Minority Access Research Articles

The View from the Helm: Leading the American University during an Era of Change (review)

Reviewed by: The View from the Helm: Leading the American University during an Era of Change Cristina González (bio) James J. Duderstadt. The View from the Helm: Leading the American University during an Era of Change. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007. 424 pp. Cloth: $25.00. ISBN 0472115901. James Duderstadt's book The View from the Helm: Leading the American University During an Era of Change belongs to the literary genre of the presidential memoir, which chronicles the adventures of academic leaders. As its title indicates, rather than providing a detailed account of events taking place during his tenure as president of the University of Michigan, Duderstadt tells us what it is like to be in charge of an institution of higher learning, using his recollections of key developments as examples. Duderstadt's sophisticated commentary begins with his adoption of Burton Clark's term "institutional saga" or the distinctive characteristics of a university as perceived by its members over time: its self-image. Believing that only presidents who understand their universities' institutional sagas can succeed, he shows his familiarity with Michigan's self-image as a trailblazer that set out to provide "an uncommon education for the common man," in James Angell's words. As such, it was historically more open to women, minorities, and international students than other universities, a commitment that has continued to the present. After reviewing the work of previous presidents, Duderstadt focuses on his understanding of what the Michigan saga meant for his own presidential agenda, which was to lead in three areas: knowledge creation and dissemination for a knowledge-based society, globalization, and diversity. Duderstadt begins his narrative by providing an account of his path to the presidency, which included degrees in engineering from Yale and Caltech and a faculty position at Michigan. There, he became very active on committees, including the executive board of the graduate school, a key experience which led to his being appointed chair of the faculty advisory committee to the provost. This appointment, in turn, resulted in his being named dean of engineering. As he says, once "trapped in the gravitational pull of academic administration" (p. 56), he was appointed provost by Harold Shapiro, who, one and a half years later, left to become president of Princeton. At that point, Duderstadt became president of the University of Michigan. Both Duderstadt and Shapiro pushed to make the university more independent in terms of funding when they concluded that its serious loss of state support was not reversible and that the only way to maintain academic quality in that new environment would be a high-tuition/high-financial-aid model which also tapped new sources of money through aggressive fund raising. This approach was coupled with the adoption of responsibility center management methods, which some members of the university community found excessively corporate in style. While they were essentially privatizing the university, Shapiro and Duderstadt made a concerted effort to enhance access for women and minorities. They accomplished this goal through the pioneering plans known as the Michigan Mandate: A Strategic Linking of Academic Excellence and Social Diversity and the Michigan Agenda for Women. These plans put Michigan at the forefront of diversity efforts among elite research universities, greatly increased the presence of women and minorities among students, and had a parallel effect among faculty members and administrators. In addition, Shapiro and Duderstadt pushed for gay rights. When Duderstadt implemented [End Page 363] benefits for same-sex couples, it produced a backlash, first, against him, in the form of attacks that eroded his political capital and, later, against the institution by way of legal challenges to affirmative action. Duderstadt's successor, Lee Bollinger, chose to fight these challenges, resulting in the famous 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. As Duderstadt puts it, faithful to its institutional saga, Michigan decided to "carry the water for the rest of higher education" with respect to diversity (p. 233). Other battles that took their toll included Duderstadt's attempt to align the university's athletic activities with academic priorities, a huge challenge. Duderstadt, who has very strong convictions about the problems that big-time football...

