Nancy Bates (MA 1987) - Department of Sociology

FALL 2008Nancy Bates (MA 1987), Secretary of the FederalCommittee on Statistical MethodologyNancy Bates, a Bartlesville native, graduated from OUwith a master’s degree in applied sociology in 1987.She attended graduate school under the Patricia EwingFellowship for Careers in Public Service. Immediatelyafter graduation, Nancy served an internship inWashington, D.C., with the IRS Research Division. Afterworking for the IRS for one year, she left that agency towork as a survey statistician with the U.S. CensusBureau’s Center for Survey Methods Research. Whileat Census, Nancy has been employed in six differentpositions. She is currently the Lead Researcher for theCensus 2010 Publicity Office. In this position, she isresponsible for overseeing the program of research forthe paid advertising campaign being developed for the2010 Decennial Census.Nancy’s research areas include survey unit nonresponseand panel attrition research, questionnairedesign and pretesting, dependent interviewingtechniques, differential undercoverage research,design and analysis of survey paradata, multi-modesurvey methods research and evaluation of outreachand advertising to promote participation in theCensus.Nancy is the secretary of the Federal Committee onStatistical Methodology, a past board member of theWashington Statistical Society and program chairof the American Statistical Association, GovernmentStatistics Section. In 2007, Nancy was the programchair of the FCSM Research Conference. For six years,Nancy was co-chair of the Interagency HouseholdSurvey Nonresponse Group, a subcommittee of theFCSM. While serving as co-chair she was responsiblefor producing a web site where the group’s workproducts are available (http://www.fcsm.gov/committees/ihsng/ihsng.htm). She serves asa representative for the American Association forPublic Opinion Research to the Council of ProfessionalAssociations on Federal Statistics. She is an associateeditor of the Journal of Official Statistics and haspublished in Survey Methodology, Journal of OfficialStatistics, Journal of Advertising Research, Journalof Economic and Social Measurement and SocialScience Research.Nancy remains a big OU football fan and returnshome for at least one game every year. She lives inWashington, D.C., in the Capital Hill neighborhoodalong with her partner of 19 years. In her sparetime, Nancy plays racquetball, is training for theupcoming Army Ten-Miler, attends Washington Mysticsbasketball games and tours the United States insearch of wine tastings. Despite being away for morethan 20 years now, Nancy is proud of her Oklahomaroots and being an OU Sociology Department alumna.

WHAT’S UP WITHTHE CHAIRIt’s been another busy year inthe Sociology Department atOU. The sociology faculty hasbeen busy awarding degreesas well as making importantcontributions to the researchliterature in their fields. Thefaculty has continued to beinvolved in some interestingteaching, research and serviceprojects. And our studentshave made importantstrides in their professionaldevelopment. I will highlight afew of these accomplishmentshere and let you read moreabout them elsewhere in thenewsletter.We have had an interesting development regardingour undergraduate program. A year ago, the universityimplemented a multidisciplinary studies program thatallows students to design their own degree programs,and a lot of people who might otherwise have beensociology majors have opted for MDS. As a result, wehave seen a sharp reduction in the number of sociologymajors. Last year at this time, we had 783 sociologymajors, and this year we have 519. This is a much moremanageable number for us. This fall our students havehad greater success getting into the courses they want,and we have been able to reduce the enrollmentsin many of our courses, providing better individualinstruction. In addition, we believe the majors we havenow are more committed to sociology; in the past, wefelt many of our majors were choosing sociology as alast-minute major when others failed to work out. Weare hopeful this change will improve the classroomexperience for both students and instructors alike.Even with this sharp reduction in sociology majors, wecontinue to have the third-highest number of majorsamong College of Arts and Sciences departments,behind only zoology and psychology, who, by the way,also appear to have lost a large number of majors tomultidisciplinary studies.We continue to believe we are doing a good job ofeducating our students and enabling them to completetheir degrees in a timely manner. In 2007-2008, 293undergraduates received their bachelor’s degrees insociology, our all-time high. Special congratulationsgo to Ben Snyder and Courtney Kuchinsky on beingnamed our Most Outstanding