Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 2.
We received an important correction for last month's issue.
Dr. Lauren Vines, Co-Director of Psychology Training, Health Behavior Coordinator, and Clinical Psychologist at the Alexandria VA Health Care System, informed us that in last month's article, "Alexandria VAHCS Pre-Doctoral Internship Earns APA Accreditation," page 11, we said their new internship was post- doctoral internship when it is pre-doctoral.
We corrected that in the linked edition as soon as we received Dr. Vine's note. She also wanted us to clarify that full accreditation is not finished until another step happens in three years, a final hurdle from the American Psychological Association.
We regret any confusion we caused due to our mistake.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 4.
Gov. John Bel Edwards made a friendly wager with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on the outcome of the much- anticipated LSU-Alabama matchup in Tuscaloosa.
Gov. Edwards wagered some fresh Louisiana seafood from Tony's Seafood in Baton Rouge. Gov. Ivey is putting up Alabama's famous Priester's Pecans from Fort Deposit Alabama.
Gov. Edwards visited LSU football practice to offer some words of encouragement.
To view Gov. Edwards' friendly wager video and Gov. Ivey's response, go to https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov/status/11928419769216 90112.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 4.
At their September meeting the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists moved in favor of adopting the following opinion as a formal opinion of the Board (Codified as Opinion No. 024: LSSP Scope of Practice, Ordering Services):
“Ordering services is within the scope of practice of a licensed specialist in school psychology (hereinafter, “LSSP”) depending on the practice setting of the LSSP as follows:
a. The scope of practice for LSSPs either contracted or employed by the school system, including charter, public, and private schools, engaged in work germane with educational bulletins, including but not limited to Louisiana Bulletins 1508 and 1706, does include “ordering” services.
b. The scope of practice for LSSPs working outside the school system, and by law under the supervision of a psychologist or medical psychologist, does not encompass “ordering” services.
NOTE: For the purposes of this opinion, an “order” for services within the school setting by an LSSP includes recommendations for psychological evaluation, educational tests, and other assessment procedures, including interpreting results, and/or the planning implementation and management of psychological services and interventions."
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 4.
Gov. John Bel Edwards released the following statement about Louisiana’s quarterly gross domestic product, which is the highest quarterly GDP on record for the state, according to data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis released today. Louisiana’s GDP grew at a rate of 1.7 percent, the 29th fastest in the nation, outpacing other Southern states like Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee.
“Louisiana continues to see growth in its gross domestic product, which is at a record high level and growing faster than many other states. We’ve made positive strides in growing our economy through job creation. Right now, our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in more than a decade, people are taking home more money in their paychecks and our GDP has hit historic levels for our state. Just yesterday, Louisiana was named a top 10 state for best business climate and my administration has announced more than 175 major economic development wins that will pump more than $41 billion in new capital investment into our state and create more than 35,000 new jobs. We’re on the right track in Louisiana and growing stronger every day. Just last night, in fact, the White House praised Louisiana’s economic performance, saying our state is ‘booming’.”
Facts include: · Louisiana’s quarterly GDP in 2019 Second Quarter is $263.09 billion, the highest state quarterly GDP on record. · Louisiana’s quarterly GDP grew by $2.67 billion, an annual rate of 1.7 percent, from the first to the second quarter of 2019. This growth outpaced other Southern states like Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee. · When comparing the second quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2019, Louisiana’s GDP grew by $6.44 billion.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 7.
From the Minutes Selected Items from September Minutes of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists
Executive Director Report – Ms. Monic presented the 2019 RENEWAL REPORT as follows: •Opening Renewal July 1, 2019: LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS: 770 (62 RENEWED AT THE REDUCED RATED IN 2018); LSSP: 22; PROVISIONAL: 11 • Closing Renewal July 31, 2019: LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS: 737 (63 RENEWED AT THE REDUCED RATED IN 2019); LSSP: 22; PROVISIONAL: 7 •Lapsed: LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS: 33 (3 Deceased); LSSP: 0; PROVISIONAL: 4
Ms. Monic presented the following report on Complaints/Disciplinary actions: DISCIPLINARYACTIONREPORT 7/1/18–6/30/19 – Total number of Request for Investigations received: 23 Total number of Open Investigations: 12 Total number of cases closed: 11 Total number of Non- Psychologist Cases: 7 Total number of psychologists participating in the Impaired Psychologist Procedure Agreement: 0 Disciplinary Actions: 2 • DISCIPLINARYACTIONREPORT7/1/17–6/30/18 Total number of Request for Investigations received: 16 Total number of Open Investigations: 6 Total number of cases closed: 10 Total number of Non- Psychologist Cases: 4 Total number of psychologists participating in the Impaired Psychologist Procedure Agreement: 0 Disciplinary Actions: 2
Liaison to Professional Organizations and Boards – Dr. Gormanous reported that he attended the 2019 APA Convention and brought back their 2019 Agenda book that he encouraged members to take a look at in order to understand the breadth of what is trending in psychology today, including telepsychology. He also reported that the APA President Elect and Divisional Campaign had started.
