Vermont Research News: Good readers, new health data, rock flakes and more…

Vermont Research News: Big readers, new health data, rock flakes and more…
Big Readers

Vermonters seem to be avid readers, with more libraries per capita—183—than any state in the nation. Unlike other states, funding is allocated town by town. Historically speaking, a town’s library has always been a vibrant center of culture and activity. To learn more about the history of the state’s libraries, tune in to the “Before Your Time” podcast, produced by VT Digger, Vermont Historical Society and the Humanities Council.
Highly Educated

Vermont was ranked the sixth most educated state in a new report by Ladders.New England does well overall, with Massachusetts taking the top spot and Connecticut and New Hampshire ranking third and ninth, respectively. The report utilized Census data from 2012 to 2016 and took the percentage of adults in each state with at least a master’s degree. Thirty six percent of Vermonters have a bachelor’s degree, and 14.5 percent earned a master’s—higher than the national averages of 30 percent and 11 percent.
Two Vermont colleges make a key green list

Two of Vermont’s colleges made a key environmental list—the Top 20 Coolest Schools list compiled by the Sierra Club. Middlebury College ranked number 10 after hitting carbon neutrality in 2016. Sterling College ranked number 11, receiving praise for their program in which students at the school work on farms and forestland in exchange for tuition (a practice which produces 30 percent of the food on campus).
State earns “D” for women holding elected office
Vermont passed—but just barely — with a D grade —when it comes to women holding elected office, according to Represent Women. The state ranked thirty-fourth in the nation with only one woman holding state-wide office, although the legislature is 39 percent female.  As the last state to send a woman to Congress, Vermont lags neighboring NH by 33 places in the state rankings–the granite state ranks number one.
Obesity Increases
Although Vermont ranks 40th in prevalence of obesity, overall obesity rates have climbed sharply. Starting at 10.7 percent in 1990, more than 27 percent of Vermonters are now classified as obese, according to the annual State of Obesity study produced by the Trust for America’s Health. The 45-64 age group is most affected at 31.6%.  Nationally, West Virginia does the worst (39 percent) and Colorado the best (22 percent). Check out this Bennington Banner article for further analysis.
Mad River and climate change

A recent study that focused on the effects of climate change on Mad River found that watershed discharge and sediment yield are expected to increase with warming temperatures, and that peak flows and sediment loads will intensify and become more variable. The study also cited high levels of phosphorus related to agricultural runoff.
Cardiovascular Disease
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that in 2016, Vermonters had the lowest death rate for preventable cardiovascular events. Vermont, along with Wyoming and Utah, was found to have the lowest overall mutually exclusive cardiovascular event rates.The study concludes that these numbers are due to many factors related to public health, which varies considerably across the United States.
Rock flakes from the Paleoindian period found

The Northeast Archaeology Research Center of Farmington, Maine reports that rock flakes the size of thumbnails discovered in Williston are historic artifacts from the Paleoindian Period. The rocks, likely from stone tool making, are estimated to be from between 7000 to 9000 BC. The site will likely become a registered historic site, which will halt the expansion of Green Mountain Compost project currently working on the land, according to Seven Days.

 
New Books & Films
New York Times bestselling author Alex Kershaw has documented the legacy of Norwich University and its alumni in an authoritative new history book, Citizens & Soldiers, to commemorate the university’s bicentennial in 2019. Spanning the university’s founding in 1819 to the present day, the deeply-researched history—featuring the lives and times of the Norwich people who have defined American history—is interwoven with photos, illustrations, and timelines.
A new book by UVM professor Harvey Amani Whitfield explores the reality of slavery in Canada during the Revolutionary War era. North to Bondage: Slavery in the Maritimes, one of the first accounts of slavery on the eastern coast of Canada, illustrates the harsh reality of what awaited enslaved peoples in the promised lands of freedom in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
A new film from Charlotte Barrett and Historic New England documents the role of the Grange on Vermont culture. Rooted: Cultivating Community in the Vermont Grangefollows the Grange from its birth in 1867 to its state today in Vermont, which includes thirty-seven societies. The film will be screened at two Granges in the state, the Middle Branch Grange and the Riverside Grange.
Copyright © 2018 Center for Research on Vermont, All rights reserved.
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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