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Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 | Iowa State Daily | NEWS | 9
Professor studies ‘single’ relationship status of black women By Antonia.Hutzell @iowastatedaily.com Tera Jordan, assistant professor of human development and family studies, is conducting a research study to explore married black men’s perceptions of single black women, with the hope of determining why black women are disproportionately single. Jordan was interested in the black community and the relationships within that community. In the context of her study, she asked 52 black men questions that explored reasons why they got married, reasons why they stayed married and asked them about challenges they faced in their relationships. Along with those questions, she asked the married men their viewpoints on why black women are disproportionately single. “As a marital researcher, I understand that much of the literature does not include the voices of black men, in particular,” Jordan said. “Women’s perspectives are the ones that are reflected. We don’t hear from men enough about their particular experiences.” The men gave their honest opinions that were related to their observations in their own families and were based on their personal experiences. Stacey McElory, counseling psychology doctoral student at Georgia State University, worked with Jordan on the study. “I’m interested in the role that culture plays in romantic relationships,” McElroy said. “For
>>MONEY p1 Fees for student activities, student services and buildings must be approved by the Board of Regents. “We have a system that attributes the tuition revenue to the college where the students are either enrolled or taking their classes,” said Ellen Rasmussen, the associate vice president of the senior vice president and provost. “The parameters we use to attribute tuition are student enrollment and student credit hours.” For example, an undergraduate engineering student’s tuition will be partly attributed to the College of Engineering, but another portion will also be distributed to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences because of other
example, how do people negotiate their [individual] identity and their couple identity with respect to culture?” From the research’s findings, the men named various factors that were grouped into four themes: gender relations, marriage education and socialization, individual development, and preferences for gay or lesbian relationships. In Jordan’s research, 79 percent of men discussed gender relations between men and women in the black community which was the main factor as to why black women are disproportionately single. “While gender relations are the primary finding, the men did talk a lot about what it means to be ready for individuals to be marriage-ready. They highlighted the importance of individual development,” Jordan said. “Specifically, those findings really focus on working on yourself first before you begin to think about partnering with someone else. Whether that’s finishing your education, traveling to different places, focusing on spiritual growth or learning about who you are as a person.” Jordan said there is also a strong argument for marriage education and marriage socialization. “If we want to help people build and maintain satisfying, long term relationships, we can’t just work at the individual level,” McElory said. Jordan said she believes her research will impact the commu-
classes being taken from that college. Biedenbach said ISU has a formulaic method of distributing funds. “Twenty-five percent goes to the college based on enrollment, and 75 percent goes to where the courses are offered for undergraduate tuition,” Biedenbach said. Graduate student tuition, however, goes 100 percent into the college where their program is located. For example, the tuition for a graduate student in mathematics will go entirely to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Once distributed to the colleges, tuition money is out of university-level hands and passed along to deans, associate deans and fiscal officers. Arne Hallam, associate dean of the College of
Will Ash/Iowa State Daily
Tera Jordan conducted a research study to explore married black men’s perceptions of single black women, with the reasoning of determining why black women are disproportionately single.
nity in many ways. “Let’s open up the conversation between men and women about changes in gender roles, relationship expectations and healthy relationship communication,” Jordan said. “Though these phenomena are not specific to the black community, they are very much represented in the black community. We can then develop goals about where we go from here as a community in building
Liberal Arts and Sciences, said about 80 percent of the money the college operates on comes from tuition. Each college, however, is not the same. Some colleges may receive more money from the state. “Each year in about March or April, the university starts to forecast … how many students for the fall and spring,” Hallam said. “Based on majors those students are likely to have, classes they’re likely to have, [the university] says here is how much money they think we’re going to have next year.” That amount gets refined until May, when the projected budget is then given, so the colleges can start planning around that budget. The amount can increase or decrease depending on the actual number of students en-
stronger relationship ties.” Jordan will be speaking at a research seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in 331 Palmer Building and will go into further detail on her research, titled “Married black men’s opinions as to why black women are disproportionately single: A qualitative study.” “Individuals that attend the presentation will come away with a better understanding of relationship trends in the black
rolled in a college or taking classes from a college. Hallam said about 70 to 80 percent of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences budget is dedicated toward the salaries of faculty, professional and scientific staff, computer technicians, lab scientists, etc. “There’s no formulaic distribution of tuition dollars to departments [within colleges] like there is to colleges,” Hallam said. “We literally sit down and look … at the number of students.” The colleges also receive money from the state and external grants for research. Other allocations for colleges may be into career services, events at the Memorial Union or other teaching resources. Rate of tuition does
not affect the rate of student fees, Biedenbach said. Every student pays mandatory fees, which goes directly to their designated location. These include activities and services such as CyRide, recreation and building. Government of Student Body receives activities fee to then allocate the clubs and organizations on campus. Dan Rediske, finance director for GSB, said that GSB has regular allocations process in the spring, where GSB works with student organizations and other offices they fund. Student fees are also allocated to certain organization’s projects, the United Way partnership, Student Debt Counseling and Legal Services and a cushion for unexpected events.
