Topophilia or Topophobia? Environment and Health in West Virginia

This paper explores existential tension between two radically opposed experiences of environment where West Virginia stands as a landscape that simultaneously promotes attachment and alienation. We may think of different locales as on a continuum from the potentially therapeutic to essentially pathogenic. What has been called a therapeutic landscape necessarily represents only one possible dimension of our relationship with place or, in this case, what geographer Yi-fu Tuan referred to as topophilia as the basis for positive affective attachment between person and place born of comfort and subjective well-being. A landscape of fear—captured in Tuan’s topophobia—establishes an essentially negative, or at least ambivalent, relationship between people and place that may ultimately induce anxiety, dread, and depression. In her work on the emotional development of children, in particular, the environmental psychologist Louise Chawla suggests that the places we inhabit, at all times, have the potential for either light or darkness as there is always a “shadow side” to our relationship. While Chawla’s concept evokes the relative darkness, it nevertheless opens the possibility of change in our relationship to any given place. That is to say, this relationship is dynamic. After a long history of environmental catastrophe with direct impact on human health in West Virginia—most recently punctuated by a chemical spill that affected over 300,000 people—I take up the challenge to view Appalachia from a fresh perspective as I consider what’s next for West Virginia through illustrations of creative, dynamic forces for change now at work

Inclusive Excellence in Honors Education

This manuscript investigates the integration of values and practices of inclusive excellence in honors education. It discusses the evolution of honors education, highlighting the shift from traditional selectivity to inclusivity. The author critiques the elitism in honors programs and proposes strategies for inclusivity, emphasizing holistic admissions and diverse student engagement.Key approaches include broadening admissions criteria beyond standardized tests, integrating transfer students, and ensuring retention through supportive initiatives. The author argues for aligning honors education with institutional missions of equity, positioning honors programs as exemplars of inclusive excellence. Finally, the author advocates for reimagining honors education to reflect diverse global societies, suggesting a paradigm shift towards accessible, equitable honors programs that focus on promoting honorable action.https://mds.marshall.edu/honorspublications/1002/thumbnail.jp

Are We Doing it For the Money? A Salary Survey of the United States Surgical Program Directors

Compensation packages and job responsibilities for United States surgical program directors (PD) vary considerably from one institution to the next. With limited compensation data available for PD’s, this survey reassesses and compares the salaries, benefits, duties, and contract arrangements of all allopathic U.S. surgical PDs. Questionnaires regarding these areas of interest were mailed out electronically to all of the PDs and data was compared between the individuals’ responses using Chi-Squared and Fischer Exact Tests. Fifty-five percent of the PDs responded, revealing significant variation in total compensation packages, size of the dedicated stipend for the role, and time spent on clinical and administrative tasks. Mean salary reported by the group was $340,000 and nearly one-third of the directors reported they were dissatisfied with their current compensation package. These survey results reveal a continued incongruency in the responsibilities and pay of surgical PDs across the country. Furthermore, the information gathered could be utilized to set a compensation standard for PDs and their employers in future contract negotiations

Strategic Plan for the Honors College at Marshall University, 2023

Beginning with a consideration of our broader institutional and communal contexts and informed by wide-ranging internal and external data collection and analysis, the first five-year strategic plan of the Honors College at Marshall University sets overarching priorities and defined goals that together are intended to deepen community connections, expand recruitment efforts, support greater access and inclusion while increasing retention, develop a more engaging, flexible, and valuable curriculum, and through securing greater material and human resources, to raise the college’s ability to serve as an equal partner in the provision of service to other units on campus. Our overarching goal is to build a successful future for the college that aligns most productively with institutional priorities.https://mds.marshall.edu/honorspublications/1001/thumbnail.jp

“From sweet potatoes to God Almighty”: Roy Rappaport on being a hedgehog

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71618/1/ae.2007.34.3.581.pd

Grey Suit or Brown Carhartt: Narrative Transition, Relocation and Reorientation in the Lives of Corporate Refugees

This article examines relocation stories of people who leave behind corporate work culture, relocate from metropolitan areas to small towns and rural places and attempt to reorient themselves to work and family obligations. Decisions to start over take place within the context of moral questions about what makes a life worth living and what does not through a process in which geography has bearing. For these migrants, a choice about where to live is also one about how to live. Choices of how to live one’s life are made of more than simple economics, they are also moral. The restructuring and corporate downsizing that defines the contemporary workplace has led some workers and their families to challenge assumptions of the American Dream that promises future reward for loyalty to an employer, hard work and self-sacrifice. These life-style migrants relocate in their attempt to find potential selves and idealized families in new places.Alfred P. Sloan FoundationPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41213/1/hoey_jar 62(3)_abstract.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41213/4/hoey_jar_62(3)_full.pd

Oral corticosteroid prescribing practice for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps among otorhinolaryngologists in Scotland:a nationwide survey

ObjectiveOral corticosteroids are used to treat exacerbations of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Oral corticosteroid prescribing practices vary as reported from national surveys in Italy, China, Canada and the USA.MethodsA nationwide online survey of ENT doctors practicing in Scotland was conducted using Microsoft Forms.ResultsThere was a 31 per cent response rate. The most common daily doses of oral corticosteroid courses were 25 mg and 40 mg with the lengths being 14 and 7 days, respectively. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents prescribed the same daily dose throughout the course. Rhinologists prescribed longer courses with a smaller daily dose of prednisolone. Only one respondent fully agreed that there were clear guidelines regarding the daily dose and the length of oral corticosteroid course in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.ConclusionThe heterogeneity of oral corticosteroid prescribing practice in different countries, including Scotland, reveals the need for clear guidelines with a specific oral corticosteroid daily dose and length of the course