Sphingosine 1‐phosphate and interleukin‐4 signaling requirements for peripheral conversion of naïve T cells to adaptive CD4+25+ regulatory T cells

Sphingosine 1‐phosphate (S1P) mediates the development and activities of regulatory T cells (Treg) of several types through its G protein‐coupled receptors. In T cells, type 1 (S1P1) and type 4 (S1P4) G protein‐coupled receptors are quantitatively predominant. As the dominant functional receptor, S1P1 is responsible for the direct chemotactic response of CD4 T cells to S1P and inhibition of chemotactic responses to chemokines. S1P1 also mediates part of the inhibitory effect of S1P on T cell proliferation in S1P1–transgenic (TG) mice. S1P4 exerts immunosuppression by its effects on T cell proliferation and cytokine production. The local cytokine environment induces naïve CD4+ T helper cells (Th) to differentiate towards T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, Th17 and Treg phenotypes. This study explores the roles of physiological concentrations of S1P and interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) on naïve T cell differentiation in vitro into Treg and Th17 cells. We found that the absence of IL‐4 suppresses peripheral conversion of naïve splenic Th cells to Tregs and concurrently enhances their conversion to Th17 cells, which alters fundamental immune responses. Supported by Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and RO‐1 grant HL31809 from the National Institutes of Health.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Racial Residential Segregation in Urban America

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Racial Residential Segregation in Urban America

VIPER-2:A Prospective, Randomized Single-Center Comparison of 2 Different Closure Devices With a Hemostatic Wound Dressing for Closure of Femoral Artery Access Sites

To report the outcome of a prospective randomized safety and performance trial of 2 access site closure devices versus a wound dressing. Between October 2005 and July 2006, 852 consecutive patients (605 men; mean age 67 years) undergoing diagnostic or interventional catheterization procedures thru a 5- or 6-F femoral sheath were randomized to one of the 3 closure methods: a collagen plug device (Angio-Seal), a clip (StarClose), or a wound dressing (D-Stat Dry). The efficacy of the devices was assessed, as well as the complications occurring at the puncture site during the hospital stay. The primary endpoint of the study was the cumulative incidence of access site pseudoaneurysm, major access site bleeding requiring transfusion, access site vascular surgery, or death from all causes. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 3 treatment groups. The primary endpoint was reached in 20 (7.1%) of 281 patients treated with D-Stat Dry and in 11 (1.9%) of 571 patients treated with the mechanical closure devices (p<0.0001). There was no significant difference among the mechanical closure devices concerning the incidence of the primary endpoint (Angio-Seal 1.1% versus StarClose 2.8%; p = 0.13). The collagen plug device had the lowest rates of major and minor access site-related complications after removal of 5- or 6-F femoral sheaths. The difference between the mechanical closure devices concerning the incidence of the primary endpoint did not reach statistical significance. The wound dressing showed significantly higher major and minor complication rates.

Percutaneous Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale and Atrial Septal Defect: Procedure Outcome and Medium‐Term Follow‐Up

Percutaneous closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) has become increasingly utilized. The indications and results of percutaneous closure are diverse. To assess the indications, results, and complications of percutaneous closure of ASD and PFO in our tertiary center. Case note review and retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous closure over a 3-year period from January 2003 to October 2005 with a mean follow-up of 19 months (4-36). There were 185 consecutive patients. The mean age was 44.9 years (SD 12.9) and 53% (n = 98) were males. There was 59% (n = 109) PFO and 41% (n = 76) ASD. The predominant indication for PFO closure was cerebrovascular accident (CVA) (42.2%, n = 46)- and for ASD, dilated right ventricle (68.4%, n = 52). Of all procedures, 94.6% (n = 175) were first time and 5.4% (n = 10) were redo for residual shunt. Overall, the success rate was 96.8% (n = 179) with two patients referred for surgical closure due to the large size of ASD and unsuitability for percutaneous closure, two procedures abandoned due to pericardial effusion, and two abandoned because the PFO was too small to cross. The Amplatzer device was used in 92.7% (n = 166) and the Starflex in 7.3% (n = 13). Minor complications were recorded in 10 patients (5.4%), of which 4 (2.2%) had minor venous access bleeding, 1 patient (0.5%) had retroperitoneal hematoma, and 2 patients (1.1%) had transient atrial fibrillation. One patient (0.5%) had transient inferior ST elevation during the procedure, one patient (0.5%) reported chest pain postprocedure, and one patient (0.5%) developed septicemia 3 weeks postprocedure. Major complications were recorded in three patients (1.5%), one patient (0.5%) with retroperitoneal hematoma requiring blood transfusion and two patients (1%) with pericardial effusion following transseptal puncture, requiring aspiration. No death, stroke, or device embolization was recorded. Our experience with percutaneous closure in adults demonstrates excellent results and safety with few complications. Percutaneous device closure will replace surgical closure for many ASDs and PFOs.

