Off-campus Residence Research Articles

Comparisons of Cooking, Dietary, and Food Safety Characteristics of Food Secure and Food Insecure Sophomores at a University in Appalachia

IntroductionFood insecurity means lacking access to adequate, nutritious, and safe food. Collegiate food insecurity rates at ten Appalachian campuses range from 22.4% to 51.8% and have been associated with unfavorable health and academic outcomes.PurposeThis study compared cooking, dietary, and food safety characteristics of food secure (FS) and food insecure (FI) sophomores at a university in Appalachia in the context of the USDA definition of food security.MethodsData were collected using an online questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential procedures compared FS and FI sophomores (p < 0.05).ResultsParticipants (n = 226) were 65.0% females, 76.1% whites, and 46% FI. About 40% of on-campus and 50% of off-campus residents were FI, and 70% of FI students reported needing help accessing food. Cooking was undertaken “less often” by 61.5% of FS and 55.8% of FI sophomores. Mean cooking self-efficacy scores for FS and FI students were 44.9, vs 43.4, (p > 0.05) out of 52 points. Grains were consumed most often by 40% of FS and FI students and vegetables were consumed least often by 70% of both groups. Mean food safety test scores for FS and FI students were 6.2 1.60 vs 6.6 1.52 (p > 0.05) out of 11 points. Requested educational activities included making a budget and planning balanced meals.ImplicationsThe high rate of food insecurity reflects an ongoing need among sophomores for campus and community food assistance and for educational activities that teach purchasing and preparation of affordable, healthy and safe foods.

Escorting and mode choice decisions of members of an urban university in New Delhi, India

This paper explores the escorting and mode choice decisions of members – faculties, staff, and married students – of an urban university in New Delhi, India. The decisions relating to school travel of children of members of a university are captured using a primary travel behavior survey. The data is further segmented based on residence location of university members, i.e., on-campus and off-campus housing. Descriptive analysis is followed by a multinomial logit model, employed to study the escorting person and mode choice decisions. This study finds similarities and differences in behaviors. Respondents staying inside the campus own more cars and motorcycles as compared to the respondents staying outside the campus. However, those staying outside possessed more bicycles than the respondents living inside the university. Further, irrespective of the location of residences, parents holding higher educational qualifications are reluctant to walk/bicycle their children to school. For on-campus residents, household car (and two-wheeler) ownership leads to fathers using personal cars for pick-up and drop off children. Household car ownership also negatively influences mothers' intentions to use active modes for child escorting. Further, for both on-campus and off-campus residents, even if households perceive the environment to be safe and secure, they have a higher dependency on private vehicles, especially by mothers. This study also estimates aggregate elasticity effects of relevant variables and discusses, from a broad viewpoint, the policy implications of the findings.

Food Insecurity Among College Students with and without Medical Disorders at a University in Appalachia.

ObjectiveThis study compared severity of food insecurity, characteristics, and behaviors of college students with and without diagnosed medical disorders.DesignData were collected using a cross-sectional online questionnaire. Variables measured were food security status, disorders, coping strategies, and perceived barriers to food access. Descriptive and inferential statistics examined associations and compared groups. Statistical significance was p≤0.05.SettingData were collected at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.ParticipantsThe sample was 247 food insecure students, of whom 60% were females, 50% 3rd- and 4th-year students, and 75% whites.ResultsMedical disorders were reported by 67.2% of food insecure students, and a greater proportion of students with than without disorders experienced very low food security (63.3% vs. 43.2%, p=0.003). The most common disorder categories were psychiatric (40.5%) and gastrointestinal (31.6%). Characteristics of food insecure students with disorders included female gender, suboptimal academic performance, employed, off-campus residence. Coping strategies used by students with and without disorders, respectively, to improve food access, included brought food back to school after visiting family, friends, significant others (90.9% vs. 63.0%) and ate less healthy food so you could eat more (77.7% vs. 49.4%). Perceived barriers among students with disorders included feel overwhelmed making food choices (12.7%) and meal plan runs out (10.2%). Food insecure students with disorders made greater use of coping strategies and identified more perceived barriers.ConclusionsFood insecure students with disorders experienced more severe food deprivation and require multidimensional food assistance programs beyond those generally available on college campuses.

