An Examination of the Experiences of Black Football Athletes

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Black college athletes that played football and graduated from a Division I Power 5 institution. It is well documented that Black football players graduate from Power 5 institutions lower rates than any other student or athlete group, due to a variety of obstacles they face on campus. Despite these obstacles, there are athletes in this group who do graduate from their institution and successfully transition into professional careers. The research conducted for this article is adapted from a dissertation that explores the campus environment that Black college football players must navigate. This article focuses on the impact the social support network has, helping these athletes maneuver through their organizational environment and prepare for life after athletics. Understanding the possible influences of a support network can be a critical strategy for the survival of this group of athletes

Between the classroom and the field: An examination of the experiences of black male football student-athletes

This study is concerned with the fact that numerous Black student-athletes that play football at Division 1 predominantly White institutions (PWIs) are graduating at the lowest rates of all student and student-athlete groups on college campuses nationwide. An intercollegiate athletics system acts as the commercial arm of the university and is designed to ensure the sustainability and viability of football by creating contradictory athletic and academic pressures that the student-athletes must navigate. Despite the intentional obstacles that Black student athletes encounter, there are many that do graduate from their institution and transition into a professional career. Therefore, the guiding research question was: How did Black male football student-athletes manage to graduate while being part of a Division 1 team at a research-intensive institution? Purposeful sampling was used to select participants who met the criteria defined by the researcher. This study utilized a qualitative case study method to examine the experiences of the selected participants. Primary data were collected through interviews from five Black football players and seven current and former university faculty and staff members. Secondary data were collected from participant questionnaires and cross-referenced with media guides and player profiles. The study revealed three central findings. First, the data disproved the common notion that Black football student-athletes are from inner city, poor socioeconomic backgrounds and attended failing high schools that did not adequately prepare them for college. Second, the participants in this study navigated contradictory athletic and academic pressures when they utilized their strong social support network of people who provided advice, guidance, and a safe space to process feelings. The function of the support was to strengthen their motivation to graduate. Last, the organizational system which these student-athletes had to navigate, influenced all facets of their lives and dictated the degree programs they pursued. The student-athletes that managed to graduate from the institution did so from a degree program that was accommodating to their football related schedules. Implications and suggestions from the author for future research are also discussed

A Weakly Nonlinear Analysis of Impulsively-Forced Faraday Waves

Parametrically-excited surface waves, forced by a periodic sequence of delta-function impulses, are considered within the framework of the Zhang-Vi\~nals model (J. Fluid Mech. 1997). The exact impulsive-forcing results, in the linear and weakly nonlinear regimes, are compared with numerical results for sinusoidal and multifrequency forcing. We find surprisingly good agreement between impulsive forcing results and those obtained using a two-term truncated Fourier series representation of the impulsive forcing function. As noted previously by Bechhoefer and Johnson (Am. J. Phys. 1996), in the case of two equally-spaced impulses per period there are only subharmonic modes of instability. The familiar situation of alternating subharmonic and harmonic resonance tongues emerges for unequally-spaced impulses. We extend the linear analysis for two impulses per period to the weakly nonlinear regime for one-dimensional waves. Specifically, we derive an analytic expression for the cubic Landau coefficient in the bifurcation equation as a function of the dimensionless fluid parameters and spacing between the two impulses. As the capillary parameter is varied, one finds a parameter region of wave amplitude suppression, which is due to a familiar 1:2 spatio-temporal resonance between the subharmonic mode of instability and a damped harmonic mode. This resonance occurs for impulsive forcing even when harmonic resonance tongues are absent from the neutral stability curve. The strength of this resonance feature can be tuned by varying the spacing between the impulses. This finding is interpreted in terms of a recent symmetry-based analysis of multifrequency forced Faraday waves by Porter, Topaz and Silber (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2004, Phys. Rev. E 2004).Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review

NCAA Division I Athlete STEM Graduates: Stereotypes, Microaggressions, Race, and Gender