Geography and the Immigrant Division of Labor

Immigrants concentrate in particular lines of work. Most investigations of such employment niching have accented either the demand for labor in a limited set of mostly low-wage industries or the efficiency of immigrant networks in supplying that labor; space has taken a backseat or has been ignored. In contrast, this article’s account of immigrant employment niching modulates insights built on social network theories with understandings derived from relative location. We do so by altering the thinking about employment niches as being metropolitan wide to considering them as local phenomena. Specifically, the analysis examines the intraurban variation in niching by Mexican, Salvadoran, Chinese, and Vietnamese men and women in four industries in Los Angeles. Niching is uneven; in some parts of the metropolitan area, these groups niche at high rates in these industries, whereas in others, there is no unusual concentration. We show how a group’s propensity to niche in an industry is generally higher when the industry is located close to the group’s residential neighborhoods and demonstrate the ways in which the proximity of competing groups dampens this geographic advantage. The study speaks to debates on immigrant niching and connects with research on minority access to employment and accounts of the agglomeration of firms. More generally, it links the geographies of home and work in a new way, relating patterns of immigrant residential segregation to those of immigrant employment niches.

Exclusion of Atherosclerotic Plaque from the Circulation Using Stent-Grafts: Alternative to Carotid Stenting with a Protection Device?

To retrospectively assess the feasibility, safety, and clinical mid-term outcome of patients undergoing carotid artery stenting with stent-grafts. Over a 4 year period stent-grafts were used in the endovascular treatment of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis in 12 patients (2 women, 10 men, aged 47-83 (mean 64) years). Protection devices were not used. Possible microembolic complications were evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of the brain before and the day after the procedure in all patients. Mean follow-up was 22 months (range 1-42 months), by Doppler ultrasonography and conventional angiography as well as clinical examination. The technical success rate was 100%. A total of 13 coronary stent-grafts were used. The mean stenosis rate (in terms of diameter) was 85% and the mean length of stent-grafts used was 20.9 mm. The mean diameter to which the stent-grafts were dilated was 4.66 mm. In-hospital complications occurred in 1 patient who suffered a minor femoral access hematoma that did not require transfusion or surgical decompression. Post-stenting diffusion-weighted MRI revealed several ipsilateral silent microemboli in only 1 case, which was completely asymptomatic. Two patients had a major stroke after 2 years of follow-up. Restenosis was found in 2 patients who underwent successful balloon dilatation followed by placement of a self-expandable bare stent within the stent-grafts. Stent-grafts may prevent microembolic complications during stenting of atherosclerotic carotid lesions in selected cases, offering immediate exclusion of the atherosclerotic lesion from the circulation by pressing the plaque against the vessel wall. Comparative, randomized studies in larger series of patients are needed with carotid-dedicated stent-graft designs.

Reform and Its Discontents: Public Health in New York City During the Great Society

The health-care system was one of the most visible and contentious battlegrounds on which the social conflicts of the 1960s unfolded. To an unprecedented extent, health status—especially the stark disadvantage in access and outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities and the poor—became an object of public and governmental concern during the Great Society era, as clinicians, community activists, politicians, and policymakers sought to create new models of medical care that were more equitable and efficient than those of the past. The social science theories that informed the ambitious programs of Lyndon Johnson's administration gave an imprimatur to the idea that illness was both cause and consequence of the “cycle of poverty.”

