McNair Scholars Research Journal

Back Cover

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:46 PDT

McNair Scholars 2009-2010, Program Staff, University Administration

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:45 PDT

The Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research for Tenure Track Professors

Lesley Yang — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:44 PDT

Interdisciplinary research is the collaboration of people fusing knowledge, theories and methodologies from two or more disciplines. Interdisciplinary collaboration can advance fundamental understanding to form a more inclusive means of examining complex issues beyond the scope of a single discipline. The increase of public monies being dedicated to interdisciplinary research is one way federal agencies like the National Science Foundation are trying to foster more collaboration among people of different disciplines. Data is collected from published articles in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics from 1996 to 2010. Information on authors of each article— occupations, departmental affiliations, positions held, institutional affiliations, and sources of funding—is collected. Since agricultural economics is strongly tied to policy and the increase of funding for interdisciplinary research, I anticipate there will be a rise in the number of interdisciplinary research articles published in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. I also anticipate that if there are no barriers to joint collaboration between disciplines there will be an increase in the number of tenure track professors engaged in interdisciplinary research. This is a critical issue for professors who are required to publish research in order to receive tenure. This study also has implications for understanding whether difficulties from engaging in interdisciplinary research as opposed to intradisciplinary research for tenure track professors is still relevant.

Interpretations on the Racialized Experience of Video Games

Mario Venegas — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:43 PDT

This research seeks to explore how participant video gamers’ cultural capital impacts their interpretations of the racial content in video games. Having cultural capital on the video game world mediates interpretation of video game racial semiotics showing complexity in the reproduction and contestation of race in media. The project seeks to supplement grounds that show complexity in how people interpret racial content from a growing video game industry. Data were collected through personal interviews where participants played the racialized game Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony for 30-50 minutes. A sample of 23 participants covering gender, gaming experience, and race answered questions assessing racial lens, then played the game introduction, and finally answered questions assessing interpretations of game content. Results indicate two major frameworks in game interpretation. One mode consisted of dismissing racial content as mere jokes or aesthetic game elements which borders colorblind racial notions. The second mode consisted of rejection and criticism of game content. Gamer respondents interpreted through media reference modes while non-gamers, by and large, were critical of game content. Respondents draw from their experiences and knowledge to interpret racial semiotics and do not passively accept content, as content analysis and psychology literature assumes.

Generational Status, Sexual Behavior, and Alcohol Use Among College Students

Efren A. Velazquez — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:41 PDT

The study examined the differences between first-generation college students and non-first-generation college students in sexual behavior and alcohol use. Examinations between how first-generation and non-first-generation college students have focused primarily on how they differ academically in college, while sexual behaviors and alcohol use has not been the focus in past literature. A total of 441 college students who enrolled in a general psychology course at a northwestern university took an online questionnaire comprised of various questions referring to sexual behavior and alcohol use. The sample for the study had an even fifty percent split between firstgeneration and non-first-generation college students. Results showed that there were a few differences in sexual behavior and risky sexual behavior between the generational status. There were some differences between white and non-white students and within each gender when referring to sexual behavior and alcohol use. These findings suggest that generational status does not have a strong influence on whether college students engage in sexual behaviors and that other factors should be examined when looking at both sexual and alcohol behaviors.

Career-Decision Self-Efficacy Among College Students with Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

Charlotte Tomevi — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:40 PDT

Compared to the general college population, students with attention deficit disorder (ADD) are less academically prepared with the skills to maintain college course requirements. This inadequacy is due to the change in academic structure, time management, and the skills required for higher education. I measured career-decision self-efficacy to assess college students’ abilities to accomplish tasks necessary to making career decisions, and a relationship emerged between students that self-reported increased symptoms of ADD and a decrease in career decision selfefficacy. Providing academic institutions with knowledge of how symptoms of ADD affects college students and their future career planning may assist advisors in providing students with services and treatment options to increase retention and career commitment.

The Effects of Dual Enrollment Courses: Do They Prepare Students for College?

