Oral History Interview: Mr. and Mrs. Britt Thomas

This interview is one of a series conducted concerning rural life in West Virginia. The main focus is on education. Mr. Thomas received his diploma in mechanical engineering from Marshall University in 1928. Mrs. Thomas relates her teaching experiences in Milton, West Virginia, where she taught Music and English. Together the couple discusses their early married life. At the time of the interview, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas resided in Huntington, West Virginia.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1062/thumbnail.jp

The marketing of forest products in Tennessee

Tennessee has the timber-producing potential, the markets, and the leadership necessary to develop a more productive timber economy, but at present the volume of saw timber is being harvested at a much greater rate than it is growing. This could be a devastating blow to our timber industry if better management practices are not applied in the future. In all regions of the state, current growth falls far below the full potentiality of the forest lands. Therefore, management practices should be directed towards growing more and better timber faster than it is being grown at the present time. With timber being a $190 million yearly industry In the state, it would appear that more effort should be put forth in protecting and developing this important resource. Farmers should stop treating it as an unwanted stepchild. Vast quantities of timber that would now be worth a fortune have been destroyed in reading forest land for agricultural production. Many of these areas have been submarginal and in a few years they have reverted to waste land and eventually back to unmanaged forests, which are by far inferior to the original stands of timber. For this reason, large areas in all parts of the state which are at present classified as forest land are basically waste land, producing scrub trees that will never make salable timber

Chamber Singers and Percussion Ensemble to Hold a Joint Concert

The expected increasing demand for informal care in aging societies underscores the importance of understanding the psychological implications of caregiving. This study explores the effect of providing regular help with personal care to a partner on different aspects of psychological well-being. We use cross-sectional data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation study (n. ~15,000; age 40-84) and two-wave panel data from the Norwegian study on Life Course, Ageing and Generation (n. ~3000; age 40-84). To separate the effects of providing care from those of the partner’s disability, caregivers are contrasted with non-caregivers with both disabled and nondisabled partners. We separate outcomes into cognitive well-being (life satisfaction), psychological functioning (self-esteem, mastery), and affective well-being (happiness, depression, loneliness). Findings show that caregiving has important cross-sectional and longitudinal detrimental psychological effects. These effects are fairly consistent across all aspects of well-being, demonstrating that caregiving has a broad-based negative impact. Among women, however, these effects are similar to if not weaker than the effects of a partner’s disability. Caregiving effects are constant by age, education, and employment status, but stronger among caregivers with health problems. Providing personal care to a partner is associated with marked adverse psychological effects for men and women irrespective of age and socio-economic status. Hence, no sociodemographic group is immune from caregiving stress, so programs should be targeted generally. The results also suggest that the health needs of caregivers demand more attention.Norges forskningsråd 196425 Norges forskningsråd 18778

The strains and gains of caregiving: An examination of the effects of providing personal care to a parent on a range of psychological outcomes

This study explores the effect of providing regular help with personal care to a resident or non-resident parent or parent-in-law on different aspects of psychological well-being. We use cross-sectional data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation (LOGG) study (N ~ 15,000, age 18–79) and two-wave panel data from the Norwegian study on Life course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG) (N ~ 3,000, age 40–79). We separate outcomes into cognitive well-being (life satisfaction, partnership satisfaction, self-esteem), affective well-being (happiness, positive and negative affect, depression, loneliness) and sense of mastery. Caregiver status is largely unrelated to these aspects of well-being, both in cross-section and longitudinally. One notable exception is that caring for a resident (but not a non-resident) parent relates to lower affective well-being among women, also longitudinally. This effect is more marked among unpartnered and lower educated women. In addition, caring for a non-resident parent is associated with a positive change in sense of mastery among women. The results reviewed and presented indicate that caregiving has less detrimental effects in the Nordic countries than in other countries, highlighting the role of social policies and care systems in shaping the impact of caregiving on well-being.This research is supported by grants from the Norwegian Research Council (project EqualCare 196425/V50 and NorPAN 187783)

Adaptive smartphone-based sensor fusion for estimating competitive rowing kinematic metrics.