Analysis of University Students' Emotional Awareness from Diverse Perspectives

Emotional awareness allows learners to see things from others' perspective and helps students to enhance their self-confidence and behavior. Considering importance of emotional awareness, it is pertinent to examine the level of students' emotional awareness. This study examines the emotional awareness of university students from the perspective of their gender, program, on- /off-campus residence, and achievement. This study also investigates the relationship between students' emotional awareness and their academic achievement. This research used descriptive and the correlational research designs. Three public universities were selected to collect data, a sample of 701 students was selected using cluster and stratified random sampling techniques. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the selected students. For data analysis, independent sample t-test and correlation were calculated to identify conclusions. The results identify the low level of emotional awareness of students and a week but positive association exists between students' emotional awareness and their achievement.

Analysis of University Students Travel Behaviour: En Route to Sustainable Campus

Objectives: To analyse travel behaviour of university students, preparation of web based questionnaire and descriptive analysis of the collected data. Background: Travel pattern is the key element in transportation studies to understand and identify transportation needs. Therefore, in order to program feasible and sustainable transport system plans, the travel pattern studies were usually performed to discover the factors that encourage a sustainable transportation system. Methodology: By categorizing the students into two groups (on-campus and off-campus residents), they were requested to provide their daily travel information along with their personal information. A new web based survey instrument was developed and it was administered through online. One full day data was collected and the same was used for the analysis. VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu was selected as the study area. Findings: The results show a significant difference in travel patterns of students residing on-campus and off-campus. The data also shows the significant variance in mode usage, travel time and travel cost of the students, especially between on-campus and off-campus residents. This study will be helpful in analysing the existing transportation infrastructure and further it leads to establishment of better infrastructures, various transport planning strategies and policies for the sustainability of the campus. Improvements: This paper is limited to only descriptive analysis, if modelling component is added, the study would be enhanced. The accuracy of this analysis can be improved by considering more number of samples data.

BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS

Remembrances in Black: Personal Perspectives of the African American Experience at the University of Arkansas 1940s-2000s, edited by Charles R. Robinson II and Lonnie R. Williams. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2010. 358 pp., hardback: $45.00, paperback: $29.95.This collection of oral history interviews presents the stories and perspectives of students and a number of staff, administrators, and faculty of color who at some point in the last sixty years attended or worked at the Lafayette campus of the University of Arkansas. Organized by chapters that represent a decade each (the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the 2000s), the recollections paint a complex panorama of the often uneasy relationship between the university- a historically all-White, segregated institution-and its minority students. Helpful introductions by the editors precede each chapter/decade of oral histories, threading together the personal reflections into a meaningful narrative whole.Comprising 78 interviews in all, the book is striking for what it undermines: a fairytale historiography moving intractably out of an evil, racist past to a redeemed present of racial parity and uncompromising integration. To the contrary, a deep ambiguity permeates the personal reflections when read as a collection. This ambiguity is captured in the story of Silas Hunt, the first Black student admitted to the university in modem times. The editors tell how he died of tuberculosis before completing his degree, perhaps contracting the disease from the several miles he walked every day in the winter to and from his off-campus residence with a Black host family because the university prohibited him from living in the White dormitories on campus. With the admission of Silas Hunt to the Fayetteville campus in 1948, however, the University of Arkansas also became the first public university in the South to officially desegregate outside of a court order. Therefore, read in chronological order, the recollections mirror the wider developments of the Civil Rights Movement and the uneven developments in the years since Jim Crow. Their strength is as repositories of the living memories of the actual players at one institution of higher learning when legal and social pressures and student activism from within forced the university to first acknowledge and then sometimes change its discriminatory practices and structures.As such, this collection provides a microcosmic corrective to the mainstream (European) American myth of unimpeded racial progress. The voices combine to tell the race story at the University of Arkansas as one of advances in some areas, backtracking on others, and sidestepping in still others. Subsequently, a reader randomly opening the book and reading the following statements by one of the interviewees, Randy Rorian Brown, Jr., who worked for a time as an administrator at the university, would have a hard time placing him by decade. Brown variously asserts:* It was sometimes difficult because I remember sitting around the room and being not only one of the very few people of color, but at times, the only African American in the room during senate meetings.* Even though I was an executive, very few knew me or even showed an interest in knowing me. I always felt like an outsider trying to fit...* There is still a lot of institutionalized racism at the University of Arkansas and it is truly inherent within the university system throughout its traditions and undertones.Are these sentiments reflections on his experience in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or the decade that just ended in 2010? The correct answer would be from decade just passed.Not all respondents had his reactions, to be sure. And many-even some of those who underwent the most severe treatment while at the University of Arkansas-vow their undying love for the institution. But in each of the decades similar sentiments emerge from a wide variety of students, staff, and administrators. …

College Alcohol-Control Policies and Students' Alcohol Consumption: A Matter of Exposure?