Ernesto Soto — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:38 PDT

The focus on academic success starts early for many students. For example, many high school students have clear career goals and may take steps to ensure success at the collegiate level in order to achieve their goals (McWhirter, Torres, Salgado, & Valdez, 2007). Studies have shown that students who rate high on academic self-efficacy while in high school continue to succeed in their postsecondary education (Eccles, Vida, & Barber, 2004; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). One method in which high school students can be better prepared for postsecondary education and increase their academic self-efficacy (Margolis & McCabe, 2004) is by participating in programs that offer collegelevel curriculum at the high school level, such as dual enrollment (DE) programs. Method: Two hundred and eight undergraduate students responded to questionnaires assessing factors that may help DE students succeed in college, including higher self-efficacy, academic hardiness, perfectionism, and expectations of success. Results: DE students did in fact possess higher GPAs than did non-DE students. Results showed the most important factor affecting GPA in DE students was facilitating anxiety. For those students that did not take dual enrollment courses, the main factors related to GPA were academic hardiness, general self-efficacy, and organizational skills. Conclusion: College administrators may wish to emphasize different factors for success based on students’ academic backgrounds.

Sprawl in the Western United States: Do State Growth Management Programs Reduce Sprawl?

Jenna Nash — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:36 PDT

Sprawl is faulted for contributing to excessive commuting and transportation costs, raising the cost of providing infrastructure and other public services (Carruthers, 2002). With the advent of the environmental movement in the 1960s, concern for the impact urban growth was having on the environment caused a surge of growth management legislation that eventually led to several states implementing state growth management programs (SGMPs). While there have been several studies done on the effectiveness of SGMPs in containing sprawl, there have been no studies of state-growth management that focus solely on the Western States, states that have many characteristics in common such as the percentage of federal land and limited resources. Additionally, this study focuses on the period from 1990 to 2010, bringing the literature up-to-date for SGMPs in the West. This article examines the effectiveness of SGMPs on containing urban sprawl in the Western United States where five of eleven states had implemented SGMPs by 2000. Several measures were taken to assess the effectiveness of SGMPs in containing sprawl. While several methods were attempted, statistical significance was found using a dummy variable which supports the belief that SGMPs do help to contain urban sprawl.

Effects of Prisoner Location on Visitation Patterns

Anjannette Monroe — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:35 PDT

This study explores factors related to visitation patterns for prisoners under Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC). A quantitative data analysis was conducted using a database provided by the ODRC which encompassed visits and demographics on incarcerated prisoners (N=50,551) from January 2006 until July 19, 2011. Qualitative analyses depicted a hypothetical visitor’s experience including calculations of transit distances/duration for inmate visits. Hypotheses posited for this study included: (1) there is a negative correlation between travel distances/costs and visitation frequency; (2) inmate relocation to more distant facilities negatively affects visitation patterns; (3) inmate visitation will be greater during early incarceration and immediately prior to release; (4) women receive fewer visits than men due to the smaller number/more centralized locations of women’s facilities. Results show that many inmates had very few visits while a few inmates had many visits. Gender specific analyses indicate significantly more visitors approved, lower security levels, and a higher proportion of marriage/significant others among women than men, but no difference in the actual numbers of visits experienced. Tremendous variability exists between institutions in terms of transportation accessibility and visitation policy barriers. Results will be used to raise awareness towards developing strategies to encourage inmate visitation across geographical distances.

A West European Style Populist Radical Right Movement in America? The Case of the Tea Party

Daniel May — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:34 PDT

The Tea Party (TP), whose candidates made significant gains in the 2010-midterm elections, lacks a place in the comparative party literature and also defies ready classification. Is it solely a movement to reduce the size of government and cut taxes as its name – some refer to it as the Taxed Enough Already party – implies? Or do its supporters share a broader set of conservative positions on social as well as economic issues? Does the movement draw support from across the religious spectrum? Or has the religious right “taken over” the TP, as some commentators have suggested (Koelkebeck, 2010)? In light of these various claims, this comparative study seeks to characterize the TP and asks: (1) Is it a populist party? (2) Is it a populist radical right party? The aim is to locate the TP in multi-dimensional space using a careful reading of the party literature as the primary data source and to do so by reference to three fundamental “isms” attributed to West European populist radical right parties – that is, populism, socio-cultural authoritarianism and ethno-nationalism (nativism). It is argued that the TP is indeed a populist radical right party – with Americanism as its pivotal concept – albeit one (thus far) lacking the xenophobic extremism of the likes of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPA) or the Danish People's Party (DPP).

