Bringing down the mountains: The impact of mountaintop removal surface coal mining on southern West Virginia communities, 1970--2004

Stewart Burns, Shirley L West Virginia University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

While surface mining began in West Virginia during WWI, the practice did not expand until WWII. Used to fuel the war effort, surface mining would become the industry-preferred means of mining coal and gained a permanent place in West Virginia's coal mining industry. Mountaintop removal surface coal mining began on Fayette County, West Virginia's, Bullpush Mountain in 1970. An extreme version of strip mining, during mountaintop removal the tops of mountains are removed via blasting in order to reveal the coal seams below. The last thirty-four years has seen an escalation in this mining method from forty-four permits covering 9,800 acres throughout the 1980s to the granting of permits covering 12,540 acres in a nine-month period in 2002 alone. This increase in mountaintop removal has impacted southern West Virginia not only environmentally, but socially and culturally as well. The introduction of 20-story draglines in the 1980s allowed for the swifter removal of coal by mountaintop removal. The process enjoyed a great expansion during the 1990s after the Federal Clean Air Act was amended to include a more stringent emissions standard. This increased the demand for southern West Virginia's low sulfur, high volatility coal. Since that time, the process has entered many southern West Virginia coal communities. The UMWA, once staunchly aligned with coal community citizens, continually found itself torn between its Union members working on these sites and the coal community residents opposed to this mining technique. Many coal community residents directly affected by this process created "free spaces" where they could band together in opposition. Many citizens have been plaintiffs in lawsuits against the coal companies operating in their communities, but West Virginia politicians' have vacillated between silence and protectionism. As a direct result of mountaintop removal, the environment of southern West Virginia has suffered as the conversion of continuous hardwood forests have been turned into a fragmented landscape interspersed with grasslands more characteristic of the mid-western United States than Appalachia. This study focuses on the various impacts this newest form of coal mining has had on coal communities in the nine southernmost West Virginia counties where it takes place, and on the UMWA's declining influence as a traditional counterweight in southern West Virginia. The social, economic, political and environmental consequences are also explored.

Injury-Related Infant Mortality in West Virginia, 2010-2014

Koech, Wilson A ProQuest Dissertations & Theses West Virginia Univ 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

Background and objective Infant mortality in United States is high relative to other more developed nations. Therefore, there is a need to curb this trend, especially in states with high infant mortality rates. Hence, this research investigated and examined characteristics associated with injury-related infant death in West Virginia. The objective of this retrospective study was to 1) investigate maternal and infant characteristics associated with injury-related infant deaths in West Virginia, 2) examine the relationship between unintentional-injury-related infant death and rurality in West Virginia, holding other variables in the model constant, and 3) compare differences in the unintentional-injury related infant mortality rate between West Virginia and the United States as a whole, stratified by race/ethnicity. Methods De-identified linked birth-infant death data for the period 2010-2014 were sourced from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, Charleston WV and the United States linked birth-death vital records from the Centers for Disease Control website. Additionally, 2013 Urban Influence Codes used for urban/rural classification were sourced from the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. A generalized linear model with binomial distribution was used to determine characteristics associated with injury-related infant death, and a generalized linear mixed model with binomial distribution was used to determine the relationship between unintentional injury-injury related infant death and rurality, holding other variables in the model constant. A non-model-based method, which follows a simple Poisson distribution, was used to calculate the infant mortality rate in West Virginia and the United States, stratified by race. Results Maternal characteristics associated with injury-related infant mortality in West Virginia were race/ethnicity ( = 7.48, p = .03) and smoking during pregnancy ( , p < .00). Risk of a Non-Hispanic Black infant for an injury-related death was 4.0 (95% CI: 1.7 - 9.3) times that of infants of other race/ethnicities. Unintentional injury-relate infant death was significantly associated with rurality, race/ethnicity and a rurality-smoking during pregnancy interaction (p=0.02, p=0.3, and p=0.05 respectively). The relative risk for unintentional injury-related infant death in rural versus urban counties was 1.7 (95% CI: 0.7- 3.8), whereas the unintentional injury-related infant mortality rate for West Virginia and the United States Non-Hispanic Black population was 83.2 (95% CI: 26.8 - 258.0) deaths per 100,000 live births and 57.5 (95% CI: 54.8 - 60.3) deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively. Conclusion Injury-related infant mortality is associated with race/ethnicity and smoking during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy and living in rural counties was related to higher risk of unintentional injury-related infant death than living in urban counties, whether or not the mother smoked during pregnancy. In general, the unintentional injury-related infant mortality rate in West Virginia and the nation are similar. Findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of cases. Nevertheless, this study provides important information to public health stakeholders, at both the state and local levels, for designing interventions for reduction or prevention of injury-related infant mortality in West Virginia.

