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2012

Claremont Colleges

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Articles 1 - 30 of 202

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Evaluation Theory And Practice, Stewart I. Donaldson Dec 2012

Evaluation Theory And Practice, Stewart I. Donaldson

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

One of the topics I was determined to discuss with my European colleagues at the Helsinki Conference was the use of theory in evaluation practice. I was thrilled to stumble upon several thought provoking discussions regarding the use of theory in evaluation. A common theme was the belief that teaching evaluation practitioners about theory was critical to a better future for the evaluation discipline. But why is theory so important? The session I addressed on this topic also involved Frans Leeuw, Evert Vedung and Gary Henry. I emerged from the session with some new (and old) insights about evaluation theory …

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Policy Challenges In A Dual Exchange Rate Regime, Sven W. Arndt Aug 2012

Policy Challenges In A Dual Exchange Rate Regime, Sven W. Arndt

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

It is known that the effectiveness of macro policies depends on the exchange-rate regime. Pertinent models have typically considered either fixed or floating rates rather than mixed regimes. In recent years, however, the dollar has floated against most currencies, while being fixed against the yuan. This paper argues that a flex-price, dual-rate model consisting of the U.S., China and the Eurozone, combined with distinct adjustment patterns in tradables and non-tradables sectors and a tendency for policy makers to treat inflation in housing as pure asset inflation, provides a plausible explanation of the great moderation and its aftermath.

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A Workshop To Introduce Concepts Of Moral Math, Sarah Voss Jul 2012

A Workshop To Introduce Concepts Of Moral Math, Sarah Voss

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

"Moral Math" refers to the study of ideas drawn from mathematics which can positively impact moral decision-making and social behavior. This essay describes a workshop designed to introduce these ideas to interested individuals of varying degrees of mathematical and theological sophistication. Created by a retired minister and former math professor, the workshop details five sets of interactive exercises culled from game theory, theoretical complexity, fuzzy logic, basic algebra, and simple arithmetic. Exercises are user-friendly, interactive, and easily related by analogy to various social issues.

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Homology In Developmental Psychology, David S. Moore Jul 2012

Homology In Developmental Psychology, David S. Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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A Story Of Four Revolutions: Mechanisms Of Change In India, Aseema Sinha Jul 2012

A Story Of Four Revolutions: Mechanisms Of Change In India, Aseema Sinha

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Sumit Ganguly and Rahul Mukherji’s India Since 1980 presents a bold and ambitious argument about change across and within India. Its unique contribution lies in its description of four distinct revolutions: social-political, economic, foreign policy, and religious. While many recent books have noted changes in India’s economy and foreign policy, India Since 1980 will be known for its juxtaposition of four different themes in one short, pithy volume. Even if one may disagree with the authors’ choice of the four dimensions of change, the book’s dominant message is that India is changing across a whole range of policies and arenas.

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'I Am Rooted, But I Flow': Virginia Woolf And 20th Century Thought, Emily Lauren Hanna May 2012

'I Am Rooted, But I Flow': Virginia Woolf And 20th Century Thought, Emily Lauren Hanna

Scripps Senior Theses

My thesis is about Virginia Woolf’s novels, Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, and To the Lighthouse. I examine these novels in relation to the theories of Henri Bergson, William James, and Sigmund Freud, and the groundwork of Modernism. I relate Woolf's use of water imagery and stream of consciousness technique to Bergson’s theory of “la durée,” or psychological, subjective time, James’ “stream of consciousness” theory in psychology, and Freud’s theory of the “oceanic” feeling of religious experience.

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Effects Of Method And Context Of Note-Taking On Memory: Handwriting Versus Typing In Lecture And Textbook-Reading Contexts, Ian Schoen May 2012

Effects Of Method And Context Of Note-Taking On Memory: Handwriting Versus Typing In Lecture And Textbook-Reading Contexts, Ian Schoen

Pitzer Senior Theses

Both electronic note-taking (typing) and traditional note-taking (handwriting) are being utilized by college students to retain information. The effects of the method of note-taking and note-taking context were examined to determine if handwriting or typing notes and whether a lecture context or a textbook-reading context influenced retention. Pitzer College and Scripps College students were assigned to either handwrite or type notes on a piece of academic material presented in either a lecture or textbook context and were given a test to assess their retention. The results demonstrated that there was a significant main effect for typing notes such that typing …

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Agricultural Efficiency And The End Of The Oil Age; Building A Future Of Longevity, Keith Mchugh May 2012

Agricultural Efficiency And The End Of The Oil Age; Building A Future Of Longevity, Keith Mchugh

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis uses an efficiency analysis of agricultural systems to assert that, in lieu of rising prices of fossil fuel, people need to come into more direct contact with their food systems. With a switch to smaller, more efficient farms that rely less on fossil fuel and are connected with the communities they supply for, we can avoid an energy crisis turning into a famine. These smaller-scale systems can help create self-contained, carbon-neutral communities.

