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St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 23, No. 3
Get PDFSt. Cloud area economic recovery has begun as year-over-year regional employment has grown and surveyed local firms project strong business activity. While the pandemic appears to have created scars in the local economy that plague some of our local service sectors, many area firms continue to report challenges that are typically associated with rapid expansion—labor shortages, price increases, accelerating wage growth, etc. Data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) indicate St. Cloud area employment increased 4.3 percent over the twelve months ending July 2021. However, employment in the Stearns-Benton Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is still 4,655 (4.4 percent) below its level two years ago. Recent job growth has been generally positive across most local sectors, but the leisure/hospitality and financial activities sectors saw a reduction in workers employed over the past twelve months. While financial activities employment has declined statewide, St. Cloud is the only region to see a current decline in leisure/hospitality sector employment. Employment in this sector is now 18.4 percent below its level in July 2019, compared to a decline of 10.4 percent statewide. The St. Cloud Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 2.1% in the recent period and 10.3% in the last year as the local economy continues to rebound from the trough of the recession that ended in April 2020. Current business activity at surveyed firms continued to be strong compared to what is normally seen at this time of year. 60 percent of surveyed firms report an increase in business activity over the past three months and only 17 percent of firms experienced a decrease in activity over the past quarter. The future outlook of surveyed firms is also improved as local companies expect better business conditions over the next six months. In special questions, 43 percent of surveyed firms are either “greatly concerned” or “is our greatest concern” that the decline in labor force participation that has occurred since the onset of COVID is permanent. Also, one-third of surveyed businesses indicate the possibility that the recent increase in economywide inflation rates is not temporary is either a great concern or their greatest concern. In a final special question, only 12 percent of surveyed firms consider it to be likely or extremely likely that their firm will use cryptocurrencies for transactions within the next five years
I Can Breathe
Get PDFFor many college professors, Covid-19 prompted an abrupt shift to online learning. Colleagues scrambled to plan the rest of the spring semester as the transition’s ambiguity led to anxiousness and frustration. I, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. A few days before the stay-at-home order went into place, I was the victim of a hate crime on campus. Although I am well aware of racial challenges and tensions that consistently exist on my and other college campuses, I escaped direct target until this point. After nearly a decade of employment with the same university, I have grown comfortable in my surroundings, perhaps too comfortable. One of the few Black faculty members on campus, I rarely blend in. People tend to know of or recognize me well before the same level of recognition is returned. I love my job and feel respected by my colleagues and the students. Nevertheless, in just a few short seconds, one distressing critical incident severely damaged my feeling of safety and connectivity to my professional home. In this essay, I use reflexivity to make explicit personal-cultural connections between the hate crime, intergenerational trauma, and the Covid-19 stay at home order. Moving exclusively to a virtual learning environment allowed me to unpack the incident and its link to my family histories based in the Jim Crow South absent of the respectable Black woman role that typically shields my intersecting identities. Through these experiences, I connected with a level of vulnerability, patience, and self-awareness in personal and professional spaces that I would not have displayed before Covid-19
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 23, No. 1
Get PDFRevised data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) indicate St. Cloud area employment declined 6.5 percent over the twelve months ending January 2021. Area employment was 7,097 lower than one year earlier as the local recession continues into its second year. The pandemic has adversely affected nearly all local sectors—only the local construction center has experienced job growth over the past year. Ninety percent of the impact was felt in approximately one-half of area employment. For example, employment in the local leisure & hospitality sector was one-third lower over the past twelve months and the manufacturing sector shed 10 percent of its jobs over the same period.
The St. Cloud Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.8% in the recent period as the local economy is expected to improve from the weak numbers that have been seen since the onset of recession. Current business activity at surveyed firms was also improved as economic performance continued to rebound from historic weakness three months ago. 55 percent of surveyed firms report an increase in business activity over the past three months and only 15 percent of firms experienced a decrease in activity over the past quarter. The future outlook of surveyed firms is also improved as local companies expect better business conditions over the next six months.