A study of the continuum of integration of mathematics content with science concepts at the middle school level in West Virginia

Meisel, Edna Marie West Virginia University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perceptions of regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers in West Virginia concerning the integration of mathematics objectives with science concepts. In addition, this study also emphasized the use of integrated curriculum continuum models to study mathematics teachers' practices and perceptions for teaching mathematics objectives in connection with science concepts. It was argued that the integrated curriculum continuum model can be used to help educators begin to form a common definition of integrated curriculum. The population was described as the regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers in West Virginia. The entire population (N = 173) was used as the participants in this study. Data was collected using an integrated curriculum practices and perceptions survey constructed by the researcher. This was a descriptive study that incorporated the Chi Square statistic to show trends in teacher practices and perceptions. Also, an ex post facto design, that incorporated the Mann-Whitney U statistic, was used to compare practices and perceptions between teachers grouped according to factors that influence teaching practices and perceptions. These factors included teaching certificate endorsement and teacher professional preparation. Results showed that the regular education seventh grade middle school mathematics teachers of West Virginia are teaching mathematics objectives mainly at a discipline-based level with no formal attempt for integration with science concepts. However, these teachers perceived that many of the mathematics objectives should be taught at varying levels of integration with science concepts. It was also shown that teachers who experienced professional preparation courses that emphasized integrated curriculum courses did teach many of the mathematics objectives at higher levels of integration with science than those teachers who did not experience integrated curriculum courses.

A study of the effect of an integrated continuum of intensive crisis intervention services (ICICIS), including Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), on civil commitments in North Central West Virginia

Williams, Robert D West Virginia University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

The mental health service delivery system in West Virginia is ineffective at resolving psychiatric emergencies, as evidenced by a high civil commitment rate, leading to an annual $4 million non-budgeted expense to the state. West Virginia's two State hospitals are regularly at capacity, causing civil committed patients to be diverted to community psychiatric units, often at the state's expense. At one of the state's 13 Comprehensive Community Mental Health Centers (CCMHC), United Summit Center, two evidence based treatment modalities, ICICIS and ACT, are examined for their effectiveness at lowering the civil commitment rate per 100,000 and civil commitment hospitalization days. The results indicate that both modalities are effective. In evaluating the effectiveness of United Summit Center's ICICIS, a four-year study of commitment rates per 100,000 revealed a range for the 13 CCMHC of 38--462. The mean was 200. United Summit Center ranked second lowest with a rate of 65 per 100,000. In evaluating the effectiveness of United Summit Center's ACT program, 26 participants that had been in the program for one year, were compared across three conditions by an analysis of variance. The three conditions were annual civil commitment hospitalization days two years prior to joining ACT, one year prior to joining ACT and one year after joining ACT. The 26 participants averaged 60.35 civil commitment hospitalization days two years prior to joining ACT, 98.54 one year prior, and 18.73 one year after. The results showed significance at the p < 0.01 level when comparing civil commitment hospitalization days one year prior to joining ACT to one year after joining ACT.

