on a blueberry is a problem. “If a berry
grower tries to sell her fruit and the
buyer finds one larva feasting in one
berry, the buyer will reject the grower’s
entire load and she’ll have a total loss,”
says Burrack. “Hopefully, we will be able
to give the growers the tools they need
to turn this around.”
—Eleanor Spicer Rice ’03, ’ 12 PHD
“The communication strategies uncovered in
my study can help former problem drinkers
in their path to lifelong sobriety while helping
them interact with drinkers and minimizing
the risk of stigma.” —Lynsey Romo
SPOTTED WING FRUIT FLY
Drosophila suzukii
Michigan State and Cornell to better
understand the fly’s biology. The
spotted wing fruit fly feasts on fresh
fruit as opposed to other species of
fruit flies that only go after damaged
fruit. But until recently it only buzzed
around its native land barely bothering
humans, so researchers saw scant
reason to study it.
Buyers like supermarkets have a
zero-tolerance policy for spotted wing
fruit flies, so even one tiny fly larva
to chemical controls. But,
Burrack says, there are other
nonchemical means growers
can rely on, like implementing
pheromone traps or releasing males
into the environment. If the growers
can combine those with insecticides
targeted to this species, they can reduce
the flies’ abilities to build resistance to
the insecticide.
Her team is working alongside
researchers at institutions including
Socializing without Sipping
Researcher studies how former problem drinkers
tell others they don’t drink.
When Raleigh musician Mike Spence came home from a rehab facility for problem drinking and rug addiction last year, avoiding situations
where alcohol flowed was not an option. “Ninety-nine point
nine percent of the shows I see and play are in venues that
serve alcohol,” he says. “So I had to plan how I would handle
being in these situations accordingly.”
Lynsey Romo, assistant professor of communication, knows
about predicaments like Spence’s. She makes a living studying
how people discuss uncomfortable issues. In a recent study,
Romo examined how former problem drinkers, those that
Romo defines as having experienced negative life consequences
due to their alcohol consumption, divulge their non-drinking
status. Her work is part of a larger study on how all non-
drinkers, not just problem drinkers, navigate social situations.
Social pressure, group situations and emotions like anxiety top
the list of factors leading to relapse for former problem drinkers,
who encounter these issues each time they enter drinking environments. Romo’s work, published in Health Communication, presents approaches to social-drinking settings from 11 former
problem drinkers.
Romo found that participants did not want to stand out for their
non-drinking status. That’s difficult, as most Americans at
least occasionally imbibe alcohol in social interactions.
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actual size:
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As a result, Romo’s respondents often disclosed their non-drinking status without revealing the fact that they had been
problem drinkers. They used tactics such as humor, drinking
non-alcoholic beverages to pass as drinkers, changing the
subject if it arose or offering to serve as a designated driver.
Those in Romo’s study most often openly disclosed their
problem drinker status when the personal benefits for disclosure
outweighed the costs. For example, they sometimes disclosed
their past struggles with alcohol in attempts to strengthen
relationships or help other problem drinkers.
For Spence, 33, being upfront helps avoid confusion or conflict.
“I found being open and honest about it creates no blurred lines
when I am out in a social setting with drinking,” says Spence,
who was not involved in the study.
Romo says that the varied approaches revealed by her work
provide a useful course to other former problem drinkers as
they tailor their individual sobriety routes. “Recovery groups like
Alcoholics Anonymous stress the importance of disclosing to
friends that [former problem drinkers] no longer drink alcohol,
but do not provide specific advice and guidelines,” she says. “The
communication strategies uncovered in my study can help former
problem drinkers in their path to lifelong sobriety while helping
them interact with drinkers and minimizing the risk of stigma.”
—Eleanor Spicer Rice ’03, ’ 12 PHD
