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West Virginia University

West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and clinical campuses for the university's medical and school at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston and the Eastern Division at the WVU Medicine Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all 55 West Virginia counties.

Enrollment for the Fall 2021 semester was 25,474 for the main campus, while enrollment across all three non-clinical campuses was 28,267. The Morgantown campus offers more than 350 bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs throughout 13 colleges and schools, including that state's only law and dental schools. Faculty and alumni include 25 Truman Scholars, 47 Goldwater Scholars, 88 Gilman Scholars, 70 Fulbright Scholars, and 25 Rhodes Scholars.

Establishment
Under the terms of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the West Virginia Legislature created the Agricultural College of West Virginia on February 7, 1867, and the school officially opened on September 2 of the same year. On December 4, 1868, lawmakers renamed the college West Virginia University to represent a broader range of higher education. It built on the grounds of three former academies, the Monongalia Academy of 1814, the Morgantown Female Academy of 1831, and Woodburn Female Seminary of 1858. Upon its founding, the local newspaper claimed that "a place more eligible for the quiet and successful pursuit of science and literature is nowhere to be found".

The first campus building was constructed in 1870 as University Hall and was renamed Martin Hall in 1889 in honor of West Virginia University's first president, the Rev. Alexander Martin of Scotland. After a fire destroyed the Woodburn Seminary building in 1873, the centerpiece of what is now Woodburn Hall was completed in 1876, under the name New Hall. The name was changed to University Building in 1878 when the College of Law was founded as the first professional school in the state of West Virginia. The precursor to Woodburn Circle was finished in 1893 when Chitwood Hall (then Science Hall) was constructed on the bluff's north side. In 1909 a north wing was added to University Building, and the facility was renamed Woodburn Hall. Throughout the next decade, Woodburn Hall underwent several renovations and additions, including the construction of the south wing and east tower (in 1930) housing the Seth Thomas clock. The three Woodburn Circle buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 1899, the Vance Farm was acquired for the West Virginia University Experiment Station. The Reymann Memorial Farm was given to West Virginia University in 1917 by the family of Anton Reymann of Wheeling in memory of Lawrence A. Reymann. The farm consisting of 990 acres located in Wardensville in Hardy County, comes until the Davis College of Agriculture.

WVU was required to have a Cadet Corps under the terms of the Morrill Act of 1862, which allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges. The United States Department of War—a predecessor of the U.S. Department of Defense—offered military equipment to the university at no charge, forming the basis of the school's Military Tactics department. The heavy military influence led to opposition of female enrollment that lasted through the first decade of the university. The trend changed in 1889 when ten women were allowed to enroll and seek degrees at the university. In June 1891, Harriet Lyon became the first (white) woman to receive a degree from West Virginia University, finishing first in the class ahead of all male students. Lyon's academic success supported the acceptance of women in the university as students and educators.

During the university's early years, daily chapel services and roll call for all students were mandatory, limiting time for student recreation. Following the removal of these obligations, students became active in extracurricular activities and established many of the school's first athletic and student organizations. The first edition of the student newspaper known as the Athenaeum, now The Daily Athenaeum, was published in 1887, and the West Virginia Law Review became the fourth-oldest law review in the United States when it was founded in 1894. In 1897, E. Eva Hubbard (1858–1947) became the first head of WVU's new Department of Art. Of Hubbard's students was renowned Modernist Blanche Lazzell. Phi Kappa Psi was the first fraternity on campus, founded May 23, 1890, while Kappa Delta, the first sorority at WVU, was established in 1899. The first football team was formed in 1891, and the first basketball team appeared in 1903.

Early 20th century
The university's outlook at the turn of the 20th century was optimistic, as the school constructed the first library in present-day Stewart Hall in 1902.

The campus welcomed U.S. President William Howard Taft to the campus for WVU President Thomas Hodges's inauguration in 1911. On November 2, 1911, President Taft delivered the address "World Wide Speech", from the front porch of Purinton House. However, the university's efforts to attract more qualified educators, increase enrollment, and expand the campus was hindered during a period that saw two World Wars and the Great Depression. With a heavy military influence in the university, many students left college to join the army during World War I, and the local ROTC was organized in 1916. Women's involvement in the war efforts at home led to the creation of Women's Hall dormitory, now Stalnaker Hall, in 1918.

Despite its wartime struggles, the university established programs in biology, medicine, journalism, pharmacy, and the first mining program in the nation. In 1918, Oglebay Hall was built to house the expanded agriculture and forestry programs. Additionally, the first dedicated sports facilities were constructed including "The Ark" for basketball in 1918, and the original Mountaineer Field in 1925. Stansbury Hall was built in 1928 and included a new basketball arena named "The Fieldhouse" that held 6,000 spectators. Elizabeth Moore Hall, the woman's physical education building, was also completed in 1928. Men's Hall, the first dormitory built for men on campus, was built in 1935 and was funded in part by the Works Progress Administration. The Mountaineer mascot was adopted during the late 1920s, with an unofficial process to select the Mountaineer through 1936. An official selection process began naming the mascot annually in 1937, with Boyd "Slim" Arnold becoming the first Mountaineer to wear the buckskin uniform.

As male students left for World War II in 1941–42, women became more prominent in the university and surpassed the number of males on campus for the first time in 1943. Soldiers returning from the war qualified for the G.I. Bill and helped increase enrollment to over 8,000 students for the first time, but the university's facilities were becoming inadequate to accommodate the surging student population.

Campus expansion
Preparation for the baby boomer generation and plans for curriculum expansion led to the purchase of land for the Evansdale and Medical campuses. The growth of downtown Morgantown limited the space available on the original campus; therefore, the new site was nearly two miles north on what had been farmland. Beginning in the late 1950s the university experienced the most rapid period of growth in its history. In 1957, WVU opened a Medical Center on the new campus and founded the first school of dentistry in West Virginia. The basketball program reached a new level of success when the university admitted future 14‑time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame player Jerry West, who led the team to the national championship game in 1959. As enrollment approached 14,000 in the 1960s, the university continued expansion plans by building the Evansdale Residential Complex to house approximately 1,800 students, the Mountainlair student union, and several engineering and creative arts facilities on the Evansdale campus. In 1970 the WVU Coliseum, a basketball facility with a capacity of 14,000, opened near the new campus. As the facilities expanded, the university researched ways to move its growing student population across the split campuses and to solve its worsening traffic congestion. The resulting Personal Rapid Transit system opened in 1973 as the world's first automated rapid transit system.

Post-expansion and 21st century
The student population continued to grow in the late 1970s, reaching 22,000. With no room for growth on the downtown campus, the football stadium was closed, and the new Mountaineer Field was opened near the Medical campus on September 6, 1980. Mountaineer Field would later be named Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. After an $8 million donation to the university, Ruby Memorial Hospital opened on the Medical campus in 1988, providing the state's first level-one trauma center. Early the next year, the undefeated Mountaineer football team, led by Major Harris, made it to the national championship game before losing to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

During the 1990s the university developed several recreational activities for students, including FallFest and WVU "Up All Night". While the programs were created to provide safe entertainment for students and to combat WVU's inclusion as one of the nation's top party schools, they also garnered national attention as solutions for reducing alcohol consumption and partying on college campuses across the country. In 2001, a $34 million, 177000 sqft recreation facility opened on the Evansdale campus, providing students with exercise facilities, recreational activities, and personal training programs.

WVU reached a new level of athletic success to start the new millennium. The football team featured a 3‑0 BCS bowl record, ten consecutive bowl game appearances, a #1 ranking in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, three consecutive 11‑win seasons amassing a 33–5 record, 41 consecutive weeks in the top 25, and 6 conference championships. The men's basketball team won the 2007 NIT Championship and the 2010 Big East championship, while appearing four times in the sweet sixteen, twice in the elite-eight, and once in the final-four of the NCAA tournament. The athletic successes brought the university a new level of national exposure, and enrollment has since increased to nearly 30,000 students.

On April 24, 2008, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the university had improperly granted an MBA to Heather Bresch, the daughter of the state's governor Joe Manchin and an employee of Mylan, a pharmaceutical company whose then-chairman Milan Puskar was one of the university's largest donors. In the aftermath, the university determined Bresch's degree had been awarded without the prerequisite requirements having been met. They subsequently rescinded it, leading to the resignation of the president Michael Garrison, provost Gerald Lang, and business school dean Steve Sears. Garrison had been profiled as a trend toward non-traditional university presidents by the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed, but the Faculty Senate approved a vote of no confidence in the search that selected him. C. Peter McGrath was named interim president in August 2008. James P. Clements became WVU's 23rd president on June 30, 2009. He had previously served as provost at Towson University. On September 16, 2009, Michele G. Wheatly was named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. In November 2013, James P. Clements was selected to be Clemson University's 15th president. E. Gordon Gee served as interim president and continues to serve as the president; this was Dr. Gee's second time in this role, having first served as president of WVU in 1981.

On August 11, 2023, facing financial difficulties, a proposal to cut 7% of the university's faculty and eliminate 32 major programs offered at its Morgantown campus was announced. These cuts will affect some humanities disciplines, including the entire Department of World Language, Literature and Linguistics, as well as some non-humanities programs, such as in pharmacy and engineering. Within the first week of fall classes, on August 21, 2023, hundreds of students staged a walkout and held rallies on Morgantown's Downtown and Evansdale campuses to show opposition to the proposal. Participants wore red in honor of the striking coal miners who fought in the Battle of Blair Mountain. The event was organized by the West Virginia United Students' Union, which began organizing in response to potential reductions and discontinuations while the program reviews were still in process. Shortly thereafter, the WVU Faculty Assembly approved a vote of "no confidence" in President Gordon Gee.