RULEMAKING: a. Supervision via Telepsychology – Dr. Moore clarified her intent in requesting this discussion item was to draft an opinion for consideration by the board with regard to Supervision via Telepsychology, not propose rulemaking. Dr. Niolon commented that should this be allowed by the LSBEP, he would like to see clear restrictions in place to eliminate confusion in training programs. Dr. Gormanous shared APPIC’s clarification for tele-supervision as a starting point for these guidelines. b. Complaint Adjudication – The Board requested the draft rules be resent to them. c. Definitions – The Board requested the draft rules be resent to them. d. Continuing Education – The Board requested the draft rules be resent to them.
BUDGET 2019-20: a. Staff Development – Ms. Monic discussed the continuing and vital need for staff development. Ms. Monic reported that the La. Behavior Analyst Board had agreed to split employee costs for a shared Complaint/Compliance Investigator. Ms. Monic reported that the current fund balance of the board would support a salary for this FY, but that the board would have to engage in revenue development in order to support an additional salary for subsequent fiscal years. Ms. Monic provided a job description of what the regular full-time role of the complaint/compliance investigator would entail and how that position would be managed between the two boards. The Board discussed the request and considered the budget and information provided. Dr. Gormanous moved in favor of approving the position of Complaint/Compliance Investigator including funds and benefits for a salaried employee not to exceed $46,200 depending on experience, for a full-time employee to fill the position. The Board discussed the motion. The motion passed by unanimous roll call vote as follows: Boggs- YEA, Henke – YEA, Gormanous – YEA, Gibson – YEA, Moore – YEA.
7. ASPPB 59TH Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota October 16-20, 2019 and Voting Delegate. Ms. Monic reported that she had completed her registration as the voting delegate for the LSBEP, as well as the registration of Dr. Gormanous for attendance at the ASPPB 59TH Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota October 16-20, 2019. Dr. Gormanous requested an agenda item for the October meeting to review and discuss nominees that LSBEP could support. The board agreed without opposition.
8. Division of Administrative Law – Interagency Agreement The Board reviewed the second proposal from the DAL to provide services to the LSBEP to hear a case, compile the record and make a recommendation to the board for decision (excluding the board from the hearing process). The board discussed the option. Ms. Monic provided information to the Board related to Attorney Amy Lowe’s review of the proposal. Noting that while it would satisfy the requirements of the La. Administrative Procedures Act, the board would not have the benefit of hearing the presentation of the case by either side, instead it would act as a court of appeal, reviewing only the record before accepting a recommendation made by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Further, this procedure having not been tested in a court of law, would not prohibit an individual from filing for judicial review in district court. LSBEP would still be responsible for costs associated with defending this procedure should an individual appeal the decision of an ALJ to a district court. Finding that creating a new procedure would have no substantial benefit to the licensee or the board, and in fact could create an additional layer of bureaucracy and more costs to the board and the licensees, Dr. Gormanous moved in favor of declining the proposal and continuing with the current established procedure. The board discussed the motion. The motion passed by unanimous roll call vote as follows: Boggs- YEA, Henke – YEA, Gormanous – YEA, Gibson – YEA, Moore – YEA.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 12.
In 1991 I flew to San Francisco to present research at an American Psychological Association (APA) convention for the first time. As I stood facing an overflow crowd who had come to hear me speak, I saw an intimidating bank of reporters standing at the back of the room, facing me. Was I ready? Did I have the right words to reach both the professionals and the public?
Years earlier, at the conclusion of a rigorous defense of my doctoral dissertation, one of my professors had the foresight to ask me how I would explain my findings at a press conference. I was surprised to find myself immediately at ease in this pretend scenario and quickly relayed my results in plain English.
Now, as a member of APA Media Psychology Division 46, I was developing a strong support system of like-minded colleagues who were committed to conveying the science of psychology to laypersons. These practitioners and professors possessed a body of knowledge that stood on solid academic foundations. Through their mentorship I grew confident in my capacity to communicate complex ideas in simple terms.