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Get Your Butt Off The Ground!: Consequences Of Cigarette Waste And Litter-Reducing Methods, Joyce Lee May 2012

Get Your Butt Off The Ground!: Consequences Of Cigarette Waste And Litter-Reducing Methods, Joyce Lee

Pomona Senior Theses

Cigarette butts are rapidly accumulating on our planet; trillions of them are discarded every year. In this paper, I examine why cigarette litter is a problem. I first discuss the biodegradability of filters and its scientific basis, including ways to enhance degradation rates by chemically manipulating filters. I also talk about the persistence of cigarette chemicals and their potential toxic effects on children and animals. I consider other social, economic, and environmental consequences of cigarette filters and chemicals. Furthermore, I discuss various solutions smokers and non-smokers alike have created to address the problem of cigarette litter; these methods come from …

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The Full Cost Of Renewables: Managing Wind Integration Costs In California, William Savage May 2012

The Full Cost Of Renewables: Managing Wind Integration Costs In California, William Savage

Pomona Senior Theses

Wind power will be an important component of California's aggressive strategies to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by the year 2020. However, the costs of integrating wind power's variable and uncertain output are often ignored. I argue that California must take prudent action to understand, minimize, and allocate wind integration costs. A review of numerous studies suggests that for wind penetration levels below 20%, integration costs should remain modest. However, costs are heavily dependent on market structure, and I suggest numerous ways that California can optimize its market design to manage wind integration costs.

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Alexithymia, Emotional Intelligence, And Their Relation To Word Usage In Expressive Writing, Kate M. Pluth May 2012

Alexithymia, Emotional Intelligence, And Their Relation To Word Usage In Expressive Writing, Kate M. Pluth

Scripps Senior Theses

This correlational and experimental study examines how people with different levels of alexithymia and emotional intelligence write about their emotional experiences. Because research on expressive writing (writing about important emotional experiences) has found such far-reaching therapeutic benefits, and attributes much of it to expressive writing's linguistic properties, exploring how a person's emotional understanding relates to language matters. Sixty-eight participants engaged in Pennebaker's expressive writing paradigm, and their word usage was measured on a number of categories, as given by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program. Results indicated that different levels of emotional intelligence and alexithymia correlated with certain parameters …

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Measures Of Social Cognition In The Laboratory And Real World: Towards Temporal Dynamics Of Implicit Other-Regard, Danielle Tucci May 2012

Measures Of Social Cognition In The Laboratory And Real World: Towards Temporal Dynamics Of Implicit Other-Regard, Danielle Tucci

Scripps Senior Theses

Social cognition is a fundamental aspect of human experience that enables us to have relationships with and understanding of other people. Social relationships have been shown to mitigate cognitive decline in old age and benefit cognitive functioning, and the social interaction on which these relationships rely requires an extensive network of cognitive processes, and by extension neural systems, that have not, as of yet, been widely studied in older adults. Nor has the function of these systems been tied to social relationships in the real world. Here, I will compare self-reports of real-world quality and extent of social networks with …

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Supply Vs. Demand: Re-Entering America's Prison Population Into The Workforce, Marissa Leigh Enfield May 2012

Supply Vs. Demand: Re-Entering America's Prison Population Into The Workforce, Marissa Leigh Enfield

Scripps Senior Theses

Because rejoining the workforce may prevent against ex-offender recidivism, securing gainful employment is one of the best indicators of successful societal reintegration for released prisoners. However, the stigma attached to a criminal history, combined with ex-prisoners’ lack of human capital, may threaten their ability to obtain a job. The present study examines hiring managers’ attitudes towards previously imprisoned offenders applying for positions in their workplace. Using a combination of brief, fictional applicant biographies and surveys, this mixed-groups factorial study explores how hiring managers (N= 28) consider gender, type of offense, and race when an ex-offender is assessed during the application …

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Vantage Point And Visual Imagery: Effects On Recall In Younger And Older Adults, Allison J. Midden May 2012

Vantage Point And Visual Imagery: Effects On Recall In Younger And Older Adults, Allison J. Midden