undergraduate studentsfor 2007-2008. Ben had an especially outstanding year,being accepted into many of the top graduate programsin sociology in the country. This fall Ben is at HarvardUniversity on a full scholarship. Among our returningstudents are Corey Helms and Angela Davis. They arehighlighted in our “What’s up with students?” section ofthe newsletter.We continue to have a healthy crop of graduatestudents as well, with nearly 40 in residence. Lastspring we admitted the largest cohort of first-yeargraduate students in the past 30 years. Among themare students from New Mexico, Texas and Arkansas, inaddition to a good crop from Oklahoma, including afew of our own former undergraduates. Our graduatestudents have been very busy, with many of themmaking important contributions to our undergraduateprogram by teaching their own courses, publishingpapers in journals and presenting papers at professionalmeetings, such as the annual meetings of the AmericanSociety of Criminology, American Academy of CriminalJustice Sciences, Southwest Sociological Association,Midwest Sociological Association and AmericanSociological Association. Recent MA graduates includeTessa North, who works for the Oklahoma Center forthe Advancement of Science and Technology; MonicaPeters, who works for the Oklahoma Regents for HigherEducation; Rene Philip, who works for the OklahomaDepartment of Corrections; and Jay Hall and SonyaConner, who have entered our Ph.D program. RecentPh.D graduates include Andrew Spivak, who now is atenure-track assistant professor at the University ofNevada at Las Vegas, and Juanita Ortiz, who is a tenuretrackassistant professor at the University of Illinois atSpringfield. Congratulations to Jay Hall, who was namedour Outstanding Master’s Student, and to MeghanMcGhee, who was our Outstanding Ph.D Student.As always, the quality of our programs depends on thetalents and dedication of a faculty committed to thestudents and the profession. The faculty has madeheroic efforts to accommodate the tidal wave of studentsenrolled in our courses while, at the same time, honoringtheir professional commitments to scholarship. You canread about some of their various projects elsewhere inthe newsletter. We have welcomed three new people tothe sociology faculty. Gordon Abra and Stephanie Burgehave joined us as new assistant professors. Gordonreceived his Ph.D from the University of Arizona in 2005and had been teaching at California State University atLong Beach. Stephanie received her Ph.D from FloridaState University in 2006. Amy Kroska joined us as atenured associate professor. Her Ph.D is from IndianaUniversity in 1997. Amy had been on the facultyat Kent State University in Ohio. Congratulations toSusan Sharp, who received the Saltzman Award forContribution to Practice from the American Society ofCriminology. This award recognizes a criminologistwhose professional accomplishments have increasedthe quality of justice and the level of safety for women.We have some interesting programs planned for 2008-2009. In particular, the Sociology Department wasawarded two Presidential Dream Courses. Through thePDC program, departments are granted up to $20,000per course from President David Boren to enhance theirregular courses by bringing in distinguished outsidespeakers. In spring, we will offer our regular course onPopulation and Society with a focus on “DemographicIssues of the 21st Century.” Robert Hummer (Universityof Texas), Philip Morgan (Duke University), DouglasMassey (Princeton University) and Angela O’Rand(Duke University) will be the guest speakers. PhilipMorgan and Douglas Massey have been presidents ofthe Population Association of America and Massey alsohas served as president of the American SociologicalAssociation. The other Dream Course is connected toour course on Sociology of Gender and it will focus on“The Status of American Women and Men in the 21stCentury.” The guest speakers for this course includeMeda Chesney-Lind (University of Hawaii), Paula England(Stanford University), Michael Messner (University ofSouthern California) and Barbara Bergman (Universityof New Mexico). Clearly, our students are in for a greatexperience this spring.Our alumni continue to provide us with generoussupport. Both Nancy Bates and Melanie Scott Erskinehave returned to campus to talk to our studentsabout careers for people with a degree in sociology.Melanie is the regional staffing operations managerfor TekSystems, a company that provides informationtechnology and communication personnel solutionsfor other companies, and Nancy works for the U.S.Census Bureau, where she is the head survey researchmethodologist. I would like to thank the followingpeople for their contributions to the department: Dr.Paul Watkins, Patricia Mullen, Rochelle