bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Literacy and Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior About Mammography in Latinas
Authors: Guerra Carmen E , Krumholz Megan , Shea Judy A
Published: January 2007

This cross-sectional study explored the association between functional health literacy and the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior about mammography and self-breast examination in a sample of Latinas attending community health clinics in Philadelphia. The results show that 70% of Latinas had inadequate or marginal functional health literacy. In Latinas, functional health literacy is only weakly associated with knowledge and not associated with beliefs and attitudes about screening mammography, but is significantly associated with having ever had a mammogram. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, functional health literacy was significantly associated with having ever had a mammogram (odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.27). These findings suggest that Latinas with poor functional health literacy are less likely to undergo mammography. Future research should target increasing the knowledge about and rates of screening mammography in patients with low functional health literacy.
Do Managed Care Plans Reduce Racial Disparities in Preventive Care?
Authors: Lin Chyongchiou Jeng , Musa Donald , Silverman Myrna , Degenholtz Howard B
Published: January 2007

This study was designed to determine whether managed care plans reduce racial disparities in use of influenza vaccination, mammography, and prostate-specific antigen screening. The study analyzed the use of three types of preventive care in a population-based sample of adults who were 65 years or older and were enrolled in a Medicare managed care (MMC) or fee-for-service (FFS) plan in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The study sample included 463 African Americans and 592 whites. Fewer African Americans than whites reported having had an influenza vaccination (64.4% versus 76.5%; p < 0.01) or a prostate-specific antigen test (64% versus 71.2%; p = 0.09) during the previous year. Slightly more African Americans than white women reported having had a mammogram (66.1% versus 63.8%). Logistic regression showed that, regardless of health plan type, African Americans were significantly less likely than whites to have an influenza vaccination (p < 0.05). A MMC plan did not narrow racial differences in preventive care. Reducing disparities may require interventions developed for specific racial/ethnic groups.
Cognitive Abilities of African American Children with Prenatal Cocaine/Polydrug Exposure
Authors: Asanbe Comfort B , Lockert Edna
Published: January 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure on cognitive abilities of school-aged children. The study examined differences in the performance of low income prenatal cocaine/polydrug-exposed and non-exposed African American children (n=49) between 6 and 8 years of age, on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition. Twenty-five children had a history of prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure and 24 had no known history. The groups were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Test scores determined if drug exposure predicted global intelligence score and if there were significant differences between the two groups in specific areas of cognitive ability assessed. Drug exposure predicted IQ scores, as drug-exposed children performed significantly lower than their non-exposed counterparts on global intelligence and verbal comprehension, but comparably on the freedom from distractibility tasks. On individual cognitive tasks, the performances of cocaine/polydrug-exposed and non-exposed children were comparable on 8 of the 11 tasks assessed. The findings call into question earlier predictions about cocaine-exposed children.
Providing Health Care Services to the Formerly Homeless: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation
Authors: Ciaranello Andrea L , Molitor Fred , Leamon Martin , Kuenneth Christina , Tancredi Daniel , Diamant Allison L , Kravitz Richard
Published: January 2007

We performed a quasi-experiment to assess the effects of a focused health care intervention delivered in transitional housing facilities in Sacramento, California. Four transitional housing facilities (THFs) receiving the intervention were compared with 2 THFs that did not receive it. A multidisciplinary team provided a diverse package of services to residents at the intervention sites. Residents at comparison sites received usual care. Survey and physical examination data were collected in repeated cross-sectional surveys at baseline (pre-intervention) and after 6 and 18 months of follow-up (post-intervention). Using analysis of covariance techniques, our statistical models showed improved odds of receiving recommended gynecologic preventive care and decreased odds of frequent Emergency Department use at 18 months among residents at the intervention sites. At 6 months, residents at the intervention sites also experienced improved blood pressure control. There was no intervention effect on residents' access to specialists or on physical functioning, mental health, or dental health.
Child Passenger Safety Behaviors in Latino Communities
Authors: Ebel Beth E , Coronado Gloria D , Thompson Beti , Martinez Teri , Fitzgerald Katharine , Vaca Frederico , Rivara Frederick P
Published: January 2007