The purpose of this study was to explore how NCAA Division I athlete STEM graduates viewed their undergraduate experiences with members of the campus community such as academic advisors, other athletes, faculty, nonathlete students, and coaches. Using several interpretive frameworks, this study found that stereotypical assumptions, whether positive or negative, were conditional upon the athlete’s gender. Moreover, male athletes reported feeling a level of acceptance from campus members, although this same experience was eventually interpreted as token or conditional acceptance, largely because they were subjected to salient athlete microaggressions and considered exceptional but not entirely accepted by the academic community. The study also discovered that athletes who pursued degrees in STEM fields engaged in in-group stereotyping of other athletes, and some were aware of the social significance of race and intersectional identities in shaping the quality of their college experiences. These findings have implications for faculty, student affairs professionals, and others who frequently interact with college athletes and are committed to creating more equitable educational environments

Broken symmetries and pattern formation in two-frequency forced Faraday waves

We exploit the presence of approximate (broken) symmetries to obtain general scaling laws governing the process of pattern formation in weakly damped Faraday waves. Specifically, we consider a two-frequency forcing function and trace the effects of time translation, time reversal and Hamiltonian structure for three illustrative examples: hexagons, two-mode superlattices, and two-mode rhomboids. By means of explicit parameter symmetries, we show how the size of various three-wave resonant interactions depends on the frequency ratio m:n and on the relative temporal phase of the two driving terms. These symmetry-based predictions are verified for numerically calculated coefficients, and help explain the results of recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

The Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System: An Infrastructure for Communications and Data Management for Real-Time Environmental Monitoring

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Koinonia

The ProfessionFaculty and Student Development Staff as Partners in Education, Barry Loy Is it Okay to Struggle as Student Development Professionals?, Terry Williams Conference SpotlightLeading Ladies: Transformative Biblical Images for Women\u27s Leadership, Jeanne Porter Mi Abuelito, Tom Neven Campus EventsQuestions Without Answers, JR Kerr Book ReviewsLet Your Life Speak, reviewed by Dana Forbes Mountains and Passes, reviewed by Jeff Doyle FeaturesThe President\u27s Corner Editor\u27s Diskhttps://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_koinonia/1009/thumbnail.jp

Stressed Fracture: The Relationship Between Coping Strategies and Workload in Secondary School Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The work environment for an athletic trainer (AT) working in a secondary school is typified by heavy workloads and job-related stress. Occupational stress can have negative effects on productivity, absenteeism, employee turnover, and quality of life. Research suggests that personal and situational factors can influence the coping process adopted by an individual. The approach-avoidance framework suggests that people cope with a stressor by either attempting to reduce it or removing oneself from that stressor. Previous research on other healthcare professionals suggested that use of avoidance coping was correlated with higher levels of job stress and those who perceived greater social support possessed lower work-related stress. However, the relationship between coping strategies and perceived social support has not been examined in ATs. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among coping strategies, perceived social support, and workload in secondary school ATs. Method: This was a cross-sectional study completed via an online survey. Three hundred, ninety-two (392) secondary school athletic trainers (35.7 ± 11.1 years old) from all NATA districts responded to the survey. Outcomes included the Brief COPE, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and average hours worked. Results: The average workload reported was 44.10 ± 12.96 hours a week over the school year (i.e., fall and spring). The regression model showed that avoidant coping (B=0.34, 95% CI=0.12, 0.56, p=.005) was directly associated with the average number of hours worked (adjusted R2=.07). Approach coping (B=-0.28, 95% CI=-0.43, -0.12, p=.007) was indirectly associated with the average numbers of hours worked. However, perceived social support did not display a significant association with any variable of interest. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a relationship between average workload and coping strategies adopted by secondary school ATs may exist. Increased workloads were related to increases in avoidance coping strategies. Further research in this area is needed to determine how coping strategies affect patient care