Hines, LisaRiggs, Melanie Scott-Erskine, Dr. Herbert Costner,Mistele Bloom, Dr. Mark Austin, James Lauterhahn, Dr.Sheila Myers, Tracy Corley, Andrea Pixley, Dr. Ali Al-Taie,Amanda Short, Dr. Hallie Stephens, Nancy Thompson,Dr. Danell Landis, Dr. Elizabeth Darrough, Roger Hair,Betsy Blakeman, and Bob Thompson. I apologize if Ihave left anyone off this list. Their contributions made itpossible to fund our student awards and hold our annualgraduation reception in May. But with nearly 3,000alumni, we can and need to do more. So, this year we aregoing to redouble our efforts at fundraising. We need toraise enough money that we can send our students toprofessional meetings without them having to dig intotheir own pockets. We need to be able to provide smallgrants to assist students with their research projects. Weneed to provide more generous prizes for our studentawards. And, we need to establish scholarships tohelp some of our many deserving students with therising costs of a college education. As usual, I pledgeto match the first $1,000 in donations, so don’t pass upthis opportunity. See the last page of the newsletter forinformation on how you can contribute.I hope you enjoy this year’s newsletter. As always,we enjoy hearing from you and will gladly include infuture newsletters personals about our alumni. Justgive me a call at (405) 325-1751 or send me an e-mail atcstjohn@ou.edu.Best,Professor and Chair

Professor Craig Eckertearned his bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees fromOU in 1978 and 1979. In1985, he went on to earnhis doctoral degree insociology from the Universityof Missouri-Columbia.He has been changinglives at Eastern for 21years, and is currently inhis third term as villagepresident of Philo, Ill.Cameron Ware, Criminology, 2007.Cameron is shown here with SusanSharp, Ph.D., at his graduation fromthe Norman Police Academy.Diane Deal, Sociology, 2005, is workingon her master’s degree in humanrelations at OU. She has been employedat Tinker AFB for four years.Eric Martinson, Criminology,2008, Eric completed his degreewhile deployed in Iraq.Spring 2008 doctoral recipients, from left: Nicole Warehime (Erika BrynnWarehime, born on Aug. 7, 2008), Juanita Ortiz, Meghan McGhee andAndrew Spivak.Nicole Warehime (Ph.D. 2008)accepted a position as assistant professor of sociologyat Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla.Andrew Spivak (Ph.D. 2008) has moved to LasVegas to teach at the University of Nevada.Juanita Ortiz (ABD) took a position as a lecturerin the Criminal Justice Department at the Universityof Illinois at Springfield. Her teaching and researchinterests focus on the topics of prisoner reentry;women and crime; residential segregation; andstratification by race, class and gender. At UIS, shewill concentrate in the broad areas of social justiceand public policy.Do We Know Where YOU Are?OU Alumni DirectoryThe alumni directory allows OU alumni toupdate their record, activate an OU alumnie-mail address, post class notes andstay in touch with OU friends.http://www.ou.edu/alumni

facultyDuring the 2007-2008 school year, Professor Thomas Burns traveled to Brazil, where he was invited to speak at theinternational convention of the Society for Human Ecology about his work examining the complex interconnectionsamong social, technological, economic and environmental outcomes. Coinciding with the trip, Tom’s work on rhetoricand environmental movements was translated into Portuguese and published in Ambiente & Sociedade, a journalhighlighting research of human ecologists from around the world for an audience of Brazilian researchers andpolicymakers.While in Brazil, Tom toured the Tijuca National Park and Forest, which is one of the world’s largest successful attemptsat reforestation of previously cleared land. While there, he also was asked to author a review article on culture and theenvironment, which will appear in a volume of collected work to be published by Cambridge Press.Tom’s recent experience in Brazil stems from work began nearly a decade and a half ago, when he was lead authoron the first macro-comparative study to develop structural equation models quantifying social, economic anddemographic factors leading to deforestation throughout the world. That and his related work has documentedhow causes of environmental degradation vary significantly and dramatically among countries of different levels ofdevelopment.In addition to his work on the human dimensions of global environmentalchange, Tom also does research on social institutions, with a particular interestin religion. In connection with that, he teaches a course in comparative worldreligions that is popular with sociology and religious studies majors as well asother students across campus.During the last year, Tom