Booster seats protect child occupants between 4 and 8 years of age. The objective of this study was to determine barriers and facilitators for booster seat use among Latino families. We conducted one-to-one elicitation interviews with 56 mothers and 35 fathers of booster-eligible Latino children in an urban county and a rural county in Washington State. Half of the parents did not consistently use booster seats. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated, and coded. Statements expressed by at least one-third of respondents were entered into explanatory models. Motivators for booster use were child safety and concern about getting a ticket. Facilitators for booster use included affordability, ease of use, and children liking the seat. Barriers were the belief that the child was too big/old, perceived child resistance, and cost. Rural parents preferred radio to television messages. Campaign messages highlighting the risks to child safety and the risk of a citation are likely to motivate booster seat use among Latino families.
Factors Associated with Chronic Conditions Among Children in Foster Care
Authors: Jee Sandra H , Barth Richard P. , Szilagyi Moira A , Szilagyi Peter G , Aida Masahiko , Davis Matthew M
Published: January 2007

The population of children in foster care is rapidly growing. Previous local and state-level analyses have measured the prevalence of chronic conditions among such children to be from 44%–82%. The study objective was to identify factors associated with chronic conditions among a nationally representative sample of children in foster care for one year. The authors analyzed data from The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), Wave 1, the first national dataset of children in the child welfare system. In regression analysis, factors significantly associated with having a chronic condition included: child age under 2 years, caregiver race/ethnicity other than Hispanic, and relatively few household members. Discussion includes consideration of chronic conditions in this high-risk population.
Health Care Utilization and Risk Behaviors among HIV Positive Minority Drug Users
Authors: Kang Sung Yeon , Goldstein Marjorie F , Deren Sherry
Published: January 2007

This study compared health care utilization and HIV-related risk behaviors between HIV-infected African American (n=123) and Hispanic (n=97) drug users recruited in New York City. African Americans were more likely to use crack, while Hispanics were more likely to use heroin and speedball. African Americans were more likely than Hispanics to report having traded sex for drugs or money. The two groups did not significantly differ in HIV care utilization (e.g., taking HIV medications). In multiple logistic regression analyses, for African Americans, taking HIV medications was significantly related to enrollment in HIV clinics and non-use of crack, while for Hispanics, being married and attending HIV support groups were significant factors. Drug treatment enrollment was significantly related to non-use of crack and injection drug use among African Americans, and a trend (p=.07) was found between injection drug use and drug treatment enrollment among Hispanics. The findings indicate the continuing need for harm reduction programs for HIV positive drug using populations. Programs for these populations should also take into account the different risk behaviors among different racial/ethnic groups, in order to tailor culturally sensitive programs for HIV care and intervention.
Access to Health Care for Migrants Returning to Mexico
Authors: Ross Sara J , Pagan Jose A. , Polsky Daniel
Published: January 2007

Continued migration from Mexico over the past several decades has created a large population of elderly Mexicans in the U.S. There is no system in Mexico for those Mexicans who would like to retire there to obtain health insurance during their retirement years. Using a nationally representative dataset of Mexican elders, we explore the current state of health insurance status for Mexican elders with a history of migration to the U.S. We find a robust negative association between years spent in the U.S. and the probability of being insured. Coordination between the U.S. and Mexico on policy options to insure Mexicans migrants may prove beneficial to the social security systems in both countries as well as to migrants themselves.
The Medically Underserved: Who Is Likely to Exercise and Why?
Authors: Schrop Susan Labuda , Pendleton Brian F , McCord Gary , Gil Karen M , Stockton LuAnne , McNatt Joshua , Gilchrist Valerie J
Published: January 2007

Adults who exercise regularly have better health, but only 15% of U.S. adults engage in regular exercise, with some social groups, such as people with lower incomes and women, having even lower rates. This study investigates the rate at which medically underserved patients receive exercise counseling from health care providers, characteristics of those who exercise, and barriers and motivations to exercise. The convenience sample was predominantly female and White and exclusively low-income and uninsured or underinsured. On average, participants were obese, by Federal Obesity Guidelines; 43% smoked.

Although 60% of 126 patients reported that providers discussed exercise with them, the discussions had no relationship with patients' engagement in exercise. Women and those with lung problems, diabetes, or children in the home were less likely than others surveyed to exercise. The highest rated motivations included body image and health issues. The most important barriers were time, cost, and access to exercise facilities and equipment. In order for exercise counseling to be more effective, health care providers' interventions must consider patients' personal characteristics, health status, readiness to engage in an exercise program, and motivations and barriers to exercise.
REACH-Meharry Community-Campus Partnership: Developing Culturally Competent Health Care Providers
Authors: Fort Jane G , McClellan Linda
Published: January 2007

