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Census undercounts in rural areas could threaten health care funding, experts say

Door-knocking, which experts say is crucial to counting people of color and rural residents, is stopping later this month, the Census Bureau announced in August. It’s a month earlier than the Bureau had planned to stop. Experts worry undercounts could threaten federal funding for a host of programs that sustain rural areas.

Don Dillman.
Dillman

However, there are some promising signs in Idaho’s census counts. Roughly 96.7% of the state’s households have responded, according to a Monday report by Census Bureau. That’s the highest in the nation.

The “main reason” for Idaho’s high total response rate is, according to Washington State University sociologist Don Dillman, “in-person (counting) has been more successful here than in other places.”

Census counts determine how much representation states will have in the House of Representatives. They also guide funding formulas for public programs.

The Pew Research Center says 95% of all federal funding programs to local and state governments are tied to census figures, amounting to $580 billion. Even hospital planning uses census data. Also funded through these figures are health care services such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid and school lunch programs.

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Idaho State Journal

WSU Psychology Clinic offering free video-based therapy through September

The Washington State University Psychology Clinic is offering free video-based therapy services for adults, children and adolescents through the end of September.

After the end of September, the cost of services will operate on a sliding fee scale based on income. Prospective patients must be located in the state of Washington. Services are not limited to WSU affiliated students, faculty and staff.

The Psychology Clinic is operated by the WSU Department of Psychology, a program accredited by the American Psychological Association. It is a nonprofit professional training clinic for doctoral students in clinical psychology. Under direct supervision of licensed clinical psychologists, the doctoral students provide assessment and therapy services for adults, children, and adolescents.

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Mirage News

WSU Insider

 

The show must go on

A combination of innovative technology and careful use of practice and performance spaces will enable Washington State University musicians to play together virtually this fall.

Troy Bennefield.
Bennefield

“We are going to be a marching band in name only but that doesn’t mean we are going to stop making music,” said Troy Bennefield, associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at WSU. “This is a chance for us to really remind people we are more than just a football band. We are the University’s spirit group, and we are going to keep making music that makes people feel like they are a part of the Cougar community.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced music directors such as Bennefield and Dean Luethi, director of the School of Music and choral activities at WSU, to shift their focus from preparing students for the big live show to helping them work on their musicianship and other fundamental skills individually and in small virtual groups.

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WSU Insider

Nuclear Science Center to acquire high‑resolution X‑ray spectrometer

The Nuclear Science Center, in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry and the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, will acquire a new high-resolution X-ray spectrometer to perform both X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy.

Xiaofeng Guo.
Guo

“Nuclear science and technology has been a flagship program at WSU for decades. Having the advanced lab-based spectrometer focusing on actinides and other nuclear material investigations will greatly expand research and development opportunities while also bringing together researchers from multiple disciplines,” said Xiaofeng Guo, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and lead principal investigator on the instrumentation grant.

The X-ray spectrometer will improve the infrastructure for both research and development and teaching in the WSU nuclear science program. The spectrometer will also accelerate the education and training of the next generation of researchers and students by providing state-of-the-art spectroscopic equipment that will help them prepare to utilize synchrotron user facilities and work in Department of Energy national laboratories.

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WSU Insider

Grants for Washington artists responding to the Black Lives Matter movement made available

Washington artists will have the opportunity to share their creative visions in response to the Black Lives Matter movement with help from a new grant program established by Jordan Schnitzer in partnership with Washington State University’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program will distribute $2,500 grants to 20 artists across the state of Washington who will be asked to use their voices, experiences, and artistic expression to reflect on social justice efforts in response to systemic racism.

A panel is being formed to review the artist submissions which will include: Ryan Hardesty, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU; Io Palmer, associate professor , Department of Fine Arts WSU; Lisa Guerrero, professor, School of Lanuages, Cultures, and Race WSU; Trymaine Gaither, Honors College WSU; and Mikayla Makle, Black Student Union WSU. Grantees will be notified by Oct. 31.

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Union-Bulletin