has focused much of his attention on a project thatexamines modernity processes over the longue duree, from pre-modernitythrough modernity and post-modernity, and their effects on institutionaldevelopment, particularly religious institutions. He is working on a bookon that topic, and has been invited to participate next summer in the OxfordRound Table project at Oxford University in the U.K., where he will speak onhis work and participate in a scholarly exchange with other experts fromaround the world.Dr. Rob ClarkRobClark’s research examines cross-national inequality across a range of outcomes, including economic growth,educational expansion, physical welfare, environmental protection and human rights. For example, why do somecountries experience robust economic growth while others are mired in underdevelopment? Why have somecountries expanded their higher education enrollments more quickly than others? One possible explanation involvesinternational networks. Networks are potentially important for diffusing technological innovation, socialpolicies and cultural values. Not surprisingly, a number of theoretical perspectives from economics, political scienceand sociology suggest network integration in cross-national relations can be beneficial for countries. That is,nations that interact heavily with other nations may fare better than more isolated countries. Rob put this theoryto the test with a network analysis of world trade and international organizations across 168 nations. Amongother things, he found countries with a large number of trade partners experience more rapid economic growththan countries with a small number of trade partners. Also, he found countries with a large number of internationalorganization memberships experience faster educational expansion than countries with a small number ofmemberships.A second theme in Rob’s research is determining the extent to which developing nations are “catching up” to theadvanced world across a range of outcomes, including economic globalization, life expectancy, infant mortality,and human rights. For example, in one project, Rob explores cross-national inequality in human rights practicesover the past several decades. Although many developing nations have ratified most human rights instruments inrecent years, this has not substantially reformed their actual behavior, resulting in a persistent human rights gapbetween advanced and developing nations. Rob is investigating reasons for this discrepancy between a state’spublic embrace of human rights norms and its frequent non-compliance with these norms.Stephanie Burge joined the Sociology facultyin August as an assistant professor. After growing up inMandeville, La, she attended Florida State University, whereshe received her Bachelor of Science in sociology in 2000.After deciding she wanted to pursue graduate work, shecontinued her studies at Florida State University, from whichshe received an Master of Science in sociology in 2002, and herdoctoral degree. in 2006. Stephanie’s teaching and researchinterests fall within the areas of aging, gender, and education.Stephanie’s dissertation focused on changes in adolescents’intended college majors and eventual degree attainmentsbefore and after the Second Wave Women’s Movement. Shefound that in the 1970s, womenwho valued family were less likelyto intend to major in science fieldsand achieve science degrees,while men’s science intentions andachievements were not affected bytheir family attitudes. However, bythe 1990s, young women and menwho valued family were both lesslikely to intend to major in science,although women who valued familyremained less likely to achieve a science degree than similarlyfamily-oriented men.Stephanie also studies frail elders’ experiences in long-termcare settings, such as assisted living. Specifically, she isinterested in those factors that facilitate elders’ successfuladjustment to their new living arrangements. She has foundthat social relationships- with staff and other residents in thefacility are key for residents’ quality of life and sense of beingat he in their new living environment. Currently, Stephanieis working on a new project with Debra Street (a colleagueat SUNY-Buffalo) that examines how assisted living residents’perceptions of closeness with staff and other residents vary inaccordance with the organizational context of the facility.Stephanie has been teaching for the Sociology Departmentfor two years as a visiting instructor. Her courses in gender,aging, social problems and minority groups have receivedrave reviews from students. The department is very pleasedto welcome Stephanie into a tenure track position.Stephanie’s husband, Greg, also a Florida State graduate, is anassistant professor in the Economics Department.