An important national health care effort is elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in six specific conditions: infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and child and adult immunizations. To address this concern, several health entities in Nashville, Tennessee responded to a grant initiative from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) demonstration project. The resulting award is the Nashville REACH 2010 Project, charged to develop sustainable methods to reduce and, in time, eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the North Nashville community, where mortality rates of these diseases are substantially higher than in other parts of the county. As one of its many interests, the project included potential health care providers to receive and disseminate messages about disease prevention and health education. The present paper describes the community-campus partnership between the Nashville REACH 2010 project and the post-baccalaureate program of Meharry Medical College, a partnership that enfolded Meharry's pre-professional health care students into the community-based participatory service research project to increase the awareness and sensitivity of future minority health care providers to issues in minority and poor, underserved populations and to increase potential providers' familiarity with the processes involved in community-based participatory research.
Self-Reported Health among Cambodians in Lowell, Massachusetts
Authors: Koch-Weser Susan , Liang Sidney L , Grigg-Saito Dorcas C
Published: January 2007

National health data reported for Asians in the aggregate present a picture of good health, but significant health disparities exist between Southeast Asian refugees, and Cambodians in particular, and the overall population of the U.S. To effectively address health disparities, ethnically specific data is needed. Data from a community survey of 381 Cambodian adults 25 years of age and older are presented. Overall, 44% of respondents reported fair or poor health. Using multivariate logistic regression, we examined the relationships between self-rated health and demographics, timing of immigration, language use and literacy, and access to health care. In our final model those most likely to report fair or poor health were female, older, unable to work due to disability, to have spent a smaller proportion of their life in the U.S., and to have wanted to see a doctor in the past year, but not been able to.
Addressing Disparities through Coalition Building: Alabama REACH 2010 Lessons Learned
Authors: Wynn Theresa Ann , Johnson Rhoda E , Fouad Mona , Holt Cheryl L , Scarinci Isabel , Nagy Christine , Partridge Edward , Dignan Mark B , Person Sharina , Parham Groesbeck
Published: January 2007

Community-based coalitions have become accepted vehicles for addressing complex health problems. Few articles have described the challenges and lessons learned from such a process. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: 1) to describe the processes involved in building and maintaining the REACH 2010 Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Coalition (ABCCCC) and 2) to highlight the lessons learned from this venture. Principles from community-based participatory research were used 1) to establish and maintain the ABCCCC, 2) to build coalition capacity, and 3) to develop breast and cervical cancer interventions. Over 95% of our coalition has been maintained over a 7-year period. The ABCCCC received a total of 17 breast and cervical cancer mini-grants. Adherence to ground rules such as exhibiting respect and trust and practicing open communication helped to solidify our partnership. Lessons learned from the ABCCCC can provide others with an in-depth exploration of the processes involved in coalition formation and maintenance.
The Human Rights of Middle Eastern & Muslim Women: A Project for the 21st Century
Authors: Afary Janet
Published: January 2007

This article first explores the state of human rights of Middle
Eastern/Muslim Women in a selection of North African, Central Asian,
and Middle Eastern countries. It then contrasts this present state of
oppression with the emerging legal reforms and attempts made by a new
generation of women's rights activists. These activists are building new
institutions in their homelands despite numerous obstacles and great
personal and political risk, creating the need for a new dialogue and
approach to human rights in the Middle East.
East Asia After the Crisis: Human Rights, Constitutionalism, and State Reform
Authors: Davis Michael C.
Published: January 2007

Much recent analysis of the political economy of development in East
Asia focuses on questions of market liberalization and the adequacy
of the international institutions involved in the economic crisis
of the 1990s. Focusing on political institutions, this article
urges an emphasis on liberal constitutionalism as a long-term
strategy. Authoritarian regimes with markets and currencies that were
protected fared reasonably well. Democracies with liberal institutions
were resilient. The combination of authoritarian developmentalism and
market liberalization fared the worse. But authoritarian developmentalism
is not sustainable. Constitutionalism, if properly conceived, may provide
the institutional reliability and accountability upon which sustained
development depends.
Enacting Bills of Rights: Canada and the Curious Case of New Zealand's "Thin" Democracy
Authors: Leane G. W. G. (Geoffrey W. G.)
Published: January 2007

This article looks to the legal and political contexts of two liberal
democracies—New Zealand and Canada—and their respective Bill of Rights
experiences. In contrast to Canada's constitutionally entrenched Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, New Zealand presents an image of a liberal rights
ideology incompletely realized in a "weak" Bill of Rights. As an important
subtext, both states must consider indigenous minorities—one litmus test
for rights protection. It is argued that New Zealand manifests a very
different, and problematic, rights consciousness which might properly
be addressed in any future constitutional reforms.
Sierra Leone's Peace Process: The Role of the Human Rights Community
Authors: O'Flaherty Michael, solicitor
Published: January 2007

