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Role of the Faculty Mentor in an Undergraduate Research Experience

ABSTRACTResearch experience for undergraduate (REU) programs are designed to recruit students to science and engineering research careers by allowing the students to conduct research with faculty mentors. International research experiences can enhance the research experience by allowing the student to conduct research in a unique environment and also provide the student with a more global perspective. This paper describes the outcomes of an international REU program in which students quantify hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in a tropical montane forest in central Costa Rica. Having the students at a central research station location and focusing their research on a common research problem is an important aspect of an international REU program, to avoid a feeling of isolation and to ensure that the students remain safe in their research and during their free time. However, this shared experience can highlight differences among the faculty mentors and make the students evaluate their individual experience more critically. To better understand the relationship between the REU student and their faculty mentor(s), we conducted pre- and post-trip focus groups to understand the students' experience in the REU and the manner in which the faculty mentor can affect that experience and the desire to continue in research. Results of the pre-trip focus group suggest that the undergraduate students are most concerned about their projects and give little to no thought about the faculty mentor with whom they will be completing their research. Post-trip results from 2011 and 2012 suggest that mentors had a much greater impact on the experience than expected. Many students said that their future research/graduate school plans were affected by their REU mentor relationship, and that while they might not have considered the importance of faculty mentors before the research experience, they now recognize the mentor as a crucial aspect of a research project. Using a classification system commonly used in management research, the mentoring styles were classified with management classification styles as autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire. The overall results suggest that the student-to-mentor relationship created through these authentic experiences is one of the most important aspects of REU programs, and that the mentoring style not only determines the research productivity of the student, but also appears to influence the decision of that student to conduct research in the future and/or attend graduate school. The mentoring style also affects research productivity and allows students to identify the characteristics they perceive as important to success in a graduate program. While this paper focuses on a single REU program, the results provide baseline data to examine the role of the faculty mentor across other REU programs and in decisions about graduate research by both the student and the faculty. Mentoring styles and student expectations of their mentors should be taken into consideration when developing a research experience and pairing mentors with prospective students.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PREFERENCES FOR GRADUATE TRAINING IN PSYCHOLOGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

There continues to be a critical shortage of school psychologist practitioners and academicians. Undergraduate students in psychology, education, and other majors (N = 674) from a large comprehensive university in the southwest completed an examiner‐made web‐based questionnaire designed to assess their attitudes and preferences for choosing graduate training in psychology. There were differences among the participants on Interest in Graduate School, Child Interests, Attitude toward Research, and Exposure to School Psychology. Psychology majors were more interested in graduate school than all other majors in the sample and were more interested in research than “other” majors. Psychology majors reported significantly less exposure to school psychology than “other” majors. Examination of the endorsement patterns of the participants indicated the following. Generally, misconceptions about school psychology were not endorsed at high levels. Sixty seven percent of the sample indicated they would attend graduate school. And 77% of the participants also endorsed items indicating they had interests in focusing on children and child related problems. The participants did specify there were some geographic restraints related to choice of graduate school. Fifty to 60% of the participants agreed they had personal qualifications which would make them highly competitive for graduate school admission. Implications for school psychology recruitment are offered.

Review of Comrades at Odds: The United States and India, 1947–1964

Ron Leonhardt is double-majoring in History and International Relations with a minor in Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. His academic interests are Marxism-Leninism in the Global South, Cold War diplomacy, Post-WWII genocide studies, and 20th-century conflict in Southeast Asia. He is planning to attend graduate school to pursue a PhD in History after graduation.

