Baylor Proud

One hundred years ago this week, Chicago publisher W.D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America (BSA); a century later, over 110 million Boy Scouts across the U.S. have recited the Scout Oath (“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country…”). Countless famous Americans from the past 100 years have participated in Boy Scouts — names like Neil Armstrong, Walter Cronkite, Gerald Ford, Andy Griffith, John F. Kennedy, Ross Perot and Steven Spielberg.

Yet for all their history, no one has ever scientifically studied the impact of Scouting in fostering positive youth development. In other words, if a Scout truly is “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent,” as the Scout Law says, does that Scout stay that way as he grows up?

Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) is tackling exactly that question, thanks to a two-year, nearly $1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. ISR co-directors Dr. Byron Johnson and Dr. Rodney Stark will lead the study, working with the Gallup Poll organization to see if scouts really have better-quality family lives, are better citizens, are more patriotic, etc., as anecdotal evidence would suggest.

“For decades, the Boy Scouts of America has used outcomes research to strengthen our programs and curriculum,” says Chief Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca. “The research produced by Baylor University is very important, and at this crucial time, we expect to learn a great deal from the research as we embark on our next 100 years.”

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

While it will still be quite some time before the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) is up and running, that doesn’t mean the university is sitting around just waiting for that day to begin research efforts. To the contrary — there are more research projects going on than we can keep up with. Here are just a few recently announced studies:

• Chemistry and biochemistry professors Dr. Kevin Pinney and Dr. Mary Lynn Trawick received a $200,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to study a series of compounds that potential anticancer compounds that have recently emerged from Baylor’s on-going cancer research program.
• Using a new search method he adapted for use on the seafloor, geology professor Dr. John Dunbar and his research team found a potentially massive new source of hydrocarbon energy called methane hydrate, a frozen form of natural gas, in a portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Dunbar more than $115,000 to continue researching the site.
• A Baylor study led by biology professor Dr. Ryan King (pictured) and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency found that concentrations of phosphorus above 20 parts per billion (ppb) are linked to declines in water quality and aquatic plant and animal life, demonstrating with certainty that too much phosphorus does indeed cause problems for many Texas streams.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!