When APA launched a national public education campaign in 1996 I brought the mission of educating the public about the value of psychology to a Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) convention. By then I was on my way to becoming a guest expert for television, radio, and print media across the country and had begun to produce and host my own television and radio shows in New Orleans.
But my state association had changed. The same organization that had invited me to write a media column for their newsletter and encouraged me as I developed a media committee and raised funds for a media campaign no longer embraced my passion. New leaders had taken charge and priorities shifted from broad mutual support to focus on a single goal.
Without input from the membership, a closed door deal helped pass Act 251 in the Louisiana legislature in 2009. The law gave medical prescription privileges to licensed psychologists, with the requirement that the state medical board grant licensure to prescribe psychotropic drugs. The state psychology board had fought hard to become independent of medicine. Now that autonomy had been compromised as a small group of psychologists made aligning with the medical profession more important than communicating the unique strengths of psychology to the public.
LPA had to fight hard over many years to establish new stability and strength before consideration of any serious media outreach to the public. Finally, at our recent fall conference, 28 years after I stood before those reporters in San Francisco and later encountered LPA leaders who squelched any media efforts as they pursued their narrow agenda, I was invited to facilitate a media psychology ethics lunch-and- learn with participants eager to reach the public.
I described my journey through a variety of on-air and in-print names and titles. For example, when I was spending a lot of time with my Division 46 friends in New York, I shared their moniker, “Media Maven.” I eventually even tired of being introduced as “Dr.” I still work hard as Dr. Susan Glanville behind the scenes, but in front of audiences I am “Susie Marie PhD®”, a name that rhymes, since I am both corny and musical, “Country Lady,” a title that fits my Southern rural self, and I deliver “Life Lessons from Mother Earth,” a description that references my favorite source of inspiration, especially since I draw heavily on my Native American heritage for my content.
During the day long workshop on health psychology my colleagues were seeking my guidance in how to establish their own positions in the media. As we listened to speakers address the benefits and cost- effectiveness of a wellness model based on optimal nutrition, pro-active lifestyles, and stress management, I began to appreciate more than ever that our profession offers an important alternative to the diseases-and-drugs medical model of care. We also have a responsibility to disseminate our solid body of information to empower people to make positive changes in their lives.
I never found out what became of the money we raised in our first LPA media campaign, but I do know that I am back on the scene to support my peers as we begin to teach the public the value of the science of psychology. During the many years I have maintained my media career I have featured my unique brand of Sound Psychology®. These days I will do my best to help us all avoid the sour notes of the past, and prepare us to deliver a perfect pitch message to a culture in great need of our knowledge and skills. Our consistency will assure our success.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 11. Source pages: 16.
In October the Governor made numerous appointment which included the following.
Dr. Leonard Weather Jr. of Shreveport was appointed to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Weather Jr. is the Director of the Omni Fertility and Laser Institute. He was nominated by and represents the Louisiana Medical Assn.
Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill of New Orleans was appointed to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. O’Neill is a professor at Tulane University School of Medicine and serves as the Associate Chairman of Clinical Affairs for Tulane University School of Medicine. He represents Tulane Medical School.
Dr. Richard M. Zweifler of New Orleans was reappointed to the Louisiana Emergency Response Network Board. Dr. Zweifler is the Associate Medical Director and System Chair of Neurology for the Ochsner Health System. He represents the American Stroke Association.
Dr. Brandon Mauldin of New Orleans was appointed to the Louisiana Emergency Response Network Board. Dr. Mauldin is the Chief Medical Officer for the Tulane Health System. He represents the Tulane University Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Tomas Jacome of Baton Rouge was reappointed to the Louisiana Emergency Response Network Board. Dr. Jacome is the Trauma Director at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. He represents the Louisiana Chapter of the ACS Committee on Trauma.
Brittany A. Braun of New Orleans was appointed to the Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board. She is an Education Program Consultant with the Louisiana Department of Education. Braun will represent the Department of Education, Special Education on the board.
Ashley G. Lastrapes of Metairie was appointed to the Louisiana Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors Board of Examiners. Lastrapes is a Senior Case Manager with Stokes and Associates and was previously the Mental Health Program Director for the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority. She was appointed by the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals Louisiana Chapter.
Crystal D. Younger of Mandeville was appointed to the Louisiana Licensed Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors Board of Examiners. She is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor with ACE Consulting, LLC. Younger was appointed by the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals Louisiana Chapter.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 8.
Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the following statement on Louisiana’s personal income growth, released September 24 by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. Louisiana’s quarterly personal income for the second quarter of 2019 is $224.43 billion, a 4.9 percent increase, and the highest on record.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 10.
Psychology Gumbo
Does Personality Play a Role in Cancer?
[Editor's Note: This column comes from a previous issue. Dr. Brannon is an invited speaker this at the state psychology session,to be held Nov. 1, Advances in Health Psychology.]
Even after thirty years you never forget meeting Hans Eysenck. Except for a slightly impish look to him, as if he thought everything was just a bit amusing, the great Eysenck seemed fairly normal. He should have had ray beams shooting from his forehead. Hans Eysenck was the most cited psychologist of his lifetime, one of the most prolific, and definitely one of the most courageous.
Dr. Eysenck had been coaxed by LSU’s Ralph Dreger to come to New Orleans to present at Louisiana Psychological Association. We were all at the first evening reception, cruising down the lovely Mississippi on a riverboat which was delightful. The next day Eysenck would speak about a fascinating topic, death. He shared his research on predicting who died of what disease, and it was something to remember in and of itself.
Because of Eysenck’s visit to the Big Easy, I’ve always taken note when this type of research comes up, like the recent Purdue study on cancer and child abuse. But a recent article on Medscape, “No Such Thing as a Cancer-Prone Personality, Study Shows,” left a lot to be desired in methods. And, the lack of results included even those to known risk factors, and we all know what that means.
So I asked Dr. Linda Brannon, McNeese professor, health psychology expert, and author, to take a look for us.
Comment: Dr. Linda Brannon, McNeese Professor, Health Psychology
Students have consulted me many times concerning research projects they were planning, and many of these students have some research topic involving personality traits or factors. That situation shouldn’t be surprising—these students are, after all, psychology students. Psychologists are interested in personality.
What has surprised me over the years is how rarely research has confirmed the value of personality factors in understanding or predicting behavior. So, it comes as less of a surprise to me than to many psychologists that little evidence exists for personality as a factor in developing cancer.
Indeed, the widely publicized Type A Behavior Patters is 1) not a personality type and 2) not a very good predictor of cardiovascular disease. The Type A Behavior Pattern, originated by cardiologists Friedman and Rosenman in the 1970s, was really a combination of factors, some of which related to personality (such as hostility and impatience) and some of which did not (feelings of time pressure and concern with acquiring money). That concept gained a lot of publicity as a result of a large-scale study on middle-aged, at-risk men, but further research on more diverse populations has led to less enthusiasm for this concept.
The Cancer Prone Personality concept has less supporting evidence and has generated more controversy. Most studies find no link or only a very weak association between any type of psychosocial factors and the development or progression of cancer. In studies that reviewed and evaluated the size of effects for many other studies (Garssen, 2004; Petticrew, Bell, & Hunter, 2002), the conclusions were that the evidence is weak. The best of these weak predictors involve unhealthy emotional expression, most often the tendency to deny or repress emotion.
In an interesting contrast, psychologist Hans Eysenck and his colleague Ronald Grossarth-Maticek published a series of articles during the 1990s that showed a strong link between personality and the development of cancer (Eysenck, 1990, 1993; Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, 1990; Grossarth-Maticke et al., 1990). They described their findings in terms of a cancer- prone personality, which prominently featured the concept of difficulty in dealing with emotion. Those studies seemed, as some other researcher put it, too good to be true, and these critics accused Eysenck of scientific fraud. Eysenck and his colleagues (Grossarth- Maticek, Eysenck & Barrett, 1993), of course, defended themselves vigorously, claiming that the studies that failed to replicate his results didn’t administer the personality tests properly.
The controversy continues, with an interesting split: Reseachers in the United States tend to find little evidence that psychosocial factors play much of a role in cancer development or progression, but researchers in other part of the world find stronger evidence. For example, the Eysenck and Grossarth-Maticek research was conducted in Europe. In addition, an Australian author (Benjamin, 2010) argued recently that psychotherapy interventions compare favorably with radiation and chemotherapy as treatments for cancer.
So, where does all that controversy leave the concept of personality factors in cancer? I think it leaves psychologists in the United States seeming like quacks if we argue that personality plays a role in cancer; we have no support from research credible to U.S. medical experts to back up those claims. What is the real role of personality in cancer? We just don’t know.
