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Photo of Josiah Richardson at an awards function

It Merits a Mention

It Merits a Mention

Some students find their purpose in college. Others find it long before they set foot on campus. 

One month before the start of his fall semester, freshman Josiah Richardson of Princeton, West Virginia received a significant, and very rare, honor at the 2023 Boy Scout Jamboree. An Eagle Scout and member of Troop 1 in Princeton, he was awarded his 139th merit badge – out of 138. 

Thanks to a technicality in which a badge he’d already earned was discontinued and replaced with another, Richardson was able to surpass the official 138-badge total. In the 113-year history of the Boy Scouts, only 600 Scouts are estimated to have earned every badge, and Richardson may be the first to go beyond that lofty achievement. 

Richardson is now studying Organizational Leadership at the Chambers College. 

Life-changing

Working as a program manager at Honeywell seems like a sweet enough gig, but imagine expanding your technical skills and knowledge base while in that position. Scott Branham chose that path when he enrolled in WVU Online’s Business Data Analytics program. Read more about Branham’s journey here

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Take Stock

Worried about a looming recession and what to do with your money? Hold steady on those investment plans, advises Alexander Kurov, professor and Fred T. Tattersall research chair in finance. In an article penned for The Conversation, Kurov writes “Stick to your long-term plan and ignore day-to-day market fluctuations, however frightening they may be. Don’t take my word for it. The tried and true approach of passive investing is backed up by a lot of evidence.” To dive into the full article, go to go.wvu.edu/kurov.

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Beauty and the Least (Paid) $$$

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I Scream, You Scream

Move over cones and milkshakes, there is a new way to enjoy ice cream – rolled! Marketing student and Morgantown native Tyler Lalka is bringing rolled ice cream to the hills of Morgantown and nearby cities with his business Rolling Hills Ice Cream. Lalka originally saw the concept being done in larger cities and thought to himself, “Mountaineers need this,” and opened his ice cream truck in April 2021. Not only is the ice cream mixed with toppings on top of a negative-five degree plate and rolled into pieces, but his truck also allows him to roll to birthday parties, weddings, farmer’s markets, fairs, office gatherings and more. “It was a dream of mine to bring this to Morgantown and I decided to go mobile because it would give me the opportunity to meet my customers where they are,” he said. The signature menu (which ice cream lovers can get any time) includes salted caramel pretzel, Oreo, peanut butter cup, s'mores and Nutella banana. On top of those flavors, individuals can add other sweet or savory ingredients. Lalka will graduate with a degree in marketing in December 2022. 

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Something in the Air

A paper coauthored by Economics Professors Brad Humphreys and Jane Ruseski has been chosen by its journal of publication, Sports Economic Review, as its best paper of the year. Their research suggests that cities with professional sports teams bear increased flu mortality rates. Read the paper on Sports Economic Review.

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