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Beyond Fentanyl Test Strips: The Need To Decriminalize All Drug Checking Equipment In Tennessee, Jeremy C. Kourvelas Mph

SMART Policy Briefs

KEY POINTS

• In 2022, Tennessee decriminalized fentanyl test strips (FTS) through Public Chapter 764. Thousands have since been distributed by the state and nonprofit coalitions as a key harm reduction strategy. As of the end of 2023, 44 other states and D.C. had also decriminalized FTS.

• Research indicates that people who use drugs are five times as likely to change their behaviors (including reducing drug use overall) in response to a test result that is positive for fentanyl. People who use methamphetamine are especially likely to change their behaviors.

• However, the law only applies to “narcotic testing equipment used to …

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Assessing The Impact Of The Tennessee Equine Industry, Olivia Watson

Masters Theses

The Tennessee equine industry is alive and prevalent across the entire state. However, due to the expansiveness of the industry, lack of consistent record keeping, and large discrepancies among reporting agencies, it has proven to be difficult to accurately account for the total impact of the industry in terms of population, demographics, and overall economic impact. The objective of this study was to 1) determine population demographics and economic impact of the equine industry in Tennessee and 2) determine the public perception on the addition of live equine racing within the state. An anonymous, online assessment was developed (March-August 2022; …

The Pink Tax: A Comparative Case Study Between Tennessee And Washington State, Megha Chitturi

Baker Scholar Projects

The imposition of an additional luxury tax on menstrual health products, otherwise referred to as the “Pink Tax” or the “Tampon Tax”, is present in some states while absent in others. The decision to repeal such a tax is one that has proven to be critical, as it removes the connotation that such products are of “luxury” and make them more accessible to menstruators throughout the state. As of 2023, twenty-three states have eliminated the tax. The state of Washington falls under that parameter while Tennessee does not. The purpose of this undergraduate honors thesis is to explore the potential …

Ballad Health: Understanding Appalachia’S Regional Healthcare Monopoly, Meredith A. Bailey

Baker Scholar Projects

The Ballad Health merger of 2018, which combined the now 21 hospitals in the region under one organization, has impacted the healthcare landscape in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Historically, Appalachia has had to persevere through primary physician shortages, a lack of specialty care, geographic obstacles to accessing healthcare, challenges related to substance abuse, and much more. Since the merger of Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System, little research has been done to assess the perceived impact the aggregation of providers has had on the population it serves. This study utilizes an online survey to better understand the …

Leptospira Seroprevalence In Companion Animals In Tennessee, Kellie Anne Mccreight

Masters Theses

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease in humans and animals. The bacteria Leptospira spp. causing this disease is maintained in the kidneys of animals such as rodents and cattle as well as in the environment. Animals harboring Leptospira spp. in the kidneys frequently shed the bacteria in their urine, contaminating the environment. Contact with contaminated soil and water may result in infection. Animals and humans may develop serious life threatening disease from Leptospira infection. Approximately 1 million new human cases and over 50,000 deaths are reported worldwide. Numerous animal species including rodents, cattle, and dogs may serve as reservoir …

Predicting Immunization Status At Arrival In Tennessee Stocker Calves, Claire E. Hunkler

Masters Theses

Bovine respiratory disease is a multifaceted disease with agent, host, and environmental factors. Stocker calves are at high risk of contracting the disease through many stressors like weaning, transportation, commingling, etc. The purpose of this project was to test if externally observed physical characteristics of calves on arrival at a stocker facility can be used to predict calfhood vaccination status determined based on antibody titer levels. Knowledge of highly correlated characteristics could allow stocker operators to reduce the occurrence of BRD through targeted management strategies, thus lowering morbidity, mortality, and treatment costs. Ear notches, blood, and visual characteristics were collected …

Opioid Overdose Deaths In Tennessee, Jeremy C. Kourvelas, Erin Gwydir, Jennifer G. Tourville Dnp, Karen Pershing

SMART Policy Briefs

Opioid overdose deaths (ODD) are best understood as three phases: first due to prescription opioid misuse, followed by a rise in heroin use, and currently due to contamination by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Each phase has posed unique policy challenges. ● Numerous policies and practices have successfully reduced prescription opioid and heroin ODD, but ODD due to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids continue to rise, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began. ● Fentanyl test strips, syringe service programs, greater naloxone (Narcan, Kloxxado) availability and other harm reduction approaches have been implemented in recent years with positive results, but synthetic …