The Sierra Leone human rights community has played a high-profile role
in the country's long and troubled peace process. This paper seeks to
both describe and assess that role and takes account of, inter-alia,
the activities of NGOs and the United Nations human rights program. The
period chosen for review, 1998 to 2000, covers the most significant
stages of the peace process: from the return to Sierra Leone of its
elected government in early 1998, through the phase of the Lomé
peace negotiations/agreement, to the adoption of the Abuja Agreement
in November 2000. The paper concludes that the human rights community
can take credit for a substantial contribution to the peace-building
process. Failures on the part of the human rights actors to achieve
peace-process related goals are also identified and analyzed.
Indigenous Rights in the Russian Federation: The Rights Case of Numerically Small Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia, and Far East
Authors: Xanthaki Alexandra
Published: January 2007

There has been very little research on the rights of numerically
small peoples of the North, Siberia, and Far East of the Russian
Federation. Even though legislation has recently passed that improves
their legal rights and notwithstanding the respect for indigenous
cultures, the article reveals a considerable gap between general
relevant standards of international law and the real situation of
these peoples. Ultimate lack of political will and focus on national
economic development maintain discriminatory patterns, discourage any
real participation of these communities in decisions that affect them,
prolong the violations against their land rights and ultimately endanger
their survival.
An Effective Confluence of Forces in Support of Workers' Rights: ILO Standards, US Trade Laws, Unions, and NGOs
Authors: Douglas William A , Ferguson John-Paul , Klett Erin
Published: January 2007

Many say that while the ILO ably sets international labor standards and monitors compliance with them, it "has no teeth." However, when trade unions and human rights NGOs petition the US government to declare certain developing countries that violate workers' rights to be ineligible for benefits through the GSP and OPEC programs, incremental progress can be made in reducing those violations. Six country cases: Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Korea, and Swaziland show how, in this effective confluence of forces, the unions and NGOs provide the "eyes and ears," the ILO provides the "brains," and US trade legislation provides the "teeth."
The Ethical Dilemmas of International Human Rights and Humanitarian NGOs: Relections on a Dialogue Between Practitioners and Theorists
Authors: Bell Daniel (Daniel A.) , Carens Joseph H
Published: January 2007

In an imperfect and unpredictable world, international human rights and humanitarian nongovernmental associations (INGOs) often face ethical dilemmas that constrain their efforts to do good in foreign lands. In this paper, we draw upon a recent dialogue between human rights practitioners and academics in order to identify some of the typical ethical dilemmas encountered by INGOs during the course of their work and to discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with different ways of dealing with those dilemmas. We identify four kinds of ethical dilemmas frequently faced by INGOs: (1) conflicts between human rights principles and local cultural norms; (2) the tension between expanding and restricting the organization's mandate; (3) whether and how to collaborate with less-than-democratic governments; and (4) the ethical limits of fund-raising.
At the Heart of Darkness: Crimes Against Humanity and the Banality of Evil
Authors: Maier-Katkin Birgit , Maier-Katkin Daniel
Published: January 2007

This article, while rooted in critical literature, is interdisciplinary, drawing upon political and social theory, history, law, and social sciences to address the problem of evil in an environment dominated by crimes against humanity: the Congo during the reign of the Belgian King Leopold. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, is based in part on the author's experiences aboard the steamship Roi des Belges on the Congo River in 1890. The narrative contains three representations of evil: the base, primitive, perverse allure of lust and greed in the deepest recesses of the human psyche; evil at the heart of civilization and modernity; and the banal complicity of ordinary people whose silence and denial allows evil to prosper. Without impugning the quality or importance of Heart of Darkness, either as literature or as part of the global discourse on human rights, it is nevertheless argued that the primitive allure of evil is emphasized in the narrative to the detriment of representations of more subtle and civilized manifestations of evil. By redirecting attention to background elements of the story, including the behavior of the Belgian regime and especially the banal complicity of the protagonist Marlow, this essay aims to contribute to the discourse on crimes against humanity and the advancement of human rights.
Sharia Law in the Northern States of Nigeria: To Implement or Not to Implement, the Constitutionality is the Question
Authors: Nmehielle Vincent Obisienunwo Orlu
Published: January 2007

The recent introduction of the full Sharia, the Islamic legal system, by some Northern states in Nigeria raises a number of constitutional questions and impacts the supremacy of the Nigerian Constitution. The Constitution prohibits the promotion of religion by either the federal government or any of its components states and also provides for the freedom of religion and the right of all citizens to practice their religion. At the same time, any law enacted in the country that conflicts with the Constitution is void to the extent of its inconsistency. The application of the Sharia in Nigeria prior to its recent configuration was limited to civil matters. The paper examines the constitutionality of the unilateral extension of the Sharia to crimes, and the human rights and other implications of such extension.
Dangerous Appetites: Human Rights Activism and Conflict Commodities
Authors: Tamm Ingrid J
Published: January 2007