The aims of this study were twofold: a) to investigate the impact of higher education institutional alcohol-control policies on students' drinking, and b) to determine whether a differential exposure to such policies based on students' place of residence (on/off campus) was a significant source of variability in their drinking practices and patterns. The data was drawn from the 2004 Canadian Campus Survey, a large epidemiological survey examining the social determinants of addiction and mental health among full-time undergraduates enrolled in Canadian universities (N = 4,358). Multilevel analyses performed on samples stratified by place of residence evaluated differences in explanatory factors for drinking practices (probability of drinking on campus) and patterns (usual drinking quantity). Overall, alcohol-control policies distinctively contributed to explain outcomes among campus residents and off-campus residents. Results suggest that the place of residence is an important determinant modulating students' drinking outcomes and interactions with higher education institutions.

Illicit use of prescription stimulants in a college student sample: A theory-guided analysis

BackgroundThe illicit use of prescription stimulants (IUPS) has emerged as a high-risk behavior of the 21st century college student. As the study of IUPS is relatively new, we aimed to understand (1) characteristics of IUPS (i.e., initiation, administration routes, drug sources, motives, experiences), and (2) theory-guided intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental correlates associated with use. MethodsUsing one-stage cluster sampling, 520 students (96.3% response rate) at one Pacific Northwest University completed a paper-based, in-classroom survey on IUPS behaviors and expected correlates. Aim 1 was addressed using descriptive statistics and aim 2 was addressed via three nested logistic regression analyses guided by the Theory of Triadic Influence. ResultsThe prevalence of ever engaging in IUPS during college was 25.6%. The majority (>50.0%) of users reported initiation during college, oral use, friends as the drug source, academic motives, and experiencing desired outcomes. Intrapersonal correlates associated with use included identifying as White, lower grade point average, diagnoses of attention deficit disorder, and lower avoidance self-efficacy. Interpersonal correlates of use included off-campus residence, varsity sports participation, IUPS perceptions by socializing agents, and greater behavioral norms. Exposure to prescription drug print media, greater prescription stimulant knowledge, and positive attitudes towards prescription stimulants were environmental correlates associated with use. In all models, IUPS intentions were strongly associated with use. ConclusionsIUPS was prevalent on the campus under investigation and factors from the intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental domains were associated with the behavior. Implications for prevention and future research are discussed.

Changes in Smokeless Tobacco Use Over Four Years Following a Campus-Wide Anti-tobacco Intervention

This study examined the effectiveness of an institutional intervention aimed at decreasing prevalence of tobacco use over a 4-year period. Participants were undergraduate students (N = 2,293) enrolled at a large Midwestern university between 2007 and 2010. In 2008, tobacco use was banned on campus. Additionally, campus-wide tobacco cessation services and information were provided to all students. A self-report measure assessing demographics and tobacco use prevalence was administered at baseline and at 3 timepoints over the following 3 years. Results indicated that smokeless tobacco use decreased significantly after the ban. Members of fraternities (a high-risk group) reported significant decreases in smokeless tobacco use for the first 2 years following the ban; however, this trend did not persist during the 3rd year of assessment. Off-campus residents displayed similar trends as fraternities. It appears that a campus-wide tobacco ban is an effective prevention method for decreasing smokeless tobacco use. However, initial decreases in smokeless tobacco use may not persist for some at risk groups, namely members of fraternities and students living off-campus. Future studies should examine prevalence of use over longer periods of time with a particular focus on at risk groups. Overall, this study lends considerable support for efforts toward tobacco-free campuses.