Demobilization of the Individualistic Bias: Housing Market Discrimination as a Contributor to Labor Market and Economic Inequality

Racial discrimination in the nation's housing markets and patterns of residential segregation have contributed to labor market inequalities and economic disparities generally. Housing values are suppressed in minority communities, undercutting wealth accumulation by nonwhite families. Job growth in suburban communities coupled with the concentration of public housing in central city communities restricts minority access to jobs. A range of institutionalized practices by housing providers and public policies by government agencies at all levels have nurtured and exacerbated racial inequalities grounded in traditional stereotypes. But a number of policy options are available to ameliorate these inequities. Eschewing individualistic explanations of racial inequality that point to personal deficiencies and cultural characteristics of minority communities, these policy recommendations—premised on a structural perspective—offer promise for reducing racial inequities in housing and related economic disparities.

Electoral Politics Is Not Enough: Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Urban Politics

Electoral Politics Is Not Enough: Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Urban Politics. By Peter F. Burns. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. 192p. 21.95 paper.In their 1984 book Protest Is Not Enough: The Struggle of Blacks and Hispanics for Equality in City Politics, Rufus Browning, Dale Marshall, and David Tabb argued that political incorporation of ethnic and racial minorities through an electoral coalition with white liberals was the key for minority access to power in urban areas of the United States. By means of conventional coalition politics, African Americans and Latinos could get what they wanted from government.

Homozygous disruption of Pctp modulates atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice

Phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (PC-TP) is a cytosolic phospholipid binding protein and a member of the steroidogenic acute regulatory-related transfer domain superfamily. Its tissue distribution includes liver and macrophages. PC-TP regulates hepatic lipid metabolism, and its absence in cholesterol-loaded macrophages is associated with reduced ATP binding cassette transporter A1-mediated lipid efflux and increased susceptibility to apoptosis induced by unesterified cholesterol. To explore a role for PC-TP in atherosclerosis, we prepared PC-TP-deficient/apolipoprotein E-deficient (Pctp(-/-)/Apoe(-/-)) mice and littermate Apoe(-/-) controls. At 16 weeks, atherosclerosis was increased in chow-fed male, but not female, Pctp(-/-)/Apoe(-/-) mice. This effect was associated with increases in plasma lipid concentrations. By contrast, no differences in atherosclerosis were observed between male or female Pctp(-/-)/Apoe(-/-) mice and Apoe(-/-) controls fed a Western-type diet for 16 weeks. At 24 weeks, atherosclerosis in chow-fed male Pctp(-/-)/Apoe(-/-) mice tended to be reduced in proportion to plasma cholesterol. The attenuation of atherosclerosis in female Pctp(-/-)/Apoe(-/-) mice fed chow or the Western-type diet for 24 weeks was not attributable to changes in plasma cholesterol or triglyceride concentrations. These findings suggest that PC-TP modulates the development of atherosclerosis, in part by regulating plasma lipid concentrations.

Decentralized forest resources and access of minorities to environmental justice: an analysis of the case of the Baka in southern Cameroon

Environmental justice was certainly one of the expected objectives of the decentralization of forest resource management, which is currently being implemented in Cameroon, for marginalized local peoples such as the pygmies. In fact, opportunities offered by the legal process to promote participatory management of forest resources including the allocation of community forests, council forests and forest taxes, are supposed to mitigate environmental injustice to local communities caused by centralized public forestry and social policies. Nevertheless, data from South Cameroon suggest that the decentralization of forest resources to marginalized local people such as the Baka Pygmies tends to reduce rather than improve socio‐environmental justice. This development might be the result of local governance and practices. It is therefore important to correct this unfair practice.