Rankings
WVU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, WVU spent $185.1 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 121st in the nation. WVU is affiliated with the Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, dedicated to the study of Alzheimer's and other diseases that affect the brain. WVU is also a leader in biometric technology research and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's lead academic partner in biometrics research.

Admissions
Freshman West Virginia resident applicants must have a 2.0 GPA and either an SAT super score of 990 of 1600 or an ACT super score of 19 of 36. For non-residents the requirements are a GPA of 2.5 and either a super score SAT 1060 or a super score ACT of 21. College and program admission requirements for first-time freshmen vary by program. The general freshman acceptance rate at WVU is 71.9% of applications received with an average entering student GPA of 3.42, an SAT super score of 1115 of 1600, and an ACT super score of 24 of 36.

In the fall of 2020, the university relaxed its test score requirements for students applying for admission in response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to WVU assistant vice president of Enrollment Management George Zimmerman, if students are unable to take the SAT or ACT, they will still be admitted to WVU as long as they have shown academic ability in other areas of their application. The policy is said to be in effect until spring 2023.

Colleges and schools

West Virginia University is organized into 15 degree-granting colleges or schools and also offers an Honors College.
 * Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design
 * Eberly College of Arts & Sciences
 * John Chambers College of Business & Economics
 * College of Creative Arts
 * Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering & Mineral Resources
 * College of Education & Human Services
 * Reed College of Media
 * College of Law
 * School of Dentistry
 * School of Medicine
 * School of Nursing
 * School of Pharmacy
 * School of Public Health
 * College of Physical Activity & Sport Sciences
 * University College
 * Honors College

Divisional campuses
WVU has two divisional campuses:
 * Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser
 * West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley

West Virginia University at Parkersburg, a primarily 2-year school, was a regional campus of WVU but has been independent since 2009.

Areas of study
Forensics and Investigative Science is a nationally recognized program at WVU, originally created through a partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The program is accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and is the official library holdings repository for the International Association for Identification. The program includes three main areas of emphasis, the examiner track, which specializes in crime scene investigation and comparison sciences, the biology track, which specializes in body fluids and DNA analysis, and the chemistry track, which specializes in the chemical identification of seized drugs, fire debris, trace evidence and explosives. Facilities include four "crime-scene" houses, a vehicle processing garage, a ballistics laboratory, and numerous traditional laboratories and classrooms in Ming Hsieh Hall and Oglebay Hall. A separate Criminology & Investigative Sciences major was later added to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Business and Economics also provides a certificate in forensic accounting and fraud examination.

WVU robotics teams have won several international competitions such as the NASA Robotic Mining Competition and the NASA/NIA RASC-AL Exploration Robot-OPS Challenge. In 2016, a WVU team led by Dr. Yu Gu won the final NASA Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge with a $750,000 prize.

Biometrics is an engineering-centric field of study offered at WVU, the first institution in the world to establish a Bachelor of Science degree in Biometric Systems. In 2003 the university also founded the initial chapter of the Student Society for the Advancement of Biometrics (SSAB). The program, in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (LCSEE), provides a firm understanding of the underlying electrical engineering and computer engineering disciplines that support biometric applications. On February 6, 2008, WVU became the national academic leader for the FBI's biometric research. WVU is also the founding site for the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), focusing on biometrics and identification technology. CITeR maintains and develops collaborative relationships with other academic institutions to meet research needs.

The Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center is on West Virginia University's Evansdale Campus and houses the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. These schools grant doctoral and professional degrees in 16 different fields, as well as a variety of other Master's and Bachelor's degrees. For 2012 U.S. News & World Report ranked WVU's Medical School ninth in the United States for rural medicine.

Also on the Health Sciences Campus is WVU's local teaching hospital, Ruby Memorial Hospital, which is one of only two designated Trauma I hospitals in the state.

Campus

The Morgantown campus comprises three sub-campuses. The original main campus, typically called the Downtown Campus, is in the Monongahela River valley on the fringes of downtown Morgantown. This part of the campus includes eight academic buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The Downtown Campus comprises several architectural styles predominantly featuring red brick including Victorian Second Empire, Federal, Neoclassical, and Collegiate Gothic among others. The Evansdale Campus, a mile and a half north-northwest, on a rise above the flood plain of the Monongahela River, was developed in the 1950s and 1960s to accommodate a growing student population since space for expansion was limited at the Downtown Campus. The Health Sciences Campus, in the same outlying area (but on the other side of a ridge), includes the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, the Erma Byrd Biomedical Research Facility, Ruby Memorial Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Hospital, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, WVU Healthcare Physicians Office Center, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU Eye Institute, and the WVU Children's Hospital.

The Health Sciences Campus is near Mountaineer Field, over a ridge from the Evansdale Campus.

Transportation
Due to the distance between WVU's three campuses, the university built the innovative Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system to link the campuses (Downtown, Evansdale, and Health Sciences) and reduce student traffic on local highways. Boeing began construction on the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in 1972. The unique aspect that makes the system "personal" is that a rider specifies their destination when entering the system and, depending on the system load, the PRT can dispatch a car that will travel directly to that station.

The PRT began operation in 1973, with U.S. President Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia, aboard one of five prototype cars for a demonstration ride. The PRT handles 16,000 riders per day and uses approximately 70 cars.

The system has 8.7 mi of guideway track and five stations: Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, and Medical/Health Sciences. The vehicles are rubber-tired, but the cars have constant contact with a separate electrified rail. Steam heating keeps the elevated guideway free of snow and ice. Although most students use the PRT, this technology has not been replicated at other sites for various reasons, including the high cost of maintaining the heated track system in winter.

The PRT cars are painted in school colors (blue with gold trim) and feature the university name and logo on the front. Inside, the seats are light beige fiberglass and the carpeting is blue. Each car has eight seats with an overall capacity of 20 people, including standing room.

The National Society of Professional Engineers named the WVU PRT one of the top 10 engineering achievements of 1972, and in 1997 The New Electric Railway Journal picked the WVU PRT as the best people mover in North America (for 1996).

In 2006 the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dubbed WVU one of the best workplaces for commuters.

Each autumn, during Mountaineer Week celebrations, a special PRT car is placed in front of the Mountainlair student union where groups of students participate in the "PRT Cram" with the objective of squeezing in as many people as possible. A record of 97 was set in 2000.

The PRT has become a cultural mainstay of the WVU campus. However, it is not without problems. One student was seriously injured in 2020 when a boulder collapsed onto the track, smashing a cart. Two more students had to be transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital.

Libraries
The West Virginia University Libraries encompasses seven libraries and the WVU Press, including the Downtown Campus Library, Evansdale Library, Health Sciences Library (Morgantown), Law Library, Health Sciences Library (Charleston), the Mary F. Shipper Library at Potomac State College in Keyser, the Beckley Library at the WVU Institute of Technology, and the West Virginia and Regional History Center (the world's largest collection of West Virginia-related research material), is in the Wise Library on the Downtown Campus. Collections include the Appalachian Collection, Digital Collections, Government Documents, Map Collection, Myers Collection, Patent and Trademarks, Rare Books Collections, and Theses and Dissertations. West Virginia University libraries contain nearly 1.5 million printed volumes, 2.3 million microforms, more than 10,000 electronic journals, and computers with high-speed Internet access.

The Evansdale Library supports the academic programs and research centered on the Evansdale Campus. The library holds materials in the disciplines of agriculture, art, computer science, education, engineering, forestry, landscape architecture, mineral resources, music, physical education, and theater. In addition to the collections, Evansdale Library is home to da Vinci's Cafe, an Information Technology Services Big Prints! poster printing lab, and the Academic Innovation Teaching and Learning Commons Sandbox.

The university co-publishes the Labor Studies Journal with the United Association for Labor Education.

Core Arboretum
The Core Arboretum is a 91-acre (37 ha) arboretum owned by West Virginia University and on Monongahela Boulevard in Morgantown, West Virginia. It is open to the public daily without charge.

The Arboretum's history began in 1948 when the university acquired its site. Professor Earl Lemley Core (1902–1984), chairman of the Biology Department, then convinced President Irvin Stewart to set the property aside for the study of biology and botany. In 1975 the Arboretum was named in Core's honor.

The Arboretum is now managed by the WVU Department of Biology and consists of mostly old-growth forests on steep hillside and Monongahela River floodplain. It includes densely wooded areas with 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of walking trails, as well as 3 acres (12,000 m2) of lawn planted with specimen trees.

The Arboretum has a variety of natural habitats in which several hundred species of native WV trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants may be found. Some of the large trees are likely over 200 years old.

Campus safety
The university created WVU Alert, a text-based alert system for quickly disseminating emergency situations to faculty, staff, and students. WVU also uses LiveSafe, a smart phone application that enables users to anonymously report crimes or safety concerns, or to use the walk safe feature which allows the user to invite a friend to monitor their location while they walk. Additionally, there are 37, easily accessible, blue-lit towers housing emergency phones across the WVU campuses that automatically dial 911 in the event of an emergency.

The West Virginia University Police Department (UPD) is the largest campus police department in the state and the only campus law enforcement agency in the state accredited by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The UPD has a sworn officer operations division, a central communication unit, a student cadet unit, investigations, K-9 teams and other support services. Officers have the same authority and powers as city and county police officers.

Events
FallFest welcomes students to the university by providing an evening of entertainment and musical performances traditionally held during the first week of the fall semester and traditionally at the Mountainlair Student Union. The event began in 1995 as a safe alternative to partying and has become one of the largest University-sponsored events, typically drawing crowds of 15,000 or more. The celebration has been highlighted by a series of evening concerts by renowned artists. A dance party, film festival, comedy show, and several indoor musical performances are also featured.

