Honors College

Permanent URI for this community

https://repository.library.cofc.edu/handle/123456789/436
The College of Charleston Honors College expands on partnerships between faculty and student by creating a vibrant living-learning community where personal attention gives the support students need to reach their goals during and after college. Inside the CofC Honors community, motivated students live, learn, and grow together while pursuing their unique interests and goals – everything from study abroad, internships, research and service projects at home and globally.

Browse

Browsing Honors College by Issue Date "2013-08"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Implementation of a Worksite Wellness Program for the Physical Plant Employees at the College of Charleston
    (2013-07-19) Davis, Kelcey Olivia; Scheett, Timothy P
    The combination of obesity and overall poor health has become a pandemic across the US. With this pandemic comes a great increase in many preventable diseases, which are detrimental to an individual’s health, one’s overall wellbeing and are very costly in terms of healthcare expenses. Worksite wellness is a growing trend in today’s companies as it has been shown to offer many benefits, not just to employees but to the company overall as productivity increases and overall health and rapport of employees improves. The College of Charleston’s Physical Plant employees represent a population that has a high rate of preventable diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. The goal of this project was to improve overall health awareness of this population by providing health education lectures on overall nutrition, information on various preventable metabolic diseases, benefits of proper nutrition and regular physical activity, and healthy food preparation. The program also included a physical activity instructional component. This included information on safety concerns and precautions of exercise and also instruction on proper exercise technique. Methods: Employees within the College of Charleston’s Physical Plant were recruited for involvement in the program on a voluntary basis. They had the opportunity to attend 6 lectures upon receiving permission from their supervisor. The lectures each covered a particular topic and included a multimedia presentation followed by question and answers and a discussion session. Physical activity instructional classes were offered three days a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. To note and record changes, participants completed surveys, one about the physical activity portion of the program and the other about the lecture/health education portion. Data drawn from these surveys was used to determine changes in behavior, attitude and knowledge of the participants. Results: Participants who attended at least one lecture (n=31) completed the lecture survey and all those who attended at least one physical activity session (n=24) completed the physical activity survey at the end of the program. Ninety-six percent of participants reported that they at least agreed or strongly agreed (70%) that they felt that their knowledge on health had improved as a result of attending one or more of the health lectures. Ninety-two percent reported that they agreed or strongly agreed (57%) that they felt better prepared to make healthy choices about food and 92% reported that they agreed or strongly agreed (60%) that they have a better understanding of the chronic diseases discussed in lecture (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.) The physical activity survey revealed the following information; a total of 83% of participants reported an overall increase in physical activity, whether it was that they just started an exercise routine (58%) or they had increased the amount since the start of the program (25%). Furthermore, 88% of the participants reported that they agreed (33%) or strongly agreed (54%) that they felt more confident exercising. Discussion: The use of a worksite wellness model was a viable means for implementing a healthy lifestyle intervention program for the representative underserved population. Integrating the program within and around the work schedule of employees made it more convenient and easier for participants to join and adhere to. Many individuals spend at least a third of their day at work making lifestyle intervention programs a feasible means to increase health education and participation in physical activity of employees, which led to positive healthy lifestyle changes among participants.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using Stable Water Isotopes and Dissolved Organic Matter to Delineate Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions in Low-Gradient Watersheds
    (2013-11-05) Nickolas, Lydia Beck; Vulava, Vijay M
    The southeastern coast is among the fastest growing communities in the United States. From 2010-2011, Charleston, South Carolina experienced a 2.6% increase in population growth, ranking it as the 8th fastest growing metropolitan area in the US. The resulting urbanization and increased land use has led to significant alteration of coastal watersheds and degradation of associated fresh and estuarine water body health. Compounding this problem are the many effects of global change-related extreme weather patterns - e.g., large floods caused by moderate storms - that could have grave consequences for the ecology and people that live here. The overarching goal of our research project is to understand how land-use change and climate change related precipitation in coastal environments affects coastal watersheds. Understanding the sources and residence time of water in these watersheds is crucial to assessing the future impacts of global change. The main objective of this study was to delineate sources of water to streams in low-gradient coastal watersheds using stable isotopes of water and dissolved organic matter (DOM). Precipitation, surface water, and groundwater samples were collected from two sites and analyzed for δ18O and δ2H using a stable water isotope analyzer. End-member mixing analysis was performed to estimate the source contributions to Turkey Creek, a third order stream (draining WS-80 and UTC), which serves as a model for streams found in low-gradient watersheds of the southeastern coast. DOM in these water samples was analyzed using a fluorescence spectrophotometer (excited at a wavelength of 355 nm) and a total organic carbon analyzer. Isotopic analysis results indicate that δ18O signatures of precipitation (representing the most depleted source) experience some seasonal variability (depending on storm origin and timing), surface water (relatively more enriched source) is typically depleted in 18O during the cooler months, and groundwater δ18O values follow seasonal trends of depletion in the cold months and enrichment in the warm months, though the individual signature is largely related to depth. End-member mixing analysis suggests that 40.8% of the contribution to Turkey Creek originates from groundwater, while 59.2% originates from precipitation. DOM analysis demonstrated variable differences between each site, but the methodology proved somewhat flawed. These results suggest complex dynamics in these watersheds and serve to reinforce the previous conceptual model, which indicates a predominance of precipitation input to stream flow.