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NATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE PROCEEDINGS Volume 58, #2 National Technology and Social Science Conference, 2015 Table of Contents Undergraduate Students’ Voices on Developing Cultural Competence Comfort Ateh, Providence College 1 Facing Forward: Assessing the Impact of Transporting Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) James David Ballard, California State University – Northridge Fred Dilger, Black Mountain Research Robert Halstead, State of Nevada, Nuclear Waste Project Office 7 Changes in Female Participants’ Self-Descriptions After a Self-Defense Course Leanne R. Brecklin, University of Illinois - Springfield 14 Mobile Screening Van: Initial Results From Community Outreach to Identify Developmental Risks or Delays in Children Ages 0 – 8 Years Joannie Busillo-Aguayo 22 Not That Kind of Scientist: Creating an Online BA Program in Social Science Adam Criblez, Lily Santoro, Southeast Missouri State University 39 Macroeconometrics of Survey Measures of Consumer Inflation Expectations Abdullah A. Dewan, Steven C. Hayworth, Eastern Michigan University 47 Social Norms and Perceptions of HIV/AIDS Among Young Adults Praphul Joshi, Cherika Fills, Lamar University 64 Combating Childhood Obesity: Placement and Marketing of Foods in Restaurants Praphul Joshi, Chaniqwa Fills, Lamar University 74 European Standards of Beauty and the Relation of These Assimilated Beauty Ideals Among African American Women Cherika Fills, Praphul Joshi, Lamar University 83 Working in the Cloud, Chinese Social Media Censorship, Why the Chinese Government Blocks Western Social Media, & Chinese Military Beijing Spying Builfding Harvey C. Foyle, Jingwei Chen, Muxin Wang, Lixiazi Lu, Emporia State University 89 The Successful Experiences of Higher Vocational Education In Serving the Local Economic and Social Development Xiao Han, Central Washington University 96 Thinking Outside the Forms: Retraining Teachers to Write IEP’s for Students in an Independent Study Program Patrick Hill, Donald Baggott, Learn4Life Concept Charter Schools 102 Enhancing the Quality of Life of Baby Boomers and Their Traditionalist Parents with Technology Catheleen Jordan, David Cory, Scott Sainato, Peter Lehmann University of Texas at Arlington 109 Aw Yeah: Let’s Read! Patricia Kirtley, Terry Lovelace, Independent Scholars William M. Kirtley, Central Texas College 120 America Cries, “I’m Sorry!” - Five Apologies William M. Kirtley, Central Texas College Lem Londos Railsback, Patricia M. Kirtley, William R. Curtis, Terry L. Lovelace, Independent Scholars 132 Hate Speech in America Kathleen Kreamelmeyer, Ball State University 148 Compulsive Buying Tendencies David Lester, Stockton University Bijou Yang, Drexel university 152 Content Analysis of NSSA National Technology and Social Science Conference Presentations from 2012-2014 Robin Lindbeck, Robert W. Lion, Natalie Wells, Idaho State University 161 House Call Counselors: An Educator’s Guide to Making House Calls James Todd McGahey, Jacksonville State University 175 Lethal Injection: A Fatally Flawed Method of Execution Joseph A. Melusky, Saint Francis University 180 “We are More Alike than Unalike:” mtDNA Deep Ancestry Testing and Diversity Awareness in Undergraduate Social Science Courses Johanna Moyer, Miami University 195 An Independent Study Charter School Program for Secondary Students: A University Model Approach Constance Petit, Patrick Hill, Learn4Life Concept Charter Schools 203 The Viability of an Independent Study Model for Students with Disabilities Constance Petit, Heather Stuve, Learn4Life Concept Charter Schools 224 The Rise and Fall of Religious Toleration: Is the Settlement Collapsing? Richard H. Reeb, Jr., Barstow Community College 232 Retrofitting Instructional Strategies in the Math Classroom: Technology Becomes the “New Classroom Tradition” Sydne Endorf, Judith Ruskamp, Peru State College 242 The Stigma of Stupid: A Quanitative Analysis of College Students’ Use of Disability-Related Language Nicole Sims, California State University – Chico 249 Port of Liuzhou Xifang Wang, Central Washington University 265 Liuzhou’s Housing Supply: Affordable Quality Housing for Everyone Huazhi Zhang, Central Washington University 272 Undergraduate Students’ Voices on Developing Cultural Competence Comfort Ateh Providence College 1 Introduction World migration and the political and economic aspects of globalization are challenging nation-states and national borders. With the increasing number of United Nations member states, from 80 in 1950 to 191 in 2002 (Castles 2004) there is a need to rethink citizenship education that should help students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function in their nation-states as well as in global societies. The post-1970 immigration surge impacted