Information Technology Use by Patients with Hemoglobinopathies

Abstract 4698 Introduction:Information technology (IT) in general, and mobile technology in particular, is increasingly used in health care management. Mobile health tools have the potential to increase health care quality, reduce disease burden among individuals and health communities alike, as well as reduce healthcare disparities. Currently, there is a lack of data about ability and interest of patients with hemoglobinopathies, especially sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia (Thal), to use IT interventions as part of their heath care management. This study was designed to ascertain the current use of IT, particularly mobile technology, in adult patients with hemoglobinopathies, as well as readiness to use mobile and other IT devices in the management of their disease. To do so, we sought to measure the ownership and use of IT devices (computers, mobile phones, and tablets) in a predominantly SCD population and the comfort level in using those devices to communicate socially and with health providers via text messages, emails, social media, or chat rooms. The study goal was to gather data pertinent to the potential use of mobile technology in clinical care, patient or provider education, and research interventions. Methods:The study consisted of a questionnaire-based telephone survey gathering patients' demographics and current use of IT, particularly mobile technology. Patients were also asked to rate their comfort level with computers and smartphones (0: not comfortable to 10: extremely comfortable) and their level of interest in the use of mobile devices for health care management. Using an IRB approved protocol, patients were randomly selected from the list of all patients that received care at the center in the preceding two years. Results:One hundred adult patients with hemoglobinopathy and longitudinal follow-up at the outpatient clinic were enrolled. All patients approached agreed to participate. More than 95% of patients had SCD; the rest had thalassemia or other hemoglobin variants. Fifty-seven percent were female. Forty percent were 18–34 years old, 34% were 35–50 years old, and 25% were older than 50 years. Ten percent (10%) of patients reported not having a high school diploma (HS-dip), 36% had a HS-dip without further education, 48% were college graduates, or had attended some college, and 6% were attending graduate school, or had achieved an advance degree. These four groups were regrouped into two (HS-dip or less vs. attended or graduated from college) for analysis. Eighty-four percent (84%) reported owning a computer device, i.e. desktops, laptops, tablets, iPads. Ninety-two percent (92%) reported having a mobile phone.Modes of communication were examined by age and education level. For all age and education groups, texting and emailing were preferred over social media, and particularly chat rooms (p<.0001), Figures A and C. The older age group reported lower comfort levels with texting (p=.0008) and using social network (p=.01) than did younger groups (18–34 and 35–49), Figure A. Similarly, The older age group reported lower comfort levels with using computers (p=.02) and smartphones (p=.003) to communicate with providers than did the younger groups, Figure B. There were no statistical differences in the comfort level for communication with provider by education groups, except for higher comfort level communicating by computer for those with higher education level (p=.01). Gender was not associated with differences in comfort level for any of the parameters studied. Conclusion:This study suggests the feasibility of appropriate disease-specific health information technology (HIT) solutions for SCD clinical care, patient education, and patient-oriented research interventions [Display omitted] [Display omitted] [Display omitted] Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Sallie Ann Watkins

Sallie Ann Watkins

Racial and socioeconomic disparities in epilepsy in the District of Columbia

We investigated social and demographic factors as they relate to prevalence and incidence of epilepsy in Washington, DC, a culturally diverse area. Probability-based sampling was used to select 20,000 households to complete a mailed epilepsy screening survey on all household members. Screened individuals with a history of epilepsy were sent a detailed case survey about seizures and treatment. Prevalence and incidence of epilepsy were estimated using weighted data. Lifetime prevalence was 1.53% overall; 0.77% in Whites, 2.13% in Blacks, and 3.4% in those with less than a high school diploma. Prevalence of active epilepsy was 0.79% and followed similar subgroup comparisons as lifetime prevalence. Age-adjusted lifetime and active epilepsy from multivariate analyses demonstrated significantly higher rates for Blacks compared to Whites and for those not completing high school compared to those that attended graduate school. The incidence of epilepsy was 71 per 100,000 persons. Adults with active epilepsy were significantly less likely to live alone than those without epilepsy. Residents of DC for <4 years had the lowest prevalence and incidence of all subgroups indicating a possible healthy mover effect. This is the first study to provide estimates and profiles of the epilepsy population in DC which can help better target resources to improve the health and outcomes of people with epilepsy and their families.

Strategies for Diversifying the Pool of Graduate Students in Biomedical Sciences

As part of our National Cancer Institute-sponsored partnership between New Mexico State University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, we implemented the cancer research internship for undergraduate students to expand the pipeline of underrepresented students who can conduct cancer-related research. A total of 21 students participated in the program from 2008 to 2011. Students were generally of senior standing (47%), female (90 %), and Hispanic (85 %). We present a logic model to describe the short-, medium-, and long-term outputs of the program. Comparisons of pre- and post-internship surveys showed significant improvements in short-term outputs including interest (p<0.001) and motivation (p<0.001) to attend graduate school, as well as preparedness to conduct research (p=0.01) and write a personal statement (p=0.04). Thirteen students were successfully tracked, and of the nine who had earned a bachelor's degree, six were admitted into a graduate program (67 %), and four of these programs were in the biomedical sciences.

