Economics, Political Science & Sociology – News

Collaborative research team wins at Alpha Chi National Convention

plashbrook — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:08:23 +0000

April 23, 2024–A team of four undergraduate students from ��ý won the Trisha Yarbrough Collaborative Research Competition at the Alpha Chi National Conference in Birmingham, Alabama on April 6. The victory came with a $5,000 award.

The winning team was made up of seniors Jordon Anderson, nursing major from St. Joseph; Juniper Brown, political science major from St. Joseph; Mercedes Mareske, digital animation major from Frankford, ��ý; and Tia Vernon, education major from North Kansas City, ��ý. Their research project was titled “Artificial Intelligence and Selective Exposure: Generating a Public Perception.”

To compete, students from diverse majors collaborated on a scholarly paper centered on the conference theme, which was “Innovative Scholarship for Tumultuous Times.” Their project was sponsored by Dr. Angela Haas, associate professor of history.

The ��ý Western Chapter of Alpha Chi, sponsored by Dr. Haas and Dr. Teddi Deka, professor of psychology, celebrated its 35th anniversary this year as an honors society at MWSU.

News release written by Patty Lashbrook, sophomore convergent journalism and public relations major.

��ý is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. ��ý Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .

Panel discussion on humanitarian crisis in Ukraine April 19

kheier — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 21:16:25 +0000

April 18, 2022–��ý will host a discussion panel on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in the Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

The event will include short presentations on the history, policies and personal experiences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the global response. After the presentations there will be a question and answer session. This is an opportunity to learn more about this global humanitarian crisis.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies.

��ý Western designated Voter Friendly Campus

kheier — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 19:02:26 +0000

March 16, 2021-��ý received the 2021-2022 designation of Voter Friendly Campus from Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project. This designation has been awarded to 234 colleges and universities across the United States including five in ��ý. ��ý Western’s designation is valid through December 2022.

��ý Western’s team for achieving this designation was led by student Jordan Miller; Dr. Edwin Taylor, chair and associate professor of political science; and Dr. Hannah Piechowski, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

“I am beyond impressed by the work of Jordan Miller, our student who served as the Campus Election Engagement Project Fellow this year,” said Dr. Piechowski. “His ability to create effective programming in the midst of the pandemic and lead our group to receive this designation is truly incredible. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

Designated universities had to engage their campus communities and promote voter registration and voting as part of their institutional mission. ��ý Western was eligible by writing a campus plan about how we would engage student voters in 2020, facilitate voter education and engagement efforts, and submit a final analysis of efforts. The goal of the Voter Friendly Campus designation program is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process and develop a culture of democratic engagement on campus.

News-Press NOW: Unemployment numbers don’t show the whole picture

kheier — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 16:05:39 +0000

As most states have reopened in some fashion, we’re seeing what life dealing with the coronavirus could look like for the foreseeable future.

The topic of rebuilding the economy surely will be front and center during the upcoming presidential election. All businesses across the country will be open at some point, but that does not mean they are working at full capacity.

“It might take a while to fully recover, we might be at a 90% economy and we may not fully recover to where we were before,” said Dr. Kara Grant, an assistant professor of economics at ��ý. “If you think of a restaurant where tables are spaced 6 feet apart, you will not be able to serve everyone and you will most likely need less servers.’’

News-Press NOW: Student governor completes MWSU board

kheier — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 15:36:52 +0000

��ý has acted to fill its lone vacancy on the Board of Governors by naming one of its students to the position.

The board, which is appointed with input from the university by Gov. Mike Parson, has had seven voting members over the course of the year. After a state of financial emergency came into force in March, the campus saw acts to reduce expenses, such as a three-year phase-out of many academic programs. This has resulted in dozens of job losses, and more are likely on tap. Hannah Berry, a junior studying economics, will attend for future such decisions at her first meeting as student governor on Thursday, June 25, though she will not have a vote.

“I’m really looking forward to being in the board meeting and understanding, you know, how I can be a positive impact for those in those conversations that we’re going to be having,” Berry said.

News-Press NOW: In second retirement, professor looks back on his calling

kheier — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:41:00 +0000

Dr. Frank Kessler laughs when recalling the reasons for his retirement. No, not the recent retirement. The one that came before this last job, which lasted another two decades.

A professor of political science, Kessler arrived at ��ý Western State College during its early years as a four-year institution. Everything on the Downs Drive campus felt new.

Thirty years later, he looked around to see the maturation of the place.

“All the sticks in the ground turned into beautiful trees that became a canopy over the campus,” he remembered. “They were throwing out furniture that they bought when I came in. … I was there a long time.”

He brought credit to the institution, publishing books and writing hundreds of scholarly articles, gaining a reputation within his field and earning a Distinguished Faculty Award. Emeritus status came at the end of this impressive tenure.

News-Press NOW: Professor says economic future uncertain

kheier — Sat, 30 May 2020 15:29:53 +0000

After the recent crash of the stock market with businesses closing and jobs lost, there almost seems nowhere to go but up.

In the past several weeks on the New York Stock Exchange, there hasn’t been considerable growth but there also haven’t been the massive losses seen earlier in the pandemic.

The stock market is not the economy, but it could represent the confidence investors have in getting it re-energized with stay-at-home orders being lifted.

“I would say that as you are lifting stay-at-home orders … confidence by the consumer could be part of it,” Dr. Kara Grant, an associate professor of economics at ��ý, said. “But there have also been all-time lows for the market, so it could be attributed to there is really nowhere else to go.”

News-Press NOW: COVID-19 leaves economy in ‘unique’ position

kheier — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 21:22:06 +0000

By Zach Fisher, News-Press NOW, Apr 4, 2020

The current state of the United States and global economy is in limbo. The coronavirus pandemic is causing businesses, big and small, to lay off workers to keep afloat.

This past week, a record number of Americans filed for unemployment benefits — 6.6 million, according to the Department of Labor. The week before saw 3.3 million unemployment claims, symbolizing that things are looking to get worse, economically, before they get better.

“The common comparison right now is how different is this going to be than the Great Depression,” Dr. Kara Grant, an assistant professor of economics at ��ý, said. “But at the same time it is very unique.”

Read the full story at .

News-Press NOW: Oil price war continues to drop gas prices

kheier — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 21:28:10 +0000

By Bailey Ketcham, News-Press NOW, Apr 2, 2020

Drivers in St. Joseph can go to a gas station and find gas for as little as $1.69 due to the low demand for oil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gas prices started to drop when Saudi Arabia announced it would flood the market with extra oil and slash prices due to a price war with Russia. According to the American Automobile Association, the national average is below $2 a gallon.

Dr. Kara Grant, an assistant economics professor at ��ý, said this would typically be the time for people to stock up on gas, but because many are quarantined, there’s less driving and less of a need for gas.

Read more and see the video version of this story .

News-Press NOW: Businesses, investors ride wave of uncertainty

kheier — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 21:52:10 +0000

By Greg Kozol, News-Press NOW, March 14, 2020

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“This effect on Wall Street is a symptom of a whole bunch of other things,” said Dr. Kara Grant, a professor of economics at ��ý. “When you have a lot of supply chain disruptions, that could cause inflation and unemployment.”

A steep drop in gas prices — a result of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia — puts money into consumers’ pockets and could act as a stimulant to counter the economic impact of supply shocks, Grant said. The benefit of lower interest rates is less clear, she said, if businesses are hit so hard by supply disruptions that they don’t use reduced borrowing cost to boost investment.

Read the full story and watch the video version .