IU study: Smoke-free air law had no effect on off-track betting facility business activity

IU study: Smoke-free air law had no effect on off-track betting facility business activity

[Original source here: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/17819.html]

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study found that a smoke-free air law implemented in an Indiana community did not hurt business at the off-track betting facility in that community. The findings, the researchers said, suggest there is "no economic reason for policymakers to exclude OTB facilities from smoke-free legislation."

Jon Macy

Indiana legislators are currently debating a statewide smoke-free air law. Exceptions could include casinos and other gaming venues. Jon Macy, assistant professor in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and lead author of the study, said past research has shown that smoke-free laws do not negatively affect businesses, but the findings concerning gambling facilities have been mixed.

"Prior research has very clearly demonstrated that laws prohibiting smoking in public places and workplaces have no negative economic consequences in multiple industries," Macy said. "Our study is one of the first to find that this holds true for gaming facilities as well."

The study, published online on Tuesday by the journal Tobacco Control, compared per capita "handle," or the amount gamblers spent per number of people living in the county, for three Indiana OTBs from 2002 to 2009. The OTBs were located in Fort Wayne, which in 2007 implemented a smoke-free air law in all workplaces, including gambling facilities, and in Indianapolis and Merrillville, where smoking is permitted at the facilities.

The study found that the per capita handle in all three facilities declined at a similar rate during this period, with unemployment rates proving to be a significant predictor of the per capita handle. As unemployment rates increased, per capita handle decreased. There was no change in the trend in per capita handle after the Fort Wayne location went smoke-free or in the two control locations that continued to allow smoking.

"Given the well-established negative health consequences of secondhand smoke exposure, strong policies should be enacted to protect workers and patrons at gaming facilities from exposure to secondhand smoke," the authors wrote in their study, 'The impact of a local smoke-free law on wagering at an off-track betting facility in Indiana.' "These strong public health policies can be implemented without fear of negative economic consequences."

Co-author of the study was Ericka L. Hernandez, Department of Statistics in IU's College of Arts and Sciences.

Celebrate EveryBODY Week raises body image awareness

[This story originally appeared at http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/17297.html]

Celebrate EveryBODY Week raises body image awareness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 14, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Health and fitness experts at Indiana University Bloomington will help the campus community focus on the positivie during Celebrate EveryBODY Week, Feb. 21-25.

Organizers of Celebrate EveryBODY Week want students, faculty and staff to know they are more than what they see in the mirror.

The event, which coincides with National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, is held annually to raise awareness of the potential harm that can result from a negative body image. Poor body image is a concern for health and fitness professionals, because it can lead to eating disorders and unhealthy exercise practices that can result in poor physical and mental health and even death.

"Major life transitions can be very difficult and have been shown to be significant triggering factors for eating and exercise disorders," said Andy Fry, assistant director of fitness and wellness for Campus Recreational Sports. "The transition into college, the pressure to get good grades, and the looming 'real world' all can contribute to students exploring unhealthy ways to cope with their stress. That's why we wanted to start this annual program."

Events, sponsored by IU Campus Recreational Sports, IU Health Center and the Coalition for Overcoming Problem Eating/Exercise (COPE), include a "skinny jeans" drive benefiting the Shalom Community Center, a pledge board for participants to commit to appreciating their bodies, and a "week without mirrors" where some Campus Recreational Sports facility mirrors will be covered and replaced with positive body image messages.

"Our goal is to let our students take a week to concentrate on their inward traits, not the outer ones," Fry said. "On the mirrors we cover, we write motivational messages, such as 'You're more than what this reflection shows,' to provide positive encouragement for body image."

Key activities planned for Celebrate Your Body Day, Monday (Feb. 21) include:

• EuroBody vs. YourBody, 7:30 p.m., at the SRSC Auditorium. The program will de-construct Eurocentric ideas of beauty and physical attractiveness and help participants look through different cultural lenses to understand physical aesthetics and perceptions of beauty in other cultures. Participants will have the opportunity to view media clips and discuss reactions to these Western messages.
• Informational tables will be staffed throughout the campus and in Campus Recreational Sports facilities. Students will be asked to write comments on note cards about features they like about their own bodies. These celebratory cards will be displayed for all to see.
• A jeans drive for Shalom Community Center will be in progress all week. Collection sites will be located at the Student Recreational Sports Center and Wildermuth Intramural Center.
• Distribution of educational materials, including usiness cards, informational brochures and fliers explaining the main signs of eating disorders, which can include excessive exercise, will be placed throughout Campus Recreational Sports facilities.

