Integrated Academic Student Support Services at Loyola University: The Library as a Resource Clearinghouse

Higher education has seen the emergence of new models of student support services. These models vary greatly, ranging from those that, for example, simply streamline the registration process, to others that base new building construction on studies done about the information and service access needs of students. In the recent past, colleges and universities have felt the impact of significantly higher drop out rates among freshman, and they have made attempts to assuage these rising attrition rates. Through extensive study of college campus culture and student needs, many institutions are changing long-standing protocols and adding a technology rich, user friendly environment in an effort to minimize the freshman drop out rate. Loyola University New Orleans, like most institutions, is actively pursuing ways to bolster its student retention. Statistics show, of the freshmen that enrolled in four-year colleges in the United States in the fall of 1996, 26.4% did not return the following fall. Although Loyola\u27s attrition rate for the 1998-1999 school year was 16.35%, far better than the average, retention remains one of the University\u27s major endeavors. In an effort to better serve students, each year Loyola conducts the Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI). The SSI gathers student opinions concerning academics, campus life, and support services. Using the survey results, a retention task force implemented by the administration discovered that overall students were unaware of the various support services available on campus such as Writing Across the Curriculum, disability services, tutoring, and career counseling. Other institutions have witnessed similar situations. A task group focused on improving retention at Ivy Tech State College found that the facilities for support services units and the staffing levels for those units were, indeed, appropriate, but students, overall, were unaware of their existence. In response to student opinions at Loyola, the President of the University suggested that an existing lab located within the Library could be redesigned to serve as a resource clearinghouse—to represent all of the different academic support services on campus. Since the University’s administration sees student retention as a natural by-product of student success, seeing to it that all of Loyola’s students have access to support services is an important step towards ensuring that each student is successful. We are working under the assumption that that if students are aware of the various support services on campus, use will “naturally” increase. Then, with increased use, we would expect to see an increase in our student\u27s success rate. It is felt that if we can increase student success, then in turn retention rates should increase, too

Phytonutrient Intake and Body Composition Color Correlations

This study evaluated the role of phytonutrient intake on body composition. Both the quantity and types of phytonutrients in diets were analyzed. Fifty (50) subjects (15 males; 35 females) from Thibodaux, Louisiana, were randomly selected to participate. All participants completed three 24-hour food recalls to gather intake data (food and calorie intake). The phytonutrient index (PI) was an established formula used to calculate the percentage (%) of the diet comprised of phytonutrient rich foods. Three different body assessment tools were used to determine body adiposity (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, and fat percentage). Participants who met healthy standards for BMI, waist circumference, and fat percentage all averaged much higher PI scores compared to those who were classified as obese/overweight. The data showed a strong inverse relationship between PI and BMI (r = -0.753, p = 0.00), waist circumference (r = -0.730, p = 0.00), and body fat percentage (r = -0.701, p = 0.00). Each participant was administered a food frequency questionnaire to assess the intakes of the specific phytonutrients based on color identity (green colored plants are chlorophyll-rich; reddish-purple foods are anthocyanin-rich; and orange-yellowish foods are carotenoid rich). Individuals with higher weekly intakes of chlorophyll, carotenoid, and anthocyanin rich foods had better body composition in comparison to those who consumed less (p\u3c0.05). These results suggest a strong correlation between higher phytonutrient intake and improved body composition, regardless of the type of phytonutrients consumed. Overall diet quality seems to make the most difference, but the phytonutrients in fruits/vegetables are thought to be a key reason for those benefits

Evaluating Citizen Adoption and Satisfaction of E-government in Mississippi

Governments at all levels are faced with the challenge of transformation and the need to reinvent government systems in order to deliver efficient and cost effective services, information, and knowledge through information and communication technologies. Electronic government, or e-government, is defined as a way for governments to use the most innovative information and communication technologies, particularly web-based Internet applications, to provide citizens and businesses with more convenient access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services, and to provide greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes. E-government presents a tremendous impetus to move forward in the 21st century with higher quality, cost-effective, government services, and a better relationship between citizens and government. Notwithstanding the tremendous potential of e-government applications to deliver public sector services more efficiently and effectively, the citizenry must adopt and continually leverage these virtual offerings, such as renewing a driver’s license, for measurable value to be gained. In the process of designing and developing Web-based services which offer citizens both appropriate information and worthwhile services that are more convenient than traditional government transactions, public sector agencies must thoroughly recognize the elements that impact citizen adoption of and satisfaction with e-government. This research considers theoretical foundations from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Web Trust Model (WTM), and SERVQUAL to form a parsimonious model of citizen adoption and satisfaction for e-government services. This theory-oriented framework unites three research areas by asserting that an amalgamation of factors – technology adoption, trust, and service quality – influence an individual’s adoption propensity and service quality perception. Significant findings suggest usefulness, or end-user convenience, to be the principal determinant of e-government adoption and satisfaction, unaffected even when controlling demographic variables such as race, income, and education are introduced. Additionally, future implications of this research are discussed

Is the responsibilization of the cyber security risk reasonable and judicious?