What do oil and diamonds have in common (aside from the fact that one can never have enough)? They are the world's favorite carbon-based treasures and they also have sustained ferocious civil wars in parts of Africa. Coinciding with growing academic and political recognition that natural resources can play important roles in causing and sustaining conflict, human rights activists launched two campaigns in the late 1990s calling for targeted sanctions against oil and diamonds from several conflict regions in Africa. The coalitions involved in these two separate efforts overlapped very little in goals, methods and participant organizations. But a comparison of the two campaigns sheds light on a number of shared challenges, illuminating lessons for future activism promoting sanctions against "conflict commodities."
The Role of a Bill of Rights in Reconstructing Northern Ireland
Authors: Kavanagh Aileen
Published: January 2007

Under the auspices of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissionhas recently published a draft Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. It is argued here that before deciding on the content of a Bill of Rights, serious consideration should be given to the underlying question of the value of a Bill of Rights in a divided society. In addressing this question, this article advances four main arguments: First, a Bill of Rights can empower individuals and minorities to challenge governmental policy. Second, rights litigation under a Bill of Rights can provide an added channel of political participation. Third, a Bill of Rights can operate as a useful constraint on majoritarianism. Fourth and finally, it can contribute toward the common good of a just, tolerant society.
Conflicting Human Rights: An Exploration in the Context of the Right to a Fair Trial in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Authors: Brems Eva
Published: January 2007

The proliferation of human rights claims increases the occurrence of situations in which two or more distinct human rights enter into conflict. Conflicts between human rights are a challenge for both legislators and judges. In this article, the issue of conflicting human rights is explored in the context of one particular human right—the right to a fair trial—and one judicial body—the European Court of Human Rights. Part I introduces the multifaceted nature of the right to a fair trial as protected in Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Part II attempts to outline a general framework for approaching conflicting human rights and analyzes the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights in light of that framework, dealing with both conflicts between different aspects of the right to a fair trial, as well as with conflicts between the right to a fair trial and other human rights. Part III summarizes the findings of the case law research.
Debating Reproductive Rights in Ireland
Authors: Mullaly Siobhan
Published: January 2007

Women's reproductive autonomy has gained limited recognition at the international level. This recognition has been difficult to secure and remains contentious. This article examines the struggle for reproductive autonomy within the context of the abortion debate in Ireland, where reproductive rights particularly and women's human rights generally have often been portrayed as hostile to cultural and national sovereignty. The entanglement of religious and nationalist principles with the struggle for reproductive autonomy in Ireland demonstrates the ways in which gender identities and roles are given greater or lesser weight depending on their "fit" with state interests and the ongoing process of nation-building. Lost within these negotiations and compromises is a recognition of the universal legitimacy of women's human rights claims.
The Impact of US Policy toward the International Criminal Court on the Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity
Authors: Johansen Robert C
Published: January 2007

The United States has undermined the effectiveness of the International Criminal Court by refusing to join or support the Court; by withholding support for UN peacekeeping unless US citizens are exempted from international enforcement arising out of such operations; by pressing other countries to sign treaties exempting US citizens from Court proceedings; by cutting US foreign assistance to selected countries unless they sign immunity agreements with Washington; and by holding victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity hostage to obtaining exemptions for US citizens. These US policies make it more difficult to enforce the laws prohibiting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
An Evaluation of the Small Group Norms Challenging Model: Changing Substance Use Misperceptions in Five Urban High Schools
Authors: Ott Carol H , Doyle Lynn H
Published: January 2007

According to social norms theory, when high school students overestimate the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) by their peers, they tend to use more themselves. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these over estimations (misperceptions) could be corrected through a similar age peer-to-peer interactive social norms approach based on the Small Groups Social Norms-Challenging Model. The sample included 414 adolescents in health classes in five urban high schools. Baseline data were retrieved from the school district's Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS). Perception change was measured with items adapted from the YRBS. Results indicate a significant decrease in misperceptions from pretest to posttest. Student responses to open-ended questions indicate increased awareness of ATOD issues, positive plans for behavioral change, and positive program evaluation. Implications for use of the social norms approach is presented for high school teachers and administrators.
Building Bridges Toward Excellence: Community Involvement in High Schools
Authors: Sanders Mavis G , Lewis Karla C
Published: January 2007