COPE members represent Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Campus Recreational Sports, Residential Programs and Services, medical staff from the IU Health Center, IU Athletics, local eating disorder specialists and dieticians from IU Health Bloomington Hospital. To learn more about COPE, visit http://www.healthcenter.indiana.edu/cope/Home.html.

For more information about body image or to seek help, contact the Indiana University Health Center at 812-855-5002, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 812-855-5711 or Health and Wellness Dietitians at 812-855-8230.

Event coordinators are Andy Fry, Assistant Director of Fitness and Wellness of Campus Recreational Sports, who can be reached at 812-855-9653 or fry2@indiana.edu; and DeeDee Dayhoff, Staff Therapist at CAPS, who can be reached at 812-855-5711 or ddayhoff@indiana.edu.

More about Celebrate EveryBODY Week and Campus Recreational Sports

Celebrate EveryBODY Week is an expanded version of a campaign IU Campus Recreational Sports launched in 2007 called "You Are Not Alone." The original campaign was designed to help students become more aware of body image issues and disordered eating behaviors, while connecting them to resources to help address them. Materials used in the first "You Are Not Alone" campaign will be reinstated for the Celebrate EveryBODY Week, including materials to raise awareness about body image concerns and contact information for professionals on campus who can help with body image-related issues. IU Campus Recreational Sports exists to connect, inform and inspire people to lead active, healthy lifestyles. RS is a division of IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. To learn more, visit recsports.indiana.edu, or call 812-855-7772.

Bloomington Parks: Our History [Program at Monroe County History Center 1/20/2011]

Bloomington Parks: Our History
Thursday, January 20 7pm
w/ Mick Renneisen

"Bloomington Parks: Our History" highlights some of
Bloomington's more renowned landmarks. The presentation includes the colorful stories of well-known Park sites including
Griffy Lake, Seminary Square Park, Cascades Park, Rose Hill
Cemetery, and the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. Historical photographs bring these sites alive during this one-hour presentation by City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department Director, author, and IU Adjunct Instructor Mick Renneisen.

This free program is part of the History Center’s 3rd Thursday program series.

Monroe County History Center
202 E. 6th St. ● Bloomington, IN
812-332-2517 ● www.monroehistory.org

Skinny Women Earn Fatter Paychecks, Study Finds

[Original content from Wall Street Journal's WSJ Blogs (by Sue Shellenberger), found here.]
"A new study... show[s] that employers seem to treat women exactly the way the fashion industry does – by rewarding very thin women with higher pay, while penalizing average-weight women with smaller paychecks. Very thin men, on the other hand, tend to get paid less than male workers of average weight. Men earn more as they pack on the pounds – all the way to the point where they become obese, when the pay trend reverses.

The study is the first look at the effects of being very thin on men vs. women. Separate studies of 11,253 Germans and 12,686 U.S. residents led by Timothy A. Judge of the University of Florida found very thin women, weighing 25 pounds less than the group norm, earned an average $15,572 a year more than women of normal weight. Women continued to experience a pay penalty as their weight increased above average levels, although a smaller one — presumably because they had already violated social norms for the ideal female appearance. A woman who gained 25 pounds above the average weight earned an average $13,847 less than an average-weight female.

Men were also penalized for violating stereotypes about ideal male appearance, but in a different way. Thin guys earned $8,437 less than average-weight men. But they were consistently rewarded for getting heavier, a trend that tapered off only when their weight hit the obese level. In one study, the highest pay point, on average, was reached for guys who weighed a strapping 207 pounds.

The study suggests employers should examine their assumptions about employees’ weight, because they may be rooted in prejudice. However, there also may be a logical explanation, the study points out: People who conform to others’ ideas about the ideal body image may actually perform better on the job, because they can wield more influence over other people and get more things accomplished.

Meanwhile, in separate research, economists at George Washington University tabulated the cost of obesity and found that it’s more expensive for a woman to be obese than for a man, according to the New York Times. (Their calculations included direct costs, like medical expenses, and indirect expenses, like lost wages and reduced work productivity.) While a man racks up $2,646 annually in extra expenses if he is obese, a woman’s obesity costs her $4,879, almost twice as much, the Times reported.

Readers, do you see body-image stereotypes at work in your workplace? Do thin women and heavier guys get higher pay or more chances for promotion? Are these rewards deserved, reflecting these people’s actual abilities to influence other people? Have you ever sensed your career was helped or hurt by your weight?"

