By The Associated Press

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. December 5, 2023.

Editorial: Honor for UWEC program points to a strength for the school

The recognition UWEC has earned for its Chinese program is worth noting for a couple reasons. Last week’s announcement drew attention to an interesting aspect of the university’s educational efforts.

It’s a bit unusual for a program like this to be recognized when students can earn neither a major nor a minor in the subject, but that speaks to the effort the program is putting into students’ educations.

The program is effectively a one-woman show. Kaishan Kong is the sole educator in the program, which awards a certificate if the approximately 30 students in the program complete the work.

Chinese is an immensely difficult language from a western perspective. While European languages largely rely on the same fundamental sounds, that’s not true of Chinese. Then there’s the entirely different approach to written language, which relies on ideograms rather than the Roman alphabet.

The differences underscore one of the basic values of learning a foreign language. Language shapes thought. It alters how you express ideas, which in turn shifts how you understand them. There’s no way to learn a different language without gaining some insight into the culture from which it originates.

That’s one of the program’s focuses. International guest speakers and people with deep backgrounds in Chinese language and culture speak to the students. So do international students via online communications.

The need for multiple contacts is obvious. Chinese culture is hardly monolithic. Regional differences are at least as varied as those in the United States. You wouldn’t say a Wisconsin native has the same outlook as a born-and-bred New Yorker. The same goes for someone who has spent their lifetime in northeastern China’s Harbin as compared to someone in far western Hotan.

China is, indisputably, a rival of the United States politically and militarily. Those tensions have risen considerably in recent decades, especially as China has aggressively asserted territorial claims contested by American allies in the western Pacific.

Understanding in such a situation is essential. If there is open conflict, even short of warfare, you must understand your opponent. Even more important is the need to prevent conflict from emerging, something that is best accomplished when the sides avoid misunderstanding. Again, that requires a familiarity with language and cultural nuance that goes beyond being able to recognize a national flag.

Setting aside the question of rivalries, the American and Chinese economies are deeply entwined. Actions by one nation inevitably have ripple effects through the economic realities of the other. Business ties between the two nations are complex, sometimes tense, and entirely necessary to both at this time in history.

Kong’s long term goal is to develop the program into a minor in Chinese. That’s a worthy goal, though it’s hard to say how long it may take. It doesn’t seem unrealistic, though.

UWEC has long had a significant international student presence on campus. From 2014 through 2019 the fall semesters had an average of 249 international students in the fall. That number has taken a hit since the pandemic, but seems to be edging back upwards. UWEC’s 2023 factbook, found on the school’s website, indicates international students make up 2.2% of the student population, a total of 206 students.

Not all of those students are connected to the university’s Chinese program, of course. But all offer their peers the opportunity to learn about people who grew up in different cultures, with different approaches to life. That’s a key value for higher education: the opportunity to be exposed to a greater range of life than you would in your hometown.

We look forward to seeing how the Chinese program continues in the coming years. There’s a lot of potential here, for several reasons, and it’s nice to see it recognized.

Wisconsin State Journal. December 3, 2023.

Editorial: 2 big reasons to get a COVID-19 booster before Christmas

Dr. Patrick Remington finally caught COVID-19 last September.

A public health expert at UW-Madison, he’s pretty sure he was infected during a trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. He was on the plane, and “the guy next to me didn’t look good,” he recalled Friday.

Remington developed COVID symptoms three days after the flight, and a couple of days later he tested positive.

So getting the vaccine didn’t prevent him from getting sick, the doctor quickly acknowledged. But that doesn’t mean it failed.

Far from it.

Unlike 3,700 people in Dane County and more than 75,000 across Wisconsin, Remington didn’t have to be hospitalized for COVID. And unlike more than 600 in Dane County and 16,000 across the state, he didn’t die from the disease.

In fact, just five days after getting past COVID, Remington, 69, was back on his mountain bike, riding 40 miles in a race through northwestern Wisconsin.

The vaccine “is not really effective in preventing illness,” Remington said. But “there’s clear evidence it reduces the severity.”

He cited a scholarly article that found a nearly 80% reduction in risk of death for those who get the booster.

“It’s not a guarantee,” he said. “But it’s more effective in protecting against serious illness than it is against infection.”

That’s why Remington got the latest COVID booster last week — and why you should, too (if you haven’t already): He wants protection against getting really sick.

With plans to travel with his wife to see family this Christmas, the doctor offered a second big reason for getting the latest shot: “I don’t want to give (COVID) to my grandkids.”

Three people died from COVID-19 in Dane County last month. That’s far less than the peak of 92 deaths in the county in December 2020.

But recent samples from wastewater in the Madison area suggest the virus is surging, even though emergency room visits are low, according to Dane County public health officials.

So get the latest booster — especially if you’re older or have health conditions such as diabetes or emphysema. The new booster is an updated recipe to better protect people from severe disease. It targets a subtype of the omicron variant that’s circulating now.

Another way to think of the COVID booster is like an airbag, the doctor said. It won’t stop you from getting into a traffic accident. But it could save your life when it deploys in a crash.

The FDA approved the new COVID-19 booster in September and recommends it for everyone 6 months and older. The shot can reduce the severity of infections, prevent hospitalizations and deaths. It also can prevent long COVID systems such as fatigue, according to the FDA.

While you’re getting your COVID shot, you might want to get the latest vaccines for flu and respiratory syncytial virus. RSV is respiratory illness especially problematic in infants and older adults in colder months.

Last December, 20 people in Dane County died from COVID. Six died from flu, and one from RSV. With more people indoors during the winter, viruses have more opportunity to spread.

So get a booster and your other shots. You can find a vaccine site at go.madison.com/vaccine.

It might not stop you from coughing and developing a fever if you’re exposed to COVID. But for most people, it significantly reduces the chances of hospitalization and death.

The booster takes a couple of weeks to be effective. So sign up today. You’ll be gifting yourself and your loved ones a healthy dose of protection for Christmas and the new year.