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The Scent of Beer and Rubbing Alcohol on Behavioral Risk Intentions in College Students
No full textTo determine if olfactory primes have an influence on risky behavioral intentions, a study was conducted on college students. Participants (N=64) were primed with the smell of either beer, rubbing alcohol, or a control condition followed by a survey that asked questions related to risk-taking behavior intentions with 5 subscales (ethical, financial, health/safety, recreational, social) as well as sexual risks. It was predicted that college students who are exposed to the smell of beer are more likely to report intentions of engaging in risky behaviors, including unprotected sexual activity. When participants are exposed to the smell of rubbing alcohol, they were predicted to be more cautious. Overall, participants exposed to the beer scent reported greater overall risk-taking intentions, and those especially related to health/ safety, compared to the control condition. The scent of rubbing alcohol also elicited risky behavioral intentions, counter to original predictions. Rubbing alcohol may be confused with other types of liquor. Future studies should explore different types of alcohol and ways to reduce risk-taking among college students in environments where alcohol may be present
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF INDIRECT CONSULTATION IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ADULTS WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
Full text linkSeventeen percent of the total population of children are living with an intellectual / developmental disability (IDD), and while resources and therapeutic interventions are accessible during early childhood years, they often cease after turning 21 years old. As a result, many adults with IDD do not acquire the skills necessary to live independently and sustain employment or meaningful relationships, impacting their independence and quality of life. The purpose of this study is to understand how self-management training (in the form of indirect consultation) for adults with IDD influence independence and socially significant behavior in relation to quality of life. The research questions posed are (a) how does self-management training in an indirect consultation model change self-selected behavior for adults with IDD, (b) how does self-reported quality of life change after learning skills important for adults with IDD, and (c) what are the barriers to implementing an indirect consultation model?
The study used a multiple baseline across settings design to assess two behaviors for two adults with IDD attending the CoastalLIFE program. Behaviors were self-selected by the participants, and self-management training was conducted via an indirect consultation model to measure the efficacy of the intervention. Data were collected by the participants via self- reporting, with interobserver agreement data collected weekly to ensure accuracy in the measurement. Participants also completed a social validity questionnaire at the end of the study to provide feedback on the acceptability and importance of the procedures.
Results showed that both participants were able to acquire their self-selected target behaviors across the targeted settings. Timeliness was acquired with indirect consultation only, where setting boundaries needed supplemental in-vivo training. Both participants reported increases in quality of life, with mean ratings ranging from 3-5. Participants also noted the acceptability of the procedures, which supports the social validity of the findings. While there were many successes with the indirect consultation, there were many barriers noted including data collection, treatment fidelity, and a lack of in-vivo training that might be necessary for certain skills.
The results help to illustrate the potential efficacy of using an indirect model of consultation to assist adults with IDD in acquiring socially significant behavior change. While there were many challenges with execution, the findings help to demonstrate the need for ongoing studies within applied settings to build the research base for evidence-based interventions in natural contexts. Ongoing studies could help identify treatments that are both evidence-based and cost-effective to assist adults with IDD in developing independence. Future research should continue to evaluate low effort and cost-effective interventions within applied settings
Site fidelity, seasonality, movement, and fish associates of sand tigers Carcharias taurus in North Carolina
No full textSand tigers Carcharias taurus are mackerel sharks with a disjunct global distribution in tropical and temperate seas. In the northwest Atlantic, sand tigers migrate along the coast of the eastern United States from the Gulf of Maine to Florida and occupy structurally complex benthic habitats. The long-term, underwater camera installation, SharkCam, at Frying Pan Tower, off Cape Fear, North Carolina, USA, sits atop an expanse of hard bottom reef frequented by sand tigers. The citizen-science platform Spot A Shark USA (SAS USA) uses images of sand tigers to identify and track individuals. This study utilized image encounters from SAS USA (n=1,359) and SharkCam (n=3,020) to glean information about sand tiger site fidelity, seasonality, movement, and fish associates off the coast of North Carolina (NC). To investigate site fidelity of sand tigers, SharkCam encounters were entered into SAS USA (n=545). Sand tiger seasonality, sex, and relative abundance at Frying Pan Tower were tracked from 2014–2021. At Frying Pan Tower, sand tigers appeared year-round but in highest abundance during the overwintering period with some female sharks appearing pregnant. Forty-four individual sand tigers were resighted up to 15 times over multiple years, with some females possessing visual markers of pregnancy. There was a total species richness of 17 teleosts behaviorally associated with sand tigers. This study contributes to existing evidence that coastal NC is important for sand tigers throughout their lifetimes, while the understanding of fish associates provides additional insight into interspecific interactions within the food web
