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KVSC Trivia Poster [2022]
No full textThe theme was LITerally Trivia: A Novel Idea .https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/kvsc_trvposters/1028/thumbnail.jp
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 24, No. 1
Get PDFAs the pandemic subsides, the new year has ushered in a long awaited broad-based area economic expansion. Virtually all sectors of the area economy experienced employment growth as the area added more than 3,600 jobs over the year ending January 2022. Firms’ future outlook remains very strong, but is clouded by accelerating inflation (and accompanying wage pressures) and persistent labor shortages.
Data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) indicate St. Cloud area employment increased 3.6% over the twelve months ending January 2022 (but is still 3,144 below its pre-pandemic level two years ago). Local job growth occurred in virtually all sectors, with leisure/hospitality leading the way with a 22.3% employment increase over the past year. Employment in the mining/logging/construction industry also rose 13.8% over the same period.
The St. Cloud Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 1.7% from three months ago and is 0.8% from its recent high 2 quarters ago. 5 of 6 indicators rose in the last quarter. Business activity at surveyed firms was solid over the past quarter. 46% of surveyed firms report an increase in business activity over the past three months and only 13% of firms experienced a decrease in activity. The future outlook of surveyed firms is very strong as 72% of survey respondents expect improved business conditions over the next six months and only 3% of firms anticipate decreased activity.
In our first special question, most firms indicate hiring practices have been unchanged over the past 12 months (although 28% of firms note that they are utilizing less stringent previous experience requirements than one year ago). In a second special question, 54% of surveyed firms report they plan to undertake capital spending in 2022 in order to keep up with technology. Another 46% of firms indicate capital purchases are used to produce output more efficiently, while 39% are simply replacing worn-out capital. 25% of firms plan to purchase capital in order to contain labor costs. In this quarter’s final special question, firms report on the ways in which inflation is affecting their firm. Several firms indicate significant materials cost increases, accelerating wages, and declining profit margins
Stress and Burnout During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFProblem or purpose: Studies across different countries suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress and burnout (e.g., Queen & Harding, 2020; Taylor et al., 2020; Y. Wang et al., 2020; Xiong et al., 2020). Previous research has also found that women may be more likely to experience negative effects from the pandemic than men (e.g., Taylor et al., 2020; X. Wang et al., 2020 Y. Wang et al., 2020), and that the stress of the pandemic may differ by employment status (e.g., Joshi & Sharma, 2020; Kaur et al., 2020). As a result, we are predicting (1) participants to report stress and burnout, (2) women to report higher stress and burnout than men, (3) and that participants who are currently employed will report higher stress and burnout than those who are not employed/retired.Procedure: We measured stress with a single item that asked about stress during the past month and burnout with a single item that asked if participants are experiencing more burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic than usual. Telephone surveys were conducted in October 2021 via random digit dialing. Preliminary data includes surveys from 216 adult Minnesotans (51% women, 74% white, age mean = 53.01 years, SD = 18.23).Results: Preliminary results showed that 22% of participants reported feeling a lot or completely stressed during the past month, and 22% of participants reported that they felt a little or a lot more burnout than usual during the pandemic. We found gender differences in stress (chi-square = 10.84, p = .004) and burnout (chi-square = 5.72, p = .02), such that women reported significantly more stress and burnout than men. Finally, results suggested that participants who were employed part- or full-time did not report more stress than those who were not employed or retired (chi-square = 2.52, p = .28), but employed participants did report more burnout (chi-square = 12.45, p \u3c .001).Conclusions and implications: These findings highlight that many people are experiencing stress and burnout during the pandemic, and that these feelings are more likely for women. Burnout, but not stress, was more common for people who are employed, suggesting that the pandemic may be having prolonged effects on workers
Rock Art Documentation in the Digital Age: The Rafter Z Site (24RB2809) in Rosebud County, Montana
Get PDFThe Rafter Z site was a previously unrecorded rock art site located on private land in Rosebud County, Montana. The resulting thesis provided an opportunity to systematically document the site and conduct important rock art research within southeastern Montana. The thesis project was sectioned into two phases. The first phase provided the documentation of the Rafter Z site, surveying of 170-acres of private land, documentation of three additional cultural sites, and a comprehensive analysis of the Rafter Z site. This research showed that the Rafter Z site constitutes one of the larger rock art sites in Rosebud County and the greater southeastern Montana region. Housing 36 shield-bearing warriors and 14 freestanding shields, the site offers a unique perspective into the Plains warrior ethos from the Late Prehistoric period. In addition, the site provides insight into early Crow and the Kiowa/ Kiowa Apache use of the region during the mid-to-late Prehistoric period with its mixture of Castle Garden and Timber Creek style rock art figures. The second phase of the proposed project utilized two digital techniques recently applied to rock art documentation: photogrammetry and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI). Several variables were tested to ascertain the best methods to effectively render 3D models using photogrammetry and conduct RTI on the sandstone substrate. Overall, these digital documentation methods heightened the interpretive and archival quality of the site documentation and data collected. Enhancing the archival quality of rock art will allow future research to occur when access may be limited
