<p> Hypertension is a serious medical condition. Although men and women of all racial groups in the US suffer from high blood pressure, black women have the highest rates of hypertension. For instance, the age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension among black women ages 20 and over is 44.3, compared to 28.1 among white women, 40.5 among black men, and 31.1 among white men.</p><p> Past research has focused on SES and behavioral factors as potential explanations for blood pressure disparities between black and white women. But, even after controlling for such factors, considerable disparities remain. The goal of this research is to examine cultural and social factors that have been shown to increase blood pressure. Specifically, I examine social support, psychosocial characteristics, and contextual factors associated with race/ethnicity and hypertension, in hopes of explaining some of the disparities in high blood pressure between black and white women.</p><p> Using data from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I estimated a sequence of multinomial logistic regression models predicting prehypertension and hypertension in young adulthood. Cross-sectional models show that racial disparities in hypertension remain after controlling for social support, psychosocial characteristics, and contextual factors. In fact, the only covariate that substantially reduced the racial disparity in hypertension was body mass index (BMI), a fairly reliable measure of body fatness for most people. I also estimated a set of multinomial logistic regression models predicting odds of prehypertension and hypertension by adolescent and cumulative social support, as well as psychosocial, contextual, and behavioral factors. These models were included to determine if early life and/or cumulative factors and conditions would help explain racial blood pressure disparities not explained by adulthood factors. Findings show that none of the early life or cumulative social support, psychosocial, contextual, or behavioral factors helped to explain racial differences in prehypertension or hypertension. Even after controlling for these factors, black women are still 1.18 times more likely than white women to have prehypertension and over two times more likely to suffer hypertension.</p><p> Indeed, my findings indicate that, of the factors included in all these models, only race, age, and BMI were significant predictors of blood pressure. Also, BMI was the only factor to explain some of the disparities between black and white women. These results are similar to other studies that have examined racial health disparities, suggesting that simply being a black woman in US society may be unhealthy. The health effects of racism, discrimination, and other sources of stress faced disproportionately by black women are not easily measured by social science research, which is possibly why racial disparities in blood pressure have yet to be explained. Future research should also explore possible epigenetic effects introduced by the health conditions experienced by previous generations, as well as the influence of prenatal and early life environments.</p>

<p> How has political comedy on television in the United States changed over time? Earlier examples of political comedy on television were shows like <i> Saturday Night Live</i> and various late night talk shows, which focused primarily on political or personal scandals or personal characteristics, rather than policies or substantive issues. In other arenas of television and the public sphere in general, there was serious criticism of scandals, but not in political comedy. Shows that attempted to criticize politicians or serious public issues using satire, irony, or invective such as <i>The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,</i> were routinely censored by network executives. With the advent of cable, and the failures of traditional mainstream journalism after 9/11, a change occurred. <i>The Daily Show</i> with Jon Stewart almost immediately adopted a critical stance on the Bush administration that was widely discussed in "serious" public sphere outlets such as CNN, the <i> New York Times</i> and the <i>Washington Post.</i> This form of "critical comedy" has proved popular. This project examines commentary about such programs in the journalistic sphere from each presidential election cycle from 1980-2008. This includes data from newspapers as well as television news sources. Additionally, I conduct content analysis of sets of <i> Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report,</i> and <i> The Daily Show</i> from each time period, if the show was being produced. I show that political comedy is increasingly influential in public sphere discussions of presidential politics.</p>

<p> In recent decades skateboarding has expanded from recreation into a form of transportation. Skateboarders appear to use roadways much as other non&ndash;motorized modes do. However, there is little academic research on the needs and characteristics of the skateboard as a mode. This research reports demographics, multi&ndash;modal and travel behavior findings, and other data from an exploratory mixed&ndash;methods study of skateboarding as a mode of transportation.</p>