facultyAmy Kroska, Ph.D.Amy Kroska joins the faculty this year as a tenured associate professor after having worked from 1997 to2008 at Kent State University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 1989 from the College of SaintBenedict in St. Joseph, Minn., and she received her Master of Arts (1993) and doctoral degrees (1997) fromIndiana University. Amy grew up in Rochester, Minn. in a family with children who spanned 20 years in age,so she grew up with nieces and nephews very close to her in age. Despite (or perhaps because of) living inMinnesota for 22 years, she very much looks forward to the hot and sunny Oklahoma summers.Amy’s research and teaching focuses on social psychology, family, mental health, gender and emotions.She uses social psychological theories to explain the way attitudes about gender roles affect the meaningsindividuals give to social roles (e.g., a mother) and to themselves. In a recent study, for example, Amy and acolleague used national survey data to examine the factors that shape individuals’ gender ideology. Theirmost striking finding suggests individuals adjust their gender ideology to fit with their paid work and familylife. That is, individuals with egalitarian gender attitudes but traditional family and work patterns tend tobecome more traditional in their attitudes over time, and vice versa. Amy and her colleagues also have beeninvestigating the consequences of stigma. In one study, they are investigating the stigma consequences ofreceiving a psychiatric diagnosis. They find being diagnosed as “a mentally ill person” affects psychiatricpatients’ self-meanings but are unrelated to those of non-patients. In another, they are investigating thestigma associated with the juvenile delinquency label. Their findings show the meanings associated withbeing labeled “a juvenile delinquent” affect teens who have been adjudicated delinquent but are unrelated toother teens’ self-meanings.Demographic TransitionsNewest Member of the Faculty: Gordon AbraGordon Abra joins the OU faculty this fall after teaching at the California State University at Long Beach from2000 to 2008. Although initially a physics major, he earned his honors sociology undergraduate degree atthe University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. He received his masters (1998) and doctorate (2005) degreesin sociology from the University of Arizona. Gordon grew up in Calgary, Canada, in the foothills of the RockyMountains.Gordon specializes in the sociology of law, social networks and small groups research, but his academic interestsspan the intellectual spectrum. Recently, his research activity has centered on the social elements of videogames, particularly the causes and consequences of cheating. He has found parallels between the motivationof cheaters and the perception of external authority. He suspects, counter-intuitively, that all forms of cheatingincrease when monitored and the responsibility shifts to external authorities. Gordon can often be foundengaging opponents in first-person shooter games, a genre of computer gaming in which the player assumesthe visual perspective of the character they control (well-known examples are the HALO series in X-box, or theDOOM series for PC’s), and attempts to engage and defeat other players. It is quite similar to a video version ofpaintball. Currently, Gordon is writing about the structure of social networks produced by these competitivegames. He has found that the social ties between gamers are very strong, and cross national and culturalboundaries, as well as age, gender and racial boundaries, even for players who have never met in person.Especially of interest are the reactions of friends to the death of a gamer whom they have never met in person.The reactions range from strong grief, to belief that the death has not, in fact, occurred.Gordon is married to Professor Norah Dunbar of OU’s Communication Studies department. His 8-month-old son,Rob, has declared allegiance to the Sooners. Gordon recently re-discovered ice hockey, and has been graduallyworking his way back into the sport. He is excited about the opportunity to join such an active workplace, andlooks forward to many years with his new colleagues.

Criminology internshipsprovide students withvaluable experience.By Courtney Paris/The DailyJuly 2, 2008For 11 years William Clay has advised OU students as a sociology adviser and as an assistantprofessor.For 11 years he has asked the same question, “What do you want to be?”And for 11 years he has heard many of the same responses.“An FBI agent, a profiler ora police detective.” The criminology theme is a result of prime time television showslike “CSI”, “Law and Order” and “The Closer,” Clay said.“This just tells me these kidsare watching TV,” he said. “They don’t know what these jobs really entail, so we hookthem up with an internship to show them.” OU does not offer a degree in criminology,but a sociology degree with an emphasis in criminology. This curriculum emphasizesmore on the theory of criminology and less on the specifics of certain jobs, Clay said.“Here, we ask the questions,” he said. “We study why crime activity happens. Wedon’t have labs to teach them about blood splatter; we don’t show them how to usehandcuffs.”To help students get an idea of what they are looking to do with their degrees, the departmenthas found different places around the state that offer student internships.“Wetry to give students an idea of what they can do with their degree,” Clay said. “Weplace them in different organizations that can give them experience of the actual jobthey are looking to do.” One of the internship programs students is through the OUPD.For years Clay has been advising students to Officer Steven Chandler for a semesterlong-internship that includes ride-alongs, office work, and other on-site duties.“Wespread them around from administration records, to dispatch to working side by sidewith detectives,” Chandler said. “We try to show them how an actual police officefunctions.”Cory Bennett, a sociology major with an emphasis in criminology, started his internshipwith the OUPD on June 10. Bennett said he went into the internship expectingto learn what working at a police station was like from day to day, and in the processhas learned a lot more.“I’ve learned that police officers go through a lot of trainingand practice to learn how to deal with citizens on a daily basis without violating theirrights,” Bennett said. “My favorite thing is the ride-alongs — it lets you interact withthe people and it’s funny how people react whenever a cop is around.”He also said hehas learned other technical things, like the proper way to handle firearms. Chandlersaid he believes the internship does more than just learning the skills of the profession— it allows students to get a new perspective on what police officers actually do.“Theysee a different side than what’s on TV,” Chandler said. “They actually get an appreciationfor what law enforcement really is.”Internships used to be a requirement for sociology majors, Clay said. Now they areoffered as an option for students looking to fulfill their upper division electives, buteven though an internship is no longer mandatory, Clay said it is worthwhile to students’futures.“With the experience they are getting and the networking they arepartaking in, most of them end up getting jobs out of the deal,” Clay said. “Thesestudents were a lot more marketable. If you went around Oklahoma, you’d find ourstudents.”Sometimes the students find their expectations for the job did not matchup with their experience in the internship, Clay said.“Sometimes we get students thatrealize this isn’t what they want to do,” he said. “Even that has some benefits — theyaren’t wasting time on something that they don’t really want.”To learn more log onto http://www.ou.edu/soc or e-mail William Clay atwcclay@ou.edu.