Despite increasing interest in the role of community involvement in school improvement, few studies have examined motivations for, or results of community partnership development in high schools. To fill this gap, the authors conducted case studies of three high schools with successful community partnerships. The authors found that case high school leaders' motivation for community partnership development fell into three inter-related categories: (1) improving student academic and personal success, (2) enhancing school quality, and (3) supporting community development. The case high schools developed an array of community partnership activities that reflected these different motivations for partnership development. The article concludes with case school leaders' advice for building effective school-community connections.
Negotiating Reform: Implementing Process Standards in Culturally Responsive Professional Development
Authors: Farmer Jeff , Hauk Shandy , Neumann Andrew M
Published: January 2007

The paper presents the guiding ideas behind our culturally responsive approach to teacher professional development and an overview of how those tenets inform, tacitly and directly, our efforts to realize the promise of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' five Process Standards. A review of the primary obstacles teachers face in implementing these standards in their own teaching and learning is followed by a description of the design elements in a university-based professional development program. Our goal is to provide an example of the foundations upon which an evolving approach to culturally responsive professional development planning has grown. We discuss research on what constitutes effective teacher professional development while noting the paucity of programs that embrace recognized needs. We do not give a prescription for effective teacher development. Instead, we speak as teacher-educators about the necessary philosophical and self-evaluative underpinnings to effective professional development and our approach to creating an environment where it is safe to leave the isolation of forced autonomy and it is valued to be reflective about community, mathematical activity, and intellectual engagement.
The Plight of the Education Systems \-\- Post Hurricane Katrina: An Interview with Dr. Brenda Mitchell and Dr. Linda Stelly
Authors: Perry Theresa
Published: January 2007

Dr. Brenda Mitchell is president of the United Teachers of New Orleans. She was raised in the city of New Orleans and has called New Orleans her home for over fifty years. She is a graduate of the New Orleans public schools. Dr. Mitchell received her undergraduate degree from Southern University of New Orleans, her Masters +30 from the University of New Orleans, and doctorate degree in developmental education with a specialization in instructional systems from Grambling State University. Dr. Mitchell began her teaching career in 1968. She has served in many capacities in the New Orleans Public schools—elementary school teacher, Title I staff developer, and a Title I math and reading teacher. She was the founding director of both the New Orleans Teacher Center and the United Teachers of New Orleans Center for Professional Growth and Development. In 1999, she was elected president of the United Teachers of New Orleans. She brings to this position a commitment to teachers' professional development and highlights the necessary role that teachers must play in the reform of city schools Dr. Linda Stelly works as the Associate Director for Educational Issues for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Washington, D.C. Her role includes coordination of the AFT's Redesigning Schools to Raise Achievement Project. Stelly has facilitated leadership and results-based reform solutions, designing communications strategies for administrators and decision makers in local and national institutions. She has coordinated research initiatives in the areas of local and national policy development and strategic planning. She has developed proven practice leadership strategies for accountability and effective teaching behaviors from a multicultural perspective. A graduate of Dillard and Loyola Universities, she is a resident of the New Orleans community and serves on the mayor's advisory committee for education.
Being American Between Black and White: Second-Generation Asian American Professionals' Racial Identities
Authors: Dhingra Pawan H
Published: January 2007

This article examines the racial identities of second generation
Korean and Indian Americans living in Dallas, Texas, relative to both
Whites and Blacks, in order to elucidate their racialization. Korean and
Indian Americans criticized White racism yet asserted that they were
equal "Americans" to Whites, who did not deserve to be targeted. They
accomplished this by differentiating themselves from Blacks whom they
regarded, ironically, as the true foreigners. Why only a quarter of
interviewees felt tied to Blacks is explained. Differences between the
ethnic groups also receive attention, as do the influences of class and
geography on racial identities.
Generational Differences in Educational Attainment among Asian Americans
Authors: Yang Philip Q
Published: January 2007

Past research has focused on generational differences in school performance among Asian American students. Do generational differences in educational attainment crystallize in adulthood among Asian Americans? Is there any gender difference in the trajectory of educational attainment across generations? This paper addresses these two questions using the cumulative file of the 1994-1999 Current Population Surveys. The multivariate results reveal complex trajectories. For adult Asians as a whole, holding relevant factors constant, the level of educational attainment increases from the first generation to the second generation but declines in the third generation. Moreover, there is a sharp gender difference in trajectory. For Asian women, the same nonlinear pattern as observed in the total sample emerges. For Asian men, the level of educational attainment decreases over generations. These results lend support to the immigrant aspiration hypothesis and the receptive environment hypothesis but challenges the classic assimilation theory. Changes in relative gender equality in status and education opportunity between home and host countries may help explain the gender differences in the path of educational mobility across generations. The result also points to the importance of gender in the study of educational attainment across generations.
"A Saucerful of Secrets": An Interdisciplinary Analysis of UFO Experiences
Authors: Dewan William J
Published: January 2007