In special questions, business leaders express concern about the unfavorable impact that the new administration’s health care, regulatory, tax, trade, and immigration policies will have on their firm. Surveyed firms are less certain about the impact of the Biden administration’s infrastructure spending plans. In this quarter’s other special question, 42.4 percent of surveyed firms are strongly opposed to a potential ½-cent increase in the local sales tax in St. Cloud and Waite Park. Another 9.1 percent of firms are somewhat opposed to a sales tax hike, while 21.2 percent of firms are neutral. 15.2 percent of firms somewhat favor a local sales tax extension
St. Cloud Metro Area Visitor Profile & Economic Impact Final Report Summer 2019-Winter 2020
Get PDFThis report is a summation of results from fall summer 2019, fall 2019, and winter 2020 St. Cloud Metro Area Visitor Profile Surveys.
In 2019, the St. Cloud City Hall, St. Cloud Area Convention and Visitor Bureau, and Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) contracted with St. Cloud State University School of Public Affairs, Geography & Planning Department, and the Hospitality and Tourism Program to conduct a visitor profile survey from summer 2019 to spring 2020. Spring 2020 area events and airport travel were suspended due to COVID-19, thus concluding the study. Therefore, the fourth seasonal report could not be issued. Therefore, the fourth seasonal report could not be issued.
The purpose of this project was to better understand visitor\u27s travel experience in the St. Cloud Metro area and to profile visitors based on their characteristics. The findings of this project will assist with destination planning, marketing and offer a better destination experience for those who visit the St. Cloud Metro area in the future
The Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Reading Practices
Get PDFCOVID-19 has changed the daily lives of families, impacted work, social interactions, and mental health. Since spring 2020, parents have been working from home and children have been home from daycare and school. Parents are experiencing stress in an attempt to satisfy the demands of work, family, and COVID-19 concerns. Due to the fact that children have been home from daycare and school, parents have the sole responsibility of caring for and teaching their children until schools are able to fully and effectively meet the needs of educating students in an adapted format. Research provides a wealth of information documenting the advantages of parents’ reading to their children. Children benefit from read-alouds with parental interaction, and these benefits include an increase in oral language skills, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and an increase in motivation to read. The purpose of this study is to answer two questions: (1) Since parents were home more often with their children, were parents spending more quality time reading to their two to four-year-old children? This can be defined as reading developmentally appropriate books to their children with their undivided attention; and (2) Since parents were home more often with their two to four-year-old children, were parents reading more to their young children? Parents of pre-kindergarten students were surveyed to determine the answers to these questions
College Students Perception of Privacy in Smart Wearable Medical Devices
Get PDFThere is a difference in the way community perceive the security and privacy in Smart Wearable Medical Devices. For example, some people think it is ok for Smart Wearable Medical Devices to collect their data’s and sharing with third parties while others might be concerned. Some users are skeptical about the use of these devices for different reasons. This study investigates some importance aspect of the Smart Wearable Medical Device usability, how college students perceive privacy on smart wearable medical devices, the lack of due diligence in the security and privacy of these devices, the necessary privacy controls, how much college students understand and are aware of how their data is collected and used, and the security and privacy concerns in the usage of the device. The results show that more than 50% of the respondents do not perceive the security [AA1] and privacy issues in smart wearable medical device as a potential risk. They do not understand the type of information that is stored on, or transmitted from their device, how this information is used, and where this information is stored. The result indicates that, they are concern about their data, but they do not have full control over who have access to their data with this, their data is vulnerable to attacks. Finally, we identified and suggested some future research directions for using the findings of this study to raise awareness about security and privacy risks in smart wearable medical devices
Side by Side: Allyship\u27s Rhetorical Construction in University LGBT Resource Center Safe Space Training Manuals