Mountaineer Week is a celebration of WVU tradition and Appalachian heritage that began in 1947. Festivities have expanded to include competitions among WVU students, designed to honor school and state pride. A beard-growing competition introduced in 1949 has continued throughout the event's history. Participants must shave before the panel of judges that also chooses the winner at the end of the competition. The Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer competition has been included in Mountaineer Week since 1962, honoring one male and one female student who show "outstanding school spirit, academic excellence, and extracurricular involvement". The annual PRT Cram features the unique PRT system, where students compete to fit the maximum number of riders on a special-model PRT car with the windows removed. The record was set in 2000 when 97 students fit inside one PRT car.

The Lighting of Woodburn Hall is an annual university ceremony held in early December to light historic Woodburn Hall for the holiday season. The event began in 1987 and is open to the public. Christmas carols are typically sung and donations are taken at the event to support community organizations. Patients from WVU's Children's hospital are often selected to light the Hall.

Fall Family Weekend is an opportunity for students' family members to experience WVU campus life by attending classes, athletic events, college presentations, and student events such as WVU "Up All Night". Tours of the campus facilities are offered by individual colleges and organizations, including tours of the PRT.

Homecoming weekend activities include the Alumni Band-led homecoming parade through downtown Morgantown, the crowning of the royalty, and a football game with a performance by the WVU Alumni band. Student organizations participate in the parade by designing floats. Receptions are held by colleges, student groups, and the alumni center.

Greek Week is held during the spring semester, providing a venue for competition between Greek organizations. Highlights include airband events, where organizations compete in cheerleading and dance routines, and sports competitions on the Mountainlair recreational field. The competitions strive to highlight WVU's student spirit and present a positive image of the fraternities and sororities.

Recreation
The Mountainlair Student Union, commonly called "the Lair" by students, is the three-floor student union building at WVU. The building dates to 1968 and replaced an earlier structure built in 1948. The student union offers many recreational opportunities to students including a movie theater, bowling alley, pool hall, ballrooms, video game arcade, a cafeteria-style restaurant, and a collection of fast food restaurants.

The Student Recreation Center is a 177000 sqft recreation facility that opened before the 2001 academic year with an initial construction cost of $34 million. The facility offers a six-lane swimming pool, 20‑seat spa, 17000 sqft of cardio and free-weight equipment, an elevated running track, basketball courts, volleyball and badminton courts, glass squash and racquetball courts, and a 50 ft climbing wall. The center also offers a variety of wellness programs, personal training, child care services, exercise classes, and intramural activities.

The Mountaineer Adventure Program (MAP) offers several activities including Adventure WV, Challenge Course, and International Trips. Adventure WV is focused on providing guidance to freshmen and sophomores through various outdoor orientation expeditions. The Challenge Course program uses a recreational facility designed to teach teamwork and problem-solving skills through physical interaction. International Trips offers worldwide recreational opportunities to places like Fiji and Peru, as well as study abroad credit courses. Several of the MAP programs provide University-accepted credit hours.

The Outdoor Recreation Center, a division of the Student Recreation Center, helps students find recreational activities locally and in other parts of West Virginia. The center sponsors some trips, including whitewater rafting on the Cheat River and hiking in the Monongahela National Forest. Students can take advantage of West Virginia's natural wilderness by renting outdoor recreational equipment for hiking, camping, climbing, fishing, biking, skiing, and whitewater rafting, all of which is available with minimal travel time. WVU's main campus is next to the Monongahela River along which runs the Caperton Trail, also known as the "Rail Trail", a 10 mi paved path for walking, running, or biking. Other connecting trails total 43 mi in additional length, extending from the Pennsylvania border to Prickett's Fort State Park. Many student groups take day trips to the nearby Coopers Rock State Forest, which is less than 15 mi from WVU's campus.

Student organizations
West Virginia University offers more than 400 student-run organizations and clubs. Many of the organizations are associated with academia, religion, culture, military service, politics, recreation, or sports. New student groups may be formed by submitting a constitution and petition to become recognized as a student organization.

Student Government Association
The Student Government Association (SGA) serves as representatives for the student body and as a liaison to the university administration and officials. The President of the Student Body also serves as a full voting member of the university's Board of Governors.

Fraternities and sororities
WVU Greek fraternities are Phi Beta Sigma, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Gamma Rho, Kappa Alpha Order, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu, Phi Sigma Phi, Sigma Phi Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Theta Chi. Greek sororities are Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Kappa.

Fraternity controversies

In 2014, 18-year-old Kappa Sigma pledge Nolan Burch died during a hazing incident at the fraternity house. Police say his blood-alcohol level was 0.493% at the time of his death. A lawsuit was settled over the student's death in 2018 for $250,000.

In 2019, City Drive Studios produced the documentary "Breathe, Nolan, Breathe", which details what led up to Nolan's death. The film begins with security footage inside the Kappa Sigma house, showing a fraternity brother performing CPR on Nolan's limp body hours after he was dragged inside. The brother kept repeating the words, "breathe, Nolan, breathe." Video also shows fraternity brothers taking videos of Burch laying on a wooden plank, walking around him, and even kicking him. The film is being used by the university to kick off a bystander awareness campaign. According to City Drive Studios, " The purpose of this film is to stop this from ever happening again and to save lives."

In 2018 several WVU fraternities chose to disassociate themselves after the school sent out stricter rules and regulations for Greek life. For example, Sigma Chi was restricted to one social event per semester. David Coram of Sigma Chi says this was one of the main reasons the fraternity decided to disassociate. WVU also decided to raise the required GPA for rushing students from 2.5 to 2.75. For Farris, the biggest concern with the breakaway is student safety, reports the WV Gazette-Mail. He explained how the university would not be able to help in situations such as an injury or sexual assault if they were not recognized by the school.

2018 brought another fraternity incident as, according to WVU, senior finance major David Rusko, 22, fell down steps and was knocked unconscious at the fraternity house where he was visiting after a football game. An investigation found two hours elapsed between the fall and when medical help was sought. West Virginia University announced that three students were no longer enrolled at the university and 15 others agreed to other disciplinary action as a result.

Student media
The Daily Athenaeum, nicknamed the DA, is the 9th-largest newspaper in West Virginia. Offered free on campus, it generates income through advertisements and student fees. The paper began in 1887 as a weekly literary magazine, with writing, editing and production taken over by the newly formed School of Journalism in the 1920s. In 1970, the paper split from the School of Journalism and became an independent campus entity governed by the Student Publications Board. The DA was voted as the Princeton Review's 10th-best college newspaper in the United States in 2005, 15th in 2006, and 8th in 2007.

WWVU-FM, called U92 or The Moose, plays new music, talk shows, and newscasts. On the air since 1982, U92 can be heard in the Morgantown area at 91.7 FM and also streams live on the internet. In 2007 the station was one of four college radio stations nominated for College Music Journal's Station of the Year Award. In 2015 CMJ awarded the station with three awards including Station of the Year.

The Mountaineer Jeffersonian was a news, economic, and political journal founded by WVU students. The publication was founded in 2008 and ceased publication in 2011.

Student health
The Student Center of Health, also known under the label "WELLWVU", provides services related to student health, disease prevention, and awareness. The Carruth Center for Psychological and Psychiatric Services offers therapy to any WVU student. The Robert C. Byrd Health Science Center and the associated West Virginia University Hospitals, on the Health Science Campus, serve as West Virginia's largest healthcare institution. The hospitals provide a comprehensive set of healthcare needs for local and regional patients. WVU students have full access to healthcare resources, which are accessible from the PRT towers station.

WVU Student Health Services
Starting with the Fall 2014 semester WVU implemented a mandatory student health insurance policy, with an opt-out. All domestic students at West Virginia University and WVU Tech, enrolled in 6 or more credit hours and international students enrolled in 1 or more credit hours will be required to carry health insurance coverage.

With the opening of the new Student Health and Wellness building on the Evansdale Campus, WVU Medical Corporation now operates the medical services of Student Health. This is a WVU Urgent Care Clinic office and is the primary care provider to students who use WVU's Aetna Health Insurance policy. The Clinic is open 7 days a week.

Mental Health Record
As of the end of the Spring 2020 semester, two students died by suicide after not being able to seek counseling at the Carruth Center for Mental Health. There have also been numerous accounts of a culture of alcoholism and mental illness. The school has offered limited support via email regarding the deaths of these students.

Arts and entertainment
WVU Arts & Entertainment (A&E) sponsors entertainment events for students throughout the academic year. The department organizes the annual FallFest event, which features popular musicians, comedians, and other performers. WVU A&E annually hosts several concerts at the WVU Coliseum and Creative Arts Center, with past performances by Akon, The All-American Rejects, The Fray, Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, and 50 Cent among others. The Creative Arts Center was constructed in 1967, it included a new Möller pipe organ.

The West Virginia Public Theater (WVPT) is one of two professional musical theaters in West Virginia. The group is near WVU's campus and performs several Broadway numbers yearly.

The 5300 sqft Art Museum of West Virginia University features touring exhibitions and displays a collection including over 2,500 works of art from the Appalachian region, Asia, and Africa.

The Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum, on the Evansdale campus, features tools, equipment, artifacts, photos, and other items related to West Virginia's coal and petroleum industries.

Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Mountaineers and compete in the NCAA's Division I. The school has teams in 17 college sports and has won several national championships, including 19 NCAA Rifle Championships. Formerly a full member of the Big East Conference in all sports, on October 28, 2011, the school accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference and became a member on July 1, 2012.

