Engaging a New Generation of Philanthropists: Findings from the Pay IT Forward Student Philanthropy Initiative

This report focuses on an emerging trend in higher education called student philanthropy, an experiential learning approach where students study social issues in the community and make decisions about distributing funds to nonprofit organizations. Previous research in the field of student philanthropy has revealed promising results: those enrolled in student philanthropy courses have shown a greater awareness of social problems and nonprofits, a heightened sense of responsibility to help others in need, and a greater likelihood to give their time and money in the future to support their community. However, little is known about the ways previous philanthropy experiences of students and components of student philanthropy courses may explain these outcomes.This report examines students enrolled in student philanthropy courses through Pay it Forward, an initiative of the Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio Campus Compacts that seeks to develop a new generation of philanthropists through infusing the practice of philanthropy as a core component of college coursework. This report asks three key questions about the Pay it Forward course:What are the prior philanthropic experiences of Pay it Forward participants?What features of a Pay it Forward course predict student confidence in their philanthropic skills, abilities, and knowledge?What aspects of a Pay it Forward course predict changes in students' plans to donate money to, volunteer in, and otherwise support their communities

Attitudes Towards Antidepressant Medications Among Neuroscience Students

Stigma is a common reason many individuals do not seek out and adhere to treatment for mental health concerns, such as depression. Untreated mental illness can negatively impact an individual’s function, mood, and in extreme causes can lead to suicide, thus it is imperative to find ways to reduce stigma. To date most interventions are targeted to reduce stigma towards individuals with mental illness, while few target stigma towards treatment of mental illness. The present study expands upon previous research on the utility of education in destigmatizing antidepressants. 257 undergraduate students enrolled in Introduction to Neuroscience completed a retrospective pre-post questionnaire to assess knowledge and level of stigma towards antidepressants. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed that from the beginning to the end of the course, students were significantly less likely to believe that antidepressants are addictive substances (p < 0.05), unnatural for the body and mind (p < 0.05), more bad than good (p < 0.05), and prescribed too frequently (p < 0.05). An additional exploratory analysis using a mixed model ANOVA was performed to examine differences between students interested in pursuing a healthcare career relative to students uninterested in healthcare. From beginning to the end of the course content, including topics such as mental illness, serotonin systems, and reuptake inhibition, students showed significant reduction of stigma. This suggests that education of the neurobiological basis of mental illness should be considered for future education-based interventions to minimize stigma towards medicative treatments of mental illness.Bachelor of Scienc

Self-administration of fentanyl, cocaine and ketamine: effects on the pituitary–adrenal axis in rhesus monkeys

Drugs of abuse can affect the functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Acute administration of drugs that serve as reinforcers have been observed to stimulate the rat HPA axis, leading to the suggestion that these stimulatory effects may contribute to the development of drug-maintained behaviors.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46362/1/213_2004_Article_1891.pd

Enhancement of granulocyte-endothelial cell adherence and granulocyte-induced cytotoxicity by platelet release products

Complement-stimulated granulocytes adhere to and induce significant 51Cr release from endothelial cells in vitro. Platelets were stimulated to undergo release, and these release products significantly enhanced granulocyte-endothelial cell adherence and granulocyte-induced 51Cr release from endothelial cells. Platelet serotonin appeared to mediate these phenomena because serotonin antagonists blocked both the enhanced endothelial adherence and 51Cr release. In addition, added serotonin mimicked the effect seen with the stimulated platelets upon granulocyte--endothelial cell adherence and cytotoxicity completely. This enhancement appeared to be due to serotonin effects upon both the granulocyte and endothelial cells. These data suggest that a released platelet constituent might modulate in vivo granulocyte-endothelial cell interactions in clinical disorders.status: publishe