Vermont Research News – April 18, 2018

Vermont Research News: April 18, 2018
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State Flubs
Financial Literacy Exam

With tax day in the rear view mirror, Vermont received a D for providing financial literacy skills to high school students. While some schools offer finance topics in elective classes, financial literacy is not a requirement for graduation. Although Vermont did poorly, one quarter of US states received a lower grade. Click here to read the full report and proposed solutions.

Where do Vermonters
like to travel?

Where do Vermonters like to travel? And how does that compare to the rest of the country? Turns out that the top 5 places that Vermonters travel to are Italy, England, France, Mexico and the Caribbean. Most of the U.S. has a different idea of vacation, with Caribbean destinations topping Europe and Mexico.

Racial Disparities

Vermont’s agricultural economy is powerful—but there are very few people of color who participate in it:  At last count, only 2% of farmers in Vermontidentified as a race other than White. Food Solutions New England aims to address disparities like these, and racism within food systems in general, through their fourth annual Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge (April 2-22).

In 2017, researchers published a study showing that Black and Hispanic drivers in Vermont were more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched by police, but less likely to be found with contraband. The researchers released a follow up to the study that dives deeper into racial disparities in policing in the state. The statistics show that while hard drugs made up 10 percent of contraband found, no hard drugs were found on Black or Hispanic drivers in the study.

Divorce Rates

In a study of more than 500 Vermont couples, researchers found “no difference in dissolution rates between same-sex couples who had legalized their relationship and those who had not.” However, during the 12-year time period under study, women in same sex relationships were more likely to have separated than male-male and female-male couples. Other factors in break-ups included the relationship quality and length of time.

Healthy Vermont

New England leads the nation when it comes to the health of women, infants and children, according to a recent report by the United Health Foundation. Massachusetts ranked number one, followed by New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Minnesota rounded out the top five. In the category of women’s health, Vermont ranked second.

When it comes to county by county health, a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranks  Addison, Lamoille, Chittenden and Washington as the four healthiest counties in the state. At the other end of the scale were Essex, Orleans, Bennington and Windham. The report looks at health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and the physical environment. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also published key findings for the entire nation.

Winter Tourism

Vermont and New York lead the eastern United States in winter tourism. Vermont brings in more than 4 million skier visits per year, translating to 13,000 jobs and $770 million dollars in economic activity. However, changes in climate can reduces skier visits by up to 9%, cutting economic activity by $46 million the study found. See interview with ski writer David Goodman. 

In a related study, total days of snow cover of at least one inch during a “snow year” has been decreasing for decades in Vermont. The reduction of snow cover leads to more frequent freeze-thaw events, leading to more mud seasons. These results are also a result of the gradual rise in temperature during the same decades.

State lags on women
in federal office

The Vermont Legislature is comprised of 40% women, well above the national average of 25%. Despite this, Vermont has not sent a woman to Congress in the last 100 years. Mississippi and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are the only other states and territories that did not send woman to congress between 1917 and 2018. New Hampshire currently has an all-women federal delegation.

Phosphorus Reduction

Vermont recently did well on the EPA’s clean water report card for the first round of phosphorous reduction goals into Lake Champlain. Vermont has met almost 90% of the Phase 1 goals, according to the EPA, which gave the state passing marks.

Ash Borer Arrives

A destructive forest insect from Asia has been detected in Vermont. The emerald ash borer was found in northern Orange County. Once the ash tree is infested with the beetle, the trees began to rapidly decline and are killed within 3-5 years. Ash trees make up 5 percent of Vermont’s tree species and account for nearly 25 percent of hardwood for saw log and veneer harvests. In order to combat the infestation, state and federal forest health officials are implementing an emergency action plan.

Barn Art in Brandon

Barns are iconic to Vermont’s image, so perhaps it was inevitable that Vermont barns would get their own art exhibit.   “Barn Art,” at the Compass Music and Arts Center in Brandon from April 6 – June 16, features collections of work from 31 Vermont artists that reflect how they see, portray, and feel about barns. The exhibition was juried by Vermont artists Susan Bull Riley, Denise Letendre, and Stephanie Stouffer.  Read the Rutland Herald article here.

Backstory: Vermont

About 300 students participated in Vermont history day in early April sponsored by the Vermont Historical Society. Forty-nine students may be going on to National History Day in Maryland in June.  For more info see this web page. And read more about town historical society’s at  Backstory: Vermont.  And see this recent section in the Burlington Free Press on Senator Aiken co-written by two UVM students.
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The Vermont Research News is a bi-monthly curated collection of Vermont research –
focused on research in the Vermont “laboratory” – research that provides original knowledge to the world and research that adds to understanding of the state’s
social, economic, cultural and physical environment.

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