Linda Brannon, PhD, licensed psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at McNeese State University in Lake Charles is co-author of Health Psychology: An Introduction to Behavior and Health, a bestseller in its category on Amazon, and headed to its 10th edition. (Courtesy images)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 10.
Endowed Professor of Gerontology in the School of Allied Health at University of Louisiana Monroe, Dr. Burt Ashworth participated in a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to work together with the Department of Health to improve the lives of senior citizens, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019.
The project links efforts between the University of Louisiana Monroe and Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.
As reported by ULM News, Northeast Delta HSA is a division of the Office of Behavioral Health of the Louisiana Department of Health. The Department's "Operation Golden Years" initiative focuses on serving citizens ages 60 and above with information, support and services.
Endowed Professor of Gerontology Dr. Burton Ashworth will work directly with the project, and said, “My focus was on 65 years old and up." He then realized the project was a much larger population according to LDH officials.
President of Academic Affairs Dr. Alberto Ruiz thanked the ULM and Northeast Delta HSA leaders whose dedication led to the MOU. “If it were not for people like you in this room, we could not move Northeast Louisiana forward. It is critical that we do that because we have got to invest in the communities in Northeast Louisiana."
Dr. Ashworth is also organizer for the Annual PARC 2019 "Elderly & Addiction II" symposium on Nov. 4, 2019, at Bayou Pointe Event Center. He is co-editor of Contemporary Southern Psychology, along with Drs. Bill McCown and Mkay Bonner.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 11.
Dr. Lauren Vines, Co- Director of Psychology Training, Health Behavior Coordinator, and Clinical Psychologist at the Alexandria VA Health Care System, noted to the Times that the internship program, started in 2015, has now received accreditation from the American Psychological Association.
"We will be offering three full-time positions for the next training year," Dr. Vines said. "The AVAHCS and the New Orleans VAMC are the only two accredited VA internships in Louisiana," she explained.
Dr. Leslie Drew, is Co- Director of Training for Psychology Training Program. Drew is also a clinical psychologist who has served as PTSD Program Coordinator.
The Alexandria VA Health Care System (AVAHCS) first funded the new pre-doctoral psychology internship program in 2015. The AVAHCS is located in Pineville, Louisiana, with four community based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in Jennings, Lafayette, Natchitoches, and Fort Polk, Louisiana.
At its start-up, the internship training program included a generalist focus and fosters a general competence in trainees, over various areas of specialization. The goals of the program support the view that recovery-oriented, comprehensive, generalist skills are the foundation for competent, independent, professional services. The model of the training program is practitioner– scholar.
Innovative programs such as PTSD Awareness Month, National PTSD Screening Day, and the Gathering Program have been part of the comprehensive programs that interns may take part in at the VA. “The Gathering program is a recovery-oriented, social event for veterans to learn to tolerate their anxiety associated with large groups of people,” Drew previously explained to the Times.
The Times previously reported that the AVAHCS is also a teaching hospital with training programs for a number of disciplines and provides state-of-the-art technology and education.
The Psychology Service at the AVAHCS has provided without compensation training to psychology students for the past 24 years. It also provided a training rotation as part of an APA accredited pre- doctoral internship consortium with Central State Hospital and Pinecrest Rehabilitation Center for several years.
AVAHCS psychologists are regular presenters at state conferences. Dr. Drew and colleague Dr. Kelley Pears have presented numerous training workshops for others around the state, including workshops on Prolonged Exposure Therapy and PTSD topics. Dr. Pears has served as a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/ Substance Use Disorders psychologist at the AVAHCS.
From our files: Dr. John Fanning (L) speaking with psychologists from the AVAHCS, Dr. Kelley Pears (C) and Dr. Leslie Drew (R). The AVAHCS post- doctoral internship at the AVSHCS has recently earned APA Accreditation.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Dr. Courtland Chaney spoke at the Psychology Department's Brown Bag event held September 13 at the Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Campus. Professor Emily Elliot arranged for Chaney, an industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologist, to speak at the event involving both the cognitive-brain sciences and I-O psychology faculty and graduate students.
Dr. Chaney’s presented, “Thinking and Decision- Making: Can Two Complex, But Fundamental Psychological Processes Explain All Rational Behavior,” based on his experiences teaching disaster and crisis management at LSU and conducting safety leadership training in industrial settings.
“Since my current professional activities exclusively involve working with people in organizational settings, it’s great to interact with the scholars continuing to engage in psychological research,” commented Chaney.