Notable athletes from West Virginia University include Ashley Lawrence, Jerry West, Jim Braxton, Marc Bulger, Avon Cobourne, Mike Compton, Noel Devine, Cecil Doggette, D'or Fischer, Mike Gansey, Marc "Major" O. Harris, Chris Henry, Joe Herber, Jeff Hostetler, Chuck Howley, Sam Huff, Darryl Talley, "Hot Rod" Hundley, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Joe Stydahar, Dan Mozes, Kevin Pittsnogle, Jerry Porter, Todd Sauerbrun, Steve Slaton, Ray Gaddis, Rod Thorn, Oliver Luck, Mike Vanderjagt, Pat White, Quincy Wilson, Amos Zereoué, Greg Jones, Joe Alexander, Owen Schmitt, Georgann Wells, Geno Smith, Ginny Thrasher, Pat McAfee, Tavon Austin, Miles McBride, and Jedd Gyorko.

Football
WVU has had two undefeated regular seasons; they went 11–0 in 1988 and 1993. However, West Virginia lost both bowl games, 34‑21 to Notre Dame in the National Championship, and 41–7 to Florida. The 2005 season and the 2006 season produced the first consecutive 11-win seasons in school history. In the 2007 season, the Mountaineers started the season as the #3-ranked team, the highest preseason ranking in school history. That team eventually was ranked #1 in the Coaches Poll and finished the season with a third consecutive 11-win season after their Fiesta Bowl victory.

Basketball
West Virginia men's basketball has competed in three basketball championship final matches: the 1959 NCAA final, the 1942 NIT final (at that time, the NIT was considered more prestigious than the NCAA), and the 2007 NIT Championship. They lost to California in the 1959 NCAA finals, while the Mountaineers won the 1942 NIT Championship over Western Kentucky, and the 2007 NIT contest over Clemson. In 1949 future Mountaineers head coach, Fred Schaus, became the first player in NCAA history to record 1,000 points.

Recently, West Virginia reached the Final Four of the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, led by West Virginia coach and former WVU player Bob Huggins. The Mountaineers won the 2010 Big East men's basketball tournament and received a #2 seed in the East Region of the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

In 2015, West Virginia reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2015 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They were eliminated from the tournament after losing to Kentucky. In 2018, West Virginia again reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They were eliminated from the tournament after losing in the fourth round to #1 seed and eventual champion Villanova.

Soccer
Since joining the Big 12 Conference ahead of the 2012 season, West Virginia women's soccer has posted a 27–1–3 record in regular-season league games. In 2016, the Mountaineers claimed their fifth consecutive outright regular-season league championship, becoming the first team in Big 12 history to accomplish that feat. West Virginia also won back-to-back Big 12 tournament championships in 2013 and 2014, as well as two additional Big 12 tournament championships in 2016 and 2018. The Mountaineers are coached by Nikki Izzo-Brown, the program's only head coach.

West Virginia men's soccer competes in the Sun Belt Conference.

Rifle
With a total of 26 individual NCAA National Champions and 19 team NCAA National Championship titles, West Virginia University's rifle team is the most successful rifle program in the history of the NCAA. Their most recent National Championship as a team was won in 2017. The Mountaineers compete in the Great America Rifle Conference where they have won 11 regular-season conference championships. The team's home matches take place at the WVU Rifle Range which opened in 2010. Virginia Thrasher, who won a gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle at the 2016 Summer Olympics, was on the Mountaineers rifle team from 2015 to 2019.

Marching band
The West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band is nicknamed "The Pride of West Virginia." The 380-member band performs at every home football game and makes several local and national appearances throughout the year.

Fanbase
In a state that lacks professional sports franchises, West Virginians passionately support West Virginia University and its athletics teams. Men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins, a former Mountaineer basketball player who was born in Morgantown, stated that the "strong bond between the university and the people of West Virginia" is a relationship that is difficult for non-natives to understand.

Some WVU fans, primarily in the student sections, better known as the "Mountaineer Maniacs" have developed a reputation for unruly behavior, being compared to "soccer hooligans" by GQ magazine. At some events, there have been cases of objects thrown onto the field or at opposing teams. There were also issues with small-scale fires, most notably of couches, being set after games; over 1,100 intentionally ignited street fires were reported from 1997 to 2003.

Members of the Morgantown-area community volunteered as Goodwill City Ambassadors for the first time in the fall of 2012 to welcome visiting fans to the football games. The Goodwill City initiative is a collaborative effort of the City of Morgantown, WVU, Morgantown's Dominion Post, and community residents.

Pageantry

The Mountaineer was adopted in 1890 as the official school mascot and unofficially began appearing at sporting events in 1936. A new Mountaineer is selected each year during the final two men's home basketball games, with the formal title "The Mountaineer of West Virginia University". The new Mountaineer receives a scholarship, a tailor-made buckskin suit with a coonskin hat, and a period rifle and powder horn for discharging when appropriate and safe. The mascot travels with most sports teams throughout the academic year. While not required, male mascots traditionally grow a beard.

The "Flying WV" is the most widely used logo in West Virginia athletics. It debuted in 1980 as a part of a football uniform redesign by Coach Don Nehlen, and was adopted as the official logo for the university in 1983. While the "Flying WV" represents all university entities, unique logos are occasionally used for individual departments. Some examples include the script West Virginia logo for the WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the interlocking WV logo used in baseball.

Fight songs of West Virginia University include "Hail, West Virginia" and "Fight Mountaineers". The West Virginia University Alma Mater was composed in 1937, and is sung before every home football game. The crowd sings along as the WVU Marching Band stands playing it on the field, as part of the pregame show.

"Old gold and blue", the official University colors, were selected by the upperclassmen of 1890 from the West Virginia state seal. While the official school colors are old gold and blue, brighter gold is used in official university logos and merchandise. This change in color scheme is often cited for the lack of a universal standard for colors during the 19th century when the university's colors were selected. Additionally, the brighter gold is argued to create a more intimidating environment for sporting events. The university accepts "gold and blue" for the color scheme, but states clearly that the colors are not "blue and gold", to distinguish West Virginia from its rival, the University of Pittsburgh.

Sporting traditions

The unofficial song of the university, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver, became an official West Virginia state song on March 8, 2014. In 1980 John Denver performed his hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" at the dedication of Mountaineer Field, and it has since become a tradition for fans to remain in the stands following every Mountaineer victory and sing the song with the players. Although the tradition originated during football games, it is now recognized throughout the university, with the song performed at various athletic events and ceremonies. Sports Illustrated named the singing of "Country Roads" as one of the must-see college traditions.

The Pride of West Virginia is the official marching band of the university. The band's football pre-game show includes traditions such as the Drumline's "Tunnel" and "Boogie" cadences, the 220‑beat per minute run-on cadence to start the performance, marching the "WV" logo down the field to the university fight song, "Fight Mountaineers", expanding circles during Simple Gifts, and the formation of the state's outline during "Hail, West Virginia".

The Firing of the Rifle is a tradition carried out by the Mountaineer Mascot to open several athletic events. The Mountaineer points the gun into the air with one arm and fires a blank shot from a custom rifle, a signal to the crowd to begin cheering at home football and basketball games. The Mountaineer also fires the rifle every time the team scores during football games.

The Carpet Roll is a WVU Men's Basketball tradition. In 1955 Fred Schaus and Alex Mumford devised the idea of rolling out an elaborate gold and blue carpet for Mountaineer basketball players to use when taking the court for pre-game warm-ups. In addition, Mountaineer players warmed up with a special gold and blue basketball. The university continued this tradition until the late 1960s when it died out, but former Mountaineer player Gale Catlett reintroduced the carpet when he returned to West Virginia University in 1978 as head coach of the men's basketball team.

title: West Virginia University


text:
Home appliance

A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation.

The domestic application attached to home appliance is tied to the definition of appliance as "an instrument or device designed for a particular use or function". Collins English Dictionary defines "home appliance" as: "devices or machines, usually electrical, that are in your home and which you use to do jobs such as cleaning or cooking". The broad usage allows for nearly any device intended for domestic use to be a home appliance, including consumer electronics as well as stoves, refrigerators, toasters and air conditioners.

The development of self-contained electric and gas-powered appliances, an American innovation, emerged in the early 20th century. This evolution is linked to the decline of full-time domestic servants and desire to reduce household chores, allowing for more leisure time. Early appliances included washing machines, water heaters, refrigerators, and sewing machines. The industry saw significant growth post-World War II, with the introduction of dishwashers and clothes dryers. By the 1980s, the appliance industry was booming, leading to mergers and antitrust legislation. The US National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 mandated a 25% reduction in energy consumption every five years. By the 1990s, five companies dominated over 90% of the market.

Major appliances, often called white goods, include items like refrigerators and washing machines, while small appliances encompass items such as toasters and coffee makers. Product design shifted in the 1960s, embracing new materials and colors. Consumer electronics, often referred to as brown goods, include items like TVs and computers. There is a growing trend towards home automation and internet-connected appliances. Recycling of home appliances involves dismantling and recovering materials.

History

While many appliances have existed for centuries, the self-contained electric or gas powered appliances are a uniquely American innovation that emerged in the early twentieth century. The development of these appliances is tied to the disappearance of full-time domestic servants and the desire to reduce the time-consuming activities in pursuit of more recreational time. In the early 1900s, electric and gas appliances included washing machines, water heaters, refrigerators, kettles and sewing machines. The invention of Earl Richardson's small electric clothes iron in 1903 gave a small initial boost to the home appliance industry. In the Post–World War II economic expansion, the domestic use of dishwashers, and clothes dryers were part of a shift for convenience. Increasing discretionary income was reflected by a rise in miscellaneous home appliances.

In America during the 1980s, the industry shipped $1.5 billion worth of goods each year and employed over 14,000 workers, with revenues doubling between 1982 and 1990 to $3.3 billion. Throughout this period, companies merged and acquired one another to reduce research and production costs and eliminate competitors, resulting in antitrust legislation.

The United States Department of Energy reviews compliance with the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, which required manufacturers to reduce the energy consumption of the appliances by 25% every five years.

