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Take me Home? Understanding Refugee Resettlement Knowledge on the WVU Campus
Get PDFStudies find that knowledge about refugee resettlement plays a significant role in the willingness of communities to accept refugees. Knowledge about refugees and refugee resettlement plays a significant role in other factors that shape refugee acceptance such as perceived ethnic threat. Perceived ethnic threat, or the belief that an ethnic group poses a threat economically, socially, or culturally to another, contributes significantly to a host community’s willingness to accept and care for refugees. This perceived threat escalates as federal governments use refugees and migrants as scapegoats for acts of violence and terror and blur the lines between refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. This line of scholarship points to the importance of knowledge about refugees, who creates the knowledge, and how people receive knowledge about refugee resettlement. This paper focuses on the context of the West Virginia University (WVU) campus in Morgantown, WV. On average, West Virginia receives fewer than 20 refugees per fiscal year. This is partially a result of a negative political climate towards refugees at the state level, and misinformation about refugees that has led to hostile and unwelcoming attitudes towards refugees. However, there have also been movements in support of refugee resettlement through the work of Catholic Charities and the West Virginia Refugee Interfaith Ministry (WVRIM), who continue to advocate for refugee resettlement in the state. As a result, this paper aims to explore the dynamics of refugee resettlement knowledge on the WVU campus, where students from both inside and outside the state come together
Project FORESIGHT Annual Report, 2023-2024
Get PDFProject FORESIGHT is a business-guided self-evaluation of forensic science laboratories across the globe. The participating laboratories represent local, regional, state, and national agencies. Economics, accounting, finance, and forensic faculty provide assistance, guidance, and analysis. Laboratories participating in Project FORESIGHT have developed standardized definitions for metrics to evaluate work processes, linking financial information to work tasks and functions. Laboratory managers can then assess resource allocations, efficiencies, and value of services—the mission of Project FORESIGHT is to measure, preserve what works, and change what does not.
The benchmark data for the 2023-2024 performance period includes laboratory submissions for a variety of fiscal year definitions. However, all submissions have December 31, 2023 as part of their fiscal year accounting. The majority of submissions follow a July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 convention. Others follow a year that begins as early as January 1, 2023 (ending December 31, 2023) while the other extreme includes laboratories with a fiscal year originating October 1, 2023 and ending September 30, 2024
Financial Literacy as a Predictor for Future Financial Outcomes
No full textJohn Adams once stated that “All the perplexities, confusions and distresses in America arise not from defects in their constitutions or confederation, not from a wont of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation” (Adams, 1787). Yet the apparent lack of dedication to the financial literacy of the U.S. population seems contrary to one of our Founding Father’s sentiments. Implementation of a financial literacy curriculum at the secondary education level can be described as ad hoc at best. Using delinquency data and the financial literacy programs of all 50 states, I examine the association between the type of financial literacy program and the delinquency rates for credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. I find that the states that implement a rigorous stand-alone required course are associated with lower delinquency rates in all three categories. The results for the less robust financial literacy implementations are mixed, and in some cases counterproductive, reinforcing the importance of the more rigorous approach
Three Essays on the Interaction between Macroeconomics, Money, and Government Bonds
No full textThis dissertation, \u27\u27Essays on the Interaction between Macroeconomics, Money, and Government Bonds,” has three chapters that study how macroeconomics (e.g., inflation), government bonds, and money interact with each other. It provides insights into how households make optimal maturity choices in government bonds, how households own different types of government bond assets, and how money growth can help understand the cross-country inflation after COVID-19.
The first chapter develops an intertemporal portfolio choice model to investigate the optimal household portfolio choice for government bonds across maturities. The U.S. Treasury data displays a higher holding share of long-term government bonds. Adding uncertain labor income, analytical solutions decompose the optimal choice for long-term government bonds into two components: return demand for the expected excess return on long-term over short-term government bonds and hedging demand to hedge uncertainty in future labor income. An affine term structure model identifies inflation as a main factor and explains the sign of hedging demand. Lastly, this article briefly shows how bond allocation can benefit broader macroeconomic issues, such as money demand.