Competitive rowing highly values boat position and velocity data for real-time feedback during training, racing and post-training analysis. The ubiquity of smartphones with embedded position (GPS) and motion (accelerometer) sensors motivates their possible use in these tasks. In this paper, we investigate the use of two real-time digital filters to achieve highly accurate yet reasonably priced measurements of boat speed and distance traveled. Both filters combine acceleration and location data to estimate boat distance and speed; the first using a complementary frequency response-based filter technique, the second with a Kalman filter formalism that includes adaptive, real-time estimates of effective accelerometer bias. The estimates of distance and speed from both filters were validated and compared with accurate reference data from a differential GPS system with better than 1 cm precision and a 5 Hz update rate, in experiments using two subjects (an experienced club-level rower and an elite rower) in two different boats on a 300 m course. Compared with single channel (smartphone GPS only) measures of distance and speed, the complementary filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 44%, 42%, and 73%, respectively, while the Kalman filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 48%, 22%, and 82%, respectively. Both filters demonstrate promise as general purpose methods to substantially improve estimates of important rowing performance metrics

Three Little Words and the Critical Argument of The Best Show on WFMU

Tom Scharpling was the longtime host (October 2000 - December 2013) of The Best Show on WFMU, a music/comedy program that originated on listener-supported New Jersey radio station WFMU and became internationally popular through Internet streaming and podcasting. My paper examines the ways in which “Rock, Rot & Rule,” the sketch that inspired the program, utilizes brevity to satirize the dilemma of criticism. Scharpling interviewed Ronald Thomas Clontle, author of a book titled Rock, Rot & Rule, “the ultimate argument settler,” whose function is to categorize popular music into acts that rock, acts that rot, and acts that rule. The premise of Clontle’s book involves comedic devices like overstatement and simplification. The irony of Clontle’s claim to settle arguments is that his interview has the opposite effect. It infuriates listeners. Impassioned music enthusiasts call in to criticize his methodology, but he cannot be bothered. Unbeknownst to listeners, Clontle is a character played by musician Jon Wurster. He and Scharpling have intricately scripted their interaction, creating a comedy of outrage among people who take music seriously. And therein lies the value of “Rock, Rot & Rule” as an influential instance of brevity in humor. For the unsuspecting listeners of “Rock, Rot & Rule,” Clontle arouses anxiety because he is indicative of the future of criticism.Tom Scharpling a longtemps animé The Best Show on WFMU (entre octobre 2000 et décembre 2013), émission musicale/humoristique qui a débuté sur la chaîne de radio WFMU du New Jersey, avant de devenir célèbre dans le monde entier grâce au streaming et aux podcasts. Cette contribution étudie comment « Rock, Rot and Rule », le sketch qui a inspiré l’émission, exploite la forme courte pour proposer une satire de la critique musicale. Dans l’émission, Scharpling interviewe Ronald Thomas Clontle, auteur d’un libre intitulé Rock, Rot and Rule, The ultimate argument settler, dont l’objet est de classer la musique populaire en morceaux qui « déchirent » (rock), qui sont « pourris » (rot) ou qui « en imposent » (rule). Le livre exploite des techniques de la comédie comme l’exagération et la simplification. Clontle prétend résoudre les conflits mais son interview a l’effet inverse. Elle rend les auditeurs furieux. Les amateurs passionnés de musique appellent la radio pour critiquer sa méthodologie mais Clontle n’en a cure. Ce qu’ignorent les auditeurs, c’est que Clontle est en réalité un personnage joué par le musicien Jon Wurster. Scharpling et lui ont préparé leur échange soi-disant impromptu, provoquant un faux scandale pour tous ceux qui prennent la musique au sérieux. C'est là que réside l'intérêt de « Rock, Rot and Rule », exemple célèbre de l’humour sous sa forme brève. Clontle provoque l’angoisse chez les auditeurs qui ne se doutent de rien, et il anticipe ainsi l’avenir de la critique

Where\u27s My Sweetie Hiding?

With ukulele arrangement. Contains advertisements and/or short musical examples of pieces being sold by publisher.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/6852/thumbnail.jp