About 40 psychology faculty and graduate students attended the session and a dozen graduate students from both Industrial- Organizational psychology and cognitive disciplines stayed after the presentation for a question and discussion session.
“I think it is so very important for psychologists who are primarily working in private practice to interact with research psychologists. We can all benefit from the contact. […] "Dr. Chaney is Co-Chair of Public Affairs for the Louisiana Psychological Association.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 14.
Psychology's Tyree Mitchell is being highlighted in Louisiana State University's "Fierce for the Future Campaign." The effort aims to better life for all citizens in Louisiana and use the pillars of Arts and Culture; Coast, Energy, and Environment; Research and Economic Development; Health and Well-being; Education; and Leadership.
"Tyree Mitchell, PhD, is fierce for developing strong leaders who will drive our world forward. Dr. Mitchell, an assistant professor in the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education, focuses on how we influence each other at work to accomplish shared goals. He also oversees the Live Leadership Simulation, a collection of activities that resemble a day in the life of a leader."
Dr. Tyree Mitchell (image courtesy of LSU)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 2.
In our culture of never-ending new regulations, it is refreshing that some legislator, specifically Representative Mark Wright, thought it would be a good idea to require the regulatory boards to remove unnecessary, outdated, and burdensome regulations.
Wright's law requires a critique from those shouldering the weight of these regulations. Of course, most psychologists are far too busy to read over volumes of rules and frame some complaints, but when I was age 13, I had ample time and energy to critique my parent's rule––about the length of my bangs.
The style was to wear bangs that hung exactly at the level of the eyes, probably promulgated by Twiggy, whose greater crime by far was to create a culture of starvation dieting.
The bangs drove the parental units crazy. My mother suffered the most from my constant fidgeting and swiping hair out of my face. She would try logical persuasion, “Can you even see where you’re going?” and some assertion, “Please cut those bangs,” to occasional manipulation, “I can’t see your beautiful eyes.”
There was absolutely no choice for a teenage girl in 1965 but to keep the bangs. So, Mom and I engaged in a low–intensity, chronic power struggle with constant bickering about my bangs. Whether my father actually cared or not I don’t know, but he would occasionally enter the fray on my mother’s side, probably out of simple common sense.
One day, my father, after returning from the Shakespeare class he was taking for fun at Northwestern State, announced an Executive Opinion.
Somewhere in his after–the–class–philosophical–male-bonding time with his favorite professor, probably between deciding whether the ghost in Hamlet was real or a hallucination, and the second shared Irish Whiskey, my father apparently complained to his professor friend about my bangs.
“Why do you care?” asked the professor.
“Because she looks silly and is always brushing her bangs out of her eyes," said my father.
“Does she make good grades?” Yes.
“Does she do her chores?” Yes.
“Does she cause any trouble?” No.
“Then forget about the damn bangs.”
And that was the end of it. My father announced that I could have the bangs the way I wanted (no I didn’t get rid of them at that point) and my mother let it go, mostly.
The professor performed a three–item, criterion related validity study, albeit with restricted application and without a theory. Does the length of bangs relate to job performance? Probably not––or at least not in the expected direction.
Hooray for Representative Wright. Now, a few clear-thinking citizens can add their side to the equation, hopefully.
The hidden burden of regulations in the U.S. is said to reach $1.9 trillion yearly in lost economic productivity (Ten Thousand Commandments, Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2019), something we in applied psychology should be helping understand and correct.
As for power, control and bangs, when my children were in adolescence, it came out of my mouth: “Are you wearing that to school?” “Why so much eye make-up?” And, because Mother Nature likes a good joke, “Would you please cut those bangs?”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 10, No. 10. Source pages: 4.
The financial outlook for Louisiana's colleges and universities is the best it has been in the past decade, Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said Tuesday, as reported by Will Sentell of The Advocate.
"It went from being cut every year to not being cut in our first two years and being plussed up in our third year," Dardenne said. "So it is clearly better than it has been for the past decade," he said. "It is not where we want it to be, but we are making progress." Higher education previously underwent 16 budget cuts over 10 years.
Dardenne addressed the Louisiana Board of Regents, which began budget hearings the 2020 Legislature.
According to the Advocate report, state aid for colleges and universities rose by $47.3 million for the financial year that began July 1. The increase for the LSU system was $10 million, to $362 million, or 3%. Aid for the Southern University system rose $2.7 million, to $45.9 million, or 6%.
LSU President F. King Alexander told the regents that faculty pay remains a concern, the report said.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.