<p> U.S. citizens disengaged from politics and from each other in the latter half of the 20th century, which is evidence of decreased social capital and a weakening democracy. At the same time, small farms were lost at an alarming rate resulting in fewer farms and the rise of "Big Ag". Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) reconnects people to the food they eat and cultivates a community among the farmers and member-shareholders. CSA democratizes food for growers who are beholden to their members rather than to agribusiness, and for members who elect to support a CSA rather than purchase supermarket foods of unknown origin. This study used a survey of 132 CSA operators from across the United States to test whether operators who described "community" as a motivating factor to run a CSA and measured their success in terms of community took concrete actions to build social capital within their CSA and community. The findings revealed that "community" as a motivation and as a measure of success was significantly correlated with social capital building activities. More specifically, CSA operators who rated "Generating a sense of community" as an important motivation and "Community development/quality of life" as an important measure of success were more likely to survey their members as to their wants and needs, host open house events at the farm, participate in community events, and report that the CSA improved social capital in their communities. CSA could be one method to improve depleted social capital and cultivate food democracy.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of distributed leadership at the University of ABC's SCPS, as the School worked to transform itself through reorganization. The study examined the perceptions of key leaders and members of the implementation team as they sought to understand the implementation of a more participative approach to change within the School. The primary question guiding this study was "What is the nature of leadership within a participative change effort in a higher education setting as perceived by active participants in the effort? The secondary question was "What is the nature of power sharing within this change effort?"</p><p> This descriptive case study investigated distributed leadership at the University of ABC School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) by exploring the perceptions of leaders and the implementation team as they underwent a leadership paradigm shift that required a more participative approach. The study also explored how these academic leaders adapted to sharing power in this new change effort by examining the perceptions of change for administrative and faculty leaders as they sought to make sense of the launching of a more participative approach to change efforts.</p><p> The findings from this study identified ten ways in which SCPS practiced leadership: (1) A participative approach to change influenced synergy. (2) Leader participation greatly influenced collaboration. (3) Leaders' actions created a shared sense of responsibility. (4) Change in structure influenced leader, follower behavior, and organizational culture. (5) The creation of a safe environment influenced employee conversations. (6) Engaged leaders and followers influenced decision-making. (7) Leader involvement improved efficacy of decisions. (8) The situation (tools, routines, structures) enabled leader action on process improvement. (9) A shared belief in the schools training mission influenced the mitigation of resistance and intransigence. and, (10) A focus on strategy supported collective action.</p><p> This descriptive study has drawn conclusions that begin to fill the gap in understanding the nature of leadership within a participative change effort in a higher education setting as perceived by active participants in the effort. It was discovered that a participative approach to change plays an important role in leadership practice and the interactions of leaders, followers, and their situation. The tools, routines, structures, and other aspects of the situation mediated leaders' and followers' interactions, and allowed leadership practice to move to the forefront. Finally, the study concluded that a distributed perspective, when used as a design tool for School leaders, could inform future design decisions and that strategic decision making must be ongoing when designing leadership practice. The conclusions of the study prompt questions that can be resolved by further study.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 3173. Adviser: Adele E. Clarke.

TBD / Sociology

This ethnography is based on 48 months of detailed participation, interviews, and observation with active gymgoers at three middle-class gyms in Chicago. It is a study of a particular social institution that, despite its explosion onto the mainstream cultural scene, has surprisingly eluded social-scientific inquiry. Demographically, the group that has been most caught up in the fitness movement are young, single, college-educated Americans living in large city centers. As a study of a particular social world, this research will examine the localized social world of the gym and its young male members, focusing on how their interactions get patterned into negotiated order. I focus on problems of motives, the role of language in an embodied world, the role of belief systems and forms of knowledge, and the function of rules and rituals in the making and maintenance of social order. I find that gymgoers, driven by a shared goal to become physically stronger and leaner, co-construct new selves and new forms of reality. Just as gymgoers attempt to transform their bodies so too do they craft new new ways of feeling, new presentations of self, new ideas, and new interaction rituals that are sui generis and irreducible to social background variables. / Sociology

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.