The IUB Libraries subscribe to full-text electronic content for the Journal of Applied Psychology, from 1917 to present. Access via the Resource Gateway here.

Judge, T. A., & Cable, D. M. (2010). When it comes to pay, do the thin win? The effect of Weight
on pay for men and women. Journal of Applied Psychology, doi:10.1037/a0020860.

Input-output Trade-offs Found in Human Information Processing

"BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The most beautiful thing about humans, says Indiana University researcher S. Lee Hong, is that they are both ever-changing and sometimes prone to error. Yet humans are still extremely flexible and adaptable, managing the transition from one context to another almost seamlessly. His new study demonstrates how this adaptability boils down to a zero-sum game.

S. Lee Hong

"There's a famous Einstein quote: 'God does not play dice.' Unfortunately, we all have to do so every day," said Hong, assistant professor in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. "Humans are unpredictably variable organisms living in fundamentally unpredictable and uncertain environments. Humans are capable of adapting to different levels of uncertainty, which is quite well documented, but 'how' has been unknown up to this time."

Hong's study, published in PLoS One, involves information processing and found that human behavior is systematic, not random, demonstrating a trade-off between input and out. The study also points to limitations to information processing, Hong said.

The paper can be found at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011461

Hong and his co-author, Melissa R. Beck, cognitive psychology professor at Louisiana State University, studied eye movement and response times to stimuli sequences that included varying levels of uncertainty or unpredictability. When the researchers increased the uncertainty in the environment by having images on a computer monitor appear in different locations in irregular intervals, the uncertainty of study participants' scanning patterns decreased. When the "input," or the objects' appearances became more regular or predictable, the level of uncertainty of the study participants' "output," or scanning behavior increased.

Hong uses a desk as an example. If someone needs to find a note on a desk with little clutter, his search need not be thorough. He can effectively glance around the desk to find what he wants. If the desk is messy or contains many papers and other objects, his search will need to be more systematic to find what he is looking for to make sure he hasn't missed anything. If he ransacked the desk in a random fashion, it likely would take longer to find the note.

"These exchanges are pretty much equal and opposite, much like the laws of the conservation of momentum and energy," Hong said. "More importantly, it seems that the human organism is fundamentally in tune with patterns of uncertainty, evolved, maybe. It's definitely a question for the future."

The study involved 29 college students. They generated repeated responses to a continuous series of visual stimuli presented on a computer monitor. As soon as a target was detected, they pressed a keypad. The researchers manipulated where and when the targets would appear. The more uncertain the time and place of the stimulus, the more systematic the visual search strategy was. On the other hand, their response times became much more unpredictable. The most interesting finding, said Hong, was that the changes in uncertainty of the eye movements were a virtual mirror image of the changes in uncertainty in the response times.

"The results show that the subjects adapted their visual search behavior to adjust to the different levels of stimulus uncertainty," the authors wrote in their paper.

Hong also is an associate member of IU's Cognitive Science Program and a full member of the Neuroscience Program, both in the College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on patterns of change in movement behavior."

Original article here.

Shay Dawson Appointed as Director of Indiana University's Bradford Woods

"BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) has chosen Shay Dawson to be the next director of Bradford Woods, IU's Outdoor Learning and Education Center located near Martinsville, Ind.

Dawson has served as director of the Bradford Woods Therapeutic Recreation program since 2007, and holds a master's degree in therapeutic recreation from Kent State University, as well as a certification in recreational therapy (CTRS).

"I have a tremendous passion for this type of work, and this has always been my dream job," said Dawson. "Bradford Woods is highly regarded around the country for its outdoor education and recreation therapy programs with Riley Hospital for Children, and I look forward to building the programs here for the future."

Shay Dawson

Dawson's extensive background in therapeutic recreation matched the School of HPER's goals and vision for Bradford Woods.

"His organizational and leadership abilities and style have been instrumental in the development of our therapeutic recreation program, as well as of great benefit to me in strategically planning the future of Bradford Woods," said John E. Koenig, who served as director at Bradford Woods for the last four years and is now the executive director.

As director of Bradford Woods, Dawson will oversee all operations and programs at the facility. David Compton, chair of the School of HPER's Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, said Dawson is "uniquely prepared" to lead Bradford Woods as the department seeks to advance innovative programs, training and research to impact learning, life quality, and the health of children, youth and adults served at Bradford Woods.

"We are very proud of his past achievements with our children with disabilities and look forward to his leadership in a new array of programs and services," Compton said.

