last week in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. UW law Professor Michael Duff commented in the article, titled “When Athletes Walked, Was It a Boycott or a Strike?”

The Denver Post interviewed UW Professor Jeff Lockwood about the August 1875 locust plague that decimated Colorado crops and covered the dusty streets with the crawling insects. Lockwood compared the locust devastation to the wildfires that California is currently facing.

In an age of global warming, coal consumption is dropping, and renewable energy is rising. Nowhere is that trend more evident than in Wyoming, a state with prodigious amounts of fossil fuels and wind resources, noted The Christian Science Monitor in a feature story. UW economist Rob Godby commented in the article about the decline of coal production during the past decade in the state.

WyoFile published a story on the decline of coal production nationwide and the effect on Wyoming. UW economist Jason Shogren said in the article that, with every challenge to coal, Wyoming chose to increase its wager on the industry’s future, and now production is in a major decline. Energy Now republished the article.

Last week, Wyoming lawmakers once again resurrected a discussion over an increased electricity tax levied on companies generating renewable energy in the state. The CS-T cited a cost analysis study from UW’s Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy in the article.

UW Associate Professor Christine Porter was quoted in a CS-T article that covered a recent meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee. Porter spoke about the possible repeal of the tax exemption for food, which she said would hit Wyoming’s low-income families disproportionately hard. Porter, who testified on behalf of the Wyoming Food Coalition, commented during a hearing on possible new tax streams for the state.

UW has one of the nation’s lowest student loan debts, according to LendEDU. UW’s average student debt per borrower figure was $23,444 the past academic year.

Hits 106 and Sheridan Media published UW’s release noting that private support to the university held steady over the past fiscal year despite global economic shifts and the ongoing pandemic. The UW Foundation raised a total of $43.6 million during the fiscal year ending June 30, surpassing the previous year’s $41.6 million private giving total.

UW researchers and scientists from colleges in Montana and Nevada will use a $6 million National Science Foundation grant to build and test computational models in the life sciences field. Datanami published UW’s release on the announcement.

Energy Central News published UW’s release announcing that a pilot-scale demonstration project focusing on reducing emissions and the cost of electricity will proceed at Black Hills Energy’s Wyodak coal mine near Gillette. The CS-T published a similar article.

UW graduate Neimat Awadelseid, a native of Sudan, was among five people who participated in a naturalization ceremony hosted by President Donald Trump, noted Oil City News. A video of the ceremony played during the Republican National Convention last week. Awadelseid earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in animal nutrition from UW.

The Cody Enterprise interviewed students from the area who are returning to classes this fall at UW and the challenges they face with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

UW Extension and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department are hosting five public hearings and two virtual meetings focusing on trapping and proposed new regulations, according to The Outdoor Wire.

SweetwaterNOW published UW’s release announcing the new class of WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) Medical Education Program students. The WWAMI students are among one of the first cohorts of students coming to the Laramie campus as part of UW’s phased reopening.

Hits 106 published UW’s release announcing that UW’s Esports Club would take on Colorado State University in the “Border War” of gaming competition. The event was held virtually last weekend.

Past members of UW’s all-female a cappella group, The Bettys, were featured in a video singing “Hallelujah.” Wyo4News and K2 Radio were among media outlets posting the video.

The Sports Business Journal selected China Jude, UW senior associate athletics director, for its 10th annual class of “Game Changers: Women in Sports Business.” Wind River Radio Network posted the announcement on its website.