Household ownership of government bond assets has not received sufficient attention. Differentiating between government bond mutual funds, government bonds, and savings bonds, the second chapter investigates household decisions on these low-risk assets. The descriptive analysis shows a decreasing ownership of government bond assets, particularly direct holdings of government and savings bonds, while indirect holdings through mutual funds or ETFs have risen slightly. The empirical analysis emphasizes the heterogeneity and complexity in household finance decisions. Factors that determine ownership decisions on risky assets may not affect these three riskless assets. In addition, some determinants exhibit different, even opposite, effects across asset types.
The third chapter is a joint work with Dr. Scott Schuh. The third chapter extends Teles et al. [2016] by estimating the Quantity Theory of Money (QTM) with data for 71 countries from 2001-2019 and using it to simulate inflation out of sample (2020-2022), a period of heterogeneous inflation experiences after COVID-19. Model estimates show the QTM continued to fit international data well, even for inflation-targeting (IT) countries. Model simulations explain most of the post-COVID increase in inflation that primarily occurred in countries with relatively high growth of broad monetary aggregates
Rivers, or Anything So Blue
No full textThis collection features poems exploring landscapes both internal and external, fear and joy, water, connection, and infinity. Most of these poems are written in free verse. The collection is organized into 5 sections: “The World Hums”, “In the Half-Dark:”, “Star Droughts”, “Of Heartwood,”, “Caught on the Evershore”, and “For Infinity–”. The poems are organized into thematic categories pertaining to both interior and natural landscapes
Feasibility of a Motor Skill Intervention for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
No full textAbstract Feasibility of a Motor Skill Intervention for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities Candace Brink Adults with intellectual disabilities experience significantly lower levels of physical activity and a higher prevalence of obesity-related health conditions compared to neurotypical adults. Furthermore, motor competency has been identified as a barrier to physical activity participation amongst this population. Purpose: The purpose of this feasibility study was to evaluate the viability of implementing an adapted version of an evidence-based physical activity program originally developed for senior citizens, Silver Sneakers. This adapted program, Kicking Off Purple Sneakers, was designed to enhance motor competency and promote engagement in functional movements critical for activities of daily living. The study assessed feasibility across multiple dimensions, including acceptability, demand, implementation fidelity, practicality, adaptability, expansion, integration, and preliminary efficacy. Design: A convergent parallel mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design was employed to evaluate feasibility according to Bowen’s Model of Feasibility. A total of 28 participants were included, with 12 in the experimental group and 16 in the control group. Quantitative measures included pre- and post-test assessments using the Senior Fitness Test, while qualitative data were collected through participant interviews, staff surveys, and observational checklists. A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to analyze within-group changes, as normality assumptions were not met. Results: Results demonstrated high feasibility, with 100% acceptability, strong participant engagement, and successful program integration within an existing community-based organization. Attendance rates exceeded feasibility benchmarks, and both participants and staff expressed a strong interest in continued participation. However, there were no significant improvements in motor competency as measured by the Senior Fitness Test, likely due to the short program duration (six weeks), small sample size, and potential limitations of the assessment tool. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of social support, enjoyment, and functional movement integration in physical activity interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities. This study underscores the need for longer-duration interventions, the development of motor competency assessments tailored to adults with intellectual disabilities, and future efficacy trials to assess long-term outcomes. Future research should explore the bidirectional relationship between motor competency and physical activity participation and its implications for obesity prevention within this population. By refining and expanding Kicking Off Purple Sneakers, community-based programs can better support the functional independence and physical health of adults with intellectual disabilities
Artificial Intelligence Introduction Section
Get PDFThe introduction gives an overview of the exhibition, along with an explanation of AI literacy, AI vs. Google, and a basic AI timeline
Not Far Enough: The West Virginia Human Rights Commission and the Civil Rights Movement
