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Washington state law enforcement officers cite concerns with marijuana legalization

Increased drugged driving, greater youth access to marijuana and insufficient officer training are a few of the concerns expressed by police officers in the first state to legalize recreational cannabis sales to adults. While the officers did not support recriminalization, they noted several issues with the implementation of Washington state’s 2012 law legalizing cannabis, according to a new study by Washington State University researchers.

Craig Hemmens.
Hemmens

“The purpose of our study was to add a key stakeholder’s voice to the conversation—that of police officers,” said Craig Hemmens, WSU professor of criminal justice and criminology who coauthored the study. “Officers in other states may find their thoughts useful as they transition to legalization.”

This project was supported by an award from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

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WSU Insider
Phys.org

Forty years after blast: next generation continues Mt. St. Helens research

When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, it leveled more than 230 square miles of forest, but it also opened a rare scientific opportunity to study how an ecosystem responds after an extreme disturbance.

Mark Swanson.
Swanson
John Bishop.
Bishop

Washington State University ecologists John Bishop, professor of biological sciences and Mark Swanson, associate professor in the school of the environment, have been involved in Mount St. Helens long-term research for decades and are preparing for the next generation of work. They each focus on different areas affected by the blast. No matter how severe the damage on the landscape, life has found a way to return and brought valuable insights with it.

“If we want to understand the natural processes of how plant and animal communities come to be and change, the best way is to watch that process unfold over time,” said Bishop. “Mount St. Helens is a nearly ideal place to do that.”

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Mirage News

WSU Insider

Four junior CAS faculty among eight awarded WSU seed grants

From the impact of a Universal Basic Income to safer nuclear fuel to muscle genes in trout – this year’s eight New Faculty Seed Grant awards span a wide range of topics and disciplines. The program, which is funded through WSU’s Office of Research and the President and Provost offices, awarded a total of $155,370 this year.

The New Faculty Seed Grant program helps junior faculty build a foundation for their research and creative programs. This kick-start funding also provides a basis for faculty to apply for extramural funding and creates opportunities for professional growth.

The four CAS faculty seed grant awardees are: Mariana Amorim in sociology; Xiaofeng Guo in chemistry; William Hall in mathematics and statistics; and Hallie G. Meredith in fine arts.

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WSU Insider

Amphibian study shows stress increases vulnerability to virus

Even the anti-freeze frog is not invulnerable to stress, according to a new study led by Washington State University researchers.

The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on May 5, found that wood frogs, known for their ability to survive being frozen through, are more susceptible to lethal ranavirus infections if they have been raised in ponds high in salinity from road deicer. The findings lend more weight to the stress-induced susceptibility hypothesis, which could help explain dramatic wildlife population declines in recent years.

emily hall.
Hall

“We’re seeing these mass mortality events in wildlife that are often due to infectious diseases; while at the same time, we notice an association with some kind of environmental change,” said Emily Hall, doctoral candidate of biological sciences and the lead author on the study, which was part of her dissertation at Washington State University.

Jesse Brunner
Brunner

Working with her advising professor Erica Crespi, assistant professor in the school of biological sciences, and Jesse Brunner, associate professor in the school of biological sciences and a disease ecologist, Hall started a new study using a combination of field work and lab studies to look at the potential link between the stress of salinity and susceptibility to infection.

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Phys.org

WSU Insider

Forbes

 

Work From Home Is Here to Stay

The blurring of work and home lives might not be just a temporary side effect of the pandemic. Though children will (hopefully) go back to school in the fall, many white-collar workers will be strongly encouraged to work from home at least some of the time over the next year or so. While working remotely confers some mental-health and other benefits, the “job” as we know it might never be the same. Conferences, in-person meetings, and even handshakes might be deemed not worth the risk of infection. What might emerge is a future in which results-oriented introverts prevail while those who thrive on face-to-face interactions and office politics fumble. In the post-pandemic workplace, nerds may get their revenge.

Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson.Companies have been reluctant to allow employees to work from home because of inertia and entrenched norms, says Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter. But the pandemic has forced nearly two-thirds of Americans to work remotely, making it clear just how much work can get done from home, even despite the presence of children. When people get certain perks from their jobs, they tend to value those perks more than they used to, according to research by Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson, a sociologist at Washington State University. Workers might resist being yanked back into offices after they’ve enjoyed the luxury of never changing out of their pajamas.

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The Atlantic