Get PDFWhile university LGBT resource centers work to educate, enable, and embolden members of the LGBTQIA+ community themselves, there is also important work for resource centers in building bridges to, and understanding within, greater campus and greater community populations. Our paper explores the rhetorical construction used by university LGBT resource center Safe Space training manuals to develop understanding, compassion, activism—allyship and allies—in resource center communities, populations potentially both inside and outside that of the university LGBTQIA+ community proper. As many LGBT resource centers have been founded on texts that unintentionally promote hetero- and homonormative ways of being, current Safe Space manuals may not address queer community intragroup allyship, and therefore the many embodiments of queer experience—ignoring potential for ally development, and perpetuating singular understandings of the ally, and the queer individual. In Side by Side we’ve examined who university Safe Space manuals address, how invitations to support the LGBTQIA+ community are presented, and the frames used to develop allies and change views of the LGBTQIA+ community. Through examination of recent iterations of one university’s Safe Space manuals and interviews with its recent LGBT Resource Center directors, the study found that while understandings of “ally” and the queer community have changed in recent decades, that resource center manuals have not, maintaining focus rather on intergroup allies as vital and privileged players in queer and trans causes. Implications of this stagnation and possible enhancements of the rhetoricity of the resource center’s Safe Space manuals are discussed
SmartMesh IP Network and IoT System
Get PDFIn recent years, a great deal of research conducted in a variety of scientific areas, including physics, microelectronics, and material science, by scientific experts from different domains of expertise has resulted in the invention of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). As MEMS became very popular and widely used, the need for combining the capabilities of sensing, actuation, processing, and communication also grew, and led to further research which would result in the design and implementation of devices which could reflect all those four capabilities. These devices became knowns as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and they have been the focus of considerable research efforts in the areas of communications (routing, coding, error detection, error correction, and protocols), electronics (miniaturization and energy efficiency), and control (networked control system, theory, and applications).
SmartMesh IP is an innovative way to connect WSNs with advanced network management and comprehensive security features. It follows the IEEE 802.15.4e Timeslotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) standard. SmartMesh IP delivers reliable, scalable, and energy efficient wireless sensor connectivity. Using up to eight times less power than other solutions, SmartMesh IP has become the industry’s most energy-efficient wireless mesh sensing technology even in harsh and dynamically changing RF environments. Therefore, it is an excellent way to create a smart low-power network infrastructure.
Thus, the main objectives of this work are:
1) designing and developing a SmartMesh IP system for teaching and research purposes at St. Cloud State University,
2) developing lab procedures for two senior elective classes at St. Cloud State University. The lab procedures are for network manager and mote configuration, and operation control of the embedded system on the mote.
3) testing the performance of SmartMesh IP systems with several configurations.
To accomplish the above objectives, here are the tasks that I have completed:
1) Study of the SmartMesh IP Design: Performed extensive study of SmartMesh IP design resources including documentations and source codes.
2) Design of a SmartMesh IP Configuration software: this software has been designed and developed for configuring SmartMesh IP network managers, motes, and access points.
3) Design of a SmartMesh IP Temperature Logger software: this software has been designed and developed for monitoring the temperature data collected within a SmartMesh IP network using motes’ internal temperature sensors.
4) Design of a SmartMesh IP Network Statistics software: this software has been designed and developed for monitoring the statistics data (such as reliability, stability, and latency statistics) collected within a SmartMesh IP network.
5) Design of a SmartMesh IP Network Topology software: this software has been designed and developed for viewing the topology layout of a SmartMesh IP network.
6) Design of SmartMesh IP Temperature Plotter firmware and software: this platform has been designed and developed for monitoring the temperature data from external temperature sensors through ADC processing.
7) Design of SmartMesh IP Oscilloscope firmware and software: this platform has been designed and developed for viewing an analog signal’s digitized data.
To complete the above tasks, I relied heavily on the resources found in the dustcloud Community SmartMesh IP website:
https://dustcloud.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ALLDOC/overview
In the end, a SmartMesh IP network and IoT system was successfully designed and developed. Also, the system was tested with 100% reliability under several applications and configurations