Table Of ContentWelcome to the
rd
33 Annual Mid-Atlantic
Undergraduate Social
Research Conference
Friday, April 19, 2013
Hosted by Villanova University, Villanova, PA
Sponsored by the
Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
THANK YOU!
Brian Jones Robert DeFina
Professor Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
Peter Knapp Mariana Pardes
Professor Research Associate
Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
Thomas Arvanites Mary Ann Hostler & Sarah Spencer
Associate Professor Administrative Assistants
Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
We would also like to acknowledge the support and
contributions of the following individuals:
Jean Ann Linney
Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Villanova University
Karen Reardon
Assistant Professor, Management & Leadership Dept., School of Business, LaSalle University
MAUSRC student presenters and their faculty advisors
Panel Moderators: Thomas Arvanites, Bernard Gallagher, Lance Hannon, Conrad Kanagy, Rory
Kramer, Michele Lee Kozimor-King, Joseph McFalls, Allison Payne, Kelly Welch, Nicole Accurso,
Domenic Stinger
Vera Shaw
Undergraduate Student (Nursing) & Worker in the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
Nicole Accurso
Undergraduate Student (Criminal Justice) & Worker in the Dept. of Sociology & Criminal Justice
Student Volunteers: Shannon Browne, Christine Chan, Hayley Edwards, Cara Fitzgerald, Bridget Kiley,
Derick Lai, Shannon Megrue, Kristina Packman, Leigh Anne Patterson, Meghan Smith
Jonathan Graziola
Manager of IT Operations, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Elisa Wiley
IT & Website Coordinator, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
10:00am Registration (Connelly Cinema in Connelly Center)
11:00am Welcoming Remarks (Connelly Cinema in Connelly Center)
Jean Ann Linney, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Villanova University
11:15am Keynote Address (Connelly Cinema in Connelly Center)
Dr. Karen A. Reardon
Assistant Professor, Management & Leadership Department, School of Business,
LaSalle University
12:15pm Lunch (West Lounge of Dougherty Hall)
1:45-4:30pm Poster Presentations (Driscoll Hall - 2nd floor lobby near panel sessions)
1:45-3:00pm Panel Session I
Panel 1.1: Voluntary Associations Driscoll 244
Panel 1.2: Social Issues & Social Movements Driscoll 227
Panel 1.3: Personal Matters Driscoll 221
Panel 1.4: Social Lives Driscoll 246
Panel 1.5: Education in American Life Driscoll 248
3:15-4:30pm Panel Session II
Panel 2.1: Good Attitudes Driscoll 244
Panel 2.2: Politics Matter Driscoll 227
Panel 2.3: The Relevance of Religion Driscoll 221
Panel 2.4: Personal Well-Being Driscoll 246
Panel 2.5: Poverty in American Life Driscoll 248
Panel 2.6: Criminal Justice? Driscoll 223
WELCOME
Welcome to the 33rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Research Conference. Since the
first conference of twenty-three participants at Elizabethtown College in 1981, the Mid-Atlantic
Undergraduate Research Conference has provided an opportunity for undergraduates to present
the results of social research. The presentation and exposure to social research in several social
science disciplines has given students an opportunity to showcase and strengthen their analytical,
scholarly, and public speaking skills.
Villanova University is very pleased and grateful to be able to host the conference this year.
The organizers appreciate the difficulty many of you have overcome to participate in the
conference. Please let us know if there is any way that we can make this year’s conference more
rewarding. We congratulate the presenters and commend the schools, faculty, and staff that
have made the conference possible.
—Drs. Robert DeFina, Brian Jones, and Peter Knapp
THIRTY-THREE YEARS AND COUNTING:
The History of the Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference
The first Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference was convened on the
Elizabethtown College campus on April 6, 1981. The idea of having an undergraduate research
conference in the Mid-Atlantic area emerged during a telephone call between Elizabethtown
College Professor Donald B. Kraybill and Gettysburg College Professor Donald Hinrichs in the
fall of 1980. After agreeing that such a conference would be helpful for students enrolled in
their social science courses, Dr. Kraybill agreed to host the first one at Elizabethtown College (in
1981) and Dr. Hinrichs agreed to sponsor the second one at Gettysburg College in the spring of
1982. With that impetus, the conference gradually evolved and expanded as more faculty
members from other schools supported it by hosting the conference and sending their students.
One of the remarkable things about the conference is that it operates successfully without
an on-going steering committee or a budget. Each college or university that agrees to host it
provides the finances for their conference and organizes the mailing and promotions for the
event. Organizing and promoting the conference takes considerable work, but faculty and staff
from schools in the region have generously contributed their time and leadership so that the
conference can thrive and provide an important opportunity for the professional development of
their students.
Welcoming Remarks
Jean Ann Linney, Ph.D.