This article focuses on a supernatural experience widely reported in the United States—the sightings of anomalous lights, including so-called "ghost lights," orbs, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and other labels attached to the observance of unexplained lights or aerial phenomena. The use of folklore theory, an experience-centered approach, and cognitive anthropology provides an enriched perspective on how UFO experiences are perceived, interpreted, and incorporated into broader traditions. Considering a sample of the frequency rates of such experiences with this integrated approach reveals personal experience narratives to be both the foundation for modern belief in UFOs as well as the primary reason why the UFO phenomenon remains a fixture in American culture. Taken together, these approaches suggest that so-called UFO encounters are often based on real, sometimes bizarre experiences that both inform and are formed by existing cultural traditions and mental schemas. This article grows out of a larger study of anomalous light experiences among college students.
Jumping Counters in White Collars: Manliness, Respectability, and Work in the Antebellum City
Authors: Luskey Brian P
Published: January 2007

Antebellum business clerks embodied the economic dreams of an optimistic era. According to the republic's cultural logic, they would eventually become merchants, sliding into positions of proprietorship or partnership that connoted independent manhood. Yet the booms and busts endemic to the period's economy challenged these expectations, making for uncertain advancement in the competitive commercial sphere. As mercantile firms specialized, clerks' work tasks expanded to include porters' duties and selling goods to female consumers. This shift was accompanied by a profound disjuncture between the ways that clerks and their contemporaries conceived of "white-collar" work. Clerks feared that moving goods alongside Irish and African American porters threatened their paths to proprietorship or partnership. Their contemporaries emphasized their interactions with women shoppers, relationships that were doubly fraught with peril. Clerks were a threat to women because they had mastered the art of commercial and sexual seduction. On the other hand, their masculinity was endangered by their proximity to women's goods and failure to work with their hands. Americans in the urban northeast were ultimately unable to reconcile the experiences of clerks' labor with competing and shifting notions of manliness and respectability. While clerks exposed disturbing contradictions about class and gender identity for all white, middle-class men, as an occupational group they were ultimately cast from the ranks of the refined and the masculine in the antebellum era.
Wilting Florists: The Turbulent Early Decades of the Societe Asiatique, 1822-1860
Authors: McGetchin Douglas T
Published: January 2007

In the early nineteenth century, France clearly dominated Oriental studies in Europe. A decline of this dominance began with the "Florist" controversy, a debate from 1825 to 1829 over the aims of Oriental scholarship. This clash of methods almost tore the Soci�t� Asiatique apart and succeeded in setting Orientalist scholars in France on an exacting, scientific course that eclipsed the Romantic, literary roots out of which their studies had sprung. Ironically, the adoption of this new agenda inhibited the further growth of Oriental studies in France and was indicative of the relative decline of science there.
Discourses of Resistance in the American Revolution
Authors: Tuckness Alex Scott
Published: January 2007

Debates over whether the discourse used to justify resistance during the American Revolution was "liberal" or "republican" often obscure the more central question of why and how early American thinkers were able to combine strands of political thought that many modern scholars find contradictory. The arguments the Americans used to justify resistance are better understood as falling into four types that were not understood to be mutually exclusive: Lockean, Biblical, legal/historical, and republican. Locke's ideas often provided an organizing framework within which the other types of argument were used.
Transnational Historiography: Chinese American Studies Reconsidered
Authors: Liu Haiming
Published: January 2007

In this essay I review four recent monographs on Chinese American history: Xiao-huang Yin's Chinese American Literature since the 1850s, Madeline Hsu's Dreaming of Gold, Dream of Home: Transnationalism and Migration Between the United States and South China, Young Chen's Chinese San Francisco 1850-1943: A Trans-Pacific Community, and Xiaojian Zhao's Remaking Chinese America: Immigration, Family, and Community, 1940-1965. Based on both English- and Chinese-language sources, the authors of these four books explore migration processes and the social origins of Chinese immigrants from an international perspective and they reinterpret the cultural values of immigrants as fundamentally open, engaged, and cosmopolitan. Moreover, they characterize the Chinese American community as a dynamic, fluid, and flexible global network and place Chinese America in a larger historical context beyond that of a single nation. They have seriously challenged the American-centered and nation-based research paradigm and promoted a more transnational, transcultural, and multilingual approach to the history of Asian American experience.
Wit, Judgment, and the Misprisions of Similitude
Authors: Lund Roger D.
Published: January 2007