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow

Renowned medical physicist Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, a co-recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, died on 30 May 2011 in New York City.Rosalyn was born on 19 July 1921 in New York City. Although her parents were not able to attend high school, they passed down to Rosalyn their lifetime love of learning. Her fondness for chemistry was influenced by her high school chemistry teacher. In 1941 she became the first physics graduate of Hunter College, part of the City University of New York system and at that time a women’s college. Her love of physics was inspired by two of her professors there.In pursuing a graduate education, Rosalyn faced several obstacles: She was a woman in a man’s field, she was Jewish, and she spoke with the broad accents of New York City. With her usual determination, however, she was able to attend graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she started in 1941. Of the 400 people in the College of Engineering, she was the only woman. Maurice Goldhaber, who would later direct Brookhaven National Laboratory, served as her adviser. In 1943 she married physics graduate student Aaron Yalow, also a New Yorker and the son of a rabbi. Two years later Rosalyn received her PhD in nuclear physics—much of her research involved radioactivity. She received encouragement from Gertrude Goldhaber, a practicing physicist married to Maurice.After graduate school, Rosalyn took a job in New York at an ITT laboratory until it left the area a year later. She then returned to Hunter, this time to teach. Aaron, who by that time had joined Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, introduced her to Edith Quimby, a trailblazer in medical physics. Quimby brought together Rosalyn and Gioacchino Failla, a pioneering biophysicist at Columbia University, who was very impressed with Rosalyn. Failla then convinced Bernard Roswit, chief of radiation therapy at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital, to hire her. She would spend her entire career in the VA hospital system.In 1950, while at the Bronx VA Hospital, she began her 22-year collaboration with internist Solomon Berson. Together they developed radioimmunoassay, a revolutionary technique that uses radiolabeled antibodies to measure antigens. They focused their research on the clinical diagnosis of thyroid diseases and the kinetics of iodine metabolism. The team developed an interest in serum proteins. At a time when highly purified insulin was readily available, Rosalyn and Berson soon determined that patients treated with animal insulins built up antibodies to them. They recognized that they had in their hands a means to measure circulating insulin. By 1959 they were able to put to practical use the measurement of plasma insulin in humans. Radioimmunoassay testing has now been largely replaced with fluorescent techniques; however, immunoassay is still used in routine blood tests.Berson died in 1972 and never saw the full recognition of his and Rosalyn’s work. In 1976 Rosalyn was presented with the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, considered by many to be a precursor to the Nobel Prize. The following year she was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She was again recognized in 1988, this time with the National Medal of Science, for her groundbreaking work.Rosalyn and Aaron were deeply involved in the establishment of organizations dedicated to medical physics. In 1948 they helped found the Radiological and Medical Physics Society of New York, and in 1958 they became charter members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.Rosalyn took great pride in the many physicians and scientists that she and Berson mentored. Later in life, to ease the public’s fears about radiation exposure, she spoke in numerous US venues on the topic.Some 70 years after Rosalyn was the only woman in her graduate program, it is tantalizing to ask how things have changed. She would be the first person to start that discussion. She had made it her mission to inspire talented women in their pursuit of science and mathematics careers. Although Rosalyn would never classify herself as a feminist, many women scientists saw her as a role model, just as she viewed Marie Curie. Those of us to whom she has passed the torch have lost a champion and mentor. We will try to live up to her challenge.Rosalyn Sussman YalowAIP/ESVA, PHYSICS TODAY COLLECTIONPPT|High resolution© 2012 American Institute of Physics.

The Graduate School Application Process

One hundred and thirty-four undergraduate psychology majors completed a survey assessing their evaluative ratings of importance of factors related to the graduate school application process. Results revealed that students rated issues with research experience, letters of recommendation, and GPA as strongly important. These results support efforts to enhance the preparation of undergraduate psychology students who aspire to attend graduate school.