2008 Sociology AwardsMost Outstanding Achievement In Sociology:John “ Ben “ SnyderMost Outstanding Achievement In Criminology:Courtney KuchinskyCriminology Outstanding Students:Ryann BlairErin BrickmanChad BunchNathaniel FrancoSiobhan GowerHarry HoelscherTarah PeeryRanda ReevesShannon RodgersGeneral Sociology Outstanding Students:Angela DavisThomas GreenCorey HelmsJana KnottHannah KokjohnKelsey MartinWhitney MullinsCourtney TungateService Awards:Jessica PerkinsJohn “ Ben “ SnyderResearch Awards:Angela DavisJohn “ Ben “ SnyderRoyline Williams-FontenelleGraduate Awards:Jason Hall - Masters LevelMeghan McGhee - Doctoral Level

What’s Up with Current Students...Corey Helmsis a sociologysenior from Duncan,Okla. Longwanting to pursueundergraduatedegrees inarchitecture andmathematics, hedecided to come to OU in fall of 2005. However,it didn’t take long for him to realize withinhimself a vested interest in the interactions andmotivations of people and the groups to whichthey belong. Four majors and one and a halfyears later, he eventually found his way into thesociology program after taking his intro course.Since then, he has immersed himself into theprogram, establishing himself within the department,serving on its Student Advisory Committeeand being selected as one of the OutstandingGeneral Sociology Students in the spring of2008. Additionally, he will be assisting Dr. RobertFranzese in the completion of his latest bookon the sociology of deviance.In his time in the sociology program, he has hadthe opportunity to apply what he has learned,working as a child welfare specialist with theOklahoma Department of Human Services, aswell as participating in the university’s crisis andsuicide prevention hotline.Wanting to begin working with at-risk youth, hewill be graduating in the Fall of 2008, hopingto return in the not so distant future to pursuea graduate degree in community counseling orcounseling psychology.Angela Davis is a seniormajoring in general sociology.She will graduate inMay of 2009. Angela wasnamed one of our outstandinggeneral sociologystudents for 2008.After graduation she plansto attend graduate school.This year she was selectedto be a McNair Scholar forthe second consecutive year.Her McNair research projectwill investigate whether differences in students’socioeconomic status influence motivation towardacademic engagement.Angela is a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, anational honor society for sociology students,and of the American Sociological Association.Angela is originally from East Los Angeles, Calif.,having moved to Oklahoma in July of 2001.She is married to her best friend from highschool and is fortunate to have two awesomekids! When people ask, “Why did you movefrom California to Oklahoma?” the simple answeris, her husband was admitted to graduateschool at OU. Education is an important aspectof her family’s lives, so the move to Oklahomawas a rational choice. Although she misses herfamily back home, being at OU has been wellworth the move.In May of 2009 her husband will graduate witha doctorate in educational psychology. Theirdaughter is freshman at OU and is enjoyingher college experience. And their son is in fifthgrade, a budding scholar and talented athlete.This is a very exciting time in Angela’s life andOU has played a central role in so much of theexcitement!From left:Tiffany Jenson, Kelly Damphousse, Miao Miao Chen, Mary Wiles Brooks,Dean Bell, Donabelle HessStudent Awards:College of Arts and Sciences Awards: Mary Wiles Brooks, Sturgus scholarship. Miao Miao Chen,Price