On Bear Day, many students gave insightful and interesting presentations of research and projects they may have been working on all semester. There was a wide range of topics presented and plenty of hard work from students. Here is a list of five insightful Bear Day Presentations you might have missed and some motivation to make it out to next year’s event.
- Marley Hayes and Ariana Gonsalves-Barreiro presented a project called "I Love Me, I Love Me Not: Factors Influencing Body Image.” They surveyed Mercer students to find out what were the factors that lead to either negative or positive body image in Mercer’s female population. They found that 79 percent of the people they surveyed were happy with their body image and that this statistic is slightly higher than the national average.
- Twinkle Suthar presented a project titled "Illusion of Diversity?: Student Involvement in Multicultural Organizations on College Campus.” She investigated why people join multicultural organizations and what stops people who are not from that culture from joining them. She found that 40 percent of people in multicultural organizations are minorities and that diverse friend groups lead to more attendance in these organizations.
- Jordan Strawberry’s presentation was called "Legal or Not? Marijuana Comes Out of the Closet.” His finding broke down the factors that led to more acceptance of marijuana use. He found that race and music choice, namely rap and hip-hop, were factors in students’ acceptance of marijuana use and legalization.
- Morgan Prillaman and Diana Gomez did research on Mercer students attitude toward modern dating methods in a presentation called "Netflix and Chill: Mercer Students' Attitudes Towards Hookup Culture.” They found that the more use of dating applications led to a greater acceptance of hookup culture and that more religious affiliation led to a lack of acceptance of such ideas.
- Emily Dokken did research on interracial relationships and their acceptance in a project called "Commended or Condemned: Student Views toward Interracial Romantic Relationships.” During her survey she found that Mercer is above the national average of acceptance of interracial couples. She found that students who live on campus, as well as those who have diverse interactions on campus, tend to be more accepting.