Introduction

Introduction E. Bert Wallace My involvement with the Southeastern Theatre Conference Theatre Symposium stretches back in some ways to its beginnings. The first Symposium conference was held in April 1992 with Dr. Philip G. Hill of Furman University as editor. I was a drama major at Furman under Dr. Hill, graduating in May of that year. That first conference was held at The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa; the topic was "Commedia dell'Arte Performance." I later attended graduate school at Alabama under Dr. Paul Castagno, a commedia scholar and one of the founders of Theatre Symposium. Among my duties as Paul's harried graduate assistant were transcribing tinny audio recordings of the conference proceedings and implementing final changes for Volume 4 of Theatre Symposium, which Paul edited. My first scholarly presentation was at a Symposium. And, two decades after the first conference, I was named editor for Volume 20. The 2011 conference was held in April at Furman, with Dr. Hill (now a Professor Emeritus and "Phil" to me) serving as de facto host. It would have been difficult to imagine, as I sweated through Phil's theatre history and dramatic literature classes, where I'd be twenty years hence. The 2011 topic, "Gods and Groundlings: Historical Theatrical Audiences," drew an interesting range of presenters and approaches. Of course, not every paper can be published (for a variety of reasons), but the presented papers not published in this volume deserve some mention. As a longtime fan of the theatre riot (I am fascinated by the Astor Place Riots, which I first learned about under Dr. Hill while at Furman, and was myself in a near-riot sparked by the apparent shredding of [End Page 5] a live goldfish on stage while I was at Alabama), I was most pleased to hear several papers on audience violence: Sebastian Trainor (University of Washington) shattered my romantic notions about the Ubu Riots; Rick Jones (Stephen F. Austin State University) and Peter DuPuis dealt variously with Irish hooliganism in the theatre; and Wes D. Pearce of the University of Regina gave us a marvelous account of a Victorian-era riot involving the ladies of New York and a limited supply of free "Merry Widow" hats to be given away at a matinee. Other papers included a consideration of vaudeville and music hall audiences by former editor Susan Kattwinkel (College of Charleston); a discussion of producing and performing in a traveling Toby Show by Dawn Larson (Francis Marion University); an evaluation of Early Modern and contemporary audiences by Jeremy Fiebig (Fayetteville State University); and presentations by Sivan Grunfeld and Rayya El Zein, both of the CUNY Graduate Center. The papers published in this volume represent a similarly wide range. This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Susan Bennett (University of Calgary), whose work (including the influential book Theatre Audiences: A Theory of Production and Reception) was cited by numerous presenters. In keeping with the spirit of the conference, Dr. Bennett attended all the sessions and held a conference response and discussion at the end of the event. Her insights were invaluable. Her paper is published in this volume as well. One of the most valuable aspects of Theatre Symposium is the chance for scholars from all over the country (and often other countries as well) to learn from one another in an intimate setting with a single topic and no overlapping sessions. In addition to hearing everyone's work, we share meals, allowing discussions to continue and grow. Though the conference was organized into topical panels of two or three papers each, no attempt has been made to categorize the papers here. Rather, it is my hope that the value of a conference of scholars coming together to wrestle over a specific topic will be clear in the variety and quality of the papers published. I must give special thanks to Phil Hill for his inestimable help—as editorial advisor, "leg man" at Furman, and, along with his wife, Margie, magnanimous cocktail-party host. Thanks also go to former editors J. K. Curry and Scott Phillips for all their help and support; Rhett Bryson of Furman University (another significant mentor from my undergraduate days...

Trading stories: An oral history conversation between Geoffrey Rockwell and Julianne Nyhan