Scripps Senior Theses

The current study explored the influence of priming vantage point at retrieval on the recall of younger and older adults, in addition to the effects of visualization ability on recall. Based on McIsaac and Eich’s (2002) findings of the effects on younger adults’ recall, it was hypothesized that recollections would be more likely to include certain features when retrieved through the field vantage point (FVP) than through the observer vantage point (OVP) and vice-versa. Additionally, it was expected that older adults would recall more detailed memories from the OVP than from the FVP. Finally, it was hypothesized that visualization ability …

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Emotion And Inhibition: Pride Versus Happiness, Emery K. Hilles May 2012

Emotion And Inhibition: Pride Versus Happiness, Emery K. Hilles

Scripps Senior Theses

The central question of my thesis is how different positive emotions affect inhibition. Katzir, Eyal, Meiran, and Kessler (2010) addressed this question using an antisaccade task and found that happiness decreased inhibition compared to pride, which they attribute to the links between pride and long-term goals and happiness and short-term goals. I attempted to generalize their results to a color-naming Stroop task and predicted that their results would not generalize because their study had little supporting research and their method had several limitations. I tested 45 students of the Claremont Colleges and found partial support for Katzir et al. Participants …

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Language Brokering A Dynamic Phenomenon: A Qualitative Study Examining The Experiences Of Latina/O Language Brokers, Adriana Esquivel May 2012

Language Brokering A Dynamic Phenomenon: A Qualitative Study Examining The Experiences Of Latina/O Language Brokers, Adriana Esquivel

Scripps Senior Theses

Language brokers are children of immigrants who use their skills as bilinguals to interpret or translate for their family and/or community members. Although language brokering may begin in childhood or preadolescence, language brokering may continue until adulthood. While there are a small number of studies that have touched upon change over time, this study’s primary focus is on language brokers’ experiences relating to change over time. This was accomplished through semi-structured in depth retrospective interviews among Latina/o young adults attending small liberal arts colleges. Three aspects of language brokering were examined, the practice of language brokering, feeling towards language brokering, …

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Female Labor Force Participation In Argentina, 1980-2003: Gendered Trends And Responses To Crisis, Natalie Butterfield May 2012

Female Labor Force Participation In Argentina, 1980-2003: Gendered Trends And Responses To Crisis, Natalie Butterfield

Scripps Senior Theses

How do the experiences of women in the labor market differ from the experiences of men? Do economic crises affect their labor market decisions differently? Economists have investigated the responses of women to specific moments of crisis in Argentina – the country lends itself well to this analysis, as the last three decades of its history have seen both economic growth and financial collapse. With the crisis literature in mind, I investigate trends in female labor force participation rates in Argentina between 1980-2003, finding that while some evidence supports the “added worker effect” hypothesis, more research must be done to …

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Delivering Quality Care: The Roles And Future Of Midwives In Southern California, Abigail Jones May 2012

Delivering Quality Care: The Roles And Future Of Midwives In Southern California, Abigail Jones

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States is ranked 27th in the world for maternal mortality, yet spends twice as much on maternity care services as countries with better maternal health indicators. Stuck in a technocratic and physician-dominated maternity care system, the U.S. depends on expensive technologies to control birth out of fear of pain and litigation, costing Americans billions of dollars and depriving women of the opportunity to have a transformative birth experience. Through an analysis of the medicalization of birth and the current biomedical model in birth, in conjunction with open-ended interviews with 5 hospital midwives and 3 homebirth midwives, the …

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Conversion Theory Through The Cognitive Science Of Religion Lense In A Christian-Muslim Context, Jennifer A. Garcia May 2012

Conversion Theory Through The Cognitive Science Of Religion Lense In A Christian-Muslim Context, Jennifer A. Garcia

Scripps Senior Theses

The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) in recent years is beginning to become more popular. This project evolves around the development of the field as well as critiques of the field. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of CSR, it lends an interesting way to understand religion as well as religious experiences. One of those religious experiences, conversion, is examined and explored through the use of conversion narratives from western women who were formally Christian but converted to Islam. Many themes arise out of this research that paves the way for trying to understand religious experiences. Overall, the project focuses on …

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Implications Of Land Development On Nomadic Pastoralism: Ecological Relaxation And Biosocial Diversity In Human Populations, Hannah R. Bradley May 2012

Implications Of Land Development On Nomadic Pastoralism: Ecological Relaxation And Biosocial Diversity In Human Populations, Hannah R. Bradley