Cyber criminals appear to be plying their trade without much hindrance. Home computer users are particularly vulnerable to attack by an increasingly sophisticated and globally dispersed hacker group. The smartphone era has exacerbated the situation, offering hackers even more attack surfaces to exploit. It might not be entirely coincidental that cyber crime has mushroomed in parallel with governments pursuing a neoliberalist agenda. This agenda has a strong drive towards individualizing risk i.e. advising citizens how to take care of themselves, and then leaving them to face the consequences if they choose not to follow the advice. In effect, citizens are “responsibilized .” Whereas responsibilization is effective for some risks, the responsibilization of cyber security is, we believe, contributing to the global success of cyber attacks. There is, consequently, a case to be made for governments taking a more active role than the mere provision of advice, which is the case in many countries. We conclude with a concrete proposal for a risk regulation regime that would more effectively mitigate and ameliorate cyber risk

Planting rate effects on sugarcane yield trials

New varieties are provided to the Louisiana sugarcane industry by researchers at Louisiana State University AgCenter, the United States Department of Agriculture-ARS, and the American Sugar Cane League of the USA, Inc. Currently, Louisiana farmers plant sugarcane at rates ranging from two to five or more whole stalks. A two-stalk planting rate is used to plant all stages of the LSU AgCenter’s sugarcane variety development program. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of planting rate on sugarcane variety trial data and interpretation. A planting rate by variety experiment was conducted at the LSU AgCenter’s Sugar Research Station. A randomized complete block design was used for the experiment with three replications, eight clones, and three planting rates consisting of two, three, and four whole stalks. Increasing planting rate from two to four stalks significantly increased sugar yield by 11 to 15%. Cane yield and stalk population significantly increased when planting rate increased from two stalks to either three or four stalks in the 2001 plant cane crop. Stalk population and mean stalk weight were negatively correlated, thus the lower stalk populations tended to compensate with greater mean stalk weight. Theoretical recoverable sugar was not significantly different regardless of planting rate. As expected, clones differed for sugar yield and its components. Of utmost importance, the planting rate by clone interaction was not significant for any trait in any of the experiments. Thus, increasing the planting rate from two stalks to three or four stalks did not change sugarcane variety / clone ranking. A germination study was also conducted in the Fall of 2002. A randomized complete block design was used in this experiment, consisting of eight sugarcane clones replicated three times. The planting rate was two stalks planted at two locations at the Sugar Research Station. Sugarcane variety / clone germination was similar for both soil types. The Pearson correlation coefficients indicated taller stalks also had more buds per stalk than did shorter stalks. Mean stalk weight was greater for taller varieties. Mean stalk weight tended to increase as the number of buds increased on a stalk

Learning Communities: A Selective Overview of Academic Library Involvement

In 1932, Alexander Meiklejohn published a book that addressed the implementation of learning communities at the University of Wisconsin in 1927. The book, The Experimental College, serves as proof of the existence of such communities well over sixty years ago. It is clear that in the mid to late 1990s learning communities have piqued the curiosities of students and teaching faculty alike. Though they go by different names at various colleges and universities, and have somewhat different components, the common idea of learning communities is to have from two to four courses linked so that the courses have the same students in all classes. Such groupings not only promote greater interaction, but they also increase the coherence of what students are learning. In a 1990 book, Faith Gabelnick explains how learning communities purposefully restructure the curriculum to link together courses or course work so that students find greater coherence in what they are learning as well as increased intellectual interaction with faculty and fellow students. This article will investigate where academic libraries and academic library user instruction fits in this purposeful restructuring by focusing on the accomplishments of four distinct learning communities operating from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Southwestern University of Georgetown, Texas, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Washington at Seattle. While the literature of the library profession certainly is not teeming with articles primarily concerning learning communities, there are indications that academic library interest may strengthen in the coming years. In both the ERIC and Library Literature indexes an interesting term becomes readily apparent, that being the Freshman Year Experience. Rightly so, the Freshmen Year Experience is based largely around Copyright 1999, the author. Used by permission. residence halls, the place where many, if not all, freshman spend a good deal of time. These areas are being utilized to reinforce and enhance classroom learning because they are places with a high concentration of students. In effect, students who take part in the Freshman Year Experience will not only enroll in the same classes but will also live on the same floor of the residence hall. The 1994 book Realizing the Educational Potential of Residence Halls, edited by Charles Schroeder and Phyllis Mable, revealed that students in residence hall environments which were structured as learning communities had significantly higher levels of involvement in educational activities and interaction with faculty and peers. They also found that this involvement led to higher levels of educational achievement and persistence