In the 1990s, the appliance industry was very consolidated, with over 90% of the products being sold by just five companies. For example, in 1991, dishwasher manufacturing market share was split between General Electric with 40% market share, Whirlpool with 31%, Electrolux with 20%, Maytag with 7% and Thermador with just 2%.

Major appliances

Major appliances, also known as white goods, comprise major household appliances and may include: air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, drying cabinets, freezers, refrigerators, kitchen stoves, water heaters, washing machines, trash compactors, microwave ovens, and induction cookers. White goods were typically painted or enameled white, and many of them still are.

Small appliances

Small appliances are typically small household electrical machines, also very useful and easily carried and installed. Yet another category is used in the kitchen, including: juicers, electric mixers, meat grinders, coffee grinders, deep fryers, herb grinders, food processors, electric kettles, waffle irons, coffee makers, blenders, rice cookers, toasters and exhaust hoods.

Product design
In the 1960s the product design for appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, and electric toasters shifted away from Streamline Moderne and embraced technological advances in the fabrication of sheet metal. A choice in color, as well as fashionable accessory, could be offered to the mass market without increasing production cost. Home appliances were sold as space-saving ensembles.

Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. In British English, they are often called brown goods by producers and sellers, to distinguish them from "white goods" which are meant for housekeeping tasks, such as washing machines and refrigerators, although nowadays, these could be considered brown goods, some of these being connected to the Internet. Some such appliances were traditionally finished with genuine or imitation wood, hence the name. This has become rare but the name has stuck, even for goods that are unlikely ever to have had a wooden case (e.g. camcorders). In the 2010s, this distinction is absent in large big box consumer electronics stores, which sell both entertainment, communication, and home office devices and kitchen appliances such as refrigerators. The highest selling consumer electronics products are compact discs. Examples are: home electronics, radio receivers, TV sets, VCRs, CD and DVD players, digital cameras, camcorders, still cameras, clocks, alarm clocks, computers, video game consoles, HiFi and home cinema, telephones and answering machines.

Life spans
A survey conducted in 2020 of more than thirteen thousand people in the UK revealed how long appliance owners had their appliances before needing to replace them due to a fault, deteriorating performance, or the age of the appliance.

Home automation
There is a trend of networking home appliances together, and combining their controls and key functions. For instance, energy distribution could be managed more evenly so that when a washing machine is on, an oven can go into a delayed start mode, or vice versa. Or, a washing machine and clothes dryer could share information about load characteristics (gentle/normal, light/full), and synchronize their finish times so the wet laundry does not have to wait before being put in the dryer.

Additionally, some manufacturers of home appliances are quickly beginning to place hardware that enables Internet connectivity in home appliances to allow for remote control, automation, communication with other home appliances, and more functionality enabling connected cooking. Internet-connected home appliances were especially prevalent during recent Consumer Electronics Show events.

Recycling

Appliance recycling consists of dismantling waste home appliances and scrapping their parts for reuse. The main types of appliances that are recycled are T.V.s, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and computers. It involves disassembly, removal of hazardous components and destruction of the equipment to recover materials, generally by shredding, sorting and grading.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Home appliance


text:
Leporidae

Leporidae is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 70 species of extant mammals in all. The Latin word Leporidae means "those that resemble lepus" (hare). Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order Lagomorpha. Leporidae differ from pikas in that they have short, furry tails and elongated ears and hind legs.

The common name "rabbit" usually applies to all genera in the family except Lepus, while members of Lepus (almost half the species) usually are called hares. Like most common names, however, the distinction does not match current taxonomy completely; jackrabbits are members of Lepus, and members of the genera Pronolagus and Caprolagus sometimes are called hares.

Various countries across all continents except Antarctica and Australia have indigenous species of Leporidae. Furthermore, rabbits, most significantly the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, also have been introduced to most of Oceania and to many other islands, where they pose serious ecological and commercial threats.

Characteristics
Leporids are small to moderately sized mammals, adapted for rapid movement. They have long hind legs, with four toes on each foot, and shorter fore legs, with five toes each. The soles of their feet are hairy, to improve grip while running, and they have strong claws on all of their toes. Leporids also have distinctive, elongated and mobile ears, and they have an excellent sense of hearing. Their eyes are large, and their night vision is good, reflecting their primarily nocturnal or crepuscular mode of living.

Leporids are all roughly the same shape and fall within a small range of sizes with short tails, ranging in overall length from the 21 cm long Tres Marias cottontail to the 76 cm long desert hare. Female leporids are almost always larger than males, which is unusual among terrestrial mammals.

Both rabbits and hares are almost exclusively herbivorous (although some Lepus species are known to eat carrion), feeding primarily on grasses and herbs, although they also eat leaves, fruit, and seeds of various kinds. Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces. But in order to get nutrients out of hard to digest fiber, leporids ferment fiber in the cecum (in the GI tract) and then expel the contents as cecotropes, which are reingested (cecotrophy). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to utilize the nutrients.

The dental formula of leporids is: = 28.

They have adapted to a remarkable range of habitats, from desert to tundra, forests, mountains, and swampland. Some rabbits dig burrows for shelter, the exact form of which varies between species. Other rabbits do not dig burrows but use forms, usually under a bush. Hares rarely dig shelters of any kind, instead using forms, and their bodies are more suited to fast running than to burrowing.

Reproduction
Leporids are typically polygynandrous, and some have highly developed social systems. Their social hierarchies determine which males mate. Rabbits are induced ovulators (ovulate during mating).

Species nesting below ground tend to have lower predation rates and have larger litters.

The gestation period in leporids varies from around 28 to 50 days, and is generally longer in the hares. This is in part because young hares (called leverets) are born precocial (eyes and ears open, fully furred), while young rabbits (called kits) are born altricial (eyes and ears closed, no fur). Higher latitudes correspond to shorter gestation periods. Leporids can have several litters a year, which can cause their population to expand dramatically in a short time when resources are plentiful. Gestation period and litter size correspond to predation rates as well.

Evolution

The oldest known leporid species date from the late Eocene, by which time the family was already present in both North America and Asia. Over the course of their evolution, this group has become increasingly adapted to lives of fast running and leaping. For example, Palaeolagus, an extinct rabbit from the Oligocene of North America, had shorter hind legs than modern forms (indicating it ran rather than hopped) though it was in most other respects quite rabbit-like. Two as yet unnamed fossil finds—dated ~48 million year ago (from China) and ~53 million year ago (India)—while primitive, display the characteristic leporid ankle, thus pushing the divergence of Ochotonidae and Leporidae yet further into the past.

The cladogram is from Matthee et al., 2004, based on nuclear and mitochondrial gene analysis.

Classification
Family Leporidae (rabbits and hares):
 * Genus Pentalagus
 * Amami rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi
 * Genus Bunolagus
 * Riverine rabbit, Bunolagus monticularis
 * Genus Nesolagus
 * Sumatran striped rabbit, Nesolagus netscheri
 * Annamite striped rabbit, Nesolagus timminsi
 * Genus Romerolagus
 * Volcano rabbit, Romerolagus diazi
 * Genus Brachylagus
 * Pygmy rabbit, Brachylagus idahoensis
 * Genus Sylvilagus
 * Subgenus Tapeti
 * Swamp rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus
 * Andean tapetí, Sylvilagus andinus
 * Bogota tapetí, Sylvilagus apollinaris
 * Ecuadorian tapetí, Sylvilagus daulensis
 * Common tapetí, Sylvilagus brasiliensis
 * Fulvous tapetí, Sylvilagus fulvescens
 * Dice's cottontail, Sylvilagus dicei
 * Central American tapetí, Sylvilagus gabbi
 * Northern tapetí, Sylvilagus incitatus
 * Omilteme cottontail, Sylvilagus insonus
 * Nicefor's tapetí, Sylvilagus nicefori
 * Marsh rabbit, Sylvilagus palustris
 * Suriname tapetí, Sylvilagus parentum
 * Colombian tapetí, Sylvilagus salentus
 * Santa Marta tapetí, Sylvilagus sanctaemartae
 * Western tapetí, Sylvilagus surdaster
 * Coastal tapetí, Sylvilagus tapetillus
 * Venezuelan lowland rabbit, Sylvilagus varynaensis
 * Subgenus Sylvilagus
 * Desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
 * Mexican cottontail, Sylvilagus cunicularis
 * Eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
 * Tres Marias cottontail, Sylvilagus graysoni
 * Robust cottontail, Sylvilagus holzneri
 * Mountain cottontail, Sylvilagus nuttallii
 * Appalachian cottontail, Sylvilagus obscurus
 * New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis
 * Subgenus Microlagus
 * Brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani
 * Genus Oryctolagus
 * European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus
 * Genus Poelagus
 * Bunyoro rabbit, Poelagus marjorita
 * Genus Pronolagus
 * Natal red rock hare, Pronolagus crassicaudatus
 * Jameson's red rock hare, Pronolagus randensis
 * Smith's red rock hare, Pronolagus rupestris
 * Hewitt's red rock hare, Pronolagus saundersiae
 * Genus Caprolagus
 * Hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus
 * Genus Lepus
 * Subgenus Macrotolagus
 * Antelope jackrabbit, Lepus alleni
 * Subgenus Poecilolagus
 * Snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus
 * Subgenus Lepus
 * Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus
 * Alaskan hare, Lepus othus
 * Mountain hare, Lepus timidus
 * Subgenus Proeulagus
 * Black jackrabbit, Lepus insularis
 * Desert hare, Lepus tibetanus
 * Tolai hare, Lepus tolai
 * Subgenus Eulagos
 * Broom hare, Lepus castroviejoi
 * Yunnan hare, Lepus comus
 * Korean hare, Lepus coreanus
 * European hare, Lepus europaeus
 * Manchurian hare, Lepus mandshuricus
 * Ethiopian highland hare, Lepus starcki
 * Subgenus Sabanalagus
 * Ethiopian hare, Lepus fagani
 * African savanna hare, Lepus victoriae
 * Subgenus Indolagus
 * Hainan hare, Lepus hainanus
 * Indian hare, Lepus nigricollis
 * Burmese hare, Lepus peguensis
 * Subgenus Sinolagus
 * Chinese hare, Lepus sinensis
 * Subgenus Tarimolagus
 * Yarkand hare, Lepus yarkandensis
 * Incertae sedis
 * Tamaulipas jackrabbit, Lepus altamirae
 * Japanese hare, Lepus brachyurus
 * Black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
 * White-sided jackrabbit, Lepus callotis
 * Cape hare, Lepus capensis
 * Corsican hare, Lepus corsicanus
 * Tehuantepec jackrabbit, Lepus flavigularis
 * Granada hare, Lepus granatensis
 * Abyssinian hare, Lepus habessinicus
 * Woolly hare, Lepus oiostolus
 * Scrub hare, Lepus saxatilis
 * White-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus townsendii
 * Genus †Serengetilagus
 * †Serengetilagus praecapensis
 * Genus †Aztlanolagus
 * †Aztlanolagus agilis