The Causal Effect of Campus Residency on College Student Retention

Despite theoretical evidence positing a positive relationship between campus residency and collegiate outcomes, prior research has not established a causal link. Utilizing propensity score matching and national longitudinal data, this study investigates whether living in university-owned housing impacts retention. The results suggest that the impact of living on campus is not negligible: the probability of remaining enrolled into the second year of college is 3.3 percentage points higher for on-campus residents than off-campus residents. Colleges should consider evaluating the impact of their campus housing programs on academic outcomes to inform important housing policy decisions.

Alcohol-related aggression and drinking at off-campus parties and bars: a national study of current drinkers in college.

This study examines relationships between alcohol-related aggression and drinking at off-campus parties and bars. Other background variables include gender, year in school, residence and heavy drinking in college. The study participants were respondents in the 1997 and 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, national surveys of students attending 119 4-year U.S. colleges. Based on responses from 8,426 students, 18-24 years of age, who were never married and who reported attendance at off-campus parties and bars in the past month, an exploratory factor analysis of the alcohol problem items was specified in a confirmatory factor analysis framework based on a two-factor solution (disruptive behavior and victims of altercations). In addition, the two factors were related to study variables. Among students attending both off-campus parties and bars, level of drinking was related to higher levels of Factor 1 (disruptive behaviors) at off-campus parties and bars. Level of drinking was related to higher levels of Factor 2 (victims of altercations) at off-campus bars but not off-campus parties. Factor 1 was higher among men, freshmen and residents in coed dorms and lower among students living off-campus with parents. Factor 2 was higher among women, freshmen compared with seniors and residents of Greek houses and lower among students living off-campus residence with parents. Findings from this study highlight environmental factors in collegiate drinking practices and support targeted and diverse strategies for prevention activities.

The impact of current residence and high school drinking on alcohol problems among college students.

This study examines relationships between type of (current) residence, heavy episodic drinking in high school and alcohol-related problems among college students. The study participants were respondents in the 1993, 1997 and 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) surveys of students attending 119 4-year U.S. colleges. Based on responses from 6,525 (55.6% female) students in the 1993 CAS, an exploratory factor analysis of the alcohol problem items was specified in a confirmatory factor analysis framework based on a four-factor solution, and related to study variables. The 1993 data were cross-validated with the 1997 and 1999 surveys. When compared with students living in single-gender dormitories, students living off campus with parents reported lower alcohol-related problem consequences and a higher probability of drinking/driving. Students residing off campus without parents, compared with students in single-gender dorms, reported a higher probability of drinking/driving. Associations between off-campus residence and probabilities for drinking/driving were mediated by frequency of driving. Students living in coed dormitories, when compared with students in single-gender dorms, incurred more problem consequences related to drinking but reported significantly lower probabilities associated with designated driving and drinking/driving. Heavy episodic drinking in high school was related to higher probabilities of problems on all outcome measures. The presence of direct and independent effects for both heavy drinking prior to college and high-risk environmental factors in collegiate drinking practices support targeted and diverse strategies for prevention activities.

Predictors of Vaccination Rates During a Mass Meningococcal Vaccination Program on a College Campus

Factors contributing to students' compliance with mass vaccination programs during meningococcal outbreaks have not been well described. A 1997 mass vaccination campaign at Michigan State University provided an opportunity to study such factors. Of 34 024 students in the target population, 17 538 (51.5%) were vaccinated in 5 days. Vaccination rates were higher for women (47.9%) than for men (43.1 %) and higher for on-campus residents (65.3%) than for off-campus residents (35.6%). For each year of students' age beyond 19, the adjusted odds of vaccination were reduced by 0.82. Adjusted odds ratios for vaccination, with White students as the reference group at 1.0, were 1.33 for Asian American students, 0.97 (not significant) for Hispanic students, 0.82 for African American students, and 0.80 for Native American students. Students from the Colleges of Business, Engineering, Communication, and Natural Science had the highest vaccination rates; those from the College of Arts and Letters had the lowest rates.

Risk of meningococcal infection in college students.

