Current drug education policies in NCAA institutions: perceptions of head athletic trainers

This study compared the perceptions of head athletic trainers (HATS) from NCAA member Divisions I, II, and III regarding current athletic department drug education policies in their institutions. A Web-based questionnaire collected responses from 353 HATS. Drug education programs focused more on providing information about the negative consequences of drugs than changing the attitudes and behaviors of students in relation to drug use. More Division I and II schools offered comprehensive ATOD education programs to their athletes compared to Division III schools; however, the majority of these programs were not scheduled on a regular basis. HATS in all divisions reported that the abuse of alcohol and other drugs by student athletes during and after athletic and social events was a significant concern and indicated the importance of scheduling drug education programs closer to such events. Majority of HATS did not view participating in the drug education programs as part of their professional duties; however, they expressed an interest to increase their involvement in these activities.     

CORRUPTION,PRODUCT MARKET COMPETITION,AND INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE U.S. STATES

This article argues that the effect of corruption on competition is dependent on the institutional environment. When institutions are relatively efficient, observed corruption is likely to be associated with relatively less competition. Conversely, in areas with low quality institutions (e.g., excessively burdensome regulations), corruption may lead to relatively more competition. I employ unique data on competition, corruption, and institutional quality across U.S. states from 1997 to 2009 and report that a higher level of corruption is associated with relatively more competition in states with low levels of institutional quality. However, as institutional quality improves, the effect of corruption worsens. Thus, institutional quality is a fundamental determinant of the corruption‐competition relationship. Improving institutional quality, while at the same time reducing corruption, will increase competition and likely improve economic outcomes. (JEL D73, O17, L26)     

A test of the perceived norms model to explain drinking patterns among university student athletes

The author tested the ability of perceived drinking norms to discriminate among drinking patterns in a sample of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I student athletes. He used an anonymous questionnaire to assess 297 athletes, representing 18 teams, at a public university in the Midwest. Alcohol use patterns showed considerable variation, with many athletes (37.1%) abstaining during their season of competition. A discriminant function analysis revealed that higher levels of alcohol involvement are disproportionately found among athletes who began drinking regularly at an early age. Perceived drinking norms were less important in the discrimination of student athlete drinker groups. Women and those with higher grade point averages were somewhat more likely to refrain from in-season drinking than other survey respondents.     

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in collegiate American football players, by position

OBJECTIVE: The authors' purpose in this study was to determine overweight and obesity prevalence in a collegiate football team. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football players volunteered to participate. METHODS: The authors measured height, weight, and waist circumference (WC), and estimated body fat percentage (% BF) from bioelectrical impedance. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI), WC, and % BF were all positively correlated (p < .01), but BMI overestimated the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 50.6% of the cases. Fourteen players (16%) qualified as obese under all 3 methods. Offensive linemen had significantly higher % BF (p < .01) than most other positions, and on average this group exceeded the at-risk criteria for BMI (> 30 kg/m2), WC (> 102 cm), and % BF (> 25%). CONCLUSIONS: BMI alone is not a valid indicator of overweight and obesity in a strength-trained athletic population. However, some collegiate football players, especially linemen, meet multiple criteria for obesity.     

Europeanization of Research and the Role of Universities: An Organizational-Cultural Perspective

Europeanization of research is a process in which the dynamics of the European Framework Programme, of national research systems and local research organizations interfere. Unlike most studies on Europeanization that focus on Europe in relation to national research systems, this article explores the relationship between Europe and universities. The main question addressed by this article is why some universities have more researchers who are active and successful at the European level than others. Our hypothesis is that participation at EU level depends on the organizational cultural bias of university researchers. Following on studies of changes in the research system, the EU framework and institutional innovations of universities, we argue that researchers within universities who develop strong affinity with their own organization will be more successful at the European level. The organizational culture of a university is conceptualized as the aggregate of cultural repertoires and biases that university researchers have at hand to legitimate themselves. To map these biases, we analysed the perception of different processes of accountability. The hypothesis was tested by calculation of the correlation between these cultural biases and different indicators of 'European behaviour'. Data were from an international questionnaire on institutional innovation and Europeanization at universities, which was circulated in eight European countries.     