An Archaeological Study Of Pit Cellars And Ethnic Identity In Tennessee, Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines pit cellars in Tennessee. Pit cellars are pits excavated into the ground typically underneath historic structures and are often referred to as subfloor pits, root cellars, or hidey holes. Archaeologists believe these pits were generally used for the storage of food or personal items and can provide valuable household-level information normally not obtained from other features. These pits were usually filled quickly after their use and often contain artifacts which provide data on diet, personal space, kinship, gender, race, ethnicity, class, spiritual beliefs, and the conditions of slavery. Pit cellars were also regularly constructed by their users …

Elk Abundance, Survival, And Health In The Cumberland Mountains Of Tennessee, Katherine Kurth

Doctoral Dissertations

Managing sustainable wildlife populations requires insight into population abundance and health. Since reintroduction, elk (Cervus canadensis) at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (NCWMA) in Tennessee have shown marginal population growth using low-precision abundance estimates. Limited research investigating possible population limiting factors has occurred since evaluations conducted directly after translocation. To provide information necessary for effective population management, we estimated abundance, identified survival rates, and conducted mortality and health surveillance. Precise abundance estimates of eastern elk populations are challenging to obtain using traditional capture-recapture due to invasive handling of individuals and low detection in forested landscapes. Therefore, we …

College Is A Scam Full Of Leftist Liberal Ideas: An Exploration Of Rural And First-Generation College Students' Memorable Messages About Higher Education, Margaret Keene

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence Vocational Anticipatory Socialization (VAS) and memorable messages have on rural first-generation college students’ interest in higher education. This study will utilize methodology regarding Vocational Anticipatory Socialization Messages and Sources from Powers and Myers (2017), the College Influence Choice Scale from Martin and Dixon (1991), as well as thematic analysis derived from survey questions designed by the researcher. The results of this study found that students report family as their most influential source to encourage higher education, peers as their most influential source to discourage higher education, and numerous encouraging and …

Local Control Over Education: Perceptions Of Tennessee And Florida County School Board Members, Joseph G. Jarret

Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, local boards of education have been viewed as community stewards who are responsible for providing local children with a quality education that reflects the values and mores of the locality in which they serve (Rice, 2014). However, in recent years, many states have significantly expanded their roles in public education. Quite often, this expansion results in an erosion of local control. For instance, in 2019, the State of Florida, which presently has a mix of elected and appointed school superintendents, considered a state constitutional amendment which would have moved the state to a wholly appointed school superintendent model. In …

Preventing Youth Substance Misuse In Tennessee, W Alex Mason, Johnnie B. Bower, Jennifer Tourville, Karen Pershing, Katie Cahill

SMART Policy Briefs

This brief will highlight the nature of the youth substance misuse problem in Tennessee. It will also outline recommendations on how the state can move forward with further investments to help address youth substance use prevention.

Key Points

• Adolescent substance misuse is widespread and costly.
• Substance misuse prevention works and is cost-effective.
• Prevention represents a long-term investment rather than an ongoing expenditure.
• Tennessee needs to scale up and sustain evidence-based prevention interventions.

Adolescent substance misuse and its consequences continue to be a challenge in Tennessee communities. To address the problem of substance misuse in Tennessee’s youth and young adults, it …

Municipal E-News: Issue 101: Quarter 3, September 2021, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

The Cost Of Stigma, Jeremy Kourvelas, Carole R. Myers Dr., Katie Cahill, Karen J. Derefinko Phd, Robert Pack Phd, Kelly E. Moore Phd, Jennifer Tourville

SMART Policy Briefs

Key Points

• Substance Use Disorder (SUD), formerly known as addiction or substance abuse, is a treatable medical condition, but fewer than 1 in 10 Tennesseans with SUD receive treatment.
• Stigma can lead to a view of those with SUD as weak-willed, unmotivated, and unlikely to recover. However, the reality is that about 60% of people with SUD experience full remission.
• Treatment is also fiscally sound: every $1 spent on evidence-based treatment for SUD saves $12 in healthcare and criminal justice costs.
• How we talk about SUD is the beginning of reducing stigma. Using person-first language such as …

Supplementing East Tennessee Landscapes For Pollinators With Native Perennials, Amani Khalil

Masters Theses

Tennessee, home to the Great Smoky Mountains, is a biodiversity hotspot for many plant and animal species, yet it receives relatively few conservation dollars (Jenkins et al., 2015). As a biodiversity hotspot, this region may be home to many endemic species, but little is known about the abundance or diversity of insect pollinators. In order to both estimate pollinator communities in East Tennessee and pollinator forage preferences for native Tennessee plants, we established four plots, comprised of three plant families across five common land use types. Over two field seasons we collected nearly 7,300 insect specimens with a total sampling …

