Grants & Awards

 

 

Recently, Dr. Suzanne E. Walker-Pacheco (ANT) won the 2007 Leslie Hewes Award for the best social science article published in the Great Plains Research Review in that journal year.  

The article published last year in the journal Great Plains Research, entitled "Population Characteristics and Health Service Use by Latino Immigrants to Southwest Missouri," was co-authored by Suzanne E. Walker-Pacheco, Susan Dollar, and Ravindra Amonker.

 

The article has been selected by the Center for Great Plains Studies Publications Committee as the winner of the 2007 Leslie Hewes Award for best social science article published in 2007. The co-authors in this article examine the rapid influx and new demographic patterns of Latino immigrants to the United States which have precipitated numerous pressing issues, among them health and healthcare disparities. 

 

The article studies the relatively recent phenomenon of high Latino immigration rates to rural areas which is increasingly common in the Midwest and Great Plains states, where they are drawn by the labor market. As the authors found, a rural setting, low socioeconomic status, and high concentrations of minorities have been shown to be closely intertwined, and such regions are often medically underserved.  Such describes rural southwest Missouri, where the authors collected data in four counties on demographics, socioeconomic factors, healthcare perceptions, and use of medical services by Latino immigrants.

 

The article concludes by proposing outreach efforts that emphasize preventive healthcare to better incorporate Latino immigrants and augment their health status, and thus those of their communities at large.

 

 

The Center of Archeological Research (CAR) at Missouri State has recently completed work on the virtual museum “Where the Wilson Meets the James.” Last June CAR received a grant of $5,987 from the Missouri Humanities Council to create the Web site.  

The virtual museum features information and pictures that focus on the history of the area just southwest of Springfield where the James River and Wilson’s Creek meet. CAR has held its summer field school in this location, commonly known as Delaware Town (named after a large Delaware Indian settlement that once occupied the area) since 1999. The research that has been done at Delaware Town ranges from pre-historic man up to the Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek. While doing research in the Delaware Town area, Missouri State faculty and students have uncovered thousands of artifacts that they are now combining to create the virtual museum.

Laboratory supervisor Gail Emrie said the Web site is a great way to showcase the work that CAR has done at Delaware Town. “The virtual museum allows us to bring to life the work that has been done by the faculty and student workers over the many years we have worked in the area,” said Emrie.

Dr. Holly Jones, research archaeologist and assistant research professor, said that the virtual museum should draw many people to the research that has been done at Delaware Town. “The virtual museum is a new and wonderful way to get information about Delaware Town to the general public,” said Jones. “People can go to the museum and view the information for free without ever leaving their home.”

The virtual museum can be viewed at http://delawaretown.missouristate.edu/. For more information about CAR or the virtual museum, contact Emrie at (417) 836-4894.