Before coming to IU, Dawson held behavioral health specialist and recreational therapy positions in Zanesville and Kent, Ohio.

Bradford Woods is home to Camp Riley (www.rileykids.org), which began in 1955 and each summer serves approximately 250 children, ages 8-18, with varying physical and mental challenges. Campers engage in a variety of activities including outdoor games, swimming, ropes courses and horseback riding. Because of the skilled therapists and camp counselors, each child's camp experience helps build confidence and friendships that last a lifetime.

With the help of a $1.75 million Lilly Endowment grant through the Riley Hospital Foundation, Bradford Woods is making improvements to its facility, including the expansion of the equine therapy program, "Horseshoes of Hope Equine Academy." For 25 years, this summer therapeutic riding program has been a unique and successful component of the Bradford Woods experience, currently serving 500-600 children and adults throughout the summer. The year-round goal is to serve 1,500 children and adults with special needs.

"We are making some renovations to our historic barn and adding additions to the riding center so that we can offer equine therapeutic riding year-round," Dawson said.

For more than 55 years, Bradford Woods has been the site where thousands of fifth graders experience the outdoors through the Environmental Education program. Recently threatened with budget cuts, school districts have rallied grass-roots efforts to keep this valuable learning experience alive for their students.

"I can't go anywhere and not hear a story about someone who has either been to Bradford Woods as a child, or has a child who recently spent time there with their class," said Dawson.

An extension of the classroom, environmental education at Bradford Woods allows students to learn about their world in different ways, and apply new skills in the classroom and at home.

"Even though people may have been to Bradford Woods decades ago, they recall it like it was yesterday." Dawson said. "I see clearly the impact that Bradford Woods has in the community and how these experiences influence campers' lives as adults."

In addition, Bradford Woods is also expanding and building upon its existing Adventure Education program, which provides innovative learning opportunities that focus on team and community development, interpersonal reflection, personal skill growth, outdoor technical skills, leadership and therapeutic intervention. Professionally trained instructors facilitate participants through challenge courses and adventure-based activities.

Bradford Woods is being sought by many companies, organizations and smaller groups for its Retreats Program. Cabins and banquet facilities may be rented for conferences, workshops or private parties. While at Bradford Woods, a variety of on-site activities and amenities are available, and staff are on hand to facilitate meetings and any type of one-day or overnight stay needs.

Bradford Woods is part of IU's School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER), which encompasses a broad spectrum of academic interests and professional fields. HPER offers nearly 50 undergraduate and advanced degree programs through the departments of Applied Health Science, Kinesiology and Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies. To further its health and wellness initiative, Campus Recreational Sports provides sport and fitness services for the IU community and the public. More information can be found at http://www.bradwoods.org or by calling 765-342-2915."

Original news story here.

IU Recreation professor receives NSF grant to study tourism in Norway

"Joseph Chen, associate professor in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, will take his tourism marketing expertise to the Arctic with a $275,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the social impact of tourism in Norway.

Joseph Chen

Chen said his research will take a unique and "holistic" approach by also taking into account the needs and perceptions of tourists and the business community. Tourism impact studies, he said, more often tend to focus on local residents alone.

"For sustainable tourism development, the partnerships with tourists and business is very important," he said. "It's important to learn the needs of all stakeholders because they are very different yet sustainable tourism requires a balance of these needs."

Chen described tourism in Norway as a niche market, primarily because of the expense. The weather conditions are more moderate because of the jet stream, he said, with temperatures in the 50s during the summer. Popular tourism activities in the areas being studied include fishing, cultural tourism, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. The oil-rich coastal areas, Chen notes, also are very scenic.

The study will focus on Alta, Kirkenes, Karasjok, North Cape, Hammerfest, Honningsvag, and Båtsfjord. North Cape is considered the most visited Arctic destination in the European continent as well as one of the most popular and established arctic destinations in the world. In the first stage of data collection, in-depth interviews and focus groups will be conducted in different locations to obtain impact-related attributes. Those attributes will be integrated into a close-ended questionnaire for survey research. Next, mail and on-site surveys will be deployed to measure opinions of tourism development from a large portion of tourism stakeholders.

Last year Chen began collaborating with another Norwegian tourism marketing research project funded with a $5.5 million grant from the Norwegian Research Council. The results of his NSF-funded project, he said, could be used by other arctic communities and could help establish an international research network focusing on tourism.

Chen, associate professor in the School of HPER's Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, can be reached at 812-855-1880 and joechen@indiana.edu."

Original press release found here.