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African-American Males Most Likely to Lose Academic Scholarships, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2012Culture, Education, Generalacademic success, african american, charles menifield, culture, dormitories, Environment, holistic approach, hope scholarships, male, missouri, retention rate, scholarship, tennessee residents, university

MU researcher recommends a “holistic” approach to student scholarship retention

COLUMBIA, Mo. — College student retention and low graduation rates are the most significant problems associated with state-provided financial aid. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that African-American males are the most likely to lose state lottery-funded scholarships with academic stipulations. Charles Menifield, a professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, found that more than 50 percent of African-American males lost state-funded scholarships over the course of a four-year academic career.

“Race turns out to be one of the best predictors of scholarship retention rates,” Menifield said. “This research strongly suggests that colleges and universities that desire to maintain diversity should at minimum target minority students, particularly African-American males, and determine how best to improve academic success.” (more…)

Smartphone App Can Track Objects On the Battlefield as Well as On the Sports Field, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2012Technology, Weaponsair strike, battlefield, compass, direction, distant object, gps, latitude, location, longitude, missouri, moving object, prototype, qia wang, rangefinder, smartphone, software, soldier, speed, target, university, version, video

COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri researchers have developed new software using smartphones’ GPS and imaging abilities that determine the exact location of distant objects as well as monitor the speed and direction of moving objects. The software could eventually allow smartphone-armed soldiers to target the location of their enemies. On the home front, the software could be used by everyone, including golfers judging distance to the green and biologists documenting the location of a rare animal without disturbing it.

“The great advantage of a smartphone is that it provides so many tools in a single, readily available, relatively inexpensive package,” said Qia Wang, a doctoral student in MU’s College of Engineering who led the development of the software. “For example, on the battlefield, a soldier needs a rangefinder, compass, GPS and other tools to do reconnaissance before calling in an air strike. With our software, the soldier can have all those instruments in one device that can be purchased off the shelf. When that soldier returns from war, she can use the same software to protect her family by clocking a speeder near her children’s school and catching the culprit on video.” (more…)

Uncollected Internet Sales Taxes Cost Missouri $468 Million Annually, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Economy, TechnologyAmazon, brad fischer, business, california, congress, david valentine, e-commerce, internet, internet transaction, lobby, missouri, missouri legislator, online retailer, revenue, roy blunt, sales, sales tax, supreme court, university of missouri, us sales, wal-mart

MU researchers recommend legislative action to help local economy, state revenue

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Internet, or e-commerce, sales have increased over the past two decades, comprising nearly 17 percent of the total U.S. sales in 2009. However, many states, including Missouri, have no effective means of collecting taxes on those sales. Researchers at the University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs found that the state lost approximately $468 million annually in sales tax revenue during the past decade.

Federal law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings only allow states to levy sales taxes on a business with a physical presence in the state. For example, Amazon.com does not charge sales tax in Missouri because it is physically located in California. However, Wal-Mart charges sales tax, since it has stores in Missouri. In the study, researchers analyzed historical data on e-commerce activity and estimated that the state will miss out on $1.4 billion in potential revenue from 2011 to 2014. (more…)

MU Researchers Identify Differences in Facial Characteristics of Children with Autism Compared to Typically Developing Children

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Science3-d image, adolescence, autism, child head, embryo, environmental factor, environmental influences, face and brain, facial characteristics of children, genetics, geometry of the face, ian george, jordan austin, kimberly cole, kristina aldridge, missouri, origins of autism, philtrum, t nicole takahashi, thompson center for autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, treatments, typically developing children, wider mouth, ye duan

*Research is a step toward understanding cause of autism*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The face and brain develop in coordination, with each influencing the other, beginning in the embryo and continuing through adolescence. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found distinct differences between the facial characteristics of children with autism compared to those of typically developing children. This knowledge could help researchers understand the origins of autism.

“There is no clear answer about whether autism is caused by genetics or by environmental influences,” said Kristina Aldridge, lead author and assistant professor of anatomy in the MU School of Medicine and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. “If we can identify when these facial changes occur, we could pinpoint when autism may begin to develop in a child. Knowing that point in time could lead us to identify a genetic cause, a window of time when the embryo may be susceptible to an environmental factor, or both.” (more…)

Civil War Troops Fought the Weather 150 Years Ago During Battle

By Guest PostJuly 4, 2011Environment, Politicsatmospheric conditions, battle of carthage, boonville, british admiralty, captain nathaniel lyon, carthage, civil war, civil war battle, confederate victory, coon creek, european observations, franz siegel, french navy, heavy rain, lupo and madden, mike madden, missouri, thunderstorms, tony lupo, torrential rains, union force, union troops, university of missouri, weather, wet gunpowder

*MU meteorologists say weather played a key role in union defeat*

COLUMBIA, Mo. — One hundred fifty years ago, two armies battled each other and the weather in Missouri’s first significant Civil War battle. While the battle’s course is familiar to historians, virtually no scientific data exists about the atmospheric conditions that influenced the fighting. In a project that blends history, sleuthing and modern weather analysis, Tony Lupo, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri, and Mike Madden, a meteorology student, have scientifically examined the heavy rains that hampered the union forces, eventually leading to a costly defeat. (more…)

Tag Archives: missouri

African-American Males Most Likely to Lose Academic Scholarships, MU Study Finds

Smartphone App Can Track Objects On the Battlefield as Well as On the Sports Field, Says MU Researcher

Uncollected Internet Sales Taxes Cost Missouri $468 Million Annually, MU Study Shows

MU Researchers Identify Differences in Facial Characteristics of Children with Autism Compared to Typically Developing Children

Civil War Troops Fought the Weather 150 Years Ago During Battle