For better,for worse? Public support for the capitalist model of the economy

A capitalist market economy is based on several institutional elements, such as private ownership and competition. Does public support for this economic model rise if the economy prospers, and fall during a downturn? Or is public support largely independent of the ups and downs of economic cycles? We hypothesize that positive economic performance increases support and that persons profiting personally are more supportive of the economic system's constitutive institutional elements. Using multilevel regression we study the determinants of individual-level support for the economic system. We also test for differences in the perception of economic performance due to political attitudes and personal properties. The findings partly support the hypotheses, indicating that macro-economic factors matter for individual-level attitudes towards the economy. Attitudes towards different institutional elements of the economic system also differ in the degree to which they are political or economic, and influenced by economic performance. Individual features – education and personal economic stakes – affect attitudes towards the economy, but a substantial share of the individual-level variation in economic attitudes remains unexplained.     

Institutional crisis assessment and mission-driven response in practice: One religious-affiliated university’s response to the Catholic priest sexual abuse and cover up crisis

An institutional crisis occurs when individuals and organizations fail to perform the routines and roles that produce the collective interests and social order of the institution. The institution of the Catholic Church continues to endure a crisis of priest sexual abuse and those in positions of leadership covering up these incidents. The crisis reached another eruption point in 2018 when a Pennsylvania grand jury produced a report that documented these crimes. Any organization within the institution could proactively decide that it must respond to maintain its credibility, while also helping repair the reputation of the institution. A response to an institutional crisis should be driven by an organization’s assessment of events as well as its mission, values, and sense of responsibility to its stakeholders. The response should also use the unique skill and resource capabilities of the organization. This case study focuses on the response of one religious-affiliated university that was prompted by the Pennsylvania grand jury report. The appeal of studying a religious-affiliated university is that it serves dual missions: that as part of the larger religious institution and that of a higher education institution. In response to this institutional crisis, the university has a focus on victims’ concerns from the religious mission perspective and is using its capabilities of amassing and disseminating knowledge from the higher education mission perspective.     

Predicting Gambling Problems from Gambling Outcome Expectancies in College Student-Athletes

While previous research has suggested the potential importance of gambling outcome expectancies in determining gambling behaviour among adolescents, the predictive ability of gambling outcome expectancies has not yet been clearly delineated for college-aged youth. The current study aims to explore the relationships between gender and outcome expectancies in the prediction of gambling severity among college student-athletes. Data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) study assessing gambling behaviours and problems among U.S. college student-athletes were utilized. Complete data was available for 7,517 student-athletes. As expected, male college student-athletes reported more gambling participation as well as greater gambling problems than their female counterparts. Findings showed positive relationships between the outcome expectancies of financial gain, and negative emotional impacts and gambling problems. That is, those who endorsed more items on the outcome expectancy scales for financial gain and negative emotional impacts also tended to endorse more gambling-related problems. Findings also showed a negative relationship between outcome expectancies of fun and enjoyment, and gambling problems over and above the variance accounted for by gender. Those with gambling problems were less likely to have the expectation that gambling would be fun than those without gambling problems. Despite NCAA efforts to curb gambling activity, the results suggest that college student-athletes are at risk for over-involvement in gambling. Therefore, it is important to explore gambling outcome expectancies within this group since the motivations and reasons for gambling might be able to inform treatment initiatives.     

Academic Hiring Networks and Institutional Prestige: A Case Study of Canadian Sociology

This article examines the academic job market for Canadian sociology through its PhD exchange network. Using an original data set of employed faculty members in 2015 (N = 1,157), I map the hiring relationships between institutions and analyze the observed network structure. My findings show that institutional prestige is a likely organizing force within this network, reflective of a disproportionate number of faculty coming from a few centralized high‐status institutions, as well as predominantly downward flows in hiring patterns. However, further investigation is needed to understand the role of prestige in Canadian higher education, which has been previously characterized as having a flat social structure. This requires attention toward the interrelationships between institutional prestige, scholarly competence, and department size situated within a segmented academic field in Canada. Overall, this study aims to encourage collective self‐reflection and motivate discourse about status‐based inequalities in our own discipline.     