Predation
Predators of rabbits and hares include raccoons, snakes, eagles, canids, cats, mustelids, owls and hawks. Animals that eat roadkill rabbits include vultures and buzzards.

title: Leporidae


text:
Paul Sarebresole

Paul Sarebresole (May 1875 - October 3, 1911) was an early composer of ragtime music.

Sarebresole was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His French ancestors spelled the family name "Sarrebresolles".

His "Roustabout Rag", published in 1897 by Gruenewald, was one of the earliest published ragtime pieces. It utilized the "three-over-four" rhythm later popularized by Charles L. Johnson.

Other noted Sarebresole compositions include "Get Your Habits On" from 1898 (which inspired the more popular sequel, "I've Got my Habits On"), "Fire's Out" from 1902, and "Come Clean" in 1905.

Paul Sarebresole died at 1357 St Anthony Street in New Orleans at the age of 36 and was buried in St. Louis Cemetery Number 3.

title: Paul Sarebresole


text:
Felicific calculus

The felicific calculus is an algorithm formulated by utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) for calculating the degree or amount of pleasure that a specific action is likely to induce. Bentham, an ethical hedonist, believed the moral rightness or wrongness of an action to be a function of the amount of pleasure or pain that it produced. The felicific calculus could in principle, at least, determine the moral status of any considered act. The algorithm is also known as the utility calculus, the hedonistic calculus and the hedonic calculus.

To be included in this calculation are several variables (or vectors), which Bentham called "circumstances". These are:
 * 1) Intensity: How strong is the pleasure?
 * 2) Duration: How long will the pleasure last?
 * 3) Certainty or uncertainty: How likely or unlikely is it that the pleasure will occur?
 * 4) Propinquity or remoteness: How soon will the pleasure occur?
 * 5) Fecundity: The probability that the action will be followed by sensations of the same kind.
 * 6) Purity: The probability that it will not be followed by sensations of the opposite kind.
 * 7) Extent: How many people will be affected?

Bentham's instructions
To take an exact account of the general tendency of any act, by which the interests of a community are affected, proceed as follows. Begin with any one person of those whose interests seem most immediately to be affected by it: and take an account,
 * Of the value of each distinguishable pleasure which appears to be produced by it in the first instance.
 * Of the value of each pain which appears to be produced by it in the first instance.
 * Of the value of each pleasure which appears to be produced by it after the first. This constitutes the fecundity of the first pleasure and the impurity of the first pain.
 * Of the value of each pain which appears to be produced by it after the first. This constitutes the fecundity of the first pain, and the impurity of the first pleasure.
 * Sum up all the values of all the pleasures on the one side, and those of all the pains on the other. The balance, if it be on the side of pleasure, will give the good tendency of the act upon the whole, with respect to the interests of that individual person; if on the side of pain, the bad tendency of it upon the whole.
 * Take an account of the number of persons whose interests appear to be concerned; and repeat the above process with respect to each. Sum up the numbers expressive of the degrees of good tendency, which the act has, with respect to each individual, in regard to whom the tendency of it is good upon the whole. Do this again with respect to each individual, in regard to whom the tendency of it is bad upon the whole. Take the balance which if on the side of pleasure, will give the general good tendency of the act, with respect to the total number or community of individuals concerned; if on the side of pain, the general evil tendency, with respect to the same community.

To make his proposal easier to remember, Bentham devised what he called a "mnemonic doggerel" (also referred to as "memoriter verses"), which synthesized "the whole fabric of morals and legislation":

Intense, long, certain, speedy, fruitful, pure— Such marks in pleasures and in pains endure. Such pleasures seek if private be thy end: If it be public, wide let them extend Such pains avoid, whichever be thy view: If pains must come, let them extend to few.

Jevon's economics
W. Stanley Jevons used the algebra of pleasure and pain in his science of utility applied to economics. He described utility with graphs where marginal utility continuously declines. His figure 9 on page 173 has two curves: one for the painfulness of labour and the other for utility of production. As the amount of product increases there is a point where a "balance of pain" is reached and labour ceases.

Hedons and dolors
The units of measurements used in the felicific calculus may be termed hedons and dolors.

title: Felicific calculus


text:
1875 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1875.

Events

 * January 5 – Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera, designed by Charles Garnier, opens.
 * March 3 – Georges Bizet's opera Carmen debuts, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
 * May – The score for the ballet Swan Lake is commissioned from Tchaikovsky (premiered in 1877).
 * May 6 – Richard Wagner conducts portions of Götterdämmerung in concert in Vienna (the complete opera is premiered in 1876).
 * August 23 – Composer Zdeněk Fibich marries operatic contralto Betty Hanušová, sister of his first wife Růžena Hanušová.
 * October 25 – The first performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is given in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans von Bülow as soloist.
 * Robert Volkmann becomes professor of harmony and counterpoint at the National Academy of Music in Budapest, under Franz Liszt.

Published popular music

 * "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" w. Fanny Crosby m. Robert Lowry
 * "Angels, Meet Me At the Cross Road"    w.m. Will Hays
 * "Carve Dat Possum" by Sam Lucas & Herbert Hershy
 * "Draw Me Nearer" w. Fanny Crosby m. William H. Doane
 * "Dreaming Forever of Thee"     w.m. John Hill Hewitt
 * "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"    w.m. Thomas P. Westendorf
 * "Myfanwy" w.m. Joseph Parry
 * "Nancy Lee" w. Frederic Edward Weatherly, m. Stephen Adams (pseudonym of Michael Maybrick)
 * "The Spelling Bee" w.m. Septimus Winner
 * "Take me back to home and mother," w. by Arthur W. French, m. by William A. Huntley
 * "To God Be the Glory" w. Fanny Crosby m. William H. Doane
 * "A Warrior Bold" w. Edwin Thomas m. Stephen Adams (pseudonym of Michael Maybrick)
 * "The Witches Flight (Galop Caprice)" by Henry M. Russell

Classical music

 * Johannes Brahms
 * Fifteen Liebeslieder for piano duet
 * String Quartet No. 3
 * Antonín Dvořák
 * Moravian duets (for voices and piano)
 * Piano Quartet No. 1
 * Piano Trio No. 1
 * Serenade for Strings
 * String Quintet (with double bass) (orig Op. 18)
 * Symphony No. 5
 * Gabriel Fauré
 * Allegro Symphonique (for orchestra)
 * Suite for Orchestra
 * Les Djinns (for chorus and orchestra)
 * Edvard Grieg – incidental music to Ibsen's Peer Gynt
 * Édouard Lalo – Allegro Symphonique
 * Alexandre Luigini – Ballet égyptien
 * Jules Massenet – oratorio Eve
 * Modest Mussorgsky – Pesni i plyaski smerti (Songs and Dances of Death), song cycle for bass voice and piano
 * Amilcare Ponchielli – cantata A Gaetano Donizetti
 * Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – String Quartet No. 1
 * Camille Saint-Saëns
 * Piano Quartet, Op. 41
 * Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 44
 * tone poem for orchestra Danse Macabre Op. 40
 * Bedřich Smetana – Má vlast (My Country) – Six symphonic poems
 * Tchaikovsky
 * Symphony No. 3
 * Swan Lake (ballet, composition begun)

Opera

 * Carmen first performed in Paris. Music by Georges Bizet and libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
 * Die Königin von Saba, music by Karl Goldmark and libretto by Salomon Mosenthal (at the Hofoper (now the State Opera) in Vienna, on 10 March 1875)
 * Angelo, music by César Cui

Musical theater

 * Gilbert & Sullivan – Trial By Jury
 * London production opens at the Royalty Theatre on March 25
 * Philadelphia production opens at the Arch Street Theatre on October 22
 * The Zoo, Lyrics and Book: Bolton Rowe Music: Arthur Sullivan, London production opened at St. James Theatre on June 5

Births

 * February 2 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1962)
 * February 8 – Georgette Leblanc, operatic soprano (d. 1941)
 * February 26 – Richard Wetz, German composer
 * February 28 – Viliam Figuš-Bystrý, Slovak composer
 * March 7 – Maurice Ravel, French composer
 * April 4 – Pierre Monteux, French conductor (d. 1964)
 * April 5 – Mistinguett, actress and singer (d. 1956)
 * May – Paul Sarebresole, ragtime composer (d. 1911)
 * July 17 – Donald Tovey, composer and musicologist (d. 1940)
 * August 9 – Albert Ketèlbey, composer (d. 1959)
 * August 18 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer (d. 1912)

Deaths

 * January 18 – Joseph Philbrick Webster, composer (b. 1819)
 * January 25 – Leopold Jansa, violinist, composer and music teacher (b. 1795)
 * February 1 – William Sterndale Bennett, composer (b. 1816)
 * February 23 – Louise Michaëli, opera singer (b. 1830)
 * March 3 – Adolf Reubke, organ builder (b. 1805)
 * March 15 – Christian Julius Hansen, composer (b. 1814)
 * March 17 – Ferdinand Laub, violinist (b. 1832)
 * March 19 – Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, violin maker (b. 1798)
 * May 2 – Matthias Durst, violinist and composer (b. 1815)
 * June 3 – Georges Bizet, composer (b. 1838) (heart attack)
 * September 15 – Louise Farrenc, pianist and composer (b. 1804)
 * September 24 – William Walker, songwriter (b. 1809)

title: 1875 in music


text:
Conspicuous consumption

In sociology and in economics, the term conspicuous consumption describes and explains the consumer practice of buying and using goods of a higher quality, price, or in greater quantity than practical. In 1899, the sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption to explain the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury commodities (goods and services) specifically as a public display of economic power—the income and the accumulated wealth—of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, the public display of discretionary income is an economic means of either attaining or of maintaining a given social status.

