Volume 57, Number 4    September 9, 2009         

Diversifying parks use
In a Sept. 2 CNN article, Assistant Professor of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Nina Roberts discussed efforts to attract more people from minority backgrounds to America's National Parks. Roberts' research has shown that ethnic minorities are largely absent in activities such as camping, hiking, skiing, cycling and rock climbing. "They might avoid certain areas because of perceived discrimination," Roberts said. "Outdoor spaces are not places of refuge for minority communities."

Driving distracted
In an Aug. 27 3-minute interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Professor of Holistic Healing Studies Erik Peper discussed his research that examines physiological reactions to cellular phone use. Peper found that cell phone use significantly decreases reaction times by drivers. "You have 100 units of attention resources," Peper said. "You either have 100 units attention to driving or divide it between talking on the phone, which might divert 40 units with only 60 units to driving. This is fine most of the time, but if a danger occurs then there is not enough time to react. The trouble is we are not aware of that."

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Last modified Sept. 9, 2009 by University Communications.