Elements don’t mix! : Unearthing Racial Scripts and a Rhetorical Economy of Whiteness in Disney and Pixar\u27s Elemental
No full textUsing a narrative rhetorical approach, we map how Disney and Pixar’s 2023 film, Elemental, sustains a rhetorical economy of whiteness, as theorized by Asen and Kelly, which emphasizes the degree to which rhetorical constructions of racial difference are foundational to whiteness and economic systems. We identify and critique how Elemental discursively contributes to a system of exclusivity for those within the bounds of whiteness concerning economic mobility via racial scripts. Created and produced during Joe Biden’s United States (U.S.) presidential term (2021–2025), Elemental offers a metaphorical tale that engages the fractious, politically conservative anxieties concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs as well as anti-immigration views. We unearth how the film’s narrative logic and representational choices concerning the immigrant experience invites anti-immigration and anti-DEI discursive logics, thus fostering illogical and prejudicial cultural anxieties. The rhetorical analysis centers on three main points. First, the narrative logic of the film is premised on post-racialism which involves the obfuscation of structural, systemic, and historic racial oppression by conceptualizing racism as a matter of interpersonal bias, thus perpetuating neoliberalism. Second, Elemental utilizes racial scripts to perpetuate the racist logic of biological racial difference thus inscribing onto the characters fundamental qualities that inhumanely positions them as Others that pose a threat to the safety of whiteness. Lastly, Elemental conveys the message that cultural difference is valuable inasmuch as it can be used to achieve economic and social mobility as measured by the standards of whiteness, and thus the film propagates a rhetorical economy of whiteness.
This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in the journal Communication Studies: https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2025.255734
Dog Catches Car: The Dobbs Decision and Public Opinion
No full textWhen the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade they effectively took Federally protected reproductive rights and pushed the issue to individual states. In the aftermath the debate has been bitter, partisan, and sometimes violent as both states and the national government have tried to address the question of reproductive rights for women. States took advantage of this policy window to either further restrict or expand access to reproductive healthcare through several conduits including, referenda, legislation or court rulings. Yet, the discussion in the south has largely been one-sided. Except for Virginia, every southern state has been rated as “very restrictive” or “most restrictive” by the Guttmacher Institute. While some of the state actions have been both successful and predictable, in other instances the outcomes of these efforts have been surprising. Our research finds a major gap between legislative action and public opinion. We use a 50-state cross sectional design to examine state policy change in this arena and to develop a model to predict future state actions. Our model includes a series of public opinion, political, socio-demographic predictors on state reproductive rights restrictiveness, and a dummy variable to capture differences in southern states
Diversity-Specific Empowering Leadership: An Alternative Approach to Reducing Sex-Based Bias and Enabling Inclusivity
Full text linkAchieving sex-based equity in organizational leadership roles has proven to be a \u27wicked\u27 problem with existing diversity initiatives providing minimal improvement. In this paper, we address this issue by considering a key inhibiter to women\u27s leadership advancement—biased perceptions of female leaders\u27 competence—and links to a climate for inclusion. In Study 1 (N = 236), we develop and validate a Diversity-Specific Empowering Leadership (DSEL) measure, and demonstrate its value in predicting perceptions of female leaders\u27 competence when compared to alternative leadership models (empowering leadership, transformational leadership, diversity-specific transformational leadership, transactional leadership, leader diversity-valuing behavior, and inclusive leadership). In Study 2 (N = 314), we introduce sex-based diversity beliefs as a moderator in the relationship between DSEL and perceptions of female leaders\u27 competence. In Study 3 (N = 313), we provide support for a mediated moderation model, with sex-based diversity beliefs moderating the effects of DSEL on perceptions of female leaders\u27 competence. In turn, this is associated with a climate for inclusion. DSEL is collaborative and developmentally focused, and our findings suggest it may attenuate sex-based biases in perceptions of leadership, especially for those who have been most resistant to change (i.e., individuals with negative sex-based diversity beliefs). Our research offers theory that can support ethical action by advancing DSEL as a promising \u27target-specific\u27 leadership model for creating less biased and more inclusive work environments for all.