This essay discusses the attempt by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British writers to achieve a clear definition of "wit." I provide a number of quotations from Hobbes, Locke, Pope, Addison, Dryden, and others to make the point that there was an unresolved tension between wit and judgment, imagination and reason, and rhetoric and philosophy, throughout the period.
The Czech Past and the Cuban Future
Authors: Paya Oswaldo (Paya Sardinas) , Havel VÃ¡clav
Published: January 2007

In an exchange of letters, leading Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, founder of the Varela Project and recipient of the European Parliament's Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, discusses with Vaclav Havel the lessons that the Czechoslovak postcommunist experience offers to Cubans who aspire to see in Cuba a nonviolent end to the tyrannical communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro and then a transition to democracy.
Christianity and Democracy: The Pioneering Protestants
Authors: Woodberry Robert D. , Shah Timothy S.
Published: January 2007

Abstract: According to cross-national research, Protestantism has significantly contributed to global democratization. While Protestantism does not inevitably cause democratization, it often generates social dynamics that favor it. Some of the most important of these are: 1) the rise of religious pluralism; 2) the development of democratic theory and practice; 3) the development of civil society; 4) the spread of mass education; 5) printing and the origins of a public sphere; 6) the reduction of corruption; and 7) economic development. The article explores how Protestant groups, including Protestant missionaries, have promoted these dynamics in the past. It also argues that contemporary Protestant movementsâparticularly Pentecostalismâare continuing to do so in the present, though with less dramatic results.
World Religions and Democracy: Judaism and Political Life
Authors: Fradkin Hillel
Published: January 2007

Abstract: The question of the relationship between Jews and Judaism, on the one hand, and democracy on the other, is of extraordinary complexity. It requires examining both the Jewish religion, and above all its holy book, the Hebrew Bible, plus three thousand years of Jewish historical and political experience. Today, Jews everywhere are among democracyâs strongest supporters and the Jewish state, modern Israel, is the only securely democratic regime in the entire Middle East. The Bible cannot exactly be called a handbook of modern political democracy, but it does often recommend an ethical approach of working toward the good or righteous with and through flawed human persons and institutions, and approach that has a certain affinity with modern democracyâs need for sobriety, moderation, and prudence.
The Perils of Identity Politics
Authors: Gauchet Marcel , Manent Pierre , Finkielkraut Alain , Seaton Paul , Mahoney Daniel J.
Published: January 2007

Three leading French political thinkers reflect on why modern democracies tend to forget their own natures, even to the point of encouraging an assertive "identitarianism" that could undermine liberal democracy itself.
Building Democracy After Conflict: Lessons from Iraq
Authors: Diamond Larry
Published: January 2007

Abstract: In the hands of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), the U.S.-led postwar reconstruction effort has so far failed to establish democratic institutions in Iraq. But as troubled as that effort has been, it provides valuable lessons for future postconflict-reconstruction or nation-building endeavors. For example: commit enough troops, with the right rules of engagement; hold local elections first; mobilize legitimacy, cooperation, and trust both internationally and within the postconflict country; disperse economic reconstruction funds and democratic assistance as widely as possible; and proceed with some humility and respect for the opinions of the people in whose interest the intervention is supposedly staged.
Scholarship and Statesmanship
Authors: Cardoso Fernando Henrique
Published: January 2007

This text was adapted from the first annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World, which President Cardoso delivered on 6 December 2004. Seymour Martin Lipset's contributions to political science and sociology are not theoretical achievements alone, but reflect his keenly practical moral awareness, his understanding of leadership, and his great love of democracy as the finest form of government ever devised.
Challenge and Change in East Asia: Taiwanâs Year of Stress
Authors: Chu Yun-han
Published: January 2007

Abstract: With the memory of the trauma of the March 2004 presidential election gradually fading and a new Legislative Yuan being sworn in on February 1, 2005, Taiwanâs young democracy has just begun to pull itself out of the worst political turmoil since the island became democratized. The deep acrimony surrounding the last presidential election has left Taiwanâs democracy with a permanent scar. The society was deeply divided over the outcomes of the election as well as the story behind the bizarre shooting incident. The frenzy and extraordinary circumstances under which this election took place revealed many worrisome trends, some of which have deeper roots in the political soil and will thus continue to afflict Taiwanâs fragile democracy and erode the political eliteâs commitment to due process and fundamental democratic values.