the racial composition of the U.S. population. The quest by ethnic, cultural, language, and religious groups for recognition implies there is no place for assimilations that existed in the United States prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Students of various cultural background have right to their original cultures, languages, and ethnic identities. The increasing diversity and the quest by marginalized groups for cultural recognition and rights suggest students must be helped to develop reflective and clarified cultural identifications. It is crucial that students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function within and across diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, language, and religious groups (Bank, 2004). Schools continue to be segregated almost 60 years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling of Brown versus Board of Education that desegregated schools which has been a setback for one of the core goals of the civil rights movement. Findings of the Civil Rights Project’s study showed a steady increase in integration in public schools from the late 1960s to 1980s, which enhanced quality of education for all races. However, the gains in integration have been lost with the present state of re-segregation across America resulting in part from less enforcement of desegregation of schools. Re-segregation is causing students to grow up interacting only with others who look like them. Findings of a UCLA multipart study by Civil Rights Project indicate diversity is increasing in the nation with 43 percent of Latinos and 38% of African Americans attending what are called “apartheid” schools, which are intensely segregated schools with minorities making 90 to 100 percent of the student body. The current change in demographics at the national level as well as the increasing segregation in schools are likely to result in an increase in isolation of students of color and poor from their more privileged peers, which will deprive them of the opportunities and resources they need to be successful. No school reform efforts are more important than making sure all students have access to knowledge and resources they need to be successful in life. It is empirical that schools provide experiences in every classroom where students from different backgrounds can learn from each other. Unfortunately, federal and state policies perpetuate segregated school systems: one set of schools for a majority of middle class and white students, and a dramatically inferior system for those who are Latino, black and poor. Students should be educated in a way that they can interact with others of different cultural background considering the trends in the diversity composition of the nation and the need to be competitive in global engagement. Education is the hope for the poor and the means to break the cycle of poverty. It is the solution to inequity among the marginalized. Unfortunately, the current educational system continues to fall short in creating equality for different cultural groups locking the marginalized in a cycle of poverty associated with multiple social issues. Nevertheless, schools still have a responsibility to break this cycle of poverty. This paper is based on a study that engaged undergraduate students to reflect on diversity and ways to develop 2 knowledge and skills to become cultural competent. The assumption was that students who develop cultural competence are likely to become justice-oriented professions. Cultural competence is a critical skill that every employee and employer should have for the institution to be successful. In the case of a school, teachers working with students of diverse cultural background are expected to be knowledgeable in the different cultures represented in their classrooms so as to creating instruction that meets the learning needs of every student. Similarly, in hospitals, medical staffs are expected to be knowledgeable about different perspectives that patients bring with them to the hospital so as to create an intervention system that would enhance treatment. Becoming justice-oriented implies being sensitive to others different than you and accepting them for who they are. It means moving beyond ones beliefs and values to the boundary of others appreciating their beliefs and values without relinquishing yours or expecting same from others. Cultural beliefs and values are at the forefront in making decisions about any group. Everyone will be everyone’s keeper with the ultimate goal of creating a nation where everyone is successful and not a selected few. This study focused on the impact of an urban education course on students’ appreciation of the essence of diversity and the need for every citizen to appreciate our diversity, to become culturally competent and justice-oriented professionals.