This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in Journal of Business Ethics: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-025-05973-
THE INFLUENCE OF SMARTPHONE USAGE ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, SENSE OF BELONGING, AND SELF-EFFICACY
Full text linkSince the COVID-19 pandemic ended, U.S. postsecondary students\u27 smartphone usage has increased. Smartphone usage has become more embedded into campuses and affects the lives of students pursuing postsecondary education. This study sought to explore whether three specific measures of smartphone usage can predict students\u27 academic performance, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging. These measures included daily average screen time, daily average social screen time, and problematic smartphone usage.
First-time freshman (FTF) participants (n = 154) were sampled from four institutions of higher education in the Southeastern region of the United States. This study followed a cross-sectional design to distribute a survey comprised of three instruments: the Problematic Smartphone Use and Technology Concern Measure (PSUM), the Sense of Social Fit Instrument (SSF), and self-efficacy items from the Academic Achievement and Motivation Survey (AAMS). Screen time, social screen time, and problematic smartphone usage were assessed as independent predictor variables, while controlling for participants\u27 demographic information (i.e., race, ethnicity, and sex). Data analysis was primarily conducted using multiple linear regression.
This study found that daily average screen time and daily average social screen time significantly predict the academic performance for FTF. The premise of these outcomes was the exacerbation of screen time in postsecondary settings, academic and non-academic. The remainder of the statistical analyses were not significant.
The findings highlighted the increased reliance on smartphone usage in postsecondary settings over the past 14 years, especially for Black students. This study was one of the first to examine the predictive influence of daily average social screen time on academic performance. Future research will need to be conducted concerning the influence of smartphone usage on merit scholarship maintenance, Satisfactory Academic Progress, and sense of belonging. Based on the implications, this study concluded with five recommendations to best support students, parents/guardians, institutions, faculty, and staff
Movement ecology of sandhills chub, a Carolina endemic
Full text linkFish movement studies have traditionally focused on species that support commercial and recreational fisheries, but recently more focus has been given to non-game, stream fishes because of their recognized importance in maintaining biodiversity within these ecosystems. Stream fish movement is described as being “restricted” and following a leptokurtic distribution via diffusive spread related to environmental and biological factors. Many studies of stream fish movement ecology in North America have occurred in high-gradient streams with coarse substrate in mountains or in streams of the interior plains. Sandhills streams of the southeastern USA are characterized as warm-water, low gradient, and dominated by sand with unique fish assemblages. Therefore, results from previous studies may not apply to Sandhills fishes. My objectives were to use the sandhills chub (Semotilus lumbee), a species of conservation concern that is endemic to the Carolina Sandhills, to test hypotheses related to diffusive spread, the restricted movement paradigm, and environmental and biological drivers of movement in these understudied headwater streams. From October 2022 to October 2024, sandhills chub movements were measured using capture-recapture methods in 1,400 m reaches of two North Carolina, USA, streams. I described net movement, total absolute movement, seasonal movement, and spawning movement by calculating kurtosis, skewness, median distance moved and used a χ2-test to examine directional movement bias. I tested for diffusive spread using linear regressions between distance moved and time at large and determined what factors were related to movement using generalized linear mixed models. The median distance moved was 0 m and 87% of fish moved ≤ 200 m. The limited movement of sandhills chub suggested that they do not follow patterns of diffusive spread. Seasonal and overall movement distributions were leptokurtic, and movement was not related to the environmental or biological factors I investigated. Movement distributions during the spawning season followed a similar pattern and were highly leptokurtic, with a median distance moved of 0 m. Additionally, there was no evidence of directional movement bias during the spawn. I hypothesized that sandhills chub have limited movements because of several reasons. They co-evolved with beavers, which naturally fragmented headwater streams in this region, possibly restricting movement. Homogeneous habitat conditions and ample cover could also explain why sandhills chub movements are limited, along with the effects of potentially high levels of intra- and interspecific interactions in low-productivity streams. This study provides insight into movement ecology of a Sandhills stream species. Given that restricted movements are pervasive in headwater stream leucisids, across a variety of stream types, future research should focus on experiments to elucidate mechanisms of this pattern. A mechanistic understanding of movement patterns will inform conservation and restoration measures in these increasingly anthropogenically fragmented and degraded habitats
The Chanticleer, 2025-04-24, Graduation Issue
Full text linkThe editorially independent student produced weekly newspaper of Coastal Carolina University.https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/chanticleer/1729/thumbnail.jp