Burden of Colorectal Cancer among the elderly Medicare beneficiaries in West Virginia A comparative analysis with national data

Rane, Pallavi Balwant West Virginia University 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

West Virginia (WV) which is one of the most rural states in the nation, had the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rate in United States (US) in 2009. There is a paucity of epidemiologic studies that have decrypt the reasons for this high CRC mortality, or have systematically examined the burden of, and disparities among the population of elderly with CRC from a rural settings such as from WV. This series of retrospective cohort studies was conducted to examine the receipt of CRC treatment and the associated survivorship, comorbidity burden, and healthcare expenditures among Medicare beneficiaries with CRC identified from the West Virginia Cancer Registry Medicare linked (WVCR Medicare); and to compare them with national estimated derived from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare (SEER Medicare) data. These studies examined CRC treatment patterns, receipt of minimally appropriate CRC treatment (MACT), healthcare expenditures in the initial phase of care, and CRC specific and all cause mortality in the 36 month period following the CRC diagnosis in the two study cohorts. The associations of specific pre-existing chronic conditions with the treatment receipt, healthcare expenditures, and survivorship was also explored. In the first study, it was observed that the characteristics of the two study cohorts were significantly different with those from WVCR Medicare having higher comorbidity burden, and living in non-metro areas. Although a higher proportion of beneficiaries from WVCR Medicare were diagnosed in the earlier stages of CRC (when it can still be treated effectively) as compared to their national counterparts from SEER Medicare, they exhibited CRC poor survivorship. This poor survivorship was possibly due to the lower likelihood of beneficiaries from WVCR Medicare of receiving MACT as compared to the beneficiaries identified from SEER Medicare; as observed in the study results. In study two, which studied the pre-existing chronic conditions among the WVCR Medicare beneficiaries with CRC, no substantial evidence was found to conclude that beneficiaries with CRC and comorbidities were treated less aggressively as compared to those without comorbidities; as reported by some other studies. Only a few conditions were found to be negatively associated with CRC specific mortality, but almost all the chronic conditions were negatively associated with all--cause mortality among beneficiaries from WVCR Medicare. The results from study three showed that after adjusting for the regional variation in cost-of-living across the different counties included in the study, the difference in total healthcare expenditures between the beneficiaries with CRC from a rural area such as in WV and their national counterparts can be believed to be mainly driven due to the differential treatment receipt and the high comorbidity burden. These studies can serve as a good case-studies to elucidate the receipt of CRC treatment and the associated health outcomes in a CRC population that is aging, is sicker, belongs to lower socio-economic status, and is from a rural setting. Future research is necessary to determine if similar associations are observed in other rural areas in the nation, and also to better understand the implementation of and receipt of guideline recommended CRC care and the associated health outcomes among beneficiaries with CRC from such areas.

Impact of the West Virginia University Student Support Services/TRIO program from 1998--2004

Copenhaver Bailey, Barbara West Virginia University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Institutions of higher education are facing more challenges today than ever regarding student retention and graduation rates. Graduation rates in higher education have been declining over the past several years. Because of this, many institutions are becoming increasingly interested in the needs of special populations in an effort to retain them at higher rates. One of these special populations is first-generation, low-income college students. The federal TRIO grant, Student Support Services (SSS) program is funded by the United States Department of Education to serve this population to increase their graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to examine the West Virginia University (WVU) SSS/TRIO participants' graduation rates and academic performance (GPA) upon graduation as compared to eligible non-participants and non-eligible students entering as first-time, full-time freshmen at WVU during the fall semesters of 1998 through 2003. This study also examined if attributes identified including age, ethnicity, gender, high school GPA, state residency, and ACT/SAT scores appeared to have an impact on graduation rates or academic performance (GPA) upon graduation of the three groups. Data were collected in collaboration with WVU Admissions and Records and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Descriptive statistics were used to report the participants' profile using the identified attributes. Chi square was used to analyze differences in graduation rates among the three groups. Analysis of variance was used to ascertain if there was significant difference among the groups in academic performance (GPA) upon graduation. Discriminant analysis was used to determine impact of identified attributes on graduation rates, and multiple regression analysis was used to determine impact of attributes affecting academic performance (GPA) upon graduation. A significant difference was found in six-year and five-year graduation rates with no significant difference identified for four-year rates among the groups. A significant difference was identified in academic performance (GPA) upon graduation among groups. It was noted that attributes identified in this study did have an impact on graduation for all groups. It was also found that attributes identified did have an impact on academic performance (GPA) upon graduation for all groups.