The development of Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption also identified and described other economic behaviours such as invidious consumption, which is the ostentatious consumption of goods, an action meant to provoke the envy of other people; and conspicuous compassion, the ostentatious use of charity meant to enhance the reputation and social prestige of the donor; thus the socio-economic practices of consumerism derive from conspicuous consumption.

History and development
In The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions (1899), Thorstein Veblen identified, described, and explained the behavioural characteristics of the nouveau riche (new rich) social class that emerged from capital accumulation during the Second Industrial Revolution (1860–1914). In that 19th-century social and historical context, the term "conspicuous consumption" applied narrowly in association with the men, women, and families of the upper class who applied their great wealth as a means of publicly manifesting their social power and prestige, either real or perceived. The strength of one's reputation is in direct relationship to the amount of money possessed and displayed; that is to say, the basis "of gaining and retaining a good name, are leisure and conspicuous consumption."

In the 1920s, economists such as Paul Nystrom proposed that changes in lifestyle as result of the industrial age led to massive expansion of the "pecuniary emulation." That conspicuous consumption had induced in the mass of society a "philosophy of futility" that would increase the consumption of goods and services as a social fashion; consumption for the sake of consumption.

In 1949, James Duesenberry proposed the "demonstration effect" and the "bandwagon effect", whereby a person's conspicuous consumption psychologically depends upon the actual level of spending, but also depends upon the degree of his or her spending, when compared with and to the spending of other people. That the conspicuous consumer is motivated by the importance, to him or to her, of the opinion of the social and economic reference groups for whom he or she are performed the conspicuous consumption.

Social class and consumption
Veblen said that conspicuous consumption comprised socio-economic behaviours practised by rich people as activities usual and exclusive to people with much disposable income; yet a variation of Veblen's theory is presented in the conspicuous consumption behaviours that are very common to the middle class and to the working class, regardless of the person's race and ethnic group. Such upper-class economic behaviour is especially common in societies with emerging economies in which the conspicuous consumption of goods and services ostentatiously signals that the buyer rose from poverty and has something to prove to society.

In The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy (1996), Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko reported conspicuous frugality, another variation of Veblen's social-class relation to conspicuous consumption. That Americans with a net worth of more than a million dollars usually avoid conspicuous consumption, and tend to practise frugality, such as paying cash for a used car rather using credit, in order to avoid material depreciation and paying interest upon a car loan.

Consumerism theory
Since the 19th century, conspicuous consumption explains the psychology behind the economics of a consumer society, and the increase in the types of goods and services that people consider necessary to and for their lives in a developed economy. Supporting interpretations and explanations of contemporary conspicuous consumption are presented in Consumer Culture (1996) by Celia Lury, Consumer Culture and Modernity (1997) by Don Slater, Symbolic Exchange and Death (1998) by Jean Baudrillard, and Spent: Sex, Evolution, and the Secrets of Consumerism (2009) by Geoffrey Miller.

Moreover, D. Hebdige, in Hiding in the Light (1994), proposes that conspicuous consumption is a form of displaying a personal identity, and a consequent function of advertising, as proposed in Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture (2000), by A. A. Berger. Each variant interpretation and complementary explanation is derived from Veblen's original sociologic proposition in The Theory of the Leisure Class: that conspicuous consumption is a psychological end in itself, from which the practitioner (man, woman, family) derived the honour of superior social status.

Materialism and gender
In An Examination of Materialism, Conspicuous Consumption and Gender Differences (2013), the researchers Brenda Segal and Jeffrey S. Podoshen reported great differences in the consumerism practised by men and women. The data about materialism and impulse purchases of 1,180 Americans indicate that men have greater scores for materialism and conspicuous consumption; and that women tended to buy goods and services on impulse; and both sexes were equally loyal to a given brand of goods and services.

Distinctions of type
The term conspicuous consumption denotes the act of buying something, especially something expensive, that is not necessary to one's life, in a noticeable way. Scholar Andrew Trigg (2001) defined conspicuous consumption as behaviour by which one can display great wealth, by means of idleness—expending much time in the practice of leisure activities, and spending much money to consume luxury goods and services.

Conspicuous compassion, the practice of publicly donating large sums of money to charity to enhance the social prestige of the donor, is sometimes described as a type of conspicuous consumption. This behaviour has long been recognised and sometimes attacked—for example, the New Testament story Lesson of the widow's mite criticises wealthy people who make large donations ostentatiously, while praising poorer people who make small but comparatively more difficult donations in private.

Possible motivations for conspicuous consumption include:
 * Demonstration/bandwagon effect — In the book Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior (1949), James Duesenberry proposed that a person's conspicuous consumption psychologically depends not only upon the actual level of spending, but also upon the degree of his or her spending, as compared with the spending of other people. Thus the conspicuous consumer is motivated by the importance, to him or to her, of the opinion of the social and economic reference groups for whom are performed the patterns of conspicuous consumption.
 * Aggressive ostentation — In a 2006 CBSNews.com article, Dick Meyer said that conspicuous consumption is a form of anger towards society, an "aggressive ostentation" that is an antisocial behaviour, which arose from the social alienation suffered by men, women, and families who feel they have become anonymous in and to their societies. This feeling of alienation is aggravated by the decay of the communitarian ethic essential to a person feeling him or herself part of the whole society.
 * Shelter and transport — In the United States, the trend towards building houses that were larger than needed by a nuclear family began in the 1950s. Decades later, in the year 2000, that practice of conspicuous consumption resulted in people buying houses that were double the average size needed to comfortably house a nuclear family. Negative consequences of either buying or building an oversized house might include:
 * the loss of or reduction in the family's domestic recreational space—the backyard and the front yard;
 * the spending of old-age retirement funds to pay for a too-big house;
 * over-long commuting time, from house to job, and vice versa, because the required plot of land was unavailable near a city.

Oversized houses facilitated other forms of conspicuous consumption, such as an oversized garage for the family's oversized motor vehicles or buying more clothing to fill larger clothes closets. Conspicuous consumption becomes a self-generating cycle of spending money for the sake of social prestige. Analogous to the consumer trend for oversized houses is the trend towards buying oversized light trucks, specifically the off-road sport utility vehicle type (cf. station wagon/estate car), as a form of psychologically comforting conspicuous consumption, because such large vehicles usually are bought by city-dwellers, an urban nuclear family.

 * Prestige – In a 1999 article, Jacqueline Eastman, Ronald Goldsmith, and Leisa Reinecke Flynn said that status consumption is based upon conspicuous consumption; however, the literature of contemporary marketing does not establish definitive meanings for the terms status consumption and conspicuous consumption. Moreover, A. O'Cass and H. Frost (2002) claim that sociologists often incorrectly used the two terms as interchangeable and equivalent terms. In a later study, O'Cass and Frost determined that, as sociological constructs, the terms status consumption and conspicuous consumption denote different sociological behaviours. About the ambiguities of denotation and connotation of the term conspicuous consumption, R. Mason (1984) reported that the classical, general theories of consumer decision-processes do not readily accommodate the construct of "conspicuous consumption", because the nature of said socio-economic behaviours varies according to the social class and the economic group studied.
 * Motivations — Paurav Shukla (2010) says that, whilst marketing and sales researchers recognise the importance of the buyer's social and psychological environment, the definition of the term status-directed consumption remains ambiguous, because the development of a comprehensive general theory requires that social scientists accept two fundamental assumptions, which usually do not concord. First, though the "rational" (economic) and the "irrational" (psychologic) elements of consumer decision-making often influence a person's decision to buy particular goods and services, marketing and sales researchers usually consider the rational element dominant in a person's decision to buy the particular goods and services. Second, the consumer perceives the utility of the product (the goods, the services) as a prime consideration in evaluating its usefulness, i.e. the reason to buy the product. These assumptions, required for the development of a general theory of brand selection and brand purchase, are problematic, because the resultant theories tend either to misunderstand or to ignore the "irrational" element in the behaviour of the buyer-as-consumer; and because conspicuous consumption is a behaviour predominantly "psychological" in motivation and expression, Therefore, a comprehensive, general theory of conspicuous consumption would require a separate construct for the psychological (irrational) elements of the socio-economic phenomenon that is conspicuous consumption.

Examples
Conspicuous consumption is exemplified by purchasing goods that are exclusively designed to serve as symbols of wealth, such as luxury-brand clothing, high-tech tools, and vehicles.

