Racial and ethnic diversity spreads across the country
2012-09-08
(Press-News.org) Increasing racial and ethnic diversity has long been apparent at the national level and in our nation's largest metropolitan gateways. Since 1980 over nine-tenths of all cities, suburbs and small towns have become more diverse. And rural communities are following the lead of their urban counterparts, according to a U.S. 2010 policy brief.
"What really stands out is the near-universal nature of the trend toward greater racial and ethnic diversity at the local level," said Barry Lee, professor of sociology and demography, Penn State, and co-author of the brief.
Another significant finding is the decline in white-dominant places, where whites make up 90 percent or more of the population. Three decades ago these places represented two-thirds of the total. Today, they are down to only one-third of the total. In their stead are a growing number of communities where minorities are a significant share of the population and often where no group is a majority.
Despite the general upward trend in diversity, dramatic contrasts are still apparent between communities. At the high end of the diversity scale, places such as Oakland and Jersey City now have roughly equal proportions of white, black, Hispanic and Asian residents. At the low end, the most homogeneous communities tend to remain all white or all Hispanic.
A unique feature of this study is that it included micropolitan areas where the largest community has a population under 50,000, as well as rural areas.
"We feel that studying these areas is important because they form the core of small-town America," said Lee. "One of the surprises is that even small towns now have to adapt to newcomers who are from different backgrounds than their longtime residents."
###
The full report may be downloaded at http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/Data/Report/report08292012.pdf
Other Penn State researchers on the study were John Iceland, professor of sociology and demography, and Gregory Sharp, recent Ph.D. graduate, sociology and demography.
The Russell Sage Foundation and Brown University funds the US 2010 research project.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Precautions for tick-borne disease extend 'beyond Lyme'
2012-09-08
This year's mild winter and early spring were a bonanza for tick populations in the eastern United States. Reports of tick-borne disease rose fast.
While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, new research results emphasize that it is not the greatest cause for concern in most Southeastern states.
The findings are published today in a paper in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health.
The majority of human-biting ticks in the North--members of the blacklegged tick species--cause Lyme disease, but these same ticks do not ...
NASA sees Hurricane Leslie's eye close
2012-09-08
Hurricane Leslie appeared to "close its eye" on NASA satellite imagery as the storm heads east of Bermuda, like a little girl shutting her eyes tight on a wild amusement ride. Often when an eye becomes cloud-filled, its a sign that the storm is weakening, and Leslie did drop from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Sept. 7.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Leslie on Sept. 6 at 10:45 a.m. EDT and Leslie's eye appeared cloud covered. Leslie went on to weaken to tropical ...
Clearer look at how iron reacts in the environment
2012-09-08
ARGONNE, ILL. (Sept. 6, 2012) -- Using ultrafast X-rays, scientists for the first time have watched how quickly electrons hop their way through rust nanoparticles.
This gives key insight to how iron oxide, one of the most abundant minerals in soil, behaves and alters the condition of soil and water around it. This also demonstrates the potential of time-resolved X-ray and optical methods to study chemical reactions at the subnanoscale in other semiconductors.
Scientists have long known that certain minerals, redox active ions and biological proteins can exchange electrons ...
Tailgaters contribute to team victory and even university brand, Notre Dame study shows
2012-09-08
As tailgaters everywhere ramp up for another weekend of college football, University of Notre Dame marketing professor and cultural anthropologist John Sherry has just concluded first-of-its-kind research that shows those huge pre-game parking lot parties build community, nurture tradition, and actually contribute to a school's brand—at least for the fans.
In their study, "A Cultural Analysis of Tailgating," Sherry and co-author Tonya Bradford, assistant professor of marketing at Notre Dame, examine American culture and our obsession with football, which Sherry calls "the ...
Notre Dame astrophysicists publish new approach to cosmic lithium in the early universe
2012-09-08
J. Christopher Howk, Nicolas Lehner and Grant Mathews of the Center for Astrophysics at the University of Notre Dame published a paper this week in the journal Nature titled "Observation of interstellar lithium in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud." The astrophysicists have explored a discrepancy between the amount of lithium predicted by the standard models of elemental production during the Big Bang and the amount of lithium observed in the gas of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy near to our own.
"The paper involves measuring the amount of lithium in the ...
The nose knows: Gene therapy restores sense of smell in mice
2012-09-08
A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions report that restoring tiny, hair-like structures to defective cells in the olfactory system of mice is enough to restore a lost sense of smell. The results of the experiments were published online this week in Nature Medicine, and are believed to represent the first successful application of gene therapy to restore this function in live mammals.
An expert in olfaction, Randall Reed, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics and co-director of the Center for Sensory Biology at the Johns Hopkins Institute ...
Coping skills, marital satisfaction help pregnant moms manage stress when fetus has heart defect
2012-09-08
Expectant mothers who learn from prenatal diagnosis that they are carrying a fetus with a congenital heart defect (CHD) commonly suffer post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. However, a healthy relationship with one's partner and positive coping mechanisms can reduce this intense stress, according to new research from the Cardiac Center of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The study is published in the September 2012 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
"Receiving the news of carrying a fetus with a CHD is a stressful event which can potentially influence ...
UC Santa Cruz study shows how sea otters can reduce CO2 in the atmosphere
2012-09-08
Can an abundance of sea otters help reverse a principal cause of global warming?
A new study by two UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that a thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper. The spreading kelp can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to ravenous sea urchins, the study finds.
The theory is outlined in a paper released online today (September 7, 2012) in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment by lead authors UC Santa Cruz professors Chris Wilmers ...
Subsidies change incentives for adoption of foster children: Study
2012-09-08
The structure of a federal program that provides monthly subsidies to promote the adoptions of special needs children in foster care may actually be delaying some adoptions, according to a new study by University of Notre Dame economist Kasey Buckles.
The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA), passed in 1980, provides an average of $670 per month for foster parents of special needs children, while adoptive parents of special needs children receive an average of $571 per month. "Special needs" refers to foster children who may be harder to place ...
Turf study to monitor runoff, establish fertilizer management practices
2012-09-08
COLLEGE STATION – Improperly applied fertilizer to newly placed sod may result in nutrient runoff into the water supply, but just when is the best time to apply fertilizer and what kind is the best for new turf?
Aiming to answer those questions is a team of scientists from Texas A&M AgriLife Research: Dr. Jacqui Aitkenhead-Peterson, assistant professor of urban nutrient and water management; Dr. Ben Wherley, assistant professor of turfgrass science and ecology; Dr. Richard White, professor of turfgrass physiology and management; and Jim Thomas, senior research associate, ...