Jean Ann Linney, Ph.D. was appointed Dean of Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences in 2011. As Dean of the oldest and largest of the University’s five colleges, she serves as chief
administrator and chairperson of the College—which has approximately 4,500 students (undergraduate
and graduate), 400 faculty, 130 staff members and an alumni body of 55,000.
Prior to her arrival at Villanova, Dean Linney served in senior administrative positions at the University
of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina.
Dean Linney is an award-winning teacher and scholar committed to both undergraduate and graduate
education. Her teaching and research focused in the areas of community psychology, prevention science
and the promotion of mental health. She has published three books, and her writings on preventive
interventions with children and adolescents, environmental assessment, race relations and the effects of
selected social policies on child mental health and well-being have appeared in more than 60
publications. She is a fellow of the Society for Community Research and Action, the American
Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. She is a past president of the
Society for Community Research and Action. Dean Linney earned her bachelor's degree from Hobart
and William Smith Colleges and her master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
She is married to Dr. Michael Schoen and has two grown sons.
Keynote Address
“The Last Laugh: Sociological Reflections”
Dr. Karen A. Reardon
Karen A. Reardon is an Assistant Professor in the Management and Leadership Department of LaSalle
University School of Business teaching law, ethics and corporate social responsibility.
Prior to joining the faculty of LaSalle in 2012, Professor Reardon practiced law as a partner and associate
attorney with two multi-national law firms before establishing her own boutique law firm. She has
managed, litigated, arbitrated and mediated lawsuits involving employment discrimination and wrongful
termination, insurance, securities fraud, corporate takeovers, white-collar crime and bankruptcy. She has
been retained as a consulting and testifying expert.
Her commitment to community service is evidenced by her work establishing HighSight, an Illinois non-
profit corporation providing scholarship, tutoring, and mentoring assistance to low-income, inner-city
high school students and decades of volunteer service to other nonprofit organizations.
Professor Reardon earned her Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University Law School (1986), a
Bachelor of Arts degree (1981) from the University of Pennsylvania and Master of Arts in sociology
degree (1983) from the University of Michigan where she studied on scholarship as a Rackham Fellow.
In 2010, she returned to the University of Michigan and continues her studies in pursuit of the Ph.D. in
sociology.
Contact Information:
Karen A. Reardon, JD, MA
Office: 407G
Phone: 215-951-1906
Email: reardonk@lasalle.edu
PANEL SESSION I - 1:45-3:00pm
Panel 1.1: Voluntary Associations Driscoll 244
Moderator: Michele Lee Kozimor-King, Ph.D. (Elizabethtown College)
Katherine Calemmo, Cara Fitzgerald & Kristy Packman
Villanova University
Does Class Effect Community Involvement?
Lindsey Cooper
Elizabethtown College
Mentoring Blue Jays: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Faculty Mentor Program
Norman White, Domenic Stinger & Kenny Miles
Villanova University
Sports Happiness
Catrina Muffoletto & Caitlin Clarke
Villanova University
A Group a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: The Effect of the Number of
Voluntary Associations on Health
Louise Campbell & Ally Keegan
Villanova University
The Effects of Number of Children on Organizational Membership
PANEL SESSION I - 1:45-3:00pm
Panel 1.2: Social Issues & Social Movements Driscoll 227
Moderator: Kelly Welch, Ph.D. (Villanova University)
Cole Turula
Elizabethtown College
The Battle between Fear and Spending on Terrorist Threats
Brittany Stepp
Elizabethtown College
American Attitudes Towards Illegal Immigrants
Lydia Geisel
York Country Day School (affiliated with York College of Pennsylvania)
The American Gay Liberation Movement
Tayzhaun Glover
York Country Day School (affiliated with York College of Pennsylvania)
Africanisms in Slave Dialects
Caroline Goldstein
Villanova University
Framing Hooliganism: The Role of Newspapers in Developing Sports Fans’ Reputations
PANEL SESSION I - 1:45-3:00pm
Panel 1.3: Personal Matters Driscoll 221
Moderator: Bernard Gallagher, Ph.D. (Villanova University)
Austin Medley
Villanova University
Race and Trust
Tyrone Armstrong
Villanova University
Poverty
Ransford Quarrie
Villanova University
Effects of Race and Class on Health Care Coverage
Christine Chan & Derick Lai
Villanova University
Is Workaholism The New Aphrodisiac?
Corina Balsamo
Villanova University
Suicides in the Military: Determining the Cause
Description:Dean Linney is an award-winning teacher and scholar committed to both University School of Business teaching law, ethics and corporate social responsibility. Is Workaholism The New Aphrodisiac? Starved for Attention: The Effects of Race and Gender on Perceptions of Eating Disorders
