While the literature suggests that Black students are more successful in traditionally White colleges and universities when they see professors with whom they can identify, it has been relatively silent about aspects of the relationship between Black professors and Black students that may be perceived as negative. The authors explored the strengths and limitations of this important relationship from the perspectives of Black faculty in six institutions of higher education in New York City and Westchester County, New York. Focus group findings highlighted the unique role of Black faculty members as mentors based on the professors' subjective perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about mentoring Black students. Equally important, the findings pointed out the need for further research that explores the efficacy of the role of Black professors as mentors from Black students' perspectives, as well as the implications of such an investigation on Black faculty member and student retention rates.

We present experimental data and numerical modeling of a nonlinear phenomenon in active magnetic microbead rheology that appears to be common to entangled polymer solutions (EPS). Dynamic experiments in a modest range of magnetic forces show: 1. a short-lived high viscosity plateau, followed by 2. a bead acceleration phase with a sharp drop in apparent viscosity, and 3. a terminal steady state that we show resides on the shear-thinning slope of the steady-state flow curve from cone and plate data. This latter feature implies a new protocol to access the nonlinear steady-state flow curve for many biological EPS only available in microliter-scale volumes. We solve the moment-closure form of the Rolie-Poly kinetic model for EPS hydrodynamics, together with a decoupling approximation that obviates the need for a full 3D flow solver, and show that the model qualitatively reproduces the dynamic experimental sequence above. In this way, we explain the phenomenon in terms of entangled polymer physics, and show how the nonlinear event (acceleration and termination on the shear-thinning response curve) is tunable by the interplay between molecular-scale mechanisms (relaxation via reptation and chain retraction) and magnetic force controls. The experimental conditions mimic movement of cilia tips, bacteria, and sperm in mucus barriers, implying a physiological relevance of the phenomenon, and compelling further development of the fully coupled, 3D flow-microstructure model to achieve quantitative accuracy.

The Community Centered Family Health History project was initiated to create accessible family health history tools produced by and for the community. The project goal was to promote increased community engagement in health education by encouraging conversations among family members that would translate knowledge of family health history into healthy lifestyle choices. As one of seven community partners, Iona College participated in customizing and beta-testing the Does It Run in the Family? toolkit. Twenty-nine college students were engaged to recruit three relatives related by blood to provide feedback on the utility of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of two booklets--"A Guide to Family Health History" and "A Guide to Understanding Genetics and Health"--explaining the importance of knowing and talking about health within the family as well as basics about how conditions are passed down through generations. Twenty-two of the twenty-nine students participated in focus groups to discuss their reactions to participation in the project. Students in the focus group reported that the study participants--students and their family members--found the toolkit to be user friendly and the experience a valuable one that prompted many to take positive steps toward good health.

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