PERFORMING THE VISUAL NORTH

During the last decade, the phrase ‘visual culture’ has come to identify a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to the visual in everyday life. While analytic perspectives may come from gender, race or media theory, political economy, psychoanalysis, and so forth, there is an apparent agreement about the critical relation the visual has to subjectivity and social organization. The travelling of critical and cultural theory across disciplinary boundaries has given ‘visual culture’ an institutional form through new degrees, programmes, cross-faculty appointments, courses, introductory textbooks, and research publications. This paper comments on the intellectual history of ‘visual culture’, identifies cultural aspects of visual performance that have been understated in recent formulations of visual culture and visual studies, and argues that the current institutional form of visual culture research has contributed to the disappearance of cultural and anthropological approaches within visual culture. The paper is developed in relation to a case study involving popular photography as a cultural performance of the Canadian north, and considers the contribution of performance to visual culture.     

Beyond High School

Abstract

This study examined interpersonal heterosexist discrimination by examining self-reported anti-gay behaviors of heterosexual college students. Respondents were 226 college students; 94.9% had perpetrated some form of discriminatory behavior and 32.7% had committed a behavior that was rated as moderately harmful or higher. A higher amount of self-reported discriminatory behavior was associated with being male, having more homophobic attitudes, and having lower GPAs. Discriminatory behaviors were not related to political ideology, religious influence, or interaction with gay men and lesbians. Neither discriminatory behaviors nor homophobic attitudes were related to academic year, age, membership in a social fraternity/sorority, or membership on an intercollegiate athletic team.     

The institutional structure of immigration as a determinant of inter-racial competition: a comparison of Britain and Canada

This study attempts to explain differences between Britain and Canada in the reception given to immigrant racial minorities in the post-war years. It is suggested that among the factors relevant to this explanation, importance should be attributed to cross-national differences in the institutional structure of immigration itself. Supporting comparative evidence comes from published research, public opinion polls, newspaper records, parliamentary debates, and the legislative records. The institutional structure of immigration differed between Britain and Canada in ways that appear to have affected race relations. These institutions, imbedded in national and international economic and political structures, reflect the interests and viewpoints of groups located within those structures. In this context, structural change can directly affect the sense of inter-racial competition within immigration institutions, with implications for race relations. This study provides two contrasting cases illustrating these processes.     

Institutionalizing the Network Form: How Life Scientists Legitimate Work in the Biotechnology Industry

This study combines insights from economic sociology on recent structural changes in the knowledge economy with neoinstitutionalist analyses of cultural change in organizations. Because a network form of organization relies on interorganizational ties, new models of legitimacy emerge alongside of old ones, rather than replacing them, so that seemingly contradictory institutions coexist in the network form. This article explores how life scientists legitimate working in the biotechnology industry—a new option that nevertheless fails to delegitimate the old academic path. The data are based on qualitative observations of a young biotechnology firm. These are supplemented by observations at a university laboratory and interviews with 41 life scientists.     

Universities as peculiar organizations

We integrate contemporary sociological scholarship on higher education to appraise universities as peculiar organizations, on three dimensions. Universities are positionally central to the institutional order of modern societies, providing working links between state, market, civil society, and private‐sphere organizations. Universities are polysemic, embodying civic, economic, and sacred meanings simultaneously. And universities are quasi‐sovereign, enjoying a substantial margin of jurisdiction over their own boundaries and internal affairs. These insights are harmonious with classic insights on the character of academic organization and offer concise dimensions for observing variation in higher education systems across space and time.     

A Strategic Engagement Framework for Nonprofits

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of research data collected over three years at a nonprofit public higher education institution and its community, along with a review of relevant literature, revealed the need for a new framework to guide economic and social value creation by utilizing the social capital held by nonprofit institutions. The study integrated research outcomes from the areas of social capital and institutional–stakeholder engagement to generate the new concept of strategic engagement management and a proposed Strategic Engagement Framework. This framework should help nonprofit organizations deploy their social capital for institutional and societal benefit by facilitating institutional–stakeholder collaboration. The study also tested the utility of implementing one component of the proposed framework: a structure for mapping, maintaining, and evaluating a portfolio of institutional engagement activities.     