Luxury fashion
Materialistic consumers are likely to engage in conspicuous luxury consumption. The global yearly revenue of the luxury fashion industry was €1.64 trillion in 2019. Buying of conspicuous goods is likely to be influenced by the spending habits of others. This view of luxury conspicuous consumption is being incorporated into social media platforms which is impacting consumer behaviour. During periods of economic downturn, consumers tend to turn away from "logomania" products and instead purchase luxury goods that signal affluence more subtly.

Criticism
In 1919, the journalist H. L. Mencken addressed the sociological and psychological particulars of the socio-economic behaviours that are conspicuous consumption, by asking:"Do I enjoy a decent bath because I know that John Smith cannot afford one—or because I delight in being clean? Do I admire Beethoven's Fifth Symphony because it is incomprehensible to Congressmen and Methodists—or because I genuinely love music? Do I prefer terrapin à la Maryland to fried liver because plowhands must put up with the liver—or because the terrapin is intrinsically a more charming dose? Do I prefer kissing a pretty girl to kissing a charwoman, because even a janitor may kiss a charwoman—or because the pretty girl looks better, smells better, and kisses better?"

Inequality and debt
In The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) Veblen said that "among the motives which lead men to accumulate wealth, the primacy, both in scope and intensity, therefore, continues to belong to this motive of pecuniary emulation of the rich". In the study "Borrowing to Keep Up (with the Joneses): Inequality, Debt, and Conspicuous Consumption" (2020), Sheheryar Banuri and Ha Nguyen reported three findings:

 * Consumption tends to increase when the buying and the using of goods and services is conspicuous: Consumption signals status to other people.
 * Conspicuous consumption increases the frequency of borrowing money: Poor people take out loans in order to compete at consumption.
 * Economic inequality is worsened with access to credit: Poor people borrow money in order to signal status, which becomes a vicious circle.

The findings that Banuri and Nguyen reported indicate that the cyclical effect of borrowing money for conspicuous consumption leads to and perpetuates economic inequality. That poor people imitate, try to match, and emulate the consumption patterns of rich people in order to increase their social status, and perhaps rise in society. That such socio-economic behaviours, facilitated by easy access to credit, generate macroeconomic volatility and support Veblen's concept of pecuniary emulation used to finance a person's social standing.

Other research supports these and similar results. For example income inequality has been found to be associated with reduced savings rates. One hypothesized mechanism for this relationship is 'expenditure cascades' whereby consumption norms are set by the relatively wealthy, who then have more income and consumption relative to others as inequality rises. This emulation of the consumption norms of relatively wealthy peers is supported by a large literature.

One complication found in the macro literature is that the link between inequality and savings may depend on context, in particular on the degree of financialisation. When the degree of financialisation is high, inequality tends to reduce the national savings rate as the emulation effect is more powerful when finance is readily available, but the opposite effect may occur when financialisation is low as the emulation effect is weak, and the rich tend to save at a higher rate than the poor. The effect of inequality on savings is also found to be positive in Asia, where financialization is lower. The relationship is also found to depend on economic policy and institutions. For example inequality appears to lower savings in 'liberal market economies' but to rather reduce aggregate demand in 'coordinated market economies'.

In the case where inequality lowers savings, and increases leverage and a tendency to run large current account imbalances via the expenditure cascade mechanism, this has been associated with more frequent and/or severe economic crisis.

Solutions
In the case of conspicuous consumption, taxes upon luxury goods diminish societal expenditures on high-status goods, by rendering them more expensive than non-positional goods. In this sense, luxury taxes can be seen as a market failure correcting Pigovian tax—with an apparent negative deadweight loss, these taxes are a more efficient mechanism for increasing revenue than 'distorting' labour or capital taxes. A luxury tax applied to goods and services for conspicuous consumption is a type of progressive sales tax that at least partially corrects the negative externality associated with the conspicuous consumption of positional goods. In Utility from Accumulation (2009), Louis Kaplow said that assets exercise an objective social-utility function, i.e. the rich man and the rich woman hoard material assets, because the hoard, itself, functions as status goods that establish his and her socio-economic position within society. When utility is derived directly from accumulation of assets, this lowers the dead weight loss associated with inheritance taxes and raises the optimal rate of inheritance taxation.

In place of luxury taxes, economist Robert H. Frank proposed the application of a progressive consumption tax; in a 1998 New York Times article, John Tierney said that as a remedy for the social and psychological malaise that is conspicuous consumption, the personal income tax should be replaced with a progressive tax upon the yearly sum of discretionary income spent on the conspicuous consumption of goods and services. Another option is the redistribution of wealth, either by means of an incomes policy – for example the conscious efforts to promote wage compression under variants of social corporatism such as the Rehn–Meidner model and/or by some mix of progressive taxation and transfer policies, and provision of public goods. When individuals are concerned with their relative income or consumption in comparison to their peers, the optimal degree of public good provision and of progression of the tax system is raised. Because the activity of conspicuous consumption, itself, is a form of superior good, diminishing the income inequality of the income distribution by way of an egalitarian policy reduces the conspicuous consumption of positional goods and services. In Wealth and Welfare (1912), the economist A. C. Pigou said that the redistribution of wealth might lead to great gains in social welfare:

The economic case for the taxation of positional, luxury goods has a long history; in the mid-19th century, in Principles of Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy (1848), John Stuart Mill said:

In the case where conspicuous consumption mediates a link between inequality and unsustainable borrowing, one suggested policy response is tighter financial regulation.

"Conspicuous non-consumption" is a phrase used to describe a conscious choice to opt out of consumption with the intention of sending deliberate social signals.

title: Conspicuous consumption


text:
Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin praelatus, the past participle of praeferre, which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'prefer'; hence, a prelate is one set over others.

The archetypal prelate is a bishop, whose prelature is his particular church. All other prelates, including the regular prelates such as abbots and major superiors, are based upon this original model of prelacy.

Related terminology
In a general sense, a "prelate" in the Catholic Church and other Christian churches is a bishop or other ecclesiastical person who possesses ordinary authority of a jurisdiction, i.e., of a diocese or similar jurisdiction, e.g., ordinariates, apostolic vicariates/exarchates, or territorial abbacies. It equally applies to cardinals, who enjoy a kind of "co-governance" of the church as the most senior ecclesiastical advisers and moral representatives of the Supreme Pontiff, and certain "superior prelates of the offices of the Roman Curia" who are not bishops, e.g., the auditors (judges) of the Roman Rota and protonotaries apostolic. By extension, it refers to "inferior" or "lesser prelates", that is priests who have the title and dress of prelates as a personal honorific, i.e., Papal chaplains, prelates of honor (formerly "domestic prelates"), and honorary protonotaries apostolic. All these enjoy the title of "monsignor", which also is used in some nations for bishops and archbishops. The seven de numero protonotaries apostolic in Rome, who are special Papal notaries, are true prelates like bishops; others are "supernumerary" protonotaries apostolic who enjoy this as an honorific, like Papal chaplains and prelates of honor.

In the strict canonical sense, "prelate" denominates a priest or bishop who is ordinary of a personal prelature (see below), which is a functional equivalent of a diocese that has a "particular pastoral or missionary work for various regions or for different social groups" (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 294) yet no territorial jurisdiction.

In the Armenian Apostolic Church, "prelate" (in English) denominates a diocesan bishop, whose jurisdiction of his diocese is denominated a "prelacy".

Territorial prelatures
In the Catholic Church, a territorial prelate is a prelate whose geographic jurisdiction, denominated a "territorial prelature", is outside of and therefore not subject to any diocese. A territorial prelate is sometimes denominated a "prelate nullius", from the Latin "nullius diœceseos" (prelate of no diocese), denoting that his territory is directly subject to the Holy See (the Supreme Pontiff) and is not a diocese. , there were 44 territorial prelatures, all of which were in the Latin Church.

The term also is used generically, in which case it may equally refer to an apostolic prefecture, an apostolic vicariate, or a territorial abbacy.

Personal prelatures
In the Catholic Church, the personal prelature was conceived during the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) in no. 10 of the decree Presbyterorum ordinis and Pope Paul VI later enacted it into law in the motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae. The institution was later reaffirmed in the Code of Canon Law of 1983. Such a prelature is an institution having clergy and, possibly, lay members which would execute specific pastoral activities. The adjective "personal" refers to the fact that in contrast with previous canonical use for ecclesiastical institutions, the jurisdiction of the prelate is not territorial and instead is of specific persons wherever they are located. The establishment of personal prelatures is an exercise of the theologically inherent power of self-organization which the Church has to pursue its mission, though a personal prelature is not a particular church, as are dioceses and military ordinariates.

Personal prelatures are fundamentally secular organizations operating in the world (members do not take vows and live normal lives), whereas religious institutes are religious organizations operating out of the world (members take vows and live by the proper law of their institute).

The first, and presently only, personal prelature is Opus Dei, which Pope John Paul II erected as such in 1982 by the Apostolic constitution Ut sit. In the case of Opus Dei, the Prelate is elected by members of the Prelature and confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff; the laity and clergy of the Prelature remain subject to the government of the particular churches in whose territory they live, and the laity associated with the Prelature, both men and women, are organically united under the jurisdiction of the Prelate.

Guidelines
On 15 February 2018, a motu proprio issued by Pope Francis ordered prelates and bishops to live simply and renounce any desire for power after they retired from senior offices of the Roman Curia. Several such officials and bishops had been criticized in the preceding years for luxurious living, such as having large apartments and police escorts after they retired. One notable incident involved Tarcisio Bertone, an Italian prelate and former Cardinal Secretary of State removed from office in 2013, who used an apartment that had been renovated at the cost of nearly half a million dollars in funds, which were diverted from a Vatican-owned hospital by the former president of the hospital. Even after he retired, Tarcisio Bertone used escorts of Vatican City and Italian police to move around Rome.

title: Prelate