Municipal E-News: Issue 100: Quarter 2, June 2021, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Substance Misuse And Incarceration In Tennessee, Katie Cahill, Duane Slone, Jason R. Trautwein, Ricki Dierenfeldt Phd, Kelly E. Moore Phd, James M. Hart, Jennifer G. Tourville Dnp

SMART Policy Briefs

Key Points

• Corrections in Tennessee cost over $1 billion annually due to a rising incarceration rate.
• The State’s increasing incarceration rate is related to the growth in substance misuse which on its own costs Tennessee $2 billion each year and leads to over $1 billion in lost income from a shrinking work force.
• Prioritizing evidence-based treatment that targets the underlying medical and behavioral issues driving addictive habits for justice-involved individuals could simultaneously address rising recidivism, reincarceration, and growing substance misuse.

See report attached, and for additional information, visit https://smart.tennessee.edu/policy-briefs/substance-misuse-incarceration-tn/ .

Controlling Woody Vegetation For The Underplanting And Reintegration Of Shortleaf Pine Into Upland Hardwood Forests Of The Southeast, Max Street

Masters Theses

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) has the widest distribution of any pine species in the southeastern United States. Shortleaf pine is an important softwood commercial timber species, second only to loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). The amount of shortleaf pine has diminished dramatically beginning in the early 19^th century.

The decline of shortleaf pine has been attributed to several, primarily societal factors. Old field abandonment has declined which provided optimum seed bed conditions for the establishment of shortleaf pine. The timber industry began to favor the faster-growing loblolly pine with shorter stand rotations at the expense of …

Better Broadband For Better Health, Jeremy Kourvelas, Katie Cahill, Carole Myers Phd, Jennifer Tourville, Sreedhar Upendram

SMART Policy Briefs

No abstract provided.

Municipal E-News: Issue 99: Quarter 1, March 2021, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Denial Of Driver’S Licenses As A Denial Of Services For And Personhood Of Unauthorized Latinx Immigrants In Knoxville, Tennessee: A Literature Review, Blake Turpin

Haslam Scholars Projects

After the events of September 11, 2001, the United States enacted and expanded multiple policies and programs aimed at addressing national security concerns and racialized anti-immigrant sentiments. These included the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the REAL ID Act of 2005, Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secure Communities Program, and the Criminal Alien Program, among others. These policies and programs, along with general anti-Latinx immigrant sentiments, have had far-reaching effects on the ability of this population to access basic needs, fully participate in society as members of the United States, and fully realize a …

Telehealth Improves Access To Treatment For Substance Use Disorder, Jeremy Kourvelas, Carole Myers Phd, Katie Cahill Phd, Stephen Loyd Md, Jennifer Tourville Dnp

SMART Policy Briefs

No abstract provided.

Municipal E-News: Issue 98: Quarter 4, December 2020, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Phytophthora Capsici In Tennessee: Fungicide Resistance, Population Genetics And Cultural Control, Timothy Brent Siegenthaler

Masters Theses

Phytophthora capsici, a plant pathogenic oomycete, is the causal agent of the vegetable disease Phytophthora blight of pepper and cucurbits. Since the identification of P. capsici in 1922, a significant amount of research has been conducted to understand its biology and disease management. Despite this, little research had been conducted on this species in the state of Tennessee. Three studies were done from 2018 to 2020, focusing on fungicide resistance, population genetics, and testing management strategies in the field. In 2018 and 2019 a total of 248 isolate of P. capsici were collected from five counties in Tennessee. These isolates …

Municipal E-News: Issue 97: Quarter 3, September 2020, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Social-Ecological Systems Considerations For Wildlife Reintroduction And Conservation, Cristina Elisa Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Wildlife management, especially projects requiring reintroduction, are complex undertakings requiring interdisciplinary approaches. This dissertation combines social science, ecology, economics, and policy to advance wildlife reintroduction science and improve conservation outcomes. The central focus of this dissertation involves wildlife reintroduction management, with a specific emphasis on the reintroduction of elk into East Tennessee. The dissertation is divided by three studies, each taking a unique interdisciplinary approach to wildlife reintroduction. The first study uses structural equation modeling to examine the social psychology constructs of risk perception and trust to examine their influence on attitudes towards reintroduced elk in Tennessee and support for …

Municipal E-News: Issue 96: Quarter 2, June 2020, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

The Hub And Spoke Solution: A Much-Needed Answer To Tennessee's Opioid Crisis, Ryne E. Tipton

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Examination Of The Dollywood Foundations My People Fund, Callie Victoria Johnson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Municipal E-News: Issue 95: Quarter 1, March 2020, Mtas

Municipal E-News

he "Municipal E-News" was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.