College Adaptation Among Traditional and Non-traditional College Students

Sofia Fernandez — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:32 PDT

Although research has established several factors related to college adjustment in traditional college students (e.g., self-esteem, perfectionism, family environment), few studies have examined whether these factors also relate to college adjustment in non-traditional students. The present study examined whether the factors related to academic and emotional adjustment to college differed between traditional and non-traditional college students. Three hundred thirteen college students (78% traditional; 22% non-traditional) completed the almost perfect scale revised, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire, and the family environment scale. Non-traditional college students displayed significantly greater academic and emotional adjustment to college than did traditional college students. Academic adjustment was related to self-esteem in both groups; in addition, perfectionism related to academic adjustment in traditional students. Emotional adjustment related to self-esteem and independence in both groups; in addition, emotional adjustment related to achievement motivation and organizational skills in non-traditional students and discrepancy between self and ideal in traditional students. College administrators may wish to emphasize different factors for these two groups when discussing adaptation to college during orientation sessions.

Fighting for Our Foster Youths’ Future

Shwaye Eibensteiner — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:31 PDT

This study will analyze the issues surrounding the "aging out" of young adults in the foster care system in the United States by focusing on data from three locations: England’s Child Welfare System, Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare, and Texas’s Department of Family and Protective Services. The study looks to current research to describe the resources needed to help foster youth achieve self-sufficiency and finds that youth need social support, financial support, healthcare, mental health resources, housing resources, substance abuse treatment, educational resources, legal assistance, employment stability, and assistance with child care. In order to measure the transitional resources being provided to foster youth, a Self-Sufficiency Matrix is utilized. This research is a comparative study that intends to describe the different types of transitional resources provided to youth transitioning out of the foster care system in Idaho, Texas, and England. Four main themes emerged from this research: better communication, gradual transition, building long lasting relationships, and collaboration with transitioning foster youth.

The Influence of Parent-Child Attachment on Romantic Relationships

Monica Del Toro — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:30 PDT

The present study examined the significance of parent and child relationships and how the parenting styles used and parent-child attachment related to future reports of romantic relationship anxiety. Participants were young adults ranging from ages 18-30 recruited from various university psychology courses. The participants were given an online questionnaire measuring quantitative data. This questionnaire asked about the participants feelings of respect from their parents toward them, the expectations perceived from parents toward the participant, fear of losing a romantic partner’s love, and comfort with closeness in romantic relationships, among other related items.

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:29 PDT

Messages from President Bob Kustra, Director Gregory Martinez, and Program Coordinator Helen Barnes

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:27 PDT

McNair Scholars 2004-2008

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:26 PDT

Front Cover

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:37:25 PDT

Back Cover

Wed, 25 May 2011 10:39:34 PDT

McNair Scholars 2009-2010, Program Staff, University Administration

Wed, 25 May 2011 10:39:21 PDT

Economic Racism: A Look at the Black-White Income Gap, 1967-2001

Adam Wolfe — Wed, 25 May 2011 10:39:17 PDT

This preliminary study draws upon previous research to analyze the black-white income gap in America by examining trends in mean and median household incomes, educational attainment, and unemployment rates from 1966-2001. I examine some historic themes to racism and how they persist through income inequality today. Through this research I hope to highlight that there is much work to do to minimize the economic marginalization of different races. Unequal incomes are evidence of such marginalization, which at times is unrecognized even by those who are being marginalized. In order to fully embrace being a land of opportunity, we must first create an environment within which economic opportunity can be equally generated by each citizen. The data collected will be used in conjunction with further research to form a model for better identifying the key factors that contribute to the growing income gap between blacks and whites in America.

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Back Cover

McNair Scholars 2009-2010, Program Staff, University Administration

The Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research for Tenure Track Professors

Interpretations on the Racialized Experience of Video Games

Generational Status, Sexual Behavior, and Alcohol Use Among College Students

Career-Decision Self-Efficacy Among College Students with Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

The Effects of Dual Enrollment Courses: Do They Prepare Students for College?

Sprawl in the Western United States: Do State Growth Management Programs Reduce Sprawl?

Effects of Prisoner Location on Visitation Patterns

A West European Style Populist Radical Right Movement in America? The Case of the Tea Party

College Adaptation Among Traditional and Non-traditional College Students

Fighting for Our Foster Youths’ Future

The Influence of Parent-Child Attachment on Romantic Relationships

Table of Contents

Messages from President Bob Kustra, Director Gregory Martinez, and Program Coordinator Helen Barnes

McNair Scholars 2004-2008

Front Cover

Back Cover

McNair Scholars 2009-2010, Program Staff, University Administration

Economic Racism: A Look at the Black-White Income Gap, 1967-2001