This extended interview with Geoffrey Rockwell was carried out via Skype on the 28th April 2012. He narrates that he had been aware of computing developments when growing up in Italy but it was in college in the late 1970s that he took formal training in computing. He bought his first computer, an Apple II clone, after graduation when he was working as a teacher in the Middle East. Throughout the interview he reflects on the various computers he has used and how the mouse that he used with an early Macintosh instinctively appealed to him. By the mid-1980s he was attending graduate school in the University of Toronto and was accepted on to the Apple Research Partnership Programme, which enabled him to be embedded in the central University of Toronto Computing Services; he went on to hold a full time position there. Also taking a PhD in Philosophy, he spent many lunch times talking with John Bradley. This resulted in the building of text analysis tools and their application to Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, as well as some of the earliest, if not the earliest, conference paper on visualisation in the digital humanities community. He reflects on the wide range of influences that shaped and inspired his early work in the field, for example, the Research Computing Group at the University of Toronto and their work in visual programming environments. In 1994 he applied, and was hired at McMaster University to what he believes was the first job openly advertised as a humanities computing position in Canada. After exploring the opposition to computing that he encountered he reflects that the image of the underdog has perhaps become a foundational myth of digital humanities and questions whether it is still a useful one.

Effects of Pre-School Teacher's Self-Esteem on Teacher Attitudes

Abstract In this study the effects of pre-school teacher's self-esteem on teacher attitudes was analyzed. The data collection tools used in the study were the Teacher Attitude Scale for Pre-School Teachers developed by Bilgin (1995) and the Self-Esteem Scale developed by Aricak (1999) . The tools were completed by 307 pre-school teachers in the second half of 2007-2008 academic year. It was studied whether a meaningful difference was caused in the subdimensions of the two tools by the variables of age, attending graduate school, being satisfied with income, marital status, intentional choice of the teaching profession, being content with the profession, and having in-service training. In order to test this arithmetic means, one-way ANOVA, independent groups t-test and Pearson Moments Correlation were used. All statistical analyzes in the study were made by using the SPSS package program. The level of significance was set at minimum .05. The results showed a weak positive relationship between pre-school teacher's self-esteem and teacher attitudes.

Educating Students to Give Them a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

With an increasingly competitive job market, this study focuses on what marketing educators can do to help students develop a sustainable competitive advantage. The authors conducted a survey of students, faculty, and recruiters to develop a better understanding of what skills and characteristics might be of value to each group of respondents and to ascertain where differences might exist across respondent groups. Although the basic skills (i.e., critical thinking, communication) recruiters seek have not changed much from previous studies, recruiters rated critical thinking skills, such as problem solving, much higher than either faculty or students. Graduates must be accountable and show the impact and rationale behind decisions. In other words, educators must continue to stress reading, writing, and “arith-metrics.” The lessons learned herein include ways to engage students, strengthen communication skills, incorporate skill development workshops, use professional speakers in marketing organizations, and promote services available outside the classroom as well as help students develop multiple skill sets in class. Educators should also encourage students to be open-minded, creative, and explore opportunities including internships and positions that may not be their current career choice. Finally, educators should discuss pros and cons of going straight through school or working before attending graduate school.

Plenary Paper Discussant Commentary 2

A treatise that begins with the statement I am not a fan of country music, but I am a radio flipper, certainly gets my attention. Like the author, I am also not a big fan of country music (except for Dolly and Reba, who doesn’t love them)? Music reviews aside, Winders’ invocation of how country music lyrics illustrate competing nodes of diffusion that work to question geographical imaginations of southern ‘authenticity’ is truly fascinating. When it comes to the material and social changes in the southern landscape over the years, I have some firsthand experience. While attending graduate school at Florida State in Tallahassee, then getting my first teaching job at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, I would occasionally take long drives into the rural countryside, stopping along the way to stroll through the many small towns that dot the landscape. At least to this non-southerner, southern rural culture initially appeared permanently fixed in both time and space. In subsequent years, however, I began to notice some changes in these cultural nodes of rural southern life. The Baptist churches in these small towns, still very much iconographic symbols of AfricanAmerican and white vernacular southern culture, began sharing religious space with a Catholic church, built to accommodate the large numbers of Hispanic migrant laborers who work the farm fields. Signs that advertised we speak Spanish began appearing in the windows of the mom and pop stores along Main Street. Mexican restaurants suddenly appeared where the local country diners once stood. So in a rural context, I most certainly agree with Winders’ thesis of the changing nature of material, social and cultural spaces in the south. I was pleased to see Winders incorporate Doreen Massey and David Harvey’s theoretical lens of time-space compression into her narrative on ‘re-placing’ southern geographies. This is a fitting juxtaposition, where global capitalism has shrunk both space and time, and where old attachments to place and identity (in this case southern place and identity), are thrown into a maelstrom of multiple meanings. Her discussion of southern urban/rural dualities and those liminal spaces in between are particularly relevant here, as she correctly calls into question the false assertion of a ‘southern culture’. There are many different place-specific contingencies that give rise to the south’s geographical imagination, particularly when placed against a backdrop of racialized constructions of identity. Extending the discussion further, Winders’ invokes the extra-scalar implications of competing southern identities from the scale of the body, and the implications of otherness that goes along with bodily attributions, such as the ‘in