Universal Actor Platform for Minor Access Surgery

Universal Actor Platform for Minor Access Surgery

Promoting Minority Access to Health Careers through Health Profession???Public School Partnerships: A Review of the Literature

Partnerships between health profession schools and public schools provide a framework for developing comprehensive, creative solutions to the problem of minority underrepresentation in health careers. This review examines the functioning of partner relationships, focusing on elements of the social context that determine success or failure, and stages of partnership development. Influential aspects of the social context include cultural differences between personnel in higher education and K-12 institutions, the resources available to the partnership, and constraints on partnership activity. Stages of the process that partner institutions must negotiate include initiation, ongoing management, and institutionalization. Strategies to improve minority student achievement are reviewed, including specific types of programmatic interventions and best practices. Strategies available to partnerships for improving minority achievement include academic enhancement, science or math instructional enrichment, career awareness and motivation, mentoring, research apprenticeship, reward incentives, and parental involvement. Of these, academic enhancement and instructional enrichment have the greatest potential for improving minority student outcomes. Partnerships need to take a sustained multipronged approach, providing intensive interventions that target students, teachers, and curricula at appropriate educational stages. Documenting program impact is critical for attracting more resources to increase minority access to health careers: sponsoring organizations should dedicate funds for assessment of the partnership's functioning and for rigorous evaluation of interventions.

Reducing Cancer Disparities for Minorities: A Multidisciplinary Research Agenda to Improve Patient Access to Health Systems, Clinical Trials, and Effective Cancer Therapy

Ethnic diversity in recruitment is a vital prerequisite to eliminating health disparities in cancer treatment, control and prevention programs. Much anecdotal reporting, but little scientific rigor, has been applied to the study of methods to improve the recruitment of minorities into cancer control or treatment trials. Even the most innovative research is stymied by the lack of representative samples of the populations that the research is designed to serve. The goals of this article are to describe a theory-driven framework for improving minority recruitment to clinical and cancer control trials, to explain organizational prerequisites to improving minority recruitment, and to provide empirical evidence of success in initial efforts to recruit to cancer control studies. These programs are offered as models for improving minority recruitment to cancer-control and -treatment trials, and minority access to cancer treatment in general.

The role of remote community stores in reducing the harm resulting from tobacco to Aboriginal people

The objective of this study was to assess the potential for reducing the harm resulting from tobacco use through health promotion programmes run in community stores in remote Aboriginal communities. The Tobacco Project utilised data from 111 stakeholder interviews (72 at baseline and 71 at follow-up after 12 months) assessing presence of sales to minors, tobacco advertising, labelling and pricing. It also involved the assessment of observational data from community stores and comments obtained from 29 tobacco vendors derived from community surveys. Sales of tobacco to minors were not reported in community stores and all stores complied with requirements to display the legislated signage. However, tobacco was accessible to minors through a vending machine and through independent vendors. Only one store displayed tobacco advertising; all stores had displayed anti-tobacco health promotion posters or pamphlets. Pricing policies in two stores may have meant that food items effectively subsidised the cost of tobacco. All stores had unofficial no-smoking policies in accessible parts of the store. Remote community stores complied with existing legislation, aside from allowing access of minors to vending machines. There may still be potential for proactive tobacco education campaigns run through community stores and for a trial assessing the effect of changes in tobacco prices on tobacco consumption.

Expression of P450fas in E. coli: Role in the Biosynthesis of Plant Cytokinin Zeatin

Rhodoccocus Fascians is phytopathogenic bacteria able to induce leafy galls through the expression of the virulent promoting Fas Operon. The operon, located within the Fi plasmid, codes, among other proteins, Cytochrome P450fas, and its ferredoxin-like partner, Fasredoxin (FasRdx). Both proteins are essential for plant fasciation. The proposed mechanism for infection places P450fas in the biosynthesis pathway of the cytokinin-zeatin, a plant hormone. In order to study this proposal, we have cloned the genes coding for polyhistidine-tagged P450fas and FasRdx into the pCWori vector and expressed the proteins in E. coli. We have obtained positive results for P450fas expression after running samples through SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, UV-Visible spectrometer, and DNA sequencing. Thus far, we have successfully purified P450fas and shown it is able to bind to cytokinin precursors such as isopentenyladenine. However, our efforts have been shortcoming for expressing FasRdx and we are currently screening for better cell growth conditions and the used of engineered E. coli cell line (RosettaTM 2(DE3)pLysSTM, Stratagene), shows promise of producing functional protein. Founded by: Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC)