Scripps Senior Theses

Nomadic pastoralism is an ancient subsistence strategy, historically balanced and in continuity with sedentary societies. Sedentarization of nomads occurs normally because of ecological disasters, economic opportunities, urbanization, and government policy. In this paper, I examine the effect of changing land use patterns on nomadic pastoral populations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, using biogeographic methodology to further explore the contemporary relationship between humans and their environments. Nomadic population information gleaned from diverse ethnographic studies, and GIS data on anthropogenic biome distributions, were used to calculate changes in nomadic population, area of developed land, and nomadic/sedentary population density over the …

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Navigating The Diverse Dimensions Of Stereotypes, With Domain Specific Deficits: Processes Of Trait Judgments About Individuals With Disabilities, Christina G. Boardman May 2012

Navigating The Diverse Dimensions Of Stereotypes, With Domain Specific Deficits: Processes Of Trait Judgments About Individuals With Disabilities, Christina G. Boardman

Scripps Senior Theses

Stereotype groups are interrelated. For example, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, racial minorities are referred to special education at a much higher rate than are majority racial groups (Tse, Lloyd, Petchkovsky, and Manaia, 2005; Harry, Arnaiz, Klingner, Sturges, 2008). The Stereotype Content Model describes stereotype relationships in terms of an interaction between competence and warmth. Warmth is the more consistent dimension. The nature of competence remains elusive (Fiske, Cuddy, and Glick, 2007; Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu, 2002). Knowledge of relationships between stereotype groups, which themselves may be effects of bias, could factor into observed competence effects. …

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Protecting The Last Tree: Environmental Education In The United States, 1990-2012, Liza R. Baskir May 2012

Protecting The Last Tree: Environmental Education In The United States, 1990-2012, Liza R. Baskir

Pitzer Senior Theses

Having already been hired as an environmental organizer, I reflect on how my childhood experiences impacted me. I embark upon this vocational journey with youthful optimism, a good dose of realism, and just a touch of cynicism. An environmental organizer is someone who works mobilizing individuals around targeted environmental issues. They create policy changes that are environmentally positive… generally for little pay. What has motivated me, and scores of others, to willingly take on this seemingly impossible task? For me: was it the summer vacations to Yellowstone and The Rocky Mountains with my brothers and parents? Maybe it was being …

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“Dismantling The Big” Critiquing The Western Development Model And Foreign Aid And Analyzing Alternatives For Domestic Development Of Dams In Nepal, Ana Berry May 2012

“Dismantling The Big” Critiquing The Western Development Model And Foreign Aid And Analyzing Alternatives For Domestic Development Of Dams In Nepal, Ana Berry

Pitzer Senior Theses

This paper argues for the importance of scale, management and sovereign-led development in considering a more human-centric model for Third World development. It begins by reviewing the history of the mainstream Western development model through the evolution of modernization theory and foreign aid. It explores general critiques of this model offered by scholars, focusing on unequal power relations, the high cost of aid, and problems with ‘cookie cutter’ style development projects that don’t take into account disparate environments. As the paper progresses, focus shifts more specifically to hydropower development and ‘Big Dams’. Nepal is the main case study for exemplifying …

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San Antonio High School Food Justice Program: A Handbook And Evaluation Of Edible Education, Katherine B. Tenneson May 2012

San Antonio High School Food Justice Program: A Handbook And Evaluation Of Edible Education, Katherine B. Tenneson

Pitzer Senior Theses

This senior environmental studies thesis explains and analyzes edible education through a food and gardening program at a continuation high school in Claremont, California. The first chapter situates the program-specific analysis by providing background information of the edible education movement, a history of the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, and an explanation of why food is a powerful teaching tool. The second chapter delineates the program by describing all of its components and compiling essential resources and teaching documents. The third chapter is based on interviews with 9 of 12 involved students and 7 teachers, and thoroughly explains the outcomes …

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Outsiders In An Inside Game: The Effects Of The Traditional Soviet Economy Of Favors On Foreigners Doing Business In Contemporary Russia, Brittney A. Lenard May 2012

Outsiders In An Inside Game: The Effects Of The Traditional Soviet Economy Of Favors On Foreigners Doing Business In Contemporary Russia, Brittney A. Lenard

Pomona Senior Theses

Blat, or the exchange of favors among friends, played a key role in the Soviet Union. The ability to use connections to gain access to hard-to-find goods or services was practically indispensible in the shortage economy. But blat has also been important in the post-Soviet environment, particularly in business. People with powerful connections have achieved success, while those outside of the business networks have been left behind. Thus, the ability to establish and maintain connections determines who succeeds in Russian business today. I argue that this dynamic significantly disadvantages foreign businesses in Russia because it favors insiders, is difficult …