State Merit-based Aid and Enrolling in Graduate Study:Evidence From the Scholarship

Using a logistic regression approach, this study shows an approximately forty percent increase in the probability that students would attend graduate school if their KEES award amount increased from zero to the maximum award amount. This finding has important implications for policymakers in Kentucky and other states.

An Attitude Survey of Radiological Technologists toward Qualification Acquisition of Licentiate and Degrees in Mie Prefecture

We conducted a questionnaire consciousness survey concerning qualification acquisition of licentiate and degrees among 406 radiological technologists working for medical facility in Mie Prefecture. We employed a mail-back questionnaire method. Then we analyzed relationships between progressive purpose and gender, age, and membership of the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology (JSRT). Results derived note the most common licentiate the participants wanted to acquire was the license concerning emergency medical care. On the other hand, they had limited interest in radiation therapy, nuclear medicine areas and the working environment measurement expert class I. In conclusion, the results of this study revealed the present condition that the necessity of qualification acquisition of licentiate is not recognized incorrectly. In addition, there was a mountain of issues for working radiological technologists to attend graduate school to get degrees. It is important to utilize the results of this study to enlighten their consciousness for limited interest licentiate, and interest them in attending graduate schools.

Seeking John Carter and Bobby Bradford: Free Jazz and Community in Los Angeles

Jazz, experimentation, and Los Angeles are ineluctably linked by history. The city and its active jazz scene were and continue to be a fertile ground for musicians who seek to challenge the boundaries of genre. Unfortunately, the city also has a reputation for being a very difficult place for experimenters. Such influential musicians as Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, and Ornette Coleman all left Los Angeles before becoming well known. Those who remained, like Gerald Wilson and Horace Tapscott, seem almost as well known for their obscurity as their music. Fortunately, more recent publications have corrected this, bringing the music and stories of these Los Angeles innovators to broader audiences (Bryant et al. 1998; Tapscott and Isoardi 2001; Isoardi 2006; Dailey 2007; Sharp 2008). This essay examines the early career of two of the most overlooked, yet locally influential, musicians: John Carter and Bobby Bradford. I focus on their collaboration in a group called the New Art Jazz Ensemble, which was active from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. Carter and Bradford's music emphasized the decisions and choices of the musicians. Because this music did not fit easily into the commercial jazz world, the group found alternative places to present their music. Their music and actions inspired the formation of an active experimental music scene that still exists today. Paths to Los Angeles John Carter was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1929 and attended the same high school as Ornette Coleman, and also like Coleman, he played saxophone in rhythm-and-blues bands around the Dallas-Fort Worth area while being inspired by the new sounds of bebop. Unlike Coleman, Carter received a formal music education and pursued teaching as a career. After graduating from high school at age fifteen, Carter received a bachelor's degree in music education from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1949. While at Lincoln University, he also performed with various music groups in clubs in nearby Kansas City and St. Louis. He married, had a son, and began teaching elementary school in Fort Worth when only nineteen years old. Carter then earned a master of arts degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1956. Attending graduate school in Colorado was more of a necessity than a choice because it was still difficult for African Americans to receive advanced degrees in Texas at the time (see Carter 1992, 9; Dailey 2007, 38-40). The Carters moved to Los Angeles in 1961, where John secured a job as an elementary school music teacher. Like many other African Americans, Carter believed Los Angeles held the promise of greater opportunity for himself as well as his growing family (Sides 2003). As a musician, Carter was also attracted to what he thought was the city's active jazz scene. There was also the possibility of lucrative studio work to augment his teacher's salary. Unfortunately, what had been an active jazz scene was in rapid decline by the early 1960s, and studio work was challenging to secure for newcomers. Carter caught only the waning days of Central Avenue's jam sessions and was never able to break into the studio scene (Woodard 1991, 26; Dailey 2007,43-46). Additionally, the racial tensions in his new hometown were at the breaking point, marked by the eruption of the Watts riots in 1965 (Davis 1990,293; Home 1995). The growing consciousness that emerged in its wake inspired Carter to delve into more experimental music, particularly as he began collaborating with Bobby Bradford. Bobby Bradford was born in Cleveland, Mississippi, in 1934 and moved to Dallas in 1946. He attended the same high school as such future luminaries as pianist Cedar Walton and saxophonists David Fathead Newman and James Clay. Bradford, a trumpet player, and his classmates were attracted to the modernism of bebop. They performed around the DallasFort Worth area where Bradford met Ornette Coleman, but coincidentally not John Carter. …