Developing a Marginalized and Segregated Community: Case Study of a West Virginia Neighborhood

Agba, Christopher Belkon ProQuest Dissertations & Theses West Virginia Univ 2020 해외박사(DDOD)

A lot of work has been done in the field of community development targeting less developed communities. Many questions have also been raised about why some communities are not as responsive to change as others, despite the efforts and recommendations. This dissertation, therefore, is a critical attempt on how to develop a specific, marginalize, and segregated neighborhood, using residents’ historical narratives and worldviews in Westside, Fairmont, West Virginia. The author uses focus group discussions, informal communications, and semi-structured interviews as primary data sources. He analyzed the manuscript of W.O. Armstrong, the pioneer principal of Dunbar School, which was an All-Black school serving the neighborhood as a secondary data source. The research also uses critical theory framework because of its concern with ontology, epistemology, and methodology of reality (Crotty, 2012) to explore the narratives of race, segregation, and desegregation in the Westside community.The results of this research include systemic discrimination in education, employment, social, economic, and infrastructural development; fractured relationships between residents, city, organizations, and associations; and lack of purposeful leadership as when Dunbar School was in the community. The study, therefore, fills a gap in the development literature by contributing both a critical and specific and situated perspective into how to develop a marginalized neighborhood.

Evaluation of a Comprehensive Diabetes Mellitus Protocol at a Rural, Federally Qualified Health Center in Southern West Virginia

Davis, Hannah D. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses West Virginia Univ 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects nearly 34 million Americans. In rural Appalachia, the population is affected disproportionately at a rate of 14% compared to the national average of 10%. Diabetes is a lifelong, chronic condition managed best by a multidisciplinary team-based approach to achieve optimal disease control. Best practices in the care of diabetes support the use of evidenced based care protocols and leveraging technology to decrease the burden of disease. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common type, making it the focal population for evaluation.Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a standardized diabetes mellitus protocol for patients with T2DM at a rural federally qualified health center (FQHC) in rural southern West Virginia. Program evaluation completes the care cycle. This information can inform stakeholders about a protocol’s effectiveness, thus leading to recommendations for change to improve T2DM education and outcomes in healthcare delivery.Intervention and Methods: Program Evaluation was completed using a retrospective chart review and a provider survey. Objective 1 was to evaluate the diabetes protocol using seven core quality measures (hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure, low density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol, diabetes self-management education (DSME), annual urine microalbumin, retinopathy, and neuropathy exams) over three years (pre-protocol T1 and post-protocol T2 and T3). Objective 2 utilized a provider survey to determine behaviors regarding Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) protocol and diabetes education team awareness and utilization.Results: Results for Objective 1 found statistically significant improvement at T3 for diastolic blood pressure and annual microalbumin, but not for other metrics. Overall, most metrics noted improvement or stabilization over all time periods despite the evaluation taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results for Objective 2 found that majority of providers were aware of the T2DM protocol and utilized the diabetes education accreditation program (DEAP) team regularly.Conclusion: The evaluation provided valuable insight on the current efforts to reduce the burden of diabetes mellitus at the facility in rural West Virginia. Over half of all core quality measures met facility benchmarks, however measures for DSME referral, A1c, retinopathy and neuropathy exams are still lower than expected. All providers agree that COVID-19 had a negative impact on patient care. Recommendations for improvements in practice include a patient-individualized approach to care with increasing utilization of the DEAP team, and continuous provider support of DSME in the management of patients with T2DM.