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Exploitation Via Location: Latinas In The Garment Industry, Katherine J. Woodward May 2012

Exploitation Via Location: Latinas In The Garment Industry, Katherine J. Woodward

Scripps Senior Theses

My thesis is about the evolution of the garment industry, both in the U.S and worldwide, with particular emphasis on how this has impacted Latinas and other poor immigrant groups. The thesis traces the rise of garment unions in the U.S. and their subsequent decline as a consequence of competition from the East Asian garment industry and U.S. trade policy. It also discusses the vulnerability of Latinos in the U.S. as a group to exploitation by low wage industries as a result of racial and gender prejudice and legal status.

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Seattle's Orchards: A Historic Legacy Meets Modern Sustainability, Audrey L. Lieberworth May 2012

Seattle's Orchards: A Historic Legacy Meets Modern Sustainability, Audrey L. Lieberworth

Scripps Senior Theses

European immigrants introduced orchards to the U.S. in the early 1600s. As they began to establish settlements and migrate west, they brought orchard cultivation with them, creating an extensive network of orchards spread across the U.S. However, over time many of these orchards were lost due to urban development, which is what makes Seattle’s historic orchards significant. Early Seattle settlers planted orchards in the 1800s and early 1900s, and their remnants still exist today, despite urban development. Over the years, many of the orchards have been incorporated onto City Department-owned land, but they have not been maintained to the extent …

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Sociopolitical Control In Urban Kenya: The Sociopolitical Control Scale In Nairobi, Mombasa, And Kisumu, Tasha A. Russman May 2012

Sociopolitical Control In Urban Kenya: The Sociopolitical Control Scale In Nairobi, Mombasa, And Kisumu, Tasha A. Russman

Scripps Senior Theses

There is popular belief among Kenyans that their government inappropriately distributes resources unequally between different regions in Kenya. A modified version of Zimmerman and Zahniser's (1991) Sociopolitical Control Scale (SPCS) tested for differences in perceived sociopolitical control (SPC) between residents of Kenya's three biggest cities, Nairobi (n = 49), Mombasa (n = 50), and Kisumu (n = 51). Hypotheses were based on expected levels of leadership competence (LC) and policy control (PC), two sub-scales that combine to create SPC. Contrary to the hypothesis, results indicated no significant differences in levels of SPC among the cities. Results could …

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How Far Can I Trust You? The Impact Of Distance And Cultural Values On Leaders’ Trustworthiness, Michelle C. Bligh May 2012

How Far Can I Trust You? The Impact Of Distance And Cultural Values On Leaders’ Trustworthiness, Michelle C. Bligh

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Employees' level of trust in leaders has long been deemed an important key to successful organizational dynamics and performance. Utilizing survey data, the current study investigates differences in levels of trust between one's immediate manager and the organization's top leadership, the impact of individualism/collectivism on these levels of trust, and the influence of leader-follower distance on leadership trust. Results revealed higher levels of trust for direct leaders than organizational leaders among the U.S. sample. While individualism/collectivism was not found to significantly affect levels of leadership trust, perceptions of less leadership distance had a positive impact on levels of leadership trust.

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Multiple Peer Group Self-Identification And Adolescent Tobacco Use, C. Anderson Johnson, Juliana L. Fuqua, Peggy E. Gallaher, Jennifer B. Unger, Dennis R. Trinidad, Steve Sussman, Enrique Ortega May 2012

Multiple Peer Group Self-Identification And Adolescent Tobacco Use, C. Anderson Johnson, Juliana L. Fuqua, Peggy E. Gallaher, Jennifer B. Unger, Dennis R. Trinidad, Steve Sussman, Enrique Ortega

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Associations between peer group self-identification and smoking were examined among 2,698 ethnically diverse middle school students in Los Angeles who self-identified with groups such as Rockers, Skaters, and Gamers. The sample was 47.1% male, 54.7% Latino, 25.4% Asian, 10.8% White, 9.1% Other ethnicity, and 59.3% children of immigrant parents. Multiple group self identification was common: 84% identified with two or more groups and 65% identified with three or more groups. Logistic regression analyses indicated that as students endorsed more high risk groups, the greater their risk of tobacco use. A classification tree analysis identified risk groups based on interactions among …

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