Sugarcane growth, sucrose content, and yield response to the ripeners glyphosate and trinexapac-ethyl

Under Louisiana climatic conditions, production of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is limited to a maximum growth period of nine months. To increase sucrose concentration in the crop, ripener is applied prior to harvest. The chemical ripeners, glyphosate and trinexapac-ethyl were applied to the sugarcane cultivars HoCP 96-540, L 99-226, L 99-233, HoCP 00-950, and L 01-283 eight weeks prior to harvest. When glyphosate was applied at 210 g ae/ha, TRS for the cultivars was increased 10 to 28% compared with the nontreated. Increases in TRS with glyphosate were greatest for HoCP 96-540 and L 99-226 and least for HoCP 00-950 and L 01-283. Trinexapac-ethyl at 350 g ai/ha increased TRS for the cultivars 7 to 10% and increases were greatest for L 99-233 and least for HoCP 00-950. Sugarcane yield averaged across cultivars was reduced 9% with glyphosate and 7% for trinexapac-ethyl at 350 g/ha. An increase in sugar yield per hectare, a function of TRS and sugarcane yield, was observed only when glyphosate was applied to HoCP 96-540 (16% increase) and when trinexapac-ethyl at 300 g ai/ha was applied to L 01-283 (13% increase). In a second study where eight cultivars were harvested six weeks after glyphosate application, TRS for HoCP 96-540 was increased an average of 10% compared with the nontreated and sugarcane yield was decreased 17%; sugar yield was not affected. In another study, sugarcane yield, TRS, and sugar yield were not affected by nitrogen rates of 67, 112, and 157 kg/ha. Six weeks after application of glyphosate at 210 g/ha TRS averaged across N rates was 11% greater than the nontreated and 9% greater than when trinexapac-ethyl was applied at 350 g/ha. TRS following trinexapac-ethyl was equivalent to the nontreated. Sugarcane yield and sugar yield were not affected by ripener application. In a separate study TRS and sugar yield were not affected when glyphosate or trinexapac-ethyl was applied in 75 and 150 L/ha spray volume or when none or 0.25% v/v surfactant was added to the spray solution. Averaged across spray volume and surfactant treatments, TRS was as much as 8% greater for glyphosate compared with trinexapac-ethyl

Focus question effect on dynamic thinking in a concept map

A concept map is an educational tool designed to help identify, represent, and categorize relationships between different ideas relating to an overall concept. Relationships or transitions between the ideas are created by students and can either be static or dynamic. Static transitions help to describe, define, and organize knowledge for a given domain. Dynamic transitions show how a change in quantity, quality, or state in one concept causes change in quantity, quality, or state in the other concept. The focus question of the map directs student input of the concepts and ultimately determines what types of transitions are used. The study by Derbentseva et al. (2006) provides a framework for how to influence students to utilize dynamic thinking in a concept map by directing the focus question toward more analysis of a subject rather than simple description. By changing the wording of the focus question, this study examined the difference in the amount of dynamic transitions used by students to break down a concept. The study was run on two different populations in order to find a trend between the wording of the focus question and the number of dynamic transitions used. Gender, academic level, and methodology were also evaluated and shown to have no effect on the dynamic transitions in a concept map. Overall, when students were asked to answer a “How does…work?” question, they used more dynamic than static transitions to break down a concept. When students were simply presented with a “What is…?” question, their overall thinking proved to be more static in nature. An increase in dynamic thinking means a shift from a recall level of thinking towards a more conceptual level of thinking, which should lead to an increase in student academic gains

Extraversion-Introversion and the Sexual Behavior of College Students

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between extraversion-introversion and the sexual behavior of college students. Five predictions were proposed based on previous research which indicated the possibility of a relationship of the personality types of extraversion and introversion with some aspects of sexual behavior

SEM Analysis of Glue Behavior When Bonding Glass Structures with Complex Geometries

Bonding of glass has been studied for many years and is a mature technology today. However, the recent advances in bio-photonics and micro-fluidics, such as lab-on-a-chip devices, accentuate a need to provide reliable adhesion and sealing of components with extremely complex surface geometries. In many cases it is necessary to prevent the adhesives from leaking into microscopic channels, capillaries and holes. We present the Scanning Electron Microscopy study of adhesion of glass samples with complex surface features. Variety of adhesion conditions and procedures were tried and studied. The results demonstrate the possibility of controlled reliable adhesion and sealing without filling/obstructing the microstructures