Classification and Mapping of Recreation and Ecotourism Areas in West Virginia

Dhami, Ishwar West Virginia University 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

Travel and tourism are recognized as the largest and fastest growing economic sector in the world. Different recreational and tourism sites can provide different types of activities based on their unique characteristics. Like any other form of tourism, the growth of ecotourism is dependent on the flow of visitors and therefore, marketing for a destination requires identifying various characteristics of the destination and preferences of stakeholders. The main aim of this dissertation is to classify and map recreation and ecotourism areas in West Virginia. The dissertation is presented in the form of three essays. The first essay classifies and maps classes of Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) in the state and examines its relationship with the travel and tourism generated revenues. Results showed that most of the areas in the state are Rural (R) followed by Semiprimitive Nonmotorized (SPNM) and Roaded Natural (RN). Visitors' travel spending was significantly associated with the urban class. The second essay identifies and maps forest-based ecotourism areas in the state using six different criteria and visitors' preferences. Pairwise comparison of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to compute the criteria weights from questionnaire survey of visitors. Significant variations were found in visitors' preferences. Areas under Class IV and Class V of naturalness continuum of both weighted and unweighted ecotourism maps covered more than half of the state's area, suggesting higher prospects for promoting forest-based ecotourism in the state. The results also indicated that each class changed in size when visitors' preferences were applied. The third essay performs sensitivity analysis of the criteria weights derived from visitors and experts' survey and maps the robust suitable areas for forest-based ecotourism areas in the state. Similar to essay two, pairwise comparison of AHP was used to compute criteria weights from experts. Results indicated that about one third of the state's area was highly suitable and not sensitive to the variations of criteria weights. The finding of this dissertation demonstrated ROS classes and forest-based ecotourism areas in the state which could provide helpful information to the resource managers and policy makers in terms of recreation and tourism development, marketing, and promotion. Results of the study were mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Geographic Data Analysis (GeoDa) software.

Exploring career satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue as indicators of the quality of career engagement of public school educators

Robinson, Beth Colleen West Virginia University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This study explored the experiences of career satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue in public school educators working with students in Primary/Kindergarten through grade 12 in schools in Nova Scotia and West Virginia. The research participants included 184 teachers, counselors, and administrators employed by the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board in Nova Scotia and Monongalia County Board of Education in West Virginia. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing the constructs of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue that have been conceptualized in this study as indicators of healthy career engagement, career disengagement, and career overengagement, respectively. Participants also responded to a demographic survey and to questionnaires exploring history and residual effects of direct and indirect traumatic experiences. Measures included the Professional Quality of Life: Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Subscales - Revision III (ProQOL-CSF-R III), History of Traumatic Experiences (HTE), and Impact of Events Scale - Revised (IES-R) for direct and indirect trauma. Previous career engagement studies with educators focused on career satisfaction and burnout. Very few addressed educator trauma or compassion fatigue. In the current study, evidence of career satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue was found across all educator subgroups. Burnout and compassion fatigue were significantly related with current traumatization status deriving from a history of direct and indirect trauma. Multiple regression analyses provided limited support to the hypothesis that elementary educators would exhibit higher rates of compassion fatigue than middle and high school educators. The hypothesis that classroom teachers at all grade levels would report higher levels of compassion fatigue than counselors and administrators was not supported. Nor was support obtained for the hypothesis that educators with fewer years of experience would be more vulnerable to compassion fatigue than those with lengthier career paths. The inability of demographic characteristics to differentially predict the 26.09% of the sample who scored in the upper quartile for risk for burnout, and 33.15% who scored in the upper quartile for risk for compassion fatigue, suggests that prevention and intervention programs should target all educators across demographic subgroups.