Strategies to improve minority access to public mental health services in California: Description and preliminary evaluation

AbstractThe present study documented and evaluated steps taken by public mental health administrators to recruit members of underrepresented ethnic minority populations into treatment. By surveying county‐level ethnic program specialists in the decentralized California state system, the study identified strategies considered effective for reaching African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native Americans communities and overcoming barriers to treatment‐seeking. In multivariate analysis, strategies were linked to ethnic‐specific Medi‐Cal penetration rates calculated as measures of access. Results indicated that undertaking outreach activities was associated with greater access for Latinos and Native Americans. For Asian Americans, hiring bilingual or bicultural staff was associated with greater access but having a bilingual or bicultural receptionist was associated with lesser access. For all minority groups as well as for Whites, the overall supply of mental health practitioners in the county was strongly associated with greater access. The study documented real‐world efforts to improve minority access and, despite limitations imposed by its cross‐sectional design, provided preliminary evidence of effectiveness. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New Labour, racism and ‘new’ football in England

ABSTRACT Bradbury and Williams begin by examining aspects of the genealogy of incidents of fan racism at the Spain v. England international football match in Madrid on 17 November 2004, and the public outcry in Britain that followed. They raise questions about the possible ‘strategic mobilization’ by Spanish fans of apparently racist epithets as a response to the use, by the English football authorities before the match, of prominent anti-racism symbolism. The main body of the article then considers the British public response to Madrid within the context of the Blairite New Labour policy on football racism in England from the late 1990s. It argues that Labour's Football Task Force from 1997 constituted an entirely new direction for sport and government policy in Britain. However, by drawing on the comments of some of the key figures involved, Bradbury and Williams further contend that, both structurally and ideologically, the Task Force was preset to limit its own investigations on the nature and effects of racism, specifically in the English game. Although the Task Force's report, Eliminating Racism in Football, has had some positive effects—for example, on Football Association policy or in stimulating local anti-racist initiatives—its narrow focus and its relatively underdeveloped understanding of the racism problem in professional sport led its members to de-emphasize the significance of forms of institutionalized racism within English football. Research and commentaries on racism in the English game since that report was published in 1998 suggest that problems of racialized exclusion in football remain. Bradbury and Williams conclude that the public outrage in Britain about the incidents in Madrid reflect an over-concentration on silencing public expressions of racism—combating overt, collective fan outbreaks—at the expense of addressing the racialized structures of power that continue to shape access, opportunities and acceptance of ethnic minorities within professional football in England.

Hispanic access to hospice services in a predominantly Hispanic community

Although the largest minority population in the United States, Hispanics are under-represented in hospice at the national level. The study purpose was to document Hispanic access to hospice services in an environment where Hispanics are a majority population. The framework for the study was Aday and Anderson's model for access to medical care. In this framework, access is not defined as availability of services and resources, but whether services are actually used by the people who need them. We completed retrospective chart reviews of 500 Medicare beneficiaries who died in four hospices. Study variables were decedent characteristics and access to hospice and hospice disciplines. Results showed that Hispanics and whites differed on characteristics known to influence access to health services, e.g., preferred language and type of caregiver Although the proportion of Hispanic elders dying in hospice was less than the proportion living in the community, the proportions of Hispanic elders who died in the community or died in their homes were not differentfrom the proportion that died in hospice. When access to hospice disciplines was compared between Hispanic and white decendents, the results showed one difference-more whites than Hispanics had access to volunteer services. Overall, the study showed that Hispanics were not underrepresented in hospice, and they had equal access to hospice disciplines. These findings differ from national data and may be associated with Hispanics being the majority population in the community. To learn how population dominance influences minority access to services, Hispanic access to hospice could be studied in locales with varying proportions of Hispanics in the population.