Scholarship. Donabelle Hess and Tiffany Jenson, Second Century scholarship.Miyuki Fukushima was the second-place winner of the Midwest Sociologists for Women in Society’sGraduate Student Paper Competition at 2008 Annual Meeting of Midwest Sociological Society inSt. Louis.Tara Shaw was one of 14 winners of the SAGE/Pine Forge Teaching Innovations and ProfessionalDevelopment awards.Akiko Yoshida won the Alpha Kappa Delta, Graduate Student Paper Competition, 3rd PlaceStudent Publications:Fukushima, Miyuki, Susan F. Sharp, and Emiko Kobayashi. (Forthcoming in 2009). “Bond to Society,Collectivism, and Conformity: A Comparative Study of Japanese and American College Students”Deviant Behavior.Student Presentations:Akiko Yoshida: “The Role of Cultural Lag in Marriage Decline for Japan’s Boom and Bust Cohorts”American Sociological Association, annual meeting, 2008. Also “Dads Who Do Diapers: Factorsthat Impact Care of Young Children by Fathers”. NSFG Research Conference, Hyattsville, Md.Miyuki Fukushima: “Gender and Deviance: An Application of Social Learning Theory to GenderedDeviance.” Annual Meeting of Midwest Sociological Society, 2008.Donabelle Hess: “An Island Away: Race/Ethnic Construction of Foreign and Native Born FilipinoAmericans in Oklahoma” FANHS Filipino American National Historical Society - Anchorage, AlaskaConference, 2008

Professor Craig Eckertearned his bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees fromOU in 1978 and 1979. In1985, he went on to earnhis doctoral degree insociology from the Universityof Missouri-Columbia.He has been changinglives at Eastern for 21years, and is currently inhis third term as villagepresident of Philo, Ill.Cameron Ware, Criminology, 2007.Cameron is shown here with SusanSharp, Ph.D., at his graduation fromthe Norman Police Academy.Diane Deal, Sociology, 2005, is workingon her master’s degree in humanrelations at OU. She has been employedat Tinker AFB for four years.Eric Martinson, Criminology,2008, Eric completed his degreewhile deployed in Iraq.Spring 2008 doctoral recipients, from left: Nicole Warehime (Erika BrynnWarehime, born on Aug. 7, 2008), Juanita Ortiz, Meghan McGhee andAndrew Spivak.Nicole Warehime (Ph.D. 2008)accepted a position as assistant professor of sociologyat Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla.Andrew Spivak (Ph.D. 2008) has moved to LasVegas to teach at the University of Nevada.Juanita Ortiz (ABD) took a position as a lecturerin the Criminal Justice Department at the Universityof Illinois at Springfield. Her teaching and researchinterests focus on the topics of prisoner reentry;women and crime; residential segregation; andstratification by race, class and gender. At UIS, shewill concentrate in the broad areas of social justiceand public policy.Do We Know Where YOU Are?OU Alumni DirectoryThe alumni directory allows OU alumni toupdate their record, activate an OU alumnie-mail address, post class notes andstay in touch with OU friends.http://www.ou.edu/alumni

These folks have:Dr. Tracey SteeleDr. Victor GrozaDr. Andrew SpivakMs. Nancy BatesM.B. KennedyDr. Craig EckertMs. Wendy ColombMs. Deborah NewportDr. Mark AustinMr. Robert ClymerDr. Roy BarnettDr. Alexandra AlbrechtMr. James LauterhahnDr. Sheila Taylor MyersDr. Donald AustinDr. M. Elizabeth DarroughDr. Roy Lewis BarnettDr. Alexandra Sukyon Kwak AlbrechtMs. Nancy BatesMr. Robert Boyt ClymerMs. Jennifer HackneyMs. Mary Baldwin KennedyMr. Roger D. HairDr. Nancy SonleitnerMr. Ryan K. McComberMs. Mistele Griffith BloomDr. Hallie Ess StephensMs. Betsy A. BlakemanMr. Bob ThompsonThank You!