The First North Americans, UW-Stout Spreads The Love, Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration’s Executive Order On ‘Sanctuary Cities’

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A group of students at UW-Stout is responding to social media’s frequent negativity by launching a card writing project called “Spread the Love.” We find out where the encouraging messages are headed. Also, exciting science news about the first inhabitants of North America. During Wisconsin Life, we hear a bit of mountain music and learn about its place in the state. Plus, we talk about the news that a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s order to block funding for “sanctuary cities.”

Featured in this Show

  • Humans Arrived In North America Much Earlier Than Believed

    New research shows that humans were present in North America 130,000 years ago, which in ten times earlier than previously thought. And they likely weren’t homo sapiens. We find out what the significance is of this find.

  • 'Spread The Love' Delivers Notes Of Joy To People

    They can be as simple as a smile, holding the door for someone or bringing a friend a cup of coffee, but small acts of kindness can have immeasurable benefits. And students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout have made it a mission to bring some positivity to their surrounding community.


    Some of the cards from UW-Stout’s Phi Upsilon Omicron-Honor Society. The project is called Spread the Love.Photo courtesy of UW-Stout

    The “Spread the Love” project was started by the UW-Stout chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a national honor society in the family and consumer sciences.

    Sarah Bedford, vice president of UW-Stout’s PUO chapter, said they wanted to start the “Spread the Love” campaign as a way to counteract some of the negativity found on social media and in the community at-large last fall.

    “We were wanting to find ways to bring out positivity out of the negative aspects around us,” Bedford said. “We thought by doing small acts of kindness through making homemade cards, we could make an impact on many people around us throughout our own campus, the community and even around the world.”

    She said the project especially hit home following the fatal assault of UW-Stout student Hussain Alnahdi in October.

    The Spread the Love project has its roots in another card-making initiative popular with the group, Cardz for Kidz, which sends uplifting cards to children recovering in hospitals. But the group expanded its card-making project to service members fighting overseas and senior citizens in the Menomonie area.

    The project also gets the PUO members out in the community. In the case of the cards given to senior citizens, students hand delivered the messages to nursing homes.

    Bedford said group members were able to see first-hand the impact the positive messages had throughout the area.

    “(The seniors) were just extremely shocked and appreciated that they were remembered,” she said. “And even spending the extra two or three-minute conversation with them, they felt loved and appreciated.”

    On campus, Spread the Love manifested itself in anonymous, positive notes in buildings or classrooms intended for students and staff. Bedford said one recipient of a note ended up being a custodian who said she found the note after a tough day.

    According to Bedford, the custodian said she didn’t realize how much she needed the encouragement until she saw the positive messages on the card.

    “That was a goal of (PUO) was to spread kindness and love to others, so hopefully they would spread it on to others as well,” she said.

  • UW-Stout Students Spread The Love

    We learn about the Phi Upsilon Omicron-Honor Society’s project at UW-Stout called Spread the Love.

  • Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Order To Halt Funding For 'Sanctuary Cities'

    On Tuesday a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s effort to withhold federal money from “sanctuary cities,” which are cities that limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement. We talk to Chuck Quirmbach from WPR News to learn how Milwaukee is reacting to this news, and then we talk to an immigration expert about the ruling and immigration under President Donald Trump.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • John Hawks Guest
  • Carolyn Barnhart Guest
  • Sarah Bedford Guest
  • Chuck Quirmbach Guest
  • Sara McKinnon Guest

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