Uncategorized

The latest report from the Life, Liberty and Happiness Project reveals that 78% of Americans agree with the statement, “I am happy in general.” As expected, one’s household financial situation is related to one’s happiness, but the survey shows other factors affect happiness such as approval of President Donald Trump’s job performance, whether one is proud to be an American, and attitudes regarding hard work and success.

Among the findings:

• Those who rate their household’s financial situation as good or excellent are more likely to report being happy than those who rate their household financial situation as fair, poor or very poor: 92% to 67%.
• Whether a person is proud to be an American also is related to happiness, even among citizens who rate their finances as fair to very poor. Among those, 70% report being happy if they are proud to be an American compared to 56% who say they are happy and do not report that they are proud to be an American.
• Approval of Trump’s job performance is associated with happiness even for those in fair to very poor financial situations, with 81% who report being happy if they approve of how Trump is doing as president. The number fell to 60% for those who disapprove of the president’s job performance.
• Among the less financially well-off, 77% report being happy if they believe that most people can succeed if they are willing to work hard. Only 53% are happy if they believe that hard work is no guarantee of success.

For more, see: https://news.ecu.edu/2019/07/01/life-liberty-and-happiness-2/

East Carolina University’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Staff Council hosted its third annual Staff Awards and Recognition Ceremony in the Main Campus Student Center on May 13. The event honors all THCAS staff members and recognizes the hard work they engage in on a day-to-day basis.

The council awarded DOPS’ Chatsidy Clarke with a Professional Development Grant. The awards acknowledge administrative or technical staff within the college who show exemplary professionalism and go above and beyond the requirements of their position, while the grant is awarded to a person who is actively pursuing career advancement within his or her field.

Clarke (pictured, middle, below), lead administrative support associate in the Department of Political Science since February 2016, noted, “I feel honored to have the support of the college for my professional endeavors… Having both the department and college recognize me for my efforts reinforces my confidence in my skills and potential.”

As recipient of the grant, Clarke will use her $1,200 award to attend the BRIDGES program at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“The BRIDGES program is full of prestigious women whom I would love to learn from and gain connections,” said Clarke. “My growth as an administrative professional will be strengthened by the skills obtained by this inclusive network. Through the program, I hope to gain leadership skills that will assist me as I advance my career in higher education administration.”

Social Science Quarterly recently announced that Drs. Baumgartner & Lockerbie’s “Maybe it Is More Than a Joke: Satire, Mobilization, and Political Participation” was one of the journal’s top 20 downloaded articles for the year 2018. The article can be downloaded for free until July at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ssqu.12501#.

 

Led by the efforts of Dr. Paynter, of the Department of Political Science, East Carolina University received a $1 million award from the Golden LEAF Foundation to support rural economic prosperity through innovation and entrepreneurship.

The grant, awarded on Feb. 7, will support ECU’s recently launched university-wide program focused on creating a new generation of business owners in the 29 counties of eastern North Carolina, reflective of its name RISE-29.

Read more here. 

Graduating senior, Madie Fleishman, presented her research at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s 13th Annual Politics and Government Student Research Conference this past Friday. The work titled “Humanitarian aid and its Effects on Civil Conflicts with Multiple Rebel Factions” was presented on the Peacekeeping, Genocide, and Human Rights panel with 4 other student works.

Dr. Baumgartner has lent his expertise on the vice presidency to a movement to run an independent candidate for the vice presidency. He has offered his knowledge about the office to the project in a series of videos and a FAQ. Check it out at vice.run.

For the record, Baumgartner’s involvement in the project is not an endorsement of either the candidate or the movement – although he has stated that the idea is certainly an intriguing one.

John Sarantos Laliotes, age 71, passed away peacefully at his home on April 9, 2019. Part of Laliotes’ legacy includes the recently completed renovation and overhaul of the student political science library in the Brewster Building. We are both grateful for his generosity and very saddened by his passing.

The family has asked that donations be made to ECU’s Pirate Club in John’s name in lieu of flowers.

Read more…

ECU’s Model United Nations Club competed in the Southern Regional Model United Nations conference in Charlotte May 28-30, 2019. Representing the country of Equatorial Guinea, students debated issues ranging from Improving Access to Quality Healthcare for Children to Preventing Violent Extremism by Non-State Actors.

Committee awards were earned by Molefi Henderson and Morgan Musumeci (General Assembly First) and Nandi Mulagha and Menna Abdel-Salam (Commission on the Status of Women). Paula Acevedo, Gray Childress, Gabriela Morales, Kelly Brown, and Jacob Blizzard rounded out the team earning the entire club a conference-wide Honorable Delegation Award. SECS Graduate Assistant Kaitlyn Rose attended as their advisor.

East Carolina University’s Department of Political Science honored John and Ann Laliotes for their generous support during the dedication of the newly renovated John Laliotes Political Science Library on March 28.

Dr. Alethia Cook, department chair, welcomed guests and officially thanked the Lalioteses for their contribution, Provost Ron Mitchelson and Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Dean William M. Downs for their support of the project, and others involved in the process.

“It has been a huge improvement of this space,” Cook said. “It will be great in helping to teach our students about professionalism and professional conduct in the workplace and in recruiting new students and faculty.”

Read more….