Factors Associated with Student Performance in Advanced Accounting and Contemporary Financial Accounting Issues: An Empirical Study in a Commuter University

No prior study that we are aware of has considered the associations between motivation, actual ability, self-perceived ability, and distraction factors and student performance in advanced level undergraduate accounting courses. This study considers the associations between these four factors and student performance in Advanced Accounting and Contemporary Financial Accounting Issues. Students enrolled in a highly diversified, commuter, public university located in one of the largest cities in the United States provided responses to 12 questions used as independent variables.Of the three variables used as proxies for motivation, the grade the student would like to make in the course was found to be significantly associated with student performance, but intention to take the CPA exam or attend graduate school were not. Additionally, the grade in Intermediate Accounting II and GPA (used as proxies for actual ability) were found to be strong predictors of student performance. Self-perceived reading and listening abilities had moderate associations with student performance, but self-perceived writing and math abilities did not.Finally, holding non-accounting-related jobs, working high numbers of hours per week, and taking on higher course loads during the semester are factors which were, surprisingly, not significantly correlated with student performance. One important implication of this study is that accounting faculty need to find ways to motivate their students, but need not discourage them to take more courses per semester or work more hours per week outside of school.

Mathematical Biology at an Undergraduate Liberal Arts College

Since 2002 we have offered an undergraduate major in Mathematical Biology at Harvey Mudd College. The major was developed and is administered jointly by the mathematics and biology faculty. In this paper we describe the major, courses, and faculty and student research and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities we have experienced.

MEET THE GUEST EDITOR

Dr. James Cizdziel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mississippi. He received degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.S. in Analytical Chemistry, 1991) and the University of Nevada, Reno (Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Health, Environmental Chemistry Track, 1998). Prior to attending graduate school he was laboratory manager at Buffalo Tungsten Incorporated (1991-1993). His dissertation research, under Dr. Vernon Hodge, and associated journal publications examining attic dust as a historical record of air pollution are recognized as ground-breaking and innovative. He served as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Exposure Research Laboratory from 1998-2000. His research there resulted in some of the first papers on the determination of Hg in environmental and biological samples using automated combustionatomic absorption spectrometry. In 2000, he was hired as Senior Scientist at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There he led a team of researchers who, among other things, utilized ICP-MS to measure trace elements in groundwater from near Yucca Mountain and the Nevada Test Site for various modeling studies. While in Las Vegas, he was active in the American Chemical Society, holding positions of Chair and Councilor in the Southern Nevada Section. He also served on the ACS National Committee for Technician Affairs. In 2008, he moved to Oxford, Mississippi to join the faculty at Ole Miss. He has been principal investigator on grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), EPA, and the Department of Energy. Recently, he was awarded an NSF grant to develop an ICP-MS facility for the U.S. Mid-South region. His research interests are in the area of analytical, environmental, and forensic chemistry. He is particularly interested in environmental monitoring and fingerprinting using isotope based methods. He is also interested in the biogeochemical cycling of Hg and supervises a state-of-the-art Hg laboratory. Often what counts in science is novelty. To that end, he enjoys developing new measurement techniques or applying analytical methods in novel ways. For example, he published the first work on determining Pb in blood by laser ablation ICP-MS of filter paper spotted with blood.