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F E ATU RE S 8 WWW.GUILFORDlAN.COM Zweigenhaft’s book to be released in paperback Richie Zweigenhaft’s new book highlights diversity in power structures. BY REBECCA DOU Staff Writer While many define the United States as a melting pot of cultures, diversity still eludes the corporate world. Dana Professor of Psychology Richie Zweigenhaft and his co-author G. William Domhoff investigate this issue in their book, 'The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies," which is soon to be released in a paperback edition. The inspiration for the book dates back to a few decades ago when Zweigenhaft and Domhofif first began working together in researching diversity in America's power structure. "Professor Zweigenhaft and I had been studying diversity at the top for 30 years by looking at directors of big corporations and government appointees who were not white, Christian-bom males, so this project seemed to be natural as soon as there were enough diverse CEOs," said Domhoff in an email interview. Initially, they faced difficulties in gathering enough information on such a small group of people. "Studying corporate elites is conceptually and empirically challenging, especially when trying to ^scem trends with small numbers and the fact that most elites do not like to be studied," wrote Rakesh Khurana in "Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews." When they began writing their bookin2009, ^ere were only 74 "New CEOs." In the updated paperback version, the appendix gives profiles of 109 minority CEOs. Despite this increase in numbers, Zweigenhaft suggests in the introduction 9iat the progress has slowed. "I think what happened was, when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, it was a certain drawing back that took place," said Zweigenhaft. "In the upper-management level, people on their way to the top got stuck because of financial crunches." Both authors hope the book will catalyze progress by empowering minorities aspiring to pursue a job in the corporate world, as weU as encourage those hesitant to accept diversity in upper-level management. "If the United States is to become more diverse, it's not enough for diversity just to happen in the lower, middle and upper-middle levels of the wealth and income ladders," said Domhoff. "We need to know if it is happening in the upper 1 to 2 percent as well." The book also highlights patterns in the backgrounds of the "New CEOs". Many have come fium the upper 15 percent of society. The only exception is Ahican-Americans, who statistically have made their way to the top through scholarships and other educational programs. For his next project, Zweigenhaft hasbeen editing abook on thebroader topic of collaboration. This project was inspired by his relationship with Domhoff, with whom he has written various books dealing with the integration of different minorities into the American class system. "Our hope there is to help graduate students and young academics figure out when it will be a good idea to work with other people and when you are better off working alone," said Zweigenhaft. Zweigenhaft hopes his research will continue to impact Americans by informing them of a small, but important group of people: "The New CEOs." Students struggle with anxiety, share survival strategies BY OLIVIA NEAL Staff Writer Your hands are shaking and you can't restrain them. Your stomach hurts and your chest feels tight. You feel trapped, scared and alone. You feel like running but you don't know where to go because this feeling will follow you everywhere. This is anxiety. As college students battle stacks of school work, ominous deadlines and the threat of failure, it's not easy to tell if what they're experiencing is normal. Stress is an emotion felt by everyone, but it weighs especially hard on students. This makes it difficult to draw the line between normal and chronic stress. "Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day," said the general staff on PsychCentral, a website for helping people through such disorders. "It's chronic and exaggerated worry and tension, even though nothing seems to provoke it." Anxiety becomes a problem when it disrupts the lives of those experiencing it. If you're feeling a significant amount of worry and apprehension every day or if you feel nervous for no apparent reason, seeking guidance may aid in stress management. "Chronic stress distorts a lot of things about how you function," said Director of Counseling Gaither Terrell. "Anyone would be stressed about a test, but when you're so anxious that you can't function, then that becomes a whole different thing." Many students experience this level of apprehension when it comes to schoolwork. "I would run from teachers and never did very well on tests," said first-year Ward Sandberg. "I always worried about how my parents would react to tests and quizzes, and sometimes I just didn't tell them because I was so worried about it." In recent years, he began working on managing his stress levels, but nonetheless, it's an ongoing struggle. "I have been able to give myself confidence and been able to talk with people, but 1 still have problems with talking to girls, taking tests and even asking for advice from teachers," said Sandberg. "I take medicine now to help as well." Many suffering from chronic anxiety take medication to help them calm down like Sandberg. However, there are other ways of handling any amount of stress. Even if you don't have an anxiety disorder, it can be harmful if you don't use the right coping mechanism. "Some people might just need somebody to sit down with them when they're feeling really anxious or stressed ... to help them organize their thinking and mobilize their coping skills," said Terrell. "The anxiety studies that I've read indicate that if you have an ongoing program of some kind of practice, whether it's running every day or meditating every day, your resilience to stress is going to be much better." Every student has their own way of managing stress levels. "I make sirre that at least once a week I set aside a night where I do nothing stressful just to recharge," said Early College sophomore Aubrey King. No matter what you do to stay on top of stress, always remember that you are surrounded by students going through the same thing, and reaching out to them will help you both. These feelings of worry are best weathered together. So, What Are Your Thoughts? Have you or someone you know experienced anxiety In relation to school? • I Record your response online: FeeUng stressed? Worried? Fast? Are you in need of advice? Contact the Counseling Center! Open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CaU (336)-316-2163 or (336)-316-2143
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