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and its action surrounding the Civil Rights Movement. The Commission represented the liberal ideals that led white moderates to be potent allies of the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the years following its inception, the Commission investigated and documented many instances of Jim Crow that were crushing Black communities in West Virginia. However, the limits of its liberal approach prevented it from creating solutions that would address the power structures that supported discrimination in West Virginia. By the late 1960s, Black frustrations with the lack of meaningful change boiled over into riots and rebellions to which the Commission had no answers. By centering this study on the actions of the Commission, it will explore the relationship between Black West Virginians and their white moderate allies and display how the inability to split from liberal ideals deprived Black West Virginians of meaningful allies which eventually contributed to the destruction of their communities and institutions
Engineering Nanomaterials from Phase-change Biological Materials Reacting with Carbon Dioxide
No full textThe current global situation concerning CO2 emissions is increasingly alarming, with rising concentrations of CO2 significantly worsening climate change and global warming. Atmospheric CO2 levels are now at their highest in millions of years, driving a host of catastrophic effects, including but not limited to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, disrupted ecosystems, deteriorating air quality, respiratory health issues, heat-related illnesses, threats to food and water security, and escalating social and geopolitical tensions. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C higher than that of pre-industry – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. In addition, The National Academy of Sciences has estimated that meeting the Paris Agreement’s goals will require scaling up to 10 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide removal annually by 2050, with 20 Gt of carbon dioxide removal each year by 2100. Hence, CO2 management has become an urgent and inevitable event. An amino acid-driven method, characterized by stability, low volatility, and environmental friendliness, was introduced to capture and convert CO2 into various value-added nano-carbonates (e.g., CaCO3, BaCO3, Ag2CO3). These nano-carbonates are widely or potentially applied as fillers, medicines, and catalysts in various sectors including the industrial (e.g., food, construction, paint, polymer), biomedical, environmental, and electronic fields. The method can be two steps, or it can be simplified to one step when the hydroxide has relatively high solubility and its corresponding carbonate has low solubility. For two steps: 1) CO2 is bubbled into an amino acid salt solvent (dissolving hydroxide and amino acid); 2) metal ions are added to mineralize captured CO2 into nano-carbonates. It has been verified that our two-step method is universal, as nano-CaCO3, nano BaCO3 and nano-Ag2CO3 with size smaller than 100 nm have been successfully produced. For one step: 1) CO2 is bubbled into an amino acid salt solvent (dissolving hydroxide and amino acid) to produce nano-carbonate. Here, solvents were produced by dissolving barium hydroxide and amino acids, and the nano-BaCO3 was formed after bubbling CO2. Our method has shown that amino acids can be reused without any further purification. The morphology of nano-carbonates produced by these two methods can be tuned by using different amino acid concentrations and identities. The mechanism was determined that the amino acid plays a key role in controlling the morphology of nano-carbonate. To evaluate the potential adaptation and viability of our method in different industries with different CO2 concentrations (e.g., coal-fired power plants: ~12-15%; natural gas turbines: ~ 3-5%; cement plants: ~20-25%), flue gas with different CO2 concentrations (4%, 12%, and 20%) was utilized and evaluated. It was found that our system successfully captured and converted CO2 from these flue gases to nano CaCO3. Our study demonstrated that the amount of carbamate is a crucial factor in the formation of nano-scale particles, and it is positively correlated with the proportion of nanoparticles produced. Our method was also proven to be tunable for different flue gases, and the tuning methods are also discussed. In summary, we have developed a method using amino acid salt to convert CO2 to various stable nano-carbonates. This method is capable of converting CO2 from different flue gases, which will reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and will reduce climate change. In addition, this invention is 4E (effective, efficient, economic, and environmentally friendly), which has the potential for commercialization
Soft Epilogue
Get PDFThis written document is the accompanying thesis for my Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Soft Epilogue. The work in the exhibition serves as a visual record of my eating disorder recovery process. Each piece in the exhibition addresses a selected writing prompt from the book 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder, published in 2011 and written by therapists and former eating disorder patients Carolyn Costin and Gwen Schubert Grabb. The book provides information and journal assignments regarding the development of eating disorders, how to maintain the motivation to recover, and how to navigate the complicated emotions that arise during the recovery process. The focus required for creating work utilizing processes and materials in both printmaking and textiles presents a meditative undertaking that facilitates introspection and awareness, much like undergoing therapy. Through the act of creating work that is vulnerable and honest, I hope to experience an emotional catharsis while providing those who identify with the content with solidarity and recognition