Bibliotherapy in the School Setting: A Study of How and Why School Counselors Utilize Books with Students
Get PDFBibliotherapy, or the theory that books can be used to heal the soul, has been around since ancient times. The history and effectiveness of bibliotherapy has been well documented and researchers have begun to explore what factors may contribute to a mental health practitioner’s use of bibliotherapy. However, little research has been done specific to how school counselors utilize bibliotherapy and little is known about what personal characteristics may influence whether a school counselor will choose to use books in their work with students. This study will utilize a survey sent to school counselors via professional network listservs to explore what demographic factors, such as grade of students served, number of years as a counselor, training, and size of caseload, influence a school counselor’s use of bibliotherapy. In addition, the study will investigate whether school counselors who enjoy reading in their personal time utilize bibliotherapy at a higher rate than those who do not
Student Support Professionals Experience Onboarding
Get PDFThis study was designed to explore the onboarding experience of student support professionals in Midwestern universities within a state system. The 4 C’s of onboarding (Bauer, 2010[LJR1] ), specifically the building blocks of culture and connection, were used as a guide through the qualitative research design. The study offers insight into the socialization process, the broadest description of the relationship between the organization and the employee, and dives deeper into understanding how student support professionals make sense of the onboarding process in understanding the organizational norms, both formal and informal, and establish vital interpersonal relationships and information networks as newcomers.
[LJR1]2010 ref not in reference
Increasing Physical Activity in Adolescents Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Progressive Goal Setting, Self-Monitoring, Feedback, and Reinforcement
Get PDFInsufficient physical activity (PA) is prevalent amongst adolescents, particularly those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. According to the World Health Organization (2020), globally, 81% of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of PA. Whole-day interventions (i.e., interventions implemented throughout the day) can effectively increase PA levels holistically throughout the day, in line with PA guidelines. However, research remains scarce regarding the effectiveness of whole-day interventions (i.e., interventions implemented throughout the day) for increasing PA levels in individuals diagnosed with ASD. The present study evaluated the use of a multicomponent intervention package comprising progressive goal setting, self-monitoring, feedback, and reinforcement, implemented by the parent to increase whole-day step count in two adolescents diagnosed with ASD. The participants increased their daily step counts to 14,000 steps by the conclusion of the study, thus meeting or exceeding PA guidelines. Perceived social validity was high among both parent and participants, and behavioural outcomes point to high social validity among participants. The implications of the findings are discussed in this paper
The Future of Digital Forensics, A Gamified Approach for Education.
Get PDFDigital Forensics is a 21st-century emerging field that has taken more roots than ever before in the field of information security. The growth of digital forensics can be attributed to the need for expert digital forensics analysts to respond to the increased cybercrimes currently pillaging through the Internet and its environs. Without a doubt, the field of digital forensics is by far more complex. It requires extensive knowledge of new trends and legacy systems and the extensive use of specialized tools tailored in securing convictions through properly acquired evidence that can be used in a courtroom or thereof. Due to the numerous demands of individuals in the field, it is quite shocking that the number of experts is low hence a considerable backlog of cases in law enforcement. This study\u27s abstract is to tentatively study and meticulously understand the many reasons for the decline in the growth of Digital Forensics and Cyber Security experts in the field. The project will also provide a method to combat this problem through a gamified approach targeting high school students with the sole benefit of creating awareness about this technical field from a young age to probably foster new ideologies and critical thinkers that would see a rise in the number of experts in this field as a result of keen interest and not just for a means to ensure basic needs are met. Also, to achieve this goal, this project will provide students with an awareness of what Digital Forensics is all about at that early stage in their lives through a gaming tool that will be interactive and fun
Embedding Rational Expectations in a Structural VAR: Internal and External Instruments for Set Identification
Get PDFWe propose a novel approach that embeds Rational Expectations (RE) into a low-dimensional structural vector autoregression (SVAR). We establish an instrumental variable procedure internal to the SVAR founded on a purely theoretical framework, which does not rely on any mapping strategy to a reduced form. Alternatively, a separate strategy considers data external to the SVAR to aid in the identification of structural shocks on a purely empirical basis. We report clouds of responses from a RE-consistent theoretical model as well as regions of plausible responses from the empirical approach. We conclude that a Taylor Rule characterization of monetary policy shocks remains relevant when the theoretical RE-SVAR is properly augmented with information from fluctuations—or momentous events—in markets that garnered increased attention since 2008, such as reserves and various money markets
Hearing the Music in Medicine
Get PDFAppreciation of the invaluable beauty of art in medicine is seldomly discussed. Despite medicine being art in its purest form, the topic is rarely touched on in medical school. This piece discusses the power of music and how active listening can play a pivotal role in our outlook on medicine and patient care