SSRC Chronicles: April 2013
Announcements
Dr. Robert McMillen presented findings from the 2012 Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control at the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting on April 30, 2013. The meeting addressed modified risk tobacco products. MRTPs are tobacco products that are sold or distributed for use to reduce harm or the risk of tobacco related disease associated with commercially marketed tobacco products.
Survey Laboratory
The Survey Research Laboratory is administering the Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control in the Delta region of Mississippi. Results from this telephone-based survey will allow researchers to measure public opinion regarding the use and control of tobacco products. Survey respondents include a representative sample of 800 adults living in the Mississippi Delta. Funding for the project is provided by the Mississippi State Department of Health. The principal investigator is Dr. Robert McMillen, Research Fellow and Associate Research Professor at the SSRC. Dr. John F. Edwards, Coordinator of SSRC Laboratories, is overseeing the data collection.
Awards & Recognitions
Dr. Ronald Cossman has been promoted to Research Professor. He has been associated with the Social Science Research Center since 2001.
Dr. Kathleen Ragsdale has been promoted to Associate Research Professor at the Social Science Research Center.
Dr. Guangqing Chi has been promoted to Associate Professor of Sociology.
Dr. Laura R. Walton, APR has been promoted to Associate Professor of Communication.
Dr. Tonya Neeves has been promoted to Project Director at the Social Science Research Center.
Ms. Brittany Mack, an undergraduate research assistant to Dr. Colleen Sinclair, was a recipient of the OGS Summer Research Program for Under-represented Minority Students, which includes a summer grant and research stipend.
Mr. Andrew Finnegan, an undergraduate research assistant to Dr. Colleen Sinclair, won first place in the social sciences category at the Undergraduate Research Symposium this semester for his presentation “Self-interest rules: Assessing the persuasiveness of gay rights arguments from likely and unlikely sources.”
Ms. Amanda Pastuszak, a graduate research assistant working with Dr. Colleen Sinclair and Rahel Mathews, MPH, has accepted an offer to the combined Clinical and Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of South Alabama. Ms. Pastuszak is a second-year clinical psychology master’s student at MSU and will begin working with Dr. Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling at USA in the fall of 2013.
Ms. Kelli Conrad and Ms. Tracy Frazier of the Media Collaboration Laboratory were nominated for the 2013 Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s Student of the Year award. Ms. Conrad was announced the winner at the 2013 State Conference in Vicksburg on April 19, 2013. She received a $1,000 scholarship with this award.
The following students have been admitted to graduate programs:
- Mara Smith was accepted to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program at Auburn University.
- Tracy Frazier was accepted to the Marketing master’s program at the University of Alabama.
- Sean Peters was accepted to the Geosciences master’s program at Arizona State University.
- Tishawn Polk was accepted to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program here at Mississippi State University.
- Haley Elise Stewart was accepted to the Human Development and Family Studies master’s program at the University of Alabama.
- Brittney Williams was accepted to multiple programs but has yet to decide where to go.
Personnel
Mr. Bryan Farrell joined the Social Science Research Center as a graduate research assistant working in the Mississippi Public Safety Data Laboratory. He will assist in enhancing the Lab’s public user website for the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety.
Mr. Somya Mohanti, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Mississippi State University, has accepted a position as Assistant Research Professor at the Social Science Research Center. The position will begin with the completion of his doctorate degree, projected for summer 2013.
Publications & Reports
Cossman, R. E., Williams, R. D., Hunt, B. P., Fratesi, C. A., Slinkard, S. B., & Day, T. F. (2013). College students’ sense of cycling capability deters helmet use: Implications for safety helmet ordinances. American Journal of Health Sciences. 4(2):51-54.
McMillen, R., Winickoff, J., Wilson, K., Tanski, S., & Klein, J. (2013). A dual-frame methodology to address landline replacement in tobacco control research. Tobacco Control. Online First: DOI:10.1136/tobaccocontrol- 2012-05072.
Chi, G., & Marcouiller, D. W. Accepted. In-migration to remote rural regions: The relative impacts of natural amenities and land developability. Landscape and Urban Planning. [2011 SSCI IF: 2.173; 1/37 Urban Studies; 8/73 Geography; 14/89 Environmental Studies].
Presentations, Panels & Conferences
Chi, G. & Marcouiller, D. W. (2013, April). In-migration to remote rural regions: The relative impacts of natural amenities and land developability. Presented at the annual meeting of Population Association of America in New Orleans, LA.
Chi, G. (2013, April). The impacts of transport accessibility on population change across rural, suburban, and urban areas: A case study of Wisconsin at subcounty levels. Poster presented at the annual meeting of Population Association of America in New Orleans, LA.
Chi, G., & Boydstun, J. (2013, April). Gasoline price changes and residential relocation: Evidence from the American Housing Survey, 1996-2008. Presented at the annual meeting of University Transportation Centers Conference for the Southeastern Region in Orlando, FL.
Chi, G. (2013, April). The relative impact of highway and airport accessibility on population change. Presented at the annual meeting of University Transportation Centers Conference for the Southeastern Region in Orlando, FL.
Gardner, S. (2013, April). Still the tragic mulatto? Multiraciality in magazine media. Presented at Southern Sociological Society in Atlanta, GA.
McCluskey, D. L., Robertson, A. A., & Stovall, M., (2013, April). The use of evidence-based treatments in substance abuse treatment in Mississippi. Poster presented at the 6th Annual Mississippi School for Addiction Professionals in Hattiesburg, MS.
Robertson, A. A., & McCluskey D. L. (2013, April). Drug impaired driving: Offender reports of drugs used on the day of arrest. Poster presented at the 6th Annual Mississippi School for Addiction Professionals in Hattiesburg, MS.
Shackleford, S., McMillen, R., & Hart, R. (2013). Forging collaborations using administrative data and collaborative partnerships to support local and state smoke-free air initiatives. Paper accepted to the Annual Meeting of the Society for Public Health Education in Orlando, FL.
Cross, G. W. (2013, April). Distracted driving: An overview of relevant statistics, research, and proposed deterrents. Invited lecture for Dr. Guangqing Chi’s graduate level course on Transportation and Society at Mississippi State, MS.
Walton, L. R., Hall, S. K., & Frazier, T. E. (2013). Internships that ROCK!: Experiences from Both Sides of the Experience. Invited presentation at the Public Relations Association of Mississippi Annual Conference April 17-19, Vicksburg, MS.
The College of Education’s Faculty and Student Research Forum was held on April 12, 2013, in Starkville, MS. Dr. Ginger Cross represented the SSRC and handed out brochures, reports, and other information about research conducted at the SSRC to interested faculty as well as undergraduate and graduate students in attendance.
Ms. Rahel Mathews, Research Associate III and Research Fellow, attended the National Oral Health Conference from April 21-24, 2013, in Huntsville, AL. There she met with colleagues and esteemed leaders, including Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Howard Koh and leaders from the CDC, HRSA, and NIH.
Dr. Angela Robertson attended the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Inter-site Conference on April 16-18, 2013, in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Robert McMillen played a leading role in hosting the Mississippi Tobacco Control Conference at MSU’s Social Science Research Center’s CAVS Extension Center on April 25-26. Speakers from USM, MSU, Southern Research Group, the ACT Center, the QuitLine, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi participated.
Dr. Arthur G. Cosby, William L. Giles Distinguished Professor and Director of the SSRC, spoke at the University of Alabama on April 22, 2013, about the recently developed Social Media Tracking and Analysis System (SMTAS) and possible applications for social science research.
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