How to Establish a Study Association: Isomorphic Pressures on New CSOs Entering a Neo-Corporative Adult Education Field in Sweden

This article aims to increase understanding of how the institutional model of a (neo) corporative state meets new forms in a changing civil society. This objective is accomplished by analyzing two case studies of Swedish organizations entering into the field of government-subsidized popular education: one youth organization and one Muslim organization. The institutionalist concepts isomorphism, isopraxism, isonymism, packaging and translation are used to analyze these. Empirically the article is based on qualitative analysis of interviews, observations and written documents. It is concluded that the translation of popular education as an organizational concept in these cases is characterized by coercive and mimetic isomorphism, isopraxism and isonymism to an extent that hinders development in the popular education field. There are also examples of emerging packaging changing the relationship between state and civil society. That issue, however, requires further qualitative research, as does the influence of corporatism on civil society organization in general.     

农村村级集体经济组织产权制度改革的地方实践与对策研究

推进村级集体经济组织的产权制度改革是维护农民合法权益的制度创新,是新形势下增加农民收入的重要途径,也是适应城市化发展的现实需要。本文通过对上海、北京、浙江、广东、湖北、江苏等省市的实践总结和比较分析,系统地梳理我国推进农村村级集体经济组织产权制度改革的主要瓶颈和对策建议,以资引起各界对这一＂热点＂与＂难点＂问题的关注和重视。     

Gambling Behavior of Student-Athletes and a Student Cohort: What are the Odds?

This study investigated the prevalence of gambling, gambling related NCAA violations, and disordered gambling in student-athletes (n = 736) with a comparison cohort of students (n = 1,071) at four universities. Student-athletes reported similar rates of gambling frequency, use of a bookmaker, and disordered gambling as students. After accounting for demographic differences, student-athletes were less likely to engage in sports wagering than students. Several risk factors for disordered gambling were identified, including being male and reporting at least one parent with a history of gambling problems. These findings suggest that problems associated with gambling are a university-wide issue with student-athletes meriting additional attention because of implications for the integrity of intercollegiate sports. Improved prevention and intervention efforts for collegiate gambling are recommended.     

MARCH MADNESS? UNDERREACTION TO HOT AND COLD HANDS IN NCAA BASKETBALL

The hot hand bias is the widely documented bias toward overestimation of positive serial correlation in sequential events. We test for the hot hand bias in a novel real‐world context, the seeding of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament teams. That is, we examine whether teams that perform relatively well heading into “March Madness” are seeded too high, and/or teams with poor recent performance are seeded too low. The seeds are determined by a 10‐member committee that only has implicit incentives, but these incentives are still substantial as the committee's decisions are highly scrutinized by the media, fans, and other stakeholders. We find that, contra the hot hand bias, the committee underreacts to signals of momentum heading into the NCAA tournament. Various results indicate this behavior can be attributed to both: (1) inattention to relatively detailed information indicating momentum; and (2) under‐appreciation of the predictive value of this information. Betting markets incorporate this information efficiently, but neglect some additional information that is predictive of winning NCAA tournament games but not of beating the spread. We note that the NCAA tournament has been highly popular and lucrative partly due to the “madness” (high frequency of wins by lower‐seeded teams), which the bias we document contributes to, making the persistence of bias less surprising. (JEL D83, L83)     

Communitas/Corporatas Tensions in Organizational Rhetoric: Finding a Balance in Sports Public Relations

Sports public relations always serves two masters—both corporatas and communitas. In this article, a close textual analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) Stay in Bounds community relations program reveals that the NCAA is both a defender of amateur, communitas values, and a participant in professionalized, corporatas organizational rhetoric. This article offers a typology of the specific competing commitments of communitas and corporatas in sports rhetoric and argues that all sports rhetoric, from little league to big league, must negotiate with publics a balance between these extremes.