The number of meningococcal outbreaks on college campuses have been increasing in the past few years. However, no published studies have documented the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in college students or whether the incidence is higher than in the general population of the same age. To compare the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in Maryland college students with that of the general population of the same age. Retrospective cohort study. Maryland residents with meningococcal infection from 1992-1997 identified from active, laboratory-based, statewide surveillance for invasive meningococcal disease. Incidence of invasive meningococcal infection. Of 228 patients with invasive meningococcal infection, 67 were aged 16 to 30 years; 11 and 3 of these attended Maryland 4- and 2-year colleges, respectively. Of these, 12 (86%) had infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups included in the current meningococcal vaccine. The average annual incidence was 1.74 per 100000 among students in 4-year schools vs 1.44 per 100000 for the general population of the same age (P=.60). Among students in 4-year schools, the incidence was 3.24 per 100000 in on-campus residents vs 0.96 per 100000 in off-campus residents (relative risk, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-11.6; P=.05). The incidence of meningococcal infection in college students is similar to the incidence in the general population of the same age, but college students residing on campus appear to be at higher risk than those residing off campus.

The Effects of On-Campus Residence on First-Time College Students

The authors examine the influence of on-campus residence, as compared with off-campus residence, on academic performance, academic progress, and retention.

Society for Advanced Medical Systems

Rudy Bickel was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1937. His father, a commercial artist, was born in Germany and taught secondary school in Switzerland before emigrating to the United States. He owned a commercial art studio that constructed displays and exhibits; Rudy worked for his father after school, painting, spraying, and sawing components of the displays. Rudy is the oldest of six children; the family of eight settled in a quiet suburban middle class Detroit neighborhood. Rudy initially thought he wanted to be an engineer. He attended Cass Technical High School and absorbed a heavy dose of science and mathematics, as well as some shop and foundry courses. He was very studious, and he saved money earned by delivering newspapers. He read prolifically and enjoyed science fiction. Through scholarships from the Detroit News and the Michigan Regents, Rudy attended the University of Michigan's Engineering College. However, after two years he felt that something was passing him by, that he was being trained rather than educated, and that engineers seemed to have narrow outlooks based on an overly defined and measured world. Bickel switched to arts and sciences and enjoyed the psychologic/biologic flavor of his new curriculum. Two courses genetics and abnormal psychology particularly caught his interest, and he switched to premed studies. While at Michigan, he sang in the Men's Glee Club, and started a cooperative off-campus residence house. During summers, he trimmed trees for the city of Detroit to finance his education. He applied to Harvard Medical School after several discussions with his genetics professor, but the class for the coming year was filled by the time he applied. He also applied to the University of Michigan Medical School, was accepted, and expected to study there. But late in August 1959, the day after he returned from a summer in Europe touring with the Men's Glee Club, Harvard wrote that they had a space for him. He called them to decline because of his fiscal insolvency since he had not worked that summer, but Harvard said, "once accepted, we'll take care of you." So he immediately packed and headed for Boston. He found his classmates fascinating and the sailing around Boston excellent. Despite the heavy influence of academic research, Bickel found he did not want to be a narrow subspecialist. In his third year, he elected to take a community medicine course, where he observed a family for a year. At the end of his third year, he drove his ancient Plymouth convertible to Twillingate Island,

Explaining Premarital Sexual Intercourse among College Students: A Causal Model

A model to explain how college students come to engage in premarital intercourse is estimated separately for men and women and by interpersonal commitment (engaged or going steady versus neither). The major finding is the large impact of friends' on students' own behavior, both directly and as perceptions of friends' coital behavior mediate (1) religious values, and (2) more structural kinds of factors (off-campus residence, dating, fraternity lsorority membership). Most researchers now agree that there has been an increase in coital rates among the unmarried since the early sixties, at least among women (Bell and Chaskes; Christensen and Gregg; Reiss and Miller; Robinson et al.). Some, however, challenge the magnitude and meaning of this change, denying in particular that it indicates a sexual revolution. For example, although Simon et al. report a rise in premarital coitus among white college women, they deny that this reflects a basic attitudinal change since the increase is almost exclusively within established courtship patterns and not in casual sex. Others qualify the idea of a revolution by pointing to feelings of regret among some unmarried women with coital experience (Bell and Chaskes), by suggesting that the magnitude of change is exaggerated by the myth of an abstinent past (Cutright), or by directing attention to persistent (although declining) nonpermissive attitudes in the population at large (Alston and Tucker; Reiss, c). (A public opinion poll *Partial support for this research was provided by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation. Computer support was provided by the Indiana University Wrubel Computing Center. The authors wish to thank Ira L. Reiss, Martin S. Weinberg, and William Strahle for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.