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arate groups, due to the large number of participants. Groups consisted of ROTC cadets, ISU students and veterans. All cadets voluntarily signed up for the event, said Steven Brown, battalion commander of ROTC. “This was not required, these are never mandatory,” Brown said. “Everyone here is here on their own time.” The workout that participants went through consisted of two nineminute phases of physical activity and a two-minute rest period. “The two-minute rest in the middle is a symbol for our veterans; it’s a moment of silence for them,” Brown said. Smith said events like WOD for Warriors are important but are a very small part of what people can do for veterans. “There’s so much we can do; this is a very small showing,” Smith said. “I’m very excited that there are so many veterans here.” Nick Schieffer, of Indianola, Iowa, who served four years active duty and is a graduate of Iowa State, shared the same sentiment. He added that events like WOD for Warriors helps out the ROTC cadets as well. “This event is important,” Schieffer said. “The cadets realize that they’re not there yet. This helps them to realize the sacrifice that veterans make.” Veterans Day always brings about a large sense of gratitude to our veterans, and Schieffer said recognition is spreading throughout the year. “Things have defi-
studies outside their home country. Of the 123 applicants this semester, 40 percent were graduate students. Because many of them choose to live a more independent life, not as connected to the university as new international freshman, a mentor can provide valuable support. “With the mentor, I can send him a text and ask him about anything and for sure I know he would do it,” said Yosef Jazaa, graduate in mechanical engineering from Saudi Arabia and mentee of Harper. “He always says to tell him if I need any help and that he will come right away, that is kind of a relief for an international student.” And throughout the course of the semester the mentors and their mentees develop what is the ultimate goal of the program — deep friendships that could outlast the program for many years to come. “We are already friends so we will continue [to see each other] whenever we want.” said Miao Fang Zhou graduKelby Wingert/Iowa State Daily
The workout consisted of two phases of physical activity. Each phase had a sprint, 11 sit-ups and 11 air squats, another sprint and the sit-ups and air squats, increasing by 11 each round.
nitely improved since Vietnam, when soldiers were getting spit on,” Schieffer said. “If you’re a football fan, you see camouflage jerseys almost every week. At Cyclone football games, they always have a hero of the game.” Smith also believes that recognition of veterans has improved. “It’s pretty amazing how often someone will buy your lunch or your coffee,” Smith said. “The Ames community is pretty awesome in that regard.” Austin Hall, freshman in aerospace engineering and an Air Force ROTC cadet, said he believes veterans are important in the community and that
he wants to be treated as a veteran when that time comes. “[Veterans] need to be recognized and never forgotten,” Hall said. “I want to be treated simply with respect and gratitude.” While there is more recognition toward veterans today, they still face many challenges when they return from duty. Schieffer said that assimilating is one of the toughest things. “It’s hard for a 23-yearold kid to interact with 18- and 19-year-old kids in class,” Schieffer said. “Those kids can be immature and disrespectful. They don’t always appreciate the opportunities that are given to them.”
>>PBS p1 before the Civil War. Hill also said her game makes it easy for students to connect to the characters. “It’s kind of personal, too, because the character is the age that the students are at,” Hill said. Natalie Eckert, freshman in family and consumer science education and studies, thinks the game would be a valuable asset in a classroom. “It seems like a very cultural game,” Eckert said. “One thing that really stood out to me was how the characters interacted. For instance, the main character didn’t talk to his sister as a sign of respect for her, which is very different from our way of doing things. It really helps you learn more about the culture.”
community, as well as build on strengths they have currently as individuals and to experience healthier relationships by considering their own relationship goals and expectations,” Jordan said. Jordan worked with McElroy; Kameron Sheats, of Morehouse School of Medicine; Antoinette Landor, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Chalandra Bryant, of the University of Georgia.
Fast facts For more details on tuition and mandatory fees, visit the ISU catalog. ■■ Resident undergraduate tuition per semester: $3324.00 ■■ Non-resident undergraduate tuition per semester: $9600.00 ■■ Resident graduate tuition per semester: $3,924.00 ■■ Non-resident graduate tuition per semester: $10,079.00 ■■ Veterinary medicine resident tuition per semester: $9,576.00 ■■ Veterinary medicine nonresident tuition per semester: $21,420.00 **Veterinary Medicine tuition dollars are distributed in a different formula than those of undergraduate and graduate.
ate in landscape architecture from China and mentee of Kpor.”I really enjoy it.” Fang Zhou’s fellow mentee, Qiao Hongming, graduate in sociology who is also from China and mentee of Kpor, said he agrees. “The mentor program is a good opportunity to make American friends and have fun with them,” Hongming said. “It is a way of experiencing American culture. I enjoy it as well.” With this being the second semester of the program, it is still a fairly new opportunity for ISU students, but one that has already shown success, Harper said. Last semester’s mentors and mentees were extremely satisfied with the outcome and current mentees would recommend incoming internationals to take advantage of this opportunity. “It is hard to bridge the gap between internationals and Americans. This program provides a really easy way to create the initiative to have that friendship,” Harper said. “And once you have that you can see how awesome it is to be friends with someone from a different culture.”
The video game developers at PBS contacted Hill because of her expertise in the subject area. She proofread scripts, helped create the story and worked with the finished version of the game to make sure everything was correct. “The video game is just great,” Hill said. “It’s a little bit like ‘Choose Your Own Adventure,’ so you make choices throughout the game, and depending on your choices, the end result is different.” Hill said she was impressed by how much effort PBS put into the game to ensure it was as accurate and authentic as possible. “Not only did they contact me and work really closely with me as an anthropologist and an ethno-historian, but
they also contacted the Northern Cheyenne community,” Hill said. “They worked really closely with the president of the tribal college and took the video game out to the kids in schools there and had them play the game and provide feedback from the Cheyenne students themselves.” Although actors voice the main characters, members of the Cheyenne community voice many of the other characters. “It has this really authentic feel, and it’s not only something that presents American history in a positive and informative light for school-age kids, but it’s something that the Cheyenne people themselves can really be proud of,” Hill said.