Story Ideas for Media 3/6/12

Research

Ohio State study: School bullies more likely to be substance abusers. Middle- and high-school students who bully their classmates are more likely than others to use substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, a new study found.
Researchers found that bullies and bully-victims - youth who are both perpetrators and victims - were more likely to use substances than were victims and non-involved youth.
“Our findings suggest that one deviant behavior may be related to another,” said Kisha Radliff, lead author of the study and assistant professor of school psychology at Ohio State University.
“For example, youth who bully others might be more likely to also try substance use. The reverse could also be true in that youth who use substances might be more likely to bully others.”
The researchers didn't find as strong a link between victims of bullying and substance use.
SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/bullyuse.htm. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu

Rock, pop, white power: How music influcences support for ethnic groups. Just a few minutes of listening to mainstream rock music was enough to influence white college students to favor a student group catering mostly to whites over groups serving other ethnic and racial groups, according to a new study at Ohio State.
However, white students who listened to more ethnically diverse Top 40 pop music showed equal support for groups focused on whites, African Americans, Arab Americans and Latino Americans.
While the rock music had no lyrics related to race or ethnicity, the music itself may unconsciously bring to mind positive feelings among white people about others like themselves, said Heather LaMarre, lead author of the study, who did the work as a doctoral student in communication at Ohio State University.
“Rock music is generally associated with white Americans, so we believe it cues white listeners to think about their positive association with their own in-group,” said LaMarre, who is now an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Minnesota.
“That was enough for them to show more support for a student group representing mostly whites."
LaMarre conducted the study with Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, associate professor, and Greg Hoplamazian, a graduate student, both in communication at Ohio State.
“We saw very targeted, almost punitive take-aways from the African-American and Arab-American groups by those who listened to the radical white power rock,” Knobloch-Westerwick said.SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/musicmatters.htm. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu

Events

Students join in anniversary visits to Guam, Iwo Jima, Saipan and Tinian battle sites – March 10-18. Eight Ohio State undergraduates will leave this week (Sat. 3/10) to take part in the 67th commemorative anniversary visit to four South Pacific Island battle sites: Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima.
The opportunity is being made possible by The Greatest Generations Foundation, Denver, CO www.tggf in partnership with The Ohio State University.
Each of these students will be paired with a veteran of those battle sites; a highlight of the trip is attending what is expected to be the last International Iwo Jima Memorial Service.
Students prepared for the trip by taking an intensive history course this quarter, taught by Department of History Chair Peter Hahn; and Peter Mansoor, the General Raymond E. Mason, Jr., Chair in Military History. Hahn and Mansoor will accompany the students and veterans and each is himself paired with a veteran.
They leave for Guam on March 10, attend the ceremony on Iwo Jima on March 14, and depart for the US on March 18. CONTACT: Sandi Rutkowski, College of Arts and Sciences, rutkowski.1@osu.edu; or (614) 292-4759.

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu